dialog, 16(1), 205-210 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 this research was supported by early reading first awards #s359b090018 and # s359b0500024 from the u.s. department of education. address correspondence to the first author at university of hawai’i, 2515 campus road, honolulu, hi 96822, or debarysh@hawaii.edu. we would like to extend our thanks and aloha to the children, families, teachers, and staff of the honolulu community action program head start. research-to-practice summary she is awesome and retains information like a sponge: implications of the learning connections family involvement curriculum for head start programs barbara d. debaryshe, ji-yeon kim, dana h. davidson, and dana m. gorecki university of hawai‘i past research on family involvement suggests that home based forms of involvement are especially important in supporting learning in the early childhood years. parents can be effective change agents, especially when they are given strategies for teaching particular content area skills. this study addressed the effects of family participation in the home component of an emergent literacy and mathematics curriculum. participants were 321 head start children and their parents who were recruited over four consecutive school years. families received weekly home learning activities to do with their children that closely matched the content of the classroom curriculum. involvement in the home curriculum was significantly associated with children’s language, literacy, and math outcomes, controlling for child age, dual language status, pretest performance, and classroom quality. when families completed more of the home activities, their children made greater progress during the school year. families enjoyed doing the home activities and parents reported increased confidence in their teaching skills. results suggest that given appropriate support, families can successfully address curriculum goals at home and provide an added value to learning that occurs in the head start classroom. family engagement is a cornerstone of the head start organizational philosophy and program performance standards. as stated in the head start parent, family, and community engagement framework: “when parent and family engagement activities are systemic and integrated across program foundations and program impact areas, family engagement outcomes are achieved, resulting in children who are healthy and ready for school” (u.s. department of health and human services, 2011, p. 1). the underlying expectation is that children benefit when their families are highly involved. family involvement includes both individual and organizational beliefs and practices. forms of family involvement include: (a) basic parenting, (b) home-school communication, (c) 206 debaryshe et al. supporting children’s school-related learning at home, (d) direct school participation, (e) school leadership, (f) home-community partnerships, and (g) aspirations and expectations for children’s academic success (epstein, 1995; fantuzzo, mcwayne, perry & childs, 2004). in the early childhood period, the forms of family involvement most strongly associated with children’s developmental skills are those involving direct parental teaching, stimulation, and modeling in the home (fantuzzo et al., 2004; mcwayne, hampton, fantuzzo, cohen, & sekino, 2004). school-based forms of involvement and parental expectations play a more prominent role as children mature (fan & chen, 2001; hill & tyson, 2009; jeynes2007). parents’ provision of learning materials, rich stimulation, and informal instruction of their children in the context of everyday home and neighborhood life has a widespread influence on preschool children’s language, cognitive, and early academic skills (bus, van ijzendoorn, & pelligrini, 1995; hart & risely, 1995; saxe, guberman, & gearhart, 1987; sénéchal & lefevre, 2002). home instruction is more effective, however, when parents receive training and practice in using specific teaching strategies (such as dialogic reading) and learning materials (such as home math kits) (arnold, lonigan, whitehurst, & epstein, 1994; starkey & klein, 2000; whitehurst et al., 1988). these focused training studies demonstrate that parents can have a strong effect on their children’s acquisition of language, literacy, and early math skills. in fact, parents have sometimes been found to be more effective change agents than teachers (lonigan & whitehurst, 1998; sénéchal & young, 2008). thus, interventions in which parents are taught content-specific instructional skills are an enormous potential resource for head start programs. in this paper we describe family involvement outcomes of the learning connections (lc) curriculum. lc is an emergent literacy and mathematics enrichment curriculum that has parallel classroom and home components. the home curriculum includes (a) parent education on developmental processes and teaching strategies, (b) structured weekly home learning activities, and (c) informal coaching and support for families. summary of research methods participants participants were 321 head start children and their parents from ten classrooms in an early reading first project. data were collected over a four year period. the average child age at pretest was 44.81 months (range 30 to 60 months). four percent of children had an individualized education plan, 53% were boys, 37% were dual language learners (dll), and 89% were of asian american/pacific islander heritage. curriculum teachers implemented the learning connections (lc) curriculum (debaryshe & gorecki, 2005, 2007; debaryshe, gorecki, & mishima-young, 2009). lc is an enrichment curriculum that focuses on oral language, phonological and phonemic awareness, print concepts and alphabet knowledge, emergent writing, number sense and mathematical operations, geometry, and measurement. the home component of the curriculum consists of weekly home activities that extend content introduced in the classroom. each activity is designed to take 10-15 minutes to learning connections 207 complete in the context of regular family routines. examples include (a) taking a nature walk to collect objects, clapping the names of each object syllable-by-syllable and sorting the objects by the number of syllables in each name; (b) using a nonstandard measuring tool (a paper slipper) to measure and compare the heights of different family members; and (c) identifying the first sound heard in the names of different food items consumed at a family meal. each week, families received a one-page instruction sheet as well as any needed materials not readily available at home. families were also provided with age-appropriate books and were asked to read aloud on a regular basis. multilingual families were encouraged to conduct the home activities in the language of their choice. support for families was provided through two mechanisms—coaching and family workshops. every other week, a coach was present during pick-up or drop-off time. the coach posted samples of the upcoming home activities on a display board that remained in the classroom until the next demonstration session. the coach spent about five minutes with each parent, during which time she demonstrated the activity, discussed specific learning goals, provided tips on individualization based on her knowledge of the child’s language use and classroom performance, and encouraged parent-to-parent conversation and support. three workshops were also offered each school year to provide more in-depth information about the developmental foundations of the home curriculum. workshops lasted approximately one hour and were held in the classroom; each session included a research overview, hands-on activities, and discussion. research design we used a mixed-method design. quantitative data included (a) home activity participation (measured as the percentage of home activities completed and returned to the teacher), (b) an annual parent satisfaction survey, (c) classroom quality on the classroom assessment scoring system (class) (pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2005), and (d) yearly preand posttest assessment of children’s academic skills in the areas of oral language (dunn & dunn, 1997), emergent reading (reid, hresko, & hammill, 2001), alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness (invernizzi, sullivan, meirer, & swank, 2004), and emergent mathematics (ctb/mcgraw-hill, 1990). we also did a qualitative analysis of parents’ responses to open-ended survey items, home activity comment sheets, and focus group discussions. this allowed us to get a more detailed and personal understanding of parents’ experiences with the home curriculum. summary of results effects of home activity participation on children’s learning average over the four years, parents completed 54% of the home activities. however, participation increased steadily over time, rising from 37% in year 1 to 81% in year 4. we used multilevel modeling to test whether home activity participation predicted children’s end-of-year academic skills. for all four academic assessments we found that when families completed a higher percentage of home activities, their children had higher posttest scores. the benefit of 208 debaryshe et al. doing the home activities was above and beyond the effects of pretest skill, age, dll status, and classroom quality. parents’ experiences survey data showed that parents were very enthusiastic about the home curriculum. between 90% to 100% of parents (depending on the project year and the particular survey item) said that the lc home activities were clearly written, fun to do, contributed to their children’s learning, and helped parents be more effective in supporting their children’s learning at home. satisfaction was slightly lower for the coaches’ demonstrations, mostly because some parents were not able to attend. the qualitative analysis identified three main themes. mutual enjoyment was the first theme. parents and children looked forward to the home activities because they “make learning fun” and provided “quality family time” that strengthened parent-child bonds. the second theme was children’s learning and motivation. children mastered the learning goals of the home activities and parents described how they progressed on a wide variety of skills. children also showed enthusiasm and pride in learning; they were “excited” to share their knowledge with parent and siblings and made connections between home and school activities. the last theme was parents’ involvement. parents felt better prepared to help their children learn, were more aware of their children’s potential, understood the content of the school curriculum, and saw themselves as contributing to its success. there were also challenges to being involved, mostly relating to time constraints and language barriers. discussion and implications for practice parents and other adult family members are an important resource that can and should be employed to enhance head start children’s school readiness. the lc model may be useful to head start programs seeking to enhance family engagement. the lc home curriculum was highly successful in engaging families and supporting children’s learning. parents and children enjoyed the structure and shared routine that the home activities provided. parents saw changes in their children’s early academic skills as a result of the home curriculum and their perceptions were validated by objective assessment data. when parents did all or most of the home activities, their children had stronger language, literacy, and math skills, even when we took into account child age, pretest skills, and classroom quality. implications for head start programs are as follows: 1. when parents are given enough support they can be highly effective teachers. our approach was to provide parents with (a) a conceptual understanding of the relevant developmental processes, (b) clear step-by-step instructions that serve as a lesson plan for each home activity, (c) time to practice the activities, ask questions, and share observations about their child, and (d) encouragement and social support. 2. home activities should be a regular and expected component of the curriculum. a frequent, predictable schedule helps families establish a routine. home activities should be easy to follow, engaging, and feasible to fit into families’ busy schedules. learning connections 209 3. children and families benefit when the learning objectives and content of home activities are closely linked to the classroom curriculum. parents gain a more sophisticated understanding of the teachers’ work and become empowered by serving as co-instructors with the classroom staff. children see that the same ideas are valued at home and at school and their learning is deepened when they apply the same knowledge in both settings. 4. family involvement can be a self-reinforcing process. parents saw the results of their efforts in their child’s enthusiasm and progress. this success boosted parents’ selfconfidence and they found much satisfaction in working with their child. when parents did not already see themselves as teachers, the lc activities and training provided a clear message about the importance of home teaching and a set of strategies to use. parents should be part of an educational team, working together with the teachers and schools to help children reach academic goals. it is too early to see whether family involvement efforts like lc have long-term effects on family engagement and children’s academic achievement into elementary school. based on the strength of the results presented here, we believe this question deserve to be answered. references arnold, d. h., lonigan, c. l., whitehurst, g. j., & epstein, j. n. (1994). accelerating language development though picture book reading: replication and extension to a videotape training format. journal of educational psychology, 86, 235-243. bus, a. g., van ijzendorn, m. h., & pellegrini, a. d. (1995). joint book reading makes for success in learning to read: a meta-analysis on intergenerational transmission of literacy. review of educational research, 65, 121. ctb/mcgraw-hill (1990). the developing skills checklist norms book and technical manual. monterey, ca: author. debaryshe, b. d., & gorecki, d. m. (2007). experimental validation of a preschool emergent literacy curriculum. early education and development, 18, 93-110. debaryshe, b. d. & gorecki, d. (2005). enhancing emergent literacy and math in at-risk preschoolers: a homeschool partnership model. in a. maynard and m. martini (eds.). the psychology of learning in context: cultural artifacts, families, peers and schools pp. 175-200. new york: kluwer/plenum. debaryshe, b. d., gorecki, d. m., & mishima-young, l.n. (2009). differentiated instruction to support high-risk preschool learners. nhsa dialog, 12, 227-244. dunn, l. & dunn, l. (1997). peabody picture vocabulary test--third edition (ppvt-iii). circle pines, mn: american guidance service. epstein, j. l. (1995). school/family/community partnerships: caring for the children we share. phi delta kappan, 76, 701-712. fan, x., & chen, m. (2001). parental involvement and student’s academic achievement: a meta-analysis. educational psychology review, 13, 1-21. fantuzzo, j., mcwayne, c., & perry, m. a., & childs (2004). multiple dimensions of family involvement and their relations to behavioral and learning competencies for urban, low-income children. school psychology review, 33, 467-480. hart, b., & risley, t. r. (1995). meaningful differences in the everyday experiences of young american children. baltimore, md; brookes. hill, n. e., & tyson, d. f. (2009). parental involvement in middle school: a meta-analytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement. developmental psychology, 45, 740-763. invernizzi, m., sullivan, a., meier, j. & swank, l. (2004). phonological awareness literacy screening (palsprek). charlottesville, va: university of virginia. 210 debaryshe et al. jeynes, w. h. (2007). the relationship between parental involvement and urban secondary school student academic achievement: a meta-analysis. urban education, 42, 82-110. lonigan, c. j., & whitehurst, g. j. (1998). relative efficacy of parent and teacher involvement in a shared-reading intervention for preschool children from low-income backgrounds. early childhood research quarterly, 13, 263-290. mcwayne, c., hampton, v., fantuzzo, j., cohen, h. l., & sekino, y. (2004). a multivariate examination of parent involvement ad the social and academic competencies of urban kindergarten children. psychology in the schools, 41, 363-377. pianta, r. c., la paro, karen m., & hamre, b. k. (2005). classroom assessment scoring system manual preschool version. charlottesville, va: university of virginia. reid, d., hresko, w. & hammill, d., (2001). tera 3 examiner’s manual. austin, tx: pro-ed. saxe, g. b., guberman, s., & gearhart, m. (1987). social processes in early number development. monographs of the society for research in child development, 52(2, serial no. 216). sénéchal, m., & lefevre, j. (2002). parental involvement in the development of children’s reading skill: a 5-year longitudinal study. child development, 73, 445-460. sénéchal, m., & young, l. (2008). the effect of family literacy interventions on children’s acquisition of reading from kindergarten to grade 3: a meta-analytic review. review of educational research, 78, 880-907. starkey, p., & klein, a. (2000). fostering parental support for children’s mathematical development: an intervention with head start families. early education and development, 11, 659-680. u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, office of head start (2011). the head start parent, family, and community engagement framework: promoting family engagement and school readiness, from prenatal to age 8. retrieved january 6, 2012 from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/ims/2011/pcfe-framework.pdf whitehurst, g. j., falco, f. l., lonigan, c. j., fischel, j. e., debaryshe, b. d., valdez-menchaca, m. c., & caulfield, m. b. (1988). accelerating language development through picture book reading. developmental psychology, 24, 552-559. http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/ims/2011/pcfe-framework.pdf dialog, 16(1), 194-199 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 correspondence concerning the article should be addressed to patricia hrusa williams, ph.d., division of inclusive early childhood and elementary education, university of maine at farmington, 186 high street, farmington, maine, 04938; phone: (207) 778-7109, email: patricia.h.williams@maine.edu the authors wish to thank all of the parent child home program (pchp) sites who participated in this study and both the massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education and the department of early education and care for their support. we would also like to acknowledge the research assistance provided by michelle higgins and kimberly krupa while they were students at providence college and feedback provided by suzanne colby, christopher heinrich, and two other anonymous reviewers on earlier drafts of this manuscript. the opinions expressed in this article are of the authors and not of the massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education, the department of early education and care, or the pchp national center. research-to-practice summary participation in early childhood home visiting: the role of family, ethnic, and community factors patricia hrusa williams university of maine at farmington emily caille participant ethnicity, family risks, resources, and community characteristics influence participation in many different types of early childhood home visiting programs. however, few studies have examined their influence on family participation in literacyfocused home visiting efforts. a sample of 539 families enrolled in one of 25 parent child home program (pchp) sites in massachusetts was tracked from program entry to exit. families were less likely to complete programs if they were non-latino and experienced more family educational risks; the esl rate in their community of residence was predictive of program completion for latino families. length of participation was predicted by ethnicity, child age at entry, family involvement in formal school settings, and the graduation rate in the community where the family resides. implications of study findings for decreasing barriers to program completion and developing long-term associations between home visiting programs and families are considered. keywords: home visiting, community, latino, risk factors, literacy participation in early childhood home visiting: the role of family, ethnic, and community factors home visiting programs are designed to reduce barriers to program participation for families with young children by bringing interventions directly to them. however, studies examining a variety of home visiting programs including healthy families, parents as teachers (pat), and participation in home visiting 195 the nurse home visitation program suggest that drop-out rates for programs remain an issue of concern. program completion rates hover between 20 76% depending on the subgroups examined (gromby, culcross, & berman, 1999; mccurdy, gannon, & daro, 2003; middlemiss & mcguigan, 2005). kahn and moore’s (2010) review of the research finds that high service intensity is important to service outcomes in early childhood home visiting programs focused on parenting, child development, and providing educational support. research on programs such as parents as teachers (pat) indicates that the number of visits received by families is important to program success (wagner & clayton, 1999; zigler, pfannenstiel, & seitz, 2008). further, the duration of home visiting has been found to have a direct effect on parents’ understanding of early childhood development and an indirect effect on school readiness (schull & anderson, 2008). it is also important to examine differences in family participation in home visiting by families’ ethnic background to ensure program practices and policies optimize participation for diverse families. the number of latino children in the u.s. is growing, with latinos under 18 outnumbering non-latino whites by 11.6% (u.s. census, 2006). research on home visiting indicates that latino families, especially those who are newer to the u.s. and less acculturated, are more receptive to home visiting, and more likely to achieve benefits from programs (daro et al., 2007; mccurdy et al., 2003; mcguigan, katzev & pratt, 2003ab; middlemiss & mcguigan, 2005; wagner & clayton, 1999). differences in latino families’ rates of program completion and length of participation have been attributed to cultural differences in familism, extended family networks, and permeability (landale, oropesa, & bradatan, 2006; middlemiss & mcguigan, 2005). however, there are other factors besides ethnicity that may be linked to family success in programs. they include family educational risks, family literacy skills and resources, and the characteristics of the community where families reside. these factors may be particularly crucial to success in literacy-focused home visiting programs such as the parent-child home program (pchp) (see levenstein, 1988; levenstein, & levenstein, 2008) which has the primary goal of strengthening verbal interaction and educational play between parents and their young children. studies of other literacy-focused home visiting programs have found that young, less educated latina mothers are less likely to persist in home visiting programs (wagner, spiker, linn, gerlach-downie, & hernandez, 2003). community factors, including the demographic profile of the community where the program is located and the family resides, also contribute to family participation and programmatic outcomes (coulton, 1995). communities challenged by poverty, low rates of high school completion, and high numbers of english language learners (ells) may create barriers to program completion for families. conversely, residing in a distressed community could serve as a means further motivate families to stay engaged with programs so as to help ensure their child’s future educational and occupational success in the face of adversity. hence, the present study examines multiple factors associated with program completion and length of participation for latino and non-latino families enrolled in a statewide, multi-site implementation of the parent child home program (pchp). 196 williams and caille summary of research methods data were collected from families representing 25 state-funded parent child home programs (pchp) in massachusetts. families’ progress was tracked from program entry to exit, with complete data available on 539 families who were enrolled in the program between september 2003 and june 2006. information collected included data on family risks (income, single parenthood, parental educational attainment, and language) and child age at entry to the program. the familia inventory: a questionnaire for the assessment of literacy practices in families (infant-toddler version) (taylor, 2001) was used to examine family literacy skills and resources. three city-level indicators were used to examine the socioeconomic and educational characteristics of communities in which pchp programs were located including the percentage of (1) individuals in the community who have not graduated from high school, (2) families below the poverty line and (3) families in the community who speak a language other than english. these variables were used to predict two indicators of family participation in home visiting: program completion and length of enrollment. major findings results show that latino families enrolled in pchp faced twice the number of risks to their participation in home visiting than non-latino families enrolled in the program. latino program participants were more likely to have lower incomes, use literacy skills less frequently (individually or in interaction with their children), to be single parents, have less extended family support, and to reside in urban areas than non-latino families. they were also less likely to use community resources such as the library at program entry. despite these risks, non-latino families were at greater risk for program non-completion and latinos were more likely to participate longer in programs. further, different sets of factors were important in understanding program completion and length of enrollment for latinos and non-latinos. for latino families, the odds were greater of dropping out of the program if the family lived in a community with a high esl rate. for non-latino families, the odds of dropping out of the program were greater for families who experienced more risks. for both latino and non-latino families, child age at entry and the high school graduation rate of the community were statistically significant predictors of the length of time families remained enrolled in the program. those children who entered the program when they were younger and had families that resided in communities with a lower rate of individuals not graduating from high school remained in the program longer. implication for practice there are several findings of this study which may inform practice and policy in head start programs. this study found different sets of factors predict program completion for latino and non-latino families. family experiences, patterns of organization, and interaction may differ for these two groups, influencing their participation patterns in home visiting programs (coatsworth, duncan, pantin, & szapocznik, 2006). overall, the odds of dropping out of pchp in massachusetts are higher for non-latinos and those experiencing more family educational risks. while cultural issues may have played a role in the higher completion rate for latino families participation in home visiting 197 enrolled in pchp, as other studies have shown (daro et al., 2007; mccurdy et al., 2003, mcguigan et al, 2003ab; middlemiss & mcguigan, 2005; wagner & clayton, 1999), an alternative explanation may also apply. it is likely that because latino families experience far more risks in this sample than non-latinos, home visitors perceived them as needier and provided more assistance than they do to non-latino families; this in turn enables then to complete the program at a higher rate than their non-latino counterparts. this has been found in other work (sharp, ispa, thornburg, & lane, 2003). follow-up work should examine home visitor-parent interaction and how patterns differ for latino and non-latino families to assess biases in interaction toward latino families or against non-latino families participating in literacy-focused programs. for non-latinos, family educational risk was an important predictor of program completion. family educational risks, including low parental education level, language barriers, poverty, and single parenthood may serve to impede families’ ability to meet program participation requirements in literacy-focused home visiting programs. for latinos, only the esl rate of the community was a significant predictor of program completion. mcguigan et al. (2003a) found those families living in communities with poorer community health are less likely to engage in programs. in this study, a higher esl rate decreased the odds that families would be able to complete the required number of home visits. in communities where there are large numbers of individuals struggling with the same issue, whether it be to learn a new language, adapt to a new culture, or have their child succeed educationally where few do, there may competition for resources and fewer models of success in the community for families to learn from and to use for inspiration. these factors may collectively impact program completion. the use of peer mentors by home visiting programs operating in areas with high rates of second language learners may be important to help promote family success. in addition, work with families may need to extend out from the home into the community. collaboration between programs that serve english language learners (ells) may assist home visiting professionals in understanding the challenges and needs of second language families, help link parents enrolled in home visiting programs and their family members with educational supports, and facilitate the development of social networks for latino families. the present study also found child age at entry and the high school graduation rate in communities to be important predictors of length of participation in home visiting. this highlights the importance of program outreach and targeting in locating and registering children early. in massachusetts many pchp programs were based within public schools where preschool services typically start at age three. hence, it is crucial that home visiting programs collaborate with early intervention programs, pediatricians, and family child care providers in order to effectively outreach to families with older infants and toddlers who may qualify for programs like pchp. finally, the high school completion rate of the community was an important predictor of length of enrollment in pchp for both latino and non-latino families. mcguigan et al. (2003b) found in their study of healthy families programs that higher rates of community violence predicted whether families would receive more home visits. similarly, the present study found that greater education risk in the community, as indicted by a lower high school completion rate, was associated with an increased length of enrollment in pchp. home visiting in these communities may serve as a means for families who want to have their children succeed in school to gain needed support that may not be readily available in the larger community. 198 williams and caille conversely, pchp families residing in communities with higher high school completion rates may feel isolated and separated from their community. they may feel that there is a stigma to utilizing literacy-support services in a community where there is a history of educational success, as evidenced by the high number of individuals completing high school. home visiting programs may need to work harder with families in these communities to assist them in feeling comfortable and less isolated in the literacy environment of their community, such as the library. isolation may play a role in length of enrollment, as has been suggested by mcguigan et al. (2003a). helping families feel comfortable and knowledgeable about free literacy services available in their community at program entry, such as those offered by the library such as borrowing privileges, translation services, story times, plays, and puppet shows, may be a costeffective investment. references coatsworth, j. d., duncan, l. g., pantin, h., & szapocznik, j. (2006). differential predictors of african american and hispanic parent retention in a family-focused preventive intervention. family relations, 55(2), 240251. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2006.00373.x coulton, c. (1995). using community-level indicators of children’s well-being in comprehensive community initiatives. in j.p. connell, c.c. kubisch, l. schorr, & c. weiss (eds.), new approaches to evaluating community initiatives: concepts, methods, and contexts (pp. 173-200). washington, d.c.: aspen institute. daro, d., mccurdy, k., falconnier, l., & stojanovic, d. 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(2001). the familia inventory: user’s manual and infant/toddler supplement. grandview, mo: family reading resources. participation in home visiting 199 u.s. census bureau (2006). hispanics in the united states. washington, dc: author. wagner, m.w., & clayton, s.l. (1999). the parents as teachers (pat) program: results from two demonstrations. the future of children, 9(1), 91-115. wagner, m., spiker, d., linn, m.i., gerlach-downie, s., & hernandez, f. (2003). dimensions of parental engagement in home visiting programs: exploratory study. topics in early childhood special education, 23(4), 171-187. doi:10.1177/02711214030230040101 zigler, e., pfannenstiel, j. c., & seitz, v. (2008). the parents as teachers program and school success: a replication and extension. journal of primary prevention, 29, 103-120. doi: 10.1007/s10935-008-0132-1. dialog, 17(1), 136-141 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary head start parents’ reports of managing time to support parent involvement heather s. wallace university of tennessee, knoxville sandra twardosz university of tennessee, knoxville in order to encourage parents’ involvement in children’s learning and development, teachers in one head start program sent a developmentally appropriate activity, linked to the classroom curriculum, home each week for parents and children to do together. this exploratory study used focus groups to examine how parents made the time to complete these “homework” activities. parents reported using a variety of time management strategies and supports such as organizational aids, supportive family members, routines, and a flexible time perspective. they also discussed the obstacles they faced in managing time such as work schedules, high levels of parental stress, and household responsibilities. these results are limited by sample size and characteristics. however, asking parents how they make the time to be involved with their children may result in information that can be shared with other head start families who are struggling with this issue. home-based parent involvement that focuses on children’s intellectual development has been demonstrated as one of the mechanisms that improves school readiness, regardless of income level (henderson & berla, 1994; hoover-dempsey & sandler, 1997). however, a noted trend is that low-income parents are less likely to be involved in young children’s learning within the home than middle-class parents (eccles & harold, 1996; lareau, 1987). ironically, it is this very population that benefits most from “home-based parent involvement” activities such as shared book reading interactions (raikes, pan, luze, tamis-lemonda, brooks-gunn, 2006). because it appears that home-based parent involvement can be an important factor in the development of academic skills in low-income children, some interventions have been developed to encourage it. one example is the home instruction program for preschool youngsters (hippy) a privately-funded, non-profit, home-based intervention program that, over the course of two years, attempts to increase typically developing, low-income preschoolers’ school readiness through daily lessons conducted by their parents. qualitative interviews with hippy program staff indicated a wide range of parent involvement. while some parents may have enjoyed the support of the group meetings, it appeared that they may have faced significant head start parents’ reports 137 barriers to being able to conduct the activities with their children (baker, 1999) on their own time. a lack of perceived “available time” to dedicate to home-based parent involvement activities may be connected with some very real issues like parents’ work schedules and long work-to-home commutes (weiss, mayer, kreider, vaughan, dearing, hencke, et al., 2003) (heymann & earle, 2001), regardless of income level. however, an investigation of time management strategies may be particularly salient for head start families given that previous work noted that low-income households tend to have less stable and consistent resources and routines than middleand high-income households (petrill, pike, price, & plomin, 2004; valiente, lemery-chalfant, & reiser, 2007). the availability of resources and presence of routines was presumed to play a critical role in the creation of time dedicated to home-based parent involvement activities in this study. key study information the purpose of the present exploratory study is to add to the very sparse literature on time management in low-income families by examining the strategies of a small number of head start families relative to home-based parent involvement. this study investigates this issue as it relates specifically to family participation in a “homework” activity program connected with their children’s head start classrooms. feedback from many parents about this program indicated that finding the time to do the activities was difficult and often a barrier. the intention of this study is to explore, through focus group conversations, the ways in which parents managed time to engage in these “homework activities” with their children, and the difficulties involved in doing so. methods this study was conducted in close partnership with the knoxville/knox county head start (kkchs) program. parents have opportunities to become involved with the kkchs program by volunteering in the classroom and at the administrative level. kkchs supports parenting education by offering information about positive parenting practices and children’s health and well-being during monthly group parent meetings. as an additional aspect of its efforts to encourage home-based parent involvement and empower parents in their role as their children’s first teacher, kkchs implemented a program of developmentally appropriate and cognitively stimulating activities, connected with the classroom curriculum, that were also designed to be fun and promote positive parent-child interactions. the activities were called “homework” because it was thought that this would be a familiar term for parents, particularly those with older children. teachers sent home one activity per week. parents were asked to complete the “homework” with their children within a week and return the product to the classroom teacher. examples of activities were having parents and children engage in a scavenger hunt around the house to identify items starting with the letter b; having parents and children compare their height by measuring it with household objects; and having parents and children create a booklet depicting the child’s favorite activities. 138 wallace & twardosz kkchs surveyed parents and learned that while they liked the activities, things like purchasing the necessary supplies and finding time to do the activities were barriers. kkchs addressed the need for supplies by providing a backpack filled with materials required to complete the activities for each child. however, some parents continued to report being unable to find the time to complete the homework activities, while others were able to consistently complete them. kkchs partnered with the authors of this study to shed light on this issue. participants (n = 22) in this study were the primary legal caregivers (referred to throughout as ‘parent(s)’) of a child enrolled in kkchs. most parents were from a two-parent household. separate focus groups were conducted for parents who completed most of the homework activities and for parents who completed less than half of the activities. the reason for conducting separate focus groups was to encourage parents to respond in a manner that was most representative of their experiences. in other words, we did not want parents to feel “pressured” to respond in a particular way that was not representative of their experiences because of others’ statements. a total of 18 high-homework completion group parents participated in three focus groups and four low-homework completion group parents participated in two focus groups. during the focus groups parents answered and discussed the following questions: 1. what was doing that activity with your child like? (this question was asked following a reflective recall of a time that parents had completed one of the homework activities with his or her child) 2. what helps you find the time to do the homework activities with your child? 3. what makes it difficult to do the homework activities with your child? 4. does anyone else in your child’s life help him or her complete the homework activities? 5. is there anything that you would like head start to know about family life and the things that either help you or make it difficult to do the homework activities? originally, a goal of this study was to provide some examples of differences in time management strategies that might emerge between parents in the highand low-homework completion groups. however, given the very low number of parents from the low-homework completion group who attended the focus groups, this question could not be addressed, thus parent comments from all focus groups were combined. results three primary categories emerged from analyses: time management strategies and supports, time management obstacles, and homework activity management. time management strategies and supports the most prominent theme (mentioned by 68.1% of parents) relating to time management strategies was the utilization of organizational aids such as planners, calendars, and/ or a specific storage location for the homework activity sheet. many parents (54.5%) also explained that having a standard routine reduced having to figure out when to find time each week and helped their children understand that the activities were important. other parents explained that they did not have a specific routine regarding the head start parents’ reports 139 homework activities. these parents embraced a flexible perspective about time that allowed them to capitalize on available, unplanned moments when they felt it was appropriate to engage in the homework activities with their children. parents (45%) also spoke about organizing time in accordance with their child’s mood, and the importance of capitalizing on moments when the child was most agreeable to engaging in the homework activity. some parents specifically noted that they waited to engage their child in the activity when he/she was in a “settled” or “calm” mood. half of the parents felt supported by other members of their immediate and extended families, and said that this support made it easier to manage to find time to engage in the homework activities with their children. time management obstacles some parents lacked reliable transportation and/or a valid driver’s license. these parents explained how needing to rely on others or using local public transportation was a significant hindrance to managing and organizing time. parents (31.8%) also cited their children’s behavior as an obstacle to managing time and that they sometimes found it challenging to engage their child in the homework activity. there were aspects of daily life that parents perceived as obstacles to finding time to spend with their children. the most commonly noted of these were daily and household-related responsibilities, such as cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, etc. parents noted that appointments, such as going to the doctor, meeting with case/ social workers from the department of human services, and/or complying with requirements necessary for receiving government aid were significant obstacles to being able to manage and organize time. parents also explained that caring for and/or helping others sometimes made it difficult to manage and organize their time. parents explained that it was difficult to manage and organize time in ways that afforded them the opportunity to interact with their children when their work schedule differed from their child’s available time. high levels of parental stress were also noted by a couple of parents as an obstacle to engaging in the homework activities. homework activity management parents also focused on ways in which they prepared for the homework activities and how they engaged their child in a manner that facilitated efficient use of their time. within this theme are issues related to how parents prepared for, and ensured completion of, the homework activities. nearly 60% of parents engaged in some form of homework activity preparation, and mentioned that doing so made it easier to find time to do the activities. three distinct forms of preparation were evident within this sub-theme: material, mental, and verbal preparation. all parents who contributed to this conversation explained that they prepared and gathered the materials needed to complete each activity before engaging in it with their child. mental preparation entailed thinking about and discussing engagement strategies. of the parents who said they prepared for the activities in some manner, 23% said that they verbally prepared their child for the activity. parents also discussed ways they maintained their child’s attention during the homework activity. some of the specific engagement strategies mentioned included making homework “like a game”, parent/child role reversal, avoidance of the activity being “chore-like” or rushed for the child, making the homework activity relevant to their child’s life and preferences, and having a specific weekly or daily routine during which the child could expect that that the homework activity was going to be completed. more than half (54.5%) of the parents mentioned the inclusion of siblings during completion of homework activities. parents also discussed how and why they did or did not alter the physical environment, and where they engaged in the homework activities 140 wallace & twardosz with their child. less than half of parents (40.9%) said they turned off the television while they and their children completed the homework activity. implications it is important to realize that we cannot generalize the results of this study beyond this sample. however, the experiences of this small group of parents could provide some valuable information applicable to other families. for instance, having a routine comprised of when, where, and how to complete the homework activities, involving other children in the activity, and considering television as a distraction may be helpful to other families. head start programs could consider highlighting these and other potential strategies during parent meetings or perhaps during home visits. in practice, this may take the form of prompting families to reflect on aspects of their home life that may help or hinder engagement in activities related to home-based parent involvement and to plan accordingly. parent education and intervention efforts designed to increase home-based parent involvement might also include a component on family time management. such a component could include an assessment of the existing supports and barriers to effective time management specific to each family. then, specific time management strategies could be discussed. of utmost importance is for such efforts to mobilize existing resources and be congruent with each family’s unique attributes and values, rather than mandating what should or should not be done to manage time. managing time in order to provide isolated segments that can be devoted to home-based parent involvement activities may be overwhelming or not feasible for some families. in such situations, programs such as head start can focus on alternative options for parent involvement that can be interspersed throughout the day (montes & giamartino, 2004). for example, parents could be provided with suggestions for integrating learning opportunities during bath time (e.g., comparison of what floats and what does not), or identifying produce, counting, or weighing items at the grocery store. thus, although a focus on time management can be an important component of services provided for many families, it should not be considered a panacea for increasing home-based parent involvement. although it is not possible to remove all of the impediments to home-based parent involvement, head start programs may be able to assist families to manage time in a manner that supports occurrences of parent-child interaction and teaching. conclusion the results of this exploratory study suggest that this small sample of head start parents used a variety of strategies to manage their time in order to participate with their children in “homework”, a particular type of home-based parent involvement. they appeared to be helped in doing so by resources like social support, and hindered by obstacles, such as lack of transportation. since there is little information on the topic of how parents, particularly lowincome parents, manage time so that they can be involved with their children, this study provides some valuable starting points for both descriptive and intervention research on this topic as well as suggestions for practice. head start parents’ reports 141 acknowledgements we express our deep appreciation to the participating parents and to the staff of the knoxvilleknox county head start and in particular, renee hauge, nancy thomas, joyce farmer, phyllis martinelli, and suzanne inman. references baker, a. j. l., piotrkowski, c. s., & brooks-gunn, j. (1999). the home instruction program for pre-school youngsters (hippy). the future of children, 9, 116-133. eccles, j. s., & harold, r. d. (1996). family involvement in children and adolescent’s schooling. in a. booth & j. f. dunn (eds.), family-school links: how do they affect educational outcomes? (pp. 3-34). mahwah, nj: erlbaum. henderson, a. & berla, n. (eds.). (1994). a new generation of evidence: the family is critical to student achievement. columbia, md: national committee for citizens in education. heymann, s. j., & earle, a. (2001). the impact of parental working conditions on school-age children: the case of evening work, community, work & family, 4(3), 305-325. hoover-dempsey, k. v., & sandler, h. m. (1997). why do parents become involved in their children’s education?. review of educational research, 67(1), 3-42. montes, g., & giamartino, r., jr. (2004). context specificity of family activities that foster early literacy: evidence from the national household education survey 1999. in d. lapp, c.c. block, e. j. cooper, j. flood, n. roser, & j. v. tinajero (eds.), teaching all the children: strategies for developing literacy in an urban setting (pp. 31-41). new york: guilford press. petrill, s. a., pike, a., price, t., & plomin, r. (2004). chaos in the home and socioeconomic status are associated with cognitive development in early childhood: environmental mediators identified in a genetic design. intelligence, 32, 445-460. raikes, h., pan, b. a., luze, g., tamis-lemonda, c. s., brooks-gunn, j. (2006) mother–child book reading in lowincome families: correlates and outcomes during the first three years of life. faculty publications, department of child, youth, and family studies. paper 39. valiente, c., lemery‐chalfant, k., & reiser, m. (2007). pathways to problem behaviors: chaotic homes, parent and child effortful control, and parenting. social development, 16(2), 249-267. weiss, h. b., mayer, e., kreider, h., vaughan, m., dearing, e., hencke, r., & pinto, k. (2003). making it work: low-income working mothers' involvement in their children's education. american educational research journal, 40(4), 879-901. dialog, 17(1), 74-87 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article the impact of hippy participation on school readiness and parent involvement amber l. brown & ursula johnson university of texas hippy is a 3-year, home-based, early education intervention program that aims to help parents with limited formal education prepare their 3-, 4and 5-year-old children for school. this article begins with a brief overview of the hippy program and then presents the results of a study of the effects of the hippy early intervention program on the parental involvement and school readiness of the children at multiple hippy sites in texas. according to the results of paired-samples t-tests, hippy parents significantly increased their in-home literacy activities, contact with school personnel, and other school involvement activities. kindergarten teachers reported that in comparison to parents of other students in their class, 91% of hippy parents were equally or more involved in their children’s education. kindergarten teachers also reported that in the area of classroom adaptability, 88.7% of hippy students were rated as “ready for school.” in the area of classroom behavior, 90.8% of hippy students were rated as “average” or “above average.” overall, the results of this study suggest that the hippy program intervention can increase readiness skills and build a strong base for future parent involvement in their child’s school experience. children from low-income, single-parent, and minority families are more likely to start school with limited language skills, health problems, and social and emotional problems that interfere with learning (espinosa, 2007; maxwell & clifford, 2004; rhode island kids count, 2005; welsley & buysse, 2003). while there are many types of intervention programs for at-risk children, those designed to improve children’s school adjustment and to prevent later academic problems are most effective when they occur at school entry or during the preschool years (hanson et al., 2006). strategies that emphasize parent-child interactions can promote children’s readiness to start school. one delivery method for early intervention programs is through home visits. home visiting programs during the preschool years are generally based on the premise that parents are the first teachers of their children. home visiting programs also aim to improve a family’s access to resources, meet basic needs, and strengthen family wellbeing. by working intensively with families, these programs can help to prepare children for successful engagement with the school environment. the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters program, better known as hippy, is one such early intervention program. impact of hippy school readiness and parent involvement 75 the hippy program hippy is a 3-year, home-based, early education intervention program that aims to help parents with limited formal education prepare their 3-, 4and 5-year-old children for school. developed in israel and brought to the united states in 1984, hippy now operates at more than 147 sites in 25 states, the district of columbia, and 9 countries. the hippy program targets low-income, primarily minority, parents in hopes of breaking the cycle of educational limitations by increasing the chances of successful early school readiness among their children. the program provides educational enrichment to at-risk preschool children. to be eligible for the hippy program, a child must be economically disadvantaged, academically at-risk, or homeless (c. weir, personal communication, july 19, 2007). a professional coordinator whose primary responsibilities are recruiting parents, hiring and training home visitors, organizing parent group meetings, and developing enrichment activities supervises each hippy site. the coordinator and home visitors meet weekly to roleplay the curriculum material, discuss the previous week’s activities, and share experiences and problems. sometimes problems arise that the coordinator may handle by making a home visit or by referring a parent to an appropriate social service agency. the hippy program is delivered by home visitors who are members of the community in which they serve and are also parents in the program. many of the home visitors have limited english proficiency and only a high school education or general educational development (ged: c. weir, personal communication, july 19, 2007). many hippy home visitors are americorps members. americorps is a federally funded network of local, state, and national service programs that connects more than 70,000 americans each year with volunteer service organizations in the areas of education, public safety, health, and the environment (corporation for national and community service, n.d.). as americorps members, home visitors receive training and an education award for successfully serving 900 hours as hippy home visitors. hippy home visitors work with participating parents in the parents’ homes weekly to instruct them in using the hippy educational materials. each week, the coordinator practices the lesson for the week with the home visitors. the home visitors then role-play the lessons with the parents, and the parents in turn repeat the activities with their children during the week. prior to presenting a new lesson, the home visitors follow up with each parent by reviewing the child’s workbook and discussing the child’s progress. home visitors are crucial to the hippy model. their knowledge of the community allows them to develop trusting relationships with the participating families, and since most home visitors are former hippy parents themselves, they identify with the kinds of challenges the parents face. the home visitors teach the parents primarily through role-playing. role-play provides opportunities to discuss the goals of the activities, reflect on the learners’ specific needs (both adults and children), and teach new skills. role-playing also promotes a comfortable, nonthreatening learning environment that promotes parental empathy for the developmental capabilities of young children. finally, the role-playing method of instruction allows parents with limited reading ability an opportunity to become effective first teachers for their children. the hippy curriculum is designed for 3-, 4-, and 5year old children and is available in both english and spanish. each year’s materials include 30 weekly activity packets, 9 storybooks, and a set of 20 manipulative shapes. in addition to these basic materials, supplies such as scissors and crayons are provided for each participating family. the hippy curriculum is primarily cognitive-based, focusing on language development, problem solving, logical 76 brown & johnson thinking, and perceptual skills. the hippy curriculum exposes children to early literacy skills including phonological and phonemic awareness, letter recognition, book knowledge, and early writing experiences. in addition, the curriculum fosters social-emotional development as well as fine and gross motor development. all activities are completed at home using the provided materials or common household items such as spoons. each activity pack is highly structured with step-by-step instructions, providing parents with little formal education the confidence to be their child’s first teacher. parents also receive information and support in their role as their child’s first teacher during group meetings and field trips. parents are strongly encouraged to attend monthly group meetings where they share their experiences and engage in enrichment activities involving issues related to parenting, employment, school/community/social services, and personal growth. parents chose the group meeting topics that help them learn how to be more effective parents and members of the community. childcare is provided during the group meetings, and the children learn to interact socially. field trips provide parents and children experience learning opportunities in the larger community. field trips include visits to museums, zoos, and theater productions (c. weir, personal communication, july 19, 2007). one or both parents must attend field trips with their child so parents can be an active participant in the educational experience. in fact, entire families can participate in the child’s learning experiences through field trips. many hippy programs report that fathers, who are otherwise not involved with the hippy program, often attend field trips with their children (c. weir, personal communication, july 19, 2007). conceptual framework of hippy in addition to serving as an early education program, hippy incorporates features of family support programs. hippy is based on an ecological approach that recognizes children’s development as powerfully influenced by the families, communities, and societies in which they live (westheimer, 2003). hippy therefore aims to create greater continuity between home and school by enhancing children’s home learning environments. hippy programs provide support for families in a way that is designed to recognize and respect family needs and values, another common feature of family support programs. hippy, like many other family support programs, respects the cultural diversity of the families it serves (baker et al., 1999). books and activity packets included as part of the program curriculum, respect ethnically and culturally diverse families. however, hippy diverges from some other family support programs in using a structured approach with parents, with set lesson plans designed to enhance children’s cognitive skills. the hippy program has resulted in positive outcomes for the participating children and families as well as for whole communities where the program is being implemented. research shows accumulated evidence documenting the positive impacts of hippy, both on children's school readiness when entering kindergarten and later academic performance in higher grades (baker et al., 1999; barhava-monteith, harre, & field, 1999; garcia, 2006; jacobson, 2003). additionally, research documents the impact of hippy on parents participating in the program (jacobson, 2003; roundtree, 2003; westheimer, 2003). impact of hippy school readiness and parent involvement 77 evidence of increased school readiness the first major u.s. study, funded primarily by the u.s. department of education, studied the outcomes of hippy children in two states, new york and arkansas (baker et al., 1999). the two-site, two-cohort longitudinal study of hippy examined the effects of hippy on children's school performance through the second grade. the design at each of the sites was different – quasi-experimental in one site with nonrandomized comparison groups and experimental in the other with randomized controls. in one site, the hippy children were compared to children who had no preschool services whatsoever; in the other site they were compared to children who, like the hippy children, had participated in a full-day, high-quality prekindergarten program. as they began kindergarten, hippy children in the first cohort outperformed those in the comparison groups on objective measures of school performance and teacher ratings of their motivation and adaptation to the classroom. hippy children also had better attendance, scored higher on standardized achievement tests, and were perceived by their teachers as better students. while these results were not replicated in the second cohort, the study concluded that there were significant findings in both cities in cohort i which supported the hypothesis that participation in the hippy program improves children's school performance and competence. another study by barhava-monteith et al. (1999) measured the impact of participation in the hippy program in new zealand on children’s reading ability, school readiness, and school behavior. in three separate studies, children in the hippy program were matched with comparison children who had not participated in hippy. the children were then assessed using a reading diagnostic survey, the metropolitan readiness test, and the behavioral academic self esteem scale. hippy children consistently performed better on all of the measures than their peers, whether they were compared to students similar to themselves or to other school peers. based on these results the study suggested that hippy plays a valuable role in enabling children from disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed in school. a study conducted in texas by jacobson (2003) looked at the effectiveness of hippy in four cities in texas by studying children’s school adaptability and functioning. kindergarten teachers were asked to rate hippy children on their classroom adaptation and school readiness when compared with other children in their classroom. for each of the 3 years reported in this study, teachers rated three-quarters of the hippy children as average or above average. also, the children enrolled in hippy show evidence of expected personal and social development and language learning, literacy, and math. while the children fared better in structured, concrete activities, they demonstrated less competence in areas of meaning, interpretation, and selfinitiated learning as compared to their classmates. evidence of later school achievement. bradley and gilkey (2002) conducted a quasi-experimental study to determine the effects of the hippy program on children who had completed two full years of the program and who were enrolled in third and sixth grades. the study used a quasi-experimental study using a post-hoc matching design to compare children who participated in the hippy program with similar children who had other preschool experiences. child outcomes were examined in 5 categories: (a) school attendance; (b) official actions (suspension, retention, and special education) taken by the school district that affected students’ experience in school; (c) classroom grades; 78 brown & johnson (d) standardized achievement test scores; and (e) student behavior. results showed a modest positive impact on school suspensions, classroom behavior, and achievement test scores at both grade levels. a recent study conducted in texas by garcia (2006) assessed hippy’s impact on the academic achievement of hispanic english language learners. using a quasi-experimental design, the academic success of hispanic third grade children who participated in the hippy program as 4and 5year olds was compared to a matched group of hispanic third grade students who attended preschool programs offered by the public school district but not hippy. comparison of state mandated standardized tests in reading and math revealed that hippy children consistently outperformed their non-hippy peers. in addition, more students from the hippy group completed the tests in english rather than spanish. evidence of parent outcomes the hippy program also purposes to prepare children for school by enhancing the home literacy environment, the quality of parent-child verbal interaction, and parents’ ability to help their children learn. one study investigated the scaffolding behavior of mother-child dyads participating in the hippy program (roundtree, 2003). preand post-hippy observations looked at how mothers and children engaged in hippy activities. all of the mothers demonstrated a range of scaffolding behavior during their post-hippy observation. in a quasi-experimental study, barhava-monteith et al. (2003) assessed the benefits of hippy to parents who participate in the program. the study examined the formal educational involvement, attitudes towards education, and self-esteem of a sample of both hippy and nonhippy parents in new zealand. hippy parents were significantly more involved than comparison caregivers in educational activities. these activities included things like helping with field trips, serving on school committees, and serving as teachers’ aids. hippy parents were also significantly more likely to be involved in an adult education class. no significant differences were found in terms of attitude and self-esteem. in jacobson’s (2003) study mentioned earlier, parent involvement was assessed using a parent interview developed by the center for parent education at the university of north texas, by adapting instruments developed by the center for young children and families at teachers college, columbia university. over half (61.9%) of the parents reported that they frequently or always encouraged their child to read or look through books or any other printed matter. in addition, 88.5% of parents reported that they became more aware of the importance of reading by participating in the hippy program. purpose of the study the purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of hippy on the parent involvement and school readiness of children. five research questions were addressed in this study: 1. did hippy parents of 3and 4-year olds increase their engagement in home-literacy activities with their preschool children? 2. did hippy parents of 3or 4-year olds increase their interactions with school staff? impact of hippy school readiness and parent involvement 79 3. did hippy parents of 3and 4-year olds increase their school involvement? 4. in comparison to other non-hippy parents, how involved are hippy parents of kindergarteners in the education of their children? 5. do hippy children enter kindergarten “ready for school”? methodology the study is part of the larger statewide evaluation of the texas hippy program and was conducted to evaluate the parental involvement of participants and their children’s school readiness. all ten of the texas hippy sites from the 2005/2006 to 2007/2008 program years were included in this study, representing texas families across the state (from north, central, east, southeast, and southwest texas) in cities with a population as small as 10,000 to as large as 2.3 million residents. texas hippy sites were in communities that had high poverty levels, low student academic achievement, low literacy levels, and/or limited english proficiency. research design the study employed a quasi-experimental design involving an in-tack group of hippy students. a quasi-experimental design is one that is similar to an experimental design but lacks random assignment. (freeman, pisani, & purves, 2007). this research design was chosen because the children in the hippy program were a pre-existing group and therefore it was not possible to randomly assign students to the hippy program after the fact. for the parental involvement outcome, first-year hippy parents were surveyed by home visitors. the hippy parents were parents of threeand four-year old hippy children who were new to the program. hippy home visitors administered the parent involvement interview (pii) survey to the parents in their home at the beginning of the 30-week program (before week two of the program) and again at the ending of the program (after week 28). the home visitors performed this task with a new group of first-time hippy parents in the fall of 2005, 2006, and 2007 and collected the post-survey data in the spring of 2006, 2007, and 2008. across the three years, the parents (n=2,146) were surveyed on their home literacy involvement with their children and school involvement with staff, teachers and activities. we calculated percentages and used one-tailed, paired sample ttests to analyze the results. the school readiness outcome was measured by the kindergarten teacher survey (kts). the survey was completed by kindergarten teachers of hippy five-year old children (n=619) enrolled in kindergarten. the kindergarten teachers’ principals were notified of the survey in the winters of 2006, 2007, and 2008 and with their permission teachers participated in the survey. in the springs of 2006, 2007, and 2008, teachers that had hippy children in their classrooms were mailed the kts and asked to mail the survey back to the state evaluation office. the teachers were not informed that the surveys were for students involved in the hippy program. in addition, kindergarten teachers were asked about the hippy students’ parent school involvement in comparison to other students’ parents in their classrooms. the school outcome data was calculated as percentages and compared to previously established benchmarks. the benchmarks were developed to determine how many of the questions in the classroom behavior and classroom adaptability sections of the kts needed to be 80 brown & johnson rated as average or above average by kindergarten teachers for the students to be considered “ready for school”. in an earlier study, fifty-two of 70 kindergarten teachers across the state reached a consensus that three out of the five classroom behavior questions and five out of eight classroom adaptability questions had to be rated as average or above average for a kindergartener to be considered “ready for school”. participants this study population included parents and kindergarten students who participated in the hippy program in texas during the 2005/2006; 2006/2007, and 2007/2008 school years. the number of parent participants was 2,146. the number of kindergarteners whose teacher completed the ks was 619. of the kindergarten students in the study, 89.4% spoke spanish as their home language; 7.1% were african american; 4.9% were asian; .04% were white; and 87.6% were latino. instruments the parent involvement interview (pii) is a 14-item, 4-point likert questionnaire adapted from britto and brooks-gunn’s (2002 “hippy parent interview” measure. the pii consists of three sections: a) in-home literacy, b) parent’s interactions with school staff, and c) parent’s school involvement. section a asked all first-year parents about the literacy activities they participate in with their 3or 4-year old children. a sample question is “in a typical week, how often do you spend time telling stories, reading books, or singing songs to your child at home?” response categories for this section were “never/seldom,” “monthly,” “at least once a week,” and “daily.” sections b and c were only completed by parents that at least had one child in an education program, such as elementary school. response categories for these two sections were “never,” “a few times a year,” “monthly or more,” and “weekly or more.” section b questioned parents about the frequency of their contact with school staff; for example, “how often have you had a face-to-face, phone conversation or conference with your child’s teacher?” section c asked about the frequency of parent’s school involvement, such as “how often have you volunteered at your child’s school in the school office, library, or lunchroom?” the items in each section were averaged for a mean score. the alpha for the pii was 0.69. the kindergarten teacher survey (kts) is a 20-item questionnaire that measured kindergarten students’ classroom verbal behavior and adaptability and parents’ school involvement. the kts was adapted from britto and brooks-gunn’s (2003) “kindergarten teacher survey” instrument. the hippy students’ kindergarten teachers completed the kts in the spring of the school year through observation of the child. section a of the kts is classroom adaptability, asking such questions as, “child’s listening and paying attention: child is attentive to teacher and other adults and children; pays attention/listens during group discussion or stories.” the teachers were instructed to answer the questions about the hippy child in comparison with other children in their classroom of the same age using the response categories “below average,” “average,” and “above average.” section b had the same response categories and instructions, but focused on the students’ verbal classroom behavior, such as “talks spontaneously and easily to others.” section c asked the kindergarten teachers to rate the impact of hippy school readiness and parent involvement 81 frequency of students’ parental involvement at the school, with responses of “never,” “1 or 2 times,” and “3 or more times.” the kts had an alpha of 0.89. results the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the hippy early intervention program on the parental involvement and school readiness of the children. question 1: during hippy parents’ first year of participation, 63.3% of hippy parents increased the amount of time they spent engaging their child in home literacy activities. figure 1 displays the percentage of responses. the most striking increase was the increase from “weekly” to “daily” time spent in some type of home literacy activity. figure 1. responses to “home literacy” section of parent involvement interview in addition, to determine if there was a statistically significant increase in home literacy activities, a paired-samples t-test was performed. according to the results of this analysis, there was a significant increase, t(1433) = -20.650, p < .001, from pre to post administration of the parent involvement interview in the frequency of home literacy activities (see table 1). hippy parents significantly increased the amount of time they participated in home literacy activities from the beginning of the program to the end of the program during their first year of participation. the medium to large effect size (cohen’s d=0.72) indicated that on average hippy parents increased their involvement with their children in literacy-related activities almost threefourths of a standard deviation from pre to post testing. 2.4 10.4 67.7 19.5 0.3 2.5 54.2 42.9 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 never/seldom monthly weekly daily p e rc e n ta ge home literacy pre post 82 brown & johnson table 1 new hippy parents involvement at home and school mean pre post t df cohen’s d in-home involvement 2.86 (0.61) 3.24 (0.45) -20.65* 1433 -0.72 school contact 1.90 (0.68) 2.22 (0.63) -13.06* 1121 -0.49 school involvement 1.42 (0.60) 1.70 (0.68) -10.48* 912 -0.44 note: *p < 0.001; standard deviations appear in parentheses beside means question 2: during hippy parents’ first year of participation, 60.4% of hippy parents increased the frequency of interactions with school staff members. figure 2 displays the percentage of responses. again, paired-samples t-test revealed a statistically significant increase in contacts with school staff, t(1121) = -13.063, p < .001 from pre to post administration of the parent involvement interview. the medium effect size (cohen’s d=0.49) indicated that on average hippy parents increased their involvement with their children in literacy-related activities about one-half of a standard deviation from pre to post testing. figure 2. responses to “interaction with school staff” section of parent involvement interview question 3: hippy parents significantly increased, t(911) = -10.482, p < .001, phone and face-to-face contact with school personnel and attendance at school meetings and volunteerism at the school from the beginning of the school year to the end of the school year (see figure 3). while firstyear hippy parents that have children enrolled in school also significantly increased their school involvement, the effect was less than half a standard deviation from the pre to post (see table 1). impact of hippy school readiness and parent involvement 83 figure 3. responses to “parent invovlement at school” section of parent involvement interview question 4: kindergarten teachers rated hippy parents (n=611) who had participated in the program for two to three years and had a five-year old enrolled in kindergarten. kindergarten teachers reported that 97.1% of hippy parents participated in some type of involvement in their child’s education on at least a monthly basis (see figure 4) . figure 4. frequency of parent involvement with child during kindergarten as reported by child’s kindergarten teacher. 28.7 68.4 2.9 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 weekly or more monthly or more a few times a year never percentage 84 brown & johnson in addition, kindergarten teachers reported that in comparison to parents of other students in their class, 91% of hippy parents were equally or more involved in their children’s education (see figure 5). figure 5. parent involvement level of parent compared to non-hippy parent as reported by child’s kindergarten teacher. question 5: to determine the school readiness of hippy kindergartners, teachers completed the kindergarten teacher survey (kts), which was analyzed using the benchmarking procedures discussed earlier. in classroom adaptability, 88.7% of hippy students were rated as “ready for school,” evidenced by a score of “average” or “above average” in at least three out of five questions. in classroom behavior, 90.8% of hippy students were rated as “average” or “above average” on a minimum of five of eight questions, meaning that they were “ready for school.” overall, there were 84.2% of hippy kindergartners that were deemed school ready in both domains by their teachers. see figure 6. impact of hippy school readiness and parent involvement 85 figure 6. kindergarten classroom behavior and classroom adaptability as reported by child’s kindergarten teacher. discussion and implications these results concur with a meta-analysis of early childhood parenting intervention programs (bakermans-kranenburg, van ijzendoorn, & juffer, 2003); intervention programs that involve the parent have a positive effect on at-risk children. these findings suggest that the parental involvement curriculum in hippy programs helps at-risk children to overcome the barriers they face by empowering their parents to be their child’s first teacher so that children can enter school “ready for school.” the results also suggest that the hippy program intervention can increase readiness skills and build a strong base for future parent involvement in their child’s school experience. specifically, participation in the hippy program resulted in significantly higher parent involvement activities as well as notable rates of school readiness. this may suggest that the parental involvement curriculum in hippy programs helps typically at-risk students to overcome the barriers they face when ecological factors are in place. the results of this study also coincide with the current body of hippy research and reinforce the hippy program’s fundamental belief that a young child’s education begins in the home. researchers agree that it is crucial for young children to have meaningful time and attention from their parents, extended family, or other significant adults in their life (barhavamonteith et al., 1999; bradley & gilkey, 2003; garcia, 2006; jacobson, 2003). there are a number of implications for future research on the hippy program. questions about the hippy program not included in this evaluation. first, research should continue to follow families in the hippy program to determine the long-term effects of participation. in addition to the positive effects found in this study, additional benefits of participation in this program may be discovered as the children continue to develop and initial small gains in other outcome domains snowball into larger and significant effects in subsequent assessments. conversely as smith (1995) points out, initial gains for intervention participants may decline over time. determining possible loss of effects would also be a useful endeavor, as it could indicate the need for more intensive follow-up services for children making the transition from intervention programs such as hippy into formal schooling. future research should also aim to 86 brown & johnson identify the mediating processes by which parental participation in hippy affects children. for example, an examination of parental expectations for their children' s school success, their confidence as their child's teacher, and other aspects of parental engagement in their child's schooling. ideally, parents who participated in hippy will apply the skills developed in the program to support their children's education throughout their school careers. examining treatment intensity would also make an important contribution by specifying how much of the hippy program is necessary for a parent to receive in order for a positive effect to be obtained. and finally, identification of subgroups of families who are more or less likely to benefit from the program could be useful for program coordinators as they recruit families into the program and train paraprofessionals to maintain family involvement over the two-year program. references baker, a. j. l., piotrkowski, c. s., & brooks-gunn, j. (1999). the home instruction program for preschool youngsters (hippy). the future of children, 116-133. bakermans-kranenburg, m. j., van ijzendoorn, m. h., & juffer, f. (2003). less is more: meta-analyses of sensitivity and attachment interventions in early childhood. psychological bulletin, 129, 195-215. barhava-monteith, g., harre, n., & field, j. (1999). an evaluation of the hippy program in new zealand. child development and care, 159, 145-157. bradley, r. h., & gilkey, b. (2002). the impact of hippy on school performance in third and sixth grades. in m. westheimer (ed.), parents making a difference: international research on the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters (hippy) program (pp. 91-101). jerusalem: the hebrew university magnes press. britto, p. r. & brooks-gunn, j. (2002). hippy program's influence on establishing home-school partnerships and enhancing children's school readiness. in m. westheimer (ed.), parents making a difference: international research on the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters (hippy) program (pp. 91-101). jerusalem: the hebrew university magnes press. corporation for national and community service. (n.d) volunteering in america. retrieved july 20, 2010, from http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/ volunteering/index.asp espinosa, l. m. (2007). english-language learners as they enter school. in r. c. pianta, m. j. cox, & k. l. snow (eds.), school readiness and the transition to kindergarten in the era of accountability (pp. 175-196). baltimore: paul h. brookes. freeman, d., pisani, r., & purves, r. ( 2007). statistics (4th ed.). new york, ny: w. w. norton & company. garcia, m. g. (2006). the impact of the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters (hippy) program on reading, mathematics, and language achievement of hispanic english language learners. dissertation abstracts international, dai-a 67/04 (umi no. 3214467) hanson, k. l., morrow, c. e., bandstra, e. s., mcauley, c., pecora, p. j., & rose, w. (2006). early interventions with young children and their parents in the us. london: jessica kingsley. hippyusa. (n.d.). about hippy. retrieved july 19, 2007, from http://www.hippyusa.org/about_hippy/about_hippy.html jacobson, a. (2003). evaluating hippy in texas: process and progress. in m. westheimer (ed.), parents making a difference: international research on the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters (hippy), (pp. 291-304). jerusalem: the hebrew university magnes press. maxwell, k. l., & clifford, r. m. (2004). school readiness assessment. young children: beyond the journal. retrieved july 30, 2007, from http://www.journal.naeyc.org/btj/200401/maxwell.asp rhode island kids count. (2005). findings from the national school readiness indicators initiative: a 17 state partnership. retrieved july 30, 2007, from http://www.gettingready.org/matriarch/d.asp?pageid=303&pagename2=pdfhold&p=&pagename=getting +ready+%2d+full+report%2epdf. roundtree, w. (2003). maternal scaffolding behavior within the hippy context. in m. westheimer (ed.), parents making a difference: international research on the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters (hippy), (pp. 181-192). jerusalem: the hebrew university mangnus press. impact of hippy school readiness and parent involvement 87 smith, t. (1999). outcomes of early intervention for children with autism. clinical psychology: science and practice, 6. 33-49. welsley, p. w., & buysse, v. (2003). making meaning of school readiness in schools and communities. early childhood research quarterly, 18, 351-375. westheimer, m. (2003). a decade of hippy research. in m. westheimer (ed.), parents making a difference: international research on the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters (hippy), (pp. 19-45). jerusalem: the hebrew university magnes press. introduction: (find references) dialog, 16(2), 75-89 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article parent voices: an investigation of the response process validity of the child behavior checklist with head start parents marlo a. perry university of pittsburgh yumiko s. miller dallas, tx rachel a. fusco university of pittsburgh john fantuzzo university of pennsylvania the purpose of the present study was to examine the response process validity of the child behavior checklist (cbcl; achenbach, 1991) with head start parents. a group of 92 parents was asked to sort the items from the cbcl (achenbach, 1991) into three piles (not comfortable, comfortable, very comfortable) in response to the following question, “to what degree would you feel comfortable answering this question honestly?” next, parents were asked to re-sort the “not comfortable” items into four piles indicating the reason for their discomfort: need more information; don’t understand; offensive; threatening. overall, there were 29 items that parents most frequently categorized as “not comfortable”. the two reasons most frequently given by parents were that they found the questions offensive or threatening. implications for early childhood education research and practice are discussed. the percentage of young children living in poverty in the u.s. has been steadily increasing in the last decade, with 41% of children under 6 living in low-income families in 2000 rising to 44% in 2008 (wight & chau, 2009). minority children are disproportionately poor, with just over twothirds of black, american indian, and hispanic children under age 6 living in low-income families, as compared to less than one-third of white children. research has consistently demonstrated the negative sequelae that poverty and comorbid risks have on young children’s cognitive and social-emotional development (national research council, 2002; shonkoff & marshall, 2000). 76 perry et al. federal initiatives, such as head start, have been charged with ameliorating some of the risks associated with poverty and boosting the school readiness skills of low-income children (u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, 2010). such initiatives have been scrutinized in recent years (zigler & styfco, 2004), and there has been a call for more rigorous evidence-based practice. in fact, the head start reauthorization act (head start reauthorization act of 2007) calls for the use of scientifically valid assessments that support classroom instructional practices and program evaluation. further, it mandates that the measures used be “developmentally, linguistically, and culturally appropriate for the population served” and be “high-quality research-based measures that have been demonstrated to assist with the purposes for which they have been devised” (head start reauthorization act of 2007, section 641a). as part of the head start reauthorization (2007), the national research council was tasked with conducting a study on the appropriate use and development of early childhood assessments. the resulting report highlights the need for researchers to hold to strict standards when selecting assessment tools. specifically, researchers must ensure that the tools have strong psychometric properties and are appropriate for different ethnic, language, special needs, and age groups (snow & van hemel, 2008). additionally, the report draws attention to the potential negative consequences of using measures that are inappropriate for minority populations. bias may come into play when assessment content is inappropriate for a population due to contextual or cultural differences (snow & van hemel, 2008). such bias undermines the validity of those assessment tools and their findings. further, the national research council report (snow & van hemel, 2008) invokes a more modern conceptualization of validity, which posits that the unitary concept of construct validity (as opposed to earlier conceptualizations of face, content, and criterion validity) is supported by five sources. these include content, response process, internal structure, relations to other variables, and consequences (cook & beckman, 2006; snow & van hemel, 2008). response process validity is particularly important when thinking about cultural appropriateness of assessment tools, as it reflects the relationship between the intended construct and the thought processes of the test-takers or participants (cook & beckman, 2006). different cultural groups may have different response processes to assessment content, resulting in potentially invalid assessments for those groups. interviews and focus groups are recommended to examine response process validity of assessment tools (beckman, cook, & mandrekar, 2005; bornstein, 2011). the child behavior checklist (cbcl; achenbach, 1991) is a commonly used measure of behavioral adjustment for young children, and has been used in several evaluations of large scale intervention projects, including the nurse home visitation program and the comprehensive child development program. however, racial/ethnic differences on cbcl syndromes have been found among community samples, bringing into question the reliability and validity of the cbcl for minority children (leboeuf, fantuzzo, & lopez, 2010; sandberg, meyer-bahlburg, & yager, 1991). an item analysis of the cbcl also found racial variability in items responses that suggested that african american parents may have different conceptualizations of problem behaviors than caucasian parents (leboeuf et al., 2010; ngo, 2007). further, research has shown that the two behavioral dimensions of the cbcl (externalizing and internalizing) most commonly used to make decisions about program effectiveness did not hold up for a community sample of young, low-income children (leboeuf, et al., 2010). parent voices 77 the reasons for the lack of validity of this measure for low-income, minority samples are not yet well understood. leboeuf and colleagues (2010) highlight the low prevalence of many of the items in a community sample. this may be due to actual low levels of those behaviors; however, it may also be due to parents not responding honestly to the items. some studies have shown that parents of low income levels are less accurate in their reporting of developmental problems in their children, in part due to parents skipping questions on written inventories (glascoe & dworkin, 1995); the authors speculate that this may be a result of reading difficulties within this population. however, another possibility is that parents were not comfortable answering some types of questions about their children and so instead left them blank. lowincome, minority parents may be particularly wary of endorsing negative items on behavioral assessments of their children, especially if they don’t understand why the information is being collected. careful questioning is needed in order to collect quality information from parents (dewey, crawford, & kaplan, 2003; glascoe, altemeier, & maclean, 1989; squires, bricker, heo, & twombly, 2001); additionally, the setting in which concerns are elicited may influence parental report (glascoe & dworkin, 1995). for example, parents may feel more comfortable sharing some concerns with their pediatrician rather than their child’s teacher. the overarching purpose of this study was to examine the response process validity of the cbcl with head start parents. in other words, we wanted to try to understand the perspectives of head start parents when they are asked to respond to items on the cbcl and therefore to understand what contributes to invalid measurement. since the cbcl is deficit-based, we also included items from another parent-report measure of children’s social-emotional development, the penn interactive peer play scale (pipps; fantuzzo, coolahan et al., 1998; fantuzzo, suttonsmith, coolahan, manz, canning, & debnam, 1995). developed in partnership with head start parents, the pipps asks questions about young children’s behaviors within peer contexts. the reason for including these additional items was simply to provide a more balanced set of questions to which parents could respond. using a mixed methods approach, the present study has two major research questions. first, which kinds of questions on the cbcl are head start parents comfortable and not comfortable answering honestly? second, what kinds of reasons do parents give for not wanting to answer particular questions honestly? method participants participants were recruited from a large, urban school district head start program in the northeast. a team of five parents was hired through the head start policy council to serve as parent research assistants in the participant recruitment and data collection process. the head start policy council is comprised of head start parents and community members, and is elected by the larger body of head start parents each year. the council is responsible for the direction of the head start program, including program design and operation and planning goals and objectives. participant recruitment was focused on centers that were identified by policy council parents; policy council parents then served as contact people at centers, where they talked with other parents about the project and posted flyers. the research team (the first three authors and the five parent research assistants) then recruited parent participants by phone and on site. 78 perry et al. the parent research assistants were provided with education and training about the research process and about the protocol for this particular project. the parent research assistants recruited 92 parents for this project. participating parents completed a consent form and provided basic demographic information. most of the respondents were african american females. more than half of the sample was employed fullor part-time, and 48% had some college or vocational education (see table 1 for more information). table 1 demographic characteristics of head start parent participants (n = 92) characteristic percent relationship to program a current parent 70 former parent 33 current policy council representative 27 participant in male involvement group 15 sex male 20 female 80 relationship to head start child mother 59 father 11 step-parent 12 extended family member 10 other (e.g. non-family primary caregiver) 8 race african american 82 caucasian 6 hispanic 7 other 6 marital status single 55 married/cohabitating 28 divorced/widowed/separated 15 education level less than high school 17 high school graduate 23 some college and/or vocational courses 46 college degree or higher 14 employment status full time 36 part time 21 school or training program 33 unemployed 10 note. a parents could be members of multiple categories (e.g. a current parent and a policy council leader). parent voices 79 measures child behavior checklist (cbcl). the cbcl consists of 113 items and provides scores on eight subscales: withdrawn, somatic complaints, anxious/depressed, social problems, thought problems, attention problems, delinquent behavior, and aggressive behavior. in addition, scores on three overarching composites can be determined: total problems, internalizing, and externalizing. the total problems composite is comprised of 111 items, and measures overall difficulties in all of the areas assessed by the cbcl. items are rated on a three-point scale (very true or often true, somewhat or sometimes true, and not true). the cbcl was normed in 1989 on a national sample of 2,368 children, who were selected to be nationally representative in terms of ethnicity, ses, geographical region, and urban/suburban/rural residence (achenbach, 1991). test authors report solid psychometric properties (see achenbach, 1991). penn interactive peer play scale-parent version (pipps-p). the penn interactive peer play scale (pipps; fantuzzo, coolahan et al., 1998; fantuzzo, sutton-smith, coolahan, manz, canning, & debnam, 1995) was designed as an assessment of the interactive peer play behavior of young children living in low-income urban areas the pipps identifies children who demonstrate successful peer play interactions and those children who experience less successful peer play. the parent version assesses how often (i.e., never, seldom, often, or always) the play behavior has been observed in the home and neighborhood in the most recent two-month period. the 32-item measure encompasses three underlying dimensions of classroom peer play behaviors: play interaction, play disruption, and play disconnection (coolahan et al., 2000; fantuzzo, mendez et al., 1998; fantuzzo, coolahan et al., 1998). internal consistency for the parent version shows strong reliability for these three factors (r = .74, .84, and .81, respectively. multimethod, multisource validity analyses further substantiated the pipps dimensions for this population of preschool children (fantuzzo & mcwayne, 2002; fantuzzo, mendez, & tighe, 1998; mcwayne, sekino, & fantuzzo, 2005). procedures in a one-on-one context, each participant was given informed consent by a member of the research team and was provided with information about the overall goal of the project. participants were guided through the process (as detailed below) of sorting the assessment items and were then asked more detailed questions about why they categorized items the way that they did. sessions were held in meeting rooms in several head start centers; each individual session took approximately 45 minutes. parents were given a $20 gift certificate to a local store as a token of appreciation for their time and contribution; they were also reimbursed for travel expenses. parent participants were asked to sort the 144 cbcl and pipps items into three piles (not comfortable, comfortable, very comfortable) in response to the following question, “to what degree would you feel comfortable answering this question honestly?” parents were given further explanation that very comfortable meant that they were eager to share that information about their child, comfortable indicated ease or perhaps ambivalence about sharing that information about their child, and not comfortable meant that there were feelings of unease associated with sharing that information about their child. next, parents were asked to re-sort the 80 perry et al. “not comfortable” items into four piles indicating the reason for their discomfort: need more information; don’t understand; offensive; threatening. pilot work with small groups of 4-6 parents each (n=34) revealed these overarching categories as the primary reasons why parents were uncomfortable answering particular questions. finally, a follow-up interview probed parents’ rationale for sorting the items into these four “reason” piles. more specifically, parents were asked to share what it was about that item that made them categorize it that way (for example, they were asked what it was about a particular item that made it seem offensive or what it was about a particular item that they didn’t understand). results overall, there were 29 cbcl items that parents most frequently categorized as “not comfortable” (see items listed in table 2). 1 chi-square analyses were used to determine if there were significant differences in responses based on demographic variables. no differences were found in parent responses for “not comfortable” items between groups based on sex, marital status, race, or education level. next, we wanted to understand why parents rated these particular questions as “not comfortable.” results indicated that parents primarily found these questions to be “offensive” or “threatening.” because of the high frequencies of these two reasons (“offensive” and/or “threatening”; see table 2), the authors focused the subsequent qualitative analyses on only these two reasons. in order to help organize findings overarching content categories were created for the items that parents rated as “not comfortable.” the categories were based on the content of each item (i.e., the behavior that was being asked about) and were determined by consensus by three of the authors. these content categories were as follows: antisocial behaviors (8 items), physically aggressive behaviors (2 items), indices of self-harm (3 items), issues related to thought disorders/problems (7 items), sex-related behaviors (6 items), and physical symptoms (3 items). content categories allowed the authors to see if there were patterns in item content that related to their comfort level in answering such an item honestly. 1 one item from the pipps (“is physically aggressive”) was also frequently categorized as “not comfortable”. however, since pipps items were included only to provide a more balanced array of items to which parents could respond, and not to provide a comparison to the cbcl, further examination of this item is not included in this paper. parent voices 81 table 2 categorization of cbcl items endorsed as “not comfortable” by parents (n=92) item content reason for rating “not comfortable” more not threatening offensive info understand cbcl 5 behaves like the opposite sex 4 4 3 31 6 has bowel movements outside the toilet 2 2 4 19 15 cruel to animals 2 2 8 11 16 cruelty, bullying, or meanness to others 5 1 7 8 18 deliberately harms self/attempts suicide 6 1 8 13 34 feels others are out to get him/her 0 5 6 9 39 hangs around w/ others who get in trouble 5 0 3 12 40 hears sounds/voices that aren’t there 4 1 7 15 52 feels too guilty 3 5 7 8 56 has physical problems w/o known medical cause 4 4 5 10 57 physically attacks people 5 1 5 11 58 picks nose, skin, or other parts of body 3 0 2 20 59 plays with own sex parts in public 2 2 6 32 60 plays with own sex parts too much 3 2 5 28 67 runs away from home 4 3 6 13 70 sees things that aren’t there 4 1 11 11 72 sets fires 6 2 7 12 73 sexual problems 2 3 4 29 78 smears/plays w/ bowel movements 6 3 4 24 81 steals at home 2 0 9 21 82 steals outside the home 3 1 7 19 84 strange behavior 3 6 5 15 85 has strange ideas 4 2 6 11 89 suspicious 2 3 12 11 91 talks about killing self 1 1 8 20 96 thinks about sex too much 3 2 5 24 105 uses alcohol/drugs for nonmedical purposes 1 2 9 21 106 vandalism 3 3 8 13 110 wishes to be of opposite sex 2 4 1 39 total for each reason 94 66 178 510 note: items have been abbreviated for ease of presentation 82 perry et al. coding of “not comfortable” items. three of the authors independently coded each parent’s response to the question, “why did you find this question offensive/threatening?” these authors then reviewed initial coding, and definitions for each code were developed, refined, and agreed upon. based on these finalized codes and definitions, the raters then independently coded each of the items. the codes for items categorized as offensive were as follows: not age appropriate – parent responses stating that described behavior is not appropriate for age level of child; blaming parents – parent responses stating concern about parenting skills and/or parent behavior being called into question; uncomfortable with subject matter – parent responses stating that they were so uncomfortable with the subject matter of the item (e.g., sexual behaviors) that they would not answer; labeling child – parent responses stating concern that others will make assumptions about child and/or accuse the child if the item is endorsed; unthinkable behavior for my child – parent responses stating that the values represented in the item are so counter to their own values that they cannot answer; personal – private/family matter – parent responses stating that the information the item calls for is appropriate only for the family to know; personal – professional matter – parent responses stating the information called for is private and would only be appropriate to share with a professional (e.g., doctor, psychologist, etc.); personal – context-relevant – parent responses stating the information called for is personal and would only be appropriate to share if they knew more about why the question was being asked and/or for what the information would be used; more information – parent responses indicating feelings of discomfort/being offended by item and wanting more details about what information is being asked about; no code – parent responses that do not answer question (“why do you find the question offensive/threatening?”) or responses were too ambiguous to code under another category; normative/age appropriate – parent responses indicating that they feel offended by the implication that there is something wrong with their child when they consider the behavior being asked about to be normal/expected behavior or age appropriate behavior for their child. the codes for items categorized as threatening were the same as above with the addition of the following: fear of consequences – parent responses indicating concerns for either parents or the child about negative consequences for answering honestly (e.g., report to child protective servics, etc.). interrater agreement. the three raters met and reviewed each parental response and recorded interrater agreement. overall interrater agreement for questions parents labeled offensive was 90.1%. interrater agreement for reason categories ranged from 75.4% (uncomfortable with subject matter) to 100.0% (normative behavior and professional matter). interrater agreement for content categories under offensive ranged from 87.9% (sex-related behaviors) to 94.2% (thought disorders/problems). overall interrater agreement for questions that parents labeled threatening was 94.0%. interrater agreement for reason categories ranged from 66.7% (uncomfortable) to 100.0% (normative and private/family matter) 2 . interrater agreement for content categories ranged from 88.9% (self-harm) to 96.3% (thought disorders/problems). items parents found offensive. overall, there were 510 parent responses that indicated that a not comfortable item was thought to be offensive, with the two primary reasons being private and personal – context relevant. of the 510 responses, 130 (25%) indicated that 2 only one item that was found to be threatening was coded as uncomfortable and only one item under threatening was coded as normative. parent voices 83 the item asked about something considered to a private family matter. many of these (38%) asked about sex-related topics (e.g., “behaves like the opposite sex”, “plays with own sex parts in public”, “thinks about sex too much”) or anti-social behaviors (25%; e.g., “cruel to animals”, “hangs around with others who get in trouble”, “sets fires”). slightly fewer (n=109; 21%) of the offensive items were deemed so because the parent felt it asked about something personal and wanted to know more about the context in which it was being asked (i.e., what was going to be done with the information, who was going to have access to the information, why the information was sought, etc.). most of these items also fell into the antisocial (26%) and sexrelated categories (25%). table 3 shows the distribution of reasons parents found each item to be offensive across each of the content areas. 84 perry et al. note: antisocial items = 15, 39, 67, 72, 81, 82, 105, 106; physical symptom items = 6, 56, 78; physically aggressive items = 16, 57; self-harm items = 18, 58, 91; sex related items = 5, 59, 60, 73, 96, 110; thought disorder items = 34, 40, 52, 70, 84, 85, 89. table 3 distribution of reasons parents found items to be offensive reason category (%) age blaming subject fear labeling unthinkable private professional context more info normative no code antisocial (n= 122) total 13.9 3.3 0.8 0.8 9.0 7.4 27.0 0.8 22.9 4.1 0 9.8 physical symptoms (n=53) total 1.9 7.5 13.2 0 1.9 1.9 22.6 0 28.3 7.5 0 15.1 physically aggressive (n=19) total 5.3 0 5.3 0 5.3 15.8 31.6 0 31.6 0 0 5.3 self-harm (n=53) total 15.1 1.9 7.5 0 1.9 0 22.6 5.7 22.6 0 7.5 15.1 sex related (n= 183) total 14.2 2.2 13.7 0 4.9 4.4 26.8 4.9 14.8 3.3 0.5 10.4 thought disorder (n= 80) total 3.8 0 0 1.3 11.3 5 22.5 6.3 26.3 11.3 1.3 11.3 overall reason category (n = 510) total 11.0 2.6 7.5 0.4 6.3 4.9 25.5 3.5 21.4 4.7 1.2 11.2 parent voices 85 parents offered a number of reasons as to why they found particular items offensive. many responses indicated that the items asked about something that was “personal” and “nobody’s business” and therefore they didn’t want to disclose the requested information. one parent responded, “all are personal, family issues; not shared with outsiders.” another stated, “implying something’s going on at home…some things should be dealt with at home…and [it is a] home concern unless parent says [otherwise].” parent responses also frequently indicated that the item was context relevant; in other words, they may only feel comfortable answering it honestly if they knew more about the purpose of the question and what was going to be done with the information. for example, one parent responded, “too invasive for someone who doesn’t know to ask; might be comfortable if i knew the individual asking.” another stated, “there would have to be an incident to ask about this…no context or incident to ask about…” more globally, parent responses often included variations of this parent’s statement, “why do they need to know? what is the purpose of asking?” other parent responses indicated that they were concerned about their child being labeled (“saying my child is crazy” and “seems like you are asking if my child is a pervert”) or that they thought the question was not asking about age appropriate behaviors (“not appropriate for small children, more for older children. you don’t want to start accusing kids so early before they start doing things…” and “why do you want to know? why ask questions like that if kids are in pre-k? kids not thinking about stuff like that, so why ask?”). other items were thought to only be appropriate for medical or psychological professionals to ask (“only speak with a therapist about this”, “too personal, may be okay for a counselor”, “only medical personnel should be asking this question”). items parents found threatening. in all, there were 178 parent responses that indicated a not comfortable item was thought to be threatening, with the two primary reasons being private and labeling. of the 178 responses, 35 (20%) indicated that the item asked about something thought to be a private family matter. many of these items deemed private (34%) asked about anti-social behaviors. a lesser number asked about sex-related topics (23%). slightly fewer of the items categorized as threatening were categorized this way because parents were concerned that it would result in their child(ren) being labeled. more than half of these items (56%) were related to thought disorders (e.g., “feels others are out to get him/her”, “hears sounds or voices that aren’t there”, “strange behavior”). table 4 shows the distribution of reasons parents found each item to be threatening across each of the content areas. parents provided a variety of reasons why they thought particular items were threatening. parent responses about privacy frequently included statements such as, “no one’s business but mine...” and “question is too personal.” one parent found an item to be threatening because she was worried about her child being labeled: “suspicious and mistrusting. if tell negative things about child so they document things, and this follows child in records for their life…if child being disobedient child at home, then look for negative behavior at school….then labeled at school.” additional parents concerned about their child being labeled said, “mistrusting – child might be treated differently based on answer”, “…calling child crazy”, and “…implying my child is sick in the head.” other parents were fearful of consequences if they answered the item honestly (“hidden agenda behind question” and “would be in therapy – could report to dhs to take child away”) or were concerned that they would be blamed for their child’s behavior (“why would you want to know? are you questioning my parenting?” and “implying that child is not getting needed attention”). 86 perry et al. table 4 distribution of reasons parents found items to be threatening reason category age blaming subject fear labeling unthinkable private professional context more info normative no code antisocial (n= 57) total 8.8 3.5 0 10.5 15.8 0 21.1 0 10.5 10.5 0 19.3 physical symptoms (n=13) total 0 23.1 0 0 7.7 0 23.1 7.7 15.4 15.4 0 7.7 physically aggressive (n=12) total 0 0 8.3 8.3 8.3 0 16.7 0 16.7 25.0 0 16.7 self-harm (n=18) total 0 0 0 11.1 16.7 0 22.2 0 22.2 16.7 0 11.1 sex related (n= 24) total 20.8 0 0 12.5 0 4.2 33.3 0 16.7 0 0 12.5 thought disorder (n= 54) total 0 5.6 0 5.6 33.3 1.9 11.1 0 13.0 9.3 1.9 18.5 overall reason category (n=178) total 5.6 4.5 0.6 8.4 18.0 1.1 19.7 0.6 14.0 10.7 0.6 16.3 note: antisocial items = 15, 39, 67, 72, 81, 82, 105, 106; physical symptom items = 6, 56, 78; physically aggressive items = 16, 57; self-harm items = 18, 58, 91; sex related items = 5, 59, 60, 73, 96, 110; thought disorder items = 34, 40, 52, 70, 84, 85, 89. parent voices 87 discussion this study examined the response process validity of the cbcl with a sample of head start parents. the cbcl was developed with a clinical focus to identify behavioral difficulties in children and youth, and has frequently been used in research with head start populations. we wanted to better understand why the cbcl has been found to be invalid with low-income, minority populations and asked a sample of head start parents to respond to the content of each of the cbcl items in terms of how comfortable they would be answering each item honestly. overall, this sample of head start parents indicated not being comfortable answering 29 items from the cbcl. when asked to consider why they were “not comfortable,” the two reasons most frequently given by parents were that they found the questions offensive or threatening. among items parents indicated as offensive, the greatest number of parent responses was for sex-related items. for items parents considered threatening, the category with the most parent responses was for items focused on antisocial behaviors. reasons for finding the items offensive and/or threatening were most frequently because the item asked about personal/private information, they didn’t know enough about the context in which the question was being asked, and they were concerned about their child being labeled if they did answer the question honestly. the present study provides evidence for the lack of response process validity of the cbcl with low-income, minority parents, and as such, provides more information as to why previous studies have found the cbcl to be invalid with low-income, minority samples of young children. leboeuf and colleagues (2010) found that the factor structure of the cbcl did not hold up with a community sample of low-income, ethnically diverse preschool children. other studies have also found that the norms and factor structure of the cbcl were not valid with community samples (sandberg, meyer-bahlburg, & yager, 1991) or with africanamerican samples (lambert, rowan, lyubansky, & russ, 2002). item analysis of the cbcl has also shown racial variability in item responses, suggesting that african american families may conceptualize problem behaviors differently than caucasian parents (ngo, 2007). findings from the current study illustrate parents’ discomfort with many items on the cbcl and their subsequent reluctance to answer those items honestly (or at all), even if the behavior were true of their child. this can be of particular importance when researchers want to implement measures with poor, minority populations. african-american mothers may be more sensitive about potentially presenting her child in (what she perceives to be) a harsh or even pathological light. africanamericans are generally wary of the motives and intentions of researchers (corbie-smith, thomas, & st. george, 2002; moseley, freed, bullard, & goold, 2007). further, africanamerican children (particularly boys) and their parents are often targeted by educational systems as problematic and deficient (gilliam, 2005; ogbu, 1990), so it is understandable that these parents may be on the defensive and may skip items on inventories or may not answer them honestly if they fear that honest answers may result in negative consequences for them or their child. the present study was conducted with a small, convenience sample of primarily african american parents whose children were enrolled in a head start program in a large, northeastern city. in order to more comprehensively capture parents’ attitudes about behavioral report items, future research should include expanded samples, including more ethnically diverse sets of parents. low-income parents from urban, suburban, and rural settings may also have differing views on which kinds of questions they are comfortable answering honestly about their 88 perry et al. children’s social emotional development. differences may also be found among sub-groups of low-income parents. for example, adolescent mothers or single mothers or more socially isolated mothers may be more defensive and/or resistant and therefore respond even more negatively to assessment tools like the cbcl. additionally, future work could elicit more detailed information from parents, either by using a different categorization system or by utilizing more nuanced qualitative research methods. for example, focus groups and/or semi-structured interviews may reveal more information about parents’ responses to particular types of questions about their children. the present investigation has important implications for early childhood education programs. such programs need to carefully consider the measures they use with parents and make sure they are reliable and valid with the populations they serve. further, programs need to have a system in place to understand parents’ perspectives in completing these measures. this may be through something like head start’s parent policy council, or perhaps a more informal committee of parents. if parents find assessment items offensive or threatening and therefore don’t answer them honestly or leave them blank, that could have negative repercussions for programs, as well as parents. it could result in an underreporting of problems, which could then result in inadequate services or resources. there is also the additional risk for alienating parents from the program because they are being asked these kinds of questions, with no understanding of what information is sought and why it is sought. on a larger scale, if these measures are being used to evaluate the overall effectiveness of a program, the findings could be rendered invalid, thereby jeopardizing the entire program. parents are an invaluable source from whom to gather information about a child’s development and functioning. they provide a unique perspective that can complement or supplement perspectives of teachers and other individuals with whom children have regular contact. in order to truly capture parents’ observations and beliefs about their children, however, programs need to have a culturally sensitive approach that carefully considers the respondents’ perspectives and contexts. references achenbach, t. m. 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(2004). the head start debates. baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing co. dialog, 17(4), 50-65 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research article an exploration of how the foundations intervention influences familyprofessional partnerships in head start: a case study vera l. stroup-rentier, jean a. summers, susan palmer and ann p. turnbull university of kansas this study explores family-professional partnerships in a head start and considers how an intervention designed to address needs of young children through joint efforts by families and head start teachers may influence those partnerships. the site in this study exemplifies head start’s commitment to family partnership, making it a suitable setting for a case study. the researcher observed and interviewed three teachers, four family members, and one head start administrator. the first research question explored preexisting attitudes and structures related to partnerships at this head start. three themes emerged: (a) program understanding of family partnership; (b) national performance standards and program administrative structures emphasizing family support and participation; and, (c) local head start leadership. the second research question explored the intervention’s influence on this setting’s partnerships and identified four themes: (a) developing shared goals between family members and teachers; (b) sharing knowledge of home and school environments; (c) collaborating to achieve the child’s goals; and (d) interactions with enhanced communication, high expectations, and commitment. these seven themes showed how the process, which relied on existing beliefs and administrative structures, had positive impact on family partnership when using the foundations intervention. keywords: partnership, head start, self-determination, early childhood, disabilities this study investigates head start beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures regarding family-professional partnerships. this study also examines how one intervention, which emphasizes partnerships in its implementation, may influence relationships between families and professionals. family–professional partnerships are equal collaborative relationships that benefit families, professionals, and children equally. families and professionals defer to each other’s judgment and expertise (turnbull, turnbull, erwin, soodak, & shogren, 2011). at head start, family engagement is positive and goal-oriented relationships grounded in the foundations of program leadership, continuous improvement, and professional development. characteristics of family partnership, a component of family engagement, are (a) building relationships with families, (b) supporting family well-being, (c) strong relationships between parents and their children, and (d) ongoing learning and development for parents and children (administration for 51 stroup-rentier et al. children and families, 2011). head start promotes family partnership as a way for families and children to pursue and achieve their identified goals. this understanding of family-professional partnership is consistent with special education definitions (summers et al., 2005; turnbull, turnbull, erwin, soodak, & shogren, 2011; turnbull, turnbull, & wehmeyer, 2007). for the purpose of this paper, we use family partnership to describe relationships between the families and teachers at head start. head start recently unveiled the parent, family, and community engagement framework, a research-based organizational guide for implementing performance standards (administration for children and families, 2011) using comprehensive, integrated, and systematic practices across programs. head start leaders see this framework as the next step in enhancing understanding of and support for families who play critical roles in their children’s long-term success (administration for children and families, 2011). the framework helps programs promote family partnerships, in the contexts of family and community engagement, across head start settings. understanding of strategies that individual programs should use to promote partnership is lacking. mendez (2010) found significant correlation between the quality of parent-teacher relationships at head start and parent participation in her companion curriculum. this partnership intervention included participation in parent literacy workshops (mendez, 2010). however, other studies only address involvement of families during preschool years, without specific guidance for how this occurs (waanders, mendez, & downer, 2007). many studies of family involvement in early childhood programs are insufficient to understand depth of partnerships, since family partnership interventions usually distinguish between interpersonal (e.g., respectful, helpful) and structural factors (e.g., caseload, resource development) (fantuzzo, tighe, & childs, 2000; mendez & fogle, 2002). most interventions that have more in-depth understanding of family-professional partnership involve children aged birth to three who are in home-based early intervention programs rather than preschool. characteristics of these partnership interventions are (a) mutual trust, (b) support for family culture, (c) discussion and exploration of family routines, (d) effective communication between families and professionals, and (e) competence and confidence promotion for families and professionals (trivette, dunst, & hamby, 2010). closely aligned characteristics are evident in the partnership intervention model that palmer et al. (2012) propose in their conceptual framework that explores foundations of selfdetermination for preschoolers in early childhood settings. the foundations intervention design supports families and early childhood professionals to develop skills in young children considered the precursors of later development of self-determination: self-regulation, engagement, and choice making. the foundations intervention consists of a simple problem solving process with four components: assess,select, try it, and reflect. first, the assess process involves the parent, teacher, and facilitator in the use of a modified version of the routinesbased interview (mcwilliam, casey, & sims, 2009). in each dyad, the teachers and parents reflected on the children’s daily routines in the contexts of their families and classrooms. second, the select process requires the parent, teacher, and facilitator to work together to select a shortterm goal (for example, eight to ten weeks); this distinguishes the foundations intervention from the individualized education plan (iep) process, as goals developed for the iep are annual goals. once they agreed on a specific goal for home and school, the facilitator helped the parent-teacher dyad develop a rubric for measurement on the goal attainment scale (gas) (kiresuk, smith, & cardillo, 1994). the gas identified the child’s individual goal and five potential outcomes, foundations intervention and partnership 52 ranging from least to most favorable. the mid-point of this scale was the child’s expected outcome, which is what the teacher and parent decided was a satisfactory outcome for the child’s progress. third, the try it step included both the family member and the practitioner in trying one or more strategies. a key feature of this step involved asking teachers and parents to use a flip camera or videophone to record the child trying the identified strategy, then sharing what happened at home and school. fourth, the reflect step required the family and practitioner to think together about how well their strategies worked, and to reach a consensus score on the gas. the collaborative reflection could result in selection of a new goal or in revision of the strategies to continue working on a goal, depending on the judgment of the family and teacher. for more in-depth explanation of the conceptual framework of components and purposes of the foundations intervention, see palmer et al. (2012). for the foundations intervention study, the purpose was to impact children’s skills related to the development of self-determination (i.e., enhancing self-regulation, engagement, or choice making skills based on the participants’ assessments). for results of the foundations intervention on development of children’s skills, we refer the reader to palmer et al. (2012) and summers et al. (2012). the strong emphasis on the family and professional collaboration in the foundations intervention, which involved close cooperation at each step, led the research team to wonder how participation in that intervention might affect the quality of the partnership. because the site in this study exemplifies head start’s commitment to family partnership, it made a suitable setting for in-depth exploration. therefore, we asked two research questions using a single program case study. the first question sought in-depth understanding of what beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures related to family-professional partnerships were endemic to this head start site before implementation of the intervention. the second question examined how participation in the foundations intervention involving both parents and professionals may have influenced those partnerships. method research design the researchers used a qualitative interpretative design to improve understanding of head start policies and beliefs and the foundations intervention’s influence on family-professional partnerships. the research design emphasizes learning how intervention participants construct meaning of experiences and interactions with their social worlds (merriam, 2002). this provides deep understanding of head start beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures about family partnerships. the research design also reveals how the foundations intervention may influence head start partnerships. our approach was to examine one head start program as a case study and several individual teacher-family pairs as embedded cases within the site (yin, 2009). background of the researcher qualitative researchers bring their assumptions, experiences, and belief systems to their work and provide information about their backgrounds to illuminate their biases (creswell, 2007; merriam, 2002). for this study, the lead researcher draws from personal and professional 53 stroup-rentier et al. experience to support family-professional partnership practices and believes services should be supportive and integrative, based on needs of children and their families. the lead researcher is female, white, and has a middle-class background. her family has extensive experience working with service programs such as head start because three of her children have received early intervention services. two of these children are enrolled in special education services. the other researchers are also white females with an orientation toward understanding family-professional partnerships in settings serving young children. the lead researcher facilitated the foundations intervention at this site and, like the other researchers, was involved in the larger foundations study. setting and participants purposive sampling determined choice of participants within a particular research site (creswell, hanson, clark, & morales, 2007). this site met three purposive sampling criteria because it (a) provided head start services for children aged three to five who have or are at risk for having disabilities, (b) used a home and classroom-based service delivery model, and (c) provided services to a diverse group of children and families. participants within the site met four primary criteria: they (a) were interested in participating in both studies (i.e., the larger foundations study and this case study), (b) represented diversity of families and children at this head start, and (c) received services for their preschoolers from the head start or worked as teachers or administrators. all participants were caucasian, latino, african american, or from multiple ethnic groups; they varied in age from 20-56 years and included seven females and one male. four family members, three teachers, and one administrator participated in the study. table 1 includes detailed descriptions of participants. table 1 description of participants name role age sex ethnicity age of child in study current employment level of education teresa teacher 28 female caucasian n/a head start bachelor of arts lydia teacher 44 female caucasian n/a head start/ student associate of arts malita teacher 25 female latina n/a head start child development associate monica parent 25 female latina 3 unemployed high school albert parent 45 male caucasian/ native american 4 maintenance person 10th grade yolanda parent 35 female africanamerican 3 hair stylist associate of arts betty administrator 56 female caucasian n/a head start master of arts foundations intervention and partnership 54 data collection the researcher collected data through observations and semi-structured interviews, which allowed for observation of what occurred at the site and for asking participants about what happened at various times. this process of exchange between researcher and participants is participant observation, which the next section describes in detail. participant observation. this method uses “active membership role(s)” in which researchers are “involved in the setting’s central activities, assuming responsibilities that advance the group, but without fully committing themselves to members’ values and goals” (adler & adler, 2000, p. 380). we used informal observations for the case study. informal interactions between parents and teachers at pick up times, during team meetings, and during interactions among teachers, families, and administrators in hallways at the head start setting, were observed. the researcher spent approximately three hours in informal observations. completion of six formal and informal observations in various settings and with numerous participants helped capture diverse perspectives for the study. field notes written during formal observations and after each informal observation supported the data collection process. semi-structured interviews. this study’s interview protocol followed the foundations intervention model. the researcher conducted one semi-structured interview with each family and teacher. this interviewing method allows flexibility by generating new questions in response to what interviewees say (lindloff & taylor, 2002). a semi-structured interview guide that the primary researcher wrote provided direction. two grand tour questions (spradley & mccurdy, 1972) specific to the study focused on development of partnerships and the foundations intervention’s relevance to head start. examples of questions for teachers on these topics included:  how has your interaction with families changed as a result of using the foundations model?  describe how your previous interaction was different from this interaction.  if your interaction has not changed, why do you think that is? the observations and interviews added to the researcher’s involvement with participants in implementing the intervention. the next section details the application of the foundations intervention’s problem-solving process to those parent/teacher dyads that participated in this case study. procedure for implementing the foundations intervention assessing the child’s strengths and needs. the first part of the foundations intervention stressed assessing the strengths and needs of both the child and the family. the facilitator asked the participating head start teacher and parent to think together about questions such as (a) how does your day start? (b) what works well during your day? and (c) how often do you see that behavior during snack time? in the case of tori and lydia, they decided that kyle had strengths in following through on tasks, writing, drawing, and learning complex 55 stroup-rentier et al. concepts. however, kyle needed additional support to follow directions, manage his behavior, and complete non-preferred tasks. for monica and teresa, this part of the problem solving process helped determine what tasks were most difficult for cece to finish at home and school. selecting short-term goals and accompanying strategies. the discussion about measuring goals generated strategies for the parent and teacher to try as they worked towards the goal. when malita and yolanda discussed goals they each wanted to work on at home and in the classroom, they found their priorities for a.j. differed. malita wanted a.j. to have his own strategies for knowing when he needed a break or more attention from a teacher, other than climbing on bookcases or hitting other children. yolanda wanted to be sure a.j. engaged appropriately with activities in the classroom, at home, and in the car. specifically, yolanda wanted a.j. to stay busy so she could drive home safely and cook supper. keeping a.j. busy was not a concern at school; knowing when he needed a break was not a concern at home. therefore, this step of the process determined goals that would work for both yolanda and malita while keeping a.j.’s needs in mind. trying strategies at home and preschool. yolanda and malita enjoyed sharing a.j.’s progress in this step by using the video or photo features on their smartphones. for teresa and monica, this process of videotaping and talking about the strategies was useful because it helped monica understand how teresa used the handwashing poster to get cece to wash her hands more successfully at school. next, monica used a toothbrushing poster at home, along with some of the same language teresa used at school with cece, to work on the home goal. collaboratively reflecting on how the strategies worked. with the facilitator’s help, the parent-teacher dyad reflected on how the process worked for them and the child. at minimum, the dyad reflected on “what worked best?” and “what could they have changed?” this reflection led to the next step: identification of more goals for the child, as in the case of tori and lydia who chose to work on transitions from home to school and from school to home for kyle. tori remarked that kyle seemed to achieve goals much faster if she and lydia worked on them simultaneously. this was the primary reason tori and lydia identified working on transitions as a next step. conversely, teresa and monica’s reflection led to monica’s increased ability to understand how to support cece at home, so monica felt it was not necessary to work on another goal. monica initially thought she did not need to change what she was saying or doing while she and cece were in the bathroom brushing cece’s teeth. once monica changed what she said to cece, gave cece choices, and reflected those choices on the toothbrushing poster in the bathroom, cece was much more successful working towards her goal. when reflection led to goal identification, the foundations intervention was restarted to gather more information about children and families’ routines. that information included details about childrens’/families’ routines and strengths/challenges specific to the new goals. outlining procedural components of the foundations intervention improved understanding for data analysis, which is the next section’s topic. foundations intervention and partnership 56 data analysis coding process. two members of the case study research team met regularly during the course of data collection to discuss ongoing interviews, interview summaries, observation summaries, field notes, and emerging categories. data sources included interview transcripts, transcript summaries, observation summaries, and field notes. analysis included three phases of coding: open, pattern, and selective (saldana, 2009). during open coding, the lead researcher examined separate parts of the data on an ongoing basis, and then compared existing data for similarities and differences (saldana, 2009). the goal of open coding was to remain open to any possibilities emerging from the data and to code them as such. examples of initial codes included (a) teachers as partners, (b) understand complexity of families, (c) program is family’s advocate, (d) families work here, (e) families are important, and (f) support at home and school. pattern coding followed open coding methods. the lead researcher reformatted and reorganized initial codes identified in open coding into themes and categories, similar to a constant comparison method (saldana, 2009). this procedure was the basis for coding subsequent transcripts, field notes, and observation summaries. specifically, the researchers divided transcripts according to identified themes or categories. next, the researchers gathered all responses, coded them within each organizing theme or category, and summarized their main points. these codebooks underwent modification with the addition of new transcripts until no new themes or categories emerged (lincoln & guba, 1985). patton (2002) suggested that “categories and their properties emerge or are integrated together” (p. 32) to define this analytical procedure. inclusion of themes in the researcher-developed codebook underscored partnership practices between families and teachers. underscoring partnership practices through development of themes led the researchers to use the third coding phase, selective coding. we arranged the identified categories and themes into a partnership framework, which incorporates the three major themes and their subthemes into work for future consideration and study emphasizing improved family-professional partnership. trustworthiness. trustworthiness of the analysis refers to processes in the study contributing to quality and rigor of data collection, analysis, and interpretation (creswell, 2013). the team peer review process discussed above contributed to credibility of the process during data collection, analysis, and interpretation of findings. specific questions included (a) are there links between the data and findings (credibility)? (b) are identified themes offering new insights or expanding the existing literature base (originality)? and (c) will programs and families be able to use the findings and interpretations in meaningful ways (usefulness)? a comprehensive member check that allowed participants to evaluate accuracy of the researcher’s analysis was another credibility mechanism. the member check took place between weeks ten and 15 (fall 2011) of the larger foundations intervention study completed in spring 2013. the lead researcher asked participants whether the summary represented their perspectives accurately and whether important information was missing. one mother provided particularly extensive input for the member checking process. the results incorporated significant revisions based on information gathered through this procedure. 57 stroup-rentier et al. results this study’s specific purpose was to explore the administrative structures at head start and the impact of implementing the foundations intervention on family-professional partnerships at the program level. the researchers addressed two research questions to achieve this purpose. first, what head start beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures relate to family-professional partnerships? second, how did participation in the foundations intervention influence head start partnerships? research question 1: what beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures at head start relate to family-professional partnerships? this research question identifies pre-existing beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures at the head start program related to family-professional partnerships. illuminating these factors to understand how implementation of the foundations intervention may have affected partnerships in the program is important. head start performance standards emphasize family-professional partnership, but each program site may interpret and implement standards differently. the researchers sought to examine this program’s interpretation of standards along with formal and informal structures supporting family-professional partnerships. analysis identified three themes related to family-professional partnerships: (a) program understanding of family-professional partnerships, (b) national performance standards and program administrative structures emphasizing family support and participation, and (c) local head start leadership. understanding of family-professional partnership. conversations with families, teachers, and administration at this head start suggested the program showed understanding of family-professional partnerships. betty, the program administrator, spoke about head start’s long-term commitment to families as partners. this commitment confirmed that head start understood how to support families facing multiple challenges in their homes and in classrooms. “head start is very intentionally looking at the whole child and the whole family and serving both. that makes perfect sense to me. we can’t separate them and if we do, we set ourselves up to fail.” lydia, one of the teachers, characterized head start beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures. “we work hard at head start to make connections with the families because they are a part of our program. the more we learn about the families the better able we are to support their children.” reliance on team members who had been head start parents was another aspect of beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures at head start. while teachers interviewed for this study had not participated as head start parents, three of their teaching co-workers were in former head start families. study participants thought that working with these teachers on classroom teams helped them understand families of children in their classrooms, as monica explained: “our colleagues are head start families, and they understand families in a way we cannot. so if i feel like i have a family who i am going on a “fishing expedition” with to obtain information, i ask my colleagues for other ways to say the same thing so we are communicating most effectively.” foundations intervention and partnership 58 with respect to family members' perceptions of the beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures, one parent identified head start as an advocate for her child and as a place where she felt her child was safe. some families, especially those with more than one child in the program, perceived the administrative structures as changing in response to teachers’ styles and settings. one mother said she had an array of partnerships with teachers, ranging from strong to “so-so” partnerships. she was not sure she could identify all teachers in one child’s classroom by name. the study’s lone father expressed similar feelings; teachers sometimes viewed him as the “picker upper” and not as the person responsible for his child’s well-being. national performance standards and administrative structures emphasizing family support and participation. performance standards intervention was part of the program’s administrative structures. with the support of extensive professional development activities, administrators expected teachers to know, understand, and implement head start performance standards. betty stated, “we expect teachers to possess certain qualities to make them most successful, their understanding of the performance standards is important.” responding to the lead researcher’s questions, teachers said they were familiar with head start performance standards and that they believed the standards guided their efforts to engage families. in further discussion of the program’s administrative structures, teachers gave examples of barriers that negatively affected their ability to interact with families. teachers perceived that paperwork demands, staff turnover, and staff shortages influenced the quality of their interactions with families. teachers also believed these barriers impeded their ability to implement the partnerships to the degree their beliefs required, such as time to talk to each parent at the beginning or end of each day and time to make phone calls or home visits to families. as lydia said in her interview, “the paperwork and trying to get more than one person to meet at the same time--that is really challenging. we are all busy. we have jobs and we are going to school.” note: head start qualifications for teachers changed during the study, necessitating additional credit hours to maintain employment as teachers in head start. by contrast, teachers identified several complex factors related to children and families they served, but did not identify these factors as barriers to partnership. one factor was diversity of needs across classrooms (i.e., two to three children in each classroom had individual family service plans or individualized education programs). another factor was that almost half the children in classrooms were learning to speak english as a second language. teachers said significant numbers of families in their classes had mental health and substance abuse challenges. malita also discussed family financial challenges: “not just this family, but many families have two or three jobs just to make ends meet.” however, teachers saw extensive, diverse needs of children and families as commonplace. during interviews, teachers gave no indication that these needs undermine their interactions with families. local head start leadership. most families and professionals reported they had strong family-professional relationships supported by administrators of this head start program. betty’s roles as a parent of a child with a disability and as a head start professional strengthened her ability to understand family-professional partnerships. according to betty, these roles also helped fellow administrators and teachers to understand families: 59 stroup-rentier et al. “our families have millions of challenges, and we have to put that in perspective. we cannot expect parents to prioritize [their child’s educational needs], when we’re doing something here [at head start] they’re not going to forget everything else that’s challenging them. we really have to meet them where they’re at and appreciate and understand all of the challenges that they have before them. this takes special skills.” betty went on to say she did not believe that all head start staff had the skills needed to collaborate most effectively with families. she noted there was large variation in the quality of teachers. however, betty pointed out that head start leadership was committed to professional development for all staff supporting family-professional partnerships. teachers interviewed in this study understood their roles in promoting and implementing partnership strategies. teachers also identified head start leadership as supporting work with families. according to teresa, “if at any time we need to talk or meet with the family, if everyone has enough coverage, the program administrators go out of their way to make sure we have the time and space to meet. head start believes that partnerships with families make our program as good as it is so they honor the time we need to spend with families because they know it makes us better teachers.” however, families were less certain about leadership roles. tori, a member of the program’s head start policy council, explained that “i am at the meetings, but i am not always sure what they (the administration) want me to do. i listen. i am not sure if they want my input or if they just want to tell us (the parents) what is happening at the program.” research question 2: how did participation in the foundations intervention influence partnerships in this head start? four themes specific to activities involved in implementing the foundations intervention emerged across the data collected for the study. aspects of the foundations intervention that participants believed were important for influencing partnership include: (a) developing shared goals between the family member and the teacher; (b) shared knowledge about home and school environments; (c) collaborating in working towards the child’s goals; and (d) interactions characterized by enhanced communication, high expectations, and commitment. developing shared goals. for this component of the foundations intervention, the parent and teacher picked a goal for the child based on his or her needs. as noted in the description of the intervention, the parent and teacher considered the challenges the child faced in one or more of the three foundations areas (i.e., engagement, choice making, and selfregulation) during the course of the day at home and at school. the format was a preschool adaptation of the routines-based interview often used in early intervention services (mcwilliams, 2006). although they were not required to do so, families and teachers often chose similar goals for the child to work on at home and at school. teachers were enthusiastic about developing foundations intervention and partnership 60 shared goals with families. lydia explained. “if you have a goal, you always want to try and do the best for the child. i think you get a little closer to that child because you want him to succeed.” teresa agreed: “i think the model is working great. i have lots of organizations i work with and many times the agencies do not have the same goals as the parent. our goals are similar. we are all working on the same page, and this is different than what usually happens.” tori added that “having a goal for kyle means we always have something to talk about with lydia…that is important to both albert and i…the goals are based upon kyle’s needs and that is really important.” gaining shared knowledge of the child’s environments. shared knowledge of the child’s environments meant teachers had better understanding of the child’s routines, interests, and activities at home, and of the challenges within the context of these routines. families felt they had better understanding of their child’s day at head start and of their child’s school routines, interests, and activities. families often found teachers faced the same struggles in the classroom as they did at home. maria offered her perspective: “we have a more open relationship...i know what is happening at home and she (teresa) knows better what is happening here at school and how hard we are working to make cece successful at home.” malita, a teacher, expressed the same appreciation for understanding more about what is happening at home and at school: “foundations is helping me get my mind going around what things i should be trying or should have tried and how they are already working at home so that makes our work in the classroom that much easier.” collaborating in work on the child’s goals. once both partners shared an understanding of what happened at home and school, they were able to target the specific goal to better support the child in both environments. both families and teachers felt this mutual dialogue was helpful and agreed that the video exchange increased clarity regarding best use of suggested strategies. lydia stated that collaborative work on the goals helped her to “be more consistent in the strategies we implement at home and school… kyle’s success is dependent upon how well he does at home and school.” tori added that, "i had lots of strategies already. i think what has really helped me was to problem solve with someone who has strategies as well.” interactions characterized by enhanced communication, high expectations, and commitment. the researcher and the participants noticed this theme occurring as the parent and teacher completed the intervention process. families observed the teachers having higher expectations for, commitment to, and better communication with their children. albert reported, “i see all the teachers in the classroom giving more attention to kyle. tori sees it, too. it makes us feel good about kyle being in lydia’s classroom.” the teachers also noted their own high expectations for children. malita affirmed, “i feel like this model is the backbone to what we were already doing and we were missing a piece so it is helping to complete the puzzle for a. j.” positive interactions between the child and the teacher led to positive assessments of the interactions between families and teachers. maria affirmed this by saying, “yes, we are a lot closer than we were when we first started. my interactions with teresa are positive. cece loves 61 stroup-rentier et al. teresa and loves coming to school. i appreciate all that she does for her. cece has blossomed!” malita shared her enthusiasm for positive interactions and her commitment to them. “the parents are the child's family and whatever they experience, so do the kids. i think it is our job to make the parents feel great so the kids feel good about themselves, this process helped us do that.” discussion our findings in this qualitative study generally suggest that family and professional participation in the foundations intervention may influence partnerships, especially in a program that has compatible beliefs about families and the importance of partnership. in addressing our first research question, we succeeded in understanding the beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures evident at this head start. the emphasis in head start on family partnerships included three components: (a) an understanding of family-professional partnerships, (b) national performance standards and program administrative structures emphasizing family support and participation, and (c) local leadership efforts. these three characteristics laid the groundwork for implementation of the foundations intervention, resulting in interactive, collaborative partnerships where partners shared goals and knowledge. program staff saw family challenges as part of their jobs and did not blame families for compromised partnerships. these attitudes among staff members indicate their respect and support for families. this perspective contrasts with findings in other research where teachers or other early childhood professionals often identified family characteristics as barriers to high-quality home-school relationships (hadley, 2012; marchini, 2011; trainor, 2010). findings relevant to the second research question disclosed aspects of the foundations intervention that participants believed were important to enhancing partnership. these aspects include (a) developing shared goals between the parent and the teacher; (b) shared knowledge about home and school environments; (c) collaborating in working towards the child’s goals; and (d) interactions characterized by enhanced communication, high expectations, and commitment. the foundations intervention supplemented the usual practice of home visits by teachers and classroom staff that took place twice a year. some families were able to converse with teachers and other classroom staff when they picked up and dropped off their children at the head start site. children in other families used bus transportation to get to and from head start, so their families relied on telephone calls or written notes to teachers and classroom staff. the foundations intervention provided structure for intentional examination of all supports families needed. this helped make the foundations intervention a good match for what was in place at head start before the intervention. interactions among head start staff and families in this study showed evidence of what turnbull (2010) calls partnership-oriented practice, in which families and professionals demonstrate “friendly relationship” practices such as (a) enhanced communication, (b) high expectations, and (c) commitment. introduction of the foundations intervention fell on fertile ground in this head start program because of the staff and administration focus on family support. participation in this intervention appears to have reinforced and enhanced these practices at deeper levels, as lydia explained: “at first we didn’t have that much to say to each other and now we always have something to say about how his goals are going or what happened at home last night.” families and teachers made collaborative decisions through developing mutual goals and by sharing strategies and techniques. tori gave an example of how kyle’s foundations intervention and partnership 62 participation in the intervention increased his engagement with his siblings while they were playing at home. “one of my favorite activities i do with the kids is to “paint” the house….we just take paint brushes and a couple of buckets of water and go out on the front porch and paint.” limitations the first author’s roles as both the interviewer and the research team member who facilitated the intervention at this site may have introduced some bias in the responses of participants. having a second research team member conduct follow-up interviews might have reduced this possibility of bias. we used peer debriefing to minimize this possibility. to reduce bias, the second research team member asked questions of the primary researcher about the linking of data and findings and the information’s usefulness to program staff. the addition of follow-up interviews to determine sustainability and long-term partnership activities would have added detail and improved the credibility of the study. although we relied on the perspective of only one administrator, that perspective was valuable because her expertise and experience contributed to a better understanding of the program due to her roles in teacher supervision and family support. in that sense, she was a “key informant” with unique and broad insight into the program (creswell, 2007). the sample in this study includes families from diverse backgrounds. although we sought participation from families whose first language is not english, we could not recruit the families due to scheduling conflicts, confidentiality of participants, staff shortages, and other factors. we obtained valuable information from the one father who did participate, especially since he had three children enrolled at the program. however, we would have benefited from the involvement of more fathers. implications for practice despite this study’s initial and exploratory nature, its practice implications are apparent. a framework or model with specific strategies for goal development, such as the foundations intervention, may have potential for enhancing the family-professional partnership because it encourages sharing information. the importance of sharing information across home and school settings is consistent with findings in this study and other published studies (blue-banning et al, 2004; brotherson et al., 2008). the short-term nature of the foundations intervention may enable families and professionals to target joint goals efficiently, in contrast to the annual goals developed for ieps (individual education plans). further, the foundations intervention specifies mutual responsibilities for both parents and teachers, which also does not occur in the annual iep meeting. determining their own timelines for participation should help families and professionals build relationships with their partners at their own paces. leadership to ensure partnership development (e.g., time to talk with families at their convenience, flexible work schedules) and professional development related to working with vulnerable families may also be important. to summarize, practical implications include using an intervention with specific strategies to ensure partnership and information shared across home and school. this study also shows that leadership could assist in improvement of interaction among families, children, and teachers through partnership and professional development. 63 stroup-rentier et al. implications for research future research should explore whether influences on the family-professional partnerships observed in this study are specific to this particular head start program or whether other head start programs share similar administrative structures that are welcoming to partnerships. the question of whether other preschool programs that are not head start organizations have orientations toward partnership that the foundations intervention can positively influence also needs investigation. researchers could address how the foundations intervention might positively influence family-professional partnerships in other program models without the unique family-oriented practices present in head start. the impact of the foundations intervention model on multiple program types will help researchers determine how to match programs to existing intervention practices. greater sustainability and potential for fidelity to implementation might occur if researchers are able to identify critical pre-existing conditions that bode well for successful implementation (fixsen, et al. 2005). broader study of partnership interventions that are similar to the foundations intervention has potential to strengthen understanding of how to continue improving familyprofessional partnerships (turnbull, 2010). conclusion this study explores the beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures supporting familyprofessional partnership and how the foundations intervention influences the familyprofessional partnership in head start. seven themes emerged from the data with respect to family-professional partnership. the first research question illuminated (a) the program’s understanding of family-professional partnership, (b) national performance standards and program administrative structures emphasizing family support and participation, and (c) local head start leadership. the second research question illuminated (a) developing shared goals between the parent and the teacher; (b) shared knowledge about home and school environments; (c) collaborating in working towards the child’s goals; and (d) interactions characterized by enhanced communication, high expectations, and commitment. themes showed how the process shifted the course of the partnership in a posit ive direction through existing beliefs and administrative structures about family-professional partnerships and the use of the foundations intervention. study results suggest that the foundations intervention positively influences family-professional partnership within this particular site and that further research could expand the impact of this partnership intervention. references adler, p. a., & adler, p. 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(2010). family-professional partnerships. retrieved from http://community.fpg.unc.edu/connectmodules/learners/module-4. turnbull, a., turnbull, h. r., erwin, e., soodak, l., & shogren, k. (2011). families, professionals, and exceptionality: positive outcomes through partnerships and trust (6th ed.). upper saddle river, nj: merrill prentice hall. turnbull, a. p., turnbull, h. r., & wehmeyer, m. l. (2007). exceptional lives: special education in today’s schools (5th ed.). upper saddle river, nj: merrill/prentice hall. trivette, c., dunst, c., hamby, d. (2010). influences of family-systems intervention practices on parent-child interactions and child development. topics in early childhood special education, 30(1), 3–19. http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/doc-pdf/nye_pi_review.pdf http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/doc-pdf/nye_pi_review.pdf http://community.fpg.unc.edu/connect-modules/learners/module-4 http://community.fpg.unc.edu/connect-modules/learners/module-4 65 stroup-rentier et al. u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families. (2011). the head start parent, family, and community engagement framework: promoting family engagement and school readiness from prenatal to age 8. retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/family wanders, c., mendez, j. l., & downer, j. t. (2007). parent characteristics, economic stress and neighborhood context as predictors of parent involvement in preschool children’s education. journal of school psychology, 45, 619-636. yin, r.k. (2009). case study research: design and methods (applied social research methods). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/family dialog, 16(3), 86-101 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 lillian k. durán, special education, utah state university; mark s. innocenti, center for persons with disabilities, utah state university; m. brooke robertshaw, instructional technology, utah state university. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to lillian k. durán, department of special education and rehabilitation, utah state university, 2865 old main hill, logan, ut 84322-2865. e-mail: lillian.duran@usu.edu research article the psychometric properties of the english and spanish versions of the bilingual early language assessment lillian k. durán, mark s. innocenti, and m. brooke robertshaw utah state university the bilingual early language assessment (bela) was developed by the harvard graduate school of education for the cambridge public school district in 2002 to respond to a growing need for an assessment in multiple languages. the bela is available in 11 different languages and can be downloaded at no cost. however there is no psychometric data available on the bela to inform end users regarding the quality of the measure. this paper reports on a pilot study investigating the psychometric properties of the english and spanish bela including the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity of the bela with the preschool language scale-4. the population of dual language learners (dlls) in head start has dramatically risen over the last 10 years. the complexity of providing culturally and linguistically responsive services to this growing population in head start is outlined in the report “dual language learning: what does it take?” (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). the report describes the findings of a national assessment of head start programs that included focus groups, conference calls, and multiple meetings with individuals within the head start community to determine program needs for serving dlls. a major finding involves the need for better assessments: local programs are required to conduct developmental screenings and ongoing assessments of enrolled children. yet, there exist few valid and reliable assessment instruments for evaluating progress in language and literacy development, as well as development in other domains of learning for children who are learning two languages. without accurate assessment information, staff are not able to properly support the child’s development, identify progress, individualize the curriculum fully, or identify behavior or delays requiring further evaluation and possible intervention. (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008 p. 5). complicating this task further is the sheer number of languages spoken by children enrolled in head start nationally. over 140 different languages are represented in the head start psychometric properties of the bela 87 population with trends suggesting this diversity in languages may increase (u.s. census bureau, 2010; u. s. department of health and human services, 2008). head start programs are mandated to both screen all children in the program for developmental delays and to keep data on the progress of each child served. this requires head start staff have access to technically adequate screening and progress monitoring tools to use with all of the children enrolled. this also means that staff need to be able to determine the assessment language or languages to accurately capture children’s abilities. in order to fulfill this mandate more effort needs to be invested in developing language proficiency measures and screening and progress monitoring tools that are available in languages other than english. although there are psychometrically sound measures that can assess skills in english and spanish (barrueco, lopez, ong, & lozano, 2012), gaps still exist in their psychometric characteristics and, more importantly, usability by head start and other programs. measures for dlls other than those in spanish/english environments are very limited. there remains a critical need for measures that meet the head start mandate. the focus of this paper is on one measure that is currently available in 11 different languages. the bilingual early language assessment (bela: tabors & heise-bagorria, 2004) was designed for use with 2.9 to 5 year olds for the cambridge public schools. it provides a general measure of ability in the child’s home language and english on language and conceptual skills. it is also designed as a progress monitoring tool that can be administered several times over the school year. the bela can help practitioners understand what concepts children have in their home language and in english because it taps the exact same skills in each language. the test is not a screening tool or a formal language proficiency measure. instead, it is meant to provide information to guide instruction. little information is available regarding the development of the instrument, however the measure was presented at the national dual language head start institute in 2008 (heise-bagorria, 2008). the test is available at no cost on-line, however there are materials that need to be purchased in order to administer the instrument (www.cpsd.us/bela). the bela is currently available in arabic, bangla, chinese, english, haitian-creole, portuguese, and spanish. the minnesota department of education has also recently translated the tool into hmong, oromo, russian, and somali and these versions are also available at no cost on-line (http://education.state.mn.us/mde/learning_support/early_learning_services/early_childhoo d_programs/help_me_grow_prog_serv/administration/index.html). the authors of the bela explicitly encourage translation of the bela into other languages that can then be posted on their website. there are currently few measures related to instruction and not diagnostics available for use with preschoolers that specifically measure bilingual children’s’ abilities in spanish and english. the tools that measure language proficiency related to instructional decision-making most widely used with young spanish speakers include the pre-idea proficiency test (pre-ipt; ballard, tighe, & dalton, 1991), the pre-language assessment scale (pre-las; duncan & deavila, 2000), and the woodcock-muñoz language survey-revised (wmls-r, alvarado, ruef, & schrank, 2005). although these measures are widely used they all have weaknesses that interfere with confidence in the validity of their use with young children. one weakness that is common to all of them is their reliance on measuring discrete aspects of language (i.e. phonology, syntax, morphology, & lexicon) without including any context-based or pragmatic communication which is especially important in early language development (esquinca, yaden, & rueda, 2005). the pre-las has also been shown to have weak validity in determining a http://www.cpsd.us/bela http://education.state.mn.us/mde/learning_support/early_learning_services/early_childhood_programs/help_me_grow_prog_serv/administration/index.html http://education.state.mn.us/mde/learning_support/early_learning_services/early_childhood_programs/help_me_grow_prog_serv/administration/index.html 88 duran et al. child’s language abilities in spanish and english and it has been found to over-identify children as “non-speakers” of both languages (macswan, rolstad, & glass, 2002). the wmls-r is designed for use with 2-to 90-year-old individuals and the number of items at the three-to-fiveyear-old level is limited. this is true for many of the wmls-r subtests that require the child to read by the third or fourth item on the test (e.g., the passage comprehension subtest). the few items available result in many children quickly reaching the assessment ceiling, frequently without establishing a basal, which limits findings and does little to facilitate instructional decision-making. another significant issue is that these tools are available in only spanish and english which leaves many languages for which head start practitioners have no measures available. head start personnel also need to be provided with detailed information about appropriate assessment procedures for dlls. it is currently considered best practice to measure bilingual children in each of their languages to more accurately describe their abilities across their languages. (naeyc, 2005; paradis, genesee, & crago, 2010; peña & halle, 2011). a child’s overall abilities may be underestimated if only assessed in one of their languages (bedore, peña, garcía, & cortez, 2005; boyce, gilliam, innocenti, cook, & ortiz, in press; peña & kester, 2004). children who speak more than one language will have skills distributed across all of their languages based on the context in which they use that language and the quality and quantity of input they have had in each (hammer, miccio, & rodriguez, 2004). young spanishenglish bilingual children in the u.s. have been found to have different vocabulary distributed across both of their languages (pearson, fernández, & oller, 1993). if a child’s vocabulary in one language is compared to monolingual norms they may appear delayed, but if the child’s total vocabulary is added across both languages their total score might indicate no delay (peña, bedore, rapazzo, 2003; peña, gillam, bedore, & bohman, 2011). in order to accomplish this however, valid and reliable assessment tools must be available in each of the languages spoken by the children to be assessed to accurately measure their overall language ability. the purpose of this paper is to provide preliminary psychometric data on the spanish and english versions of the bela (tabors & heise-bagorria, 2004). the vast majority (86%) of dlls in head start speak spanish. providing a tool that can provide basic information to teachers about children’s abilities in both languages to guide instruction and to be used across the year to monitor the children’s progress in each language would be a valuable addition to the measures currently available. the bela is starting to be used in head start programs (e.g. minnesota) while little is known about its psychometric properties. this paper addresses three specific questions regarding the psychometric properties of the bela. 1. what is the internal consistency of the spanish and english bela? 2. what is the test-retest reliability of the spanish and english bela? 3. what is the concurrent validity of the bela with the preschool language scale-4 (zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2002) in english and spanish? psychometric properties of the bela 89 methods participants thirty-nine preschool children (ages 40 to 63 months; m = 50.79; female: n = 17) in four classrooms, attending one migrant head start school located in a rural community in the intermountain region of the u.s. participated in the study. every child’s parents completed a family language questionnaire either in spanish or english (see appendix a) and responses indicated that all used spanish in their home with at least one primary care provider. all families were from mexico. based on data gathered on the family language questionnaire children were categorized into three broad language proficiency groups: english dominant (ed, n=6); spanish dominant (sd, n=21); and simultaneously bilingual (sb, n=9). setting all children were enrolled in a migrant head start preschool program in the rural intermountain west. the preschool sessions were all full-day, full-time (5 days/week) and implemented a montessori curriculum. children were in four classrooms. each classroom was staffed with one lead teacher and a teacher aide for 16-18 children. all four teachers were trained in the montessori method, and all held associate degrees in child development. one classroom had a spanish-speaking lead teacher and three had spanish-speaking aides. there was wide variation across all four classrooms in the amount of spanish and english used throughout the day and the activities in which spanish and english were more likely to be used. procedures thirty-nine spanish-speaking preschoolers were administered the bela (tabors & heise-bagorria, 2004) and preschool language scale-4 th edition (pls-4; zimmerman, et al., 2002) in english and spanish. the bela was administered twice in each language to each child in november and then again in mid-december or early january due to the holiday break. all test administrators were provided two hours of training that included familiarity with the assessment measure, procedures for assessing young dlls, and discussions of dialectical differences that might arise given the diversity in the spanish speakers who were administering the assessments. if children provided responses in spanish that were unfamiliar to the assessors they were to write down the response and then later confer with the child’s spanish-speaking teacher to discuss the dialectical appropriateness of the response. the lead author observed the first two administrations of the assessment by each assessor to ensure fidelity to the protocol and appropriate testing behaviors with young children. assessors received explicit instructions to use only one language during the entire assessment. at no time was the same test given in english and spanish on the same day to any child. each assessor was assigned to either english or spanish and did not switch to test the other language at any point so that children would clearly identify them as either english or spanish speakers. the english bela was administered by four monolingual english-speaking undergraduates majoring in early childhood education or special education. the spanish version was administered by one graduate research assistant and three undergraduates. the one graduate 90 duran et al. research assistant was majoring in early childhood special education. she held a bachelor’s degree in spanish, had two years of experience working and living in spanish-speaking countries including spain, mexico, and nicaragua. the three undergraduates were majoring in business and international relations and were all native spanish-speakers with two international students from the dominican republic and one u.s. born colombian american. the pls-4 was administered once in english and spanish in mid-december or january. the lead author and one graduate student in sociology administered all english pls-4 assessments. the spanish version was administered by four assessors including three native spanish speakers; one held a degree in elementary education from mexico and was previously employed by migrant head start as a teacher. two were undergraduate students; one was from the dominican republic and the other was a mexican american with spanish as her first language. one undergraduate student was majoring in business and the other in elementary education. the last assessor was the same graduate student with a degree in spanish who also administered the bela in spanish. measures the pls-4 (zimmerman et al., 2002) in english and spanish includes the auditory comprehension (ac) and expressive communication (ec) subscales. the spanish pls-4 was normed on 1,188 spanish-speaking children from all regions of the u.s. representing a broad range of spanish dialects with both simultaneous and sequential bilinguals. reliability coefficients range from .91 to .92 for 4to 5-year olds. the english pls-4 standardization sample included 1,564 children with 18.1% being hispanic. the pls-4 english version also includes guidelines for scoring responses from children whose english is influenced by spanish under a section in the examiner’s manual entitled, “scoring guidelines for dialect speakers” (zimmerman et al., 2002, p.19). composite reliability coefficients range from .94 to .96 for 4to 5-year-olds. validity of the english pls-4 with the peabody picture vocabulary test-3 (ppvt-3; dunn & dunn, 1997) was also reported as acceptable in a study including both english-speaking hispanic and european american head start children (qi & marley, 2011). the pls-4 was found to predict scores on the ppvt-3 equally well for both groups. the bela (tabors & heise-bagorria, 2004) was developed by the harvard graduate school of education for the cambridge public school district’s early intervention providers as a tool for teachers to measure both basic language and pre-academic skills in the child’ s home language and english. the bela was introduced at the national head start dual language institute (2008), providing an endorsement for its use. the information obtained from this assessment is meant to guide both home-based and preschool intervention. there is no published information available on the development of the test or any publically available data available to describe its psychometric properties. in addition to the administration manual, test administration directions, scoring protocols, and a list of materials needed to administer the assessment, there is also a training cd available at no cost (http://www.cpsd.us/bela). the bela includes 10 receptive and 9 expressive items. all items receive a dichotomous score of 1 or 0 except for item 2.1 in which you add the total number of correct responses with 4 being the maximum score. the items on the receptive subtest include tasks requiring the child to psychometric properties of the bela 91 identify common objects, colors, size, quantity, shapes, and actions. on the expressive subtest children are asked to: a) provide basic personal information such as their name, age, favorite color and play activity. b) repeat sounds, phrases and sentences. c) label colors, body parts, common objects, and actions in response to stimulus items. d) rote count to ten. overall the items on the bela represent a sampling of tasks found on many popular early language assessments commonly used in the field. the spanish version is a direct translation of the english version and most items are exactly the same on the spanish and english versions with the exception of the items requiring the child to repeat sounds, phrases and sentences. no published information could be found regarding the procedures followed in developing the spanish version. data analysis data analysis proceeded in four stages. first we conducted an analysis of descriptive statistics including means, standard deviations, and score ranges on the bela and pls-4 subscale and total scores in english and spanish. the descriptive statistics are provided in table 1. given the dichotomous scoring of each item on the bela, we calculated the internal consistency of the bela using the kuder-richardson 20 (kr-20) formula (pedhazur & schmelkin, 1991). we used the spearman’s rho formula to calculate the test-retest reliability of the bela given the nonnormal distribution of the data (sheskin, 2004). lastly, to more accurately investigate the concurrent validity of the bela with the pls-4 we first converted scores on both instruments to z-scores to standardize a scale between the two instruments. we then calculated the correlation between scores on the two instruments’ expressive and receptive language sections as well as the total scores in english and spanish using the spearman’s rho formula (sheskin, 2004). we also conducted a factor analysis to investigate how subscales (i.e. receptive and expressive scales) between the two measures in both languages grouped together. 92 duran et al. table 1 descriptive statistics for scores* on time 1 and time 2 of the bela and pls-4 assessments mean sd range time 1: bela english receptive 6.97 2.90 0-10 expressive 5.46 3.69 0-11 total 12.49 6.13 0-21 time 1: bela spanish receptive 8.46 1.45 10-may expressive 7.03 2.97 12-jan total 15.51 3.97 22-aug time 2: bela english receptive 7.95 2.05 10-mar expressive 7.00 3.20 12-jan total 14.95 4.88 22-jun time 2: bela spanish receptive 8.49 1.39 10-may expressive 7.69 2.72 12-jan total 16.18 3.74 22-sep pls-4: english auditory comprehension 41.21 9.50 19-57 expressive communication 38.00 12.32 20-63 pls-4: spanish auditory comprehension 47.15 4.91 36-57 expressive communication 46.23 8.14 25-59 * raw scores are presented. results preliminary analysis in general there were broad ranges in performance on both the bela and the pls-4 in both english and spanish. the standard deviations as well as the range in scores indicate a significant amount of variability in the spanish and english skills in this group of spanish-speaking preschoolers. this is particularly evident in the expressive communication scores in both english and spanish on the pls-4. this finding is consistent with other studies of young spanish speakers as performance in each language is dependent on the quantity, quality, and timing of exposure in each language and the specific skills that are being measured in each language (kohnert, bates, & hernandez, 1999; kohnert & bates, 2002; kovelman, baker, & petitto, 2008; páez, tabors, & lópez, 2007; tabors, páez, & lópez, 2003). overall however the group had stronger language skills in spanish. psychometric properties of the bela 93 internal consistency of the bela the kr-20 values were calculated for the time 1 administration of both the english and spanish bela. the english version of the bela showed acceptable internal consistency reliability on the total scale (α=.90), the receptive subtest (α=.86), and the expressive subtest (α=.81). the spanish bela had low levels of reliability with kr-20 values of α=.53 on the receptive subtest, α=.49 on the expressive subtest and α=.59 on the total scale. reliability scores between α=.7 and α=.79 are considered acceptable for exploratory work, while scores above α=.8 are considered acceptable for non-exploratory work (nunnally & bernstein, 1994). see table 2 for results. table 2 internal consistency subscale kr-20 (α) bela english receptive 0.86 expressive 0.81 total 0.90 bela spanish receptive 0.53 expressive 0.49 total 0.59 test-retest reliability of the bela the test-retest reliability of the bela was calculated using spearman’s rho (ρ) between the first and second administration of the test; approximately one month. the english receptive subtest received a test-retest reliability coefficient of ρ=.75. the expressive subtest was ρ=.80 and the overall total scale achieved a value of ρ=.85. the spanish receptive subtest received a value of ρ=.69, the expressive subtest ρ=.84 and the total scale was ρ=.85. see table 3 for all results. table 3 test-rest reliability subscale ρ bela english receptive 0.75 expressive 0.80 total 0.85 bela spanish receptive 0.69 expressive 0.84 total 0.85 94 duran et al. concurrent validity concurrent validity is a form of validity that compares a test against a benchmark test to examine whether the two tests are measuring the same construct (nunnally & bernstein, 1994). concurrent validity analyses were performed on the pls-4 and the second administration of the bela as they were administered during the same time frame. each child’s performance on the pls-4 to the bela was compared on both the expressive and receptive subtests through correlation analyses and an exploratory factor analysis using z-scores (devellis, 2003). validity between the pls-4 and bela was initially calculated using spearman’s rho (ρ) and these results are presented in table 4. spearman rho values for related subscales (e.g., english bela expressive with english pls-4 expressive communication) ranged from ρ=.69 to ρ=.84. these relations demonstrate acceptable validity correlations. table 4 bela and pls-4 correlations pls-4 bela expressive communication auditory comprehension (ρ) (ρ) english expressive 0.69 receptive 0.77 spanish expressive 0.71 receptive 0.84 an exploratory factor analysis was also completed due to a) the exploratory nature of this psychometric investigation, b) the low reliability on the spanish bela, and c) the small sample size. our hypothesis was that a four factor solution would explain the most variance. the four factors we hypothesized that would load together were: english bela receptive and english pls-4 auditory comprehension, spanish bela receptive and spanish pls-4 auditory comprehension, english bela expressive and english pls-4 expressive communication, and spanish bela expressive and spanish pls-4 expressive communication. an orthogonal, varimax, rotation was applied to the solution in order to maximize the amount of variance on each factor and variable (nunnally & bernstein, 1994). three rounds of analysis were completed and factor loadings above .4 were considered acceptable (devellis, 2003). the first round was purely exploratory and no set number of factors were set; a two factor solution was produced. based on our hypotheses, the second analysis was set to 4 factors. this did not produce acceptable loadings for all subscales. a third solution was completed to confirm the two factor solution produced in the first analysis. as can be seen in table 5, the english subscales on the bela and pls-4 loaded together, and the spanish subscales on the bela and pls-4 loaded together. factors did not result that loaded the receptive and expressive subscales on the two measures in each language respectively as we had initially hypothesized. psychometric properties of the bela 95 table 5 factor loadings for examination of concurrent validity between the bela and pls-4 scale factor 1 factor 2 bela english receptive 0.86 bela english expressive 0.86 bela spanish receptive 0.51 bela spanish expressive 0.79 pls-4 english expressive communication 0.79 pls-4 english auditory comprehension 0.80 pls-4 spanish expressive communication 0.80 pls-4 spanish auditory comprehension 0.75 discussion the primary objective of this study was to provide pilot data on the psychometric properties of the bela (tabors & heise-bagorria, 2004). we specifically investigated the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and the concurrent validity of the bela with the pls-4. however, given the small sample size included in this study these data can only provide preliminary evidence regarding the validity and reliability of the spanish and english versions of the bela with spanish-speaking preschoolers in head start. the english bela demonstrates good internal consistency with kr-20 (α) values ranging from .81 to .90. the spanish bela has moderately low internal consistency with the receptive section receiving a value of α=.53 and expressive section α=.49. these findings support the construction of the english bela, but raises questions about the spanish bela. more information is needed on the spanish version given its lack of adequate internal consistency. it is not currently considered best practice in bilingual measurement to simply translate an instrument into another language without considerations of key linguistic and cultural features that might influence performance on the assessment (anderson, 2002). in order to improve the internal consistency of the spanish bela it may be necessary to redesign the instrument and to develop a version that considers features unique to spanish language development and to the cultural contexts of young spanish speakers in the u.s. (peña, 2007). this may also have implications for the translation of the bela into languages other than spanish as well. test-retest reliability was acceptable across both subtests and in both languages ranging from ρ=.84 to ρ=.69. although it would be preferable to have reliability coefficients above .80, nunally and bernstein (1994) suggested the reliability levels similar to those achieved in this study are acceptable for preliminary research. however, more research with a larger sample is needed and the bela should be used cautiously until it meets approved standards in the field (standards for educational and psychological testing, 1999). the bela holds promise as a progress monitoring tool. this is encouraging given the dearth of publically available progress monitoring tools available for use with young spanishenglish bilinguals. the tools that are publically available in spanish and english such as the get ready to read! (grtr; lonigan, 2003; lonigan & wilson, 2008), and the circle phonological awareness language and literacy screener (cpalls; landry, assel, gunewig, swank, 2004) focus exclusively on discrete early literacy skills such as one word picture naming and 96 duran et al. phonological awareness. the bela includes items that tap pre-academic content knowledge about colors, shapes, size, and numbers. additionally, the bela includes items that probe language skills beyond picture naming such as repeating sounds and phrases and answering open-ended questions such as, “what do you like to do?” measuring children’s performance in these broader areas could prove to provide more information about the child’s overall abilities, knowledge, and level of development in each language which in turn could facilitate better instructional decision-making in areas other than early literacy. the bela showed promising concurrent validity with the pls-4. the correlational and exploratory factor analyses showed that the english language bela and english pls-4 and the spanish language bela and spanish pls-4 measure similar constructs. the correlational analyses demonstrated expected patterns. however, the factor analysis did not show discrimination among the subscales beyond grouping english and spanish language domains. this suggests promise for future validation studies. a larger sample is needed to confirm these findings, and to explore whether the subscales, by language, will show groupings as hypothesized. the pls-4 was specifically selected as the criterion measure in this study given the rigor of its validity and reliability, the extensive use of the instrument in the field with young spanishenglish bilinguals, and the careful attention the authors paid to cross-linguistic issues in the development of both the spanish and english versions. importantly, the authors of the english pls-4 included spanish-english bilinguals in the standardization sample and they provide scoring guidance for spanish influenced english (zimmerman et al., 2002). recently qi and marley (2011) also investigated the validity and reliability of the english pls-4 with englishspeaking latino preschoolers in head start. it is important to note that all children in the study spoke only english and therefore findings relate to potential cultural bias in the items on the english version and not linguistic bias. internal consistency analyses of both the auditory comprehension and expressive communication subscales compared values achieved when sampling european-american (n=63) versus latino (n=387) preschoolers and found values for both higher than .90. validity was established through finding acceptable, moderate correlations when comparing pls-4 scores with performance on the ppvt-iii. they also found no statistically significant difference in the correlations between the pls-4 and the ppvt-iii between the european-american and latino subgroups, indicating that the two tests generally ranked children’s performance the same across the two groups. however, the cut-off scores for delay differ between the two instruments and the ppvt-iii identified more latinos as language delayed than the pls-4 (qi & marley, 2011). in 2009 qi and marley in a similar study using a differential item functioning analysis of the pls-4 with english-speaking hispanic and european low-income children found few items functioning differentially. between these two studies they concluded there is no strong evidence of cultural bias in the english pls-4. however, more work could be done to investigate linguistic bias when children are bilingual spanish-english speakers. the spanish version of the pls-4 is not simply a translation of the english version. the spanish pls-4 standardization sample included 1,188 spanish-speaking children from all regions of the u.s. representing a variety of spanish dialects. there are lists of alternate vocabulary on the record form that are acceptable responses given regional differences in the spanish spoken in the u.s. the standardization sample also included both simultaneous and sequential bilinguals making it applicable to a broad range of young spanish speakers in the u.s. overall the authors created a test in spanish that incorporates linguistic features that are unique psychometric properties of the bela 97 to spanish and to the language development of young spanish speakers in the u.s. (zimmerman et al., 2002). the spanish version also has strong psychometric properties with reliability coefficients range from.91 to .92 for 4to 5-year olds. however, the spanish pls-4 has not been subject to the same level of research as that completed on the english pls-4. although there currently are no publically available measures of early language development in english and spanish that have addressed all current recommendations regarding bilingual measurement such as addressing the functional, linguistic, metric, and cultural equivalence between the english and spanish versions (peña, 2007), the pls-4 is one of a few language measures available in english and spanish for use with threeto five –year-old children that has at least demonstrated adequate reliability and validity with a spanish-speaking bilingual/bicultural population. therefore, the strong correlations between the bela and the pls-4 found both between the spanish and english versions bode well for the utility of the bela in the field and for the confidence with which it can be used. the bela was designed to be used for instructional planning, progress monitoring, and as a broad measure of language proficiency. given that the instrument is currently available at no cost on-line, it is important that practitioners at least have access to pilot data so that they can be aware of the limitations of the instrument. the findings reported here suggest that some caution should be taken when using the bela with young spanish speakers. questions remain about the reliability of the bela, especially the spanish version. the bela shows some promise as a progress monitoring and instructional planning tool, but more research is needed. replication of this study with a larger sample size is warranted to assess the validity and reliability of the bela in a stronger analytic design in the hope of providing definitive recommendations regarding the appropriate uses of the bela for practitioners. references alvarado, r., ruef, m.l., & schrank, f.a. (2005). woodcock-muñoz language survey-revised. itasca, il: riverside publishing. anderson, r. (2002). practical assessment strategies with hispanic students. in a. e. brice (ed.), the hispanic child (pp. 143–184). boston: allyn & bacon. ballard, w. s., tighe, p. l., & dalton, e. f. (1991). pre-idea language proficiency test. brea, ca: ballard & tighe. barrueco, s., lopez, m., ong, c., & lozano, p. (2012). assessing spanish-english bilingual preschoolers. baltimore: brookes publishing. bedore, l. m., peña, e. d., garcía, m., cortez, c. (2005). conceptual versus monolingual scoring: when does it make a difference? language, speech, and hearing services in the schools, 36, 188-200. boyce, l.k., gillam, s.l., innocenti, m.s., cook, g.a., & ortiz, e. (in press). an examination of language input and vocabulary development of young latino dual language learners living in poverty. first language. devellis, r. (2003). scale development: theory and application. thousand oaks, ca: sage. duncan, s. e., & de avila, e. a. (2000). prelas 2000. monterey,ca: ctb/mcgraw-hill. dunn, l. m., & dunn, l. m. (1997). peabody picture vocabulary test—third edition. circle pines, mn: american guidance service. esquinca, a., yaden, d., & rueda, r. (2005). in j. cohen, k.t. mcalister, k. rolstad, j. macswan (eds.) current language proficiency tests and their implications for preschool english language learners. proceedings of the 4 th international symposium on bilingualism (pp. 674-680). somerville, ma: cascadilla press. hammer, c., miccio, a.w., & rodriguez, b.l. (2004). bilingual language acquisition and the child socialization process. in b. a. goldstein (ed.), bilingual language development and disorders in spanish-english speakers (pp.). baltimore: brookes. heise-bagorria, c. (2008, october). the bilingual early language assessment. in sharon 98 duran et al. yandian (chair), national head start dual language institute. symposium conducted at the meeting of the national head start association, washington d.c. kohnert, k. & bates, e. (2002). balancing bilinguals ii: lexical comprehension and cognitive processing in children learning spanish and english. journal of speech, language, and hearing research, 45, 347-359. kohnert, k. bates, e. & hernandez, a. (1999). balancing bilinguals: lexical-semantic production and cognitive processing in children learning spanish and english. journal of speech, language, and hearing research, 42, 1400-1413 kovelman, i., baker, s.a., petitto, l. (2008). age of first language exposure as a new window into bilingual reading development. bilingualism: language and cognition, 11(2), 203-223. landry, s., assel, m., gunewig, s., swank, p. (2004). circle phonological awareness language and literacy screener. houston, tx: ridgeways. lonigan, c. j. (2003). technical report on the development of the ncld spanish-language get ready to read! screening tool. retrieved from http://www.getreadytoread.org. lonigan, c. j., & wilson, s. (2008). report on the revised get ready to read! screening tool: psychometrics and normative information. new york: national center on learning disabilities. macswan, j., rolstad, k., & glass, g. v. (2002). do some school-age children have no language? some problems of construct validity in the pre-las español. bilingual research journal, 26 (2), 395-420. national association for the education of young children (2005). screening and assessment of young englishlanguage learners: supplement to the naeyc and naecs/sde joint position statement on early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation. national association for the education of young children. available at: http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ell_supplement_shorter_version.pdf nunnally, j. & bernstein, i. (1994). psychometric theory. columbus, oh: mcgraw-hill. páez, m.m., tabors, p.o., & lópez, l.m. (2007). dual language and literacy development of spanish-speaking preschool children. journal of applied developmental psychology, 28, 85-102. paradis, j., genesee, f. & crago, m. b. (2010). dual language development and disorders: a handbook on bilingualism and second language learning. baltimore, md: brookes. pearson, b., fernández, s.c., & ollers, d. k. (1993). lexical development in bilingual infants and toddlers: comparison to monolingual norms. language learning, 43, 93-120. pedhazur, e. j., & schmelkin, l. p. (1991). measurement, design, and analysis: an integrated approach. hillsdale, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. peña, e. d. (2007). lost in translation: methodological considerations in cross-cultural research. child development, 78(4), 1255-1264. peña, e. d., bedore, l., & rapazzo, c. (2003). comparison of spanish, english, and bilingual children’s performance across semantic tasks. language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 34, 5-16 peña, e. d., gillam, r. b., bedore, l.m., bohman, t. m. (2011). risk for performance on a language screening measure for bilingual preschoolers and kindergarteners. american journal of speech-language pathology, 2, 302-314. peña, e. d., & halle, t. g. (2011). assessing preschool dual language learners: traveling a multiforked road, child development perspectives, 5 (1), 28-32. peña, e. & kester, e. s. (2004). semantic development in spanish-english bilinguals: theory, assessment, and intervention. in b. a. goldstein (ed.), bilingual language development and disorders in spanish-english speakers (pp. 187-212). baltimore: brookes. qi, c.h., & marley, s.c. (2009). differential item functioning analysis of the preschool language scale-4 between english-speaking hispanic and european american children from low-income families. topics in early childhood special education, 29, 171-180. qi, c.h., & marley, s.c. (2011). validity study of the preschool language scale-4 with english-speaking hispanic and european american children in head start programs. topics in early childhood special education, 31, 89-98. sheskin, d.j. (2004). handbook of parametric and non-parametric statistics (3 rd ed.). boca raton, fl: chapman hall. standards for educational and psychological testing (1999). joint committee of the american educational research association, american psychological association, and national council on measurement in education, aera: washington: dc. http://www.getreadytoread.org/ http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ell_supplement_shorter_version.pdf psychometric properties of the bela 99 tabors. p. o., & heise-baigorria, c. (2004). bilingual early language assessment. retrieved from www.cpsd.us/bela/ tabors, p. o., páez, m. m., & lópez, l. m. (2003). dual language abilities of bilingual four-year olds: initial findings from the early childhood study of language and literacy development of spanish-speaking children. nabe journal of research and practice, 1, 70-91. u.s. census bureau. (2010).overview of race and hispanic origin: 2010. retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, office of head start. (2008). dual language learning: what does it take? retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/ecdh/eecd/individualization/learning%20in%20two%20languages/dla na_final_2009%5b1%5d.pdf zimmerman, i.l., steiner, v., & pond, r. e. (2002) preschool language scale -4. birmingham, al: psych corp. http://www.cpsd.us/bela/ http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/ecdh/eecd/individualization/learning%20in%20two%20languages/dlana_final_2009%5b1%5d.pdf http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/ecdh/eecd/individualization/learning%20in%20two%20languages/dlana_final_2009%5b1%5d.pdf 100 duran et al. appendix a questionnaire for the family home language and education date____/____/____ child’s name_____________________________________________________ child’s date of birth____/____/____ child’s age:_____________ name of the person completing this form:____________________________________ your relationship to the child:_______________________________ 1. (a) at what age did your child begin to attend head start? ___________________ (b) in what type of educational programs has you child participated? (for example preschool, childcare) were they bilingual programs or english-only settings? 2. (a) does your child speak spanish? yes no (b) if so, at what age did your child begin to speak spanish? _____________________ (c) does he/she speak spanish often? yes no (d) with whom does your child speak spanish? 3. (a) does your child speak english? yes no (b) if so, at what age did your child begin to speak english? _____________________ (c) does he/she speak english often? yes no (d) with whom does your child speak english? 4. (a) in what languages do you speak at home?_________________________________ (b) please list the people that live in your home, and the languages that each person speaks. (for example: grandmother-spanish, older brother-english and spanish, etc.) 5. does your child have any medical or cognitive conditions that could limit his/her participation in academic activities? yes no 6. in comparison with other children of the same age, do you feel that your child has any problems in speaking? yes no 7. do you have any concerns regarding your child’s development, behavior, language or learning level? yes no how many years of schooling has the child’s mother completed? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21+ in what country?__________________________________ how many years of schooling has the child’s father completed? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21+ in what country?__________________________________ psychometric properties of the bela 101 cuestionario para la familia idioma y educación del hogar fecha___/___/___ nombre del niño/a_____________________________________________________ fecha de nacimiento del niño/a ___/___/____ edad del niño/a:_________________ nombre del informante_________________________________________________ relación con el niño/a: ________________________________________________ 1. (a) ¿a qué edad empezó su hijo/a a asistir a head start? ____________________ (b) ¿cuales programas educativo ha participado su hijo/a? (por ejemplo clases prescolar o cuidado de niños) eran estos programas bilingües o solo inglés? 2. (a) ¿su hijo/a habla español? si no (b) ¿si habla español, a qué edad lo empezó a hablar? _______________________ (c) ¿lo habla con mucha frecuencia? si no (d) ¿lo habla bien, en comparación a otros niños de su edad? si no (e) ¿con quién(es) habla el español? 3. (a) ¿su hijo/a habla inglés? si no (b) ¿si habla inglés, a qué edad lo empezó a hablar? _______________________ (c) ¿lo habla con mucha frecuencia? si no (d) ¿lo habla bien, en comparación a otros niños de su edad? si no (e) ¿con quién(es) habla el inglés? 4. (a) ¿en qué idioma(s) hablan en casa?__________________________________ (b) favor de nombrar las personas que viven en casa, y los idiomas que hablan (por ejemplo: abuelaespañol, hermano mayoringlés y español etc.): 5. ¿su hijo/a tiene alguna debilidad médico o cognitivo que podría limitar su participación en actividades escolares? si no 6. ¿en comparación a otros niños de la misma edad, piensa usted que su hijo/a tiene problemas en usar el lenguaje para expresarse o hacerse entender? si no 7. ¿usted tiene alguna preocupación actual acerca del desarrollo, conducta, lenguaje o aprendizaje de su hijo/a? si no ¿cuántos años escolares recibió la mamá del niño? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21+ ¿en qué país?_____________________________________ ¿cuántos años escolares recibió el papá del niño? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21+ ¿en qué país?_____________________________________ dialog, 16(3), 149-154 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary improving behavioral regulation in preschool shauna l. tominey yale university megan m. mcclelland oregon state university in this study, we share findings from a preschool intervention program using circle time games to help children practice behavioral regulation, a set of skills that lays the foundation for school readiness and academic success. we looked at how children’s behaviors during intervention playgroup sessions was related to how much they benefited from the intervention and examined whether children’s behaviors “spilled over” to other children’s participation. developing programs that help preschoolers practice behavioral regulation skills may help lay the foundation for early learning and later academic success. “school readiness” has become a hot topic in recent years with preschool being identified as a critical time to help children develop the skills they need to be successful in school. even president obama highlighted the need to make “high-quality preschool available to every single child in america” in his 2013 state of the union address. so what are the skills children need to be successful in school? and how do we teach these skills in preschool? a growing body of research has highlighted the importance of self-regulation for both shortand long-term academic achievement (mcclelland, acock, piccinin, rhea, & stallings, 2013; mcclelland, cameron, connor, et al., 2007). in fact, teachers name self-regulation skills, like paying attention and following directions, as critical skills for children to have when they make the transition to kindergarten (rimm-kaufman, pianta, & cox, 2000). behavioral regulation and school readiness there are many different aspects of self-regulation, including cognitive, behavioral, and emotion regulation. in this paper, we are focusing on one aspect of self-regulation: behavioral regulation. behavioral regulation is the integration of three regulatory skills: attentional flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control (mcclelland, cameron, wanless, & murray, 2007). attentional flexibility helps children focus on what is important and ignore distractions (rueda, posner, & rothbart, 2005). working memory allows children to keep information in mind so that they can 150 tominey and mcclelland follow instructions and complete multi-step tasks (adams, bourke, & willis, 1999). inhibitory control is the ability to stop an automatic response (e.g., running outside when the bell rings) and choose another response instead (e.g., stopping to put toys away first) (rennie, bull, & diamond, 2004). research has indicated that children’s behavioral regulation skills in preschool predict a number of academic outcomes, including preschool and elementary school reading and math scores and even high school and college completion rates (blair & razza, 2007; mcclelland et al., 2013). conversely, studies show that children who struggle with behavioral regulation have trouble succeeding in classroom settings and are at risk for academic difficulties (ladd, 2003). behavioral regulation and preschool preschool is an important time for developing behavioral regulation because it is during preschool that children experience significant growth in the pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain related to behavioral regulation (blair, 2002). studies show that behavioral regulation can be improved with practice. because more than 80% of children attend preschool, preschool programs may be an ideal environment to promote these skills and reach a majority of children before kindergarten (denton flanagan & mcphee, 2009). in recent years, a number of interventions have emerged focused on promoting school readiness. many of these programs emphasize self-regulation as well as early academic skills. some examples of intervention programs include tools of the mind (bodrova & leong, 2009), promoting alternate thinking strategies (paths) (domitrovich, cortes, & greenberg, 2007), second step (committee for children, 2013), the incredible years (webster-stratton, reid, & stoolmiller, 2008), and the kindergarten readiness study (tominey & mcclelland, 2011). most of these programs have been tested with diverse groups of children, however, few studies to date have examined how intervention effects vary across children and how children’s behaviors during intervention sessions affect their ability to benefit from participation. spillover effects as any teacher knows, how children behave in the classroom (or during an intervention session) affects not only that child’s own ability to learn, but also the other children around them. we call this a “spillover effect.” research on inclusive classrooms (i.e., classrooms including children with special needs as well as children without special needs) shows that children can be a positive influence for one another by serving as peer models (odom & diamond, 1998). positive spillover effects can be seen in non-inclusive classrooms too. for example, studies show that children’s vocabulary relates to the vocabulary of their classmates (mashburn, justice, downer, & pianta, 2009). spillover effects can also lead to increased negative behaviors. for example, findings from one study revealed that preschool children had more difficulties demonstrating self-regulation in groups than by themselves (mccabe & brooks-gunn, 2007). in this study, we were interested in looking at how children’s behaviors impacted their own ability to benefit from a behavioral regulation intervention as well as how their behaviors (and specifically off-task behaviors) affected those around them. behavioral regulation in preschool 151 improving behavioral regulation through circle time games in a recent paper (tominey & mcclelland, 2011), we shared results from the kindergarten readiness study, a pilot intervention that used circle time games to help children practice behavioral regulation skills. sixty-five children participated in the study; thirty-two children were randomly assigned to participate in playgroup games twice per week for eight weeks and thirty-three children were randomly assigned to the control group. the games were variations of traditional children’s games (such as “red light, green light” and “simon says”). all of the games used music and movement and required children to pay attention, remember increasingly complicated rules, and start and stop to different cues. results from the kindergarten readiness study revealed that for children who started the year with low behavioral regulation skills, participating in the intervention playgroups led to significantly higher gains in behavioral regulation in comparison to a control group. we also found that children in the intervention group made greater gains in emergent literacy scores over the year than children in the control group even though the games had no literacy components (no emphasis on letters or reading of any kind). intervention participation and head start the group of children participating in the intervention attended a school that included both children enrolled in head start (children from low-income families) as well as children from more economically-privileged families (who did not qualify for head start) in the same classrooms. of the thirty-two children participating in the intervention playgroups, fourteen were enrolled in head start (44%). when we compared how much children’s behavioral regulation scores increased over the year dividing children into groups based on head start enrollment status, an interesting finding emerged. we found that although children in both groups showed significant growth in behavioral regulation from participating in the intervention, children from low-income families (those enrolled in head start) did not benefit as much as children from more economically-privileged families. this finding led to another research question: why did children from low-income backgrounds benefit less than their peers from participating in the intervention? over the year, we recorded field notes detailing each intervention session, including which games we used, how children responded to the games, children’s behaviors during the intervention session, and challenges experienced by the playgroup leader. we reviewed the field notes for patterns that might help explain why some children showed greater gains than others. we started by looking for evidence of onand off-task behaviors across all children individually. off-task behaviors and intervention participation in the field notes, we found evidence for two types of off-task behaviors: 1) behaviors unrelated to the activities and 2) off-task behaviors related to the activities. in general, off-task behaviors unrelated to the activities included answering questions with off-topic comments (“tomorrow is saturday and we don’t come to school,” and “what’s in those [drawers]?”), climbing and standing on chairs at the edge of the room, stacking carpet squares, and crawling under tables. 152 tominey and mcclelland off-task behaviors related to the activities included trying to make the loudest noises, such as while playing instruments, or focusing on running during a game like red light, green light to “win” the game rather than following directions and tiptoeing. initiators and imitators we categorized children who exhibited off-task behaviors as “imitators” or “initiators.” seven of the 32 children in the study were “initiators,” in other words, these children were leaders in off-task behaviors. all of the initiators were also “imitators” and copied the off-task behaviors of others. in addition, we categorized nine children as “imitators.” these children did not initiate off-task behaviors themselves, but copied the off-task behaviors of the initiators. after coding off-task behaviors, we then looked to see if there were links between these behaviors and head start enrollment status. of the children enrolled in head start who participated in the intervention playgroups, 78.5% were coded either as imitators or initiators in comparison to only 11% of the children not enrolled in head start. six out of the seven initiators (86%) were enrolled in head start and six out of nine imitators (67%). these findings add to existing research suggesting that children from low-income backgrounds are more likely to struggle with self-regulation than their peers, may have more trouble paying attention, and spend more time participating in off-task behaviors (evans & rosenbaum, 2008; wanless, mcclelland, tominey, & acock, 2011). spillover effects in addition to these findings, we found evidence of spillover effects within playgroup sessions. we found that the number of imitators was higher in playgroups that had more than one initiator. only one group included an initiator with no imitators. whether or not an initiator was imitated appeared to be related to the child’s peer relationships within the group. for example, one child who was coded as an initiator was never imitated. this child had few interactions (either positive or negative) with the other children in the group. she did not try to engage other children in her off-task behaviors and her behaviors appeared to bother other children. the other children appeared to be indifferent to this child and her actions. another child was imitated by one or more children every time he exhibited an off-task behavior. this child was well-liked by the other children. he often said words or made faces that made other children laugh and would continue these behaviors as long as he was receiving positive attention from his peers (e.g., laughing or imitation). the majority of his off-task behaviors were active attempts to engage other children. this pattern was present throughout the field notes: children who demonstrated positive social interactions were most likely to be imitated and received positive attention from their peers when exhibiting off-task behaviors. implications and conclusions the findings from the kindergarten readiness study have several implications. first: behavioral regulation can be improved with practice. music and movement circle time games that help behavioral regulation in preschool 153 children practice paying attention, remembering sets of instructions, and starting and stopping to different cues, can be a fun and effective way to promote these skills. for a description of the games used in this study see (tominey & mcclelland, 2011). second: children’s behaviors in group time settings may affect their ability to participate in and benefit from behavioral regulation games. children from low-income backgrounds were more likely than their peers to initiate or imitate off-task behaviors. they also showed smaller gains in behavioral regulation over the year. and third: children’s off-task behaviors may spill-over and affect other children’s participation. when playing games like these in a group, the behaviors of some children may affect not only their own ability to benefit from the games, but other children’s as well. it may be important to play games such as these at different times of day with different groupings of children (during large group, in small groups, and individually) so that children have multiple exposures to practicing these skills in different contexts to maximize benefit. in conclusion, findings from this study can be used to refine how we promote behavioral regulation for children. these results also have the potential to inform preschool curricula that include behavioral regulation games to ultimately improve academic achievement. the development of behavioral regulation interventions that can be easily implemented by teachers in classroom settings is critical to ensure that all children enter school with the skills they need to benefit from classroom learning activities. references adams, a., bourke, l., & willis, c. 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(2007). improving young children's social and emotional competence: a randomized trial of the preschool 'paths' curriculum. journal of primary prevention, 28(2), 67-91. evans, g. w., & rosenbaum, j. (2008). self-regulation and the income-achievement gap. early childhood research quarterly, 23(4), 504-514. ladd, g. w. (2003). probing the adaptive significance of children's behavior and relationships in the school context: a child by environment perspective. advances in child development and behavior, 31, 43-104. mashburn, a. j., justice, l. m., downer, j. t., & pianta, r. c. (2009). peer effects on children’s language achievement during pre-kindergarten. child development, 80(3), 686-702. mccabe, l. a., & brooks-gunn, j. (2007). with a little help from my friends?: self-regulation in groups of young children. infant mental health journal, 28(6), 584-605. mcclelland, m. m., acock, a. c., piccinin, a., rhea, s. a., & stallings, m. c. (2013). relations between preschool attention span-persistence and age 25 educational outcomes. early childhood research quarterly, 28(2), 314-324. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2012.07.008 mcclelland, m. m., cameron, c. e., connor, c. m., farris, c. l., jewkes, a. m., & morrison, f. j. (2007). links between behavioral regulation and preschoolers' literacy, vocabulary, and math skills. developmental psychology, 43(4), 947-959. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2012.07.008 154 tominey and mcclelland mcclelland, m. m., cameron, c. e., wanless, s. b., & murray, a. (2007). executive function, behavioral selfregulation, and social-emotional competence: links to school readiness. in o. n. saracho & b. spodek (eds.), contemporary perspectives on social learning in early childhood education (pp. 83-107). charlotte, nc: information age. odom, s. l., & diamond, k. e. (1998). inclusion of young children with special needs in early childhood education: the research base. early childhood research quarterly, 13(1), 3-25. rennie, d. a. c., bull, r., & diamond, a. (2004). executive functioning in preschoolers: reducing the inhibitory demands of the dimensional change card sort task. developmental neuropsychology, 26(1), 423-443. rimm-kaufman, s. e., pianta, r. c., & cox, m. j. (2000). teachers' judgments of problems in the transition to kindergarten. early childhood research quarterly, 15(2), 147-166. rueda, m. r., posner, m. i., & rothbart, m. k. (2005). the development of executive attention: contributions to the emergence of self-regulation. developmental neuropsychology, 28(2), 573-594. tominey, s. l., & mcclelland, m. m. (2011). red light, purple light: findings from a randomized trial using circle time games to improve behavioral self-regulation in preschool. early education and development, 22(3), 489-519. wanless, s. b., mcclelland, m. m., tominey, s. l., & acock, a. c. (2011). the influence of demographic risk factors on children's behavioral regulation in prekindergarten and kindergarten. early education and development, 22(3), 461-488. doi: 10.1080/10409289.2011.536132 webster-stratton, c., reid, j. m., & stoolmiller, m. (2008). preventing conduct problems and improving school readiness: evaluation of the incredible years teacher and child training programs in high-risk schools. . journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 49, 471-488. dialog, 17(3), 122-135 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 this article is based on some of the same datasets and analyses contained in a previously released technical report entitled technical manual for the teaching strategies gold ® assessment system. partial funding for this research was provided by teaching strategies lcc. opinions reflect those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the granting agency. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to diane c. burts, e-mail: dburt1@lsu.edu dialog from the field the teaching strategies gold ® assessment system: measurement properties and use diane c. burts louisiana state university do-hong kim university of north carolina at charlotte this paper describes the development and use of a relatively new, widely adopted, teacher-rated authentic assessment measure and presents an overview of findings from four studies regarding its reliability and validity. the teaching strategies gold ® is an assessment system designed to assess the development and learning of children birth kindergarten, inclusive of children with disabilities and english language learners. study samples were large and diverse. children attended head start, private child care, and school-based programs in all areas of the united states and were representative of the nation's population of similarly aged children. overall results indicate that the gold ® yields valid and reliable inferences for the intended population and that teachers are able to use the measure to accurately assess children's development and learning across the designated age range. limitations and implications for practice and future research are discussed. keywords: early childhood assessment; authentic assessment along with the upsurge of national, state, and local accountability guidelines and standards, child assessment has assumed particular importance for public policy discussions and educational decisions and recommendations. to guide the curriculum and assessment decisions of its various programs, head start identified school readiness goals for infants and toddlers (early head start national resource center, 2012) and developed a readiness outcomes framework for children 35 years old (u.s. department of health and human services, 2010). as increasing numbers of children representing numerous backgrounds and experiences enroll in head start and other early childhood programs, scientifically-informed assessment measures are needed to ensure that mailto:dburt1@lsu.edu 123 teaching strategies gold® measurement properties and use all children regardless of culture, language, or disabilities are assessed fairly (hirsh-pasek, kochanoff, newcombe, & de villiers, 2005; snow & van hemel, 2008; qi & marley, 2009). the purpose of this paper is to describe a relatively new authentic assessment measure, the teaching strategies gold ® (gold ® ) (heroman, burts, berke, & bickart, 2010) and to present findings regarding its psychometric properties. this information is especially timely and pertinent for stakeholders given the current emphasis on assessment and the widespread use of the gold ® in head start and other early childhood programs. its publishers report that it is used in all states for pre-k assessment with nearly half of the states having state-level agreements. about one-quarter of the states have state-level agreements for kindergarten assessments (j. mosley, personal communication, september 26, 2013). assessment practices purposeful and systematic assessment includes consideration of why assess, what should be measured, and how it should be measured. assessments that are well designed, implemented effectively, and interpreted and used appropriately can inform teaching and contribute to better outcomes for all children (snow & van hemel, 2008). on the other hand, poorly designed assessment measures or those that do not consider child characteristics can result in children being mislabeled or not receiving the support and services they need. various professional groups have provided the early childhood field with guidance on what constitutes best practices regarding assessment. for example, the national research council of the national academies (snow & van hemel, 2008) issued a comprehensive report on the design, implementation, and use of early childhood assessment. according to the national association for the education of young children (naeyc) and the national association of early childhood specialists in state departments of education (naecs/sde) assessment measures should be developmentally appropriate, educationally important, and linguistically and culturally responsive (copple & bredekamp, 2009; naeyc, 2009; naeyc & naecs/sde, 2003; 2005). along with these groups, the american educational research association (aera), american psychological association (apa), and the national council on measurement in education (ncme) point out that child assessment measures should meet established standards of reliability and validity (aera, apa, & ncme, 1999; naeyc & naecs/sde, 2003; snow & van hemel, 2008). in a policy report issued by the society for research in child development (srcd), hirsh-pasek and colleagues introduce the concept of “empirical validity” (hirsh-pasek et al., 2005). they call for child-assessment instruments which are based on current research findings in the developmental domains with attention to those child competencies that predict later academic success. further, they assert that assessment measures should focus on the processes (how) of learning. instruments developed with process in mind portray the child’s progress along a developmental path (hirsh-pasek, et al., 2005). capturing children’s emerging abilities and their performance as they engage in the active process of learning provides insights that may not be obtained otherwise and is fairer to young children who are developing and learning rapidly. during early childhood, several weeks or months can make tremendous differences in a child’s knowledge and/or abilities (copple & bredekamp, 2009). it is therefore important that assessments are sensitive to small changes over time (meisels & atkins-burnett, 2005) and are 124 burst & kim designed to accurately capture nuanced differences in both the quantity and quality of change (snow & van hemel, 2008). authentic assessment some assessment measures rely predominately on single child responses, and the assessment information is often collected at a single point in time. children’s on-the-spot responses are influenced by various factors including their attention span, experience with assessment-like language and tasks, and culture (atkins-burnett, 2007). furthermore, how they respond at any one point in the day can vary with the classroom setting and activity type (vitiello, booren, downer, & williford, 2012). many professionals, including those in early intervention (e.g., keilty, larocco, & casell, 2009), support authentic, observation-based performance assessment of young children (e.g., copple & bredekamp, 2009; gullo, 2006; meisels, wen, & beachyquick, 2010; moreno & klute, 2011). authentic assessment is ongoing, and information is collected by teachers in typical everyday situations rather than as an add-on to daily instruction (mcafee & leong, 2011). “careful observations of children’s behavior, including how they approach tasks, create work products, and interact with others, are an ideal way for teachers to recognize and monitor children’s growth on an ongoing basis” (daniels & perry, 2003, p. 107) and to guide classroom instruction. in authentic assessment, information is gathered from various sources including families and others familiar with the child. head start has emphasized the importance of family involvement since its inception and continues to stress the import of parents as partners in their children’s learning (azar, miller, & stevenson, 2013). children’s development and learning are contextual and are influenced by reciprocal interactions which occur in their immediate environments (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006). close communication with families provides the teacher with valuable information (caspe, seltzer, kennedy, cappio, & delorenzo, 2013) and helps bridge the developmental contexts of home and school. teachers as assessors although it seems logical that teachers who interact with children and their families on a regular basis would be in an ideal position to gather assessment data, they often struggle with the assessment process. some researchers suggest that teachers may not provide valid and reliable information about child performance (waterman, mcdermott, fantuzzo, & gadsden, 2012). teachers report that they sometimes make modifications to the measurement procedures which can affect reliability and validity (gokiert, noble, & littlejohns, 2013). teachers’ evaluations of children, regardless of the type of evaluation used, are influenced by their beliefs and perceptions, education and training, life and teaching experiences, familiarity with the assessment instrument, knowledge about the assessed areas, and program settings and quality (e.g., gallagher & lambert, 2006; kilday, kinzie, mashburn, & wittaker, 2012; mashburn & henry, 2004; mashburn, hamre, downer, & pianta, 2006; meisels et al., 2010; phillips & lonigan, 2010; ready & wright, 2011). authentic assessment relies on teachers’ abilities to objectively observe and document what children say and do, select suitable examples and artifacts that illustrate particular 125 teaching strategies gold® measurement properties and use knowledge and skills, and interpret and use the information appropriately (brenneman, 2011). teachers often have limited or no participation in training related to the assessment tools and procedures they use (gokiert et al., 2013). “to assess appropriately and effectively, a teacher must understand at least when and how to use assessment; how a child’s development can affect the assessment process; and the intersections among assessment, program evaluation, and curriculum and teaching” (gullo, 2006, p. 138). given the complexity of the task, some teachers may be unprepared to meet this challenge, particularly with the vast diversity of children represented in programs today. for example, assessing the skills of second language learners can be difficult for teachers (rodrigues & guiberson, 2011), especially if they do not understand children’s cultural backgrounds and home languages (espinosa, 2010) or the process of learning a second language (tabors, 2008). the aforementioned factors make it particularly important that assessment measures are not only psychometrically sound and empirically valid, but that they are also “teacher-friendly.” teachers must be able to interpret the language and ratings used in the tool without ambiguity (goldstein & mccoach, 2011; meisels et al., 2010). the following sections provide an overview of the teaching strategies gold ® and summaries of the research findings from studies related to its psychometric properties. methods instrument overview. the teaching strategies gold ® (heroman et al., 2010) is an authentic, observation-based teacher rating system designed to assess the continuing development and learning of children birth through kindergarten, inclusive of second language learners and children with disabilities. the measure is intended to assist teachers in planning and individualizing instruction and in monitoring and communicating child progress with families and other stakeholders. although it is closely tied to the creative curriculum ® for infants, toddlers, & twos and the creative curriculum ® system for preschool, its developers indicate that the measure can be used in programs using the curricula and those that use other curricula (teaching strategies llc, n.d.). the gold ® has 25 research-based objectives which are operationalized into 51 rating scale items organized into the areas of social–emotional (9 items), physical (5 items), language (8 items), cognitive (10 items), literacy (12 items), and mathematics (7 items). a research section precedes each objective and provides its foundation by summarizing major research findings, including those predictive of future success. development. development of the gold ® occurred over several years with consideration of the guidelines provided by professional groups (e.g., aera, apa, & ncme, 1999; hirsh-pasek, et al., 2005; naeyc & naecs/sde, 2003; snow & van hemel, 2008). solicited feedback from teachers, administrators, consultants, and teaching strategies, llc professional-development staff was incorporated into the measure. two pilot studies conducted with diverse populations further refined the measure. national experts (e.g., development, content areas, special needs, ells) provided content review relating to the objectives, item importance, developmental progressions, sample behaviors, age ranges, research, cultural 126 burst & kim sensitivity, organization, clarity, etc. final assessment items resulted from the comments received during the development process; consideration of state early learning standards and the head start child development and early learning framework (u.s. department of health & human services, 2010); and current research and professional literature including literature identifying the knowledge, skills, and behaviors most predictive of school success. an initial study of the teaching strategies gold ® was conducted with 290 children who ranged in age from 2.5 months to 35 months. children attended programs in 20 different centers located in all regions of the united states. results indicated adequate internal consistency reliability and validity of the measure (kim & smith, 2010). assessment process. the gold ® objectives help focus the assessment process as teachers gather information through observations, conversations, artifacts, etc. during daily activities. for example, during a project/study on houses the teacher may notice a child constructing different types of houses. while observing,the teacher may document progress related to the child’s interactions with peers, engagement in conversations, task persistence, and use of fingers and hands. documentation may be gathered using various means such as audio or video recordings, photographs, or observational notes and entered into the assessment system. child assessment information is summarized at three checkpoint periods (i.e., fall, winter, and spring) using paper or online versions of the gold ® . teachers use the accumulated information to rate each child’s skills, knowledge, and behaviors along a 10point progression of development and learning from “not yet” (level 0) to level 9 (child exceeds kindergarten level expectations). levels 2, 4, 6, and 8 are “indicators.” they include examples of readily observable behaviors which help teachers assess child progress toward the objective. levels 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 are the “in-between” levels and do not include examples. they are used to indicate that the child’s skills in the area are emerging but aren’t established and may need support (e.g., physical, visual, verbal, gestures, modeling). these additional steps in the progressions better portray the nuances in children’s development and learning than yes/no ratings or fewer steps are able to capture. color-coded bands which overlap indicate the typical age and/or grade-level (i.e., kindergarten) ranges for each item. some bands are longer or shorter than others and indicate the uneven and overlapping nature of development and learning (copple & bredekamp, 2009). suggested teaching strategies, inclusive of children of various ages, cultures, language abilities, and disabilities, are provided for each objective. studies participants the psychometric properties of any new assessment instrument should be rigorously examined and made available to stakeholders. when establishing validity and reliability, large samples representative of the children with whom the measure will be used, are necessary. this gives teachers and administrators confidence that the assessment can be successfully used with children in different parts of the country; in diverse instructional settings; and with children of different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and special needs. the four studies described in this paper represent the information provided from two national norm samples. samples were broad and diverse but the sizes varied depending on the particular research questions. 127 teaching strategies gold® measurement properties and use the population (n=111,059) included ratings made by children’s classroom teachers using the gold ® for the fall 2010 checkpoint. a norm sample (n1=10,963) was created that matched the 2009 u.s. census bureau estimates for children ages birth to 71 months with respect to ethnic subgroups, gender, census region, and state. the population was divided into three-month age bands, for a total of 24 age bands ranging from 0-2 months to 69-71 months. using a similar procedure, a second, longitudinal norm sample (n2=33,612) was created from among all children who were rated at all three checkpoints during the 2010-2011 academic year. detailed descriptions of the sampling procedures are reported in separate manuscripts (kim, lambert, & burts, 2013; kim, lambert, & burts, in press; lambert, kim, & burts, 2014a; 2014b). children were enrolled in programs at 2,525 different head start, private childcare, and school-based sites in 48 states and the district of columbia. most of the participating programs used the creative curriculum ® for infants, toddlers, and twos and/or the creative curriculum ® for preschool (teaching strategies lcc, n.d.) and had been using the developmental continua previously developed by teaching strategies lcc (2001; 2005; 2006). teachers were transitioning to the gold ® assessment system. a total of 4,580 teachers gathered child data using the gold ® . prior to the studies, teachers participated in a two-day training focusing on an overview of the measure and exploration of the objectives and child progressions. they watched video clips, participated in large-group discussions, evaluated a portfolio, completed family conference forms, and practiced uploading documentation samples and entering observation notes and progress checkpoint data online study 1 purpose, methods, and findings. study 1 was conducted to explore evidence for the reliability and validity of the information provided by the gold ® with children birth through kindergarten. the study addressed the (a) factorial structure of the measure, (b) indexes of reliability, and (c) inter-rater reliability. both norm samples (n1=10,963; n2=33,612) provided the data for the study. the first step was to examine the factorial structure of the measure using confirmatory factor analysis (cfa). a six-factor model was selected because of its basis in developmental theory and its correspondence with the structure of the instrument. results of cfa based on the first norm sample indicated that the six-factor model fit the data reasonably well (standardized root mean square residual [srmr] = .033, comparative fit index [cfi] = .932, and root mean square error of approximation [rmsea] = .066). all factor loadings were generally large and statistically significant (p < .001). the correlations between the six scales were also large (.786 .958) and statistically significant (p < .001). using the second norm sample data, longitudinal measurement invariance cfa was conducted to examine whether the scores obtained when teachers use the teaching strategies gold ® measured the intended constructs equivalently across time. the results indicated the teaching strategies gold ® construct was equivalent across time. reliability was evaluated using person separation index, person reliability, item separation index, and item reliability provided by rasch analyses. the person separation index indicates how well the instrument can differentiate persons (i.e., children) on each of the constructs. the item separation index indicates an estimate in standard error units of the spread, or separation, of items along the measurement constructs. cronbach’s alpha was used to measure 128 burst & kim internal consistency. rasch analyses indicated that the six scales (i.e., social-emotional, cognitive, etc.) appear to yield scores that are highly reliable. the cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients indicated very high internal consistency (.94 .97). correlations between the ratings of a master trainer and ratings of teachers (n=557) who were current users of the system provided inter-rater reliability information. the master trainer rated 18 children (age 5 to 71 months) on all items in the measure. the teachers looked at video clips of the same children and provided their ratings across all items in the assessment. teachers provided 2,558 separate child assessments and rated an average of 4.59 children. each teacher rated only those children in the age-group or class/grade with whom she/he worked. the correlations between the master trainer and raters were high. all but one was above .90; it was above .80. no data were collected on how well the teachers applied the gold ® training information when they assessed the children in their actual classrooms. discussion. findings from study 1 (lambert et al., 2014a) supported the constructrelated validity of the measure suggesting that the gold ® measures six separate domains as intended by its developers. results of longitudinal invariance cfa indicated the constructs were equivalent across time implying that the interpretations of changes in children’s development and learning obtained from the measure are valid. not particularly surprising, correlations between factors were high. although distinct developmental and learning domains are identified in the literature, these areas are overlapping and interrelated (e.g., copple & bredekamp, 2009; hirshpasek et al., 2005; snow & van hemel, 2008). while teachers must be able to differentiate between various areas so they can take appropriate, early action they must also be cognizant of the interwoven nature of domains and how each area influences and is influenced by other areas. this holistic view supports children’s overall well-being and success (copple & bredekamp, 2009) and is less likely to promote concentration in one area at the expense of others. reliability is an extremely important concern when considering teacher as ratings. interrater reliability between a master trainer and teachers was high. reliability coefficients for all three checkpoints were also high. in agreement with an initial study of the measure with children birth through age two (kim & smith, 2010), these results suggest that teachers can reliably assess the development and learning of children birth through 71 months using the gold ® . study 2 purpose, methods, and findings. another important consideration, and one especially germane to head start, is whether the measurement is invariant across subgroups of children. study 2 looked specifically at whether the gold ® is valid for children with disabilities and those for whom english is not their first language. data from three-, four-, and five -yearolds with complete item responses were used in the study. assessment information collected for the fall (n=79,324), winter (n=132,693), and spring (n=50,558) checkpoint periods were analyzed according to each child’s primary language or disability status, forming three groups: (a) children with disabilities were compared to those without disabilities; (b) ells were compared to children whose primary language is english (non-ells); and (c) spanish-speaking ells were compared to non-ells. differential item functioning (dif) analysis was used to determine if any items within the gold ® were operating differently for the subgroups under study. findings showed that the majority of items in the gold ® displayed little or no dif. 129 teaching strategies gold® measurement properties and use several language items revealed dif at one checkpoint, but not at others. however, the item, “uses conventional grammar” was consistently identified as having dif for all subgroups at all three checkpoint periods. discussion. when establishing an instrument’s validity, it is important to note that acknowledged group differences do not constitute biased ratings (develiis, 2003). instrument and item bias have specific statistical definitions (clauser & mazor, 1998) based on findings of differential item or test functioning (dif/dtf) after statistically controlling for child ability. findings from study 2 indicated that in general, teachers’ ratings were similar for children of similar abilities, regardless of their subgroup membership as indicated by the absence of dif. although dif was not detected for most items in the gold ® , it was consistently detected for the item, “uses conventional grammar” (kim et al., 2013). as such, the presence of dif indicates the possibility of bias for that item, but it does not necessarily indicate bias. for example, a secondary dimension being measured (auxiliary) may cause benign dif (douglas, roussos, & stout, 1996). items in the gold ® that showed dif, particularly the item related to grammar usage, should be carefully monitored in the future. further, both pre-service education and inservice training should emphasize how ells and children with disabilities demonstrate their language abilities (rothstein-fisch, trumbull, & garcia, 2009). study 3 purpose, methods, and findings. one important aspect in determining the validity of an observational assessment is the variability attributed to the child versus other factors. this study addressed: (a) child characteristics associated with teacher ratings (i.e., age, gender, disability status, and english language status); (b) classroom composition characteristics associated with teacher ratings (i.e., class mean age; and percent boys, disabilities, and ells); and (c) the variability between raters when controlling for child and classroom characteristics. three-level growth curve modeling was used to analyze the data. a sample of 21,592 children was selected from among children rated during all three rating periods using the online version of the gold ® . scale scores were created for each developmental domain using interval level rasch rating scale ability estimates (bond & fox, 2007). findings indicated that teacher ratings were associated in anticipated directions for child characteristics and for classroom characteristics. children with disabilities began the year behind their typically developing peers and grew at slower rates throughout the year. girls showed an advantage in some areas over boys. ells were rated lower at the beginning of the year but showed somewhat faster growth rates than native english-speakers. approximately 16% and 25% of the variance in scale scores was accounted for by unmeasured differences between classrooms and teachers, including rater effects. discussion. the findings from study 3 suggest that the gold ® showed sensitivity to age differences and to growth over time. as expected, older children had higher scores at all checkpoints than younger children. consistent with findings from other research, children with disabilities started behind their non-disabled peers and grew at slower rates over the year (gallagher & lambert, 2006; goldstein, 2004). boys began the year lower and grew slower than girls in all areas except mathematics, partially supporting findings of some researchers (penner & 130 burst & kim paret, 2008; robinson & lubienski, 2011) and contrasting with others (klein, adi-japha, & hakak-benizri, 2010; matthews, ponitz, & morrison, 2009). similar to findings of other studies (e.g., downer, lopez, grimm, hamagami, pianta, & howes, 2012; reardon & galindo, 2009; yesil-dagli, 2011), ells in general were rated lower at the beginning of the year than english speakers, and in some cases grew at faster rates than non-ells. this finding could indicate individual differences among children, some of whom acquire a second language easily while others need more time. an alternative hypothesis is an initial “mismatch” (ray, bowman, & brownell, 2006) between teachers and ells or perhaps that teachers did not fully understand the english-language acquisition process (espinosa, 2010; tabors, 2008). as children became more proficient in english or as teachers became familiar with the children, teachers may have provided more accurate ratings. another important factor in determining instrument validity is the amount of error variance, or how much variability can be ascribed to the child as opposed to other factors. teacher–based observational assessment is more subjective than direct assessments (cabell, justice, zucker, & kilday, (2009) thereby creating the possibility for greater variability (kilday et al., 2012). high unexplained variance of as much as 50% has been reported in some studies of teachers’ global ratings of children (mashburn & henry, 2004). the error variance reported in study 3 (lambert et al., 2014b) was considerably lower than that noted in some studies (e.g., kilday et al., 2012; mashburn & henry, 2004). the design of the gold ® (e.g., research-based objectives, multiple examples, additional scale points, behavioral anchors along the progressions) may address some of the problems related to teacher-based ratings found in other studies. study 4 purpose, methods, and findings. the purpose of study 4 (kim et al., in press) was to develop interval level scale scores that could be used to track development and learning across the entire age range of the gold ® . the study focused on (a) the examination of dimensionality, (b) rating scale effectiveness, (c) hierarchy of item difficulties, and (d) the relationship of developmental scale scores to child age. data from the first norm sample (n1=10,963) were analyzed using the rasch rating scale model (andrich, 1978). results indicated that each subscale in the measure satisfies the rasch model for unidimensionality (i.e., items measure only one underlying latent construct). the 10-category rating structure (i.e., “not yet” to level 9) functioned effectively, with few exceptions; ratings at the very lowest and highest ends of the scale were less reliable and in-between ratings were less distinctive. in general, items formed theoretically expected hierarchies (e.g., items which are less difficult for children were rated by teachers as lower item difficulty). moderately high correlations of developmental scale scores with child age were found. discussion. results from study 4 provide additional supporting evidence for the construct validity of the gold ® . further, results suggest that teachers can make valid ratings of the developmental progress of children across the measured age range. contrary to suggestions by some authorities that teachers may respond less accurately to item anchor scales with more anchor points and subtle progressions (mcdermott et al., 2011), overall, study teachers were able to distinguish among the 10 levels of progressions with ratings for the lowest and highest levels 131 teaching strategies gold® measurement properties and use being somewhat less reliable. the smaller sample sizes at both ends of the progressions likely contributed to this finding. in addition, the rasch category probability curves indicated “inbetween” levels seemed redundant with adjacent categories, indicating that teachers were less clear about the “in between” levels. these levels are important steps in the progressions (particularly for children with special needs) as children demonstrate that their knowledge, skills, and behaviors in the area are emerging. teachers must be able to recognize when children’s abilities are beginning so they can scaffold their development and learning by providing the appropriate support (early, iruka, ritchie, barbarin, winn, crawford et al., 2010). because the in-between levels do not include examples, future training on the gold ® should focus on these levels in depth to ensure that teachers fully understand them and can adequately provide the child support needed. summary and implications early childhood classroom teachers are increasingly called upon to provide assessment information and to make important decisions about children based upon the assessment results. it is therefore critical that the assessment instruments they use are not only “teacher friendly” (goldstein & mccoach, 2011) but that they are also empirically valid (hirsh-pasek et al., 2005) and psychometrically sound (aera, apa, & ncme, 1999; naeyc & naecs/sde, 2003; snow & van hemel, 2008). the studies reported in this paper add to the research literature on teacher-rated authentic assessment by exploring the validity and reliability of the recently developed teaching strategies gold ® assessment system. overall, findings from the four studies reported in this paper suggest that the gold ® provides a viable teacher-rated assessment option for assessing areas of development and learning for children birth through kindergarten representing diverse backgrounds. the process used in its development and its design support the principles of empirical validity (hirsh-pasek, et al., 2005). accumulated evidence indicates that the measure is psychometrically sound, culturally and linguistically responsive, and sensitive to children with disabilities (kim et al., 2013; kim et al., in press; lambert et al., 2014a, 2014b). as such, the measure can be an effective tool for monitoring child progress and helping teachers plan and individualize instruction as they gather information about children during daily classroom activities and settings. it can also help teachers determine which children might benefit from individualized instruction or further evaluation. moreover, knowing the developmental sequence through which children typically progress can help teachers plan for children with a range of abilities and support families in better understanding development and learning trajectories (early et al., 2010). despite questions by some researchers concerning teachers’ abilities to accurately rate children’s abilities (waterman et al., 2012), findings imply that teachers were able to use the gold ® to make valid ratings of the developmental progress of children, allowing for children’s development and learning to be tracked longitudinally. using one system which can be used to assess program children ages birth through kindergarten is beneficial for tracking children’s development and learning longitudinally (snow & van hemel, 2008). it can also promote program assessment continuity as children move from one classroom to the next because teachers are already familiar with the assessment system. 132 burst & kim limitations and implications for future research although the studies reported in this paper represent assessment data from large and diverse groups of children in head start and other types of programs in all parts of the united states, several limitations must be noted. sample sizes at the extreme ends of the progressions (i.e., 0-2 months, 3-5 months, and 69-71 months) were smaller which may have influenced some of the research findings by precluding some types of analyses with these age groups. future studies should aim to include larger samples of children in these age ranges. in addition, certain child information (e.g., type of disability) and teacher characteristics (e.g., educational level/training, years of teaching experience, and cultural background) were not available to researchers. their absence somewhat limited the conclusions drawn from the results. given the heterogeneity of children with disabilities, it will be important in future studies to explore particular child disabilities (e.g., those influencing language) in relationship to measured items. there is also a need for studies that examine a range of teacher characteristics (e.g., education, assessment training, and program settings and quality) and their associations with how teachers assess children using the gold ® . this would help clarify if the between rater variance found in study 3 is associated with teacher characteristics or with other variables; understanding this relationship could help reduce their potential impact on teacher ratings. although reliability with a master trainer was established, information regarding how the teachers actually applied material covered in the training was not available to the researchers. this information would strengthen conclusions about reliability and teachers’ abilities to use the gold ® with fidelity. in sum, the findings from the studies reported in this paper add much to the empirical research on authentic assessment and to the utility of the teaching strategies gold ® in particular. the widespread use of the gold ® in head start and other programs makes it critical that its adequacy be evaluated. as with any assessment tool, appraisal of the psychometric properties of the measure will need to continue as long as it is being used. although there were only a few items that showed less valid and reliable results, they should be vigilantly examined by instrument developers and carefully monitored in replication studies. in addition, future studies should examine the relationships between teacher ratings using the gold ® and the children’s scores on other measures collected by outside assessors. these quantitative results along with qualitative studies of teachers (e.g., how they use the tool to inform instruction) could provide helpful information for classroom assessment and insights that may prove useful in any future revisions of the gold ® . references aera, apa, & ncme (1999). standards for educational and psychological testing. washington, dc: american educational research association. andrich, d. 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(2008). early childhood assessment: why, what, and how? report of the national research council of the national academies. washington, dc: national academies press. retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12446.html tabors, p. (2008). one child, two languages: a guide for early childhood educators of children learning english as a second language (2 nd ed.). baltimore: paul h. brookes. teaching strategies lcc. (n. d.). teaching strategies for early childhood: curriculum. retrieved from www.teachingstrategies.com teaching strategies lcc. (2001). creative curriculum developmental continuum for ages 3-5,washington, dc: author. teaching strategies lcc. (2005). expanded forerunners of the creative curriculum developmental continuum for ages 3-5, washington, dc: author. teaching strategies lcc. (2006). creative curriculum developmental continuum for infants, toddlers, and twos. washington, dc: author. u.s. department of health & human services, administration for children and families, office of head start (2010). the head start child development and learning framework: promoting positive outcomes in early childhood programs serving children 3-5 years old. washington, dc: author. vitiello, v. e., booren, l. m., downer, j. t., & williford, a. (2012). variation in children’s classroom engagement throughout a day in preschool: relations to classroom and child factors. early childhood research quarterly, 27, 210-220. waterman, c., mcdermott, p. a., fantuzzo, j. w., & gadsden, v. l. (2012). the matter of assessor variance in early childhood education – or whose score is it anyway? early childhood research quarterly, 27, 46-54. yesil-dagli, u. (2011). predicting ell students’ beginning first grade english oral reading fluency from initial kindergarten vocabulary, letter naming, and phonological awareness skills. early childhood research quarterly, 26, 15-29. http://www.teachingstrategies.com/ dialog, 17(1) copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 this research was supported by a cooperative agreement between the us department of education, the corporation for public broadcasting, and the public broadcasting system for the ready to learn initiative, pr#u295a050003. research article the effects of literacy messages in an educational television program: a content analysis and experiment annie m. moses john carroll university nancy a. jennings university of cincinnati rachel brod john carroll university stephen d. hooker arcadia university brian cordell and tabatha sallee university of cincinnati educational television programs have the potential to promote literacy affect as well as literacy skills in young children. this study involved a content analysis and field experiment to investigate the impact of the literacy messages conveyed in an educational children’s program on preschoolers’ and kindergarteners’ attitudes about literacy. the content analysis showed that program included many positive messages about literacy, especially the power of reading and the encouragement of literacy activities. however, the results of the experiment did not show statistically significant differences between participants who viewed the program and those who did not. trends did emerge, particularly related to gender. these trends, along with implications and limitations of the current investigation, are discussed. keywords: television, early literacy development, literacy attitudes even in the midst of new and innovative media products, television remains a steadfast companion for young children (rideout & hamel, 2006). children between birth and age 6 watch, on average, an hour and a half or more of television and videos per day (rideout & hamel, 2006), and decades of researchers have found that television has measureable effects on moses et al. young children (pecora, murray, & wartella, 2007). television can successfully affect one important area of children’s development, their language and literacy development (moses, 2008). although gains in literacy skills are critical, skills are not enough. children must also hold positive attitudes about literacy and perceive aspects of literacy and language as useful, interesting, and/or enjoyable. although more is known about the impact of television on children’s literacy skills, little is known about how television impacts children’s attitudes about literacy. television and literacy skills development television can have a positive impact on children’s literacy and language skills development, including increasing their vocabulary knowledge, letter recognition, phonemic awareness, concepts of print and more (for review, see moses, 2008; fisch, 2004). for example, television programs that aim to teach specific words can increase young viewers’ knowledge of those words (naigles & kako, 1993; rice & woodsmall, 1988). child viewers of educational television programs, in particular, have shown improvements in their vocabulary acquisition and knowledge (duffy, fox, horwood, & northstone, 2004; linebarger & walker, 2005; silverman, 2009a; silverman, 2009b). moreover, children’s “talk” (i.e., vocalizations, words, multiple words) around the content featured during viewing sessions also increases (anderson et al., 2000; crawley et al., 2002). these are just a few examples of the impact that educational television can have on young children’s early literacy skills. although positive effects have been found, children’s programming is not created equal. extant research indicates that different types of programming (educational vs. non-educational) influence children in different ways (gola, mayeux, & naigles, 2012). more specifically, watching educational programming has been linked to more positive literacy and language outcomes, whereas watching non-educational (e.g., entertainment) programs has been linked negatively to literacy and language outcomes (e.g., anderson, et al., 2001; ennemoser & schneider, 2007; wright, et al., 2001). with a greater focus on children’s literacy achievement across childhood, this places a priority on children’s exposure to educationally-oriented programming. in addition to content, children’s television programs also vary in how well characters, storylines and features (sound effects, visual effects, pacing, etc.) appeal to young viewers, which in turn has implications for their learning from television. horton and wohl (1956) first conceptualized a “seeming face-to-face relationship between spectator and performer” (p. 215) as a parasocial relationship formed from parasocial interactions. in this case, characters on screen address the child viewer by directly looking at and talking to the camera and, from the child’s point of view, this feels as though the character is talking directly to him/her. when embedded within educational content, a parasocial interaction can facilitate learning. for example, research on blue’s clues suggests that children do interact with the characters both verbally and nonverbally (crawley, anderson, wilder, williams, & santomero, 1999) and, moreover, that with repeated exposure to the program, children’s interactions with the educational portions of the program increase (crawley et al., 2002). similarly, with dora the explorer, another preschool television program that utilizes parasocial interactions, calvert and her colleagues (2007) found that active engagement with the content predicted children’s comprehension of the central story. in addition, research suggests that interaction with an oneffects of literacy messages in television screen character leads to increased intrinsic motivation for the learner (kawachi, 2003). therefore, appeal and interaction with characters play a role in children’s engagement with content and, hence, their learning when the content is educational. interestingly, gender also plays a role in children’s appeal to characters and, subsequently, their learning from characters. hoffner (1996) found that boys were more likely to select same-sex characters as their favorite character than girls and that parasocial interactions with same-sex characters were different for boys than for girls. almost a decade later, wilson and drogos (2007) found similar results with preschool children. preschool boys chose same-sex characters as their favorite more frequently than girls, but girls had a stronger desire to be like their favorite character than boys. in addition, gender was not predictive of parasocial interaction (wilson and drogos, 2007). similarly, calvert and her colleagues (2007) found that girls identified with the hispanic female character (dora) more than boys, and girls benefited more from interactions with dora. as such, gender seems to have implications for character appeal as well as viewers’ learning outcomes. television messages about literacy educational programming, by definition, aims to promote learning in children, whereas entertainment and other non-educational programs do not. however, educational programs vary in which outcomes they aim to foster in young viewers, from social-emotional skills to content knowledge (math, science, language arts, etc.) to physical development. although educational programming has generally been linked to positive literacy and language outcomes, a small number of studies suggest that programs do not present or portray literacy equally. content analyses have found that not every program contains positive messages about literacy, even educationally oriented programs (moses & other, 2008; mates & strommen, 1995). many programs fail to include characters interacting with literacy at all or characters say very little about how they feel or think about literacy. a few even contain negative messages about literacy (moses & duke, 2008; mates & strommen, 1995). moses and duke (2008) found 464 literacy messages across 44 hours of the top 10 most viewed programs by 2to 5-year-olds. they found that 20% of literacy messages portrayed literacy positively, that is, characters engaged with print and showed it to be interesting, useful or enjoyable (e.g., a character reading a book for pleasure). approximately 3% of literacy messages that they coded, though, were negative, in which reading or writing print was portrayed as not interesting, not useful, or not enjoyable (e.g., characters distracting each other from reading a book). although positive and negative messages were found, the vast majority (77%) of the interactions that characters had with print did not portray literacy in a positive or negative way; rather, characters remained neutral about the enjoyment and necessity of literacy. in addition to neutral messages, researchers have noted “missed opportunities” to convey to young viewers the power and purpose of print (moses & duke, 2008; mates & strommen, 1995). these missed opportunities included: (a) a lack of print on artifacts that would typically have print, such as a map or newspaper, (b) illegible print on artifacts, or (c) print that was absent completely from a interaction in which it could have been included. such findings cut across the most popular programs for young viewers and suggest that different literacy content (positive versus negative) may affect young viewers’ feelings about literacy differently. moses et al. television and literacy attitudes children’s attitudes or beliefs about literacy are an essential component to their literacy achievement (baker & wigfield, 1999). children as young as 3 years old differ in how they feel about literacy (i.e., not all young children have positive attitudes about literacy), and their literacy attitudes have been found to develop over time (saracho & dayton, 1991). in addition, some have found that boys and girls differ in their attitudes about literacy, with girls reporting more positive attitudes about reading than boys (e.g., mckenna, kear, & ellsworth, 1995). because attitudes develop early and likely lay the foundation for later attitudes about literacy, children need early, positive models of literacy and experiences with literacy. literacy attitudes are an important element of children’s overall literacy development. yet, very little is known about how television impacts children’s literacy attitudes. evidence from linebarger (2001) suggests that children vary in whether they view television as a learning tool and whether they see themselves as able to learn new information from it. she found that their beliefs related to their reading scores as a result of viewing a children’s television program (with or without captions and narration) and that gender mattered, too. results demonstrated that when boys perceived television as a learning tool and/or believed that they could learn new information from it, they scored higher on an oral reading measure (after exposure to the target television programming). their scores contrasted with boys who did not see television as a useful learning tool and/or felt that they could not learn new information from television. beliefs about television and one’s ability to learn from did not appear to help girls, as they scored higher on the oral reading measure when they had lower beliefs about television and/or their ability to learn from it. while these data indicate gender differences with regard to attitudes about television, only one known study has examined television’s impact on children’s attitudes about reading and writing. that study indicated that participants’ feelings about literacy did not change after watching either positive or negative clips that were 1 to 4 minutes long (moses, 2011). however, participants did comprehend the nature of the messages, that is, that positive clips portrayed literacy in a positive way and that negative clips portrayed literacy in a negative way. the current investigation aimed to extend this line of research through two studies: 1) a content analysis of an educational program called super why! for messages about literacy, and 2) a field experiment to examine the impact of the program’s literacy messages on young children’s attitudes about literacy. the hypothesis for study 1 was: hypothesis 1: super why! will contain many positive, explicit messages per episode about literacy, with a particular focus on reading rather than writing or other literacy activities. the hypotheses for study 2 were: hypothesis 1: exposure to multiple positive, explicit messages about literacy in super why! will positively affect 4to 7-year-olds’ attitudes about reading. hypothesis 2: boys will have a higher reading attitude score than girls. hypothesis 3: children who like the program and/or program characters will have higher reading attitude scores after viewing the program. effects of literacy messages in television study 1: methods design following a line of content analysis of children’s programming focused on language and literacy, study 1 utilized a content analysis methodology in which super why! episodes were coded for messages about reading, writing and other aspects of literacy. forty-three episodes from the second and third seasons of super why! were selected for analysis. dvd copies and episode scripts of these episodes were obtained from the program’s producers. materials super why! is a popular educational children’s television program, which airs on the public broadcast service (pbs) during times targeted for young viewers. the program is geared toward 3to 6-year-olds and aims to promote a set of early literacy skills that predict later reading achievement (http://www.pbs.org/parents/superwhy/program/index.html). its first season was evaluated for the program’s impact on early literacy skills, and results showed that viewing super why! episodes increased preschoolers’ symbolic representation and phonemic awareness, letter recognition, and speech to print matching (linebarger, mcmenamin, & wainwright, 2009). although studies have shown that other children’s programs can positively affect children’s early literacy skills (moses, 2008), few contain positive messages about literacy, as mentioned earlier (moses & duke, 2008). super why! has not previously been analyzed for messages about literacy, however, initial viewings of the program informed hypothesis 1 for experiment 1, and the intention was to use the results from experiment 1 to inform the selection of episodes utilized in experiment 2. procedure a codebook was developed to include code labels, definitions and examples of each code to use when analyzing episode scripts (see table 1). the first version of the codebook contained predetermined codes and definitions based on past research (moses & duke, 2008; linebarger & piotrowski, 2010). the first author trained a primary coder, and they piloted the codebook on scripts randomly selected from the first and second seasons in order to refine and finalize the codebook. the codebook was updated until no new codes emerged. in the final step, the first and primary coder established sufficient inter-coder reliability on a set of scripts that had not been used previously and were not included in the final sample. they reached a cohen’s kappa of .91, indicating a high level of agreement and completing coder training. with a finalized codebook, the primary coder coded the 43 episodes from seasons 2 and 3. she used the episode scripts as the main source for coding; however, if any questions arose about an interaction or action around a literacy message, then she consulted the dvd copy. an inter-rater coder was also trained to code a subset of the sample to assess the reliability of the codebook. for 30% of the overall sample, inter-coder reliability reached a kappa of .927, which indicates a high level of agreement between the primary and secondary coders. the primary and http://www.pbs.org/parents/superwhy/program/index.html moses et al. secondary coders discussed all disagreements and resolved them before final analyses were conducted. table 1 codes and accompanying definitions used to analyze episodes for affective messages about literacy code definition r_pow, w_pow, lit_oth_pow literacy gives you power to solve a problem, save the day r_use, w_use, lit_oth_use literacy is useful for accomplishing a task r_nec, w_nec, lit_oth_nec literacy is necessary to complete a task r_aff, w_aff, lit_oth_aff having positive feelings about literacy r_means, w_means, lit_oth_means literacy is a means to an end r_hap, w_hap, lit_oth_hap literacy make someone else happy r_enc, w_enc, lit_oth_enc giving encourage to another character or viewer to engage in literacy r_praise, w_praise, lit_oth_praise giving another character or viewers praise after engaging in literacy r_eff, w_eff, lit_oth_eff having positive feelings about effort towards literacy r_adv, w_adv, lit_oth_adv reading takes you on an adventure that is exciting coding each episode script was coded for affective messages about literacy, and this was operationally defined as any verbal statement made by a character that mentioned his/her feelings or beliefs about print literacy, including reading print, writing print, and signing or talking about letters, words or sounds connected to print. with respect to the third code (singing or talking about letters, words or sounds), one example is when the character alpha pig encourages viewers to sing an alphabet song by saying “abc…sing with me!”; this was coded as “lit_other_enc”. statements that did not mention the character’s feelings or beliefs about print were not coded, even if it related to an aspect of literacy, such as a character naming a letter and/or sound that appears on screen without further commentary (e.g., “and now a y. it sounds like ‘eeee’ in this word.”). statements were one sentence or phrase in length. a character could repeat the same statement about literacy more than once, and each instance was counted (e.g., “the super readers save the day” was repeated three times during the closing song, and this statement was coded as three instances of “r_pow”). every statement that indicated a character’s feelings or beliefs about print was coded for three characteristics: 1) the affective quality of print or a stated belief about the purpose of print mentioned by the character (reading is powerful, writing is useful, etc.); 2) the type of literacy activity referenced by the character (reading, writing, or singing or talking about print [referred to as “literacy other”]); and 3) the type of statement made by the character (an explicit or direct statement about the character’s feelings or beliefs about print, or an implicit, or indirect, statement about the character’s feelings or beliefs about print). effects of literacy messages in television study 1: results results show that super why! episodes contain many positive, explicit statements about the affective qualities and purposes of reading, writing, and other literacy activities. in fact, across the 43 episodes that were coded, 2,727 statements about reading, writing, or other aspects of literacy were found. table 2 includes the frequency and percentage of each message type for both seasons. across the two seasons, the number of messages coded ranged from 48 to 79 per episode, and there were, on average, 63 affective or purpose statements per episode. table 2 frequency and percentage of literacy messages in seasons 2 and 3 of super why! code frequency percentage reading encouragement 749 27.5 reading is powerful 527 19.3 reading is useful 279 10.2 other literacy encouragement 260 9.5 writing encouragement 198 7.3 reading praise 189 6.9 reading is a necessity 132 4.8 reading is a means to an end 86 3.2 writing is useful 84 3.1 writing positive affect 74 2.7 reading makes someone happy 60 2.2 writing praise 44 1.6 other literacy praise 23 .8 reading affect 13 .5 writing makes someone happy 3 .1 other literacy affect 2 .1 other literacy effort towards literacy 2 .1 reading takes you on exciting adventures adventures 2 .1 total 2727 100.0 with respect to literacy messages season by season, the number of literacy messages per season 2 episodes ranged from 53 to 79 and, on average, seasons 2 episodes contained 65 statements. the number of messages in season 3 episodes ranged from 48 to 72 messages and, on average, season 3 episodes contained 62 messages. as table 2 indicates, just over 80% of the statements (2,202 out of 2,727) focused on six specific codes. although the frequency of occurrence differed somewhat between seasons, the six most common messages/themes to appear in both seasons include: 1) reading encouragement (749 statements), 2) reading empowerment (527 statements), 3) reading usefulness (279 statements), 4) general literacy encouragement (260 statements), 5) writing encouragement (198 statements), and 6) reading praise (189 statements). moses et al. the messages about the affective quality and purposes of reading, writing and other literacy activities were stated in both explicit and implicit ways by characters in the program throughout the episodes. however, the vast majority of the statements about literacy were stated explicitly (2,484 out of 2,727 or 91% of affective or purpose statements) rather than implicitly (243 out of 2,727 or 9% of affective or purpose statements). super why! characters used their literacy skills in different ways – they could be seen reading, writing, singing and talking about print in each episode. many of the messages about literacy, though, involved statements about reading (2,035) rather than writing (402) or other literacy activities (289). this trend is similar when looking at season 2 versus season 3, with characters engaging with reading (approximately 74% and 75%, respectively) far more often than writing (approximately 16% and 14% respectively) and other literacy activities (approximately 11% for both). study 1: discussion findings from the current content analysis indicate that when emerging readers and writers watch super why!, they are exposed to a multitude of positive, explicit messages about literacy. across seasons 2 and 3, no negative messages about literacy were found. in addition, super why! viewers witness characters explicitly discussing many positive feelings about literacy and positive reasons for being literate. positive, explicit statements put a spotlight, in particular, on literacy as being powerful, useful, and something to be encouraged or praised. this contrasts extant research in that very few of the most popular children’s programs include messages about literacy. with its concentration of positive and explicit messages about literacy, super why! appears to have the potential increase young viewers’ attitudes about literacy. yet, the question remained whether exposure to these messages about literacy over time would impact children's attitudes about literacy. this is especially a concern for children who may not readily develop positive feelings and perceptions about literacy. therefore, study 2 was conducted to address questions of effects. study 2: methods design the second study involved an experimental design in which participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: the experimental group who viewed 20 episodes from seasons 2 and 3 of super why! and the control group who did not view any programming. control participants served as a monitor of literacy attitudes in children with similar demographic characteristics as the participants in the experimental group. sample one hundred and sixty-five children between the ages of 3 and 7 years were initially recruited from three elementary schools and seven child care centers in a midwest, urban city. the effects of literacy messages in television research team recruited from local child care centers and schools in low income neighborhoods with a large non-white population. of the 165 children initially recruited, 16 children were withdrawn from the analysis because of incomplete data. of the remaining 149 children, 56% of the 75 preschoolers were girls, and 40.5% of the 74 kindergartners were girls. once receiving parental consent, classrooms were randomly assigned to either the control or experimental condition. child participants completed all project-related tasks in their school or child care center, including viewing episodes (for the viewing condition) and all child assessments. parent surveys to assess the family demographics were sent home with the children and returned by mail. stimuli episodes were selected based on the results of study 1’s content analysis. the average frequency of literacy messages, as they appeared in each episode, was calculated. episodes were selected in which the 6 prominent literacy messages from the content analysis appeared at or above the mean. twenty-three episodes met the initial criteria. in order to maintain the integrity of the coding scheme and daily viewing for the participants in an organized manner (1 episode per day for 4 weeks), 20 of the 23 episodes were selected. measures for the children, an assessment of their attitudes about literacy was administered at both preand post-testing sessions. in addition, for children in the experimental viewing group and children in the control group who could correctly identify the name of the program from a logo of the super why! program, an assessment of the child’s appeal of the characters and the show was completed at post-test. appeal measures could only be given at post-test because the children needed to gain familiarity with the show and characters before expressing their liking of them. reading attitude measure. the reading attitude measure (ram) consisted of two parts: 1) open-ended general reading attitude questions and 2) a modified version of the elementary reading attitudes survey (mckenna and kear 1990; mckenna, kear, and ellsworth1995). the open-ended questions asked children to articulate their reasoning for why it is important to read and write. one question asked about reading and the second asked about writing. a modified version of the elementary reading attitudes survey was developed in order to be able to use the same scale with both preschooler and kindergarteners. the original scale consists of 20 questions on a 4-point scale, displaying the cartoon character of garfield in various states of emotion. of the 20 questions, 12 questions were selected (see table 3). because the original scale was created for children between first and sixth grade, some of the questions were not included for the ram. items were excluded because they asked about reading activities typically associated with older, and presumably independent reading, children (e.g., “how do you feel when you read aloud in class?” and “how do you feel when it’s time for reading class?”; mckenna, kear, & ellsworth, 1995). while the 4-point scale was maintained, different pictures, which did not involve the garfield character, were utilized. the pictures ranged from a smiley face making a “thumbs up” gesture to a smiley face making a “thumbs down” gesture. data analyses of the scale revealed that reliability of the scale increased to α = moses et al. .760 with the removal of two items (see table 3); therefore, the ram was calculated as a sum of scores for the remaining 10 items. table 3 items for the modified reading attitudes survey item number item 1* how do you feel when you read a book on a rainy saturday? 2 how do you feel when you read a book in school during free time? 3 how do you feel about reading for fun at home? 4* how do you feel about getting a book for a present? 5 how do you feel about spending free time reading? 6 how do you feel about starting a new book? 7 how do you feel about reading instead of playing? 8 how do you feel about going to a bookstore? 9 how do you feel about reading different kinds of books? [prompt: “a story, or a book that tells you information about the world around you, or book with the alphabet in it, different kinds of books”] 10 how do you feel when the teacher asks you questions about what you read? 11 how do you feel about reading in school? 12 how do you feel about learning from a book? note: items removed from analysis appeal. in order to assess children’s interest and liking of characters and the program and whether that influenced their attitudes about literacy, appeal was assessed in two ways: 1) program appeal (i.e., how much children liked the program as a whole, how it compared to children’s favorite programs, etc.) and 2) character appeal (i.e., how much children liked the 4 main characters and identified characters as a friend or being like a friend). in addition, children were asked to nominate one of the super readers as their favorite and articulate why. procedures after obtaining parent permission and child assent, children completed individual pre-test sessions with research team members. once the testing was completed for the classroom, viewing classrooms watched 20 episodes of super why! (1 each day for 4 weeks). following the 20-day viewing period, all children participated in individual post-test sessions with research team members. study 2: results with respect to hypothesis 1, a between-subjects anova was run to examine whether experimental participants differed from control participants on their attitudes about reading at posttest. it also examined whether differences existed between males and females in preschool versus kindergarten. no significant differences were found for the main effect of condition (f(1, 146) = .957, p = .330, ηρ² = .007) or grade (f(1, 146) = .014, p >.905, ηρ² = .00.) but trended effects of literacy messages in television toward significance for gender (f(1,146) = 2.78, p = .098, ηρ² = .02). (note that groups did not differ in their reading attitudes scores at pretest along any of these variables.) although not statistically significant, both male and female participants in the experimental group tended to score slightly higher on the posttest reading attitudes measure than their control counterparts a repeated measures ancova was conducted to examine whether differences existed by condition (experimental versus control) over time (pretest versus posttest reading attitudes) and by gender (male versus female), when controlling for grade (preschool versus kindergarten). no significant differences were found for the main effect of time (f(1,136) = .72, p = .789, ηρ² = .001), the interactions between time and condition (f(1,136) = .148, p = .701, ηρ² = .001) or time and gender (f(1,136) = .616, p = .434, ηρ² = .005). although not statistically significant, experimental participants’ scores increased slightly from pretest to posttest whereas control participants’ decreased slightly from pretest to posttest. that is, children’s reading attitudes scores went down, on average, for children who had not seen super why! whereas a slight increase was noted for children who had viewed the super why! episodes. further analyses involved chi-squares tests to examine whether there were significant relationships between two categories: condition (experimental versus control) and attitudes (high versus low). the frequency of participants’ reading attitudes scores at pretest and posttest were analyzed and split into approximately two equal groups (higher attitude scores versus lower attitude scores). chi-square tests did not show statistically significant relationships at pretest [χ 2 (1, n = 142) = .095, p = .758], but did trend toward significant at posttest [χ 2 (1, n = 146) = 2.78, p = .096]. similar to the trend noted in the univariate anova analysis, more experimental children had higher reading attitudes scores than control children after the treatment of 20 episodes of super why! also, the number of control children who had lower reading attitudes scores increased from pretest to posttest, whereas the number of experimental children with lower reading attitudes scores decreased from pretest to posttest. table 4 displays the number of children at pretest and posttest in each condition and attitude category (note that the sample size for pretest was lower than at posttest by 4 children). table 4 total number of experimental and control children with low versus high reading attitudes scores at pretest and posttest pretest reading attitudes scores posttest reading attitudes scores low high low high control 35 40 43 34 experimental 33 34 29 40 results from the anovas and repeated measures anovcas provided an initial answer regarding hypothesis 2, but they also indicated that gender may be playing an important role. data suggest larger mean differences for boys than girls, in that males in the control group experienced a decrease in their reading attitudes scores from pretest (m =31.67 , sd = 6.46) to posttest (m = 30.28, sd = 7.07)whereas males in the experimental group experienced a slight increase in their reading attitudes scores from pretest to posttest (m = 31.03, sd = 5.35, m = moses et al. 31.34, sd = 5.67, respectively). females in the control group experienced a slight increase in their attitudes scores from pretest (m = 31.68, sd = 6.96) to posttest (m = 32.50, sd = 6.06), and females in the experimental group remained the same in their attitudes scores after viewing episodes of super why! (m = 32.72, sd = 5.41, m = 32.72, sd = 5.24, respectively). additional analyses involved chi-square tests to examine whether there were significant relationships between condition (experimental versus control) and attitudes (high versus low) by gender. chi-square tests revealed no significant relationships between conditions at pretest on girls’ and boys’ reading attitudes scores [χ 2 (1, n = 142) = .313, p = .576 for females; χ 2 (1, n = 142) = .644, p = .422 for males]. chi-square tests revealed no significant relationship between experimental and control females on posttest reading attitudes scores [χ 2 (1, n = 146) = .549, p = .459] but trended toward significant for males by condition [χ 2 (1, n = 146) = 3.065, p = .08]. in this case, a greater number of experimental males had higher attitudes about reading than control males at posttest, and the number of males in the higher reading attitudes category increased from pretest to posttest for experimental males but decreased for the control males. table 5 displays the number of males and females at pretest and posttest in each condition and attitude category (note, again, the sample size difference at posttest by 4 children). table 5 total number of males and females by condition and attitude category at pretest and posttest pretest reading attitudes scores posttest reading attitudes scores low high low high control males 18 19 24 13 females 17 21 19 21 experimental males 22 16 17 21 females 11 18 12 19 a final step in the analyses examined the differences between condition, gender and grade level for participants’ attitudes about reading from pretest to posttest. results from the repeated measures anova did not reveal significant differences by time and condition (f (1, 133) = .120, p >.05) or the interactions of these factors (ps >.05), but examining the means and standard deviations reveals that, especially in kindergarten, males in the experimental group slightly increased in their attitude scores after viewing episodes as opposed to kindergarten males in the control group who experienced a slight decrease in their attitudes scores from pretest to posttest. with respect to the third hypothesis about the appeal of characters and the program and literacy affect, analyses were conducted for those children in the viewing condition only. results suggested that the program was well liked by almost all of the viewers: 91.3% reported that they liked the show “a lot”. only 2 preschoolers indicated they did not like the show. no significant differences were noted in appeal of the program by age or gender of the viewer, and no significant difference were noted in the appeal to the program and their reading attitude. although gender did not play a role in the appeal of the program, differences were noted with respect to the gender of the characters that the children identified as their favorite. results indicated that girls were significantly more likely to select princess presto (94.7%) and wonder effects of literacy messages in television red (85.7%) as their favorite characters than boys [χ 2 (4, n = 68) = 40.92, p < .05]. boys were significantly more likely to select super why (89.7%) as their favorite character, and only boys (no girls) selected alpha pig as their favorite (see table 6). table 6 child viewer’s selection of their favorite super why! characters gender of child favorite character total super why alpha pig princess presto wonder red more than 1 character male 26 (89.7%) 2 (100.0%) 1 (5.3%) 1 (14.3%) 8 (72.7%) 38 (55.9%) female 3 (10.3%) 0 (.0%) 18 (94.7%) 6 (85.7%) 3 (27.3%) 30 (44.1%) total 29 (42.6%) 2 (2.9%) 19 (27.9%) 7 (10.3%) 11 (16.2%) 68 (100.0%) although gender was a factor in their selection of favorite characters, no significant differences were found between the appeal of a particular character and children’s reading attitude. however, an examination of comments made by children for the reasons why they picked particular characters as their favorite revealed trends associated with literacy skills. whereas some comments referred to the appearance of the character (“because he has green” for super why) or gender (“because they are girls” for princess presto and wonder red), other reasons related directly to the power exhibited by the character and the character’s literacy skills (“because he has the power to read” for super why and “because she can spell” for princess presto). interestingly, more comments about reading and literacy elements were associated with the super why character than with any of the other characters, and all of these comments were made by boys. of the 37 comments made about super why, 21.6% of them were directly related to reading. discussion developing literacy skills in the early childhood years is critical to a child’s success in learning to read and writing as well as later schooling. yet, as children learn the mechanics of reading, writing, speaking and listening, they are also developing attitudes and perceptions about literacy. if children feel positively about literacy and their ability to engage in literacy activities, then they will likely engage in reading more and become good readers and writers. many different factors in children’s home and school environments influence the skills, attitudes and perceptions that they develop over time. during this critical time, children are exposed to many hours of television, and the content on television has been shown to influence a variety of academic and non-academic skills. results of the first study revealed that super why! characters offer viewers many positive, explicit statements about reading, writing and other literacy activities. to test the impact of these statements, the second study examined whether the messages had an impact and whether characteristics of the messages (appeal) facilitated effects. although the results showed no statistically significant differences between participants who viewed 20 episodes of the program, important trends emerged. first, children who viewed the program moses et al. tended to have slightly higher reading attitudes scores after watching the program than children who did not view the program. for the control children, scores tended to decrease from pretest to posttest. this may indicate a gap that could widen over time, as children’s attitudes about literacy generally decrease as they get older (mckenna, kear, and ellsworth 1995). the results do not support the conclusion that the program made a significant impact; however, trends suggest that greater exposure may lead to stronger effects. with regard to a second trend, it appears that gender may be playing a role in the ways in which the program might influence literacy attitudes. past research has shown that boys and girls in the early childhood years do differ in their feelings about reading (mckenna, kear, and ellsworth 1995), with girls generally feeling more positive about reading and boys feeling less so. this gender gap has been found as early as first grade and widens as children progress through their schooling. boys, then, seem more susceptible to negative feelings about reading, and this may have long-term consequences for their overall literacy success. trends from the second investigation indicate that positive messages about literacy may help counter the decline in attitudes about reading that boys experience; with greater exposure, significant differences might have been found. finally, appeal of the program and particularly of specific characters may also be a factor for children’s literacy attitudes. linebarger and wainwright (2007) identified familiarity with media characters as a strategy which may be particularly well suited to support learning. moreover, fisch (2004) also suggests that the “efficacy of educational content on television may be mediated by the character who delivers it” such that “viewers may attend more to the characters’ words or action” which is expected to result deeper processing of the educational content (pp. 185-186). although appeal to the show and specific characters did not have a significant effect on children’s literacy attitudes scores, trends suggest that they were identifying with characters and that they were noticing the literacy messages embedded in the character. this seems particularly true for boys, who mentioned these literacy messages with the super why character more frequently than girls and who chose super why as their favorite character more frequently than girls. this suggests that a male character who portrays the power, enjoyment and usefulness of literacy has the potential to positively impact boys’ literacy attitudes similar to findings in previous research (i.e., girls’ interactions with and appeal to a strong female character benefited their educational outcomes when viewing a different preschool television program; calvert et al., 2007). limitations these findings must be interpreted in light of the limitations of the study. one limitation involves participants’ exposure to the program. children may not have viewed a sufficient amount of the program to significantly change their developing attitudes about reading. a longer period of regular viewing may have had a greater impact. related to exposure, control children may have been exposed to the program outside of school and been influenced by the literacy messages in the program. therefore, future research should consider this when designing a study of television’s impact on literacy attitudes. related to exposure, participants only viewed a program that contained a multitude of positive, explicit messages about literacy. the assumption guiding this selection was that these messages would have the greatest chance of changing children’s attitudes, if change was indeed effects of literacy messages in television possible. yet, negative messages about literacy may have a different or stronger effect than was found in experiment 2. however, there was concern about finding a program with the same amount and magnitude of negative messages as well as a concern about intentionally showing young viewers negative messages for an extended period of time. therefore, the current investigation only focused on a program with many positive, explicit literacy messages. still, results could not speak to the impact of negative messages about literacy on young children’s attitudes about literacy. another limitation relates to the measures utilized in this study. the literacy attitudes measures were not specific to super why! content. instead, participants were assessed on more general measures of reading attitudes developed in extant research. assessments of messages specifically presented in the episodes may have yielded different (and significant) results that were not found with the ram instruments. with respect to appeal measures, items used in this study’s analyses relied on open-ended responses, and this may have been too difficult a task for participants, especially preschoolers. conclusion success in literacy is crucial for children’s overall academic success. educators and families continually look for and utilize resources, including media, that can support this development. results, although not statistically significant, reveal potential for an educational program, such as super why!, with explicit, positive messages about literacy to help promote positive attitudes about reading for young viewers. in particular, the program may buffer the noted decline in boys’ attitudes about reading that develop early on and that seem to deepen over time. references anderson, d. r., bryant, j., wilder, a., santomero, a., williams, m. & crawley, a. m. 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(2009b). project m.o.v.e. multimedia opportunities for vocabulary enrichment: project report. college park, ma: university of maryland. wilson, b. j., & drogos, k. l. (2007, november). preschoolers’ attraction to media characters. paper presented at the annual convention of the national communication association, chicago, il. wright, j. c., huston, a. c., murphy, k. c., st. peters, m., pinon, m., scantlin, r., & kotler, j. (2001). the relations of early television viewing to school readiness and vocabulary of children from low-income families: the early window project. child development, 72 (5), 1347–1366. http://pbskids.org/read/files/superwhy_research_view.pdf dialog, 16(4), 30-47 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article evaluation of the effects of read it once again across two groups of students vivian i. correa and cynthia c. baughan university of north carolina at charlotte karen m. fries francis marion university martie thompson clemson university robert algozzine university of north carolina at charlotte the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a preschool early literacy curriculum (read it once again) across two groups of students. participants were preschool children with disabilities in self-contained classrooms and children at risk for disabilities served in state funded prekindergarten programs. teachers in the intervention classrooms implemented read it once again instruction in small groups on a daily basis. teachers in comparison classrooms implemented the ongoing preschool curriculum as a “business-as-usual” no-intervention condition. there were no pretest group differences on the peabody picture vocabulary test and the preschool language scales for both groups of children; however, there were statistically significant effects on picture naming and rhyming progress-monitoring measures for preschoolers with disabilities who received the intervention. these results suggest that read it once again may be effective for improving early literacy skills of preschool children with or at risk for significant early learning problems. keywords: early literacy, at-risk early learners, preschoolers with disabilities, expressive and auditory comprehension, rapid naming, rhyming young children who fail to acquire critical early literacy skills are at increased risk for academic and social problems (dennis & horn, 2011; hay & fielding-barnsley, 2009; massetti & bracken, 2010; missall, mcconnell, & cadigan, 2006). developing the prerequisite skills to become strong and capable readers, however, does not come naturally or easily to many children. concerns regarding children entering kindergarten without the prerequisite skills critical for enhancing early literacy skills 31 success in school continue to increase (howes et al., 2008; zill & west, 2001). the detrimental effects of beginning school without foundational skills in early literacy are well documented. for example, researchers have found that children who begin school behind their peers in early literacy development experience cumulative negative effects, are not likely to catch up (al otaiba, kosanovich-grek, torgensen, hassier, & wahl, 2005; benner, nelson, ralston, & mooney, 2010; berg & stegelman, 2003; fuchs et al., 2001; honig, 1997; mathes et al., 2003; puranik, petscher, al otaiba, catts, & lonigan, 2008; torgensen, 1998) and are at higher risk for future reading difficulties (justice, skibbe, mcginty, piasta, & petrill, 2011; mashburn, justice, downer, & pianta, 2009; mathes et al., 2003; whitehurst & lonigan, 1998). researchers have also found that early language skills are closely related to literacy development. for example, mashburn et al. (2009) found that children who demonstrate early delays in language development can often experience later difficulties in reading achievement, specifically in reading comprehension in the later elementary-school years. this is particularly true for young children with disabilities and those who are at an increased risk for future reading failure (bashir & scavuzzo, 1992; isakson, marcgand-martella, & martella, 2011; mashburn et al., 2009; missall et al., 2006; puranik et al., 2008; wilcox, gray, guimond, & lafferty, 2011). in contrast to the difficulties that children may experience due to deficits in early literacy and language skills, researchers have also described how the acquisition of these skills can promote positive outcomes in young children beginning school. the development of early reading skills before entering school appears to be a critical factor for success in kindergarten (missall et al., 2006; national early literacy panel, 2009), the transition into literacy (barrett & hammond, 2008; hay & fielding-barnsley, 2009), and later school success (barrett & hammond, 2008; diamond, gerde, & powell, 2008; hay & fielding-barnsley, 2009; roskos & vukelich, 2006). a strong foundation in early literacy skills can better prepare children to benefit from formal reading instruction (justice, invernizzi, geller, sullivan, & welsch, 2005; justice et al., 2011; wilcox et al., 2011). in addition to academic benefits, the acquisition of language and early literacy skills can also have a positive influence on the social development of young children (elias, hay, homel, & frieberg, 2006; paul, 2007). hay and fielding-barnsley (2009) found that early alphabetical awareness, receptive and expressive language skills, and behavior in class were highly related. these positive effects are not limited, however, to the initial entry into school. possessing early literacy skills when entering school also appears to be related to future academic achievement (e.g., zimmerman, rodriguez, rewey, & heidemann, 2008). the international reading association (ira), the national association for the education of young children (naeyc), and the national early literacy panel (nelp) agree that students in preschool and kindergarten must attain age-appropriate competence in oral language, phonemic awareness, alphabet knowledge, and print concepts to promote later academic achievement (ira & naeyc, 1998; nelp, 2009). strong oral language and emergent literacy skills can lead to advantages in reading, writing, and spelling (debaryshe & gorecki, 2007). specifically, concepts about print (justice & ezell, 2001; justice & kaderavek, 2004; nelp, 2009; scarborough, 2005), expressive vocabulary (morrow & tracey, 2007; scarborough, 2005), receptive language and story recall (scarborough, 2005), phonological awareness (justice & ezell, 2001; justice & kaderavek, 2004; nelp, 2009; scarborough, 2005), and alphabet knowledge (nelp, 2009; scarborough, 2005; whitehurst & lonigan, 2001) appear to predict early literacy development and achievement in later school years (scarborough, 2005). due to 32 correa et al. the significant effects of acquiring prerequisite skills, the development of early literacy and language skills should be a primary component of the early childhood curriculum. the purpose of this study was to assess the effects of an early literacy curriculum (read it once again) on skills of students at risk for failure and preschool students with disabilities in public elementary schools. teachers who have implemented read it once again have been positive with regard to its usefulness (http://www.readitonceagain.com/testimonials.html), but only anecdotal data on its effectiveness are available. we addressed the following research question: to what extent does preschool teachers’ use of the read it once again curriculum increase young children’s early literacy skills? method participants and setting we completed our study with two groups of students in the southeastern united states. sixtyfive participants identified as at-risk received instruction in three half-day (morning and afternoon) 4-k classrooms located within two local public elementary schools. we also included 85 preschool children with disabilities (pcd) who attended five different preschool programs. the students were considered at-risk or had been previously identified as eligible for special education services according to the accepted state criteria (http://ed.sc.gov/agency/standardsand-learning/academic-standards/old/ece/programs/mostatrisk/mostatrisk.html). a purposeful sampling procedure was used to select the classrooms. first, we specified the need for classrooms of prek and pcd children. we then recruited teachers in the community who had those students in their classroom. the teachers had previously worked with the researchers as supervisors for preservice students who attended the local university’s early childhood special education teacher preparation program. participants identified as at-risk (n = 65) received instruction in three half-day (morning and afternoon) 4-k classrooms located within two local public elementary schools the average age of the children at the beginning of the study was 4 years 5 months (range = 4 years 0 months to 5 years 0 months); more than half of the students (56%) were girls; most were from caucasian (62%) ethnic backgrounds (15% african american, and 23% other); and, 17% had a language other than english spoken in the home. the difference in the age of the participants in the comparison (m = 4.57, sd = .48) and intervention (m = 4.52, sd = .47) group was not statistically significant, t = 0.45, df = 63, p > .01, 95% ci = -.19 -.30. the distribution was similar across groups for gender (x 2 (1) = 5.61, p > .01), minority status (x 2 (1) = 2.16, p > .01), and hispanic ethnicity (x 2 (1) = 3.08, p > .01). african american ethnicity (x 2 (2) = 16.31, p < .001) and eligibility for federal free or reduced lunch programs (x 2 (1) = 26.68, p < .01) were overrepresented in the intervention group. participants identified with disabilities (n = 85) received instruction in nine half-day selfcontained classrooms; eight located in center-based programs and one located within a local elementary school. the average age of the children at the beginning of the study was 4 years 6 months (range = 3 years 0 months to 6 years 0 months); most (71%) were boys; most were from caucasian (61%) ethnic backgrounds (25% african american, and 14% other); and, 12% had a language other than english spoken in the home. the difference in the age of the participants in the comparison (m = 4.91, sd = .73) and intervention (m = 4.30, sd = .84) group was http://www.readitonceagain.com/testimonials.html http://ed.sc.gov/agency/standards-and-learning/academic-standards/old/ece/programs/mostatrisk/mostatrisk.html http://ed.sc.gov/agency/standards-and-learning/academic-standards/old/ece/programs/mostatrisk/mostatrisk.html enhancing early literacy skills 33 statistically significant, t = 3.40, df = 80, p < .01, 95% ci = .25 -.96. the distribution was similar across groups for gender (x 2 (1) = 6.00, p > .01), ethnicity (x 2 (2) = 7.24, p > .01), and hispanic ethnicity (x 2 (1) = 4.68, p > .01). minority status (x 2 (1) = 6.79, p < .001) and eligibility for federal free or reduced lunch programs (x 2 (1) = 8.37, p < .01) were overrepresented in the intervention group. disability categories included developmental delay (61.1%), down syndrome (12.9%), other health impaired (10.6%), speech/language impairment (5.9%), autism (3.5%), learning disabilities (3.5%), and hearing impaired (2.4%), all classrooms had one teacher and at least one full-time teaching assistant. the intervention teachers (n = 7) were caucasian, non-hispanic females with, reporting on average, 6.6 years of teaching experience (range= 5-12 years). all of these teachers had at least a bachelor’s degree, 71% reporting a master’s degree as their highest level of education; 29% reporting certification in early childhood, 57% in special education, and 14% in both early childhood and special education. the comparison teachers (n = 5) were primarily caucasian, non-hispanic females and one african-american female with, reporting on average, 5.8 years of teaching experience (range= 3-15 years). all of these teachers had at least a bachelor’s degree, 80% reporting a master’s degree as their highest level of education; 60% reporting certification in early childhood, 40% in special education, and 20% in both early childhood and special education. procedure the read it once again curriculum (http://www.readitonceagain.com) was designed to promote a language and literacy rich environment using classic children’s books (e.g., corduroy, the very hungry caterpillar) (schaper, 2002). read it once again reinforces rhyme, rhythm, and repetition while addressing the development of essential early literacy and language skills that have been identified by the national early literacy panel (nelp): phonological awareness; rapid automatic naming of objects or colors; writing; and phonological memory (nelp, 2009). each storybook unit is centered on one popular children’s book. unit activities focus on repetition and consistency including daily readings of the book, daily recitations and sequencing of a related mother goose rhyme, as well as story-related music and activities that address cognitive (e.g., sorting, matching, visual discrimination skills), fine motor (e.g., using scissors, crayons, and pencils to complete pictures and make puzzle pieces) and gross motor (e.g., acting out the story and related songs), socialization (e.g., dramatic play with story props) , and adaptive skills (e.g., making related snacks and dressing in story character costumes). family involvement is supported through letters that are sent home at the beginning and end of each unit, and a personal copy of the storybook that is sent home with each child at the end of the unit. read it once again was implemented in the intervention classrooms for a 12-week period. during the intervention period, one storybook unit was completed every four weeks for a total of three units per classroom. the teachers individually chose which units they wanted to implement in their classrooms from the more than 30 units that were available. each teacher was directed to complete certain required activities daily (reciting the mother goose rhyme, reading the story, using other related music and rhymes, and incorporating cognitive and motor activities), at least once a week (review rhymes from previous units; add, change, or rotate story props in the dramatic play center; paint pictures of objects or characters from the story; incorporate snacks or related foods), or once a unit (parent letters, “packet day,” sending home a http://www.readitonceagain.com/ 34 correa et al. copy of the story). daily activities (e.g., reading the story, reciting the mother goose rhyme) were usually 15-20 minutes in length. in general, activities of the day were proportioned accordingly: repeated reading of storybook (40%); mother goose rhyme (15%); music and rhymes related to the story (15%); painting activity (10%); fine motor, gross motor, cognitive activities (10%); story props in dramatic center (5%); and snacks (5%). in the comparison classrooms, teachers maintained their “business-as-usual” early childhood curriculum over the same 12-week period. all teachers included activities that supported socialization, cognitive, fine and gross motor, language/ early literacy, and adaptive skills in their classroom curriculum. all teachers read children’s books to their students, and included music in the classroom. graduate research assistants conducted all preand poststandardized child assessments and collected fidelity data. the preschool teachers implemented the interventions. teacher training. intervention teachers participated in a two-hour training session with the author of the read it once again curriculum. teachers were taught how to implement all components of the intervention and were provided with the necessary materials, including copies of the storybooks to be sent home with the children at the end of each unit. the literacy units were approximately $50 each and included a color cd with all materials. teachers were provided a checklist that outlined the key components of the read it once again curriculum activities. research assistants met with the intervention teachers during the 12-week period for purposes of checking fidelity and conducting child assessments. the research assistants were doctoral students in special education and had teaching experience in early childhood and special education settings. intervention teachers did not receive feedback on their instruction as long as they followed the read it once again checklist. teachers in the comparison classrooms were asked to complete a checklist to indicate the types of activities that occurred regularly in their classrooms. comparison teachers met with the research assistants and were asked to maintain their teacher-created classroom curriculum (thematic units) and procedures that were already in place, and to continue to include activities that specifically addressed socialization, cognitive, motor, language, early literacy, and adaptive skills each week. the comparison teachers did not receive feedback on their instruction over the 12-week period, although the teachers had periodic communications with the research assistants during fidelity observations and child assessments. implementation fidelity. to insure that intervention teachers implemented read it once again with fidelity, each teacher was required to fill out a daily checklist to indicate which of the required activities (e.g., read curriculum unit storybook, fine motor activity related to story, packet day activity to conclude unit) had been completed that day (see appendix a). at the end of each week, the teachers sent the checklist to the research team via e-mail along with a copy of their weekly lesson plan. additionally, research assistants visited each classroom a minimum of once each unit to observe and videotape classroom activities and collect unit artifacts. research assistants were trained in the read it once again curriculum by the author and used the fidelity checklist to document observed activities or collect evidence indicating that they were completed. across the seven intervention teachers, 91% of the teacher checklists and lesson plans were submitted to the research team, reporting an average fidelity of 98% (range= 79%100%). researcher checklists indicated 100% fidelity across all intervention classrooms. enhancing early literacy skills 35 to insure that comparison teachers were maintaining traditional early childhood programming without the addition of any read it once again materials, each comparison teacher was also required to complete a daily checklist (see appendix b) to indicate which types of activities had been implemented during the day (e.g., socialization, cognitive, fine and gross motor, language/early literacy support). at the end of each week, the teachers sent a copy of the checklist with the accompanying weekly lesson plan to the research team via email. research assistants also completed classroom observations of comparison classrooms once every four weeks, using the fidelity checklist to document observed activities or collect evidence indicating that they were completed. across the five comparison teachers, 84% of the teacher checklists and lesson plans were submitted to the research team, reporting an average fidelity of 100%. researcher checklists also indicated 100% fidelity across comparison classrooms. instrumentation the child outcome variables were assessed using measures of language and early literacy skills. measures included two well-validated and reliable standardized assessments: the peabody picture vocabulary test, 4 th edition (ppvt-4; dunn & dunn, 2007) and the preschool language scales, 4 th edition (pls-4; zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2002, 2004). the ppvt-4 is an individually administered test of receptive language that requires approximately 15 minutes. students are presented with a page of four pictures from which to choose one that represents the verbal prompt given by the administrator. the ppvt is a standardized, norm-referenced, individually administered test of receptive language and vocabulary that assesses a student’s ability to comprehend word meanings. it is widely used in early childhood research as a general indicator of english-language learning and competence for instructional planning as well as for summative and formative evaluation (dunn & dunn, 1981; dunn & dunn, 2007). the pls-4 is an individually administered test of auditory comprehension (receptive language) and expressive language that requires approximately 20-45 minutes to administer. auditory comprehension subscales measure language in the areas of attention, semantics, and structure. expressive communication subscales measure language in the areas of social communication, structure, vocal development, and semantics. both subtests also assess integrative language skills and phonological awareness. in addition to the two standardized assessments, progress-monitoring measures were also included: the early literacy individual growth and development indicators (igdi) of picture naming and rhyming (mcconnell, 2003; http://ggg.umn.edu). these measures are individually administered and can be collectively completed in one testing session of approximately 5-10 minutes. the picture naming igdi served as an indicator of expressive language development. this measure uses color pictures of objects that are found in the home, school, and community. administrators randomly selected up to 50 cards from the approximately 120 cards available. the child was timed while naming the pictures that were shown one at a time as quickly as possible. the score reflected the number of pictures the child named correctly in one minute. the rhyming igdi served as an indicator of phonological awareness. the child was again timed while trying to identify the two pictures out of four on a card that represented a rhyming pair. the score reflected the number of rhyming pairs the student correctly identified in two minutes. 36 correa et al. test-retest reliability for the ppvt-4 is .77 and alternate form reliability is .82; correlations between the ppvt-4 and the celf-4 for 5-8 year olds ranged from .67 to .73 (dunn & dunn, 2007). reported test-retest reliability coefficients for the pls-4 range from .73 to .86 for the subscale scores and .80 to .89 for the total language score (cf. zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2004). reliability and validity of the early literacy igdis has been described in previous research (e.g., missall & mcconnell, 2004; missall et al., 2006; missall et al., 2007) with scores on both the picture naming and rhyming igdis stable over time (r = .67, p < .01 and r = .83.89, p < .01 respectively; missall & mcconnell, 2004), as well as indications of strong correlations with other standardized measures of language and literacy development: picture naming and the ppvt (r= .56-.75, p < .001), picture naming and the pls (r =.63-.79, p < .001), rhyming and the ppvt (r = .56.62, p < .05), rhyming and the concepts about print (clay, 1985; r= .54-.64, p < .01), and rhyming and the test of phonological awareness (torgesen & bryant, 1994; r = .44-.62, p < .05) (missall & mcconnell, 2004). all participants were assessed mid-january and again about 3 months later in april. assessments took place outside of the classroom in a quiet area in the school. each measure was individually administered with ppvt first, picture naming second, rhyming third (session one) and pls fourth (in session 2) to allow children to “warm up” by starting with nonverbal before verbal measures during two to three separate sessions per child. researchers and research assistants (graduate students in early childhood and special education) were aware of group assignments and trained on the standardized procedures and scoring for each measure. design and data analysis although interventions were delivered in classrooms, our sample did not meet the commonly offered rule of thumb [i.e., at least 20 groups (e.g., classrooms or teachers) with at least 30 observations (e.g., students) per group] for use of multilevel models (cf. bickel, 2007; heck & thomas, 2000; hox, 2002). as an alternative, we compared outcomes across intervention classrooms using univariate analyses of variance to assess teacher effects. we used quasiexperimental (i.e., non-equivalent group) repeated measures analyses of variance and a priori follow-up univariate contrasts for each of the outcome measures to evaluate the development of language and early literacy skills in children with or at risk for disabilities in intervention and comparison groups. we set alpha at 0.01 to reduce the probability of type i error resulting from multiple comparisons within and between groups. results we were interested in the effects of read it once again on skills of students at risk for failure and preschool students with disabilities in public elementary schools. we completed two studies using the same procedures and different groups of students. we report outcomes across multiple measures of early language and literacy development separately for at-risk students and their peers with disabilities. enhancing early literacy skills 37 at-risk students non-statistically significant teacher effects were indicated across intervention group teachers for ppvt, f(1,24) = 0.41, p > .01, pls, f(1,24) = 0.04, p > .01, picture naming, f(1,24) = 0.29, p > .01, or rhyming, f(1,24) = 1.51, p > .01. since no effects were evident across teachers, they were not considered further in subsequent comparisons in which students served as the unit of analysis. means, standard deviations, and post-test effect sizes for at-risk students in intervention and comparison groups are in table 1. no statistically significant ppvt differences were indicated for group, f(1,63) = 1.47, p > .01 and occasion, f(1,63) = 0.71, p > .01 main effects or group x occasion interaction, f(1,63) = 6.80, p > .01 simple effects. outcomes of a priori comparisons of pretest and posttest improvements were also not statistically significant, t(38) = 2.61, p > .01, for comparison group or intervention group t(25) = 1.23, p > .01, students. no statistically significant pls differences were indicated for group, f(1,63) = 4.67, p > .01 and occasion, f(1,63) = 3.89, p > .01 main effects or group x occasion interaction, f(1,63) = 0.09, p > .01 simple effects. outcomes of a priori comparisons of pretest and posttest improvements were also not statistically significant, t(38) = -1.25, p > .01, for comparison group or intervention group t(25) = -1.60, p > .01, students. no statistically significant group x occasion interaction simple effects were indicated for picture naming, f(1,63) = 4.07, p > .01; statistically significant main effects were indicated for group, f(1,63) = 23.31, p < .01 and occasion, f(1,63) = 12.72, p < .01. outcomes of a priori comparisons of pretest and posttest improvements were statistically significant, t(38) = -5.25, p < .01, for comparison group, but not for the intervention group t(25) = -0.83, p > .01, students. no statistically significant group x occasion interaction simple effects were indicated for rhyming, f(1,63) = 2.64, p > .01; statistically significant main effects were indicated for group, f(1,63) = 13.05, p < .01 and occasion, f(1,63) = 24.58, p < .01. outcomes of a priori comparisons of pretest and posttest improvements were statistically significant, t(38) = -4.77, p < .01, for comparison group, but not for the intervention group t(25) = -2.56, p > .01, students. in summary, improvements were not statistically significant for comparison or intervention group students’ ppvt or pls standard scores. similarly, improvements were not statistically significant for comparison students on igdi picture naming or rhyming; however, statistically significant improvements on picture naming and rhyming skills were indicated for intervention students. 38 correa et al. table 1 means, standard deviations, and effect size outcomes for at-risk students’ comparison and intervention group comparisons group comparison intervention pretest posttest pretest posttest measure mean sd mean sd mean sd mean sd d peabody picture vocabulary test 98.95 14.10 102.49 12.92 97.92 11.47 96.12 11.20 0.49 preschool language scales 202.97 25.67 206.10 28.72 188.88 24.50 193.12 25.43 0.45 igdi picture naming 23.23 5.59 28.64 7.10 18.36 7.08 20.27 6.82 1.18 igdi rhyming 6.38 5.24 10.56 6.26 3.14 3.67 5.11 5.97 0.87 note. d = (intervention posttest mean – comparison posttest mean) / sdpooled enhancing early literacy skills 39 students with disabilities non-statistically significant teacher effects were indicated across comparison group teachers for ppvt, f(3,31) = 3.31, p > .01, pls, f(3,31) = 0.04, p > .01, and rhyming, f(3,31) = 1.51, p > .01; statistically significant teacher effects were evident for picture naming, f(3,31) = 6.08, p < .01. non-statistically significant teacher effects were indicated across intervention group teachers for ppvt, f(4,42) = 0.79, p > .01, pls, f(4,42) = 0.35, p > .01, or rhyming, f(4,42) = 2.24, p > .01; statistically significant teacher effects were evident for picture naming, f(4,42) = 5.34, p < .01. because similar effects were evident across teachers in both groups, they were not considered further in subsequent comparisons in which students served as the unit of analysis. means, standard deviations, and post-test effect sizes for students with disabilities in intervention and comparison groups are in table 2. no statistically significant ppvt differences were indicated for occasion, f(1,80) = 7.71, p > .01 main effects or group x occasion interaction, f(1,80) = 0.06, p > .01 simple effects; group main effects were statistically significant, f(1,80) = 14.55, p < .01. outcomes of a priori comparisons of pretest and posttest ppvt improvements were also not statistically significant, t(34) = -1.78, p > .01, for comparison group or intervention group t(46) = -2.22, p > .01, students. no statistically significant pls differences were indicated for group x occasion interaction, f(1,80) = 0.59, p > .01 simple effects; group, f(1,80) = 16.11, p < .01 and occasion, f(1,80) = 8.87, p < .01 main effects were statistically significant. outcomes of a priori comparisons of pretest and posttest pls improvements were also not statistically significant, t(34) = -1.77, p > .01, for comparison group or intervention group t(46) = -2.58, p > .01, students. no statistically significant group, f(1,80) = 1.50, p > .01 main effects or group x occasion interaction, f(1,80) = 1.10, p > .01, simple effects were indicated for picture naming; statistically significant main effects were indicated for occasion, f(1,80) = 12.82, p < .01. outcomes of a priori comparisons of pretest and posttest improvements were statistically significant t(46) = -3.43, p < .01, for the intervention group, but not for comparison group, t(34) = -1.76, p > .01, students. no statistically significant group, f(1,80) = 0.46, p > .01 main effects or group x occasion interaction, f(1,80) = 3.18, p > .01, simple effects were indicated for rhyming; statistically significant main effects were indicated for occasion, f(1,80) = 10.98, p < .01. outcomes of a priori comparisons of pretest and posttest improvements were statistically significant t(46) = -3.34, p < .01, for the intervention group, but not for comparison group, t(34) = -1.43, p > .01, students. in summary, improvements were not statistically significant for comparison or intervention group students’ ppvt or pls standard scores. similarly, improvements were not statistically significant for comparison students on igdi picture naming or rhyming; however, statistically significant improvements on picture naming and rhyming skills were indicated for intervention students. 40 correa et al. table 2 means, standard deviations, and effect size outcomes for students with disabilities’ comparison and intervention group comparisons group comparison intervention pretest posttest pretest posttest measure mean sd mean sd mean sd mean sd d peabody picture vocabulary test 60.57 27.94 63.40 29.96 78.21 14.30 81.60 13.50 0.61 preschool language scales 128.03 31.96 132.71 38.70 154.72 29.78 162.66 32.33 0.77 igdi picture naming 10.23 9.62 12.31 3.03 11.71 6.95 15.57 8.53 1.08 igdi rhyming 1.60 3.66 2.14 4.07 1.29 2.79 2.58 3.75 0.11 note. d = (intervention posttest mean – comparison posttest mean) / sdpooled enhancing early literacy skills 41 discussion the development of early literacy skills in children before entering school is a critical factor for success in kindergarten (justice, invernizzi, & meier, 2002; justice et al., 2010; mashburn et al., 2009; missall et al., 2006). early childhood educators must implement curricula and activities that support the development of early literacy and language skills in all children. the research on effective early literacy curricula for preschoolers supports the use of repetitive readings; chanting rhymes and poems; singing songs; read alouds; and explicit instruction in rhyming, alliteration, and language (morrow & tracey, 2007). yet, only one curriculum (dlm early childhood express with open court reading pre-k: sra/ mcgraw-hill, 2003) has demonstrated a positive impact on pre-kindergarten reading, phonological awareness, and language (preschool curriculum evaluation research consortium, 2008). there are limited research-validated curricula that address these critical early literacy and language skills in typically developing preschoolers, and less is known about curricula for preschoolers with disabilities or at risk for disabilities. although some studies have investigated curricula with head start populations (justice et al., 2010), few researchers have evaluated the impact of early literacy curricula with young children with moderate to severe disabilities (e.g, isakson, marchand-martella, & martella, 2011). this study reported on a curriculum, read it once again, that was implemented with four-year-old children at risk for delays in development and with preschoolers with varying disabilities. although we did not investigate the impact of individual components of the curriculum, we believe a powerful feature was the use of repeated readings of the books and the rhyming activities associated with the mother goose activities. the use of supplemental materials (e.g., cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, socialization, adaptive skills) in daily activities was also an important feature, but to a lesser degree. we also believe the impact of the curriculum on child outcomes was partly due to the fact that the materials were organized for teachers in 3-ring binders and were easy to use in daily and weekly activities. each of the intervention teachers continued to use the read it once again materials one year after the end of the study. the major findings of this study suggest that read it once again may be a promising curricular tool that is beneficial to young children with disabilities. children exposed to curriculum made gains of 4-5 more words per minute and were able to rhyme 1-2 more words per minute; and, the rhyming gains in particular were important, as the skills are indicators of phonemic awareness an important pre-reading skill. although these improvements were modest (i.e., reflecting 20-30% improvements), we believe that igdi subtests are sensitive indicators of change in early literacy skills in children with developmental delays and that greater gains were likely if the intervention had been extended over a longer period of time. implications for practitioners our findings suggest that the read it once again curriculum promotes positive outcomes using features of evidence-based practices recommended for effective early literacy instruction (cf. ira & naeyc, 1998; justice, invernizzi, geller, sullivan, & welsch, 2005; justice et al., 2011; morrow & tracey, 2007; nelp, 2009; scarborough, 2005; wilcox et al., 2011). because of the limited number of currently available research-based preschool curricula, particularly for children with disabilities (e.g., preschool curriculum evaluation research consortium, 2008), 42 correa et al. we believe this is a significant and important finding. understanding the importance of early literacy and language development as well as the increased risk for young children with disabilities to develop reading difficulties underscores the critical need to identify research-based curricula that can effectively address the needs of this population. read it once again appears to be a promising example. our findings also validate the use of the igdi measures to monitor progress over a relatively short period of time. the picture naming igdi and the rhyming igdi were sensitive to changes in expressive language and phonological awareness respectively over a 12-week period. these findings corroborate those of previous researchers (cf. missall et al., 2006) and offer guidance for teachers and other professionals addressing both summative and formative evaluation questions with young children. implication for future research as is often the case when searching for answers to early childhood intervention questions, additional questions begin to emerge. though the findings of this study are promising, several considerations remain. initial results indicate that the read it once again curriculum could be effective over a short period of time with young students with disabilities. what then could be the potential benefits if the program were implemented over the course of an entire school year? could a longer intervention period further improve student outcomes? another consideration is the potential long-term benefits to preschoolers who participate in this curriculum. could these positive effects carry over into the kindergarten year? might these students progress more rapidly than their peers when they begin receiving formal reading instruction in kindergarten or first grade? limitations there are several limitations in this study that warrant discussion. first, the study employed a quasi-experimental design to study the potential impacts of the read it once again curriculum on the literacy and language skills of children. a randomized trial design would have provided a stronger form of causal evidence. second, because of the widespread use of the read it once again curriculum in the southeast, we had to rely on a sample of convenience. it was difficult to find teachers who were not already implementing the read it once again curriculum in early childhood special education classrooms. third, due to project funding timelines, we were not able to implement the read it once again curriculum until january, limiting the study to a 12week intervention period. results may have been different, particularly in the 4-k classrooms, if the students received read it once again from the beginning of the school year. our final limitation was the sensitivity of the measures. both the pls-4 and the ppvt-4 may not be sensitive enough to small amounts of change over short periods of time. enhancing early literacy skills 43 summary and perspective identifying research-validated early literacy curriculum for young children with disabilities and at-risk for disabilities continues to be a challenge for the field of early education and special education (justice et al., 2010; missall, et al., 2006; morrow & tracey, 2007; national early literacy panel, 2009; preschool curriculum evaluation research consortium, 2008; u.s. department of education, 2005). this quasi-experimental study provides support for the use of the read it once again curriculum for young children with disabilities. evidence of the effectiveness of the curriculum with typically developing 4-k children remains undocumented. the developers of the read it once again curriculum have begun to design units that address more advanced literacy skills for kindergarten ages (schaper, personal communication, march 8, 2011; www.readitonce.com). future efficacy research on level 2 units is expected. for now, the read it once again curriculum offers early childhood special educators a potentially highimpact curriculum for early literacy and language skills (e.g., picture naming and rhyming). this research also underscores the need for early childhood educators to use more sensitive measures of early literacy. if the progress-monitoring measures (mcconnell, 2003; http://ggg.umn.edu) had not been used, it would have been impossible to identify the important gains that children made during intervention. standardized measures such as the ppvt and pls might have detected gains over a longer period of time. for the purposes of teacher-friendly classroom practices, using the igdi assessment measures to supplement standardized assessment tools appears provide better opportunities for monitoring progress over short periods of time typically targeted for response-to-intervention and other effective practices in which data are used to inform instruction. references al otaiba, s., kosanovich-grek, m.l., torgensen, j.k., hassier, l., & wahl, m. 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(2008). the impact of an early learning initiative on the long term academic success of diverse students. journal of education of students placed at risk, 13, 452-481. http://www.readitonceagain.com/ http://www.ed.gov/programs/earlyreading/2005-359a.doc 46 correa et al. appendix a read it once again classroom activity checklist storybook unit _____________________________________________ teacher/classroom _________________________________________ school ___________________________________________________ week of:__________________________________________________ activity description monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday send parent letter to introduce unit (once at the beginning of the unit) add story props to dramatic corner (change, rotate or add daily) paint object/character from story emphasizing object/character name and color used daily recite mother goose rhyme using sequencing cards daily review mother goose rhymes from previous units daily read curriculum unit storybook daily story extension activity daily fine motor activity related to story daily gross motor activity related to story daily cognitive activity related to story daily music or rhymes related to the story (in addition to mother goose) daily snack or foods related to the story (adaptive skills) (at least two times a week) packet day activity to conclude unit (once at the end of the unit) parent letter with child assessment information (once at the end of the unit) child receives an identical copy of the storybook that has been read each day throughout the unit enhancing early literacy skills 47 appendix b comparison (business-as-usual) group classroom activity checklist teacher/classroom _____________________ school ___________ week of ________________ directions: please place checks in the boxes to document which type of activity was completed each day. each type of activity should be addressed at least once each week. attach a copy of your weekly lesson plan to this checklist. activity monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday activity to support socialization skills activity to support cognitive skills activity to support fine motor skills activity to support gross motor skills activity to support language/early literacy skills music activity daily living/adaptive skills questions or concerns? research article dialog, 16(1), 127 147 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 research article she is awesome and retains information like a sponge: parent and child outcomes of the learning connections family involvement curriculum barbara d. debaryshe, ji-yeon kim, dana h. davidson, and dana m. gorecki university of hawai‘i past research on family involvement suggests that home based forms of involvement are especially important in supporting learning in the early childhood years. parents can be effective change agents, especially when they are given strategies for teaching particular content area skills. this study addressed the effects of family participation in the home component of an emergent literacy and mathematics curriculum. participants were 321 head start children and their parents recruited over a four year period. families received weekly home learning activities to do with their child that closely matched the content of the classroom curriculum. involvement in the home curriculum was significantly associated with children’s language, literacy, and math outcomes, controlling for child age, dual language status, pretest performance, and classroom quality. when families completed more of the home activities, their children made greater progress during the school year. families enjoyed doing the home activities and parents reported increased confidence in their teaching skills. results suggest that given appropriate support, families can successfully address curriculum goals at home and provide an added value to learning that occurs in the head start classroom. family engagement is a cornerstone of the head start organizational philosophy and program performance standards. an excerpt from the recent head start parent, family, and community engagement framework provides a rationale for emphasizing family involvement: “when parent and family engagement activities are systemic and integrated across program foundations and program impact areas, family engagement outcomes are achieved, resulting in children who are healthy and ready for school” (u.s. department of health and human services, 2011, p. 1). the underlying expectation is that children benefit when their families are highly involved. family involvement is a multidimensional construct that includes a wide variety of both individual and organizational beliefs and practices. forms of family involvement discussed in the literature include: (a) basic parenting, (b) home-school communication, (c) supporting children’s school-related learning at home, (d) direct school participation, (e) school leadership, (f) homecommunity partnerships, and (g) aspirations and expectations for children’s academic success (epstein, 1995; fan & chen, 2001; fantuzzo, mcwayne, perry, & childs, 2004; u.s. department of health and human services, 2011). in the early childhood period, the forms of 128 debaryshe et al. family involvement most strongly associated with children’s developmental skills are those involving direct parental teaching, stimulation, and modeling in the home (fantuzzo et al., 2004; mcwayne, hampton, fantuzzo, cohen, & sekino, 2004). school-based forms of involvement and parental expectations play a more prominent role as children mature (fan & chen, 2001; hill& tyson, 2009; jeynes, 2005, 2007). parents’ provision of learning materials, rich stimulation, and informal instruction of their children in the context of everyday home and neighborhood life has a widespread influence on preschool children’s language, cognitive, and early academic skills. for example, the frequency and nature of parent’s conversations with children, particularly the use of sophisticated vocabulary and decontextualized talk, predict oral language growth (dickinson & tabors, 2001; hart & risely, 1995). parent-child book reading is a well-documented context for promoting vocabulary acquisition (bus, van ijzendoorn, & pelligrini, 1995; scarborough & dobrich, 1994), while parents’ affect and animation during book-reading are associated with children’s motivation to engage with books (sonnenschein & munsterman, 2002). parents’ informal instructional practices such as teaching the alphabet, encouraging writing, and helping children sound out printed words, are associated with concurrent emergent literacy skills and later reading fluency (sénéchal, 2006; sénéchal & lefevre, 2002). parents also teach early mathematics through activities such as rote counting, grouping, matching, playing board games, and by using spatial and quantity terms in conversation (benigno & ellis, 2004; blevins-knabe & musunmiller, 1996; saxe, guberman, & gearhart, 1987). there have been systematic efforts to teach parents how to be more effective teachers of their own children. among the most widely-used family curricula are the two home visiting programs, parents as teachers (pat) and the home instruction program for preschool youngsters (hippy). these programs address general parenting skills such as knowledge of child development, self-efficacy, and interaction strategies. both programs encourage parents to read to their children and engage in a variety of home learning activities; hippy also provides with structured teaching materials. however, evidence to support the effectiveness of these programs is mixed (baker, piotrkowski, & brooks-gunn, 1999; wagner, spiker, & linn, 2002). outcomes appear to be stronger for programs that support parents in teaching a clearly delineated content area. when parents are trained to use an interactive style of book-reading called dialogic reading, they make clear changes in their read-aloud strategies, their children also show significantly greater learning of both book-specific vocabulary and generalized expressive language skills compared to children of parents who read aloud in their natural manner (arnold, lonigan, whitehurst, & epstein, 1994; whitehurst, falco, lonigan, fischel, debaryshe, valdez menchaca, & caulfield, 1988). dialogic reading interventions have been effective even when parent training was minimal (e.g., two 20-minute in-person or videotape training sessions). parents of elementary school children have also been taught to listen to their children read aloud, or to tutor their children in the use of specific reading strategies. although both approaches result in improved reading performance, the effect size for parent tutoring is much larger (sénéchal & young, 2008). family home math curricula have also been evaluated. sears and mediaris (1992) developed a culturally-sensitive series of home math activities for native american head start families. families received monthly in-school meetings and take-home packets during the school year and summer. children who participated in the home curriculum had higher kindergarten entry assessment scores than children from the same head start program one year earlier. learning connections 129 starkey & klein (2000) provided an eight-session training program for englishand spanishspeaking head start parents. using a group training format, teachers modeled (and parents then practiced) how to do the activities, monitor a child’s responses, and adjust the activities accordingly. parents used the math kits at home over a four month period. children in the intervention condition showed significantly greater gains on enumeration and spatial skills than did control children. taken as a whole, these more focused training studies demonstrate that parents can have a strong effect on their children’s acquisition of language, literacy, and early math skills. in fact, parents have sometimes been found to be more effective change agents than teachers. this has been the case for one study of dialogic reading in the home and school settings (lonigan & whitehurst, 1998). additionally, a meta-analysis of varied emergent literacy interventions found a stronger effect for home-only interventions than for interventions conducted at both home and school (d = .47 vs. .13). this suggests that interventions in which parents are taught content specific instructional skills are an enormous potential resource for head start programs. a variation on parent-as-teachers interventions that has received less attention is to design the home curriculum to closely match and complement the classroom curriculum. an example of this approach is shown in starkey, klein, and wakeley’s (2004) preschool mathematics curriculum. in their program, head start parents were given three workshops on mathematics topics covered in the classroom curriculum as well as home learning materials and activity guides. although the relative contributions of the home and school components could not be assessed, the overall package was effective in increasing children’s mathematics performance. given that the professional literature has suggested that differences in home and school values, expectations, and practices plays a role in academic disparities (tharp, estrada, dalton, & yamauchi, 2000) it is surprising that the field does not have more examples of tightly connected home and school curricula. learning connections (lc) (gorecki & debaryshe, 2004) is an emergent literacy and mathematics enrichment curriculum that has parallel classroom and home components. the purpose of this study was to explore the effects of parental involvement in the home component of the lc curriculum. this study addressed two research questions. first, what were the effects of family participation in the lc home curriculum on children’s early academic outcomes? it was hypothesized that family involvement, as measured by the number of home learning activities completed, would be associated with children’s learning gains above and beyond the effects of classroom quality. second, what was the nature of parents’ experiences with the home curriculum? we used qualitative methods to explore parents’ views about the curriculum including both the implementation process and child and parent outcomes. method participants participants were 321 head start children and their parents or guardians 1 . the average child age at pretest was 44.81 months (range 30 to 60 months). four percent of children had an 1 across project years 10% of families had more than one enrolled child. data were collected separately for each sibling. 130 debaryshe et al. individualized education plan, 51% were boys, and 37% were dual language learners (dll), i.e., came from families that spoke either a non-english language or a combination of english and other languages at home. more than 20 different home languages were represented in the sample including a variety of micronesian languages and chinese and filipino dialects. the ethnic background of the sample was as follows: 42% native hawaiian, 25% other pacific islander, 22% asian american, 5% latino, 4% african american, and less than 1% each native american and caucasian. participating children were from ten intervention sites in an early reading first project. sites were licensed for 16-20 children and were staffed by either two or three teachers with an average of 8.13 children per teacher. over the course of the project, there was turn-over in nine of the 30 teaching positions; most staff changes involved an assistant teacher leaving for new employment at the end of a school year. we used a staggered cohort design: five sites started in the first project year and five additional sites started in year two. the original design called for each site to continue for two years, however, sites were later invited to continue for an optional third year. as a result, of the 10 sites, five participated in project year 1, ten in year 2, eight in year 3, and four in year 4. the sample of 321 children represented 83% of the total 386 children enrolled in participating sites for at least six consecutive months. consent among enrolled children was universal with the exception of one child who was in temporary foster care. children retained for analysis had pretest and posttest data for at least one outcome measure; excluded children missed an entire assessment wave due to prolonged absence, late enrollment, or exiting the program early in the school year. twenty-two percent of children attended head start for two consecutive years. in this paper we included only data from the child’s first year in the project. the number of children contributing to the study sample was 77, 107, 92, and 45 for years one through four, respectively. procedures at the start of each project year, information and recruitment meetings were held in each site for the purpose of explaining the project and obtaining parents’ informed consent. children were assessed by trained evaluators at the start and end of each project year. parents completed annual preand posttest surveys as well as a weekly feedback sheet relating to the home curriculum. trained evaluators collected classroom quality data two to three times per year. teachers implemented the learning connections (lc) curriculum (gorecki & debaryshe, 2004). lc is a developmentally-sequenced enrichment curriculum that focuses on oral language, phonological and phonemic awareness, print concepts and alphabet knowledge, emergent writing, number sense and mathematical operations, geometry, and measurement. the lc curriculum has been evaluated in two quasi-experimental field trails and has been shown to have positive effects on children’s academic outcomes compared to both a teacher-developed curriculum and the creative curriculum (debaryshe & gorecki, 2005, 2007). lc has 40 specific learning goals organized into seven larger domains (see table 1). daily lesson plans were developed to include a circle time activity, two or three small group activities, and suggestions for transition and extension activities. small group lesson plans were prepared for two instructional levels, with different activities for children with more versus less advanced skills. learning connections 131 each activity had several variations so teachers could tailor the difficulty to best suit each child in her small group (see debaryshe, gorecki, & mishima-young, 2009 for a description of lc curriculum differentiation). project teachers were encouraged to work with the same small groups over time, in order to become more familiar with each child’s progress. teachers were also given training on strategies to support dual language learners and children with special needs. table 1 lc curriculum domains and goals domains goals oral language (o) o1 to increase each child’s vocabulary o2 to engage in conversations of increased length and complexity phonological and phonemic awareness (p) p1 to segment and blend syllables p2 to recognize and generate rhymes p3 to recognize and generate words with the same initial, final, and medial sounds p4 to segment and blend phonemes alphabet knowledge and print awareness (a) a1 to identify the correspondence between letter symbols and letter sounds a2 to recognize and identify letter names a3 to track print from left to right and top to bottom a4 to use environmental print a5 to become aware of the usefulness of print a6 to understand that writing conveys meaning a7 to recognize and read c-v-c words emergent writing (w) w1 to convey meaning via writing w2 to strengthen fine motor muscles w3 to use tools in preparation for writing w4 to encourage higher levels of emergent writing w5 to begin to spell simple words w6 to use a left-to-right orientation when writing (continued) 132 debaryshe et al. table 1, cont'd. lc curriculum domains and goals domains goals numbers and mathematical operations (n) n1 to understand forward one-to-one correspondence n2 to understand and associate quantities and numerals from 1-10 n3 to use alternative counting units n4 to understand that adding/taking away objects increases/decreases total number n5 to introduce the concept of addition using composite units n6 to use manipulatives to indirectly perform multiplication/division operations geometry (g) g1 to identify basic and advanced shapes g2 to understand that shapes can be made from two or more combinations of shapes g3 to identify a given shape inside a larger array of shapes g4 to count occurrences of specific shapes g5 to compare attributes of objects e.g., shape, size, color, thickness, number of sides/corners g6 to use geometric vocabulary terms measurement (m) m1 to distinguish dimensions of measurement e.g., height, width, length, area, volume m2 to use nonstandard units of measurement m3 to use informal and formal measurement tools m4 to use a composite unit to measure items m5 to understand the concept of volume m6 to understand the concept of area m7 to use measurement vocabulary terms approaches to learning (l) a1 to increase attention to and persistence with lc activities a2 to incorporate newly learned skills in free play the home component of the curriculum consisted of weekly home activities that extend content introduced in the classroom (see the appendix a-c for more information). each activity was designed to take 10-15 minutes to complete in the context of regular family routines. examples of home activities include (a) taking a nature walk to collect objects, clapping the names of each object syllable-by-syllable and sorting the objects by the number of syllables in each name; (b) learning connections 133 using a nonstandard measuring tool (a paper slipper) to measure and compare the heights of different family members; and (c) identifying the first sound heard in the names of different food items consumed at a family meal. each week, families received a one-page, written and illustrated instruction sheet as well as any needed materials not readily available at home. families were also provided with age-appropriate books and were encouraged to read aloud on a regular basis, preferably daily. support for families was provided through two mechanisms. every other week, a coach was present during pick-up or drop-off time. the coach posted samples of the two upcoming home activities on a display board that remained in the classroom until the next demonstration session. the coach spent about five minutes with each parent, during which time she demonstrated the activity, discussed specific learning goals, provided tips on individualization based on her knowledge of the child’s language use and classroom performance, and encouraged parent-to-parent conversation and support. three workshops were also offered to provide more in-depth information about the developmental foundations of the home curriculum. workshops lasted approximately one hour and were held in the classroom; each session included a research overview, hands-on activities, and discussion. the first workshop provided an orientation to the content areas of the lc curriculum; parents also rotated through four learning centers at which they participated in sample lc classroom activities. the second workshop focused on developmental sequences within emergent writing and math. parents compared developmental writing samples with their own child’s classroom journals, and practiced volume and measurement activities. the final workshop addressed the transition to kindergarten and was conducted in partnership with the neighborhood elementary school. families met elementary school staff, observed a kindergarten literacy lesson, and received kindergarten registration materials. when possible, oral interpretation of coaching sessions and family workshops, and written translations of consent forms and project surveys were provided in families’ native language. due to limited staffing resources, we were able to provide support for only five languages. all home activities were also translated into chuukese. because the funding cycle did not match the school calendar year, curriculum implementation began in january of the first project year. the school calendar also changed over the course of the project. as a result, the number of weekly home activities ranged from 22 to35, depending on the project year, and only the first workshop was given in project year one. classroom quality data were collected at two time points in project years one and four and three time points in years two and three. measures involvement with the home activities. each week families were given a home activity feedback sheet. parents were asked to list the names of all books read with their child that week and to provide written comments on three questions about the week’s activity: “what did you and your child enjoy or not enjoy?” “what would you keep or change about this activity?” and “please describe how your child did the activity.” the percentage of feedback sheets returned was used as a proxy measure of the actual completion of the home activities. 134 debaryshe et al. parent satisfaction. at the end of each project year parents completed an anonymous satisfaction survey. this survey included nine items answered on a four-point likert scale (where 1 = “strongly disagree” and 4 = “strongly agree”). see table 4 for item wording. parents were also asked to provide written comments on two open-ended questions: “what did you like best about learning connections” and “what can be done to make learning connections better?” child academic skills. children were tested on four standardized instruments: the peabody picture vocabulary test, third edition (ppvt) (dunn & dunn, 1997), test of early reading abilities, third edition (tera) (reid, hresko, & hammill, 2001), phonological awareness literacy screening pre-k (pals) (invernizzi, sullivan, meirer & swank, 2004), and the mathematics and logical operations scale of the developing skills checklist (dsc) (ctb/mcgraw-hill, 1990). all four instruments have acceptable test-retest and inter-rater reliability, internal consistency, and construct and criterion-related validity for this age group. the ppvt, tera, and dsc are also nationally normed; however, none provide separate norms for dual language learners. the ppvt was used to measure receptive vocabulary. the tera is a measure of emergent reading that includes alphabet knowledge, print conventions, and the derivation of meaning from logos and print. the pals includes sections relating to alphabet knowledge (upper case letter names and lower case letter sounds), phonemic awareness (alliteration and rhyme), print concepts, and name writing. we did not administer the section relating to knowledge of specific nursery rhymes, as we thought this content could be culturally biased. the dsc assesses emergent math skills including counting, operations, conservation of quantity and length, shape recognition, sorting, patterning, and sequencing. age-adjusted standardized scores were used for the ppvt and tera. the tera has norms for children as young as 42 months; thus, some children were too young to be assigned standard scores at pretest. standard scores are not available for the pals and dsc, so total raw scores were used. classroom quality. classroom quality data were collected by trained evaluators using what was at the time the current preschool version of the classroom assessment scoring system (class) (pianta, la paro, and hamre, 2005). observers were trained by one of the instrument’s authors to a criterion of 80% reliability or higher. field reliability was collected on 10% of the data to ensure that this level of reliability was maintained throughout the project. the class measures teacher-child interaction on 11 discreet items, each scored using a seven-point likert scale (with higher scores indicating better quality). items are clustered to represent the domains of emotional climate, classroom management, and instructional support for language and cognitive development. the class has good internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, and criterion-related validity. in particular, class scores are associated with children’s academic and socioemotional gains over the school year (pianta et al., 2005). because the class domain scores were highly correlated in our sample, we created a composite score by averaging across items at each observation wave. for the present analysis, we then averaged composite scores across waves to create a single class score that represented the average observed classroom quality for a given school year. learning connections 135 results home activity participation descriptive statistics on key variables, including the home activity return rates are shown in table 2. although the overall proportion of home activity feedback sheets was .54, results of an analysis of variance indicated that return rates differed by project year (f = 24.93, p < .001). means (and standard deviations) were .37 (.27), .48 (.29), .59 (.34) and .81 (.24) for years one through four, respectively. follow-up tukey tests indicated that return rates increased with each successive year (p < .05). each year we saw a similar seasonal effect, with declining participation over the course of the school year. analyses not reported here indicate no systematic difference in return rate as a function of activity content (e.g., literacy vs. math). predicting children’s academic skills since the home activity return rate increased with each project year, we conducted a screening to determine whether the predictive associations between home activity return rate and child outcomes varied as a function of project year. all year by return rate interactions were nonsignificant, so year was excluded from further analysis. due to the nested structure of data (i.e., children nested within classrooms), a series of multilevel analyses was conducted to take into account the possible dependency between children within the same classroom 2 who share their daily experiences and environmental features such as teaching staff and peer group. level 1 variables were those unique to each child: age, whether the child was a dual language learner (dll), pretest assessment score, and the percentage of home activity feedback sheets returned by the child’s family. level 2 variables were those shared by children within the same classroom. our level 2 variable was class score for the school year. given our specific interest in the links between home activity return rates and children’s posttest assessment scores, all level 1 and 2 variables other than home activity return rate were treated as covariates in our model. we analyzed a series of four multi level models, one for each posttest score (ppvt, tera, pals, dsc). results of the multilevel analyses to predict academic skills are shown in table 3. for all four outcome variables, we found significant associations between home activities and children’s posttest performance (β = .14, p < .001; β = .17, p < .01; β = .15, p < .001; β = .09, p < .05; for the ppvt, tera, pals, and dsc, respectively). when families completed a higher percentage of home activities, their children had higher posttest scores. participation in the home activities explained unique variance in child outcomes above and beyond the effects of pretest skill, age, dll status, and classroom quality. 2 our level 2 grouping was classroom within a particular project year. children enrolled in the same classroom in a given year experienced a shared environment and their data should therefore show dependency. however, a child enrolled in a particular site in project year 1 would not share experiences and unique environmental factors (teachers, peer group, etc.) with another child enrolled in the same site in a different project year. the number of level 2 units was 5, 10, 8, and 4 for project years 1 through 4, respectively. 136 debaryshe et al. an additional set of analyses were conducted that included an interaction term between home activity return rate and pretest score. this was done to determine whether home activity participation had a different effect on academic outcomes for children who started the year with higher vs. lower skills. for each outcome, the interaction term was nonsignificant. this suggests that all children showed similar benefits from the home activities, regardless of their pretest performance. table 2 descriptive statistics for study variables n a mean sd child level variables age in months 321 44.81 7.00 dll status b 321 0.37 0.48 home activity return 321 0.54 0.32 pretest ppvt c 311 82.72 17.80 tera c,d 203 85.06 12.44 pals 316 14.64 16.58 dsc f 313 8.00 6.81 posttest ppvt 311 89.29 15.08 tera 203 89.38 14.17 pals 316 33.02 22.86 dsc 313 15.46 8.01 classroom level variables classroom quality 27 4.51 0.69 a the total sample size was 321. ns for child assessment measures vary due to missing data. b dll status was coded as 1 (yes) or 0 (no). the mean of dll status shows the average percentage of children from homes where a nonenglish language was spoken. c quotient-type standardized scores were used for ppvt and tera (mean = 100, sd = 15). d sample size for tera is smaller because some children were too young at pretest (less than 42 months) to be assigned standard scores e pals data are reported as total raw score with a possible range of 0 to 88. eight of the nine pals tasks were administered. f dsc data are reported as raw scores with a possible range of 0 to 37. learning connections 137 table 3 raw regression coefficients, standard errors, and standardized regression coefficients b se β ppvt level 1 ppvt pretes 0.60*** 0.04 0.70 age -0.08 0.08 -0.04 dll -1.80 1.39 -0.06 home activity return 6.70*** 1.90 0.14 level 2 class -1.36 1.23 -0.06 tera level 1 tera pretest 0.77*** 0.06 0.68 age -0.03 0.15 -0.01 dll -0.89 1.49 -0.03 home activity return 7.35 2.45 0.17 level 2 class 1.51 1.26 0.07 pals level 1 pals pretest 1.06*** 0.06 0.77 age 0.35** 0.12 0.11 dll 0.22 1.64 0.00 home activity return 10.47*** 2.63 0.15 level 2 class 5.36** 1.89 0.16 dsc level 1 dsc pretest 0.84*** 0.05 0.71 age 0.15** 0.05 0.13 dll -0.20 0.60 -0.01 home activity return 2.21** 0.95 0.09 level 2 class 0.84 0.48 0.07 note: equation n = 311, 203, 316, 313 for ppvt, tera, pals, and dsc, respectively. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; *** p < .001. parent satisfaction reponses to the posttest parent satisfaction survey are shown in table 4. for almost all items, the large majority of parents provided a positive evaluation. parents felt that children learned from both the classroom and home curricula, the home activities were easy to follow and fun to do, and the home curriculum improved their own understanding of their child’s learning and self138 debaryshe et al. efficacy in working with their child. two exceptions to this pattern were found. first, reflecting the overall return rate for the home activity comment sheets, 76% of parents indicated they did all or most of the home activities. second, the lowest ratings were given for usefulness of the coaches’ in-class demonstration sessions. a full 44% of parents answered “no opinion/don’t know” to this item. not all parents were able to attend the demonstration sessions and in many cases, someone other than the parent was responsible for bringing the child to school. table 4 parent response to survey items item percentage agree or strongly agree my child learned a lot doing the lc classroom activities 99 my child learned a lot doing the lc home activities 98 the lc home activities were fun for my child and me to do 97 i did all or most of the lc home activities that were sent home 76 the written instructions for the lc home activities were clear 95 the twice-a-month demo sessions with our classroom coach were helpful 53 lc helped me better understand how my child learns 97 lc has made me more confident about teaching my child 98 note. n = 103 in year 2 and 61 in year 4 qualitative analyses were conducted on a sample of comments provided by parents on the annual satisfaction surveys and weekly home activity feedback sheets. the corpus used included all surveys from project years two and four that included written comments (n = 111 out of 151 surveys returned) and a random sample of 142 feedback sheets from project year two. a grounded case study approach (glaser & holton, 2004) was used to develop a means for analysis of the prevalent themes (categories of information) that resonated within the comments parents provided on the surveys and feedback sheets. primary analysis was done by the third author and verified by the first author. parents’ verbatim responses were reviewed to develop a coding system that captured the major content addressed across both sets of data. reponses within each code were further examined to determine the prominent themes, or specific ideas addressed in parents’ comments. after joint discussion of the initial results, the themes were refined and the corpus was reviewed again. the two authors also worked together to select representative quotations to illustrate each final theme. learning connections 139 table 5 themes and sub-themes from parents’ comments 1 mutual enjoyment 1a enhanced relationships 1b enjoyment and pleasure in learning 2 children's learning and motivation 2a specific literacy and math skills 2b changes in motivation 3 parent involvement 3a self confidence 3b increased understanding of their child's learning 3c home-school connections 3d challenges based on the frequency of mention, three main themes and eight sub-themes were identified (see table 5). mutual enjoyment was the first theme. the most common response on both the home activity sheets and parent surveys was that parents and children enjoyed doing the home activities. family members liked the content of the activities and the fact that completing the activities provided a context for sharing quality time. one parent captured this duality by saying, “lc helps my child learn but it’s a fun way for my child and i to spend time as well.” two sub-themes emerged in this area. sub-theme 1a was enhanced relationships. putting aside time to work together was seen as having positive effects on the parent-child relationship. when describing what they liked most about the home curriculum, comments included “more bonding for me and my child,” “we developed a good relationship,” and “it’s a learning and understanding process, as well part of quality time as a family.” one parent appreciated being asked to spend one-on-one time with her oldest child on a regular basis, saying “i liked that we were kind of ‘forced’ to do activities, just he and i. since my daughters were born we don’t really spend a lot of time just us. the activities were fun too!” sub-theme 1b was enjoyment and pleasure in learning. many comments on the activity sheets and the surveys described the learning activities as “fun.” examples include: “my child and i spent time together and he got to learn and have fun at the same time,” “erf makes learning fun,” “our family all enjoyed the homework,” and “he loves it when i read to him!” the second most frequent set of responses related to theme 2, children’s learning and motivation. one mother said that “i have seen her vocabulary and understanding of concepts expand. she surprises me with her recognition with words, numbers, and even math. i feel she will be very comfortable and confident in kindergarten!” as illustrated in this parent’s comment, two sub-themes emerged: gains in specific literacy and math skills, and general changes in children’s academic motivation. relating to sub-theme 2a, specific literacy and math skills, most parents saw positive changes in their children's academic readiness, especially in their use of more sophisticated vocabulary. parents described changes in skills such as asking and answering questions during book-reading; being able to retell or act out familiar stories; “reading” to siblings; using new vocabulary words; playing with rhyme; recognizing the alphabet; starting to spell or sound out 140 debaryshe et al. words; counting; identifying shapes; and measuring. comments that comprised sub-theme 2b, changes in motivation, were notable. many parents described their children’s positive attitude towards learning. for example, “her other siblings usually do their homework after school, so she [was] excited… to show her siblings that she has learned new things just like them.” another mother commented that, “[child’s name] is awesome and retains information like a sponge.” a third parent said that, “when the home activities were done, my child felt like she was a teacher. it made her feel important, a smart-learner. she got excited.” many parents described their children as becoming more "interested and enthusiastic" over the course of the year; some also noticed an increase in their child’s attention span. a minority of parents initially had difficulty engaging their child, e.g., “my child was not listening to me”, “my child doesn’t like the book,” and “my child needs more practice.” however, over time, comments included, “my child’s behavior changed for the good,” and “it has gotten better and my child wants to learn.” the final theme was parent involvement. this theme had four sub-themes. subtheme 3a related to self confidence. parents commented that they felt better prepared to teach their children, e.g., “lc lets me know how i can help my child learn,” “i used lc as a guide for what my child should be learning other than hat i was already teaching at home,” and, “as a new parent, i didn’t know how to explain what was required for kindergarten; lc helped me become a better teacher.” several parents commented specifically on the usefulness of learning new strategies for reading aloud. sub-theme 3b addressed parents’ increased understanding of their children’s learning. the home activities gave parents a better understanding of their children’s current skills and potential to learn. for example, “it helped me better understand how my child learns at the early stage before kindergarten…it showed me how much more my daughter knew.” another parent commented that doing the home activities, “helped me see just how smart she is.” sub-theme 3c involved stronger home-school connections. the lc home activities reinforced what children were learning in school and parents recognized and appreciated this connection. one parent said that, “the home activities really helped my son to understand what he learned at school. all the activities were built on each other,” while another parent described his/her daughter as “excited about doing [the activities] because she learned it at school.” families reported knowing more about the classroom curriculum and one parent expressed appreciation for the workshop in which parents were given an overview of the lc curriculum goals. in sub-theme 3d, parents discussed challenges experienced in completing the home activities. parents identified a lack of time as the greatest obstacle to completing homework activities. one parent said “some months [there was] too much homework on top of my busy schedule,” while another said, ‘i like everything except that i regretted that i don’t have enough time to spend with him.” among those parents who were not native english speakers, some had difficulty reading and understanding the home activity instructions; their suggestions included providing written translations in multiple languages and/or hiring bilingual classroom coaches. discussion this study addresses parents’ perceived experiences and children’s outcomes relating to a curriculum designed to increase family involvement. the learning connections (lc) curriculum is unusual in having parallel classroom and home components. parents were given weekly home learning connections 141 learning activities to complete with their preschool child that built upon content already introduced in school and provided a format for parents to address the same learning goals that teachers focused on in the classroom. results indicated that the home curriculum was highly successful in engaging families and supporting children’s learning. participation rates increased over the course of the project, with high levels of family involvement attained in the final year. parents and children enjoyed the structure and shared routine that the home activities provided. parents saw changes in their children’s early academic skills as a result of the home curriculum and this perception was validated by objective assessment data. there was a clear pattern where family participation in the home activities was associated with child language, literacy, and math skills above and beyond the predictive associations with child age, pretest skills, and classroom quality. in other words, parents made a difference; the more home activities a parent completed with their child, the greater gains the child made over the school year. this suggests that parents and other adult family members are an important resource that can be employed to enhance head start children’s school readiness. why was the home curriculum successful? we suggest four possible reasons.first was the nature of the home activities: structure and support were provided in the form of clear instructions and materials, and because the activities were short most families were to able make time in their home routines. second, there was the close link between home and school learning. rather than teaching new material, parents addressed content that was also covered in class. presumably this made the parents’ task easier and also allowed children to demonstrate their competencies and see that both their teachers and their parents valued similar activities. third, the home curriculum was fun. parents and children enjoyed the activities and the chance to spend quality one-on-one time was seen as an additional benefit. finally, doing the activities appeared to be a selfreinforcing process. parents saw the results of their efforts in their child’s enthusiasm and progress, which likely increased parents’ self-efficacy and motivation to teach their child. it is also possible that parents ascribed greater value to their teaching because it was closely aligned with the school curriculum. parents may have started to see themselves as part of an educational team, working together with the teachers and coaches to help children reach academic goals. unfortunately, we did not ask parents to comment on this particular issue. however, it appears that the lc home curriculum led to a situation in which families and schools enacted the exemplary home learning practices described in the seminal work of joyce epstein (epstein,1995): specifically, the school provided a regular schedule of home activities that required parents and children to discuss content addressed in class; parents were provided with support in teaching their children at home; parents were aware of the classroom curriculum; and parents understood where their child was at in terms of the learning process. what enables and motivates family involvement? hoover-dempsey and sandler (1997) suggested several factors that increase involvement including parental role constructs, parental self-efficacy, and invitations or specified requirements from teachers and/or children that parents should be involved. for families that did not already see themselves as teachers, the lc structured home activities, coaching demonstrations, and workshops provided both a clear message about the importance of home teaching and a set of strategies to use. our results show that many parents felt increasingly efficacious. finally, children invited parent involvement by asking or reminding their parents to do the weekly activities. the message that parental involvement was desired and expected was also communicated by teachers and coaches. 142 debaryshe et al. a major limitation of this study was the lack of comparative experimental conditions, such as a no-lc control, classroom-only, and home-only lc curriculum groups. in the absence of appropriate comparative groups we cannot infer a causal relationship between home activity completion and child outcomes. it is possible that the home activities produced a halo effect, stimulating some other form of parent involvement that was more directly linked with individual differences in children’s growth. a strategy for isolating effects specific to the content of our home curriculum would be to provide half of the families with home literacy activities and half with home math activities, or to provide parents with home activities from only one curriculum domain, such as phonological awareness. if child outcomes are truly a function of specific parent-child activities, children should show differential progress in the content areas assigned to be taught at home. a second limitation is our method of measuring family involvement. by using comment sheet return rates, we may have under-estimated participation for families that conducted the activity but did not submit a comment sheet. in addition, we did not have access to the thoughts of parents who did not return home activity feedback sheets, or those who did not provide written posttest survey comments. it is possible that that parents who had the most positive experiences with the home curriculum took the time to share their views. nor do we have information concerning family involvement after children left head start. one might predict that involvement patterns established in preschool such as high self-efficacy, home learning routines, talking with children about what they are doing in school, and the expectation of being informed about the classroom curriculum would translate into continued involvement with homework, home-school communication, and general enrichment in the child’s elementary school years. additional research would need to be conducted to determine whether family involvement efforts like lc have long-term implications for parental behavior and children’s academic achievement. based on the strength of the results presented here, we believe that such questions deserve to be answered. references arnold, d. h., lonigan, c. l., whitehurst, g. j., & epstein, j. n. 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(1988). accelerating language development through picture book reading. developmental psychology, 24, 552-559. learning connections 145 appendix a sample list of yearly home activities week home activity title lc goal(s) 1 reading aloud o1, o2 2 finding shapes g1 3 clapping syllables p1 4 quilt patterns g2 5 homemade family book a5, a6, o1, w1 6 big or small m1 7 rhyming poems p2 8 shapes that make a shape g2, g3 9 thick or thin m1, g5 10 thank you card a5, a6, w1 11 meal time fun p3 12 counting children and beds n1 13 acting out a story o2 14 cultural counting book n2, w1 15 my beginning sound collage a1, p3 16 my counting nature walk n2 17 simon says g1 18 love letters a5, a6 19 signs, signs and more signs a2, a4 20 alphabet sound tree a1, a2 21 scavenger hunt for heavy and light m1, m2 22 reading aloud o1, o2 23 measuring playdough m3, a5 24 volume with cups m5 25 rhyming puppets p2 26 slipper strips n3, m3, m4 27 syllable sort p1, n2 28 intro to area m6 29 parent survey n/a 30 clapping syllables p1 31 1-,2-,3shapes n3, n6 32 today’s news a2 146 debaryshe et al. appendix b sample home activity from the phonological awareness domain activity name: meal time fun learning goal for your child (p3): to notice the beginning sounds of spoken words materials: foods served at a regular family meal, this sheet (the original sheet had an image of a plate with spaces for listing food names) directions: 1. as you are cooking a family meal or just before your child starts to eat, talk with your child about the foods that he/she will eat. 2. name the foods together. say the beginning sound of the word for each food item with your child. for example, “fish starts fff,” or “rrr is for rice.” 3. write the names of the foods you talked about in the space below. 4. enjoy your meal! 5. please return completed activity and feedback form learning connections 147 appendix c sample of home activity from the measurement domain activity name: slipper strips learning goals for your child (m3, m4): to use an informal measuring tool (paper slippers) to use a composite (the slipper strip) to measure items to have fun using math materials: scissors, tape, paper slipper cut-outs (materials were provided to parents but are excluded here) directions: 1. cut out the paper slippers on the attached paper. 2. ask your child to measure one family member. 3. ask that family member to lie on the floor. 4. show your child that he/she can measure the person’s length by counting how many slippers it takes to move from the person’s feet to their head. 5. if the last slipper extends past the family member’s body, tell your child to cut the slipper in the appropriate place. 6. attach the slippers together with tape to make a slipper strip. 7. help your child count how many slippers he/she used to measure the family member. 8. measure a large, open space such as a hallway. help your child measure the length of the space with the slipper strip. 9. on the line below, write the number of slipper strips used. 10. write your child’s name and the family member’s name on the slipper strip. 11. discuss with your child why it took more slippers than slipper strips to measure a person and a place. 12. please return completed activity and feedback form to your child’s teacher a. we measured _____________and he/she was_______slippers long. (person's name) b. we measured___________and it was_________slipper strips long. (place) dialog, 18(2), 119-135 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 dialog from the field expanding mental health consultation in early head start: recommendations for supporting home visitors in increasing parental engagement samantha pittenger, tori van dyk, alayna schreier, michelle haikalis, mary fran flood, and david hansen early head start strongly emphasizes the importance of intervening with the entire family to promote healthy child development. parents, in particular, are recognized as their child’s most important teacher. while early head start performance standards currently mandate mental health consultation to identify and intervene with child mental health problems, there is little direct focus on the role of consultation in managing parental mental health concerns. this is problematic given that a wide body of literature outlines the impact of parental mental health on engagement in home-based programs such as early head start. investigations within the home visiting field have also shown persistent requests from staff for further support in addressing these barriers to engagement. mental health professionals can be instrumental in providing support and education to home visitors dealing with parental mental health concerns, although formal guidelines are generally silent on best practices for establishing and maintaining effective consultation relationships. this dialog from the field discusses the issues posed to family engagement by parent-related problems such as mental illness. synthesizing experience from consultation provided to an early head start program with research from the field, we present a model expanding mental health consultation to address parent and family concerns. keywords: consultation, mental health, early head start, home visiting, parental engagement since its inception in 1994, early head start (ehs) has provided support to thousands of children and families each year through home-based programs, helping to promote healthy child and family development and build strong communities. an integral part of these ehs programs are the home visiting staff who are responsible for conducting weekly, 90-minute sessions with parents and children. during these sessions, home visitors, who may be referred to by a number of titles (e.g., “family advocates” or “family educators”), establish relationships with parents and support them in their parental roles of caregiver and teacher. through collaboration with health care, child development, and mental health professionals, as well as a network of community services, ehs home visiting and administrative staff work to foster growth from the prenatal 120 pittenger et al. period through toddlerhood by building healthy relationships between children and parents. while goals are largely focused on child outcomes, head start programs take a two-generational approach, recognizing that parents are the first and foremost teachers in children’s lives (henrich & gadaire, 2008). ehs home-visiting programs must not only include opportunities for parents to collaborate and be involved in their child’s education but must also incorporate parents’ personal development into program reach (u.s. dhhs, 2009, 45 cfr chapter xiii § 1304.40). these requirements highlight encouraging parent involvement and fostering parental growth as two important goals of ehs; however, program staff often face challenges to the accomplishment of these goals. evaluation of the program’s two-generational approach has shown that both parents and children experience benefits when families enroll and participate in ehs services. the early head start research and evaluation project (love et al., 2002) showed that children enrolled in home-based services exhibited gains in language ability and social-emotional functioning as measured through interactions with their parents. further, enrolled parents reported less stress related to their parenting role, more self-sufficiency, and showed more engagement with their children in play and educational activities (love et al., 2002). an examination of the impact of ehs on outcomes at ages 2, 3, and 5 years showed similar effects for children as well as reduced incidence of maternal depression and household member drug or alcohol problems (vogel, brooks-gunn, martin, & klute, 2013). however, in order for children and families to achieve the gains associated with enrollment in a home-visiting program, they must participate and be engaged in program activities. in fact, children and families are likely to experience more gains when a higher dose of the home visiting program is received (peacock, konrad, watson, nickel, & muhajarine, 2013). without parent participation, families are at higher risk for dropping-out of early intervention programs (roggman, cook, carla, & raikes, 2008), something that frequently occurs in home-visiting programs. thus, maximum benefit to families is not likely to occur without active parental engagement (korfmacher et al., 2008). prinz and miller (1991) describe engagement as an active process of accessing what a program has to offer, including cooperation during visit activities and efforts made to extend learning in between scheduled visits in addition to regular attendance. others emphasize the importance of behavioral and emotional involvement with the program as evidenced by actively seeking more opportunities and information beyond what regularly scheduled visits provide (lefever, bigelow, carta, & borkowski, 2013). recently, parental engagement has become a focus of scrutiny and intervention, as it has been identified as a major barrier to program outcomes (henrich, 2013). this paper focuses on the perpetual challenge that home-visiting programs face in trying to gain and maintain parental engagement (wagner, spiker, inman linn, & hernandez, 2003), provides a case example highlighting these challenges, and presents a model for supporting ehs staff in promoting engagement by utilizing existing mental health consultation services. the task of initiating and maintaining parent engagement parent involvement in home visiting programs is imperative as it is a key factor in the success of interventions with young children (korfmacher et al., 2008). home visiting programs emphasize the importance of the parent-child relationship but also recognize that the relationship between home visitor and parent may be equally as important to family outcomes (brophy-herb et al., early head start mental health consultation 121 121 2009). developing and maintaining the home visitor-parent relationship does not solely lie in the hands of parents, but is a product of the efforts by both parties (korfmacher et al., 2008). beyond simply providing opportunities for parents to collaborate and gain from ehs, the program recognizes that parent and family engagement must be actively sought and consistently supported. the parent, family, and community engagement framework (pfce; us dhhs, 2011) was developed as a response to the recognition that parent engagement is both crucial to the success of the program and that it stems from the efforts of both parent and home visitor, with support from all systems and service areas (u.s. dhhs, 2011). consequently, home visitors are often encouraged to identify the needs of mothers and other caregivers so that parents can connect with and best utilize services provided by home-based programs (azzi-lessing, 2011). additionally, ehs program requirements include opportunities for parents to collaborate and be involved in their child’s education as well as incorporate parents’ personal development in family partnership agreements, tools used to set and attain family goals (u.s. dhhs, 2009, 45 cfr chapter xiii § 1304.40). challenges home visitors face in achieving parental engagement home visitors face many challenges to engaging parents in their child’s education, and therefore in the ehs program. some frequent challenges include helping parents understand child development and encouraging parents to enter a teaching role for their child (honig, 1979). as discussed above, ehs has been aware of this issue for decades and has implemented various solutions. for example, the pfce provides specific guidelines for agencies to maximize participation and program reach. improving family well-being is identified within the family engagement outcomes of the pfce, and contracting with a mental health consultant is recommended for programs to address overall family needs related to their well-being. communication with these experts may also be necessary for home visiting staff to address some less-frequently occurring, although equally as threatening, risks to parental engagement. parental risk factors for poor engagement. so what is it that makes parental engagement such a challenging task? there are specific and identifiable parent and family characteristics that may impede engagement with ehs home visiting services such as feelings of vulnerability, cognitive deficiencies, substance abuse, domestic violence, and mental health issues. often, parents are simply reluctant to be open and honest with home visitors fearing that they may be making themselves vulnerable by sharing information with perfect strangers or with representatives of governmental systems. many of the families served by ehs experience numerous stressors, including family problems, social isolation, and job insecurity. however, parents may feel more comfortable discussing basic needs rather than the psychosocial problems they are facing, especially during the earlier stages of the parent-home visitor relationship (tandon, mercer, saylor, & duggan, 2008). parents with cognitive deficiencies are overrepresented in head start populations and bring their own challenges to effective engagement with the program (azar, miller, & stevenson, 2013). for example, parents with low iq, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities or even sub-clinical cognitive deficiencies may experience difficulties during activities presented in home visit lesson plans and carrying out between-visit homework assignments. parents with cognitive deficiencies may have impairments processing social 122 pittenger et al. information which interferes with their parenting abilities as well as their capacity to engage with the home visitors that are providing services to them (azar, reitz, & goslin, 2008; azar, stevenson, & johnson, 2012). thus, to effectively initiate and maintain engagement with these parents, home visitors must modify their approach to presenting and sharing their learning curriculum with families. substance abuse, domestic violence, and mental health problems tend to be grouped together as they pose distinct challenges to implementing home visiting services and are often not recognized by home visitors (tandon et al., 2008). the presence of these issues is not only detrimental to the effectiveness of ehs, but is also associated with poor child outcomes such as abuse, neglect, poor school readiness, and insecure parent-child attachments, making identification and intervention imperative (azzi-lessing, 2011). families with histories of substance abuse, domestic violence, and parental mental health issues are considered high risk due to these potential poor outcomes and also because they tend to receive fewer home visits and drop out of programs more frequently than lower risk enrolled families (azzi-lessing, 2011). in fact, parents with fewer psychological issues may be more likely to engage with home visitors because they are more likely to utilize emotional and instrumental support (florian, mikulincer, & bucholz 1995; korfmacher et al., 2008; wallace & vaux, 1993). home visitor challenges influencing parental engagement. administrators and home visitors recognize the threats to the success of ehs and overall child well-being posed by parental mental health concerns but seem poorly equipped to address threats at the front line. rigorous research studies and meta-analyses have shown that home visiting programs are often effective across child developmental outcomes but fail to cause change in the areas of child abuse and parenting stress (duggan et al., 2004; sweet & appelbaum, 2004). reaching and engaging higher risk families can be a frustrating, time-consuming, and emotionally taxing task for home visitors (gill, greenberg, moon, & margraf, 2007), and sometimes frustrations arise when home visitors aren’t able to identify what barriers are in place with a specific family. systematic evaluation has also shown that the complexity of problems exhibited by high needs families often surpasses the ability of paraprofessional home visitors, both in identifying problems and addressing them (chaffin, 2004; duggan et al., 2004; eckenrode et al., 2000; tandon et al., 2008). for example, it might be unclear to home visitors whether parents have mental health issues, substance abuse concerns, or both (jones harden, denmark, & saul, 2010) and even when these risks have been successfully identified, it may be unclear how to link families to resources available to address their concerns (duggan et al., 2004). there are a number of reasons why issues such as parental mental health problems, substance abuse, and domestic violence might go unaddressed. home visitors may be reluctant to discuss concerns because they fear it will cause a strain in their relationship with parents, or they may be embarrassed by the thought of touching on these sensitive issues (hebbeler & gerlach-downie, 2002; kitzman, cole, yoos, & olds, 1997). recognizing the gravity of maternal depression, violence in the home, or active substance use and abuse, home visitors might be unsure of how to effectively communicate with parents regarding the threats posed to their family and the resources available to help lessen these threats (jones harden et al., 2010). these findings suggest there is a pervasive issue in the realm of home visiting: a lack of training for home visitors in identifying, understanding, and addressing adult mental health, substance abuse, and violence concerns (gill et al., 2007; tandon et al., 2005; tandon et al., 2008; wasik & roberts, 1994). early head start mental health consultation 123 123 issues unique to programs employing paraprofessional home visitors are made salient when compared to those with professional staff. for example, one of the most well-established home visitation programs is nurse family partnership (nfp), developed by david olds and his research team in the 1970s. nfp is designed to target parental behaviors and environmental conditions in order to improve outcomes related to pregnancy, child health and development, and maternal life-course (olds, 2006; olds et al., 2013). while ehs employs paraprofessionals as home visitors, nfp utilizes trained nurses in order to increase competence and credibility with participating families (olds, 2006; olds, hill, o’brien, racine, & moritz, 2003). in a study examining the effectiveness of paraprofessionals compared to trained nurses, korfmacher, o’brien, hiatt, and olds (1999) found fewer significant results on key outcomes with the use of paraprofessionals. further, families who received nurse home visitation were less likely to drop out and completed more visits as compared to families who received services by paraprofessionals. ehs and nfp are disparate programs with different target populations, although the difference in outcomes highlights issues posed by employing paraprofessional front-line workers. across home visiting programs designed for expectant families and those with young children, nearly half of home visitors (up to 45%; sweet & appelbaum, 2004) are paraprofessionals. this term, defined by korfmacher and colleagues (2008, p.184), refers to “service providers who do not have degreed or formal training in a professional service such as counseling, social work, nursing, medicine, psychology, or child development.” thus, unless independently sought by programs, home visitors are unlikely to receive training in addressing parental mental health concerns and rarely have educational backgrounds that provide them training in adult issues such as mental health and substance abuse problems. within ehs, performance standards require that beyond child development and safety/nutrition experience, home visitors have knowledge of adult learning principles and family dynamics, although there are no clear regulations for educational background or training and there is no mention of adult mental health issues (u.s. dhhs, 2009). however, it should be stressed that home visitors without a formal education in adult mental health are likely still suited for the job. for example, characteristics such as being of a similar ethnic background (daro, mccurdy, falconnier, & stojanovic, 2003) or sharing similar life experiences as families (brookes, summers, thornburg, ispa, & lane, 2006) have been related to positive program outcomes. thus, the solution is not to use formally trained professionals, but to educate and support paraprofessional home visitors in the identification, assessment, and management of substance abuse and mental health concerns (chaffin, 2004), and encourage the development of skills so that home visitors can build and maintain relationships with high-risk families (azzi-lessing, 2011). in their review, peacock and colleagues (2013) note that home visiting programs are most effective when staff receive training and support necessary to serve their enrolled population. unfortunately, earlier investigations have revealed inadequate levels of training and support for home visitors (wasik & roberts, 1994) and there still are not clear guidelines for how much or what type of training might help home visitors manage parental mental health issues. further, lack of clear program guidelines may promote uncertainty regarding home visitor roles in addressing parental mental health needs (tandon et al., 2008). ehs programs are not required to follow any specific curriculum, allowing for flexibility in the development of family goals and lesson planning which leaves room for home visitors to tailor a family’s plan to address parental mental health concerns (lombardi & bogle, 2004); however, many home visitors feel poorly equipped to work with families on these issues. for example, home visitors report having little 124 pittenger et al. training in dealing with the tension between wanting to address mental health or substance abuse concerns and families identifying other needs as more pressing (tandon et al., 2008). although the ehs performance standards require pre-service and ongoing training for home visitors, amount and content are not specified (u.s. dhhs, 2009, 45 cfr chapter xiii § 1306.23). tandon and colleagues (2008) found that when training is provided, it often helps home visitors identify red flags with particular families but does not enhance skills necessary for home visitors to effectively facilitate referrals to appropriate entities. for the reasons outlined above, the field sees a persistent request from home visiting staff for programs to provide more training and support in the areas of adult mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence (gill et al., 2007; tandon et al., 2005). the rest of this paper presents a model to use services already in place within ehs (i.e., mental health consultation) that may be a feasible solution to the problem of training and support identified by home visitors. utilizing mental health consultation to address parent-related issues mental health consultation in early head start formalizing the process of mental health consultation is strongly credited to gerald caplan (mendoza, 1993), who established it as a means of assisting individuals and programs with problems that are outside of their scope of expertise, and provided general principles from which to implement it (caplan, 1970). this type of consultation may be used to help a specific client or to increase the capabilities of a program and its staff in addressing issues they commonly face. within ehs and other early childhood programs, there has been much examination of the role and impact of mental health consultation in regard to infant and child mental health (connersburrow et al., 2013; green, everhart, gordon, & garcia gettman, 2006). in the context of ehs, mental health consultation serves as a “problem solving and capacity building intervention implemented within a collaborative relationship between a professional consultant with mental health expertise and one or more individuals… with other areas of expertise” (cohen & kauffman, 2005, p. 4). ehs programs value collaboration with other community entities and recognize the combined power of community and program to better serve enrolled families (u.s. dhhs, 2009). in addition to building community partnerships, ehs program requirements mandate procurement of mental health consultation for the purpose of handling child mental health concerns. specifically, requirements state that agencies must secure the services of mental health professionals on a schedule of sufficient frequency to enable the timely and effective identification of and intervention in family and staff concerns about a child’s mental health (u.s. dhhs, 2009, 45 cfr chapter xiii § 1304.24). these mental health program services must also include a regular schedule of on-site consultation involving the mental health professionals, program staff, and parents (u.s. dhhs, 2009, 45 cfr chapter xiii § 1304.24). as stated above, the pfce framework also recommends contracting with mental health consultants to meet engagement goals (us dhhs, 2011); however, there are no guidelines describing how to use that consultation in an effective manner. in fact, the consultation literature completely ignores how this service may be used to enhance the home visitor-parent relationship and work to address non-child-specific concerns to family engagement and healthy development. the early head start mental health consultation 125 125 sections below provide a glimpse into the mental health consultation experiences of the authors and describe how consultation practices may be used to address parental mental health concerns that serve as barriers to program engagement. a case of consultation between ehs and university-based mental health consultants the authors of this paper serve or have served as mental health consultants to an ehs home based program in a partnership with a large midwestern university. more than a decade of collaboration between the university and ehs shows a pervasive concern related to training and support for home visitors in identifying and overcoming barriers to parental engagement, including mental health issues. there are frequent requests from ehs staff for support from the university mental health consultants, ranging from informal solicitations for advice in working with parents, requests for joint home visits to observe and interact with families, to requests for didactic and interactive training in adult-related issues. consultants are available as needed to home visitors and for scheduled multidisciplinary team meetings. additionally, the consultants are involved in the mental health screening process for all enrolled families, as they have developed and selected the screening measures currently in use and provide written reports of screening results. to better support our anecdotal evidence that these local home visitors feel challenged by parental mental health issues, consultants recently collected qualitative information from both home visitor-initiated and consultant-initiated discussions for a period of six months. all home visitors employed at the local ehs (n = 20) were invited to volunteer their participation in this case study; 11 agreed to participate, though one abruptly left the program, resulting in a final sample of 10 home visitors. all participants were women, 90% were european-american with one participant identifying as north african, and were 34 years old on average (sd = 9.9). home visitor-initiated consults were defined as any time a home visitor sought spontaneous consultation by coming to the consultant office or reaching out via email or phone. the consultant-initiated meetings were typically those surrounding mental health screening reports, and were primarily intended to discuss concerns noted in screening measures. during all consultations, the mental health consultant completed a coding form to indicate type of consultation (i.e., home-visitor or consultant initiated), date of consultation, duration (in minutes), and various family-level and consultation specific pieces of data. for example, a number of parent and child concerns were coded for each consultation. parent concerns included reports of depressive symptoms, parental stress, caregiver mental illness, and caregiver substance or alcohol use/abuse issues. child-related concerns included behavioral problems, developmental delays, and issues related to a screening tool for autism spectrum disorders (checklist for autism in toddlers; baron-cohen, allen, & gillberg, 1992). two categories – history of abuse/neglect/child protective service (cps) involvement/domestic violence and current abuse/neglect/cps involvement/domestic violence – were considered as both child and parent concerns. consultation-specific information included: whether consultant and home visitor discussed services available to address concerns, family strengths, home visitor strengths, a plan to begin addressing identified problems, and perceived barriers to implementing that plan. additionally, consultants noted whether a plan for remediating identified problems was shared 126 pittenger et al. with the home visitor’s supervisor and if the consultant and home visitor problem solved or role played strategies to overcome perceived barriers. a total of 43 consultations were coded over a six-month period: 24 home visitor-initiated and 19 consultant-initiated. when topics of home visitorand consultant-initiated discussions were aggregated, there was an even breakdown of which family member was discussed. specifically, parent related concerns were discussed in 39% of consults, child concerns in 27%, and concerns relating to both parent and child in 34%. however, when consultation types were examined separately, there were large discrepancies. the most frequent concerns noted during consultant-initiated discussions were parental reports of child behavior problems. alternately, the most frequently discussed concerns during home visitor-initiated consults were focused on parental concerns. over half of all home visitor initiated consults included some discussion of cps-related issues with 53.8% of consults addressing current cps concerns and 23.1% addressing historical cps concerns. additionally, about one-third of home-visitor initiated meetings included discussion of parental mental health concerns (38.5%) and parental stress (34.6%). bringing this information to the local ehs administration, we hypothesized that the discrepancy between consultant initiated and home-visitor initiated discussions may exist, in part, because consultants sought contact after initial screening measures were completed – which occurs early in a family’s enrollment – while home-visitors sought consultation after having served the families and, presumably, having built some rapport. as stated above, consultants helped home visitors identify appropriate services to address concerns noted and asked home visitors to identify barriers to service delivery. in addition to parenting classes and education regarding normal child development, home visitors often identified a need for individual mental health services, safety planning, and law enforcement involvement with their families. overall, about 26% of families were referred to mental health services, with 50% of families identified as high needs (i.e., risk factors to healthy child development present) being referred. consistent with previous research (tandon et al., 2008), home visitors perceived minimal parent engagement, unaddressed parental stressors and mental health issues, and parents not being open to home visitor recommendations as the most frequently occurring barriers to families engaging in recommended services. these findings suggest that (a) parent concerns may surface later in the parent-home visitor relationship, (b) these concerns are perceived by home visitors as major barriers to service delivery and engagement, and (c) home visitors seek opportunities to discuss these problems with mental health consultants. as noted previously, caregivers may shy away from psychosocial issues they are facing and prefer to discuss basic family needs with home visitors (tandon et al., 2008). for this reason, parent-related concerns often are not apparent at the outset but surface after the home visitors work to build relationships with their families and make themselves trusted support persons to parents. consultant-initiated discussions were primarily focused on screenings that occurred early in enrollment and therefore seemed to miss parentrelated concerns influencing the family and relationship with ehs. home visitors included in this examination were often able to identify parental mental health or substance abuse concerns, contrary to prior investigations (e.g., duggan et al., 2004), although their requests for consultation regarding these concerns reflect a lack of skill and/or perception of ability to adequately address them with families. this case study has several limitations that should be considered when interpreting findings from the data. for example, our sample included only 10 participants who were all female and primarily european-american. although these home visitors were working with early head start mental health consultation 127 127 families representative of the demographics of the state within which they reside, the study may not capture cultural differences regarding the use of mental health consultation. importantly, it should be noted that mental health consultants coded their consultations with home visitors in real time and these consultations were not audio or video recorded. this prevented independent coding of the data and findings should be interpreted with caution since trustworthiness has not been established. despite this limitation, the data provide preliminary evidence that home visitors recognize parent-related concerns such as mental health issues and substance/alcohol use and abuse as threats to home visiting efficacy by precluding family engagement. in addition, home visitors recognize the importance of addressing child abuse and neglect concerns as evidenced by their requests for consultation regarding current and prior cps involvement. while efforts should be made to conduct more rigorous evaluations of mental health consultation in ehs, this case study supports our hypothesis that home visitors feel ill-prepared to manage challenges posed by parental mental health issues, substance abuse, and family violence. further, these home visitors seemed willing to utilize available consultation to improve their ability to manage these issues. the following section outlines recommendations for utilizing mental health consultation to address home visitor concerns through support, education, and skills training. recommendations for an effective consultation model we propose that the same mental health consultation services procured for purposes of child social and emotional well-being be used to provide ongoing training and support to home visitors and other ehs staff in managing parental mental health, substance or alcohol use/abuse issues, domestic violence, and other parent-related concerns. these issues must be addressed not only to improve program engagement, and thus program outcomes, but to reduce threats to healthy child development. for example, by addressing the parental behaviors so largely associated with maltreatment (famularo, kinscherff, & fenton, 1992; smith, davis, & fricker-elhai, 2004), child abuse and neglect may be prevented or remediated, thus promoting healthy development and in turn improving program outcomes. most mental health professionals are trained in working with adult mental health issues and through this perspective can provide support to home visitors while also incorporating home visitor skills and experience to address concerns (cohen & kauffman, 2005). additionally, consultants should be used to help facilitate family access to services in the community. as stated above, most home visitors are not trained on these issues, nor is it in their job description to serve as mental health counselors to families. rather, home visitors may help families by identifying problems, providing information regarding services available to address them, and linking families to appropriate services. by working with home visitors, consultants can help design and implement mechanisms for programs to identify these families and connect them with services, as recommended by tandon and colleagues (2008). once supportive services are in place, home visitors can return their focus to child development and receive ongoing help from mental health consultants to assume a case manager role in regard to the parental issues identified. there is a clear need and desire from home visitors to receive training in an effort to address these threats to program engagement; however, training and support in these areas is not one-size-fits-all. one must consider the complex relationship between family needs, prior home 128 pittenger et al. visitor experience, and home visitor personal characteristics when navigating a plan to maintain family engagement and connect families to necessary support services (tandon et al., 2008). the different experiences, education, and prior training that staff have calls for tailoring support and supervision as well as professional development opportunities afforded to home visitors (gill et al., 2007). thus, any training model must be multi-faceted, take into account the specific needs of the population it intends to serve, and encourage flexibility as both staff and program participants are dynamic. components of an effective consultation model effective consultation is imperative to successfully address parental issues of mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence; however, as previously stated, there has been little to no guidance in the literature regarding how home visitors and mental health consultants should work together to overcome these barriers and promote optimal parental engagement. many home visitors are paraprofessionals (sweet & appelbaum, 2004) with varying educational backgrounds and do not receive formal training on issues of adult mental health (wasik & roberts, 1994). although performance standards require home visitor knowledge of adult learning principles and family dynamics (u.s. dhhs, 2009), they do not specify prerequisite understanding of adult psychopathology and treatment needs. thus, many individuals hired into home visiting roles are poorly equipped to identify and address issues of parental mental health with families. this limitation often persists even after the required ehs home visitor new employee and in-service training, despite requests from home visitors to receive this training (gill et al., 2007; tandon et al., 2005) and prior recommendations for “more and varied supervision” methods to help home visitors navigate parental mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence issues (tandon et al., 2008, p. 425). thus, at the foundation of an effective consultation model should be an ongoing training process that directly addresses these issues and provides home visitors with practical knowledge and skills. in our work with home visitors, we have identified three research-based methods to be effective in delivering education and training on parent and family concerns: didactics (e.g., workshops), skills practice (e.g., coaching during joint home visits), and support (e.g., multidisciplinary team meetings). didactics. because home visitors may have never received formal training on adult mental health issues, didactic education can provide the basic knowledge necessary to address such broader family concerns. research suggests that workshops and seminars that provide information and discussion on theory are efficient ways of disseminating information (fixsen, naoom, blase, friedman, & wallace, 2005). further, home visitors report knowledge and understanding of issues on which they receive training (tandon et al., 2008), demonstrating the effectiveness of didactic education. in addition to the pre-service training regarding curriculum and child development provided to home visitors, it is strongly recommended that staff receive in-service training throughout the year to prepare them for challenges to family engagement and help them better understand the families they are serving and resources available in the community (coffee-borden & paulsell, 2010). for example, formal training on stages of change and motivational interviewing (see prochaska & diclemente, 1983 and miller, 1983 for descriptions of these strategies) have been reported as particularly helpful by program staff with whom the authors work, and provide skills that can be used when addressing identified risk early head start mental health consultation 129 129 factors within families, such as substance use or mental health problems. home visitors have found these models especially useful for conceptualizing and working with families who are resistant to change and appear unmotivated to engage in program activities or recommended services. skills practice. although needed to provide foundational knowledge, didactic training alone does not effectively facilitate implementation of skills when working directly with families (fixsen et al., 2005; joyce & showers, 2002). according to the national implementation research network (2013), on-the-job coaching and consultation is where most skills are learned well enough for future implementation. in fact, research with teachers (joyce & showers, 2002) and addiction counselors (dansereau & dees, 2002) has found poor execution of skills when training consists solely of didactics. including skills training within a consultation model is important as it supplements foundational knowledge by providing the relevance, context, and opportunity for practical implementation of information (spouse, 2001). the authors have found skills training to be effective in multiple different settings, including individual consultation and in-service trainings. for example, when providing didactic training on facilitating stages of change, home visitors were particularly receptive to the incorporation of role-plays and skills-based practice of techniques such as utilization of appropriate reflections and open-ended questioning. role-plays are an important part of training to practice skills as well as help home visitors become less judgmental and more empathic toward their families (honig, 1979). coaching may also be used to increase home visitor ability to address key parental issues (national implementation research network, 2013; spouse, 2001). through this process of skills-based training, coaches are used to help teach home visitors how to implement strategies first-hand and to provide assessment and feedback. in our experience working with home visitors, we have found coaching during joint home visits to be an effective way to demonstrate techniques and to support home visitors in practicing implementation of skills. joining home visitors in the field, as they work, helps consultants better conceptualize strengths and weaknesses as well as provide in-the-moment support. the presence of mental health consultants in preschool classrooms has resulted in enhanced quality of teacher-child interactions (conners-burrow et al., 2013), and joint home visits may have the same effect for both home visitor-child and home visitor-parent interactions. the goal of inviting mental health consultants to join home visits is not to take responsibility away from the staff requesting it (cohen & kauffman, 2005), but to provide home visitors the guidance and support needed for them to confidently and effectively attend to family issues. this scaffolding approach not only helps home visitors gain competence in independent implementation of skills, but also increases parental engagement by maintaining rapport between the home visitor and family. for example, we have frequently used coaching to shape home visitor skill in promoting the use of effective discipline strategies and to reduce the use of corporal punishment. consultants provide coaching for behind-the-scenes activities such as forming lesson plans and selecting lesson materials as well as on-the-job during home visits with families. after receiving this support, home visitors often report success in encouraging parents to implement time out procedures in the absence of the mental health consultant coaches. support. while support may be expressed in a variety of ways, at its core it reflects one giving help or assistance to another to prevent a loss of courage and promote persistence. prior research has identified ongoing support to home visitors as central to increasing parental 130 pittenger et al. engagement in home-based programs (korfmacher et al., 2008) and preventing home visitor burnout (gill et al., 2007). thus, a primary component of providing effective consultation should be activities that contribute to the program’s support of home visitors, such as supervision, professional development, and ongoing training. mental health consultants can easily be incorporated into these activities to provide support to home visitors in a variety of ways. complementary with skills training, social and emotional support of home visitors is linked to less burnout and improved home visitor self-efficacy (lee et al., 2013). spouse (2001) identifies the provision of emotional support as a key component of coaching. by using reflective consultation and showing empathy and understanding (johnston & brinamen, 2009), consultants can help identify and acknowledge the difficulties inherent to working with high-risk families, thus providing a sort of collegial social support which may help prevent job burnout (gill et al., 2007). additionally reinforcing the need for emotional support, gill and colleagues (2007) found negative emotionality in home visitors to be associated with a decreased amount of time spent on home visits that, in turn, may hinder parental engagement and ability to maintain rapport. relatedly, mental health consultants may also use their expertise in stress management to promote home visitor self-care practices via workshops on topics such as relaxation or mindfulness. as consultants with ehs, we often discuss the importance of self-care during individual meetings with home visitors and encourage them to schedule enjoyable or rewarding activities to help manage job stress. stress management can also be incorporated into large group training sessions. in our practice, we have found employees respond well to presentations regarding mindfulness meditation when presented as a self-care activity. finally, mental health consultants should provide support to home visitors as a part of multidisciplinary team meetings (i.e., family child reviews) where parental and family concerns are frequently identified. involving mental health consultants in these meetings, in addition to availability for unstructured or spontaneous consults, provides home visitors immediate support when addressing parent issues. as mental health consultants, we use family child reviews to gather information about specific families, provide recommendations to home visitors and supervisors, and to acknowledge any negative aspects of working through challenges the home visitor may identify. integrating consultation into early head start programs the section above provides a framework from which to build effective consultation; however, challenges are likely to arise when programs attempt to implement new practices. prior research with head start shows the most highly satisfactory consultation occurs when services are provided frequently and when consultants take time to build strong, collaborative relationships with their consultees (green et al., 2006). in our experience, consultation has been more accepted by program staff when it was integrated into practice as usual, promoting program-wide acceptance of its use to enhance efforts in serving families. this involves encouragement of voluntary/spontaneous use of consultants as well as structured collaborations. our consultants are incorporated into program services beginning with the initial screening of an enrolled family, jump-starting a system that relies on joint collaboration between home visitor and consultant. to avoid having communication solely based on identified problems, our consultants are also incorporated into scheduled meetings (e.g., family child reviews) and trainings where all aspects of program participation are discussed. integrating consultants into an ehs program early head start mental health consultation 131 131 should be done in an intentional manner, with support from administrators and supervisors prior to working with home visitors. additionally, consultants should be visible in program offices, be approachable, and should seek out discussion with home visitors on a regular basis. even more important than visibility and presence are efforts to reduce the stigma that surrounds issues of mental health and treatment seeking. perceived stigma surrounding mental health issues is a major barrier to accessing help (cooper, corrigan, & watson, 2003), and this could be reflected in both home visitor and parent/family apprehension to engage with mental health consultation and/or services. specifically, if program staff hold negative stereotypes and prejudices about mental illness, they will likely be reluctant to discuss the very characteristics that make families high-risk and these problems will be left unaddressed. consultants must help to normalize mental health care for program staff by providing education regarding the prevalence and potential consequences of unaddressed psychological issues, including substance abuse and domestic violence. educating home visitors on these issues, in addition to the efficacy of interventions designed to address them, will encourage them to seek consultation if they recognize red flags and help build home visitor confidence in discussing concerns with their families. one can expect that simple exposure to these topics will help reduce the discomfort home visitors may feel in discussing them. further, teaching home visitors to normalize mental health care may work to decrease stigma held by parents and families thus promoting help seeking behaviors in their enrolled families (onunaku, 2005). mental health consultation is not just about addressing problems but should also be used to help promote healthy social emotional development of the entire family. consistent with the goal of integrating consultation into all program aspects, home visitors and consultants should regularly discuss parent, child, and family strengths to reflect this focus on overall well-being and reduce stigma associated with utilizing mental health consultation. relatedly, in conceptualizing families and home visitors, consultants should take into consideration individual characteristics and the ways in which these characteristics may influence willingness to seek and/or be receptive to mental health consultation. for example, consultants should have awareness and understanding of cultural perceptions of mental health, drug or alcohol abuse, and domestic violence as these perceptions may become barriers to effective consultation with home-visitors or implementation of strategies with families. research suggests that home visitors with similar backgrounds interact more successfully with their families (daro et al., 2003), perhaps largely because they have a deeper understanding of the family’s individual and cultural characteristics. for these reasons, consultants should collaborate with home visitors and utilize their expertise when conceptualizing cases and developing plans to address parental and family issues. for example, the ehs program where the authors provide consultation serves a large proportion of middle eastern and arab american families. research suggests that significant stigma exists surrounding mental health services, particularly for women, within some arab cultures (al-krenawi & graham, 2000; erickson & al-timimi, 2001). subsequently, we had also observed that many arab american families served by our program were underreporting issues of mental health and substance abuse on screening measures, thus arab american home visitors were underutilizing mental health consultation. recognizing the cultural differences in mental health stigma, we were able to provide education to home visitors to help reduce this stigma and provide a rationale for the importance of identifying and addressing these problems. we also worked directly with arab american home visitors to find more effective and culturally acceptable ways to approach arab american families about potentially sensitive issues (e.g., maternal depression, substance use). 132 pittenger et al. as stated above, home visitors come from a variety of educational and personal backgrounds (e.g., gill et al., 2007). consultants should consider the life and work experience of home-visitors with whom they work, in addition to their interests and educational backgrounds when beginning to provide support. johnston and brinamen (2009) also emphasize the importance of maintaining a transactional approach to consultation. in the case of ehs, this involves recognition of the home visitor-family relationship as well as the consultant-consultee relationship and how they influence targets for intervention as well as intervention itself. being familiar with consultees and conceptualizing their role in working with families and with colleagues helps consultants build on home visitor strengths and tailor support where it is most needed. as with any working relationship, consultants must always strive to respect consultees’ autonomy, and this is not possible without first understanding the persons with whom and situations in which one is consulting. finally, any consultation model implemented with ehs should follow the tenets of evidence-based practice, which include a combination of best research evidence, clinical expertise, and providing services in a manner that is consistent with characteristics, culture, and preferences of the individuals being served (american psychological association, 2006). thus, ehs should use consultants with experience and training in the areas of parental mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence and should require that their consultants engage in continuing education activities in order to stay abreast of the most current literature. in addition, it is important that programs evaluate services by eliciting feedback from all relevant parties (including consultants, consultees, and families that may have been impacted by the consultation process) and analyze the effects of consultation on their program. mental health consultants should monitor their activities and solicit feedback from consultees, supervisors, and administrators to evaluate the effectiveness of their services. monitoring strategies may include documentation to track general information about consultation use within the program and more specific components such as issues identified and discussed, recommendations given, and resulting actions. when consultation is incorporated into programs in a planful manner, this documentation may also serve to measure whether goals for integrating this service have been met and if consultation is being utilized as initially intended. conclusion it is clear that parental mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence concerns often arise in populations enrolled in ehs, that these issues pose threats to healthy child development, and that they hinder program engagement. recent investigations have also made clear that the front line service workers who are tasked with maintaining family engagement often feel they do not have the skills necessary to address such complex issues. failure to address these parent influences on program engagement reduces the effectiveness of the program and places children at risk for maltreatment. while ehs cannot expect to hire home visitors with experience and skills in all of these areas, they do have services in place to provide support to staff, namely consulting mental health professionals. this paper has outlined methods for utilizing mental health consultation to address these gaps in home visitor expertise in an effort to better serve children and families in addition to increasing staff self-efficacy. the next step for ehs programs in promoting family engagement is to incorporate consultation into practice in a more structured manner and evaluate the process and outcome. future endeavors should (a) further early head start mental health consultation 133 133 test the hypothesis that home visitors are challenged by adult-related issues and (b) test the efficacy of any consultation models implemented by employing 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(1994). home visitor characteristics, training, and supervision: results of a national survey. family relations, 43, 336-341. http://nirn.fpg.unc.edu/learn-implementation/implementation-drivers/coaching dialog, 17(3), 104-121 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 dialog from the field head start professional development: great leadership, great intentions and great expectations meghan m. fitzgerald borough of manhattan community college/city university of new york the article is a retelling of the professional development (pd) and related efforts of the head start program. it provides an overview of the training and professional development efforts and the evolution of those efforts overtime. this hs professional development review is unique due to the author’s focus on teachers. the article uses a variety of resources, such as hs conference speeches and presentations, government reviews, reports of research, peer-reviewed articles, head start publications and regulations, and many retrospective books. here, i argue that head start led the field to create professional learning experiences for and by its community-based staff members and it is not able to maintain high quality experiences for all young and adult learners yet. the presentation organizes the chronological review into a variety of periods and offers ideas for going forward. keywords: systems, professional development, head start, leadership head start has led the field of early childhood education (ece) by consistently providing professional development (pd) to its teachers (bowman, 2004). in fact, head start contributed to the need for early childhood-related teacher education programs. it was always the intention of head start to provide high quality pd to teachers as well as high quality programming to children. however, this review shows that head start has had trouble crafting high impact pd to teachers; further, research shows that head start quality is not always more than just adequate (u.s. department of health and human services, 2010). head start's latest legislation expects programs to implement high quality programming to its just over 900,000 enrolled children. it mandates quality through both legislation and regulations. as of november 2011, president obama maintains (landler, 2011) that if any of its 1,600 programs (head start bureau, 2012) do not improve in quality, then such programs will be replaced by other programs that can or have a history of providing higher quality care. thus, as this article demonstrates, with regard to pd, head start has a long and equally mixed history of great leadership, great intentions and great expectations. early childhood teachers draw from many years of professional learning to respond to children, to make decisions about curriculum, and to engage in the many other tasks required of teachers for classrooms to work (bransford, darling-hammond, lepage, 2005; howes et al., 2008). but research also shows that the educational experience of teachers varies widely (early, et al, 2006; national research council, 2001) and, further, that teachers need to engage in 105 head start professional development leads, intends, and expects continuous professional growth experiences to be effective in their classroom work (brookfield, 2006). in high quality early childhood settings, children’s experiences are rich and have the potential benefits of advanced math and language outcomes later in the school age years (cost, quality, outcomes study team, 1995). but what contributes most to the quality of a child’s early experiences within early childhood settings is each child’s teacher (barnett, 2003; national research council, 2001, pianta, et al, 2005; pianta, 2006; pianta, laparo, hamre, 2007; siegel, 2012). the teacher – a mindful adult – facilitates that moment of engagement in order to benefit the child, and thus plays a critical role. within the ece field, head start forged the understanding that pd and on-going learning by teachers is important (bowman, 2004). head start contributed to the understanding that early childhood directors need to understand the classroom settings of each teacher (bloom, 1997) and their teaching teams (fitzgerald & theilheimer, 2013). and, head start launched the idea that on-going pd and learning within ece programs are a necessary programmatic provision and expenditure for staff to maintain high quality experiences (lemoine, 2008; talan & bloom, 2004). plenty of historical reviews broadly outline a variety of contributions head start has made to the early childhood field (see rose, 2010; zigler & styfco, 2010). however, based on the knowledge that regards teachers as the crucial ingredient to any child’s learning experience, few, if any, historical reviews of head start succinctly outline how the program was structured to address the pd experiences and learning needs of head start teachers. the following outlines the history of head start’s pd efforts, maintaining a focus on teachers for a few reasons. based on an understanding of teaching and learning theory, i acknowledge that teachers’ daily decisions influence the degree to which classrooms benefit young children. and further, that classroom and program history can, and often does, influence how programs continue to make decisions as well as whether or not programs continue. just as a learner’s prior knowledge is linked to what is learned next, i believe that a focused retelling of head start’s pd history might fuel understanding of pd within early childhood programs. leaders of ece pd research have touted that the field is well beyond deciding the first generation of questions of does it work, how it works, and can it be improved (ochshorn, 2011). but, no researcher yet has documented the first generation pd model forged by head start. this historical glance at head start relies on a variety of resources, including conference speeches, presentations, government reviews, reports of research, peer-reviewed articles, head start publications and regulations, and many retrospective books. at times, former program staff and federal analysts have also offered suggestions to this effort. as many as three or more resources addressed the same efforts made by head start. when this overlap occurred, the sources served to corroborate the accuracy of the details provided. the reports of available research are used not so much for the findings of the research involved, but for the glimpse of head start pd offerings that the research provides. overview: head start and professional development head start, one of the few federally funded ece programs, regularly provides pd opportunities to teachers (see ackerman, 2006). however, no systematic data have been maintained for training and technical assistance system or network (t/ta network) efforts throughout head start’s history. the t/ta network, through the office of head start particularly, has represented the pd program component. across more than 45 years of head start’s life, there have been fitzgerald 106 numerous changes in its design and the make-up of its pd component. in regard to teachers, ellsworth and ames (1998) were the first to offer the critique that too little information discusses what “worked, when, how, and for whom” (p. 340). hence, now what is clear across this 48-year history is that head start has had trouble crafting and maintaining an efficient and effective nationwide pd system that is able to support all head start classrooms. the head start program historically has used pd, or training of teachers and technical assistance for programs, to influence quality and child outcomes of the overall program. but these initiatives may have been underfunded. total funding for the summer program of 1965 was $84 million dollars with $11 million spent on training for the initial summer as well as the fullyear programs (levitan, 1969, p. 139). by 2013, the total funding for the program was approximately $7.6 billion dollars (head start bureau, 2013) and the allocation for a wide variety of support activities to head start exceeded only $295 million dollars. however, compensation for teachers and quality of pd activities has not grown at that same exponential rate (ochshorn, 2011). figure 1 is a summative timeline of this head start pd story from the initial training branch to the current t/ta system. the figure serves to support the information presented within this article. federal investment in head start has informed pd as the ece field knows it today. 107 head start professional development leads, intends, and expects figure 1. summary of the head start efforts timeline of head start professional development efforts dates professional development effort 1965 ◄ first summer of training: a beginning 1965 ◄ early training efforts: building capacity for quality 1965-1970 ◄ regional training officers conducted a three-tier training program to benefit education component 1967-1969 ◄ head start career development planning focus 1970-1973 ◄ head start supplementary training program was education leading to a college degree delivered in innovative ways 1971-1985 ◄ launched first competency-based early childhood teacher education program titled child development associate (cda) certificate 1980 ◄ the middle years: creating grantees’ infrastructure for quality 1981 ◄ launched wolf trap institute for early learning through the arts 1980s ◄ established pa20 funds releasing training funds directly to grantees 1985 ◄ began national institutes for various levels of head start staff 1992-1997 ◄ conducted 14 regional teaching center demonstration projects 1997 ◄ established the head start fellowship program 1997 ◄ later training: fostering conceptual knowledge within grantees 1998 ◄ created 28 quality improvement centers, 12 disability quality improvement centers, and one early head start national resource center 1998 ◄ created 32 national training guides and films, videos, books, journals, and other training materials 1998 ◄ revised program performance standards established requirements for grantees to conduct preand in-service training 2003 ◄ new century changes: creating sustainable quality support 20032007 ◄ t/ta network oversight became the responsibility of federal regional offices through contracts with private consultant firms 2003 ◄ teacher qualifications raised to ba level 2005 ◄ acf early childhood knowledge and learning center website launched and gao and mathematica studies released 2007 ◄ reauthorization focuses on professional development 2009 ◄ increased funding and measures for grantee accountability 2010 ◄ recent changes: returning to the familiar 2011 ◄ the new 3 component t/ta system announced fitzgerald 108 the first summer of training: a beginning in 1965, head start’s initial training efforts were housed in the office of economic opportunity (oeo), and focused on employing and “training” members of this country’s most impoverished communities (economic opportunity act of 1964, trickett, 1979). during that first summer, staff and volunteers at 11,068 centers served approximately 561,360 children and their families (levitan, 1969; washington & oyemade-bailey, 1995). this early period encouraged grantees to hire as many community members as possible as paraprofessionals (trickett, 1979; washington & oyemade-bailey, 1995). in describing the typical employee of head start of this period, washington and oyemade-bailey (1995) write: “as with most day care settings, special training in child development or early childhood education [was] generally not a prerequisite to employment in head start” (p. 62). at that time, few colleges offered courses in early childhood specifically (mccarthy, 1988); a pronounced shortage of qualified staff existed (richmond, stipek, & zigler, 1979). the staffing issue “necessitated the development of training programs designed to prepare inexperienced personnel for their jobs” (trickett, 1979, p. 316). greenberg (1969), a facilitator at one of the first summer’s training sessions, describes how in-service training involved a range of activities from teacher preparation for the next day of classes with children to listening to lectures regarding best practices. greenberg reflects on training for the 1965 child development group of mississippi (cdgm): in spite of what was not done and the perhaps immature and unattractive reasons why it wasn’t, we came out of the summer knowing more than we started. we had known to begin with that, theoretically, teaching would work best with the kids if poor parents did it. but now we knew that these parents would do it, that they would respond eagerly to bringing the best in education to their long starved children. we now knew they regarded cdgm as a pipeline under the wall to sources of information and choice. we knew for a fact that what we had assumed at the beginning of the summer – that our uncredentialed and credentialed teachers alike could scarcely read, write, and spell was true. (p. 168) greenberg’s critical account documents that not only was it the first summer for head start and a time of social change, but also that the program struggled to create a viable workforce of individuals from low-income communities. greenberg observed that no matter what the training activity, it made a difference in the lives of the neighborhoods and communities. professional development at the time was deemed a necessary safety measure because of the federal program’s size and there were few specified early childhood teacher education programs (richmond, 1979). greenberg’s account is different than other reports about program history (e.g., ellsworth & ames, 1998; mills, 1998; peters, 1998): hers is the only account from the practical vantage point of an educator who was present at the time as a training branch facilitator in 1965. most importantly, greenberg consistently discussed pd in relationship to its users – the local program leaders and staff. 109 head start professional development leads, intends, and expects early training efforts: building capacity for quality providing for low-income communities through training and work opportunities from 19651970, head start efforts evolved from a “staff training” to a “career development” focus. according to trickett (1979, p. 332), “early training” efforts were guided by centralized guidelines and funds, and had of three components: (1) a 40-hour training program prior to the working year, (2) an 8-week training program that was comprised of university-based courses, and (3) consultant utilization. this began a system of personnel supervised by regional training officers (rtos). rtos were academicians in child development or a related field who served as liaisons between the national head start office and the local program consulting on points of implementation guidance. according to trickett, there was one rto to two grantees. the rto structure of grantee oversight and support did not last because, as the head start expanded, the rto system became cumbersome (washington & oyemade-bailey, 1995). research from the era critiqued the rto system, stating that only 2,700 staff members were trained out of 18,000 instructional staff employed at the time (levitan, 1969). there seem to be no sources to confirm or dispute this critique. between 1967 to 1969, in response to a push for academics (riessman & popper, 1968) and with the need for a well-trained head start teaching staff (greenberg, 1969; zigler & muenchow, 1992), head start promoted career development as it was mandated by office of economic opportunity instructions to programs (trickett, 1979). each grantee would have to articulate its career development plan in its annual refunding application (oeo instruction 69021, as cited in trickett, 1979); this plan evolved and became known as a grantee training plan, but now is called a pd plan. by 1970, training efforts evolved, initiating both the head start supplementary training program [hsst] (ocd instruction i-33-324-1, 1973, as cited by trickett, 1979) and the child development associates credential [cda] (council for professional recognition, 2007). specifically, the hsst program involved education coursework leading to a college degree, delivered in innovative ways to meet the needs of an estimated 12,000 working female heads-ofhousehold whose children qualified for head start (careers bulletin, 1970, as cited by trickett, 1979). the hsst program was complex; initially it was centralized, involving only six regions, but then it expanded to involve over 250 junior and senior colleges. according to trickett (1979), during this early period of 1965-1973, there was guidance that grantees should be reorganized to reflect pre-service, in-service training for staff, as well as include special head start training programs. however, trickett notes that program mandates were not funded, which made implementation of the hsst guidance difficult for grantees. noteworthy is head start’s inability to account and track how many teachers received educational opportunities through hsst. details, as such, might have contributed to longevity and documented the good intentions and great expectations pinned to that pd program. instead, hsst ended by 1973. details regarding hsst innovation are limited, but trickett recalls the inclusion of local strategies, such as release time, overcoming transportation problems, and salary increases. what is clear about hsst was that it was only one component of an emerging larger system that was to be handed down to local communities (stipek, valentine, & zigler, 1979). child development associates (cda) credential. launched in 1971, the first cda was awarded in 1975 (washington & oyemade, 1995). the cda was the first competencyfitzgerald 110 based training program for ece (bailey, 2004; zigler & muenchow, 1992). designed to create a viable workforce, the cda provided 13 standard teacher competencies as grounds for assessing early childhood teachers’ performance (zigler & muenchow, 1992). the content was delivered in courses, while observations and evaluations of teachers took place during their work hours. originally, cda training incorporated a final performance assessment, but now the final evaluation is a standardized test. during the early 1970s, controversy developed around the creation of the cda. in hindsight, head start recognized that just as the ece field was struggling to establish itself (mccarthy, 1988), the cda was offered without any connection to credit-bearing education requirements. some within the ece field disparaged the cda, thinking that it devalued creditbearing ece learning. these objections were levied even as the cda alleviated the financial burdens entailed in higher education systems (jencks & riesman, 1968; steiner, 1976). despite the promotion and expansion of the cda credential program by the federal head start leadership, local staffs and programs maintained their preference for the credit-bearing hsst program (trickett, 1979). but by 1980, head start regulations required that grantees employ at least one teacher with a cda for each classroom. within that decade, grantees implemented the use of the cda as a systemic pd strategy strengthening local programs through this alignment with the cda requirement. today, more than 200,000 individuals have earned a cda credential (council for professional recognition, 2007) and many are not head start affiliated teachers. even with its controversy, the cda is another example of how pd started by head start has had a long lasting impact on the greater ece field today. early on head start contributed to what is known about implementing pd strategies. research reports highlight how the cda is used by grantees as a pd strategy, either through mandatory (beers, 1993) or voluntary participation by head start education staff (greenough, 1993). native american and alaskan native american head start cda facilitators, they qualitatively share how adult learning theory and pedagogy influenced the adult learners of two different cda programs. strategies employed were guiding questions, observation, feedback, dialogue, journal writing, and self-reflection. even though the cda was controversial, this program directly supports the characteristics of adult learning with its concern for the teacher as learner (jones, 1993). head start initiated other training efforts for instruction and program guidance during this period. the head start bureau issued more specific program guidelines called head start program performance standards, the implementation of which was supported by the t/ta network (lascarides & hinitz, 2000; washington & oyemade-bailey, 1995). these program standards built upon earlier program guidelines called the head start daily program i (1971, as cited in biber, 1979). the first edition of program performance standards was published in july 1975 (biber, 1979), though it first appeared in the federal register (volume 40, number 126, part ii) on june 30 of that year. it provided guidance on health, safety, dental, nutritional, and educational services and addressed program governance, staff training, and program finance requirements specific to the education and care of young children. it was the first time the head start community had coherent ideas regarding teaching or learning and program management and it clarified service related terminology. an additional, program governance strategy was initiated in the late 1970s in an effort to provide the head start bureau with information about local programs. the strategy was called program information reporting (administration on children, youth and families, 2006). head start called it “pir” and required programs to 111 head start professional development leads, intends, and expects annually self-report program related information, such as staff training levels, enrollment, and demographic information to the then federal head start bureau. in 1979, head start began planning the wolf trap institute for early learning through the arts. when convened in 1981, the instruction effort developed drama, music, and movement activities for staff learning. there was no data available to confirm the number of teachers impacted by this institute. in brief, these t/ta network guidance and related pd activities nudged head start toward an emerging system by establishing nationwide program norms and on-going learning activities to benefit children and teachers. the middle years of training: doing more with less during the 1980s, the political context of the federal program changed. funding increased to serve more children; however, the t/ta network, which represented the program quality effort, was not incorporated into the funding increase (washington & oyemade-bailey, 1995). some believed that the administration on children, youth, and families (acyf) had begun to “decentralize the [t/ta] delivery system” (p.121). according to zigler and muenchow (1992), during the 1980s, changes were made to the funding source for head start pd efforts – specifically named pa20 funds. these funds had been set aside from the program grants and allocated to support funding of the t/ta network. however, this centralized funding policy was changed, allowing the pa20 funds to pass directly to grantees. this new decentralized allocation policy, to some degree, reduced the t/ta network’s original funding. many historical texts express concern that, at the time, there was “no real assurance that the [efforts] would continue at the same level of intensity” (zigler & muenchow, 1992, p.197). even with funds waning for pd, head start maintained some training. the t/ta network managed to produce, at minimum, one education coordinator institute as well as a training manual for education coordinators (head start bureau, 1986). this was evidenced by one keynote speech addressing the attendees of the first national institute for head start education coordinators (jones, 1986). there was a continuous effort for improvement, though only incremental and narrowly focused to assist education coordinators. commenting on the next decade, the 1990s, washington and oyemade-bailey (1995) observed overall quality improvement measures. head start funded 14 regional teaching center demonstration projects. as a result, research studies were published and two studies supplied evidence to support the general idea that training improves quality (fantuzzo et al., 1996; horm, caruso, & golas, 2003). the teaching centers provided training within the setting of an exemplary head start program. the centers hosted visiting grantee trainees. trainees worked and learned in teams. the centers demonstrated a range of teaching and learning content and strategies using observations of exemplary program operations to guide participation in practice activities. the activities included mentoring, collaborative learning, individualized attention, pd planning, and goal setting (administration for children & families, n.d.). however, the studies did not explore how grantee-teams implemented what they had learned locally. by 1997, with the completion of the projects and research (fantuzzo et al., 1996), the teaching centers ended. the middle years produced additional research and regulations that informed the work of the t/ta network. both the smart start initiative (see u.s. gao, 1990) and the head start public school early childhood transition demonstration projects were launched. the latter intended to explore best practices for children transitioning into school systems (ramey, et al., fitzgerald 112 2000). head start produced the multicultural principles to promote understanding of and respect for cultural differences. legislation established state head start collaboration offices in 48 states, the district of columbia, and puerto rico. in collaboration with the council for early childhood professional recognition, head start launched the national head start fellows program, which continues to provide unique learning opportunities to promising leaders of both head start and early head start 1 programs. later training efforts: fostering conceptual knowledge from 1997 to 2003, head start continued the center pd strategy and began the quality improvement centers (qics) for head start community. according to herren (2003), these 28 regionally based centers created a system of centrally governed and funded resources to serve as the base for a national professional learning network for grantees. the qics offered a continuum of services to grantees, (e.g., pre-service, in-service, association meetings, workshops, on-site technical assistance, institutes, mentoring) and included an ongoing cycle of activity that included four phases, needs assessment, strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation (acyf, 1998). the latter activity supported the federal planning for nationwide pd. yet, beyond corrective action for compliance issues, there was little information about gaining access to the qics and little data available about how qic services supported programs locally. according to some (herren, 2003; mann, 2002), the new qics had great expectations for supporting quality through information sharing and pd specifically for special child populations. the system included 12 disability quality improvement centers (ds/qics) and one early head start national resource center (ehs-nrc) (mann, 2002). the goal was to increase awareness of, understanding of, and commitment to shared head start values outlined by the revised program performance standards and reissued multicultural principles. the true aim was to develop local personnel’s knowledge about quality, in the hopes that programs would then address their own quality issues. the qics reportedly served this aim however, studies about quality in programs again challenged head start to change. the qics assisted implementation of pd and increased communication and collaboration (herren, 2003), often through turnkey pd experiences (bowman, 2004). according to herren, qics were flexible enough to assist grantees in building their own local capacity to facilitate pd activities as well as to organize and convene national conferences. evidence of this was the national head start child development institute that convened during this period. roughly 3,200 education leaders from grantees attended the institute (acf, 2005). this effort also resulted in the creation of 32 training manuals, self-management professional learning materials, the first distance learning opportunities, and the development of a variety of approaches to pd (head start bureau, 1998; herren, 2003). some qics collaborated with colleges, merging creditbearing prospects with local pd (head start bureau, 2002). the qics conducted region-wide assessments of pd needs as well. just prior to 2000, crucial change emerged for the head start community in a mandate (see the community opportunities, accountability, and training and educational services act of 1998) requiring grantees “to achieve 50 percent degreed teaching staff by the end of fy 2003” 1 early head start was launched in 1995 to provide comprehensive child and family development services for low-income pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers ages birth to three years (administration on children and families, 2005). 113 head start professional development leads, intends, and expects (office of inspector general, 2004, p. 1). this was a confusing reversal on the once creditbearing-to-non-credit bearing or “hsst v. cda” strategy established during the 1970s to 1980s. however, in many states over the course of three decades, state-led preschool systems emerged alongside many local government-led and maintained early childhood systems (herren, 2003). given the expansion of ece program options, the qics were outdated. according to mann (2002), the qics had served their singular head start mission. this center design strategy ended in 2003. other general program developments bolstered head start pd. a revision of the program performance standards supported a more comprehensive and conceptually based pd strategy. specifically standard 45cfr1306.23 required training education staff through: preand inservice pd opportunities. however, the standards lacked specificity about content, amount, or duration of training and lacked any reporting requirement about pd activities, so it allowed grantees a great amount of flexibility. little data, if any, are available about grantees meeting this requirement. program performance standard revisions also included specific program regulations for children ages birth-to-five, pregnant women, and mothers of head start children, as well as multicultural principles and it bolstered by parallel national training initiative announcements. training initiatives led grantees towards areas of education services development, addressing areas such as challenging child behaviors and early literacy (zigler & styfco, 2010), the development of a classroom curriculum (center on the social emotional foundations for early learning, n.d.) and parent education curriculum. similarly crafted, training initiatives highlight activities that continue to support quality program implementation and teacher learning today, but little data is available about the implementation of these initiatives to foster conceptual knowledge. new century and more changes: attempting sustainable quality support the organization of pd for head start changed in 2004 presenting only one similarity to previous t/ta networks. technical assistance functions, such as the identification of needs and the provision of assistance to grantees by specialized network resources (acyf, 2003a), would remain. however, the network would no longer seek to foster conceptual knowledge for all grantees directly (sibley & kelly, 2005), rather, the t/ta network provide grantees access to resources made available by the office of head start. in other words, grantees were responsible for addressing their own issues. another major difference in this revision was how the office of head start decentralized management of the t/ta network contracts but centralized authority over grantees as well as the administration for children and families (acf) regional offices (acyf, 2003a). one example of this shift in authority was the development of the national reporting system (nrs) in 2003 (hill, 2003), designed to create a systematic means of tracking the progress of children in the areas of early literacy and math skills for grantees (zill, 2009). grantees, when reporting results for the nrs, by-passed their regional offices and submitted assessment results directly to the federal office of head start (acyf, 2003b). another example of change for the tta network was less apparent and it took the form of a shift in authority in its operations and content. an example of centralization, federal authority expanded to include greater control over the content of what was taught to head start programs. an example of fitzgerald 114 decentralization, the twelve regional head start offices began oversight of day-to-day operations of the tta network and a handful of consultant-firm contracts. the ambiguous structure and governance was on display at a t/ta network contractor conference held in the spring of 2003. there, regionally contracted teams showing promise shared their technical assistance process and pd practices with other regions. it was apparent that regional tta network priorities were given precedence over nationally set content priorities (acyf, 2003a). though the t/ta network contracts required documentation and progress reporting to the federal office of head start (ohs), it was clear from the presentations that, again, tta network data collection was not systematic across all regions that tracked the number of grantees or staff involved in t/ta network activities. due to the shifts between centralized and decentralized control regarding the functions and funding of the tta network, head start continued to lack clear structures necessary for sustaining quality. however, there were other ways that the federal office of head start exerted a centralized call for grantees to conduct pd activities circumventing regional t/ta networks. grantees continued to receive pd funds directly from ohs, i.e., “pa20 funds” (boller, 2006; head start act). these pa20 direct funds reportedly empowered grantees to manage and implement their training plans independently (boller, 2006). additionally, the federal office implemented a variety of national training initiatives. each initiative involved centralized contracts with universities or early childhood expert consultants and resulted in the production of training and curricular materials. for example, for the topics of family literacy and mentor coaching (see head start bureau, 2005), the regional t/ta network staff used the training and curricular materials for pd activities with grantees. however, for these initiatives, grantee involvement was optional because no additional funding was given to grantees to support involvement. training initiatives such as for mentoring and family literacy resulted in a nationwide approach to pd that varied and did not consistently reach teachers. grantee level funding (pa 20 funds) was not expanded. the consultant firm and universities approach to pd created centralized training initiatives intending to support program services quality, but it was disconnected from local practice and did not reach the true learning needs of classroom teachers. research: looking closely at reality. since 1965, numerous studies have examined head start for various purposes unrelated to pd. during the early 2000s, education related research emphasized the impact of program organization and fiscal management on overall program quality. but, head start has only a few studies explored the pd efforts of the head start training and technical assistance network. in 2005, with a research-based understanding that program and fiscal management indeed impact pd opportunities given to teachers (see bloom, 1996), the united states government accountability office (gao) released a study about head start fiscal oversight. the report entitled, ‘‘head start: comprehensive approach to identifying and addressing risks could help prevent grantee financial management weaknesses’’ (u.s. gao–05– 176), discussed and analyzed triennial review data. the purpose of this analysis was to inform creation of fiscal oversight regulations that would in turn benefit the overall administration of head start programs, including pd provisions for staff. eventually, and in part prompted by the gao’s report, legislators revised the statutory provisions set forward to govern financial management of programs in the improving head start for school readiness act of 2007. more explicitly focusing on pd practices of head start, there was one exploratory study conducted by mathematica in 2005. it focused solely on the new consultant structure and 115 head start professional development leads, intends, and expects approach used by the current t/ta network. the principal investigator, boller, explored how the 2003-2005 t/ta network operated. the purpose of the study was to describe the decentralized, contractor-based t/ta system implementation, to identify common challenges, and to highlight innovative strategies. this study offered only one finding concerning t/ta activities related to classrooms. the contractor-design network reportedly struggled to focus “t/ta services on improving classroom quality and child outcomes” (boller, 2006). overall, the interview and focus group design fell short of collecting data from instructional staff members and did not describe practices currently used by the t/ta network to address classroom needs, which limits this study. even less is known about how support is offered to facilitate quality classrooms. recent t/ta network changes: returning to the familiar in december of 2007 and february of 2009, head start again received the attention of congress. first, congress reauthorized head start and early head start through the improving head start for school readiness act of 2007, p.l. 110-134 (head start act). then, the american recovery and reinvestment act of 2009, p.l. 111-5 (recovery act) infused funds and new accountability measures into the earlier reauthorization. the 2007 provisions, among other things, outlined old and new pd priorities and the 2009 provisions made head start programs accountable for maintenance of their program quality. the 2007 head start act provisions maintained and increased staff qualifications of teachers and teaching assistants, respectively (administration for children & families, 2008a). with the new staff qualifications deadline set in 2013, the 2007 legislation required programs to identify and report progress toward meeting professional qualifications, provide a minimum of 15 in-service hours for each head start teacher, and maintain that pd opportunities be “highquality, sustained, intensive, and classroom-focused.” this last phrase represents a dynamic and centralized focus. equally important, though, is that the legislation calls for programs to match pd opportunities to the outlined pd goals set by each program. finally, the 2007 head start act requires programs to develop individual pd plans for each teacher and teaching assistant. to support programs in achieving the provisions of the legislation, the now officially named ohs began several efforts. ohs swiftly centralized all triennial and first year on-site, program-monitoring reviews (acf, 2006a). there was the launch of the new interactive web site, the early childhood learning and knowledge center (eclkc). the eclkc continues to offer relevant, timely information to grantees and the early childhood community (administration for children & families, 2006b). the ohs also initiated programs’ use of the classroom assessment scoring system (class) (acf, 2008b). class provides programs and the t/ta network a research based glance at teacher-child interactions through an observation assessment tool. project solar was begun to provide technical assistance to programs about best practices for development of staffing training plans (administration for children & families, 2008c). during the period of 2007 to 2010, not all programs were introduced to these pilot projects and due to lack of opportunities for related training, these initiatives were not implemented nationwide. it was only in 2008, when project solar became a web-based tool, that it could be accessed using head start’s eclkc website and all grantees were given access. though the consultant structure of the t/ta network was unchanged, the reauthorization refocused this same structure to assist programs with required improvements. the regulations fitzgerald 116 supported the aims of program quality improvements and addressed the challenges outlined by the mathematica study (boller, 2006). for example, the adoption of the class outlined to the t/ta network how consultant-based network staff would identify issues that impeded classroom quality. yet, not addressed by this reauthorization was the need for additional funding that might support each grantee’s ability to determine and address their pd needs. late in 2009, congressional legislation again prompted revision in program-related pd. soon after the recovery act infused an additional 2.1 billion dollars into the program, the ohs announced the renaming and restructuring of the t/ta network. the renamed training and technical assistance system (t/ta system) was comprised of three components: (1) five national centers of early childhood excellence, (2) the 48 state t/ta systems, as well as (3) maintenance of the direct funding to grantees. in the proposed t/ta system, the ohs announced that grantees are the “most critical component” (acf, 2010). each head start grantee had discretionary use of t/ta dollars (i.e., pa20 direct funds) to use with community or national experts, institutions of higher learning, or private consultants in order to make improvements identified by grantees. the irony of this latest revision, though, is that the new t/ta system reflects various remnants of former t/ta network practices. it is similar because it uses the contractor/consultant model from 2003. the research centers are similar to the qics design and are run by higher education institutions as they were during the 1990s. unchanged is the pa20 direct fund for each grantee given for discretionary training purposes originally during the 1980s. this current organization of the t/ta network has resulted in little published information about the effects of this latest revision. conclusions: leading, intending and expecting when the head start program began, it led the field, often times, by default because there was no other nation-wide early childhood program to which it could be compared. yet, the head start program challenged educational systems and people to support its goals. it prompted creation of ece specific teacher education programs, the development of the cda credential, and highereducation collaborations specifically for underserved populations (head start bureau, 2002). the program outlined many different means of delivering services to low socio-economic communities and it fueled the growth of pd into a nationwide network. we need better data about the teaching staff. when training began 48 years ago, pd addressed the professional learning needs of its teachers in their classrooms (see greenberg, 1969). yet, later in head start’s history, the program intended to demonstrate how the program could evolve and revise its design. though its policies developed its workforce and supported children and families affected by poverty, head start missed an opportunity. the opportunity outlined 30 years ago by trickett (1979) based on the observation that there was no research on the effects of head start on its teachers. there continues to be very limited research (see boller, 2006) and systematic data documenting the program requirement of providing pd. much of the published data available merely tracks the percentage of teachers with an earned baccalaureate degree. it is as if the leadership of head start has forgotten that teaching begins in the context of learner-centered relationships, using data and analysis, then planning curriculum, and engaging in teacher reflection. tricket (1979) was accurate: head start needs to ask more qualitative 117 head start professional development leads, intends, and expects questions about its workforce and their experienced pd to begin data-driven revisions of the network and program monitoring. we need pd to be accessible. much of the current pd initiatives use regional or national centers, which responds to many expectations and influences. however, this format has had both successes and had troubles. and, honestly, the results of these expenditures are mixed. not all grantees are high quality programs and not all staff members have access to the latest pd initiatives or learning experiences that are meaningful to them. there might be a connection between these issues. if local program leaders do not have access to learning experiences, then they must continue to support themselves and staff members in a top-down vacuum. this historical review iterates how true ece professional learning suffers when the learner – in this case, a head start teacher – is not acknowledged nor can influence his or her learning process. i argue the lack of real change in the structure, related policies and governance of head start and its tta network is a terrible error because today’s children do not get another opportunity for their teachers to grow and learn. we need flexible supports for programs, teachers, families, and children. across 48 years, head start did not always provide flexible support and this issue is not a new dilemma for the federally based program (see ellsworth & ames, 1998, greenberg, 1969, or stipek, valentine & zigler, 1979). over this same period, local communities evolved with changing populations, funding sources and possibly new local regulations and expectations. just like local communities, each teacher has his or her own concerns for the children placed in his or her care. these are influences on teachers that can change a classroom immediately and each demands flexible support, which is not currently modeled, offered or supported to all teachers. it could be that the network, such as it is, is obsolete and we need to reconsider the aims and structure of head start’s pd design. as the 50 th anniversary approaches, i urge head start to reflect, consider their goal to benefit children, and reconsider the pd and data systems currently funded to support teachers. head start needs to continue to lead and facilitate local programs to collect, document, and analyze program data, as well as critically think and consider new learning goals for themselves. head start’s pd activities and data systems need to change with the times. it needs to change on behalf of each classroom learning environment, the theories, understandings, and expectations head start helped to create, and the quintessential moment of learning between the child and teacher that we better understand because of head start’s existence. references ackerman, d. j. 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(2004). status of efforts to increase qualifications of head start teachers (oie-07-0100560). washington, dc: department of health and human services. ochshorn, s. (2011). forging a new framework for professional development: a report on “the science of professional development in early childhood education: a national summit”. washington, dc: zero to three. peters, b. j. (1998). the head start mother: low-income mothers’ empowerment through participation. new york: garland. pianta, r., howes, c., burchinal, m., bryant, d., clifford, r. m., early, d. m., & barbarin, o. (2005). features of pre-kindergarten programs, classrooms, and teachers: prediction of observed classroom quality and teacherchild interactions. applied developmental science, 9(3), 144-159. pianta, r.c., laparo, k.m., hamre, b.k. (2007). classroom assessment scoring system (class) manual (pre-k). baltimore, md: brookes. pianta, r. 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(1979). career development in head start. in e. zigler & j. valentine (eds.), project head start: the legacy of the war on poverty (pp. 315-336). new york: free press. u.s. department of health and human services. (2010). head start impact study: final report, january 2010. washington, dc: administration for children and families, office of planning, research and evaluation. retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/impact_study/ u.s. general accounting office. (1990). early childhood programs: what are the costs of high-quality programs? (gao/hrd-90-43br). washington, dc: us gao. u.s. government accountability office, (2005). head start: comprehensive approach to identifying and addressing risks could help prevent grantee financial management weaknesses (gao–05– 176). retrieved from: http://www.gao.gov/ new.items/d05176.pdf. washington v., & oyemade-bailey, u. j. (1995). project head start: models and strategies for the twenty-first century. new york: garland. zigler, e. & muenchow, s. (1992). head start: the inside story of america’s most successful educational experiment. new york: basic books. zigler, e., & styfco, s. (2010). the hidden history of head start. new york: oxford university press. zill, n. (2009, april 20). head start national reporting system: westat presentation at the national academy of science retrieved on www.bocyf.org/zill_presentation.pdf dialog, 17(2), 82-86 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary monitoring the development of literacy skills in preschool children karen l. gischlar rider university an important area for preschool teachers to monitor in students is the development of emergent literacy skills, as these skills lay the foundation for conventional reading. however, it can be difficult for the teacher to select a test for use because there are many measures available on the market that purport to assess the same skills, albeit through differing methods (e.g., pictures versus auditory, timed versus untimed). this study examined three measures with differing formats that were administered to 4-year-old students attending head start in an effort to determine if the different methods affected performance. results indicated that the three tests did overlap, meaning that administration of all three had not been necessary, yet relationships between individual tasks were mostly low to moderate, suggesting that method did matter. implications of these results for practice and future research are discussed. early childhood educators are tasked with helping young children develop emergent literacy skills, which lay the foundation for future conventional reading (whitehurst, zevenbergen, crone, schultz, velting, & fischel, 1999). these early skills include letter identification (lonigan, burgess, & anthony, 2000), phonological awareness, (kirby, parrila, & pfeiffer, 2003; lonigan et al, 2000), vocabulary (landry, swank, smith, assel, gunnewig, 2006), and print awareness, which is the knowledge that written letters represent sounds (landry et al., 2006). myriad research has suggested that if children receive proper instruction in these areas during the preschool years, the majority will enter school and successfully learn to read (landry et al., 2006). these findings underscore the critical need for early data-driven instruction and intervention. one of the questions facing early childhood educators, however, is how best to assess student progress in literacy skills. frequently, teachers make their own tests, but this practice should be discouraged because it may produce measures that are psychometrically unsound (phanuef & silberglitt, 2003). that is, teacher-generated tests may not adequately measure the intended skills and, thus, produce results that are invalid. a better option would be to purchase a commercially available test that has been standardized and that has established reliability and validity properties. currently, there are a number of standardized tests of emergent literacy skills for preschoolers on the market. however, it can be confusing for the early childhood educator to emergent literacy 83 decide which measure to use because many include tasks whose titles suggest that they assess similar skills, yet utilize different methods. for example, many measures include a rhyming task, but the task is presented through a variety of methods across tests including picture matching, auditory discrimination, timed, and untimed. to date it is unknown to what extent these varying administrations may impact student performance. the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between three measures of emergent literacy skills currently available to the preschool educator-the phonological awareness literacy screening-prek (pals prek; invernizzi, sullivan, meier, & swank, 2004), the center for improving the readiness of children for learning and education—phonological awareness, language, and literacy system (circle: c-palls; circle group, 2004), and the individual growth and development indicators (igdi; early childhood research institutemeasuring growth and development [ecri-mgd], 1998). although all three of these tests purported to measure similar skills, including letter identification, vocabulary, and phonological awareness, differing methods of administration were employed. for example, all three tests included a beginning sounds task, but two measures used pictures, while the third employed auditory means to assess student skills in this area. furthermore, two measures were untimed, while one was timed. all three tests were administered because it was unclear how these differing test formats may have affected outcomes and it was important to obtain accurate progress data in determining the effectiveness of instruction for these students. although administering the three tests may have produced a more complete picture of student progress, it was very time consuming. the time it takes to assess should be a consideration of the teacher because lengthy administration can cause fatigue in the young child, leading to results that misrepresent his skill development. furthermore, time spent in testing distracts from instructional time, which limits the classroom learning experience (schappe, 2005). because of these issues, this study sought to determine how closely related the three tests—the pals prek (invernizzi, sullivan, meier, & swank, 2004), the circle: c-palls (circle group, 2004), and the igdi (ecri-mgd, 1998)--were and if administration of all three was necessary. it was hypothesized that tasks purporting to measure similar skills, such as rhyming and beginning sounds, would be strongly related and conversely, those tapping different skills would not be strongly related to one another when student results were considered. major findings of the study the relationships between the three larger tests and their component tasks were examined through a variety of methods. when the individual tasks that purported to measure the same skills were compared, it was found that the letter identification tasks were strongly related despite testing method employed—timed versus untimed and upper and lower case forms presented together versus in isolation. conversely, when the pa tasks were compared, the relationships were weak to moderate. these tasks were administered in a variety of ways, including timed versus untimed, picture versus auditory, and response production versus “yes/no” format. it is unknown how the differing formats may have impacted student performance. finally, when the two vocabulary tasks were compared, there was a moderate relationship. although both were administered via pictures in a timed format, they included different pictures, which could have influenced student responses. it could be that the pictures for one of the measures included objects more familiar to students than the other. 84 gischlar in addition to comparisons of the individual tasks, the larger tests were also compared to determine redundancy or “overlap.” this comparison was made in effort to determine if administration of all three tests was necessary, given the considerable time taken from classroom instruction. these analyses demonstrated that the tests did, in fact overlap, suggesting that it may not have been necessary to use all three tests to get adequate information about students for instructional decision making purposes. implications for pratice this study demonstrated that it may not have been necessary to administer three full tests of emergent literacy skills to preschoolers, as the tests overlapped. the early childhood educator should be cautious about “over-testing” because lengthy testing can produce invalid results for a young student and also distracts from the classroom experience (schappe, 2005). however, the findings also suggested that much future research needs to be conducted to determine which tasks together provide the most accurate data regarding student progress. future studies should be conducted with much larger and more diverse sample sizes, including even younger students as research has shown that literacy development begins very early in a child’s life. furthermore, this study only reviewed three measures-pals prek (invernizzi et al., 2004) , the circle (circle group, 2004), and the igdi (ecri-mgd, 1998). there are many other tests available on today’s market that should be examined to ensure utilization of the best possible methods for assessing the preschool student’s acquisition of literacy skills. finally, it would be beneficial to conduct longitudinal studies to determine how well preschool literacy measures predict later reading performance. this would enable the early childhood educator to identify at-risk students and intervene at a young age in an attempt to ameliorate future problems. as this field progresses, teachers should select preschool emergent literacy measures with a critical eye. any measure selected should have the appropriate psychometric properties, that is validity and reliability, for the students tested. additionally, the teacher will want to consider the cost of the test, the training required in learning to administer and interpret, and administration time. a test should be efficient and economical in that it provides the teacher with solid data for decision-making without detracting from the instructional process. certainly this is a field ripe for exploration and examination and, with today’s increasing calls for accountability in our nation’s schools, is an area of necessity. tips for teachers as the field advances and further research is undertaken, there are a few considerations for teachers currently working with the preschool population. as myriad research has indicated that problems with emergent literacy skill acquisition in the early years are directly associated with future reading difficulties, it is important to focus instruction and monitor student development in these areas. “tips for teachers” include:  the use of multiple methods in evaluation of student skills: a single test administration may be influenced by such variables as a child’s language abilities, distractibility, and comfort level with the examiner (cabell, justice, zucker, & kilday, 2009). the use of a emergent literacy 85 multimodal assessment that includes repeated direct observations of behaviors (e.g., identifying words that rhyme or alphabet letters) can help to alleviate concerns that may be raised with a single administration of a standardized test. furthermore, other experts in the field have suggested that indirect assessments also should play a role in evaluating skill development. these assessments are informal and typically involve ratings of the child’s behavior and skills by the teacher or parent, who has multiple opportunities to observe (cabell et al.) . although these indirect assessments would not provide sufficient data for decision making on their own, combined with direct assessments of student behaviors and skills, they can add information that is useful in scaffolding instruction (lonigan, allan, & lerner, 2011).  a portfolio system: generally, a portfolio includes observations of children’s behaviors, anecdotal records, checklists, and work samples. the portfolio system enables the teacher to monitor children’s progress in meeting specified curricular goals through both direct and indirect assessments across the school year (brassard & boehm, 2007). for example, a portfolio might include a checklist containing broad-based skills related to concepts of print and a video of the child manipulating a book and responding to prompts (e.g., “point to the words on the page.”).  progress monitoring assessments: although there are currently no widely available instruments for monitoring preschoolers’ emergent literacy skills progress (lonigan, allan, & lerner, 2011), curriculum embedded measures can be developed for a particular system. curriculum embedded measures include items taken directly from a particular curriculum and can be used to monitor the child’s progress in that program. however, the early childhood educator should be cautioned that developing and interpreting these types of measures requires great care. for further information, the reader is referred to brassard and boehm (2007). as the field progresses and new instruments and technologies are developed, preschool teachers are tasked with identifying measures of assessment that are technically adequate, easy and efficient to administer, and that provide immediate instructional benefit. in doing so, essential questions should be asked about the purposes for assessment (e.g., to inform instructional delivery, or to identify students in need of additional support), the teacher’s proficiency in administration and interpretation, and the impact on the learning experience (e.g., student time away from instruction). acknowledgements this study was made possible through an early reading first grant (#541-110) from the u.s. department of education to community services for children, located in allentown, pa and was derived from a larger study that served as the author’s dissertation. references brassard, m. r. & boehm, a. e. (2007). preschool assessment: principles and practices. new york, ny: the guilford press. 86 gischlar cabell, s. q., justice, l. m., zucker, t. a., & kilday, c. r. (2009). validity of teacher report for assessing the emergent literacy skills of at-risk preschoolers. language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 40, 161-173. circle group. (2004). mclass circle. houston, tx: the university of texas health science center at houston. early childhood research institute on measuring growth and development (1998). technical report #2: selection of general growth outcomes for children between birth and age eight. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota. ivernizzi, m., sullivan, a., meier, j., & swank, l. (2004). phonological awareness literacy screening: prek. charlottesville, va: university of virginia. kirby, j. r., parrila, r. k., & pfeiffer, s. l. (2003). naming speed and phonological awareness as predictors of reading development. journal of educational psychology, 95, 453-464. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.95.3.453. landry, s. h., swank, p. r., smith, k. e. assel, m. a., & gunnewig, s. b. (2006). enhancing early literacy skills for preschool children: bringing a professional development model to scale. journal of learning disabilities, 39, 306-324. lonigan, c. j., allan, n. p., & lerner, m. d. (2011). assessment of preschool early literacy skills: linking children’s educational needs with empirically supported instructional activities. psychology in the schools, 48, 488-501. lonigan, c. j., burgess, s. r., & anthony, j. l. (2000). development of emergent literacy and early reading skills in preschool children: evidence from a latent-variable longitudinal study. developmental psychology, 36, 596-613. doi: 10.1037//ooi2-1649.36.5.596. phaneuf, r. l., & silberglitt, b. (2003). tracking preschoolers' language and preliteracy development using a general outcome measurement system: one education district's experience. topics in early childhood special education, 23, 114-123. doi: 10.1177/02711214030230030201. schappe, j. f. (2005). early childhood assessment: a correlational study of the relationships among student performance, student feelings, and teacher perceptions. early childhood education journal, 33, 187-193. doi: 10.1007/s10643-005-0046-y. whitehurst, g. j., zevenbergen, a. a., crone, d. a., schultz, m. d., velting, o. n., & fischel, j. e. (1999). outcomes of an emergent literacy intervention from head start through second grade. journal of educational psychology, 91, 261-272. dialog, 16(1), 81-102 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 correspondence concerning the article should be addressed to patricia hrusa williams, ph.d., division of inclusive early childhood and elementary education, university of maine at farmington, 186 high street, farmington, maine, 04938; phone: (207) 778-7109, email: patricia.h.williams@maine.edu the authors wish to thank all of the parent child home program (pchp) sites who participated in this study and both the massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education and the department of early education and care for their support. we would also like to acknowledge the research assistance provided by michelle higgins and kimberly krupa while they were students at providence college and feedback provided by suzanne colby, christopher heinrich, and two other anonymous reviewers on earlier drafts of this manuscript. the opinions expressed in this article are of the authors and not of the massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education, the department of early education and care, or the pchp national center. research article participation in early childhood home visiting: the role of family, ethnic, and community factors patricia hrusa williams university of maine at farmington emily caille participant ethnicity, family risks, resources, and community characteristics influence participation in many different types of early childhood home visiting programs. however, few studies have examined their influence on family participation in literacyfocused home visiting efforts. a sample of 539 families enrolled in one of 25 parent child home program (pchp) sites in massachusetts was tracked from program entry to exit. families were less likely to complete programs if they were non-latino and experienced more family educational risks; the esl rate in their community of residence was predictive of program completion for latino families. length of participation was predicted by ethnicity, child age at entry, family involvement in formal school settings, and the graduation rate in the community where the family resides. implications of study findings for decreasing barriers to program completion and developing long-term associations between home visiting programs and families are considered. keywords: home visiting, community, latino, risk factors, literacy. home visiting programs are designed to reduce barriers to program participation for families with young children by bringing interventions directly to them. however, studies examining a variety of home visiting programs including healthy families, parents as teachers (pat), and the nurse home visitation program suggest that drop-out rates for programs remain an issue of concern. program completion rates hover between 20 76% depending on the subgroups examined (gromby, culcross, & berman, 1999; mccurdy, gannon, & daro, 2003; middlemiss 82 participation in home visiting & mcguigan, 2005). completion rates decrease if we consider the 11 22% of families that agree to participate in program services but never do (mccurdy et al., 2006; wagner et al., 2003). limited participation of families in early childhood home visiting programs jeopardizes program implementation, limits the conclusions that can be drawn from programmatic research and ultimately represents costs expended by programs for which benefits will not be fully achieved. participation in programs has been conceptualized in a variety of different ways. the number of visits received by a family, the frequency of visits, and the families’ total duration of involvement or participation in program services have been used (mccurdy et al., 2003; spellman et al., 2005; wagner et al., 2003). other studies have made determinations about the nature of families’ participation based on the program’s requirements, specifying service lengths which are indicative of participation or persistence in the program. some programs use a set time period for participation (such as over 90 days) (mcguigan et al., 2003ab) or examine whether a child remains in the program until they reach a certain age (navaie-waliser et al., 2000; wagner et al., 2003). kahn and moore’s (2010) review of the research finds that high service intensity is important to service outcomes in early childhood home visiting programs focused on parenting, child development, and providing educational support. research on programs such as parents as teachers (pat) indicates that the number of visits received by families is important to program success (wagner & clayton, 1999; zigler, pfannenstiel, & seitz, 2008). further, the duration of home visiting has been found to have a direct effect on parents’ understanding of early childhood development and an indirect effect on school readiness (schull & anderson, 2008). taken together, the number of visits received by families and their length of enrollment in programs are factors important to family success in home visiting. greater attention to the study of family participation using these two indices can provide data that can be used to strengthen early childhood interventions by identifying barriers to service provision and the supports needed to sustain vulnerable families. it is also important to examine differences in family participation in home visiting by families’ ethnic background to ensure program practices and policies optimize participation for diverse families. of particular interest is how to best support the large influx of latino families in many communities. the number of latino children in the u.s. is growing, with latinos under 18 outnumbering non-latino whites by 11.6% (u.s. census, 2006). there is an increased awareness of the diversity of latinos in the united states. population-based data suggests that 55 to 60% of latinos are native-born and 40 to 45% foreign-born (ramirez & de la cruz, 2002; tienda & mitchell, 2006). of latinos in the u.s. 75% are first or second generation immigrants (tienda & mitchell, 2006). data from the national survey of early childhood health (nsech) shows that both spanish and english speaking latino parents are less likely to read to their children daily than white or black parents (kuo, franke, regalado, & halfon, 2004), placing their children’s literacy and future educational success at risk. the purpose of this review of the literature is to use an ecological systems perspective (bronfenbrenner, 1979) to understand microsystem factors important to family participation in home visiting. the goal of the present study is to understand how family educational risks, resources, and community factors influence family participation in early childhood home visiting programs for latino and non-latino families. by using two measures of family participation, program completion and length of participation, this study will assist early childhood 83 participation in home visiting professionals in understanding family barriers to fulfilling program requirements and developing long-term associations with programs and services in their community. latino families and home visiting research on home visiting indicates that latino families, especially those who are newer to the u.s. and less acculturated, are more receptive to home visiting, and more likely to achieve benefits from programs (daro et al., 2007; daro, mccurdy, falconnier, & stojanovic, 2003; mccurdy et al., 2006; mccurdy et al., 2003; mcguigan, katzev & pratt, 2003ab; middlemiss & mcguigan, 2005; wagner & clayton, 1999). differences in latino families’ rates of program completion and length of participation have been attributed to cultural differences in familism, extended family networks, and permeability (landale, oropesa, & bradatan, 2006; middlemiss & mcguigan, 2005). middlemiss and mcguigan (2005) suggest that latino families have higher permeability or are more open to inviting those outside into the family because they have a strong family orientation, emphasizing the group over the individual. this results in latino families relying on support from larger, extended family networks (coatsworth et al., 2006). while it has been found that familism or a strong family orientation decreases across generations (landale et al., 2006), families who retain more traditional views may be more open to home visiting interventions. research examining a variety of home visiting models suggests besides ethnicity, there are several microsystem factors which may be linked to family success in home visiting programs. among the factors to be reviewed here are family educational risks, family literacy skills and resources, and the characteristics of the community where families reside. family educational risks and resources. studies of participants in the nurse home visitation program show that families who enter programs with less need and stronger personal skills are least likely to benefit and most likely to leave programs prematurely (olds et al., 1999; olds et al., 2004). in studies of healthy families programs, research has found that parents with more outward displays of distress are likely to receive more assistance from home visitors who spend more time in visits with them (sharp, ispa, thornburg, & lane, 2003). however, it is important to consider that home visiting program vary in terms of the age of the population served, service goals, service frequency, and intensity of programs (astuto & allen, 2009; kahn & moore, 2010). newborn and infant home visiting programs such as healthy families and health-focused interventions such as the nurse home visitation program provide insight into the role that family risks play in family participation in programs. however, the research cited here conceptualizes family risk in terms of parents’ psychological health and access to social support (duggan et al., 1999; olds et al., 1999; olds et al., 2004). parental literacy skills may be an important aspect of parental functioning to assess. latino families have been shown to engage longer in home visiting programs such as healthy families (daro et al., 2007; daro et al., 2003; mccurdy et al., 2006; mccurdy et al., 2003; mcguigan et al., 2003ab; middlemiss & mcguigan, 2005; wagner & clayton, 1999). however, there are marked differences between this effort and other early childhood interventions. for example, the program’s emphasis is on making prenatal and early postnatal connections with high-risk families, preventing child maltreatment, targeting and screening all vulnerable families in their program’s catchment area, and providing a mix of case management, referral and supportive services in the home through weekly visits. the question remains whether the 84 participation in home visiting conceptual model derived to explain program completion and length of participation from an examination of this type of home visiting program applies to home visiting efforts targeted to older children, emphasizing the promotion of school readiness, and operated on a statewidelevel. parental educational attainment, poverty, and being a second language learner may be highly correlated with success in literacy-focused home visiting programs. literacy-focused interventions have been more successful in maintaining non-latino families. latino families experience greater literacy risks, with a poverty rate that ranges from 15% to 26%; 30% to 50% have no high school degree, with these rates varying by families’ country of origin (ramierez & de la cruz, 2002). lack of education and limited competency in english are factors which may limit this group’s economic well-being and ability to support their children’s literacy development. studies of literacy-focused home visiting programs have found that young, less educated latinos are less likely to persist in home visiting programs (wagner et al., 2003). this research suggests that family resources, like parents’ literacy skills, may be important in determining whether families are able to complete the requirements of a literacy-focused home visiting program. navaie-waliser et al. (2000) have found that family ethnic background, but not family resources such as overall social support needs, informal support resources, self-esteem, stress, or depression, differentiate duration of service involvement. however, it has also been found that families with more support around their involvement in the program or within their home are more apt to enroll in and receive home visiting services (mccurdy et al., 2006). home visiting programs have an implicit, if not explicit, goal of improving the support system of families. however, ethnic or culturally-based views about the role of “outsiders” are also important to consider. it is also likely that the larger social networks of latino families could serve as a deterrent to program participation. the presence of many family members may serve as a barrier to program participation, leaving families with less time and the potential for more conflict around their participation in an activity outside of the family. hence, it is crucial to examine how resources such as external family support networks influence family participation in programs. community influences. data on healthy families model home visiting programs suggest community health status determines program effects and experiences (daro et al. 2007; mcguigan et al., 2003ab). mcguigan et al. (2003a) found that isolated parents and those in communities with poorer community health are less likely to engage in home visiting. in contrast, those in communities with higher rate of community violence receive more home visits (mcguigan et al., 2003b). further, daro et al. have found that community distress (rates of unemployment, public assistance, low income, low education, and single parenthood) predicts the number of home visits families receive, over and above the contributions of personal characteristics and program experiences. they found that families in communities with greater social and economic distress receive a greater number of home visits. for latino families participating in literacy-focused home visiting program, the characteristics of the community, particularly its socioeconomic and literacy health, may be important in determining program participation. stamps and bohon (2006) note that latino immigrants face many communitybased risks to their social adaptation including discrimination, negative stereotypes based on race, and hostility due to the role they play in the competition for jobs and resource demands in a community. 85 participation in home visiting summary. there are limits to the information we have regarding factors associated with program completion and length of participation in early childhood home visiting programs which focus on literacy. most research has examined newborn and infant programs such as healthy families and parents as teachers (pat). less is known about efforts that begin later, such as those designed to be used during the toddler and preschool period to promote school readiness. factors important to program completion rates and the duration of time a family chooses to stay associated with a home visiting program may differ. for example, perhaps family educational risks and resources such as parental education or literacy levels are more predictive of an individual’s ability to complete program requirements. however, ethnicity, which may be related to a set of cultural values about external supports, factor into how long a family stays engaged in a program. community factors, including the demographic profile of the community where the program is located and the family resides, also contribute to family participation and programmatic outcomes (coulton, 1995). communities challenged by poverty, low rates of high school completion, and high numbers of english language learners (ells) may create barriers to program completion for families. conversely, residing in a distressed community could serve as a means further motivate families to stay engaged with programs so as to help ensure their child’s future educational and occupational success in the face of adversity. the parent-child home program: a model for literacy-focused early childhood home visiting one early childhood home visiting program which focuses exclusively on literacy development is the parent-child home program (pchp). founded in 1965 by phyllis levenstein and originally called the mother-child home program (see levenstein, 1988; levenstein, & levenstein, 2008) the primary goal of pchp is to strengthen verbal interaction and educational play between parents and their young children through 30 minute long, bi-weekly home visits. during each week of visits families are provided with a different educational toy or book which the family keeps. during the first visit of the week, home visitors introduce a toy or book to the parent and child, modeling teaching and interactive behavior that is stimulating. the second visit during the week is focused on reviewing what was presented during the first visit, reinforcing the concepts and strategies presented. the program is targeted to families with children who are deemed at an educational disadvantage due to poverty, lack of parental education, cultural or language barriers, or contextual factors such as being a single parent with more than one child or having an older child who receives special education services. services typically start when children are between the ages of 18-30 months and continue for two program years until graduation. studies of pchp indicate that the program has been successful in improving caregiver interaction (gfellner, mclaren, & metcalfe, 2008; mclaren, 1988), children’s cognitive outcomes (madden, levenstein, & levenstein, 1976; madden, o’hara, & levenstein, 1984), skills at school entry (levenstein, levenstein, & oliver, 2002) and long-term educational attainment (levenstein, levenstein, shiminski, & stolzberg, 1998). children who complete pchp look similar to their less disadvantaged peers during the early years of their education, suggesting that pchp helps to level the educational playing field for low-income, ethnicallydiverse children at school entry (allen, sethi, & astuto, 2007; levenstein et al., 2002). 86 participation in home visiting the current study the current study examines whether trends in program completion and length of participation found in studies of prenatal and infant home visiting programs, which target child maltreatment, also apply to early childhood home visiting programs with a focus on school readiness and children’s education outcomes. the goal of the present study is to examine factors associated with program completion and length of participation in a statewide, multi-site implementation of pchp. specific questions include the following: 1. what are the differences in the characteristics of latino and non-latino families enrolled in a literacy-focused home visiting program? 2. what predicts program completion and length of stay in early childhood home visiting for latino versus non-latino families? in particular, what influence do family educational risks, resources, and community characteristics have on families’ ability to complete program requirements and remain enrolled in programs over time? method participants families representing 25 state-funded parent child home programs (pchp) were tracked from program entry to exit. state-funded programs in massachusetts were designed to serve 14 families each. some programs had additional funding resources and supported larger programs (22 35 families). data collection began in september 2003 and continued until june 2006. of the 870 families who entered the program over those two years, data were collected by programs on 604 families who entered the program between september and november of each year (69% of all families enrolled). information on 65 families was not included in analyses due to incomplete data or because programs deviated from the timetable for administration of research measures, yielding a total sample size of 539 families with complete intake and service data. the majority of the participants enrolled in the program were mothers and their children (95.2%). demographic characteristics of the sample appear in table 1. as noted in the table, family income tended to be low in this sample with 57.0% with incomes below $20,000 and 38.7% with incomes ranging from $20,000-59,000. as reference, the state median income in massachusetts was $51, 955 for the year data collection took place. the sample was diverse in terms of their ethnic background with 73% identifying themselves as non-latino (34.3% caucasian, 38.7% non-caucasian/non-latino including 6.3% african-american, 5.6% asianamerican, 10.6% mixed ethnicity, and 16.2% other) and 27.0% latino. latino families enrolled in pchp in massachusetts were diverse. an in-depth study of latino families enrolled in pchp during from 2004-2006 (see williams, 2010) found that 46.2% of latino families could be considered nonor established immigrants from the u.s., puerto rico, and mexico and 53.8% were new latino immigrants originating from the dominican republic, guatemala, el salvador, and brazil (see tienda & mitchell, 2006 for further information on established, non-established, and new latino immigrants). 87 participation in home visiting table 1 demographic profile of pchp participants in massachusetts (n = 537-539) participant characteristics percentage/mean family income low (under $20k) 57.00% moderate ($20 59,999) 38.70% high (over $60k) 4.30% family income single parent 36.40% child gender male 49.40% age at entry for child (years) 2.43 (0.79) maternal education no high school degree 28.20% high school/vocational degree 40.80% some college 31.00% language preference for surveys spanish 17.10% ethnicity latino 27.00% non-latino 73.00% community of residence (cr) not graduating from high school 14.80% risks speak another language 20.50% families below poverty level 8.30% family engagement in pchp program completion rate 61.60% length of engagement (months) 14.37 (sd = 7.99) families served by pchp in massachusetts resided in areas throughout the state, with 42.6% in urban, 45.4% in suburban and 12.1% in rural areas. the average length of program participation was 14.37 months (sd = 7.99). families who completed the requirements of the program were enrolled an average of 17.94 (sd = 6.52) months while those who dropped-out participated an average of 8.44 (sd = 6.53) months, t (537) = 16.421, p < .001. procedures data on individual families were gathered during home visits. programs were required to complete research measures at an intake home visit with families during the first month of services, a 4-6 months follow-up, and at program exit (typically 20 months after entry if families did not leave the program prematurely). independent variables family background information. information collected at program intake included the following: maternal/paternal education and work status, family income, family configuration, the family’s ethnic or racial background, the language used when data were collected (spanish or english), and the type of community in which the family resided (metropolitan area over 50,000, small city between 10,000-50,000 or small town of under 10,000). child information such as gender, date of birth and the age of the child at program entry was also recorded. 88 participation in home visiting based on intake information, a family educational risk index was created for each family. families were assigned 1 point for each of the following five family educational risk factors present: (1) having a very low income (below $20,000), (2) having a family headed by a singleparent, (3) having a mother with less than a high school education, (4) having a father with less than a high school education, and (5) speaking another language besides english which may present a communication barrier for the family. the pchp national center has identified these five risk factors as indicators that children are at-risk for educational disadvantage, making them appropriate candidates for participation in pchp. family skills and resources. the familia inventory: a questionnaire for the assessment of literacy practices in families (infant-toddler version) (taylor, 2001) was used to examine family literacy skills and resources. the measure is designed for use with families with children who are not yet elementary school-age. the tool is appropriate for use with families with children aged birth to 5 years and is available in english and spanish versions. the measure was administered to families at program entry, 4-6 month follow-up, and at program exit. the familia is a 51-item, parent self-report measure that examines the frequency of literacy related activities in the family along nine dimensions (practical reading and writing in the home, family work and play, shared reading, parental modeling, verbal interaction, extended family support, library use, and support of school). statements regarding the frequency of family activities are rated using a 5-point scale with responses ranging from ‘never’ to ‘daily’. sample questions examining verbal interaction in the family are “we talk with our children as we play, work, or carry out our daily routine” and “we sing songs and say rhymes with our children”. sample questions examining shared reading are “we read colorful infant/toddler books with our children” and “we have favorite books that we read over and over with our children”. each subscale of the familia contains six questions (some questions load on more than one subscale) for a total potential score of 30 points per subscale. two subscales measure parents’ individual skills (practical reading and writing in the home), three examine families’ contacts with support systems (extended family, library use, and support of school), and four examine parent-child interaction around literacy activities outside of visits (family work and play, shared reading, parental modeling, and verbal interaction). correlational analyses found strong associations between several of the subscales measured by the familia and hence two composite measures were created. one composite measure examines parents’ individual literacy skills (r = .669 for practical reading and writing subscales) and another measures family literacy interaction (r = .531-.708 for family work and play, parental modeling, shared reading, and verbal interaction). community risk. three city-level indicators were used to examine the socioeconomic and educational characteristics of communities in which pchp programs were located. these three indicators were the percentage of (1) individuals in the community who have not graduated from high school, (2) families below the poverty line and (3) families in the community who speak a language other than english. these indicators are among those suggested by coulton (1995) as community-level indicators of the well-being and achievement of children in a community. data on these indicators were obtained from the u.s. census bureau (2007) 20052007 american community survey. these rates were then transformed into z-scores with a 89 participation in home visiting mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1.0. this is the same procedure used by mcguigan et al. (2003a) and was used to account for extensive variation in rates across each indicator. mean z scores for each indicator ranged from .11 22 (sd = .95 1.05) higher scores for indicators suggest that the community is at greater literacy and socioeconomic risk due to higher rates of families in poverty, individuals without a high school degree, and individuals who do not speak english. dependent variables program participation. program participation was assessed using two measures: program completion and length of participation. to complete the program families in massachusetts were required to receive the equivalent of 17 weeks of home visits or 34 visits total each year. families typically received two one-half hour visits per week during the school years from september to june, not counting school vacation periods. families who received all of the required visits, even if they occurred outside of the 17 week timeframe, were classified as completing the program. those who do not receive the equivalent of 34 visits were classified as not completing the program. pchp is a two year program. typically children start the program when they are twoyears old and complete the program when they turn four and transition to preschool or head start. while there is a requirement that families receive a minimum of 34 visits each year to complete the program, there is no maximum. therefore, the length of time families choose to remain enrolled in the program can vary based on their interest, motivation to complete the visit requirements, family needs, and access to preschool services in their community. families’ length of enrollment in the program in months, another measure of program participation, was calculated by using their program entry and exit dates. results overview of analyses and presentation of the results the first set on analyses compared latino and non-latino families enrolled in pchp. analyses examined differences in the demographic characteristics, family educational risks, and resources at program entry to understand the unique challenges faced by different ethnic groups enrolled in pchp in massachusetts. in the second set of analyses pearson correlations were utilized to examine the interrelations between the independent and dependent variables in the study. results of these analyses were used to identify predictor variables to be entered into the regression equations. finally, regression analyses were to predict the dependent variables program completion and length of enrollment using simultaneous entry. differences in latino and non-latino pchp participants as shown in table 2, there were several statistically significant differences in the demographic characteristics of families in the present study by ethnicity. latino program participants were more likely to have lower incomes, use literacy skills less frequently (individually or in interaction with their children), to be single parents, have less extended family support, and to 90 participation in home visiting reside in urban areas than non-latino families. they were also less likely to use community resources such as the library at program entry. overall, latino families experienced twice the number of risk factors as non-latino families enrolled in the program. table 2 differences in latino and non-latino pchp participants variable parent ethnicity statistic latino non-latino χ 2 or t n = 145 n = 391 age at entry/years (sd) 2.47 (.82) 2.41 (.77) ns child gender: % male 45.50% 50.50% ns family size (sd) 3.37 (1.09) 3.58 (1.06) 2.00, p = .046 % single parents 46.20% 32.70% 8.41, p = .004 % low income (>$20,000) 71.50% 51.30% 17.56, p < .001 % urban/metropolitan 60.40% 36.00% 25.75, p < .001 no. of family risks 2.63(1.26) 1.37 (1.18) 10.71, p < .001 individual literacy skills 38.90 (11.45) 43.16 (10.16) 3.94, p < .001 extended family support 16.85 (6.04) 18.34 (6.17) 2.50, p = .013 library use 8.06 (7.41) 10.26 (7.78) 2.95, p = .003 support of school 13.03 (9.15) 13.40 (8.99) ns parent-child interaction 94.09 (17.69) 100.54 (15.80) 4.07, p < .001 intercorrelations among predictor variables logistic and multiple regression were used to predict the dependent variables of program completion and length of participation from a series of predictor variables including ethnicity, family educational risk, family resources at program entry, and community risks. for the dichotomous variables of gender, ethnicity, and program completion, dummy variables were created where 0 = not male and 1 = male, 0 = not latino and 1 = latino, and 0 = did not dropout and 1 = did drop out of the program. table 3 contains information on the correlations between the dependent and predictor variables. 91 williams and caille table 3 intercorrelations between dependent and predictor variables (n = 539) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1 latino a -.04 .04 .42** -.18** -.17** -.11* -.13** -.02 .27** .39** .45** -.03 -.06+ 2 gender a .03 a -.03 -.01 -.01 -.03 -.05 -.03 .06 .04 -.04 -.02 .00 3 age .07 .01 -.04 .05 .06 .09* -.11** -.11** -.00 .25** -.01 4 family risk -.31* -.30 -.11** -.19** -.05 .25** .30* .38** -.15 .12** 5 literacy skills .80** .42** .38** .18** -.20** -.19** -.25** .07* .01 6 p-c interact .48** .31** .17** -.16** -.18** -.29** .06+ .01 7 family support .16** .05 .01 -.01 -.17** -.04 .02 8 library use .19** -.21** -.18** -.09* .06+ -.08* 9 school support -.10* -.08 .02 .07* -.03 10 cr: no hs degree .78** .47** -.20** .10* 11 cr: poverty .67** -.17** .07+ 12 cr: esl -.16** .07+ 13 time enrolled -.62** 14 prog. a complete + p < 0.10, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 note: all correlations are pearson correlations except those noted by " which denotes biserial correlations 92 participation in home visiting there was a statistically significant association between program completion, family educational risk, library use, and the high school dropout rate in the community in which the family resided. more family educational risks, less use of community resources like the library, and a higher rate of not completing high school were associated with not completing the program. families who entered the program when children are younger children, experienced fewer family educational risks, were more supportive of school, and lived in communities with fewer risks remained in the program longer. predicting program completion and length of enrollment a series of logistic regression and multiple regression equations were constructed. logistic regression was used to predict program completion from child factors (age, gender), ethnicity, family educational risks, family resources at program entry, and community risks. multiple regression was used to predict length of enrollment using the same set of factors. predictors entered in the model were restricted to those which showed a statistically significant association with the dependent variable at p < .10. ethnicity was entered in all models due to its theoretical significance to this study’s research questions. predictors of program completion. table 4 contains the results of logistic regression analyses for the entire sample. the model utilized significantly predicted whether or not a family completed the program, χ 2 (6) = 27.345, p < .001. the odds of dropping out of the program were greater for non-latino families and those who experienced more family educational risks. in addition, there was a trend for those in communities with higher esl and lower high school graduation rates to drop-out of the program. since ethnicity was a significant predictor in the model, separate logistic regression equations were constructed for latino versus non-latino families using all of the significant predictors utilized in the original set of logistic regressions. table 4 summary of logistic regression analyses predicting program completion (n = 533) variable b se odds ratio 95 ci wald statistic dummy latino -0.87 0.26 0.42 [0.25, 0.69] 11.56** family risk index 0.19 0.08 1.21 [1.03,1.41] 5.63* library use -0.01 0.01 0.99 [0.96, 1.01] 1.33 % no hs graduation 0.27 0.14 1.31 [0.99, 1.73] 3.44+ % families in poverty -0.11 0.17 0.89 [0.64, 1.24] 0.46 % esl 0.25 0.14 1.28 [0.98, 1.67] 3.31+ + p < 0.10, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 note: ci = confidence interval 93 williams and caille table 5 contains the results of the logistic regressions for latino versus non-latino families. the model for latino families significantly predicted whether or not a family completed the program, χ 2 (3) = 15.907, p = .001. for latino families, the odds were greater of dropping out of the program if the family lived in a community with a high esl rate. the model, when utilized with non-latino families, significantly predicted whether or not a family completed the program, χ 2 (3) = 14.899, p = .002. for non-latino families, the odds of dropping out of the program were greater for families who experienced more risks. 94 participation in home visiting table 5 summary of logistic regression analyses predicting program completion for latino and non-latino families latino (n = 144) non-latino (n = 389) variable b se odds ratio 95% ci wald b se odds ratio 95% ci wald index -0.02 0.16 0.98 [0.72, 1.34] 0.01 0.28 0.09 1.323 [1.10, 1.59] 9.06*** % poverty -0.19 0.26 0.83 [0.49, 1.38] 0.52 0.22 0.12 1.240 [0.98, 1.57] 3.12+ % esl 0.78 0.30 2.17 [1.21, 3.88] 6.82** 0.02 0.15 1.017 [0.75, 1.38] 0.01 + p < 0.10, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 note: ci = confidence interval 95 williams and caille predictors of length of participation in home visiting table 6 contains the results of multiple regression analyses predicting length of enrollment in the program from ethnicity, child, family, and community factors. ethnicity, child age at entry, family educational risk, family support of school at program entry, and the high school graduation rate of the community in which the family resided were found to be significant predictors of length of enrollment in the program. latino families, those children who entered the program when they were younger, experienced fewer family educational risks, had parents who reported being involved with their children’s school, and resided in communities with a lower rate of individuals not graduating from high school remained in the program longer. the overall model was significant, accounting for 11.8% of the variance in length of enrollment, f (3, 529) = 14.71, p < .001. table6 multiple regression analyses predicting length of enrollment (n = 533) variable b seb β 95% ci dummy latino 1.83 0.87 0.010* [0.13, 3.54] age at entry -2.71 0.42 -0.27*** [-3.54, -1.89] family risk index -0.54 0.29 -0.09 [-1.11, 0.02] individual literacy skills 0 0.03 0 [-.07, 0.06] support of school 0.07 0.04 0.08* [0.00, 0.15] % no hs graduation -1.44 0.51 -0.19** [-2.45, -.43] % families in poverty -0.01 0.60 0 [-1.19, 1.18] % esl -0.72 0.50 -0.09 [-1.68, 0.26] r 2 0.188 f 9.927** + p <.10, *p <.05, **p <.01, ***p<.001 note: ci = confidence interval since ethnicity was a significant predictor of length of participation, separate equations were constructed for latino and non-latino families. in both sets of analyses, child age at entry and the high school graduation rate were statistically significant predictors of program participation [ f (4,139) = 10.387, p < .001 for latinos and f (4, 384) = 9.843, p <.001 for non-latinos]. these variables accounted for 23% of the variance in length of participation for latinos and 9.3% for non-latino families. discussion this study examined differences in factors associated with program completion and length of enrollment for latino and non-latino families enrolled in a literacy-focused early childhood home visiting program. hernandez, denton, and macartney (2008) discuss the challenges latino 96 participation in home visiting immigrant parents face in understanding the u.s. educational system, interacting with individuals within it, assisting their children with academic work, and getting their children the support they need. however in the present study non-latino families were at greater risk for program non-completion and latinos were more likely to participate longer in programs. study findings will be put in the context of existing literature on family participation in home visiting programs. differences in the characteristics of latino and non-latino families enrolled in pchp in massachusetts will be examined. microsystem factors important to predicting program completion and length of enrollment will be discussed, highlighting how these finding may be used to reduce barriers to service provision and support vulnerable families enrolled in home visiting programs. differences in latino and non-latino pchp participants this study found ethnic differences in the characteristics of families that participate in pchp in massachusetts. latino families enrolled in the program were more likely to have lower incomes, to use literacy skills less frequently (whether individually or in interaction with their children), to be single parents, have less extended family support, and to reside in urban areas. the findings regarding differences in literacy promoting activities for latino versus non-latino is similar to what has been found in other studies (wagner et al., 2003). however, there are also two areas which latino families did not differ from their nonlatino counterparts; extended family support and support of school. a notable and unexpected finding of the present study is that latino families in this study reported lower levels of family support than non-latino families in this sample. this is counter to what has been indicated by other theoretical and empirical work (coatsworth et al., 2006; middlemiss & mcguigan, 2005). one possible explanation may have something to do with how external family support was measured. the focus here was on how frequently external family members provided literacy support to children by providing books, literacy materials, reading experiences, and by spending time with them, not emotional support, which is more typically thought to underlie familialism (coatworth et al., 2006; middlemiss & mcguigan, 2005). there are often generational differences in the literacy skills of grandparents and a higher likelihood of their geographic separation in immigrant, latino families. these two factors may make it more difficult for latino families in the u.s. to obtain extended family support in the form of family members providing children with books as gifts, sharing stories, or spending time together. this may be the reason why external family support, as assessed in this study, did not serve as an important predictor of program completion or length of engagement. in terms of support of school, while some work indicates latinos experience more barriers to participation in their children’s school activities (hernandez et al., 2008) recent work suggests otherwise. the pre-k now study (garcia & gonzales, 2006) suggests that the majority of latino parents are actually strong supporters of developing their children’s literacy skills. they find that 96% support the use of pre-kindergarten services for children and almost half see the experience as important to developing children’s academic skills and knowledge of letters, numbers, and colors. this study confirms this finding, with latino families in this sample reporting that they are equally likely to be involved with their child’s preschool or daycare center as non-latino families. however, since we used a self-report measure to assess support of school, social desirability may have also been a factor which impacted our results. 97 williams and caille factors associated with program completion this study found different sets of factors predict program completion for latino and non-latino families. family experiences, patterns of organization, and interaction may differ for these two groups, influencing their participation patterns in home visiting programs (coatsworth et al., 2006). overall, the odds of dropping out of pchp in massachusetts were higher for non-latinos and those experiencing more family educational risks. while cultural issues may have played a role in the higher completion rate for latino families enrolled in pchp, as other studies have shown (coatsworth et al., 2006; daro et al., 2007; daro et al., 2003; mccurdy et al., 2006; mccurdy et al., 2003, mcguigan et al, 2003ab; middlemiss & mcguigan, 2005; wagner & clayton, 1999), an alternative explanation may also apply. it is likely that because latino families experienced far more risks in this sample than non-latinos, home visitors perceived them as needier and provided more assistance to them than non-latino families; this in turn enabled them to complete the program at a higher rate than their non-latino counterparts. this has been found in other work (sharp et al., 2003). follow-up work should examine home visitor-parent interaction and how patterns differ across latino and nonlatino families to look for biases in interaction toward latino families or against non-latino families participating in literacy-focused programs. for non-latinos, family educational risk was an important predictor of program completion. family educational risks, including low parental education level, language barriers, poverty, and single parenthood may serve to impede families’ ability to meet program participation requirements in literacy-focused home visiting programs. for latinos, only the esl rate of the community was a significant predictor of program completion. mcguigan et al. (2003a) found those families living in communities with poorer community health were less likely to engage in programs. in this study a higher esl rate decreased the odds that families would be able to complete the required number of home visits. in communities where there are large numbers of individuals struggling with the same issue, whether it be to learn a new language, adapt to a new culture, or help their child succeed educationally where few do, there may competition for resources. there may also be fewer models of success in the community for families to learn from and to use for inspiration. these factors may collectively impact program completion. stamps and bohon (2006) note that immigrants face many risks to their social adaptation including discrimination, negative stereotypes based on race, and hostility directed at them due to the role immigrants play in the competition for jobs and resource demands in a community. they add that new immigrant groups and those that settle in “traditional gateway cities” may encounter more hostility and therefore may be less optimistic about their prospects and their children’s future. the use of peer mentors by home visiting programs operating in areas with high rates of second language learners may be important to help promote family success. in addition, work with families may need to extend out from the home into the community. collaboration between programs that serve english language learners (ells) may assist home visiting professionals in understanding the challenges and needs of second language families, help link parents enrolled in home visiting programs and their family members with educational supports, and facilitate the develop of social network for latino families. 98 participation in home visiting factors associated with length of enrollment in the present study four factors were important to understanding families’ length of enrollment in programs for the full sample: ethnicity, child age, parental support of school, and the graduation rate in the community where the family resides. child age at entry in programs was important for both latino and non-latino families, highlighting the importance of program outreach and targeting in locating and registering children early in development. in massachusetts many pchp programs were based within public schools where preschool services typically start at age three. hence, it is crucial that home visiting programs collaborate with early intervention programs, pediatricians, and family child care providers in order to effectively outreach to families with older infants and toddlers who may qualify for programs like pchp. not surprisingly, across the full-sample families who reported being more actively involved in their children’s childcare or preschool settings remained enrolled in pchp longer. however, it also important for home visiting programs to further consider how to identify when a family has “maxed out” the benefits they can accrue from home visiting programs and when they need to be transitioned to other services within their community. programs need to consider how to make data and assessment driven decisions about what is the appropriate length of enrollment in programs for families instead of using indicators such as a prescribed length of participation or if and when a child ages out (mcguigan et al., 2003ab; wagner et al., 2003) finally, the high school completion rate of the community was an important predictor of length of enrollment in pchp for both latino and non-latino families. mcguigan et al. (2003b) found in their study of healthy families programs that higher rates of community violence predicted whether families would receive more home visits. similarly, the present study found that families living in communities at greater educational risk, as indicted by a lower high school completion rate, remained enrolled in pchp longer. home visiting in these communities may serve as a means for families who want to have their children succeed in school to gain needed support that may not be readily available in the larger community. conversely, pchp families residing in communities with higher high school completion rates may feel isolated and separated from their community. they may feel that there is a stigma utilizing literacy-support services in a community where there is a history of associated with educational success, as evidenced by the high number of individuals completing high school. home visiting programs may need to work harder with families in these communities to assist them in feeling comfortable in the literacy environment of their community. it is important to consider how to assist families who may feel isolated from literacy services in their community, such as the library. isolation may play a role in length of enrollment, as has been suggested by mcguigan et al. (2003a). helping families feel comfortable and knowledgeable about free literacy services available in their community at program entry, such as those offered by the library such as borrowing privileges, translation services, story times, plays, and puppet shows, may be a cost-effective investment. strengths and limitations the data for this study were obtained from a state with one of the largest concentrations of statefunded home visiting programs in the country (johnson, 2009). as such, it provides important information about how the health of the 25 communities where programs were located and 99 williams and caille families reside impacts program participation. while this study provides valuable information several limitations need to be acknowledged. the first limitation involves the use of latino versus non-latino groups for comparison purposes. the construction and use of these groupings may obscure differences between ethnic groups such as asian and african-american families that have been noted by other researchers such as mccurdy et al. (2003). it is also important to note that african-americans are underrepresented in the sample because there is only one pchp program in the urban center of boston, which has a higher concentration of black families than other areas of the state. it is also important to consider that our latino group is more diverse than is reflected in using the general term latino, leading us to examine as one group a segment of the population that may be very diverse itself. a recent review of the literature by sarkinsian et al. (2006) argues that different groups of latinos encounter distinctively different immigration laws and job opportunities, leading to socioeconomic differences, which in turn could result in differences in family integration. a final limitation involves the use of the familia (taylor, 2001) to examine literacy skills and resources at program entry. the tool is a self-report measure and therefore may not provide a true index of parents’ english language skills and not an adequate measure of whether parents had the skills needed to effectively complete program requirements or remain enrolled in home visiting programs. in addition, because the tool was administered to families at program entry social desirability in reporting may have also been a factor. conclusions effective early childhood programs are built off of the needs of communities. this study highlights the continuing role that community needs play in the program processes. programs cannot be viewed in isolation of the communities in which families live. it is vitally important to consider what other supports, beside the program, are needed to help the family be successful in the context in which they live and grow. using a family strengths perspective requires early childhood professionals to utilize a multidimensional assessment of families, looking beyond risk for strengths that may provide “ordinary magic” (masten, 2009) and which can be utilized to promote persistence and resilience in interventions (walsh, 2006; werner, 2000). among the strategies that may need to be utilized include policies that allow inclusion of other family members and contexts during the intervention. the use of mentors for families or home visitors who are from the same community who have beaten the odds is also key. families may also benefit from an approach which considers more carefully how to build family literacy skills using a practical or ecologically-sensitive approach, incorporating interactions at home, in the grocery store, and out on the playground, especially when families live in communities where there are few english-speaking models. this would allow program participants to be more aware of the resources and mentoring opportunities available in their community. further, more indepth professional development opportunities and supervision for home visitors on cultural and linguistic issues are needed to ensure culturally competent and environmentally-responsive services in the field. 100 participation in home visiting references allen, l., sethi, a., & astuto, j. 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(2003). dimensions of parental engagement in home visiting programs: exploratory study. topics in early childhood special education, 23(4), 171-187. doi:10.1177/02711214030230040101 102 participation in home visiting walsh, f. (2006). strengthening family resilience, 2nd edition. new york, ny: guilford. werner, e. e. (2000). protective factors and individual resilience. in j.p. shonkoff & s.j. meisels (eds.), handbook of early childhood intervention (pp. 115-132). new york, ny: cambridge. williams, p.h. (2010). hispanic families and family literacy practices: differences by country of origin. in e. douglass (ed.), innovations in child and family policy. landham, md: lexington books. zigler, e., pfannenstiel, j. c., & seitz, v. (2008). the parents as teachers program and school success: a replication and extension. journal of primary prevention, 29, 103-120. doi: 10.1007/s10935-008-0132-1. dialog, 16(1), 1-19 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article prediction of early engagement and completion of a home visitation parenting intervention for preventing child maltreatment jennifer b. lefever university of notre dame kathryn m. bigelow university of kansas judith j. carta university of kansas john g. borkowski university of notre dame objective: we examined predictors of engagement and completion in a randomized trial comparing the effectiveness of two interventions for preventing child maltreatment and promoting positive parenting. methods: participants in this study were 255 mother-child dyads, most of whom were enrolled in head start programs, were randomly assigned to a 5-session home visitation intervention (planned activities training-pat) or to a similar parenting intervention enhanced by the addition of cell phone calls and text messages (cpat). results: (1) early engagement and participation in the cellular phone enhanced program predicted intervention completion, and (2) the quality of parenting prior to entrance in the program predicted engagement. conclusions: the results have important implications for engagement and completion in home visitation programs aimed at promoting positive parenting among highrisk mothers. implications for practitioners are also discussed. a growing number of home visiting parenting programs have shown positive results in reducing child maltreatment and enhancing parenting skills in high-risk populations. yet, metaanalyses of home visiting programs have not reported consistently positive outcomes for parents and children (astuto & allen, 2009; layzer, goodson, bernstein, & price, 2001; sweet & appelbaum, 2004). one barrier to achieving improved outcomes is less than optimum levels of parent participation in the programs, or the high rates of attrition and failure to complete these intervention programs before families reach a specified level of parenting competence (mccurdy 2 lefever et al. & daro, 2001). when families miss home visit appointments or drop out of interventions early, even the most powerful interventions will have diminished effects. however, reviews of home visiting programs report rates of dropping out as high as 80% in some programs, with many families who do stay in programs receiving less than half of the intended number of visits or dosage of the intervention (gomby, 2000). a second barrier to home visiting effectiveness is parent engagement—the extent to which parents carry out the behavioral or affective components of the intervention program such as keeping up with learning activities between visits and seeking more information (berlin, o’neal, & brooks-gunn, 1998; korfmacher et al, 2008). programs that are able to maintain parents’ participation and keep them involved and actively engaged are thus more likely to achieve the desired results of improved parenting outcomes (gomby, 2005). however, when families become disengaged from a parenting intervention (that is, when they only passively attend to activities and discussion during the home visit or when they fail to follow through on recommended parenting strategies or homework in between intervention sessions), this will result in less than complete dosage of the intervention and will likely influence parenting outcomes (sweet et al., 2004). thus, enhancing families’ engagement in parenting programs and striving to maintain families in these programs until they complete the course of intervention have become important goals for service providers that seek to reduce and prevent child maltreatment and harsh parenting. yet, research has not shed much light on the variables that influence parents’ engagement in home visiting programs. moreover, scant research has been conducted on interventions to influence parents’ engagement in home visiting programs. engagement as a focus of research defining parent engagement. critical to understanding the relationship of parent engagement in an intervention to various child and parenting outcomes is acknowledging that the term “engagement” is used interchangeably in the literature with several other terms such as attendance, participation, involvement, adherence, and compliance; and these terms are defined differently across studies. some researchers define engagement as showing up for home visits or appointments or staying in treatment (littell, alexander, & reynolds, 2001; wagner et al., 2003). others refer to engagement as the level of involvement in intervention activities. for example, cunningham and henggeler (1999) refer to emotional involvement in sessions, and completing homework. similarly, yatchmenoff (2005) made a distinction between engagement and compliance stating that engagement is “positive involvement in a helping process” whereas compliance involves “going through the motions” of an intervention’s protocol. a definition of parent engagement offered by prinz and miller (1991) acknowledges this more active dimension of engagement by describing it as “participation necessary to obtain optimal benefits from an intervention” (p. 382) that includes regular attendance, involvement and cooperation during intervention sessions, and effort that goes beyond the sessions. recognizing that engagement is a dynamic variable that changes over time, many researchers point to the critical importance of the earliest stages of parents’ involvement in an intervention because parents are likely to drop out if they see no hope of the benefits of the treatment (coatsworth, santisbean, mcbride, & szapocnik, 2001: liddle, 1995). thus, in this study, we incorporated these multiple elements into our conceptualization of engagement and prediction of early engagement and completion 3 defined it as “the extent that parents participated in each intervention session, practiced and demonstrated mastery of parenting skills targeted during the intervention session, and the degree of independence they had in carrying out those activities”. predictors of parent engagement and completion. researchers have carried out a number of studies to identify factors that help predict families’ engagement and completion of preventive parenting interventions (gorman-smith, tolan, henry, leventhal, schoeny, & lutovsky, 2002; prado, pantin, schwartz, lupei, & szapocnik, 2005). research on family risk factors related to engagement and completion have been mixed. some studies have indicated that families with greater levels of risk are more likely to stay involved in programs (ammerman et al., 2006). for example, duggan and colleagues (1999) reported that families with mothers or fathers involved in substance abuse were likely to stay in home visiting programs more than a year longer than other families. similarly, girvin et al. (2007) reported that parents with higher levels of depression were more likely to complete programs. however, just as many studies report that families with more risk factors and with fewer advantages such as higher education and higher income tend to drop out of programs sooner or become disengaged (wagner et al., 2003). several studies have identified low socioeconomic status, single-parent status, ethnic minority status, parental depression, and living with a low-income as predictors of disengagement or lower quality participation in parenting programs (fontana et al., 1996; kazdin, holland, & crowley, 1997; nix, bierman, & mcmahon, 2009). other risk factors associated with lower rates of involvement or engagement have included parents who were substance abusing (navai-waliser et al., 2000) or mothers who experienced high levels of family conflict (herzog, cherniss, & menzel, 1986). one factor that may complicate this literature is that preventative parenting programs are quite different in their content, their duration, and the age of children who are the focus [e.g., parents of newborns or infants (armstrong, fraser, dadds, & morris, 1999); preschoolers (baker, piotrowski, & brooks-gunn, 1999); or adolescents (dishion & kavanaugh, 2000)]. similar patterns of predictors of engagement may not be operating across these different programs with parents having different motivations for becoming involved, and family members having differing perceptions about whether the time commitment needed is worthwhile (korfmacher et al., 2008). a smaller set of studies have focused on variables that contribute to parents’ early engagement in a program—in other words, examining the factors that help to draw them into parenting programs initially or alternatively, what drives parents away from parenting prevention programs when they are first enrolled (ammerman et al, 2006). kitzman et al (1997) determined that mothers who were likely to get engaged in home visiting interventions early on were those who were more motivated, who were interested in service, or who had the time management skills needed to keep scheduled appointments. alternatively, factors that have been found to inhibit families from early involvement include frequent family crises (st. pierre & layzer, 1999); competing responsibilities such as needing to spend long hours in work or school (gomby et al., 1999; roggman et al, 2002); or family members who refuse to allow home visitors into the home (daro & harding, 1999). in this study we were interested in examining factors that predicted engagement, and specifically, those that predicted higher levels of engagement at the outset of the program, as well as those that predicted mothers completing the parenting intervention. 4 lefever et al. interventions aimed at improving parent engagement. in the field of child mental health, a range of intervention studies have been carried out with the specific aim of improving parent engagement and retention. researchers have studied a variety of interventions some of which were simple, such as providing appointment reminders (watt et al. 2007) or using monetary incentives to promote retention (heinrichs, bertram, kuschel, & hahlweg, 2005), to much more complex and intensive interventions designed to identify and address families’ sources of resistance to treatment such as motivational interviewing (miller & rollnick, 2002). another type of intervention that has been tested is making structural adaptations or additions to the intervention. for example, cunningham, bremner and boyle (1995) tested whether delivering parent training in a group format would improve parents’ participation over individual clinicbased sessions. a recently used innovation for promoting engagement in a variety of health promotion interventions is using cellular phones to increase contact with patients, provide reminders of patient behaviors in the health protocol, and to send messages of encouragement for maintaining involvement. for example, researchers have recently tested the effectiveness of using cellular phones to increase hiv-positive patients’ adherence to antiretroviral medication therapies (villanueva, 2007) and to maintain smokers’ involvement in smoking cessation programs (lazev, vidrine, arduino & gritz; 2004). both of these studies have documented that the increased contact afforded by cellular phones can help keep high risk participants engaged in public health interventions. we recently examined the effectiveness of adding cellular phones and texting to an intervention aimed at promoting the parenting skills of parents at risk for child maltreatment. through a randomized trial, we compared the efficacy of two parenting interventions: one was a home-based parenting intervention and the second was the same intervention with cell phone enhancements. the first intervention, planned activity training (pat), taught parents a set of parent-child interaction skills using behavioral methods of role playing, modeling, coaching, and specific feedback (lutzker & bigelow, 2002). in pat, the parent learns to plan stimulating play and daily living activities in advance, prepare the child for these activities, and engage the child in activities using effective positive interaction skills and incidental teaching. the focus of pat is preventing challenging behaviors or situations by considering their antecedents. parents are taught to attend to and reinforce appropriate, desired behavior, and ignore minor misbehavior. the pat model is typically carried out in the family home and involves five to seven training sessions that last approximately 2 hours each. the second intervention, cellular phone-enhanced pat (cpat), was an adaptation of the pat intervention. in cpat, in addition to the in-home parenting intervention, parents were provided with a cell phone during the intervention phase of pat. cellular phones were used to promote more frequent contact between the family coaches and the families and, thus, increase the dosage of intervention families receive through (1) phone calls that occurred between home visits and (2) twice-daily text messages. the purpose of the current study was to examine factors related to engagement and completion of high-risk families who participated in the efficacy trial of pat and cpat interventions. specifically, we sought to extend the literature on engagement and completion in parent training programs by examining how early levels of engagement in a home visiting intervention predicted families’ completion of the intervention. we also sought to examine how families’ baseline characteristics such as the entering level of socio-demographic risk, child behavior and parenting skills predicted their initial level of engagement. finally, we were interested in examining whether families’ assignment to pat or cpat conditions would prediction of early engagement and completion 5 influence their engagement and completion in the intervention. we predicted that parents who were most engaged in the intervention early on would be most likely to complete the intervention. we thought that the families at highest risk would be the most challenging to engage and to stay involved and complete the intervention. finally, we expected that parents in the cpat group would be more likely to maintain engagement and complete the intervention than parents in the pat group because those in the cpat group had greater opportunities to communicate with their home visitor and receive more timely information during the course of intervention. we defined maternal engagement in the intervention session in terms of participation, ease of keeping the mother’s attention, maternal focus on practicing new skills, and competence in acquiring parenting skills. baseline, or pre-intervention measures, included the quality of parenting skills, cooperative child behavior and family socio-demographic risks. this study had 3 primary aims: (1) to describe engagement in the parenting intervention; (2) to assess whether early engagement influenced program completion and determine whether the use of cellular phones affected completion rates; and (3) to relate pre-existing child behavior and maternal characteristics, such as current parenting practices and level of socio-demographic risk, to the level of early engagement in the intervention. method participants the sample used for the current study consisted of 255 mother-child dyads who were enrolled in the intervention conditions of a randomized clinical trial comparing the efficacy of two parenting interventions, planned activities training (pat), and cpat--a cellular phone enhanced parenting intervention (carta, lefever, bigelow, borkowski, & warren, 2011). mothers were recruited from community health, early education and social service agencies that served lowincome families in south bend, indiana and inner-urban kansas city, kansas and missouri. eligibility criteria for mothers included being either younger than 18 years at the birth of their first child, having less than a high school diploma or equivalent, or meeting the income guidelines for head start. a total of 36 mothers completed the enrollment visit but did not begin the intervention. all analyses were completed using data from the remaining 219 mothers who actually began the intervention and had intervention engagement data available. of the 219 participants, 120 mothers (55%) were randomly assigned to the traditional intervention group (pat) and 99 (45%) mothers were assigned to the cell phone enhanced condition (cpat). mean maternal age for the analysis sample was 29.15 years (sd = 5.76); average annual estimated family income was $16,869 (sd = 11,810). fifty-two percent of the mothers were hispanic, 27% were african-american, non-hispanic, 18% were white, non-hispanic and 4% were either mixed race or asian-american. children’s mean age at enrollment was 4.59 years (sd = .60); more than half were boys (57%). there were no significant differences between the mothers who did and did not begin the intervention in terms of demographic factors, risk index score, parenting skills or child behaviors except for ethnicity; mothers who were africanamerican, nonhispanic were less likely to begin the intervention after enrollment than mothers who were hispanic (see table 1). . there were no significant baseline differences between the intervention groups; demographic variables across groups are presented at the top of table 1. 6 lefever et al. table 1 demographic variables and percentage of parents with each risk index variable within intervention groups demographic variables cpat pat mother's age m = 27.47 years m = 28.88 years (sd = 5.69) (sd = 5.82) child’s age m = 4.59 years m = 4.58 years (sd = .60) (sd = .59) child gender 53.5% male 59.2% male income m = $18,702 m = $17,307 (sd = 19,339) (sd = 14.137) race 49% hispanic, 26% black, 55% hispanic, 28% black, 22% white, 3% other 14% white, 3% other risk index variables cpat pat mother was not working or in school 32.30% 35.80% mother did not have a high school diploma or ged 39.40% 33.11% mother was unmarried and without a partner 75.80% 82.40% mother received some form of financial assistance 55.60% 46.70% mother was a teenager at the time of her first birth 33.30% 40.80% mother was depressed (mild to severe depression on beck depression inventory ii) 29.20% 31.30% average risk index score m = 2.65 m = 2.68 (sd = 1.10) (sd = 1.26) design and procedure the current study was a pretest-posttest randomized experimental design with two intervention conditions and a wait-list control group, with repeated measures of parent engagement and intervention fidelity in the intervention conditions. for the current study the focus was on intervention engagement; therefore a limited sample (intervention groups only) and portion of data available from the larger study was used. intervention engagement, pre-test assessment data as well as post-test intervention satisfaction data were used in analysis and are described below. upon consent and enrollment in the study, parents were randomly assigned to one of the two prediction of early engagement and completion 7 treatment conditions and participated in a maternal interview of sociodemographic risk. next, research assistants who were naive to intervention condition assignment conducted and rated a 20-minute direct observation of mother-child interaction during a baseline assessment in their home. mothers were compensated $25 for their time in completing these measures. parents in both conditions then participated in the home-based parenting intervention (pat), with 3 to 8 home visits conducted by family coaches. the intervention was considered complete when the parent met the mastery criterion on three different activities targeted during intervention. because completion required meeting this criterion, some families required more sessions to complete the intervention than others. after each home visit, the family coaches completed a questionnaire rating the parent’s level of engagement in the session. for parents assigned to the cpat condition, parents received the pat intervention but were also provided with a cellular phone with unlimited service during the course of the intervention. with the provided phone, they received text messages twice per day, five days per week and phone calls once per week. upon completion of the intervention, the naïve assessor returned to the home for a post test visit which included a brief survey pertaining to satisfaction with the intervention. all participants’ surveys were handed to them in a manila envelope. they were asked to complete the survey on their own and return it to the assessor in the sealed envelope. mothers were again compensated $25 for their time. all intervention visits, materials, interviews, and cell phone communications were conducted using either english or spanish, based on the parent’s preference. intervention conditions planned activities training (pat). parents in both the cpat and pat intervention conditions participated in pat during home visits. the aim of pat is to increase positive interactions between parents and children by teaching parents skills they can use to structure and engage children in activities, and increase their responsiveness to their child. in pat, the parent learns to plan stimulating play and daily living activities, prepare the child for these activities, and engage the child in activities using effective positive interaction skills and incidental teaching. through discussion, modeling and practice with constructive feedback, parents were taught to use 10 pat behaviors with a focus on their use in one particular activity or situation per session. parents complete a daily activities checklist (lutzker & bigelow, 2002) that allows them to select two to three routines daily routines or activities that will be the target areas of the parent training intervention in addition to a play activity. parents were introduced to pat and provided with a pat parent manual which outlined the steps of pat, and a set of low-cost, fun activities they could do with their child which would provide opportunities to practice the pat behaviors. family coaches first described each of the 10 pat behaviors in the context of play. during this discussion, the coach and parent discussed parents’ specific concerns or goals related to play time, and individualized a pat checklist to the play activity that would be practiced later in the session. for example, for one pat behavior, “explaining the rules,” the coach and the parent might discuss ways to talk with the child about simple, easy-to-follow rules that the parent selected for that play activity. the family coach then modeled the use of pat with the child in that activity. parents were then asked to practice pat in the same activity, and coaching was provided as needed to 8 lefever et al. support the parent in implementing each pat behavior. following the activity, the parent and coach discussed the parent’s use of pat behaviors. the coach provided positive and corrective feedback, and additional practice took place as needed in order to reach the 80% (8 of 10 pat behaviors used) mastery criterion. in sessions two, three, and four, pat was taught in a similar manner (discussion, modeling, practice, and feedback) within two or three different parent-selected daily routines to help parents learn to generalize the strategies. one or two additional sessions were conducted if parents needed additional practice to meet mastery criterion on three activities. in all sessions, except for session one, family coaches observed parents’ use of pat in the activity addressed during the previous session, and parent performance was rated by the family coach. scores from these observations were used to determine when parents met the mastery criterion of 80% of pat behaviors used for a total of three activities. in the final session, parents were provided with additional practice, progress was reviewed, and additional planning and problem solving steps were conducted for applying pat to future situations or other settings. cell-phone enhanced pat (cpat). pat enhanced through the use of cellular phones involved teaching pat as described above. in addition to the in-home intervention, parents in the cpat condition were provided with a cell phone and service to use throughout the intervention phase. there were two components of the cellular phone enhancement that promoted more frequent contact between the family coaches and the mothers: (1) phone calls between home visits and (2) twice-daily text messages. a check-in phone call was conducted each week between home visits with questions to inquire about pat use, parent and child activities, child behavior, and to guide future intervention. parents could contact coaches with their cell phone, with expected response times from the coach within 24 hours or by the end of the next business day. parents were able to use the cell phone for personal use as well. family coaches sent text messages to the families twice per day, five days per week. text message content was individualized for each mother, and related to the current focus of the intervention taking place during the home visit during that week. the majority of the text messages consisted of prompts to use pat strategies and questions about how the strategies worked for them. some of the 10 text messages sent each week provided suggestions for low cost or free activities or resources within the community, and supportive messages to the mother that did not directly pertain to the intervention (e.g., providing resources or praising mothers’ efforts). in addition, text messages were sent to remind mothers of their next appointment time, or to ask parents for confirmation that parents would be present for visits. parents were encouraged, but not required to respond to text messages. family coaches responded promptly when parents responded to these text messages, or initiated text message exchanges with their family coach. all text messages were coded for their content so that the fidelity of the planned type and timing of the messages could be assessed. family coaches and their training. family coaches conducted the pat and cpat sessions; all had a college degree in early childhood education, social work or other related field and several years of experience carrying out home visits with urban low-income families. coaches were trained by one of the developers of pat, a co-author of the pat manual (lutzker & bigelow, 2002). after training and practice sessions, coaches videotaped themselves demonstrating pat with a mother and child not participating in the study. coaches were required to complete 85% of fidelity checklist steps correctly to be certified to conduct pat. prediction of early engagement and completion 9 fidelity of the intervention was measured throughout the course of the study with supervisory visits conducted with 50% of participant families. measures parent intervention engagement. parent engagement was assessed by the family coach using the parent engagement rating scale (pers; baggett, 2003), which was developed for use in a multi-site efficacy trial of a parent responsiveness intervention (borkowski et al., 2003 2010). six aspects of parent’s engagement in the intervention session were rated on a 3-point scale immediately following each intervention session. two items were related to information learned at the previous intervention session and were not applicable at the first session (evidence that the parent completed activities assigned at the previous home visit and mastery of pat behaviors introduced in a previous visit). in order to observe a consistent measure of engagement across each intervention session, only four items were used in the current study: (1) parent participation in the intervention session, (2) parent engagement in practice of new skills during the home visit, (3) mastery of pat behaviors during the current visit, and (4) ease in engaging the mother in the session. an engagement score was calculated by summing the ratings on these four items to create a parent engagement score for each pat intervention session (range of 0 to 12), with higher scores indicating higher levels of engagement. internal consistency reliability coefficients ranged from .65 (on visit 3) to .78 (on visit 1). predictors of intervention engagement and completion. several measures collected at the pre-test assessment were used to predict intervention engagement or completion. socio-demographic risk. in order to examine the relationship between risk and engagement, select maternal variables were used to create a risk index. variables included in the risk index were selected based on factors indicated to be moderators of parenting intervention effectiveness in previous studies (e.g., ayoub, vallotton, & mastergeorge, 2011). family socio demographic risk characteristics were assessed at pre-test using items from the family and maternal life history (fmlh) interview and the clinical scores from the beck depression inventory ii (bdi-ii; beck, steer, & brown, 1996). the fmlh was an 87-item questionnaire with questions pertaining to marital status, family composition and history, education, employment, financial support, health status, drug and alcohol use, services received, and past involvement with child protective services. the bdi-ii (beck et al, 1996) consisted of 21 groups of statements pertaining to depressed mood and somatic complaints. a range of 0 to 3 points were assigned for each group of statements based on the severity of depressed affect that was endorsed. these points were then summed to create a total depression score (ranging from 0 to 63). reported internal consistency coefficients ranged from .92 to .93. clinical cut-off categories were used to create a dichotomous variable, with scores of 14 and greater (mild, moderate, and severe depression) indicating mothers were depressed, and scores 13 or lower indicating mothers who were not depressed. specifically, the risk index was created using the six factors of: 1) mother was not working or in school; 2) mother did not have a high school diploma or ged; 3) mother was unmarried and without a partner; 4) mother received some form of financial assistance; 5) mother was a teenager at the time of her first birth; and 6) mother was depressed (based on the beck depression inventory ii clinical cutoffs). these dichotomous factors were summed to create a total risk score with a sample average of 2.66 (sd = 1.19) with a mode of 2 10 lefever et al. (32% of the mothers had two of the six risks factors described above). the percentages of parents with each risk factor are summarized by group in table 1. it should be noted that there were no group differences in the presence of any single risk factor or in the mean risk index score. planned activities training (pat) checklist. prior to intervention, parenting was observed and rated for the appropriate use of 10 pat behaviors (lutzker & bigelow, 2002): prepare in advance, explain the activity, explain the rules, explain the consequences, give choices, talk about what you are doing, use good interaction skills, ignore minor misbehavior, give feedback, and provide rewards/consequences. the dyads were observed for approximately 20 minutes during a play activity and the clean-up of that activity. assessors observed each activity and recorded parent use of the pat behaviors on the 10-item checklist for each of these activities individually. a summary score was created by calculating the percentage of pat behaviors that were used correctly in that activity (by dividing the number of behaviors completed by the total number of steps possible for each activity). assessors were trained to meet an 80% agreement criterion with the assessment supervisor at the onset of the study and reliability was monitored every 6 months throughout the course of data collection. keys to interactive parenting scale. to assess the quality of interactions between the parent and the target child, the keys to interactive parenting scale (kips; comfort & gordon, 2006) was used. parenting behaviors were rated along 12 dimensions (e.g., response sensitivity, response to emotions, encouragement, limits and consequences, reasonable expectations, supportive directions) during the course of the mother-child interaction described above. initial studies using the kips have been able to maintain inter-rater reliability coefficients ranging from .90 to .96 and the items have a high internal consistency reliability (α = .89; comfort & gordon, 2006). a total kips score was calculated by obtaining a sum of the 5-point rating across each of the 12 items, and then dividing by the total number of items rated. child behavior rating scales. to assess child behavior, the child behavior rating scales (cbrs; carta, 2006) was used to rate five dimensions of child behavior observed during the 20-minute parent-child interaction. the constructs include engagement with materials, appropriateness of attention seeking, response to caregiver’s directions, response to caregiver’s initiations, and general affect. internal consistency for this measure was high at pre-test (α = .81). assessors were trained to meet an 80% agreement criterion with the assessment supervisor at the onset of the study and reliability was monitored every 6 months throughout the course of data collection. intervention completion. intervention completion was defined as having met the mastery criterion of 80% of pat behaviors used correctly in at least three daily activities addressed during the intervention. these behaviors were observed and assessed by the family coaches as part of the intervention session using the planned activities checklist. parents were allowed to refer to their pat materials during the observation. parent satisfaction. the pat social validation questionnaire was used to assess consumer satisfaction on the content and outcome of the intervention, the usefulness of the teaching strategies and the overall acceptability of the performance of the family coach. the cpat social validation questionnaire also included questions pertaining to satisfaction with the cell phone enhancements. items were rated by the mothers at the post-test assessment, using a 5 point scale. items were summed to created two subscales: satisfaction with pat and usefulness of pat strategies. internal consistency of the subscales was very high, α = .93 for the 9-item satisfaction with pat subscale and α = .94 for the 6-item usefulness of pat strategies subscale. prediction of early engagement and completion 11 results analysis plan the approach to analyzing this data set was aligned with the research aims: first, to describe the intervention engagement data at the onset of the intervention as well as over time; second, to assess whether intervention completion could be predicted by early engagement, intervention condition or sociodemographic risk; and third, to identify pre-test predictors of intervention engagement. given that there were data missing for the parenting and child variables of interest as well as attrition, ibm spss missing values software (2011) was used to estimate missing data and to analyze the 40 imputed data sets. the results were summarized using rubin’s rules (meng & rubin, 1992; rubin, 1987). to achieve the first goal, means, standard deviations and frequency distributions were calculated for the engagement measure (pers) at each visit and analysis of variance was used to test for intervention condition group differences (pat vs. cpat) on these variables. next, logistic regression was used to test whether intervention completion could be predicted by initial engagement, intervention condition, socio-demographic risk or the interaction of risk with engagement. finally, logistic regression was used again to assess whether early engagement level could be predicted by parenting behavior, child behavior, or socio-demographic risk. parent satisfaction and perception of the social validity of the intervention were also described. what was the initial level of parent engagement and how did it change over time? the analyses for the current project focused on parental engagement on the first intervention visit and its ability to predict intervention completion. engagement at the first visit had a mean of 11.23 and a standard deviation of 1.23 (range of 5 – 12). the means for the cpat and pat groups were not statistically significant, with m = 11.29 (sd = 1.14) for cpat and m = 11.18 (sd = 1.30) for pat. the modal score was 12 (highest score possible) for both groups, with 54.3% of the participants receiving this score. at the item level, approximately 90% of the mothers received a score of 3 (the highest rating) on the items pertaining to their participation, practice, and difficulty to engage. for the item pertaining to mastery of pat behaviors during practice, 56% received a score of 3 (the highest rating) on their first visit after learning about the pat behaviors and while referring to the intervention materials. at the group level intervention engagement appeared to be stable over time, with ratings available from one to eight visits depending on the intervention length. means for the engagement ratings at each of the visits ranged from 11.23 to 11.68 (11.29 to 11.68 for cpat and 11.18 to 11.70 for pat); standard deviations ranged from .82 to 1.23. due to the negative skew of scores on the pers engagement measure, all further analyses using this measure were completed using natural log transformations or a dichotomous version of the total score (those with a score of 12 (n = 119) compared to those with a score less than 12 (n = 100)). of parents with an initial score of a 12 (the highest possible score), 78% (n = 93) remained at this high level of engagement throughout the course of the intervention (n = 52 for pat and n = 41 for cpat). of the 100 mothers who were in the lower engaged group, 50 were fully engaged by their last visit and 50 remained at a lower level of engagement. there 12 lefever et al. were no significant intervention group differences on either of these variables: 56 % of cpat mothers were engaged at the first visit with 48% of the remaining cpat mothers becoming fully engaged by their final visit; and 53% of the pat mothers engaged at the first visit with 52% of the remaining pat mothers becoming fully engaged by the end of the intervention. did early engagement, risk, and intervention condition predict intervention completion? eighty-three percent of the participants who began the intervention completed the intervention and reached the criterion level of the intervention behaviors on three different activities. during the course of the intervention, participants completed between 1 to 8 visits prior to either completing or dropping out of the intervention. the average number of visits for those who completed the intervention was 4.81 (sd = .74) and 1.63 (sd = 1.20) for those who did not finish the intervention, t (217) = -21.27, p < .001. the number of visits needed to complete the intervention was not significantly different across intervention groups (m = 4.91, sd = .76 for cpat and m = 4.73, sd = .72 for pat). in order to determine whether early engagement in the intervention predicted intervention completion, a logistic regression analysis was conducted. intervention completion was predicted by the engagement score at the first visit (transformed to account for the negative skew), with a χ2 (1, n = 219) = 5.02, p = .03 for the model and an unstandardized logistic coefficient of 2.69 and an odds ratio of 14.66, p = .02 for early engagement. the odds of completing the intervention were more than 14 times higher for participants with higher engagement than for those with lower engagement. next, the predictors of intervention condition (cell-phone supported or typical pat), risk index score, and the interaction between risk and engagement were added to the model to predict intervention completion. this model was also significant, χ2 (4, n = 219) = 3.31, p = .01; intervention condition (in addition to early engagement) was a significant predictor of intervention completion, with an unstandardized logistic coefficient of .90 and an odds ratio of 2.45, p = .03. the odds of completing the intervention were more than twice as high for participants in the cell phone supported condition (11% drop out rate) than for those in the typical pat intervention (23% drop out rate). the risk index score was not a significant predictor of intervention completion nor was the interaction of risk and engagement. was early engagement predicted by baseline parenting, child behavior and risk? to explore what baseline factors might predict initial parent engagement in the intervention, a correlation matrix was completed to observe the relationships among engagement, sociodemographic risk, parenting and child behaviors measured at pre-test (see table 2). early engagement had small, but statistically significant correlations with general parenting (kips) and child behavior (cbrs) at pre-test. although the parent’s mastery of the use of pat behaviors was included as an item in the engagement measure, the total score for early engagement was not related to use of pat behaviors at pre-test (r = -.01 and r = -.04). socio-demographic risk was negatively related to general parenting (kips) at pre-test. logistic regression analysis was then used to determine whether risk, baseline parenting, and child behaviors predicted maternal engagement level at the first intervention visit. the risk index score, pat behavior ratings for prediction of early engagement and completion 13 both play and clean-up, the general measure of parenting (kips), and the child behavior rating scales (cbrs) total score were used to predict early maternal engagement level. due to negative skew in the data, log transformations of the pat behaviors and the cbrs were entered into the model. the overall model was significant, χ2 (4, n = 219) = 3.77, p = .005, with pat behaviors rated during clean-up and the kips total score as significant predictors. pat behaviors at clean-up had an unstandardized logistic coefficient of -.66 and odds ratio of .52 (p = .05) and the kips ratings had a coefficient of .67 and an odds ratio of 1.96 (p = .03). the odds of being in the highly engaged group at the initial intervention visit were almost twice as high for participants with higher parenting ratings than for those with lower parenting ratings. mothers with fewer pat behaviors at baseline were more likely to be in the highly engaged group than those mothers with more pat behaviors. mothers who were more highly rated on a general measure of parenting (kips), but who did not already have the specific skill set taught in the intervention (pat behaviors) were the most engaged in the intervention. table2 correlations among early engagement, socio-demographics, pre-test parenting and child behavior (n = 219) 1 2 3 4 5 6 1. early engagement (pers) 1.00 2. socio-demographic risk -0.06 1.00 3. pat behaviors play -0.01 -0.10 1.00 4. pat behaviors clean up -0.04 -0.07 .68*** 1.00 5. general parenting (kips) .15* -0.19** .43*** .36*** 1.00 6. behavior (cbrs) .18** -0.11 .36*** .30*** .48*** 1.00 note. *p < .05. **p < .01. *** p < .001; pers parent engagement rating scale; pat = planned activities training; kips = keys to interactive parenting scale, cbrs = child behavior rating scale. intervention satisfaction and social validity. in order to examine the mothers’ perceptions of the intervention process and the usefulness of the skills taught, means and standard deviations of the subscales of the social validity measure were calculated as well as frequencies of select items from the measure. intervention condition group differences were assessed using analysis of variance. satisfaction with the intervention was very high, with an overall mean of 38.48 (sd = 5.54, higher scores indicated higher satisfaction with 45 as the highest score) for the satisfaction with pat subscale and an overall mean of 27.78 (sd = 3.88, with 30 as the highest score possible) for the usefulness of pat strategies subscale. there were no significant intervention condition differences with very similar means across groups{ [m = 38.38 (sd = 5.52)] for cpat vs. [ m = 38.58 (sd = 5.58)]} for the pat mothers’ ratings of satisfaction with pat and m = 28.02 (sd = 3.70) for cpat vs. m = 27.54 (sd = 4.07) for the pat mothers’ ratings on the usefulness of pat subscale); the cell phone enhancements did not lead to greater satisfaction with the intervention. a large majority of mothers (88%) would recommend the intervention to someone else and 87% reported that they use the strategies taught in the intervention ‘a lot’ or ‘all the time’. in addition, mothers were also asked about the cell phone enhancements: nearly all mothers (98%) enjoyed the frequency of contact with the family 14 lefever et al. coaches; 96% thought the amount of texting was ‘just right’; and 88% thought that the number of phone calls was ‘just right’. discussion based on earlier studies (nix et al., 2009; wagner et al., 2003), we predicted that high risk mothers would demonstrate inconsistent patterns of engagement over time and that many would drop out of our home visiting program. we were surprised that the majority of parents in both the cpat and pat conditions were either highly engaged during their first home visit or became highly engaged by the last session. an important finding was that a high percentage of mothers (83%) completed all of the required intervention sessions and attained the criterion level of mastery of parenting skills targeted by the intervention. similar to kitzman et al. (1997), we found that mothers who were already fully engaged at the outset of the intervention were most likely to continue their involvement throughout the intervention. it may be that the most highly engaged mothers were those who were most enthusiastic about receiving support for learning new skills to help them meet their parenting challenges. alternatively, lower engaged mothers either realized during the first visit that the intervention would not meet their needs or would entail more time and energy than they had anticipated. similar to other studies (ammerman et al., 2006, daro et al, 2003), we did not find that mothers with higher levels of risk were more likely to become disengaged or drop out of the intervention. rather than high rates of risk leading to lower levels of engagement, our study found mothers with more highly rated parenting behaviors in general, but fewer of the specific skills taught in the interventions, were the most engaged at the intervention visit. mothers who agree to participate in an intervention to promote positive parenting and who are already using responsive and sensitive parenting behaviors may be more likely to be invested in being a better parent – regardless of their level of demographic and social risks. invested parents, with a solid set of parenting skills, likely see the intervention as an opportunity to learn a new set of skills and expand their positive parenting repertoires. the high rates of intervention engagement and completion were also likely due to aspects of the intervention that were not included in the statistical model, such as the experience of the home visitors as well as the socially-valid nature of the intervention. the family coaches that implemented this home-based intervention were all highly experienced, represented the racial and ethnic diversity of the communities from which the sample was drawn, and those who were assigned to spanish-speaking participants were both bilingual and bi-cultural. the coaches’ experience and cultural sensitivity helped to create a welcoming context for the intervention to be introduced. the intervention itself, planned activities training, involves teaching, modeling, and practicing a concrete set of parenting skills within the natural context of the homes. the focus on specific parenting behaviors and their links to cooperative child behaviors are seen as relevant to the participants early in the intervention. parents select the activities in which to intervene, adding to the intervention’s relevance. at the post-test satisfaction survey, the majority of mothers reported that they would recommend the intervention to other mothers and that they often used the skills learned as part of the intervention, a strong indication of the intervention’s social validity. one mother reported, “i think these strategies are awesome. they are simple and prediction of early engagement and completion 15 easy and quick that i rarely forget the steps and use them many times a day. additionally, they are effective just about every time i use them.” the finding that mothers who were provided cell phone enhancements were more likely to complete the intervention aligned with our hypothesis that the cellular phone allowed more frequent interactions with family coaches, more timely reminders to practice newly acquired parenting skills, and more frequent opportunities to obtain support for achieving their parenting goals. on a practical level, the phones were also used to maintain contact with mothers throughout the course of the intervention, without being dependent on finding mothers at home or maintaining a consistent address or phone service (lanzi, et al, 2007), thus making it easier for the family coaches to schedule the home visits and to contact parents when necessary. cell phones also allowed parents to interact with their coaches and have repeated exposure to intervention content at times of the day that were most convenient (bigelow, carta, & lefever, 2008). for example, one parent reported reading and responding to text messages from her coach during the bus ride home from work. access to a source of parenting support, with the added mobility to follow the at-risk mothers through all of their parenting contexts, is likely to change the level of investment a mother feels towards the parenting program. it also increases the dosage and magnifies the opportunities to consider the intervention across multiple contexts throughout the day. implications for practice this study demonstrates that, while mothers that are highly engaged at the outset of the intervention are likely to complete the intervention, the rate of completion could be further improved by offering additional supports. the source of support that we found to be effective in promoting intervention completion was the provision of support via cell phones, especially text messages and convenient phone calls. cell phones are now ubiquitous, even among low-income families, and text messaging is fairly inexpensive. while cell phones and service were provided at no cost to parents in our study, a february 2012 survey indicated that 88% of american adults own a cell phone; that both african americans and english-speaking latinos are as likely as whites to own a mobile phone; and that they are more likely to use their phones for a wider range of activities (pew research center, 2012). in the study described here, text messages were sent to parents twice per day. in our post intervention satisfaction survey, most parents who received cpat reported that two messages per day was “just right,” rated highly the use of these cell phone enhancements, and valued the added contact they provided. further, a number of parents inquired about whether they could continue receiving text messages following the completion of the intervention. text messages, by nature, are brief and easy to send. introducing text messaging with parents within a home visitor’s caseload, or even a smaller subset of parents needing additional supports, does not place much additional burden to home visitors’ time and resources. with a very small investment in text messaging software, home visitors could use their computer to create a text messaging plan aimed at providing intervention supports and reminders to promote a variety of positive behaviors as well as a way to increase communication and contact with parents on a more consistent basis. text messaging software can be used to schedule text messages in advance, such as on a home visitor’s day off, or on nights or weekends, and can also be used to send a general text message to a group of individuals. the content of text messages can be tailored to fit within the focus of most home visitation programs, and the frequency and 16 lefever et al. timing of text messages can be individualized to fit within existing programs and parent preferences. text messaging is a promising strategy for increasing contact with a hard-to-reach, highly mobile population as well as providing parents with additional support and encouragement aimed at improving parenting practices. further, providing additional exposure to the content of the intervention throughout the week, in “real time”, helps to promote the maintenance and generalization of parenting strategies to novel situations. identifying parents who are potentially less engaged at the outset of an intervention, and implementing strategies aimed at engaging these parents within the first session or two, can have a significant impact on their long-term engagement and eventual completion of a home visiting program. limitations and conclusions although differences in patterns of engagement over time were identified, a major reason for not finding greater differences across risk levels and intervention conditions is that the measure of parent engagement may not have been sensitive enough to detect mothers who were not actively involved in the intervention. since baseline engagement scores were quite high, there may have been a ceiling effect in place, with our measure unable to detect subtle changes in engagement over time. it should be noted, the measure we used clearly captured the dimensions of engagement that seem necessary for obtaining optimal benefits from our parenting intervention that required mothers to participate actively during each session, to practice skills, and to demonstrate specific parenting behaviors to their family coaches. while our study was successful in identifying early indicators of disengagement and drop-out for this intervention that focused on parents of preschool-aged children, we realize that a different set of predictors might operate in home visiting programs targeting parents of infants and toddlers. parents of newborns and inexperienced parents face a unique set of challenges and may be motivated to engage and continue in home visiting programs. many home visiting programs are longer in duration than 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(2005). measuring client engagement from the client’s perspective in nonvoluntary child protective services. research on social work practice, 15, 84–96. dialog, 17(4), 99-118 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research article the effects of asthma on academic achievement in a sample of former head start children ethan j. schilling western carolina university stacey neuharth-pritchett and a. michele lease university of georgia yvette q. getch western kentucky university the ways in which a diagnosis of asthma can affect the academic achievement of students were examined in a sample of 5,711 former head start children, 788 of which were identified as having asthma. results indicated statistically significant group differences in standardized reading and mathematics scores, with students with asthma performing worse than students without this diagnosis in both academic areas. in reference to reading abilities among students with asthma, indicators of socioeconomic status, gender, and level of school absences were found to be predictive of reading scores. regarding mathematics abilities, results indicated the significant contribution of both socioeconomic status and level of school absences in predicting the math scores of students with asthma. variables regarding the family environment did not make a significant contribution to explaining the asthma-academic achievement relationship beyond the effects of these variables. keywords: asthma, academic achievement, head start asthma is the most prevalent respiratory chronic illness for american school-aged children, with an estimated 7.1 million children (9.6%) diagnosed with the condition (bloom, cohen, & freeman, 2010). of this group, children under the age of five are diagnosed with the condition at higher rates than any other age group (akibani & schoendorf, 2002). therefore, it is important not only to address the successful management of the disease in young children but also to understand the influence of the condition on children’s school outcomes. 100 schilling et al. research suggests children with asthma are at greater risk for physical and mental health outcomes when compared to their healthy peers. these difficulties include poorer general health outcomes (collins, gill, chittleborough, martin, taylor, & winefield, 2008), more frequent nighttime waking and subsequent sleep deprivation from asthma symptoms (fiese, everhart, and wildenger, 2009), and a higher incidence of internalizing behavior problems, including anxiety and depression (fiese et al., 2009; röder, kroonenberg, & boekaerts, 2003). whereas studies have documented higher school absenteeism in children with asthma (dean, calimlim, kindermann, khandker, & tinkelman, 2009; moonie, sterling, figgs, & castro, 2008; silverstein, mair, katusic, wollan, o’connell, & yunginger, 2001), other aspects of school functioning, particularly academic achievement, are less clear. therefore, the current study aims to examine the academic achievement of young children with asthma, with a particular emphasis on the role that family factors, including access to resources and regular family routines, might play in potentially moderating this relationship. asthma and academic achievement research regarding the effects of asthma on academic achievement is largely inconclusive. some studies indicate children with asthma perform more poorly than their healthy peers on measures of academic functioning, particularly reading (kohen, 2010; liberty, pattemore, reid, & tarren-sweeney, 2010), whereas others have found that these children perform just as well or even better on measures of reading and math achievement when compared to healthy peers (moonie et al., 2008; moricca et al., 2012) or to children with other chronic health conditions (mcnelis, dunn, johnson, austin, & perkins, 2007). kohen (2010) suggests these discrepant findings might result from inconsistencies in both the operational definitions of asthma used (e.g., severity level, physician versus parent-reported diagnosis, etc.) and the measure(s) of academic achievement employed. for example, some studies have employed standardized achievement measures in assessing current levels of academic achievement (liberty et al., 2010; kohen, 2010), whereas other studies have incorporated parental reports of children’s academic strengths and weaknesses (diette, markson, skinner, nguyen, algatt-bergstrom, & wu, 2000). fowler and colleagues (1992) warn that relying on parent report alone might result in identification of greater academic difficulties in students with asthma when compared to reviews of school records for these same children. factors contributing to the asthma-academic achievement relationship disease-related variables. one mechanism by which asthma could adversely affect the academic achievement of children exists in the disease process itself. it is well established that many children with chronic health difficulties face challenges in academic functioning at as a result of associated cognitive deficits. in particular, many researchers have recognized an increased rate of academic problems in children with health difficulties directly impacting the central nervous system or some aspect of brain the effects of asthma in former hear start students 101 functioning (mukherjee, lightfoot & sloper, 2000; shiu, 2001; wodrich & cunningham, 2008). for example, children and adolescents with epilepsy are often adversely affected academically from concomitant deleterious effects in brain regions associated with memory and learning (wodrich & cunningham, 2008). although direct cognitive effects are perhaps not as apparent in students with asthma, bender (1995) argues that neurological damage can occur in those with more severe, less-controlled forms of asthma as a result of chronic episodes of respiratory distress and subsequent cerebral hypoxia. albeit possible, clear evidence for the existence of hypoxia-induced brain effects in children with asthma is lacking. other researchers have argued that a more plausible link between asthma and impaired cognitive functioning could be due to the negative side effects of asthma medications, namely inhaled corticosteroids. side effects of long-term corticosteroid use can include mood disturbance in the form of depression, mania/hypomania, as well as increased behavior problems (e.g., agitation, aggressiveness, and oppositional behavior); all which can lead to poor academic performance at school (cerullo, 2006; taras & pottsdatema, 2005). studies examining more direct cognitive effects of inhaled corticosteroid use have found prolonged use of these medications to be associated with neurocognitive deficits related to verbal memory (brown, rush, & mcewen, 1999), declarative memory (newcomer, craft, hershey, askins, & bardgett, 1994), and attention deficits (chen et al., 2013; naudé & pretorius, 2003). it should also be emphasized that asthma-related symptoms (difficulty breathing) as well as long-term corticosteroid use can both exist as general risk factors for the development of cognitive deficits; however, little is known regarding the mechanisms by which these effects occur (kirkham & datta, 2006). some have suggested that the relationship between asthma and academic achievement is perhaps best explained by individual differences among students with asthma, as has largely been borne out in the literature. demographic factors. the relationship between asthma and important outcome variables, including school performance, is often moderated by individual demographic factors including gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (ses). in examining these relationships, it is first necessary to understand the population of children diagnosed with asthma in the united states. results of the most recent national health interview survey conducted by the centers for disease control and prevention indicate that children with certain characteristics are differentially diagnosed with asthma in this country (bloom et al., 2010). regarding gender, more boys (16%) than girls (12%) receive a lifetime diagnosis of asthma. in reference to ethnicity, non-hispanic african american children (21%) are more likely to have asthma than hispanic children (13%) and non-hispanic white children (12%). finally, results of this survey denote that children from families with more limited economic resources (17%) experience higher rates of asthma than children from families who are not living in poverty (12%). it is then important to identify which, if any, of these characteristics might play a contributory role in the association between asthma and academic achievement. gender. results from studies regarding the effects of gender on academic achievement are mixed. whereas some researchers have found that boys experience 102 schilling et al. higher levels of academic success than girls (reardon, greenberg, kalogrides, shores, & valentino, 2012) or vice versa (mullis, martin, gonzalez, & kennedy, 2003), others have argued that the gender gap related to academic achievement has radically closed over recent years (ma, 2008). regarding asthma, koinis-mitchell, murdock, and berz (2004) found that gender differences are apparent in the child’s emotional response to the disease with girls with asthma often reporting lower perceptions of self-competence in disease management. moreover, social-emotional difficulties such as these are recognized to place school-age children at risk for poor academic outcomes, including broader learning difficulties and school dropout (quiroga, janosz, bisset, & morin, 2013). despite this fact, the direct role that gender might play in the association between asthma and academic achievement is less clear. some researchers examining this relationship have controlled for the presence of basic demographic characteristics, including gender, to adequately address research questions of interest (kohen, 2010). others have found no relationship between gender and outcome variables related to achievement among students with asthma (koinis-mitchell, adams, & murdock, 2005). ethnicity. it is understood that children from diverse ethnic backgrounds, particularly those living in urban areas, are at a greater risk for asthma as well as worse asthma-related outcomes (bloom et al., 2010). factors accounting for this disparity have included lower medication adherence rates (desai & oppenheimer, 2011), different beliefs regarding medication use (koinis-mitchell et al., 2005), higher exposure to environmental irritants (kattan et al., 2005), greater perceptions of community violence (wright et al., 2004), and less access to/poorer quality of care for presenting symptoms (ortega et al., 2002). therefore, it is often difficult to separate the effects of minority status from such related factors. accordingly, it is perhaps most appropriate to think of factors such as minority status and ses as broader markers for the presence of higher-risk family environments. in a recent study of asthma-related outcomes in a sample of urban children, researchers found that the presence of a greater number of risk factors (e.g., poverty status, neighborhood disadvantage) was associated with greater asthma-related morbidity and that this relationship held for all groups regardless of ethnic background (koinismitchell et al., 2010). in contrast, this same study also demonstrated that african american and hispanic families experienced greater functional limitations as well as higher levels of poverty resulting from asthma when compared to their non-hispanic white counterparts, potentially pointing to a more direct effect of ethnicity (koinismitchell et al., 2010). most studies attempt to control for ethnicity variables when examining asthma effects on academic achievement, as few have looked beyond the role of such variables as potential markers for achievement (liberty et al., 2010). furthermore, some still argue that any effects of minority status observed are largely still a function of related variables, namely issues of socioeconomic status (ses) (taras & potts-datema, 2005). socioeconomic status (ses). research consistently demonstrates that students coming from economically disadvantaged families are at a greater risk for poorer school outcomes and that these effects are particularly apparent when the child begins school (arnold & doctoroff, 2003). associated characteristics of low-ses families, the effects of asthma in former hear start students 103 which have been demonstrated to contribute to this phenomenon, include greater parent distress resulting from economic strain, less access to educational materials (e.g., books) in the home, and less overall importance placed on education by parents (aikens & barbarin, 2008). as a result, children coming from lower-ses families sometimes do not achieve the same level of early academic success as those children from higher-ses families, who are more likely to have received a greater level of early academic preparedness at home (arnold & doctoroff, 2003). whereas many researchers have controlled for ses in examining the relationship between asthma and academic achievement, some have found that ses still plays an important role in moderating observed deleterious effects. in a synthesis of studies examining social and economic consequences of asthma, milton and colleagues (2004) concluded that children with asthma living in lower income households are at greater risk for poorer grades in school. another mechanism by which living in high-poverty, urban environments might adversely affect the school functioning and healthy development of children with asthma lies in the presence of poor air quality in such environments. compromised outdoor air quality (e.g., due to traffic-related air pollution and exposure to industrial-related pollution) (brauer, 2010) as well as poor indoor air quality as evidenced by higher concentrations of environmental toxins, including secondhand smoke in the home (butz et al., 2011; hullin, caillaud, & alessi-maesano, 2010; rodriguez et al., 2010), have all been shown to lead to an exacerbation of asthma symptoms among children living in such areas. early exposure (i.e., prenatally) to airborne toxins often present in low-ses, urban environments can also have lasting effects on cognitive functioning as measured by standardized intelligence tests (perera et al., 2009). despite the potential negative consequences that limited economic resources and associated environmental conditions might have on the academic outcomes of students, the family environment in the form of positive parenting practices and access to neighborhood resources, have been identified as important mediators in overcoming the negative effects of poverty (kiernan & mensah, 2011). however, family-related variables such as these have not received much attention in examining the relationship between asthma and academic achievement. absences and asthma severity. the role that school absences play in contributing to poor school outcomes in children with chronic health problems has been studied widely. in general, the school environment offers an opportunity for students to experience both academic and personal success, to practice and master new skills, to foster a developing sense of self and growing self-efficacy, and to develop those social relationships necessary for future successful functioning at school and beyond (shiu, 2001). unfortunately, students experiencing chronic health difficulties are at a greater risk for school absenteeism resulting from prolonged hospitalizations, doctor visits, and an overall greater incidence of poor health days (shiu, 2001). as a result, these students might regularly miss out on the important normative experiences that the school environment might offer in aiding healthy development. research suggests that increased absenteeism among students is associated with negative school-related outcomes including the disruption of the learning process, strained peer relationships, and reduced involvement in physical activities, including extracurricular activities (shiu, 2001). as children with asthma experience the highest absenteeism rate of all students with chronic 104 schilling et al. health difficulties (doull, williams, freezer, & holgate, 1996), it is important to understand how absences might adversely influence school functioning in this population. students with asthma, particularly those with less well-controlled forms of the disease, tend to miss more school days than healthy peers and more than peers with better-controlled asthma (moonie et al., 2006). as reported in the literature, estimates of the difference in average days absent annually range anywhere from 1.3 (moonie et al., 2006) to 22 (lodha, puranik, kattal, & kabra, 2003) more days missed by these students. students with asthma miss more school days for a number of reasons that include doctors appointments, increased severity of asthma symptoms (e.g., labored breathing, fatigue), and proactive avoidance of potential contact with asthma triggers at school (taras & potts-datema, 2005). moreover, some studies have demonstrated that relationships between asthma and lower levels of school achievement are partially moderated by the incidence of more missed school days (koinis-mitchell et al., 2005; moonie et al., 2008). research suggests school absences in students with asthma are associated with multiple indicators of poor academic achievement including poorer mathematics performance (kohen, 2010) and word reading scores (liberty et al., 2010) as measured by standardized achievement tests. the family environment. taras and potts-datema (2005), in a review of studies examining the link between asthma and school-related outcomes, acknowledge that few researchers have addressed the role that other contributory factors could play in this relationship. these authors recognize that family-related factors in particular such as the home environment, level of access to community health care, and family resources have received minimal attention from asthma researchers (taras & potts-datema, 2005). exposure to adverse sociodemographic events could place children with asthma at risk for a host of negative outcomes including low self-competence (brooks-gunn & duncan, 1997), poor disease control and exacerbations of symptoms (eggleston, buckley, breysse, wills-karp, kleeberger, & jaackkola, 1999), less access to quality health care (eggleston et al., 1999), and fewer opportunities to participate in developmentally appropriate activities (eggleston et al., 1999). furthermore, more recent evidence indicates that family-related variables may serve an important role in moderating the effects of ses in the form of lower family income on the educational success of children living in these environments (aikens & barbarin, 2008). additionally, kazak, simms, & rourke (2002) have emphasized the usefulness of a systems-level framework for working with such children and their families. these authors state that in order to adequately address the needs of students with chronic health problems, schools should join all involved parties together through a culture of mutual respect, use a competence-based approach in identifying needed supports, and collaborate with the child’s family and medical team together and not in isolation. therefore, it is clear that a consideration of the family environment is certainly relevant to an examination of the school functioning of students with asthma. however, these effects are not yet clear. family resources and family routines. two aspects of the home environment that appear to be integral to children’s development, including the the effects of asthma in former hear start students 105 promotion of positive educational outcomes, are access to community resources and the existence of regular family routines. first, families living in higher-quality environments often have greater opportunities to provide their children with potentially enriching community experiences that can aid in healthy development (e.g., parks, youth programs, libraries, well-performing schools) (leventhal & brooks-gunn, 2005). furthermore, studies have shown that less access to such resources is associated with a range of variables often identified as correlates of poor school functioning, namely high poverty rates (leventhal & brooks-gunn, 2000), negative parenting practices (simons et al., 2002), and a diminished sense of community organization and cohesion (sampson, raudenbush, & earls, 1997). furthermore, greater access to community resources is often associated with potentially moderating environmental variables including better air quality and access to health care (eggleston et al., 1999). the presence of family routines in daily activities such as mealtimes, nighttime curfews, and homework is also accepted as an integral element to promoting a sense of cohesion in the family, while also serving a protective role in the health and well-being of children (roche & ghazarian, 2012). although consistent family routines can have great effects on encouraging healthy child development, particularly social development, studies have demonstrated that such routines are not as prevalent in families living in poorer neighborhoods. characteristics of low ses neighborhoods that might contribute to a lack of consistent family routines include less social organization and economic constraints (e.g., parents working long hours to support the family; leventhal & brooksgunn, 2005). it is therefore apparent how aspects of more advantageous home environments in the form of higher access to community resources and the existence of family routines might play a role in contributing to the positive educational outcomes of students. however, the role of such variables in moderating this relationship among students with asthma is not clear. the current study the purpose of the current study was to better understand the mechanisms by which asthma can affect the academic achievement of children with this disease. although past studies have begun to explore the role of potentially intervening variables in this relationship, much of this focus has been on identifying common covariates of low achievement in isolation, including school absences (moonie et al., 2006; moonie et al., 2008), disease severity and associated limitations (kohen, 2010; moonie et al., 2006), and other demographic variables, namely ses (liberty et al., 2010). in contrast, studies have not examined the contributory role that other variables might play above and beyond these effects. therefore, in addition to examining potential covariates including gender, ethnicity, ses (in the form of household income), and number of school absences, the focus of the current investigation was also on exploring whether aspects of the family environment, including access to resources and family routines might further represent an important aspect of this relationship. additionally, few studies have examined the asthma-academic achievement relationship at the national level as most previous research has focused on aspects of this relationship in more localized samples. as such, the current study extends an understanding of potential asthma effects in 106 schilling et al. examining this issue in a nationwide sample of students formerly enrolled in the federal head start program. the following research questions were posed: 1. do students with asthma exhibit different academic profiles than those without asthma as measured by standardized tests of academic achievement? 2. among students with asthma, are levels of academic achievement contingent upon student and family characteristics including gender, ethnicity, ses in the form of household income, number of school absences, and disease severity? 3. do family-related variables also help to account for the level of academic achievement experienced by students with asthma? that is, do those families of children with asthma who report greater access to resources and more regular family routines tend to have higher achieving children? first, it was hypothesized that students with and without asthma would perform similarly on measures of reading and math achievement as most past research fails to support the existence of asthma-specific learning difficulties (bender, 1995). regarding potential moderators of the asthma-academic achievement relationship in this study, it was first hypothesized that basic demographic variables, particularly gender and ethnicity, would not contribute significantly to the variance in academic achievement scores among students with asthma. in addition, as results of previous studies have demonstrated that differential academic functioning is often attributed to differences in ses among individuals (taras & potts-datema, 2005), it was similarly expected that academic achievement outcomes among students with asthma will be moderated by differences in household income. it was also hypothesized that differences in academic achievement among students with asthma would be partially moderated by indicators of asthma severity and level of school absences. that is, some more recent studies have demonstrated that individuals experiencing more severe forms of the disease and resulting higher levels of school absences have lower levels of school achievement (moonie et al., 2008). finally, regarding family-related variables, it was hypothesized that those families of children with asthma reporting greater access to resources and the presence of regular family routines will have children with higher levels of academic achievement. these results were expected given the potential positive effects that such variables can have on fostering successful academic outcomes for all students. in identifying those factors that do and do not significantly contribute to the academic achievement of students with asthma, the conversation can then shift to identifying effective means of intervening with this group with the ultimate goal of improving academic outcomes. method procedures study participants were drawn from the national head start/public school early childhood transition demonstration study (ramey et al., 2000) conducted from 1991 to the effects of asthma in former hear start students 107 1999. the study was completed to provide information regarding the nationwide implementation of the head start program and to provide data regarding the impact of the program on children, families, communities, and schools as children transitioned into the first four years of public school. more than 7,500 former head start children and families were enrolled in the national study. outcome data were collected from families, teachers, school administrators, and children annually from kindergarten to third grade. data collection occurred in the fall and spring of children’s kindergarten year and then in the spring of first, second, and third grade. data collected included information regarding basic demographic information, family and community characteristics, child health, school climate, and individual child attributes, including measures of academic functioning. although the original data were collected in the 1990s, asthma diagnosis is a relatively robust measure and along with a common standardized achievement measure, we believe that the findings from this study are relevant today. participants for the purposes of the current study, data from a group of former head start children enrolled in the national head start/public school early childhood transition/ demonstration study (ramey et al., 2000) whose parents/caregivers completed the question of whether or not they had received a doctor’s diagnosis of asthma were examined (n = 5711). of this group, 788 were identified by their parents as having an asthma diagnosis (14% of the sample). specifically, caregivers were asked if a doctor has told them that their child had asthma. if the parent responded yes, three follow-up questions were posed that include the age at which the diagnosis was made, if the child still has the condition, and if the child ever received treatment for the condition. although the asthma diagnosis was not pulled from medical records, there is reasonable certainty of the presence of the condition from these parental report data given consistency of responding on this question across years of the study. data on covariates (e.g., gender, ethnicity, ses) were inspected within the sample of students with asthma to determine the role that each might play in the asthma-academic achievement relationship. to adequately address research questions, outcome data from the end of the third grade school year were examined. this third-grade subset of data was chosen as it is thought that a greater variety in outcome variables, namely academic achievement variables, is more likely to be observed as students reach later grades in school. of those children enrolled in the study, 45% were white, 32% were african american, 13% were hispanic/latino, 2% were asian, and a further 7% were identified as american indian, eskimo/alaskan native, or other ethnicities. 52% were male and 48% were female. respondents to surveys were mostly mothers (87%). other respondents included fathers (6%), grandmothers (4%), and other relatives (3%), which included stepparents, siblings, grandfathers, and foster parents. regarding socioeconomic status, 4,499 respondents (79%) reported a monthly family income below the federal poverty line, whereas 989 respondents (18%) reported an income above this level. 108 schilling et al. measures demographic/family background measures. family background interview. parents/caregivers were interviewed regarding basic family characteristics and child demographics on the family background interview, a structured interview developed by the authors of the national head start/public school early childhood transition study. information collected in this interview and used in this study included the child’s gender, race/ethnicity, number of school absences, and monthly family income. your child’s health and safety survey. parents/caregivers also reported information regarding children’s current health status as well as any past history of health difficulties in response to interview items created by researchers of the original study. two items from this interview were inspected for the purposes of informing the current investigation. first, the item, “would you say your child’s health, in general, is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?”, referred to as “child health” was examined as an indicator of children’s current health as well as a potential marker for asthma severity. the second item, referred to as “asthma status” asked parents/caregivers if they were ever told by a doctor that their child had asthma and was used to differentiate between the two groups of interest (i.e., students with and without asthma) in the current study. measures of family characteristics. family resource scale. the family resource scale (leet & dunst, 1985) provides a measure of families’ level of access to resources within their community and is based on those resources that have been identified as integral to the support and wellbeing of families (dunst & leet, 1987). that is, the scale consists of 30 items addressing level of access to health/necessities, growth/support, physical shelter, nutrition/protection, communication/employment, intrafamily support, income, and childcare (leet & dunst, 1985). psychometric properties of the family resource scale have been deemed adequate (dunst & leet, 1987). regarding internal consistency, coefficient alpha as measured by the average correlation among all 30 items included in the scale is .97 (dunst & leet, 1987). validity evidence for the family resource sale exists in the identified factor structure of the measure and the alignment of this structure with wellestablished conceptions of family supports and needs (bronfenbrenner, 1979; maslow, 1954). criterion-related validity also exists for the measure in the prediction of scores on other measures of both health and well-being (i.e., health and well-being index) and parental commitment to providing for their children (i.e., personal allocation scale) from family resource scale total scores (dunst & leet, 1987). four of the subscales have also been found to correlate highly with other measures of well-being and parental commitment to child-based interventions (dunst & leet, 1987). family routines inventory. the family routines inventory (boyce, jensen, james, & peacock, 1983) was also completed by parents/caregivers and served as a further measure of current family functioning. this 28-item measure serves as an indication of predictability/routinization in the family’s daily life (boyce et al., 1983). the effects of asthma in former hear start students 109 the measure operates under the assumption that family routines are observable events involving multiple family members and that these events occur at predictable intervals (boyce et al., 1983). domains of family routines are assessed (n = 10): workday, weekend and leisure time, children’s routines, parents’ routines, bedtime, meals, extended family, leaving and homecoming, disciplinary routines, and household chores (boyce et al., 1983). for each family activity (e.g., whole family eats dinner together), participants were asked to rate how often that activity occurs per week on a 4 point scale ranging from occurs “almost never” to occurs “every day.” the scale yields an overall frequency score serving as an indication of the level to which the family engages in regular routines. psychometric properties of the family routines inventory were acceptable. that is, the 30-day test-retest reliability coefficient for the overall frequency score was .79. (jensen, james, boyce, & hartnett, 1983). moreover, the overall frequency score was positively correlated with family cohesion, family organization, and family control and negatively correlated with family conflict as measured by the family environment scale, another scale measuring family functioning with known acceptable psychometric properties (jensen et al., 1983). standardized measure of academic achievement. woodcock-johnson psychoeducational battery revised. the woodcockjohnson psychoeducational battery – revised (wj-r) (woodcock & johnson, 1990) consists of a set of tests assessing a variety of academic and cognitive skills. those tests measuring reading and math skills were administered to all children enrolled in the original study at the end of the third grade school year as these skills are regarded to be integral to children’s academic success. the reading cluster of the wj-r administered to participants included 2 subtests: letter-word identification, requiring the child to identify and read a series of letters and words presented to them and passage comprehension, a task examining the child’s ability to understand and identify missing words and pictures from a series of passages when given context clues. internal consistency reliabilities for these two subtests were .96 for letter-word identification and .95 for passage comprehension (woodcock & mather, 1990). the mathematics cluster administered to participants was comprised of a calculation subtest, which required the child to solve a series of increasingly complex mathematical computations and an applied problems subtest, in which the child had to determine the correct procedure for solving problems, identify necessary information, and provide a solution. reported internal consistency reliabilities for these two subtests were .93 for calculation and .84 for applied problems. sampling and re-norming procedures for the wj-r have been judged to meet high standards as its technical adequacy is well supported (cummings, 1995). results regarding sample characteristics of students with (n = 788) and without asthma (n = 4923), demographic variables were examined across groups. of students with an asthma 110 schilling et al. diagnosis, 59% were male and 41% were female. of students without asthma, 51% were male whereas 49% were female. in reference to ethnicity, sample characteristics were fairly similar between groups (44% caucasian, 37% african american, 12% hispanic, and 7% other ethnicities among students with asthma; 45% caucasian, 32% african american, 14% hispanic, and 9% other ethnicities among students without an asthma diagnosis). regarding ses, characteristics were again comparable between groups with 82% and 84% of families of students with and without asthma, respectively reporting an income below the federal poverty line. of note, missing data was present across surveys and respondents. in such cases, listwise deletion was employed before running statistical analyses. to address the question of whether students with asthma exhibit different academic profiles than students without asthma, t-tests were conducted examining mean differences between groups across reading and math composites on the wj-r. results of this analysis are presented in table 1 below. table 1 results of t tests examining differences in reading and math scores between students with and without asthma wj-r composite t df sig. (2 tailed) mean difference reading 3.878 3724 .000** 3.12 mathematics 2.001 3721 .045* 1.77 note. *p < .05, **p < .01 regarding reading abilities, a significant difference was observed between reading scores on the wj-r for students without asthma (m = 97.98, sd = 16.47) and students with an asthma diagnosis (m = 94.86, sd = 18.35); t(3724) = 3.88, p = .00). in reference to mathematics abilities, there was also a significant difference between the mathematics scores on the wj-r between students without asthma (m = 100.68, sd = 18.15) and students with asthma (m = 98.91, sd = 20.09); t(3721) = 2.00, p = .045). the effect sizes for both these analyses (d = .18 and .09, respectively) were found to fall below cohen’s (1988) convention for a small effect (d = .20). the remaining research questions were addressed by examining the sample of students with an asthma diagnosis only (n = 788) using hierarchical multiple regression. to examine the potential role of demographic factors, school absences and asthma severity, as well as the unique contribution of family-related variables to the academic achievement of students with asthma, variables that might explain this relationship were entered in three steps. in step one, academic achievement (wj-r) scores were the dependent variables and demographic variables (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity and ses) were the independent variables. in step two, child health and school absences were entered into the step one equation. finally, family-related variables in the form of family routines and access to resources including health services/necessities were entered to determine their contribution to a model of asthma and academic achievement. this process of analysis was completed in examining the contributory relationship of these the effects of asthma in former hear start students 111 variables on both reading and mathematics abilities. before the hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed, variables were tested for collinearity. results of the variance inflation factor (all less than 2.0), and collinearity tolerance (all greater than .89) suggest that the estimated β’s are well established in the following regression models. in examining relationships between study variables, post hoc analyses revealed several findings relevant to an interpretation of study results. first, differences were evident in the number of school absences experienced by students with asthma from different ethnic groups [f(3, 522) = 5.88, p < .01) with african american and native american students missing an average of 3.4 and 7.4 more days of school, respectively than caucasian students with asthma. ses in the form of monthly income was also found to be related to the child health variable [t(755) = 2.19, p = .03)] with families with monthly incomes above the federal poverty line on average also reporting better overall health in their children. the remaining observed significant relationships between study variables were related to the level of access to health/necessities and family routines variables, which were significantly related to one another [r(711) = .31, p < .01]. first, both variables were related to ses in the form of monthly income with those families reporting monthly incomes above the poverty line reporting greater access to community resources [t(731) = 7.17, p < .01] and a higher level of family routines [t(708) = 3.55, p < .01)]. finally, both variables were also related to the child health variable with families who rated their children as healthier indicating greater access to community health/necessities (f(4, 755) = 9.54, p < .01) and a higher level of family routines (f(4, 730) = 3.11, p < .01). reading achievement in reference to reading scores, the results of step one indicated that the variance accounted for (r 2 ) with the first three independent variables (gender, race/ethnicity, and ses) equaled .05 (adjusted r 2 = .05), which was significantly different from zero (f(3, 379) = 3.08, p < .01). gender (β = .16, p < .01) and ses (β = .15, p < .01) represented significant predictors of reading achievement for students with asthma in this step, with boys and students from those families with monthly incomes above the federal poverty level exhibiting higher reading scores. in step two, after adding child health and school absences into the regression equation, the change in variance accounted for (δr 2 ) was equal to .24, which was significantly different from zero (f(5, 377) = 6.30, p < .01). in this step, number of school absences was the only significant predictor adding to the model (β = -.16, p < .01), indicating those students with asthma experiencing less days missed from school demonstrated higher reading scores. in step three, family-related variables including level of family routines and access to resources in the form of health services/necessities were entered into the equation. the change in variance accounted for (δr 2 ) by this final step was .003, which was also significantly different from zero (f(7, 375) = 4.63, p < .01). it should be noted that neither variable in isolation entered in step three served as a significant predictor in the full model of reading achievement for students with asthma. together, all predictors in the final model accounted for 8% of the variance in reading achievement scores for students with asthma. the standardized (b) and unstandardized (β) regression coefficients for variables in the full model are reported in 112 schilling et al. table 2 below. table 2 summary of hierarchical regression predicting reading achievement in students with asthma step 1 .05* race/ethnicity -1.00 .78 .78 ses 5.84 2.50 .12* gender 6.04 1.89 .16* step 2 .24* child health -.23 .99 -.01 school absences -.33 .11 -.16* step 3 .003* resources .10 .11 .05 family routines -.05 .10 -.03 note. *p < .01 mathematics achievement regarding mathematics scores, the results of step one demonstrated that the variance accounted for (r 2 ) with the first three independent variables (gender, race/ethnicity, and ses) was equal to .03 (adjusted r 2 = .02), which was significantly different from zero (f(3, 379) = 3.30, p = .02). only ses (β = .16, p < .01) served as a significant predictor of math achievement for students with asthma in this step. as with reading results, the trend observed here was for students with families reporting monthly incomes above the federal poverty level to have higher math achievement. after adding child health and school absence variables in step two, the change in variance accounted for (δr 2 ) was equal to .22, which was significantly different from zero (f(5, 377) = 3.74, p < .01). in this step, number of days absent was again the only significant predictor adding to the model of math achievement (β = -.15, p < .01), indicating students with asthma who are, on average, absent for fewer days during the year are more likely to have higher math achievement. in step three, when family-related variables were entered into the regression equation, the change in variance accounted for (δr 2 ) by this final step was .001. this final model was again significantly different from zero in predicting math scores for students with asthma (f(7, 375) = 2.70 , p < .01). similar to results observed regarding the last step of asthma-reading achievement prediction, neither of the family-related variables taken in isolation served as a significant independent variable in explaining math achievement. all predictors in this final model accounted for 4.8% of the variance in mathematics achievement scores for students with asthma. the standardized (b) and unstandardized (β) regression coefficients for variables in the full model are reported in table 3 below. the effects of asthma in former hear start students 113 table 3 summary of hierarchical regression predicting math achievement in students with asthma variable β se β β δr 2 step 1 .02* race/ethnicity .25 .88 .02 ses 7.01 2.81 .13* gender 1.76 2.12 .04 step 2 .22* child health .25 1.11 .01 school absences -.35 .12 -.15* step 3 .001* resources -.00 .12 -.00 family routines .06 .11 .03 note. *p < .01 discussion the purpose of the current study was to determine what variables are most relevant in contributing to the academic achievement of students with asthma. more specifically, in addition to determining whether students with asthma exhibit different academic profiles than students without asthma, the main focus was on identifying factors contributing to differential academic success among children with asthma. first, it was hypothesized that differences observed in academic achievement scores between students with and without asthma would not be statistically significant. regarding basic demographic variables, it was expected that gender and race/ethnicity would not serve as significant explanatory variables in the asthma-academic achievement relationship, whereas a further demographic variable, ses would. third, it was hypothesized that indicators of both asthma severity and level of school absences would also serve as moderators in this relationship. finally, it was believed that those families of students with asthma reporting higher levels of regular family routines as well as greater access to community resources in the form of health care and necessities would also have higher achieving children. hypotheses were partially supported. first, regarding academic achievement scores of students with and without an asthma diagnosis, results demonstrated that statistically significant differences exist in both math and reading outcomes for these two groups. that is, on average, students with asthma were found to have lower math and reading abilities at the end of third grade as measured by the wj-r. although contrary to hypotheses, these results are partially consistent with some past findings that, when compared to healthy peers, students with asthma perform worse on measures of standardized reading abilities (liberty et al., 2010). however, it must also be noted that although observed differences in this study were statistically significant, effects were found to be small. in examining the school functioning of students with asthma, it was then important to determine those factors that play a role in determining why some students 114 schilling et al. with asthma perform worse than healthy peers on measures of reading and math abilities, whereas others do not. first, in reference to the role of demographic variables, it was found that whereas race/ethnicity did not explain a significant proportion of variance in academic outcomes, ses and gender did serve as significant predictors in this relationship. these findings are consistent with expectations as well as previous research results pointing to the significant role that various indicators of ses (i.e., access to educational opportunities, enriching community experiences) can play in promoting the academic success of all students (aikens & barbarin, 2008). the finding that significant gender effects are apparent in predicting reading scores of students with asthma, with boys performing better in this area, might be indicative of previous research showing that girls with asthma tend to struggle more in their emotional response to the disease, which can then affect their performance at school (koinis-mitchell et al., 2004). however, the fact that similar gender effects were not evidenced in predicting math scores among students with asthma also appears to support increased parity between the genders in school achievement as has been the trend in more recent years. regarding the role of the associated variables of disease severity and school absences in predicting academic achievement in students with asthma, hypotheses were again partially supported. that is, students with asthma experiencing a greater number of absences during the school year tended to perform more poorly on measures of both reading and math achievement. this result is perhaps not surprising given that students who experience more time away from school often miss out on quality instructional time and presentation of foundational concepts promoting greater school success (kohen, 2010; liberty et al., 2010). the finding that students with asthma from minority ethnic backgrounds (i.e., african american, native american) tend to miss more days on average than their caucasian counterparts might portray that these students could be particularly vulnerable to the detrimental effects of time away from school. finally, hypotheses were partially supported when examining the role of familyrelated variables in predicting the academic achievement of students with asthma. that is, although the full model including these variables was statistically significant in predicting both math and reading scores, neither level of family routines nor access to community resources in isolation helped to explain the variance in these scores above and beyond the influence of ses, gender and school absences. it could be that there was not enough variability in participants’ scores on these measures to detect these effects given the population studied (i.e., students formerly enrolled in the head start program) it might also be that many family-related variables such as these are already captured to a certain degree in a broad definition of ses. that is, families of children with asthma from lower ses backgrounds might experience fewer routines in daily living at home as well as lower access to health care and necessities, which in turn can affect the academic performance of their children. indeed, when examining the relationships among these variables, all were found to highly correlated with one another. conclusion this study helped to identify those factors that play a contributory role in the academic achievement of students with asthma. further, in examining this relationship in a the effects of asthma in former hear start students 115 nationwide sample of former head start students, a group already at a greater risk for a range of adverse school outcomes, it is hoped that results might help point to those variables most relevant in leading to more positive outcomes in head start students with asthma. findings first suggest that although differences can be observed in the reading and math abilities of students with asthma and their healthy peers, these abilities are not largely discrepant. moreover, when examining achievement among students with asthma, results of the current study point to the importance of examining other factors beyond solely an asthma diagnosis in determining disease effects. despite the importance of these findings, several limitations to the current study exist. first, study participants consisted of children formerly enrolled in the federal head start program. it is less clear whether these same results would be found in other student populations. another limitation exists in that further information regarding students’ asthma conditions beyond the presence of an asthma diagnosis was not examined. although a rating of overall child health was taken as an indicator of asthma severity among participants, other aspects of asthma including level of control over current asthma symptoms and medication use, factors that could also play a role in the asthma-academic achievement relationship was not collected. future studies further examining this relationship might benefit from taking such variables into account. although limitations exist, this study adds to the growing body of knowledge regarding how chronic health conditions including asthma can affect the ultimate school success of children. in addition, this is one of the first studies to examine such effects in former head start children, a population already vulnerable to negative school outcomes. the results of the current study suggest that variables including ses, school absences, and 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(2004). community violence and asthma morbidity: the inner-city asthma study. american journal of public health, 94, 625– 632. parents beliefs, attitudes and behaviors dialog, 17(2), 95-104 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 95 dialog from the field parents’ beliefs, attitudes and behaviors concerning their young children’s screen media use sue schlembach and marcus lee johnson university of cincinnati recent research concerning young children's screen media experiences suggest that parental mediation with children during joint viewing enhances children’s attention and comprehension to program content. using a small sample of 21 parents of young children as a phenomenological case study, this paper explores parent's beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors regarding young children’s screen media use and exposure. parents appear to value screen media as an educational tool for their children, and engage in coviewing with children. however, parents report rarely utilizing screen media for teaching purposes. parents also realize that some content may be inappropriate for their child to view, and yet most state they rarely discuss their child’s viewing habits with a primary care provider. we discuss parents’ beliefs of screen media use with their young children in light of the american academy of pediatrics’ recommendations and implications for children’s learning and development. of the screen media platforms available, tv, dvd, and video are the mediums reported as most often used by young children (ages 0-6 year olds), with computers and mobile devices being utilized less often by this age group (common sense media, 2011; gutnick, robb, takeuchi, & kotler, 2010; rideout & hamel, 2006). screen media has taken on a ubiquitous nature in society with children now growing up in environments surrounded by various screen platforms. research findings suggest children may begin viewing as young as 6 to 9 months old, that children ages 0 to 24 months old who watch tv and dvds spend approximately two hours per day doing so, and that preschool age children who use screen media may be watching three or more hours of screen time daily (common sense media, 2011; linn, wolfsheimer almon, & levin, 2012; rideout & hamel, 2006; vaala, bleakley, & jordan, 2013). research in the field of child development informs us that interactions with responsive, caring adults elicit optimal learning experiences for young children. by engaging in face to face interactions with responsive adults children are able to attain healthy growth and brain development. yet with increasing trends of screen media technology and screen media exposure for young children, research concerning children’s learning from screen media platforms is being revisited. the results from research in this area suggest that very young children (0 to 3 years) learn best from live, direct interactions with contingently responsive adults; that for this age 96 schlembach & johnson group, learners can greatly benefit when parents actively coview [screen media] educational programs with their children (anderson, & pempek, 2005; fiese & schwartz, 2008; krcmar, grela & lin, 2007; roseberry, hirsh-pasek, parish-morris, & golinkoff, 2009). mediation research research suggests that when parents actively coview educational programs with children, particularly children approximately 24 months and older, children may be more likely to attend, comprehend, and learn from the screen content (anderson & pempek, 2005). a child’s ability to learn new words or prosocial skills from quality educational content may be facilitated by parents coviewing and engaging their children using an instructional type of mediation (anderson & pempek, 2005; fender, richert, robb, & wartella, 2010; krcmar, grela, & lin, 2007). this style of engagement is known as instructive mediation and is one of three forms of parental screen media mediation strategies defined by valkenburg, krcmar, peeters and marseille (1999). these three strategies are referred to by valkenburg et al. (1999) as instructive, restrictive, and social coviewing (see also barkin, ip, richardson, klinepeter, finch, & krcmar, (2006). parental instructive mediation was defined as coviewing with a focus on learning via parents interacting with the child through discussion of screen content, and gesturing, pointing to and labeling important program features (valkenburg et al., 1999). restrictive mediation was defined as parental rule setting that may or may not include coviewing (valkenburg et al., 1999). social coviewing was explained as a more recreational, passive activity where parent-child interactions focused on bonding and relaxing together (valkenburg et al., 1999). instructive mediation strategies have been suggested to be positively related to comprehension and learning outcomes in children (anderson & pempek, 2005; barr, danzinger, hilliard, andolina, & ruskis, 2010; fender, richert, robb, & wartella, 2010; krcmar, grela, & lin, 2007; roseberry, hirsh-pasek, parish-morris, & golinkoff, 2009). current research regarding parental screen media mediation of young children has shown mixed results regarding the strategies most often used by parents. warren (2001, 2003, 2005) investigated parent’s use of media mediation styles based on the valkenburg et al. (1999) scale of mediation strategies. warren’s research indicated parents most often reported using a restrictive mediation style during screen use by children aged 1 to 12 years old. parent reports published by valkenburg et al. (1999) stated that social coviewing strategies were used most frequently by dutch parents of children aged 5 to 12. valkenburg et al. (1999) also pointed out that parents of younger children (5-8) utilized instructive mediation strategies more than parents of older children (9-12). research by barkin, ip, richardson, klinepeter, finch, and krcmar (2006) found parents of children 2 to 11 years old most often reported using multiple mediation strategies. barkin et al. (2006) however found when data for the younger children (2-5) were analyzed separately from the older children (6-11), the analysis suggested parents of these younger children tended to use instructive mediation most often. the literature also points to indications that parents tend to use combinations of mediation strategies, as opposed to one single style of mediation, and that the frequencies with which the different strategies are employed varies (barkin et al., 2006; valkenburg et al., 1999; warren, 2001, 2003, 2005). children’s screen media use & parents’ beliefs 97 parent attitudes and mediation parents’ attitudes and beliefs toward screen media are found to be key mechanisms influencing decisions related to young children and screen media use in the home (rideout & hamel, 2006; warren, 2001, 2003, 2005; takeuchi, 2011). parent attitudes towards screen viewing’s effects on children are suggested to be consistently associated with parental screen mediation (barkin, et al., 2006; warren, 2001, 2003). warren (2001) found that parents who reported “highly negative attitudes” towards television’s effects on children were more likely to use rules and discussion than parents having “medium” or “low” negative attitudes. barkin et al. (2006) reported parents were more likely to use restrictive and instructive mediation strategies when they held negative attitudes toward screen media’s effects on children. rideout and hamel (2006) report findings which suggest parents may introduce their young children to screen media because it is perceived as a means offering benefits, of providing “uninterrupted time for chores, some peace and quiet, or even just an opportunity for parents to watch their own favorite shows.” other examples reported in the literature as to why parents make tv, dvd, and video accessible to young children include: choosing to watch favorite programs during family mealtimes; placing a television set in the child’s bedroom to enable other family members opportunities to view programs they desire; and enlisting the assistance of age appropriate educational screen media to enhance children’s cognitive and social learning (gutnick et al., 2010; rideout & hamel, 2006; warren, 2001; takeuchi, 2011). research points to the important role parents have in mediating (i.e., coviewing, discussing content, monitoring and setting limits) children’s screen media consumption, and diminishing or negating the negative effects of program content (gutnick et al., 2010; rideout & hamel, 2006; takeuchi, 2011). the american academy of pediatrics’ (aap) reports (1999, 2001, 2010, 2011) recommend parents avoid tv and video viewing for children under the age of 2, and to limit the amount of tv and video viewing for children older than 2 years of age to 1 to 2 hours per day. the aap (1999, 2001, 2010, 2011) cites research implicating screen media exposure and the potential displacement of or interference with important parent-child interactions. research demonstrates that the healthy growth and development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers is facilitated most ideally through time spent interacting and communicating with responsive adults (anderson & pempek, 2005; fiese & schwartz, 2008; krcmar, grela, & lin, 2007; roseberry, hirsh-pasek, parish-morris, & golinkoff, 2009). acknowledging the cultural trend leading children’s environments to become increasingly immersed in digital media, anderson, huston, schmidtt, linebarger, and wright (2001) set out to examine the long-term associations between early childhood television viewing and behavioral and academic outcomes in adolescence. anderson et al. (2001) found positive relationships between viewing informative programs as preschoolers (i.e., sesame street and mr. rogers’ neighborhood) and “higher grades, reading more books, placing more value on achievement, greater creativity, and less aggression” in adolescence, whereas high rates (versus low rates) of watching programs of violent or entertainment content were associated with lower math competence beliefs, higher aggression, and lower grades for girls at adolescence. the results suggest that program content is a vital factor to be considered when investigating correlations between early screen media use and developmental outcomes. the findings of anderson et al. (2001) also underline the important role parents play in guiding and monitoring young children’s consumption of and exposure to screen media content. 98 schlembach & johnson the literature discusses the necessity for parents to be aware of and understand the implications regarding associations between young children’s screen media viewing and the potential development of lifelong screen media viewing habits (gutnick et al., 2010; rideout & hamel, 2006; takeuchi, 2011). scholars state that not only is program content important, as is demonstrated in the investigation by anderson et al. (2001), but that the context of the viewing experience matters as well (gutnick et al., 2010;richert, robb, & smith, 2011; warren, 2003). reports indicate that tv, dvd, and video viewing may begin when children are as young as six months old (rideout & hamel, 2006). the screen media mediation strategies parents use early on in a child’s life have the potential to impact children’s academic, social, and physical outcomes (anderson et al., 2001; richert et al., 2011). the period of early childhood is an optimal time for parents to establish and model for children a balanced pattern of print and screen media consumption and to develop children’s critical thinking skills. when parents engage their children during coviewing experiences (similar in manner to shared book reading activities) of educational programs—taking the time to point out and discuss salient program features—parents place themselves in a position which offers an opportunity to enhance children’s learning at that moment. utilizing this type of screen media mediation strategy over time as children mature and develop may offer parents additional opportunities to strengthen children’s cognitive capacity, fostering the child’s ability to more easily comprehend complex screen content such as narratives. by mediating children’s experiences of educational programs, parents may enhance infants’, toddlers’ and preschoolers’ vocabulary and prosocial skills as well as advancing their ability to think critically about the messages they perceive from screen media (anderson and hanson, 2009; barr, danzinger, hilliard, andolina &ruskis, 2010; linebarger & vaala, 2010; warren, 2003). parents’ attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors surveying 21 parents of children ages 6 months to 5 years from an urban head start program and a suburban childcare facility, in a phenomenological case study, we found that parents in our sample believed screen media was an important learning tool for children; however they also reported rarely using this medium for the purpose of teaching children. the findings of this case study showed that the majority of parents report having a neutral attitude (as opposed to a positive or negative attitude) toward children’s screen media use. parents also indicated that they believed it is important to watch tv, dvd, and video with children and that they “often or most of the time” intentionally watch programs with their children. although parents reported they believed it is important to watch programs with their children and the majority of parents indicated they do watch with their children, they also reported “often, most of the time, or always” engaging in other tasks while children are viewing screen media. finally, when asked to respond to items regarding how often they instruct, restrict, or socially coview children’s screen media experiences, we found parents reported using a combination of mediation styles most often with their children; yet appeared to lean in favor of instructional mediation during children’s viewing episodes. when asked to explain “do you point to and/or name things you and your child see on tv, dvd, and videos” parents responded with statements depicting active engagement, for example “we talk about what is happening to clarify what we are seeing” or “so he understands it better”. only 29% of parents in our sample reported that the child’s doctor or someone else had talked with them about children’s tv, dvd, and video use. this figure children’s screen media use & parents’ beliefs 99 suggests that most of the parents had not had a doctor or other person speak with them about their child’s screen media use. the aap (1999, 2001, 2010, 2011) suggests parents should avoid screen media exposure for children under 2 years of age and to limit screen exposure and consumption in children 2 years and older to a maximum of 2 hours per day. children are growing up in screen media rich environments—in many homes tv, dvd and video are now part of the daily routine of infants, toddlers and preschoolers (gutnick et al., 2010; rideout & hamel, 2006; rideout, vandewater, & wartella, 2003; takeuchi, 2011). parents employ educational programs directed at infants, toddlers and preschoolers to entertain and educate their children. the decisions parents make appear to be based on the attitude and belief that children at this young age have the ability to learn—concepts such as letters, colors, numbers and ideas, such as sharing—from screen media (deloache, chiong, sherman, islam, vanderborght, troseth, strouse, & o’doherty, 2010; fender, richert, robb, wartella, 2010; robb, richert, & wartella, 2009; roseberry et al., 2009). current literature points to the paucity of research available regarding associations between tv, dvd, and video exposure and developmental outcomes in young children (deloache, et al., 2010; linebarger & vaala, 2010; robb et al., 2009). in light of this dearth however parents, health care providers, educators, and policy makers continue to make decisions influencing the screen media experiences of young children, specifically decisions regarding the areas of context, content, and amount of screen media children consume or are exposed to. therefore it may be of benefit to parents, educators, health care providers, and policy makers that research continue and be expanded upon in this area enabling those responsible for children’s care to make informed decisions regarding young children's screen media use and exposure (anderson & hanson, 2009; warren, 2003). the decisions parents make during the early childhood years have the potential to influence the trajectory of children’s growth and development. early viewing experiences may impact early childhood development, and later academic achievement. thus, working from the perspective which acknowledges the vital role parents play regarding children’s use and exposure to screen media in the home, it becomes essential to investigate the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors associated with parents’ decisions regarding the contextual factors associated with the screen media experiences of young children. concerning trends the amount of time young children spend viewing television, dvds, and video (i.e., screen media) in the home has increased over the last several decades (fidler, zack, & barr, 2010; gutnick, robb, takeuchi, & kotler, 2010; wartella, richert, & robb, 2010). screen media is ubiquitous for the majority of children living in the united states. one research investigation shows that among the 6 months to 6 year olds studied, 98% have at least one tv in their home, 84% have two or more, and 24% have four or more televisions in their home; and 33% of the parents report that their children have a tv in their bedroom (rideout & hamel, 2006). researchers, parents, educators, healthcare providers, and policy makers voice concerns regarding the possible negative impacts of screen media use on children’s social, physical and academic development (american academy of pediatrics, 1999, 2001, 2010, 2011; children’s television act, 1990; christakis, gilkerson, richards, zimmerman, garrison, gray, & yapanel, 2009). examples of concerns cited pertain to childhood obesity, decreases in levels of vocabulary acquisition, imitation and adoption of aggressive or anti-social behaviors, and 100 schlembach & johnson increases in hyperactive or inattentive behaviors. studies report, infants and toddlers average approximately one to two hours of screen consumption per day, 2-3 year olds spend two or more hours per day viewing screen media, and preschool age children may consume screen media three or more hours per day (see common sense media 2011; gutnick et al. 2010; linn, wolfsheimer almon, & levin, 2012; rideout & hamel 2006; vaala, bleakley, & jordan, 2013). rideout and hamel’s (2006) investigation also indicates that the average age in which children begin viewing screen media is 6 months, and that young children primarily use tv and dvds as mediums for viewing. gutnick et al. (2010) reports that as children mature their computer and video game use tends to increase, however this does not appear to decrease the amount of time spent with tv and dvds, which continue to comprise the majority of 0-10 year olds’ overall screen media use. literature documenting screen media use by young children also point to reports stating parents are watching screen media with their children approximately 36% of the time, and note that children are watching alone or with a sibling a majority of the time (rideout & hamel, 2006; rideout, vandewater & wartella, 2003). scholars have documented increases in the amount of screen media used by children over the last several decades, specifically pointing to advances in technology which have led to the varieties of screen media platforms currently available to children (gutnick et al., 2010; wartella, richert, and robb 2010). children’s programs. today there are many television and screen media programs produced for children ages 0-5 years, ranging in content from curriculum based, child-tested educational series to those purely focused on entertaining (courage, & howe, 2010; gutnick et al., 2010; wartella, richert, & robb, 2010). beyond sesame street and mr. rogers’ neighborhood, is a program titled blue’s clues, which premiered on cable tv in 1996. blue’s clues is an educational television series created for 2-6 year olds. blue’s clues is designed to encourage and support the interactions of young children with characters seen on-screen and to teach processes involved in problem solving (anderson, bryant, wilder, santomero, williams, & crawley, 2000). empirical research findings suggest blue’s clues does have the potential to enhance problem solving skills in young children and may be capable of promoting viewers’ interactions with on-screen characters (anderson et al., 2000). blue’s clues utilizes on-screen characters (steve and blue) to speak directly to viewers, to elicit the attention of the viewing audience, and to facilitate interactions with on-screen characters by incorporating pauses for audience responses to problems encountered by the onscreen characters (anderson et al., 2000). this interactive element is imitative of live adult interactions with children, particularly age-appropriate parent-child dyadic interactions associated with learning, such as when parents gesture to and label objects, and build, or scaffold, on the child’s prior knowledge (linebarger & walker, 2005). teletubbies is another tv series airing in contemporary times. teletubbies’ target audience is children 936 months of age, airing on public broadcasting service (pbs) stations, and is marketed as an educational program. current research by linebarger and walker (2005) however, indicate negative associations between viewing teletubbies and word learning and use of expressive language in children 6-36 months of age. the findings from the linebarger and walker (2005) study suggest that teletubbies may be unable to offer the educational benefits it claims to extend, therefore the content appears to be less educationally centered and more apt to provide entertainment for young children, particularly in light of the fact that the program’s characters use only repetitive non-verbal language. children’s screen media use & parents’ beliefs 101 the advent of increased accessibility of tv has now been joined by the production of tv series, dvds and videos created for infants and toddlers and advertised as having educational content. currently this is a heavily marketed multi-million dollar industry, implying there exists a strong demand for recreational or entertainment centered programs for young children—which the literature reports as having scant empirical evidence substantiating or refuting claims of learning enhancement in young children (deloache, et al., 2010; fenstermacher, barr, salerno, garcia, shwery, calvert, & linebarger, 2010; linebarger & vaala, 2010; robb et al., 2009). rideout and hamel (2006) state that infants, toddlers and preschoolers are watching tv in spite of 1999 recommendations from the american pediatrics association (aap). the aap recommendations, which have been reiterated by the aap in 2001 and again in 2010 and 2011 policy statements on media education, advise parents to avoid tv and video viewing for children under the age of 2, and to limit the amount of tv and video viewing for children older than 2 years of age to 1 to 2 hours per day. the aap supports this warning citing research suggesting that screen media exposure may be related to the displacement of or interference with vital parent-child interactions; stating that infants, toddlers and preschoolers’ time is most optimally spent communicating and engaging with responsive parents and caregivers, thereby facilitating healthy growth and development (anderson & pempek, 2005; fiese & schwartz, 2008; krcmar et al., 2007; roseberry, hirsh-pasek, parish-morris, & golinkoff, 2009). the aap also states that children age 2 and older may benefit when parents watch tv programs with their children. parent-child joint viewing, known as coviewing, has the potential to foster early learning experiences, particularly when parent-child interactions relate to on-screen content (fidler, zack & barr, 2010; warren, 2003). researchers found learning was enhanced when children viewed educational programs during joint viewing episodes with parents who gestured, pointed to and discussed important content features with children (barr, zack, garcia, & muentener, 2008; fender, richert, robb, & wartella, 2010; warren, 2001; valkenburg et al., 1999). barr et al. (2008) studied 12-18 month olds during joint viewing activities. the researchers found that infants attended to the screen content more often when parents utilized higher levels of scaffolding behaviors compared to when parents used lower or medium levels of scaffolding (barr, et al., 2008). fender et al. (2010) investigated word learning from screen media in children ages 12-25 months and found that word learning outcomes were related to the teaching focus of the parent. the researchers suggested that new word learning only occurred in children whose parents actively engaged the child with the screen content (fender, et al., 2010). the investigations mentioned above relate the important role instructional parental mediation plays in facilitating positive learning opportunities for young children during screen viewing experiences. child development and screen media scholars offer varying views regarding the aap recommendations. some agree with the aap recommendations, pointing to empirical research demonstrating negative associations between tv and video use prior to age 2 and developmental outcomes (christakis, gilkerson, richards, zimmerman, garrison, gray, & yapanel 2009; zimmerman & christakis, 2005; tomopoulos, dreyer, berkule, fierman, brockmeyer, & mendelsohn, 2010); others claim the recommendations are premature and too general. specifically, anderson and hanson (2009) contend that the aap recommendations are based on inadequate empirical data, pointing to the paucity of investigations in this field. scholars also argue that the conclusions and implications stemming from this research are often founded on outcomes from investigations of older children (school age) while omitting the different developmental trajectories inherent between younger and older children (anderson & hanson, 102 schlembach & johnson 2009). researchers suggest that the maturity of the child is an important mechanism effecting children’s viewing experiences—that screen media experiences vary depending on the age of the child (anderson & hanson, 2009; barr, et al., 2008). both proponents and opponents of the aap recommendations do however agree on the necessity for continued investigations. researchers contend that results from further studies regarding associations of early exposure and cognitive development and health outcomes may be utilized to inform public policymakers, health care providers, educators and parents, potentially leading to positive decisions regarding screen media use and exposure by young children (anderson & hanson, 2009; barr et al., 2010; linebarger & walker, 2005). discussion the majority of parental screen media mediation research has focused on school aged children, and there are few investigations assessing the parental media mediation strategies of young children. children in our sample ranging in age from 6 months to 5 years are watching television an average of 2.5 hours per day, which is consistent with reports from rideout and hamel (2006) and vandewater, rideout, wartella, huang, lee and shim (2007). this daily average of screen time is in excess of the aap recommendations of no screen content for children under 2 and the suggested amount of 1-2 hours per day for children 2 and older. parents in our sample believe screen content may be used for educational purposes, however, parents report rarely utilizing screen media for teaching. parents also realize that some content may be inappropriate for their child to view, yet most state they rarely discuss their children’s viewing habits with a primary care provider. if education is the goal parents seek from screen media, perhaps research seeking to distinguish which factors most facilitate or impede the use of screen content as a medium for learning should be further endeavored. parents perceive screen media as having the potential to be educational for young children. with this in mind, it would be beneficial for research literature to clearly distinguish factors related to parental media mediation which may facilitate or impede children’s learning from screen media. implications for future research. further research of household media habits may lead to a more comprehensive understanding of what guides parent’s beliefs, attitudes and behaviors regarding young children and their screen media use. by exploring parents’ perceptions of screen media in general and specifically focusing investigations on the contextual nature of young children’s household screen media consumption and exposure, a more complete picture of what comprises the viewing experiences of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers can be established and used to inform the literature. the literature points to the vital role parents play guiding screen media experiences of young children. as noted previously, screen media mediation in the form of intentional parental interactions may elicit learning in young children; however it is important to point out that not all mediation strategies provide educational benefits for children. research suggests that infants, toddlers and preschoolers rely on adult interactions to mediate their screen media experiences, helping to enhance the positive and inhibit the negative effects of screen content. specifically, research suggests that when parents point to, gesture, and discuss the important features of ageappropriate screen content with children during joint viewing sessions, children tend to comprehend more of what they view (fender et al., 2010; roseberry et al., 2009). children’s screen media use & parents’ beliefs 103 researchers discuss the need for future investigations in this area (anderson & hanson, 2009; gutnick et al., 2010; rideout and hamel, 2006; takeuchi, 2011). there is a need for empirically and ecologically based research focusing on screen media use and exposure during the early childhood years. investigations taking place in lab and natural settings (i.e., the home) may yield important findings related to parent mediation, co-viewing, and young children’s healthy growth and development. research findings can be used to provide support and guidance in educating parents regarding the benefits associated with actively mediating, and watching and interacting with children during screen media viewing. to aide in bridging the gap between research findings and providing these findings to inform parents, the aap guidelines would need to be updated. the aap recommendations should be revised to reflect the reality of the ubiquitous nature of screen media in the lives of young children today. the aap guidelines must be based on current empirical research findings regarding the negative as well as the positive aspects of parents’ and young children’s screen media experiences. research concerning young children’s screen media use and exposure has the potential of enhancing policymakers’, parents’, educators’, and health care providers’ access to pertinent information which can help guide appropriate decision making impacting children’s growth and development. references american academy of pediatrics (1999). media education. pediatrics, 104, 341-343. american academy of pediatrics (2010). policy statement—media education. pediatrics, 126(5), 1012-1017. doi: 10.1542/peds.2010-1636 american academy of pediatrics, committee on public education (2001). children, adolescents, and television. pediatrics, 107(2), 423-426. american academy of pediatrics, (2011). council on communications and media. media use by children younger than 2 years. pediatrics, 128, 1040-1045. anderson, d., bryant, j., wilder, a., santomero, a., williams, m., & crawley, a. 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(2010). babies, television and videos: how did we get here? developmental review, 30, 115-127. dialog, 16(1), 45-64 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 research article increasing parent-teacher communication in private preschools serving low income families patti a. bokony, leanne whiteside-mansell, and taren swindle university of arkansas for medical sciences angie waliski va health services research and development (hsr&d), center for mental healthcare and outcomes research, central arkansas veterans healthcare system, little rock, ar parent-teacher communication is a first step in increasing family engagement. private childcare centers have been found to report less frequent parent-child communication than publicly funded early childhood education programs such as head start. using a matched comparison group design, we tested the impact of a two-pronged intervention, the family map inventory for early childhood (family map; family assessment) and teaching important parenting skills (tips; brief parenting interventions on broad array of topics), on parent-teacher communication in private childcare centers serving lowincome families. the intervention included a 4-hour family map training and a 6-hour tips training aimed at improving parent-teacher communication. trained teachers conducted family map interviews and implemented tips for four months. results indicated: (1) teachers were willing to implement the family map/ tips intervention in private child care settings; and (2) the parents and teachers in the intervention group reported higher levels of parent-teacher communication than those in the comparison group. keywords: parent education; family engagement; early education; parent-teacher communication; parent-teacher relationship substantial research provides support for the idea that early care and education providers’ meaningful engagement with families results in better long-term outcomes for children’s socialemotional, behavioral and academic development (bouffard & weiss, 2008). specifically, the degree to which early educators and families maintain positive relationships and promote consistency with each other contributes to children’s positive outcomes (epstein, 2001; mcwayne, fantuzzo, & mcdermott, 2004) even after controlling for family and child characteristics (berthelsen & walker, 2008). bromer and colleagues (2011) proposed an expanded model of early childhood education quality that includes family-sensitive care that may indirectly benefit children through improving the psychological well-being of parents, reducing their isolation, or enhancing their parenting skills. this may be particularly effective when care is appropriate to the needs of individual families. 46 bokony et al. this hypothesis and posited pathways of influence are as yet untested and require empirical validation. the early childhood education field lacks research on components of family-sensitive care (i.e., attitudes, knowledge and practices), its measurement and its impact on children and families. most importantly, we have only limited evidence that childcare providers can serve as sources of family support (bromer et al, 2011). quality standards defined by the major early childhood professional organizations address family engagement/involvement and strong parent-provider relationships (administration for children, youth, and families, 2006; national association for family child care, 2009; national association for the education of young children, 2007). only head start standards include assessment of families’ needs. many state early childhood quality improvement efforts and professional development systems have incorporated these standards. the current challenge is to design and research new strategies and approaches that support family-sensitive attitudes, knowledge and practices. one way to enhance family-sensitive care is to train teachers to have consistent and positive interactions with parents and to be accessible and useful to parents (swick, 2004). effective parent-teacher partnerships are characterized as having reciprocal, on-going, balanced and high quality communication (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006). this exchange of knowledge should be bi-directional – family members have unique knowledge of the child’s life and teachers have access to resources less available to parents. past models of family engagement view this partnership as primarily parent-initiated. many experts now recognize the role of early care and education programs in engaging and involving parents in partnerships (duran, foster, & national family, school, and community engagement working group, 2010).however, early care educators have little preparation and tools to establish partnerships with parents that facilitate opportunities to engage in productive discussions designed to impact parenting practices, the home environment, and children’s outcomes in meaningful ways (harvard family research project, 2006; lightfoot, 2003). parent-teacher communication parent-teacher communication is an essential element of quality early education programs and critical to building the supportive connections between home and school that will have a strong impact on children’s development (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006; lasky, 2000). the aim of addressing parent-teacher communication is to build relationships that can support strong homeschool partnerships (sheridan, marvin, knoche, & edwards, 2008; sheridan, edwards, marvin, & knoche, 2009; shivers, howes, wishard, & ritchie, 2004). suggestions to increase parentteacher communication have primarily involved establishing formal communication opportunities. these include providing activities for teachers to share with parents to do at home, arranging for specific times for parents and teachers to meet and discuss expectations and needs (e.g., home visits, parent-teacher conferences), arranging events (e.g., programs, parent meetings), and purposefully placing siblings with the same teacher over time. however, most preschool parent-teacher communication occurs during informal pick-up and drop-off times and consists of brief, polite ‘small talk’ with a narrow content (shpancer, 2002). parents report they most often communicate with teachers to share information about child behavior problems and with administrators to discuss problems which may or may not be child related (bridgemohan, van wyk, & van staden, 2005). overall, little evidence exist that parents and teachers actually partner to promote children’s health, well-being and school readiness (mcgrath, 2007). parent-teacher communication 47 parent-teacher communication is challenging. reedy and mcgrath (2010) examined childcare directors’ and teachers’ beliefs about communication with parents and identified barriers to both written and verbal communications. the authors found directors and teachers believed written communications are ineffective because parents were too busy to read the information, lose papers, or have language and reading barriers. barriers to verbal communication were intensity of parents’ emotions, presence of children, and lack of time and privacy. teachers also reported they resented extended time away from the classroom for conferences with parents. other potential sources of parent-teacher conflict that may interfere with effective communication include cultural beliefs and inequities in authority and education (coleman & karraker, 1998; galinsky, 1990; joshi, eberly, & konzal, 2005). a perceived power differential may prevent parents from expressing concerns to teachers. differences in languages may challenge clear communication. when educators are also parents, differing childrearing practices may provide a unique barrier to open communication. interventions to enhance parentteacher communication must consider these barriers of teachers’ time, beliefs and attitudes toward working with parents, differences in parenting beliefs and practices, and inequities in authority. parent-teacher communication in most childcare situations tends to be infrequent, brief, and not substantive (clarke-stewart, 1991; perlman & fletcher, 2012). teachers typically avoid discussing controversial child-rearing practices (fagan, 1994). parents typically do not share family information with childcare workers (shpancer, 2002) nor do they view childcare workers as a resource for child-rearing information (kontos & dunn, 1989). conversely, educators are unlikely to offer parenting help, encouragement, or information (shpancer, 2002). research consistently documents teachers’ ambivalence and negative evaluations of parents’ competence (galinsky, 1990; mcgrath, 2007; phillips, 1991), particularly for single mothers with more traditional child-rearing values (kontos & dunn, 1989). in a study comparing parent-caregiver communication in subsidized (i.e., operate with federal or state monies) versus nonsubsidized (i.e., operate with parent tuition) childcare settings, nonsubsidized private centers reported less frequent parent-caregiver communication (ghazvini & readdick, 1994). thus, parent-teacher communication may vary by child-care type with the lowest levels present in private, nonsubsidized centers. those child care settings serving low-income families may be particularly challenged. the bulk of research on professional development has been conducted in subsidized programs, including head start and state-funded preschools. however, such early childhood education programs constitute only one-fourth of the early care workforce (neuman & cunningham, 2009). private childcare centers are defined as those facilities that provide a safe setting that meet basic needs of children of working parents and depend on parent tuition rather than state or federal funding (bellm & whitebook, 2006). in comparison with publicly subsidized early education settings, private childcare settings tend to have caregivers with lower levels of education, higher staff to child ratios, larger group sizes, lower wages, higher turnover and less time available for professional development (zaslow & martinez-beck, 2005). this population of teachers is the hardest to engage in professional development because they operate year-round (e.g., 250 days per year), 12 hours per day and with continuous enrollment. time available for professional development is limited to evenings or saturdays. research is needed in the area of professional development for private childcare sector. 48 bokony et al. experts in early childhood education have recognized the need for training targeting the development of relationships with parents that will yield positive outcomes for children (bromer et al., 2011; dunst & trivette, 2009; dunst & dempsey, 2007; knopf & swick, 2007; knopf & swick, 2008; reedy & mcgrath, 2010). however, research focused on early childhood professional development aimed at improving parent-teacher relationships is limited (bowman, donovan, burns, & committee on early childhood pedagogy of the national research council, 2000). in a study of 25 volunteer teachers of preschool through third grade in one school district, teachers identified parent-teacher communication as important but were unclear as to specific strategies they could employ to communicate with parents (joshi et al., 2005). similarly, based on their findings from a mixed methods study, reedy and mcgrath (2010) concluded that teachers need support and training in parent relations and communicating with parents. few empirical studies have been conducted to assess the efficacy of training to improve meaningful parent-teacher communication in early childhood programs (mcgrath, 2007; olson & fuller, 2003). mcnaughton and colleagues (2007) examined the effectiveness of teaching active listening skills to a small sample of preservice education students (five intervention and five control participants) in a pre/post control design that included parent ratings of students’ skills. intervention participants received 120 minutes of direct instruction on active listening and participated in 30-minute practice sessions. parents did perceive differences in the intervention teachers’ communication skills in videotaped pretest and posttest role plays (mcnaughton, hamlin, mccarthy, head-reeves, & schreiner, 2007). dunst, trivette and deal (2011) studied the effectiveness of three types of in-service training designed to improve early intervention practitioners' ability to use family-systems intervention practices. participants (n=473) attended either conference presentations or half day/full day or multi-day workshop, or received one of two types of on-site, field-based training (basic and enhanced). teachers’ self-ratings at one and six months post training indicated both types of on-site, field-based training were associated with greater benefits (i.e., usefulness of the training content and extent to which the trainings improved their abilities to work with families) compared to the other types of training. no parent ratings of parent-teacher relations were obtained. overall, the research literature on professional development interventions to improve family-sensitive care and parent-teacher communication is limited. study rationale and overview we sought to add to the knowledge base of the efficacy of training to improve parent-teacher communication as assessed by both parents and teachers. the quasi-experimental study of a specialized training intervention was designed to improve parent-caregiver communication as perceived by both parents and caregivers in private childcare centers serving primarily lowincome families. the intervention was designed to prepare childcare workers to conduct family assessments, share parenting information and make referrals to community resources, tasks not typically performed by private childcare providers. we examined the feasibility of implementing the intervention in the private sector by assessing the teachers’ acceptance of the intervention activities and the impact of the intervention on parent-teacher communication. the intervention consisted of two components: (1) the family map inventory for early childhood (whiteside-mansell, bradley, conners, & bokony, 2007), a family assessment tool to identify family strengths and risks; and (2) teaching important parenting skills: tips for great parent-teacher communication 49 kids (tips; bokony, butler, & shaw-bailey, 2011), a parenting education program. together, tips implemented with the family map is designed to increase communication and continuity between home and childcare, improve parents’ perception of teachers as a resource for child development and childrearing information, and increase parents’ access to timely and researchbased information and referrals. in this preliminary study, we examined parent-teacher communication, theorized as the mechanism to enhance parenting practices and the home environment. we addressed two research questions: (1) can the tips/family map intervention be implemented in community-based, private childcare centers (i.e., feasibility and acceptability)? (2) did the tips/family map training increase the level of parent-teacher communication? we hypothesized that teachers (i.e., caregivers in the classroom) and parents in the intervention group would demonstrate greater, positive changes in parent-teacher communication than teachers and parents in a matched comparison group. method we used a quasi-experimental design with matched centers randomly assigned to either the intervention or comparison group. the randomized sample was intentionally weighted in favor of the intervention group to maximize the cost effectiveness and number of centers that could benefit as well as to reduce the number of comparison centers burdened by data collection. the intervention group received the intervention training and materials. the comparison group conducted “business as usual” and were given the opportunity to receive the intervention when data collection was completed. sampling procedures recruitment. all childcare centers serving low-income families (i.e., eligible to receive state childcare vouchers for assistance to low-income families) within a 50-mile radius of an urban area in a southern state. based on a state list of 45 childcare providers meeting the inclusion criteria, were contacted in person and by phone over several weeks in september 2009. inclusion criteria were licensed, private, childcare centers including those with some (i.e., 1-2 classrooms) state funding. exclusion criteria were school-based, state-funded programs and head start programs. centers were recruited in two cohorts so that intervention training could begin with the first cohort while recruitment continued. as groups of centers were identified into the pool of centers, they were matched by location and size and randomized into an intervention or comparison group. in cohort 1, the first 8 centers that agreed to participate were matched and randomly assigned. cohort 2, consisting of 13 centers, was recruited within a month of cohort 1. of these, groups of two or three centers were matched and one was randomly assigned to the comparison group (n = 5). at the time of pre-test, two comparison and two treatment centers declined to participate. this resulted in 11 intervention centers with 27 classrooms and 7 comparison centers with 18 classrooms. all parents who had the opportunity to interact with center staff were targeted for the study. parents of children who were transported from early-care or to after-care were excluded because they would not have an opportunity to benefit from the intervention (i.e., had no daily 50 bokony et al. contact with teachers). parents were also excluded if they could not speak english well enough to participate in the survey. retention. classrooms that reached recruitment goals of 80% of families for pre-and post-tests were provided with classroom educational toys. teachers that continued participation for the duration of the school year received classroom supplies as incentive. parents received a one-dollar coin for completion of the survey at preand postassessment points. between may 3 and may 28, all centers were contacted to schedule posttest surveys with teachers and parents. three centers did not complete post-test assessments. one intervention center closed and two comparison centers refused. intervention procedures teaching important parenting skills: tips for great kids! (tips). tips is based on a brief parenting intervention (bpi) model in which teachers, who have routine contact with families, are provided materials and training to share parenting information and referrals over the course of the school year. the bpi model emphasizes flexibility to tailor a series of individualized brief lessons on a wide array of topics to meet the unique needs of individual families. the topics discussed should respond to parents’ immediate concerns (e.g. daytime toileting accidents, anxiety, tantrums) or provide anticipatory guidance (e.g., reading aloud, oral health care). the bpi model is premised on the notion that if one, limited intervention is perceived to work, families are more likely to request or take advantage of a second, third, etc. focused conversations during the course of the child’s time in the classroom. tips is designed as an alternative to formal, structured parenting classes which have not been successful at engaging high risk families, especially poor and single-parent families (gardner, burton, & klimes, 2006; garvey, julion, fogg, kratovil, & gross, 2006; huebner, 2002). tips is based on a developmental ecological perspective that identifies the family and childcare workers as the most influential and proximal systems for impacting children’s early learning and well-being (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006). key elements of the tips training are guided by theories of empowerment (rappaport, 1981), family strengths (saleebey, 2006; stinnett & defrain, 1985), social support (gottlieb, 1994), stages of change (norcross, krebs, & prochaska, 2011; prochaska & norcross, 2001), motivating change (miller & rollinick, 2002), family-centered practice (mcwilliam, snyder, harbin, porter, & munn, 2000; zhang & bennett, 2003), family-identified needs (garbarino, 1982) and the family systems model (dunst & dempsey, 2007). drawing from these theories, tips aims to increase teachers’ capacity to: (1) strengthen their relationships with parents as the primary means for increasing the use of positive parenting practices; (2) serve as a resource for families to access research-based parenting and child development information and resources; (3) model behaviors and practices the program wishes to foster; and (4) tailor content of communications to empower families to address their self-identified concerns and interests. the tips training introduces participants to the key elements of the bpi model, reviews the impact of risk and protective factors on children and families, offers strategies for positive parent-teacher dialog, and teaches use of tips materials. targeted skills include listening for and responding to parents’ self-identified interest and concerns, assessing parent’s readiness for anticipatory guidance, recognizing parent’s current level of knowledge and skills as the starting point for conversations, and motivating change. teachers are encouraged to adjust their parent-teacher communication 51 schedules to allow for morning or end of day interactions with families, use strategies to reduce conflict, and promote mutual goals for children. the intent is to build a communication process that is ongoing, bi-directional, purposeful, and supportive of child and family resiliency. the tips materials are organized into a toolkit. the components of the tips toolkit are: (1) what the experts say manual(a synthesis of the research literature on parenting topics across 12 domains research has shown to be important to children’s wellbeing and aligned with the family map); (2) quick reference cards (main parent message and relevant parenting skills) for each parenting tip; (3) parent tip cards (brief parenting message on a 4” x 6” card, 150 words or less, 6 th grade or below reading level, english/spanish); and (4) parents’ guide to community resources(indexed guide to resources in english and spanish). the format of the tips training draws on self-efficacy and adult learning theories. selfefficacy is the belief in one’s ability to successfully perform a particular behavior (bandura, 1977). for teachers to feel efficacious in interacting with families, they must possess knowledge of child development and parenting, have confidence in their own abilities to engage families and share information, believe parents will respond contingently, and that others (e.g., administrators and peers) will be supportive of their efforts. second, professional development for teachers is increasingly conceptualized as grounded in the theory and practice of adult learning (beavers, 2009; knowles, holton iii, & swanson, 2005). adult learning theory posits that adult learners draw on their own experiences, are self-directed and internally motivated, and learn best when they have a need to know or a problem to solve (bryan, kreuter, & brownson, 2009; lawler, 2003; trotter, 2006). the tips training utilizes professional development approaches consistently linked with sustainability of new skills: specific goals and objectives aligned with standards for practice, collective participation of staff from same classrooms and centers, provision of resources, ongoing training and technical assistance(institute of medicine and national research council, 2012; zaslow, tout, halle, whittaker, & lavelle, 2010). the 6-hour tips basic training is conducted on-site by tips certified trainers. training materials include powerpoint presentation, handouts that encourage reflection and application, a participant manual, and a tips toolkit. training activities include lecture, discussion, interactive small and large group activities and behavior rehearsal to teach the content and practice skills. centers can elect to receive additional 1-hour training sessions on specific tips topics customized to fit the families they serve. follow-up technical assistance consists of in-person and telephone contact. the family map. the family map provides a basis for the teacher to discuss the home environment with the parent. the semi-structured interview assesses key aspects of the family and home environment associated with well-being in 3to 5-year old children (whitesidemansell et al., 2007). the family map systematically identifies risk and protective factors to enable early childhood educators to tailor interventions to reduce risk conditions (e.g., food insecurity, insufficient sleep, harsh discipline, maternal depression or family conflict) or enhance protective factors associated with healthy development and school readiness (e.g., monitoring and supervision, consistent morning and bedtime routines, learning activities, or enriching out of home experiences). the measure was designed to be used during home visits with head start families but has been used in classroom parent teacher conferences (bokony, mckelvery, & swindle, 2010). the family map includes survey and observation items organized into 12 modules that generally correspond to those in the tips program. the specific items in each module were developed from tools used in national studies of low-income families (i.e., incomes 52 bokony et al. under 100% of the federal poverty level) as well as tools with published reliability and validity. training prepares teachers to conduct the interview, record parents’ responses and respond with appropriate parenting tips or resources. data collection procedures surveys were collected from teachers and parents at all centers in the fall (pre-test) and again in the spring (post-test) by trained data collectors. data collectors were available at the center at least one morning and two evenings during data collection with repeat visits until the childcare staff indicated we had exhausted the pool of families that typically dropped off or picked up their children. data collectors were trained in study procedures and the data collection team consisted of a lead researcher that monitored data collection protocol. at pre-test (prior to training), it was unclear which adults in the centers would have interactions with parents and children. that is, centers had different structures. for example, at some small centers the director acts as both classroom teacher and director; at larger centers directors are not in the classrooms. in other centers, part-time staff moved from classroom to classroom. therefore, all likely adults were interviewed at pre-test. at post-test, adults (e.g., teachers, aides, directors) were asked if they routinely saw parents before the surveys were administered. only adults that responded yes were surveyed. as a result, the post-test survey efforts focused on those who had received tips training, mostly classroom teachers. training once recruitment ended, training was implemented in fall 2009. training times and location were tailored to meet individual centers’ needs (e.g., saturdays and evenings). all intervention sites participated in a 6-hour tips basic training and 4-hour family map training. key elements of the tips training overlap with the typical 6-hour family map training; therefore, when tips and family map training is combined the family map training is typically shortened to 4-hours. additional brief trainings on specific parenting topics were provided by tips staff or directors for some centers as requested. all training sessions were entered into the state professional development registry for childcare workers and ceus were made available. one tips toolkit was provided per classroom. measures teachers tips training evaluation. to assess perceptions of the training, teachers rated their degree of agreement to positive statements about tips training on a 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much) scale at four months post training. teachers rated the benefit of the training, usefulness of tips materials, perception of benefit of tips to parents, and the need for additional training. a mean was calculated across items to indicate an overall perception of the training. tips program survey. teachers provided ratings on eight positively worded statements about the program to assess their overall reactions to tips at four months post parent-teacher communication 53 training. reponses ranged from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much) including their fondness, understanding, comfort, use, perception of parent’s implementation and comfort with providing tips. family map evaluation. after family map assessments were completed, teachers reported how many families they had interviewed, their perception of how well it was received by families, how long it took to conduct the interview, their comfort with the interview, and the degree to which the interview revealed new information about the child and family. teacher-parent communication. teachers reported on the frequency of 20 items occurring over the last month to indicate the level of teacher-parent communication. of these, four items were related to how many parents in their classroom initiated contact with the teacher regarding the child, the family, and parenting (1= none, 2 = a few, 3 = some, and 4 = most; scale = parent communication, α = .81). an additional seven items reflected teacher effort to engage parents on various topics (teacher help, α = .78) and nine items were directly related to the frequency of teachers’ answering of parent questions about child development issues (1 = never, 2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, 4 = often; scale =teacher answer, α = .93). measures parents parent-teacher relationship. to assess the degree to which the teacher and parent communicated enough to build a trusting relationship regarding the care and needs of the child, eight questions were asked of parents. these questions include assessments of the intent (e.g., seek information), the content (e.g., child’s behavior), and the frequency (e.g., rarely) of the parent-teacher communication. these questions were modified from the parent-caregiver communication checklist (pccc; endsley & minish, 1991). two subscales were derived from these questions. help received (seven items, α = 0.84) reflects parents’ report of information or help that was received from the teacher, and help asked (two items, α = 0.59) reflects parents’ reported likelihood to engage the teacher for help and information. items were rated on a 1 (never) to 4 (often) scale. these reports were based on the person at the center with whom they spoke the most often. results demographics teachers a total of 106 surveys were collected from staff in centers at the pre-test (66 intervention and 40 comparison), and 74 were collected at post-test (50 intervention and 24 comparison). table 1 provides demographic comparisons between intervention and comparison teachers at pre-test and post-test. parenting status was included as a variable because differences in child-rearing have been found to cause parent-teacher disagreements(endsley & minish, 1991; shpancer, 1998; van ijzendoorn, tavecchio, stams, verhoeven, & reiling, 1998).parenting experiences may influence teachers’ attitudes, beliefs and knowledge relative to parenting practices and their comfort in sharing parenting information. at pretest, the intervention and comparison group were 54 bokony et al. similar with the exception of teacher race and teacher parenthood. in the comparison group, significantly more teachers were white (p =.042) and significantly fewer were parents (p = .001). table 1 teacher demographics by intervention status and time point intervention group comparison group pre-test a (n = 66) post-test a (n=50) pre-test (n = 40) post-test (n = 24) teacher ethnicity white 34.80% 34.00% 55.00% 25.00% african american 60.60% 62.00% 45.00% 75.00% other 0.60% 4.00% 3 + years experience 46.00% 50.00% 48.70% 47.90% high school degree or less 54.80% 42.50% 48.90% 57.10% teaching certificate or cda complete 34.40% 42.00% 35.10% 25.10% teaching certificate or cda enrolled 27.90% 26.60% 34.20% 45.90% teacher is parent 88.90% 73.50% 52.60% 58.30% a we over-enrolled at pretest to capture all adults who might participate in the intervention; post-test we included only those who participated in the tips training. from pre-test to post-test, 59% of teachers were retained. no significant demographic differences were observed between teachers retained and those not assessed at post-test. however, three significant differences were noted. for teachers that participated at both the pre and posttests (versus those that only participated at the pre-test), more were from programs with some state-funded classrooms (p =.005). second, compared to those that only participated at the pre-test, fewer respondents at the post-test were directors or “other” staff at the center (25 at pretest vs. 18 at post-test). finally, marginally more teachers retained at posttest had an associate degree or continuing education compared to dropouts (p = .07). thus, while not statistically significant, this finding suggests that teachers that were retained may have been more educated than those that were lost from the sample. demographics parents at the pre-test, surveys were collected from 421 parents (273 intervention and 148 comparison). post-test surveys were collected from 335 parents (233 intervention and 102 comparison). parents provided demographic information on their children and themselves at both preand post-test (see table 2). children at intervention and comparison centers were demographically similar at pretest in all of areas except ethnicity. significantly more white children were in the comparison group than in the intervention group (p = .01). at pre-test, intervention and comparison parents exhibited two demographic differences. significantly more intervention parents indicated lower level of education than comparison parents. that is, 28.4% of the comparison parents had only a high school education or less parent-teacher communication 55 compared to 43.6% of the intervention group (p = .002). additionally, significantly more comparison parents (41.5%) were recipients of state child care vouchers than parents in the intervention group (25.6%; p = .001) table 2 table 2 teacher demographics by intervention status and time point intervention group comparison group pre-test (n = 273) post-test (n =233 ) pre-test (n = 148) post-test (n = 103) child characteristics ethnicity african american 53.3% 54.1% 44.9% 60.8% white 33.0% 36.0% 46.9% 33.3% hispanic 9.3% 5.2% 0.7% 3.9% other 4.4% 4.7% 7.5% 2.0% female 53.3% 49.1% 47.6% 49.0% attended current center 6+ months 59.4% 87.9% 57.9% 80.4% attends center 8 + hours per day 29.0% 26.5% 20.9% 29.4% parent characteristics female 79.7% 77.9% 81.1% 80.4% biological parent 82.9% 85.7% 88.5% 91.2% 21 years of age or older 97.4% 99.1% 96.6% 99.0% parent has partner 59.0% 50.6% 62.2% 43.6% parent has other children at center 52.0% 47.0% 60.9% 42.2% works 30 + hours per week 64.1% 74.0% 69.0% 77.0% uses child care vouchers 25.7% 23.7% 41.5% 31.7% education no degree 4.2% 3.0% 0.7% 1.0% high school or ged 41.3% 26.3% 28.7% 23.7% technical degree 6.1% 10.8% 7.0% 8.9% some college 27.5% 38.8% 37.8% 38.6% college degree 21.0% 21.1% 25.9% 27.7% from pre-test to post-test, 46% (n = 155) of children had a parent/caregiver complete assessments at both time points with 112 interviews with the same parent. a comparison of the 155 match pairs with the remaining 265 caregivers who did not receive a post-test assessment was conducted based on pre-test assessments. several demographic differences were noted between children who had a parent surveyed at both pre-test and post-test compared to parents that were surveyed at the pre-test but not again at the follow-up. compared to parents who participated in only the pretests, parents who had data at both time points were significant: fewer “other” ethnicities (p = .04), fewer “not biological” parents (p = .02), more “beyond high school” parents (p = .03), more parents that work 40 hours or more (p = .002), fewer that received state vouchers (p = .001), and marginally fewer who had children that had been at three more centers (p = .07). of the 155 with matching pre-test and post-test, 109 were intervention and 46 were 56 bokony et al. comparison. of the 112 (subset of 155 that were exact parent match), 74 were intervention and 38 were comparison. statistical tests indicate that the intervention group had better (however not statistically significant) retention. feasibility and acceptability of the intervention implementation of tips training tips training evaluation. among all intervention teachers surveyed at the post-test, most intervention teachers surveyed reported receipt of tips training (90%) beyond the basic training, predominantly from a tips trainer (80%). the majority of teachers (41%) participated in an additional 6 -12 hours of instruction on tips topics and 34.7% participated in 2-6 hours of training. few teachers, only 4.1%, completed ‘very little’ (less than 2 hours). only 4.1% completed ‘a great deal’ (greater than 12 hours) of training. this degree of teacher involvement suggests that teachers were qualified to provide feedback on the tips training and implementation. overall, ratings were positive (m= 4.17, sd =1.04) and were consistent (α = 0.96). no differences were observed between teacher education or experience levels on these items. tips program survey. among all intervention teachers surveyed, teacher opinions about the tips program were positive (m= 3.73, sd= 1.01), and were internally consistent (α = 0.94). at posttest, most teachers reported sharing parenting tips (95.6%). teachers generally agreed that they liked the tips program (m= 3.96, sd = 1.13), understood how the tips program worked (m = 4.06, sd = 1.13), felt comfortable talking to parents about tips (m =3.98, sd =1.11), learned new things from tips (m = 3.96,sd = 1.17), gave families suggestions using tips (m=3.82, sd = 1.17), thought parents used the tips given to them (m =3.35, sd = 1.32), saw parents using tips given to them (m=3.24, sd= 1.40), and believed parents liked having the tips program in their center (m=3.65, sd = 1.20). no differences were observed between teacher education or experience levels on these items. family map evaluation. of teachers at intervention centers, half (25 of 50) reported completing one or more family map interviews and completed the family map evaluation about their experience. many (60.1 %) believed that half or more of the families they interviewed liked the family map. nearly all teachers (92%) said the family map interview took 1 hour or less after they became acclimated to its use. ratings were given on a 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much) scale regarding teachers’ comfort with conducting the interview (m = 3.42, range 1 to 5), whether information learned in the interview helped them to understand the family (m = 4.17, range 2 to 5), and if insight gained in the interview helped explain the child’s classroom behavior (m = 4.13, range 3 to 5). these responses suggest that the family map was successful in helping teachers to better comprehend the situation of the child and family. in fact, all teachers indicated learning at least something about the child from the interview. parent-teacher communication teachers independent t-tests were conducted on responses of teachers who had data at both preand posttests. as shown in table 3, intervention teachers reported higher communication patterns with parent-teacher communication 57 parents at post-test in all three areas measured than comparison teachers: parents volunteering information about their child/family (parent communication, mdiff = 1.04;not significant), teachers providing help to the parents (teacher help; t(70) = 2.13; p = 0.04, d = .51), and teachers answering parent questions (teacher answer; t(70) = 3.06; p = 0.003, d = .73). intervention teachers reported that parents asked for help with family problems and for information about parenting significantly more often than comparison teachers reported. table 3 parent-teacher communication: teacher intervention versus comparison at post-test scale item pre-test post-test m (sd) range m (sd) range teacher (n = 74) (n = 50) (n = 24) parent communication scale a (α = .81) 2.43 (0.64)** 1.25 -3.75 2.21 (0.64) 1.25 – 3.50 teacher help scale b (α = .78) 3.19 (0.52)* 1.57 4 2.91 (0.58)* 2 – 3.86 teacher answer scale c (α = .93) 2.45 (0.77)** 1 – 4 1.93 (0.64)** 1 – 3 **p< .01; *p<.05, † p < .10 a high scores indicate the teacher identified more families; b,c high scores indicate more often; d statistical analysis based on paired-sample t-tests (n=36); means based on full available sample. to control for existing characteristics of teachers who were assessed at both time points, multiple linear regressions were conducted to control for 1) pre-test scores on parent-teacher communication scales, 2) teacher experience, 3) teacher parenthood, 4) teacher education level, and 5) state-funded classroom status. significant intervention effects were observed on the scales of parent communication (β =.38; t(36) = 2.00, p = .05) and teacher answer (β = .43; t(36) = 2.21, p = .035) beyond these factors (see table 4). this analysis indicates that intervention status had a unique and positive impact on teacher-parent communication. table 4 regression analysis of teacher report of parent-teacher communication at posttest parent communication scale teacher answer scale predictor b (se) β b (se) β pre-test score .53 (.15)** .57** .55 (.16)** . 55** teacher experience -.03 (.07) -.03 -.06 (.09) -.10 teacher is a parent -.11 (.20) -.01 -.15 (.26) -.10 teacher education -.12 (.08) -.25 -.19 (.10) -.31 state-funded classroom -.03 (.16) -.02 -.08 (.20) -.06 intervention site .55 (.27)* .38* .79 (.36)* .43* r 2 .47 .45 f 4.46** 1.01** **p< .01; *p < .05 58 bokony et al. parent-teacher communication parents comparisons of preand post-test responses (n = 155 parents were assessed at both times) of the intervention group support findings from teachers (see table 5). intervention parents reported significantly greater scores, with a medium effect size, on the help received scale at posttest than at pretest (t(108) = -6.17; p = 0.01, d =.50), specifically on items related to the family and parenting. a comparison analysis was conducted with the full sample and without the 40 families in which a different parent was conducted at each time point. no substantive differences were found with or without the 40 parents. table 5 parent-teacher relationship: parent intervention vs. comparison at post-test scale item treatment comparison m (sd) range m (sd) range parent (n = 335) (n = 233) (n = 102) help received scale a (α = .84) 22.34 (4.23)* 7 28 20.80 (4.99) 8 28 help asked scale a (α = .59) 6.05 (1.57) 2 – 8 5.83 (1.79) 2 8 *p<.05; a high score indicates more help analyses controlling for 1) pre-test scores, 2) parent education, 3) length of time the child had attended the center, and 4) the number of hours worked by the parent in a week were also conducted on parent-teacher communication using multiple linear regression. significant intervention effects were observed on the scale of help received (β =.16; t(152) = 2.41, p = .02) as seen in table 6. this indicates that intervention status had a unique and positive impact in the area of parent receiving help from a teacher. these analyses used all families with preand posttest data including about 40 cases in which a different family member was interviewed at pre-test compared to post-test. again, exclusion of these 40 families did not affect results. table 6 regression analysis of parent report of parent-teacher communication at posttest help received scale predictor b (se) β pre-test score .55 (.07)** .54** parent education -.01 (.03) -.02 parent hours of work -.05 (.03)* -.15* length of attendance at center .06 (.14) .03 intervention site .23 (.10)* .16* r 2 .34 f 15.20** **p < .01; *p < .05 parent-teacher communication 59 discussion the tips and family map intervention was designed to increase communication and continuity between home and childcare, improve parents’ perception of teachers as a resource for child development and childrearing information, and increase parents’ access to timely and researched-based information and resources. the intervention targeted the exchange of information at drop-off and pick-up because this is when most parent-teacher communication occurs (shpancer, 2002). effective parent-teacher communication is the basis for developing effective relationships with families (baker & manfredi-petitt, 2004) and providing familysensitive care (bromer et al., 2011). as evidenced in national standards of quality for early education and two-generational programs such as head start, attention to family circumstances and needs is seen an important component of quality child care programs. in this study, we examined the feasibility of implementing the tips (parent education) and family map (family assessment) intervention and the impact of the training on parentteacher communication in private childcare centers. private childcare is a sector of early care settings with low levels of parent-teacher communication which have historically been a hard-toreach population for professional development and research. further, we provided preliminary evidence that training can impact parent-teacher communication from the perspectives of both parents and teachers. larger scale studies are needed to determine whether improved parentteacher communication impacts parenting practices and home environments in ways that promote positive outcomes for children. feasibility and acceptability of the tips/family map intervention in this study, we demonstrated that it is feasible to implement the tips/family map intervention in private child care centers serving low-income families. as is common in the private child care sector, scheduling training was challenging because centers lacked the financial ability to hire substitutes and did not have dedicated days for professional development. training sessions were conducted at times and locations convenient for each participating center, including weekday evenings and saturdays. in spite of difficulties of attending the training beyond a 40-hour work week, teachers gave positive ratings for the tips basic training. the training sessions were well received by all staff with no differences found based on teacher education levels or years of experience. additionally, almost all of the teachers trained (95%) at post-test reported sharing tip cards (e.g., implemented this part of the intervention) with families and believed that families utilized the information shared. intervention teachers, regardless of education or experience, found the intervention acceptable and were willing to adopt a new role of providing parenting education when given training, materials and ongoing support. about half (25/40) of teachers administered the family map. this low number may reflect time constraints of the study. the family map is intended to be completed at the time of the child’s enrollment. in contrast to federally funded and school-based preschool programs which typically enroll most children at the beginning of an identified school year, private preschools enroll children year-round. over time, we would anticipate the number of families 60 bokony et al. participating in a family map interview in private childcare centers would increase as new children enrolled. when the family map interviews were conducted, teachers reported learning important information about the child or family, indicative of improved parent-teacher communication. parent-teacher communication the results of this study suggest the intervention had a modest impact on parent-teacher communication from the perspectives of both parents and teachers. intervention teachers showed higher levels of communication with parents at post-test than comparison teachers. intervention teachers reported answering more parent questions than comparison teachers who showed no change in their communication with parents at posttest compared to their earlier assessments. intervention teachers reported answering questions about a variety of children’s health issues, behavior and discipline, reading, tooth brushing, bedtime routines, and safety. thus teachers did provide parents with information on parenting practices linked to positive child outcomes. the finding of an increase in parent-teacher communication reported by teachers was supported by parent responses. intervention parents reported receiving more help from teachers than comparison parents, particularly on items relating to family and parenting. parents in the intervention group were more likely than comparison parents to discuss childcare with their child’s teacher, receive parenting information and tips, and receive help with a child behavior problem. the greatest change reported was related to parents asking for help with a family problem and with parents asking for and teachers giving parenting information. these results were consistent even when considering teachers’ baseline scores on parent-teacher communication scales, education, experience teaching, and teachers’ parenting status. these findings, reported by both teachers and parents, are encouraging. while the results are not conclusive, it is a necessary first step to provide evidence of an intervention impact in an area with limited research. differences between intervention and comparison parent and teacher ratings of communication were consistent with the components of the training. for example, in contrast to parents in the comparison group, intervention parents reported they received more help from teachers relative to parenting, a child’s problem behavior, and a family problem. we attempted to address a gap in the early childhood literature by targeting a hard-toreach population of childcare providers that are likely to have low levels of parent-teacher communication and limited access to professional development. in our study, teachers in the private childcare centers were willing to participate in the training, engage families, conduct family assessments, and share information related to parenting issues. the results of our study indicate caregivers in private childcare settings, regardless of their level of education or experience, understood and accepted the intent of tips/family map intervention. analysis of parent data provides some support for the notion that parent-teacher communication can be impacted through professional development. parent-teacher communication 61 limitations and future directions although this study included a relatively large sample of parents, it included smaller samples of teachers and centers, which limited its statistical power and feasibility to take into account the potential impact of teachers nested within centers and parents nested within teachers. also, the high attrition rates (only 59% of teachers and 46% of parents were retained from pretest to posttest) represent a potential threat of bias if those who dropped out of the study were systematically different from those who remained in the study. the sample was reduced at posttest when one intervention center closed and two comparison centers declined to participate in post-test data collection. we cannot account for attrition of parents based on study procedures. data collectors made repeated visits, morning and afternoon, to a center until the childcare staff indicated we had exhausted the pool of families that typically dropped off or picked up their children. attrition may have been due to dropped enrollment. research has documented that child care stability for young children is challenging for low-income families (chase, arnold, schauben, & shardlow, 2005; lowe, weisner, geis, & huston, 2005). parents who were assessed at only pretest were more likely to be minority, be a caregiver other than a biological parent, have a lower level of education, receive child care vouchers, and have a history of unstable child care. thus, the attrition rate is a potential threat to the validity of the findings. it also highlights a difficulty in conducting research in private child care settings serving primarily low-income families. for teachers, our study design (over-enrollment at pre-test) and withdrawal of three centers at posttest accounted for much of the attrition of staff. analyses to assess attrition bias indicated teachers who were retained were demographically similar to those who were not assessed at the post-test. teachers who participated at both data collection time points, compared to those who participated only at pretest, had slightly more education and training, although not statistically different, and were more likely to work in a center with some state subsidy. based on these analyses, the high attrition rate presented minimal threat to the validity of the findings for this aspect of the study, but does attest to the difficulty of engaging this sector of child care in intervention research studies. finally, the scope of this study limited our ability to fully measure parent-teacher communication. this study relied on self-report data. while differences between groups were detected on the help received scale (α = .84), no differences were detected on the help asked scale (α = .59). this may have been due to low reliability of the scale. in a review of measurement instruments to assess family-sensitive care, bromer and colleagues (2011) conclude that no measures are currently available that adequately assess providers’ sensitivity to strengths and needs of families, collection of information from families, and the use of information to inform interactions and program planning. optimally, a future study of provider attitudes, knowledge and practices would include both explicit measures (e.g., self-report, responses to case studies) and 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(2007). the family map: structured family interview to identify strengths and risks in head start families. nhsa dialog: a research-to-practice journal for the early intervention field., 10, 189-209. zaslow, m., tout, k., halle, t., whittaker, j. v., & lavelle, b. (2010). toward the identification of features of effective professional development for ealry childhood educators. washington, dc: u.s. department of education, office of planning, evaluation and policy development, policy and program studies service. zaslow, m., & martinez-beck, i. (2005). critical issues in early childhood professional development. baltimore, md: brookes publishing company. zhang, c., & bennett, t. (2003). facilitating the meaningful participation of culturally and linguistically diverse families in the ifsp and iep process. focus on autism & other developmental disabilities, 18, 51. acculturationduringpreschool_rtp_4.29.13_references.docx.docx dialog, 16(3), 183-187 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to sandraluz lara-cinisomo, ph.d., postdoctoral fellow in perinatal mood disorders, department of psychiatry unc school of medicine 101 manning drive, cb #7160, 10514 neurosciences hospital, chapel hill, nc 27599-7160university of north carolina charlotte, 9201 university city blvd., charlotte, nc 28269. e-mail: sandraluz_lara-cinisomo@med.unc. research-to-practice summary maternal perceptions of acculturation at the onset of child schooling: implications for teachers sandraluz lara-cinisomo, ph.d. university of north carolina at chapel hill audrey alforque thomas, ph.d. national university of ireland, galway this qualitative study examined mothers’ perspectives on their preschoolers’ acculturation and the relationship to their own acculturation. three acculturation processes emerged from the qualitative data that illustrate how mothers perceive their own and their child’s acculturation: parallel, vertex, and inter-segmented. each type may have implications for teacher-parent interactions. this summary highlights how the results from the published article can be implemented in the classroom and how teachers can engage immigrant parents whose acculturation process may vary. specifically, we emphasize the need to understand parents' approaches and expectations as they relate to cultural adaptations, especially at the onset of schooling. keywords: acculturation, parent, child, teacher, school latinos, who comprise 20% of children in the united states (u.s. census, 2012), are struggling academically (gandara & contreras, 2009). family income and parents’ level of education affect children’s access to preschool and school readiness (entwisle & alexander, 1995; duncan & magnuson, 2005). children from latino families who are struggling economically, begin school at a disadvantage (rumberger & arellano, 2009; magnuson & waldfogel, 2005). head start is poised to have an early, positive impact on this large and growing population. for children of immigrant parents, the onset of schooling may also initiate the acculturation process for parent and child. while there is a growing body of research that describes an adolescent’s acculturation experiences, less is known about the preschooler’s acculturation and her parents’ own acculturation during the early education experiences, such as those that occur in preschool. this article describes results from a qualitative study with six latina immigrant mothers whose preschooler attended a community-based preschool program offered by healthy start 184 lara-cinisomo support services for children act (healthy start initiative). the objective of the study described here was to learn about mothers’ perceptions regarding their preschooler’s acculturation experiences within the school setting while exploring the mother’s acculturation process. the mothers in the study were part of a cohort of volunteers who participated in classroom activities while their child attended the preschool program. after several weeks of interactions with the volunteers that were designed to build trust, the volunteers were invited to participate in the study. establishing trust with prospective latino immigrant participants is paramount to any study, particularly when the study focuses on parenting, child development and school aspirations (umaña-taylor & bámaca, 2004; bender, harbour, thorp, & morris, 2001). informal conversations often took place during the first author’s (lara-cinisomo) participant observations and interactions with volunteer mothers. once mothers consented to participate, they were interviewed about their children’s emotional needs to mother’s perception of their preschooler’s school performance. results based on qualitative data analyses revealed interesting acculturation processes as perceived by the six mothers interviewed for the study. the first process observed in the data is referred to as parallel acculturation, which, from the mother’s perceptions, illustrates a distinct acculturation process between mother and child. here, the mother perceives her child’s acculturation as occurring separately from her own process. based on our analysis of the data, the parallel mother appears to resist acculturating and discourages her child from doing so as well. while this mother has academic goals for her child, integration into american culture and practices are discouraged within the home. for instance, while the mother in our study understands the value of learning english, she prohibits her son from speaking it in the home despite her preschooler’s pride in knowing and speaking the language. it is likely that teachers have observed such behaviors in a fraction of the latino immigrant families they work with. in those instances, it will be important that teachers not interpret a parent’s resistance to acculturate as potentially having a negative consequence on the child’s academic preparation or performance. instead, teachers are encouraged to respect parents’ need to maintain their cultural values and beliefs by supporting parents’ academic aspirations for their children. for instance, while the parallel mother in our study was resistant to her child’s use of english in the home, she did not dispute the importance of her child’s education and the need to learn english to be successful in school. therefore, teachers might want to highlight the child’s success in school and encourage parents to engage in their child’s academic experiences while using spanish in the home. given that there might be conflict between the child’s desire to use english when possible and his mother’s restrictions in the home, it will be important to provide parents with written material in spanish that explains the objective of a homework assignment and ways that parents can help regardless of language spoken at home. furthermore, ceballo (2004) cautions against using white, middle-class norms to understand immigrant latino families. she found that while immigrant latino parents may not be involved in their children’s school, they support education by voicing their commitment to the u.s. educational system, protecting their children’s study space and time, and respecting their children’s autonomy in the academic sphere. thus, the support of latino parents may be less apparent to teachers, but no less important to the student. we also found that mothers in our study described an acculturation pattern they observe in themselves and their preschooler as what we define as a vertex process. here, both mother and child start at the same place, possibly with the same level of english proficiency, then gradually take different paths. this shift in trajectory between mother and child might be attributed to the amount of contact the parent and child have with american cultural practices and values. the acculturation processes 185 mean number of years in the u.s. among the three mothers identified as vertex was just over six years. furthermore, the degree to which these mothers felt they had acculturated might be influenced by their confidence in, say, speaking english. for instance, while the three vertex mothers in this article reported interfacing with u.s. schools in the past, two also said they did not consider themselves to be proficient in english. like the parallel mother described above, the vertex mothers in this study support their child’s english language acquisition as a necessary step toward academic success. the distinction between the parallel and vertex mother is the degree to which she promotes those american practices. in the case of the vertex mother, she makes a conscious effort to encourage her child’s english skills by engaging in english lessons led by the child and by using simple phrases to promote her own english language skills. for instance, one mother reported that she practiced her english with her son by asking him “give me a kiss.” this seemingly simple request helps the mother build confidence and competence in english while demonstrating to her child that practice in the home is acceptable and welcome. also characteristic of the vertex parent is the promotion of bilingualism. more specifically, mothers in our study said they promoted the use of spanish and english and believed that both language should be promoted and used in the home. bilingualism is associated with positive family relations (portes & hao, 2002) and is academically advantageous (bankston & zhou, 1995; lindholm & aclan, 1991). therefore, teachers who work with parents who demonstrate an interest in using and learning english can capitalize on this enthusiasm to promote strong parent-school ties so that both the parent and child feel welcome in the school. here, teachers might also help explain the objective of each school assignment in english and in the native language to scaffold the parent’s interest in supporting their child and to enhance the parent’s own learning. parental involvement in schools has been shown to have a positive impact on parents’ social capital (durand, 2011) as well as child academic and behavioral outcomes (carreon, drake, & barton, 2005; lahaie, 2008). therefore, supporting parental involvement is a multi-generation investment teachers and school staff can make. a third acculturation process identified in the data is referred to as inter-segmented, which highlights how parent and child might have their own yet collective acculturation process. in this case, mother and child have points where their acculturation process intersects and later diverges. for instance, both might learn english at the onset of the child’s schooling and over time, the child’s trajectory might diverge or speed up, making him more acculturated than his mother, but as his mother acquires more english language skills they will intersect. the following quote provided in the article illustrates this process. when asked if it might be possible that her children might learn more english than her, one inter-segmented mother’s affirmative response was followed with “por eso me voy a preparar…yo quiero prepárame para cuando ellos lleguen ya a un ‘college’ para poderles ayudar.” (that’s why i’m going to get prepared…i want to prepare myself for when they attend college, so i can help them.) in our article, we define this independent and shared process as inter-segmented to capture the ebb and flow of mother and child’s acculturation progression. results from our qualitative analysis also revealed that the inter-segmented dyad engages in explicit discussions about culture, ethnic identity, and the value of bilingualism. both mothers identified as inter-segmented shared specific discussions they have with their preschool child about the importance of maintaining one’s cultural values while acculturating. like the vertex mother, bilingualism is valued. however, there seems to be a more explicit discussion regarding the role spanish plays in the home and the child’s identity development. these conversations between mother and child might be facilitated by the mother’s confidence in her own identity. 186 lara-cinisomo immigrant parents who have a strong ethnic identity engage in racial socialization with their children, explicitly discussing ethnic pride, history, and heritage (hughes, 2003). these intergenerational interactions result in high self-esteem for the child (guilamo-ramos, 2009), the child’s exploration and resolution of ethnic identity (supple, ghazarian, frabutt, plunkett, & sands, 2006; juang and syed 2010), and the child’s development of ethnic values (knight, berkel, umaña-taylor, gonzales, ettekal, jaconis, & boyd, 2011). inter-segmented mothers’ confidence may be a result from years spent in the u.s. the two mothers identified as intersegmented had spent an average of eleven years in the u.s. at the time of the interview. it is likely that these mothers have had time to navigate through u.s. systems (e.g., schools) and were successful in those experiences. it is unclear whether parents who have spent an equal amount of time in the u.s. but felt marginalized will also exhibit the same confidence and motivation to discuss ethnic pride with her preschooler. inclusion of parents with more than ten years in the u.s. who have had positive and negative experiences in the u.s. will be important in teasing out factors that promote conversations about ethnic pride with their preschooler. the results from this study highlight that while mother and child may start at the same point of the acculturation process, they can take distinct paths and periodically intersect. given the benefit of a more constant acculturation progression between parent and child (portes & zady, 2002), there is value to supporting a parent’s process whether it be parallel to her child’s acculturation, a complete departure, or a periodic overlap. it is also important to note that results reported in this article provide only a snapshot of a parent-child acculturation process that is filtered through the mother’s lens. still, while we are limited by this window into the dynamic process of acculturation in the absence of longitudinal studies that follow parent and child at the onset of schooling, we can draw from the adult and child developmental literature and the three processes highlighted in this article to better understand acculturation observed inside and outside the classroom. specifically, we learn that time spent in the u.s. may be associated with acculturation patterns observed between mother and child. the results reported here also illustrate the value the six latina immigrant mothers in the study place on retaining spanish language skills as well as the value these mothers place on maintaining their own cultural values and practices. therefore, teachers can support immigrant parents in their efforts to maintain their native language, promote ethnic behaviors, and instill cultural beliefs in their children by accepting that immigrant parents have different paths to acculturation while supporting their child’s school success. acknowledgements we would like to thank the families who generously gave of their time. in addition, the authors would like to give a special thanks to angie preciado who assisted with the recruitment and data collection. finally, this manuscript is dedicated to maureen haun, child advocate, a supporter of immigrant families, and a leader in the field of child and family development. her contribution to children and families will always be remembered. this study would not have been possible without her support and guidance. acculturation processes 187 references bankston, c. l., & zhou., m. (1995). effects of minority-language literacy on the academic achievement of vietnamese youths in new orleans. sociology of education, 68(1), 1-17. bender, d. e., harbour, c., thorp, j., & morris, p. (2001). tell me what you mean by “si”: perceptions of quality of prenatal care among immigrant latina women. qualitative health research, 11(6), 780-794. carreón, g. p., drake, c., & barton, a. c. (2005). the importance of presence: immigrant parents’ school engagement experiences. american educational research journal, 42(3), 465-498. ceballo, r. (2004). from barrios to yale: the role of parenting strategies in latino families. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences 26, 171-186. duncan, g. j., & magnuson, k. a. (2005). can family socioeconomic resources account for racial and ethnic test score gaps?. the future of children, 15(1), 35-54. durand, t. m. (2011). latina mothers’ cultural beliefs about their children, parental roles, and education: implications for effective and empowering home-school partnerships. the urban review, 43(2), 255-278. guilamo-ramos, v. (2009). maternal influence on adolescent self-esteem, ethnic pride and intentions to engage in risk behavior in latino youth.prevention science, 10(4), 366-375. entwisle, d. r., & alexander, k. l. (1995). a parent's economic shadow: family structure versus family resources as influences on early school achievement. journal of marriage and the family, 399-409. gandara, p. c., & contreras, f. (2009). the latino education crisis: the consequences of failed social policies. harvard university press. hughes, d. (2003). correlates of african american and latino parents' messages to children about ethnicity and race: a comparative study of racial socialization. american journal of community psychology, 31(1-2), 1533. juang, l., & syed, m. (2010). family cultural socialization practices and ethnic identity in college-going emerging adults. journal of adolescence, 33(3), 347-354. knight, g. p., berkel, c., umaña‐ taylor, a. j., gonzales, n. a., ettekal, i., jaconis, m., & boyd, b. m. (2011). the familial socialization of culturally related values in mexican american families. journal of marriage and family,73(5), 913-925. lahaie, c. (2008). school readiness of children of immigrants: does parental involvement play a role?*. social science quarterly, 89(3), 684-705. lindholm, k. j., & aclan, z. (1991). bilingual proficiency as a bridge to academic achievement: results from bilingual/immersion programs. journal of education, 173(2), 99-113. magnuson, k. a., & waldfogel, j. (2005). early childhood care and education: effects on ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness. the future of children,15(1), 169-196. portes, a., & hao, l. (2002). the price of uniformity: language, family and personal adjustment in the immigrant second generation. ethnic and racial studies, 25(6), 889-912. portes, p. r., & zady, m. f. (2002). self-esteem in the adaptation of spanish-speaking adolescents: the role of immigration, family conflict, and depression. hispanic journal of behavioral sciences, 24, 296-318. rumberger, r. w., & arellano, b. (2009). understanding and addressing the california latino achievement gap in early elementary school. mexicans in california: transformations and challenges, 61-76. supple, a. j., ghazarian, s. r., frabutt, j. m., plunkett, s. w., & sands, t. (2006). contextual influences on latino adolescent ethnic identity and academic outcomes. child development, 77(5), 1427-1433. umaña-taylor, a. j., & bámaca, m. y. (2004). conducting focus groups with latino populations: lessons from the field*. family relations, 53(3), 261-272. u.s. census bureau (2012). "table 10. resident population by race, hispanic origin, and age: 2000 and 2009," < http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0010.pdf >. dialog, 16(3), 160-164 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary influencing head start families thoughts and beliefs about health, nutrition, and physical activity teresa a. byington and anne r. lindsay university of nevada reno deborah loesch-griffin turning point, inc. susi brumett and madeleine sigman-grant university of nevada reno the results of an intervention comparison research study indicated that preschoolers can have an influence on their families’ food selection and physical activity habits. intervention families participated in an educational program focused on healthy eating and physical activity. following the intervention, in-depth interviews were conducted with intervention and comparison families. intervention families reported higher consumption of healthy snacks and buying fruits and vegetables based on preschooler requests. families in the intervention group had a more positive concept about health and stated that ideas from the educational program had helped them overcome barriers to healthy eating and being active. keywords: health, nutrition, physical activity, eating, preschooler, head start families, caregivers, environments, and experiences combine to influence a child's eating and physical activity habits (cooke, 2007; lanigan, 2010; roblin, 2007). the preschool years are a prime time for children to learn healthy eating habits and basic fundamental gross motor movement skills. unhealthy eating and lack of physical activity can play a role in future health concerns, such as obesity (roblin, 2007). bronfenbrenner's ecological model provides a framework to guide educational efforts (bronfenbrenner, 1979). it is assumed that families and communities share their thoughts and beliefs about health, nutrition, and physical activity with their children. therefore, educational efforts targeting young children should focus on helping families develop healthy eating and physical activity habits. to promote the early development of healthy habits, the all 4 kids ©: healthy, happy, active, fit program was created. all 4 kids © targets overweight prevention in children ages 3 to influencing head start families 161 5 years old by involving preschoolers, their primary caregivers, and preschool teachers in educational programming. the main objectives of the all 4 kids © program are to improve the physical movement skills of preschoolers; promote the consumption of healthy snacks (e.g., fruits and vegetables); and teach children they can be active and eat healthy at any size or shape. the program engages preschoolers and significant others (e.g., families, caregivers, and preschool teachers) through direct (e.g., classroom and family events at the head start site) and indirect teaching (e.g. take-home activities, family and teacher newsletters). three major units taught in 24 lessons address the following themes: be active, eat smart, and live healthy at any size. each thematic unit contains eight 30-minute lessons, delivered by trained teachers three times weekly. classroom components include movement skill practice and dancing, along with interactive and purposeful nutrition and health messaging. the program concepts are taught through stories, games, food tasting, and other activities. in addition to the classroom components, parents are invited to attend three family events, and children take home activities to share with their families. following program implementation, a study was conducted to assess all 4 kids © impact on the thoughts and beliefs of head start families in relationship to health, nutrition, and physical activity. head start families participating in the program (intervention) and head start families who did not receive the program (comparison) were interviewed. participants and procedures sixty-three in-depth interviews were conducted at 12 head start sites (30 intervention, 33 comparison) in the families preferred language, either english or spanish. using a structured format, both qualitative and quantitative responses were solicited during the 30 to 40 minute interview. participants communicated detailed information about food consumption (e.g., healthy snacks, fruits and vegetables), activity choices, and their perceptions of what it means to be healthy. they also shared thoughts and beliefs about food purchasing and eating habits. the interviews were audio-recorded. differences between groups were determined with a descriptive and comparative design using content analysis of individual questions. research findings consumption of healthy snacks parents in the intervention group had a more comprehensive understanding of the concept of healthy snacks and reported their children had higher consumption of healthy snacks than parents in the comparison group. while both groups introduced new snacks to their children, 27% of those in the intervention group specifically mentioned foods preschoolers tasted during the all 4 kids © program. furthermore, intervention families had a more diverse set of reasons for describing how healthy snacks were part of an overall healthy lifestyle. both groups mentioned similar barriers to serving preschoolers healthy snacks, including money, food preferences, dietary restrictions, and unhealthy snacking by adults. 162 byington et al. consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables most respondent families fed their preschoolers more fruits than vegetables and offered a wide variety of options. a higher number of comparison families (18 %) indicated barriers to eating fruits and vegetables than intervention families (7 %), with economic reasons given as the primary barrier. influences on purchasing and eating habits the majority of intervention and comparison families indicated they were influenced by their preschooler's requests when shopping, with about one-fourth stating they "always" purchased items their child requested. however, a similar amount indicated that they "never" bought what their preschooler asked them to buy, with the remaining families “sometimes” buying requested foods. additionally, most families reported eating outside of the home about once a week. the intervention families reported eating in family restaurants rather than at fast food establishments more often than comparison families. intervention families were also twice as likely to report selecting healthy meal choices when eating out. physical activity overwhelmingly, both groups responded that it was important for them and their preschoolers to be physically active for health reasons. intervention families, however, cited additional reasons, such as increasing family time, avoiding illness, not being sedentary or bored, and gaining personal benefits. intervention families reported fewer barriers to engaging in daily physical activity, although both groups related health restrictions or work schedules as the primary obstacles. perceptions of what it means to be healthy families from both groups shared different aspects of healthy eating and physical activity habits when describing what it means to be healthy. some families also mentioned long-term benefits. however, more comparison families considered not being ill as the main definition of healthy. this contrasted with intervention families, who appeared to have a more positive concept of health. implications of results and lessons learned educational efforts focused on health and wellness need to start early. teaching parents and preschoolers about healthy eating and physical activity habits is essential to the development of positive health outcomes. programs such as all 4 kids © can influence parents in helping them view the challenges of healthy living from a different perspective. direct quotes from intervention families illustrate the lessons learned from this research study. influencing head start families 163 lesson # 1: preschoolers can have a strong influence on the family food selection “well my daughter used to like cookies. now she has changed. sometimes when we go buy food, she tells me that the program says that only “this” type of food is healthy. her view has changed. she likes fruits. she now eats kiwis (which she used to not eat). the program is good. in our house we used to not eat fruit. but now, two days a week i fill the fruit basket. the family is starting to eat fruit.” as recognized by food advertisers, parents respond to preschoolers’ requests. whether it is for a special meal pack or a sweetened cereal, preschoolers influence family purchases, even if these purchases are for unhealthy choices. this study demonstrates that families will respond in a similar fashion when their child requests healthy foods. all 4 kids © program families reported specifically buying fruits and vegetables at the request of their preschooler. this is a powerful demonstration of positive messaging on both the child and the family. lesson #2: engaging preschoolers and their families in exploring a variety of healthy foods and physical activity can help them gain a more positive concept of health “healthy means to me we eat healthy, go out and play, not just sitting around or laying down all the time. eating right and the right amount of exercise.” many families consider health to be simply the absence of disease. this is a limited definition as health also encompasses both physical and mental wellness resulting from appropriate choices and practices. as the preschoolers in all 4 kids © learned to eat smart and be active, they were able to articulate how positive habits influence their health and, in turn, were able to "teach" their families. educating preschoolers using concrete language and intentional teaching techniques (along with reinforcing these messages with the parents) resulted in families having a more complete understanding of what it means to be healthy. lesson # 3: engaging preschoolers and their families in an educational program targeting healthy eating and physical activity may enable them to overcome barriers to healthy eating and being active “the money [is a barrier]. sometimes vegetables and fruits are more expensive than meat. i look for specials. if coupons are available and things are on special, i look for food that is healthy and buy in bulk.” low-income families face many obstacles in achieving a healthy lifestyle. some obstacles are economic, others are physical, and still others are attitudinal. families from both groups in this study reiterated these challenges—healthy foods are expensive and opportunities for being active as a family are often limited. however, the strikingly different thoughts expressed by the 164 byington et al. families in the intervention group indicated that ideas from an educational program (including overcoming these challenges) were being integrated into their lives. head start educators are in an ideal situation to provide low-income preschoolers and their families with specific strategies to assist them in engaging in a healthy lifestyle. as the whitney houston song, greatest love of all says, “let the children lead the way”. references bronfenbrenner, u. (1979). the ecology of human development. cambridge ma: harvard university press. cooke, l. (2007). the importance of exposure for healthy eating in childhood: a review. journal of human nutrition and dietetics, 20, 294-301. lanigan, j. d. (2010). the substance and sources of young children’s healthy eating and physical activity knowledge: implications for obesity prevention efforts. child: care, health & development, 37(3), 368376. roblin, l. (2007). childhood obesity: food, nutrient, and eating-habit trends and influences. applied physiology nutrition metabolism, 32, 635-645. dialog, 16(4), 94-98 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary helping head start teachers support children’s school readiness: lessons learned gretchen butera indiana university amber friesen san francisco state university angi stone-macdonald university of massachusetts, boston the lessons learned from the head start teachers (butera, friesen, & stone-macdonald, this issue) have important implications for policy and practice in head start. the importance of connecting the curriculum used in head start to the lives children lead in the community is apparent. it is also important to integrate activities designed to support children’s academic readiness with those that support children’s social competence especially to the extent that doing so reflects important values in the community. finally, it is essential that head start teachers are aware of the importance of identifying children who struggle to learn early so they can be provided with needed support. keywords: implications for practice butera, friesen and stone-macdonald (this issue) report findings from their six-year ethnographic study of head start teachers in a rural appalachian community. in the study, the authors used observation and interview data to examine influences on teachers’ decision making about daily activities that in essence comprise the head start program as it is delivered to children. the head start teachers in the study made ample use of their knowledge about the community to plan instruction and their decision-making was also informed by their personal and practical knowledge about children and the program (gonzalez, moll, & amanti, 2005; grisham, 2000; vacca et al., 2003). professional knowledge was less often seen as an influence and the teachers provided rather scant opportunities for children to learn academic readiness skills. the authors remind us of the limitations of the study. the teachers in the study worked in an isolated community and the particular context of the study is not likely to be representative of head start programs across the country. further, the teachers in the study were wellhelping head start teachers support children 95 experienced in head start and did not plan to seek additional professional coursework although they were well-aware that head start’s mandate that they do so to keep their teaching positions. these circumstances suggest that the findings from the study may be limited in generalizability. despite these limitations, the head start teachers in the butera et.al.(this issue) study have important lessons for us in the field about how to help teachers support the academic readiness of head start children. the importance of doing so is clear given the persistent problems children from low-income families have doing well in school. in the following manuscript we outline five lessons that may be drawn from the study. the importance of integrating academic and social activities in head start curricula the head start teachers in our study valued activities that helped children learn the skills they needed to become active members of their community. they emphasized the importance of play as the means through which children would learn to get along with each other, make friends and share. unfortunately they tended to think that this emphasis precluded them from also emphasizing activities that supported children’s academic readiness. we suspect that these head start teachers are not alone in their beliefs about the extent to which providing head start children with academic readiness activities is developmentally inappropriate. given the traditional stance of many early childhood educators about the value of play and “developmentally appropriate practice” both now and in the not too distant past, their beliefs are understandable. however, it is important to point out that in order to be optimally ready for school, children must acquire both academic and social skills. in recently developed models of curriculum for children at risk, researchers have combined curricula that address both children’s academic and social learning needs (bierman et.al 2008; butera & odom, 2013; fantuzzo, gadsden & mcdermott, 2011). these efforts to provide an integrated framework for head start teacher’s instructional planning have demonstrated effectiveness. the children in head start classes where their teachers used curriculum combining social and academic content demonstrated more positive outcomes than children whose teachers used other curriculum. the value of curricula is that it provides teachers with a framework to plan activities. ensuring that curricula include the essential components for children’s learning is apparent as curriculum can provide a framework that helps teachers decide what to do each day (dickinson, darrow, ngo & d’souza, 2009). it is also clear that head start teachers must be helped to understand that social competence and academic readiness are not mutually exclusive. veronica’s description of the importance of cuddling when adults read books to children as a way to help children feel cared for as they learn important literacy skills as well as ella’s use of the volunteer reading stories in a rocking chair suggest that the teachers may not be that far away from this stance in their own thinking. what is needed is a concerted effort to infuse opportunities for children to learn academic skills into the many opportunities provided for them to learn social competence. both aspects of development are essential to the goals of the head start program: to help ready children for school. 96 butera et at. the importance of intervening early when children struggle to learn the teachers in our study were aware that some children in their head start classrooms were delayed in their learning. their tendency to dismiss concerns about individual children, assuring themselves that children learn at different rates and in keeping with their own individual developmental trajectories is of grave concern. while there were instances when their “wait and see” attitude paid off as children unexpectedly made substantial and surprising developmental progress, there were other instances when children were denied services for which they were probably eligible and would no doubt help them progress. we suspected that the reluctance of the head start teachers in our study to seek help for some of the children in their care related to their feeling that they were not respected by their public school counterparts and indeed we witnessed instances when they were not shown respect in their dealings with the public schools. we are reminded that there continues to be work to do in order to improve service coordination and collaboration among the organizations that seek to optimize outcomes for our most vulnerable children. the value of community funds of knowledge the community funds of knowledge (gonzalez, moll & amanti, 2005) available to the teachers provided a rich source for curriculum. the head start teachers in our study were well-embedded in the communities in which they lived and taught. the degree to which this afforded them a rich opportunity to use their knowledge to plan learning activities for the head start children can scarcely be overstated. the head start children they taught benefitted immeasurably from activities that featured their community and they responded enthusiastically to the firemen’s visit and hung on the words of the hometown baseball hero. these were just a few examples of how the head start teachers we studied made decisions about instruction that connected to the community and expertise within it. using their practical and personal knowledge (grisham, 2000; vacca et al., 2003) the teachers had accumulated from years of teaching head start children, the teachers we studied created rich learning activities in many instances that could not have been easily replicated by teachers who may have had more impressive academic credentials but lacked this important community connection. it is important to recognize the contribution head start teachers from the community make and ensure that head start policies continue to prioritize hiring teachers from the community. in addition, the lessons from the head start teachers in our study suggest that curriculum must be localized in many respects so that it provides opportunities for teachers to make use of what they know about the funds of knowledge with the community. embedding professional development in practice as lifelong members of the communities in which they taught, the head start teachers we studied were well-able to understand the cultural context in which they worked. the teachers valued the practical and personal knowledge they had about the children and families in the program and they used this knowledge to inform their teaching. on the other hand, they did not helping head start teachers support children 97 value knowledge they might acquire through formal professional development including coursework leading to an undergraduate degree, even if it meant that they would lose their positions. it is probably important to note that the head start teachers we studied had taught on average for 17 years and described themselves as “too old” to pursue more schooling. no doubt their age contributed to their decision not to pursue additional teaching credentials. but they also insisted that the courses they would need to take were too often unrelated to the work they did with children and families in head start. several of the teachers told us about struggling to pass courses in mathematics and language arts. in classroom settings with college-age students “young enough to be their grandchildren”, they felt humiliated by their difficulties. they also insisted that the coursework they would need to take to continue teaching did little to inform their work and in many instances, their point seemed well-made. addressing the need to increase the educational requirements for head start teachers requires careful thought regarding the intended outcomes of additional requirements. the importance of providing professional development clearly linked to the tasks of helping head start teachers acquire teaching skills related to supporting children’s school readiness is essential. for examples, the head start teachers we studied needed to understand the value of intentional teaching related to preparing children for school. no doubt this is best accomplished in the context of daily life of the head start program. providing a variety of options for teachers to enhance their professional knowledge is important and these options must build on teaching competencies that are already evident in experienced head start teachers. what you can accomplish in a year! the head start teachers we studied reminded us that the tasks involved in supporting children’s learning are multi-faceted and best accomplished when the adults who care for them collaborate with one another. on a daily basis, teachers and parents worked to ensure that the comprehensive needs of the children were addressed. meals were prepared and eaten, hands were washed and teeth were brushed; paperwork was completed, crying children were comforted and anxious parents were given reassurance. the complexity of tasks that were accomplished often appeared overwhelming but the head start teachers we studied remained cheerful and optimistic about the work that they clearly enjoyed. addressing the needs of children and families who live in poverty is a complex undertaking and there is much work to be done. it is critical to consider the perspectives of those who are closest to the tasks at hand and celebrate daily progress as we support partnerships to plan how to make additional progress. if head start teachers are to undertake change in how they accomplish the daily tasks of their work, they must be provided with ample opportunity to conceptualize short-term objectives related to the long term goals of improving children’s school readiness. references bierman, k.l., domitrovich, c.e., nix, r.l., gest, s.d., welsh, j. a., greenberg, m.t., …gill, s. (2008). promoting academic and social-emotional school readiness: the head start redi program. child development, 79 (6), 1802-1817. butera, g. & odom, s.l. (2013) final report for the children’s school success project. bloomington, in: indiana university. unpublished manuscript. 98 butera et at. dickinson, d.k., darrow, c., ngo, s.m., & d’souza, l.a. (2009) changing classroom conversations: narrowing the gap between potential and reality. in o.a. barbarin & b. h. wasik (eds.), handbook of child development and early education: research to practice (pp. 328-351). new york, ny: guilford press. fantuzzo, j., manz, p. & mcdermott, p. (2011). an integrated curriculum to improve mathematics, language and literacy for head start children. american educational research journal, 48, 763-794. gonzalez, n., moll, l., & amanti, c. (2005). funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. (eds.). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates, inc. grisham, d. l. (2000). connecting theoretical conception of reading to practice: a longitudinal study of elementary school teachers. reading psychology, 21(2), 145-170. vacca, j. l., vacca, r. t., gove, m. k., burkey, l., lenhart, l. a., & mckeon, c. (2003). reading and learning to read. (5th ed.). boston, ma: pearson education, inc. . chapter 1 dialog, 17(2), 1-16 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article efficiency in assessing emergent literacy skills in students attending head start karen l. gischlar rider university edward s. shapiro lehigh university research has indicated that development of reading skills begins very early in a child's life, suggesting that skill development should be closely monitored during the preschool years. however, assessment with the young child presents unique challenges, as results can be influenced by the child's emotional state and the conditions of testing, including lengthy administration. assessments should be efficient and economical, producing the best results with the expenditure of minimum time and resources. the purpose of this study was to examine three measures of emergent literacy that were administered to 4year-old students attending a head start program. it was hypothesized that tasks purporting to assess the same skills would evidence redundancy, suggesting that not all of the tasks were necessary for administration. results indicated that although correlations between the tasks from the three measures were low to moderate, there was overlap among the larger batteries. implications for practice and avenues for future research are offered keywords: early literacy, assessment the ability to read proficiently is essential to academic and later life success (cunningham & stanovich, 1997; snow, burns, & griffin, 1998). consistently, research has demonstrated that children who read well experience more exposure to print and subsequent growth in numerous knowledge domains. in contrast, children who are poor readers tend to experience difficulty across academic subjects, as other content areas increasingly depend on reading ability (lonigan, burgess, & anthony, 2000). as reading is related to a child’s success in school, academic success is related to future occupational and economic outcomes. according to the national center for education statistics (2001), students who are successful in attaining high levels of education are more likely to be employed and to earn higher salaries than their counterparts who do not fare as well in school. 2 gischlar & shapiro the relationship between school performance and poverty numerous studies have shown that children living in poverty are much more likely to perform below standards on reading and writing tasks than their peers from economically stable homes (snow & páez, 2004). differences in the skills associated with literacy are already visible during the preschool years when children from underprivileged homes lag behind their peers in vocabulary, extended discourse skills, and familiarity with the functions and uses of print. this lower early performance is of concern because myriad research has suggested that a good beginning in literacy during the preschool years is associated with successful conventional reading later in elementary school (juel, 1988; snow & páez, 2004). thus, young children living in poverty can be considered at high-risk for the development of future reading and learning problems. the relationship between poverty and poor academic performance has been longrecognized. as private preschools began to proliferate in the united states in the 1960s, president johnson initiated project head start, a federally-funded program aimed at preparing young children from socio-economically disadvantaged families for success in school (van kleek & schuele, 2010). although only about half of all eligible children are served through head start, the program remains in existence with the same goal of preparing children of poverty for school entry (van kleek & schuele, 2010). given the relationship between success in school and reading skill, snow & páez (2004) suggested that head start classrooms should be evaluated primarily from the perspective of how well they foster emergent literacy skills and language development. emergent literacy skill acquisition traditionally, approaches to teaching reading have considered the starting point to be the child’s entry into formal schooling. however, a growing body of literature suggests that the acquisition of literacy skills occurs on a developmental continuum that begins early in a child’s life (lonigan, burgess, & anthony, 2000), with the preschool years viewed as a critical developmental period (lonigan, 2006b). emergent literacy skills can be considered developmental precursors to conventional reading and writing skills (whitehurst, zevenbergen, crone, schultz, velting, & fischel, 1999) and include: a) oral language (dickinson, mccabe, anastasopoulos, peisner-feinberg, & poe, 2003; national institute of child health and development, 2005; roberts, 2005), specifically the ability to understand and use vocabulary (landry, swank, smith, assel, gunnewig, 2006); b) letter name knowledge (lonigan et al., 2000; roberts, 2003); c) phonological awareness, the ability to detect and manipulate the sound structure of oral language (kirby, parrila, & pfeiffer, 2003; lonigan et al.); d) naming speed (kirby et al.); and e) print awareness, which is the ability to name letters and the knowledge that written letters are associated with sounds (landry et al., 2006). assessment of emergent literacy skills mounting evidence has demonstrated that reading problems can be ameliorated through early intervention. in fact, statistics suggest that if children receive training in foundational skills emergent literacy 3 during the preschool years, as few as 5% may experience later reading problems, compared to the current level of 20% to 30% (landry et al., 2006). because of the relationship between emergent literacy skills and future reading performance (dickinson et al., 2003) and reading and academic success (cunningham & stanovich, 1997), these skills represent a crucial area for early assessment-driven instruction and intervention. as important as it is to monitor a young child’s growth in the emergent literacy skill areas, caution should be exercised in assessment. early development is rapid and episodic and test results can be influenced by experience, the child’s emotional state, and conditions of the assessment (epstein, schweinhart, debruin-parecki, & robin, 2004). given these concerns, it is vital that an efficient, economical, and valid means for measuring growth in the emergent literacy areas be identified to inform early instruction and intervention. both “efficient” and “economical” imply the expenditure of minimum time and resources in producing the best results (dictionary.com, 2008). inappropriate assessment practices, including lengthy administration, can produce results that are less than valid, incorrectly influencing a student’s placement. furthermore, instructional time can be wasted in inappropriate assessment, which limits the classroom learning experience (schappe, 2005). for example, a child exposed to a lengthy test, or many different measures, may tire, leading to results that misrepresent the child’s skill development. thus, it is of great importance to identify a test of emergent literacy that efficiently and economically assesses skills of interest. a more efficient and economical measure would increase the reliability and validity of the results and also reduce administration time, resulting in more time for classroom instruction. currently, there are a number of standardized assessments of emergent literacy available for the preschool population. however, it can be challenging for the early childhood educator to decide which to use, as many contain tasks whose titles suggest that they measure similar skills, yet varying methods of testing are utilized. for example, many assessments include a rhyming task, but the task is presented in various ways across the larger measures. in some cases, the ability to rhyme is assessed through picture matching (e.g., individual growth and development indicators (igdi), early childhood research institute on measuring growth and development (ecri-mgd), 1998; phonological awareness literacy screening prek (pals-prek), invernizzi, sullivan, meier, & swank, 2004); and in others through auditory presentation (e.g., center for improving the readiness of children for learning and education—phonological awareness, language, and literacy system (circle: c-palls),circle group, 2004). some tests include rhyming tasks that are timed (e.g., igdi), while others contain tasks whose timing is left to the administrator (e.g., pals, circle). it is possible that these differing formats impact child performance. the challenge is to identify the most economical, non-redundant set of measures that is most likely to provide a clear picture of the child’s key areas of strength and deficit. purpose of the current investigation the purpose of the current study was to determine the relationship among three different measures of emergent literacy skills administered to preschool students from a head start program, including the relationship between tasks from the different measures that purported to assess similar skills. a further purpose of the investigation was to determine whether there was 4 gischlar & shapiro redundancy, or overlap, among measures, in an effort to identify the most efficient means for testing preschoolers. the expected outcome was that analyses would suggest that the measures were assessing similar skills, indicating that it wasn’t necessary to administer all three. specifically, the following research questions were addressed: a) do tasks that assess different skills evidence significantly lower correlations than those purporting to measure the same skills? further, will patterns emerge among the correlations in terms of the trait being measured versus the method of assessment (e.g., timed versus untimed, or visual versus auditory presentation)?; and b) what combination of measures demonstrated the greatest amount of redundancy? in other words, would the measures demonstrate overlap, thereby suggesting that the administration of all three was not necessary? methods participants and setting the study participants included 4-year-old primary english-speaking students who attended a head start program in an urban area in the northeastern united states. all students received services through the same seven classrooms. these classrooms were funded by a u.s. department of education early reading first (erf) grant and utilized opening the world of learning (owl; schickedanz, dickinson, & charlotte-mecklenberg schools, 2004), a comprehensive early literacy program, as their core curriculum. the participants included 30 english-speaking 4-year-old students (13 males) in cohort one, 22 students (12 males) in cohort two, and 27 students (13 males) in cohort three. this subsample of 79 participants was drawn from a larger sample that included approximately 70 students per year receiving services in the erf classrooms. the decision to include only 4-year-old primary english speakers in the current study was made to limit the effects of variables, specifically age and primary language, that were not a focus of the research questions. further, this subsample of students was the only group assessed with the pals (invernizzi, sullivan, meier, & swank, 2004) measure and this assessment was of primary interest. measures phonological awareness literacy screening-prek (pals prek; invernizzi, sullivan, meier, & swank, 2004). the pals prek (invernizzi et al., 2004) is a measure of the young child’s knowledge of emergent literacy foundation skills including: a) name writing; b) alphabet knowledge; c) beginning sound awareness; d) print and word awareness; e) rhyme awareness; and f) nursery rhyme awareness, all of which have been deemed developmentally appropriate skills for 4-year-olds. the test is an untimed measure that is administered to the individual student through use of a flip chart, picture cards, and storybook twice per year. typical administration time per student is 25 to 30 minutes and the child's score is the number of correct responses in each skill area. after administration, raw scores for each task are compared to developmental ranges. students falling below the low end of any range should be considered for intervention in that skill area (invernizzi et al.). the pals prek has demonstrated reliability and validity. all internal consistency estimates across tasks were in the acceptable range. coefficients for guttman split-half ranged emergent literacy 5 from .71 to .94 and cronbach’s alpha levels ranged from .75 to .93. interrater reliability was accomplished by having two separate and independent raters score a child’s performance. these estimates, expressed as pearson correlation coefficients, were consistently .99 across measures (invernizzi et al., 2004). furthermore, the pals prek measure evidenced moderate to high correlations with other measures across concurrent and predictive validity studies (invernizzi, 2004). center for improving the readiness of children for learning and education— phonological awareness, language, and literacy system (circle: c-palls; circle group, 2004). the circle (circle group, 2004) includes measures of rapid letter and vocabulary naming and seven measures of phonological awareness (i.e., listening, rhyme matching, rhyme production, alliteration, counting words in a sentence, syllabication, and onset rime) that are administered during three benchmark periods across the school year—fall, winter, and spring. the letter naming and vocabulary measures are timed for 1-minute, whereas all other measures are untimed (circle group, 2004). because the circle measure is relatively new, limited psychometric data were available. to assess reliability of the circle measures, cronbach alphas were calculated to measure internal consistency of the set of seven phonological awareness items. for the 3and 4year-old students, alpha was .91, for the 5-year-olds was .92, and for the total sample was .93, evidencing strong reliability. furthermore, the circle was compared with the expressive one word picture vocabulary test (eowpvt; brownell, 2000), the pctopp (wagner, torgesen, & rashotte, 1999), and the developmental skills checklist (dsc; ctb-mcgraw-hill, 1990) and demonstrated convergent and discriminate validity with estimates ranging from .17 (circle vocabulary with the dsc phonological awareness measures, discriminate validity) to .80 (circle letter fluency with the pctopp print awareness measure, convergent validity). individual growth and development indicators (igdi; ecri-mgd, 1998). the igdi (ecri-mgd, 1998), a progress monitoring tool for preschool aged children, includes three measures, picture naming, alliteration, and rhyming. picture naming, an assessment of expressive language development, is administered through the presentation of color pictures of objects typically found in a preschooler’s environment, including home (e.g., “cake” and “sink”), classroom (e.g., “glue” and “book”), and community (e.g., “rabbit” and “train”). the child is instructed to name the pictures as quickly as possible and the number of pictures named correctly in 1-minute is the child’s score. for the rhyming and alliteration tasks, the student is presented with a card containing a cue picture at the top and three pictures below it. the student is instructed either to choose the rhyming match or picture with the same beginning sound, depending on the task. the child’s score is the number of correct identifications in a 2-minute period. like picture naming, after demonstration with the standard samples, the rhyming and alliteration cards can be presented in any order (missall & mcconnell, 2004). the three tasks were validated in a longitudinal study with a sample of 90 preschool children whose age range was from 36 to 60 months. picture naming was found to correlate with other standardized measures of language development including the peabody picture vocabulary test: third edition (ppvt-3; r=.56 to .75, p<.001) and the preschool language scale-3 (pls-3; r=.63 to .79, p<.001). rhyming demonstrated moderate correlations with other measures of phonological awareness and early literacy development including the ppvt-3 (r=.56 to .62, p<.05), concepts about print (cap; r=.54 to .64, p<.01), the test of phonological 6 gischlar & shapiro awareness (topa; r=.44 to .62) and the dibels (good & kaminski, 2002) letter naming fluency (r=.48 to .59) and onset recognition fluency (r=.44 to .68) measures. finally, alliteration demonstrated moderate correlations with the ppvt -3 (r=.40 to .57, p<.01), the cap (r=.34 to .55, p<.05), the topa (r=.75 to .79, p<.01), and the letter naming fluency measure of the dibels (r=.39 to .71, p<.05). test-retest coefficients for the three tasks across a 3-week time period ranged from .44 to .89 (missall & mcconnell, 2004). procedure graduate students enrolled in school psychology, psychology, special education, and counseling programs were trained by the first author in the administration and scoring of the pals prek (invernizzi et al., 2004) and circle (circle group, 2004) measures and were required to meet a minimum of 95% accuracy before assessing students. for the igdi measure, teachers and assistants were trained in administration, scoring, and interpretation. after the igdi training, participants were required to demonstrate performance in administration through use of the checklists developed by the ecri-mgd (1996-2002). teachers and assistants were provided immediate feedback and were required to satisfy 100% of checklist indicators before assessing students. the pals-prek (invernizzi et al., 2004) was given at the beginning and end of the school year, whereas the circle (circle group, 2004) measure was administered at three benchmark periods, fall, winter and spring. the igdi (ecri-mgd, 1998) measures were given on a monthly basis. inter-observer agreement (ioa) for the graduate students administering tests was collected across 25% to 30% of sessions through the use of audio recorders and a second rater. for the head start teachers administering igdi, ioa was collected through use of the igdi accurate administration checklists (ecri-mgd, 1996-2002) and through a second rater who scored simultaneously for approximately 25% of the sessions. the ioa was calculated using the percentage of agreement method, wherein the number of possible agreements is divided by the number of scoring agreements and disagreements. the average ioa across the measures was 96.6% (r = 92.4% to 100%). results skewness and kurtosis statistics were calculated for each of the tasks administered to students. fabrigar et al. (1999) suggested that skewness above 2.0 and kurtosis above 7.0 may indicate that data are non-linear and abnormally distributed. results presented in table 1 demonstrated that all tasks across the emergent literacy measures were within reasonable skewness and kurtosis limits. emergent literacy 7 table 1 skewness and kurtosis of emergent literacy tasks task skewness kurtosis pname -1.37 0.63 puplet -1.12 0.07 plowlet -0.57 -1.28 psounds 0.82 -0.47 pbegsounds -0.56 -1.16 pprint -0.53 -0.29 prhy -0.76 -0.40 pnursery 0.07 -0.85 clet -0.27 -0.72 cvocab -0.24 -0.06 clistening -1.10 -0.11 crhy1 -0.23 -1.22 crhy2 -0.36 -1.41 callit 0.20 0.62 csent -0.09 -1.15 csyll -0.20 -0.09 conset 0.49 -1.07 igdipn -0.54 0.39 igdiallit 0.98 0.47 igdirhy 0.41 -0.77 as displayed in table 2, a multitrait-multimethod matrix (campbell & fiske, 1959) was created to assess the construct validity of the three emergent literacy measures used in this study (i.e., pals, circle, and igdi). the matrix presented all of the correlations that resulted across each of the tasks included in the larger measures, as assessed through a variety of methods (campbell & fiske). for example, all three of the tests included measures of rhyme, but each employed a different method of assessment. the pals and igdi both presented visual stimuli with rhyming tasks, but the igdi was a timed measure, whereas the pals was not. the circle included two measures of rhyme, but both were presented verbally by the administrator, with no picture prompt. the multitrait-multimethod matrix allowed for examination of the relationships between traits as measured through different methods and, likewise, different traits as measured with similar methods. the matrix indicated that the tasks across the larger tests purporting to assess letterform identification correlated highly (r=.82 – .92), despite method, while the tasks purporting to assess phonological awareness skills had low to moderate correlations (r=.04 –.60). finally, the two tasks measuring vocabulary had a moderate relationship (.42). 8 gischlar & shapiro table 2 multi-trait/multi-method matrix method 1: pals method 2: circle method 3: igdi p n am e p u p l et p l o w l et p s o u n d s p b eg s o u n d s p p ri n t p r h y p n u rs er y c l et c v o ca b c l is te n in g c r h y 1 c r h y 2 c a ll it c s en t c s y ll c o n se t ig d ip n ig d ia ll it ig d ir h y m et h o d 1 : p a l s pname - puplet .56 - plowlet .46 .92 - psounds .41 .65 .73 - pbegsounds .43 .55 .56 .58 - pprint .37 .48 .49 .53 .65 - prhy .58 .35 .31 .42 .50 .55 - pnursery .42 .35 .35 .41 .48 .65 .40 - m et h o d 2 : c ir c l e clet .47 .85 .82 .64 .45 .43 .31 .34 - cvocab .31 .37 .35 .28 .41 .57 .38 .55 .49 - clistening .27 .25 .30 .20 .32 .42 .31 .42 .24 .31 - crhy1 .51 .50 .48 .38 .40 .48 .49 .50 .36 .33 .36 - crhy2 .40 .46 .41 .35 .45 .44 .44 .51 .42 .37 .34 .60 - callit .36 .47 .48 .43 .32 .34 .33 .40 .40 .19 .09 .44 .22 - csent .37 .43 .39 .40 .55 .54 .37 .43 .38 .45 .42 .41 .44 .04 - csyll .29 .19 .17 .18 .22 .28 .17 .34 .10 .27 .25 .27 .22 .06 .51 - conset .20 .21 .23 .37 .42 .54 .43 .46 .21 .47 .26 .38 .48 .27 .33 .31 - m et h o d 3 : i g d i igdipn .23 .27 .32 .34 .41 .54 .42 .35 .27 .42 .24 .35 .32 .30 .29 .08 .23 - igdiallit .24 .32 .35 .41 .49 .47 .32 .38 .25 .25 .18 .39 .44 .32 .37 .26 .38 .30 - igdirhy .49 .48 .43 .46 .56 .61 .58 .58 .40 .51 .29 .59 .58 .38 .43 .33 .54 .40 .55 - emergent literacy 9 canonical correlation analyses were calculated for the pals-prek (invernizzi et al., 2004) and the circle (circle group, 2004), the pals-prek and the igdi (ecri-mgd, 1998), and the circle and the igdi to determine the degree of redundancy, or overlap, across the three larger measures. when the canonical correlation analysis results for the pals and igdi measures were considered, the full model, which evaluated shared variance between the dependent variable set (pals) and the covariate set (igdi) across all canonical functions, was statistically significant (wilks’ λ=.32, f=3.93, p<.001). further examination revealed one significant canonical correlation (canonical r=.78) that accounted for 88.8% of the variance in the model. as regards redundancy, or overlap, analysis demonstrated that the igdi accounted for 51.3% of the variance in the pals, indicating overlap. all correlations between the dependent variables and covariates with the significant canonical correlation were negative (see table 3.). table 3 canonical correlation analysis for pals and igdi canonical variate 1 pals name writing -0.59 uppercase letters -0.62 lowercase letters -0.60 sounds -0.65 beginning sounds -0.79 print awareness -0.88 rhyme awareness -0.78 nursery rhyme awareness -0.75 igdi picture naming -0.68 alliteration -0.65 rhyming -0.93 when the canonical correlation analysis results for the circle and igdi were examined, the full model, which evaluated shared variance between the dependent variable set (circle) and the covariate set (igdi) across all canonical functions, was statistically significant (wilks’ λ=.34, f=3.28, p<.001). similarly to the canonical correlation analysis conducted with the pals and igdi, there was one significant canonical correlation (canonical r= .77) that accounted for 88.7% of the variance in the model. analysis demonstrated that the igdi accounted for 38.2% of the variance in the circle, which suggested redundancy, or overlap, across the measures. all correlations between the dependent variables and covariates with the significant canonical correlation were negative (see table 4). 10 gischlar & shapiro table 4 canonical correlation analysis for circle and igdi canonical variate 1 circle letters -0.53 vocabulary -0.70 listening -0.40 rhyming 1 -0.78 rhyming 2 -0.77 alliteration -0.55 sentences -0.60 syllabication -0.41 onset rime -0.69 igdi picture naming -0.61 alliteration -0.67 rhyming -0.96 finally, a canonical correlation analysis was conducted for the pals and circle. the full model, which evaluated shared variance between the dependent variable set (pals) and the covariate set (circle) across all canonical functions, was statistically significant (wilks’ λ=.04, f=3.75, p<.001). there were two significant canonical correlations. the first (canonical r=.91) accounted for 73.4% of the variance in the model and the second (canonical r=.75) accounted for 18.3% of the overall variance, with a cumulative percentage of 91.7% for the two significant canonical correlations. further analysis indicated that the circle accounted for 50.9% of the variance in the pals for the first canonical variate. for the second variate, circle accounted for 16.4% of the variance in the pals. examination of canonical loadings on variates associated with the first significant canonical correlation revealed that all were negative and moderate to strong with the exceptions of circle listening, syllabication and onset rime, which were negative and low. examination of canonical loadings on variates associated with the second significant canonical correlation revealed that pals upper case letters, lower case letters, and sounds and circle letters loaded negatively. tasks that loaded positively included pals print awareness, rhyme awareness, and nursery rhyme awareness and circle vocabulary, listening, rhyming 1, rhyming 2, sentences and onset rime. this pattern of loadings suggested that this variate involved phonological awareness (positive loaders) and not letters tasks (negative loaders). it should be noted that the pals sounds task involves letters because the student needs to look at the written letter and make the associated sound (see table 5). emergent literacy 11 table 5 canonical correlation analysis for pals and circle canonical variate 1 2 pals name writing -.65 .13 uppercase letters -.96 -.21 lowercase letters -.93 -.19 letter sounds -.75 -.05 beginning sounds -.61 .39 print awareness -.62 .60 rhyme awareness -.49 .48 nursery rhyme awareness -.56 .68 circle letters -.92 -.25 vocabulary -.51 .56 listening -.37 .46 rhyming 1 -.64 .35 rhyming 2 -.58 .40 alliteration -.58 .11 sentences -.53 .40 syllabication -.28 .28 onset rime -.37 .58 discussion the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship among different measures of emergent literacy skills administered to preschool students, including the relationship between tasks from the different measures that purported to assess similar skills. a further purpose of the investigation was to determine whether there was redundancy, or overlap, among measures in an effort to identify the most efficient and economical means for testing preschoolers. the analyses conducted to address these areas included creation of a multitrait-multimethod matrix and canonical correlations. the multitrait-multimethod matrix (campbell & fiske, 1959) was created to assess the construct validity of the three emergent literacy measures used in this study (i.e., pals, circle, and igdi) and it included all of the correlations that resulted across each of the skills, as assessed through various methods (campbell & fiske). when correlations across measures were considered by skill, the letter naming tasks correlated highly with one another (range = .82 to .92), although they were administered by different methods, including timed versus untimed and mixed presentation versus upper and lower case letters presented singularly. considering the time element in administration, it may be more efficient for a preschool teacher to administer a 1-minute timed measure with each student, like the circle letters task. two of the measures, circle and igdi, also included vocabulary tasks. for both tasks, the student was presented with a picture of an object commonly found in a preschooler’s school, home, or community environment. a student’s score on each measure was the number of pictures identified correctly in 1-minute. despite the fact that the two measures were 12 gischlar & shapiro administered in a similar fashion, the correlation between the two was moderate at .42. this suggests that there may have been differences in the types of pictures presented to students, implying that experience and exposure affect performance on measures of preschool vocabulary. correlations also were calculated for phonological awareness tasks purporting to assess similar skill areas. according to lonigan (2006a), studies of phonological awareness in young children have demonstrated consistently that regardless of linguistic complexity, differing tasks are indicators of the same underlying ability. this finding might suggest that tasks across the three larger measures assessing phonological awareness should highly correlate. however, the range of correlations was low to moderate (r=.04 – .60). it is unknown to what extent complexity of skill and method of administration (e.g., timed versus untimed, picture versus auditory only presentation) affected student performance. furthermore, results may have been impacted by factors outside of testing, including how much emphasis was given in the classroom to any particular skill. in addition to the multitrait-multimethod matrix, canonical correlation analyses were conducted. the first set of canonical correlations examined the relationship between the pals and the igdi. one significant canonical correlation (canonical r=.78) accounted for 88.8% of the variance in the model. further, the igdi accounted for 51.3% of the variance in the pals, indicating overlap. all tasks across the two measures loaded moderately to strongly on the first, and only significant, variate. the overlap, or redundancy, between the measures suggested that administration of both measures may not have been necessary. when deciding which of the measures to administer, there are several considerations. first, the pals assesses uppercase and lowercase letters, print awareness, and name writing. although print awareness has not been found to be a strong predictor of future reading ability (lonigan et al., 2000), administration of the measure may provide the teacher with additional knowledge about the student’s emergent reading skills and motivation. further, the pals includes measures of letter identification and this area has demonstrated substantial predictive relationships with later reading skills (lonigan et al., 2000). the igdi does not include a measure of letter naming and, thus, the pals may prove to be a more comprehensive measure. however, the pals has some shortcomings that can be addressed by administration of the igdi. first, administration of the pals can take 30 minutes or so per student, depending on the length of time the examiner allows for response; the measure is untimed. because timing is left to the discretion of the administrator, differing amounts of time may be afforded across administration periods and students. this variable may make time and student comparisons difficult, given the lack of uniformity. the igdi, on the other hand, consists of one 1-minute measure and two 2-minute measures. with time allotted for the sample and practice items, total administration time for the igdi is approximately 10 minutes and is consistent across students. also, the igdi can be used for frequent progress monitoring and each administration is essentially an alternate form, as the teacher needs only to shuffle the cards to change the test. conversely, the pals is administered only at the beginning and end of the school year and both assessment periods employ the same form of the test. in deciding whether to use the pals or igdi, the professional will have to weigh the costs and benefits of each and choose the measure that best fits his/her needs and available resources. the igdi also was compared with the circle measure through canonical correlation analysis. similar to the previous analysis, one significant canonical correlation (canonical r=.77) was found that accounted for 88.8% of the variance in the model. the igdi accounted for 38.2% of the variance in the circle, indicating overlap between the two measures. all tasks across the emergent literacy 13 two measures loaded moderately to strongly on the first, and only significant, variate. the overlap, or redundancy, between the measures suggested that administration of both measures may not have been necessary. there also are pros and cons when these two measures are compared. as noted, the igdi is a progress monitoring tool which can be administered on a frequent basis, so that the teacher can track student progress. the circle, on the other hand, is administered only at three benchmark periods, fall, winter and spring. further, whereas the average administration time for the igdi is 10-minutes per student, the circle can take as long as 30-minutes; the circle letters and vocabulary measures are timed, but the timing of the seven phonological awareness tasks is left to the discretion of the examiner. finally, the circle system, which requires test kits, personal digital assistants (pdas), and a yearly subscription (wireless generation mclass, 2000-2009), may be too costly for preschools to purchase. despite its shortcomings, the circle does have a number of benefits to use. first, the pda administration and scoring helps to limit human error, as the teacher only needs to input student responses. second, data for each student are directly uploaded to a website that interprets performance and groups students by areas of need and suggests interventions. finally, the circle website generates progress reports in a format that is easy for teachers to understand and share with parents and other professionals. it should be noted that the igdi also has a website for teachers to use (get it, got it, go; http://ggg.umn.edu/) that graphs student progress, but it is up to the professional to interpret results and decide upon and design intervention. the final canonical correlation analysis examined the redundancy between the pals and circle measures. in this case, two significant canonical correlations resulted. the first variate (canonical r=.91) accounted for 73.4% of the variance in the model and the second (canonical r=.75) accounted for 18.3% of the overall variance; the cumulative percentage was 91.67%. the circle accounted for 50.9% of the variance in the pals for the first canonical variate and 16.4% of the variance for the second variate. this redundancy, or overlap, between the measures suggested that administration of just one of the measures may have been sufficient in assessing student performance. arguments for and against administering each of these measures have been made. to summarize, the pals is more economical financially than the circle, but takes longer to administer. both measures offer online data interpretation and suggested activities for instruction and intervention, which make them both teacher-friendly. one advantage of the circle measure is the winter assessment period that is absent from the pals. this mid-year test aids the teacher in deciding whether instruction and intervention are working for a particular student, rather than waiting until the end of the year, as with pals, when it is too late to make adjustments. although the multitrait-multimethod matrix evidenced low to moderate correlations among tasks purporting to measure similar skills, the canonical correlations indicated redundancy across the larger measures. these findings suggested that not all of the larger measures employed were necessary to administer. the high correlations for the letter naming tasks indicated that method of administration was not a factor that affected student outcomes. similar results should be obtained whether the student is presented with all letters or a sampling of uppercase and lowercase forms in a 1-minute timed assessment. however, the low to moderate correlations among the pa tasks suggested that the method of testing may be important to student performance outcomes. certainly, further research is needed to determine exactly which combination of the tasks would be the most efficient and economical. any new 14 gischlar & shapiro combination would need to be evaluated for reliability and validity of results and utility of administration. although this investigation adds to the emergent literacy assessment literature base, it does have several limitations that should be noted. first, the relatively small sample size (i.e., n=79) limited the types of analyses that could be conducted. although the canonical correlation analyses suggested redundancy, or overlap, among the three measures, a technique such as structural equation modeling (sem) may have provided more information about the relationships between the larger tests and their component tasks. this increased knowledge would have been helpful in understanding whether the three different measures truly assessed similar constructs, as suggested by task names, and would be important to future test development. furthermore, all participants attended the same head start program, which had been the recipient of an early reading first grant. students in these classrooms may have received more intensive instruction in emergent literacy areas than typically found in preschool classrooms, given the focus of the grant. it is unknown to what extent the findings would generalize to other preschool programs, or even to other head start programs. certainly, further research is needed with a larger, more diverse population to allow for more sophisticated analyses with sem. a further limitation of this study was that it included only primary english-speaking 4year-old students. the head start classrooms that participated also provided services for 3-yearolds, but the decision was made to exclude them from analyses, as they were not assessed with all measures and, thus, comparisons would have been limited. however, with today’s increasing focus on early monitoring and intervention, questions must be raised about how inclusion of the younger students may have impacted results; this is an area ripe for future study. finally, this study was limited to the examination of just three emergent literacy measures and one of those measures, the circle (the circle group, 2004) had limited psychometric reports available for review. certainly, there are other measures of emergent literacy and also “readiness” assessments that include literacy scales that should be investigated. the examination of other groups of measures through the analyses used in this study may result in different findings. more exploration in this area is needed. despite its limitations, this study addressed an area that begs further exploration. because reading is crucial to one’s academic and life success (cunningham & stanovich, 1997; snow, burns, & griffin, 1998), effort should be focused on early assessment and intervention. future studies should focus on which pa tasks and methods of assessment will provide the early childhood 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(1999). outcomes of an emergent literacy intervention from head start through second grade. journal of educational psychology, 91, 261-272. title: dialog, 16(3), 21-44 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article quantitative and qualitative factors related to the effectiveness of a preschool behavioral regulation intervention shauna l. tominey yale university megan m. mcclelland oregon state university the present study examined quantitative and qualitative factors related to the effectiveness of a behavioral regulation intervention using classroom games with 65 prekindergarteners. previous research indicated that participation in an intervention was related to behavioral regulation gains for children who started the year with low levels of these skills and significant letter-word identification gains for all children in the intervention (tominey & mcclelland, 2011). children from low-income families experienced smaller intervention-related gains than their peers. in the present paper, we examined how child and family factors predicted children’s initial levels of behavioral regulation. additionally, we analyzed qualitative fieldnotes looking for behaviors that could explain the reduced intervention effects experienced by children from low-income families. results of a logistic regression indicated that maternal education significantly predicted behavioral regulation at the beginning of the prekindergarten year. moreover, qualitative analyses revealed relations between off-task behaviors exhibited during intervention sessions (including spillover effects) and children’s family income level. findings underscore the importance of targeting children from low-income families and those with low levels of maternal education for behavioral regulation interventions. implications for future applications of the intervention include increasing the number of intervention sessions and embedding behavioral regulation activities into prekindergarten classrooms. keywords: preschool curriculum, self-regulation, behavioral regulation, intervention, qualitative methods, preschool behavioral regulation is an important component of school readiness and critical for academic success (blair, 2002; cooper & farran, 1988; eisenberg, smith, sadovsky, & spinrad, 2004; mcclelland, cameron, wanless, & murray, 2007; valiente, lemery-chalfant, & castro, 2007). teachers are reporting, however, that many children enter school with poor regulatory abilities (rimm-kaufman, pianta, & cox, 2000) and, as a result, these children have difficulties transitioning to and succeeding within academically-focused environments (howse, lange, 22 tominey farran, & boyles, 2003; m. m. mcclelland, morrison, & holmes, 2000). this is problematic because early academic skills serve as building blocks for future learning. children who fail to acquire early skills (such as in reading and in math) are likely to face achievement gaps that can persist and increase throughout their schooling (entwisle & alexander, 1993). children from low-income families are most at risk for entering school with poor behavioral regulation (dearing, berry, & zaslow, 2006; howse, lange et al., 2003) and thus are an especially important population to target for intervention. in recent years, a number of preschool interventions have emerged that target selfregulation (including behavioral regulation) prior to school entry (diamond, barnett, thomas, & munro, 2007; domitrovich, cortes, & greenberg, 2007; pears, fisher, & bronz, 2007; tominey & mcclelland, 2011). some intervention programs have been developed for children with identified risk factors (e.g., children exhibiting overt aggressive behaviors, children in foster care), whereas others have been developed for use in preschool classrooms with the intent that all children will participate in and benefit from the activities (e.g., second step, tools of the mind). because of the importance of self-regulation for academic success and the high number of children with poor regulatory abilities in preschool, the latter approach is gaining in popularity. few studies, however, have investigated how interventions targeting classrooms with children at varying levels of behavioral regulation and from diverse backgrounds might lead to varying levels of effectiveness. it is critical to identify factors related to intervention effectiveness in order to develop and refine programs that maximize the effects for all children. in the present study, we examine an intervention aimed at improving preschoolers’ behavioral regulation skills using circle time games (tominey & mcclelland, 2011). we examine quantitative and qualitative factors related to varying levels of intervention effects exhibited by children in the study related to their initial behavioral regulation abilities and family income level. definition of behavioral regulation we define behavioral regulation as the integration of attention, working memory, and inhibitory control (mcclelland, cameron, wanless et al., 2007; ponitz et al., 2008). these behavioral components of self-regulation are important for planning and executing goal-directed activities (blair, 2002). within the classroom, attention skills help children filter important information from distractions and switch focus from one task to another (rothbart & posner, 2005; rueda, posner, & rothbart, 2005). building upon attention abilities, working memory allows children to remember information (to which they attended) in order to follow instructions and complete multi-step tasks (adams, bourke, & willis, 1999). requiring both attention and working memory, inhibitory control refers to the ability to stop a dominant response (e.g., running outside when the bell rings) in order to demonstrate a more appropriate behavior (e.g., putting away toys first) (mcclelland, cameron, wanless et al., 2007; rennie, bull, & diamond, 2004). taken together, attention, working memory, and inhibitory control are important for school readiness and academic success (baumeister & vohs, 2004; mcclelland, cameron, connor et al., 2007; mcclelland, cameron, wanless et al., 2007). the circle time games used in this study were designed to help children practice the integration of these skills. factors related to intervention effectiveness 23 behavioral regulation and academic achievement early behavioral regulation skills predict both shortand long-term academic outcomes. studies have found significant relations between preschool behavioral regulation and academic achievement in preschool (blair & razza, 2007; mcclelland, cameron, connor et al., 2007), elementary school (liew, mctigue, barrois, & hughes, 2008; mcclelland, acock, & morrison, 2006; mcclelland et al., 2000; valiente et al., 2007), and even high school and college completion (mcclelland, piccinin, & stallings, 2013; vitaro, brendgen, & larose, 2005). studies suggest that children with poor behavioral regulation have difficulty succeeding in structured classroom settings (alexander, entwisle, & dauber, 1993; ladd, 2003). the components of behavioral regulation: attention (blair & razza, 2007; howse, lange et al., 2003), working memory (gathercole, 2008; gathercole & pickering, 2000), and inhibitory control (blair & razza, 2007), have been independently identified as predictors of math and reading in preschool and elementary school. additionally, many studies have found significant relations between academic outcomes and measures that integrate these skills. for example, in a study examining kindergarteners’ behavioral regulation, a composite behavioral regulation score from teacher ratings of impulsivity, planning abilities, and attention significantly predicted academic outcomes over the kindergarten year (howse, calkins, anastopoulos, keane, & shelton, 2003). in another study, kindergarten work-related skills (another composite score taken from teacher ratings of behavioral regulation skills including paying attention to instructions and complying with teacher requests) predicted math and literacy skills between kindergarten and sixth grade and growth in these same skills from kindergarten to second grade (mcclelland et al., 2006). together, these results provide evidence that children with poor behavioral regulation may be at risk of experiencing academic difficulties. improving children’s behavioral regulation through intervention in preschool in recent years, there has been an increasing emphasis on improving children’s regulatory skills (including behavioral regulation) in preschool. for many children, the preschool classroom is the first academic environment in which they are asked to demonstrate these skills (phillips, mccartney, & sussman, 2006). prior to preschool entry, children’s behavioral regulation develops within the family context, moving from an external process (e.g., parents soothe a child through holding and rocking) to an internal process (e.g., children soothe themselves by sucking a thumb) (kopp, 1991). upon entering preschool, children are asked to demonstrate behavioral regulation continually through actions such as paying attention and following directions. preschool has also been identified as an important developmental period for brain maturation in the pre-frontal cortex, an area related to behavioral regulation (blair, 2002). research documents that brain maturation during this stage is accompanied by changes in children’s behavioral regulation abilities. for example, attention becomes more focused, working memory improves in accuracy, and children exhibit inhibitory control skills at appropriate times with greater consistency (blair, 2002; landry, smith, swank, & miller-loncar, 2000). moreover, studies are showing that each of these skills can be improved through practice (ford, mcdougall, & evans, 2009; landry et al., 2000). together these factors indicate that preschool would be an ideal time to introduce interventions aimed at improving children’s behavioral 24 tominey regulation. an estimated 83.2% of children attend early care or education programs (denton flanagan & mcphee, 2009), making it likely that behavioral regulation interventions in preschool settings would reach a majority of children prior to kindergarten entry. several preschool interventions have emerged focusing on behavioral regulation, social competence, and improving early academic skills. one example is tools of the mind (bodrova & leong, 2009; diamond et al., 2007), which embeds self-regulation and early academic intervention into preschool learning activities. in randomized trials, children in classrooms implementing the tools of the mind curriculum have shown significant improvement on computer-based executive function tasks (diamond et al., 2007) and higher levels of teacherreported self-regulatory skills compared to children in control classrooms (barnett et al., 2008). promoting alternate thinking strategies (paths) is another classroom-based intervention targeting emotional awareness and communication, cooperation, self-regulation, self-esteem, and problem-solving. in a randomized trial of paths, preschool children participating in the treatment group were rated more socially competent by parents and teachers than children in the control group (domitrovich et al., 2007). both of these intervention programs as well as others targeting regulation skills (e.g., second step, (committee for children); kids in transition to school, (pears et al., 2007)) have been tested among children from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds as well as a range of ethnicities and parental education levels (barnett et al., 2008; domitrovich et al., 2007), but to date, they have not tested for varying levels of intervention effectiveness across these diverse groups of children. additionally, none of these studies have examined how children’s behaviors (e.g., onversus off-task behaviors) during intervention sessions might impact intervention effectiveness as well as how they might impact one another (i.e., spillover effects). spillover effects in the classroom and during intervention sessions, the behaviors of children can affect other children (e.g., spillover effects). the research on early childhood inclusive classrooms (i.e., classrooms including children with special needs as well as children without special needs) has shown that children can serve as peer models for one another to promote the development of positive social and academic outcomes (odom & diamond, 1998). spillover effects are also present in non-inclusive classrooms. for example, in one study of prekindergarteners, children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary skills were significantly related to their peers’ expressive vocabulary (mashburn, justice, downer, & pianta, 2009). conversely, spillover effects can lead to decreases in positive behaviors or increases in negative behaviors. for example, findings from another study revealed that preschool children had more difficulties demonstrating regulation in group settings than when they were being assessed individually (mccabe & brooks-gunn, 2007). although spillover effects are clearly an important factor when examining children in group settings, few intervention studies targeting regulatory abilities (if any) have examined the relation between children’s behaviors, spillover effects, and intervention effectiveness. factors related to intervention effectiveness 25 kindergarten readiness study pilot behavioral regulation intervention we recently developed and implemented an intervention using circle time games intended to improve children’s behavioral regulation (tominey & mcclelland, 2011). results from a randomized trial revealed three important findings. first, children’s initial levels of behavioral regulation predicted gains in these skills over the prekindergarten year. specifically, lower initial levels of behavioral regulation predicted greater gains in these skills over the prekindergarten year. second, children in the intervention demonstrated significant gains in letter-word identification skills compared to children in the control group. finally, being from a low-income family (measured by enrollment in the head start program) predicted significantly smaller gains in behavioral regulation over the prekindergarten year. in a post-hoc analysis guided by these results, significant intervention effects were present when we divided children into two groups based on their initial behavioral regulation scores: low (at or below the 50 th percentile) and high (above the 50 th percentile). treatment group participation predicted significant gains in behavioral regulation for children in the low group (tominey & mcclelland, 2011). in our posthoc analysis, low family income again emerged as a significant control variable, showing reduced intervention effects for children from low-income families. the variability in intervention effects based on initial behavioral regulation scores and family income level made it clear that a more thorough investigation of intervention effects was needed. in the present study, we examined quantitative and qualitative factors related to intervention effectiveness in this pilot study. first, we tested the background variables that we had collected on children (e.g., gender and maternal education) as predictors of initial behavioral regulation group (low or high). we then analyzed qualitative fieldnotes from intervention sessions to look for patterns of behavior (including spillover effects) that could help explain the reduced effects experienced by children from low-income families in comparison to their peers. factors influencing the development of behavioral regulation numerous child and family factors have been found to predict the development of behavioral regulation. in the present study, we examined age, gender, family income, and maternal education as predictors of behavioral regulation group (low or high) at the beginning of the prekindergarten year, all of which have been shown to significantly predict behavioral regulation (blair, 2002; evans, 2004; evans & rosenbaum, 2008; howse, lange et al., 2003; morrison, ponitz, & mcclelland, 2010; sektnan, mcclelland, acock, & morrison, 2010; skibbe, connor, morrison, & jewkes, 2010; wanless, mcclelland, tominey, & acock, 2011). our goal was to identify factors that predicted membership in the low behavioral regulation group, which could help target children most likely to need and benefit from this or similar interventions. family income and intervention effectiveness in addition to examining factors predicting behavioral regulation levels at the beginning of the prekindergarten year, we examined qualitative data from intervention sessions to help explain the 26 tominey smaller intervention effects exhibited by children enrolled in head start (in the low behavioral regulation group) in comparison to children who were not. although children from low-income families are more likely than their peers to struggle with behavioral regulation (evans & rosenbaum, 2008), these skills can mediate the relation between risk factors (e.g., low family income, low maternal education) and academic outcomes (buckner, mezzacappa, & beardslee, 2009; dearing, mccartney, & taylor, 2009; sektnan et al., 2010), indicating that this is an especially important population to target for intervention. identifying behaviors related to intervention effects may lead to the refinement of the present intervention in ways that maximize intervention gains for children from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. the present study the present study focused on identifying factors related to the effectiveness of a prekindergarten behavioral regulation intervention. the study had two research questions. our first research question was: what factors predicted membership in the low behavioral regulation group and thus, that children would be in the group most likely to exhibit significant gains from intervention participation? to answer this question, we examined quantitative child and family factors (i.e., child age, gender, family income, and maternal education) for predictors of behavioral regulation at the beginning of the prekindergarten year. we hypothesized that the group of children who began the year with low behavioral regulation would include younger children, a higher number of males and children from low-income families, and that children in this group would have lower levels of maternal education than children in the high group based on research documenting the relation between these variables and the development of behavioral regulation (howse, lange et al., 2003; matthews et al., 2009; ponitz et al., 2009; wanless, mcclelland, tominey, & acock, 2010; wanless et al., 2011). our second research question was: are there behaviors that help explain the varying levels of intervention effects exhibited by children in the low behavioral regulation group when dividing children by family income? we hypothesized that patterns of behaviors would emerge (including potential spillover effects) from the observational fieldnotes of children in the treatment group (n = 32) that might explain the smaller gains in behavioral regulation exhibited by children from low-income families in the low behavioral regulation group in comparison to their peers. children from low-income families are more likely than their peers to have difficulties regulating their behaviors (howse, lange et al., 2003; wanless et al., 2011) and thus we expected to find evidence of this during intervention sessions through qualitative analyses. method participants participants included in the first research question were 65 prekindergarten children who participated in a behavioral regulation intervention (tominey & mcclelland, 2011). children were randomly assigned to the treatment and control groups with 32 children in the treatment group and 33 children in the control group. the average age of child at the beginning of the study was 54.5 months (sd = 3.6). twenty-eight of the children (43%) came from low-income factors related to intervention effectiveness 27 families, as measured by enrollment in the head start program. thirty-nine of the children were female and 26 were male. the majority of children in the study attended preschool in classrooms located in a university child development center and laboratory school (n = 53). placement in the center is available both to children paying tuition and available at no cost to children enrolled in the head start program. this arrangement provided a unique opportunity to include children coming from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds who were receiving the same quality of care. approximately half of the children in each classroom were enrolled in head start. a small number of children participating in the study (n = 12) were attending a program at a second child development center. children in the study were divided among eight classrooms. information on classroom activities was obtained from discussions with classroom teachers. teachers reported that they were familiar with games similar to those used in the intervention, but that they rarely implemented these games in their classrooms. participants included in the analysis for the second research question were the 32 children who had been randomly assigned to the treatment group. our primary interest was children in the low initial behavioral regulation group, however, intervention sessions included children from both the low and the high groups and thus the behaviors of all children were included in our qualitative analysis to account for potential spillover effects. although we only had spring behavioral regulation scores for 28 of these children, we chose to include children for whom we did not have complete data (children who left prior to the conclusion of the study) if they participated in the intervention sessions as their behaviors may also have had spillover effects. the average age of children in the treatment group was 54.3 months (sd = 3.3 months). twenty of the children were female and twelve were male. fourteen children were enrolled in the head start program (43.8%) and eighteen were not. the average level of maternal education was 15.6 years (sd = 3 years). none of these variables differed significantly from children in the control group (tominey & mcclelland, 2011). attrition initially, 74 children enrolled in the study. over the school year, the total attrition was nine children: four children moved, one left school early for a family vacation, three declined to participate in the post-test, and one was withdrawn from the study by his parents because of newly-diagnosed developmental delays. the nine children who did not complete the study did not significantly differ from the overall sample on any of the measured background variables. measures parent demographic questionnaire in the fall of the prekindergarten year, parents completed a background questionnaire in their native language (english or spanish) containing questions about their child’s age, gender, head start enrollment, and maternal education. information on children’s age, gender, and head start enrollment was also obtained and verified through the child development centers. parent demographic questionnaires were completed and returned by 55 of the families in the study (85%), 28 tominey reducing the sample size for analyses including maternal education. all of the questionnaires that were not returned (n = 10) were from low-income families and eight out of 10 of the unreturned questionnaires were also from parents of children in the low initial behavioral regulation group. the average maternal education for low-income families with children in the low initial behavioral regulation group was 11.8 years (sd = 2.3, range = 6–14 years). head-toes-knees-shoulders task in the fall and spring of the prekindergarten year, the head-toes-knees-shoulders task (htks) was used to assess children’s behavioral regulation (ponitz et al., 2009). the htks is a direct measure of behavioral regulation that assesses the integration of attention, working memory, and inhibitory control (mcclelland, ponitz, messersmith, & tominey, 2010; ponitz et al., 2009). in this task, children are asked to touch their head and toes (or knees and shoulders in an alternate form), and then to do the opposite of what the experimenter says (e.g., children touch their head when asked to touch their toes). there are 20 test items, resulting in scores that range from 0 to 40 with higher scores indicating higher levels of behavioral regulation each item has a possible score of 0, 1, or 2: 0 denotes an incorrect response (child touches the incorrect body part), 1 is considered a self-correct (child moves toward an incorrect response, but ultimately gives the correct response), and 2 points denotes a correct response without a movement toward an incorrect response. recent studies suggest that the htks is a reliable and valid measure of children’s behavioral regulation in diverse populations (mcclelland, cameron, connor et al., 2007; ponitz et al., 2008; ponitz et al., 2009). additionally, studies have found significant relations between parent-rated inhibitory control and attention and children’s scores on the htks, as well as between teacher ratings of children’s behavioral regulation in the classroom and scores on the htks (mcclelland, cameron, connor et al., 2007; ponitz et al., 2009). in the present study, interrater reliability on the htks was calculated at kappa = .92. observational data at the end of each playgroup session, the playgroup leader (the first author) recorded handwritten narratives detailing the activities used in the sessions as well as notes on each individual child from the time the playgroup session began to the time the child returned to their classroom (emerson, 1995). the notes were a narrative of the playgroup sessions and included individualized descriptions of each child and their behavior. at the end of each day, the playgroup leader transcribed the hand-written notes into a word processing program. each day of playgroup sessions generated approximately three pages of single-spaced typed notes, resulting in a total of 50 typed pages of fieldnotes. procedure in the fall of the prekindergarten year (september), invitations to participate were mailed to parents of all four-year-olds in the participating preschools and consent forms were collected from seventy-four families. the study was divided into three phases: pretest, intervention, and posttest. factors related to intervention effectiveness 29 pretest. the first phase took place in the fall (november – december). during this time, children’s behavioral regulation was assessed using the htks over four weeks. intervention. the second phase took place over winter term (january-march) to allow time for pre-testing and to accommodate teacher scheduling requests. during this phase, half of the children in each classroom were randomly assigned to participate in the intervention group. random assignment at the individual level within classrooms was chosen because of the high variability in number of children from each classroom participating in the study (1-13 children). additionally, the intraclass correlation on the htks for classroom was .06, indicating limited variability that could be explained by classroom membership in behavioral regulation and supporting our decision to randomize individually within classrooms. children at both sites were frequently taken out of the classroom to participate in individual and small group activities so children were both accustomed to leaving the classroom and to seeing others leave the classroom throughout the school day. although there were concerns regarding potential contamination effects, teachers reported that there was no evidence of children in the treatment group sharing intervention activities with children assigned to the control group. in addition, studies have found that when contamination effects occur because of changes in students’ behavior, children assigned to the control group are more likely to act like children in the treatment group, making detection of intervention effects more difficult. these contamination effects, however, are often found to be negligible (rhoads, 2009; torgerson, 2001). posttest. the third phase took place in the spring of the pre-kindergarten year (aprilmay). children’s behavioral regulation was re-assessed using the htks. during this phase, research assistants were blind to intervention participation; those who assisted with the intervention phase of the study did not test children from classrooms in which they had previously assisted to prevent researcher bias. intervention games children randomly assigned to the treatment group participated in a total of sixteen playgroups over eight weeks. the playgroups were held twice weekly and each session was approximately 30 minutes. previous research has found significant improvement in children’s self-regulation and social competence in interventions of similar durations (pears et al., 2007). the playgroup sessions were held on the same days and times each week as part of the regular preschool day. times were chosen that best accommodated the needs of classroom teachers and did not interfere with other scheduled activities. children were invited by playgroup leaders to attend the sessions, but were allowed to decline participation. out of the sixteen sessions, children in the intervention group attended 5-16 sessions, with an average attendance of 11.3 sessions. the most common reason for a child to miss a session was an absence because of illness or vacation. occasionally children declined participation because of engagement in other classroom activities. each playgroup session had 5-8 children and 1-2 assistant teachers. the assistant teachers were trained undergraduate student researchers who were studying early childhood education or related fields. the same researcher (the first author) led all of the playgroup sessions to ensure fidelity. the games used in the study were developed by the playgroup leader, who had previously 30 tominey worked as an early childhood education teacher (tominey & mcclelland, 2011). the games were previously piloted in classrooms of children with varying ages and developmental needs. the games chosen for use in the study had shown high levels of engagement among children with demonstrated difficulty engaging in classroom activities. playgroup sessions were modeled after classroom circle times. each session began with children sitting on mats and participating in a greeting song intended to help children transition to the playgroup setting. the playgroup leader then introduced the playgroup activity. following the activity, children returned to their mats to sing a good-bye song and then returned to their classrooms. a total of six activities were presented over the 16 sessions. the activities were designed to help children develop and practice integrating attention, working memory, and inhibitory control, using easy-to-implement classroom games (tominey & mcclelland, 2011). the games helped children practice attention and working memory by requiring them to remember and follow through with continually changing multi-step instructions. children practiced inhibitory control by starting and stopping to different cues (oral and visual), performing specific behaviors in response to cues, and performing opposite behaviors. each game included music and movement components to promote engagement. although little research has examined the relation between music and movement and engagement, one study found that music and movement activities, such as dance, are effective at improving preschooler’s social competence (lobo & winsler, 2006). additionally, classroom teachers in our study reported that the use of music and movement in circle time activities often resulted in high involvement. one game used in the study was the freeze game. in this game, children danced when music played and froze when the teacher stopped the music. children changed their body movements based on the speed of the songs (dancing slowly to slow songs and quickly to fast songs). children were also asked to respond to opposite cues: dancing quickly to slow songs and slowly to fast songs. in another game, which was a variation of the popular children’s game red light, green light, a teacher acted as a “stop light” by standing at the opposite end of the room from the children and holding up different colored construction paper circles to represent stop and go. children responded to specific color cues (e.g., purple is “stop” and orange is “go”) and then to opposite cues (e.g., purple is “go” and orange is “stop”) as well as to different shapes representing stop and go (e.g., any color circle is “go” and any color square is “stop”). children were also given the opportunity to lead activities, such as by acting as the “stop light” in the red light, purple light game. for a detailed description of the intervention games, see (tominey & mcclelland, 2011). results descriptive statistics for research question #1. prior to running our analyses for the first research question, we examined descriptive statistics for the low and high behavioral regulation groups (low group: n = 31, high group: n = 34). the average age of children in the low and high groups was nearly identical (low group: m = 54.6 months, sd = 4; high group: m = 54.5 months, sd = 3.2). there was a slight (although non-significant) difference in gender across the two groups of children with 45% of the low-group being male (n = 14) and 35% of the high group being male (n = 12). mothers of children in the low group had significantly lower levels of education (m = 14.1 years, sd = 3.4 years) than mothers of children in the high group (m = 16.4 years, sd = 3.3 years), t(53) = -2.56, p < .05. forty percent of mothers with children in the low factors related to intervention effectiveness 31 group had a high school education or lower, whereas only 18% of mothers with children in the high group had a high school education or lower. in addition, the proportion of children in lowincome families was higher in the low group (55%; n = 17) than in the high group (32%; n = 11); although this difference did not quite reach statistical significance (z = 1.83, p = .07). moreover, maternal education level and low family income were significantly correlated (r = -.65, p < .001). because maternal education and family income were highly correlated, to avoid issues with multicollinearity, we ran two separate analyses to examine each as a predictor of behavioral regulation. we expected that we might more easily detect relations between maternal education (a continuous variable) and children’s behavioral regulation than between family income (a dichotomous variable) and behavioral regulation. in the fall, children in the low group had an average htks score of .5 points (sd = 1.3) whereas children in the high group had an average htks score of 20.5 (sd = 9.6). in the spring, the average htks score in the low group was 16.9 points (sd = 13.6) and 26.6 points (sd = 27.2) in the high group. over the course of the year, children in the low group gained an average of 16.3 points (sd = 13.3). in contrast, children in the high behavioral regulation group gained an average of 6.1 points over the year (sd = 10.8). research question #1: what factors predicted membership in the low behavioral regulation group and thus that children would be in the group most likely to exhibit significant gains from intervention participation? to answer the first research question, we used logistic regression analyses to determine if child age, gender, head start enrollment, and maternal education significantly predicted whether children were in the low or high behavioral regulation group in the fall of the prekindergarten year. because of the high correlation between maternal education level and family income, separate logistic regression analyses were run to determine the effects of each independently on children’s initial levels of behavioral regulation. results of the first logistic regression (see table 2.1) indicated that the odds of children being in the low behavioral regulation group was 59% higher for children from low-income families than for their more advantaged peers, although this was a trend (n = 65; z = -1.70, p = .08). the second logistic regression indicated that maternal education significantly predicted group membership (z = 2.10, p < .05). for every additional year of maternal education, the odds that a child would be in the high behavioral regulation group increased by 22%. child gender was not a significant predictor of low/high group membership in either analysis (ps > .05). although we initially included child age (in months) in both analyses, because of the low variability in children’s ages across the groups and the lack of significance (z = -.29, p > .05 and z = .23, p > .05, respectively) this variable was removed from the final models. 32 tominey table 1 logistic regression results examining family income and maternal education to predict low/high self-regulation at the beginning of the prekindergarten year (n = 65) model 1 model 2 variable odds ratio 95% confidence interval odds ratio 95% confidence interval child gender a 0.77 0.27 2.15 0.68 0.21 2.21 head start status b .41 † 0.15 1.14 maternal education (years) 1.22* 1.01 1.48  3.36 6.76* df 2 2 a child gender: 0 = female, 1 = male. b head start status: 0 = not enrolled in head start, 1 = enrolled in head start. † p < .1. *p < .05. descriptive statistics for research question #2. before answering the second research question, we examined descriptive statistics for children in the low behavioral regulation group, dividing children by family income and intervention group assignment. although the small sample sizes across groups did not allow us to test for statistically significant differences, children in head start in both the treatment and control groups had lower average maternal education and higher numbers of school absences than their more-advantaged peers. varying patterns of intervention effects were also present across these groups (see figure 1). specifically, children who were not enrolled in head start in the treatment group (n = 6) showed the greatest behavioral regulation gains (m = 29.2 points, sd = 4.4), followed by children not in head start children in the control group (n = 8, m = 20.9 points, sd = 14). children in head start in the treatment group gained an average of 13.5 points (sd = 14.3), and children in head start in the control group gained an average of 7.5 points (sd = 8.7). overall, children not enrolled in head start exhibited greater gains in behavioral regulation scores than children in head start regardless of intervention group. there were also differences in the variability in htks gains over the prekindergarten year across the four groups. children who were not enrolled in head start in the treatment group demonstrated the greatest gains in behavioral regulation over the prekindergarten year, and the least variability in gain scores (sd = 4.4). the standard deviation of behavioral self-regulation in each of the other three groups was double or triple that of the children in this group. additional descriptive statistics for children with low initial behavioral regulation, dividing children by family income and intervention group, are presented in table 2. factors related to intervention effectiveness 33 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 fall spring h t k s s c o re s non-head start treatment non-head start control head start treatment head start control figure 1. fall and spring htks scores for children beginning the year with behavioral regulation skills at or below the 50 th percentile (n = 31) divided by head start enrollment and intervention group assignment. note. htks is the head-toes-knees-shoulders self-regulation task. table 2 descriptive statistics for children in the treatment and control groups by family income for children with low initial behavioral self-regulation (n = 31). treatment group (n = 12) control group (n = 19) variables head start (n = 6) non-hs (n = 6) head start (n = 11) non-hs (n = 8) m (sd) m (sd) m (sd) m (sd) child age (months) 54.5 (3.7) 53.8 (3.9) 55 (4.5) 54.8 (4.2) child gender a 0.5 (0.5) 0.7 (0.5) 0.4 (0.5) 0.4 (0.5) maternal education b (years) 12 (0) 16.2 (2.9) 11.1 (2.7) 15.6 (2.8) absences 9.8 (8.2) 6.2 (5.3) 6.4 (5.2) 4 (3.9) sessions attended 10.3 (2.3) 12.7 (2.7) 0 0 fall htks 0 (0) 1.8 (2.2) .4 (.8) .4 (1.1) spring htks 13.5 (14.3) 31 (4.1) 7.9 (8.5) 21.3 (14.2) htks gain 13.5 (14.2) 29.2 (4.4) 7.6 (8.7) 20.9 (14.0) a child gender: 0 = female, 1 = male. b for descriptive statistics including maternal education, n = 23. 34 tominey research question #2: are there behaviors that explain the varying levels of intervention effects exhibited by children in the low behavioral regulation group when dividing children by family income? to answer the second research question, qualitative fieldnotes from the intervention sessions were read and coded deductively and inductively for patterns of behavior for children in the treatment group (n = 32). first, we coded notes for children individually, specifically looking deductively for evidence of attention/focus and onversus off-task behaviors. as additional behaviors of interest emerged from our inductive coding (e.g., children’s responsiveness to teacher praise), we reread the fieldnotes and recoded for each of these behaviors across all children. we then looked for relations between behaviors and background variables, including family income (determined by head start enrollment status) and initial level of behavioral regulation (high or low group). although researchers were not blind to children’s background variables several steps were taken to reduce the likelihood of bias in the recording and coding of fieldnotes. first, a playgroup assistant read through the fieldnotes written by the playgroup leader (the first author) after each session to verify accuracy. second, the first author read and coded fieldnotes for each child individually before comparisons were made within and across subgroups of children based on their background variables. it should be noted that children enrolled in head start and those who were not were integrated in the same classrooms and participated in playgroup sessions together. findings from the qualitative fieldnotes all of the children participating in the playgroups quickly incorporated the sessions into their weekly routine. by the second playgroup session, most children automatically put down their classroom activities and met the playgroup leaders at the door. children bonded very quickly with playgroup teachers and demonstrated this by learning their names and showing physical affection (e.g., hugging, holding hands). teachers and parents of children in the treatment group frequently commented to playgroup teachers on how much children looked forward to the playgroup sessions. playgroup teachers communicated regularly with classroom teachers (each day that intervention sessions were held) and the program director (weekly or bi-weekly) to ensure that children were enjoying participation. the games chosen were highly effective at promoting engagement during sessions. children appeared to be enthusiastic about the games and often requested to replay their favorite games. it was rare for children to decline to participate in any of the games during the sessions though during the first week, children with inhibited or shy personalities would sit and watch for a short period of time before joining in activities, especially when gross motor movements were involved (e.g., dancing). in general, the gross motor activities were also the most often requested by children. attention and off-task behaviors. because it was difficult to differentiate lack of attention from off-task behavior, we focused on recorded incidents of off-task behaviors. we specifically coded children as exhibiting off-task behaviors occasionally/sometimes if they demonstrated off-task behaviors at three or more sessions and frequently/often if they factors related to intervention effectiveness 35 demonstrated at least one off-task behavior at each session they attended. two types of off-task behaviors were observed: off-task behaviors unrelated to the activities and off-task behaviors related to the activities. in general, off-task behaviors that were unrelated to the activities most often occurred during transition periods, such as when children were walking from their classroom to the playgroup room, in between the greeting song and the activity, or while instructions for the games were being explained. examples of off-task behaviors unrelated to the activities included answering questions with off-topic comments (“tomorrow is saturday and we don’t come to school,” and “what’s in those [drawers]?”), climbing and standing on chairs at the edge of the room, stacking carpet squares, and crawling under tables. off-task behaviors related to the activities included trying to make the loudest noises, such as while playing instruments or pretending to be animals. imitators and initiators. we found that children who exhibited off-task behaviors (either occasionally/sometimes or frequently/often) could be categorized as “imitators” or “initiators.” children who were imitators did not initiate off-task behaviors themselves, but copied the off-task behaviors exhibited by others. children who were initiators were leaders in off-task behaviors and were often imitated by one or more other children. all of the children who were initiators were also imitators when other children initiated off-task behaviors. out of the 32 children in the treatment group, seven children were characterized as initiators. six out of the seven were enrolled in head start and four were in the low initial behavioral regulation group. initiators were observed to have a higher frequency of off-task behaviors than imitators or children who were not categorized as imitators or initiators. specifically, all of the initiators were coded as exhibiting off-task behaviors occasionally/sometimes (n = 2) or frequently/often (n = 5). nine children were characterized as imitators. of these children, six were enrolled in head start and three were not. all of the imitators exhibited off-task behaviors occasionally/ sometimes, with the exception of one child coded as exhibiting off-task behaviors frequently/often. of the children enrolled in head start in the treatment group, 78.5% were coded as imitators or initiators in comparison to 11% of the children not enrolled in head start. half of the children in the treatment group (n = 16) were not categorized as either imitators or initiators. three of these children were in the low behavioral regulation group and 13 were in the high group. additionally, only three of the 16 were enrolled in head start (see table 3). 36 tominey table 3 spillover effects for children in the treatment group (n = 32) child gender head start fall htks spring htks initiator/ imitator off-task frequency teacher/ peer a1 f 0 35 36 a2 m 0 30 35 a3 f 0 20 36 a4 f 1 13 19* a5 m 1 12 30 a6 f 0 12 32 b1 f 1 32 . b2 f 1 14 10* b3 m 0 4* 34 b4 f 1 0* 31 b5 f 1 0* 31 b6 m 1 0* 13* b7 f 1 0* 4* c1 f 0 32 37 c2 m 0 22 32 c3 f 0 20 22* c4 f 0 2* 35 c5 f 1 0* . d1 f 0 24 37 d2 f 0 24 34 d3 m 1 16 24* d4 f 0 10 . d5 m 1 6 0* d6 m 1 0* 2* d7 m 1 0* 0* d8 f 1 0* . e1 f 0 37 28 e2 f 0 8 4* e3 f 0 5* 28 e4 m 0 0* 35 e5 m 0 0* 28 e6 m 0 0* 26* a head start: 0 = not enrolled, 1 = enrolled. b initiator/imitator: black = initiator, gray = imitator. c off-task frequency: white = rarely/never, gray = sometimes/occasionally, black = often. d teacher/peer: white = highly responsive to teacher praise, gray = usually responsive to peer reactions with some response to teacher praise, black = highly responsive to peer reactions and little or no response to teacher praise. *children at or below the 50 th percentile in the fall and/or spring. spillover effects within intervention sessions. table 3 shows children grouped within their intervention sessions. three groups had one initiator and two groups included two initiators. the number of imitators was higher in the groups with more than one initiator. only one group (group c) included an initiator with no imitators. whether or not an initiator was imitated appeared to be highly dependent on the child’s peer relationships within the group. for example, one child who was coded as an initiator (group c) was never imitated. this child had factors related to intervention effectiveness 37 few interactions (either positive or negative) with the other children in the group. she did not attempt to engage other children in her off-task behaviors and these behaviors appeared to bother other children (e.g., crawling on the floor pretending to be a cat while others were trying to participate in intervention games). overall, children appeared to be indifferent to this child and her actions. another child (an initiator in group d) was imitated by one or more children every time he exhibited an off-task behavior. this child was well-liked by the other children. he often said words or made faces that made other children laugh and would continue these behaviors as long as he was receiving positive attention from his peers (e.g., laughing or imitation). the majority of his off-task behaviors were active attempts to engage other children. these same patterns were present throughout the fieldnotes: children who demonstrated positive social interactions were more likely to be imitated and received positive attention from their peers when exhibiting off-task behaviors. the fieldnotes revealed that children who were not coded as either imitators or initiators had reactions to the off-task behaviors of other children as well. even if children did not imitate off-task behaviors, it was common for them to giggle, laugh, roll their eyes, or make comments (e.g., “he always does that.”). teacher praise versus peer attention. for many children, reminders from teachers to return to on-task behaviors, coupled with praise for staying on task, effectively promoted ontask behaviors during intervention sessions. a few children (n = 7), however, were not responsive to this approach. instead, these children responded strongly to reactions from their peers (e.g., laughing or imitation). teacher requests to return to on-task behaviors were sometimes ignored, sometimes questioned (e.g., “why can’t i…?”), and sometimes followed. children who responded more strongly to peer than to teacher reactions were also noted to focus on aspects of the intervention games related to competition, such as moving as fast as possible or making the loudest sounds. for example, during the game red light, purple light, one child was heard reciting, “blue. blue. blue,” to himself as a reminder that blue was the color representing go. when the “blue light” was held up, he ran as fast as he could to “win,” rather than using the correct action and ignoring reminders from teachers to “tiptoe.” all of the children who responded to peer attention over teacher praise were enrolled in the head start program (see table 3). relations between intervention session behaviors and spring behavioral regulation. to examine the relation between intervention session behaviors and behavioral regulation gains, we identified children who ended the year (in the spring) with behavioral regulation scores at or below the 50 th percentile (children with fewer than 28 points on the htks). eleven of the 32 children in the treatment group ended the year with low behavioral regulation. five of the 11 children were also in the low behavioral regulation group in the fall; the other six were initially in the high group. all of the children who were coded as initiators (except one who refused to take the assessment) were in the low group in the spring. three of the children in the low group were coded as imitators and two were neither imitators nor initiators. all of the children coded as peer-responders (except the same child mentioned above who refused to take the spring assessment) were in the spring low group. additionally, 73% (n = 8 out of 11) of the children in the low group at the end of the year were enrolled in head start (see table 3). 38 tominey discussion in the present study, we investigated quantitative and qualitative factors related to the effectiveness of a behavioral regulation intervention. specifically, we examined quantitative background variables (i.e., child age, gender, family income, and maternal education) that predicted low behavioral regulation at the beginning of the prekindergarten year, because children in this group showed significant gains in these skills from intervention participation. we also used qualitative fieldnotes from intervention sessions to identify behaviors related to varying levels of intervention effects exhibited by children with low behavioral regulation. factors predicting low and high initial behavioral regulation scores results indicated that maternal education level was a significant predictor of children’s behavioral regulation at the beginning of the prekindergarten year. specifically, lower levels of maternal education significantly increased the odds of children beginning the year with low behavioral regulation. low family income (strongly correlated with maternal education) was also related to children’s initial behavioral regulation scores as a higher proportion of children in the low group were from low-income families than children in the high group. although maternal education and family income were significantly correlated, the greater variability in the maternal education variable (continuous) in comparison to the family income variable (dichotomous) may have made it easier to detect a statistically significant relation with low-group membership. previous studies have found that maternal education is an important predictor of behavioral regulation and that low levels of maternal education are related to poor behavioral regulation (sektnan et al., 2010). studies have linked maternal education to family processes predicting behavioral regulation, including parenting style and home environment quality (magnuson, 2007). specifically, mothers with lower levels of education are more likely than mothers with higher levels of education to use an authoritarian parenting style, exhibit negativity in their interactions with children, and provide less stimulating home learning environments, all of which have been linked to poor behavioral regulation (mcclelland, cameron, wanless et al., 2007; raikes, robinson, bradley, raikes, & ayoub, 2007). additionally, parental support of children’s autonomy (which is positively related to maternal education) has been found to predict strong behavioral regulation in children (bernier et al., 2010). taken together, these studies suggest that children who have mothers with low levels of education may not experience many of the family processes at home that promote the development of behavioral regulation during this important period and therefore are more likely to enter preschool with low levels of these skills. these results highlight the importance of targeting children with low maternal education for intervention, as these children may be most likely to struggle with behavioral regulation. although research suggests that age is an important predictor of behavioral selfregulation development (morrison et al., 2010; ponitz et al., 2009), in our study, age did not significantly predict behavioral regulation scores at the beginning of the prekindergarten year. the lack of a significant relation between age and behavioral regulation was likely because there was little variability in the ages of children participating in the study. also, contrary to research documenting gender differences in behavioral regulation development (matthews et al., 2009), in our sample, gender was not a significant predictor of initial behavioral self-regulation group (low factors related to intervention effectiveness 39 or high). there was a higher percentage of boys in the low group than in the high group, however, but this difference was not statistically significant, which may have been due to the small sample size. qualitative findings and intervention effectiveness as we expected, patterns emerged from the qualitative fieldnotes revealing relations between child behaviors and family income level. notably, the majority of children who initiated or imitated off-task behaviors were enrolled in head start. moreover, in addition to exhibiting behavioral difficulties during intervention sessions, these children were likely to have low behavioral regulation at the end of the prekindergarten year. in addition, all of the children who focused on peer reactions (rather than teacher responses) and on competitive aspects of the intervention session games (rather than accuracy in following rules) were enrolled in head start. these behaviors (e.g., initiating off-task behaviors and responding to peers over teachers) were also related to lower behavioral regulation scores at the end of the prekindergarten year. these findings support previous research documenting attention difficulties (measured by incidents of off-task behaviors) experienced by children in low-income families (howse, lange et al., 2003) and may explain why head start enrollment significantly predicted smaller behavioral regulation gains for children participating in the intervention. children from higherincome families are likely have exposure to opportunities within the home that promote the development of behavioral regulation skills (dearing et al., 2006; lareau, 2003), and this likely contributed to their greater ability to benefit from participation in the intervention games. studies of older children have noted that parents from higher social class backgrounds (measured by income and education level) tend to spend more time in direct interactions with children and provide more opportunities for participation in structured adult-led activities, whereas children in families from lower social class backgrounds spend more unstructured time with peers (lareau, 2003; lareau & weininger, 2008). these trends may help explain why children enrolled in head start were more likely than their peers to focus their attention on aspects of the games revolving around other children (e.g., competition, making the loudest sounds), behaviors which may have hindered their abilities to effectively participate in and benefit from intervention activities. focusing on aspects of the games revolving around teachers (e.g., listening to and following directions, seeking praise and approval) gave children who were not enrolled in head start an advantage over their peers in benefitting from intervention participation. children with low and high behavioral regulation and spillover effects there was evidence of spillover effects leading to an increase in off-task behaviors during intervention sessions. although negative spillover effects were easier to identify in the qualitative fieldnotes, it is possible that the behaviors of children who were on-task may have had positive spillover effects leading to increases in the on-task behaviors of their peers as has been found in research on positive peer influences in the classroom (mashburn et al., 2009; odom & diamond, 1998). children exhibiting on-task behaviors by their own volition look 40 tominey similar to children exhibiting on-task behaviors through imitation of their peers, making these effects difficult to detect. limitations although the present study has important implications for future applications of this and similar behavioral regulation interventions, there were a number of limitations. the primary limitation was the small sample size. the final sample size of 65 children limited our ability to perform statistical analyses on subgroups of children, such as by dividing children by family income and intervention group assignment within the group who began the year with low behavioral regulation. qualitative fieldnotes provided additional information on patterns of behavior within these groups, however, the groups examined were small, limiting the generalizability of findings. findings from this pilot study were recently used to inform a larger scale trial of the intervention presented in this paper with more than 260 children in head start settings. implementation of the intervention on a larger scale will allow for further quantitative and qualitative analyses of intervention effects and improved generalizability. the small sample size may also have contributed to our inability to find a relation between gender and low behavioral regulation. a second limitation of the study was that questionnaires were only returned by 55 parents of participants (85%), which further reduced our sample size for analyses including maternal education. non-response bias appeared to be a factor as all of the unreturned questionnaires were from families that the child development centers identified as low-income (i.e., enrolled in head start). additionally, the majority of the unreturned questionnaires (80%) were from families with children in the low initial behavioral regulation group making it more likely that these families may have had low maternal education. future studies should attempt to improve questionnaire response rates among parents, especially within this demographic. a third limitation was that the only variables collected relating to family factors were family income (measured by enrollment in head start) and maternal education. the results of the study found relations between intervention effects and maternal education, specifically that low maternal education predicted low behavioral regulation at the beginning of the year. also, trajectories of behavioral regulation over the year showed patterns of intervention-related gains based on family income. although maternal education and family income relate to numerous family factors and processes that predict the development of behavioral self-regulation (e.g., home-learning environment, parenting style), we did not have specific information on these variables and therefore could only speculate about the mechanisms through which these background variables had an impact on intervention effectiveness. fourth, although observational fieldnotes were written and coded as objectively as possible, researchers were not blind to children’s head start enrollment status. this knowledge may have increased the likelihood of bias being present in the recording and coding of fieldnotes. although bias can never entirely be eliminated, several steps were taken to reduce bias (emerson et al., 1995), including having playgroup assistants read fieldnotes to verify accuracy and coding fieldnotes for children individually before making comparisons within and across income groups. although we were unable to in the present study, videotaping intervention sessions may improve accuracy and objectivity by allowing for repeated viewings of the sessions and multiple coders. finally, future studies should include additional measures of behavioral regulation. the games used in the present study were chosen because of face validity with the htks task and factors related to intervention effectiveness 41 ease of implementation. in order to further evaluate how participation in the intervention relates to observable classroom behaviors, future studies should include a combination of direct measures, teacher reports, and classroom observations. practical implications and conclusions the findings from this study have important implications for future applications of behavioral regulation interventions. first, future applications of this or similar interventions should target children with low maternal education, as it is these children who may be most likely to enter preschool with poor behavioral regulation. additionally, the high correlation between maternal education and family income indicates that children with low maternal education are also likely to be from low-income families and thus experience multiple risk factors, making them an especially important population to target for intervention. second, although children from low-income families in the treatment group showed significant gains from intervention participation, the smaller intervention effects they experienced in comparison to their peers may signal the need for homeor school-based interventions earlier than prekindergarten. findings from the present study suggest that children from more-advantaged families have skills (e.g., more exposure to interactions with adults and learning activities) that may help them benefit more than their peers from participation in teacher-led games and activities. promoting maternal education and developing interventions that promote parent-child interactions and high-quality home learning-environments may help all children develop the skills they need to benefit from participation in interventions such as these. third, children from low-income backgrounds may also benefit from increased dosage of the intervention. the finding that low family income may be related intervention effectiveness for these children suggests that they may require more practice and thus a greater frequency of behavioral regulation activities (e.g., greater numbers of intervention sessions, embedding behavioral self-regulation activities into classrooms) than their more-advantaged peers to make equivalent gains in behavioral self-regulation. in future studies, it may be beneficial to begin the intervention earlier in the school year to allow children more time to participate in these types of activities. findings from this study can be used to refine future applications of this or similar behavioral regulation interventions. these results also have the potential to inform preschool curricula that emphasize promoting the development of behavioral regulation to ultimately improve academic achievement. the development of behavioral regulation interventions that can be easily implemented by teachers in classroom settings is critical to ensure that all children enter school with the skills they need to benefit from classroom learning activities. 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(continued on next page) volume 16, number 1 2013 issn: 1930-9325 special issue parent involvement and engagement in head start christopher henrich georgia state university guest editor contents research articles prediction of early engagement and completion of a home visitation parenting intervention for preventing child maltreatment jenniffer b. lefever, kathryn m. bigelow, judith j. carta, john borkowski….………….... 1 supporting family engagement with parents of infants and toddlers leanne whiteside-mansell, danya johnson, patti bokony, lorraine mckelvey, nicola conners-burrow, and taren swindle………………………………………………………... 20 increasing parent-teacher communication in private preschool settings serving low-income families patti a. bokony, leanne whiteside-mansell, taren swindle, and angie waliski………….. 45 examining the role of self efficacy and communication as related to dimensions of latino parent involvement in head start julia l. mendez, diana westerberg, and m. alexander thibeault…………………….......... 65 early childhood home visiting: participation in literacy-focused programs patricia williams, and emily caille………………………………………………………..... 81 the longitudinal process of early parent involvement on student achievement: a path analysis momoko hayakawa, michelle m. englund, mallory n. warner richter, and arthur j. reynolds……………………….…………………………………………………………….. 103 she is awesome and retains information like a sponge: parent and child outcomes of the learning connections family involvement curriculum barbara debaryshe, ji-yeon kim, dana h. davidson, dana m. gorecki…………….......... 127 parenting techniques as a mediator between female caregiver’s internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors among preschool-aged children beth h. garland, tammy d. barry, robert w. heffer…………………………………........ 148 (continued from previous page) research-to-practice summaries enhancing parent engagement and program completion in a home visiting parenting intervention through the use of cellular phones kathryn m. bigelow, jenniffer b. lefever, judith j. carta, john borkowski….………….. 172 family engagement: establishing a system to support the parent-teacher partnership lorraine mckelvey, patti bokony, danya johnson, leanne whiteside-mansell, nicola conners-burrow, taren swindle…………………………………………………………… 178 family map inventory and tips for great kids!: tools for increasing parent-teacher communication patti a. bokony, leanne whiteside-mansell, and taren swindle..………………………... 183 the importance of home-school communication as a tool for engaging latino parents julia l. mendez, diana westerberg, and m. alexander thibeault……………………........ 189 participation in early childhood home visiting: the role of family, ethnic, and community factors patricia williams, emily caille…………………………………………………………...... 194 early parent involvement and school achievement: a longitudinal path analysis momoko hayakawa, michelle m. englund, mallory warner richter, and arthur j. reynolds……………………….…………………………………………………………… 200 she is awesome and retains information like a sponge: implications of the learning connections family involvement curriculum for head start programs barbara debaryshe, ji-yeon kim, dana h. davidson, dana m. gorecki……………........ 205 the role of inconsistent discipline and parental involvement on female caregivers’ internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors among preschool-aged children beth h. garland, tammy d. barry, robert w. heffer…………………………………...... 211 dialog from the field promoting engagement and involvement of parents with cognitive challenges: suggestions for head start programs sandra t. azar, elizabeth a. miller, & michael t. stevenson…………………………..... 216 parent participation in family programs: involvement in literacy interactions, adult and child instruction, and assessment andrea d. parecki & sabra b. gear……………………………………………………......... 236 commentary on the special issue on parent involvement/engagement in early childhood christopher c. henrich……………………………………………………………………... 253 dialog, 16(1), 253-258 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 dialog from the field commentary on the special issue on parent involvement/engagement in early childhood education christopher c. henrich georgia state university the articles in this special issue of the nhsa dialog contribute to the growing body of literature on the importance of engaging parents in early childhood education for children’s development, learning and achievement. they highlight cultural factors that programs should take into consideration in their outreach to parents, and address a number of potential barriers to their involvement parents may face. findings reported in this issue also provide evidence-based, innovative strategies for engaging parents. additionally, the set of articles presents a robust range of ways that parent involvement and engagement in early childhood education can be conceptualized and operationalized. hopefully by highlighting a diverse set of factors pertaining to parents’ involvement and engagement in their young children’s education, publication of this special issue can spur integrative scholarship on how head start and other early childhood programs can best engage all the families they serve. parent involvement is a key pillar of head start’s mission. head start has developed program performance standards for parental involvement that include a broad range of ways to engage parents in their children’s education, and which serve as a model for other early childhood education programs (henrich & blackman-jones, 2006). zigler and colleagues have argued that one factor in head start’s success over the past half century is the role it has played as a “national laboratory” for increasing our understanding of early childhood development and experimenting with different ways to better serve children and their families (henrich, 2004; valentine, 1997; zigler, 1997; zigler & styfco, 2010). in fact, much of what we know about parent involvement in early education comes from research generated in head start. the articles in this special issue of the nhsa dialog demonstrate ways in which head start and related early childhood education programs continue to be at the cutting edge of scholarship on parent involvement and engagement. the articles in this issue address several important topics in furthering our understanding of parent involvement in early childhood education: strategies for engaging parents, cultural factors associated with parents’ involvement, and the role played by parent involvement in making an impact on child outcomes. additionally, 254 henrich. the set of articles represents a robust range of ways that parent involvement and engagement in early childhood education can be conceptualized and operationalized. defining parent involvement/engagement the study of parent involvement in education has traditionally focused on involvement in activities at the school or center like volunteering or going on field trips and involvement in learning activities at home, such as reading, going to the library, or talking about school (henrich & blackman-jones, 2006). more recently, the focus has shifted to parent-school partnerships forged to engage parents in their children’s education (epstein & sheldon, 2006). such partnerships have long been a goal of head start, and the office of head start recently developed the head start parent, family and community engagement framework (u.s. department of health and human services, 2011), which describes a broad approach to defining parent engagement. the framework delineates seven outcomes that should be observed as a result of efforts to engage parents: (1) family well-being, (2) positive parent-child relationships, (3) families as lifelong educators, (4) families as learners, (5) family engagement in transitions, (6) family connections to peers and community, and (7) families as advocates and leaders. the articles in this special issue provide a broad perspective on the ways in which parent involvement and engagement in early education can be operationalized. these include traditional indices of parent involvement, such as involvement in activities at school (hayawaka, englund, richter, & reynolds, this issue; mendez, westerberg, & thibeault, this issue.), and participation in activities at home (garland, barry, & heffer, this issue; parecki & gear, this issue; mendez et al), including those learning activities assigned by teachers (debaryshe, kim, davidson, & gorecki, this issue; parecki & gear). articles in this issue also focus on parent participation in home visiting and family literacy programs as one aspect of family engagement (lefever, bigelow, carta, & burkowski, this issue; parecki & gear; williams & caille, this issue). the role of parent-teacher communication is highlighted as an important aspect of parent engagement by several articles (bokony, whiteside-mansell, swindle, & waliski this issue; mckelvey, bokony, johnson, whiteside-mansell, conners-burrow, & twindle, this issue; mendez et al.). the breadth of the head start parent, family and community engagement framework is also reflected in the special issue. two research articles employ versions of the family map inventory. the family map is a tool based on head start program performance standards to help early childhood educators engage parents during home visits (bokony et al, this issue; mckelvey et al., this issue). in addition to facilitating parent-teacher communication, the family map is designed to further engage parents through a comprehensive needs assessment and subsequent connection of families to community resources. williams and caille (this issue) also discuss participation in home visiting within the broader context of community resources. other articles in the special issue take parent involvement into account within the broader context of parental well-being and parenting practices (bigelow et al., this issue; garland et al., this issue). strategies for engaging parents as indicated, scholarship on parent involvement has begun to shift focus from the activities parents engage in to the partnerships forged between schools and parents (e.g., epstein & commentary 255 sheldon, 2006). head start has long been at the vanguard of taking a systematic approach to parental outreach and engagement, culminating in the head start parent, family, and community engagement framework (us. department of health and human services, 2011). however, despite this programmatic commitment to engaging parents and indications that head start parents tend to be highly involved, research using national data on head start families has found little evidence that head start outreach has an impact on parent involvement – in school, at home, or in the community – above and beyond individual family factors (hindman, miller, froyen, & skibbe, 2012). several articles in this special issue test innovative ways for head start centers and other early education programs to engage parents, with promising findings. bigelow and colleagues (this issue) experimentally tested the effects of adding a cellular phone and texting condition to an existing home visiting intervention on parent program participation. they found that the cellular phone/texting condition improved completion rates and parent satisfaction with the program. mckelvey and colleagues (this issue) describe the development, validation and feasibility of a version of the family map inventory for infants and toddlers, which had high levels of acceptability for teachers and parents. bokony and colleagues (this issue) tested the effects of a two-pronged training intervention for early educators in private child care centers serving low-income families and found that it improved a key component of parent involvement and engagement: parent-teacher communication. teachers in the intervention group were trained on using the family map inventory in conjunction with a toolkit on how to talk with parents about their children during home visits. this two-pronged training approach resulted in both parents and teachers rating the quality of communication with each other to be higher. cultural factors both head start and state public early education programs serve an increasingly diverse group of children and families, and to be successful at engaging parents, efforts should to be sensitive to cultural factors. in particular, latinos are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups served by head start (garcia & levin, 2001). latino parents potentially have to overcome cultural and language barriers to involvement their children’s education. however, prior research has resulted in inconsistent findings regarding the relative levels of latino parents’ involvement in head start (zill et al., 2006; hindman et al., 2012). effects of ethnicity on levels of involvement appear to vary based on type of involvement, socioeconomic status, and immigrant status. two articles in the special issue examine aspects of latino parents’ engagement in their young children’s education. mendez and colleagues (this issue) found that latino head start parents in their sample reported more involvement in their children’s education at home than in school. parents who reported easier communication about education in english were more involved at school and at home. more acculturated parents reported higher levels of school involvement, and surprisingly, parents who felt more efficacious about their ability to have a positive impact on their children’s education reported less involvement in school. williams and caille (this issue) examined individual and community factors associated with participation in a state-funded home visiting program, investigating effects on participation between and within ethnic groups. despite reporting more structural barriers to involvement, latino families had higher program completion rates. results indicated that risk factors found in non-latino families to act as barriers to participation had no effect on the participation rate of 256 henrich. latino parents. on the other hand, latino parents living in communities with higher esl rates participated less in the program. together, these two studies point to the important role acculturation plays in immigrant parents’ involvement and importance of programs to reach out to parents in culturally sensitive ways to build upon family strengths. child outcomes given head start’s history as a community action program, its commitment to the “maximum feasible participation” of the parents it serves has been an end-goal unto itself (harmon, 2004; zigler & muenchow, 1992). parent involvement in early education is also considered a key means to children’s school readiness and academic success (henrich & blackman-jones, 2006). several articles in this special issue address the role of parent involvement in making an impact on child outcomes. debaryshe and colleagues (this issue) employed mixed methods to examine the effects of participation in home learning activities, as part of a curriculum for head start teachers and families, on student achievement. they found effects of parent participation on literacy and math outcomes over the course of a school year. hayakawa and colleagues (this issue) used data from the chicago longitudinal study to examine the mechanisms through which parent involvement in school operates as an intervening variable in the long-term effects of participation in parent child centers during preschool on student achievement through elementary school. the study highlights the dynamic relations over time between achievement, parent involvement, and student motivation over the transition to elementary school. whereas much of the parent involvement literature focuses the effects of involvement on academic outcomes, garland and colleagues (this issue) investigated parent involvement in activities at home as a possible mediator of the relationship between maternal mental health and young children’s behavioral problems. they found support for an indirect effect through parent involvement on attention problems. this study highlights how strategies explored by other articles in the special issue for engaging parents through home activities may be of particular help for distressed families and also have broader developmental effects beyond children’s achievement. next steps articles in this issue contribute to the growing body of literature on the importance of engaging parents in early childhood education for children’s learning and development. they highlight cultural factors that programs should take into consideration in their outreach to parents, and address a number of potential barriers to involvement that parents may face. findings reported in this issue also provide evidence-based, innovative strategies for engaging parents. azar, miller, and stevenson (this issue) advocate for taking a universal design approach to engaging parents. the premise behind universal design is that programs should be designed with the flexibility to be optimally accessible for all types of parents. azar and colleagues discuss the systematic and leadership challenges behind such a programmatic approach, and emphasize the importance of connecting head start’s approach to engaging families with other systems of child care and education. commentary 257 systematic efforts to engage parents in early childhood education can benefit from comprehensive models for parent-school partnerships that have been developed for families of school-aged children (epstein & sheldon, 2006; walker, wilkins, dallaire, sandler, & hooverdempsey, 2005). hoover-dempsey and sandler’s parent involvement process model highlights the interplay of parents’ motivational factors and role beliefs with school outreach efforts for engaging parents (walker et al.). epstein and colleagues have focused on the multiple levels of programmatic leadership needed to build sustained school-parent partnerships (epstein & sheldon, 2006). these models can serve as useful guides for future research and practice in early childhood education. hopefully by pulling together studies of an array of factors pertaining to parents’ involvement and engagement in their young children’s education, publication of this special issue of the nhsa dialog will spur integrative scholarship on how head start and other early childhood programs can best engage all the families they serve. references azar, s. t., miller, e. a., & stevenson, m. t. (2013). promoting engagement and involvement of parents with cognitive challenges: suggestions for head start programs. nhsa dialog, 16, 216-235. bokony, p. a., whiteside-mansell, l., & swindle, t. (2013). increasing parent-teacher communication in private preschool settings serving low-income families. nhsa dialog, 16, 45-64. debaryshe, b., kim, j., davidson, d. h., & gorecki, d. m. (2013). she is awesome and retains information like a sponge: parent and child outcomes of the learning connections family involvement curriculum. nhsa dialog, 16, 127-147 epstein, j. l., & sheldon, s. b. (2006). moving forward: ideas for research on school, family, and community partnerships. in c. f. conrand & r. serlin (eds.) handbook for research in education: engaging ideas and enriching inquiry. (pp. 117-138). thousand oaks, ca: sage garcia, g., & levin, m. (2001). latino children in head start: family characteristics, parent involvement and satisfaction with the head start program. paper presented at the society for research in child development biennial meeting. minneapolis, mn, march, 2001. garland, b. h., barry, t. d., & heffer, r. w. (2013). parenting techniques as a mediator between maternal distress and externalizing behaviors among preschool-aged children. nhsa dialog, 16, 148-171. parecki, a. d., & gear, s.b. (2013) parent participation in family programs: involvement in literacy interactions, adult and child instruction, and assessment. nhsa dialog, 16, 236-252. harmon, c. (2004). was head start a community action program? in e.f. zigler & s. styfco (eds.) the head start debates. (pp. 85-101). towson, md: brookes publishing. hayakawa, m., englund, m. m., richter, m. w., & reynolds, a. j. (2013). the longitudinal process of early parent involvement on student achievement: a path analysis. nhsa dialog, 16, 103-126. henrich, c. c., & blackman-jones, r. (2006) parent involvement in preschool. in e. f. zigler, w. gilliam, and s. m. jones, et al. (eds.) a vision for universal preschool education. new york: cambridge university press. henrich, c.c. (2004). head start as a national laboratory. in e.f. zigler & s. styfco (eds.) the head start debates. (pp. 517-532). towson, md: brookes publishing. hindman, a. h., miller, a. l., froyen, l. c., & skibbe, l. e. (2012). a portrait of family involvement during head start: nature, extent, and predictors. early childhood research quarterly, 27, 654-667. doi: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2011.11.002 lefever, j. b., bigelow, k. m., carta, j. j., & burkowski, j. (2013). prediction of early engagement and completion of a home visitation parenting intervention for preventing child maltreatment. nhsa dialog, 16, 1-19. mendez, j. l., westerberg, d., & thibeault, m. a. (2013). examining the role of self efficacy and communication as related to dimensions of latino parent involvement in head start. nhsa dialog, 16, 65-80. u.s. department of health and human services (2011, august). the head start parent family and community engagement framework. washington, dc. downloaded from: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/ims/2011/pfce-framework.pdf valentine, j. (1997). program development in head start. in e. zigler & j. valentine (eds). project head start, second edition. (pp. 349-366). alexandria, va: the national head start association. 258 henrich. walker, j. m. t., wilkins, a. s., dallaire, j. r., sandler, h. m., & hoover-dempsey, k. v. (2005) parental involvement: model revision through scale development. elementary school journal, 106, 85-104. doi:10.1086/499193 whiteside-mansell, l., johnson, d., bokony, p., mckelvey, l., conners-burrow, n., & swindle, t. (2013). supporting family engagement with parents of infants and toddlers. nhsa dialog, 16, 20-44. williams, p., & caille, e. (2013). participation in early childhood home visiting: the role of family, ethnic, and community factors. nhsa dialog, 16, 81-102. zigler, e. (1997). head start: not a program but an evolving concept. in e. zigler & j. valentine (eds). project head start, second edition. (pp. 367-378). alexandria, va: the national head start association. zigler, e., & muenchow, s. (1992). head start: the inside story of america’s most successful educational experiment. new york: basic books. zigler, e., & styfco, s. j. (2010). the hidden history of head start. new york, ny: oxford university press. zill, n.resnick, g., kim, k., o’donnell, k. sorongon, a., et al. (2006). head start performance measures center family and child experiences survey (faces 2000) technical report. washington, dc: u.s. department of health and human services. dialog, 16(2), 120-124 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 funded by a contract from the division of child development of the north carolina department of health and human services, june locklear, section chief and contract administrator. research-to-practice summary child care health consultation: improving the health and safety of children in child care patricia isbell, jonathan kotch, eric savage, and elizabeth gunn university of north carolina at chapel hill lydia lu centers for disease control david weber university of north carolina at chapel hill this research study addressed the effect of the activities of child care health consultants (cchcs) in north carolina over two years of intervention. the hypothesis was that child care health consultation is associated with changes in child care program policies and caregiver practices and that these changes would result in an improvement in children’s health by increasing the children’s access to preventive health care. the us experienced a dramatic and steady increase in the number of young children participating in out-of-home child care beginning in the 1970s (federal interagency forum on child and family statistics, 2010). this expanded use of child care increased young children’s risk of illness due to the fact that children in group care are exposed to more pathogens than if they were cared for at home by their families (churchill & pickering, 1997; hurwitz, gunn, pinsky & schonberger, 1991; aronson & shope, 2009). early childhood professionals across the nation, dissatisfied with this increased risk of illness, called for improvements in the quality of child care particularly in the area of health and safety. in response to this national call to action, the american public health association (apha) and the american academy of pediatrics (aap), published caring for our children: national health and safety performance standards; guidelines for out-ofhome child care programs (cfoc) (aap, apha,1992). among the cfoc standards is the recommendation that every out-of-home child care program identify, engage and partner with a cchc (standard 1.6.0.1). a cchc is “a licensed health professional with education and experience in child and community health and child care and preferably specialized training in child care health consultation” (aap, apha, nrc, 2011). pediatric health and early childhood professionals supported the concept of child care health consultation, but an existing work force of trained professionals did not exist. initial efforts designed to convince state/territory administrators of the importance of this service were mainly child care health consultation 121 based on professional judgment (dooling & ulione, 2000; dunderstadt & cohen 2004; evers, 2002; ulione, 1997) and advocacy (lucarelli, 2002). many states were successful in establishing a cchc role at the state level (mainly utilizing funds from the us maternal and child health bureau’s “healthy child care america initiative”). however, attempts to establish child care health consultation at the local level were less successful. this lack of success may be attributed to financial constraints, but it could also have been due to the lack of scientific evidence about the impact of a cchc on child health and safety. in an attempt to explain the process of achieving positive child health and safety outcomes, alkon, to, wolff, mackie, & bernzweig (2006) developed a stepwise model (see figure 1) based on a formative evaluation of the cchc network in california. this model suggested that research must first reveal the impact of cchc activities on the precursors of child health and safety before a link could be established to child health and safety outcomes. the precursors in the model, education of the child care staff and cchcs, consultation between the cchc and child care staff, development of health and safety policies that are in compliance with national standards, and improvement in child care staff practice, have since been examined (alkon, to, mackie, wolff, & bernzweig, 2010; alkon, fernzweig, to, wolff, & mackie, 2009; alkon et al., 2008; farrer, alkon, & to, 2007; crowley & kulikowich, 2009). however, a void continued to exist concerning evidence that child care health consultation improved child health and safety. figure 1. california child care health program’s stepwise model of how health consultation improves children’s health (alkon, 2006 personal communication) cchc=child care health consultation cfoc= caring for our children. national health and safety performance standards. guidelines for early care and education programs. (1992, 2002, 2011) an understanding of child health and safety in child care involves an evaluation of both formative (e.g., prevention activities that a cchc delivers to the child care program such as health and safety trainings and provision of written or electronic resources) and summative (e.g., access to health care, immunization status, absences due to illness, and medically-attended injury) data. yet, it is difficult to document that a specific preventive health measure taken with respect to a specific health risk actually prevented a specific individual from getting ill or injured. thus, to determine the impact of child care health consultation prevention activities, the data collected improvements in health and safety practices of child care staff child health and safety outcomes health and safety policies in compliance with cfoc standards consultation between child care staff and cchc education of child care staff and cchc 122 isbell et al. over time must be aggregated at the child care program level (hegland et al., 2011). how was the study conducted? this study aggregated and analyzed data at the child care program level for two years. individual children were not followed. to do this, 15 child care health consultants (cchc) recruited 264 child care programs from across the state of nc. every six months, the cchcs collected data using two instruments that were developed specifically for the study. these two instruments allowed the cchc to collect information on program policies, staff practices, and child medical information that was recorded in the child care program’s records. a third form documenting the cchc’s activity was completed each time the cchc provided consultation/service to the program. this information was important to the study as a way of insuring that any demonstrated change in policies, practices or children’s access to health care was due to the same amount of involvement (consultation) with the cchc. at the end of the two years, 77 child care programs had complete data from the five data collection periods (baseline and 4 follow-ups). impact at the child care program level  the cchcs had a statistically significant, positive impact on nine written health and safety policies. in most cases, the child care programs developed policies that exceeded the state’s licensing requirements and achieved policies that met or exceeded the national standards that are outlined in cfoc.  changes in children’s access to health care were linked to the cchc through written health and safety policies that required families interested in child care services to conform to the program’s established policies. for example, policies guide admission criteria (e.g., immunizations must be up-to-date) as well as requirements for current emergency medical information on all children. impact at the child level the most important result of this study was the impact of the cchcs at the child level.  an increase of 6% in up-to-date immunizations was documented. if this percentage were applied to the total number of children in child care in nc an additional 15,629 would have been protected from common childhood illnesses.  statistically significant increases in four specific screening tests: 1) developmental, 2) hearing, 3) oral, and 4) vision, were also documented. the results from screenings guide interventions that may have a profound effect on a child’s readiness for and success in school and in life.  a statistically significant improvement in the percentage of children with a medical home on record was documented. an “accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate, culturally effective” (hagan, shaw, & duncan, 2008) primary care provider is an indicator of accessible, preventive health child care health consultation 123 care for children.  a statistically significant improvement in the percentage of children with health insurance was also documented. children with health insurance are more likely to receive the preventive, acute and chronic care that promotes their overall well-being. impact on the staff  statistically significant improvement in staff practice in the areas of sanitation (e.g., hand washing, diaper-changing), playground safety (e.g., observation of all areas, developmentally appropriate equipment), emergency preparedness (e.g., evacuation plans, drills) and nutrition (e.g., nutrition standards) was documented. such improvements can have a direct impact on the health and safety of the children as well as on the staff. conclusion when early care and education providers are supported by a cchc, improvements in policies, staff practices and children’s access to health care are statistically and practically significant for the children, the staff and the program. tips/suggestions for head start and other child care practitioners 1. cchcs often work for publically funded agencies. therefore, their consultation services may be available free of charge or for a small fee. 2. cchcs can provide health and safety training and resources for program staff and families. 3. cchcs can help child care programs write policies that are specific to their local need. 4. cchcs can link the child care program to health care providers in their area. 5. cchcs can serve on local interagency coordinating and/or head start health services advisory committees. 6. to find a cchc in a specific area, the program can contact the state licensing agency, child care resource & referral agency, and/or the state public health department. 7. resources and materials on cchcs can be found at: http://nrckids.org/ acknowledgement the authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of lisa faison, stephen fowlkes, kacey hanson, steve hege, jill kerr, emily lu, eloise neebe, abby pinnix, jasveer virk, and the 15 quality enhancement project cchcs. http://nrckids.org/ 124 isbell et al. references alkon, a., to, k., wolff, m., mackie, j., & bernzweig, j. (2006). assessing health and safety in early care and education programs: development of the cchp health and safety checklist. journal of pediatric health care, 22(6), 368-377. alkon, a., bernzweig, j., to, k., farrer, j., elman, j., kunitz, j., and frank, r. child care health consultation programs in california: results of a formative evaluation. (personal communication, 2006). oakland, ca: california child care health program, ucsf school of nursing. alkon, a., bernzweig, j., to, k., mackie, j.f., wolff, m., & elman, j. (2008). child care health consultation programs in california: models, services and facilitators. public health nursing, 25(2), 126-139. alkon, a., fernzweig, j., to, k., wolff, m., & mackie, j. (2009). child care health consultation improves health and safety policies and practices. academic pediatrics, 9(5), 366-370. alkon, a., to, k., mackie, j., wolff, m., & bernzweig, j. (2010). health and safety needs in early care and education programs: what do directors, child health records and national standards tell us? public health nursing, 27(1), 3-16. american academy of pediatrics, american public health association. (1992). caring for our children: national health and safety performance standards; guidelines for out-of-home child care programs. elk grove village, il: american academy of pediatrics; washington, dc: american public health association. american academy of pediatrics, american public health association, national resource center for health and safety in child care. (2002).caring for our children: national health and safety performance standards; guidelines for out-of-home child care programs. elk grove village, il: american academy of pediatrics; washington, d.c.: american public health association. american academy of pediatrics, american public health association, national resource center for health and safety in child care and early education. (2011). caring for our children: national health and safety performance standards; guidelines for out-of-home child care programs. elk grove village, il: american academy of pediatrics; washington, d.c.: american public health association. aronson, s.s. & shope, t.r. (eds.). (2009). managing infectious diseases in child care and schools. elk grove village, il: american academy of pediatrics. crowley, a., & kulikowich, j.m. (2009). impact of training on child care health consultant knowledge and practice. pediatric nursing,35(2), 93-100. churchill, r. b., & pickering, l. k.(1997).infection control challenges in child care centers. infectious disease clinics of north america, june; 11(2), 347-65. dooling, m.v., & ulione, m.s. (2000).health consultation in child care: a partnership that works.young children, 55(2), 23-26. dunderstadt, s., & cohen, s. (2004). child care: a crucial legislative issue. journal of pediatric health care, 18(6), 312-314. evers, d.b. (2002). the pediatric nurse’s role as health consultant to a child care center. pediatric nursing, 22(3), 231-237. federal interagency forum on child and family statistics. america’s children in brief: key national indicators of well-being, ( 2010). washington, dc: u.s. government printing office. farrer, j., alkon, a., & to, k. (2007). child care health consultation programs: barriers and recommendations. maternal and child health journal, 11, 111-118. hagan, j.f., shaw, j.s. & duncan, p.m. (eds.) (2008). bright futures: guidelines for health supervision of infants, children and adolescents. 3rd ed. elk grove, il: american academy of pediatrics. hegland, s.m., aronson, s.s., isbell, p., benjamin, s., rous, b. s. & krajicek, m.j. (2011). measuring healthrelated aspects of quality in early childhood settings. in m. zazlow, martinez-beck & halle, t. (eds.), quality measurement in early childhood settings. baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing co;(pp.135160). hurwitz, e.s., gunn, w.j., pinsky, p.f., & schonberger, l.b. (1991). risk of respiratory illness associated with daycare attendance: a nationwide study. pediatrics, 87(1), 62-69. lucarelli, p. (2002). raising the bar for health and safety in child care. pediatric nursing, 22(3), 239-253. ulione, m.s. (1997). health promotion and injury prevention in a child development center. journal of pediatric nursing, 12(3), 148-54. ulione, m.s., & dooling, m. (1997). preschool injuries in child care centers: nursing strategies for prevention. journal of pediatric health care, 11(3), 111-116. dialog, 16(3), 77-85 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article teachers’ beliefs count: teacher beliefs and practice in early childhood mathematics education (ecme) alyse c. hachey borough of manhattan community college teachers are the key to success in early childhood mathematics education (ecme) and as such, there is a great need to focus on the teacher’s mind…what teachers think about learning, their curriculum and the mathematics in it (ginsburg, lee and boyd, 2008; cross, woods and schweingruber, 2009). early childhood teachers were surveyed on their beliefs and practices related to ecme. the findings suggest that early childhood teachers may not hold as negative a view of mathematics and ecme as previously has been supposed. moreover, more instruction time seems to be devoted to ecme than previously reported. however, the findings also strengthen the contention that literacy-based activities dominate academic instructional time in the early childhood classroom. in line with the literature, the teachers expressed a narrow view of emce, with numeracy and arithmetic skill development as the most important focus of ecme; this narrow view is counter to recent recommendations by leading researchers and professional organizations. a substantial body of developmental research today supports that from infancy, young children engage in diverse mathematical thinking; literally, they are born to be mathematicians (gallistel and gelman, 2005; geist, 2009; gelman, 2006; xu, spelke and goddard, 2005). this has created a shift in paradigm: from formal mathematics education for young children in the last century being considered “developmentally inappropriate” and delayed until elementary school (balfanz, 1999; geary, 1996; ginsburg, 2009) to a new emphasis today on the importance of early child mathematics education (ecme) as critical for laying a foundation for future mathematics and academic success (cross, woods and schweingruber, 2009; duncan et al., 2007; samara and clements, 2009). concomitant with the rise in research highlighting children’s early mathematical competencies has been the growth of guidelines and standards of practice for preschool-level mathematics. despite wide variability, forty-nine states now have some form of standards for early mathematics education (cross et al., 2009). most pre-school level mathematics guidelines in the u.s. are based on a few major sources (clements, sarama and dibiase, 2004; naeyc, 2002/2010; nctm, 2000; nctm 2006; cross et al., 2009). these professional and research78 hachey based sources all outline early intentional learning in five major “core knowledge” areas: number and operations, geometry, measurement, algebraic thinking, and data analysis. this expansion to five critical core mathematical knowledge areas constitutes a broadening of the scope of previous practice from a narrowed focus of early mathematics = numeracy to encompass concepts critical for decision making in daily life that have often been excluded in the past (mccrone and dossey, 2007). even with this expanded view of pre-school mathematical content, number is still emphasized as the critical foundational area, followed closely by geometry and measurement. in addition to the five core knowledge areas, pre-school level guidelines today move away from the didactic and rote instructional methods of the past. they outline critical thinking and behavior processes to be addressed in ecme, including: problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication, connections and representations (nctm, 2000) and organizing information, patterning and composing (clements, sarama and dibiase, 2004). these ecme processes provide the means by which teaching and learning can occur, as well as focusing on domains of cognitive development. due to recent research findings, mathematics education for young children has become a primary focus in the early childhood field in the u.s., for researchers and policy makers alike. with this focus, the question now is how ecme is being translated in the early childhood classroom. lee and ginsburg (2007a) contend that a critical step towards finding an answer is to investigate teacher’s beliefs concerning the teaching and learning of mathematics; teachers are the key to success in ecme and thus there is a great need to focus on the teacher’s mind…what teachers think about learning, their curriculum and the mathematics in it (ginsburg, lee and boyd, 2008 and cross, woods and schweingruber, 2009). to begin to provide insight into early childhood teachers’ beliefs and practices of ecme, this article outline results from a survey of twenty-eight new york city early childhood teachers. literature review teachers and beliefs beliefs have been posited as being more influential than knowledge in determining perceptions and judgments which effect teachers’ behavior in the classroom (pajares, 1992). a large body of research supports that teacher practice is filtered through the lens of personal beliefs about what is appropriate learning for children and what is appropriate ways to teach them; early childhood teacher beliefs align with their classroom practice (for reviews, see brown, 2005; cross et al, 2009; vartuli, 1999). specifically, teacher belief systems have been shown to be a major determinant of teacher decision making and curriculum implementation, along with influencing the classroom climate and affecting the nature of teacher-child interactions (lara-cinisomo et al., 2009; mcmullen, 1997), all of which are connected to learning outcomes. the majority of research on early childhood teachers’ beliefs has focused on general classroom practice (developmentally appropriate practice) and school readiness (school entry, testing and retention), while beliefs about particular subjects, including mathematics, have remained largely unexplored (brown, 2005; lee and ginsburg, 2007a). despite the lack of substantial research, there has long been a connection made between teacher beliefs and mathematics education; thompson (1984) states: “there is strong reason to believe that in mathematics, teachers' conceptions (their beliefs, views, and preferences) about teachers’ beliefs count 79 the subject matter and its teaching play an important role in affecting their effectiveness as the primary mediators between the subject and the learners” (p. 105). teachers have strong beliefs about mathematics and mathematics education (cross et al., 2009). however, much of the past (and even current) literature devoted specifically to teachers’ beliefs about ecme is based on case studies of individual teachers and anecdotal evidence. the few recent studies dedicated to early childhood teachers’ belief about mathematics suggest that early childhood teachers seem to hold beliefs of fear and hate towards mathematics and do not consider it as important for inclusion in the classroom (lee and ginsburg, 2007a/b; stipek, 2008). via a review of anecdotal evidence and the few empirical studies available, ginsburg, lee and boyd (2008) conclude that in general, early childhood teachers do not place high value on and do not devote much time to teaching mathematics, with the qualification that the greater the school’s poverty level and the greater the number of minority students enrolled, the more teachers seem to express beliefs that emphasize the importance of academic subjects such as mathematics and literacy. teachers and ecme instead of focusing on ecme, the literature suggests early childhood teachers devote their time and effort to other areas of instruction. copley (2004) states that early childhood teachers generally feel mathematics is difficult to teach and are most comfortable teaching language and reading skills. in a similar vein, lee and ginsburg (2009) contend that many teachers claim that language and literacy are the most important academic topics to be taught in early childhood. this is supported by empirical evidence showing that 8% of instruction time is devoted to mathematics-based activities (such as counting, time, shapes and sorting), whereas 21% of early childhood classroom time is spent on literacy-based activities (early et al., 2005). this is problematic, as mathematics ability at the beginning of kindergarten has now been shown to be a strong predictor of later general academic success, stronger even than early reading ability (duncan et al., 2007). further, early childhood teachers have reported beliefs that socialemotional and physical development are more important to young children’s development than instruction in academic areas (cross et al., 2009); some research indicates that early childhood teachers focus first on social-emotional development, then literacy development and last on mathematics (ginsburg, lee and boyd 2008). moreover, teacher’s belief on the nature of ecme seems to be very narrow in scope. rather than the development of conceptual understanding through real-world problem solving in the broad areas of number and operations, geometry, measurement, algebraic thinking and data analysis that is advocated by the leading developmental researchers, nctm and naeyc today (cross et al., 2009; naeyc, 2002/2010; nctm, 2006), current ecme teaching practice has been shown to focus on the learning of discrete skills and factual knowledge (ncedl, 2005; early et al., 2005). even those early childhood teachers who have stated that they do value and practice mathematics instruction may be operating within a limited view of ecme… holding beliefs and providing direct mathematics instruction limited to counting and simple arithmetic activities (copley, 2004; ginsburg, 2009; starkey et al., 2004). 80 hachey method participants twenty-eight early childhood teachers participated in a survey of their beliefs about the role of mathematics in the early childhood classroom. specifically, it addressed the teachers’ feelings’ about mathematics and mathematics education and sought information on ecme in their teaching practice. fourteen respondents worked in private schools, five worked in public schools and nine taught for head start. twenty-seven of the teachers worked in new york city, one just outside the city. three participants worked with 0-2 year-old children, six worked with 3 year-olds, eight worked with 3 and 4 year-olds, nine worked with four-year olds and two taught kindergarten. two of the teachers were students finishing ece programs, five had associate degrees in ece, 11 held a bachelors degree in ece and nine had masters degrees in ece (educational information for one participant is missing). data collection all respondents were solicited from a city-wide conference on early childhood education in new york city. two hundred ninety professionals attended the conference. ninety-five attendees were excluded from the study because they were not practicing early childhood teachers, leaving a possible pool of 195. of these, 150 who were available during the lunch breaks were invited to fill out a ten-question survey on ecme. twenty-eight surveys were collected (a response rate of approximately 19%). the survey included seven multiple choice questions, a rating question, a checklist and a fill-in-the-blank question. in addition, there were three text boxes for teachers to enter any additional responses. results and discussions the first survey questions addressed teachers’ attitudes towards mathematics and towards teaching mathematics. forty-three percent expressed positive feelings towards the subject of mathematics, 36% expressed neutral feelings towards the subject matter and 21% expressed negative feelings. in regards to feelings about the teaching of ecme, 50% of the participants indicated they loved/found it exciting, 46% indicated a neutral attitude and none indicated they hated/thought ecme was hard/scary [note: one participant’s information is missing]. between the two questions, two of the six participants who had expressed negative feelings about the subject of mathematics indicated positive feelings towards teaching it and the other four who were negative about mathematics expressed a neutral attitude toward teaching it. these results runs counter to lee and ginsburg (2007a/b) findings of overwhelming negative attitudes towards mathematics by early childhood teachers. although the majority of attitudes towards mathematics and teaching emce was not as negative as one might have expected, a large portion of participants responded with neutral attitudes. this is noteworthy, as young children tend to internalize their teachers’ enthusiasm for a subject– or lack thereof (jackson and leffingwell 1999); neutral attitudes may result in teachers unconsciously modeling a lack of teachers’ beliefs count 81 conviction in the importance of mathematics (hachey, 2009) or devoting more instructional time to areas they feel more positive towards. in terms of devoting time to instructional practice, 19 participants (68%) indicated that they spend the most time per week engaged in formal language/literacy activities. in fact, one teacher wrote “i am most comfortable with language/literacy”, a similar sentiment to what was reported by copely (2004). four participants responded that they spent the most time on developing life skills, three participants indicated art/music activities and one participant indicated mathematics was the greatest weekly focus (no participant responded spending the most instructional time on either science or social studies). this finding supports the literature that states that teachers emphasize language/literacy instruction over other academic subjects in the early childhood classroom. however, it also indicates that language/literacy seems to take precedence over social development, counter to what has been suggested by other research (cross et al, 2009; ginsburg, lee and boyd 2008). although language/literacy was shown to be the main emphasis, the respondents indicated they devoted higher amounts of weekly instructional time to ecme than previously has been cited. the majority of teachers (79%) indicate they spend 11-50% of their week engaging in formal mathematics activities with students. this is higher than the 8% reported by early et al. (2005) and the 6% reported by ncedl (2005). in addition to formal ecme, 86% (24 respondents) indicated that they actively seek out opportunities to exploit informal mathematics children may do in the classroom. this is not surprising, as early childhood education has a strong tradition of teachers’ utilizing observation for the purpose of determining how best to support children’s learning (cross et al., 2009). this rise in reported ecme practice may be a reflection of changing teacher beliefs/practices in response to the ecme nationally policy movement that has been happening in recent years. although the results suggest that more ecme is taking place, they also indicate that as the literature suggests, teachers still have a narrow view of ecme. teachers were asked to rank from most to least important ecme “big ideas” that encapsulate the broad range of topics advocated by naeyc, 2002/2010 and nctm, 2006. rankings were collapsed into categories of most important (ranked 1 st , 2 nd or 3 rd ), neutral (ranked 4 th , 5 th or 6 th ) and least important (ranked 7 th , 8 th or 9 th ) and frequencies were calculated. teachers ranked the three most important topics as counting, patterns and arithmetic, in that order. the three least important instructional topics were data analysis, algebraic thinking and measurement (also in order). general reasoning, spatial reasoning and geometry fell in the middle range, judged as neither very important nor very unimportant. these rankings were supported by a follow-up question asking the teachers explicitly the focus of the majority of their ecme activities and which ecme activities teachers do not cover at all. the majority of the teachers reported counting as the focus of their learning activities, followed by arithmetic. consistent with the earlier ranking, the least focused on learning activities were reported as data analysis and algebraic thinking. one teacher wrote: “no algebraic insight because they are so young and learning their numbers first is priority”. although supportive of previous research that finds that teachers hold narrow beliefs that equate ecme to arithmetic or numeracy (copley, 2004; ginsburg, 2009; starkey et al., 2004), these finding are problematic for the advancement of the field. research shows that young children are capable of learning broad areas of mathematics, and therefore, should be instructed in a wider and more complex range of mathematical activities (ginsburg, lee and boyd, 2008; lee and ginsburg, 2009). additionally, cross et al. (2009) outlines geometry and measurement as core content areas for ecme, however, these areas were not deemed as 82 hachey important by the teachers. thus, the findings of this survey support the contention made by many researchers that there is still a distinct contrast between current teacher beliefs and practice and ecme guidelines and recommendations and further, that early childhood teachers need to expand their conception of appropriate emce content. in addition to being narrow in scope in terms of content area, the findings also indicate that teachers may hold beliefs of the pedagogy of ecme that is didactic in nature (focused on mastering skills and/or procedures). seventy percent of the teachers surveyed indicated that teaching basic skills and procedures and providing student opportunities to practice them was the focus of their emce activities, in comparison to the 30% of the teachers who indicated their instruction time focused on students helping students to invent, use and discuss their own mathematical strategies. one teacher wrote: “math is mostly about procedure and routine, when done right from the start, i think it yields more positive results”. this focus on skill and procedure is likely related to the reliance on counting and arithmetic activities which teachers stated dominated their instruction and their ranking of the area of “reasoning” as a low priority for ecme. this finding coincides with previous research (ball, 1995; ncedl, 2005), which suggests that teachers less often exposed children to instruction that is conversational and interactive. however, this didactic method runs counter to current pedagogical principles advocated by the leading research, which specifically emphasize teachers focusing on the mathematization of children’s experiences by capitalizing on children’s intuitive mathematics and giving language to what is first understood by children on an informal level (cross et al, 2009; ginsburg, lee and boyd, 2008). this suggestion that teachers focus ecme mainly on teacher-led skill instruction is not clear cut, however, as an inconsistent finding was seen within the teachers’ expressed beliefs. as noted earlier, 70% of the participants indicated that they felt most important is learning activities that teach student skills versus allowing children to invent /use their own strategies. however, in a later question, 86% of the participants indicated that most important for teaching mathematics to students is that children explore math activities on their own/during free play versus during teacher led activities to build up specific math skills. in line with responses to the later question, lee and ginsberg (2007b) report that teachers tend to believe that young children should engage in mathematics learning that is game and fun-based, with the emphasis on not being highly demanding or “pushing” young children before they are “ready”. one teacher wrote: “i use manipulatives, books and games… these seem to be the most fun for children”. one explanation for inconsistency in responses between the questions can be explained in that the teachers are expressing the belief that children can learn mathematics during play but at the same time, still need explicit instruction on mathematical skills (lee and ginsburg, 2009). this dichotomy of beliefs may be indicative of conflicting internal reactions by early childhood teachers to the debate about the benefits of incidental versus intentional teaching of ecme (cross et al, 2009; ginsburg, lee and boyd, 2008). evidence for this struggle is seen in what one teacher wrote: “it is important to allow them their own way to understanding or grasping a concept, however, they are first taught their basic skills”. finally, participants were asked to identify materials/activities that they consistently use for ecme. one hundred percent of the participants reported using manipulatives and blocks and 96% reported using books and counting activities. eighty-eight percent reported using songs and art for emce and 85% indicated that they use games and drama. fifty-four percent of the teachers reported using computers (many who did not indicated they did not have one in the classroom) and blackboards. the least used material was dittos, with 46% indicating that they teachers’ beliefs count 83 use them for ecme. these findings confirm previous research which suggests that emce often is integrated and co-occurs with other academic content, in particular art and literacy (clements and sarama, 2007a; early, 2005). it also shows similarly seen reliance on games, music and manipulatives for emce but suggests higher amounts of computer and ditto use than previously has been reported (cross et al., 2009; sarama and dibiase, 2004). the finding of higher reported ditto use is troubling, since it runs counter to the conceptual, real-world mathematical problem solving advocated by leading researchers. congruent with findings from seo and ginsburg (2004) and early (2005), the teachers’ responses suggest they integrate ecme with activities assumed to heighten children’s engagement, relying heavily on manipulatives and blocks to teach mathematical ideas. limitations this survey of early childhood teachers consisted of a sample of one group of teachers among many. therefore, characteristics of this particular group (for instance, that they are all teachers in the new york city area and that they all self-selected to attend professional development) may limit the applicability of these findings to the broader population of practicing early childhood teachers. however, a strength of this investigation is that it did include teachers from various types of settings (public, private and head start), so it is unlikely that the findings are connected to a particular approach or method of early childhood education. the teachers who participated in the survey indicated less negative views of mathematics and mathematics instruction and greater percentages of instructional time devoted to ecme than has been previously supported. from this, one could conclude that changes in beliefs and practice are occurring from what has happened in the past. however, another reason for the results of this survey may be related to the high teacher preparation level of the participants; 74% of the participants had a bachelor degree or higher. this percentage is higher than the national average and more teacher preparation has been linked to increased knowledge and comfort with emce (cross et al., 2009; pianta et al., 2005). in addition, almost 1/3 of the participants selfidentified as head start teachers. this may have impacted the findings, as teachers who work with lower-income students have been shown to be more concerned with academic subjects such as mathematics (ginsburg, lee and boyd, 2008). this suggests the need for a replication of this survey with a larger sample, including more participants with less early childhood teacher preparation to better reflect the general early childhood teacher population. conclusion teacher beliefs about ecme are a critical factor influencing early childhood teacher practice and as such, deserve attention. results from the teachers surveyed suggest that early childhood teachers may not hold as negative a view of mathematics and ecme as has been previously supposed. in addition, more classroom time seems to be devoted to ecme than previously reported. however, the findings also support the contention teachers have stronger beliefs in the importance of literacy and that literacy-based activities dominate academic instructional time. in line with the literature, teachers expressed a narrow view of emce, with numeracy and arithmetic skill as the most important focus of ecme. overall, this presents the hope that 84 hachey ecme is gaining more attention in the early childhood classroom. however, this hope is tempered by the still narrow view of ecme teachers still seem to hold. ecme will only reach its fullest potential when teacher beliefs and practices expand to more equitable instruction time and include the rich and broad mathematical problem solving that current guidelines advocate and, moreover, that young children are capable of doing. references balfanz, robert (1999). why do we teach children so little mathematics? some historical considerations. in juanita v. copley (ed.), mathematics in the early years, pp. 3-10. reston, va: national council of teachers of mathematics. ball, d.l. 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(2004). the early childhood collaborative: a professional development model to communicate and implement the standards. in douglas h. clements, julie sarama and anne-marie dibiase (eds.), engaging young children in mathematics: standards for early childhood mathematics education (pp. 401-414). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates, inc. cross, christopher t., woods, tanisha a. and schweingruber, heidi (eds.) (2009). mathematics learning in early childhood: paths towards excellence and equity. washington, dc: national academy press. duncan, greg j., dowsett, chantelle j., claessens, amy, magnuson, katherine, huston, aletha c., klebanov, pamela, pagani, linda s., feinstein, leon engel, mimi, brooks-gunn, jeanne, sexton, holly, duckworth, kathryn, and japel, crista. (2007). school readiness and later achievement. developmental psychology, 43(6), november, 14281446. early, d. m., barbarin, o., bryant, d., burchinal, m., chang, f., clifford, r. 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(2004) enhancing young children’s mathematical knowledge through a pre-kindergarten mathematics intervention. early childhood research quarterly, 19(1), 99-120. stipek, d. (2008). the price of inattention to mathematics in early childhood education is too great. in herbert p. ginsburg, joon s. lee, and judi s. boyd. mathematics education for young children: what it is and how to promote it. social policy report giving child and youth development knowledge away, 22(1), 13. thompson, alba g. (1984). the relationship of teachers’ conceptions of mathematics and mathematics teaching to instructional practice. educational studies in mathematics, 15(2), 105-127. vartuli, sue. (1999). how early childhood teachers’ beliefs vary across grade level. early childhood research quarterly, 14(4), 489-514. xu, fei, spelke, elizabeth s., and goddard, sydney. (2005). number sense in human infants. developmental science, 8(1), january, 88-101. http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ncedl/pdfs/ed9_1.pdf dialog, 16(2), 109-112 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to timothy w. curby, george mason university, department of psychology, 4400 university dr. ms 3f5, fairfax, va, 22030-4444, email: tcurby@gmu.edu. research-to-practice summary prioritizing interactions to support children’s academic achievement timothy w. curby and catharine chavez george mason university this article summarizes research on the use of dimensions of the classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008) to predict pre-k children’s achievement outcomes. the class is widely used to examine the quality of teachers’ interactions with students. the class provides information about 10 dimensions that are usually averaged into three domains. given the broad nature of the domains, policy makers and school personnel may find it difficult to identify starting points for professional development or training. in this study, we looked at which specific dimensions of the class were most strongly predictive of children’s achievement. results indicated that positive climate, productivity, and concept development were the best predictors of the four academic outcomes. the results suggest that these three dimensions should be given priority when it comes to policies, professional development, and observations meant to change or monitor student academic achievement. many head start programs use the classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008) in their monitoring of program quality. the class measures one aspect of program quality – the quality of teachers’ interactions with children. as designed, the person observing the classroom (be they a principal, a school psychologist, or a researcher) observes for 20 minutes and then subsequently makes ratings on 10 dimensions on a 1 – low to 7 – high scale. these 10 dimensions include: positive climate, negative climate, teacher sensitivity, regard for student perspectives, behavior management, productivity, instructional learning formats, concept development, quality of feedback, and language modeling. these 10 dimensions are usually then aggregated into three domains: emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. as a research tool, the class has provided much insight into what is important in classrooms for children’s learning. higher levels of emotional support have been associated with children’s social competence and fewer problem behaviors (mashburn et al., 2008; wilson, pianta, & stuhlman, 2007), more academic learning (early et al. 2007; national institute of child health and human development early child care research network [nichd eccrn], 2003; pianta, belsky et al., 2008), and more behavioral engagement (downer, rimm-kaufman, & pianta, 2007). higher levels of classroom organization have been positively associated with higher levels of children’s self-control (rimm-kaufman, curby, grimm, nathanson, & brock, 110 curby and chavez 2009) and academic achievement (cameron, connor, & morrison, 2005; ponitz, rimmkaufman, grimm, & curby, 2009). higher levels of instructional support have been found to relate positively to children’s academic skills (howes et al., 2008; mashburn et al., 2008). however, those interested in providing professional development around teachers’ classroom interactions may not know the best place to start. the class domains are quite broad, whereas the dimensions are more tangible. however, research has not focused on relations at the dimension level, so there is little empirical guidance available regarding which aspects of teachers’ social interactions most strongly predict children’s academic achievement. thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine the relations between the 10 class dimensions and four academic outcomes covering language, literacy, and mathematics achievement. we will thus be able to identify which, if any, of the dimensions are most consistently and strongly related to children’s academic outcomes. summary of research methods participants this study used data that was collected by the national center for early development and learning (ncedl). ncedl conducted two longitudinal studies of pre-k in 11 states (early et al., 2005) between 2001 and 2004: the multi-state study of pre-kindergarten (ms study) and the state-wide early education programs study (sweep study). the children that participated in these studies represented nearly 80% of children in the us that attended state-funded pre-k programs at the time of the studies. approximately 15% were part of a head start program (early et al., 2005). a total of 2938 children participated in either the ms or sweep studies. we only included children in our analyses if they had spring assessments and spoke english. in total, participants included 2,439 children (1,194 boys and 1,245 girls) from 671 pre-k classrooms. each classroom was observed using the class measure as it existed at the time (laparo, pianta, hamre, & stuhlman, 2002; pianta, laparo et al., 2008). trained observers went into classrooms from the time the children arrived at the center until they started naptime or, for those who attended half-day programs, until they went home. for each 30-minute observation cycle (20 minutes of observation, 10 minutes of rating), nine dimensions were coded: positive climate, negative climate, teacher sensitivity, overcontrol, behavior management, productivity, instructional learning formats, concept development, and quality of feedback. multiple cycles of observation were combined to form the dimension averages used in the analyses. the present study used the 2002 version of the class, which used overcontrol (reversed) instead of regard for student perspectives (not reversed). also, language modeling was not included in the measure as an indicator of instructional support. children’s academic skills were assessed at the beginning of the fall and at the end of the spring while they attended pre-k. the assessments included measures of children’s receptive vocabulary using the peabody picture vocabulary testthird edition (ppvt; dunn & dunn, 1997), expressive language using the oral & written language scale (owls; carrowwoolfolk, 1995), as well as rhyming and applied problem solving, both from the woodcockjohnson iii tests of achievement (woodcock, mcgrew, & mather, 2001). prioritizing interactions 111 major findings results indicated that three dimensions accounted for most of the relations with children’s academic outcomes. these three dimensions were: positive climate, productivity, and concept development. positive climate was the only predictor that was significantly associated with all four academic outcomes including receptive vocabulary, expressive language, rhyming, and problem solving. productivity was significantly associated with three of the four academic outcomes including receptive vocabulary, expressive language, and problem solving. concept development was also significantly associated with three of the four academic outcomes including receptive vocabulary, expressive language, and problem solving. these three dimensions not only provided the most numerous associations, but they were also the strongest predictors (except in one instance). implications for practice the present study suggests that when it comes to promoting academic achievement among pre-k children, priority should be given to helping teachers create classrooms which are characterized as positive, productive, and conceptually oriented. the present study is not a study of an intervention, and thus we will not go into great detail about changing these practices. however, other research indicates that teachers can change their practices and describes interventions that have been effective in changing how teachers interact with children (e.g., downer, pianta, fan, hamre, mashburn, & justice, 2011; raver et al., 2008). the present study suggests that positive climate is the best starting point for professional development (and intervention work) in regards to improving academic achievement because it was related to all four academic outcomes. positive climate includes aspects of interactions such as affect (e.g., smiling) and getting to know students on an individual basis. many teachers are already offering classroom environments that are generally positive. productivity then may offer another area to focus on. a classroom where children are constantly occupied with something to do characterizes high productivity. for example, if children have completed a task (such as brushing teeth), what should they be doing next? transitions can include a lot of lost learning time for children and thus should be quick and efficient. finally, concept development represents an aspect of classroom interactions when the teacher is promoting deeper conceptual understandings instead of rote understandings. there are many ways to integrate higher levels of concept development into everyday interactions. during circle time, a teacher can ask a why or how question (e.g., “how does water get into the clouds?) rather than simply telling students (e.g., “clouds are made up of tiny drops of water.”). or conversations during breakfast/snack can connect what they are eating to the real world (e.g. bread is made out of wheat, which grows in fields). acknowledgments the authors gratefully acknowledge the national institute for early education research (nieer), the pew charitable trusts, and the foundation for child development for their support of the state-wide early education programs study, and the u.s. department of education for its support of the multi-state study of pre-kindergarten. we also thank 112 curby and chavez researchers at the center for advanced study of teaching and learning at the university of virginia for their support of this project. however, the contents do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of these agencies, and endorsement by these agencies should not be assumed. references cameron, c. e., connor, c. m., & morrison, f. j. (2005). effects of variation in teacher organization on classroom functioning. journal of school psychology, 43, 61-85. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2004.12.002 carrow-woolfolk, e. (1995). oral and written language scales. circle pines, mn: american guidance service. downer, j. t., pianta, r. c., fan, x., hamre, b. k., mashburn, a., & justice, l. (2011). effects of web-mediated teacher professional development on the language and literacy skills of children enrolled in prekindergarten programs. nhsa dialog, 14, 189-212. doi: 10.1080/15240754.2011.613129 downer, j. t., rimm-kaufman, s. e., & pianta, r. c. (2007). how do classroom conditions and children’s risk for school problems contribute to children’s behavioral engagement in learning? school psychology review, 36, 413-432. dunn, l. m., & dunn, l. m. (1997). peabody picture vocabulary test-revised (3rd ed.). circle pines, mn: american guidance services. early, d., barbarin, o., bryant, d., burchinal m., chang, f., clifford, r.,…weaver, w. (2005). pre-kindergarten in eleven states: ncedl’s multi state study of pre-kindergarten & study of states wide early education programs (sweep). preliminary descriptive report. ncedl working paper. howes, c., burchinal, m., pianta, r., bryant, d., early, d., clifford, r., & barbarin, o. (2008). ready to learn? children's pre-academic achievement in pre-kindergarten programs. early childhood research quarterly, 23, 27-50. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2007.05.002 la paro, k. m., pianta, r. c., hamre, b., & stuhlman, m. (2002). classroom assessment scoring system (class) pre-k version. charlottesville, va: university of virginia. mashburn, a.j., pianta, r., hamre, b.k., downer, j.t., barbarin, o., bryant, d.,...early, d. m. (2008). measures of classroom quality in pre-kindergarten and children’s development of academic, language and social skills. child development, 79, 732-749. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01154.x nichd eccrn (2003). social functioning in first grade: prediction from home, child care and concurrent school experience. child development, 74, 1639-1662. doi:10.1046/j.1467-8624.2003.00629.x pianta, r. c., belsky, j., vandergrift, n., houts, r., morrison, f., & nichd eccrn. (2008). classroom effects on children’s achievement trajectories in elementary school. american educational research journal, 49, 365-397. doi:10.3102/0002831207308230 pianta, r. c., laparo, k. m., & hamre, b. k. (2008). classroom assessment scoring system (class) pre-k version. baltimore, md: brookes publishing. ponitz, c. c., rimm-kaufman, s. e., grimm, k. j., & curby, t. w. (2009). kindergarten classroom quality, behavioral engagement, and reading achievement. school psychology review, 38,102-120. raver, c. c., jones, s. m., li-grining, c. p., metzger, m., champion, k. m., & sardin, l. (2008). improving preschool classroom processes: preliminary findings from a randomized trial implemented in head start settings. early childhood research quarterly, 23, 10-26. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2007.09.001 rimm-kaufman, s. e., curby, t. w., grimm, k. j., nathanson, l., & brock, l. l. (2009). the contribution of children’s self-regulation and classroom quality to children’s adaptive behaviors in the kindergarten classroom. developmental psychology, 45, 958-972. doi:10.1037/a0015861 wilson, k. h., pianta, r. c., & stuhlman, m. (2007). typical classroom experiences in first grade: the role of classroom climate and functional risk in the development of social competencies. elementary school journal, 108, 81-96. doi:10.1086/525548 woodcock, r., mcgrew, k., & mather, n. (2001). woodcock-johnson iii tests of achievement. itasca, il: riverside. ms dialog, 16(4), 113-120 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 dialog from the field involving families in the assessment process julia h. rutland morehead state university anna hall clemson university although grounded in theory and philosophy, and mandated by federal legislation, there is often a gap in research to practice when it comes to involving families in the assessment process. as family involvement through the continuum of early childhood education is recognized as “best practice” in the field, the assessment process must not be excluded. however, teachers in early childhood programs may need additional strategies to invite families to join in the process. strategies for parent participation as consumers, informants, team members, and advocates are discussed as well as outcomes for children and families. keywords: early childhood, family involvement, assessment family involvement has been found to be a key element to providing what is now considered best practice in the field of early childhood education (copple & bredekamp, 2009; dunst, 2002; sandall, hemmeter, smith, & mclean, 2005). head start mandates involving families as partners in the education of their children by promoting the family’s ability to support their child’s cognitive, social, emotional and physical development (u.s. department of health and human services, 2009). within the mandatory preschool component, there are expectations of family involvement throughout the child’s education and services. undergirding such mandates is the knowledge that involving families as full partners throughout the continuum of their child’s education must include the assessment process. in gaining a better understanding of the importance of family involvement in the assessment process, it is necessary to begin with the ideology that has contributed to current recommended practice in the field of early childhood education. early childhood education is grounded by a strong theoretical and philosophical foundation (baird & peterson, 1997; bronfenbrenner, 1979; knowles, 1984). theories and philosophies that are the basis for early childhood education focus not only on the child as the learner, but the child within a family, and the systems and factors that impact their lives. these theories and philosophies explain how children grow and develop within the context of 114 rutland and hall the family, how adults and children are motivated by what is important to them, and how the family is the expert on their child. however, families often play limited, if any roles in the assessment process. this gap in research to practice spurs professionals to consider how they might encourage families to participate. inviting families there are many ways in which families can be encouraged or “invited” to participate in assessments. partnerships are created by selecting strategies that make families feel comfortable throughout the assessment process. some of these strategies include: (1) providing various opportunities for families to receive important information regarding their child’s strengths and needs by allowing families to be consumers, (2) asking families to provide information on the ecology of their family in order to be informants throughout the assessment process, (3) teaming with families as they assist with the assessment tools, and (4) allowing them to be advocates as they describe hopes and dreams for their child (hall, rutland & grisham-brown, 2011). teachers’ increased understanding of these strategies and how to use them will likely increase family involvement thus increase child outcomes. consumer to further understand the concept of families as consumers, it is necessary to understand that all families have the right to receive important information about their child’s education. as mentioned earlier, families, as adult learners, want to consume information that is meaningful and pertinent in their lives. as professionals, we must consider how to best meet this precept. it is crucial that issues related to curriculum framework design, implementations, and evaluations are discussed with families in order for them to understand what is meaningful and pertinent to their child’s education. families need to understand the underlying philosophy of what is being taught. it is also important that families receive information that will support their child’s development when their child is not in school (grisham-brown, hemmeter & pretti-frontczak, 2005) as families will spend more time with their children than any single teacher. a good starting point for professionals is to clearly explain the school’s philosophy of early childhood education. many families do not understand how children are achieving important concepts while engaged in play. one specific way to share this information with families is to communicate how content and individualized goals are being addressed. furthermore, identifying contexts and strategies to address learning goals in home and community will enhance a family’s understanding. the use of visual representations of learning opportunities, or embedding schedules (grisham-brown, hemmeter & pretti-frontczak, 2005; hemmeter & grisham-brown, 1997; prettifrontczak & bricker, 2004) related to targeted behaviors and/or standards may prove to be helpful when communicating this information. embedding schedules may include target behaviors that will be addressed for the child, activities that occur throughout the involving families 115 school day, and examples of specific behaviors that the child can demonstrate/practice within a designated activity. lesson planning forms are another strategy used by teachers to help families understand how important concepts and standards are being addressed through play. these forms include the daily classroom schedule with accompanying activities that will occur throughout the day, standards or broad outcomes for all children that will be the focus of each activity, and suggestions for how the family can promote the identified outcomes at home. teachers can also share valuable information with families by extending learning opportunities to the home. this can be achieved by providing in-home learning activities to promote the child’s development and by suggesting ways to promote the child’s individualized targeted behaviors within their daily routines. for example, if a child is working on alphabet knowledge skills as a targeted behavior, the teacher may suggest that the family read to their child each night before bedtime and have their child help find familiar letters within the text. the teacher may also provide the family with developmentally appropriate literacy activities that will further develop the child’s alphabet knowledge skills such as playing with magnetic letters and writing letters on a dry erase board. although it is vitally important for families to receive information about school policies, curriculum design, and targeted behaviors, teachers should be careful not to make the role of “consumer” the only role that families play in the assessment process. teachers must keep in mind that families are their child’s first teacher and that they know their child best. therefore, families should be active in other roles throughout the assessment process including that of an informant, team member, and advocate. informant families can provide critical information from their very unique perspectives; however, there is often difficulty in understanding just how to obtain this information. current guidelines and practices recommend that families be involved in early childhood programs as receivers and providers of information (bredekamp & copple, 1997; sandall, hemmeter, smith, & mclean, 2005). families are recognized as the constant in a child’s life, with interactions taking place in a variety of contexts (vangalder, 1997). these experiences lend families an opportunity to provide various types of information to teachers that can help in the design and implementation of valid assessments (grishambrown, hemmeter & pretti-frontczak, 2005). such unique information can not be found elsewhere. families can share information about their child’s temperament and physical needs which may help professionals understand a child’s reaction to different assessment situations. for example, a child that tends to be anxious might perform better on curriculum-based assessments than on structured assessments. a child who has poor fine-motor skills may struggle with pen and paper assessments, but do well on assessments using oral questioning. families can also share information about their child’s daily routine and preferences. understanding how families encourage and limit their child at home can 116 rutland and hall give insight into a child’s behaviors and reactions in the classroom (grisham-brown, hemmeter & pretti-frontczak, 2005). previous knowledge about child preferences or what “works” with their child can assist teachers in developing assessments that are more tailored to each student’s individual needs. if a student prefers working in a quiet setting, a teacher may allow the child to move to the hallway to be assessed. students that have strong interests, such as sports or a love of animals, may perform better on assessments that are developed with their interests in mind. it is helpful for teachers to learn about the ecology (e.g., who makes up the family, resources and supports, what they enjoy doing, and where they enjoy going) of a family to better understand the child and their behaviors in the classroom (jung, 2010). important family relationships and varying types of social-emotional interactions and support can impact the child’s performance on class work and assessments. gaining information from families about their history and the child’s life experiences can help teachers provide a more accurate assessment. for example, if the child has recently lost an important family member, the child may feel reserved and be more reluctant to answer open-ended questions on an assessment. in contrast, this child may perform well on an assessment that allows the child to draw freely and express their feelings without words. understanding a family’s ecology will give insight into community involvement, culture, strengths, and resources. all of this information supports teachers in providing appropriate resources needed during the assessment process (grisham-brown, hemmeter, & pretti-frontczak, 2005). for example, if the teacher is aware of a language barrier, he/she can make sure to have an interpreter available for the family and child during the assessment process. finally, understanding the family’s priorities and goals for their child along with the family’s strengths, needs and resources allows teachers to plan, implement, and evaluate each child as an individual (grisham-brown, hemmeter, & pretti-frontczak, 2005; vangalder, 1997). the family can inform teachers with this valuable information and help ensure that the assessment process is accurate and valid for each child. for example, the family may be more focused on their child’s ability to learn language than on their child’s numeracy skills. this would be important information for the assessor when focusing on curriculum development and individual goals for the child. team member families can be instrumental in identifying strategies and approaches for assessment that will work best for their child by becoming a collaborative member of the assessment team. in order to do this, families must be involved in all aspects of the assessment process (boone & crais, 1999). this should include planning the assessment, participating in interviews, observations, testing, and helping to determine if the information collected is representative of the child’s actual abilities. through participation in the observation and rating of specific behaviors in their children, families have an increased awareness of their child’s development (dinnebeil & rule, 1994) and increases in contributions when developing intervention plans and during decision making processes (brinckerhoff & vincent, 1987). the compilation of multiple involving families 117 observations of a child (family, teacher, and specialist’s observations) helps to develop a more accurate picture of the child (vangalder, 1997). active family involvement does not mean professionals give up their responsibilities. it is still the responsibility of teachers and specialists to suggest and provide appropriate options for individualized goals (berman & shaw, 1995). families are the most familiar with their child, but they are not always familiar with appropriate interventions or developmentally appropriate practices. it is the job of the teachers and specialists to share their expertise and to help guide families and facilitate teamwork when working together. when families are involved in the assessment process as team members, it will lead to sensible goals and plans that lead toward solutions and resources (berman & shaw, 1995) in which a family can live with the results. advocate although professionals in the field of early childhood education have a great interest in the children in which they serve and teach, families have the greatest vested interest in their children. as previously mentioned, they must live with the results derived from strategies that are developed from the assessment. therefore, families need to feel comfortable in confirming or refuting assessment information, based on their knowledge and understanding of their child’s abilities and characteristics. professionals can encourage families to be advocates for their children by observing and commenting on their child’s behaviors and performance during assessment, asking questions about the evaluation, and making sure families clearly understand the process (berman & shaw, 1995). in order for families to provide ongoing educational support, they must be advocates for their children through the continuum of early childhood education, including the assessment process. this may be as simple as assuring that time of day and length of observations are appropriate and in the best interest of the child. families can provide a fresh perspective on how services should be delivered (thegan & weber, 2002) and must be supported in their efforts to develop skills to communicate concerns, goals, placement options, and many other types of key information that is relevant to the assessment process. in the past, family involvement has been limited to that of passive recipients. however, we now understand the dynamic contributions of the family and how this can positively impact the assessment process. we have also discussed several ways families can be encouraged to participate: consumer, informant, team member, and advocate. but it is important to keep in mind the ultimate goal for this involvement is not simply for improved assessment, but for improved outcomes. outcomes for children and families the term “outcomes” refers to benefits that a child or family experiences as a result of services (eco: early childhood outcomes center, n.d.). for young children in our classrooms, outcomes are the benefits children and families experience from the strategies that have been developed based on assessment. by involving families in the 118 rutland and hall assessment process we can empower families, increase family involvement, and improve the functionality of outcomes. functional outcomes involving families in assessment increases the likelihood of selecting skills or behaviors that are meaningful to the child and family. targeting meaningful skills or behaviors increases the likelihood of the family addressing the skills within their typical routines by using strategies that are developed from the information gained in the assessment process. it is important that outcomes are functional and meaningful to children in their everyday lives and routines, and across a variety of settings. family empowerment in addition to improved outcomes, using family-centered practices such as including families in assessment, leads to feelings of empowerment (hanft & pilkington, 2000) and a higher level of parents’ well-being (dunst, bruder, trivette, & hamby, 2006). parent involvement is a right and a much needed component to successful early childhood education; however, it must be respected as a choice for families. they may choose to participate at varying levels. it is important to welcome their involvement whether minimal or at high levels. enhanced involvement finally, parent involvement also contributes to better attitudes about school (epstein, 2000). unfortunately, not all families have had positive past school experiences. by encouraging involvement in a variety of ways, families can develop new attitudes toward school. if head start parents have positive experiences participating in the assessment process during their child’s preschool years, they are more likely to continue their involvement in kindergarten and beyond. conclusion a child’s development must be considered within the context of the relationships in the many environments in which the child lives and interacts (bronfenbrenner, 1979). the interaction between factors in the child’s immediate family, environment, and the society in which they live steers their development. with this in mind, it is crucial to include families as active participants in the assessment process. although involving families as consumers is an important role, teachers should also focus on the valuable information that families can provide and the unique perspectives that they can share. it is vital for teachers to take the time to encourage families to become active participants in the assessment process serving as informants, team members, and advocates along with their important role as consumers. involving families 119 references baird, s., & peterson, j. (1997). seeking a comfortable fit between family-centered philosophy and infantparent interaction in early intervention: time for a paradigm shift? topics in early childhood special education, 17(2), 139-165. berman, c., & shaw, e. (1995). family directed child evaluation and assessment under idea; lessons from families and programs. (report no. es 308 439). chapel hill, nc: national early childhood technical assistance system. (eric document reproduction service no. ed451578). boone, h., & crais, e. (1999). strategies for family-driven assessment and intervention planning. young exceptional children, 3(1), 2-12. bredekamp, s., & copple, c. (eds.). (1997). developmentaly appropriate practice in early childhood programs (rev. ed.). washington, dc: national association for the education of young children. brinckerhoff, j., & vincent, l. (1987). increasing parental decision-making at the individualized educational program meeting. journal of the division for early childhood, 11(1), 46-58. bronfenbrenner, u. (1979). the ecology of human development, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. copple, c., & bredekamp, s. (eds.) (2009). developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8 (3 rd ed.). washington, dc: national association for the education of young children. dinnebeil, l. a., & rule, s. (1994). congruence between parents’ and professionals’ judgments about the development of young children with disabilities: a review of the literature. topics in early childhood special education, 36, 139-147. dunst, c.j. (2002). family-centered practices: birth through high school. journal of special education, 36, 139-147. dunst, c. j., bruder, m. b., trivette, c. m., & hamby, d.w. (2006). everyday activity settings, natural learning environments, and early intervention practices. journal of policy and practice in intellectual disabilities, 3(1), 3-10. eco: early childhood outcomes center. (n.d.). fpg child development institute. retrieved november 12, 2009, from http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~eco/index.cfm epstein, j. (2000). school and family partnerships: preparing educators and improving schools. boulder, co: westview. grisham-brown, j., hemmeter, m.l., & pretti-frontczak, k. (2005). blended practices for teaching young children in inclusive settings. baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing co. hall, a., rutland, j. h., & grisham-brown, j. (2011). family involvement in the assessment process. in j. grisham-brown & k. pretti-frontczak (eds.). assessing young children in inclusive settings (pp. 38-59). baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing co. hanft, b.e., & pilkington, p.e. (2000). therapy in natural environments: the means or end goal for early intervention? infants and young children, 12(4), 1-13. hemmeter, m. l., & grisham-brown, j. (1997). developing children’s language skills in inclusive early childhood classrooms. dimensions of early childhood, 25(3), 6-13. jung, l. a. (2010). identifying families’ supports and other resources. in r. a. mcwilliam (ed.), working with families of young children with special needs (pp. 9-26). new york, ny: guilford publications. knowles, m. s. (1984). androgogy in action: applying modern principles of adult learning. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass publishers. pretti-frontczak, k., & bricker, d. (2004). an activity-based approach to early intervention (3 rd ed.). baltimore: paul h. brookes publishing co. (eric document reproduction service no. ed491762). sandall, s. hemmeter, m. l., smith, b. j., & mclean, m. e. (2005). dec recommended practices: a comprehensive guide. longmont, co: sopris west. thegan, k., & weber, l. (2002). family support: a solid foundation for children (more than a nice thing to do!). (report no. ps 030 871). raleigh, nc: north carolina partnership for children. (eric document reproduction service no. ed472026). http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~eco/index.cfm 120 rutland and hall vangalder, c.j. (1997). care: caregiver assistance, resources and education. a case study of a familycentered assessment and intervention model. (report no. ec 305 546). holland, mi: holland public school district. (eric document reproduction service no. ed407787). u.s. department of health and human services (2009). administration for children & families. retrieved august 26, 2009, from http://www.hhs.gov/ dialog, 16(2), 131-137 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to craig s. bailey, george mason university, department of psychology, 4400 university dr. ms 3f5, fairfax, va, 22030-4444, email: cbaileyg@masonlive.gmu.edu.the present study was funded by nichd grant #r01hd51514. research-to-practice summary consistently emotionally supportive preschool teachers and children’s social-emotional learning in the classroom: implications for center directors and teachers craig s. bailey, katherine m. zinsser, timothy w. curby, susanne a. denham, and hideko h. bassett george mason university in the following article, we summarize research investigating the benefits of teachers providing emotionally supportive interactions for preschoolers’ social-emotional development and how teachers’ perceptions and experiences of stress may influence these interactions. using data collected in both private and head start preschool classrooms, we examined relations between average levels and consistency of emotional support, teachers’ stress, and children’s social and emotional behaviors in the classroom. overall, head start teachers showed less stress and had higher levels of emotional support than private center teachers. furthermore, children in head start classrooms were less emotionally negative and aggressive. private center children showed more negative emotion and aggression in classrooms with teachers who were inconsistent in their emotional supportiveness even when those teachers were, on average, very supportive. private center teachers’ perception of stress also related to their emotional support and variability of emotional support and uniquely associated with children’s social-emotional behaviors. implications for center directors are discussed, as well as practical and targeted suggestions for teachers like avoiding stress and using classroom organization, reappraisal, and response modification to effectively manage stress. any preschool teacher, from publically funded head start centers to for-profit private centers, knows that supporting 15 20 children’s developing skills is challenging, stressful, and emotionally exhausting. preschool teachers are expected to walk into classrooms and successfully navigate the emotional lives of students, coworkers, and administrators, all while maintaining an emotionally ‘even keel’, managing the tasks of teaching, and providing a supportive and consistent emotional environment (hargreaves, 1998, 2001; nias, 1996). these expectations constitute the emotional rules of teaching and in part govern teachers’ management of emotions in the classroom (hargreaves, 2001). teachers’ management of emotions according to these rules requires emotional work, sometimes referred to as emotional labor (hargreaves, 1998), contributing to teachers experiences of stress (curbow, spratt, ungaretti, mcdonnell, & breckler, 2000; jennings & greenberg, 2009). 132 bailey et all. unfortunately, without effective management of stress, teachers are at risk for burnout (blase, 1982; wood, & mccarthy, 2002). stress may also deplete the available cognitive and emotional resources that are pivotal in providing a consistent, emotionally supportive classroom climate conducive to children’s developing social-emotional competence. in the current article we will a) summarize relevant research on emotional support, children’s developing socialemotional competence, and teacher stress; b) present major research findings from our study exploring these associations, and c) translate these findings into research-supported implications and recommendations for early childhood center directors and teachers. consistent, emotionally supportive interactions are important for children’s social-emotional learning the social-emotional interactions among teachers and students are the backbone of many preschool classrooms. these interactions set the stage for successful learning experiences in kindergarten and beyond (pianta, 1999; zins, elias, & greenberg, 2007). thus, preschool classrooms are laboratories for children to develop social-emotional skills, such as effectively communicating feelings, managing emotional experiences, and prosocially responding in frustrating situations. these skills lay the foundation for academic success and schooladjustment (denham et al., 2012; denham, bassett, & zinsser, 2012; zins et al., 2007). teachers can contribute to children’s social-emotional learning by fostering classroom climates that promote positive learning experiences (pianta, 1999; zins et al., 2007). in particular, when teachers provide emotionally supportive classrooms, they are more positive, more aware of their students’ needs, and respond appropriately to these needs (hamre & pianta, 2007). additionally, preschool teachers socialize children’s emotional competence by modeling and teaching effective emotional communication, reactivity, and management (denham et al., 2012). children have been found to benefit socially and emotionally, as well as cognitively, when they are in emotionally supportive preschool classrooms (bierman et al., 2008; buyse, verschueren, doumen, van damme, & maes, 2008; howes et al., 2008; mashburn et al., 2008). recent research has found that, beyond average levels of emotional support, the consistency in providing emotional support is also important for children’s development (curby, brock, hamre, 2013; curby et al., 2011; curby, grimm, & pianta, 2010; brock & curby 2012). given a typical day, some teachers have been found to maintain steady levels of emotional support, whereas others have been found to vary substantially. for example, an inconsistent emotionally supportive teacher may be warm and supporting of student autonomy at 9:00, cold and unresponsive at 9:30, and exuberant and attentive by 10:00. conversely, a more consistent teacher may display different forms of emotional support (e.g., attentiveness, positivity), but the overall emotional support for students across a morning are quite stable. although children in inconsistent classrooms experience spikes of emotional support, they tend to experience this support in the context of lower levels of emotional support. in the parenting literature, the predictability of experiences with parents have been shown to be important in forming stable and positive relationships (see ainsworth, 1969; baumrind, 1966; bowlby, 1969), and the consequences for consistent caregiving in the classroom is no less important. preschoolers in consistent, emotionally supportive classrooms show greater gains in academic and social outcomes in kindergarten compared to children in less consistent classrooms (curby et al., 2011). it may be that the lack of predictability places greater demands on consistently emotionally supportive implications 133 children’s attentional networks, causing them to exert more effort to monitor their teacher’s emotional state and have less attention available for attending to academic, social, and emotional learning tasks. in order to better help children’s social-emotional learning, the current study explored how emotional support, and the consistency of that support, relates to children’s socialemotional learning. does ineffective stress management deplete the available resources needed for consistent emotional support? teachers in early childhood education are exposed to many sources of stress, including but not limited to, feelings of pressures from children’s families, lack of sufficient resources, feeling under-appreciated, and long work hours (curbow et al., 2000). stress may make it difficult for teachers to effectively manage their own emotional lives, let alone the emotional lives of 20 preschoolers (hargreaves, 1998, 2001; jennings & greenberg, 2009; nias, 1996). in turn, emotionally exhausted teachers may not have resources left to be consistent in their construction of emotionally supportive classroom environments that children need for positive socialemotional learning. our study explores how external demands and pressures on teachers may combine with teachers’ emotional support consistency to predict children’s social-emotional learning. summary of research methods teachers were part of a larger study focused on developing a direct assessment battery for measuring the social and emotional aspects of school readiness. of the teachers in our sample, nine were from head start centers, 32 were from private centers, and all were female. children included 3and 4-year-old boys and girls (51.0%), with 98 of the total sample from head start classrooms and 179 from private classrooms. emotional support average levels and consistency were obtained by observing classrooms with trained and reliable research assistants using the classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008). the emotional support domain is an average of four dimensions: positive climate, negative climate (reversed), teacher sensitivity, and regard for student perspectives. following standard class protocol, four contiguous cycles (20 minutes of observing and 10 minutes of rating) of observation were conducted for each teacher. the emotional support average was determined by averaging across these cycles of observation. emotional support variability was computed by calculating the standard deviation across the four observations. higher values indicated greater variability and thus, greater inconsistency, in standard deviation units, of observed emotional support over the four observation cycles. teachers were asked to complete the job demands scale of the child care worker job stress inventory (ccwjsi; curbow et al., 2000). the job demands scale consisted of 17 questions that asked for the frequency of experiencing various stressful events or feelings related to the classroom. children’s observed social-emotion functioning was quantified using the minnesota preschool affect checklist-revised/shortened, (mpac-r/s; denham et al., 2012). using the mpac-r/s, trained research assistants observed and captured children’s behavior during free 134 bailey et all. play or small group activities on four separate school days, in 5-minute intervals on six scales. the six scales were aggregated into three global components of social-emotional functioning: emotionally negative/aggressive, emotionally regulated/productive, and emotionally positive/prosocial. major findings we found significant differences between head start and private childcare centers:  when compared to private childcare teachers, head start teachers tended to be less stressed and showed higher levels of emotional support in the classroom.  children in head start classrooms tended to be less emotionally negative and aggressive. we explored these associations further in private classrooms. in sum, we found that:  more stressed teachers were, on average, less emotionally supportive and more inconsistent.  teachers’ average emotional support was not associated with students’ socialemotional behavior.  teachers’ consistency of emotional support was associated with students’ emotionally regulated and productive behaviors.  children with very supportive teachers showed more negative emotion and aggression if their teacher was inconsistent in providing emotional support.  teacher-reported stress was also uniquely associated with children’s social-emotional behaviors. teachers who reported feeling more stressed had students who displayed fewer emotion regulation and productive behaviors, and emotionally positive and prosocial behaviors, than less stressed teachers. research-support implications and recommendations for the early child education field two significant implications for program directors emerged from this study: 1. our results indicate that reliance on average ratings of teachers’ emotional support may not fully paint the picture of children’s classroom experiences. instead, it is important to additionally consider the consistency of teachers’ emotional support. further, center directors may want to:  consider ways to help teachers be more emotionally supportive. not only is emotional support good for children’s development, but teachers who have higher levels of emotional support also tend to be more consistent in their emotional support.  help reduce teachers’ stress. reducing stress may not only help reduce burnout, but may also help teachers be more consistent. 2. the differential findings for head start and private programs indicate that there may be programmatic differences contributing to teachers’ experiences of stress in the classroom. consistently emotionally supportive implications 135  head start policies and practices, such as the use of reflective supervision, may promote teachers’ awareness of their own experiences of emotions in the classroom, facilitate regular and open communication between staff, and, encourage greater consistency and higher emotional support through effective stress management. in addition to these program-wide implications, teachers may also want to consider what they can do to promote their own emotional well-being and to reduce their experiences of stress, thereby being better able to engage in consistent, high-quality interactions with their students. based on effective stress management research, teachers may want to consider: 1. proactively avoid situations that lead to stress (borg & falzon, 1990; deery-schmitt & todd, 1995; kyriacou, 2001).  for example, meeting the demands of parents by strengthening the teacher-parent relationship, increasing communication and involvement of assistant teachers, or using a weekly newsletter may help avoid a common stressor for preschool teachers. 2. improve classroom organization to reduce the situations that cause stress (li-grining et al., 2010).  for instance, classroom chaos happens during long, idle transitions. using a signal for transitions and establishing a routine can reduce transition time. 3. reappraise stressful situations and be mindful of one’s response (deery-schmitt & todd, 1995; zhai, raver, & li-grining, 2011).  for example, parent-teacher conferences may be stressful but can be an opportunity to discuss with parents strategies that their child can use at home to help their child be successful in the classroom.  additionally, reflect on how one is feeling, but stay focused on the task at hand. 4. modify reactions to stressful situations for adaptive problem solving and stress reduction (deery-schmitt & todd, 1995; wood et al., 2002).  for example, in a disagreement with a coworker, one could remove oneself from the situation to regain composure, or one could channel negative emotional responses into positive and prosocial behavioral choices like writing down and later discussing with a coworker after time passes and intense emotions subside. conclusion we found that the consistency of teachers’ emotional support related to children’s socialemotional functioning in the classroom. our results reinforce the notion that understanding the impact of teachers’ consistency of emotional support is an important but overlooked aspect of classroom processes. based on the findings of our study, we would like to encourage early childhood education programs to look beyond teachers’ average ratings of emotional support when trying to create positive environments for children. furthermore, reducing stress and improving private caregiver well-being individually and globally, has the opportunity to influence not only the consistency of classroom practices, but also children’s social-emotional learning. 136 bailey et all. references ainsworth, m. d. s. 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(pp. 79–94). westport, ct, us: praeger publishers/greenwood publishing group. maltreatment, children’s regulation, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors dialog, 18(2), 71-84 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research article the role of physiological regulation in understanding the influence of child abuse potential on children’s behavioral problems julie schatz-stevens aquinas college bethany cockburn the university of iowa jennifer lefever university of notre dame the current project investigated the role of toddlers’ physiological regulation at 24 months in the relationship between prenatal child abuse potential and internalizing and externalizing problems at age 3 using a sample of 285 primiparious mothers and their first-born children. regression analyses were used to explore physiological regulation, indexed by sleeping, eating, sensory sensitivity and negative emotionality, as a mediator of the relationship between abuse potential, measured by a brief version of the child abuse potential inventory, and children’s problematic behaviors. findings revealed direct effects between child abuse potential and internalizing and externalizing problems and child abuse potential and dysregulation. further analyses highlighted regulation as a mediator of the relationship between child abuse potential and internalizing problems, whereas both child abuse potential and children’s dysregulation were important in determining externalizing problems. self-regulation appears to be a key target for intervention programs for toddlers to halt the progression of behavioral problems often found in maltreated children. keywords: maltreatment risk; physiological regulation; behavioral problems research has shown that maltreated children are at heightened risk for behavioral problems and emotional maladjustment (aber, allen, carlson, & cicchetti, 1989; egeland, yates, appleyard, & van dulmen, 2002). explorative studies on the multi-faceted impact of maltreatment have highlighted children’s self-regulation as the major link between abuse and later developmental dysfunction such that maltreatment is related to children’s compromised self-regulation skills which in turn contribute to behavioral and emotional problems (egeland, et al., 2002; maughan & cicchetti, 2002; schatz, smith, keogh, borkowski, & whitman, 2008). for instance, emotion 72 schatz-stevens et al. regulation has been found to mediate the relationship between maltreatment and child outcomes, including externalizing behaviors (egeland, et al., 2002), internalizing symptoms (maughan & cicchetti, 2002), and social adjustment (shields & cicchetti, 1998; 2001). recent work has begun to explore another component of regulation – physiological – and its role in the development of maltreated children’s later dysfunction (bruce, fisher, pears, & levine, 2009; cicchetti & rogosch, 2002; dobrova-krol, van ijzendoorn, bakermas-kranenburg, cyr, & juffer, 2008). the current study builds on the previous body of research and extends it by examining the relationships among early child abuse potential, toddlers’ physiological regulatory difficulties, and emotional and behavioral problems within a prospective, longitudinal framework. emotional and behavioral problems are among the most frequently reported consequences of abuse and neglect with a growing body of evidence supporting elevated rates of depression and externalizing behaviors among maltreated children (aber et al., 1989; cicchetti & rogosch, 2001; kim & cicchetti, 2004). in comparison to a group of non-maltreated children, aber and colleagues (1989) found that maltreated children had significantly more behavioral problems and depression. in a similar study, kim and cicchetti (2003) reported a higher incidence of internalizing behaviors in a group of maltreated children aged 5 to 12 than in a nonmaltreated comparison group. the relationship between maltreatment and emotional and behavior problems is well-established; a growing body of research, however, has focused on exploring how children’s deficient self-regulation may be the process variable responsible for the effects of abuse and neglect on all domains of children’s development (egeland, et al., 2002; maughan & cicchetti, 2002; heim, newport, mletzko, miller, & nemeroff, 2008; murrayclose, han, cicchetti, crick, rogosch, 2008). child abuse potential different methods have been used to assess child maltreatment including measures that assess potential for abuse, self-reports of abuse and neglect, and information gathered from child protective services (cps). utilizing reports from cps, however, has proven to create multiple difficulties, chief among them underestimating actual maltreatment instances (chaffin & valle, 2003). self-report measures of instances of abuse and neglect also can be inaccurate due to parental concern about the repercussions of an affirmative response. for this reason, measures that assess potentiality, or likelihood for abuse, have often been utilized in research (moreland begle, dumas, & hanson 2010). among the most frequently used is the child abuse potential inventory (capi) due to its strong correlation with actual abuse perpetration (milner, 1986). using the capi also offers advantages over cps information and self-reports including: (1) abuse potential can be considered a proxy measure, conceptualizing maltreatment as a continuum of behaviors and attitudes versus a dichotomous conceptualization (present or absent), and (2) abuse potential can be assessed during pregnancy, serving as an early screening tool to identify those at risk for abuse and identify who to target for prevention efforts. child abuse potential and physiological regulation 73 physiological regulation several regulatory abilities (e.g. effortful control, affect management, hormonal levels) have been explored, however, these abilities can be placed into four more general types of regulation: cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physiological, with physiological regulation intricately interlaced and supporting each of the aforementioned components. generally considered to include modulation (i.e. inhibition or activation) of physical processes such as hormone levels, heart rate, vagal tone, and sleep patterns, physiological regulation has been assessed in a variety of manners. the majority of research with maltreated children has assessed a short term physiological response of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system indexed by cortisol levels, obtained with a saliva sample, or respiratory sinus arrhythymia, measured with a heart monitor. findings from this line of research support the deleterious impact of maltreatment on physiological regulation. for instance, bruce and colleagues (2009) explored the effects of maltreatment on foster children’s morning cortisol levels. the cortisol levels, assessed as indicators of sns arousal and more specifically hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system (hpa axis) activity, were differentially influenced by type of maltreatment. foster children with severe emotional maltreatment experiences had higher cortisol levels, whereas those with severe physical neglect backgrounds had low levels. it appears that when the caregiving environment is characterized by abuse and neglect, all types of regulation become severely compromised, especially physiological (maughan & cicchetti, 2002; pollak, cicchetti, hornung, & reed, 2000). less is known, however, about a broader, long-term conceptualization of physiological regulation including sleeping, eating, and sensory reactivity patterns, of children at risk for abuse. growing evidence suggests that physiological regulation, especially the hormonal and neurological domains of development, may play an even greater role in victimized children’s development – researchers have begun to examine regulation as a process variable responsible for maltreatment’s multi-faceted impact on child functioning, particularly emotional and behavioral outcomes (heim et al., 2008; murray-close et al., 2008). heim and colleagues (2008) summarized a series of studies examining physiological regulatory indicators, childhood history of trauma, and depression. across all studies, childhood trauma was consistently associated with alteration of the stress responses (evidenced through endocrine functioning) and problems with the hpa axis which was then subsequently related to depression symptoms (heim, et al., 2008). murray-close and her research team (2008) examined neuroendocrine regulation, as indexed by cortisol levels, and aggression in samples of maltreated and non-maltreated children. findings supported the role of physiological regulation in two types of aggression, relational and physical, with more pronounced effects for children with histories of maltreatment. structural and functional neurological differences have also been noted among victimized children. taken together, the findings suggest that maltreatment impacts physiological regulation, which in turn fosters maladaptive development; however, little research has investigated these effects in early toddlerhood, particularly within a prospective longitudinal study and used a more comprehensive conceptualization of physiological regulation as a process variable within a sample of at-risk toddlers. 74 schatz-stevens et al. current study the current study addresses three gaps in the research base. first, little is known about child abuse during infancy (when its consequences are often most severe) and the implications of early victimization for development in toddlerhood. second, because the most common techniques for examining physiological regulation involve short term assessments, less is understood about longer-term indicators of physiological regulation of infants and toddlers, such as sleeping and eating patterns, when regulatory abilities are particularly vulnerable. third, the majority of research has examined the relationship between abuse and regulatory development in documented maltreatment cases; however, many infants and toddlers are missed due to their lack of exposure to the most common reporting sources (schools, friends, etc.). the present project used regression analyses to investigate the relationship between early maltreatment risk and the development of preschoolers’ internalizing and externalizing problems as mediated by physiological regulation (baron & kenny, 1986; preacher & hayes, 2004). the current project utilized data from a longitudinal study designed to understand low-levels of neglectful parenting among mothers and their first-born children. the multi-site design included a racially diverse sample with variability in participants' ages, economic status, and educational backgrounds. maternal child abuse potential, conceptualized as a continuum of likelihood for maltreatment, was measured prenatally by an abbreviated version of the child abuse potential inventory. children’s physiological regulation was indexed by sleeping and eating patterns, and sensory and emotional reactivity at 24 months by maternal reports based on the last 2 months of the infants’ lives. children’s externalizing and internalizing behaviors were reported on by mothers when children were 3. it was expected that mothers evidencing higher abuse potential would have children exhibiting greater internalizing and externalizing problems. it was also hypothesized that toddlers’ physiological regulation would mediate the relationship between maternal abuse potential and both externalizing and internalizing behaviors. method participants the current study’s sample was drawn from a larger, longitudinal study designed to understand the effects of sub-threshold neglect on child development, with a focus on the antecedents associated with neglectful parenting. mothers and their first born children were recruited from 5 cities: south bend, indiana; washington, dc; birmingham, alabama; and kansas city, kansas or missouri. each site’s internal review board independently approved the study protocol and reviewed it annually. at the prenatal interview, each participant was asked to sign the study consent form provided by project interviewers. if the mother was a minor, her guardian was also asked to sign a consent form. in the present study, participants with data at each of the three time points (prenatal, 24, and 36 months) were included resulting in a subsample of 285 mother-child dyads (682 mothers completed the prenatal, but only 470 completed the 4 month). the most common reasons for nonparticipation included moving more than an hour away, dropping out of the study, or being unreachable during the data collection window which was generally one month before and after child abuse potential and physiological regulation 75 each time point. the current sample varied considerably in education, age, and economic status. first-time mothers were recruited if they were adolescents (less than 19 years of age at the time of child’s birth); low-resource adults (older than 21 years but less than 2 years of college education), or high-resource adults (over 21 years with at least 2 years of college completed). adolescent mothers were slightly oversampled. a significant difference was found between the present study’s sample and the larger longitudinal project participants not included in the study in age: mothers not in the study tended to be slightly younger (m = 20.61, sd = 4.71) than mothers in the study (m = 21.85, sd = 5.43), t (680) = 3.17, p <.05. however, no significant differences were noted regarding maternal and child race or target child gender. at the time of the child’s birth, average maternal age was 21.95 years (sd=5.43). forty percent of mothers had not completed high school (75% of these were adolescents) and 28.9% had completed postsecondary education. only 25.5% of mothers were employed at the time of the prenatal interview, compared to 51.6% who were working when they learned they were pregnant. additional mother and child characteristics data can be found in table 1. table 1 characteristics of mother and child characteristics (n=285) variable household characteristics (reported 6 months after the birth of the child) average yearly income $22,379.69 average number of individuals in household excluding participant 3.35 child characteristics child gender, male, % 50.9 race, non-white, % 83.0 mother characteristics race, non-white, %* 77.2 procedure as mentioned above, assessments began prenatally (during the last trimester of pregnancy) and included a laboratory visit when the target child was 24 and 36 months old. interviews generally lasted one to two hours and included a variety of questions related to family characteristics; mother characteristics, history, resources, and mental status; and child characteristics and outcomes. analytic plan analyses were conducted based on current mediational recommendations (baron & kenny, 1986; preacher & hayes, 2004). a series of regression analyses were employed to examine children’s physiological regulation as a mediator of the relationship between child abuse potential and children’s internalizing problems. in a separate series, the same equations were utilized to examine regulation as a mediator of child abuse potential and children’s externalizing problems. bootstrapping estimates were also conducted as a follow-up assessment of the indirect 76 schatz-stevens et al. effects of the proposed relationships (preacher & hayes, 2004). measures measures given to the participants included demographic information assessment, the child abuse potential inventory – short form (capi-sf), and the infant-toddler social and emotional assessment (itsea). mother and child demographics. during in-person interviews, demographic information was collected about the mother, child, and family by trained interviewers. information included self-reported race, age, household income, and number of individuals in the household. mothers also reported the target child’s age and race. child abuse potential inventory – short form (capi-sf). during the prenatal assessment, mothers completed a shortened version of the second edition of the capi, which was created to help child protective service workers identify potentially physically abusive caregivers (milner, 1986). the 25 item short form measures the mother’s self-reported rigidity (i.e., a child needs very strict rules; children should stay clean) and her unhappiness (i.e., i have several close friends in my neighborhood; i do not laugh very much). the capi-sf had good internal consistency (α=.781) and has been shown to have predictive validity (dukewich, borkowski, & whitman, 1999). infant toddler social emotional assessment (itsea). the itsea was designed to measure young children's social and emotional functioning as well as competencies (carter, briggs-gowan, & jones, 2003). the full measure consists of 156 items that are rated on a 3-point scale according to how often the child exhibits the specified behavior with (0) for not true/rarely, (1) somewhat/sometimes true, or (2) very true/often. intra-class correlations for test-retest reliability have been found to range from .74 to .88. inter-rater reliabilities comparing the parents' scores ranged from .43 to .78. physiological dysregulation. at the 24 month assessment, mothers completed the dysregulation domain on the itsea (carter, briggs-gowan, & jones, 2003). the dysregulation domain is 34 items and asks each mother to rate her child’s negative emotionality (i.e., hard to soothe when upset; wakes up in a bad mood), her child’s sleeping (i.e., trouble falling asleep; must be held to sleep), her child’s eating (refuses certain food for two days or more; gags/chokes on food), and her child’s sensory sensitivity (i.e., bothered by certain odors; bothered by how things feel on skin). the dysregulation domain had good internal consistency (α=.821). no item overlap was allowed among any of the 3 subscales drawn from the itsea: dysregulation, internalizing, and externalizing. internalizing behaviors. at the 36 month assessment, mothers completed the internalizing domain of the itsea. the internalizing domain includes 30 items which rate the child’s internalizing behaviors. subscales of internalizing behavior include: 1) depression (i.e., unhappy; does not make eye contact); 2) general anxiety (i.e., nervous or fearful; puts things in a special order over and over again); 3) separation distress (i.e., demands a lot of attention; cries when you try to leave), and 4) inhibition to novelty (i.e., shy with new children; takes a while to child abuse potential and physiological regulation 77 speak in unfamiliar situations). the internalizing domain had good internal consistency (α=.857). externalizing behaviors. the externalizing domain of the itsea completed at the 36 month assessment has 24 items that rate externalizing behavior problems. children are assessed on three sub-areas: 1) activity/impulsivity (i.e., constantly moving; very loud); 2) aggression/defiance (i.e., hides misbehavior; purposely tries to hurt you); and 3) peer aggression (i.e., bullies; won’t let other children play with group). the externalizing domain had good internal consistency (α=.867). results the current project investigated the relationships among early child abuse potential, physiological regulation, and children’s emotional and behavioral development at age 3. the descriptive data are presented first, followed by the series of regression models and follow-up tests for internalizing problems, and concludes with the series of regression models and followup analyses for externalizing behaviors. descriptive data means and standard deviations for each of the variables can be found in table 2. each of the variables evidenced considerable variability and no apparent significant skewing. only the important descriptive results are highlighted below. table 2 descriptive statistics for child abuse potential, physiological regulation, and internalizing and externalizing outcomes mean sd range n maternal maltreatment risk child abuse potential 9.11 4.10 1, 21 285 children’s regulation itsea dysregulation .56 .25 .05, 1.46 284 children’s outcomes itsea internalizing .58 .25 0, 1.55 281 itsea – externalizing .60 .32 0, 1.54 284 itsea – infant-toddler social and emotional assessment child abuse potential. total scores for the capi sf ranged from 1 to 21 with a mean of 9.11. a weighted transformation of the capi – sf total score allowed comparison with the 78 schatz-stevens et al. frequently used full length capi total score’s cut-point of 215 to identify high risk for abuse: 7% of mothers scored at or above this level. toddlers’ physiological regulation. children’s dysregulation scores ranged from .05 to 1.46 with a mean of .56. using t-score cutoffs, 7.1% of the children scored in the range of concern and 6.3% scored in the clinical range. children’s 3 year internalizing and externalizing behaviors. scores for children’s internalizing problems ranged from 0 to 1.55, with a mean of .58 and externalizing problems ranged from 0 to 1.54, with a mean of .60. using t-score cutoffs indicating concern and clinical levels, 12.5% scored in the range of concern and 7.7% evidenced clinical levels of internalizing problems; 12.5% scored in the range of concern with another 12.4% evidencing clinical levels of externalizing problems. correlations among all variables of interest can be found in table 3. significant associations were found among all variables. maternal abuse potential was correlated with children’s greater dysregulation, internalizing and externalizing problems. in addition, physiological dysregulation was positively associated with greater internalizing and externalizing problems. table 3 inter-correlations among all variables 1. 2. 3. maltreatment 1. capi-sf regulation 2. itsea-dysregulation .19*** child development 3. itsea-internalizing .13* .37*** 4. itsea – externalizing .24*** .48*** .47*** ______________________________________________________________________________ ***p <=.001, **p <=.01, *p <=.05 capi-sf = child abuse potential inventory – short form; itsea = infant-toddler social and emotional assessment abuse potential, physiological regulation and internalizing problems the guidelines set forth by baron and kenny (1986) were used as the foundation for the initial series of mediational analyses and four regression equations were employed for each outcome. the first regression equation tested the hypothesis that higher maternal maltreatment risk would be associated with more problematic developmental outcomes for the children. as can be seen from figure 1, higher maternal child abuse potential was significantly predictive of children’s child abuse potential and physiological regulation 79 internalizing problems. more specifically, greater child abuse potential was predictive of higher internalizing problems, β = .13, p < .05 with 2% of the variance explained. in the second regression model, higher levels of child abuse potential were associated with greater physiological dysregulation, β = .19, p = .001, with 4% of the variance was explained. physiological dysregulation was predictive of internalizing problems, β = .37, p < .001 and nearly 14% of the variance was captured in the third regression model. in the final model that included both child abuse potential and dysregulation in the equation, results revealed a mediational relationship such that the formerly significant path between abuse potential and children’s internalizing fell to non-significance, β = .05, while the dysregulation path remained strong, β = .36, p < .001. figure 1. children’s physiological regulation at age 24 months as a mediator of the relationship between prenatal child abuse potential and 36 months internalizing behavior although frequently employed, baron and kenny’s (1986) recommendations have been criticized on the grounds of low power and parameter estimation (mackinnon, lockwood, hoffman, west, & sheets, 2002; preacher & hayes, 2004). additional post hoc tests to assess mediation have been suggested with bootstrap resampling at the forefront (preacher & hayes, 2004). bootstrap resampling, generating multiple independent distributions of the data, provides a confidence interval of an estimated effect and a statistically powerful confirmation to the original methods of mediational assessment. the results from the posthoc bootstrapping analyses supported the findings from the internalizing series of regression analyses. the test of the indirect effect using a 95% confidence child abuse potential physiological regulation β =.13* β =.05 internalizing behavior β =.370*** β =.19*** ***p <=.001, **p <=.01, *p <=.05 80 schatz-stevens et al. interval with 5000 resamples of the data did not include zero (ci = .0017 to .0075). taken together, the two tests support the mediational role of physiological regulation in the relationship between maternal abuse potential and children’s internalizing problems. abuse potential, physiological regulation, and externalizing problems another series of regression analyses was employed to examine the relationships among child abuse potential, regulation, and children’s externalizing behaviors. mothers with higher child abuse potential had children with significantly greater externalizing problems, β = .24, p < .001 with 6% of the variance explained as mentioned earlier, higher levels of child abuse potential were associated with greater physiological dysregulation, β = .19, p =.001. physiological dysregulation was predictive of externalizing problems, β = .48, p < .001 and 23% of the variance was captured. in the final model, the inclusion of both child abuse potential and dysregulation provided support for the influential roles they both have on externalizing behaviors, β = .15, p < .01 and β = .31, p < .001, respectively. figure 2. children’s physiological regulation at age 24 months as a mediator of the relationship between prenatal child abuse potential and 36 months externalizing behavior the results from the posthoc bootstrapping analyses supported the findings from the series of regression analyses. the 95% confidence interval with 5000 resamples of the data did not include zero (ci = .0024 to .0118). coupled together, the regression analyses and bootstrapping results suggest that physiological regulation does play a role in the relationship between child child abuse potential physiological regulation β =.24*** β =.15** externalizing behavior β =.45*** β =.19*** ***p <=.001, **p <=.01, *p <=.05 child abuse potential and physiological regulation 81 abuse potential and externalizing problems; however, there is also a strong, direct relationship between abuse potential and externalizing behaviors. to summarize the regression analyses, children with mothers evidencing greater abuse potential evidenced greater dysregulation and more internalizing and externalizing behaviors. the mediational model testing supported physiological regulation as a mediator of the relationship between child abuse potential and internalizing behaviors. externalizing behaviors, however, were strongly influenced by both child abuse potential and children’s physiological regulation. discussion the current study extended the previous research base in several ways. first, the majority of physiological research with maltreated children has been with older children and utilizes a single measure such as cortisol or vagal tone. our findings provided support for the role that physiological regulation plays in translating abuse potential’s effects to maladaptive development in a sample of young children, offering important targets for intervention. the current project also employed multiple indicators of biological regulation, including sleep, eating, sensory sensitivity, and negative emotionality, versus previous studies utilizing a solitary physiological indicator, providing a more comprehensive view of toddler regulatory abilities. finally, our utilization of a non-referred sample and a proxy measure of child abuse, versus a substantiated report, supported the conceptualization of maltreatment as a continuum of parenting behaviors and allowed us to draw our findings from a more diverse sample allowing for greater generalizability, and again provides another target for early interventions. a large body of research has consistently identified the link between maltreatment and emotional and behavioral problems (aber et al., 1989; eigsti & cicchetti, 2004). the current study supports the previous research with 20.2% of our sample evidencing at-risk internalizing problems and 24.9% showing at-risk externalizing problems. moreover, these findings have not been consistently replicated in samples of very young children, thus the current results are important in terms of contributing to the growing body of evidence on maltreatment and its detrimental influence at all ages. in line with previous studies, the current findings suggest that when the caregiving environment is characterized by abuse, physiological regulation becomes compromised (maughan & cicchetti, 2002; pollak et al., 2000). it is likely that in homes characterized by abuse, many of the key caregiving elements necessary to support optimal self-regulation are absent. research with maltreating parents suggests that this is the case, with abusive caregivers having greater disorganization in the home and providing less encouragement to their children (trickett & susman, 1988). in the present study, 13.4% of the toddlers exhibited problematic levels of physiological dysregulation such that their sleeping, eating, sensory sensitivity, and negative emotionality were maladaptive. the recent exploration on self-regulation as a mechanism responsible for maltreatment’s multi-domain deleterious effects on children’s development has advanced understanding of the processes associated with developmental difficulties (maughan & cicchetti, 2002; heim et al., 2008; murray-close et al., 2008). findings from the current study provide additional evidence that early child abuse potential impacts children’s physiological regulation, indexed by multiple 82 schatz-stevens et al. indicators of dysregulation, which in turn has implications for internalizing and externalizing outcomes. intervention implications most importantly, both the findings and the study’s longitudinal, prospective framework lend themselves to intervention implications. the early measurement of abuse potential, prenatally, was predictive of children’s physiological dysregulation at 24 months. moreover, the capi – sf consists of only 25 items and can be completed quickly. the findings provide practical support for screening pregnant mothers for abuse potential and offering prevention programming that addresses parenting. such programming could alter early problematic parenting before it becomes less amenable to change and support children’s optimal development. the connection between dysregulation and later internalizing and externalizing problems also provides insight on another target for intervention. a large body of research highlights regulation’s role in social, academic, and emotional development (blair, 2003; schatz, smith, keogh, borkowski, & whitman, 2008; schmitt, mcclelland, tominey, & acock, 2014); providing self-regulation supports in early preschool and intervention programming for families with toddlers demonstrating regulation difficulties could prevent the further development of behavioral problems and the cascade of effects seen from problematic regulation, helping the children socially, emotionally, and in early head start. limitations and future directions the present findings contribute to the research base on maltreatment risk and physiological consequences, however, several limitations need to be considered. first, although our assessment of physiological regulation included multiple biological regulatory indicators such as sleeping, eating, sensory sensitivity, and negative emotionality, incorporating additional measures would have advanced a more comprehensive picture of children’s self-regulation. for instance, utilizing observations of regulatory behaviors or pairing the present study’s regulation assessment with a small number of cortisol samples over a short period of time would have provided further validation for our conceptualization of physiological dysregulation and provided additional information about the child’s self-regulation beyond maternal reports. related, although physiological regulation explained 14% and 23% of the variance in children’s internalizing and externalizing problems, respectively, a large proportion was left unexplained. incorporating additional components of regulation may have accounted for more variance in the outcomes. it is also likely that additional variables (i.e., father abuse potential, protective child factors) may play a role in the relationship between early maternal abuse potential and later children’s functioning. future work should explore these other possible links. finally, attrition, although common in longitudinal studies with at-risk participants, nevertheless is an important factor to consider in interpreting the present study’s findings. nearly half of the larger study’s full sample did not have complete data and therefore our findings are only representative of the participating families. child abuse potential and physiological regulation 83 conclusions and clinical implications the findings from the present study highlight the role of physiological regulation in the relationship between early maternal abuse potential and young children’s internalizing and externalizing problems lending support to the urgency of early intervention: dysregulation was already apparent by 24 months. self-regulation interventions have shown efficacy in young children. schmitt and colleagues (2014) conducted and evaluated a self-regulation intervention for young children at-risk according to demographic factors. the 8-week self-regulation intervention was implemented in head start classrooms and proved effective: children receiving the intervention showed greater gains in both self-regulation and academic achievement than those in the control group. the average age of the child, however, was 4 years; 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(1988). parental perceptions of child-rearing practices in physically abuse and nonabusive families. developmental psychology, 24, 2, 270-276. doi: 10.1037/00121649.24.2.270. dialog, 16(4), 1-10 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article teacher initiated communication: engaging parents responsively in an urban school context stephen d. hancock and tehia v. starker university of north carolina at charlotte this study investigated teacher initiated communication efforts as it related to engaging urban parents in the elementary school classroom. qualitative data from an auto ethnographic research project yielded four narratives. grounded theory and narrative analysis was employed to develop and validate the narratives and examine themes and types of communication used. the analysis led to the establishment of teacher initiated communication scale (tics). the results revealed that empowerment, responsive planning, developing cultural knowledge and establishing trust were essential in responsive communication. the results also suggested that the use of multiple teacher initiated communications strategies were most effective to engage parents responsively. keywords: urban teacher-parent communication; parental involvement; teacher initiated communication; responsive communication on january 8, 2002, the emerging consensus that parent involvement has a fundamental impact on student success was declared by the signing of the no child left behind act. support for family involvement is a targeted area of educational improvement as the nclb act “requires schools to develop ways to get parents more involved in their child's education and in improving the school” (no child left behind act, sec. 1118; in mattingly, prislin, mckenzie, rodriguez and kayzar 2002). mattingly, et. al. (2002) acknowledges that activity to increase parent involvement has indeed become consistent components of federal, state, and local education policies. since family involvement and empowerment is one of the targeted areas of nclb, many would-be supporters and dissenters are debating the value and relevance of parental involvement and its potential impact on schooling in the united states. sheldon (2005) contends that “the value placed on family involvement at the federal, state, district, and school levels reflect scores of studies showing positive connections between family involvement and positive student outcomes (p. 172).” in fact, beyond support of the department of education, the national institutes of health, the national science foundation, and the national academy of sciences have all rallied behind research on parent involvement and empowerment (mattingly, et al., 2002). the support from the aforementioned agencies as well as charter schools (finn, et al., 2000) and urban school districts is based on research studies (e.g., eccles & harold, 1996; 2 hancock & starker epstein & dauber, 1995; griffith, 1998; and grolnick et al., 1997, as cited in mattingly, et al. 2002; and jeynes, 2005) that have reported that increased parental involvement will yield increased student achievement. in fact, researchers have long posited that involving families in their children’s education is an important goal for school success (ingram, wolfe, & lieberman, 2007; jeynes, 2003; sheldon, 2005). while researchers agree that parental involvement is beneficial, the larger issue is how teachers effectively communicate with urban parents to engage them in meaningful activities. lee and bowen (2006) argue that the impact of the culture and population of families must be addressed in defining what effective parent-teacher communication and engagement activities look like. the primary goal of this study was to investigate the communicative strategies of an ‘effective’ teacher as it related to urban parental involvement. we first created the contextual framework for discussing the role of sociocultural capital as a factor that teachers must address when communicating with urban parents. second, we lay out the methodology for narrative development, data collection and data analysis. third, within the analysis we focused on teacher initiated communication activities. we also explored the narratives and the analytical meanings through a culturally responsive parental involvement paradigm. next, we discussed the results and the development of the teacher initiated communication scale. finally, we explore implications, limitations and the need for further research. sociocultural capital in urban parental involvement while many urban and often minority parents feel marginalized by teachers, administrators, and school culture or have had bad school experiences as students and adults, their involvement in school is a major factor in their child’s success (pomerantz, moorman, and litwack, 2007). unfortunately, many urban parents may lack the time, education, confidence, and energy to be presently involved in schools because of their work schedules and former school experiences (eberly, joshi, & konzal, 2007; weiss, et al., 2003). for the purpose of this study sociocultural capital referred to the transmission of and adherence of shared norms and expectations. lee and bowen (2006) describe the lack of time and educational knowledge to navigate school reality as structural barriers built by middle classeurocentric ideology. in addition, they described the lack of confidence and motivation to become actively engaged as psychological barriers that keep parents from schools (lee and bowen, 2006). communicating with parents in a consistent, respectful and culturally appropriate manner (eberly et al., 2007) through the use of accurate knowledge about students and parents’ culture can provide the space for all parties involved to develop a relationship in which teachers are learning about beliefs and values from parents, and vice versa. as stated in eberly et al. (2007), when parents and teachers communicate effectively, there is a better chance that parents will develop the sociocultural capital needed to navigate the schooling process and obtain confidence. therefore, principals and teachers in urban schools have a responsibility to reflect on their beliefs, expectations, and values to generate multiple forms of communication in an effort to create a place where every parent feels welcomed, encouraged, and educated on how to participate. although parental involvement is neither a panacea nor a luxury in the educational enterprise, research shows that participating parents are a fundamental and essential component in creating healthy learning communities and student success (fantuzzo, davis, & ginsburg, teacher initiated communication 3 1995; fehrmann, keith, & reimers, 1987; henderson, 1987; in mattingly et al. 2002). thus, it is logical to suggest that where there is little to no parental involvement there is marginal to low student achievement. hence, it is imperative that teachers explore diverse ways to communicate and engage parents in school activities in an effort to boost sociocultural capital and student achievement. engaging parents in quality communicative processes are best realized when communication is used to mutually empower and enrich teachers and parents (swick, 2003). in an effort to empower parents to become socioculturally savvy, teachers must first listen and learn about the culture of the families they serve. as stated in eberly et al. (2007), “listening to parents…needs to be seen as a crucial element in any attempt to improve home/school relations…it [listening] can make schools aware of the families of their pupils and of the communities in which they are located (p. 9).” through mutually communication teachers and parents learn from one another, thereby creating common norms and expectations which increasing sociocultural capital. methodology the major goal of this study was to examine which teacher initiated communication activities were most influential in getting parents involved in the classroom. the research project was a part of a dissertation based on autoethnographic and narrative research approaches. the data was collected through the use of observational notes, journal entries and informal conversations with parents. grounded theory was used to structure a step by step process for coding and analyzing the data for patterns and themes. grounded theory also afforded accurate contextual descriptions and created space to compare the narratives with the perspectives of the participants. narrative analysis coupled with grounded theory methods were employed to assist in developing effective and accurate narratives. in addition, a narrative protocol was developed to minimize bias and create consistency in each narrative’s purpose, validity and reliability. participants the narratives provide an insight into an urban elementary second grade classroom in a midwestern city. the elementary school was 96% african american and 4% white or other. the class consisted of nineteen students, eight girls and eleven boys. the racial composition consisted of one white and seven black females, and eleven black males. the socioeconomic status ranged from working poor to lower middle class. family composition included single parent, married parents, and grandparent guardians. the parental composition is important because it describes the nature of the parent community of the classroom (see graphs below). the teacher was an african american male with ten years of urban teaching experience. 4 hancock & starker graph 1. family composition narratives vignettes the brief synopses of the narratives are an attempt to capture the essence of the parent-teacher interactions. the culturally relevant parental involvement theory was used to analyze teacherparent interactions. quality parent involvement this narrative describes how parent involvement emerged out of classroom needs into a more meaningful event. although jobs are provided for parents to choose (berger, 1995), a space was also created where parents could explore emergent interest and ways of helping (emmons, comer, and haynes, 1996). although the classroom is very organized, there was always a pile of organized papers to grade. mrs. wiston was an excellent assistant with paperwork. in fact, she was a law clerk and seemed to enjoy organizing, grading, working with groups of children, and creating our monthly attendance awards. in this narrative, a parent was empowered to ask to assist in the classroom and consequently relieved the teacher of stress as well as finding her space in the classroom culture. a strong attribute needed for parent/teacher communication is the ability of the teacher to be real. “being real” is directly correlated to being self-reflective and critical of ones abilities. teachers should not propose to know everything (plata, 2008). as dodd and konzal (2002) share, “since no one knows everything or has all the answers, everyone needs to work together to find better ways to educate children (p. 290)”. teachers must communicate their need for parental help and use their parents’ perspectives as tools for teaching and learning (emmons, et al., 1996). teachers should not hide behind academic degrees and pseudo notions of superiority as if teacher authority is also a reason to promote parent marginalization (plata, 2008). teachers who use their authority as a means of superiority (intentionally or unintentionally) limit the opportunities to “accurately perceive, understand, and integrate into classroom practices the teacher initiated communication 5 meaning that students attach to their own experiences, beliefs, values, and expectations” (plata, 2008, p. 12). teachers should, however, acknowledge that in order to be more effective and culturally relevant, effective communication with parents is required (emmons, et al., 1996). although, it is very important to provide parents with jobs or opportunities to help in the classroom, it is also important to allow space for their help to emerge from necessity or interest (goodwin and king, 2002). research has found that parent involvement is most satisfying when the teacher displays a sense of need, a desire to be helped, and a spirit of welcome (schecter and sherri, 2009). as a result of a weekly letter and face to face communication parents felt welcomed to assist in the classroom. parent and teacher relationship in a parent/teacher conference a father reveals his struggles with reading and schools in general. he vows with the teacher to support at home and school efforts to ensure his daughter will read on level before school ends. through consistent calls, notes, newsletters and parent visits, respect was built, the teacher-parent-student relationship was strengthened and student academics improved. although, as a teacher, it is easy to blame parents for the failure of their children, and give excuses why schools are so inept to teach basic skills (kohn, 1999), it’s important to neither blame nor 'pass the buck.' instead of focusing on what culturally diverse students “don’t have and can’t do” (edwards & kuhlman, 2007), it is imperative to move beyond personal beliefs and values, and examine what students have and can do. therefore, teachers must deal with the issue of student failure and find success with students and parents. to support the academic relationship with parents in the learning community there were basic tenets that helped the teacher sustain healthy parental partnerships. the first was parenting (epstein, 2001). just as many teachers don't want parents to tell them how to teach, the same should be said that at no time should teachers tell parents how to parent. parenting is specific and unique to each family (bastiani, 1997). although teachers are able to suggest activities that will enhance the education of the child, we must not cross the line and force personal sociocultural beliefs and attitudes on parents. in fact, to sustain parent-teacher communication the notion of home learning must be addressed (berger, 1995; epstein, 2001). home learning goes beyond homework and interactive family experiences (epstein, 2001; schecter and sherri, 2009). home learning also encompasses what teachers can learn from the home environment. home learning allows teachers to learn from the students’ cultural background and then become more accountable to use culturally relevant pedagogy in the classroom (amatea, 2009). the second tenet that supported healthy teacher/parent relationships was culturally responsive communication (epstein, 200l). responsive communication to urban parents is often a challenging task for teachers. with the increase in esl students, coupled with african american and other linguistic styles, teachers must make it a priority to develop culturally responsive and multiple forms of communication (king and goodwin, 2002). in this narrative the teacher responsively communicated with the parent via calls, notes, face to face and newsletters. 6 hancock & starker building trust beyond the classroom lamont was a comedian. he enjoyed making people laugh and he was effective. however, his natural talent to bring the moisture of laughter into dry places can also be seen as playful and immature behavior. his former teachers neither tolerated nor channeled his talent into structured learning outcomes. instead, lamont had disciplinary forms written and was either sent to inschool suspension or put out of school (irvine, 1990). although lamont's comedic expressions were inappropriate at times, the learning community learned to embrace, ignore, or redirect his behaviors. during a particular period however, his behavior became uncharacteristically negative and aggressive. the teacher tried everything to help in class but knew it was time to contact his mother to ensure a positive change. after failed attempts with calls and notes a home visit was the last resort for successful intervention. if teachers are to become involved in getting parents to participate in the classroom, then reflection on the best methods and strategies to include and assist families must be prioritized. hale (2001), suggests that if teachers are going to be a viable part of the village of learning, then home visits and parent partnership must be a high priority. in fact, home visits were seen as a high impact communication strategy for the teacher in this study. berger (1995) suggested that in preparation for home visits teachers must remember to, “be good listeners, set specific goals for each visit, be flexible, realize the limitations of our role as teachers, remember that small improvements lead to big ones, be yourself, respect cultural and ethnic values, don't impose personal values, don't expect perfection from parents, and begin working with the parent and child on a specific activity immediately” (pp. 316-317). in an effort to establish trust teachers must gain an understanding of cultural ways of knowing of the student they serve. developing a knowledge base about students allows teachers to understand how students may behave and how that is representative of their cultural background (gay, 2002). when a teacher is comfortable in going out into the community where the school is located or the community center where children attend afterschool care, it also shows a genuine interest in learning about cultural differences and similarities. those excursions can provide another opportunity to build trust outside of school between teachers, parents and students. consistent communication without fail, the teacher sent a newsletter home at the beginning of every week. the teacher believed that letters were “an effective means of communicating an idea or message to parents” (berger, 1995, p. 361). as a result, each week parents would respond via phone calls, notes, and visits. through the weekly newsletters parents were informed of the important events of the week as well as interesting happenings in the classroom. in some letters, for example, times were posted for classroom senate meetings or student research presentations. also posted were results of senate meetings, birthdays, awards, field trips, learning opportunities outside of school, special guest, conferences, and in school programs. the four staple components found in every parent letter included, a call for consistent attendance, daily reading experiences, a note of individual and class praise, and a note for good work habits for student success at home. in addition, parents were always invited to respond with things they did at home, visit teacher initiated communication 7 the classroom and "a standing invitation for readers to communicate their opinions" concerning the classroom (dietz, 1997, p. 42). consistent communication was the key to getting and keeping parents involved. while newsletters were used as a regular form of communication it was ranked as low impact and rarely used as the sole means of communication. to create a more responsive newsletter the teacher was careful not to use overly fluffy or harsh language and stayed away from educational jargon. yet, he was conscious not to water down any written communication (dietz, 1997). there was a direct tone to the letters that encouraged parents to act, be involved in the educational process, as well as warn them of challenges, thank them for their help, and invite them to participate in the classroom. in order to produce responsive newsletters, teachers must “know the audience” and tailor the tone and content of the newsletter “to the audience and its information needs" (dietz, 1997, p. 41). results themes emerged in two categories: teacher initiated communication and culturally responsive strategies for parental involvement. while each theme seemed isolated teacher initiated communication was ineffective without culturally responsive methods. first, teacher initiated communication strategies were developed through an analysis of the narratives based on the teacher’s response to engaging parents. careful analysis of the narratives revealed four basic themes of communication: text only; calls only; text and calls; and face to face. the initial results of teacher initiated communication strategies showed that parent involvement was most effective when multiple forms of communication were used. the impact indicators were developed to label the teacher initiated activities based on time to develop and resources needed with (1) needing the least time and resources and (4) needing most time and resources. resources referred to social capital, community investment and trust development of families served. table 1 displays the teacher initiated communication scale (tics). table 1 teacher initiated communication scale level type example impact 1 communication via text contact. teacher sent newsletters, notes, journals, daily planners, texting* and emails low – med information 2 communication via phone contact teacher initiated communication through voice mails and phone conversations medium information/news 3 communication via text and phone contact teacher initiated communication through cards, gifts, conversations, and effects that are important to the parent community. med – high personal invitation 4 communication via face to face contact teacher initiated communication through on campus meetings {formal teacher/parent conferences, school events, school activities, field trips, informal meetings} and off campus meetings {home visits, local library, stores, place of worship, recreation centers, parks etc.}. high information, news, progress, personal invitations 8 hancock & starker the use of culturally responsive strategies also yielded a number of themes including empowerment, responsive planning, cultural knowledge and trust as related to responsively engaging parents. table 1 provides a list of the data narratives, the results and the teaching initiated communication strategy used to engage parents. table 2 data narratives with descriptions and findings, indicators date narratives brief description results/findings tic quality parent involvement “how can i help you” a parent ask to assist in the classroom and consequently relieves the teacher of stress as well as finding her space in the classroom dynamics creating spaces for parental empowerment parental awareness of a genuine need fosters parental interest plan assignments and activities (jobs) for parents 3 & 4 parent and teacher relationship “between a rock and a hard place” in a parent/teacher conference a father reveals his struggles with reading and schools in general. he vows with the teacher to support at home and school efforts to ensure his daughter will read on level before school ends. suspended judgment and genuine acceptance promotes trust shared goals among parents and teacher plus common interest in the success of child builds relationships student success is depended on parent and teacher communication and partnership 3 & 4 building trust beyond the classroom “you’ jus’ like family” a home visit strengthens home/school relationships and yields positive behavior outcomes as well as enduring academic success for a student going through a family crisis (divorce). triangulated partnerships among the student, parent and teacher promotes the acquisition of cultural knowledge understanding root cause(s) of disruptive behavior can alter teacher (re)actions home visits are one of the most effective forms of communication 3 & 4 practical communication “holla back!” weekly letters sent to parents as one form of how the teacher communicated regularly. provide both positive and pertinent information. use language that is neither harsh, jargon loaded, or too fluffy. proof read all letters. know your parents! prepare responsive communicative strategies. 3 & 4 in an effort to forge effective partnerships the data revealed that teachers must communicate their desires to empower, responsively plan, gain cultural knowledge and build trust with parents. first, teachers should engage urban parents in classroom activities by encouraging them to be room parents, help with organizing field trips, planning social activities, and deciding award criteria (benson and martin, 2003). these activities can empower parents and validate their interest in school involvement. secondly, teachers must carefully plan teacher initiated communication 9 responsively communicative strategies and parent involvement opportunities to avoid confusion, anxiety, or disaster (haynes, ben-avie, squires, howley, negron, and corbin, 1996). parents should be able to come into the learning community and know how to assist. thirdly, in an effort to communicate effectively teachers must become aware of the culture of the families served. finally, building trust is a foundation for productive partnerships and communication with parents. trust building as a byproduct of amassing cultural knowledge and may also help parents feel accepted and at ease in the classroom. conclusion research on responsive teacher initiated communication can reveal a great deal about the impact of communicative strategies in engaging parents. unfortunately, resistant behaviors concerning responsive communicative strategies for parents are common throughout urban schools. in an effort to quell resistant behaviors, teachers must include parents and support their sociocultural norms and expectations. while many initiatives are designed to improve parent teacher communication in urban schools, these initiatives rarely focus on the sociocultural aspect of responsive communication. in order to promote effective communication between teachers and parents a focus on the value of empowerment, responsive planning, developing cultural knowledge and establishing trust, must be a priority. in an effort to learn more about the progressive nature of responsive communication further research on the tics and its relationship to culturally appropriate communication strategies will be conducted. references amatea, e. s. 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(2007). the how, whom, and why of parents’ involvement in children’s academic lives: more is not always better. review of educational research, 77(3), 373-410. schecter, s.r. and sherri, d.l.(2009). value added? teachers’ investments in and orientations toward parent involvement in education. urban education. 44(1), 59-87. sheldon, s. (2005). testing a structural equation model of partnership program implementation and parent involvement. the elementary school journal, 106 (2), 171-187 swick, k. (2003). communication concepts for strengthening family-school-community partnerships. early childhood education journal, 30(4), 275-280. weiss, h., mayer, e., krieder, h., vaughan, m., dearing, e., hencke, r., & pinto, k. (2003). making it work: lowincome working mothers’ involvement in their children’s education. american educational research journal, 40 (4), 879-901. potential impact of classroom computer use on preschool children’s social behaviors dialog, 17(3), 16-34 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article impact of classroom computer availability on preschoolers’ social interactions heather c. janisse eastern michigan university navaz bhavnagri, xiaoming li and bonita stanton wayne state university sara johns eastern michigan university sheretta butler-barnes washington university in st. louis despite increases in computer availability in the classroom, very little data exists on computer availability and its use in head start classrooms. therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of availability of computers on urban preschoolers’ naturally occurring social interactions in head start classrooms across one school year. the sample consisted of 66, predominantly african american, children in four urban, head start classrooms. a quasi-experimental design was employed in which three classrooms had computers, while one classroom served as the control. naturally occurring social interactions were observed during free-play sessions over an 8-month period. hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze differences in social interactions across classrooms and school year. results suggest that classroom computer availability may increase the interactive behavior of preschoolers. results suggest that investing resources into a computer center in the head start classroom can have a positive effect on social development. keywords: social interaction, computers, african american advancement of educational technology over the past two decades has resulted in government policy to increase computers in the classroom (mcmillan culp, honey, & mandinach, 2003). children now get an early start on becoming technologically literate (e.g., no child left behind act, 2001; naeyc, 2012). therefore, computers are increasingly being integrated into young children’s classrooms. computers and social interaction 17 in 1987, only 15% of the surveyed preschool programs in one midwestern county had computers available for children (donohue, borgh, & dickson, 1987). however a decade later, 80-90% of early childhood educators reported availability of computers in the classroom (haugland, 1997; national center for educational statistics [nces], 2003). a random sample of head start teachers in one state found that 88% had at least one computer available inside the classroom to use with children (bewick, 2000). the ratio of computers to students has changed from 1:125 in 1984 to 1:22 in 1990 (clements & swaminathan, 1995) to 1:6 in 1999 (nces, 2003), thus indicating that their availability for use has increased rapidly. despite this increase, there is a substantial disparity in access to and functionality of technology between different socio economic status (ses) niches. judge, pucket, and bell (2006) found that 96.5% of upper-income households had a computer for child use, while only 45.5% of lower-income households had a computer. regardless of ses, caucasian parents were more likely than african american or latino parents to have internet access (calvert, rideout, woodlard, barr, & strouse, 2005). furthermore, kindergarteners from minority or low ses families are less likely to attend schools that provide students with access to the internet (parsad & jones, 2005; rathbun, west, & hausken, 2003) and the ratio of students to computers was higher in schools with higher poverty concentrations (5.1 to 1 versus 4.2 to 1, respectively; parsad & jones, 2005). despite the general increases in computer availability in the classroom, very little data exists on computer availability and its use in head start classrooms (bewick, 2000). according to bewick (2000), the majority of head start teachers in one state reported that they had computers available for use with children. however, 17% said they didn’t use them at all with the students. the majority (68%) had only one computer for a classroom of 16-20. furthermore, lack of incorporation of the computers into the curriculum, inadequate equipment, and some concern over the appropriateness of use with young children was noted by some respondents. therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of availability of computers on urban preschoolers’ naturally occurring social interactions in the head start classroom across one school year. major issues on computers and social interactions the following review examines the issues related to computers and social interactions that have arisen over the past few decades. we aim to provide a new direction and shift the old debates on this topic. are computers developmentally appropriate materials? the first issue is the debate among educators and researchers regarding the value of personal computers in early childhood development (clements & samara, 2003; cordes & miller, 2000; haugland & wright, 1997; lepper & gurtner 1989; national association for the education of young children [naeyc], 1996; scoter, ellis, & railsback, 2001). the major debate in the 1990’s was whether computers were developmentally appropriate for young children (clements & nastasi, 1993; naeyc, 1996; shade & watson, 1990) and if so, could young children operate the computers (borgh & dickson, 1986; king & alloway, 1992). 18 janisse et al. to resolve this debate, computer proponents have provided empirical evidence that computers, when used appropriately and interactively, have the potential to transform conventional material for children, making it easier to organize and access information (freeman & somerindyke, 2001) and can benefit children’s cognitive and social development (naeyc, 2012). moreover, they have found that young children can use computers; activate them, follow pictorial directions, and use cues to reason about their activity (clements & nastasi, 1993; hess & mcgarvey, 1987). however, some educators have cautioned that assumptions about children’s cognitive development cannot be made based on children’s proficiency in manipulating computer icons (e.g., elkind, 1996). do computers cause social isolation in children? the second issue in the 1980’s was a concern that computers in the classroom would cause children to be isolated from their peers and deprive them of socialization (baker, 1985; barnes & hill, 1983; lipinski, nida, shade, & watson, 1986). this notion of “social interaction deprivation” by computer has not been supported in the research literature. typically, children use computers in dyads or groups in classroom settings (e.g., clements, 1994; swigger & swigger, 1984). hence a plethora of social interactions are reported. for example, heft and swaminathan’s (2002) reported preschoolers observing and acknowledging each other; commenting, sharing and helping each other on the computer; as well as peer conflicts regarding turn-taking and sharing of the computers. bergin, ford and hess (1993) reported that 95 kindergartners cooperated and took turns while on the computer. they observed only two aggressive behaviors during their four month study. shahramin and butterworth (2002) reported the most frequently coded interactions were directing partner’s actions, providing and asking for information, self-monitoring, declarative planning, showing pleasure, and disagreeing with partner on the computer. how does computer activity compare to other activity? a third issue is to compare the social interactions when working on a computer, which is an object, to social interactions when playing with other objects. some researchers suggest that young children show increased pro-social behaviors when working together on a computer compared to other classroom activities such as toy-focused play (lipinski et al., 1986; mccormick, 1987; svensson, 2000). muller and perlmutter (1985) found that preschoolers spent significantly less time engaging in peer interactions while at puzzle play (7%) than they did while at computer play (63%). additionally, only 11% of the time was spent in solitary activity at the computer, while 55% of the time was spent in solitary activity with the puzzle. anderson (2000) found that 4-year-old’s cooperative play in the computer center paralleled the proportion of cooperative play in the block center. it also provided a context for sustaining interaction that could be transferred to play in other areas as well. these studies cumulatively suggest that availability of computers as objects solicits social interactions in children. http://firstsearch.oclc.org/webz/fsquery?searchtype=hotauthors:format=bi:numrecs=10:dbname=psycinfo_1887::termh1=svensson%5c%2c+ann-katrin:indexh1=au%3d:sessionid=fsapp8-36408-eu1fp4fw-r95ice:entitypagenum=4:0:next=html/records.html:bad=error/badsearch.html computers and social interaction 19 do computers displace important activities? a fourth issue is whether computer activity displaces other important developmental activities. hohmann (1994) argues that for preschoolers and kindergarteners, the addition of computers to the environment has positive social consequences and appears not to disrupt other classroom social interactions. lipinski et al. (1986) found that computer novelty initially interrupted freeplay activity patterns by drawing children away from traditional activities. however, most activities returned to baseline levels within two weeks. other research has supported this finding (e.g., bergin et al., 1993; clements & nastasi, 1985). these studies suggest the hypothesis that the presence and use of computers does not adversely impact the behaviors occurring during other classroom activities. limitations of past research the studies reported above have addressed many important questions regarding computer use in early education. however, these studies have several limitations. first, all studies examined the social interactions of children when they are on the computer and not the impact of availability of computers on social interactions during free play in the classroom. second, no known studies have used a design in which they compare the social interactions of classrooms with and without computers. third, most of these studies had predominantly middle class and european-american children (e.g., baker, 2000), and not low-income, inner city, and/or minority children who have substantially less access to computers (calvert et al., 2005; nces, 2003). fourth, most of the studies presently available involve small sample sizes, usually of only one or two preschool classrooms (e.g., freeman & somerindyke, 2001). fifth, some studies did not operationally define specific behaviors such as sharing (muller & perlmutter, 1985) and cooperative play (anderson, 1998). sixth, most studies have examined computers in a pre-prescribed social context such as working together, working separately, or performing certain predetermined tasks (e.g., shahramin & butterworth, 2002). our study addresses these limitations by (1) examining the influence of availability of the computer on social behavior during free play; (2) having a contrast group; (3) examining lower income children in a community setting; (4) having a more adequate sample of four classrooms; (5) having operational definitions of all observed behaviors; and (6) examining social interactions in a naturally occurring classroom environment. goals of current study given the above issues and limitations, our goal was to open up a new line of investigation; namely, to examine the impact of availability of computers on the social interactions of urban, low-income preschool children during indoor free play in classrooms. therefore our research questions are as follows: how does the availability of computers in classrooms impact 3 to 5year-olds’ (1) overall social interactions during indoor free play, (2) developmental trajectories of social interactions during indoor free play across the school year and (3) social interactions expressed verbally, the affect displayed during these interactions as 20 janisse et al. well as the target of these social interactions? these questions are largely exploratory because the vast majority of past research has examined child activity while on the computer only. however, based on the research reviewed above and other studies that have found positive effects of computers on child development (e.g., rhee, & bhavnagri, 1991; li & atkins, 2004; li, atkins, & stanton, 2006; floyd, canter, jeffs, & judge, 2008; lonigan, allan & lerner, 2011; diamond & lee, 2011), we made the following conservative hypothesis: the availability of computers in the classrooms would not have a significant adverse impact on preschoolers’ social interactions during indoor free play. method participants the study sample consisted of 66 preschoolers enrolled in a head start program in a midwest urban city. participants were drawn from a larger study examining the effects of computers on the development of head start children. children were recruited from four classrooms at three head start sites. the mean age of the participants at the beginning of the school year was 48.71 months (s.d. = 6.59). the majority of the children were african american (95.5%), while 1.5% of the children were caucasian, and 3% were identified as other. annual household income ranged from below $5,000 to more than $50,000, with 50.9% of parents reporting their income was between $0-10,000 per year. the majority of mothers (78.6%) and fathers (77.5%) had at least a high school diploma or ged; 11.4% of mothers and 6.9% of fathers had a college degree. see table 1 for details of socio-demographic characteristics by classroom. classrooms did not differ significantly on any variables detailed in table 1. all parents completed a written informed consent and agreed to let their child participate in the study. table 1 sample characteristics computer room 1 computer room 2 computer room 3 control room 4 n 17 16 18 15 boys 8(47%) 7(44%) 13(72%) 9(60%) age in months 48.76(6.41) 48.06(6.72) 47.11(6.99) 50.13(6.30) african american 94.1% 87.5% 100% 100% household income ≤$10,000 46.7% 50.0% 71.4% 57.1% mother <hs education 35.3% 20.0% 23.5% 33.3% father <hs education 35.3% 21.4% 21.4% 41.7% mother work full-time 58.8% 37.5% 70.6% 33.3% father work full-time 37.5% 53.3% 63.6% 50.0% access to home computer 24% 62% 44% 40% total # of observations 1046 1045 1130 1079 mean child observations/day 2.78(.40) 2.89(.10) 3.22(.10) 3.12(.15) mean observations/child 61.53(32.67) 71.93(31.39) 65.31(18.54) 62.78(21.68) computers and social interaction 21 study design the study used a quasi-experimental design in which self-contained classrooms were randomly assigned to either a computer or control condition. only classrooms that were considered typical and had not previously used computers were considered for inclusion. the control and computer classrooms were similar in child demographics, teacher characteristics, and classroom climate. as stated above, children did not differ significantly on child/family characteristics. all teachers were african american, had a child development associates degree, and followed standard head start curriculum. informal observations suggest that teachers also had similar styles with regards to classroom guidance and discipline. with regard to general classroom climate, there were many similarities because all classrooms were members of the same head start agency. all classrooms met for a half-day session and had one teacher and one teacher’s assistant present during class time. the physical arrangement and use of space was similar, including the availability of the same learning centers in each classroom. classrooms followed the same curriculum and daily routine. both the control and computer classrooms allowed for one hour of free-play in classroom learning centers and therefore provided opportunities for child interaction. lastly, classrooms shared the same educational philosophy, based on developmentally appropriate practices by the naeyc and followed the same rules governing classroom conduct and usage of equipment. four classrooms were selected from the larger study to participate in this observational study. three of these classrooms had computers. the fourth classroom had no computer and served as the control. treatment classrooms had two computers in each room. the “twin imagination station” (tis) developed by hatch, inc (winston salem, nc) was installed in each of the computer classrooms. the tis is a child friendly hardware system that includes two computers. the computers were pre-installed with age-appropriate educational software programs (e.g., millie's math house and bailey's book house) and were set up near one another with chairs for two children per computer. procedure as part of the larger study’s protocol, each child in a computer classroom had approximately 15 minutes per day, as part of their daily curriculum, to play on the computer with their choice of developmentally appropriate educational programs. head start teachers and/or graduate research assistants provided necessary assistance during the first couple of weeks to familiarize children with the login process and the operation of the mouse, keyboard, and printer. however, there was minimal adult involvement beyond the initial period. although literature suggests that teacher involvement can greatly enhance student learning on the computer (judge et al, 2006; plowman & steven, 2005), typical resources available in the head start classroom does not allow for oneon-one time with each child every day on a computer. therefore the current study was designed to be ecologically valid with the goal of examining the impact of computer center availability in the classroom. children’s computer use was based on either self-selection of computer for play or direct solicitation of the teacher to take a turn on the computer if desired. potential computer use occurred throughout the school day and was available for children to use during their freeplay hour. children were allowed to bring another child to the computer station to work together if desired. no specific teacher instruction was given to students regarding computer use. other 22 janisse et al. activities available during the free-play hour included the use of standard head start learning centers such as literacy, art, manipulative, dramatic play, and block centers. the control classroom received the standard head start curriculum including the availability of the standard learning centers listed above. live observations of social interactions were conducted in the head start classrooms during each classroom’s one hour free-play session. the free-play session was chosen for observations because it typically provides optimum opportunities for self-selected social interactions. during free-play, the child could have been in the computer center or any other center in the classroom. therefore, observations occurred across varied contexts. observation sessions occurred twice a week, every other week for eight months (october through may), allowing for approximately 60 observations per child. table 1 shows average number of observations overall and per day by classroom. sixty observations were considered adequate based on previous studies using this methodology for observing peer interactions in classrooms (bhavnagri, 1987; ladd, 1981). variation in number of observations per child (as shown in table 1) occurred due to differences in attendance, drop-out and availability of each child. classrooms did not differ significantly on number of observations per child. coding each child was observed using an event sampling method. the specific procedure used for this event sampling is called scan sampling. this approach is borrowed from the field of ethology where the social behaviors of a group of animals are observed in a natural setting. each child was observed for about 10 seconds, which was adequate to determine the specific details regarding social interactions and then the observations were recorded on a coding sheet immediately. next, the coder would scan the room looking for the next child to be observed. the observers used a structured coding system developed by bhavnagri (1987). this coding system was designed specifically for examining young children’s social competencies in early childhood educational settings and is representative of naturally occurring classroom interactions. all children’s social interactions, (i.e., inclusive of social play behaviors and other social behaviors which were not play) were recorded. these behavioral interactions were expressed simultaneously through three channels of communication, namely through their physical social interactions, labeled social interaction and verbal interaction labeled verbal interaction and through their affective communications labeled affect. the target to whom these behaviors were directed was also specified. refer to table 2 for operational definitions of the observational coding categories. the social interaction code, which must include some physical behavior, is considered the primary behavioral interaction category. the verbal, affect, and target codes are considered supplementary categories and are treated as categorical. this coding scheme has demonstrated good reliability for use with preschool children. in an earlier study, the reliability ranged from .71 to 1.00 (bhavnagri, 1987). computers and social interaction 23 table 2 coding scheme behavioral categories description i. social interaction 1. isolated behavior no verbal or physical interaction with anyone, but child interacts physically with objects and self. no interest in peer is shown. 2. passively observes watches child, teacher, or peer group without any other social behavior 3. parallel play plays side by side with child, teacher or group with similar objects or actions, engaged in similar activity 4. positive interactions shares, takes turns, simultaneously acts upon toys, initiates, cooperates, joint activity with child, teacher or group 5. negative interactions hitting, punching, shoving, grabbing, pulling hair of child, teacher or group ii. verbal interaction 1. positive verbal statements verbal content is pro-social, e.g., requests and praises, agrees on goals, offers turns, encourages, suggests cooperation. 2. negative verbal statements verbal content is antisocial, e.g., expresses aggressiveness, rejection, annoyance, refusal to cooperate, whines, complains 3. neutral verbal statements verbal content is not related to social skills, e.g., talks about properties of objects, talks or reads to self 4. not applicable child is not engaged in any verbal activity iii. affect 1. positive affect smiles, laughs, giggles, claps, bounces, hugs or kisses 2. negative affect cries, sulks, frowns, fusses, acts agitated, pouts 3. neutral affect no affect displayed iv. target of interaction 1. adult teachers, parents, volunteers, observers 2. boy boy 3. girl girl 4. peers a group of children 5. self alone with no object 6. object toy or object inter-coder agreement. an expert in the observational scan sampling method trained the coders in using this coding system. the expert also monitored the coders’ observations when they started collecting data at the head start centers to address any issues. twenty percent of total observations were coded independently by two trained graduate research assistants in order to establish inter-rater reliability. cohen’s kappa (cohen, 1960) was used as a measure of inter coder reliability. for this sample, kappa was equal to .95 for social interaction, .87 for verbal interaction, .93 for affect, and .91 for target. 24 janisse et al. statistical analysis hierarchical linear modeling (hlm; bryk & raudenbush, 1992; raudenbush & bryk, 2002) was used to address the first two research questions of this study (how does the availability of computers in classrooms impact 3 to 5year-olds’ (1) overall social interactions during indoor free play, (2) developmental trajectories of social interactions during indoor free play across the school year.) hlm methodology is ideally suited for the current study given the nested nature of the data (longitudinal data collected from children nested within classrooms). taking the nested nature of the data into account is important for several reasons. children within a particular classroom share the same teacher and physical environment and have similar learning experiences, which may lead to increased homogeneity over time (osborne, 2000). therefore, observations are not fully independent, which violates a primary assumption of most analytic techniques and increases type i error (tabachnick & fidell, 2007). hence, hlm was implemented through hlm 6.0 (raudenbush, bryk, cheong, & congdon, 2004). the dependent variable used in this analysis was social interaction. in order to answer research question 3 (are there differences in verbal interaction, affect, or the target of social interactions based on computer availability?) analysis of covariance (ancova) was employed. the broad categories of verbal interaction, affect, and target were transformed into variables that represent the proportions of all observed interactions across the school-year that fell into each possible sub-category reflected in the coding scheme described in table 2 (e.g., proportion of interactions that included positive affect, proportion with negative affect, and proportion with neutral affect). one proportion variable for each sub-category was obtained for each child. therefore these analyses did not include a repeated measures component and had a total sample size of 66 children. hlm was not utilized for these analyses because the sample size was insufficient (66 children nested within four classrooms). variables were screened for univariate and multivariate outliers. five univariate outliers were found on proportion scores and winsorized. no extreme skewness was detected; therefore all variables were left untransformed to increase interpretability of findings. results preliminary analyses preliminary analyses revealed that the three computer classrooms were not significantly different from one another on social interaction, verbal interaction, affect, or target. therefore, classroom was assigned to control (0) versus computer (1) for further analyses. there continues to be no significant differences on measured demographic or classroom characteristics from table 1 based on this reassignment of classroom. for hlm analysis, social interaction was treated as an interval level outcome. isolate play was given a value of 1, passively observing was given a value of 2, and parallel play was given a value of 3. positive and negative social interactions were combined because they both reflect that there was the presence of a socially interactive behavior, be it positive or negative, and given a value of 4. it should be noted that negative social interactions were relatively few (4% of total behavior). therefore the social interaction outcome used in the hlm analysis reflects a continuum of social interactions on a scale of 1 to 4. past literature has supported the computers and social interaction 25 conceptualization of these behaviors as correlated to maturity and therefore ordered (e.g., rubin & krasnor, 1980; smith, 1973). to account for changes across time, a time variable was created ranging from -240 days to zero. time was calculated this way so that the last observation of the year was zero. hence, significance tests of effects of the intercept would reflect differences at the end of the school year, taking start values into account. this allowed for testing general differences between classrooms on social interaction while including the time effect in the model. the average number of observations per student was 65.15 (range = 4-107, s.d. = 26.32, median = 71.0). hierarchical model of social interaction the current data structure represents a three-level model. first level units were individual observations of social interactions, resulting in a total of 4300 observations for analysis. secondlevel units were the 66 children enrolled. the four classrooms comprised the third-level units. the small number of classrooms would not allow for analysis of the classroom effect at level three. therefore, the classroom effect was entered as a covariate in the level-two model. a full model was analyzed that allowed for an estimation of the effects of child and classroom predictors on the shape of the trajectory of social interactions (i.e., physically communicated social interactions). the focus was on assessing the importance of child characteristics including gender, age, and family income and classroom assignment. the model is represented as follows: status at end of school year: π0 = β 00 + β 01*(income) + β 02*(gender) + β 03*(age) + β 04*(class) + r0 growth rate/slope: π1 = β 10 + β 11*(income) + β 12*(gender) + β 13*(age) + β 14*(class) + r1 the constants (β00 and β10) in the equations define the status of the outcome variable at the end of the school year and the growth curve of the outcome when all other variables in the equation equal 0. gender and class assignment were left un-centered. income and age were centered on the grand mean. therefore, the coefficients for gender and classroom assignment represent differences between groups at the end of the school year and differences between the groups on growth rate. the coefficients for age and income represent changes in status at the end of the school year and on growth rate as a function of income and age. because the equation for the growth rate reflects change across time, the variable coefficients in that equation represent the interaction between model variables and time (e.g., class assignment by time). the full model as a whole was significantly better than the null model in which only the intercepts were included, χ 2 diff(11, n=4300) = 14611.95-14538.97 = 72.98, p < .001. thus the predictors as a group improved the model beyond that produced by chance. class assignment was a significant predictor of status at the end of the school year and there was a significant change in outcome across time for all groups. all other predictors were non-significant. 26 janisse et al. therefore, a reduced model was proposed in which only predictors with p values < .20 were included in the model. in this model, class assignment and gender were included as predictors of end of school year status (age and income were omitted) and gender and age were entered as predictors of growth rate (class assignment and income were omitted). this reduced model did not differ significantly from the full model, χ 2 diff (4, n=4300) = 14539.72-14538.97 = .75, p > .05. estimated fixed and random effects for this model are presented in table 3. results show that classrooms (control versus computer) differed on end of school year status. on average, computer classrooms showed significantly higher levels of social interaction at the end of the school year. computer classrooms had a .44 point higher level of social interaction than the control classroom on a scale of 1 to 4. post hoc analyses revealed that this difference is largely due to a higher proportion of positive social interactions in the computer classroom (34% for computer room versus 19% in control room). table 3 also shows that there was a significant effect of time (intercept for growth rate) across all groups for social interaction. both classroom conditions showed a significant increase in level of social interaction across the school year. this suggests that, in general, children were likely to show increasingly interactive behavior and play as the school year progressed. no statistically significant associations were found for gender, age, family income and social interaction. that is, there is no evidence that level of social interaction was generally related to the gender, age, or family income of the child or that the trajectory of social interaction across the school year was influenced by these child demographics. table 3 final hlm results for social interaction fixed effect coefficient se t-ratio p value model for end of school-year status intercept 2.22 0.11 19.96 <.001 gender a -0.21 0.11 -1.83 .071 class b 0.44 0.11 4.20 <.001 model for growth rate intercept 0.01 0.00 2.68 .010 gender -0.001 0.00 -1.58 .119 age -0.0001 0.00 -1.64 .105 random variance coefficient df p value level 1 variation 1.68 level 2 end of school-year status (r0) 0.08 57 <.001 growth rate (r1) 0.00 60 <.001 level 3 intercept 0.002 3 .136 a 0=male, 1=female; b 0=control, 1=computer; effects non-significant at p ≥ .20 were not retained in the final model. computers and social interaction 27 ancova analyses ancova was employed to examine differences in proportions of behaviors observed for verbal interaction, affect, and target of social interactions separately. observed proportions for each behavioral category by classroom can be seen in table 4. because of the small sample size for these analyses (n=66), only demographic characteristics and two-way interactions that were significant at p < .20 were included in the final models and presented here. table 4 also presents the univariate f-test results for these ancova analyses. table 4 proportion behaviors observed (standard deviation) by classroom condition and univariate f statistics from ancova analyses (n=66) proportion observed (s.d.) effect control computer class a gender b age income class x gender verbal interaction 1. positive .08 (.08) .09 (.08) .26 n/a n/a 2.77 n/a 2. negative .01 (.02) .03 (.04) 5.79* n/a n/a n/a n/a 3. neutral .18 (.08) .26 (.09) 11.86** 2.34 2.36 n/a n/a 4. not applicable .73 (.13) .62 (.14) 9.28** n/a n/a 3.15 † n/a affect 1. positive .18 (.13) .21 (.09) 2.75 † 5.83* n/a n/a 8.23** 2. negative .02 (.02) .04 (.04) 6.74* n/a n/a n/a n/a 3. neutral .80 (.12) .74 (.10) 7.45** 5.48* n/a n/a 8.47** target 1. adults .14 (.07) .12 (.05) 2.51 9.31** n/a n/a 2.77 2. boy .12 (.07) .15 (.08) 4.82* 28.95** n/a n/a n/a 3. girl .07 (.04) .12 (.09) 4.95* 23.24** n/a 3.68 † n/a 4. group .11 (.05) .13 (.07) .88 8.54** n/a 3.33 † n/a 5. self .03 (.02) .01 (.01) 7.79** n/a n/a n/a n/a 6. object .54 (.11) .46 (.14) 3.76 † n/a n/a n/a n/a † p < .10, * p < .05, ** p < .01; a 0=control, 1=computer; b 0=male, 1=female; n/a = not entered based on p < .20 criterion for verbal interaction, computer classrooms displayed significantly more verbal statements that were neutral in content (e.g., verbal content that focused on topics such as properties of objects, talking or reading to self. see operational definitions, table 2 for details), some negative statements and significantly less non-verbal interactions (see table 4). this 28 janisse et al. indicates that children in the computer classroom condition talked significantly more than the control group, as indicated by significantly less non-verbal interactions. furthermore, it informs us about the verbal content of their conversations when compared to the control group. they talked significantly more about non-social topics (i.e., neutral statements). they also had more negative communications, such as expressing aggressiveness, annoyance, or complaints, although these negative communications were relatively few (3%). results for the affect showed that the computer classrooms displayed significantly more negative and less neutral affect. there was a trend toward more positive affect displays by children in the computer classrooms (p < .10). there was a main effect of gender for positive and neutral affect. girls displayed significantly less positive affect and more neutral affect. the class by gender interaction was also significant for positive affect and neutral affect. post hoc analyses show that boys in the control classroom displayed more positive affect and less neutral affect than girls. also, girls seem to carry the effect of classroom assignment. it was girls in the computer classroom condition who showed significantly less neutral affect, more negative affect, and a trend toward more positive affect. results for the target of behavior proportions show that computer classrooms were significantly more likely to target behaviors toward boys and girls, and less likely to target self. this finding suggests the children in the computer classroom targeted interactions with persons, rather than playing alone. girls were more likely to target behavior toward adults and other girls and less likely than boys to target other boys or groups of peers. this suggests that both girls and boys preferred to interact with other peers of their own sex. there was no significant difference on targeting adults or groups based on computer availability. discussion overall, our hypothesis that the presence of computers in the classroom would not have an adverse impact on preschoolers’ social interactions was largely supported. children in classrooms with computers did not show lower amounts of interactive behavior across social, verbal or affect domains. on the contrary, the children in computer classrooms were more likely than children in classrooms without a computer to display socially interactive behaviors, to be verbal, and to display more affect. children in the computer classroom condition were also more likely to interact with peers and less likely to play alone. there was some evidence that negative social, verbal, and affective interactions were more prevalent in the computer classroom. however, negative interactions were infrequent (≤ 4%) and this difference may be a consequence of increased social interactions. both positive interactions and negative ones are likely to increase across the school-year (ramsey, 1995) and friends are likely to engage in more cooperation and conflict than non-friends (hartup & brett, 1987; hartup, 1992). because children are interacting with one another more frequently, it increases the chances of positive and negative behaviors. we do not interpret this as an indication that computer presence is harmful in light of the other findings. both computer and control classrooms displayed an increase in social interactions across the school year. this finding is fitting with developmental expectations for children of preschool age (rubin & krasnor, 1980; smith, 1978) and therefore provides additional support for the validity of the coding scheme used in this study. computers and social interaction 29 together, the results from this study suggest that the availability of computers in urban preschool classrooms may have a positive influence on children’s social interactions. this conclusion is consistent with past studies that have found the interactions of children on the computer to be interactive and social in nature (e.g., bergin et al., 1993), perhaps more social that other classroom activities (e.g., muller & perlmutter, 1985). however, the results from this study are not limited to on-computer activities. thus, these findings lead to the question; why might the very availability of computers foster more overall social interactions? a potentially novel way to think about this question, particularly as it pertains to the effects of computers in the preschool classroom, comes from a social historian’s theoretical perspective. this perspective suggests that it is the availability or introduction of technology (e.g., computers) that affects human being’s social behavior. theorists in behavioral archeology, modernism and cultural critics have all consistently reported that laws of behavioral change cannot be explained only through nomothetic studies (fischer, 1992; schiffer 1992). these theorists recommend that we also need to study and accept that artifacts or material culture, such as technology, always impacts human behavior. they report that the availability of transportation technologies such as bicycles and cars, household technologies such as vacuum cleaners and refrigerator and communication technologies, such as radio, telephones, televisions, and computers has impacted social behaviors (fischer, 1992; hughes jr. & hans, 2001). television watching, for instance, has now commonly been known to replace other activities, especially interpersonal and social ones (robinson & godbey, 1997). however, technologies like email, the internet and social media are still under debate (e.g., franzen, 2000; hampton & wellman, 2000; nie, 2001; o’keeffe et al., 2011). given this theoretical perspectives, it should not come as a surprise that computer availability in this study contributed to the presence of group differences on social behaviors. however, the underlying processes that contribute to this change are uncertain. a child development, empirical perspective, may also shed some light on this question. the computer may be a unique tool that fosters social learning. the presence of the computer could alter children’s views about school or themselves. haugland (1992) found that the selfesteem of 4-year-old children in classrooms with computers was significantly higher than the self-esteem of children in classrooms without computers. haugland (1996) hypothesized that self-esteem increases in computer classrooms because children view computers as “adult machines” and when given the opportunity to explore them, children feel important, capable, and competent. this type of increase in self-esteem could conceptually lead to more positive social interactions. it is also possible that the increased interaction by students could be due to reactions of their teachers. teachers could be responding to the presence of the computers by altering the way they interact with children in some way (zhoa & frank, 2003). hypothetically, availability of computers could influence instructional style, lead to increased monitoring, enhanced involvement in off-computer play, and conflict resolution. computers may offer an opportunity for children to engage in an activity that promotes child-child interactions. research shows that children prefer to work on computers with peers (e.g., swigger & swigger, 1984). the indirect path could be such that the nature of social interactions on the computer actually promotes the learning of pro-social behaviors, which carries over to other classroom activities. this hypothesis is consistent with vygotsky’s developmental view on socially mediated learning (vygotsky, 1978). certainly the relation between the presence of computers and positive interactions is likely to be mediated by changes 30 janisse et al. in other variables. examining the ways the ecology of the classroom changes as a result of computer presence, or use, is a needed addition to the literature. potential limitations & strengths the current study had limitations which should be noted. first, it was not possible to randomly assign teachers or students to classrooms. consequently, effects of teacher and classroom are confounded with the effect of computer availability. although every effort was made to best address this limitation by ensuring that the control classroom was similar to the intervention classroom in many ways, attributing differences between classroom conditions to effects of the presence of computers is provisional. second, a larger sample of classrooms would have helped control for the lack of random assignment. it would have also allowed for enhanced use of hlm techniques, such as the ability to test and control for level-3 variables (i.e., classroom characteristics). despite these limitations, our results are provocative in suggesting that availability of computers in the head start classroom may increase the sociability of children during free play. moreover, a significant strength of this study was that it had 4300 live observations of 66 children in four classrooms, done over eight months, which is considered sizable for an observational methodology. these data provided a rich, longitudinal picture of social behavior for these preschoolers. furthermore, the current study attempted to address several limitations of previous research in this area. the examination of naturally occurring free-play activity and not researcher prescribed activity, the use of a control group design, extensive observations of low income urban children in multiple head start classrooms, and the use of an operationalized coding system are all strengths of the current study. implications: future research & practice the current study presents several possibilities for future research. future studies should focus on possible mediators of an effect of computer availability on social interactions. for instance, observation and measurement of the on-computer interactions, teaching styles on and off computers, child-peer-adult triadic interactions on computers, gender effects, and other ecological variables could lead to a better understanding of how the ever-increasing availability of computers impacts young children and why positive effects might occur. overall, the results from this study have practical implications; namely that investing resources into a computer center in the head start classroom can have a positive effect, not just on the cognitive development of young children, which is often the focus of computer research (e.g., li & atkins, 2004), but also on social development. the results from this study suggest that the positive effect may be carried over to off-computer interactions between children, which in itself is a notable finding. furthermore, these findings add to the limited research that has been done on the effects of computers in head start classrooms. thus it expands our knowledge of potential benefits of the computer center in early childhood education. the naeyc and fred rogers centers highlight the importance of using technology and media appropriately in early childhood settings (2012). they emphasize that technology should be used for activities that are 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(2003). factors affecting technology uses in schools: an ecological perspective. american educational research journal, 40(4), 807-840. summary for head start 2010 conference dialog, 16(4), 107-112 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary the importance of teachers’ language and children’s vocabulary to early academic skills susan sonnenschein, joy a. thompson, shari r. metzger, and linda baker university of maryland, baltimore county this study explored whether the quality of head start teachers’ language improves the vocabulary, literacy, and math skills of english language learners and english speakers. the class (language modeling scale) was used to observe the quality of teachers’ language. children’s skills were assessed in the fall and spring on measures of expressive and receptive vocabulary, early literacy, and math skills. the pattern of results differed for english language learners and english speakers and across outcome measures. the quality of teachers’ language predicted gains in english language learners’ receptive and expressive vocabulary, but not in english speakers. in addition, the receptive vocabulary of the english language learners predicted gains in their phonological awareness and math skills. the quality of teachers’ language predicted gains in print knowledge for children who had higher vocabulary scores. these results show the importance of teachers’ language for children’s vocabulary and early academic development. the language that preschool teachers use is an important component of their interactions with children. using rare and challenging vocabulary and extended discourse involving the use of open-ended questions that require more than a yes-no response when speaking or reading to children accounts for significant variability in children’s early language and literacy skills (neuman, 2006). a recent study found that children who attended classrooms where teachers received training to increase the quality of their language interactions and instruction earned higher receptive vocabulary and phonological awareness scores than children in control classrooms (wasik & hindman, 2011). however, our knowledge of how teachers’ language fosters the skills of children from different backgrounds is still fairly limited. this study investigated how the quality of the language used by preschool teachers improved low income children’s vocabulary, early literacy, and math skills. of particular interest were potential differences in effects for english language learners and english speakers, given that the effectiveness of specific types of teacher interactions varies with characteristics of the children (connor, morrison, & slominski, 2006). 108 sonnenschein et at. childern’s vocabulary growing up in a home where parents talk with children using a rich and varied vocabulary predicts children’s vocabulary development (hart & risley, 1995). however, children from low income families hear far fewer words and a more limited range of different types of words than their middle income peers (hoff, 2006). they also engage less frequently with printed matter or in interactions that can foster phonological awareness or knowledge of print (serpell, baker, & sonnenschein, 2005). the relatively limited experience low income children have at home with such forms of language and literacy interactions highlights the importance of the language that these children hear at school. low income english language learners are particularly dependent upon what goes on at school for their english language development. they are less likely to hear english at home (hammer, miccio, & wagstaff, 2003) or read with their parents (brooks-gunn & markman, 2005). english language learners who are not fluent in english or have limited english vocabularies are likely to have long-term difficulties with reading children’s math skills a recent report by the national research council on math learning in early childhood stressed the need for more high quality math instruction in preschool (cross, woods, & schweingruber, 2009). however, children need to have sufficient vocabulary to understand the vocabulary that teachers use in instruction (e.g., the words for numbers and operations) and that appear in math word problems. several researchers have shown relations between english speaking children’s vocabulary and math skills. cowan, donlan, shepherd, cole-fletcher, saxton, and hurry (2011) found that second graders’ oral language skills (grammar and receptive vocabulary) predicted their third grade math skills. the problem of limited vocabulary can be even greater for english language learners (kempert, saalback, & hardy, 2011). attending a preschool program that fosters vocabulary skills should increase low income english language learners’ math skills, through the increase in vocabulary. present study we investigated whether the relation between teachers’ language usage and low income children’s early academic skills is direct or indirect, that is, one mediated by children’s vocabulary. in other words, does teachers’ language influence growth in children’ vocabulary which, in turn, influences growth in their early literacy and math skills? we also considered whether the relation between teachers’ language usage and children’s academic skills is similar for english speakers and english language learners. teachers’ language 109 method overview children in this study were participants in a larger project designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the core knowledge preschool sequence (http://www.coreknowledge.org) being implemented in several head start centers in baltimore, md. more than half of the children attending the focal head start centers spoke spanish at home as their primary language. however, none of the teachers was fluent in spanish; most knew no spanish or only a few words. note that the core knowledge preschool sequence is an english language curriculum. participants participants were 191 children attending two urban head start centers (mean age = 4.03 years, sd = .56). children were enrolled in one of 25 classes, each of which had one teacher and one teacher’s assistant. of the 191 children, 108 were spanish monolingual (english language learners) and 83 english monolingual (english speakers). all english language learners were hispanic, and all but two english speakers were african-american. english language fluency was determined through parent report and school records. all of the teachers were women with college degrees. all teachers in the study received ongoing training in the core knowledge preschool sequence, a curriculum that emphasized the nature of language used with the children. measures children’s academic skills were assessed with five standardized measures. receptive vocabulary was assessed with the receptive one-word picture vocabulary test (rowpvt; brownell, 2000). expressive vocabulary was assessed with the test of preschool early literacy (topel; lonigan, wagner, & torgesen, 2007; definitional vocabulary subtest). early literacy skills were assessed with the topel (lonigan et al., 2007; phonological awareness and print knowledge subtests). math skills were assessed with the woodcockjohnson tests of achievement iii (woodcock, mcgrew, & mather, 2001; applied problems subtest). teachers’ language usage was assessed with the language modeling scale of the classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta, laparo, & hamre, 2007). the class is a commonly used measure for assessing classroom quality. language practices for english language learners (language practices) is a researcher-developed measure that documents four teacher practices useful with english language learners (august, carlo, dressler, & snow, 2005): using visual aids, speaking slowly/using repetition, explaining the meaning of key words, and incorporating spanish words into daily vocabulary. http://www.coreknowledge.org/ 110 sonnenschein et at. procedure assessment of children’s skills. children were individually administered the rowpvt, wj-iii applied problems, and the three subtests from the topel in the fall and spring by trained research assistants. each child was tested during two separate testing sessions in a quiet room in his or her school. testing took place in english. during the first session, children completed the rowpvt and wj-iii applied problems subtest. during the second session, children completed the three subtests (print knowledge, definitional vocabulary, and phonological awareness) from the topel. administration of wj-iii applied problems was counterbalanced, such that half of the children received form a in the fall and b in the spring, and half received form b in the fall and a in the spring. the typical time between sessions was about one week. teachers’ language. classroom quality was assessed using the class (pianta et al., 2007) in the fall and spring. a graduate research assistant who completed training with class developers trained the observers of the classroom interactions and also served as one of the observers of classroom quality. observers were trained using three master videos provided by the class developers. training continued until the observers achieved ratings within one point of the master coders on 80% of the codes on the videos. once reliability was achieved, observers worked individually in classrooms. each classroom was observed one morning in the fall and spring for four 20-minute cycles; language modeling scores were averaged across the four cycles (see pianta et al., 2007). the fall and spring data were averaged to compute the average yearly language modeling score for each classroom. language practices. after making ratings on the class observation forms, observers completed the language practices form. fall and spring scores, each averaged across four rating cycles, were combined to compute a yearly average. inter-rater agreement was established by having observers perform ratings in the same classroom. overall agreement (ratings within one point of each other, consistent with how class reliabilities were calculated) was very high. major findings and implications results revealed the important role of teachers’ classroom language and of children’s vocabulary for early literacy and math development. there were five particularly noteworthy findings. one, receptive and expressive vocabularies of both english language learners and english speakers increased significantly from fall to spring. however, english language learners earned lower vocabulary scores than english speakers. although the english language learners did not close the gap between themselves and their english speaking peers after a year attending head start, the gap in their vocabulary skills did narrow. such findings highlight the need to develop effective instruction to close the gap and improve all children’s vocabulary, a critical component of every aspect of academic development. teachers’ language 111 two, the quality of teachers’ language generally fell in the mid-level range. although these ratings are consistent with what others have found, it shows how difficult it is to train teachers on this dimension. three, the quality of teachers’ language with english language learners predicted increases in their receptive and expressive vocabulary which, in turn, predicted gains in their phonological awareness and math skills. in other words, the relation between teachers’ language and english language learners’ early academic skills may be better conceptualized as an indirect one: teachers’ language influences vocabulary, which influences phonological awareness and math skills. four, teachers’ language predicted gains in print knowledge for children who displayed higher vocabulary levels but not for those with lower vocabulary levels. it was typically the english speakers who had the better vocabulary. such a pattern of differential benefit related to vocabulary skill is consistent with other research. five, the quality of language displayed by teachers predicted gains in vocabulary for english language learners but not for english speakers. english language learners’ receptive and expressive vocabulary was much more limited than that of english speakers. although the teachers conversed with the children, they did not frequently use advanced vocabulary or openended questions. they did, however, use visual aids and repetition during half the observations. such a pattern would enable english language learners to increase their basic knowledge of english but not necessarily promote growth of more advanced language skills. implications low income children routinely enter kindergarten with more limited vocabularies than their middle income peers, largely because the experiences they have at home do not foster the vocabulary growth needed to support progress in school. the results from this study underscore the need to improve the quality of instruction in low income preschool classes. although the quality of the language displayed by teachers was associated with gains in the vocabulary of the english language learners, these children still received much lower scores than their english-speaking peers. however, vocabulary skills are critical to these children’s subsequent academic development. professional development for teachers should focus on the importance of children’s vocabulary to early academic development, why the language they use with their students matters, and on ways they can interact with children from different backgrounds to improve vocabulary. such preservice or inservice instruction will need to be intensive and ongoing. it is important to keep in mind that the teachers in this study were highly qualified; that is, they had earned bachelor’s degrees and received training in the curriculum. despite these qualifications, the teachers’ language modeling scores fell in the mid-level range, on average. this highlights the need for more intensive teacher training. references august, d., carlo, m., dressler, c., & snow, c. e. (2005). the critical role of vocabulary development for english language learners. learning disabilities research and practice, 20, 50-57. 112 sonnenschein et at. brooks-gunn, j., & markman, l. b. (2005). the contribution of parenting to ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness. the future of children, 15), 139–168. brownell, r. a. (2000). receptive one-word picture vocabulary test. san antonio, tx: harcourt. connor, c.m., morrison, f.j., & slominski, l. (2006). preschool instruction and children’s emergent literacy growth. journal of educational psychology, 98, 665-689. cowan, r., donlan, c., shepherd, d.-l., cole-fletcher, r., saxton, m., & hurry, j. (2011). basic calculation proficiency and mathematics achievement in elementary school children. journal of educational psychology, 103, 786-803. cross, c.t., woods, t.a., & schweingruber, h. (eds.) (2009).mathematics learning in early childhood: paths towards excellence and equity. washington, d.c.: national academy press. hammer, c.s., miccio, a. w., & wagstaff, d. a. (2003). home literacy experiences and their relationship to bilingual preschoolers’ developing english literacy abilities: an initial investigation. language, speech and hearing services in schools, 34, 20–30. hart, b., & risely, t. b. (1995). meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young american children. baltimore, md: paul. h. brookes publishing company. hoff, e. (2006). how social contexts support and shape language development. developmental review, 26, 55-88. kempert, s., saalback, h., & hardy, i. (2011). cognitive benefits and costs of bilingualism in elementary school students: the case of mathematical word problems. journal of educational psychology, 103, 547–561. lonigan, c.j., wagner, r. k., & torgesen, j. k. (2007). test of preschool early literacy. austin, tx: pro-ed. neuman, s. b. (2006). the knowledge gap: implications for early education. in in d.k. dickinson & s.b. neuman (eds.). handbook of early literacy (vol. 2, pp. 29-40). new york: guilford. pianta, r. c., le paro, k. m., & hamre, b. k. (2007). classroom assessment scoring system pre-k. baltimore, md: brookes. serpell, r., baker, l., & sonnenschein, s. (2005). becoming literate in the city: the baltimore early childhood project. new york: cambridge. wasik, b.a., & hindman, a. h. (2011). improving vocabulary and pre-literacy skills of at-risk preschoolers through teacher professional development. journal of educational psychology, 103, 455-469. woodcock, r. w., mcgrew, k. s., & mather, n. (2001). woodcock johnson tests of achievement. rolling meadows, il: riverside publishing. dialog, 17(1), 88-107 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article time management and home-based parent involvement in head start families heather s. wallace university of tennessee sandra twardosz university of tennessee head start programs encourage parents’ involvement in children’s learning and development. to help accomplish this objective, teachers in one program sent a developmentally appropriate activity, linked to the classroom curriculum, home each week for parents and children to do together. this study used focus groups to examine how parents made the time to complete these “homework” activities and the obstacles they faced in doing so. parents (n = 22) reported using a variety of time management strategies and supports, described the obstacles they faced in managing time, and discussed the management of the homework activities themselves. although the results are limited by sample size and characteristics, this study adds to the very limited knowledge about time management strategies in low-income families. asking parents how they make time to be involved with their children may result in information that can be shared with other families struggling with this issue. one of the broadest and most commonly cited definitions of parent involvement comes from maccoby and martin (1983) who used the term to describe when a someone is “committed to his or her role as a parent and to the fostering of optimal child development” (p.48). the term has been defined in numerous specific ways, particularly as it relates to children’s cognitive development and school performance (beecher & makin, 2002; fantuzzo, mcwayne, perry, & childs, 2004; hindman, connor, jewkes, & morrison, 2008; hooverdempsey, bassler, & burow, 1995; raikes, summers, & roggman, 2005), and has been examined in school, home, and community settings using parent reports, and in some cases, observations (e.g., manz, fantuzzo, & power, 2004; pomerantz, moorman, & litwack, 2007). this study specifically focuses on home-based parent involvement which can subdivide into two categories: (a) parent-child activities that promote children’s intellectual development through non-school related activities, and (b) parent-child activities associated specifically with children’s early education experiences and curriculum-based concepts. the former type supports children’s cognitive development through activities such as reading the newspaper with children time management for parent involvement 89 and taking them to the library (grolnick & slowiaczek, 1994). the latter form of parent involvement focuses on the ways in which parents support school-related educational endeavors such as helping children with homework and school projects (pomerantz, moorman, & litwack 2007). previous research has found positive relationships between this form of home-based parent involvement and positive outcomes for young children such as increased motivation to learn and task engagement, as well as increased literacy, language, and numeracy skills (bracken & fischel, 2008; bryant, peisner-feinberg, & miller-johnson, 2000; fantuzzo, et al., 2004; senechal & lefevre, 2002). although home-based parent involvement has been identified as one of the mechanisms through which society can attempt to close the achievement gap that exists between socioeconomic strata (henderson & berla, 1994; hoover-dempsey & sandler, 1997), it has been found that low-income parents are less likely to be involved in young children’s learning within the home than middle-class parents (eccles & harold, 1996; lareau, 1987). however, in lowincome households, home-based parent involvement activities, such as shared book reading interactions, have been positively correlated with young children’s language and comprehension scores (raikes, pan, luze, tamis-lemonda, brooks-gunn, 2006). fantuzzo, et al. (2004) found a positive relationship between the family involvement questionnaire’s sub-scale measure of home-based parent involvement (e.g., reviews child’s work, reads with child, asks child about school-day, helps with homework) and 130 preschoolers’ learning motivation, task persistence, and attitude toward learning (as measured by teacher report), as well as receptive vocabulary skills. a negative relationship between home-based parent involvement and high-risk preschoolers’ conduct problems, hyperactivity, and inattention was also noted in fantuzzo’s study. because it appears that home-based parent involvement can be an important factor in the development of academic skills in low-income children, some interventions have been developed to encourage it. one example is the home instruction program for preschool youngsters (hippy) a privately-funded, non-profit, home-based intervention program that, over the course of two years, attempts to increase typically developing, low-income preschoolers’ school readiness through daily lessons conducted by their parents. parents receive support for their home–based involvement through group meetings and home visits (baker, piotrkowski, brooksgunn, 1999). on a bi-monthly schedule, trained home visitors engage parents in role play activities for 30-60 minutes educating them about effective parenting practices which may be useful during home-based parent involvement activities with their children. on alternating weeks, parents attend meetings with other hippy parents and program coordinators. baker, piotrkowski, and brooks-gunn (1998) investigated the effectiveness of the hippy program using a longitudinal randomized experimental study. two cohorts (each with an experimental and control group) of low-income pre-kindergarten and kindergarten-age children (n = 182), were assessed at three time points (baseline, end of program, and one year after involvement in the program) via teacher ratings, review of school records, and cognitive assessments. children in cohort one had significantly higher scores on their cognitive assessments, were rated by teachers as better adapted to the classroom, and had significantly higher reading scores at one year follow-up than the control group. however, none of the findings were replicated in cohort two. baker, et al. (1999) interpreted this non-replication as a function of differential parent participation between the two cohorts. qualitative interviews with program staff indicated that there was a wide range of parent involvement, even among parents who remained in the program for two years. thus, while some parents may have enjoyed the 90 wallace & twardosz support of the group meetings, it appears that they may have faced significant barriers to being able to conduct the activities with their children. barriers to engagement in home-based parent involvement activities although programs like hippy can be helpful for some families, it is important to recognize that others may not benefit because they are unwilling or unable to participate. some low-income parents may be less likely to engage in home-based parent involvement, perhaps due in part to poor personal educational experiences and/or a low sense of parenting efficacy (eccles & harold, 1996; hoover-demsey, bassler, & brissie, 1992; hoover-dempsey & sandler, 1997; jones, 2001). for example, parents with lower educational attainment are less likely to engage in book reading. (bradley, corwyn, mcadoo, & coll, 2001; lareau, 2000). lareau’s (2003) ethnographic study of low-income families with young children indicated that parents often demonstrate a lack of confidence when communicating with children’s teachers. this attitude may transfer to the home environment where they may not feel as though intervening in their child’s education is appropriate because it may contradict the authority of the child’s teacher (lareau, 2003). this assertion was supported by holloway, rambaud, fuller, and eggers-pierola (1995) who found that latino parents were less likely to become involved in children’s education for this reason. some low-income families may also be contending with circumstances that make it exceedingly difficult to do home-based parent involvement activities. these concerns can include problems with procuring basic necessities like shelter, power, and/or food, or contending with substance abuse and neighborhood violence. there are other situations that impose increased demands on the family system. for example, when a family is going through a divorce, and transitory living situations persist, it is likely that household routines will be affected, with responsibilities shifting amongst family members and taxing the amount of time available to spend on home-based parent involvement activities. issues related to the availability of time can be predominant obstacles to parent involvement. two such issues are parents’ work schedules (heymann & earle, 2001) and long work-to-home commutes (weiss, mayer, kreider, vaughan, dearing, hencke, et al., 2003). the common theme in these studies is that parents lack time to devote to active engagement in their children’s lives. the relationship between time demands and home-based parent involvement was investigated by weiss, et al. (2003) in a mixed-methods ethnographic study of the lives of 20 children from their kindergarten through second-grade years. their study also included a larger sample of 390 families, with whom interviews were conducted in the child’s kindergarten year. weiss, et al. found that compared with mothers who did not work outside of the home, mothers who attended school full-time and/or worked outside of the home were less involved in their children’s schooling. weiss et al. also noted that a significant obstacle to being involved in children’s schooling was the amount of time mothers spent at work. barriers to engagement in home-based parent involvement exist across all socioeconomic strata. for example, an exploratory study conducted by dolezal, nordquist, and twardosz (2009) indicated that variables such as parent work hours, a predictable family schedule, and help from people outside of the family may contribute to the amount of time middle-income parents can spend reading to their children. for low-income families, coping with specific time management for parent involvement 91 barriers may be particularly problematic as a result of having fewer and less reliable resources than middleand high-income families. investigating time management the idea that time management strategies may be particularly salient for head start families is rooted in previous work noting that low-income households tend to have less stable and consistent resources and routines than middleand high-income households (petrill, pike, price, & plomin, 2004; valiente, lemery-chalfant, & reiser, 2007). roy, tubbs, and burton (2004) noted that it may be necessary to view the concept of time use in low-income families in a different manner than previously because those families often have complicated lives with few resources to help manage and organize time. given the income inequality that exists at the present time in the united states, a greater number of families are probably experiencing these time barriers, making it increasingly difficult for them to engage in activities with their children (duncan & murnane, 2011). roy, et al. (2004) attempted to address this issue by examining how low-income mothers spend their time and the ways in which they access and use supports to meet the demand for their time. they conducted a longitudinal ethnographic study of 75 low-income mothers of children ranging in age from 18-48 months. they found that 50% of the mothers in their study spent between two and six hours per day with their child(ren). contributing factors that explain their findings include that (a) nearly half of the mothers in their study worked secondor third-shift jobs and (b) those same mothers often spent between two to five hours commuting to and from work. roy, et al. also found that when parents managed their time they did so by “staggering obligations, expanding resources, and decreasing obligations” (p. 174). parents indicated that being able to engage in such strategies was contingent upon reliable and consistent resources such as transportation and child care. as roy et al. (2004) and others have noted, time is a barrier to home-based parent involvement for some families. previously, studies examined the ways in which families use their time (bianchi & robinson, 1997; bryant & zick, 1996; hamermesh, frazis, & stewart, 2005), such as proportion spent watching television and time commuting to and from work. however, those studies did not describe how families manage their time, information that may be beneficial when trying to increase parent involvement in low-income families. study purpose the purpose of the present exploratory study is to add to the very sparse literature on time management in low-income families by examining the strategies of a small number of head start families relative to home-based parent involvement. this study investigates this issue as it relates specifically to family participation in a “homework” activity program connected with their children’s head start classrooms. feedback from many parents about this program indicated that finding the time to do the activities was difficult and often a barrier to their completion. the intention of this study is to explore, through focus group methodology, the ways in which parents managed time to engage in these “homework activities” with their children, and the difficulties involved in doing so. 92 wallace & twardosz methods background and setting this study was conducted in close partnership with the knoxville/knox county head start (kkchs) program. kkchs serves approximately 925 low-income families of young children (36-48 months) across 44 classrooms in six centers. kkchs offers fulland part-day high quality early education, transportation services, as well as healthcare and developmental screenings for all children. each family is visited at home by a head start representative at least once per year and is encouraged to support the accomplishment of agreed upon goals, such as reading to their children or completing their ged. parents have opportunities to become involved with the kkchs program by volunteering in the classroom and at the administrative level. kkchs supports parenting education by offering information about positive parenting practices and children’s health and well-being during monthly group parent meetings. as an additional aspect of its efforts to encourage home-based parent involvement and empower parents in their role as their children’s first teacher, kkchs implemented a program of developmentally appropriate and cognitively stimulating activities, connected with the classroom curriculum, that were also designed to be fun and promote positive parent-child interactions. the activities were called “homework” because it was thought that this would be a familiar term for parents, particularly those with older children. teachers sent home one activity per week. parents were asked to complete the “homework” with their children within a week and return the product to the classroom teacher. examples of activities were having parents and children engage in a scavenger hunt around the house to identify items starting with the letter b; having parents and children compare their height by measuring it with household objects; and having parents and children create a booklet depicting the child’s favorite activities (homework activity example included below). time management for parent involvement 93 94 wallace & twardosz kchs assessed parent opinions of the homework activities program at the end of the first year of implementation and found that parents may have been more likely to participate in the program if they had the materials required to complete the activities available to them at no cost. in response, kkchs provided a backpack filled with the necessary materials to each family as they began their second year of implementation. however, questions remained about the factors responsible for different levels of parent participation within and across classrooms, and parent perceptions about the integration of their completed activities into their child’s curriculum. to gather more information about these issues, written surveys were distributed at a monthly parent meeting to 217 families. one of the primary questions was, “what makes it hard? [to complete the homework activities]. the most frequent response was that parents were too busy or did not have enough time. this response was reiterated by the classroom teachers who were also asked for their opinions about possible reasons for differing levels of parent involvement in the programs. despite this lack of time, nearly all of the surveyed parents indicated that they enjoyed doing the homework, and most parents thought that two important aspects of completing the activities were that their child gains “experience and knowledge about what homework is” and “valuable bonding time together”. thus, based on responses from parents and teachers, it appeared that one of the most likely barriers to completing the homework activities was a lack of available time. that finding caused us to wonder about how the parents who completed all or most of the activities with their children managed their time in order to do so, and the obstacles that some families faced that made it very difficult or impossible to engage with their children in this manner. recruitment and participant selection process families were identified as belonging to either a high(> 10 returned activities), moderate(6-9 returned activities), or low-homework completion group (1-5 returned activities) based on the number of returned homework activities documented by teachers over a 16-week period. completion of at least one homework activity was required because of the need to be able to respond to questions about the program. all parents were blind to the fact that they were grouped according to the number of completed and returned homework activities. only families from the highand low-homework completion groups were included in this study. highversus low-homework completion rate group cut-offs were determined by looking for meaningful and natural patterns in the homework response rates tracked by classroom teachers. this method was used to facilitate comparison between extremes given that we were originally looking for differences in time management strategies between groups. there were 451 potential participants (low homework completion group = 311, high homework completion group = 140). parents were excluded if their child transferred classrooms during the homework tracking period or stopped attending kkchs (n = 182). at the time of their transfer or drop, 82.6% of those excluded would have been categorized as part of the lowhomework completion group. parents identified by the program’s english language coordinator as unable to proficiently speak and understand the english language were also excluded (n = 33) due to difficulties with participation in an informal focus group. this left a final sample of 236 potential participants. these parents were evenly distributed across both the highand lowhomework completion groups. time management for parent involvement 95 families first learned about the study through announcements made by parent liaisons at a monthly meeting for all parents that occurred at all six centers of the kkchs program. during one of the monthly meetings a parent liaison (who was informed about the study and equipped with a script and talking points) explained the purpose of the study to other parents present at the meeting. within two weeks of that announcement, classroom teachers gave potential participants a recruitment letter explaining the study and inviting the parents to participate. interested parents returned completed forms with their contact information in order to schedule and confirm their focus group attendance. participant characteristics. participants included in this study were the primary legal caregivers (referred to throughout as ‘parent(s)’) of a child enrolled in kkchs. the mean age of children in this study was 59.87 (range: 48-67) months. the mean parent age across all focus groups was 33.18 years (range: 21-67). of the parents who participated in the study, 68.2% (n = 15) were the child’s biological mother, 9.1% (n = 2) were biological fathers, 18.2% (n = 4) were biological grandmothers, and 4.5% (n = 1) was a biological grandfather. most parents, 59.1%, (n = 13) were from a two-parent household. of the participating caregivers, 48% were white, 43% black/african american, and 9% were of “other” ethnic heritage. focus group procedures and questions separate focus groups were conducted for the highand low-homework completion rate groups. the reason for conducting separate and homogenous focus groups was to encourage parents to respond in a manner that was most representative of their experiences. this method is supported by morgan (1997), who stated that the homogeneity resulting from such segmentation “allows for more free-flowing conversations among participants within groups, but also facilitates analyses that examine differences in perspective between groups” (p. 35). a total of 18 high-homework completion group parents participated in three focus groups (n per group: 7/8/3) and four low-homework completion group parents participated in two focus groups (n per group: 2/2). reasons parents gave for not being able to attend a focus group after agreeing to do so were tracked. for the high group reasons included parent (n = 2) or child (n =5) illness and unexpected work obligations (n =1). for the low group, anxiety/stress over lack of basic utilities (n =1), mechanical car problems (n =1), child illness (n =1), and suspected domestic dispute (n =1), precluded participation. krueger and casey (2000) stated that focus group questions should be pilot tested, then refined in accordance with suggestions. accordingly, focus group questions and procedures were pilot-tested with four non-head start affiliated mothers who had at least one child between the ages of 3-5 years. the only suggested alteration was to change the wording in the first question from “recall” to “think about” and use follow-up prompts to support parents’ reflective recall. the first author and a trained assistant moderator conducted each focus group in a multipurpose room at one of the kkchs centers. following introductions and consent procedures, the following questions were posed to parents one at a time. following each question was a group discussion during which parents provided elaborative responses. 96 wallace & twardosz 1. what was doing that activity with your child like? (this question was asked following a reflective recall of a time that parents had completed one of the homework activities with his or her child) 2. what helps you find the time to do the homework activities with your child? 3. what makes it difficult to do the homework activities with your child? 4. does anyone else in your child’s life help him or her complete the homework activities? 5. is there anything that you would like head start to know about family life and the things that either help you or make it difficult to do the homework activities? on average, focus groups with seven or more people lasted for 75 minutes. focus groups with three or fewer people lasted approximately 50 minutes. the difference in the amount of time spent with larger versus smaller groups was a function of the volume of comments made per person, per group. overall, parents contributed to conversations fairly equally. in a few circumstances specific parents who had not yet contributed unique comments to the conversation were prompted and encouraged to contribute by the first author, all offered their insights at that point. analysis focus group discussions were transcribed verbatim into microsoft word © . demographic data was entered into a spss database and analyzed using the software’s descriptive analysis tools. in accordance with bogdan and biklen (2007), transcripts were read by the first author three times. the first two readings were to gain an overall sense of focus group and nature of the issues that parents discussed. during the third reading, the constant comparison method was used to create themes of participant responses to each question. originally, a secondary goal of this study was to provide some examples of differences in time management strategies that might emerge between parents in the highand low-homework completion groups. however, given the very low number of parents from the low-homework completion group who attended the focus groups, this question could not be addressed, thus parent comments from all focus groups were combined. validation strategies in an effort to validate participants’ comments the first author corroborated themes with supportive quotes provided by parents during the focus groups. second, a peer-review of the themes was conducted with skilled and objective peers involved in the interdisciplinary phenomenology colloquy (thomas & pollio, 2002) at a large southeastern accredited university. their role was to provide an external check of methods and interpretations to ensure that researcher bias was minimized and that consistency in the methods and analyses was maintained. the third form of validation was a member check conducted with one parent that participated in each focus group. each parent was asked whether he/she thought the identified time management for parent involvement 97 themes were representative of the focus group discussion he/she participated in, and of theirs and other head start parents’ experiences in general. all of the parents (n = 5) included in the member check agreed with the way the data were interpreted. none offered additional comments or thought anything needed to be changed. results three primary categories emerged from analyses: time management strategies and supports, time management obstacles, and homework activity management. sub-themes and parents’ quotes are included to support each category. it is best to think of each category not as identical responses grouped into a homogenous whole, but rather as a continuum along which perspectives differ, yet still relate to the overall theme. table 1 parent focus groups' primary categories and sub-themes time management strategies and supports time management obstacles homework activity management organizational aids lacked of transportation homework preparation routines children’s behavior engagement strategies flexible time perspective household responsibilities inclusion of siblings child's mood appointments physical environment family support caring for others work schedule high parental stress time management strategies and supports the most prominent theme (mentioned by 68.1% of parents) relating to time management strategies was the utilization of organizational aids such as planners, calendars, and/ or a specific storage location for the homework activity sheet. well, i even put homework on the calendar. on my front door…my calendar is magnetic and it’s on my front door, okay. and just like with the homework, so i can remember to give it to ‘em, just like the note, we just got something just yesterday that we need to return. many parents (54.5%) also explained that having a standard routine reduced having to figure out when to find time each week and helped their children understand that the activities were important. 98 wallace & twardosz and i mean we do it right when he comes in from school. like he comes in, because i work part-time at night three days a week. so as soon as he comes in and he kinda settles down we do it right then. we set a certain time. thursdays we’d get together and we’d work on her homework after breakfast and after she’d got herself ready to do whatever and we’d sit down and do some homework. and that worked out pretty well for us. other parents explained that they did not have a specific routine regarding the homework activities. these parents embraced a flexible perspective about time that allowed them to capitalize on available, unplanned moments when they felt it was appropriate to engage in the homework activities with their children. i found that out really quick…that time will present itself, normally. somewhere during the week, um…you know that you’ve got ‘til, from now until friday to turn the homework in, so that gives us some flexibility. sometimes it’s that monday when we do get it done…sometimes it’s not ‘til that friday. you know, or somewhere in between. you know, i mean it’s just when the opportunity is best according to the children, according to your schedule, to their schedule…to whether or not if there’s doctor’s appointments goin’ on during the week, or you know…if it’s your social life or whatever may come into play. the time’ll usually present itself. parents (45%) also spoke about organizing time in accordance with their child’s mood, and the importance of capitalizing on moments when the child was most agreeable to engaging in the homework activity. some parents specifically noted that they waited to engage their child in the activity when he/she was in a “settled” or “calm” mood. “yeah, i make sure they eat first, then i get ‘em settled. my little ones, then we do the homework.” if you catch the children when they’re tired, they don’t want to do it…they’re irritable, you know. if you catch them when it’s a little bit too late, than they’re sleepy and they don’t want to complete it and it doesn’t make it enjoyable. it’s like an older child in an older school that’s just procrastinating on doing the homework…these babies do it too. half of the parents felt supported by other members of their immediate and extended families, and said that this support made it easier to manage to find time to engage in the homework activities with their children. some parents noted the importance of relying on family during emergency or unexpected situations. other parents noted their ability to trust and rely on their partner to complete the homework activities with their child should they be unavailable or unable to find time to do so during a particular week . my brother…he’ll help them. if i get frustrated, cause if they don’t want to do it, or if i just don’t have time, my brother will take over, he’ll sit there and read it and make them read it. they’ve got a lot of help that helps them. time management for parent involvement 99 some parents noted a consistent lack of support from family and/or friends due to being a single-parent or having a spouse with a disability. some parents also discussed their inability to entrust completion of the homework activity with anyone but him or herself. like his dad has helped him do homework activities…but like in extreme cases, emergencies, his dad has helped him, but i feel more comfortable…i’m kind of a little control freak when it comes to my son. time management obstacles some parents lacked reliable transportation and/or a valid driver’s license. these parents explained how needing to rely on others or using local public transportation was a significant hindrance to managing and organizing time. they specifically talked about the inefficiency of the local mass transit system. takes about four hours to get to one place. if you have to go like to out west, it’ll take you that long. it takes soo long. cause they have to stop everywhere and you have to get off of the bus and connect to another bus. parents (31.8%) also cited their children’s behavior as an obstacle to managing time and that they sometimes found it challenging to engage their child in the homework activity. one mother noted that her son was especially stubborn saying, “sometimes it’s hard when they don’t wanna…they don’t have their mind set on it.” another parent said that for her, “it was like pulling teeth. you know? but if it’s something…we try to make them interesting, but then there’s some he’s just like, ‘i don’t care’, you know? ‘not fazing me’.” there were aspects of daily life that parents perceived as obstacles to finding time to spend with their children. the most commonly noted of these were daily and household-related responsibilities, such as cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, etc. some parents contended with this by completing certain tasks when children were not in the environment. parents noted that doing this allowed them to focus on their children when they were present. myself, mixed schedule…i’m off monday and tuesday, so she off on tuesday and wednesday, so then on monday i wash the clothes, you know…fix the house and everything…because the babies in the school i don’t have nobody with me. i’m trying to do some work, keep all my…it’s what i do all the time…and when she is home she do the same thing…clean the house… before the kids is coming home. cause i have found out the best time for me to mop the floor is while they’re asleep. parents noted that appointments, such as going to the doctor, meeting with case/ social workers from the department of human services, and/or complying with requirements necessary for receiving government aid were significant obstacles to being able to manage and organize time. appointments, doctor’s appointments, or something came up that you gotta do at work or whatever. it just comes up and you just you gotta get things done, you try to squeeze 100 wallace & twardosz them in and if you don’t make the time for it, it won’t get done. i remember one time we had a wic appointment. i showed up about 9 o’clock, i was there until four. i was there all day and i had to go back to work at 5:30. i was like ‘ooh, my goodness’. yeah, appointments….yes, wic, oh wic is the worst. wic, you’re usually there about four hours depending on whether you get quick wic or not. if you got main wic, you might as well pack up your whole house and just sit there. cause it’s gonna take you a while. and the food stamp office, you show up for your appointment and then your worker’s not there and they make you reschedule. parents also explained that caring for and/or helping others sometimes made it difficult to manage and organize their time. well, with my sister, i have to pick her up every day from school…she just refuses to drive, she’s just afraid, she doesn’t like…she’s afraid to drive. so i have to pick her up around 1 o’clock. you know a lot of times i gotta take my momma a lot of places in her car, taking care of her vehicle. so you know most the time when she come over i be like ‘t, we gotta go’. however, some parents specifically noted that responsibility to their child was their highest priority and considered that prior to helping others. we got a big family too, but it’s not my family, it’s my baby daddy’s family. his mom had 12 kids. and she’s got twins that’s three and i watch them sometimes. so, i say…i do my little boy’s homework then i come down there and get them. that’s what i do. but if his homework ain’t done, i ain’t gonna do it. parents explained that it was difficult to manage and organize time in ways that afforded them the opportunity to interact with their children when their work schedule differed from their child’s available time. my husband works first shift, then when i get off work my husband goes to work. so it’s like, i’d see him for half an hour a day and that’s it. if i had a regular work schedule, and you know, knew more than a week in advance what i was working, that would help. high levels of parental stress were also noted by a couple of parents as an obstacle to engaging in the homework activities. but a lot of times i’m stressed out and got a lot on my mind and i be like, ‘ba-shh. forget that right now, we can get to that another’, ya know? yeah, it could be somethin’ like you ain’t got no gas for your car. just worrying about you know, everyday life stuff. time management for parent involvement 101 homework activity management parents also focused on ways in which they prepared for the homework activities and how they engaged their child in a manner that facilitated efficient use of their time. within this theme are issues related to how parents prepared for, and ensured completion of, the homework activities. nearly 60% of parents engaged in some form of homework activity preparation, and mentioned that doing so made it easier to find time to do the activities. three distinct forms of preparation were evident within this sub-theme: material, mental, and verbal preparation. all parents who contributed to this conversation explained that they prepared and gathered the materials needed to complete each activity before engaging in it with their child. but, i usually always have you know all the supplies i need before we sit down and do our homework. and we go to the closet and get it out. i usually have plenty of stuff though in the box. i try to keep it full. when i get mine on monday i go and i make a list of what i need. these parents also mentioned that they thought through how to complete and best engage their child during the activity. mental preparation entailed thinking about and discussing engagement strategies. i usually go in and read it and then i think about stuff…like okay…what can i do with this? what kind of fun things can i make with this? but if it’s something…we try to make them interesting, but sometimes it’s just the way it’s presented and we have to…sometimes my husband and i…sometimes we wait ‘til friday cause we’re trying to come up with another way to present it to him. of the parents who said they prepared for the activities in some manner, 23% said that they verbally prepared their child for the activity. parents did this by telling their child what the activity was about, when the activity was due, and when it was likely that they would do it together. parents also discussed ways they maintained their child’s attention during the homework activity. some of the specific engagement strategies mentioned included making homework “like a game”, parent/child role reversal, avoidance of the activity being “chore-like” or rushed for the child, making the homework activity relevant to their child’s life and preferences, and having a specific weekly or daily routine during which the child could expect that that the homework activity was going to be completed. that’s the only way he wanted to do it, is if it was a game. so that’s the main thing you know we had to make it a game. we sit down and we play school. you know i think the real key especially in the age group we’re dealing with here is don’t make it a chore. it’s gotta be number one, it’s gotta be fun. just like she’s gotta want to (laughter from group). cause if you make it a chore they’re gonna show you who’s boss. 102 wallace & twardosz if you can tie other things, things that happen around the house. we would try to tie into a lot of the activities on the homework activities and ah, compare what the homework was stressing as to what she did on a regular basis, in her bedroom, in her playroom, outside or whatever. more than half (54.5%) of the parents mentioned the inclusion of siblings during completion of homework activities. while some parents fully involved siblings, others limited sibling involvement during the activity. for example, one mother explained how she allowed the younger sibling to get materials in preparation for the activity, but did not allow him to participate. see i have another son and he gets in on the homework which he’s smaller, he’s a year younger and he get in on the homework too. yes, he likes to go and get the crayons. i’ll say, ‘can you go and get the crayons?’ and he’ll go in and find the crayons, or i’ll tell him to go and find the colored paper…ah…the construction paper. and he’ll go in the drawer and get it. parents also discussed how and why they did or did not alter the physical environment, and where they engaged in the homework activities with their child. less than half of parents (40.9%) said they turned off the television while they and their children completed the homework activity. it’s off cause the t.v. distracts you. at that age you can’t have the t.v. on because they’ll zone into it. if you’re trying to compete with spongebob or hannah montana you, i mean…it’s just. i mean forget about it! you gotta get ‘em away from the radios, tvs…we turned off the stuff throughout the house. i mean we turned it off. we didn’t just go in another room and leave the sets on. it was just because their little ears don’t miss anything unless they wanna miss it. other parents elaborated on why they never turned off the television during the activity. i think it’s real important when it comes to the homework. i don’t change the environment very much. i leave the tv going if the tv’s playing, if the radio’s playing i’ll leave the radio goin’, if the dogs are running around in the yard or in the house barking because there’s a cat outside. i leave those distractions goin’ because i know that she’s not gonna have a, um, the opportunity to always get a quiet place, everything to be all nice and calm when she has to do homework in the future. so, ah…leave those things goin’ has a way to help her to concentrate on what she’s doing instead of everything around her so she can kind of shut those things out while she does her homework. to not to get real distracted and wonderin’ what spongebob’s doing on the t.v. that now we’re focusing on your homework. and she’s getting’ so much better at doing that. time management for parent involvement 103 some parents (40.9%) completed the activity with their child at the kitchen or dining room table. this percentage includes parents who said they do and those who said they do not turn off the television. thus, while these parents do not specifically alter the environment, they do ensure the use of a consistent location that serves as a “marker” that they are engaged in the homework activity and not with anything else that may be going on around them during that time. discussion the results of this exploratory study suggest that this small sample of head start parents used a variety of strategies to manage their time in order to participate with their children in “homework”, a particular type of home-based parent involvement. they appeared to be helped in doing so by resources like social support, and hindered by obstacles, such as lack of transportation. since there is a paucity of data on the topic of how parents, particularly lowincome parents, manage time so that they can be involved with their children, this study provides some valuable starting points for both descriptive and intervention research on this topic as well as suggestions for practice. similar to the work of roy et al. (2004) discussed earlier, parents in the present study emphasized the contribution that consistent resources play in their ability to manage time so that they could find the time to spend time with their children. findings from this study extend the work of roy et al. who found that parents manage time by staggering obligations, expanding resources, and decreasing obligations. this study provides parents’ description of time management techniques, including use of organizational aids, maintaining a flexible time perspective, aligning work with the child’s mood, utilizing support of other family members, and actively managing the homework activity itself. the present study also expands the findings of darrah, freeman, and english-lueck (2007). this ethnographic study of 14 upper-middle class families revealed barriers to time management such as demanding work schedules, helping others outside of the immediate family, and high levels of parenting stress. however, these families, who commanded considerable resources, never mentioned two of the most passionately discussed “time-takers” for the head start parents – contending with unreliable transportation and waiting to meet with case workers. thus, while there is evidence that finding time to spend with children may be an issue for families across the socioeconomic spectrum, there may be some barriers unique to low-income families who may have fewer resources. in general, parents in the present study discussed time management in very concrete ways, citing the usefulness of organizational aids and bemoaning the time it takes to use public transportation. abstract themes, such as organizing time in accordance with child’s mood, were not directly discussed by parents, but were extrapolated from their comments. the absence of abstract discussion was a central finding of darrah et al. (2007) who concluded that discussing time is difficult for many people. they also noted that time management issues are so deeply interwoven into our lives that it is difficult to recognize, extract, and discuss them. given these considerations, it was probably an advantage to have parents think about time with respect to a very specific form of home-based parent involvement, the homework activities connected with the head start curriculum. 104 wallace & twardosz limitations the present study is exploratory and was conducted with a very small, nonrepresentative sample of parents from a particular head start program. thus, the results should be regarded as illustrative and a source of ideas for research and some aspects of practice rather than generalizable to a larger population. an additional disadvantage is that so few parents from the low participation homework group agreed to participate in this study or actually attended their focus group after they had agreed to do so. this study focused on a small subset of home-based parent involvement, parent-initiated activities to promote children’s cognitive development, as exemplified by the developmentally appropriate “homework” activities that were connected to the curriculum of this particular head start program. thus, the focus was on a very limited aspect of home-based cognitive stimulation, and the participants were parents who had engaged in this particular aspect. thus, conclusions cannot be drawn about any of the other numerous aspects of home-based involvement for any of the parents. parents who did not return any of the homework to the child’s classroom, for example, could have been engaging in other types of involvement with their children such as speaking with them throughout the day, including them in performing household chores, and involving them in early literacy activities. furthermore, the fact that the focus of the present study is on time management does not mean that a lack of time management skills is the only or even primary factor contributing to many parents’ lack of participation in the homework activities program. time was the focus of this study because the head start parents identified it as a major difficulty for them when asked at a parent meeting about what made it hard for them to complete the homework. obviously, factors such as lack of interest, poor personal educational experiences, dislike of these particular activities, aspects of the physical environment, illness, substance abuse, and chronic stress can contribute to low levels of participation in the homework program as well as home-based parent involvement in general. finally, future studies on this topic should use more intensive recruiting techniques so that a larger proportion of parents agree to participate. one suggestion is for future researchers to embed themselves within the program in a manner that increases exposure to family members (e.g., riding the bus home with children, attending parent gathers, talking with parents as they either drop off or pick their children from the classroom). doing so may increase rapport with family members, some of whom may be potential participants, and others who may serve as gatekeepers. perhaps trying to schedule individual interviews in the home may have increased the participation response rate. however, the collaborative and dynamic conversations present in the focus groups would have been lost. moreover, future studies should involve head start parents who are english language learners (ell). by organizing focus groups comprised of only of ell parents and moderated by a speaker fluent in that language, the conversation flow would remain intact versus disrupted by a translator. conducting focus groups specific to a particular shared characteristic (like language) may also illuminate culturally-based time management techniques. time management for parent involvement 105 implications for practice despite the limitations of the present exploratory study, it is possible to draw some tentative implications for the efforts of head start staff to encourage parents’ involvement in their children’s learning and development. first, asking parents how they make the time to be involved with their children may result in information that can be shared with other families who are struggling with this issue. some of the suggestions from the participants in the present study, such as having a routine comprised of when, where, and how to complete the homework activities, including all children in the environment in the activity, and considering the role of television and media as a distraction to the activity may be helpful to other families. head start programs could consider highlighting such strategies during parent meetings or perhaps during home visits. parent education and intervention efforts designed to increase home-based parent involvement might include a component on family time management. such a component could include an assessment of the existing supports and barriers to effective time management specific to each family. then, specific time management strategies could be discussed, along with potential environmental and social supports that would be essential for their implementation. of utmost importance is for such efforts to mobilize existing resources and be congruent with each family’s unique attributes and values, rather than mandating what should or should not be done to manage time. it is important to recognize that managing time in order to provide isolated segments that can be devoted to specific cognitively stimulating activities may be overwhelming or not feasible for some families. in such situations, programs such as head start can focus on alternative options for parent involvement that can be interspersed throughout the day (montes & giamartino, 2004). for example, parents could be provided with suggestions for integrating learning opportunities during bath time (e.g., comparison of what floats and what does not), or identifying produce, counting, or weighing items at the grocery store. thus, although a focus on time management can be an important component of services provided for many families, it should not be considered a panacea for increasing home-based parent involvement. although it is not possible to remove all of the impediments to home-based parent involvement, head start programs may be able to assist families to manage time in a manner that supports occurrences of parent-child interaction and teaching. acknowledgements we express our deep appreciation to the participating parents and to the staff of the knoxvilleknox county head start and in particular, renee hauge, nancy thomas, joyce farmer, phyllis martinelli, and suzanne inman. references baker, a. j. l., piotrkowski, c. s., & brooks-gunn, j. 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(2003). making it work: low-income working mothers' involvement in their children's education. american educational research journal, 40(4), 879-901. variability in emotional support, and children’s social emotional functioning in preschool classrooms dialog, 16(2), 90-108 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article exploring the predictable classroom: preschool teacher stress, emotional supportiveness, and students’ social-emotional behavior in private and head start classrooms katherine m. zinsser, craig s. bailey, timothy w. curby, susanne a. denham, and hideko h. bassett george mason university the present study builds on an expanding body of research on the benefits of emotionally supportive interactions, including the extent to which teachers vary in their emotional supportive interactions over time, on preschoolers’ social-emotional development. using data collected in both private and head start preschool classrooms, we examined associations between mean levels and variability in emotional support, teachers’ stress, and children’s social and emotional behaviors in the classroom. separate analyses were conducted for head start and private centers as a result of descriptive analyses that indicated the settings were different. overall, head start teachers showed less stress, higher levels of emotional support, and more consistency in emotional support. furthermore, children in head start classrooms were less emotionally negative and aggressive. in private centers, teacher stress, variability in emotional support, and an interaction of mean level and variability in emotional support all predicted children’s behavior. private center children showed more negative emotion and aggression in classrooms with teachers who were inconsistent in their emotional supportiveness, even when those teachers were, on average, very supportive. these findings support the inclusion of variability of emotional support as an indicator of classroom quality and emphasize the importance of assisting teachers with managing classroom-related stress. keywords: emotional support, variability, consistency, teacher stress, preschool, socialemotional behavior. children’s experiences in early childhood classrooms can establish a cycle of future social success or failure (campbell & stauffenberg, 2008). in these classrooms, the quality of teachers’ interactions with children is one of the most salient features of children’s experiences (pianta, 1999). an emerging body of research has shown that the average quality of emotional support that children experience may not capture all aspects of the emotional environment that are important (curby, brock & hamre, 2013; curby et al., 2011). curby and colleagues argue for recognizing the variability in emotional supportiveness over time when examining relations between teacher-student interactions and child outcomes. in other words, they argue that the exploring the predictable classroom 91 consistency of emotional support within a day has positive implications for the children in those classrooms. thus, a major goal of this study is to determine whether variability in teachers’ emotional support is a predictor of children’s outcomes in samples of private and head start preschool classrooms. relatedly, we also considered that the variability in emotional support may have different implications for children’s outcomes based on the mean levels of emotional support. another goal of this study revolves around understanding how preschoolers’ socialemotional behavior is associated with environmental factors that may be related to teachers’ variability in the emotional support, such as levels of teacher stress. these goals are addressed by examining the associations between teachers’ mean levels of emotional support and variability in emotional support and children’s social and emotional functioning while also considering other possible teacherand school-level influences. emotional support and social-emotional functioning in a preschool classroom, myriad interactions filled with emotions occur within the noisy hustle and bustle of play. classrooms are social places, and preschoolers use their emotions when interacting with peers and teachers (zins et al., 2007). these interactions assist children in acquiring crucial social and emotional skills that have significant ramifications on academic success and school adjustment (blair, 2003; denham, zinsser, & brown, in press; graziano, reavis, keane, & calkins, 2007; leerkes, paradise, o’brien, calkins, & lange, 2008; shields et al., 2001; trentacosta & izard, 2007). these social-emotional skills can be observed when children successfully express how they feel to teachers and peers, when they control their emotions during social interactions, when they successfully join activities with peers, and when they use prosocial strategies rather than resorting to aggression. thus, children’s experiences in early childhood classrooms, including the quality of their interactions with teachers, shape their acquisition of appropriate emotional expression and regulation, behavior regulation, and relationship skills (denham, bassett, kalb, mincic, segal, & zinsser, 2012). the interactions between children and the adults who care for them strongly influence children’s development in many domains (rimm-kaufman & pianta, 2000). one of the strongest influences on the types of experiences a child has at school is his or her teacher (nye, konstantopoulos, & hedges, 2004; rowan, correnti, & miller, 2002). higher levels of emotional support by teachers is associated with better child outcomes academically and socially (howes et al., 2008; mashburn et al., 2008; stipek & byler, 2004), in part because teachers develop consistent, warm, and caring attachment relationships with children (mitchell-copeland, denham, & demulder, 1997). emotionally supportive teachers tend to be more aware of students’ needs for extra academic or social support and tend to respond appropriately to these needs (hamre & pianta, 2007). consequently, children in classrooms with more supportive teachers display more adaptive classroom behaviors and better academic outcomes (rimmkaufman, curby, grimm, nathanson, & brock, 2009; graziano, et al., 2007). variability in emotional support and social-emotional functioning the emotional supportiveness of a classroom is often captured through multiple observations of teacher-child interactions. typically, such observation ratings are combined to yield an average 92 zinsser et al. classroom score. however, this average does not fully capture a child’s experience in the classroom. children’s experience will differ between teachers with the same emotional support average but varying levels of consistency. by observing a classroom multiple times within a day, consistency in emotional support can be quantified, as we have done in the present study. consistent teachers vary relatively little across time in their emotional support whereas inconsistent (or variable) teachers will vary more. having consistent levels of emotional support does not mean that each teacher’s interactions with students are identical over the day. rather, each teacher’s interactions with students are at or near the same level of quality. for example, a teacher characterized as consistent in her emotional supportiveness would respond to almost every student need with a consistently friendly, patient demeanor – not necessarily responding to each bid the same way. by contrast, teachers who show greater variability in their emotional supportiveness may at times enthusiastically attend to students’ needs, yet at other times respond with flat affect or ignore children’s needs. the importance of consistency in the classroom can be likened to its importance at home. parenting and attachment literature has supported the finding that consistent interactions are a hallmark of forming a secure attachment, and failure to form a secure attachment can have longreaching deleterious effects on children’s social-emotional development (ainsworth, 1969; baumrind, 1966; bowlby, 1969). as children are said to form attachment-like relationships with early childhood education teachers (pianta, 1999), curby and brock have argued that consistency in emotional support should also be examined in the classroom (curby et al., 2012). consistency in emotional support is an emerging indicator of the quality of teachers’ interactions with students. in addition to associations with attachment, the role of consistency in emotional support has been linked to children’s academic achievement gains and social skills (curby et al., 2011). curby and colleagues found that preschoolers in emotionally consistent classrooms showed greater gains in academic outcomes and better social outcomes in kindergarten compared to children in less consistent classrooms. in explaining the harmful effect of variable emotional support quality, curby and colleagues posited that such inconsistency might place greater demands on children’s attentional networks and negatively influence their ability to regulate their emotions and behavior (kaplan & berman, 2010; posner & rothbart, 2002). children in more variable classrooms must exert more effort in monitoring their teacher’s emotional state and therefore have less attention available for the management of their own behavior and learning. as socializers of children’s emotional competence, teachers play a vital role in helping children learn how to accurately predict and respond to others’ emotions (denham, bassett, & zinsser, 2012), and based on the state of the currently available literature, we anticipated finding associations between teachers’ variability in supportiveness and their students’ social emotional functioning in the classroom. what remains unclear from the currently available research is whether consistency in emotional support by teachers is equally beneficial at all levels of emotional support. do children who are in classrooms with consistent but lower levels of emotional support fare better than children in classrooms with higher but less consistent levels of emotional support? to answer this question, we investigated the moderating role that consistency in emotional support has on the mean levels of emotional support in regards to children’s social and emotional functioning. exploring the predictable classroom 93 teacher stress in addition to the effects that teachers’ emotional supportiveness can have on students, we are also aware that there are many factors that may influence teachers’ average levels of support and variability in supportiveness in the classroom. in particular, we examined the role of stress. as with parents (anthony et al., 2005; denham, 1989; 1993), teachers’ management of their own emotional lives undoubtedly contributes to their socialization of children’s emotional competence (denham et al., 2012; denham, mitchell-copeland, standberg, auerbach, & blair, 1997). consequently, teachers’ management of their emotions may be directly related to their experience of stress at work. job-related stress, such as feeling pressured by families, lack of sufficient resources, perceptions of appreciation, long work hours, etc. (curbow, spratt, ungaretti, mcdonnell, & breckler, 2000) may undermine teachers’ ability to provide consistent and emotionally supportive classrooms. stressed or emotionally exhausted teachers on the “burnout cascade” (jennings & greenberg, 2009) may be less able to manage the social and emotional challenges in their classroom, which ultimately may lead to negative child outcomes. for instance, less emotionally competent teachers have students who show poorer attention and greater problem behavior (marzano, marzano, & pickering, 2003). many aspects of teacher stress have been explored, including: causal pathways to explain teacher stress (e.g., tellenback et al, 1983), how teachers cope with stress (e.g., borg & falzon, 1990), how schools can reduce stress (sheffield et al, 1994), and intervention programs for stressed teachers (roger & hudson, 1995). however, little of this research has included the impacts of stress on the learning environments of students and how stress may attenuate the emotional support that teachers provide. in his review, kyriacou (2001) called for additional research into how external demands and pressures on teachers may impact positive teacherstudent interactions. in the present study, we heeded kyriacou’s call and anticipate an association between teachers’ perceptions of their own stress and their ability to provide an emotionally supportive and consistent environment for children. children’s age and gender we also recognize that there are many factors beyond teacher stress and teacher support that may influence child behavior. children’s social and emotional behaviors differ according to age, gender, and risk status. emotion and behavior regulation develop throughout the time children are in preschool, with older children showing greater competencies in these areas (mccabe & brooks-gunn, 2009). similarly, prosocial behavior increases with age (denham & couchound, 1991) and emotional expressiveness decreases (denny, denny, & rust, 1982). when differences are found, girls express more positive emotions (garner, robertson, & smith, 2008) and display more prosocial behaviors than boys (denham, mckinley, couchoud, & holt, 1990). in order to account for these differences, our models included child age and gender. head start and private centers in addition to child-level differences, there are differences between public preschool programs, such as head start, and for-profit centers that typically serve children who are at less economic 94 zinsser et al. risk. children from low-income families tend to be at-risk for developmental difficulties in the areas of emotional and behavioral regulation (morrison et al., 2010) and relationship skills (phillip & lonigan, 2010). although high-quality centers can be found in all types of childcare (helburn, 1995), there is some concern that various differences (e.g., level of poverty, oversight by governing body, sources of funding, and accountability to regulators) may have implications for program quality and child outcomes (morris & helburn, 2000). yet, sosinsky and colleagues found that positive care-giving interactions were more frequent in nonprofit childcare centers (e.g., head start) and preschools than in for-profit, private child care centers. some programmatic differences may impact teacher stress and the provision of consistent, high quality emotional support in the classroom. for example, sosinsky, lord, & zigler (2007) found that, in general, nonprofit childcare is of higher quality and the teachers are paid more and are better educated. therefore, we tested differences between public head start centers vs. private forprofit centers. present study the aim of this study is to determine whether variability in emotional support is related to children’s social and emotional behaviors and whether variability in emotional support is equally deleterious to children’s social-emotional functioning at all levels of supportiveness. in addition, we aim to understand how the effects of these potential interactions on preschoolers’ behaviors may also be associated with the other critical features of the school environment, namely, teachers’ stress levels and center type (head start vs.private). specifically, we address the following research questions: (a) what are the differences between private and head start centers on measures of teacher stress, emotional support, and children’s social and emotional behavior? (b) what is the role of teacher stress on child social-emotional functioning in the classroom? (c) what are the separate and combined associations of overall mean level and variability in emotional support with child social-emotional functioning? methods participants participants were part of a larger study focused on developing a direct assessment battery for measuring the social and emotional aspects of school readiness. teachers were recruited at staff meetings at the beginning of the school year and completed questionnaires over the winter and spring of that same year. the teachers in both center types (head start n = 9, for-profit private n = 32) were all female. head start teachers were 41.7% african american, 33.3% caucasian, and 25.0% other (asian, native american, or pacific islander). private center teachers were 33.3% african american, 54.5% caucasian, and 18.0% other (asian, native american, or pacific islander). threeand 4-year-olds (head start n = 98, private n = 179) were recruited from the classrooms of participating teachers at head starts and private childcare centers in the northern virginia area. about half the head start students were african american (50.5%) and a predominant exploring the predictable classroom 95 number of children in private centers were caucasian (66.0%). children at both center types were nearly evenly split by gender (51.0% female). measures emotional support. observations of emotional support were coded using the classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta et al., 2008) over four contiguous observation cycles within a day. each observation cycle consisted of a 20-minute observation followed by a 10-minute rating period. during each rating cycle, ten dimensions of quality in teachers’ interactions with children were coded. each dimension was scored on a likert-type scale from 1 = low to 7 = high. based on theoretical (hamre & pianta, 2007) and empirical (mashburn, hamre, downer, & pianta, 2007) work, three domains are formed from ten dimensions: emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. the present study focuses only on the emotional support of the classroom. emotional support is an average of four observed dimensions (α = 0.81): positive climate, negative climate (reversed), teacher sensitivity, and regard for student perspectives. positive climate describes the extent to which teachers create an emotional atmosphere conducive to learning. teachers whose interactions foster relational closeness, enthusiasm, and respect rate highly on positive climate. negative climate (reversed for analysis) refers to teachers’ expressed irritability, anger, or aggression. teacher sensitivity captures teachers’ interactions that support individual student needs, academic or emotional. regard for student perspectives describes the degree to which the teachers’ interactions with students and classroom activities place an emphasis on students’ interests, motivations, and points of view, rather than being teacher-driven (hamre & pianta, 2007). variability in emotional support. within-day variability was calculated for emotional support by computing the standard deviation (sd) across a given teacher’s four class observations. this measure of variability in emotional support was entered into the models described below as a predictor in sd units. training and reliability. all raters attended a two-day training in which video segments of actual classrooms were observed in relation to the class scoring manual. to be deemed reliable at the end of the training, raters had to score within one scale point of the master code on 80% of the dimensions across five, 20-minute videos. this criterion was met or exceeded by all raters. beyond these criteria, in the current study approximately 20% of the classroom observations were dual-coded, with two trained class raters observing the same teacher during the cycle. intra-class correlations (icc) for those dual-coded segments were high and ranged from 0.69 to 0.88, with an average correlation of 0.80. teacher stress. the job demands scale of the teacher-reported child care worker job stress inventory (ccwjsi; curbow et al., 2000) was used to assess teacher stress. the ccwjsi was developed through a combination of qualitative and quantitative research, and the full measure consists of three scales (job demands, job control, and job resources). for these analyses, we used only teachers’ responses to 17 job demands scale questions about their frequency of experiencing various stressful events or feelings in the classroom on a five-point 96 zinsser et al. likert scale from 1 = rarely/never to 5 = most of the time. items included statements like “parents come late to pick up their children,” “i feel i should be paid more for the work i do,” and “all of the children need attention at the same time.” this measure has been used previously with head start and private preschool teachers (zhai, raver, & li-grining, 2011) and prior work has shown that teachers’ experiences of high job demands are associated with feelings of burnout and exhaustion (curbow et al., 2000; li-grining et al., 2010). in the present study the 17 items of the job demands scale were averaged to form a composite indicator of teacher stress which showed adequate reliability (α = 0.82). children’s social-emotional functioning. the minnesota preschool affect checklist (mpac; denham et al., 2012) was originally created as an observational means of assessing children’s emotional expression, emotion regulation, and social behavior (sroufe, schork, motti, lawroski, & lafreniere, 1984), and was subsequently adapted by denham and colleagues (mpac-revised; denham & burton, 1996; denham, zahn-waxler, cummings, & iannotti, 1991). in this study, the revised and shortened version (mpac-r/s; denham et al., 2012) was used to record children’s social-emotional functioning observed on four separate school days in five minute intervals. all observations were conducted during the last four months of the school year. coders were encouraged to observe during less structured periods (e.g., center time, outside recess, gym, etc.) as opposed to teacher-led instructional time. behaviors were observed using six scales of social-emotional functioning: positive affect expression (theree items), negative affect expression (two items), involvement (four items; e.g. “the child is engrossed, absorbed, intensely involved in activity”), prosocial behaviors (four items; e.g. “the child jointly works with a peer or group of peers to achieve a common goal”), regulation of emotions (three items; e.g. “the child promptly verbally expresses feelings arising from a problem situation, then moves on to the same or a new activity”), and aggressive behaviors (three items; e.g. “the child displays context-related interpersonal aggression”). regarding inter-observer reliability, a master coder and trained observers completed the mpac-r/s’ six subscales across 19 reliability segments; average measure iccs for the group were high and ranged from 0.84 to 0.98 across subscales, with an average correlation of 0.95 (sd = .04). ongoing work with the mpac-r/s has established a threecomponent model, combining negative affect and aggressive behavior (emotionally negative/aggressive); positive reactions to frustration and productive involvement in the environment (emotionally regulated/productive); and positive affect and peer skills like joining activities with prosocial skills like sharing, listening, and cooperating (emotionally positive/prosocial). alphas for these factors were .71 for emotionally negative/aggressive (five items), .47 for emotionally positive/prosocial (seven items) and .57 for emotionally regulated/productive (six items). together, these three factors capture a wide variety of important aspects of children’s social-emotional functioning, and will be used in the following analyses. data analysis analyses examined the contribution of child-level characteristics (gender and age in months) and classroom-level variables (teacher stress, emotional support mean, variability in emotional support, and the emotional support mean x variability interaction) to children’s exploring the predictable classroom 97 social-emotional functioning (emotionally negative/ aggressive, emotionally regulated/ prosocial, and emotionally positive/productive). following preliminary analyses, hierarchical linear modeling (hlm; raudenbush & bryk, 2002) was used to account for the fact that there were multiple children in the same classroom. hlm is a more complicated version of traditional least squares regression. hlm is able to account for the fact that multiple children are in the same classroom. the data from these children are not independent, which violates a major assumption of typical multiple regressions. furthermore, it is the dependence (or shared variance) that we are interested in predicting using variables associated with the teacher and classroom. hlm adjusts the standard errors to appropriately model the structure of the data (osborn, 2007). hlm partitions variance in the outcome associated with child-level predictors (level-1) from variance in the outcome associated with classroom-level predictors (level-2). predictors can thus be added at each level. the following equations represent our analyses: level-1 model yij = b 0 + b 1(male) + b 2(age) + r level-2 model b 0 = γ00 + γ 01(stress) + γ 02(emo. mean) + γ 03(emo. sd) + γ 04(emo. mean x sd) + u0 the level-1 equation describes within-classroom variance based on children’s characteristics. for child i in classroom j, the expected outcome, y, is equal to the classroom average for that outcome, b0, plus an effect for his or her gender (male = 1), b1, plus an effect for his or her average age, b2, plus error, rij. the level-2 equation models between classroom variance using stress, mean emotional support, and emotional support variability. thus, the classroom average in each outcome, b0, is equal to a grand average, γ 00, plus effects for average teacher stress, γ 01, plus the effect for the average mean levels of emotional support across all teachers, γ 02, plus the average effect for variability in emotional support for all teachers, γ 03, plus the average effect for the moderation of mean emotional support by variability in emotional support, γ 04, plus error, u0. the variables age, stress, mean emotional support and variability in emotional support were centered according to their respective grand means across the entire dataset; the dichotomous variable “male” was not centered so that the intercept would represent females and the coefficient for male would represent the difference from that intercept for males. all variables on level-2 were grand mean centered for two reasons: firstly, centering accounts for multicollinearity (cohen, cohen, aiken & west, 2002), and secondly, centering generally yields estimates of b that are more easily interpreted. as a preliminary first step, we examined the descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations in addition to the between center type t-tests. next, unconditional hlm models for both head start and private centers were analyzed to estimate the amount of variance at the child and classroom levels. unconditional multi-level models account for the nested structure of the data and its impact on each behavioral outcome and enabled us to calculate the amount of childlevel and classroom-level variance for each outcome. by contrast, conditional models included all level-1 and level-2 predictors and allowed us to answer our research questions. then, the conditional models were run separately for head start and private centers, a decision which is discussed in turn, for each of the three social-emotional factors, totaling six sets of analyses. 98 zinsser et al. results descriptive statistics means, standard deviations, and t-tests for all variables are presented in the bottom portion of table 1 for each center type. starting at the bottom of table 1, t-tests revealed a number of statistically significant differences between children and teachers in private and head start centers. children differed in their levels of emotionally negative/aggressive behavior and age and teachers differed in their mean emotional support and were nearly significantly different in stress. in addition, head start classrooms had teachers who were, on average, less stressed, less variable, and more emotionally supportive than private center teachers. this prompted us to also examine whether correlation patterns were similar across private and head start centers. private center correlation patterns presented above the diagonal in table 1 are quite different from the head start correlation patterns seen below the diagonal in table 1. in head start classrooms, there were no statistically significant correlations with teacher stress. however, more emotionally supportive teachers were less variable and tended to teach older students in our sample. none of the child-level variables were correlated in the head start sample. in private centers, teachers’ mean level and consistency in emotional support were significantly and negatively correlated, indicating that more supportive teachers tended to be less variable. additionally, more stressed private teachers tended to be less supportive overall and more variable in their provision of support. their students also tended to display less regulation and involvement. more supportive private teachers had students who displayed fewer negative or aggressive behaviors and more regulation and involvement behaviors. classrooms in private centers with older students also tended to have more supportive teachers who were less variable in their support. observed emotionally negative/aggressive behaviors in children from private classrooms were negatively correlated with emotionally positive/prosocial behaviors. additionally, correlations show that boys and older students displayed more involvement and regulation behaviors. exploring the predictable classroom 99 table 1 bivariate correlations, descriptive statistics, and t-test results in private centers and head start samples. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1. stress -0.20 ** 0.36 ** 0.17 -0.18 * -0.14 -0.06 0.07 2. es a mean -0.03 0.33 ** -0.15 * 0.17 * -0.01 0.06 0.28 ** 3. es a variability 0.09 -0.28 ** 0.07 0.05 -0.02 -0.14 * -0.17 * 4. emotionally negative/aggressive 0.01 -0.07 0.04 0.02 -0.17* 0.06 -0.19 * 5. emotionally regulated/productive 0.08 -0.03 0.04 0.11 -0.04 0.14 * 0.19 ** 6. emotionally positive/prosocial 0 0.04 -0.14 -0.16 0.13 -0.06 0.04 7. sex c 0.08 0.12 -0.11 -0.03 0.10 0.15 0.08 8. age d -0.16 0.22 * -0.06 0.02 -0.15 0.14 -0.14 n private 32 32 32 179 179 179 179 179 mean private 3.12 4.04 0.35 0.17 -0.05 -0.07 52.12 sd private 0.58 0.64 0.17 1.02 1.10 0.98 0.50 8.01 n head start 9 9 9 98 98 98 98 98 mean head start 2.57 4.58 0.28 -0.31 0.08 0.12 56.88 sd head start 0.69 0.36 0.10 0.90 0.80 1.02 0.50 6.40 t-test mean d -1.84 † 3.24 * -1.06 -4.33 * 1.21 1.65 5.75 * note: private center correlations presented above the diagonal, head start correlations presented below; all variables are reported prior to centering; a emotion support; b sex coded as 0 = female, 1 = male; 51% of children each center type were female; c age reported in months; d equal variances not assumed. † p < .10, * p < .05, ** p< .01 100 zinsser et al. unconditional models and center-type differences examination of the intraclass correlations (iccs) for the unconditional models (the uppermost portion of table 2) indicated that the amount of children’s social-emotional behavior attributable to the classrooms varied greatly across center type. head start classrooms accounted for 0 – 1% of the variance in children’s outcomes whereas in private centers, classrooms accounted for 12 – 22% of the variance. altogether, mean differences between center-type, correlational differences between center-type, and icc differences between center-type led us to decide to run all analyses separately for head start and private centers. given the differences in correlations between head start and private centers, running two sets of analyses allowed the associations within each respective center-type to vary. although running two sets of analyses results in a loss of statistical power, the combined sample together does not have sufficient power to support the interactions required at an acceptable type i error rate (cohen et al., 2002). table 2 results from the hlm analyses examining the contribution of private preschool and head start teacher stress and emotional support to children’s observed social-emotional functioning. emotionally emotionally emotionally negative/aggressive regulated/productive positive/prosocial head start private head start private head start private icc 0.00 0.12 ** 0.00 0.22 *** 0.01 0.10 * bhead start bprivate bhead start bprivate bhead start bprivate intercept -0.27 0.08 0.06 -0.21 † -0.13 -0.04 stress 0.09 0.01 0.18 -0.43 ** 0.03 -0.24 † mean es -0.36 -0.07 -0.25 0.19 -0.14 -0.08 variability in es -1.90 0.85 -2.96 1.58 ** -0.93 -0.13 mean x variability 3.88 2.21 * 6.50 1.16 0.29 -0.51 sex (1 = male) 0.02 0.12 0.14 0.33 † 0.45 * -0.06 age in months 0.01 -0.02 * -0.01 0.03* 0.03 † 0.01 note: hlm = hierarchical linear modeling; icc = intraclass correlation † p < .10, * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 head start model. the conditional head start hlm model was run to address the second and third research questions about the contribution of teachers’ stress, teachers’ mean level of emotional support, and teachers’ variability in emotional support on children’s socialemotional functioning. analyses indicated that none of the children’s social-emotional functioning could be explained by teacher stress, mean level and variability in emotional support, or the moderation of mean level by variability (see table 2). following these statistically nonsignificant results for the head start sample, the remaining reported statistics will refer to private center model results. exploring the predictable classroom 101 private center model. using the model specified above, the research questions were addressed by including teacher-level variables (teacher stress, mean-level emotional support, and variability in emotion support) and child-level control variables (gender and age) in a model predicting children’s social-emotional functioning. in private centers, teacher stress was statistically and negatively related to children’s displays of emotionally regulated/productive behavior and trended towards significance for emotionally positive/prosocial. teacher’s mean level of emotional support was not significantly related to any aspects of children’s observed social-emotional functioning. conversely, variability in emotional support was significantly and positively related to children’s emotionally regulated/productive. finally, the moderation of mean by variability in emotional support was statistically related to children’s emotionally negative/aggressive behavior. simple slopes and an interaction graph were calculated and produced to further explore the statistically significant interaction term from the hlm analyses (holmbeck, 2002; shacham, 2009). the graph of the moderation (figure 1) reveals that the association between children’s behavior and their teachers’ mean-level emotional support is dependent on teachers’ variability in emotional support. children in classrooms with teachers who were, on average, very supportive, displayed more negative emotion and aggression if their teacher was also highly variable (one standard deviation above the mean) in emotional support, an association that was found to be statistically significant. conversely, in classrooms with less emotionally supportive teachers, variability can be beneficial, with students displaying fewer emotionally negative and aggressive behaviors if their teachers were more variable. however, the range in observed emotionally negative/aggressive behavior was much narrower in these less supportive classrooms. 102 zinsser et al. e m o ti o n a ll y n eg a ti v e /a g g re ss iv e e m o ti o n a ll y n eg a ti v e /a g g re ss iv e 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 b = 1.41 ** b = -.07 emotional support variability low (-1 sd) average -0.1 -0.2 high (+1 sd) -0.3 -0.4 -0.5 b = -1.56 ** low (-1 sd) average high (+1 sd) mean emotional support figure 1. private center mean emotional support moderated by variability in emotional support predicting children’s emotionally negative/aggressive behavior exploring the predictable classroom 103 discussion the findings of this study are in line with previous research showing that preschoolers’ development of social-emotional competence is, in part, dependent on quality interactions with teachers (mashburn et al., 2007; mashburn & pianta, 2006). we had two sets of findings based on the fact that this sample of head start and private preschool classrooms, showed different patterns of associations. we found that head start teachers tended to be less stressed, more supportive, and more consistent than private center teachers. additionally, in the head start sample, knowing teacher stress, supportiveness, or variability did not help explain any of the observed child behaviors. in regards to private preschool classrooms, there were some additional important findings. first, children in private classrooms with less stressed teachers tended to display more emotion regulation, productive involvement, emotionally positive, and prosocial behaviors than children in private classrooms with more stressed teachers. second, in private preschool, variability in emotional support predicted children’s displays of emotional regulation and productivity. finally, we found that consistency of emotional support moderated the association between mean levels of emotional support and children’s outcomes in private classrooms. the association between teachers' emotional support and children’s negative and aggressive behavior was, in part, dependent on the level of variability in emotional support. children in private classrooms with very supportive teachers showed more negative emotion and aggression if their teacher was inconsistent in providing that support. however, in less emotionally supportive classrooms, consistency was associated with more negative and aggressive behaviors. together, these findings add to a growing body of evidence that classroom interactions are not necessarily captured best through averaged ratings, but must also include the degree of stability children experience in the classroom. center type differences head start centers included in this study were meaningfully different from private centers. children in head start centers experienced, on average, consistently higher levels of emotional support in their interactions with teachers than those in private childcare classrooms. in other words, across head start classrooms, students experienced similar levels of average emotional support and variability in emotional support, which may account for the mean differences we found in observed social-emotional behaviors. head start teachers reported significantly less stress on average than teachers in private centers, and this difference may be contributing to their ability to provide a consistent, high quality classroom. some differences between head start and private centers were expected based on the work by sosinsky and colleagues (2007), but not necessarily to the extent evident in these results. furthermore, the differences between centers are congruent with anecdotal reports from research assistants of head start classrooms appearing “more calm” and more “under control” when compared to private centers visited as part of this project. 104 zinsser et al. variability moderated the association between emotional support and social functioning children in emotionally supportive classrooms experience positive and responsive interactions with adults, and these types of relationships have been well established as contributors to children’s regulation skills, social behavior, and emotional understanding (e.g., howes, 2000). we sought to add to the literature on both classroom climate and children’s socialemotional functioning, and add the construct of variability into the theoretical discussion of what it means to be a high quality teacher. assessments of quality teaching have mostly been used in ways that emphasize overall classroom experiences without accounting for variability. interestingly, despite the focus in the field on overall levels of quality in preschool classrooms (hamre & pianta, 2007), we found that mean levels of emotional support were not associated with children’s observed social-emotional behaviors or with variability in emotional support in the model. by adding variability to our understanding of teacher quality, we were better able to explain the associations between teacher quality and children’s social-emotional functioning. as socializers of children’s emotional competence, teachers play a vital role in helping children learn how to accurately predict and respond to others’ emotions (denham, et al., 2012). children with emotionally variable teachers may feel less confident in social interactions, leading to displays of poorer social competence and a greater number of problem behaviors than peers in classrooms with less variable teachers. emotionally inconsistent teachers may also make it more difficult for children to learn important social and emotional skills of early childhood. consequently, children may be unwilling to engage with teachers who are unpredictable in their reactions. for example, if a child has experienced both welcoming and punitive responses when asking a teacher for help, he may be less likely to ask for help in the future. our findings add to an emerging body of research on the importance of variability. curby and colleagues (2013) found that consistency in emotional support was a better predictor of children’s social and academic outcomes than mean levels. however, although this work highlights the importance of understanding teacher variability in addition to mean levels of emotional support, the current investigation emphasizes the fact that it is consistency combined with overall levels of emotional support that matter (at least for children in private preschool). variability affects children’s behavior differently depending on the teacher’s overall level of emotional support. when combined with the previous work of others (i.e., curby et al., 2011), these findings necessitate that program directors and researchers reconsider their reliance on solely averaged ratings from classroom observations, and attend instead to the variable ways teachers interact with students. stress & variability in the current study, we sought to understand how teacher stress impacts children’s observable behavior, possibly by way of the teachers’ interactions with students. substantial research has investigated how teacher stress can impact teacher efficacy and child behavior (jennings & greenberg, 2009; kyriacou, 2001; marzano et al., 2003). our results indicated that teachers reporting higher levels of stress were observed to be less supportive overall and less consistent in their supportiveness. this suggests that stressed teachers face their classrooms with depleted exploring the predictable classroom 105 emotional resources, making it more difficult for them to provide consistent, emotionally supportive environments. stressed teachers may react less predictably to unwanted child behaviors and generally undermine children’s social-emotional functioning by making the classroom a less predictable and comfortable place. additionally, stressed teachers may be less enthusiastic and/or less predictable in their support of positive child behaviors. collectively, our results lend support to the notion that teacher stress is an important factor influencing the teacher-child relationship and ultimately impacting child outcomes. limitations & future directions although social interactions have repeatedly been found to be fundamental to children’s development, we cannot speak to the causal effects of stress on teacher’s variability or of variability on child behavior without an experimental intervention. intervention research into the impact of variability would be useful in this regard. we found center type difference in stress, support, and variability, but we do not know the source of these differences. there may be myriad organizational differences, such as levels of teacher education, access to training, and even emotional support provided to the teachers from administrators or peers. additionally, we know that not all head starts are the same, and this sample was limited both in size and geographic representation, so our conclusions may not fully represent the experiences of all students in head start. despite the small sample head start, standard estimates, such as r, and associations between variance components, like iccs, are standardized and independent of sample size, suggesting that conclusions drawn from the head start results are not suffering from type ii error. however, given the small sample, the findings from this study are limited in their generalizability and should still be looked at with caution. future investigations involving more balanced sample sizes and a more representative selection of centers will be necessary to fully understand center type differences. although the majority of results discussed here have applied only to teachers and students in private centers, an alternative view is of the beneficial differences in head start classrooms. the significantly higher overall levels of emotional support and its consistency, coupled with lower teacher stress and child negative/aggressive behavior seen in our small head start sample should alert administrators and policy-makers to the additional benefits of programmatic differences between head start and private care. we hoped that the inclusion of stress in our model would capture some of these programmatic differences. it is clear that additional work will be needed to illuminate fully the processes that impact a teacher’s ability to provide high quality, consistent, emotional support to her students. greater understanding of these processes may be possible through more ethnographic or mixed-methods approaches and should focus on predictors of consistency in emotional support. conclusion in sum, the literature suggests that high quality, consistent, and supportive interactions with caregivers have advantageous impacts on child development across social and cognitive domains, and the current study affirms and expands this line of research. the center differences suggest the possibility of underlying 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(2007). the scientific base linking social and emotional learning to school success. journal of educational and psychological consultation, 17, p.191210. doi:10.1080/10474410701413145 dialog, 16(1), 189-193 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary the importance of home-school communication as a tool for engaging latino parents julia l. mendez, diana westerberg, and m. alexander thibeault university of north carolina at greensboro this article discusses a study that examined multiple types of parent involvement with a sample of latino immigrant parents whose children were enrolled in head start. findings suggest that cultural factors, parental efficacy, and parents’ ability to communicate with the school impacted parent involvement. the results suggest that head start programs can promote parent involvement among latino immigrant populations by incorporating cultural values and offering services, such as esl classes, to increase interest and facilitate communication. the importance of helping parents overcome language barriers and providing specific information about the types of involvement at home and school to parents is also discussed. the primary objective of head start has been to enhance the social and cognitive competence of preschool children, while also promoting parent involvement. today, latinos are one of the largest groups served by head start programs (36%) and over one quarter of all children attending head start live in households where english is not the primary language spoken (aikens, tarullo, hulsey, ross, west, & xue, 2010). to maximize the impact of head start for these children, it is essential that we understand the needs, values, and beliefs of latino parents and their children. prior research has established the benefit of parent involvement on children’s academic performance as early as preschool. parent involvement can occur in both home and school contexts. some research demonstrates that structural barriers associated with poverty and parent satisfaction with head start interfere with latino parents’ involvement (mcwayne, campos, & owsianik, 2008; mendez & westerberg, 2012). parental self-efficacy, acculturative status, and parents’ ability to communicate with the school might also impact parents’ involvement in education. to better understand these relations, we conducted a study of parent involvement in three domains: home, school, and the home-school relationship. first, we examined potential differences among scales measuring home involvement, school involvement, and home-school conferencing to understand the relative levels of involvement and differences associated with context. next, we examined differences in parent involvement with respect to acculturation. we 190 mendez et al. tentatively hypothesized that parents who endorse high levels of latino cultural identity may be more involved in the home but not necessarily the school due to the cultural belief that involvement in this setting is disrespectful to the teacher. third, we examined the impact of factors that might increase or decrease different types of parent involvement. specifically, we thought that parents who reported high levels of economic stress and other barriers associated with poverty would show lower levels of parent involvement in all domains. finally, we tested whether parent characteristics including selfefficacy and communication skills might predict higher parent involvement above and beyond the impact of parent economic stress and demographic factors. ultimately, we intended to study whether various dimensions of parent involvement are compromised when parents report having difficulty in overcoming a language barrier. summary of research methods latino parents of children enrolled in head start programs who expressed interest in an adult literacy and parenting program were eligible for this study. a total of 63 latino parents participated in the study representing a variety of countries of origin including ecuador (30.2%), brazil (20.7%), mexico (20.6%), , honduras (17.5%), peru (4.8%), colombia (3.2%), and puerto rico (1.6%). participants’ median length of residency in the us was six years (range = 1—20 years; mode = six years) and 95% of the sample reported living in the united states for 10 or fewer years. this study was conducted over a three-year period in partnership with a community action agency offering head start services in accordance with approvals from our university institutional review board. parents were recruited to participate through head start centers using various forms of communication. the intervention and parent interviews were completed with a spanish interpreter. all study measures were selected for their use in prior published research with latino samples where possible and showed good internal consistency and validity. measures included parent involvement in early childhood education (home involvement, school involvement, and home-school conferencing), parental efficacy regarding children’s education, communication in educational settings, barriers to involvement, and acculturation. major findings based on latino parents’ overall scores for involvement in children’s education, results suggest that participants were most involved at home, followed by participation in home-school conferencing activities. parents were least involved in the school setting, which includes activities such as volunteering in the classroom or going on fieldtrips. results also indicate that these domains are related: parents who tend to be involved in one domain or setting were more likely to be involved in other domains. parental efficacy, defined as parent’s belief in their ability to contribute positively to their children’s educational success, was negatively related to school based involvement and native cultural identity. communication abilities positively related to home involvement and home school conferencing, but not to school involvement. lastly, there was a positive relation between parent efficacy and communication abilities. home-school communication 191 overall, parents in our study highly identified with latino cultural values and reported moderate levels of u.s. acculturation. when parents were split into groups based on their level of acculturation to the united states, more acculturated parents showed higher levels of school involvement. in looking at what factors best predict parent involvement even when accounting for demographic and acculturation factors, parents’ ability to communicate predicted higher levels of all three types of involvement, whereas parent efficacy predicted lower levels of school involvement. implications for practice this study provided data on a sample of latino immigrant parents and their associated levels of parent involvement in head start. one contribution of the study was to examine factors associated with parent involvement for this understudied population across the different contexts of home and school. the results suggest that our understanding of factors that promote parent involvement for latino children is only emerging; moreover, results may differ from those obtained with samples of older latino children and their parents. latino families are a heterogeneous population, defined by variability in their level of acculturation, familiarity with u.s. culture and schooling, and language competence. additionally, latino parents range in characteristics previously included in conceptual models of parent involvement, such as parental role construction and parent self efficacy (hoover-dempsey & sandler, 1997). because parents’ perceptions of their communication ability is related to involvement, head start might benefit from stronger policies endorsing the importance of using language interpreters, bilingual staff members, and translation of written materials into multiple languages. this is a tremendous challenge for programs that serve latino and other immigrant origin children who represent many different home languages in addition to spanish. because communication is a variable that can be modified or enhanced, greater attention to how this process unfolds between parents with limited english proficiency and teachers/staff may result in an improvement in parent involvement in all domains. we found that parents who endorsed their native identity as important were also reporting lower levels of self efficacy with regard to their children’s education in the u.s. we believe this means that parents who have less familiarity and comfort with u.s. schools and culture may be less confident in their ability to help their children succeed in school. this finding might also reflect a latino parent’s role construction suggesting that schools are responsible for children’s academic achievement, and that parental involvement in the school setting is disrespectful to teachers and their expertise (dumas, arriga, begle, & longoria 2010). head start programs may wish to assess parents’ views on involvement and provide information about how parents play an essential role during the preschool period. understanding how latino parents wish to contribute to their child’s development requires head start to engage in dialogue with these families. an important finding, which replicates other work on latino family involvement and has significant practice implications, is the high level of home-based involvement reported by latino families in our study. low levels of school involvement relative to home involvement are reported throughout the literature with latino populations (e.g. marinez-lora & quintana, 2009), and this difference emerges during preschool (mcwayne et al., 2008). because home-based involvement is a more natural fit with latino parents’ cultural beliefs, intervention strategies 192 mendez et al. might encourage and celebrate high levels of home involvement during preschool. intervention programs that provide parent education and opportunities for modeling parent-child interactions in the home, such as parents as teachers, can be consistent with cultural values. head start programs should carefully monitor efforts to increase school-based involvement among latino parents. for example, providing culturally-relevant information regarding the benefits for children whose parents are involved in home and school might be effective and benefit latino families with low levels of participation. another example of an effective practice is teacher invitations for parent involvement (marinez-lora & quintana, 2009). the process of teacher outreach to families, whether in person or via interpreters or translated written materials, may increase satisfaction and enhance the likelihood of school involvement by latino parents (mcwayne et al., 2008). workshops that provide sustained and repeated opportunities for parents to learn about the school system and strategies for promoting child development will likely be well-received and appreciated by latino parents, especially those that are embedded with latino cultural values, such as respeto and familismo. lastly, increased attention to cultural factors might inform the design and development of culturally relevant parent involvement programs. latino individuals may experience acculturative stress associated from exposure to different worldviews and cultural expectations (berry, 2006). therefore, providing opportunities for immigrant or latino parents with children attending head start to support one another could be a critical element in promoting greater family involvement and home-school connection (see mendez & westerberg, 2012, for discussion of implementing parent excellence intervention with latino parents). berry (2006) notes that aspects of the receiving context for immigrants (e.g. in this case, head start programs in the u.s.) can play a significant role in the success of families in promoting a healthy, bicultural identity for children. it is recommended that members of the head start community strive to embrace and not underestimate the contributions of culture made to the development and emergence of competence for latino children. these efforts will likely involve the development and testing of new methods and practices for promoting parent engagement by latino and other immigrant groups who enroll their children in head start. the take-home message from our study is that latino parents engage in activities that promote educational success, particularly when they are able to communicate effectively with members of their children’s head start program. references aikens, n., tarullo, l., hulsey, l., ross, c., west, j., & xue, y. (2010). acf-opre report: a year in head start: children, families and programs. washington, dc. u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families. berry, j.w. (2006). acculturation: a conceptual overview. in m.h. bornstein & l.r. cote (eds), acculturation and parent-child relationships: measurement and development (pp.13-30). mahwah, nj: erlbaum. dumas, j. e., arriaga, x., begle, a., & longoria, z. (2010). 'when will your program be available in spanish?' adapting an early parenting intervention for latino families. cognitive and behavioral practice, 17(2), 176-187. doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2010.01.004 hoover-dempsey, k.v. & sandler, h.m. (1997). why do parents become involved in their children’s education? review of educational research, 67, 3-42. doi:10.3102/00346543067001003 maríñez-lora, a. m., & quintana, s. m. (2009). low-income urban african american and latino parents' school involvement: testing a theoretical model. school mental health, 1(4), 212-228. doi:10.1007/s12310-0099015-8 home-school communication 193 mcwayne, c., campos, r. & owsianik, m. (2008). a multidimensional, multilevel examination of mother and father involvement among culturally diverse head start families. journal of school psychology, 46, 551573. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2008.06.001 mendez, j. l., & westerberg, d. (2012). implementation of a culturally adapted treatment to reduce barriers for latino parents. cultural diversity and ethnic minority psychology, doi:10.1037/a0029436 dialog, 16(2), 1 17 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to timothy w. curby, george mason university, department of psychology, 4400 university dr. ms 3f5, fairfax, va, 22030-4444, email: tcurby@gmu.edu research article examining class dimensions as predictors of pre-k children’s development of language, literacy, and mathematics timothy w. curby and catharine chavez george mason university the improving head start for school readiness act of 2007 requires head start programs to monitor quality and demonstrate improvement. many of these programs are using the classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008) to do so. however, given the multidimensional nature of the instrument, policy makers and school personnel may find it difficult to identify starting points for professional development or training. in this study, we disaggregated the three class domains (emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support) to determine which specific dimensions within each domain are most strongly predictive of children’s academic learning. to do this we examined a large sample of state-funded prek programs. results based on hierarchical linear modeling revealed that three dimensions, positive climate, productivity, and concept development, accounted for the majority of the significant relationships found among four academic outcomes. these results suggest that policies, professional development, and observations meant to change or monitor student academic achievement should first focus on these three dimensions of quality. the experience of high quality teacher-child interactions is associated with the development of children’s academic and social skills (peisner-feinberg et al., 2001; hamre & pianta, 2005; curby, locasale-crouch et al., 2009). children who attend classrooms with higher quality social interactions in preschool are better equipped to cope with school tasks and are more likely to do well in school than children who attend lower quality classrooms (peisner-feinberg et al., 2001). for this reason, the improving head start for school readiness act of 2007 requires head start programs to monitor social interaction quality, often done using the classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008). however, the class is a multidimensional framework with numerous quality indicators comprising ten dimensions of effective classroom interaction that are aggregated into three domains. as such, it may be difficult for school personnel to identify starting points for professional development or training. furthermore, if programs achieve higher quality aggregated domains without attaining higher levels in the dimensions of quality most strongly related to children’s outcomes, then there may be diminished impacts of the policy. the present study can inform more effective classroom interventions and professional development programs by providing a narrower set of target behaviors. in other words, if we want to improve one of the domains such as emotional support, where do we start? should teachers smile more, be more enthusiastic, and provide verbal 2 curby and chavez affection and proximity to the students (i.e., positive climate) or should they focus more on identifying and responding to individual students’ learning needs (i.e., teacher sensitivity)? the present study can help inform these decisions. teacher-child interactions children’s experience of quality of the classroom environment is centered on the interactions they have with teachers and peers (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006). high quality teacher-child interactions in classrooms are positively associated with children’s academic and social development (howes et al., 2008; roeser, eccles, & sameroff, 2000). because children’s academic trajectories are established at an early age (alexander & entwisle, 1988; peisnerfeinberg et al., 2001), and children’s achievement varies substantially by their school environments (hill, bloom, black, & lipsey, 2007), it is important to identify the specific dimensions of teacher-child interactions that predict positive gains in children’s academic outcomes. one perspective researchers have taken in examining classroom interactions is the classroom assessment scoring system (class) framework (hamre & pianta, 2007). the class framework identifies three global domains of classroom interactions (hamre, pianta, mashburn, & downer, 2007): emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. scores on these domains are actually aggregates of 10 measured dimensions when using the class instrument (pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008). emotional support emotional support refers to the ability of teachers to create a safe and warm atmosphere, respond to individual needs of children, and provide children with autonomy-supporting situations (hamre & pianta, 2007). higher levels of emotional support have not only been associated with children’s social outcomes such as having higher social competence and fewer problem behaviors (mashburn et al., 2008; wilson, pianta, & stuhlman, 2007), but it has also related to academic learning (early et al. 2007; national institute of child health and human development early child care research network [nichd eccrn], 2003; pianta, belsky et al., 2008), and behavioral engagement (downer, rimm-kaufman, & pianta, 2007). emotional support is comprised of four specific dimensions: positive climate, negative climate, teacher sensitivity, and regard for student perspectives. positive climate. one aspect of emotional support, positive climate, includes teacherchild interactions that focus on relationships, positive affect, positive communication, and respect (pianta, la paro et al., 2008). in classrooms with high quality positive climate, teachers form positive relationships with students. there is also evidence that the teacher has established trusting and supportive relationships with children (battistich, schaps, watson, & solomon, 1996; birch & ladd, 1998), which can be observed, for example, by the teacher putting hand on the back of a child while helping the child at a center. these teacher-child relationships have been linked to children’s higher levels of engagement and achievement (hughes & kwok, 2007; dimensions as predictors 3 hughes, luo, kwok, & loyd, 2008) and lower levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviors (o’connor, dearing, & collins, 2011). negative climate. negative climate describes the overall negativity in the classroom and is used as a reversed indicator of emotional support (pianta, laparo et al., 2008). negative climate includes measures of the degree of irritability, negative affect, and anger in the classroom. in general, classrooms that have some negative climate show verbal negativity and irritability, which includes the teacher and children raising their voices and using disrespectful language and sarcasm. for example, if a teacher shames a child for not knowing an answer, it is classified as negative climate. in relatively rare occurrences, teachers may display severe negativity, which include instances of bullying, physical punishment, and victimization. negativity may, therefore, inhibit children’s attention to academic material and reduce opportunities to learn. teacher sensitivity. teacher sensitivity refers to the degree to which the teacher is aware of the children’s academic and emotional needs and is able to respond to meet the children’s needs (wentzel, 2002). highly sensitive teachers notice if and when a particular child might need extra support or attention. furthermore, a sensitive teacher does not only notice when some children are struggling, but the teacher also knows how to respond to the children. for example, a teacher may know that a child is shy, so the teacher may give extra cues and encouragement to participate during a storybook reading (curby, rudasill, edwards, & perezedgar, 2011). moreover, children in classrooms with teachers that provide high quality teacher sensitivity may be more comfortable seeking support from the teacher or participating in activities, thereby setting the stage for more academic learning. regard for student perspectives. regard for student perspectives describes how well the teacher is able to incorporate the children’s interests in class activities and encourage children to take responsibility and to express themselves (pianta, laparo et al., 2008). a teacher who shows high quality regard for student perspectives is not over-controlling and allows children to have opportunities for choice and leadership (hamre & pianta, 2007). the teacher also encourages children to be autonomous and incorporates their ideas and interests into classroom activities. this autonomy and choice may increase children’s engagement in academic material, and thereby provide a better environment for learning. classroom organization the second global domain of teacher-child interactions is classroom organization, which describes the extent to which the teacher is effective in managing the time, activities, and behavior of the classroom (downer, sabol, & hamre, 2010; emmer & stough, 2001). high levels of classroom organization have been positively associated with children’s self-control (rimm-kaufman, curby, grimm, nathanson, & brock, 2009) and academic achievement (cameron, connor, & morrison, 2005; ponitz, rimm-kaufman, grimm, & curby, 2009). classroom organization is composed of three dimensions: behavior management, productivity, and instructional learning formats. 4 curby and chavez behavior management. high quality behavior management characterizes classrooms where children are actively involved in activities, where there are clear rules and routines that the children follow, and where there is little misbehavior (pianta, laparo et al., 2008). a teacher who provides high quality behavior management is proactive in managing children’s behaviors (bohn, roehrig, & pressley, 2004) and, if problems do arise, is effective in addressing and solving the problems before they escalate. the teacher minimizes misbehavior by establishing rules in the classroom so that the children know what is expected of them, and by drawing attention to positive behaviors. conversely, chaos when there is lack of good behavioral and the classroom could be described as unpredictable may inhibit children’s ability to concentrate on academic tasks (kaplan & berman, 2010). productivity. productivity describes the degree to which a teacher is successful in managing time such that children always have something to do (pianta, laparo et al., 2008). a well-prepared teacher has materials ready and can, therefore, minimize instructional time being lost. for example, a teacher would receive lower productivity scores if she had to go make copies in the middle of an activity. a productive teacher reduces “down-time” by providing another activity for individual children when each child finishes a given activity, such as allowing children to look at books when they are done with an assignment. in addition, the teacher is effective in managing transitions from one activity or classroom to the next and, if appropriate, the teacher incorporates learning into transitions so that instruction time is maximized (arlin, 1979). by always having an activity available to students, teachers are providing students more opportunities to learn, a key determinate of learning (brophy & good, 1986). instructional learning formats. instructional learning formats describes the degree to which the teacher is able to capture children’s interests, support their learning, and engage the children in classroom activities (pianta, laparo et al., 2008). a teacher who provides high quality instructional learning formats uses a variety of modalities and materials, such as audio, visual, and movement modalities, to make the lesson interesting for the children. the teacher also effectively redirects children’s focus on the lesson. in addition, children are actively involved in classroom activities and are engaged, for example, by having a conversation with the teacher. engagement is critical element of learning and therefore it is likely that classrooms with higher levels of instructional learning formats have children that are learning more (fredricks, bulumenfeld, & paris, 2004). instructional support instructional support describes how well the teacher is able to promote children’s learning and understanding of concepts and provide children with process-oriented feedback. instructional support has been found to predict positive outcomes in children’s academic skills (howes et al., 2008; mashburn et al., 2008). instructional support domain is composed of three dimensions: concept development, quality of feedback, and language modeling. concept development. concept development describes the teacher’s use of discussion and activities to support children’s higher-order thinking skills and cognitive development (battistich et al., 1996). the teacher uses why and how questions to promote children’s analysis and reasoning skills. the children are also encouraged to be creative and to dimensions as predictors 5 come up with their own explanations and ideas. a teacher who provides high quality in concept development, helps the children understand new concepts by making connections to familiar concepts and to examples that are related to the children’s own lives. there is some indication that concept development is the most salient aspect of instructional support. curby, locasalecrouch et al. (2009) used profiles of classrooms based on the class measure to predict children’s outcomes. the profile with highest levels of concept development, but not highest on anything else, had children with best academic outcomes. quality of feedback. quality of feedback describes the degree to which the teacher provides information to the children and encourages children to be involved in the lesson through scaffolding, feedback-loops, and encouragement (brophy & evertson, 1976). the teacher helps children understand concepts by providing hints and assistance. the teacher engages children in back-and-forth questioning and asks follow-up questions to encourage children to be involved. for example, a teacher gives feedback to a child about his performance by providing recognition when he shows effort. this focus on providing feedback that promotes student persistence may help children maintain a connection between effort and achievement. language modeling. language modeling describes the degree to which teachers stimulate language learning through their interactions with children (pianta, la paro, et al., 2008). there are a variety of techniques that can promote language development such as asking open-ended questions, repeating what children say, and then extending it with additional language. perhaps the most salient aspect is simply how much conversation there is both between teachers and children and among children. broad vs. targeted professional development once behaviors have been identified for change, then interventions, in the form of professional development, can be developed that help promote change in those behaviors. interventions can be generally thought of as existing on a spectrum from broad to targeted. broad interventions focus on a wide constellation of behaviors. their effects can be more diffuse, but they also are adaptable for a wide range of behaviors. for example, if a program adopts the use cognitive coaching (costa & garmston, 2002), the focus is on implementing a reflective process in which teachers are encouraged to think about their beliefs that undergird their behavior by working with a supervisor or peer coach. because the focus is on building trust, facilitating, thinking, and developing autonomy (center for cognitive coaching, n.d.), there is a large range of outcomes that may be of interest such as teacher-administrator working relationships, school climate, or even in-classroom behaviors. targeted interventions focus on discrete behaviors. in so doing, the intervention can be potent, but will only be applicable to those displaying those specific behaviors. for example, schools that adopted the my teaching partner professional development program (pianta, mashburn, downer, hamre, & justice, 2008) have teachers send videos of their teaching to consultants who code the videos using the class measure (pianta, la paro et al., 2008). then specific dimensions are identified for development, and there is an online dialogue about ways to enhance performance in that dimension (downer, kraft-sayre, & pianta, 2009). one strength of 6 curby and chavez the my teaching partner program is that it targets specific behaviors while also adapting to the teacher making it applicable for a variety of teachers. the present study the purpose of the present study is to identify the dimensions that are most strongly related to children’s language, literacy, and mathematics achievement gains. to accomplish this, we will examine a large sample of state-funded pre-k programs. we will then use nine dimensions of classroom quality as separate predictors of children’s academic outcomes. in so doing, we will be able to identify the dimensions that are most consistently and strongly related to children’s academic outcomes. by identifying dimensions that are most strongly related to academic outcomes, targeted professional development programs could be designed that specifically focus on improving the identified dimensions or pre-existing professional development could be prioritized. method participants data from the national center for early development and learning (ncedl) were used for this study. the ncedl conducted two longitudinal studies: the multi-state study of prekindergarten (multi-state study) and the state-wide early education programs study (sweep study) in pre-k classrooms in 11 states. the goal of these studies was to gather information on pre-k children and classrooms to understand variations between programs and how those relate to children’s academic and social outcomes (early et al., 2005). the children that participated in these studies represented nearly 80% of children in the us that attended state-funded pre-k programs at the time of the studies. approximately 15% were part of a head start program (early et al., 2005). the states chosen for these studies were picked specifically because the prek programs in the states had been running for many years, which indicated that they were stable and mature, and because the programs provided services to a large number of 4-year-old children. data collections for the multi-state study took place during the school year of 20012002, which involved a stratified random sampling of 40 pre-k centers in each of six states. data collections for the sweep study took place during the school year of 2003-2004 and involved a stratified random sample of 100 state-funded programs in each of five states. one classroom was randomly selected from each eligible pre-k center. teachers from each selected classroom sent packets home with the children that included (a) a consent form, (b) a family contact sheet, and (c) a demographic questionnaire. data collectors determined which children were eligible to participate based on four criteria; eligible children (1) had a consent form from parents, (2) met the age criteria for kindergarten eligibility for the following year, (3) did not have an individualized education plan, and (4) spoke enough english or spanish to understand simple instructions. from the eligible children, groups of four children, preferably two boys and two girls from each classroom were randomly selected to participate. a total of 2938 children participated in either wave of data collection. consistent with other published studies using these datasets (e.g., mashburn et al., 2008), the present study dimensions as predictors 7 excluded 499 children and 39 classrooms from analyses because they either did not participate in the spring assessment or were assessed in spanish. thus, participants included 2,439 children (1,194 boys and 1,245 girls) from 671 pre-k classrooms. measures quality of teacher-child interactions. the quality of teacher-child interactions was measured with the classroom assessment scoring system (class; laparo, pianta, hamre, & stuhlman, 2002; pianta, laparo et al., 2008). trained observers assessed quality along nine dimensions using a seven point likert scale where 1-2 indicates low, 3-5 indicates mid-range, and 6-7 indicates high. assessments of quality were done during 30-minute cycles during a day consisting of 20 minutes of observation and 10 minutes of rating. the observations lasted from the time the children arrived at the center until they started naptime or, for those who attended half-day programs, until they went home. for each cycle, nine dimensions were coded: positive climate, negative climate, teacher sensitivity, overcontrol, behavior management, productivity, instructional learning formats, concept development, and quality of feedback. multiple cycles of observation (usually four) were averaged to form the dimension averages. the present study used the 2002 version of the class. the 2002 version of the class (laparo et al., 2002) differed from the published version of the class (pianta, laparo et al., 2008) in two important ways. first, overcontrol was included as a dimension of emotional support. through an iterative process, overcontrol (reversed) has since morphed into regard for student perspectives (not reversed). second, language modeling was not included in the measure as an indicator of instructional support. prior to data collection, raters attended a two-day workshop by the authors of the instrument. during the training, video segments of actual classrooms were used. ultimately raters made individual ratings on five twenty-minute video segments. to be deemed reliable, raters had to be within 1 scale point of the master coded score on 80% of the dimensions across the video segments. all raters met or exceeded this criterion of reliability. during the spring, raters’ reliability was again tested by dual coding in a classroom with a master coder. raters’ mean kappa was .73, with 93% of ratings within one scale point of the master coder. academic skills assessments. children’s academic skills were assessed at the beginning of the fall and at the end of the spring while they attended pre-k. the assessments included measures of children’s receptive vocabulary, expressive language, rhyming, and applied problem solving. receptive vocabulary. the peabody picture vocabulary testthird edition (ppvt; dunn & dunn, 1997) was used to evaluate children’s receptive vocabulary skills. in this test, a child is shown a set of four pictures and is asked to choose the picture that best represents the meaning of the word that the examiner reads out loud to the child. both time points of measurement showed high internal consistency (fall = .95; spring = .95) expressive language. the oral & written language scale (owls; carrowwoolfolk, 1995) was used to assess children’s use and understanding of spoken language. during this assessment the examiner reads a verbal stimulus while the child is looking at a card 8 curby and chavez with one or more pictures. then the child is asked to respond by giving an oral answer, by completing a sentence, or by generating a new sentence. both time points of measurement showed high internal consistency (fall = .90; spring = .90). rhyming. the woodcock-johnson iii tests of achievement, rhyming subtest (woodcock, mcgrew, & mather, 2001) was used to assess children’s ability to rhyme. during the rhyming subtest, children are told a word and are then asked to name a word that rhymes with the given word. the rhyming scale has a range of 0-17, and is not standardized. both time points of measurement showed high internal consistency (fall = .88; spring = .89). applied problems. the woodcock-johnson iii tests of achievement, applied problems subtest (woodcock et al., 2001) was used to assess children’s emerging mathematical abilities. in the subtest, children are provided with a number of orally administered mathematics problems on quantity, simple addition and subtraction, questions about time and money. both time points of measurement showed high internal consistency (fall a = .81; spring a = .82). data analysis to support disaggregating class domains into their representative dimensions, correlations were computed among all dimensions. to determine which dimensions of classroom quality were most strongly related to academic outcomes, hierarchical linear modeling (hlm) was employed (raudenbush, & bryk, 2002). hlm accounts for the fact that children were nested within classrooms—thus making their data inter-dependent and violating an assumption of most statistical tests. in hlm, unconditional models were first created that only accounted for the nesting of the data and provided an estimate of how much of the variance in the outcomes was due to nesting. the second step was to add in main effects for our level-1 (child-level) model including: child’s gender, ethnicity, whether or not the child’s family is poor, the number of years of education the child’s mother had, and the child’s fall score on the same academic assessment. then, we separately tested each of the nine classroom quality dimensions as predictors on level 2 (classroom level) while controlling for the level-1 effects. results correlations between all nine class domains are presented in table 1. among the four emotional support variables, absolute value of correlations ranged from .39 to .77. among the three classroom organization variables, correlations ranged from .51 to .70. the two instructional support variables were correlated at .63. all variables within a domain were highly correlated, but in each instance, there was also a substantial amount of variance that was not shared. even the highest correlation between positive climate and teacher sensitivity (r = .77) still suggests that over 40% of the variance was not shared. in fact, this was the only association in which the majority of variance was shared. thus, these correlations support moving forward in our analyses with the disaggregated dimensions. dimensions as predictors 9 table 1 correlations and descriptive statistics for class dimensions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 emotional support domain 1. positive climate 2. negative climate -.56** 3. teacher sensitivity .77** -.53** 4. over control -.36** .50** -.39** classroom organization domain 5. behavior management .67** -.51** .63** -.20** 6. productivity .66** -.45** .63** -.27** .70** 7. ins. learning formats .41** -.13** .46** -.04 .51** .62** instructional support domain 8. concept development .35** -.16** .26** .13** .33** .42** .43** 9. quality of feedback .49** -.22** .41** -.14** .46** .50** .40** .63** mean 5.31 1.51 4.73 1.55 5.00 4.51 3.92 2.09 2.04 sd 0.83 0.60 0.92 0.64 0.94 0.88 1.12 0.89 0.95 minimum 2.43 1.00 1.91 1.00 2.14 2.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 maximum 7.00 4.29 7.00 4.52 7.00 6.86 7.00 5.31 5.83 ** p < .01 as indicated in the top portion of table 2, unconditional models indicated that between 22-34% of the variance in the outcomes (based on the intraclass correlation coefficients) was attributable to the classroom. this supported our use of hlm as an analytic tool because hlm was able to account for that shared variance at the classroom level. 10 curby and chavez table 2 results of hlm analyses with class dimensions predicting child academic outcomes ppvt owls wj rhyming wj applied problems classroom variance 68.94 40.43 3.54 36.50 child variance 135.43 127.96 12.71 130.20 total variance 204.37 168.39 16.25 166.70 icc 0.34 0.24 0.22 0.22 p <.001 <.001 <.001 <.001 fixed effects coef. coef. coef. coef. intercept 99.33*** 95.95*** 4.30*** 101.14*** gender (male = 1) -0.06 -0.46 -0.13 -0.73* ethnicity: hispanic vs. white -3.23*** -0.64 -0.55** -0.17 ethnicity: black vs. white -3.58*** -0.91 -0.48** -1.95*** ethnicity: other vs. white -1.27* -0.8 -0.32 0.06 poor -1.10* -1.45*** -0.35* -0.94* maternal education (years) a 0.22* 0.22* 0.14*** 0.42*** fall score ab 0.67*** 0.71*** 0.78*** 0.60*** positive climate a 0.72** 0.45* 0.03*** 0.67* negative climate a -0.55 -0.21 -0.14 -0.77* teacher sensitivity a 0.36 0.41* 0.01 0.34 over-control a -0.01 0.14 -0.06 -0.18 behavior management a 0.50* 0.16 0.11 0.51* productivity a 0.64** 0.50* 0.07 0.59* instructional learning formats a 0.19 0.22 -0.02 0.01 concept development a 0.67** 0.95*** 0.09 0.56* feedback a 0.47* 0.71*** 0.15 0.13 a variable was centered for analysis. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001 note. level-2 variables were tested separately in different models. the results for the child-level only hlm models are presented in the top half of table 2. in terms of gender, there were no statistical differences between boys and girls except that boys tended to score slightly lower than girls on applied problems (b = -0.73, p < .05). in comparison to white children, hispanic children scored lower on the ppvt (b = -3.23, p < .001) and rhyming (b = -0.55, p < .001); black children scored lower on ppvt (b = -3.58, p < .001), rhyming (b = 0.48, p < .01), and applied problems (b = -1.95, p < .001); and the multiracial/other group of children scored lower on ppvt (b = -1.27, p < .05). children from poor families scored worse on outcomes including: ppvt (b = -1.10, p < .05), owls (b = -1.45, dimensions as predictors 11 p < .001), rhyming (b = -0.35, p < .05), and applied problems (b = -0.94, p < .05). children who had mothers with more years of education scored higher on all outcomes including: ppvt (b = 0.22, p < .05), owls (b = 0.22, p < .05), rhyming (b = 0.14, p < .001), and applied problems (b = 0.42, p < .001). finally, scores on the same assessment given in the fall indicated that children who did better on the fall assessment did better in the spring in terms of ppvt (b = 0.67, p < .001), owls (b = 0.71, p < .001), rhyming (b = 0.78, p < .001), and applied problems (b = 0.60, p < .001). to evaluate our research questions, we separately tested each class dimension as a predictor on level-2. each dimension was tested separately because of the high correlations (and related multicollinearity) among the variables. furthermore, our research question is about which is the single best predictor, not which predictor is able to account for variance above and beyond the others. results indicated that three dimensions accounted for 10 of the 16 significant relationships found among our four outcomes (table 2). these three dimensions were: positive climate, productivity, and concept development. positive climate was the only predictor that was significantly associated with all four academic outcomes: ppvt (b = 0.72, p < .01), owls (b = 0.45, p < .05), rhyming (b = 0.03, p < .001), and applied problems (b = 0.67, p < .05). productivity was significantly associated with three of the four academic outcomes: ppvt (b = 0.64, p < .01), owls (b = 0.50, p < .05), and applied problems (b = 0.59, p < .05). concept development was also significantly associated with three of the four academic outcomes: ppvt (b = 0.67, p < .01), owls (b = 0.95, p < .001), and applied problems (b = 0.56, p < .05). in every instance but one, when another predictor was also a significant predictor of the same outcome, at least one of the top predictor(s) (positive climate, productivity, and concept development) had a stronger relationship. in other words, not only did they provide the most numerous associations, but they were also the strongest predictors. the only exception to this was that negative climate was the strongest predictor of applied problems (b = -.77, p < .05). in terms of other associations, teacher sensitivity was associated with higher scores on the owls (b = 0.41, p < .05). behavior management was significantly associated with higher scores on the ppvt (b = 0.50, p < .05) and applied problems (b = .51, p < .05). quality of feedback was associated with higher scores on ppvt (b = 0.47, p < .05) and owls (b = 0.71, p < .001). discussion previous work has indicated that domains of quality in classroom social interactions are predictive of children’s developmental outcomes (howes et al., 2008; mashburn et al., 2008; nichd eccrn, 2003). our results indicate that three dimensions of teacher-child interactions are most strongly driving these associations with academic outcomes: positive climate, productivity, and concept development. these findings suggest that these three dimensions are most important for broadly supporting children’s language, literacy, and mathematics development. interestingly, each one of these dimensions is from a different domain. positive climate is a dimension of the emotional support domain; productivity is a dimension of the classroom organization domain; concept development is a dimension of the instructional support domain. in other words, the dimensions that most strongly predicted the development of children’s academic skills represented characteristics from all of the three global domains of teacher-child interactions. 12 curby and chavez positive climate, the single best predictor, was significantly associated with all four academic outcomes: receptive vocabulary (ppvt), understanding and use of spoken language (owls), rhyming (rhyming), and mathematics skills (applied problems). high quality positive climate might help children learn because it allows for more effective academic instruction (curby, rimm-kaufman, & ponitz, 2009); children may want to learn and follow the teacher’s lead because of the encouraging and positive atmosphere in the classroom. this positive climate is, in part, evidenced by the supportive relationships between teachers and children (battistich et al., 1996). a teacher who provides high quality positive climate is able to make the children feel safe and view the teacher as supportive. these children then may be more likely to want to follow the teacher’s lead and pursue goals that are important to the teacher, including wanting to learn (wentzel, 1999). furthermore, studies show that children have more problems adjusting to school when they experience conflicts with the teacher because the conflict becomes a stressor for the children (e.g., birch & ladd, 1997). thus, teachers who provide high quality positive climate may be able to reduce stressors for children and allow for more time to be spent on instruction. productivity was associated with three of the four academic outcomes including children’s receptive vocabulary (ppvt), understanding and use of spoken language (owls), and mathematics skills (applied problems). teachers who provide high quality productivity maximize learning time for the children through smooth transitions between activities and by establishing clear routines and instruction for children. children in these classrooms might develop better language and mathematics skills because they are spending more time engaged in these activities. time on task is an essential ingredient to learning, and more time spent in learning activities gives students more opportunities to learn (carroll, 1963; brophy & good, 1986; ottmar, decker, cameron, curby, & rimm-kaufman, in press). moreover, in a classroom with high levels of productivity, the environment and the teacher are ready, which makes the lesson more effective. concept development was also associated with three of the four academic outcomes including children’s receptive vocabulary (ppvt), understanding and use of spoken language (owls), and mathematics skills (applied problems). this is consistent with work by curby, locasale-crouch et al. (2009) using these same data that suggested concept development was particularly salient in driving academic gains in pre-k. a teacher who provides high quality in concept development promotes children’s analysis and reasoning skills, for example, by asking why and how questions (hamre & pianta, 2007). this might help children develop their vocabulary and support their learning of mathematical concept (counting, addition, and patterns). furthermore, children’s mathematics skills might be supported by the teacher actively making connections to children’s previous knowledge and by using familiar concepts while teaching new concepts. other predictors were also associated with the outcomes, but none more so than positive climate, productivity, and concept development. however, in no case was one of these other predictors significant when positive climate, productivity, or concept development was not. in other words, the three predictors mentioned are the best overall predictors. to the degree that people are interested in particular outcomes (instead of the constellation of outcomes represented here), there may be cause to investigate the utility of the other dimensions. dimensions as predictors 13 limitations and future directions one limitation to our study is that the findings show correlational relations between the dimensions and children’s academic outcomes; therefore, we cannot draw causal conclusions from the results. however, intervention studies have begun to show that there are some causal relations between specific teacher behaviors and children’s academic outcomes. hamre and colleagues (2010) found that when intervention teachers provided more consistent and precise exposure to literacy concept and knowledge the children showed more improvement in their print awareness and emergent literacy composite. our results provide suggestions for which teacher behaviors are most strongly predictive for children’s academic achievement gains. thus, future intervention research could focus resources on manipulating positive climate, productivity, and concept development. because we are interested in finding the most predictive elements, the present study employed a methodology whereby each dimension was used as a separate predictor. however, the ability of each of the dimensions to predict outcomes could have both shared and unique parts of the variance that are predictive. the present study cannot speak to whether it is strictly the unique portions of the dimensions that are predictive, but given the overall predictability of the domains found in past research, we expect that it is not simply the unique portions. thus, future research can seek to model and untangle which aspects of the variance are related to different outcomes. nonetheless, this study suggests that regardless of which portion of the variance is related to the academic outcomes, that positive climate, productivity, and concept development are the dimensions that have the strongest relations to these academic outcomes. the present study used a version of the class instrument (2002) that is mostly consistent with the current (2008), published version, but it is not the same. as mentioned in the measures section, one important difference is that the published version included the dimension of language modeling. it is likely that language modeling would be a potent predictor of language outcomes. future research can investigate this possibility. implications the results have clear implications for policy makers and school personnel including classroom observers. in terms of policy makers, the present study further supports the use of the class instrument as a helpful tool in linking teacher behaviors to student outcomes, as it currently is being used in many head start programs. furthermore, the present study suggests that monitoring of positive climate, productivity, and concept development may provide the most efficient way to gauge the amount that children will grow academically. for school personnel, results suggest targeting positive climate, productivity, and concept development for professional development may provide the strongest levers to intervene on pre-k children’s academic outcomes. however, we are not saying that these are the only important elements of children’s experience in classrooms, rather that for those school personnel that use the class and are focusing on academic outcomes, the sequencing and/or emphasis of professional development program should reflect these findings. for example, interventions, such as my teaching partner (downer, pianta, fan, hamre, mashburn, & justice, 2011) may want to first target positive climate, productivity, or concept development before moving on to target other dimensions if the program is being implemented to primarily focus on 14 curby and chavez academic outcomes. importantly, behaviors that promote high quality interactions can be learned by teachers (raver et al., 2008), which highlight the importance of training teachers in the behaviors that produce high quality teacher-child interactions. the present study also holds important implications for those who conduct classroom observations. observational research of classrooms takes much time and it can be difficult to become reliable on observational instruments. thus, researchers and school personnel are often looking for ways to shorten observational instruments. the present study suggests that three of the nine class dimensions may provide the greatest predictive power and, thus, observers could at least initially focus their resources on monitoring positive climate, productivity, and concept development if they are primarily focusing on academic outcomes. this same logic can be applied to informal classroom observations conducted by school personnel. want to know the quality of a teacher’s interactions with children? because a dimension from each domain was indicated in our analyses, the present study suggests that observers should focus on the positive emotional environment they provide, how well learning time is managed in the classroom, and how much they promote children’s understanding of concepts. acknowledgments the authors gratefully acknowledge the national institute for early education research (nieer), the pew charitable trusts, and the foundation for child development for their support of the state-wide early education programs study, and the u.s. department of education for its support of the multi-state study of pre-kindergarten. we also thank researchers at the center for advanced study of teaching and learning at the university of virginia for their support of this project. however, the contents do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of these agencies, and endorsement by these agencies should not be assumed. references alexander, k., l., & entwisel, d., r. 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(2001). woodcock-johnson iii. itasca, il: riverside. dialog, 16(1), 200-204 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary early parent involvement and school achievement: a longitudinal path analysis momoko hayakawa, michelle m. englund, mallory warner-richter, and arthur j. reynolds university of minnesota, twin cities the present study examined mechanisms within the longitudinal process whereby early parent involvement in preschool affects student achievement from kindergarten through 6th grade. participants were 1,531 low-income, mainly african american children and their mothers, from the inner-city chicago area. path analysis revealed an interactive process between parent involvement, academic achievement, and children’s motivation. findings suggest that early parent involvement increases kindergarten achievement, which then affects student motivation in grade 1. parents of the highly motivated children continued their involvement in later grades. this cycle of involvement, motivation, and achievement was found across the elementary grades (through 6th grade). participation in cpc was positively associated with jumpstarting parent involvement during the preschool years. our results support three policy implications: 1) early parent involvement is critical for the success of children’s education, 2) continued parent involvement in school across the elementary school years is important for children’s achievement and motivation to succeed in school and 3) parent involvement, student motivation, and school achievement is a cyclic process that builds upon one another from preschool throughout grade school. keywords: parent involvement, student motivation, achievement the profound gap in academic achievement between low-income african american and white children in the united states is evident by the time children begin kindergarten (duncan & magnuson, 2005). not only does this gap exist by the point of school entry, but it also widens across elementary school. one solution to minimizing the identified disparities in achievement scores lies in high-quality preschool programs (frede & barnett, 2011). evidence from a number of nationally-recognized longitudinal studies of low-income or minority youth have shown that high-quality preschool programs focusing on parent involvement and engagement enhances children’s educational attainment (e.g. on-time high school graduation, college attendance) and reduces the occurrence of grade repetition and placement in special education (e.g. reynolds, temple, ou, arteaga, & white, 2011; schweinhart, montie, 201 early parent involvement, motivation, achievement xiang, barnett, belfield, & nores, 2005). furthermore, parents’ participation in school activities has been consistently associated with achievement gains as well as enhanced socio-emotional development in children (e.g. barnard, 2004; fan & chen, 2001; jeynes, 2005; lee & bowen, 2006; sheldon, 2002; sheridan, knoche, edwards, bovaird, & kupzyk, 2010). thus a promising pathway leading to decreases in the achievement gap lies in early parent involvement. however, the developmental mechanisms through which parent involvement has a significant and long-term impact on children’s achievement is still unknown. given research findings indicating that there is an association between student motivation and academic achievement (e.g. grolnick & slowiaczek, 1994; gonzales-dehass, willems, & doan holbein, 2005), it is possible that increased student motivation explains the effect of early parent involvement on later achievement. yet, very little work has been done examining motivation as a potential mediator and the majority of the studies examining the association between parent involvement and children’s socio-emotional development, including motivation, have primarily been cross-sectional (nokali, bachman, & votruba-drzal, 2010). as the achievement-gap exists prior to kindergarten entry, it is imperative to focus on early parent involvement in preschool as it may provide a foundation for subsequent processes and continue to have a persistent impact on children’s academic achievement longitudinally during a period when the gap in achievement is increasing between african american and white children. thus, the present study examined the developmental process whereby early parent involvement in preschool initiated through the chicago child-parent center program (a highquality preschool intervention program offered in low-income neighborhoods of chicago) influences children’s later academic achievement in middle childhood. more specifically, we ask the question, “what is the process by which early parent involvement (i.e., during preschool and the kindergarten years), as a result of a high-quality preschool intervention, influences later parent involvement, childhood motivation, and achievement during the elementary school years?” summary of research methods our study utilized data from the chicago longitudinal study, an ongoing prospective study of 1,539 minority children from low-income areas in chicago who attended the child-parent center (cpc) preschool program (reynolds, 2000) and who continues to be followed. one critical focus of the cpc program is parent involvement and engagement – a minimum of 2.5 hours per week of parent involvement is required in the program. it is expected, that participation in the cpc program sets the stage for initial and continued parent involvement across childhood. we sought to test how cpc participation sets the stage for initial and continued parent involvement across childhood that then cascades to have an effect on achievement. based on previous literature that posits parent involvement as one critical path leading to the success of children’s development (reynolds, ou, & topitzes, 2004), we predicted that the early parent involvement as part of the cpc preschool program initiates a cascade of influences through its effect on early achievement, later parent involvement, and children’s motivation to perform well in school. given research linking early parent involvement to achievement and motivation across a variety of periods over development, we also predicted and tested using path analysis, a cyclic process whereby early parent involvement starting in preschool, contributes to 202 hayakawa et al. achievement and student motivation, which then independently influence subsequent parent involvement, motivation, and achievement throughout grade school. major findings results from our study confirmed the role of parent involvement as a critical influence on successive parent involvement, student achievement, and student motivation throughout the elementary school years. furthermore, children with parents who were highly involved performed better in school than their peers without highly involved parents. our study identified the process in which parent involvement has an impact on children’s achievement across time. specifically, the steps that emerged from our path analyses were: 1. cpc preschool participation predicts higher levels of parent involvement and high achievement in kindergarten. 2. children with high achievement at kindergarten are more motivated to do well in school, and this motivation influences further parent involvement. 3. throughout elementary school, parent involvement, student motivation, and achievement are mutually reinforcing such that involvement indirectly predicts subsequent achievement through motivation, and achievement predicts subsequent parent involvement through motivation. furthermore, early student achievement also plays a critical role as it provides a concrete measure of success, which reinforces the cyclic process of parent involvement-achievementmotivation. this process supports previous findings by reynolds (1991), suggesting that both early parent involvement and early student achievement mediate the effects of early student motivation. therefore, results from our study suggest that preschool participation, with a strong focus on early parental involvement, can serve as a catalyst that creates the foundation for increased parent involvement, motivation and achievement from preschool to 6th grade. implications for practice the children in the study sample represent a population of children whose socio-economic status puts them at risk of academic struggles. the study findings suggest that parent involvement can be a successful strategy for protecting against the socio-economic risk factors these children face in early and middle childhood. there are several implications for practice in early childhood programs: 1. early parent involvement is critical for the success of children’s education: findings suggest that parents who participated in a variety of parent involvement activities such as attending programs in the cpc’s parent resource room, attending school events, going on class field trips, volunteering in the classroom, receiving home visits, and others during their child’s preschool years were more likely to continue to be involved in elementary school. furthermore, this initial parent involvement in preschool was associated with higher achievement a year later, in kindergarten. 203 early parent involvement, motivation, achievement 2. continued parent involvement in school across the elementary school years is important for children’s achievement and motivation to succeed in school: our findings also suggest that children’s achievement and motivation to achieve were positively affected by parent involvement at all stages examined in the study. by continuing to offer opportunities for involvement based on parents’ needs and interests, children can benefit beyond the initial early childhood period. 3. parent involvement, student motivation, and school achievement is a cyclic process that builds upon one another from preschool throughout grade school: as this cyclic process hinges upon all components – parent involvement, student motivation, and student achievement, every step is important for continued achievement in subsequent grades. parents in our study were more likely to be involved when their children were doing well in school and when their children were motivated. this means that parents of students who are struggling in school need persistent encouragement to be involved. because involvement has a positive effect on achievement and student motivation, parent involvement for low-achieving students has the greatest potential to impact multiple areas of this cascading pathways impacting student achievement. our findings support the notion that the provision of family support services is a key element for establishing effective early childhood programs from preschool to the early elementary grades. although parent involvement has been found to be a core component of effective preschool programs, the findings of this study indicate the value of parent involvement strategies for enhancing the effectiveness of broader preschool-to-third grade (pk-3) interventions. the recent nationwide promotion of the pk-3 model provides a framework for organizing a comprehensive set of parent involvement and engagement practices. we encourage educators and policy makers to adopt and implement this pk-3 framework that embraces the perspective of child development as a cumulative process. acknowledgment this study was supported in part by the national institute of child health and human development (grant no. r01hd034294). references barnard, w.m. (2004). parent involvement in elementary school and educational attainment. children and youth services review, 26, 39-62. duncan, g.j. & magnuson, k.a. (2005). can family socioeconomic resources account for racial and ethnic test score gaps? the future of children, 15(1), 36-54. fan, x. & chen, m. (2001). parental involvement and students’ academic achievement: a meta analysis. educational psychology review, 13(1), 1-22. principal, 8-11. frede, e. & barnett, w. s. (2011). why pre-k is critical to closing the achievement gap. gonzalez-dehass, a.r., willems, p.p., & doan holbein, m.f. (2005). examining the relationship between parental involvement and student motivation. educational psychology review, 17(2), 99-123. grolnick, w.s., & slowiaczek, m.l. (1994). parents’ involvement in children’s schooling: a multi-dimensional conceptualization and motivation model. child development, 65, 237-252. jeynes, w.h. (2005). effects of parental involvement and family structure on academic achievement of adolescents. 204 hayakawa et al. marriage and family review, 37 (3), 99-116. lee, j.-s., & bowen, n. k. (2006). parent involvement, cultural capital, and the achievement gap among elementary school children. american educational research journal, 43, 193-218. nokali, n.e., bachman, h. j., & votruba-drzal, e. (2010) within-and between-child parent involvement and academic and social skills in elementary school. child development, 81(3), 988 -1005. reynolds, a.j. (1991). early schooling of children at risk. american educational research journal, 28(2), 392-422. reynolds, aj. (2000). success in early intervention: the chicago child-parent centers. lincoln, ne: university of nebraska press. reynolds, a.j., temple, j.a., ou, s., arteaga, i.a., white, b.a.b. (2011). school-based early childhood education and age-28 well-being: effects by timing, dosage, and subgroups. science, 333, 360-364. schweinhart, l. j., montie, j., xiang, z., barnett, w. s., belfield, c. r., & nores, m. (2005). lifetime effects: the highscope perry preschool study through age 40. monographs of the highscope educational research foundation, 14. ypsilanti, mi: highscope press. sheldon, s. b. (2002). parents’ social networks and beliefs as predictors of parent involvement. elementary school journal, 102(4), 301-316. sheridan, s.m., knoche, l.l., edwards, c.p., bovaird, j. a., & kupzyk, k.a., (2010). parent engagement and school readiness: effects of the getting ready intervention on preschool children’s social-emotional competencies. early education & development, 21(1), 125-156. language use among latino parents and their toddlers dialog, 16(3), 127-141 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article a qualitative study of maternal perceptions of acculturation processes at the onset of child schooling sandraluz lara-cinisomo university of north carolina at chapel hill audrey alforque thomas national university of ireland, galway immigrant families may experience parent-child differences in acculturation. a critical time in this differential acculturation is the onset of the child’s schooling. building on prior studies of parent-child acculturation processes, this exploratory, qualitative study examined mothers’ perspectives on their preschoolers’ acculturation and the relationship to their own acculturation. based on qualitative data collected from six latino immigrant mothers of preschool-aged children, three acculturation processes emerged that illustrate how mothers perceive their own and their child’s acculturation: parallel, vertex, and intersegmented. one pair was coded as experiencing a parallel acculturation process, defined as mother and child experiencing completely disconnected acculturation processes. three pairs were coded as experiencing a vertex-like process, which is defined as mother and child starting at the same point and then deviating from each other as the child’s acculturation accelerates and the mother’s decelerates. two pairs were identified as intersegmented, meaning that mother and child acculturation processes converge and separate at various points. each type may have implications for mother-child interactions and relationship during preschool and subsequent school years when acculturation may impact families further. this study emphasizes the need to understand parents' approaches and expectations as they relate to cultural adaptations, especially at the onset of schooling. we end with recommendations for teachers and administrators in preschool settings to improve their understanding of acculturation and their relationships with immigrant families. keywords: acculturation, maternal perceptions, preschool, latino, children in the first decade of the 21 st century, the population of the united states increased by 10%. compare this with the 43% growth explosion of the latino population in the u.s. (ennis, riosvargas, & albert, 2011). this large portion of the u.s. population is young. one in five people under the age of 18 are latino (u.s. census bureau, 2012). much of this growth is due to the number of children born to latino immigrants (hernandez, 2004). thus, issues of education are important when considering the latino population. there is mounting evidence that latino 128 lara-cinisomo children are struggling academically (gandara & contreras, 2009). researchers are pinpointing differences at the onset of schooling and primary grades to explain later educational gaps (alexander, entwisle, & dauber, 2002). the preschool years may well be the best opportunity to give children of latino immigrants a chance at academic success. researchers and practitioners must, then, be particularly attuned to the cultural and social experiences and expectations of the immigrant family at the onset of schooling. in this study, we examined immigrant latino mothers’ approaches to and perceptions of their child’s acculturation at the onset of the child’s schooling. acculturation, or cultural assimilation, is balanced with ethnic preservation; together these two concepts embody the extent to which an immigrant embraces or rejects u.s. culture (moon, kang, & an, 2009). we acknowledge that fathers are an integral part of the parenting and family unit (ortiz, 2004; rodriguez, davis, rodriguez, & bates, 2006). this study explored the preschooler’s acculturation process through the eyes of his mother—his primary caretaker in these cases. the process of acculturation is a very personal one that is influenced by both an individual’s experience with members of his own group and those in the host society as well as by such outside forces as discrimination and marginalization. these internal and external acculturation processes often differ between parent and child for several reasons. first, children tend to integrate at a faster rate and with less stress than the parent (padilla, alvarez, & lindholm, 1986; rumbaut, 2004; alba & nee, 2003). children also have more opportunities to practice, acquire, and experiment with u.s. cultural values, behaviors and the use of english, which is often a marker of acculturation, because of their interactions within a school setting. on the other hand, immigrant parents may live within a cultural enclave that fosters the use of the native tongue and promotes traditional values not found in u.s. society (gonzalez, yawkey, & minaya-rowe, 2006). second, the child’s experience with discrimination may differ dramatically from his or her parents. at times, the child may not be aware that he or she is being discriminated against. in contrast, an adult or parent may be able to decipher others’ behaviors as discriminatory. the immigrant adult may also experience more encounters, such as shopping and interacting with communities, where discrimination is more likely to occur. commitment is the third reason adult and child acculturation processes differ. the u.s.-born child of immigrants and the young immigrant child experience less of a connection to their country of origin primarily because of limited experiences in the homeland (suarez-orozco & suarez-orozco, 1995). differing acculturative styles may create friction within the family; then again, if a parent and child have differing acculturation processes, they may complement each other. based on segmented assimilation theory (portes & zhou, 1993), portes and rumbaut’s (2001) typology of acculturation across generations is the prevailing model on immigrant parentchild experiences. they examine different degrees of acculturation between parent and child and hypothesize how these differences affect children’s outcomes in three scenarios: dissonant, consonant, and selective acculturation. their model focuses on acceptance of u.s. customs and the english language and insertion into the ethnic community. in their model, parent-child differences in acculturation are indicative of dissonant acculturation and can lead to poor academic and social outcomes for the child. parent-child similarities in acculturation can mean complete assimilation into mainstream u.s. culture (consonant acculturation) or selective acculturation, which occurs when parent and child embrace the customs and language of their host country but still cling to the beneficial aspects of their native culture. both consonant and selective acculturations portend favorable academic and social outcomes for the child. other perceptions of acculturation 129 researchers have conducted empirical studies that give positive evidence for portes and rumbaut’s typology of acculturation across generations (see foner & dreby, 2011 for a review). many of the studies on the positive effects of selective acculturation on children’s social and academic outcomes (bankston & zhou., 1995; a. portes & rumbaut, 2001; romero, robinson, haydel, mendoza, & killen, 2004) focus on junior high school and high school (for example xiong, eliason, detzner, & cleveland, 2005; martinez, degarmo, & eddy, 2004). a few empirical studies look at elementary school-age children (crosnoe & kalil, 2010; iannacci, 2008; romero, robinson, haydel, mendoza, & killen, 2004; weisskirch & alva, 2002). yet it is equally important to explore the acculturation processes of young children at the preschool or kindergarten levels. this time period is crucial because it often marks the beginning of the child’s immersion in u.s. culture. spindler (1974) proposes that cultural discontinuities between the second-generation immigrant child and u.s. culture occur primarily with the onset of schooling, and empirical research suggests this is true for latino children from mexico (trueba, 1993) and central america (rothstein-fisch, trumbull & garcia 2009). similarly, cultural discontinuities develop in an immigrant family as the child begins to negotiate new practices adopted from the host society and those valued in her home. such discontinuities also result when the immigrant parent expresses disapproval of the child’s adoption of mainstream behaviors. therefore, researchers argue that differing acculturation processes exist within the latino immigrant parent-child dyad and are most observable with the onset of child schooling, as illustrated by cortez (2008) in his study of latinos and rothstein-fisch, trumbull and garcia (2009) who focused on parents and children from mexico and central america. recent immigrants tend to stress the moral development of their preschool-age children over academic skills (farver, xu, eppe, & lonigan, 2006; gallimore & goldenberg, 2001; halgunseth, ispa, & rudy, 2006) and are disappointed that teachers seem preoccupied with literacy and numeracy (reese, 2001). there is also a tension between the collectivist culture of latino families and the individualism prized in the u.s. educational system (rothstein-fisch, trumbull & garcia 2009). immigrant latino parents from various countries (e.g., mexico central america, and the u.s.) do not see their values reflected in early childhood classrooms (souto-manning, 2009), although some teachers are striving to understand and incorporate them into their interactions with immigrant families (for example trumbull, 2005). along with cultural discontinuities, the onset of schooling often brings immigrant children’s language into question. differences in home and school language, along with differences in culture, become apparent at the onset of schooling (cortez, 2008). children’s linguistic and literacy outcomes depend on the language of instruction at school, language exposure at home, and language use within the community (dickinson & tabors, 2002). studies show that immigrant latino parents are eager to have their preschoolers learn english and retain spanish (reese, goldenberg, & saunders, 2006; worthy, 2006; worthy & rodríguez-galindo, 2006). in an in-depth qualitative study, worthy and rodríguez-galindo (2006) found that when parents are proactive about promoting bilingualism, children become fluent in written and spoken english and spanish. bilingualism is associated with positive family relations and personality outcomes (portes & hao, 2002), in addition to being academically advantageous (bankston & zhou, 1995; lindholm & aclan, 1991). the onset of a child’s schooling is an interesting time because changes in the child’s environment may bring maternal perspectives about acculturation into question, especially as it relates to their own and their child’s process. using in-depth interviews with six immigrant 130 lara-cinisomo women, we examined the acculturation to u.s. society and the retention of native culture in women whose children are in preschool. as noted above, the existing literature focuses mainly on the social, academic, and linguistic outcomes of children, with less focus on how parents feel and perceive the process of acculturation in its early stages. this study aims to address this gap in the literature by answering the following research question: what are latina immigrant mothers’ perceptions of their preschooler’s acculturation process and how does it relate to their own acculturation process? method design this study focused on a convenience sample of six latina immigrant mothers, and it explored their perceptions of their preschooler’s acculturation within the context of their own acculturation process. the study was conducted in a community education center that offered education services to both parent and their preschool child. in-depth semi-structured interviews were used to gather information regarding their preschooler’s experiences in school and learning english as well as mothers’ perceptions regarding their child’s english acquisition and acculturation process. demographic information about the respondent and her child was also collected. qualitative data analysis methods were implemented, and frequencies and means were reported based on demographic data collected. setting participants were recruited from a healthy start support services for children act (healthy start initiative) program at a community center within an elementary school located in the city of cudahy, a predominantly latino immigrant community in southern california. the healthy start initiative provides comprehensive community-based services through education agencies, including schools, and offers a number of services, including english as a second language (esl) classes for adults, child care/preschool for children, parent education courses, vocational adult education courses and access to health education offered. this site was selected because it offers services to immigrant parents and their children and provides volunteer opportunities to parents of children enrolled in the program without prescribing the number of volunteer hours or types of activities required of volunteers. at the time of the study, there were ten volunteer mothers in the program. procedure to establish trust with the ten mothers who were volunteering in their child’s program held at the study site, classroom teachers gave the lead author permission to participate in the daily classroom activities. all the parents in the preschool program consented to the author’s participation. during daily activities, group conversations often spontaneously formed during the children’s “outside” play. the topics of discussion varied from children’s emotional needs to perceptions of acculturation 131 mother’s perception of their preschooler’s school performance. at times, parents informally compared their children with one another. fathers were not present during these conversations and interactions because they worked during regular school hours when mothers volunteered to help in the classroom. in many cases, fathers worked more than one job at a time and were not able to participate in their children’s preschool experience. the author did not conduct any formal or informal interviews or assessment during the spontaneous conversations. at the end of the eight-week period, mothers were invited to participate in an in-depth interview via an oral presentation about the study. six of the 10 mothers agreed to participate. semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with each participant. interviews were conducted by the lead author and a research assistant familiar with the objective of the study. an in-depth interview was selected because it allows participants to give open-ended answers and provide rich information on the subject matter and on related issues. interviews were conducted in participant homes or at the school site, depending on the parent’s preference. four of the six interviews took place in the respondents’ homes, while the other two took place at the school site. interviews lasted 45 minutes on average. all interviews were conducted in spanish, and fathers were not present for the interview. in five of the six interviews, the preschool child was present. interviews were audio recorded with the participants’ consent and transcribed verbatim for analysis. to compensate them for their time, children received a gift as a token of appreciation, and mothers received a modest monetary gift. participants the mean age among the six participants was 29.33 years (sd=4.14). all mothers were eligible for healthy start services, which target low-income families. four of the six women reported family income ranging from $10,000 to $15,000, one reported family income ranging from $20,000 to $25,000 and one reported family income ranging from $25,000 to $30,000. the mean family size was 4.5 (sd=1.23), with a mean of 3.00 children (sd=.89), with ages ranging from 2 to 11. the mean target child age was 48.50 months (sd=22.89). all the participants were immigrants from latin american countries. one respondent emigrated from honduras, while the other five emigrated from mexico. the mean number of years in the united states was 7.8 (sd=3.74). three mothers reported that spanish was their child’s primary language, one reported english and two reported that their child spoke both english and spanish. all mothers said they used spanish to speak to their child. in addition, five said spanish was the primary home language and one said she considered her home to be bilingual. five of the participants live in the city of cudahy, california. the sixth participant lives in a predominately latino immigrant community two miles northwest of cudahy in the city of south gate, california. all the respondents live with their spouse and children. two families have extended family members residing in their home. measure interview questions were based on the cited literature and the research questions listed above. three areas of inquiry guided the interview: language use (e.g., english and spanish) by the participant and her preschool child; cultural values; and participants’ perspective on their 132 lara-cinisomo preschooler’s acculturation process (e.g., adoption of american values) and their own behaviors (e.g., english use). demographic information was also collected. to inquire about language use participants were asked about use of language (e.g., english and spanish) in the home, who spoke english, whether their child spoke english and how the participant felt about their child’s use of english. regarding cultural values, mothers were asked whether cultural values were discussed in the home, whether her child adhered to cultural practices she valued and how she felt about her child’s cultural preferences. we also asked parents about their child’s adoption of mainstream practices. for example, one question was, “have you noticed that your child has american ideas?” to ascertain in more detail about how participants felt about their child’s acculturation, we included projective questions. for example, we asked, “how would you feel if your daughter decided to speak only english?” data analysis data analyses relied on interview transcripts, which was the unit of analysis, and relied on the interview questions to guide the coding. the coding required that each interviewer read each transcript separately, paying special attention to responses or “mentions” about language use, cultural values, and responses to children’s acculturation. next, using methods recommended by miles and huberman (1994), each reader created codes by hand based on responses to identify patterns that emerged from the data and that answered the interview and research questions. once this step was completed individually, the researchers compared codes to verify accuracy. using the codes, we grouped similar units or transcripts together. from these empirical groupings, three types of maternal perspectives or approaches to child acculturation emerged. finally, we identified math symbols (e.g., parallel lines, lines that meet at one point and a helix) to visually illustrate the three different approaches or perspectives: parallel, vertex, and intersegmented (similar in appearance to a helix). each of these types of maternal perspectives regarding her preschooler’s acculturation and her own are described below and illustrate how based on data collected. thus, the figures illustrate what we interpret to be the mother and child’s acculturation process at the time of the interview and make assumptions based on the cited literature about the trajectory of those patterns. results as shown in figures 1, 2, and 3, three acculturation processes based on maternal perceptions emerged from the data. the first is referred to as a parallel acculturation process, in which the mother’s and child’s acculturation processes are completed disconnected, as coded in the data. in the second typology, referred to as a vertex acculturation process, the mother and child have a common acculturation pathway at the onset, but the commonality is hypothesized to deviate and the two acculturation processes go their own ways. in the third typology, referred to as an intersegmented acculturation process, the acculturation processes of the mother and child meet at various points and depart at others. based on our analysis, one mother fit the parallel acculturation process, three mothers fell into the vertex acculturation process, and the remaining two mothers fit into the inter-segmented acculturation process. we discuss each below. we used perceptions of acculturation 133 pseudonyms for all the mothers and children. table 1 provides a summary of key characteristics for each of the three dyads. figure 1. illustration of a parallel dyad figure 2. illustration of the proposed vertex dyad figure 3. illustration of the proposed inter-segmented dyad mother’s acculturation trajectory child’s acculturation trajectory mother’s acculturation trajectory child’s acculturation trajectory mother’s acculturation trajectory child’s acculturation trajectory 134 lara-cinisomo table 1 mother-child acculturation typologies type of dyadic acculturation years in us participation in us institutions language use parallel 6.0 years some mrs. moran: “i don’t like him [her son] speaking english at home.” vertex 6.3 years extensive ms. herrera: “i tell her [her daughter], ‘i taught you how to add; now you have to teach me english.’” inter-segmented 11.5 years extensive mrs. castro: “i think we can acquire other ways of speaking and not necessarily lose our culture just because we speak english.” parallel acculturation process this first dyad is characterized by conflicting patterns of acculturation between parent and child. the parent resists integrating into the host society and similarly discourages her child from acculturating and incorporating new behaviors into the family cultural schema. although the mother may have adopted some of the host society’s practices, such as learning english, she still insists that the child not participate in mainstream behaviors in her presence or in the home, such as using english in the home. in the one case that fit this pattern, the mother emigrated from mexico with her husband six years ago. mrs. moran has an eleventh-grade education from mexico. since her arrival, she has resided in the city of cudahy, ca with her spouse and children. mrs. moran attended esl courses for two years prior to taking a position as a volunteer childcare provider at the study site. according to mrs. moran, she can read, write, and speak english “un poco” (a bit), but does not practice speaking it. when asked if she could speak english, she responded by saying, “yo, pues, yo tengo mucho vocabulario pero no, no, lo hablo nada” (i, well, i have a large vocabulary, but no, no, i don’t ever speak it). when asked about her child’s use of english, her response resonates with her own practices. mrs. moran’s response to the question “has he (the child) begun to speak english to you?” was “palabras…a mí no me gusta que hable inglés aquí en la casa…yo le digo ‘que lo quiera platicar allá con sus amiguitos…aquí en la casa no.’” (some words…i don’t like him speaking english at home…i tell him ‘talk about whatever you want over there with your friends…not at home.). the child, however, felt differently. when mrs. moran said, “aquí nadie hablamos inglés,” (here [at home] no one speaks english), the target child, arturo, immediately responded, “¡yo sí!” (i do!). with regard to discussions about cultural values, mrs. moran does not discuss them with her son. however, when asked about her son’s adoption of u.s. cultural practices, she referenced his eating habits. according to mrs. moran, arturo prefers hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza to chicken soup and tortillas. when asked about her reaction to this, she said it bothers her, but perceptions of acculturation 135 primarily because american food does not provide the same nutritional values as her homemade chicken soup. when asked about the importance she places on her child’s interactions with members from other ethnic/racial groups, mrs. moran said she places “little importance” on it. vertex acculturation process the second acculturation process observed in the data is characterized by a parent who enthusiastically experiences her acculturation process by attending esl classes. the acculturation process is a shared experience between the parent and child, with one teaching the other different behaviors from the mainstream society. still, this parent may not immerse herself in the host society as much as the child may, drawing limits on the number of mainstream behaviors she adopts; however, she does support her child’s acculturation. this is translated into a mother and child who start at the same point in the acculturation process, but divert at some point and go off into their own patterns. three of the mothers we interviewed fit this pattern. the mean number of years these respondents have been in the united states is 6.3 years. the mean level of education is 7.3 years, all of which was in their country of origin (mexico and honduras). two of the respondents did not consider themselves able to speak, read, or write english, while the third said she could read, write, and speak english “a little.” all have attended esl classes and participated in courses, such as basic computer instruction and child development. among the three mothers who fit into the vertex dyad, two have the most experience with u.s. schools: mrs. castro has volunteered for six years and mrs. ramirez has been a volunteer for three years in her daughter’s school. the children of all three mothers have attended school only in the united states. all three mothers said that their children speak english in the home. although they did not consider themselves equipped to teach their children english, they promoted the use of english by encouraging their children to teach them and by teaching them the little english they do know. mrs. gutierrez, an immigrant from honduras, a mother of a two-year-old preschool toddler, shared examples of teaching her son simple english commands and then modeling the appropriate behavior. “le digo, ‘give me a kiss’ y el no más se reí y yo le enseño que me dé un beso.” (i tell him, ‘give me a kiss’ and he just laughs then i gesture to him to give me a kiss.) although these mothers encourage and promote the use of english, they do not feel they will acquire english proficiency themselves. characteristic of the vertex dyadic mother is an overt value placed on bilingualism. regardless of their english proficiency, vertex dyadic mothers all promoted the use of english and spanish in the home. when asked how they address the issue of bilingualism, respondents said that they rely on their children to help them learn english so they can understand what their child is saying and are not kept out of the loop. the child’s acculturation is much faster than that of the parent, and it is expected that the vertex dyadic child will eventually leave her parent behind; however, this common acculturation process established early on may provide for a sound foundation. the vertex dyadic mothers in this study indicated that discussions about ethnicity were limited, but they said they used the importance of the family and tradition as a means of limiting the child’s adoption of u.s. cultural values. these mothers acknowledge the importance of acquiring the english language but noted that it was important not to lose sight of the value of 136 lara-cinisomo maintaining spanish. although the vertex dyadic mother and her child do not explicitly discuss ethnicity, bilingualism serves as the bridge missing from the parallel dyad. inter-segmented acculturation process the inter-segmented acculturation process is characterized by the parent-child sharing acculturation processes at different points in the adaptation. the immigrant parent and her child exchange values acquired as a result of contact with the host society. moreover, the mother and child in the inter-segmented dyad share a mutual respect for their native culture. this is most evident in the inter-segmented mothers’ own acculturation processes. this mother attends esl classes and becomes a part of certain mainstream institutions, but she holds on to such native cultural values as collectivism and traditional foods. still, while she is involved in her own acculturation process, this parent monitors her child to make sure the child does not reject traditional values but instead complements those values with new behaviors gained from the host society; she makes sure that her child is always in touch with her cultural heritage. in the inter-segmented mother and child process, conversations about ethnic pride and prejudice are commonplace. the inter-segmented dyadic mother makes explicit the importance of maintaining one’s ethnic ties while incorporating behaviors of the host society. she ensures the native culture stays alive by teaching her child ethnic values. for example, one mother said: “en mi familia yo [les] estoy ensenándoles sus valores…yo pienso que las formas de hablar [las idioma] puede uno conseguirla y no necesariamente uno va dejar su cultura por hablar el inglés. yo creo que si [tendrán tradiciones mexicanas cuando estén grandes] porque los valores agarran desde chiquitos, y creo que con la cultura que crezcan cambiaran cualquier cosita, pero no creo que cambien toda [las tradiciones].” (in my family i’m teaching them values…i think we can acquire other ways of speaking [other languages] and not lose our culture because we speak english. i think they will [have mexican traditions when they are older] because the values they gain begin when they are small, and i think that there will be small changes to the culture they grow up with, but they will be small changes.) mrs. silva (above) clearly states her belief that cultural values are formed early in life and that they are relatively stable over time. thus, the inter-segmented dyadic mother perceives new behaviors as adding to the existing cultural schema. in addition, she ensures that aspects of the new culture are an integral part of her child’s life. “¿y usted como se sintiera si ellos tuvieran más valores americanas que mexicanos?” (how would you feel if they [the children] adopted more american than mexican ideals?), asked the interviewer. “pues yo sé que están en su país.” (well, i know they’re in their country.) mrs. silva responds with a sense of security and acceptance. in our sample, mrs. vera and mrs. silva, the two mothers in this dyad, had the highest number of years in the united states—9 and 14 years, respectively. each of the inter-segmented dyadic mothers has engaged in formal english learning programs. the inter-segmented dyadic mother is enthusiastic and involved in her own development, as evidenced by her participation in various school-oriented activities. in both cases, respondents explicitly stated their plans for acquiring a vocational or bachelor’s degree. for example, mrs. silva said: “yo le dije a mi perceptions of acculturation 137 esposo que yo quiero ir al colegio; que quiero ser maestra” (i told my husband that i want to go to college; i want to become a teacher.). in a separate interview with mrs. vera, she was asked, “¿es posible que ellos [su niños] aprendan más inglés que español? (is it possible that they [your children] will learn more english than spanish?). mrs. vera responded, “por eso me voy a preparar…yo quiero prepárame para cuándo ellos lleguen ya a un ‘college’ para poderles ayudar.” (that’s why i’m going to prepare…i want to prepare myself so i can help when they attend college.) moving on to the discussion about acquiring u.s. cultural values, the interviewer asked mrs. vera, “¿ha observado usted que [su niños] tienen [valores] americanos?” (have you observed that your children have american values?). her response was, “no, porque como en mi familia yo estoy ensenándoles sus valores… no necesariamente uno va dejar su cultura por hablar en inglés.” (no, because i’m teaching my family values… one will not necessarily lose one’s culture simply because they speak english.) discussion when it comes to analyzing acculturation—the process by which an individual acquires the culture of a particular country—more and more attention is focusing on the immigrant family. when immigrants come to the united states, many either bring young children with them or have children in the united states. as immigrants and their children negotiate u.s. society and culture, their experiences affect their own acculturation process as well as the acculturation processes of others in their families. while studies have examined acculturation patterns in parents and children (e.g., portes & rumbaut, 2001), much of this work has focused on schoolaged children with a limited amount of attention given to the families at the onset of schooling (i.e., preschool). to address this gap in the literature, this study answers the following research question: what are latina immigrant mothers’ perceptions of their preschooler’s acculturation process and how does it relate to their own acculturation process? this study found that, based on in-depth interviews with six latina immigrant mothers, acculturation processes can vary widely between mother and child and across parents. three acculturation processes emerged from the data we gathered and defined here using math symbols: parallel, vertex and intersegmented. we found that the parallel acculturation process among mother and child is characterized by a mother’s need to maintain spanish as the only language of the home, regardless of the child’s english proficiency and desire to speak english. it is hypothesized that this kind of dissonance creates much of the conflict in later observations in teen-parent dyads. a child who cannot freely incorporate the new behaviors he adopts (e.g., language, values, practices) into his repertoire will experience cultural discontinuity with his mother and may already be experiencing some level of discontinuity at school. the lack of constant acculturation can have negative consequences for school achievement and self-concept (portes & rumbaut, 2001). results from the vertex and inter-segmented processes suggest that the mothers are more closely aligned with their children’s current acculturation. furthermore, they have a positive outlook on their child’s future acculturation. if this pattern continues, we can expect better academic outcomes for these children. in fact, portes and rumbaut (2001) suggest that consonant and selective adaptation are highly correlated with better child outcomes. further investigation is needed to determine if these patterns are found in other families and how they change over time. if these processes are observed in other families and data is collected to 138 lara-cinisomo determine factors that effect change in acculturation trajectories, then further evidence may support the early onset of varying patterns reported by portes and rumbaut’s (2001). for now, we speculate that the vertex-like mother and child may be able to rely on the early shared experiences to maintain harmony in their home even if the child’s acculturation process continues to accelerate. still, a number of factors are likely to determine the trajectory of mother and child as it relates to acculturation. for instance, a vertex mother may enter the labor force and find that her english skills require further refining. she may feel compelled to become more acculturated or she may find it difficult to adapt. this mother may lean on her child for support or she may feel isolated in her process. it is clearly impossible to speculate what factors may change in a mother’s life and how she responds. to better understand her acculturation process and that of her child, longitudinal studies that begin when the child enters school should be undertaken. consequently, a mother’s perspective on her child’s acculturation process should not be determined by one time point or a current view. instead, we should consider the mother’s own experiences and attitude toward her child’s acculturation process as it changes over time. for instance, the parallel defined mother in this study personally experienced racism, which negatively affected her view of the united states and its values. one can argue that this mother may also be suffering from low self-esteem, depression, and isolation that may color her view of u.s. culture. in that same vein, one can argue that as this mother’s experiences in the united states improve, so will her attitudes about and toward her child’s acculturation process. additionally, given the linear trajectory of the mean number of years in the united states across the three dyads shown in table 1, one can argue that the patterns we observe are actually stages of acculturation. in time, one may observe mother and child acculturation processes that more closely resemble the inter-segmented pattern. similarly, one can hypothesize that the vertex dyad mother, assuming she continues to learn english and selectively adapts u.s. cultural practices, can also become an inter-segmented mother. as noted above, a longitudinal study that starts at the child’s onset of schooling and tracks the primary caregiver’s acculturation processes and those of her child will provide a more accurate picture. limitations as with any small qualitative investigation, this study has some limitations. first, we acknowledge that a sample size of six limits the generalizability of this study. however, given that, to our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind, our contribution is in bringing forth awareness of processes that are absent from the current literature about acculturation processes among parents and children, primarily young children. second, this study does not measure children’s english language acquisition independent of mother’s reports, which may be biased based on the mother’s own language acquisition or feeling about english, as illustrated by our parallel mother. the third limitation of this study is that children were not interviewed. however, the aim of the study was to understand parents’ perceptions, in this case the mother’s, and child acculturation processes as it unfolds within the context of children’s formal schooling experience (i.e., preschool). finally, this study is a snapshot of current acculturation processes that are based on maternal reports, which might be fraught with biases that we did not account for. still, given the exploratory nature of this study, we believe that in-depth maternal interviews about acculturation processes the mother perceives in herself and her child are the first steps in the perceptions of acculturation 139 right direction towards a better understanding of acculturation patterns in families with young children. implications the parent-child acculturation process can have implications for the child’s social and academic outcomes (bankston & zhou., 1995; portes & rumbaut, 2001; romero, robinson, haydel, mendoza, & killen, 2004) as well as the parent-child relationship (crosnoe & kalil 2010; ibanez, kuperminc, jurkovic, & perilla, 2004; weisskirch & alva, 2002). prior research has shown a link between adolescent-parent cultural dissonance and family conflict (costigan & dokis, 2006). by identifying patterns of acculturation at the parent and child level, we can develop ways to support both parent and child as they negotiate language, culture and values, to reduce conflict and promote success in children’s early school experiences and as they progress through the u.s. school system. in reaction to the growing number of latino children under the age of five, early education programs are making additional investments to address the population’s needs. for instance, head start programs have made evidence-based changes to serve these children and their families. head start staff can continue to recruit bilingual teachers and administrators, and to add to cultural sensitivity training the idea that acculturation differs within a family and is fluid. every family is different, even if they come from the same sending country or speak the same foreign language (e.g., spanish). the opportunity for head start 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(2005). southeast asian immigrants' perceptions of good adolescents and good parents. the journal of psychology, 139(2), 159-175. dialog, 17(1) copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article knowledge of mathematical development survey: testing the validity and reliability of the survey and interpreting its results linda m. platas university of california, berkeley the knowledge of mathematical development survey was developed to measure early childhood teachers’ knowledge of early mathematical development. measurement properties of the instrument were evaluated through multiple phases of development, including two pilot studies and a final study with 346 preand inservice preschool teachers across three states. validity of the instrument was investigated through content and concurrent measures of validity. methods included cognitive interviews, literature reviews, and interviews with experts in the field, as well as statistical procedures such as analysis of variance between well-defined groups of preand inservice teachers. cronbach’s alpha coefficients were examined for both the total sample and a subset of three cohorts in order to estimate internal consistency reliability. the study provided preliminary evidence for adequate reliability and validity of the knowledge of mathematical development survey. findings revealed two predictors of teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development, classroom experience and completion of a course in mathematical development. potential applications include evaluation of the impact of early childhood education teacher preparation programs and professional development interventions. mathematical proficiency is an issue at the forefront of education policy development at all levels (national research council [nrc], 2009; rand, 2003). in particular, the predictive power of early math skills on later academic achievement (duncan et al., 2007; romano, babchishin, pagani, & kohen, 2010) has recently elicited much interest in the quality of support of mathematical development in early childhood classrooms. head start’s revised early learning framework emphasizes the predictive power of early math skills on later academic achievement in multiple domains (administration for children and families [acf], 2011, p. 16). accordingly, major policy stakeholders have issued statements concerning the urgency of including effective mathematics instruction in early childhood curricula (nrc, 2001; national association for the education of young children [naeyc] & national council of teachers of mathematics [nctm], 2002). a primary stakeholder in the field of education as a whole, the american educational research association, stressed in its publication, early childhood education: investing in quality makes sense, that “the best early childhood programs emphasize language, emergent literacy, and early mathematics skills” (2005, p. 4). in addition, head start and many state guidelines now require teachers to provide mathematics instruction in the platas classroom, and call upon programs to implement curricula that ensure progress in this domain (acf, 2011; daily, burkhauser & halle, 2010). in view of these mandates, it is essential that head start and other early childhood teachers possess knowledge of children’s mathematical development and the pedagogy needed to support it in their classrooms. studies have revealed several challenges facing the early childhood education (ece) field regarding the implementation of such policies: (a) current classroom support for early mathematical development is generally limited or non-existent (copple, 2004; klibanoff, levine, huttenlocher, vasilyeva, & hedges, 2006; varol et al., 2012); (b) teacher education and professional development programs frequently lack instruction in early mathematical development (ginsburg, lee & boyd, 2008; sarama, dibiase, clements & spitler, 2004); and (c) the field lacks research-based instruments that can reliably assess teachers’ knowledge and evaluate the effectiveness of education and training in early mathematics (maxwell, field, & clifford, 2006). it has been suggested that a primary explanation for a lack of support for mathematics development in the early childhood classroom is that teachers rarely receive the preservice education necessary to support cognitive development, and that this particularly applies to early mathematical development (nrc, 2001, 2009). while some graduate programs provide courses in mathematical development, many ece undergraduate programs have few or no requirements in mathematics education, and those at lower levels of education provide virtually no preparation (ginsburg et al., 2008, nrc, 2009). inservice ece professional development had traditionally focused on “developmentally appropriate” curriculum, literacy development, classroom management skills, and the use of play to promote socio-emotional development (copley & padron, 1998; ginsburg et al., 2006; naeyc, 2009). more recently, the field has focused on intentional teaching and teacher-child interactions, in particular in the domains of socio-emotional and early literacy development (powell & diamond, 2012; sabol & pianta, 2012). however, some promising inservice programs have emerged that target early math development. the institute of education sciences has funded several experimental studies that provided professional development in early mathematics to teachers already in the field, in the form of extended workshops and classroom support. results indicated that the sustained professional development was successful not only in increasing the teachers’ involvement in mathematical activities in the classroom, but also in increasing children’s mathematical skills (clements & sarama, 2008; platas, klein, & starkey, 2006). short-term workshops are a common method of providing training to teachers who are otherwise engaged in classroom teaching and have limited time resources. these workshops are generally offered over the course of just a few days. short-term workshops on early mathematics are few and far between and, unlike the extended workshops, generally do not support sustainable change in knowledge or practice (copple, 2004; ginsburg et al., 2008). further investigation into the contributions of workshops to teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development would contribute to our understanding in the field of professional development. in light of the lack of education and professional development programs that target teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development and pedagogy, it is not surprising that many teachers of young children do not create mathematically rich environments in their classrooms (copple, 2004; ginsburg, inoue & seo, 1999). while studies that measure mathematical activities in the preschool classroom are rare (sarama et al., 2004; nrc, 2009), those that do exist suggest that mathematics-related teacher interactions in the classroom are not common. knowledge of mathematical development survey ginsburg et al. reported that there was “little evidence in our observations of any adult involvement – explicit teaching or indirect assistance – in children’s mathematical explorations” (p. 97). in an analysis of frequency of math interactions (math talk) between teachers and children in 26 classrooms, klibanoff et al. (2006) found that counting activities were present in only 69% of the classrooms and number operations in only 15% (p. 65). results indicated that the quantity of math talk was associated with an increase in children’s math knowledge over the school year (pp. 62-64). given this correlation, an examination of factors, including teaching experience, that might contribute to teachers’ ability to support mathematical learning would be of interest. this could be particularly useful, as research on the effects of teacher experience on child outcomes is limited (munoz & chang, 2007). purpose of the study the purpose of this study was to develop and examine the measurement properties of a new instrument for evaluating teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development, the knowledge of mathematical development (kmd) survey. the study was a preliminary examination of the reliability and validity of the instrument. reliability was examined for the total sample of 346 participants and across a subset of three cohorts, differing in education and experience. validity was examined by an analysis of variance in mean scores of the three cohorts and an analysis of proportion correct for each item across cohorts. in addition, predictors including teaching experience, education level, exposure to professional development workshops in early math development, and completion of a course in mathematical development were investigated for their contributions to teachers’ knowledge of children’s mathematical development. development of the kmd survey over the past 30 years, researchers have been intensively studying young children’s mathematical development and have come to understand a great deal about the developmental progression of children’s mathematical understanding (baroody, lai, & mix, 2006; sarama & clements, 2009). early mathematical development can be defined as the increasingly complex mathematical constructions and goals that young children develop and pursue in their activities (saxe, guberman, & gearhart, 1987). for example, can children count a row of items before they can count the same set size of items in a circle array? or, does the arrangement of the items not matter? teachers must know the answers to these types of questions when creating effective and developmentally appropriate activities in the classroom. kmd survey subdomains because the field of early mathematics is broad, the mathematical domains covered by this instrument are limited to number and operations. these domains are among the most researched topics in the field and, arguably, the most important in young children’s mathematical development (clements, 2004). the six subdomains of early number and operations included in this study, along with descriptions and examples are listed in table 1. platas table 1 kmd survey sub-domains sub-domain description examples verbal counting sequence stating the number words in sequence “i can count to five, one-twothree-four-five!” counting/numerosity determining numerosity of sets “there are five blocks in my tower.” ordinal number words stating position in space or time with ordinal number words “i’m first in line and you’re second!” addition/subtraction joining or separation of sets kate: “i have one cookie. if you give me one, then i’ll have two.” sue: “but i only have two, and if i give you one, then i’ll only have one!” division of sets fair-sharing activities “i have four cookies, one for me, one for you, one for me, one for you… that’s fair!” written number symbols and words recognition and production “i’m four years old… see that number, that’s me, i’m a 4!” a brief content description of the subdomains measured by the kmd survey is provided below. this section provides support for content validity, demonstrating that the items chosen for inclusion represent current knowledge on mathematical development (anastasi & urbina, 1997). verbal counting sequence. oral recitation of the counting sequence is the verbal expression of the lexical form of the numbers, and an essential foundation for later object counting. children first learn the lowest numbers, followed by the higher numbers, and eventually are able to continue the sequence from anywhere in the continuum. teachers need to understand that these beginning verbal counting sequence recitals do not necessarily correspond to an understanding of the cardinal value of the set (baroody et al., 2006; fuson, 1988). counting/numerosity. counting is commonly defined as having the following qualities: (a) a specific number word sequence; (b) each object in a set is labeled with one and only one number word; and (c) that the last number word stated also represents the numerosity of the set, otherwise known as the cardinal number (fuson & hall, 1983). additional ways of defining counting (gelman & gallistel, 1978) include the order-irrelevance principle (it does not matter in which order items are counted) and the abstraction principle (all items in a set are considered countable “things”). other important aspects of counting include knowing the knowledge of mathematical development survey “number after” a particular number, knowing which number is “bigger,” counting existing sets, and being able to create sets by counting (baroody et al., 2006). ordinal number words describing position. knowledge of ordinal position requires an understanding that there is directionality to a set of objects (e.g., bears lined up at a cave entrance), cardinality, and position in space (clements & sarama, 2009; fuson & hall, 1983). one of the difficulties in learning ordinal position words is that the words themselves do not always relate to the verbal counting sequence. examples of this are “one” and “first”, and “two” and “second.” teachers need to understand that children cannot build upon their knowledge of the verbal counting sequence to gain competency with the initial ordinal numbers (i.e., first, second, third, fifth); instead, children must be exposed to the necessary lexical forms in meaningful conversation and activities. addition and subtraction. addition involves the joining of two sets. for young children this is generally represented by problems that either join a set of entities to a set the child already possesses (“you have two apples. if i give you three more, how many will you have?”) or represent part-part-whole situations (“we have three girls and four boys in our group. how many children do we have altogether?”). subtraction for young children usually entails separation activities (“if you have five blocks and you give me two, how many will you have left?”). developmental studies illustrate that children are generally limited in these problems to those set sizes that they can represent (baroody et al, 2006; clements & sarama, 2009). division of sets (fair/equal sharing). like addition and subtraction, children frequently encounter fair-sharing situations in the home and classroom. in particular, sharing limited resources (e.g., cookies during dessert) can require fair-share apportioning. although research on young children is limited, studies show that children are able to successfully share equally between themselves and another – or “deal” a set of objects to two entities equally (for instance, two puppets) during their last preschool year (pepper & hunting, 1998). the classroom provides many social opportunities where fair-sharing skills are essential in continuing successful play interactions. written number symbols/word recognition and production. early experiences with written number symbols and words primarily occur in four forms: (1) recognition of printed number symbols; (2) production of written number symbols; (3) recognizing the printed lexical form of the number words; and (4) producing the lexical form of number words (baroody, 2004). item development the rationale for selecting items for the kmd survey was based on three criteria: (a) supported by independent research and accepted as representative of the developmental progression by experts in the field (baroody et al., 2006; clements & sarama, 2009); (b) common classroom activities; and (c) common activities found in preschool curriculum books. during development, several child mathematics assessment instruments were reviewed (woodcock-johnson iii: applied problems; tema 3) and the author consulted with child mathematics assessors who had become very familiar with these instruments during the course of their extensive research platas experience. several experts in the field who had taken part in the development of state standards were also consulted. the development of the kmd survey occurred over a multiphase study that consisted of four parts: item development, two pilot studies, and the study reported in this paper. experts in the field of mathematical development and education were consulted at each of these phases. in order to test the kmd survey items for clarity, the first pilot study included cognitive interviews with 20 participants from a broad spectrum of experience and education, ranging from a preschool teacher with 24 units in ece, to a ph.d. student who had preschool teaching and mathematics assessment experience. this variability helped to ensure that the survey items would be similarly interpreted by a wide spectrum of future participants. iterative conversations regarding the scope and phrasing of the 30 items indicated that the majority of the items both represented the scope of early number and operations and used commonly understood terminology. upon the recommendation of participants, teacherand child-produced phrases that illustrated the task/activity were added to strengthen item clarity. ten items were dropped due to length, duplication of content, or little classroom application. information on items that were eliminated or changed is available from the author. the second pilot study consisted of the completion of the refined draft of 20 items by 53 participants. the primary purpose of this second pilot study was to estimate reliability of the revised instrument. the estimates of reliability from the second pilot were good. cronbach’s alpha was estimated at .82. the study presented in this paper utilized this refined instrument with a sample of 346 preand inservice teachers (examples of kmd survey items may be found in the appendix) and provided data to answer two research questions: 1. are the validity and reliability estimates of the kmd survey sufficient to support its use in research, program planning, and classrooms? 2. what are the contributing factors in teachers’ acquisition of knowledge of early mathematical development? how do level of education, years of experience, professional development workshops, and math development courses influence this knowledge? method participants participants included students from four community colleges in the san francisco bay area, three california state universities, and three masters’ programs in two states (western and eastern united states). participant demographics are listed in table 2. knowledge of mathematical development survey table 2 demographics community colleges california state universities masters’ programs all programs number of schools 4 3 3 10 number of classrooms 7 6 4 17 number of participants 135 147 64 346 ethnicity (proportion) american indian .03 .02 .02 .02 asian .18 .22 .07 .18 black .10 .05 .12 .08 latino .27 .21 .04 .21 native hawaiian .05 .05 .0 .04 white .34 .45 .75 .45 female (proportion) .87 .90 .95 .90 age (mean) 27.3 24.1 30.6 26.6 years of experience range (mean) na 0-10 (2.29) 0-15 (3.45) 0-15 (2.64) participants were recruited using a stratified purposeful sampling method in order to facilitate the formation of three distinct cohorts, differing in experience, education and exposure to a math development course. this method provided for the capturing of specific desired variables of particular subgroups of interest, allowed for comparisons between these groups, and provided a way to access fairly large groups of participants simultaneously. in the community colleges, only students in beginning core courses were recruited (consequently, they lacked experience as classroom teachers). at the california state universities, students in both beginning core courses and advanced 3 rd /4 th year courses were recruited. at the masters’ level, students currently completing a mathematical development course or who had taken a mathematical development course as a prerequisite were recruited. all three of the mathematical development courses surveyed emphasized theories of development and teaching, understanding of young children’s mathematical thinking, and the development of activities based on those theories and that understanding. these courses were three-credit semester classes. for participants without exposure to a math development course, instruction on mathematical development ranged from none to limited textbook discussion and, at the most, six hours of classroom interaction in curriculum and child development courses. procedures instructors were contacted via e-mail and provided with an explanation of the study and a request for the author to visit classrooms to recruit participants and administer surveys. in all cases, permission was granted. participants were given a $10 gift card as an incentive. in all instances, students were assured that the instructor would not be informed regarding participation. return rate for completed surveys ranged from 89-100% per classroom, for an overall average of 97%. completion of the surveys took approximately 15 minutes. platas the use of contrasting groups was the means through which concurrent validity was estimated. evidence supports the idea that higher qualifications, including more mathematics education training, affect teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development (nrc, 2009). participants were assigned to one of three cohorts. in order to create these three cohorts, demographic information and background in ece experience, ece education and completion of early mathematical development courses and professional development was requested at the end of the survey. descriptions of these cohorts can be found in the concurrent validity section below. instrument the instrument consisted of 20 items. to help participants perform as successfully as possible, the easiest items (i.e., items that pilot participants were most successful on) were placed at the beginning of the survey. for each item on the kmd survey, respondents indicated whether task #1 or task #2 represented the easier of the two mathematical tasks for young children, or marked “same” or “do not know.” while the correct answer was either task #1 or task #2, the other two choices were provided to allow for other possible understandings of mathematical development and to reduce chance correct answers (with only two possible answers, the probability of a random correct answer is .5). some participants did not know the answer to one or more items and so providing them with instructions to choose “do not know” provided for more accurate data (dillman, 2007). for those participants who believed the two tasks to be similar in difficulty, the answer “same” was an appropriate answer. analysis the following procedures and statistical tests were used to examine the measurement properties of the kmd survey. measures of internal consistency, including cronbach’s alpha coefficients and item-total correlations, were used as estimates of reliability. for dichotomous data, alpha is equivalent to the kuder-richardson 20 (kr20) coefficient and therefore applicable to kmd survey data (streiner & norman, 2008, p. 89). these analyses were performed on the entire sample as well as across the subset of cohorts. content validity was examined through a literature review, interviews with experts in the field, a review of current child mathematics assessments, and cognitive interviews. in addition, experts in early math assessment and standards were called upon during the drafting of all versions of the kmd survey to examine the content validity of the items. a one-way analysis of variance (anova) was used to examine concurrent validity by comparing the kmd survey scores of three groups/cohorts by item and total score. these cohorts were drawn from the participant pool to facilitate the measurement of concurrent validity (hogan, 2003, p. 184). three dimensions of importance were considered in setting the parameters for each of these cohorts. these were ece education, ece teaching experience, and completion of a mathematical development course. these three cohorts are described in the following paragraphs. the first cohort was representative of students just beginning their careers in the ece field. these beginning community college and california state university ece students had no knowledge of mathematical development survey teaching experience, no ece education and had not completed a mathematical development course. these two sources, community college and university classrooms, were chosen to reduce the confound of institution. one concern was that a latent factor related to overall test-taking abilities might affect the kmd survey scores differentially between these two groups. however, when comparing these two sub-groups, there was no significant difference between their average kmd survey scores, t(44) = .904, p = .371. the second cohort was representative of many teachers currently in the field. in many states, 12 ece units meet preschool teacher qualification requirements, and many of the teachers currently in the field have completed just 12 units (ginsburg & ertle, 2008). this cohort included 3 rd and 4 th year university students with two or more years inservice experience and 12 or more units of ece. legislation passed in 2007 stated that by 2013, fifty percent of head start teachers must possess a bachelor’s or higher degree in ece (improving head start for school readiness act of 2007), making this cohort particularly representative of teachers in head start. the third cohort represents teachers in an m.a. program with two or more years of inservice experience, and enrollment in a mathematical development course. in all instances, participants in this cohort had either completed the entire course, or were nearing completion of the course (in both cases, study of number and operations had been completed). while admittance to a master’s program could be a confound, almost no two or four year programs offer a full course in mathematical development (i.e., at least five quarter units or three semester units) and thus it would have been difficult to identify undergraduates who had completed such a course. the third cohort represented teachers most likely to have the greatest amount of knowledge of children’s mathematical development due to experience and education. the third cohort was expected to perform significantly better than the second cohort, and both of these groups were expected to perform better than the first cohort. since not all of the participants were assigned to a cohort (e.g., there were some students in masters’ programs who had less than two years of experience), the number of participants included in this analysis was reduced from the total participant pool. while the above analyses provided information on the measurement properties of the kmd survey, they do not provide information regarding the contribution of individual factors to knowledge of mathematical development. regression analyses can provide a more detailed picture and has the advantage of quantifying the separate effects of teaching experience, level of education, and completion of math development courses and professional development workshops. as noted earlier, education, experience and exposure to the study of mathematical development have been considered most effective in building teachers’ knowledge of children’s mathematical development. in order to measure the effects of these variables, a regression analysis was conducted on all complete cases. to most accurately measure this, the backward method was used. the backward method is generally preferred over forward regression methods, which are influenced by suppressor effects, and may result in the exclusion of predictors that are significant when other variables are held constant (field, 2009). platas results reliability estimates of reliability were obtained for the subset of participants who were included in the anova analysis (n=144) and for all participants who completed the kmd survey (n=346). cronbach’s alpha results were fairly robust when measured for all participants surveyed as well as for the three-cohort subset. the alpha for the three-cohort subset was .808. this was somewhat higher than the alpha resulting from the analysis that included all participants, .776. however, both were within the realm of adequacy in the field of education (wiersma & jurs, 2005). validity the anova f-test comparing mean kmd survey scores between cohorts was significant, f(2,141) = 24.38, p = <.001. due to unequal variances between cohorts 1 and 3 and cohorts 2 and 3, tamhane’s t2 post hoc tests were utilized. analyses using tamhane’s t2 post hoc criterion for significance indicated that the average score for each cohort differed significantly, increasing as ece education, experience and enrollment in a mathematical development course increased. the number of participants in each group and the results of this cohort comparison analysis are listed in table 3. table 3 kmd survey means by cohort group n mean sd cohort 1 p cohort 2 p cohort 1 preservice enrolled in core ece course no math dev course 74 10.30 (3.98) cohort 2 2+ years experience in-service jr./sr. status in ba ece/cd program no math dev course 33 12.00 (2.94) 1.702 0.046 cohort 3 2 + years experience in-service enrolled in m.a. program yes math dev course 37 14.95 (1.78) 4.648 <.001 2.945 <.001 knowledge of mathematical development survey mean kmd survey scores differed significantly between cohorts, providing support for validity of the kmd survey instrument. as predicted, the third cohort performed significantly better than the second cohort, and in turn both of these groups performed better than the first cohort. while there was a significant difference between cohorts 1 and 2 with an effect size of d = .48, the largest differences were those between cohort 3 and the other cohorts, a difference of 4.65 points between cohorts 1 and 3 (d = 1.51), and 2.95 points between cohorts 2 and 3 (d = 1.21). enrollment in a m.a. mathematical development course was associated with a significant increase in the participants’ knowledge of early mathematical development as measured by the kmd survey. there were no ceiling or floor effects, adding further support in the estimate of validity. in examination of the proportion correct by item across cohorts utilizing tamhane’s t2 post hoc tests, 16 of the 20 items showed an increased frequency of correct answers as the cohort education, experience and completion of a mathematical development course increased. all but three items indicated a significant increase in proportion correct when comparing cohort 1 and cohort 3. these data are reported in table 4. it is worth examining these three items more closely. the observed group differences for item 4 approached statistical significance (p = .065). item 14 was a difficult problem comparing an addition to a subtraction problem with a confound of set size. because of children’s ability to subitize (immediately perceive the numerosity of a small set; clements & sarama, 2009), children can more easily solve a subtraction problem in which one object is taken away from a set of three objects than solve an addition problem where two items are added to a set of five items. item 16 compared the skills needed to produce a small set from a larger set to those needed to count an existing set. many participants indicated that these were the same skills (however, counting an existing set is easier than producing a set; baroody et al, 2006). platas table 4 proportion correct by item across cohorts kmd item proportion correct by cohort difference cohort 1 vs 3 90% ci 1 2 3 1 .75 .91 .92 .17* [.31, .02] 2 .70 .85 .95 .25*** [.38, .11] 3 .80 .91 .97 .17** [.28, .06] 4 .15 .12 .32 .17 [.37, -.01] 5 .61 .73 .89 .28*** [.45, .12] 6 .31 .46 .78 .47*** [.66, .29] 7 .55 .64 .92 .37*** [.52, .21] 8 .67 .73 .89 .22** [.38, .06] 9 .17 .30 .65 .48*** [.67, .28] 10 .33 .27 .70 .37*** [.57, .17] 11 .65 .88 .95 .30*** [.44, .16] 12 .78 .82 .97 .19** [.31, .07] 13 .52 .67 .87 .35*** [.52, .17] 14 .16 .21 .11 -.05 [.09, -.20] 15 .51 .64 .78 .27** [.45, .07] 16 .73 .76 .68 -.05 [.14, -.26] 17 .51 .58 .89 .38*** [.54, .21] 18 .55 .67 .76 .21* [.40, .01] 19 .67 .67 .87 .20* [.36, .03] 20 .71 .85 1.00 .29*** [.40, .18] note. tamhane’s 2; one-tailed; ci = confidence interval * p < .05. ** p < .01. ***p < .001. contributing factors to teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development level of education, years of teaching experience, exposure to short-term professional development workshops on mathematical development, and completion of a math development course were examined in a regression analysis to estimate their contribution to knowledge of mathematical development as measured by the kmd survey. the results of the regression analysis are in table 5. the findings indicate that when years of experience and level of education, as well as both mathematical development courses and short-term workshops were included in the model, only years of experience and completion of a math development course were significant predictors. this model represents 16% of the variance in the sample. subsequent models that excluded non-significant predictors did not result in greater predictive power. examination of residual plots, histograms of residuals, levene’s test, durbin-watson test, variance inflation factors (vif) and cook’s distance all indicate that assumptions of linearity, normality, homogeneity, independence, non-collinearity and influence were sufficiently met. knowledge of mathematical development survey table 5 predictors of knowledge of mathematical development variable b 95% ci constant 10.71*** [10.25, 11.18] years of experience .24** [0.08, 0.40] education aa/as -.01 [-1.20, 1.19] education ba/bs .92 [-.38, 2.23] education ma/ms .83 [-1.31, 2.97] math development course 2.02*** [.98, 3.05] math development workshop .41 [-1.01, 1.84] r 2 .16 f 9.73 note. n=319. ** p < .01 ***p < .001 discussion and summary the purpose of this study was to design and examine the measurement properties of a new instrument for evaluating teachers’ knowledge of children’s early mathematical development and investigate contributing factors to that knowledge. the sample of 346 teachers included both preand inservice teachers with a variety of classroom and educational experience. the results indicated that reliability estimates, as measured by cronbach’s alpha, were adequate for both the sample and cohort subset, with the cohort subset producing a slightly improved estimate of internal consistency. these results, combined with the reliability estimates from the earlier pilot study of 53 teachers, showed a trend of adequate internal consistency. content validity was examined through a literature review, interviews with experts in the field, a review of current child mathematics assessments, and cognitive interviews. throughout the development of the instrument, experts in early math assessment were consulted to ensure that the items continued to reflect current research. concurrent validity was estimated in analyses comparing (a) the mean kmd survey total scores and (b) item correct frequencies across cohorts. these analyses provided evidence for differences in knowledge of mathematical development as measured by the kmd survey between the three groups as expected. there were no ceiling or floor effects for the mean kmd survey total scores, adding further evidence of validity. the frequency of correct answer analyses showed a consistent trend of correct answers as education and experience increased across cohorts. combined with evidence provided in the development phase and pilot studies, the analyses conducted provided preliminary evidence in support of the validity of the kmd survey. it has frequently been argued that education makes a difference in the knowledge and practices of early childhood teachers (bowman, 2011). for researchers who study teachers’ mathematical support in the preschool classroom, a belief in the value of such education, specifically that in mathematical development, is particularly robust (ginsburg & ertle, 2008; nrc, 2009). as results from the regression analysis illustrated, it would take eight years of experience to equal the effect of the completion of math development course (for every year of experience, the kmd survey score rises by .24 points; for the completion of a single math development course, the kmd survey score rises by 2.02 points). this outcome may explain why so many classrooms lack support for mathematical development, as the results suggest that it may take many years of experience to gain sufficient knowledge about mathematical platas development to provide support in the classroom. the completion of a single math development course significantly adds to teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development, resulting in a 19% increase in the kmd survey score. results on the difference between exposure to a professional development workshop and completion of a math development course suggest that sustained and deep interaction with the subject of math development is necessary for lasting results. this study has a number of limitations. reliability and validity estimates were limited to the populations from which samples were drawn. in order to ensure that an instrument is broadly useful, all applicable populations must be sampled. while this study included a substantial number of participants, there were populations that were not included. because the sampling occurred in colleges and universities, teachers who were in the workforce, but not enrolled in any classes, were not included. additional validation and reliability studies that include this population are needed. as noted in the rationale for cohort 3, there was a possible confound of education level. cohort 2 and 3 differences included enrollment in a mathematical development course and a master’s program. the assumption was that the mathematical development course was related to the increase in knowledge about mathematical development. however, it is possible that those students who were admitted to a master’s program were fundamentally different from those who were still enrolled in a bachelor’s program (although as indicated earlier, this was not true for differences between beginning community college students and enrollees in a bachelor’s program). it is unlikely that, given the overall lack of emphasis on mathematical learning and teaching in the field as a whole, simply being admitted to a master’s program increases one’s knowledge about early mathematical development. future research disentangling these variables would be useful. as detailed in the introduction, the kmd survey does not measure teachers’ knowledge of mathematical domains other than number and operations. these two number-based subdomains are frequently subsumed under the dimension of “number sense” (case, 1998; gersten & chard, 1999) and these analyses were performed with the assumption that the survey is uni-dimensional. other important subdomains include geometry, measurement, algebra (patterns), data analysis and probability. future expansion of the kmd survey should investigate the dimensionality of the number sense items as well as include these additional subdomains. more importantly, the kmd survey does not measure knowledge of the pedagogy necessary to support the teaching of early mathematics. research on the assessment of this essential component of teaching is urgently needed in the ece field. finally, as these are preliminary data, more research is needed. this study has provided estimates of reliability and validity applicable only to this limited sample. in the future development of the kmd survey with broader populations and more subdomains, more thorough investigations into the measurement properties will be needed. major policy stakeholders in early education in the united states have issued statements concerning the urgency of including mathematics education in the early childhood curriculum (naeyc & nctm, 2002). ece teacher education programs must now begin to address the lack of education and training in this area of curriculum. the use of the kmd survey could play a part in this enterprise, at multiple levels of the educational system: (a) individual instructors could use the survey to measure the knowledge of students at the beginning and end of a course to assess change in knowledge; (b) ece programs could survey a cohort of students to inform knowledge of mathematical development survey the development of a mathematical development course; and (c) the use of the survey in multiple studies with differing interventions could provide useful comparisons across these interventions. this study goes a considerable distance in ascertaining which factors contribute to teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development. while the study will help to contribute to the literature on effective practices, more research is needed. a complete program of research on the quality and impact of ece preparation in mathematics education would also include an examination of curricula, as well as investigations into the financial, programmatic and systemic constraints on the implementation of effective mathematics education in the early childhood classroom. references administration for children and families. 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(2001). woodcock-johnson iii tests of cognitive abilities. itasca, il: riverside assessing knowledge, competency, issues and needs of early childhood professionals dialog, 16(3), 1-20 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 research article directions for professional development: increasing knowledge of early childhood measurement rebecca gokiert university of alberta lisa noble glenrose rehabilitation hospital lori baugh littlejohns school of public health, university of alberta research has indicated that the education and experience of early childhood (ec) professionals in measurement is often inadequate to meet the requirements for best practice, and very few studies have investigated this issue. a survey was used to explore the measurement knowledge and use of 159 ec professionals to help set directions for professional development. results indicated that respondents had a very high interest in professional development and for the most part had received little to no training for the tools and procedures they were currently using in practice. furthermore, moderate to large effects were found between an individual’s measurement knowledge and competency and how important they believed it was for their practice across all measurement domains (screening, assessment, and evaluation). the majority of respondents (93.9%) reported that they modify measurement procedures, which can have implications for the reliability and validity of the tool. respondents highlighted various measurement issues and needs in terms of professional development, such as the need for measurement standards across programs, how to appropriately modify measurement tools/procedures to meet individual program and professional needs, and how to link measurement information to programming. research has consistently confirmed the importance of early childhood development in setting the foundation for learning, behaviour, and health outcomes throughout the lifespan (nelson, 2000; shonkoff & phillips, 2000; greenspan & meisels, 1996; campbell & ramey, 1994; hertzman, 1999; mccain, mustard, & shanker, 2007; vanlandeghem, curgins, & abrams, 2002). given that not all environments and experiences in early childhood are optimal, it is estimated that one quarter of canada’s children between the ages of zero to six are experiencing difficulties associated with learning and/or behaviour (mccain, et al., 2007). given this high estimate, many programs and services are aimed at supporting the positive development of all young children with targeted intervention for those experiencing difficulties (anderson, et al., 2 gokiert et al. 2003; dawson & osterling, 1997; nelson, 2000; ramey & ramey, 2004; schweinhart, barnes, & weikart, 1993). for this reason, early childhood (ec) professionals are playing an increasing role in the measurement of young children in childcare, preschool, head start, intervention, and school settings. measurement processes can be used to monitor development, plan and implement effective early childhood intervention and services, and evaluate program effectiveness (meisels & atkins-burnett, 2000; administration for children and families, 2002). in early childhood literature and the field, three complementary and often overlapping forms of measurement (screening, assessment and evaluation) are described (appl, 2000). each plays a critical role in enhancing the understanding of a child’s development, the environments in which they develop, and the effectiveness of interventions and programs for supporting development. assessment is defined as a process of gathering information and observations and making decisions about an individual based on the information (bredekamp & copple, 1997). the goal of assessment with respect to early childhood development is to acquire information and understanding of a child’s developmental strengths and needs. if a child is experiencing difficulties, this information can guide referral or the development of programs and services to meet the needs of the child (meisels & atkins-burnett, 2000). the term screening is often incorrectly used synonymously with assessment however screening is commonly differentiated to be a purpose of assessment. screening can be defined as the use of a brief procedure or measurement tool designed to identify, from within a large population of children, those who may benefit from further assessment to verify developmental and/or health risks (martella, 2004). the term assessment is also associated with evaluation. martella (2004) defined evaluation in early childhood development as the measurement, comparison, and judgment of the value, quality or worth of children's work and/or of the environments in which they learn. ec professionals want to know if the supports they provide are helping children develop, parents want to know if their children are making gains, and funders want to know if the programs they are financially supporting are producing positive outcomes (mcconnell, 2000; horton & bowman, 2002). significant issues related to the measurement practices of ec professionals have been raised in the literature (gredler, 1997; hirsh-pasek, kochanoff, newcombe, & villiers, 2005; neisworth & bagnato, 2000; greenwood, luze, & carter, 2002). over the past 15 years standards have been developed to guide best practices in early childhood assessment and programming (administration for children and families, 2003; aera, apa, & ncme, 1999; naeyc, 2003, 2009; national association of school psychologists (nasp), 2005; national education goals panel, 1998). these guidelines are incorporated into many program performance standards and policies (e.g., head start see u.s. department of health and human services, 2007), making explicit the importance of using research-based assessment methods and tools that possess adequate psychometric properties, and are accurate for the child being assessed. however, it is not clear if ec professionals are following these guidelines when selecting and appropriately using screening and assessment tools in their practice (allen, 2007; appl, 2000; bredekamp & copple, 1997; brown & rolfe, 2005; pretti-frontczak, kowalksi, & brown, 2002; sandall, mclean, & smith, 2000). shepard, kagan, & wurtz (1998) found, due to a lack of knowledge and formal training, that ec professionals are using tests to address multiple purposes which compromises the validity of the inferences that can be made from results. many assessment tools have a distinct purpose and therefore using them interchangeably for alternative purposes is not recommended. furthermore, if there is not a clear purpose that will result in positive benefits for the child, an assessment should not occur (mcconnell, 2000; shepard, early childhood measurement 3 1994). the use of tools for multiple purposes is likely influenced by increasing pressure for programs to adhere to accountability frameworks and produce outcomes for funding agencies (hirsh-pasek et al., 2005). few studies have investigated the assessment practices and beliefs of ec professionals. sheperd (1997) highlighted the need for knowledge of developmental indicators and test administration as key factors in valid and reliable assessment. however, the majority of individuals responsible for this are lacking in both. it has also been found that the education and experience of ec professionals is often inadequate to meet the requirements for best practice in assessment (naeyc, 2009). pretti-frontczak et al. (2002) conducted a large-scale study of teachers in ohio (n =586) to examine the degree to which best practices in assessment were being implemented. the relationship between teacher education, program type, years of experience, and the use of assessment was examined. results indicated that teachers who had higher levels of education reported using a larger range of assessments than those with less education. there were varied responses with respect to whether particular assessments were directly linked to their intended purpose. it was also reported that there seemed to be a widespread use of self-developed or program-developed assessment tools/tests and caution was expressed that these may lack important psychometric properties. others have noted that those conducting assessments are often frustrated with the inadequacy of available measurement tools in meeting needs and may modify existing tools without a clear understanding of the validity and reliability implications (allen, 2007; appl, 2000; bordignon & lam, 2004). the misuse and modification of standardized tools, is likely exacerbated by the vast number of assessment tools currently available and the multiple domains of child development measured (niemeyer & scottlittle, 2001; berry, bridges, & zaslow, 2004). questions arise as to what assessment tools ec professionals are using. the centre of excellence for children and adolescents with special needs (kineapple, lyon, mcsorely, morse, & smith, 2005) in canada developed a list of the most commonly used assessment tools for children with special needs. this was based on a review of the literature and a survey of agencies and individuals working with young children with special needs and their families. the report outlined numerous tools for children aged birth to six years that are available, however, it did not provide information regarding the extent to which certain tools are used, the reasons that specific tools are selected, and whether these tools are used appropriately. brown and rolfe (2005) explored whether ec professionals (n=10) in australia were using formal (standardized instruments) or informal (non-standardized instruments) assessments. they also asked students (n=10) in the final year of their bachelor of early childhood program about their intentions to use assessment in their future practice. the majority of practitioners (90%) and all students reported that they use or plan to use informal assessments. seventy percent of students planned to use formal assessments in their future practice compared to only 10% of professionals. ec professionals rated “ease of use” as their primary rationale for choosing assessments and students rated “accuracy of instrument” as the most important characteristic for choosing an assessment instrument. students noted that “identifying children at-risk” was the most important reason to engage in assessment while “providing a good overall picture of development” was cited as the most important reason for choosing assessments by ec professionals. given the small sample size, it is difficult to generalize from these results; however the study provides some insights into preand current ec professional’s perceptions of assessment. 4 gokiert et al. there is a call for research to investigate assessment tools that are used by ec professionals and whether usage is aligned with the intended purpose (hirsh-pasek et al., 2005). furthermore, there is scarce literature with respect to canadian ec professionals’ assessment knowledge and practices. therefore, the purpose of this research was to explore (a) the current measurement knowledge of ec professionals in a mid-sized metropolitan area in canada, (b) the measurement tools that ec professionals are using, and (c) the extent to which the tools are meeting their needs and being used for the right purpose. research methods in order to explore the measurement knowledge, use, and needs of ec professionals, a comprehensive survey was developed and implemented for this research. the survey was used as an efficient means to gather information from a large group of ec professionals. survey development the survey instrument was developed in two stages. first, a review of the literature was conducted to identify key definitions, concepts, and issues in ec measurement, and from this information a preliminary survey was developed. this step was considered important to build upon past research and strengthen the content validity of the survey instrument. second, the preliminary survey was pre-tested through a focus group with ten individuals working within the ec field. to enhance the relevancy of the tool to the local context individuals were selected to represent front-line service delivery (i.e., early intervention, childcare, head start, aboriginal and immigrant serving agencies, social and health services sectors), and funding agencies. focus group participants reviewed and evaluated the survey instructions and each question with respect to clarity, relevance and purpose, and response formats. based on recommendations and feedback from the focus group members, instructions and questions were modified to refine the clarity and purpose of the survey instrument. the final survey instrument was comprised of 68 closeand open-formed questions, likert scales, and fill in the blank questions across four sections: (1) background information, (2) measurement knowledge and competency, (3) measurement issues and needs, and (4) measurement tool use. definitions for assessment, screening, and evaluation were provided for participants to refer to while completing the survey. for a copy of the survey please contact the first author. the first section, background information, asked for participant’s highest level of education, years worked in early childhood, current occupation, services regularly provided, ages of clientele, and primary population served across six questions. the second section, measurement knowledge and competency, was the lengthiest component of the survey instrument. nine questions were used to gauge if respondents modified measurement procedures and the main purposes for screening, assessment and evaluation in their practice. participants were then asked to rate their knowledge/competency and degree of importance they placed with respect to several areas of measurement using a likert scale across 25 questions. early childhood measurement 5 the 30 questions that comprised the third section, measurement issues and needs, centered on what participants believed to be the major measurement issues and training needs among ec professionals. respondents were asked specific questions about the importance of tool selection and use, perceptions of testing procedures, and areas where they perceive they require more training. participants were also asked to respond to two open-ended questions about issues related to measurement, and the measurement services and resources they would deem beneficial to their practice. the final section, measurement tool use, asked participants for the name of measurement tools used, the amount of training they had received with respect to the tool, the purpose of the tool, a description of the tool, and how the information gathered from the tool is used in their practice. these five questions were repeated if respondents use more than one tool in their practice. it was determined that the survey be made available in two formats to increase participation. a paper-based survey was developed in order to make it available to the sample population without access to a computer and the internet. an online survey was also constructed to provide another means of participation. the paper-based survey was formatted onto transoptic® sheets that could be easily scanned and compiled in a database. a web-based survey was developed utilizing survey monkey (see www.surveymonkey.com), a web–based survey software. the survey took approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. sampling the study utilized a convenience sample as the field of early childhood is very broad in scope and there is not one single contact point for distributing information. the research team relied heavily on partnerships with community agencies, school boards, individuals that participated in the focus group for survey development, and interagency networks to distribute the survey in order to reach the spectrum of ec professionals. there are obvious drawbacks to a convenience sample, such as a lack of representation of the population and therefore, limiting the ability to generalize findings. despite the obvious drawbacks to a convenience sample, this research provides information to enhance understanding of the measurement knowledge, use, and needs of ec professionals. the target distribution sample included 530 invitations to early childhood development professionals with potential knowledge and a role in the assessment of children aged birth to six years. the survey was distributed over a six-month period through list serves, formal networks, school administrators, community organizations, and mail out to local childcare sites. ec professionals included psychologists, speech and language pathologists, teachers, directors/managers, community daycare and family day home providers, and early intervention specialists (i.e., individuals working in head start programs and family resource centres). of the target 530, the paper-based questionnaire was mailed to 430 individuals or organizations and included a letter of information with instructions and dates for return, a consent form, and a prepaid return envelope. a significant number of the paper-based surveys were mailed directly to childcare centres and family day home agencies. an email invitation was sent to 100 individuals, organizations, and interagency networks, and described the purpose of the study through an information letter and included the link to the web-based survey instrument. individuals consented to participate by reading the information letter and indicating that they 6 gokiert et al. understood the purpose of the research and wanted to continue with the survey. the total response rate was 29.4% (n=159), with n=54 (34%) responding via paper-based survey and n=105 (66%) responding via the web-based survey. while the overall response rate is lower than would be expected, the sample of respondents as described in the background information portion of the results section is very indicative of individuals from the larger sample that would have a direct connection to measurement within their work. the survey was sent to a large proportion of frontline early childcare staff (e.g., daycare) and while their response rate was low this is not surprising as they are not typically responsible for aspects of measurement (screening, assessment and/or evaluation) within their practice. data management and analysis the paper-based surveys used transoptic® sheets that allowed for machine scanning and later compilation of an spss database and thereby eliminating the need for manual data entry and the possibility of errors. the online survey data also reduced data entry error, in that the web-based program takes all entered questions by participants and compiles a downloadable excel spreadsheet. the paper-based and online survey data was merged into one database using spss. most of the data analysis procedures were descriptive in nature including frequencies, means, and standard deviations in order to summarize findings. in addition, t-test analyses were conducted utilizing an alpha of .05 to assess significant differences between groups. effect sizes were also calculated to determine the magnitude of the difference if the t-test was found to be statistically significant. the following guidelines (cohen, 1988) were followed when interpreting effect sizes: d = 0.2, small; d = 0.5, moderate; and d= 0.8, large. results of the 159 surveys completed, participants did not respond to every question and this resulted in missing data across the survey. an overall examination of missing data did not reveal strong associations between certain types of questions, content, or format. most data is reported as a percentage of total respondents that answered the question with the exclusion of missing data. in the following section, key results from each of the survey sections are presented in the order that they appear on the survey: background information, knowledge and competency, issues and needs, and measurement tool use. where appropriate, internal consistency is reported for each section of the survey with coefficients ranging from 0.80 to 0.95. background information background information of survey respondents is reported in table 1. over half of the respondents stated that the highest level of education obtained was an undergraduate degree (56.8%) followed by almost a quarter reporting that they had a college diploma. it is of note that 21% of respondents had a master’s degree. overall the respondents were well educated and also had substantial experience in the early childhood development field. there were very few early childhood measurement 7 respondents with less that one year of experience (4.2%) and 70.2% had over 6 years experience. it is notable that 21.5% had over 21 years of experience. respondents were asked to identify their current occupation in terms of a ‘best fit’ from a list. teacher was the most frequent occupation reported (42.8%), directors (26.9%) the second largest occupation, and 10.3% of respondents indicated they were early childhood educators. the most frequently provided service was educational programming for children (75.5%), and two additional services that fall under the umbrella of educational programming [individualized programming (67.3%), and group/classroom programming (65.4%)]. a large number of respondents also reported that they provide early childhood development support, assessment, and screening (over 50%). majority of ec professionals reported that they work with five (81.8%) and four-year-olds (79.2%). respondents were asked to indicate all the populations of children that they serve and at least half indicated they work with typically developing children (73.6%), children with english as a second language (54%), children with diverse cultural backgrounds (53.5%), children with disabilities (48.4%), and children exposed to at-risk conditions (42.8%). table 1 background information of respondents and clientele variable descriptive highest education (n=146) frequency percent high school 1 0.7 some college/university 7 4.8 college diploma 36 24.7 undergraduate degree 83 56.8 master's degree 19 13 years worked in early childhood (n=144) less than 1 6 4.2 1-5 37 25.7 6-10 26 18.1 11-15 27 18.8 16-20 17 11.8 21+ 31 21.5 occupation (n=145) teacher 62 42.8 support service provider 4 2.8 educational assistant 2 1.4 early childhood educator 15 10.3 outreach worker/home visitor 9 6.2 director 39 26.9 consultant 4 2.8 speech language pathologist 8 5.5 psychologist 1 0.7 nurse 1 0.7 (continue) 8 gokiert et al. services provided regularly (n=159) educational programming for children 120 75.5 educational programming for families 61 38.4 individualized programming 107 67.3 group/classroom programming 104 65.4 early childhood development 109 68.6 childcare 52 32.7 screening 72 45.3 assessment 91 57.2 research 8 5 in-service to other organizations 24 15.1 consultation 46 28.9 home-based intervention 28 17.6 outpatient therapy 7 4.4 ages of clientele prenatal 12 7.5 birth to 1 year 32 20.1 1 year 46 28.9 2 years 62 39 3 years 83 52.2 4 years 126 79.2 5 years 130 81.8 6-8 years 59 37.1 greater than 8 21 13.2 primary populations served (n=159) typically developing children 117 73.6 children with english as a second language 86 54 children with diverse cultural backgrounds 85 53.5 measurement knowledge/competency level and importance of knowledge/competency. respondents were asked to indicate their level of knowledge/competency in several measurement domains and also to rate the importance of having knowledge/competency for their position. respondents rated their level of knowledge/competency on a likert scale ranging from one to five (1=not at all knowledgeable, 2=not very knowledgeable, 3=somewhat knowledgeable, 4=knowledgeable, and 5=extremely knowledgeable) and importance from one to five (1=not at all important, 2=not very important, 3=somewhat important, 4=important, and 5=extremely important). the internal consistency for the 19 knowledge/competency items was α=0.93, and the 19 importance items was α=0.95. t-tests with an alpha level of .05 were used to compare the differences between the ratings with respect to the level of importance of having knowledge/competency to determine if there were significant differences. if the average value of knowledge/competency is larger than the average value of importance (and the p-value is < .05) this indicates that respondents rated the level of importance as low when they thought they were more knowledgeable or competent. early childhood measurement 9 the opposite is also true, if the importance average value is larger than the knowledge/competency average value (and the p-value is < .05) this suggests that respondents considered an item more important when they were less knowledgeable. to determine the magnitude of the differences found, cohen’s d effect sizes were calculated and interpreted as follows: 0.2= small, 0.5= moderate, 0.8= large. there were statistically significant differences found between 15 of the 19 items across general measurement, screening, assessment, and evaluation as shown in tables 2, 3, 4, and 5. however, the degree of difference when considering effect size calculations indicates that five of the differences were small (items 2, 4, 8, 10 and 12), four were moderate (items 1, 9, 11 and 13), and six were large (items 3, 5, 7, 15, 17 and 19) across all domains of measurement. with respect to some questions, respondents stated that they were knowledgeable (4 point response) in a particular measurement area and they considered it somewhat important (3 point response) that they were knowledgeable/competent for their position. in other questions, respondents stated that they were somewhat knowledgeable (3 point response) in a particular area and they believed that it was important (4 point response) that they were knowledgeable/competent for their position. for example, the results of items 1, 3, 5, and 7 in table 2 are notable because they were statistically significant and possessed moderate to large effect sizes. in these questions the difference between level of knowledge and importance suggests that the less knowledgeable/competent respondents considered themselves to be in general measurement, the more important they thought it was for their position. conversely, the results of items 2 and 4 on table 2, while statistically significant demonstrate small differences with respect to the more knowledgeable/competent they were, the less important they thought it was for their position. table 5 illustrates the level of knowledge/competency and importance with respect to evaluation, and the three items (15, 17 and 19) that were found to be statistically significant also possessed large differences suggesting that they feel less knowledgeable about evaluation but view it as very important. these results provide some insights into potential areas of training for ec professionals. some of the questions that ec professionals indicated as important but with lower levels of competence/knowledge were around areas that might be out of their scope of practice (e.g., cross-cultural considerations, connecting tools to purpose, and utilizing a variety of screening and assessment tools). on the other hand, the results may be indicative of areas that the participants feel relatively confident in because it is part of their scope of practice, there are clear organizational policies and procedures in place, and they are already receiving ongoing training and mentorship. 10 gokiert et al. table 2 knowledge/competency and importance of knowledge/competency in the specific area for your position re general measurement question: please indicate your knowledge and/or competency of the following questions and then rate the importance of having knowledge/competency in the specific area for your position. knowledge/ competency importance n mean n mean p 1. gathering information across multiple areas of development (cognitive, behavioral, physical) 130 4.17 133 3.80 *0.00 2. selecting measurement tools based upon purpose of gathering information 131 3.66 132 4.04 *0.00 3. selecting measurement tools based upon quality of the tool (i.e. reliability and validity) 128 4.01 131 3.34 *0.00 4. selecting, adapting, and administering measurement tools and procedures for children with special/different needs. 131 3.62 131 3.85 *0.04 5. using assessment to identify children’s special needs 128 4.16 132 3.35 *0.00 6. understanding of cultural differences when using measurement tools 131 3.59 131 3.77 0.10 7. understanding of screening, assessment, diagnosis, evaluation and the differences between them 128 4.14 130 3.20 *0.00 notes: 1: not at all knowledgeable -5: extremely knowledgeable/competent; 1: not at all important – 5: extremely important * significant at the .05 level table 3 knowledge/competency and importance of knowledge/competency in the specific area for your position re screening question: please indicate your knowledge and/or competency of the following questions and then rate the importance of having knowledge/competency in the specific area for your position knowledge/competency importance n mean n mean p 8. administering a variety of screening tools 129 3.60 130 3.89 *0.01 9. scoring a variety of screening tools 128 3.91 132 3.30 *0.00 10. interpreting a variety of screening tools 129 3.58 130 3.85 *0.05 notes: 1: not at all knowledgeable -5: extremely knowledgeable/competent 1: not at all important – 5: extremely important * significant at the 0.05 level early childhood measurement 11 table 4 knowledge/competency and importance of knowledge/competency in the specific area for your position re assessment question: please indicate your knowledge and/or competency of the following questions and then rate the importance of having knowledge/competency in the specific area for your position knowledge/competency importance n mean n mean p 11. administering a variety of assessment tools 127 4.01 130 3.38 *0.00 12. scoring a variety of assessment tools 129 3.57 130 3.97 *0.00 13. interpreting a variety of assessment tools 128 4.05 131 3.50 *0.00 notes: 1: not at all knowledgeable -5: extremely knowledgeable/competent 1: not at all important – 5: extremely important * significant at the 0.05 level table 5 knowledge/competency and importance of knowledge/competency in the specific area for your position re evaluation question: please indicate your knowledge and/or competency of the following questions and then rate the importance of having knowledge/competency in the specific area for your position knowledge/ competency importance n mean n mean p 14. administering a variety of evaluation tools and procedures 130 3.78 130 3.80 0.93 15. scoring a variety of evaluation tools and procedures 129 4.20 130 3.20 *0.00 16. interpreting a variety of evaluation tools and procedures 131 3.76 129 3.64 0.24 17. monitoring and evaluation of program effectiveness in meeting the needs of children and families. 129 4.36 130 3.38 *0.00 18. evaluating program effectiveness related to children’s outcomes. 131 3.78 128 3.87 0.43 19. using measurement tools to monitor and evaluate programming 128 4.13 131 3.20 *0.00 notes: 1: not at all knowledgeable -5: extremely knowledgeable/competent 1: not at all important – 5: extremely important * significant at the 0.05 level purpose for measurement and modification of procedures. three questions asked respondents to indicate the main purposes for engaging in screening, assessment, and evaluation. the same response options were available for each area of measurement and table 6 presents the three most frequently reported purposes. as respondents could select all responses that applied to them, internal consistency was not calculated. in the area of screening, identify special 12 gokiert et al. needs/disability, identify children at-risk, and support learning were the top three purposes listed. support learning was also identified in the top three with respect to assessment and evaluation. communicate progress was indicated as the main purpose for both assessment and evaluation. additionally, respondents listed access to funding as a main purpose of assessment, and program evaluation as a main purpose of evaluation. table 6 three most frequently reported purposes for screening, assessment, and evaluation main purposes n percentage screening 1 identify special needs/disability 107 67.3% 2 identify children at-risk 101 63.5% 3 support learning 85 53.5% assessment 1 support learning 97 61.0% 2 communicate progress 92 57.9% 3 access funding 90 56.6% evaluation 1 program evaluation 87 54.7% 2 support learning 82 51.6% 3 communicate progress 74 46.5% respondents were also asked whether or not they modify measurement procedures to accommodate children with disabilities or from diverse cultural backgrounds. on a 4-point likert scale (never, sometimes, often, and almost always), the majority (93.9%) of respondents reported that they modify measurement procedures (see table 7). only 6.1% reported that they never make modifications. table 7 modification of measurement procedures to accommodate children with disabilities and/or children from diverse cultural backgrounds. frequency percent valid percent cumulative percent valid never 8 5.0 6.1 6.1 sometimes 43 27.0 32.8 38.9 often 38 23.9 29.0 67.9 almost always 42 26.4 32.1 100.0 total 131 82.4 100.0 missing data 28 17.6 total 159 100.0 early childhood measurement 13 measurement issues and needs of ec professionals the third section of the questionnaire consisted of 29 items across three areas that asked about important factors in selecting measurement tools, level of agreement with statements about measurement, and interest in learning more about measurement tools. the overall internal consistency for the 29 items was α=.80. two additional open-ended questions were presented to explore other issues or challenge that individuals face when engaging in early childhood measurement and what services and resources would be beneficial. choosing measurement tools. respondents were asked to rate the level of importance of 12 factors in their choice of measurement tools from not at all important to extremely important. between 56% to 70% of respondents rated the following as extremely important: reliability, validity, suitability for children with a variety of needs, provides insights into children’s strengths and needs, assists in identifying children at-risk, and easy to explain to parents. for the most part, respondents considered all factors important or extremely important with the exception of input/requirements from funders. only a small percentage of respondents reported that the following factors were either not at all or not very important in their selection of a tool; ease of use, cost, personal knowledge of the tool, input/requirements from funders, and administration procedures are flexible. training. eighty percent of respondents (n=127) answered questions related to whether or not they agreed with statements that staff are properly trained and prepared to conduct and interpret results from screening, assessment or evaluation tools. the response options ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree with a neutral option. the frequency of results was aggregated and the average value across each measurement area was as follows: 3.33 for screening, 3.22 for assessment, and 3.15 for evaluation. these results suggest that respondents neither agreed nor disagreed as they selected the neutral response most often. participants were also asked to rate their level of interest in learning more about the use and administration of measurement tools, how to interpret results and share information with parents, how to link results to programming for children, how to use tools with diverse cultural groups, and properties of the tests such as reliability and validity. approximately 80% of respondents indicated that they were either interested or extremely interested in learning more about all the topics. in particular, respondents were extremely interested in learning more about how to link results to programming and instruction, how to interpret results and share the information with parents, and how to use tools with culturally diverse populations. other issues and needed resources/services. two open-ended questions were provided to determine if respondents wanted to highlight any additional measurement issues that they are dealing with in their practice as well as recommend measurement resources or services that would benefit their practice. two researchers reviewed the data to identify recurring phrases and concepts, and to subsequently group these recurring phrases and concepts into categories (mayan, 2009). from this process, two themes emerged: (1) a need for measurement standards across all programs that are delivering services for young children; and (2) a need for program directors to be more knowledgeable in the area of measurement and evaluation, and more specifically knowledgeable about identifying children with special needs or at-risk and linking 14 gokiert et al. this information to programs and services. some participants commented on a lack of resources within their organization and within the metropolitan area for addressing issues related to early childhood measurement. for example one respondent stated that there is “not enough support staff to assist teachers in following through with the results of assessments.” other suggested resources and services were easy access to specific measurement tools accompanied by training to provide knowledge on how to identify delays, information on evaluation and how it relates to curriculum development, information on the difference between screening and assessment, and interpretation of screening tools, and finally information on appropriate referrals and follow-up procedures. measurement tools used in practice respondents had five open ended questions to specify the names of screening, assessment, and evaluation tools they use within their practice with children aged birth to six years. this was followed by four closed questions, which asked about the amount of training participants had on the tool, the best description of the tools, the purposes for using the measurement tool, and finally the uses of the information gathered. measurement tools used. the results revealed a large diversity in tools used by respondents. across all respondents, 52 unique tools were identified and the 11 most frequent are listed in table 8. table 8 most frequently cited measurement tools used measurement tool rank frequency nipissing district developmental screen (ndds) 1 36 the brigance inventory of early development (brigance) 2 24 diagnostic inventory for screening children (disc)/dps 3 17 ages and stages questionnaires (asq) 4 8 clinical evaluation of language fundamentals – preschool second edition (celf-p2) 5 8 preschool language scales – fourth edition (pls-4) 6 9 developmental indicators for the assessment of learning (dial) 7 5 the data was further refined and tools were recoded into four categories: screening, assessment, observation, and curriculum-based. forty percent of participants were using screening tools, 31% used observational tools, 22% used assessment tools, and 7% were using curriculum-based tools. it appeared more common for participants to report the use of one tool in their practice (20%) than two (13.8%), three (12.5%), four (6.9%) or more than five (8.1%). amount of training. participants were asked to report the level of training they received for each tool that they listed and the response options ranged from no training to university courses. the research team received over 240 responses to this question because it early childhood measurement 15 was repeated for each unique tool a respondent reported. across the 240 responses, 61% (n=146) of participants reported no training or 1 day/in-house training. due to small sample sizes within each cell, significance tests could not be conducted to determine if there was a significant difference between tool type and level of training. discussion the purpose of this research was to describe ec professional’s knowledge and competency related to early childhood measurement, measurement issues and needs, and current measurement practices. teachers and program directors participated in this research to a higher degree than others working in the early childhood development field. perhaps this is an indication, at least in the metropolitan area where the study was conducted, of who has a greater comfort level in reporting on their knowledge and competency in early childhood measurement. over half of the respondents reported that they serve populations of children that are typically developing, from diverse cultural backgrounds (i.e., immigrant, refugee, and aboriginal) with english as a second language, children with disabilities, and children exposed to at-risk conditions (e.g., poverty). although the sample of survey participants (n=159) was one of convenience due to the method of distribution and response rate, given the breadth of populations they serve the information from this study has relevance to many ec professionals such as head start, childcare and family day home providers, early intervention, and early educators. the limited participation specifically from childcare professionals is not clear but could be as a result of the lower involvement of frontline childcare professionals in screening, assessment, and evaluation. to understand this more fully, perhaps more targeted strategies need to be employed in the future to engage this population of professionals such as a series of focus groups or one-on-one interviews. the majority of respondents were educated at the post secondary level and had many years of experience in the early childhood development field. one might argue that the professional development needs of these respondents might be less than for others working in this field. however, the findings revealed that respondents had a high interest in learning more about screening, assessment and evaluation and for the most part had received little to no training for the current tools and procedures that they were using. it was interesting to find that respondents who indicated that they were knowledgeable in the area of measurement generally rated it as only somewhat important that they were knowledgeable/competent for their position. this seems contradictory; when someone views their knowledge and competency in a specific area as high, one might also expect them to rate importance of having knowledge and competency as high. while this finding may seem counterintuitive to some, it may suggest that professional development efforts should be planned and implemented in close collaboration with ec professionals to address areas considered to be of high importance. for example, some of the areas indicated as important (e.g., cross cultural knowledge, utilizing a variety of measurement tools, and selecting tools based on purpose) might currently be out of the scope of practice of the ec professionals in this study or inconsistent with the needs or context of the populations of children they serve. however, there is a clear indication that these are areas that individuals may want to increase both their knowledge and competence. the findings highlight a few specific areas of importance to support existing 16 gokiert et al. knowledge and build measurement literacy among ec professionals. the following areas could be used as starting points in planning training opportunities:  increasing understanding of the difference between screening, assessment, and evaluation and the purposes of each measurement strategy;  the importance of gathering information across multiple areas of development (cognitive, behavioural, and physical domains);  how to select measurement tools based upon the quality of the tool (e.g., reliability and validity);  using assessment tools and procedures to identify children’s special needs;  ways to link assessment results to programming and instruction;  methods for interpreting results and sharing the information with parents; and  using measurement tools with culturally diverse populations. a little under half of respondents indicated they provide screening as a regular service and the most frequently reported purpose of screening was to identify special needs/disability and this is not considered a best practice (rydz et al., 2005). this finding suggests that respondents lack knowledge about the purposes of screening and the limitations of screening. also, over half of respondents indicated that they provide assessment, and access to funding was indicated as a main purpose for assessment. the outcome of an assessment might result in funding to provide supports or services for children; however, this is not a purpose of assessment that reflects best practice (aera, apa, & ncme, 1999). with accountability frameworks in place, assessment outcome data appears to fulfill an important role in the provision of funding and programming for children (administration for children and families, 2002). this finding supports the need for professional development to assist ec professionals with appropriate methods for presenting relevant data to existing or potential funders. evaluation was broadly defined on the questionnaire and therefore it is not surprising that over half of respondents identified the main purpose was for program evaluation. respondents were not asked to stipulate whether evaluation was an activity regularly conducted therefore little information is available with respect to knowledge and competency in this area. program evaluation may be a beneficial area for professional development, as it would support curriculum and programming enhancement and provide evidence for external funding proposals. another area that particularly stands out in the findings of this study is the common practice among respondents to modify measurement procedures. the study did not address the type of modifications made; however, it is well known that existing standardized tests can be problematic for ec professionals. for example, the content may not reflect what is valued and relevant to the culture or context of the individuals being assessed, as tests are often normed on caucasian, middle-class children (fuchs, fuchs, benowitz, & barringer, 1987; meisels & atkins-burnett, 2000). lyman, njoroge, & willis (2007) found that a number of standardized assessments do not reflect the diversity of canada’s population in terms of exceptionalities and culture. other issues with respect to standardized tests are that some are inappropriate for special populations resulting, for example, in bias against individuals with low socio-economic status and that there is little linkage to programs, services and interventions (fuchs, et al., 1987; meisels & atkins-burnett, 2000). this leaves ec professionals with two options they can use existing tools that may not reflect the individual or group being assessed or they can modify the testing procedure to reflect the individual or group (appl, 2000). either option is fraught with limitations, as modifications may provide a better picture of how a child is performing there is no early childhood measurement 17 way of knowing what impact the modifications or accommodations have on the integrity of the tool and therefore the validity of the results obtained. a third option is to complement conventional assessment with authentic assessment which relies heavily on context and evidence that is gathered on an ongoing basis through natural settings, and can be used to align with early learning standards (bagnato, 2005; grisham-brown, hallam, & brookshire, 2006; meisels, wen, & beachy-quick, 2010). this finding regarding the modification of measurement tools and lack of knowledge of alternatives points to an important area for training and development of ec professionals. in addition to training, it is recommended that ec professionals seek the expertise or advice of researchers or measurement experts at local universities when considering modification or selection of measurement tools to meet their needs. these connections have the potential to lead to research partnerships that engage the expertise of academic researchers with the expertise of ec professionals in examining the relevancy and appropriateness of tools for use with certain populations (e.g. gokiert, georgis, chow, & chui, 2012). respondents identified that the most important factors in choosing a measurement tool were ease of use, reliability and validity, and these are consistent with findings from previous studies (brown & rolfe, 2005; johnson & beauchamp, 1987; pretti-frontczak et al., 2002). the top three measurement tools utilized were the nipissing district developmental screen (ndds), the brigance inventory of early development (brigance, 2004), and observation survey of early literacy achievement (clay, 2002, 2006). these findings show that participants utilize screening, assessment, and observational tools that appear to fit with their level of training. the screening tools are intended to be user-friendly, for instance, the ndds is completed by a parent and can easily be scored and compared to cut-off points to determine if a child is experiencing difficulty in a particular developmental domain. these types of early developmental screening tools require less training to administer, score, and interpret. measurement tools listed as being less frequently used by participants, such as the developmental indicators for the assessment of learning (dial-3; mardell & goldenberg, 1998) and the preschool language scale – fourth edition (pls-4; zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2002), are standardized assessment tools. not only are these tools more specific to certain developmental domains, they also require specialized training. the use of observational tools is consistent with previous findings that suggest early childhood professionals use checklists because they are quick and simple to use and usually only require selecting behaviours or skills as they occur (brown & rolfe, 2005). it is not surprising that the observation survey of early literacy achievement was reported as a vast number of respondents were teachers and this aligns with current early literacy initiatives within the metropolitan area that the study took place. furthermore, the use of curriculum-based measures is not surprising given that the majority of participants were teachers and they typically need to link skills and outcomes to curricular objectives. on average, 42% of the participants reported using more than one type of tool in their practice, which is consistent with previous findings (johnson & beauchamp, 1987; pretti-frontczak et al., 2002) and in line with best practices (naeyc, 2003). some participants commented on the need for measurement standards across all programs that are delivering services for young children. presently, in most provinces across canada there are no set standards for the types of early childhood screening, assessment, and evaluation developmental 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(2002). preschool language scale, fourth edition (pls-4). pearson assessment, bloomington, mn. enhancing early childhood (ec) professionals knowledge and practice of measurement dialog, 16(3), 142-148 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary enhancing early childhood (ec) professionals knowledge and practice of measurement rebecca gokiert university of alberta lisa noble glenrose rehabilitation hospital lori baugh littlejohns school of public health, university of alberta identification of difficulties in early childhood through screening and assessment, followed by intervention, can support positive long-term outcomes. for this reason, it is imperative that early childhood (ec) professionals select high quality tools and use them appropriately. this article reports on survey research of early childhood (ec) professional’s knowledge, the tools used in practice, and the extent to which the tools met their needs and were used appropriately. ec professionals that participated (n=159) reported a very high interest in professional development and for the most part had received little to no training for the tools and procedures they were currently using in practice. they identified the following as areas of focus: a need for measurement standards across programs; training in the selection and/or modification of measurement tools/procedures to meet individual program and professional needs; crosscultural knowledge in assessment processes; and how to link measurement information to programming. the early years of a child’s life set the foundation for their long-term learning, behaviour, and overall health outcomes (maggi, irwin, siddiqi, & hertzman, 2010; mccain, mustard, & shanker, 2007; shonkoff & phillips, 2000). disadvantaged experiences in these early years have been associated with later troubles in school performance, social adjustment, and general health and wellbeing (hertzman, 1999; vanlandeghem, curgins, & abrams, 2002). early detection of cognitive, communication, physical, and socialemotional difficulties, along with an understanding of the environments in which children learn and grow provides important developmental information. this information can guide referral, early intervention programming and funding, all of which can promote healthy development (american academy of pediatrics, 2001; meisels & atkins-burnett, measurement knowledge 143 2000). thus, the measurement of early childhood development and programming is an important subject for professionals, researchers, and policymakers. in the early childhood literature and the field of practice, three complementary and often overlapping forms of measurement screening, assessment, and evaluation are described (appl, 2000). each plays a critical role in enhancing the understanding of a child’s development, the environments in which they develop, and the effectiveness of interventions and programs for supporting development. assessment can be considered a process of gathering information and observations and making decisions about individuals based on the information gathered (bredekamp & copple, 1997). the term screening is often incorrectly used synonymously with assessment, however screening is commonly differentiated to be a purpose of assessment. screening can be defined as the use of a brief procedure or measurement tool designed to identify, from within a large population of children, those who may benefit from further assessment to verify developmental and/or health risks (martella, 2004). finally, the effictiveness of programs implemented to enhance children’s potential is determined through evaluation. evaluation as it relates to early childhood can be defined as the measurement, comparison, and judgment of the value, quality or worth of children's work and/or of their schools, teachers, or a specific educational program based upon valid evidence gathered through assessment (martella, 2004). best practices standards have been developed to guide best practices in early childhood assessment and programming (administration for children and families, 2003; aera, apa, & ncme, 1999; naeyc, 2003, 2009; national association of school psychologists (nasp), 2005; national education goals panel, 1998). these guidelines are incorporated into many program performance standards and policies (e.g., head start see u.s. department of health and human services, 2007) across canada and the united states. what is consistent across these standards is the importance of using research-based assessment methods and tools that possess adequate psychometric properties, and are accurate for the child being assessed. since assessment and intervention can lead to positive outcomes, early childhood (ec) professionals, such as head start teachers and early learning and care staff, play an important role in the initial screening and assessment of young children. while this has the potential to benefit children, the many factors that contribute to the efficacy of early childhood assessment including examiner characteristics (e.g., knowledge and training), properties and types of measures utilized (e.g., psychometrics), and the specific purposes for engaging in assessment, are not well understood. to date, few studies have examined the current assessment knowledge and practice of early childhood educators and professionals (e.g., allen, 2007; brown & rolfe, 2005; prettifrontczak, kowalksi, & brown, 2002). important trends have surfaced when considering the available measurement literature in the field of early childhood. early childhood professionals are skilled practitioners; however they may not be trained in test administration and they may have limited knowledge of best practices in assessment (shepard, 1994). this is problematic when making decisions about the selection and use of early childhood measurement tools 144 gokiert et al. (pretti-frontczak et al., 2002). a study by brown and rolfe (2005) found that ec professionals choose assessment tools based on “ease of use,” whereas pre-service early education students reported the “accuracy of the instrument” as their primary rationale for measurement selection. a large-scale study of the implementation of best assessment practices among teachers in ohio revealed that teachers with higher levels of education reported using a larger range of assessments, and there was widespread use of selfdeveloped or program-developed assessment tools (pretti-frontczak et al., 2002). studies have also found that due to frustrations with the inadequacy of current measurement tools in meeting their needs, ec professionals may create and/or modify existing tools without a clear understanding of the validity and reliability implications (allen, 2007; appl, 2000; pretti-frontczak et al., 2002). in addition, with budgetary constraints and lack of measurement savvy, one tool may be used for multiple purposes, and some purposes may not match the intended purpose (hirsh-pasek, kochanoff, newcombe, & villiers, 2005). without support and education in the selection and use of appropriate assessment practices and tools, decisions made as a result of assessment may be compromised and thus, impact early learning opportunities and supports. a study of early childhood professionals measurement knowledge gokiert, noble, and baugh littlejohns (2013) conducted a study to understand ec professional’s measurement knowledge, the tools used in practice, and the extent to which the tools met their needs and were used appropriately. a comprehensive survey was developed and implemented for this research. the survey instrument was developed in two stages. first, a review of the literature was conducted to identify key definitions, concepts, and issues in ec measurement, and from this information a preliminary survey was developed. secondly, the preliminary survey was pre-tested through a focus group with ten individuals working within the ec field. to enhance the relevancy of the tool to the local context participants were selected to represent front-line service delivery (i.e., early intervention, childcare, head start, aboriginal and immigrant serving agencies, social and health services sectors), and funding agencies. focus group participants reviewed and evaluated the survey instructions and each question with respect to clarity, relevance and purpose, and response formats. survey instrument and participants the final survey instrument was comprised of 68 closeand open-formed questions, likert scales, and fill in the blank questions across four sections: (1) background information, (2) measurement knowledge and competency, (3) measurement issues and needs, and (4) measurement tool use. definitions for assessment, screening, and evaluation were provided for participants to refer to while completing the survey. ec professionals (n=159) such as early childhood educators, directors of early learning centres, head start educators, early intervention, speech pathologists, and home visitors completed online or paper and pencil surveys. measurement knowledge 145 summary of survey results majority of respondents were educated at the post secondary level (56.8% with undergraduate degrees and 21% with a master’s degree) and had many years of experience in the early childhood development field (70.2% had > 6 years of experience). over half of the respondents reported that they serve populations of children that are typically developing, from diverse cultural backgrounds (e.g., immigrant, refugee, and aboriginal) with english as a second language, children with disabilities, and children exposed to at-risk conditions (e.g., poverty). respondents reported a very high interest in professional development and for the most part had received little to no training for the tools and procedures they were currently using in practice. furthermore, moderate to large effects were found between participants measurement knowledge (across screening, assessment, and evaluation), perceived competence, and identified importance for practice. the more knowledgeable and competent a participant believed they were, the less important they deemed the importance for their practice. the majority of respondents (93.9%) reported that they modify measurement procedures. this is problematic as it can have implications with respect to reliability and validity of the tool, and ultimately the interpretations and use of results. respondents highlighted various measurement issues and needs in terms of professional development and these included: the need for measurement standards across programs; how to appropriately select and/or modify measurement tools/procedures to meet individual program and professional needs; crosscultural knowledge in assessment processes; and how to link measurement information to programming. discussion and implications for practice the majority of respondents had post secondary education and many years experience, however, well over half reported that they are administering measurement tools with little to no training. for this reason, the need for ongoing and targeted professional development is called for to support best practice for all who work in the early childhood field. it is also clear that professional development activities should be planned in close collaboration with ec professionals to address areas considered to be of high importance. best practice in measurement purpose and programming early childhood professionals are required to use best practices in assessment and programming and this is typically outlined in organizational policies and procedures. to ensure best practices all staff from directors to front line service delivery need a firm understanding of the purposes of various forms of measurement, resources to support their work in assessment, and how the information gathered can be used to better understand children’s strengths and needs. in order to enhance practice and programming the following could be considered starting points for professional development: 146 gokiert et al.  identification of best practices particularly with respect to the differences and purposes of the three main measurement modalities (screening, assessment, and evaluation) and the importance of gathering information across multiple areas of development (i.e., cognitive, behavioural, language, and physical).  selection of measurement tools based upon the quality of the tool (e.g., reliability and validity).  implementation of reflective practice whereby staff work together and discuss the measurement choices they are making and how they are using the results to inform process and practice.  consideration of complementing conventional assessment with authentic assessment, that is, gathering evidence on an ongoing basis in natural settings or contexts.  collaboration between experts in measurement (e.g., university-based researchers) and ec professionals to consider relevant and appropriate modification and/or selection of measurement tools for specific populations and contexts. cross-cultural considerations in measurement many of the respondents in this study reported that they work with culturally and linguistically diverse children and families; however, they do not feel competent or knowledgeable about appropriate assessment techniques for these groups. given the changing demographics of north america as a result of immigration, it is increasingly important for ec professionals to use a cross-cultural lens when selecting measures, interpreting the outcomes, and determining programming and services required. this can be accomplished through culturally sensitive measurement practices that involve the following:  develop cultural self-awareness by understanding the socio-cultural differences related to norms and expectations of child development across cultures, as well as the preand post-migration experiences of children and families. this can be accomplished by using cultural brokers or interpreters in getting to know the child and family and their unique strengths and needs.  integrate contextually based assessment methods (see for example the discussion regarding authentic assessment in bagnato, 2005) and relevant cultural data into the process of measurement and interpretation of results.  debrief results with the family (with the support of a cultural broker) and together determine the most appropriate intervention process thereby validating the family’s cultural belief system. conclusions participants reported a need for measurement standards across all programs that are delivering services for young children. presently, in most provinces across canada there measurement knowledge 147 are no set standards for the types of early childhood screening and evaluation tools that should be used, how often they should be used, and for what purposes. there are some provincial standards that support the use of certain standardized assessment tools as they relate to coding and funding. not only are standards needed to guide measurement practice; there is a need for ongoing and targeted professional development opportunities to support best practice for all who work in the early childhood field. references american academy of pediatrics (2001). developmental surveillance and screening of infants and young children. pediatrics, 108(1), 192-196. doi.org/10.1542/peds.108.1.192 administration for children and families (2003). resources for measuring services and outcomes in head start programs serving infants and toddlers. washington, dc: u.s. department of health and human services. aera, apa, & ncme. (1999). standards for educational and psychological testing. washington, dc: american educational research association. allen, s. (2007). assessing the development of young children in child care: a survey of formal assessment practices in one state. early childhood education journal, 34(6), 455-465. appl, d. (2000). clarifying the preschool assessment process: traditional practices and alternative approaches. early childhood education journal, 27, 219-225. bagnato, s.j. (2005). the authentic alternative for assessment in early intervention: an emerging evidencebased practice. journal of early intervention, 28(1), 17-22. bredekamp, s., & copple, c. (eds.). (1997). developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs (rev. ed.). national association for the education of young children: washington, dc. brown, j., & rolfe, s. (2005). use of child development assessment in early education: early childhood practitioner and student attitudes toward formal and informal testing. early child development and care, 175, 193-202. gokiert, r.j., noble, t., & baugh littlejohns, l. (2013). directions for professional development: increasing knowledge of early childhood measurement. nhsa dialog: a research-to-practice journal for the early childhood field, 16 (3), 1-20. hertzman, c. (1999). the biological embedding of early experience and its effects on health in adulthood. annals of the new york academy of sciences, 896 (1), 85–95. hirsh-pasek, k. kochanoff, a., newcombe, n., & de villiers, j. (2005). using scientific knowledge to inform preschool assessment: making the case for “empirical validity”. social policy report, 19 (1), society for research in child development. maggi, s., irwin, l. j., siddiqi, a., & hertzman, c. (2010). the social determinants of early child development: an overview. journal of paediatrics and child health, 46, 627-635. martella, j. (2004). the words we use: a glossary of terms for early childhood education standards and assessments. www.ccsso.org/eceaglossary. mccain, m.n., mustard, f., & shanker, s. (2007). early years study 2: putting science into action. council for early childhood development. toronto, canada. meisels, s. j., & atkins-burnett, s. (2000). the elements of early childhood assessment. in j. p. shonkoff & s. j. meisels (eds.), handbook of early childhood intervention (2nd ed. 231-257). new york: cambridge university press. national association for the education of young children (naeyc), & national association of early childhood specialists in state departments of education (naecs/sde) (2003). position statement: early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. washington dc. national association for the education of young children (naeyc). (2009). standard for early childhood professional preparation programs. retrieved january 28, 2011 from http://www.naeyc.org/positionstatements http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.108.1.192 http://www.ccsso.org/eceaglossary 148 gokiert et al. national association of school psychologists. (2005). position statement on early childhood assessment. retrieved september 15, 2006 from http://www.nasponline.org/information/pospaper_eca.html national education goals panel. (1998). principles and recommendations for early childhood assessments. washington, dc: u.s. government printing office. pretti-frontczak, k., kowalksi, k., & brown, r. d. (2002). preschool teachers’ use of assessment and curricula: a statewide examination. exceptional children, 69, 109-123. shepard, l. (1994). the challenge of assessing young children appropriately. phi delta kappan, 76, 206211. shonkoff, j., & phillips, d. (2000). from neurons to neighborhoods: the science of early childhood development. washington, dc: national academy press. u.s. department of health and human services (2007). head start act. vanlandeghem, k., curgins, d., & abrams, m. (2002). reasons and strategies for strengthening childhood development services in the healthcare system. portland, me: national academy for state health policy. dialog, 16(3), 172-177 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 lillian k. durán, special education, utah state university; mark s. innocenti, center for persons with disabilities, utah state university; m. brooke robertshaw, instructional technology, utah state university. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to lillian k. durán, department of special education and rehabilitation, utah state university, 2865 old main hill, logan, ut 84322-2865. e-mail: lillian.duran@usu.edu research-to-practice summary using the bilingual early language assessment: strengths and limitations lillian k. durán, mark s. innocenti, and m. brooke robertshaw utah state university the bilingual early language assessment (bela) was developed by the harvard graduate school of education for the cambridge public school district in 2002 to respond to a growing need for an assessment in multiple languages. the bela is available in 11 different languages and can be downloaded at no cost. however there is no psychometric data available on the bela to inform end users regarding the quality of the measure. this paper reports on a pilot study investigating the psychometric properties of the english and spanish bela including the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and concurrent validity of the bela with the preschool language scale-4. the population of dual language learners (dlls) in head start has dramatically risen over the last 10 years. the complexity of providing culturally and linguistically responsive services to this growing population in head start is outlined in the report “dual language learning: what does it take?” (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). the report describes the findings of a national assessment of head start programs that included focus groups, conference calls, and multiple meetings with individuals within the head start community to determine program needs for serving dlls. a major finding involves the need for better assessments. local programs are required to conduct developmental screenings and ongoing assessments of enrolled children. yet, there exist few valid and reliable assessment instruments for evaluating progress in language and literacy development, as well as development in other domains of learning for children who are learning two languages. without accurate assessment information, staff are not able to properly support the child’s development, identify progress, individualize the curriculum fully, or identify behavior or delays requiring further evaluation and possible intervention. (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008, p. 5) the focus of this paper is on one measure that is currently available in 11 different languages. the bilingual early language assessment (bela; tabors & heise-bagorria, 2004) was designed for use with 2.9 to 5 year olds for the cambridge, ma, public schools. it provides a using the bela 173 general measure of ability in the child’s home language and english on language and conceptual skills. it is also designed as a progress monitoring tool that can be administered several times over the school year. the bela can help practitioners understand what concepts children have in their home language and in english because it taps the exact same skills in each language. the test is not a screening tool or a formal language proficiency measure. instead, it is meant to provide information to guide instruction. little information is available regarding the development of the instrument, however the measure was presented at the national dual language head start institute in 2008 (heise-bagorria, 2008). the test is available at no cost online; however, there are materials that need to be purchased in order to administer the instrument (www.cpsd.us/bela). the bela is currently available in arabic, bangla, chinese, english, haitian-creole, portuguese, and spanish. the minnesota department of education has also recently translated the tool into hmong, oromo, russian, and somali and these versions are also available online at (http://education.state.mn.us/mde/learning_support/early_learning_services/early_childhoo d_programs/help_me_grow_prog_serv/administration/index.html). the authors of the bela explicitly encourage translation of the bela into other languages that can then be posted on their website. it is currently considered best practice to measure bilingual children in each of their languages to more accurately describe their abilities across their languages (national association for the education of young children [naeyc], 2005; paradis, genesee, & crago, 2010; peña & halle, 2011). a child’s overall abilities may be underestimated if only assessed in one of their languages (bedore, peña, garcía, & cortez, 2005; boyce, gilliam, innocenti, cook, & ortiz, in press; peña & kester, 2004). children who speak more than one language will have skills distributed across all of their languages based on the context in which they use that language and the quality and quantity of input they have had in each (hammer, miccio, & rodriguez, 2004). in order to accomplish this however, valid and reliable assessment tools must be available in each of a child’s languages to accurately measure his/her overall language ability. the purpose of this paper is to provide preliminary psychometric data on the spanish and english versions of the bela (tabors & heise-bagorria, 2004). the vast majority (86%) of dlls in head start speak spanish. identifying a psychometrically valid tool that could provide basic information to teachers about a child’s ability in both languages to guide instruction and that could be used across the year to monitor the child’s progress in each language would be a valuable addition to the measures currently available. the bela is starting to be used in head start programs (e.g., minnesota) while little is known about its psychometric properties. this paper addresses three specific questions regarding the psychometric properties of the bela. 1. what is the internal consistency of the spanish and english bela? 2. what is the test-retest reliability of the spanish and english bela? 3. what is the concurrent validity of the bela with the preschool language scale-4 (pls-4; zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2002) in english and spanish? http://www.cpsd.us/bela 174 duran et al. summary of research methods participants thirty-nine preschool children (ages 40 to 63 months; m = 50.79; female: n = 17) in four classrooms, attending one migrant head start school located in a rural community in the intermountain region of the u.s. participated in the study. based on data gathered on the family language questionnaire, children were categorized into three broad language proficiency groups: english dominant (ed, n = 6); spanish dominant (sd, n = 21); and simultaneously bilingual (sb, n = 9). procedures thirty-nine spanish-speaking preschoolers were administered the bela (tabors & heisebagorria, 2004) and the auditory comprehension (ac) and expressive communication (ec) subscales of the pls-4 (pls-4; zimmerman et al., 2002) in english and spanish. the bela was administered twice in each language to each child in november and then again in mid-december or early january due to the holiday break. the pls-4 was administered once in english and spanish in mid-december or january. description of the bela the bela includes 10 receptive and 9 expressive items. the items on the receptive subtest include tasks requiring the child to identify common objects, colors, size, quantity, shapes, and actions. on the expressive subtest children are asked to: 1. provide basic personal information such as their name, age, favorite color and play activity. 2. repeat sounds, phrases and sentences. 3. label colors, body parts, common objects, and actions in response to stimulus items. 4. rote count to 10. overall, the items on the bela represent a sampling of tasks found on many popular early language assessments commonly used in the field. the spanish version is a direct translation of the english version and most items are exactly the same on the spanish and english versions with the exception of the items requiring the child to repeat sounds, phrases and sentences. no published information could be found regarding the procedures followed in developing the spanish version. using the bela 175 summary of results internal consistency of the bela internal consistency is a measure of how well items on a test are correlated to one another. a good measure has strong correlations between items on the test particularly within subsections of the test as this indicates that the items are tapping the same construct. the items on the english receptive and expressive sections showed acceptable levels of internal consistency, however the spanish version did not demonstrate good internal consistency. this could mean that the items in spanish do not necessarily function as well in measuring receptive and expressive language. test-retest reliability of the bela test-retest reliability is important because it helps us to know if we give the test to a child again whether or not we are likely to get similar results. test-retest reliability was calculated at the subtest level. the english receptive and expressive subtests achieved higher levels of test-retest reliability than did the spanish version. however both the english and spanish version had acceptable levels of test-retest reliability. concurrent validity concurrent validity is a form of validity that compares a test against a benchmark test to examine whether the two tests are measuring the same construct (nunnally & bernstein, 1994). each child’s performance on the pls-4 to the bela was compared on both the expressive and receptive subtests. we found that performance on english bela was correlated with performance on the english pls-4 and performance on the spanish bela was correlated with performance on the spanish pls-4. the pls-4 is a widely used language assessment tool that includes a large standardization sample and the spanish version includes spanish-english bilingual preschool children in the u.s. it is recognized as one of the higher quality language assessment tools available for use with english and spanish speaking preschoolers in the u.s. discussion and implications for practice the primary objective of this study was to provide pilot data on the psychometric properties of the bela (tabors & heise-bagorria, 2004). we specifically investigated the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and the concurrent validity of the bela with the pls-4. however, given the small sample size included in this study these data can only provide preliminary evidence regarding the validity and reliability of the spanish and english versions of the bela with spanish-speaking preschoolers in head start. based on the data gathered implications for using the bela in practice are as follows. 1. the bela should not be used diagnostically as it is not standardized and the results cannot inform decisions about whether or not a child has a language delay. 176 duran et al. 2. the bela can be used to provide more information about what specific skills children have in each of their languages. the bela includes items that tap knowledge about colors, shapes, size, and numbers. additionally, the bela includes items that probe language skills beyond picture naming such as repeating sounds and phrases and answering open-ended questions such as, “what do you like to do?” measuring children’s performance in these broader areas could provide more information about the child’s language abilities that relate to classroom communication and performance. gathering this information is important to facilitate better instructional decision-making. 3. the bela is also recommended as a progress monitoring tool and teachers could use the bela to track children’s progress in both of their languages over the school year. this would help teachers to know whether or not a child is making progress and in which language(s). 4. when testing bilingual children to gather information about their language ability in each language it is important to test each language separately. this practice will elicit their best performance in each language rather than switching back and forth between languages. it is also best practice to have one person give the test in one language and another person give the test in the other language. individuals administering the test should have native-like mastery of the language they are testing. 5. teachers should consider administering the bela over the school year to monitor children’s progress in each of their languages. in this way teachers can note the progress children are making and also note areas that need to be targeted in instruction in each language. for example the bela includes color naming, counting, and shape naming. teachers can notice whether or not children are acquiring these pre-academic skills in both of their languages. conclusion the bela was designed for instructional planning and progress monitoring. given that the instrument is currently available at no cost online, it is important that practitioners have access to pilot data to be aware of the limitations of the instrument. the findings reported here suggest that caution should be taken when using the bela since questions remain about the reliability of the bela, especially the spanish version. however, the bela has good concurrent validity with the english and spanish versions of pls-4, which indicates that it has the potential to provide valid data regarding a child’s language abilities. replication of this study with a larger sample size is needed to more accurately assess the validity and reliability in the hope of providing definitive recommendations regarding the appropriate uses of the bela for practitioners. however, given the dearth of assessments available in languages other than english, the bela at least provides teachers with a systematic and relatively easy way to collect information about children’s language abilities in their home language and english; an important contribution to the field. using the bela 177 references bedore, l. m., peña, e. d., garcía, m., & cortez, c. (2005). conceptual versus monolingual scoring: when does it make a difference? language, speech, and hearing services in the schools, 36, 188-200. boyce, l.k., gillam, s.l., innocenti, m.s., cook, g.a., & ortiz, e. (in press). an examination of language input and vocabulary development of young latino dual language learners living in poverty. first language. hammer, c., miccio, a.w., & rodriguez, b.l. (2004). bilingual language acquisition and the child socialization process. in b. a. goldstein (ed.), bilingual language development and disorders in spanish-english speakers (pp. 2150). baltimore, md: brookes. heise-bagorria, c. (2008, october). the bilingual early language assessment. paper presented in symposium at the meeting of the national head start association, washington dc. national association for the education of young children. (2005). screening and assessment of young englishlanguage learners: supplement to the naeyc and naecs/sde joint position statement on early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation. retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ell_supplement_ shorter_version.pdf nunnally, j. c., & bernstein, i. h. (1994). psychometric theory (3rd ed.). new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. paradis, j., genesee, f., & crago, m. b. (2010). dual language development and disorders: a handbook on bilingualism and second language learning. baltimore, md: brookes. peña, e. d., & halle, t. g. (2011). assessing preschool dual language learners: traveling a multiforked road. child development perspectives, 5(1), 28-32. peña, e., & kester, e. s. (2004). semantic development in spanish-english bilinguals: theory, assessment, and intervention. in b. a. goldstein (ed.), bilingual language development and disorders in spanish-english speakers (pp. 187-212). baltimore, md: brookes. tabors. p. o., & heise-baigorria, c. (2004). bilingual early language assessment. retrieved from www.cpsd.us/bela u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, office of head start. (2008). dual language learning: what does it take? retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/ecdh/eecd/individualization/learning%20in%20two% 20languages/dlana_final_2009%5b1%5d.pdf zimmerman, i. l., steiner, v., & pond, r. e. (2002). preschool language scale-4. birmingham, al: psych corp. dialog, 16(1), 216-235 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 dialog from the field promoting engagement and involvement of parents with cognitive challenges: suggestions for head start programs sandra t. azar, elizabeth a. miller, and michael t. stevenson pennsylvania state university parents with cognitive challenges (pcc) appear to be overrepresented in head start parent populations. engaging and involving pcc in their children’s education presents unique challenges for head start staff. we discuss how parents’ difficulties in social information processing and low educational self-efficacy affect their capacity for engagement and involvement. because engagement and involvement involve both parents and staff, we present suggestions for building the capacity of staff members and leaders to work with the special needs of pcc, as well as minimizing the potential for their own bias to affect engagement of pcc. finally, we suggest programming adaptations to better accommodate the needs of pcc. keywords: parents with cognitive challenges, parent engagement, school involvement, head start. parental involvement has been found to be positively related to children’s school performance and academic achievement (izzo, weissberg, kasprow, & fendrich, 1999; jeynes, 2005; miedel & reynolds, 1999; olmstead, 1991), and is thought to be particularly important in early childhood education (barnard, 2004; lamb-parker et al., 2001; marcon, 1999). parent involvement requires two elements – engagement and a wide array of involvement strategies. the first element, engagement, is the development of and maintenance of a positive working relationship between staff and the parent. once parents are engaged, staff can make efforts to increase or enhance parents’ active involvement in their children’s education. efforts may focus on parents’ activities with their children, their attitudes or values toward education, and/or their activities within the classroom or school setting. head start (hs) programs utilize a two-generational approach and emphasize the importance of parents as partners in their children’s education (henrich & gadaire, 2008). hs performance standards (2006) require that programs provide parents with opportunities for involvement that fit their interests and needs and assist parents in becoming advocates for their children as they transition into other school settings. although hs is successful in engaging and engagement and involvement of pcc 217 involving many parents in their children’s educational experiences, parents with cognitive challenges (pcc) may present with unique needs that create obstacles to engagement and involvement in their children’s education, and specific programming is needed to address their needs. pcc may carry official developmental disabilities labels, have iqs in the borderline to mentally retarded range, and/or have learning disabilities or selective neuropsychological difficulties (e.g., sensory processing problems). other parents may be above the threshold for a formal diagnosis of cognitive disability, but still exhibit cognitive challenges that interfere with their work with staff and effective utilization of the typical programming provided to them. the latter group may present particular difficulties as the mismatch with typical hs parent outreach strategies may not be immediately apparent and can be interpreted as a lack of motivation on the parent’s part. it has been argued that pcc have difficulty benefiting from “business as usual” parenting interventions (i.e., traditional didactic instruction; azar, robinson, & proctor, 2012; tymchuk, 1998). pcc have cognitive impairments in social information processing, which interfere with critical life tasks, including parenting and interacting productively with those who attempt to provide them with assistance (azar, reitz, & goslin, 2008; azar, stevenson, & johnson, 2012). these difficulties may increase risk to children and also signal a need for adaptations in professionals’ approaches to working with these parents. pcc are also likely to have poor histories with the educational system and low self-efficacy in this area. these problems are likely to interfere with hs staff’s attempts to engage these parents and involve them in their children’s education. pcc may require modifications to both staff engagement approaches (azar & read, 2009; azar, robinson, et al., 2012) and learning strategies used with parents (tymchuk, 2006) to ensure that hs programming is effective. the goal of this paper is to discuss how engagement and involvement efforts can be adapted to fit with the needs of pcc, who present specific challenges for staff in early childhood education. as the prevalence of pcc in hs programs is unknown, we will argue that hs programs should adopt a universal design approach to involvement efforts, integrating the suggestions we make to ensure that all parents are able to benefit from the services provided. a universal design approach is “a framework for the design of places, things, information, communication, and policy to be useable by the widest range of people operating in the widest range of situations without special and separate design” (institute for human centered design, 2011). universal design originated in architecture and the design of the physical environment, and attempts to create an inclusive environment that anticipates a wide variety of needs. for example, ramps to buildings are integrated into the design of buildings and provide accommodation for those using wheelchairs, but also improve usability of the building for others (e.g., parent with a stroller, bicyclist; scott, mcguire, & shaw, 2003). more recently, the principles of universal design have been applied to other areas, such as learning and education (rose, 2000). universal design in learning is not a one-size-fits-all approach, but is flexible and includes alternatives to meet diverse needs of learners (rose, 2000). in the context of this discussion on engagement and involvement, universal design requires programs to stretch and adapt, necessitating specific staff skills and adaptations to service provision. therefore, we provide recommendations for staff capacity building and programming adaptations to improve engagement and involvement of pcc. 218 azar et al. pcc in head start populations the exact prevalence of pcc in hs parent populations is unknown, as relatively little attention is paid to adults with cognitive challenges living in the community after exiting the school system. during childhood and adolescence, individuals with special learning needs are served by carefully trained teachers with advanced degrees within special education services, and these individuals receive individualized planning for their educational careers. however, as these individuals become adults and move out of the educational system, many become “invisible” and blend into the community. many pcc do not have clearly defined labels or their challenges do not qualify them for specific services in their role of parent (e.g., department of mental retardation). nationally, 31% of hs parents have less than a high school education (office of head start, 2011) and rates exceed 50% in some areas of the country (castro, bryant, peisner feinberg, & skinner, 2004). many hs parents also receive economic support through tanf or other governmental subsidies (16% tanf, 7% ssi, 57% wic; office of head start, 2011). individuals with learning disabilities or other cognitive challenges are overrepresented in both high school dropout and tanf recipient populations (sweeney, 2000; thurlow, sinclair, & johnson, 2002; us gao, 2001); therefore it can be argued that parents with special learning needs are overrepresented in the hs population. in addition, the nature of the parent population in hs has undergone changes with the advent of shifts in the welfare system requiring work involvement (henrich & gadaire, 2008). in the tanf system, low income parents who return to work are given allowances for subsidized child care services and can seek non-hs day care and preschool services. individuals with cognitive challenges have demonstrated difficulties meeting the requirements of welfare to work programs (scheepers et al., 2005); therefore, the remaining parent population in hs services may contain a larger proportion of parents with cognitive impairments than in the past. it is also noteworthy that many hs parents present with mental health issues (e.g., depression, post traumatic stress disorder; razzino, new, lewin, & joseph, 2004) that may negatively affect parents’ cognitive functioning (e.g., problems with attention, distractibility). in summary, the proportion of hs parents with cognitive challenges is unknown, but the available evidence indicates that pcc may be overrepresented in the hs population. therefore, adapting hs involvement efforts to accommodate these parents is likely a worthy investment, and added learning supports for parents may also benefit the larger hs parent population. defining parent engagement and involvement as noted previously, parent involvement in hs and their children’s educational experiences requires two elements – engagement with staff and involvement in education. engagement is a transactional term referring to the quality of interaction between parents and staff. in mental health, this relationship is referred to as a therapeutic alliance or working alliance whereby transactions between clients and service providers are marked by common goals, mutual investment in tasks, and a perceived bond. working alliance has been found to be a strong predictor of successful client outcomes (bordin, 1979; martin, garske & davis, 2000). it should be noted that despite this transactional definition, the focus is often on clients’ capacity or incapacity to form a working alliance (i.e., whether they are “resistant to treatment”), rather than on staff capacities or incapacities. another literature that has discussed engagement is that pertaining to workplace engagement on the part of staff, especially in the face of challenges (macey & schneider, 2008). engagement and involvement of pcc 219 these views on engagement may be particularly relevant to work with parents who present difficulties. work engagement is defined as a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind characterized by three elements – vigor, dedication, and absorption (schaufeli, salanova, gonzález-romá, & bakker, 2002). vigor is defined as high energy while working, willingness to invest effort, and persistence through difficulties. dedication refers to being strongly involved in one's work and having feelings of pride and significance. lastly, absorption is defined as a state of concentration where one is deeply engrossed in work, or in a state of “flow” (schaufeli et al., 2002). staff members who are high in this type of engagement may be the most effective with pcc as it may improve their ability to relate to parents, increase their capacity to shift their strategies on a moment by moment basis to be more effective, and build a relationship in cases where the parent may provide less immediate reward or satisfaction. therefore, capacities for positive work engagement should be sought in hiring of staff and promoted in existing staff as they work with such parents. cognitive impairments in parents and the difficulties staff experience when working with them (along with the other more general strains of working with economically impoverished hs families and with little resources) may be obstacles for staff in achieving or maintaining work engagement. however, when working with adults with cognitive impairments, this type of engagement may be a protective factor against burnout in the face of the strain involved in such work (durán, extremera, & rey, 2004), and is, therefore, a valuable area for staff development. staff members who are high in work engagement also model for parents the type of involved parent hs attempts to promote – a parent who is dedicated to, absorbed in, and vigorously involved in their “job” of shepherding their children through the educational system. all parents benefit from this modeling, and pcc may require such modeling to achieve this goal. once parents are engaged with hs staff, staff can make efforts to increase or enhance parents’ active involvement in their children’s education. many aspects of parent involvement have been explored, including “internal” involvement, which is subjective and personal (e.g., attitudes toward school personnel, educational self-confidence and self-efficacy), and external involvement, which consists of visible behaviors (e.g., classroom volunteering, contacts with school personnel, involvement in children’s activities; becher, 1984; slaughter, lindsey, nakagawa, & kuehne, 1989). external involvement has also been divided into home support (i.e., home learning activities and a home environment generally supportive of learning) and direct school contact (i.e., consistent and effective communication and interactions between parent and school staff; fantuzzo, tighe, mcwayne, davis, & childs, 2003). regardless of how parent involvement is defined, it is consistently linked to children’s academic achievement (barnard, 2004; chen & uttal, 1988; hill & tyson, 2009; hoover-dempsey & sandler, 1995; izzo et al, 1999; jeynes, 2005; miedel & reynolds, 1999; o’brian et al., 2002; olmstead, 1991). pcc’s educational histories and interpersonal challenges may affect each of these dimensions of involvement. it is important to consider quality of involvement in addition to quantity (e.g., duration or intensity of services) , as quality of involvement is more closely tied to outcomes (raikes et al., 2006). hs reports have focused primarily on quantity of involvement, and have found that most hs parents are involved with the program, with 82.9% receiving home visits and 81.6% participating in parent-teacher conferences (o’brian et al., 2002). quality of involvement is lower; in early head start home visiting programs, raikes and colleagues (2006) found that staff rated the quality of parents’ involvement as variable, just above the midpoint of the scale on average, suggesting substantial room for improvement in the quality of involvement. yearly attrition rates of 22-30% for hs centers (webster-stratton, reid, & hammond, 2001) also indicate that hs centers could improve initial engagement of parents, and perhaps improve 220 azar et al. retention rates. improving parents’ involvement in their children’s education requires service providers to successfully engage with parents and be personally engaged in their work despite obstacles or lack of reinforcement from parents. once parents are engaged, service providers need to provide the right kinds of opportunities for involvement, encouraging parents to actively promote learning and better communicate the value of education to their children. engagement and involvement are not just something the parent “does” or “doesn’t do” but rather are situations cocreated with staff and hs programs. therefore, both parent and staff capacities (e.g., relational and communication capacities) must be considered. challenges to engagement and involvement presented by pcc in work with pcc, there are many challenges to engagement and involvement as they are defined above. we will examine these challenges through two lenses. first, we will discuss how parents’ impairments in social information processing affect engagement with staff and parents’ capacity to be involved with their children’s schooling in a manner valued by hs. secondly, we will examine how parents’ own histories with educational systems affect their feelings of self efficacy and view of themselves as active partners in their children’s education cognitive impairments and social information processing individuals’ skills at processing social information (e.g., how well they take in information from their environment and make sense of it) are crucial both to smooth, positive, and effective interpersonal relationships (including parent-child and parent-hs staff interactions; azar et al., 2008; fiske & taylor, 1991) and to learning new skills (parenting education to enhance involvement in children’s schooling). social information processing (sip) difficulties include having unrealistic expectations of others, poor problem solving, less flexible thinking, and being more likely to see others as hostile or threatening and oneself as less competent. these difficulties are likely to affect interactions with other adults, parenting, and mastering the new material that is often part of parenting education programs. beginning in childhood, persons with intellectual disabilities (id), which are clearly identified cognitive challenges, have shown deficits in these sip domains and corresponding negative interpersonal consequences. children with id have been shown to see the benign acts of others as hostile (leffert, siperstein & millikan, 2000; van nieuwenhuijzen, vriens, scheepmaker, smit & porton, 2011) and these hostile views of others’ behavior in turn can translate into aggressive or otherwise maladaptive responses (jahoda, pert & trower, 2006). children with id may hold hostile views of others because they have experienced harassment and discrimination due to id and expect others to harass, discriminate against, or otherwise hurt them (jahoda, pert, squire & trower, 1998). these hostile views of others are likely to continue into adulthood. for instance, in our research, when cognitively challenged mothers are interviewed about social support in their lives, they often cite few interactions with other adults, but when asked if they are satisfied with this situation, say things like “it’s better that way, others just cause you trouble.” by adulthood, histories of negative evaluation by others and greater experiences of social defeat (jahoda & markova, 2004; reiss & benson, 1984) may lead parents with cognitive challenges to monitor engagement and involvement of pcc 221 their social behavior more actively and be more likely to make negative appraisals of others (i.e., see others, including their own children, as negatively evaluating them and having negative intent). for example, they may see helpful efforts to improve parenting by hs staff as evidence that staff see them as “bad” parents and may avoid home visits to avoid feelings of shame. children with special education needs have been shown to have difficulties in coming up with diverse, appropriate solutions to social problems and to perseverate in the use of ineffective solutions (leffert et al., 2000; wilson, 1999). problem solving difficulties increase as social situations become more complex (guralnick, connor, neville, hammond, & floyd, 2006; van nieuwenhuijzen et al., 2011), and may be particularly problematic in adulthood, as adult social situations are inherently more complex. in adulthood, poor problem solving and persisting in ineffective responses may lead to difficulties with caregiving and child discipline (azar, read, & proctor, 2008; azar, stevenson, et al., 2012). these deficits may also negatively impact interactions with other adults. indeed, we have found that interpersonal problem solving difficulties are present in both interactions with children and with other adults (azar, stevenson, et al., 2012). the above difficulties, as well as problems with perspective-taking, problem recognition, working memory, and recognizing and labeling emotion in others (van nieuwenhuijzen et al., 2011), may be significant obstacles to the engagement and involvement of pcc. for example, pcc often think that others know what they are thinking or feeling and then react negatively when others fail to meet this expectation. adults with cognitive impairments frequently experience stigmatization and exploitation (feldman, 1998), and this may make contact with service providers and those who are “there to help them” more aversive or threatening. they may also avoid “discovery” of their cognitive difficulties by adopting a “cloak of competence” (edgerton, bollinger, & herr, 1984) or avoiding interactions with systems that may uncover their lack of competency. in addition, the stress of interacting with these systems may negatively affect their performance as parents, as stress has long been found to be related to performance (easterbrook, 1959). thus, sip difficulties, poor social histories, and concern that staff will see them as poor parents may result in poor social skills, avoidance, or even open hostility on the part of pcc (azar & read, 2009; azar, robinson, et al., 2012; feldman, 1998). these behaviors could result in staff labeling the parent as uncooperative, unmotivated, and/or not invested in their child, and decrease the likelihood that staff will be able to successfully engage the parent. even if pcc are successfully engaged by staff, they may lack the planning, memory, attentional skills, problem solving, and organizational capacities required to make appointments with hs staff and participate in program activities, and may even have difficulties in getting their children to programs regularly. further, cognitive challenges may slow the learning of new parent-child interaction skills or learning activities. educational history and self-efficacy parent involvement research suggests that educational history may play a role in determining levels of parent involvement. in hs, parents with less than a high school education display less involvement than parents with more education (fantuzzo, tighe, & childs, 2000; mcwayne, campos, & owsianik, 2008) and poorer quality of involvement (raikes et al., 2006). youth with learning disabilities drop out of high school at higher rates than other students (thurlow et al., 2002), and frequently report dislike of their school experience and poor relationships with teachers and students as reasons for leaving the school system. youth with other cognitive 222 azar et al. challenges are likely to have similar experiences, and when they become parents, they may be less likely to value education (i.e., show “internal” involvement) and be less willing to become “externally” involved in their own children’s schooling (e.g., participate in classroom activities) . it is likely that youth with poor school experiences and a history of failure have low self efficacy in educational domains, and this is likely to remain low as these youth become parents. this is problematic, as self-efficacy is positively related to degree of parental educational involvement (hoover-dempsey, bassler, & brissie, 1992; seefeldt, denton, galper, & younoszai, 1998) and mothers’ education level and intellectual confidence are also related to school involvement (bryant, peisner-feinberg, & miller-johnson, 2000; lamb-parker et al., 2001). self-efficacy theory (bandura, 1977) posits that behavior is determined by outcome expectancies (i.e., what one expects a specific behavior to result in) and self-efficacy (i.e., belief that one is able to successfully execute the behavior to produce the outcome). parents with low self-efficacy may feel that their behavior has little effect on their child’s education and that they do not have the skills necessary to improve their child’s educational experience. for example, one of the authors sat with a young mother in the parent room at a hs waiting for an educational meeting with hs staff to start. she was frightened that she would not understand what was taking place at this meeting and would look “stupid.” pcc may be hesitant to contact school staff with questions because they have poor outcome expectancies (e.g., expectations they will not be understood), and may not envision a role for themselves in their child’s education. parents’ special needs and poor history with the educational system may act as obstacles to engagement with educational staff and involvement in their own children’s education as they begin with negative assumptions (e.g., schools are not pleasant places, i will not be valued by teachers). these negative assumptions and expectations of involvement efforts may lead to conflicts or what appears on the surface as a lack of investment. it should be noted that although these issues may be more prominent in pcc, they occur at some level with all parents interacting with professionals and need to be considered during the development of helping relationships. head start staff and engagement and involvement of pcc parent engagement and involvement requires effort from staff as well as parents. we will discuss ways to build staff and leadership capacities to create a universal design that allows for improved engagement and involvement of pcc. we will also discuss how preconceived biases and unique reactions to pcc may affect staff’s efforts to engage this population, and how to address these so that staff can be helpful to parents and more effective at improving parents’ educational involvement. building staff capacity the early childhood field is experiencing what has been described as a “reinvigorated commitment” to professional development and staff capacity building (jones harden, denmark, & saul, 2010), driven largely by the increased attention to and funding for early intervention programs at the federal level (haskins, paxson, & brooks-gunn, 2009). staff capacity building involves activities that strengthen the knowledge, abilities, and skills of service providers (azar & read, 2009). capacity building is a crucial element of system change, and we will discuss how staff capacity building can reduce stress and burnout for hs staff and enhance the quality of engagement and involvement of pcc 223 work with pcc. burnout is a common concern for service providers in various human service fields (e.g., early child care, social work, mental health services) because of the high stress nature of providing services to others. burnout is defined as a state of emotional exhaustion (i.e., the extent to which the employee lacks sufficient emotional resources to deal with stress), depersonalization (i.e., feeling more callous toward others), and a lack of personal accomplishment (maslach & jackson, 1981). hs staff members are at high risk for burnout because of the high demands, low resources, and little reward of their work (goelman & guo, 1998). work with pcc may present additional stress because these parents may be unable to meet staff’s expectations (e.g., showing up to a meeting on time). if staff are unable to recognize when a parent has cognitive challenges and needs accommodation, the disconnect between staff expectations and the parent’s actions can lead to increased stress, negative feelings towards the parent, and feelings of frustration on the part of staff members. for service providers in related fields (e.g., home visiting, child welfare), lack of specific training and insufficient capacities to meet parental special needs are a source of strain, often leading to burnout and high staff turnover (curry, mccarragher, & dellmann-jenkins, 2005; jones harden et al., 2010; savicki & cooley, 1994). cognitive challenges may not be apparent in all parents, as individuals with cognitive challenges often adopt a “cloak of competence” (edgerton et al., 1984), appearing to understand material when they do not, making identification of needs more difficult. a universal design approach to working with parents provides staff with the ability to meet parents’ needs even without formal identification of pcc. staff development should focus on building skills to reduce moments of disconnect in conversations, as well as disconnects between parents’ abilities and staff’s expectations. providers must be extremely sensitive to moments in conversation when assistance is needed, consistently checking that the parent understands what is being asked and has the behavioral capacities to do what is requested, without stigmatizing or infantilizing the parent. training is essential, as staff report increased stress when they feel they have insufficient capacities to meet parents’ needs (jones harden et al., 2010). linkages with systems serving persons with cognitive challenges (e.g., department of mental retardation) that already exist in hs could provide training opportunities to improve skills and would also allow hs staff to utilize the knowledge of other staff with more training and experience in working with adults with cognitive challenges. cooperative agreements already in place in hs programs could be expanded to include such consultation and staff sharing. recent research has suggested that early childhood staff benefit from collaborative training opportunities providing mentorship and didactic instruction, and that pairing staff with mentors can provide opportunities to improve skills through observation, practice, and reflection (raver et al., 2008). increased connections serve as resources to staff and ultimately help staff to provide better services to pcc. building leadership capacity capacity building can also focus on ways that supervisors can support their staff in engaging and involving pcc. this may include hiring supervisory staff with training specifically focused on working with adults with cognitive challenges so that supervisors can serve as a resource for staff. supervisors adept in dealing with multiple systems of care can help staff provide 224 azar et al. appropriate referrals (when available). however, small-scale changes may not be able to produce desired results and a broader approach to improving leadership may ultimately be more useful to improving the ability of hs staff to deal with the special needs of pcc. transformational leadership (bass, 1990) is one model that has previously been examined in human service fields (e.g., aarons, 2006; stordeur, d’hoore, & vandenberghe, 2001) and could be utilized by hs programs. transformational leadership consists of four leader behaviors – idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration. idealized influence describes the extent to which a leader is admired, trusted, and respected. inspirational motivation is the extent to which a leader gives meaning to staff’s work and fosters a common vision. intellectual stimulation is the extent to which a leader supports innovation and encourages staff to think in new ways. lastly, individual consideration is the extent to which a leader considers each staff member as an individual and facilitates their personal development and achievement of goals (bass, 1990). transformational leadership has been linked to a variety of organizational outcomes. transformational leadership is positively related to job performance, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment among followers, and negatively related to emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions (green, miller, & aarons, 2011; hughes, avey, & nixon, 2010; mackenzie, podsakoff, & rich, 2001; stordeur et al., 2001; walumbwa, orwa, wang, & lawler, 2005). transformational leaders may support hs staff’s efforts to engage and involve pcc by encouraging frequent discussion of the needs of pcc, recognizing and rewarding staff members who are able to successfully engage and involve these parents, and consistently providing feedback to staff as they attempt to work with pcc. in addition, transformational leaders should be able to articulate their vision for the future and inspire others to work towards a common goal of improved engagement and involvement of pcc. transformational leaders also provide support to followers as they work with pcc by respecting individual differences in needs and circumstances and providing opportunities for individuals to achieve their personal goals. in addition to improving job performance, and thus the engagement and involvement of pcc, transformational leadership behaviors may also buffer potential increases in stress and emotional exhaustion related to the difficult work of hs staff (green et al., 2011; stordeur et al., 2001). although transformational leadership is linked to leaders’ individual differences in personality and other areas (bono & judge, 2004), recent research has indicated that transformational leadership training can lead to measureable change in leaders and their followers (avolio & bass, 1998; barling, weber, & kelloway, 1996; parry & sinha, 2005). transformational leadership is likely to improve followers’ performance by increasing work engagement, specifically vigor, dedication, and absorption (schaufeli et al., 2002). transformational leadership training may be a valuable investment for hs programs to consider, as it would provide supervisors with skills to support and encourage staff as they expand their efforts to engage and involve pcc. leadership training can also focus on the role of leaders in determining organizational climate (aarons, sommerfeld, & willging, 2011), which is defined how employees perceive their work environment (i.e., “the way things are here”; glisson et al., 2007). climate includes how the work environment affects employees’ own well-being (e.g., feelings of personal accomplishment) and the functionality of the work environment (e.g., concerns about bureaucracy; glisson et al., 2007). organizations have multiple types of climates that address different parts of the environment (e.g., ethics, safety, customer service) and focused leadership engagement and involvement of pcc 225 behavior can use “climate-embedding mechanisms” (e.g., resource allocation, mission statements) to create strategic climates focused on particular outcomes (grojean, resick, dickson, & smith, 2004; schneider, ehrhart, mayer, saltz, & niles-jolly, 2005). for example, recent research has examined how transformational leadership training can be used to create strategic climates for implementation of new practices (aarons, dlugosz, & erhart, 2011). in this context, hs supervisors could be trained in creating a strategic climate for parent involvement that focuses on a universal design approach. potential climate-embedding mechanisms could include an explicit, clearly stated focus on accommodating all parents’ needs, rewards for staff who make efforts to identify and support their needs (whether successful or unsuccessful), and role-modeling by the supervisor of appropriate values and assumptions. for example, staff meetings could include time devoted to highlighting innovative attempts at meeting needs and providing feedback to staff on their work with pcc. the creation of a climate in which a universal design approach is not just encouraged, but expected, would greatly enhance the likelihood of successfully engaging and involving pcc in their children’s education. potential for bias toward pcc people who are cognitively challenged face extensive negative biases in our society (akrami, ekehammar, claesson, & sonnander, 2006). when parents, specifically, are cognitively challenged, these biases can potentially interfere with engagement and involvement in hs. hs staff may unconsciously endorse negative stereotypes of the very people they have been entrusted to help. the potential ramifications of negative stereotype endorsement, in the context of parent-staff engagement, are problematic, as pcc who perceive biased behavior from staff may exhibit “resistance” to engagement that is actually a normal reaction to being seen as belonging to a lower-status social group. though bias toward pcc has not been examined in hs staff specifically, evidence for bias toward pcc in other service contexts has been found. in vignettes illustrating potential parental neglect cases, college students gave higher ratings of risk to children and of willingness to remove children from the home if the mother was labeled as having mild intellectual disabilities than if the mother had no such label (proctor & azar, 2012). child protection workers were also found to see greater risk in parents labeled as intellectually disabled, indicating that bias toward pcc may exist within child welfare professionals, possibly contributing to the higher numbers of pcc in the child protection system (aunos, goupil, & feldman, 2003; azar, robinson, et al., 2012; ethier, couture, & lacharite, 2004; mcgaw, shaw, & beckley, 2007; mørch, skår, & andersgård, 1997; schilling, schinke, blythe, & barth, 1982; tymchuk & andron, 1990). within hs programs, one specific bias that may affect staff-parent relationships is the assumption that pcc lack the appropriate skills to successfully parent their children. with these parents, staff may see their role as protecting the child, rather than helping the parent. when staff cast themselves in a “child protector” role, the associated negative perceptions of parents may lead to decreased family participation and poorer outcomes (jones harden et al., 2010). a quote from a home visitor provides a clear example of how staff may have negative perceptions of parents. in this case, the group distinction described is essentially that between “good parents” and “bad parents.” 226 azar et al. they're not the parents of old where they're invested in their child's welfare or those who are caring for their children, i think, i compare that to what my mother did, which i don't know how she would be at the window looking at me. i know she cared. either she cared what i was doing or she cared about what the teacher was doing to me, for me or on behalf of me. so, i think that we're lacking a lot of that when it comes to the parents and how they participate. if they were more vested in their children's wellbeing, their outcomes and things like that, i think they would be more willing to participate in the program. (jones harden et al., 2010, p. 374) this home visitor describes stereotypes of a “bad” parent (lack of investment in child, lack of caring) as being causally related to engagement in the program. we cannot know the accuracy of the description of the mother, but it is very clear that the visitor places herself (and her mother) in the “good” group and the client in the “bad” group. additionally, the visitor reported that she viewed her role in this case as that of “child protector,” something that clearly casts aspersions on the character and parenting of the client, thus providing a potential scenario for unease and lack of engagement. previous research regarding interpersonal interactions between high and low status groups has shown that when individuals hold negative stereotypes of specific groups, these groups display more anxiety and perform more poorly in interactions with them (word, zanna, & cooper, 1974). if hs staff hold negative stereotypes of those with cognitive challenges (even unconsciously), pcc may respond to staff with anxiety and poor performance, which may in turn justify negative stereotypes on the part of staff. similarly, if pcc are aware of negative stereotypes about those with cognitive challenges, they may be susceptible to stereotype threat, or the experience of anxiety in situations in which one’s performance has the potential to confirm negative stereotypes about one’s group (schmader & johns, 2003; steele & aaronson, 1995). activation and/or exacerbation of anxiety associated with the experience of stigma may result in difficulties forming bonds necessary for successful engagement and may interfere with learning. in order to provide the best context for staff-parent interaction and engagement, special attention needs to be paid to overcoming the obstacle of bias against pcc. training in cognitive re-evaluation strategies (i.e., challenging of automatic thoughts and consideration of alternative explanations) could help reduce the effects of stereotypes and biased behavior in staff-parent interactions (azar, 2000), thus promoting more effective engagement. additionally, hiring of staff or consulting with professionals already trained in working with adults with cognitive challenges may result in staff more skilled in addressing the sensitive needs of pcc (azar & read, 2009; proctor & azar, 2012). supervisors can also play a role in overcoming biases by constantly challenging staff’s expectations and appraisals regarding the parent’s agency in decision-making and prompting the generation of alternative more flexible appraisals (azar, 2000). eventually, the staff themselves can engage in such re-evaluations. in summary, building staff capacity can improve the staff’s knowledge, ability, and skills to implement a universal design approach to involvement, while building leadership capacity can affect great change in staff’s work environment and create a strategic climate for universal design. awareness of how unconscious biases can trigger negative responses from pcc, including avoidance, anxiety, or hostility, can minimize the likelihood that bias will interfere with efforts to engage pcc. ultimately, these suggestions can improve the quality of services provided to pcc and improve efforts to involve parents. engagement and involvement of pcc 227 programming adaptations to address needs of pcc numerous programming adaptations can be made to better accommodate the needs of pcc. space constraints do not allow for a full discussion, but many researchers have detailed methods of adapting to the needs of pcc in parenting interventions (azar, robinson, et al., 2012; feldman & case, 1999; feldman, ducharme, & case, 1999; lutzker, bigelow, doctor, gershater, & greene, 1998; tymchuk, 2006). two general domains of adaptation are recommended: attention to the learning style of the parent (i.e., ways in which staff behavior and use of materials can speak to different learning styles) and supporting connections between systems of care to better serve pcc. learning styles just as with children who have special needs, training of teachers and staff needs to accommodate different learning styles in parents. for example, pcc often have difficulties with purely auditory instruction (bakken, miltenberger, & schauss, 1993), and learn better from multimodal approaches that include auditory, visual, and kinesthetic strategies, using concrete examples. tymchuk (2006), for example, shows pictures of home settings with safety hazards for children (e.g., medicines in a cabinet accessible to children) and works with the parent to identify the hazards portrayed in the pictures. adaptations may need to be made regarding the rate at which material is presented, the time frame in which change is expected, and the duration of and types of supports needed to maintain parenting capacities over time. material may need to be presented more slowly and expectations for mastery adjusted accordingly. feldman and case’s (1999) program for working with pcc on home safety and child development is a good example. it employs pictorial prompts showing skills broken down into tiny elements, an audiotape that allows parents to work independently (promoting empowerment), and professional modeling of skills. for primarily center-based hs programs, home-based contacts may be essential to ensure exposure to learning opportunities (e.g., that meetings take place) and promote generalization (feldman, 1994; green & cruz, 2000). pcc require more repetition and benefit from learning in the environment where behavior change is desired (i.e., the home coaching and feedback while the parent is actually interacting with the child). indeed, home-based work may be preferable as pcc also have multiple barriers to center-based programs (e.g., transportation and planning issues, aversive reactions to school settings where they have encountered failures). again, while home-based work is not atypical in hs family work, more attention may need to be paid to employing active role modeling, enactment, coaching, and feedback. identification of when parents’ cognitive challenges are interfering with understanding material is key to successful adaptations. knowing each parent’s learning style and having appropriate expectations for what he or she is able to accomplish will allow hs staff to correctly identify the range in which the parent can complete a task (i.e., their “zone of proximal development”) and provide appropriate scaffolding (vygotsky, 1978). this might require an individualized education plan for parents. this work could use some of the strategies for assessment described by tymchuk (1998), including assessment of task specific vocabulary (e.g., does the parent understand the medical terms used) and determining in advance the modalities through which the parent learns best. hiring behaviorally trained parenting 228 azar et al. supervisors who have expertise in adult learning with special needs adults may be helpful to developing such plans and supervising their implementation by parenting staff. behavioral approaches that break down involvement activities (e.g., encouraging reading time, showing interest in child’s school day, communicating with teachers) into smaller steps within the parent’s abilities (how to select a book, the use of pointing to parts of drawings on book pages, use of specific questions that extend children’s language skills) are ideal. some activities may require further adaptations and the creation of specific materials. for example, reading activities may be difficult for parents with literacy problems. staff could utilize a library of picture books rather than books with words when working with pcc. staff’s use of modeling, role plays, and feedback (shaping their responses) will maximize the effectiveness of approaches. although crucial to all parenting interventions, these strategies may be essential to this parent group. efforts to provide rewards for progress may also be essential to motivating pcc and have been used in other areas with a high density of pcc (e.g., child protection samples; azar & wolfe, 2006). games may be useful. for example, fantuzzo, wray, hall, goins, & azar (l986) used a board game to teach the use of positive parenting behaviors. the game involved three parents and a facilitator, and used cards with situations where parenting responses were required (e.g., “your child just gave the letters of the alphabet, you say … “). as the parents rolled the dice and moved pieces around the board, they were required to provide verbal responses to the parenting situations. social reinforcement (praise) was used to provide feedback regarding the quality of the responses with the facilitator fine tuning the response in their feedback (e.g., “that was great! and you could also have said…”). finally, teaching strategies to reduce parental stress and increase frustration tolerance may be crucial for pcc (azar & wolfe, 2006). providing relaxation training and anger management training to parents could be done using tapes or in group settings with the clear acknowledgement that their lives are stressful and that the goal of such work is to improve their lives. care must be taken to work collaboratively with parents, empowering parents to ask questions and express concerns comfortably. these are important skills parents must develop to work with school personnel encountered later in their child’s education. in some ways, scaffolding such skill building may be more important than encouraging specific involvement activities (e.g., practicing numbers) as these skills will ensure engagement and involvement throughout the child’s school career. skills to empower parents to participate in program development are also crucial (see haarstad, 2008; mccusker & irwin, 2002). in addition to using the board game to improve parents’ verbal parenting responses, fantuzzo and colleagues (1986) also worked on social skills (e.g., how to make friends, to be assertive) and this work could be adapted to address ways to seek assistance from others and talk to teachers and other school personnel when there are difficulties around children. materials and consultation regarding increasing empowerment among individuals with disabilities (as well as consultation in other areas) are provided by university centers for excellence in developmental disabilities in every state and territory (association of university centers on disabilities), and could provide a starting point for hs programs. connecting systems of care as previously mentioned, pcc are often involved in multiple systems of care (e.g., mental engagement and involvement of pcc 229 retardation services, child welfare, housing, courts; tymchuk, 1999) and events within these systems may impact the parent life and hamper involvement in hs. hs programs can assist pcc by being part of coordinating efforts and although this occurs in many localities, coverage across hs centers is uneven and may be highly dependent up on what is available in the local community and/or the umbrella agency under which the hs program exists. the work done within hs may need programmatically to go beyond the “borders” of the program and to more thoroughly integrate resources outside of programs (e.g., department of mental retardation, housing services, etc.). this means partnerships that go beyond the typical level of consultation and cross-training; for example, working with networks of pediatricians to raise the level of assistance they and their staff provide to parents of hs children (e.g., more prompts for appointments, more details regarding medicine delivery). assistance with continuing services if families are displaced (e.g., become homeless which may occur more frequently for pcc) can promote continuity of children’s educational supports and also promote parental engagement with programs (i.e., contact at times of crisis can be highly meaningful to families). such efforts foster the idea of hs’s investment in the parent and family system. the transition to kindergarten and beyond has always been a concern for hs parents who become accustomed to the comprehensive two-generational approach of hs programs. this transition may be even more difficult for pcc whose multiple needs may neither be identified by schools nor met in the typical services provided. pcc may benefit from the establishment of enhanced and even more comprehensive transitioning efforts between hs into kindergarten and beyond. hs in its typical bridging role is uniquely positioned to do this work. hs staff could work with pcc to communicate to kindergarten teachers the specific adaptations that may be needed as they interact with parents and what they would entail. for example, pcc and hs staff could work together to construct a parent “passport” to give to new teachers and school personnel, detailing not only child but also parental adaptations that are effective. it is important to ensure that this work be done in collaboration with parents and driven by their goals and wishes, as well as written in a respectful manner. further, hs staff should communicate directly with kindergarten teachers to share what they have learned about the needs and abilities of the parent (e.g., this parent prefers phone calls to written messages or texts), in addition to discussing the needs and abilities of the child, so that new teachers do not have to go through trial and error to learn the best ways to work with the parent. the possibility of pre-planned later consultation with parents and school staff when the teacher encounters difficulties may go far to ensuring continued parental involvement. pcc may benefit from a network of school personnel/community contacts during and beyond the hs years, all of whom actively assist parents, are adept at using visual aids and attend to literacy issues. increasing social networks with other parents (ones with and without cognitive challenges) is also key, as individuals with cognitive challenges are less likely than individuals without these challenges to live with a partner or have close friends or neighbors (hassiotis et al., 2008; llewellyn & mcconnell, 2002). indeed, other parents have been shown to be especially successful at engaging with and enrolling socially isolated, high risk parents in hs (fantuzzo & atkins, 1995). building social networks with other parents will help reduce social isolation, further build parent empowerment, and help with the sharing of resources and information (tarleton & ward, 2007). these social networks may confer additional benefit to pcc when combined with the supportive structure of hs services, enhancing engagement with the program. in sum, programming adaptations to increase engagement and involvement of pcc 230 azar et al. should focus on adapting to parents’ specific learning styles, creating opportunities for success by asking parents to complete tasks within their competence, and acting to promote bonds between pcc and hs staff, as well as with school systems more generally. adapted programming and staff capacity building would increase the effectiveness of head start’s already well developed current efforts to promote parental involvement in their children’s education. new initiatives (e.g., the parent, family and community engagement framework) provide a framework in which to do planning of such activities and may provide a source of technical assistance (i.e., the national center on parent, family, and community engagement). conclusions in this paper, we have argued that pcc are overrepresented in hs programs and present unique challenges to hs staff as they work to engage these parents and promote their involvement in their children’s academic development. a universal design approach to engagement and involvement will help to meet the special needs of these parents and may also benefit parents without cognitive challenges as well, as many of the strategies described can also be applied to parents with higher levels of cognitive functioning. pcc’s social information processing difficulties and educational histories affect their capacity to interact with both their children and hs staff in optimal ways. accommodated services are needed for hs to provide effective support to these parents. expertise in special needs children is a strength of hs and, therefore hs may be especially able to accommodate to the special needs of pcc. existing relationships with systems designed to meet special educations needs of children may be helpful to efforts targeting pcc and these systems may also provide funding that can be utilized for parents who have clearly identified needs (e.g., mental health and mental retardation services funding, state based child abuse and neglect prevention funds, children’s trust funds, disabilities funding). we have also called for improving supports provided to hs staff so they are better able to provide accommodated services, and building staff capacity to prevent any additional stress and strain related to working with pcc. in particular, we call for efforts targeted at developing leadership in hs programs and reducing opportunities for unconscious biases toward pcc to interfere with their engagement and involvement. our discussion advocates for a universal design that uses creative approaches for working with parents, rather than attempting to fit every parent into the typical “business as usual” ways of delivering services. such approaches may help to meet the special needs of pcc, reduce the burden on hs staff who struggle with the disconnect between their hopes and desires for parents and the reality of parents’ abilities, and promote feelings of competency and empowerment in pcc. clearly, our proposals are dependent on available funding and resources, which present challenges to implementation. it should be noted, however, that failing to adapt to the special needs of pcc may be more costly to the system in the long-term. missed appointments, noncompliance with service provision, and staff burnout and turnover are all costly, and child outcomes also depend on the success of these parenting efforts. we are not suggesting that the focus of work with parents be taken off of the child’s development, but rather that renewed investment in parent skills development may be crucial to facilitating parental engagement, involvement in programming, and their capacities to enhance their children’s educational experiences and developmental progress in the future. as many as 21% of parents dropout of hs programs (office of head start, 2011) and if parents drop out of programs, their children do not engagement and involvement of pcc 231 receive services. similarly, if parents are unable to make use of the excellent opportunities provided by hs programs, then the child’s progress is hampered and the program is not serving those most in need. we 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(1999). entry behavior and emotion regulation abilities of developmentally delayed boys. developmental psychology, 35, 214. word, c.o., zanna, m.p., & cooper, j., (1974). the nonverbal mediation of self-fulfilling prophecies in interracial interaction. journal of experimental social psychology, 10, 109-120. dialog, 16(3), 64-76 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article head start families thoughts and beliefs about health, nutrition, and physical activity teresa a. byington and anne r. lindsay university of nevada reno deborah loesch-griffin turning point, inc. susi brumett and madeleine sigman-grant university of nevada reno in-depth interviews were conducted with a subset of head start families participating in an intervention comparison research study in a southwestern state. families were asked to share thoughts and beliefs about eating and physical activity habits. questions were asked in relation to consumption of healthy snacks, consumption of fruits and vegetables, influences on purchasing and eating habits, eating out patterns, physical activity, and perceptions of what it means to be healthy. both intervention and comparison families felt it was essential to consume fresh fruits and vegetables. economic reasons were cited by respondents as the main reason for not consuming fruits, vegetables, and healthy snacks regularly. while families from both the intervention and the control groups noted that their preschooler influenced their food purchases (about one-fourth of parents were always influenced), children from the intervention group began requesting healthy foods. families stated engaging in daily physical activity was important; however, barriers such as health restrictions, work schedules, weather, and personal preferences affected levels of physical activity. information from this study is guiding improvements to a preschool program targeting childhood obesity. keywords: health, nutrition, physical activity, eating, preschooler, head start a child’s eating and physical activity habits are influenced by their family, caregivers, environment, and experiences (cooke, 2007; lanigan, 2010; roblin, 2007). parents and other caregivers (such as preschool teachers) usually determine the availability and accessibility of foods served to young children (birch & anzman, 2010). caregivers model attitudes and behaviors about feeding, eating, and physical activity practices (larson & story, 2009). children’s eating behaviors also can be influenced by: parental food preferences, family feeding practices, children’s food exposure, role modeling, media exposure, and parenting styles head start families thoughts and beliefs 65 (campbell & crawford, 2001; larson & story, 2009). one of the strongest predictors of a child’s fruit and vegetable consumption is parental consumption (cooke, 2004). head start parents with an authoritative parenting feeding style (encourages child to develop independence and self-regulation, but also sets boundaries) had children that consumed more vegetables than parents with an authoritarian feeding style (strict rules, children are expected to obey) (patrick, nicklas, hughes, & morales, 2005). in another study, child control and parental food preferences were perceived as significant barriers to appropriate feeding practices by head start parents (hoerr, utech & ruth, 2005). if parents disliked certain foods they were usually not offered to their child (hoerr et al., 2005). other factors influencing eating habits include economic situation, culture, and environment (larson & story, 2009; larson, ward, neelson, & story, 2011). lower income households have tended to purchase foods lower in nutritional quality because healthier foods were more expensive or not as readily available (kaufman et al., 2000). as the food cost per serving increased, the availability of the healthy food in the home decreased (ard et al., 2007). the economic research service determined that a ten percent discount on fruits and vegetables at retail stores would promote increased purchasing and consumption of these foods by lowincome families (dong & lin, 2009). additionally, the physical availability of food products and the types of retail stores (e.g., supermarkets, grocery stores, and convenience stores) have been shown to impact food purchasing (laraia, siega-riz, kaufman, & jones, 2004). families with better access to supermarkets had healthier diets than families with limited access (laraia et al., 2004). a positive correlation was found between physical activity levels of preschoolers and activity levels of their parents (ruiz, gesell, buchowski, lambert, & barkin, 2011). children had higher levels of physical activity if their parents were more active (ruiz et al., 2011). however, young children’s physical activity levels can be inhibited by neighborhood safety, weather, and caregiver’s lack of time, lack of energy or level of physical competence (dwyer, needham, simpson, & heeney, 2008; hughes, gooze, finkelstein, & whitaker, 2010). the preschool years are a prime time for children to learn healthy eating habits and basic fundamental gross motor movement skills. unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical activity can play a role in future health concerns such as obesity (roblin, 2007). therefore, educational efforts targeting young children and their families should focus on the development of healthy eating and physical activity habits. to promote the early development of healthy habits, the all 4 kids © : healthy, happy, active, fit program was developed. all 4 kids © targets overweight prevention in children ages 3 to 5 years old, by involving the preschooler, their primary caregivers, and preschool teachers in an educational program. the main objectives of the all 4 kids © program are to improve the physical movement skills of preschoolers; promote the consumption of healthy snacks (e.g., fruits and vegetables), and teach children they can be active and eat healthy at any size or shape. all 4 kids © uses an obesogenic ecological model (figure 1) as its theoretical framework. the conceptual framework is based on urie bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory which looks at the person, their environment, and the interactions between the two systems (bronfenbrenner, 1979). an ecological model assumes that a child is influenced by family and community environments. the immediate environment (family) includes the child’s parents, other primary caregivers, and teachers. the community environment is an obesogenic society in which overeating and sedentary behaviors are supported. therefore, assuming the child is influenced by family and community environments, education efforts must focus on direct 66 byington et al. teaching of preschoolers and the engagement of significant others (e.g., parents, caregivers, preschool teachers) through direct and indirect teaching (e.g., take-home activities, family and teacher newsletters). these educational efforts should be designed to influence the healthy eating and physical activity knowledge and behaviors of preschoolers, their families, preschool teachers, and the community environment. figure 1. the obesogenic ecological model three major themes are addressed in the 24 lessons of the all 4 kids © program: be active, eat smart, and live healthy at any size. each thematic unit contains eight 30-minute lessons, delivered by trained teachers three times weekly. classroom components include movement skill practice and dancing, along with interactive and purposeful nutrition and health messaging. the program concepts are taught through stories, games, food tasting, and other activities. in addition to the classroom components, parents are invited to attend three family events and children take home activities to share with their families. for the first unit, be active, preschoolers are taught specific physical movement skills and dances based on state prekindergarten standards. in the second unit, eat smart, the curriculum focuses on teaching preschoolers how to select healthy foods (especially fruits and vegetables) to eat at snack times as this may be an eating occasion when children can request specific foods. preschoolers learn that healthy foods “help keep my heart, my muscles, and my bones strong”; whereas, unhealthy foods “do not help keep my heart, my muscles, and my bones strong.” the third unit, live healthy at any size, teaches children that they are unique and everyone can be active and eat healthy (regardless of body size or shape). quantitative comparison of preschoolers' movement skill competency and changes in understanding of and preference for healthy foods were reported elsewhere (gabor, v. et al., 2012). positive statistical significance was detected between treatment and comparison groups in these measures. purpose the purpose of this study was to assess the thoughts and beliefs of head start families in relationship to health, nutrition, and physical activity between treatment and comparison groups. the researchers asked families to share their perceptions of what it meant to be healthy. specific pre-schoolaged child immediate environment: primary caregivers, preschool teachers obesogenic environment head start families thoughts and beliefs 67 questions were posed to gain information about family habits related to eating and physical activity in both groups. method study design in-depth interviews were conducted with a subset of head start families participating in an intervention comparison research study (during the post evaluation phase) in a southwestern state in spring and summer 2010. the study included 12 head start sites (six intervention sites that received the all 4 kids © program and six comparison sites that did not). ten percent of participants (n=63) involved in the post data collection stage of the larger study (n=629) were randomly selected for interviews (approximately five per head start site). the study was approved by the university’s institutional review board. a mixed methods protocol employed a structured format designed to elicit quantitative and qualitative responses. detailed information related to food consumption and physical activity choices was obtained. differences between families in the intervention and comparison group were determined with a descriptive and comparative design using content analysis of individual questions. interviews thirty to forty minute interviews were conducted with study participants. trained researchers facilitated all interviews in the preferred language of either english or spanish. participants received a $10 grocery gift card upon completion. interview questions were developed (see appendix) to gain understanding of families’ views about nutrition, physical activity, and health. participants were queried about consumption of healthy snacks, consumption of fruits and vegetables, influences on purchasing and eating habits, eating out patterns, physical activity, and perceptions of what it means to be healthy. interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. snacks were classified into healthy or unhealthy categories using the following definition for healthy snacks: small portions of foods that contain vitamins and minerals, high in nutrients, and low in fat and sugar. results sample description sixty families (30 intervention, 30 comparison) participated. three families in the comparison group had multiple children. as responses differed for each child they were counted separately for a total of 33 comparison interviews. 68 byington et al. consumption of healthy snacks respondent families were asked what types of snacks they and their children consumed. parents in the intervention group had a more comprehensive understanding of the concept of healthy snacks. eighty-four percent of the intervention families and fifty-eight percent of the comparison families named at least three healthy snacks (table 1). half of intervention families indicated that healthy snacks were eaten by themselves and their children. in contrast, families in the comparison group were less likely to consume healthy snacks. two families stated that eating snacks between meals was “not common” in their culture table 1 responses from families intervention n=30 comparison n=33 what type of snacks do you and your children eat? healthy: caregivers 50% 27% healthy: children 50% 36% combination of healthy and unhealthy: caregivers 33% 18% combination of healthy and unhealthy: children 33% 21% types of snacks fruits and vegetables (e.g., bananas, melon, broccoli) 83% 73% grain products (e.g., crackers, bread, cereal bars) 50% 50% milk products (e.g., yogurt, cheese, milk) 50% 36% meats 17% 9% reasons for eating healthy snacks health 47% 36% reducing and eliminating sugars and fats in diet 13% 15% growth and development 17% 18% energy 17% 18% maintaining healthy weight 17% 3% vitamins, minerals, nutrients 17% 9% acquire a taste for new foods/healthy eating 10% 9% reasons for eating fruits and vegetables stay healthy 80% 54% vitamins and minerals 36% 30% preschooler requests to purchase foods caregiver influenced by preschooler 53% 54% “always” purchase preschooler request 24% 21% “never” purchase preschooler request 13% 21% reasons to be physically active maintain health 50% 54% increase family time 13% 0% barriers for myself 6% 50% barriers for my children 6% 22% head start families thoughts and beliefs 69 almost half (47%) of intervention families and one-third (33%) of comparison families indicated they had introduced new snacks to their preschooler in the past 30 days. participation in the all 4 kids © program appeared to have influenced intervention families’ introduction of new snacks, as about one-fourth (27%) noted that they had purchased and served foods that the all 4 kids © program had introduced to their preschooler (e.g., kiwi, jicama). there were no dominant trends in the comparison group as to types of new snacks introduced. table 1 describes the main reasons given by intervention and comparison families on why they perceived eating healthy snacks as important. overall, intervention families had a more diverse set of reasons and were likely to offer a combination of reasons that represented how healthy snacks were part of an overall healthy lifestyle: “for one, as he gets older he’ll continue to eat those [healthy snacks]. if you get accustomed to eating ding-dongs every time rather than here or there it will add up. then you can’t run and play with your kids because you’re out of breath. i try to make a healthy dinner every night. we have a vegetable every night and in summer, fresh fruit, cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon. kids love the melons….” (intervention family) barriers to eating healthy snacks families were asked to share any barriers to offering their preschooler healthy snacks. similar barriers were given by participants in both groups. barriers cited included money, likes or dislikes, dietary restrictions, and unhealthy snacking by parents. some parents did not perceive any barriers, but conceded to the child’s likes and dislikes or lack of willingness to experiment with new foods. the following are examples of quotes from study participants about barriers to eating healthy snacks: “the money [is a barrier]. sometimes vegetables and fruits are more expensive than meat. i look for specials. if coupons are available and things are on special, i look for food that is healthy and buy in bulk.” (intervention family) “no [barriers] other than his mood. whether he wants or is willing to try something new.” (intervention family) “taste [is a barrier]. i try to include things like kiwi or kale but he doesn’t like it. i asked a nutritionist about it and she told me to make him try it 20 times.” (comparison family) consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables both intervention and comparison families felt it was important to consume fresh fruits and vegetables. although there were differences in reasons cited between intervention and comparison families, the main reason mentioned was to stay healthy (table 1). about one-third of both groups cited the importance of eating fruits and vegetables for nutrients such as vitamins 70 byington et al. and minerals. one intervention family referenced all 4 kids © as a reason for changing their eating habits and shifting toward increased consumption of fruits and vegetables: “all 4 kids © has helped our family to eat more healthy. to eat more fruits and vegetables.” (intervention family) another intervention family cited the importance of consuming fruits and vegetables to avoid eating other foods higher in calories. the majority of intervention and comparison families noted that they currently provided their preschooler with commonly eaten fruits (e.g., apples, oranges, bananas, melons) and vegetables (e.g., corn, peas, and carrots). in this study, most of the respondent families fed their preschoolers more fruits than vegetables, and offered a wide variety of options. intervention families mentioned that they frequently offered grapes, kiwi, and mango, whereas comparison families offered strawberries, peaches, and plums. both groups mentioned eating broccoli, cauliflower, and a variety of squashes and other less typical vegetables (kale, greens, cabbage, celery, and cucumbers). families sometimes indicated that they served frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, and corn) as well as raw vegetables with ranch dressing or some type of dip. salad, tomatoes, and other greens were mentioned less frequently. interestingly, neither group mentioned french fries or other types of potatoes. nearly two-thirds (63%) of intervention families and slightly more than half (52%) of comparison families indicated they had introduced new types of fruits or vegetables to their children. of those who had introduced new fruits and vegetables, about one-third of intervention families (31%) and over half of comparison families (53%) noted that their children did not like them. barriers to consumption of fruits and vegetables comparison families were two times more likely to indicate there were barriers to consuming fruits and vegetables than intervention families (18% versus 7%) and yet both sets of respondents lived in similar socio-economic conditions. one hundred percent of those indicating there were barriers cited economic reasons for not being able to consume fruits and vegetables regularly. “yes, the prices. time. you don’t always get to eat healthy. it’s easy to just stop and get something to eat. some places offer healthy choices, but we don’t buy those items.” (comparison family) by contrast, some intervention families indicated there were no barriers; however, they still indicated that economics played a factor, but positively. two suggested that wic (the special supplemental program for women, infants, and children) enabled them to buy fruits and vegetables and without wic (after their children turned 5 years old) it would be harder to purchase fruits and vegetables. “it’s easier to save money—more economical.” (intervention family) head start families thoughts and beliefs 71 influences on purchasing and eating habits finances were mentioned as an influence on food purchases by both intervention and comparison families. the media was not as great an influence as might be expected on food purchases. when media was indicated as an influence, the reason given was primarily related to saving money. special news ads or coupons were the main media source reported by intervention families, whereas television was the main source reported by comparison families. five comparison families stated that they were influenced by the media to purchase fast foods. the dominant way media influenced food purchases in both groups was through the promotion of sales or specials for food items. “i am influenced by good/healthy food. i also look for specials to save money.” (intervention family) “we look through the newspaper and i try to find what is economical. we always buy milk, no matter what it costs.” (comparison family) families were more likely to be influenced by their preschoolers’ requests for specific foods than by the media; however, some families did indicate that their preschoolers’ requests were influenced by what they saw or heard on television. the greatest influences on food purchases for about half of both groups were cost and nutritional value of the foods. intervention families (30%) were more likely to shop together for food purchases (either both parents or combination of family members, including children) than comparison families (21%). the majority of intervention and comparison families (table 1) indicated they were influenced by their preschoolers’ requests when shopping. about one-fourth of the families from both groups indicated they “always” purchased items their preschooler requested. a similar amount of families indicated that they “never” bought what their preschoolers asked them to buy. “whether i’m grocery shopping myself (or which children are with me) and how whiny they are being influences my purchases. usually i try to stick to a list, but if they are with me more of the junk variety gets into the cart.” (intervention family) eating out there were no differences in the frequency of eating out between intervention or comparison families. most families ate out about once a week. the analysis of where families reported eating out indicated that intervention families were slightly more likely to report eating at family restaurants (57%) than fast food establishments (50%). by contrast, two-thirds (66%) of comparison families stated they ate at fast food establishments and only about one-fifth (18%) ate at family restaurants. intervention families tended to make healthier choices than comparison families in both their choice of eating establishments and the food items selected from the menu. intervention families were twice as likely to report selecting healthy meal choices when they did eat out (66% versus 33%). examples of healthy food choices given included: chicken, raw vegetables, rice, salad, fish, soup, apples, and pasta versus fried foods or burgers. 72 byington et al. physical activity overwhelmingly, in both the intervention and comparison groups, respondents believed it was important for families and their preschoolers to be physically active. although the main reasons given were to maintain health (table 1), the intervention group cited other reasons. these reasons included the importance of increasing “family time” as an outcome of engaging in physical activity. respondents were asked to share if they thought it was important for them to be physically active: “yes i do. i am not healthy. so it gives us one more thing to bond on. if it wasn’t for him, i would be worse off. otherwise i would be at home doing nothing. he says, ‘let’s do something’, football, soccer, walks, go to the park, and i usually go with him. he keeps me active.” (intervention family) “it is very important. for me it is important that we do physical activity together. especially since she wants to do everything i do. it’s very important.” (intervention family) both groups felt it was important for their preschooler to engage in physical activity every day. several families even mentioned the connection between physical activity and obesity prevention: “yes, it is pretty important because if not we become lazy. there are a lot of cases about obesity and i don’t think it is right for kids to sit around and see television and become obese. it is important for them to be outside and to interact with others.” (intervention family) “i think it is important to be physical. it’s good for your body to move around. trends in america indicate the obesity rate is not good. it’s important that you start at a young age.” (comparison family) over one-quarter of intervention families versus less than one-fifth of comparison families offered multiple reasons for the importance of engaging in physical activity. among the reasons offered was avoidance of illness, not being sedentary or bored, and gaining personal benefits. “it’s good to educate a child when they are small. as kids grow and are active in sports they don’t have time to think about other things: drugs, gangs, etc. i keep them active.” (intervention family) caregivers from both groups reported that their preschoolers were physically active an average of six times per week. intervention families reported that their preschoolers were active an average of about 20 to 25 minutes longer than comparison families. over half of intervention caregivers and one-third of comparison caregivers reported that they had introduced new activities to their preschoolers during the past 30 to 60 days. new physical activities included the introduction of bicycles, scooters, skateboards, football, swimming, and skating. when asked what it meant to be physically active, both groups demonstrated similar patterns of thinking. ideas fell into one of three variations: physical activity (exercise, walking, going to the gym, traditional individual or group sports such as basketball or football); activities of daily living (cleaning the house, mowing the lawn); or a combination of both. head start families thoughts and beliefs 73 “physical activity means to have fun, jump, play, and kick the ball.” (intervention family) “to me it means getting up and moving around and using your muscles, instead of watching television. it means burning calories.” (intervention family) three of the comparison families did not offer any definition for physical activity whereas 100% of intervention families described their perceptions. nearly two-thirds (63%) of the intervention families shared that they either walked as their physical activity, or often combined walking with other forms of physical activity such as playing, going to the park, or participating in traditional sports. just under half (43%) indicated they were physically active while cleaning house, running errands, or doing other indoor tasks. slightly more than one-third (37%) of the intervention families stated they played some type of sport or went to the gym. one parent provided a very creative example of how she and her preschooler actively played together: “we have a carpet that has squares with disney characters. we throw a coin and depending on where it lands, we do the exercise it specifies. my kids and i participate in the exercise. it's a game we play to be active.” (intervention family) barriers to physical activity intervention families reported fewer barriers to engaging in daily physical activity. comparison caregivers were three times more likely than intervention families to report barriers for themselves and six times more likely to report barriers for their preschoolers in engaging in daily physical activity (table 1). for both groups of families, the barriers related primarily to health restrictions or work schedules. however, additional barriers cited by comparison families included the weather, being lazy, and personal preferences around how to spend free time. one intervention family noted that there used to be barriers, but now they saw other ways of staying active. “not in this moment (barriers) because i am not working. i use to think that i needed to buy a membership to a gym. not anymore.” (intervention family) perceptions of what it means to be healthy families were asked to share what the word “healthy” meant. families from both groups referred to different aspects of healthy eating and physical activity habits, although a few families also described long term benefits. a few comparison group participants mentioned the absence of sickness within their definition. “healthy means to me we eat healthy, go out and play, not just sitting around or laying down all the time. eating right and the right amount of exercise.” (intervention family) “it means a lot. it means to be active and keep healthy so that we can live longer.” (intervention family) 74 byington et al. “healthy means being in good health. not malnourished. feeling good. no colds.” (comparison family) “whatever you have to do to maintain health and not be sick.” (comparison family) discussion in this study, a majority of head start families reported striving toward healthy eating and physical activity habits. moreover, many factors influenced where and what foods parents purchased for their households. similar to other studies, participants noted cost as a major barrier in purchasing foods (ard et al., 2007; hughes et al., 2010; kaufman et al., 2000). yet, despite this barrier, intervention families in this study reported being willing and able to buy healthy foods at least some of the time. this may be due to families having a greater understanding of the relationship between health and eating habits. intervention families also demonstrated greater experimentation and seemed to respond more positively about their preschooler eating new fruits and vegetables. a higher number of these parents reported eating and serving healthy snacks. for some study participants in both groups, children’s requests for an unhealthy snack were fulfilled to avoid conflict, as a reward, or when parents were stressed. these findings support those of hoerr et al. (2005) and dwyer et al. (2008). however, while families from both groups noted preschoolers influenced their food purchases (about one-fourth were always influenced) several positive comments came from intervention families. one intervention family shared how the all 4 kids © program had changed her daughter’s habits. “well my daughter used to like cookies. now she has changed. sometimes when we go buy food, she tells me that the program says that only “this” type of food is healthy. her view has changed. she likes fruits. she now eats kiwis (which she used to not eat). the program is good. in our house we used to not eat fruit. but now, two days a week i fill the fruit basket. the family is starting to eat fruit.” (intervention family). a young latino family with four children shared that their entire family had made changes due to the support and information from the all 4 kids © program. the parents stated they were purchasing more fruits and other healthy snacks due to requests from their preschooler. they felt the program had been the catalyst for reaffirming their resolve to take time to be with one another in healthy ways – being physically active, eating healthy meals, and spending time together. these examples demonstrate that a child’s request can change parental behaviors despite economic barriers. it appears that by teaching healthy habits to young children, programs such as head start can make inroads into influencing parents’ behaviors and attitudes about health. in regard to physical activity, families in our study felt it was important to be physically active to maintain health and that it was a way to increase family time. fewer intervention families in this study reported barriers than comparison families. some of the barriers listed by both groups were work and weather. a few members of the intervention group stated that physical limitations and health issues were barriers, whereas members of the comparison group listed laziness, and other time commitments. these barriers differed from some of those identified by hughes et al. (2010) (e.g., neighborhood safety, afraid their child would get hurt, head start families thoughts and beliefs 75 and did not think their child would enjoy being physically active). potential differences between these study populations may be geographical or cultural. some limitations of this study should be noted. the data collection was limited to families at head start centers in one southwestern state gathered within a short time frame. selfreported findings may not accurately reflect actual eating and physical activity habits. future studies could track the actual eating and physical activity habits of participants in relation to selfreport. furthermore, greater exploration of topics related to health could lead to deeper understanding of strategies that offset barriers to healthy eating and physical activity. implications one of the objectives of programs targeting obesity prevention is to help parents and other caregivers overcome barriers related to healthy eating and physical activity. preschool teachers can promote healthy habits within the classroom (and at home) through modeling and educational efforts. children benefit from hearing consistent messages about healthy habits (lanigan, 2010) and as our study indicated, are able to communicate these to their parents, thereby influencing parents’ behavior. participation in the all 4 kids © program appeared to help parents view challenges in a different light. intervention families expressed fewer barriers to eating healthy foods and to participating in physical activity than comparison families. this is an important finding because eating healthy (which includes fruits and vegetables) as a family and being physically active are factors related to the prevention of obesity (roblin, 2007). the engagement of parents and young children in exploring a variety of healthy foods and participating in physical activity seemed to help them gain a more positive concept of health. therefore, efforts focused on health and wellness need to start early and continue throughout the life cycle. educating parents, preschool teachers, and young children about healthy eating and physical activity habits is essential to the development of positive health outcomes. references ard, j. d., fitspatrick, s., desmond, r. a., sutton, b. s., pisu, m., allison, d. b., franklin, f., & baskin, m. l. 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(2007). the importance of exposure for healthy eating in childhood: a review. journal of human nutrition and dietetics, 20, 294-301. dong, d., & lin, b-h. (2009). fruit and vegetable consumption by low-income americans: would a price reduction make a difference? economic research report-70, economic research service/usda. dwyer, j., needham, l., simpson, j. r., & heeney, e. s. (2008). parents report intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental barriers to supporting healthy eating and physical activity among their preschoolers. applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism, 33, 338-346. 76 byington et al. gabor, v., cates, s., gleason, s., long, v., clarke, g. a., blitstein, j., … ball, m. (2012, january). snap education and evaluation (wave i): final report. alexandria, va: u.s. department of agriculture, food and nutrition service, office of research and analysis. hoerr, s., utech, a., & ruth, e. (2005). child control of food choices in head start families. journal of nutrition education behavior, 37(4), 185-190. hughes, c. c., gooze, r. a., finkelstein, d. m., & whitaker, r. c. (2010). barriers to obesity prevention in head start. health affairs, 29(3), 454-462. kaufman, d., gesten, e., santa lucia, r., salcedo, o., redina-govioff, g., & gadd, r. (2000). the relationship between parenting style and children’s adjustment: the parents perspective. journal of child and family studies, 9(2), 231-245. lanigan, j. d. (2010). the substance and sources of young children’s healthy eating and physical activity knowledge: implications for obesity prevention efforts. child: care, health & development, 37(3), 368376. laraia, b., siega-riz, a., kaufman j., & jones, s. (2004). proximity of supermarkets is positively associated with diet quality index for pregnancy. preventive medicine, 39, 869-875. larson, n., & story, m. (2009). a review of environmental influences on food choices. annals of behavior medicine, 38 (suppl 1), s56-s73. larson, n., ward, d., neelon, s. b., & story, m. (2011). what role can child-care settings play in obesity prevention? a review of the evidence and call for research effort. journal of the american dietetic association, 111(9), 1343-1362. patrick, h., nicklas, t., hughes, s., & morales, m. (2005). the benefits of authoritative feeding style: caregiver feeding styles and children’s food consumption patterns. appetite, 44, 243-249. roblin, l. (2007). childhood obesity: food, nutrient, and eating-habit trends and influences. applied physiology nutrition metabolism, 32, 635-645. ruiz, r., gesell, s. b., buchowski, m. s., lambert, w., & barkin, s. l. (2011). the relationship between hispanic parents and their preschool-aged children’s physical activity. pediatrics, 127(5), 888-895. dialog, 17(1) copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article spanish-speaking parents' beliefs about their young children's learning and language development jeannette mancilla-martinez university of california, irvine nonie k. lesaux harvard graduate school of education in recognition of the increasing cultural, linguistic, and economic diversity among the early childhood population, knowledge about parents’ beliefs concerning the way in which children learn has the potential to directly inform early childhood programs charged with the task of developing young children’s language. this study investigates latino, spanish-speaking parents’ (n = 200) beliefs about their 24to 48-month-old children’s learning and (dual) language development; all children attended early head start/head start. given that patterns of spanish language use can vary along a continuum of mostly spanish to mostly english, we also examine potential differences in beliefs by patterns of reported home language use. results of this study, using principal components analysis, reveal that spanish-speaking parents’ beliefs about the way in which young children learn and develop language vary widely. we discuss ways in which early childhood programs can build on parents’ existing knowledge base to maximize students’ learning opportunities. supporting language development is a primary goal in early childhood education programs given the link between children’s early linguistic environment and overall educational achievement, extending into adulthood (e.g., dickinson & freiberg, 2009; hohm, jennen-steinmetz, schmidt, & laucht, 2007; storch & whitehurst, 2002; taanila, murray, jokelainen, isohanni, & rantakallio, 2005). with the recognition that learning begins in the home, a major principle of effective teaching is to build on what children already know (bransford, brown, & cocking, 2000). this implies that to provide an optimal learning environment classroom language practices should be aligned with what is familiar to young children. yet, discrepancies between what is taught at home and what is expected at school have long been documented for children from culturally, linguistically and economically diverse homes as compared to the mainstream in the united states (e.g., adair & tobin, 2008; cazden, 1988; heath, 1981; lewis, 2001; rodriguez & olswang, 2003; ald s, ). for instance, heath’s seminal work on language socialization underscores ways in which mainstream schooling practices can disadvantage mancilla-martinez & lesaux children from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. in a similar vein, in contrast to native-born, english-speaking parents, ald s reports that latino, spanish-speaking immigrant parents consider teachers to be the experts and thus as the ones who can best support their children’s academic development. more recently, adair and tobin report that immigrant parents tend to hold ideas about early childhood education that differ from those of the early childhood educators and organizations, resulting in a mismatch between the ideals of the early childhood programs and the communities they aim to serve. in recognition of the increasing cultural, linguistic, and economic diversity among the early childhood population, knowledge about parents’ beliefs concerning the way in which children learn has the potential to directly inform early childhood programs charged with the task of developing young children’s language. this is an especially pressing need for the early childhood population of children from latino, spanish-speaking, low-income homes; latinos are the nation’s largest minority group and latino children under the age of 6 represent one of the fastest growing segments of the population (fortuny et al., 2009; passel, cohn, & lopez, 2011), but overwhelmingly live in poverty. the determinants of academic outcomes are many and complex, but the role of poverty is well documented (brooks-gunn & duncan, 1997; conger & donnellan, 2007; farah et al., 2006), with its negative effects being even greater for very young children than for children in middleand later-childhood and adolescence (duncan, ziol-guest, & kalil, 2010; hernandez, 2004). and while, historically, latino children have been the least likely group to attend early childhood programs, there has been a recent shift in this trend; for example, over one-third of the total head start enrollments are latino children (u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, head start bureau, 2011). therefore, if we are to effectively serve this growing and academically vulnerable population, there is reason to empirically describe parents’ beliefs about the way in which children learn and develop language prior to children’s formal school entry. this study investigates latino, spanish-speaking parents’ beliefs about their 24to 48month-old children’s learning and language development; all children attended early head start/head start. given that patterns of spanish language use can vary along a continuum of mostly spanish to mostly english, we also examine potential differences in beliefs by patterns of reported home language use. the results of this study have the potential to inform efforts aimed at facilitating learning, in general, and language development, in particular, for young children from spanish-speaking homes attending early childhood programs. children’s learning and language development: parent beliefs two canadian studies shed light on the extent to which parent beliefs concerning young children’s learning varies by cultural background. specifically, each study investigated minority and majority preschool parents’ language and learning beliefs (johnston & wong, 2002; simmons & johnston, 2007). johnston and wong found that chinese canadian mothers were less likely than mainstream canadian mothers to treat their children as equal conversational partners, meaning that they tended to refrain from engaging in extended conversations and tended to discourage conversations with adults who were not familiar to the child. however, compared to mainstream canadian mothers, chinese canadian mothers tended to use picture books and flash cards to a greater extent, thus adhering to a belief that instruction, rather than exploration, is needed for learning. additionally, chinese canadian mothers reported reading to spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs their children much less often. in a very similar study, simmons and johnston focused on indian canadian and mainstream canadian mothers’ language and learning beliefs. the authors found that, compared to the mainstream canadian mothers, indian canadian mothers of preschoolers rated family as being centrally important for young children to learn about. additionally, indian canadian mothers were more likely to correct errors in their children’s speech and ask their children to repeat utterances after them, reflecting a more adult-centered than child-centered method of language teaching. in contrast, mainstream canadian mothers were more likely than indian canadian mothers to expect their children to engage in conversations with non-family adults in social settings, to use parallel talk, to ask their children to relate personal narratives, and to read to their children. in the u.s. context, an emerging line of research conducted with latino families focuses on parent beliefs about their children’s learning, language practices, and development. for example, rodriguez and olswang (2003) investigated parents’ beliefs and values about childrearing, education, and language impairment. mexican-american and anglo-american mothers of early elementary-age children with language impairments completed questionnaires and a subsample participated in an interview. the authors found that mexican-american mothers held beliefs and values that were more traditional, authoritarian, and conforming compared to the anglo-american mothers. for example, the mexican-american mothers believed they should not be active participants in their children’s school as schools held the primary responsibility for educating their children. similarly, as part of a larger, five-country study focused on comparing early childhood educators’ and immigrant parents’ ideas about preschool, adair and tobin (2008) report findings from their work in the united states with mexican immigrants living in arizona. this ethnographic study revealed that mexican immigrant parents believed schools should focus on promoting their children’s academic and social readiness and on teaching english, while they (the parents) should focus on maintaining the home language (spanish, in this case) and culture (mexican). the authors qualify this finding by noting that, in arizona, children would soon be transitioning to english-only kindergarten environments from bilingual preschool settings, potentially contributing to this orientation by parents. hammer and colleagues (2007) also investigated parent beliefs about children’s education with a group of mothers of puerto rican descent living in the u.s., each with children attending head start programs. the authors compared the beliefs of mothers who exposed their children to spanish and english since birth and mothers who exposed their children only to spanish through age 3, at which time they enrolled in head start and thus became exposed to english. the findings revealed that, in line with rodriguez and olswang’s (2003) results, most mothers believed schools have the primary responsibility for educating children. however, they also believed they play a role in supporting their children’s learning at home. thus, the authors conclude that the mothers held both traditional and progressive beliefs. specifically, mothers placed a high value on social skills, including respectful interactions, and they also valued conformity and self-direction. somewhat surprisingly, mothers who did not expose their children to english until head start entry placed more emphasis on self-direction and less on conformity compared to mothers who exposed their children to both languages since birth, which the authors attribute to a desire to incorporate mainstream cultural values given their desire to move to the mainland u.s. as expected, however, mothers who exposed their children to both languages since birth reported teaching their children early literacy-related skills, including book reading, more frequently than mothers who did not expose their children to english until head mancilla-martinez & lesaux start entry, presumably because of their greater knowledge of the skills with which children are expected to enter u.s. classrooms. as hammer and colleagues’ (2007) study reveals, latino children in the u.s. are often exposed to both spanish and english. yet, we know little about the way in which latino, spanish-speaking parents think about their young children’s spanish and english development. in one of the few studies on latino parents’ attitudes regarding bilingualism and their personal decisions about home language use, schecter, sharken-taboada, and bayley (1996) focused exclusively on 10 families in the u.s. who decided to maintain spanish in the home. via interviews, parents noted academic benefits, geographic relocation adaptability, and job-market competitiveness as key reasons for spanish maintenance. similarly, although focused on latino spanish-speaking and anglo english-speaking parents’ rationale for enrolling their children in a spanish-english dual-language immersion program at the elementary school level, craig’s (1996) study offers relevant insight into parents’ beliefs about bilingualism. using a survey, craig found that while both sets of parents generally expressed similar beliefs towards all aspects of bilingualism (e.g., developing english fluency is essential, bilingual children have increased employment opportunities), latino parents differed from anglo parents in that they were more concerned with ensuring that their children maintained the minority language (spanish, in this case). furthermore, a qualitative analysis of an open-ended question that probed parents’ reasons for enrolling their children in the dual-language immersion program revealed important differences. specifically, anglo parents cited positive exposure to cultural diversity, early second language acquisition, and enhanced career opportunities as the major reasons for their enrollment decisions. in contrast, latino parents cited spanish language and cultural maintenance as the primary reasons for their enrollment decisions. given that young latino children represent the largest and fastest growing segment of the u.s. population, account for a growing share of the population of children enrolled in early childhood programs, and evidence persistently low academic achievement, insight into their parents’ beliefs about children’s language and learning is needed. unlike most other studies that have focused on contrasting the beliefs of minority and majority parents, we focus exclusively on spanish-speaking parents who enrolled their children in head start/early head start. specifically, the present study aims to contribute to the research base by describing spanishspeaking parents’ beliefs about their 24to 48-month-old children’s learning and (dual) language development, and by examining the extent to which differences in beliefs emerge as a function of their reported patterns of home language use. method participants the sample, drawn from a larger study focused on young children’s vocabulary development, consisted of 200 spanish–english bilingual child-caregiver dyads recruited from early head start (ehs) and head start (hs) collaborating programs in the northeast u.s. in these programs, english was the primary language used in the classroom. child characteristics. children were between 24 and 48 months of age, with an even split by gender (99 females; 101 males). according to parental report, all children, except 6, spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs were latino. among this small group these children, 1 was identified as black and 5 were identified as “other.” the majority of the children were born in the mainland u.s. (92%) and the remaining in the u.s. territory of puerto rico (8%). within their families, 30% of the children were first-borns, 51% were secondor third-born children, and the rest had between 3 and 9 older siblings. parent and household characteristics. in contrast to the children, the majority of the mothers (79%) were foreign-born. thirty-one percent of foreign-born mothers reported the u.s. territory of puerto rico as their country of birth, followed by guatemala (21%), the dominican republic (17%), and mexico (9%); the remaining 1% was born in other latin american countries. of the fathers for whom we had data (n=155 or 78%), most were also foreign-born (77%). of these, 30% were born in the u.s. territory of puerto rico, followed by guatemala (21%), dominican republic (13%), mexico (12%), and ecuador (1%). over half of mothers reported having no employment (55%), while the remainder reported either full-time (33%) or part-time (12%) employment. in contrast, the majority of fathers (63%) were employed fulltime, with the remaining either reporting having no employment (24%) or being employed parttime (13%). the average total numbers of years of education for mothers was 9.9 years (sd = 4.4) and for father it was 9.8 years (sd = 3.8). the families overwhelmingly reported being in income brackets below the federal poverty guideline for a family of four (federal register, 2011). that is, 67% of families reported an income of up to $20,000 with the remaining families reporting an income above this amount (14% = $20,000 to $40,000 income bracket; 8% = $40,000 to $80,000 income bracket). additionally, 8% reported “i don’t know” and 3% did not report their income level. measures a two-part parent interview was conducted with all participating families. the first part focused on information about family demographics (as previously described) and home language use while the second part focused on parent beliefs about learning and language development. the interview was prepared in both english and spanish and two rounds of back translation were undertaken to assure comparability of the two versions. home language use. parents were first asked about the language(s) they hoped their child would speak as adults and they were then asked a series of questions related to their actual home language use practices. specifically, four home language input questions referenced talk directed to the child by the mothers, fathers, other adults in the home, and other children in the home while four home language output questions referenced the talk directed by the child to the mother, father, other adults in the home, and other children in the home. the responses to these questions are on a 5-point scale where 5 = only english, 4 = mostly english, 3 = equal amounts of english and spanish, 2 = mostly spanish, and 1 = only spanish. thus, low values on this 5point scale indicate a preference for spanish, middle values indicate roughly equal preference for both languages, and high values indicate a preference for english. parent beliefs. the second part of the parent interview focused on parent beliefs about young children’s learning and language development. this portion of the interview was adapted mancilla-martinez & lesaux from questions from johnston and wong’s (2002) survey of childrearing beliefs. however, we developed an additional set of questions about parental beliefs and values related to children learning two languages. parents were asked to rate their level of agreement with statements related to three overarching categories as follows a) children’s learning (10 items), b) children’s language learning (10 items), and children’s dual language learning (9 items). each statement was on a 5-point scale as follows: 1) strongly disagree, 2) somewhat disagree, 3) not sure, 4) somewhat agree, and 5) strongly agree. all of the survey items appear in the appendix. procedure the interview was administered to each individual parent participant by trained research assistants, and took place at the child’s home or school. the interviews were conducted in either spanish (63%) or english (37%), per parent preference. ninety-four percent of the interviews were conducted with the mother, with the remaining 6% conducted with fathers, grandmothers, aunts or, in only one case, with a person identified as “other.” the interviews lasted approximately 20 minutes. results home language use when parents were asked about the language(s) they wanted their child to speak when s/he was older, nearly all (97%) reported hoping that their child would grow up to be a spanish-english bilingual. three parents said they hoped their child would speak only spanish and three said they hoped their child would speak spanish, english, and other languages; none said they hoped their child would grow up to speak only english. the most common reasons for wanting their children to be bilingual were so that they could maintain contact with their spanish-speaking family members and because they believed bilingualism would afford their children more job opportunities. considering that bilinguals rarely hear both (or multiple) languages equally nor develop equal fluency in both (or multiple) languages (de houwer, 2007; oller & eilers, 2002; pearson, fernandez, lewedeg, & oller, 7), we first examined descriptive statistics of children’s reported language input and output at home. as shown in table 1, children in this sample were mostly spoken to in spanish by their mothers and other adults in the home while fathers and other children in the home were closer to providing children with approximately equal amounts of english and spanish language input. children in this sample also spoke mostly spanish to their mothers and other adults in the home and also used approximately equal amounts of english and spanish when speaking to their fathers and to other children in the home. spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs table1. child’s language input, output, and combined home language use child language input mean sd n language spoken to the child by the mother 2.82 1.33 200 language spoken to the child by the father 3.38 1.77 176 language spoken to the child by other adults 2.68 1.53 198 language spoken to the child by other children 3.28 1.46 199 input total mean 2.92 1.17 child language output mean sd n language child speaks to mother 2.13 1.17 199 language child speaks to father 2.94 1.88 177 language child speaks to other adults 2.16 1.41 200 language child speaks to other children 3.51 1.45 200 output total mean 2.61 0.93 note: the home language questions were on a 5-point scale where low values indicate a greater preference for spanish, middle values indicate a preference for both spanish and english, and high values indicate a greater preference for english. because the home language questions were on the same scale (as described above), a home language score was calculated for each child using the 8 questions that referenced the mother’s, father’s, other adults and other children’s language directed to the child at home (n = 4) and the child’s language directed to mothers, fathers, other adults and other children in the home (n = 4). an average was calculated for each child using the number of items responded to as the denominator. an acceptable response to each question included “not applicable”; the denominator was adjusted for each case when calculating the average home language exposure score. each child first received an average input (sample grand mean = 2.61; sd = 0.93) and an average output score (sample grand mean = 2.92; sd = 1.17) and pearson correlations revealed a significant, positive, and strong correlation between the averaged language input and output scores (r = .76, p < 0.001, n = 200). the positive relation between the average input and average output language scores (i.e., language directed to the child and language used by the child) suggests that as children’s input contained more english, their output tended to also contain more english. thus, for the purposes of subsequent analyses, combining the input and output scores to arrive at an overall home language use score was warranted. the overall home language use variable was used to examine potential differences in parents’ beliefs about children’s learning and language development. descriptive analyses table 2 displays the sample means for each of the parent beliefs items by category, with the sample standard deviations in parentheses. as previously described, items for the three categories were on a 5-point scale as follows: 1) strongly disagree, 2) somewhat disagree, 3) not sure, 4) somewhat agree, and 5) strongly agree. for ease of interpretation, the last column mancilla-martinez & lesaux on the table also displays the percentage of parents who somewhat or mostly agreed with each statement. table 2. sample means and standard deviations by category, including the percentage of parents who somewhat or strongly agree with each statement, by category n mean percent (sd) category : children’s learning children who spend time quietly observing tend to be smart (learning 1) 197 3.81 (106) 64 it is important to find out what kids are thinking (learning 2) 197 4.46 (0.70) 93 parents should let children experiment, even if they might make mistakes (learning 3) 197 4.40 (0.91) 89 parents should wait until young children ask before giving help (learning 4) 196 3.23 (1.44) 52 three-year-olds are too young to help with household chores (learning 5) 197 2.83 (1.55) 38 young children learn best when they are given instructions (learning 6) 200 4.40 (0.75) 91 young children learn important things while playing (learning 7) 200 4.51 (0.66) 95 young children should be given choices instead of being told what to do (learning 8) 200 3.82 (1.17) 70 young children generally like the same things as their parents (learning 9) 199 3.33 (1.33) 52 grandparents or older family members give good advice about the way that young children grow up (learning 10) 200 4.15 (0.86) 79 category 2: children’s language learning parents should ask young children to repeat new words in order to help them learn to talk (language 1) 197 4.65 (0.59) 96 speech is especially important because it helps young children to make friends (language 2) 197 4.49 (0.77) 93 children understand some words even before they can speak (language 3) 197 4.50 (0.71) 93 the proper titles for people (“aunt” sally) are more important to learn than the names of objects (language 4) 196 3.28 (1.26) 47 it is more important for young children to speak clearly than to speak politely (language 5) 197 3.54 (1.27) 55 if parents use “baby talk” (like “wawa” for water, or “jamies” for pajamas) their child won’t learn to speak well (language ) 197 3.88 (1.33) 74 young children should always be encouraged to communicate with words rather than gestures (language 7) 200 4.40 (0.80) 91 when babies, they are trying to communicate something (language 8) 200 4.37 (0.81) 87 children will learn to talk on their own, as long as they are spoken to (language 9) 200 4.36 (0.87) 90 young children should be allowed to take a turn in conversations that include adults who are not family members (language 10) 200 3.10 (1.39) 44 spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs category 3 children’s dual language learning young children who are exposed to two languages will naturally learn both well (dual language 1 200 4.17 (1.04) 83 if possible, families should use the school language at home with young children (dual language 2) 200 3.39 (1.39) 58 adults in the family should use mostly the home language at home in talking with young children (dual language 3) 200 3.95 (1.16) 74 young children can easily keep two languages separate and know which one to use in different situations (dual language 4) 200 3.98 (1.08) 72 adults should avoid mixing two languages in conversation with young children (dual language 5) 199 3.35 (4.40) 52 children should be corrected when they mix two languages in the same sentence (dual language 6) 200 3.40 (1.37) 59 children learn the language of school from siblings and peers rather than from their parents (dual language 7) 200 3.58 (1.30) 63 it is more important that children are able to understand the home language than to speak it (dual language 8) 200 3.28 (1.28) 49 parents should correct children if their pronunciation in the home language sounds ‘foreign’ (dual language ) 200 3.47 (1.44) 58 the category 1 items reflect parent beliefs about children’s learning, with each of the 10 items under this category labeled learning 1, learning 2, and so on. as the sample means and standard deviations show, there was considerable variation in parents’ average levels of agreement with these statements. in fact, 3 items yielded an average response of “not sure” and also showed the most variation. specifically, as shown in the last column, only half of the parents (52%) somewhat or mostly agreed that parents should wait until young children ask before giving help (learning 4) and that young children generally like the same things as their parents (learning 9), and only 38% somewhat or mostly agreed that three-year-olds are too young to help with household chores (learning 5). the category 2 items reflect parent beliefs about children’s language learning, with each of the 10 items under this category labeled language 1, language 2, and so on. as with category 1 items, on average, the sample means and standard deviations show considerable variation in parents’ average levels of agreement with these statements, with 3 items yielding an average response of “not sure” and also showing the most variation. just over half of parents (55%) somewhat or mostly agreed that it is more important for children to speak clearly than to speak politely (language 5), and under half of parents that the proper titles for people (“aunt sally”) are more important to learn than the names of objects (47%; language 4) and that young children should be allowed to take a turn in conversations that include adults who are not family members (44%; language 10). finally, the category 3 items reflect parent beliefs about children’s dual language learning, with each of the 9 items under this category labeled dual language 1, dual language 2, and so on. to an even greater extent than was the case with the first 2 categories, there was wider variation regarding the extent to which parents somewhat or strongly agreed with these statements. that is, of the 9 items, 5 yielding an average response of “not sure” and also showed the most variation. fifty-nine percent of parents somewhat or mostly agreed that children should be corrected when they mix two languages in the same sentence (dual language 6), 58% that parents should correct children if their pronunciation in the home language sounds ‘foreign’ mancilla-martinez & lesaux (dual language 9) and that if possible, families should use the school language at home with young children (dual language 2), 52% that parents should avoid mixing two languages in conversation with young children (dual language 5), and 49% that it is more important that children are able to understand the home language than to speak it (dual language 8). characterizing parental beliefs like previous studies that have investigated parent learning and language beliefs, as previously described, we utilized a questionnaire comprised of numerous statements for parents to rate their levels of agreement. to capture the variability within each category in as few factors as possible, we conducted a principal components analysis (pca) for each of the 3 categories investigated (children’s learning; language learning; dual language learning). this, in turn, resulted in a more meaningful interpretation of spanish-speaking parents’ underlying beliefs and allowed us to explore potential differences by patterns of home language use. factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0 were extracted. because nearly all correlations in each of the four factor correlation matrices fell below the .32 threshold, an orthogonal varimax rotation was used (tabachnick & fiddell, 2007). in interpreting the rotated factor pattern, an item was said to load on a given component if the factor loading was .40 or greater for that component. as previously described, we also explored the extent to which the generated factors in each of the three categories related to reported home language use (i.e., the overall home language use variable, with low values indicative of a preference for more spanish use and high values indicative of a preference for more english use). beliefs about children’s learning. a three-factor solution was found, which explained cumulatively 50% of the total variance (see table 3). five items were found to load on factor 1, which was interpreted to represent dependence. four items were found to load on factor 2, which was interpreted to represent exploration. finally, three items were found to load on factor 3, which was interpreted to represent independence. note that two statements (learning 2 and learning 8) can be considered complex variables given that they each loaded on two factors (thurstone, 1947). most importantly, however, interpretation of these factors remained unchanged. finally, investigation of differences by reported home language use revealed that parents who reported using more spanish than english in the home were more likely to agree with factor 1, the dependence factor (r = -0.38, p<.001); no significant differences were found for factor 2 (exploration) and factor 3 (independence) by home language use status. spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs table 3. beliefs about children’s learning (n = 195) factor 1: dependence factor 2: exploration factor 3: independence children who spend time quietly observing tend to be smart (learning 1) 0.48 0.04 0.37 it is important to find out what kids are thinking (learning 2) 0.47 0.58 -0.26 parents should let children experiment, even if they might make mistakes (learning 3) -0.07 0.66 0.06 parents should wait until young children ask before giving help (learning 4) 0.01 0.02 0.81 three-year-olds are too young to help with household chores (learning 5) 0.69 -0.15 0.14 young children learn best when they are given instructions (learning 6) 0.62 0.30 -0.02 young children learn important things while playing (learning 7) 0.14 0.75 0.09 young children should be given choices instead of being told what to do (learning 8) 0.04 0.45 0.46 young children generally like the same things as their parents (learning 9) 0.25 0.03 0.60 grandparents or older family members give good advice about the way that young children grow up (learning 10) 0.69 0.10 0.13 eigenvalues 2.49 1.37 1.16 total variance explained 50% beliefs about children’s language learning. a three-factor solution was also found, which explained cumulatively 55% of the total variance (see table 4). five items were found to load on factor 1, was interpreted to represent active language use. three items were found to load on factor 2, which was interpreted to represent social norms. finally, two items were found to load on factor 3, which was interpreted to represent sophisticated language use. finally, investigation of differences by reported home language use revealed that parents who reported using more spanish than english were more likely to agree with factor 2, the social norms factor (r = -0.29, p<.001); no significant differences were found for factor 1 (active language use) and factor 3 (sophisticated language use) by home language use status. mancilla-martinez & lesaux table 4. beliefs about children’s language learning (n = 196) factor 1: active use factor 2: social norms factor 3: sophisticated talk parents should ask young children to repeat new words in order to help them learn to talk (language 1) 0.79 -0.05 -0.02 speech is especially important because it helps young children to make friends (language 2) 0.64 0.22 0.16 children understand some words even before they can speak (language 3) 0.75 -0.13 -0.06 the proper titles for people (“aunt” sally) are more important to learn than the names of objects (language 4) -0.01 0.78 -0.07 it is more important for young children to speak clearly than to speak politely (language 5) 0.05 0.77 -0.07 if parents use “baby talk” (like “wawa” for water, or “jamies” for pajamas) their child won’t learn to speak well (language ) 0.24 -0.17 0.46 young children should always be encouraged to communicate with words rather than gestures (language 7) 0.65 0.12 0.20 when babies, they are trying to communicate something (language 8) 0.67 0.12 0.09 children will learn to talk on their own, as long as they are spoken to (language 9) 0.34 0.50 0.39 young children should be allowed to take a turn in conversations that include adults who are not family members (language 10) -0.09 0.04 0.88 eigenvalues 2.85 1.50 1.12 total variance explained 55% beliefs about children’s dual language learning. a two-factor solution was found, which explained cumulatively 45% of the total variance (see table 5). six items were found to load on factor 1, which was interpreted to represent no language mixing and three items were found to load on factor 2, which was interpreted to represent bilingual facility. note that one variable (dual language 3) loaded onto both factors and is thus considered a complex variable (thurstone, 1947); however, interpretation of these factors remained unchanged. additionally, one variable (dual language 2) did not load onto either factor using the aforementioned .40 criterion. however, this variable trended toward factor 1 and can be meaningfully interpreted there. finally, investigation of differences by reported home language use revealed that parents who reported using more spanish than english in the home were more likely to agree with both the spanish use, mixing factor (r = -0.24, p<.001) as well as with the bilingual facility factor (r = -0.31, p<.001). spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs table 5. beliefs about children’s dual language learning (n = 199) factor 1: no language mixing factor 2: bilingual facility young children who are exposed to two languages will naturally learn both well (dual language 1) -0.02 0.78 if possible, families should use the school language at home with young children (dual language 2) 0.38 -0.01 adults in the family should use mostly the home language at home in talking with young children (dual language 3) 0.46 0.57 young children can easily keep two languages separate and know which one to use in different situations (dual language 4) 0.06 0.80 adults should avoid mixing two languages in conversation with young children (dual language 5) 0.54 0.20 children should be corrected when they mix two languages in the same sentence (dual language 6) 0.67 0.11 children learn the language of school from siblings and peers rather than from their parents (dual language 7) 0.66 0.09 it is more important that children are able to understand the home language than to speak it (dual language 8) 0.67 -0.06 parents should correct children if their pronunciation in the home language sounds ‘foreign’ (dual language ) 0.62 0.16 eigenvalues 2.70 1.34 total variance explained 45% discussion early childhood programs strive to optimize young children’s development, including their language skills. gaining insight into parents’ beliefs about learning, in general, and language development, in particular, can help bridge children’s home and classroom experiences so that children’s learning opportunities are maximized. this is especially important for children who come from linguistically, culturally, and economically diverse homes; often, there is a difference between children’s learning experiences and opportunities at the home and in the classroom, and, indeed, understandings about how learning unfolds and how language develops. therefore, this study investigated spanish-speaking parents’ beliefs about their children’s learning and language development, while also examining the extent to which differences in beliefs emerged depending on parents’ reported home language use. the results revealed that, within each of the three aspects of children’s language and learning studied (i.e., beliefs about mancilla-martinez & lesaux children’s learning; beliefs about children’s language learning, and beliefs about children’s dual language learning), there was substantial variation among parents’ beliefs. in other words, discussed in more depth below, the spanish-speaking parents in the sample cannot be characterized as adhering to a common orientation about the way in which young children learn and develop language—there was not a general level of consensus among the sample studied. this is an important point to underscore because early childhood programs may erroneously assume that parents who share the same cultural, linguistic, and economic background—in this case, latino, spanish-speaking parents from low-income homes—tend to share similar beliefs about children’s learning and language development. furthermore, we identified a relationship between parents’ beliefs and their reported home language use, such that parents who reported more spanish than english use at home tended to be in greater agreement with many of the questions asked. we discuss our three specific findings below, with attention to the implications for early childhood programs, such as early head start/head start. beliefs about children’s learning when we looked specifically at parents’ responses to questionnaire items focused on beliefs about children’s learning, three distinct factors emerged: dependence, exploration, and independence. given past research documenting latino parents’ strong sense of interdependence (e.g., rivera & rogers-adkinson, 1997), the dependence factor was not surprising. this factor included items such as ‘three-year-olds are too young to help with household chores’ and ‘young children learn best when they are given instructions.’ as has been described previously, all parents in the study were spanish-speaking, but parents who reported more use of spanish compared to english at home were more likely to be represented by this factor. some work suggests that latino, spanish-speaking parents may be hesitant to enroll their children in early childhood programs because they perceive them as too didactic and prefer more family-oriented, informal child care arrangements (hashima & amato, 1994; holloway, fuller, rambaud, & eggers-pierola, 1997; phillips, voran, kisker, howes, & anglobook, 1994). while results of our study do not speak directly to this issue, the fact that parents who reported more spanish than english use tended to be in greater agreement with the dependence factor suggests that early childhood programs should attend to the extent to which the preschool is warm and inviting for parents and children. at the same time, parents’ reported home language use was not associated with the other two factors, exploration and independence, suggested that the parents in this study tended to view children as inquisitive when it comes to learning. for example, items captured by this factor included ‘parents should let children experiment, even if they might make mistakes’ and ‘young children should be given choices instead of being told what to do.’ however, parents generally valued independence as a goal for learning. for instance, an item captured by this factor included ‘parents should wait until young children ask before giving help’. though seemingly contradictory, the fact that differences did not emerge among the participating parents as a function of patterns of home language use on the exploration and independence factors is in line with hammer and colleagues’ (2007) findings that spanish-speaking parents tend to incorporate beliefs and values of the mainstream culture (e.g., exploration) while maintaining some from their own culture (e.g., independence). spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs beliefs about children’s language learning an examination of parents’ responses to the questions focused on beliefs about children’s language learning revealed three factors: active use, social norms, and sophisticated talk. parents tended to value the active use of language. for example, items captured by this factor included ‘parents should ask young children to repeat new words in order to help them learn to talk’ and ‘young children should always be encouraged to communicate with words rather than gestures.’ parents also adhered to an orientation that they should encourage their children to use adult-like language (i.e., sophisticated talk); they believed that ‘if parents use “baby talk” (like “wawa” for water or “jamies” for pajamas) their child won’t learn to speak well’. additionally, while the value of social norms emerged as important for all participating parents, those who reported more spanish than english use at home tended to be in even greater agreement with this factor. as with the dependence factor finding, this finding was also not unexpected given that the concept of respect has been found to be prevalent among latino, spanish-speaking families (e.g., garc a coll & pachter, 2002; halgunseth, ispa, & rudy, 2006; valdés, 1996). for instance, one of the statements captured by this factor included the greater importance of proper titles (e.g., “aunt” sally) compared to the names of objects. indeed, to be respectful means deferring to those in positions of authority, which includes school personnel (e.g., teachers and administrators). early childhood programs may lack knowledge of parents’ values related to social norms and may inadvertently perpetuate a sense of a hierarchical relationship wherein the preschool staff is in a position of power compared to the families they serve. a simple strategy of encouraging parents to refer to the preschool staff by first name or, alternately, by referring to parents in the same formal manner, may potentially foster an increased sense of shared values and respect with spanish-speaking parents, ultimately promoting a sense of community and improving students’ educational outcomes (nieto, ; bloom, katz, slosken, willet, & wilson-keenan, 2000). additionally, it is worth noting that, as group, the spanish-speaking parents in the sample overwhelmingly agreed that words should be encouraged over gestures. yet it is worth noting that gestures can facilitate language development (goldin-meadow & alabali, 2013) and for children who are learning english, gestures may in fact play an even more important role, particularly during the early childhood years. the field might recommend, then, that early childhood programs inform parents about the value of gesturing for promoting children’s language development and communication skills. beliefs about children’s dual language learning finally, and arguably the most unique contribution of this study, we probed parents’ beliefs about children’s dual language learning, identifying two factors: no language mixing, and bilingual facility. as noted earlier, there was greater variability in beliefs regarding children’s dual language learning than in beliefs about the first two components (children’s learning and children’s language learning). the no language mixing factor—as the label implies—represented a view that use of spanish and english should not be mixed. items captured by this factor included ‘adults in the home should use mostly the home language at home in talking with young children’ and ‘adults mancilla-martinez & lesaux should avoid mixing two languages in conversation with young children’. in contrast, the bilingual facility factor represented a view that there is relative ease in simultaneously acquiring and using two languages. specifically, aside from the complex variable that loaded onto both factors (i.e., ‘if possible, families should use the school language at home with young children’), two items were captured by this factor: ‘young children who are exposed to two languages will naturally learn both well’ and ‘young children can easily keep two languages separate and know which one to use in different situations’. parents who reported using more spanish than english at home tended to be in greater agreement with both factors, no language mixing and bilingual facility. one might expect that parents who reported more english than spanish use could also be in strong agreement with the no language mixing factor, but an examination of the items captured by this factor reveal a general preference toward spanish use by parents. for instance, one of the items stated ‘parents should correct children if their pronunciation in the home language sounds ‘foreign’ and another that ‘children learn the language of school from siblings and peers rather than from their parents’. thus, these items seem to reflect a value for correct spanish pronunciation and a belief that parents provide the primary spanish language modeling. regarding the bilingual facility factor, it was not surprising that parents who reported more spanish than english use at home tended to be in greater agreement with the items captured by this factor. as these parents use more spanish at home and, we hypothesize, view the acquisition of english (at school, for instance) as not interfering with the acquisition of spanish, and vice versa. on the other hand, it may be that parents who use more english than spanish at home might do so because they are concerned that the use of spanish might negatively interfere with their young children’s english acquisition. together, these findings offer important insights for early childhood programs serving children from dual language learning homes, in this case english and spanish speakers, underscoring in particular the variability in parents’ beliefs about young children’s dual language learning. on the one hand, some parents believed it was not acceptable to mix both languages. but, on the other hand, some parents believed children could easily negotiate two languages simultaneously. although the research base is quite clear that bilingualism in itself is not a risk factor for low academic achievement (de houwer, 1999; snow, 1992), it is clear that misconceptions about the process of dual language learning remain among the public (espinosa, 2008; mclaughlin, 1992). we agree with lopez, barrueco, feinauer, and miles (2007) that latino, spanish-speaking parents, such as those in our study, might benefit from knowledge about bilingual language development given the often confusing and unclear messages to which they are often exposed. furthermore, early childhood educators might themselves benefit professional development on the topic because they generally do not have much training and/or coursework related to working with dual language learners (alliance for a better community, 2012). directions for future research results of our study underscore the heterogeneity that exists among a given sample of spanishspeaking parents with respect to their beliefs about their young children’s learning and language development. we note that the parents studied were from low-income households and thus that spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs results must be restricted to this specific subset of the population. moreover, as with previous work documenting parent beliefs about children’s learning, we used a questionnaire. while the utility of a low-cost, easy-to-administer questionnaire cannot be underestimated as it can, at minimum, give early childhood programs serving large numbers of dual language learning families a snapshot of parent beliefs, in fact naturalistic observations of parents’ behaviors and interactions with their young children represent an important next step. this is particularly the case in order to minimize concerns about social desirability response bias, while simultaneously providing important data to inform the validity of utilizing questionnaires to tap into parents’ beliefs about learning and language development. furthermore, interviews would help shed further light on parents’ rationale for their responses (i.e., agreeing, disagreeing or being unsure about the statements). this is especially important for survey items that generated a wide range of responses, such as the children’s dual language learning component. even though the office of head start, for instance, mandates that programs support and strengthen children’s native languages (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008), it is essential to reiterate that staff who speak the families’ native language(s) continue to be sorely needed (garcia & frede, 2010; garcia & jensen, 2009; national task force on early childhood education for hispanics, 2007). finally, although differences in parents’ and early childhood educators’ beliefs have been reported (adair & tobi, 2008), there is a need to further explore teachers’ beliefs related to learning and language development, especially for dual language learners. summary given the achievement gaps documented between latino, spanish-speaking children and their peers prior to formal school entry, this study brings insight into the learning and language beliefs of these children’s parents insight that should be capitalized on by early childhood programs committed to advancing this population’s overall achievement beginning in the preschool years. results of this study reveal that, within a sample of spanish-speaking parents, beliefs about the way in which young children learn and develop one or two languages vary widely. references adair, j., & tobin, j. 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(1947). multiple factor analysis: a development and expansion of vectors of the mind. chicago: university of chicago. u. s. department of health and human services (2008). dual language learning: what does it take? head start dual language report. washington, dc: author. u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, head start bureau. head start program fact sheet, fiscal year 2011. retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/mr/factsheets/2011-hs-program-factsheet.html ald s, g. ( ). con respeto: bridging distances between culturally diverse families and schools. new york: teachers college press. http://www.ecehispanic.org/work/expand_mainreport.pdf http://www.ecehispanic.org/work/expand_mainreport.pdf http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?reportid=140 http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/mr/factsheets/2011-hs-program-factsheet.html patti a. bokony, department of psychiatry, university of arkansas for medical sciences; leanne whitesidemansell, department of family and preventive medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences; and taren swindle, department of family & preventive medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences; patti bokony is now at the department of family and preventive medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences. this research was supported by a contract with the arkansas department of human services division of child care and early childhood education. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to patti a. bokony, department of family & preventive medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences, 4301 w. markham street, slot 723, little rock, ar 72205. email: bokonypattia@uams.edu dialog, 16(1), 183-188 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice-summary family map inventory and tips for great kids!: tools for increasing parent-teacher communication patti a. bokony, leanne whiteside-mansell, and taren swindle university of arkansas for medical sciences family engagement during early childhood increases young children’s school readiness and later school success. parent-teacher communication is a key component in increasing family engagement. we tested the impact of a two-pronged intervention, the family map inventory for early childhood (family map; family assessment) and teaching important parenting skills (tips; parenting education program), on parent-teacher communication in private childcare centers serving low-income families. the intervention included a four-hour family map training and a six-hour tips training. trained teachers conducted family map interviews and implemented tips for four months. results indicated: (1) teachers were willing to implement the family map and tips intervention in private child care settings; and (2) the parents and teachers in the intervention group reported higher levels of parent-teacher communication than those in the comparison group. keywords: parent education; family engagement; early education; parent-teacher communication; parent-teacher relationship children do best when child care providers have meaningful and positive relationships with families (bouffard & weiss, 2008). for this reason, major early childhood professional organizations’ standards for quality child care address family engagement and positive parentprovider relationships (administration for children, youth, and families head start bureau, 184 bokony et al. 2006; national association for family child care, 2009; national association for the education of young children, 2007). however, the idea that child care providers should take the lead in engaging families and building partnerships with parents is relatively new (duran, foster, & national family, school, and community engagement working group, 2010). professional development and tools area needed to build productive partnerships that join parents and teachers together to improve children’s outcomes (harvard family research project, 2006). effective parent-teacher partnerships are reciprocal, on-going, and balanced (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006). parent-teacher communication is a key component of parentteacher partnerships. effective communication flows in both directions. teachers recognize families have unique knowledge of their children. parents recognize teachers have access to resources less available to them. parent-teacher communication is challenging, yet critical, to building positive relationships and supportive connections between home and child care (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006); yet, we have little evidence that parents and teachers actually have meaningful conversations (mcgrath, 2007). during preschool, most communication between parents and teachers occurs during dropoff and pick-up times and is usually brief, polite ‘small talk’ (shpancer, 2002). parents report they most often talk with teachers about child behavior problems and with administrators about problems that may or may not be child related (bridgemohan, van wyk, & van staden, 2005). typically teachers avoid discussing controversial child-rearing practices with parents (fagan, 1994), are unlikely to offer parenting help, encouragement or information (shpancer, 2002), and rate parents’ competence negatively (galinsky, 1990; mcgrath, 2007; phillips, 1991). parents typically do not share family information with childcare workers (shpancer, 2002) nor do they view childcare workers as a resource for child development or childrearing information (kontos & dunn, 1989). teachers in private child care centers report talking with parents less frequently compared to those in centers receiving state or federal funds (ghazvini & readdick, 1994) . training and tools are needed to help child care providers address these challenges to family engagement. this study evaluated a two-pronged intervention designed to prepare child care workers to conduct family assessments, share parenting information and refer families for resources. the intervention consisted of a (1) family assessment tool, the family map inventory for early childhood (family map; whiteside-mansell, bradley, conners, & bokony, 2007) and (2) parenting program teaching important parenting skills: tips for great kids! (tips; bokony, butler, & shaw-bailey, 2011). we examined whether child care providers would utilize the family map and tips intervention (i.e., feasibility) and if the training would impact parentteacher communication as perceived by both teachers and parents. summary of methods study design we recruited licensed, private child care centers serving low-income families (i.e., eligible to receive child care vouchers) to participate in the study. matched centers that agreed to participate were randomly assigned to either the intervention or comparison group. teachers in increasing parent-teacher communication 185 the intervention group received training and materials. the family map and tips trainings were provided on-site at the intervention child care center at times convenient for them, typically saturdays or evenings. teacher and teacher assistants were encouraged to attend. lunch was provided during the training. each classroom received family map assessment for each family and a tips toolkit. once trained, providers conducted the family map at enrollment as they occurred throughout the year. each parent received a resource guide. teachers met with families at drop off and pick up times to share information. surveys were collected from teachers and parents at all centers in the fall (pretest) and again in the spring (posttest). intervention family map inventory. the family map provides a basis for the teacher and parent to talk about child development, parenting and the home environment. the family map is a semistructured interview that assesses key aspects of the family and home environment associated with well-being in 3-5 year old children (whiteside-mansell et al., 2007). the family map helps to systematically identify risk and protective factors. providers are then able to tailor follow-up services to reduce risk conditions (e.g., food insecurity, insufficient sleep, harsh discipline, maternal depression or family conflict) or enhance protective factors associated with healthy development and school readiness (e.g., monitoring and supervision, consistent morning and bedtime routines, in-home learning activities, or enriching out of home experiences). the family map was designed to be used during home visits with head start families. it has also been used during parent-teacher conferences and home visits. the family map includes survey and observation items organized into 12 modules that generally correspond to those in the tips program. the specific items in each module were developed from tools used in national studies of low-income families (i.e., incomes under 100% of the federal poverty level) as well as tools with published reliability and validity. the 4-hour training prepared teachers to conduct the interview, record parents’ responses and respond with appropriate parenting tips or resources. teaching important parenting skills: tips for great kids! tips is based on the brief parenting intervention (bpi) model in which child care providers share research based information with families during brief, focused conversations. teacher share information and resources tailored to meet parents’ unique interests (e.g., choosing books, selecting toys), concerns (e.g., daytime toileting accidents, tantrums) and needs (e.g., housing, utility assistance) or provide anticipatory guidance (e.g., reading aloud, oral health care). the 6-hour tips training is conducted by certified trainers. training materials include powerpoint presentation, handouts that encourage reflection and application, a training guide, and a tips toolkit. training activities include lecture, discussion, interactive small and large group activities and behavior rehearsal. the content of the training introduces teachers to the bpi model, reviews the impact of risk and protective factors on children and families, offers strategies for initiating positive parent-teacher dialog, and teaches the use of the tips toolkit. targeted skills include listening for and responding to parents’ interests and concerns, assessing parents’ readiness for anticipatory guidance, recognizing parent’s current level of knowledge and skills as the starting point for conversations, and motivating change. teachers are encouraged to adjust their schedules to 186 bokony et al. allow for morning or end of day interactions with families, use strategies to resolve conflict, and promote mutual goals for children. the tips materials are organized into a toolkit. each toolkit contains: (1) what the experts say manual (a synthesis of the research on topics in 12 domains shown to be important to children’s well-being; (2) parent tip cards (brief parenting message on a 4” x 6”, 150 words or less, 6 th grade or below reading level, in english and spanish); (3) quick reference cards (main parent message and related parenting skills for each tip); and (4) parents’ guide to community resources (indexed guide to community resources in spanish and english). major findings feasibility overall, the teacher ratings of the tips and family map trainings were positive. half of the teachers reported completing one or more family map interviews. teachers were generally comfortable conducting the family assessment interview, agreed that information learned in the interview helped them to understand the family and the child’s classroom behavior. all teachers reported learning at least something about the child from the interview. most (95.6%) of teachers reported sharing parenting tips. they generally agreed they liked the tips program, understood how the tips program worked, felt comfortable talking about tips, learned new things from tips, gave families suggestions using tips, thought parents used the tips given to them, saw parenting using tips given to them, and believed parents liked having the tips program in their center. parent-teacher communication both teachers and parents in the intervention and comparison groups were asked to report on parent-teacher communication. intervention teachers reported higher communication patterns with parents, both in providing help to parents and in answering parent questions. teachers in the intervention group reported parents asked for help with family problems and for information about parenting significantly more often than the comparison teachers reported. similarly, intervention parents reported significantly more ‘help received’ than parents in the comparison group, specifically on items related to family and parenting. the results of the study indicate the intervention had a significant positive impact on teacher-parent communication from the teachers' perspective and parents’ perspective. implications for practice to adequately meet the needs of families of young children, experts recommend early care and education programs need to provide more parenting education and supports in new and more diverse ways. considerable research supports the importance of strong parental involvement and increasing parent-teacher communication 187 positive parent-teacher relationships on child outcomes. however, there is little evidence of meaningful parent engagement in early childhood programs (olson & fuller, 2003). in this study, teachers in the intervention group were provided tools (training and materials) aimed at increasing parent-teacher communication. the family map provided a tool for preschool providers to identify family strengths and needs. the tips program provided intervention teachers with training to build strong partnerships with parents and immediate access to research based information about child development, parenting, the home environment, and community resources. this study provides some evidence that private child care providers are willing to expand their role to include family assessment and sharing of information and support with families. parents were willing to participate in the interviews. parents’ reported asking teachers for help in areas related to family and parenting. this indicates that when given the opportunity, parent and teacher communication can move beyond ‘small talk.’ head start centers are mandated to identify families’ needs and strengths and establish family partnerships. the family map inventory is a valid and reliable tool that has been successfully used during home visits. tips was developed in collaboration with the family map to provide an easily accessible resource for teachers to address needs and interests of families. this study provides some evidence that the family map and tips intervention improves parentteacher communication and help-giving and is acceptable to both teachers and parents. references administration for children, youth, and families (dhhs), washington, dc head start bureau. (2006). head start program regulations and program guidance for parts 1304 and 1308. revised bokony, p. a., butler, p., & shaw-bailey, d. (2011). teaching important parenting skills: tips for great kids! trainers guide for basic training. little rock, ar: university of arkansas for medical sciences. bouffard, s., & weiss, h. (2008). thinking big: a new framework for family involvement policy, practice, and research. the evaluation exchange, 14, 2-5. bridgemohan, r., van wyk, n., & van staden, c. (2005). home-school communication in the early childhood development phase. education, 126, 60-77. bronfenbrenner, u., & morris, p. a. (2006). the bioecological model of human development. in r. m. lerner, w. damon, r. m. lerner & w. damon (eds.), handbook of child psychology: vol 1, theoretical models of human development (6th ed. ed., pp. 793-828). hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons, inc. duran, m., foster, a. w. e. a., & national family, school, and community engagement working group. (2010). taking leadership, innovating change: profiles in family, school, and community engagement. family involvement network of educators. retrieved from http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browseour-publications/taking-leadership-innovating-change-profiles-in-family-school-and-communityengagement fagan, j. (1994). mother and father involvement in day care centers serving infants and young toddlers. early childhood development and care, 103, 95-101. galinsky, e. (1990). why are some parent/teacher partnerships clouded with difficulties? young children, 45, 3839. ghazvini, a. s., & readdick, c. a. (1994). parent-caregiver communication and quality of care in diverse child care settings. early childhood research quarterly, 9, 207-222. harvard family research project. (2006). family involvement in early childhood education. cambridge, ma: harvard family research project, harvard graduate school of education. kontos, s., & dunn, l. (1989). attitudes of caregivers, maternal experiences with day care, and children's development. journal of applied developmental psychology, 10, 37-51. http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/taking-leadership-innovating-change-profiles-in-family-school-and-community-engagement http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/taking-leadership-innovating-change-profiles-in-family-school-and-community-engagement http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/taking-leadership-innovating-change-profiles-in-family-school-and-community-engagement 188 bokony et al. mcgrath, w. h. (2007). ambivalent partners: power, trust, and partnership in relationships between mothers and teachers in a full-time child care center. teachers college record, 109(6), 1401-1422. national association for family child care. (2009). quality standards for nafcc accreditation. salt lake city, ut: national association for family child care. national association for the education of young children. (2007). naeyc early childhood program standards and accreditation criteria: the mark of quality early childhood education. washington, dc: author. olson, g., & fuller, m. (2003). home-school relations: working successfully with parents and families. (2nd ed.). boston, ma: allyn and bacon. phillips, d. a. (1991). day care for young children in the united states. in e. c. melhuish, & p. moss (eds.), daycare for young children. (pp. 185-198). new york, ny: tavistock/routledge. shpancer, n. (2002). the home-daycare link: mapping children's new world order. early childhood research quarterly, 17, 374-392. whiteside-mansell, l., bradley, r. h., conners, n. a., & bokony, p. a. (2007). the family map: structured family interview to identify strengths and risks in head start families. nhsa dialog: a research-to-practice journal for the early intervention field, 10, 189-209. dialog, 17(1), 113-117 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary how an educational television program depicts literacy and how its messages affect young children’s literacy attitudes annie m. moses john carroll university nancy a. jennings university of cincinnati rachel brod john carroll university steven d. hooker arcadia university brian cordell and tabatha sallee university of cincinnati the current study involved a content analysis and field experiment investigating messages about literacy within a children’s educational television program. the content analysis showed that the program’s episodes contained many positive, explicit statements about reading and, to a lesser extent, writing and other literacy activities. select episodes were then used in the experiment, which included preschooland kindergarten-aged children either viewing or not viewing the episodes. participants’ attitudes about literacy were measured before and after the viewing period. a measure of children’s feelings about the program and its characters was also administered to the viewing group. results from the experiment were not statistically significant, but indicated several trends. when considering children’s media consumption, findings suggest that this program offers many positive literacy messages to young viewers. perhaps, with greater exposure, the literacy messages may have influence children’s feelings about literacy, and potentially more so for young boys. keywords: television; early literacy; literacy attitudes television is a very common daily activity for young children (rideout & hamel, 2006). yet, educators, families and others have long worried about how television affects development and learning. researchers have taken up the call to better understand whether and how television 114 moses et al. influences young children. they have found a complex relationship: under certain circumstances, television can have a positive effect, a negative effect, or no effect at all. this has been found for various developmental areas, including in language and literacy. maintaining moderate amounts of children’s television viewing is one strategy for reducing or deterring potential negative effects, but adults must also consider the content that children view in that time. this includes whether the program is educational (i.e., has educational goals or a guiding curriculum) or non-educational (e.g., entertainment). with regard to literacy development, educational programming can improve certain early literacy skills. the same has not been found for non-educational programs (e.g., anderson, et al., 2001; ennemoser & schneider, 2007). thus, educators, families, and others must weigh the content and messages conveyed in television programs as they relate to literacy learning. literacy skills are an essential component of literacy development and success in literacy. a number of studies have been conducted to look at television’s impact on literacy skills (for a review, see moses, 2008; uchikoshi, 2009). children’s beliefs and feelings about reading and writing also factor into overall development (baker & wigfield, 1999), and less is known about television’s effect on literacy attitudes. one previous study looked at the 10 most watched programs by 2to 5-year olds, and found that those particular programs contained few messages about literacy (moses & duke, 2008). moses and duke studied 44 hours of programming, and identified only 1 hour, 11 minutes and 11 seconds containing any interactions with print. when found, the messages about reading, writing, or listening to print being read were often neutral about literacy (77% of the messages found), but other messages ranged from very positive (about 20%) to very negative (about 3%) about literacy. one example of a positive message came from an episode of barney and friends, which included positive lyrics about reading and books. characters sang lyrics including, “books are fun / books are great / let’s sit down and read a book today . . . is it book time yet? / oh i just can’t wait to read a book.” in contrast, an example of a negative message, from the fairly odd parents, involved a child character mishandling books for fun (e.g., tossing books, shredding pages in books, etc.). finally, there were occasions in which characters could have interacted with print and shared positive aspects of literacy, but they did not. for example, during episodes of dora the explorer, dora used a map. however, the map did not contain print or other symbols typically found in maps, which people use to locate and navigate to places. because the study analyzed the television content rather than children’s understanding of it, a follow-up study was conducted (moses, 2011). preschool-aged children viewed very brief clips that contained positive or negative literacy messages, and they answered questions about the characters’ feelings as well as their own feelings about literacy. although they distinguished between characters’ positive and negative feelings, children’s own literacy attitudes did not change after viewing the clips. one limitation was that the clips lasted no more than a few minutes. therefore, it is unclear whether a full episode or series of episodes that contain literacy messages would impact children differently. summary of research methods and major findings the current investigation continues this line of research with two studies. the first study involved a content analysis of two seasons of the children’s program super why!. super why! airs on the public broadcast service (pbs), and it was created and has been shown to promote television messages and children’s literacy attitudes 115 key early literacy skills in viewers between the ages of 3 and 6 years (http://www.pbs.org/parents/superwhy/program/index.html; linebarger, mcmenamin, & wainwright, 2009). episode scripts were examined for any statement made by a character that indicated his/her feelings or beliefs about literacy. this included reading or writing print as well as signing or talking about letters, words, or sounds that related to print. results revealed that the episodes contained many positive statements about literacy, with a total of 2,727 statements found across the 43 episodes. such a multitude of positive messages differs from previous studies of children’s programming. super why! characters most often made direct, positive statements about reading. this included characters talking about reading as being powerful and characters encouraging the viewers to read. for example, characters encouraged viewers by saying statements like “let’s read the title of this book”. characters also identified the usefulness of reading through statements such as “when we have a question we look in a book”, and they conveyed the necessity of reading with statements like “a super big problem needs us, the super readers!”. less often, super why! characters made statements about writing (e.g., characters encouraged viewers to write, they talked about writing as useful) or other literacy activities (e.g., characters encouraged viewers to sing about letters or letter sounds). for instance, viewers were encouraged to “spell with me” as well as to think about consider “what letter makes the sound sss?”. they also heard excitement about writing, with statements such as “i love to spell!”. importantly, no negative messages about literacy were found. therefore, viewers of super why! would receive a consistent perspective about literacy (i.e., only positive statements literacy). following the first study, an experiment was conducted with 149 preschoolers and kindergarteners. participants were randomly assigned to one of the following conditions: 1) an experimental group who viewed 20 super why! episodes that contained the highest number of literacy messages or 2) a control group who did not view any of the episodes. before and after the viewing period, all of the participants were assessed for their reading attitudes using two different instruments: a researcher-developed reading attitudes measure (ram) and a modified version of the elementary reading attitudes survey (eras; mckenna & kear, 1990; mckenna, kear, & ellsworth, 1995). children in the viewing group also answered questions about their liking of the program and individual characters, and they identified a favorite character and provided an explanation for their choice. results showed that viewers did not significantly differ from non-viewers in their literacy attitudes after watching the 20 episodes. however, a number of trends emerged. first, viewers had, on average, slightly higher reading attitudes scores than non-viewers after watching the episodes, and there were more noteworthy differences between male viewers and non-viewers than between female viewers and non-viewers. in addition, nearly all of the viewing participants reported liking the program, regardless of age or gender. however, viewers tended to pick a same-gendered character as their favorite (i.e., female viewers chose princess presto or wonder red, whereas male viewers chose super why or alpha pig). the character super why was associated with reading and other aspects of literacy more often than other characters. http://www.pbs.org/parents/superwhy/program/index.html 116 moses et al. implications for practice the current investigation demonstrated that, in contrast to past studies, one program (super why!) presents many direct and positive statements about literacy activities. these messages occur in high numbers during each episode. educators are faced with many options of educational television programming for children. being selective is important and requires adults to preview programming ahead of time. this research suggests that educators who are seeking positive messages about literacy should consider integrating super why! into their educational television selections for children in their care. in addition, although the experiment did not find a significant difference between viewers’ literacy attitudes and non-viewers’ attitudes, it did no harm. indeed, trends in the data suggest that, particularly for boys, viewers like and connect to super why! characters. the strength and appeal of media characters for children can contribute both to their learning of educational messages (lauricella, gola, & calvert, 2010) and their liking of products including healthy foods (de droog, valkenburg, and buijzen, 2011). in the case of super why!, the “product” being sold is literacy skills, and previous research has shown that viewing of super why! leads to a significant increase in the early literacy skills targeted in the program (linebarger, mcmenamin, & wainwright, 2009). as evidenced by the content analysis in this study, another “product” being sold is feelings about reading, writing, and other aspects of literacy. because the characters in the program portray literacy as powerful, useful, and enjoyable, viewers can develop these associations with characters and learn about their excitement for literacy. however, in the case of attitude change, it may take more than just viewing the program to see a big difference in attitude. in addition to be selective, watching with children (e.g., reiser, tessmer, & phelps, 1984) and extending the content into the classroom have been found to enhance children’s learning (e.g., penuel, et al. 2012; piotrowski, jennings, & linebarger, 2012). reinforcement and repetition of the literacy messages in super why! may be necessary to change attitudes in the classrooms and homes of child viewers. in addition to be selective, watching with children (e.g., reiser, tessmer, & phelps, 1984) and extending the content into the classroom have been found to enhance children’s learning (e.g., penuel, et al. 2012; piotrowski, jennings, & linebarger, 2012). educators can model for children how to think and feel about reading, writing, and other aspects of literacy using super why! statements. for example, they can convey: a) that literacy skills help people answer questions or solve problems that they have (e.g., “when we have a question we look in a book”), b) that literacy serves many purposes (e.g., “going on adventures, that’s what books are for”), and c) encouragement to participate in literacy-related activities (e.g., “spell with me”, “read with me”). super why! also showcases literacy materials and activities that educators can integrate into the classroom. when super why! characters work to solve a problem, they always consult a book, which contains a fairytale or other narrative text applicable to their situation. therefore, another recommendation is for educators to use books to help children answer questions and solve problems in the classroom. in addition, books can be integrated around children’s viewing. although narratives should not be the only genre used during read aloud, educators can read aloud the storybook in that episode (e.g., the three pigs, the three billy goats gruff, and peter rabbit). reading aloud not only offers repeated exposure to the text, but it also provides educators with the opportunity to hone in on vocabulary words, discuss story elements (i.e., character, setting, sequence of events), develop concepts of print (where to begin reading on a television messages and children’s literacy attitudes 117 page, how to turn a page, etc.), and focus on other essential early literacy skills. ultimately, educators and families must carefully consider the content and messages conveyed during children’s television viewing, and find ways to use television to benefit children’s learning. references anderson, d. r., huston, a. c., schmitt, k., linebarger, d. l., & wright, j. c. (2001). early childhood television viewing and adolescent behavior: the recontact study. monographs of the society for research in child development, 66 (1, serial no. 264). baker, l., & wigfield, a. (1999). dimensions of children’s motivation for reading and their relations to reading activity and reading achievement. reading research quarterly, 34, 452-77. de droog, s. m., valkenburg, p. m., & buijzen, m. (2011). using brand characters to promote young children's liking of and purchase requests for fruit. journal of health communication, 16, 79-89. ennemoser, m., & schneider, w. (2007). relations of television viewing and reading: findings from a 4-year longitudinal study. journal of educational psychology, 99(2), 349-368. lauricella, a. r., gola, a. a. h., and calvert, s. l. (2011). toddlers’ learning from socially meaningful video characters, media psychology, 14, 216–232. doi: 10.1080/15213269.2011.573465 linebarger, d.l., mcmenamin, k. & wainwright, d.k. (2009). summative evaluation of super why!: outcomes, dose and appeal. retrieved from http://pbskids.org/read/files/superwhy_research_view.pdf mckenna, m., c., & kear, r. a. (1990). measuring attitude toward reading: a new tool for teachers. the reading teacher, 54, 10-23. mckenna, m. c., kear, r. a., & ellswoth, r. a. (1995). children's attitudes toward reading: a national survey. reading research quarterly, 30, 934-956. moses, a. m. (2011). “books are fun, books are great”: the impact of television messages about literacy on young children’s literacy attitudes. journal of children and media, 5(2), 164-180. moses, a. m. (2008). impacts of television viewing on young children’s literacy development in the usa: a review of the literature. journal of early childhood literacy, 8(1), 67–102. moses, a. m., & duke, n. k. (2008). portrayals of print literacy in children’s television programming. journal of literacy research, 40(3), 251–289. penuel, w. r., bates, l., gallagher, l. p., pasnik, s., llorente, c., townsend, e., hupert, n., dominguez, x., & vanderborght, m. (2012). supplementing literacy instruction with a media-rich intervention: results of a randomized controlled trial. early childhood research quarterly, 27(1), 115-127. piotrowski, j. t., jennings, n. a., & linebarger, d. l. (2012). extending the lessons of educational television with young american children. journal of children and media,7(2), 216-234. doi:10.1080/17482798.2012.693053 reiser, r. a., tessmer, m. a., & phelps, p. c. (1984). adult-child interaction in children’s learning from sesame street. educational communication and technology journal, 32(4), 217–23. rideout, v. j., & hamel, e. (2006). the media family: electronic media in the lives of infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their parents. menlo park, ca: henry j. kaiser family foundation. uchikoshi, y. (2009). effects of television on language and literacy development. in a. bus & s. neuman (eds.), multimedia and literacy development: improving achievement for young learners (pp. 182-195). new york: routledge. http://pbskids.org/read/files/superwhy_research_view.pdf a study of the degree of self-concept of african-american males, in grades two through four, in all-male classes taught by male teachers and african-american males in traditional classes taught by female teachers dialog, 17(2), 58-67 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article fathers’ absence as a mediator of teacher’s gender effect on self-concept in young african-american males jeffrey shears joint masters of social work program north carolina agricultural & technical state university & the university of north carolina greensboro carolyn t. miller baltimore county schools marcus mcgee university of north carolina charlotte abiola a. farinde university of north carolina charlotte chance w. lewis university of north carolina charlotte the paper examines how self-concept in young inner city african american males is influenced by their teacher's gender. it also examines how this influence is mediated by father's presence in the child's life. the discussion offers suggestions on how to increase african-american men's presence in the classroom. recent empirical investigations show that african-american male students underperform in various academic subjects (burchinal, mccartney, steinberg, crosnoe, friedman, mcloyd, & pianta, 2011; lewis, james, hancock, & hill-jackson, 2008; nebbitt, lombe, lapoint, & bryant, 2009). in addition, studies suggest that african-american students have difficult experiences (hucks, 2011; morris, 2007) in school, as evidenced by high rates of school discipline referrals, suspensions, and expulsions (gregory & weinstein, 2008; skiba, horner, choong-geun, rausch, may, & tobin, 2011). although many african-american students share these school difficulties, the problems are more pronounced in african-american males (butler, teacher’s gender effect on self-concept 59 joubert, & lewis, 2009; fenning & rose, 2007; venable, 2009). for instance, the 2010 schott foundation 50 state report on black males in public education found that nationally, only 47% of african-american males graduated from high school. it has also been reported that one out of four african-american males is expelled from school every year (livingston & nahimana, 2006) and a disproportionate number of african-american male students are in special education and behavioral classes (harry & klinger, 2006; vallas, 2009; west-olatunji, baker, & brooks, 2006). further, the 2011 national assessment of educational progress reported that in grades 4 and 8, only 43% and 42% of african-american males scored at or above basic proficiency on reading exams aud et. el (2011); over half of african-american males in these grades failed to meet minimum expectations for reading. these disconcerting trends found in middle and secondary schools are not consistently seen in elementary school. in fact, a number of studies have shown found many africanamerican males begin their school years behind their counterparts but show strong academic improvement by second grade (edwards & mcmillion, 2000; kunjufu, 1995; wilson-jones, 2003). although african-american males do not progress to the level of their peers, they show remarkable academic progress during this period. however, the academic progress achieved in kindergarten and first grade is ephemeral; studies suggest that between third and fourth grade, african-american males encounter increased academic and disciplinary impediments (davis, 2003; ladson-billings, 2011). given their academic and disciplinary problems, one might hypothesize that the educational issues which african-american males encounter put them in jeopardy of developing antisocial and criminal behaviors. indeed, researchers have found connections between students’ school experiences and negative outcomes such as delinquency (collins, 2011; gregory & weinstein, 2008; venable, 2009). this correlation between school experiences and negative future outcomes makes it essential to conduct more research on the schooling experiences of these young men. historically, there have been negative academic and social perceptions of young africanamerican men (hucks, 2011). livingston and nahiman (2006) theorized that exposure to these negative stereotypes may lead many young african-american males to adopt an overly masculine identity. this theory suggests that while these adolescents are developing their idea of self, the environmental context places them at risk of negative behaviors (brown & donnor, 2011). in addition to a societal context that propagates a negative image of african-american men, it has been suggested that students who lack confidence in school lose motivation and become disengaged (dweck, 1999, 2006; graham, 1998). thus, african-american male students who have an underdeveloped sense of self and academic identity are less likely to progress in school (cokley, mcclain, jones, & johnson, 2011), are more likely to be identified as “at risk,” and more likely to enter special education (whiting, 2006; vallas, 2009). as these young men continue through the educational pipeline, they learn to underachieve, rejecting school as a place to develop their identities (whiting, 2009). literature review one link between societal conduct and scholastic performance may be students’ self-concept (allen, 2001). racial identity development theory, social identity theory, adolescent identity development theory, and personality development theory all discusses identity development 60 shears et al. (cross, 1991, 2001; eccles, 2009; erikson; 1963; tajfel, 1982), which is a complicated process involving a multitude of psychosocial factors. in the current educational and social plight of african-american males, identity development is often obstructed and constricted. as noted by researchers, failure to achieve an identity may lead to confusion, discouragement and negative behaviors (holcomb-mccoy, 2005; powell, 2004; carlson, uppal, & prosser, 2000; dumas, ellis, & wolfe, 2012). the self-esteem of a child directly impacts the development of his or her identity. adler (1963) suggested that thinking influences the emotions and behaviors of an individual; in essence, our thoughts dictate our actions and define who we are. horney (1950/1970) noted that an individual’s culture and environment also shape the identity of the individual and it is thus crucial to recognize these factors as agents for positive growth. research supports that self-concept development during the first two to four years of a child’s life is critical; furthermore, data has shown that negative self-concept is a problem that can affect all children, independent of their deprivation levels (landry, schilson, & pardew, 1974). an individual’s self perception greatly influences the way he or she responds to others and to the institutions in society. moreover, an individual’s conception of self influences their individual behaviors. parents and teachers play a pivotal role in enhancing children’s feelings of self, through provision of information and through day-to-day interactions. spencer (1984) conducted a study in which black and white preschoolers were administered a set of measures to assess for racial dissonance as it relates to self-concept development among this age-group. this study suggests that racial awareness is not yet internalized during the preoperational period (preschool years); instead, racial attitudes are viewed by preschoolers as objectively held information to be carried on into the subsequent developmental stage. although spencer’s research suggests that racial stereotypes may not be internalized during the preoperational period, contributing at that time to a preschooler’s selfconcept development, this information will eventually be integrated into the “self” during the concrete operational phase (early school years). based on spencer’s findings, implications for future work with minority preschoolers, specifically with african american male preschoolers, will involve intervening at the preoperational stage to better understand to how best frame objectively held information around racial and gender attitudes before self-concept development occurs. alston and williams (1982) argue that since self-concept is acquired through socialization, fathers are particularly important for a boy’s development of self-concept, and their absence from boys’ lives puts young males at an increased risk for developmental deficiencies. the literature also suggests that the effects of fathers’ might be more pronounced in young boys. the studies to date focused mainly on issues of delinquency and incarceration (harper & mclanahan, 2004; juon, doherty, & ensminger, 2006) and school behavioral problems (peterson & zill, 1986). additional studies support that fatherlessness may also affect a child’s grades and educational achievement. numerous studies (miller, 2005; thompson 2006) theorize that self concept develops through children’s emotional characteristics and parent child interaction. these early formations of self-concept are formed through intimate contact with caregivers. in 1985, riley conducted a study which explored preschoolers’ self-concept scores (measured using the self-concept and motivation inventory) with both a father present in the home and male preschool teacher in the classroom compared to preschoolers with either of the aforementioned variables. riley hypothesized that having two strong male influences would significantly improve preschoolers’ self-concept scores in relation to school. riley’s findings teacher’s gender effect on self-concept 61 support that having both a male influence in the home and in the classroom only produced significant changes in self-concept scores for male preschoolers. riley could not find an indirect influence for significant self-concept change around attitudes toward the school, self and gender concept for males with only one male influence (either a male preschool teacher or a father present in the home). riley’s findings suggest that although having a male preschool teacher may assist disadvantaged male preschoolers with their self-concept development on some level, there may need to be additional male reinforcement outside of the classroom to support these positive effects (e.g., uncle, older brother, male family friend). historical work by bowbly (1969) showed that early interactions between children and their caregivers are important as they help to develop models for children to guide their selfunderstanding. the support of parental interactions and attachment with self-concept in children in early school years has been supported in subsequent work by clark and symons (2000) and easterbrooks and abeles (2000). biller & bahm (1971) found that father’s absence did affect self-concept in young boys. to date, little empirical research has examined these issues in inner city african-american boys in nontraditional class settings. this study therefore examined the impact of being in all-male classes taught by male teachers on the self-concept of young africanamerican males. in addition, we explored how fathers’ presence might mediate the impact of male teachers on self-concept. method the study was conducted in two inner-city elementary schools in baltimore, maryland, and consisted of all 55 students in all-male classes and 55 students randomly selected from regular co-ed classes. there were no significant demographic or socioeconomic differences between the experimental and comparison groups. school “a” had a female principal and a population of 440 students, 215 of which were male and 225 female. within school a, there were two all-male classes, taught by male teachers, two all-female classes taught by female teachers and 20 traditional coed student classes taught by male and female teachers. school “b” was also headed by a female principal and had a total student population of 580, 294 of whom were males and 286 females. seventeen percent of the teachers in school b were male teachers. two classes, from a total of 22, were all-male classes taught by male teachers while the other 20 classes were co-ed and taught by male and female teachers. there were no specific selection criteria for students to be placed in the traditional coed or nontraditional gender specific classrooms. measure the mcdaniel-piers children’s self-concept scale (mcdaniel & piers, 1975) was used in this research because of its widespread use in measuring the self-concept of children. the instrument has also been used in studies of teaching behavior and in studies on the effects of parental attitudes on self-concept. the mcdaniel-piers children’s self-concept scale is an adaptation for children of the piers-harris self-concept scale. items deemed appropriate for younger children were selected from the original instrument and their wording was simplified. the tester reads the 62 shears et al. item and the child responds “yes” or “no” on an answer sheet. it consists of 40 items that can be read aloud by the test administrator, and it can be administered in groups. the norms of the scale were based on over 2,000 children ages 6 to 9 years old from metropolitan schools. self-concept scores range from 0 to 40 with a mean of 25.87 and a standard error of measurement of 2.77. the scale has an internal consistency reliability of .70 in addition to high test-retest reliability and a high level of concurrent validity in that high level of self-concept is inversely related to measures of psychological problems. procedure all students were administered the instrument in the school environment in groups of 20 to 25 students until all students were tested. the instrument was administered to all students, including girls in coed classes. however, only the responses of african-american males who were in allmale classes and males randomly selected from the traditional classes were included in the analyses. sample the sample consisted of african-american male students in grades two through four in all-male classes taught by male teachers (n=55) and males in traditional classes taught by female teachers (n=55); 72% of the sample were drawn from school b whereas 28% were from school a. the largest number of boys were in the fourth grade (43%), followed by third grade (33%), and then second grade (24%). over two-thirds of the sample (69%, n=76) were from a family headed by a single mother, 34 students (31%) were from two-parent families. the majority of the students (83%) received free lunches were low income. results we first determined if there were differences in the self-concept of african-american male students with male teachers (n=55) and those in traditional classes with female teachers (n=55). there were significant differences in self-concept scores (t = 3.223, p = .002), the mean score of the traditional class was 26.78 and the mean score of the all-male class was 30.16 suggesting that students in the all-male classes had a better self-concept than those in traditional classrooms. these differences were also consistent across grade levels, suggesting that a male presence may have some effect during the early education years. next, we determined whether the differences in self-concept were based on parental residential status. among youth enrolled in the all-male classes we looked at self-concept scores based on whether the student resided in a home with both mother and father or just mother. there was no significant difference in self-concept between those with two parents or one parent (t = 1.467, p = .149). this suggests that residential status did not affect self-concept in these students. to understand more about how parental residential status might influence the effects of male teachers on self-concept, we looked at differences in self-concept among those male teacher’s gender effect on self-concept 63 students who father was absent from home. among children who resided with a single mother there was a significant difference in self-concept between those in the traditional classes and those in male teacher classes (t = 2.956, p = .004). the mean self-concept score was higher in those in the male-taught classes (30.51) than in students in the traditional femaletaught classes (26.97). these results suggest that positive effects are associated with the interactions between male teachers and male students, particularly when a child is not residing with his father. one year follow up study one year later we examined longitudinal effects of the self-concepts of african-american males who had previously been in all-male classrooms. the analyses included males who had been in all-male classes either one or two years prior but who were, at the time, completing an academic year in a traditional classroom setting with a female teacher. as in the initial data collection, both male and female took the self-concept instrument although we analyzed only data from male students. we wanted to determine whether african-american males who had participated in an allmale/male teacher educational setting would exhibit more positive self-concept after leaving that setting than african-american males who had never participated in this nontraditional setting. more specifically, we wanted to understand whether the positive differences we had observed in self-concept continued in primary school-aged african-american males after they left a nontraditional setting. twenty-six subjects were randomly chosen from the earlier study sample for participation in the follow-up study, with equal numbers selected from the original treatment (non-traditional setting) and control (traditional setting) groups. at the time of data collection, all participants in the follow-up study were in the third grade, were in co-educational settings, and were in classes without a teacher’s assistant. to minimize the interference of extraneous factors, we controlled for free or reduced lunch, number of years in a non-traditional school setting (none, one, or two years), and family composition: two parents, single mother, or other primary care-giver (i.e., single father or grandmother). non-traditional students were defined as those who had been in an all-male class taught by a male teacher for one or more years. traditional students were those who had attended co-educational classes taught by a female instructor throughout their school years. in the follow-up study, both groups demonstrated a negative change from the prior year in self-concept scores. scores from the entire sample ranged from a minimum of 7 to a maximum of 36 with a mean score of 23. table i shows the mean scores and frequency distribution of the sample and subgroups within the sample. 64 shears et al. table 1 self-concept mean scores over independent variables criterion variable: self-concept score mean s.d. n pct. for entire sample 23.000 6.911 26 100.0 family composition 1=two parents 23.167 8.329 6 24.0 2=single mother 22.625 6.985 16 64.0 3=other 20.330 2.309 3 8.0 free lunch 1=yes 24.765 6.629 17 65.4 2=no 19.667 6.500 9 34.6 years in all-male class 0=none 22.769 5.183 13 50.0 1=one year 20.000 9.121 6 23.1 2=two years 26.000 7.506 7 26.9 there was no significant differences in mean self-concept scores between those who had previously been in the nontraditional all-male class setting with a male teacher and those who had been enrolled only in traditional class settings with a female teacher (t = .570, p = .581). to further explore this phenomenon, we separated those who had spent only one year in all male classes from those who had spent two years in the all male setting. there was no significant difference in self-concept between these two groups (t = .051, p = .959), suggesting that the nontraditional settings effect on self-concept was no longer present one or two years after the child had been removed from the nontraditional class setting and placed in a more traditional setting. conclusion this data analysis indicated that at the third grade level, african-american males who stopped participating in a nontraditional educational setting (all-male classes with a male teacher) did not exhibit a greater positive self-concept than african-american males who had participated only in traditional educational settings (co-educational classes with a female teacher). thus the strong, consistent differences in self-concept between the treatment and control groups appeared to dissipate upon exiting the program. the decrease in self-concept was observed whether the subject had spent one or two years in an all-male class. furthermore there was no difference in self-concept between males in nontraditional classes and traditional classes when there was a father in the home. however, there was a difference in self-concept among boys who had a male teacher without a father in the home. this suggests that it may be important for young african-american boys without residential fathers to have meaningful and prolonged interactions with an african-american male figure of authority and personal significance. teacher’s gender effect on self-concept 65 though the differences were not statistically insignificant, it is notable that subjects who spent only one year in the nontraditional program demonstrated a much steeper decline with self concept than those who spent two years in the program. in fact, those who participated in the nontraditional classes for only one year before being placed in a traditional class exhibited a level of self-concept below that of subjects who never participated. the highest level of selfconcept among the 26 participants was observed in the group who spent two years in a nontraditional class. this finding might indicate a relationship between greater length of time spent in a nontraditional setting and higher levels of self-concept which indicates a need for further study. implications for child care given the importance of self-concept for academic achievement, early child care workers need to be mindful of the issues that influence self-concept in this population. for too long we have addressed the racial academic achievement gap from an educational standpoint without paying adequate attention to the social and demographic issues that might also contribute to this educational gap. davis (2003) suggests that in school, many african-american children manifest symptoms of problems they witness at home or in their communities. davis also suggests that many african-american children are reared in homes and communities that are chaotic and unstable and insufficient in nurturance; such environments do not facilitate learning environments. further, many african-american male students have few interactions with african-american males of authority and personal significance, and almost 70% grow up in single mother headed households. this combination of factors may have a negative effect on their self-concept. the chance of having an african-american male teacher is very low; whiting (2009) reports that african-american males represent only one percent of the teaching profession. one way to address this is for school child care facilities to be at the forefront in actively recruiting, training, and supporting african-american men who have the capacity to be role models and leaders for all students. grantham (2004) asserted that we should identify meaningful ways to ensure an african-american male 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(2009). gifted black males: understanding and decreasing barriers to achievement and identity. roeper review, 31(4), 224-233. doi:10.1080/02783190903177598 wilson-jones, l. (2003). factors that promote and inhibit the academic achievement or rural elementary african american males in a mississippi school: a qualitative study. paper presented at the annual meeting of the mid-south educational research association, biloxi, ms. http://blackboysreport.org/ running head: dialog, 17(1) copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article results of a survey and follow-up interview with head start staff concerning social skills instruction in preschool classrooms tina l. stanton-chapman, mary d. voorhees, rebecca berlin, martha e. snell, and lindsey d. forsten university of virginia failure to promote preschoolers’ social competence can lead to significant deficits in social skills development, school readiness, and academic success. while early childhood teachers play an essential role in fostering children’s social competence, there is limited research available about the value teachers place on social skill instruction and the instructional strategies they use. this study employed a survey and interviews to investigate the practices used by five head start (hs) programs in the mid-atlantic region to promote childrens’ social competence. results indicated that respondents: (a) identified peer interaction and friendship skills most often as important social skills to teach; (b) reported using classroomwide and naturalistic interventions to teach these skills; and (c) described challenges to addressing children’s social skill needs. implications of these findings for preschool programs are discussed in terms of professional development to support teachers to implement evidence-based social skill methods. social competence is defined as a multidimensional construct that includes: a) peer interactions (e.g., conversation, cooperative play, language skills), b) emotional and behavioral regulation, and c) the use of appropriate behavior in challenging situations (e.g., during conflicts) (brown, odom, mcconnell, & rathel, 2008; raver & zigler, 1997). the office of head start (hs) in their head start child outcomes framework (2010) includes social-emotional development as a curricular focus with domains and indicators reflecting all of these constructs (e.g., social relationships, self-control or self-regulation). previous research has shown that children from low-income households are at a greater risk for developing problem behaviors and having lower social competence (qi & kaiser, 2003); this creates a challenge for programs, such as hs to meet children’s needs in all developmental domains including social and emotional development. children’s level of social competence has been shown to affect school readiness and future academic success (denham, 2006; peth-pierce, 2000). however, many early childhood programs, including hs programs, are not adequately prepared to meet the needs of children with low social competence (committee on early childhood, adoption, and dependent care, 2005; kaufmann & wischmann, 1999). unfortunately, children with social competence difficulties are often removed from programs or are at risk for being removed as a result of their problem behavior (gilliam, 2005; raver & knitzer, 2002). specifically, in a national study, stanton-chapman et al. gilliam found that on average 6.7 per 1,000 preschool children were expelled for their challenging behavior. more recently, quesenberry, hemmeter & ostrosky (2011) found that five out of the six hs programs they studied, expelled children with intensive behavioral concerns. snell and colleagues (2012) found similar practices were reported to be used by administrators and staff they interviewed in some hs programs. given that hs programs were developed to promote school readiness for low-income preschool-age children, it is important to assess the extent to which teachers value and promote social competence in hs classrooms and to identify ways to support hs staff to address children’s social emotional needs to prevent these expulsions. limited research has investigated teachers’ perceptions of the value of social skills as a curricular focus or how these beliefs affect their observed practices of social skills instruction in the preschool classroom. research that is available indicates that teachers rate social skills as being highly important in the preschool curriculum (baumgart, filler, & askvig, 1991; west, brown, grego, & johnson, 2007), but social skill instruction receives less emphasis due to the increased pressure to focus on academic skills (copple & bredekamp, 2009; elkind, 2001; stipek, 2006). appl and spenciner (2008) examined preservice teachers’ perceptions of teaching social skills in the preschool classroom. in this study, participants who were close to the completion of their teacher education program believed that teachers should take a more active role in teaching social skills, but newly admitted preservice participants believed that teachers should not become involved. this is troublesome as research has documented that children without adequate social skills are at-risk for: a) experiencing difficulties in interpersonal relationships with adults and peers; b) evoking highly negative responses from others due to their problem behavior; and c) showing a higher incidence of peer rejection (mize, 2005). the early childhood (ec) environment provides an important context for the development of children’s social competence. the ec teacher, who has been called the “critical factor” in the classroom environment (hestenes & carroll, 2000), is uniquely positioned to support children’s social skill development in the classroom context. a skilled and observant teacher can select intervention strategies to meet the needs of individual children and the demands of the classroom environment. program-wide positive behavior support (pwpbs), often depicted as a pyramid with three tiers of increasing intervention intensity, provides a conceptual framework for the selection of strategies tailored to children’s differing needs (frey, young, gold, & trevor, 2008). pwpbs is the implementation of behavioral support strategies, along a continuum of intensity, through a process that is focused on social behavior instruction, guided by data-based decision making, and consistently implemented across preschool environments (stormont, lewis, beckner, & johnson, 2008). tier 1 or universal pbs intervention involves a comprehensive set of strategies that are implemented with all children in a program. these strategies include prevention methods (e.g., teaching behavior expectations, creating developmentally appropriate environments), strategies to support positive teacher-child relationships, and classroomwide social skill interventions (e.g., the use of social competence curricula) (brown, odom & conroy, 2001; brown, odom & mcconnell, 2008; dec, 2007, dec, 2009, fox et al., 2003; lewis, beckner, & stormont, 2009). the main focus is on the prevention of problem behaviors, providing early intervention for those at-risk, and creating environments that will lead to improved small-group and individual intervention outcomes. tier 2 and 3 pbs interventions involve targeted social skills instruction for smaller numbers of children with more extreme problem behavior and social limitations (e.g., bambara & kern, 2005; fox et al., 2003, fox, carta, strain, dunlap & hemmeter, 2009). social skill results of a survey instruction methods could include naturalistic interventions (e.g., providing on-the-spot social support during peer interactions, assisting children in peer conflicts) or explicit social skills instruction (e.g., providing prompts to target children, teaching peers to play with target children). tier 2 pwpbs focuses on the 10% to 15% of students who continue to display problem behaviors even with tier 1 strategies in place (sugai, horner, lewis, & cheney, 2002). through the use of data-decision rules, students are identified before problem behaviors become severe and chronic and receive explicit social skills instruction (stormont et al., 2008). tier 3 interventions typically serve 5% to 7% of students who display serious and chronic behavioral challenges (lewis, sugai, & colvin, 1998). pwpbs begins with classroom-wide strategies first and then, if needed, moves to more individualized, higher-intensity strategies. surprisingly little is known about the methods preschool teachers use to promote children’s social competence (e.g., arranging the environment, encouraging peer interactions for friendship building, or modeling appropriate social behaviors (buysse, goldman, & skinner, 2003). professional development materials related to social competence training have been developed for early childhood teachers (e.g., center on the social and emotional foundations of early learning, 2011; center to mobilize early childhood knowledge, 2011). these professional development materials have well-scripted training sequences and problem-solving activities to assist teachers in social skills training during the everyday classroom routines. despite the value that teachers place on children’s social competence, researchers have reported that the majority of teachers do not extensively employ social skills interventions in the classroom (brown & conroy, 2001; mcconnell, mcevoy, & odom, 1992). for example, mcconnell and colleagues (1992) used direct observation methods to determine if ec preschool teachers frequently used evidence-based social skills intervention to promote peer interactions in their classrooms. they observed low to moderate intervention implementation and found that teachers were less likely to implement targeted and individualized interventions (e.g., explicit social skills instruction) than more global intervention approaches (e.g., environmental arrangements, discussions of appropriate social behavior). west et al. (2007) asked division of early childhood members to rate the acceptability, feasibility, and use of peer interaction interventions. while the majority of these interventions were rated as acceptable, members’ ratings of their actual use of many of the strategies were lower than ratings of their perceived value. additional research is needed to learn about practices used in early childhood programs to promote children’s social skills and to examine whether a tiered model is used to individualize instruction based on children’s needs . in the current study, the researchers used a survey and interviews to investigate the practices used by five head start (hs) programs in the mid-atlantic region to address children’s problem behavior and promote children’s social competence. the purpose of collecting this information was to design an intervention and training package based on a pbs framework that would be feasible for use in hs programs. we began by administering a survey that included open-ended questions and classroom scenarios designed to gain an understanding of hs staff’s discipline and social skills instruction issues and practices. surveys are commonly viewed as an effective method to gather information from a large number of people, and, if well-designed, surveys provide constructive program planning information (snyder & wolfe, 2008). interviews were also conducted with forty-five hs staff from the same programs to collect more detailed information about their practices and the challenges they faced in regard to addressing problem behavior and promoting children’s social competence. we were interested in knowing whether the follow-up interviews would meaningfully extend and also agree with our survey findings. stanton-chapman et al. this paper focuses on three research aims related to social skill instruction that were part of our larger study. (refer to snell, berlin, voorhees, stanton-chapman, & hadden 2012 and snell, voorhees, berlin, stanton-chapman, hadden, & mccarty 2012) for study aims related to discipline practices). the first aim was to identify hs staff perceptions regarding the most important social skills to address for young children. the second aim was to identify the strategies hs programs use to teach social skills. the third aim was to identify challenges to providing social skill instruction. with the social-emotional competence focus of hs (hyson, 2003; raver & zigler, 1997; yoshikawa & knitzer, 1997), we expected the majority of the respondents to identify important social skills to teach in the classroom. however, with increased focus in early childhood programs on pre-academics we also expected staff to identify challenges or issues regarding social skill instruction. additionally, while we anticipated staff would identify strategies they used to teach social skills, we did not expect these strategies would utilize the hierarchy recommended for promoting young children’s peer interactions (brown et al., 2001; brown et al., 2008; stormont, lewis, beckner, & johnson, 2008). the overall purpose of this study was to obtain information relevant to designing effective professional development activities for the implementation of pwpbs within head start programs that would be sensitive to program policies and teacher needs. method participants a total of 108 ec educators, early childhood special educators (ecse), assistant teachers, and other program staff (e.g., mental, behavior or family specialists; directors; coordinators) from five hs programs agreed to participate in this study. seventy-eight of these participants completed the survey; the 30 respondents who did not complete the survey did not differ statistically from the participating sample. we requested participation from teachers, assistant teachers, and other program staff because each of these staff members had the potential to influence the way that social skills were addressed in the program. all participants worked in hs programs with children ages 3-5 years in a mid-atlantic state. the number of classrooms varied across the five programs (range 926) with an average of 17.6 children in each classroom. between 8% to 15% of the children enrolled in each program had identified disabilities, most often categorized as speech and language impairments or global developmental delays and less often as autism or physical disabilities. the programs were operated by either the public schools (n = 2) or community organizations (n = 3) and were typically led by a lead teacher and an assistant teacher. classrooms were located in child care centers, elementary school buildings, and in buildings that only housed preschool classrooms. approval from an university institutional review board (irb) was obtained for both the survey and the interview portions of the study. survey participation was anonymous. participants gave consent for participation by agreeing to take the survey but signatures were not collected to protect anonymity. verbal consent was obtained for the study’s interview portion to protect participants due to the sensitivity of their answers. the survey respondents varied in terms of position, experience, education, and specialized training. table 1 presents demographic information for survey participants. thirtyeight of these respondents described themselves as classroom teachers, 25 as assistant teachers, results of a survey and the remaining 15 reported that they were in supervisory or consulting positions within the program (e.g., program directors, coaching and mentoring trainers, mental health specialists). the participants were primarily females between 36 and 55 years old with the majority (45%) having from six to over 16 years of experience working with young children. forty-five participants (58%) described themselves as white/non-hispanic, 26 (33%) described themselves as african-american/black, and 2 (3%) described themselves as hispanic/latino/latina. fortyfive participants from across the five programs were interviewed: administrators (n = 9), teachers (n = 11), teaching assistants (n= 10), behavior specialists (n = 4), mental health specialists (n = 3), family support staff (n = 5), and collaborating partner staff (n = 3). of the 45 participants, 15 also had completed the survey (1 administrator, 14 other staff members). all of the interview participants were from the same hs sites as the survey participants. demographic information was not collected for the interview participants due to a request from the university’s irb. the university irb felt school districts would be able to identify participants if their demographic information was recorded. given the sensitivity of responses, we agreed to this request. stanton-chapman et al. table 1 demographic information for survey participants number of respondents percentage position classroom teacher 38 48.7% classroom assistant 25 32.1% other role 15 19.2% number of years in current position 0-2 years 33 42.3% 3-5 years 22 28.2% 6-10 years 13 16.7% 11-15 years 6 7.7% 16+ years 4 5.1% number of years working with young children 0-2 years 6 7.7% 3-5 years 17 21.8% 6-10 years 22 28.2% 11-15 years 9 11.5% 16+ years 24 30.8% highest level of education high school/ged 20 25.6% child development associate (cda) 6 7.7% associate’s degree 10 12.8% bachelor’s degree 21 26.9% master’s degree 15 19.2% other 6 7.7% gender male 2 2.6% female 76 97.4% age 18-25 years 5 6.4% 26-35 years 16 20.5% 36-45 years 24 30.8% 46-55 years 23 29.5% 56-65 years 7 9.0% 65+ years 2 2.6% skipped question 1 1.3% race/ethnicity white/non-hispanic 45 57.7% african-american/black 26 33.3% hispanic/latino/latina 2 2.6% asian/pacific islander 1 1.3% bi-racial 1 1.3% native american 0 0% skipped question 1 1.3% results of a survey procedures surveys. teachers, assistant teachers, and specialists were recruited for survey participation through their program directors. letters were first sent to program directors requesting their permission to participate in the study. once permission was obtained from program directors, project staff attended a staff meeting for additional participant recruitment. all participants who agreed to participate in the study completed an anonymous internet-based survey of hs staff beliefs about discipline, social skills, and classroom practices. those who did not have access to a computer or felt uncomfortable using a computer were given the option of completing a paper-based survey. most participants (n=69) completed an internet-based form, but a few (n=9) completed a paper-based version of the same survey. both versions of the survey took about 30 minutes to complete, with a range of 20 to 45 minutes. completed paperbased surveys were mailed to project staff to protect anonymity. there were no demographic differences between participants who completed the online survey versus those who completed the paper-based survey. participants received an incentive for participation. once they completed the online or paper-based survey, they submitted a stamped postcard with their contact information to the university. we then mailed a $5 gift card to their preferred address. participants were made aware that they were not obligated to submit a postcard if they were concerned about their anonymity. interviews. as previously noted, nine program administrators (directors and coordinators) from each of the five programs were interviewed in order to gain an overview and understanding of their program practices and policies. next, administrators from each program nominated staff members who were involved in providing support to children or families regarding behavior or social issues to be interviewed; this included teachers (n=11), teaching assistants (n=10, a mental health or behavior specialists (n=7), family service specialists (n=5) and collaborating program staff (n=3). all hs staff who were asked to complete interviews agreed to participate. they received a $100 gift card for their participation. interviews ranged from 45 to 90 minutes. teachers, assistant teachers, and specialists were interviewed separately with the exception of one classroom team who requested a joint interview. all interviews were audio recorded with participants’ consent and were transcribed verbatim by research assistants who were blind to the hypotheses of the study. the interviews were conducted by project staff who held doctoral degrees in education and had extensive ecse classroom experience or by doctoral students. measures survey. the social competence in preschool survey (berlin, hadden, & voorhees, 2008) was developed to gather information on participants’ perceptions of discipline and social skills in the classrooms and their responses to these behaviors. the survey was reviewed by a group of experts (e.g., program directors and ecse professionals not participating in the study; university professors with expertise in ecse, teacher attitudes and beliefs, positive behavior support, and developmentally appropriate practices) and revised based on their input. the revised survey was then piloted with 17 staff (teachers, assistant teachers, mental health stanton-chapman et al. specialists, and program directors) from two hs programs that were not participating in the current study; final revisions were made based on their input. for more information regarding the survey measure, please refer to snell, berlin et al., (2012). the survey was placed on an internet-based platform (survey monkey™) but was made available in paper form. the survey included 10 demographic questions (e.g., gender, age, race, education, years of teaching experience); five open-ended questions (e.g., what are the top three challenging behaviors you face in your classroom?; what strategies are you currently using to teach social skills?); and six classroom scenarios. this paper reports only on survey participants’ data from one open-ended question (give two examples of what you do to encourage positive interactions between children in your classroom) and two conflict scenarios designed to provide an indication of how staff foster peer interaction and would respond to challenging social skills situations. the first conflict scenario was “lissy is a little girl with significant language delays. one day the teacher notices that she is standing off to the side while the other children play house in the dramatic play area. what should the teacher do?” the second conflict scenario was “on the playground, the teacher notices brenda and juan arguing over a ball. brenda tells juan that she does not want to be his friend anymore. what should the teacher do?” the participants were expected to provide a narrative addressing how they would handle this situation if they were present in this situation. interview. interviews were used to gather more in-depth information about hs staff views regarding social skill instruction; there were some variations in wording for program staff and teachers (voorhees, berlin, & hadden, 2008). our two primary questions for the current study were: “what are the most important social skills taught in the classroom?” and “tell me about any specific social skills curricula that are used in your classroom.” we included standard probes (follow-up questions to gather additional information about how the curricula were implemented, how social skills were taught within classroom activities, and the challenges to curricula implementation and social skills instruction). data analysis open-ended survey questions. the open-ended questions and the conflict scenarios were coded by two project staff members who held doctorate degrees in education. responses were coded at the word or phrase level to capture the social skills the respondents were describing (e.g., sharing toys, positive interactions). to develop the a priori categories that guided the full content analysis, one researcher reviewed 20 responses (25% of respondents) for each open ended question (classroom practices and classroom situations) and noted key ideas that were represented in each of the 20 responses. responses were sampled across time points to ensure that responses did not over represent a particular program. analysis was conducted at a “unit of meaning” level so one response could have contained multiple key ideas. the researcher then reviewed the key ideas looking for similarities across respondents in order to develop initial categories or themes. once themes were identified, the researcher defined the themes using exemplars from the responses that had already been reviewed. responses that represented discrete units of thought that did not answer the question posed were sorted into a miscellaneous category to be reviewed at a later date. once these initial themes were developed, the first and second researchers reviewed an additional sample of responses (30%) to determine results of a survey the extent to which the themes were also evident in this additional sample. the researchers independently coded the responses using the list of a priori categories that were developed by the first researcher. the researchers then met to discuss and refine the categories. these refined categories were then used to code all of the responses using the nvivo (qsr international, 2008) software program. the 78 surveys were then coded using the nvivo software and 20% (16 surveys) were double-coded for reliability purposes yielding an inter-rater reliability of 80%. conflict scenario survey questions. with the guidance of a qualitative methodologist, project staff developed a scoring rubric to be used to rate the survey responses within the conflict scenario section of the survey. the rubric went through seven iterations during its development. two to three raters who scored a sample of survey responses tested each version. refinements to the rubric were made after reviewing the raters’ agreement level at each stage of development. the final version was tested by three raters who reached an agreement level of 90% on a selection of 60 responses. we used a pbs prevent-teach-reinforce framework (dunlap, lovannone, & english, 2009) to create the anchors within the rubric. descriptive examples for high, medium and low anchors were developed for each question to assist with the coding process. participants’ responses were rated as low (e.g., response addresses the social issue in a reactive manner; response doesn’t answer the question), medium (e.g., response addresses the immediate problem in a constructive manner using universal interventions such as referring to a social skills curricula or influencing the structure of social groups), or high (e.g., response shows thought and reflection about the individual child’s behavior or situation such as prompting the target child to respond in a certain way or teaching peers how to interact with the target child). the rubric was sent to two experts in the field of ecse to review and validate. two main questions were answered as part of this validation process: a) are the rubric categories and descriptions appropriate (e.g. does the content make sense?), and b) have we sorted the sample responses appropriately into the high, medium, and low categories? once feedback was received from the field experts, the 78 conflict scenarios were coded by two project staff who held doctorate degrees in ecse. sixteen conflict scenarios (20%) were double-coded for reliability purposes. interobserver agreement (ioa) for the reliability sessions was 97.5%. interviews. we used recommended qualitative research methods (barnett, bell, & carey 1999) to ensure the trustworthiness of our findings. more specifically, to ensure credibility we: a) used “rich data” or transcriptions of tape recorded interviews, rather than post-interview notes; b) obtained member checks by sending transcribed interviews and our conclusions to interviewees for confirmation; c) triangulated interview findings with observations in interviewee’s classrooms, and d) used a peer debriefer to give feedback on methodological issues (e.g., potential inquirer bias on data analysis). a student research assistant transcribed each interview; then to ensure accuracy, an experienced research team member listened to the tapes while reviewing each corresponding transcription. few errors were identified, however, if errors were found or if audiotape segments were found to be unintelligible, the researcher who conducted the interview listened to the tape segment and made corrections. next, a systematic and verifiable process was used to develop analytic categories (miles & huberman, 1994) and to code the data using nvivo, a computer-assisted program. two research staff read all of the interviews from one hs program and developed a list of seven a priori categories that were based on: a) this initial review of the transcripts, b) the purpose of the stanton-chapman et al. interviews, and c) the interview questions. next, the two staff developed specific definitions for each category and used these definitions to independently code interviews from one randomly selected hs program. after they each had coded one or two interviews the researchers met to compare and discuss their codes and to resolve any disagreements by further defining codes. this review and discussion resulted in changes to the primary categories and the addition of subcategories to best depict emerging patterns across programs. the final coding categories included ones related to problem behavior and discipline practices (refer to snell, voorhees, et al., 2012) and social skills instructional practices; but only the categories pertaining to this study are reported here. these included: a) social: most important social skills to teach; b) universal strategies: methods that are used to support social-emotional development for all children in the classroom; and c) challenges: barriers to supporting children's social-emotional skills (e.g., what challenges, if any, do you have in teaching social skills to your students?). since codes were based on teacher responses and not on the three levels of intervention, secondary and tertiary level codes were not developed as teachers indicated strategies that they use for all students rather than a select few. the researchers used these finalized categories to recode all of the interviews from this initial hs program and then independently coded all of the interviews from a second hs program. they reached 100% agreement on the primary and secondary categories for both sets of interviews. these data were then entered and sorted by categories using nvivo. next, one of the researchers coded the interviews from each of the other three programs and entered and sorted the data using nvivo. the second researcher reviewed all of the coded data for these three programs and discussed the codes with the first researcher to resolve any disagreements. the researchers reached 100% agreement on the coded categories. matrices were developed to summarize the interview data for each program. additionally, cross program matrices were developed to compare responses across programs. for more information regarding the interview measure, please refer to snell, berlin et al., 2012. results survey data survey participants were asked to “give two examples of what you do to encourage positive interactions between children in your classroom”. table 2 presents the response data for this question. since respondents were asked to provide two examples, percentages do not equal 100%. seventeen respondents (22%) provided one response only, and 12 answers were too vague to code properly. the most frequent categories of responses were (a) naturalistic peer interaction strategies: facilitation of social interactions and encouraging children to talk (n=35, 45 %), role plays and modeling (n=23, 29%), talking about feelings or encouraging children to use their words (n=16, 21%), or (b) classroomwide interventions: organizational strategies (e.g., scheduling time for small groups, setting up the physical environment to allow for interactions, n=22, 27%), and social skills curriculum (n=12, 15%). results of a survey table 2 number and percentage of teacher strategies reported by survey respondents to encourage positive interactions between children teacher strategies number of respondents percentage of respondents classroomwide interventions organization strategies 22 27% uses social skills curricula 12 15% talks about friendships 7 9% naturalistic peer interaction interventions facilitation of social interactions and encouraging children to talk 35 45% role plays and modeling 23 29% talks about feelings and encourages children to use their words 16 21% helps children work through disputes and problem solves 8 10% redirects when children are not interacting properly 2 3% for purposes of this study, teachers responded to two conflict scenarios that addressed social skills. these scenarios provided an indication of how staff would foster positive peer interaction and respond to challenging social situations in the classroom. these data were analyzed by qualitative methodology and the scoring rubric of low, medium and high described earlier. for the first conflict scenario where a child with language delays is not joining in play in the house center, 17 participants (18%) received a high score for their response. examples of highly rated responses included provide lissy with a way to communicate such as pictures or a visual communication system, and model play skills with lissy using storybooks and puppets. these responses reflect explicit social skills interventions. sixty-four participants (82%) received a medium score for their response. examples of medium responses included engage lissy in one-to-one play with a teacher, reinforce and praise all social interactions between lissy and her peers, and enlist the help of others such as the speech-language pathologist. these responses reflect naturalistic peer interaction interventions. none of the participants received a low score on the first conflict scenario. for the second conflict scenario where two children were arguing over a ball and one child told the other she did not want to be his friend, nine participants (12%) received a high score for their response. examples of highly rated responses included talking with brenda about the problem and asking how she feels about the situation, helping brenda and juan come up with solutions to the problem, and having discussions about feelings and friendships in order to work out the problem. these responses reflect naturalistic peer interaction interventions. sixty-three participants (81%) received a medium score for their response. medium rated responses included allowing the children to problem-solve on their own and using social stories with the children. these responses reflect a combination of naturalistic peer interaction interventions and stanton-chapman et al. classroomwide interventions. six participants (7%) received low scores for their response to the second conflict scenario. low rated response examples included stopping the interaction and taking the ball from the children and telling the children to apologize to one another. interview results important social skills for children to learn. interview participants were asked to respond to open-ended questions concerning social skills. results were analyzed by program for two reasons. first, the university irb wanted to make sure interview participants remained anonymous to the fullest extent possible. we felt analyzing data by program rather than individually would allow this to occur. second, programs tend to follow certain curricula, philosophies, and procedures. we wanted to see how programs differed rather than individuals. when asked “what are the most important social skills for children to learn?” the majority of participants (60%; teachers, teaching assistants and mental health or behavior specialists) responded with statements that were categorized as peer interaction and friendship skills. examples of skills in this category included sharing, getting along with peers, learning how to interact and communicate with peers, respecting one another, taking turns, cooperating and being good friends. for example, a mental health specialist identified the most important social skills as: "getting children to share and just respect one another and use their words to communicate." one teacher commented: “communication is important. how can they possibly be friends if they can’t speak to one another?” a second teacher listed: “verbalization…cause if you can’t express yourself in one way or another, hopefully in a more positive manner…then you are going to run into problems”. a variety of reasons were provided for the importance of these skills. for example, one teacher explained, “some of them don’t have siblings and have never been in daycare, so i think it’s really important to let the children know that we are all here to work together and we’re all friends.” a teaching assistant indicated: “with this age group it is important to get them socially ready…with their peers and for kindergarten.” other social skills that were considered important but mentioned less often were categorized as behavior control (34%, recognizing and expressing feelings, respecting boundaries, keeping hands to self), and social problem-solving (12%, conflict resolution, working out problems with peers, making good choices). curricula used to teach social skills. interviewees were also asked to describe the curriculum they used (if any) to teach social skills to all children in the classroom. four out of the five programs indicated that they used the al’s pals curriculum 1 (wingspan, 2004). one of these programs also used the second step curriculum 1 (2007). the fifth program used i can problem solve 1 (shure, 1992) as the program-wide social-emotional curriculum but some teachers and guidance counselors used al's pals as a supplement. the 46 lessons in the al’s pals curriculum are conducted twice a week lasting 10-15 minutes and extend over a 23-week period; lessons focus on skills such as recognizing and dealing with emotions and social problemsolving. the curriculum makes use of creative role plays, puppets, music, and movement as a substance abuse prevention program, but many viewed the program as a good tool for promoting social-emotional development. the majority of interviewees indicated that they like the al’s pals curriculum because “it relates to kids and the children learn a lot” and “puppets seem so results of a survey real that it doesn’t seem like it is the teacher telling you…it’s this fun little character telling you what to do or what not to do”. interviewees also described specific instructional strategies they used to teach social skills during classroom activities; these are summarized in table 3. in regard to methods for teaching children about emotions, resolving conflict, and social problem-solving most respondents from all five programs described strategies from their class-wide social skills curriculum (e.g., calm down and problem-solving steps, the use of al’s place as a quiet place for children to calm down). some teachers noted that it was hard to teach social skills without a specific curriculum such as al’s pals. responses regarding strategies to promote peer interaction and friendship skills were similar to survey responses but did not mention the use of a specific curriculum. classroomwide techniques were described by respondents from four programs. reading books about friendship, acting out stories, and discussions with children about friendship were mentioned by staff from three programs. one teacher noted: “our big motto in class is that we are all friends. we don’t have to play with each other to be friends but we all get along and respect each other.” staff in two programs mentioned organizational strategies: arrangement of physical space (e.g., setting up centers that would promote interaction such as restaurant, providing space for two or more children to play in each center) and planned activities (e.g., board games and paired peers). for example, one teacher noted: “sometimes we have a buddy day and i say, go get your special friend…to go to dramatic play.” naturalistic interventions (e.g., modeling and providing play suggestions) were mentioned by staff from all five programs. a teacher in the program that described the richest variety of strategies commented: “we just do it as we need to.” a teacher from another program explained: “if they do things, i’ll say-friends don’t like to be hit and you are going to make your friend upset and they won’t want to play with you…if someone was doing those kinds of things to you, you would be sad…teachable moments.” table 3. categories of interview responses regarding social skill instruction methods and challenges theme categories number of programs social skill instruction methods social skills curricula techniques (calm down &, problem-solving steps) modeling appropriate skills providing play suggestions friendship activities (e.g., reading books, acting out stories, and discussions about friendship) organizational strategies: (e.g., arrangement of physical space planned activities). 5 5 5 4 2 social skill instruction challenges social-emotional curricula implementation issues (scripted, need for extensive training) meeting individual children’s social-emotional needs increased pressure to teach academics 5 3 3 stanton-chapman et al. challenges when using a social-emotional curriculum. participants also identified challenges to the use of a social-emotional curriculum or to social skills instruction (refer to table 3). three types of challenges were mentioned most often. staff from all five programs mentioned specific challenges in regard to using a program-wide curriculum. while interview respondents considered the al’s pals curriculum to be valuable, some also indicated that it can be a challenging program to implement because it is scripted and requires extensive training to use. for example, a mental health specialist noted: "the teachers feel like they cannot go off the script even if they feel like the kids aren't going to get it." an administrator responded, “teachers must be trained to use al’s pals. many of our new staff are not able to receive the training because the training often conflicts with other head start trainings. they cannot participate [in al’s pals] without the training.” in two programs, social skills lessons were delivered by someone other than classroom teacher, as is the case in a program where the guidance counselor visited the class twice a week to do the al’s pals lesson. several teachers expressed concern that children seemed to understand the al’s pals lessons but did not integrate these skills into classroom activities, indicating that these social-emotional skill lessons did not generalize on their own. one teacher expressed her worry about her students learning the target skills through curriculum songs: “i think with al’s pals, the challenge is, you teach the lessons and then sometimes, the kids get the song but they don’t get the step.” program staff also had concerns about the curriculum’s effectiveness for children with significant problem behavior. one mental health specialist indicated, “i don’t see al’s pals working beyond children with mild behaviors…when it gets to moderate or severe behaviors....al’s is out the door”. interview participants in three out of the five programs discussed the challenge of meeting children’s social-emotional needs and the need for classroom staff to use more individualized strategies. an administrator noted: “approximately 10-20% of the children…could benefit from a more intensive social skills curriculum.” a behavior specialist noted that some classroom staff do not understand the need for explicit social skill instruction for children with severe and persistent problem behavior; these staff feel that children should be punished for misbehavior rather than taught how to behave. she explained: “trying to work with teachers in understanding that just like we need academic modification and differentiation sometimes we need differentiation for behavior. [teachers] are very willing to give a child modified scissors if they have fine motor difficulty [and use] hand over hand [prompting] but giving that different expectation for behavior seems harder.” an additional challenge mentioned by staff in three out of the five programs was the increased pressure to teach academic skills and how this limits the time spent on social skills instruction. for example, a behavior specialist noted: “when they are looking at their lesson plans for the week…teaching the academic skills stands out…and they feel a lot of pressure...to teach the 123s and abcs…it’s hard for them to understand that the other [social skills instruction] is important too.” a teacher explained that the program was using an ec curriculum and a literacy curriculum and noted: "my major challenge with using [the social skills curriculum] is that there is not enough time in the day.” a teacher in a different program noted: i know it is not a good thing to say out loud [but social-emotional] development is more important than that academic piece because if you can’t get your social-emotional intact… academics are not going to come. that is my biggest pet peeve and i truly feel results of a survey we’ve lost sight of this; it’s more important now than it ever was before because they are not getting that [social emotional piece] at home. discussion the current study examined the views of hs staff about the value of social skills instruction and strategies used by hs programs to foster children’s social competence in order to determine how their current practices fit within the tiered pbs framework. social skills difficulties are common in hs classrooms and it is critical to address these during the early childhood years. while research indicates the importance of early instruction of social skills in the classroom by teachers, it is necessary to investigate whether teachers, assistant teachers, and program administrators understand both the value of teaching social skills and how to teach social skills in the classroom. the first study aim was to identify the social skills that hs staff considered most important to teach preschool children. we thought that hs program staff would emphasize skills similar to those described in the 2003 head start outcomes framework (e.g., developing friendships with peers, expressing feelings, following rules, using compromise) (office of head start, 2003) and this was substantiated. it is worthy to note that peer interaction skills were identified most often as important skills to teach. these findings are similar to those of odom et al. (1994) and west et al. (2007) who reported survey data that indicated that teachers thought that young children would benefit from social skills interventions targeting peer interaction skills. the second study aim was to determine methods used in these programs for social skills instruction. as we anticipated, since all of the programs in our study had adopted a curriculum focused on social skill development, the use of their adopted curriculum was mentioned as the primary universal intervention method for social skill instruction-especially in regard to emotional regulation and social problem-solving. while participants in the study also described a variety of appropriate teaching approaches for social skill instruction, the most frequently reported strategies from both the survey and interview fall under universal classroomwide or naturalistic peer interaction interventions (brown et al., 2008). it is important to note that many of these strategies involved whole group instruction or were used during “teachable moments,” rather than involving planned methods to help students apply and generalize skills to daily routines. it is interesting that respondents did not mention using more explicit instructional techniques (e.g., prompting children to interact with their peers or teaching peers to interact with target children) when describing their own practices, but that they did provide examples of these types of strategies when responding to the lizzie classroom scenario. this is congruent with previous research (mcconnell et al. 1992; west et al, 2007) indicating that even if teachers are aware of these explicit instructional techniques and view them as acceptable, they still may not employ them in their own classroom. while classwide universal interventions provide the foundation for supporting children’ social-emotional development, it is imperative for teachers to be able to use explicit instructional techniques when universal methods are not effective and children continue to repeatedly make the same social competence errors. research shows that when teachers provide explicit social skills instruction and model the key social skills needed to develop their relationships with peers, problem behavior decreases and social skills improve for these children stanton-chapman et al. (durlak, weissberg, dymnicki, taylor, & schellinger, 2011; joseph & strain, 2003). therefore, selecting strategies that are feasible and effective in improving children’s social competence skills makes philosophical sense (brown & conroy, 2011). teacher prompting, positive reinforcement, and direct instruction have been identified as effective instructional strategies for use with children with more intensive support needs (chandler, lubeck, & fowler, 1992; sontag, 1997). interview data from the current study reveal interesting reasons as to why teachers feel challenged to provide social skills training in the classroom. some of the main concerns were the training requirements and lack of flexibility of a scripted curriculum. while some of these requirements are necessary to ensure fidelity of intervention implementation, it may beneficial to provide for some flexibility (e.g., order of topics addressed) to address teachers’ needs for autonomy. respondents also noted the need for additional specialized strategies to address the needs of children with severe and persistent problem behaviors and did not feel their current methods or social curricula addressed these needs. the use of a tiered pwpbs approach holds promise for addressing this need. training and coaching hs staff to use this tiered intervention approach would help them to build on the universal interventions that are currently used by many programs to include more specialized strategies to meet the needs of children who require more intensive and targeted support (fox, et al 2009; snell, voorhees, et al., 2012). finally, interview participants indicated that the pressure to teach academics impeded teachers’ ability to provide required social skills instruction. this finding is consistent with the results of other studies which reported that preschool teachers expressed difficulty finding time to teach social skills when programs had an academic emphasis (early et al., 2007). federal mandates such as no child left behind (nclb) place considerable stress on academic skill instruction. the development of standards and the accountability created by testing requirements have resulted in pressure on teachers of younger children to prepare them to meet these later requirements. as a result preschool programs feel obliged to place more emphasis on academic skills (e.g., phonemic awareness, oral vocabulary and comprehension, conventions of print, numeracy skills) to ensure that all preschoolers will be ready for the academic challenges of kindergarten (copple & bredekamp, 2009; stipek, 2006). early childhood advocates warn against the possible detrimental effects of an academic emphasis, especially if it leads to less stress on other crucial areas of development such as social competence (copple & bredekamp, 2009; elkind, 2001). limitations the current study was subject to several limitations. first, this study relied on a sample of teachers and staff from a small number of hs programs in one region of the country. further, the sample of teachers who were interviewed included a selected subset, rather than all of the teachers who were surveyed and demographic information was not collected about this subset. also, the samples for the survey and interviews had some overlap in participants. had the samples been identical and randomly selected from programs across the country, generalization of findings would have been more feasible. second, the samples we used were clearly not a diverse representation of ec professionals serving young children. since only 3% of the survey sample described themselves as hispanic/latina/latino, the responses did not reflect a significant cultural subset of ec staff teaching in programs across the country. however, the results of a survey sample was unique in that it illustrated the diversity of professionals with respect to program type and professional background. third, due to a request from the university irb, we were unable to collect demographic data on the interview participants. while this information would be helpful to the reader, it allowed for more truthful responses since participants knew their identity was anonymous, and their participation could not be determined by their employer. fourth, we analyzed the data as a whole rather than by the roles the participants served within their ec programs (e.g., teachers, assistant teachers, administrators). it is possible that there are differences in how administrators and mental health specialists responded than how teachers and assistant teachers would respond. since administrators and mental health specialists are not in the classroom on an everyday basis, their responses may reflect how they would ideally want to teachers to respond, but teachers and assistant teachers responded based on what is possible to do given the current classroom context. finally, it is possible to have different interpretations of the conflict scenario ratings. for example, in the conflict scenario regarding lissy who has significant language delays and was withdrawn, we gave a high rating if the participants suggested that the teacher encourage lissy’s peers to include her in their play. others may give this answer a lower rating if they expected the response to mention that the teacher would train the peers to include lissy in their play. implications this study adds to the ongoing debate about social skill instruction in the preschool classroom in several ways. rather than having teachers rely solely on a scripted curriculum to teach social skills, they should be trained to use a wide range of evidence-based methods to teach social skills in the classroom during natural routines across the day. we cannot presume that simply providing staff with a curriculum will mean that the social skill needs of all children are met in preschool classrooms. as previously noted, the use of a comprehensive pwpbs approach holds promise to addressing the social-emotional needs of all children in the hs classroom. quesenberry, hemmeter, and ostrosky (2011) found that hs programs who used more elements of this tiered pbs approach received higher ratings in regard to addressing challenging behavior and promoting social competence. when programs had stronger policies and procedures in place to support children’s social competence, teachers were more likely to indicate that they conducted ongoing assessment of children’s social skill development and embedded social competence instruction throughout their daily routine. another key area of investigation concerns how to support teachers in implementing this hierarchy of evidence-based practices. as suggested by brown and colleagues (2001, 2008), the development of more “teacher-friendly” interventions that practitioners consider feasible to use is a step in this direction. however, we must also focus our efforts on designing and implementing more effective training methods to assist teachers to learn how to apply these strategies; classroom staff benefit most from follow-up support that focuses on teachers’ application of practices (sexton, snyder, wolfe, lobman, stricklin, & akers, 1996; snyder & wolfe, 2008). coaching coupled with videotaped examples of desired instruction in the classroom is an effective method to improve program quality that should be incorporated in training (ramey & ramey, 2006). additional research is needed to uncover the variables that promote change in ec educators’ knowledge of and ability to teach social skills to children. stanton-chapman et al. 1 the al’s pals curriculum (wingspan, 2004) is a program that develops social, emotional, and behavioral skills in young children ages 3 to 8 years old. skills taught include: expressing feelings appropriately, using kind words, caring about others, using self-control, solving problems peacefully, and making safe and healthy choices. the second step early learning program (committee for children, 2007). teaches selfregulation and executive-function skills that helps preschool children learn skills to manage their feelings, make friends, and solve problems. the i can problem solve program (shure, 1992) is a cognitive-based social and emotional program targeting children ages 4 to 12 years old. the program uses games, stories, puppets, illustrations, and role-plays to help children acquire a problem-solving vocabulary, learn to understand their own as well as others' feelings, think of alternative solutions, and think of potential consequences to an act. references appl, d. j., & spenciner, l. j. 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(1997). lessons from the field: head start mental health strategies to meet changing needs. new york: national center for children in poverty. dialog, 18(1), 113-117 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary addressing trauma in a diverse head start sample: relevance for practitioners marla pfenninger saint gilles and john carlson michigan state university this study investigated the prevalence and types of traumatic events experienced by an ethnically diverse sample of head start preschoolers (ages 3-5), as rated by their parents and caregivers (n=66). the study also examined how experiencing trauma varies by ethnicity. traumatic impact as influenced by the child’s age when the event happened, number of different events experienced (polyvictimization), and frequency of experiencing events is discussed. eighty-five percent of children had experienced trauma. there were no ethnic differences in trauma prevalence. caregivers rated traumatic impact as more severe for children who had experienced multiple types of events and for those who experienced traumatic events more frequently. the importance of addressing trauma exposure within the head start classroom setting is discussed. keywords: trauma, trauma prevalence, head start, traumatic stress, trauma intervention research shows that young children are the least able to defend themselves from the effects of trauma, yet they experience traumatic events at a much higher rate than the general population. one third of child victims of maltreatment are under the age of four (united states department of health and human services [hhs], 2009). the present study investigated the prevalence, nature, and degree of impact of traumatic events in head start preschoolers’ lives. two studies have measured the prevalence of exposure to trauma in head start. graham-bermann and seng (2005) found that 65% (n=160) of children had been exposed to at least one incident of community violence, and 47% had been exposed to at least one incident of family violence. in another study of 500 ethnically diverse head start families in miami dade county, parents reported that 30% of children had witnessed community violence, and over 60% of children had experienced at least one traumatic event during their lives (beeber et al., 2007). children who live in poverty and belong to an ethnic minority are even more likely to experience a potentially traumatic event (briggs-gowan et al., 2010). trauma is not an event per se, but rather the nervous system’s response to an event (levine, 1997). this means that an event may be perceived as traumatic by one child but not by another child. the effects of an event on a child may differ according to how often that event happens and what kind of event it is. acute single traumatic episodes such as exposure to natural disasters, severe car accidents or violent assaults may affect a child differently than an event that 114 pfenninger saint gilles & carlson happens repeatedly, such as neglect or witnessing domestic violence. research shows that the worst symptoms occur when children repeatedly experience multiple forms of a variety of distinct traumatic experiences (known as polyvictimization). in a large sample of children ages 2-18, finkelhor, ormrod and turner (2007) found that of the 70% of children who had been victimized during the present year, 64% had experienced at least one additional, different kind of victimization during the same year. although scientists traditionally believed that young children were too unaware to be affected by trauma, current research shows that this is not true. traumatic experiences may affect children across different areas of their lives. children who have experienced trauma may have difficulty trusting caregivers and develop normal coping skills, and can lead to overly selfprotective behaviors such as avoidance, withdrawal, and anger (lieberman & knorr, 2007). childhood trauma also physically affects brain development and neurotransmission (cook, ciorciari, varker & devilly, 2009). experiencing trauma at a young age can put children at risk for negative academic outcomes. children who have experienced trauma have lower scores on standardized reading, math and science measures when compared with their peers who have not experienced trauma. exposure to trauma also increases the odds that a child will receive special education services through an individualized education program (iep; goodman, miller, & west-olatunji, 2012). further, experiencing trauma puts children at risk for experiencing both internalizing and externalizing symptoms at a higher rate than their peers (ford, gagnon, connor, & pearson, 2011). our study the purpose of this study is to bring to light the importance of the primary caregiver’s interpretation of the impact of traumatic experiences on their children. in order to provide mental health services to children who have experienced trauma, it is important to first understand the prevalence of trauma cases within this population as well as the types of traumatic events experienced and the impact of those events on children. this study did this by interviewing caregivers to better understand prevalence, nature and frequency of events that children have experienced. sixty six parents or primary caregivers of children aged 3-5 years enrolled in head start in a fourcounty region in michigan participated in the study. the researcher interviewed primary caregivers using the traumatic events screening inventoryparent report revised (tesi-prr; ghosh-ippen et al., 2002) either at their child’s head start site, over the phone, or through a take-home survey. the scale contains 24 items that focus on the child’s direct exposure to or witnessing of, severe accidents, illness or disaster, family or community conflict or violence, and sexual molestation and the child’s reaction to each event. caregivers were asked if the child had experienced these 24 events and then asked to rate the impact of these events on the child. important conclusions/ relevance to practice  in this study, 85% of children had experienced one or more potentially traumatic event according to their primary caregiver’s report. seventy percent of children in addressing trauma 115 this study had experienced more than one potentially traumatic event. this suggests that many children in head start classrooms are the victims of multiple and ongoing traumatic events.  the most frequently reported events were, (a) having a serious medical procedure, being very sick, being seen in the emergency room, or staying in the hospital overnight, (b) being away from the primary caregiver for an extended period of time or during a stressful time, (c) having a person close to the child who was very sick or injured, and (d) seeing, hearing, or hearing about people in the child’s family physically fighting.  children belonging to the ethnic majority group (caucasian) were just as likely as children in the ethnic minority group (all other ethnicities) to experience potentially traumatic events. this may be due to the fact that previous studies have not separated race from socioeconomic status when claiming that racial minority children were more likely to experience trauma. this study only involved children from similar socio-economic backgrounds, controlling for the effects of socioeconomic status.  results of this study suggest that two factors, the frequency of experiencing events and what type of traumatic event that child experiences, influence how caregivers rate the severity of impact of events on their children. caregivers of children who had experienced multiple events rated each of the events as more traumatic for the child than those who had experienced fewer events. caregivers of children who had experienced two types of events, both interpersonal (events such as abuse or being separated for a long time from the child’s caregiver) and non-interpersonal (events such as being in a car accident, or experiencing a natural disaster) events, rated the impact of each event as more severe compared with those who had only experienced one type of event. taken together, these findings support the fact that cumulative or complex trauma leads to the most severe trauma reactions. children who experience different types of traumatic events repeatedly are at the greatest risk for negative outcomes. implications for practice consider traumatic exposure as a “systems-level” issue. the high number of children in this study who have experienced trauma (85%) suggests that the majority of children in head start classrooms are dealing with traumatic stress on a daily basis. infusing head start agencies with knowledge regarding the effects of trauma on all children and adults within the system is likely to be an effective intervention. teach head start staff how to recognize traumatic stress in children. the results of this study show that a high percentage of children in head start classrooms have experienced trauma. making sure staff can identify the signs of traumatic stress will help ensure that children get the treatment they need in order to prevent social/emotional and academic difficulties in preschool and later in life. further, providing information regarding the effects of trauma on children available to all head start staff and families will help confirm that all caregivers are aware of trauma-informed practices and can respond appropriately to children who have experienced trauma. 116 pfenninger saint gilles & carlson teach head start preschoolers skills for dealing with trauma and stress, as they are likely to experience traumatic events during their lives. schools are quickly becoming places to receive mental health interventions (adelman & taylor, 2012). head start centers should consider various ways to teach staff and children ways to cope with traumatic stress, including implementing class-wide curricula, running therapeutic group sessions, and working with families. provide caregivers and families with education regarding the effects of trauma. this study showed that caregivers are not always aware of the negative effects of trauma on their children. it is therefore necessary to make information regarding children’s response to traumatic stress available to families. summary and conclusion exposure to traumatic events affects many head start preschoolers. infusing head start agencies with knowledge regarding trauma exposure in young children will help traumainformed practices reach the children and families that are affected by traumatic exposure. teaching all members of head start programs (i.e. teachers, staff) to recognize traumatic stress in children is the first step in providing necessary services to children. teaching children coping skills, and providing families with support and education regarding the effects of trauma are also important considerations for head start programs. references adelman, h. s., & taylor, l. (2012). mental health in schools: moving in new directions. contemporary school psychology, 16, 9-18. beeber, l. s., chazan-cohen, r., squires, j., harden, b.j., boris, n.,…malik, n. (2007). the early promotion and intervention research consortium (e-pirc): five approaches to improving infant/toddler mental health in early head start. infant mental health journal, 28, 130-150. doi:10.1002/imhj.20126 briggs-gowan, m. j., ford, j. d., fraleigh, l., mccarthy, k., & carter, a. s. (2010). prevalence of exposure to potentially traumatic events in a healthy birth cohort of very young children in the northeastern united states. journal of traumatic stress, 23(6), 725–733. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.1002/jts.20593 cook, f., ciorciari, j., varker, t., & devilly, g. j. (2009). changes in long term neural connectivity following psychological trauma. clinical neurophysiology, 120, 309-314. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2008.11.021 finkelhor, d., ormrod, r. k., & turner, h. a. (2007). polyvictimization and trauma in a national longitudinal cohort. development and psychopathology, 19, 149-166. doi:10.1017/s0954579407070083 ford, j. d., gagnon, k., connor, d. f., & pearson, g. (2011). history of interpersonal violence, abuse and nonvictimixation trauma and severity of psychiatric symptoms among children in outpatient psychiatric treatment. journal of interpersonal violence, 26, 3316-37. ghosh-ippen, c., ford, j., racusin, r., acker, m., bosquet, k., rogers, c., edwards, j. (2002). trauma events screening inventory-parent report revised. san francisco: the child trauma research project of the early trauma network and the national center for ptsd dartmouth child trauma research group. goodman, r. d., miller, m. d., & west-olatunji, c. a. (2012). traumatic stress, socioeconomic status, and academic achievement among primary school students. psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy, 4, 252–259. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.1037/a0024912 graham-bermann, s. a., & seng, j. (2005). violence exposure and traumatic stress symptoms as additional predictors of health problems in high-risk children. the journal of pediatrics, 146, 349-354. doi:16/j.jpeds.2004.10.065 addressing trauma 117 lieberman, a. f., & knorr, k. (2007). the impact of trauma: a developmental framework for infancy and early childhood. pediatric annals, 36, 209-15. levine, p. (1997). waking the tiger : healing trauma : the innate capacity to transform overwhelming experiences. berkley: north atlantic books. united states department of health and human services, administration for children and families. (2009). child maltreatment. (n.d.). retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm09/cm09.pdf#page=31 http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm09/cm09.pdf#page=31 maintaining professionalism and appropriate distance and neutrality dialog, 16(4), 121-136 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article maintaining professionalism, appropriate distance, and consistency in relationships with participants in longitudinal research: guidelines for investigators and research staff robin g. lanzi university of alabama at birmingham sharon l. ramey virginia tech carilion research institute when conducting longitudinal studies, particularly those that measure personal and sensitive issues and depend upon establishing a relationship with study participants that is respectful, trustworthy, and consistent to ensure study participants are comfortable, clear about the purpose of the research, and likely to remain engaged over time, natural relationships are formed between those collecting data and study participants. a paramount concern for longitudinal research is that these relationships do not exert differential effects on the data collected, participants’ retention in the study, or the wellbeing of either the study participants or research staff. we propose specific strategies to minimize differential effects of these relationships on the study’s scientific and ethical integrity. the guidelines are ones we have developed and refined over the past 3 decades in multiple large-scale longitudinal studies, primarily with low-income and minority families whose children have higher than average levels of biological and social risk factors. these guidelines focus on specifying explicit boundaries for the relationships and consequences of deviating from these and the challenging issue of how to be warm and supportive without crossing boundaries of professionalism, altering the data collection process, or treating study participants differently and perhaps confusing them about the established research contract. among those of us who have conducted community-based studies that involve repeated contact with study participants, we have encountered a wide array of issues that focus on the relationships we establish with study participants. informally, we share stories (while protecting anonymity and confidentiality of study participants) with other investigators and often develop our own ideas about how to support the professionalism and consistency of our research staff in terms of their interactions with study participants. these relationship-based concerns can be particularly challenging in studies that have a large and sometimes multi-site community data collection component, such as visiting study participants in their homes, community clinics, schools, and other natural settings. in this article, we propose that most of the problems that 122 lanzi & ramey arise can be anticipated and prevented by implementing explicit procedures that all research staff know about and agree to fulfill as part of the condition for employment (or volunteering) on the study. in table 1, we share our template that summarizes major principles of scientific integrity in a document that we have all research team members sign for all projects. (note: this is in addition to participating in mandated training and certification related to protection of human subjects). the overall purpose of creating these procedures as an integral part of every study is to maximize fulfilling high standards of scientific conduct. these standards include active efforts to minimize any potential bias in data collection, analysis, and interpretation; to promote consistency in the data collection process across all study participants and over time (when collecting repeated measures); to honor the fundamental contract established through the informed consent process that ensures protection of privacy, confidentiality, and participant safety; and to avoid any actions that could either misrepresent or confuse study participants about the scope and purpose of the research. table 1 a research pledge to support major principles of scientific integrity to uphold the highest standards of scientific conduct and of ethical behavior during data collection, which includes but is not limited to: o adhering to multiple levels of safeguards regarding the standardization of data collection, in ways that are comparable for all study participants; o minimizing and documenting any potential biases that might arise over the course of the study; o fully honoring the research contract to protect the privacy, anonymity, and safety of the study participants at all times during and after the conduct of a study; o demonstrating consistently high standards of professional conduct, both within and outside the research context; o avoiding all situations that may compromise the research endeavor through actual or perceived conflict(s); and o considering and conveying appropriate respect for cultural, community, and cohort norms and practices throughout the conduct of the study, while also complying with legal requirements related to reporting adverse events or situations. to adhere to all study protocols exactly as reviewed during training and thereafter; to never falsify any information; to never provide or sign statements in a way that misrepresents what has occurred; to be sure all data are maintained in appropriate locked and secure files; to identify and report any apparent deviations or contradictions between the actual study procedures and methods being used and the original informed consent and irb protocols; to immediately report any possible deviations from the study protocol or possible wrongdoing that i know of firsthand. depending on the matter, this will be reviewed and corrective action(s) taken in a timely matter; to immediately report any possible derivations from the study protocol or possible wrongdoing that i have heard about from others, or suspect may have occurred. (these includeactions by other research staff as well as those that directly involve me.) i will have an opportunity to report this privately and confidentially so that my supervisor may take appropriate follow-up actions to investigate as appropriate; and maintaining professionalism, distance, and consistency 123 to seek assistance and advice about any matter that i think might affect the validity, reliability, and integrity of the research and the well-being of the participants and any collaborators in the community. by signing this, i understand that i must actively uphold these principles for scientific and ethical behavior for this project. i understand that i can talk to my supervisor about any issues in a private and confidential manner. i also understand that corrective actions will be taken and reported if any of these standards are violated. ________________________________ staff member’s name ________________________________ ________________________________ signature date ________________________________ principal investigator’s name ________________________________ ________________________________ signature date note: this is the template we developed and now use in all of our research projects. research team members sign this after we provide training sessions and extended opportunities for discussion related to a specific research protocol. we return to this document throughout the course of the project as a way of reminding all research team members about the importance of conducting research that adheres to these principles of scientific integrity to maximize the potential that the research will lead to new, accurate, and sensitive findings that will help promote understanding of the factors that contribute to positive human development and well-being. when engaging with study participants, there are multiple natural threats to the scientific and ethical integrity of a project. not all research staff members have formal education related to or a clear understanding about scientific integrity and why it is so important. accordingly, systematically addressing some of the factors that could impact scientific integrity is a powerful strategy to prevent problems. there are four major relationship threats we have identified. the first is that research staff and study participants may see opportunities to have contact that extends beyond that necessary for conducting the study, based on their own personal histories and interests. these opportunities often become apparent when research staff and study participants interact frequently and when the data collection involves information about personal matters. if acted upon, these contacts outside the research study comprise a potentially serious threat to scientific integrity. a second concern is that research staff members may reveal personal information and/or personal opinions when they interact with the study participants. this self-revealing can sometimes occur without awareness, while other times the research staff may do so intentionally because they think it will be helpful. regardless of whether this occurs consciously or not, and regardless of whether this appears to be “just natural and socially appropriate,” when research staff introduce personal information, it can lead to shifts in how study participants view the research project and may influence participants’ future level of engagement and the types of information they provide. a third threat occurs when research staff develop negative perceptions about one or more study participants, based on the research staff 124 lanzi & ramey member’s personal life views (e.g., life philosophy, religious beliefs, personal and political values). when this occurs, such negative feelings can lead to dislike, disrespect, distrust, or other interpersonal difficulties with study participants. in turn, these negative perceptions could impact the data collection process (that is, alter its neutrality, objectivity, and consistency across study participants) and contribute to study participants experiencing distress and withdrawing from the project. fourth and finally, unplanned connections and events can occur over the course of a study that involve unexpected contact or sharing of information between the research staff person and study participants. these could occur in a wide variety of community situations or during a sudden-onset event (such as a natural disaster, urgent health condition, or intrusion by another person). each of these potential types of threats is discussed in greater detail below, along with suggested strategies for how to prevent them, as well as how to minimize and handle effectively if they are not successfully avoided. the strategies we propose to maintain scientific integrity and professionalism are grounded in the following fundamental premise about the process of scientific inquiry: that the science of human development depends upon the conscientious application of standards that simultaneously ensure that (a) the data collected will be accurate and valid and analyzed in ways consistent with the intent of the research and (b) participants will be fully protected, consistent with approved institutional review board (irb) protocol. thus, the scientific integrity of longitudinal research is critically linked to: (1) establishing and fully implementing multiple levels of safeguards that explicitly detail the standardization of data collection and analysis for all study participants (note: individualization of procedures can be designated as part of this standardization); (2) actively observing and fully documenting and reporting any potential sources of bias that might arise over the course of the study; (3) fully honoring the research contract to protect the privacy, anonymity, and safety of the study participants at all times during and after the conduct of a study; (4) demonstrating consistently high standards of professional conduct, both within and outside the research context; (5) avoiding all situations that may compromise the research endeavor through actual or perceived conflict(s) of interest; and (6) considering and conveying appropriate respect for cultural, community, and cohort norms and practices throughout the conduct of the study, while also complying with any local legal requirements related to reporting adverse events or situations (note: these must be described and discussed in advance with all study participants). this commitment to conducting research in ways that fulfill this scientific premise serves to support both current and future research by the scientific investigators and their staff, the supporting institution, and beyond. this premise further recognizes that the scientific advances in a given field depend upon more than the discoveries of individual research groups. stated otherwise, future scientific inquiry often represents a collective decision to invest in certain types of research regarding certain topics, based on the probability that this scientific work can be conducted in ways that will yield trustworthy, accurate, and useful new knowledge about a topic. accordingly, the public’s trust in the scientific process and willingness to invest public, private, and philanthropic resources in research, particularly about complex human issues, is essential to maintain. when research projects fail to visibly and consistently uphold the standards of scientific integrity, they potentially can destroy public trust. remarkably, despite the fact that protection of human subjects training is required in all studies and covered in many ways (see for example: dhhs, 2009; nih, 2012; ohrp, 2008; the national commission for the protection of human subjects of biomedical and behavioral research, 1979) and that most research projects include many checks about the overall processes of collecting, entering, analyzing, and maintaining professionalism, distance, and consistency 125 reporting data, the topic of interactions between research staff and study participants is frequently overlooked and typically not monitored actively over the course of a project. we strongly advocate that for all projects this topic needs to be elevated to a central position, supported by written procedures, formal training, and ongoing monitoring, so that the standards of scientific integrity are fully supported. what is undeniable is that over the course of conducting a longitudinal study that involves personal contact with study participants, the investigators and research staff may develop their own feelings and form their own impressions of study participants, as individuals or as representatives of a group or subgroups. just as frequently, the research team may want to help study participants in ways that extend beyond the research project. accordingly, it is essential that each study establish clear guidelines, in advance, to help all members of the research team have an explicit understanding of what is expected, appropriate, and acceptable. for us, the research team includes the study’s leaders (principal investigators, project directors, project coordinators), collaborators (co-investigators), and advisers as well as the research staff (hired employees, students, volunteers) and any study partners (such as community clinics, agencies, and schools). further, we use the term research to encompass all basic and applied research and evaluation projects, whether initiated by those who identify as scientists or by the community or program initiatives. we consider any systematic effort to gather and analyze information about the lives and well-being of individuals for the purposes of increasing knowledge about human development to be a form of research. accordingly, we believe that the situations that pose threats to a research study apply just as strongly to required program evaluations (increasingly included in publicly supported service delivery projects and educational initiatives) as they do to projects funded solely as a research study. in this paper, we provide examples of these situations that may pose threats to research and guidelines and recommendations to handle them; but first, we provide an overview of our major multi-site research studies to help contextualize our guidelines and recommendations. we provide details such as frequency and timing of data collection because we think these aspects of the study contribute to the likely formation of relationships between the research staff and study participants; further, knowing about the general purpose of each study helps to specify the types of information that is revealed over the course of conducting the longitudinal study, and indicates sources of potential, but often unrecognized challenges, to the integrity and consistency of the project. brief overview of research the guidelines are ones we have developed and refined over the past two decades in multiple, often multi-site and large-scale longitudinal studies, primarily with low-income and minority families whose children are eligible for early head start and head start services. these studies include the national head start-public school early childhood transition demonstration study, a congressionally legislated study in 30 sites throughout the united states, with more than 7,500 former head start children and families in 450+ schools, designed to test the efficacy of a program to help low-income children and their families make successful transitions from head start programs to kindergarten through third grade (ramey et al., 2000; lanzi, pascoe, keltner, & ramey, 1999; lanzi, ramey, & ramey, 2007; ramey, ramey, & lanzi, 2001, 2006; ramey, ramey, & lanzi, 2004, 2007). more recently, we completed three nih-funded multisite 126 lanzi & ramey longitudinal studies, two of which are home-based parenting studies, one focused on first-time adolescent mothers compared to adult mothers with and without resources (lanzi, ramey, & bert, 2012; lanzi, bert, keltner, & the centers for the prevention of child neglect, 2009; lanzi et al, 2007; lefever et al., 2008) and the other a rct testing a multi-component home visiting intervention (“my baby and me”) designed to increase parenting responsiveness, home health and safety, maternal decision-making, and early literacy exposure (guttentag et al, in press; lanzi, guttentag, baggett, willard-noria, & the centers for the prevention of child neglect, 2008). in both studies, mothers enrolled early in pregnancy and children were assessed at multiple time points through age three. the third nih study is a 5-site, prospective communitybased participatory research study with more than 2,500 mothers recruited when their baby was born and followed through the first 2 years of life. this community child health network research focuses on stress and resilience in parents and how these influence maternal allostatic load – a composite index of the wear-and-tear on multiple body systems associated with stress exposure – as well as pregnancy outcomes and child health and development (dunkel schetter, schafer, lanzi, et al, in press; lanzi, ramey, et al, 2012; patchen, ramey, & lanzi, 2009). collectively, these studies provided many natural opportunities to detect and address issues associated with the relationships that developed between the investigative teams and those who volunteer to be study participants. our study samples include a majority of very lowincome (<200 percent federal poverty level) parents and children, with more than half of the samples comprised of black/african-american and hispanic/latino families. each study also included higher income families as well as white/non-hispanic families. none of these studies focused on individuals selected because of their need for or participation in treatment related to severe physical or mental health conditions. as such, we judge that our experiences with these multi-year, multi-site studies – a combination of observational and experimental studies – provide a broad base for identifying the types of problems that frequently arise, many of which can be averted and/or quickly detected and thereby minimized if investigative teams are well prepared for these relationship-based problems. specific sources of challenges and threats to the scientific integrity and ethical conduct of a research effort in this section, we describe types of behavior and attitudes that represent a threat to maintaining high scientific standards. we make recommendations for how to address these and identify alternative and divergent ways of thinking about these issues. 1. having contact that extends beyond that required for conduct of the study research staff often want some additional contact with study participants a quite natural situation when they have concern for individuals and families in need and when they share interests and have positive feelings about study participants. this occurs most frequently in studies of low resource families that face multiple life challenges. all research projects should have procedures in place to make referrals and discuss problems that are identified in the course of collecting data. however, contact that extends beyond the project protocol for offering maintaining professionalism, distance, and consistency 127 assistance and for socializing can seriously alter how study participants view the research, and often this can influence the data that are being collected. how might this look in the field? often research staff will discover that they share some common interests, life histories, and local knowledge with some of the study participants. these areas of mutual interests tend to lead to further conversation and considering possible further contact outside the research context. other times, study participants extend a direct and warm invitation to research staff to join them in other activities, such as inviting an interviewer or observer to stay for a meal or refreshment, to attend a church service with them, or to respond to an invitation to the research team to join a family celebration, such as a baby shower, a marriage, or a child’s graduation. even stronger potential for relationships can occur when research staff and study participants feel a personal attraction or want to introduce someone to another person for the possibility of a close friendship or romantic relationship. the opportunities and desire for some additional contact thus can range from minimal (e.g., accepting a refreshment or staying to watch a television program) to moderate (e.g., having long discussions about certain topics or agreeing to meet in a way that involves some social support) to high (e.g., wanting to date someone or to establish a sustained friendship). in fact, all of these situations have arisen, on multiple occasions, over the course of our experiences. the minimal extended contact situations appear to be the least problematic and the most natural and frequently occurring. nonetheless, they pose a risk for the following reasons: first, if a research staff member accepts or extends offers for minimal contact, there is the likelihood that the study participant may come to expect this. for example, for projects that involve home visiting, accepting an invitation to dinner may then lead to the expectation that this will recur. if this invitation is accepted once, but not again, this may be perceived as a rejection and may alter the relationship. another example is that of a research staff member giving a small present to a family (not part of the study’s pre-planned remuneration), such as homemade cookies, a baby rattle, or a book to a mother. the problem with this is that study participants may not accurately understand the source of the present, may come to expect more presents on a regular basis, or may tell other study participants (who did not receive the same gift) about this act of kindness. for any of these situations, even minimal additional contact is highly likely to be associated with additional conversation and sharing in a warm, positive manner. at first, this may appear to be good for the research. in fact, however, the variation in how study participants are treated and the additional potential exchange of personal information can lead to the perceptions that there will be continued contact beyond the scope of the research project. although this contact is inherently not harmful to anyone, it is a non-regular and potentially harmful behavior in terms of the research project’s consistency across participants and in terms of possible misunderstanding, hurt feelings, and inappropriate expectations by study participants. how to handle this? first, most research projects plan to develop some amount of casual, informal, and positive rapport with participants. the nature and extent of this positive relationship should be carefully described as part of the research team’s plan. this plan should be shared with all research staff and study participants. this affirms the value of feeling comfortable with and showing positive appreciation for the manner in which the research study is conducted. the plan also should identify activities that are not allowed. this can help research staff explain why they have to decline some of the warm invitations they might receive. 128 lanzi & ramey examples of acceptable social exchanges might include “get-togethers” for certain research projects, small tokens of appreciation as well as more substantive remuneration given to all study participants, and a permissible amount of chit-chat and even professional discussion (appropriate to the professional background, skill level, and specialized training of the research staff and consistent with the purpose of the study). to allow research staff members to make their own judgments about responding to initiations from study participants for additional contact or advice places a decision-making burden on them; in turn, this could be very difficult to monitor and could alter the way that the research protocol is implemented. what to say when rejecting an overture that is warm and well-intentioned, and that appears to be quite minimal in the actual threat to the study? all research staff team members should adopt a standard practice of responding with a clear statement about the study limits imposed on everyone, such as “thank you, but i am not allowed to. the research project does not allow any extra contact between researchers and people participating in the study.” if needed, the research staff member can explain that this is part of the responsibility for conducting the research in exactly the same way at all times, and that in other projects, unexpected problems have arisen from contact that have become serious. this rejection of a positive social advance can feel awkward and even arbitrary for some research staff. this makes it essential that this topic is addressed in detail during initial training and re-visited during ongoing training and supervision. for moderate and high contact situations, there usually is a stronger connection or potential perceived by the research staff and/or the study participant. under these conditions, the same prohibition applies, but further actions may be warranted. these may include reassignment for future data collection, and sometimes may necessitate terminating employment. these actions should be decided through individual discussion with the principal investigator and/or project coordinator. one possible solution, for certain types of relationships, may involve discussing the possibility of having contact when the entire research project is completed. this should, however, be discussed openly in advance with the research leadership and possible difficulties be considered thoroughly (e.g., if this involves conferring personal or professional benefits that could influence the remainder of the data collection process, the participation level of the study participant, or the integrity of the overall study). serious issues that are obviously prohibited involve direct offers related to employment or professional services (in either direction), intimate contact, or knowledge about or participation in any illegal activities. finally, it warrants stating that maintaining this highly consistent pattern of “no extra contact” throughout the course of the study serves to protect the research staff from possible criticism and personal harm, and also will serve to educate study participants about the integrity of the research process itself. 2. exchanging personal and/or professional information and opinions that are not part of the planned research protocol when research projects are gathering information that is personal in nature, it is likely that questions will arise that lead to the study participant wanting to know more about a topic, perhaps concerning a direct question raised during an interview or a test protocol or related to an intervention that is being tested as part of the study. there will be a wide array of topics on which the research and/or intervention staff will be competent to provide additional information maintaining professionalism, distance, and consistency 129 related to the study itself. extensive training and preparation for these likely queries should be an explicit part of the initial and ongoing training and supervision process of the study. the threat to scientific integrity concerns research staff providing information that goes beyond the formal part of the research protocol or explaining the research procedures clearly. in our experience, we find that research staff with a background in the helping professions (e.g., social work, nursing, psychology, early childhood education, nutrition) often slip into giving advice that links to their professional background and experience. for some, they may feel uncomfortable adhering to the research protocol if they think they could do something that would immediately “help” a study participant. how might this look in the field? examples include study participants asking the research staff what they know or think about certain treatments or practices (e.g., medical or therapeutic intervention, how best to parent their child), what their impressions or judgments are about the study participant (e.g., “how do you think i am doing compared to others in the study?” or “is it normal that i am doing this or feeling this way?”), or discussions about general life topics (e.g., political views, religious preferences and practices, where to shop for something). as in the category above, the opportunities for additional information exchange can range from quite minor (e.g., “do you think i should keep my child inside if it rains?”) to far more personal and substantial (e.g., “what do you advise me to do about my family situation?”). how to handle this? for very minor factual or superficial information exchanges, there is unlikely to be a risk to the integrity of the project or the maintenance of a highly professional, appropriately distant yet warm and supportive relationship. topics that should be off limits include discussion of personal possessions and their cost or procurement, politics, religion, sexual orientation and behavior, personal problems or lifestyles, and individual health concerns. it is quite understandable that minor comments about politics, for instance, could be expressed by a study participant (e.g., concern about an act of congress, the supreme court, or the president) and it would feel minor that the research staff express a concordant, supportive concern. the problem with this is that the repercussions and interpretation from a casual remark may be greater than anticipated. the study participant might live or work with others who do not agree, and may seek to use your supportive comment as adding weight to the correctness of his or her views. in a complex and potentially volatile family situation, for example, this could lead to increased probability of domestic violence. alternatively, a study participant may suspect that the project holds a certain “bias” already in its orientation (e.g., its views related to controversial health-related and personal decision-making topics such as abortion, homosexuality, the legalization of marijuana, whether parental rights should be terminated in child abuse cases) and may be setting a “trap” by stating a view and then seeking agreement or disagreement from the research staff. once again, the members of the research team all need to be prepared for and, ideally, practiced in ways of being polite and clear in refusing to express personal opinions or give advice or information beyond the scope of the project. this is simple when written policies prohibit this, and the research staff person can honestly say “the guidelines for my work and my employment prevent me from telling you my own personal views. this is because sometimes these may interfere with my ability to conduct the research in the way i have been trained. everyone on the project is required to follow the study procedures in exactly the same manner.” once again, the initial engagement in “small talk” seems quite natural and sometimes even 130 lanzi & ramey necessary. yet even small comments and conversations can lead to unanticipated consequences, great care must be taken that the content of the exchanges are appropriate. obvious legal and ethical issues present themselves if information or opinion exchange occurs that leads to subsequent decisions and actions of uncertain outcomes. frequently, research staff have outside interests, small businesses, or private practices that they or their relatives are engaged in that might be of direct practical benefit or interest to study participants. despite the potential helpfulness, such offers are beyond the scope of the research project and may interfere substantially with the long-term participation of the study participant(s). in the event that there is an urgent matter that arises, such as a serious health threat or a need for immediate assistance in a crisis-like situation, the study should have formal procedures in place that include timely review and explicit approval for providing information or advice. obvious exceptions involve life-threatening assistance, such as calling 911 in the event of an emergency in which the study participant or others cannot call for help. similarly, if research staff are formally trained in and certified to provide emergency procedures such as cpr and emergency first aid, these could be provided if there were not another alternative available and if a delayed response could result in likely harm. each research study should explicitly address these matters. often the research staff can respond to reasonable queries for information (e.g., “how i can find out more about enrolling in your university?” or “what other types of research like yours are going on in the country?”) by stating that the question will be referred to the project director or principal investigator who will then follow through and provide a response. this procedure is especially strong because it ensures uniform and documented exchange; it also allows for the possibility of studying whether certain study participants have particular informational needs, which may relate directly or indirectly to the study’s purpose, the interpretation of findings, and/or future planning to provide clearer instructions and information at the time of enrollment in similar types of research projects. 3. the emergence of negative perceptions about study participant(s) for many types of longitudinal research projects, there is a risk that as more is learned about certain individuals and/or settings, non-optimal factors may be revealed. it is practically impossible for those collecting data not to have their own set of feelings when they are told about or directly observe negative things occurring. for research that enrolls “at risk” or vulnerable populations, these feelings are likely to be even stronger and more problematic than in projects focused on stable, healthy, middle class samples – although personality clashes and lifestyle difference can trigger negative perceptions that span across all socioeconomic and ethnic/racial groups. how to handle this? for all projects engaged in longitudinal research, and particularly so for those that enroll identified high-risk populations, it is imperative that specific procedures be in place for making referrals for suspected and/or documented problems that may indicate need for further evaluation, treatment, or intervention consistent with professional, legal, and ethical standards. for example, our multi-site parenting studies have standard written procedures that have been reviewed with all research staff, in ways that are consistent across all sites but further are locally adapted to be consistent with local statutes and procedures, for reporting suspected child neglect or abuse. at the time of enrollment, all participants are informed about maintaining professionalism, distance, and consistency 131 this legal and ethical requirement for reporting suspected abuse and neglect. similarly, when young children are evaluated as part of the standardized assessment protocol and we detect significant delays, irregularities, or possible disabilities that are not already recognized and being treated, we have a standard method of informing the responsible adults about the results of the assessment and offering to provide information related to follow-up and evaluation by the appropriate professionals who are not connected with the research project. these are not considered to be “negative perceptions,” but rather reflect a conscientious concern for the wellbeing of participants and the use of information obtained in the course of conducting the research. the negative perceptions of concern fall into two major categories: (1) negative perceptions about the validity of the information being provided by the study participant or the appropriate levels of engagement and compliance in the study protocol; and (2) personal negative feelings about a study participant or participants, such that being in their presence elicits strong emotions and negative judgments that possibly could influence the data collection and/or data analysis process. the negative concerns about the validity and reliability of information or levels of cooperation should always be recorded and then reported and discussed with the research group leadership so that decisions about corrective actions can be made and documented. for example, if a study participant provides contradictory information that is likely to be of some consequence for the study, appears disturbed or confused by aspects of the research process, is openly hostile or uncooperative, tries to influence other study participants to be less cooperative, or appears to be concealing information about being in another research project,¸ these instances warrant action, to be decided on an individual basis. in the more frequent situation when research staff members are exposed to situations and receive information about non-optimal life circumstances, it is valuable to seek to maintain the appropriate distance and perspective on this. on many of our long-term projects, we have been concerned about both the physical safety and mental health (well-being) of our research staff members, because they are engaged in highly demanding research activities and exposed to high levels of human distress, neglect, or suffering that is beyond the scope of the study to correct (after fulfilling all appropriate referrals and interventions consistent with the study intent and ethical professional behavior). we regularly have individual and group sessions designed to encourage research staff to share and alleviate these negative perceptions. through peer support and project leadership, we seek to offer affirming and practically useful perspectives for coping to all research team members. however, at the point a particular conflict or situation arises that cannot be resolved readily through discussion and review, the research staff member needs to be considered for re-assignment and the data gathered to date needs to be reviewed carefully to ensure there have not been any irregularities in collecting or recording data thus far. if a research staff member has frequent negative encounters, these will warrant decision-making by the research leadership about the suitability of continuing this staff person in similar research activities. at no time should the research staff member pass open and observable negative judgments on study participants, in any manner whatsoever that would identify the study participant or go beyond the research team established lines of communication. if a session or activity needs to end, this should be done as early as possible and the reason for ending described in neutral terms, such as “i am sorry, but i am having a problem that requires me to end this session. i or someone else will contact you as soon as possible to schedule another session. i am very sorry for any trouble or inconvenience i have caused by this need to stop now.” the details 132 lanzi & ramey of why a session or protocol is not being completed should not be told directly to the individual. if feasible, a supervisor or another research staff member should step in, although this cannot always occur. when challenged by a study participant as to why a session is being ended, the research staff member may something like “i am not sure i am able to complete the rest of the session the way i am supposed to, so i am going to seek help from the project director.” although these statements are not fully revealing, they are defensible in terms of protecting the study participant’s privacy and sense of worth, and the integrity of the overall research project. 4. informal or unplanned contact. over the course of a longitudinal study, especially if study participants live in the same locale as the research staff, informal contact in the community is likely to occur. how to handle this? it is imperative that there be no open discussion of the study participant’s engagement in the project, or how the individuals know one another, as revealed by the research staff. brief friendly acknowledgements, such as a wave or smile or hello, are appropriate. ideally, it is best to wait until a study participant initiates this brief contact. extended contact is not appropriate. if the situation is beyond the control of the research staff member, such as two individuals finding themselves in a small secluded retreat for which they signed up and are committed, corrective action will be needed later so that adjustments in the data collection and data analysis process are made to prevent potential bias. in a social setting, such as a party or reception, the contact can remain superficial and distant, with the research staff member explaining, if necessary, in a brief, clear, and professional manner why he or she is maintaining a distance. in the commercial world, transactions should be kept to a minimum, but sometimes are unavoidable, such as meeting when one of the two individuals is in a retail or service setting and receiving compensation to do another job. the same guidelines for minimal contact and no discussion about the research project are in order. these informal and unplanned contacts should be documented and reported to the research leadership. in summary, researchers are often faced with many challenges to maintain professionalism and appropriate distance when conducting research. these challenges may include: (1) contact that extends beyond that required for conduct of the study; (2) the exchange of personal and/or professional information and opinions that are not part of the planned research protocol; (3) negative perceptions by the research staff person regarding the study participant; or (4) informal or unplanned connections that involve contact between the research staff person and study participants. the strategies proposed are intended to serve as general guidelines for handling the situations. these strategies include each longitudinal research project establishing the importance of identifying and adhering to standard policies and procedures related to professionalism, appropriate inter-personal distance, and consistency in relationships with all study participants. we recommend that institutional review boards seek evidence from investigators about how each study will monitor the behavior of research staff regarding interactions with study participants during the initial review process. we recognize every situation is different and it is ultimately the decision of the specific principal investigator, in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the irb, to direct the research staff. we hope that these scenarios provide a useful tool for discussion and training research field staff. maintaining professionalism, distance, and consistency 133 finally, we propose that longitudinal research is one of the most powerful strategies available to increase our understanding about the factors that serve to promote (versus diminish) the health, educational attainment, and personal well-being of individuals and families. being sure that the findings generated by a longitudinal study are accurate, unbiased, and truly address the sensitive and complex issues in the study is a shared responsibility by all research team members. research leaders have an opportunity to be sure that all research staff understand and value longitudinal research. as we have increased our training and monitoring of the issues addressed in this article, we have discovered that research staff are openly appreciative of the consideration we show to them and to study participants. we also have frequently heard that our research staff becomes more committed to the rigor and consistency in the data collection process because of their increased understanding of the potential impact of the findings. a policy we have adopted involves all research staff signing an agreement (pledge) about upholding the core principles of scientific integrity (which go beyond just those addressed in this article), as summarized in table 1 above. contrary to our initial fears that research staff might view signing this agreement as onerous and indicating that we distrust them, we have learned that this serves to create a strong and shared unity of purpose in our research projects. in fact, many research staff members have shared the “research pledge” and the training approach we describe in this article when they have moved on to other studies. science is inherently a social endeavor; recognizing how our social contract and interactions with study participants can influence the scientific process – in positive versus threatening ways – needs to become an integral feature of all longitudinal research that directly engages study participants. acknowledgements the national head start-public school early childhood transition demonstration study was supported by grants from the head start bureau of the administration on children, youth, and families to each of the 31 local demonstration sites, as well as by a coordinating contract (#10591-1935) to the civitan international research center at the university of alabama at birmingham. this centers for the prevention of child neglect research was supported by nichd grants k01 hd42173 and hd39456; co-sponsor groups include the cdc, nida, and the department of education, as well as the robert wood johnson foundation (# 037224). cellular phones and service were provided by generous donations from cingular and centennial wireless corporations. senior members of the centers for the prevention of child neglect include john borkowski, judy carta, bette keltner, lorraine klerman, susan landry, robin lanzi, craig ramey, sharon ramey, and steve warren. all authors had full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. the child community health network (cchn) is a community-based participatory research network supported through cooperative agreements with the eunice kennedy shriver national institute of child health and human development (u hd44207, u hd44219, u hd44226, u hd44245, u hd44253, u hd54791, u hd54019, u hd44226-05s1, u hd44245-06s1, r03 hd59584) and the national institute for nursing research (u nr008929). cchn reflects joint endeavors of five local sites: 134 lanzi & ramey baltimore: baltimore city healthy start and johns hopkins university community pi: m. vance academic pi: c. s. minkovitz co-invs: p. o’campo, p. schafer project coordinators: n. sankofa, k. walton lake county, illinois: lake county health department and community health center and the northshore university health system community pi: k. wagenaar academic pi: m. shalowitz co-invs: e. adam, g. duncan*, a. schoua-glusberg, c. mckinney, t. mcdade, c. simon project coordinator: e. clark-kauffman los angeles: healthy african american families, cedars-sinai medical center, university of california, los angeles community pi: l. jones, academic pi: c. hobel, co-pis: c. dunkel schetter, m. c.lu, co-i: b. chung project coordinators: f. jones, d. serafin, d. young north carolina: east carolina university, nc division of public health, nc eastern baby love plus consortium, and university of north carolina, chapel hill community pis: s. evans, j. ruffin, r. woolard academic pi: j. thorp co-is j. declerque, c. dolbier, c. lorenz project coordinators l. s. sahadeo, k. salisbury washington, dc: virginia tech carilion research institute, virginia tech, and washington hospital center, and developing families center community pi: l. patchen, academic pi: s. l. ramey academic co-pi: r. g. lanzi co-invs: l. v. klerman, m. miodovnik, c. t. ramey, l. randolph project coordinator: n. timraz community coordinator: r. german data coordination and analysis center (pennsylvania state university) pi: v. m. chinchilli project coordinator: g. snyder co-invs: r, belue, g. brown faulkner*, m, hillemeier, i. paul, m. l. shaffer biostatisticians: e. lehman, c. stetter data managers: j. schmidt, k. cerullo, s. whisler programmers: j. fisher, j, boyer, m. payton nih program scientists: v. j. evans and t. raju, eunice kennedy shriver national institute of child health and human development; linda weglicki, national institute of nursing research, program officers: michael spittel,* and, marian willinger, nichd; and yvonne bryan*, ninr. maintaining professionalism, distance, and consistency 135 steering committee chairs: m. phillippe (university of vermont) and e. fuentes-afflick* (university of california san francisco school of medicine) *indicates those who participated in the planning phase of the cchn. references department of health and human services (2009). code of federal regulations. title 45 public welfare. part 46 protection of human subjects. office for human research protections. http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.html dunkel schetter, c., schafer, p., lanzi, r. g., clarke-kauffman, e., raju, t., hillemeier, m., & cchn of nichd (2013). shedding light on the mechanisms of health disparities using community participatory methods: the stress pathway. perspectives on psychological science, 8(6), 613-633. doi: 10.1177/1745691613506016 guttentag, c.l., landry, s. h., baggett, k.m., noria, c.w., borkowski, j., g., swank, p.r., williams, j.m., farris, j.r., crawford, a., lanzi, r.g., carta, j.j., warren, s. f., & ramey, s. l. (in press). “my baby & me”: effects of an early comprehensive parenting intervention on at-risk mothers and their children. developmental psychology. lanzi, r. g., bert, s. c., keltner, b. r., & the centers for the prevention of child neglect (2009). depression among a sample of first-time adolescent and adult mothers. journal of child and adolescent psychiatric nursing, 22(4), 194-202. lanzi, r. g., guttentag, c., baggett, k, willard-noria, c. & the centers for the prevention of child neglect. (2008). addressing ethical and clinical issues in child maltreatment prevention research. in d. daro (ed.). world perspectives on child abuse: eighth edition (pp. 104-106). west chicago, illinois: the international society for the prevention of child abuse and neglect. lanzi, r. g., pascoe, j., keltner, b., & ramey, s.l. (1999). correlates of maternal depression in a national sample among mothers of children who attended head start. archives of pediatrics and adolescent medicine, 153, 801-807. lanzi, r. g., ramey, s. l., et al. (2012). maternal and child health improving pregnancy outcome special session: findings from the community and child health network preconception health study. special session presented at the 140th american public health association annual meeting, san francisco, ca. lanzi, r. g., ramey, s. l., et al., (2007). cell phone methodology for research and service with high risk populations. national head start association dialog: a research-to-practice journal for the early intervention field, 10 (1), 58-66. lanzi, r. g., ramey, s. l., & ramey, c. t. (2007). early intervention: research, services, and policies. in a. slater and m. lewis (eds.). introduction to infant development. 2 nd edition. (pp. 292 – 303). oxford university press. lefever, j. b., howard, k. s., lanzi, r. g., borkowski, j. g., atwater, j., guest, k. c., ramey, s. l, hughes, k. & the centers for the prevention of child neglect (2008). cell phones and the measurement of child neglect: the validity of the parent-child activities interview. child maltreatment, 13, 320-333. national institutes of health. office of extramural research. protecting human research participants. http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php ohrp (2008). guidance on engagement of institutions in human subjects research. http://hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/engage08.html. patchen, l., ramey, s. l, & lanzi, r. g. (2009, november). opportunities and challenges in conducting community-based participatory research (cbpr) on maternal-child health disparities. poster presented at the american public health association 137th annual meeting & exposition, philadelphia, pennsylvania. ramey, c.t., ramey, s.l., & lanzi, r. g. (2006). children’s health and education. in i. sigel & a. renninger (eds.). the handbook of child psychology: vol. 4 (pp. 864 – 892). hoboken, new jersey: wiley & sons. ramey, c.t., ramey, s.l., & lanzi, r. g. (2001). intelligence and experience. in r.j. sternberg (ed.), environmental effects on cognitive abilities. (pp. 83-115). los angeles: erlbaum publishers. ramey, s. l, ramey, c. t., & lanzi, r. g. (2007). early intervention: background, research findings, and future directions. in j. w. http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.html http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php http://hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/engage08.html 136 lanzi & ramey jacobson, j. a. mulick, and j. rojahn (eds.) handbook of intellectual and developmental disabilities. (pp. 445 – 463). new york: springer. ramey, s.l. ramey, c.t. & lanzi, r. g. (2004). the transition to school: building on preschool foundations and preparing for lifelong learning. in e. zigler & s.j. styfco (eds.), the head start debates (pp. 397-413). baltimore: paul h. brookes publishing company. ramey, s.l., ramey, c.t., phillips, m.m., lanzi, r. g., brezausek, c., katholi, c.r., & snyder, s. (2000). head start children’s entry into public schools: a report on the national head start/public school early childhood transition demonstration study [contract no. 105-95-1935]. washington, dc: administration on children, youth, and families; u.s. department of health and human services. the national commission for the protection of human subjects of biomedical and behavioral research (1979). the belmont report: ethical principles and guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research. [http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/belmont.htm] volume 17, number 1 2014 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles spanish-speaking parents' beliefs about their young children's learning and language development jeannette mancilla-martinez and nonie k. lesaux…………………………………..….…... 1 the effects of literacy messages in an educational television program: a content analysis and experiment annie m. moses, nancy a. jennings, rachel brod, stephen d. hooker, brian cordell and tabatha salee…….................................................................................................................... 20 results of a survey and follow-up interview with head start staff concerning social skills instruction in preschool classrooms tina l. stanton-chapman, mary d. voorhees, rebecca berlin, martha e. snell, and lindsey d. forsten…………………………………………………………………………… 36 knowledge of mathematical development survey: testing the validity and reliability of the survey and interpreting its results linda m. platas………………………….……………………................................................ 56 the impact of hippy participation on school readiness and parent involvement amber l. brown and ursula johnson ………….…................................................................. 74 time management and home-based parent involvement in head start families heather s. wallace and sandra twardosz…………………………………………………… 88 research-to-practice summaries spanish-speaking parent’s beliefs about language jeannette mancilla-martinez and nonie k. lesaux……………….….……………………… 108 how an educational television program depicts literacy and how its messages affect young children’s literacy attitudes annie m. moses, nancy a. jennings, rachel brod, stephen d. hooker, brian cordell and tabatha salee…….................................................................................................................... 113 supporting head start staff to address children’s social skills tina l. stanton-chapman, mary d. voorhees, rebecca berlin, martha e. snell ….. 118 acquisition and measurement of knowledge of mathematical development linda m. platas………………………….……………………................................................ 123 the hippy early intervention program: it’s impact on school readiness and parent involvement amber l. brown and ursula johnson ………….…................................................................. 130 head start parents’ reports of managing time to support parent involvement heather s. wallace and sandra twardosz…………………………………………………… 136 dialog, 16(1), 211-215 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary the role of inconsistent discipline and parental involvement on female caregivers’ internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors among preschool-aged children beth h. garland, ph.d. baylor college of medicine tammy d. barry, ph.d. university of southern mississippi robert w. heffer, ph.d. texas a&m university this article summarizes the findings and implication of an empirical study that assessed the mediating role of parenting techniques on the relation between primary female caregivers’ internalizing (i.e., anxiety and depression) symptoms and child externalizing behavior (i.e., hyperactivity, aggression, attention problems) among preschoolers. early identification of child externalizing behaviors is imperative, as these behaviors and associated disorders are common behavioral challenges for educational providers. the importance of attending to these behaviors early may prevent the later influence this psychopathology has at an individual, family, school, and societal level. in addition, addressing this issue within a preschool population is particularly appropriate, given that early prevention efforts tend to show more benefits than targeting adolescents presenting with behavior problems (lochman & wells, 2003). the current study focused on the relations between preschool externalizing behaviors, parenting techniques, and caregivers’ internalizing symptoms. recent research has focused on parental characteristics that relate to child behavior problems, much of which was based on the seminal work of gerald patterson and colleagues’ theory of the coercive family process (patterson et al., 1992). adaptive parenting techniques, such as parental involvement, monitoring of activities, and the use of praise and positive reinforcement, have demonstrated a positive association with appropriate preschool behavior. particularly, parental involvement has been shown to mediate the relation between economic hardship and childhood externalizing behaviors both during the preschool years (trentacosta et al., 2008) as well as elementary years (bolger, patterson, thompson, & kupersmidt, 1995). 212 garland et al. in addition to adaptive parenting strategies, certain discipline techniques (e.g., harsh or corporal punishment, coercion techniques) as well as parental inconsistency of adaptive techniques, have demonstrated associations with preschool aggression (brook, zheng, whiteman, & brook, 2001) and preschool conduct problems (webster-stratton & hammond, 1998). these findings have also been shown for school-aged children yielding additional support for the importance of early intervention. specifically, discipline strategies, of physical punishment and punitive verbal reasoning were related to increased delinquency and physical aggression across ages (loeber et al., 1998; stormshak et al., 2000). inconsistent discipline has been linked to a higher frequency of disruptive behavior, attention problems, and conduct problems in school-aged children, including community, at-risk, and clinical samples (barry, dunlap, lochman, & wells, 2009; shelton et al., 1996; sutton, cowen, crean, & wyman, 1999). in addition to parenting techniques, psychological distress of the parent has shown a direct association with child behavior problems beginning in the preschool years (harden et al., 2000). studies of head start families have reported moderate maternal depressive symptoms as well as a relation to the conduct disturbance in the child (webster-stratton & hammond, 1998). this is congruent with findings in school-aged children (chronis, et al., 2007). several studies have begun to highlight the mediating role of parenting techniques on the relation between maternal internalizing symptoms and child externalizing behaviors in schoolaged samples, with few studies focusing on preschool populations. to date, two studies have demonstrated higher levels of maternal anger and depression predicting harsh and inconsistent parenting and demonstrated a cumulative risk for preschool attention difficulties and behavioral dysregulation when considering maternal warmth, responsiveness, and depressive symptoms. given the potential negative outcomes associated with early externalizing behavior, as well as the possibility of a positive impact of early intervention, further research to help identify possible points of intervention is essential. understanding the mediational role that parenting techniques may play in the relation between caregiver risk factors and child outcomes is pivotal because parenting practices are amendable to treatment. the current study examined the associations among primary female caregivers’ internalizing symptoms, parenting techniques, and child externalizing behaviors in a head start sample. summary of methods participants were 153 primary female parents/caregivers and their child, who was enrolled in one of three rural head start programs. within the total sample, 89.5% of participants were mothers, 8.5% were grandmothers, and 2.0% were other female caregivers. children were 43.8% female. parent-reported child ethnicities were 55.6% african american, 19.6% caucasian, 18.3% hispanic/latino, and 5.9% reported other ethnicity. when appropriate, contact with the participants and questionnaires were in spanish. current measures for the study included the alabama parenting questionnaire (frick, 1991; shelton et al., 1996), brief symptom inventory (derogatis, 1993), behavior assessment system for children – 2, parent rating scale (reynolds & kamphaus, 2004), and a demographic questionnaire. parent techniques, caregiver internalizing, child externalizing 213 major findings all analyses controlled for gender and ses. the current study evaluated the relation of primary female caregivers’ internalizing symptoms (anxiety and depression composite) and parenting techniques on child externalizing behaviors (hyperactivity, aggression, attention problems). as a whole, the parenting techniques were significant predictors of preschool aggression, hyperactivity, and attention problems. upon further inspection of the unique contribution of each specific technique, two were found to be significantly related. inconsistent discipline was significantly related to all three behavioral concerns, whereas parental involvement was significantly related to child hyperactivity and attention problems. with respect to mediational analyses, inconsistent discipline was a partial mediator of the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and child hyperactivity and aggression. this finding suggests that female caregivers with higher levels of internalizing symptoms are less consistent in their use of discipline practices and that this inconsistency, in part, accounts for higher levels of hyperactivity and aggression among their children. whereas all three of the child behaviors are considered externalizing behaviors, the findings for attention problems were distinct from hyperactivity and aggression. parental involvement was the strongest predictor of child attention problems and was supported as a partial mediator in the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and child attention problems. these findings suggest that female caregivers with higher levels of internalizing symptoms self-report to be less involved, and this limitation in parental involvement, in part, accounts for higher levels of attention problems among their children. implication for practice the results of the current study support previous research and current recommendations in child psychology which support parent training in behavior management techniques for children displaying oppositional, defiant, aggressive, early adhd symptomatology, and non-compliant behaviors. parenting programs such as, parent child interaction therapy (eyberg & boggs, 1998) and russell barkley’s (1997) manual of treating defiant children suggest the incorporation of parenting techniques, such as parental involvement, positive parenting, consistent discipline, and use of time out or privilege revocation in place of corporal punishment. one area of consideration for professionals utilizing behavior modification would be to incorporate themes of consistency very early in the therapeutic intervention. also, the idea of ongoing, formal assessment of parenting skills in home visits is included as a goal of the parent, family, and community engagement (pfce) initiative (administration for children and families, 2012). the results of the current study support the idea that, in addition to assessing child behavior, having a baseline measure of parenting techniques or observational information regarding parenting practices could be valuable information clinically to demonstrate empirical change in a program and impact the child’s behavior. educational professionals often provide a model of structure, limit setting, and empathy to which parents can observe and children can respond. the results of the current study suggest that finding ways to incorporate a parent in the classroom may offer a minimum of two potential benefits. first, a child experiences the parent involved in classroom activity, which is a direct experience of parental involvement. second, a parent experiences the teacher modeling praise 214 garland et al. and limit setting/consequences and the effects of these two interventions. a parent’s experiential learning may provide for a possible transition of these skills to the home environment. whereas the role of the parent in the classroom may vary greatly on the current classroom activity, a parent may be given the task of observing appropriate behavior and giving teacher-guided feedback to students. in addition, parents may be provided with teacher-guided prompts to engage in conversation with students and practice various positive responses to model parental involvement. also, to aid with parental practice of consistency, parents may be given one guideline to reinforce during the classroom activity. practice with praise, distraction techniques, and limit setting for that guideline could be modeled by teacher and practiced by the parent. finally, praise to parents, by teachers, on these specific skills, would not only continue to model the skill to the parent but also provide encouragement and self-efficacy to parents. the pfce and other programs in head start have encouraged unique avenues of participation for parents unable to volunteer in the classroom. policy councils and parent committee meetings offer one avenue for parents to impart change in the governance of head start and their centers. these opportunities, which may be scheduled outside of traditional work hours, empower parents as an advocate, not only for their own child, but also for their center. given the positive association between empowerment and decreased depressive symptoms, the role of governance in head start may directly reduce symptoms of depression in parents participating. additional benefits may include preparation for the role of parent as advocate for their child during the transition to elementary school (parental involvement) as well as the increased knowledge of the head start standards and guidelines may provide additional ideas and ways to change practices in their own home. the results of the current study also suggest that caregiver mental health may be just as important as the child’s mental health for children presenting with high levels of aggression, attention problems, and hyperactivity. formal education, provided by a professional, regarding the relation of a caregiver’s mental health on the child’s mental health would be important for parents, who often are the primary participants in behavior modification within the home setting. thus, several options are available to professionals in early intervention to address the impact of parental symptomatology based on this study’s findings. first, this study provides preliminary evidence to support that current empirically supported methods for behavioral modification of externalizing behavior (e.g., barkley, 1997; eyberg & boggs, 1998; websterstratton, 1998) may also contribute to decreased self-report of depression in caregivers. second, modifying existing treatments to include parental self-care and/or brief therapeutic intervention to target depressive symptomatology in caregivers may also provide additional impact in the reduction of externalizing behavior. third, additional individual therapy referrals for a caregiver or information on community programs to support parents may also help to decrease their own mood symptoms, thus impacting the child’s behavior. the results of the current study help to better understand the relation between parent and child behavior, specifically the environmental influences on the child such as parenting techniques and caregiver distress. further knowledge of the variables that impact the families of young children is essential to our understanding of children’s social and academic success. parent techniques, caregiver internalizing, child externalizing 215 references administration for children and families: early childhood learning and knowledge center (2012). national center on parent, family, and community engagement. retrieved june 1, 2012, from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/family. barkley, r. a. (1997). defiant children: a clinician’s manual for assessment and parent training. new york: guilford press. barry, t. d., dunlap, s. t., lochman, j. e., & wells, k. c. (2009). inconsistent discipline as a mediator between maternal distress and aggression in boys. child and family behavior therapy, 31, 1-19. bolger, k. e., patterson, c. j., thompson, w. w., & kupersmidt, j. b. (1995). psychosocial adjustment among children experiencing persistent and intermittent family economic hardship. child development, 66, 11071129. brook, j. s., zheng, l., whiteman, m., & brook, d. w. (2001). aggression in toddlers: associations with parenting and marital relations. the journal of genetic psychology, 162, 228-241. chronis, a. m., lahey, b. b., pelham, w. e., williams, s. h., baumann, b. l., kipp, h., jones, h. a., & rathouz, p. j. (2007). parental psychopathology and maternal positive parenting predict future conduct problems in young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. developmental psychology, 43, 70-82. derogatis, l. r. (1993). brief symptom inventory. minneapolis: ncs pearson. eyberg, s., & boggs, s.r. (1998). parent-child interaction therapy: a psychosocial intervention for the treatment of young conduct-disordered children. in briesmeister, james m. (ed); schaefer, charles e. (ed), (1998). handbook of parent training: parents as co-therapists for children's behavior problems (2nd ed.)., (pp. 6197). hoboken, nj, us: john wiley & sons inc. frick, p. j. (1991). the alabama parenting questionnaire. unpublished instrument, university of alabama. harden, b.j., winslow, m.b., kendziora, k.t., shahinfar, a., rubin, k.h., fox, n.a., crowley, m.j., & zahnwaxler, c. (2000). externalizing problems in head start children: an ecological exploration. early education & development, 11, 357-385. loeber, r., farrington, d. p., stouthamer-loeber, m., & van kammen, w. b. (1998). antisocial behavior and mental health problems: explanatory factors in childhood and adolescence. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. lochman, j. e., & wells, k. c. (2003). effectiveness study of coping power and classroom intervention with aggressive children: outcomes at a one-year follow-up. behavior therapy, 34, 493-515. patterson, g. r., reid, j. b., & dishion, t. j. (1992). antisocial boys (vol. 4), eugene, or: castalia publishing company. reynolds, c. r., & kamphaus, r. w. (2004). behavioral assessment system for children (basc-2). circle pines, mn: ags publishing. shelton, k. k., frick, p. j., & wootton, j. (1996). assessment of parenting practices in families of elementary school-age children. journal of clinical child psychology, 25, 317-329. stormshak, e. a., bierman, k. l., mcmahon, r. j., lengua, l. j., & the conduct problems prevention research group. (2000). parenting practices and child disruptive behavior problems in early elementary school. journal of clinical child psychology, 29, 17-29. sutton, s. e., cowen, e. l., crean, h. f., & wyman, p. a. (1999). pathways to aggression in young, highly stressed urban children. child study journal, 29, 49-67. trentacosta, c.j., hyde, l.w., shaw, d.s., dishion, t.j., gardner, f., & wilson, m. (2008). the relations among cumulative risk, parenting, and behavior problems during early childhood. journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 49, 1211-1219. webster-stratton, c., & hammond, m. (1998). conduct problems and level of social competence in head start children: prevalence, pervasiveness, and associated risk factors. clinical child and family psychology review, 1, 101-124. http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/family running head: dialog, 17(1), 118-122 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary supporting head start staff to address children’s social skills tina l. stanton-chapman, mary d. voorhees, and martha e. snell university of virginia failure to promote preschoolers’ social competence can lead to significant difficulties in social skills development, school readiness, and academic success. while early childhood professionals play a critical role in developing children’s social and emotional skills, there is limited research available about the value teachers place on social skill instruction and the instructional strategies they use. surveys and interviews were used to investigate the practices used by five head start (hs) programs to promote childrens’ social and emotional skills. results indicated that respondents: (a) identified peer interaction and friendship skills most often as important social skills to teach; (b) described using classwide and naturalistic social skill instruction strategies most frequently; and (c) described challenges to addressing children’s social skill needs. implications of these findings for preschool programs are discussed in terms of professional development to support teachers to implement evidence-based social skill methods. keywords: social skills, head start, social competence social competence is a construct that includes peer interactions, emotional and behavioral control, and the use of appropriate behavior during conflict (brown, odom, mcconnell, & rathel, 2008). children’s level of social competence has been shown to affect school readiness and future academic success (denham, 2006). unfortunately, children with social competence difficulties are often expelled from programs or are at-risk for being removed due to their challenging behavior (gilliam, 2005). given that head start (hs) programs were started to help low-income preschool children be ready for kindergarten, it is important to look at how hs teachers feel about and teach social competence in their classrooms and to identify ways hs teachers can be assisted in the teaching of social-emotional skills to their students. prior research states that preschool teachers value the teaching of social competence skills in the classroom (west, brown, grego, & johnson, 2007), but it is difficult to teach due to increased pressure to focus on more academic skills such as literacy and math (copple & bredekamp, 2009; stipek, 2006). evidence-based social skill interventions are not extensively used in early childhood classrooms (e.g., brown & conroy, 2001). this is troublesome as children with poor social competence skills are at-risk for: a) difficulties in adult and peer relationships; b) peer rejection and c) expulsion (gilliam, 2005; mize, 2005). hs teachers are supporting head start staff 119 uniquely positioned to support children’s social competence development in the classroom. in the current study, surveys and interviews were conducted to examine the practices hs programs used to reduce children’s problem behavior and teach social competence skills with the purpose of designing effective professional development activities to assist hs staff to implement research-based practices. method participants a total of 108 early childhood (ec) educators, early childhood special educators (ecse), assistant teachers, and other program staff (e.g., mental behavior specialists, program directors) agreed to participate in the study. seventy-eight of these participants completed the survey. the participants were primarily females between 36 and 55 years old with over six years of experience working with young children (45%). the majority of survey participants described themselves as white/non-hispanic (58%) or african-american/black (33%). forty-five participants were interviewed; only 15 participants completed both the survey and interview components of the study. demographic information was not collected for interview participants. procedure surveys. survey participants completed the social competence in preschool survey (berlin, hadden, & voorhees, 2008) which gathered information on their opinions of discipline and social skills in the ec classroom. surveys took 20 to 45 minutes to complete. this paper reports only on one open-ended question, give two examples of what you do to encourage positive interactions between children in your classroom, and two conflict scenarios which provided information on how staff encourage peer interactions and would respond to children’s social skills difficulties. interviews. interviews ranged from 45 to 90 minutes and were done individually. all interviews were audio-recorded with participants’ permission and all responses were transcribed word-for-word. the primary focus of interviews was to gather more in-depth information about hs staff views regarding social skills instruction. the two main questions were: a) what are the most important social skills taught in the classroom?; and b) tell me about any specific social skills curricula that are used in your classroom. follow-up questions asked about additional social skill instruction methods and implementation challenges. data analysis open-ended survey questions. the open-ended survey questions were coded at the word or phrase level to capture the social skills the respondents were describing (e.g., sharing toys, positive interactions). to sort similar responses into categories, one researcher reviewed 20 answers for each open-ended question and noted key ideas from the responses and sorted them 120 stanton-chapman et al. into similar categories. once this step was complete, the 78 survey responses were coded using nvivo (qsr international, 2008). conflict scenario survey questions. a scoring rubric was used to rate conflict scenario survey responses. survey responses were rated as low (e.g., answer was more reactive or did not answer the question), medium (e.g., response addresses the immediate problem only), or high (e.g., response shows thought and reflection about the child’s behavior that goes beyond the immediate problem). interviews. each interview was first transcribed word-for-word and then coded using nvivo for further analysis. coding categories that emerged from the data included: a) social skills: most important social to teach; b) universal strategies: methods that are used to support social-emotional development for all children in the classroom; c) challenges: barriers to supporting children’s social-emotional skills. results hs staff identified peer interaction and friendship skills as the most important social skills to teach followed by behavioral control and social problem-solving skills. methods described most frequently to teach social skills were similar on the survey and interview. naturalistic interventions were identified as being used most often to promote peer interaction skills during teachable moments such as a) helping children while they interact with peers and encouraging children to talk, b) role playing and modeling, c) encouraging children to use words and talking about their feelings). classwide strategies were also described to teach peer interaction skills such as, making sure the physical environment encourages social interaction, providing small group or planned activities to promote social interaction, using the social skills curriculum and reading books and having discussions about friendships. the majority of the responses on the conflict scenarios received a medium rating showing that suggested strategies addressed the immediate concern using primarily naturalistic strategies. respondents from all programs described the use of a social skills curriculum (e.g., al’s pals) to provide whole group instruction with scripted lessons to teach behavior control and social problem-solving, strategies from the curriculum were mentioned most often (e.g., calm down steps) to teach behavioral control during class activities. a challenge described to social skills instruction included the training requirements and a lack of flexibility when implementing their required social skills curriculum. the pressure to teach academics also impeded their ability to provide social skills instruction. staff also noted the challenge of meeting the needs of children with significant social skill difficulties or behavior problems. discussion and aplications for practice social skills difficulties are common in hs classrooms and it is critical to address these during the early childhood years. hs staff in this study recognized the importance of social skill instruction and used classwide and naturalistic interventions most often to teach social skills. staff did not feel their current methods addressed the needs of children with more significant social skill difficulties and noted the necessity for additional specialized strategies. supporting head start staff 121 rather than having teachers rely solely on a scripted curriculum and classwide strategies to teach social skills, it is important that they are able to use a wide range of evidence-based methods to teach social skills throughout the day during classroom routines. the use of a tiered program-wide positive behavior support (pwpbs) approach holds promise for promoting the social competence of all children within the classroom. classwide universal interventions (tier 1 pwpbs) that are commonly used in early childhood classrooms provide the foundation for supporting children’ social-emotional development and include strategies such as establishing classroom rules, teaching behavioral expectations, and planning for smooth transitions (fox, dunlap, hemmeter, gail, & strain, 2003). however, it is imperative for teachers to be able to use explicit instructional techniques (tier 2 and 3) when universal methods are not effective and children continue to repeatedly make the same social competence errors. tier 2 uses ongoing assessment of children’s social skill development and a systematic approach to plan and embed targeted social skill instruction throughout daily classroom routines for children who need additional support (fox, carta, strain, dunlap, & hemmeter, 2009). effective tier 2 instructional practices such as providing prompts to target children, teaching peers to play with target children, and using specific and descriptive positive reinforcement are essential to use with children who have more intensive support needs. for example, a teacher may provide teach a small group of children a lesson on sharing by defining what sharing means, modeling the sharing process with the children, showing the children examples and non-examples of sharing, and allowing them time to practice sharing with one another while providing positive praise and constructive feedback. tier 3 strategies are necessary for children with more intensive support needs who do not respond to tier 1 and 2 supports. tier 3 interventions are individualized, based on the results of a functional behavior assessment, and matched to the function of a child’s challenging behavior. a written support plan is developed that includes strategies to prevent the challenging behavior, to teach the child to use a functionally equivalent replacement behavior, and to respond by reinforcing the replacement behavior rather than the challenging behavior. for example, if the perceived function of a child’s challenging behavior (e.g., hitting or kicking peers) is to gain a tangible (e.g., another child’s toy), then a support plan might include strategies such as the use of a first-then card to teach the child (first mary’s turn, then your turn), a “my turn” cue card for the child to use to show she wants a turn, or the use of a timer or counting so a child will know when her turn comes up (lentini,vaughn fox, 2004). these types of tier 2 and 3 strategies were not mentioned by respondents. hs administrators can support program staff by arranging for training and coaching on the use of this tiered intervention approach to help teachers to expand their skills to include more specialized strategies to meet the needs of children who require more intensive and targeted support. teacher educators and trainers must focus their efforts on designing and implementing more effective training methods to assist teachers to apply these strategies. providing a workshop alone is not sufficient; follow-up support (e.g., coaching to support classroom application of practice and the use of videotaped examples of desired instruction) are effective professional development methods (ramey & ramey, 2006; snyder & wolfe, 2008). references berlin, r., hadden, s., & voorhees, m. d. (2008). the social competence in preschool survey. unpublished survey instrument, curry school of education, university of virginia, charlottesville, virginia. 122 stanton-chapman et al. brown, w. h., & conroy, m. a. (2001). promoting peer-related social-communicative competence in preschool children with developmental delays. in h. goldstein, l. kaczmarec, & k. english (eds.), promoting social communication in children and youth with developmental disabilities (pp. 173-210). baltimore: brookes. brown, w. h., odom, s. l., mcconnell, s. r., & rathel, j. m. (2008). peer interaction interventions for preschool children with developmental difficulties. in w. h. brown, s. l. odom, & s. r. mcconnell (eds.), social competence of young children: risk, disability, and intervention (pp. 141-164). baltimore: paul h. brookes publishing co. copple, c., & bredekamp, s. (2009). developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. (3rd ed.). washington, dc: naeyc. denham, s. a. (2006). social-emotional competence as support for school readiness: what is it and how do we assess it? early education and development, 17(1), 57-89. fox, l., carta, j., strain, p., dunlap, g., & hemmeter, m.l. (2009). response to intervention and the pyramid model. tampa, florida: university of south florida, technical assistance center on social emotional intervention for young children. gilliam, w. s. (2005). prekindergarteners left behind: expulsion rates in state prekindergarten systems. yale university child study center. retrieved from http://info.med.yale .edu/chldstdy/ mize j. (2005). social skills intervention and peer relationship difficulties in early childhood: in: tremblay r. e, barr r. g., peters r. d., (eds.), encyclopedia on early childhood development [online]. montreal, quebec: centre of excellence for early childhood development. available at: http://www.childencyclopedia.com/documents/mizeangxp.pdf qsr international. (2008). nvivo (version 8) [computer software]. victoria, australia: qsr international pty ltd. ramey, s. l. & ramey, c. t. (2006). in m. zaslow & i. martinez-beck (eds.), critical issues in early childhood professional development (pp. 355-368). baltimore: paul h. brookes publishing co. snyder, p., & wolfe, b. (2008). the big three process components of effective professional development: needs assessment, evaluation, and follow-up. in p. winton, j. mccollum, & c. catlett (eds.) practical approaches to early childhood professional development: evidence, strategies, and resources (pp. 13-51). washington, dc: zero to three. stipek, d. (2006). no child left behind comes to preschool. the elementary school journal, 106(5), 455-465. west, t. n., brown, w. h., grego, j. m., & johnson, r. (2007). practitioners’ judgments of peer interaction interventions: a survey of dec members. journal of early intervention, 30(1), 36-54. dialog, 17(2), 90-94 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary utilizing parental homework as a form of parent involvement in early care and education yaebin kim university of nevada cooperative extension david a. riley university of wisconsin-madison a novel way of promoting parent involvement was tested: homework was given to preschool parents, to read to their children at home using the dialogical reading method. an earlier study showed that the homework led to actual increases in children’s pre-literacy skills. the current study investigated whether the parents in the experimental group actually changed their overall amount or type of parent involvement with the program, as compared to control group parents. results show that the preschool parental homework led to a shift in the content of parentteacher communications. they became much more focused on the individual child’s development. the findings suggest that parents can respond enthusiastically to homework from their child care program, this homework can contribute to a shift in the nature of teacher-parent communications, and can have significant impacts on child development. keywords: parent involvement, homework, language development, dialogic reading the importance of parent involvement in early care and education programs has been assumed by practitioners since the 1960’s when head start was created and made parent involvement a matter of policy (zigler & styfco, 2000). bronfenbrenner’s theory also predicts that children’s development will be enhanced if parents and early care and education programs interact in concert, working in mutually reinforcing ways in both the home of preschool settings (bronfenbrenner, 1979). early childhood researchers and school researchers both have shown a correlation or causal relationship between parent involvement and child outcomes (arnold, zeljo, doctoroff, & ortiz, 2008; eptstein, 1991; fantuzzo, tighe, mcwayne, perry, & childs, 2004; love et al., 2005; miedel & reynolds, 1999; owen, ware, & barfoot, 2000; sui-chu & willms, 91 kim & riley 1996). however, only one form of parent involvement has produced repeated evidence, from solid experimental designs, of causing gains in children’s learning. that type of involvement has been parents helping their children learn at home (cotton & wikelund, 1989; fishel & ramirez, 2005). because preschoolers are too young to be given responsibility for homework, this type of parental involvement may seem impractical for the preschool years. however, a few prior studies have supported this general idea. for example, the family development research program (lally & honig, 1977) found low-income parents to be receptive to a weekly booklending service provided by home visitors. similarly, the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters (hippy) program (baker, piotrkowski, & brooks-gunn, 1999) teaches and assigns specific parent-child activities, and has been delivered through early care and education programs. in contrast to these studies, the current study was not part of a larger, comprehensive intervention, but attempted to test just the parental homework component in early care and education settings for a short intervention period of six weeks. in an earlier report, the current authors tested the effects of parent involvement on child language outcomes in a sample of community child care programs (kim & riley, 2011). we now ask what might be learned about the presumed mediator of that effect, changes in parent involvement. specifically, we ask (1) did parents in the intervention group increase their amount of communication with the teachers and early childhood programs, as compared to control group parents?; (2) did the content of parents’ communications with the teachers and programs differ in the treatment group, as compared to the control group parents? methods data were collected from 81 parents, their 81 preschool children (ages 27 to 46 months at the beginning of the study), and the 18 lead teachers and 12 program directors of the children’s early care and education programs. the children were largely from households of married parents (86%). parents’ median educational level was a “4-year college degree” and the median annual income was under $20,000 (in 2009). of the 81 children, 45% were boys and 75% were euroamerican. the early care and education programs were randomly divided into two groups. the teachers in both groups received a workshop on children’s language development, but the teachers in just the treatment group received an additional workshop on how to recruit parents to read to their children at home using the dialogic reading method. the treatment group centers were also provided with book bags to give the parents each week, containing a picture book and a guide sheet on using the dialogic reading method. by comparing the two groups at the end of the study, we could see if the parent homework (to read to the child at home) had an effect on the child’s language development, and on parent-teacher communication. the homework was to use dialogic reading with the child for six weeks. this is a method of reading in which the adult stops on each page and involves the child in thinking about the story. it changes the child from being an audience to the adult’s reading performance, to being a co-creator of the story and its meaning. prior research has shown that this method causes significant gains in children’s vocabulary size (lonigan & whitehurst, 1998). after six weeks, parents and teachers were each asked about their frequency of communicating with each other, and the usual content of those communications. parental homework as a form of parent involvement 92 results to our surprise, parents and teachers in the two groups did not differ in the amount of their communications with each other, whether by notes or in person. even though the teachers in the intervention group were trying to encourage the parents to read at home (the homework), this did not appear to cause any increase in overall communications. however the content of communications did change. while the two groups were equal in their frequency of communication about the program (for example, reminders about field trips, daily schedule changes, upcoming activities), they differed in the frequency of communication about the specific child. in both their face-to-face communications and in notes sent home, the treatment group experienced significantly more communications between parents and teacher about the behavior or development of the specific child, concerns about the child, parenting tips for that child, etc. implications of results and lessons learned the intervention was a workshop delivered to early childhood teachers, on how to use parent homework assignments to increase a specific form of parent involvement in the program: reading to children at home using the dialogic reading method. we expected to see dramatic differences in the amount of parent-program communications. instead, we found that parents and teachers in the treatment group changed the content of their ongoing communications, with a greater emphasis on children’s individual development. in our earlier report (kim & riley, 2011), we also showed that the intervention led to an actual increase in children’s vocabulary size and understanding of print. lesson #1: you might not need to invest more time in communications with parents, but pay attention to the content of communications. communications that are individualized are exactly the type with the greatest potential to change parenting behaviors and affect individual child development. one interpretation of the current findings is that parent-teacher communication can be improved and made more effective without increasing its frequency, but by changing its content. parent involvement activities may not need to be more time consuming, if they are more informative about the specific child. lesson #2: engaging early childhood teachers and parents in a joint project promoting the child’s development may create a positive shift in the teacher-parent relationship and communications. the homework assignment gave the two adults a joint project on which to work, each in their own setting, but with the same child. surprisingly, the childspecific content of their communications appeared to spread from discussions of the book reading activity to other aspects of child development and parenting, including for example issues of child health and social behavior. this suggests a hypothesis that once communications between teacher and parent move from general program information (e.g., what the class did that day) to conversations about the specific child (e.g., the child’s excited use of a new word), then child-specific conversations will spread to other aspects of child development and adult-child 93 kim & riley relationships, as the teacher and parent increasingly view each other as partners in child development. anecdotally, a teacher and director from the treatment group reported that the intervention had led to improvement of the parent-center relationship that had lasted for several months after the intervention. one teacher said that she could see the difference between parents who participated in the study and those from classrooms not participating (only classrooms with 2.5~3.5 year-old children participated in the study). the biggest difference was that parents who were in the study were more willing to be actively involved in several kinds of events and activities in the center, and they were more cooperative with teachers and directors. lesson #3: early childhood teachers can apply the parental homework idea to other domains of child development. practitioners in the early care and education field may notice the potential of applying the parent homework idea to other domains of child development. consider the potential for parents to be given homework assignments to play specific games at home involving impulse control or counting skills during the same weeks these aspects of children’s development are being emphasized in the program. the development and testing of such homework materials represents a ripe opening for collaboration between scholars and practitioners. lesson #4: early childhood teachers can educate parents. the current findings also have implications for the field of parent education. if the parent homework intervention is conceptualized as a form of parent education, then the findings reported here are as promising as they are unusual. with out-of-home care of preschoolers having become the norm in industrialized societies, we might begin to conceptualize the early care and education program as the most widespread institution providing childrearing education to parents. we suggest a hypothesis for the parent education field, that parent education programs delivered through existing relationships and settings in the parent’s life, characterized by trust and daily interactions, are more likely to be effective than interventions based on a new relationship or new setting. instead of inventing a new setting called “a parenting education workshop,” we might be more effective by modifying the functioning of existing settings in the parent’s life. in a roundabout way, the current study validates the commitment to parent education written into project head start at its birth, and the inclusion of family-centered practices in the criteria for accreditation by the national association for the education of young children. references arnold, d. h., zeljo, a., & doctoroff, g. l., & ortiz, c. (2008). parent involvement in preschool: predictors and the relation of involvement to preliteracy development. school psychology review, 37(1), 74-90. baker, a.j.l., piotrkowski, c.s., & brooks-gunn, j. (1999). the home instruction program for preschool youngsters (hippy). the future of children. home visiting: recent program evaluations, 9(1), 116-133. bronfenbrenner, u. (1979). the ecology of human development: experiments by nature and design. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. cotton, k., & wikelund, k. r. (1989). parent involvement in education. school improvement research series, close-up no. 6, northwest regional educational laboratory. http://www.nwrel.org/dcpd/sirs/3/cu6.html. epstein, j. l. (1991). effects on student achievement of teachers’ practices of parent involvement. in s. b silvern http://www.nwrel.org/dcpd/sirs/3/cu6.html parental homework as a form of parent involvement 94 (ed. ), advances in reading/language research: vol. 5. literacy through family, community, and school interaction (pp. 261-276). greenwich, ct: jai press. fantuzzo, j. w., tighe, e., mcwayne, c. m., davis, g., & childs, s. (2002). parent involvement in early childhood education and children’s peer play competencies: an examination of multivariate relationships. nhsa dialog: a research-to-practice journal for the early intervention field, 6(1), 3-21. fishel, m. & ramirez, l. (2005). evidence-based parent involvement interventions with school-aged children. school psychology quarterly, 20(4), 371-402. kim, y., & riley, d. 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(continued on next page) volume 16, number 2 2013 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles examining class dimensions as predictors of pre-k children’s development of language, literacy, and mathematics timothy curby and catharine chavez………………………………………….………….... 1 head start preschoolers’ emotional positivity and emotion regulation predict their social-emotion behavior, classroom adjustment, and early school success susanne a. denham, hideko h. bassett, yana s. sirotkin, and katherine zinsser.………... 18 improvement of child care programs’ health and safety policies, and practices, and children’s access to health care, linked to child care health consultation patricia isbell, jonathan kotch, eric savage, elizabeth gunn, lydia lu, and david weber.. 34 social support through social capital: a model of a parent support group for mothers in an urban head start kelly o’carroll, catherine ayoub, caroline watts, william beardslee………………......... 53 parent voices: an investigation of the response process validity of the child behavior checklist with head start parents marlo perry, yumiko miller, rachel fusco, john fantuzzo……..…………………….......... 75 exploring the predictable classroom: preschool teacher stress, emotional supportiveness, and students’ social emotional behavior in private and head start classrooms katherine m. zinsser, craig s. bailey, timothy w. curby, susanne a. denham, and hideko h. bassett..…………….…………………………………………………………….. 90 (continued from previous page) research-to-practice summaries prioritizing interactions to support children’s academic achievement timothy curby and catherine chavez……………………………………….….………….. 109 keep calm and carry on: the importance of children’s emotional positivity and regulation for success in head start yana s. sirotkin, susanne a. denham, hideko h. bassett, and katherine m. zinsser……. 113 child care health consultation: improving the health and safety of children in child care patricia isbell, jonathan kotch, eric savage, elizabeth gunn, lydia lu, david weber....... 120 supporting head start parents with a parent support group kelly l. o’carroll, catherine ayoub, caroline watts, and william r. beardslee…..…...... 125 consistently emotionally supportive preschool teachers and children’s socialemotional learning in the classroom: implications for center directors and teachers craig s. bailey, katherine m. zinsser, timothy w. curby, susanne a. denham, and hideko h. basset………………………………………………………………………... 131 dialog, 18(1), 74-91 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research article prevalence and impact of trauma in a diverse head start sample marla pfenninger saint gilles and john carlson michigan state university this study investigated the prevalence and nature of traumatic events experienced by an ethnically diverse sample of head start preschoolers (ages 3-5), as rated by their caregivers (n=66), and how experiencing trauma varies by ethnicity. traumatic impact as influenced by age at the event, number of events experienced (polyvictimization), and frequency of experiencing events is discussed. eighty-five percent of children had experienced trauma. there were no ethnic differences in trauma prevalence. caregivers rated traumatic impact as more severe for children who had experienced multiple types of events and for those who experienced traumatic events more frequently. intervention implications are discussed. keywords: head start trauma, preschool trauma, trauma impact, trauma prevalence, young children research indicates that young children are the least able to defend themselves from the effects of trauma, yet they experience traumatic events at a much higher rate than the general population. one third of child victims of maltreatment are under the age of four (united states department of health and human services [hhs], 2009). sadly, however, symptoms associated with or suggesting posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd) often go unnoticed or misdiagnosed in young children (levine and kline, 2006). the present study investigated the prevalence, nature, and degree of impact of traumatic events in head start preschoolers’ lives. trauma in the head start population head start and early head start preschool programs are often the first chances a child will have to receive trauma treatment. two studies have measured the prevalence of exposure to trauma in head start. graham-bermann and seng (2005) found that 65% (n=160) of children had been exposed to at least one incident of community violence, and 47% had been exposed to at least one incident of family violence. in another study of 500 ethnically diverse head start families in miami dade county, parents reported that 30% of children had witnessed community violence, trauma, head start 75 and over 60% of children had experienced at least one traumatic event during their lives (beeber et al., 2007). the rate of exposure to trauma among children living in poverty and belonging to an ethnic minority is elevated compared with the general population. a study by briggs-gowan and colleagues (2010) concluded that among young children (ages 1-3), 49% of children living in poverty had experienced trauma compared with 26% of the full sample. in 2009, 60% of head start’s preschoolers were from ethnic minority families, almost all of which were living below the poverty line or were on public assistance (hhs, 2009). national survey data show that children belonging to minority ethnic groups, specifically african americans, experience trauma at higher rates than the population as a whole (hhs, 2009; turner, finkelhor, ormrod & turner, 2006). defining trauma trauma is not an event, but rather the nervous system’s response to an event (levine, 1997). this signifies that an event may be perceived as traumatic by one child but not by another child. the effects of an event on a child may differ according to the frequency and nature of the event. frequency: single episode versus cumulative traumatic events. acute single traumatic episodes such as exposure to natural disasters, severe car accidents or violent assaults, have traditionally been the focal point of trauma research and school-based intervention (salloum & overstreet, 2008; goenjian et al., 2001). however, research shows that a traumatic event that happens repeatedly, such as neglect or witnessing domestic violence, has the potential to have a cumulative negative effect. therefore, the more exposure to trauma a person has, the more severe the reaction tends to be (debellis & kuchibhatla, 2006), even if the child is not the direct victim of the event (margolin & vickerman, 2007). whereas single and cumulative traumas can both cause severe symptoms, research shows that the worst symptoms occur when children repeatedly experience multiple forms of a variety of distinct traumatic experiences (known as polyvictimization). in a large sample of children ages 2-18, finkelhor, ormrod and turner (2007) found that of the 70% of children who had been victimized during the present year, 64% had experienced at least one additional, different kind of victimization during the same year. polyvictimization was correlated to a heightened prevalence of trauma symptoms measured up to a year after the incidents. this effect has been shown in children of all ages. chemtob and colleagues (2008) found that preschool children who witnessed the events of september, 11, 2001 were significantly at risk for anxiety, depression, and attention problems in preschool only if they had a previous history of other trauma. nature of event: interpersonal versus non-interpersonal trauma the effects of trauma on a child also depend on the nature of the event. noninterpersonal events do not involve another person purposefully harming the victim (i.e., include being in a car accident, experiencing a natural disaster, or an invasive medical procedure). interpersonal 76 gilles & carlson trauma occurs between individuals and includes a malicious perpetrator that almost always intends to inflict harm on the victim (janoff-bulman, 1992 as cited in lily, valdez & grahambermann, 2011). interpersonal trauma includes sexual or physical abuse, being victimized by violence, traumatic losses, or disruption of a positive relationship with the primary caregiver. while noninterpersonal trauma is the most prevalent in the united states (kessler, sonnega, bromet and hughes, 1995), interpersonal trauma is more likely than non-interpersonal trauma to lead to the development of ptsd symptoms in adults (janoff-bulman, 1992 as cited in lily, valdez & graham-bermann, 2011; kessler, sonnega, bromet & hughes, 1995). effects of early traumatic stress although scientists traditionally believed that young children were too unaware to be affected by trauma, current research shows that this is not true. terr (1988) found that children as young as 28 months can verbally recount a traumatic experience, even if it occurred before they were able to speak. a child who has experienced a traumatic event may experience recurrent and intrusive distressing memories or dreams of the event, dissociative reactions (e.g. flashbacks), avoidance of traumatic stimuli, and/or negative alterations in cognitions (american psychiatric association, 2013). scheeringa and colleagues (2003) noted that children in head start preschool programs who were between the ages of one and three-years old and had been affected by trauma experienced more internalizing and externalizing behaviors as measured on the child behavior checklist (cbcl) internalizing, externalizing and total scales as compared with older children who had experienced similar events. additionally, children who have experienced trauma may experience developmental delays, such as exhibiting immature play, and the adoption of new fears that are not necessarily directly related to the traumatic events (wieder, 1994). traumatic experiences may also prevent young children from forming secure attachments with the parent or caregiver. this can inhibit the child’s ability to trust caregivers and develop normal coping skills, and can lead to overly self-protective behaviors such as avoidance, withdrawal, and anger (lieberman & knorr, 2007). child victims of trauma have a greater chance of being revictimized as adults (classen, palesh & aggarwal, 2005). as denham, bassett, sirotkin, and zinsser (2013) have demonstrated, emotional regulation and emotional positivity are related to academic achievement and school achievement in young children. unfortunately, children with ptsd often lack those qualities and in extreme cases may be misdiagnosed as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd), behavior disorders or even autism, leading to improper treatment (levine, 1997). childhood trauma also physically affects brain development and neurotransmission (cook, ciorciari, varker & devilly, 2009). studies show that the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, dopamine system, norepinephrin/epinephrine (adrenergic) system, hpa axis, hippocampus and corpus collosum, serotonin system, and endogenous opiate system are affected by trauma (chu & lieberman, 2010). lower baseline cortisol levels have been found in the offspring of holocaust survivors (yehuda et al., 2007), and in the infants of mothers who had been abused as children (brand et al., 2010), while higher cortisol levels were found in children currently experiencing ptsd symptoms (carrion et al., 2002). in addition to affecting the systems that are directly related to the stress response system, trauma seems to have a more global effect on brain development (cook, ciorciari, varker & devilly, 2009). children with histories of trauma, specifically abuse and neglect, have smaller trauma, head start 77 brains overall when compared with peers who have not experienced trauma (debellis et al., 1999). although many brain regions have been found to be potentially affected by exposure to trauma (chu & lieberman, 2010), regions most salient for performance in school include the cerebellum (implicated in the processes of attention and language), the orbitofrontal cortex (implicated in planning, decision making, executive functioning), and the corpus callosum (responsible for transferring information between the two hemispheres). these structural and functional differences in the cerebellum, the orbitofrontal cortex, and the corpus callosum highlight the fragility of the developmental period to brain development and its susceptibility to the influences of trauma. these structures are intricately connected to mediating or moderating the traumatic response and are yet some of the most susceptible to outside influences during the developmental period, therefore making the experiencing of a trauma at an early age even more likely to persist across the lifespan. school performance. experiencing trauma at a young age can put children at risk for negative academic outcomes. children who have experienced trauma have lower scores on standardized reading, math and science measures when compared with their peers who have not experienced trauma. exposure to trauma also increases the odds that a child will receive special education services through an individualized education program (iep; goodman, miller, & west-olatunji, 2012). the ways in which the effects of trauma impact children at school are numerous and can be examined from both cognitive and psychosocial perspectives. social and emotional functioning. in thinking about the ways in which children’s learning is affected by trauma, we might say that cognitive and neurobiological processes prime a child for experiencing the school environment. once a child is at school, and is expected to perform according to school expectations, an additional set of psychological, behavioral and social issues may arise. experiencing trauma puts children at risk for experiencing both internalizing and externalizing symptoms at a higher rate than their peers (ford, gagnon, connor, & pearson, 2011). although both genders display both internalizing and externalizing symptoms (often comorbidly) as responses to trauma, girls are more likely to display internalizing symptoms (costello, mustillo, erkanli, keeler & angold, 2003) and boys externalizing symptoms (card, stucky, sawalani & little, 2008). internalizing symptoms may or may not be obvious to school personnel, but they have the ability to seriously affect learning and socialization. depression is at least 3 to 5 times more common in individuals with histories of child maltreatment. anxiety, specifically in social settings, is also more likely to occur in children who have experienced trauma (edwards, holden, felitti, & anda, 2003). caregiver rating of child trauma exposure research shows that a child’s early relationships with his or her parents or primary caregiver are central to the child’s later emotional health and well-being. this is especially important for a child who has experienced trauma (thompson 1999, 2001; zeenah, 2005). however, parents and primary caregivers often do not identify the severity of impact of a traumatic event on their child. carter and colleagues (2004) attribute this to the fact that young children do not express responses to trauma in the same way that older children do, and that there is a lack of 78 gilles & carlson developmentally sensitive diagnostic tools for young trauma victims. also, young victims of trauma tend to exhibit more externalizing behaviors than their older peers (scheeringa et al., 2003), so many parents and primary caregivers may assume that the child is “acting out” rather than reacting to a traumatic experience. in order for parents and primary caregivers to properly help and maintain a positive relationship with their children who have experienced trauma, they must understand the severity of impact of these events. present study the present study addresses a current gap in the literature by highlighting the importance of the primary caregiver’s interpretation of the impact of traumatic experiences on their children. to inform appropriate trauma-informed mental health interventions for head start preschoolers, it is important to understand the prevalence of trauma cases within this population as well as the types of traumatic events experienced and the impact of those events on children. the present study will address three limitations from previous research. first, it will build from previous research done by grahambermann and seng (2005) to form a more comprehensive account of type and frequency of trauma experienced by preschoolers. previous studies measuring the prevalence of trauma in head start populations, including that by graham-bermann and seng (2005), used scales that were either not reliable or did not truly test the full spectrum of traumatic events. currently there is no known “gold star” of assessment for trauma affecting preschoolers such as those that exist for other things such as school readiness or social/emotional development and behavior (graham-bermann, castor, miller, & howell, 2012). however, understanding a child’s complete trauma history is necessary for proper treatment (chemtob, nomura & abramovitz, 2008). the instrument used in the current study, the traumatic events screening inventoryparent report revised (tesi-prr; ghosh-ippen et al., 2002) includes a wider range of traumatic events than have previously been queried. as the instrument was administered in interview format, it allowed for caregivers to expand upon responses and provide information that may not have been made available using other methodologies. second, it will address the confound in previous studies that parents and primary caregivers do not always provide accurate accounts of what their children have experienced and how traumatic events influence them (grahambermann & seng, 2005; chemtob, nomura & abramovitz, 2008). in the present study, parents are asked to rate how they believe their child was affected by each event so that this confound can be measured empirically and discussed in greater detail. finally, the present study will inform the practice of those who work with preschoolers that are most at risk of experiencing trauma due to the socioeconomic status of their families. research shows that children in low-income and ethnic minority families (i.e. head start preschoolers) will experience a higher number of traumatic events throughout their lifetimes (turner, finkelhor, ormrod & turner, 2006; u.s department of health and human services [hhs], 2009). research questions the purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence, nature, and degree of impact of traumatic events in head start preschoolers’ lives. the research questions for this study are as follows: trauma, head start 79 1) what is the prevalence of exposure to potentially traumatic events among 3, 4, and 5 yearold head start preschoolers in mid-michigan? does the likelihood of experiencing a traumatic event vary by ethnicity? it is hypothesized that between 60 and 87% of children will be reported by caregivers to have experienced at least one traumatic event, replicating findings by beeber and colleagues (2007) and graham-bermann and seng (2005). it was also hypothesized that ethnic minority children will be more likely to experience traumatic events when compared to ethnic majority children (turner, finkelhor, ormod & turner, 2006; hhs, 2009). 2) does the child’s age at the time of the traumatic event influence the degree of impact of the event on the child as rated by the caregiver as measured by caregiver ratings on the tesi-prr? it was hypothesized that the younger the child is at the time of the traumatic event, the less severely caregivers will perceive the impact on the child. even though research now shows that traumatic events can seriously affect young children (cook, ciorciari, varker & devilly, 2009; debellis & kuchibhatla, 2006), it was hypothesized that caregivers will be more greatly influenced by the historical belief that young children are “too young to remember,” or be affected by, traumatic events. 3) do caregivers of children who have experienced multiple traumatic events (have been polyvictimized) rate the impact of these events differently than caregivers of children who have only experienced one traumatic event? research suggests that when children repeatedly experience a variety of distinct traumatic events (polyvictimization), they are more likely to exhibit trauma symptoms and be affected by future traumatic events than children who have not experienced this variety of events (finkelhor, ormrod, & turner, 2007). it was hypothesized that caregivers of children who have been polyvictimized will rate the impact of each event as more severe than caregivers of children who have not experienced the same variety of traumatic events because they will see their children exhibit a heightened response. 4) does caregiver rating of impact of the traumatic event vary by nature and frequency of the event? it is hypothesized that caregivers will rate interpersonal events as more traumatic than non-interpersonal events and cumulative events more traumatic than single episode events. interpersonal traumatic events are most likely to lead to developing ptsd symptoms (kessler, sonnega, bromet & hughes, 1995; stein, van der kolk, austin, fayyad & clary, 2006). debellis and kuchibhatla (2006) found that the more exposure a child has to a negative event, the more severe the reaction will be. 80 gilles & carlson method participants parents or primary caregivers (n=66) of children aged 3-5 years enrolled in head start in a four county region in michigan participated in the study. the researcher interviewed primary caregivers using the traumatic events screening inventoryparent report revised (tesi-prr; ghosh-ippen et al., 2002) either at their child’s head start site, over the phone, or through a take-home survey. parents sampled represented 7 classrooms across 4 head start sites. the average age of primary caregivers was 30 years (sd=8.39), and their relationship to their child included biological parent, adoptive parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle and legal guardian. the average rate of participation in this study was 63% (ranging 50% to 73% depending on site). three of the four sites were classified as urban, the fourth was classified as rural. the mean child age within the sample was 3.78 years (sd= 0.57). the majority of children in the sample were identified by their caregivers as black, 47% were identified as white, non-hispanic. table 1 shows the complete ethnic composition of the sample. table 1 ethnic composition of sample self-identified ethnicity percentage of sample ethnic majority white, non-hispanic 27.27 ethnic minority black 46.97 white, hispanic 16.67 other 9.10 measure a questionnaire based on the traumatic events screening inventoryparent report revised (tesi-prr; ghosh-ippen et al., 2002) was created to address the research questions within this study. the tesi-prr has been used to ascertain the presence or absence of significant impact of a traumatic event on children as reported by their parent or primary caregiver (the respondent; chemtob, nomura and abramovitz, 2008; beeber et al., 2007). the scale contains 24 items that focus on the child’s direct exposure to or witnessing of, severe accidents, illness or disaster, family or community conflict or violence, and sexual molestation and the child’s reaction to each event. if the respondent answers affirmatively to any one of the 24 items, respondents are then asked the question “was your child strongly affected by one or more of these experiences?” (defined by if the child seemed a] to be extremely frightened; b] to be very confused or helpless; c] to be very shocked or horrified; d] to have difficulty getting back to his or her normal way of behaving or feeling when it was over, or e] to behave differently in a different way when it was over). trauma, head start 81 although the researcher was careful to clearly explain the meaning of “strongly affected,” it is still possible that respondents will vary in their perception of “strongly affected.” because of this potential confound, the author of the present study added a likert-type scale to the tesi-prr. this scale asks respondents to rate the impact of the traumatic event on their child using a 7-point likert-type scale (1= not at all traumatic, 4= somewhat traumatic, 7=extremely traumatic) in which parents are asked to rate the impact of the event on their child. it is believed that having respondents respond to both questions (strongly affected and likert scale) will strengthen the reliability of the measure. in the case that an event occurred many times, the respondent was asked to consider and rate the most severe incident. the author also added the question, “how many times did this happen?” to each item in order to better understand the frequency of incidence. finally, this version of the tesi-prr does not include the item 5.1, “has someone ever made your child see or do something sexual (like touching in a sexual way, exposing self or masturbating in front of the child, engaging in sexual intercourse)?” due to its excessively graphic nature. if parents/ primary guardians wish to describe an incident of this nature, they can do so during the last item, which asks if the child has experienced any other “stressful experiences” that have not been covered. in this study, trauma will be operationally defined as a response of either a) a response of “yes” on the “was your child strongly affected” item, b) a response of 3 or higher on the likert-type scale, or c) both a response of “yes” on the “was your child strongly affected” item and a response of 3 or higher on the likert-type scale. the tesi-prr is based on tesi brief parent report form (tesi-bprf), but has been altered to be more appropriate for young children. although psychometric data is still being collected on the tesi-prr, the original measure the tesi-bprf has moderate test-retest reliability (α =.50-.81) and convergent validity (α=.81; carlson, 1997). procedure in order to produce a representative sample of head start families, a multi-stage sampling method was employed. from a total of 32 sites served by the local head start agency, a sample of sites were selected based on which had class during the summer and were self-transport due to facility of data collection. of the sites that met these criteria, four sites were randomly selected, three urban, and one rural. within the four selected sites, we randomly targeted 7 classrooms out of a possible 10. each classroom contained an average of 15 students, for a total of 105 students in the targeted sample. parents or primary guardians of those 105 students were invited to participate in the study either at the child’s head start site, over the phone, or by filling out a paper form of the survey. caregivers were only offered this final option (n=10) if they had been unable to schedule a time to meet either in person or over the phone with the researcher. caregivers were told initially that they would be answering questions about their child’s life experiences. they were told that they could answer confidentially unless in the case of current child abuse or neglect that would be reported to child protective services. participants were allowed to not answer any questions that they did not want to and were allowed to discontinue participation at any time. children were not interviewed, as the study was focused on understanding caregiver perceptions of the effects of traumatic events on children. each interview that was done in person took place in a private room, and lasted approximately 20 minutes. respondents indicated their voluntary consent in the study by signing a consent form, 82 gilles & carlson and were given a $10 gift card for their time and effort in completing the interview. lead teachers of targeted classrooms were also given a $10 gift card for their indirect involvement in helping with participant recruitment procedures, although they were not directly involved in the study. results prevalence of traumatic events eighty-five percent of children had experienced one or more traumatic event according to parent report. table 2 presents the percentage of children who have experienced potentially traumatic events as varied by frequency and nature of the events. table2 prevalence of experience one or more traumatic event as rated by the caregiver number of events experienced type of event experienced one multiple both interpersonal and noninterpersonal only noninterpersonal only interpersonal percent of total sample 15% 70% 55% 23% 8% n 10 46 36 15 5 to compute these percentages, scores were tallied and divided by the total sample size (n=66) for the overall figure (85%) and by the number of children who had experienced one or more potentially traumatic event (n=56) for the frequency and nature estimates. the most frequently reported events were, (a) having a serious medical procedure, being very sick, being seen in the emergency room, or staying in the hospital overnight (n=28; 42%), (b) being away from the primary caregiver for an extended period of time or during a stressful time (n=27; 41%), (c) having a person close to the child who was very sick or injured (n=21; 32%), and (d) seeing, hearing, or hearing about people in the child’s family physically fighting (n=20; 30%). figure 1 shows a complete listing of types of events experienced. trauma, head start 83 figure 1. types of events experienced by young children as reported by primary caregivers there were no ethnic differences detected between children in the ethnic majority (caucasian; n= 11; 83%) versus those in the ethnic minority (all other ethnicities, n= 41; 85%), as both groups had experienced potentially traumatic events at a similar rate χ 2 (1)=0.04, p=0. logistic regression model as the impact rating scale can be viewed as an ordinal variable, caregiver ratings of impact were explored in an ordinal logistic regression model. this model, which can be considered a multiple logistic regression, is different than the simple logistic regression in that it allows for the measurement of the effects of multiple independent variables on the dependent variable (hosmer & lemeshow, 2000). table 3 explains the variable structure for the model. results of this model suggest that frequency of experiencing events is a significant predictor of ratings of traumatic impact, such that every one unit of increase in the frequency rating is correlated to an .22 (p=.036) increase in the ordered log odds of moving to a higher trauma rating category (either from low severity to moderate severity, or moderate severity to high severity) when other predictors are held constant. further, the ordered log odds for those who have experienced both types of events (interpersonal and non-interpersonal) is 2.30 more than those who have only experienced one type of event when other predictors are held constant (p=.001). there were no significant effects for the child’s age at the time of the event or the caregiver’s ethnicity, except that caregivers who identified as white-hispanic were had a -2.00 less ordered odds when compared with the white-non-hispanic reference group. 84 gilles & carlson table 3 variable structure for ordinal regression model response variable caregiver trauma rating low severity (rating of 1-2 on trauma scale) moderate severity (rating of 2.1-3.9 on trauma scale) high severity (rating of 4-7 on trauma scale) predictors average frequency of events child mean age at time of event nature of events experienced either interpersonal or non-interpersonal both interpersonal and non-interpersonal caregiver ethnicity white, non-hispanic black/african american white, hispanic asian other note: this model was shown to significantly improve on the base or “intercept only” model χ 2 (7)=22.37, p=.002 (see table 4 for model summary). table 4 model summary: ordered log odds of predictors of caregiver rating categories 95% confidence interval log odds (se) lower upper caregiver ethnicity † black/ african american -0.74(0.65) -2.02 0.53 asian -0.157(1.50) -3.02 2.71 white, hispanic -2.00(1.00) -3.02 2.71 other 1.00(1.40) -1.70 3.62 mean age at event 0.19(0.39) -0.60 1.00 mean frequency 0.22(.103)* 0.01 0.42 nature of event experienced (either interpersonal or non-interpersonal) † † -2.28** -3.67 -0.89 note: r 2 = 0.37 (cox and snell), 0.41 (nagelkerke), 0.21 (mcfadden). model χ 2 (7)=22.37, p=.002. *p<.05, **p<.01 †reference group: white, non-hispanic ††reference group: nature of event experienced (both interpersonal and non-interpersonal) child’s age at the time of event the average age at which children experienced traumatic events was 2.93 years (sd=0.76, range 3-48 months). there were no significant age differences among those who had experienced only one type of event (either interpersonal or non-interpersonal; m=2.80, sd=0.96) or both types of events (m=3.01, sd=0.64) f(1,51)=1.00, p=0.33. across all types of events, there was no trauma, head start 85 significant relationship between the child’s age at the time of the event and the caregiver’s rating of impact of the event on the child r(51)= 0.26, p=0.59. multiple traumatic events a one-way analysis of variance was used to assess the differences among caregiver rating of impact on children who had experienced varying numbers of events. there was a significant effect of number of events experienced on caregiver rating of impact, f(2,53)=3.41, p=.041 (see figure 2), meaning that caregivers rated each event differently based on how many events were experienced. figure 2. caregiver rating of impact by number of events experienced a comparison using the tukey hsd post hoc test revealed that the differences in ratings occurred between those who had experienced 1 or 2 events and those who had experienced more than 5 events (p=.032), but there were no significant differences between the two intermediate groups. nature of the event items on the tesi-prr were classified into groups based on the nature of the events they measure (interpersonal vs. non-interpersonal). for those who had experienced both types of events (n=36; 64%), there were no significant differences between the mean ratings of impact on interpersonal (m=3.36, sd=1.73) and noninterpersonal (m=3.44, sd=1.76) event items t(35)=.30, p=0.77. however, an analysis of covariance (ancova) suggests that, controlling for the frequency of experiencing event, the average caregiver rating of impact was greater for those children who had experienced both types of events (m=3.58, sd= 1.32) versus those who had only experienced one type of event (m=2.49, sd=1.47) f(1,51)=7.78, p=.007. 2.6 3.1 3.8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 (n=18) 3 4 (n=19) 5 or more (n=19) m ea n c a re g iv er t ra u m a r a ti n g ( t e s ip r r ) number of events experienced 86 gilles & carlson discussion the present study tested four research questions related to the prevalence, nature and degree of impact of traumatic events on head start preschoolers (n=66). eighty-five percent (n=56) of caregivers reported that their children had experienced one or more traumatic event, of which 82% had experienced more than one event. the findings from this study closely align with previous research estimating the prevalence of traumatic events in this population, suggesting that between 60% and 87% of head start preschoolers had experienced at least one traumatic event (beeber, et al., 2007; graham-bermann & seng, 2005). it is likely that the estimate is higher than that made by graham-bermann and seng (2005; 78% of head start preschoolers from michigan) because the instrument used in the present study, an adapted version of the traumatic events screening inventory-parent report revised (tesi-prr), inquired about a broader range of potentially traumatic events (both interpersonal and non-interpersonal) than previously used instruments. experiencing non-interpersonal events (i.e., a natural disasters or car accidents) was more common (27%) than experiencing interpersonal events (9% i.e., abuse). however, the majority of children had experienced both (n=36; 64%). this is consistent with research suggesting that non-interpersonal events are more commonly experienced (resnick, kilpatrick, dansky, saunders & best, 1993). contrary to previous findings (turner, finkelhor, ormrod & turner, 2006) suggesting that racial minority children are more likely than white children to experience trauma, the present study found no significant differences in experiencing events based on ethnicity. this difference may be due to the fact that previous studies have failed to separate race from socioeconomic status when claiming that racial minority children were more likely to experience trauma. by only involving children from similar socio-economic backgrounds, the present study effectively controlled for the effects of socioeconomic status. therefore, present findings suggest that the likelihood of a child to experience trauma may be related to his or her family’s socioeconomic status, as opposed to the child’s ethnicity. however, caution must be taken when interpreting this finding given the small representation of white children in the study (n=11; 17%). the present study fills a gap in the current literature related to primary caregivers’ perceptions of traumatic events on their children. this is important to understand, especially in early childhood, because young children often are not able to understand and express the impact of these events, instead expressing their impact through externalizing behaviors such as anger and aggression (scheeringa et al., 2003). therefore, it is up to these children’s caregivers who must help children get connected to appropriate treatment. results suggest that overall, both frequency of experiencing traumatic events and the nature of the events experienced were significantly related to caregiver rating of impact, such that the more frequently children experienced traumatic events, caregivers rated all events endorsed as more severe. additionally, controlling for the frequency at which they experienced events, caregivers of children who had experienced both types of events (interpersonal and noninterpersonal) rated the impact of each event as more severe compared with those who had only experienced one type of event (either interpersonal or non-interpersonal). the number of different events that a child had experienced also affected caregiver ratings of each event. caregivers of children who had experienced multiple events rated each of the events as more traumatic for the child than those who had experienced fewer events. this difference was established between children who had experienced one or two different events and those who had experienced five or more events. trauma, head start 87 further, contrary to previous findings (janoff-bulman, 1992 as cited in lily, valdez & graham-bermann, 2011), there was no significant difference in mean caregiver rating of impact between interpersonal events and non-interpersonal events. one possible interpretation of this finding is that children who had experienced both types of traumatic events (n=36; 64%) formed more heightened responses to all events due to the cumulative effects of experiencing trauma (as demonstrated by chemtob, nomura, & abramovitz, 2008). these children are therefore in a continuous state of “high alert” in which they react severely to all events without regard to the type of event they are experiencing. previous research shows that children who have an established trauma background are less likely to cope effectively with traumatic events over time, and are therefore more likely to develop a clinical pattern of ptsd symptoms (i.e., ghazali, elklit, yaman & ahmad, 2013; overstreet, salloum & badour, 2010). caregiver response patterns in the present study echo this research in suggesting that caregivers are able to identify when children are most highly distressed and relate the level of distress back to the experiencing of trauma. however, caregivers of children who had experienced few events, experienced an event infrequently, or had only experienced one type of event did not endorse a high level of impact/ distress on their child. it is logical that children who are experiencing fewer events, or experiencing trauma less frequently will not react as severely to each event, therefore prompting caregivers to endorse a less severe rating. however, it is also possible that caregivers are not attuned to the subtle ways in which traumatic events are affecting children, even if they don’t appear to be highly distressed. this may lead caregivers not to seek treatment until symptoms become more severe and are therefore more difficult to treat. by better understanding how primary caregivers rate the impact of traumatic events and comprehending the types of events that parents rate as traumatic, we can more easily focus child and caregiver interventions. these findings lend support to providing psychoeducation regarding the effects of traumatic experiences to all caregivers of at-risk children, as this study demonstrated that caregivers are not always immediately aware of the negative effects of traumatic experiences on their children. figuring out ways to incorporate this type of trauma education at the systems level so that it is available to many, if not all, caregivers that work with head start preschoolers is a key implication of the present findings. programs such as head start trauma smart are already working to incorporate trauma-informed practices in head start agencies (holmes, levy, smith, pinne, & neese, 2014). other interventions such as traumafocused cbt (cohen, mannarino, & deblinger, 2006) and social emotional skill-building in areas that children who have been traumatized tend to lack (e.g., feeling safe, making sense of past experiences, self-regulation, forming appropriate peer relationships) are promising practices, and should be adapted for use with young children and families within the head start setting. limitations in order to accurately represent trauma prevalence, nature, and frequency in schools, it is important to have a high rate of participation from each classroom. the average response rate across our four sites was 63%. while this response rate may be lower than that of other larger epidemiological studies on prevalence (i.e., the national health interview survey [nhis] with an 87% response rate; u.s. department of health and human services, centers for disease control and prevention [hhs cdc], 2004), others such as the behavioral risk factor 88 gilles & carlson surveillance survey [brfss] conducted by the centers for disease control and prevention [cdc] have lower response rates (51% response rate in 2005; cdc, 2013). further, while historically low responses were viewed as a threat to study validity (babbie, 1990), more current research shows that data is similar in those studies with a high response rate (20%) and those with low response rates (60-70%; visser, krosnick, marquette & curtin, 1996). the sample, while relatively small in size, was also drawn from one head start organization in the mid-west. one must use caution before generalizing findings to other geographic areas, as findings are likely to vary regionally. further, the 7-point likert scale that was used for this study was analyzed both as a continuous and categorical variable. although it is generally suggested that likert scales be analyzed as categorical, there is research supporting the treatment of likert scale data as continuous variables, especially when there are more than 5 items on the scale and the variables are evenly distributed (de winter & dodou, 2010). as these two conditions were met, the likert scale was treated as continuous. additionally, ratings of traumatic impact in this study were endorsed by caregivers through interviews with the researcher making salient the issue of bias. bias likely influenced results of the present study, both on the part of the caregiver and the researcher, who was aware of research questions and methodology while conducting interviews. caregiver bias was likely related to trauma of the caregiver, which was not accounted for but likely present. in addition to statistically controlling for these biases, student and teacher report data to corroborate the caregiver report would be an important step for future research. future directions because living in poverty puts children at risk for experiencing traumatic events (hhs, 2009), it is necessary to teach head start preschoolers skills for dealing with trauma and stress, as they are likely to experience many different traumatic events throughout their lifetimes. as schools are rapidly becoming places to receive mental health interventions (adelman & taylor, 2012), it is important for teachers to be trained in identifying children that have been traumatized and teaching skills in schools that will help children cope. preschool teachers should be especially aware of this as early intervention is important for preventing psychopathology later in life (coates & gaensbauer, 2009). corroborating information learned from the present study with parent and possibly child report and subsequently spreading information about childhood trauma to parents, teachers, head start family advocates, and other head start staff are the first steps to getting children the help they need. the next step would be to implement trauma-focused interventions in head start preschools. to date there are no research-based trauma-informed curricula for preschool-aged children. programs for older students such as cognitive behavioral intervention for trauma in schools (c-bits) have shown promising results for decreasing ptsd and depression scores in children who have experienced trauma (i.e., jaycox et al., 2010). adapting similar programs for use in preschools will ensure that young children get the intervention services that they need. additionally, making psychoeducation regarding the effects of trauma on children available to all head start staff and families will help confirm that all caregivers are aware of traumainformed practices and can respond appropriately to children who have experienced trauma. trauma, head start 89 references adelman, h. s., & taylor, l. 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(2000). handbook of infant mental health (2nd ed.) new york: guilford press http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm09/cm09.pdf#page=31 dialog, 16(3), 155-159 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary improving preschool literacy skills using physical activity. stacie m. kirk, wendy fuchs, and erik p. kirk southern illinois university edwardsville poor early literacy skills and obesity in preschool children have been associated with poor academic achievement later in life. there is limited evidence to suggest a relationship between physical and improved literacy, and decreased obesity in older children (carlson et al., 2008). however, little is known about the effects of increasing physical activity on literacy skills in preschool children. this article summarizes the effects of academic lessons taught using physical activity on literacy skills of preschool students enrolled in head start. the results showed that by increasing physical activity in the preschool classroom, children were more physically active during free play, and showed improvement in literacy skills compared to non-exercising classrooms. therefore, physical activity academic lessons are cost effective, require minimal teacher preparation, and result in improved academic scores and lower body weight. there is currently considerable interest in increasing physical activity and improving academic achievement in preschool children. however, concern over meeting academic achievement goals has resulted in the reduction or elimination of physical activity in preschools. therefore, less than 54% of preschoolers meeting the recommended 60 minutes per day of physical activity (tucker, 2008). evidence is available which suggests an association of low physical activity with low academic achievement. therefore, strategies to increase physical activity and improve academic achievement in preschoolers would be important for long-term health and academic success. despite the associations between physical activity-based academic lessons and improved academic achievement, the majority of published research that looked at this relationship (keays & allison, 1995) has been conducted primarily with school-age (k-12) children (castelli, hillman, buck, & erwin, 2007; coe, pivarnik, womack, reeves, & malina, 2006; dwyer, sallis, blizzard, lazarus, & dean, 2001). there has been very little research focused on physical activities and their association with achievement in preschoolers. the preschool classroom setting such as head start provides an ideal opportunity to consistently promote increased physical activity and academic development. given the large number of children enrolled in preschool programs (over 60% of three to five year olds were served in center-based preschool settings in the united states in 2008 (america’s children in brief: key national indicators of well-being 2008) and the importance of improving academic achievement and physical activity, community settings such as head start may be the critical environment in which programs came be implemented. head start serves millions of children; many of whom include minority families 156 s. kirk et al. and other families who live at or below the federal poverty level. these preschoolers are at high risk for poor or delayed academic development. for example, children who read below grade level at the end of elementary school are most often those who failed to develop early literacy skills during preschool (torgesen, 1998). furthermore, children growing up in poverty are at risk for lower-than-average levels of academic achievement through primary and secondary grades and are overrepresented in special education classrooms for students with learning disabilities (gottlieb, alter, gottlieb, & wishner, 1994; kozol, 1991; schorr, 1988). weaknesses in early literacy skills and later reading failure are most common among low-income, non-white children and among children with limited proficiency in english (hart & risley, 1995; snow, burns, & griffin, 1998). therefore, head start classrooms are an ideal environment to have an impact on improving academic achievement and to increase physical activity. the association between physical activity and academic achievement provides a unique opportunity to intervene and provide programs that both improve health and academic performance. integrating physical activity into head start preschool classrooms’ academic lessons offers an innovative approach to increasing physical activity during the school day without decreasing the time devoted to academics. the current study examined the effects of a low cost, teacher-directed program that delivered existing lesson plans taught through physical activity in head start preschools serving african american children, a group at high risk of poor academic achievement and low physical activity levels. study information there were a total of fifty-four african american preschool children with the average age of three years, nine months from an urban head start program that participated in the six-month study. within the head start program, two head start centers totaling four classrooms (two classrooms per center) participated in the study. the head start centers were in the same urban city (just 1 mile apart) and managed through a partnership with a local university. one preschool center participated in the physical activity based academic lessons and a second center participated at the control center with no physical activity-based academic lessons. students were assigned to condition based on the site they attended. each classroom was staffed with two teachers (one lead teacher, one assistant). there were a total of eight teachers (four lead and four assistants), all of them female. all teachers followed the local head start curriculum. teacher implementation and time spent on curriculum were identical in both preschools as measured by direct observation and teacher report. all available resources such as technology, classroom materials, and teacher training were identical across classrooms. both centers followed the same curriculum and were expected to monitor child progress toward outcomes as monitored by the head start child development and early learning framework (2010). during the first three months, a member of the research team performed daily observations, feedback and support to ensure the physical activity based academic lessons were being administered correctly and to monitor compliance. during months four through six there was no contact between the investigators and the teachers. the limited contact was done to evaluate if there was a continuation effect in which the physical activity-based academic lessons continued to be used by teachers without ongoing support and feedback by the research team. preschool physical activity improves literacy 157 early literacy and language were measured using the early literacy individual growth and development indicators (igdi research and development of individual growth and development indicators for children between birth and age eight; tech. rep. no. 4, 1998). three igdis are commonly used as indicators of children’s language and literacy development in preschool programs. these three measures, picture naming assessment of expressive language development, rhyming assessment of phonological awareness, and alliteration assessment of phonological awareness (specifically letter sound identification), were each developed by researchers at the university of minnesota under the support of the early childhood research institute on measuring growth and development. physical activity levels during free play were measured using the system for observing fitness instruction time (sofit) to determine if increasing physical activity in the classroom increased physical activity throughout the day. physical activity levels of students were recorded using a likert-type scale (e.g. 1 = lying down, 2 = sitting, 3 = standing, 4 = walking, 5 = jogging/running). during the first three months observers conducted sofit observations in all of the intervention and control classrooms five days per week to determine student activity intensity levels. in months four through six staff conducted sofit observations one day per month in both the intervention and control classrooms and all teachers in each head start center. results the results indicated that adherence to the program was greater than 95%, meaning that students were obtaining half (30 minutes) of the daily 60 minutes/day of recommended structured physical activity during sofit observations, staff also indicated the level of participation by teachers during an active lesson. overall teacher participation was related to sofit scores for students in the intervention schools but not the control schools. rhyming significantly improved in the physical activity group from the beginning of the study (less than one correct response in two minutes) to six months (three correct responses in two minutes) compared to the non-activity group (less than one correct response up to two correct responses in two minutes). higher scores for alliteration and rhyming indicate greater early literacy skills and phonological awareness. alliteration (letter sound identification) significantly improved in the physical activity group from the beginning of the study (less than one correct response in two minutes) to six months (two correct responses in two minutes) compared to non-activity group (less than one correct response at both the beginning of the study as well as at six months). students at the intervention site performed significantly greater levels of physical activity in the classroom than students at the control site at three and six months. preschoolers at the control site were primarily sitting during lesson plan activities, whereas students in intervention site were primarily moving during lesson plan activities. at the end of the study we gathered information from the teachers regarding the perception of the program and the likelihood that the program could be adopted into a preschool classroom. in general, teachers reported that the program was easy to implement, children enjoyed the program, had a positive influence on the children learning and helped them focus better. most encouraging, the teachers indicated that they would have their class participate in the physical activity program again. 158 s. kirk et al. discussion and implications for practice to our knowledge this is the first study to indicate that a teacher-directed physical activity program in a head start center serving african american preschoolers is effective at increasing physical activity and improving measures of early literacy. it appears that physical activity can be maintained for at least three months without direct supervision with the potential for improving early literacy development. the teachers indicated that they felt the program was easy to administer, enjoyable, and made an impact on children’s learning in the classroom. results from this study suggested that a physical activity program that was incorporated within the preschool classroom improved early literacy and was maintained even after there was no contact between the investigators and teachers. the physical activity lessons may provide an important strategy to improve early literacy in at-risk preschoolers. for those currently practicing in the field, the implications from this study are that teachers play a critical role in promoting physical activity throughout the day for children in their classroom. by combining physical activity with lesson plans, teachers can work on both cognitive skills and physical activity, engaging children in ways that keep them active during the learning process. also, the program described is low-cost, with the primary materials being the lesson plans that teachers already had completed, and cd player to allow for increased music and movement activities during circle and other times of the day. specific suggestions for teachers include incorporating games such as simon says that target children’s abilities to follow directions, while including commands such as “simon says hop 5 times like a rabbit (numbers and movement combined in one command). another activity includes “moving with numbers” which has children choose a number and then an activity to go with it. for example, jackie chooses the number 4 and the children touch their toes 4 times, moving up and down each down, which also helps children learn directions (up, down). other popular activities were “animal action fun” and “follow the leader marching game”. with these activities, children would move like animals (animal name and animal sound recognition) and following the chosen physical movement of the leader (for example, three jumping jacks) which targets listening and following directions. teachers are encouraged to expand on activities they already use while incorporating physical movements at the same time. one of the major advantages of the physical activity program is it is a minimal intervention that can be easily implemented, requiring minimal change to the current curriculum, few additional supplies (if any), and minimal cost to schools. aknowledgments this study was supported by an internal grant from southern illinois university edwardsville. the authors are grateful to all students and teachers who participated in our project. references america’s children in brief: key national indicators of well-being (2008). washington, d.c. : government printing office. castelli, d. m., hillman, c. h., buck, s. m., & erwin, h. e. (2007). physical fitness and academic achievement in thirdand fifth-grade students. journal of sprot and exercise psychology, 29(2), 239-252. preschool physical activity improves literacy 159 coe, d. p., pivarnik, j. m., womack, c. j., reeves, m. j., & malina, r. m. (2006). effect of physical education and activity levels on academic achievement in children. medicine and science in sports and exercise, 38(8), 1515-1519. dwyer, t., sallis, j. f., blizzard, l., lazarus, r., & dean, k. (2001). relation of academic performance to physical activity and fitness in children. pediatric exercise science, 13, 225-237. gottlieb, j., alter, m., gottlieb, b. w., & wishner, j. (1994). special education in urban america: it’s not justifiable for many. the journal of special education, 2(7), 453-465. hart, b., & risley, t. r. (1995). meaningful differences in the everyday experiences of young american children. baltimore: brookes. keays, j. j., & allison, k. r. (1995). the effects of regular moderate to vigorous physical activity on student outcomes: a review. canadian journal of public healthh, 86(1), 62-65. kozol, j. l. (1991). savage inequalities: children in america’s schools. new york: crown. schorr, l. b. (1988). within our reach: breaking the cycle of disadvantage. new york: doubleday. snow, c. f., burns, m. s., & griffin, p. (1998). preventing reading difficulties in young children. washington, dc: national academies press. torgesen, j. k. (1998). catch them before they fall: identification and assessment to prevent reading failure in young children. american education, 1-8. tucker, p. (2008). the physical activity levels of preschool-aged children: a systematic review. early childhood research quarterly 23, 547-558. dialog, 16(4), 99-103 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to vivian i. correa, department of special education and child development, unc charlotte, charlotte, nc 28223, vcorrea@uncc.edu this research was supported in part by a grant from the south carolina exceptional children division. research-to-practice summary read it once again instruction with two groups of students vivian i. correa and cynthia c. baughan university of north carolina at charlotte karen m. fries francis marion university martie thompson clemson university bob algozzine university of north carolina at charlotte the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a preschool early literacy curriculum (read it once again) across two groups of students. participants were preschool children with disabilities in self-contained classrooms and children at risk for disabilities served in state funded prekindergarten programs. teachers in the intervention classrooms implemented read it once again instruction in small groups on a daily basis. teachers in comparison classrooms implemented the ongoing preschool curriculum as a “business-as-usual” no-intervention condition. there were no pretest group differences on the peabody picture vocabulary test and the preschool language scales for both groups of children; however, there were statistically significant effects on picture naming and rhyming progress-monitoring measures for preschoolers with disabilities who received the intervention. these results suggest that read it once again may be effective for improving early literacy skills of preschool children with or at risk for significant early learning problems. young children who have disabilities or at risk for disabilities are at increased chance for academic and social problems and may lack the prerequisite skills to be successful in kindergarten (dennis & horn, 2011; hay & fielding-barnsley, 2009; massetti & bracken, 2010; missall, mcconnell, & cadigan, 2006; howes et al., 2008; zill & west, 2001). there is sufficient evidence, however, that if early childhood educators support early language and literacy skills in the preschool years, young children are more likely to succeed in reading achievement in the later elementary-school years. (mashburn, justice, downer, & pianta (2009); missall et al., 2006; national early literacy panel, 2009). strong oral language and emergent 100 correa et at. literacy skills can lead to advantages in reading, writing, and spelling (debaryshe & gorecki, 2007). the development of early literacy and language skills should be a primary component of the early childhood curriculum. the purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an early literacy curriculum, read it once again (rioa: http://www.readitonceagain.com) on language and early literacy skills of children with or at risk for disabilities. we addressed the following research question: to what extent does preschool teachers’ use of the read it once again curriculum increase young children’s early literacy skills? summary of research methods participants participants were 65 children identified as at-risk who attended three half-day (morning and afternoon) 4-k classrooms located within two public elementary schools, and 85 preschool children with disabilities (pcd) in nine different self-contained preschool special education classrooms. the average age at the beginning of the study of the children identified as at-risk was 4 years 5 months (range = 4 years 0 months to 5 years 0 months); more than half of the students (56%) were girls; most were from caucasian (62%) ethnic backgrounds (15% african american, and 23% other); and 17% had a language other than english spoken in the home. the average age at the beginning of the study of the children identified with a disability was 4 years 6 months (range = 3 years 0 months to 6 years 0 months); most (71%) were boys; most were from caucasian (61%) ethnic backgrounds (25% african american, and 14% other); and, 12% had a language other than english spoken in the home. disability categories included developmental delay (61.1%), down syndrome (12.9%), other health impaired (10.6%), speech/language impairment (5.9%), autism (3.5%), learning disabilities (3.5%), and hearing impaired (2.4%). curriculum intervention teachers implemented the read it once again curriculum which (http://www.readitonceagain.com) was designed to promote a language and literacy rich environment using classic children’s books (e.g., corduroy, the very hungry caterpillar) (schaper, 2002). read it once again reinforces rhyme, rhythm, and repetition while addressing the development of essential early literacy and language skills that have been identified by the national early literacy panel (nelp): phonological awareness; rapid automatic naming of objects or colors; writing; and phonological memory (nelp, 2009). each storybook unit is centered on one popular children’s book. unit activities focus on repetition and consistency including daily readings of the book; daily recitations and sequencing of a related mother goose rhyme; and, story-related music and activities that address cognitive (e.g., sorting, matching, visual discrimination skills), fine motor (e.g., using scissors, crayons, and pencils to complete pictures and make puzzle pieces) and gross motor (e.g., acting out the story and related songs), socialization (e.g., dramatic play with story props), and adaptive skills (e.g., making related snacks and dressing in story character costumes). family involvement is supported through http://www.readitonceagain.com/ http://www.readitonceagain.com/ read it once again instruction 101 letters that are sent home at the beginning and end of each unit, and a personal copy of the storybook that is sent home with each child at the end of the unit. daily activities (e.g., reading the story, reciting the mother goose rhyme) were usually 15-20 minutes in length. each teacher completed required activities (e.g., reciting the mother goose rhyme, reading the story, using other related music and rhymes, and incorporating cognitive and motor activities) every day and others at least once a week (e.g., review rhymes from previous units; add, change, or rotate story props in the dramatic play center; paint pictures of objects or characters from the story; incorporate snacks or related foods), or once a unit (e.g., parent letters, “packet day,” sending home a copy of the story). in the comparison classrooms, teachers maintained their “business-as-usual” early childhood curriculum. all teachers included activities that supported socialization, cognitive, fine and gross motor, language/early literacy, and adaptive skills in their classroom curriculum. all teachers read children’s books to their students and included music in the classroom. research design we used a quasi-experimental design. data included preand posttest assessment of (a) receptive language on the peabody picture vocabulary test, 4th edition (ppvt-4; dunn & dunn, 2007), (b) receptive and expressive language on the preschool language scales, 4th edition (pls-4; zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2002, 2004), and progress monitoring assessment of (c) expressive language on the picture naming-early literacy individual growth and development indicators (igdi: mcconnell, 2003; http://ggg.umn.edu) and (d) rhyming on the rhyming-early literacy individual growth and development indicators (mcconnell, 2003; http://ggg.umn.edu). summary of results effects of read it once again on at-risk students assessment data showed that there were no significant improvements in receptive or expressive language on the ppvt (ppvt-4; dunn & dunn, 2007) or the pls (pls-4; zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2002, 2004), nor were there significant improvements in picture naming or rhyming on the early literacy individual growth and development indicators (mcconnell, 2003; http://ggg.umn.edu) for at–risk students participating in the “business-as-usual” curriculum. there were also no significant improvements in receptive or expressive language on the ppvt (ppvt-4; dunn & dunn, 2007) or the pls (pls-4; zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2002, 2004) for at-risk students participating in the read it once again curriculum; however, there were significant improvements in picture naming and rhyming on the early literacy individual growth and development (mcconnell, 2003; http://ggg.umn.edu) for at-risk students participating in the read it once again curriculum. http://ggg.umn.edu/ http://ggg.umn.edu/ http://ggg.umn.edu/ http://ggg.umn.edu/ 102 correa et at. effects of read it once again on students with disabilities similarly, assessment data showed that there were no significant improvements in receptive or expressive language on the ppvt (ppvt-4; dunn & dunn, 2007) or the pls (pls-4; zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2002, 2004), nor were there significant improvements in expressive language or rhyming on the early literacy individual growth and development indicators (mcconnell, 2003; http://ggg.umn.edu) for children with disabilities participating in the “business-as-usual” curriculum. there were also no significant improvements in receptive or expressive language on the ppvt (ppvt-4; dunn & dunn, 2007) or the pls (pls-4; zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2002, 2004) for children with disabilities participating in the read it once again curriculum; however, there were significant improvements in picture naming and rhyming on the early literacy individual growth and development (mcconnell, 2003; http://ggg.umn.edu) for these children. discussion and implications for practice early childhood curricula and supplemental instructional activities that promote early literacy development in preschool children are critical for their success in kindergarten and beyond. results of this study on the impact of the read it once again curricula on four-year-old children with or at risk for disabilities are promising. the children who received the rioa intervention made more gains in picture naming and rhyming than the children who received the “businessas-usual” preschool curriculum. although more research is needed to evaluate the impact of rioa on literacy development in preschool children, there is enough evidence to support that the storybook units with packaged materials are beneficial in supporting children’s early reading and language development. implications for using the rioa materials in early childhood programs serving children with disabilities or at-risk for disabilities are as follows: 1. the full impact of rioa on children’s literacy development may take longer than 12 weeks (4 book units). there are currently 30 units available and extending the use of storybook units over a longer period of time should prove a more powerful intervention. 2. rioa reinforces rhyme, rhythm, and repetition while addressing the development of essential early literacy and language skills. teachers are encouraged to implement these activities by focusing on daily readings of the book, daily recitations and sequencing of a related mother goose rhyme, as well as story-related music activities. 3. early childhood educators should integrate daily rioa unit activities that enhance all areas of development, including cognitive skills (e.g., sorting, matching, visual discrimination skills), fine motor (e.g., using scissors, crayons, and pencils to complete pictures and make puzzle pieces) and gross motor skills (e.g., acting out the story and related songs), socialization (e.g., dramatic play with story props), and adaptive skills (e.g., making related snacks and dressing in story character costumes). 4. family involvement should be supported through letters that are sent home at the beginning and end of each unit, and a personal copy of the storybook should be sent home with each child at the end of the unit. http://ggg.umn.edu/ http://ggg.umn.edu/ read it once again instruction 103 5. early childhood educators should use ongoing progress-monitoring measures such as the early literacy idgi (mcconnell, 2003; http://ggg.umn.edu) to measure children’s progress. references debaryshe, b.d., & gorecki, d.m. (2007). an experimental validation of a preschool emergent literacy curriculum. early education and development, 18(1), 93-110. dennis, l.r., & horn, e. (2011). strategies for supporting early literacy development. young exceptional children, 14(3), 29-40. dunn, l. m., & dunn, d. m. (2007). peabody picture vocabulary testfourth edition. san antonio, tx: the psychological corporation. hay, i., & fielding-barnsley, r. (2009). competencies that underpin children’s transition into early literacy. australian journal of language and literacy, 32(2), 148-162. howes, c., burchinal, m., pianta, r., bryant, d., early, d., clifford, r., & barbarin, o. (2008). ready to learn? children’s pre-academic achievement in pre-kindergarten programs. early childhood research quarterly, 23, 27-50. mashburn, a.j., justice, l.m., downer, j.t., & pianta, r.c. (2009). peer effects on children’s language achievement during pre-kindergarten. child development, 80, 686-702. massetti, g.m., & bracken, s.s. (2010). classroom academic and social context: relationships among emergent literacy, behavioural functioning and teacher curriculum goals in kindergarten. early child development & care, 180, 359-375. mcconnell, s. (2003). get it, got it, go! minneapolis, mn: institute on community integration, university of minnesota, online at http://ggg.umn.edu missall, k. n., mcconnell, s. r., & cadigan, k. (2006). early literacy development: skill growth and relations between classroom variables for preschool children. journal of early intervention, 29(1), 1-21. national early literacy panel. (2009). developing early literacy: report of the national early literacy panel. washington, dc: national institute for literacy. schaper, r. (2002). read it once again. inman, sc: read it, llc. www.readitonceagain.com zill, n., & west, j. (2001). entering kindergarten: a portrait of american children when they begin school. u.s. department of education, oeri, nces 2001-035. zimmerman, i. l., steiner, v. g., & pond, r. e. (2002). preschool language scales–fourth edition. san antonio, tx: the psychological corporation. zimmerman, i. l., steiner, v. g., & pond, r. e. (2004). preschool language scale 4th edition, spanish. san antonio, tx: the psychological corporation. http://ggg.umn.edu/ http://ggg.umn.edu/ http://www.readitonceagain.com/ dialog, 16(2), 34-52 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article improvement of child care programs’ health and safety policies, and practices, and children’s access to health care, linked to child care health consultation patricia isbell, jonathan kotch, eric savage, and elizabeth gunn university of north carolina at chapel hill lydia lu centers for disease control and prevention david weber university of north carolina at chapel hill child care health consultation is a partnership between a health professional and a child care program that promotes a healthy and safe child care environment. this partnership involves on-site, internet and telephone consultation, health education, health promotion, and training and technical assistance. the objective of this study was to determine the impact of this partnership on the health and safety of children in 77 child care programs in one state. data were collected on each child care program’s written health and safety policies, children’s health records, and staff health and safety behaviors. the results demonstrate a statistically significant increase in the quality of written health and safety policies and health practices (sanitation/hygiene, nutrition/food service, playground safety and emergency preparedness). these improvements in policies and practices (defined by alkon et al., 2006, as precursors of child health outcomes) led to improvements in children’s access to a medical home, enrollment in health insurance, immunization status, and documented oral, developmental, vision, and hearing screenings. the us experienced a dramatic and steady increase in the number of young children participating in out-of-home child care beginning in the 1970s (federal interagency forum on child and family statistics, 2010). this expanded use of child care increased young children’s risk of illness due to the fact that children in group care are exposed to more pathogens than if they were cared for at home by their families (churchill & pickering, 1997; hurwitz, gunn, pinsky & schonberger, 1991; aronson & shope, 2009). early childhood professionals across the nation dissatisfied with this increased risk of illness, called for improvements in the quality of child care particularly in the area of health and safety. in response to this national call to action, the american public health association (apha) and the american academy of pediatrics (aap), published the first edition of caring for our children: national health and safety performance standards; child care health consultation outcomes 35 guidelines for out-of-home child care programs (cfoc) (aap, apha,1992). two subsequent editions have been published (2002, 2011) with the national resource center for health and safety in child care and early education (nrc) as the third author. among the cfoc standards is the recommendation that every out-of-home child care program have available the services of a child care health consultant (cchc). a cchc is “a licensed health professional with education and experience in child and community health and early care and education, preferably with specialized training in child care health consultation” (aap, apha, nrc, 2011). pediatric health and early childhood professionals supported the concept of child care health consultation, but an existing work force of trained professionals did not exist. initial efforts designed to convince state/territory administrators of the importance of this service were mainly based on professional judgment (dooling & ulione, 2000; dunderstadt & cohen 2004; evers, 2002; ulione, 1997) and advocacy (lucarelli, 2002). many states were successful in establishing a cchc role at the state level (mainly utilizing funds from the us maternal and child health bureau’s “healthy child care america initiative”). however, attempts to establish child care health consultation at the local level were less successful. this lack of success may be attributed to financial constraints, but it could also have been due to the lack of scientific evidence for the efficacy of the role. in response to the need for scientific evidence, initial investigations into the efficacy of child care health consultation explored areas that could be linked to specific child outcomes such as injury (ulione & dooling, 1997; ulione, 1997), upper respiratory illness (ulione & dooling, 1997; ulione, 1997) and mental health/challenging behaviors (center for mental health services, 2000; alkon, ramler, & maclennan, 2003). although value was found in promoting specific areas and activities of child care health consultation, a synthesis of the overall impact of the service was not addressed until alkon, fernzweig, to, wolff, & mackie (2009) examined the impact of child care health consultation on child care program policies and practices in california. they concluded that “child care health consultation can improve the written health and safety policies and may improve practices in child care centers” (alkon, et al., 2009). in an attempt to further explain the process of achieving positive child care health and safety outcomes, alkon, to, wolff, mackie, & bernzweig (2006) developed a stepwise model (figure 1) based on a formative evaluation of the cchc network in california. this model suggested that research must first reveal the impact of cchc activities on the precursors of child health and safety outcomes before a link could be established to child health and safety outcomes. the precursors in the model, education of the child care staff and cchcs, consultation between the cchc and child care staff, development of health and safety policies that are in compliance with national standards, and improvement in child care staff practice, have been examined (alkon, to, mackie, wolff, & bernzweig, 2010; alkon, fernzweig, to, wolff, & mackie, 2009; alkon et al., 2008; farrer, alkon, & to, 2007; crowley & kulikowich, 2009). however, a void continues to exist concerning evidence that child care health consultation improves child health and safety outcomes. 36 isbell et al. an understanding of child health and safety outcomes (e.g., access to health care, immunization status, absences due to illness, and medically-attended injury rates) involves an evaluation of both formative (e.g., prevention activities that a cchc delivers to the child care program such as health and safety trainings and provision of written or electronic resources) and summative (e.g., access to health care, immunization status, absences due to illness, and medically-attended injury) data. yet, it is difficult to document that a specific preventive health measure taken with respect to a specific health risk actually prevented a specific individual from getting ill or injured. thus, to determine the impact of child care health consultation prevention activities, the data collected over time must be aggregated at the child care program level (hegland et al., 2011). the study reported here addressed the aggregate effect of the prevention activities of cchcs in north carolina over two years of intervention. we hypothesized that child care health consultation would be associated with changes in child care program’s policies and caregiver practices that were consistent with the cfoc standards, and that these changes would result in an improvement in children’s access to preventive health care, immunization status, absences due to illness, and medically-attended injury rates. to control for variability in the quality of care child care health consultation outcomes 37 provided by the child care programs, a control variable, star rating, was added. the public health review board for the protection of human research subjects of the university of north carolina at chapel hill approved all aspects of this study. methods this single group, quasi-experimental, pretest/post-test study was designed to investigate if child care health consultation was associated with improvements in child care policies and practices and in improvements in children’s access to preventive health care and reductions in illness and injury. in 2000, the quality enhancement project for infants and toddlers (qep), supported by the division of child development of the north carolina department of health and human services hired 15 cchcs. the 15 qep cchcs provided health and safety consultation services to 23 counties across the state and also served as data collectors for the study. the size of the geographic area and the number of child care programs covered by an individual cchc varied and ranged from seven rural counties with a total of 162 programs to one urban county with 565 programs. regardless of the number of available child care programs, each cchc recruited 25, non-federal programs for the study. the only criterion for involvement in the study was a willingness to participate. the cchc then assigned an arbitrary number to each program to ensure the confidentiality of each of the child care programs. if there were more than 25 child care programs in a region, the cchc chose the first 25 programs that agreed to participate in the study. the cchcs collected baseline data from july 2000 until june 2001. the original 15 qep cchcs collected data on 141 child care centers, 113 child care homes, and 10 faith-based programs. data were collected every six months, plus or minus two weeks between july 2000 and july 2003. thus, each program had data collected for 24 months. by the time of the fourth follow-up, attrition among the cchcs reduced their number from 15 to 13, and missed data collection opportunities (e.g., illness of a cchc, transition of a cchc, bad weather and/or car trouble) reduced the number of programs with data from all five collection points from 264 to 77 (34 centers, 41 homes and 2 faith-based programs). a total of 2,061 children were enrolled in the 77 eligible programs at baseline. 1,439 (70%) of their on-site health records were reviewed at baseline. by the fourth follow-up, records of 1,344 (60%) of 2,248 classroom enrollees were reviewed. table 1 provides a summary of the number of children involved by age group at each data collection cycle. 38 isbell et al. table 1 children by age group and data collection cycle infants/toddlers infants/toddlers preschoolers preschoolers school-age school-age total total enrolled reviewed enrolled reviewed enrolled reviewed enrolled reviewed baseline 915 703 771 477 375 259 2061 1439 6 month follow-up 956 674 676 497 311 169 1943 1340 12 month follow-up 721 627 676 490 405 225 1802 1342 18 month follow-up 923 672 821 519 628 268 2372 1459 24 month follow-up 861 576 919 490 468 278 2248 1344 number of programs= 77 child care health consultation outcomes 39 instruments data collection involved three instruments: the daily encounter form (def), the evaluation summary, and the evaluation worksheet. all of the instruments were developed by the project specifically for this study. following baseline data collection, each cchc provided health consultation to her 25 programs. at each programs’ six month anniversary, data were collected again. each instrument is described below. daily encounter form. the def, a process evaluation instrument, was designed to document the daily activities and length of time that cchcs spent working with each child care program on specific child care health and safety topics. upon completion of any type of consultation, the cchc recorded the information on the def. data collected on cchc activities included whether the service was consultation (on-site, telephone, and internet/e-mail consultation), health education, training, community development (advocacy), requests for information, administrative tasks, non-child care activities, or direct health services. the def was necessary to maintain an accounting of the amount of consultation support provided by the cchc to each child care program on the health and safety topics. this was to eliminate the potential confound that impact was due to differential levels of consultation. evaluation summary. the second instrument had two sections. the first section was designed to collect outcome data on written health and safety policies and the second section involved an observation of the program staff’s health practices. the first section provided the format for recording compliance with national standards on nine health and safety policies selected from cfoc: hand washing, administration of medications, care of mildly ill children, exclusion of ill children, transportation safety, inclusion of children with special needs, cleaning and sanitizing, emergency preparedness, and staff health. each policy was rated on a four-point scale (0-3). a score of 3 (“excellent”) reflected a policy that matched the standard in cfoc. a score of 2 (“adequate”) reflected a policy that met nc state licensing regulations but did not meet the cfoc standard. a “poor” score of 1 reflected that a policy existed but was not in compliance with either the national standard or the state licensing regulation. a score of 0 reflected the absence of a written policy. upon completion of baseline data collection, the cchc worked with each program to improve its health and safety policies. as non-regulatory professionals, the cchcs attempted to influence the policies through the provision of information, resources, and guidance. this involved: training sessions, examples of well-written policies, review of drafts of policies and recommendations. at each of the next data collection points this procedure was repeated. 40 isbell et al. 3 2 1 0 policy e x ce ll en t a d eq u at e p o o r n o n e hand washing administration of medications care of mildly ill children exclusion of ill children transportation safety inclusion of children with special needs cleaning and sanitizing emergency preparedness staff health figure 2. evaluation summary part one-policies the second section of the evaluation summary reviewed health and safety practices: emergency preparedness, nutrition/food service, playground safety and sanitation/hygiene (figure 3). the selection of these practices for review was based on cfoc. these four health and safety practices were scored on a scale of 0 to 3 based on observable criteria such as “disposable gloves are available”. a score of 3 indicated a practice that was always observed, 2 indicated a practice that was observed more than half of the time, 1 indicated a practice that was observed half of the time or less than half of the time, and 0 indicated a practice that was never observed. upon completion of baseline data collection, the cchc worked with each program to improve its health and safety practices. this involved: training sessions, observations, and corrective guidance. at each of the next data collection points this procedure was repeated. cronbach’s α indicated adequate to high levels of internal consistency for both the health policy and health practices sections of the instrument. these scales were created for the nine health and safety policies combined (α = 0.92) as well as for each of the four health or safety practices: sanitation (α = 0.90), safe/active play (α = 0.91), nutrition (α =0.87), and emergency preparedness (α = 0.90). scoring reliability for these sections of the evaluation summary was determined by concurrent scoring of policies and observations of caregiver practices in the same child care programs by two senior qep staff. the project cchcs were trained to 85% reliability by the same two senior qep staff. child care health consultation outcomes 41 always usually sometimes never s an it at io n disposable gloves are available disposable towels are available a complete and accurate hand washing protocol is visible during the caregivers’ hand washing process there is a designated diaper-changing area the diaper-changing surface is used only for diaper changes an adjacent sink is available for the caregiver(s) to wash hands without leaving the diaper-changing area a complete and accurate diapering protocol is visible during the diapering process sanitizing solution for diaper-changing areas and/or eating surfaces is accessible and made fresh daily food preparation and food service area are distinct from diapering areas there are separate sinks for food preparation and diapering food is handled safely and stored properly p la y g ro u n d equipment and furniture are developmentally appropriate for typically developing children and children with special needs playground and play equipment are accessible to children with special needs equipment and furniture are sturdy, stable, and free of hazards surfacing is appropriate for height of equipment and intended activities and is properly maintained facility is on schedule with any corrective action plan for hazard abatement the indoor play area is designed to allow staff to observe and interact with children in all play areas at all times the outdoor play area is designed to allow staff to observe and interact with children in all play areas at all times the children participate in outdoor activities every day, except in extreme weather that would compromise a child’s health swimming pools and wading pools have access controlled exclusively by adults and are maintained and operated safely (continue) 42 isbell et al. always usually sometimes never e m er g en cy p re p ar ed n es s emergency procedures and evacuation plans are posted in visible locations emergency procedures and evacuation plans include provisions for children with special needs emergency drills are conducted regularly and documented indoor environment is designed to prevent burns, poisonings, falls, and drowning n u tr it io n facility is participating in the child and adult care food program (cacfp) meal plans meet standards as per cacfp the names of children with specific dietary needs and those needs are posted in food preparation and food service areas figure 3. evaluation summary health and safety practice evaluation worksheet. the third instrument, the evaluation worksheet, collected outcome data at the child level by summarizing the health and attendance records of enrolled children. the cchc recorded the number of children enrolled in each program and the number of those children who were reviewed in three age-specific groups: 1) infant/toddlersaged 0-35 months; 2) preschool children-aged 36-59 months; and 3) school aged-children older than 60 months. these three groups were defined for two reasons. first, infants and toddlers are ill more frequently than older children due to immature immune systems and hand to mouth behaviors (bartlett et al., 1985; haskins & kotch, 1986; hurwitz, gunn, pinsky & schonberger, 1991; aronson & shope, 2009). second, school-aged children (those participating in the after school programs) are exposed to pathogens from groups of children outside of the study program (e.g., elementary school) (aronson & shope, 2009) and may be ill or injured as a result of the time that they spent in school. twenty-five children’s records in each program were randomly selected and reviewed for information on: absences; medically-attended injuries; health screenings; evidence of well-child physical; documentation of medical home 1 ; documentation of health insurance coverage; documentation of emergency contact information; record of immunizations; documentation of special health needs and evidence of a medical care plan for children having a special health care need. the selection of these child outcomes for review was based on cfoc. 1 medical home is primary health care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective (hagen, shaw & duncan, 2008). child care health consultation outcomes 43 emergency contact on file record “yes” if there is a name, address, and telephone number of person to be contacted, choice of health care provider, preferred hospital; any chronic illness and any medication for that illness and any other information that has a direct bearing on assuring safe medical treatment for the child well-child physical on file record “yes” if there complete record of a well-child physical well-child physical in last year record “yes” if there if a well-child physical is recorded within the last year child with special needs record “yes” if there any record of special needs including an ifsp or iep medical care plan on file record “yes” if there if a child has special needs and if there is a record of a medical care plan immunizations up to date record “yes” if there is a record of immunizations that is up to date based on recommendations in cfoc medical home on file record “yes” if there if a medical home is listed [a medical home primary care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective (hagan, shaw & duncan, 2008)] dental home on file record “yes” if there if a dental home is listed [a dental home is the ongoing relationship between the dentist and the patient, inclusive of all aspects of oral health care delivered in a comprehensive, continuously accessible, coordinated and family centered way (american academy of pediatrics, 2003)] health insurance on file record “yes” if there is a record that the child has health insurance (i.e., private health insurance, medicaid, chip, champus) number of days absent (previous 2 months) for each child, record the number of days absent when the center was open in the previous two months, for whatever reason number of medically attended injuries (previous 2 months) for each child, record the number of medically injuries in the previous two months (continue) 44 isbell et al. screenings: for each screening listed, record the appropriate code n = n o i = s cr ee n in g r ec o rd ed b u t n o re co rd o f o u tc o m e y = y es b u t n o t p o si ti v e p = s cr ee n in g re co rd ed a n d p o si ti v e b u t n o re co rd o f re fe rr al r = s cr ee n in g re co rd ed a n d p o si ti v e, r ef er ra l is p en d in g . c = s cr ee n in g re co rd ed , re fe rr al co m p le te . height and weight screening hct or hgb screening lead screening vision screening hearing screening speech or language screening oral screening developmental screening hcthematocrit is a blood test that measures the percentage of the volume of whole blood that is made up of red blood cells. hgb-hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen figure 4. evaluation worksheet access to preventive health care child care health consultation outcomes 45 data analysis three covariates were defined and included in all analysis models: 1) the size of the program, 2) the proportion of infants and toddlers (0-35 months) enrolled, and 3) a measure of child care quality, the star-rated licensing level (north carolina division of child development, star rated license, 2003). size was defined as “small” if a site had fewer than ten enrolled children; all other sizes were categorized as “other”. the proportion of enrolled children who were infants and toddlers was divided into 2 groups, “less than or equal to 50%” or “greater than 50%”. the five star-rated licensing levels were aggregated into three categories: scores of 1 or 2, a score of 3, and scores of 4 or 5. the star rating is assigned by the state agency that regulates and licenses the state’s child care programs. the rating involved an extensive review of records (e.g., environmental health, staff training) and an observational assessment using the early childhood environment rating scale: revised edition (harms, clifford, & cryer, 1998). a rating of 4 or 5 indicated highest quality care, a rating of 1 or 2 indicated a low quality, and a rating of 3 indicated an acceptable level of quality. a description of the eligible programs at each time point is shown in table 2. table 2 descriptive data on eligible child care programs baseline follow-up 1 follow-up 2 follow-up 3 follow-up 4 number of programs by size small (<10 children) 42 37 37 34 36 other (>10 children) 35 40 40 43 41 number of enrolled children at all programs small (<10 children) 249 217 223 204 202 other (>10 children) 1812 1726 1751 2168 2046 total 2061 1943 1974 2372 2248 percent of enrolled children who are infants/toddlers small (<10 children) 54% 56% 44% 51% 49% other (>10 children) 44% 48% 36% 38% 37% number of programs by nc star rating missing* 1 1 1 1 1 1 34 30 28 18 14 2 2 2 2 0 0 3 22 23 24 31 31 4 13 15 16 21 22 5 5 6 6 6 9 *note: one program was faith-based and not required by state licensure to have a star rating 46 isbell et al. the analysis data set consisted of 77 out-of-home child care programs that had data for the baseline visit and all four semi-annual follow-up visits. to check against a bias created as an artifact of site selection, a chi-square test for categorical descriptive variables and t-test for continuous descriptive variables were run comparing the 77 eligible programs to the 187 ineligible programs. the results of this analysis suggested that there was one statistically significant bias in the size of the eligible programs compared to the ineligible programs. size was controlled for in the analysis. a comparison of the covariates between the 77 sites and the other 187 sites at baseline is shown in table 3. table 3 baseline covariate comparison between 77 sites and other 187 sites programs with programs with incomplete data complete data* (n= 187) (n= 77) total chi-square test did the program have more than 50% infants/toddlers? no 124 44 168 1.342 yes 60 33 93 missing 3 0 3 total 187 77 264 was the star rating 1 or 2? no 102 40 142 0.144 yes 65 36 101 total 167 76 243 was the star rating 4 or 5? no 123 58 181 1.034 yes 44 18 62 total 167 76 243 missing star rating total 20 1* 21 was total enrollment fewer than 10 children? no 122 35 157 11.957*** yes 63 42 105 missing 2 0 2 total 187 77 264 *note-one program, a faith-based center that is not required by state licensure to have a star-rating. rates of injury and rates of absence were also calculated. the rate of injury was calculated as the number of injuries per 100 child days based on weekly incident reports required by the state. the rate of absence was calculated as the average number of absences per child per month. the information on absences was collected from the attendance sheets in each child care program, also required by the state. hierarchical linear modeling (hlm) (raudenbush & bryk, 2002) was used to assess the linear change over time in these outcomes. hlm is widely used in the social, behavioral, and biological sciences to assess stability and change (raudenbush & bryk, 2002) when repeated measures are used. in addition to linear change over time, it was also important to assess absolute change between baseline and the final follow-up. this was done using a general linear model (anova) to test the difference between each outcome at baseline and at the final followup visit. child care health consultation outcomes 47 results the cchcs had a positive impact on the nine written health and safety policies. on a scale from 0-3, the mean of the nine policy scores rose from 0.79 to 2.44 over 24 months (p<0.001). similarly, all four health and safety practice scores increased (see table 4). the improvement in the mean of each of the four scores was statistically significant (p < 0.001). table 4 means for health and safety policies and practices domain outcome baseline follow-up 1 follow-up 2 follow-up 3 follow-up 4 t-test policies mean of 9 policies 0.79 1.32 1.78 2.20 2.44 20.29*** practices emergency 2.24 2.67 2.82 2.89 2.88 9.35*** nutrition 2.57 2.60 2.61 2.78 2.77 3.78*** playground 2.26 2.51 2.69 2.79 2.81 10.59*** sanitation 2.27 2.64 2.73 2.79 2.89 10.48*** a 2-level hierarchical model with time point as the only model covariate. number of programs= 77, *** p < .001 in addition to evaluating nine written health and safety policies and four health and safety practices, health and safety indicators from the children’s records were also reviewed. individual children were not tracked. the records reviewed were selected randomly and the number of records reviewed was based on the size of the program. in child care centers and family child care homes with fewer than 25 children, the cchcs reviewed all of the children’s records. in programs with 25 or more children, at least 25 records were randomly selected and reviewed by the cchc. records of screenings performed in the previous six months for height and weight, hematocrit or hemoglobin, lead level, vision, hearing, speech or language, oral health, and development were coded. with the exception of statistically insignificant declines in recorded lead and hematocrit/hemoglobin screening, the proportion of children with screening information increased. four specific screening tests demonstrated statistically significant increases: 1) developmental, 2) hearing, 3) oral, and 4) vision. (table 5) 48 isbell et al. table 5 percentage of children’s records with indicator of access to preventive health care outcome baseline follow-up 1 follow-up 2 follow-up 3 follow-up 4 t-test emergency contact information on file 94.95 94.37 97.45 97.27 96.89 1.95+ immunizations up-to-date 71.55 73.94 75.72 76.81 82.92 3.79** health insurance on file 47.77 57.59 65.72 64.71 63.61 4.51** medical home on file 90.01 92.11 93.22 94.44 96.96 3.68** well child physical in last year 44.27 39.64 40.08 41.84 43.86 0.17 well child physical on file 84.11 85.40 87.68 85.92 87.18 1.30 developmental screening 6.84 4.79 8.33 12.89 17.04 3.98** hct/hgb screening 9.02 4.76 5.96 3.47 4.36 -2.27* hearing screening 6.40 13.97 17.33 29.17 36.39 8.16** height/ weight screening 46.92 40.36 43.21 48.74 48.04 1.21 lead screening 2.56 1.25 1.22 1.71 1.62 -0.48 oral screening 9.74 17.76 19.30 33.18 35.30 7.09** speech/language screening 2.71 3.44 3.61 4.48 7.02 2.40* vision screening 7.33 14.48 18.34 28.25 36.62 7.97** + p < .10, * p < .05, ** p < .001 similarly, as table 5 shows, the percentage of children with a medical home on record increased from 90.01% to 96.96% (p < 0.001). those with recorded health insurance went up from 47.77% to 63.61% (p < 0.001), and those with up-to-date immunizations went from 71.55% to 82.92% (p < 0.001). statistically non-significant increases were noted for children with wellchild physicals on file (84.11% to 87.18%) and for those with emergency contact information on file (94.95% to 96.89%). there were not enough children with special needs to calculate reliable statistics for the proportion of all such children who had medical care plans on file. finally, the rate of child absences for any reason decreased from 0.88 per child per month at baseline to 0.66 one year later, but rose to 0.93 at 24 months. the rate of medically-reported injury showed no particular pattern, probably because of small numbers, starting at 0.02 per 100 child days at baseline, rising and falling and ending up at 0.03 at 24 months. neither trend was statistically significant. discussion the data collected by the cchcs in our study demonstrated that child care health consultation had a positive impact on health and safety policies and practices at the child care program level. the cchcs also had an impact on indicators of health and access to preventive health care at the child level. at the program level, the data indicated a positive impact on the quality and completeness of written health and safety policies based on state and national standards. this observation supports the conclusion of ramler, nakatsukasa-ono, loe, & harris (2006) that, “child care health consultation appears to have a positive impact on the development and use of standardschild care health consultation outcomes 49 based health and safety policies in ece (early childhood education) programs”. similarly, we observed in a previous study that having written health and safety policies is associated with a reduction in severe diarrhea in child care centers, suggesting that improvement in written health and safety policies is a precursor to health status improvements in children (kotch, et al., 1997). the data also indicated a positive impact on observed health and safety practices at the program level. this observation is similar to the results of studies conducted by alkon et al., (2002 & 2009), who used trained observers to measure compliance with the national health and safety performance standards in centers served by cchcs. statistically significant improved compliance was noted; however, it is difficult to compare the magnitude of alkon’s et al., (2002) improvements since alkon et al. (2002) used a three point scale compared to the four point scale used in this study. the most significant result of this study was the impact of the cchcs at the child level. the data collected indicated small but important improvements in a child’s reported use of medical care homes, health insurance coverage, recommended immunizations, screening tests, and well child physicals in the past year. the link between these indicators and the cchc was that written health and safety policies require families interested in child care services to conform to the program’s established policies. policies guide, for example, the admission criteria (e.g., immunizations must be up to date) as well as requirements for current, valid, emergency medical information on all of the children (e.g., medical home on file). these two examples, established the link to the work of cchcs on the written health and safety policies. therefore, when guided by a cchc, improvements in policies may be both statistically and practically significant to the children in child care. for example, over time this study demonstrated a steady increase in the percentage of children with up-to-date immunizations. to determine the actual increase, the number of children at baseline and at the fourth follow-up whose records were reviewed, was multiplied by the percentage of records with up-to-date immunizations (1439 x 71.55% and 1344 x 83%) (see tables 1 and 5). the two resulting numbers subtracted from each other (11151029) yields 86 more children with up-to-date immunizations. these 86 children represented a 6% increase. when 6% is multiplied by the approximately 260,480 children in regulated out-ofhome child care in nc (north carolina division of child development, 2011), 15,629 additional children would have been fully immunized, if child care health consultation services were available statewide. this same logic of steady increases over time can be applied to the other indicators of child health and safety: health insurance, medical home on file, screenings (developmental, hearing, oral and vision). it is also apparent that the cchc had an influence on the child care staff’s health and safety practices. the influence was achieved by training on health and safety topics and by corrective guidance. written policies and procedures developed in collaboration with the cchc guided the change in the behaviors of the staff. the statistically significant improvement in staff practice in the areas of sanitation (e.g., hand washing, diaper-changing), playground safety (e.g., observation of all areas, developmentally appropriate equipment), emergency preparedness (e.g., evacuation plans, drills) and nutrition (e.g., nutrition standards) were all directly linked to the health and safety of the children in care. unfortunately, the results of the study did not demonstrate a consistent decline in either absences or medically-attended injuries among children in the study programs. the numbers of medically-attended injuries was probably too small to generate stable rates. as for absences, although they declined in the first year, there are numerous reasons why they may have bounced back in the second year. some of the reasons may have included unpredictable infectious disease 50 isbell et al. outbreaks in the community, turnover of child care children and staff (and of the cchcs themselves in some cases), and possible recording errors. limitations resource constraints precluded our following a comparison group of child care programs without cchc services. even if that had been possible, it is likely our funding agency or the programs themselves might have legitimately argued that withholding child care health consultation services would have been unethical. another limitation was the lack of objective data collectors. daily activity data and centerand child-level outcome data were collected by the cchcs themselves, who, although trained to collect the data reliably and accurately, could not have been completely unbiased. similarly, even though the 77 programs did not differ on important baseline characteristics from the entire sample of 264, it was possible that attrition may have introduced bias into the analyses. the lack of a statistically significant decline in medically-attended injury (injuries that were examined by a physician) may have been the result of small numbers. the fact that the data were based on injury reports that were generated by the child care staff may have led to underreporting, a process that was noted by the state’s regulatory staff (personal communications, 2004). the under-reporting may have been due to the fact that child care programs are penalized by the licensing agency if it is determined that injuries occur frequently. the lack of statistically significant change in records of child absences may have been due to the fact that the data were collected from records compiled by the child care staff for administrative purposes and not generated by direct observation by the research staff. conclusion the association of state and territorial health officials is on record as supporting public health agencies’ expanding the use of cchcs (association of state and territorial health officials, 2004). the data presented in this study provide early evidence that support the recommendation to expand this service. future studies with larger numbers, comparison groups, and objective data collectors will strengthen the case for greater utilization of this new public health professional. acknowledgements the authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of lisa faison, stephen fowlkes, kacey hanson, steve hege, jill kerr, emily lu, eloise neebe, abby pinnix, jasveer virk, and the 15 quality enhancement project cchcs. child care health consultation outcomes 51 references alkon, a., sokal-gutierrez, k., & wolff, m. 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(1997). health promotion and injury prevention in a child development center. journal of pediatric nursing, 12(3), 148-54. ulione, m.s., & dooling, m. (1997). preschool injuries in child care centers: nursing strategies for prevention. journal of pediatric health care, 11(3), 111-116. http://ncchildcare.dhhs.state.nc.us/general/mb_snapshot.asp#demographics http://ncchildcare.dhhs.state.nc.us/parents/pr_sn2_ov_sr.asp dialog, 17(2), 87-89 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary influence of self-concept on young african american males jeffrey shears joint masters of social work program north carolina agricultural & technical state university & the university of north carolina greensboro there have been numerous studies examining school performance in africanamerican males. some of these studies have examined the effect of gender specific classrooms on student’s self-concept. other studies have examined how father’s absence has contributed to poor school performance and academic achievement. the current study examines how father’s absence and teacher’s gender interact to influence self-concept in young african-american males in an urban environment. the results indicate that there are positive effects associated with interactions between male teachers and male students, particularly when a child is not residing with his father. the results suggest that we need to explore more societal and family dynamics as we examine the racial academic achievement gap. research has consistently shown that african-american male students often experience difficulties within academic settings (butler, joubert, & lewis, 2009). this struggle in academic settings is supported by high school graduation rates, those enrolled in special education, expulsion rates, reading proficiency, and assignment to behavioral classes. these educational trends are highly correlated with other societal issues such as antisocial and criminal behaviors. as a result of the disproportionate representation in these areas, these negative school experiences have become a part of how many african-american males view themselves within the context of the dominate society. one area that should be explored further is the link between self-concept and scholastic performance. early works by horney (1950/1970) offer that self-esteem directly impacts the identity of children. alder (1963) also suggested that self-concept influences behaviors in addition to how one responds to others and societal institutions. one area that should be explored more is the understanding of how parents and teachers play a role in the development of a child’s identity through their interactions ad provision of information. in order to facilitate a more positive concept with african-american males it has been suggested that they might be more successful in environments with all male classes with an african-american role models. a number of research studies support the idea that male teachers provide models of masculinity through teacher-child relationship and teaching approaches (sullivan, 2009). this type of socialization in the classroom has been linked to a child’s self-concept. as stated earlier, a boy’s 88 shears self-concept is highly influenced by both parent and teacher. one should question how selfconcept is developed in young men without a strong male teacher or residential father. this is particularly important in light of the research by thompson (2006) & miller (2005) which highlights the importance of parent-child interaction effects on the development of self-concept. given the importance of teacher’s and parent’s influence on a child’s self-concept we examined how father’s presence might moderate the impact of the male teacher on self-concept. the research literature supported that each of these relationships were important to the development of self-concept in young boys, we expanded this and examined how father’s presence moderated this effect. the study utilized the mcdaniel-piers self concept scale to measure self-concept in all students enrolled at two inner city schools in baltimore, maryland. some of the students were enrolled in all male classes taught by male teachers while other students were enrolled in a more traditional setting. research findings the results showed that there was a significant difference in the self-concept of african american male students with male teachers and those in traditional classes with female teachers. this difference suggests that a male presence during the early education years may have some effect on self-concept. the study also found that there was a significant difference in selfconcept among children who reside within a single mother home and those in traditional classes with male teachers. the results might suggest that there can be positive effects associated with interactions between male teachers and male students, for those children where the father does not reside within the home. one year follow-up study a subsequent one year follow-up study revealed that once the male students were returned to traditional settings there was significant decrease in self-concept. this suggests that the effectiveness of all male classroom settings and having a male teacher on self-concept, return to pre all male classroom settings. in short, once students are removed from the protection of these non-traditional classrooms, they no longer exhibit improved levels of self-concept. implications it is quite clear that young african-american boys gain some benefits from being in all-male classes with a male teacher. these children have significant higher levels of self-concept in these academic settings. the issue is not if african-american boys are better off in these settings but the lack of resources to support these types of educational settings. given the scarcity of africanamerican male teachers it is not possible to provide these at risk students with these nontraditional environments. the educational system needs to be aware of the need on an increase in african american male teachers, and do all it can to recruit and retain this precious commodity. other school personal should focus on providing african-american males the opportunity to african american males’ self concept 89 develop meaningful interactions with african-american male figures. it is imperative that school support personnel be mindful of the need to provide these young african-american males with services to allow positive interactions with other african-american males. these services are even more important to young african-american boys from fatherlessness homes. references adler, a. (1963). the problem child. new york: putnam. butler, b., joubert, m. & lewis, c. (2009). who's really disrupting the classroom? an examination of african american male students and their disciplinary roles. the national journal of urban education & practice, 3(1), 1-12. horney, k. (1950/1970). neurosis and human growth: the struggle toward self-realization. new york: w.w. norton. miller, e. (2005). studying the meaning of giftedness: inspiration from the field of cognitive psychology. (2005). roeper review, 27, 172-177. sullivan, a. (2009). academic self-concept, gender and single-sex schooling. british educational research journal, 35(2), 259-288. thompson, r. a. (2006). the development of the person: social understanding, relationships, self, conscience. in w. damon & r. m. lerner (eds.), handbook of child psychology (6th ed.), vol. 3. social, emotional, and personality development (n. eisenberg, vol. ed.) (pp. 24-98). new york: wiley. dialog, 17(3), 1-15 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article examining interdisciplinary collaboration within a comprehensive early childhood education framework elizabeth anderson binghamton university this article describes a study on interdisciplinary collaboration within a head start framework in an urban program in the northeast. this one-year qualitative study explores the experiences of the interdisciplinary team directly involved in implementing an agency-wide literacy project. the goal of this research was to deepen the current knowledge base about the benefits and challenges of an interdisciplinary approach to support optimal child outcomes by learning from practicing professionals' perspectives. findings are discussed in terms of literatures relevant to advancing young children's school readiness with an emphasis on the collaborative process. this article also identifies next steps useful to professionals and scholars interested in initiating or studying interdisciplinary collaboration within comprehensive early childhood education programs. keywords: interdisciplinary collaboration, early childhood education, perspectives the number of children with disabilities served in federally-funded programs is now over 13.9 percent of the total enrollment (u.s. department of education, 2011). recent estimates are that one in every five children and adolescents in the united states is experiencing difficulties with social and emotional development (nimhcm foundation, 2005) and 30% of children have at least one chronic illness (allen & vessey, 2004). these academic, psycho-social, and physical health issues invariably get in the ways of children's ability to be successful in school (bronstein, anderson, terwilliger & sager, 2012). a primary focus of early childhood programs, particularly those that offer comprehensive services, is to improve outcomes for young children and positively impact school readiness (anderson, shinn, fulilove, scrimshaw, fielding, normand, & carande-kulis, 2003). in the current education climate, early childhood programs, especially those that are publically funded, are increasingly being held accountable for the immediate and long-term academic success of the children they serve (brown, 2011). as the nation's largest federally sponsored early childhood education program, head start's goal is to reduce socio-economic disparities, especially around school readiness (puma, bell, cook, heid, & lopez, 2005). in this climate of increased accountability, the critical role emergent literacy plays in positive school outcomes has come to the national forefront of early childhood educational issues (hutinger, bell, daytner, & johanson, 2006). one significant trend is a focus on integrating literacy across 2 anderson content domains. because of the connection between literacy and other content area domains, studies suggest that current classroom practices that involve isolating literacy instruction should instead involve practitioners using literacy as the foundation for developmentally appropriate integrated instruction (strickland, 2010). in order to accomplish head start's goal of reducing socio-economic disparities around school readiness, however, it is increasingly important to more effectively address the complex academic, psycho-social, and health needs of today's young children using an interdisciplinary approach (adelman & taylor, 1996; lawson & briarlawson, 1997; anderson-butcher & ashton, 2004). it is now widely accepted that promoting school readiness involves supporting young children across the physical, cognitive, language, and social domains (blair, 2002; doyle & bramwell, 2006). attaining positive outcomes for young children, however, can no longer effectively be accomplished through the singular effort of any one person (allensworth & kolbe, 1987). although it is universally acknowledged that early childhood teachers play a critical role in supporting young children's development, professionals from across disciplines now play an important role in establishing and achieving collaborative goals that support optimal academic, psycho-social, and physical health outcomes (friend & cook, 2010). effective collaboration between teachers and other head start professionals (e.g. family advocates, nurses, nutritionists, bus drivers, etc.) is critical for providing adequate supports and services. almost fifty years ago, popper (1965) referred to need for interdisciplinary collaboration as one of inescapable urgency. the need for interdisciplinary collaboration is even more urgent today (bronstein & abramson, 2003). working collaboratively across disciplines can effectively encourage problem-solving, mediate challenging situations, and facilitate positive changes in staff members' beliefs in their capacity to address a wide range of children's needs (kransdorf, doster, & alvarez, 2002; o'conner & korr, 1996). as non-academic barriers to learning increasingly impede that ability of many young children to be successful in school, early childhood professionals from across disciplines need the knowledge and skills to feel confident working the "whole child" within an educational context (kransdorf, doster, & alvarez, 2002). although collaboration is best presented along a continuum, interdisciplinary collaboration can be distinguished as the "integration of the knowledge and expertise of professionals to reach a common goal through shared decision-making and practice" (mellin, 2009, p.5). such collaboration is now considered so central to early childhood education that it can be viewed as the "glue" that holds programs together (snell & janney, 2000). interdisciplinary collaboration in comprehensive early childhood programs, such as head start and early head start, involves teachers, nurses, family advocates, bus drivers, and other professionals sharing information, validating each other's roles, and providing input around which strategies promote positive outcomes for all children (anderson-butcher & ashton, 2004). despite the need to work together across disciplines to more effectively support young children's development, challenges such as pre-existing responsibilities (weist, proescher, prodente, ambrose, & waxman, 2001); a lack of shared culture or values and beliefs among professionals (rappaport, osher, anderson-ketchmark, & dwyer, 2003); and, profession-driven differences in expectations (bronstein & terwilliger, 2007) can make such collaboration difficult. in order to create a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration, however, each person must have the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to collaborate (friend & cook, 2010). according to friend and cook (2010), collaboration is a style of interaction that can only occur when people engage in a specific process, task or activity. therefore, it is essential that examining interdisciplinary collaboration 3 early childhood programs create opportunities that bring together staff members from across disciplines to participate in interdisciplinary tasks or activities. in an effort to reduce socio-economic disparities and improve school readiness for children attending head start and early head start, the little read literacy program was developed with a primary goal of building agency capacity for a more integrated and interdisciplinary approach to literacy using thematic-based and developmentally appropriate practices based on a classic piece of literature. using a naturalistic setting, this qualitative study gathered information about what staff members' perceive as some of the benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration during the little read program. this qualitative design aimed to gain a better understanding of the program through the interpretations of the individuals within in it (denzin & lincoln, 2000). this design enabled us to deepen our understanding of some of the potential benefits and challenges of participation at the stakeholder level as well as to evaluate the potential for this project to evolve into a year-long, agency-wide, interdisciplinary, integrated literacy program. the current study this paper reports on a one-year study involving head start and early head start staff members from across disciplines (education, health services, family services, special education services, nutrition, and transportation) in an agency in the northeast. this study can be considered exemplary for its innovative practices within a broader goal of improving school readiness by expanding opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration around literacy initiatives within comprehensive early childhood programs. responding to friend and cook's (2010) claim that collaboration is a style of interaction that can only occur when people engage in a specific process, task, or activity, this study uses qualitative data to explore what staff members from across disciplines perceive as some of the benefits and challenges of participating in an agencywide, literacy program. agency context in operation for over 20 years, this agency offers a range of programs and services, including head start and early head start programs. the head start and early head start programs serve a diverse group of young children from birth to age 5, many of whom are experiencing difficulties with development, domestic violence, or homelessness. in the head start and early head start programs in which this study was conducted, 120 staff members from across disciplines serve the approximately 400 children in 23 classrooms (15 head start classrooms and eight early head start classrooms). the demographic breakdown for the children served by the head start and early head start programs is as follows: 37% white; 23% black; 2% asian; 9% hispanic; and, 29% mixed race. over 90% of the families with children attending these programs meet federal poverty guidelines. these head start and early head start programs use the creative curriculum (dodge, colker, heroman, & bickart, 2002). this curriculum is designed to balance teacher-planned and child-initiated learning with recognizing and emphasizing children's strengths, interests, and 4 anderson learning styles. it aims to address all areas of learning, from social-emotional and math to technology and the arts, and incorporates them throughout every part of every day. in addition, these head start and early head start programs recently adopted new learning standards based on the head start child development and early learning framework and pre-kindergarten foundation to the common core. the six-week literacy program that provided the central focus for this study was developed to enrich and complement the broad educational programming provided by creative curriculum. methods program procedure in 2009, the national endowment for the arts and the institute of museum and library sciences provided support for this agency to implement the "big read" project. the overarching goal of this grant-funded program was to support community-wide exploration of a classic piece of literature. as part of this grant, the head start and early head start programs collaborated with a local school district to develop an eight-week literacy project centered around the adventures of tom sawyer (twain, 1998). after this grant ended and during 2010-2011, a group of head start and early head start teachers developed a similar six-week project that they named the "little read" for implementation within their programs. based on feedback from classroom staff, in 2012, the agency broadened the scope of this six-week project by engaging staff members from across disciplines (e.g. health services, nutrition, transportation, special education services, etc.) conducted during 2012-2013, this study aimed to explore what staff members from across disciplines perceive to be some of the benefits and challenges of using an interdisciplinary approach to the "little read" project. this study began in september, 2012 with the assembling of a little read project committee that consisted of at least one representative from each discipline (e.g. education, health services, nutrition services, special service, family services, transportation services, and a community representative). the committee members met on a bi-weekly basis from september march to plan little read events around the classic, dr. dolittle (lofting, 2006), develop a packet of suggested children's activities for use by staff during the six-week project, and to serve as a liaison to their respective agency components. during january february 2013, staff members from across agency components engaged head start and early head start children in a range of little read project activities. examples include weekly scavenger hunts by classrooms for dr. dolittle clues around the entire building; bus monitors using dr. dolittle character puppets on the bus ride to and from school; nurses providing classroom-based activities on healthy bones for children and dr. dolittle's animals; family advocates delivering a dr. dolittle book and modeling early literacy activities during home visits; nutrition staff collaborating with classroom staff around little read cooking projects; and, two agency-wide family events (movie night for viewing of dr. dolittle and a "museum night" for displaying children's work during the six-week project). examining interdisciplinary collaboration 5 participants this study was approved, monitored, and reviewed by the university's internal review board (irb). the purpose of the irb is to assure, in advance, that appropriate steps were taken to protect the rights and welfare of participants. following irb approval, and with informed consent, all agency staff members were invited to complete a questionnaire and interviews were conducted using purposeful sampling. based on merriam's (1998) definition, this purposeful sampling assumed that if we wanted to better understand the perspectives of staff members from across disciplines participating in the little read project, we needed to select individuals from whom the most could be learned. as part of this study, interviews were conducted preand post project with 12 staff members (nurse; director of special services; director of transportation; staff assistant; assistant head start teacher; head start teacher; early head start teacher; early head start family advocate; head start family advocate; literacy specialist; developmental specialist; and, community representative from the public library) and lasted approximately 30-45 minutes each. the nutrition staff member declined to be interviewed for this study due to scheduling constraints. the length of experience working at the agency varied considerably from 3 months to 18 years. the average length of experience was approximately 9 years. interviews based on fontana & frey's (2000) qualitative research framework, this researcher used semistructured interviews as a means of data gathering for their "universal mode of systematic inquiry" (p. 646). interviews were conducted by a research assistant and aimed at eliciting little read committee members' experiences during the little read project and what they perceive to be some of benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration. (see appendix a for a list of interview questions).in reporting interview data, pseudonyms have been used for all participants. analytic procedures interview data involved the identification and examination of the themes emerging around interview questions, which focused on what staff members from across disciplines perceived to be the benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration. the researchers engaged in open and axial coding of the interview data (creswell, 1998) to achieve a rigorous data analysis process. data credibility and trustworthiness were considered early in the process by having interviews transcribed by a non-coding assistant. once interviews were transcribed, the primary investigator and research assistant read, coded, and memoed the data independently to reduce persuasion or bias. each researcher employed an inductive approach, using open coding, reading each of the interviews, and documenting themes. after independent analysis of the interview data, the researchers engaged in collaborative discussion of the themes they developed individually. the collaborative discussions increased the credibility and trustworthiness of the findings as common, overlapping, and frequently identified themes were identified in an effort to 6 anderson finalize themes. this process continued until reaching a point of "theoretical saturation," at which point additional data no longer increased understanding (corbin & strauss, 2008). results based on 24 semi-structured interviews (11 preand postproject) with 12 little read committee staff members from across disciplines (nurse; director of special services; director of transportation; staff assistant; assistant head start teacher; head start teacher; early head start teacher; early head start family advocate; head start family advocate; literacy specialist; developmental specialist; and, community representative from the public library), four primary themes emerged. theme 1: interdisciplinary collaboration offers new opportunities for supporting young children's development participants from across disciplines affirmed the value of collaboration within a comprehensive early childhood education framework as well as the complexities inherent in its implementation. across interviews, participants characterized the prevailing value of interdisciplinary collaboration as a way to engage staff members from across disciplines in supporting young children's development. sherri, a head start family advocate for two years, remarked, i think it [interdisciplinary collaboration] made the entire project well rounded. children's learning was supported from the minute they got on the bus, in the classroom, throughout the building, on their way home, and in the home. it was continuous with each child for the six week project. jean, a developmental specialist for four years, summarized the benefits of an interdisciplinary approach this way, "it [an interdisciplinary approach] is great because now we are getting the whole agency involved, different departments, which is a really nice thing and we're incorporating transportation, health services, food services." kim, a literacy specialist for 8 years described how using an interdisciplinary approach to the little read project also encouraged the development of a shared goal, there is the benefit that we are all working together toward a common goal. that is kind of neat because it doesn't always happen. we get wrapped up in our own particular jobs. when people get involved, they start believing in it[an interdisciplinary approach] and talking to others about it. michelle, an early head start advocate for three years, noted the ways in which working across disciplines helped to reduce professional barriers, "i think it helps get everyone more involved in what the classrooms are doing. it makes us more of a whole group instead of this is the teacher and this is her classroom." examining interdisciplinary collaboration 7 in addition to strengthening relationships among staff members from across disciplines, participants also highlighted the ways in which interdisciplinary collaboration created new opportunities. beth, a veteran administrator in her second year at this agency remarked," for the first time, it wasn't 'oh this activity' is a fun little classroom thing'. it [interdisciplinary collaboration] also has a lot of power attached to it in terms of opening up opportunities for discussion in team meetings ...that there are kids with diverse needs." for mary, an early head start teacher for three years, collaborating across disciplines fostered new ideas for expanding collaborative efforts, throughout the agency, everybody is participating transportation, the kitchen, teachers, and so forth. a goal is that at the end everybody can get together and share at the museum. like transportation would have a table where they could show the songs they sing on the bus as part of little read, and nutrition could have a table with a little read snack on it. then people can really see like wow. across interviews, participants also highlighted the benefits of using an interdisciplinary collaboration to increase levels of engagement around literacy initiatives. karen, a head start assistant teacher for 16 years, described the excitement for children, it is exciting to see all of the staff get excited, the children get excited, and for the children to be able to see something about dr. dolittle in all of the hallways and bathrooms, everywhere outside of the classroom. it was fun to see the connections that the children were starting to make around literacy activities on the bus together or that type of thing. janice, a director of transportation, shared, "the children would come down to my office [as part of the little read scavenger hunt] and say, 'do you have a minute? do you have a minute? we got to show you what we did. so then other days the children would be pulling me into the classroom a lot more than i anticipated and i really enjoyed it. " mary, an early head start teacher for three years, noted that although the interdisciplinary collaboration can be beneficial, opportunities are very limited. she described, "we [agency staff] don't have much time to actually sit down and collaborate with each other. with this year's little read project, we were able to do that. it was awesome. " theme 2: mixing staff with different responsibilities presents challenges to interdisciplinary collaboration across interviews, participants described how the mixing of staff members with different schedules and responsibilities presented significant challenges to interdisciplinary collaboration. 8 anderson challenges around scheduling were highlighted by the majority of participants. jean, a developmental specialist for four years, remarked, "i think a challenge is that it [interdisciplinary collaboration] is a time consuming. it can sometimes feel like extra work to a certain degree, with everything else that we are required to do." michelle, an early head start family advocate echoed, "my schedule is already really busy. working with staff from other areas requires a lot of extra time." for some participants, collaborating across disciplines resulted in the need to juggle additional responsibilities. mary, an early head start teacher for three years shared, it's hard to balance the work outside of my classroom and the work inside my classroom. i work with other staff on the committee usually when the children are napping. but, this is my work time and it's when i use my computer and get my classrooms plans prepared. this challenge was shared by kim, a literacy specialist for eight years, described, there is a lot of work. it is a lot of time and the bigger it [little read project] gets, the more work that's involved. so it is really time consuming and takes my attention away from my other projects. for some participants, the challenge went beyond different schedules and responsibilities to include difficulties communicating effectively across disciplines. ashley, a staff assistant, shared, communication is a challenge. departments may normally have little to do with each other. trying to figure out how we can all work together even though we are from very different agency components. in spite of the challenges to interdisciplinary collaboration, participants highlighted the ways in which it deepened their understanding and appreciation. sherri, a head start family advocate for two years remarked, "if you aren't on the committee, you don't really understand the wholeness of the project. it's neat to be part of something that is growing and to be part of the planning process and what it will look like. to plan something and see it put into action. in expressing their commitment to using an interdisciplinary approach, some participants offered suggestions for overcoming some of the challenges. beth, a special services coordinator, shared, i think timing is an issue...maybe it could be changed so that much of the planning is done over the summer...let everyone in the agency know the theme farther ahead of time. it put a huge burden on some staff from certain disciplines to produce the activity packets. for other participants, collaborating across disciplines helped clarify their potential role in future projects. donna, from the public library, described, "by participating on the committee, i have a better idea of what to expect next year like a better book list for this theme or additional activities for when children come to the library with their classmates or families." examining interdisciplinary collaboration 9 theme 3: across disciplines, agency staff members view interdisciplinary collaboration as a vehicle for supporting family literacy initiatives participants from across disciplines noted the challenges many families are facing and the ways in which interdisciplinary collaboration can help strengthen existing efforts to support literacy activities in the home. michelle, an early head start family advocate for three years described, i think for many of our families life is a challenge. their child's education may not always be the most important thing. children go home and we say 'tell your mom and dad about little read' and the advocates can provide activities in the home, but sometimes it just isn't a priority for the families based on what they are facing in their live at that time. with everyone [in the agency] doing the little read project, families can come to the school and watch a movie or go the museum night and see the excitement from their child's point of view and walk away from the stress of life even if it is just for a few minutes. participants also noted the ways in which interdisciplinary collaboration can help strengthen home-school connections. i think it is exciting for families to see hear about little read from their children...talking about the stories because everyone [at the agency] is reading the same stories at school. and, they are going to have the book at home so they are going to be able to tell their families about what is going on in the story. kim, a literacy specialist also highlighted the importance of collaborating across disciplines to select a book that is familiar to families. she described, "one way to grab the interest of the parents is a classic story they heard as a child. it is a good way to connect the home component and the school component because the parents also get engaged. they [parents] recall the stories like where they were [when they read it] or the age they were." dawn, a nurse for 6 years, shared: "you know, finding ways to encourage families to participate [in literacy activities]. it takes everyone [at the agency] really getting on board." across interviews, participants also noted the ways in which interdisciplinary collaboration can help generate excitement about literacy. jean, a developmental specialist for 4 years described, "it [interdisciplinary collaboration] really gets everyone in the agency excited about literature and helps instill in children and families that it is something they could do as pleasure in their free time...instill a joy of reading for the rest of your life. sherri, a head start family advocate for two years shared, "it [an interdisciplinary approach to the little read project] gives us a jumping off point to talk to parents about literacy...it is a more specific way to talk to parents about literacy because the children are talking about it in the classroom and at home, so we [family advocates] can reinforce early literacy over and over." 10 anderson theme 4: for staff members from across disciplines, interdisciplinary collaboration fosters new understandings of how children learn across interviews, participants described the ways in which interdisciplinary collaboration fostered new understandings of young children's development. donna, an employee at the public library for three years, described, through collaboration, i learned how to take every little piece of the story and turn it into a learning activity. like i had animal footprints with numbers on them [at the library] and the teachers would ask the children why they think a footprint belongs to a certain animals, what the numbers are, and really integrated it like it was second nature. i wish i had a little more of that in my own brain. beth, a special services coordinator for one year, shared, it [interdisciplinary collaboration] broadened thinking beyond literacy because it brought in math, social and emotional development, and physical health. it took what we [classroom teachers] do to support children's learning up a step that was really great...to evaluate if what we are doing with children is appropriate. dawn, a nurse, described, "i don't have a background in childhood education. i think it [interdisciplinary collaboration] sort of helps me to be aware of how children should be educated and how to include the concepts of our health teachings into the activities in the classroom." ashley, a staff assistant for one year, echoed, "i come from a minimal educational background so this [literacy] is something that i am getting into and it is helping me get my feet wet." the director of transportation and a former head start teacher for 15 years, janice, remarked, at first, the bus monitors were very, very negative about doing literacy activities on the bus. by the end, they were encouraged and their perspective changed as their understanding changed. a lot of the bus monitors got really excited to have an activity to do with children that they could take onto the bus...like those monkeys on sticks...they were really great. the monitors used to say 'that's for the classroom.' now they understand that every moment of a child's life should be educational whether it is on the bus or waiting for a turn to use the bathroom, they [children] need to have that education. for some participants, these new understandings also brought a greater awareness of what young children know and are able to do. mary, an early head start teacher for three years, described, i asked the children, what happened in the book? they were able to tell me that the shark was hugged. they were actually able to comprehend what happened in the book. i was actually amazed. i was really blown away because i never thought they would be able to tell me exactly what happened in the book. michelle, an early head start advocate, shared, "i realized that kids can do a lot more than you give them credit for. i mean just listening to everyone's success stories, you really get a examining interdisciplinary collaboration 11 sense of how much kids can actually do." jean, a developmental specialist for four years, remarked, "i hear staff say 'oh three and four years olds can't sit for these stories or attend to this activity' but they are doing it and that is a really cool thing." discussion although data from a small qualitative study conducted has limited generalizability, participants did highlight some themes that are echoed in research on interdisciplinary collaboration and their remarks shed light on some of the benefits and challenges of working across disciplines in comprehensive early childhood programs. this study suggests that head start and early head start staff members recognize the benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration, but the experience of working across disciplines can be very challenging. participants expressed frustration with the additional time and effort often required for effective collaboration. participants also shared the belief that opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration in the current early childhood educational climate are limited, primarily due to a lack of shared meeting times. despite these challenges, participants expressed how meaningful it was for them to experience firsthand some of the potential benefits and challenges of working across disciplines. as one participant described, "i mean just how important it is to get everybody involved, get everyone excited, and get them to understand why interdisciplinary collaboration is so important, how it touches every area of children's lives." this study also suggests that early childhood staff members from across disciplines are very interested in having additional opportunities to collaborate. as one participant described, "before, i knew a little bit about it but i didn't know how important it is. now i feel like it is really important to work together. if i am asked to be a part of this again, i would definitely do it next year." participants also expressed the important role these interdisciplinary opportunities provide in helping staff connect with each other. as one participant described, "it is nice to hear what everyone is doing, their success stories, what they are proud of, and their take on things. " one significant challenge to interdisciplinary collaboration in comprehensive early childhood programs, especially around an agency-wide literacy project, is that it is still in the very early stages of development. this challenge can be exaggerated in head start and early head start programs where it may also be seen as "project specific", an "add on" to a current role, or where organizational structures such as scheduling difficulties, pre-existing responsibilities, and turf issues may not fully support it. several of the themes that emerged from this study are consistent with other findings in the literature on interdisciplinary collaboration. the perception that opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration in educational settings are limited due to lack of time is now widely accepted (anderson, 2013; friend & cook 2010; bronstein & abramson, 2003). however, with increased need for agency-based academic, mental health, and health supports and services to improve school readiness, building the capacity for early childhood staff members from across disciplines to collaborate is critical. in order to more effectively address these long-standing challenges to interdisciplinary collaboration, creating opportunities for interprofessional training is essential. as early childhood agencies look to improve outcomes for young children using an interdisciplinary approach, it is important that all disciplines receive professional development to assist them in developing the 12 anderson attitudes, knowledge, and skills necessary to work effectively across disciplines. although the literature supports these efforts, there continues to be very little information to guide this process with the education staff, special services, transportation, family services, and nutrition staff classroom members from comprehensive early childhood programs. this study also revealed the need to create additional opportunities for agency staff and families to become more engaged in a collaborative process. although the agency involved staff members and families in the little read project, the point is well taken that greater staff and family involvement in all aspects of the project design, implementation, and evaluation could substantially improve the collaborative process. a novel theme that emerged from this study is how interdisciplinary collaboration can foster new understandings of young children's development. for the majority of participants, with these new understandings came a greater awareness of what young children may know and be able to do. with new early childhood learning standards encouraging the integration of literacy, math, social studies and science concepts throughout the daily routine (e.g. on the bus, during lunch, on the playground, in the nurses office, etc.), it is critically important that every person develop a foundational understanding of child development and developmentally appropriate practices. limitations three limitations require mention. first, this study's small sample size may not be representative of staff members from across disciplines in other head start and early head start programs. also, this study did not measure participants actual use of the little read program. as a result, this study did not examine the fidelity of implementation of the literacy program. next steps the participants in this study highlighted many points that warrant follow up. first, they noted the value of interdisciplinary collaboration, but we also heard about some of the barriers that came with this involvement. in recognition that no one profession can address the complex needs of many of today's young children, it is critical to address these barriers. greater attention must be given in comprehensive early childhood programs to moving away from an emphasis on discipline-specific training toward creating additional opportunities for interdisciplinary dialog and practice (weist, evans & lever, 2003; anderson & bronstein, 2012) this study also supports earlier findings that interdisciplinary collaboration can positively impact the delivery of services in early childhood programs (pollard, miers, & rickaby, 2012). if we are to achieve positive child outcomes and improve school readiness, engaging early childhood staff members from across disciplines must become the rule, not the exception (anderson, 2013). lastly, participants in this study voiced ideas about ways to improve interdisciplinary collaboration. clearly, the qualitative findings from this study are only one part of the kinds of research that needs to inform interdisciplinary collaborative efforts, particularly around literacy initiatives. in this study, we were particularly interested in participants' experiences in this innovative collaborative process. in the future, it would be useful to employ an instrument examining interdisciplinary collaboration 13 designed to measure interdisciplinary collaboration (e.g. mellin et al, 2010) to see the ways in which effective collaboration can support improved outcomes for young children, and then determine the optimal ways working across disciplines in comprehensive early childhood programs can more effectively support these efforts. references adelman, h.s., & taylor, l. (1996). restructuring education support services and integrating community resources: beyond the full service school model. school psychology review, 25, 431-445. allen, p.j., & vessey, j.a. (2004). school and the child with a chronic condition. primary care of the child with a chronic condition, 71-87. allensworth, d., & kolbe, l. (1987). the comprehensive school health program: exploring an expanded concept. journal of school health, 57, 409-412. anderson, e. & bronstein, l. (2012). examining interdisciplinary collaboration within an expanded school mental health framework: a community-university initiative. advances in school mental health promotion, 5 (1), 23-37. anderson, l.m., shinn, c., fullilove, m.t. scrimshaw, s.c., fielding, j.e., normand, n., & carande-kulis, v. g. (2003). the effectiveness of early childhood development programs. american journal of preventive medicine, 24, 32-46. anderson-butcher, d., & ashton, d. (2004). innovative models of collaboration to serve children, youths, families and communities. children & schools, 26 (1), 39-53. blair, c. (2002). school readiness: integrating cognition and emotion in a neurobiological conceptualization of children's functioning at school entry .american psychologist, 57(2), 111. bronstein, l. & abramson, j. (2003). a model for interdisciplinary collaboration. social work, 48, 297-306. bronstein, l., anderson, e., terwilliger, s., & sager. k. (2012). evaluating a model of school-based health and social services: an interdisciplinary community-university collaboration. children & schools, 34, 3, 155165. bronstein, l. & terwilliger, s. (2007). collaboration in rural school health. conversations in the disciplines: sustaining rural populations, 13. brown, c. (2011). searching for the norm in a system of absolutes: a case study of standards-based accountability reform in pre-kindergarten. early education and development, 22(1), 151-177. corbin j. & strauss, a. (2008). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (3rd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. creswell, j. w. (1998). qualitative inquiry and research design. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. denzin, n.k.. & lincoln, y.s. (2000).the discipline and practice of qualitative research. in n. denzin & y. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research (pp. 1-36). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. dodge. d.t., colker, l.j., heroman, c., & bickart, t.s. (2002). the creative curriculum for preschool. washington, dc: teaching strategies. doyle, b.g., & bramwell, w. (2006). promoting emergent literacy and social-emotional learning through dialogic reading. the reading teacher, 59 (6), 554-564. fontana, a., & frey, j.h. (2000). the interview: from structured questions to negotiated text. in n. denzin & y. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research (pp. 645-673). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. friend, m., & cook, l. (2010). interactions: collaboration skills for school professionals. boston, ma: pearson. hutinger, p.l., bell, c., daytner, g., & johanson, j. (2006). establishing and maintaining early literacy emergent technology curriculum. journal of special education technology, 21, (4), 39-54. kransdorf, m., doster, b. & alvarez, a. (2002). interaction between pre-service teachers and school social work interns in an urban school setting. urban education, 37, 497-532. lawson, h., & briar-lawson, k. (1997). connecting the dots: progress toward the integration of school reform, school-linked services, parent involvement and community schools. lofting, h. (2006). the story of dr. dolittle. new york: sterling publishing co. mellin, e. (2009). responding to the crisis in children's mental health: potential roles for the counseling profession. journal of counseling & development, 87(4), 501-506. 14 anderson mellin, e.a., bronstein, l.r., anderson-butcher, d., amrose, a., green, j., & ball, a. (2010). measuring interprofessional team collaboration in expanded school mental health: model refinement and scale development. journal of interprofessional care, 24 (5), 514-523. merriam, s.b. (1998). qualitative research and case study applications in education. san francisco, ca: josseybass publishers. national institute for mental health care management (2005). mental health: an overview of key considerations for health system stakeholders. washington, dc:national institute for healthcare management foundation. o'conner, r. & korr, w.s. (1996). a model for school social work facilitation of teacher self-efficacy and empowerment. social work in education, 18 (1), 45-51. pollard, k., miers, m., & rickaby, c. (2012). 'oh why didn't i take more notice?' professionals views and perceptions of pre-qualifying preparation for interprofessional working in practice. journal of interprofessional care, 26, (5), 355-361. popper, s. h. (1965). the challenge to the two professions. in r.h. beck (ed.), society and the schools: communication challenge to education and social work (pp. 161-172). new york: nasw press. puma, m., bell, s., cook, r., heid, c., & lopez, m. (2005). head start impact study: the first year findings. administration for children and families. rappaport, n., osher, d., garrison, e.g., anderson-ketchmark, c., & dwyer, k. (2003). enhancing collaboration within and across disciplines to advance mental health programs in schools. in m.d. weist, s. evans, & n. lever (eds.), handbook of school mental health: advancing practice and research (pp. 107-118). new york: kluwer academic/plenum. snell, m.e. & janney, r. (2000). collaborative teaming. baltimore: paul h. brookes, inc. strickland, d.s. (2010). essential readings on early literacy. newark, de: international reading association. twain, m. (1998). adventures of huckleberry finn. new york: dover publications/bantam. u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics. (2013). digest of education statistics, 2012 (nces 2014-015) weist, m.d., proescher, e., prodente, c., ambrose, m.g., & waxman, r.p. (2001). mental health, health, and education staff working together in schools. child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of north america, 10, 33-43. examining interdisciplinary collaboration 15 appendix a – interview questions 1. what is your current position at the agency? 2. how long have you been in this position? 3. can you please briefly describe your role? 4. how long have you been on the little read committee? 5. how would you describe your role in the little read project? 6. what do you think are some of the benefits to using an interdisciplinary approach to the little read project? 7. what do think are some of the challenges to using an interdisciplinary approach to the little read project? 8. what expectations do you have for this project? 9. how will you measure its level of success? dialog, 17(1), 130-135 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary the hippy early intervention program: it’s impact on school readiness and parent involvement amber l. brown university of texas, arlington ursula johnson university of texas, health science center at houston hippy is a 3-year, home-based, early education intervention program that aims to help parents with limited formal education prepare their 3-, 4and 5-year-old children for school. this article begins with a brief overview of the hippy program and then presents the results of a study of the effects of the hippy early intervention program on the parental involvement and school readiness of the children at multiple hippy sites in texas. according to the results of paired-samples t-tests, hippy parents significantly increased their in-home literacy activities, contact with school personnel, and other school involvement activities. kindergarten teachers reported that in comparison to parents of other students in their class, 91% of hippy parents were equally or more involved in their children’s education. kindergarten teachers also reported that in the area of classroom adaptability, 88.7% of hippy students were rated as “ready for school.” in the area of classroom behavior, 90.8% of hippy students were rated as “average” or “above average.” overall, the results of this study suggest that the hippy program intervention can increase readiness skills and build a strong base for future parent involvement in their child’s school experience. keywords: school readiness; parent involvement; early intervention programs; hippy increasingly the american public has begun to recognize the importance of the first few years in the life of a child for promoting healthy physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development. yet due to disparities in their life experiences, many young children face deficiencies in the years leading up to school entry in terms of emotional support, intellectual stimulation, or access to resources which can impede their ability to enter school ready to learn. these deficiencies are predictive of subsequent academic performance (shonkoff & phillips, 2000). while there are many types of intervention programs for at-risk children, those designed to improve children’s school adjustment and to prevent later academic problems are most effective when they occur at school entry or during the preschool years (hanson et al., 2006). strategies that emphasize parent-child interactions can promote children’s readiness to start the hippy early intervention program 131 school. one delivery method for early intervention programs is through home visits. home visiting programs during the preschool years are generally based on the premise that parents are the first teachers of their children. home visiting programs also aim to improve a family’s access to resources, meet basic needs, and strengthen family wellbeing. by working intensively with families, these programs can help to prepare children for successful engagement with the school environment. the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters program, better known as hippy, is one such early intervention program. what is hippy? hippy is a free, three-year, home-based early intervention program for three-, four-, and fiveyear-old students from poor and immigrant families (hippyusa, n.d.). the fundamental philosophy of hippy is to “empower parents as primary educators of their children in the home and foster parent involvement in school and community life to maximize the chances of successful early school experiences” (hippyusa, n.d.). hippy utilizes home visits to train parents to promote their children’s whole development at home. the primary goals of the hippy curriculum are to prepare children from low-income families to be developmentally, and especially cognitively, ready for and successful in school. the program accomplishes these goals by empowering parents to facilitate their children’s learning by becoming their first and best teacher to facilitate their children’s learning. the hippy program consists of 30 weekly lessons that integrates explicit instructional lessons designed to enhance students’ language development, problem-solving skills, and sensory and perceptual discrimination. paraprofessionals from similar communities as the families they serve deliver the hippy program in weekly home visits. these visits are used to teach parents, through role-playing, how to engage their students in the curriculum learning activities (hippyusa, n.d.). hippy also provides books, activity packets, and all necessary materials (e.g., pencils, markers, note papers, scissors, glues, etc.) as part of the program curriculum. in addition to serving as an early education program, hippy incorporates features of family support programs. hippy parents meet on a monthly basis to discuss various issues (e.g., parenting, local resources, etc). hippy is based on an ecological approach that recognizes students’ development as powerfully influenced by the families, communities, and societies in which they live (westheimer, 2003). hippy focuses on creating greater continuity between home and school by enhancing students’ home learning environments. hippy programs provide support for families in a way that is designed to recognize and respect family needs and values, another common feature of family support programs. hippy, like many other family support programs, respects the cultural diversity of the families it serves (baker et al., 1999). the most unique characteristic of hippy compared to other parent support models is its highly structured model, which supports parents with curriculum including a set of lesson plans designed to enhance students’ whole development. the major emphasis of hippy curriculum is on students’ cognitive skills (westheimer, 2003). the purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of hippy on the parent involvement and school readiness of children. 132 brown & jhonson summary of research methods a sample of 2,146 families new to the hippy program participated in the study from 2005 – 2008 to examine parent involvement change preand post-intervention. mothers completed the parent involvement interview (pii) with their home visitor before week 2 of the 30 week intervention and again after week 28 of the hippy program. the 14-item, 4-point likert interview examined parents’ home literacy involvement with their children and school involvement with staff, teachers and school activities. a sample of 619 kindergarten teachers completed the kindergarten teacher survey (kts) in the spring of 2006, 2007, and 2008 for children who participated in hippy when they were 3 and/or 4 years of age. most of the hippy kindergartners’ home language was spanish (89.4%) and were latino (87.6%; 7.1% were african american; 4.9% were asian; and .04% were white). the kindergarten teachers observed hippy children’s behavior throughout the school year and completed the kts in regards to the child’s classroom adaptability, verbal classroom behavior, and frequency of child’s parent school involvement. the teacher was instructed to compare the child’s (and parent involvement) behavior to other non-hippy children in the classroom. the school outcome data was calculated as percentages and compared to previously established benchmarks. the benchmarks were developed to determine how many of the questions in the classroom behavior and classroom adaptability sections of the kts needed to be rated as average or above average by kindergarten teachers for the students to be considered “ready for school”. summary of major findings the purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of hippy on the parent involvement and school readiness of children. the following questions guided this study: 1) did hippy parents of 3and 4-year olds increase their engagement in home-literacy activities with their preschool children?, 2) did hippy parents of 3or 4-year olds increase their interactions with school staff?, 3) did hippy parents of 3and 4-year olds increase their school involvement?, 4) in comparison to other non-hippy parents, how involved are hippy parents of kindergarteners in the education of their children?, and 5) do hippy children enter kindergarten “ready for school”? did hippy parents of 3and 4-year olds increase their engagement in homeliteracy activities with their preschool children? during hippy parents’ first year of participation, 63.3% of hippy parents increased the amount of time they spent engaging their child in home literacy activities. the most striking finding was the increase from “weekly” to “daily” time spent in some type of home literacy activity. hippy parents significantly increased the amount of time they participated in home literacy activities, such as reading books, telling stories, and singing songs, from the beginning of the program to the end of the program during their first year of participation. the hippy early intervention program 133 did hippy parents of 3or 4-year olds increase their interactions with school staff? during hippy parents’ first year of participation, 60.4% of hippy parents increased the frequency of interactions with school staff members. on average, hippy parents increased their involvement with their children’s school in face-to-face, phone conversation or conference meetings about one-half of a standard deviation from the beginning of the hippy program to the end. did hippy parents of 3and 4-year olds increase their school involvement? hippy parents with children attending school statistically significantly increased their school involvement from preto post-intervention. the first year hippy parents reported attending more school meetings and volunteering in the classroom at a higher rate than they did at the beginning of the hippy program. in comparison to other non-hippy parents, how involved are hippy parents of kindergarteners in the education of their children? kindergarten teachers were asked to rate whether the parents of hippy children were less, equally, or more involved in their children’s education compared to other parents in the teacher’s class. these hippy children were approximately 5 years of age, and had participated in hippy for two to three years. kindergarten teachers reported that 97.1% of hippy parents participated in some type of involvement in their child’s education on at least a monthly basis. in addition, kindergarten teachers reported that 91% of hippy parents were equally or more involved in their children’s education, which means that of 619 hippy parents that were included in the study, 563 of them were as involved (or more) than parents of other students in their class. the teacher reports supports first-year parents self-report of increased school involvement. do hippy children enter kindergarten “ready for school”? to determine the school readiness of hippy kindergartners, teachers completed the kts, which was analyzed using benchmarking procedures. in classroom adaptability, 88.7% of hippy students were rated as “ready for school,” evidenced by a score of “average” or “above average” in at least three out of five questions. classroom adaptability references children’s ability to listen, and be attentive and engaged with their peers and the teacher. in classroom verbal behavior, 90.8% of hippy students were rated as “average” or “above average” on a minimum of five of eight questions, meaning that they were “ready for school.” classroom verbal behavior signified children’s expressive and receptive language skills with their peers and the teacher. overall, there were 84.2% of hippy kindergartners that were deemed school ready in both domains by their teachers. 134 brown & jhonson implications for practice early intervention programs, such as hippy, provide service to populations that are at-risk for school failure. hippy, a home based early childhood education program for parents of three, four and five year old children, provides education for parents, many of whom have limited formal education and are low-income, to become their child’s first teacher. by empowering parents to interact and engage their children for a minimum of 15 minutes per day and to advocate for their children in the school context, positive child outcomes emerge. preschool teachers and administrators can build on this finding by supporting parents in helping their children at home. provide parents with specific activities to try at home with their children, and if necessary, provide examples of how to complete the activity with the child. one of the strengths of the hippy program is the use of role-play, which helps parents become comfortable in their role as teacher as well as parent. while it may not be practical to role play with parents, it may be possible to demonstrate how to complete activities and to provide clear instructions with examples on how to complete home assignments. the current study suggests that the hippy program can increase school readiness skills and build a strong base for future parent involvement in their child’s school experience. specifically, participation in the hippy program resulted in significantly higher parent involvement activities as well as notable rates of school readiness. this may suggest that the parental involvement curriculum in hippy programs helps typically at-risk students to overcome the barriers they face when ecological factors are in place. based on these findings regarding the benefits of hippy participation on the school readiness of young children and the increased parent involvement of their families, several lessons emerge for implications for early educators. preschool teachers and administrators can encourage parents’ participation in the school and class by respecting parents’ culture, values, and beliefs. examples of this include encouraging parents to share their insights into their children, respecting their expertise as their child’s first teacher, and collaborating with parents, not lecturing to parents. while parental school involvement is positively related to school achievement (henderson & map, 2002), minority parents and parents that have limited english proficiency are less likely to be involved in their child’s schooling (hyslop, 2000; nistler and maiers, 1999). due to parent’s lack of school involvement, they may not have a chance to build positive relationships with teachers that may prove beneficial to their child’s learning and development, nor do parents learn how to better support the school’s intentions in the home. hippy may increase parents’ attendance in school events and volunteering at the school by helping parents become familiar with the school environment and school personnel through monthly meetings that feature school-related staff. through the hippy program, parents are empowered to take the lead in helping their children learn. early educators can replicate hippy’s approach by hosting school and class events/activities that bring together families and school staff in non-threatening ways (e.g., hands-on workshops) by offering events/activities in parents’ first language, providing child care, communicating in a variety of methods (e.g., verbal, email, note home, etc.), and being flexible with scheduling. in summary, the hippy program is designed to increase at-risk children’s school readiness and continued success in school, and the current study’s findings of increased parental school and home involvement and the rate of children who entered school “ready to learn” reflects parents’ confidence in advocating for their children’s success in and out of the home. the hippy early intervention program 135 references baker, a. j. l., piotrkowski, c. s., & brooks-gunn, j. (1999). the home instruction program for preschool youngsters (hippy). the future of children, 116-133. hanson, k. l., morrow, c. e., bandstra, e. s., mcauley, c., pecora, p. j., & rose, w. (2006). early interventions with young children and their parents in the us. london: jessica kingsley. henderson, a. t., & mapp, k. l. (2002). a new wave of evidence: the impact of school, family, and community connections on student achievement. austin, tx: southwest educational development laboratory. hippyusa. (n.d.). about hippy. retrieved from http://www.hippyusa.org/about_ hippy/about_hippy.html hyslop, n. (2000). hispanic parental involvement in home literacy. eric clearinghouse on reading english and communication. retrieved from eric database. (ed446340). retrieved from http://ericae.net/edo/ed446340.htm nistler, r.j. and maiers, a. (1999). exploring home-school connections: a family literacy perspective on improving urban schools. in education and urban society, 32 (1) 2-17. shonkoff, j. p., & phillips, d. a. (eds.). (2000). from neurons to neighborhoods: the science of early childhood development. washington, dc: national academy press. westheimer, m. (2003). a decade of hippy research. in m. westheimer (ed.), parents making a difference: international research on the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters (hippy), (pp. 19-45). jerusalem: the hebrew university magnes press. dialog, 16(1), 65-80 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 this study was funded by grant #90yyf0069 from the department of health and human services awarded to the first author. research article examining the role of self efficacy and communication as related to dimensions of latino parent involvement in head start julia l. mendez, diana westerberg, and m. alexander thibeault university of north carolina at greensboro this study reports data on a sample of latino immigrant parents and their associated levels of parent involvement in head start. parent involvement was defined and measured as parent behaviors supporting educational and developmental outcomes occurring in the home and community setting (home involvement), the school context (school involvement), and also the home-school relationship (home-school conferencing). latino parents reported the highest levels of parent involvement at home, followed by home-school conferencing, and then school involvement. differences in parents’ comfort and ability to communicate with the school were found to significantly predict all three dimensions of parent involvement. parent self efficacy was negatively related to levels of school based involvement and also parents’ endorsement of the importance of a latino identity. communication and parent self efficacy were positively related. overall, the results suggest that our understanding of factors that promote parent involvement for latino preschool children is only emerging; moreover, results may differ from those obtained with samples of older latino children and their parents. implications of this study for the implementation of head start best practices, including promoting teacherinvited parent involvement and greater awareness and recognition of the amount of home involvement being provided by latino families, are discussed in this paper. since its inception, the primary objective of head start has been to enhance the social and cognitive competence of preschool children. in addition, head start encourages parent involvement, recognizing that families are the primary sustainers of their children’s development. with changes to the demographics of young children in the united states, a pressing mandate for head start is to better understand the family context that supports learning for diverse groups of children. in 2002, the census bureau officially declared latinos as the largest ethnic minority group in the u.s, comprising 13% of the population (harwood & feng, 2006). latinos are now one of the largest groups served by head start programs (36%) and over one quarter of all children attending head start live in households where english is not the primary language spoken (aikens, tarullo, hulsey, ross, west & xue, 2010). latinos are a heterogeneous population who originally migrated to the u.s. from many different countries. latino children may be raised in monolingual (e.g. spanish only) or bilingual environments (e.g. spanish and english) prior to entering into preschool. as children enter a 66 mendez et al. head start program, the family environment is likely influenced as a result of children’s participation. for example, family members may be interacting with a school staff for the first time, and these interactions may be a positive or negative experience. to date, the degree and manner by which latino parents of preschool children are likely to be active participants in their children’s education has received limited attention in the literature (karoly & gonzalez, 2011). moreover, some constructs that have been reported as important cultural practices by parents of latino preschool children, such as respeto for authority figures, have not been well integrated into an overall discussion of how parent involvement may facilitate a healthy transition to the school setting for latino preschool children (calzada, fernandez & cortes, 2010; fuller & garcia coll, 2010). the present study seeks to describe and understand factors that may promote or inhibit rates of parent involvement among latino immigrant parents of children attending head start. in our research, parent involvement was defined and measured as parent behaviors supporting educational and developmental outcomes occurring in either the home and community setting (home involvement), the school context (school involvement), or involvement in developing and maintaining a home-school relationship (home-school conferencing). a number of studies have established the beneficial impact of parent involvement in schooling on academic performance for children of all ages (jeynes, 2003; reynolds, mavrogenes, bezruczko, & hagemann, 1996). for example, among preschool children, parent involvement has been found to be associated with higher grades and enhanced verbal, motor, and social development (marcon, 1999). in one recent study, latino parents noted that structural barriers associated with poverty, such as limited transportation and work schedule inflexibility were negatively associated with parent participation in school-based programs (mendez & westerberg, 2012). a second study of urban latino parents showed that parent involvement was greater among both mothers and fathers when satisfaction with the head start program was high (mcwayne, campos & owsianik, 2008). more attention to the variety of ways that latino parents support the educational and developmental outcomes of their young children would contribute to our understanding of parent involvement. applying developmental ecological theory to the study of parent involvement involves examining multiple systems that can impact a child’s resilience, specifically the family system and the school system (cicchetti & lynch, 1993; luthar, cicchetti, & becker, 2000; mendez, 2010). for children attending head start programs, involvement by their families enhances the link between home and school learning opportunities (mendez, 2010). parent involvement is not only the behaviors that parents engage in with their children at home; parents can also be invited by the school to help bring their cultural worldviews into the classroom, thereby enhancing the collaboration across the home and school systems (maríñez-lora and quintana, 2009; walker, ice, hoover-dempsey, & sandler, 2011). these linkages, or the connectedness of the home and school settings (microsystems), are conceptualized by theorists as a feature of the mesosystem level of the environment (bronfenbrenner, 1989). as a strong mesosystem is associated with positive child outcomes, the study of connections between home and school is of critical importance (epstein & dauber, 1991; waanders, mendez & downer, 2007). children maximize their learning when parents and school personnel convey similar expectations and nurture competencies across settings. slaughter-defoe (1995) notes that parent involvement enhances continuity across home and school contexts in several ways. parents are the best source for information about the child’s unique talents and interests and for representing the cultural worldview of the family to the school, which is particularly important for children dimensions of latino parent involvement 67 from immigrant families. parents can also provide important information about emerging developmental competencies that may not yet be apparent in the school setting (mendez, 2010). again, this may be of particular importance for families raising dual language learners, as children’s language or social abilities may be highly dependent upon the dominant language and expectations within the home or school environment. for teachers, strong relationships with families give teachers opportunities to communicate school expectations, model age-appropriate educational interactions with children, and share learning resources with families (marinez-lora & quintana, 2009). unfortunately, the process of developing a quality home-school relationship for latino parents may be impacted negatively by a range of factors. first, if parents have more difficulty communicating with school personnel due to language barriers, the full impact of head start programming for enhancing family well-being is not achieved. in a study of first grade parents in texas, spanish-speaking parents reported the lowest levels of communication with the school and low sense of shared responsibility with teachers, as compared to both english-speaking hispanic parents and groups of black and white parents (wong & hughes, 2006). directly measuring immigrant parents’ english proficiency is important, and research shows this variable may not be related to the number of years of residency in the united states (lara, gamboa, kahramanian, morales & bautista, 2005). second, the role of parent self efficacy may be important to consider, as parents with low self efficacy may not be comfortable approaching head start staff for assistance. self efficacy has been defined in the literature as a belief in one’s ability to engage in a behavior to bring about a particular outcome (bandura, 1997). the parent involvement literature has measured self efficacy in terms of how strongly parents endorse beliefs about being able to positively impact their children’s education (downer & mendez, 2005; hoover-dempsey & sandler, 1997; iruka, 2008). for latino parents, it may be that parents with high self efficacy may be the least likely to volunteer or become active in the school setting, primarily because they engage in high levels of parent involvement in the home. similarly, latino parents with high self efficacy regarding involvement in children’s education would be able to demonstrate sufficient parent involvement in terms of home-school conferencing, regardless of encountered language barriers. therefore, testing the relations between self-efficacy about educational involvement separately for each dimension of parent involvement is needed. in prior research with african american head start mothers, self efficacy was an important predictor of involvement by parents within the home context, but not the school context (waanders et al., 2007). research has not yet adequately addressed these questions for latino participants. iruka (2008) conducted a study of african american head start mothers’ self fficacy and school involvement. she found that for highly efficacious mothers who were also rated as having high school involvement by teachers, their children scored higher in their academic readiness, defined as children’s approaches to learning and socioemotional development. in contrast, for children whose mothers showed low levels of efficacy, school readiness abilities were higher when these mothers were less involved. this study shows an interesting relation between the belief in making a difference in education and actual involvement, suggesting that educators must pay attention to fostering both efficacy and opportunities for meaningful involvement (goldenberg, reese, & gillmore, 1992) in order to promote readiness for preschool children. in a study of african american fathers, downer and mendez (2005) documented that fathers who rated themselves higher in self efficacy about impacting children’s education also reported greater levels of parent involvement in the home, but not at school. 68 mendez et al. in developing this study’s conceptual model for studying parent involvement with latino immigrant families, we consider how factors such as communication skills and self efficacy would impact three dimensions of parent involvement – home, school, and the home-school relationship. in addition, we included in this study a measure of acculturation, which is defined as the strategies used by immigrant families to adopt features of the new culture and also maintain their cultural heritage. in his work on acculturation, berry (2006) noted that acculturation strategies used by minority groups often involve a struggle with how to embrace features of the new culture (e.g. language, customs, beliefs) while considering how best to maintain features of their own native culture and transmit this knowledge to their children. the degree to which parents maintain culture of origin values, beliefs, and practices and how these processes unfold over time could have a significant impact on parental decision-making regarding parent involvement during preschool. for example, as noted by wong & hughes (2006), language ability and acculturation differences are just two of a number of variables that may vary for groups of parents who are defined as latino, which in turn could influence their level of parent involvement. in keeping with recommendations from the acculturation literature, we examined two features of acculturation on a continuum. they include the degree to which parents report a) valuing and engaging in maintenance of a latino identity, and b) accepting and embracing a u.s. american identity. these constructs were thought to represent different strategies that immigrants use when engaging in decision-making about parent involvement; therefore, we sought to test if these constructs would explain differences in the three dimensions of parent involvement. existing studies of acculturation with latino immigrant families illustrate how cultural beliefs and values impact the process of parent involvement in children’s education. for example, mapp (2003) found that latino parents reported that they held beliefs regarding the importance of education and respect for teachers; however, they did not expect to be involved with the school directly. in fact, parent involvement was sometimes seen as disrespectful to the teacher and school. moreno and lopez (1999) observed that a lack of familiarity with expectations of u.s. schools could influence parents’ efficacy about school involvement. these researchers demonstrated that lower acculturation to the u.s. of latina mothers was associated with less knowledge about school activities and more barriers to parent involvement; however, these parents reported higher levels of efficacy and expectations for their children’s educational attainment than more acculturated latina mothers. leidy, guerra, and toro (2010) reported that mexican american immigrant mothers felt that acculturation differences between parents and children, separation from extended family, discrimination against immigrants, and concerns about legal status would negatively impact their parent involvement in schooling. taken together, it is possible that immigrants will vary on their endorsement of the importance of embracing aspects of u.s. culture. this could be for a variety of reasons including limits on access to information, opportunities for interactions with members of the mainstream culture, or a lack of awareness or confidence with such interactions. we believe variation in these acculturative processes would impact the ability and success of a parent to engage in communication with head start staff. latino families who are less acculturated to life in the united states may be less likely to be aware of, agree with, or endorse the importance of participation in children’s education as articulated by staff at head start. moreover, because the construct of parent involvement is multidimensional (fantuzzo, tighe & childs, 2000), acculturation factors may have a differential impact on types of involvement within the home or school settings. for example, parents who strongly endorse their dimensions of latino parent involvement 69 own latino cultural values may be less likely to see their role as parent as someone who participates in school events. schools systems that are unaware of these potential cultural values neglect important avenues for fostering involvement that can incorporate latino beliefs about education and the role of parents (goldenberg, reese, & gallimore, 1992). because parent involvement includes a variety of behaviors and attitudes that families may exhibit that contribute to a child’s school success (fantuzzo et al., 2000; grolnick & slowiaczek, 1994; kohl, lengua, & mcmahan, 2000), it is critical to examine how and why latino families become involved in head start programs. while prior research shows that parent involvement is affected by personal characteristics, contextual factors, and opportunities for learning (e.g., alexander & entwisle, 1996; downer & mendez, 2005; epstein, 1996; waanders et al. 2007), these studies generally have not included latino families in their samples. studies of elementary and adolescent children generally show that latino/hispanic parents report the least involvement in the domain of school involvement (steinberg, lamborn, dornbusch, & darling, 1992; wong & hughes, 2006). therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the multidimensional construct of parent involvement within a sample of latino immigrant families with children enrolled in head start. in this study, we examine three dimensions of parent involvement: at home, at school, and the home-school relationship. first, we examine potential differences among scales measuring home involvement, school involvement, and home-school conferencing to understand the relative levels of involvement and differences associated with context. next, we examine differences in parent involvement with respect to acculturation. we tentatively hypothesize that parents who endorse high levels of latino cultural identity may be more involved in the home, but not necessarily in the school setting due to the cultural beliefs about involvement in this setting as disrespectful to the teacher. third, we examine the impact of engagement variables on the likelihood of different types of parent involvement in either the home or school context. specifically, it is hypothesized that perceived economic stress and barriers associated with poverty will be associated with lower levels of parent involvement in all domains. finally, we test if parent characteristics including self efficacy and communication skills might predict higher parent involvement, above and beyond the impact of engagement variables and demographics. ultimately, we seek to understand if various dimensions of parent involvement are compromised for parents who report difficulties in overcoming language barriers. method participants latino parents of children enrolled in head start programs who expressed interest in an adult literacy and parenting program were eligible for this study. parents in our study lived in suburban areas on the outskirts of a major metropolitan area in the northeast. a total of 63 latino parents [92% female (89% mother, 3% aunt or grandmother); 8% adoptive or step father], participated in the study representing a variety of countries of origin including ecuador (30.2%), mexico (20.6%), brazil (20.7%), honduras (17.5%), peru (4.8%), colombia (3.2%), and puerto rico (1.6%). the participants’ mean reported monthly income was $1009 (n = 49, range, 0-2,400) with a median length of residence in the us of six years (range 1-20; mode = six years). ninetyfive percent of the sample reported living in the united states for 10 or fewer years. participants 70 mendez et al. had a child 3.61 years of age on average (57.1% male), which is consistent with the target age group for head start children (ages 3-5). the majority of the parents (55.5%) were married or living with a significant other, 34.9% were single, and 9.5% were divorced or separated. in terms of employment status, most parents worked part-time (42.9%) and 23.8% worked full-time, whereas 20.6% were unemployed or looking for work, and 12.7% did not work outside the home. the majority of parents (84.1%) did not attend school in the united states. of the eight parents who reported attending school in the united states, one completed 9th grade, two earned a high school diploma or ged, two completed job training or vocational school, and three did not report the level of schooling completed. study procedures this study was conducted over a three-year period in partnership with a community action agency offering head start services in accordance with approvals from our university irb. parents were invited by the head start center director to attend information sessions held during the beginning of the school year regarding types of parent programming available each year specifically for bilingual parents. additionally, parents were provided with information about the study at parent orientation sessions during the beginning of the school year and at monthly parent meetings held in the evening. flyers in both the spanish language and english language were sent home with children identified by head start records as dual language learners. school staff and parent leaders also directed potential parent participants to meet with our research staff. during enrollment, study facilitators presented parents with written information in both spanish and english about the study procedures and copies of consent forms. a bilingual research assistant explained project goals and objectives to the participants and read consent forms orally. all parent data were collected via individual interviews completed in about 60 minutes either in person or via telephone with a bilingual interviewer. although parents were given a choice about language, all latino parents chose to complete the interview using the spanish language. parents received a 30-dollar gift card for participating in the data collection. measures all study measures were selected for their use in prior published research with latino samples where possible. the measures developed for this study or for prior research in our laboratory used a back-translation process (knight & hill, 1998) where items were translated from spanish to english using two independent translators. a third bilingual psychologist or graduate student in psychology compared the translations to resolve errors when they occurred. measures have been subjected to tests of internal consistency and validity data is described. parent involvement. the family involvement questionnaire (fiq) is a multidimensional measure of caregiver involvement in early childhood education (fantuzzo, tighe, & childs, 2000). the fiq was developed for use within head start settings and tested with low-income families of preschool children, and has been adapted for use with spanish speaking populations using recommended translation procedures (knight & hill, 1998). the measure consists of three empirically derived scales: school-based involvement, home-based dimensions of latino parent involvement 71 involvement, and home-school conferencing. internal consistency of each fiq scale is high, with alpha coefficients greater than .80. the school-based involvement scale assesses parents’ participation in activities such as volunteering in the classroom and going on class trips with the children. the home-based involvement scale assesses parents’ behaviors at home to promote readiness to learn, including providing materials and initiating activities for their children at home or in the community. the home-school conferencing scale assesses communication between school personnel and parents regarding children’s difficulties and accomplishments in the classroom, as well as educational ideas for parents to do at home with their children. in a study with only african american parents, school involvement was validated through comparisons with attendance records at school events and teacher ratings of home-school connection (waanders et al., 2007). parent efficacy. to assess parents’ sense of efficacy regarding their children’s education, the about being a parent scale (abps; wentzel, 1993) was used. this measure was adapted from a measure of teacher efficacy developed by hoy and woolfolk in 1993 (seefeldt et al., 1998). it assesses parents’ beliefs about their ability to influence their children’s educational outcomes. the abps includes items such as, “even parents with good teaching abilities cannot teach their children as well as a classroom teacher,” and “parents do not have a powerful influence on children’s achievement when all factors are considered.” parents rate each item on a six-point likert scale, where 0 represents “strongly agree” and 5 represents “strongly disagree.” higher total scores on the efficacy measure represent higher levels of parent self efficacy. the scale shows good internal consistency, with a cronbach alpha of .86, and has been used previously in research with head start families (downer & mendez, 2005; seefeldt et al., 1998). communication in educational settings. the communication questionnaire (commq) was developed as part of the present study. this 8 item scale is a self-report measure of the ease or difficulty a bilingual parent has in bidirectional communication with head start staff, particularly teachers. the measure has eight items, but only six are used in the total score. items 7 and 8 indicate if parents use family members or other parents to assist them in communicating, but these items are not included in the total score. items are rated from 1 to 4, where 1 = “rarely”, 2 = “sometimes”, 3 = “often”, and 4 = “always”. sample items include, “i am able to share my ideas with someone in head start” and “the head start program gives me written materials i can understand.” higher scores indicate more adaptive communication is occurring between parents and members of the head start program, while lower scores indicate communication difficulties. cronbach's alpha for this measure using the six items was adequate (r = .77). a comparison of this scale with a teacher rating of latino children’s use of english in the classroom (r = .269, p < .05) provides some concurrent validity. barriers. the barriers measure (mendez et al., 2009; mendez et al., 2010) was developed in prior intervention research studies to assess barriers that impact families from low income backgrounds when they consider accessing family or educational services through head start. barriers assessed by this measure include: no need for parenting program, lack of child care, not comfortable with talking about parenting with others, work schedule conflict, concerns that your family or friends would disapprove, health related problems, religious activities, transportation, night classes, too tired, or ‘‘other’’ barriers not captured by the previous categories. parents indicate if they perceived each item as a potential deterrent from their 72 mendez et al. participation with a rating scale of 1-4 (1 = definitely yes, 2 = probably yes, 3 = probably no, 4 = definitely no). items are reverse coded for scoring so that higher scores represent more barriers. acculturation. the abbreviated multidimensional acculturation scale (amaszabb) (zea, asner-self, burman, & buki, 2003) is a 42-item measure that assesses aspects of acculturation in both the native culture and american culture. this scale was validated in prior research by zea and colleagues (2003) with a sample of latino adults. we selected the native identity and u.s. identity subscales for this study as indicators of the likelihood parents would hold latino values as important to them for raising children. zea et al. (2003) define cultural identity as “an individual’s self-identification, affiliation, and pride as a member of the culture of origin or of the host culture.” (p. 108). these six item subscales ask identical questions about aspects of their identity, one referring to u.s. american identity and the other their native identity. items include “i feel good about being u.s. american” or “i think of myself as being latina” and “being latina plays an important part in my life.” demographics and economic stress. parent reported demographic information included duration of residency in the united states, country of origin, number of children, number of people living in home, marital status, occupation in u.s., education, income, and economic stress. economic stress was measured using 2 items developed by conger and colleagues (1992) that assess the degree to which parents’ perceive their income as sufficient to meet their needs. perceived stress is a variable of importance because low-income families with the same income may report different levels of stress associated with finances. data analysis we computed means and standard deviations for demographic and study variables. we determined that one participant who reported living in the u.s. for 20 years was an outlier from the remaining parents who were in the u.s. for 12 or fewer years; this subject was removed from the analyses. for the fiq only, we divided the total raw score for each scale by the number of items on the scale following procedures outlined by mcwayne and colleagues (2008). we also examined bivariate correlations involving key demographic variables, predictors and the outcomes. to examine differences in acculturation for this latino immigrant sample, we conducted one-way anovas. first, we constructed two groups based on scores on the u.s. identity subscale of the amas-zabb measure of acculturation. participants with scores of 3 or 4 were in the “higher u.s. acculturation” group and participants with scores of 2 or 1 were in a “lower u.s. acculturation” group. we were most interested in comparing parents on the extremes of this measure, so we only examined differences in parents in the high and low groups. we excluded parents with scores greater than 2 but lower than 3 from this analysis. because parents overall were endorsing lower levels of u.s. acculturation as recent immigrants, we thought this analysis might suggest if differences for those parents with some acculturation to the u.s. were also showing more parent involvement. lastly, we tested our hypotheses that parent efficacy and school communication would interact to impact parent involvement above and beyond demographics, economic stress and acculturation dimensions. we ran three hierarchical regressions using the same set of predictors dimensions of latino parent involvement 73 but with the three dimensions of parent involvement, home based involvement, school based involvement, and home-school conferencing, as the dependent variable for each regression. specifically, in step one of the regression, we entered length of stay in the united states, perceived economic stress, access barriers, native/latino identity, and united states cultural identity. in step two, school communication and parent efficacy were entered into the model. in step three, we entered the interaction term of communication*efficacy. results descriptive statistics and means for all study variables can be found in table 1. in reviewing the scales for the fiq, results show that the highest mean was obtained for home involvement, followed by home-school conferencing. the lowest mean score for the sample was obtained for school involvement. paired samples t-tests revealed significant differences between home based involvement and school based involvement (t = 16.70, p < .001), home-school conferencing and school based involvement (t = 6.50, p < .001), and home based involvement and home-school conferencing (t = 8.16, p < .001). table 1 study variable minimum maximum mean (sd) parent efficacy 5.00 26.00 15.62 (5.06) parent communication 8.00 24.00 17.98 (3.81) u.s. identity* 1.00 4.00 2.64 (0.98) native identity 2.83 4.00 3.83 (0.31) barriers 12.00 45.00 24.34 (8.57) perceived economic stress** 1.00 4.00 2.37 (0.90) school involvement 1.00 4.00 2.04 (0.67) home involvement 2.15 3.92 3.23 (0.42) home-school conferencing 1.00 4.00 2.55 (0.79) note. n = 62 *n=61 **n=60 bivariate correlations revealed correlations among the scales of the fiq. for example, parent home based involvement was significantly related to parent home-school conferencing (r = .55, p < .001) and parent school involvement (r = .56, p < .001). parent home-school conferencing and parent school involvement were also significantly related (r = .66, p < .001). examination of the predictor variables revealed that parent self-efficacy was significantly and negatively related to school-based involvement (r = -.33, p < .001), but not the other fiq scales. a significant, negative correlation was also obtained between parent self efficacy and native identity (r = -.33, p < .01). parent reports of adaptive communication on the commq were 74 mendez et al. significantly and positively correlated with home involvement (r = .35, p < .001) and home school conferencing (r = .37, p < .001) but not with school involvement. lastly, a positive relation between efficacy and adaptive communication was obtained (r = .24, p < .06). in examining acculturation differences, the sample mean for native identity was 3.83 (sd = 0.31), indicating a relatively strong level of endorsement of items consistent with a latino identity. the overall endorsement of the sample of items relative to their u.s. identity was considerably lower (m = 2.64, sd = 0.98). anova showed that parents in the higher u.s. acculturation group reported marginally higher levels of school based involvement as compared with parents in the lower acculturation group [f = 2.95, p = .093; high m = 2.24 (.72); low m = 1.89 (.65)]. there were no significant differences between groups for home based involvement [f = .27, ns; high m = 3.28 (.43); low m = 3.21 (.38)] and home-school conferencing [f = .80, ns; high m = 2.70 (.77); low m = 2.50 (.81)]. table 2 reports the results of the hierarchical regression analyses predicting home based involvement [f (7, 51) = 1.52, ns], school involvement [f (7, 51) = 1.93, p < .10], and home school conferencing [f (7, 51) = 2.19, p < .05)]. for each dimension of involvement, step 2 was significant (home involvement, f = 4.79, p < .01; home-school conferencing, f = 4.44, p < .05; school involvement, f = 4.14, p < .05) and had a medium effect size (cohen, 1992). the interaction step was not significant and thus was not included in the final model. the dimensions of parent involvement were predicted by different sets of variables. communication was the only significant predictor for home involvement and home-school conferencing, whereas for school involvement, communication and parent efficacy were both significant predictors. table 2 hierarchical regressions predicting dimensions of parent involvementa model home school home-school involvement involvement conferencing step 1 r2 0.02 0.08 0.10 f2 0.02 0.09 0.11 length of time in the us 0.02 -0.07 -0.01 perceived economic stress 0.06 0.14 0.21 perceived barriers -0.09 -0.01 -0.15 native identity 0.06 0.17 0.18 us identity 0.09 0.14 0.07 step 2 ∆r2 0.16* 0.13* 0.13** f2 0.20 0.16 0.17 parent efficacy -0.22 -0.38* -0.16 comm-q 0.42*** 0.27* 0.40** r2 0.17 0.21 0.23 model f 1.52 1.93† 2.19* note: n = 59. **p<0.01, *p < 0.05 †p <0.10. medium effect sizes are bolded. standardized betas from each step are listed. dimensions of latino parent involvement 75 discussion this study provided data on a sample of latino immigrant parents and their associated levels of parent involvement in head start. one contribution of the study was to examine factors associated with parent involvement for this understudied population across the different contexts of home and school. differences in parent comfort and ability to communicate with the school were significantly associated with all three dimensions of parent involvement. additionally, parent self efficacy played a role in explaining school based involvement. the results suggest that our understanding of factors that promote parent involvement for latino children is only emerging; moreover, results may differ from those obtained with samples of older latino children and their parents. latino families are a heterogeneous population, defined by variability in their level of acculturation, familiarity with u.s. culture and schooling, and language competence. additionally, latino parents range in characteristics previously included in conceptual models of parent involvement, such as parental role construction and parent self efficacy (hoover-dempsey & sandler, 1997). a more comprehensive model for explaining latino family involvement needs to consider how these factors, as well as parents’ cultural values and beliefs, may interact to influence specific involvement behaviors at home and school. in our study, parent perceptions of the degree of comfort with bidirectional communication played a significant role in predicting parent involvement, even after controlling for acculturation factors, economic stress, and contextual barriers (e.g. work schedules, transportation). this suggests that head start programs might benefit from discerning how parent communication can be improved, perhaps by use of interpreters, bilingual staff members, and translation of written materials into multiple languages. because communication is a variable that can be modified or enhanced, greater attention to how this process unfolds between parents with limited english proficiency and teachers/staff may result in an improvement in parent involvement in all domains. limited evidence was found for the impact of acculturation on parent involvement in children’s education. this may be due to the overall relatively high endorsement of a native, latino identity by this sample of recently arriving immigrants. in our sample, latino identity (e.g. being a latina is important in my life) was negatively associated with parent self efficacy. this may indicate that parents with less familiarity and comfort with u.s. schools and culture are less confident in their ability to help their children succeed in school. this finding might also reflect a latino parent’s role construction suggesting parental involvement in the school setting is disrespectful to teachers and their expertise (dumas, arriga, begle, longoria 2010; mapp, 2003). future work may assist the head start community with uncovering a thorough understanding of how cultural beliefs define or determine specific parenting practices for latino families in particular. because parents with low self efficacy may be at risk for low levels of all dimensions of involvement in the educational process, adjusting expectations for parents during early childhood may be critical to maximizing involvement by parents during later academic years. the role of self efficacy has been the focus of a number of investigations of parent involvement, with mixed evidence of its importance. in a study of urban minority parents of kindergarten children, marinez-lora and quintana (2009) found that efficacy was higher among african american parents as compared with latino parents. however, sense of efficacy was only predictive of latino parents’ at-home involvement practices and not those for african american 76 mendez et al. parents. in their study, home-involvement was measured during the kindergarten year by surveying frequency of reading with child, helping with homework, and practicing spelling or math before a test. these results contrast with studies of preschool populations, which support the importance of self efficacy for both african american and latino parents. for example, associations between self efficacy and home-based parent involvement have been found for african american head start mothers (waanders, et al., 2007) and fathers (downer & mendez, 2005). the present study found that efficacy was negatively related to all dimensions of involvement for latino parents, and was a significant contributor to the regression analysis for school-based involvement. this may indicate that latino parents who are high in self efficacy regarding their ability to help their child success do not perceive the need to be involved in the school setting, as they are seeing their children as already successful. alternatively, it may be that parents with low self efficacy are more involved at school because they believe they are limited by language or other knowledge deficits and are seeking to provide the best opportunities for their preschool child. future research involving latino samples will need to use longitudinal designs to uncover how parent involvement unfolds across the preschool and kindergarten period of development, as the behaviors required for parents of kindergarten children are considerably more academic in nature as compared to the preschool period. moreover, iruka (2008) showed that preschool children were rated as higher on academic readiness when african american mothers with low efficacy were less involved; therefore, future studies must compare self efficacy and parent involvement with data on latino preschooler’s school readiness. a compelling finding, which replicates other work on latino family involvement and has significant practice implications, is the high amount of home-based involvement reported by latino families in our study. examining the means for each dimension of involvement shows that home-based involvement is the highest on average, followed by home-school conferencing and then school-based involvement. because low levels of school involvement relative to home involvement are reported throughout the literature with latino populations (e.g. marinez-lora & quintana, 2009; steinberg et al., 1992; wong & hughes, 2006), and they appear to emerge early in development (mcwayne et al., 2008), this is an area for head start to carefully monitor. because home-based involvement is a more natural fit with latino parents’ cultural beliefs, a more successful intervention strategy may be to encourage and celebrate high levels of home involvement during preschool. intervention programs that provide parent education and opportunities for modeling parent-child interactions in the home, such as parents as teachers, can be consistent with cultural values (see castro, mendez, garcia, & westerberg, 2012 for a review). additionally, providing culturally-relevant information regarding strategies for increasing school involvement would benefit latino families with low levels of participation. one such practice discussed in the literature is teacher invitations. marinez-lora and quintana (2009) found that parent perceptions of teacher-invited parent involvement was significantly related to reports of parent involvement for both groups of african american and latino kindergarten parents. given that only 13% of latinos in this sample reported speaking mostly english at home, this suggests that teacher invitations for involvement are an excellent strategy for use in overcoming communication barriers often affecting bilingual or monolingual spanish speaking parents. additionally, mcwayne and colleagues (2008) showed that parent involvement at school by immigrant latino and polish families was high when satisfaction with school contact was also high. it may be that the process of teacher outreach to families, whether in person or via interpreters or translated written materials, may not only increase satisfaction but dimensions of latino parent involvement 77 also enhance the likelihood of school involvement. marinez-lora and quintana (2009) note that invitations are often specific requests that can provide messages to parents about the specific skills that are expected and valued by the teachers. workshop opportunities that provide sustained and repeated opportunities for parents to learn about the school system and strategies for promoting child development will likely be well-received and appreciated by latino parents. lastly, increased attention to cultural factors can inform what factors may be needed to design parent involvement programs for latino parents that are culturally appropriate. because latino individuals navigate two cultural contexts, many experience acculturative stress associated from exposure to different world views and cultural expectations (berry, 2006). therefore, support from other immigrant or latino parents with children attending head start could be a critical element in promoting greater family involvement and home-school connection. reducing acculturative stress for immigrant populations can also have long-term benefits for both parents and children, as acculturative stress has consistently been linked with increased depressive symptoms among adolescent latino populations (hovey & king, 1996; polo & lopez, 2009). across a number of health care domains, the literature suggests that generally, greater barriers to care are found for families who are less acculturated to the u.s. (for review see lara, gamboa, kahramanian, morales & bautista, 2005). because acculturation varies for families who immigrate to the u.s., and adaptive communication facilitates parent involvement, greater assessment of the values, knowledge and skills that families initially bring to their head start experience could positively impact their participation. other research has examined factors that relate to parenting beliefs endorsed within latino families. for example, the emphasis within latino culture on familism (white, roosa, weaver & nair, 2009) suggests that programs should emphasize and celebrate the important contributions that all family members make to the upbringing of the child, and how the school can best support the family. gamble and modry-mandell (2008) found that warmth and closeness in family relationships among mexican families, coupled with a cultural value endorsing interdependence in those relationships, promoted the best outcomes for head start children. in another study, focus group methodology revealed the potential benefits of incorporating discussions and examples of respeto within parent training interventions targeting the preschool period, particularly children ages four and five (calzada et al., 2010). in a study by goldenberg and colleagues (1992), exposing latino parents to strategies to promote literacy was found to be more effective when they were aligned with parents’ own beliefs about how children learn. overall, the use of early childhood practices involving purposeful invitations from teachers for meaningful involvement by latino families, which are also consistent with cultural values of familism and respecto, may sustain parent involvement during preschool. berry (2006) notes that aspects of the receiving context for immigrants (e.g. in this case, head start programs in the u.s.) can play a significant role in how successful families are in promoting a healthy, bicultural identity for children. it is recommended that members of the head start community should strive to embrace and not underestimate the contributions made to the development and emergence of competence for latino children (fuller & garcia coll, 2010). these efforts will likely involve the development and testing of new methods and practices for promoting parent engagement by latino and other immigrant groups who enroll their children in head start. also, assisting programs with producing translations of written documents, using interpreters, and offering staff training in cultural awareness and cultural practices will require additional 78 mendez et al. resources in a time where head start programs are often asked to stretch resources to meet emerging needs of families. limitations of the present study include considerations involving the sampling and data collection procedures. first, we examined parent involvement among recently arriving latino immigrant parents from a variety of central american nations with relatively high levels of native, cultural identity. therefore, we do not know if these findings are representative of particular ethnic backgrounds or would generalize to latino samples more broadly, or to parents with a more bicultural identity. second, we examined communication difficulties purposefully with a sample who reported difficulties with english and who were interested in parent programming for bilingual families offered within head start. because of this recruitment, we may have a sample that is more involved with children in the home setting that we may obtain within other head start programs. it is notable that our means are remarkably consistent with those reported by mcwayne and colleagues (2008), and the pattern of involvement (high home based involvement, followed by home-school conferencing and then school-based involvement as the lowest) was identical. finally, future research should expand upon the use of self-report measures and address shared method variance by examining other indicators of involvement, particularly those of objective participation in the school setting, measures of home-based involvement with children, or observations of parent-teacher conferences held at head start. these efforts, and greater awareness and inclusion of cultural factors in the development of studies of this population, will help address the complex problem of promoting parent engagement during the early childhood period and transition to formal schooling. references aikens, n., tarullo, l., hulsey, l., ross, c., west, j., & xue, y. 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(2003). the abbreviated multidimensional acculturation scale: empirical validation with two latino/a samples. cultural diversity and ethnic minority psychology, 9, 107-126. doi:10.1037/1099-9809.9.2.107 dialog, 16(3), 165-171 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary in early childhood mathematics education (ecme), teachers’ beliefs count alyse c. hachey, ph.d. borough of manhattan community college city university of new york research suggests that teaching practice is directly influenced by the beliefs teachers hold brown, 2005; cross et al, 2009; pajares, 1992; vartuli, 1999. to address this, early childhood teacher beliefs about mathematics and early childhood mathematics education (ecme) were studied via a survey. the findings show that teachers may not hold as negative a view about ecme as has been previously reported and further, that they seem to be engaging in more ecme in the classroom. however, the results also suggest that today’s ecme practice may be counter to current research-based guidelines, in terms of both scope and methods of instruction. recommendations are made for what preschool teachers can do to optimize ecme in their classroom. ecme in the past for the early half of the 20th century, leading researchers contended that young children were mathematically inept and that early mathematics education was useless (thorndike, 1922). in the 1960’s, the development of head start (with its purpose of increasing academic preparedness) and the coinciding re-birth of cognitive psychology, saw the beginning of foundational research that focused on the mathematical aptitude (rather than the lack of mathematical capabilities) of young children. despite this, before the turn of this century, intentional teaching of mathematics in early childhood was generally viewed as “developmentally inappropriate” (balfanz, 1999; ginsburg & golbeck, 2004; ginsburg, 2009; greary, 1996; hachey, in press [a]; sophian, 2004). however, research in only the last decade or two has spawned a drastic shift (hachey, in press[a]). today, there is a substantial body of developmental research that has found that young children engage in diverse mathematical thinking from birth. there is strong evidence that prior to elementary school, children naturally and intuitively begin to develop relationships between the real world, mathematical concepts, symbols and procedures (gray & tall, 2000; mack, 2001; nunez, edwards & matos, 1999). however, these intuitive foundational mathematics skills that children develop are often fragile and are not enough (cross, woods and schweingruber, 2009; hachey, in press [b]; sophian, in press). because of this, early childhood mathematics education (ecme) is now advocated to be vital for future mathematic and general academic success (cross et al., 2009; duncan et al., 2007; samara and clements, 2009). 166 hachey ecme today mathematics during early childhood naturally happens; when a child says “i have lots more blocks than her” or asks “teacher, can we read two more books before snack time?”, they are using their intuitive mathematical knowledge. however, early childhood mathematics education—ecme-is intentional (hachey, in press [a]). intentional teaching is defined as: “adapting teaching to the content, type of learning experience, and individual child with a clear learning target as a goal” (cross et al., 2009, p. 226). thus, ecme means more than arranging the classroom materials or capitalizing on random teachable moments or just singing a song that has numbers in it. it involves the teacher purposefully designs learning opportunities that encourage children to explicitly think, talk and act on real-life experiences and problems in mathematical ways. ultimately, the overall goal of ecme is to help children to meaningfully interpret foundational mathematical principles and to support the development of their fragile intuitive knowledge into the robust and transferable knowledge that marks sophisticated mathematical thinking (ginsburg, 2009; hachey, in press [b]; sophian, in press). the national association for young children (naeyc), the national council of teachers of mathematics (nctm) and research-based sources all advocate the intentional development of opportunities and environments whereby young children are able to learn and meaningfully practice big ideas (i.e. core knowledge) in each of five content areas: number and operations, geometry, measurement, algebraic thinking, and data analysis. this is counter to past practice, in which mathematics had a narrow scope that focused on numeracy; the expansion to five mathematical content areas serves to encompass more of the concepts critical for decision making in daily life (mccrone & dossey, 2007). however, numeracy is still stressed as a critical foundational area, followed by the areas of geometry and measurement. in addition, parallel to intentional learning in the five content areas, ecme today includes the development of thinking and behavior processes. these are cited as: problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication, connections and representations (nctm, 2006) and organizing information, patterning and composing (clements, sarama & dibiase; 2004). teacher beliefs count research supports that teacher behavior in the classroom is directly influenced by personal beliefs about what it is appropriate for children to learn and what is appropriate ways to teach them (for reviews, see brown, 2005; cross et al, 2009; pajares, 1992; vartuli, 1999). because of this, teacher beliefs have been shown to be a major deciding factor in decisions about curriculum design, along with affecting teacher-child interactions and influencing the classroom environment (lara-cinisomo et al., 2009; mcmullen, 1997). a linkage has long been made between teacher beliefs and mathematics education. thompson (1984) contends that: “there is strong reason to believe that in mathematics, teachers' conceptions (their beliefs, views, and preferences) about the subject matter and its teaching play an important role in affecting their effectiveness as the primary mediators between the subject and the learners” (p. 105). case studies of individual teachers and anecdotal evidence show that teachers have strong beliefs about mathematics and mathematics education (cross et al., 2009). they indicate that in general, early childhood teachers: hold beliefs of fear and hate towards mathematics (lee and ginsburg, teacher’s belief count 167 2007a/b; stipek, 2008) and do not place high value on and do not devote much time to teaching mathematics (ginsburg, lee and boyd; 2008). teachers and ecme there are two major ways that teacher beliefs may be influencing ecme (or a lack thereof) in early childhood classrooms today. first, it may be that because of dislike for the subject or a lack of value in it, early childhood teachers instead devote their time and efforts to other areas of instruction. some findings suggests that early childhood teachers feel mathematics is difficult to teach and that language/literacy is the most important academic content for early childhood (copley, 2004; ginsburg; 2009). this is supported by early et al. (2005), who found that 21% of early childhood classroom time is spent on literacy-based activities, whereas only 8% of instruction time is devoted to mathematics-based activities. in addition, other findings indicate early childhood teachers seem to hold beliefs that social-emotional and physical development are more important for young children’s development than instruction focused on academic subjects (cross et al., 2009; ginsburg, lee and boyd 2008). second, it may be that teacher’s belief on the nature of ecme remains narrow in scope, with the focus still mainly on numeracy. copley (2004), ginsburg (2009) and starkey et al. (2004) report findings that even early childhood teachers who state that they value and devote time to mathematics instruction do not include all five of the content areas; they instead still engage in direct mathematics instruction limited to counting and simple arithmetic activities. moreover, current teaching practice has been shown to focus on the rote memorization of discrete skills and factual knowledge (early et al., 2005), rather than including real-world problem solving that would ncedl (2005) allow for the development of mathematical thinking and behavior processing skills. a study of early childhood teacher beliefs about ecme hachey (in press [c]) conducted a study examining early childhood teachers’ beliefs about the role of mathematics in the early childhood classroom. data were collected via a survey. the survey asked a range of questions that addressed a) the teachers’ feelings’ about mathematics; b) the teachers’ beliefs about ecme and 3) asked for information on ecme in their teaching practice. findings of the study findings from the study suggest that early childhood teachers may not hold a view about mathematics and ecme as overwhelmingly negative as has been expressed in previous studies. however, a large portion of participants responded with neutral attitudes towards mathematics and ecme. as young children tend to internalize their teachers’ enthusiasm or lack of enthusiasm for a subject (jackson and leffingwell, 1999), these neutral attitudes are noteworthy. neutral attitudes still may result in teachers devoting more instructional time to areas they feel 168 hachey more positive towards or in teachers unconsciously modeling a lack of conviction in the importance of mathematics, which can be detrimental to students (hachey, 2009). another finding from the study is that more classroom time seems to be devoted to ecme than has been previously found, with the majority of participants indicating they spent 11-50% of their week engaged in formal mathematics activities. this rise in reported ecme practice may be a reflection of the recent ecme national policy movement and offers some hope that ecme is gaining more attention in early childhood classrooms. however, the results also support the contention teachers have stronger beliefs in the importance of literacy instruction and that literacy-based activities dominate the time devoted to academics in early childhood classrooms. in fact, in this study, literacy instruction time even out-paced instructional time devoted to social development, the reverse of which has been reported previously (ginsburg, lee and boyd, 2008). in the study, teachers also expressed a narrow view of ecme, with numeracy and arithmetic skill stated as the most important focus of ecme. this supports the literature (copley, 2004; ginsburg, 2009; starkey et al.; 2004), which indicates that even those who express beliefs in the importance of ecme still tend to only focus on numeracy. this finding is problematic, as substantial developmental research contends that young children are capable of learning broad areas of mathematics, and further, that they should be instructed in a wide and complex range of mathematical activities (ginsburg, lee and boyd, 2008; lee and ginsburg, 2009). the finding of early teachers still holding a narrow view of ecme strongly suggests that there is still a distinct disparity between current teacher beliefs and practice and leading ecme guidelines and recommendations. also counter to current recommendations for ecme and supporting previous research (ball, 1995; ncedl, 2005), the findings indicate that teachers may hold beliefs about ecme that is didactic in nature (focused on mastering skills and/or procedures). this focus on skill and procedure is related to the use of counting and arithmetic activities, which teachers indicated dominated their ecme instruction time. however, traditional ways of teaching which focus on rote memorization are in opposition to the current recommendations for ecme; the leading recommendations call for meaningful, real-world types of mathematical problem solving that allow for the practice of foundational mathematics knowledge, while also building related thinking and behavior processing skills and fostering continued interest in mathematics (cross et al., 2009; hachey, 2009; hachey, in press [a]). thus, although overall, the study results indicate that early childhood teachers may be devoting more instructional time to ecme, the content and methods of instruction still may not be optimal. this raises the concern that more harm may be being done than good. implications and applications for preschools it seems that teachers generally still have stronger beliefs in the importance of literacy over mathematics. and, because of this, literacy-based activities dominate academic instructional time in the preschool classroom. however, recent research contends that in fact, the opposite may to be true…. mathematics ability at the beginning of kindergarten has now been shown to be a strong predictor of later general academic success, even more so than early reading ability (duncan et al., 2007). this is not to say that early literacy instruction is unimportant, but that teacher’s belief count 169 early mathematics instruction should receive just as much focus and development in the preschool classroom. the second implication is that what was deemed mathematics in the past (i.e. rote memorization activities that focused on counting and numeracy), will not serve with today’s expanded version of ecme. current developmental research holds that preschoolers are capable of engaging in mathematical thinking related to geometry, measurement, algebraic thinking and data collection. moreover, researchers advocate for preschool teachers to intentionally engage young children in meaningful, real-world types of mathematical problem-solving that allows them to build mathematically-related processing skills in multiple domains (cross et al., 2009; hachey, in press). yet today, because teachers may still hold narrow beliefs of what constitutes mathematics and further, seem to be over-relying on “copy and practice what the teacher does” methods of instruction, ecme is known to generally be ineffective (ball, 1995; stipek, in press). in order for ecme to evolve to reflect current researched recommendations, this means that preschool teachers will need to expand their beliefs of what early mathematics is and how it should be taught. what teachers can do there are two key issues for teachers. first, teacher beliefs about ecme are a critical factor influencing instructional practice and as such, require personal introspection. as palmer (2012) explains, we teach who we are: “teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from one's inwardness, for better or worse. as i teach, i project the condition of my soul onto my students, my subject, and our way of being together”. feelings of mathematics anxiety and failure have been shown to persist into adulthood (tobias, 1993). such feelings can engender a lack of confidence in the ability to use mathematics correctly or a lack of interest in engaging in ecme (harper and daane, 1998). so, preschool teachers can begin by critically examining their own beliefs about mathematics and how old mathematics-related emotional baggage may be influencing their teaching practice (hachey, 2009). this could involve reflective journaling on their past school mathematics experiences, on their curriculum development process and on past and current classroom interactions. the second key issue for teachers is capacity building; ecme will not achieve the desired impact if early childhood teachers do not invest in becoming teachers of mathematics (hachey, in press [b]; stipek, in press). this means devoting the time and effort needed to learn about the early mathematical development of young children and the current guidelines for teaching and learning early mathematics. articles and workshops from the national association for the education of young children (http://www.naeyc.org/) and the national council of teachers of mathematics (http://www.nctm.org/) are available, along with several valuable resources for research and exploration of ecme (see cross et al.; hachey, 2009; samara & clements, 2009). it also means then applying this knowledge in teaching practice. this includes making pre-planned curriculum decisions about mathematical goals and content, instructional methods and authentic assessments. this can be supported by teachers forming colleague curriculum discussion groups, as collaborative problem-solving may help identify opportunities for changes in daily schedules, activities, material use and the learning environment that will help facilitate a wide variety of mathematic learning opportunities in the classroom. http://www.naeyc.org/ http://www.nctm.org/ 170 hachey conclusion a study of early childhood teacher beliefs about mathematics and ecme was conducted. the results show that teachers may not hold as negative views about ecme and seem to be engaging in more ecme in the classroom. however, this is tempered by findings that suggest that ecme practice may be counter to current guidelines, both in scope and methods of instruction. ecme will only become optimal when preschool teachers critically examine their beliefs and begin adopting teaching practices based on the latest research-based recommendations. references balfanz, r. 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(in press). vicissitudes of children’s mathematical knowledge: implications of developmental research for early childhood mathematics education. early education and development, may 2013. starkey, p., klein, a. and wakeley, a. (2004) enhancing young children’s mathematical knowledge through a pre-kindergarten mathematics intervention. early childhood research quarterly, 19(1), 99-120. stipek, d. (2008). the price of inattention to mathematics in early childhood education is too great. in h.p. ginsburg, j. lee, and j.s. boyd (2008). mathematics education for young children: what it is and how to promote it. social policy report giving child and youth development knowledge away, 22(1), 13. stipek, d. (in press). mathematics in early childhood education: revolution or evolution. early education and development, may 2013. thompson, alba g. (1984). the relationship of teachers’ conceptions of mathematics and mathematics teaching to instructional practice. educational studies in mathematics, 15(2), 105-127. thorndike, e. l. (1922). the psychology of arithmetic. new york, ny: mcmillan. tobias, s. (1993). overcoming math anxiety, rev. exp. new york: w.w norton & company. vartuli, s. (1999). how early childhood teacher beliefs vary across grade level. early childhood research quarterly, 14(4), 489-514. http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ncedl/pdfs/ed9_1.pdf volume 18, number 3 2016 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles relationship between peer social competence and academic readiness for head start children: a multi-method, multi-source measurement approach tracy carter clopet and rebecca bulotsky-shearer………....……………………………… 1 milieu language strategies on english language growth in children who are english language learners emily mallory and gayle luze……………………………………...………………………. 26 from research to evidence-based practice: an account of the scientific implementation of dialogic buddy reading mary jane mcilwain, m. susan burns, and c. stephen white……………………………… 47 research-to-practice summaries a comprehensive look at peer social competence in preschool tracy carter clopet and rebecca bulotsky-shearer………….………………………...…… 72 milieu language strategies for children learning english emily mallory and gayle luze……………………………………...………………………. 78 the implementation and study of dialogic buddy reading in a head start classroom mary jane mcilwain, m. susan burns, and c. stephen white……………………………… 84 dialog from the field dyadic intervention for young children exposed to interpersonal violence robert herman-smith and rosa espinosa………………………………………...…………. 91 (continued on next page) volume 16, number 3 2013 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles directions for professional development: increasing knowledge of early childhood measurement rebecca gokiert, lisa noble, and lori baugh littlejohns…………………………………. 1 quantitative and qualitative factors related to the effectiveness of a preschool behavioral regulation intervention shauna l. tominey and megan m. mcclelland…………………………………..………... 21 integrating physical activity into preschool classroom academic lessons promotes daily physical activity and improves literacy stacie m. kirk, wendy w. fuchs, and erik p. kirk………………………………………... 45 head start families throughts and beliefs about health, nutrition, and physical activity teresa a. byington, anne r. lindsay, deborah loesch-griffin, susi brumett, and madeleine sigman-grant………………………………………………………………......... 64 teachers’ beliefs count: teacher beliefs and practice in early childhood mathematics education (ecme) alyse c. hachey………………………………………….……..…………………….......... 77 the psychometric properties of the english and spanish versions of the bilingual early language assessment lillian k. durán, mark s. innocenti, and m. brooke robertshaw…………………………. 86 a brief play intervention to improve synchronous interactions and play skills in low income mother-child dyads rebecca m. crotwell, maria hernandez-reif and mary e. curtner-smith………………… 102 a qualitative study of maternal perceptions of acculturation process at the onset of child schoooling sandraluz lara-cinisomo and andrey alforque thomas…………………………………... 127 (continued from previous page) research-to-practice summaries enhancing early childhood (ec) professionals knowledge and practice of measurement rebecca gokiert, lisa noble, and lori baugh littlejohns………………………………….. 142 improving behavioral regulation in preschool shauna l. tominey and megan m. mcclelland…………………………………..……….... 149 improving preschool literacy skills using physical activity stacie m. kirk, wendy fuchs, and erik p. kirk...................................................................... 155 influencing head start families throughts and beliefs about health, nutrition, and physical activity teresa a. byington, anne r. lindsay, deborah loesch-griffin, susi brumett, and madeleine sigman-grant……………………………………………………………….......... 160 in early childhood mathematics education (ecme), teachers’ beliefs count alyse c. hachey………………………………………….……..……………………............ 165 using the bilingual language assessment: strengths and limitations lillian k. durán, mark s. innocenti, and m. brooke robertshaw………………………….. 172 five skills to help improve caregiver-child interaction during play rebecca m. crotwell, maria hernandez-reif and mary e. curtner-smith…………………. 178 maternal perceptions of acculturation at the onset of child schooling: implications for teachers sandraluz lara-cinisomo and andrey alforque thomas………………………………….... 183 dialog, 17(2), 68-81 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article testing bronfenbrenner’s theory of parent-program communication: parental homework as a form of family involvement in early care and education yaebin kim university of nevada cooperative extension david a. riley university of wisconsin-madison bronfenbrenner’s theory predicts that children’s development will be enhanced if parents and early care and education programs interact in concert, working in mutually reinforcing ways in both settings. a novel way of promoting this consistency was tested, homework given to preschool parents (to read to their children using the dialogical reading method). an earlier report found significant impacts of the parent homework intervention on children’s language development. the current study looked inside that intervention, to see if the parents in the experimental group actually increased their overall amount or changed their type of parent involvement with the program, as compared to control group parents. results show that the preschool parental homework led to a shift in the content of parent-teacher communications, significantly increasing the percentage of such communications that were about the specific child and ways of interacting with that child, as opposed to communications about the child care program in general. the findings suggest that parents can respond well to homework from their child care program, this homework can contribute to a shift in the nature of teacher-parent communications, and can have significant impacts on child development. keywords: parent involvement, homework, language development the importance of parent involvement in early care and education programs has been assumed by practitioners since the 1960’s when head start was created and made parent involvement a matter of policy (zigler & styfco, 2000). in a 1974 report for the federal government, bronfenbrenner noted that the early childhood programs demonstrating positive longitudinal impacts on young children all included strong programs for the parents as well as for the child. he hypothesized their effects on child development might be as much indirect (by affecting the parents) as direct (upon the child). by 1984, the national association for the education of 69 kim & riley young children had made parent involvement one of its criteria for national accreditation of child care programs (naeyc, 2005). keating (1996) has pointed out that we can observe many different kinds of parent involvement in early care and education settings, so it has been hard to define what parent involvement really is, or specify which kinds are most important. for example, researchers have defined parent involvement in early care and education programs as communication between parents and caregivers (owen, ware, & barfoot, 2000) or as parents volunteering in the classroom (castro, bryant, peisner-feinberg, & skinner, 2004; u.s. dhhs, 1998). researchers have nonetheless established a correlation between the quantity and quality of parent involvement in early childhood programs and children’s cognitive and social developmental outcomes (arnold, zeljo, doctoroff, & ortiz, 2008; fantuzzo, mcwayne, perry, & childs, 2004; smith & hubbard, 1988) including some studies which have controlled for prior child and parent characteristics (marcon, 1999; miedel & reynolds, 1999; owen et al., 2000). other studies have used longitudinal designs to show the predictive power of parent involvement on later school adjustment (taylor & machida, 1994). stronger, experimental research designs conducted with head start populations (fagan & iglesias, 1999; leik & chalkley, 1990; love et al., 2005) have established the causal effects of some forms of parent involvement on child outcomes. in an extension of the head start intervention studies, the current authors tested the effects of parent involvement on child language outcomes in a sample of community child care programs (kim & riley, 2011). the form of parent involvement tested was somewhat unusual: homework given by the preschool teacher to the parent to use the interactive (dialogic) reading method at home with their child. in interactive book reading, the adult engages the child in thinking about the story, changing the child’s role from audience to co-creator of the story (lonigan & whitehurst, 1998). because the research team did not interact with the parents in the treatment group, but instead encouraged the intervention group teachers to use their usual methods of family involvement (e.g., parent meeting, parent education class, newsletter, pick-up or drop-off time conversation) to help parents begin using interactive reading at home, this study created an experimental test of bronfenbrenner’s hypothesis that parental involvement in child care programs should promote child development. the results showed broad impacts on four aspects of language and pre-literacy skills (receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, print awareness, and taxonomy). the impacts of the six-week intervention continued to grow during the six-week follow-up phase, and represented substantial gains in practical terms: the treatment group children advanced 7 months ahead of control group children in their receptive vocabulary, and 9 months ahead in expressive vocabulary, in terms of developmental norms. but the earlier report had a missing link in its chain of causal logic: it failed to report whether the intervention led to changes in the presumed intervening processes of teacher-parent communications. the current study addresses this gap, investigating whether the parents increased their overall amount of involvement with their early care and education programs and whether the content of their communications with program staff changed. theoretical guidance theoretical guidance was provided by bronfenbrenner, who not only posed the parent involvement hypothesis in his 1973 report to the federal government, but who later formalized it as an example of a mesosystem hypothesis within his bioecological systems theory testing parental homework 70 (bronfenbrenner, 1979). in his theory, the mesosystem is comprised of the connections between the immediate settings in the child’s life, such as the connections between the home and the early care and education program. in other words, children’s development is affected not only by interactions in the home, and interactions in the child care setting, but also by the linkages between these two settings. as bronfenbrenner wrote in his hypothesis 38, “the developmental potential of a mesosystem is enhanced to the extent that there exist indirect linkages between settings that encourage the growth of mutual trust, positive orientation, goal consensus, and a balance of power responsive to action in behalf of the developing person” (bronfenbrenner, 1979: 216). if his hypothesis is true, then the types of parent involvement we should encourage are those types that increase consensus on goals concerning the child and opportunities for the parent (not just the child) to develop. in the earlier report (kim & riley, 2011), children’s development of pre-literacy skills was selected as the outcome variable partly because it would be so highly motivating to most parents, leading to both high compliance with the homework assignments and increased interest in discussing the project with early childhood program staff (i.e. goal consensus). bronfenbrenner also mentioned, “the family seems to be the most effective and economical system for fostering and sustaining the child’s development. without family involvement, intervention is likely to be unsuccessful, and what few effects are achieved are likely to disappear once the intervention is discontinued” (bronfenbrenner, 1974). by nurturing the parents’ role as co-teachers of their child’s pre-literacy skills, this study also (in bronfenbrenner’s words) “shifted the balance of power,” empowering the parent with new skills to help their child’s growth. a second source of theoretical guidance comes from a review of research on slightly older children. epstein (1995) has summarized the research findings on parent involvement with school-age children and their schools. she defined six types of parent involvement with schools: parent-school communication, parental volunteering at school, parents helping children with homework, parental decision making about school issues, school workshops for parents, and parental links to community services through the school. the empirical studies of parent involvement during the school-age years have reported correlations between several types of parent involvement and students’ school achievement (eptstein, 1991; griffith, 1996: sui-chu & willms, 1996). however, only one form of parent involvement has produced repeated evidence, from solid experimental designs (randomized trials), of causing gains in children’s learning. that type of involvement has been parents helping their children learn at home (cotton & wikelund, 1989; fishel & ramirez, 2005). this includes parents’ reading with children, helping with homework assignments, or tutoring children with teachers’ instructions. studies have also found that parents place high value on guidelines given to them by teachers, on how to help their children do homework (corno, 2000; dauber & epstein, 1993; hoover-dempsey & sandler, 1997; sanders, epstein, & connors-tadros, 1999), suggesting they would be receptive to the attempts of schools to involve them more in their children’s homework. because preschoolers are too young to be given responsibility for homework, this type of parental involvement may seem impractical for the preschool years. but parents’ assisting children’s learning at home, through “homework” given to the parents, might be practical in the early childhood years. a few prior studies have supported this general idea. for example, the family development research program (lally & honig, 1977) is a comprehensive program to provide child care services (half-day or full-day) and home visiting services at the same time. researchers found low-income parents to be receptive to a weekly book-lending service provided by home visitors, and the overall program led to gains in child development. madden, 71 kim & riley o’hara and levenstein (1984) also found that a series of 46 twice-weekly home visits, using a toy demonstration method of parental instruction, helped improve verbal interaction between mother and child. similarly, the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters (hippy) program (baker, piotrkowski, & brooks-gunn, 1999) teaches and assigns specific parent-child activities, and has been delivered through early care and education programs. an experimental evaluation of hippy (baker, piotrkowski, & brooks-gunn, 1999) also showed that parent involvement resulted in better cognitive and educational outcomes in young children (4 and 5year-old children). in contrast to these studies, the current study was not part of a larger, comprehensive intervention, but attempted to test just the parental homework component in early care and education settings for a short intervention period of six weeks. the current study prior research has tested interventions that either taught parents directly or included parent training as part of larger, more comprehensive programs. studies have also shown the effectiveness of teaching parents to use the exact dialogic reading methods that are the core of the intervention in the current study (lonigan & whitehurst, 1998). what most distinguishes the current study from these earlier efforts is that the parent intervention in the current study was not delivered by the research or intervention staff, but by the staff of the early care and education programs, using their existing methods of parent involvement. in this way, it became an experimental test of one form of parent involvement in early childhood programs. having shown that the intervention led to gains in children’s language development (kim & riley, 2011), we now ask what might be learned about the presumed mediator of that effect, changes in parent involvement. did parent involvement increase in the intervention group? specifically, we ask (1) did parents in the intervention group increase their amount of communication with the teachers and early childhood programs, as compared to control group parents?; (2) did the content of parents’ communications with the teachers and programs differ in the treatment group, as compared to the control group parents? methods data on parent involvement were collected via questionnaire from parents, early childhood teachers, and program directors at pretest and post-test (6 weeks later) of a brief intervention study. no data on parent involvement were collected during the follow-up phase of the study. in addition, child care characteristics and family characteristics were collected at time 1, and used to show the equivalence of the treatment and control groups. recruitment process a multi-stage random sampling method, combining cluster sampling with stratified sampling, was used in the current study. in the first stage, cluster sampling was employed to select all child care programs with more than 20 and less than 100 families in madison, wisconsin. in the second stage, stratified sampling was used to divide the population into a number of strata, testing parental homework 72 intended to make the sample as similar as possible to the characteristics of most child care programs in the u. s. based on the modal family income of programs, profit or non-profit status, and accreditation or non-accreditation status (2 x 2 x 2), a sampling frame was created. the local child care resource and referral agency provided the list of all licensed child care programs in madison and estimates of the modal family incomes served by programs, programs’ profit or non-profit status and their city accreditation status for assignment to the sampling frame. although income and social class are frequently divided into five classes (thompson and hickey, 2005), child care programs for the current study were divided into just two groups: moderate income group (upper + upper middle class + lower middle class) and lower income group (working class + lower class). regarding profit or non-profit status of child care programs, an estimated 60 percent of licensed centers in the u.s. are non-profit, and 40 percent are forprofit centers (powell, & steinberg, 2006). finally, programs’ accreditation (by either the national association for the education of young children, or by the city of madison, which have comparable standards) was the third sampling stratum. according to the wisconsin council on children & families, as of 2008, less than 6% of licensed wisconsin child care centers and family child care programs were accredited. from the list of all licensed child care programs in the madison, wisconsin area, child care programs were assigned to a sampling frame according to their profit /non-profit status, their accreditation, and the modal ses of the families served, in an attempt to recruit a sample representative of community child care programs. the attained sample did not reach this goal, in particular because of difficulties in recruiting participation from programs serving primarily low income families. in all, 36 programs were contacted before 12 agreed to participate, a 35% participation rate. after programs were randomly selected, programs matched within the sampling frame were randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. in some cases, two smaller programs were matched with a larger program, to create more equal numbers of classrooms and children in the two groups. the treatment and control groups were compared for equivalence, using 10 child and family characteristics, four language development pretest scores, and seven characteristics of the programs and lead teachers. on no variable did the two groups differ (p < .10). the recruitment of teachers, families, and children followed the recruitment of programs. for this study, target children were defined as all children from 2.5 to 3.5 years old, with english as their first language, and with no diagnosed, language-related disabilities. the number of target children per program varied from 4 to 20. all teachers of eligible children agreed to participate, and were then asked to recruit parents with eligible children (using materials approved by a university irb). among 95 eligible children, 87 families consented to participate in the research (54 children from the treatment group, and 34 from the control group), a 91% response rate (parents in the control group tended to participate less in the research). of those 87 children, three children were un-testable because of language delay (one from treatment and two from control) and four children refused to participate in the language testing (one from treatment and three from control group). therefore, a total of 81 children and families participated in this research project (see table 1). 73 kim & riley table 1 sampling frame for early care and education program child care programs. all sampled child care centers were licensed and located in a medium sized midwestern city (madison, wisconsin). the participating centers ranged in capacity from 15 to 100 children, and employed between 4 and 12 lead teachers. the median program had six teachers, of whom two had greater than 10 years of experience, and three held a 4-year college degree. lead teachers’ highest hourly wage averaged $16.53 per hour in 2009 (range $11 ~ $24.48) and their mean beginning hourly wage was $11.08 per hour (range $8 ~ $15). the mean turnover rate of teachers in the child care programs was 19% in the previous year, ranging from 0% to 60%. families and children. all parents of target-age children were invited to participate, and 91% agreed. the children were largely from households of married parents (86%). parents’ education ranged from “some high school, but didn’t finish” to a “graduate degree,” with a median educational level of a “4-year college degree”. annual household incomes ranged from under $10,000 to over $100,000, with the median annual income under $20,000 (in 2009). questions about pre-existing family literacy activities found large variations among families, with the average family engaging in several literacy activities each week, for example reading a picture book with their child, singing rhymes to their child, or going to the library with their child. of the 81 children, 45% were boys, 75% were euro-american, and participating children’s ages ranged from 27 months to 46 months at the start of the study. data were collected from 81 children at time 1, and 74 children at time 2 (4 children left centers and 3 children refused to take more language tests). measures frequency of parent-program communications. parents in both groups were asked “how often do you talk with your child’s teachers about your child or the child care program?,” and “how often do you talk with the center director?” teacher questionnaires included two similar items: “how often do you send a note (memo or email) to a parent in your classroom?” and “how often do you talk with parents in your classrooms about their child or the classroom?” sampling frame treatment group control group total low ses/ non-profit/ not accredited 1 program 1 program 2 programs 14 children 7 children 21 children moderate ses/ non-profit/ not accredited 2 programs 1 program 3 programs 12 children 5 children 17 children moderate ses/ for profit/ not accredited 2 programs 1 program 3 programs 8 children 4 children 12 children moderate ses/ non-profit/ accredited 2 programs 2 programs 4 programs 18 children 13 children 31 children totals 7 programs 5 programs 12 programs 52 children 29 children 81 children testing parental homework 74 for all these items, the same five response categories were provided, ranging from (1) once per month or less, to (5) every day. content of parent-program communication. following the above items, teachers were provided space to write in answers to the following two questions: “what kind of information is usually included in the note?,” and “what do you usually talk about?” in addition, director interviews were conducted at the 12 sites about parent involvement strategies. content analysis was performed to indicate the presence or absence of eight types of communication content in each teacher’s written response. these eight content types were children’s day at the center (every child), reminder (what to bring), information about child care programs (any events or change) and class activity in general, behavior or development of a specific child, concern about a specific child, parenting tips for a specific child, and information about lesson plan (for a specific child). for each type of communication (notes or personal conversation), the first four types of content were combined into an overall measure of information about the child care program/classroom. the remaining four content types were combined into an overall measure of information about the specific child (e.g. the child’s behavior or accomplishments). these two measures were calculated as the percentage of the four specific information types mentioned by the teacher, separately for notes and in-person conversations. the parent involvement intervention in contrast to most prior interventions, care was taken in this study to insure that parent involvement was promoted only by the existing early childhood program staff. the research and intervention staff had no contact with the parents. in this way, the results of the intervention can be associated with the efforts of the early childhood teachers and directors to increase parent involvement. the teachers and directors of all sampled programs were given a one-hour workshop on children’s language development, including the dialogic reading method, and were provided with an appropriate book to read to their classes for each of the next six weeks. all teachers in treatment and control groups were trained to read books using dialogic reading method in the classroom and they all used the same book that the intervention parents used every week, so the only difference between the two groups was the involvement of parents in book reading at home in the treatment group. the staff in the intervention group were given an additional 30-minute session, at the end of the workshop, on the topic of parent involvement. in this session, participating staff discussed their current methods of parent involvement, and how they might recruit their classroom parents to read to their children at home using the dialogic reading method. these programs were also provided with book bags to give the parents each week, containing a picture book and a guide sheet on reading it using the dialogic reading method. the one-hour workshop on language development included about 30 minutes of explanation, modeling, and behavioral practice of dialogic reading, which is considerably less training that has been provided in earlier intervention studies. this brevity was largely a practical requirement of working within existing time limits of the program staff meetings. the intervention was aided by every program having one or more staff with pre-existing knowledge or even practice of dialogic reading, who were able to model the practice for other staff. 75 kim & riley this particular topic of homework was selected because parents are highly motivated to help their child learn to read, the dialogic reading method is proven effective and can be taught by teachers to parents, and this homework gives the parents a strong role as their child’s first teacher. in fact, the parents are asked to do at home exactly what the teachers are doing in the classroom, so the parent and teacher have a joint project on which they are cooperating and about which they can talk. results amount of parent-program communications would the intervention lead to greater amounts of overall parent involvement with the program, or different qualities of involvement, as compared to the control group? to answer this question, parents and teachers were asked about the frequency and types of parent involvement they experienced in the preceding week, following the six weeks of the intervention. parents from all 12 child care programs (both treatment and control group) answered questions about their frequency of communicating with teachers and with directors (e.g., “how often do you talk with your child’s teachers about your child or the child care program?”). these communications showed no difference between treatment and control group at post-test. the modal response for both groups was communication with teachers “every day,” and with program directors “several times each month.” the 18 lead teachers (from both treatment and control group) completed a questionnaire at post-test asking their frequency of sending notes to parents (memo or email) and frequency and timing of verbal communication with parents. there were no significant differences found in the frequency of sending notes and verbal communication. no significant differences in when parents and teacher communicate were found either. because of the small number of teachers in each group, the treatment and control groups were compared using the mann–whitney utest. content of parent-program communications while frequency of communication did not differ between groups, differences were found in the types of information communicated in recent notes and verbal communications. because of the small number of teachers in each group, teacher communications with parents in the treatment and control groups were compared using the mann–whitney utest. treatment and control group teachers did not differ in their communication (by notes or conversation) of information about the child care program. the test and control groups did, however, differ on the amount of their communications about the specific child (for notes, mann-whitney u = 6.5, nt = 11; nc = 7, p < .01 two-tailed; for personal conversation, mann-whitney u = 17, nt = 11; nc = 7, p < .05 twotailed). in the treatment group, the median teacher reported one of the four types of communications about the specific child, while the median for the control group was zero. for face-to-face oral communications, the median teacher in the treatment group mentioned two types of child-specific communications, while the median control group teacher mentioned one. from their written reports, teachers in the treatment group were statistically significantly more likely than those in the control group to send notes home, and to talk with the parent directly, testing parental homework 76 about more aspects of the specific child’s progress in behaviors or development, concerns about child’s health or behavior and parenting tips. according to directors in all participating centers, newsletters and bulletin boards were commonly used by nearly all programs. all 12 centers sent regular newsletters to parents, with nine centers sending newsletters every month, one center every week, and two smaller centers sending them irregularly. at some centers, the individual classrooms also sent home newsletters. all centers except one had bulletin boards for parents. bulletin boards mostly contained information about center licensure, the monthly schedule, parenting information, and the lunch and snack menu. no other parent involvement strategies were reported by directors at the 12 centers. anecdotally, a teacher and director from the treatment group reported that the intervention had led to improvement of the parent-center relationship that had lasted for several months after the intervention. one teacher said that she could see the difference between parents who participated in the study and those from classrooms not participating (only classrooms with 2.5~3.5 year-old children participated in the study). the biggest difference was that parents who were in the study were more willing to be actively involved in several kinds of events and activities in the center, and they were more cooperative with teachers and directors. in summary, weekly, direct observation in the treatment group programs confirmed that programs encouraged parents to participate in the tested form of involvement, and parents did take the weekly home-reading materials home. questionnaire items measuring the amount of parent involvement produced no differences between the treatment and control group, contrary to expectation. however, teachers in the treatment group reported somewhat different content of communications with parents, with a greater emphasis on the individual child’s development. discussion the intervention tested here was a workshop delivered to early childhood teachers, encouraging them to explain the dialogic reading method to their parents and to give them interactive homework to read to their child every day using the dialogic reading method. because the earlier analysis from this study found a significant impact of the intervention upon child language outcomes, and because the intervention was designed to work by creating communication between the teachers and parents, we expected to see dramatic differences in the amount of parent-program communications. but this was not found. at the end of the 6 week intervention phase, no differences were found between the treatment and control groups in the amount of teacher parent communications reported by teachers, directors or parents. but teachers in the treatment group did report somewhat different content of communications with parents, with a greater emphasis on children’s individual development. while not a single control group teacher reported any written communication (notes sent home) about the specific child, the median note sent home by treatment group teachers was reported to contain this kind of child-specific communication. similarly, in face-to-face communications, which occurred on average every day in both groups, the median treatment group teacher mentioned twice as many types of specific information about the child than did the median control group teacher. that parents and teachers talked more about the specific child is not entirely surprising, because the homework assignment gave the two adults a joint project on which to work, each in their own setting, but with the same child. this daily interaction of the 77 kim & riley teacher and parent is likely to be the explanation for how the dialogic reading intervention worked. other studies have given parents much better organized training on dialogic reading (in this study, each program communicated with parents in their own way, sometimes offering a workshop on the topic, in other cases just talking about it at drop-off and pick-up time and in written communications). but a single workshop, or even a series of workshops delivered by a professional trainer might be less effective than a continuing, every day conversation on the topic with an adult who you already know and trust. according to dauber and epstein (1993), parents of slightly older (school-age) children tend to be more involved at school and at home when the schools strongly encourage parent involvement (i.e., how to help their children at home). further, van voorhis (2001) showed that well-designed, teacher-generated homework assignments in science followed with specific instruments helped middle-school students practice skills and improved parent-child relationship but also developed better parent-teacher communication. parents and teachers in early care and education settings may similarly show effective parentteacher communication which will help improve children’s development, as a byproduct of homework assignments to parents. parents might feel more comfortable communicating with teachers when early childhood programs make efforts to invite their participation in joint efforts concerning their child. according to carlisle, stanley and kemple (2005), teachers’ and schools’ expectations toward families are key factors influencing parent involvement. more surprising was that the child-specific content of their communications appeared to spread from discussions of the book reading activity to other aspects of child development and parenting, including for example issues of child health and social behavior. this suggests a hypothesis that once communications between teacher and parent move from general program information (e.g., what the class did that day) to conversations about the specific child (e.g., the child’s excited use of a new word), then child-specific conversations will spread to other aspects of child development and adult-child relationships, as the teacher and parent increasingly view each other as partners in child development. communications that are individualized, of course, are exactly the type with the greatest potential to change parenting behaviors and affect individual child development. individualized communications, as opposed to group communications about the overall classroom or program, will have the greatest potential to contribute to the seven components of high quality parentteacher relationships proposed by barbain (2000): satisfying to the parent, warm emotional tone, exhibiting and promoting trust, clear (specific and concrete), creating agreement, appreciation, and parent support and cooperation. in early care and education settings, open and continuous parent-staff communication is essential because it helps encourage continuities between parents and staff (powell, 1980). communication between parent and teachers has been identified as a key feature of high-quality child care programs by both parents and teachers (ghazvini & readdick, 1994; kontos, howes, shinn, & galinsky, 1995). bronfenbrenner (1979, 1986) also proposed the benefits of frequent and personal communication between parents and teachers, with emphasis on direct personal communication as the most effective in building supportive connections. one interpretation of the current findings is that parent-teacher communication can be improved and made more effective without increasing its frequency, but by changing its content. parent involvement activities may not need to be more time consuming, if they are more informative about the specific child. earlier research has observed the daily rituals of drop-off and pick-up of the child, finding that about two-thirds of these everyday transition times included some staff-parent, faceto-face communication (endsley & minish, 1991). and what did they talk about in these fleeting testing parental homework 78 conversations? in this earlier study, about half the conversations were more than just routine greetings and in many cases were about the specific child. it is possible that by providing a joint project for the teacher and parent (both reading the same children’s book to the child that week), the current intervention may have changed these transition time conversations to greater communication about the specific child, and the joint task of interacting with that child to promote language development. in concrete terms, teachers could ask the parents if they remembered to read that week’s book at home, and they could share stories about the child’s current capabilities and reactions. in this way, the teacher and parent are encouraged to compare notes on how they each interact with the child when doing the same activity, exactly the kind of daily discussion that is most likely to encourage conscious experimentation and development of parenting skills by the parent. the intervention did not ask early care and education programs to use standard or consistent methods of communication with parents, but instead encouraged each to use their existing methods. this reduced the amount of experimental control by the researchers, which is usually thought of as methodological weakness. the methods of “parent involvement” varied from program to program. on the other hand, by allowing child care programs to use their existing methods of communicating with parents, this part of the research design increased the likelihood that the findings reflect existing rather than ideal conditions, and increased the ease of future dissemination of the intervention. in addition, it is possible that providing more independence to teachers and program directors could be part of the explanation for the high participation rate of eligible families, as well as the strong effects on child language development. in an echo of bronfenbrenner’s conjectures about balance of power and goal consensus in mesosystems, the researchers presented this study to the child care staff as a partnership in which both researchers and teachers contributed their own expertise, and in most cases the child care staff took responsibility and an apparent sense of ownership for the intervention. indeed, in personal communications with intervention group teachers and directors during and after the intervention, many spontaneously reported their intention to make homework for parents into a continuing part of their child care programs. in bronfenbrenner’s terms, we should look to the proximal processes within settings to explain developmental effects. in the current study the ongoing, daily interactions of the child care teacher with the parent were the proximal process carrying the intervention forward. by utilizing this existing relationship, the intervention may have generated more of the mutual trust and goal consensus that bronfenbrenner considered key. the success of the intervention hinged on the parents complying with the request to do homework with their child, and this compliance was likely increased because the request came from within an existing relationship with the teacher (rather than from the researchers or professional trainers). limitations any conclusions from this study must be tempered by its limitations. the data currently reported are from weak measures, in many cases single-item self-reports of unknown validity. especially no differences were found between the treatment and control groups in the the amount of teacher-parent communications reported by teachers or parents. this was unexpected, and could be due to weak measurement. on the other hand, it is possible that treatment group teachers 79 kim & riley really did not increase their amount of communications with parents, but simply changed their ongoing communications so they were more about the specific child and parent. the difficulty in recruiting programs serving primarily low income families suggests the findings are less likely to generalize to this population. a longer follow-up phase before the final data collection could have removed some doubt that the findings will not soon wash out (immediate gains in the content of parent-teacher communication for treatment group teachers may be transitory). while these limitations are serious, the study is strengthened by the consistency of its findings with prior theory and research. finally, this study of parent involvement and parent-teacher communication collected data mostly from teachers. the addition of data reflecting the parents’ side of the story could have provided a different and more detailed picture. implications for practice practitioners in the early care and education field may notice the potential of applying the parent homework idea to other domains of child development. consider the potential for parents to be given homework assignments to play specific games at home involving impulse control (for example, red light/green light games, or games requiring a child to slow down and speed up their movements), during the same weeks this aspect of children’s self regulation is being emphasized in the early care and education program. similarly, homework could easily be given instructing parents in common activities with which to teach children at home, during the same week as at school, about one-to-one correspondence, the stable order principle, and the cardinality principle (i.e., the three essential principles for an understanding of number). for example, these principles can be practiced and learned at home while setting the dinner table, counting the family members, the plates, the forks, etc. the development and testing of such homework materials represents a ripe opening for collaboration between scholars and practitioners. the current findings also have implications for researchers and practitioners in the field of parent education. if the parent homework intervention is conceptualized as a form of parent education, then the findings reported here are as promising as they are unusual. indeed, we know of no other group parenting interventions of short duration (six weeks) that have demonstrated a significant impact not just on parents, but on objective measures of their child’s development. with out-of-home care of preschoolers having become the norm in industrialized societies, we might begin to conceptualize the early care and education program as the most widespread institution providing childrearing education to parents. there would be some irony in this, since many child care staff view the child alone, and not the family, as their domain of interest and expertise (hamilton, roach, & riley, 2003). the moderate to large effect sizes found for this intervention (author self-reference) are unusual enough to beg explanation, and we suggest one hypothesis for the parent education field that parent education programs delivered through existing relationships and settings in the parent’s life, characterized by trust and daily interactions, are more likely to be effective than interventions based on a new relationship or new setting. instead of inventing a new setting called “a parenting education workshop,” we might be more effective by modifying the functioning of existing settings in the parent’s life. in a roundabout way, the current study validates the commitment to parent education written into project head start at its birth, and the inclusion of family-centered practices in the criteria for accreditation by the national association for the education of young children testing parental homework 80 references arnold, d. h., 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(2000). pioneering steps (and fumbles) in developing a federal preschool intervention. topics in early childhood special education, 20, 67-70. title page dialog, 16(3), 178-182 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 this paper was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of masters of science for the first author. maria hernandez-reif, phd., and mary e. curtner-smith, ph.d., are faculty members in the department of human development and family studies at the university of alabama. special thanks are extended to christopher crotwell, charlotte horton, julia israel, elicia juarez, april kendrick, sara kruse, surrella mcneil, maggie porter, colleen posey, michele rice, heather roberts, and krystle white for assistance with recruitment and data collection. we also thank craig graves for assistance with the recording equipment and video editing. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to maria hernandez-reif, department of human development and family studies, university of alabama, box 870160, tuscaloosa, alabama 354870160.email: mhernandez-reif@ches.ua.edu research-to-practice summary five skills to help improve caregiver-child interaction during play rebecca montgomery crotwell, maria hernandez-reif, and mary e. curtner-smith university of alabama interaction synchrony defines how well a parent and child relate, with lower levels of synchrony associated with poor child outcomes. a 10-minute parent-child interaction therapy (pcit) was tested in a pre-posttest design for improving interactional synchrony in 40 low-income mothers and preschool children (half of the mothers watched a child nutrition video and served as a control group). as a group, the mother-child synchrony levels were low-to-average. mothers in the pcit group were taught five skills (pride) to use when playing with their children: praise, reflect, imitate, describe, enthusiasm. the pride group improved in interactional synchrony, whereas the control group did not. mothers in the pride group also used more child-directed techniques and their children were coded as offering their mothers toys more frequently. the findings suggest that a brief intervention may improve the interactional synchrony of low-income mothers and their preschool children, which may enhance preschool age children’s social skills. keywords: low-income, preschool children, synchrony, play, interaction interactional synchrony is a complex term that describes how well a caregiver and child relate and keep in time with each other when interacting face-to-face, playing together, or doing an activity. for example, interactional synchrony is evident in the exchanges shared by a caregiver and child who sit close together to read a book, pause from time-to-time to talk about the events or characters in the book, and listen to and respond to each other’s comments. the act of just reading a book does not lead to interactional synchrony as, for example, the caregiver may be reading the story and turning the pages and not being sensitive to the child’s puzzled look, or taking the time to engage the five skills for improving interactions 179 child in the story, asking the child questions about the story or reflecting and responding to the child’s questions. interactional synchrony involves both members of the pair. thus, a child who is in synchrony with the caregiver will be listening, asking questions, and participating in the storytelling, including possibly reading or helping to tell the story. being in synchrony with the caregiver is optimal as it helps children learn about turn-taking, or listening, responding, and asking questions. these experiences help prepare children for school and build language skills. research reveals that high levels of interactional synchrony are also related to children’s social development and cognitive competence, while low levels of synchrony are associated with poor child outcomes (feldman, 2007; lindsey, mize, & pettit, 1997; kirsh, crnic, & greenberg, 1995). good interactional synchrony also includes having a positive tone towards each other, and each member of the pair sharing in leading and following during interactions. caregivers are often good at leading, but not at following a child’s lead. allowing the child to lead, or having the caregiver follow the child’s lead, provides an opportunity for the child to express his or her ideas and for the caregiver to reflect and focus on the child’s behavior. caregiver characteristics associated with high interactional synchrony also include being warm and affectionate, joyful, and being consistent. research supports that positive caregiver-child interactions and synchrony help children become emotionally well-adjusted, develop healthy social skills and grow cognitively (isabella, belsky, & von eye, 1989; lundy, 2002; maccoby, 1992). in contrast, children display more aggressive behaviors with their peers, have lower levels of social-emotional adjustment later in life and may develop anxiety, avoidant behaviors, and depression when caregivers display negative mood and force their behaviors onto children. lacking warmth or being excessively critical of young children may dampen children’s self-esteem and may stress children when they are interacting. this in turn, may affect attachment, and hinder children’s ability to regulate their emotions (cf. beebe, et al., 2010). the parent-child interaction therapy (pcit) has been effective in increasing synchrony and positive interactions (herschell, et al., 2002; zisser & eyberg, 2010). however, pcit is a 10 to 16 week program and may be difficult for many parents to attend. pcit focuses on teaching caregivers how to increase positive child behaviors and make the child feel more secure. pcit also aims to help caregivers feel more competent in their parenting abilities and has been associated with improving caregivers’ mood (lanier, et al., 2011; pearl, et al., 2012; timmer,et al., , 2010). in this paper, we examined a very brief form of pcit involving only 10 minutes to see if it improved parent-child interactional synchrony. the intervention aimed at increasing caregiver warmth when interacting with children by praising, reflecting, imitating, describing, and being enthusiastic (hence, the acronym pride) and avoiding criticism and commands. participants. forty mothers and children participated in this study (20 mother-child dyads). mothers were on average 25 years old, mostly lower-middle socio-economic status (75%), and the majority were african-american (65%). their children were on average 3.5 years old (range = 28.6 – 67 months) and predominantly male (75%). only 15% of the mothers lived with their husbands and 25% reported living with their significant other. the majority of the mothers were unwed (85%) and 50% had at least two or more children. the mothers were receiving child care subsidy to help cover the costs of child care for low-income working parents or parents in approved job training and educational programs, parents receiving family assistance through the department of human resources, or parents at risk for child abuse and neglect. 180 crotwell et al. procedure. the mothers first completed questionnaires on their mood (depression, anxiety and anger) and daily hassles they experienced. then they were assigned to the intervention or control group. the study involved three sessions. the first (baseline or pretest) and last (posttest) sessions were each 5 minutes long and consisted of videotaping the mother and child playing faceto-face while playing with blocks and toy animals. the middle session was approximately 10minutes long and involved the mother either participating in the brief pcit intervention (the pride intervention group) or watching an educational video on child nutrition (the control group). pride intervention group (revised from the child-directed interactions (cdi) portion of the pcit manual, eyberg, 1999). mothers assigned to the pride intervention group were taught five skills to help improve caregiver-child interactions. all of the skills focused on the child, and some were specifically aimed at providing opportunities for the child to lead and the mother to follow. the word pride was used to help the mother remember the intervention as each skill was reviewed with her. the five skills were: 1) praise the child to help the child learn what about his/her behavior is appropriate, such as stating "you are making such a nice tower out of those blocks!” or "good job!"; 2) reflect on the child’s verbal comments by repeating, paraphrasing, or building on the child's vocalizations. for example, if the child said “fence” when lining blocks up next to each other, the mother might respond with “yes, that’s a fence you’re building.” reflection helps the caregiver pay attention to the child’s language, build on it and learn to wait for the child to speak and/or lead the interaction; 3) imitate the child’s play, which is another skill that helps the caregiver allow the child to lead the interaction. imitation also helps make the play session more peer-like or fun and signals that the mother approves of the child’s behavior; 4) describe what the child is doing, such as “i see that you are building a tall fence with blocks for your toy animals.” this skill helps with language development and focuses on the child’s actions; 5) be enthusiastic, such as saying “i really like what you are building!” coding the interactions. the pretest and posttest play interactions (sessions 1 and 2) were coded for interactional synchrony using the following scores: 0 = no interaction whatsoever between the mother and child (e.g., mother plays with blocks while child plays with toy animals; they do not talk or mingle toys); 1 = interactions focused on materials and, there is no shared focus (e.g., one partner may talk about an alligator while the other may talk about the lion); 2 = partners interact, but to only some comments; or one member of the pair dominates the interaction and/or the focus is mostly on the materials; 3= both members are engaged in the same activity, have a joint focus (e.g., parent and child are both playing with toy lions), and each is somewhat responsive to the other’s comments. the interaction does not have to be positive; 4 = frequent eye contact, the partners are engaged in the same activity, and there is physical contact/physical closeness; the interaction is balanced with both equally leading, following and responding to each other’s comments, and there is some shared affect; 5= same as 4, but in addition, they appear joyful and playful, and the interaction is child-like and peer-like. the mothers were also coded for use of pride skills and the children were coded for positive interaction behaviors (e.g., offering the mother a toy, being positive in mood, etc). five skills for improving interactions 181 results mood. the mood questionnaires revealed that about 1/3 of the mothers were depressed and anxious and about half had moderate to high levels of anger. mothers who reported a high number of daily hassles had higher anger scores. depressed mothers were angrier, more anxious and reported more daily hassles. interactions. on the pretest, half of the mothers were found to rarely praise, imitate or describe their children’s activities during play. however, most mothers were enthusiastic at least once in the 5 minute pretest play session and frequently used reflection. pride effects. the caregivers and the children’s behaviors before versus after the pride training (or nutrition video for the control group) were examined. pride skills training improved the interaction scores of the mother-child pairs from the pretest (3.0) to the posttest (3.8). reflecting on what the child was doing during play and being enthusiastic were the two pride skills that predicted the improved mother-child synchrony score. interestingly, children whose mothers were trained on the pride skills became more interactive with their mother after the training, specifically by sharing or offering their mothers a toy more during the posttest compared to the pretest. in contrast, for the control group who were not taught the pride skills, the pairs’ synchrony scores remained low and the mothers became less attentive to their children’s behavior, evident by less repetition or rephrasing of their child’s vocalizations during the posttests. discussion in this study, assessments were made of mood and play interactions of low-income mothers and their preschool age children (2 to 5 year olds). the play sessions of the dyad were recorded before (baseline or pretest) and after (posttest) a brief intervention or control period. the intervention, an abbreviated parent-child interaction therapy (pcit), was aimed at helping mothers in that group learn five child-directed techniques (pride: praise, reflect, imitate, describe, enthusiasm) that were expected to enhance the synchrony, or improve the interactions, of the parent-child dyad during a play session. the mothers in the control group watched a nutrition video and were not taught the pride skills. their interactions were also compared preand post (the video). the video and pride training were of the same length (10 minutes). at baseline, high levels of depression, anxiety, anger and daily hassles were noted among the mothers. this is not surprising given that the mothers were lower income and most were unmarried. mothers with negative moods may not be able to appropriately focus on, or respond to, their children during play and this might impact children’s development and lead to poor caregiver-child synchrony. about half of the caregiver-child pairs were coded low in interactional synchrony, which was not surprising for at risk groups. as expected, mothers in the intervention group significantly improved from preto postintervention in parent-child interactional synchrony, likely related to an increase by the mothers in using child-directed techniques. mothers in the intervention group showed greater praising, imitating, describing what their child was doing and enthusiasm. in addition, children in the intervention group were found to offer their mothers a toy more often in the post than in the pretest 182 crotwell et al. play session. perhaps, the intervention children were attempting to increase turn-taking or reward their mothers who were being more focused on them. not surprising, mothers in the control group showed a decrease in reflecting on the children's vocalizations from the first to the second play session. overtime, these mothers’ focus on their children deteriorated. the control group’s interaction scores remained low from preto the post video session taken together, these findings support that the brief pride intervention was effective in teaching low-income, and/or at risk mothers, a few basic child-directed strategies that have been shown to strengthen parent-child relations. additionally, the findings also reveal that maternal use of child-directed techniques during play is related to improved mother-child synchrony. the findings from this study are encouraging as they support that a brief 10 minute interventions may be feasible and effective for helping low-income caregivers learn techniques to strengthen their interactions with preschool age children. pride may also be a good intervention for head start teachers to use to develop children’s social skills and prepare them for school. references beebe, b., jaffe, j., markese, s., buck, k., chen, h., cohen, p., bahrick, l., andrews, h., & feldstein, s. (2010). the origins of 12-month attachment: a microanalysis of 4-month mother-infant interaction. attachment & human development, 12, 3-141. doi:10.1080/14616730903338985 eyberg, s. (1999). pcit treatment manual: parent-child interaction therapy. integrity checklists and session materials. university of florida. retrieved june 26, 2012 http://pcit.phhp.ufl.edu/presentations/pcit%20integrity%20checklists%20and%20materials%204-13-06.pdf feldman, r. (2007). parent-infant synchrony: biological foundations and developmental outcomes. current directions in psychological science, 16, 340-345. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00532.x herschell, a.d., calzada, e.j., eyberg, s.m., & mcneil, c.b. (2002). parent-child interaction therapy: new directions in research. cognitive and behavioral practice, 9, 9-16. doi:10.1016/s1077-7229(02)80034-7 isabella, r.a., belsky, j., & von eye, a. (1989). origins of infant-mother attachment: an examination of interactional synchrony during the infant’s first year. developmental psychology, 25, 12-21. doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.25.1.12 lanier, p., kohl, p.l., benz, j., swinger, d., moussette, p., & drake, b. (2011). parent-child interaction therapy in a community setting: examining outcomes, attrition, and treatment setting. research on social work practice, 21, 689-698. doi: 10.1177/1049731511406551 lindsey, e.w., mize, j., & pettit, g.s. (1997). mutuality in parent-child play: consequences for children’s peer competence. journal of social and personal relationships, 14, 523-538. doi: 10.1177/0265407597144007 lundy, b.l. (2002). paternal socio-psychological factors and infant attachment: the mediating role of synchrony in father-infant interactions. infant behavior and development, 25, 221-236. doi:10.1016/s0163-6383(02)00123-6 kirsh, s.j., crnic, k.a., & greenberg, m.t. (1995). relations between parent-child affect and synchrony and cognitive outcome at 5 years of age. personal relationships, 2, 187-198. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-6811.1995.tb00085.x maccoby, e.e. (1992). the role of parents in the socialization of children: an historical overview. developmental psychology, 28, 1006-1017. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.28.6.1006 pearl, e., thieken, l., olafson, e., boat, b., connelly, l., barnes, j., & putnam, f. (2012). effectiveness of community dissemination of parent-child interaction therapy. psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy, 4, 204-213. doi:10.1037/a0022948 timmer, s.g., zebell, n.m., culver, m.a., & urquiza, a.j. (2010). efficacy of adjunct in-home coaching to improve outcomes in parent-child interaction therapy. research on social work practice, 20, 3645. doi: 10.1177/1049731509332842 zisser, a., & eyberg, s.m. (2010). parent-child interaction therapy and the treatment of disruptive behavior disorders. in j.r. weisz & a.e. kazdin (eds.), evidence-based psychotherapies for children and adolescents (2nd ed., pp. 179-193). new york, ny: guilford. http://pcit.phhp.ufl.edu/presentations/pcit%20integrity%20checklists%20and%20materials%204-13-06.pdf dialog, 18(2), 43-56 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research article harvest for healthy kids: a nutrition education curriculum aligned with the head start child development and early learning framework betty izumi portland state university jessica hoffman northeastern university cara eckhardt portland state university angela johnson mt. hood community college head start jennifer hallman portland state university dawn barberis oregon department of education early learning division healthy diets rich in fruits and vegetables are critical for overall health and well-being. early care and education settings have enormous potential to promote fruit and vegetable intake. in this pilot study, we present and assess the usability of the harvest for healthy kids curriculum, a nutrition education curriculum developed in collaboration with head start administrators and teachers and aligned with the head start child development and early learning framework. we used preand post-implementation surveys and conducted a focus group to assess curriculum usability. at baseline and postimplementation, the teachers perceived that the curriculum was easy to understand and an acceptable and feasible way to promote fruit and vegetable intake among children. at post-implementation, the teachers perceived that the curriculum required greater systemslevel supports. access to resources, training, and alignment with head start policies and practices emerged as critical factors for curriculum implementation. keywords: head start, nutrition education, farm-to-preschool, community-based participatory research, curriculum, harvest for healthy kids 44 izumi et al. healthy diets rich in fruits and vegetables are critical for overall health and well-being and are associated with reduced risk of obesity (he et al., 2004) and other diet-related chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases (bazzano, serdula, & liu, 2003), and type 2 diabetes (bazzano, li, joshipura, & hu, 2008). current national guidelines for children ages 2 to 8 years recommend consuming 1 to 1 ½ cups each of fruits and vegetables daily (u.s. department of agriculture & u.s. department of health and human services, n.d.). however, most children in the united states do not meet these recommendations (krebs-smith, guenther, subar, kirkpatrick, & dodd, 2010). specifically, only 9.8% of girls and 13.8% of boys aged 4 to 8 years consume the recommended daily amount for fruits and vegetables (guenther, dodd, reedy, & krebs-smith, 2006). low-income children are at greatest risk for low fruit and vegetable intake (rasmussen et al., 2006). given that food preferences are formed early in life (birch, 1999) and are difficult to change once established, preschool-aged children are important targets for nutrition education (mikkilä, räsänen, raitakari, pietinen, & viikari, 2005). early care and education settings have enormous potential to help children meet their recommendation for daily fruit and vegetable intake (story, kaphingst, & french, 2006; neelon & briley, 2011). in 2005, approximately 60% of children aged three to six years were in some form of non-parental care on a regular basis (national center for education statistics, 2013 ). in addition to their ability to reach a large percentage of young children, childcare providers and preschool teachers can promote healthy eating habits by offering children a variety of fruits and vegetables in meals and snacks, and embedding healthy eating practices into daily activities (nicklas et al., 2001). to date however, there are only a few evidence-based nutrition education curricula that are available for use in early care and education settings (kalich, arnold, austin, bauer, mcpartlin, & ferri, 2010; witt & dunn, 2012). head start is an ideal program for nutrition education targeted to preschool-aged children. during the 2013-2014 program year, nearly 950,000 children aged 3 to 5 years were enrolled in head start programs throughout the nation (u.s. department of health and human services, n.d.). in addition to their ability to reach large numbers of low-income children, head start programs are required to provide children with nutritious meals and snacks, include children in developmentally appropriate food-related activities, and provide children, parents, and staff with nutrition education. however, because head start programs have flexibility in how they fulfill their nutrition requirements, there is also large variation between and within programs (hughes, gooze, finkelstein, & whitaker, 2010; carraway-stage et al., 2014). for example, one study of head start programs in north carolina reported that delivery of nutrition education varied greatly from as frequently as weekly in some programs to yearly in others (carraway-stage et al., 2014). studies have shown that in head start programs and other early care and education settings, nutrition education implementation may be influenced by multiple factors, including teacher knowledge about nutrition, policies and regulations that hinder or promote food-based activities, access to nutrition education resources (e.g. supplies), time constraints, and level of priority placed on nutrition education by program administrators (derscheid, umoren, kim, henry, & zittel, 2010; cotugna & vickeryn, 2007; carraway-stage et al., 2014). increasingly, researchers are using community-based participatory research (cbpr) to develop health promotion curricula (davis et al., 1999; masters et al., 2002; larowe, wubben, cronin, adams, & vannatter, 2007; diwan & wertheimer, 2007; gregg, solotaroff, amann, michael, & bowen, 2008; leff et al., 2010; parsai, castro, marsiglia, harthun, & valdez, 2011; izumi et al., 2013). cbpr is a collaborative approach to research that equitably involves harvest for healthy kids 45 community and academic partners in all stages of the research process (israel, eng, schulz, parker, & satcher, 2013). curriculum development within a cbpr context integrates evidencebased practice with the needs and priorities of stakeholders (e.g., head start teacher, childcare provider) who are responsible for implementing the curriculum. by engaging stakeholders in the development of a cultureor context-specific curriculum, researchers can ensure that the curriculum is relevant to the target audience, uses their language, and reflects their values and beliefs (nastasi et al., 2000; power et al., 2005). in addition to enhancing intervention usability, a partnership model to curriculum development promotes stakeholder ownership of the curriculum and therefore increases the likelihood that the intervention will be sustained and integrated into existing operations (nastasi et al., 2000). the purpose of this pilot study was to explore the usability of the harvest for healthy kids curriculum, an evidence-based nutrition education curriculum (izumi, eckhardt, hallman, herro, & barberis, 2015) aligned with the head start child development and early learning framework (head start resource center, 2010). designed using cbpr, the harvest for healthy kids curriculum aims to improve children’s knowledge of and attitudes towards fruits and vegetables through, for example, cooking and tasting activities, read-aloud book discussions, transition activities, and mealtime discussions. the research questions this pilot study addressed were: 1) to what extent did head start teachers perceive the harvest for healthy kids curriculum to be acceptable, understandable, and feasible, and 2) to what extent did head start teachers believe they needed systems-level supports to implement the curriculum? the harvest for healthy kids curriculum was developed in collaboration with head start staff (izumi et al., 2013). because of this co-ownership, we anticipated that the curriculum would be perceived positively by head start teachers both immediately after participating in a training and at the end of the intervention period after implementing the curriculum. methods setting and participants the harvest for healthy kids curriculum represents the work of a community-academic partnership between a head start program in oregon and portland state university. during the 2012-2013 academic year, the head start program served approximately 1,000 preschool-aged children across 12 centers. enrolled children were from families with low-incomes and diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds (i.e. american indian, alaska native, asian or pacific island, black or african american, hispanic/latino). more than half of the families spoke a language other than english as their primary language. nine teachers across three centers participated in the current study. eight teachers were female; four teachers had 8 or more years of experience as a teacher in early care and education settings, four had 5-8 years of experience, one teacher had fewer than 5 years of experience, and all had earned a 4-year university degree. nine teachers participated in the survey. six teachers, representing two of the three centers, participated in the focus group. the male teacher did not participate in the focus group; the demographic characteristics of teachers who participated in the focus group and those who didn’t were otherwise similar. 46 izumi et al. curriculum development the harvest for healthy kids curriculum was developed during the 2011-2012 academic year by an eight member work group that included head start teachers and administrators and researchers from portland state university. prior to developing the curriculum, the workgroup identified the curriculum goals and specific elements, such as picture cards, to include. the workgroup also selected target foods to feature in the curriculum: carrot, butternut squash, sweet potato, cabbage, turnip, rutabaga, berries, beet, and asparagus. these foods were chosen based on several factors, including their nutrient density, abundant availability in oregon during the academic year, and ease of adding to head start meals. the curriculum development process was iterative and included contributions from both community and academic partners. the researchers drafted the first kit, which was focused on beets. at the beginning of the month, teachers participating in the workgroup implemented the activities and lessons in their classrooms. at the end of each week, the researchers conducted check-in phone calls with each teacher to obtain his/her feedback on the beet kit. at the end of the month, the workgroup met in-person to debrief the teachers’ experiences with the beet kit and discuss ideas for improving its cultureand context-specificity and thus, its usability. for example, the teachers suggested organizing the plans into categories that reflected the rhythm and realities of a typical preschool day (e.g. circle time, meal time) instead of by week. immediately after the in-person meeting, the researchers incorporated the teachers’ feedback into the second kit. this process of developing activity kits was repeated each month for eight months. to finalize the curriculum, the head start administrators aligned the activity kits with the head start child development and early learning framework (head start resource center, 2010) domain and domain elements (table 1). for further detail on the curriculum development process, please see izumi et al. (2013). harvest for healthy kids 47 table 1 examples of alignment between the harvest for healthy kids curriculum and the head start child development and early learning framework activity domain domain element strategy picture cards physical development & health health knowledge & practice look at beets picture cards with children. discuss how beets are a good for you anytime food and give explanations of why eating vegetables is important. language development receptive language look at same-but-different beets picture card with children. introduce beet varieties (chioggia, golden, red). science knowledge & skills scientific skills & method look at how do beets grow? picture card with children. encourage children to make guesses about which part of the beet is for eating. conceptual knowledge of the natural & physical world look at how do beets grow? picture card with children. engage children in a discussion about how plants grow. cooking activity physical development & health health knowledge & practice model how to safely use a box grater. provide children with just enough help to use the grater on his/her own. for example, let the child hold the grater in one hand and a carrot in the other hand; use your hands to guide his hands to grate the carrot. fine motor skills allow children to use kitchen tools or their hands to help with food preparation. for example, when making asparagus tacos, children can use their hands to snap asparagus spears into small pieces. social & emotional development social relationships provide opportunities for children to take turns when cooking together. for example, when making winter root vegetable pancakes, children can take turns stirring or adding in spices, flour, and vegetables. self-concept & self-efficacy let children do for themselves what they are capable of doing when engaged in cooking activities, whether it is gathering ingredients, peeling vegetables, or cleaning up. 48 izumi et al. activity domain domain element strategy cooking activity approaches to learning cooperation when making a recipe, ask children to work together to prepare the ingredients. for example, when making vegetable soup, ask children to take turns cutting or tearing the cabbage into small pieces to put into the soup. literacy knowledge & skills print concepts & conventions read recipes aloud to small groups of children, pointing to specific words and demonstrating left to right, right/left sweep, and top to bottom motion of print. mathematics knowledge & skills number concepts & quantities after making winter root vegetable pancakes, count out loud the number of pancakes made, pointing to each pancake as the number name is called out. ask children if there are enough pancakes for each person to get one pancake. measurement & comparison let children compare ingredient quantities for recipes. for example, when making carrot salad, pose questions such as “is there more salt or pepper in this salad?” taste & tell physical development & health health knowledge & practice taste asparagus with children. discuss how asparagus is a delicious anytime food because it is a vegetable. ask children to name their favorite vegetables. social & emotional development self-concept & self-efficacy taste berries with children. ask them to share their or their families’ experiences eating, picking, or cooking with berries. language development expressive language taste beets with children. ask them to describe the taste, texture, and smell of the vegetables. write down their words and read them back. harvest for healthy kids 49 teacher training the harvest for healthy kids curriculum was pilot-tested during the 2012-2013 academic year in three centers with the nine teachers participating in the current study. of the nine teachers participating in the current study, one was involved in the work group. prior to pilot testing the harvest for healthy kids curriculum, the teachers participated in a 4-hour hands-on training. the training focused on study procedures, how to implement the curriculum, and the importance of enthusiastic role modeling (e.g. “mmmm! i love beets!” “wow! these beets are crunchy!”) when encouraging children to taste the target foods. the teachers also participated in a 2-hour booster training mid-way (january 2013) through the intervention period. the booster training provided an opportunity for the teachers to share with their peers, how they were integrating harvest for healthy kids into their classrooms. in addition to the trainings, the teachers were provided with the curriculum, $100 for supplies, monthly delivery of fruits and vegetables from the program’s central kitchen to use for sensory exploration and cooking activities, read-aloud books, and kitchen tools (e.g. grater, mixing bowls). curriculum implementation each month during the eight-month pilot study period, the teachers implemented 10 activities (e.g. cooking, picture cards, read-aloud book, tasting food) from the activity kit that corresponded with the target food featured in head start meals. the teachers had some flexibility in how and when they implemented each of the activities. for example, they could follow the read-aloud book discussion as written during one circle time or read the book in sections throughout the month using their own discussion questions. to assess intervention fidelity, researchers contacted each teacher by telephone each week to ask which activities were conducted that week and to answer any questions the teacher had about how to implement the curriculum. during the study period, a head start staff member who was not involved in the pilot study also conducted observations to ensure that teacher mealtime behaviors encouraged children to try the target foods when they were featured in meals. data collection measures survey. we used the usage rating profile – intervention (urp-i) (chafouleas, briesch, riley-tillman, & mccoach, 2009) to assess teachers’ perceptions about the usability of the harvest for healthy kids curriculum. the urp-i (chafouleas et al., 2009) was initially developed to provide information about teacher perceptions of school-based interventions. it is a 35-item self-report instrument that is comprised of four subscales: acceptability, understanding, feasibility, systems support. for the purpose of this study we adapted the urp-i to assess teacher perceptions of the harvest for healthy kids curriculum. examples of survey questions are shown in table 2. the items were rated on a 5-point likert-type scale from +2 = strongly agree to -2 = strongly disagree. all four subscales previously demonstrated acceptable levels of internal consistency reliability; ranging from α =.80 to α =.96 (chafouleas et al., 2009). we collected preimplementation survey data immediately after the pre-service training; post-implementation survey data were collected at the end of the intervention period. 50 izumi et al. table 2 examples of survey questions used to assess usability of the harvest for healthy kids curriculum subscale question acceptability i would implement harvest for healthy kids with a good deal of enthusiasm. harvest for healthy kids is a good way to increase fruit and vegetable intake among children. understanding i would know what to do if i was asked to implement harvest for healthy kids. the requirements for implementing harvest for healthy kids are unclear. feasibility the amount of time required to use harvest for healthy kids is reasonable. the amount of time required for record keeping with harvest for healthy kids is reasonable. systems support i could only implement harvest for healthy kids with assistance from other adults. i would need support from my administrator to implement harvest for healthy kids. focus group. the purpose of the 1-hour post-implementation focus group was to better understand the factors that facilitated and hindered implementation of the curriculum. two main open-ended questions were asked during the focus group: (1) what types of things made it easier for you to implement harvest for healthy kids? and (2) what types of things made it harder for you to implement harvest for healthy kids? a moderator led the focus group and a research assistant took notes. the focus group was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. no incentives were offered for participation in the surveys or the focus group because they were considered to be part of routine program operations. this study was approved through the institutional review board at portland state university. data analysis prior to creating summary variables across each of the four urp-i subscales, we rescaled 9 questions so that positive numbers always aligned with favorable responses and negative responses aligned with unfavorable responses. within each subscale, we created summary variables by calculating average response across questions within each subscale for each individual. we calculated descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) for each summary variable preand post-intervention. to analyze the focus group data, we used applied thematic analyses (guest, macqueen, & namey, 2011) targeted toward discovering themes with practical program applications. we first analyzed the focus group using the four urp-i subscales as sensitizing codes. the focus group transcript was coded by the first author and cross-checked by another researcher. we then refined the codes or broke them down into sub-codes. next, we extracted text associated with a particular code and compared text across participants. sub-codes that were present across participants indicated themes. harvest for healthy kids 51 results the mean urp-i scores preand post-intervention for the acceptability, understanding, and feasibility subscales were ≥ 1.00, indicating that at pre-intervention, teachers agreed or strongly agreed that the curriculum was acceptable, feasible, and easy to understand and that their views did not change across the intervention period (table 3). by contrast, the pre-intervention mean score for the systems support scale was 0.35, compared to a score of -0.13 at post-intervention. in other words, at pre-intervention head start teachers perceived that implementing the curriculum would require systems-level supports to implement, and this perception was strengthened after the intervention period. table 3 head start teacher preand post-implementation harvest for healthy kids usability ratings (n=9) subscale pre-implementation mean (sd) post-implementation mean (sd) acceptability 1.39 (0.29) 1.35 (0.35) understanding 1.05 (0.20) 1.20 (0.29) feasibility 1.00 (0.30) 1.02 (0.41) systems support 0.35 (0.37) -0.13 (0.50) three themes related to curriculum implementation emerged from the focus group analyses. first, teachers stressed the importance of having access to readily available nutrition education supplies. one teacher commented that “just having the supplies there when you needed them” made it easier to implement harvest for healthy kids activities. the teachers indicated that, in addition to the monthly delivery of target foods for sensory exploration that came from the central kitchen, having the activity plans, children’s books, picture cards, and cooking equipment readily available in their classrooms and centers made it feasible to implement the curriculum with high fidelity. the teachers relied on their education site managers, who are their immediate and on-site supervisors, to purchase other supplies, such as recipe ingredients (e.g. vegetable oil, soy sauce), that were needed to implement the activities. although the teachers expressed appreciation for the monthly delivery of target foods from the central kitchen, they also said that the fruits and vegetables often arrived later than expected, which made it difficult for them to carry out their lessons as planned. second, the teachers indicated that the pre-service and booster trainings helped them to understand how to implement the curriculum. the booster training was considered particularly useful as it reinforced skills learned during the initial training and provided teachers with an opportunity to “share and show” how they were integrating harvest for healthy kids activities into their lesson plans. in addition to the pre-service and booster trainings, the weekly check-in phone calls provided teachers with motivation to implement the activities and a chance to ask clarifying questions about the curriculum. third, alignment of the harvest for healthy kids curriculum with head start policies and practices was identified as critical to curriculum implementation. the head start act of 2007 requires programs to align their school readiness goals for children, curricula and assessments 52 izumi et al. with the head start child development and early learning framework (head start resource center, 2010). to meet the requirements of the head start act of 2007, teachers at the head start program used teaching strategies (ts) gold ® curricula and assessment tools to plan their lessons and activities and document children’s progress across identified areas of child development and learning. aligning the harvest for healthy kids curriculum with the head start child development and early learning framework allowed the teachers to easily integrate harvest for healthy kids into their lessons and helped to ensure that the curriculum complemented, rather than competed with, program teaching and assessment strategies. one teacher emphasized that “the fact that you can incorporate [harvest for healthy kids] into ts gold ® ” was important because meeting program requirements is at the front of teachers’ minds.” given competing priorities, however, the teachers still found it difficult to implement the curriculum during certain times of the year. in particular, the beginning and end of the academic year and the period immediately before and after holidays or short vacation breaks were mentioned as times during which the teachers felt most pressed for time. discussion nutrition education for preschoolers is critical for laying the foundation for lifelong health. yet there are few published examples of nutrition interventions that have been implemented in early care and education settings (williams et al., 1998; fitzgibbon, stolley, dyer, vanhorn, & kaufer christoffel, 2002; kalich et al., 2010; hoffman et al., 2012; witt & dunn, 2012). even fewer evidence-based nutrition education curricula are available. increasingly, cbpr is being used in health initiatives because it is considered an effective strategy for integrating local knowledge into the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions. in an effort to promote nutrition education in early care and education settings and overcome implementation barriers reported in the literature, (derscheid et al., 2010; cotugna & vickeryn, 2007; carraway-stage et al., 2014) we used a cbpr approach to develop the harvest for healthy kids curriculum. as expected, the teachers who participated in this pilot study reported a high level of perceived acceptability, understanding, and feasibility before and after implementing the harvest for healthy kids curriculum. by engaging administrators in developing and implementing the curriculum, harvest for healthy kids became a program priority; by engaging teachers, we were able to anticipate and address potential implementation barriers related to teacher knowledge, access to nutrition education resources, and policies and regulations that hinder or promote foodbased activities. engaging administrators and teachers also allowed us to align the curriculum with the head start child development and early learning framework (head start resource center, 2010), which was used by the head start program to make curriculum and assessment decisions. although the curriculum was perceived by teachers as acceptable, understandable, and feasible to implement, after implementing harvest for healthy kids, the teachers perceived that the curriculum required greater systems-level supports than they initially anticipated. as the focus group findings suggest, prior to implementing the lessons, the teachers may not have anticipated their level of reliance on their education site managers and the central kitchen staff in facilitating their access to resources such as recipe ingredients and food for sensory exploration. in hindsight, given their critical roles, education site managers and central kitchen staff should harvest for healthy kids 53 have been invited to participate on the workgroup that developed the curriculum; their lack of involvement is likely reflected in the low post-intervention systems-level support score. study strengths and limitations to our knowledge, this is the first study to systematically evaluate the usability of a nutrition education curriculum in an early care and education setting. a major strength of this study is the cbpr approach we used to develop, implement, and evaluate the harvest for healthy kids curriculum. this approach and the real-world setting in which we conducted the current study enhances the ecological validity of our findings. further evidence to support the ecological validity of our study is that since the current study ended, the harvest for healthy kids curriculum has been implemented at all 12 centers of the head start program and all teachers receive supplies (e.g. activity plan, books, picture cards) and training to implement the harvest for healthy kids curriculum. in addition, the head start program now names the harvest for healthy kids curriculum as the curriculum that meets the program’s requirement for weekly nutrition and monthly cooking activities. we believe that the involvement of head start teachers and administrators was critical in developing a cultureand context-specific curriculum and key to sustaining and institutionalizing harvest for healthy kids at the head start program. the current study also contributes to the paucity of studies focused on nutrition education in early care and education settings as well as the literature on the applicability of the urp-i instrument, which was originally developed to assess the usability of behavioral interventions and tested with educators responding to a vignette (chafouleas et al., 2009). this pilot study is not without limitations, however. first, we conducted this pilot study with a small, non-representative sample of teachers from one head start program. thus, the results are not generalizable to a larger population. second, although we explored multiple dimensions of intervention usage, the small sample size limited any ability to examine associations between usage and actual implementation of the harvest for healthy kids curriculum. further research is necessary to determine how perceptions of intervention usage influence implementation, if this relationship varies by factors such as the type of early care and education setting in which the curriculum is implemented (e.g. head start, preschool, day care), and if implementation fidelity affects program outcomes. third, this study used the urp-i, which has since been revised (briesch, chafouleas, neugebauer, & riley-tillman, 2013). the revised instrument divides the construct of systems support into two subscales: (1) system support assesses the practical aspects of support, such as a need for professional development, resources, and staff consultation; and (2) system climate assesses the philosophical fit between the setting and the intervention, such as the consistency between the intervention and the school’s mission and administrator support (briesch et al.. 2013). future studies of nutrition education curricula usage in early care and education settings should use the updated version of the instrument. implications for practice our findings suggest that the harvest for healthy kids curriculum may be appropriate for promoting healthy eating habits among children in head start programs. previous researchers 54 izumi et al. have delineated the multiple obstacles head start teachers encounter when promoting nutrition in preschool settings (hughes et al., 2010; carraway-stage et al., 2014). by using a cbpr approach to developing the curriculum and aligning it with the head start child development and early learning framework, we attempted to address concerns related to these obstacles. it is important to note that we provided the teachers who participated in the current study with resources beyond what may be immediately available to other early care and education professionals. given that healthy eating habits are critical for lifelong health, we believe that resources to implement nutrition education in early care and education settings are an important investment. acknowledgements the authors would like to thank the teachers and staff at the head start program involved whose time and energy made 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(2012). increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among preschoolers: evaluation of color me healthy. journal of nutrition education and behavior, 44(2), 107-113. http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/dietaryguidelines2010.pdfu.s maltreatment, children’s regulation, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors dialog, 18(2), 114-118 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary intervention implications: the links among early risk for abuse, children’s regulation, and behavioral problems julie schatz-stevens aquinas college bethany cockburn the university of iowa jennifer lefever university of notre dame the current project explored how toddlers’ ability to regulate themselves may be the link between prenatal maternal risk of child abuse and behavior problems at three years. a sample of 285 mothers and their first-born children were followed from pregnancy through the child’s third year. results showed that pregnant mothers who had a greater potential for abusing their children had toddlers who were less able to regulate themselves (e.g., disrupted sleeping and eating patterns, stronger reactions to noises). this inability to regulate themselves predicted their behavioral problems at age 3 years (e.g., aggression, depression). screening for prenatal child abuse potential and providing intervention supports offers an important opportunity to prevent child maltreatment and its developmental repercussions. for toddlers already experiencing regulatory difficulties, self-regulation appears to be another key target to halt the progression of behavioral problems often found in maltreated children. keywords: maltreatment risk; physiological regulation; behavioral problems over 679,000 american children were substantiated as victims of maltreatment in 2013 (u.s. department of health & human services, 2015). children are at greatest risk for victimization in their first year of life. detecting maltreatment early in a child’s life is difficult for many reasons including a preverbal child’s inability to tell someone what is happening and little exposure to possible reporting sources (i.e. teachers, coaches, neighbors). despite the difficulties in early detection, the need to do so is obvious maltreatment impacts children’s development in multiple harmful ways: physical complications, relational difficulties, emotional and behavioral problems, and self-regulatory dysfunction. the current study utilized a longitudinal, prospective design to explore the relationships among maltreatment, self-regulation, and emotional and risk for abuse, children’s regulation, & early development 115 behavioral problems, offering insights into potential early screening and intervention opportunities. maltreatment, internalizing and externalizing problems, & regulation research consistently associates maltreatment with a child’s heightened risk for externalizing problems such as disruptive and aggressive behaviors (e.g., aber, allen, carlson, & cicchetti, 1989; flores, cicchetti, & rogosch, 2005). increased rates of internalizing problems, such as depression and anxiety, have also been extensively documented (kim & cicchetti, 2003). children’s ability to regulate their emotions and behavior is a key link between abuse and later dysfunction; early maltreatment predicts children’s compromised self-regulation which in turn contributes to difficulties in multiple domains (egeland, yates, appleyard, & van dulmen, 2002; maughan & cicchetti, 2002; schatz, smith, keogh, borkowski, & whitman, 2008). although many components of self-regulation have been explored, significant attention has been given to physiological regulation. physiological regulation is considered to include the modulation of many physical processes such as the stress response, hormone levels, heart rate, and sleep patterns. evidence suggests that physiological regulation, which is intricately tied into each of the other regulatory components (i.e., emotional, behavioral), is impacted by childhood abuse (heim, newport, mletzko, miller, & nemeroff, 2008; murray-close, han, cicchetti, crick, & rogosch, 2008). once compromised, maladaptive regulatory responses then increase the likelihood of depression and aggressive behaviors (heim, et al, 2008; murray-close, et. al, 2008). taken as a whole, a large body of research supports maltreatment’s impact on physiological regulation, which in turn fosters maladaptive development. less is known, however, about a broader conceptualization of physiological regulation including sleeping, eating, and sensory reactivity patterns and its role as a process variable within an at-risk sample of toddlers. child abuse potential child maltreatment has been assessed in many ways including measures that assess potential for abuse, self-reports of abuse and neglect, and information gathered from child protective services (cps). problems surround the use of cps reports, however, chief among them is that they underestimate actual maltreatment instances (chaffin & valle, 2003). self-report measures of instances of abuse and neglect also can be inaccurate due to parental concern about the legal consequences of admittance to an act of child abuse. for this reason, measures that assess potentiality, or likelihood for abuse, have often been utilized in research (moreland begle, dumas, & hanson 2010). one of the most prominent, substantially supported measures is the child abuse potential inventory (cap; milner, 1986). using the cap offers several advantages over other sources of information including: (1) abuse potential can be considered a proxy measure, conceptualizing maltreatment as a continuum of behaviors and attitudes versus a dichotomous conceptualization (present or absent), and (2) most importantly, abuse potential can be assessed during pregnancy, serving as an early screening tool to identify those at risk for abusing their children and identify who to target for prevention efforts. brief versions of the cap offer a means for efficient screening. 116 schatz-stevens et al. summary of study and research methods the current study investigated the role of toddlers’ physiological regulation (sleeping, eating patterns, sensory reactivity) in understanding the relationship between prenatal maternal child abuse potential and preschoolers’ later internalizing and externalizing problems at age 3. a subsample of 285 mother-child dyads was drawn from a longitudinal study designed to understand low-levels of neglectful parenting among mothers and their first-born children. the multi-site design included a racially diverse sample with variability in participants' ages, economic status, and educational backgrounds. maternal child abuse potential, conceptualized as a continuum of likelihood for maltreatment, was measured prenatally by a 25-item abbreviated version of the child abuse potential inventory (milner, 1986). at 24-months, children’s physiological regulation was measured by maternal report using the dysregulation subcale of the infant-toddler social and emotional assessment (itsea) to assess sleeping and eating patterns, as well as sensory and emotional reactivity. children’s problem behaviors at 36-months were assessed by the externalizing and internalizing subscales of the itsea. major findings the results provided support for the far-reaching effects of maltreatment with two key findings emerging from this study. first, maternal abuse potential showed an indirect relationship to internalizing problems such that abuse potential was significantly predictive of toddler’s physiological regulation, which in turn was significantly predictive of their internalizing problems. more specifically, mothers who had a greater risk of child abuse during their pregnancy had children who showed more physiological regulation difficulties at 24 months of age (e.g., disrupted sleeping patterns, more emotionally reactive) which led to more internalizing problems at 36 months (e.g., depression and anxiety). second, prenatal maternal child abuse potential influenced later externalizing problems directly as well as indirectly, through toddler’s self-regulation. mothers showing greater abuse potential during pregnancy had children with greater externalizing problems at 36 months (e.g., aggression, defiance). higher abuse potential also predicted greater dysregulation which in turn also fostered greater externalizing problems. in summary, it appears that physiological regulation serves as an important process variable responsible for transmitting maltreatment’s effects to internalizing symptoms. for externalizing problems, however, both maternal abuse potential and children’s dysregulation are important influences. overall results highlighted the importance of considering toddlers’ regulation in understanding the link between child abuse and early behavioral problems. practice implications the findings from this study lend support to the urgent need of early intervention and provide a glimpse of two key domains and times in which to offer programming. most importantly, the findings highlight the importance of laying a solid foundation for positive parenting as early as possible. risk for abuse, children’s regulation, & early development 117 preventing child abuse screening during pregnancy in order to identify mothers at risk for abuse potential could prevent the tragic cycle of maltreatment and children’s subsequent developmental dysfunction from unfolding. offering prevention programming for pregnant mothers could alter problematic parenting beliefs and attitudes before the child is even born providing the optimal groundwork for the parent-child relationship to begin. many evidence-based home visitation programs are available, such as safecare, nurse family partnership, triple-p and healthy families america, with demonstrated success in reducing rates of maltreatment as well as in increasing non-violent means of punishment. when used as a part of early head start programming, it could improve the home life of the children, the quality of parent-child interactions, and the children’s chances of school success. utilizing the abbreviated cap measure could provide an efficient means of identifying families who would benefit from services. supporting children’s regulation for children who have already experienced maltreatment and are showing signs of early dysregulation, toddlerhood is another key time to intervene to support healthy regulatory development. schmitt and colleagues (2014) conducted and evaluated a self-regulation intervention for young children at-risk for poor regulation. the 8-week self-regulation intervention was implemented in head start classrooms and proved effective: children receiving the intervention showed greater gains in both self-regulation and academic achievement than those in the control group. in a review of interventions that specifically included a component of physiological regulation (cortisol levels) as an evaluative assessment, support was found for the possibility of psychosocial interventions repairing physiological dysregulation brought about from early childhood adversity (slopen, mclaughlin, & shonkoff, 2014). offering selfregulation interventions for families of at-risk toddlers could change the developmental trajectory of the child by supporting healthy physiological regulation. references aber, j.l., allen, j.p., carlson, v., & cicchetti, d. (1989). the effects of maltreatment on development during early childhood: recent studies and their theoretical, clinical, and policy implications. in d. cicchetti & v. carlson (eds). child maltreatment: theory and research on the causes and consequences of child abuse and neglect (pp.579-679). new york, ny: cambridge university press. doi: 10.1017/cb09780511665707.019. chaffin, m. & valle, l.a. (2003). dynamic prediction characteristics of the child abuse potential inventory. child abuse and neglect, 27, 463-481. egeland, b., yates, t., appleyard, k., & van dulmen, m.h.m. (2002). the long-term consequences of maltreatment in early years: a developmental pathway model to antisocial behavior. children’s services, 5, 249-260. doi: 10.1207/s15326918cs0504_2. flores, e., cicchetti, d., & rogosch, f. a. (2005). predictors of resilience in maltreated and nonmaltreated latino children. developmental psychology,41(2), 338. heim, c., newport, d.j., mletzko, t., miller, a.h., & nemeroff, c.b. (2008). the link between childhood trauma and depression: insights from hpa axis studies in humans. psychoneuroendocrinology, 22, 693-710. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.03.008. 118 schatz-stevens et al. kim, j. e., & cicchetti, d. (2003). social self-efficacy and behavior problems in maltreated and nonmaltreated children. journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology, 32, 106-117. maughan, a., & cicchetti, d. (2002). impact of child maltreatment and interadult violence on children’s emotion regulation abilities and socioemotional adjustment. child development, 73, 1525-1542. doi: 10.1111/14678624.00488. milner, j.s. (1986). the child abuse potential inventory: manual (2 nd ed.). webster, nc: psytec. moreland begle, a., dumas, j.e., & hanson, r. f. (2010). predicting child abuse potential: an empirical investigation of two theoretical frameworks. journal of clinical child psychology, 39, 20-219. doi: 10.1080/15374410903532650. murray-close, d., han, g., cicchetti, d., crick, n.r., & rogosch, f.a. (2008). neuroendocrine regulation and physical and relational aggression: the moderating roles of child maltreatment and gender. developmental psychology, 44, 1160-1176. doi: 10.1037/a0012564. schatz, j.n., smith, l.e., borkowski, j.g., whitman, t.l., & keogh, d.a. (2008). maltreatment risk, selfregulation, and maladjustment in at-risk children. child abuse & neglect, 32, 972-982. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.09.001. schmitt, s.a., mcclelland, m.m., tominey, s.l., & acock, a.c. (2014). strengthening school readiness for head start children: evaluation of a self-regulation intervention. early childhood research quarterly. slopen, n., mclaughlin, k., & shonkoff, j. (2014). interventions to improve cortisol regulation in children: a systematic review. pediatrics, 133, 312-326. doi: 10.1542/peds.2013-1631. u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children & families, administration on children, youth, & families, children’s bureau (2015). child maltreatment 2013. available from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/reach-data-technology/statistics-research/child-maltreatment http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/reach-data-technology/statistics-research/child-maltreatment dialog, 16(1), 172-177 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 research to practice summary enhancing parent engagement and program completion in a home visiting parenting intervention through the use of cellular phones kathryn m. bigelow university of kansas jennifer b. lefever university of notre dame judith j. carta university of kansas john borkowski university of notre dame we examined factors that predict parent engagement and intervention completion in a home visiting parenting intervention. in this randomized trial, we compared the effectiveness of a parenting intervention to a cellular phone enhanced parenting intervention for preventing child maltreatment and promoting positive parenting. we randomly assigned 219 mother-child dyads, most of whom were enrolled in head start programs to a 5-session home visitation intervention (planned activities training-pat) or to cellular phone enhanced pat (cpat). we found that (1) early parent engagement predicted completion of the parenting intervention, (2) parents in the cellular phone enhanced pat were twice as likely to complete the intervention than those in traditional pat, and (3) the quality of parenting prior to entrance in either intervention predicted parent engagement. the implications of this study focus on the importance of early identification of parents who are higher-risk for drop-out in order to provide them additional supports to promote retention. while a growing number of home visiting parenting programs have shown positive results in reducing child maltreatment and enhancing parenting skills in high-risk populations, the results are mixed for many other programs (sweet & appelbaum, 2004). two common barriers to achieving improved family outcomes in home visiting programs are: (1) low levels of parent participation in the programs due to families dropping out of home visiting programs (mccurdy parent engagement and intervention completion 173 & daro, 2001), and (2) low parent engagement, or in other words, parents who are not are actively involved in the intervention or in implementing new skills with their child (korfmacher et al, 2008). when families miss home visits or drop out of interventions early, even the most powerful interventions may have limited effects. when parents have limited engagement in the activities and discussion within home visits, or when they fail to follow through on implementing recommended parenting strategies between intervention sessions, parenting outcomes will probably be less than optimal (sweet & appelbaum, 2004). programs that are able to maintain parents’ participation and keep them actively engaged both during and between home visits are more likely to achieve the desired results of improved parenting outcomes (gomby, 2005). thus, enhancing families’ active involvement in parenting programs and striving to keep parents engaged until they complete the intervention have become important goals for home visitors. yet, research has been limited on the factors that make it more or less likely for parents to remain actively engaged in home visiting programs. further, few studies have identified effective interventions that home visitors can use to promote parents’ engagement in home visiting programs. what is parent engagement? before we can study parent engagement, it is important to acknowledge that the term “engagement” is defined very differently by different researchers. “engagement” has been defined by some as simply showing up for home visits or staying in treatment (wagner, spiker, linn, & hernandez, 2003). others have employed a more dynamic definition describing engagement as the “participation necessary to obtain optimal benefits from an intervention” (prinz & miller, 1991; p. 382). this definition acknowledges that there are multiple elements to parent engagement, which includes regular attendance, involvement, and cooperation during intervention session as well as parent effort that goes beyond the home visit. recognizing that engagement may change over time, many researchers also point to the critical importance of the earliest stages of parents’ involvement in an intervention because parents are more likely to drop out early in the course of intervention if they do not anticipate receiving significant benefits from their participation in the intervention (coatsworth, santisteban, mcbride, & szapocnik, 2001). in our work with families, we incorporated these multiple elements into our definition of parent engagement. we define engagement as “the extent that parents participated in each home visit intervention session, practiced and demonstrated mastery of parenting skills targeted during the home visit session, and maintained their engagement independently throughout the session.” in the current study, we were interested in examining factors that predicted early parent engagement, as well as mothers’ completion of the parenting intervention. one of the primary aims of the study was to determine whether adding cell phones calls and text messages to a parenting intervention would increase parents’ engagement and completion of the intervention. the intervention, planned activity training (pat; lutzker & bigelow, 2002), one of the components of the safecare ® model for preventing child neglect, focused on increasing positive interactions between parents and children by teaching parents skills they can use to structure and engage children in activities. a primary goal of pat is to teach parents to prevent challenging behavior by attending to and reinforcing their children’s appropriate behavior and ignoring minor misbehavior. during home visits, family coaches taught parents to plan stimulating play and 174 bigelow et al. daily living activities in advance, prepare the child for these activities, and engage the child in activities using effective positive interaction skills and incidental teaching. in order to promote more frequent contact between the coaches and the families and, thus, increase parent engagement, half of the participating families received an adaptation of pat in which the intervention was enhanced with cell phone contact (cpat). in addition to the in-home parenting intervention, cpat parents were provided with a cell phone during the intervention phase of pat. cell phones were used to promote increased contact between coaches and parents that consisted of: (1) twice-daily text messages, and (2) phone calls that occurred between home visits. methods used to examine intervention engagement a diverse sample of 219 mother-child dyads with multiple risk factors for child maltreatment and poor child developmental outcomes were recruited from community health, early education and social service agencies. families were randomly assigned to one of two home visiting intervention conditions: pat or cpat. mothers were interviewed prior to the intervention concerning socio-demographic risk and observational measures obtained of their use of pat strategies and the quality of their parenting interactions using the keys to interactive parenting (comfort & gordon, 2006). in addition, independent observations of children’s positive engagement with their parents were obtained using the child behavior rating scales (carta, 2006), and mothers’ ratings of children’s adaptive behavior and internalizing and externalizing behaviors was obtained using the behavior assessment scale for children (reynolds & kamphaus, 2004). for parents assigned to pat, in the initial intervention visit, the coach helped the parent select at least three daily home activities (e.g., mealtime, getting dressed) that might be improved through the use of pat strategies. in each subsequent visit, the coach and parent discussed how pat could be used in one of the selected activities, the coach modeled the skills with the child, parents practiced with the child, and coaches provided feedback. intervention was considered complete when parents scored 90% correct on a 10-item pat checklist (e.g., explaining activities and rules, talking about activities with children, ignoring minor misbehavior, etc.) in at least three different daily routine activities. cell-phone enhanced pat (cpat) for parents assigned to cpat, pat sessions were conducted as described above, however, parents were also provided with a cellular phone with unlimited service during the course of the intervention. in addition, parents had more frequent contact with their family coaches through: (1) phone calls between home visits and (2) twice-daily text messages. coaches called parents each week to inquire about pat use, parent and child activities, child behavior, and to guide future intervention. parents could also contact coaches with their cell phone with expected response times from the coach within 24 hours or by the end of the next day. parents could use the cell phone for personal use, as well. family coaches also sent text messages to the families twice per day, five days per week. text message content was individualized for each mother, and related to the current focus of the intervention taking place during the home visit during that week. the majority of the text messages consisted of reminders to use pat strategies and questions to parents about how the strategies worked for them. some of the 10 text messages sent each week provided suggestions parent engagement and intervention completion 175 for low-cost or free activities or resources within the community, and supportive messages to the mother that did not directly pertain to the intervention (e.g., providing resources or praising mothers’ efforts). in addition, text messages were sent to remind mothers of their next appointment time, or to ask parents for confirmation that parents would be present for visits. parents were encouraged, but not required to respond to text messages. family coaches responded promptly when parents responded to or initiated new text messages. major findings this study had 3 primary aims: (1) to examine whether early engagement influenced program completion and determine whether the use of cellular phones affected completion rates; (2) to determine how pre-intervention child behavior and maternal characteristics were related to levels of early engagement, and (3) to examine parent satisfaction with the parenting intervention and cellular phone enhancement. did intervention condition, early engagement, and risk predict intervention completion? we compared parent drop-out rates for those who received the cellular phone enhanced parenting intervention, and those who received the typical parenting intervention. the odds of completing the intervention were more than twice as high for those who received the cellular phone enhanced parenting intervention (11% drop out rate) than for those who received intervention without the cell phone (23% drop out rate). parents who were more highly engaged at the first intervention visit were more also likely to complete the intervention, but sociodemographic risk (i.e., whether parents experienced symptoms of depression, were unemployed or low income, etc.) was not related to intervention completion. did baseline parenting, child behavior and risk predict early engagement? we found that mothers who used the pat parenting strategies and who engaged in more positive parenting even before receiving the pat intervention were more likely to become engaged in the intervention. mothers who had higher quality interaction skills before the intervention, but who were not already using pat skills became the most engaged in the intervention. children’s behavior and the families’ socio-demographic risk prior to intervention were not related to early engagement in the intervention. did the mothers like the intervention? we asked parents to complete a satisfaction questionnaire after completing the intervention. satisfaction with both traditional pat and the cellular phone enhanced pat was equally very high. across both intervention groups, most mothers (88%) reported that they would recommend the intervention to someone else and that they used the pat strategies ‘a lot’ or ‘all 176 bigelow et al. the time’. nearly all mothers who received the cell phone enhancements enjoyed the frequency of contact with their coaches and thought the amount of texting and number of phone calls was ‘just right.’ implications for practice early levels of engagement are important predictors of who will complete home visiting interventions. home visitors should pay special attention to finding those families who show some difficulties engaging in the intervention and find ways to increase their motivation and level of involvement early on. in our project, cellular phones proved to be helpful in engaging families on a consistent basis and to provide them with encouragement and reminders about their use of the newly learned parenting strategies. we found that using cellular phones to text and call parents between home visits was supportive to parents and in general helped them complete the course of the intervention. cellular phones are now very common, even among low-income families, and text messaging is fairly inexpensive. text messages, by nature, are brief and easy to send. introducing text messaging to parents within a home visitor’s caseload, or even a smaller subset of parents needing additional supports, does not place much additional burden on home visitors’ time and resources. with a very small investment in text messaging software and a little time, home visitors could use their computer to create a text messaging plan aimed at providing intervention supports and reminders to promote a variety of positive behaviors, as well as a way to increase communication and contact with parents on a more consistent basis. text messaging software can be used to schedule text messages in advance and can also be used to send a message to a group of parents. text messages can be tailored to fit within the focus of most home visitation programs and the frequency and timing of text messages can be individualized to fit within existing programs and parent preferences. text messaging is a promising strategy for increasing contact with a hard-to-reach, highly mobile population as well as providing parents with additional support and encouragement aimed at improving parenting practices. providing additional exposure to the content of the intervention throughout the week, in “real time,” helps to encourage parents to use recommended strategies or practices outside of home visits and in novel situations. identifying parents who are potentially less engaged at the beginning of an intervention, and implementing strategies aimed at engaging these parents within the first session or two, can have a significant impact on their long-term engagement and eventual completion of a home visiting program. references carta, j. (2006). child behavior rating scale. juniper gardens children's project, university of kansas. kansas city: ks. coatsworth, j. d., santisteban, d. a., mcbride, c. k., & szapocznik, j. (2001). brief strategic family therapy versus community control: engagement, retention, and an exploration of the moderating role of adolescent symptom severity. family process, 40, 313–331. comfort, m., & gordon, p. r. (2006). the keys to interactive parenting scale (kips): a practical observational assessment of parenting behavior. nhsa dialog, 10, 22-4 gomby, d. s. home visitation in 2005: outcomes for children and parents, working paper no 7, invest in kids working group, july 2005. http://www.ced.org/docs/report/report_ivk_gomby_2005.pdf parent engagement and intervention completion 177 korfmacher, j., green, b., staerkel, f., peterson, c., cook, g., roggman, l., faldowski, r. a., & schiffman, r. (2008) parent involvement in early childhood home visiting. child youth care forum, 37, 171–196. lutzker, j. r., & bigelow, k. m. (2002). reducing child maltreatment: a guidebook for parent services. new york: guilford press. mccurdy, k., & daro, d. (2001). parent involvement in family support programs: an integrated theory. family relations, 50(2), 113–121. prinz, r. j., & miller, g. e. (1991). issues in understanding and treating childhood conduct problems in disadvantaged populations. journal of clinical child psychology, 20, 379–385. reynolds, c.r., & kamphaus, r.w. (2004). behavior assessment scale for children-2. bloomington, mn: pearson assessments. sweet, m., & appelbaum, m. (2004). is home visiting an effective strategy? a meta-analytic review of home visiting programs for families with young children. child development, 75, 1435 – 1456. wagner, m., spiker, d., linn, m. i., & hernandez, f. (2003). dimensions of parental engagement in home visiting programs: exploratory study. topics in early childhood special education, 23, 171-187. patti a. bokony, department of psychiatry, university of arkansas for medical sciences; leanne whitesidemansell, department of family and preventive medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences; and taren swindle, department of family & preventive medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences; patti bokony is now at the department of family and preventive medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences. this research was supported by a contract with the arkansas department of human services division of child care and early childhood education. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to patti a. bokony, department of family & preventive medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences, 4301 w. markham street, slot 723, little rock, ar 72205. email: bokonypattia@uams.edu dialog, 16(1), 183-188 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary family map inventory and tips for great kids!: tools for increasing parent-teacher communication patti a. bokony, leanne whiteside-mansell, and taren swindle university of arkansas for medical sciences family engagement during early childhood increases young children’s school readiness and later school success. parent-teacher communication is a key component in increasing family engagement. we tested the impact of a two-pronged intervention, the family map inventory for early childhood (family map; family assessment) and teaching important parenting skills (tips; parenting education program), on parent-teacher communication in private childcare centers serving low-income families. the intervention included a four-hour family map training and a six-hour tips training. trained teachers conducted family map interviews and implemented tips for four months. results indicated: (1) teachers were willing to implement the family map and tips intervention in private child care settings; and (2) the parents and teachers in the intervention group reported higher levels of parent-teacher communication than those in the comparison group. keywords: parent education; family engagement; early education; parent-teacher communication; parent-teacher relationship children do best when child care providers have meaningful and positive relationships with families (bouffard & weiss, 2008). for this reason, major early childhood professional organizations’ standards for quality child care address family engagement and positive parentprovider relationships (administration for children, youth, and families head start bureau, 184 bokony et al. 2006; national association for family child care, 2009; national association for the education of young children, 2007). however, the idea that child care providers should take the lead in engaging families and building partnerships with parents is relatively new (duran, foster, & national family, school, and community engagement working group, 2010). professional development and tools area needed to build productive partnerships that join parents and teachers together to improve children’s outcomes (harvard family research project, 2006). effective parent-teacher partnerships are reciprocal, on-going, and balanced (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006). parent-teacher communication is a key component of parentteacher partnerships. effective communication flows in both directions. teachers recognize families have unique knowledge of their children. parents recognize teachers have access to resources less available to them. parent-teacher communication is challenging, yet critical, to building positive relationships and supportive connections between home and child care (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006); yet, we have little evidence that parents and teachers actually have meaningful conversations (mcgrath, 2007). during preschool, most communication between parents and teachers occurs during dropoff and pick-up times and is usually brief, polite ‘small talk’ (shpancer, 2002). parents report they most often talk with teachers about child behavior problems and with administrators about problems that may or may not be child related (bridgemohan, van wyk, & van staden, 2005). typically teachers avoid discussing controversial child-rearing practices with parents (fagan, 1994), are unlikely to offer parenting help, encouragement or information (shpancer, 2002), and rate parents’ competence negatively (galinsky, 1990; mcgrath, 2007; phillips, 1991). parents typically do not share family information with childcare workers (shpancer, 2002) nor do they view childcare workers as a resource for child development or childrearing information (kontos & dunn, 1989). teachers in private child care centers report talking with parents less frequently compared to those in centers receiving state or federal funds (ghazvini & readdick, 1994) . training and tools are needed to help child care providers address these challenges to family engagement. this study evaluated a two-pronged intervention designed to prepare child care workers to conduct family assessments, share parenting information and refer families for resources. the intervention consisted of a (1) family assessment tool, the family map inventory for early childhood (family map; whiteside-mansell, bradley, conners, & bokony, 2007) and (2) parenting program teaching important parenting skills: tips for great kids! (tips; bokony, butler, & shaw-bailey, 2011). we examined whether child care providers would utilize the family map and tips intervention (i.e., feasibility) and if the training would impact parentteacher communication as perceived by both teachers and parents. summary of methods study design we recruited licensed, private child care centers serving low-income families (i.e., eligible to receive child care vouchers) to participate in the study. matched centers that agreed to participate were randomly assigned to either the intervention or comparison group. teachers in increasing parent-teacher communication 185 the intervention group received training and materials. the family map and tips trainings were provided on-site at the intervention child care center at times convenient for them, typically saturdays or evenings. teacher and teacher assistants were encouraged to attend. lunch was provided during the training. each classroom received family map assessment for each family and a tips toolkit. once trained, providers conducted the family map at enrollment as they occurred throughout the year. each parent received a resource guide. teachers met with families at drop off and pick up times to share information. surveys were collected from teachers and parents at all centers in the fall (pretest) and again in the spring (posttest). intervention family map inventory. the family map provides a basis for the teacher and parent to talk about child development, parenting and the home environment. the family map is a semistructured interview that assesses key aspects of the family and home environment associated with well-being in 3-5 year old children (whiteside-mansell et al., 2007). the family map helps to systematically identify risk and protective factors. providers are then able to tailor follow-up services to reduce risk conditions (e.g., food insecurity, insufficient sleep, harsh discipline, maternal depression or family conflict) or enhance protective factors associated with healthy development and school readiness (e.g., monitoring and supervision, consistent morning and bedtime routines, in-home learning activities, or enriching out of home experiences). the family map was designed to be used during home visits with head start families. it has also been used during parent-teacher conferences and home visits. the family map includes survey and observation items organized into 12 modules that generally correspond to those in the tips program. the specific items in each module were developed from tools used in national studies of low-income families (i.e., incomes under 100% of the federal poverty level) as well as tools with published reliability and validity. the 4-hour training prepared teachers to conduct the interview, record parents’ responses and respond with appropriate parenting tips or resources. teaching important parenting skills: tips for great kids! tips is based on the brief parenting intervention (bpi) model in which child care providers share research based information with families during brief, focused conversations. teacher share information and resources tailored to meet parents’ unique interests (e.g., choosing books, selecting toys), concerns (e.g., daytime toileting accidents, tantrums) and needs (e.g., housing, utility assistance) or provide anticipatory guidance (e.g., reading aloud, oral health care). the 6-hour tips training is conducted by certified trainers. training materials include powerpoint presentation, handouts that encourage reflection and application, a training guide, and a tips toolkit. training activities include lecture, discussion, interactive small and large group activities and behavior rehearsal. the content of the training introduces teachers to the bpi model, reviews the impact of risk and protective factors on children and families, offers strategies for initiating positive parent-teacher dialog, and teaches the use of the tips toolkit. targeted skills include listening for and responding to parents’ interests and concerns, assessing parents’ readiness for anticipatory guidance, recognizing parent’s current level of knowledge and skills as the starting point for conversations, and motivating change. teachers are encouraged to adjust their schedules to 186 bokony et al. allow for morning or end of day interactions with families, use strategies to resolve conflict, and promote mutual goals for children. the tips materials are organized into a toolkit. each toolkit contains: (1) what the experts say manual (a synthesis of the research on topics in 12 domains shown to be important to children’s well-being; (2) parent tip cards (brief parenting message on a 4” x 6”, 150 words or less, 6th grade or below reading level, in english and spanish); (3) quick reference cards (main parent message and related parenting skills for each tip); and (4) parents’ guide to community resources (indexed guide to community resources in spanish and english). major findings feasibility overall, the teacher ratings of the tips and family map trainings were positive. half of the teachers reported completing one or more family map interviews. teachers were generally comfortable conducting the family assessment interview, agreed that information learned in the interview helped them to understand the family and the child’s classroom behavior. all teachers reported learning at least something about the child from the interview. most (95.6%) of teachers reported sharing parenting tips. they generally agreed they liked the tips program, understood how the tips program worked, felt comfortable talking about tips, learned new things from tips, gave families suggestions using tips, thought parents used the tips given to them, saw parenting using tips given to them, and believed parents liked having the tips program in their center. parent-teacher communication both teachers and parents in the intervention and comparison groups were asked to report on parent-teacher communication. intervention teachers reported higher communication patterns with parents, both in providing help to parents and in answering parent questions. teachers in the intervention group reported parents asked for help with family problems and for information about parenting significantly more often than the comparison teachers reported. similarly, intervention parents reported significantly more ‘help received’ than parents in the comparison group, specifically on items related to family and parenting. the results of the study indicate the intervention had a significant positive impact on teacher-parent communication from the teachers' perspective and parents’ perspective. implications for practice to adequately meet the needs of families of young children, experts recommend early care and education programs need to provide more parenting education and supports in new and more diverse ways. considerable research supports the importance of strong parental involvement and increasing parent-teacher communication 187 positive parent-teacher relationships on child outcomes. however, there is little evidence of meaningful parent engagement in early childhood programs (olson & fuller, 2003). in this study, teachers in the intervention group were provided tools (training and materials) aimed at increasing parent-teacher communication. the family map provided a tool for preschool providers to identify family strengths and needs. the tips program provided intervention teachers with training to build strong partnerships with parents and immediate access to research based information about child development, parenting, the home environment, and community resources. this study provides some evidence that private child care providers are willing to expand their role to include family assessment and sharing of information and support with families. parents were willing to participate in the interviews. parents’ reported asking teachers for help in areas related to family and parenting. this indicates that when given the opportunity, parent and teacher communication can move beyond ‘small talk.’ head start centers are mandated to identify families’ needs and strengths and establish family partnerships. the family map inventory is a valid and reliable tool that has been successfully used during home visits. tips was developed in collaboration with the family map to provide an easily accessible resource for teachers to address needs and interests of families. this study provides some evidence that the family map and tips intervention improves parentteacher communication and help-giving and is acceptable to both teachers and parents. references administration for children, youth, and families (dhhs), washington, dc head start bureau. (2006). head start program regulations and program guidance for parts 1304 and 1308. revised bokony, p. a., butler, p., & shaw-bailey, d. (2011). teaching important parenting skills: tips for great kids! trainers guide for basic training. little rock, ar: university of arkansas for medical sciences. bouffard, s., & weiss, h. (2008). thinking big: a new framework for family involvement policy, practice, and research. the evaluation exchange, 14, 2-5. bridgemohan, r., van wyk, n., & van staden, c. (2005). home-school communication in the early childhood development phase. education, 126, 60-77. bronfenbrenner, u., & morris, p. a. (2006). the bioecological model of human development. in r. m. lerner, w. damon, r. m. lerner & w. damon (eds.), handbook of child psychology: vol 1, theoretical models of human development (6th ed. ed., pp. 793-828). hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons, inc. duran, m., foster, a. w. e. a., & national family, school, and community engagement working group. (2010). taking leadership, innovating change: profiles in family, school, and community engagement. family involvement network of educators. retrieved from http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browseour-publications/taking-leadership-innovating-change-profiles-in-family-school-and-communityengagement fagan, j. (1994). mother and father involvement in day care centers serving infants and young toddlers. early childhood development and care, 103, 95-101. galinsky, e. (1990). why are some parent/teacher partnerships clouded with difficulties? young children, 45, 3839. ghazvini, a. s., & readdick, c. a. (1994). parent-caregiver communication and quality of care in diverse child care settings. early childhood research quarterly, 9, 207-222. harvard family research project. (2006). family involvement in early childhood education. cambridge, ma: harvard family research project, harvard graduate school of education. kontos, s., & dunn, l. (1989). attitudes of caregivers, maternal experiences with day care, and children's development. journal of applied developmental psychology, 10, 37-51. http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/taking-leadership-innovating-change-profiles-in-family-school-and-community-engagement http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/taking-leadership-innovating-change-profiles-in-family-school-and-community-engagement http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/taking-leadership-innovating-change-profiles-in-family-school-and-community-engagement 188 bokony et al. mcgrath, w. h. (2007). ambivalent partners: power, trust, and partnership in relationships between mothers and teachers in a full-time child care center. teachers college record, 109(6), 1401-1422. national association for family child care. (2009). quality standards for nafcc accreditation. salt lake city, ut: national association for family child care. national association for the education of young children. (2007). naeyc early childhood program standards and accreditation criteria: the mark of quality early childhood education. washington, dc: author. olson, g., & fuller, m. (2003). home-school relations: working successfully with parents and families. (2nd ed.). boston, ma: allyn and bacon. phillips, d. a. (1991). day care for young children in the united states. in e. c. melhuish, & p. moss (eds.), daycare for young children. (pp. 185-198). new york, ny: tavistock/routledge. shpancer, n. (2002). the home-daycare link: mapping children's new world order. early childhood research quarterly, 17, 374-392. whiteside-mansell, l., bradley, r. h., conners, n. a., & bokony, p. a. (2007). the family map: structured family interview to identify strengths and risks in head start families. nhsa dialog: a research-to-practice journal for the early intervention field, 10, 189-209. dialog, 16(2), 113-119 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to susanne a. denham, george mason university, department of psychology, 4400 university dr. ms 3f5, fairfax, va, 22030-4444, email: sdenahm@gmu.edu.the present study was funded by nichd grant #r01hd51514. research-to-practice summary keep calm and carry on: the importance of children’s emotional positivity and regulation for success in head start yana s. sirotkin, susanne a. denham, hideko h. bassett, and katherine m. zinsser george mason university young children’s emotional competence plays a significant role in their ability to thrive in school. specifically, the ability to regulate their emotions according to situational demands, while remaining emotionally positive towards others, are very important contributors to children’s social success (denham, brown, & domitrovich, 2010; halberstadt, denham, & dunsmore, 2001; raver, garner, & smith-donald, 2007). these skills are particularly important for children in head start programs who already demonstrate a significant achievement gap as early as kindergarten (e.g., campbell & stauffenberg, 2008; raver & knitzer, 2002; ryan, fauth, & brooks-gunn, 2006). in light of these findings, the present study focused on the relations between positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation of head start preschoolers and both their school adjustment and academic readiness during head start and in kindergarten. the social emotional skills of children attending head start programs were observed and directly assessed, and their teachers provided information regarding via questionnaires. the results indicated that emotion regulation and positive emotion/engagement observed during challenging regulatory tasks were related in interpretable ways with both behavior with peers and school success. nevertheless, being positive emotionally and socially during these emotionally taxing situations was associated with poorer self-regulation under these circumstances. implications for practice in terms of assessment, social-emotional teaching and teachers’ emotional competence are discussed. young children's emotional competence has been found to play a significant role in their school readiness (denham et al., 2010; raver et al., 2007). learning how to regulate emotions and behaviors in socially appropriate ways is one of the main developmental achievements in the early years (denham et al., 2003; eisenberg, spinrad, & morris, 2002; halberstadt et al., 2001). being positively oriented towards others is another important milestone during this period (parker & gottman, 1989). preschool is a busy and important time in children’s lives, because they now have the opportunity to practice and improve their developing ability to regulate emotions in a variety of social situations, while engaging positively with their teachers and peers (shields et al., 2001). the preschool and kindergarten contexts can be particularly challenging for young children because they present new challenges such as sitting still, following directions, attending, and participating in organized group activities while getting along with others 114 sirotkin et al. (denham, 2006). based on the core developmental tasks of the preschool years, two aspects of emotional competence, emotional expressiveness and emotional regulation, emerge as being particularly important skills for children to master to successfully adapt to social contexts. for young children to initiate and carry out successful social interactions with others, they must learn how to express their emotions in accordance with their goals and in socially appropriate ways (halberstadt et al., 2001). positive emotion is an important contributor to children’s social success. children who express more positive emotions towards others exhibit less internalizing and externalizing nonadaptive behavior in preschool, are more liked by their peers, and are perceived as more socially competent by their teachers (arsenio & lover, 1997; denham et al., 1990; denham et al., 2003; eisenberg et al., 1993; miller, seifer, stroud, sheinkopf, & dickstein, 2006; walden, lemerise, & smith, 1999). positive emotional expressiveness is important not only because it supports children’s social skills, but also because it can help moderate negative emotions and facilitates recovery from arousal (izard, stark, trentacosta, & schultz, 2008). consequently, it may explain in part why emotionally positive children are more successful in classroom tasks: they are seen as betteradjusted to the demands of a classroom (e.g., they demonstrate abilities to adjust to routines, comply with limits, participate with enthusiasm and focus in structured activities, along with forming positive relationships with teachers and peers; shin et al., 2011). emotion regulation, the ability to regulate the experience and expression of emotions in socially appropriate manners (cole, michel, & teti, 1994), is another aspect of emotional competence that has been shown to contribute to children’s social skills (blair, denham, kochanoff, & whipple, 2004; denham et al., 2003). moreover, even more strongly than emotional expressiveness, emotion regulation is closely related to children’s school adjustment and academic success. specifically, children who are able to regulate their emotions in accordance with situational and social demands, deal more appropriately with disappointments, frustrations, and hurt feelings. as a result, they have better social skills, are more popular among their peers, and will be able to learn more easily in early schooling (denham, 1998, 2006; eisenberg et al., 1993, 1996, fabes et al., 1999; garber, braafladt, & zeman, 1991; walden, lemerise, & smith, 1999). in contrast, children who have difficulties regulating their emotions, may find the academic environment more challenging and thus have fewer resources left for learning (graziano, reavis, keane, & calkins, 2007; miller et al., 2006; shields et al., 2001). these aspects of emotional competence may be particularly important for children attending head start. children living in poverty and inequity already demonstrate a significant achievement gap as early as kindergarten (e.g., campbell & stauffenberg, 2008; raver & knitzer, 2002; ryan, fauth, & brooks-gunn, 2006). specifically, head start students tend to exhibit more social-emotional deficits (e.g., less emotional knowledge and social information processing) (denham et al., 2012). subsequently, kindergarten teachers considered them less socially competent and adjusted in the classroom in terms of learning behaviors and attitudes. thus, it is particularly important to identify, track, and maximize head start students’ positive expressiveness and positive engagement in the classroom, as well as their emotion regulation. doing so could benefit their early school success. keep calm and carry on 115 in light of these findings, in the present study, the researchers explored the relations between positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation of head start preschoolers and both their school adjustment and academic readiness during head start and in kindergarten. summary of researh method the study involved working with 138 4-year-old children in head start programs. of the 86% of families reporting, 60.1% were africanamerican and 19.6% caucasian; 17.4% of families identified as hispanic. data for positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation ratings, as well as the directly assessed or observed validity measures, were collected during fall of children’s last preschool year, and teacher measures were completed at the end of children’s last preschool and kindergarten years. positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation were assessed via assessor’s observations of the children’s behaviors during self-regulation performance tasks (see psra below). in addition, a 28-item assessor report was completed by the assessor afterwards, which addressed children’s behavior, emotions, and attention during assessor-child interaction. the preschool self-regulation assessment (psra. smith-donald et al., 2007) was utilized to directly assess children’s self-regulation. it addressed the emotional, attentional, and behavioral components of self-regulation by using a brief, structured battery of tasks, followed by a global report of children’s behavior during the assessment. minnesota preschool affect checklist-revised/shortened (mpac-r/s) was used to assess children’s positive emotion expression and their emotion dysregulation via observations, as validity checks for the positive emotion/engagement and regulation scores (see denham et al., in press; denham & burton, 1996; denham, zahn-waxler, cummings, & iannotti, 1991). three different assessment tools were used to capture emotional, social, behavioral, attitudinal, and learning-related aspects of school adjustment. the social competence and behavior evaluation-30 (scbe-30, lafreniere & dumas, 1996) questionnaire was used to asses preschooler’s social competence and behavior. additionally, teachers rated children’s approaches to learning using the preschool learning behaviors scale (plbs, mcdermott, leigh, & perry, 2002), and they rated classroom adjustment in preschool and kindergarten via the teacher rating scale of school adjustment (trssa, ladd, kochenderfer, & coleman, 1997). scores from these questionnaires were aggregated to form a broader index of school adjustment. preschool academic readiness was assessed with the phonological awareness literacy screening for preschool (pals-prek, invernizzi, sullivan, & meier, 2001). this tool was designed to assess emerging literacy skills in children prior to beginning kindergarten. also, kindergarten academic readiness was assessed via ecls-k academic rating scale (ars, u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics, 2002). the questionnaire completed by teachers, addresses language and literacy, general knowledge, and mathematical thinking aspects of kindergarten academic readiness. major findings children who remained positive and engaged, as well as emotionally regulated, during one-onone activities (psra) that challenged their self-regulation, were also more likely to display 116 sirotkin et al. similar skills during free-play in the classroom. for example, children who were able to keep their cool during these somewhat frustrating tasks were able to refrain from aggression during social encounters with their peers. further, children’s ability to stay positive in these emotionally taxing situations also translated to similar positivity during social play with classmates. emotion regulation and positive emotion/engagement also contributed to aspects of school success. emotion regulation made unique contributions to teachers’ views of the children’s classroom adjustment, such as their motivation to learn and belief in their competence, cooperation with others and classroom routines, and positive attitude toward learning. moreover, the ability to remain positive and engaged was related to their emerging academic skills, as rated by teachers both concurrently and in kindergarten. hence, being more positively engaged during emotionally challenging situations contributed to children’s social skills, as well as their attainment of relatively complex preliteracy skills. however, this same positive emotion/engagement was related to lower selfregulation during these emotionally taxing situations. in other words, children who were in a more positive mood during challenging regulatory tasks were found to be less self-regulated, in terms of behaviors like paying attention, refraining from impulsive behaviors, sustaining concentration, and waiting for desired outcomes. this initially counterintuitive outcome may stem from reduced mental resources available for the task due to the positive mood of the child. in other words, children with more positive mood are less focused on the task itself (phillips, bull, adams, & fraser, 2002). alternatively, perhaps children are more focused on the person they are interacting with, rather than on the assignment. in general, then, emotion regulation and positive emotion/engagement observed during challenging regulatory tasks were related in interpretable ways with both behavior with peers and school success. nevertheless, being positive emotionally and socially during these emotionally taxing situations was associated with poorer self-regulation under these circumstances. implications for practice based on these findings regarding the relations between emotional competence and academic adjustment among head start preschoolers, several useful lessons emerge for future program planning and teachers’ instruction strategies. specifically, this research has implications for assessment, the importance of social emotional teaching, and teachers’ own emotional competence. assessments 1. children’s academic skills are closely related to their social and emotional development and therefore their acquisition of social-emotional skills must also be monitored. these skills are constantly evolving and should therefore be assessed on an ongoing basis. this assessment can be done via questionnaires filled out by the teachers and/or the child’s caregivers, observations in the classroom, and/or direct assessment, as in the present study. 2. this assessment should take place at different times during the school day (e.g., circle time, center time, lunch, and other transition times) as children’s social and emotional keep calm and carry on 117 capacities are challenged differently throughout the day. 3. information from such monitoring assessments can inform teachers’ lesson plans either for specific children or their class as a whole. social emotional teaching 1. teachers should dedicate part of their curriculum to talking about emotions, since emotional coaching is an important contributor to the development of emotional competence (denham, 1998). 2. teachers should strive to provide children with opportunities to practice their regulatory skills and provide feedback on their behavior. praising the children when they successfully regulate their emotions will be an important contributor to further development of this skill. 3. teachers can organize their teaching routines based on the results of children’s individual assessments. specifically, children who need more assistance with their social-emotional skills can be grouped together with children who exhibit more efficient social-emotional capacities. in this way, a more productive learning environment can be achieved with the goal of promoting children’s social-emotional skills in order to maximize their academic abilities. teacher emotional competence 1. teachers should keep in mind that in addition to direct teaching about emotions during structured lessons, they teach children about emotions through normal daily interactions. their own modeling of expression of emotions and the ways in which they respond to children’s emotions will shape future emotional experiences and their expression. in other words, if a child is discouraged when expressing anger (“stop that screaming”), she will learn that such emotion is not accepted. consequently, her future emotional experience can hinder her social experiences (denham, 1998). moreover, children who understand emotions better are able to remain more positive during challenging interactions and hence are seen as more competent by their teachers (denham, 1998). therefore, tailoring these ways of interaction with the children to their emerging emotional skills will contribute to their academic abilities (denham, bassett, & zinsser, 2012). 2. teachers are not alone in their efforts to promote children’s social, emotional and academic readiness. by including parents in their plans, a developing child will benefit if all the adults she interacts with will tailor their interactions to her developing abilities and promotion of her emotional competence. hence, teachers ought to share their observations, assessments and educational plans with the parents in order to apply the individually tailored plans across the environments the child is experiencing. by examining the contributions of emotion expression and emotion regulation to children’s successful navigation of preschool, we have drawn important guidelines for teachers to use in 118 sirotkin et al. their classrooms in order to promote children’s emotional and social skills. children who were positively engaged and regulated their emotions better during emotionally challenging situations demonstrated similar abilities during social play with classmates. moreover, preschool teachers in this study rated these children as also more proficient in mastering more complex pre-literacy skills and adjusting to the head start classroom. preschool teachers are charged with the ever important task of promoting young children’s pre-academic skills. the results of the current study underscore the importance of evaluation of emotional expressiveness and emotion regulation in the program 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(1999). friendship and popularity in preschool children. early education and development, 10, 351-371 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111%2f1467-9507.00150 http://psycnet.apa.org.mutex.gmu.edu/index.cfm?fa=search.displayrecord&id=9e418b91-018a-88a9-b8ee-926bd34c9f84&resultid=1&page=1&dbtab=pi http://psycnet.apa.org.mutex.gmu.edu/index.cfm?fa=search.displayrecord&id=9e418b91-018a-88a9-b8ee-926bd34c9f84&resultid=1&page=1&dbtab=pi http://psycnet.apa.org.mutex.gmu.edu/doi/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2008.00058.x http://dx.doi.org/10.2307%2f1132300 http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1207/s15566935eed1201_5 http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.ecresq.2007.01.002 dialog, 16(1), 236-252 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 1 the term parent is used throughout this article. the authors recognize that often children live with caregivers who may not be their parents. rather than constantly using the term parent/caregiver or parent/family member or a more elaborated term, we have chosen to use parent alone. dialog from the field parent 1 participation in family programs: involvement in literacy interactions, adult and child instruction, and assessment andrea d. parecki and sabra b. gear old dominion university the purpose of this article is to describe optimal parent participation in family literacy programs and parent-child literacy interactions, most specifically during interactive reading. family literacy can be interpreted in many ways, resulting in diverse models of implementation that take place in head start programs, community agencies, schools and other venues. since early literacy starts in the home environment where parents, across cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, want their children to learn successfully, family literacy programs that enhance parent-child interactions can directly assist many parents in supporting their children to become proficient readers. implementation and outcomes of program activities on children’s early literacy development, and how these activities interact with existing family literacy practices need to be determined through reliable and valid methods. consequently, this article addresses variables within two inter-related family literacy components — parent participation in family literacy programs and parent-child interactive literacy activities (ila), specifically interactive reading —and ways to assess these variables, providing data that program staff can use to inform improvements. this article focuses on the quality of classroom practices that will result in parents’ development of knowledge and enactment of related skills to support their children’s language and emergent literacy skills. keywords: parent/family involvement in school; literacy; parent/adult-child relationship; methods/measures development family literacy can be interpreted in many ways, resulting in diverse models of implementation that take place in head start programs, community agencies, schools and other venues. most family literacy interventions include specific program components for parent participation in family literacy programs and for parent-child literacy interactions (darling & lee, 2003; santos laanan & cox, 2006). however, data are infrequently collected in family literacy programs on parent participation in family literacy programs 237 the content and processes of parent participation, or the quality of parentchild interactions (van steensel, mcelvany, kurvers, & herppich, 2011). implementation and outcomes of program activities on children’s early literacy development, and how they interact with existing family literacy practices need to be determined through reliable and valid methods. language and literacy development patterns are clearly established in early childhood. although it is developmentally appropriate to follow a child’s lead, parents can initiate language and literacy activities within family routines and across settings. well-timed recommendations and parental support to foster early language and literacy skills can help propel children toward being on track with their age mates. parents can promote their children’s language and literacy development in a myriad of ways supported by empirical literature. from a child’s birth, parents can enhance the quality and quantity of parent-child verbal communications by actively listening, responding, repeating, and expanding upon their children’s uses of language (dodici, draper, & peterson, 2003; hart & risley, 1995; hester, kaiser, alpert, & whiteman, 1995). parents can tell stories and read picture books to their babies and young children (britto, brooks-gunn, & griffin, 2006; duursma, pan & raikes, 2008). further, parents who join story sharing at the library (campbell, 2004), family literacy groups (debruin-parecki, 2009; jay & rohl, 2005), and early literacy support programs (waldbart, meyers, & meyers, 2006), read interactively with their children more often (darling & westberg, 2004; fielding-barnsley & purdie, 2003). parents can increase the amount and quality of their dialogue during interactive book reading (crain-thoreson & dale, 1999). parent-directed explicit instruction such as rhyming (bradley & bryant, 1983), alliteration (justice, kaderavek, bowles, & grimm, 2005), and scaffolding of phonological awareness skills can positively influence their children’s later reading abilities (al otaiba & smartt, 2003). parents can reflect on their own literacy beliefs and behaviors, and how these can support their children’s development (bingham, 2007). finally, parents can enrich early language and literacy experiences by increasing the number of demonstrations of affection and nurturance for their children (merlo, bowman, & barnett, 2007). parents are the secret ingredient---able to balance high challenge and expectations, to kindle motivation, and to supply bountiful support, crafting the best recipe for their children’s reading acquisition and attainment. apart from the evidence of the potential to positively influence children and their families, mounting a feasible, efficient, and cost-effective family literacy program is not a simple task. ongoing concerns in the field of family literacy revolve around securing sufficient funding and accountability, recruiting and retaining parent participants, measuring progress and outcomes, establishing the relevancy for families from diverse backgrounds, and identifying goals and objectives (debruin-parecki, 2009). concerns about the role of parents as interventionists, teaching their children early language and literacy skills, stress the need to examine intervention methodologies developed and demonstrated to be beneficial to parents and children while targeting early language and literacy development. since early literacy starts in the home environment where parents, across cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, want their children to learn successfully, family literacy programs that enhance parent-child interactions can directly assist many parents in supporting their children to become proficient readers. the purpose of this article is to describe optimal parent participation and parent-child communication. this article addresses variables within two inter-related family literacy components—parent participation in family literacy programs and parent-child interactive literacy activities (ila), most specifically interactive reading—and ways to assess these 238 parecki & gear variables, providing data that program staff can use to inform improvements. this article focuses on the quality of classroom practices that will result in parents’ development of knowledge and enactment of related skills to support their children’s language and emergent literacy skills. parent participation in family literacy programs many parents would like more time with their child to promote learning. due to busy schedules, a parent-child literacy interaction is often the only time they have to devote to a specific child (anderson & morrison, 2007). to ensure that parents have this time, many parent education programs choose to run a shorter, less comprehensive program focused on teaching parents interactive reading strategies (anderson & morrison, 2007; debruin-parecki, 2007; saracho, 2008; waldbart et al., 2006). such programs can also provide tools parents can use to promote their children’s language and interpersonal skills, such as conversational turn taking. parent education programs are especially powerful when they value uniqueness of family backgrounds. programs such as the parents as literacy supporters (pals) are “guided by the belief that parents and teachers would come to understand each other and develop mutual understandings of ways to support children’s early development…” (anderson & morrison, 2007, p.72.). mutual understanding occurs with acceptance of diverse cultural backgrounds and agreed upon paths toward successfully meeting program goals. parent-child interaction time tends to be child-led and play-focused, which can sometimes conflict with parents’ cultural beliefs and the home behaviors that accompany them (powell, okagaki, & bojcyk, 2004). although parent education is a component of most family literacy programs, educators typically receive little direct guidance in finding resources to use in addressing parents’ interests or covering topics on child language development. most parent education programs use pre written curricula, such as the bavolek model of nurturing parents (bavolek & bavolek, 2001), the bowdoin method of parenting (bowdoin, 1993), or the incredible years (reid, webster stratton, & beauchaine, 2001), a program shown to display cultural sensitivity across multiple ethnic groups. other programs prefer to use culturally specific instruction such as enhancing nurturing parenting skills in african-american families (artis & moody, 1995). systematic training for effective parenting (step) (dinkmeyer, mckay, dinkmeyer, & mckay, 2008) and parent effectiveness training (pet) (gordon, 2000) are also widely used programs. some programs combine a variety of resources, such as those from different government agencies, various existing curricula, and popular books. parenting literature (e.g., baumrind, 1971) may also be consulted. parent training is implemented both at home and in early childhood education centers. program assessment typically includes surveys, questionnaires, and interviews, rating scales and testing instruments. cultural sensitivity concerns have been raised in the area of program assessment, and in the implementation of methods and strategies provided in parent education program, including those that support children’s language development. strategies that support children’s language development parent educators can facilitate parents’ use of language and literacy strategies in communicating with their children. the parent and child together (pact) family literacy component can be structured to provide parents opportunities to interact with their children across homeand parent participation in family literacy programs 239 center-based settings. parents and children can practice reading and other literacy skills with support from parent educators who honor parents’ roles as their children’s first language teachers (darling & lee, 2003). emphasis can be placed on new words, and this cannot only increase language development, but also build essential background knowledge. pact time typically includes playing with toys and games, drawing pictures, telling and writing stories, going on outings, and reading (cooter, 2006; saracho, 2009). researchers (hart, 2000; hart & risley, 1995; peterson, carta, & greenwood, 2005; tamis-lemonda, shannon, cabrera, & lamb, 2005) have reported that these activities provide essential settings for developing language skills. hester, kaiser, alpert, and whiteman (1995) demonstrated that milieu teaching, a naturalistic approach that uses environmental stimuli such as toys for prompting parent-child conversation, is vital for children with special needs. the next section will describe interactive reading as an important effective, evidence-based focus for enhancing parent-child interactions. interactive reading research and practice over the past 25 years point to the value of interactive reading for young children (e.g., bracken & fischel, 2008; bus & van ijzendoorn, 1995; wasik, 2001). when implemented with strategies that support learning, interactive reading can be instrumental in promoting the skills and motivation to become an effective reader (baker, mackler, sonnenschein & serpell, 2001; isbell, sobol, lindauer, & lowrance, 2004; morrow, 1990). interactive reading is defined as reading aloud that includes conversation, relies on the give and take of turn taking, and engages children in the learning process (debruin-parecki, 1997). interactive reading has served five important purposes for children (baker et al., 2001; debruin parecki, 2007; gear, 2010; hood, conlon & andrews, 2008; mol, bus, dejong, & smeets, 2008): (a) actively engaging understanding of a book’s meaning through predicting, inferring, and drawing conclusions; (b) expanding knowledge and use of new vocabulary; (c) familiarizing with concepts about print; (d) developing awareness skills of letter and sound knowledge and correspondences; and (e) motivating a desire to read. interactive reading with children occurs across settings carried out by a diverse cast of readers including, but not limited to, parents/guardians, siblings, grandparents, and teachers. interactive reading can be engaging, instructional, and fun. strategies used to support the interactive reading process are the key to its success (debruin-parecki, 2009). why supporting interactive reading is important infusing specific behaviors during joint book reading promotes academic success for children (jordan, snow, & porche, 2000; paratore, 2003), particularly for those who are read to frequently with readily available books and materials (neuman, 1999, 2006; purcell-gates, 2000). children of parents or caregivers who demonstrate excitement (sonnenschein & munsterman, 2002) and partnership during interactive reading (debruin-parecki, 2007, 2009; martin & reutzel, 1999; whitehurst et al., 1988) tend to enter school better prepared for learning to read, knowing more vocabulary, and better able to converse with peers and teachers (beck & mckeown, 2001; richman & columbo, 2007; sénéchal, 1997). children can learn phonological awareness skills 240 parecki & gear through interactive reading, concepts about print, alphabetic knowledge, and comprehension (bracken & fischel, 2008; debruin-parecki, 2007). even with the knowledge that effective interactive reading can promote development of future success for readers, there is still the underlying issue of how diverse ethnic and socio-economic groups interpret and engage in joint reading behaviors. with this in mind, it is still important to provide all populations with culturally sensitive instructional methods and strategies for interactive reading practice. instructional methods and strategies for interactive reading this section provides guidelines for educators implementing interactive reading with program participants, and describes ways of empowering parents as teachers, listeners, and partners in the education of their children. instructional settings, content, methods, and strategies, are also described to create a framework for optimizing parent involvement in family literacy. basic guidelines for parent instruction parent educators must acknowledge that parents and children learn and grow from complex, dynamic family systems situated in diverse cultural communities (dudley-marling, 2009; paratore, 2005). educators must establish and maintain open dialogues, build meaningful relationships with parents, and use practices that positively impact child learning. establishing a quality parent-educator partnership will provide opportunities to flexibly adapt to the changing dynamics of each family system and to foster children’s early literacy development. children’s literacy development requires establishing a quality partnership that focuses on a family’s strengths (carter, chard, & pool, 2009). identifying each member’s unique strengths, values, beliefs, attitudes, and expectations is essential. educators must also become aware of their own expectations, value and belief system, and strengths. skills that partners need to develop include actively listening to ideas, and achieving reciprocity in communication, or a free flow of meaningful dialogue (neuman, hagedorn, celano & daly, 1995; sheely-moore & ceballos, 2011). cairney (2002) identified this collaboration where partners share equally in their efforts, responsibilities, and decision-making processes as crucial for positive child outcomes. achieving a high level of successful outcomes necessitates developing goals for children’s early literacy skills (neuman et al., 1995). goals target one or more of the following early language and literacy skills for child development: listening, talking, identifying and labeling objects, sounds, letters, and numbers, reading, drawing, and printing. positive experiences for parents and their children depend on certain outcomes such as accessing a wide range of children’s books, increasing use of reading strategies, creating a close parent-child communication bond, and increasing parent self-efficacy and high expectations (camilleri, spiteri, & wolfendale, 2005). parent participation in family literacy programs 241 parent empowerment carter et al. (2009) developed a family strengths model to facilitate opportunities for parents to embed language and literacy activities within daily routines. this model provides parents with opportunities to increase learning through modeling language and literacy interactions with their children, and recognizing their achievements. steps begin with identifying family strengths, routines and daily opportunities for practicing reading, writing, and oral language skills. intended outcomes include: a) improved literacy skills in the child’s oral language, vocabulary, print awareness, and sound and letter knowledge; and b) improved literacy beliefs and attitudes through shared enjoyment of interactive literacy activities (ila). anderson, anderson, friedrich, and kim (2010) emphasize listening to families, affirming their existing practices, and building upon these with evidence based methods (e.g., shared reading, adult-child dialogic reading, didactic instruction, and technology assisted instruction). considered below are the instructional settings, methods, strategies and content that form the context in which parent empowerment is developed. instructional settings, methods, strategies, and content settings. sénéchal and young (2008) identified three settings of parent–teacher partnerships: school-based, home-school conferencing, and home-based. thus, teachers must first identify each instructional setting to be included in an interactive reading program. then, they must match each setting to a specific teaching method for implementation. finally, teachers need to include strategies for generalizing parent-child interactive reading across diverse settings. instructional methods and strategies. neuman et al. (1995) explain the need for using instructional methods and parent supports that are culturally responsive. they recommend inviting parents into the school to participate in their children’s reading activities, and extending school interactive reading sessions to home settings. they also recommend using video recorded reading sessions for coaching parents in reading strategies that they can practice with their children, such as labeling pictures and scaffolding children’s use of oral language. teaching parents to embed early literacy strategies while reading with their child produces greater reading outcomes (darling & westberg, 2004). parents can use strategies that teach their children to associate letter names with letter sounds, blend beginning and ending word sounds, teach new vocabulary words, and encourage language use. providing parents with meaningful lessons that encourage these strategies is extremely helpful. instruction and coaching parents in the use of strategies needs to be meaningful, effective, goal directed, and developmentally sequenced. other ways of teaching parents about interactive reading involve the collaboration of school personnel, modification of materials, and tapping into family-friendly ways to produce proficient readers. come and fredericks (1995) recommend establishing parent-child workshops where instructional supports are devoted to increasing the quality of parent-child interactions in reading. participating in a book exchange program can increase family access to high quality literature, as does inviting parents to read with their child in classrooms and libraries. 242 parecki & gear instructional content. debruin-parecki (2009) emphasizes that the quality of parent child interaction is vitally linked to the program’s instructional content and processes, and its assessment. therefore, high quality, culturally relevant instructional content that supports interactive reading is an essential piece that teachers can provide to facilitate successful parent and child outcomes. “family literacy nights/noches de lectura con la familia” (debruin-parecki, 2009, p. 388) details a family literacy program that can be implemented for adults and children with culturallinguistic diversity and socioeconomic disadvantage. the program also provides professional development for the parent educators. the curriculum is completed within a manageable length of time, providing content instruction to support interactive reading. weekly lessons for parents target specific, observable behaviors linked to increasing parent and child outcomes identified by the adult/child interactive reading inventory, an assessment tool to be discussed further in a later section (aciri; debruin-parecki, 2007). parents learn to read interactively while maintaining physical proximity to their children, engaging their children’s interest by encouraging them to hold the book and turn pages, exhibiting a sense of audience, posing and responding to their questions, relating the book’s content to authentic experiences, prompting questions and pausing to answer questions, using visual/picture cues, predicting, retelling, and elaborating on concepts and ideas (debruin-parecki, 2009). teaching parents to converse by listening and responding to children promotes active engagement and extends learning opportunities (gjems, 2010). extended learning opportunities through productive conversations can increase children’s vocabulary and background knowledge. vocabulary size has been identified as a powerful predictor of oral and reading comprehension, but there is debate about the most effective ways to help build children’s vocabulary. some believe children should first learn words when they are encountered in books and follow that with direct instruction in vocabulary, while others feel they should learn the words prior to hearing them read aloud in context (beck, mckeown, & kucan, 2003; neuman & dwyer, 2009). reading to children increases their background knowledge (wan, 2000). when hearing stories or conversations, children with more background knowledge find it easier to understand the meanings of new words by making connections to words and concepts that they already understand (nash & snowling, 2006). drawing on vygotsky’s (1978) theory of the zone of proximal development, children explain how they understand a new word by connecting to their prior experiences and knowledge. the role of the teacher or parent is to assist the child in making these background knowledge connections by expanding on their personal examples and facilitating productive conversations. while there is strong evidence of the importance of specific instructional content and process, there are also challenges to overcome before teaching can begin. challenges and issues in parent education there are innumerable challenges in the implementation of parent education in family literacy programs. there are issues that range from low parent education levels to lack of parent implementation of taught strategies. in addition, there are concerns related to cultural sensitivity and understanding, as well as how to work with parents of children with special needs. parent participation in family literacy programs 243 working with low income parents parents may face numerous challenges associated with economic disadvantage, including low levels of education, disenfranchisement from schools and educational programs due to their own past failures and treatment, multiple jobs, single-parent households, residence and/or relationship changes, drug use, lack of food, health problems, and higher levels of depression that may make it difficult for them to assist their children in learning (ackerman, brown, & izard, 2004). these challenges can create barriers to attendance in family literacy programs. not all parents with low income face these challenges, but many do. children of parents, facing multiple challenges, are placed at a higher risk for academic failure and may also confront disability. family literacy programs must find ways to work with each parent’s situation in the best manner possible to assure they attend and learn how to improve learning for their children. working with parents of children with special needs parents of children with special needs face unique problems, as individual differences in young children’s early literacy skills tend to persist over time, often growing larger as they begin school (lonigan, burgess, & anthony, 2000). children with delays in cognition, communication, social-emotional, or sensory-motor development need individualized intervention to help ameliorate or compensate for their unique needs and to prevent academic failure (bruder, 2010). effective interventions for enhancing the emergent reading skills of individual children can be developed, enlisting parental input, by matching each child needs to each learning goal and providing a balance of learning challenges, raised expectations, combined with supportive learning environments, and scaffolding instructional strategies. child development experts have emphasized interactive reading as an effective, family focused intervention to foster children’s early literacy skill development (debruin-parecki, 2009; huebner, 2000; justice & kaderavek, 2002). recent research (gear, 2010) found parents can readily implement an interactive “phonodialogic” reading intervention with their preschool children placed at risk for reading disabilities due to socioeconomic disadvantage or delayed development. parents demonstrated a high degree of treatment fidelity with their children over the brief nine-week period. in turn, children were able to respond meaningfully and imitate parents’ modeling of reading strategies. results showed that children progressed in phonological awareness outcomes: rhyme identification and production, blending and/or segmenting of initial word sounds. parent-trainer support took the form of modeling, interactive reading practice with feedback once per week, providing a variety of children’s books, and simple bookmarks labeled with the reading strategies. this study expands opportunities for parents to improve their children’s literacy skills through interactive reading with family-focused support. this type of family-focused intervention is also crucial for children with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, who are placed at a greater risk of being identified with disabilities (aud, fox, & kewalramani, 2010; gutierrez & orellana, 2006). they will be addressed in the next section. 244 parecki & gear working with culturally and linguistically diverse families literacy is directly connected to one's cultural and personal identity. members of diverse cultures may not agree on what is considered literate behavior, and this influences how families engage in literacy learning activities (wasik & hindman, 2010). three main cultural diversity issues are at stake. one revolves around methods used to teach parents of varied ses backgrounds and cultures, and the lack of understanding often shown for their culturally-specific ways of learning. the second centers on a non-valuing of what is important and salient for diverse families to learn. the last issue is one of disrespect for cultural customs and traditions that may conflict with mainstream culture and an outward attempt by many educators to convert families to a better way of learning. auerbach (1989, 1995) suggests implementing a more culturally-focused program that considers literacy to be an integral part of daily life. some suggestions include: investigating home language use, exploring current family literacy practices, exploring cultural issues through writing, modeling whole language activities parents might do with their children, validating culturally specific literacy forms, exploring parenting issues, educational experiences, and their language and literacy expectations for their children, addressing community, workplace and health care issues, practicing advocacy when dealing with schools, and exploring political issues. in her work with african-american populations, gadsden (1996) concludes that programs with the greatest chance for success encourage cross-cultural exchanges of ideas among participants, community members and staff, develop mutual respect, and acknowledge diversity, both socially and academically. she also recommends infusing these factors into the curricula developed collaboratively with the program participants. as family literacy programs grapple with honoring cultures and preparing children for schools, they frequently compromise to achieve both goals. programs must move away from a deficit notion of adults who are less formally educated and families that practice literacy in alternative ways (compton-lily, 2007; johnson, 2009; riojas-cortez, & flores, 2009; rodriguez-brown, 1994). recommendations to help children progress in language and literacy skills to become successful academically include infusing native language in conversations and in materials, and educators becoming more culturally competent. because measurements of children’s progress and parent implementation of interactive reading are two important indicators of a successful family literacy program, they should be combined to inform effective practices. parent fidelity in implementing interactive reading at home parent fidelity in implementation is one of the most crucial components in determining the effectiveness and sustainability of interactive reading. measuring parent fidelity requires a useful definition of parent fidelity, and a means of collecting accurate and reliable data for analyzing parent behaviors during parent-child reading interactions. troia (1999) defined treatment fidelity as a procedure that researchers and practitioners use to ensure intervention or treatment conditions are implemented faithfully. parent fidelity data are usually collected through one or more of a variety of procedures, such as reading logs, portfolios, checklists, interviews, videoand audio recordings, and direct observation measures (prins & toso, 2008). these parent fidelity data are then analyzed and interpreted using quantitative and qualitative methods to determine the extent of parent implementation of interactive reading. parent participation in family literacy programs 245 because of the challenges in measuring, collecting, and analyzing parent fidelity data, it is difficult to know if parents are indeed implementing the literacy strategies they are taught to use with their children (van otterloo, van der leij, & veldkamp, 2006). for example, many parents are uncomfortable being observed or recorded in their homes. it is also difficult to know if the parent-child reading sessions observed during home visits accurately represent everyday reading. moreover, because parents may choose to read to their children at varying times, it can be problematic to have an observer at the home when reading occurs. some programs work to solve this problem by observing parents reading with their children while at the program site (debruin-parecki, 2009). parent fidelity data provide evidence that parents implement the literacy strategies learned in the programs they attend. increases in children’s target literacy skills related to parent fidelity data can be more likely attributed to the effects of the interactive reading, improving internal validity of the program outcomes. parents can place greater confidence in their own behavioral changes that influenced their children’s progress. realizing they can positively influence their children’s literacy growth can be empowering for parents, and can motivate them to participate more fully in the program. substantive support for parent education that is causally connected to successful outcomes can also determine continued funding (huebner, 2000). the following section focuses on the strong need for accountability in family literacy programs using specific, objective measurable outcomes. presented below are some examples of tools that are currently being used to measure interactive reading behaviors and practices. measuring interactive reading behaviors measuring interactive reading is not an easy task. most observational tools were developed for research purposes and are too complex and exacting to transfer to practice in the field (e.g., omlit read aloud profile; judkins et al., 2008). there have been attempts to measure interactive reading focusing on either the adult or the child. many tools are written by individual programs as observation forms. described below are two research-based tools that have provided an historical basis for measurement of interactive reading, the parent as reader scale (pars; guinagh & jester, 1972) and the mothers reading to infants observational tool (resnick, 1987). measuring adult reading behaviors during interactive reading sessions: an historical perspective parent as reader scale guinagh and jester (1972) developed the parent as reader scale (pars) to assess the quality of the mother–child interaction during reading and determine the quality of the mother’s teaching ability, strictly focusing on the mothers’ behaviors. the items on the scale were selected to reflect dimensions of the mother–child interaction that were related to positive growth in the child. there are 10 different rating scales assessed by scores ranging from one to five. the highest score possible is a 50. this instrument’s target audience is low ses populations to 246 parecki & gear determine which important reading and teaching behaviors parents may not be using with their children. par was designed for training parents to read more effectively during storybook time. mothers reading to infants: an observational tool resnick et al. (1987) developed the mothers reading to infants tool to observe four categories of maternal behaviors during reading to infants: mother’s body management, management of book, language proficiency, and attention to affect. the instrument includes well-researched behaviors such as labeling, praise, description, and affect, identification, making text relevant to life, and inviting participation. there is also a stronger emphasis on physical behaviors such as holding the child close, removing distracters, and sharing the book than on skill development behaviors such as predicting and identifying. most notably, edwards (1995), has used this tool to determine behaviors parents are taught in parents as partners in reading. solving the current dilemma of interactive reading measurement the two instruments presented above, the parent as reader scale (pars; guinagh & jester, 1972) and the mothers reading to infants observational tool (resnick, 1987) focus exclusively on rating adult behavior, but not on the corresponding behaviors of the child. while it is important to understand the literacy skills of adults and children separately, this tells little about how they read together. if the quality of adult-child interaction promotes greater literacy understanding and skill development, it is important to document what goes on during this interactive process. if an assessment can provide information about an adult and a child as well as their interactions, a teacher can link the knowledge gained to the development of more effective practices for both of them. the instrument presented below, the adult/child interactive reading inventory (debruin-parecki, 1999, 2007), delivers information about an adult/child interactive reading dyad that includes quantifiable measurement for accountability purposes. the adult/child interactive reading inventory the aciri (debruin-parecki, 1999, 2007) is an observational instrument implemented in english or spanish to assess joint storybook reading behaviors under natural conditions. the aciri was primarily created to provide teachers working with adult-child dyads a means of evaluation to inform instructional decision-making. use of the instrument is also intended to enable parents/guardians to learn about areas for improvement in developing their child’s literacy skills. a secondary purpose is to provide program evaluation data. the aciri (debruin-parecki, 1999, 2007) contains areas for both quantitative scoring and qualitative data. for the adult and child portions, observed interactive behaviors are defined by three categories: (1) enhancing attention to text, (2) promoting interactive reading and supporting comprehension, and (3) using literacy strategies. each category consists of four interactive behaviors, for a total evaluation of 12 specific literacy behaviors for adult and child. administration of the aciri (debruin-parecki, 1999, 2007) takes 15 to 20 minutes depending parent participation in family literacy programs 247 on the complexity of the book and number of observed behaviors the teacher discusses following the observation. the adult is always involved in discussing the observed results. the procedure for using the aciri (debruin-parecki, 1999, 2007) consists of four steps. first, the adult and child pick a book from a selection of age-appropriate books matched by the teacher according to the adult’s reading skills, the child’s development, and cultural background. wordless picture books are available to encourage participation of adults with low conventional literacy skills. second, the adult and child read together while being observed by the teacher who notes adult and child behaviors on the inventory and writes comments as the reading progresses. books can be read in any language as long as the teacher is fluent in the parent’s reading language. third, when reading is complete the teacher studies comments and discusses them with the adult in a nonthreatening, helpful manner, linking teaching directly to the aciri. fourth, after the dyad leaves the teacher reads over comments and numerically scores behaviors, entering scores in appropriate columns. numerical scores are intended for program evaluation and not shared with participants. although the aciri (debruin-parecki, 1999, 2007) can be quantitatively scored for program evaluation, the qualitative data collected for instructional purposes can also support numerical scores. written comments provide teachers with a detailed description of what occurred. numerical scoring is based on a 0–3 scale: zero indicates "no evidence of the behavior"; one indicates the behavior occurs "infrequently"; two indicates the behavior occurs "some of the time"; and three indicates the behavior occurs "most of the time.” as the adult and child read together, the teacher makes observational notes. a combination of comments and check marks indicate the number of times a behavior occurs. parent and child reading behaviors are indicated separately by scores on each individual item, mean scores on the three broad categories, and by the total aciri mean score. the aciri is reported to have a high overall reliability calculated by an alpha coefficient of .80 (debruin-parecki, 2007). inter-rater reliability was calculated at 97% in the original study (debruinparecki, 1997). construct validity is relevant to joint storybook reading behaviors based on the research and theoretical literature. interviews with teachers who piloted this tool and continued to use it afterward provide support for its social validity for teachers, parents and children. recommendations for practice first and foremost in implementation of family literacy programs is enlisting parent participation. to do this, programs must demonstrate usefulness to parents and promote their attendance using convenient scheduling, meals, transportation, child care, and materials as motivators. the majority of parents attend family literacy programs in order to assure their children’s future success in school (cairney, 2002; debruin-parecki, 2007; hill-clark, 2005). because future success is a valuable outcome, programs must provide parents with the tools to make this happen. these tools include gaining a clear understanding of their child’s progress, learning how to select age-appropriate activities and books, and knowing how best to interact with their children given varying circumstances that surround reading together. it is also incumbent upon those programs that work with diverse families to provide culturally sensitive instruction, as well as instruction that addresses children with special needs. often times, this requires recruiting and retaining teachers with particular language skills or special education training. one of the biggest challenges for educators teaching interactive reading in family 248 parecki & gear literacy programs is accountability for effective outcomes. this article has described a recommended tool used strictly for promoting effective interactive reading measurement and successful outcomes, the adult/child interactive reading inventory (aciri) (debruin-parecki, 2007). the aciri is a unique instrument in that it provides information about an adult and a child at the same time, and allows for qualitative and quantitative pre/post scoring. this assists programs in multiple ways. post scores can assist in demonstrating the level of parent fidelity relative to the interactive reading strategies practiced. the scoring allows programs to make data available for accountability purposes to determine progress of individuals and across an entire program. because parents do not need to see these numerical scores, they are less apt to become embarrassed or intimidated when discussing results. the comments written while observing a parent and child reading together give teachers useful information to share with adults in a non threatening and helpful way. teachers can identify areas of strengths and suggest areas for improvement by focusing on specific strategies and using clear examples taken directly from the aciri. teachers can form relationships with parents by modeling strategies to increase children’s pre-reading behaviors. identifying where parents can benefit most from support informs instruction so it is focused and productive. finally, learning which parents use strategies effectively allows teachers to empower them as role models for others. conclusion while it is clear that family literacy programs vary by purpose and population, head start agencies have long known the importance of these programs and of assessing family involvement (kallemeyn & destefano, 2010). for family literacy programs to be successful, it is vital to include family members as active participants, and also to have them involved as partners in the process of assessment. this requires local programs and individual educators to work harder to learn about their participants’ backgrounds and needs. recognizing each family as unique motivates collaboration with educators to promote children’s language and literacy development through interactive reading, leading to greater success when children enter school. references ackerman, b. p., brown, e. d., & izard, c. e. 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(1988). accelerating language development through picture book reading. developmental psychology, 24, 552-559. dialog, 17(3), 108-112 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary spanish-speaking parent’s beliefs about language jeannette mancilla-martinez university of california, irvine nonie k. lesaux harvard graduate school of education in recognition of the increasing cultural, linguistic, and economic diversity among the early childhood population, knowledge about parents’ beliefs concerning the way in which children learn has the potential to directly inform early childhood programs charged with the task of developing young children’s language. this is an especially pressing need for the early childhood population of children from latino, spanishspeaking, low-income homes; latinos are the nation’s largest minority group and latino children under the age of 6 represent one of the fastest growing segments of the population (passel, cohn, & lopez, 2011), but overwhelmingly live in poverty. if we are to effectively serve this growing and academically vulnerable population, there is reason to develop a nuanced understanding of their parents’ beliefs about the way in which children learn and develop language prior to children’s formal school entry. we administered a two-part interview to parents of 24to 48-month-old spanish-english bilingual children attending early head start (ehs) and head start (hs) collaborating programs in the northeast u.s. (n = 200). the first part focused on aspirations about bilingualism and home language use, given that it is well-documented that patterns of spanish language use vary from household-to-household (garcía & frede, 2010). parents were therefore first asked about the language(s) they hoped their child would speak as adults and they were then asked a series of questions related to their actual home language use practices. specifically, four home language questions referenced talk directed to the child by the mothers, fathers, other adults in the home, and other children in the home while four home language output questions referenced the talk directed by the child to the mother, father, other adults in the home, and other children in the home. these questions were answered on a 5-point scale whereby 5 = only english, 4 = mostly english, 3 = equal amounts of english and spanish, 2 = mostly spanish, and 1 = only spanish. the second part focused on parent beliefs about their children’s learning and language development. this portion of the interview was adapted from questions from johnston and wong’s (2002) survey of childrearing beliefs. however, we developed an additional set of questions about parental beliefs and values specifically related to children learning two languages. parents were asked to rate their level of agreement with statements related to three parent’s beliefs about language 109 overarching categories as follows a) children’s learning, b) children’s language learning, and children’s dual language learning. each participant responded to a statement on a 5-point scale as follows: 1) strongly disagree, 2) somewhat disagree, 3) not sure, 4) somewhat agree, and 5) strongly agree. with this approach, we were able to examine potential differences in beliefs by patterns of reported home language use. our key findings are outlined below. key findings a. dual language development & home language use aspirations about children’s dual language development. nearly all (97%) parents reported hoping that their child would grow up to be a spanish-english bilingual and none said they hoped their child would grow up to speak only english. the most common reasons for wanting their children to be bilingual were so that they could maintain contact with their spanish-speaking family members and because they believed bilingualism would afford their children more job opportunities. language use practices. children in this sample were mostly spoken to in spanish by their mothers and other adults in the home while fathers and other children in the home were closer to providing children with approximately equal amounts of english and spanish language input. similarly, children in this sample spoke mostly spanish to their mothers and other adults in the home and also used approximately equal amounts of english and spanish when speaking to their fathers and to other children in the home. in other words, there was a positive relation between the language directed to children at home by others and the language used by the children themselves when speaking others in their homes. we thus created an overall home language use score to examine potential differences in parents’ beliefs about children’s learning and language development. b. parent beliefs as previously described, we utilized a questionnaire comprised of numerous statements for parents to rate their levels of agreement. to capture the variability within each category in as few factors as possible, we conducted a principal components analysis (pca) for each of the 3 categories investigated (children’s learning; language learning; dual language learning). beliefs about children’s learning. although there was considerable variation in parents’ average levels of agreement with these statements, a three-factor solution was found (which explained cumulatively 50% of the total variance), as follows: dependence (this factor included items such as ‘three-year-olds are too young to help with household chores’), exploration (this factor included items such as ‘parents should let children experiment, even if they might make mistakes’), and independence (this factor included items such as ‘parents should wait until young children ask before giving help’). further, parents who reported using more spanish than english in the home were more likely to agree with the dependence factor. 110 mancilla-martinez & lesaux beliefs about children’s language learning. again, although there was considerable variation in parents’ average levels of agreement with these statements, a threefactor solution was found (which explained cumulatively 55% of the total variance), as follows: active language use (this factor included items such as ‘parents should ask young children to repeat new words in order to help them learn to talk’), social norms (this factor included items such as ‘the proper titles for people (“aunt” sally) are more important to learn than the names of objects’), and sophisticated language use (this factor included items such as ‘if parents use “baby talk” (like “wawa” for water, or “jamies” for pajamas) their child won’t learn to speak well’). further, parents who reported using more spanish than english in the home were more likely to agree with the social norms factor. beliefs about children’s dual language learning. to an even greater extent than was the case with the first 2 categories, there was wider variation regarding the extent to which parents somewhat or strongly agreed with these statements. here, a two-factor solution was found (which explained cumulatively 45% of the total variance), as follows: no language mixing (this factor included items such as ‘children should be corrected when they mix two languages in the same sentence’) and bilingual facility (this factor included items such as ‘young children can easily keep two languages separate and know which one to use in different situations’). further, parents who reported using more spanish than english in the home were more likely to agree with both factors. summary and recommendations gaining insight into parents’ beliefs about children’s learning, in general, and language development, in particular, can help bridge children’s home and classroom experiences so that children’s learning opportunities are maximized. this is especially important for children who come from linguistically, culturally, and economically diverse homes; often, there is a difference between children’s learning experiences and opportunities at the home and in the classroom. the results of this study revealed that, within each of the three aspects of children’s language and learning studied (i.e., beliefs about children’s learning; beliefs about children’s language learning, and beliefs about children’s dual language learning), there was substantial variation among parents’ beliefs. in other words, the spanish-speaking parents in the sample cannot be characterized as adhering to a common orientation about the way in which young children learn and develop language—there was not a general level of consensus among the sample studied. this is an important point to underscore because early childhood programs may erroneously assume that parents who share the same cultural, linguistic, and economic background—in this case, latino, spanish-speaking parents from low-income homes—tend to share similar beliefs about children’s learning and language development. furthermore, we identified a relationship between parents’ beliefs and their reported home language use, such that parents who reported more spanish than english use at home tended to be in greater agreement with many of the questions asked. for example, within the beliefs about children’s learning, the dependence factor was not surprising given past research documenting latino parents’ strong sense of interdependence (e.g., rivera & rogers-adkinson, 1997). we note that some work suggests that latino, spanishspeaking parents may be hesitant to enroll their children in early childhood programs because parent’s beliefs about language 111 they perceive them as too didactic and prefer more family-oriented, informal child care arrangements (e.g., holloway, fuller, rambaud, & eggers-pierola, 1997). while results of our study do not speak directly to this issue, the fact that parents who reported more spanish than english use tended to be in greater agreement with the dependence factor suggests that early childhood programs should attend to the extent to which the preschool is warm and inviting for parents and children. similarly, within the beliefs about children’s language learning, it was not surprising that the social norms factor emerged as important for all participating parents, especially those who reported using more spanish than english at home given that the concept of respect has been found to be prevalent among latino, spanish-speaking families (e.g., valdés, 1996). indeed, to be respectful means deferring to those in positions of authority, which includes school personnel (e.g., teachers and administrators). early childhood programs may lack knowledge of parents’ values related to social norms and may inadvertently perpetuate a sense of a hierarchical relationship wherein the preschool staff is in a position of power compared to the families they serve. a simple strategy of encouraging parents to refer to the preschool staff by first name or, alternately, by referring to parents in the same formal manner for, example, may potentially foster an increased sense of shared values and respect with spanish-speaking parents, ultimately promoting a sense of community and improving students’ educational outcomes (e.g., nieto, 1999). finally, and arguably the most unique contribution of this study, we probed parents’ beliefs about children’s dual language learning. there was no clear in trend on this issue; some parents considered it important to avoid mixing spanish and english, while others appeared convinced that children can easily negotiate two languages simultaneously. taken together, these findings offer important insights for early childhood programs serving children from dual language learning homes, in this case english and spanish speakers, underscoring in particular the variability in parents’ beliefs about young children’s dual language learning. the research base is quite clear that bilingualism in itself is not a risk factor for low academic achievement (e.g., snow, 1992), but it is clear that misconceptions about the process of dual language learning remain among the public (e.g., espinosa, 2008). we agree with lopez, barrueco, feinauer, and miles (2007) that latino, spanish-speaking parents, such as those in our study, might benefit from increased knowledge about bilingual language development given the often confusing and unclear messages to which they are often exposed. furthermore, early childhood educators might themselves benefit professional development on the topic because they generally do not have much training and/or coursework related to working with dual language learners (alliance for a better community, 2012). in conclusion, we note that the results reported here are restricted to this specific subset of the population (i.e., spanish-speaking parents from low-income homes). additionally, use of a questionnaire can provide a snapshot of parent beliefs, but naturalistic observations of parents’ behaviors and interactions with their young children represent an important next step for researchers. furthermore, although differences in parents’ and early childhood educators’ beliefs have been reported (adair & tobi, 2008), there is a need to further explore teachers’ beliefs related to learning and language development, especially for dual language learners. at the same time, given the achievement gaps documented between latino, spanishspeaking children and their peers prior to formal school entry, this study provides insight into the learning and language beliefs of the participating children’s parents—insight that should be capitalized on by early childhood programs committed to advancing this population’s overall achievement beginning in the preschool years. indeed, within the sample of spanish-speaking 112 mancilla-martinez & lesaux parents studied, beliefs about the way in which young children learn and develop one or two languages vary widely. references adair, j., & tobin, j. (2008). listening to the voices of immigrant parents. in c. genishi & a.l. alliance for a better community (2012). dual language learner teacher competencies (dlltc) report. retrieved from http://www.afabc.org/what-we-do/education/early-careeducation/dual-language-learners.aspx espinosa, l. (2008). challenging common myths about young english language learners. foundation for child development policy brief no. 8. retrieved from http://www.fcdus.org/sites/default/files/mythsofteachingellsespinosa.pdf garcía, e. e., & frede, e. c. (eds.) (2010). young english language learners: current research and emerging directions for practice and policy. new york, ny: teachers college press. holloway, s. d., fuller, b., rambaud, m. f., & eggers-pierola, c. (1997). through my own eyes: single mothers and the cultures of poverty. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. (second printing, 2001). johnston, j.r., & wong, m.-y. a. (2002). cultural differences in beliefs and practices concerning talk to children . journal of speech, language, and hearing research, 45, 916-926. lopez, m. l., barrueco, s., feinauer, e., miles, j. c. (2007). young latino infants and families: parental involvement implications from a recent national study. retrieved september 27, 2012 from http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/young-latino-infants-and-familiesparental-involvement-implications-from-a-recent-national-study nieto, s. (1999). the light in their eyes: creating multicultural learning communities. new york: teachers college press. passel, j., cohn, d., & lopez, m. h. (2011). hispanics account for more than half of nation’s growth in past decade. washington, dc: pew hispanic center. http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php? reportid=140 rivera, b. d., & rogers-adkinson. d. (1997). culturally sensitive interventions: social skills training with children and parents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. intervention in school and clinic, 33(2), 75-80. snow, c. (1992). perspectives on second-language development: implications for bilingual education. educational researcher, 21(2), 16-19. valdés, g. (1996). con respeto: bridging distances between culturally diverse families and schools. new york: teachers college press. http://www.afabc.org/what-we-do/education/early-carehttp://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/younghttp://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?%20reportid=140 dialog, 17(1), 123-129 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary acquisition and measurement of knowledge of mathematical development linda m. platas university of california, berkeley this study provides preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the knowledge of mathematical development survey, which was designed to measure early childhood teachers’ knowledge of early mathematical development. findings also revealed two predictors of teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development, classroom experience and completion of a course in mathematical development. keywords: mathematical development; early childhood education; professional development; preschool curriculum; preschool teachers; measurement mathematical proficiency is an important attribute throughout life and is currently an issue at the forefront of education policy development at all levels (national research council [nrc], 2009). this topic is especially relevent considering the advent of the common core state standards (ccss) in 45 states, which require greater conceptual understanding than many previous individual state standards. while the ccss do not include standards at the preschool level, some states, like new york, have created aligned standards and more are sure to follow. additionally, the predictive power of early math skills on later academic achievement (duncan et al., 2007; romano, babchishin, pagani, & kohen, 2010) has elicited much interest in the quality of support of mathematical development in early childhood classrooms. head start’s revised early learning framework emphasizes the predictive power of early math skills on later academic achievement in multiple domains (administration for children and families, 2011, p. 16). head start and many state preschool guidelines now require teachers to provide mathematics instruction in the classroom, and call upon programs to implement curricula that ensure progress in this domain (administration for children and families, 2011; daily, burkhauser & halle, 2010). studies have revealed several challenges facing the early childhood education (ece) field regarding the implementation of such policies: (a) current classroom support for early mathematical development is generally limited or non-existent (klibanoff, levine, huttenlocher, vasilyeva, & hedges, 2006; varol et al., 2012); (b) teacher education and professional development programs frequently lack instruction in early mathematical development (ginsburg, lee & boyd, 2008; sarama, dibiase, clements & spitler, 2004); and (c) the field lacks 124 platas research-based instruments that can reliably assess teachers’ knowledge and evaluate the effectiveness of education and training in early mathematics (maxwell, field, & clifford, 2006). it has been suggested that a primary explanation for a lack of support for mathematical development in the early childhood classroom is that teachers rarely receive the preservice education necessary to support cognitive development, and that this particularly applies to early mathematical development (nrc, 2001, 2009). inservice ece professional development had traditionally focused on “developmentally appropriate” curriculum, literacy development, classroom management skills, and the use of play to promote socio-emotional development (copley & padron, 1998; ginsburg et al., 2006; naeyc, 2009). more recently, the field has focused on intentional teacher-child interactions, in particular in the domains of socio-emotional and early literacy development (powell & diamond, 2012; sabol & pianta, 2012). however, some promising inservice programs have emerged that target early math development and results indicate that the sustained professional development was successful not only in increasing the teachers’ involvement in mathematical activities in the classroom, but also in increasing children’s mathematical skills (clements & sarama, 2008; platas, klein, & starkey, 2006). short-term workshops are a common method of providing training to teachers who are otherwise engaged in classroom teaching and have limited time resources. these workshops are generally offered over the course of just a few days (or even one day), however, unlike extended workshops, generally do not support sustainable change in knowledge or practice (copple, 2004; ginsburg et al., 2008). further investigation into the contributions of workshops to teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development would contribute to our understanding in the field of professional development. purpose of the study the purpose of this study was to develop and examine the measurement properties of a new instrument for evaluating teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development, the knowledge of mathematical development (kmd) survey. in addition, predictors including teaching experience, education level, exposure to professional development workshops in early mathematical development, and completion of a course in mathematical development were investigated for their contributions to teachers’ knowledge of children’s mathematical development. development of the kmd survey over the past 30 years, researchers have been intensively studying young children’s mathematical development and have come to understand a great deal about the developmental progression of children’s mathematical understanding (baroody, lai, & mix, 2006; sarama & clements, 2009). for example, can children count a row of items before they can count the same set size of items in a circle array? or, does the arrangement of the items not matter? how does the size of the set of objects affect the strategies that children use to count? is subtraction too advanced for preschoolers? what if the subtraction problem involves taking one cookie away from a set of three cookies? children will be able to say that they have two cookies left. and, they’ll definitely know they now have less than what they started with… all attributes of teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development 125 understanding subtraction! teachers must know the answers to these types of questions when creating effective and developmentally appropriate activities in the classroom. because the field of early mathematics is broad, the mathematical domains covered by this instrument are limited to number and operations. these domains are among the most researched topics in the field and, arguably, the most important in young children’s mathematical development (clements, 2004). the six subdomains of early number and operations included in this study are the verbal counting sequence, counting/numerosity, ordinal number words, addition and subtraction, division of sets (“fair-sharing”), and recognition and production of written number symbols. the rationale for selecting items for the kmd survey was based on three criteria: (a) supported by independent research and accepted as representative of the developmental progression by experts in the field; (b) common classroom activities; and (c) common activities found in preschool curriculum books. the development of the kmd survey occurred over a multiphase study that consisted of four parts: item development, two pilot studies, and the study reported in this paper. in order to test the kmd survey items for clarity and reliability, two pilot studies (20 and 53 participants, respectively) were conducted resulting in a 20-item instrument. the study presented in this paper utilized this refined instrument with a sample of 346 preand inservice teachers (examples of kmd survey items may be found in the appendix) and provided data to answer two research questions: 1. are the validity and reliability estimates of the kmd survey sufficient to support its use in research, program planning, and classrooms? 2. what are the contributing factors in teachers’ acquisition of knowledge of early mathematical development? how do level of education, years of experience, professional development workshops, and math development courses influence this knowledge? summary of research methods participants included ece students from four community colleges in the san francisco bay area, three california state universities, and three masters’ programs in two states (western and eastern united states). at the masters’ level, students currently completing a mathematical development course or who had taken a mathematical development course as a prerequisite were recruited. all three of the mathematical development courses surveyed emphasized theories of development and teaching, understanding of young children’s mathematical thinking, and the development of activities based on those theories and that understanding. these courses were three-credit semester classes. for participants without exposure to a math development course, instruction on mathematical development ranged from none to limited textbook discussion and, at the most, six hours of classroom interaction in curriculum and child development courses. instructors were contacted via e-mail and provided with an explanation of the study and a request for the author to visit classrooms to recruit participants and administer surveys. in all cases, permission was granted. return rate average was 97%. completion of the surveys took approximately 15 minutes. 126 platas reliability of the survey was examined though measures of internal consistency. validity was examined through a literature review, interviews with experts in the field, a review of current child mathematics assessments, cognitive interviews and an analysis of variance, comparing the kmd survey scores of three groups/cohorts by item and total score. three dimensions of importance were considered in setting the parameters for each of these cohorts. these were ece education, ece teaching experience, and completion of a mathematical development course. these three cohorts are described in the following paragraph. the first cohort was representative of students just beginning their careers in the ece field. these beginning community college and california state university ece students had no teaching experience, no ece education and had not completed a mathematical development course. the second cohort was representative of many teachers currently in the field. this cohort included 3rd and 4th year university students with two or more years inservice experience and 12 or more units of ece. legislation passed in 2007 stated that by 2013, fifty percent of head start teachers must possess a bachelor’s or higher degree in ece (improving head start for school readiness act of 2007), making this cohort particularly representative of teachers in head start. the third cohort represents teachers in an m.a. program with two or more years of inservice experience, and enrollment in a mathematical development course. in all instances, participants in this cohort had either completed the entire course, or were nearing completion of the course (in both cases, study of number and operations had been completed). the third cohort represented teachers most likely to have the greatest amount of knowledge of children’s mathematical development due to experience and education. the third cohort was expected to perform significantly better than the second cohort, and both of these groups were expected to perform better than the first cohort. since not all of the participants were assigned to a cohort (e.g., there were some students in masters’ programs who had less than two years of experience), the number of participants included in this analysis was reduced from the total participant pool. while the above analyses provided information on the measurement properties of the kmd survey, they do not provide information regarding the contribution of individual factors to knowledge of mathematical development. other analyses, such as regression, can provide a much more detailed picture and can look at the effects of teaching experience, level of education, and completion of math development courses and professional development workshops on a teacher’s knowledge of mathematical development. as noted earlier, education, experience and exposure to the study of mathematical development have been considered most effective in building teachers’ knowledge of children’s mathematical development. in order to measure the effects of these variables, a regression analysis was conducted on all complete cases. major findings estimates of reliability were obtained for the subset of participants who were included in the cohort analysis and for all participants who completed the kmd survey. cronbach’s alpha results were fairly robust (.808 and .776, respectively). the analysis of variance showed that mean (average) kmd survey scores differed significantly between cohorts, increasing as ece education, experience and enrollment in a mathematical development course increased, providing support for validity of the kmd survey instrument. as predicted, the third cohort performed significantly better than the second cohort, and in turn both of these groups performed teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development 127 better than the first cohort (the means were 14.95, 12.00 and 10.30, respectively). while there was a significant difference between cohorts 1 and 2 with an effect size of d = .48, the largest differences were those between cohort 3 and the other cohorts, a difference of 4.65 points between cohorts 1 and 3 (d = 1.51), and 2.95 points between cohorts 2 and 3 (d = 1.21). enrollment in a m.a. mathematical development course was associated with a significant increase in the participants’ knowledge of early mathematical development as measured by the kmd survey. these results, combined with evidence provided in the development phase and pilot studies, provided preliminary evidence in support of the reliability and validity of the kmd survey. with regard to the contributing factors in teachers’ acquisition of knowledge of early mathematical development, the findings from the regression analysis indicate that when considering years of experience, level of education, mathematical development courses, and short-term workshops, only years of experience and completion of a math development course were related to how well teachers scored on the measure. for every year of experience, the total correct score on the kmd increased by .25 points and enrollment in a mathematical development course resulted in an increase of over two points. implications for practice it has frequently been argued that education makes a difference in the knowledge and practices of early childhood teachers (bowman, 2011). as results from the regression analysis illustrated, it would take eight years of experience to equal the effect of the completion of a math development course. this outcome may explain why so many classrooms lack support for mathematical development, as the results suggest that it may take many years of experience to gain sufficient knowledge about mathematical development to provide support in the classroom. results on the difference between exposure to a professional development math workshop and completion of a math development course suggest that sustained and deep interaction with the subject of math development is necessary for lasting results. major policy stakeholders in early education in the united states have issued statements concerning the urgency of including mathematics education in the early childhood education curriculum (naeyc & nctm, 2002; nrc, 2009). ece teacher education programs must now begin to address the lack of education and training in this area of curriculum. the use of the kmd survey could play a part in this enterprise, at multiple levels of the educational system: (a) individual instructors could use the survey to measure the knowledge of students at the beginning and end of a course to assess change in knowledge; (b) ece programs could survey a cohort of students to inform the development of a mathematical development course; and (c) the use of the survey in multiple studies with differing interventions could provide useful comparisons across these interventions. the survey would also be useful in the development of any professional development program in which an increase in teachers’ knowledge of children’s mathematical development is a goal. this study goes a considerable distance in ascertaining which factors contribute to teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development. while the study will help to contribute to the literature on effective practices, more research is needed. a complete program of research on the quality and impact of ece preparation in mathematics education would also include an examination of curricula, as well as investigations into the financial, programmatic and systemic 128 platas constraints on the implementation of effective mathematics education in the early childhood classroom. references administration for children and families. (2011). the head start child development and early learning framework: promoting positive outcomes in early childhood programs serving children 3–5 years old. retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/ttasystem/teaching/eecd/assessment/childoutcomes/hs_revised_child_outcomes_ framework.pdf baroody, a. j., lai, m. l., & mix, k. s. (2006). the development of young children's early number and operation sense and its implications for early childhood education. in b. spodek & o. saracho (eds.), handbook of research on the education of young children (pp. 187-221). mahwah, nj: erlbaum bowman, b. t. (2011). bachelor's degrees are necessary but not sufficient: preparing teachers to teach young childen. in e. zigler, w. s. gilliam & w. s. barnett (eds.), the pre-k debates: current controversies & issues (pp. 54-57). baltimore, md: paul h. brookes. clements, d. h. (2004). major themes and recommendations. in d. h. clements, j. sarama and a. -m. dibiase (eds.), engaging young children in mathematics: standards for early childhood mathematics education (pp. 7-72). mahwah, nj: erlbaum. clements, d. h., & sarama, j. (2008). experimental evaluation of the effects of a research-based preschool mathematics curriculum. american educational research journal, 45, 443-494. copley, j. v., & padron, y. (1998). preparing teachers of young learners: professional development of early childhood teachers in mathematics and science. paper presented at the forum on early childhood science, mathematics, and technology education, washington, d.c. copple, c. e. (2004). mathematics curriculum in early childhood. in d. h. clements, j. sarama and a. -m. dibiase (eds.), engaging young children in mathematics: standards for early childhood mathematics (pp. 83-87). mahwah, nj: erlbaum. daily, s., burkhauser, m., & halle, t. (2010). a review of school readiness practices in the states: early learning guidelines and assessments. early childhood highlights, 1(3), 1-12. retrieved from http://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2010-14-schoolreadinessstates.pdf duncan, g., dowsett, c., claessens, a., magnuson, k., huston, a., klebanov, p., et al. (2007). school readiness and later achievement. developmental psychology, 43, 1428-1446. ginsburg, h. p., kaplan, r., cannon, j., cordero, m., eisenband, j., galanter, m., & morgenlander, m. (2006). helping early childhood educators to teach mathematics. in m. zaslow & i. martinez-beck (eds.), critical issues in early childhood professional development (pp. 171-202). baltimore, md: paul h. brookes. ginsburg, h. p., lee, j. s., & boyd, j. s. 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(2009). mathematics learning in early childhood: paths toward excellence and equity. committee on early childhood mathematics, christopher t. cross, taniesha a. woods, heidi http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/eecd/assessment/childoutcomes/hs_revised_child_outcomes_ http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/eecd/assessment/childoutcomes/hs_revised_child_outcomes_ http://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2010-14-schoolreadinessstates.pdf teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development 129 schweingruber, editors. center for education division of behavioral and social sciences and education, washington dc: the national academies press. platas, l., klein, a., & starkey, p. (2006). how do two years of professional development in a preschool math curriculum affect teachers' classroom practices? proceedings of head start's eighth national research conference. washington, dc: xtria powell, d. r., & diamond, k. e. (2012). promoting early literacy and language development. in r. c. pianta (ed.), handbook of early childhood education (pp. 194-216). new york, ny: guilford press. romano, e., babchishin, l., pagani, l. s., & kohen, d. (2010). school readiness and later achievement: replication and extension using a nationwide canadian survey. developmental psychology, 46(5), 995-1007. sabol, t. j., & pianta, r. c. (2012). recent trends in research on teacher-child relationships. attachment and human development, 14(3), 213-231. sarama, j., & clements, d. h. (2009). early childhood mathematics education research. new york, ny: routledge. sarama, j., dibiase, a.-m., clements, d. h., & spitler, m. e. (2004). the professional development challenge in preschool mathematics. in d. h. clements, j. sarama & a. -m. dibiase (eds.), engaging young children in mathematics: standards for early childhood mathematics education (pp. 415-446). mahwah, nj: erlbaum. varol, f., farran, d., bilbrey, c., vorhaus, e. a., & hofer, k. g. (2012). improving mathematics instruction for early childhood teachers: professional development components that work. nhsa dialog, 15(1), 24-40. dialog, 17(4), 124-130 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary family partnership: practical implications from a case study of a refugee family shana j. haines university of vermont jean ann summers, ann p. turnbull, and h. rutherford turnbull iii university of kansas the attendance of children from refugee families at head start agencies provides the opportunity for head start staff to foster trusting family partnerships that are collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented. the purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the actions of the head start staff and a refugee family that could have potentially developed into a trusting partnership between them and determine what facilitated or impeded the formation of this partnership. the findings indicated that the relationship between the family and head start staff was positive but not the type of trusting partnership that the head start national standards advocate. factors that facilitated and impeded the formation of trusting partnership in this case study as well as implications for practice are discussed. keywords: head start; family-professional partnership; family engagement; refugee families head start strives to engage families in their children’s preschool education in order to establish partnerships geared toward the long-term outcome of child and family success. head start’s mission to promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social, and other services in partnership with families is congruent with office of refugee resettlement’s mission, and a formal partnership has been recognized between the two agencies. a refugee is someone who: “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.” (united nations high commission on refugees, n.d.) family partnership with a refugee family 125 during 2011, the u.s. resettled 56,424 refugees (u.s. department of state, u.s. department of homeland security, & u.s. department of health and human services, 2012). thirty-four percent of refugees admitted to the united states in 2011 were under 18 years of age (u.s. department of state et al., 2012). many refugee families are members of the head start community, and many of their educators, recognizing the importance of forming strong partnerships with families, grapple with forming strong partnerships with them due to cultural and linguistic differences. head start recognizes the importance of promoting cultural responsiveness through strong partnerships with families with the head start act (2007) and the head start parent, family, and community engagement framework (u.s. department of health and human services et al., 2011). this framework concisely defines family partnership as: “staff and families build ongoing, respectful, and goal-oriented relationships…[by] identifying and acting on family goals and aspirations and using program and community supports and resources to promote progress on family and child development goals” (p. 4). in addition, the code of federal regulations requires head start staff to: “engage in a process of collaborative partnership-building with parents to establish mutual trust and to identify family goals, strengths, and necessary services and other supports… as early after enrollment as possible… [taking] into consideration each family's readiness and willingness to participate in the process.” (45 c.f.r. §1304.40(a)(1)) the federal regulation specifies that collaboration, trust, and building on family strengths are inherent to family-professional partnerships. it also states that head start agencies must ensure that “effective two-way comprehensive communications between staff and parents are carried out on a regular basis throughout the program year” (45 cfr §1304.51(c)(1)). with the overall goal of creating trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented partnerships characterized by comprehensive two-way communication to support child and family outcomes, head start agencies are required to provide numerous activities that could help foster family partnerships. family involvement is generally conceptualized as what families contribute to school, what families do at home to contribute to their children’s education, and activities in which families and school personnel interact (mcwayne, campos, owsianak, 2008). numerous studies demonstrate that family involvement in head start is effective at increasing family and child outcomes (e.g., henrich & gadaire, 2008; hindman, miller, froyen, & skibbe, 2012). these family involvement activities do not always draw families into head start, however, and they may not result in forming a trusting partnership. specific to refugee families with young children in preschool in the u.s., researchers have found that (a) refugee families are often unfamiliar with the pedagogical techniques in u.s. schools and may find them to be inappropriate, which may result in their distance from the classroom (e.g., tadesse et al., 2009); (b) although many refugee families have an interest in their children’s education, they do not always have the ability to be involved in their children’s education in ways educators expect due to numerous potential barriers (e.g., lack of understanding of involvement, financial and family responsibilities, lack of cultural and 126 haines et al. linguistic knowledge) (e.g., mcbrien, 2011); and (c) refugee families often have different expectations for their children’s behavior than teachers, which might hinder their involvement in their children’s schools (e.g., hurley, medici, stewart, & cohen, 2011). our study the purpose of this study was to understand and describe the relationship between head start staff and a refugee family and determine what factors helped or hindered the formation of the trusting partnership to which head start aspires. we found a head start on the outskirts of a medium-sized midwestern city whose director and educators were willing to participate in this research. then we found a refugee family whose child, haaruun, was at risk for disability. we composed a case study of this family and haaruun’s educators by conducting interviews of family members and head start educators, observing in haaruun’s home and head start and analyzing program documents. haaruun was a 4-year old boy born in the u.s. to somali refugee parents. haaruun’s parents spoke english, but his father, mahdi, had limited formal schooling, and his mother, aamino, never attended school. before enrolling in head start at the beginning of the year, haaruun had never been without his mother or father. haaruun’s three head start educators had worked as early childhood educators for an average of 17.5 years and had a wealth of personal and professional experiences. the head start educators were concerned about haaruun’s development because he displayed unpredictable and often inappropriate behavior when over-stimulated or in new situations. for example, he impulsively ran from the classroom several times, and his parents saw similar behavior at home. haaruun spoke little english, responded to teachers by repeating their words, and spoke sparingly in somali. his teachers referred him for special education evaluation due to possible language and cognitive delays. key findings the findings indicate that head start educators offered multiple activities for family engagement, and mahdi participated in the events that did not conflict with his work schedule. communication was mostly from the educators to the parents, however, and the head start staff did not seek aamino and mahdi’s perspectives on issues of concern. throughout the 20-week duration of the study, haaruun’s family did not have high expectations for or knowledge of the partnership head start policy advocates. what strengthened the relationship between the family and teachers? haaruun’s family was willing to participate in family engagement activities. in fact, mahdi participated in every event he could attend without taking off work. in addition, the family had a lot of respect for the teachers. both aamino and mahdi held the teachers and their suggestions in high esteem and were awed by their skill in working with their son. the head start staff focused on the wellbeing of the families they served, seeing each child, including haaruun, as a member of a complex family. another positive factor was that many head start staff members interacted with the family, providing the potential opportunity for haaruun’s parents to form a relationship with a variety of family partnership with a refugee family 127 people. the head start educators’ genuine care for the students and their families motivated the staff to work hard to meet their children’s families’ needs. what hindered the relationship from developing into a trusting partnership? one factor was the family’s structure. aamino was the primary caregiver, but she was not willing to leave her children with anybody other than mahdi. this resulted in mahdi attending the head start events without her, so she did not know what was happening at school even though she spent the most time with her children. in addition, the family’s unfamiliarity with the school system and family partnerships resulted in limited expectations for partnership. the family sought guidance from the head start educators in how to work with and educate haaruun, but they were not confident that they had valuable information to share with the educators. numerous factors limited the head start staff’s actions towards partnership. first, strict accountability measures made differentiating interactions with families difficult. for example, following a checklist for parent-teacher conferences hindered family member input on setting the agenda, limited educator eye contact with mahdi, and stilted the natural flow of conversation. second, numerous responsibilities and low hourly pay for non-exempt head start staff squelched creating and implementing innovative family partnership activities that would take up unpaid time beyond their already-packed days. haaruun’s lead teacher, for example, worked at head start from 8 to 4 and then worked a second job to make ends meet for her family. third, educators had limited knowledge of haaruun’s home context, which caused misunderstandings. for example, head start staff were very concerned about haaruun’s eating patterns (he refused to eat at head start), but they would not have been as concerned if they understood that he ate a robust meal before getting on the school bus every day. fourth, the model of having multiple people working with haaruun and his family had its benefits, but it also impeded forming a strong relationship between the family and any one staff member because communication was dispersed between all educators and staff. in addition, scarce time for collaborating and communicating resulted in some information being lost between the numerous educators who worked with them. implications for practice head start presents an opportunity for launching families as partners in their children’s education. building trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented partnerships with refugee families could increase teachers’ knowledge of home environments and families’ funds of knowledge (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992). these partnerships could connect children’s home and school environments, and families would learn from head start staff while understanding the value of their own knowledge (riosaguilar, kiyama, gravitt, & moll, 2011). while head start educators and families could both benefit from building these partnerships, children would benefit the most because their potentially parallel worlds would come together. this case study was qualitative in nature and focused solely on one child’s family and head start educators; therefore, the ability to generalize the findings to other families and head start educators is limited. although this research does not attempt to quantify the prevalence of these practices, we urge head start educators to consider the following implications for practice. to work 128 haines et al. towards creating such partnerships, head start staff should have more authority and professional development in order to be responsive to the families they serve, options for family involvement should be accessible to all families, and families should understand the options for partnership. teacher responsiveness if head start staff were given authority, time, and professional development to be responsive to the families and children they serve, they could be in a position to learn about the home environment, families’ funds of knowledge (moll et al., 1992), and families’ concepts of family involvement and partnership (dachyshyn & kirova, 2008). such professional development could enable head start staff to engage in reciprocal communication with families (as opposed to the lockstep adherence to checklists) to learn valuable information from families and develop an awareness of their own perspectives on families (kalyanpur & harry, 2012). in addition, head start staff could increase their methods of communication from home to school to ensure access, and, in addition, they should make sure families understand these methods. a review of strategies to create culturally responsive partnerships is beyond the scope of this article; turnbull, turnbull, erwin, soodak and shogren (2015) and kalyanpur and harry (2012) provide recommended strategies. family involvement options understanding family preferences for involvement and ways families are already involved are paramount to successfully increasing family involvement options (brycs, 2007). hurley, saini, warren, and carberry (2013) report that inviting refugee families to plan menus and prepare ethnically diverse food resulted in more responsive partnerships. planning activities that could involve younger siblings (brycs, 2007) could help alleviate the worry of families who do not want to leave their children in childcare. we encourage involving families in the process of creating more options for family involvement, but we caution that different understandings of involvement and partnership might inhibit families’ generation of innovative solutions to their barriers (ariza, 2000). family awareness of partnership starting during the cultural orientation activities typically provided by resettlement agencies, refugee families could be taught about family partnership expectations and opportunities in head start and the k-12 education system. ideally, this education would be offered by head start and school officials in concert with other orientation programs offered by resettlement agencies. family partnership with a refugee family 129 summary children from refugee families’ attendance at head start provides the opportunity for head start staff to foster trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented partnership characterized by comprehensive two-way communication to support child and family outcomes. these partnerships could help launch refugee families as partners in their children’s education in the u.s. and, ultimately, improve family and child outcomes over time. as this study indicates, due to a variety of reasons, these partnerships are not always formed. the head start community will greatly benefit from increased focus on building trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented partnerships characterized by comprehensive two-way communication to support child and family outcomes for all families, especially refugee families new to the u.s. education system. references ariza, e. (2000). actions speak louder than words—or do they? debunking the myth of apathetic immigrant parents in education. contemporary education, 7(3), 36-39. bridging refugee youth and children’s services (brycs). (2007, spring). involving refugee parents in their children’s education. retrieved from http://www.brycs.org/documents/upload/brycs_spotspring2007-2.pdf dachyshyn, d.m., & kirova, a. (2008). understanding childhoods in-between: sudanese refugee children’s trasnition from home to preschool. research in comparative and international education, 3(3), 281-294. head start act, 42 u.s.c. § 9801 et seq. (2007). retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/head%20start%20act henrich, c.c. & gadaire, d.m. (2008). head start and parental involvement. infants and young children, 21, 56-69. hindman, a.h., miller, a.l., froyen, l.c., & skibbe, l.e. (2012). a portrait of family involvement during head start: nature, extent, and predictors. early childhood research quarterly, 27, 654667. hurley, j.j. medici, a., stewart, e., & cohen, z. (2011). supporting preschoolers and their families who are recently resettled refugees. multicultural perspectives, 13(3), 160-166. hurley j. j., saini, s., warren, r. a., carberry, a. j. (2013). use of the pyramid model for supporting preschool refugees. early child development and care. 183(1), 75-91. kalyanpur, m., & harry, b. (2012). cultural reciprocity in special education: building family-professional relationships. baltimore: brookes. mcbrien, j.l. (2011). the importance of context: vietnamese, somali, and iranian refugee mothers discuss their resettled lives and involvement in their children’s schools. compare, 41(1), 75-90. mcwayne, c., campos, r. & owsianik, m. (2008). a multidimensional, multilevel examination of mother and father involvement among culturally diverse head start families. journal of school psychology, 46(5), 552-573. doi:10.1016/j/jsp.2008.06.001 moll, l., amanti, c., neff, d., & gonzalez, n. (1992). funds of knowledge for teaching: using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. theory into practice, 31(2), 132-141. rios-aguilar, c., kiyama, j.m., gravitt, m., & moll, l.c. (2011). funds of knowledge for the poor and forms of capital for the rich? a capital approach to examining funds of knowledge. theory and research in education, 9, 163184. tadesse, s., hoot, j. & watson-thompson, o. (2009). exploring the special needs of african refugee children in u.s. schools. childhood education, 85(6), 352-356. turnbull, a., turnbull, r., erwin, e., & soodak, l., shogren, k. (2015). families, professionals, and exceptionality: positive outcomes through partnerships and trust (7th ed.). upper saddle river, nj: pearson. 130 haines et al. united nations high commission on refugees (unhcr) (n.d.). who we help. retrieved from http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c125.html u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children’s services, & office of head start. (2011). the head start parent, family, and community engagement framework. retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/ standards/ims/2011/pfce-framework.pdf u.s. department of state, u.s. department of homeland security, & u.s. department of health and human services. (2012). proposed refugee admissions for fiscal year 2013: report to the congress. retrieved from http://www.state.gov/documents/ organization/198157.pdf dialog, 16(4), 11-29 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article what you can accomplish in a year: head start teachers’ decisions about teaching gretchen butera indiana university amber friesen san francisco state university angi stone-macdonald university of massachusetts, boston this ethnographic study of teacher decision making in an appalachian head start program suggests that teachers use personal and practical knowledge to inform their daily teaching while professional experiences appear less influential. teachers are also influenced by their relationships in the community as they make use of community funds of knowledge to inform how and what they teach. finally, external influences including administrative decisions and the social, economic and political circumstances in their community and in society influenced how they make instructional decisions. the importance of a deep understanding of how teachers make decisions about classroom practice is apparent. findings from the study are discussed as they relate to head start policies and practice and how curriculum change may occur. keywords: teacher decision-making, funds of knowledge, sociocultural context, head start head start, the nation’s flagship intervention effort on behalf of low-income preschool children and their families, has intensified its focus on reducing the academic readiness gap between preschool children from low income families and their middle class peers (head start approach to school readiness, 2011). this focus reflects the increasing attention of researchers and policy makers on the persistent problems children in poverty have had performing well in school. despite a decade long emphasis on raising the achievement of all america’s children (lee & burkham, 2002; lee, grigg, & donahue, 2007; neuman, 2006) little substantial progress in improving the achievement of children from low-income families has been demonstrated and the gap between them and their middle-class peers has been described as a disturbing and defining fixture of american schooling for at least 40 years (neuman, 2008). increasingly, policy makers 12 butera et al. have turned to intensifying academic readiness instruction as a means of improving child outcomes for all children. the emphasis on improving children’s academic readiness has been accompanied by increasing scrutiny on the educational background of head start teachers (barnett, 2002; bowman, donovan & burns, 2000; u.s. department of health and human services, 2003). traditionally, many head start teachers were hired because they were members of the community a head start program served and, in fact, many head start teachers began in the program as parents of the children attending ( glod, 2007; vinovskis, 2008; zigler & styfco, 2010). while national data on the number of head start parents who become head start teachers is not readily available, it is estimated that head start programs have provided employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of current and former parents (u.s. department of health and human services, 1993). in california and colorado, approximately 28% of head start employees are current or former head start parents (california head start association, 2011; colorado head start association, 2011) while the numbers of low-income individuals, mostly women, who have been lifted out of poverty by the career portal and the opportunity for professional advancement provided by head start is a beneficial outcome of the program, it is often unacknowledged in the discussion about ways to improve teacher quality. it is estimated that approximately 30 percent of head start teachers hold bachelor’s degrees, another 30 percent of teachers have associate’s degrees and about 40 percent of head start teachers having neither ( office of head start, 2012; u.s. department of health and human services, 2010.) the percentages of head start teachers with degrees have increased since earlier reports (u.s. department of health and human services, 1993) but the most recent reauthorization of the program requires that all teachers have at least an associate’s degree and 50% must have a bachelor’s degree by 2013 ( improving head start for school readiness act, 2007). given the estimated numbers of head start teachers who must seek additional education, these requirements are likely to have considerable impact on head start programs. while professional development is important for improving teacher quality, increasing educational requirements for head start teachers in particular tends to ignore the fact that research has failed to unequivocally establish the relationship between teachers’ educational background and child outcomes in early childhood (guskey, 2003; haskins & loeb, 2007; wasik, bond, & hindman, 2006) a growing body of research suggests that teacher characteristics more proximal to their relationships with children, families and the communities play a primary role in fostering children’s school readiness. these characteristics include the quality of the child-teacher relationship, knowledge about the community, the curriculum used in the classroom and teacher attitudes and beliefs about early childhood education (domitrovich et al., 2009; gonzalez, moll, & amanti, 2005; mashburn & pianta, 2006; pianta, 2003; u.s. department of health and human services, 2003). the role of teacher beliefs and their relationship to instructional decision-making suggests that teachers are influenced in their daily decisions about classroom practice in multiple ways and that professional training may be only one such factors (fives & buehl, 2008; hawken, johnson, & mcdonnell, 2005; hindman & wasik, 2008; pajares, 1992). in the manuscript that follows we describe research that sought to understand how head start teachers make instructional decisions on a daily basis. we wanted to explore the relationships between head start teachers’ professional, practical and personal experiences and their decisions (grisham, 2000; vacca et al., 2003). we also wanted to examine how the context of their teaching within the head start program and the community they lived in influenced their what you can accomplish in a year 13 decisions, seeking to deepen our understanding of how the teachers were influenced by the sociocultural aspects of their lives (vygotsky, 1978; wertsch, 1998). the current study was embedded within a longitudinal experimental multi-site implementation study of children’s school success (css), a comprehensive preschool curriculum based on evidence-based practices and designed to address the needs of preschool children at risk for school failure as english language learners, with diagnosed disability or from low-income families (odom et.al., 2003). all three of the authors of the current study were wellknown in the head start program described as we provided css training and support, observed teachers during implementation of css, and actively sought to assist in implementation of the curriculum within the head start program across the six years of the study. the eleven head start teachers in the current study participated actively in the css study for two years, initially in the control group and then as implementation teachers of css the following year. having volunteered to participate in the study, all but one of the teachers were conscientious about using css during implementation. however, although most of the teachers continued to use parts of css as their participation in the larger study ended, only one of the teachers continued to use it in its entirety in subsequent years, opting instead to return to their previous teaching practices. we have written previously about the research we engaged in to understand why teachers failed to continue using css (butera, palmer, lieber, & schneider, 2009; lieber et.al., 2009). in this manuscript we examine how the head start teachers describe their instructional decision-making throughout the six-year period of the study, both before, during and after css implementation. theoretical framework we used two theoretical frameworks to guide our interpretation of the data. first, we used the literature on teacher beliefs. beliefs can be defined as the knowledge or ideas that an individual accepts as true (evans, fox, cremaso, & mckinnon, 2004). in the context of teaching, beliefs may lead educators to question aspects of curriculum such as the value of the information contained within or the validity of the knowledge content (fives & buehl, 2008). deford (1985) drew attention to this area through a study of 14 elementary teachers, finding that there was a strong correlation between teachers’ self reported beliefs and their observed practices. subsequent research has validated this finding, strengthening the assertion that teachers’ beliefs can be a powerful indicator of instructional practices (hawken et al., 2005; hindman & wasik, 2008; mcmahon, richmond, & reeves-kazelskis, 1998; reutzel & sabey, 1996; richardson, anders, tidwell, & lloyd, 1991). vacca et al. (2003) proposed that the examination of a teacher’s professional, practical, and personal knowledge provides insight into beliefs. professional knowledge is defined as formal academic training, often in conjunction with a degree or certification. practical knowledge includes information that is learned on the job that grows with experience. personal knowledge refers to beliefs developed through individual life experiences. the influence of the experiences leading to these various types of knowledge informs teachers’ beliefs and may result in their questioning the value of information given to them. professional, practical and personal knowledge underlie a teacher’s assumptions about their teaching and student learning. we also employed the work of gonzalez, moll and amanti (2005) who describe how teachers may draw on their knowledge of the community and the families of the children they 14 butera et al. teach in order to make instructional decisions. in particular, in the current study we sought to understand and describe teachers’ “funds of knowledge”, defined as an individual’s “essential cultural practices and bodies of knowledge and information …use[d] to survive, to get ahead, or to thrive “(moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992, p. 21). in our research we sought to uncover how and when teachers made use of their contextual knowledge about the community in which they and the children in their classrooms lived. in this processual approach to culture, everyday activities are used as a frame of reference. therefore, instead of trying to identify the shared cultural norms of the head start teachers we studied, we viewed what they did in their teaching and how they explained their decisions as reflective of the sociocultural context in which they lived and worked. although shared norms about individual behavior sometimes emerged, we focused on teachers’ everyday practices as dynamic, emergent and interactional (gonzalez, 2005). methods setting and participants the head start program studied serves children and families across four counties within a rural appalachian state. like the rest of the region, the rugged mountainous terrain has isolated communities and tended to restrict economic growth. communities struggle with high unemployment and the per capita income is substantially below national averages. under these circumstances, the needs of children and families poverty are particularly difficult to address, as there is an absolute shortage of resources throughout the region. the head start program we studied has been in existence since the 1960s when it initially began as part of a community action program. it is now independently administered by a community-based board of directors and serves over 250 mostly caucasian children and families in center and home-based programs. the program has collaborative agreements with other community-based educational and social service programs, notably the school district with which it operates a joint preschool program for children with disabilities. the program is well-thought of in the community and receives highquality reviews from the regional head start office. over six years, we examined the instructional decision making of eleven head start teachers within this program. all of the teachers were experienced (between 7-28 years) and were born and raised in the four county region. half of the teachers were grandmothers and all were mothers. six had had children in the program, had volunteered in their child’s classroom and were subsequently hired as an assistant teacher in the program before becoming lead teachers in the program. eight had high school diplomas and had also completed child development associates (cda) credentialing, and one had completed a two-year associates degree in early childhood and cda. five were enrolled in course work in early childhood education at a local community college. the other five were not planning to pursue additional education although they were aware of the new educational requirements for head start teachers. what you can accomplish in a year 15 table 1 demographic information about the head start teachers name age classroom experience in years highest level of education #miranda 66 25 hs #fanny 64 20 hs #veronica 69 17 hs, cda bree 59 28 hs, cda ella 58 25 hs, cda cynthia 61 23 hs, cda #beth 40 12 hs, cda* diane 39 7 hs. cda* #pam 57 16 hs. cda* #sherry 43 9 hs, cda* #valerie 54 13 aa, cda* note. aa = two year associates degree; cda = child development associates credential; hs = high school; * = currently enrolled in coursework; # = former head start parent undertaking the study data including classroom observations, interviews and artifacts were collected over five years in conjunction with the css project (odom et al., 2003) and an additional year after that study ended. classroom observation lasted at least half a day (between 2-4 hours) monthly during the year the teacher was implementing the css curriculum. in the remaining five years, teachers were observed twice a year. detailed field notes were taken within the classroom and included summaries of informal discussions with the teachers. observation field notes were subsequently typed and filed in a binder for each teacher. an average of forty-two half-day observations were documented in each teacher’s classroom. teacher interviews were conducted 2-3 times each year and focused on asking teachers to expand on events we had observed in the classroom as we sought to understand the teachers’ experiences both in the community and within the program. interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and filed in the teacher’s designated binder. interviews ranged in length from thirty minutes to an hour. in total, forty-seven interviews were conducted. in order to deepen our understanding of the context of teachers’ instructional decisions, we employed snowball sampling, interviewing individuals nominated by others as likely to help us “understand the children, families and the community and the program.” sixteen additional interviews occurred with head start staff members including curriculum coordinators, family service workers, program administrators and the program director. we also interviewed seven nominated family and community members. artifacts were collected that were viewed as relevant to understanding the context of teachers’ instructional decisions. artifacts included including classroom newsletters, children’s projects, family meeting topics and handouts, minutes of meetings within the program and lesson plans. we also collected classroom correspondence when offered including notes between teachers and between parents and teachers. 16 butera et al. employing an emerging design, a case study narrative was written after each year for the first four years of the study. the goal of these narratives was to tell the story of that year, highlighting key events and observations. a cross-case analysis was then conducted by two of the researchers in which data relevant to instructional decision-making was coded and organized according to recurring themes across cases (merriam 1998; yin 2008). using these emerging data, three additional observations and interviews were conducted with three of the teachers to inform our emerging hypotheses and theoretical framework in year five of the study. in the final year ,we sought to validate our emerging findings and actively seek examples that were inconsistent and question the results. a final full day observation was conducted in all classrooms and all the teachers were individually interviewed again. questions specific to the emerging themes were discussed. we also conducted two focus groups, one with three of the teachers and their site supervisor, and the other with two teachers and a family service worker. the director, site supervisors, and one of the family service workers were also interviewed again. incorporating these new data, we organized findings into segments including teachers’ decisions, their explanations of them and influencing factors. using recursive analysis, we engaged in continuous discovery during initial stages of the study, categorizing and ordering the data, assessing the trustworthiness of emerging themes by identifying initial themes and testing them against the data. prolonged engagement in the field allowed us to conduct informal member checking across time as we discussed our emerging findings with head start teachers and other study participants. triangulating results across data types, researchers and years further strengthened trustworthiness of our findings (merriam, 1998; yin,2008). results the recursive analysis of our data yielded ten emerging themes that were organized into three categories framing how the head start teachers we studied described the influences on their decisions about daily instructional practices. first, head start teachers’ decisions were influenced by their beliefs about children, the purposes of head start and their own role in it. personal and practical knowledge was valued and informed their decision making, while professional experiences were described as less influential. we categorized these themes as within teacher influences. second, teachers made decisions based on their membership in the community both within the head start program and in a more general sense. the teachers’ relationships with others, including the children in their classroom, parents, community members and other teachers influenced their decisionmaking. we described these as community membership influences. finally, teachers’ decisions were influenced by external factors including administrative decisions within the program and head start policies that impacted the program as a whole. teachers were also affected by social, economic and political circumstances in their community and these factors influenced their teaching. we categorized these themes as external influences. sociocultural values and beliefs were evident across the three categories of the data and emerged as influential in how the head start teachers we studied made decisions about classroom activities. as illustrated in figure 1, it became apparent that the teachers’ sociocultural context was an important, overarching influence and that their knowledge and experiences within this context played an important role in informing their daily instructional activities. what you can accomplish in a year 17 within teacher influences the head start teachers were influenced in their daily instructional decision-making by the beliefs they held about children’s development and the role of head start in supporting it. this was evident across many interviews and discussions with them in which they emphasized the importance of allowing ample time for play and social interaction so that children’s selfconfidence and social competence could develop. academic readiness instruction was seen as less critical. as bree explained it, i think they [the students] just need more social skills, time to build up some of those skills. and just little things like cutting, coloring, things they can do during play. and you introduce all of the alphabet and numbers and all that, but i do not think it should be the main focus. daily instructional decisions within teacher influences community membership influences external influences 18 butera et al. the teachers’ beliefs about the importance of play and social interaction were evident in their classrooms’ schedules. prominently displayed in each classroom, it was not unusual for a typical day’s agenda to include large blocks of time for eating breakfast and lunch, playing in classroom centers such as blocks, cars, kitchen, and sand, and playing outside on the playground equipment. the limited time allocated for academic instruction was consistent with the teachers’ views that academic skills were not an important priority in the classroom. although the time allocated for academic readiness instruction varied from class to class it never amounted to more than 60 minutes of a four hour day on the posted schedules. most observations demonstrated that substantially less time than was posted in class schedules was devoted to academic readiness instruction. given these circumstances, it was not surprising that the increased focus on academic readiness in head start was described as inappropriate by the teachers. while talking to us about her experiences as a mother, ella explained that pushing children too hard “was dangerous” and that they “lost their childhood.” cynthia told us that the increased focus on academic readiness in head start was “a big mistake” as the children “are just learning how to deal with each other”. she wondered about what the emphasis in kindergarten should be if head start emphasized academic readiness. only beth, of all the teachers in our study, felt that an increasing focus on academic readiness was important. however, beth consistently described academic readiness rather narrowly, consisting mostly of literacy skills. furthermore she organized her classroom in ways that were consistent with the other teachers and spent little actual classroom time on academic readiness instruction. in turn, the teachers described their priorities and what they viewed as the important role of head start as providing a safe and nurturing environment in which children could develop social-emotional competence. like many preschool classrooms, signs in activity centers (such as the block area) explained the skills children were to learn there. emphasized in handprinted bold print on laminated tagboard in each teacher’s room was the importance of learning to share and cooperate and play with one another as one of the first priorities in each classroom center. adults supervising in the centers demonstrated this priority, usually by facilitating children’s play with one another, encouraging them to “share” or “be a friend.” when academic readiness was the ostensible focus of a classroom activity, teachers in our study often focused on the social-emotional aspects of it. storybook reading, for example, also became a time to ensure that children felt cared for as adults read with children on their laps or in close proximity to them. veronica explained this by telling us, “if they [children] come in and they haven’t been cuddled and read to, then we have to do that. cuddle and read to them. it is important… vital really.” in contrast to the importance the head start teachers in our study placed on the development of social-emotional competence, teachers did not seem especially concerned when children did not appear to be acquiring academic readiness. when asked in an interview if she thought there were any children who were having difficulty acquiring the skills needed for kindergarten, sherry responded, “i don’t know. probably a few.” in diane’s classroom we asked about a three year old child who had very limited speech. diane told us that she had noticed his problems and she “might talk to the family about it”. however, she also said that he was probably “ learning in his own way”. similarly, cynthia described a child in her classroom as one for whom “she had a gut feeling something wasn’t right”. one day she discussed his lack of progress with another teacher and with us. the two teachers and wondered whether they should refer him to the school district for more help when we suggested it. neither teacher was what you can accomplish in a year 19 confident about how to go about doing that and they ended the conversation about the child by assuring us and each other that he would learn when he was ready. the notion that children will learn when they are ready and that it was a mistake to offer academic readiness instruction too early was a widely-held belief among the head start teachers we studied. this belief seemed associated with protecting children from experiencing difficulties that might undermine their social-emotional well-being. in the interview excerpt below, bree briefly considers the role of added instruction for children who appear to need it. well, i think about those that are going to pick it up just like that…and then there are those that don’t grasp it as quickly. you know, you might need to sit down and do a little one-on-one with them. some of them get it in the group and then there are those that i have in the classroom that, no matter what i do, i know they are not going to get it…i try to give them little things because i want them to feel good about what they can do, even if it is not right…they should feel good and be praised for it. personal knowledge. when reflecting about their instructional decisions, the head start teachers we studied often referenced their personal experience and the knowledge they had gained from it. as all of them were mothers and many grandmothers, it was common for stories of their children and grandchildren to surface in their rationale for instructional decisions. beth often described her daughters as very different from one another. she often thought of her daughters’ differences when deciding how to arrange classroom center activities, planning some for children “who liked to play with one another like lucia” and others for children who “like to be by themselves, like andrea.” veronica pointed out that she had read to her grandson “ almost every day of this life”. she was quite active in recruiting adult volunteers to come in her classroom to read. these reading sessions almost always occurred during free play when the adult volunteer (often elderly) was invited to sit in a rocker with children on his/her lap and other children gathered at his/her feet. diane told us about how her daughter who “just loves animals” had been given a pig and that she was “learning so much from taking care of him.” in turn, diane had classroom pets and gave the children responsibility for their care. ella reported watching her granddaughter struggle with academic instruction in kindergarten. over time, this seemed to intensify her belief in the importance of providing children with opportunities to play and she seemed less inclined to engage in academic readiness instruction. practical knowledge. the head start teachers we studied frequently referenced their practical experience in the classroom to explain their instructional decisions. in many instances, activities that had been successful in the past had become so routine to the teachers that they were no longer aware of their specific rationale for them, telling us, “we’ve always done it this way.” or “it seems to have worked really well over the years.” however, they also made use of their practical experience to solve problems in their classroom, particularly the problems posed by children’s challenging behaviors. bree described trying to help charlie manage his behaviors by using strategies she had used in the past, moving him to sit beside better-behaved children at lunch and providing him with a stamp on his hand for being attentive. she recalled how this had worked in the past, explaining “i’ve had parents before who say, ‘don’t stamp my kid’s hand.’ some parents don’t like them. i haven’t had anybody say anything this year, so we’ll see.” like bree, valarie used her practical experience to solve a teaching problem. raeanne in valerie’s class was much ahead of the other children. 20 butera et al. she's learned the letters of the alphabet and she knows the sounds that they make. she can spell her first and her last name. she knows her colors, she can count to thirty, she can do patterns... she plays well with the other children. she's very helpful. valarie paired raeanne with children who needed help for classroom activities, having used this strategy in the past with children who “are just ahead of the others… it teaches them to help.” professional knowledge. in contrast to their use of personal and practical knowledge, the head start teachers in our study did not value the professional experiences they had had nor did they reference them to explain why they made instructional decisions. although several were currently enrolled in early childhood education coursework at a local community college, they tended to dismiss what they had learned there as “what we have to do to keep our jobs.” there was similar consensus about the professional development they had received through the head start program, which was described as “useless” and a “waste of time” unless it included learning new art or music activities for the classrooms. the head start teachers in our study were aware that they were considered as less than qualified by their fully-credentialed public school counterparts. they resented the apparent assumptions that they were not good teachers because they lacked formal professional training and they insisted that professional training played a limited role in understanding how to be a teacher. this sentiment was articulated by fanny: it’s hard because i think that teachers with a four-year degree think that head start teachers do not know that much because we do not have that piece of paper. even if we have two years. that is nothing. and you know, to me having 18 or 23 years of experience is a lot better than a piece of paper. i mean, we’ve taken algebra. we’ve taken biology. we’ve taken educational classes. but you know, i really feel that is how they feel, that we are not as competent. community membership influences the instructional decisions made by the head start teachers we studied were influenced by their interpersonal relationships, both within the program and as members of the community in which they lived. in many instances these relationships proved complimentary and provided resources for the teachers in making instructional decisions. for example, diane and pam were self proclaimed “best friends” and taught in classrooms next to each other. they were frequently observed discussing and planning activities together both before and after the school day. this same sort of friendship was apparent with veronica, bree, and ella who had been friends for years. ella explained when i first started, miss bree worked for head start and we were neighbors. we would talk. we knew each other before…yes, miss bree, miss veronica, and myself. our children all went to school together and graduated together. what you can accomplish in a year 21 all of the teachers in our study told us they “were born and raised here”. as community members, they were deeply embedded in the social life of the community, often kin to some of the children in their classrooms and it was not uncommon for children in their classrooms to be the offspring of children they had taught years earlier. because they knew well the families of the children in their classrooms, they made use of this knowledge to relate to the children and plan activities. mothers, dropping their children off in the classroom talked with the teachers about their lives and community events. the teachers sometimes used these events for instructional activities, although they were seldom planned. one example of this occurred in ella’s classroom, when a mother brought her child to head start a little late, holding her newborn in her arms. ella expressed delight at seeing the new baby and asked the mother to join the classroom circle time and show the seated children the new baby boy. the children were fascinated by the baby and asked questions about caring for him. ella spontaneously turned the event into a lesson about the importance of nutrition and hygiene even as she also emphasized the importance of helping family members and sharing toys. miranda provided another example of how the teachers in our study made use of the close connections they had with the families of their children. during march of one year miranda’s room and the hallway outside of it was filled with art projects made from toothpicks, pieces of yarn and cardboard as well as green and gold glitter. miranda explained that these were leprechaun traps made at home by the children with their parents and brought to school. next to each “trap” was a photograph of the child and a parent/parents/grandparent proudly holding the trap, taken during a classroom “family day”. it was noteworthy that an adult family member was in attendance for nearly every child in the classroom at these monthly family events. as miranda told us: i explain it on the first home visit and i tell the parents you know i expect this from you. because you know you are your child’s teacher… i come right out and tell the parents you know right flat out. i want your participation at least once a month. if you can’t come to a parent meeting, if you can’t attend an activity, then you need to do this.” it is important to note that the activities miranda sent home for the parents and children to do together often reflected what she knew about the families and the community of the children she taught. in the case of the leprechaun traps, for example, miranda capitalized on the fact that many families in the community supplemented their diet by hunting and fishing. making a trap to catch a leprechaun, therefore, was a craft that built on community funds of knowledge. miranda also realized the importance of involving parents in the learning of their children and was encouraged by her success. she told us: i’ve had parents send me… notes …after they did the first family project that they enjoyed doing it. and, in fact some of the parents are going to frame the ones they send in to me. yeah, and the parents feel proud when they come in and they see the stuff hanging out in the hallway…it gives them a sense of being and belonging. the strong connections between the head start teachers we studied and the community led to other planned instructional activities. for example, veronica’s son was a volunteer fireman and she recruited him and others to come to the classroom in a fire truck, resplendent in firefighting gear. this was well-received by all the children at her center and the teachers talked 22 butera et al. about the importance of volunteering to help others. in another instance, fanny recruited a member of her church to attend the classrooms in her center to tell the children about how he had been recruited to play baseball for a major league team after playing for years in the community’s t-ball and little league programs. the teachers emphasized how important the young man’s baseball experiences in the community early in his life had been to his success. the teachers’ connections to the community sometimes facilitated the instructional planning they accomplished with their public school counterparts as part of the head start program’s effort to collaborate with the public schools. for example, as head start teachers, both valarie and beth co-taught in classrooms with public preschool teachers as part of the collaboration between head start and the public schools. after struggling at the beginning of the school year, both ended the school year successfully sharing the teaching responsibilities with their public school counterparts who they knew well in the community. asked about how she made instructional decisions with her co teacher, valarie described her co-teacher’s beliefs as “complimentary” to her own and explained that they reviewed their plans at “church sometimes.” beth explained that it was not hard to co-teach with her public school partner who was “wonderful because she really loves kids and knows how to get to their level.” beth then told us about how the co-teacher had a child at home who often played with beth’s daughters. while relationships with others in the community allowed the teachers to access community funds of knowledge to make decisions about their teaching, there were instances when relationships in the community did not facilitate their work. jolene, a public school special education teacher worked a half day several days a week was assigned to work part-time with bree during the study. although jolene understood her role as specifically focused on the children with identified disabilities in the classroom, both she and bree were asked to co-teach all of the children in order to help ensure children’s readiness for kindergarten. the two teachers differed in what they thought was appropriate instruction for the children they taught. bree continued to place a high priority on play while jolene favored providing the children with discrete instruction focusing on academic readiness skills. however, difficulties between the two women were made more problematic by the fact that, years earlier, they had been members of the same church and were involved on opposite sides of a bitter debate about church policies. bree’s discussed her feelings with ella and veronica, rehashing the church debate while also discussing her feeling about jolene. the three women concluded that jolene viewed them as less qualified as teachers and they described her as “uppity.” as a consequence, although they were polite to her at the center, they seldom engaged in any friendly conversation with her during breaks or lunch. for her part, jolene made a credible effort to establish a working relationship with bree and the others but, after repeated efforts were rejected, she gave up. bree maintained her position as the lead teacher in the classroom and play continued to be the important priority of the classroom’s activities. jolene assumed a secondary teaching role and she began to instruct children with disabilities in the hallway for part of each day. when in the classroom, she and bree were consistently observed teaching at opposite sides of the classroom and jolene left the building immediately after she finished teaching. external influences the head start teachers in our study were affected by administrative policies and procedures coming from the local program’s administrators that the teachers often did not understand and what you can accomplish in a year 23 felt unable to influence. a prime example of this occurred as the central office attempted to standardize the curriculum and implement progress monitoring across the classrooms during the years the teachers were not participating in css. the teachers were given weekly curriculum guidelines they were to use to write lesson plans to be sent to the central office. they were also required to file periodic reports on the children, which were also to be sent electronically to the central office. the teachers complied, completing paperwork for which they received little feedback and they seldom used to guide their teaching. under these circumstances, the teachers resented the time required to comply with central office demands. while on the surface, these procedures seemed to have little impact on teachers daily instructional decision making, in essence it did because the time required could have been used for authentic instructional planning. fanny explained that she used her personal time to complete the required paperwork which she did not especially view as valuable: because you know you have your write-up’s to do and now we enter all of that information onto the computer and most of the time i take that home and do it. i do my entering and write ups at home and the checkpoints and all of that kind of stuff. community connections and common history among the teachers and the program administrators sometimes lead to miscommunication within the program, created resentment and influenced how teachers made decisions about their teaching. this was readily apparent in the program’s initial decision to participate in the css study. although we were assured that the teachers we studied volunteered to use the css curriculum and participate in the study, it quickly became evident that several felt pressured to do so and ultimately had “volunteered” under duress. under these circumstances, although most of the teachers were diligent about using css during their implementation year, it is hardly surprising that they did not appear to enjoy it and quickly gave it up when free to do so. it is important to note that the local head start program administrators also described resenting the requirement to follow policies and procedures coming from the “regional or national office” and, like the head start teachers, they felt little ownership. not understanding the rationale for new policies and procedures themselves, administrators passed them along to the head start teachers with little accompanying explanation. both program administrators and teachers described feeling powerless in the process as little opportunity for flexibility was perceived. it was not clear whether flexibility was in fact available even when complying with requirements was quite problematic. for example, the head start teachers we studied struggled to complete their required home visits within the first fifty days of the year across a large geographic region with many families living in remote locations on winding mountain roads. meeting the requirement necessitated hours of teachers’ time for travel. this impacted the time they had available for instructional planning. in general, the head start teachers we studied reported feeling overwhelmed by head start requirements and wondered why they appeared to have so much more regulation than other teachers. they protested that the amount of paperwork was excessive and took away from the time they had to accomplish other important teaching tasks including instructional planning. valarie told us: you know, being in the head start program, there is so much more paperwork on every little situation. for instances, an incident report… yesterday i had a timeout that caused 24 butera et al. an incident. so i had to do a timeout report on the child that bit the child and an incident report to the mom of the child that got bit. you're making the phone call to both moms and the supervisor, and faxing it all… all those papers and all i would have to do as a [public school]teacher is write a little note, ‘so and so got bit on the arm today and we didn't see any swelling.’ there's not a phone call or a fax to everyone. the head start teachers we studied struggled to address the needs of the low-income families and children with whom they worked while they themselves struggled economically. several of the head start teachers we studied reported taking extra jobs in the summer or during the year to meet family expenses and this impacted the time they could devote to planning their teaching. pam and her husband struggled to send their daughter to college while he was unemployed. she often spoke about her money worries and reported that they had begun raising chickens for a poultry company in the area for extra money. for weeks after the chicks were delivered to them, pam hurried home after work to help her husband feed and care for them. later in our study, her husband went to work at the poultry processing plant, performing what she called “live hangings.” she reported that he was ashamed to be working there and she felt bad for him, as it was “an awful job.” they take them out of the cage and hang them and then they go through something slits their neck and it drips.” but pam went on to say, “ it’s good pay. not a fun job, but it is one of the better paying jobs there.” the head start program overall struggled to address children and family needs given limited community resources. in the rural appalachian communities where the teachers lived and worked, poverty was both longstanding and widespread. under these circumstances, community organizations that might have been able to assist in supporting the children and families head start served were drained of resources that might have been accumulated in better times. all of the classrooms had limited classroom libraries and there were no public libraries in the communities. instead, the head start teachers we studied had to be sure to meet the bookmobile when it came to town twice a month if they wanted a new supply of classroom books without spending their own money. most of the classrooms had limited art supplies and all of the teachers used their own resources to supplement what was available. in several instances the teachers we studied taught in buildings that were old with limited space for outside play. the head start program struggled to find better facilities in the community but they were not readily available in the small isolated communities where the teachers taught. under these circumstances, keeping the building clean and safe for the children was a high priority for the teachers and often interfered with their ability to plan for their teaching. like the rest of the country, the rural communities in which the teachers lived and worked were undergoing demographic changes that influenced how the teachers made instructional decisions. during our study, several hispanic families moved into the area and enrolled their children in the head start program. none of the children spoke english and the teachers struggled to communicate with them and their families. the head start teachers asked for advice from their public school counterparts who were also struggling to address the needs of these newcomers to the community. ultimately, fanny and miranda found resources on the internet to help them teach some english to the spanish-speaking children in their classroom and they shared these resources with the other head start teachers. they offered to provide what they had learned tips to the public school teachers in the community. but, before any decision about getting together to share ideas was made, the children and families abruptly disappeared from the program. miranda told us, “the poultry plant was raided. many of the workers used fake ids to what you can accomplish in a year 25 get jobs there.” fanny went on to tell us, “it was brutal. all of the workers were locked in a room and they just dragged off husbands and fathers.” the two women were appalled and took up a collection for family members who remained behind. “we got together diapers, formula, food and blankets. with the dad gone, some of the families have nothing now.” the head start teachers we studied were dismayed about the changes they saw taking place in society. they worried about how young children were impacted when mothers had to work outside of the home. they noted that head start children’s families seemed increasingly unstable. they noted an increase in violence on television and in toys and they worried about the effects on children’s development. they thought that the children entering their classrooms were less developmentally ready for preschool than in previous years, asserted that children currently in their classrooms exhibited far more behavioral challenges than in the past. our observations confirmed that a large portion of the day in all of the classrooms was managing children’s challenging behaviors, influencing the amount and type of instruction the teachers were able to accomplish. lessons learned our six-year study of eleven head start teachers illuminated the complex influences that contribute to the daily teacher decision-making that ultimately becomes the head start program as it is delivered to children. understanding how the head start teachers thought about and planned their daily instruction in our study was informed by previous research on teachers’ knowledge (fives & buehl, 2008; vacca et. al., 2003. the head start teachers in our study held strong beliefs about children’s development and the role of head start. these beliefs were derived from their personal experiences and years of practical knowledge gained in the classroom. the head start teachers we studied differed greatly from us and the policy makers who insist that head start teachers acquire additional credentials in the value they placed on academic learning. the teachers devalued academic achievement in their own lives and in fact, several were willing to give up their jobs as head start teachers rather than submit themselves to schooling experiences that they did not see as useful. they believed that they had learned to do their work through personal and practical experiences in collaboration with others in their community who shared their goals for the children entrusted to them. importantly, these goals related to helping children become members of the community. under these circumstances, multiple opportunities for children to feel cared for, valued and to learn to socialize with one another were provided. perhaps mirroring their disregard for their own academic achievement, the teachers we studied did not appear to value it for the children’s sake. helping children acquire academic readiness was not a high priority to the teachers we studied and little opportunity for the children to gain the academic readiness skills critical to success in formal schooling was made available. the lack of value ascribed to intentional teaching of academic readiness skills is of grave concern as without this emphasis, it is unclear how the achievement of children from low-income families will be improved, or how the gap between them and their middle-class peers can be reduced (neuman, 2008). it is critical to increase teachers understanding of key academic readiness skills and help teachers see how this instruction can be infused within other activities they view as important, including those that support children’s social competence. the teachers’ lack of knowledge about typical/ atypical child development is also very problematic as they 26 butera et al. appeared to be unaware of the importance of intervening early when children showed signs of developmental delay. deeply embedded in the sociocultural context that surrounded them and the children they taught, the head start teachers we studied accessed community funds of knowledge to plan daily activities for the children, validating the theoretical framework described by gonzalez, moll and amanti (2005) who detail the importance of connecting curriculum to children’s lives and the expertise inherent in communities. as members of the community in which they and the children lived, the head start teachers had ready access to the funds of knowledge within it and it was noteworthy that they freely made use of these rich sources for curriculum. on more than one occasion, we found ourselves reflecting on the fact that despite our abundance of professional knowledge, we would inevitably have struggled teaching in this context due to our relatively scant base of community knowledge as compared to these teachers. these teachers were well able to connect with families of the children they taught and it is important that they encouraged them to take an active role in their children’s learning. they did so under circumstances that were far from ideal as teachers struggled to overcome the pervasive effects of poverty on their own lives, on the lives of the children they taught and throughout their community. for these reasons, we think it is important that head start programs continue to prioritize hiring teachers who have been head start parents and are members of the community from which the children come. nevertheless, it is worth noting that the common history and community connections afforded the head start teachers we studied did not always act to enrich their teaching. in several instances, past histories between individuals interfered with collaborations that would have benefitted children’s learning, most notably between the school system and the head start program. we suspect that social class played an important role in explaining how these relationships unfolded and accounts in part for why head start teachers felt denigrated by their public school counterparts at times. given the need for head start and public school collaborations on behalf of the learning of low income children, the need to deepen our understanding of these relationships is apparent. we have acquired an appreciation of the enormity of the tasks taken on by the head start teachers we studied as they attempted to address the learning needs of the low income children they teach. head start’s focus on the comprehensive needs of children in poverty meant that teachers attended to brushing teeth, eating nutritious meals and helping children stay healthy and safe. we are also impressed with the influence of organizational climate on teachers’ instructional decision making. we think it is important to note that both the teachers and the local head start administrators often did not understand the rationale for regulations they viewed as having little to do with the circumstances in which they worked. clearly, program administrators play an important role in bringing about change and they also to have a clear understanding of the reasons for it so they can provide teachers with support. the teachers we studied attempted to comply with the requirements as they were described even when they did not understand the rationale for them fully. future directions translating the findings of our study into recommendations for future directions for research or practice is problematic as we realize that the head start teachers in our study live in an isolated what you can accomplish in a year 27 appalachian community with a strong community presence that may not be evident in head start programs across the nation. for this reason, generalizing to other programs must be approached with caution. nevertheless, our ethnography provides interesting data about the influences on instructional decision making on head start teachers that may help inform future research as well as discussion about policy and practice in head start. the most important lesson we have learned from the head start teachers we studied is the critical importance of partnership between those who seek to bring about change and those who are asked to enact it. examining what influenced the head start teachers we studied in making daily decisions about their instruction was a multi-faceted task and far more complex than we originally anticipated. partnerships that bring about change will require considerable investments of time, resources and continuing support. we note that the rationale for various policies were often as unclear to us as they were to the head start program administrators and must be made clear. further, in the push to address longstanding inequities in schooling for low income children, it is critical to acknowledge that those who are closest to the lives of the children whose schooling we hope to make more equitable have an important perspective to share. our study emphasizes the importance of providing ample support for head start teachers attempting to acquire additional schooling for credentialing especially considering the context and nature of the work they do. it is especially important to help teachers appreciate the value of academic learning if they are to support it in children. requiring head start teachers to complete additional coursework to achieve credentialing will probably fail to influence outcomes for children if the teachers do not value what they are learning. it is also clear that helping them understand the importance of intentional instruction related to academic readiness will not be a simple task. given the value placed on personal and practical knowledge by teachers, it appears unlikely that professional development as traditionally conceptualized will be particularly effective unless accompanied by ample opportunities to practice strategies perhaps with their own children and grandchildren. the head start teachers we studied were very well able to access the funds of knowledge within their communities because they were community members. the fact that they did not appear to value academic achievement either for themselves or the children they taught may in fact reflect the values of the community to which they belong and this fact presents a dilemma for those who wish to bring about change in head start’s curriculum. while it is a worthy goal to provide head start children with more academic readiness instruction and head start teachers with more academic credentials for their work, it is also important to maintain head start’s emphasis on hiring teachers well-acquainted with the community in which they teach. achieving a solution to this dilemma will likely require flexibility and finesse from head start both on a national and local level. lastly, if we are to be successful in asking teachers to accommodate change in how they plan instruction in their classrooms, it is essential that we help them figure out how they can undertake change under difficult circumstances. they must be helped to achieve short term objectives along the way so they can see progress along the way and take ownership of it. acknowledging the complexity of the change process is probably also essential and change must be viewed as achievable as well as desirable. we think sherry expressed it best when she talked to us about her goals for the children in her class: it’s kind of hard sometimes. when you say a goal you want. well, everyone wants to be 28 butera et al. a millionaire. it’s not going to happen. you know what i mean? it has to be something written down that you can accomplish in a year. references barnett, s. w. 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(2010) the hidden history of head start. new york: oxford university press. dialog, 17(4), 131-137 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary family-professional partnerships in head start: practical strategies using a partnership intervention vera lynne stroup-rentier, jean ann summers, susan palmer and ann p. turnbull university of kansas this research to practice summarizes the findings of a study of family-professional partnerships in a head start. head start’s commitment to family partnership, makes the program selected an exemplar for positive beliefs about families and the importance of partnership. using the foundations of self-determination as a context for intervention, intentional interactions and increased understanding of both the teachers and the family members helped the research team better understand if the intervention was feasible in a head start setting. this summary includes the methods, findings, and practice implications for the study. implications include the importance of home and school collaboration to mutually benefit children with special and unique learning needs. keywords: partnership, head start, self-determination, early childhood, family engagement the purpose of this study was to examine the partnership interactions of head start teachers and families as they worked together on mutual goals. head start policy and practice views family engagement as a positive and goal-oriented partnership grounded in the foundations of program leadership, continuous improvement, and professional development. characteristics of family partnership, a key tenet of family engagement, are (a) building relationships with families, (b) supporting family well-being, (c) encouraging strong relationships between parents and their children, and (d) providing ongoing learning and development for parents and children (administration for children and families, 2011). head start promotes family partnership as a way for families to successfully complete their identified goals. this understanding of familyprofessional partnership is consistent with other definitions used in special education research (summers et al., 2012; turnbull, turnbull, erwin, soodak, & shogren, 2011; turnbull, turnbull, & wehmeyer, 2007). head start’s parent, family, and community engagement framework, is a researchbased organizational guide for implementing performance standards (administration for children and families, 2011) using coordinated and systematic practices across programs. this framework enhances the understanding of and support for families who play critical roles in their children’s long-term success (administration for children and families, 2011). the framework helps head start staff to promote family partnerships, in the multiple contexts of family and 132 stroup-rentiner et al. community engagement, across head start settings. the head start program we chose to examine was one that was known within the early childhood community to have strong familyprofessional partnerships. our method: family partnership intervention we use family partnership to describe relationships between families and teachers at head start. family–professional partnerships are equal collaborative relationships that benefit families, professionals, and children equally. families and professionals defer to each other’s judgment and expertise (turnbull, turnbull, erwin, soodak, & shogren, 2011). while it is critical to agree on the importance of promoting family engagement and partnership, practitioners need practical strategies on how to promote partnerships. focusing on the development of self-determination skills, the foundations intervention is intended to provide a system to promote a child’s skills in choice-making, self-regulation, or engagement. the intervention involves families and practitioners working together on behalf of the child to complete a simple problem-solving process with four components: assess, select, try it, and reflect. because the foundations intervention involves such close family and teacher cooperation at each step, we wondered how their participation might affect the quality of the partnership. to find out, we asked two research questions using a single program case study. with the first question, we sought to explore participants’ beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures related to family-professional partnerships at their head start site before implementation of the foundations intervention. the second question enabled us to examine how parents and teachers participating in the foundations intervention perceived their experience in terms of their partnerships. the first research question regarding identifying pre-existing beliefs, attitudes, and administrative structures at the head start program related to family-professional partnerships is an important one to understand within any head start location. the head start performance standards emphasize family-professional partnerships, but each program site may interpret and implement standards differently. we wanted to examine one program’s interpretation of the performance standards along with formal and informal structures supporting family-professional partnerships. our second research question guided us to examine aspects of the foundations intervention that participants believed were important for influencing partnerships. in this qualitative case study we interviewed the head start administrator, teachers, and parents of three children who were either a) identified as having a disability (served via individual educational program, iep), or b) considered to be at risk for referral for special services. we also observed the classrooms and participated with the parent and teacher partners as they went through the foundations intervention. in order to better understand the foundations intervention, it is important to explain what happened at each of the four components as they relate to the partnership. throughout the process, the parent and teacher relied on a facilitator to guide them through the intervention. first, the assess process involved the parent, teacher, and facilitator in the use of a modified version of the routines-based interview (mcwilliam, casey, & sims, 2009) which we called the home-school conversation guide. using this guide, the teachers and parents reflected together on the children’s daily routines at home and school and identified areas of strengths and concerns about the child’s ability to make choices, regulate his or her behavior, or engage with materials or peers. second, the select process required the family member, teacher, and facilitator to work family-professional partnerships 133 together to select a short-term goal (for example, eight to ten weeks). this short-term intervention is different from goals developed for the individualized education program (iep) process, as iep goals are annual. once the partners agreed on a specific goal for home and school, the facilitator helped the family member and teacher determine the child’s expected outcome on a five-point scale. the try it step, which is third, included both the family member and the teacher trying one or more strategies. a key feature of this step involved asking teachers and family members to use a flip camera or videophone to record the child trying the identified strategy, then sharing what happened at home and school. fourth, the reflect step required the family member and teacher to think together about how well their strategies worked and to reach a consensus score on the five-point scale. the collaborative reflection resulted in selection of a new goal for both home and school or revision of the strategies to continue working on the existing goal. in our findings, we present a description of the participants’ interactions and decisions as they worked together to implement each of the steps of the foundations intervention. findings head start foundations supporting partnerships the teachers, family members, and administrators shared their perceptions about how the head start program organization influenced their ability to establish good partnerships between teachers and families. each partner provided important information to explain their beliefs. understanding head start’s commitment to partnerships. our study examined what participants understood about family-professional partnerships and their responsibilities within a head start program. the program administrator spoke about head start’s long-term commitment to families as partners, and in particular the responsibility to support families facing multiple challenges in their homes and in classrooms. the teachers in this study often relied on co-workers who had at one time been head start parents, for support in working with the families of children in their classroom. with respect to family members' perceptions about head start’s level of support for and partnership with families, one parent identified head start staff as advocates for her child and the head start program as a place where she felt her child was safe. for the other parents, the quality of the partnership they experienced was more related to their relationship with individual teachers. national performance standards and administrative structures emphasizing family support and participation. the program administrator and the head start staff members in the study identified head start performance standards as an important part of the program’s administrative structure. with the support of extensive professional development activities, the administrator expected teachers to know, understand, and implement head start performance standards. in their interviews, all three of the teachers identified the head start performance standards as a guide for their efforts to engage families. these teachers also gave examples of barriers that they thought affected their ability to interact with families, including paperwork demands, staff turnover, and staff shortages. all of these participants agreed that these barriers impeded their ability to implement partnerships with families to the degree they 134 stroup-rentiner et al. would like, such as time to talk to each parent at the beginning or end of each day and time to make phone calls or home visits to families. local head start leadership. parents and teachers said they believed that strong family-professional relationships were a priority for the program administrator of this head start program. the administrator believed her dual role as a parent of a child with a disability and as a head start professional strengthened her ability to understand family-professional partnerships. families were less certain about leadership roles. influence of participating in the foundations intervention with these administrative structures in place, we explored how participating in the foundations intervention influenced the partnerships between families and teachers. based on our interviews and observations, we found participants identified several important factors involved in building partnerships: setting and attaining related goals that focused on a child need at both home and school; sharing knowledge about home and school environments; collaborating in working toward each child’s goals; and encouraging interactions characterized by enhanced communication, high expectations, and commitment. developing shared goals. for this component of the foundations intervention, the parent and teacher chose a goal for the child based on specific child needs. the parent and teacher considered the challenges the child faced in one or more of the three foundations areas (e.g., engagement, choice making, and self-regulation) during the course of the day at home and at school. although they were not required to do so, two of the three families and teachers in this study chose similar goals for the child to work on at home and at school. both the teachers and parents thought that having a shared goal brought them closer as partners because it enabled them to communicate more often and problem solve on joint strategies at home and at school. gaining shared knowledge of the child’s environments. both the families and teachers thought that their participation in the foundations intervention gave them a better understanding of the child’s routines, interests, and activities at home, and vice versa, in the classroom. family members said they had better understanding of their child’s day at head start and of their child’s school routines, interests, and activities, after participating in the foundations intervention. they found out their children’s teachers faced similar, or slightly different struggles in the classroom as they did at home. collaborating in work on the child’s goals. once both partners shared an understanding of what happened at home and school, they were able to target the specific goals set to better support the child in both environments. both families and teachers felt this mutual dialogue was helpful and agreed that the video exchange that was part of this study increased clarity regarding best use of suggested strategies. interacting with families through enhanced communication, high expectations, and commitment. because they were working together on specific but related goals goal and selected strategies, communication became a more purposeful activity. families thought that family-professional partnerships 135 their children’s teachers had higher expectations for their child in class, were more committed to making adjustments for goal success, and experienced better communication with their children during the head start day. positive interactions between the child and the teacher tended to lead to positive assessments of the interactions between families and teachers. practice implications this study helped us to determine that the foundation intervention was a framework that could build practical strategies into the family-professional partnership. the foundations intervention involves partners sharing information for a specific purpose. the importance of sharing information across home and school settings is consistent with findings in other studies. (bluebanning et al., 2004; brotherson et al., 2008). some examples of the most practical aspects of the study are below. using a tool for assessing the child’s strengths and needs the foundations intervention home-school conversation guide formatted comparable home and school routines side-by-side on each page to invite the family members and teachers to think together. this process stressed assessing the strengths and needs of both the child and the family. questions included how does your day start? what works well during your day? how often do you see that behavior during snack time? using a tool like this provides a structure for a conversation between the teacher and parent to share information. many times, the facilitator briefly introduced the tool which enabled family and teacher partners to have an immediate context for a rich and detailed discussion of child abilities and needs. selecting the same short-term goals and accompanying strategies the discussion about measuring goals generated strategies for the parent and teacher to try as they worked toward the goal. often the family and professional partnership was even stronger when the family member and teacher agreed to work on a related goal at home and in school. trying strategies at home and preschool once the goal was identified the family member and the teacher would problem solve strategies to address the goal in both environments. while setting related goals was most effective, different strategies could be used in both environments, to support specific child needs. when families and teachers shared their successes/challenges with each other (e.g., video or other communication) the strategies could be adapted and modified as appropriate. the sense of having a mutual project and sharing information on progress can create enthusiasm and deepen partnership. 136 stroup-rentiner et al. collaboratively reflecting on how the strategies worked with the facilitator’s help, the parent-teacher dyad reflected on how the process worked for them and the child. at a minimum, the dyad reflected on “what worked best?” and “what could they have changed?” this reflection in some cases led to identification of more goals for the child creating a continuous cycle of shared goals. in contrast to more typical parent-teacher interactions, participation in the foundations intervention included goal setting leading to specific tasks both the parent and teacher agreed to do; a short timeframe to work on a shared goal; frequent interactions and sharing to explain what they were doing both at home and in the classroom; and an equal playing field or common context between the teacher and the family, with assistance from a facilitator. conclusion our findings in this study suggest that family and professional participation in the foundations intervention may influence partnerships, especially in a program in which staff have compatible beliefs about families and the importance of partnership. teachers at head start perceived that interacting with families and supporting them to address challenges as part of their jobs did not lead to attributing any problems in partnerships to the families themselves. these attitudes among staff members clearly indicate their respect and support for families. this perspective contrasts with findings in other research where teachers or other early childhood professionals often identified family characteristics as barriers to high-quality home-school relationships (hadley, 2012; marchini, 2011; trainor, 2010). the foundations intervention also enhanced the quality and effectiveness of home visits by teachers and classroom staff that took place twice a year. because communication between the family member and teacher was purposeful, the participants reported that the frequency and quality of their communications increased over time. the foundations intervention provided structure for intentional interactions and increased understanding of both the parents and the teachers. it also was a good match for what was in place at head start before the intervention, ensuring the intervention was feasible to use. participation in foundations intervention reinforced and enhanced the existing practices at targeted head start program. based on the findings of this study, it appears that partnership interventions, such as the foundations intervention, could become a valuable tool supporting family-professional partnerships in head start and other early childhood programs. references blue-banning, m., summers, j. a., frankland, h. c., nelson, l., & beegle, g. (2004). dimensions of family and professional partnership: constructive guidelines for collaboration. exceptional children, 70(2), 167-184. brotherson, m. j., erwin, e. j., & weigel, c. j. (2008). understanding self-determination and families of young children with disabilities in home environments. journal of early intervention, 31(1), 22-43. hadley, f. (2012). early childhood staff and families' perceptions: diverse views about important experiences for children aged 3-5 years in early childhood settings, contemporary issues in early childhood, 13(1), 38-49. marchini, l. (2011). teacher and school variables that impact special education preschool, (doctoral dissertations). available from proquest dissertations and theses database. (umi no. 3444324). family-professional partnerships 137 mcwilliam, r. a., casey, a. m., & sims, j. (2009). the routines-based interview: a method for gathering information and assessing needs. infants and young children, 22, 224–233. summers, j. a., palmer, s. b., stroup-rentier, v., haines, s., wu, h., brotherson, m. j., maude, s., and erwin, e. j. (2012, october). implementing the foundations for self-determination model in early childhood: lessons learned. session presented at 28th division of early childhood conference on young children with special needs and their families, minneapolis, mn. trainor, a. a. (2010). educators' expectations of parent participation: the role of cultural and social capital. multiple voices for ethnically diverse exceptional learners, 12(2), 33-50. turnbull, a., turnbull, h. r., erwin, e., soodak, l., & shogren, k. (2011). families, professionals, and exceptionality: positive outcomes through partnerships and trust (6th ed.). upper saddle river, nj: merrill prentice hall. turnbull, a. p., turnbull, h. r., & wehmeyer, m. l. (2007). exceptional lives: special education in today’s schools (5th ed.). upper saddle river, nj: merrill/prentice hall. u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families. (2011). the head start parent, family, and community engagement framework: promoting family engagement and school readiness from prenatal to age 8. retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/family http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/family abstract dialog, 16(2), 18 33 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article head start preschoolers' emotional positivity and emotion regulation predict their social-emotion behavior, classroom adjustment, and early school success susanne a. denham, hideko h. bassett, yana s. sirotkin, and katherine zinsser george mason university children’s abilities to express contextually useful emotions and regulate emotions are related to their school adjustment and academic achievement. in this study, we examined the specific contributions of emotional positivity and emotion regulation during a direct assessment to broader self-regulation, social-emotional behavior during play, school adjustment, and school readiness. we found that each construct made useful contributions to these important outcomes. implications include the need to pay increased attention to emotional competence in head start research and classroom practice. keywords: social and emotional development, school readiness, assessment, emotion regulation in today’s educational climate, preschoolers' literacy and numeracy have been main foci as indices of their school readiness and later academic success (duncan et al., 2007). an emerging literature, however, has begun to emphasize the significance of young children's emotional competence on their school readiness (denham, brown, & domitrovich, 2010; raver, garner, & smith-donald, 2001). during the early childhood years, emotional competence skills are organized around the social developmental tasks of positive engagement and managing emotional arousal within social interaction (parker & gottman, 1989). these tasks are not easy ones for children just entering school, where relationships with nonparental adults and peers, as well as learning new skills, become important. the preschool and kindergarten contexts can tax children’s abilities to sit still, attend, follow directions, approach group play, complete preacademic tasks in an organized fashion, and get along with others in ways that challenge their nascent emotional competence (denham, 2006). based on the core developmental tasks of this period, two aspects of emotional competence loom as particularly important for adapting to these contexts: emotional expressiveness and emotional regulation. these constructs are tightly related, for one must positivity, emotion regulation, and school success 19 experience and/or express emotions in order to regulate them, but they are sufficiently discernible to render them important, even necessary, to study separately (bridges, denham, & ganiban, 2004; cole, martin, & dennis, 2004). in the present study we address the separate contributions of emotional expressiveness and regulation to children’s classroom adjustment and academic readiness. for young children to successfully engage in interpersonal exchanges and form the relationships necessary for positive school experiences, they must learn to send and receive emotional messages in ways that are advantageous to both themselves and others (halberstadt, denham, & dunsmore, 2001). the emotional information they convey can be a “game-changer” during social interaction. in this regard, positive emotion can be very important. it is important in the initiation and regulation of social exchanges; sharing positive affect may facilitate the formation of friendships, and render one more likable (denham, mckinley, couchoud, & holt, 1990; park, lay, & ramsay, 1993). children who show relatively more frequent, long-lasting, and/or intense positive emotions in the preschool classroom are perceived as more socially competent by peers and teachers (denham et al., 2003; denham, mckinley, couchoud, & holt, 1990). positive emotional expressiveness contributes to more than the abilities to interact and form relationships with others, despite their importance. it can also help moderate negative emotions, facilitating recovery from arousal (izard, stark, trentacosta, & schultz, 2008). these contributions of positive emotional expressiveness to both social competence and recovery from negative arousal explain, in part, its relations with preschoolers’ success at classroom tasks: emotionally positive children are seen as better adjusted in the classroom (e.g., they demonstrate abilities to adjust to routines, comply with limits, participate with enthusiasm and focus in structured activities, along with forming positive relationships with teachers and peers; shin et al., 2011). when young children can maintain a positive emotional tone, they may be more able to remain engaged with classroom tasks. analyses of the goals and motivations related to much older students’ positive emotions in the classroom suggest that enjoyment of activities and the experience of joy are related to anticipations of task success and task engagement (pekrun, 2006; pekrun, elliot, & maier, 2009). although it remains to be seen whether these processes are operative with preschoolers, it makes intuitive sense that even young children who anticipate succeeding at developmentally appropriate pre-academic tasks may enjoy these very tasks, and via this enjoyment find it easier to remain engaged with them. it is easy to posit a feedback loop where positive emotion facilitates positive task engagement and success, which lead to further positive emotion. emotion regulation, the ability to adjust the experience and expression of feelings in context and control them when necessary (cole, michel, & teti, 1994), is the second aspect of emotional competence pertinent to this study. preschoolers’ constructive modes of emotion regulatory coping are associated with their social effectiveness (blair, denham, kochanoff, & whipple, 2004; denham et al., 2003). further, even more strongly than positive emotional expressiveness, young children’s ability to regulate emotion is related to their school adjustment, and even their achievement of early academic skills. those who have difficulties dealing with emotions may not have the personal resources to make the adjustment to the new school environment and focus on learning (graziano, reavis, keane, & calkins, 2007; miller, seifer, stroud, sheinkopf, & dickstein, 2006; shields et al., 2001). more specifically, shields et al. (2001) assessed head start teachers’ views of denham et al. 20 preschoolers’ emotion regulation – including their emotional flexibility, equanimity, and contextual appropriateness of their emotional expression. emotion regulation evaluated early in the school year predicted children’s later school adjustment, even with age, verbal ability, emotional lability, and emotion knowledge covaried. miller et al. (2006) also found that observed emotional dysregulation was negatively related to teachers’ ratings of children’s motivation to learn. finally, howse and colleagues (howse, calkins, anastopoulos, keane, & shelton, 2003) also found that preschoolers’ emotion regulation, assessed using the same rating scale as shields et al., but also including a series of frustration tasks, predicted kindergarten achievement. in the long run, school success may be thwarted for children who have trouble regulating emotions (howse et al., 2003; smith-donald, raver, hayes, & richardson, 2007; trentacosta & izard, 2007). why are positive expressiveness/engagement and emotion regulation especially important in head start? these aspects of emotional competence may be particularly important for children attending head start. children living in poverty and inequity already demonstrate a significant achievement gap as early as kindergarten (e.g., campbell & stauffenberg, 2008; raver & knitzer, 2002; ryan, fauth, & brooks-gunn, 2006). living in stress-inducing contexts of poverty has consequences for the development of both cognition and behavior (blair, 2010). specifically referring to the development of emotional competence, we showed that head start students were overrepresented as “at risk for social-emotional deficits” (denham et al., 2012); they showed less capable emotion knowledge, inhibitory control, compliance, and social information processing, as well as showing more angry/aggressive behavior, than their more economically advantaged counterparts. subsequently, kindergarten teachers considered them less socially competent and adjusted in the classroom in terms of learning behaviors and attitudes. thus, we must prioritize maximizing instructional effectiveness in preschool programs serving children growing up in poverty, especially regarding their emotional competence (e.g., bierman, et al., 2008). identifying, tracking, and maximizing head start students’ positive expressiveness and positive engagement in the classroom, as well as their emotion regulation, could assist in creating a context of “caring and supportive others in a predictable, stimulating environment” (blair, 2010, p. 186), with benefits to their early school success. the present study in the present study, we explore the contributions of positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation, using ratings of these aspects of emotional competence made during a challenging direct assessment of self-regulatory abilities. first, we examine the concurrent and discriminant validity of our ratings of positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation, via their relations with (a) naturalistic observations of children’s emotional positivity and regulation; and (b) the executive control task battery from whence they came. that is, our first focus is on establishing validity of the ratings. we expect that: (a) positive emotion/engagement, but not emotion positivity, emotion regulation, and school success 21 regulation, ratings will be related to children’s observed positive emotion in the classroom; and (b) emotion regulation, but not positive emotion/engagement, ratings will be negatively related to children’s observation emotional dysregulation in the classroom; and (c) emotion regulation ratings will be more highly related to executive control than positive emotion/engagement. the second central goal of the study is to examine relations of these indices of head start preschoolers' emotional competence and both their school adjustment and academic readiness during head start and in kindergarten. we expect that both positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation ratings will be related to indices of school adjustment and academic readiness. methods data for the current study were part of a larger study focused on developing a portable assessment battery for measuring the social and emotional aspects of school success. children were recruited from head start programs in northern virginia, at parent and teacher meetings and via flyers posted in classrooms. participants children began participation in the study at differing ages, so we sought to create a group of equivalent age (approximately 4 ½-years-old). to do so, we pooled data from the first and third wave of three waves of longitudinal data; that is, in wave 1 there were 3and 4-year-olds, with the 4-year-olds’ data retained for this sample. because wave 2 data were collected in spring of the same school year as wave 1, children who were three years old in wave 1 did not turn four years old until wave 3. thus their data from wave 3 was retained for this sample. after pooling data, the present study included 138 head start students (55.1% girls; mean age 55.1 mos). of the 86% of families reporting, 60.1% were african-american and 19.6% caucasian; 17.4% of families identified as hispanic. reported median maternal education level was high school graduation; maternal educational attainment ranged from less than high school (16.2%) to graduate degree (2.9%). although only 60 of the original sample of children remained in the study through their kindergarten year (predominantly because of mobility at one specific site), this subsample did not differ from the original on any demographic variable, nor did it differ more than expected by chance on any of the 18 observational, direct assessment, or teacher ratings to follow. data for positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation ratings, as well as the directly assessed or observed validity measures, were collected during fall of children’s last preschool year, and teacher measures were completed at the end of children’s last preschool and kindergarten years. all assessors and observers were trained to certification or interobserver reliability on all measures. denham et al. 22 measures positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation ratings. during self-regulation performance tasks (see psra below), assessors recorded the presence or absence of positive engagement with the assessor (scored 0 or 1). following the completion of all psra tasks by the child, the assessor also completed a 28-item assessor report, which addressed children’s emotions, attention, and behavior during assessor-child interaction. smith-donald et al. (2007) created the assessor report by adapting the leiter-r social-emotional rating scale (roid & miller, 1997) and the disruptive behavior-diagnostic observation schedule coding system (dbdos; wakschlag et al., 2005). for this study, we used only assessor report items reflecting children’s emotion regulation and positive emotional expression. for positive emotion/engagement we used 0to 3-point ratings of positive emotion’s frequency and intensity from the assessor report, plus positive engagement items from each psra performance task. thus, the positive emotion composite used in subsequent analyses included the ratings of children’s positivity/engagement with the examiner during each of the psra tasks, and the intensity and frequency of positive emotions during as rated by the assessor on the assessor report. the resultant aggregate for positive emotion/engagement was created by summing standard scores for each rating (9 ratings;  = .90). for emotion regulation, we employed three 0to 3-point ratings from the assessor report, addressing children’s ability to regulate their emotions during the potentially emotionally taxing performance tasks (defiance (weighted negatively), passive noncompliance (weighted negatively), and modulation of arousal level within themselves). as with positive emotion/engagement, the emotion regulation aggregate was created by summing standard scores across the three ratings;  = .68. inter-rater reliability for the psra and assessor report ratings was calculated between the assessor and a reliability coder using videotape. for positive engagement psra task ratings, intraclass correlation equaled .76, p = .001. interrater reliability for assessor report ratings was also assessed via intraclass correlations, which equaled .50 for the positive emotion (two ratings), and .52 for emotion regulation (three ratings), ps < .01. validity measure, self-regulation task scores: preschool self-regulation assessment (psra; smith-donald et al., 2007). the psra was utilized to show relations of self-regulation task performance with ratings of the children’s positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation during the tasks. the executive control portion of the psra consists of seven structured tasks. these tasks included three requiring children to activate a less favored or nonintuitive (subdominant) response while suppressing a more favored or intuitively logical (prepotent or dominant) response (pencil tap, balance beam, and tower task turn taking), and four involving delay of gratification (toy wrap, toy wait, snack delay, and tongue task) (see smith-donald et al. for measure details). inter-assessor reliability via intra-class correlation for the current data ranged between .79 on toy peek to .95 on pencil tap, showing excellent assessor agreement, ps < .001. the psra tasks battery also shows good concurrent validity with measures of children’s behavior problems and competencies, as well as their early math and verbal skills (denham, warren-khot, bassett, wyatt, & perna, 2012; smith-donald et al., 2007). for this study, standard scores for all seven tasks were averaged to give a score for executive control, which was positivity, emotion regulation, and school success 23 used as to examine the validity of the psra ratings of emotion regulation and positive emotion; cronbach’s alpha was .90. validity measure, social-emotional behavior: minnesota preschool affect checklist-revised/shortened (mpac-r/s). the mpac-r/s, a shortened version of the mpac-r, was used to assess children’s positive emotion expression and their emotion dysregulation, as validity checks for the positive emotion/engagement and regulation scores (see denham et al., 2012; denham & burton, 1996; denham, zahn-waxler, cummings, & iannotti, 1991). the mpac-r/s includes items on positive and negative emotion, productive and unproductive involvement, positive and negative reactions to frustration (i.e., emotion regulation and dysregulation), peer skills, and prosocial behaviors. using the mpac-r/s, children are observed for five-minute periods for each of four occasions separated by at least 4 days; presence or absence of each item is noted for each five-minute period, with these 1/0 items then summed across occasions. for this study, the following mpac-r/s scales were used: (a) positive emotion (average of three items, including any facial, vocal, or bodily emotion, as well as directing positive emotion toward a social partner or in a social situation; α = .66); and (b) dysregulation (average of three items; in response to frustration, conflict, and other emotionally arousing problem situations, the child shows context-related interpersonal aggression, aggression toward objects, or unprovoked physical, interpersonal aggression, α = .56). observer reliability was assessed via averaged measure intraclass correlations (iccs) for the total scale scores across the four periods of observation. iccs were .95 for emotion dysregulation and .97 for positive emotion, ps < .001. validity has been demonstrated for the full mpac-r and mpac-r/s. older preschoolers have been observed as more social-emotionally competent, showing specifically positive emotion expression, emotion regulation, productive involvement in the classroom, and peer skills; children of nondepressed mothers were more prosocial (denham et al., 1991). denham et al. (2012) also found associations between mpac-r/s components and measures of school success. classroom adjustment: social competence and behavior evaluation-30 (scbe30). preschoolers’ social competence and behavior was evaluated by the scbe-30 (lafreniere & dumas, 1996). teachers rated children on 5-point scales for 30 items, on behaviors such as “easily frustrated" (angry/aggressive scale), "avoids new situations" (anxious/ withdrawn scale), and "comforts or assists children in difficulty" (sensitive/cooperative scale). subscales demonstrated adequate to high internal consistency at both age levels (αs = .77 to .94 for the current sample); age 4 to kindergarten stability was significant for angry/aggressive and sensitive/cooperative scales. lafreniere and dumas demonstrated construct and convergent validity of the measure in a nationally representative sample (see also denham et al., 2003, for relations of scbe-30 with preschoolers’ emotional expressiveness and regulation). finally, the scbe-30 demonstrated structural equivalence across diverse demographic groups (lafreniere et al., 2002). classroom adjustment: early learning behaviors. teachers rated children’s approaches to learning using the preschool learning behaviors scale (plbs; mcdermott, leigh, & perry, 2002), on 3-point scales regarding children’s specific, observable classroom behaviors. denham et al. 24 the 29-item instrument yields three reliable learning behavior dimensions: (a) competence motivation (i.e., reluctant to tackle a new activity); (b) attention/persistence (i.e., tries hard, but concentration soon fades and performance deteriorates); and (c) attitudes toward learning (i.e., doesn't achieve anything constructive when in a sulky mood). adequate internal consistency estimates were found (αs =.79 to .89 for the current sample). preschool to kindergarten stability was highly significant on all subscales. multimethod, multi-source validity analyses further substantiated the plbs, with similar reliability estimates for both whites and non-whites in the standardization sample (fantuzzo, perry & mcdermott, 2004). classroom adjustment in preschool and kindergarten: teacher rating scale of school adjustment (trssa). this measure was designed to tap several constructs reflective of young children’s behavioral and relational adjustment to classroom settings (ladd, kochenderfer, & coleman, 1997). teachers provided ratings on 3-point scales on 52 items, for behaviors such as “follows teacher’s directions” (cooperative participation), “works independently” (self-directedness), “likes going to school” (school liking), or “initiates conversations with the teacher” (comfort with teacher). internal consistency is adequate (αs = .83 to .93 for the current sample). preschool to kindergarten stability was significant for all subscales. subscales have demonstrated validity in socioeconomically-diverse and mixed-race samples. school adjustment aggregates. we chose these three measures to capture emotional, social, behavioral, attitudinal, and learning-related aspects of school adjustment, and aggregated across scores to form a broader index of such adjustment for use in subsequent analyses. standard scores for all scbe, plbs, and trssa scales were summed (scbe anger/aggression and anxiety/withdrawal reversed). alphas were .93 for both preschool and kindergarten aggregates, respectively. preschool academic readiness: phonological awareness literacy screening for preschool. the phonological awareness literacy screening for preschool (pals-prek) was designed to assess emerging literacy skills in children prior to beginning kindergarten (invernizzi, sullivan, & meier, 2001). the pals-prek measures several key abilities: name writing, alphabet recognition (lower and upper case), letter sounds, beginning sound awareness, print and word awareness, rhyme awareness, and nursery rhyme awareness (pals-prek; invernizzi et al., 2001). to extract maximum variance from each component of the pals, and because the structure of the pals has not been perfectly stable across reported samples (cf. townsend & konold, 2010), a principal component analysis was conducted. promax rotation was utilized because pals scales were expected to be correlated. the analysis resulted in two components with eigenvalues over 1. one was comprised of scores for name writing, upperand lower-case recognition, and letter sounds (eigenvalue = 3.86, accounting for 48.21% of the variance); this components was called “name and letter knowledge”. the second was comprised of scores for beginning sounds of words, print and word awareness, rhyme awareness, and nursery rhyme awareness (eigenvalue = 1.55, accounting for an additional 19.42% of variance, for a total of 67.62% of variance explained); this component was termed “print/phonological awareness”. pattern loadings for component one ranged from .63 for name writing to .92 for lower positivity, emotion regulation, and school success 25 case recognition. for component two, pattern loadings ranged from .71 for beginning sound awareness to .90 for nursery rhyme awareness. for subsequent analyses, standard scores were averaged for the elements in each 4-scale component;  = .62 for name and letter knowledge, and  = .79 for print/phonological awareness. the components were, as expected, correlated, r (136) = .45, p < .001. kindergarten academic readiness: ecls-k academic rating scale. kindergarten teachers completed the ecls-k academic rating scale (ars, u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics, 2002), which includes the following aspects of kindergarten academic readiness: (a) language and literacy (nine items, e.g., “reads simple books independently”); (b) general knowledge (five items, e.g., “forms explanations based on observations and explorations”), and (c) mathematical thinking (seven items, e.g., “shows an understanding of the relationship between quantities”). teachers compared each child to their same-age peers on 5-point scales. internal consistency reliabilities for the subscales ranged from .85 to .92; the ars aggregate was created by summing standard scores for the scales (α = .92). results to explore the problem questions for our study, we performed a series of hierarchical multiple regressions to assess how children’s positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation during the psra contributed to variance in (a) self-regulation task scores on the psra; (b) socialemotional behavior; (c) teacher-reported school adjustment at age 4 and in kindergarten; and (d) indices of academic readiness at age 4 and in kindergarten (see table 1). age at the beginning of participation in the study and gender were entered in step one of each analysis (to partial their contribution as potentially important demographic variables); the age 4 school adjustment aggregate was also entered on step one for kindergarten school adjustment, to show contributions to variance for positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation over and above teachers’ earlier perceptions of the child’s school adjustment. similarly, the pals-prek factors were entered on step one for kindergarten academic readiness. positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation scores were entered in step 2 of each equation. as seen in table 1, both positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation during the psra were associated with the executive control aggregate derived from psra tasks scores (after the contributions of age and gender, in which being older or a girl contributed at least at a borderline level). positive emotion/engagement, however, was a negative contributor to executive control. these associations paint a picture of emotionally regulated, less positively expressive children more successfully completing these tasks. further, positive emotion/engagement during the psra was a significant predictor of positive emotion observed via the mpac-r/s, and emotion regulation during the psra was a significant negative predictor of emotional dysregulation observed via the mpac-r/s (being a boy also predicted such behavior). also in table 1, school adjustment at age 4 was significantly associated with being a girl and being emotionally regulated during the psra. school adjustment in kindergarten, after a positive association with earlier school adjustment (β = .577, p < .001), was not predicted by denham et al. 26 psra positive emotion/engagement or emotional regulation. in contrast, the pals print/phonological awareness component was associated with positive emotion/engagement during the psra (neither positive emotion/engagement nor emotion regulation predicted name and letter knowledge). finally, even after the significant contribution of pals phonological awareness, as well as that of age, positive emotion/engagement during the psra contributed to the ars aggregate during kindergarten. positivity, emotion regulation, and school success 27 table 1 regression results: emotional positivity and emotion regulation during the psra predicting observed emotion and emotional dysregulation, executive control, and early school success mpac-r/s positive mpac-r/s dysregulated psra exec. control b se b β δ r 2 b se b β δ r 2 b se b β δ r 2 block 1 0.013 0.084 * .089 ** age -0.006 0.006 -0.111 0.001 0.001 0.098 0.040 0.013 0.265 ** gender -0.011 0.035 -0.028 -0.018 0.007 -0.205 * 0.180 0.095 0.156 + block 2 0.036 + 0.063 ** .099 *** positive 0.049 0.023 0.181 * -0.002 0.005 -0.038 -0.135 0.060 -0.178 * emot reg 0.022 0.023 0.081 -0.015 0.005 -0.253 ** 0.186 0.059 0.248 ** school adjustment pals print/phon. ars b se b β δ r 2 b se b β δ r 2 b se b β δ r 2 block 1 0.105 *** 0.016 .298 ** age 0.335 0.166 0.165 * 0.023 0.018 0.127 0.226 0.111 0.294 * gender 4.452 1.253 0.290 *** 0.002 0.131 0.001 -0.424 0.821 -0.074 pals1 ------ ------ 1.333 0.874 0.212 pals2 ------ ------ 1.253 0.874 0.293 * block 2 0.040 * 0.086 * .081 positive -0.886 0.824 -0.088 0.266 0.092 0.277 ** 1.234 0.579 0.307 * emot reg 1.736 0.811 0.174 * 0.097 0.080 0.116 -0.089 0.385 -0.031 + p < .10. * p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p <.001. notes. positive = positive emotion/engagement; emot reg = emotion regulation. total r 2 significant at through step 3 for all equations. n total = 138, n pals = 103. n kindergarten academic success = 43. all dependent measures in table 1 were assessed in children’s last preschool year, except the ars, which was assessed during kindergarten. denham et al. 28 discussion the findings of this study underscore the importance of examining the unique contributions of emotional expression and emotional regulation to children’s successful navigation of preschool and kindergarten classrooms. both positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation showed interpretable relations with school adjustment and observed social-emotional behavior, and with aspects of early school readiness. the ability to stay positive while experiencing repeated challenges to one’s selfregulation (aspects of negative emotional expression during the psra were not studied here because of their rarity) seemed to translate to similar capabilities observed during play with classmates. moreover, and perhaps even more striking, this emotional competence was also related to attainment of relatively complex pre-literacy skills. connecting with teachers in such an emotionally positive manner is a capability that has received little attention in the school readiness literature (i.e., in comparison to aspects of the teacher-student relationship); perhaps emotional positivity/engagement with adults indexes children’s motivations to succeed, please the teacher, and delve into complex pre-literacy skills like phonological awareness, rhyming, and nursery rhymes. also, perhaps the teachers dedicate more individual attention to children who interact with them in an emotionally positive manner, resulting in additional contributions to development of these academic skills. these arguably more complex pre-literacy skills could be particularly related to emotional positivity/engagement during related classroom activities with peers and teachers. it should be noted, however, that positive emotion/engagement was a negative predictor of self-regulation task scores (along with a positive contribution by emotion regulation). why would being positive emotionally and socially on the very tasks from which those ratings emanated be associated with lower self-regulation task scores? phillips, bull, adams, and fraser (2002) similarly found, with adults, that positive mood impaired performance on a stroop task, but improved it on a word fluency test. they argued that positive mood may reduce the resources available to carry out some, but not all, executive control tasks. happy people may be less motivated to engage in dull or effortful tasks (which the psra tasks may be for young children!). the diffuse thoughts engendered by a happy mood may diminish willingness to take part in a task that is perceived as not very intrinsically enjoyable; it is only when people are very motivated to a task that is seen as “fun” that happy mood impacts performance positively. also, the higher emotional arousal of such happiness levels may interfere with children’s ability to concentrate on tasks; in our case, positive emotion and social interaction with the adult examiner may have superseded their task engagement. that is, it is also possible that children who experience positive mood are more focused on the person they are interacting with, rather than on the task itself. perhaps these children are more interested and focused on the social interaction, rather than the activity. the contributions of emotion regulation to head start children’s school adjustment have already been documented (miller et al., 2006; shields et al., 2001). our results corroborate and extend this work with head start children, by (a) examining observed positive emotion/engagement an adult, rather than teacher-rated lability/negativity as shields et al. (although negative emotion is also important, and was also observed in the classroom by miller et al.); (b) observing emotion regulation in a situation that was more similar to day-to-day academic challenges than the laboratory and observational measures used by miller et al; and (c) using more extensive indicators of school adjustment and readiness. in our work, children who were able to regulate positivity, emotion regulation, and school success 29 their emotions when faced with challenging regulatory tasks were also seen by head start teachers, as reflected in the preschool school adjustment aggregate, as more capable of remaining persistent with their pre-academic classroom tasks, and as more prosocial and socially responsive with peers. it is clear that the ability to stay on an even keel in the stimulating classroom environment may confer an advantage in patiently staying on-task; the child who is less “flappable” can concentrate better. emotion regulation may afford that selfsame child with the ability to set his/her own needs aside in favor of helping or cooperating with peers. limitations and further research when considering research limitations, it is always important to consider the psychometric properties of measures used. in this study, all internal consistencies and observer/rater reliabilities were adequate or better. however, for our observations of emotional expressiveness and dysregulation, aggregates were based on very small numbers of items, with some suppression of internal consistency. thus, although mean inter-item correlations for these scales were significant (another, perhaps better indicator of internal consistency when such small numbers of items are used; spiliotopoulou, 2009), reconfirmation of the association between our ratings of emotion regulation and positive emotion/engagement could be made with another source of observed emotion and behavior. our kindergarten sample was attenuated by mobility in one school system, but it did not appear different from the preschool sample on any variables. nonetheless, replication of our findings is in order with larger sample sizes, especially for kindergarten outcomes. greater statistical power in a replication could help add confidence in these findings. practical implications given the importance of positive emotion/engagement in our more novel findings, perhaps a greater focus could be given to emotion utilization in the classroom; this construct is formally defined as adaptive cognition and action motivated by emotion experience, the effective use of the inherently adaptive and motivational functions of emotions (izard, stark, et al., 2008). as such, it is conceptually different from direct attempts to regulate emotion or emotion-related behavior (cf. eisenberg & spinrad, 2004); emotion utilization involves spontaneous as well as planned constructive actions and creative endeavors that accompany emotions. efforts directed toward emotion regulation may facilitate emotion utilization, but they are not necessary for harnessing the inherently adaptive functions of emotions in constructive thought and action. our findings on positive emotion/engagement suggest that these qualities could be promoted in young children, to good effect. given adequate emotion knowledge, and a supportive social context, children could learn to utilize the energy and focus in positive emotion/ engagement to succeed both socially and academically. how, then, could knowing the power of the positive emotion/engagement results from this study be applied in the name of better emotion utilization? head start teachers’ role would be very important to this end. perhaps teachers could use simple ratings of positive emotion/engagement (and emotion regulation) in ongoing assessment of children’s performance, at prescribed points during the school day, to understand the children’s current functioning and forecast its impact on broader school adjustment and preacademic success. thus, perhaps denham et al. 30 teachers could perform quarterly ratings of positive engagement and emotion regulation, for children judged to have emotional competence deficits. these ratings could be made at several points during the school day (e.g., circle time, center time, lunch, other transition times). this information, when successive ratings are compared, could let the teacher know how children are progressing in terms of these important competencies, and guide teachers in knowing which children could benefit from individualized promotion of these emotional skills. for example, day-to-day child-teacher interaction and programming such as izard’s emotion-based prevention program (izard, king, et al., 2008) could help harness and promote children’s positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation. furthermore, zins, bloodworth, weissberg, and wahlberg (2007) have asserted that schools are social places; we would extend this argument to say that classrooms are social and emotional environments. teachers are key players in this environment, and they can help children achieve positive emotion/engagement and emotion regulation via means extending beyond curricula. for example, teachers could attend to their own emotional lives, with helpful reverberations into the children’s functioning. for example, frenzel, goetz, lüdtke, pekrun, and sutton (2009) found, with older children, that teachers’ enjoyment (e.g., “when teaching this class, i am good humored,” “teaching in this class gives me many reasons to be pleased”) predicted their enthusiasm, which then predicted pupils’ enthusiasm. educating teachers as to their vital role in promoting children’s positive engagement and emotion regulation could spur them to foster their emotion abilities. although the role of early childhood educators in promoting young children’s emotional competence has not received the intensive study it deserves, it seems likely that teachers could take an active role in promoting the very positive emotion/engagement found to be so important here. in sum, positive emotional expressivity and engagement, as well as emotion regulation, are related to important aspects of preschool and kindergarten success, and should be acknowledged as important precursors to such success, with a corresponding increase in research on children’s emotional competence, teachers’ socialization of emotion, and application in head start programming. aspects of emotional competence deserve even greater attention in classrooms, in terms of everyday practice and specific curricula. acknowledgements the present study was funded by nichd grant #r01hd51514. we are grateful to the many children, families, and teachers who participated in this study, and the directors of the facilities who so cooperatively worked with us. we also thank afra ahmad, charlotte anderson, chavaughn brown, kelly graling, chazity johnson, bess lam, melissa mincic, carol morris, so ri mun, alyssa perna, sara kalb thayer, erin way, todd wyatt, and jessy zadrazil for their unstinting assistance in study organization and data collection. references bierman, k. l., domitrovich, c. e., nix, r. l., gest, s. d., welsh, j. a., greenberg, m. t., blair, c., et al. 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(2002). early childhood longitudinal studykindergarten class of 1998-99 (ecls-k), psychometric report for kindergarten through first grade, nces 2002-05, by donald a. rock and judith m. pollack, educational testing service, elvira germino hausken, project officer. washington, dc: 2002. wakschlag, l. s., levanthal, b. l., briggs-gowan, m. j., danis, b., keenan, k., hill, c., &carter, a. s. (2005). defining the “disruptive” in preschool behavior: what diagnostic observation can teach us. clinical child and family psychology review, 8, 183-201. doi: 10.1007/s10567-005-6664-5 zins, j. e., bloodworth, m. r., weissberg, r. p., & walberg, h. j. (2007). the scientific base linking social and emotional learning to school success. journal of educational & psychological consultation, 17, 191-210. doi:10.1080/1047441070141314 http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.ecresq.2007.01.002 http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1007/s10567-005-6664-5 (continued on next page) volume 16, number 4 2013 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles teacher initiated communication: engaging parents responsively in an urban school context stephen d. hancock and tehia v. starker…………………………………..….………….... 1 what you can accomplish in a year: head start teachers’ decisions about teaching gretchen butera, amber friesen, and angi stone-macdonald……………………………... 11 evaluation of the effects of read it once again across two groups of students vivian i. correa, cynthia c. baughan, karen m. fries, martie thompson, and robert algozzine…………………………………………………………………………………….. 30 effects of social stories on the behaviors of typically developing preschoolers mary e. mcnelly and janediane smith………………………….…………………….......... 48 relations between preschool teachers’ language and gains in low income english language learners’ and english speakers’ vocabulary, early literacy and math skills susan sonnenschein, joy a. thompson, shari r. metzer, and linda baker ………….…..... 64 research-to-practice summaries teacher initiated communication strategies to engage urban parents tehia v. starker and stephen d. hancock………………………….….……………………. 88 helping head start teachers support children’s school readiness: lessons learned gretchen butera, amber friesen, and angi stone-macdonald.…………………………….. 94 read it once again instruction with two groups of students vivian i. correa, cynthia c. baughan, karen m. fries, martie thompson, and robert algozzine…………………………………………………………………………………….. 99 social stories: a positive behavior intervention for typically developing preschoolers mary e. mcnelly and janediane smith………………………….…………………….......... 104 the importance of teachers’ language and children’s vocabulary to early academic skills susan sonnenschein, joy a. thompson, shari r. metzer, and linda baker ………….…..... 107 (continued from previous page) dialog from the field involving families in the assessment process julia h. rutland and anna hall…………………………………………………………....... 113 maintaining professionalism, appropriate distance, and consistency in relationships with participants in longitudinal research: guidelines for investigators and research staff robin g. lanzi and sharon l. ramey…………………………………………………........... 121 dialog, 17(3) copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article promoting shared cultural and linguistic backgrounds among children and families in early head start/head start programs jeannette mancilla-martinez university of california, irvine nonie k. lesaux harvard graduate school of education while recruitment and employment goals of early head start/head start (ehs/hs) programs with respect to bilingual staff are clearly outlined in the program policies, nationally, little is known about their implementation on the ground, especially in programs that serve large numbers of latino children. the present study targeted an urban ehs/hs program that serves a large number of spanish-speaking dual language learning families. an interview with the program’s human resources director was conducted to gain insight into the program’s recruitment and retention strategies for latino/a staff. additionally, via the administration of a survey to lead teachers (n = 109), we sought to gain concrete insight into teachers’ language and ethnicity characteristics and to learn whether and, if so, for which purposes teachers reported using spanish in their classrooms. our results suggest that the two-pronged recruitment and retention strategy employed by the program likely related to the high rates of ehs/hs teachers in the program who identified themselves as latinas and who reported using spanish in the classroom. such efforts appear to be a step in the right direction given the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in today’s ehs/hs classrooms. the great majority of early head start (ehs) and head start (hs) programs serve dual language learning families, with only 16% enrolling english-only families exclusively (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008; vogel et al., 2006). while dual language learning families are a diverse group, representing numerous ethnicities and language backgrounds, latino children from spanish-speaking homes account for the greatest share of the ehs/hs population of dual language learners. that is, over one-third of ehs/hs children are latino (administration for children and families, 2008), and almost one in four come from families in which spanish is the primary language (hamm, 2006; u.s. department of health and human services, 2006). these demographics represent a unique characteristic of ehs/hs programs as compared to early childhood settings, nationally. for example, a national survey found that, in comparison, only approximately 8% of 3and 4-year old children enrolled in early childhood education settings are identified as hispanic or latino (saluja, early, & clifford, 2002). mancilla-martinez & lesaux ehs/hs policy expects programs to strive to employ qualified bilingual staff in order to strengthen instruction for children, as well as to facilitate effective communication with parents and families (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). however, it is often difficult for programs to find, attract, and retain qualified, bilingual staff (national task force on early childhood education for hispanics, 2007; u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). this means that while recruitment and employment goals of ehs/hs programs with respect to bilingual staff are clearly outlined in the program policies, nationally, little is known about their implementation on the ground. that is, at the site-level, we know very little about efforts to recruit and retain bilingual staff and about the actual ethnicity and language backgrounds of ehs/hs staff, especially in programs that serve large numbers of latino children. we also know very little about whether and how spanish is used by ehs/hs teachers in the classroom (freedson, 2010). we do know, however, that there is some research that finds that when bilingual staff is present, it tends to be the assistant and not the lead teachers who speak students’ native languages (joseph & chazan cohen, 2000). given these questions, in conducting this study, we targeted an urban ehs/hs program that serves a large number of spanish-speaking dual language learning families. from our visits to the program, we suspected that a substantial percentage of the lead teachers were latina, spanish speakers, but statistics from across the program were not available and there was little information about the extent to which spanish was used, if at all, in the classrooms. to answer these questions, we interviewed the program’s human resources (hr) director to gain greater insight into the program’s recruitment and retention strategies for latina staff. we also administered a survey to all lead teachers to gain concrete insight into teachers’ language and ethnicity characteristics and to learn whether and, if so, for which purposes teachers reported using spanish in their classrooms. early childhood educators in the u.s. national statistics help to paint a picture of the characteristics of early childhood educators (referring to lead teachers) in this country. in general, the average early childhood educator for children aged 3 and 4 years old in the u.s. is a white woman of about 39 years of age (saluja et al., 2002); teachers at for-profit centers are slightly younger (m=35 years) and teachers in public school settings are slightly older (m=42 years). nearly every early childhood teacher is female (99%) and the majority (78%) is white (saluja et al., 2002); only 6% identify as “hispanic” or “latino” (saluja et al., 2002). teachers in hs classrooms are reported to differ from the national sample in some striking ways, especially with respect to ethnic diversity. for example, less than half (48%) of hs teachers are white while over one-third (35%) are black (saluja et al., 2002). furthermore, saluja and colleagues found that 6% of hs staff members who worked directly with children identified themselves as hispanic. however, based on information reported through the annually required program information report, hamm (2006) reports that over one-quarter (27%) of hs teachers identified themselves as hispanic in 2005 (hamm, 2006). the conflicting statistics relate to whether “hispanic” is included as a category under “race/ethnicity” (saluja et al., 2002 or whether it is a separate question, regardless of race (hamm, 2006). this diversity carries through to language use. about one-third (29%) of hs teachers reported that they were proficient in a language other than english (hamm, 2006). together, these statistics suggest that bilingual teachers in early head start/head start hispanic/latino early childhood educators account for a greater share of the population in hs settings, compared to the national average for all early childhood education settings. however, these national statistics do not tell us about how this population is distributed across programs, which vary with respect to their concentration of latino children. teachers’ ethnicity is particularly of interest in programs serving high concentrations of latino children. bilingual staffing in programs serving dual language learners given the substantial population of dual language learners enrolled in ehs/hs programs, the organization has advanced the goal of recruiting more teachers who share the same language and culture as their students. one rationale for this goal stems from consistent findings that highquality early care is associated with improved language development and overall school-related achievement (e.g., brooks-gunn, 2003; nichd early child care research network & duncan, 2003). the most effective, high-quality center-based programs include two major components: a rich curriculum, including an emphasis on language and parental involvement, and a responsive, well-educated staff that results in a setting characterized by teacher-child interactions known to support development (brooks-gunn, 2005). while the vast majority of this research has been conducted with native english speaking children (national early literacy panel, 2008), there are implications to be drawn for dual language learning children, especially related to their oral language development. for instance, we know that language development is intertwined with cultural norms for language use (faltis, 2001; heath, 1983). therefore, hiring early childhood education teachers who share the home language and home culture of their students and families may promote more robust language learning at school while simultaneously facilitating communication with parents and families. ultimately, this would also advance progress towards meeting two characteristics of effective programs. at the same time, the minimal research conducted with dual language learning preschoolers, the (emerging) evidence indicates spanish is, indeed, sometimes used in the classroom but not commonplace (barnett, yarosz, thomas, jung, & blanco, 2007; chang et al., 2007; piker & rex, 2008). for example, chang et al. found that in pre-k classrooms across several states, only a modest amount of the teacher-student interactions in classrooms with bilingual spanish-english teachers and students took place in spanish (17.26% of all direct and indirect teacher-student interactions); however, even this minimal amount of spanish use resulted in higher ratings of the quality of teacher-child relationships. shedding light on patterns of language use, in their ethnographic study of teacher-child interactions in one head start classroom, piker and rex (2008) found that the latina assistant teacher offered spanishlanguage support to the spanish-dominant students. however, in this setting, the spanish was primarily used for translating information previously conveyed in english by the white, monolingual english-speaking lead teacher. current study national statistics tell us that early head start/head start (ehs/hs) teachers tend to be more ethnically diverse than the overall population of early childhood educators and that spanish is used by some preschool teachers (and/or teacher assistants) in some of the classrooms. mancilla-martinez & lesaux however, there are reports that not only finding and attracting, but also retaining, qualified bilingual staff can be a challenge for programs (national task force on early childhood education for hispanics, 2007; u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). we thus interviewed the human resources director of a program serving a large concentration of latino children to gain insight into the program’s staff recruitment and retention strategies. we also sought to specifically examine the ethnicity and language backgrounds of teachers within this program and investigated whether and, if so, for which purposes teachers reported using spanish in their classrooms. study context & participants the study was conducted in a small city in the northeastern u.s. of the entire population, 38% of individuals identify as latino, 83% of whom are non-native english speakers. the city has one of the highest poverty rates in the state; 40% of the families are headed by a single mother and more than one-third of children live in households with incomes below the federal poverty level. within the overall ehs/hs program studied, three types of programming are offered, spanning the prenatal period (i.e., for pregnant mothers) through the end of the preschool period (i.e., child age 5), including early head start (prenatal to age 3), head start (age 2.9 to 5), and a summer migrant component (prenatal to age 5). the participants in this study consisted of 109 early head start and head start lead teachers at 8 program sites. the average teacher reported having 16 students in her classroom (sd = 6), with an average of 11 students (or 69% of the class) reported to hear or speak spanish at home (sd = 5). interview with human resources director a principal member of the research team conducted a semi-structured phone interview with the human resources (hr) director in late spring 2011, following ongoing communication and collaboration for that academic year. the interview was open-ended and included 4 guiding issues as follows: 1) recruitment of teachers (e.g., from where?), 2) retention strategies and the extent to which they seem effective, 3) challenges encountered in recruiting and retaining teachers, and 4) ways in which the program bridges language differences when they exist across families and children. the interview was framed at the outset to be about these issues, generally, but especially with respect to hiring and retaining latina teachers. leading up to the interview, the researcher and the hr director had ongoing communication about the overall study and discussed capacity-building initiatives, including potential further collaboration. in the course of these discussions and meetings, the program’s commitment to promoting spanish-speaking children’s achievement was made clear by the hr director. the interview lasted approximately 25 minutes. bilingual teachers in early head start/head start teacher survey all lead teachers (n = 122) were asked to voluntarily and anonymously complete a researcherdeveloped survey during the 2010-11 academic year (see appendix). a total of 109 surveys were returned, yielding a response rate of 89%. the two-page survey, modeled after the head start family and child experiences survey (faces; zill et al., 2006), included background questions (e.g., education, years of experience, ethnicity) as well as specific questions about teachers’ spanish language use in the classroom. in addition to a question that asked about teachers’ frequency of spanish use (if at all), we asked teachers to identify the purposes for which they used spanish with their students, providing a range of options, including: to instruct or teach; to clarify; to give directions; to guide transition times; to comfort; and to socialize during nonteaching times. the surveys were mailed to the program’s hr director and subsequently distributed to the 8 site administrators. the site administrators then distributed the surveys to teachers, collected them, and returned the completed surveys in a sealed envelope to the hr director. the research team then obtained the surveys for processing and analysis. our findings teacher recruitment and retention strategies the interview with the hr director opened with a context-setting discussion of the linguistic diversity inherent in the program and the institutional response. specifically, the program aims to have a staff that is, collectively, bilingual and bicultural, with the specific goal of at least one teacher in every classroom who speaks spanish. the hr director reported that when this is not possible due to capacity issues, then there is definitely one or more spanish-speaking teacher(s) on site who interfaces with the spanish-speaking families. at the same time, cognizant of language barriers, similar to many other programs serving large numbers of non-native english speaking families, english as second language classes are offered to parents. more uniquely, however, at the time of the interview, a conversational spanish class was planned for teachers and staff, demonstrating the program’s commitment to ensuring that teachers and parents can communicate. following this opening discussion about the linguistic context and program response, the interview shifted to focus on recruitment and retention. as a primary recruiting strategy, the director of the overall program and the hr director have, for many years, made themselves (and thus the program) visible to the college community, professors and students alike, by sitting on boards and advisory committees. in turn, the hr director reports several positive by-products or dividends of having a hand in the college scene, predominantly relating to staff recruiting and to the quality of their pipeline. for example, they have had the chance to influence college curricula focused on early childhood development to ensure that current trends and issues (e.g., diversity, health and well-being, extreme poverty) are addressed and that graduates’ skills and knowledge reflect the program’s needs. at the same time, those colleges approach the program with interns in their early childhood education (ece) program and they are met with “open arms.” mancilla-martinez & lesaux a second recruitment strategy is to visit local high schools (charter and non-charter) to talk with students not just about what ehs/hs is, but what high quality child care is and looks like in an effort to show the pipeline to the younger kids. in these sessions, they encourage students to “shadow teachers, sit in on trainings, and consider whether you might like to become a substitute teacher in the classroom, etc.” one location they target is a local alternative high school that includes many vocational programs, including an ece program; the school is designed for high-risk youth who may not persist in a traditional academic setting. the director and hr director also sit on the advisory committee for the ece program. in addition, in the service of program quality and staff retention, a primary program goal and strategy has focused squarely on advancing the education levels of the adults within the organization. while internal professional development is regularly provided, there are also incentives for staff to continue to pursue formal education. specifically, some program money is always put aside to support educational coursework at the bachelor’s and master’s level; for example, approximately 30% of permanent teachers are parents of children formerly enrolled in ehs/hs who came in as substitute teachers and were supported to advance their education. additionally, this program has been the recipient of a federal grant that supported a partnership with a 2-year college to provide evening educational services for the staff. as part of this partnership, some of the college teaching was in spanish and spanish-speaking tutors were available to support the participating latinas. the hr director noted that almost all graduates of this program are still on staff with them, which led to her report that, overall, the program has experienced an “extreme” amount of loyalty on the part of their teachers. this loyalty is evidenced in the program’s 9% turnover rate, mirroring that of the annual overall turnover rate of educators, but substantially lower than the hs average in the northeastern u.s. (30%; dennehy & marshall, 2005). this suggests that the program’s persistent press for capacity building is effective and may, ultimately, have implications for students’ positive social and emotional adjustment as stable relationships are needed (e.g., pianta & nimetz, 1991; shonkoff & phillips, 2000). teachers’ demographic characteristics while the focus of this study was on gaining insight into the recruitment and retention strategies for latino/a staff within a program serving large number of spanish-speaking dual language learners and on documenting teachers’ reported ethnicity and spanish language use, we also describe the participating teachers’ gender, education, and years of teaching experience (see table 1). given the available information on ehs/hs teachers’ characteristics, nationally, we were able to compare the sample statistics to these national statistics. gender, ethnicity, race. as expected based on national data, the ehs/hs teachers in our sample were nearly all females (99%). however, our sample included a substantially larger percentage of latina teachers (53%) compared to the overall national average and national average for head start programs (6% each). additionally, our sample identified themselves as black (7%) at rates similar to the overall national average (10%), but at notably lower rates than the head start national average (35%). bilingual teachers in early head start/head start education and years of experience. only one-quarter (24%) of teachers in our sample reported having a bachelor’s degree or higher, which is substantially lower compared to the overall and the hs national average (50% and 40%, respectively). as a result, compared to the overall and the hs national statistics, a higher percentage (29%) of teachers in the sample reported having an associate’s degree. our sample reported more years of teaching experience than the national average (11 years vs. 6.8 years), but reported the same amount of average years (7 years) of teaching in ehs/hs. spanish use in the classroom the majority of teachers (74%) reported that they spoke spanish. of those teachers who indicated spanish proficiency, when asked about their use of spanish in the classroom, nearly all (88%) reported using at least some spanish. in fact, over half of these teachers (52%) reported frequent or very frequent spanish use. using the 5 options previously described, we next asked about their reason(s) for using spanish in the classroom; for ease of interpretation, we grouped the 5 options into 3 categories, from more to less formal reasons for using spanish as follows: 1) for instruction/teaching and for clarification, 2) to give directions and to guide transitions, and 3) to comfort and to socialize during non-teaching times. as shown in table 2, of the 74% of teachers who reported using spanish, 83% reported using spanish for multiple purposes, with over two-thirds (67%) reporting that they used spanish for all purposes provided. six teachers indicated using spanish solely for instruction/teaching and for clarification, 5 reported using spanish exclusively to give directions and to guide transitions, and 2 reported using spanish only to comfort and to socialize during non-teaching times. implications and recommendations early head start and head start (ehs/hs) programs aim to employ bilingual staff given the number of dual language learning children they serve. at the same time, however, they report difficulty in finding, attracting, and retaining bilingual staff qualified in early childhood education (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). it is important to clarify that the organization’s goal is not simply to hire teachers who share their students’ native language, but also their cultural background (national task force on early childhood education for hispanics, 2007; u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). several areas of research support this policy recommendation, including that focused on the relationship between early language experience and language development, early language learning and overall socioemotional development, and that focused on the relationship between language and culture. teachers in the ehs/hs program studied—serving predominantly latino children and families—identified themselves as latinas at substantially higher rates than reported in overall and hs national statistics (53% vs. 6%, respectively). moreover, the program evidences relatively low turnover rates (9%). aside from this program’s ability to recruit and retain teachers that share the cultural background of the children and families they serve—an important step for program quality—many of these teachers also share the children’s linguistic background. not only did most teachers report that they spoke spanish, but nearly all of the spanish-speaking mancilla-martinez & lesaux teachers indicated frequent use of spanish in the classroom. in fact, teachers reported that spanish was used for a variety of reasons, from using it for non-academic purposes such as to socialize with children during non-teaching times to using it specifically to instruct. the cultural and linguistic match we found in this study between ehs/hs teachers and families is precisely one of the key recommendations put forth by the national task force on early childhood education for hispanics (2007). these statistics are likely related to the two-pronged recruitment and retention strategy employed by the program; namely, creating a teacher pipeline at community colleges and local high schools and providing support for increasing the education levels of those within the organization. however, before specifically interpreting the strategies employed by this program, it is important to underscore that the clear goal is to employ bilingual and bicultural staff (in this case, spanish-speaking latino/as). despite this clearly articulated goal, capacity issues do not allow for this occur all of the time and, recognizing the non-negotiable need to ensure that parents and staff are able to communicate, the program took several concrete steps to minimize language barriers between parents and teachers. as one example, the program ensures that, independent of whether the lead teacher speaks spanish, spanish-speaking teachers are readily on site to interface with spanish-speaking families. additionally, the program offers esl classes to parents, a strategy that tends to be widely recommended across the school system (e.g., breiseth, robertson & lafond, 2011). most uniquely, the program was in the midst of creating a conversational spanish class for teachers and staff, an action that further demonstrates their commitment to fostering effective parent-teacher communication, and a feasible strategy for the field, generally. with regard to the strategies the program outlined as key to recruiting bilingual and bicultural teachers, the creation of a pipeline at colleges appeared to be effective for them. as the hr director noted, one important by-product of their close involvement with the college community was that they were able to influence college curricula focused on early childhood development, ensuring that the skills and knowledge of the students were aligned with their program needs, and facilitating internships in their program for ece teacher candidates. given that turnover rates have been documented to be higher among staff with lower qualifications and who feel less competent (dennehy & marshall, 2005), efforts to create a pipeline of teachers who reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of the communities they serve, with specific attention to preparing teacher candidates to address students’ language needs, including that of dual language learners, should certainly continue (chu, martinez-griego, & cronin, 2010 whitebook, kipnis, sakai, & almaraz, 2011). this may represent a particularly feasible strategy for similar programs across the nation. additionally, we found that the program’s focus on local high schools represented a creative mechanism for extending the pipeline to younger students. such an approach appears to be a step in the right direction to inform students about what it really means to become an ece teacher. for instance, by encouraging high school students to shadow teachers, concrete experiences are afforded to students that they might not otherwise have and such experiences have the potential to go a long way in planting the seed for pursuing a career in ece. we note that the high schools the program partners with, reflecting the demographics of the local community, serve a large latino population. in terms of staff retention, the program is well aware of increasing educational requirements and is committed to ongoing, onand off-the-job learning. that is, like all other ece programs, pd opportunities are regularly provided. however, in addition, the program is bilingual teachers in early head start/head start focused on advancing the education levels of staff—in this case comprised of large numbers of latino/as—within the organization. by allocating monetary resources for teachers’ completion of educational coursework, whether leading to undergraduate or graduate degrees, the program sends a clear message that their (latino/a) staff is valued, likely contributing to the loyalty on the part of teachers underscored by the hr director. next steps and conclusion although these findings suggest there is reason to believe the cultural and linguistic classroom context in which these predominantly latino children are served—and the efforts to bridge language barriers across staff and families—ought to result in positive educational outcomes, the limited amount of research that has focused on ehs/hs dual language learning families does not allow for even tentative conclusions about the link between shared teacher-family language and culture and student achievement outcomes. while the foundation is in place for improved teaching and learning as a function of cultural and linguistic cohesion across staff and families, an important next step in this area of research is to explore these potential associations with child outcomes both intentionally and deliberately. at a basic level, future research should document the extent to which teachers’ language use reports, including their reported reasons for using spanish, relate to their observed language use in the classroom context. by providing empirical corroboration, concerns about the validity of self-reports can be minimized. additionally, future research should investigate not only whether program’s are committed to hiring staff who share students’ native languages, but also specific expectations regarding the use of those native languages in the classroom. at a more nuanced level, studies that explore teachers’ rationale for opting to use spanish would provide valuable information about the extent to which teachers are purposefully electing to use one language over the other (e.g., spanish or english), informing our understanding of teachers’ knowledge related to second language learning. such work is sorely needed as research finds that teachers and staff often do not know how best to support their dual language learning students. indeed, the national task force on early childhood education for hispanics (2007) reports that, at all levels of early childhood education, there is a shortage of teachers who are specialists in second language acquisition. more recently, whitebook and colleagues (2011) report considerable variation in the extent to which students pursuing b.a. degrees in ece were equipped to address the needs of dual language learners, with the authors noting that college instructors themselves might benefit from professional development (pd) in this critically important area. it is likely that pd opportunities for lead teachers and program staff who work directly with children and families would be beneficial, especially pd focused on the process of second language acquisition. we agree with whitebook and ryan (2011) that, to be effective, pd opportunities should to be tailored to teachers’ levels of expertise. in conclusion, as with all studies, the findings reported here must be interpreted in the context in which the study was conducted. considering that minimal research has focused on preschool dual language learners, studies that include larger samples from numerous programs in regions across the country would further inform our understanding about the extent to which ece programs that serve large numbers of dual language learners—like the one studied here— are able to recruit and retain bilingual, bicultural staff. results of our study suggests that targeted strategies for the recruitment and retention of latino/a early childhood educators, such as mancilla-martinez & lesaux creating a pipeline of teachers at the high school and community college level while simultaneously allotting monetary resources for the educational advancement of those already part of the organization (whether as teachers’ assistants or as parents), are effective. such efforts evidence a program’s dedication toward promoting and responding to issues of biculturalism and bridging language differences and appear to be a step in the right directly given the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in today’s ehs/hs classrooms. references administration for children and families (2008). head start program fact sheet: fy2008.retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/about/fy2008.html barnett, w.s., yarosz, d.j., thomas, j.h., jung, k., & blanco, d. 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(2006). more than meets the eye: head start programs, participants, families, and staff in 2005. head start series, brief no. 8. washington, dc: center for law and social policy. retrieved from http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/0311.pdf heath, s. b. (1983). ways with words: language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. joseph, g.e., & cohen, r.c. (2000). celebrating cultural and linguistic diversity in head start. washington, dc: administration of children, youth and families. national early literacy panel. (2008). developing early literacy: report of the national early literacy panel. washington, dc: national institute for literacy. national task force on early childhood education for hispanics (2007). para nuestros niños: expanding and improving early education for hispanics [main report]. tempe: arizona state university. nichd early child care research network & duncan, g. j. (2003). modeling the impacts of child care quality on children's preschool cognitive development. child development, 74, 1454-1475. pianta, r.c., & nimetz, s.l. (1991). relationship between children and teachers: associations with classroom and home behavior. journal of applied developmental psychology, 12, 379-393. piker, r. a., & rex, l. a. (2008). influences of teacher-child social interactions on english language development in a head start classroom. early childhood education journal, 36, 187-193. saluja, g., early, d.m., & clifford, r.m. (2002). demographic characteristics of early childhood teachers and structural elements of early care and education in the united states. early childhood research &practice, 4, 1-19. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/about/fy2008.html http://www.colorincolorado.org/pdfs/guides/engaging-ell-families.pdf http://www.srcd.org/documents/publications/spr/spr17-1.pdf http://www.aera.net/uploadedfiles/journals_and_publications/research_points/rpfall05.pdf http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/0311.pdf bilingual teachers in early head start/head start shonkoff, j., & phillips (2000). from neurons to neighborhoods: the science of early childhood development. washington, dc: national academy press. u. s. department of health and human services (2006). head start program information report: py2005-2006. retrieved june 24, 2009 from the u. s. department of health and human services web site: http://www.hsnrc.org/content/forum3/userfiles/file/enrollment_by_primary_language_o f_the_family.pdf u. s. department of health and human services (2008). dual language learning: what does it take? head start dual language report. washington, dc: author. vogel, c., aikens, n., burwick, a., hawkinson, l., richardson, a., mendenko, l., chazan-cohen, r. (2006) “findings from the survey of early head start programs: communities, programs, and families.” washington, dc: u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families. retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/survey_ehs/reports/findings_ehs/findings_ehs_survey.pdf whitebook, m., kipnis, f., sakai, l., & almaraz, m. (2011). learning together: a study of six b.a. completion cohort programs in early care and education: year 3. berkeley, ca: center for the study of child care employment, university of california at berkeley. whitebook, m., & ryan, s. (2011). degrees in context: asking the right questions about preparing skilled and effective teachers of young children. nieer policy brief (issue 22, april 2011). new brunswick, nj: national institute for early education research. zill, n., resnick, g., kim, k., o’donnell, k., sorongon, a., et al. (2006). head start performance measures center family and child experiences survey (faces 2000), technical report. washington, dc: us department of health and human services. http://www.hsnrc.org/content/forum3/userfiles/file/enrollment_by_primary_language_of_the_family.pdf http://www.hsnrc.org/content/forum3/userfiles/file/enrollment_by_primary_language_of_the_family.pdf http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/survey_ehs/reports/findings_ehs/findings_ehs_survey.pdf mancilla-martinez & lesaux appendix teacher survey thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. please note that all of your answers will be kept confidential and that individual teachers’ responses will not be shared outside of the research team. the information from these surveys will be reported only in terms of average responses across all teachers. also, please note that the purpose of this survey is not to evaluate schools or teachers, but rather to gain descriptive information about typical practice in ehs/hs. you may choose not to answer any or all of the questions. 1. in total, how many years have you been teaching (including all grades and preschool)? number of years: _____ 2. how many of those years have you been teaching head start (as either lead or assistant teacher)? number of years: _____ 3. what is the last or highest grade of school you have completed? (mark one.) less than secondary (high school) some secondary school (grades 7-12) completed secondary school (through grade 12) ged certificate vocational/trade school some community college completed 2 years of community college some college or university, not vocational school or trade school completed 4-year college or university some graduate level education after college completed graduate level education after college 4. do you have a teaching certificate or license? yes no 5. do you have a child development associate (cda) credential? yes no 6. have you taken courses in early childhood education? yes no if yes, approximately how many? ______________ 7. have you taken courses on teaching bilingual children? yes no if yes, approximately how many? ______________ bilingual teachers in early head start/head start 8. are you currently a member of a professional association for early childhood education (for example, naeyc, nhsa, nea)? yes no if yes, please list them here: ___________________________________________ please note that this section refers to the characteristics of your current classroom – not to the summer and/or migrant program (if applicable). 9. if you speak spanish, how often do you use it in the classroom with the students? never very rarely rarely occasionally frequently very frequently 10. if you use spanish with your students, for what purposes do you use it? please mark all that apply: to instruct or teach to give directions to clarify to comfort to guide transition times to socialize during non-teaching times 11. how many other adults are in your classroom on a regular basis? ______________ what are their positions? ________________________________________ 12. how often do these other adults in the classroom use spanish with your students? never very rarely rarely occasionally frequently very frequently mancilla-martinez & lesaux 13. how many of the total number of students in your classroom speak or hear spanish at home? total number of students in the class: _______ number of students who speak or hear spanish at home: _______ optional questions: 14. what is your race/ethnicity? ____________________________ 15. what is your gender? female male dialog, 16(1), 20-44 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 leanne whiteside-mansell, department of family and preventive medicine, college of medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences; danya johnson, department of family and preventive medicine, college of medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences; patti bokony, department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, college of medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences; lorraine mckelvey, department of family and preventive medicine, college of medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences; nicola conners-burrow, department of family and preventive medicine, college of medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences; taren swindle, department of family and preventive medicine, college of medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to leanne whiteside—mansell, department of family and preventive medicine, college of medicine, university of arkansas for medical sciences, little rock, ar 72207. e-mail:whitesidemansellleanne@uams.edu. research-article supporting family engagement with parents of infants and toddlers leanne whiteside-mansell, danya johnson, patti bokony, lorraine mckelvey, nicola connersburrow, and taren swindle university of arkansas for medical sciences engaging families of preschool children in partnerships with early childcare providers includes, among other activities, engaging in meaningful conversation, linking parents to needed services, and supporting parents as they capitalize on family protective factors. early childhood programs struggle to implement systematic processes to support teachers in engaging families and documenting the interactions. this report summarizes the development and implementation of a tool designed to facilitate family engagement with childcare. the study targets a rural, multi-center agency serving early head start families using an inventory called the family map. this report provides evidence of the feasibility of implementation, the reliability, and validity of the screening questions, and the range of risk and strengths identified in early head start families served. the parenting environment is a key determinate in the healthy development of infants and toddlers (e.g., bradley, 1999, 2007), even for children who are spending substantial time in center based care away from home (shonkoff & phillips, 2000). for over 30 years, research has identified key family and home characteristics that place young children at risk for achieving age-appropriate social, emotional, and cognitive skills (e.g., evans, 2004; bradley, 2002). some risks to child development in the home and parenting environment are pervasive and difficult to change, (e.g. living in poverty, bradley & whiteside-mansell, 1997; votruba-drzal, coley, & chase-lansdale, 2004). other risks are more malleable; making them amenable to services for the child, education for the parent, or support for the family. for example, children are thought to be at risk when they lack learning materials, experience harsh parenting, or lack supervision supporting family engagement – family map 21 (bradley, 2007). regardless, high quality childcare programs can serve to protect children from risks found in the home environment (shonkoff, & phillips, 2000). childcare providers may do this more effectively when the specific risks in the home are identified (whiteside-mansell, bradley, mckelvey, & lopez, 2009). in this paper, we describe the development of the infanttoddler family map, an inventory designed to facilitate conversation between childcare providers and parents with the goals of identifying family risks and strengths specific for each family. we report on the use of the infant-toddler family map as part of a system imbedded into a multi-site head start program to engage families, document engagement, and support the family-childcare partnership. below we briefly review the literature that points to the need for such a tool and then summarize the specific objectives of our study. risk and protective factors in families in poverty the chance of harm to children substantially increases as children experience more risk factors. that is, while reductions in exposure to individual risks are important, the reduction in the number of risks present in a child’s environment is also important based on cumulative risk theory (burchinal, roberts, hooper, & zeisel, 2000). the head start bureau’s family and child experience survey (faces) found that parents from families with four or more risk factors were more depressed and reported less social support (u.s. dept of health and human services, 2003). children from these families were reported to have more problem behaviors and significantly lower scores on measures of early literacy and cognitive functioning. positive parenting is important for children with multiple risk factors because it has been found to provide a buffering effect in the presence of risk. for example, research on child development during early childhood has also shown that when parents provide structure and routines, warm and nurturing care, and read with their children, they are setting the stage for successful learners (bradley, 2007). these parenting actions serve as protective factors. other known protective factors include (but are not limited to): two healthy parents; parenting characterized by warmth, responsiveness, engagement, support, consistency and stimulation; monitoring for child safety; and availability of learning materials in the home (bradley, et.al, 1994). positive parenting is associated with the development of cognitive skills and positive behavior in children (e.g., connell, & prinz, 2002; treyvaud, anderson, howard, et al, 2009). while positive parenting is seen in families of all income levels, parents living in poverty are more likely to face stressors that make parenting more challenging. individuals in poverty face more negative life events and have fewer resources to cope. these stressors can create psychological distress and tap emotional resources. parenting under these circumstances becomes difficult, and is associated with less protective parenting behaviors (see summary in shonkoff & phillips, 2000). co-factors of poverty such as parental depression and other mental illness, high family conflict, low social support, and low education often result in chronic adversity and stress (bradley & whiteside-mansell, 1997). children in poverty are also less likely to experience a high quality home learning environment, and studies have shown this accounts for a major part of the gap in test scores for high and low income preschool children (ackerman, brown, & kail, 2006). while parents in poverty face many challenges raising their children, it is also unfortunately a basic reality that they have less access to information specific to parenting. the same co-factors that make parenting difficult are likely to also impede the 22 whiteside-mansell et al. ability of parents to attend traditional parenting education classes or obtain information through other means. supporting families to provide a high quality home environment is a hallmark objective of high quality early childcare programs (u.s. department of health and human services, 2011). helping families draw on their strengths and find support to improve areas that may put the child at risk for poor development is always a challenge and often strains the resources of provider agencies (espe-sherwindt, 2008). key to this activity is the development of parentcaregiver relationships so that productive partnerships are established and maintained (u.s. department of health and human services, 2011). however, developing these important relationships can be a challenge for all involved. the challenge of parent-teacher communication parent-caregiver communication forms the foundation for the important link between home and childcare contexts to shape children’s development. this link is important for both parents and caregivers to provide supportive and sensitive care to the child (elicker & fortner-wood, 1995). the need for a strong connection between the multiple contexts in which children function has long been considered important and this deficit has influenced standards of professional practice (bronfenbrenner, 1979). often the engagement of parents depends upon the degree of caregiver-initiation (halgunseth & peterson, 2009). the primary factor in quality parent communication is teacher outreach, even beyond parental socioeconomic status or race (patrikakou & weissberg, 2000). when teachers keep parents informed and provide parents with support to help their children, parents view teachers as partners (patrikakou & weissberg, 2000). however, teachers’ have consistently been found to give negative evaluations of parents’ competence (manlove, 2001; galinski, 1990). further, most preschool teacher-parent communication is narrow in content (shpancer, 2002) and avoids important topics such as child rearing practices and challenges the family may be facing. in general, the research suggests that teachers need both guidance and training to increase the frequency and quality of parent-teacher conversations to tackle sensitive child-rearing and family issues. meeting the challenge of supporting families to reduce risks for children means that program staff must be able to efficiently and systematically assess the family and home environment in ways that can lead to successful engagement with the family. specifically, teachers and parents must talk about the family needs so that teachers can link families with the resources, information, and services most important for their child and so that parents can identify meaningful family goals (henderson, & mapp, 2002). in general, teachers are hesitant to begin this conversation resulting in programs searching for a ‘form’ to begin the conversation (shpancer, 2002). for most concerns in the home environment to be assessed, the problem is not one of a lack of reliable and valid evaluation tools. rather the problem is one of too many tools that are deficit based, overlapping in content, and difficult to integrate into a meaningful protocol for early childhood teachers and family support staff to use. an effective system to facilitate meaningful family engagement would be one that a) systematically connects the parent and teacher on key aspects of the home environment, b) these aspects of the home are linked to healthy child development, c) guides the teacher to appropriate services, d) documents the past and current family goals and progress, and e) identifies potential supporting family engagement – family map 23 protective factors in the home environment. this exchange should be bi-directional and encourage communication that is respectful, and focuses on key information about areas of family life critical to healthy child development. the bi-directional conversation should encourage staff to collaborate with parents to identify important goals with mutual respect. the system should recognize that family members have unique insight into the history of experiences and family challenges, while the childcare providers may have access to knowledge and resources that are not easily available to parents. past models of family engagement viewed this partnership as primarily parent-initiated; however, many, including the office of head start’s national center on parent, family, and community engagement (ncpfce), recognize the role of programs to engage and involve parents in partnership with childcare professionals (u.s. department of health and human services, 2011). the family map inventories there are three family map inventories: prenatal, infant toddler (it-fm, birth to 3 yrs.), and early childhood (ec-family map, 3 to 5 yrs.). as seen in table 1, questions on the infant toddler family map, like the other versions, are clustered into three broad areas covering twelve domains: (1) physical and social conditions that children experience directly, (2) family climate/context, and (3) parental characteristics. the rational for the inclusion of construct domains in the ec-family map has been described in a previous study (whiteside-mansell, et al., 2007). the it-fm builds on the ec-family map with adjustments made for the younger target age. the family map questions are scored using structured, observation, and semistructured questions; although most information is obtained from structured interview. table 1 percentage of families at risk and validity summary based on infant toddler family map based on teacher interview family map construct initial source a # of questions risk α area 1 physical/social conditions n = 72 1) basic needs utilities fragile families 1 9.70% rent and other monthly bills & ehs 1 15.30% health care expenses “ 1 8.30% transportation “ 1 7.00% legal involvement it-study 3 16.70% housing instability ehs 2 18.10% expected future needs ec-study 2 20.80% food quantity insecurity/nord 2 12.50% infant feeding practices b it-study 2 42.30% food quality b head start intake 9 91.50% communication (esl) b ramos & mendez 4 14.30% parent education ehsre 4 37.10% parent employment “ 4 38.60% partner/other education b “ 6 59.30% 24 whiteside-mansell et al. partner/other employment b “ 3 14.30% (continue) table 1, cont'd. percentage of families at risk and validity summary based on infant toddler family map based on teacher interview family map construct initial source a # of questions risk α 2) safety home & car vehicle safety ehsre 4 25.40% secondhand smoke faces, & 2 34.70% fire safety hud healthy 2 13.90% lead paint screen it-study 1 11.40% injury or accident homes checklist 10 37.50% poison accessibility “ 5 42.90% baby sleep safety it-study 5 40.30% baby concerns c home 2 2.50% 3) physical health pregnant ec-study 1 2.90% child health care use national survey 3 7.00% health care access children's health 1 0.00% chronic condition exist “ 1 10.50% chronic treatment need “ 1 0.00% caregiver care access “ 1 39.40% chronic condition exist “ 1 9.20% chronic treatment need “ 1 0.00% lack of sleep brfss 1 32.40% lack of activity “ 1 47.20% other adult health ec-study 1 4.40% other adult treatment need “ 1 10.50% 4) early learning availability learning materials home 6 34.80% 0.79 read to child faces 3 7.30% supportive play “ 5 2.80% 0.69 supportive learning home 4 52.10% 0.80 variety of experience “ 8 1.40% 5) discipline practices excessive punishment ehsre, 1 1.50% inconsistent faces, & 3 0.00% harsh discipline pdmi 4 37.70% parental warmth b,c piccolo 8 10.40% 0.90 6) routines nighttime lodging shifts ehsre 2 13.00% daily activities brody & flor 4 10.00% child adequate sleep davis/montgomery 2 76.20% tv content conners et al. 4 62.90% amount of tv faces 1 20.00% parent/other separation it-study 4 12.00% supporting family engagement – family map 25 physical organization c home 3 5.00% (continue) table 1, cont'd. percentage of families at risk and validity summary based on infant toddler family map based on teacher interview family map construct initial source a # of questions risk α 7) surveillance daily monitoring ec-study 4 71.80% childcare needs “ 5 28.60% 8) social integration social support msss 5 29.20% 0.68 social integration ihdp 4 1.40% caregiver hs integration ec-study 3 2.80% father hs integration “ 2 44.90% area 2 family climate/context 9) exposure to violence neighborhood safety fasttrack 5 26.40% 0.74 exposure ehsre 4 2.80% 10) family cohesion/conflict parenting stress psi, aapi 7 21.10% 0.76 conflict w/ co-parent ec-study 3 9.80% family conflict fes/faces 2 7.30% family cohesion “ 2 21.70% area 3 parental characteristics 11) alcohol/drug use caregiver use cage 5 1.40% friend/family use rafft 2 15.30% use impact parenting ec-study 1 1.80% 12) caregiver mental health depression phq 9 2 18.10% hostility bsi/gad-7 2 38.90% anxiety “ 3 11.10% impact parenting c ec-study 1 5.40% a the sample size varies from 69 to 72 except where skip patterns reduced sample. b skip pattern reduced sample for infant feeding (n = 26), food quality (n = 57), communication barriers (n = 14), partner education/employment (n = 28), warmth (n = 48). c observational items note: aapi (adult-adolescent parenting inventory, bavolek & keene, 1999); brfss (center for disease control and prevention, behavioral risk factor surveillance system); bavolek, & keene (1999); brody, & flor (1997); bsi (brief symptom inventory, derogatis, 1992); cage (bisson, nadeau, & demers, 1999; ewing, 1984).; conners, tripathi, clubb, & bradley,2007); davis, parker & montgomery, 2004); ehsre early head start research and evaluation project); faces head start family and child experiences survey (us dhhs, 2003); fasttrack: neighborhood items used in fasttrack and nichd study of early childcare studies. (greenberg & lengua, 1995); fes (family environment scale, moos, & moos, 1984); food security (bickel, nord, price, hamilton, & cook 2000); fragile families and child wellbeing study); gad-7 (spitzer, williams, kroenke, et al , 2006,); healthy homes checklist; us dhhs, 1991); home (home observation for measurement of the environment; bradley, 26 whiteside-mansell et al. mundfrom, whiteside, casey, & barrett, 1994; caldwell, & bradley, 1984); ihdp – infant health and development program, mccarton, et al, 1997; jensen, james, boyce, & hartnett, 1983); msss (mos social support survey, sherbourne, & stewart,1991); national survey of children’s health (ogden, 1998); pdmi (parental discipline methods interview, websterstratton, & spitzer, 1991); phq 9 (patient health questionnaire, kroenke, spitzer, & williams, 2001); piccolo (parenting interactions with children: checklist of observations linked to outcomes, roggman, innocenti, cook, jump, & akers, 2007); psi (parenting stress index, abidin, 1990); rafft (relax, alone, family friends, trouble; bastiaens, francis, & lewis, 2000); ramos, & mendez, 2004; ec-study: created in the development of the ec-family map; it-study: created in the development of the it-family map. the family map inventories (fm inventories) were designed to support teachers in the initiation of communication, screen the parenting environment for important risks to healthy child development and strengths the family can build on, and support the parent-teacher partnership with on-going high quality communication (whiteside-mansell, et al., 2007). the fm inventories were developed to direct teachers into discussions with parents on topics relevant to the needs of the family. the fm inventories may also help teachers identify critical risk areas that parents may not perceive as needs and to identify strengths that the family can build upon. beyond facilitating communication between the teacher and parents, we designed the family map inventories to support educators and early childcare programs in other ways (whiteside-mansell, et al., 2007). first, the results obtained from families can be used to identify areas appropriate for agency-wide intervention. for example, when a large number of parents report not using child safety seats routinely, the topic is a likely candidate for a center parent meeting or special event organized by the early childcare agency. second, comparing results from multiple interviews over time can provide evaluative data to document areas in which the program has made impacts. third, the family map inventories results can be a useful tool in the self-assessment and monitoring process. the family map inventories are directly linked and supportive of the framework put forth by ncpfce and were developed with the head start performance standards as a guiding principle. as seen in figure 1, the cut-points indicating “risk” are shown on the it-fm using shading to alert the teacher of concerns. as with the ec-family map, we used a set of principles in establishing the cut scores. these are discussed in detail in the development of the ec-family map (whiteside-mansell, et al., 2007) and are summarized here. when there is literature to support a particular cut, we followed the guideline. for example, the american academy of pediatrics provides guidance on the number of hours of screen time and sleep. other research based agencies provide guidance on nutritional intake, car safety practices, and fire safety. when there was doubt about the level exposure that would result in a risk for the child, we erred on the side of over-identification. like other screening tools, the family map is designed to avoid missing risks. supporting family engagement – family map 27 figure 1. family map screen for secondhand smoke, fire safety, lead screen, and burns. the use of shading also communicates the healthiest response to the parent (i.e., shaded responses are not desired). while the use of shading suggests that there is a danger of socially acceptable responses, there are several reasons that the shading is preferred. first, by indicating the most optimal options to parents, the parent will become aware of recommended practices. second, the non-shaded response communicates the social norm to the parent (e.g., using car seats) and may have impact on some behavior (schultz, nolan, cialdini, goldstei, & griskevicius, 2007). for example, parents may become aware that it is not just recommended practice to use car seats but that most people use them (i.e., social norm). third, when parents are interviewed on topics in which the appropriate response is obvious, reliability of parental response is increased when the parent perceives the response is linked to corrective assistance (hatfield et al., 2006). for example, parents willing to use car seats may not know how to obtain one they can afford. finally, if parents are not truthful, it may indicate they are not ready to address the issue. this may be similar to the response many people have to a physician’s query regarding regular exercise or diet habits. however, when the teacher asks the question, it signals the topic as one that is safe to discuss. additionally, the question should suggest to the parent that the program might be able to offer services or support. the family map for early childhood (ec-family map) targeting parents of children 3 to 5 years-of-age has been implemented in multiple sites including home visiting programs, school based early childhood programs, head start programs, and churchbased early childhood programs. several of the evaluation studies that we conducted have shown support for the feasibility of the implementation in large agencies serving preschool children. for example, in a multiyear study, ec-family map was successfully implemented in 28 classrooms (570 children) in school-based preschool programs (bokony et al., 2008). because the program was schoolbased, the ec-family map was completed during classroom parent-teacher conferences. teacher rating of support for the use of the ec-family map increased significantly each year. this supports focus group findings that teachers had a positive view of the usefulness of the ecfamily map which increased with experience. 28 whiteside-mansell et al. the purpose of the study this study reports on the development of the family map inventory of the parenting environment of infants and toddlers (it-fm). this report summarizes the development process and the implementation of the it-fm in a rural early head start (ehs) program. the basic structure of the it-fm originated in the ec-family map. in this study, we describe our review of the literature based on constructs and questions developed for the ec-family map. we provide evidence of face validity by pilot interviews with parents, input from ehs teachers and administrators, and a cyclical process of revisions. we examined the feasibility and the acceptability of the use of the it-fm. this included evaluations from teacher training and survey results from parents and teachers regarding their perceptions of the use of the family map. we also documented the time needed to conduct an interview using the family map. next, we provided evidence of the reliability and validity of the questions and risk indicators as used by teachers. we show a summary of each risk area assessed by the it-fm in this study. while evidence of reliability is limited, we supply estimates of internal consistency where appropriate. for evidence of validity, we provide five types of information. first, we detail comparisons with national estimates of risk. that is, we expect that the numbers of families identified using the family map should be similar to the levels identified in other studies of lowincome families. second, we provide evidence of construct validity. for a subset of the risk areas identified on the family map, we assess the construct using a more in-depth assessment. for example, using an established research tool for identifying depression risks (i.e., bsi), we compared parent scores of depression on the bsi with parent scores of depression as indicated with two questions on the it-fm. third, we examined criterion validity for a subset of constructs (e.g., increased risk of unintentional injury is expected to be associated with a parent’s belief in fate). fourth, we compared risk levels identified by teachers with observational assessments by researchers for appropriate risks. for example, researchers conducted safety checks in the home after the teacher interviewed the parent using the it-fm. we compared the researcher’s observations with the parent’s report to teachers. finally, we linked some of the it-fm constructs with relevant published studies of ec-family map constructs found in both the it-fm and the ecfamily map. method development of the family map inventory for infants and toddlers the term, family map, was used as an organizing metaphor for the family map inventories because the assessment process is thought to locate a comprehensive set of strengths and concerns in family life that can serve as targets of productive early childcare efforts (whitesidemansell et al., 2007). in our 2007 study, we provided a detailed rational for the inclusion of each area shown in table 1. areas were included in the ec-family map when there was substantial literature linking the area to healthy child development and the area was likely one in which early childcare programs would have expertise and resources to intervene. identification of potential areas to include in the it-fm started with the ec-family map and included a supporting family engagement – family map 29 comprehensive repeat of the literature review considered from the perspective of the infant and toddler. the it-fm constructs can be clustered into three broad areas: (1) physical and social conditions that children experience directly, (2) family climate/context, and (3) parental characteristics. the first area consists primarily of experiences that are parent directed. the identification of constructs drew heavily on the framework of parenting tasks described by bradley and colleagues (bradley, 1999, 2002; bradley, & caldwell, 1995; bradley, & corwyn, 2004). as seen in table 1, these include the key parenting tasks that assure the survival and promote the optimal development of the child. for example, parenting actions that provide nutrients, shelter, and health care were included. beyond basic survival, there is ample evidence that the actions of the parent to provide a stimulating environment lead to a greater likelihood of academic and even social success (bradley, 1994; bradley, & corwyn, 2003). based on substantial research, the family map also includes the parent’s ability to provide a healthy structure to the child’s environment (e.g., routines) and protect the child from harm with adequate supervision (bradley, & caldwell, 1976; wachs, 2000). the second area, family climate/context, includes the background setting within the family environment. these family characteristics may be something the child is directly exposed to or they may impact the quality of the parenting by their impact on the parent. constructs included here were selected for their significant impact on children and often on a wide variety of child outcomes impacted. for example, family conflict and exposure to violence has been associated with a wide range of negative outcomes of children many with sever impacts (kitzmann, gaylord, holt, & kenny, 2003). family climate characteristic also have a negative effect on the ability of the parent to be a nurturing, supportive parent (krishnakumar, & buehler, 2000). finally, research has consistently supported belsky (1984) in linking characteristics of the parent such as parent history of substance abuse and mental illness to child outcomes. both of these characteristics are often found in homes with other risk factors for children such as violence, poverty, and residential instability, all of which make it difficult to parent effectively (conners, bokony, whiteside-mansell, bradley, & liu, 2004; osofsky, & thompson, 2000; tronick & beeghly, 1999). table 1 (column 2) shows the conceptual bases for the questions. most were based on questions used with similar populations in the literature or from national studies. the development process included an extensive literature review to identify potential modifications to the ec-family map in consideration of the younger target age of children. a pilot it-fm interview was conducted with a small number of families (10 families) by trained research assistants. after each interview, the researcher discussed the interview with families to identify areas of the interview that concerned parents. ehs teachers (n = 10) and administrators (n = 5) reviewed the pilot tool and suggested modifications. after revisions, trained data collectors conducted interviews with 56 families. modifications were made in a cyclical process based on input from data collectors and families after groups of about 10 interviews. face validity of the final version was confirmed in a pre-implementation review of the inventory by ehs teachers and administrators. 30 whiteside-mansell et al. implementation of the it-family map implementation sites. the study was conducted in 3 rural ehs centers with 25 teachers serving up to 4 children each. an additional 25 teachers were interviewed for comparison. centers were selected to participate because they were administered by the same agency and were located within 50 miles of a central office. the it-fm interview was conducted by teachers in the fall home visit and repeated at the spring home visit. in line with current head start standards, most teachers had at least two years of posthigh school education with 60% receiving a cda or associate degree and 20% with a ba or more (i.e. head start standards as described in informational memorandum acf-im-hs-1103). the majority of teachers had more than 3 years of experience (55%). most parents had known the teacher for more than a year (52%) suggesting that parents had been involved with the ehs program for more than the study year. teacher training. teachers attended 6 hours of training on the use of the it-fm prior to the fall home visit. the training described the project, the role of head start in strengthening families, non-judgmental interview techniques, the impact of the home and parenting environment on children’s ability to learn, and how to use the potential risks identified in the itfm interview to suggest family goals. the training included discussion of individual questions and role play sessions of interviews. before the second home visit, teachers met for 2 hours with the research team to address questions and review the procedures. data collection. based on implementation of the ec-family map, our expectation was that, while the use of the family map to screen is straightforward, the effective use of the it-fm to link to services would take experience (bokony, 2010; bokony, whiteside-mansell, & swindle, 2010). therefore, our design targeted the fall assessment for a baseline to compare with national statistics. the spring assessment was used to link validity constructs. implementation assessments. teachers rated the training and their perceptions of the it-fm following the training. after the fall and spring (n = 72) home visits, all teachers were asked to complete an on-line survey. in the spring, a subset (n = 44) of family map interviews were selected to be conducted as joint home visits between teacher, parent, and research staff. during this visits, the length of the home visits was recorded by the researcher. joint visits were scheduled so that each a researcher would attend at least one visit with each teacher with an ideal target goal of 2 visits with each teacher. input from parents was obtained from three different contacts with parents. first, in the fall, 58 parents were contacted by phone to obtain initial response to the use of the family map. among other questions, parents were asked to rate the visit compared to past non-family map home visits. of the 58 parents, 44 had been involved in past head start home visits. second, in the spring, 72 parents received family map home visits using the it-family map. third, 38 parents receive a home visit with just their teacher (excluding the research assistant) and were interviewed by phone after the home visit. this was done so that parent reports would not be supporting family engagement – family map 31 influenced by the joint research visit. of these 38 parents, 10 were involved in the head start program as prenatal enrollees and so are not included in table 1 (n = 72). validity assessments. at the end of the spring home visit (n = 44 of 72, 1 interview was 12 days after the home visit), a researcher conducted an additional interview with the parent. the assessment tools targeted key aspects of the it-fm and are described below. family conflict. family conflict was assessed using two dimensions from the family environment scale (moos, & moos, 2002). the family conflict scale (9 questions) measures the extent to which the open expression of anger, aggression, and generally conflictual interactions are characteristic of the family (e.g., “we fight a lot in our family”.). parents responded true (1) or false (0) and questions summed so that high scores indicated conflict. reliability was high with α = .73. brief symptom inventory-18 (bsi-18). the bsi-18 is a self-report inventory to screen for mental health symptoms (derogatis, 1992, 2000). respondents rated how bothered they had been by 18 psychological symptoms during the past 7-days on a 5point scale (‘not at all’ to ‘extremely’). scores included 6 questions each: somatization (α = .59, e.g., ‘faintness or dizziness’), depression (α = .68, e.g., ‘feeling blue’) and anxiety (α = .61, e.g., ‘feeling fearful’) and a total score (gsi). food insecurity (fi). fi was assessed with a 6 item reduction of the full household food security survey module (hfssm, α = .75 e.g., ‘we couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals’). this scale has been shown to demonstrate high specificity, sensitivity, and reliability (blumberg, bialostoski, hamilton, & briefel, 1999) and is designed to indicate households where hunger is likely for children. sum scores of 2 and above were deemed as food insecure per scoring recommendations (blumberg, et al., 1999). parenting stress. the parent-child dysfunction (psi-pcd, abidin, 1990) subscale of the parenting stress index short form (11 questions) administered using a card with response options (1 = strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree) and a 12th item rating of parent perception of being a good parent from very good (1) to not very good (5). the subscale rates parents perceptions of the child (α = .76, e.g., child rarely does anything to make parent feel good). observation of home and neighborhood safety. a home inspection checklist was constructed based on other published observational assessments (e.g., preschool safety practices, hatfield et al., 2006). the short observational check was conducted with the parent at the end of the validity assessment interview by the trained researcher. parents were informed of conditions that might put their child or family at risk (e.g., hot water could cause burns). chaos in the home. a 15-item survey of home confusion and disorganization (confusion, hubbub, and order scale — chaos; matheny, wachs, ludwig, & phillips, 1995) was used to measure the degree of disruption in the home. the true/false response (e.g., “it’s a real zoo in our home”) resulted in a total score (α = .58). 32 whiteside-mansell et al. supervision attitudes. two scales were constructed from modification of the parent supervision attributes profile questionnaire (psapq; morrongiello, corbett, mccourt, & johnston, 2006). parent tolerance for risk (e.g., learn from her own mishaps) was assessed with 5 questions (α = .72). parent belief in fate related to injury (e.g., injured due to bad luck) was assessed with 3 questions (α = .67). results implementation evaluation after it-fm training, teachers’ reports were positive in reactions to the it-fm and related training. most teachers rated the training 4.2 to 4.6 (sd .6 to .9) on a 5 point scale with 5 representing ‘excellent’. for example, the overall presentation of the training was scored high (m = 4.5, sd = .6) and 94.0% of teacher rated the overall presentation in the highest two categories of ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. regarding the perceptions of the inventory, 92.8% of teacher endorsed the statement: ‘the information i will learn during the home visit using the family map will be helpful working with families’ (‘much’ or ‘very much’; m = 4.7, sd = .55). all (99.9%) endorsed the statement: ‘i am comfortable i can conduct home visits using the family map.’ (‘much’ or ‘very much’; m = 4.7, sd = .43). as was reported in the development of the ec-family map, some teachers (16%) were concerned about how families would respond with these teachers feeling that families would not like the change in the home visits. after the spring home visits, 84.0% of teachers reported being comfortable with using the family map. only 15.2% reported that it was ‘just more paper work’. most (84.1%) reported feeling that the family map was a useful tool to learn important information about families. most (79.1%) reported the family map was helpful for the home visit for at least one of the (up to 4) families they interviewed. similar numbers (79.1%) indicated that they would recommend the family map to other programs. parents (n = 58) were contacted by phone after the fall home visits. most (68.9%) reported liking (‘liked it’ or ‘very much liked it’) the home visits and a similar number (68.9%) reported being comfortable with what was talked about during the home visit. of parents that had had previous home visits (n = 44 of the 58), only 2 reported this visit was ‘worse’ than previous home visits. most parents also reported that the length of the visit was ‘just right’ (70.6%). parents (n = 38) were contacted at the end of the spring semester and interviewed by phone. parents reported on a 4-point likert scale. after two home visits using the family map, parents reported positive feeling regarding the home visits. all (100.0%) reported liking the home visit (‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’; m = 3.5, sd = .5) and being comfortable about the content of the visit (‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’; m = 3.6, sd = .5). most (94.7%) indicated that they thought that the ehs teacher understood their family better after the visits (‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’; m = 3.4, sd = .5) and 89.5% felt the teacher knew more about the child’s life at home after the visit (‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’; m = 3.4, sd = .7). a research assistant was present at the spring home visit and noted the length of the home visit between the teacher and the parent. it-fm home visits lasted a little over an hour (n = 44, m = 68 min, sd = 28 min). supporting family engagement – family map 33 risk and strength assessment: it-family map table 1 shows the range of risk and service needs for infants and toddlers screened using the it-fm. the table shows the rates for families interviewed in the spring by teachers (n = 72). of the families interviewed with the it-fm, 26.4% had children 12 months-of-age or less and 33.3% had children over 24 months. most children were white non-hispanic (45.8%, 22.2% black, 23.6% hispanic, and 8.4% bi-racial). most (95.8%) were biological parents and (69.4%) had other children in the home. half (48.6%) of children were male. parents reported diversity in education (23% with ged or less, 27% with high school degree, and 50% with additional education). most parents reported working (21% not working, 21% < 30 hours a week, 43% about 40 hours, and 15% more than 40 hours a week). a review of table 1 suggested some key areas of interest. for example, 42.2% of infants were being fed cereal or juice in a bottle or being put to bed with a bottle. of toddlers, almost none (8.5%) were receiving the recommendations for quality nutrition in the home (e.g., 5 servings of fruits/vegetables a day). about half (42.9%) of children were living in a home with access to poison, and 40.3% were sleeping in situations that had safety risks (e.g., co-sleeping, not on back, crib unsafe). regarding the early learning environment, many parents (52.1%) had limited interactions with their children in ways that promote early learning such as pointing out letters, colors or shapes. many young children (34.8%) also lacked materials to engage them in learning (e.g., ageappropriate toys, games, music). a lack of organization in the home and efforts to provide a routine and structured home were indicated. for example, 13.0% of children slept somewhere other than their own bed more than 2 nights a week and 76.2% received less hours of sleep than the recommended. however, only 10.0% reported a weekday schedule that was not relatively routine (e.g., meals, bed time at about the same time). in terms of parental characteristics, problematic alcohol and drug use varied depending upon the focus of the problem (1.4% among primary caregivers and 15.3% among close family/friends); though problems in mental health were more prevalent (18.1% screened positive for depression and 39% for problems with hostility). while table 1 is presented in terms of the level of risk, some questions should be interpreted as family strengths also. for example, in this sample of rural families, nearly all (93.0%) have secure transportation; most lived in homes built after the use of lead base paint (88.6%), and most (70.8%) reported good social support. in addition, some evidence of family strength is imbedded in the it-fm but not represented in table 1. for example, the interview included an item regarding child dental health. access to early dental care is often difficult to obtain and often begun past the one-year recommended first check. the parent that is proactive in this area suggests an attentive parent in regard to health. in this study, 75.0% indicated they had a dentist they considered to be the child’s dentist. reliability and validity while reliability is an important aspect of an assessment tool, a meaningful assessment of reliability is difficult to obtain in this situation. asking teachers to repeat the interview within a short time was not feasible. estimates of internal consistency can support reliability; however, because many constructs on the family map are only 1 or 2 questions or checklists, the use of 34 whiteside-mansell et al. internal consistency is limited (bollen, & lennox, 1991). that is, when the family map contains multiple questions to assess a construct, it is often a check list (e.g., social integration is a set of activities the parent may participate in such as church, a hobby, or a club). for constructs composed of multiple indicators representing an effect indicator, estimates of internal consistency were computed (bollen, 1984). as seen in table 1, internal consistency estimates (cronbach’s alpha) were computed for seven sets of questions. these were supportive of adequate reliability with values generally high. in addition to the data presented in the results, other publications support the validity of the family map. these include comparisons with national averages presented for the ec-family map (whiteside-mansell et al., 2007). it also includes unpublished studies presented at national conferences or in review. for example, in 2010, we presented a summary of validation studies of the ecfamily map (whiteside-mansell, et al., 2010). this analysis was of 1,150 families and examined risk subgroups identified by ec-family map risk cuts (e.g., material depression and compared the risks experienced by families in the risk category with expectations. the findings suggested that the ec-family map identified meaningful subgroups. in this study, independent assessments were also conducted to evaluate validity of some constructs (n = 44). in addition, several studies using the ec-family map data have been published that support the validity of specific constructs assessed in the itfm. a full analysis of validity of each item is not feasible in one report; however, the following reports on key aspects. basic needs. the it-fm includes indicators of parents’ ability and efforts to provide adequate nutrition and basic needs, health care, and provisions for environmental safety. children in 10% of all homes in the united states experienced food insecurity (nord et al., 2009) in 2009 compared to 12.5% identified in this study. a comparison of the hssfm short form and the two food insecurity questions suggests significant overlap (swindle, whiteside-mansell, & mckelvey, in press). in a study of infants receiving wic benefits, 25% of mothers reported adding other foods or liquids into the bottle with formula by 3 months of age (baydar, mccann, williams, vesper, & mckinney, 1997). recommendations for a healthy diet have several components; however, consumption of fruits and/or vegetables daily is a standard recommendation. the assessment of food intake for young children is difficult (serdula, alexander, scanlon, & bowman, 2001). fewer than 10% of infants and toddlers consumed dark green, leafy vegetables in a day and after 12 months 27% consumed no separate serving of vegetable in a day. although difficult to count, 2009 national estimates for the homelessness among american poor is 10% (national coalition for the homeless, 2011). housing instability is more prevalent and has been estimated at 21.8% (suglia, duarte, chambers, & boynton-jarrett, 2012). these compare with the it-fm estimate of housing instability of 18.1%. the evidence is clear that exposure to secondhand smoke is a serious health concern and children are at higher risk than others. in 2006, nearly 60% of children ages 3 to 11 years were thought to be exposed. this compares to 34.7% of the children identified in the it-fm. safety – home and car. in 2001, 45% of all unintentional deaths occurred in and around the home with falls the leading cause of nonfatal injuries for children less than 4 years of age. more than 90% of injuries in early childhood occur in or around the home (borse, gilchrist, dellinger, rudd, ballesteros, & sleet, 2008; national safe kids campaign, 2004national supporting family engagement – family map 35 safety council, 1991, schwebel, & gaines, 2007 ). the most common injuries in the home involving children under the age of 5 years include falls from suffocation, drowning, falls, fires, and poisonings (leblanc et al., 2006). the faces study of low-income families found 31% of children with access to poisons while this study identified 42.9% (u.s. dept of hhs, 2003). as predicted by research on unintentional injury, access to poisons was correlated with parents who report in their belief in fate (r = -.31, p = .04). outside the home, riding in motorized vehicles is a common source of injury and death for young children. more children, particularly in rural areas, are killed in motor vehicle accidents than from any other source (burgess 2005). while estimates vary, 29% is a reasonable estimate for the national number of preschool children who ride in cars without appropriate restraints (taft, mickalide, & taft, 1999) compared to 25.4% in this study. nationally smoke alarms are less common in households with incomes below the poverty line (10%); however, reports are typically overestimated because respondents tend to report smoke alarms even when they are not working (ahrens, 2009). the it-fm identified 13.9% at risk (fire safety) by assessing the existence of a working smoke detector and access to two clear fire exits. in the observational safety check, this data was confirmed with parent report of smoke detectors consistent with home safety inspection (phi = .63, p = .00). that is, a report by the parent in the interview was associated with the observational check. however, like national studies, parents overreported the existence of working smoke detectors (phi = .34, p = .11). that is, a ‘yes’ report by parents that the smoke detector worked did not predict the results of the observers test of the smoke detector in the home. a detailed examination of some of the questions used to identify risk for unintended injury (injury/accident) supported risk identified. for example, concordance in parent report and observer tests of hot running water in the home was high (phi = .48, p = .01). research observations of the crib placement confirmed the parent report of placement (i.e., near cords or heating units, (phi = .49, p = .02) and the existence of risky material in the crib (phi = .71, p = .00). finally, as predicted there was a correlation (r = -.34, p = .02) between the parent report for risk tolerance and the injury/accident risk category. physical health. few children were identified with health access, chronic conditions or treatment needs. this was likely due to their young age and related to the fact that children had been in ehs at least since the fall. that is, parents may have received support to prevent poor birth outcomes. caregiver report of their own sleep was correlated with their report of chaos in the home (r = .45, p = .00) but not the number of hours of sleep reported for the child. early learning. academic gains are made by children whose parents read to them from infancy onward (raikes, et al, 1994). nationally, most (45%) european american, mothers of infant/toddlers living in poverty reported reading to their children less than three times per week (bradley et al., 2001). based on the it-fm, a child is considered at risk if no adult reads to the child this often (only 7% of children); however, for comparison (with the 45%), based on the it-fm 21% of mothers reported reading this often. many (55%) parents, similar to those in this study (48%), reported teaching basic concepts to their children (bradley et al., 2001). discipline practices. to function well within social groups (and society at large), children must not only learn how to regulate their emotions but to control their behavior as well (bronson, 2000). accordingly, parents must provide the kind of productive discipline that 36 whiteside-mansell et al. facilitates behavioral control. there is also evidence that children benefit from positive affirmation of worth (roberts, 1983). spanking is generally low before 12 months of age (15%) and increases as children age with about 50% of children 20 months of age in low-income studies being spanked (mackenzie, nicklas, brooksgunn, & waldfogel, 2011). these statistics compare with 37.7% across the infant to 36 month range of the it-fm study. routines. the reorganization needed to adjust to the transition into parenthood or the addition of a child often makes establishing a routine difficult (fiese, tomcho, douglas, josephs, poltrock, & baker, 2002). in general, an organized home with established routines has been shown to be linked to psychological health (fiese, et al., 2002). three questions on the it-fm were coded from teacher observations of the physical organization of the home (e.g., crowdedness, clutter). risk identified with this set of questions was correlated with fes conflict scale (r =.60, p = .00) and bsi total (r = .58, p = .00). however, it was not statistically significantly related to parent report of chaos (r = .18, p = .30). two key areas related to establishing routines are infant sleep patterns and the use of electronic media. based on the it-fm interview, children slept 11.4 hours (sd = 1.02) the day before the interview compared to the 12-18 recommended by experts (centers for disease control and prevention, n.d.). other studies report average sleep times of 11.7 for toddlers to 12.7 for infants (carskadon, 2004). the overuse of tv has been associated with a variety of problems for young children including weight gain, health problems, later academic performance, and exposure to poor parenting (aap, committee on public education, 2001; pagani, fitzpatrick, barnett, & dubow, 2010). further, the exposure to inappropriate tv programming has been associated with the development of behavior problems (conners-burrow, mckelvey, & fussell, 2011). the america academy of pediatrics recommends no television for children under 2 years and only 2 hours a day for children over 2 (brown, 2011). estimates of tv use for young children range 17% for children less than a year (certain &kahn, 2002), to 11% at 29 months (pagani, fitzpatrick, barnett, & dubow, 2010) to 41% of 24-35 month-olds (certain &kahn, 2001). the itfm identified 20.0% of children with over 2 hours a day. surveillance. a significant proportion of accidental or unintentional injury occurs because of parental failure to adequately monitor and supervise children (garbarino, 1988; saluja, brenner, morrongiello, haynie, revera, & chen, 2004). the level of child monitoring is connected to parental perceptions about controllability of the hazards (greaves, glik, kronenfeld, & jackson, 1994) and parental mental health (elgar, mills, mcgrath, waschbusch, & brownridge, 2007). in this study, monitoring was correlated with the bsi total (r = -.38, p = .01); however it was not statistically significantly correlated with parent report of risk tolerance (r = .18, p = .24) or belief in fate (r = .22, p = .16). exposure to violence. while the negative impacts of exposure to violence on children is well known (e.g., fitzgerald, mckelvey, schiffman, & montanez, 2006; mckelvey, et al., 2011), the study of the impact of the neighborhood on child development has dramatically increased in the 20 years (sampson, morenoff, & gannon-rowley, 2002). the it-fm assesses children’s exposure to inadequate neighborhood resources somewhat more broadly than the head start faces 2002 report and therefore identified more children at potential risk (neighborhood: 26.4% with it-fm compared to 19% faces). supporting family engagement – family map 37 risks in these areas were expected to be related to parental mental health and parental concern for their own and child’s safety (margolin, & gordis, 2000; hughes, 1988). neighborhood safety risk was correlated with the bsi total (r = .40, p = .01) and increased monitoring (r = -.23, p = .05). parent report of exposure to violence was associated with parental physical activity (r = -.25, p = .04). family cohesion/conflict. families living in poverty often experience elevated levels of stress both from the difficulties of managing life with fewer resources and from exposure to stressful life events (conger, & donnellan, 2007). stress related to economic hardship can lead to conflicts between parents (belle, 1990). parenting stress has been implicated in less positive interactions between parents and children (coyl, roggman, & newland, 2002), in a higher likelihood of child maltreatment and abuse (rodriguez & green, 1997), and in higher conflict between family members (almeida, wethington, & chandler, 1999). national estimates indicate that 13% of children live in households with high parenting stress (raphael, zhang, liu, & giardino, 2010) compared to 21.0% identified with the it-fm. parents identified with the it-fm screen for high parenting stress scored higher on the psi-pcd subscale (t(42) = 2.63, p < .05) and the fes conflict scale (t(42) = 2.77, p < .09). further, the parenting stress risk score was significantly correlated with each (r = -.38, p = .012 for psi-pcd and r = .39, p = .008 for fes conflict). based on the national household survey on drug abuse (nhsda), it has been estimated that 10% of children (more than 6 million) age five and younger have at least one parent who is dependent on alcohol or illicit drugs (aod, office of applied studies, 2003). while an assessment of parent substance use is included on the it-fm, nearly all parents indicated it was not a problem for them. however, the it-fm screens for homes at risk for aod use expanding the question to include other adults (close family or friends) and includes an observation questions (15.0%). children identified with this definition were more likely to be at risk on 10 of 11 additional areas assessed (conners-burrow, johnson, whiteside-mansell, mckelvey, bokony, & bradley, 2011). that is, these questions on the it-fm identified a highrisk group of families. caregiver mental health. data from the head start faces 2000 study indicated that 25% of head start parents are moderately or severely depressed (u.s. dept of hhs, 2003). this compares to 18.1% identified using the it-fm. when the bsi-18 was examined in relation to the it-fm screen, meaningful associations were seen. it-fm depression risk was correlated with the bsi depression (r = .43, p = .002) and families identified as depressed scored higher on the bsi total (t(41) = 3.61, p < .045). bsi somatization scale was correlated with it-fm anxiety (r = .72, p = .00). the 2 questions used to screen for hostility identified 38.9% of the sample and this cut score was correlated with bsi depression (r = .39, p = .01). in a study of depressive symptoms identified using the ec-family map, conners burrow and colleagues (in press), using a series of logistic regression analyses (controlling for demographics), found that when mothers reported either low or high levels of depressive symptoms, their children were significantly more likely to experience safety risks in the home in 6 of 7 areas assessed. 38 whiteside-mansell et al. discussion the recognition of the role of the family and impact of the home environment for child outcomes has been acknowledged in quality early childcare programs including head start for many years. the evaluation of the role of head start programs and a useful definition for parent involvement has evolved since the beginning of head start in 1965. the difficulty has been identifying the process to efficiently identify the needs and strengths of families and build productive parent-teacher partnerships to address the needs. the family map inventories were developed to address this problem. this study examined the feasibility of implementation and the reliability and validity of the family map for the parenting environments of infants and toddlers. the family map inventories were designed to be used as part of the required twice yearly home visits as in this study. however, the ec-family map has been implemented in the field in a variety of ways (e.g., parent-teacher conferences) and settings (e.g., home visit programs). program enrollment, parent-teacher conferences, or home visits are ideal opportunities for parents and teachers to discuss issues regarding their joint interest in the child; however, in a typical parent-teacher visit this opportunity is often missed. the ec-family map has also been shown to provide data to improve programs (conners-burrow, johnson, whiteside-mansell, mckelvey, & bradley, 2010) and document the impact of quality programs like head start (whiteside-mansell, johnson, aitken, bokony, conners-burrow, & mckelvey, 2010). results evaluating the feasibility of implementation were consistent with the ecfamily map implementation and generally positive. families and educators were at least as positive about the home visit with the family map as without it. as in past studies (whiteside-mansell, et al, 2007), we found that a small group of teachers were resistant to the implementation. anecdotal reports suggested that educators were concerned about the potential reaction by parents. however, at least some part of educator hesitancy was likely the natural resistance to change often seen in some individuals. in other studies of the ec-family map, qualitative evidence suggested that teachers became more comfortable with the experience with the ecfamily map as they become more skilled at using the interview (mckelvey, swindle, bokony, & patrick, 2011). this study supported the reliability of the it-fm. unfortunately; few constructs consisted of questions appropriate for evaluation using internal consistency. however, of those assessed, internal consistency estimates were generally greater than .7. given the small number of questions for each construct, this was noteworthy (i.e., the fewer the questions the lower the expected reliability). in addition, the evidence of validity provided implicit support for reliability (i.e., reliability is required for validity). evidence of validity was provided in multiple ways. rates of families/children identified as experiencing specific conditions were compared to national studies. the rates in this study should be interpreted with caution because of the relatively small numbers (i.e., n = 72 means that 10% is only 7 participants); however, in general, similar rates were observed suggesting that the short screening questions on the it-fm were consistent with other studies and national estimates. while rates of some concerns were lower than was likely for the general population (e.g. substance abuse problems), anecdotal reports from the use of the ec-family map indicated parents do return to teachers and request help with more sensitive topics (e.g., exposure to violence) even when not reporting problems at the initial contact. it is possible that when the supporting family engagement – family map 39 parent is willing to address the topic, the family map has opened the doorway for communication. validity was also supported by construct validity for a subset of key measures and direct observation confirmed several questions. as predicted, most key measures were related to theorized constructs as expected. this is remarkable in that the risk indicators were dichotomous (risk/not) and, therefore, the power to observe significant relationships is limited. a strength of the validity examination was the confirmation of the home environment using the observational measure by trained researchers. several key indicators of safety were confirmed using observational assessments after the educator conducted the family map interview. the family map is scored to identify risk during the home visit (i.e., shaded areas of interview). the tradeoff for this quick scoring system is that it was not possible in the paper/pencil implementation to bring family strengths to the attention of the dyad. that is, the family map includes assessments of strength that are sometimes the opposite of risk, but not always. training included an in-depth discussion linking risk and resilience, strategies for educators to help families build upon strengths, the role of protective factors, and how to identify family strengths from the family map interview. for example, parents that provide a warm, supportive parenting environment may be protecting their children from a variety of potential risks including health related risks (landry, smith, swank, assel, & vellett, 2001). when conducted as a home visit, the family map along with other head start activities requires a full hour to complete. this is longer than typical screening instruments; however, the family map is atypical in the comprehensive nature of the screen. when fully integrated, the family map may replace other program-generated efforts to document parent partnership agreements and the related service recommendations. however, it is likely that full integration into a program and teacher practice would result in shorter home visits than those reported here. this study, in conjunction with the previous study of the ec-family map, provides empirical evidence of the feasibility and usefulness 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(2007). the family map: structured interview to identify risks and strengths in head start families. nhsa dialog: a research-to-practice journal for the early intervention field, 10, 189-209. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/pdf/research/msqli_manual_and_forms.pdf dialog, 16(2), 125-130 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice-summary supporting head start parents with a parent support group kelley l. o’carroll harvard graduate school of education catherine ayoub harvard medical school caroline watts university of pennsylvania william r. beardslee harvard medical school this study describes the content and process of a parent support group that was implemented as part of family connections, a preventive mental health intervention, in one head start program. the group content focused on the interests of the latina mothers who participated, and these included parenting, economic resources, immigration information, and personal goals. data describing the process also suggest a possible support group model that might be implemented within the frame of preventive, system wide mental health consultation and professional development. family connections is a preventive mental health intervention designed to increase head start staff’s capacity to work with families and children who might be dealing with depression and related adversities. the intervention primarily offers training sessions and mental health consultation to teachers and staff. a previous study demonstrated that the family connections program was a safe, feasible, and effective tool for system change (beardslee, ayoub, watts, avery, & o’carroll, 2010). in one urban head start, family connections also offered a parent support group, and this descriptive case study highlights both the content and the process associated with the support shared in the group. the findings suggest that, according to the participants’ expressed desires, the group content focused on parenting, economic resources, immigration, and personal goals. findings also highlight a support group model that includes three parts – (1) relationships, (2) relevant resources, and (3) meaningful space – all of which are managed by a group facilitator. the effect of poverty and racial/ethnic minority status on parent well-being and child outcomes. given head start income eligibility requirements (head start program o’ carroll et al. 126 performance standards and other regulations, 2006), most families enrolled in head start programs experience poverty. such poverty is associated with a range of negative outcomes including depression. thirty-one percent of adults in poverty report that they have been diagnosed with depression at some point compared with 15.8% of adults not in poverty (centers for disease control, 2010; brown, 2012). in addition, depression in mothers is more common than depression in fathers (cdc, 2010). besides poverty, being a racial or ethnic minority is a risk factor for depression. latinos are particularly more likely than other minorities to report experiencing chronic depression (dunlop, song, lyons, manheim, & chang, 2003). these high depression rates may come from social isolation and discrimination as well as from a change in family dynamics that often happens when families immigrate to the us (comas-dias, 1990; zhang & ta, 2009). as of 2011, 59% of head start children were some race other than white while 37% were hispanic (center for law and social policy, 2013) depression in a parent, especially a mother, can have important consequences for children’s development. mothers who are depressed may have more trouble being attentive and involved with their children in ways that support their children’s learning and development (cummings & davies, 1994; mustillo, dorsey, conover, & burns, 2011; turney, 2011; valdez, shewakramani, godlberg, & padilla, 2013). as a result, children of depressed mothers are more likely to have trouble academically and socially at school (valdez et al., 2013), and they are more likely to display behavior difficulties (anderson & hammen, 1993; beardslee, versage, & gladstone, 1998; elgar, mills, mcgrath, waschbusch, & brownridge, 2007; piche, bergeron, cyr & berthiaume, 2011). the potential of parent support groups. head start and other early education programs can help support parents who are at risk for depression by giving them opportunities to build social support and exchange resources with other parents (finfgeld-connett, 2005). a parent support group is one way that a program can provide this opportunity. while many programs provide resources to families and have staff dedicated to working with families, support groups can give participants a unique chance to talk with others who are in similar life situations and to receive support that is specific to their current needs (smith, gabard, dale & drucker, 1994). support groups can be very structured, including preset topics and a curriculum, or they can be very flexible, allowing people to drop in and following participants’ interests (campbell & palm, 2004). these different group formats require different facilitator styles ranging from structured to non-directive to facilitative (campbell & palm, 2004). finally, it seems that groups work best when participants meet in a space in which they feel comfortable to speak (wuthnow, 1996). there has been little research into parent support groups in educational settings, and this study set out to highlight the content of and process associated with a parent support group that was part of family connections at one head start center. review of study findings study participants and research procedures this study took place in an urban head start center that enrolled mostly latino families. in the describing a parent support group 127 year of the study, 75% of the children in the center were latino and 24% were black or africanamerican. sixty-four percent of the children were primarily spanish speaking, 29% primarily english speaking, and 7% spoke a language other than english or spanish. approximately 93% of the families were living below the poverty line. the support group in this study met for one calendar year. it was a drop-in group that was advertised with fliers at the whole center and by word-of-mouth among teachers, staff, and parents. it was conducted in spanish according to the language preference of the mothers who ended up being the core participants. for this study, we analyzed data from interviews with six core parent group participants and one group facilitator. we also analyzed data from weekly forms on which the facilitator documented who attended the group and what happened during group time. each parent participant was a latina mother. the women came from puerto rico, the dominican republic, honduras, and the mainland united states. the group facilitator, a caucasian woman, was a prevention specialist who held a master’s degree in prevention science and was fluent in spanish. key research finding data from this study suggest a possible support group model that might be implemented within the frame of preventive, system-wide mental health consultation and professional development. in the model, a facilitator manages the dynamic interaction among three key components – (1) relationships, (2) relevant resources, and (3) meaningful space (see figure 1). the topics of the group’s resources highlight key concerns of the latina mothers in the local community where the group took place. relationships: like family the parent group provided its participants with a chance to share common stories and encourage each other during challenges. these relationships appeared to strengthen over time such that the mothers sometimes met outside of the group to do things with their children, and everyone said that the group members were like family. in most cases, they said they were thankful for this surrogate family because they did not have close family in the united states. resources: topics for everyday support each week, the group facilitator considered parents’ input about what topics they wanted to discuss, and she brought in relevant resources the next week. as such, the group resources were immediately relevant to the mothers’ needs. the mothers were interested in discussing four main categories of resources: parenting, economic resources, immigration, and personal goals. parenting. mothers in the group reported examples of deep commitments to their children and asked for concrete resources to fill in their knowledge in order to support their children. they exchanged approaches to talking about difficult topics with children and to disciplining their children. they were also very much interested in obtaining more information o’ carroll et al. 128 about learning disabilities, including autism. they reported wanting the learning disability information in particular not necessarily for themselves but to share with their friends. economic resources. through the support group, the mothers negotiated resources to help them weather their economic challenges. while the group could not directly affect their economic situation, it did help them learn about places to get support and ways to enrich their children’s experiences despite economic hardships. recurrent topics included affordable places to take children in the summer, violence in low-income neighborhoods, and housing concerns. these resources most often came in the form of handouts or in talking about community resources and activities. the mothers reported liking and actively using these resources. immigration. while some participants were originally from puerto rico and another born in the mainland united states, certain topics derived from mothers’ immigrant experiences applied to everyone and became frequent topics in the group. ultimately, these topics came down to issues of racial or ethnic minority status and parenting in a culture other than their home culture. as primary caretakers, the mothers had to help their children navigate schools and other community organizations even while they themselves were learning how the organizations operated. personal goals. the group also provided a space for participants to share their personal goals including, for example, plans to take an english class or find a job. in this way, the group provided encouragement and accountability. the group helped support at least one mother’s mental wellbeing by providing a space for her to talk about her stressful life situation and to confirm that she had the right supports in place outside of the group, including access to professional mental health counseling, to allow her to care appropriately for her children. space: a comfortable place to share without having to address predetermined topics, this group had the flexibility to meet parents where they wanted to be met both literally and figuratively. the group met each week in a conference room that the facilitator converted to a private group space by clearing tables from the meeting area, setting chairs in a circle, and laying out food for participants to share. each mother reported that she could not think of a better space to have the meeting, and one mother commented that she liked being close to her daughter whose classroom was just down the hall in the building. these reports of comfort in the space suggest that the participants were supported in bringing their voices to the group (wuthnow, 1996). importance of the facilitator. relationships, resources, and space were the main threads of this parent support group, and the facilitator united each of them. in this study, the group benefitted from a facilitator who, as a mental health consultant, had both professional mental health experience and knowledge of the local community. she took on a facilitative style (campbell & palm, 2004), one in which a group leader drives the group process but also lets the parents make decisions about the content of the group. in addition to skillfully leading the women’s conversations during group time, she also knew where to obtain both general resources, such as a guest presentation about autism, and specific community-based resources, such as describing a parent support group 129 affordable places to take children in the community in the summer. figure 1. support group model of dynamic interplay of relationships, resources, and space as managed by a group facilitator. conclusion the parent support group in this study benefitted some, but not all, parents in the center. from this study, it is not possible to know why other parents did not participate, but clearly the majority of parents did not participate in the group. despite these limitations, however, the group helped one head start center diversify and enrich the opportunities for support that it provided to its families. the specific needs of the mothers may not be generalized beyond this group; however, the 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(2009). social connections, immigration status, and health among asian americans. social science & medicine, 68(12), 2104-12. http://www.gallup.com/poll/158417/poverty-comes-depression-illness.aspx http://sfx.hul.harvard.edu/hvd?__char_set=utf8&id=doi:10.4135/9781452232423&sid=libx%3ahul.harvard&genre=article http://sfx.hul.harvard.edu/hvd?__char_set=utf8&id=doi:10.4135/9781452232423&sid=libx%3ahul.harvard&genre=article http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5938a2.htm?s_cid=mm5938a2_e%0d%0a. http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/head%20start%20requirements/1305/1305.4%20age%20of%20children%20and%20family%20income.htm http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/head%20start%20requirements/1305/1305.4%20age%20of%20children%20and%20family%20income.htm dialog, 18(1), 92-96 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 authors note: the research reported here was supported by the institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education, through grant r305a060021 to the university of virginia – funding the national center for research on early childhood education (ncrece). the work of the first author was partially supported by the institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education, through grant r305b090002 to the university of virginia. the opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the institute or the u.s. department of education. correspondence concerning this manuscript should be addressed to manuela jiménez, t. denny sanford school of social and family dynamics, po box 873701 tempe, az 85287-3701. email: manuela.jimenez@asu.edu research-to-practice summary coach reports of teachers’ practice: an alternative for assessing teacher-child interactions in early childhood classrooms manuela jimenez arizona state university jennifer locasale-crouch university of virginia there is a need for valid, cost-effective assessments of effective teacher practice that can be used as an alternative to observational assessments. this paper examines one alternative, coaches’ reports, by comparing ratings of teachers’ interactions with children using two measures: the teacher knowledge and skills scale (tkss), a coach-rating measure, and the classroom assessment scoring system (class), an established observational measure. the study also examines the role that the coach-teacher relationship plays in coaches’ ratings. a sample of 162 early childhood teachers and 12 coaches implementing a coaching intervention participated in this study. results show that coaches provided ratings similar to those of trained observers, but they also tended to rate higher the interactions of teachers with whom they have higher-quality relationships. the paper discusses the implications of these findings for the assessment process in early childhood education. keywords: teacher assessment, teacher-child interactions, coaching, ratings, professional development. assessment of teachers’ practice represents a key piece of the process to ensure the quality of early childhood education programs (zaslow, tout & martinez-beck, 2010). observational instruments are often recommended for this assessment, in part due to their focus on specific teaching behaviors associated with children’s improved outcomes, since these behaviors can then be linked to policies and professional development meant to improve teaching practice (kane, coach reports 93 taylor, tyler & wooten, 2010; pianta, 2006). however, considerable investments in aspects such as observer training, travel time and continuous reliability checks are needed to ensure the reliable use of these instruments, which can turn them into a costly, labor-intensive task. these barriers point to a need for valid, cost-effective assessments of effective teacher practice. the recent popularity of coaching as a support for early childhood teachers (gupta & daniels, 2012; isner et al., 2011) presents coaches’ reports of teachers’ practice as an alternative assessment. although there are different coaching models (isner et al., 2011), most of them entail a cyclical process that involves planning, observations of teachers’ practice in the classroom, and reflection and feedback about the practice (national center on quality teaching and learning (ncqtl), 2012). as part of this process, coaches repeatedly observe teachers’ practice during extended periods of time, which means that coaches are already collecting information about teachers’ practice. their regular observations can help them provide more reliable reports (bill and melinda gates foundation, 2012), thus serving as a potential cost-effective alternative to observational assessments. coaches, however, can be susceptible to bias in their ratings due to outside influences, such as the quality of the coach-teacher relationship (jacob & lefgren, 2008; ostrander, 1996). the constant interaction needed to ensure the quality of the coaching process can lead to close, high-quality relationships between coaches and teachers. based on studies of supervisors’ ratings of subordinates (lefkowitz, 2000), critics worry that coaches will give higher ratings to the teachers with whom they have higher-quality relationships. research has shown, however, that other observers of teachers’ practice, such as principals and students, are able to provide valid assessments of teachers’ behavior when they use reliable instruments (bill and melinda gates foundation, 2012; li, hughes, kwok, & hsu, 2012). still, a better understanding of how the coach-teacher relationship relates to coaches’ assessment of teachers’ practice is warranted to ensure the validity of their reports. coaches’ reports of teachers’ practice can be a potentially valid alternative to costly observational assessments. however, before adopting these reports as part of teachers’ assessments there is a need to establish their validity and to assess the possible bias that the coach-teacher relationship can introduce to these ratings. thus in order to examine the potential of coaches as reporters of teachers’ practice, this study first looked at the correspondence between coaches’ ratings of teachers’ practice and the ratings made by external observers using a standardized observational assessment. next, this study examined the association between coaches’ ratings and the quality of their relationship with the teachers they rated. lastly, and with the goal of further understanding the coach-teacher relationship, the study examined whether coaches’ accuracy (i.e. the degree of correspondence between coaches’ and observers’ ratings) varied depending on the quality of the coach-teacher relationship. this study study participants included 12 coaches and 152 teachers who were taking part in a larger study evaluating myteachingpartner (mtp; pianta, mashburn, et al., 2008), a web-mediated coaching model. mtp was developed using the teaching through interactions framework (ttif; hamre et al., 2013), which served as the guiding framework for the coaching process. this study focused on ratings of a specific aspect of teachers’ practice, their interactions with children. the study compared two instruments developed using the tti framework: the teacher knowledge 94 jimenez & locasale-crouch and skills scale (tkss, locasale-crouch & hamre, 2008a), a coach-ratings measure; and the classroom assessment scoring system (class, pianta, la paro & hamre, 2008), an observational assessment. these specific measures were chosen to increase the likelihood that any difference on the ratings given to teachers on these assessments was due to the fact that they were rated by different reporters. to examine the role that the coach-teacher relationship plays in coaches’ ratings, coaches were asked to rate the quality of their relationship with each of the teachers with whom they worked, using the teacher-coach relationship scale (locasalecrouch & hamre, 2008b). as part of the coaching process, teachers regularly filmed 30-minute long segments of their teaching practice. these videos were then sent to the study team. coaches observed each video, provided feedback, and supported teachers’ analysis of their interactions with children through written prompts and a series of coach-teacher conferences. at the end of the coaching process, coaches rated teachers’ interactions with children based on their recollection of the videos using the tkss. the videos were also independently reviewed by external observers trained to rate teachers’ interactions with children using the class. observers made their ratings immediately after viewing the teaching segment. key findings and implications analyses of coaches’ and trained observers’ assessments of teachers’ practice show that both groups provided similar ratings of teacher-student interactions. additionally, coaches tended to rate a teacher’s interactions with children higher when they had a higher-quality relationship with the teacher. despite this, the accuracy of coaches’ ratings did not vary depending on their relationship with the teacher. in summary, coaches’ ratings corresponded well with observers’ ratings and this correspondence was not influenced by the quality of the coach-teacher relationship. this finding shows that coaches’ reports can be used as an additional assessment of early childhood teachers’ interactions with children by providing evidence that coaches using a standardized instrument, such as the tkss, can provide relatively accurate ratings of teacher-child interactions. the study, however, also shows an association between coaches’ ratings and the coach-teacher relationship, in which coaches tend to score higher ratings for teacher-student interactions for those teachers with whom they have a higher quality relationship. although the accuracy of coaches’ ratings was not found to be associated with the coach-teacher relationship, the previous findings highlight the need to consider the coach-teacher relationship when deciding to use coaches’ ratings of teacher-child interactions. one possible explanation for coaches’ tendency to provide higher ratings for the teachers with whom they have a higher-quality relationship may lie in the role that coaches’ affect towards teachers plays during their observations. coaches’ affect can influence the type of information that coaches attend to during the observation, with coaches unintentionally paying more attention to information that matches their perception of the teacher (i.e. coaches pay more attention to effective teacher-child interactions when observing a teacher with whom they have a higher-quality relationship). in this case, coaches would not be using all the information available to rate teachers’ interactions with children. to minimize this issue, coaches could be required to follow a protocol for their observations meant to help them use all the information available to make their ratings. this protocol could involve asking coaches to take detailed notes coach reports 95 of their observations of the teaching behaviors assessed in the measure, which would allow coaches to base their ratings in specific interactions seen in the observation instead of their general impression after the observation. another way to increase the precision of coaches’ ratings is to use them in combination with reports from other observers. multisource assessments are more reliable than single reporter assessments (bill and melinda gates foundation, 2012; li et al., 2012), and some centers already collect other ratings of teacher-child interactions such as teachers’ self-ratings (howes et al., 2008). these reports, along with ratings from teacher aides or from other teachers, could be used to complement the coaches’ ratings. since these ratings are already being collected they would not be an extra burden on the teachers, maintaining the cost-effectiveness of the measure. it is important, however, to keep in mind that a high-quality coach-teacher relationship is key for coaching’s effectiveness. thus, the effect that asking coaches to rate their teachers’ interactions with children may have for the coaching process should be considered before deciding to use coaches’ ratings. to ensure that the use of coaches’ ratings does not affect the coaching process their goal should be to help teachers improve their practice in the classroom and to identify programor center-wide issues that should be targeted in future professional development efforts. these goals should also be clearly and explicitly communicated to teachers. it should also be noted , however, that there are certain aspects of this study that can limit the generalizability of its findings. this study examined the ratings provided by coaches participating in mtp. this is only one of several different coaching approaches being currently implemented in early childhood education programs, and consideration should be given to any differences between mtp and the specific coaching model used in order to assess how to best employ these findings to inform decisions for each particular situation. the main difference that may limit the generalizability of this study’s findings is the fact that mtp is a web-mediated coaching model. these coaching models have been gaining popularity in the last few years but are still less common than in-person coaching models (isner et al., 2011). since most web-mediated coaching models use videos instead of live observations, coaches in the former models may find the rating process easier than coaches that do in-person observations. with videos, coaches can watch an interaction as often as they feel necessary, while coaches doing in-person observations have to be able to focus on specific interactions in the middle of an environment full of distractions that can burden their attention and cloud their ratings. although findings from this study show that coaches and observers can provide similar ratings of teacher-children interactions when using video observations, there is a need for more research to examine whether this correspondence translates to ratings based on in-person observations. conclusion despite the aforementioned limitations, this study suggests that coaches can provide relatively accurate ratings of teachers’ practice. coaches’ reports can be a useful addition to the toolbox of assessments of quality in early childhood education, and could be a reliable alternative to the more costly observational assessments. however, certain protocols should be adopted to ensure that these ratings provide useful, reliable information, and do not affect the coaching process. these protocols could strengthen the contribution that the use of coaches’ ratings can make to the assessment process in early childhood education. 96 jimenez & locasale-crouch references bill and melinda gates foundation (2012). gathering feedback for teachers. combining high-quality observations with student surveys and achievement gains. gupta, s. s., & daniels, j. (2012). coaching and professional development in early childhood classrooms: current practices and recommendations for the future. nhsa dialog, 15, 206-220. hamre, b. k., pianta, r.c., downer, j. t., decoster, j., mashburn, a.j., jones, s., … hamagami, a. (2013). teaching through interactions: testing a developmental framework of effective teaching in over 4,000 classrooms. elementary school journal, 13, 461-487. doi: 0013-5984/2013/11304-000 howes, c., pianta, r., bryant, d., hamre, b., downer, j., & soliday-hong, s. (2008). ensuring effective teaching in early childhood education through linked professional development systems, quality rating systems and state competencies: the role of research in an evidence-driven system (pp. 1-16). arlington, va: national center for research on early childhood education jacob, b. a. & lefgren, l. (2008). can principals identify effective teachers? evidence on subjective performance evaluation in education. journal of labor economics, 26, 101-136. doi: 10.1086/522974 isner, t., tout, k., zaslow, m., soli, m., quinn, k., rothenberg, l., & burkhauser, m. (2011). coaching in early care and education programs and quality rating and improvement systems (qris): identifying promising features. report produced for the children’s services council of palm beach county. washington, dc: child trends. kane, t. j., taylor, e.s., tyler, j. h., & wooten, a. l. (2010). identifying effective classroom practices using student achievement data. nber working paper 15803. cambridge, ma: national bureau of economic research lefkowitz, j. (2000). the role of interpersonal affective regard in supervisory performance ratings: a literature review and proposed causal model. journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 73, 67-85. doi: 10.1348/096317900166886 li, y., hughes, j. n., kwok, o. & hsu, h. (2012). evidence of convergent and discriminant validity of child, teacher, and peer reports of teacher-student support. psychological assessments, 24, 54-65. doi: 10.1037/a0024481 locasale-crouch, j., & hamre, b. k. (2008a). teacher knowledge and skills survey. unpublished manuscript, center for the advanced study of teaching and learning, university of virginia. locasale-crouch, j., & hamre, b. k. (2008b). teacher-coach relationship scale. unpublished manuscript, center for the advanced study of teaching and learning, university of virginia. national center on quality teaching and learning (2012). what do we know about coaching? retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/docs/what-do-we-know-about-coaching.pdf ostrander, l. r. (1996). multiple judges of teacher effectiveness: comparing teacher self-assessments with the perception of principals, students and parents. paper presented at the annual meeting of the american educational research association (new york, ny, april 8-12). retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ed399267 pianta, r.c. (2006). standardized classroom observations from pre-k to 3 rd grade: a mechanism for improving access to consistently high quality classroom experiences and practices during the p-3 years. discussion paper 103, early childhood research collaborative. retrieved from http://humancapitalrc.org/dp_catalog/dp103.pdf pianta, r. c., la paro, k. m., & hamre, b. k. (2008). classroom assessment scoring system (class), manual, pre-k. baltimore: paul h. brookes. pianta, r. c., mashburn, a. j., downer, j. t., hamre, b. k. & justice, l. (2008). effects of web-mediated professional development resources on teacher-child interactions in pre-kindergarten classrooms. early childhood research quarterly, 23, 431-451. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2008.02.001 zaslow, m., tout, k., & martinez-beck, i. (2010). measuring the quality of early care and education programs at the intersection of research, policy, and practice. opre research-to-policy, research-to-practice brief. washington, dc: office of planning, research and evaluation, administration for children and families, u.s. department of health and human services. http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/teaching/docs/what-do-we-know-about-coaching.pdf dialog, 18(2), 31-42 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 this project was made possible with generous funding from boston children’s hospital and northeastern university. the authors thank the head start staff and parents who participated in this project, dr. shari nethersole and dr. clem bottino for their thoughtful contributions to the working group process, and ellyn schmidt for her careful editing. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to jessica hoffman, phd, department of applied psychology, northeastern university, 360 huntington ave., boston, ma 02115. e-mail: j.hoffman@neu.edu research article communicating with head start parents about their child’s weight status jessica a. hoffman, catherine wirth, sarah johnson northeastern university sonia carter action for boston community development, inc. head start and children’s services matthew dubois, colin cox, and carmen castaneda-sceppa northeastern university head start provides children with healthy, nutritious meals, physical activity opportunities, and health screenings, all of which are critical components of combatting early childhood obesity. communicating health screening information about a child’s weight status to parents is one way to engage families in childhood obesity prevention efforts. the purpose of this article is to describe a multi-phase, iterative, and collaborative process that was used to develop and evaluate strategies for communicating with head start parents about their child’s body mass index. this article aims to inform other head start programs about acceptable, effective approaches that can be used to deliver height and weight screening results to families. keywords: obesity, head start, body mass index, health screening early childhood obesity is an important health concern for preschool children, and particularly those served by head start. nationally, 22.8% of preschoolers are overweight or obese (ogden, carroll, kit, & flegal, 2014) and there is a higher prevalence among children from low-income families and some racial and ethnic groups (cunningham, kramer, & narayn, 2014; ogden et al., 2014; whitaker & orzol, 2006). for example, in the spring of kindergarten, 6.6% of children in the fifth (highest income) socioeconomic quintile were obese compared with 12.6% and 17.4% of children in the first and second (lowest income) socioeconomic quintiles, respectively 32 hoffman et al. (cunningham et al., 2014). additionally, the prevalence of obesity among non-hispanic white kindergarten students was 9.3% compared to 13.7% among non-hispanic black students and 18.8% among hispanic students (cunningham et al., 2014). recent data demonstrate that being identified as overweight or obese in kindergarten is a key predictor of later obesity (cunningham et al., 2014). therefore, the promotion of healthy weight in early childhood is critical. with its comprehensive focus on children’s healthy physical, cognitive, and emotional development, head start is well positioned to engage in early childhood obesity prevention. head start programs are required to comply with performance standards that are directly relevant to obesity prevention efforts, including opportunities for children’s physical development such as gross and fine motor skills, nutrition education for parents, and providing healthy meals and snacks (head start program performance standards and other regulations, 2006). in a national survey of head start programs, most programs reported going beyond federal performance requirements in their practices and environments related to healthy eating and physical activity (whitaker, gooze, hughes, & finkelstein, 2009). height and weight screenings are potentially effective practices that head start programs can implement to promote healthy weight in early childhood (davison, jurkowski, li, kranz, & lawson, 2013). head start programs are required to ensure that children are participating in a system of ongoing preventative health care (head start program performance standards and other regulations, 2006). although head start programs have 90 days after children enroll to obtain health information from children’s health care providers, many programs choose to perform some health screenings on-site. these screenings can include measurement of children’s height, weight, vision, and hearing. providing on-site screenings prevents delays in obtaining the health data necessary to conduct the developmental assessments that must be completed for each child (head start program performance standards and other regulations, 2006). head start’s screenings also provide an opportunity to collect information that can be shared with parents about their child’s health, including their child’s weight status, which can range from underweight to obese. parental perceptions of young children’s weight status as a number of studies have demonstrated, many parents of overweight and obese preschool children consider their children to be at a healthy weight (baughcum, chamberlin, deeks, powers, & whitaker, 2000; carnell, edwards, croker, boniface, & wardle, 2005; hudson, cherry, ratcliffe, mcclellan, 2009). for example, in baughcum et al.’s (2000) study, only 29% of mothers with obese children believed that their child was obese. additionally, culture and socio-economic status may influence the way in which parents view their children’s body size. killion, hughes, wendt, pease, and nicklas (2006) found that two-thirds of hispanic and african-american mothers whose children were overweight or obese were satisfied with their children’s body size or desired them to be heavier. in one study that focused on hispanic mothers of young children, crawford et al. (2004) found that participants did not perceive overweight in young children to be unhealthy as long as the child looked and felt good. these mothers also believed that young children would grow out of being overweight, and reported that parenting concerns (e.g., time, multiple children’s needs, unsafe neighborhoods) competed with prioritizing nutrition and feeding issues (crawford et al., 2004). in another study, low-income mothers with overweight preschoolers did not believe their children to be overweight as long communicating with head start parents 33 they were active and had a healthy diet (jain et al., 2001). these mothers described their children as “thick” or “solid.” additionally, some mothers believed that inherited tendencies to be overweight would prevail regardless of environmental factors (jain et al., 2001). together these findings demonstrate that many parents of young children who are overweight or obese do not view their child as being at an unhealthy weight; parents’ perceptions may also influence their level of concern and their beliefs about whether they can change their child’s weight status. parent reactions to receiving weight status information parental reactions to learning from school professionals that their child is overweight or obese vary. bennett johnson, pilkington, lamp, he, and deeb (2009) found that most parents (and ethnic-minority parents in particular) viewed school-based body mass index (bmi) screening programs favorably and reported taking action in response to a bmi result that was outside of the normal range. chomitz, collins, kim, kramer, and mcgowan (2003) found that a bmi report card was associated with increased parental awareness of the weight status of obese children and that most parents who read the materials requested annual screening information. in contrast, grimmett, croker, carnell, and wardle (2008) found mixed results regarding parents’ reactions. although many parents viewed the information as helpful, some parents found it distressing, which highlights the importance of delivering this information in a sensitive manner, particularly for families with overweight children. kubik, fulkerson, story, and rieland (2006) found that parents of overweight children were more likely to report discomfort with weight status reporting than parents of children who were not overweight. although there is evidence for parental support and appreciation for learning about their child’s weight status from their child’s school, this information is not always well-received. study purpose head start is a national program that provides children with healthy, nutritious meals, physical activity opportunities, and health screenings critical to combating early childhood obesity. communicating health screening information about a child’s weight status to parents is one way to engage families in childhood obesity prevention efforts. the range of parental responses when hearing that their child is overweight or obese points to the importance of developing ways to sensitively but effectively inform parents of their child’s weight status. at present, effective strategies for such communication are not well developed. drawing from the implementation science literature, parent understanding and acceptability of interventions are important factors to consider when designing interventions (allen & warzak, 2000; kazdin, 1980; perepletchikova & kazdin, 2005; reimers, wacker, & koeppl, 1987; solish & perry, 2008). these theoretical constructs were used by head start staff to guide the refinement of bmi communication strategies and by university-based researchers to develop the focus group guide and the survey questions used in this mixed methods study. this study fills a gap in the literature by providing the field with a school-home communication tool that can be used to communicate children’s bmi screening information in an understandable and acceptable format. 34 hoffman et al. methods study design a sequential mixed methods research design (creswell, klassen, plano clark, & smith, 2011) was used in this study to revise and evaluate a letter communicating head start bmi screening results to parents. first, a series of parent focus groups was used to gather qualitative data regarding the understandability and acceptability of a draft of the bmi letter. next, the bmi letters were revised, incorporating parent feedback, and the letters were sent out to families (see appendix). finally, quantitative, survey data were obtained from a large group of parents to evaluate their perceptions of the revised letter. participants and setting this study was conducted in a large city in the northeastern united states in collaboration with a community-based agency. head start parents (n = 27) participated in four focus groups about the bmi letter. the focus groups consisted of a convenience sample recruited via fliers and staff at four program sites. parents were given a $10 gift card for their participation. the 27 parents that participated in the focus groups had 28 children enrolled in head start. child bmi screening data collected by head start staff indicated that 10.7% of the children (n = 3) whose parents participated in the focus groups were underweight, 60.7% (n = 17) were a healthy weight, 3.6% (n = 1) were overweight, and 17.9% (n = 5) were obese. after the bmi letters were revised using feedback from the focus groups, an updated version of the letter was sent out to parents of children at head start sites across the city. a total of 1,913 parents with children enrolled in the city-wide head start program were administered a survey which included questions about the updated letter; 887 parents returned completed surveys (46.4% response rate). procedures background. each year the head start agency begins the process of communicating with parents about their child’s bmi by raising awareness around healthy eating during home visits prior to and just after children’s enrollment in head start. nutrition services staff measure children’s height and weight twice a year. following these measurements, a bmi letter is sent home to notify parents about their child’s height, weight, bmi, and weight status. the letter is sent as part of a packet that includes resources to increase parents’ awareness about healthy eating and physical activity and the role that they play in maintaining a healthy weight. to improve the agency’s efforts to address childhood obesity, including communicating with parents about their child’s bmi screening results, an internal quality improvement working group was formed. the bmi communication working group consisted of over 20 members, including head start staff from a variety of program sites and departments, and was facilitated by university-based researchers and the head start nutrition services coordinator. the group identified several challenges with the existing bmi communication system and the role of the letter in conveying bmi information to parents, which included: (a) staff numbers and time are communicating with head start parents 35 limited and staff are not able to follow-up with parents individually about the contents of the bmi letter; (b) parents may not understand the bmi letter and may have added difficulty understanding it because of the emotions it can elicit; (c) parents may receive conflicting information from health professionals and head start staff about how concerned they should actually be if their child is identified as overweight or obese in the bmi letter and may be told that their child will “grow out of it [overweight or obesity]” or that “it’s not a big deal”; and (d) competing demands related to other issues the family is facing may make it challenging for parents to prioritize their child’s overweight or obesity status as a key health issue to address. the group acknowledged that parents often do not follow-up with head start staff if their child is identified in the bmi letter as overweight or obese. given the challenges identified by the working group, head start staff made a first round of revisions to the bmi letter to make it easier for parents to clearly and easily identify their child’s bmi and weight status, to understand what bmi is and how their child’s bmi and weight status were determined, and to encourage them to follow-up with head start nutrition services staff if their child’s weight status was not in the healthy range. initial revisions to the bmi letter included the addition of a visual spectrum (called the “healthy weight bar”) (see appendix) on which a child’s weight status could be marked, a detailed explanation of how bmi is calculated, a growth chart accompanied by an explanation of how to read the chart, and specific information about contacting a head start nutritionist for follow-up. parent focus groups. a series of four focus groups was conducted to gather parent feedback regarding the bmi communication letter after these initial revisions were made. the focus group guide was developed by university researchers to ascertain parents’ acceptability and understanding of the letter. parents were given a sample letter of a child whose bmi fell into the overweight category. they were asked to read the letter and to imagine they were receiving this letter regarding their child. in addition to providing general feedback about the letter, parents were asked to provide specific feedback regarding their comprehension of the healthy weight bar, the concept of bmi, the bmi data and growth chart contained in the letter. they were also asked to comment on the tone of the letter, and how they might feel about and respond to receiving a letter indicating that their child was overweight. finally, parents were asked to indicate how likely they would be to read the full letter in detail, if they would contact anyone regarding the letter after they received it, and if there could be anything changed in the letter to make it more likely that they would contact a professional following receipt of the letter. the focus groups were facilitated by two of the authors and were transcribed by a professional transcriptionist. in order to help parents feel comfortable and to encourage them to provide their honest opinions, parents were informed that the information they provided would be anonymous. emergent themes were analyzed by the third author in collaboration with the first and second authors. the theoretical constructs of acceptability and understandability were used to guide the qualitative analysis. feedback from the focus groups was used by head start nutrition services staff to conduct a second round of revisions to the bmi communication letter, which was then sent out city-wide to all parents with children in the program. 36 hoffman et al. parent survey a four-item survey was administered to head start parents to assess their response to the final bmi letter after revisions based on the focus group data were incorporated. the survey was embedded into an annual parent survey administered by the head start agency. because questions about the bmi letter were embedded into an existing survey, the number of questions that could be asked was limited. initially, six questions were developed by the university-based researchers and were shared with head start nutrition services staff for their feedback. the final four questions were selected collaboratively by head start staff and the research team. parents were asked: (1) to recall what the bmi letter they received indicted about their child’s weight status, (2) whether they shared the information in the letter with other individuals (e.g., head start staff members, their physician, friends/family); (3) to report how helpful they thought the letter was; and (4) to describe how they felt about the information they received about their child’s weight status. parents completed paper copies of the survey in their preferred language. the survey was available in english, spanish, haitian-creole, and chinese-mandarin. results parent focus groups the focus groups revealed a range of reactions (positive, negative, and mixed) among the 27 parent participants when discussing the letter as a whole. there were eight positive reactions. some parents mentioned that the letter was helpful because it shared key information about a child’s weight status, allowing parents to determine if they should be concerned about their child’s weight. several participants agreed that all of the pieces of the letter (i.e., healthy weight bar, bmi explanation, and growth chart) were useful in facilitating understanding. although there were fewer negative reactions to the letter as a whole, some parents noted that receiving weight status information through the mail is difficult to understand and that they are aware of their child’s weight status but do not know how to change it. parents proposed adding the child’s name to personalize the letter, making it more likely to stand out among the many papers children bring home from school to be read by parents. discussions of the individual components of the letter followed, and revealed that certain components of the letter elicited more negative reactions. parents’ comprehension and perceptions of the growth chart in the letter were mostly negative. there were 16 negative reactions to the growth chart, four neutral/mixed reactions, and four positive reactions. the majority of negative comments focused on the difficulty of interpreting the growth chart, even after reading the instructions on how to do so and reviewing the chart as a group. parents reported that they preferred a simpler visual representation of their child’s weight status. examples of parent feedback regarding the growth chart included: “it looks like a doctor’s chart but it’s like to the naked eye what is it saying? i don’t get it.” “it’s like i was just put into algebra class or geometry class and i’m trying to figure out… where’s my child’s place on this and it’s like i’m not doing a math equation.” communicating with head start parents 37 “the doctor would first show you where his height is plotted compared to other heights and where his age is plotted compared to other age, and then the third graph puts both together…but this is showing you the final graph it’s not giving you the other two. maybe you shouldn’t use a graph.” when asked how parents would hypothetically feel if they received a letter indicating that their child was overweight, 12 parents reported that they would have a positive reaction (i.e., they found the information helpful), eight parents reported that they would have a neutral or mixed reaction, and five reported that they would have a negative reaction. of the five parents who indicated they would have negative reactions, two noted that they would be motivated to help their child achieve a healthy weight, despite it being hard to hear that their child was currently at an unhealthy weight. the letters seemed to achieve their purpose of informing parents about their child’s weight status and encouraging them to make changes when needed. the following are examples of parent reactions to the letter: “i think [the letter is] helpful because if my child is underweight i want to fix it and if he is overweight i would want to fix it, just put him on the right track for his age, where he should be at.” “i think at the moment i’d probably be like really? i didn’t know he was overweight and then [i] would…want to call up the school and find out, sit down with the people and find out exactly what’s going on because sometimes what…we think is not overweight, is overweight for them.” “i am going to feel bad, but the first thing i am going to do is [ask], is it too late? if it’s not too late i am fine by that.” there were also some interesting discussions in the focus groups about the extent to which parents feel they have agency in managing their child’s weight. the major place this came up followed the question, “is there anything we could do on this letter to make you more likely to speak to the nutritionist here? is there anything that would make it seem friendlier or easier to contact her?” the theme also emerged when parents were asked about their general feeling about the letter. although 11 parents reported that their child’s weight was something they could change, seven parents reported that they felt their child’s weight was not something they had any ability to change, either because they felt the child would be naturally overweight or underweight regardless of their diet or activity level or because other family members (e.g., grandparents) controlled meals. “you can’t really stop how they grow ‘cause they’re going to grow and they’re going to go up and down and it’s like you can’t control what they do at this point right now.” “my daughter’s been overweight since she was a baby. she’s seven years old and she’s still overweight and she does all that…she’s very active. she play[s] football and basketball, all types of stuff.” 38 hoffman et al. “[the children’s grandparents] would give them another plate because my mom faithfully does it and i’ll just watch them like really? she just had a plate and you’re about to give another and i can’t say nothing.” “grandmas let them [the children] do what they [the children] want to do.” parent focus group feedback was used to further revise the bmi letter (see appendix). revisions included adding the child’s name, removing the growth chart, adding more information about what to do if the child was identified as not being at a healthy weight, and adding a frequently asked questions (faq) section. faqs were derived from information that arose during the parent focus groups and included basic information about bmi, a note emphasizing the positive role that parents can play in helping their child achieve a healthy weight, and a warning about avoiding dieting in children. parent questionnaire when asked to recall their child’s weight status from the bmi letter they received previously in the mail, 68.6% of parents reported their child was a healthy weight, 3.3% reported their child was underweight, 8.1% reported their child was overweight, and 1.9% reported very overweight. an additional 18.6% of parents reported they did not know or did not answer the question. the majority of parents reported that in general the bmi letter was “very” (58.4%) or “somewhat” (24.8%) helpful. the majority of parents also reported that receiving specific information about their child’s weight status was “very” (59.2%) or “somewhat” (22%) helpful. parents reported sharing information in the letter about their child’s weight status with a family member (30.7%), their child’s head start teacher (20%), their child’s pediatrician or nurse (18.9%), a wic nutritionist (17.7%), their child’s head start nutritionist (13.7%), a friend (12.4%), their child’s head start family advocate (8.4%), someone else (5.3%), and someone else at head start (4.1%), while 23.3% reported that they did not share information in the letter with anyone. discussion this article describes a process undertaken by head start staff working in collaboration with university-based researchers to improve communication with parents about children’s bmi and weight status. the final bmi letter was revised twice using staff and parent feedback. first, head start staff provided feedback as part of an internal quality improvement process, informing the initial round of revisions to the letter. then parents were engaged in providing feedback on the letter via a series of focus groups, which led to a second round of revisions. last, a survey was utilized to ask parent about their perceptions of the final letter and how they utilized the information it contained. initial modifications to the letter added detailed information for parents to promote understanding about what bmi is and why certain bmi scores indicated that a child was overweight/obese. despite head start staff feedback that this new information was easy to understand, parents reported that the growth chart was confusing. instead, parents preferred a clear message that focused on whether their child was at a healthy weight, and if not, what they could do about it. consistent with jain et al.’s (2001) findings, some parents in our focus groups communicating with head start parents 39 reported that there was nothing they could do to change their child’s weight status, either because they believed their child’s weight was biologically pre-determined or because they felt they did not have agency in shaping their child’s eating habits. these findings present an area of opportunity for head start, as promoting parent education around these issues could be beneficial. based on parent focus group findings, the final bmi letter was revised to remove the growth chart, to present simpler information about what bmi is, to draw parents’ attention to the letter by personalizing it through the inclusion of their child’s name at the top, and to add two key pieces of information, one warning parents about the dangers of dieting in children and another emphasizing that parents can impact their child’s weight by modifying their child’s diet and physical activity levels. after the bmi letters were revised for the second time and sent to head start parents, we were able to gather information about parents’ perceptions of the letters and whether they shared the information in the letters with anyone. consistent with previous research (bennett johnson et al., 2009), the majority of parents reported that it was helpful to receive the letter as a whole, and particularly to receive information about their child’s weight status. most parents reported sharing the information in the letter with someone. interestingly, the individuals that parents shared the letter with most frequently were family members and their child’s head start teacher, followed by their child’s pediatrician/nurse and wic or head start nutritionist. these results revealed that one in five parents reported sharing information with their child’s head start teacher, which underscores the critical role of teachers as agents in the bmi communication process. teacher “buy in” about the importance of healthy weight in preschoolers and teacher comfort and preparedness to respond to parents’ questions and concerns about the weight status screening information when it is sent home are critical to consider when delivering this information to families. interestingly, only 10% of parents reported that the bmi letter they received indicated that their child was overweight or obese and nearly 20% of parents reported that they did not know what the letter said about their child’s weight status (12.03%) or did not answer the question (6.58%). as screening data indicated that 34% of head start children in the city were overweight or obese during the 2013-2014 school year when this survey was administered (s. carter, personal communication october 8, 2014), it appears that parents underreported this health issue in their children. although this was consistent with the literature regarding parental underreporting of children’s overweight status (baughcum et al., 2000; carnell et al., 2005; hudson et al., 2009), we expected better awareness because the head start parents we surveyed had received a bmi letter specifically informing them of their child’s weight status. this study was limited in two main ways. first a convenience sample was used to assemble the focus groups. focus group participants may have had a particular interest in their child’s height and weight status. although it was helpful to collect feedback on the bmi letter from parents who were interested in this topic, the parent views expressed in the focus groups may not have been representative. a second limitation was that the parent survey was anonymous, so we were unable to link measured weight status to parent reports. future evaluations of the bmi letter should examine the extent to which the letter improves parental awareness of the weight status of children specifically identified in the screenings as overweight/obese. 40 hoffman et al. summary and implications for practice head start can play an important role in the promotion of healthy weight in preschoolers because of its national reach and performance standards involving nutrition and nutrition education, healthy physical development, and parent engagement (story, kaphingst, & french, 2006). this article describes a sequential mixed method approach collaboratively undertaken by head start and university-based research partners to improve communication with parents about their child’s weight status. the process started with an internal quality improvement working group; parent input was ascertained using focus groups and a survey. the process also involved external collaboration between head start and university and hospital-based community partners. trust that was already established through the head start-university-academic medical center partnership was a key part of allowing this collaboration to happen (agrawal et al., 2012). the process resulted in a revised bmi communication letter that was easier for parents to understand, and it was well-received. communicating health screening information to parents about their child’s weight status is one way to engage families in childhood obesity prevention efforts. this systematic approach to communication with parents is an ongoing process that must occur each year, as new children enroll and existing students grow. there is much more to be done in this area, however, to make significant and lasting changes in parents’ beliefs and understanding about childhood overweight/obesity as an important health issue. references agrawal, t., hoffman, j. a., ahl, m., bhaumik, u., healey, c., carter, s., & castaneda sceppa, c. 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(2009). a national survey of obesity prevention practices in head start. archives of pediatric & adolescent medicine, 163, 1144-1150. doi: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.209 42 hoffman et al. appendix final bmi letter dialog, 16(2), 53-74 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 the research reported herein was supported under grant 90yd0171 for the innovation and improvement project as funded by the office of head start for the department of health and human services and through a contract with action for boston community development, inc. the authors would like to acknowledge mary watson avery who was the family connections program director during the course of the study and kristen shealy who helped the first author conduct parent interviews. correspondence should be addressed to kelley l. o’carroll, harvard graduate school of education, cambridge, ma 02138. e-mail: kelley_ocarroll@mail.harvard.edu. research article social support through social capital: a model of a parent support group for mothers in an urban head start kelley l. o’carroll harvard graduate school of education catherine ayoub harvard medical school caroline watts university of pennsylvania william r. beardslee harvard medical school this qualitative case study highlights the content and process of a parent support group delivered through a preventive mental health intervention in an urban head start. a social capital framework was used to analyze data from interviews with group facilitators and latina mothers who were the core participants as well as from facilitator evaluation forms documenting weekly group process and content. findings suggest that close relationships and an exchange of meaningful resources constituted support. a possible model for parent support groups incorporates relationships, resources, and space whose interplay is managed by a group facilitator. as part of its commitment to prepare children for kindergarten, head start is also committed to supporting families so that children have the most supportive and enriching early learning experiences possible. indeed, the national center on parent, family, and community engagement in head start presents a comprehensive framework by which head start programs can design and measure their efforts around engaging families and communities (head start resource center, 2011). the empirically driven framework suggests seven family engagement a parent support group in head start 53 outcomes designed to strengthen families and, therefore, children’s experiences 1 . to achieve such outcomes, many head start programs align their efforts with the unique characteristics of their enrolled families. to this end of supporting families, family connections is a head start-based preventive mental health intervention designed to increase program staff’s capacity to deal with families and children who might be dealing with depression and related adversities. the intervention primarily offers staff-wide training sessions and mental health consultation to teachers and staff. in the urban head start where an evaluation demonstrated that the program was safe, feasible, and an effective tool for system changes (beardslee, ayoub, watts, avery, & o’carroll, 2010), the program also offered a parent support group, and this qualitative case study highlights the content and process associated with the support shared in the group. a core group of latina mothers attended the group, which became an opportunity for participants to negotiate critical resources for supporting their children’s learning and meeting personal goals. with the help of a mental health consultant who facilitated the group, the mothers engaged around issues that felt most pressing to them in a given week. these included parenting, economic challenges, social isolation related to their immigrant or ethnic minority status in their communities, and working towards personal goals. this study presents both the content of the group and its process for the sake of a rich understanding of how its members benefitted from it and to suggest a possible model for future groups in head start or other early education contexts. while experimental or evaluation studies are the best for quantitatively measuring effects, a qualitative case study such as this presents nuanced content and process of the group through its participants’ voices in a way that can’t be captured with large-scale or quantitative data. two main questions guided this study: 1. what constitutes support from the perspectives of key players in a parent support group that is part of a preventive mental health intervention in an urban head start? 2. by what processes does the parent support group meet its participants’ needs? theoretical framework a social capital framework we can examine the content and process of this support group in the context of social capital, or resources exchanged within networks of relationships (bourdieu, 1986). education research has identified the positive association between parents’ social capital and children’s academic outcomes in elementary and high school (lareau & horvat, 1999; louie, 2001) and later parent involvement in elementary and middle school (sheldon, 2002; 2007). one head start study to date has used social capital as a framework to analyze the characteristics of families enrolled in a rural head start program (harr, higgins, & russell, 2001). in related work, small (2009) conducted a comprehensive study of childcare programs and suggests that community-based organizations including head start serve an important function in facilitating the exchange of 1 these seven outcomes include (1) family well-being, (2) parent-child relationships, (3) families as lifelong educators, (4) families as learners, (5) family engagement in transitions, (6) family connections to peers and community, and (7) families as advocates and leaders (head start resource center). o’ carroll et al. 54 social capital by allowing members, particularly mothers, the potential to develop relationships with other mothers and staff members and thereby gain the opportunity to exchange resources. despite the power of social capital to support achievement and advancement, however, not all networks are equal in their potential to provide resources or influence (bourdieu, 1986). an individual’s ties with members in his or her own immediate network (e.g., family or friends) might be “stronger” (granovetter, 1973) than those with members of a different network, but such “bonding” capital (putnam, 2000) may be more effective in conferring emotional support rather than new information, which is more likely to be gained through “bridging” social capital. in other words, as putnam (2000) has described, bonding ties are good for getting by while bridging ties are good for getting ahead. the present study contributes to the body of research on social capital in head start by describing how a parent group takes its members from “potential” to “actual” support. in particular, the findings highlight three important components of the group that were managed by a facilitator: (1) resources specific to member needs; (2) peer relationships; and (3) appropriate space. furthermore, the facilitator style was important in encouraging parents to engage in and benefit from the group. review of literature head start family demographics: the effect of poverty and racial or ethnic minority status on parent well-being and child outcomes. recent enrollment data show that most head start families live in low-income situations and represent racialor ethnicminority groups. per head start policy, enrolled families’ gross income must not be more than 100% of the federal poverty guidelines (u.s department of health and human services, 2011), and of children entering head start for the first time in 2009, greater than 70% were some race other than white while 36% were hispanic (hulsey, aikens, kopack, west, moiduddin, & tarullo, 2011).these demographic characteristics are associated with residence in unsafe neighborhoods that may limit children’s mobility (furstenberg & hughes, 1995; leventhal & brooks-gunn, 2000), disconnected neighborhoods that lack the social cohesion that motivates members to act for the common good (sampson, raudenbusch, & earls, 1997), diminished access to material resources that support child development (duncan & brooks-gunn, 2000), and negative educational achievement (halpern-felsher, connell, spencer, aber, duncan, clifford, et al., 1997). in addition to the risk factors described above, a particularly important risk associated with poverty and racial or ethnic minority status is depression. thirty-one percent of adults in poverty report that they have been diagnosed with depression at some point compared with 15.8% of adults not in poverty (centers for disease control, 2010; brown, 2012). maternal depression in particular is more common than depression among fathers (cdc, 2010). the implication of depression in mothers is particularly important because of its impact on the mother-child relationship. research has consistently shown that mothers who are depressed tend to have more trouble being attentive and emotionally involved with their children (cummings & davies, 1994; mustillo, dorsey, conover, & burns, 2011; turney, 2011; valdez, shewakramani, godlberg, & padilla, 2013), and they are less likely to be involved at home or at school in ways that support their children’s learning and development (valdez et al., 2013). as a result of a parent support group in head start 55 disrupted patterns of mother-child interaction, children of depressed mothers are more likely to have trouble academically and socially at school (valdez et al., 2013), and they are more likely to display internalizing and externalizing behavior difficulties of their own (anderson & hammen, 1993; beardslee, versage, & gladstone, 1998; elgar, mills, mcgrath, waschbusch, & brownridge, 2007; piche, bergeron, cyr & berthiaume, 2011). beyond income, racial or ethnic minority status may also compound a head start parent’s risk of experiencing depression. clinical research suggests that minorities are more likely than others to experience chronic depression (see dejesus diaz, gonsalves, & carek, 2011 for review). two recent epidemiological studies have further shown that latinos and latinas reported the second highest depression prevalence rate (4.3% and 17.7%, respectively) after whites (dunlop, song, lyons, manheim, & chang, 2003). among immigrant latino adults from central and south america in particular, rates of depression are higher than among white adults (alegria, canino, shrout, woo, duan, et al., 2008). head start does not gather data on immigration status in its families, but the challenges associated with immigration, including the loss of social support as well as a changes in family roles (comas-dias, 1990; zhang & ta, 2009) overlap with the social isolation and discrimination that may come with ethnic minority status regardless of immigration status. an important caveat to these data is the fact that the association between maternal depression and child adjustment is not necessarily causal. it could be that child behavior contributes to depression or that other variables may be involved in the association (lovejoy, graczyk, o’hare & neuman, 2000). regardless of the mechanisms at work, however, head start demographics alone suggest that practitioners are likely to encounter mothers who either have or are at risk for depression. indeed, evaluation of the impacts of early head start found that almost 50% of the 3,001 low-income mothers who were eligible for ehs displayed symptoms of depression (administration on children, youth, and families, 2001; love et al., 2002). therefore, it is important that programs provide parents with opportunities to buffer the risk of depression. opportunities for parents to build social support can serve this buffering purpose. as an interpersonal, reciprocal exchange of information, social support is based in social networks and in a specific context (finfgeld-connett, 2005). it contributes to an individual’s mental wellbeing by providing people with an opportunity to get to know others and to identify and exchange useful resources (bronfenbrenner, 1979; cochran, larner, riley, gunnarsson, & henderson, 1990; simich, beiser, & mawani, 2003). social support can specifically contribute to adaptive parenting when parents learn from others ways to support their children and change negative parenting practices (osofsky & thompson, 2003). maternal support in particular is associated with child adjustment in school (short & johnson, 1997), and for immigrant families, social support may help families adapt to new neighborhoods and community institutions such as schools and social service organizations (fram, 2005). adaptation may take years beyond the point of immigration to a new country (deaux, 2006) with some mental health experts suggesting that there are multiple dimensions of adjustment, including behavioral, intellectual, representative, and emotional (ebata, 2002). immigrants can benefit from programs that offer either sustained support or a strong foundation from which a person can build additional support. social support can be shared in a variety of formats, ranging from verbal to nonverbal and formal to informal. a challenge for a comprehensive service provider such as head start is to know the best format for its enrolled families. indeed, not all parents are willing to seek or accept support from institutions. whereas depression rates among latinos are higher than in o’ carroll et al. 56 other ethnic groups (dunlop et al., 2003), u.s.-born latinas are less-likely than u.s.-born white women, immigrant african women, or immigrant caribbean women to want mental health treatment (nadeem, lange, edge, fongwa, belin & miranda, 2007). some research has explained this reluctance with a widely held belief in familismo, a belief that encourages families to try to take care of themselves (pescosolodido, brooks-gardener, & lubell, 1998). furthermore, immigrant women in general, regardless of race or ethnicity, appear to feel a stigma attached to mental health treatment (nadeem et al., 2007). parents from ethnic minority groups and low socio-economic status groups more likely to follow-through with parent education programs if the setting and content match their world views and addresses a need for validation and sharing of common experiences (simich et al., 2003). latinos, in particular, may be more likely to attend informal as opposed to highly structured groups (martinez, 1986), and they are more likely to attend if the experience is open to including other family members. a social support group with an informal, face-to-face format meets these criteria. prior parent group research a parent support group per se may be distinguished in research literature as “a method of practice and a strategy for delivering parenting education 2 and family support,” while also helping parents reduce isolation, develop a community of learners (carter & harvey, 1996, p.3) and become their own advocates (weissbourd & kagan, 1989). from loosely structured groups that require little feedback from parents to highly structured groups that provide services requiring a clinically trained expert, parent support groups exist in a range of contexts, including clinical settings, community-based organizations, and schools. each group format calls for a particular kind of leadership style, ranging from non-directive to facilitative to highly structured (campbell & palm, 2004). a facilitative group leader, incorporating some qualities of the other two styles, is responsible for the group overall, but he or she allows parents to play active roles in the process, making their own decisions about how the group proceeds and what topics are discussed (campbell & palm, 2004). while there exists such a framework for group design, no research to date has analyzed the content and process, or the “what” and “how,” of a loosely structured support group in head start or of a group for latina mothers. a few studies have specifically investigated school-based parent support groups, but the results are not immediately applicable to early education. schools often provide curriculumbased parent education groups, and studies of such groups are often evaluative, using treatment/control designs to measure the outcomes of the groups on parenting behavior and/or child cognitive achievement. for example, baydar, reid, & webster-sratton (2003) investigated the factors that predict maternal engagement in the incredible years parent training program among mothers whose children had not been referred for clinical services. their findings endorse the purpose of such groups, noting that all mothers who participated in the program reported lower negative parenting and higher positive parenting scores compared with mothers in a control group (webster-stratton, reid, & hammond, 2001). yet, from these findings, it’s not 2 parenting education is defined by national parenting education network (1999) as “a process that involved the expansion of insights, understanding, and attitudes and the acquisition of knowledge and skills about the development of both parents and their children and the relationships between them.” (npen, 1999 as cited in campbell & palm, 2004, p 17 – 18). a parent support group in head start 57 clear how mothers made meaning of the content of the group. furthermore, this highly structured group focuses on parent-child interaction more so than on parent support. one investigation by greif (1993) documents the content and process of long-term support shared among members of a loosely structured parent support group for africanamerican parents in a baltimore elementary school. greif reports that membership in the group ranged from six to fourteen members, and parents often led discussion topics including dealing with difficult children, keeping children protected from negative influences, financial struggles, personal stress and racial discrimination greif’s study highlights the importance of active participation and support that is uniquely tailored to parents’ needs. the findings from the study are further buttressed by research outside of the educational sphere suggesting that one benefit of group membership is conferred through meeting peers who are in similar situations and being able to share stories (smith, gabard, dale & drucker, 1994). it is not clear whether such uniquely tailored support and the opportunity to share stories would be salient to a parent support group for latina mothers of young children. finally, although it is a rarely studied component of support groups, the actual space in which a group takes place appears to have an impact on the group members’ response. before any work can take place, a group needs a physical space in which to meet (wuthnow, 1996). a positive physical space is important to a member’s mental wellbeing (sainsbury centre for mental health, 2000) and to a member’s comfort level with participation (wuthnow, 1996). in an age of innumerable opportunities for online group membership, group interaction still appears to benefit from face-to-face communication (kiesler & cummings, 2002). once again, whether these trends emerge in an informal parent support group for latina mothers of young children is not clear. relevance of this study and research questions research clearly suggests that maximized social support among parents facing poverty or social isolation can help strengthen parenting, ultimately helping children receive the best possible support for cognitive, social, and emotional development. among immigrant parents in particular, social support is important in the transmission of social capital, or resources exchanged within relationships to help parents adapt to new communities and achieve goals for themselves and their families. as head start sees changes in the demographics and needs of the families it serves, understanding the expressed needs of its families as well as the process of support may help programs more tightly align their programming with parents’ desires and capabilities. in that spirit, two research questions guide this study: 1. what constitutes support from the perspectives of key players in a parent support group that is part of a preventive mental health intervention in an urban head start? 2. by what processes does the parent support group meet its participants’ needs? o’ carroll et al. 58 research method case study rationale because the unit of analysis in this study was the parent support group, and our goal was to report norms of the group, we chose to conduct a descriptive case study (merriam, 1998). we believed it was important to examine participant interviews in the context of the larger group, and we drew on several sources of data to answer the research questions (yin, 1989, p. 17). while this study took place in the context of a larger intervention evaluation, our goal was not to evaluate the group but rather to explain the nature of the group. research site at the time of the study, our partner head start program enrolled approximately 200 urban families, a large percentage of whom were spanish-speaking immigrant families. during the year in which this study was conducted, 75% of the children enrolled in the center were latino, and 24% were black or african-american. sixty-four percent of the children were primarily spanish speaking, 29% primarily english speaking, and 7% spoke a language other than english or spanish. approximately 93% of the families were living below the poverty line. the parent support group was part of family connections, a larger preventive mental health intervention program being implemented at the center. the strengths-based intervention program provided twice-weekly, full-day mental health consultation to staff members to help them build capacity to work with families that may have been dealing with depression or related adversity. the mental health consultants also facilitated a parent support group for one hour one morning per week. the group began in fall 2005, and this case study focuses on the group during one academic year, from august 2006 – june 2007. we chose this time frame in order to allow the intervention staff to establish the group in the 2005-6 academic year. the consultant was the primary recruiter for the group, regularly posting english and spanish fliers announcing group times and, when they were planned, topics. she also approached parents during drop-off time on friday mornings. parents who did not drop their children off at the center would not have been included in these recruitment strategies. participants were allowed to bring younger children with them, and one mother routinely brought her toddler with her. the group was sometimes advertised as the “friday parents’ group” where parents could share ideas about different topics; it was never advertised as a depression-prevention or support group. participants participants in this case study included six parent group members and two group facilitators. group participation was open, and attendance was not mandatory. although participant names were not recorded each week, the consultant documented the number of participants in attendance each week, including the number of new participants. attendance ranged across the year from one to 12 people including parents, grandparents, and head start center staff. no one new joined the group after november 17, 2006, however. a parent support group in head start 59 the parent interview sample for this present study was both purposeful and convenient. we wanted to talk with the most active participants (martinez-cosio & iannacone, 2007) or those who attended the group on a regular basis because these mothers would best know the group and be able to describe how they made meaning of the group. the consultant identified parents who attended the group regularly, and the first author pre-selected four weeks when it would be convenient to interview them during group time – weeks, for example, when there were no planned guests or when the group was not otherwise postponed because of other center events. the interview sample was further limited to those mothers who were present each day that the first author visited. the six parents interviewed were all mothers, and, with two exceptions, immigrants from latin america. one mother was from puerto rico, and another mother who was born in mainland us returned to her parents’ home of puerto rico regularly (see table 1). for the purpose of this discussion, we incorporate these mothers’ experiences with the others, although we do not use their interview data to discuss immigration, per se. their stories as latina mothers in this community share similarities with the other immigrant mothers in the group. of four mothers for whom we did gather length of residence in the united states, all had come to the united states at least four years prior to the interviews (range 4 9 years). table 1 demographic information of mothers in interview sample. mother’s name 3 birthplace # of children years in the u.s. marital status lily honduras 2 5+ married dawn puerto rico 1 9 married phyllis dominican republic 3 4 married stacy dominican republic 2 8 married ivette us (of puerto rican descent) 2 lifetime married laura puerto rico 3 n/a n/a the case study participants also included two caucasian female mental health consultants, who facilitated the group. one consultant, a licensed clinical psychologist, was not an active facilitator of the group during the 2006-2007 academic year, but she had established the group, and several of the mothers had begun participating with her. the second consultant was a master’s level prevention specialist. each consultant was fluent in spanish. data collection procedures in addition to participant interviews, data for this case study also came from mental health consultant reports of events at each group meeting. 3 all names of mothers in the support group have been changed. o’ carroll et al. 60 facilitator evaluation forms for each group session, the mental health consultants submitted to the intervention evaluation team a “parent group facilitator evaluation form.” the confidential form asked the consultant to describe what happened in the group session, including the number of participants and topics discussed. the form also asked, “what resources did you share?” from which response we could see what kind of information, or capital, the consultant shared with parents. finally, the form more broadly asked the consultant to “provide a general summary of the drop-in group.” the response allowed us to see from the consultant’s perspective what topics were discussed and how the conversation of the group proceeded. twenty-five evaluation forms were gathered during the timeframe of this study. interviews semi-structured interviews allowed us to learn how each parent and consultant made meaning of the group (seidman, 1998). the first author conducted each interview except for five of the six parent interviews that were conducted in spanish by a member of the first author’s university community. in these cases, the first author, who had an intermediate proficiency in spanish, organized and attended the interviews. the author maintained an active presence throughout the spanish interviews, asking follow-up questions of and chatting informally in spanish with parents at the beginning and end of the interview. each interview was conducted in a private space at the head start center and audio-recorded. project research assistants and the first author transcribed the english interviews. a native spanish speaker from the first author’s university community transcribed and translated the spanish interviews. we did not have access to the entire duration of the group meetings due to the mental health consultant’s concern for parents’ confidentiality. we did, however, observe one complete group session and the beginning of a number of group sessions. data analysis the first author analyzed interview transcripts through an iterative process of identifying themes and developing codes (strauss & corbin, 1990; maxwell, 1996). she began by open coding, or assigning a descriptive code to every segment of the data set (lincoln & guba, 1985). these codes captured the face value of the data (e.g., duration in group; parents help one another outside of group; topic: religion, immigration; group space; confidence in facilitator). she conducted this first step to make sure to account for any unexpected themes and to prepare data for the next stage of coding. in the next stage of coding, she approached the data with a priori codes that captured concepts in the framework. these included, for example, “motivation,” “support,” and “group process.” she then sub-coded those themes into categories reflected in the data, including “immigration,” “self-care,” “parenting,” and others. she entered all interview documents and codes into atlasti and generated coding reports to assist in writing about the findings. to address the facilitator evaluation forms, the first author coded each form for topic (e.g., learning disabilities). she entered the topic codes into an excel document and, after a parent support group in head start 61 reviewing the codes, grouped them into four broad categories: parenting, economic situation, immigration, and goals. these categories frame the findings below and are presented in more detail in table 2 (see appendix a). validity the first author used several strategies to strengthen the validity of this study. during the data gathering stage, to address her “outsider” status as a non-latina and non-mother, she relied on the support of the mental health consultant who vouched for her with parents in the group. in the interviews, the interviewer reassured participants that we wanted to understand how the group was working, and that the facilitator would not know what any one mother said. during the data analysis stage, she also triangulated data by looking at different sources: interviews, fliers, bulletin board notices, and field notes. she presented analysis and drafts of writing to members of a writing group who helped challenge interpretation and assumptions. findings findings from this study highlight challenges that low-income latina mothers of young children in one community had to address as well as the process by which resources and relationships promoted their address of such challenges. in particular, mothers’ reported benefitting from the group through developing close relationships and exchanging resources related to parenting, economic challenges, immigration, and personal wellbeing during group time. group process included the dynamic interplay of relationships, resources, and space, managed by a facilitator. in this section, we first illustrate the salience of parenting, economic challenges, immigration, and personal wellbeing to the participants. we then describe the model by which these issues were handled in the group. what constitutes support from the perspective of key players in a parent support group that is part of a preventive mental health intervention in an urban head start? parenting resources the strongest theme in the mothers’ discussion from week to week was their deep commitments to parenting. they sought resources about specific topics rather than education to address parenting insecurities. while they did talk about discipline strategies or how to talk about difficult topics with children, they approached these topics from points of strength and proactive anticipation of their children’s behavior and needs. they also discussed learning disabilities most often. every mother, for example, reported benefitting from a visit by a social worker who spoke with the group about autism. none of the mothers interviewed had a child with autism; however, most of them reported feeling better about having the knowledge for the sake of helping their friends. as laura explained, “i have a friend who has a son with autism, so i gave her some information. i have noticed some kids who are, you know, active, and i have seen some o’ carroll et al. 62 signs of kids having adhd, and i have talked to their parents to get information from their doctors.” when asked what she liked best about the group, phyllis said: the topics that we deal with . . . for example, the other day there was someone who was talking about autistic kids, and then some of us were not very clear about it. because someone knows things meaning, “being autistic is this,” but for someone to know about things more in depth, then i like that. economic resources problems related to mothers’ low-income status were common in the group, and support was once again related to resources and relationships. most economic support filled a gap in information. for example, recurrent topics included affordable places to take children in the summer, violence in low-income neighborhoods, and housing concerns. resources most often came in the form of fliers, handouts, or verbal exchange of information about community resources and activities, which mothers reported liking and actively using. for example, laura explained: you know, when the summer is coming, they talk about places to go with your kids that i sometimes don’t know about, or events you know that you can take your children to – theaters and aquarium, free of charge. sometimes people don’t know they exist for us to be used . . .they [consultants] can really give us information, and we can use it. in several cases, they also reported taking these outings together, thereby extending their relationships outside of the group. the mothers commonly supported one another through neighborhood and housing concerns. from dissatisfaction with their own housing situations to concern for their children’s safety in the broader community, it was clear that the mothers were frustrated with a lack of safety in their communities and that finding comfort in one’s own home was sometimes difficult. as one facilitator evaluation form documented: one mom arrived early and entered the room beaming and with great news on her housing situation: it has been quiet all week and her family has been able to sleep. for some reason, her aggressively disturbing neighbor has been laying low. we talked about great she feels getting peace and quiet in her home. other reasons for support were more serious than noisy neighborhoods. violence in the community was particularly high during the time of this study, and it came up in the group throughout the year as the facilitator evaluation form documented: last week, she told me her sons had been shot at, so i asked her how they were doing. she said they are getting therapy through their schools. she attended a meeting on violence in the community. we talked about inviting a police office to [our group] to hear from families about the violence that is affecting them. immigration resources similar to their feelings about neighborhood safety, mothers reported feeling a lack of voice in their immigration statuses. their stories related to immigration status largely reflected difficulties a parent support group in head start 63 in raising their children in a different culture and in isolation from their families. a larger national immigration debate weighed on their minds: i raised the current news about immigration, and asked the group their feelings about the state troopers possibly being given authority to arrest illegal immigrants. i raised the topic so that we could talk through the information that we have, rather than walking around in fear. (i mentioned that while [current governor] has said ok to this, [governor-elect] does not support it, and it may not go through after all). stacy took comfort in the group’s informational support: you . . . have many ways of helping us . . . right now, i’m waiting, supposedly, until they release that law they’re about to approve about immigration. and [the mental health consultant] once brought a lawyer that gave me information that i didn’t know and wasn’t going to have a way of knowing. the mothers talked often about being parents in the different culture of the united states. as primary caretakers, they communicated with schools and other community organizations and helped their children navigate these environments even while they themselves were learning how the organizations operated. the most recent immigrant, phyllis, had come to the united states four years prior to the study. yet, with each stage of their children’s lives, they were experiencing a new, unfamiliar situation. lily, for example, worried about protecting her children: there are times when we [the group] talk about how we saw some tv program. we comment on it and how here we have to watch out for our kids so that they don’t go with strangers and everything. even though we talk to them, and we think that we are sure that they’re never going to do it, we have seen tv programs, and we know that kids always do it. similarly, stacy’s concern for her daughters reflects both her adaptation to u.s. norms around childrearing and her daughters’ experiences: my husband and i fight until the end to protect them so that nothing happens to them, which is bad in part because protecting them here is bad because all the time you’re giving to them, and they don’t know. if you take care of them, it’s bad, and if you leave them on the streets, it’s worse because if they do something in the street, the one responsible is the parents. if you punish them, and they say in school, ‘my mom . . . punishes me,’ that’s also bad because you’re maltreating them. they understand it here as abuse. besides concern for their children, the mothers also expressed frustration with their own lack of family in the us, and they felt that the group was like family. for example, phyllis said, “i saw that it [the group] was like a family . . . and that’s why i’ve always continued coming.” stacy had similar feelings: “here, in this country . . . i don’t have family, and i feel very alone. here in the group . . . i’ve met many people. i’m very close to them, and i feel like they’re part of my family now . . . then, because we spend time together and such, i’ve felt really good.” the group may be her only source of relationships: it’s very hard here in this country with the children. it’s very, very hard because . . . here in the country, you can’t trust anybody. i don’t trust anybody to be able to leave my o’ carroll et al. 64 daughters with them. i don’t go out, and if i go any place, any day of the year, my daughters are with me. i go to the hospital, and my girls are with me. i gave birth, and my daughter had to be in the door in order to be able to stay because i don’t have anybody to take care of her. while all mothers reported that the group was like a family, and they sometimes went on outings together with their children, they also described clear boundaries around their relationships with one another. when asked whether she and the mothers were friends, stacy replied, “yeah. we get together, we call each other . . . it’s not like in their houses because i don’t like it, not me not my girls, i don’t teach them to be inside others’ houses.” ivette reflected similar boundaries when she suggested that the group served as her family when she was not with her own: “so, usually, i meet them [mothers in the group], . . . and from monday to friday, they’re my family.” with help from the mental health consultant, the group gained momentum over time. when the last new member joined the group in november of the observation year, the mental health consultant recorded surprise at the level of candor in the mothers’ introduction to the new member: unlike other times we have tried to do introductions for a new person, this time each person carefully introduced herself, saying which classroom her child was in, and also what the group meant to her. people made the following comments: ‘this group is like a family to me.’ ‘i come here for conversation.’ ‘i don’t have family in this country – but i have this family.’ ‘the moment that i feel strangled, i have this group to turn to.’ it has not been easy to go around the room in an organized way in the past – and something in the mood of the room worked this morning for people to open up . . .the group felt incredibly supportive of one another today.” personal goal resources in addition to talking about their children and their communities, the mothers talked about their own wellbeing. as the mental health consultant put it, “we also talked about our roles in our families and what we “take on” as women.” the degree of support around these topics varied. sometimes, people just shared their plans and gathered encouragement from the group. for example, as the mental health consultant documented, “a regularly attending mom came by and talked about her plans to enroll in an english class. she spoke about planning to take her children to a ymca afterschool program so that she would be free to take classes.” in other cases, the group played a more important role: one mom, who is a regular volunteer at [head start] . . .began talking to me . . . ‘i don’t know what’s wrong with me; i just didn’t want to get out of bed this morning.” as we continued to talk, she told me her husband was sent (back) to jail in [nearby town], and she wanted to visit him but couldn’t remember how to get there. we got online and looked up commuter rail information and . . . the route to the jail from the station. we spoke about all the recent changes in her life, and i asked her about her social worker and supports available to her through her a parent support group in head start 65 family. having this time to talk about themselves seemed to normalize their challenges and build resilience to them. as dawn expressed, “you hear other people and other parents and you say, ‘whoa,’ and that helps. you say, ‘i’m not alone . . . .’” by what process does the parent support group meet its participants’ needs? setting the space each week, the mental health consultant arrived early to convert a conference room in the center space to a private meeting space set apart from the rest of the center, and this conversion became an important backdrop to the parents’ experience. on several visits, the first author observed her do the preparatory work of laying out a tablecloth and food and arranging chairs in a circle, away from the conference tables. after setting the space, she engaged in the relational work of greeting parents, either in the doorway or just in front of the larger group circle to greet parents one-byone. when asked whether they thought of a better space for the group meeting, none of them said they did. one mother reported liking the convenience of being able to stay after dropping off her children and to be close to them. facilitative group leadership comments from the mental health consultant about her approach to the group begin to support the notion that she used a facilitative style (campbell & palm, 2004) wherein she drove the group process but also provided a lot of room for participant decisions about the content: our motto has always been to follow what comes from the group itself…we listen to what their needs are, follow up by bringing resources the following week by saying, ‘you know, some of you mentioned not having a lot to do on the weekend, or finding things that are free, so here are things that are free. while the consultant most often led the need for resources, sometimes the exchange was parent-initiated. as phyllis reported: it’s that sometimes in these groups, one finds out about things [that] in the streets it’s harder to find out . . . for example, i find out something and i say, ‘hey, i found out about this,’ and . . . we ourselves, . . . in the group had made the understanding that if i see something, and this is of use for the group, i’ll take it. if i go to a place and i see a flyer, ‘oh, let me take this,’ then it gives the opportunity for everybody to find out about everything.” the consultant described how the group format provided a level of support that went beyond simply having like-minded mothers in the same room: i think that, sure, there are ways that it’s very similar to talking to a friend, but i think the difference would be helping parents with what feels like a dead end or something really o’ carroll et al. 66 overwhelming and taking that and moving it to action, and finding strategies, and finding ways to shift gears so that you don’t feel frozen and overwhelmed but you can do something about it. and i think that while friends can provide that support, it may not be with the same conversation, and we have the aim and goal that we have to do that. discussion overall, social capital in this group was most frequently an answer to questions or concerns about parenting in low-income neighborhoods, in being an immigrant or ethnic minority, and in wanting to take care of oneself for the sake of one’s children. in addressing safe and affordable places to go with children, the group helped open up access to unknown information and, potentially, benefit children’s developmental outcomes (furstenberg & hughes, 1995; leventhal & brooks-gunn, 2000). in several interview examples, it was clear that a mother’s views on childrearing differed from the u.s. norm, a conflict endorsed often in immigration research (deaux, 2006; suarez-orozco & suarez-orozco, 2002), and while group participation did not necessarily change someone’s views on childrearing, it gave mothers a community of empathetic listeners (simich, 2003). this community may be seen as a benefit in and of itself as maternal emotional wellbeing lays a stronger foundation for positive parenting and, by extension, child outcomes (mustillo, dorsey, conover, & burns, 2011; petterson & albers, 2001; webster-stratton, 1990). overall, the support group demonstrates ways in which the mothers took advantage of the potential to exchange social capital (small, 2009) and ways in which both weak ties and strong ties (granovetter, 1973) were at work. mothers most often gained information through “weak ties” with either the mental health consultant or and expert brought into the group, as in the case of autism education. they often then went on to apply that information in their lives with family and friends following a sense of empowerment gained from the group, (weissbourd & kagan, 1989). there were also times when close ties among the mothers profited the group as happened when they themselves brought in resources for each other without any activity from the facilitator. in these cases, as well as when they simply validated each other’s experiences without any materials, their shared experiences allowed them to be bona fide resources for each other (simich et al., 2003). throughout group meetings, the mental health consultant maintained a facilitative style, responding to mothers’ requests for information and moderating conversation each week (campbell & palm, 2004). her preparatory work to set up the room for the group reflected the importance of having a comfortable space (wuthnow, 1996), and by providing a positive and inspiring space for sharing support, the converted space reflected a core characteristic of effective social service agencies (sainsbury centre for mental health, 2000). the mental health consultant role aligned well with that of an institutional agent (stanton-salazar, 2011; stantonsalazar & dornbusch, 1995) who mediated mothers’ access to resources. in bringing relevant community-based resources to the group, she demonstrated a solid knowledge of community resources, an important competency in a support group leader (kurz-riemer, 2001 as cited in campbell & palm, 2004). it is also important to emphasize that it did not attempt to go beyond the limits of what it could realistically and responsibly offer to mothers. the mental health consultant had some level of expertise and clinical training, as well as training in the family connections intervention in a parent support group in head start 67 which the group was embedded. yet, such training was not a pre-requisite of running the group. instead, what was important was her knowledge of the community, knowledge of child development, and insight to know when a mother or the group might have needed more intensive or skilled support. given the fact that stigma about receiving mental health services is more common among women than men, and the fact that women with depression as opposed to those without it are less likely to seek help because of stigma (nadeem et al., 2007), a leader with a facilitative style (campbell & palm, 2004) could be key to helping women who otherwise would not seek or receive resources get what they need. this kind of facilitator could not only provide or connect a mother to relevant resources, but she could also help reduce stigma associated with mental health care and thereby increase the likelihood that an otherwise reluctant mother would be willing to seek intensive services if necessary. although the findings described in this study may not be generalized beyond the time and place of the group, they allude to a more general model for a parent support group that may be applied to any local context. as described, the group appeared to thrive through three dynamically linked components –relationships, resources, and space – whose interplay was managed by a facilitator (see figure 1). with a mental health consultant as facilitator, the mothers exchanged and actually applied new resources in the context of their relationships with each other and within an authentic, safe space apart from the rest of the center. figure 1. support group model of dynamic interplay of relationships, resources, and space as mediated by group facilitator. despite the potential gain in relationships and resources that this model predicts, it is also important to recognize potential tensions inherent in it. social capital has its limits (portes & landolt, 1996), and in a group model such as this, limits existed in the role of the facilitator and in the exclusive quality of the relationships and resources the group fostered. martinez-cosio and iannacone (2007) highlight the tension that can arise when an institutional agent serves multiple, potentially competing roles. being a bridge between the o’ carroll et al. 68 dominant culture and parents’ cultures as well as an agent of the employing institution can make the role of facilitator complicated. in this group, the facilitator was an ally of the mothers, yet she represented both the mental health intervention and, by extension, head start. if parents’ needs for support conflicted with head start’s ability to support them, the facilitator had to try to meet needs on both sides of the divide. this tension also illustrates the fragility of weak ties (granovetter, 1973). if, in the face of potential conflict, a facilitator had to act on her allegiance to the institution over the group’s wishes, the weak ties would not be strong enough to sustain the group’s wishes. while the resources and relationships negotiated within the space reflect local context and authentic need for support, they also reflected boundaries to the outside. this group evolved into a meaningful source of support for latina mothers. it is beyond the scope of the data to know how the mothers felt about their common ethnicity and language, or how other parents in the center perceived the group. but, it is possible that they group would have been less valuable as a source of support for non-latina or non-spanish-speaking parents. this exclusivity was perhaps necessary for the group to be meaningful to its participants; however, a center implementing this kind of parent support group would want to recognize this tension between deeply meeting the needs of a few people versus shallowly meeting the needs of many. finally, a related limitation is that the group really only reached women who were took the initiative to attend it. the needs of mothers and other primary caregivers who need support but who are less willing to participate in a group or reach out for other help may go unaddressed. this kind of group should be seen as a buffer to the risks associated with poverty and racial/ethnic minority status and not more than that. however, this kind of group has the potential to reach many in just the place they need support. limitations and future this study contributes to the wider body of research on parent support in head start, particularly support of latina mothers. it proposes a model for an informal support group that could be implemented without requiring too much strain on a center’s budget or staff. the study also has several limitations that future research might address. first, although this study was not an evaluation, nor was it meant to focus on individual effects, it would strengthen our understanding of the group process if we had data that spoke to each participant’s change over time, both during participation in the group and afterwards. in particular, a future study might examine whether and how relationships and resources from the group sustained their relevance to the mothers after they left head start. a future study might also directly assess child outcomes that may be linked to mothers’ participation in the group. similarly, while we had a substantial amount of field notes from the center, the number of group observations was limited. out of the facilitator’s concern for the parents’ privacy, we did not sit in on groups as often as would have been ideal, and when we did sit in on a group, it was near the end of the year, after the group had had a chance to coalesce. understanding the early stages of the group process would have allowed us to understand more deeply how group evolved over time into the model that we propose. a future study might negotiate long-term access to the group to get more detailed process data to inform this model. finally, the single-case design of the study limits the generalizability of findings beyond the center and immediate community. a future study might examine themes across several a parent support group in head start 69 groups to see what, if any, commonalities emerge across sites and thereby strengthen the implementation of future groups. conclusion viewing a group through the lens of relationships and resources, or social capital, highlights the important components and the process underlying the work of the group. these findings extend prior research by showing how a community-based organization such as head start can serve as a site of social capital (small, 2009) for immigrant mothers in particular, pointing to a model of support that is flexible and organic, building on mothers’ strengths and responding to mothers’ own expressed needs. in this support group, the social capital was uniquely generated by and for the latina mothers who routinely participated in the group. as such, the findings may not be generalized beyond the scope of the group. the unique construction, however, took place within a framework that other centers might apply: a dynamic interplay of relationships, resources, and space, managed by a facilitator who can both advocate for the group members and bring external resources to bear on the group as needed. providing a forum for parents to build relationships and negotiate support may help centers ensure that their 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(2009). social connections, immigration status, and health among asian americans. social science & medicine, 68(12), 2104-12. a parent support group in head start 73 appendix a table 2 topics discussed in the parent support group as recorded by the mental health consultant in facilitator evaluation forms across 25 weeks from august 2006 – june 2007 topics # weeks % weeks parenting being a new parent 7 27% learning disabilities 6 23% school/placement concerns 5 19% learningor health-related resources 4 15% talking about difficult topics with kids 4 15% discipline 3 12% sleep routines for children 2 8% child health concerns 1 4% center concerns related to child 1 4% employment for teens 1 4% child behavior questions 1 4% economic challenges neighborhood violence 8 31% public transportation 8 31% events in the city (non-child, seasonal) 6 23% affordable places to visit in the city 5 19% affordable summer programs for children 1 4% immigration homeland 8 31% esl/spanish classes 7 27% immigration and the law 3 12% lack of family/child care concerns 1 4% religion as support 1 4% personal well-being self care per se (e.g., doctor visits) 8 31% depression 6 23% finances 6 23% relationships with spouse 5 19% adult (non-spousal) relationships and responsibilities 2 8% sleep deprivation 1 4% professional goals for self 1 4% a design experiment and reading research: the development of a preschool intervention to accelerate vocabulary in english dialog, 17(3), 49-75 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article accelerating preschoolers’ content vocabulary: designing a shared book intervention in collaboration with teachers sharolyn d. pollard-durodola university of denver jorge e. gonzalez texas a&m university deborah c. simmons texas a & m university the purpose of this three-year investigation was to develop an 18-week shared book reading intervention guided by teacher feedback on instructional practices, including the design and delivery features from the shared book reading and vocabulary research that could be effectively implemented by preschool teachers to accelerate children’s content vocabulary knowledge as researchers implemented a design experiment. to date, this methodology has been implemented in the design of few preschool vocabulary curricula. thus, the results of this study contribute to the theoretical understanding of the feasibility of instructional practices that intensify typical shared book reading practices. vocabulary learning is one of the most important aspects of schooling and serves as a gatekeeper to success in the wider world. that is, as children learn more words, they learn more about the world and become better prepared to discuss academic content, make connections to life experiences, and comprehend text in later years (catts, fey, zhang, & tomblin, 1999; hart & risley, 1995). although many children acquire general content knowledge and vocabulary concepts through conversation and typical school instruction, others, including children from highly impoverished backgrounds, arrive at school with gaps in vocabulary and connected world knowledge that negatively impact their ability to benefit from general instruction (hart & risley, 1995; hirsch, 2003). these knowledge differences have been attributed to children’s limited exposure to daily “informal informational lessons” (neuman, 2006, p. 25) transmitted at home via adult-child conversations. this limited exposure is especially evident in children from high poverty settings (hart & risley, 1995). ultimately, these deficiencies negatively impact the acquisition of domain 50 pollard-durodola et al. knowledge and comprehension skills which are important to academic success (anderson, wang, & gaffney, 2006; hirsch, 2003). historically, the primary approach to accelerating vocabulary knowledge in young children has been shared book reading (ezell & justice, 2005; hargrave & sénéchal, 2000; mol & bus, 2011; mol, bus, & de jong, 2009; what works clearinghouse [wwc], 2006; whitehurst & lonigan, 1998), an instructional practice that occurs between an adult and a child/children that has been studied for the past 25 years in head start and subsidized child care settings (blok, 1999; ezell & justice, 2005; hargrave & sénéchal, 2000; scarborough & dobrich, 1994; spycher, 2009; wasik & bond, 2001; wasik, bond, & hindman, 2006; whitehurst & lonigan, 1998). book reading practices that integrate evocative or interactive adult-child strategies (e.g., extending children’s oral responses to open-ended questions about a story or storybook pictures) have been the most widely investigated and seem to benefit children who enter school with low vocabulary knowledge (ezell & justice, 2005; justice, 2002; lonigan, shanahan, & cunningham, 2008; mol, bus, de jong, & smeets, 2008; national early literacy panel [nelp], 2009; valdez-menchaca & whitehurst, 1992; zucker, cabell, justice, pentimonti, & kaderavek, 2012). in fact, emerging evidence suggests that interactive book reading styles that integrate explicit book discussions via varied text genres (informational texts + storybooks) may accelerate both content vocabulary learning and world knowledge (e.g., science concepts) (collins, 2010; french, 2004; leung, 2008; spycher, 2009). therefore, the ability to close the gap between young children with sufficient knowledge and those with limited knowledge may depend on evidence-based school practices that accelerate vocabulary learning early while building important content knowledge (farkas & beron, 2004; hirsch, 2003; walsh, 2003a, 2003b). despite the mounting evidence that children from low-income settings require a quality of vocabulary instruction that is able to close both early word and knowledge gaps, research indicates that typical book reading practices may not be intensive enough to support children’s vocabulary and language development (mol et al., 2009; penno, wilkinson, & moore, 2002), and there is no clear understanding of which scientifically based book reading practices are usable and feasible for teachers in real classroom settings. to better understand what design and delivery features from the shared book reading and vocabulary research can be effectively implemented by teachers in classroom settings, we proposed and implemented a design research methodology. the specific purpose was to develop an interactive, language-rich content-based shared book reading vocabulary intervention in collaboration with 27 preschool teachers to intensify typical book reading practices and to identify instructional obstacles when accelerating content vocabulary learning for children with limited prior exposure to vocabulary and concept knowledge. thus, a design research methodology in early childhood settings enables scientific research to be applied to curriculum development (clements, 2007; neuman & dwyer, 2011) while trying to understand conditions that may hinder or facilitate the implementation of instructional innovations (bradley & reinking, 2012). however, few preschool shared book reading interventions have been developed using this systematic process or have incorporated teacher feedback to understand the usability and feasibility of instructional features. this article first reviews the role of design experiments and teacher collaboration in educational research and then describes the instructional features of a content-based shared book reading intervention that was developed and refined via teacher feedback/collaboration as a way preschool shared book reading 51 to allow researchers to examine potential instructional features of usability and feasibility of a scientifically based preschool book reading approach. the role of design experiments and teacher collaboration a design experiment is a systematic methodology used to develop and formatively refine an instructional intervention through purposeful observations and analysis of intervention implementation to determine under which conditions interventions function and are effective in educational settings (cobb, confrey, disessa, lehrer, & schauble, 2003; collins, bielaczyc, & joseph, 2001; gersten & baker, 1998; gorard, roberts, & taylor, 2004; neuman & dwyer, 2011; shavelson, phillips, towne, & feuer, 2003). although design experiments have been used in educational settings to develop and improve literacy instruction (abbott, reed, abbott, & berninger, 1997; decusati & johnson, 2004; mastropieri et al., 2010; reinking & watkins, 2000), to our knowledge, to date this methodology has been used in the design of few preschool vocabulary curricula (bradley & reinking, 2011, 2012; neuman & dwyer, 2011) or in the development of preschool vocabulary interventions in which teacher feedback played a decisive role. although teacher collaboration on interdisciplinary teams is considered crucial in the design of early childhood interventions (horn & jones, 2005), traditionally, teachers’ insights have rarely been validated and used in meaningful ways in educational research (nevárezlatorre, 1999), especially in the research of child development (takanishi & bogard, 2007). within the shared book reading literature, the same holds true. that is, few book reading investigations with young children (e.g., french, 2004; neuman & dwyer, 2011; schwanenflugel et al., 2010) have reported collaborations between teachers and researchers in the development of a shared book reading intervention, with only one design experiment study specifically focused on the development of vocabulary and conceptual knowledge in disadvantaged preschool children (newman & dwyer, 2011). in the current investigation, the design research methodology gave preschool teachers a voice and, in turn, reshaped our understanding of vocabulary teaching and learning. teaching content vocabulary via a shared book reading intervention as we sought to better understand how teachers can feasibly intensify typical preschool shared book reading practices for children with limited prior exposure to words and world knowledge, we hypothesized that young children from low-income settings would require high-quality shared book reading instruction on important concepts to close existing language disparities. further, we hypothesized that to accelerate learning our shared book reading intervention and materials must accelerate meaning-based skills such as oral language, vocabulary, and world knowledge (whitehurst & lonigan, 1998) through an instructional design process that allows teachers to (a) focus on priority skills (content knowledge), (b) communicate information with clarity, (c) provide systematic feedback about a task or content, and (d) scaffold vocabulary task difficulty (simmons, pollard-durodola, gonzalez, davis & simmons, 2008; carnine, silbert, & kame’enui, 1997; engelmann & carnine, 1991). 52 pollard-durodola et al. the critical elements for intervention design enabled preschool teachers to (a) implement content organized by science and social studies themes, (b) provide daily 20-minute group vocabulary instruction, (c) explicitly introduce and review six semantically related words per week (three per book) via pictures (book illustrations, picture concept cards, theme cards), and (d) be supported in their teaching with the use of instructional scaffolds embedded in highly specified daily lessons. in order to implement this pedagogical approach, all books and researcher-developed lesson plans and materials were provided to teachers. some of the features of instructional design and delivery that were implemented in our final 18-week book reading approach are described below. distributed thematic instruction. in this shared book reading routine, preschool teachers dedicated 20 minutes of their language/literacy time to daily content vocabulary instruction in which weekly researcher-developed “lesson units” were organized around a science (e.g., living things) or social studies theme (e.g., places where we live and go) and a smaller topic that was developed and discussed through the book reading sessions. within this routine, content vocabulary instruction was distributed before, during, and after reading the text to provide multiple exposures to both new words and connected concepts. before reading the text, teachers primed students’ background knowledge and previewed vocabulary in a discussion using engaging picture concept cards to provide a concrete representation of the word and important word-world connections. further, while reading the book, teachers provided brief in-context explanations of the target words by pointing to a related book picture/illustration to clarify word meaning and to connect vocabulary learning to realworld knowledge and life experiences (e.g., this is a root. a root is the part of the plant that grows in the ground. here we see the roots spreading out in the soil. why do you think this happens?). finally, after reading the book, content-related words were reviewed, and children deeply processed words and connected science and/or social studies concepts and life experiences by discussing both contextualized (e.g., teacher points to a picture in the book: what do we call dirt that plants grow in?) and decontextualized comprehension questions (e.g., tell me about soil you have seen.). see figure 1 for an example of how book reading content was organized by themes and figure 2 for how thematic instruction was distributed across the shared book reading lesson. figure 1. overview of preliminary themes, topics, vocabulary, and twin texts. preschool shared book reading 53 figure 2. lesson content map for week 13, theme: living things. five-day instructional sequence. in sum, within a weekly thematic unit, day 1 was used to introduce (a) a storybook and important background information on an important theme/concept (e.g., living things are plants, animals, and people. they are special because they need water, air, and sunlight. today we will learn about plants.); (b) three semantically related vocabulary (e.g., seed, soil, root); and (c) eight comprehension questions (e.g., one related to text genre, one related to the main idea in storybooks and information about a topic in informational texts, two questions about each target word and connected concept). day 2 included a second reading/discussion of the book, reviewed vocabulary (ready, set, go!; magic mirror), and extended opportunities to make connections between words, concepts, and life experiences via an activity requiring analytical higher level thinking (challenge game). days 3 and 4 accomplished the same goals but introduced and reviewed/extended new information via a thematically linked informational text and three new semantically related words (e.g., what was the big thing that you learned about seeds, soil, and roots in our information book?). day 5 was used to cumulatively review and integrate all words (n = 6) and knowledge learned in that week across thematically linked twin texts (storybook + informational text) with opportunities to integrate words and connected science concepts from the present and previous weeks. (see figure 2 for an overview of the weekly scope and sequence). the following are examples of shared book reading instructional features implemented using this pedagogical approach: • repeated text reading and distributed instruction/discussions to increase the number of exposures to words and concepts; 54 pollard-durodola et al. • varied text genre (informational text + storybook paired by theme); • brief in-context definitions on semantically related words; • priming of background knowledge via content-related pictures; and • interactive adult-child dialogues. purpose of the study the purpose of this study was to describe the design and delivery features from the shared book reading and vocabulary research that could be effectively implemented by preschool teachers. the specific goal was to accelerate children’s content vocabulary knowledge as researchers implemented a design experiment to develop a shared book reading approach guided by teacher feedback on the feasibility of instructional practices. method to engineer and evaluate the feasibility of a content-based vocabulary shared book reading intervention, we relied on a progressive development and research methodology that began with the involvement of teachers while field testing instructional lessons in year 01 and culminating in a randomized quasi-experimental study in years 02 and 03, in which teacher participants implemented the intervention and provided feedback about its instructional feasibility and usability. design and context of the study design experiments use cycles of invention and revision to inform and improve products and practices (cobb et al., 2003; gorard et al., 2004; shavelson et al., 2003). in these cycles, both qualitative and quantitative data and methodologies may be employed in an effort to understand the “underlying processes” that make an instructional innovation work (reinking & bradley, 2008, p. 44). qualitative methods allowed researchers to take field notes (marshall & rossman, 2006) during informal passive observations conducted in naturalistic settings (e.g., preschool classrooms) as well as focus group sessions (stewart, shamdasani, & rook, 2007) with teachers to understand the feasibility of shared book reading practices. quantitative methods, in turn, allowed researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of the shared book reading approach that had been developed and refined via teacher feedback and collaboration`. using this methodological approach, results from qualitative and quantitative data form a more complete picture of the educational context being studied. our design experiment consisted of three identifiable phases that allowed researchers to better understand the design and delivery features from shared book reading and vocabulary research that could be effectively implemented in real preschool settings: phase i: preliminary intervention design. the primary objective in phase i (year 01) was to develop a preliminary teacher-delivered shared book reading intervention. the design preschool shared book reading 55 of the content-based intervention was based on findings from informal classroom observations of typical preschool shared book reading practices, an evaluation of existing preschool curricula for alignment with evidence-based shared book reading and vocabulary practices, and a review of the shared book reading literature to identify which features are required in order to positively influence the vocabulary learning of children with limited vocabulary knowledge. phase ii: field testing, teacher feedback, and curriculum refinement. the primary objective in phase ii (year 01) was to field test and refine the preliminary shared book reading intervention with the assistance of four preschool teachers, who implemented the shared book reading lessons in two-week curricular units with a group of children (n = 9) in their classroom. teachers provided feedback on the feasibility of the instructional tasks. phase iii: intervention effects, teacher feedback, and curriculum refinement. in phase iii (years 02 and 03), researchers evaluated the impact of the content-based shared book reading intervention on preschool children’s vocabulary outcomes (researcher-developed and standardized measures) and refined the curricular intervention while investigating its features in terms of their potential usability and feasibility. school districts. teachers and students in the study were enrolled in two ethnically diverse school districts in south central texas. by design, we chose schools that had a high percentage of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds who were likely to enter school with limited vocabulary and world knowledge, placing them at risk for future comprehension difficulties. in school district a, 69% of the student body qualified for free and reduced-cost lunch, including 85% of the preschool students. in school district b, 30% of the student body qualified for free and reduced-cost lunch, including 90% of the preschool students. teachers. across the three years of the design experiment, 25 preschool teachers (intervention teachers, n = 16; comparison teachers, n = 9) with similar educational and professional experiences participated in the study. of the participating teachers, 82% held a bachelor’s degree and 6% a master’s degree. further, 72% held elementary certification, 81% held early childhood certification, and 52% held english as a second language (esl) certification. overall, the teachers had a mean of 8.24 (sd = 6.24) years of teaching in prekindergarten/head start. see table 1 for the number of teacher participants, new teachers and returning teachers, by school district in each phase of the study. students. across the three years of the design experiment, 309 students participated in the study (phase ii, n = 36, phase iii, n = 273). because students were nested in classrooms, in phase ii (year 01) we conducted research in four classrooms. in phase iii we conducted research in 18 classrooms in the first experiment (year 02) and 28 classrooms in the second experiment (year 03). students were from low-ses families and from ethnically diverse backgrounds: 43.6% african american, 27.6% hispanic, 22.1% white, 4.9% asian, and 1.8% other ethnicities. 56 pollard-durodola et al. table 1 summary of teacher participants in phases ii and iii of the design experiment phase ii: field testing of curriculum and materials (year 01) phase iii: experiment i (year 02) phase iii: experiment ii (year 03) intervention district a district b practice-as-usual district a district b 4 0 0 0 3 returning, 2 new 6 new 4 new 3 new 3 returning, 3 new 6 returning, 1 new 4 returning, 1 new 2 returning, 1 new data collection and analysis procedures below are summarized the procedures for data collection and analysis across the three design experiment phases that allowed researchers to include both qualitative and quantitative data sources to better understand the feasibility of the shared book reading approach and materials. phase i preliminary intervention design prior to intervention design, the three researchers worked to better understand practice-as-usual shared book reading preschool instruction through observations and by conducting a literature review of shared book reading interventions implemented in settings of children with limited vocabulary knowledge and/or from low-ses settings. informal classroom observations. researchers collaborated with a principal from a preschool center (school district a) with a large percentage of students with free and reducedcost lunch status, who allowed them to visit three classrooms and informally observe shared book reading lessons. naturalistic observations (bogdan & biklen, 2003) were appropriate because they allowed researchers to understand typical preschool book reading practices in a natural setting without manipulating instruction. one researcher observed two preschool teachers, one time each, and took field notes. the other two researchers independently observed one teacher together. although no formal observation protocol was used, researchers independently attended to length of the book reading session, target word instruction, adult-child interactions/conversations, organization of book reading content, instructional format, and text genre. using investigator triangulation (johnson, 1997), when multiple researchers cross-collect, -check and interpret data to increase the validity of a study, the three researchers later discussed the observations, noting specific themes or preschool shared book reading 57 “trends” (bogdan & biklen, 2003, p. 187) that emerged of typical book reading practices. the principle investigator summarized the themes in a narrative report. the principal at the preschool center then recommended four “master teachers” based on their instructional expertise who might be interested in collaborating with researchers by implementing and providing feedback on future intervention lessons. these teachers consented to participate in the study and, subsequently, selected from their class enrollments a total of 36 children with parental consent to participate in field testing the content-based shared book reading intervention. on average, a group of nine children participated in each of the four classes. literature review. researchers then reviewed the shared book reading literature from 1990 to 2006 to identify which features from prior shared book reading research are required to positively influence the vocabulary learning of young children with limited vocabulary knowledge. in the search of journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, and bibliographies, terms used included preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, pre-kinder, elementary, early, primary, and day care, combined with reading and storybook, “story-book,” story-telling, shared book, shared-book, oral book, dialogic, or aloud, and teacher, aide. researchers specifically reviewed the literature for features of effective shared book reading interventions conducted with young children from low-ses backgrounds and/or who exhibited vocabulary deficits. preschool curriculum review. during this time, one researcher and a doctoral student also reviewed three commonly used preschool curricula and materials for alignment with evidence-based shared book reading and vocabulary practices. first, the researcher created a standard checklist of instructional features (explicit instruction, multiple exposures to words, vocabulary instruction distributed before, during, and after book reading, thematic instruction, etc.) emphasized in the shared book reading and vocabulary research. the two then discussed the characteristics of each feature to ensure they were in agreement on how a given feature might appear in a preschool curriculum. finally both individuals reviewed the preschool curricula independently, indicating a yes or no by each checklist feature, and met to discuss whether the instructional features were present/absent in the curricula. data were analyzed by creating a summary table of the three curricula to facilitate comparison by instructional feature. collectively, findings from these shared book reading studies and knowledge derived from the curricular review and informal observations of typical shared book reading practices were used to establish the empirical foundation for the interactive shared book reading pedagogical approach that was implemented by teachers in head start and preschool classrooms in the present study. phase ii: field testing, teacher feedback, and curriculum refinement in this year (01), the preliminary curriculum was field-tested and refined. professional development. teachers received three-hours of professional development (pd), in which researchers-developers introduced the goal of the vocabulary intervention, brief research findings on effective interactive book reading practices for children 58 pollard-durodola et al. with vocabulary deficits, and modeled week 1 lessons, demonstrating how to read and talk about books, words, and a science topic. teachers were paired for role-playing opportunities and implemented the instructional tasks while receiving feedback from researchers. teacher feedback. as researchers-developers created the shared book reading lessons in two-week curricular units, the four preschool teachers implemented the lessons with a group of nine children in their classrooms. during this time, they used a scale from very low to very high on a teacher feedback form (see appendix a) to provide feedback on the feasibility of the instructional tasks (appropriateness of activity sequence, level of student learning, etc.) and the usability of the materials (ease of using manipulatives, ease of teacher instructions, etc.). documentation from this form was shared by teachers during two focus group sessions to discuss the usability and feasibility of the materials and shared book reading lessons. focus groups were considered appropriate because they allow in-depth discussion of a topic, which helps researchers understand participant views on a particular issue (bogdan & biklen, 2003). the first focus group was held towards the middle of intervention implementation at the early childhood center in school district a to foster a conversation about the design and feasibility of the shared book reading process and materials that had been used so far. it was composed of the four preschool teachers. the discussion was guided by a semi-structured protocol which included the following questions by researchers: what do you see as strengths of the intervention? what do you see as the weaknesses of the intervention? researchers took field notes independently about teacher recommendations and concerns. teachers were able to discuss the usability of materials and the feasibility of each instructional task based on their documentation on the teacher feedback form. this focus group lasted for approximately four hours. using investigator triangulation (johnson, 1997), the researchers then met and discussed their summary of teacher recommendations and concerns to verify if they were in agreement. the principal investigator summarized in narrative form major themes or trends that emerged in the discussion (lecompte & schensul, 1999). the second focus group also held at the same early childhood center lasted three hours. the researchers used the same focus group procedures (the same semi-structured protocol to facilitate the discussion, all researchers took field notes independently, etc.) and used investigator triangulation (johnson, 1997) to verify researcher agreement about emerging themes of teacher concerns. the principal investigator summarized these themes in narrative form (lecompte & schensul, 1999). findings from both focus groups guided the development of a 12-week content-based (science themes) shared book reading intervention. phase iii: intervention effects, teacher feedback, and curriculum refinement the 12-week science intervention. in the first randomized trial, we evaluated the impact of the 12-week content-based shared book reading intervention on both researcher-developed and standardized vocabulary outcomes for preschool children who entered school with low vocabulary knowledge in two school districts (school districts a and b) in two ethnically diverse cities in south central texas. (see pollard-durodola, gonzalez, simmons, kwok, taylor, davis, kim, & simmons, 2011, for further details.). eighteen teachers were randomly assigned to either the intervention (n = 11) or the practice-as-usual (comparison) condition (n = 7). see table 1 for summary of teacher preschool shared book reading 59 participants for this phase. we conducted research in 6 classrooms in one school district and in 12 head start classrooms in 7 schools in the second school district. as stated, schools and classrooms were in school districts where a high percentage of preschool students were from low-ses backgrounds. at the class level, 9 to 10 children who were at or below the 30 th percentile on the peabody picture vocabulary test iii [ppvt], forms a and b (dunn & dunn, 1997), indicating that they entered school with low vocabulary knowledge, were placed in the intervention and comparison group. the final sample consisted of 125 preschool children (intervention = 69, comparison = 56), who entered school with low vocabulary knowledge. both standardized and experimenter-developed vocabulary instruments were used to measure preto posttest growth in receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge for both intervention children and those in the practice-as-usual condition. the experimenter-developed curriculum based measures were included because they are more sensitive to gains in vocabulary growth than standardized vocabulary measures; however, the latter provide valuable information for comparing student performance with national norms (hargrave & sénéchal, 2000; national reading panel [nrp], 2000; whitehurst et al., 1994). the receptive vocabulary measures included the ppvt-iii, forms a and b (dunn & dunn, 1997) and the proximal researcher-developed receptive picture vocabulary test (rdrpvt). the ppvt-iii is a general measure of receptive vocabulary that allows the child to point to one of four pictures on a panel that represents an object or action that the examiner names. alpha reliability coefficients reported in the manual for the current sample age group range from 0.94 to 0.95 for forms a and b. the proximal rdrpvt used a procedure, materials format, and response requirements that were similar to those of the ppvt-iii but measured content vocabulary words taught in the shared book reading intervention. the researchers used a stratified, random sampling procedure and selected one vocabulary word from each of the 24 intervention books used so that 33% of the target words were tested to avoid an unduly lengthy assessment, which would be inappropriate for young children. the expressive vocabulary measures included the expressive one-word picture vocabulary test [eowpvt] (brownell, 2000) and the proximal researcher-developed expressive one-word picture vocabulary test [rdepvt]. the eowpvt is a general measure of expressive vocabulary that asks the individual child to verbally provide the name of objects, actions, and concepts pictured in illustrations. alpha coefficients reported in the manual for the current sample age group range from .95 to .96. the proximal rdepvt used a procedure, materials format, and response requirements that were similar to those of the eowpvt but measured content vocabulary knowledge specifically taught in the shared book reading intervention. the target vocabulary was the 24 words assessed on the rdrpvt. all measures were administered by trained graduate and undergraduate assistants two weeks before and two weeks after completion of the intervention. professional development (pd) was provided to ensure high implementation of book reading practices that might be novel for most head start and preschool teachers. as in previous book reading studies, our pd module now included (a) modeling of shared book reading instructional tasks, (b) role-playing opportunities for teachers with feedback from researchers, (b) and the use of a video-taped book lesson followed by a discussion of ideal adult-child book reading practices (arnold, lonigan, whitehurst, & epstein, 1994; lonigan & whitehurst, 1998; whitehurst et al., 1994). 60 pollard-durodola et al. within the framework of daily constraints (e.g., limited time when teachers would be available for pd, not being able to use a coaching model), the pd module was now more extensive and included an initial four-hour session followed by three distributed 90-minute booster sessions (beginning, middle, and before the end of the intervention), in which a researcher met with a small group of teachers to discuss implementation practices (pacing, scaffolding, etc.) based on a fidelity observation. in the initial four-hour session, first, researchers-developers introduced the goal of the vocabulary intervention, brief research findings on effective interactive book reading practices, and the architecture of the intervention (science themes and topics that organize book reading content, etc.). second, teachers watched a video-taped vignette and identified instructional strategies that facilitate adult-child interactions before, while, and after reading a book. third, one researcher modeled an entire day 1, week 1 lesson, modeling how to extend children’s oral responses while distributing vocabulary instruction. this researcher also pointed out specific features of the five-day instructional sequence (parallel tasks for introducing and/or reviewing words and connected concepts across days 1-4) and modeled strategies as they appeared in the five-day instructional cycle. lastly, teachers were paired for role-playing opportunities using week 1 lessons and materials, which allowed teachers to practice implementing important instructional features (distributing vocabulary instruction before, during, and after reading texts; teaching from thematically paired storybook and informational text, extending children’s oral language responses, scaffolding for task difficulty, repeated reading of texts; etc.). teachers switched roles between being the teacher and the student while being observed by researchers who provided feedback on lesson implementation and additional strategy modeling when required. treatment fidelity was measured three times to document the validity of instructional behaviors at the beginning, middle, and end of the intervention period. teachers were videotaped by a graduate student, and observations were rated by researchers using a measure with a likert-type scale with anchors ranging from a score of 0 (minimal implementation) to 3 (very high implementation) for each instructional dimension that corresponded to the five-day instructional cycle of the intervention. results showed that the teacher fidelity of implementation scores ranged from .74 to .99 (m =.89). although these implementation scores were acceptable, summaries of the three pd 90-minute booster sessions conducted in response to the fidelity observations to provide feedback to teachers in a small group format confirmed that there were frequent discussions between researchers and teachers on how to extend children’s limited oral language abilities. after intervention implementation, 9 of the 11 intervention teachers met with 2 researchers in a focus group held at the university approximately one month after the intervention period. one researcher facilitated the discussion, which was guided by a semistructured protocol that included the following questions: what do you see as strengths of the intervention? what do you see as the weaknesses of the intervention? additionally, each researcher took field notes independently by using a table consisting of three categories (general feedback on instructional activity, feedback on teacher talk during the activity, and feedback on student talk during the activity) for each instructional task for days 1-5. teachers then talked specifically about their implementation experience as the principal investigator took field notes. this focus group lasted for five hours. after the focus group, investigator triangulation (johnson, 1997) was used as the two researchers met to discuss their field notes and verify that they were in agreement on teachers’ preschool shared book reading 61 concerns and recommendations. field notes and discussions were subsequently analyzed by themes that emerged from the session. finally, the principal investigator summarized the themes in narrative form (lecompte & schensul, 1999) and created a table summarizing individual teacher feedback/verbatim across the following categories: general feedback, parts you liked best, modification/weaknesses, parts to change. multi-level modeling (hox, 2002) was used to analyze the impact of the intervention on vocabulary outcomes due to the nested structure of the study (125 students nested within 18 classrooms taught by 18 teachers). together, qualitative and quantitative findings were used to guide curriculum refinement and to develop a more extensive 18-week intervention. the expanded 18-week science/social studies intervention. a randomized trial of the refined 18-week book reading intervention was conducted with smaller groups (5-7 children) to evaluate the impact of the intervention on vocabulary outcomes for preschool children (school districts a and b) with initial low vocabulary knowledge as indicated on the ppvt. (see gonzalez, pollard-durodola, taylor, simmons, davis, & simmons, for a detailed summary of the study.) twenty-one teachers were randomly assigned to either the intervention (n = 13) or the practice-as-usual (comparison) condition (n = 8). from a total of 9 schools, 11 teachers taught in head start classrooms and 10 taught in preschool classrooms. see table 1 for a summary of participating teachers, new and those returning to the study (e.g., returning teachers remained in the same condition), by school district. teachers averaged 8.24 years of teaching in head start/preschool settings, and there was no statistically significant difference between intervention and comparison groups. the participating 148 students (n = 92 treatment, n = 56 comparison) were from schools where 90% of the population qualified for free or reduced-cost lunch and entered preschool with low vocabulary knowledge as indicated by their scores on the ppvt-iii (dunn & dunn, 1997). at the class level, two students were selected whose scores on the ppvt-iii most closely approximated the 15 th , 30 th , and 50 th percentiles on the ppvt-iii for a goal of six students from each classroom. the standardized assessment battery (receptive and expressive vocabulary measures) and procedures from year 02 were used in year 03 to evaluate the impact of the more extensive intervention on children’s outcomes. the receptive and expressive researcher-developed measures reflected content vocabulary knowledge taught in the 18-week intervention. to construct these measures, researchers used a stratified sampling procedure selecting 18 target words used throughout the intervention to avoid an unduly lengthy assessment, which would be inappropriate for young children. fidelity of implementation was conducted three times (beginning, middle, towards the end of the intervention period) via video-taped sessions, and observations were rated by researchers using a measure with a likert-type scale with anchors ranging from 0 (minimal implementation) to 3 (very high implementation) for each instructional dimension that corresponded to the five-day instructional cycle. results showed that implementation scores were acceptable, with a mean score of 85% (sd = 12%). summaries of the three pd 90-minute booster sessions conducted in response to the fidelity observations indicated that there were frequent discussions on how to scaffold adult/child conversations during the challenge questions which required children to first recall vocabulary and conceptual knowledge and then to apply analytical or reasoning skills to respond to questions. 62 pollard-durodola et al. the pd module was more intensive in year 03 with initial pd lasting for six hours. researchers provided more research evidence on the benefit of and rationale supporting specific strategies (use of informational texts, repeated reading, stopping for brief in-context definitions, etc.) and had access to more video-taped vignettes of exemplary practices that could be used in discussions with teachers. these changes in pd were made to address teachers’ needs based on y02 feedback sessions and fidelity observations. as in year 02, 90-minute pd booster sessions were provided by researchers to small groups of teachers after each fidelity observation to provide feedback on instructional implementation. again, multi-level modeling (hox, 2002) was used to analyze the impact of the intervention on vocabulary outcomes due to the nested structure of the study (148 students nested within 28 classrooms taught by 21 teachers). a focus group was not conducted at the end of this year. results the following summarizes the qualitative and quantitative findings from the three phases of the design experiment that assisted researchers in designing the content based shared book reading intervention and understanding the feasibility of a content-based shared book reading approach. phase i: preliminary intervention design informal classroom observations. the informal observations of typical shared book reading lessons in the preschool center (school district a) lasted about 20 minutes. themes emerging in the discussion of the observations were that (a) typical book reading sessions were brief (averaging 5-7 minutes in length), (b) student engagement was minimal, (c) informational texts were not used, and (d) vocabulary selection was not systematic if word meanings were emphasized at all. further, researchers’ field notes revealed that little or no priming of students’ background knowledge took place. (background knowledge refers to explicit instruction in which the teacher guides children to retrieve information from personal experiences to better understand new knowledge; for example, new words and concepts in the shared book reading text; baker, simmons, & kame’enui, 1998; simmons et al. 2008). overall, researchers found that the scope of typical preschool shared book reading vocabulary practices was limited. preschool curricula review. a review of the three commonly used preschool curricula and materials used in the participating districts indicated that vocabulary tasks were somewhat consistent with research-based practices but provided limited information on how to scaffold instruction for difficult tasks, develop background knowledge related to new words and connected information, and provide multiple exposures to target words. overall, existing curricula did not guide preschool teachers towards a better understanding of how to teach vocabulary to young children (beck & mckeown, 2007; neuman & dwyer, 2009; neuman & roskos, 2005). shared book reading literature review. of the 3,337 works yielded by the literature review, 29 studies met relevance criteria. of these, 12 specifically investigated the effects of preschool shared book reading 63 school-based shared book reading interventions on the vocabulary development of preschool children in head start or subsidized child-care setting, with 6 being more effective for children with low vocabulary knowledge. see table 2 for a summary of the evidence-based book reading practices and instructional features that were identified in the literature review. based on the findings from this literature review, researchers developed the following preliminary pedagogical objectives: (a) world knowledge (science) would be developed by priming background knowledge (hirsch, 2006; justice, 2002; neuman, 2006) through multiple exposures to thematic academic content via twin texts (storybook + informational text) connected by a theme and topic (duke, 1999; smolkin & donovan, 2000); (b) word knowledge would be accelerated through the strategic selection of and explicit instruction in high-utility content-related words (six per week) across multiple contexts (biemiller & boote, 2006; hirsch, 2003), integrating multiple exposures to words and connected concepts through repeated text readings (justice, weber, ezell, & bakeman, 2002); (c) interactive book reading practices would accelerate content-related word knowledge and connected concepts via varied text genres (wasik et al., 2006; whitehurst & lonigan, 2003; zevenbergen & whitehurst, 2003). collectively, these instructional practices and recommendations from previous shared book reading studies were integrated into the design of a preliminary preschool shared book reading intervention that was field tested by teachers in a group format (9 children) to better understand the feasibility/usability of book reading practices and materials. 64 pollard-durodola et al. table 2 instructional features of more effective shared-book reading practices implemented with children predominantly from high-poverty settings and/or with low vocabulary knowledge investigation student participants & instructional format instructional design/delivery features intervention outcomes wasik, bond, & hindman (2006) low-income pre-k whole group interactive book reading distributed vocabulary instruction thematic content repeated reading (2 readings per text) multiple exposures words depicted in the book thematic content 9 months vocabulary d = .61 coyne, simmons, kame’enui, & stoolmiller (2004) low-income kinder small group (2-5) interactive book reading multiple exposures repeated reading (2 readings per text) 3 target words per book vocabulary d = .44 justice, meier, & walpole (2005) low-income k small group (unavailable) distributed vocabulary instruction repeated reading (2 readings per text) 6 target words taught per book word selection criteria 10 weeks vocabulary d = .78 whitehurst et al. (1994) low-income pre-k small group interactive book reading vocabulary d =.24 wasik & bond (2001) low-income pre-k whole group interactive book reading distributed vocabulary instruction thematic content repeated reading of text (2 readings per text) multiple exposures 15 weeks vocabulary d = 1.43 sénéchal (1997) middle-class pre-k brief explicit in-context definitions words depicted in book repeated readings (3 readings per text) 1 week vocabulary d = .43 preschool shared book reading 65 phase ii: field testing, teacher feedback, and curriculum refinement teacher feedback. six themes emerged from field-testing the materials and book reading approach with four teachers: 1. highly specified lessons – lessons provided uniformity in explicit teaching practices (scaffolding oral responses, modeling responses, providing corrective feedback and confirmation), but were too scripted and complex to be used easily by teachers; 2. high-cognitive activities – these tasks required more teacher scaffolding due to the linguistic demand of the language structures for young children; 3. individual child responses – more activities were needed to assist teachers in attending to and monitoring individual child responses and progress vs. group responses; 4. lack of background knowledge – teachers needed additional resources for building children’s limited background knowledge so that children could understand critical science vocabulary and related concepts well enough to be able to participate in interactive discussions with the teacher and other children. researchers acknowledged that in earlier interactive shared book reading studies, shared book reading sessions were not sufficient to accelerate vocabulary in children with limited prior knowledge (wasik & bond, 2001). 5. complex informational texts – some texts included lists of word taxonomies that detracted from learning the intervention target word. that is complex terminology and syntax threatened the ease of reading/discussing book content, and complex text features (e.g., too many concepts taught on one page or complicated plot structures) interfered with comprehension of important concepts. 6. gradual increase of target words. the number of new words taught per book should be gradual so that children could become acclimated to the book reading process. overall, teachers confirmed that students successfully learned the six words taught per week and reported instances when children used the words to describe life experiences beyond the book reading session (e.g., i saw liquid at home.). curriculum refinement. see table 3 for a summary of some of the extensive curricular modifications made in response to field testing materials to increase the feasibility of the book reading approach. findings from this year resulted in a refined curriculum (12 weeks of content-based shared book reading lessons organized around two science themes: nature and living things) and pd module. specifically, it was decided that the initial pd session in subsequent years would address not only the “how” but also the “why” supporting the shared book reading pedagogy because teachers did not always understand the rationale (e.g., why) or importance of researchbased shared book reading practices (e.g., interactive dialogues, repeated readings, distributed teacher behaviors [e.g., brief in-context definitions], use of expository text) that were not characteristic of their typical book reading styles. further, additional small-group pd booster sessions would be provided by researchers guided by results from fidelity observations to strengthen teachers’ intervention practices and to better understand the feasibility of intervention practices and materials. 66 pollard-durodola et al. table 3 phase ii: focus group teacher feedback and curriculum refinement teacher recommendations curricular modifications rationale use less highly specified language. streamlined teacher language in lesson script while maintaining instructional explicitness and consistency. there was too much redundancy in teacher language and too many details provided in error-correction procedures and language scaffolds. simplify higher cognitive tasks. integrated instructional scaffolding to facilitate demanding language tasks. sequencing higher cognitive tasks into smaller instructional steps would allow students to successfully engage in discussions. provide additional information for children to understand complex concepts. integrated additional background knowledge on taught concepts prior to reading the book. additional background knowledge would allow students with limited life experiences to discuss important concepts and vocabulary prior to listening to the story. reconsider the use of informational texts with complex terminology and syntax structure. replaced books that presented many complex science ideas and extensive word taxonomies. informational texts that emphasized content with appropriate sentence structure, word usage, etc. were easier for children to comprehend and learn important knowledge and words. integrate more opportunities for individual child responses vs. group responses. gradually increase quantity of target words. integrated opportunities for paired-practices. introduced two new words per book in weeks 1 and 2 for a total of four words per week. subsequent weeks introduced three new words per book for a total of six words per week. this would allow teachers opportunities to listen to individual children responses and to provide feedback confirmation. young children required time to become acclimated to the extensive book reading process that required them to attend, respond, and ask questions. preschool shared book reading 67 phase iii: effects of the intervention, teacher feedback, and curriculum refinement below we summarize the effects of the content-based shared book reading intervention and teachers’ feedback on the feasibility and usability of the curriculum materials and process. the 12-week science intervention. overall, there were statistically significant main effects for the shared book reading intervention for proximal researcher-developed measures of receptive vocabulary (rdrpvt; γ = 4.94, p < .001) and expressive vocabulary (rdepvt; γ = 5.98, p < .001) after controlling for the corresponding pretest scores, student demographic variables, school district, and years of teaching experience. however, there were no statistically significant main effects for condition on the ppvt-iii (γ = 0.52, p = .802) or the eowpvt (γ = 0.64, p = .701) after controlling for the covariates. we hypothesized that the brief intervention period (12 weeks) and large group size (9-10 children) may have contributed to insufficient opportunities for dialogue for preschool children with limited vocabulary and world knowledge. teacher feedback. teacher verbatim as noted by the principal investigator in a summary table indicated that all 9 teachers were able to identify components of the intervention that they favored and that was easily implemented. key words used most frequently by teachers to identify these instructional features were ready, set, go (referring to an instructional task in which vocabulary picture/concept cards were used to review target words and concepts daily, weekly, and cumulatively), pictures (use of book pictures/illustrations to teach vocabulary and connected concepts), and vocabulary cards (picture concept cards with pictures depicting vocabulary, connected concepts, and themes). two teachers specifically used the words “repetition to words/concepts as a useful instructional feature” (teacher 5): “i could see …that a word we worked on before would come up, like when we were reading owl babies (teacher 9)”. in terms of modifications/weaknesses, 33% referred to “length” of the session as being too long for young children, 33% referred to inappropriate group size (too many children in the group), 22% referred to the repetitive nature of instructional tasks that were used to increase exposure to words and concepts (e.g., “monotonous questions,” “redundant questions,” “second reading of the text”), 11% referred to difficulty of some words and/or concepts – “a little bit over kids heads” (teacher 1). teacher verbatim also indicated that 67% of the teachers’ general feedback on the intervention used key words such as “vocabulary exposure”, “vocabulary rich”, and vocabulary instruction being a key component of the intervention “because they were words children would not have been exposed to (teacher 8)”. eighteen percent felt that children sometimes did not understand some of the vocabulary concepts (e.g., year – a period of time from one birthday to the next) due to difficulty of the target word (e.g., could not make a connection between drain as taught in the story and drain beyond the book) or did not feel that the themes corresponded to classroom themes (seasonal [pumpkins for october], holidays, etc.). one teacher’s general feedback indicated that although rereading the books was effective, the lessons were too long (teacher 5). results of the focus group discussion, as summarized by the principal investigator on the narrative report, indicated that teachers were satisfied with the following intervention design and delivery features, which they found feasible to implement: thematic science instruction, 68 pollard-durodola et al. vocabulary review tasks, and pictures, book illustrations, etc., used to teach and scaffold word and concept knowledge. however, the consensus was for shared book reading to occur in a smaller group size (5 or 6 students). specifically, teachers shared that they found it difficult to manage the behavior of the large group of young children during the 20-minute book discussions although an instructional aide engaged the students in the class who were not participating in the shared book reading intervention with other activities (e.g., computer time, center-based activities). curriculum refinement. in response to these findings, the shared book reading approach was refined to increase the feasibility of instructional practices, the instructional extensiveness of the intervention (i.e., 18 weeks of instruction; the addition of two social studies themes, places where we live and go and earth – land and water, and six related topics, thematic posters to build additional background information), and to provide more opportunities for children to make explicit and deeper connections between taught words and their background knowledge. specifically, we reduced the number of redundant lower cognitive labeling and identifying vocabulary tasks (e.g., this is liquid. what is this?) and replaced them with higher cognitive association tasks (e.g., new activity: challenge questions: what is the difference between a vine and a seed? is a vine a living thing? why or why not?). we worked from the premise that at-risk children would benefit from broader and deeper word-world connections as suggested by the knowledge hypothesis (anderson & freebody, 1981; nagy, 2007), a theory that suggests that children accrue vocabulary knowledge by understanding relationships between new words and their connected concepts. knowing a word’s meaning, then, indicates that children understand the “network of concepts” that are connected with the word (stahl & nagy, 2006). these higher cognitive association tasks – connecting semantically-related words to networks of concepts however, might require additional scaffolds and background knowledge to facilitate interactive discussions among children with limited conceptual knowledge. the expanded 18-week science/social studies intervention. findings of children’s vocabulary outcomes indicated moderate-to-strong positive effects of the shared book reading intervention on proximal measures of science and social studies modeled after the ppvt (rdrpvt; γ = 2.75, p = .001) and the eowpvt (rdepvt; γ = 4.01, p = .023) after controlling for all covariates. however, unlike in year 02, statistically positive and significant results were found for the standardized receptive vocabulary measure (ppvt-iii; γ = 7.57, p = .029), whereby children in the treatment group scored higher at posttest than children in the comparison group. nevertheless, the intervention did not have a statistically significant effect on the expressive vocabulary measure (eowpvt; γ = -2.20, p = .63), unlike previous interactive shared book reading studies. (for a review of these results, see whitehurst and colleagues and mol and colleagues.) it is possible that teachers required more individual coaching to be able to adequately scaffold challenging interactive discussion tasks. discussion several researchers have pioneered work in the use of school-based shared book reading as a tool for developing and extending young at-risk children’s vocabulary (lonigan, anthony, bloomfield, dyor, & samwell, 1999; neuman & dwyer, 2011; wasik & bond, 2001; wasik et preschool shared book reading 69 al., 2006) or examined the effects of content-based book reading practices on children’s receptive and expressive outcomes (french, 2004; leung, 2008). however, few investigators have used cycles of curriculum development, field testing, and refinement in collaboration with preschool teachers to better understand the feasibility of empirically based book reading practices. guided by teacher feedback, the researchers conducting the current study learned more about the features of instructional feasibility and usability of a content-based shared book reading intervention implemented with young children with initial low vocabulary knowledge. feasibility and usability of instructional practices overall, teachers learned to implement many shared book reading instructional features with ease (e.g., repeated reading of texts, brief in-context definitions, and distribution of open-ended questions throughout the thematic book reading process). specifically, they preferred implementing instructional tasks that relied on the use of visuals – pictures, book illustrations, and theme cards – or that required rapid pacing (e.g., ready, set, go!). teachers were also able to integrate instruction across varied text genres although, initially, they were more comfortable reading from storybooks than informational texts. overall, teachers’ proficiency in implementing the shared book reading vocabulary practices was evident in their treatment fidelity scores, indicating that their implementation practices were acceptable. however, interactive dialogue activities remained challenging. similar to previous studies (dickinson, 2001; dickinson & tabors, 2001; wasik et al., 2006), preschool and head start teachers in our intervention were not accustomed to talking in ways that progressively pushed children’s conversations beyond their customary interactions or in ways that emphasized analytic dialogues. this became apparent in the implementation of challenge questions, an instructional task that requires higher level analytical thinking and discussion so that children can make important associations between words, concepts, and life experiences (e.g., what is the difference between frozen water and liquid? can you drink something that is frozen? why or why not?). however, in a separate observation study, researchers found that content related shared book reading instruction that emphasized analytical association-level talk, mostly found in the challenge questions, predicted growth in children’s receptive vocabulary (gonzalez, pollarddurodola, simmons, taylor, davis, fogarty, & simmons, 2013). in the end, these higher level analytical discussions are dependent on the teacher’s expertise in extending oral responses, modeling extensive vocabulary usage, and engaging children in high cognitive language tasks (e.g., rich explanations) (dickinson, mccabe, & clark-chiarelli, 2004). effects of content-based shared book reading on vocabulary measures although there is no clear guidance on how much instruction (e.g., 12 vs. 18 weeks) is needed to positively impact expressive and receptive vocabulary outcomes of children who enter school with low vocabulary knowledge, evidence suggests that young children from at-risk settings benefit from book reading interventions that increase instructional extensiveness by providing frequent exposures to target vocabulary in multiple contexts (wasik & bond, 2001; wasik et al., 2006). in this study, it is possible that standardized vocabulary measures were not sensitive 70 pollard-durodola et al. enough to children’s curriculum-based vocabulary growth. overall, findings from the contentrelated proximal vocabulary measures indicated that children who entered school with low content vocabulary knowledge benefited from instruction facilitated by the extensive knowledge network of words and concepts integrated into the book reading process (anderson & freebody, 1981; nagy, 2007; neuman, 2006; neuman & dwyer, 2009). limitations and implications for future research and practice limitations. our findings must be considered in the context of the following three limitations. first, an important limitation in year 01 is that researchers relied on teacher feedback (focus group) about instructional feasibility instead of actual observations of teacher behaviors during the field testing of the curriculum and materials. direct observations might have circumvented challenges encountered during the first implementation of the 12-week curriculum in the second year. a second limitation is that researchers were not able to provide more intensive pd with individualized feedback plus coaching to increase teachers’ expertise in generating interactive discussions with children with low verbal abilities. this conclusion is supported by classroom observation research suggesting that adult-child interactions in at-risk settings can be improved by increasing teachers’ awareness of their interactions via ongoing opportunities for personalized feedback and self-reflection (pianta & hamre, 2009). a third limitation is that researchers were not able to determine the impact of those instructional features that were more feasible (e.g., use of picture concept cards) on vocabulary outcomes. clearly, it is difficult to disentangle the impact of a multi-dimensional book reading approach (e.g., multiple strategies) on children’s vocabulary outcomes (pollard-durodola, et al. 2011). implications for future research and practice. when designing interventions intended to improve children’s literacy and language achievements in preschool settings, researchers must pay significant attention to the skills of the teachers delivering the curricula (hamre et al., 2009). thus, results from the present investigation suggest that enhancing the quality of the preschool environment not only requires engineering and use of high-quality empirically based instructional materials but also depends on pedagogical practices that are made more feasible through instructional support. conclusion the conclusions drawn from this study reflect what researchers learned while using a design experiment methodology to engineer a content-based shared book reading intervention while examining features of feasibility and usability. first, feedback from teachers and classroom observations allowed researchers to bridge the gap between research and practice (bradley & reinking, 2010). second, researchers learned that teachers can learn to implement novel research-based shared book reading vocabulary practices in ways that intensify typical book reading instruction and accelerate children’s knowledge of taught vocabulary within the context of building important world knowledge. however, to fully take advantage of these findings, preschool teachers may require instructional supports that transform their instructional practices preschool shared book reading 71 in ways that enhance and stimulate the verbal abilities of young children during book discussions and beyond. acknowledgements preparation of this article was supported in part by project world, grant no. r305g050121 reading comprehension and reading scale-up research, institute of education services (ies), u.s. department of education. this material does not necessarily represent the policy of the u.s. department of education, nor is the material necessarily endorsed by the federal government. corresponding author: sharolyn.pollard-durodola@du.edu. references abbott, s. p., reed, e., abbott, r. d., & berninger, v. w. 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(2012). the role of frequent, interactive prekindergarten shared reading in the longitudinal development of language and literacy skills. developmental psychology, doi:10.1037/a0030347. preschool shared book reading 75 school implications dialog, 17(4), 83-98 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research article the prevalence of medication use in head start preschool sample erin seif and john carlson michigan state university this descriptive study examined the prevalence of pharmacological and psychopharmacological medication use in a head start preschool sample, as well as trends in medication use based on gender, ethnicity, and behavioral characteristics. the participants for this study included 1,544 parents of children ages 2 to 5 years old enrolled in a head start program during the 2008-2009 academic year in three diverse michigan counties. fifteen percent of children in this sample (n =233) were taking medication on a regular basis according to parent report. pharmacological treatments accounted for 98.2% (n =306) of the medications in the sample. sixty-nine percent (n =214) of medications reported were asthma related, significantly less than was reported in this population of children just two years ago. the importance of educating parents about the lack of a research base and potential side effects of common medications given to preschool children is discussed. keywords: psychotropic medication, medication, preschool, head start there is a paucity of research concerning the prevalence rate of pharmacological and psychopharmacological medication in the preschool population. pharmacological medications are those drugs that are used to relieve the symptoms of physical ailments such as the common cold or a headache, whereas psychopharmacological medications (e.g. sedatives, mood stabilizers, psychostimulants) are drugs that relieve the symptoms of psychiatric disorders (elder, evans, & nizette, 2009). the umbrella term “medication” frequently includes both pharmacologic and psychopharmacological medications. a great need exists for understanding the scope of medication use given the possible deleterious effects of these medicines when used in young children. one recent study found that 6.8% of children in a head start sample were taking a prescribed medication according to parent report (brinkman & carlson, 2008). another study found that almost 10% of children take over-the-counter medication at any given time (vernacchio, kelley, kaufman, & mitchell, 2008). these data indicate that at least one child in every preschool classroom may be taking medications which might affect their classroom functioning. currently, asthma is the most prevalent chronic childhood illness in the united states (medco health solutions, 2004). it is estimated that eighty percent of children who have asthma also have allergies, and often children will take multiple medications concurrently to treat these 84 seif & carlson conditions (american academy of pediatrics, 2010). in a study done by brinkman and carlson (2008), 88% of children in a head start sample taking medication were taking one or more medications to treat asthma. asthma medication rates vary, and a decrease in medication usage is associated with children less than five years of age, medicaid insurance, spanish language, asthma severity, and access to physicians and nurses (eggleston et al., 1998; halterman, aligne, auinger, mcbride, & szilagyi, 2000). only 22% to 32% of children considered at-risk who are diagnosed with asthma take medication to control their asthma (diaz et al., 2000; halterman et. al., 2000). the side effects of asthma medications in preschoolers are not well known, especially when multiple medications are prescribed. side effects of albuterol, a popular quick-relief asthma medication, are known to include tremors, hyperactivity, and vomiting (schuh et al., 1989). most of the asthma literature focuses on the efficacy of treatment, as well as patient education, management, and compliance with respect to asthma medication (amirav, newhouse, minocchieri, castro-rodriguez, & schuepp, 2010). the use of over-the-counter (otc) medications within pediatric populations has recently received considerable media attention. currently, the fda advises parents that cold and cough medications are not approved for preschool children (0-5 years of age) due to a lack of data, though few otc drugs have data supporting that they are not safe or efficacious in young children (vernacchio et al., 2008). approximately 70% of childhood illnesses, such as common colds, are treated with over-the-counter medications. (kogan, pappas, yu, & kotelchuck, 1994). the impact of cold and cough medications is widespread, as it is estimated that in any given week, 10.1% of american children use a cold and cough medication (vernacchio et al., 2008). side effects of decongestants include headaches, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, hypertension, seizures, and sedation (clemens et al., 1997; smith, henman, schroeder & fahey, 2008). antihistamines used to treat allergies are considered to be the safest otc medications, yet side effects of antihistamines include headache, dry mouth, nose, and throat, drowsiness, dizziness, hallucinations, hyperactivity, and muscle weakness (clemens et al., 1997; hoffer, 2003). dart and colleagues (2009) reviewed 189 fatalities involving children under twelve years old and the presence of medications. sixty-two percent of fatalities involved a non-prescription drug, and over-dosage was linked to 75% of the non-prescription drug deaths. in the most severe cases, otc cold and cough medications have been associated with neurologic impairments, unstable heart rates, and toxic exposure resulting in death (vernacchio et al., 2008). although evidence suggests that otc medication use among the pediatric population has reached a plateau, psychotropic medication use within the preschool population is rising despite the fact that little is known about the long-term effects (coyle, 2000). antipsychotic medications prescribed to preschoolers on medicare have doubled since 1990 (fanton & gleason, 2009) and surpass spending for pediatric asthma medications (medco health solutions, 2004). metaanalyses of children across the country indicate that stimulant and antidepressant use has increased from 0.3% to 1% among children six to fourteen years old (olfson, marcus, weissman, & jensen, 2002), but other reports indicate that psychotropic medications are used rarely (less than .03%) within the preschool population (brinkman & carlson, 2008). the prescription rate for psychotropic medications, while infrequent within preschool populations, greatly outpaces the research base to support the practice (american psychological association working group, 2006). over the past decade, there has been a notable increase in the prescription rates of psychotropic medication in the preschool population (luby, stalets, & beldon, 2007; martin & leslie, 2003; olfson et al., 2002; zito, safer, & dosreis, 2000; zito et al., 2007). percentages of psychotropic medications prescribed to preschoolers range from 0.16% medication use in head start sample 85 (oflson, crystal, huang, & gerhard, 2010) to 2.7% (zito et al., 2007). analyses of prescription data indicate that primary care physicians are more likely than specialized physicians to prescribe psychotropic medications to young children (rappley, 2006), and there are significant differences in prescription rates based on insurance coverage (zito et al., 2007). little is known about the general long-term effects of psychotropic medications on neural development, nor do researchers understand the effects of certain drugs, dosages, or duration of exposure (greenhill, 1998). however, some children require pharmacological interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality. studies using experimental animals to understand the effect of psychotropic medications indicate that the medications alter cortical synaptic density and dopamine and norephinephrine levels, and cause memory deficits (coyle, 2000). this is problematic, considering that researchers do know that during the first few years of life, the brain undergoes the most synaptogenesis and pruning of neural networks and is highly sensitive to environmental and chemical factors (fanton & gleason, 2009). “black box” warnings issued by the food and drug administration (fda) on some antidepressants that may be prescribed for children, such as clomipramine (anafril) and fluoxetine (prozac), warn caregivers and physicians of the potential side effects and dangers of the medication (leslie, newman, chesney, & perrin, 2005) (table 1). 86 seif & carlson table 1 psychopharmacological medications approved by the fda and specific treatment indications by age trade name generic name approved age stimulant medications for adhd adderall amphetamine 3 and older adderall xr amphetamine (extended release) 6 and older concerta methylphenidate (long acting) 6 and older dexedrine dextropmphetamine 3 and older dextrostat dextropmphetamine 3 and older focalin dexmethylphenidate 6 and older metadate er methylphenidate (extended release) 6 and older methylin methylphenidate (liquid/chewable available) 6 and older ritalin methylphenidate 6 and older nonstimulant for adhd strattera atomoxetine 6 and older antidepressant and antianxiety medications anafril clomipramine 10 and older (for ocd) prozac fluoxetine 8 and older (for depression/ocd) luvox (ssri) fluvoxamine 8 and older (for ocd) sinequan doxepin 12 and older tofranil imipramine 6 and older (for bedwetting) zoloft (ssri) setraline 6 and older (for ocd) risperdal risperidone 13 and older (for schizophrenia) antipsychotic medications haldrol haloperidol 3 and older mellaril thioridazine 2 and older orap pimozide 12 and older (tourette's syndrome) thorazine chloropromazine 1 and older (severe behavior problems) mood stabilizing medications cibalith-s lithium citrate 12 and older depakote valproic acid 2 and older (for seizures) eskalith lithium carbonate 12 and older lithobid lithium carbonate 12 and older tegretol carbamazeprine 12 and older (for seizures) alpha-agonist catapres clonidine not approved for children (tourette's syndrome/adhd) note. adapted from carlson, j. (2008). best practices in assessing the effects of psychotropic medications on student performance. in thomas, a. & grimes, j. (eds.), best practices in school psychology v (p.1381). bethesda, md: nasp. permission was granted from the author to use reproduce this table in this publication. medication use in head start sample 87 method participants the sample for this study included 1,544 parents or caregivers of children ages two to five years old enrolled in a head start program during the 2008-2009 academic year in three diverse michigan counties. the ethnicity of the entire head start sample was 28.5% (n = 440) african american, 40% (n = 624) caucasian, 9.5% hispanic (n = 147), 19% multiracial (n = 293), and 3% (n = 40) other. half of the preschoolers were male (50.8%; n = 784) and half were female (49.2%; n = 760). seventy-five percent were from single parent homes and 25% were from two parent homes. ninety-six percent of students qualified for head start based on family income. all children in the sample had either private or county-provided insurance coverage. all participants in the data set were used in the study. fifteen percent (n = 233) were reported by parents to be taking medication on a regular basis (see table 3). since data regarding the specific type of medication prevalence data was missing for 3% (n = 7) of children, specific medication prevalence data were analyzed based on a sample of 226. the ethnicity of the head start children taking medication was 46% (n = 108) african american, 36% (n = 85) caucasian, 12% (n = 27) hispanic, 3% (n = 8) multiracial, and 2% (n = 5) other. fifty-eight percent (n = 136) of the children taking medication were males, and 42% (n = 97) were females (see table 2). the mean age of students taking medication was 3.94 years. procedure non-identifying data for this study were gathered from existing head start initial enrollment packet records in an attempt to help the program better understand and meet the needs of those children who were taking medications. the methods of this study were similar to the methods used in a study by brinkman and carlson (2008). brinkman and carlson (2008) used self-report data from 89 head start enrollment records to determine the prevalence of medication use in a three county head start population in a midwestern state. this study examined an additional question on the head start enrollment sheet pertaining to behavioral characteristics to explore the relationship between medication use and social-emotional behavior given prior links discussed within the literature (eg., mcnelis et al., 2000; michael 2002). approval for review of this existing data set was obtained by the author’s institutional review board and the local head start administrative team. measurements medication use was determined by parental responses to a series of questions about medication use that were part of each child’s initial enrollment packet: “is your child taking any medication(s) on a regular basis (including over-the-counter, creams, lotions, herbal remedies, and seasonal)? “if yes, list all medication(s) and what it is taken for.” the prompts used by brinkman and carlson (2008) were less detailed: “is your child taking any medications on a regular basis? if yes list the medication and what it is taken for.” the researcher 88 seif & carlson defined asthma and allergy medications based on the type of specific medication reportedly used (physicians’ desk reference, 2006; robertson & shilkofski, 2005). the short-acting betaantagonists (albuterol, xopenex) comprised the quick-relief medications used by the preschoolers in this study. long-term control asthma medications included inhaled corticosteroids (pulmicort, flovent), leukotriene modifier (singulair), anti-inflammatory agent (cromolyn), and combined long-acting beta antagonist and inhaled corticosteroid (advair). other medications were classified as gastrointestinal, seizure control, and other. psychotropic medications were defined as those commonly used to treat childhood psychiatric disorders (jensen et al., 1999). parental responses to the question (also part of the initial enrollment packet), “is there anything you want us to know about your child’s personality or temperament which will help us to support his or her adjustment to head start?” were coded according to the following categories: internalizing behaviors (eg., “separation anxiety,” “shy,”), externalizing behaviors (eg., “yelling,” “biting,” “bad temper”), adaptive skills (eg., “considerate,” “wants to interact with others,” “very mature”), and nonadaptive skills (eg., “trouble sharing,” “frustrated easily,” “doesn’t listen”). six responses were not coded since they reflected parenting behavior instead of child personality (e.g., “spoiled”). the researcher chose to categorize qualitative personality data based on internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, adaptive, and non-adaptive skills based on the composite indexes of the behavior assessment system for children, second edition (basc-2) parent rating scales. the basc-2 composites have high internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and are considered to be a reliable assessment of personality, behavioral, and emotional dimensions of children 2 to 21 years of age (reynolds & kamphaus, 2004). in addition to the researcher, two undergraduate students with experience in coding and data processing coded the responses. the internal-consistency reliability value for data coding was .9. alpha levels greater than .7 are considered “acceptable,” greater than .8 are considered “good,” and greater than .9 are considered “excellent” (george & mallery, 2003). data analysis the statistical package for the social sciences (spss) was used to conduct the analyses. the first research question was: what are the prevalence rates and types of medications reported to be taken by preschool children enrolled in head start? in order to address this question, descriptive statistics were calculated to determine the types of medication children were reported to be taking, and the prevalence of each medication in the sample. the second research question was: how do types of medications vary by ethnicity and gender in a michigan head start preschool population? to address this question, chi-square analyses were conducted to examine the proportion of children taking medication based on demographic factors such as gender and ethnicity. after medications were divided into categories (long-term-control and quick-relief asthma medications, otc medications, and psychotropic medications), fischer’s exact tests were conducted to test for significant differences between type of medication use, as well as gender and ethnicity. the third research question was: what are common associated behavioral characteristics of those children who are reported to be taking medication? a pearson’s correlational analysis was conducted to test for relationships between each type of asthma medication and each of the medication use in head start sample 89 four personality variables: externalizing behaviors, internalizing behaviors, adaptive skills, and nonadaptive skills. normality assumptions of the pearson’s correlation coefficient were fulfilled. according to the literature, correlations less than .30 are considered “low,” correlations between .30 and .70 are considered “medium,” and correlations between .70 and .90 are considered “high” (spencer, 1995). results two hundred and thirty three children were reported to be taking medication on a regular basis, representing 15% of the head start sample. the average number of medications reported per child was 1.67 (sd = 1.3). over half of the children (56%) taking medications were taking one type of medication, and 27% of the children taking medications were taking two medications. the most common combination of medication was a quick-relief and a long-term asthma medication. approximately one-third of students (34%) taking medications were taking a combination of long and short-term asthma medications. table 2 demographic characteristics of children taking medications as a percentage of the sample overall sample medication sample characteristic (n = 1544) (n = 233) race african american 28.5 (440) 46.0** (108) caucasian 40.4 (624) 36.0 (85) hispanic 9.5 (147) 12.0 (27) multiracial 19.0 (293) 3.0** (8) other 2.6 (40) 2.0 (5) gender male 50.8 (784) 58.0* (136) female 49.2 (760) 42.0 (97) note. p values are based on chi square tests of independence. *p < .05, ** p < .001 chi-square tests of independence were performed to examine the relationship between ethnicity and medication usage, as well as gender and medication usage (table 2). the relationship between ethnicity and medication usage was significant,  2 (4, n =1544) = 68.44, p < 0.01. examination of the standardized residuals indicated african american children were more likely to be taking medication than any other ethnic group, and multiracial children were less likely to be taking medication than any other ethnic group. a second chi-square test of independence was performed to examine the relationship between gender and medication usage. 90 seif & carlson the relationship between these variables was significant,  2 (1, n =1544) = 5.95, p < 0.05 (table 2). males were more likely than females to be taking medication. as shown in table 3, psychopharmacological treatments accounted for 1.4% (n = 4) of the medications in the sample, while pharmacological treatments accounted for 98.6% of the medications in the sample. asthma medications comprised 68.5% of all medications, and allergy medications comprised 20.5% of all medications. seventy-eight percent of all medications were prescription medications, and 22% were over-the-counter medications. of the children taking asthma medications, 51.5% (n =114) of asthma medications were quick-relief asthma medications, while 48.5% (n =100) were long-term control asthma medications. loratadine (claritin) was the most widely used allergy medication, followed by cetirizine (zyrtec) and diphenhydramine (benadryl). twenty-six of the children who were taking allergy medications were also taking asthma medications, indicating that 16% of children taking asthma medications were also taking an allergy medication. results of fischer’s exact tests indicated gender was a factor in differences in medication use (see table 4). males were more likely to be taking any type of medication with a prevalence of 17.3% (136/784), compared to 12.8% (97/760) of females (p = 0.01). however, males were not any more likely to be taking an asthma medication (p = 0.15) or psychotropic medication than females (p = 0.12). there were also significant differences in asthma medication usage based on ethnicity. african american students were more likely to be taking any type of medication with a prevalence of 25% (108/440), compared to 14% (85/624) of caucasian students (p <0.001). this was predominantly due to the fact that african american students were more likely to take asthma medication with a prevalence of 23.0% (101/440), compared to 10.1% (63/624) of caucasian students (p <0.001). hispanic students too were more likely to take asthma medication than caucasian students with a prevalence of 17.7% (26/147) compared to 10.1% (63/624) of caucasian students (p = 0.01). african american students were not any more likely to take asthma medications than hispanic students with a prevalence of 23% (101/440) compared to 17.7% (26/147) of hispanic students (p = 0.20). significant differences based on ethnicity also existed in the types of asthma medication students used. african american students were more likely to take a quick-relief asthma medication with a prevalence of 15.7% (69/440), compared to 5.0% (31/624) of caucasian students (p <0.001). caucasian students were more likely to take a long-term-control asthma medication with a prevalence of 5.4% (34/624), compared to 9.0% (40/440) of african american students (p = 0.03). medication use in head start sample 91 table 3 prevalence of medications taken by children in the sample (n =312) medication percentage n asthma 68.5 214 quick relief 36.5 114 albuterol 33.3 104 pro air 0.3 1 xopenex 2.9 9 long-term control 32.1 100 pulmicort 14.1 44 singulair 14.7 46 flovent 3.2 10 allergy 20.5 64 prescription 0.9 3 allegra 0.3 1 nasonex 0.3 1 flonase 0.3 1 otc 19.6 61 claritin 11.5 36 zyrtec 4.8 15 benadryl 2.9 9 saline spray 0.3 1 general prescription 5.8 18 prevacid 3.8 12 antibiotics 0.6 2 tylenol with codeine 0.6 2 exjade 0.3 1 reglan 0.3 1 general otc medication 2.2 7 cold/cough 0.6 2 stool softener 0.6 2 vitamins/minerals 0.9 3 psychotropic 1.3 4 skin 1.6 5 92 seif & carlson table 4 p values of demographic differences in medication usage medication asthma medication any psychotropic any quick relief long-term males/females 0.013* 0.1250 0.1520 0.3100 0.3790 african american/caucasian < 0.0001*** 0.5730 <0.0001*** <0.0001*** 0.027* african american/hispanic 0.1413 0.2040 0.1760 0.3040 caucasian/hispanic 0.1526 0.014* 0.0120 0.6930 note. p values are based on fischer’s exact test. *p < .05, *** p < .001 medication prevalence in a head start sample 93 results of pearson correlational analyses indicated no relationship between asthma medications and behavioral characteristics. children who took albuterol, pulmicort, or singulair were not any more or less likely to exhibit internalizing, externalizing, adaptive, or maladaptive behaviors than children who were not taking those types of medications. as shown in table 5, 28% of the students (n = 35) displayed internalizing behaviors, such as keeping to themselves or withdrawing from others. twenty-seven percent (n = 32) of the students taking allergy and asthma medications displayed externalizing behaviors, such as yelling or biting. the same number of students (n = 32) displayed maladaptive behaviors, such as having difficulty transitioning or becoming easily frustrated. a smaller percentage (19%; n = 24) of students exhibited adaptive behaviors, such as helping others or getting along well with others. similar patterns were present among children taking allergy medications in addition to other types of medications (n = 13). students were equally as likely to exhibit externalizing (n = 5) or internalizing behaviors (n = 5). fewer children were reported to exhibit externalizing characteristics (n = 2) or internalizing characteristics (n = 1). table 5 behavioral characteristics as a percentage of the sample allergies/asthma allergies/asthma plus other medications characteristic (n=124) (n=233) externalizing 27 (32) 38 (5) internalizing 28 (35) 38 (5) maladaptive 27 (32) 8 (1) adaptive 19 (24) 16 (2) discussion the purpose of this descriptive study was to reexamine the prevalence of medications in a head start preschool sample given previous disparities reported in the literature, analyze trends in medication use based on gender and ethnicity, and explore common behavioral concerns in children taking medication. study results indicate a substantial increase in prevalence of medication use in our head start sample. in 2006, 6.8% (n = 95) of children were taking a pharmacological or psychopharmacological medication (brinkman & carlson, 2008). two years later, 11% (n = 170) of children representing a similar sample were taking a pharmacological or psychopharmacological medication. when asked about all medications, 15% of parents reported their child was taking a medication. although the overall medication prevalence rate increased, the average number of medications per child decreased from 2.3 in 2006 (brinkman & carlson, 2008) to 1.67 in 2008, indicating less use of polypharmacy practices within this population. the apparent increase in overall medication use within our sample may partly be attributed to the change in the prompt in the 2008 head start enrollment packet. the 2008 prompt gave examples of different types of medications caregivers might list, such as otc medications or seasonal medications. the 2006 prompt was more limited and did not provide caregivers with examples of medications they could include. as a result, caregivers may not have 94 seif & carlson indicated any otc medications their children were taking when this study was initially completed in 2006. this is important to note, since the increase in medication use of the 2008 sample was primarily the result of otc allergy medications, specifically loratadine (claritin) and cetirizine (zyrtec). cetirizine (zyrtec) was not available as an otc medication until 2007 (bastianelli, 2008). the majority of prescription medications in this study were used to treat asthma. this is consistent with research that indicates preschoolers have the highest asthma rate in the united states (akinbami, moorman, garbe, & sondik, 2009). results of this study indicated that 18.6% (n = 82) of african american children and 7.9% (n = 49) of caucasian children were taking medications to treat asthma. the discrepancy in this sample is larger than what is usually reported in the literature. in the united states, approximately 8.5% of all children have asthma, with prevalence varying according to race; approximately 12.5% of african american children have asthma, whereas only 7.7% of caucasian children have asthma (peters & fritz, 2010). the percentage of psychotropic medications in this sample was surprisingly low, as less than one percent of children (n = 4) were reported to be taking psychotropic medications. this is only slightly less than the 0.3% reported by brinkman & carlson (2008), but much less than other studies have reported. for example, zito and colleagues (2007) reported that 2.3% of american preschool children were taking a psychotropic medication. a large body of evidence indicates that males are more likely to take psychotropic medications than females (olfson et al., 2010; zito et al., 2007). this study further supports those findings, since all four psychotropic medications (i.e. methylphenidate (ritalin), risperidone (risperidol)) were prescribed to males. in addition, the findings of this study underscore the importance of teaching and caring for preschool children particularly males with warmth to promote prosocial behaviors. lack of maternal warmth has been associated with increased rates of hyperactivity in boys (keown, 2011). in a recent study, maternal warmth and responsiveness toward boys during the preschool years was positively associated with social skill development (morgan, shaw, & forbes, 2014). given the greater vulnerability of boys to hyperactivity and externalizing behaviors that may result in medication treatment, the importance of warmth and nurturing toward male students in the preschool classroom is essential knowledge for head start teachers and staff members. reported behavioral characteristics indicate that of the children taking allergies and asthma medications, approximately the same number of children exhibit externalizing characteristics (27%; n = 32) as internalizing characteristics (28%; n = 35) and maladaptive characteristics (27%; n = 32). however, this may be due to the belief that externalizing behaviors are easier for caregivers to track and recall, when compared to internalizing behaviors (rockhill et al., 2007). the association between mental health issues and childhood asthma is particularly important for caregivers and education professionals to understand, since current research indicates that the mental health of caregivers of children with asthma may be more important than the mental health of children with asthma (feldman et al., 2011). caregivers of children with asthma may not be aware of the link between their mental health status and the child’s response to his asthma. implications prevalence rates of medication use in preschoolers have implications of the education and training of early childhood personnel. providing educational and health services to at-risk medication prevalence in a head start sample 95 children and families are core values of head start programs (u.s. department of health and human services, 2010). knowledge of the effects and side effects of medications for common preschool illnesses is important not only for parents of children, but also for those who care for them outside of the home setting. in this sample, 43% of the students reported to be taking medications were taking a combination of medications with unknown interaction effects. the high number of male children and african american children taking medication in this study compared to their peers is consistent with the current literature indicating the higher rate of asthma in both groups (diaz et al., 2000; halterman et al., 2000; peters & fritz, 2010). head start staff members and families need to be equipped with knowledge about medication trends based on gender and ethnicity, research behind over-the-counter medications and prescription medications used to treat asthma and other common preschool illnesses, and the role of children’s and caregivers’ mental health in relation to chronic illness. for example, children with asthma have been reported to have frequent sleep interruptions and experience fatigue. behavior problems and poor academic performance sometimes associated with medication use need to be considered in light of sleep difficulties, mental health challenges, and physical challenges. although it is common for some physicians to instruct parents to administer otc medication to their children to manage medical conditions, it is important for physicians to explain the contraindications of otc drugs to parents in order for parents to make more empowered decisions pertaining to their children’s health. some physicians rarely inquire about the use of otc medications, and many caregivers do not perceive otc medications as medications (gunn et al., 2001). young children are often given improper dosages of over-thecounter medications by caregivers who have inadequate numeracy skills to determine the correct dosage, or are incorrectly swayed by labels and graphics (lokker et al., 2009). for example, an otc medication featuring an image of an infant on the front cover may not be appropriate for an infant, but a child over two years of age. although combinations of medications are often necessary to treat asthma-related conditions, many of the medications used to treat this sample of preschoolers have limited safety and efficacy data when used in preschool populations. it is important for all caregivers and staff members to know that current data do not indicate cough and cold medications are effective in reducing the symptoms of the common cold and cough in children (carr, 2006; vernacchio et al., 2008). however, this does not diminish the importance of treating children’s medical ailments to reduce pain and suffering. programs and materials about asthma medication and asthma management are usually designed for older students and require a high level of resources to access, even though preschoolers have the highest asthma rate in the united states (michael, 2002). more data are needed on both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions for preschool-age children. educating head start professionals and caregivers of preschool children about the risk factors and protective factors of asthma may encourage caregivers to seek treatment for their children at an earlier age. high levels of asthma care, attention, and asthma management strategies are protective factors for children with asthma (berz, murdock, & mitchell, 2005). from a pragmatic standpoint, families with children attending head start need access to educational programming concerning children’s health issues that is affordable, efficient, and amenable to transportation difficulties that many families in this population face. it is important to encourage caregivers to seek consistent medical care for their children to manage their children’s asthma symptoms. in addition, it is important to provide head start families with information about how to access appropriate health care resources. children who 96 seif & carlson are living in poverty and who are african american or latino account for the highest proportion of hospitalizations and emergency room use (lin et al., 1999), and are less likely to receive high quality preventative asthma care prior to receiving treatment in a hospital (finkelstein et al., 1995). furthermore, in addition to a lack of preventative medical care, students from low ses backgrounds are much more likely to supervise their own medication than their more affluent counterparts (eggleston et al., 1998). collaboration between health care providers, students, and families is important not only to educate staff and families about managing medical conditions, but also to empower staff and families with non-pharmacological interventions that could be used to enhance treatment options. although the prevention and reduction of asthma-related symptoms is important, some children will always be dependent upon medication. supporting families in dealing with chronic childhood illness and increasing collaboration across health care staff, educational staff, and families is an essential component of progressive interventions. asthma care plans, in conjunction with parent education and support services, are helpful in optimizing treatment compliance. school psychologists and other professionals in early childhood care settings are well trained to monitor the effects of medical interventions and school-based care plans on preschool students’ social/emotional well-being and academic performance. they also ensure that families are aware of resources to help them manage their child’s condition. tailoring programs and education materials to specific populations may increase the effectiveness of the programming and create better long-term outcomes for the children they serve. limitations a limitation of this study was the use of parent reported data. in order to maintain privacy or avoid social stigma, caregivers may have chosen not to list certain medications – particularly psychotropic medications. in addition, based on the wording of the survey prompt, it is difficult to determine if caregivers listed medications that their children take on a daily basis, as well as medications their children take on a more infrequent basis. the differences between the 2006 and 2008 survey prompts make it difficult to compare the medication prevalence of the 2006 head start sample to the 2008 head start sample. in the 2008 prompt, caregivers were specifically asked to list otc medications in addition to other types of medications, which they were not asked to list in the 2006 prompt. in addition, the small sample sizes used to describe behavioral problems and medication use limits the validity of the data, and there was no comparison to children who were not on medication. the purpose of this descriptive study was not to imply causation related to asthma medication and behavioral challenges, but rather explore if an association exists. however, this is difficult to do in light of the other variables that may be affecting this association. finally, the data collection method of this study prohibited the possibility of linking medications to specific medical diagnoses, and the results of this study are limited in their generalizability to other preschool populations. references akinbami, l., moorman, j., garbe, p., & sondik, e. 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(2000). trends in prescribing of psychotropic medications to preschoolers. journal of the american medical association, 283, 1025-1030. doi: 10.1001/jama.283.8.1025 zito. j., safer, d., valluri, s., gardner, j., korelitz, j. & donald mattison. (2007). psychotherapeutic medication prevalence in medicaid-insured preschoolers. journal of adolescent psychopharmacology, 17, 195-203. doi: 10.1089/cap.2007.0006 dialog, 18(3), 26-46 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research article milieu language strategies on english language growth in children who are english language learners emily mallory gayle luze iowa state university it was aim of this study to examine how two distinct perspectives, bilingual education and special education, can be used to inform each other to provide preschool teachers with effective language strategies to use with children learning english as a second language. the researchers found milieu language strategies can encourage english growth and can be implemented with fidelity by the teachers into regular, daily interactions and teaching with the children. language-based teaching strategies are helpful in facilitating verbal interactions between children and with the teachers while promoting language growth in children who are native english speakers and those who are learning english as a second language. keywords: language acquisition; english as a second language, preschool searching for methods and strategies to assist children who are english language learners (ell) is not a new phenomenon, given the long history of bilingual individuals in the united states and the research conducted on the outcomes and developmental progression of second language acquisition of bilingual individuals and children. there are critical challenges and concerns for children and teachers given the rapid increase of children who are ells in schools across the nation (garcia & jensen, 2009; nces, 2010; migration policy institute, 2010). how to best teach children from non-english speaking families challenges many teachers due to the language barrier between the children and the english-speaking teachers. when teachers do not know how to best teach children from homes that do not speak english, the children tend to have lower levels of achievement than their english speaking peers and higher school drop-out rates (bruna, vann, & escudero, 2007; ruiz-de-velasco & fix, 2000; waggoner, 1999). as a result, it is imperative that effective and appropriate teaching strategies be identified that teachers of all grades, but especially preschool, can implement to foster the english language growth and development of children who are ells. effective teaching strategies for preschool teachers are especially important because many children who are ells first encounter an english-dominant environment in preschool (jones, 1993). milieu language strategies for ells in preschool 27 the issue of bilingual education can be a sensitive topic, especially as children who are ells have been too often mistaken as requiring special education and their first language regarded as damaging to their english acquisition and use (national head start association, 2014; valdes & figueroa, 1994). according to national center of education statistics (nces; as cited by proctor, dalton, & grisham, 2007), children of spanish-speaking hispanic decent, compared to all other ethnic and minority groups in the u.s., have the lowest rates of achievement and attainment in school. another issue that further compounds the school achievement and performance rates of children who are ells is teacher preparedness and training in teaching children who are ells. in a national study, 54% of teachers educate children who are ells; yet, only 17% of the teachers felt prepared to meet the educational needs of these children (nces, 2002). another study found that teachers reported not having adequate training in effective teaching practices they could use with children who are ells (nces, 2001). in a recent study of head start teachers, many teachers reported they had a limited number of effective strategies they could use for communicating with children who are ells (worthington, et al., 2011). research has linked teacher preparedness and training to children’s language and literacy skills both for children who are acquiring their native language or another language (burgess, lundgren, lloyd, & pianta, 2001; weigel, martin, & bennett, 2005; zepeda, castro, & cronin, 2011). it is aim of this study to examine how two distinct perspectives, bilingual education and special education, can be used to inform each other. this study examined how instructional strategies created and implemented from a special education perspective based on multiple developmental and recommended teaching practices, milieu language strategies, can be used with children who are ells as a means of providing teachers with developmentally appropriate strategies and providing children who are ells with consistent comprehensible input to acquire english. this study recognizes that children with special needs, children who are ells, and native english speakers do not necessarily have similar abilities and learning needs. these groups of children are similar in that they need to be able to communicate with those around them, teachers, adults, and peers; and may benefit from systematic instruction in learning language. children who are ells are able to draw on their knowledge and understanding regarding the function of language from their first language to transfer to the second language to make meaning of the second language input they are receiving (baker, 2006; cummins, 1984; ellis, 2008; valdes & figueroa, 1994). children will transfer skills from whatever language stage they are in or have skills previously acquired in their first language to the second language, such as vocabulary, phonological processing skills, alphabet or print similarities, decoding skills, and other skills (baker, 2006; ellis, 2008). the milieu language strategies enable the teacher to provide the children who are ells comprehensible input and the opportunity to draw upon and transfer their underlying language knowledge from their first language to english. the milieu strategies provide the teachers a systematic approach to helping the children acquire and use the surface features of english that may not directly transfer from the children’s first language to english. the strategies provide a framework for the teachers to help the children acquire language skills and transfer language knowledge the children may only have in their first language. 28 mallory & luze milieu language strategies and research there are four milieu language strategies: model, mand-model, time delay, and incidental teaching. the strategies are based on environmental arrangements and joint attention which provide the foundation for teacher-child interactions. these strategies were originally developed by hart and rogers-warren (1978) and have been further defined and conceptualized by others, including kaiser, hendrickson, and alpert (1991), warren, yoder, and leew (2002), and hancock and kaiser (2006). the environmental arrangement is based on two ideas: there are interesting materials in the classroom which the child is interested in and that some of the interesting materials are out of reach of the child. the first milieu strategy, model, occurs when a teacher focuses on the interesting object the child has. the teacher provides a simple verbal model, a statement, regarding the object. when the child provides a correct response to the teacher’s model, the child is praised and the utterance is expanded; if the object was out of reach, the object is given to the child. if an incorrect or no response is given to the teacher, the teacher repeats the model, up to three times while giving the child time to respond each time, and is given the object after the third model. the second strategy, mand-model, is used when the child is highly interested in an object and in obtaining it and the teacher feels the child is likely to be able to respond correctly to the teacher. the teacher provides a mand, either a complex question or statement, to the child regarding the object. if the child responds correctly, the object is given, if not, the teacher repeats the mand up to three times unless the child is losing interest and then the teacher provides a model, which is less complex and gives the child the object. the third milieu strategy is time delay and occurs when the teacher is deliberately not responding immediately to the child’s request or typical utterance in order to encourage the child to communicate with the teacher. there are eight ways in which a teacher can create a time delay situation: the first two are model and mand-model, previously described, sabotage in which the child is directed to a task requiring materials that are not within reach, violation of expectations occurs when the teacher deviates from the typical routine to do something silly instead, protestation is when the teacher does something the child does not like to encourage the child to protest about it, difficult materials occurs when the child is presented with a task that requires assistance from the teacher and the child is encouraged to request assistance, multiple parts occurs when a child is presented with a multi-step task but does not receive all the necessary materials to complete the task, and finally, choice making is when a child is non-verbally presented a choice between two options and the child has to indicate a choice. all of these situations are designed to encourage the child to ask for assistance. the fourth milieu strategy is incidental teaching and is the most linguistically demanding for the child. this strategy is used to teach the child a complex language skill, such as conversational turn taking about the interesting object, or to improve the child’s speech intelligibility. any of the above described situations is used as a starting point for this strategy. several studies have examined the use of milieu language strategies with children who have language delays. the studies examining the outcomes of milieu language strategy use have consistently found that the use of these strategies is effective for facilitating language use and growth in children with language delays (hancock & kaiser, 2002; kaiser & hester, 1994; warren, et al., 2008; yoder, et al., 1995). more recently, research conducted with children who have autism has found milieu strategies to be effective in increasing their social communication skills. considerable research has focused on the use of these strategies with much younger milieu language strategies for ells in preschool 29 children, usually ranging in age from 9 to 15 months (fey, et al., 2006; warren, et al., 2006; warren, et al., 2008; warren, et al., 2002; yoder & warren, 2002). none of the research conducted with young toddlers or preschoolers has followed the use of milieu strategies over the course of a school year or with children who are ells. these studies illustrate the benefits arising from the use of milieu language strategies (fey, et al., 2006; hancock & kaiser, 2002; kaiser & hester, 1994; warren, et al., 2006; warren, et al., 2008; warren, et al., 2002; yoder, et al., 1995; yoder & warren, 2002). the children in the above studies demonstrated increases in their overall communication by increases in the length and number of utterances, the number of different words used, the number of spontaneous utterances, and turn taking behaviors. all the studies involved training teachers to implement milieu strategies, monitoring teacher implementation of the strategies, as well as assessing children’s language use before, during, and after completion of the interventions. as a result, all the studies had small sample sizes. while this study configuration is typical of intervention studies, it does limit generalization of the results to children with other language skill and learning needs. none of the studies examined if the use of milieu language strategies may be used as effectively with children who are ells and this is potentially the first study to examine the effectiveness of using milieu language strategies with children who are ells. it is important to point out that children who are ells do not necessarily have a language delay or deficit, rather unique and varying levels of proficiency in two languages, which provides a wonderful opportunity to examine how the milieu strategies can be used to positively influence their second language acquisition. research questions three research questions were addressed in the current study: research question 1: what will teacher implementation fidelity of milieu language strategies look like in the classroom when given ongoing feedback and coaching? research question 2: do milieu language strategies have a positive impact on language growth for children who are ells? research question 3: what are head start teachers’ perceptions of using milieu language strategies to increase language growth in children who are ells? measures milieu language strategy intervention implementation checklist during the observations, a milieu language strategy intervention implementation fidelity checklist was completed weekly, which was created for this study. the 20 items on the checklist were designed to be interrelated with each other and to reflect basic similarities and prerequisites for effective interactions between the teacher and the child. items included: teacher identified child’s preferred routines/activities, teacher uses materials to encourage communication, teacher physically engages in child’s activity, and teacher models language at the child’s ability level. 30 mallory & luze for coaching purposes, the teachers had to achieve a weekly minimum fidelity score of 80% of the checklist or they received coaching during the next strategy implementation session. feedback and coaching were provided weekly or as needed to maintain fidelity of strategy implementation. bracken basic concepts scales the bracken basic concept scales, third edition (bbcs iii; bracken, 2006) were administered in the fall and in the spring in english to determine english language growth of the study children during the school year. the bbcs iii is an assessment of basic concepts that are related to school readiness along with an assessment of expressive language for children ages 3-0 to 7-0 that has an overall internal consistency of r=.94 and correlates at moderate to high levels with other assessments used with young children, such as ppvt, pls-4 and binet iv (bracken n.d.). picture naming individual growth and development indicator the picture naming individual growth and development indicator (igdi; university of minnesota, 2006) is a minute-long assessment used with children ages 3-5 that has been shown to be a valid and reliable measure of the children’s expressive language skills (nitsiou, 2006). it was administered to each child individually weekly by showing the child a series of pictures of objects found in their natural environments, such as ball, train, fish, belt, banana, and orange (missall, mcconnell, & cadigan, 2006). the number of correctly named pictures in english within the one minute was the child’s score (missall, et al., 2006). participants three teachers and their classes at a head start program in iowa participated in the study during the 2009-2010 school year. at the beginning of the study, teachers and the parents of all the children in the three participating classes signed a consent form. the head start program had 7 classrooms that served 107 children during the previous school year, 2008-2009. of those children from the previous school year, 79% were from families who were below the poverty line. none of the teachers spoke a language other than english, all of them were euro-american females, and each had at least an a.a. degree. three teachers at this head start location participated in the study. they taught between 11 and 16 years at head start. there were 18 children in the three classrooms, 16 of the 18 children in all of the classrooms were ells and were eligible to enter kindergarten the following school year. other languages spoken by the children included: english, spanish, lao, vietnamese, hmong, micronesian, sudanese, and german. in all three classrooms there were either 2 or 3 children who had minimal to no english exposure at home prior to the study. three children in each of the three teachers’ classrooms were the target children for the milieu language strategy intervention for a total of 9 children. children were selected to participate in the study based on english exposure and fluency. one native english speaker was chosen in each classroom to be the comparison child and two children who had minimal to no milieu language strategies for ells in preschool 31 english exposure at home prior to the study to be the intervention group. no preference was given to the first language of the children who were ells; however, all of the children who were ells and participated spoke spanish as their first language. procedures teacher training teachers received weekly trainings of 45 minutes for five weeks near the beginning of the study at the head start research site. each training session focused on a different milieu strategy, starting with the foundational strategies and building up to the more complex strategies, such as the incidental teaching strategies. at the end of each training session, the teachers brainstormed ideas about how and when they could implement the strategies with the participating children during the upcoming week. following the first training session, the teachers began receiving weekly coaching and feedback regarding their strategy implementation with the participating children to ensure the fidelity of strategy implementation. strategy implementation was staggered across the three participating children. center time, a time when children could choose what learning center to be at, such as dramatic play, reading books, sand table, was chosen for the weekly observations as the teacher and the participating children had several opportunities to interact and for the teacher to implement milieu strategies with these children. methods a mixed-methods design using both quantitative and qualitative data was used to best examine and analyze the research questions. a checklist was used weekly to assess the teachers’ fidelity of implementation and was tallied each day. one quantitative method, multiple baseline single case design, was used to analyze the relationship between the teachers’ use of the milieu language strategies and the children’s language growth over time and compared to the scores on the bracken basic concept scales, third edition (bbcs iii; bracken, 2006). a qualitative method, case study, was used to examine and understand the teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the milieu language strategies as beneficial teaching strategies they could use with children who are ells in the future. multiple baseline single case design a multiple baseline single case design was selected for this study as the most effective method to examine closely the relationship between changes in an independent variable (teacher use of milieu strategies compared to typical instruction) and dependent variables (child expressive communication as measured with the picture naming igdi; university of minnesota, 2006). once three baseline data points were collected, the teachers began receiving training on the milieu strategies and implementing the strategies with one of the three participating children in their classrooms. one child out of the three from each classroom was randomly selected to be 32 mallory & luze the first child to receive the milieu strategy intervention after the baseline phase. the other two children in the classroom who had met the selection criteria continued to be assessed weekly but did not immediately receive the milieu language strategy. the three children received the intervention serially at different points in time during the school year. two different analyses were conducted on the multiple baseline single case data, visual analysis and percentage of non-overlapping data points. in visual analysis, the plotted data are examined for evidence of a pattern, an increase, a decrease, or a stable line (riley-tillman & burns, 2009). in the current study, an increase over the plotted data was desirable as it was hypothesized that the children’s language would grow over time. the second analysis conducted on the multiple baseline single case data was the percentage of non-overlapping data, which is used when an increase in the target behavior is expected. the percentage of non-overlapping data was used because it corresponds to effect sizes typical in quantitative methodology to determine the effectiveness of a treatment on an outcome. scruggs and mastropieri (1998) have identified effect sizes based on the percentage of non-overlapping data with below 50% as an ineffective intervention, 50-70% a slight or questionable intervention effect, 70-90% as an effective intervention, and above 90% as a highly effective intervention. thirty percent of the picture naming igdi (university of minnesota, 2006) and the bbcs iii (bracken, 2006) assessments were video-recorded to check administration reliability. reliability ranged from 72% to 100% with an average reliability of 98% on the picture naming igdi. reliability on the bracken basic concept scales ranged from 82% to 100% with an average reliability of 96%. case study a qualitative case study methodology was used to evaluate the teachers’ perceptions about the implementation of the milieu strategies, as well as their perceptions of the impact of the strategies on the participating children’s language growth. the three head start teachers participated in one focus group and two individual interviews that were audio recorded and later transcribed for analysis. the focus group occurred at the beginning of the school year explored what instructional strategies the teachers were currently using, the number of children in the classroom, and which children met the selection criteria. the individual teachers participated in two individual interviews during the last half of the school year. each teacher was asked to discuss her perceptions regarding the progress of each of the three participating children’s language growth to date and then was presented graphs of the children’s picture naming igdi data and then asked to discuss how these data correspond to her personal perceptions of the participating children’s language growth. in the final interview, teachers were asked the above questions and if they intended to use the strategies again in the future with other children. within the case study design, data from the focus groups and individual interviews were analyzed and coded for themes using within-case and cross-case analyses. themes, important concepts from individual data (lichtman, 2006) and common across all interviews (creswell, 2007), were extracted from each case, each teacher in this study, that related to the research questions. themes pertaining to the teachers’ perceptions of the milieu strategy intervention and the impact of the strategies on the children’s language growth were the focus. as data analysis progressed, other themes and sub-themes emerged from the data that related to the teachers’ perceptions were examined and incorporated, as applicable, into the overall themes relating to milieu language strategies for ells in preschool 33 the research questions. for this study, the multiple sources and data collection methods were used to provide trustworthiness and rigor to the analysis: multiple baseline single case data, a focus group, individual interviews, member checks, and prolonged involvement in the data collection process. results fidelity of teachers’ strategy implementation in response to the first research question, the weekly coaching fidelity sheets were examined as well as field notes taken about each observation of center time and the teachers’ comments each week. two different patterns of implementation occurred among the three teachers which resulted in two different coaching and feedback responses. two teachers consistently implemented the milieu language strategies with the children and only with the children who should be receiving the language strategies. these two teachers actively participated in the training sessions and at the end of each training session were able to identify through the discussion time at the end of the sessions different opportunities during which they could implement the strategies with the participating children. during the training phase, teacher 1 implemented the strategies and the prerequisite aspects of the strategies correctly 88.6% of the time and teacher 2 97% of the time. during the weekly observations following the training sessions, these two teachers needed little to no coaching and feedback about their strategy implementation. these two teachers were able to flexibly use the strategies during their interactions with the participating children. over the entire school year, teacher 1 implemented the strategies correctly 91% of the time and teacher 2 implemented the strategies 92.3% correctly of the time. the third teacher, did not consistently implement the strategies with the participating children. she participated in the training sessions, but struggled to implement what was presented and discussed during the training sessions. she received additional coaching and feedback weekly, but even with this additional coaching, she implemented the strategies correctly 62.6% of the time during the training phase. after the training sessions, she continued to receiving weekly coaching and feedback about different activities and interactions during which she could use the strategies with the participating children. overall, teacher 3 was able to correctly implement the strategies 56.5% of the time during the entire school year. impact on language growth to answer the second research question, the children’s fall and spring scores on the bbcs iii assessments and the weekly picture naming igdi scores were examined. at the beginning of the school year, all six of the children who were ells were considered below the age equivalent approximations on the bbcs iii in both receptive and expressive communication skills. the three children who spoke english as their first language were at or above the age equivalent approximations on both communication measures of the bbcs iii. at the end of the school year, the four of the six children who were ells showed increases in their receptive language scores 34 mallory & luze of at least one year based on the age equivalent approximations, while the other two children showed increases of less than one year in the age equivalent approximations. on the expressive measure of the bbcs iii, four of the six children who were ells showed increases of at least 6 months or more based on the age equivalent approximations, while one of the other children showed no change and one child a small increase in expressive language skills. the three children who spoke english as their first language showed increases on the expressive language measure of about one year based on the age equivalent approximations. the bbcs iii scores do not reflect the linguistic proficiency of the children who were ells because their spanish language knowledge and skills were not assessed. the children’s scores are presented as if they were monolingual english speakers rather than their linguistic proficiency and understanding of the function and use of language. the scores are presented in this way to indicate english language growth during the school year these children demonstrated and the potential language “gap” their teachers might perceive them as having. their scores are also not a reflection of their cognitive functioning or ability. the results of the picture naming igdi displayed two patterns of responses to the milieu language strategy intervention during the school year. the three children who spoke english as their first language did not show any noticeable changes in their language use when correctly identifying pictures during the picture naming igdi assessments (see figures 1, 2, and 3). following the implementation of the intervention, their assessment results showed a stable pattern of vocabulary and expressive language knowledge based on the percentage of nonoverlapping data. the children who were ells demonstrated gains in their expressive language skills and vocabulary knowledge based on the picture naming igdi results. the children, following the implementation of the intervention, demonstrated slight to high effect sizes based on the percentage of non-overlapping data for correctly identified pictures, which can be considered an indicator of an effective intervention or treatment (scruggs & mastropieri, 1998). milieu language strategies for ells in preschool 35 figure 1. weekly picture naming individual growth and development indicator assessment results in teacher 1’s classroom. the dotted horizontal line indicates percent of non-overlapping data and the dotted vertical line indicates the staggered baseline across the children. ell 1 ell 2 non-ell 36 mallory & luze ell 1 non-ell ell 2 milieu language strategies for ells in preschool 37 figure 2. weekly picture naming individual growth and development indicator assessment results in teacher 2’s classroom. the dotted horizontal line indicates the percent of non-overlapping data and the vertical line indicates the staggered baseline across the children. ell 1 non-ell ell 2 38 mallory & luze figure 3. weekly picture naming individual growth and development indicator assessment results for teacher 3’s classroom. the dotted horizontal line indicates percent of non-overlapping data and the vertical dotted line indicates the staggered baseline across the children. teacher’s perceptions of the strategies to answer the third and final research question, the transcripts of the focus group and the individual teacher interviews were examined. four major themes were identified from the transcripts: perceptions of teaching strategies, perceptions about language acquisition, observations about the milieu strategies, and the impact and endorsement of the milieu strategies on the children’s language use in the classroom. within the strategies theme, the teachers referred to the positive behavioral support (pbs; renamed positive behavioral interventions and supports, pbis; www.pbis.org) as a source of some of the strategies they used with the children in their classrooms. teacher 3 felt that with pbis, she had more strategies she could use than what she would have had otherwise if she were not a pilot classroom for pbis. she also felt that because she was familiar with and using the pbis strategies she had a better understanding of how to adjust and be flexible in her strategy use with the children. while the other two teachers, teachers 1 and 2, had not been trained on pbis, they had other strategies to contribute to the discussion about the usefulness of strategies when interacting and teaching young children. they mentioned using open-ended questions, using picture cues, repetition, and saying things for the children who were ell in their classrooms. all three of the teachers struggled to identify specific strategies they use with children and specifically with children who were ells. teacher 2 commented that it was difficult for her to identify strategies because strategies are something you “just do and you don’t have to think about it and spit it out what it is”. all the teachers stated that strategies were an important aspect of teaching young children, regardless of the children’s first language. despite any frustrations they had at the beginning of a school year trying to determine which strategies were going to work well with that particular class of children and the individual children, the teachers recognized the benefits and value they gained by utilizing different strategies with the children. “i think the strategies overall do work throughout the year because you’ll see such big growth in their learning and not just learning english but other things the other academic skills we’re working on (teacher 3).” the second main theme was the teachers’ perceptions of children’s second language acquisition. underlying this theme was the idea that “young children learn so quickly”, which created an interesting analysis of the teachers’ responses because the teachers would acknowledge the importance of adjusting the strategies used with the individual children to conveying a belief that strategy use was not overly effective teaching the children since they would learn the content and the language easily through exposure to english. the teachers felt that it was important to try to use spanish with the native spanish speaking children in their classrooms but they also expressed the need to help the children acquire english at the same time. all of the teachers agreed that they would often start off the school year using phrases or sentences in spanish to help guide and interact with the children who were native spanish speakers, but as the school year progressed, the teachers reduced the frequency with which they used spanish as a method of communication with the children. all of the teachers stated they felt the children acquired english more quickly when they used less spanish during their interactions with the children. “they seem to pick up english more quickly milieu language strategies for ells in preschool 39 when i just kind of slowly drop out the spanish (teacher 3)” and “they pick up the english pretty quickly even though you don’t use spanish a lot with them (teacher 3).” consequently, the teachers believed that they did not need to completely adjust their strategy use and interaction patterns with the children learning english since the children would acquire english and be able to function in the classroom with minimal input through their first language. however, even though the native spanish speaking children were often the greater majority of the children in their classrooms, the teachers did not use as many basic words in the other non-english speaking children’s first language, such as german, lao, or sudanese. instead, the teachers used english with a few words to short sentences in spanish to communicate with all of the children in their classrooms. the third theme was the teachers felt that the milieu language strategies were similar to the strategies they had been using before the study. when teacher 3 was asked about the effectiveness of the milieu strategies, she replied, “i think they’re similar to what we have always done and i think they were successful.” if this teacher’s response is taken on face-value, it is obvious she believes that using strategies to help children understand and learn is important. however, if her response is looked at more closely, it becomes apparent that she does not stop and reflect on the impact that strategies, when thoughtfully, appropriately, and intentionally used, can have on children’s learning and development. teacher 1 mentioned how learning about the milieu language strategies made her stop and think about when to use specific strategies and what her intended outcome for using a specific strategy was because using strategies for her had become a routine, automatic behavior. one outcome of this teacher stopping to reflect and recognize her strategy use with three participating children was she thought about how these strategies function and different ways she could change how she used them and being able to adjust her use of strategies to each child’s level of language ability and production. there were two aspects of the strategies that the teachers kept hinting at throughout their discussion of the milieu strategies. the first was the idea of automaticity when using strategies in general because the teachers did not think about what strategies they were using, or even if they were using appropriate strategies with the children. the second idea was a desire to not need strategies after the child had acquired the skill or knowledge that was the focus of the lesson or activity. this idea of the disposability of teaching strategies is frightening when one considers the flexibility, purpose, and potential longevity of teaching strategies, to allow teachers to mold their teaching and scaffolding to promote continual learning and development in children, not just in preschool but into later grades. the final main theme was the perceived impact of the milieu strategies on language use, which, upon analysis, was in opposition to the teachers’ endorsement about the effectiveness of the milieu strategies on the participating children’s language growth and use over the course of the school year. all of the teachers were able to provide many great examples of how the participating children’s language use and social interaction patterns had changed, especially of the participating children who were ells. the teachers’ comments provide an important context for understanding the complete reversal of their comments regarding their endorsement of the strategies. each of the following examples provides behavioral evidence of the benefits the teachers saw from using the strategies with the children, such as the children using new words while interacting with a teacher, the children taking more initiative with peers, and a greater willingness to continue talking despite having an incomplete vocabulary to express his or her thoughts. 40 mallory & luze he [ell 1] doesn’t have the high language but he is using sentences now, and comparable with some of the other children, and he does try and use a whole sentence but occasionally he leaves a word out because he is not sure what the word is. she [ell 2] does that once in awhile but her sentences have gotten longer and more detailed (teacher 2). she [ell 1] is definitely talking more and using more words. i think from the beginning of the school year to now, she [ell 2] is talking way more and isn’t as hesitant to talk. she seems more sure of herself and will say something even though sometimes it isn’t grammatically correct (teacher 1). i think actually they’re doing better [the participating children] than the other kids [non-participating children] because i think ‘oh i should’ve used that with them too. they would’ve gained more language’(teacher 3). in these quotes, all three of the teachers refer to the behavioral evidence they have seen in these participating children’s language growth, especially the children learning english. each quote indicates differences each child exhibited in their own personal growth and acquisition of english and their willingness to use their emerging english skills to interact with others. one aspect in these findings is the complete juxtaposition of the innumerable examples of how the children have grown in their english knowledge and use to the teachers’ tentative endorsement of the milieu strategies. the following statements from all three of the teachers appear to be positive and supportive of the milieu strategies, but upon closer examination of the wording and the references they make to other strategies they have used, the interpretation of their statements as supportive becomes more doubtful and whether the teachers will actually use them in the future with other children. i think they’re a lot similar to what we have always done and i think they were successful. i mean, she [ell 1] has picked up more language than i ever expected her to (teacher 3). i will probably continue because i have always used those [strategies]. i will probably do more of the joking teasing thing [sabotage] on children who are having more difficulty than in the past. i think that promoted me to use it more than i have been (teacher 2). when you come back and say, ‘wow’, i think ‘oh it is working’. i keep doing it [using the strategies] without thinking about how it is working (teacher 3). i think sticking with it [the strategies] over time you can tell the growth of the two girls (teacher 1). based on the teachers’ statements in the focus group and the individual interviews, a mixture of beliefs about strategies in general and the milieu strategies emerged. all of the teachers acknowledged the benefits and value in using milieu language strategies with young children, but also expressed doubt about the necessity of using strategies once the children had milieu language strategies for ells in preschool 41 acquired the skills and knowledge targeted by the strategies. it was intriguing that the teachers were able to describe how each of the participating children who were ells had progressed in their english acquisition, but yet all of the teachers were tentative in their endorsement regarding the effectiveness of milieu strategies, much less strategies in general that they had used for years. discussion several conclusions can be drawn from the results of this exploratory study. based on the results on the teachers’ fidelity of strategy implementation, on-going coaching and feedback was helpful for two teachers. two of the teachers were able to reach high levels of fidelity during the training phase and maintain those for the rest of the school year. these two teachers did not require regular on-going feedback and coaching. the third teacher was not able to reach high levels of fidelity either during or after the training phase. she received weekly on-going coaching and feedback, but did not improve in her fidelity of strategy implementation with the participating children. overall, the children showed signs of language growth during the language intervention. children who were ells showed gains in expressive and receptive language skills on the bracken basic skills measure as well as the picture naming igdi. most of these children had moderate to high effect sizes for the amount of language acquired during the study. the children who were native english speakers also increased in their language skills during the study. their language growth was not as dramatic as the language growth of the children who were ells because their language skills were already at typical monolingual age levels. however, the results indicate that the strategies were successful with the children who were ells as they had the steepest language growth trajectories. the children who were ells still lagged behind their native english speaking monolingual peers, but they made gains in their english skills. even though the assessment scores placed the children who were ells behind their monolingual english speaking peers, the assessments did not measure the children’s linguistic knowledge and proficiency in both spanish and english, which would have provided a better understanding and representation of the children’s language skills. these results indicate that language-based teaching strategies are helpful in reducing the language achievement gap that exists between young children who are native english speakers and those who are ells. being able to reduce the language gap between children who are ells is one way of reducing the academic achievement gap between native english speakers and children who are ells (xu & drame, 2008). however, it is important that through the process of acquiring english as a second language children do not lose their language skills in their first language (baker, 2006; valdes & figueroa, 1994). finally, based on the teachers’ statements in the focus group and the individual interviews, they were supportive of milieu language strategies but were tentative about the effectiveness of the strategies on language growth. all three of the teachers acknowledged there were benefits and value in using teaching strategies with young children, but they were doubtful how much they would use the milieu strategies again in the future with other children acquiring language skills. therefore it is important to provide training and learning opportunities to teachers about the evidence supporting the use of developmentally appropriate and effective teaching strategies, such as milieu language strategies. it is important that teachers receive on42 mallory & luze going training and learning opportunities about effective teaching strategies since most teachers will at some point have children who are ells in their classroom (gray & fleischman, 2004-05; nces, 2010; nsdc, 2001; usde, 2007). however, for teachers to receive the maximum benefit from trainings and learning opportunities about teaching strategies, the trainings need to be on-going over several days or weeks (nsdc, 2001; usde, 2007) and present ways teachers can implement new knowledge and skills into their teaching practices through self-reflection and coaching (crandall, 2001; hsieh, et al., 2009). the ability to implement a new skill into daily routines requires self-evaluation and self-reflection regarding performance (bailey, 2001; murphy, 2001). conclusion these results indicate that milieu strategies can be used with fidelity by teachers in their daily routines and teaching and can positively impact children’s language growth and acquisition. the results support other research regarding the effectiveness of milieu language strategies on children’s language growth when the child is acquiring language skills (kaiser, et al., 1993; yoder, et al., 1995). while these studies focused on children with language delays, there are some parallels with children who are ells. one parallel is that with scaffolded language through intentional use of language-based teaching strategies, children acquire language and social skills they previously did not have. another parallel between the research and the current findings is these strategies can be embedded easily into daily routines and activities with children, which promotes engagement and learning (kaiser, et al., 2000). limitations by measuring language use and growth over the course of a school year, there are several limitations to the results of the study. the first limitation is that while there were language gains in all of the children participating in the study, their language gains could be partly due to natural language acquisition processes. even though a multiple baseline single subject research design was used to provide greater strength to the results, it is impossible to remove language input from children to determine the absolute effectiveness of an intervention. a second limitation of the study was that only spanish speaking children were used as the participating children to receive the language-based intervention and language data was collected only in english. thus, the results cannot be generalized to other languages and do not fully measure the children’s language knowledge and capabilities. however, it is likely there would be similar results with other languages. another limitation of the study was that it was conducted in a single head start program and therefore, the results cannot be generalized to other preschool programs or to inhome care options for young children, especially as head start enrolls children from lower socio-economic homes than may be typical for most preschool programs or in-home care. a fourth limitation was the small sample size, which also affects the ability to generalize the results to other preschool programs and young children who are ells. another limitation was that insufficient information was gathered regarding all three teachers’ practices of self-evaluation and self-reflection to see if these processes affect one’s ability to implement a new skill with fidelity over time. milieu language strategies for ells in preschool 43 implications for future research additional research is needed to determine the effectiveness and benefits of using milieu language strategies with preschool-aged children who are ells. more research is needed to examine if shorter interventions that do not span an entire school year would result in similar levels of effectiveness. as most of the research on milieu language strategies to date has been with children with a language delay, it is important to determine if the strategies provide a unique influence on children’s language acquisition who are learning ells. also, more research is needed with milieu language strategies when used in the child’s first language to determine if the strategies can positively influence the child’s first language maintenance. it is possible that using the strategies in this way would promote the children’s continued use and growth in their first language rather than abandon it over the course of the school year. it is important to find and utilize methods of teaching english to young children but not at the expense of their first language. finally, additional research is needed that examines the use of milieu strategies across activities and throughout the day rather than focusing only on one activity, center time. it is possible that different patterns of strategy use by the teachers would emerge as well as different patterns in the children’s language use and acquisition would emerge. implications for practice there are several implications for practice emerged from the results of the study. the first implication for practice is recognizing that research from other fields regarding teaching strategies can be applied to new contexts and settings. however, it is important to recognize that each child has unique characteristics that will influence the outcome of teaching strategies and that not all children are alike, thus, similar results cannot be expected. while milieu language strategies originated from research with children with a language delay, children who are ells are not the same as children with a language delay. however, both groups of children have a similar need, to be able to communicate with those around them. milieu language strategies provide a systematic framework for increasing the language expectations of children’s language use in a positive interactive manner. a second implication of the study for practice is the usefulness of on-going training and coaching. on-going training and coaching assisted two of the preschool teachers in their implementation of the language strategies. it is important to note that each person may need a different type of coaching than what is being offered, modeling, feedback, and mentoring have also been shown to facilitate the acquisition and use of new skills into daily routines and activities (baily, 2001; hanft, et al., 2004; murphy, 2001). however, within the context of coaching and feedback, each person needs to be actively involved in self-evaluation and selfreflection practices to obtain the greatest benefit from the coaching and feedback. another implication for practice based on the study is the challenges that preschool teachers face teaching young children who are ells. it can be difficult to juggle the learning needs of all the children in the classroom; however, this will become a challenge that will face more and more teachers will face in the coming years as the number of children who are ells continues to increase. it is important for teachers to know the “why” behind the recommended use of teaching strategies and to be able to see how the strategies affect the children’s learning. 44 mallory & luze yet, it is also important for teachers to be able to flexibly use the strategies they have when they encounter new challenges and be able to purposefully choose which strategies to use with a child based on the known and desired outcome afforded with specific strategies. 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(2011). preparing early childhood teachers to work with young dual language learners. child development perspectives, 5(1), 10-14. dialog, 18(1), 95-100 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary parent engagement during home visits in early head start and head start: useful strategies for practitioners lisa l. knoche nebraska center for research on children, youth, families and schools; university of nebraska-lincoln christine a. marvin university of nebraska-lincoln susan m. sheridan nebraska center for research on children, youth, families and schools; university of nebraska-lincoln this study explores strategies used by early childhood professionals (ecps) involved in a school readiness intervention to support parent engagement in young children’s learning. in this study, we used video recordings to understand the ecp-parent interactions during early head start and head start home visits. we coded the videos for the number of parent engagement strategies that were used by ecps as well as the quality of parent engagement during visits, including the amount of parent-child interaction that took place during the visits. findings have implications for the implementation of the head start parent, family and community engagement (pfce) framework, and the professional development of early childhood professionals. keywords: home visiting, parent engagement, head start, early head start support of parent and family engagement is a key tenet of both early head start and head start. in 2011, the office of head start introduced the head start parent, family and community engagement (pfce) framework as a guide for implementing head start performance standards related to parent and family engagement (acf, 2011). the pfce framework includes foundational elements such as program leadership, continuous improvement and professional development. it also includes impact areas such as family partnerships, teaching and learning, and program environment. all of these are intended to be implemented in support of positive family engagement (e.g., parent-child relationships) and child outcomes. head start and early head start programs can benefit from strategies to help effectively execute this framework. 96 knoche et al. parent engagement, defined as parent partnerships with professionals as well as parent relationships with children (sheridan, marvin, knoche, & edwards, 2008), is an important component of home visiting. positive engagement between parents and professionals are is considered a primary protective factors (christenson & sheridan, 2001) for young children. partnerships between parents and professionals act as safeguards and are particularly important during the infant, toddler and preschool years (raffaele & knoff, 1999) when parents develop an understanding of the role they want to play in their children’s education. collaborative parentprofessional partnerships often correlate with positive social-emotional and behavioral outcomes for children and families, and can promote intervention effectiveness and efficiency (knoche, cline & marvin, 2012; trivette, dunst, & hamby, 2010). however, partnership must extend beyond parental involvement in professionally-designed plans and activities to be effective (haynes et al., 1989). furthermore, a specific focus on the parent-child relationship during home visits has also proven to support engagement. peterson, luze, eshbaugh, jeon, and kantz (2007) found that when home visitors in an ehs program focused on facilitating parent-child interactions, mothers were more likely to stay highly engaged in these type of activities. higher engagement was observed in mothers when the home visitor discussed child development or family issues and less engaged when the topics were community resources. similarly, roggman, boyce, cook and jump (2001) found that the ehs visitor’s ability to encourage parent-child interactions was a factor in positive outcomes based on ratings of parent satisfaction and improvements, as well as visitor reports of “partnerships.” subsequent evaluations revealed that home visits that engaged the parent and focused their attention on children’s development, and their reported concerns or needs, significantly reduced the drop-out rates of parents enrolled in ehs programs (roggman, cook, peterson, & raikes, 2008). given the importance of parent engagement, the getting ready intervention for early childhood programs (sheridan, marvin, knoche, & edwards, 2008) was designed to provide an integrated, ecological approach to early intervention and school readiness programs that is research-based, family-centered and collaborative in nature. through use of getting ready strategies (table 1), professionals provide services through a prevention lens that focuses on parents’ abilities to (a) engage in warm and responsive interactions with their child, (b) support their children’s autonomy, and (c) participate in children’s learning. the focus on parentprofessional relationships and parent-child interactions is believed to enhance not only children’s developmental readiness for school but parents’ readiness to act as advocates and support their children’s learning. the strategies that constitute getting ready are directly aligned with the head start pfce framework, and contribute to a program environment that encourages relationships with families, and provides a focus for professional development with staff. furthermore the intervention is directly designed to support family engagement outcomes, including parent-child relationships, as well as child outcomes. in past studies, we have learned that families and children benefit from involvement in the getting ready intervention. specifically, children have experienced significant gains in social-emotional and early literacy skills (sheridan et al., 2010; 2011; 2014) and parents have demonstrated improved parenting practices and engagement with their children (knoche et al., 2012). parent engagement strategies for practitioners 97 table 1 getting ready strategies getting ready strategies definition/instructions establish/re-establish relationship with parent meaningful interaction and conversation exchange between the early childhood professional (ecp) and parent that convey support, caring, or interest in family activities and well-being on the part of the facilitator. exchanges personal information, acknowledges parent’s response, discusses topics outside the bounds of the home visit; “small talk.” establish dyadic context elements of the environment are intentionally and actively arranged or rearranged to increase probability of developmentally matched, mutually enjoyable parentchild interaction; makes efforts (irrelevant to success) to provide activities that support dyadic/parent-child interaction either directly through parent or indirectly through child. focus parent’s attention on child strengths verbal statements are used to comment upon child’s strengths and to draw parent’s attention to particular competencies or actions within child. these comments may be in retrospect or occurring during the home visit. affirm parents’ competence developmentally supportive interactions are warmly recognized and expanded upon, as are characteristics of child competence. provide developmental information verbally labels or interprets child’s emotional, cognitive, language, and/or motor abilities within context of play and interaction. ecp provides parents with education around developmental milestones and why or how to engage child in an activity. elicit parent observations through questions or supportive statements, invites parents’ input regarding child’s development, likes/dislikes, and supportive strategies. focus is on observations parent makes about the child. discuss/prioritize concerns this will typically occur during agenda setting or planning for next visit. discusses concerns for child as seen by ecp and parent. collaborates with parent to select concerns to focus on. engages parent in conversation about priorities and desires; might ask about concerns. this is a support for discussion; parent might not have any concerns. brainstorm this process is collaborative, a back and forth between ecp and parent. invites parent to brainstorm/select strategies that fit into their home and daily routine. suggest/ provide directives this process is directive. the ecp makes explicit statements to parent about behaviors to support the target child’s development and /or parent-child interaction. this is typically not done as part of a collaborative conversation with parent. model/promote practice and interaction dyadic interaction roles are momentarily taken on by ecp to enhance parent’s repertoire of developmentally appropriate strategies for interacting with child. whether prompted directly or indirectly, parent responds by trying out the modeled behavior; it is promoting practice and modeling only if ecp demonstrates and turns it back to parent to practice. discuss future plans and goals, directions discussion of strategies that will be used at home and/or in classroom to support child’s development and how those strategies will be carried out. keeping track of progress and activities for next contact/visit may also be discussed. 98 knoche et al. study description the current study explored how getting ready intervention strategies were used during ehs and hs home visits, and investigated whether specific individual strategies supported the early childhood professional’s (ecp) overall success in promoting parent engagement in home visits. this makes a contribution towards “unpacking the box” of early childhood home visits (peterson et al., 2007); we don’t always know what happens during home visits with families. it adds to a limited knowledge base on the specific qualities that define quality parent-provider interactions during home visits, and describes strategies that can promote parent-child interactions. furthermore, it is timely because it informs the efforts of ehs and hs programs that are accountable for implementing head start performance standards related to parent and family engagement via the head start parent, family and community engagement (pfce) framework (acf, 2011). participants in the current study were 18 ehs home visitors and 14 hs classroom teachers involved in the getting ready project. our research team video recorded the home visits for these 32 early childhood professionals (ecps) and coded the visits for ecp use of getting ready strategies across every one minute of the visit. this means that getting ready strategy use was coded if it was observed to occur at all during a one-minute interval. during these same intervals, the frequency of interaction between (a) parents and ecps, (b) parents and children, and (c) ecps and children, during the home visit were also coded. at the end of each 10-minute segment of a home visit, general levels of parent engagement and ecp success were assessed. key findings by coding the video recordings of home visits, we learned that that the ecps in the ehs and hs programs regularly used a variety of the getting ready parent engagement strategies (table 1). they used an average of one getting ready strategy every two minutes during visits with families. the strategies used the most were establishing relationships with parents, focusing parents’ attention on children’s strengths, affirming parents’ competence and establishing the context for parent-child interactions. the ecps also regularly prompted parent engagement by asking for parental observations and ideas and suggesting specific actions with the children in the visit. the strategies that were used the least by ecps were brainstorming, modeling and discussing concerns. this indicates an important area for focus and future support. ecps in early head start more frequently provided developmental information to parents, and this was used less by head start professionals. ecps in head start more frequently used modeling and discussing future plans and goals with families; these were used less by ehs home visitors. we found that the more the ecps asked for parent observations and ideas, the higher the rating of their overall success in engaging the parent. this suggests that involving parents in decision making during home visits is important. parents and children were observed to be working together during the home visits at similar rates across programs. however ecps in ehs interacted with parents at a slightly higher rate than hs providers; alternatively, ecps in hs interacted with children with more frequency than their ehs colleagues. parent engagement strategies for practitioners 99 conclusions and implications for practice the study suggests that the getting ready strategies are perhaps one means of achieving the outcomes or activating the impact areas of the pfce framework (acf, 2011) and is therefore a program that might be useful to early head start and head start programs. the pfce approach is intended to be individualized and flexible to meet the needs and priorities of many different families. consequently, ecps in ehs and hs programs need to be able to comfortably engage parents in ways that are appropriate to the strengths and needs of the family and children. data indicate that the getting ready strategies can be individualized and used to meet the needs of a range of program and population contexts, in different types of programs serving different ages of children, and with professionals of varying education and early childhood experience. ehs and hs programs should consider training and supporting teachers and home visitors in the use of getting ready strategies during parent interactions. additionally, findings from the present study can be used to inform professional development and training efforts for home visiting professionals. the study highlights specific ecp behaviors that did and did not occur during ehs and hs home visits with families. this helps show what strategies teachers and home visitors are comfortable using with families, and the strategies they need additional support in using. training needs are therefore identified. for example, the least used strategies were brainstorming, modeling and discussing concerns. teachers and home visitors might be needed to be supported in these areas to effectively support parent engagement during home visits. ehs professionals were observed to be engaging with families more than hs professionals, while hs professionals spent more time with children. these contacts might be appropriate given program needs, but perhaps hs professionals could be supported in increasing time spent with parents during home visits. we also learned that the more that ecps prompted parents to share observations and ideas, the more successful teachers and home visitors were in engaging parents in visits. this means that involving parents in decision making during home visits and conferences is critical. creating a collaborative, back-and-forth conversation is essential. while parent engagement is an important part the head start philosophy, teachers and other professionals might benefit from specific support in how to support and involve families. teachers and home visitors might benefit from specific, concrete strategy descriptions for interacting with parents in ways that will foster productive engagement with the ecp and the children. the getting ready strategies provide clear definitions of behaviors that support parent engagement. the strategies also provide a way for directors to evaluate providers’ efforts with parents over time. finally, our results suggest that professional development efforts at the pre-service or inservice levels may be well advised to include practice in the use and application of a wide range of parent engagement approaches such as the getting ready strategies to best develop the skill set of professionals. this is critical since family factors, program schedules and ecps’ own selfefficacy due to experience or lack thereof, can influence their interactions with parents. the getting ready strategies include behaviors all ecps can use if they are working with infants, toddlers or preschool children and their families, whether in home-based only programs or center-based programs and can be used in all interactions with families, including parent-teacher conferences and home visits. ecps should feel that in every interaction with parents they have a collection of strategies that they can use to establish a healthy working relationship with parents, and help parents move to new levels of engagement with their children. 100 knoche et al. references administration for children and families (acf). (2011) the head start parent, family, and community engagement framework: promoting family engagement and school readiness, from prenatal to age 8. retrieved december 12, 2013, from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/ims/2011/pfceframework.pdf christenson, s. l., & sheridan, s. m.. (2001). school and families: creating essential connections for learning. new york: the guilford press. haynes, n. m., comer, j. p., & hamilton-lee, m. (1989). school climate enhancement through parental involvement. journal of school psychology, 27, 87-90. knoche, l. l., edwards, c. p., sheridan, s. m., kupzyk, k. a., marvin, c. a., cline, k. d., & clarke, b. l.. (2012). getting ready: results of a randomized trial of a relationship-focused intervention on parent engagement in rural early head start. infant mental health journal, 33, 439-458. knoche, l., cline, k. & marvin, c. (2012). fostering collaborative partnerships between early childhood professionals and the parents of young children, in r. pianta, l. justice, s. barnett, & s. sheridan (eds.), handbook of early childhood education (pp. 370-392). new york: guilford press. peterson, c., luze, g., eshbaugh, e., jeon, h., & kantz, k. (2007). enhancing parent-child interactions through home visiting: promising practice or unfulfilled promise? journal of early intervention, 29, 119-140. raffaele, l. m., & knoff, h. m. (1999). improving home-school collaboration with disadvantaged parents: organizational principles, perspectives, and approaches. school psychology review, 28, 448-466. roggman, l. a., boyce, l. k., cook, g. a., & jump, v. k. (2001). inside home visits: a collaborative look at process and quality. early childhood research quarterly, 16, 53-71. roggman, l., cook, g., peterson, c., & raikes, h. (2008). who drops out of early head start home visiting programs? early education and development, 19, 574-599. sheridan, s. m., knoche, l. l., edwards, c. p., bovaird, j. a., & kupzyk, k.a. (2010). parent engagement and school readiness: effects of the getting ready intervention on preschool children's social-emotional competencies. early education and development, 21, 125-156. sheridan, s. m., knoche, l. l., kupzyk, k. a., edwards, c. p., & marvin, c. a. (2011). a randomized trial examining the effects of parent engagement on early language and literacy: the getting ready intervention. journal of school psychology, 49,361-383. sheridan, s.m., knoche, l.l., edwards, c.p., clarke, b.l., kim, e.m, & kupzyk, k.a. (2014). efficacy of the getting ready intervention and the role of parental depression. early education and development, 25, 124. doi: 10.1080/10409289.2014.862146 sheridan, s. m., marvin, c., knoche, l., & edwards, c. p. (2008). getting ready: promoting school readiness through a relationship-based partnership model. early childhood services, 2, 149-172. trivette, c., dunst, c. & hamby, d. (2010). influences of family-systems intervention practices on parent-child interactions and child development. topics in early childhood special education, 30(1), 3-19. http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/ims/2011/pfce-framework.pdf http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/ims/2011/pfce-framework.pdf title page dialog, 16(3), 102-126 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 rebecca montgomery crotwell, m.s., department of human development and family studies, university of alabama; maria hernandez-reif, phd., department of human development and family studies, university of alabama; mary e. curtner-smith, phd., department of human development and family studies, university of alabama. this paper was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of masters of science for the first author. special thanks are extended to christopher crotwell, charlotte horton, julia israel, elicia juarez, april kendrick, sara kruse, surrella mcneil, maggie porter, colleen posey, michele rice, heather roberts, and krystle white for assistance with recruitment and data collection. we also thank craig graves for assistance with the recording equipment and video editing. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to maria hernandez-reif, department of human development and family studies, university of alabama, tuscaloosa, alabama 35487-0160.email: mhernandezreif@ches.ua.edu research article a brief play intervention to improve synchronous interactions and play skills in low income mother-child dyads. rebecca m. crotwell, maria hernandez-reif and mary e. curtner-smith university of alabama interaction synchrony defines how well a parent and child relate, with lower levels of synchrony associated with poor child outcomes. a 10-minute parent-child interaction therapy (pcit) was tested in a pre-posttest design for improving interactional synchrony in 40 low-income mothers and preschool children (half of the mothers watched a child nutrition video and served as a control group). as a group, the mother-child synchrony levels were low-to-average. mothers in the pcit group were taught five skills (pride) to use when playing with their children: praise, reflect, imitate, describe, enthusiasm. the pride group improved in interactional synchrony, whereas the control group did not. mothers in the pride group also used more child-directed techniques and their children were coded as offering their mothers toys more frequently. the findings suggest that a brief intervention may improve the interactional synchrony of low-income mothers and their preschool children, which may enhance preschool age children’s social skills. keywords: low-income, preschool children, synchrony, play, interaction interactional parent-child synchrony has been defined in the literature as reciprocal, mutually responsive, focused, and rewarding interactions (harrist, pettit, dodge, & bates, 1994; mize & pettit, 1997). synchrony requires that both partners in a dyad assimilate themselves into the flow of the other’s behaviors and responses (feldman, greenbaum, & yirmiya, 1999). parents seem a brief play intervention for parents 103 to have the most important role in synchronous dyads, in part because synchrony is contingent on the parents’ interactions with and responses to the child, such as empathizing, understanding, and appropriately reacting to their child’s emotional and mental states (maccoby, 1992). because synchrony is the result of a history of positive and mutually responsive interactions between the dyad (mize & pettit, 1997), it is often difficult to assess. thus, interaction styles are often assessed as the overall parent-child dyad relationship, typically measured during parental discipline or instructing, caretaking, and playing with the child (harrist et al., 1994). synchronous dyads are characterized by three critical elements: engagement, affective tone, and connectedness. engagement includes the length (i.e. in seconds) and depth of exchanges during the interaction, as measured by the number of back-and-forth exchanges (i.e. turn-taking.) affective tone includes the severity of the emotions expressed and reciprocated within the interaction, such as positive or negative affect. connectedness encompasses the mutuality, reciprocity, and balance of attention (i.e. shared focus) and participation (i.e. shared involvement and leader-follower roles) during the interaction. parent-child dyads who exhibit high levels of these three elements during their interactions are considered to be highly synchronous (harrist et al., 1994). indeed, synchrony can be thought of as a type of dance or cycle, with both members influencing and shaping the other’s responses and affect through carefully timed stages (feldman et al., 1999). this dance of joint activity and behavior depends on each partner’s reciprocity and coordination after each action. however, many of those who have studied parent-child synchrony and interactions have come to the conclusion that continued synchrony is mostly dependent on the parent’s actions and commitment to the interactions, especially in dyads involving young children who lack the skills to initiate synchronous interactions without assistance (isabella & belsky, 1991; isabella, belsky, & von eye, 1989; lundy, 2002; maccoby, 1992).warmth and affection, such as when a parent shows positive affect toward their child, and mutual gratification, such as when a parent and child share positive affect during an interaction, allow the socialization of children through synchrony to be more effective. consistency, as shown in responsiveness to a child’s needs and desires, is also key in mediating parent-child synchrony (mize & pettit, 1997). importance of synchrony for the most part, research supports that positive parent-child interactions and synchrony predict emotionally well-adjusted children (feldman, et al., 1999) who have secure attachments to their parents (de wolff & ijzendoorn, 1997) and who develop healthy social skills (lindsey, mize, & pettit, 1997) and cognitive competence (kirsh, crnic, & greenberg, 1995). when parents display negative affect and coercive behaviors during parent-child interactions, children are found to be more aggressive with their peers. low levels of mother-infant synchrony predict low levels of social-emotional adjustment later in life (feldman & eidelmann, 2004). in addition, children who experience parent-child interactions that are imbalanced, low in connectedness, and frequently involve coercion are more anxious, avoidant, and depressed (harrist et al., 1994). synchrony has also been linked with the dimension of contingency, that is the sequential or temporal relation between occurring events. in microanalytical video studies of mothers and infants interacting face-to-face, mothers were found to very rapidly respond to, and match, their infants behaviors and actions (cf. beebe, et al., 2010; keller, lohaus, volker, cappenberg, & 104 crotwell et al. chasiotis, 1999; malatesta & haviland, 1982). for example, within a fraction of a second, mothers’ facial expressions change contingent on their infants’ facial expression (malatesta & haviland, 1982). interestingly, in some studies, when mothers were insensitive to their infants’ cues, infants became hyper vigilant in their gaze towards their mothers (cf. beebe et al., 2010). in such instances, high infant gazing at mother is not considered optimal and may reflect low connectedness. beebe and colleagues (beebe, et al., 2011; beebe, et al., 2008) and others (blatt & hommann, 1992) have also discerned differences in contingency patterns for anxious and depressed mothers and their infants, particularly for mothers who suffer from excessive lack of self-worth (self-criticism profile) and those who are excessively preoccupied with maintaining relationships (dependency profile). for the self-critical mothers, their infants show both lower and higher levels of self-contingency, which may indicate communicative stress (beebee, et al., 2007; jaffe et al., 2001). researchers who work with mothers with personality profiles (i.e., selfcriticism; dependency) conclude that optimum interactions may require a more moderate balance between the mother and child. thus, an alternate model for depressive and/or anxious mothers with very young infants may be to aim for a midrange model of contingency (beebe, et al., 2008). it is unclear if the same midrange model would apply to toddlers or preschool age children, especially as they develop language and become mobile. synchrony and attachment interactional synchrony and attachment are closely intertwined aspects of a parent-child relationship (isabella & belsky, 1985). synchrony is just as important as parental sensitivity in the development of secure attachment (de wolff & van ijzendoorn, 1997). secure parent-child attachment is characterized by a strong, affectionate, reciprocal relationship where both parent and child gain some comfort and enjoyment from their interactions. it is at the core of the development of children's social competencies, self-regulation, and cognitive competencies (bowlby, 1982). when a child is securely attached to a caregiver in an “interactive duet,” the child practices and learns reciprocal and turn-taking behaviors that the child can continue to use when interacting with the caregiver, as well as use in other relationships, thus helping the child develop social competencies. securely attached and synchronous parent-infant interactions are the context in which infants learn to self-regulate their emotions in a healthy way. parents who respond to, and share, the emotional cues of their child, can teach the child how to regulate emotions (schore, 1996, 2001). children who are securely attached to their parents have more competence in language skills than insecurely attached children, which may be because securely attached mothers and children have a synchronous relationship (van ijzendoorn, dijkstra, & bus, 1995). secure attachment of the child to the parent largely depends on the appropriate responsiveness of the parent to the child’s bids for attention and assistance, which is an important aspect of interactional synchrony (isabella, belsky, & von eye, 1989; lundy, 2002; maccoby, 1992). positive interactional synchrony, through mutually rewarding turn-taking interactions, has been shown to increase secure attachment of children to both their mothers (de wolff & van ijzendoorn, 1997) and fathers (lundy, 2002). thus, positive parent-child synchrony, which is one mechanism through which secure parent-child attachment is formed, further leads to the child’s developmental competence. in the same vein, while the literature does not explicitly state that attachment improves synchrony, arguably, a securely attached child is likely to continue to seek or elicit contingent a brief play intervention for parents 105 responses from his/her caregiver. a child who seeks and gains dependable responses from the caregiver, and/or a caregiver who is sensitive to the child’s signals and responds in a predictable or reliable manner, is in essence a dyad pursuing synchrony. for such dyads, it is conceivable that the continued secure attachment style strengthens the synchrony of the child-caregiver relationship. in contrast, when a child is insecurely attached, it is probable that dyadic interactions are asynchronous. for example, a child who presents with an anxious/avoidant pattern of attachment is likely receiving inconsistent cues from the caregiver or the caregiver may be overly protective. these children may display hypervigilant behavior toward the caregiver or low connectedness (cf. beebe, et al., 2010). thus, asynchronous interactions are likely to be common occurrences between insecurely attached children and their caregivers. in sum, attachment styles may influence the interactional synchronous level of the dyad and interactional synchrony may strengthen the attachment bond in reciprocal relations. synchrony in low-income samples the majority of studies on parent-child synchrony have been conducted on mother-child dyads from middle and upper socioeconomic status (haden, reese, & fivush, 1996; harrist et al., 1994; isabella et al., 1989; lundy, 2002; mize & pettit, 1997; tomasello & farrar, 1986). in the united states, approximately one in five children classify as low income and approximately one in three children are raised by a single parent, typically the mother (childstats.gov, 2011). studies that have included lower-income mother-child dyads reveal that high levels of motherchild synchrony are associated with high levels of maternal nurturance and child language development (skuban, shaw, gardner, supplee, & nichols, 2006). in a study that examined synchrony between low-income mothers and their 10 year old children, highly synchronous dyads were found to have high levels of parent-child openness, low levels of parent-child conflict, low levels of child antisocial behavior, and high levels of child social skills (criss, shaw, & ingoldsby, 2003). prolonged joint attention between mothers and their 2-year-old children during free play was related to children's use of self-regulatory skills in a low-income sample (raver, 1996). low income parent-toddler dyads were observed in a study that linked mothers' use of constructive verbal scaffolding strategies during feeding to dyadic reciprocity and joint attention in a play session (hustedt & raver, 2002). while these studies report on the benefits of synchronous interactions for low-income parent-child dyads, no studies were found that examined how to increase interactional synchrony in low-income parents with preschool age children. one reason for developing methods to assist low-income parents to improve their interactions with their children, such as by elevating their level of synchrony during play, is that low-income mothers often experience greater aggression, depression, and daily hassles (encompassing anxiety and stress from low social support) (brooks-gunn & furstenberg, 1986; ceballo & mcloyd, 2002; pearlin & johnson, 1977). these negative moods have a negative effect on a mother’s ability to have positive synchronous interactions with her child. aggressive mothers tend to display negative affect, and reciprocate negative affect from their children during interactions (clark, kochanska, & ready, 2000). mothers with low levels of social support often use negative and rejecting forms of parenting, which are in direct opposition to parent-child synchrony (ceballo & mcloyd, 2002). depressed mothers are likely to misinterpret their child’s 106 crotwell et al. cues during interactions and either over-stimulate or under stimulate their child, which disrupts interactional synchrony and reduces the enjoyment of the interaction for the child (field, healy, goldstein, & guthertz, 1990). mothers who express many and frequent depressive symptoms participate in fewer synchronous exchanges with their infants than non-depressed mothers and also show low attachment to their child (lundy, 2002). anxious mothers are likely to misinterpret their child’s cues during interactions, and thus interrupt the flow of synchrony and make the interaction less enjoyable for the child (feldman, 2007). in other words, parental stress factors, such as being low-income, may compromise the mother’s ability to use healthy parenting practices when interacting with her child, and thus reduce the level of synchrony during parentchild interactions (skuban et al., 2006). as already mentioned, synchronous parent-children interactions are associated with better child outcomes. parent-child interaction therapy one intervention that has been effective in increasing synchrony and positive interactions is the parent-child interaction therapy (pcit) (herschell, calzada, eyberg & mcneil, 2002; zisser & eyberg, 2010). this intervention, which typically requires 10to 16-weeks of therapy, focuses on teaching parents how to increase positive child behaviors and make the child feel more secure and positive. pcit also aims to help caregivers feel more competent in their parenting abilities. even though pcit is an empirically supported treatment that has been shown to improve synchrony and enhance parent-child interactions, the intervention is lengthy and timeconsuming. for low income parents, attempting to complete a long-term therapy, such as pcit, has its own unique challenges (lyons-ruth, connell, grunebaum, & botein, 1990). limited financial, travel, and child care resources, or the inability to take time off from work or school can keep these families from participating in interventions that may directly benefit the caregiver and child. despite efforts to engage families and help address and overcome barriers to treatment, research reveals high dropout rates for traditional pcit, sometimes ranging as high as 40% to 60% (boggs, et al., 2004; wierzbicki & pekarik, 1993). barriers to completing long-term interventions are part of the rationale for advocating the testing of brief interventions, especially for low-income families. abbreviated interventions may be less stressful for parents if they pose fewer barriers. as already mentioned, low-income mothers experience many stressors, and stressed parents may not be as sensitive to their children’s needs or their behaviors during play or interactions. parental stress has been implicated in less positive interactions between parents and children (coyl, roggman, & newland, 2002; nitz, ketterlinus,& brandt, 1995) and has been reported to predict parent and child behavior and dyadic interaction (crnic, gaze & hoffman, 2005). thus, the study of brief interventions for low-income parents is needed, especially because if they are feasible and effective, they may improve parent-child relations while reducing parental burden and stress for low-income families. recent research has shown that pcit is also effective in reducing parental stress (lanier, kohl, benz, swinger, mousette & drake, 2011; pearl, thieken, olafson, boat, connelly, barnes & putnam, 2012; timmer, zebell, culver & urquiza, 2010). while reducing parental stress is not the goal of pcit, that this intervention has a positive impact on parents’ mood is another reason for examining the efficacy and effectiveness of an abbreviated pcit. in sum, pcit interventions that are brief, that enhance parent-child synchrony and reduce caregiver stress are javascript:__dolinkpostback('','ss%7e%7ear%20%22crnic%2c%20keith%20a%2e%22%7c%7csl%7e%7erl',''); javascript:__dolinkpostback('','ss%7e%7ear%20%22crnic%2c%20keith%20a%2e%22%7c%7csl%7e%7erl',''); javascript:__dolinkpostback('','ss%7e%7ear%20%22hoffman%2c%20casey%22%7c%7csl%7e%7erl',''); javascript:__dolinkpostback('','ss%7e%7ear%20%22hoffman%2c%20casey%22%7c%7csl%7e%7erl',''); a brief play intervention for parents 107 needed, especially for low-income families, and should be studied. these needs provided the impetus for the current study. the play-based intervention utilized for this study is a modified and simplified portion of pcit, taken from the pcit handbook that focuses on child-directed interactions (cdi). cdi is based on attachment theory and aims to add warmth to parent-child interactions by including techniques that foster positive, nurturing interaction patterns, such as using praise, reflection, imitation, description, and enthusiasm (hence, the acronym pride,) and avoiding criticism and commands. theoretically, training parents on child-directed techniques should strengthen the caregiver-child relationship by fostering positive interactions and improving the dyad’s synchrony. empirically, pcit has been shown to reduce maternal stress. thus, it is possible that an abbreviated pcit intervention may be more appropriate, feasible and effective for lowincome parents to complete. in cdi training, parents are taught the skills via examples and told the rationale for their use, and then instructed to play with their child using the newly learned skills. cdi's theoretical base in strengthening the parent-child relationship, its effectiveness in reducing maternal stress, and providing the mothers with well-defined play skills made it a good fit for the current research. the overarching study aim was to assess whether in one brief session, mothers could be taught child-directed techniques from the pcit manual, and if their application of the techniques during play would improve the parent-child interactional synchrony. to date, we know of no other research that has examined brief pcit for improving synchrony for lowincome parent-child dyads. purpose of current study in the current study, we recorded the interactions of low-income/at risk mothers and their typically-developing preschool age children (2 to 5 year olds) to examine interactional synchrony during a play session. because mothers were low-income and expected to be stressed, we assessed mothers for symptoms of mood disorders. we hypothesized that negative mood would relate to the dyad’s baseline synchrony level and further reduce the mother’s focus on the child during interactions. the primary purpose of the study was to evaluate if a brief pcit that focused on teaching mothers’ five basic child-directed techniques would improve the dyad’s synchrony and the mother’s focus on the child. the brief pcit was expected to be feasible for low-income mothers and effective in improving her interactions with her child. method participants a quota (convenience) sampling method of 40 mothers and preschool age children (20 motherchild dyads) participated. the mothers and their children were recruited from a center that manages the child care subsidy for 12 counties in west-central alabama. subsidies help cover the costs of child care for low-income working parents or parents in approved job training and educational programs, parents receiving family assistance through the department of human 108 crotwell et al. resources, and parents who are at risk for child abuse and neglect. the population from which the sample was drawn was considered to be low-income and/or at risk. for the current study, we only inquired about the socioeconomic status of the mothers’ household. mothers in the center were approached about participating in the study, and if interested were consented, enrolled and scheduled for testing within 10 days. the parent-child pair was randomly assigned to either the intervention or the control group using an on-line randomizer software (research randomizer form at randomizer.org.). procedures overview of study. on the day of the scheduled appointment, the mother-child dyad was greeted by a researcher and brought into an interaction room. the study was explained to the mother, including 1) that the study involved three sessions, 2) that the dyad would be videotaped playing in the first and last sessions, 3) where the mother and child would sit during the videotaped play/interaction sessions, and 4) what would occur during the middle session, which involved participating in either a brief intervention (pride) or watching an educational video on child nutrition. after the mother had an opportunity to ask questions, the researcher asked her to complete a background form and several brief questionnaires (see measures below). afterwards, the researcher instructed the mother where to sit with her child, brought out toys specific for the study, and the dyad participated in three sequential sessions (see study sessions below). the first and last sessions were each 5 minutes long and consisted of videotaping the dyad playing faceto-face. the first 5-minute session served as the pretest (or baseline play session) and the last 5minute session was the posttest. the middle session was approximately 10-minutes long and involved the mother either participating in a brief child-directed intervention (if assigned to the pride intervention group) or watching an educational video on child nutrition (if assigned to the control group). the main aim of the study was to examine the effects of the intervention versus control condition on the dyad’s pre-post interaction behaviors, including synchrony and mothers’ use of child-directed strategies. a secondary aim was to examine the dyad’s pretest behaviors in relation to the questionnaires the mothers completed. the third aim focused on examining if the children’s behaviors changed as a result of the intervention. the study sessions pretest or first session. all dyads participated in the pretest, which was conducted in a brightly lit interaction room. the dyad was asked to sit side-by-side, and face-to-face, at a square table with two chairs (a booster seat was provided for the children) so that their play interactions could be videotaped for later coding. the interaction room was equipped with: two walls of oneway mirrors; small inconspicuous microphones dropping from the ceiling to record audio; a camcorder on a tripod behind a one-way mirrored wall that was focused on the child’s face and body; and a separate hidden-dome camera that focused on the mother’s face and torso. videotaped recordings of the dyad were later synchronized and coded using a split screen technique. a wooden modular block set and a plastic wild animal toy set was placed on a chair between the dyad to provide manipulatives to use during play. after positioning the dyad faceto-face at the table and bringing out the manipulatives, the researcher simply asked the mother to a brief play intervention for parents 109 play as she would at home with her child using the provided toys. the researcher informed the mother that she would return after 5 minutes. the researcher closed the door to the interaction room and the dyad was videotaped playing for 5 minutes. middle session: control or pride intervention after the 5-minute pretest session, the researcher entered the interaction room and announced to the dyad that they would take a short break. the dyad was brought into an adjoining room where a female researcher offered the young child a snack of crackers and a juice box. while the child was having the snack and juice, the mother participated in the middle session. control group. the middle session for the control group consisted of watching an educational video on child nutrition. the mother faced a computer screen, and the researcher turned on the video. the control group was included to examine whether from pre-to-post sessions, the dyadic interaction would be enhanced simply from the mother and child spending time playing. the middle session was about 10 minutes long. pride intervention group. mothers assigned to the intervention group participated in a brief, modified, play-based intervention derived from the parent-child interaction therapy (pcit) (eyberg, 1999; herschell et al., 2002). the intervention was taken from the childdirected interactions (cdi) portion of the pcit manual (eyberg, 1999) and was conducted by a graduate student (herein referred to as the interventionist) who had a strong foundation in child development and knowledge of developmentally appropriate practices for young children. cdi is intended to teach caregivers skills that promote positive and nurturing interactions. the session began by explaining to the caregiver that play interactions with young children can be improved by following the child’s lead as opposed to directing or commanding the child during play. the interventionist gave the mother a white sheet of paper on which the acronym pride was written vertically in large bold letters to help her remember the 5 skills. each pride letter spelled out a skill, and each skill was described and reviewed with the caregiver. the five pride skills are to: 1) praise the child when the child plays appropriately, such as stating "you are making such a nice tower out of those blocks!” (specific praise) or "good job!" (non-specific praise). the caregiver was encouraged to use specific and non-specific praise to help the child know what she liked about the child’s behavior; 2) reflect on the child’s verbal comments, such as repeating, paraphrasing, or building on the child's vocalizations. for example, if the child said “fence” when lining blocks up next to each other, the mother might respond with “yes, that’s a fence you’re building.” the caregiver was informed that reflecting on the child’s language would help her pay attention to what the child was saying and would help her learn to wait for the child to speak and lead the interaction; 3) imitate the child’s play or do the same thing the child is doing. imitating her child during play was described as another skill that would help the mother learn to let the child lead the play interaction. in addition, imitating the child was reviewed as a skill that: a) would permit the mother to focus on what the child was interested in doing, b) makes the play session more peer-like and fun for the child, and 3) signals to the child that the mother approves of the child’s play behavior; an example provided for the mother was that if the child started stacking a block tower, she should also start stacking a block tower. if the child 110 crotwell et al. made neighing sounds while making a toy horse jump, the mother could make a roaring sound while making her toy lion jump; 4) describe what the child is doing. for this skill, it was suggested that the mother narrate what the child was doing during play. for example, if the child is stacking a block tower, the mother might say “i see that you are putting blocks on top of one another. first you put down the square block, next you put the rectangle block.” the mother was told that she could think of the skill as being like a sports announcer that would comment playby-play on what the child was doing; and, 5) be enthusiastic, such as letting her voice show excitement about the child’s behavior. it was suggested that the mother could show enthusiasm by raising the pitch of her voice, such as by saying “you are being so nice to share with me!” or “oh! i like that! the rationale that using these 5 pride skills helps promote better parentchild interactions with children during play was again emphasized at the end of the session. the brief pride intervention session was 10 minutes long. posttest or last session following the intervention or control period, the dyad was escorted back to the interaction room for the posttest play session. the posttest session was conducted exactly as the pretest session and lasted 5 minutes. all mothers were given $10 to compensate them for their time and costs associated with traveling to and from the study site. measures background questionnaire. background information on the participants was collected using a brief questionnaire that asked about the child’s age and gender, the number of siblings living in the house, mother's and father’s ages, ethnicity, and the mother’s marital status. the socioeconomic status (ses) of the family was computed using the hollingshead two factor index (hollingshead, 1978) based on information provided by the mother about parental education and parental occupation. depression. the mothers completed the center for epidemiological studies depression scale (cesd; radloff & teri, 1986,) to assess if they were experiencing depressive symptoms. the cesd is comprised of 20 questions and examines frequency and intensity of depressive symptoms, such as loneliness, difficulty sleeping, eating disturbances, and depressed mood. the possible responses are on a likert scale ranging from “rarely” (0) to “most of the time” (3). a score of 16 on the ces-d is considered the cut-point for depressive symptomotology; a score between 13 and 15 is considered borderline depression, and a score between 3 and 12 is considered non-depressed. individuals who score between 0 and 2 are typically not included in studies as they are considered "faking good" (field, et al., 1991). previous research has shown the cesd to be a reliable and valid method of assessing or screening for depressive symptomology in adults (radloff & teri, 1986). the 20 item depression scale was found to be reliable (α = .81). anxiety. to assess maternal anxiety, the mothers completed the state trait anxiety inventory (stai; spielberger et al., 1970). this scale is comprised of 20 questions and assesses a brief play intervention for parents 111 anxious symptoms, such as nervousness, worrying, and being tense. the possible responses are on a likert scale ranging from “not at all” (1) to “very much so” (4) with regard to how they generally feel. a score of 48 on the stai is considered the cut-point for high anxiety, a score between 37 and 45 is considered moderate anxiety, and a score of 36 or less is considered low anxiety, with scores ranging from 20 to 80. previous research has shown the stai to be a reliable and valid method of determining anxiety in adults (spielberger et al., 1970). the crohnbach alpha attained for this 20 item anxiety scale was .67. anger. the short version of the state trait anger expression inventory (staxi; spielberger, 1988) was used to assess the experience, expression, and control of anger in the mothers. the staxi contains 10 questions rated on a likert scale, ranging from “almost never” (1) to “almost always” (4) with regard to how they generally feel or act. questions included “when i get frustrated, i feel like hitting someone,” i fly off the handle,” and “i feel annoyed when i am not given recognition for doing good work.” raw scores are converted into percentile ranks and then compared to normative tables. scores between the 25 th and 75 th percentiles are considered normal. scores above the 75 th percentile are considered high in anger. scores at or above the 90 th percentile are considered very high in anger. previous research has shown the staxi to be a reliable and valid method of determining anger in adults (spielberger, 1988). this 10 item anger scale was found to be highly reliable (α= .86). daily hassles. a modified version of a questionnaire that has been used to assess daily hassles (field, hernandez-reif, & diego, 2006) was given to the mothers to examine the frequency and types of hassles they experience. the original daily hassles questionnaire was designed for use with low-income, at risk, depressed and non-depressed mothers with infants and toddlers (field, et al., 2006). for the current research, we deleted the questions from the daily hassles that referred to drug use, social workers, and probation officers because these were deemed irrelevant for this study. in addition, the word “baby” was replaced with “child” to be relevant to the participants, as the children in the current study were between 2 and 5 years of age. the modified questionnaire, comprised of 31 questions, indicates the mother’s self-reported daily stress and social support. some sample daily hassle questions are: “getting people to help with my child,” “when my child doesn’t listen to me,” and “keeping my cool.” the possible responses are on a likert-type scale ranging from “is no hassle” (0) to “is a big hassle (3). higher scores indicate higher levels of daily hassles, with scores ranging from 0 to 93. this daily hassles scale was found to be reliable (31 items; α = .82). video coding schemes. the researchers involved in the coding of the videos were blind as to the condition of the dyad. the researchers were graduate students and were trained to code the videos by the senior authors of the paper. coding mother-child synchrony during interactions the synchrony and control ratings scale used by mize and pettit (1997) was used to rate the parent-child synchrony via the videotapes made during the pretest and posttest play interactions (sessions 1 and 2). synchrony was coded every 30 seconds on an extensively anchored 6-point 112 crotwell et al. scale, with each point on the scale having specific exemplars of behavior that reflect the different levels of synchrony. a coding manual with detailed behaviors and numerous examples was created and used to train the coders. in this section, we outline a few of the main behaviors of each point scale. a code of 0 was given if there was no interaction whatsoever between the mother and child (e.g., mother plays with blocks while child plays with toy animals; they do not talk or mingle toys); a code of 1 reflected when the interaction focused on materials and, there was no shared focus. for example, both members are playing with the same types of materials but neither is reacting to the others’ comments (one partner may talk about an alligator while the other may talk about the lion); for a code of 2, the partners interact with each other during the 30-second interval, but there are a lot of miscues (e.g., not responding to most of the partner’s comments). a code of 2 is also given if one member of the dyad dominates the interaction and/or the focus is mostly on the materials rather than on the actions or affect of the partner (e.g., child rolls a car and the mother comments on a car crash). in this category, little shared affect and little eye contact are typical; code 3 is the most basic level of synchrony, where there is some, but not perfect, turn-taking. however, in this category, there is very little, if any, shared positive affect (e.g., little if any laughter). to earn a code of 3, both members in the dyad must be engaged in the same activity and have a joint focus, noting cues that the partner may be offering (e.g., parent and child toss a ball back and forth and comment on each other’s actions). the interaction may be positive, but does not need to be, and both partners must be responsive to each other. a code of 4 is given when there is evident and frequent eye contact, the partners are engaged in the same activity, and there is physical contact or physical closeness; also, a code of 4 requires there to be considerable balance in leading, following and responding to each other’s comments, as well as some shared affect (e.g., both looking surprised if a block tower falls or looking at each other and laughing when tossing the ball). this coding reflects a hint of peer-like activity, such as the parent appearing to be child-like when playing, although this may only be for a brief interval. a code of 5 is the highest level of synchrony and is reserved for partners who are engaged in the same activity, have comparable turns in leading and following leads, are mutually responsive to one another, and appear joyful and playful; each member of the dyad shares the responsibility for playing and maintaining the interaction. in addition, in a code of 5 there is frequent eye contact and frequent shared affect. for example, the partners may building a house for the toy animals, making eye contact, laughing together and/or making animal noises as the animals chase each other in play. the interaction is described as child-like and peer-like and there is physical closeness; responsiveness of both partners and suggestions by both partners are evident throughout the interaction. the synchrony scores given to each dyad across the 30-second intervals were averaged to compute a mean synchrony score. the mean synchrony scores were then averaged across each group to derive scores for the pre-test and separately for the post-test interactions. interobserver reliability on synchrony scores for two trained researchers who coded the videotapes for synchrony was assessed on 15% of the videotapes using pearson product moment correlation and reached 92% agreement. coding maternal behaviors during interactions a video coding scheme was developed to assess the mother’s use of child-directed techniques during the pretest and posttest interaction sessions with her child. the coding scheme included operational definitions and examples derived from the pcit manual. the videotape coding was a brief play intervention for parents 113 expected to support that mothers in the intervention group could learn and apply the childdirected techniques (pride skills) during the posttest interaction session. in a second pass of the video, the 5-minute pretest and the 5-minute posttest interaction videotapes were again coded in 30 second intervals, but this time for maternal frequency of using: 1) praise (both specific, such as "you are making such a nice tower!", and non-specific, such as "good job!",) 2) reflection (repeating, paraphrasing, or building on a child's vocalizations,) 3) imitation (doing the same thing the child is doing,), 4) description (talking about or narrating what the child is doing,) and 5) enthusiasm (letting voice or body language show excitement.). after being trained on the coding scheme, one researcher (primary coder) was responsible for coding all the videos for maternal interaction skills. for the purpose of calculating interobserver reliability, the other researcher (secondary coder) was asked to code 15% of the videos, which were chosen at random. a pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between the primary and secondary coders’ on maternal frequency of using the five child-directed (pride) skills. the positive correlation was robust, r = .98, p = 0.002. coding children’s behaviors during interactions children’s behaviors during the preand posttest interactions were also coded. specifically, the videos were coded in a third pass focusing only on the child. variables were operationally defined ( a list of these variable and their definitions can be obtained from the second author) and videos were coded preand post the intervention or control period every 30 seconds for the following child behaviors: 1) affect: positive facial expression (smiling, alert expression, happy chatter); 2) activity level: low (slow movements, slow at engaging mother; lack of exploration; not playing), moderate (playing in the designated area with toys; neither low nor high activity) or high activity (very active, quick movements, tries to leave seat; high exploration); and 3) specific examples of child-directed attempts to interact with mother: asks questions, offers toy to mother, looks at mother. as in the other coding schemes, one coder was primarily responsible for coding all videos and the other coded 15% of the videos. the pearson product moment correlation reached 90% agreement. results demographic characteristics of the sample forty mothers and children participated in this study (20 mother-child dyads). mothers were on average 25.35 years old (sd = 5.21), came from predominantly lower-middle socio-economic status (75%), and the majority were african-american (65%). their children were on average 3.5 years old (m age = 42 months; range = 28.6 – 67 months) and predominantly male (75%). only 15% of the mothers lived with their husbands and 25% reported living with their significant other. the majority of the mothers were unwed (85%) and 50% had at least two or more 114 crotwell et al. children. chi-square and t-test analyses revealed no group differences between the intervention and control groups on the demographic data. maternal mood and daily hassles findings maternal incidence of mood disorders. on the ces-d depression scale, 35% of mothers scored greater than, or equal to, 16 points, which is the cut-off for depressive symptomatology. while the mean cesd score for the sample (m = 11.75, sd = 7.70) was within the nondepressed range (i.e., 3-12), the mean score was high and close to borderline clinical depression (ie., 13-15). mothers' responses on the stai anxiety questionnaire indicated that 35% of them experienced moderate to high levels of anxiety (m = 34.80, sd = 8.64.) the staxi anger questionnaire revealed that 49% of the mothers reported moderate to high levels of anger (m = 14.45, sd = 4.37.) an anova to examine the scores for the three mood scales failed to reveal group differences, suggesting that the two groups entered the study with similar mood states (all ps > .05). specific daily hassles. an independent sample t-test on the intervention versus the control group for the total score of the daily hassles questionnaire failed to reach significance, suggesting that the two groups reported experiencing a similar number of daily hassles. the mean score on the daily hassles questionnaire was 23 (sd = 10.15,) with a total range of possible scores from 0 to 93. as a result of the high levels of depression, anxiety and anger in this sample, the responses on the daily hassles questionnaire were examined item-by-item to determine the severity and frequency of specific hassles reported by mothers related to their children, finances, others, anger, and self. frequently reported daily hassles were identified with a 50th percentile score (reported as a 3 or 4 on the 4-point daily hassles scale.) most of the highly-ranked items fell under the child category with 55% of mothers reporting their greatest hassle being that their child “doesn’t listen to them” and 40% reporting that it is a hassle when their “child acts spoiled”. under the finance category, 50% of mothers reported “getting money” to be a hassle. forty-five percent of mothers also indicated that it was a hassle “getting time for myself”. surprisingly, only 25% of the mothers reported the child’s father and 30% reported their employer as hassles in their daily lives. maternal interactions with children baseline levels of mother-child synchrony during play. the distribution of the synchrony data was examined, and the pretest mean synchrony score was computed (as rated on the synchrony and control ratings scale by mize and pettit, 1997) to examine the dyads’ level of synchrony at baseline. half of the mothers displayed less than a 3 on the synchrony scale, while only 30% scored 4 or higher on synchrony (m baseline synchrony for the sample = 3.1, sd = 0.87,) suggesting that overall mothers in the sample had a low-to-average level of synchrony with their child during the baseline (pretest) play session. the two groups did not differ on the pretest synchrony scores. mothers natural use of child-directed strategies (pride) when playing with child. the pretest (baseline) frequency data revealed that during the initial 5-minute mother-child interaction session, 95% of the mothers gave their children no specific praise (m = 0.2; sd = a brief play intervention for parents 115 0.67,) and 55% gave their children no non-specific praise (m = 1.4, sd = 2.28). half of the mothers reflected (i.e., paraphrased or built on) their children's' vocalizations 0 to 9 times and the other half reflected 12 to 22 times (m = 10.5, sd = 6.57.) seventy percent of the mothers imitated their children 0 to 3 times (m =2.5, sd = 2.46,) and 80% described what their child was doing during play 0 to 3 times (m = 1.8, sd = 2.04.) seventy-five percent of the mothers were coded as being enthusiastic at least once during the baseline session (m = 13.9, sd = 10.52). in sum, the descriptive statistics for the pretest mother-child play interaction revealed that overall the mothers rarely praised, imitated or described their children’s activities during play. however, most mothers were enthusiastic at least once and frequently used reflection when playing with their children. the two groups (intervention and control) did not differ on frequency of use of child-directed strategies (pride) at baseline (all ps > .05). relationships between mood, daily hassles and mother-child interactions. to examine the relationship between maternal mood, maternal perceived daily hassles and motherchild interaction behavior, bivariate correlations were conducted on the questionnaire totals and baseline synchrony and the mothers’ use of child-directed techniques (pride). the correlational analysis revealed that: 1) daily hassles total score positively correlated with anger (staxi), r = .45, p < .05, suggesting that mothers with higher levels of daily hassles also reported higher levels of anger; 2) depression scores (cesd) positively correlated with daily hassles, r = .58, p < .01, anxiety (stai), r = .48, p < .05), and with anger (staxi), r = .59, p < .01, suggesting that mothers who reported more depressed symptoms also scored higher on daily hassles, anxiety and anger; 3) baseline synchrony positively and highly correlated with overall pride skills, r = .89, p < .01, suggesting that mothers who used more child-directed skills when interacting with their children had more synchronous mother-child interaction scores. the high correlation (r 2 = .79) between synchrony and maternal use of child-directed techniques (pride) revealed that 79% of the variance in the dyad’s synchronous interaction could be predicted from the mothers’ use of child-directed interaction skills (i.e., pride skills). bivariate correlations were also conducted on the baseline synchrony and individual pride skills and revealed that: 1) maternal specific praise during play positively correlated with daily hassles items “when my child needs to be watched,”, r = .48, p = .03 and “when my child squirms and wiggles,” r = .55, p < .05, suggesting that mothers who have children who need to be watched or have high energy levels were more likely to give specific praise to their child in play interactions; 2) maternal non-specific praise during play negatively correlated with the daily hassles child subscale total, r = -.50, p = .02, and daily hassles item “when my child is sick," r = -.46, p = .04, suggesting that mothers who self-reported that their child was a daily hassle, specifically when their child is ill, were less likely to praise their children during play interactions; 3) maternal imitation of child during play negatively correlated with depression, r = -.49, p = .03, and anxiety total score, r = -.45, p = .05, suggesting that mothers with elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms were less likely to imitate their children during play interactions; and, 4) maternal description of child activity during play negatively correlated with depression, r = -.48, p .03, and the daily hassles item “when my child smells bad,” r = -.63, p = .004, suggesting that mothers with elevated depression, and mothers who perceived their children as smelling bad as a hassle, were less likely to describe what their children were doing during play. 116 crotwell et al. outcome of intervention on: maternal child synchrony scores and maternal use of child-directed techniques (pride) during play interactions. an inspection of the pre and post-test data revealed normal distributions and comparable standard deviations across the two groups. to assess the effects of the intervention, a 2 (group: pride vs control) by 2 (interaction session: pretest versus posttest) repeated measures manova, with group as the between-subjects factor and interaction time (pretest, posttest) as the repeated measure, was conducted on maternal frequency of using child-directed techniques during play (i.e., pride: praise, reflect, imitate, describe, and enthusiasm) the dyad’s synchrony scores (0-5). the analysis revealed a significant group by time interaction effect, f (8, 11) = 8.68, p < .001, η 2 = .863. subsequent anovas were conducted and revealed differences between the intervention and control group means for synchrony scores and maternal use of child-directed techniques (pride) from pre-to posttest (see table 1). post-hoc paired sample t-tests to determine where the differences laid revealed significant increases for the intervention group from pretest to posttest on synchrony and all of the coded child-directed techniques (pride) (all ps < .01,) except for giving children specific praise or reflecting on their behavior. the control group significantly decreased in repeating/rephrasing their child’s vocalizations (i.e., reflect) from preto post play interaction (p < .01). no other significant pre-to-posttest difference was found for the control group (see table 1). in sum, the findings suggest that the mothers in the intervention group learned the child-directed techniques, and then applied the techniques in the posttest mother-child play interaction session. in addition, the intervention dyads were coded as improved in synchrony from pre-to-post intervention session. a brief play intervention for parents 117 table 1 mean mother-child synchrony scores and mean frequency with which mothers used child-directed techniques (pride) during play interactions with their preschool child from preto-posttest for the intervention and control group groups intervention control repeated manova variables pretest posttest pretest posttest f p ηp 2 synchrony 3.0 (0.8)a 3.8 (0.7)b ** 3.2 (1.0)a 3.3 (1.1)a 9.02 0.01 0.33 pride (total) 26.6 (14.2)a 52.7 (16.8)b ** 33.6 (17.8)a 27.6 (15.2)a 49.89 0.001 0.74 specific praise 0 (0)a 0.7 (1.1)a 0.3 (0.9)a 0 (0)a 4.95 0.04 0.22 non-specific praise 1.8 (2.9)a 5.2 (3.3)b ** 0.9 (1.3)a 0.3 (0.7)a 17.39 0.001 0.49 reflect 9.2 (5.9)a 12.2 (6.2)a 11.8 (7.3)a 7.1 (4.9)b ** 13.40 0.002 0.43 imitate 1.3 (1.4)a 8.1 (2.8)b ** 3.6 (2.8)a 2.9 (2.5)a 39.03 0.001 0.68 describe 1.3 (1.7)a 4.8 (3.4)b ** 2.3 (2.3)a 1.8 (1.8)a 11.29 0.003 0.39 enthusiasm 13.0 (12.)a 21.7 (12.1)b ** 14.7 (9.4)a 15.5 (9.3)a 6.09 0.02 0.25 note. values enclosed in parentheses represent standard deviations. means within each group (intervention or control) that do not share subscripts differ at *p < .05, **p < .01; hp2 = partial eta square (.10 = small effect size; .25 = medium effect size; .50 = large effect size.) 118 crotwell et al. predicting mother-child synchrony from maternal child-directed techniques to examine which child-directed technique(s) predicted mother-child synchrony, a multiple regression was conducted with maternal child-directed behaviors (pride) as predictor variables: praising the child during interactions (non-specific and specific), reflecting on the child’s play actions, imitating the child’s play, describing the child’s play behavior, or being enthusiastic. the model produced an r 2 of .83, for the pretest data, which was statistically significant, f (6, 19) = 10.25, p < .001. maternal use of reflection and being enthusiastic with her child during the play interactions predicted mother-child synchrony (see table 2). table 2 predictors of mother-child during play mother-child synchrony predictors b t p constant 7.73 0.001 praise (specific) -0.04 -0.35 0.74 praise (non-specific) 0.002 0.02 0.98 reflecting 0.369 2.24 0.04 imitating 0.182 1.14 0.27 describing -0.031 -0.22 0.83 enthusiasm 0.588 4.31 0.001 child behaviors in relation to group assignment. children’s affect (positive facial expressions), activity level (low, moderate, or high) and specific interactions with mothers (asks questions, offers toy to mother, looks at mother) were also examined at play time 1 and 2 (i.e., pretest and posttest) by group assignment (ie., intervention vs. control group). a group effect was obtained only for offering mother a toy, f (1,15) = 7.57, p =.015, η 2 =.335, revealing that children in the intervention group offered toys to their mothers more often than children in the control group. post hoc paired sample t-tests revealed that children in the intervention group increased nearly 3 fold in the frequency with which they offered their mothers a toy from play session 1 (m = .44, sd = 1.01) to play session 2 (m = 1.38, sd = 1.50), although the frequency scores were low and the increase was only marginally significant, t (8) = 2.20, p = .06. in contrast, children in the control group were not observed offering their mothers a toy in either play session 1 (m = 0) or play session 2 (m = 0). discussion in this study, assessments were made of maternal mood and play interactions of low-income mothers and their typically-developing preschool age children (2 to 5 year olds). the play sessions of the dyad were recorded before and after a brief intervention or control period. the intervention, an abbreviated parent-child interaction therapy (pcit), was aimed at helping the a brief play intervention for parents 119 intervention mothers learn five child-directed techniques (pride: praise, reflect, imitate, describe, enthusiasm) that were expected to enhance the synchrony, or improve the interactions, of the parent-child dyad during a play session. the baseline interactions were expected to be low in synchrony because low-income mothers typically experience a greater level of stress, and based on the literature, these mothers often display more negative mood and report greater hassles (brooks-gunn & furstenberg, 1986; ceballo & mcloyd, 2002; pearlin & johnson, 1977). greater depression, anxiety, anger, and daily hassles were expected to be negatively correlated with mother-child synchrony and maternal use of child-directed skills that foster positive interactions (pride skills.) as expected, the low-income mother-child dyads in the current study had a low-toaverage level of synchrony during the baseline play session. the baseline synchrony score of the dyads in the current study is considered the lowest level of positive synchrony where there is some, but not perfect, turn-taking and very little, if any, commenting or shared positive affect between the mother and child. half of the dyads scored below the minimum positive synchrony score, indicating even lower than average synchrony or no synchrony for some. these lower scores reflected behaviors of dyads that had little or no common focus, that placed emphasis on the materials available during the interaction rather than on each other’s actions, that abruptly changed topics, or dyads that were unresponsive to their partner during play. the baseline observations of the mothers playing with their children also revealed that they did not frequently praise, imitate or describe what their children were doing. adult use of child-directed techniques, such as praising, reflecting, imitating, describing and being enthusiastic during interactions (i.e.,pride skills), has been shown to enhance parent-child synchrony, build healthy parent-child relationships, help develop children’s social skills and reduce problem behaviors (boggs et al., 2004; dombrowski, timmer & zebell, 2008). interestingly, at baseline, the lowincome mothers in the current study were frequently enthusiastic and often repeated or reflected (i.e., paraphrased) what their children did during play. those two child-directed behaviors by the mothers (i.e., reflecting and being enthusiastic) largely predicted the synchrony scores of the dyad. another interesting finding was that use of child-directed techniques and baseline synchrony scores were positively and strongly correlated, suggesting that the mother-child dyad was more “in tune” or synchronous during play when mothers used more of the child-directed (pride) techniques. surprisingly, maternal mood and perceived daily hassles were not related to mother-child baseline synchrony scores. perhaps this relates to the baseline synchrony scores of the mothers being mid-range, or the small sample size. not surprising was the finding that mothers' scores on the mood and daily hassles questionnaires were related. depressed symptoms positively correlated with anger, anxiety, and daily hassles, suggesting that mothers who reported more depressive symptoms also reported more anger, anxiety, and daily hassles. relationships between depression and anger, anxiety, and daily hassles are well documented in the literature (dobson, 1985; field, 2010; sher, 2004; tavris, 1989). maternal reports of daily hassles were also positively correlated with anger, suggesting that mothers with higher daily hassles reported being more angry. the relationship between daily hassles and anger is also supported by the literature (farabaugh et al., 2004; field, et al., 2010; painuly, sharan, & mattoo, 2007; sedlar & hansen, 2001). in the current study, maternal mood and perceived daily hassles were related to mothers' use of child-directed techniques at baseline. specifically, mothers who reported more depressive 120 crotwell et al. symptoms imitated and described their children's actions less during the baseline play session. these findings suggest that depressed mothers may be less in tune with their children during play activities, less interested in their children’s play, or less interested in playing with their children. this is supported by the literature on depressed mothers (cf. field, 2010). mothers who express many and frequent depressive symptoms participate in fewer synchronous exchanges with their children than non-depressed mothers and also show low attachment to their child (lundy, 2002). depressed mothers may not be able to focus on, or respond to, their children during play because of their negative mood state. they may also misinterpret their child’s cues during interactions and either over-stimulate or under stimulate their child, which disrupts interactional synchrony and reduces the enjoyment of the interaction for the child (field et al., 1990). thus, brief interventions that focus on depressed mothers are needed to help elevate the level of interactional synchrony and help them appropriate engage with their child during play. like the depressed mothers, anxious mothers in the current study also imitated their children less during the baseline play session. this suggests that anxious mothers are less likely to follow their child's cues or lead in play interactions. similarly to depressed mothers, anxious mothers are also likely to misinterpret their child’s cues during interactions, which may interrupt the flow of synchrony and make the interaction less enjoyable for the child (feldman, 2007). again, brief interventions are needed that are aimed at mothers with mood disorders to help them have more positive and synchronous interactions with their children during play. mothers who reported more daily hassles regarding their children praised their children less during the baseline play session. this suggests that mothers who regularly perceive their children as being a hassle may be less positive of their children during play. in one study, parents who described their children as "stubborn," "noisy," "impulsive," and "restless" were coded as low in synchrony during parent-child play interactions (vizziello, ferrero, & musicco, 2000). it may be that mothers who report greater daily hassles have less social support, and mothers with low levels of social support often use negative and rejecting forms of parenting, which are in direct opposition to parent-child synchrony (ceballo & mcloyd, 2002). or perhaps it may be that mothers who have negative views of their children and are hassled by their behaviors avoid their children more during play, thus they are less engaged or interactive with them. they may be so focused on the negative behaviors of the child that they do not focus on the positive behaviors and fail to praise those positive behaviors when they occur. in sum, maternal negative mood is associated with less optimal parent-child relations and less focus on the child. maternal negative mood may be exacerbated in low-income families by the daily stressors they face. in sum, research is needed on brief interventions that are manageable for these stressed mothers who experience mood disorders and are disadvantaged because of their low-income status. future research is also needed on the relation of perceived daily hassles, maternal mood, and parent-child interactions for low-income mothers with a focus on the child’s developmental status (e.g., infants versus toddlers versus preschool age children, etc). studies by beebe and colleagues suggest that infants of depressed mothers demonstrate a mid-range of self-comfort and vigilance (cf. beebe, et al., 2010; marquette, helbraun, beebe & jaffe, 1998). it is unclear if these infant behaviors persist to the toddler and preschool period or if brief pcit techniques are appropriate across all ages of the early childhood period. being assigned to the intervention group was expected to elevate the synchrony of the dyad and lead to greater maternal use of child-directed strategies (i.e., praising, reflecting, imitating, describing and enthusiasm) from baseline to post intervention. these hypotheses were a brief play intervention for parents 121 supported in the current study. mothers in the intervention group significantly increased from preto post-intervention in the overall use of child-directed techniques, specifically in the frequency of praising (non-specific), imitating, describing what their child was doing and in being enthusiastic. in addition, the mother-child dyad’s synchrony score for the intervention group increased significantly from the baseline play session to the post-intervention play session. the only two child-directed strategies that did not increase for the intervention mothers were the use of specific praise and reflection. both specific praise and reflection require the mothers to make explicit comments on their child's behavior or vocalizations, which may be something that the mothers were unaccustomed to doing. learning to overtly commend her child and/or reflect or rephrase the child’s play behaviors may require practice and/or an additional coaching sessions for low income mothers. perhaps not surprising, mothers in the control group showed a decrease in reflecting on the children's vocalizations from the first to the second play session. the two play sessions were only separated by a 10 minute period. this supports that low-income mothers may have difficulty reflecting on their children’s play. overtime, these mothers’ interactions with their children may deteriorate. reflecting or paraphrasing children’s vocalizations is one way of enhancing the language development of young children. early language development is grounded in the interactions that adults, particularly caregivers, have with young children. promoting language skills in young children during social interactions is related to later school readiness (lucchese & taims-lemonda, 2007). preschool children from low-income families score markedly lower on language skills, which is a risk factor that has been associated with the negative effects of poverty (stanton-chapman, chapman, kaiser & hancock, 2004). thus, interventions are needed that teach low-income mothers how to promote young children’s vocalizations and/or language skills. no other significant differences were found for the control group. interestingly, while mothers in the intervention group did not show an increase in paraphrasing their children’s vocalizations or speech during play, they also did not decrease in reflecting from the pre-to the posttest play session like the control group. in addition, children in the intervention group were found to offer their mothers a toy more often than children in the control group. perhaps, the intervention children were attempting to increase turn-taking or reward their mothers who were being more focused on them. this finding warrants further research and may reflect the preschool age children’s attempt to improve interactional synchrony with their mothers. taken together, these findings support that the brief pride intervention was effective in teaching low-income, and/or at risk mothers, a few basic child-directed strategies that have been shown to strengthen parent-child relations. additionally, the findings also reveal that maternal use of child-directed techniques during play is related to improved mother-child synchrony. the majority of the mothers in our group were low-income, unwed, african american single mothers who were parenting, on average, two children. one-third to one-half of the low-income/at risk mothers presented with symptoms associated with severe mood disorders. developmental researchers advocate for research that identifies patterns of maternal risks associated with lowincome populations and to examine how those maternal risks affect or relate to preschool age children’s development and competencies (perry & fantuzzo, 2010). studies that focus on brief interventions for low-income mothers with mood disorders are needed to examine if short therapies, like the abbreviated pcit we used in the current study, strengthens the parent-child 122 crotwell et al. relation and has long term positive effects on children’s social development. the children’s increase in offering their mother a toy is a positive social gesture that should be encouraged and a step in further developing young children’s social skills. in conclusion, the brief child-directed intervention we tested was successful as it was conducted in one session and revealed an immediate and powerful change in mothers’ behaviors towards their children during play, as measured by the dyads’ improved synchronous interactions and the mothers’ greater use of child-directed strategies. the success of the intervention can also be measured by the robust effect sizes, which emphasized the magnitude of the difference between the intervention and control group. the intervention appeared to be feasible for this group of low-income mothers, evident by them being able to: 1) learn the child-directed (pride) techniques in a brief 10 minute session, 2) remember the techniques, and 3) and use most of the techniques in a subsequent interaction with their child. the findings from this study are encouraging as they support that brief interventions may be feasible and effective for helping low-income mothers learn techniques to strengthen their interactions with their preschool age children. improving parent-child relations is likely to enhance children’s social development and may help them become school ready. limitations & future study. one limitation of the current study is that because no follow-up studies were conducted, it is unknown if the brief intervention has lasting effects. in the current study, mothers participated in one 10 minute intervention and the effects of the therapy were assessed immediately after and on the same day. thus, further study is needed to evaluate if the brief intervention has long-term effects on synchrony and parent-child interactions. a future study should also examine if the brief intervention is effective in the natural setting, such as in the home. comparing the intervention outcome for the laboratory versus the natural context might reveal if the effects of the brief therapy are valid or are the result of experimental manipulation or priming. the small sample size of the study may be considered another limitation. however, given the robustness (i.e., the large and mostly moderate effect sizes) of the intervention effects on maternal use of child directed techniques, the findings are expected to be replicable. a future study might also include a more diverse sample of parents and perhaps test the effectiveness of the intervention with fathers. while the majority of our mothers were unwed, the brief intervention may have additive effects if delivered to low-income intact families where both parents may benefit from learning child-directed strategies to use when interacting with their children. additionally, it is important to also examine the intervention effects for different early childhood ages (e.g., two year olds, versus three, four or five year olds). implications. there is little literature on the practical application of parent-child interactional synchrony for preschool age children and their caregiver. improving synchrony in parent-child dyads has been associated with stronger parent-child relations and enhanced social development for children. strengthening the parent-child bond and helping young children develop social skills are important measures of parenting success, especially for low-income families who are stressed. those who have attempted interventions to increase synchrony have focused mostly on mother-infant dyads (harrist & waugh, 2002). the traditional pcit as already mentioned is intensive in terms of time commitment and associated with a high attrition rate. there is a a brief play intervention for parents 123 paucity of research on brief interventions for low-income samples, especially for mothers of preschool age children. brief interventions may be more feasible for busy parents, or those with few resources to participate in extended therapy sessions. brief interventions that are feasible and effective may have important implications for helping preschool children become school ready such as by enhancing their social skills through parent interactions that are child focused. finally, brief interventions may be implemented in waiting rooms of pediatric clinics, 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(1970). manual for the state-trait anxiety inventory, palo alto, ca: consulting psychologists. stanton-chapman, t.l., chapman, d.a., kaiser, a.p., & hancock, t.b., (2004). cumulative risk and low-income children's language development. topics in early childhood special education, 24, 227-237. doi: 10.1177/02711214040240040401 tavris, c. (1989). anger: the misunderstood emotion. new york, ny: simon & schuster. timmer, s.g., zebell, n.m., culver, m.a., & urquiza, a.j. (2010). efficacy of adjunct in-home coaching to improve outcomes in parent-child interaction therapy. research on social work practice, 20, 36-45. doi: 10.1177/1049731509332842 tomasello, m., & farrar, m.j. (1986). joint attention and early language. child development, 57, 1454-1463. doi:10.2307/1130423 van ijzendoorn, m.h., dijkstra, j., & bus, a.g. (1995). attachment, intelligence, and language: a meta-analysis. social development, 4, 115-128. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.1995.tb00055.x vizziello, g.m.f., ferrero, c., & musicco, m. (2000). parent-child synchrony of interaction. in p.m. crittenden & a.h. claussen (eds.), the organization of attachment relationships: maturation, culture, and context (pp. 38-60). cambridge, uk: cambridge. wierzbicki, m., & pekarik, g. (1993). a meta-analysis of psychotherapy dropout. professional psychology: research and practice, 24, 190-195. doi: 10.1037/0735-7028.24.2.190 zisser, a., & eyberg, s.m. (2010). parent-child interaction therapy and the treatment of disruptive behavior disorders. in j.r. weisz & a.e. kazdin (eds.), evidence-based psychotherapies for children and adolescents (2nd ed., pp. 179-193). new york, ny: guilford. school implications dialog, 17(4), 144-147 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary medication use in a head start sample: relevance for practitioners erin seif and john carlson michigan state university this study examined the prevalence of medicine used to treat medical illness and medicine used to treat behavior problems in a head start preschool sample, as well as patterns in medication use based on gender, ethnicity, and behavioral characteristics. the participants for this study included 1,544 parents of children ages 2 to 5 years old enrolled in a head start program during the 2008-2009 academic year in three diverse michigan counties. according to parent report, fifteen percent of children in this sample (n =233) were taking medication on a regular basis. medicine for medical illness accounted for 98.2% (n =306) of the medications in the sample. sixty-nine percent (n =214) of medications reported were asthma related. the importance of educating parents about the lack of a research base and potential side effects of common medications given to preschool children is discussed. keywords: psychotropic medication, medication, preschool, head start there is a lack of research concerning the prevalence rate of medicines used to treat common medical conditions and medicines used to reduce behavior problems in the preschool population. it is important to understand the types medication given to preschoolers given the possible negative effects of these medicines when used in young children. one recent study found that 6.8% of children in a head start sample were taking a prescribed medication according to parent report (brinkman & carlson, 2008). another study found that almost 10% of children take overthe-counter medication at any given time (vernacchio, kelley, kaufman, & mitchell, 2008). these data indicate that at least one child in every preschool classroom may be taking medications which might affect their classroom functioning. currently, asthma is the most prevalent chronic childhood illness in the united states (medco health solutions, 2004). it is estimated that eighty percent of children who have asthma also have allergies, and often children will take multiple medications concurrently to treat these conditions (american academy of pediatrics, 2010). only 22% to 32% of children considered at-risk who are diagnosed with asthma take medication to control their asthma (diaz et al., 2000; halterman et. al., 2000). the side effects of asthma medications in preschoolers are not well known, especially when multiple medications are prescribed. side effects of albuterol, a popular quick-relief asthma medication, are known to include tremors, hyperactivity, and vomiting (schuh et al., 1989). medication use relevance 145 the use of over-the-counter (otc) medications within pediatric populations has recently received considerable media attention. currently, the fda advises parents that cold and cough medications are not approved for preschool children (0-5 years of age) due to a lack of data, though few otc drugs have data supporting that they are not safe or efficacious in young children (vernacchio et al., 2008). approximately 70% of childhood illnesses, such as common colds, are treated with over-the-counter medications (kogan, pappas, yu, & kotelchuck, 1994). and as it is estimated that in any given week, 10.1% of american children use a cold and cough medication (vernacchio et al., 2008). although evidence suggests that otc medication use among the pediatric population is stable, medication used to treat behavior within the preschool population is rising despite the fact that little is known about the long-term effects (coyle, 2000). behavioral (antipsychotic) medications prescribed to preschoolers on medicare have doubled since 1990 (fanton & gleason, 2009) and surpass spending for pediatric asthma medications (medco health solutions, 2004). meta-analyses of children across the country indicate that stimulant and antidepressant use has increased from 0.3% to 1% among children six to fourteen years old (olfson, marcus, weissman, & jensen, 2002), but other reports indicate that psychotropic medications are used rarely (less than .03%) within the preschool population (brinkman & carlson, 2008). our study the purpose of this study our study was to (a) better understand the prevalence of medicines used to treat common medical conditions and medicines used to reduce behavioral problems in a head start preschool population (b) investigate possible changes in trends in medication use based on gender and ethnicity compared to previously published data that was based on a shorter question to parents (brinkman & carlson, 2008), and (c) study the possibility of a link between medication type and parent-report of the child’s behavioral characteristics. non-identifying data for this study were gathered from head start initial enrollment packet records that parents filled out prior to the beginning of the school year. medication use was determined by parental responses to a series of questions about medication use that were part of each child’s initial enrollment packet: “is your child taking any medication(s) on a regular basis (including over-the-counter, creams, lotions, herbal remedies, and seasonal)? “if yes, list all medication(s) and what it is taken for.” parental responses to the question (also part of the initial enrollment packet), “is there anything you want us to know about your child’s personality or temperament which will help us to support his or her adjustment to head start?” were coded according to the following categories: internalizing behaviors (eg., “separation anxiety,” “shy,”), disruptive behaviors (eg., “yelling,” “biting,” “bad temper”), prosocial skills (eg., “considerate,” “wants to interact with others,” “very mature”), and maladaptive social skills (eg., “trouble sharing,” “frustrated easily,” “doesn’t listen”). important conclusions/ relevance to practice prevalence of medications in a head start preschool sample  in this study, 15% of parents reported their child was taking a medication 146 seif & carlson  in the study completed in 2006, 11% of parents reported their child was taking a medication  of the children taking medication, 43% were taking multiple medications with unknown side effects  average number of medications per child decreased from 2.3 in 2006 (brinkman & carlson, 2008) to 1.67 in 2008  most medications were used to treat asthma  less than 1% of children were taking medications to treat behavior patterns in medication use based on gender and ethnicity  results of this study indicated that 18.6% (n = 82) of african american children and 7.9% (n = 49) of caucasian children were taking medications to treat asthma  the differences in asthma medication use based on ethnicity in this sample is larger than what is usually reported in the literature  in the united states, approximately 8.5% of all children have asthma, with prevalence varying according to race; approximately 12.5% of african american children have asthma, whereas only 7.7% of caucasian children have asthma (peters & fritz, 2010) common behavioral concerns in children taking medication to treat asthma  asthma medications did not affect children’s behavior implications for practice  need for parental education opportunities related to asthma medication and asthma management: providing hand-outs to families about asthma-related topics, incorporating asthma education into existing parental education activities for parents, and increasing parental access to head start nursing staff during parental activities are all examples of ways to increase parental education related to asthma, a common medical concern in this sample.  need to distribute basic information related to common otc medications and calculating medication dosages: collaborating with registered nursing staff affiliated with head start and/or partnering with local pediatricians’ offices to create parent education materials that simplify dosage information for common otc medications would not only increase parental access to this information, but may also increase parental understanding of the information. although parents of children attending head start can most likely obtain similar information at their doctor’s office, parents of children in head start are typically in and out of head start centers much more frequently. in addition, gathering feedback from parents who have used the educational materials is helpful for continually editing the handouts to make them more relevant and user-friendly. medication use relevance 147  warmth toward boys in the classroom: although a positive, warm classroom climate benefits all children, it is particularly important to demonstrate warmth toward preschool-age boys who are more likely to exhibit disruptive behavior than their female counterparts. the results of this study indicated boys may be more vulnerable both medically and behaviorally than their female counterparts, indicating fostering positive relationships and prosocial behavior with preschool age boys is particularly important. conclusion given the number of children taking asthma and other types of medications in this sample, it is important to provide families with relevant information about their child’s health. often, assumptions are made about parent and caregivers’ knowledge of common medications children take to manage symptoms of common illnesses. providing families with access to information whether through face-to-face opportunities to speak with a registered nurse or other medical staff member, learning about common medications children take at a family night, or obtaining easyto-read handouts in the head start office are all examples of ways to provide families with information. references american academy of pediatrics. (2010, may). asthma. retrieved from www.healthychildren.org/english/healthissues/conditions/allergies-asthma/pages/asthma.aspx. brinkman, t., & carlson, j. (2008). parent-reported medication use in a head start population. the journal of school nursing, 24, 319-325. doi: 10.1177/1059840508319626 coyle, j. (2000). psychotropic drug use in very young children. journal of the american medical association, 238, 1059-1060. doi: 10.1001/jama.283.8.1059 diaz, t., sturm, t., matte, t., bindra, m., lawler, k., findley, s., & maylahn, c. (2000). medication use among children with asthma in east harlem. pediatrics, 105, 1188-1193. doi: 10.1542/peds.105.6.1188 fanton, j., & gleason, m. (2009). psychopharmacology and preschoolers: a critical review of current conditions. child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of north america, 18, 753-771. doi: 10.1016/j.chc.2009.02.005 halterman, j. s., aligne, a. c., auinger, p., mcbride, j. t. & szilagyi, p. g. (2000). health and health care for high-risk children and adolescents: inadequate therapy for asthma among children in the united states. pediatrics, 105, 272-276. kogan, m. d., pappas, g., yu, s. m., kotelchuck, m. (1994). over-the-counter medication use among us preschool-age children. journal of the american medical association, 272, 1025 – 1030. medco health solutions. (2004, may). medco study reveals pediatric spending spike on drugs treat behavioral problems. retrieved from http://medco.mediaroom.com/index. olfson, m., marcus, s., weissman, m., & jensen, p. (2002). national trends in the use of psychotropic medications by children. journal of american academy of child and adolescent psychiatry, 41, 514-521. peters, t. & fritz, g. (2010). psychological considerations of the child with asthma. child adolescent psychiatric clinic of north america, 19, 319 – 333. schuh, s., parkin, p., canny, g., rieder, m., levison, h., & soldin, s. (1989). high versus low-dose, frequently administered, nebulized albuterol in children with severe, acute asthma. pediatrics, 83, 513-518. vernacchio, l., kelly, j., kaufman d., & mitchell, a. (2008). cough and cold medication use by us children, 1999-2006: results from the slone survey. pediatrics, 122, 323-329. doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-0498 dialog, 18(4), 117-122 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary readiness opportunities for highly vulnerable families anita s. charles bates college mary anne peabody university of southern maine this article describes a qualitative case study within an urban early head start program in the northeast, designed to reach highly-vulnerable families who were not eligible for early head start due to complex life experiences. the goal of this research was to deepen the knowledge base regarding the benefits and challenges of this approach by learning from parents and the practicing professionals' perspectives. findings are discussed in terms of literature relevant to ecological theory, family resilience, and coping with stressors with an emphasis on supporting staff who in turn support both young children's school readiness and families in a collaborative community process. this article also identifies next steps useful to professionals and scholars interested in initiating or studying this approach to expand early head start to the most vulnerable infant, toddlers and their families within comprehensive early childhood education programs. keywords: vulnerable families, early head start, ecological theory, spatialized critical theory, resilience under the standard model of early head start (ehs), programming is provided for children ages birth to three whose parents are either working or enrolled in school. however, many vulnerable families with infants and toddlers facing the greatest risks are not enrolled. given highly stressed economic and psychological circumstances, some families with young children are not ready for school or employment attendance, making them ineligible for early head start under current guidelines, creating an unmet, yet critical, community need. this ethnographic case study examines a response to this need through an innovative and integrative approach to supporting eight targeted high-need families served by an urban head start center in new england. the model, referred to pseudonymously in this paper as the capture program, qualifies families based on four key priorities: substance abuse, homelessness, special needs (of parents and/or children) including mental illness, and open cases through department of health and human services (dhhs). the work is intended to assist early head 118 charles & peabody start personnel as well as local, state and national policy makers, in understanding the complex reality of implementation of this type of program for early head start. theoretical framework: ecological systems theory the conceptual framework for our research is based on an ecological model of human development (bronfenbrenner, 1974, 1994), which considers “place” as an interconnection of layered contexts. in addition, we consider the concept of family resilience in coping with stressors emerging from conditions that place families at risk of school and societal difficulty (vandsburger, harrigan, & biggerstaff, 2008; wadsworth et al., 2013). the “child’s ecology” include the immediate contexts of home and school as well as the supporting layers of community, family, and social systems, with interconnections among levels (weiss, lopez, kreider, & chatman-nelson, 2014). geographical space intersects with politics and belief systems and reproduce relationships of power (gruenewald, 2003). since poverty is aligned with multiple risk factors, it impacts developmental outcomes in young children (rafferty, griffin & robokos, 2010; wadsworth et al, 2013), with stresses that are “arduous and dispiriting” (wadsworth et al., 2013, p. 713). there is often ambivalence in how people in support services and programs regard poor families (halpern, 1993), and service providers need guidance in building healthy relationships with vulnerable families (wadsworth et al., 2013; onchwari, 2010). methodology we used an ethnographic case-study approach for our research, interviewing six families two times (fall and spring), and two families once. the two program teachers and four administrators were also interviewed in late fall and again in the spring. findings and discussion parent interviews parental supports and attitudes. parental positive beliefs and attitudes toward the capture program remained consistent throughout the entire year. parents unequivocally praised and appreciated the program and the teachers. they recognized the access to resources, the ability to “get stuff done” in a day, and the developmental benefits to their children. in winter and spring, parents articulated a number of skills that their children were learning, including toilet training, colors, social skills, routines, songs, and simple sign language. the parents did not feel judged based on their life circumstances. the message sent to the parents was a positive one of support to build on their strengths (vandsburger et al., 2008). “system” realities. these parents had strong goals for themselves and the belief that they could achieve them, but recognized that they were entrenched in a larger context that held a strong grip on them. one mother said, “i’ve worked really hard to get my kids back. i’m going early head start 119 to work the hardest i can.” some had goals for ged and then college, or career goals. sometimes the focus was more immediate: safe housing, better mental health, and staying clean and sober. but these parents also had a poignant understanding of being individuals within sociocultural and historical ecologies, and of feeling trapped in a losing situation. one mother stated, “i didn’t picture myself here a year ago. i really thought i wouldn’t make it. nobody gets out.” teacher interviews teacher perceptions and feelings, winter. the teachers provided the most complex aspect of the study, often wavering among contradictory feelings: sympathy for families, with a collaborative sense of respect and communication, but also feeling worn down, burnt out, or frustrated with the parents. (pseudonyms are used throughout for teachers and administrators.) in the winter, the two teachers expressed great compassion and eagerness to help the families succeed. however, the teachers expressed ambivalence about their relationships with parents. marie was yelled at by a parent, and her reflections indicated that she felt hurt, angry, and sympathetic, all at the same time. in similar fashion, the other teacher, teresa, made remarks that vacillated between care and frustration, compassion and judgment. she expressed genuine concern for families, and yet indicated the desire to fix “everybody” and “everything.” she said, “we need to put ourselves in these parents’ shoes, or try to anyways. but we don’t always, sometimes you forget.” teacher perceptions and feelings, spring. in a few short months, the teachers’ perceptions and feelings would undergo a dramatic shift. they had become more overwhelmed, cynical, and burnt out. for example, marie made the following comment: [the parents are] pushing the boundaries with us just like any normal child would do. they’re not on their best behavior, they’re not supposed to be… we want to pull our hair out, but it’s ok… it’s not easy for some of them to have to depend on resources. then you have some of the families that take advantage of having those resources. teresa’s impatience of families by springtime is striking. she stated, “we have families that it’s hard for them to follow through. this is a free program, and they think they can just drop off their child and pick them up, and a lot of them don’t want to be bothered with anything else.” the teachers seemed surprised and overwhelmed throughout the year by the needs of the families. better support for teachers. both teachers recognized their own need for more training on, in teresa’s words, “how to approach families that have a wall up, and you just can’t get through, and you have a job to do, and you know that the child has needs that need to be met, and how you can handle that, how you can reach out better to those families?” 120 charles & peabody staff/administrative interviews the support structure for capture involved many individuals including: the family services manager (angela); the education and special services manager (amanda); the site supervisor (carla); the director of the agency (meg). several of the staff referred to capture as providing a “safe place” for children to be. amanda explained: [this program] allows us to reach that population of families who fall between those cracks but clearly need an opportunity to send their children somewhere safe so they can do the things they need to do to get their lives back together…. [in our other] early classrooms, you have to be working or go to school more than 75% of the time. these folks aren’t there yet, they’re not ready for that. they need the opportunity to get ready. complex “systems” understanding. the administrative staff had a strong understanding of the complex and interconnected “systems” framework happening in these families’ lives. amanda stated, “if you don’t have a safe place to bring your baby, you can’t go get your counseling, you can’t go for your drug test…” others echoed these sentiments. the site supervisor, carla, noted, “i believe that there are a lot of people who want to end the cycle, to change where they are in life. we are instilling the fact that parents are capable. they have worth and that it can be done in small steps.” teachers needing more support. without a doubt, the most urgent need for the program was recognized across both staff and teachers as the necessity for more emotional and educational support for teachers than they received, reflecting research conclusions (weiss et al., 2014; onchwari, 2009) of a lack of teacher preparedness to handle the stresses of the population they serve. the head administrator stated, “it’s very easy for [teachers] to burn out. and finding qualified [teachers] is not easy.” by spring, the staff acknowledged that they had not done enough work in this area to help sustain and retain the teachers. the family service manager said, “i was providing crisis intervention, that’s what i was doing, and they needed more clinical [emotional support]. they probably needed both.” several others recognized their error in hiring two new staff for a program with sometimes-overwhelming needs. the director meg stated, “it’s helping [teachers] understand the value piece, beliefs and values of ourselves and how do you set that aside sometimes. we probably need to do more training around that area, agency wide, around our values and beliefs.” similarly, the education manager reflected, “we are fixers, so when [parents] share something we want to fix it. sometimes we speak too soon or we speak a little strong. that piece has been tough. i didn’t anticipate it.” implications and recommendations there is great promise in the capture program. results from this study show that early head start can reach out to previously ineligible, yet extremely vulnerable, families and provide services that create opportunities to become eligible for the regular programming. results from the first year of operation indicate that an increased level of emotional and educational support is early head start 121 necessary for the teachers. consistent and frequent clinical reflective supervision from a mental health professional will better position teachers when faced with complex family situations. the need for professional development training was also identified, specifically around building relationships with parents and deeper understanding of issues of trauma, mental health, impact of cumulative risk factors on families and children, and resiliency. the administrative staff also felt that, as the program grows, attention to parent education will be warranted. working closely with community agencies that already offer parent education was discussed as the administrative staff saw capture as a vehicle that had inherently enhanced strong partnerships, with potential to better integrate services. implications of the struggle with transportation and an inadequate busing system were community issues that impacted attendance. conversations about innovative ways to address transportation issues were emerging based on this study. conclusion difficult life experiences, especially when they accumulate or are numerous, present real challenges. addressing the multiple challenges families face is difficult, and family change is a slow and often discouraging endeavor. supporting program staff, engaging in relationships with parents and community partners, and focusing on infant and parent mental health (anakwenze, 2013; mcallister, 2007) all provide opportunities to reach a previously-unmet population in the field of early childhood. organizational readiness, including a solid infrastructure that commits to financial resources, mental health supervision for teachers, and expansion of professional development offerings, aligns with the mission, goals and resource allocation of early head start. the most vulnerable infants and toddlers and their families can and should be reached within comprehensive early childhood education programs that give them the opportunity to get ready for the next steps in their lives. references anakwenze, u. z., d. (2013). mental health and poverty in the inner city. health & social work, 38(3), 147-157. bronfenbrenner, u. (1974). developmental research, public policy, and the ecology of childhood. child development, 45, 1-5. bronfenbrenner, u. (1994). ecological models of human development. international encyclopedia of education, 3, 2nd ed., 1643-1647. gruenewald, d. a. (2003). foundations of place: a multidisciplinary framework for place-conscious education. american educational research journal, 40(3), 619-654. halpern, r. (1993). the societal context of home visiting and related services for families in poverty. the future of children, 3(3), 158-171. mcallister, c. l. t. (2007). infant mental health and family support: contributions of early head start to an integrated model for community-based early childhood programs. infant mental health journal, 28(2), 192-215. onchwari, j. (2010). early childhood inservice and preservice teachers’ percpetions of preparedness to handle stress in their students. early childhood education, 37, 391-400. doi 10.1007/s10643-009-0361-9. rafferty, y., griffin, k.w.. & robokos, d. (2010). maternal depression and parental distress among families in the early head start research and evaluation project: risk factors within the family setting. infant mental health journal, 31, 543-569. 122 charles & peabody vandsburger, e., harrigan, m., & biggerstaff, m. (2008). in spite of all, we make it: themes of stress and resiliency as told by women in families living in poverty. journal of family social work, 11(1), 17-35. wadsworth, m.e., rindlaub, l., hurwich-reiss, e., rienks, s., bianco, h., & markman, h.j. (2013). a longitudinal examination of the adaptation to poverty-related stress model: predicting child and adolescent adjustment over time. journal of clinical child & adolescent psychology, 42(5), 713-725. weiss, h.b., lopez, m.e., kreider, h., & chatman-nelson, c. (2014). preparing educators to engage families: case studies using an ecological systems framework (3 rd ed.). los angeles, ca: sage. abstract dialog, 16(3), 45-63 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article integrating physical activity into preschool classroom academic lessons promotes daily physical activity and improves literacy stacie m. kirk, wendy w. fuchs, and erik p. kirk southern illinois university edwardsville poor early literacy skills and obesity in preschool children have been associated with poor academic achievement later in life. limited evidence suggests an association of physical activity with improving literacy and decreasing obesity in older children (carlson et al., 2008). however, the effects of increasing physical activity on literacy skills in preschool children are not known. this article describes the impact of academic lessons taught through physical activity on literacy skills of preschool students enrolled in head start. the results showed that increasing physical activity in the preschool classroom led to reductions in sedentary behavior during free play and in body weight, and improvements in literacy compared to non-exercising classrooms. therefore, physical activity academic lessons are cost effective, require minimal teacher preparation, and result in improved academic scores and lower body weight. keywords: literacy, preschool curriculum, childcare/daycare, poverty, ethnic minorities due to the no child left behind act, many preschool administrators and teachers have cited increased pressure from k-12 administrators and legislators to increase the focus on standardized testing in preschool which has limited the focus on a broader academic development and health of children, in particular the obesity of children (conley & hinchman, 2004). increased physical activity offers a potential intervention to address both issues. however, concern over meeting academic achievement goals has resulted in the reduction or elimination of physical activity in many preschools. african american preschool children ages 3-5 years are at an increased risk for poor literacy development, often arriving at school with poorly developed vocabularies (hart & risley, 1995; rush, 1999), which make learning to read more difficult. obesity has been linked to deficits in early literacy skills in preschool children, in particular african american children (haas et al., 2003; sherry et al., 2004) who have a higher prevalence rate for childhood weight problems (active start: a statement of physical activity guidelines for children birth to five years, 2008; haas et al., 2003; sherry et al., 2004). engagement in physical activity has been cited as a critical 46 s. kirk et al. intervention in preventing obesity and improving academic achievement (tomporowski, davis, miller, & naglieri, 2008). to this end, there is an urgent need for developing effective ways to increase physical activity in preschool children. despite the association between physical activity and improved cognitive function, the majority of published research that has examined the effects of physical activity on children’s cognitive function in relation to academic achievement as an outcome measure has been conducted primarily with school-age children (castelli, hillman, buck, & erwin, 2007; coe, pivarnik, womack, reeves, & malina, 2006; dwyer, sallis, blizzard, lazarus, & dean, 2001; keays & allison, 1995). to our knowledge there has been little to no research completed with preschool age children (3 – 5yrs of age). evidence suggests the importance of developing physical activity habits early in life. since early childhood is both the most critical and most vulnerable period in a child’s development (conlon, 2002), there is additional need for research with this population. teachers and parents have assumed that preschool children are very active and engage in sufficient physical activity (benham-deal, 1993a; sallis, patterson, mckenzie, & nader, 1988). a systematic review by tucker (tucker, 2008) examined a total of 39 studies (published between 1986 – 2007) from seven countries (united states, scotland, finland, australia, chile, estonia, belgium) to establish an accurate reflection of the physical activity levels of preschool children. nearly half of the studies included in the review reported less than 60min/day of physical activity; therefore these children were insufficiently active according to naspe guidelines (active start: a statement of physical activity guidelines for children birth to five years, 2008; tucker, 2008). with only 54% of preschool children in this review found to be sufficiently physically active within this age group (ogden et al., 2006); additional efforts are necessary to promote healthy activities in the preschool setting. the field of early childhood education and head start in particular, has placed an increased emphasis on program improvement and accountability based on children’s outcomes. one of the outcomes targeted by head start programs includes development in the areas of literacy and language, which are critical to academic success later in life (walker, greenwood, hart, & carta, 1994). therefore, the combination of these factors indicates research is needed that addresses the impact of physical activity on children’s physical health and mental function (tomporowski, davis, miller, & naglieri, 2008). the effect of regular physical activity on improving development of early literacy skills in preschool children, a critical period in children’s development, is not known. physical activity has been shown to improve literacy skills in children ages 6-18 years (tomporowski, davis, miller, & naglieri, 2008). however, the effects of increases in physical activity in african american children age 3-5years are not known. integrating physical activity into head start preschool classrooms academic lessons offers an innovative approach to increasing physical activity during the school day without decreasing the time devoted to academics. therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the impact of academic lessons taught through physical activity on the early literacy of preschool students enrolled in head start. we hypothesized that students in the classrooms that receive the academic lessons taught through physical activity would have significantly greater increases in early literacy from baseline to three months and it would be maintained at six months compared to students in control classrooms that did not preschool physical activity improves literacy 47 participate in the physical activity lessons. specific research questions included the following: 1) did children in the intervention classroom decrease their body mass index (a reliable measure of body fatness) compared to the control classrooms, 2) did child literacy skills increase in the intervention classrooms as compared to child literacy skills in the control classrooms. method participants children. there were a total of fifty-four (intervention, n=24, control, n=30) african american preschool children (meanse, age 3.90.1y, body mass index 16.80.2 kg/m 2 ) from a low socioeconomic urban head start program that participated in the six-month study (see table 1 for participant characteristics). approximately twothirds of the children were either overweight (body mass index ≥85-94 th percentile for age, intervention, n=10, control, n=12) or obese (body mass index ≥95th percentile for age, intervention, n=6, control, n=8) with the remaining normal weight (intervention, n=8, control, n=10). over 99% of families enrolled in the head start program were african american and >95% of families were categorized as living below the poverty line. prior to the start of the study, parents signed an informed assent for their children to participate. the study was approved by the researchers’ university internal review board. table 1 baseline participant characteristics physical activity control age (yrs) 3.90.1y 3.90.1y weight (kg) 18.4  2.1 17.7  1.9 height (cm) 105.4  2.2 104.1  1.8 bmi (kg/m 2 ) 16.8  1.4 16.7  1.0 alliteration (number of letters sounds correctly identified/two min) 0.5  0.2 0.5  0.2 rhyming (number of rhymes correctly identified/two min) 0.7  0.3 0.7  0.2 picture naming (number of pictures named correctly/min) 15.0  5.9 15.0  5.3 note. values are mean  sem. no difference between groups teachers. each classroom was staffed with two teachers (one lead teacher and one assistant teacher). there were a total of eight teachers (four lead and four assistants), all of them female. there was a total of two lead and two assistant teachers who were african american. one lead and one assistant teacher who were african american were in the intervention classrooms and one lead and one assistant teacher who were african 48 s. kirk et al. american were in the control classrooms. there was a total of two lead and two assistant teachers who were caucasian. there was one lead and one assistant teacher who were caucasian in the intervention classroom and one lead and one assistant teacher who were caucasian in the control classrooms. the four lead teachers had a bachelors degree in early education with an average of 15 years of experience. the four assistant teachers had associate degrees in early education with an average of 10 years experience. the teachers signed an informed consent form prior to participation. setting head start preschools. within the head start program, two sites totaling 4 classrooms participated in the study. the preschool sites were in the same urban city (just 1 mile apart) and managed through a partnership with a local university. teachers followed the head start curriculum, teacher implementation and time spent on curriculum were identical in both preschools as measured by direct observation and teacher report. all available resources such as technology, educational material, teacher training, were identical across classrooms. both sites followed the same curriculum and were expected to monitor child progress toward outcomes as monitored by the head start child development and early learning framework (2010). study design a two group, quasi-experimental design with one preschool site participating in the physical activity intervention (1 preschool, 2 classrooms, n=24 f, n=10, m, n=14) and a second site participating as the control site (1 preschool, 2 classrooms, n=30, f, n=13 f, m, n=17) was used. students were assigned to condition based on the site they attended. during the first three months, a member of the research team performed daily observations, feedback and support to ensure the physical activity lessons were being administered correctly and to monitor compliance. during months four through six there was no contact between the investigators and the teachers. the limited contact was done to evaluate if there was a maintenance effect in which the physical activity lessons continued to be used by teachers without ongoing support and feedback by the research team. training. both the lead and assistant teacher in each classroom were part of the training session and took part in the leading of the physical activity program. every effort was made through initial training and ongoing communication to remind teachers not to discuss the study between each preschool site. training of research assistants. research assistants were trained to support the classroom teachers in the design and delivery of the exercise program, in troubleshooting, and problem-solving strategies as discussed in the teacher training section under procedures. research assistants who conducted testing were trained to collect valid and reliable data and had to obtain intra-class correlations of 0.80 or greater preschool physical activity improves literacy 49 to be certified to administer each measure. at baseline, three, and six months body weight (intraclass correlations, icc = 0.99), height (icc=0.99), and early literacy skills (alliterations, icc = 0.95, rhyming, icc = 0.96) were obtained. measurement tools body mass/bmi. weight was assessed using a portable digital scale accurate to  0.1 kg (befour inc., model #ps6600, saukville,wi). height was assessed using a portable stadiometer (model pe-wm-60-84, perspective enterprises, portage, mi). bmi was calculated as weight (kg)/height (m 2 ). early literacy skills. early literacy and language were measured using the early literacy individual growth and development indicators (igdi research and development of individual growth and development indicators for children between birth and age eight; tech. rep. no. 4, 1998). three individual growth and development indicators (igdis) are commonly used as indicators of children’s language and literacy development in preschool programs. these three measures, picture naming assessment of expressive language development, rhyming and alliteration assessment of phonological analysis, were each developed by researchers at the university of minnesota under the auspices of the early childhood research institute on measuring growth and development (research and development of individual growth and development indicators for children between birth and age eight; tech. rep. no. 4, 1998). picture naming individual growth and development indicator (pn igdi). administration of the pn igdi is completed by presenting children with color pictures (photographs or line drawings) of objects found in natural environments, including home (e.g., cake, sink), classroom (e.g., glue, book) and community (e.g., rabbit, train). the children were told to name pictures as quickly as possible. the number of pictures named correctly in one minute was the child’s score. if the child did not respond to any given picture within three seconds, the examiner gave a prompt by saying, “what’s that?” or “do you know what this is?” and allowed the child an additional two seconds to respond before moving to the next card. items were selected from a set of approximately 120 pictured objects. examiners were instructed to use four standard sample cards (to demonstrate the task and confirm the child’s understanding of the task), and then to administer a randomly selected set of one to 50 cards. rhyming individual growth and development indicator (rh igdi). administration of the rh igdi is completed by presenting a child with a series of cards. each card shows four pictures: at the top is a picture depicting the stimulus word (e.g., bees) and under the stimulus picture is a row of three other pictures (e.g., house, pants, cheese) with one correct and two incorrect responses. for each card the examiner points to and says the name of each picture and tells the child to, "point to the picture that sounds the same as the top picture." after demonstration (two standard cards) 50 s. kirk et al. and practice items (four randomly selected cards), the examiner shows a random selection of cards for two minutes. a child’s score is the number of correctly-identified rhymes in two minutes. alliteration individual growth and development indicator (al igdi). alliteration is similar to the other two igdi’s in that it uses stimulus cards and the child’s score is the number correct during a timed administration. the al igdi cards depict four pictures: at the top is a picture depicting the stimulus word (e.g., cake) and under the stimulus picture is a row of three other pictures (e.g., cat, sink, bear) with one correct and two incorrect responses. the child is told to, “look at the pictures and find the ones that start with the same sound.” for each card the examiner names all the pictures for the child. after demonstration (two standard cards) and practice items (four randomly selected cards), the examiner showed a random selection of cards for two minutes, counting the number correct in that time as the child’s score. system for observing fitness instruction time. (sofit; mckenzie, sallis, & nader, 1992) provides a measure of student activity levels, lesson context, and teacher behavior. this validated tool was developed to assess the quality of physical activity instruction. research assistants were trained to make direct observations of physical activity levels within the classroom and learn how to record them uniformly. using the sofit, a time-moment sampling technique (mckenzie et al., 1992), research assistants practiced recording the physical activity intensity level of students in several classrooms, using a likert-type scale (e.g. 1 = lying down, 2 = sitting, 3 = standing, 4 = walking, 5 = jogging/running). sofit data correlates significantly with average heart rate (r=.61) and tritrac monitoring (a small devise that objective measures physical activity patters, r=.61) (pope, coleman, gonzalez, & heath, 2000). inter-rater reliability. to calculate inter-rater reliability for the abovementioned measures, two observers, independently but simultaneously, observed for approximately 30% of the classroom sessions. interobserver reliability estimates were calculated by dividing the number of agreements by the number of agreements plus disagreements, and multiplying the total by 100%. interobserver agreement across sessions was 88%. ratings were compared across research assistants for reliability and percentage agreement was calculated. to control drift across time, reliability testing was conducted every three months. teacher survey of program. to gain additional information that would be helpful in guiding the overall design and implementation of the program for future studies, we asked teachers to complete a 10-item survey, which we adapted from the child and adolescent trial for cardiovascular health (catch) physical education observation form (mckenzie et al., 1997), at the end of the study. preschool physical activity improves literacy 51 statistical analyses body fat (research question one). overweight and obesity were determined using body mass index (bmi). an adjusted t-test (donner & klar, 2000), which accounts for the intraclass correlation, was used to assess change in bmi from baseline to six months. change in bmi was also analyzed longitudinally, using a linear mixed model with an autoregressive type 1 covariance structure for the longitudinal measurements over time and compound symmetric covariance structure for the intraclass correlation within schools, also adjusting for gender. early literacy skills (research question two). child literacy skills were assessed using three measures of early literacy skills. picture naming assessment of expressive language development, rhyming assessment of phonological awareness and alliteration assessment of phonological awareness were analyzed using an adjusted ttest (donner & klar, 2000), which accounted for the intraclass correlation, to assess change in these variables from baseline to six months. change in picture naming, rhyming and alliteration was also analyzed longitudinally, using a linear mixed model with an autoregressive type 1 covariance structure for the longitudinal measurements over time adjusting for gender (donner & klar, 2000). fidelity of teacher implementation. fidelity of teacher implementation of the physical activity lessons was measured using the sofit observation tool. sofit data were compared between the intervention and control classrooms using a mixed linear model adjusting for age and sex. the effects of teacher modeling on sofit scores were analyzed using anova. teacher satisfaction. teacher satisfaction was measured through a teacher survey. data from the teacher survey were summarized descriptively, using means and standard deviations for continuous data and frequencies and percentages for categorical data. all quantitative analyses were done using sas version 9.1 (sas institute, inc., cary, nc, usa). the alpha level was set at 0.05 for all analyses. procedures baseline body mass/bmi. body mass was assessed at baseline, three and six months, between the hours of 7:00 and 10:00 am on the same day for both groups. individual growth and development indicators administration. the preschool igdi assessment data were collected on three occasions using the methods described above for igdi; at baseline and at months three and at six on all children enrolled in the intervention and control sites so that the data could be compared across groups. 52 s. kirk et al. interobserver agreement. interobserver agreement for the preschool igdis was conducted for approximately 25% of administration sessions. while one person administered and scored the assessment, an additional observer scored the assessment, independently but simultaneously. interobserver reliability estimates were calculated by dividing the number of agreements by the number of agreements plus disagreements, and multiplying the total by 100%. interobserver agreement across sessions was 92% (range, 87-95%) for picture naming, 91% (range, 88-93%) for rhyming, and 93% (range, 90-96%) for alliteration. classroom observations using sofit. following completion of baseline bmi and igdi assessments, direct observations of individual classrooms were initiated to establish baseline classroom activity levels. sofit data were collected for all participating classrooms during the week prior to implementation of the physical activity program. interobserver agreement. interobserver agreement for the sofit was conducted for approximately 30% of administration sessions. while one person administered and scored the assessment, an additional observer scored the assessment, independently but simultaneously. interobserver reliability estimates were calculated by dividing the number of agreements by the number of agreements plus disagreements, and multiplying the total by 100%. interobserver agreement across sessions was 90% (range, 87-93%). intervention physical activity program. the carefully designed physical activity program was designed by researchers with expertise in early childhood development and physical activity along with teachers and administrators at the head start program. to increase the likelihood of dissemination in other head start centers, the activities were carefully designed to be easily administered by classroom teachers while being fun and engaging for preschool children. the program was designed to keep the children moving in moderate physical activity for 15 minutes two times per day (30 minutes daily). thirty minutes was chosen to meet part of the recommended 60 minutes per day of moderate intensity physical activity (active start, 2008). the program was administered inside or outside of the classroom, to music or without music. the goal was to make it fun and engaging for both the teachers and students. teachers were free to choose the time each morning and afternoon that best fit into the day’s schedule but each teacher was required to administer a morning and afternoon session at a time when it is likely that most if not all students were in attendance (e.g. after breakfast in the am but before children are picked-up by parents in pm). during the first three months daily direct observation by the investigators was used to ensure that the physical activity lessons were administered appropriately. during months four through six (maintenance) teachers in the intervention group were required to complete a daily activity log. to complete the log, teachers indicated in which physical activity lesson was used, the time of day they performed the activity lesson, the total number of minutes that each activity lasted, and estimate the intensity level at which preschool physical activity improves literacy 53 they believed the children were performing (i.e., light, moderate or high intensity levels). during months four through six an email was sent each week to the intervention teachers to remind them to complete the activity logs. however, no other support or training was given to the teachers during months four through six. a variety of literacy lessons were used in the areas of picture naming assessment of expressive language development, rhyming and alliteration assessment of phonological analysis. for example, a goal of a rhyming lesson was for children to find the rhymes within a particular poem or short story. the activity was designed to help children understand and identify rhyming words. during the lesson children would march in place while the teacher repeated several lines of a poem and the child identified the words that rhymed. depending on the words that rhymed, the children would either act out the words or perform a certain number of jumping jacks (or other movement) before moving on to the next two lines of the poem and repeating the sequence throughout the poem. a detailed example of an activity lesson is found in table 2. while these concepts were covered at both the intervention and control site, the primary difference was that the intervention site integrated these lessons into a physical activity rather than taught solely through large group time, reading, or other classroom activities. table 2. example of physical activity lesson rhyming awareness goal: in this lesson children are to find the rhymes. this activity helps children understand and identify rhyming words. materials needed: select a rhyming poem from the packet of poems. (e.g. ten little bluebirds) instruction: when reading or reciting rhymes and rhyming stories, pause to identify words that rhyme. use the word rhyme to describe the common ending sounds. activity lesson: children should march in place throughout the lesson. begin by reciting the poem “ten little bluebirds” two sentences at a time. after the first two sentences, identify the rhyming words “pine” and “nine” by saying “do you know what? pine and nine sound alike. they both end with the sound -ine. pine and nine rhyme!” the children should then perform “nine” jumping jacks while counting out loud. once completed with the nine jumping jacks the children should resume marching in place. repeat for the remaining poem but use other activities such as touching toes, move arms up and down, jogging around the circle carpet. repeat a second time so the children become familiar with the poem. advanced lesson: in future lessons as the children become familiar with the poems ask the children to identify the rhymes as you read. for example, when reciting the poem “ten little bluebirds,” after the first two sentences, ask the children to identify the rhyming words. “i think there were two words that rhyme; can anyone tell me which words rhyme?” the children should indicate they know the answer by jumping up and down in place. repeat for the remaining lines. 54 s. kirk et al. maintenance. during the first three months of the study there was daily direct observation of the physical activity lessons, feedback and support by the investigators to the teachers implementing the physical activity lessons. this timeframe allowed teachers several months to incorporate physical activity into their regular lessons with the help of staff and to gain a sense of mastery with presenting active lessons. during months four through six there was no direct contact between the teachers and the investigators. the limited contact was designed to evaluate if there was a maintenance effect in which the physical activity lessons continued to be used by teachers without ongoing support and feedback by the research team. teacher training. training was provided to classroom teachers and assistants in each of the two intervention classrooms at a full-day in-service at the beginning of the school year. the goal of the in-service training was to develop competency and strategies to deliver two, 15-minute periods of moderate to vigorous intensity, physically active lessons per day. additionally, during the first three months, a member of the research team was available in each classroom each day to observe and assist with the administering of the physical activity program. the first two weeks of the program was where most of the assistance in implementing the program occurred as the teachers learned the physical activity lessons. the primary area where research assistants helped the teachers in implementing the program was in knowing how to do a particular activity movement such as jumping jacks or toe touches. after the technique was demonstrated the research assistant would evaluate how the teacher performed the activity with the children in the classroom. after the first two weeks the teachers did not require any additional assistance in implementing the lessons as the teachers were able to effectively implement the physical activity lessons. direct observation of physical activity lessons using sofit. during the first three months physical activity levels of the children were assessed five times per week (daily) in the classrooms after teacher training in the physical activity program and baseline sofit data were collected. three students from each classroom were randomly selected to be observed in both control and intervention sites to provide a measure of how active students were during classroom lessons. in 20-second intervals, for up to 20 minutes, the students' physical activity intensity levels were estimated and recorded using the sofit rating scheme (i.e., one = lying down to five = jogging or running). during observations, research assistants also indicated how often teachers participated in active lessons with their students by rating them on a three-point scale (i.e., none, somewhat, very active participation). this particular measure provided an indication of effective role modeling for active lessons. results body mass index the six-month change in bmi for the intervention group was -2.01.1% and control 0.50.9%, respectively (ns). however, change in bmi from baseline to six months was preschool physical activity improves literacy 55 significantly influenced by exposure to the activity lessons. as minutes of exposure to moderate to vigorous physical activity increased, the change in body mass index decreased, (r 2 = 0.39, p < 0.05). early literacy skills there was no significant difference between preschools for picture naming. rhyming significantly (p < 0.01) improved in the pa group from baseline (0.70.3) to 6 months (3.00.5) compared to the controls (0.70.2 to 1.90.4, p < 0.05), resulting in between group differences at 6 months, p<0.01 (see figure 1). higher scores for alliteration and rhyming indicate greater early literacy skills and phonological awareness. alliteration significantly (p < 0.01) improved in the pa group from baseline (0.50.2) to 6 months (2.00.4) compared to controls (0.50.2 to 0.90.3, p < 0.05), resulting in between group differences at 6 months, p < 0.01, (see figure 2). figure 1. mean rhyming scores between groups. values are means  se; *p < 0.05 from 0 week within group, # between groups. 56 s. kirk et al. figure 2. mean alliteration scores between groups. values are means  se; *p<0.05 from 0 week within group, # between groups. sofit during the first three months observers conducted sofit observations in all of the intervention and control classrooms five times per week to determine student activity intensity levels. in months four through six staff conducted sofit observations one day per month in both the intervention and control sites and all teachers in each preschool. students at the intervention site performed significantly greater levels of physical activity in the classroom than students at the control site at three (intervention, 3.60.2 vs. control, 2.60.2, p < 0.05) and six (intervention, 3.50.1 vs. control, 2.60.2, p < 0.05 months; higher scores indicate higher activity intensity levels. preschoolers at the control site were primarily sitting during academic lessons, whereas students in intervention site were primarily moving during the activity lessons. the results indicated that adherence to the program was greater than 95%, meaning that students were obtaining half (30 minutes) of the daily 60 minutes/day of recommended structured physical activity (active start, 2008) while being observed by the research staff. in addition, teachers reported that they were performing the physical activity program at least eight times (twice per day, four days per week) per week or more in the absence of the investigators (maintenance phase). preschool physical activity improves literacy 57 during sofit observations, staff also indicated the level of participation by teachers during an active lesson. overall teacher participation was related to sofit scores for students in the intervention schools but not the control schools. at baseline teachers were not active at all (sofit score of zero) but increased to very active (sofit score = 3.8) at three months, which was maintained at six months (sofit score = 3.5). the analysis for the teacher modeling was performed using only the intervention schools because teacher participation had no effect on the activity level of students in the control schools. teacher satisfaction survey at the end of the study we gathered information from the teachers (n=8) regarding the perception of the program and the likelihood that the program could be adopted into a preschool classroom (see table 3 for results). in general, teachers reported that the program was easy to implement, children enjoyed the program, had a positive influence on the children learning and helped them focus better. most encouraging, the teachers indicated that they would have their class participate in the physical activity program again. 58 s. kirk et al. table 3 ratings for selected characteristics of physical activity program reported by teachers percent reported characteristic strongly disagree disagree neutral agree strong agree did you receive enough support/training? 0 0 0 20 80 the pa* program was easy to teach to children. 0 0 0 0 100 the pa program was easy to incorporate in the daily curriculum. 0 0 0 40 60 the children enjoyed the pa program. 0 0 0 0 100 the amount of time required for the pa program was appropriate for the classroom. 0 0 0 20 80 the pa program made a positive influence on student behavior. 0 0 0 40 60 the pa program helped my students release excess energy so they could concentrate. 0 0 0 0 100 the pa program had a positive impact on students’ learning. 0 0 0 80 20 having pa as part of the daily schedule helped students focus on learning activities. 0 0 0 80 20 if given the opportunity, i would have my class participate in the pa program again. 0 0 0 0 100 note. pa = physical activity. n = 10. discussion to our knowledge this is the first study to indicate that a teacher-directed physical activity program in a head start center serving african american preschoolers is effective at increasing physical activity and improving measures of early literacy. it appears that physical activity can be maintained for at least three months (maintenance phase) without direct supervision with the potential for decreasing bmi and improving early literacy development. the teachers indicated that they felt the program was easy to administer, enjoyable, and made an impact on children’s learning in the classroom. despite no significant difference between groups for the change in bmi at six months, it does appear that even over a short period (six months total) that a physical activity program may be effective decreasing bmi compared to sedentary behavior. preschool physical activity improves literacy 59 therefore, over a longer period of time (several years) a sustained physical activity program, such as the one used in this study may be an effective strategy for reducing bmi in preschool children. early literacy skills were significantly improved in the physical activity group. in the current study, we found that alliteration and rhyming, both associated with greater early literacy skills and phonological awareness (tomporowski, davis, miller, & naglieri, 2008) were significantly improved in the physical activity group at three months and maintained at six months compared to the control classrooms. the findings of improved academic achievement are important as literacy skill development in early childhood contributes to children’s long-term academic success (walker, greenwood, hart, & carta, 1994). many young children face significant challenges in learning to read because they lack these essential early literacy skills (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, print awareness) when they begin school. weaknesses in early literacy skills and subsequent reading failure are most common among low-income, non-white children such as those in the current study (snow, burns, & griffin, 1998). results from this study suggested that a physical activity program that was incorporated within the preschool classroom improved early literacy and was maintained even after there was no contact between the investigators and teachers. the physical activity lessons may provide an important strategy to improve early literacy in minority preschoolers, a group at high risk for delays in early literacy development. although not measured in the current study, some possible mechanisms for the association between physical activity and academic performance include concentration, memory, cognitive processing, and classroom behavior (davis et al., 2007). potential mechanisms for the association of physical activity and improvements in academic performance need further exploration in studies designed and powered for this purpose. according to the sofit observation the physical activity levels in the classroom were increased in the intervention classrooms compared to the control classrooms which is important because increased levels of physical activity are known to increase fitness (gutin et al., 2002; gutin, yin, humphries, & barbeau, 2005; owens et al., 1999). we reported that the intervention classrooms completed the physical activity lessons 95% of the time and the preschoolers were obtaining half (30 minutes) of the daily 60 minutes/day of recommended structure physical activity (active start, 2008) through physical activity incorporated into curriculum lessons. although we were unable to measure the physical activity outside of the classroom (i.e. recess, playground) it is unlikely there were differences between the intervention and control sites since both schools followed identical schedules throughout each day. instead, the impact of the physical activity program on early literacy was most likely attributed to the additional physical exercise that was scheduled in the classroom versus the physical activity that occurred as a result of outside play or recreational time at the control site. according to the teacher survey the teachers reported that they were still using the physical activity program at least four days per week, two times per day in the absence of staff support during the final three months of the study. although teachers indicated continued use of the physical activity program, these results are limited by self-report and should be objectively verified in any future studies. nevertheless, these findings are important because teachers and parents have assumed that preschool children are very active and engage in sufficient physical activity (benham-deal, 1993a; sallis et al., 60 s. kirk et al. 1988). however, a systematic review by tucker (2008) examined a total of 39 studies (published from 1986 – 2007) from seven countries (united states, scotland, finland, australia, chile, estonia, belgium) to establish an accurate reflection of the physical activity levels of preschool children. with only 54% of preschool children in this review found to be sufficiently physically active, and rising obesity rates within this age group, the idea of incorporating physical activity within the classroom may be an effective strategy for increasing physical activity in a preschool setting. it was important to assess the sustainability of the program as few research studies have the resources to ensure that their interventions can be sustained (bull, gillette, glasgow, & estabrooks, 2003; oldenburg, sallis, french, & owen, 1999). we designed the current study to be a low burden, minimal cost intervention that would not decrease academic instruction time, would not increase teacher preparation time, and would be enjoyable for students and teachers. according to the results from teacher survey, the program was well received by teachers. importantly, the acceptance and enthusiasm for the physical activity program was corroborated by findings from a post-intervention survey administered to teachers in an effort to determine if the physical activity program was continued in the absence of the investigators. teachers were surveyed three months after completion of the physical activity program and without any contact from our staff over the three month period. all of the teachers indicated that they were using the physical activity program at least eight times (twice per day, four days per week) per week or more. several limitations of the study include the short duration of the study, the use of only two preschools, the lack of significant changes in body mass index, and the use of self report to assess the usage of the physical activity program in the final three months of the study absent investigator support. however, despite these limitations the fact that we found significant differences in just a short period of time (six months) suggests that it may not take much time for improvements in early literacy to occur in response to physical activity. the use of only two preschools limits the scope of the study and may have attributed to the non-significant changes in body mass index even though we did see a small decrease in the intervention site compared to the control site. these findings should be studied in a future and larger randomized study. despite these limitations it appears that the incorporating physical activity into the head start curriculum can improve early literacy development in preschoolers. a strength of the study was that both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to allow for a more thorough examination of program fidelity and implementation issues. quantitative data regarding minutes of physical activity and number of lessons taught were collected weekly, which helped to determine if teachers were implementing the intervention with fidelity (both time and content of the lesson as measured by sofit). future research the present study suggests that a three-month physical activity intervention can improve early literacy in african american children enrolled in head start. future studies should focus on longer term studies of at least a year looking at different amounts of physical preschool physical activity improves literacy 61 activity on improving academic achievement. understanding the effect of physical activity on academic achievement in preschoolers may provide insight into exercise guidelines for academic achievement. additionally, a longitudinal study evaluating the effects of performing increased physical activity while in preschool on academic achievement in k-12 may elucidate the long-term effects of physical activity on academic achievement. conclusion in summary, a low cost, teacher-directed, physical activity program may promote daily physical activity, increases early literacy, and may attenuate increases in body mass index in preschool children, a group at an increased risk for poor literacy development. one of the major advantages of the physical activity program is it is a minimal intervention that can be easily disseminated, requiring minimal change to the current curriculum, few additional supplies (if any), and minimal cost to schools. additionally, the fact that the physical activity program was sustained by teachers without any further contact by the investigators, speaks to the overall favorable perception and acceptance for the physical activity program approach by teachers, students, and school administrators. continued research is needed to develop and evaluate strategies to provide greater exposure to in class physical activity programs since physical activity 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(2004). attitudes, practices, and concerns about child feeding and child weight status among socioeconomically diverse white, hispanic, and african-american mothers. journal of the american dietetic association, 104(2), 215-221. web of science http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=000170566000003 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=000175197600005 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=000228275400004 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=000186848400032 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=a1995qp34300016 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=a1997xv51500002 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=a1992gx20400008 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=000236505400022 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=000078692900012 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=000077976400021 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=000079403500001 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=000079403500001 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=a1988m852800001 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=000188956200012 preschool physical activity improves literacy 63 snow, c. f., burns, m. s., & griffin, p. (1998). preventing reading difficulties in young children. washington, dc: national academies press. tomporowski, p. d., davis, c., l., miller, h. p., & naglieri, j. a. (2008). exercise and children’s intelligence, cognition, and academic achievement. educational psychology review, 20(2), 111131. web of science torgeson, j. k., & bryant, b. r. (1994). test of phonological awareness. austin, tx: pro-ed. tucker, p. (2008). the physical activity levels of preschool-aged children: a systematic review. early childhood research quarterly 23, 547-558. web of science walker, d., greenwood, c. r., hart, b., & carta, j. j. (1994). improving the prediction of early school academic outcomes using socioeconomic status and early language production. child development, 65, 606-662. web of science http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=000254900700002 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=000262067300009 http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/gateway.cgi?&gwversion=2&srcauth=scholarone&srcapp=scholarone&destlinktype=fullrecord&destapp=wos_cpl&keyut=a1994nh83700022 dialog, 18(2), 92-97 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 this project was made possible with generous funding from boston children’s hospital and northeastern university. the authors thank the head start staff and parents who participated in this project. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to jessica hoffman, phd, department of applied psychology, northeastern university, 360 huntington ave., boston, ma 02115. e-mail: j.hoffman@neu.edu research-to-practice summary engaging head start families in childhood obesity prevention: schoolhome communication about children’s height and weight screenings jessica a. hoffman, catherine wirth, sarah johnson northeastern university sonia carter action for boston community development, inc. head start and children’s services matthew dubois, colin cox, and carmen castaneda-sceppa northeastern university head start provides children with healthy, nutritious meals, physical activity opportunities, and health screenings, all of which are important components of combatting early childhood obesity. communicating health screening information about a child’s weight status to parents is one way to engage families in childhood obesity prevention efforts. this article describes a process that was used to develop and evaluate strategies for communicating with head start parents about their child’s body mass index. keywords: obesity, head start, body mass index, health screening nationally, 22.8% of preschoolers are overweight or obese (ogden, carroll, kit, & flegal, 2014) and there is a higher prevalence among children from low-income families and some racial and ethnic groups (cunningham, kramer, & narayn, 2014; ogden et al., 2014; whitaker & orzol, 2006). with its comprehensive focus on children’s healthy physical, cognitive, and emotional development, head start is well positioned to engage in early childhood obesity prevention. height and weight screenings are potentially effective practices that head start programs can implement to promote healthy weight in early childhood (davison, jurkowski, li, kranz, & lawson, 2013). head start screenings provide an opportunity to collect information that can be shared with parents about their child’s weight status, which can range from underweight to obese. communicating with parents of young children about their child’s weight status is important because many parents of overweight and obese preschool children consider their communicating with head start parents 93 children to be at a healthy weight (baughcum, chamberlin, deeks, powers, & whitaker, 2000; carnell, edwards, croker, boniface, & wardle, 2005; hudson, cherry, ratcliffe, mcclellan, 2009). parental reactions to learning from school professionals that their child is overweight or obese vary. bennett johnson, pilkington, lamp, he, and deeb (2009) found that most parents (and ethnic-minority parents in particular) viewed school-based body mass index (bmi) screening programs favorably and reported taking action in response to a bmi result that was outside of the normal range. chomitz, collins, kim, kramer, and mcgowan (2003) found that a bmi report card was associated with increased parental awareness of the weight status of obese children and that most parents who read the materials requested annual screening information. in contrast, grimmett, croker, carnell, and wardle (2008) found mixed results regarding parents’ reactions. although many parents viewed the information as helpful, some parents found it distressing, which highlights the importance of delivering this information in a sensitive manner, particularly for families with overweight children. kubik, fulkerson, story, and rieland (2006) found that parents of overweight children were more likely to report discomfort with weight status reporting than parents of children who were not overweight. although there is evidence for parental support and appreciation for learning about their child’s weight status from their child’s school, this information is not always well-received. our study our study was conducted through a university-head start partnership. its aim was to revise a school-home communication tool that would be used to inform parents about children’s bmi screening information in a format this is understandable and acceptable (see appendix). nutrition services staff at action for boston community development (abcd), inc. head start and children’s services measure children’s height and weight twice a year. following these measurements, a bmi letter is sent home to notify parents about their child’s height, weight, bmi percentile, and weight status. to improve the agency’s efforts to address childhood obesity, including communicating with parents about their child’s bmi screening results, an internal quality improvement working group was formed. the group identified several challenges with the existing bmi communication system and the role of the letter in conveying bmi information to parents, which included: (a) nutrition services staff numbers and time are limited and staff have limited time is not able to follow-up with parents individually about the contents of the bmi letter; (b) parents may not understand the bmi letter and may have added difficulty understanding it because of the emotions it can elicit; (c) parents may receive conflicting information from health professionals and head start staff about how concerned they should actually be if their child is identified as overweight or obese in the bmi letter and may be told that their child will “grow out of it” or that “it’s not a big deal”; and (d) competing demands related to other issues the family is facing may make it challenging for parents to prioritize their child’s overweight or obesity as a key health issue to address. given the challenges identified by the working group, head start staff made a first round of revisions to an existing bmi letter to make it easier for parents to clearly and easily identify their child’s bmi and weight status, to understand what bmi is and how their child’s bmi and weight status were determined, and to encourage them to follow-up with head start nutrition services staff if their child’s weight status was not in the healthy range. 94 hoffman et al. in this study, we conducted a series of four parent focus groups with 27 head start parents to obtain feedback on a draft of the revised bmi letter. focus group feedback was used to further revise the letters, which were then sent out to 1,913 head start parents. information about the final letters was then obtained via an anonymous annual parent survey administered by abcd head start that 887 parents completed. four questions about the bmi letters were incorporated into the annual survey. parents were asked: (1) to recall what the bmi letter they received indicated about their child’s weight status, (2) whether they shared the information in the letter with other individuals; (3) to report how helpful they thought the letter was overall; and (4) to how helpful it was to receive information about their child’s weight status. important focus group findings/relevance to practice the bullet points below summarize key findings from the focus groups:  the focus groups revealed a range of reactions (positive, negative, and mixed) among the parents when discussing the letter as a whole. some parents mentioned that the letter was helpful because it shared key information about a child’s weight status, allowing parents to determine if they should be concerned about their child’s weight. although there were fewer negative reactions to the letter as a whole, some parents noted that receiving weight status information through the mail is difficult to understand and that they are aware of their child’s weight status but do not know how to change it.  parents suggested adding the child’s name to personalize the letter, making it more likely to stand out among the many papers children bring home from school to be read by parents.  parents had a mostly negative reaction to the idea of including a growth chart in the letter. parents said that the growth chart was difficult to understand, even after reading a set of instructions about how to interpret it and reviewing the chart as a group. parents said they preferred a simpler visual representation of their child’s weight status. they preferred a clear message that focused on whether their child was at a healthy weight, and if not, what they could do about it.  parents reported a range of reactions when asked how they would feel if they learned (hypothetically) that their child was overweight or obese. of the parents who indicated they would have negative reactions, two noted that they would be motivated to help their child achieve a healthy weight, despite it being hard to hear that their child was currently at an unhealthy weight.  some parents in the focus groups reported that there was nothing they could do to change their child’s weight status, either because they believed their child’s weight was biologically pre-determined or because they felt they did not have agency in shaping their child’s eating habits (e.g., other family members controlled meals). these findings present an area of opportunity for head start, as promoting parent education around these issues could be beneficial. parent feedback from the focus groups was used to revise the bmi letters a second time. revisions included adding the child’s name, removing the growth chart, adding more communicating with head start parents 95 information about what to do if the child was identified as not being at a healthy weight, and adding a frequently asked questions (faq) section. faqs were derived from information that arose during the parent focus groups and included basic information about bmi, a note emphasizing the positive role that parents can play in helping their child achieve a healthy weight, and a warning about avoiding dieting in children. important survey findings/relevance to practice the bullet points below describe key findings regarding the bmi letter questions on the anonymous annual parent survey:  most parents reported that receiving specific information about their child’s weight status was helpful: 59.2% reported it was very helpful and 22% reported it was somewhat helpful.  most parents reported sharing the information in the letter about their child’s weight status with someone else: a family member (30.7%), their child’s head start teacher (20%), their child’s pediatrician or nurse (18.9%), a wic nutritionist (17.7%), their child’s head start nutritionist (13.7%), a friend (12.4%), their child’s head start family advocate (8.4%), someone else (5.3%), and someone else at head start (4.1%). only 23.3% reported that they did not share information in the letter with anyone.  one in five parents reported sharing information with their child’s head start teacher, which underscores the critical role of teachers as agents in the bmi communication process. teacher “buy in” about the importance of healthy weight in preschoolers and teacher comfort and preparedness to respond to parents’ questions and concerns about the weight status screening information when it is sent home are critical to consider when delivering this information to families.  only 10% of parents reported that the bmi letter they received indicated that their child was overweight or obese. this figure is much lower than the agencywide screening data indicating that 34% of head start children in the agency were overweight or obese during the school year when the survey was administered. although parental underreporting has been widely documented, we expected better awareness because the parents we surveyed had received the bmi communication letter. conclusion communicating health screening information to parents about their child’s weight status is one way to engage families in childhood obesity prevention efforts. this article provides an example of a bmi communication letter that was developed in a multi-phase process using feedback from head start staff and parents at every step of the way. this systematic approach to communication with parents is an ongoing process that must occur each year, as new children enroll in programs and existing students grow. there is much more to be done in the area of childhood overweight/obesity prevention, however, to make significant and lasting changes in 96 hoffman et al. parents’ beliefs and understanding about childhood overweight/obesity as an important health issue. references baughcum, a. f., chamberlin, l. a., deeks, c. m., powers, s. w., & whitaker, r. c. (2000). maternal perceptions of over-weight preschool children. pediatrics, 106, 1380-1386. doi: 10.1542/peds.106.6.1380 bennett johnson, s., pilkington, l. l., lamp, c., he, j., & deeb, l. c. (2009). parent reactions to a school-based body mass index screening program. journal of school health, 79, 216-223. doi: 10.1111/j.1746 1561.2009.00401.x carnell, s., edwards, c., croker, h., boniface, d., & wardle, j. (2005). parental perceptions of overweight in 3-5 year olds. international journal of obesity, 29, 353-355. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0802889 chomitz, v. r., collins, j., kim, j., kramer, e., & mcgowan, r. (2003). promoting healthy weight among elementary school children via a health report card approach. archives of pediatric and adolescent medicine, 157, 765-772. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.157.8.765 cunningham, s., kramer, m., & narayn, k. v. (2014). incidence of childhood obesity in the united states. new england journal of medicine, 370, 403-411. doi: 10.1056/nejmoa1309753 davison, k. k., jurkowski, j. m., li, k., kranz, s., & lawson, h. a. (2013). a childhood obesity intervention developed by families for families: results from a pilot study. international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 10. doi:10.1186/1479-5868-10-3 grimmett, c., croker, h., carnell, s., & wardle, j. (2008). telling parents their child’s weight status: psychological impact of a weight-screening program. pediatrics, 122, 682-688. doi: 10.1542/peds.2007-3526 hudson, c. e., cherry, d. j., ratcliffe, s. j., & mcclellan, l. c. (2009) head start children's lifestyle behaviors, parental perceptions of weight, and body mass index. journal of pediatric nursing, 24, 292-301. doi: 10.1016/j.pedn.2008.04.006 kubik, m. y., fulkerson, j. a., story, m., & rieland, g. (2006). parents of elementary school students weigh in on height, weight, and body mass index screening at school. journal of school health, 76, 496-501. doi: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2006.00147.x ogden, c. l., carroll, m. d., kit, b. k., & flegal, k. m. (2014). prevalence of childhood and adult obesity in the united states, 2011-2012. journal of the american medical association, 311, 806-814. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.732 whitaker, r. c., & orzol, s. m. (2006). obesity among us urban preschool children: relationships to race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. archives of pediatric & adolescent medicine, 160, 578-584. doi:10.1001/archpedi.160.6.578 communicating with head start parents 97 appendix final bmi letter dialog, 17(1), 90-94 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary bilingual teachers in early head start/head start jeannette mancilla-martinez university of california, irvine nonie k. lesaux harvard graduate school of education while recruitment and employment goals of early head start/head start (ehs/hs) programs with respect to bilingual staff are clearly outlined in the program policies, nationally, little is known about their implementation on the ground, especially in programs that serve large numbers of latino children. the present study targeted an urban ehs/hs program that serves a large number of spanish-speaking dual language learning families. an interview with the program’s human resources director was conducted to gain insight into the program’s recruitment and retention strategies for latino/a staff. additionally, via the administration of a survey to lead teachers (n = 109), we sought to gain concrete insight into teachers’ language and ethnicity characteristics and to learn whether and, if so, for which purposes teachers reported using spanish in their classrooms. our results suggest that the two-pronged recruitment and retention strategy employed by the program likely related to the high rates of ehs/hs teachers in the program who identified themselves as latinas and who reported using spanish in the classroom. such efforts appear to be a step in the right direction given the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in today’s ehs/hs classrooms. the great majority of today’s early head start (ehs) and head start (hs) programs serve dual language learning families (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008; vogel et al., 2006)—families that represent a variety of ethnicities and language backgrounds. within this diverse group, latino children from spanish-speaking homes is the largest group. in fact, more than 30% of ehs/hs children are latino (administration for children and families, 2008), and almost 1 in 4 come from households where spanish is the primary language spoken (hamm, 2006; u.s. department of health and human services, 2006). compared to early childhood programs across the nation, these demographics are unique to ehs/hs programs. given these demographics, one ehs/hs policy is that programs should to strive to employ qualified bilingual staff in order to strengthen instruction for children, as well as to facilitate effective communication with parents and families (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). there are some accounts that following this national program policy can be challenging— i.e., that it is difficult for programs to find, attract, and retain qualified, bilingual teachers in early head start/head start 91 bilingual staff (national task force on early childhood education for hispanics, 2007; u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). overall, however, we know little about the on-the-ground implementation of this policy. for instance, we know very little about efforts to recruit and retain bilingual staff, and about the ethnicity and language backgrounds of ehs/hs staff, especially in programs that serve large numbers of latino children. we also know little about whether and how spanish is used by ehs/hs teachers in the classroom (freedson, 2010). our study to carry out this study, we partnered with an urban ehs/hs program that serves a large number of spanish-speaking dual language learning families. from our visits to the program, we suspected that a substantial percentage of the lead teachers were spanish-speaking latina, but statistics from across the program were not available and there was little information about the extent to which spanish was used, if at all, in the classrooms. to answer these questions, we took several approaches. we interviewed the program’s human resources (hr) director to gain insight into the program’s recruitment and retention strategies for latina staff. we also administered a survey to all lead teachers (n = 109) to find out teachers’ language and ethnicity characteristics, and to learn whether teachers used spanish in their classrooms and, if so, for what purposes. we outline our key findings below. key findings a. teachers’ demographic characteristics 1. gender, ethnicity, race. as expected based on national data, the ehs/hs teachers in our sample were nearly all females (99%). however, our sample included a substantially larger percentage of latina teachers (53%) compared to the overall national average and national average for head start programs (6% each). additionally, our participants identified themselves as black (7%) at rates similar to the overall national average (10%), but at notably lower rates than the head start national average (35%). 2. education and years of experience. only one-quarter (24%) of teachers in our sample reported having a bachelor’s degree or higher, which is substantially lower compared to the national average and the hs average (50% and 40%, respectively). in turn, a higher percentage (29%) of teachers in the sample reported having an associate’s degree. our sample reported more years of teaching experience than the national average (11 years vs. 6.8 years), but reported the same average number of years (7 years) of teaching in ehs/hs. b. spanish use in the classroom the majority of teachers (74%) reported that they spoke spanish—and 88% of this group reported using at least some spanish in their classroom. in fact, over half of these teachers (52%) 92 mancilla-martinez & lesaux reported frequent or very frequent spanish use in their classroom. we asked about their reason(s) for using spanish in the classroom, giving them three options on our survey: 1) for instruction/teaching and for clarification; 2) to give directions and to guide transitions; 3) to comfort and to socialize during non-teaching times. over two-thirds (67%) of teachers reported they used spanish for all three purposes listed. in fact, only 6 teachers reported they used spanish solely for instruction/teaching and for clarification, 5 reported using spanish solely to give directions and to guide transitions, and 2 teachers reported using spanish solely to comfort and to socialize during non-teaching times. c. teacher recruitment and retention strategies so how did program leaders report recruiting and retaining teachers who share the cultural and linguistic background of the children and families they serve? they told us about what is really a two-pronged strategy—creating a pipeline in the community, and focusing on professional development for current staff. 1. creating a pipeline in the community. the program made themselves visible to the college community by sitting on boards and advisory committees, allowing them to influence college curricula focused on early childhood development. in this way, they ensure that current trends and issues (e.g., diversity) are addressed and that graduates’ skills and knowledge reflect the program’s needs. the program also visits and partners with local high schools to create a community pipeline. one location the program targets is a local alternative high school that is designed for high-risk youth who may not persist in a traditional academic setting. the program includes an ece program and the director and hr director sit on the ece program advisory committee. 2. professional development for current staff. the program also focuses on advancing the education levels of the adults already within the organization. specifically, they offer regular internal professional development, incentives for staff to continue to pursue formal education, and work on securing federal grants to provide evening educational services for the staff. despite the program’s efforts to attract and retain teachers who share the linguistic background of the children and families they serve, capacity issues do not allow for this occur all of the time. recognizing the need to ensure that parents and staff are able to communicate, the program took several concrete steps to minimize language barriers between parents and teachers. for instance, the program ensures that, independent of whether the lead teacher speaks spanish, spanish-speaking teachers are readily on site to interface with spanish-speaking families. additionally, aside from offering esl classes to parents, the program was in the midst of creating a conversational spanish class for teachers and staff. this approach further demonstrates their commitment to fostering effective parent-teacher communication, and offers a feasible strategy for the field, generally. bilingual teachers in early head start/head start 93 summary and recommendations aside from this ehs/hs program’s ability to recruit and retain teachers who share the cultural background of the children and families they serve—an important step for program quality— many of these teachers also share the children’s linguistic background. not only did most teachers report that they spoke spanish, but nearly all of the spanish-speaking teachers indicated frequent use of spanish in the classroom. in fact, teachers reported that spanish was used for a variety of reasons, from using it for non-academic purposes such as to socialize with children during non-teaching times to using it specifically to instruct. the cultural and linguistic match we found in this study between ehs/hs teachers and families is precisely one of the key recommendations put forth by the national task force on early childhood education for hispanics (2007), and thus represents a step in the right direction. these statistics are likely related to the two-pronged recruitment and retention strategy employed by the program; namely, creating a teacher pipeline in the community and focusing on professional development for current staff. taken together, these findings suggest there is reason to believe the cultural and linguistic classroom context in which these predominantly latino children are served—and the efforts to bridge language barriers across staff and families—ought to result in positive educational outcomes. however, the limited amount of research that has focused on ehs/hs dual language learning families does not allow for even tentative conclusions about the link between shared teacher-family language and culture and student achievement outcomes. while the foundation is in place for improved teaching and learning as a function of cultural and linguistic cohesion across staff and families, an important next step in this area of research is to explore these potential associations with child outcomes both intentionally and deliberately. additionally, future research should document the extent to which teachers’ language use reports, including their reported reasons for using spanish, are in line with what might be observed day-to-day in the classroom context. we also need to know more about specific program expectations regarding the use of students’ native languages in the classroom. in a similar vein, future research focused on teachers’ rationale for opting to use spanish would provide valuable information about the extent to which teachers are purposefully electing to use one language over the other (e.g., spanish or english), informing our understanding of teachers’ knowledge related to second language learning. such work is sorely needed as research finds that teachers and staff often do not know how best to support their dual language learning students. indeed, the national task force on early childhood education for hispanics (2007) reports that, at all levels of early childhood education, there is a shortage of teachers who are specialists in second language acquisition. more recently, whitebook and colleagues (2011) report considerable variation in the extent to which graduates of a b.a. program focused on ece were equipped to address the needs of dual language learners. in fact, the authors note that college instructors themselves might benefit from professional development (pd) in this critically important area. it is likely that pd opportunities for lead teachers and program staff who work directly with children and families would be beneficial, especially those focused on the process of second language acquisition. in conclusion, as with all studies, the findings reported here must be interpreted in the context in which the study was conducted. studies that include larger samples from numerous programs in regions across the country would further inform our understanding about the extent to which ece programs that serve large numbers of dual language learners-—like the one 94 mancilla-martinez & lesaux studied here—are able to recruit and retain bilingual, bicultural staff. our results suggest that targeted strategies for the recruitment and retention of latino/a early childhood educators, such as creating a pipeline of teachers at the high school and community college level while supporting the educational advancement of those already part of the system, are effective ones. such efforts evidence a program’s dedication toward promoting and responding to issues of biculturalism and bridging language differences and appear to be a step in the right directly given the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in today’s ehs/hs classrooms. references administration for children and families (2008). head start program fact sheet: fy2008. retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/about/fy2008.html freedson, m. (2010). educating preschool teachers to support english language learners. in e.e. garcia & e.c. frede (eds.), young english language learners: current research and emerging directions for practice and policy. (pp. 165-183). teachers college press. hamm, k. (2006). more than meets the eye: head start programs, participants, families, and staff in 2005. head start series, brief no. 8. washington, dc: center for law and social policy. retrieved from http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/0311.pdf national task force on early childhood education for hispanics (2007). para nuestros niños: expanding and improving early education for hispanics [main report]. tempe: arizona state university. u. s. department of health and human services (2006). head start program information report: py2005-2006. retrieved june 24, 2009 from the u. s. department of health and human services website:http://www.hsnrc.org/content/forum3/userfiles/file/enrollment_by_primary_langu age_of_the_family.pdf u. s. department of health and human services (2008). dual language learning: what does it take? head start dual language report. washington, dc: author. vogel, c., aikens, n., burwick, a., hawkinson, l., richardson, a., mendenko, l., chazan cohen, r. (2006) “findings from the survey of early head start programs: communities, programs, and families.” washington, dc: u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children andfamiliesretrievedfromhttp://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/survey_ehs/reports/findings_ehs/find ings_ehs_survey.pdf whitebook, m., kipnis, f., sakai, l., & almaraz, m. (2011). learning together: a study six b.a. completion cohort programs in early care and education: year 3. berkeley, ca:
 center for the study of child care employment, university of california at berkeley. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/about/fy2008.html http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/0311.pdf http://www.hsnrc.org/content/forum3/userfiles/file/enrollment_by_primary_language_of_the_family.pdf http://www.hsnrc.org/content/forum3/userfiles/file/enrollment_by_primary_language_of_the_family.pdf http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/survey_ehs/reports/findings_ehs/findings_ehs_survey.pdf http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/survey_ehs/reports/findings_ehs/findings_ehs_survey.pdf dialog, 16(1), 148-171 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 beth h. garland, department of pediatrics, baylor college of medicine, houston, tx; tammy d. barry, department of psychology, university of southern mississippi; robert w. heffer, department of psychology, texas a&m university. this study was funded by a grant provided by the u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, #90yd0197. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to beth h. garland, texas children’s hospital, section of adolescent and sports medicine, 6621 fannin st, suite 1710.00, houston, tx 77030. research article parenting techniques as a mediator between female caregivers’ internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors among preschoolaged children beth h. garland baylor college of medicine tammy d. barry university of southern mississippi robert w. heffer texas a&m university behavior problems are commonly reported difficulties and one of the largest referral reasons parents seek therapeutic services for their child; thus, it is imperative to identify variables related to child behavior problems. the current study considered the mediating role of parenting techniques on the relation between primary female caregivers’ internalizing (i.e., anxiety and depression) symptoms and child externalizing behavior (i.e., hyperactivity, aggression, attention problems) among preschoolers. participants included 153 parents with children enrolled in a head start program in small city/rural areas. results suggested that inconsistent discipline partially mediated the relation between caregivers’ internalizing symptoms and child hyperactivity and aggression. results also suggested that parental involvement partially mediated the relation between caregivers’ internalizing symptoms and child attention problems. these findings demonstrated a mediational role of inconsistent discipline and parental involvement between caregivers’ internalizing symptoms and child externalizing behavior and have implications for early intervention. keywords: aggression, behavior problems, parent-child relationship, parenting identification and early prediction of child externalizing behaviors is imperative, as these parent techniques, caregiver internalizing, child externalizing 149 behaviors and associated disorders are a common behavioral challenge for educational providers (lopez, tarullo, forness, & boyce, 2000). researchers have noted the progression of severity of behavior problems in a subgroup of children who display early behavior problems (hinshaw & lee, 2003; loeber, farrington, stouthamer-loeber, & van kammen, 1998; patterson, reid, & dishion, 1992). compared to older children, a higher frequency of externalizing behaviors, such as minor physical aggression, defiance, and temper tantrums, in preschool children is typical. however, developmentally, these behavior problems decline in frequency as children age and acquire better emotional and behavioral regulation skills (tremblay, 2000). as such, an increase—or even a lack of the typical decrease—in externalizing behaviors warrants further assessment and possible intervention, as this early display of disruptive behavior has been linked to an increased use of community and school-based services for children with special needs and more serious psychopathology, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (adhd), oppositional defiant disorder (odd), conduct disorder (cd), and antisocial personality disorder (apd; american psychiatric association, 2000; hinshaw & lee, 2003). the importance of attending to externalizing behaviors early may prevent the later influence this psychopathology has at an individual, family, school, and societal level. one direct method for intervention in this progression is to determine key variables in a child’s life that may precipitate externalizing behaviors. by identifying and then targeting those variables, families, school personnel, and practitioners may curb the progression of the problematic behavior before it becomes too severe. addressing this issue within a preschool population is particularly appropriate, given that early prevention efforts tend to show more benefits than targeting adolescents presenting with more severe behavior problems for intervention (dishion & patterson, 1992; lochman & wells, 2003). the current study focused on an investigation of the early relations between childhood externalizing behaviors, parenting techniques, and caregivers’ symptoms of anxiety and depression—with a focus specifically on young children who attend head start. the relation of parenting techniques and child externalizing behavior recent research has focused on parental characteristics that relate to child behavior problems, much of which was based on the seminal work of gerald patterson and colleagues’ theory of the coercive family process (patterson et al., 1992). parenting techniques, in contrast to parenting style, have been an important construct because they are directly observable and relate to known treatment intervention components for behavioral problems. research-to-date (as described below) has demonstrated the relation between child behavior and both adaptive and maladaptive strategies of parenting. seminal work in the relation of parenting techniques to child behavior initially focused on school-aged children, primarily elementary and middle school cohorts. adaptive strategies such as parental involvement, monitoring of activities, and the use of praise and positive reinforcement have demonstrated a significant relation with fewer reports of adhd and cd, physical aggression, delinquency, substance use, and covert behavior (griffin, botvin, scheier, diaz, & miller, 2000; lansford et al., 2011; loeber et al., 1998), including a lasting association with conduct problems across an 8-year longitudinal study (chronis et al., 2007). in a longitudinal study of childhood to early adolescent aggression, haapasalo and tremblay (1994) reported that children labeled as “fighters”—engaging in such behaviors during at least one 150 garland et al. period over the course of kindergarten through age 14—also experienced less parental supervision than those children labeled as “non-fighters;” delinquency risk increased with both diminished parental supervision and increased harsher punishment. studies with adolescents have indicated similar protective factors of parental involvement and monitoring on delinquent and high-risk behaviors (carlo, raffaelli, laible, & meyer, 1999; laird, criss, pettit, dodge, & bates, 2008; yang, stanton, li, cottrel, galbraith, & kaljee, 2007). these findings highlighted the stability of this relation over time and emphasized the need to better understand this relation and intervene in early childhood. recently, research has focused on several parenting techniques related to behavior in preschool populations. adaptive parenting techniques have demonstrated an association with the stability of appropriate preschool behavior for children between 2 and 4 years (trentacosta et al., 2008). in addition, parental involvement has been shown to mediate the relation between economic hardship and childhood externalizing behaviors both during the preschool years (trentacosta et al., 2008) as well as in the educational context for 2 nd through 7 th graders (bolger, patterson, thompson, & kupersmidt, 1995). therefore, children in families with economic disadvantage but with parents possessing strong, adaptive parenting techniques may be less atrisk for displaying behavior problems. such findings have underscored the need to examine other possible parenting techniques that may relate to child outcomes for children living in economically disadvantaged environments, including children attending head start programs. intervention studies with focus on improving parenting skills also have documented the improvement of child behavior when parenting practices involve less harsh discipline and increased positive discipline (e.g., eyberg & boggs, 1998; nixon, 2002; webster-stratton, 1998). many of these studies of preschool populations, as well as elementary populations, assessed positive and involved parenting within the context of parenting styles or as global composites. parenting styles have provided a helpful understanding of a family’s milieu; however, definitions of styles are often a proxy for the specific behaviors that define parenting. given that one goal of this body of research was early intervention, measuring the constructs as parenting techniques and specific skills have allowed for objective measures of change and provided parents, as well as facilitators of treatment, an operational definition of targeted behaviors. a growing body of literature has examined the relation between parenting techniques and behaviors associated with school and learning readiness, such as memory and receptive vocabulary, in the preschool population (e.g., culp, hubbs-tait, culp, & starost, 2000; mantzicopoulos, 1997). head start programs, with their focus on parental involvement, also have reported high levels of parental engagement in the classroom (henrich, 2010) as well as opportunities to foster learning experiences at home, which have greatly influenced not only educational experience and parental empowerment in their child’s education (arnold, zeljo, doctoroff, & ortiz, 2008; levett, 2006) but likely also a positive parent-child interaction. in addition to adaptive parenting strategies, certain discipline techniques (e.g., harsh or corporal punishment, coercion techniques) as well as parental inconsistency of adaptive techniques (shelton, frick, & wootton, 1996), have demonstrated associations with maladaptive child behaviors in the preschool population. brook, zheng, whiteman, and brook (2001) reported in a sample of 2-year-old toddlers that control of the child through guilt and coercion demonstrated a stronger correlation with toddler aggression than warm parenting techniques, such as affection, consistency, and satisfaction with child. in a sample of head start families, harsh and inconsistent discipline, harsh maternal discipline, and critical statements made by the parent techniques, caregiver internalizing, child externalizing 151 mother to her child were all significantly related to preschool conduct problems (websterstratton & hammond, 1998). the link between harsh discipline, as operationalized in a variety of ways, has demonstrated stability in its relation with preschool externalizing behavior. these findings are also present for school-aged children yielding additional support for the importance of early intervention. specifically, discipline strategies, especially physical punishment and punitive, maladaptive verbal reasoning was related to increased delinquency and physical aggression across age, with more covert misbehaviors during earlier development and higher frequencies of adhd and cd during later development (loeber et al., 1998; mcloyd & smith, 2002; stormshak et al., 2000). more recent research also has linked inconsistent discipline to a higher frequency of disruptive behavior, attention problems, and conduct problems in school-aged children, including community, at-risk, and clinical samples (barry, dunlap, lochman, & wells, 2009; shelton et al., 1996; stanger et al., 2004; sutton, cowen, crean, & wyman, 1999; wootton, frick, shelton, & silverthorn, 1997). during adolescence, parental inconsistency in discipline and poor monitoring increases the likelihood that teens will gravitate to deviant peer groups, thus leading to increased delinquent behavior (coie, terry, zakriski, & lochman, 1995; patterson et al., 1992). given that these behavior issues may increase in severity over time—impacting not only the individual but also family and environment surrounding the individual—it is necessary to determine the relation of these constructs in a younger population. the relation of caregiver internalizing symptoms and general distress with child externalizing behavior in addition to parenting techniques, several characteristics of the parent have shown a direct association with child behavior problems beginning in the preschool years (harden et al., 2000). in a sample of 426 head start families, webster-stratton and hammond (1998) reported moderate maternal depressive symptoms in 42% of their sample; maternal depression in their study was noted to be related to the conduct disturbance in the caregiver’s child. this rate of reported depressive symptomatology was congruent with a larger study of 5,820 mothers of head start children, where depression screening measures indicated a positive screen in approximately 40% of mothers (lanzi, pascoe, keltner, & ramey, 1999). in addition, interventions targeting child behavior and parenting may have a prolonged and, perhaps, delayed positive effect on maternal depression (chazen-cohen et al., 2007). reports of female caregiver depression also have been linked with externalizing disorders in school-aged children, such as adhd, cd, early delinquency, and physical aggression (loeber et al., 1998; spieker, larson, lewis, keller, & gilchrist, 1999).these findings have been supported both longitudinally and across multiple settings, at home and at school (luoma et al., 2001). in particular, chronis and colleagues (2007) demonstrated that maternal depression predicted child conduct problems, as rated by both a parent and teacher, in children diagnosed with adhd over an 8-year longitudinal study. in addition, over the time period of the study, the chronicity of maternal depression continued to be related to a child’s externalizing behavior, suggesting the additive risk of prolonged caregiver depressive symptoms. in a separate study of children’s coping with the stressors associated with parents with major depressive disorder (mdd) or dysthymia, researchers concluded that these children demonstrated high levels of aggression (langrock, compas, keller, merchant, & copeland, 2002). this association with 152 garland et al. child externalizing behaviors also has been found for depression in adolescent mothers both for infant to 2-year-old children (leadbeater & bishop, 1994) and for 4to 5-year-old children (black et al., 2002). compared to that on depression, less research is currently available with respect to female caregiver anxiety and its relation to externalizing behaviors in children. as with depression, research has indicated that anxious mothers tend to report higher levels of disruptive behavior problems in their children, when compared to non-anxious mothers (najman et al., 2000). furthermore, anxiety in mothers has predicted later development of child disruptive behaviors (loeber et al., 1998; spieker et al., 1999). this relation between female caregiver anxiety and child disruptive behaviors remained significant even after controlling for depression (briggs-gowan, carter, & schwab-stone, 1996). kashdan and colleagues (2004) found parental anxiety was related to symptoms of odd, lower levels of maternal warmth and involvement, and higher levels of maladaptive discipline in a sample of 45 families with one male child between 512 years diagnosed with adhd. lindhout and colleagues (2006) reported similar results, showing significant differences in nurturance and restrictiveness among anxious parents when compared to parents without an anxiety disorder for parents of children between 6-18 years. given that female caregiver internalizing symptomatology was both prevalent and negatively associated with child externalizing behavior, further exploration of the pathway of impact on parenting and child behavior will help to inform professionals by demonstrating opportunities for intervention. parenting techniques as a mediator as noted earlier, chronis and colleagues (2007) reported both maternal depression and the use of adaptive parenting to be significant predictors of conduct problems (i.e., with adaptive parenting being inversely related). they further suggested that both parenting techniques and parental psychopathology contribute uniquely to the development of externalizing behaviors in children diagnosed with adhd. in addition, baydar, reid, and webster-stratton (2003) reported that higher levels of maternal anger and depression predicted harsh and inconsistent parenting in a baseline sample of head start families participating in an intervention to increase adaptive parenting skills. however, only a handful of studies have considered the mediating role of parenting techniques in the relation between caregivers’ internalizing symptoms and child behavior problems. for example, a preliminary study concluded that, after controlling for income level and recent stressful life events, maladaptive parenting partially mediated the relation between female caregiver anxiety/somatization as well as depression and a child’s hyperactivity, aggressive behaviors, and conduct problems in a school-aged, community sample (garland, barry, dunlap, & goss, 2005). in a large scale, longitudinal study of 10 to 15 year olds, parental nurturance and rejection were reported to be mediators between parental depression and child externalizing behaviors (elgar, mills, mcgrath, waschbusch, & brownridge, 2007). finally, barry and colleagues (2009) demonstrated maternal anxiety and depression predicted child aggression, when controlling for parenting stress and ses; this relation was partially mediated by parents’ inconsistent use of discipline. whereas these studies investigated these mediations in school-aged populations, mistry, benner, biesanz, clark, & howes (2010) examined such questions in a longitudinal, mediational study of risk factors of preschool behavioral concerns. these authors reported a significant parent techniques, caregiver internalizing, child externalizing 153 indirect effect of cumulative risk in infancy on preschool attention and behavioral regulation as well as school readiness through levels of maternal warmth and responsiveness. in this study, cumulative risk at infancy was defined by seven indicators, including a screening measure of maternal depressive symptoms. the overall model of cumulative risk during three time points in early development explained a significant amount of the variance in problematic behaviors; however, the individual contributions of each facet of the composites were not reported. to continue the understanding of the relation between parenting techniques and parental characteristics and to address the need for early identification and prevention efforts, particularly among at-risk children, the current study examined the complex associations among primary female caregivers’ internalizing symptoms, parenting techniques, and child externalizing behaviors in a head start sample. current study and hypotheses given the potential negative outcomes associated with early externalizing behavior—as well as the possibility of a positive impact of early intervention—further research to help identify possible points of intervention is essential. understanding the mediational role that parenting techniques may play in the relation between caregiver risk factors and child outcomes is pivotal because parenting practices are amendable to treatment (e.g., barkley, 1997; eyberg & boggs, 1998). many previous studies have considered one facet of parenting techniques or created composites of techniques that focus on global positive and negative parenting practices as well as composites or screening of child behavior as opposed to clinical evaluation. the current study investigated the relation of four parenting techniques and primary female caregiver internalizing symptoms with early childhood hyperactivity, aggression, and attention problems using broadband clinical measures. in line with previous research addressing these constructs, it was hypothesized that (1) female caregivers’ internalizing symptoms would significantly relate to the three types of externalizing behavior; and (2) parenting techniques would mediate the relation between female caregivers’ internalizing symptoms and child externalizing behavior. see figure 1 for a representation of the hypothetical mediational model. method participants participants were 153 primary female parents/caregivers and their child, who was enrolled in a head start program. [an a priori power analysis—with alpha set at .05, power set at .80, with four predictor variables, and testing incremental r 2 for one tested predictor assumed have a small to moderate effect size (r 2 = .05) in each regression analysis—indicated that a sample size of 152 was needed.] participants were recruited from three rural head start programs in texas and mississippi. the three programs consisted of 19 centers that serviced 9 counties in both states. table 1 presents relevant demographic information for the total sample, as well as the sample from the texas head start centers (n = 94) and the sample from the mississippi head start centers (n = 59), separately. within the total sample, 89.5% of participants were mothers, 8.5% were grandmothers, and 2.0% were other female caregivers (e.g., child’s aunt). caregivers reported data for one child in the family. children for whom data were collected were 43.8% 154 garland et al. female. parent-reported child ethnicities were 55.6% african american, 19.6% caucasian, 18.3% hispanic/latino, and 5.9% “other,” which typically included asian, asian-american, and children from biracial backgrounds. when appropriate, contact with the participants and measures in the study were available in spanish; 14 (9.5%) caregivers preferred spanish materials. all primary, female caregivers were included in the analyses. table 1 demographic information of participants demographic categories total sample mississippi sample texas sample percentage of mothers 89.5% 86.4% 91.5% female caregiver’s highest education less than hs graduation completed middle school partial high school hs graduate vocational training partial college college graduate graduate degree earned 0.7% 2.6% 16.3% 30.1% 5.2% 28.8% 9.2% 5.2% 0% 0% 16.9% 23.7% 3.4% 39.0% 10.2% 5.1% 1.1% 4.3% 16.0% 34.0% 6.4% 22.3% 8.5% 5.3% percentage of female children 43.8% 42.4% 44.7% ethnicity of child african american hispanic/latino caucasian other 55.6% 18.3% 19.6% 5.9% 76.3% 0% 20.3% 1.7% 42.6% 29.8% 29.8% 8.5% mean number of people living in house 4.2 people 3.9 people 4.4 people median income range $10,000-14,999 $10,000-14,999 $10,000-14,999 measures alabama parenting questionnaire (apq; frick, 1991; shelton et al., 1996). the apq global format is a 42-item measure that requires caregivers to respond on a 5-point likert scale from 1-never to 5-always to represent the “typical” frequency of use of various parenting techniques in the home, yielding five scales based on an average of the items loading on the specific scale. the five scales include: parental involvement, which involves engaging in unstructured and structured activities with the child both inside and outside the home (e.g., “you have a friendly talk with your child;” “you drive your child to a special activity;” “you play fun games with your child or do other fun things with your child;” “you talk to your child about his or her friends.”); positive parenting, which involves praising and rewarding the child for positive behaviors (e.g., “you praise your child if he/she behaves well”); poor monitoring, which involves deficient overall supervision of the child (e.g., “you get so busy that you forget where your child is and what he/she is doing”); inconsistent discipline, which involves not sufficiently following through with discipline or consequences when the child engages in negative behaviors (e.g., “you threaten to punish your child and then do not actually punish him/her;” “you let your parent techniques, caregiver internalizing, child externalizing 155 child out of punishment early ( e.g. lift restrictions earlier than you originally said.);” “your child is not punished when he or she has done something wrong.”); and corporal punishment, which involves physical punishment for negative child behaviors (e.g., “you spank your child with your hand when he/she has done something wrong”). the apq has demonstrated good construct validity (shelton et al., 1996). it also has been found to be reliable, with adequate internal consistency (coefficient alphas ranging from .67 to .80, except corporal punishment, .46) and adequate test-retest reliability (shelton et al., 1996). this measure also has been used in a preschool population (clerkin, marks, policaro, & halperin, 2007). for the current study, reliability estimates of the five scales based on cronbach’s alphas were .75 for parental involvement, .74 for positive parenting, .66 for inconsistent discipline, .64 for poor parental monitoring, and .43 for corporal punishment. although these alpha coefficients are moderate at best, they are consistent with those found by shelton and colleagues (1996). nevertheless, there was concern that the corporal punishment scale, which is based on only 3 items, had particularly low internal consistency and, therefore, it was not included in any of the analyses involving the apq scales. brief symptom inventory (bsi; derogatis, 1993). this 53-item self-report, broadband clinical measure yields standardized t-scores for nine scales of adult psychopathology as well as a global severity index to determine a person’s overall level of psychological distress. individuals rate symptoms on a 5-point scale, reflecting degrees of distress ranging from 0-not at all to 4-extremely (derogatis, 1993). there is evidence for the reliability and validity of this measure for assessing adult psychopathology (boulet & boss, 1991), with alpha coefficients ranging from .71 to .85. the scales used in the current study included anxiety (e.g., “nervousness or shakiness inside,” “feeling fearful,” “feeling tense or keyed up”) and depression (e.g., “feeling lonely,” “feeling blue,” “feelings of worthlessness”). for the purposes of the current study, an anxiety/depression composite was created to measure distress of the female caregiver, due to a high correlation for these two scales, r = .71, p <. 001, and given previous literature relating to similar outcomes in child behaviors and parenting techniques. the composite was created by averaging the two standardized t-scores for the scales. the cronbach’s alpha coefficient for this composite was .92, demonstrating excellent internal consistency. behavior assessment system for children – 2, parent rating scale (basc-2-prs; reynolds & kamphaus, 2004). the basc-2-prs is a clinical measure of the frequency and severity of child behavior problems at home. the preschool evaluation yields eight clinical scales and four adaptive scales for the parent form. the preschool version of this assessment has been normed for children between the ages of two and five years. the reliability and validity for the basc-2-prs has been well established, and reported internal consistencies for the scales range from .77 to .87 (reynolds & kamphaus, 2004). analyses for the current study utilized the clinical scales of hyperactivity, aggression, and attention problems. the hyperactivity scale includes items measuring such behaviors as “fiddling with things, interrupting others, being overactive, and having poor self-control” (reynolds & kamphaus, 2004, p. 62). the aggression scale includes items measuring verbal aggression, such as “arguing, name-calling, and verbally threatening others” as well as physical aggression, such behaviors as “breaking others’ possessions and hitting others”(reynolds & kamphaus, 2004, p. 61). finally, the attention problems scale included items measuring “and inability to maintain attention and the tendency to be easily distracted from tasks requiring attention” (reynolds & kamphaus, 2004, p. 61). cronbach’s alpha coefficient ranged from .82 to .85 for the three scales, demonstrating good 156 garland et al. internal consistency. demographic questionnaire. demographic data collected included the following information: basic information about the caregiver(s), including age, gender, educational attainment, ethnicity, primary language spoken, number of people in the home, employment status, and household income. in addition, the demographic questionnaire asked information about the child, including birth date, gender, and ethnicity. per capita family income was calculated (income divided by number of people in the home) and used as an estimate of the family’s ses. procedure and analyses after gaining irb approval, an informed consent was sent home to each parent whose child was currently enrolled in a targeted head start center. parents who chose to participate returned the consent form to their child’s head start center, where they were collected by a research assistant. parents (specifically primary female caregivers) were then sent the questionnaires to complete at home. families were only allowed to participate one time and to report on one child, even if more than one child was enrolled in head start, to ensure independence of data. parents were paid $10 for completion of the questionnaires. the current survey study included participants drawn from a community sample. the analyses included zero-order correlations and multiple regressions to test relations among the variables. hypotheses considering mediational relations between female caregivers’ internalizing symptoms, parenting techniques, and child externalizing behaviors were tested using baron and kenny’s (1986) steps for establishing mediational models as well as “process” (p. 1), a modeling tool described by hayes (2012) used with statistical software such as spss that analyzes “conditional indirect effects” (p. 185) via bootstrapping analytical methods (preacher & hayes, 2004). results missing data analyses indicated 22 participants had missing item responses on one or more measures. missing data did not exceed 8.5 % for any one item or composite score. missing data for these analyses were imputed using the multiple imputation estimation maximization (em) algorithm in prelis (enders, 2001; enders, 2003; tabachnick & fidell, 2001). the em algorithm was run separately for each measure on item level data, so predictions were only made for a missing datum based on observed data on that measure. correlations among variables and descriptive statistics table 2 presents a correlation matrix of all variables of interest from the basc-2-prs, bsi, and apq as well as descriptive means and standard deviations of those variables. standard scores on all measures of psychopathology (e.g., basc-2-prs, bsi) were normally distributed. the mean t-scores for child externalizing behaviors fell within a normal range of child behavior, based on age-appropriate general norm comparisons: hyperactivity (m = 53, sd = 11.6), aggression (m = parent techniques, caregiver internalizing, child externalizing 157 52, sd = 11.3), attention problems (m = 53, sd = 9.9), with between 5 and 7% of children falling in the clinically significant range for each of the behaviors (t-score >70) and 16 and 21% in the at-risk range (t-score 60-69). mean t-scores for female caregiver anxiety (m = 49, sd = 10.5) and female caregiver depression (m = 53, sd = 9.1) as measured by the bsi, were also within the normal range. within this sample, 5.2% of female caregivers reported levels of depression in a clinically significant range (greater than a t-score of 70), and 5.9% of participants reported levels of anxiety greater than a t-score of 70. the mean t-score of the anxiety/depression composite was 51, with a standard deviation of 9.02. the correlation matrix reveals that child behavior problems were significantly correlated (ranging from r = .49 to r = .69). likewise, all three child behavior problems were significantly positively correlated with female caregiver internalizing symptoms (anxiety/depression composite), with rs ranging from .37 to .53. three of the four parenting techniques were significantly related to at least one child behavior problem (see table 2). positive parenting was the only parenting technique that did not significantly relate to child outcomes. 158 garland et al. table 2 descriptive statistics of and correlations among variables of interest hyper agg attn prob anx/dep involve positive monitor corp pun inconsis hyper a 53 (11.6) agg a 0.69*** 52 (11.3) attn prob a 0.67*** 0.49*** 53 (9.9) anx/dep b 0.53*** 0.37*** 0.43** 51 (9.05) involve c -0.16* -0.15 -.30*** -.20* 4.00 (.52) positive c 0.04 -0.04 -0.1 -0.12 0.42*** 4.6 (.43) monitor c 0.16* 0.09 0.00 0.08 -0.09 0.03 1.50 (.47) corp pun c 0.26** 0.22** 0.16 0.16 0.09 0.10 0.06 1.90 (.63) inconsis c 0.39*** 0.35*** 0.19* 0.32*** -0.13 -0.13 0.31*** 0.18* 2.20 (.62) note: means and standard deviations (sd) are shown in the diagonal. hyper = hyperactivity; agg = aggression; attn prob = attention problems; anx/dep = anxiety/depression composite; involve = parental involvement; positive = positive parenting; monitor = poor parental monitoring; corp pun = corporal punishment; inconsis = inconsistent discipline a from behavior assessment system for children – parent report (t-scores); b from the brief symptom inventory (composite t-score); c from the alabama parenting questionnaire (raw score ranging from 1 to 5); * p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001 parent techniques, caregiver internalizing, child externalizing 159 relation of demographic variables with child behavior problems demographic variables were considered as possible confounding variables to potential results by examining their relation to criterion variables of the mediational analyses, which included the mediators (four parenting techniques) and outcome variables (three child externalizing behaviors). of these, per capita family income (an estimate of ses) was significantly correlated with both parental involvement, r = .23, p = .004, and poor parental monitoring, r = -.23, p = .005. likewise, consistent with previous literature suggesting higher prevalence of child externalizing behavior among males (card, stucky, sawalani, little, 2008), gender (coded males = 0, females = 1) was significantly related to child attention problems, r = -.25, p = .002, indicating higher attention problems among males. the relation between gender and child hyperactivity, r = -.16, p = .06, suggested a trend toward parents reporting more hyperactivity for males. however, the relation between gender and child aggression, r = -.06, p = .44, was not significant. based on these results and to maintain consistency across all models, both child gender and ses were controlled in all subsequent regression analyses. relation of parenting techniques with child behavior problems to determine which parenting techniques were uniquely related to the three child externalizing behaviors when considering the other parenting techniques, three regression analyses were conducted. step 1 included child gender and ses as control variables, and step 2 included all four parenting techniques. the results of these analyses are presented in table 3. parenting techniques accounted for 18.4% of unique variance in child hyperactivity, after controlling for child gender and ses. specifically, parental involvement, β = -.18, p = .04, and inconsistent discipline, β = .37, p < .001, were significant unique predictors, indicating that higher levels of inconsistent discipline and lower levels of parental involvement were associated with more child hyperactivity. parenting techniques were also significantly related to child aggression after controlling for child gender and ses, accounting for 13.3% of unique variance. in particular, inconsistent discipline, β = .35, p < .001, was a significant unique predictor, such that higher levels of inconsistent discipline were related to higher reported levels of child aggression. parenting techniques were also a significant unique predictor of child attention problems, accounting for 9.8% of unique variance, after controlling for child gender and ses. specifically, inconsistent discipline, β = .18, p = .03, and parental involvement, β = -.26, p = .003, were significant unique predictors, with higher levels of inconsistent discipline and lower levels of parental involvement related to increased levels of child attention problems. thus, when examining the three child externalizing behavior outcomes (hyperactivity, aggression, and attention problems), two of the parenting techniques were related across outcomes (inconsistent discipline and parental involvement). 160 garland et al. table 3 regression coefficients and beta weights for the relations between individual parenting techniques and parent-reported hyperactivity, aggression, and attention problems hyperactivity aggression attention problems step 1 r 2 child gender ses 0.03 -0.17* -0.01 0.09 -0.07 -0.06 0.08** -0.27** -0.15 step 2 ∆r 2 child gender ses parenting techniques inconsistent discipline involvement poor monitoring corporal punishment positive parenting 0.22*** -0.16* 0.02 0.33*** -0.18* 0.04 0.20* 0.12 0.16*** -0.07 -0.06 0.32*** -0.13 -0.05 0.18* 0.05 0.13*** -0.25** -0.13 0.15 -0.27** -0.08 0.19* 0.01 note: r 2 and ∆r 2 are in bold. standardized coefficients (beta-weights; β) are displayed for each predictor variable at each step in the model. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001. testing for mediation based on the results of the regression analyses in table 3, only inconsistent discipline and parental involvement were further considered as potential mediators in the relation between female caregivers’ internalizing symptoms and child externalizing behavior. following baron and kenny’s (1986) guidelines, three regression analyses were conducted for each test of mediation: (1) regressing the potential mediator (specific parenting technique) on the predictor (caregivers’ internalizing symptoms); (2) regressing the criterion variable (specific child behavior) on the predictor (caregivers’ internalizing symptoms); and (3) regressing the criterion variable (specific child behavior) on the predictor (caregivers’ internalizing symptoms) and the possible mediator (specific parenting technique) simultaneously. each of these regression analyses were conducted controlling for child gender and ses. from these analyses, the four criteria described by baron and kenny were examined to determine if mediation was established as described below. two regression analyses were conducted to examine the relation between the two potential mediators (inconsistent discipline and parental involvement) and caregivers’ internalizing symptoms (controlling for child gender and ses in step 1). the relations between caregivers’ internalizing symptoms and inconsistent discipline, ∆r 2 = .10, β = .32, p < .001, and between caregivers’ internalizing symptoms and parental involvement, ∆r 2 = .05, β = -.23, p = .006, were significant. these results indicated that higher levels of caregivers’ internalizing symptoms were related to more frequent use of inconsistent discipline (10.4% of the variance) and less frequent parental involvement (4.9% of the variance). thus, both inconsistent discipline parent techniques, caregiver internalizing, child externalizing 161 and parental involvement met the first criterion for mediation (baron & kenny, 1986). next, regression analyses were conducted to determine if caregivers’ internalizing symptoms were significantly related to child hyperactivity, aggression, and attention problems. controlling for both child gender and ses, caregivers’ internalizing symptoms were a significant predictor for child hyperactivity, ∆r 2 = .26, β = .51, p < .001, child aggression ∆r 2 = .11, β = .33, p < .001, and child attention problems, ∆r 2 = .21, β = .45, p < .001.these results indicated that, after controlling for relevant demographic variables, higher levels of caregivers’ internalizing symptoms were related to higher levels of child behavior problems, accounting for between 11 and 26% of the variance. thus, the second criterion for mediation (baron & kenny, 1986) was met for all three child externalizing behaviors. finally, to examine the final two criteria for mediation (baron & kenny, 1986), a series of regression analyses were conducted examining the predictor (caregivers’ internalizing symptoms) and each of the two mediators (either inconsistent discipline or parental involvement) simultaneously in the prediction of the three child externalizing behaviors (hyperactivity, aggression, and attention problems). for each of these analyses, child gender and ses were entered as control variables on step 1. caregiver’s internalizing symptoms and inconsistent discipline (or parental involvement) were entered on step 2. results are presented in table 4 (examining inconsistent discipline as a mediator) and table 5 (examining parental involvement as a mediator). table 4 regression analysis for mediating role of inconsistent discipline on the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and child behaviors hyperactivity aggression attention problems step 1 r 2 child gender ses internalizing symptoms 0.30*** -0.16* -0.05 0.52** 0.15*** -0.07 -0.07 0.37*** 0.27*** -0.27*** -0.15* 0.43*** step 2 ∆r 2 child gender ses internalizing symptoms inconsistent discipline 0.06** -0.16* 0.01 0.44*** 0.25** 0.06** -0.06 -0.06 0.29*** 0.26** 0.003 -0.27*** -0.14* 0.42*** 0.05 note: r 2 and ∆r 2 are in bold. standardized coefficients (beta-weights; β) are displayed for each predictor variable at each step in the model. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001. 162 garland et al. table 5 regression analysis for mediating role of parental involvement on the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and child behaviors hyperactivity aggression attention problems step 1 r 2 child gender ses internalizing symptoms 0.30*** -0.16* -0.001 0.53** 0.15*** -0.07 -0.07 0.37*** 0.27*** -0.27*** -.0.15* 0.43*** step 2 ∆r 2 child gender ses internalizing symptoms parental involvement 0.003 -0.16* 0.01 0.51*** -0.05 0.003 -0.06 -0.06 0.36*** -0.06 0.03* -0.26** -0.10 0.40*** -0.18* child hyperactivity. inconsistent discipline was a significant predictor of child hyperactivity above and beyond caregiver internalizing symptoms, β = .25, p < .001, meeting the third criterion for mediation. the inclusion of inconsistent discipline into the model resulted in a combined 31% of the variance in child hyperactivity, overall r = .58, p < .001. when controlling for inconsistent discipline, the beta weight for caregiver internalizing symptoms dropped from .51, p < .001, to .43, p < .001. bootstrapping analytical methods and computational tool were used to estimate an asymmetric confidence interval of the indirect effect with 20,000 resamples with replacement (hayes, 2012; preacher & hayes, 2004, 2008) and indicated that the indirect effect was not zero by a 95% bias-corrected bootstrap confidence interval of .04 to .20 (with a point estimate of .10). given this confidence interval is not inclusive of zero, it supported a significant indirect effect, indicating the fourth criterion was met to establish inconsistent discipline as a partial mediator in the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and child hyperactivity. because parental involvement did not contribute a significant amount of unique variance above and beyond caregiver internalizing symptoms, β = -.05, p = .49, the third criterion was not met when considering parental involvement as a mediator in the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and child hyperactivity. therefore, it was not further evaluated for the child hyperactivity outcome. child aggression. inconsistent discipline was a significant predictor of child aggression above and beyond caregiver internalizing symptoms, β = .27, p = .001, meeting the third criterion for mediation. the inclusion of inconsistent discipline into the model resulted in a combined 17% of variance in child aggression, overall r = .43, p < .001. when controlling for inconsistent discipline, the beta weight for caregiver internalizing symptoms dropped from .33, p < .001, to .25, p = .002. bootstrapping analytical methods with 20,000 resamples with replacement yielded an parent techniques, caregiver internalizing, child externalizing 163 asymmetric 95% bias-corrected bootstrap confidence interval of .05 to .20 (with a point estimate of .11). given this confidence interval is not inclusive of zero, it supported a significant indirect effect, indicating the fourth criterion was met to establish inconsistent discipline as a partial mediator in the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and child aggression. as indicated in table 2, parental involvement was not significantly related to aggression, r = -.15, p = .07, and this relation also was not significant after controlling for caregiver internalizing symptoms, β = -.07, p = 43, failing the third criterion for mediation. thus, parental involvement was not further considered as a mediator in the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and child aggression. child attention problems. because inconsistent discipline did not contribute a significant amount of unique variance above and beyond caregiver internalizing symptoms in the prediction of child attention problems, β = .05, p = .53, the third criterion for mediation considering inconsistent discipline as a mediator in the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and attention problems. therefore, it was not further evaluated for the child attention problems outcome. however, parental involvement was a significant predictor of child attention problems above and beyond caregiver internalizing symptoms, β = -.18, p = .02, meeting the third criterion for mediation. the inclusion of parental involvement into the model resulted in a combined 23% of variance in child attention problems, overall r = .56, p < .001. when controlling for parental involvement, the beta weight for caregiver internalizing symptoms were slightly reduced from .45, p < .001, to .41, p < .001. bootstrapping analytical methods with 20,000 resamples with replacement yielded an asymmetric 95% bias-corrected bootstrap confidence interval of .01 to .11 (with a point estimate of .04). given this confidence interval is not inclusive of zero, it supported a significant indirect effect, indicating the fourth criterion was met to establish parental involvement as a partial mediator in the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and child attention problems. in summary, inconsistent discipline was found to partially mediate the relation between a female caregiver’s report of her anxious and depressive symptomatology and her report of her child’s hyperactive and aggressive behaviors, whereas parental involvement was found to partially mediate the relation between a female caregiver’s report of her anxious and depressive symptomatology and her report of her child’s attention problems. finally, it should be noted that given 10.5% of the female caregivers were not mothers (13 grandmothers and 3 other primary female caregivers, such as an aunt), the descriptives, correlations, and regressions were conducted with the n = 16 non-mother primary female caregivers and showed the same descriptive characteristics as the full sample as well as the same relations among variables— including within the mediational models—as the full sample (albeit the analyses with this small sub-sample were predominantly non-significant given the low sample size and subsequent power). discussion the current study evaluated the relation of primary female caregivers’ internalizing symptoms and parenting techniques on child externalizing behaviors. as a whole, the parenting techniques were significant predictors of preschool aggression, hyperactivity, and attention problems. upon 164 garland et al. further inspection of the unique contribution of each specific technique, only two were found to be significantly related. inconsistent discipline was significantly related to all three behavioral concerns, whereas parental involvement was significantly related to child hyperactivity and attention problems. the current study further considered the mediational role of these techniques on the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and child externalizing behaviors. inconsistent discipline was a partial mediator of the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and child hyperactivity and aggression. this finding suggests that female caregivers with higher levels of internalizing symptoms are less consistent in their use of discipline practices and that this inconsistency, in part, accounts for higher levels of hyperactivity and aggression among their children. thus, targeting consistency in discipline practices could be a point of intervention for young children who are at a higher risk for externalizing outcomes due to their caregivers’ internalizing symptoms. whereas all three of the child behaviors in this study are considered externalizing behaviors, the findings for child attention problems were distinct from hyperactivity and aggression. in particular, parental involvement was the strongest predictor of child attention problems. in addition, parental involvement was supported as a partial mediator in the relation between caregiver internalizing symptoms and child attention problems. these findings suggest that children presenting with a primary problem of inattention—as opposed to hyperactivity and aggression—may benefit from initially increasing parental involvement while also monitoring a female caregiver’s self-report of caregiver internalizing symptoms. these differential findings for the mediational role of inconsistent discipline and parental involvement appear to be a true pattern given the very small effect sizes when considering inconsistent discipline as a mediator for attention problems (r 2 = .002) as well as when considering parental involvement as a mediator for hyperactivity and aggression r 2 = .002 and r 2 = .004, respectively. a post-hoc power analysis showed that such effect sizes, with the given sample size (n = 153) and alpha set at .05, would have yielded power of only 9 to 12% to detect an effect if a true effect existed. however, it is more likely that these parenting practices relate differentially to these child externalizing behavioral outcomes, particularly when considering the relation of caregiver symptomatology to those outcomes via such parenting practices. the results of the current study extend the findings of the previous literature that has considered the importance of parenting techniques and caregiver internalizing symptoms on child behaviors. previous studies have emphasized the significant relation between parenting techniques and child externalizing behavior (e.g., loeber et al., 1998; mcloyd & smith, 2002; stormshak et al., 2000), including inconsistent discipline (e.g., stanger et al., 2004; sutton et al., 1999) and parental involvement (e.g., bolger et al., 1995). however, few studies have begun to consider the complex relation of female caregiver internalizing symptoms and specific parenting techniques on child outcomes. similar to the results of the current study, chronis and colleagues (2007) reported unique contributions of maternal depression and positive parenting techniques, such as praise and display of positive affect, on child conduct problems in children diagnosed with adhd. the current study extends the findings of chronis et al. to consider not only unique variance contributed by both parenting techniques and characteristics but also a partial mediational role of parenting techniques. previous studies demonstrated a similar partial mediating role for global constructs of parenting (positive versus negative parenting; garland et al., 2005) and, more specifically, for parent techniques, caregiver internalizing, child externalizing 165 inconsistent discipline (barry et al., 2009) in elementary/middle school samples. the current study demonstrated that these same mediational relations extend to preschoolers. the downward extension of these results is important for professionals involved with early intervention and early prevention of behavior problems (e.g., other caregivers, teachers, therapists). since previous research has suggested that early prevention is more beneficial for the reduction of behavior problems than when treating an adolescent (dishion & patterson, 1992; lochman & wells, 2003), these findings suggest that, even as early as preschool, the complex relation among these variables seems to follow a similar pattern as that found among older children. therefore, professionals working with preschoolers are encouraged to begin interventions early when possible behavior problems are detected or when a female caregiver appears to be at a high risk for symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. when both risk factors are present (e.g., a maternal risk and child behavior risk), the results of the current study suggest that the focus of the intervention should be geared toward maintaining consistency in discipline practices and increasing parental involvement. notably, although male and female children differed in levels of hyperactivity and attention problems (males = higher), they did not differ in levels of aggression. nevertheless, this finding is consistent with some research showing no difference in measured aggression across genders (harden et al, 2000; silver, measelle, armstrong, & essex, 2005) and may be partly explained by examining aggression among a young, non-clinical sample. research and practice implications there are several implications for professionals in early childhood. the results of the current study support previous research and current recommendations in child psychology which support parent training in behavior management techniques for children displaying oppositional, defiant, aggressive, early adhd symptomatology, and non-compliant behaviors. parenting programs such as, parent child interaction therapy (eyberg, 2003) and russell barkley’s (1997) manual of treating defiant children suggest the incorporation of parenting techniques, such as parental involvement, positive parenting, consistent discipline, and use of time out or privilege revocation in place of corporal punishment. these programs focus first on increasing parental involvement and positive parenting while including consistency in aspects, such as daily child-directed interaction and the use of differential attention. one area of consideration for professionals focused on behavior modification would be to incorporate themes of consistency very early in the therapeutic intervention. also, as standard of clinical care, many providers measure a child’s behavior and level of severity, for example with the basc-2-prs or eyberg child behavior inventory (ecbi; eyberg, 1999), before setting treatment goals. the idea of ongoing, formal assessment of parenting skills in home visits has been addressed and included as a goal of the parent, family, and community engagement (pfce) initiative (administration for children and families, 2012). the results of the current study support the idea that, in addition to a child behavior measure, having a baseline measure of parenting techniques or observational information regarding parenting practices could be valuable information clinically to demonstrate empirical change in a program and impact the child’s behavior. for educational professionals, similar implications are considered. educational professionals often provide a model of structure, limit setting, and empathy to which parents can observe and children can respond. the results of the current study suggest that finding ways to 166 garland et al. incorporate a parent in the classroom may offer a minimum of two potential benefits. first, a child experiences the parent involved in classroom activity, which is a direct experience of parental involvement. second, a parent experiences the teacher modeling both praise (e.g., frequency, intensity, for what behaviors) as well as limit setting/consequences and the effects of these two interventions. a parent’s experiential learning may provide for a possible transition of these skills to the home environment. whereas the role of the parent in the classroom may vary greatly on the current classroom activity, a parent may be given the task of observing appropriate behavior and giving teacher-guided feedback to students. in addition, parents may be provided with teacher-guided prompts to engage in conversation with students and practice various positive responses (e.g., summary statements, open-ended questions, praise statements) to model parental involvement. also, to aid with parental practice of consistency, parents may be given one guideline to reinforce during the classroom activity. practice with praise, distraction techniques, and limit setting for that guideline could be modeled by teacher and practiced by the parent. finally, praise to parents, by teachers, on these specific skills, would not only continue to model the skill to the parent but also provide encouragement and self-efficacy to parents as well. also to note, any of these potential interventions by educational professionals would be amendable to the classroom setting as well as to the home visit setting. the pfce and other programs in head start have encouraged unique avenues of participation for parents unable to volunteer in the classroom. policy councils and parent committee meetings offer one avenue for parents to impart change in the governance of head start and their centers. these opportunities, which may be scheduled outside of traditional work hours, empower parents as an advocate, not only for their own child, but also for their center. given the positive association between empowerment and parental depressive symptoms (e.g., melnyk et al., 2004), the role of governance in head start may directly relate to symptoms of depression in parents participating. additional benefits may include preparation for the role of parent as advocate for their child during the transition to elementary school as well as the increased knowledge of the head start standards and guidelines may provide additional ideas and ways to change practices in their own home (e.g., match their discipline to that in the head start standards, increase learning opportunities for their children at home). the results of the current study also suggest that female caregiver mental health may be just as important as the child’s mental health for children presenting with high levels of aggression, attention problems, and hyperactivity. formal education, provided by a professional in early intervention, regarding the relation of a caregiver’s mental health on the child’s mental health would be important for parents, who often are the primary participants in behavior modification within the home setting. a recent study by shaw and colleagues highlighted a reduction in maternal depression symptoms when participating in a brief family check-up intervention. the authors discussed the individualized treatment program that considered parent self-care in treatment goals, when warranted, which may have improved parental distress. however, the authors also stressed that additional treatment factors (e.g., collaborative relationship with professional, increased use and perceived benefits of positive parenting practices, reduced cumulative stressors via professional recommendations for support) may also contribute to decreased self-reported depression symptoms (shaw, connell, dishion, wilson, & gardner, 2009). thus, several options are available to professionals in early intervention to address the impact of parental symptomatology based on this study’s findings. first, this study provides parent techniques, caregiver internalizing, child externalizing 167 preliminary evidence to support that current empirically supported methods for behavioral modification of externalizing behavior (e.g., barkley, 1997; eyberg, 2003; webster-stratton, 1998) may also contribute to decreased self-report of depression in caregivers. second, modifying existing treatments to include parental self-care and/or brief therapeutic intervention to target depressive symptomatology in caregivers may also provide additional impact in the reduction of externalizing behavior. third, additional individual therapy referrals for a caregiver or information on community programs to support parents may also help to decrease their own mood symptoms, thus impacting the child’s behavior. limitations and directions for future research notably, the current study had several limitations that should be addressed in future research. first, this study relied solely on the female caregiver as the rater of self and child behavior problems in the home; thus, these results cannot rule out the possibility that some female caregivers may have responded in an overly critical manner (e.g., briggs-gowan, et al., 1996). for example, we cannot exclude the possibility that female caregivers who have higher levels of internalizing symptoms may have a different perception of the severity of their child’s behavior in comparison to a caregiver with less internalizing symptoms. whereas this hypothesis cannot be discounted, it is important to consider that a mother’s perception of her child’s behavior is a large contributor to the therapeutic process and that recognition of those perceptions as well as an empathic response by a professional may help to establish a collaborative team around the child. therefore, the importance of parental report of child behavior problems, even from parents presenting with significant psychopathology themselves, should not be minimized. still, future research could consider the creation of a composite or latent variable that could model both the female caregiver’s report as well as that observed by an independent rater. in fact, it would be recommended that future research examine these important questions using data from multiple informants, including other caregivers and teachers, as well as using multiple methods that include not only rating scales but also direct observation and other objective techniques. an additional limitation to the current study may be the measurement of parenting techniques in a preschool sample. clerkin and colleagues (2007) published a revised version of the apq for a preschool sample of children and suggested the elimination of several items that may not be developmentally appropriate. continued research into the downward extension of this measure for a younger-aged sample is a necessity. nevertheless, the internal consistencies of the scales on the apq for this preschool sample mirrored that in previous samples (shelton et al., 1996) and the scale with the lowest internal consistency (i.e., corporal punishment) was eliminated from analyses. one final limitation is the collection of all data at one time point, lending the inability to determine directionality with these results. future modeling studies could incorporate longitudinal data of child behavior and maternal psychopathology and parenting techniques to track trends over time. for example, improvements in maternal psychopathology and parenting practices may lead to improved child behaviors; but it is also the case that the improved child behaviors could positively impact maternal psychopathology and parenting practices. these potential hypotheses of bidirectionality have long been considered (bell, 1979), and current statistical modeling techniques may help to provide valuable information on these associations. while that information lends important understanding to the development and continuity of child behaviors, the results of this study continue to further our understanding and lend valuable 168 garland et al. information to treatments and intervention. for more specific clinical implications, three additional considerations are warranted. first, these models should be validated using a clinical sample of both caregivers with high symptomatology and children with high symptomatology, which would not only provide further detail into these mediational relations but also impact treatment planning for professionals who work with families of preschoolers with significant disruptive behavior. second, female caregivers’ symptoms of anxiety and depression were combined and conceptualized as one measure of internalizing symptoms based on the high multi-collinearity of the variable as well as previous research examining caregiver internalizing symptomatology with child externalizing behaviors that often combines internalizing symptoms into one global construct. however, the relation of female caregivers’ symptoms of anxiety and symptoms of depression may influence child externalizing behaviors differently. therefore, future research should consider if these two symptom domains have a similar or different relation with the three child externalizing behaviors. furthermore, these relations may vary between female and male caregivers. the consideration of fathers is a critical avenue of further research. these possible differences may also significantly impact treatment planning, direction of intervention, and recommended resources with parents with specific symptoms. third, an important future direction for this line of research should consider the multi-group modeling of these relations by gender. since child gender was significantly related to child hyperactivity and attention problems, evaluating the similarities or differences of the overall model and individual relations between variables in the model would have important theoretical and clinical implications. conclusions the results of the current study—as well as future work in this area—will help to better understand the relation between parent and child behavior, specifically the environmental influences on the child such as parenting 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(2007). dynamic association between parental monitoring and communication and adolescent risk involvement among african-american adolescents. journal of the national medical association, 99, 517-524. volume 18, number 4 2016 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles associations of adversity to indicators of child well being in a high quality early education context shannon guss, brenda jones-harden, amanda stein, noreen yazejian, and nina forestieri……………………………………………………………………………………... 1 digital media and preschoolers: implications for visual spatial development kathleen keefe-cooperman……………………………...………………………………….. 24 “the opportunity to get ready”: early head start program innovation anita s. charles and mary anne peadoby……………………………..……………………. 43 effects of a culturally responsive interactive book-reading intervention on the language abilities of preschool dual language learners: a pilot study carol scheffner hammer and brook sawyer ………………..……………………………… 59 scaffolded dialogic reading professional development for transitional kindergarten teachers of dual language learners carola matera, elvira armas and magaly lavadenz………………..…….………………… 80 research-to-practice summaries addressing adversity to support family and child well being shannon guss, brenda jones-harden, amanda stein, noreen yazejian, serenity weeden and jennifer ladner…………………………………………………………………………... 105 preschooler digital usage and visual spatial performance: implications for the classroom kathleen keefe-cooperman…..……………………………………...………………………. 111 readiness opportunities for highly vulnerable families anita s. charles and mary anne peadoby……………………………..……………………. 117 development of a culturally responsive book reading intervention for latina mothers and their head stat children carol scheffner hammer and brook sawyer ………………..……………………………… 123 professional development for transitional kindergarten teachers of dual language learners: learning and applying scaffolded dialogic reading carola matera, elvira armas and magaly lavadenz………………..…….………………… 129 (continued from previous page) dialog from the field tailored teaching: emerging themes from the literature on teachers’ use of ongoing child assessment to individualize instruction lauren akers, patricia del grosso, emily snell, sally atkins-burnett, barbara a. wasik, judith carta, kimberley boller and shannon monahan…………………………………… 91 dialog, 17(4), 155-160 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 book review poverty is not a disability holly s. kihm southeastern louisiana university authors lipina and colombo describe the effects of poverty on children's brain development. through their research, they developed interventions to help alleviate the detrimental effects of poverty. while their book emphasizes neuroscience, it also discusses relevant classroom and home-based interventions that have been effective in increasing children's early learning. it is the intent of the authors to replicate successful interventions and influence policy in early childhood education. keywords: early childhood; poverty; neuroscience globally, there is an estimated 1 billon children living in severe poverty (gordon, nandy, pantazis, pemberton, & townsend, 2003). researchers continue to explore the causes and impacts of childhood poverty, as well as develop strategies and policies to address the issues. in their book, poverty and brain development during childhood: an approach from cognitive psychology and neuroscience, authors sebastian lipina and jorge colombo write a concise overview of the breadth and depth of childhood poverty, and then focus their discussion on how the brain physically changes in response to stressors that are highly correlated with living in poverty in early childhood. the authors begin their discussion of the physical changes in brains by referencing a variety rodent and animal studies. their discussion then transitions to the changes in brain structure seen in children who have experienced prolonged living in poverty. the authors discuss the ramifications of those changes on children’s physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development, and conclude their work by discussing intervention programs and current policy regarding childhood poverty. background one of the first tasks the authors needed to accomplish was not only to define poverty, but to identify a clear, yet robust concept of what poverty looks like. they began by discussing how poverty was defined before the 1980’s, how that definition changed throughout the 1990’s, and how poverty is currently defined. during the 1980’s, when research into the effects of poverty on children began to emerge, poverty was defined quite simply. researchers used very few 156 kihm variables to define a state of poverty, and the variables were usually based on socioeconomic status indices, and parental education and occupational backgrounds (mcloyd, 1998). in the late 1990’s, key researchers widened their definition of poverty to include the meeting, or lack thereof, of specific needs that they felt were crucial for optimal development during childhood. these needs included psychological, physical, and cultural needs (boltvinik, 1999). building on the “needs” concept, researchers in the 2000’s posited that the concept of poverty “is a result of a comparison between a personal or a family circumstance and a set of universal (absolute) and specific (relative) needs and satisfiers.” (townsend, 1979, levine & new, 2008; white, leavy, & masters, 2002). the authors identified more specific examples of needs, which included: nourishment, access to health care, housing, socialization and basic education, access to information, affection, identity, and freedom. because the concept is so large, and includes a multitude of domains, it remains a challenge to clearly define poverty. since these domains differ by areas, it would have been helpful if the authors included a table or some other visual aide to identify needs and satisfiers that are specific to different regions. for example, needs and satisfiers in the united states are vastly different than those in developing countries. while children living in poverty in the united states have needs such as nourishment, healthcare and education, they also have access to satisfiers such as wic, medicaid, and head start education. children living in poverty in developing countries have those same needs, but their level of satisfiers is very different. their nourishment may be “satisfied” by basic sustenance (bread, water, local produce), health care may be from volunteer physicians and dentists, and education may only include basic reading and writing. it would have been interesting to see a comparison of needs and satisfiers as a precursor to reading about the effects of poverty on brain development. before moving their discussion to the effects of poverty on brain development, however, the authors did choose a definition of poverty developed by gordon et al., (2003), to use throughout the remainder of their book. this definition is based on the concept of “privations.” privations refers to “a state of observable disadvantage in personal, physical, and mental conditions, as well as local and environmental facilities, social activities, and habits.” what is unique about this definition is that it does not include a monetary income component, and the authors refer to levels of privation, such as severe and moderate. examples of severe privations are a consistent lack of adequate housing, food, and water. examples of moderate privations are housing that lack utilities, and food sources that may only provide the minimum number of calories and nutrients to sustain life. effects of physical and social privation on brain development the authors focus on several components of brain development and how those components are affected by privations. the most important components, however, are brain plasticity, critical or sensitive periods, and myelination. the first component, plasticity, refers to how different areas of the brain are able to organize, adapt, or change to meet demands (lledo, alonso, & grubb, 2006). for example, if an area of the brain is damaged due to injury, brain cells surrounding the damaged area change the way they behave in order to compensate for the loss of function caused by the injury. the second component is based on the brain’s critical, or sensitive, periods of development. as first noted by konrad lorenz, critical periods for brain development occur poverty is not a disability 157 when the brain is primed for the optimal acquisition of new skills, most in early childhood. if the brain does not receive the necessary stimulation during these critical periods, then the unused brain areas will eventually adapt to perform different skills and those areas will no longer be available to perform other skills (lorenz, 1965). sensitive periods are similar to critical periods; however, the “window of opportunity” for acquiring a skill is fortunately not as rigid (michel & tayler, 2005). the third component, myelination, refers to a process in which nerve cells become coated with myelin. because of this process, the nerve cells are able to transmit information faster which results in more complex brain processes (nelson, 2002). in their discussion of brain plasticity, the authors note that even though there have been great strides in imaging techniques for looking into the human brain, animal models remain invaluable resources of information. the authors gave several examples of how material and social privations affect brain development at all levels, including at the molecular, cellular, and systemic functions levels. one such example was in looking at the relationship between the size of the hippocampus and the spatial ability of birds. the researchers found that the hippocampus of birds who stored food (i.e. securing materials for survival) was significantly larger than the hippocampus of birds who did not store food. the result of a larger hippocampus meant that the birds had great spatial abilities, which helped to ensure their survival (sherry, jacobs, & gaulin, 1992). when looking at the human brain, the authors gave a fascinating example of how the environment impacts the development of the hippocampus. maguire et al. (2000) found that taxi cab drivers with extensive experience in navigating through traffic had larger hippocampuses than drivers who did not have extensive driving experience, further, the volume of the hippocampus was directly related to the amount of time spent driving in challenging conditions the studies (along with the other studies cited in the book) make a strong argument for just how much the environment impacts brain development. educators may use these findings when developing curricula, knowing that what they teach, how they teach it, and even where they teach it has a strong influence child’s brain development. effects of privation on physical, cognitive and phychosocial development in order to study the effects of privation on the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development of children, researchers oftentimes gather data from children who have experienced neglect or abuse. though the authors discussed numerous examples of how varying levels of privation affected the development of children, their discussions of the development of children who lived in romanian orphanages were most poignant. in sum, during the early 1990’s romanian dictator, nicolae ceausescu, enacted policies that led to over 150,000 children being placed in state-run orphanages. during their time at the orphanages, the children adhered to strict schedules, with little or no talking or playing. the children were subjected to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and they suffered from malnutrition and lack of medical care (gloviczki, 2004; holden, 1996). using multiple types of assessments, researchers concluded that the privations led to several negative outcomes. one of the most devastating outcomes was that children who spent more than 30 months in the orphanage had less white matter in their brains than children who were moved to foster homes (sheridan, fox, zeanah, mclaughlin & nelson, 2012). the white matter of the brain is responsible for making connections across different parts of the brain. if 158 kihm there is not a sufficient amount of white matter present, then those parts of thought that require connectivity do not process as quickly. this loss of connectivity may be related to outcomes such as significant deficits in cognition, low iq scores, poor to no verbal skills, and hyperactivity. while the effects of living in the romanian orphanages were certainly dismal, researchers have noted some very important, positive, changes in children who were adopted out of the orphanages at early ages. for example, they found that many children who received proper medical care, nutrition, education, and sensory stimulation caught up to their peers in growth and mental abilities. children who were adopted before 6 months of age also showed little problems with caregiver attachment. these findings also have strong implications for early childhood education because they lend support to the importance of quality education for even very young children. intervention programs and educational neuroscience while referencing many other studies that show physical changes in the brain related to living in poverty, the authors did a nice job of summarizing both intervention programs and advances in educational neuroscience that have helped to offset some developmental deficits that some children living in poverty may display. some of the intervention programs the authors discussed were focused on auditory and language processing, attention training, visuospatial skills, phonologically mediated reading programs, working memory training, behavioral remediation, and selective auditory attention. the authors elaborated on two interesting intervention programs. the first program was developed by the authors and took place in buenos aires, argentina. the aim of the program was to increase the cognitive abilities of children, ages 3-5, who live in poverty. their multifocal program ran twice a week for 16 weeks and included cognitive exercises, nutritional supplements, teacher training, and health and social counseling for the children’s parents. rigorous pre and post testing showed that children benefitted the most from a combination of cognitive exercises and nutritional supplements (namely iron and folic acid). the supplements may have contributed to physical changes in the brain (white matter) that allowed for greater changes in cognitive abilities. the second program, developed by nash and colleagues, aimed to increase language skills, preliteracy skills, visuospatial sills, numeracy, and overall iq of children attending head start. the researchers posited that children exposed to music training (which included listening, moving, singing, and playing music) would perform higher on tests of cognition. results showed that children who participated in music training had higher scores on tests assessing receptive and expressive language, object assembly, fluid and quantitative reasoning, and critical thinking than children who did not participate in music training. the authors believe that music training stimulates the part of the brain that is responsible for those areas of cognition. when that area of the brain is stimulated, it is more receptive to learning. for early childhood educators, adding music to the children’s day may be beneficial. however, more studies are needed to determine more details on the effects of music training such as: how much music is needed to see a change, if the type of music training can be generalized cross culturally, and when should music training be initiated. poverty is not a disability 159 conclusion the number of children living in poverty is staggering. in this work, the authors discussed many effects of living in poverty, and how a child’s brain can be affected by living in poverty. by understanding the structural changes that a child’s brain can undergo due to deprivation, the authors argue that interventions should be implemented well before a child reaches the age of three. this is very important because current education policy focuses mainly on preschool children. early intervention services are available for children identified “at risk” for learning difficulties, but does not reach the broader early childhood population as suggested by the authors. though this book was quite challenging to review given its heavy emphasis on neuroscience and the academic vocabulary that accompanies this field, it was fascinating to learn about how the brain physically changes when exposed to privations. early childhood educators may be interested in learning about just how sensitive the brain is during the period that they are responsible for care, and how receptive it can be to developmentally appropriate teaching methods when applied. the authors identified many intervention programs that have shown positive results, and early childhood educators may benefit from reviewing the programs and determining if a specific program may be appropriate for their setting. academicians, policy developers, early childhood professionals, and even researchers would benefit from reading this book, as the authors noted that more work is needed in this area in order to protect children from the devastating effects of poverty, and to better help those children who continue to live in poverty. references boltvinik, j. (1999). poverty measurement methods-an overview. washington, dc: united nations population division. gloviczki, p. (2004). ceausescu’s children: the process of democratization and the plight of romania’s orphans. critique, 3, 116-125. gordon, m., nandy, s., pantazis, c., pemberton, s., & townsend, p. (2003). child poverty in the developing world. bristol, england: policy press. holden, c. (1996). small refugees suffer the effects of early neglect. science, 274, 1076-1077. levine, r. & new, r. (2008). anthropology and child development. oxford, england: blackwell. lipina, s., & colombo, j. (2009). poverty and brain development during childhood: an approach from cognitive psychology and neuroscience. washington, d.c.: american psychological association. lledo, p., alonso, m., & grubb, m. (2006). adult neurogenesis and functional plasticity in neuronal circuits. nature reviews. neuroscience, 7, 179-193. lorenz, k. (1965). evolution and modification of behavior. chicago: midway reprint. maguire, e., gadian, d., johnsrude, i., good, c., asburner, j., frackowiak, r., & frith, c. (2000). navigationrelated structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. proceedings of the national academy of sciences usa, 97, 4398-4403. mcloyd, v. (1998). socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. american psychologist, 53, 185-204. michel, g., & tayler, a. (2005). critical period: a history of the transition from questions of when, to what, to how. developmental psychobiology, 46, 156-162. nelson, c. (2002). neurobehavioral development in the context of biocultural co-constructivism. in p. bates (ed.), lifespan development and the brain: the perspective of biocultural co-constructivism (pp. 61-81). west nyack, ny: cambridge university press. sheridan, m., fox, n., zeanah, c.,mclaughlin, k., & nelson, c. (2012). variation in neural development as a result of exposure to institutionalization early in childhood. science daily. 160 kihm sherry, d., jacobs, l., & gaulin, s. (1992). spatial memory and adaptive specialization of the hippocampus. trends in neuroscience, 15, 298-303. townsend, p. (1979). poverty in the united kingdom. london: penguin-harmondsworth press. white, h., leavy, j., & masters, a. (2002). comparative perspectives on child poverty: a review of poverty measures. london: young lives-save the children fund. dialog, 17(4), 22-49 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research article family partnership with a head start agency: a case study of a refugee family shana j. haines university of vermont jean a. summers, ann p. turnbull, and h. rutherford turnbull iii university of kansas the attendance of children from refugee families at head start agencies provides the opportunity for head start staff to foster trusting family partnerships that are collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented, yet little is known about how the actions of head start staff and families affect these trusting partnerships. the purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate and describe the actions of the head start staff and a refugee family that could have potentially developed a partnership between them and determine what factors facilitated or impeded the formation of a partnership. the findings indicated that the relationship between the family and head start staff was positive but not the type of trusting partnership that the head start national standards advocate. factors that facilitated and impeded the formation of trusting partnership in this case study as well as implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed. keywords: head start; family-professional partnership; family engagement; refugee families head start strives to engage families in order to build partnerships between head start staff and families, foster positive relationships between adult family members and their children, and cultivate ongoing learning and development of both adult family members and children in order to promote school readiness (u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, & office of head start, 2011). the head start approach is to engage families in order to establish partnerships geared toward the long-term outcome of child and family success. head start’s mission to promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social, and other services (about head start, n.d.) in partnership with families (u.s. department of health and human services et al., 2011) fits well with the office of refugee family partnership with a head start agency 23 refugee resettlement’s mission (head start connection, n.d.). many refugee families are members of the head start community. a refugee is someone who: “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.” (united nations high commission on refugees, n.d.) during 2011, the u.s. resettled 56,424 refugees (u.s. department of state, u.s. department of homeland security, & u.s. department of health and human services, 2012). thirty-four percent of refugees admitted to the united states in 2011 were under 18 years of age (u.s. department of state et al., 2012). improving their children’s educational opportunities is a goal for many refugee families as they relocate to the u.s. (schiller, boggis, messenger, & douglas, 2009). refugee and other immigrant families may, however, have perceptions of education (hwa-froelich & westby, 2003; tadesse, hoot, & watson-thompson, 2009), expectations for their children’s development (berry, phinney, sam, & vedder, 2006; day & parlakian, 2004; suarez-orozco & suarez-orozco, 2001), and perceptions of their role in their children’s education (kalyunpur & harry, 2012) that differ from dominant perceptions. each of these perceptions may vary from teachers’ perceptions (hwafroelich & westby, 2003; tadesse et al., 2009). since “culturally-based differences may to lead to conflict and feelings of being misunderstood or judged—for both families and practitioners” (day & parlakian, 2004, p. 1), practitioners and families should partner to respond to culturally-based differences in order to support each child, family, and practitioner’s positive development (day & parlakian, 2004; kalyanpur & harry, 2012, office of head start, n.d.). in sum, culture affects child development (e.g., day & parlakian, 2004; office of head start, n.d.; rogoff, 2003), and family partnership provides an opportunity for teachers and families to understand each other’s cultures and work together towards child and family outcomes. head start recognizes the importance of promoting cultural responsiveness through strong partnerships with families (office of head start, n.d.). the head start act (2007) charges head start agencies with numerous responsibilities aimed at involving and serving families (42 u.s.c. § 9837(b)(1)-(7),(10)-(13)). specifically related to family partnership, the act states that each head start agency must “facilitate and seek the involvement of parents of participating children in activities designed to help such parents become full partners in the education of their children” (42 u.s.c. § 9837(b)(3)(a)). although the act does not define “full partners,” the head start parent, family, and community engagement framework (hereafter referred to as the head start engagement framework; u.s. department of health and human services et al., 2011) offers the following concise definition of family partnership: “staff and families build ongoing, respectful, and goal-oriented relationships…[by] identifying and acting on family goals and aspirations and using program and community supports and resources to promote progress on family and child development goals” (p. 4). in addition, the code of federal regulations requires head start staff to: 24 haines et al. “engage in a process of collaborative partnership-building with parents to establish mutual trust and to identify family goals, strengths, and necessary services and other supports… as early after enrollment as possible… [taking] into consideration each family's readiness and willingness to participate in the process. (45 c.f.r. §1304.40(a)(1))” although these descriptions of partnership are fairly consistent, the federal regulation is more explicit in that it specifies that collaboration, trust, and building on family strengths are inherent to family-professional partnerships. in addition, it states that head start agencies must ensure that “effective two-way comprehensive communications between staff and parents are carried out on a regular basis throughout the program year” (45 cfr §1304.51(c)(1)). with the overall goal of creating trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented partnerships characterized by comprehensive two-way communication to support child and family outcomes, head start agencies are required to provide numerous activities that could help foster family partnerships. research pertaining to this topic has focused mostly on these activities instead of the quality of the relationship. the overlapping terms of “involvement,” “engagement,” and “partnership” can cloud the intention of policy and research. in the family partnership section of the federal regulations, for example, such activities are referred to as “parent involvement” (45 cfr 1306.3 (h)). the head start engagement framework promotes “engaging families as equal partners in their children’s learning and development” (2011, p. 4). in this article, we refer to activities aimed at family involvement or engagement as “family partnership activities” and individuals’ participation in such activities “actions towards partnership.” we use researchers’ terms when referring to their research. all studies of family involvement in head start have demonstrated a positive correlation between family involvement and child outcomes (henrich & gadaire, 2008). family involvement is generally conceptualized as what families contribute to school, what families do at home to contribute to their children’s education, and activities in which families and school personnel interact (mcwayne, campos, owsianak, 2008). numerous studies demonstrate that family involvement in head start is effective at increasing family and child outcomes (e.g., fantuzzo, mcwayne, perry, & childes, 2004; hindman, miller, froyen, & skibbe, 2012; jeynes, 2003; miedel & reynolds, 1999). researchers have sought predictors of family involvement in head start (e.g., castro, bryant, piesner-feinberg, & skinner, 2004; mcwayne et al., 2008; mcwayne & owsianik, 2004; unger, jones, park, & tressell, 2001). notably, hindman and colleagues (2012) reported that family involvement increased for all participant groups throughout the school year, but the overall variance accounted for by factors of ethnicity, race, and immigration status diminished over the course of the year. castro and colleagues (2004) found that parent employment was the strongest predictor of parent involvement (negative correlation), and classroom quality and teacher experience were the strongest head start-related predictors of parent involvement. researchers have also sought an understanding of barriers to family involvement (hindman et al., 2012; lambparker et al., 2001). lamb-parker and colleagues (2001) reported that the three most substantial barriers to parent involvement at head start were busy schedules, having young children at home, and maternal depression. refugee family partnership with a head start agency 25 specific to refugee families with young children in preschool in the u.s., researcher have drawn three consistent conclusions pertinent to relationships between refugee families and head start staff. first, refugee families are often unfamiliar with the pedagogical techniques in u.s. schools and may find them to be inappropriate or confusing, which may result in their distance from the classroom (birman, trickett, & bacchus, 2001; dachyshyn & kirova, 2008; tadesse et al., 2009; walker-dalhouse & dalhouse, 2009). second, although many refugee families have an interest in their children’s education, they do not always have the ability to be involved in their children’s education in ways educators expect due to numerous potential barriers (e.g., lack of understanding of involvement, financial and family responsibilities, lack of cultural and linguistic knowledge) (mcbrien, 2005, 2011; walker-dalhouse & dalhouse, 2009). third, refugee families often have different expectations for their children’s behavior than teachers, which might hinder their involvement in their children’s schools (hurley, medici, stewart, & cohen, 2011; tadesse et al., 2009; walker-dalhouse & dalhouse, 2009). the purpose of this study was to understand and describe the actions towards partnership of a head start staff and a refugee family and determine what factors facilitated or impeded the formation of the trusting partnership to which head start aspires. the research questions guiding this study were: (a) what actions towards partnership did a head start staff and refugee family take during the first half of the year, and (b) what factors facilitated and impeded the formation of a strong partnership between the head start staff and refugee family during this time? method research design we used an embedded, single-case study design (yin, 2009) to answer the research questions for this study as well as another study focused on adult actions in both home and school that facilitated the focal student’s development of engagement and selfregulation skills (please see haines, summers, turnbull, turnbull, & palmer, 2014). this design was able to incorporate a variety of evidence, including observations, interviews, and documents, to deeply explore the multifaceted social phenomenon of family partnerships (yin, 2009). case selection we used purposeful sampling (patton, 2002) to find a head start agency that (a) was within an hour’s drive, (b) served refugee families, and (c) was agreeable to participating in this study. we started the search by contacting head start agencies that met the first two criteria and interviewing staff at two head start agencies that met all three criteria in order to determine their openness to this research. we selected branford head start (all names are pseudonyms; bhs) for its diversity [exactly half of the families (66 out of 132) spoke a language other than english at home]; the range of countries from which refugee families came (i.e., somalia, north sudan, south sudan, liberia, nigeria, vietnam, haiti, burma, and iraq); and the education director’s interest in the study. 26 haines et al. once we found bhs, we sought one child who was (a) enrolled in bhs, (b) had parents or guardians who were refugees and willing to participate in this study, and (c) had a diagnosed disability or several disability risk factors. as enrollment began in august, the education director identified several possible participants; one boy, haaruun, whose parents were refugees from somalia, stood out because of bhs staff’s concerns about his behavior and development. his family was willing to participate in the research and granted informed consent. all staff at bhs also granted informed consent. data collection the first author collected data through observations, semi-structured interviews, and document collection. all data collection occurred simultaneously, and information from multiple sources served to triangulate data (maxwell, 2005) and inform ensuing data collection (yin, 2009). observation. developing an understanding of the head start community, the refugee family, and the relationship between the family and head start staff required that the research team got to know the participants and contexts. to do this, the first author observed in haaruun’s classroom for approximately 50 hours (18 visits) and in his home for approximately 20 hours (9 visits) over 20 weeks. it was also imperative to experience the family partnership activities; the first author observed during the family/classroom orientation, two parent-teacher conferences, a parent activity night, and a fatherhood initiative activity. the observations were qualitative and descriptive, and they were conducted to grasp the complexity of the complex phenomenon under study. the observations were participant observations; the first author was an observer first and a participant second (adler & adler, 1994). she attempted to minimize the effect of her presence on the research participants by alternating between engaging in their everyday tasks with them (e.g., helping to serve snack) and sitting separately when observing interactions (e.g., when a child displayed challenging behavior). to clarify what she observed and validate her interpretation of the intention behind actions, she conducted numerous informal member checks (lincoln & guba, 1985) during and following her participant observations in the form of dialogical interviews (carspecken, 1996). these dialogical interviews lasted between a few minutes and half an hour, and they usually took place on the playground or in the classroom or living room when the first author asked for an explanation of what occurred and why . field notes. field notes enabled the first author to keep track of field observations for her own analysis and share the experiences of the field with the coauthors. while in the field, the first author wrote “jottings” and made “head notes” (emerson, fretz, & shaw, 1995, p.19) to aid her memory of important details when writing field notes from her office. she captured her field experiences on an audio recorder during the drive home, a technique that helped her process the information (agar, 1996; emerson et al., 1995). she used jottings, head notes, and audio recordings to generate typed field notes before going back into the field. refugee family partnership with a head start agency 27 semi-structured interviews. semi-structured interviews were another critical method of understanding the participants and their views on family partnership. although we focused this case study primarily on one specific classroom and the actions of its three teachers, we interviewed all the staff at the head start to inform our research process and ensure thorough data collection. data from these interviews informed questions and conversations with the focal participants in the study. the first author conducted semistructured phenomenological interviews (charmaz, 2006) with 16 adults (staff at bhs and three of haaruun’s family members). these interviews lasted from 30 minutes to 2.5 hours. she recorded and transcribed all but two of these interviews (two interviewees opted not to be recorded; she took detailed notes instead). the interviews all followed the same semi-structured interview protocol (maxwell, 2005), which focused on (a) brief life stories (i.e., what they had done to bring them to their current life situation); (b) what the interviewees desired most for the child now, in the near future, and in the distant future; and (c) how they perceived their relationship with the other party (teacher/family). the interview questions were broader for teachers who did not interact with haaruun on a regular basis; they were asked to think about students with similar profiles instead. although much of the data from these interviews is not reported in this article, it informed subsequent data collection that directly shaped this study. document collection. collecting documents helped the research team learn about written information, triangulate data from other sources, and generate further inquiry. document collection included collecting lesson plans, newsletters, notes sent to families, assessment data, enrollment forms, head start policies, and curriculum guides. we used data from documents to confirm findings from observations and interviews as well as generate more questions to investigate in the field. data analysis the recursive and fluid five-part cycle of data analysis we used included compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding (yin, 2011). using nvivo 10 (qsr international, 2012), the first author created a database for all field notes, interviews, and documents. while collecting data, she wrote analytic memos about themes that emerged from all data sources as well as her personal responses to the data (maxwell, 2005). at least two members of the research team read these analytic memos bi-weekly. these memos and the team’s responses to them (written and verbal) became part of the database. memo writing and sharing were components of the “interpreting” part of the analytic process, and the ideas were tentative (maxwell, 2005). the first author disassembled data by using open coding to create level one codes upon entry into the database (yin, 2009), highlighting parts of data that supported each code in nvivo to generate a chain of evidence (yin, 2009). she used the theoretical categories (maxwell, 2005) of microsystems (i.e., home and bhs) and the macrosystem (i.e., link between the two microsystems) derived from bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological theory of human development to organize the codes as they emerged. the research team discussed in depth this organizing process. after collecting the data, completing the level one codes, and locating the codes in appropriate theoretical 28 haines et al. categories, she reread all documents to revise codes and look for more specific patterns in the data. these patterns enabled her to reassemble and interpret the data to arrive at tentative conclusions. the first author checked these conclusions with bhs staff and haaruun’s family members (yin, 2011) and used her new understandings of the constructions to revise the findings. results figure 1. conceptual model of factors influencing each party's actions towards partnership. as shown in figure 1, we adapted bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological framework to organize the findings. in this framework, partnership is conceptualized as the result of actions of both the staff and the family, which interacted (demonstrated by the overlapping spheres) and occurred mostly in the head start microsystem but also in the home microsystem. facilitating factors and impeding factors in each environment affected each party’s actions towards partnership. we begin this section with a description of the participants, thereby describing the context for the findings (lincoln & guba, 1985). next, we display in table 1 the alignment of partnership activities offered by bhs with the federal regulations for head start. we present an analysis of the factors that facilitated and impeded the formation of partnership. participants haaruun and his family. haaruun was 4 years old and the oldest of four children. he lived in a three-bedroom apartment in the outskirts of a large midwestern city with his mother, aamino; father, mahdi; grandmother, fatu; and three younger siblings. aamino, mahdi, and fatu were somali refugees and spoke somali to each other refugee family partnership with a head start agency 29 and their children at home. attending bhs in august was the first time haaruun and his 3-year old sister, zaynab, were ever outside their home without their parents. at the beginning of this study, the bhs staff were concerned about haaruun’s development because he displayed unpredictable and often inappropriate behaviors when over-stimulated or in new situations at home and at bhs. for example, he impulsively ran from the classroom a few times, and his parents reported the same behavior at home. he also spoke little english, responded to teachers only by repeating their words, and spoke haltingly in somali. his teachers referred him for special education evaluation due to possible language and cognitive delays. haaruun’s parents, aamino and mahdi, had married 5 years earlier in the midwestern city where they lived. mahdi had come to the u.s. in 2000 as a somali refugee. he was 16 years old and illiterate when he arrived, and he had never been to school. four years later, he had graduated from high school and spoke english well enough to find steady employment cleaning rental cars. at the time of this study, he was 29 years old. aamino was 15 years old when she arrived in 2006 (21 years old at the time of this study). she had lived in dadaab, a large camp for somali refugees in eastern kenya, since she was a toddler. aamino never attended school. she learned english by taking esl classes at a local social service agency and watching tv. fatu was 66 years old and had lived in the u.s. for 6 years. fatu did not speak english, but aamino and mahdi were both proficient in spoken english. haaruun’s family appreciated their four children as unique individuals and allowed them to develop within the safety of their apartment without much intentional adult intervention. mahdi said children in somalia grow up in “enclosed buildings with an open area in the middle and “they play outside with their cousins and friends and do whatever they want.” haaruun’s family was extremely concerned with the perceived danger of the neighborhoods where they lived since coming to the u.s. aamino stayed in the apartment with the children most of the time, leaving once a week to go food shopping alone (while mahdi stayed with the kids). occasionally, the whole family went together to visit relatives or go to chuck e. cheese. while in the apartment, aamino and mahdi enabled their children to access only materials they could not damage. they had no toys in their living room and spent much of their time watching tv and running back and forth in their apartment’s long hallway. in sum, the children were restricted to living inside the apartment most of the time but experienced relative freedom with limited materials within those walls. haaruun’s teachers. haaruun’s lead teacher, chrissy, had worked in early childhood for 16 years, 5 of which were at head start. chrissy was energetic and empathetic, understanding from her own experience as a single teenage mother some of the battles many of her students’ families were fighting. sharon, one of haaruun’s assistant teachers, had taught for 14 years at bhs and was the mother of five children (one biological and four adopted from foster care). the other assistant teacher, nina, described herself as a “former illegal mexican immigrant.” she was a single mother who experienced substantial hardship during her quest for citizenship, and she started working at bhs as a cook 22 years prior to this study while her son attended the program. although all three teachers were in the classroom, chrissy is the most prominent in these findings because she was responsible for maintaining haaruun’s assessment portfolio and 30 haines et al. running his parent-teacher conferences. sharon often worked with haaruun in the classroom, but nina had limited interactions with him because she spent most of her time during this study with the spanish bilingual students. partnership activities bhs accomplished the federal regulations for family partnerships in head start through numerous activities. table 1 displays the alignment of bhs’ activities with the federal regulations. details about bhs’ activities and haaruun’s family’s involvement in them follow. table 1 bhs activities corresponding to federal regulations for family partnership in head start bhs activities federal regulations h ea lt h y u n iv er si ty h o m e v is it p ar en tte ac h er co n fe re n ce c o m m u n ic at io n f ro m cl as sr o o m f am il y a ct iv it ie s at b h s o p en i n v it at io n t o cl as sr o o m f at h er h o o d i n it ia ti v e p ar en t co m m it te e an d p o li cy c o m m it te e p ar en t ac ti v it y n ig h t family goal setting x x x accessing community services and resources x x x x general parent involvement x x x x x x parent involvement in child development and education x x x x x x x x parent involvement in health education x x x x x parent involvement in community advocacy x x x parent involvement in transition activities x x x parent involvement in home visits x refugee family partnership with a head start agency 31 bhs accomplished the federal regulations for family partnerships in head start through numerous activities. table 1 displays the alignment of bhs’ activities with the federal regulations. the remainder of this section provides descriptions of bhs’ activities and haaruun’s family’s involvement in them. healthy university. healthy university, held at the human services center where bhs was housed, was an event for families to enroll children in head start and access other community services. the staff of entities that provided services available at the center (e.g., public health services, mental health services, family therapy, employment services) set up tables in the foyer of the building. when families came to enroll in head start, the two full-time head start family advocates (darlene and cassandra) met with them individually within the foyer to assess their eligibility for head start. if a family met the eligibility criteria, they immediately set up individualized family care plans (ifcps) intended to state the families’ goals. in addition, the family was expected to complete the devereaux early childhood assessment (deca; lebuffe & naglieri, 1999), a 37-item behavioral screener, while at healthy university. district special educators assessed children at healthy university with the brigance preschool screen ii (brigance, n.d.) if the parent or family advocate voiced a concern about the child’s behavior or development. the deca was sent to the district office (the teachers never saw it), but the brigance became a part of the child’s educational file. mahdi brought haaruun and zaynab to healthy university. while zaynab was calm and stood by her father, haaruun ran around and did not respond to his father or other adults. describing his behavior afterwards, an administrator apologetically said she could not think of another way to describe it then to say haaruun “acted like an animal.” on his brigance screener, the special educator wrote that she recommended a special education evaluation, “but could also be somali culture??” she also wrote that he was “very distracted. needed constant prompts from dad and me. walked on toes. dad says he uses somali and english. uses two words at a time. dad says hard to understand and omits sounds in both languages. points a lot.” mahdi reported difficulty filling out all the paperwork while also trying to contain haaruun, who kept trying to run away. the family’s ifcp listed as the family goals enrolling aamino in esl classes and finding a medical and dental home for the children. the ifcp was not revisited during the following 6 months, and mahdi and aamino indicated that aamino did not plan to enroll in esl classes until their baby was in school (in 2.5 years). the family also expressed frustration with their health care situation, because their children’s doctor would only see them for scheduled appointments and not in emergency situations, but they did not know how to gain better access to preventative healthcare. home visit. haaruun’s teachers visited his family in august prior to the start of school. this home visit lasted for approximately 20 minutes. the teachers reported that haaruun, zaynab, and abdu were not home during the visit, but mahdi said that they were sleeping in their bedroom with the door closed. during this visit, the following goals were set for haaruun’s development: “follow directions, write name, count 1-20, letters, social interaction, sharing.” chrissy said, 32 haines et al. “we provide [families] with information for…getting ready for kindergarten… we give them resources if they need food, utility, or clothing assistance. we will provide them with information about safety. there are bits and pieces from the advocate and head start site that they throw into our parent-teacher conferences [at home].” when asked about this home visit, however, aamino said, “they came to fill out some papers.” parent-teacher conference. chrissy met with mahdi at bhs for 25 minutes in mid-november. this conference took place in the foyer of the site (a public space) and was scheduled at mahdi’s convenience. this conference followed a checklist chrissy was required to follow. of the 25 minutes of the conference, the first 9 minutes consisted of chrissy telling mahdi about haaruun’s academic development. she used a strengthsbased approach as she explained his development and current skill level, stating that she had “never seen a child learn some things so quickly, as far as writing and letters and numbers and things like that.” mahdi interjected short statements while chrissy talked but generally just listened to what she said and repeated some of her key words as she said them. chrissy did not offer him a chance to talk during this part of the conference. after 9 minutes, chrissy stated her goals for haaruun (increasing lower-case letter recognition and counting 1-15), and then asked mahdi, “what other things would you like him to be working on?” mahdi said he would like him to work on putting words into sentences, and chrissy said, “we will get him there… he is always watching… and repeating.” when chrissy paused to check off the first three items on her checklist and write mahdi’s additional goal after the goals she had generated, mahdi volunteered that they are also working with him at home on these skills. chrissy suggested some strategies mahdi could use with haaruun, such as naming items seen while driving. she then turned the conversation to haaruun’s linguistic ability in somali and asked mahdi if he had any concerns for haaruun’s development in his home language. he reacted by saying they had no concerns and “we’re doing the best that we can.” chrissy responded: “you’re obviously doing really well with him, because he is picking up everything very quickly for us.” at the conclusion of this conversation, chrissy asked mahdi if he had any questions; he said he did not. she then checked off that item on her list. chrissy then read aloud a worksheet on transitioning to kindergarten. although she and mahdi had just set goals for haaruun, chrissy explained that “they” (presumably kindergarten teachers) wanted him to be able to follow three-step directions and develop social skills (e.g., “talking more to his friends and being able to relate to them”), fine and gross motor skills, pre-literacy skills, and self-help skills. she gave mahdi a piece of large-ruled paper for haaruun to use to practice writing his name. when she finished explaining this new set of expectations and goals, she checked it off her list, added “social skills” to the list of goals, and began to speak about her biggest concern. chrissy stated that her biggest concern was that haaruun would not eat at bhs, but mahdi did not seem to share her concern. she asked mahdi precise questions, such as if haaruun ate specific items (i.e., fruit, vegetables, and bread). mahdi answered her precise questions explicitly but did not expand on them to offer contextual information. refugee family partnership with a head start agency 33 in actuality, haaruun ate a full somali meal at 11:00 am before going to bhs every day and again when he returned home at 4:30 pm. his mother served him, and he sat on the couch or floor and ate by himself out of a bowl. this style of eating contrasted greatly with the expectations at bhs, where children were expected to serve themselves and sit politely at a table. in addition, the food tasted different, was displayed differently, and had different textures. though haaruun’s nutrition was a major concern for chrissy, she did not solicit from mahdi information about how he ate at home, if his family was concerned about his nutrition, or strategies he thought might help haaruun start to eat at school. after discussing his nutrition, chrissy wrote two more goals: “nutrition, try new foods.” mahdi had expressed neither concern about his nutrition nor desire for him to try new foods. at the conclusion of this conference, chrissy signed the checklist she had used (mahdi had not yet seen it) and then passed it to mahdi for his signature. mahdi did not seem rushed or annoyed by chrissy’s use of the checklist or the paperwork they needed to complete. after she had explained where to sign, he clicked his pen constantly while reading through the form, taking 58 seconds. he then signed it. notably, immediately after this conference with chrissy, mahdi met with zaynab’s teacher and encountered the same paperwork and checklist. communication from classroom. the teachers used numerous techniques to communicate with families, including weekly newsletters, weekly lesson plans, in-kind homework sheets, phone calls, and a monthly menu. these techniques, however, were uni-directional, as discussed subsequently. weekly newsletters. sent home in children’s backpacks on mondays and displayed outside the classroom, the newsletters reviewed specific lessons, how the class responded to them, and how they connected to learning objectives. they also explained objectives and lessons for the week to come and their importance for child development. the newsletters showed photographs of students engaged in activities. they suggested ways families could help develop target skills at home and provided talking points for families to use with children to discuss the activities completed at bhs. at the bottom of the newsletters, the teachers compiled requests of parents to help the classroom run smoothly (e.g., send in appropriate clothing) and encouraged families to visit classrooms and check children’s backpacks for school materials. haaruun’s family expressed appreciation of the teachers’ communication efforts. although they acknowledged the newsletters and said they read them, they kept the items in haaruun’s back pack. conversations about the newsletters revealed that they had some knowledge of what was communicated but not a complete understanding. for example, they knew when events were scheduled but not what haaruun did at school. chrissy explained this as a phenomenon among three or four immigrant families in her class every year: “we had a little girl that came to school with her sister’s backpack from the past…it still had everything in it from her sister.” she said she did not think the families that left all the papers in their children’s backpacks read them, stating “there’s so many papers in there…they probably wouldn’t even know which ones they read or not.” weekly lesson plan. on mondays, haaruun’s teachers also sent home a detailed lesson plan for the week and posted it in the hall at bhs. lesson plans listed large group and small group lessons and objectives and included sections on family partnerships (i.e., 34 haines et al. notes to families about how they could support classroom activities), outside activities, health and nutrition, assessment, conscious discipline, classroom climate, and materials used. similar to the newsletters, haaruun’s family kept these in his backpack for the duration of this study. in-kind homework sheets. these sheets encouraged families to spend time engaged with their children in academic tasks. haaruun’s family did not turn in these sheets, but they said they did the assigned tasks. possibly, they did not understand how to complete the sheets which had several small boxes for the names of participants, book titles, times spent on reading, and signatures. notes pinned to children’s shirts. these notes communicated directly with families about urgent matters. an example of a note sent to haaruun’s family pinned to his shirt was the consent form for his special education evaluation. his family returned it the following day in his backpack. phone calls. teachers handled items that required discussion by calling families directly. as mentioned above, for example, chrissy called mahdi to request parental consent for a special education evaluation for haaruun. she followed up the phone call with the consent form pinned to haaruun’s shirt. this was the quickest way to get a response from haaruun’s family, whose speaking ability surpassed their reading ability in english and who were very responsive to calls on their cell phones. monthly menu. the monthly menu was sent home to inform families what food children were served at bhs. aamino acknowledged receiving the menu but expressed that she did not know what foods her children were served at school. possibly, aamino and mahdi had difficulty reading the crowded writing on the menu (the entire month was on one 11 x 17 piece of paper) or understanding the vocabulary used to describe food items (e.g., “roasted winter vegetables”). uni-directional communication. communication was mostly uni-directional, from bhs to haaruun’s family; there was no clearly articulated mode of communication for his family to use to communicate with teachers. for example, on the first day of school, mahdi followed haaruun’s school bus to bhs (a 30-minute circuitous drive) and then accompanied haaruun to his classroom after waiting for other buses to arrive (a 10minute wait on the sidewalk). he then waited for a few minutes in the hallway with no attention from the teachers. finally, he motioned for a student teacher to come to the door. he asked her to get a teacher and then told sharon (the teacher who responded) he was concerned about haaruun using the bathroom when necessary. it appeared that mahdi knew no other way to get this simple information to the teachers than to follow these time-consuming steps. family activities at bhs. there were two family activities at bhs during this study: family/classroom orientation and bring your parent to school day. family/classroom orientation. the week before school started, new families were invited to bring their children to the classroom to participate in some of the typical routines. bhs offered several orientation sessions to honor families’ work schedules. family members and children participated in classroom ritual songs and dances and explored the classroom. the children sat at tables and, using plastic tongs, served themselves bags of goldfish crackers. after about 1.5 hours of activities with the children in the classroom, adults attended an orientation to head start logistics while the children refugee family partnership with a head start agency 35 played in other classrooms. according to the education director, barbara, this orientation targeted teaching immigrant families how bhs expects children to behave and to “develop a common language about behavioral expectations.” mahdi brought zaynab and haaruun to the morning session of the family/classroom orientation (though the children were in their respective classrooms). mahdi interacted with haaruun and tried to make him behave according to how he thought the teachers desired. for example, haaruun cried and curled up in a ball when the teachers put on music, and everybody else started to dance around and act like animals. mahdi lifted his son and held him into a standing position so he could participate like the other children. he moved haaruun’s arms for him as if they were a tiger’s paws. haaruun alternated between laughing and crying during this activity. when haaruun went to the science center to play with a toy that made music, mahdi instructed him to stop touching it; chrissy came over and explained that it was okay for him to play with the toys. haaruun chose to do a complex alphabet puzzle; mahdi tried to help him but did not know how the pieces fit. chrissy came over to help them and praised haaruun for being able to match so many of his letters. mahdi then encouraged haaruun to say the letter names out loud; haaruun whispered some of them, and chrissy wrote them down on a sticky note for his assessment portfolio. reflecting on it afterwards, mahdi said, “actually it was a little bit hard. it [was a] difficult first day for school of the kids… is my first time [at the kids’ school]… i remember different rules every time.” he said zaynab was “friends with everybody… she just play every time;” but haaruun was “shy if he don’t know the place and people. he’s quiet and shy and don’t want to talk to nobody. just quiet… and covered his ears. he not like it.” bring your parent to school day. on this day, families attended school with their children. they were exposed to typical activities and routines at bhs and had the opportunity to interact with teachers. mahdi attended this activity for about an hour, splitting his time between haaruun and zaynab’s rooms, and leaving to get to work 2 hours after the activity started. mahdi was very active during his time in haaruun’s classroom. he took charge of making books out of cereal boxes by organizing the materials and enlisting haaruun and another 4-year old in the class to assemble the books. commenting on it afterwards, mahdi expressed enjoying the time in the classroom but wishing he could have stayed longer and did not have to leave to go to work: “it [was] good. it difficult… i don’t have a lot of time to go to work. i think they want me to stay more time in school.” open invitation to classroom. bhs welcomed families into the classrooms. teachers and administrators expressed this invitation during activities at bhs as well as in written material sent home to families. several family members came to the classroom while the first author was there, but nobody in haaruun’s family came for unscheduled events. fatherhood initiative. the fatherhood initiative focused on planning activities to bring fathers to bhs and interact positively with their children. the fatherhood initiative activity during this study was about fire safety. mahdi attended this activity with haaruun. facilitated by the business manager (the only male on staff), this activity 36 haines et al. started with a movie about fire safety and evacuation. the fathers then discussed with their children evacuation routes at their homes. mahdi said, “it’s ok, but a little difficult to leave aamino with the kids on my day off. friday’s the muslim holiday, like sunday for christians.” parent committee, policy committee, and parent activity night. head start parent committees are charged with advising staff on local program policies, activities, and services; planning and conducting activities for parents and staff; and participating in recruiting and screening potential employees (45 cfr 1304.50(e)(1)-(3)). the first parent activity night was the elections for the parent committee and the parent representative to the policy committee. the 40 parents present elected a chairperson, vice chairperson, secretary, and vice secretary for the bhs parent committee, as well as a parent representative and alternate for the policy committee while their children played outside and ate dinner in the classrooms. barbara led the meeting, which lasted from 5:30 pm until 7:30 pm, while teachers stayed with the children. there was no translator present; one arabic-speaking mother expressed frustration that she could not understand or participate for lack of translation. no member of haaruun’s family attended this event because it took place in the evening while mahdi was working. the parent committee was charged with organizing parent activity nights with barbara’s guidance. barbara was particularly interested in hosting parent trainings in conscious discipline, the behavior management curriculum employed by bhs and described by barbara as “a passion of mine.” conscious discipline, premised on the belief that changing child behavior starts with changing the behavior and self-awareness of the adults who interact with them (bailey, 2000), has a training series for parents that bhs invested in the year prior to this study. the opening of a new head start site with the same leadership as bhs, however, took much of barbara’s time during the duration of this study; the parent activity nights did not happen this fall because she was occupied with opening the new center. summary of actions towards partnership. while the bhs staff and haaruun’s family had a positive relationship overall and several activities enabled haaruun’s family to learn from bhs staff, there were few opportunities in which the bhs staff solicited information from haaruun’s family about their perspectives and goals for haaruun. the result was a positive relationship but not the trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented partnership characterized by comprehensive two-way communication to support child and family outcomes to which head start aspires. in the following sections, we describe facilitating and impeding factors that influenced the formation of such a partnership between these two parties. figure 2 displays these factors. refugee family partnership with a head start agency 37 figure 2. factors that facilitated and impeded each party's actions towards partnership. facilitating factors this section describes the numerous factors facilitating a partnership between haaruun’s family and the bhs staff (as displayed in figure 2), starting with the family’s facilitating factors and continuing with the staff’s facilitating factors. family’s facilitating factors. the main factors at home that facilitated haaruun’s family’s actions towards partnership were their willingness to participate and their respect for teachers. willingness to participate. mahdi’s attendance at all parent activities offered by bhs that did not conflict with his work schedule demonstrated his willingness to participate. he also responded quickly to phone calls and notes sent home. he was present and patient at haaruun’s parent-teacher conference and the home visit. aamino did not go to bhs but was present during the home visit. respect for teachers. haaruun’s family felt very positively about their children’s experiences at bhs and respected the teachers for their expertise. for example, aamino expressed gratitude for the work of the teachers when she explained how it affected her life: “school is good… he has learned different things. since he started school, haaruun does not run away when i open the door. and since he does not run away, abdu does not run away.” she was also very proud that haaruun taught his brother some of the selfregulation skills he learned at school: “one time, haaruun said to abdu, ‘you can’t do that. don’t do that—the teachers say, ‘don’t do that!’” in addition, aamino commented about not knowing how to teach her kids (“i don’t know how to teach them. i don’t remember how they do it in somalia”) but indicated her trust in the teachers to teach them all they needed to know. staff’s facilitating factors. the main factors that facilitated the staff’s actions towards partnership were their focus on families, multiple people working with families, and caring for children. 38 haines et al. focus on families. working with the families of the diverse groups of refugees who have moved into bhs’ catchment area in the past few years has been challenging for bhs but, according to barbara, they have welcomed the challenge. their focus on families has remained strong, and they created some innovative ways to bring families into bhs. for example, the family/classroom orientation had previously been much shorter and focused only on the logistics of coming to school (e.g., bus schedule, sickness policy). barbara spearheaded the classroom-based component of the orientation to demonstrate bhs’ expectations for children, create common language between home and school, and increase families’ comfort level in the bhs classroom environment. multiple people. while taking actions towards family partnerships was important to the program and staff, teachers at bhs had multiple responsibilities in the classroom. therefore, the actions of staff towards family partnerships were shared between multiple staff members, including the family advocates; barbara, the site supervisor; the business manager; and the special educators who worked for the district where bhs was located. the three teachers in haaruun’s room took responsibility for maintaining the assessment notebooks for specific children for the duration of the year (approximately 11 students each). communicating with families, however, was shared among all the teachers, with the exception of nina solely talking with families who spoke spanish only. family advocates worked with all families in specific rooms (darlene worked with all families in both sessions of haaruun’s classroom and one other classroom), setting up the ifcps and connecting them with necessary resources and services. having multiple people working towards creating partnerships was a facilitating factor because it allowed for quicker responsiveness. it was also an impeding factor, however, as will be discussed subsequently. caring for children. overall, the staff at bhs was drawn to their work because they cared about their students and families. specifically towards haaruun, chrissy manifested this care through loving actions (e.g., hugging him on the first day of school because she saw he was scared), speaking about him positively (e.g., stating to mahdi: “he is very fun to have in class. he makes me laugh every day and that is the best medicine.”), and taking an interest in getting to know him. chrissy said: “that child is eager. he wants to learn. he is a sponge. but i think that’s great because he is learning that language and eventually it will click.” impeding factors numerous factors impeded the formation of a partnership between haaruun’s family and bhs staff. the right side of figure 2 displays these factors and the following section provides more detail, starting with the family’s impeding factors and continuing with the staff’s impeding factors. families’ impeding factors. two factors impeded the family’s actions towards partnership: unfamiliarity with partnership and family structure. unfamiliarity. haaruun’s family had no experience with head start or any other preschool. they never attended school before coming to the u.s., when mahdi attended an accelerated esl high school program. mahdi and aamino understood that family refugee family partnership with a head start agency 39 involvement was an important aspect of head start, and mahdi attended every bhs event that did not conflict with his work schedule; but they did not seem to understand or have high expectations for family partnership. when asked about how they wanted to work with teachers, mahdi said, we “want to learn ways they do it over here. our kids do not know. the kids they don’t know...” when pressed for more information about partnership with teachers, mahdi said, “they teach kids and help us understand what they do here… we want to learn from the teachers, because they know what the kids should do here.” family structure. contrary to the majority of families at bhs whose mothers were more involved in their children’s schooling than their fathers, mahdi was more involved in bhs-based activity than aamino. in fact, aamino had never been to bhs because she was “so busy with the kids.” asked if she would attend an event if bhs offered childcare for her children (which they did), she replied that she would not leave her children with strangers because strangers might get angry with them for doing something wrong.” aamino saw her primary role as making sure her children were safe and did not want to compromise their safety to attend events at bhs. furthermore, aamino reported that she did not foster her children’s development as much as she would like because she did not know how. she expressed a desire to learn more about parenting strategies that would facilitate her children’s development of these skills and acknowledged that the teachers at bhs had these skills. however, she did not have any ideas for how she could learn from them more directly. while aamino was not involved in the bhs community, she was extremely involved in haaruun and his siblings’ education at home. mahdi worked 40 hours a week, returned home late at night, and needed to sleep in. during this time, aamino took care of the children. she did not, however, have a clear idea of haaruun and zaynab’s experiences at bhs. she worked with them on reading and speaking english, mostly by allowing them to watch your baby can read (n.d.) dvds on the tv and engaging in the program’s songs and dances with them. conversely, the teachers did not know what aamino did with the children at home. since she was the primary caregiver for the children at home, her absence at healthy university, the parent-teacher conference at bhs, and family activities at school impeded the formation of partnership. staff’s impeding factors. four factors impeded the bhs staff’s actions towards partnership: accountability, responsibilities and pay, limited knowledge of home, and multiple people. accountability. a strategy to maintain consistency and accountability was the use of mandated checklists to document formal interactions (i.e., parent-teacher conferences, home visits). these checklists, while useful for ensuring consistency in agenda items, dictated the order and manner in which such interactions took place. the checklist-guided conference lacked the fluidity and responsiveness characteristic of reciprocal conversations. although mahdi shared information at haaruun’s conference, chrissy was checking off required components of the conference while he spoke. during a member check with barbara, she commented on this issue, acknowledging that the checklist caused teachers and families to “lose eye contact.” completing this task and losing eye contact while he talked could have given the explicit impression that chrissy was not listening and the implicit impression that she did not value his ideas, though mahdi did not seem to take note of this behavior and, in retrospect, expressed satisfaction with the 40 haines et al. conference. all papers needed to be signed by family members and teachers. in aiming for consistency in content, these checklists diminished responsiveness, as demonstrated by the previously described unnatural flow of haaruun’s parent-teacher conference and aamino’s belief that the teachers came to her house for a home visit in order to “fill out some papers.” responsibilities and pay. teachers’ time was limited: they were non-exempt employees required to complete tasks that took up most of their time while on duty. bhs operated two sessions four days a week, which required twice as many meetings and relationships, as well as double the paperwork, organization, and cleaning than a single day-long session would. teachers reserved friday for professional development, meetings, paperwork, cleaning the classroom, collaborating, and crafting communications. barbara said, “it’s just so many things coming down on teachers.” accountability paperwork took a substantial amount of time. in addition to the paperwork for meeting with families, compiling comprehensive assessment data in a timely manner, and ensuring the room was cleaned to standards (for which there was a checklist), the teachers had several accountability checklists to complete every day for routine items with children. the teachers were required to do a roll call every time they entered or exited the building, which was at least four times every day. they also needed to check off the children’s names every time they were served food. teachers also had to write the purpose of each outing and sign the forms properly. barbara reported that each time teachers conducted a roll call “takes seven minutes… think about it…seven minutes when you cannot have your eyes on the children, and you cannot be engaging with the children.” although this accountability paperwork did not necessarily have an impact on the formation of trusting family partnerships, ensuring its accurate and timely completion appeared to take precedence over fostering these trusting partnerships. in addition to their numerous responsibilities, bhs teachers were classified as non-exempt employees and, according to them and barbara, they were paid less than they needed in order to cover their personal expenses. chrissy worked a second job as a gymnastics teacher to make enough money to support her family yet still struggled financially. she said, “i really appreciate what the program has done for me and what i have learned about children and the way to really deal with families …ideally i would work here and get paid what the school district pays.” the teachers were not paid over the summer and did not receive health care coverage during that time. chrissy shared, “i hurt my knee this summer and had no insurance so i was walking on a torn mcl for about six or seven weeks before i had any kind of insurance. and it was just a rough start to the year… if i could just transfer out that money and benefits that comes with the school district job then that is what i would do because i want to be with this job.” nina was a former head start parent and had recently been demoted from lead teacher to assistant teacher, because she did not have the college credits necessary to be a lead teacher, based on recent changes in requirements for head start staff. barbara said, “we were forced to not only reduce her status but to reduce her pay… and she is a past head start family who is being successful and is here because of her heart… and it is getting harder and harder to hold on to that.” although haaruun’s teachers successfully refugee family partnership with a head start agency 41 supported students as they were expected to, the high level of responsibility, low pay, and accountability measures diminished their ability to perform the parts of their job for which they were not specifically held accountable, including creating trusting family partnerships. limited knowledge of home. the teachers had a limited understanding of haaruun’s family life in general. chrissy said, “it’s a pretty big family. family is very supportive, especially the dad. i think he’s more americanized and he feels more comfortable to come ask questions and come here and to check it out. he wants to come here to make sure he is doing everything that he can.” chrissy was surprised, however, when the first author mentioned that haaruun’s family spends significant time watching your baby can read because they want their children to read. once she knew that information, they talked about how haaruun’s habit of repeating words might come from that program’s emphasis on repetition. it was apparent to chrissy that such simple information could have informed her instruction of haaruun, but she had not solicited it from his family. multiple people. a strategy to lighten the teachers’ responsibilities was to spread responsibility for working with families among numerous people, a facilitating factor to partnership discussed previously. it was, however, also an impeding factor to partnership activities, because numerous people worked with the child and family but did not always share information amongst themselves. for example, the teachers had not seen haaruun’s family’s ifcp, which was created by the family advocate and kept in haaruun’s family’s file in her office. although teachers and special educators had concerns about haaruun’s development significant enough to refer him for special education evaluation, there was no ifcp team meeting for him during this process, and the family advocate was not aware that he had been referred for evaluation. in addition to the three teachers in the classroom, the local school district’s special educator and speech pathologist came into the room to work with individual students with individualized education programs (ieps). while there, they also performed casual observations of other students, including haaruun. a mental health worker consulted for the district and, similar to the special educators, supported specific students but also worked less formally with others, including haaruun. in addition, a behavioral specialist for the head start region came in a few times during the duration of this study to offer support for students, including haaruun. these specialists all came to the room for several hours during this study but did not provide systematic feedback to chrissy. in chrissy’s words, “it’s so stressful…they’ve added more kids with more special needs and more language barriers. everybody’s overwhelmed… and [they haven’t] really given me any input a lot of times…there’s kind of that breakdown of communication… and everything’s running together.” haaruun’s file showed no input from any of these specialists, most likely because he did not live in the district for which most of them worked, and they were therefore not authorized to work directly with him. haaruun’s family did not know any of these specialists or that they were working, however informally, with haaruun. 42 haines et al. discussion the purpose of this study was to (a) investigate and describe the actions of the head start staff and a refugee family that could have potentially developed into a trusting partnership between them and (b) determine what factors facilitated or impeded the formation of this partnership. in sum, the findings demonstrated that bhs staff offered multiple activities for family engagement and that haaruun’s father participated in the events that did not conflict with his work schedule. communication was mostly from the school to the home, however, and the bhs staff did not genuinely solicit information from haaruun’s family about their perspectives. haaruun’s family did not have high expectations for partnership, and the bhs teachers did not raise those expectations. overall, factors that facilitated haaruun’s family’s actions towards partnership were their willingness to participate in family engagement activities and their respect for the teachers. the factors that facilitated bhs staff’s actions towards partnership were a focus on families, multiple people interacting with the family, and caring for the students. factors that impeded the family’s actions towards partnership included the family structure (e.g., mother being the primary caregiver but not willing to leave children with strangers) and unfamiliarity with the school system and family partnerships. factors that impeded the bhs staff’s actions towards partnership included strict accountability measures, numerous responsibilities and low pay for the teachers, limited knowledge of the home context, and multiple people working with the child and family but not communicating. by describing and analyzing the relationship between the refugee family and head start staff of one child at risk for disability, this study fills a gap in the literature base by describing the family engagement activities that could potentially lead to trusting family partnerships at head start and, more specifically, describing the actions towards partnership of a refugee family and their child’s teachers and the factors that facilitated and impeded the formation of this partnership. although numerous quantitative studies offer substantial data on family involvement (e.g., fantuzzo et al., 2004; hindman et al., 2012; jeynes, 2003; miedel & reynolds, 1999), no study specifically investigated both sides of building trusting partnerships with families nor specifically focused on refugee families. although this study’s focus on family partnership with a refugee family makes it stand alone, its findings do add to the research base on family engagement and the research base on refugee families interaction with the school system. haaruun’s father participated in the events that did not conflict with his work schedule, while his mother was neither involved in activities at bhs nor was particularly active in home visits. this finding contrasts with the findings of most large-scale self-report studies of head start families that have found mothers to be more significantly involved than fathers (e.g., mcwayne et al., 2008). however, aamino’s low level of involvement in conferencing is consistent with previous research that has found a correlation between the mother’s education level and her involvement in home-school conferencing (fantuzzo et al., 2004; lareau & shamar, 1996; mcwayne et al., 2008). that this study found communication between home and school to be generally from school to home, not bi-directional, is not surprising. this finding relates to hindman and colleagues’ (2012) finding that few families from their nationally representative refugee family partnership with a head start agency 43 sample communicated with head start staff more than a few times per week. bernhard, lefebvre, killbride, chud, and lange (1998) found that immigrant parents in their canadian sample wanted more information from teachers than teachers volunteered but did not want to be disrespectful or demand too much of the teacher’s time. furthermore, much of the uni-directional communication from bhs was in writing despite haaruun’s family’s low literacy level. nderu (2005) found that somali families of middle school students reported that written communication was a barrier to their involvement in school because they did not know what papers to return. these families preferred oral communication (nderu, 2005). haaruun’s family’s unfamiliarity with the school system and respect for teacher expertise resulted in low expectations for a partnership with the head start staff. this finding is consistent with previous research on refugee families (brycs, 2007; hwafroelich & westby, 2003; mcbrien, 2011; nderu, 2005). families’ respect for teacher expertise is a common theme in partnership literature, especially for immigrant (kalyanpur & harry, 2012) and working-class families (lareau, 2011), but it often leads to an imbalanced relationship in which teachers do not learn about the home environment, and families do not know how to communicate with teachers (brycs, 2007). implications for practice the time when their children are at head start, especially for refugee families and/or families whose children are at risk for disability, is extremely important in launching families as partners in their children’s education. achieving trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented partnerships with refugee families characterized by comprehensive two-way communication to support child and family outcomes would increase teachers’ knowledge of home environments and families’ funds of knowledge (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992), which would in turn improve their teaching (moll et al., 1992; office of head start, n.d.). such partnerships would create cohesion between environments, and families would learn from head start staff and appreciate the value of their own knowledge (rios-aguilar, kiyama, gravitt, & moll, 2011). teachers and families would both benefit from building these partnerships, but children would stand to benefit the most because their potentially parallel worlds would have increased cohesion and appreciation of each other. to work towards creating such partnerships, head start staff should be given more authority and professional development to be responsive to the families they serve, options for family involvement should be more accessible to all families, and families should be knowledgeable about their options for partnership. teacher responsiveness. if head start staff were given authority, time, and professional development to be responsive to the families and children they serve, they would be better positioned to learn more about the home environment, families’ funds of knowledge (moll et al., 1992; office of head start, n.d.), and families’ concepts of family involvement and partnership (dachyshyn & kirova, 2008; moll et al., 1992; lopez, 2001). professional development could help head start staff to engage in true 44 haines et al. reciprocal communication with families (as contrasted to the lockstep adherence of checklists) to learn this valuable information from families (kalyanpur & harry, 2012) and develop an awareness of their own perspectives on families (kalyanpur & harry, 2012; lea, 2012). in addition, head start agencies should increase their methods of communication from home to school to ensure everyone can access them, and they should make certain that families understand these methods. a review of strategies to create culturally responsive partnerships is beyond the scope of this chapter; turnbull, turnbull, erwin, soodak and shogren (2015) and kalyanpur and harry (2012) provide recommended strategies. family involvement options. increasing family involvement requires understanding both family preferences for involvement (nderu, 2005) and ways families are already involved (lopez, 2001) and responding accordingly (brycs, 2007). bhs demonstrated the desire to increase family involvement in creating the family/classroom orientation and other family involvement activities. hurley, saini, warren, and carberry (2013) found that inviting refugee families to plan menus and prepare ethnically diverse food resulted in more responsive partnerships. planning activities that could involve younger siblings (brycs, 2007) could help alleviate the barrier of families not wanting to leave their children in childcare. families should be involved in the process of creating increased options for family involvement, but different understandings of involvement and partnership might inhibit families’ generation of innovative solutions to their barriers (ariza, 2000; brycs, 2007). family awareness of partnership. increasing families’ awareness of partnership in head start and the u.s. education system is paramount to increasing their expectations for trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented partnerships characterized by comprehensive two-way communication to support child and family outcomes. rights come with responsibilities, and families, especially immigrant and refugee families who are unfamiliar with the u.s. education system, need to learn about both their rights and the corresponding responsibilities (waterman & harry, 2008). starting during the cultural orientation activities typically provided by resettlement agencies, refugee families could be taught about family partnership expectations and opportunities in head start and the k-12 education system (brycs, n.d.; waterman & harry, 2008). ideally, this education would be offered by head start and school officials in concert with other orientation programs offered by resettlement agencies (brycs, n.d.). implications for policy there is an inherent conflict with respect to policy. on the one hand, it seems clear that head start policy should emphasize, and head start practice therefore should advance, trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented partnership characterized by comprehensive two-way communication to support child and family outcomes. on the other hand, there are other justifiable policies that take precedence; these emphasize various types of accountability and occupy head start staff so much that advancing refugee family partnership with a head start agency 45 partnership is secondary. to move creating these partnerships to the forefront, policy can support building accountability measures and appropriate measurement instruments. although important research about family involvement from the head start family and child experiences survey data set (e.g., hindman et al., 2012) informs head start policy in meaningful ways, the data measured only family involvement but not the quality of the involvement nor whether the involvement itself created partnership; relationship quality was an absent element of this research. the measure of family-provider relationship quality (forry et al., 2012 ) could potentially provide a measure appropriate for this task. similarly, the head start engagement framework takes a critical step in evaluating parent and family engagement within specific activities and uniting researchers with a shared definition of family engagement but does not attempt to measure the quality of family partnership (u.s. department of health and human service et al., 2011). implications for research researchers should seek innovative head start agencies that serve refugee families with which to partner and research the partnership activities they have in place as well as document how they established these activities. many of the strategies at bhs, for example, were commendable and successful. the bhs leadership and teachers were committed to identifying weaknesses in their program and attempting innovative solutions to them. working with such dedicated and knowledgeable leaders, researchers can bridge the practice-toresearch gap by documenting and evaluating responsive programs aimed at increasing partnership with refugee families. the field will benefit from more indepth study of refugee families’ perceptions of partnership and what practices they would like to see in place to increase partnership. such research should include both refugee family members (hurley et al., 2011) and head start staff as part of the research team and could be conducted within a participatory action research approach (hurley et al., 2011; santelli, singer, divenere, ginsberg, & powers, 1998). limitations there were two main limitations to this study. the first limitation was that data collection spanned the first 20 weeks of the school year (august-december); hindman and colleagues (2012) found that family involvement increased throughout the year. following this family and staff for an entire school year would have been ideal and would have revealed more information, but time restraints precluded doing so. in any case, sharon moved to a different state in january, and chrissy and darlene both took a leave of absence for personal reasons starting in february. it would also have been interesting to follow haaruun into kindergarten and beyond, but his family moved at the end of the academic year to be closer to aamino’s family in a different state. the second limitation was the senior author’s data collection method at haaruun’s home. she felt most comfortable getting to know the family over the 20 hours she spent 46 haines et al. in their apartment by engaging with them and their children. they watched movies, cooked, ate, and played together, but she did not take detailed notes on everything or tape record most conversations while in their home because she perceived that it would have been too unnatural. conclusion children from refugee families’ attendance at head start provides the opportunity for head start staff to foster trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented partnership characterized by comprehensive two-way communication to support child and family outcomes. such partnerships could help launch refugee families as partners in their children’s education in the u.s. and ultimately improve family and child outcomes overtime. this study examined the relationship between a refugee family whose child was at risk for disability and the staff at the head start he attended. the findings indicated that the relationship between parties was positive but fell short of the type of partnership head start advocates. as a result, the head start staff and family did not take full advantage of the opportunity to learn from each other. the head start community will greatly benefit from increased focus on building trusting, collaborative, respectful, and goal-oriented partnership characterized by comprehensive two-way communication to support child and family outcomes for all 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(2011). qualitative research from start to finish. new york: guilford press. your baby can read (n.d.). http://yourbabycanread.com/ volume 19, number 3 2016 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles how spanish is used in head start: observational evidence from four classrooms elizabeth miller…………………………………………………………………………….... 1 scaffolding preschoolers’ acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of phoneme segmentation skills using sound boxes elizabeth durst and laurice marie joseph……………………...………………………..….. 27 lessons from training early head start staff to implement an evidence-based parenting intervention myae han, rena hallam, jason t. hustedt, jennifer a. vu, and juana gavirialoaiza……….…………………………...……………………………..……………………. 42 creating new pathways for dialog: collaboration of diverse voices annie white……………………………………....………………..………………………… 60 research-to-practice summaries four classrooms model how teachers use spanish in head start elizabeth miller…………………………………………………………………………….... 89 helping preschoolers develop phonemic awareness skills using sound boxes elizabeth durst and laurice marie joseph……………………...………………………..….. 94 studying implementation process matters: implementing an evidence-basedintervention in early head start myae han, rena hallam, jason t. hustedt, jennifer a. vu, and juana gavirialoaiza……….…………………………...……………………………..……………………. 99 collaboration opportunities through dialogue with diverse voices annie white……………………………………....………………..………………………… 104 dialog from the field leading head start turnaround: a four-stage turnaround model for transforming program performance seanelle tracy and michael wischnowski………………………………………………....110 dialog, 17(4), 66-82 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 kalani m. palmer, department of human development and environmental studies, indiana university of pennsylvania; heather j. bachman, department of psychology in education, university of pittsburgh. this research was supported by grants to dr. bachman from the spencer foundation (#200800190), as well as the office of research and the school of education at the university of pittsburgh. the content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the funders. we thank the project team for their hard work and diligence, and a special thank you is also extended to the children, families, and center staff who participated in the pitt school readiness study. correspondence concerning this article should addressed to kalani m. palmer, department of human development and environmental studies, indiana university of pennsylvania, 114a ackerman hall, indiana, pa 15705. email: kpalmer@iup.edu research article the role of education in the parenting practices of black parents of preschoolers kalani m. palmer indiana university of pennsylvania heather j. bachman university of pittsburgh few empirical studies have examined within group differences of black parenting practices. this study aimed to identify the role of educational attainment in predicting within group differences on two parenting practices associated with academic achievement: home literacy promotion and parent involvement. a sample of 103 black parents with preschool-aged children was recruited from private urban child care centers. parents reported a wide range of family financial resources and educational attainment. parents who attained a bachelor’s degree or more reported significantly higher home literacy promotion than those with some college experience or a high school diploma. no differences were detected in home literacy promotion between parents with some college or a high school diploma. teacher reports of parent involvement did not significantly differ as a function of parental education. implications for parent engagement are discussed. keywords: preschool; parenting; minorities the black american community has undergone significant changes in the last few decades, especially in the areas of education. according to the u.s. department of education (2013) between 1970 and 2013, the percentage of black people over the age of 25 with a bachelor’s degree or higher more than tripled, from 6.1 to 22%. in that time, the percentage of black the role of education in parenting 67 women attaining a bachelor’s degree or higher also increased from 5.6 to 23.4%. the rate of black women with a four year degree, historically a lower percentage than their male counterparts until the mid-1990’s, is steadily increasing. this increase in post-secondary educational attainment in the black community, particularly for women who are often the primary caregivers of children, may hold implications for achievement-related parenting practices. in fact, during this time, the nations report card has also shown improvements in achievement for black children (national center for education statistics [nces], 2011). the gap in reading proficiency between black american children and other racial/ethnic groups is decreasing. however, these rates are still significantly lower for black children (nces, 2011). in addition to achievement, there have been noteworthy declines in high school drop-out rates, but again, a racial gap remains. although the percentage of black adolescents dropping out of school has decreased from 27.9% to 9.3% in the last few decades, the percentage is still almost two times greater than that of european american students (us department of education, 2010). parenting or the home environment has been identified in the literature as a factor that contributes to the observed ethnic/racial achievement gaps (brooks-gunn & markum, 2005). the home environment is also often identified as a predictor of academic success (baumrind, 1991; brody & flor, 1998; clark, 1983; steinberg, dornbusch, & brown, 1992). multiple proximal processes that promote young children’s academic skills are operating in the home environment (bronfenbrenner & evans, 2000), including home enrichment practices and parent involvement in school (morrison, bachman, & connor, 2005; taylor, clayton, & rowley, 2004). parents’ provision of a home learning environment that includes learning materials, rich language exposure, and assistance with academic tasks has repeatedly surfaced as an important predictor of children’s academic competence (taylor et al., 2004). observed and parent-reported measures of the home learning environment are often positively associated with achievement in preschool (leventhal, martin, & brooks-gunn, 2004) and early elementary school (smith, brooks-gunn, & klebanov, 1997). likewise, a meta-analysis by fan and chen (2001) found moderate associations between parent involvement and academic skills during preschool and kindergarten. the family investment model (fim) proposes that these parenting practices mediate the association between socioeconomic factors (e.g. parent education, family income) and academic achievement (conger & donellan, 2007). thus, the increase in educational attainment for black women is expected to promote cognitively stimulating and academically enriching home environment practices (bingham, 2007; conger & donellan, 2007; foster, 2002; roberts, jurgens, & burchinal, 2005; taylor et al., 2008; weigel, martin & bennett, 2006). predictors of parenting practices parenting practices are influenced by several factors, such as the psychological functioning of the parent, parent personality, parent stress, and parent social support (belsky, 1984; cox, puckering, pound, & mills, 1987; vondra & belsky, 1993). there are also several social context variables that contribute to parenting practices, including the family culture. the culture of a group or family includes shared traditions, values, beliefs, and practices. families of the same socioeconomic status (ses), across varying racial/ethnic groups have displayed similar beliefs, values, and practices in the home (peters, 1997; serpell, sonnenschein, baker, & ganapathy, 2002), suggesting that ses is intertwined with family culture. as parents move into new ses 68 palmer & bachman groups, parenting practices change and the existing family culture may be renegotiated (peters, 1997). in general, when examining parenting practices, broader contextual variables such as race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status are associated with heterogeneity in parenting practices (baumrind, 1972; bradley, corwyn, mcadoo, & garcia-coll, 2001; brody & flor, 1998; steinberg, dornbusch, & brown, 1992). race and socioeconomic status seem pervasive to the discussion of family culture, parenting, and the overall home environment. in the last two decades, there have been large bodies of work examining these features among ethnic/racial minorities, specifically black american families. parenting among black parents. black parents face multiple challenges, similar to other minority groups. black parents have to prepare their child for a potentially antagonistic society that may interfere with their achievements, but also make certain that their children believe in their ability to be successful (lawson & sanders-lawson, 2002; mcadoo, 2002). in addition to preparing their children for an environment with discrimination and prejudice, black parents are faced with socializing their child to function in their home culture as well as the majority culture (garcia coll, meyer, & brillon, 1995; ladson-billings, 2001; peters, 2002). the incongruence between the home and majority culture often presents itself in school settings. unfortunately, black children are overly diagnosed with mental health disorders and placed in special education services at higher rates than their non-black peers (anderson, boyd-franklin, & draper, 2002). school personnel may misinterpret the reason for student behaviors or difficulty in grasping concepts because of cultural discontinuity. also the family structure parenting arrangements in black families may differ from other groups. the percentage of single parent households is high in the black community compared to other groups (us census bureau, 2013a). fifty-five percent of black children live in single parent households compared to 21% of white children and 13% of asian children. also confounding the research of black parents is the disproportionate amount of black families living in poverty (us census bureau, 2013b). the percentage of families living in poverty and the impact of poverty in the black community is often the focus of past research efforts (garcia coll, meyer, & brillon, 1995). financial hardship. since a great deal of poverty research has been conducted with black and white families living in poverty, the effects of poverty on parenting practices are well documented. many have found that when family economic conditions worsen, parents experience higher levels of stress and depression symptoms (cain & combs-orme, 2005; elder, eccles, ardelt, & lord, 1995; jackson, 1998; mcloyd, 1990). increases in economic pressure and depression symptoms have been associated with lower levels of parent efficacy (elder et al., 1995). parent efficacy or a parents’ sense of competence is positively associated with parent involvement in their child’s life and the parent-child relationship (shumow & lomax, 2002). beyond parent efficacy, the presence of parental depression symptoms have been associated with a less cognitively stimulating home environment; depressed parents were less likely to read or sing with their child, and were less optimistic or confident about their child’s future academic success (bigatti, cronan, & anaya, 2001). the effects of parental depression symptoms are particularly concerning for young children since they are more dependent on parents (lovejoy, graczyk, o’hare, & neuman, 2000). depressed parents with young children were less responsive and more likely to disengage (bingham, 2007; cox et al., 1987). the results found in the literature expose the potential negative effects of financial hardship on parenting practices. the role of education in parenting 69 much of the research on black american families has focused on low-income samples and the detrimental effects of poverty on family functioning (garcia coll et al., 1995; mcloyd, 1990). however, if higher education brings higher income, the increase in income could influence the resources available for home literacy promotion. educational attainment. an increase in post-secondary attainment has occurred annually in the black community for decades. in 2013, 22% of black americans had a bachelors’ degree or more and 23% of black women had attained a bachelors’ degree or more, a 16% and 18% increase, respectively since 1970. as black parents experienced increased educational attainment compared to previous generations, potential within group differences in parenting practices should be examined. although there are a few studies that have focused on middle income and affluent black families (mcadoo, 1981; mcadoo, 1995; ogbu, 2003), most studies of black families focus on low ses families (e.g. low income and low education) (garcia coll et al., 1995). however, in the black community, especially for black women, increases in education may not necessarily translate into immediate economic or socio-cultural change (kewal ramani, gilbertson, fox, & provasnik, 2007; mcadoo, 1981). this may be due to entry into fields with lower wages, timing of degree completion, or obstacles associated with upward mobility in the black community. as black people move up socioeconomically they may rely on a social support network (mcadoo, 1981). this network provides assistance and support but also requires giving back to others, which may limit the accumulation of wealth. because of the complex relationship between educational attainment and financial resources, variation within black parenting practices and/or the home environment is often missed. greater years of parent education are strongly associated with cognitively stimulating home environments, education preparedness, and positive educational outcomes for children (evans, shaw, & bell, 2000; roberts, jurgens, & burchinal, 2005; senechal & lefevre, 2002). greater years of education predict higher vocabulary and receptive language skills for a child (bingham, 2007; evans, shaw, & bell, 2000; senechal & lefevre, 2002). parents with more years of education tend to believe that literacy is important during the preschool years and enjoy engaging in literacy activities with their child (weigel, martin, & bennett, 2006). weigel and colleagues (2006) also found that parents that enjoyed reading were more likely to view early literacy as important. among black families, if increases in education transpire without comparable increases in financial resources, educational attainment may be a more useful predictor of parenting practices related to academic achievement. finally, the parent role extends beyond the internal home interactions; the parent-school partnership is also influential in academic outcomes for children. young children with parents that have frequent contact or communication with the school perform better socially and academically (mcwayne, hampton, fantuzzo, cohen, & sekino, 2004). unfortunately, even when parents of varying ses are equally involved, the parent-school partnership quality may differ between ses groups. for example, middle class black families have reported a school culture that encourages their input, whereas working class or poor black families perceived schools as resistant to their involvement (diamond & gomez, 2004). if the school experiences of parents with fewer economic resources or less education are negative, they may be less likely to stay involved and disengage. 70 palmer & bachman the present study this current study focuses on black parents with varying levels of educational attainment. higher parent educational attainment potentially changes the culture of the home and family, which could result in greater parental investment in young children’s home literacy promotion, as well as school involvement (conger & donnellan, 2007; foster, 2002). this paper will focus on the influence of parent educational attainment on two parenting practices associated with preschoolers’ school readiness skills: home literacy and parent involvement (clark, 1983; mcwayne et al., 2004; senechal & lefevre, 2002). specifically, the major research aim of the present study was to examine the association between parent educational attainment and parenting practices related to preschoolers’ school readiness skills, namely home literacy environment and parent involvement, in a primarily lowand middle-ses sample of black parents. method participants parents were recruited over a two year period, from 28 urban community-based child care centers, located in primarily areas with high poverty rates within a mid-atlantic city. all but one of the centers (n = 27) was participating in a state early childhood quality initiative program at the onset of this study. the unenrolled center was engaged in the application process during this study and is currently enrolled. parents were recruited during afternoon and evening hours at the child care center. the original sample includes 289 participants from 3 cohorts of parents with children 4 to 5 years of age, including 133 black parents. approximately 16% of black families (n = 22) left the child care center prior to completion of the study; a few of the reasons provided include loss of child care funding, a family move to a new area, and maternity leave. this attrition rate is comparable to other studies of low-income, urban families of young children, such as the three-city study (bachman, coley, & carrano, 2011). thus, the final analysis sample includes 103 black parents. as shown in table 1, the educational attainment of parents included 33% high school diploma or less, 45% some college but less than a bachelor’s degree, 23% bachelor’s degree or more; the average years of education was 14.5 years. the partnership status includes 23% married, 10% cohabitating, 19% in a romantic relationship, 48% single. the average income-to-needs ratio was 1.52, indicating a relatively low-income sample (boushey, brocht, gundersen, & bernstein, 2001), but the range was of 0 to 4.60. the median age was 30, with a range of 20 to 50 years of age. measures parent and family characteristics. primary caregivers (96% mothers, 3% fathers, 1% legal guardians), completed questionnaires via mail, in-home interview, or telephone interview. the primary caregiver reported family demographics that include years of education, highest degree attained, parent age, relationship status, number of household members, and family income. many of the parent and family characteristics collected may also contribute to the the role of education in parenting 71 differences in parenting practices across varying levels of education; therefore they were included as covariates in the regression models. parents reported on partnership status (0 = cohabiting, dating/relationship, and married, 1 = single), and years of education completion, with a range of 10 to 23 years. parents also reported their highest degree attained (1 = high school diploma or less, 2 = above high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree, 3 = bachelor’s degree or more). the “bachelor’s degree or more” group served as the reference category in analyses. parents reported the number of children currently living in their household, the number of adults, and their total monthly household income. based on these data, income-toneeds ratios were calculated for each family by dividing the total household income by the federal poverty threshold for the appropriate family size. in addition to parent and family demographics, the parents’ psychological functioning and perceived relationship with their child are important covariates that may be related to differences in parenting practices. parents completed the center for epidemiologic studies depression scale which contains 20 items which assess physical and emotional symptoms of depression (ces-d, radloff, 1977). parents rated the items on a 4-point scale the degree to which they experienced symptoms in the past seven days (0 = rarely or none at all, 1 = some or a little of the time, 2 = occasionally or a moderate amount of the time, 3 = most or all of the time). the composite score was calculated by summing the responses for all 20 items, and adequate reliability was obtained for this sample (α = .88). higher scores reflect greater depressive symptomatology. parents also completed a parent-child relationship scale that draws items from the conflict/anger scale (pianta, 1994). the original scale, intended for teachers to rate their relationship with students, consisted of 12 items; the scale used in this paper includes six of those items. parents rated on a 5-point scale the degree to which each item applied to their parent-child relationship (1 = definitely does not apply, 2 = does not apply somewhat, 3 = neutral/not sure, 4 = applies somewhat, 5 = definitely applies). the parent-child relationship scale contains items such as “this child and i always seem to be struggling with each other”, and “dealing with this child drains my energy”. the composite score was calculated by averaging the responses of the six items, and adequate reliability was calculated for this sample (α =.71). higher scores reflect more conflict and discomfort between parent and child. home literacy environment. the overall literacy promoting environment was measured using an inventory of items from griffin and morrison’s (1997) home literacy environment inventory. an exploratory factor analysis (efa) was performed on seven items of the griffin and morrison (1997) measure of home literacy environment using principal components analysis (pca) with a promax rotation. based on the efa results and theory, the final measure included 4 items (i.e., number of children’s books in the home, frequency of parent reading, frequency of parent-child reading, number of books in the home). the composite score was calculated by averaging the responses (responses transformed to a 3 point scale 0 2) of the four items, and in this sample, internal reliability for this inventory was modest (α = .60). higher scores reflect more literacy rich home environments (e.g., more frequent joint literacy activities and print resources). parent involvement. preschool teachers reported on parent involvement, which was measured using the parent-teacher involvement questionnaire (miller-johnson, maumarygremaud, & the conduct disorders research group (1995).an exploratory factor analysis was performed on 6 items from this measure of parent involvement using pca with a promax 72 palmer & bachman rotation. four items were retained, including informal in-person communication with teacher, parent initiated telephone calls, parent asked questions and/or gave suggestions, as well as frequency of parent-child home activities. teachers rated on a 7-point scale the frequency of items throughout the year (1 = never, 2 = 1-2 times per year, 3 = 3-4 times per year, 4 = about once a month, 5 = almost every week, 6 = more than once a week, 7 = almost every day). the composite score was calculated by averaging the responses of the four items, and adequate reliability was detected for this sample (α = .77); higher scores reflect greater involvement at home and at school. procedures informed consent was obtained from each parent during afternoon pick up times at each child care center in the fall (september-october). eligibility to participate was based on the age of the child enrolled in the preschool classroom; all children were required to be four by november 1 st . participants were asked to complete the questionnaire by telephone with a trained interviewer for approximately 45-60 minutes. if multiple attempts to conduct a phone interview were unsuccessful, a small group of parents completed the questionnaire at home and returned it to the preschool teacher. overall, the parent interview completion rate was 91 percent, with 84% of parents completing the telephone interview, and 16% of parents completing the questionnaires at home. teachers reported on parents’ involvement in the spring (april-june). analytic strategy the first level of analysis involved the examination of correlations among the study variables. subsequent multiple regression analysis was conducted to address the research aim of this study. a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed to predict achievement-related parenting practices (home literacy environment and parent involvement) by parent education, adjusting for parent age, parent relationship status, household income-to-needs ratio, parent-child conflict, and parent depression symptoms. model 1 includes all the covariates, and model 2 adds parent education to address the research aim and assess the unique contribution of educational attainment in predicting parenting practices. results descriptive statistics for the predictor and outcome variables are reported in table 1. the sample was predominately low-income as indicated by the mean income-to-needs ratio of 1.54, but the sample also includes middle income participants. approximately 20% of the sample was above the threshold for low-income status, with an income-to-needs ratio greater than 2.00 (boushey et al., 2001). in addition, one-quarter of the parents (approximately 24%), reported depression symptoms in the clinical range (i.e., score of 16 or above). for the outcome variables, on average parents were engaging in some literacy promoting activities with a mean of 1.24 on a scale from 0 to 2 and were very involved in the child care center with a mean of 4.44 on a scale from 1 to 7. correlations were computed for all variables to examine bivariate associations (see table 1). the role of education in parenting 73 parental age was also positively correlated with parent involvement in school related activities. attainment of a bachelor’s degree or more was positively correlated with income-to-needs ratio, parent involvement, and home literacy practices. additionally, single-parent relationship status was negatively correlated with income-to-needs ratio, and positively correlated with depression symptoms. 74 palmer & bachman table 1 correlation matrix and descriptives of predictor variables and parent outcome variables (n = 103) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) parent and family demographics 1. age 2. in a relationship -.133 3. income-to-needs .266 ** -.327 ** 4. parent depression -.116 .234 * -.129 5. parent-child relationship -.126 .068 .112 .179 † parent education 1 6. bachelor’s degree or more .227 * -.178 † .382 *** -.082 .130 parent outcomes 7. home literacy .183 † .014 .231 * -.108 -.006 .395 *** 8. parent involvement .233 * .043 .127 -.145 -.098 .252 * .235 mean 30.89 .48 1.52 10.36 1.80 .22 1.24 4.44 sd 6.53 1.08 8.69 .65 .48 1.18 min 20 0 0 1.00 .25 1.00 max 50 4.60 39 3.71 2.00 6.75 † p<.10. *p<.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001 note. 1 spearman’s correlation coefficients presented for parent education. the role of education in parenting 75 associations between maternal education and parenting model 1 included parent and family characteristics to predict home literacy and parent involvement. model 2 added parent education to predict home literacy and parent involvement, and standardized regression coefficients are reported (see table 2). in model 1, parent and family characteristics did not significantly predict parent-reported home literacy promotion or teacher-reported parent involvement. after the parent education variables were entered in model 2, the total variance explained in home literacy promotion was 21%, f (7, 95) = 3.633, p=.002. parent education explained 12% of the variance in home literacy, after controlling for parent and family characteristics, f-change (2, 95) = 7.417, p =.001. parents with a high school diploma or less, and those with some college but less than a bachelor’s degree had significantly lower home literacy scores than those with a bachelor’s degree or more. a post hoc comparison revealed no significant differences between parents with a high school diploma or less and parents with some college experience b=.18, t(93)=1.69, p = .095, 𝑠𝑟2=.023. in contrast, no maternal education differences were detected in teachers’ reports of parent involvement. 76 palmer & bachman table 2 predictors of home literacy and parent involvement (n = 103) home literacy environment parent involvement note: bachelor’s degree or more is the reference group for parent education. parent age, relationship status, family income-to-needs ratio, maternal depression, and parent-child relationship were included in all models as covariates. † p<.1; *p<.05; **p<.01. model 1 model 2 model 1 model 2 b se b bbb 𝛽 b se b 𝛽 b se b 𝛽 b se b 𝛽 block 1: parent and family characteristics age .009 .007 .127 .009 .007 .127 .036 .019 .197 † .036 .019 .200 † in a relationship .122 .101 .128 .129 .095 .135 .337 .250 .141 .338 .253 .142 income-to-needs ratio .105 .050 .230 * .042 .050 .092 .131 .123 .115 .075 .132 .065 depression -.005 .006 -.091 -.003 .005 -.053 -.017 .014 -.127 -.015 .014 -.114 parent-child relationship -.010 .075 -.014 -.048 .071 -.066 -.139 .185 -.076 -.178 .188 -.097 block 2: parent education high school or below -.356 .135 -.350 * -.297 .358 -.117 some college -.471 .122 -.489 * -.445 .324 -.185 adjusted 𝑅2 .041 .153 ** .046 † .045 f 1.872 3.633 1.974 1.681 ∆𝑅2 .123 ** .019 the role of education in parenting 77 discussion the purpose of this study was to assess the association between educational attainment and parenting practices that support children’s early academic achievement in a sample of black parents of preschoolers. the results of this study suggest that the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree is associated with higher home literacy promotion than completing high school or some college. the findings of this study support previous research assessing maternal education and the home environment in more diverse or white samples, such that higher levels of maternal education are often associated with more cognitively stimulating home environments (evans, shaw, & bell, 2000; roberts, jurgens, & burchinal, 2005; senechal & lefevre, 2002). past literature has examined the role of education on parenting practices among black parents; however the samples often lack participants with higher education (brody & flor, 1998; roberts, jurgens, burchinal, 2005). in contrast, family income was not a significant predictor of these home enrichment practices. although the income-to-needs ratio initially positively predicted the home literacy environment, it was reduced to non-significance after educational attainment was added to the model. this finding is important because income is dynamic, and may increase or decrease over time, but educational attainment can only increase. thus, the investments that black parents make in the home environment as a result of their own educational attainment may be more stable than income-based investments over time. teachers and professionals may need to provide greater support to parents with low levels of educational attainment. to improve the quality of the home environment, parents will need to feel confident in their ability to engage in cognitively stimulating activities and support children’s development and learning (shumow & lomax, 2002). early childhood education (ece) professionals can support parent efficacy using multiple methods, some of which include informally modeling for parents (vicarious experience), providing simple steps/activities (allowing for mastery experience), and providing feedback that highlights parent strengths (verbal persuasion) (bandura, 1997). modeling may occur with a parent observation of the ece professional and child while in an ece setting, on a home visit, or by sending a short video clip of the child interacting with the ece professional through email or text. in fact, an evaluation of early head start found that families receiving center based care in combination with home visits were more likely to show improvements in the home learning environment and child developmental outcomes (love et al., 2005). partnering with parents and modeling are key elements of an ece program that incorporates center care with home visits. additionally, ece professionals can provide simple tips and activities (e.g., prompt a child to predict what happens next when reading), and verbally acknowledge parent strengths during drop off and pick up times. although the attainment of a bachelor’s degree in this study was meaningful in detecting differences in home literacy practices, the same was not true for parent involvement. other studies of parent involvement with black families have found that parents of children that are successful academically tend to have a different parent-school relationship than those that have a child that is struggling academically (gutman & mcloyd, 2000). parents of children that are struggling may have frequent contact in response to a concern or problem. for this reason, both frequency of contact and additional information about the reason or quality the parent-school relationship, are important dimensions of parent involvement to consider. the parent involvement measure used in this study only captured frequency data. the parents in this 78 palmer & bachman study with varying levels of education did not differ significantly in their frequency of parent involvement, but the quality or purpose of the involvement may have differed. moreover, while the early childhood education (ece) teachers did not differentiate involvement as a function of maternal education, they did perceive older black parents as more involved in their child’s preschool education than younger black parents. it is possible that valued parental resources in an ece setting differ from k-12 settings. in a k-12 setting the socioeconomic status of the family is a valued resource and assists parents in navigating the system (diamond & gomez, 2004; lamont & lareau, 1988; lareau, 1987). in contrast, in an ece setting the age of the parent, or parenting experience, may be a resource that is valued and influences the parent-school partnership. moreover, cultural overlap may exist between the ece setting and the parenting practices of older parents. parents that are older use a more child centered approach to discipline (kelly, power, & wimbush, 1992). a child centered approach to discipline would be consistent with the discipline practices of center based care with national association for the education of young children (naeyc) accreditation or participating in a state quality initiative. additional age related differences in parenting have been found within the black community. older mothers reported higher parental efficacy and a greater sense of control than younger mothers (stevens, 1988). parents with a greater sense of competence or confidence in their parenting ability also tend to be more involved in their child’s education (elder et al., 1995). if this is the case, then ece providers may need to initiate relationship building with young parents and encourage their involvement. overall, in order for ece professionals to be successful in their efforts to support cognitively stimulating home environments and parent involvement, they need to establish a strong relationship with parents. teachers are in the best position to initiate and foster a relationship with parents, but unfortunately they often lack the skills needed to do so (caspe et al., 2011; epstein, 2001). higher education programs training early childhood professionals and professional development groups need to incorporate more extensive training on partnering with families, with an emphasis on diversity within racial/ethnic minority families. programs that serve black families should recognize the heterogeneity within the black community, and more specifically, the variation in educational attainment within low-income black families. over the last four decades there have been steady increases in educational attainment without comparable increases in income for black americans, but the research continues to overlook variation within low-income black families. more within-group research on black families is needed, along with a better understanding of when educational attainment should be expected to promote greater educational investments in the home environment (e.g., during enrollment or after graduation). further research with a larger and more socioeconomically diverse may better distinguish the roles of increased educational and financial resources in parenting practices among black americans. research examining the potential influence of educational attainment and school readiness skills outside of early literacy (e.g., numeracy, selfregulation) among black families would also broaden our understanding of the potential impact of educational attainment on children’s early development. limitations and strengths several limitations of the current findings should be noted, including the reliance on crosssectional data and a single reporter for both predictor and outcome measures. activities within the role of education in parenting 79 the home, income, and educational attainment may change over time but because of the crosssectional design, changes over time are not measured which limits causal inference. in addition, there is potential for single-reporter bias with the measures. multiple data sources for the home literacy environment measure may have been useful; however there is some concern with using examiner-rated observations to assess black parenting practices. observations of black parenting may not be valid when the observers do not belong to the group being observed (gonzales, cauce, & mason, 1996). in this study, parents reported on the home literacy environment which eliminates the possibility of misinterpretation by an observer. cultural bias may however, still exist for the parent involvement measure. teachers were the sole reporters, and since 28% were not ethnically/racially matched with parent participants, their perceptions of parents may have influenced their observations and reporting of parent behaviors. lastly, this sample does not represent all black parents of preschool children, but instead highlights a group within the black community that is often missing from research (low-income families with high levels of education). conclusions future studies of black families should include both measures of family financial resources and educational attainment in the analysis model to gain a better understanding of the influence of multiple aspects ses, independently and jointly, on 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(1993). developmental origins of parenting: personality and relationship factors. in t. luster & l. ogakaki (eds.) parenting: an ecological perspective (pp. 1-33). hillsdale, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. http://www.census.gov/library/publications/2013/demo/p20-570.html http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/publications/acsbr11-17.html http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_104.10.asp http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d10/tables/dt10_115.asp dialog, 18(3), 72-77 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary a comprehensive look at peer social competence in preschool tracy carter clopet and rebecca bulotsky-shearer university of miami best practice in early childhood assessment supports a comprehensive multi-method, multi-source measurement approach, with tools validated for use with culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse populations (national research council, 2008). this study employed this approach, by incorporating teachers’ and outside observers’ perspectives on children’s positive and conflictual engagement with peers in the preschool classroom to examine how peer social competence was related to gains in academic readiness skills for 527 head start children. children’s positive engagement with peers was related to increased gains in language and literacy skills and conflict engagement with peers was associated with fewer gains in alphabet knowledge and mathematics. findings support the need for a comprehensive measurement approach that includes multiple perspectives and methods for examining peer social competence with culturally and linguistically diverse preschool children from low-income backgrounds. keywords: multi-method, multi-source; peer social competence; school readiness; head start peer social competence encompasses the ability to fit in with and develop a network of positive relationships with peers (raver & zigler, 1997) and has been identified as an important protective factor for preschool learning, helping to buffer the negative influence that living in poverty has on children’s early school adjustment (hamre & pianta, 2007; mashburn et al., 2008; national association for young children (naeyc), 2009). however, peer social competence is complex to measure as it is embedded within social relationships, interactions and contexts. studies typically rely on a single source of measurement, such as a parent or teacher, to provide ratings on children’s peer social competence. current best practice in early childhood assessment recommends the use of a comprehensive, multi-method, multi-source approach that is sensitive to culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse populations (national research council, 2008; standards; american educational research association [aera], american psychological association [apa] and the national council on measurement in education [ncme], 1999). preschool peer social competence 73 current study the purpose of this study was to extend prior work by examining three aims. first, we were interested in understanding the relationship between peer social competence as rated by a teacher and an outside, objective observer. additionally, we were interested in understanding how teachers and objective observers ratings of peer social competence measured in the fall were uniquely related to children’s gains in academic readiness skills across the preschool year. lastly, we were interested in knowing whether the relationship between peer social competence and academic readiness differed for boys and girls. social competence and learning early childhood researchers have identified a set of positive and negative behaviors observed within the context of peer interactions in the preschool classroom that have been differentially associated with preschool learning outcomes (fantuzzo, coolahan, mendez, mcdermott, & sutton-smith, 1998). behaviors that promote positive peer interactions are conceptualized as strength-based, prosocial behaviors such as initiative, problem solving, helping other children, and showing creativity during play (fantuzzo et al., 1998). these prosocial behaviors have been linked to increased mathematics, literacy and receptive vocabulary skills (ginsburg, pappas, & seo, 2001; pellegrini, 1984). conversely, research suggests that difficulties interacting with peers can be characterized by two types of behaviors: disruptive behaviors and disconnected behaviors (arnold, homrok, ortiz, & stowe, 1999; fantuzzo et al., 1998; hart et al., 2000; winsler & wallace, 2002). children characterized as being disruptive with their peers show overt and relationally aggressive behaviors that include initiating fights, taking objects from peers, excluding peers from play, and tattling to the teacher (arnold et al., 1999; wood, wood, cowan, & baker, 2002). children characterized as being disconnected from their peers show a lack of engagement, including a preference for solitary activities, or a social anxiousness or fearfulness that inhibits engagement with peers (hart et al., 2000). both disruptive and disconnected behaviors with peers have been linked to lower engagement in positive, cooperative peer interactions, which support learning in the preschool classroom (coolahan, fantuzzo, mendez, & mcdermott, 2000; fantuzzo et al., 1998). measuring peer social competence in context there is a critical need for child-focused assessment measures that capture children’s behavior and development as it is naturally occurring in transaction with complex proximal systems, such as the preschool classroom. examining information from multiple methods and sources is critical as distinct information about a child’s behavior can be gleaned through various perspectives. teachers’ have extended time and experience with the children in their classroom, in addition to having knowledge of normative behavior with reference to the many children they have taught. however, characteristics of the teacher (i.e., level of education, mental health, classroom stress) may affect both their assessment of a child’s behavior and the level of agreement across raters (kohen, brooks-gunn, mccormick, & graber, 1997; szatmari, archer, fisman, & streiner, 1994; waterman et al., 2012). whereas, observation methods, while considered a “more 74 clopet & shearer objective” approach to assessment, are often criticized for only capturing a snapshot of children’s behavior during a circumspect moment in time. in addition, until recently observation measures for studying this association in preschool were not available. this study combines the unique strengths of a teacher report and observation measure, to capture children’s interactions with peers as they naturally occur in the preschool classroom. study design to test this, a sample of 527 head start children across 72 classrooms participated in our study. during the fall, teachers filled out the penn interactive peer play scale (pipps; fantuzzo et al., 1998) to assess children’s interactive, disruptive and disconnected behaviors with peers during play. trained data collectors also observed children’s positive and negative engagement with peers during routine activities in the classroom using the individualized classroom assessment scoring system (inclass; downer, et al., 2010). additionally, in the fall and spring children were directly assessed on the learning express (mcdermott, et al., 2009) to capture children’s gains in alphabet knowledge, vocabulary, mathematics and listening comprehension. a series of correlation and regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between both teacher reported and observed peer social competence and gains in children’s academic readiness skills across a year in head start. study findings there were three important sets of findings from out study. first, we found that teachers’ and outside observers’ reports of children’s behavior were related in meaningful ways, such that behaviors that promoted positive engagement with peers were strongly correlated across the two sources of measurement and inversely related to the set of conflictual behaviors with peers. and, behaviors that interfered with positive engagement with peers were more highly correlated with each other across methods and sources, and inversely related to the set of prosocial peer engagement behaviors. this set of findings confirms that regardless of measurement method, peer social competence is a multidimensional construct, reflecting multiple dimensions of behaviors that promote and interfere with positive engagement with peers. the second major set of findings from our study related to the unique contribution of the teacher reported and observed measures of peer social competence in relation to gains in academic readiness skills. we found that children who were rated by their teacher with higher interactive play skills in the beginning of the year showed greater gains in vocabulary skills by the spring. observed communication with peers was associated with greater gains in listening comprehension across the year. conversely, observed conflict with peers in the fall was related to fewer gains in alphabet knowledge and mathematics. the pattern of associations is consistent with previous research conducted with preschool children from low-income backgrounds. for example, several studies have found that prosocial engagement with peers is positively associated with gains in academic readiness skills, whereas conflict with peers is negatively associated with academic readiness skills during the preschool year (bulotsky-shearer, bell, romero & carter, 2012; bulotsky-shearer, manz et al., 2012; cohen & mendez, 2009; coolahan et al., 2000; fantuzzo et al., 2004; ginsburg, pappas, & seo, 2001; ladd, kochenderfer, & preschool peer social competence 75 coleman, 1996; mendez & fogle, 2002; pellegrini, 1984). this study is unique in combining both teacher and observer perspectives’ to reveal different, yet equally important aspects of a child’s behavior with their peers. lastly, no difference in the association between peer social competence and gains in academic readiness skills was found between boys and girls. this finding suggests, that interventions and curriculum targeting peer social competence and academic readiness in head start may not have to be tailored separately for boys and girls. taken together, findings support the need to incorporate a comprehensive measurement approach that includes multiple perspectives and methods for examining peer social competence with culturally and linguistically diverse preschool children from low-income backgrounds. implications for practice our study has three important implications for practice: (a) the importance of measuring behavior in context, (b) the need to incorporate multiple perspectives when evaluating children’s behavior, and (c) the key role teachers can play in promoting prosocial behavior. based on developmental research and theory we know that, opportunities for children to practice and master developmental challenges are embedded within interactions in proximal contexts, such as the preschool classroom (kontos & keyes, 1999). as children interact with teachers and peers in the classroom, they have direct opportunities to master social and academic skills (downer et al., 2010; pianta, 2006). it is through children’s interactions in the classroom that school readiness skills develop over time (bronfenbrenner & morris, 1998; carta & greenwood, 1985). additionally, both researchers and practitioners have called for assessments that have practical utility and directly inform curriculum planning and intervention (hirsh-pasek et al., 2005). assessment tools that rely on observations of children’s behavior as they emerge within routine classroom activity settings lend themselves more easily to classroom instructional activities implemented by the teacher than direct assessments of isolated skills (meisels, 1999). to address these needs, measures that examine children’s classroom engagement within the dynamic developmental demands of the peer context are needed. in addition, incorporating multiple perspectives on children’s development from those individuals most proximal to the child is critical to inform a comprehensive understanding of their developmental competencies and needs (fantuzzo, mcwayne, & bulotsky, 2003). teachers are key informants when assessing children’s behavior, but their individual perspectives may contain variance associated with their perspective, rather than the child’s skills (waterman et al., 2012). in contrast, observers are able to be more objective as they are free from prior knowledge of the child, but they only see a snapshot of the child’s behavior during a circumspect moment in time. therefore, combining the strengths of these two perspectives can provide a comprehensive picture of children’s competencies with peers in the classroom that could be used to inform interventions with children in the head start classroom. of concern, are children with difficulties engaging with their peers in head start classrooms who we, and others, have found are at risk for missing out on early learning opportunities, which may set them further behind academically as they transition to kindergarten (coolahan, fantuzzo, mendez, & mcdermott, 2000; fantuzzo et al., 1998; ladd, kochenderfer, & coleman, 1996). head start, one of our nation’s largest and most comprehensive programs to address the school readiness needs of children from low-income families, supports both social76 clopet & shearer emotional and academic skills. this whole child approach recognizes that children’s ability to successfully navigate social relationships with peers is a foundational skill set that children take with them as they transition to kindergarten. thus, a comprehensive, multi-method approach to assessing peer social competence within the classroom can help to identify those children at greatest risk for poor academic readiness and aid in teachers’ selection and implementation of interventions that build on children’s strengths while targeting areas of difficulty within everyday routines in the classroom. references american educational research association, american psychological association, & national council on measurement in education (1999). standards for educational and psychological testing. washington, dc: american psychological association. arnold, d. h., homrok, s., ortiz, c., & stowe, r. m. 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(2002). behavior problems and peer rejection in preschool boys and girls. the journal of genetic psychology,163(1), 72-88. dialog, 18(3), 91-108 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 dialog from the field dyadic intervention for young children exposed to interpersonal violence robert herman-smith university of north carolina at charlotte rosa espinosa mecklenburg county community support services-domestic violence children aged five years and younger are more likely to be exposed to intimate partner violence than any other age group. until recently, there was little literature devoted to the social and emotional needs of young children exposed to interpersonal violence in the home. however, research over the past two decades has found links between a number of stressful and traumatic events early in life and later social and emotional problems. this has led to increased clinical research on intervention for young children exposed to intimate partner violence. because parents are so critical to young children’s ability to cope with stress and trauma, intervention that targets the parent-child relationship holds the most promise for improving developmental outcomes for children birth through five years of age who have witnessed interpersonal violence. research suggests that preschool personnel with more awareness of child mental health approaches feel more supported in their jobs and are more sensitive in their interactions with children. the purpose of this article is to raise awareness about how stress impacts early brain development and the developmental impact of witnessing interpersonal violence during early childhood. keywords: early childhood mental health, domestic violence, early intervention, preschool as many as nine million children in the united states reside in households where intimate partner violence (ipv) is a recurrent pattern (mcdonald et al., 2006). children and adolescents are almost always present during ipv involving a parent (fantuzzo & fusco, 2007; grahambermann et al., 2009). ipv is more likely to happen in homes with children five years and younger than in any other age group (fantuzzo et al., 1991; gjelsvik, verhoek-oftedahl, & pearlman, 2003; rennison, 2003). this age group is also more likely to be exposed to the most 92 herman-smith & espinosa physically violent forms of ipv, such as kicking, biting, hitting, choking, burning, or use of guns or knives (centers for disease control & prevention, 2012; mcdonald et al., 2006). women in minority, lower income, and immigrant families are more likely to experience domestic violence (sokoloff & dupont, 2005), meaning preschool programs that serve children from these families are more likely to encounter children with these experiences. over the past two decades, there has been a surge of interest and research regarding young children’s responses to various other kinds of trauma. most violence-related trauma research with young children has focused on the consequences of direct maltreatment; there has been less attention to the effects of ipv exposure to overall development (deyoung, kennardy, & cobham, 2011; lieberman & knorr, 2007; osofsky, 2004; scheeringa et al., 2005). this is a concern for two reasons. first, there was evidence over a decade ago that many communitybased mental health interventions are ineffective at preventing poor outcomes for young ipvexposed children (see scheeringa et al., 2005). since that time, knowledge about mental health prevention and intervention models for this age group have been growing but has not been widely disseminated (deyoung, kennardy, & cobham, 2011; herman-smith, 2013). second, treatment that is effective for older children and adolescents is often not appropriate for use with very young children. children between two and five do not have the verbal skills, memory recall, and non-contextual learning transfer skills that many trauma interventions for older children assume. dyadic interventions are mental health interventions that improve social and emotional skills of young children, not by focusing on the child exclusively, but by improving the parentchild relationship. emerging evidence shows that dyadic interventions are more effective than individual treatment for children aged two to five who have experienced trauma, including ipv. the purpose of this article is to raise awareness about dyadic interventions among professionals who care for young children and their families, including teachers, family support specialists, social workers, nurses, mental health consultants, and program administrators. better awareness of the dyadic intervention will help them better support to families. in addition, although child behavior management is one of the key concerns of preschool personnel, there are few systematic efforts to educate and support preschool personnel. this is unfortunate since research suggests that preschool staff who are knowledgeable about early childhood mental health approaches experience decreased job-related stress and feel more supported by their agencies (green, malsch, kothari, busse, & brennan, 2012). more awareness of child mental health can also yield improvement in overall childcare quality (brennan, bradley, allen, & perry, 2008) and teacher sensitivity in interactions with children (bleecker, sherwood, & chan-sew, 2005). the impact of ipv on young children traditionally, research on brain development (neuroscience) and research on the importance of early-life relationships (ecological sciences) were two separate areas of science. over the past two decades, advances in technology have begun to show how brain growth and caregiver-child relationships work together to form children’s ability to regulate stress (shonkoff et al., 2012). infants and young children are attuned to distress and usually respond by crying or moving toward a primary caregiver to receive protection (bernard & dozier, 2010). overall, their repertoire of coping and self-soothing strategies are much more limited than that of older children and adults, so younger children are more dependent on these external supports to help dyadic intervention for young children 93 them regulate stress and trauma. during distress, the brain experiences dramatic increases in levels of stress hormones, especially cortisol, norepinephrine, and adrenaline. these hormones, which are associated with the “fight or flight” response, protect humans by preparing us to respond to danger. with caregiver reassurance and comfort, young children usually experience lowered distress, with a concomitant drop in stress hormones. over time, children learn to assess more realistically for threats and self-soothe once it is clear that a threat is not imminent. when caregivers are persistently unavailable or unresponsive to the child’s need for reassurance, infants and young children become more agitated. unresolved distress results in greater flooding of stress hormones into the brain. infants and young children enter a state of hyperarousal. with hyperarousal, young children experience frequent bouts of hormonal flooding with stress hormones and can become reactive to relatively benign stressors. if there is continuous environmental stress or a succession of acutely stressful events, the nervous system can begin to deregulate and individuals succumb more easily to stress-related illnesses, psychological withdrawal, or hyperarousal (mcewen & wingfield, 2010; shonkoff et al., 2009; see van ijzendoorn & kroonenberg, 1988). even as they become more mobile and selfsufficient, younger children cannot escape distressing situations by leaving the stress-inducing environment. they are in a sense “captives” of the immediate environment, including those in which ipv occurs. the brain is particularly sensitive to neurochemical influences during the earliest years of life and, in large doses, stress hormones can alter brain development in children younger than three (dawson & ashman, 2000; debellis, hooper, & sapia, 2005; fox, almas, degnan, nelson, & zeanah, 2011). during the first three years, neurons in the brain grow and connect to each other at a rapid pace. a denser network of neural connection is associated with increased cognitive skills, increased language skills, and emotional coping skills later in life (shonkoff et al., 2012). hormonal flooding interrupts this rapid neural connectivity, which in turn inhibits skill development. neuronal growth and development continue into early adulthood, so children can overcome the impact of early trauma, but this becomes more difficult without intervention since high levels of stress early in life distort the foundation on which subsequent development rests. child emotional functioning and ipv two psychiatrists, michael scheeringa and charles zeanah (1995) were among the first researchers to assess the impact of traumatic stress on very young children. they were interested in children who had experienced a wide range of potentially traumatic experiences. however, through case reviews, observations, and parent interviews, they concluded that “perceived threat to a caregiver” was more likely than any other type of traumatic experiences to result in negative behavioral and emotional outcomes for young children. within six months of being exposed to ipv in the home, preschool-aged children in their study exhibited hyperarousal, fearfulness, and increased aggression toward peers to the degree that treatment was warranted. in a later study, scheeringa et al. (2005) followed a group of preschool-aged children three years after they had been exposed to ipv. up to three years later, children who had been exposed to ipv still experienced significant impairment, which included anxiety, depression, oppositionality, and problems with impulse control that interfered with their daily lives. unfortunately, these high levels of emotional and behavioral impairment were still observable among children in this 94 herman-smith & espinosa group who had received play therapy or other forms of individual therapy. there was no difference in these children and a control group of children who had received no treatment. additional research has shown that many children exposed to ipv experience significant effects within one year of exposure. lieberman and knorr (2007) found significantly higher levels of hyperarousal, aggressive behavior, fearfulness, withdrawn behavior, avoidant behavior, and developmental regression in preschool-aged children within six to 12 months after ipv exposure compared to a demographically matched comparison group. spilsbury et al. (2007) reported that preschool-aged children exposed to ipv were more likely than non-exposed children to display symptoms of anxiety and depression within one year of exposure. ybarra et al. (2007) found that preschool children experienced separation anxiety, sleep disturbances, changes in eating patterns, and toileting regression at clinically significant levels within one year of ipv exposure. finally, bogat et al. (2006) found that 37% of young children exposed to ipv exhibited at least one trauma symptom associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd) within two months after exposure. symptoms included hyperarousal, increased startle response, increased aggression, and inconsolability. parent-child relationships and ipv exposure to ipv during the preschool years can also have a negative impact on relationships between children and the victimized parent, which in most cases is the mother. young children who are exposed to ipv make fewer verbal requests of their mothers. these children’s verbal exchanges with their mothers are brief and less playful compared to other children of the same age who have not witnessed ipv (ybarra et al., 2007). preschool-aged children exposed to ipv are less likely to make eye contact with their mothers during conversation and less likely to follow through with their mothers’ requests (borrego et al., 2008; levendosky et al., 2003). they exhibit less positive affect during interactions with their mothers and maintain greater physical distance from them during play (borrego et al., 2008). mothers who have experienced ipv self-report poor behavioral control of their preschool-aged children (ybarra et al., 2007). in some cases, this leads mothers to be more authoritarian and punitive toward their children (lieberman & knorr, 2007). although there is a growing body of research documenting difficult relationships between young children who have been exposed to ipv and their mothers, the reasons for these relationship problems is still being debated (huang, wang, & warrener, 2010). a review of the literature suggests a number of possible causes. each of these is briefly outlined below. attachment. one possible cause of parent-child interaction problems following ipv is poor attachment. attachment theory has yielded the most comprehensive, cross-cultural body of research on the emergence of the early parent-child relationship and its importance for the child’s development. attachment refers to the impulse to seek comfort and protection from a trusted, favored adult caregiver (ainsworth et al., 1978; bowlby, 1980; lieberman & van horn, 2008). children with secure attachments feel free to explore their environments because they know the mother is a “secure base” to which they may return if they become frightened or uncertain. secure attachment is associated with the ability to self-soothe when upset (dozier et al., 2006; southwick, rasmusson, barron, & arnsten, 2005). children with secure attachments have fewer behavior problems, higher levels of social competence, lower anxiety, better dyadic intervention for young children 95 language skills, and better school readiness skills at age three compared to children who have histories of insensitive or inconsistent parenting (belsky & fearon, 2002; juffer & van ijzendoorn, 2005). failure to develop secure attachments has been correlated with a number of chronic emotional and behavioral problems (fox et al., 2011; weinfield et al., 1999). approximately 70% of children between 12 and 24 months of age develop secure attachments (ainsworth et al., 1978; pollak et al., 2000; schore, 2001). in one of the few studies that focused on infants and toddlers exposed to ipv, only one third displayed secure attachment with their mothers (zeanah et al., 1999). some studies have found that exposure to more severe forms of violence results in greater likelihood of insecure attachment (see carpenter & stacks, 2009; zeanah et al., 1999); however, a particularly well-designed study of 100 mother-infant dyads by belsky (1999) did not find attachment security related to violence severity. the precise mechanisms by which ipv leads to parent-child relationship problems is unclear. based on attachment theory, however, witnessing ipv could encourage young children to withdraw from the relationship with the victimized parent because the child thinks the parent is incapable of preventing harm to them. young children, who think very concretely, might conclude that if the parent cannot protect herself from physical harm, then she is not a reliable source of protection; consequently, the parent-child relationship becomes a source of anxiety for the child. parenting stress. mothers who have experienced ipv are more likely to use a harsh parenting style (holden, geffner, & jouriles, 1998; lieberman & knorr, 2007; osofsky, 2004). huang, wang, and warriner (2010) reported that maternal use of spanking was associated with increased externalizing (opposition, defiance, high activity levels) and internalizing (depression, anxiety, withdrawal) child behaviors two years after ipv incidents in the home. conversely, positive discipline was associated with decreases of externalizing and internalizing behaviors. because the sample sizes in these studies were small, more research is needed before making definitive statements on this hypothesis. parental mental health. ipv victims are at higher risk of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (coker et al., 2002; graham-bermann & levendosky, 1998; levendosky et al., 2006). lieberman and colleagues (2005) also showed that children’s responses to ipv were mediated by their mothers’ response to stress; mothers who better managed stress had children who also demonstrated less distress within one year of the last reported incident of ipv. economic stress. it has been long established that family economic stress is associated with less optimal parenting, which in turn is related to negative social-emotional outcomes for children (see chazen-cohen et al., 2009; conger, conger, & elder, 1997). family income both directly influences child outcomes and is mediated by other family factors. lower income is associated with higher likelihood of ipv in the home. in addition, individuals with an abusive partner might find it more difficult to leave an abusive relationship due to financial concerns. furthermore, leaving an abusive relationship might result in more financial hardship since the financial resources of an abusive partner will probably no longer be available. individuals experiencing economic stress are more likely to experience parenting problems, at least in the short term. 96 herman-smith & espinosa child stress. as stated previously, young children are prone to hyperarousal, noncompliance, and inconsolability in response to traumatic stress (bogat et al., 2006). young children’s behavior might be more difficult to manage as a consequence of having witnessed ipv, especially if the child’s exposure-related symptoms manifest as non-compliance or impulsive behaviors (kitzmann et al., 2003; osofsky, 2004). it is likely that a combination of these factors influence harsh parenting style after experiencing ipv. it is important to understand that the link between each of these factors and relationships of children and post-ipv victimized parents is preliminary. none have sufficient scientific support to draw definitive conclusions about how ipv exposure during early childhood impacts child mental health and parent-child relationships. on the other hand, each of these factors will likely form the basis of the next generation of research in this area. despite the fact that more research is needed to establish causal links between the factors reviewed here and post-ipv child outcomes, the research so far offers two conclusions. first, relationships between children and parents who are victims of ipv are often in need of repair. second, because preschool-aged children remain highly dependent on these parents for emotional development and overall well-being, children are much more likely to benefit from interventions that involve both the child and parent. in fact, an analysis of evidence-based interventions for young children exposed to ipv finds that parent involvement in treatment is usually a key component. child care professionals, (e.g., teachers, family support specialists, social workers, nurses, mental health consultants, and program administrators) are often in a position to support, guide, and inform parents who are struggling with parenting after experiencing ipv. professionals who work with young children and families should be aware of these interventions and the important role parents play in them so they can provide better information to parents. intervention for young children exposed to ipv an overview of evidence-based clinical interventions for young children was completed using the following sites: the national registry of evidence-based programs and practices (nrepp), promising practices network, child trends, the national child traumatic stress network, the department of health and human services’ home visiting evidence of effectiveness (homvee); and the databases medline, psycinfo, and social work abstracts. the treatment models selected met three criteria. first, the model targeted children who were five years of age or younger. second, each model addressed exposure to verbal assault, physical assault, or other types of violence in the home. third, the model was associated with positive child social and emotional outcomes in at least one clinical trial. inclusion reflects these criteria and is not meant to serve as a recommendation or endorsement of any particular treatment model. table 1 provides a summary of each intervention with expected outcomes, strategies, participants, and time to complete. dyadic intervention for young children 97 table 1 summary of interventions for young children exposed of ipv intervention expected outcomes strategies participants timeframe child parent psychotherapy (cpp) strengthened relationship between children and parents or other primary caregivers improvements in child aggressive behavior and maternal ptsd symptoms helping parent to understand how the child's past traumatic experiences may be affecting his/her behavior increasing parent awareness of how her own trauma affects interactions with the child teaching the parent basic traditional play therapy skills parent(s) and child 2-5 years of age foster parents 30–50 weekly sessions over one year child first improved maternal health reductions in child maltreatment by parents improved child school readiness helping parent to understand how the child's past traumatic experiences may be affecting his/her behavior increasing parent awareness of how her own trauma affects interactions with the child problem-solving new parenting strategies educating parents about normal developmental challenges and learning parent(s) and child 2-5 years of age 30–50 weekly sessions over one year 98 herman-smith & espinosa parent child interaction therapy (pcit) improved child externalizing behavior (opposition, aggression) improved parent-child relationships reduced incidence of parental maltreatment improvements maintained one to six years post-treatment modeling positive parenting providing coaching parents on specific parenting behavior with the child assigning family homework between sessions. parent(s) and child 2-6 years of age foster parents 14-20 weekly sessions trauma focused cognitive behavior therapy (tf-cbt) improved child behavior problems decreased symptoms of posttraumatic stress decreased child shame decreased child depression parenting skills education teaching relaxation, coping, problemsolving, and safety skills to the child completing a trauma narrative occasionally conducting conjoint parent-child sessions child 3-17 years of age; occasional parent involvement 12-16 weekly sessions dyadic intervention for young children 99 child-parent psychotherapy child-parent psychotherapy (cpp) is the only empirically-supported intervention developed specifically for children two through five years of age who have experienced exposure to ipv (cohen, mannarino, murray, & igelman 2006; lieberman & van horn, 2005). the primary goal of cpp is to support and strengthen the relationship between children and their parents or other caregivers; this intervention has also been used successfully with children and their foster parents. other goals include restoring the child's sense of safety and improving the child's cognitive, behavioral, and social functioning. cpp began as an adaptation of the parent-infant psychotherapy model developed by selma fraiberg and colleagues (fraiberg, adelson, & shapiro, 1987). based in attachment theory, that model focused on repairing the parent-infant relationship in an effort to forestall intergenerational transmission of trauma. cpp also draws on attachment theory but, as a dyadic intervention, also incorporates adult learning theory (lieberman, silverman, & pawl, 2000; lieberman & van horn, 2008). cpp uses three primary strategies. the first is helping the parent understand how the child's past traumatic experiences may be affecting the child’s current development. the second is helping the parent become aware of how his or her own trauma history can affect her interactions with the child (lieberman & van horn, 2005). the third strategy uses traditional play techniques as a means of 1) facilitating communication between the child and parent, and 2) helping the parent interact with the child in new, more developmentally appropriate ways. a treatment manual called “don’t hit my mommy” (lieberman & van horn, 2005) is used to structure therapy, which usually consists of weekly sessions with mother-child dyads for 30 weeks to one year. two randomized controlled trials have been conducted with cpp, which is listed as a “proven and promising practice” by the national child traumatic stress network (gerrity & folcarelli, 2008) and “supported by research evidence” by the california evidence-based clearinghouse for child welfare (2011). clinical research samples have been relatively diverse, and the program has been specifically adapted for use with latino immigrant mothers and their infants. research has found that mothers attribute fewer negative behaviors to their children, children show fewer avoidance behaviors toward mothers, and the child shows more pro-social behaviors by the end of treatment (lieberman, van horn, & ghosh ippen, 2005; toth et al., 2002; toth, rogosch, manly, & cicchetti, 2006). in each of these studies, mothers exhibited improved mental health or self-image; these improvements were not significant although improvements in parent-child relationships were significant. child first child first was developed for families with children birth to age six in which the child has emotional, behavioral, or developmental concerns or the family faces multiple barriers associated with poverty (lowell et al., 2011). the primary focus of intervention is helping parents/caregivers understand normal developmental challenges; encouraging parental reflection on the meaning and feelings motivating a child’s behavior; reframing the child’s behavior; problem-solving new strategies; and reflecting on the relationship among parental feelings, trauma and violence history, and the parental response to the child (crusto et al., 2008; lowell et al., 2011). the child first model is based on the most current brain development research 100 herman-smith & espinosa showing that high-stress environments resulting from poverty, maternal depression, domestic violence exposure, abuse and neglect, substance abuse, and homelessness are “toxic” to the developing brain of the young child (see shonkoff et al., 2012). child first is designed to strengthen the parent-child relationship, which serves as a protective buffer to unavoidable stress. the model is also designed to directly facilitate emotional, language, and cognitive growth. child first operates as a team approach to treatment with the parent, a therapist, and a care coordinator. services are provided in the home and continue for 30 weeks to one year. intervention begins with a comprehensive assessment of child and family needs, both clinical and non-clinical. assessment results are used to design parent-child mental health intervention, development of a child and family plan of care, and care coordination to address family needs for resource assistance. the child first team partners with the family to develop a comprehensive plan of intervention, supports, and community-based services. this plan reflects the parents’ goals, priorities, strengths, culture, and needs, and so it includes services for the child, parents, and other members of the family as needed. parent-child mental health intervention incorporates elements of lieberman and van horn’s (2005) child parent psychotherapy, as well as parent guidance. child first meets department of health and human services’ criteria for an “evidence-based early childhood home visiting service delivery model.” child first is associated with statistically significant improvement in children and parents, including children’s school readiness, maternal health, and reductions in child maltreatment by parents (lowell et al., 2011). parent-child interaction therapy parent-child interaction therapy (pcit) was designed to address externalizing disorders in children from two through eight years of age (eyberg, 1988; eyberg et al., 2001; hembree-kigin & mcneil, 1995; urquiza et al., 2009). intervention targets problems in the parent-child relationship as well as disruptive behavioral problems in young children (borrego et al., 2008). like cpp, pcit’s theoretical foundation draws from both attachment theory and social learning theory (eyberg et al., 2001). from attachment theory, pcit borrows the idea that sensitive parenting leads the child to assume her needs will be met by the parent. when this does not happen, the child becomes increasingly disorganized and difficult to comfort (ainsworth et al., 1978). pcit also uses patterson’s (1982) idea of the “coercive interaction cycle.” during times of conflict, family members sometimes enter habitual, coercive attempts to control others members’ behaviors. for example, a parent might become frustrated when his children do not respond as expected to behavior management. out of frustration, the parent uses more forceful, aggressive techniques. the child resists the parent’s growing forcefulness, which leads the parent to become even more aggressive, and the cycle continues. the aim of treatment is to interrupt the coercive interaction cycle. social learning theory is used to structure interactions between parents and children in ways that halt this cycle, ostensibly through modeling and coaching by the therapist. pcit treatment lasts for 14 to 20 weeks and is delivered in two phases, child-directed interaction (cdi) and parent-directed interaction (pdi; eyberg, 1988). cdi is the first phase of treatment and focuses on enhancing positive dyadic interactions. pdi, the second phase of treatment, focuses on improving child compliance. the therapist is supportive but directive throughout intervention, providing modeling, giving immediate feedback to parents on their dyadic intervention for young children 101 performance, and assigning family homework between sessions. during sessions, the therapist provides live coaching to the parent either in the same room with the parent and child or from behind a two-way mirror speaking to the parent through a wireless “ear bug” microphone. numerous studies have found pcit to be an efficacious model for reducing child externalizing behavior and improving parent-child relationships, including reductions in parental maltreatment (eyberg at al., 2001). research has documented positive effects maintained for up to six years post-treatment (hood & eyberg, 2003). pcit has been shown to be a highly effective intervention for families in which a child has experienced parental maltreatment (chaffin et al., 2004; gothard, ryan, & heinrich, 2000). although not designed as an intervention for children exposed to ipv, one study found pcit used with mother-child dyads exposed in which a child had been exposed to ipv resulted in significant improvement in young children’s oppositional behavior. parenting stress also improved at the beginning of treatment; however, it did not change significantly over the course of treatment (timmer et al., 2010). trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (tf-cbt) was designed for children three to 17 years of age who present with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, or externalizing behaviors subsequent to traumatic experiences (cohen & mannarino, 2008). it is a psychosocial treatment model designed to treat posttraumatic stress and related emotional and behavioral problems in children and adolescents. initially, tf-cbt was developed to address the psychological trauma associated with child sexual abuse; however, the model has been adapted for use with children who have a wide array of traumatic experiences, including domestic violence exposure, traumatic loss, and the multiple psychological traumas often experienced by children prior to foster care placement. the aim of treatment is to reduce child behavior problems, depression, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, and feelings of shame. treatment also aims to improve parents’ emotional reactions to the child’s trauma experience. tf-cbt is a hybrid treatment model that integrates elements of cognitive-behavioral therapy and various family therapy principles with trauma sensitive interventions. while designed to encourage model fidelity, tf-cbt also encourages a relatively high degree of therapist flexibility in adapting the model for specific families, and community setting (cohen, mannarino & deblinger, 2006). intervention is delivered by trained therapists. the acronym practice reflects the components of the treatment model: psycho-education and parenting skills, relaxation skills, affect expression and regulation skills, cognitive coping skills and processing, trauma narrative, in vivo exposure (when needed), conjoint parent-child sessions, and enhancing safety and future development. initially, treatment involves parallel individual sessions with children and their parents or guardians; however, conjoint parent-child sessions are increased as treatment progresses. although tf-cbt is generally delivered in 12-16 sessions of individual and parent-child therapy, it also may be provided in the context of a longer-term treatment process. tf-cbt is considered a “proven and promising practice” by the national child traumatic stress network (gerrity & folcarelli, 2008) and “well-supported by research evidence” in the california evidence-based clearinghouse for child welfare (2011). tf-cbt has been adapted by therapists across the united states and in australia, cambodia, canada, china, denmark, germany, japan, the netherlands, norway, pakistan, sweden, and zambia. it has been used 102 herman-smith & espinosa with children in foster care and with those who have suffered multiple and diverse traumas. research has found tf-cbt to be associated with improved child behavior problems, decreases symptoms of posttraumatic stress, decreased child shame, and decreased child depression (cohen, & mannarino, 1996; cohen, deblinger, mannarino, & steer, 2004; deblinger, lippmann, & steer, 1996; deblinger, mannarino, cohen, & steer, 2006). limitations of the intervention research research with young children exposed to ipv is still grappling with methodological problems. these problems are rarely mentioned in the clinical literature (fantuzzo & fusco, 2007; jouriles et al., 2001), but they are important for practitioners to consider. the first major problem is lack of attention to “dosage” effects. most studies have conceptualized ipv exposure as a dichotomous variable (exposure versus non-exposure). dichotomous measures do not account for the impact of repeated exposure to highly stressful events over time, which is probably an important factor in assessing ipv exposure (lieberman & knorr, 2007; see national scientific council on the developing child, 2005). dichotomous measures also fail to account for violence intensity; this is a special concern for younger children since research suggests they are more likely to be present during more severe ipv (centers for disease control & prevention, 2012; mcdonald et al., 2006). a second concern is that many studies of young children exposed to ipv have involved children living in domestic violence shelters with their mothers (appel & holden, 1998; fantuzzo & fusco, 2007). living in a domestic violence shelter could mean children have been exposed to more severe violence than children not living in a shelter. children living in shelters might differ from those who do not in other important ways as well, such as level of extended family or other social support, income, parent employment status, and degree of poverty (fantuzzo et al., 1991; peled, 1998). families in shelters are probably not representative of all young children exposed to ipv (fantuzzo & fusco, 2007), though most of the current literature does not make this distinction. a third concern is that the research on early childhood ipv exposure has focused almost exclusively on children who live with their mothers, to the exclusion of children living with fathers. mothers are the most at risk of being the victim of violence (centers for disease control & prevention, 2012), and children in the united states are more likely to live with mothers instead of fathers in single parents homes. however, much could be learned by examining similarities and differences between mother-child and father-child dyads and by including children with parents in same-sex relationships. a fourth concern is that the research on post-ipv child symptomatology relies heavily on parent report. this raises the possibility of parents over-reporting or under-reporting their children’s problems related to ipv exposure. the research so far suggests that parents who experience ipv underestimate their children’s violence exposure and its struggles. perhaps they do so in an attempt to minimize their own trauma (pynoos. steinberg, & piancentini, 1999) or to assuage feelings of guilt for “allowing” their children’s exposure to violence (lieberman, 2004). finally, many studies of children exposed to ipv fail to account for how much family violence is aimed directly at children. appel and holden (1998) completed a meta-review of studies involving spousal violence and child maltreatment. they estimated the overall percentage of children experiencing both direct physical abuse and exposure to ipv at around dyadic intervention for young children 103 40%. edleson et al. (2003) found that nearly a quarter of children were physically involved in ipv episodes, either as intended or unintended targets; the more severe the ipv, the greater chance that the child was physically involved. conclusion children aged five years and younger are more likely to be exposed to ipv than any other age group (fantuzzo & fusco, 2007; graham-bermann et al., 2009; gjelsvik, verhoek-oftedahl, & pearlman, 2003; rennison, 2003), and families from minority, impoverished, or immigrant backgrounds are more likely to experience ipv; consequently, programs that target these families for services, such as head start, are likely to encounter families affected by ipv. preschool personnel do not provide mental health services or domestic violence services, but they do provide support to children and parents who have experienced violence in their homes. this article is not intended to inform specific treatment recommendations for families struggling with current or past ipv but to inform staff about the impact of trauma on early brain development, the social-emotional outcomes associated with ipv, and the general types of treatment that are most effective. preschool staff who are knowledgeable about early childhood mental health approaches demonstrate improvements in overall childcare quality (bleecker, sherwood, & chan-sew, 2005; brennan, bradley, allen, & perry, 2008). better awareness of mental health issues and of the potential outcomes related to ipv might also help preschool staff to respond more sensitively to parents who have experienced violence in their homes. ipv is a sensitive topic. given that young children are more likely than older children to witness ipv, preschools should have discussions that lead to protocols for how to handle cases of ipv or suspected ipv. having these discussions, perhaps facilitated by a trained mental health provider who has experience in ipv, can lead to a shared understanding of the preschool’s vision for mental health care. such discussions often lead to better use of mental health consultants to preschool programs by narrowing and refining teacher and program administrators’ questions and concerns (green, malsch, kothari, busse, & brennan, 2012). the common theme among all empirically-supported trauma interventions for young children is that parent involvement in treatment is important to success. children younger than five are highly dependent on their parents for cues about how to respond to distress (beardslee, versagem, & gladstine, 1998; carpenter & stacks, 2009; dewolff & van ijzendoorn, 1997; pilowsky et al., 2006). the attachment literature has demonstrated the relationship between lost trust in one’s preferred caretakers during early childhood and ongoing distress and psychopathology (ainsworth et al., 1978; juffer & van ijzendoorn, 2005; weinfeld et al., 1999). so far, there is little evidence that individual therapy for younger children is effective or should be preferred to intervention that involves parents. early childhood mental health scholars often emphasize the need for treatment to begin for children as early as possible. some parents might have clinical needs that are not addressed by any of the interventions covered here, for example, substance abuse, child maltreatment, maternal depression, or inadequate safety plans. in some cases, parents’ needs will have to be addressed before they can be full participants in intervention for their children. this might delay when the child receives treatment, and in that way delay the support that is available to children. 104 herman-smith & espinosa if preschool staff understand that parents’ needs must be addressed first, they are more likely to understand delays in starting treatment for the child. those who work directly with young children and those who advocate for them should continue working to ensure better access to comprehensive community services for families experiencing ipv. better attention to the social and emotional needs of young children exposed to ipv should complement, not replace, efforts to ensure access to a variety of services that meet the varied needs of families experiencing ipv, including stronger enforcement of protections for parents and children. preschool personnel should also continue to assist with referrals to community organizations familiar with ipv, referrals to housing, development of family safety plans, and supportive listening. child advocates should also redouble their prevention work regarding ipv. in fact, preventing adult ipv is probably the most effective action that can be taken on behalf of young children who are at risk for experiencing it. references ainsworth, m., blehar, m., waters, e., & wall, s. 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(2009). handbook of infant mental health. new york: guilford press. dialog, 17(3), 76-82 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary creating an agency-wide, interdisciplinary literacy project in comprehensive early childhood programs elizabeth m. anderson binghamton university/suny an important area for early childhood programs offering comprehensive services is better understanding interdisciplinary collaboration, as this collaboration lays for foundation for supporting optimal child outcomes. this study examined some of the benefits and challenges of using an interdisciplinary approach by exploring the perspectives of staff members from across disciplines during a six-week, agency-wide literacy project. this study suggests that head start and early head start staff members recognize the benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration, but the experience of working across disciplines can be challenging. implications of these results for practice are discussed. early childhood programs, especially those that are publically funded, are increasingly held accountable for the immediate and long-term academic success of the children they serve (brown, 2011). as the nation’s largest federally sponsored early childhood education program, head start’s goal is to reduce socio-economic disparities, especially around school readiness (puma, bell, cook, heid, & lopez, 2005). in this climate of increased accountability, the critical role emergent literacy plays in positive school outcomes has come to the national forefront of early childhood education issues (hutinger, bll, daytner, & johanson, 2006). one significant trend is for early childhood educators to focus on integrating literacy across content domains (anderson & fenty, 2013). in response, classroom practices are increasingly moving toward using literacy as the foundation for developmentally appropriate integrated instruction (strickland, 2010). in an effort to further reduce socio-economic disparities around school readiness, comprehensive early childhood programs must more effectively address the complex academic, psycho-social, and health needs of their students using an interdisciplinary approach (andersonbutcher & ashton, 2004). attaining positive outcomes for young children can no longer be accomplished through the singular efforts of any one person (allensworth & kolbe, 1987). although it is universally acknowledged that early childhood teachers play a critical role in supporting all areas of young children’s development, professionals from across disciplines play an increasingly important role in establishing and achieving collaborative goals that support optimal outcomes (friend & cook, 2010). interdisciplinary collaboration in comprehensive early childhood programs, such as head start and early head start, involves teachers, nurses, family advocates, special services personnel, transportation providers, nutritionists, and other professionals sharing information, creating an agency-wide, interdisciplinary literacy project 77 validating each other’s roles, and providing input around which strategies promote positive outcomes for all children (anderson-butcher & ashton, 2004). despite the need to work together across disciplines in order to more effectively support young children’s development, there are many challenges. these challenges include pre-existing responsibilities (weist, proescher, prodente, ambrose, & waxman, 2001); a lack of shared values and beliefs (rappaport, osher, anderson-ketchmark, & dwyer, 2003); and, differences in expectations (bronstein & terwilliger, 2007). in order to create a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration, each person must have opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to collaborate (friend & cook, 2010). according to friend & cook (2010), collaboration is a style of interaction that can only occur when people engage in a specific process, task or activity. therefore, it is essential that comprehensive early childhood programs create opportunities that bring together staff members from across disciplines to participate in interdisciplinary tasks or activities. the "little read" literacy project was developed with a primary goal of building capacity for a more integrated and interdisciplinary approach using developmentally appropriate practices as part of a thematicbased unit based on a classic piece of literature. the head start and early head start programs in which this study was conducted used the creative curriculum (dodge, colker, heroman, & bickert, 2002). in addition, these programs recently adopted new learning standards based on the head start child development and early learning framework and the pre-k foundation for the common core. the six-week literacy project that provided the central focus for this study was developed to enrich and complement the broad educational programming provided by the current curriculum. project overview in 2009, the national endowment for the arts and the institute of museum and library sciences provided support for this agency to implement the “big read” project. the goal of this grantfunded program was to support community-wide exploration of a classic piece of literature. as part of this grant, the head start and early head start programs collaborated with a local school district to develop an eight-week literacy project centered around the adventures of tom sawyer (twain, 1998). after this grant ended and during 2010-2011, a group of head start and early head start teachers developed a similar six-week project that they named the “little read.” in 2012, the agency in which this study took place broadened the scope of the six-week "little read" literacy project by engaging staff members from across disciplines (e.g. education, health services, nutrition services, family services, transportation services, special education services, etc.) the "little read" project committee, consisting of at least one representative from each of these agency components and a community representative from the local library, met on a bi-weekly basis from september 2012 – march 2013 to plan events around the classic, dr. doolittle (lofting, 2006), develop a packet of suggested children's activities for use by staff, and serve as a liaison to their respective agency components. during january february 2013, staff members from across disciplines engaged head start and early head start children in a range of "little read" project activities. examples include weekly classroom scavenger hunts for dr. dolittle clues around the building; bus monitors using dr. dolittle character puppets to act out the stories on the bus ride to and from 78 anderson school; nurses providing large group activities in classrooms on healthy bones based on dr. dolittle's animal friends; family advocates delivering dr. dolittle books to families and modeling literacy strategies during home visits; nutrition staff collaborating with classroom staff for dr. dolittle themed cooking projects; and, two agency-wide family events (movie night for viewing of dr. dolittle and a "museum night" for displaying children's work samples made during the six-week project). as part of this study, agency staff members from across disciplines serving on the "little read" project committee were invited to complete a questionnaire and participate in two interviews (pre – and post"little read" project). participants included the following: nurse; director of special services; director of transportation; staff assistant; assistant head start teacher; head start teacher; early head start teacher; early head start family advocate; head start family advocate; literacy specialist; development specialist; and, the community representative from the local public library. the purpose of the questionnaire and interviews was to explore "little read" committee members’ experiences during the project and what they perceive to be the benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration. major findings of the study participants in this study did highlight themes that are echoed in the research on interdisciplinary collaboration and shed light on some of the benefits and challenges of working across disciplines in comprehensive early childhood programs. first, this study suggests that head start and early head start staff recognize the benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration. one benefit was the belief that participation in a literacy project with staff members from across disciplines strengthened existing relationships. another benefit was that interdisciplinary collaboration created new opportunities for the types of discussion that foster additional collaborative efforts. a third benefit of collaborating across disciplines was that it increased staff levels of excitement about literacy and engagement in learning activities as they participated in dr. dolittle activities with children in a variety of locations (e.g. buses, hallways, nurses office, transportation office, playground, classrooms, multi-purpose room, etc.), in homes, and at the local library. across questionnaires and interviews, participants also noted the ways in which this agency-wide, interdisciplinary literacy project strengthened home-school connections for staff members from every agency component and fostered new understandings of young children's development, particularly among non-classroom staff. although participants in this study highlighted some of the benefits to collaborating across disciplines around an agency-wide, literacy project, there were challenges. for the majority of staff, the primary challenge came from trying to fit the added responsibilities that came with project planning and implementation into an already busy day. in spite of the challenge of time and scheduling constraints, participants did highlight the ways in which their participation deepened their appreciation for the project's positive impact on children, families, and staff. non-classroom staff members from across disciplines noted the ways in which their participation in the "little read" project fostered new understandings of young children’s learning and development. classroom staff members described coming to a greater awareness of what young children know and are able to do. this study also suggests that early childhood staff members from across disciplines are very interested in having additional opportunities to collaborate. participants described the creating an agency-wide, interdisciplinary literacy project 79 important role interdisciplinary collaboration during the "little read" project played in helping them realize that by working together across disciplines, they can better support optimal child outcomes. a significant challenge to interdisciplinary collaboration in comprehensive early childhood programs, especially an agency-wide literacy project, is that it is still in the early stages of development. this challenge can be exaggerated in head start and early head start programs where it may be viewed as “project specific”, and “add on” to a current role, or where organizational structures such as scheduling difficulties and/or pre-existing staff responsibilities may not fully support it. implications for practice in order to more effectively address long-standing challenges to interdisciplinary collaboration in comprehensive early childhood programs, creating opportunities for interprofessional training is essential. as early childhood programs, such as head start and early head start, seek to improve outcomes for young children using an agency-wide, interdisciplinary approach to literacy initiatives, it is important that all disciplines receive professional development to assist them in developing the attitudes, skills, and dispositions necessary to work more effectively across disciplines. currently, there is very little information to guide this process for staff members working in education, transportation, health, nutrition, family services, and special services within comprehensive early childhood programs. in order for all staff members to support young children's learning and development in multiple contexts (e.g. classroom, hallway, bus, playground, home, community settings, etc.) it is also important that receive they receive professional development around integrating literacy with content curricula (math, social studies, science, etc.) and across developmental domains (receptive and expressive language, gross and fine motor skills, cognitive skills, and adaptive skills) using developmentally appropriate practices. in addition to providing targeted professional development, comprehensive early childhood programs must also create opportunities for staff to become engaged in the collaborative process. greater staff involvement in all aspects of an agency-wide, interdisciplinary literacy project design, implementation, and evaluation, can substantially improve the collaborative process. tips for practitioners a primary focus of early childhood programs, particularly those that offer comprehensive services, is to improve outcomes for young children and positively impact school readiness (anderson, shinn, scrimshaw, fielding, normand, & carande-kulis, 2003). as the field advances its understandings of the ways in which interdisciplinary collaboration can help reduce the academic, psycho-social, and health barriers that invariably get in children’s way, there are a few considerations for staff currently working in comprehensive early childhood programs. “tips for practitioners” include:  it takes a team: it takes a small group of representatives from across disciplines to guide the project's collaborative process. successfully planning and implementing an 80 anderson agency-wide, interdisciplinary literacy project, takes an interdisciplinary team approach. in order for it to be most successful, it is important to have representation from across disciplines on the project committee serving as liaisons to their respective agency components.  project timing: planning and implementing an agency-wide, interdisciplinary literacy project may be influenced by a number of variables such as the level of administrative support, agency funding considerations, and other agency initiatives. therefore, it is important for each component to closely examine the agency calendar before collaboratively determine the best time during the calendar year to implement the project.  duration of the project: in addition to determining the best time of year for implementing an agency-wide, interdisciplinary literacy project, programs will want to consider the duration of the project. it is important to determine early on in the collaborative process what length of time is realistic based on agency resources. for example, an agency with fewer resources(staff time and materials) may want to consider starting the project with a shorter time period (2-3 weeks).  buy-in from staff: staff "buy-in" for an agency-wide, interdisciplinary literacy project is critical for success. one way to encourage buy-in is to have all staff assist in selecting a book for the project. although this can be accomplished in a variety of ways, one way is to have the project committee select 3-5 classic pieces of literature that are available in chapter book, leveled readers, and board book formats. this brief list of book choices can be voted on by agency staff during regularlyscheduled departments meetings with the most popular book selected for the project. a book chosen by democratically may generate excitement and "buy-in" for the project.  collaboratively developed activity packets: collaboratively developing project activity packets is important for including multiple perspectives. project activities should align with new learning standards and use developmentally appropriate practices. since children's learning and development will be supported in multiple contexts during the project, however, it is important that a range of perspectives are considered. gaining the perspective of staff members from across disciplines while developing the packets ensures that activities are appropriate for a particular settings. for example, objects such as markers or crayons may be appropriate for a classroom setting but considered a possible projectile on the bus, creating a safety hazard.  project evaluation: evaluating an agency-wide, interdisciplinary literacy project takes time, but it well worth it. first, evaluating the project is important for assessing instructional practices. how many project activities integrated literacy with math? science? social studies? how many small group activities integrated expressive and/or receptive language with fine motor skills? gross motor skills ? cognitive skills? adaptive skills? collecting information from staff across disciplines can help assess the types of instructional practices employed to support young children's learning and development. secondly, project evaluation project is important for assessing family and community engagement. how many books were distributed to families? how many home visits were conducted by family advocates? how many books were read by families during the project? how many learning strategies were modeled and practiced with families? how many families attended movie night or museum night? how many classrooms went on a field trip to the local library during the project? how creating an agency-wide, interdisciplinary literacy project 81 many children and families visited the local library during this same time period? this important information can be gathered from staff using project-specific recording keeping forms and included in monthly and year-end reports. finally, project evaluation is important for assessing the collaborative process. to count the number of project activities completed in classrooms provides one picture of the project's success. to assess the number of project activities completed in classrooms, on buses, in homes, in the nurse's office, during related services (ot, pt, speech) provides a very different picture. however, the collaborative process also includes gathering staff input around benefits, challenges, and areas for improvement. this can be conducted using an end-of-the project survey. in spite of its many benefits, interdisciplinary collaboration presents challenges. participants in this study noted the value of interdisciplinary collaboration for supporting optimal outcomes for young children. we also heard about some of the barriers to this involvement. in recognition that no one profession can address the complex needs of many of today's children, it is critical to address these barriers. greater attention must be given in comprehensive early childhood programs to moving away from an emphasis on discipline-specific training toward creating additional opportunities for interdisciplinary dialog and practice (weist, evans & lever, 2003: anderson & bronstein, 2012). interdisciplinary collaboration can positively impact the delivery of services in early childhood programs (pollard, miers & rickaby, 2012). if we are to achieve positive child outcomes and improve school readiness, engaging early childhood staff members from across disciplines in projects such as the "little read" must become the rule, not the exception. references allensworth, d., & kolbe, l. (1987). the comprehensive school health program: exploring an expanded concept. journal of school health, 57, 409-412. anderson, e. & fenty, n. (2013) integrating early literacy and other content curriculum in an era of increased accountability: a review of the literature. in l.e. cohen & s. sheldon(eds.), advances in early education and day care: vol. 17. learning across the early childhood curriculum (pp. 153-177). bingley: emerald. anderson, l.m., shinn, c., fullilove, m.t. scrimshaw, s.c., fielding, j.e., normand, n., & carande-kulis, v. g. (2003). the effectiveness of early childhood development programs. american journal of preventive medicine, 24, 32-46. anderson-butcher, d., & ashton, d. (2004). innovative models of collaboration to serve children, youths, families and communities. children & schools, 26 (1), 39-53. bronstein, l. & terwilliger, s. (2007). collaboration in rural school health. conversationsin the disciplines: sustaining rural populations, 13. brown, c. (2011). searching for the norm in a system of absolutes: a case study of standards-based accountability reform in pre-kindergarten. early education and development,22(1), 151-177. dodge. d.t., colker, l.j., heroman, c., & bickart, t.s. (2002). the creative curriculum for preschool. washington, dc: teaching strategies. friend, m., & cook, l. (2010). interactions: collaboration skills for school professionals. boston, ma: pearson. huntinger, p.l., bell, c., daytner, g., & johanson, j. (2006). establishing and maintaining early literacy emergent technology curriculum. journal of special education technology, 21, (4), 39-54. lofting, h. the story of dr. dolittle. new york: sterling publishing co. 82 anderson pollard, k., miers, m., & rickaby, c. (2012). 'oh why didn't i take more notice?' professionals views and perceptions of pre-qualifying preparation for interprofessional working in practice. journal of interprofessional care, 26, (5), 355-361. puma, m., bell, s., cook, r., heid, c., & lopez, m. (2005). head start impact study: the first year findings. administration for children and families. rappaport, n., osher, d., garrison, e.g., anderson-ketchmark, c., & dwyer, k. (2003). enhancing collaboration within and across disciplines to advance mental health programs in schools. in m.d. weist, s. evans, & n. lever (eds.), handbook of school mental health: advancing practice and research (pp. 107-118). new york: kluwer academic/plenum. strickland, d.s. (2010). essential readings on early literacy. newark, de: international readingassociation. twain, m. (1998). adventures of huckleberry finn. new york: dover publications/bantam. weist, m.d., evans, s.w., & lever, n.a. (2003). advancing mental health research in schools. in m.d. weist, s.w. evans, & n.a. lever (eds.) handbook of school mental health:advancing practice and research (pp. 17). new york: plenum. weist, m.d., proescher, e., prodente, c., ambrose, m.g., & waxman, r.p. (2001). mental health, health, and education staff working together in schools. child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of north america, 10, 33-43. dialog, 18(4), 24-42 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 i would like to acknowledge the help of margaret hoban for her help in entering data. research article digital media and preschoolers: implications for visual spatial development kathleen keefe-cooperman long island university post preschoolers’ integrated technology usage was examined related to cognitive and visual spatial functioning. the participants consisted of 492 typically developing preschool children. parent/caregiver reports of children’s television viewing and digital technology usage, and wppsi-iv intelligence scale scores and visual spatial composite scores were examined. preschoolers’ screen time was also compared to a previous 2010 group to look for changes in television viewing patterns following an increase in digital device usage. the results provide evidence of an interaction between digital media usage and visual spatial abilities. preschoolers with higher reported digital media usage had lower wppsiiv visual spatial composite scores and full scale iq scores, on average. television viewing patterns have remained similar over time, but technological device usage has increased. lower maternal education, lower ses, and being from a historically disadvantaged background were associated with greater usage time. practical implications for prevention, early intervention, education and policy are discussed. keywords: visual spatial functioning; preschooler; screen time; mobile devices; integrated technology the child has always been an active participant in their own developmental progress, and theorists have long identified the importance of fine motor functioning for preschooler growth. however, the preschooler’s interaction within the larger world has changed with the advent of technology, and device usage results in less opportunity for traditional three dimensional interactions. sensorimotor skills are key for early cognitive development in children (piaget, 1952), and having less opportunities can impact development. digital media presents different exploration methods, and tends to be more isolative (radesky et al., 2015). the use of digital media changes how the child uses their visual and spatial skills. the infant actively explores their environment through the use of motor skills, and this forms the base for their knowledge of the world. socialization and exploration within the home or larger environment have historically been the proving ground for a youngster to test out new behaviors and ideas. understanding how visual spatial functioning is related to later academic learning sets the stage for exploration into the impact of digital media on young children. digital media and visual spatial performance 25 visual and spatial abilities are progressively mastered as a skill set during childhood, and used in everyday life as an adult. the action of unlocking a door with a key, addressing an envelope, or hanging a picture on a wall are the result of playing with legos, stacking blocks, or completing puzzles as a child. thinking spatially allows us to focus on object location, shape, the relation to other objects, and what happens when the items move (newcombe, 2010). spatial skills and academic functioning cognition and motor functioning are intertwined. diamond (2000) wrote that thought and perceptual-motor areas of the brain are not separate, but work in a complementary manner. motor development provides the means for children to learn how to learn (adolph, 2008). preschoolers who engaged in more puzzle play were found to later have higher spatial transformation scores (levine, ratcliff, huttenlocher & cannon, 2012). visual perception is key for future visual-motor coordination, and involves the assimilation of new and different information so as to build a base for cognition and emotion (park & oh, 2014). mastery of spatial skills has increasingly been linked to later academic achievement. science, technology, engineering and math fields (stem) build upon those early years of motor development (uttal, meadow, tipton, et. al., 2013). dinehart and manfra (2013) found that fine motor manipulation skills were linked to math achievement in second graders. high schoolers with greater spatial abilities were tracked for eleven years, and were more likely to become adults working the in the stem field (wai, lubinski & benbow, 2009). spatial skills acquisition is an ongoing process, and the loss of exposure at one point in time does not doom the child forever. development is flexible, with ongoing opportunities for training (uttal et al., 2013). spatial skills acquisition in early childhood is typically a continuing and natural interaction between the child and their environment. however, skills that were initially underdeveloped can still be introduced, even at young ages. the key is to determine when a delay is present, identify habits that hinder visual spatial abilities, and actively promote greater mastery. this can then contribute to the basis for mathematical achievement in later years (verdine, golinkoff, hirsh-pasek & newcombe, 2014). integrated technology the young children of today have never known a life without mobile devices, computers and television. parents use technology as a means of facilitating learning. however, the quality of the digital software may not live up to the marketing claims. grant et al. (2012) found that reading software programs lacked the full qualities needed for adequate instruction. young children are digital natives who are drawn to mobile technology and able to easily maneuver through applications (apps). numerous apps have been developed for preschoolers. touch screen technology can be found in homes as well as in preschool settings, and the top grossing apps for young children sold on the itunes website are advertised as “education” (http://itunes.apple.com/). yet studies have not yet been conducted on the validity of the educational potential. parents often emphasize the educational benefit of digital usage based on the promotional marketing (verenikina & kervin, 2011), which may create a positive halo effect. the belief that there is a positive educational impact results in parents having an overall http://itunes.apple.com/ 26 keefe-cooperman optimistic view of their child using integrated technology, even without the research to back up these beliefs. this prevents parents from implementing practices that will offset digital usage, such as greater visual spatial play or time limits. there is also a pass-back effect (chiong & schuler, 2010), which is frequently seen in public when a parent gives their mobile device to the child. this serves to increase the accessibility for the youngster, as no one needs to sit in just one place to play on a computer anymore. many benefits are cited in relation to increased access to technology. chiong and schuler (2010) note that mobile learning provides a venue for underserved children to be able to access educational material, and that teachable moments can now occur anytime and anyplace. apps have also been integrated into special education therapies. bouvat, kangas and szczech (2014) cite the positive aspects of apps related to helping youngsters with special needs, and increasing academic learning. the ideas are correct in theory, but is integrated computer technology being used wisely? evolving technological trends make it difficult stay current with research. the quickly changing technological landscape makes it difficult to conduct research on both the immediate and long-term effects of current media device usage. as an example, a study conducted on preschoolers 10 years ago would not focus on ease of access to technology both in and out of the home in daily life. parents also do not have a personal reference point from their own early life to compare technology usage with their children so as to provide proper governance. the current world has even been referred to as the “digital wild west” (rideout, 2014). adults often relate back to their own childhood experiences as a reference point for parenting. there is a lack of a reference point to use as a model, which results in ambiguity as to how to best handle screen usage (plowman, mcpake & stephen, 2010). parental screen time usage has also been strongly linked with the amount of time their child spends with technology (lauricella, wartella & rideout, 2015), with those adults who use more technology favorably viewing usage by their children. digital usage is growing, as noted in the increase of children using a mobile device for media activity from 39% in 2011 to 80% in 2013 (rideout, 2014). differences in the use of integrated technology are also seen based on ses and racial/ethnic characteristics. children who are poorer or of minority status have higher usage rates daily (rideout, 2013). it is known that early exposure to television can be associated with detrimental developmental consequences in a variety of areas (kirkorian, pempek, murphy, schmidt & anderson, 2009). gawler butler (1997) found that children in a first grade writing program who used television and video games delved less into the areas of feelings, attitudes, and understanding. radesky et al. (2015) examined the frequency of mobile device usage in low income mother-child interactions, and found fewer interpersonal interactions as use increased. at-risk children already show less optimal sleep health, and related adaptive and cognitive functioning issues (keefe-cooperman & brady-amoon, 2014). digital usage provides an additional detraction for already disadvantaged youth, and impedes educational efforts to close the achievement gap. spatial development and integrated technology children physically interact with their environment, and this provides the explorative opportunities to develop and master spatial skills necessary for future daily functioning and stem achievement. understanding how digital usage impacts spatial development is key, as the type of motor interaction children have within their larger world is changing. integrated digital media and visual spatial performance 27 technology usage may be taking up time previously spent building blocks, or stacking pots on a kitchen floor. the way children play with a smart device is different. touch screen usage involves a physically different manipulation of objects. fingers are used to move items across the screen in a two dimensional manner. there is no stacking or turning of items physically. in fact, only one hand is typically used to move digital media (manches, 2011). puzzles can now be completed on a touch screen without the child ever learning to physically turn the items so as to fit them into a space. two dimensional media objects lack the perceptual cues of three-dimensional items, and negatively impact future application due to the limited nature of movement (barr, 2013). the biomechanics of motor development are stunted by the limited range of motion and lack of opportunities to develop new movements (jensen, 2005). children are awake for only a certain amount of time daily, and the visual spatial skills gained through natural play are lessened when the child is spending their day on a digital device. much of the information about digital device usage impacting spatial development is anecdotal due to the rapid integration of technology into the daily life of preschoolers. the american academy of pediatrics (2015) suggests limits for screen time, but provides only minimal guidance on how to successfully help parents enforce healthy usage boundaries. additionally and on a biological level, brain development is impacted by the changing way in which preschoolers are exploring their world. the neural infrastructure in the basal ganglia and cerebellum that arises during early cognitive motor exploration within the environment could be influenced by two dimensional rather than three-dimensional exploration (grissmer, grimm, aiyer, murrah & steele, 2010). lastly, digital media involves the portrayal of items on a screen, whether television or device. the symbolic representations of items may be open to different visual interpretation by the preschooler than a real life object (claxton, 2011). researchers are racing to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of the preschooler’s world, and how the integration of technology impacts learning. understanding the impact of digital device usage related to visual spatial functioning will set the stage for the development of guidelines for screen time and digital media. purpose the purpose of the current study was to examine the association between screen time, defined as total amounts of time spent watching television and/or on a touch screen device, and visual spatial abilities among a sample of typically developing preschoolers. the sample is important, as information is needed regarding touch screen device usage and total screen time within the preschool population. additionally relevant is the relation between technology usage and typically measured visual spatial abilities. several hypotheses were tested (a) time spent on digital devices is significantly negatively associated with visual spatial abilities; (b) television viewing time has not decreased since 2010, and children have more total screen time due to the increase of digital device usage in society; and (c) there is a significant relation between overall screen time/digital device usage based and racial identification, ses, and maternal education. 28 keefe-cooperman method participants and procedures a comprehensive evaluation process was conducted as part of the referral system to school district-based intervention services. secondary data from the evaluations was used for this study. the geographic area included the new york city suburbs of westchester and rockland counties. the measures used in this study were those approved by the school districts serviced. children are evaluated for possible therapeutic services following a referral by the parents to the committee on preschool special education (cpse) in their school district. many of the referrals are based on preschool and pediatrician recommendations, as well as parental concerns. the primary focus of services is typically speech related, with the primary focus being articulation. children with more significant needs tend to receive services in specialized therapeutic preschools, and those evaluations are conducted onsite. the secondary data represented in this study is of typically functioning children as a whole who present with issues such as articulation concerns, and a small amount with fine or gross motor concerns, or behavioral concerns. the children attended regular preschools and showed no major developmental difficulties. many of the children also did not qualify for any service, and were undergoing an evaluation as a rule out. cpse serves all children 3 – 5 years of age through the school district in which they live, and the evaluation process includes multiple measures from psychologists, educators, and therapists specializing in the areas of concern. additionally, children who receive therapeutic services (i.e. therapy to address a speech issue) up until the age of 3 years through early intervention are re-evaluated by cpse prior to their 3 rd birthday. those children also receive the same battery of tests to determine if ongoing services are needed. many children are found to no longer qualify for services due to progress made, and are not transitioned to cpse (mgt of america, 2007). the psychological evaluation consists of a structured social history, the wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence-fourth edition (wppsi-iv), and either the vineland adaptive behavior scales ii – parent/caregiver rating form (vineland-ii), or the behavior assessment system for children, second edition (basc-2) – parent or teacher. many of the problem areas were developmentally minor, and resulted in a significant number of evaluated children no longer needing services or not qualifying at all for services through cpse. the vast majority of children evaluated attended preschool in a regular setting. the full scale iq (fsiq) scores for these youngsters were reflective of typically developing children, as seen in the median standard score of 101 and mode of 100. basc-2 scores indicated that the overwhelming majority were in the adequate range of adaptive functioning. vineland-ii scores also indicated that the children as a whole were rated as functioning in the adequate range. the preschoolers matched the larger population as a whole. the similarity between these children and the general population on key variables, including cognitive and adaptive scores as well as caregiver interviews, contributes to its designation as a community sample (wilkinson & task force on statistical inference, 1999). participant group 2014. the study group was composed of 492 children with a mean age of 3.38 years (sd = .67), and a median age of 3.1 years, and modal age of 2.8 years. the evaluations were conducted in 2013 and 2014. a total of 326 were male, and 173 were female. parents or other primary caregivers reported their children’s race/ethnicity as follows: europeanamerican or white (n = 371, 74.1%), latino or hispanic (n =45, 9%), black or african digital media and visual spatial performance 29 american (n = 51, 10.2%), and asian or asian american (n = 25, 5%). the sample was somewhat under representative of latino, and african american populations, and slightly over representative of asian children. however, the breakdown of the typically developing children in this study represents ethnic and racial trends based on the 2010 u. s. census (humes, jones & ramirez, 2011). parents/caregiver income information was not provided as part of the evaluation process. matching zip code and u.s. median income census data has been used successfully to infer socioeconomic status (mikolaitis, aggarwal, block & jolly, 2008; king & bearman, 2011). determination of income was derived by matching the zip code of the preschooler with the u.s. 2010 median income census findings (www.census.gov/2010census). the results found that 11.8% of the children (n =59) lived in at risk/lower income areas, 16.8% (n = 84) lived in lower middle class areas, 44.3% (n = 221) lived in middle class areas, and 25.9% (n = 129) lived in upper middle class areas. this determination was completed on an individualized basis, and then the group was examined as an aggregate. the majority of female caregivers reported having attained at least a college degree (77.7%). the remaining caregivers self-reported having some college (14.1%), having a high school degree or its equivalent (4.6%), or not finishing high school (3.6%). participant group 2010. a group of 612 typically developing children were evaluated between the years of 2005 and july of 2010, using the same structured social history. the two groups were similar to each other in all areas, including age, parental information and level of functioning. the sample was composed of children aged 30 – 45 months. the structured social history was verbally conducted with each parent caregiver and focused on prenatal and birth history, familial make up, and daily living patterns. this study focused only on preschooler media usage. television viewing time was queried, as parents reported that as the primary form of screen time for children. this group was used as part of this study because this was prior to the digital explosion that occurred after 2011. this provided a base to examine different screen time usage patterns both prior to, and after the digital expansion of touch screen technology. measures parent/caregiver reports of digital device usage. parents or caregivers were asked to separately and specifically indicate their child’s ongoing average television viewing time, television programming choices, and digital device usage time to determine overall screen time as part of a structured interview protocol conducted in 2013-2014. both television viewing times and digital device times were collected. wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence-fourth edition (wppsiiv). the wppsi-iv (wechsler, 2012) is a psychometrically strong instrument for the assessment of cognitive ability and more explicit intellectual abilities in young children. the intelligence measure is administered individually to children ages 2.6 years to 7.7 years (thorndike, 2014). the composite scores used for children in this study ages 2.6 years until 3 years, 11 months included a full scale iq (fsiq), along with the primary index scores of verbal comprehension (vsi), visual spatial (vsi), and working memory (wmi) (thorndike, 2014). the composite scores for children aged 4 years until 7 years, 7 months include the full scale iq 30 keefe-cooperman (fsiq), along with the primary index scores of verbal comprehension (vci), visual spatial (vsi), fluid reasoning (fri), working memory (wmi), and processing speed (psi). the norm referenced mean of the fsiq and primary index scores is 100 (sd = 15), with larger scores indicative of higher cognitive abilities. the visual spatial index was of primary focus. the visual spatial index score assesses visual spatial processing, integration and synthesis of part-whole relationships, attentiveness to visual detail, nonverbal concept formation and visual-motor integration. two subtests comprise the visual spatial index. the block design subtest focuses on the child’s ability to manipulate blocks so as to replicate patterns. the object assembly subtest assesses the child’s ability to complete puzzles. peabody developmental motor scales – second edition (pdms-2). a subset of 138 children were administered the pdms-2: fine motor quotient, as part of the evaluation battery. the pdms-2 (folio & fewell, 2000) measures gross motor skills using four subtests, and fine motor movement skills using two subtests. the measure has been found to be a reliable and valid test to identify children who may need therapies (bunker & kellers, 2003). the fine motor quotient was used for this study, and the score is derived from a grasping subtest and a visual-motor integration (vmi) subtest. the grasping subtest examines the ability of a child to use their hands. the vmi subtest measures a child’s ability to use visual perceptual skills to perform complex eye-hand coordination. building with blocks is one example of a task assessed for vmi. the measure has reliable and valid scales, and is a standardized instrument primarily used for individual assessment of children from birth until 6 years of age. the norm referenced mean is 100 (sd = 15). results results by hypothesis digital device usage and visual spatial abilities. the results of a bivariate correlation analysis examining digital device time usage, wppsi-iv vsi and pdms-2 fmq scores can be found in table 1. the first hypothesis, that time spent on digital devices would be negatively associated with visual-spatial abilities was supported. the results showed a statistically significant negative correlation between the amount of time spent on a digital device and the wppsi-iv vsi, r(435) = -.10, p = .037. the correlation between digital device time usage and the pdms-2 fmq was not statistically significant, r(132) = -.063, p = .47. because of the smaller sample size. the results also showed a statistically significant negative correlation between the amount of time spend on a digital device and overall wppsi-iv fsiq scores, r(435) = -.20, p < .001. the negative correlation between the wppsi-iv vsi and digital device time usage is uniform throughout. there is no threshold level whereby digital device time usage is associated with lower wppsi-iv vsi. any digital device usage was associated with lower wppsi-iv vsi scores. digital media and visual spatial performance 31 table 1 bivariate correlations among wppsi-iv visual spatial composite index, smart device usage time, and pdms-2 fine motor quotient 1 2 3 4 1. wppsi-iv visual spatial - -.10* .27 - 2. smart device usage - -.06 -.20** 3. pdms-2 fmq - - 4. wppsi-iv full scale iq - * p < .05 television viewing time between 2010 and 2014 participants. an independent samples t test was conducted to examine the mean number of hours of television watching between the 2010 and 2014 groups. see tables 2, 3 and 4 for the screen time and digital device usage time of the two groups. statistical assumptions of normality, equality of variances, and independence were found to be tenable. on average, children from the 2010 time point (n = 612) watched 1.84 hours of television per day (sd = 1.08), while children from the 2014 time point (n = 333) watched 1.87 hours of television per day (sd = 1.18). this difference (.035 hours, sedifference = .076, 95% ci -.185, 114) was not statistically significant t(943) = −.466, p = .641. the difference represented only a very small effect. the 2014 group watched about the same amount of television, and had additional screen time through digital usage. the 2014 preschooler group had higher daily total screen time amounts as a result. additionally, on average, children who were reported to watch greater amounts of television had higher amounts of technology usage. there was a statistically significant negative correlation between increased television viewing patterns and wppsi-iv fsiq scores, r(500) = -.14, p < .001. digital media time usage amongst ethnic/racial and ses groups, and differing maternal education levels. a one-way analysis of variance (anova) was used to examine whether reported digital device time usage differed amongst european american, african american, latino(a), and asian preschoolers. a very small number identified as multiracial. due to the limited number of participants who identified as multiracial, their scores were not included in the anova results. tables 2, 3, and 4 present the 2014 television viewing times, digital device usage time, and total screen times for the racial/ethnic, ses, and maternal education groups in hours and minutes. the wppsi-iv visual spatial mean scores and standard deviations are also shown. the tables also show the 2010 television viewing amounts by group. table 2 specifically depicts the usage for each of the five ethnic/racial groups. as shown in figure 1, there was a statistically significant effect of amount of digital device time usage for the different groups [f(3, 447) = 9.601, p < .001]. the results of games-howell post-hoc tests can be found in figure 1 and indicated that european american preschoolers reported statistically significant less digital device time usage than african american participants, but not latino(a), and asian participants. 32 keefe-cooperman figure 1. digital device time usage and racial identity/ethnicity note: european american preschoolers reported statistically significant less digital device time usage than african american participants, but not latino(a), and asian participants. ethnic/racial identity is related to digital device time usage. the mean number of minutes of digital device use reported by european american preschoolers (m = 18.91, sd = 35.77) reported 20 minutes less daily digital device usage than the asian group (m = 39.08, sd = 65.56), about 17 minutes less than the latino(a) group (m = 36.32, sd = 44.76), and 30 minutes less than the african american group (m = 49.29, sd = 62.3). the results can be viewed in table 2. digital media and visual spatial performance 33 table 2 television viewing times, smart device usage, and total screen time in racial/ethnic identity from the 2010 and 2014 preschooler groups racial identity/ n television a digital device b total screen a wppsi-iv ethnicity time time time vs european american 2010 708 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 340 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 1 – 2 hrs 97.73 (11.31) african american/black 2010 53 2 – 3 hrs 2 – 3 hrs 2014 49 2 – 3 hrs 45 – 60 min > 3 hrs 88.2 (12.39) latino(a) 2010 47 2 – 3 hrs 2 – 3 hrs 2014 38 2 – 3 hrs 30 – 45 min 2 – 3 hrs 88.67 (10.44) asian 2010 39 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 24 1 – 2 hrs 30 – 45 min 2 – 3 hrs 96.92 (10.71) total 2010 847 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 451 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 2 – 3 hrs 92.88 (11.21) note. wppsi-iv visual spatial (vs) composite score is derived from the block design and object assembly subtest scores; m = 100, sd = 15. a television and total screen usage time have been collapsed into time categories: < 1 hour; 1 – 2 hours; 2 – 3 hours; > 3 hours. b digital device usage time has been collapsed into categories: 15 – 30 minutes; 30 – 45 minutes; 45 – 60 minutes. anova was also used to examine whether reported digital device time usage differed amongst ses groups, and can be viewed in figure 2. a very small number of participants identified as extremely high ses, and their scores were not included in the anova results. mean digital device usage was statistically significant by ses group [f(3, 448) = 12.043, p < .001). see table 3 for the time usage for each of the ses groups. the results of games-howell post-hoc tests indicated that parents in the “at risk” income level reported statistically significant greater amounts of digital device time usage than those in the lower middle class, middle class, and upper middle class. 34 keefe-cooperman figure 2. digital device time usage and socioeconomic status note: parents in the “at risk” income level reported greater statistically significant digital device time usage than those in the lower middle class, middle class, and upper middle class. digital media and visual spatial performance 35 table 3 television viewing times, smart device usage, and total screen time in minutes for socioeconomic groups from the 2010 and 2014 preschooler groups ses group n television digital device total screen wppsi-iv time time time vs m (sd) at risk/lowest income 2010 59 2 – 3 hrs 2 – 3 hrs 2014 53 2 – 3 hrs 45 – 60 min > 3 hrs 90.11 (10.36) lower middle class 2010 (combined with middle class) 2014 74 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 2 – 3 hrs 95.12 (10.60) middle class 2010 625 1 – 2 hrs 2 – 3 hrs 2014 204 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 2 – 3 hrs 95.94 (11.32) upper middle class 2010 141 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 121 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 1 – 2 hrs 98.23 (11.10) total 2010 847 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 452 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 2 – 3 hrs 95.66 (11.22) note. wppsi-iv visual spatial (vs) composite score is derived from the block design and object assembly subtest scores; m = 100, sd = 15. a television and total screen usage time have been collapsed into time categories: 1 – 2 hours; 2 – 3 hours; > 3 hours. b digital device usage time has been collapsed into categories: 15 – 30 minutes; 30 – 45 minutes; 45 – 60 minutes. the means and standard deviations of the “at risk” group for reported digital device usage (m = 56.98, sd = 72.62) was 33 – 37 minutes more daily than the lower middle class (m = 23.51, sd = 37.60), middle class (m = 19.24, sd = 33.32), and upper middle class (m = 20.98, sd = 38.67). historically disadvantaged and poorer children are spending more time on digital devices. maternal education was also related to digital media usage. while the anova was statistically significant, none of the individual comparisons were statistically significant and the means do not show a clear pattern. as shown in figure 3, no clear pattern of means of smart device usage emerged as a function of maternal education. the means and standard deviations based on maternal education included those who did not graduate high school (m = 41.11, sd = 51.10), high school graduates (m = 24.32, sd = 35.20), some college (m = 39.44, sd = 56.60), and a college degree of higher (m = 21.19, sd = 37.79). see table 4 for the time usage for each of the four groups. 36 keefe-cooperman figure 3. digital device time usage and maternal education note: maternal education was also related to digital media time usage, but no clear pattern of means of smart device usage emerged as a function of maternal education. digital media and visual spatial performance 37 table 4 television viewing times, smart device usage, and total screen time in minutes for maternal education groups from the 2010 and 2014 preschooler groups maternal n television digital device total screen wppsi-iv education time time time vs m (sd) did graduate high school 2010 10 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 9 1 – 2 hrs 30 – 45 min 2 – 3 hrs 92.13 (9.32) high school graduate 2010 51 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 22 2 – 3 hrs 15 – 30 min 2 – 3 hrs 86.4 (13.43) some college 2010 103 2 – 3 hrs 2 – 3 hrs 2014 63 2 – 3 hrs 30 – 45 min 2 – 3 hrs 91.39 (9.63) college degree or higher 2010 477 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 352 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 1 – 2 hrs 97.11 (11.12) total 2010 641 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 446 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 2 – 3 hrs 95.64 (11.33) note. wppsi-iv visual spatial (vs) composite score is derived from the block design and object assembly subtest scores; m = 100, sd = 15. a television and total screen usage time have been collapsed into time categories: < 1 hour; 1 – 2 hours; 2 – 3 hours; > 3 hours. b digital device usage time has been collapsed into categories: 15 – 30 minutes; 30 – 45 minutes; 45 – 60 minutes. television screen time amongst ethnic/racial and ses groups, and differing maternal education levels. a one-way analysis of variance (anova) was used to examine whether reported television screen time differed amongst european american, african american, latino(a), and asian preschoolers. there was a statistically significant effect of amount of television screen time for the different groups [f(3, 448) = 10.209, p < .001]. the results of games-howell post-hoc tests indicated that european american preschoolers reported statistically significant less television viewing time usage than african american participants, but not latino(a), and asian participants. ethnic/racial identity is related to television screen time. the mean number of minutes of television viewing time reported by european american preschoolers (m = 94.68, sd = 60.88) was almost 20 minutes less than the asian group (m = 111.88, sd = 63.33), about 17 minutes less than the latino(a) group (m = 126.58, sd = 92.15), and 30 minutes less than the african american group (m = 148.78, sd = 102.96). anova was also used to examine whether reported television screen time differed amongst ses groups. mean television screen time varied significantly by ses group [f(3, 449) = 12.447, p < .001). the results of games-howell post-hoc tests indicated that parents in the 38 keefe-cooperman upper middle class income level reported statistically significant fewer hours of television screen time than those in the three other ses groups. the means and standard deviations of the upper middle class group for reported television viewing time (m = 76.98, sd = 46.52) was 30 – 60 minutes less daily than the at risk (m = 138.67, sd = 94.54), lower middle class (m = 119.53, sd = 82.07), and middle class (m = 106.79, sd = 67.78). historically disadvantaged and poorer children are spending more time viewing television daily. maternal education was also related to television screen time [f(3, 443) = 4.603, p = .003). the results of games-howell post-hoc tests indicated that parents with a college degree or higher (m = 97.96, sd = 66.26) reported statistically significant fewer hours of television screen time than those some college (m = 132.14, sd = 84.93). although not statistically significant, children of parents with a college degree or higher also had less television viewing time than the high school graduate group (m = 121.14, sd = 94.79), and those that did not graduate high school (m = 106.67, sd = 72.11). discussion digital technology is easily accessible in the homes of preschoolers, and young children are spending more time with touch screen devices. usage limits are recommended (american academy of pediatrics, 2015), but little guidance is provided as to what is an optimal amount. children have added additional screen time to already existing television viewing patterns due to the ever expanding and ubiquitous nature of digital media. this study is the first to provide novel information about how the increase in digital usage relates to preschooler visual spatial functioning; that there is more screen time due to the combination of television and touch screen devices; and there are digital device usage differences based on racial identity, ses and maternal education. additionally, the results extend previous research showing how ethnic/racial status, ses, and maternal education are related to greater risk for educational difficulties. at risk preschoolers are missing opportunities for naturally occurring visual spatial exploration within the environment because of increased integrated technology usage. distinguishing features of this present study included the comparison between preschoolers from 2010 with those from 2014. an examination of the life of the preschooler both before and after the explosion of integrated technology in daily life shows that overall screen time increased. this study also has important policy and guidance implications for parents and educators due to a lack of fact based recommendations for screen usage. the results lead to discussions on how to mediate the negative effect associated with digital media usage and visual spatial functioning, limiting total daily screen time in the life of the preschooler, and providing information on technological usage for at risk preschoolers. digital device usage and lower visual spatial abilities the lower wppsi-iv visual spatial scores found amongst children who used touch screen digital media supports previous research indicating that two dimensional play, whether educational or not, does not translate over to the three-dimensional world (barr, 2013). preschoolers are spending more time daily being passive members of their environment instead digital media and visual spatial performance 39 of actively exploring and developing skills. this was seen in clinical observations of the preschoolers when playing with puzzles and blocks in this study. preschoolers with reported digital device usage often turned the puzzle pieces experimentally in all directions, but kept them at the same angle while banging the pieces together. the findings of the study support the real world observations. a review of pdms-2 scores indicated similar deficits, even though the small number of children involved negated being able to statistically support the wppsi-iv findings. children with lower amounts of reported screen time still had lower visual spatial scores than those who did not use digital technology at all. recommending limits on digital media is not a sufficient enough measure. the findings indicate that preschoolers do not benefit from integrated technology usage. many apps are advertised as educational, but overall wppsi-iv iq scores showed no increase in overall cognitive functioning that might have been gained from greater exposure to knowledge enhancing games. in fact, overall fsiq scores were lower in children who had greater television viewing patterns and/or digital media usage. technological play is not helping with knowledge acquisition. as mentioned, early motor development and play is linked to later stem skills (uttal, meadow, tipton, et. al., 2013). the lower visual spatial scores have long reaching implications, because later stem performance can then be negatively impacted. greater research is needed to determine the exact impact of this decreased visual spatial development on later stem skills. television viewing times television viewing times remained similar between the 2010 preschoolers and 2014 preschoolers. however, there was an addition of digital device usage on top of television viewing for the 2014 group. children had even more total screen time on a daily basis in 2014 than 2010. this is in keeping with previous research (rideout, 2014). care was taken to separate television viewing from mobile device program viewing so as to accurately show how children are spending their days. the increase may be due to the ease of access to touch screen devices resulting in greater use when outside the home. preschoolers previously had to sit at a computer to play games, which naturally resulted in time limitations. mobile technology can now be accessed in the car, market, restaurant and other social environments. the individualized and isolative nature of digital play decreases the natural tendency of the preschooler to engage in social interactions with parents or peers, and the parent may often be on their own mobile device. the very act of socialization, and scaffolding opportunities, are lost. the child is spending more time being a passive participant watching television and playing on mobile devices, rather than being an active explorer and learner. digital device usage as related to ethnic/racial, ses groups, and level of maternal education on average, young children who are of minority status are using technology more than european american preschoolers. the results supported and built upon previous findings focusing on children who are poorer or of minority status (rideout, 2013). interpersonal interactions are lessened due to a lack of opportunities for socialization. opportunities to develop visual spatial abilities are decreased. interventions can be initiated to increase visual spatial acuity, but many 40 keefe-cooperman disadvantaged populations lack the means of access. at risk populations need to be informed that the seemingly positive aspects of integrated technology are, in reality, not helping small children. policy makers, parents and educators need to be aware that just because an app is marketed as “education,” does not mean it actually is educational. children who are at the lowest level of ses also used technology more, indicating that those with the least amount of resources are at the most risk for lower visual spatial abilities. technology has become affordable and is integrated into every ses level, but guiding principles for usage need to be improved. preschoolers whose mothers/female caregivers had a higher level of education spend less time using integrated technology daily. maternal education appears to be linked with greater limits being placed on digital media usage. caregivers with less education are more likely to allow greater usage of integrated technology than those with more education. as caregivers with less schooling are also more likely to be lower ses, this places an even greater need for education regarding best practices for preschoolers and screen time. future research should focus on integrated technology usage across different ages so as to determine if there is an appropriate age for usage. additionally, greater information is needed on other areas of functioning, such as language development or eye movement. limitations this study has several limitations. this study was representative of american preschoolers, and exploration of children in other countries would also be beneficial. the majority of the parents/caregivers interviewed identified as white. the results should also be interpreted with caution, given the very large standard deviations of preschoolers’ use of digital devices. greater sampling from different racial groups was desired, as well as a more stratified ses and levels of maternal education. representations from a variety of groups would have provided more data. parents/caregivers were surveyed for the daily patterns of the preschoolers, and their selfreported data could not be verified by independent methods, such as taping or charting daily usage. using empirical daily monitoring would have provided more objectively verified patterns of usage. we recommend that future researchers consider ways to address these limitations and expand the knowledge of digital usage. conclusion digital media usage is growing among preschoolers, and there are no proven educational or social benefits. this study can be used to inform policy and interventions for preschoolers. the two dimensional and isolative way in which touch screen devices are used does not replicate the three-dimensional world in which we live. visual spatial exploration is key for development, and is being hampered by integrated technology usage. additionally, preschoolers have increased overall screen time from even 8 years ago. children who are poorer, have mothers/female caregivers with less education, or are of historically disadvantaged minority/ethnic status are on technological devices more than their peers, and are missing opportunities for developmental growth. digital media and visual spatial performance 41 education and guidance must be provided to parents so as to ensure appropriate development in children. parents must be made aware of the real impact of usage on their children’s skills acquisition. well defined guidelines for apps that are marketed as “education” need to be developed. educators, policy makers, mental and medical health 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(1999). statistical methods in psychology journals: guidelines and explanations. american psychologist, 54, 594–604. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.54.8.594 dialog, 16(4), 88-93 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary teacher initiated communication strategies to engage urban parents tehia v. starker and stephen d. hancock university of north carolina at charlotte this article summarizes a research study investigating teacher initiated communication efforts as it related to engaging urban parents in the elementary school classroom from a sociocultural perspective. results revealed that shared knowledge, empowerment, responsive planning, developing cultural knowledge and establishing trust were essential in responsive communication. the results also suggested that the use of multiple teacher initiated communications strategies were most effective to engage parents responsively. key words: urban teacher-parent communication; parental involvement; teacher initiated communication; culturally responsive communication support for family involvement is a targeted area of educational improvement as the no child left behind act “requires schools to develop ways to get parents more involved in their child's education and in improving the school” (no child left behind act, sec. 1118; in mattingly, prislin, mckenzie, rodriguez & kayzar 2002). mattingly et al. (2002) acknowledges that activities to increase parent involvement have indeed become consistent components of federal, state, and local education policies. because of these mandates, teachers have worked to invite more parental involvement into their classrooms. in addition, teachers also know and research supports that parents who are more involved have students who are more academically successful, which is the ultimate result for all students (jeynes, 2005). the concern becomes deepens as teachers and families must define what effective parent-teacher communication and engagement look like. to examine parent teacher communication and engagement from an urban context, sociocultural capital comes into play. for the purpose of this study, sociocultural capital referred to the transmission of and adherence to shared norms and expectations. shared norms and expectations to the researchers refers to connecting the bridge between home and school, with no one environment having more power or knowledge than the other. the norms and expectations can transfer from one environment to the other without a power struggle. once autonomy has been shared and understood between teacher and parents, success for the student can begin and true communication between teacher and parent can occur. teacher initiated communication strategies to engage urban parents 89 summary of the study purpose and research methods the primary goal of this study was to investigate the communicative strategies of an ‘effective’ teacher as it related to urban parental involvement. we first created the contextual framework for discussing the role of sociocultural capital as a factor that teachers must address when communicating with urban parents. the end result of this study was to examine which teacher initiated communication activities were most influential in getting parents involved in the classroom, and what they looked like. therefore, the teacher initiated communication activities were analyzed, and assisted in the creation of the tics scale. there is a plethora of research about the effects of the lack of parental involvement with urban families, so this piece seeks to contribute to the dearth of research about how to effectively communicate with urban parents. the use of autoethnography was chosen to examine personal communicative patterns from a teacher’s perspective as a framework for developing narratives from parents. the data were collected for a period of six months from the teacher’s journal on parent communications, observational notes of parental interaction, and informal conversations with parents. data from all sources was used to develop rich narratives and triangulate for accuracy. grounded theory (charmaz, 2000) was used to structure a step by step process for coding and analyzing the data for patterns and themes. narrative analysis coupled with thematic analysis was employed to analyze and develop effective and accurate narratives. grounded theory also afforded accurate contextual descriptions and created space to compare the narratives with the perspectives of the participants. in addition, a narrative protocol was developed to minimize bias and create consistency in each narrative’s purpose, validity and reliability. major findings as a result of the data analysis, narratives of parental interactions were developed. the brief synopses of the narratives capture the essence of the parent-teacher interactions. table 1 reflects the narrative themes, a description of the narrative, implications for teachers, and how the theme connects to the teacher initiated communication scale, which will be detailed further below. additionally, each theme will be further explained. 90 starker & hancock table 1. data narratives with descriptions and findings, indicators data narratives brief description results/findings tics quality parent involvement ‘how can i help you’ a parent ask to assist in the classroom and consequently relieves the teacher of stress as well as finding her space in the classroom dynamics creating spaces for parental empowerment parental awareness of a genuine need fosters parental interest plan assignments and activities (jobs) for parents 3 & 4 parent and teacher relationship ‘between a rock and a hard place’ in a parent/teacher conference a father reveals his struggles with reading and schools in general. he vows with the teacher to support at home and school efforts to ensure his daughter will read on level before school ends. suspended judgment and genuine acceptance promotes trust shared goals among parents and teacher plus common interest in the success of child builds relationships student success is depended on parent and teacher communication and partnership 3 & 4 building trust beyond the classroom ‘you’ jus’ like family’ a home visit strengthens home/school relationships and yields positive behavior outcomes as well as enduring academic success for a student going through a family crisis (divorce). triangulated partnerships among the student, parent and teacher promotes the acquisition of cultural knowledge understanding root cause(s) of disruptive behavior can alter teacher (re)actions home visits are one of the most effective forms of communication 3 & 4 practical communication ‘holla back!’ weekly letters sent to parents as one form of how the teacher communicated regularly. provide both positive and pertinent information. use language that is neither harsh, jargon loaded, or too fluffy. proof read all letters. know your parents! prepare responsive communicative strategies. 1 & 2 teacher initiated communication strategies to engage urban parents 91 narrative themes quality parent involvement quality parent involvement describes how parent involvement emerged out of classroom needs into a more meaningful event. teachers can create a space in the classroom for parents/caregivers to explore their personal interests and the many ways of helping. allowing parents’ background and work prior experiences can be utilized in the classroom to help students and the teacher. another trace of quality parent involvement was the teacher being honest and open enough to share that they don’t know everything, and the answer can be discovered together. this was a great example of how authority of knowledge can be shared between teacher and parent. parent and teacher relationship within the classroom dynamics, teachers should develop a rapport with parents, albeit academic or personal, but it must be based on “true” knowledge, not preconceived notions or stereotypes. once a relationship is developed, it is easier to move beyond deficit-oriented personal beliefs and progress towards affirming-oriented high student expectations and success. when upholding an affirming perspective, it is easier to reduce the temptation to impose values on parents, and more so attempt to generate connections between home and school via authentic established relationships. building trust beyond the classroom for parents who getting to know them during a parent teacher meeting is labor intensive, an alternative is to interact with parents outside of the classroom environment. that allows for a mutual trust and respectful partnership. understanding and engaging in the community which surrounds the school can reflect a genuine interest in learning about cultural differences and similarities. furthermore, that outside school information can be used within the classroom. another method of building trust beyond the classroom is making home visits. berger (1995) suggested that in preparation for home visits teachers must remember to, “be good listeners, set specific goals for each visit, be flexible, realize the limitations of our role as teachers, remember that small improvements lead to big ones, be yourself, respect cultural and ethnic values, don't impose personal values, don't expect perfection from parents, and begin working with the parent and child on a specific activity immediately” (pp. 316-317). mutual trust encompasses knowing about students and their families removed from stereotypes and preconceived notions via making home visits. consistent communication consistent methods of communication establish expectations for continuous parental involvement. the avenues to communicate can vary depending on the teacher and the families. 92 starker & hancock after a home visit insight can be provided on how parents like to communicate. understanding when parent’s work can generate an idea of when a parent can take a phone call or if they need to be contacted via letter or email. keeping parents abreast of what is occurring academically in the classroom informs parents of ways to be involved in and out of the classroom. a critical component to consistent communication is to “know the audience,” and tailor the communication “to the audience and its information needs.” (dietz, 1997, p. 41). teacher initiated communication scale the four previous narratives reflected parent teacher communication birthed the teacher initiated communication scale (tics). undergirding the tics was a current of culturally responsive strategies. careful analysis of the narratives revealed four basic themes of communication: text only; calls only; text and calls; and face to face. the initial results of teacher initiated communication strategies showed parent involvement was most effective when multiple forms of communication were used. impact indicators were developed to label the teacher initiated activities based on time to develop and resources needed with (1) needing the least time and resources and (4) needing most time and resources. resources referred to social capital, community investment and trust development of families served. table 2 displays the teacher initiated communication scale (tics). table 2. teacher initiated communication scale level type example impact 1 communication via text contact. teacher sent newsletters, notes, journals, daily planners, texting* and emails low – med information 2 communication via phone contact teacher initiated communication through voice mails and phone conversations medium information/news 3 communication via text and phone contact teacher initiated communication through cards, gifts, conversations, and effects that are important to the parent community. med – high personal invitation 4 communication via face to face contact teacher initiated communication through on campus meetings {formal teacher/parent conferences, school events, school activities, field trips, informal meetings} and off campus meetings {home visits, local library, stores, place of worship, recreation centers, parks etc.}. high information, news, progress, personal invitations implications for practice in an effort to forge effective partnerships this study revealed teachers must communicate their desires to empower, responsively plan, gain cultural knowledge and build trust with parents. first, teachers should engage urban parents in classroom activities by encouraging them to be teacher initiated communication strategies to engage urban parents 93 room parents, help with organizing field trips, planning social activities, and deciding award criteria (benson & martin, 2003). these activities can empower parents and validate their interest in school involvement. secondly, teachers must carefully plan responsively communicative strategies and parent involvement opportunities to avoid confusion, anxiety, or disaster (haynes, ben-avie, squires, howley, negron, & corbin, 1996). parents should be able to come into the learning community and know how to assist. thirdly, in an effort to communicate effectively teachers must become aware of the culture of the families served. finally, building trust is a foundation for productive partnerships and communication with parents. trust building is a byproduct of amassing cultural knowledge and might also help parents feel accepted and at ease in the classroom. references benson, f., & martin, s. (2003). organizing successful parent involvement in urban schools. child study journal. 13(3), 187-193. berger, e. h. (1995). reaching for the stars: families and schools working together. early childhood education journal, 23(2), 119-123. charmaz, k. (2000). grounded theory: objectivist and constructivist methods. in n. k. denzin and y. s. lincoln (eds) handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 509-535). thousand oaks, ca: sage. dietz, m. (1997). school, family, and community: techniques and models for successful collaboration. gaithersburg, md: aspen publishers, inc. haynes, n., ben-avie, m., squires, d., howley, j., negron, e., & corbin, n. (1996). it takes a village: the sdp school. in j. comer, n. haynes, e. joyner, & m. ben-avie (eds.) rallying the whole village: the comer process for reforming education. new york: teachers college press. jeynes, w. (2005). a meta-analysis of the relation of parental involvement to urban elementary school student academic achievement. urban education 40(3), 237-269. mattingly, d., prislin, r., mckenzie, t., rodriguez, j., & kayzar, b. (2002). evaluating evaluations: the case of parent involvement programs. review of educational research 72(4)549-576. dialog, 19(3), 99-103 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary studying implementation process matters: implementing an evidencebased-intervention in early head start myae han, rena hallam, jason t. hustedt, jennifer a. vu, and juana gaviria-loaiza university of delaware the present study summarizes lessons from implementing an evidence-based parent-child interaction intervention, promoting first relationships, within an early head start (ehs) home visiting program. the study documented seven home visitors’ early experiences and feedback with intervention implementation examining overall experiences in using the intervention, challenges and issues identified during implementation, and recommendations and suggestions for sustainability of the intervention within the ehs program. findings indicate that overall, home visitors reported positive experiences with the implementation process. some negative experiences were identified in relation to the lengthy training process and changes in home visiting practice. challenges included learning about intervention content and managing household issues. recommendations for sustaining the intervention included providing ongoing support and having flexibility with the training process. keywords: early head start, parenting intervention, home visiting, implementation evidence-based programs are of high interest to researchers and policymakers in the field of human service and education. however, there have been growing concerns about scaling evidence-based interventions in community settings because the context can be very different from the context where the intervention was initially developed. recent research has demonstrated that even well-developed programs may fail or be less effective due to implementation issues “on the ground” (jones-harden, chazan-cohen, raikes, & vogel, 2012; supplee & metz, 2015). particular attention has been paid to the role of implementation in the professional development of the early care and education workforce as an important bridge to high quality practice (halle, metz, & martinez-beck, 2013; odom, 2009). implementation science provides the field with a framework for conceptualizing how to study and monitor processes regarding the preparation and support for field staff as well as the quality of intervention implementation with children and families. from an implementation perspective, the likelihood of successfully launching and sustaining an evidence-based intervention relies on three types of drivers: competency, organization, and leadership (fixsen & blase, 2008). competency drivers relate to the selection, professional development, and support of staff who are the actual implementers of a specific intervention. organizational drivers 100 han et al. include the gathering and utilization of data to inform decision-making, the development of responsive administrative procedures to support effective implementation, and the need to collaborate with external parties when necessary. leadership drivers refer to the importance of effective agency leaders and leadership teams in managing the overall process. one of the key premises of implementation science and the focus of this study is the importance of feedback loops to ensure adequate conditions are in place to promote high quality execution of an intervention as aligned to the above three organizational drivers (fixsen & blase, 2008). feedback loops are established when structures are put in place to gather and effectively use data to make decisions to refine the implementation of an intervention. this process allows for the agency or entity to quickly solve problems and barriers that arise during early implementation (metz & albers, 2014). this aspect is particularly significant when field or agency staff are the primary agents of change. feedback loops enable researchers and practitioners to collaboratively make implementation decisions based on authentic data from the field. feedback loops between field staff, program administrators, and researchers should be intentional – meaning that both the type of information and the frequency of its collection should be considered in light of agency operations and features of the intervention. the current study to understand the process of implementation, the current study uses early head start (ehs) as a context for carrying out the promoting first relationships (pfr; kelly, zuckerman, sandoval, & buehlman, 2008) intervention and examined the perspectives of seven ehs home visitors during the first year of implementation. pfr was developed to guide caregivers in building nurturing and responsive relationships with their young children from birth to age three, thus encouraging growth in the children’s social-emotional development, language, and cognition. pfr is a manualized, strengths-based intervention delivered by community-based service providers who first participate in an extensive training and fidelity process. the intervention is based on video reflection between caregivers and trained pfr staff, focusing on positive feedback and based on principles of attachment theory. the pfr training process involved attending a 3-day workshop followed by approximately 20 weeks of mentored online support. our study addresses three questions: 1. how did the home visitors perceive implementation of the pfr intervention as part of an early head start home visiting program? 2. what kinds of challenges and issues were identified during implementation? 3. what kinds of suggestions and recommendations were identified by the home visitors to promote sustainability of the pfr intervention in the early head start program? method we employed semi-structured interviews. the interview questions were about overall experiences with the pfr training process and content, challenges and issues of pfr implementation, home visitor experiences with participating families, and recommendations for sustainability. each interview session took about 30-40 minutes and was audio-taped. implementation process matters 101 for data analysis, the constant-comparative method (merriam, 1998) and systematic coding (miles & huberman, 1994) were used for the qualitative analysis process. we used qualitative data analysis software, nvivo 10 (qsr international, 2014) for the coding process and visualization of the data. peer debriefing and member checks were then conducted twice with the entire research team. summary of findings q1. home visitors’ experience of the pfr implementation process overall, the majority of comments by home visitors were related to positive experiences with implementation. the most prevalent positive experiences were about the content of the pfr intervention, use of video, positive experiences with families, the training process, and increasing self-confidence and skills. some negative experiences were also expressed by the home visitors in regard to the lengthy training process and discomfort with videotaping. q2. challenges and issues with implementation asking reflective questions and uncomfortableness with video recording were identified as a challenge for pfr intervention content. various household issues were also identified and those were often issues the home visitors could not control such as family sickness and sibling presence, etc. doing two programs (parents as teachers as well as pfr), technology, and scheduling issues were also identified as challenges. q3. suggestions and recommendations home visitors addressed ‘ongoing support’ as a critical element for sustainability. they suggested various different forms of ongoing support such as individual and group coaching, training supervisors, and changes in intensity of coaching. home visitors also suggested having flexibility with the length of training, depending less on video during the training, and having a local trainer. recommendations for implementation this study was conducted as part of our pfr implementation process to facilitate feedback loops between home visitors and researchers, and with a goal of informing further implementation. the lessons we learned from this study are described below and are applicable to other interventions delivered by home visitors or agency-based staff. first, gathering intentional data on the target intervention prior to implementation is critical to decide whether the intervention can be successfully situated within the existing agency. the data could include the requirements of the intervention, its timing and duration, staff 102 han et al. requirements, program capacities, intervention philosophy, time investment on the part of field staff, and technical issues (vu, hustedt, pinder, & han, 2015). second, conducting well-timed data collection while early implementation is underway can provide key information to guide further refinement in intervention implementation. we conducted interviews right after the home visitors had delivered the intervention to their first family. in response to feedback from the home visitors, we created a position within the ehs agency for a job-embedded coach who is available locally to provide consultation as needed, as well as in–the-moment coaching and technical support including assistance with technology. written resources were also developed to support use of technological devices and applications that may have been unfamiliar to some. third, another lesson involves the need for researchers to maintain an open dialogue with the intervention developers and/or other intervention resources as implementation proceeds. this provides a capacity for rapid response to emerging issues and helps build a foundation for sustainability. for example, in our case, there were scheduling difficulties based on the availability of home visitors and the pfr trainer located in different time zone. by addressing the issue early with the intervention developers, the trainers were able to accommodate scheduling issues more promptly with home visitors. we also developed a plan for a locally available pfr coach for future training in the intervention. lastly, having a plan for creation of systematic feedback loops is a key for successful implementation. in our work, we have identified specific time points to collect feedback from field staff and participating families in order to garner timely implementation information. important to this process is the need to collect information that is essential to the implementation (and not just the content of the intervention) as well as the systematic analysis of information that accompanies effective implementation. this allows for bi-directional sharing of information as well as the establishment of time and energy devoted to examining implementation data. in conclusion, when an evidence-based-intervention is implemented in the local setting, it is important to examine the process and conditions of implementation and identify potential challenges at early stages of implementation. our findings illustrate how data-driven conversation and feedback from field staff allow for adjustments while implementation is underway and thus promote future sustainability of the intervention. references fixsen, d.l., & blase, k.a. (2008). drivers framework. chapel hill, nc: the national implementation research network, frank porter graham child development institute, university of north carolina at chapel hill. halle, t., metz, a., & martinez-beck, i. (2013). applying implementation science in early childhood programs and systems. baltimore, md: brookes publishing. jones harden, b., chazan-cohen, r., raikes, h., & vogel, c. (2012). early head start home visitation: the role of implementation in bolstering program benefits. journal of community psychology, 40(4), 438-455. doi: 10.1002/jcop.20525 kelly, j. f., zuckerman, t. g., sandoval, d., & buehlman, k. (2008). promoting first relationships: a program for service providers to help parents and other caregivers nurture young children’s social and emotional development (2 nd ed.). seattle, wa: ncast programs, university of washington. metz, a., & albers, b. (2014). what does it take? how federal initiatives can support implementation of evidencebased programs to improve outcomes for adolescents. journal of adolescent health, 54, 592-596. merriam, s.b. (1998). qualitative research and case study applications in education (2 nd ed.). san francisco: jossey-bass. miles, m. b., & huberman, a. m. (1994). qualitative data analysis (2 nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. implementation process matters 103 odom, s. (2009). the tie that binds: evidence-based practice, implementation science, and outcomes for children. topics in early childhood special education, 29(1), 53-61. doi:10.1177/0271121408329171 qsr international pty. (2014). nvivo qualitative data analysis software version 10. supplee, l. h., & metz, a. (2015). opportunities and challenges in evidence-based social policy. social policy report, 28 (4), 3–16. vu, j. a., hustedt, j. t., pinder, w. m., & han, m. (2015). building early relationships: a review of caregiver-child interaction interventions for use in community-based early childhood programs. early child development and care, 185, 138-154. doi: 10.1080/03004430.2014.908864 (continued on next page) volume 17, number 2 2014 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles efficiency in assessing emergent literacy skills in students attending head start karen l. gischlar, edward s. shapiro ……………………………………..….………….... 1 early childhood literacy programs: promoting involvement of ells and their families kandia lewis, marika ginsburg-block ……………………………...................................... 17 father’s absence as a mediator of teacher’s gender effect on self-concept in young african-american males jeffrey shears, carolyn t. miller, marcus mcgee, abiola a. farinde, chance w. lewis….…………………………………………………………………………………….. 58 testing bronfenbrenner’s theory of parent-program communication: parental homework as a form of family involvement in early care and education yaebin kim, david a. riley…………………………………………………………………. 68 research-to-practice summaries monitoring the development of literacy skills in preschool children karen l. gischlar………………………..………………………….….……………………. 82 influence of self-concept on young african american males jeffrey shears………………………………………………………………………………… 87 utilizing parental homework as a form of parent involvement in early care and education yaebin kim, david a. riley………………………………....…………………………….. 90 dialog from the field parents’ beliefs, attitudes and behaviors concerning their young children’s screen media use sue schlembach, marcus lee johnson………….………………………………………....... 95 a review of empirical evidence and practical considerations for early childhood classroom observation scales lia e. sandilos, james c. diperna…..…………………………………………………........... 105 dialog, 19(3), 60-88 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research article creating new pathways for dialogue: collaboration of diverse voices annie white california state university channel islands early head start (ehs) is based on the assertion that all children have explicit needs and can benefit from a comprehensive developmental program. children benefit when families and educators work together to support young children’s development. yet, research suggests that parents and educators often do not collaborate about children’s education, which can have negative impact on school readiness. this project studied ehs programs that have utilized narrative observations, referred to as journey of discoveries, to examine collaboration between parents and teachers. the qualitative case study used interview transcripts from three ehs programs. findings revealed four central themes: (a) connection, (b) partnership, (c) building of relationships, and (d) the value of teacher and parent shared understanding. findings indicated that journey of discoveries creates a pathway of collaboration for ehs teachers and parents by capturing children’s learning and development through the sharing of narrative observations. keywords: early head start; collaboration; partnership; school readiness; learning stories; journey of discoveries academic and social-emotional skills are important, closely related to young children’s healthy development, and linked to positive school readiness outcomes (sheridan, knoche, edwards, bovaird, & kupzyk, 2010). yet, there is an alarming rate of young children who are not able to sustain academic success throughout formal education (puma, bell, cook, heid, broene, jenkins & downer, 2012). the topic of school readiness is a rising concern for educators and parents (piotrkowski, botsko, & matthews, 2001). school readiness has become a social and political concern of many policy decision makers, increasing public awareness on the issue (saluja, scottlittle, & clifford, 2000). furthermore, the topic of school readiness is an ongoing debate among researchers; many studies focus on the importance of preparing young children to enter kindergarten (ackerman & barnett, 2000; deming, 2009; mcallister, wilson, green, & baldwin, 2005). early head start (ehs) is a family-focused program that provides comprehensive and community-based services to address developmental goals for children from birth to three years of age, including services for prenatal families. early head start is based on the assertion that all children have explicit needs, and children from low socioeconomic families, in particular, can benefit from a comprehensive developmental program (national head start association, 2012). 61 white in addition, ehs offers support to parents in their development of child-rearing roles, involvement in school activities and work-related issues, and participation in training programs, while linking families to community services (nhsa, 2012). an important service to ehs families includes family engagement where the family is the central force in helping prepare children for school and life (ecklc, 2014). family engagement involves family members, as leaders, making decisions in their role as primary educators of their children (ncpfce, 2014). to support school readiness, it is important that educators understand parental practices and parents’ expectations of their children’s academic success (seginer, 2006). research shows that parents and family members are more likely to become engaged in young children's development and learning when they have positive and trusting relationships with supportive teachers (bryk & schneider, 2003). however, teacher perceptions of their relationship with children and parents can impact a child’s development (howes, phillipsen, & peisner-feinberg, 2000). additionally, the warmth, the level of responsiveness, and sensitivity of the parent can also support healthy development (chazan-cohen raikes, brooks-gunn, ayoub, kisker, & fuligni, 2009; grossmann, grossmann, fremmer-bombik, kindler, scheuerer-englisch, & zimmermann, 2002; nichd 2003; roggman, boyce, & cook, 2009). parent-child activities can support positive relationships between children and parents. for example, parents who provide literacy activities for young children can foster closer connection. research shows parents reading to their child daily is a predictor of later school success (bradley, corwyn, burchinal, mcadoo, & coll, 2001; love, kisker, ross, raikes, constantine, boller, & vogel, 2005; nichd eccrn, 2002). moreover, activities provided by parents, such as storytelling, reading, singing songs, and discussing topics of interest with children can impact future academic achievement (mcwayne, hampton, fantuzzo, cohen, & sekino, 2004). parenting practices, such as these, that incorporate everyday activities from the home environment are associated with positive child outcomes (dunst, c. j., bruder, m. b., trivette, c. m., & hamby, 2006). programs can also foster closer parent-child bond through implementing techniques such as, sending home a special message to parents by carefully safetypinning the message to the young child’s outer clothing, thus, creating a note which sends a specific, positive message about the child’s learning or social interactions (lally, mangione, & honig, 1988). unfortunately, research also indicates that educators often do not recognize parent perspectives about education (mcallister, et al., 2005; robinson-zanartu & majel-dixon, 1996; tveit, 2009). teachers who do not have a shared understanding about school readiness cannot effectively collaborate with parents regarding school readiness. as a result, there is a critical need for teachers to collaborate with parents on the education of children. in addition, there is limited research that demonstrates how educators and parents can collaborate in the school readiness process to ensure student academic success. often educators want to unite with parents in the education of children, but there is inadequate understanding of how teachers can create opportunities for parents to have an authentic voice and join in collaboration in the school readiness process. thus, the role of the parent in school readiness must be underscored. the earlier that parents and educators can initiate early learning experiences can have profound influence later in children’s lives as a predictor of school readiness and future success (dearing, kreider, simpkins, & weiss, 2006; deming, 2009; el nokali, bachman, & votruba-drzal, 2010; espinosa, 2002; pan, rowe, singer, & snow, 2005; nye, turner, & schwartz, 2006; wood, 2002). creating new pathways for dialogue 62 head start programs encourage parents to take leadership roles and become advocates for the children’s education. however, teachers and parents may differ in their perceptions of school readiness; teachers may express contrary views of a parent’s perception of their child’s level of school readiness (mcallister, et al., 2005; robinson-zanartu & majel-dixon, 1996; tveit, 2009). head start parent perceptions of school readiness are not always recognized or emphasized. it is important that head start educators understand parents’ perceptions and give parents the opportunities to have a voice in the education of their children, in order to support healthy development and school readiness skills. third space creating opportunities for educators and families to engage in authentic dialogue through shared written narrative observations of children’s learning was considered through the theoretical framework of third space. gutiérrez, et al. (1999) proposed that educators can work to promote family engagement in a child’s learning process by creating a third space. the authors defined third space as zones of development that expand student learning. the third space creates a neutral place where teachers and ehs parents unite, focusing on the child at the center and celebrating growth and development. third space offers an alternative paradigm by changing the arena and increasing the probability of respectful, responsive, and reciprocal interactions between parents and teachers. the third space can be formed through the intersection of primary and secondary discourses, where students’ primary discourses are used in the community, in the home, and in informal social interactions with others and the secondary discourses are encouraged in school and other institutional settings (gutiérrez, et al., 1999). through partnership, educator and student analysis of discourse and literacy practices can foster a culture of collaboration where hybrid activities, roles, and practices can lead to productive context of development (gutiérrez, et al., 1999). gutiérrez, et al. (1999) posit that educators need to be more attentive to the idea of developing third spaces in school settings and applying the concept of third spaces to the school curriculum and pedagogy, with more intention towards incorporating the student’s home culture, prior knowledge and lived experience. it is through journey of discoveries written narrative observations that ehs parents can authentically engage with teachers in the school readiness process through a collaborative third space. however, to reach this collaborative third space, according to barrera and corso (2003) we have to believe that it exists. to engage with head start parents in the school readiness process, teachers must accept that there is no one version of reality, but rather multiple realities (barrera & corso, 2003). it is through a third space and the mutual exchange of narrative observations that teachers can welcome and honor head start parent voices and attend to each person’s version of reality. by engaging with families and sharing multiple voices in a neutral third space, young head start children can be ready for school with a love for learning that will remain with them throughout their lives and result in future success. rumi, the 12th century poet, offered advice about how to see another’s point of view. he said, “out beyond ideas of right doing and wrong doing there lies a field. i’ll meet you there” (gonzalez-mena, 2001). the third space framework allows examination of an alternative pathway and creates this type of alternative space of neither right nor wrong to give ehs parents a voice in the school readiness process. the third space helps frame the idea of the journey of discoveries as opportunities for parent and teachers to find an alternative way to meet in a 63 white neutral setting through the sharing of their written narrative children observations. journey of discoveries was developed to support a head start program’s assessment practice, to strengthen teacher and parent collaboration, and to offer the opportunity to see children’s learning and development from different perspectives through a third space. journey of discoveries was developed from learning stories based on the cultural context of a head start program and was used in conjunction with an existing children’s assessment instrument tool. the child assessment instrument is utilized as an observation tool to provide educators with a means to assess children’s learning. the child assessment instrument is used to measure children’s development, plan learning activities and curriculum instruction (california department of education, 2015). the journey of discoveries was modeled from learning stories and used as a qualitative approach to observe and document a child’s learning process. learning stories has been successfully used by new zealand’s ministry of education for their national early childhood education assessment (carr, 1998; carr, 2001; carr & lee, 2012) as a method to observe and document children’s experiences, seeing them as competent and active participants in their journey of learning. the learning stories are written narratives shared between children, teachers, and families to exchange and collaborate on documenting the child’s learning experience (carr, 1998; carr 2001; carr & lee, 2012). using a storytelling format, learning stories capture the meaningful elements that influence a child’s learning process (carr & lee, 2012). the elements in a child’s learning story include: the child’s strengths, interests, achievements, their interactions with adults, peers, family, and the influence of their culture, community, and family heritage (carr & lee, 2012). it is from the theoretical framework of third space (gutiérrez et al., 1999) that this study focused on parent and teacher collaboration in the school readiness process through use of journey of discoveries. it is through journey of discoveries’ written narrative observations that ehs parents can authentically engage with teachers in the school readiness process through a collaborative third space. the study examined journey of discoveries creation of a third space where educators, ehs parents, and community can collaborate and share their written observations, as they witness the extraordinary learning and lived experiences of young children. the purpose of this study was to understand ehs teacher and parent collaboration through the use of journey of discoveries. the primary research question guiding this study was: (a) does collaboration occur between parents and teachers through journey of discoveries? and in addition, if so, in what ways does this collaboration occur? method research design the qualitative research method was a single-case study design (yin, 2009) based on what yin (2013) posits as the examination to explain a particular phenomenon through questions of "how" or "why". the purpose of this study was to conduct a case study of a ehs program using journey of discoveries observations and the possible impact on collaboration between teachers and parents. this research study specifically examined "how" and in "what ways" collaboration occurred through implementing journey of discoveries. explicitly, this design allowed examination of ehs staff and parent’s perspectives about their experience of completing the journey of discoveries narrative observations through the use of interviews to thoughtfully creating new pathways for dialogue 64 explore collaboration between ehs teachers and parents (yin, 2009). the journey of discoveries written observations were used by the kidscan ehs program as evidence to rate california department of education, desired results developmental profile (drdp) children’s assessment tool. this study examined the journey of discoveries narrative observations as a way to examine parent participation and collaboration with ehs staff in the school readiness process using journey of discoveries documents (white, 2015). case selection a convenience sampling was used to select the participants because of the easy access and proximity to the head start agency. (miles & huberman, 1994). a pseudonym (kidscan) is used for the head start agency that was recruited for this study. kidscan is an agency that administers head start and ehs programs in northern california. kidscan has four program models: 1) head start preschool classrooms, 2) ehs infant and toddler classrooms, 3) partnership programs, including family childcare through ehs childcare partnership and, 4) ehs home visitation programs. agency-wide, kidscan has 32 head start and ehs classrooms, home visitation programs, partner programs and family childcare homes. convenience sampling was used to select the participants because of their accessibility and proximity as a result of the researcher’s employment with the kidscan head start agency (miles & huberman, 1994). the researcher worked with the kidscan where ehs sites were recruited. at the time of the study, the researcher was not in a supervisor position and participants volunteered to participate in the study. no incentives were offered for participation in the study. three ehs programs sites were recruited from the kidscan head start agency. the sites for this study were comprised of: 1) one ehs infant and toddler classroom with sixteen children, four teaching staff, and one center site supervisor 2) two home visitation programs with a total of 24 children and two home visitors. the ages of the children and their families recruited for this study included an ehs infant and toddler center serving children from birth to three years old and two ehs home visiting programs for children from birth to three years of age, including prenatal families. as a result of the researcher’s established relationship with kidscan, ehs staff from each of these sites were included in this study. by including the ehs program staff and parents in the study, data were able to be gathered on the proposed prototype model for collaboration between parents and educators. ehs staff was recruited during scheduled trainings that were provided for all staff members. approximately, seven staff from the three ehs sites were recruited for this study (table 1). ehs staff received recruitment packets that included information on informed consent and the purpose of the study. interviews were conducted with four ehs teachers, one site supervisor, and two ehs home visitors to gather data on the use of journey of discoveries. the amount of work experience in the field of early childhood education (ece) varied among participants. in addition, two of the staff from the home visitation programs were previous head start parents. 65 white table 1 ehs staff demographics staff position ehs site name ece work experience (yrs) kidscan work experience (yrs) ethnicity gender t1 teacher baby 17 1.5 caucasian f t2 teacher baby 2 1.5 caucasian f t3 teacher baby 26 14 caucasian f t4 teacher baby 6 3 caucasian f ss site supervisor baby 8 2 caucasian f hv1 home visitor bambino 17 17 caucasian f hv2 home visitor bebé 7 7 latina f the staff recruited ehs parents at scheduled home visits, parent meetings, and their program site and shared with parents the purpose of the study. the flyer information for staff and parents contained minimal disclosure of the purpose of the study to limit participant bias (cozby, 2007; suter, 2012). parents were selected based on the enrollment of their child in the ehs program, their availability, and their willingness to participate in the study. the kidscan agency ehs program parent ethnic/racial composition includes caucasian, latino, native american, asian, and african american. however, eighteen caucasian and latino parents from three sites were included in the study. parents were enrolled in the program from four months to five years, with the average length of parent enrollment around two years. table 2 lists the ehs parent demographic information. creating new pathways for dialogue 66 table 2 ehs parent demographics ehs program name parent name ethnicity gender baby baby p1 caucasian f baby p2 latina f baby p 3 caucasian m baby p 4 caucasian m baby p 5 latino m baby p 6 latina f baby p 7 latina f baby p 8 caucasian f bebé bebé p1 latina f bebé p2 latina f bebé p3 latina f bebé p4 latina f bebé p5 latina f bebé p6 latina f bambino bambino p1 caucasian f bambino p2 caucasian f bambino p3 caucasian f bambino p4 caucasian f parents were provided with instructions and information needed to complete journey of discoveries; ehs staff reviewed children’s portfolio and gave information regarding the choice to use voice dictation with translation or to handwrite the child observations. throughout the 67 white duration of the study, the researcher met with the staff to offer training and support, as needed. ehs staff worked with parents on a regular basis to offer support on completing the journey of discoveries. data collection this study relies on one primary source of data. semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with individuals to assure ample data collection (maxwell, 2005). semi-structured interview. from february through march 2015, six interviews were conducted. these interviews ranged from sixty to one hundred and twenty minutes each, most of which lasted between sixty and seventy-five minutes, for a total of approximately seven hours of audio recordings. the interviews consisted of four focus groups and two individual interviews. focus group 1 with the ehs classroom staff interview lasted approximately 120 minutes in length. focus group 2, the ehs classroom parent interview, was approximately 60 minutes long. focus group 3, the bambino parent interview, lasted approximately 60 minutes. focus group 4, the bebé parent interview, was approximately 65 minutes in length. individual interview 1 with home visitor 1 (hv1) lasted approximately 70 minutes. individual interview 2 with home visitor 2 (hv2) was approximately 60 sixty minutes. using a semi-structured interview format (appendix a) of key prompts to gather participant responses (creswell, 2009), data was collected through staff and parent interviews and focus groups allowing in-depth examination of parent and teacher perceptions of the use of journey of discoveries and collaboration in school readiness. additional clarifying questions were included to ensure that parent responses were clearly understood. all interviews were digitally recorded on two separate devices for duplication and effective audio recording. moreover, for spanish-speaking parents, the home visitor provided spanish translation during the ehs home visitation parent interview. the home visitor translated the survey questions to spanish and parent responses to english. the home visitor was able to provide additional clarification to parents in spanish and translate their responses to english to ensure accurate interpretation of the parent responses. at the ehs infant toddler center, a majority of the parents spoke spanish, with some english-speaking parents. consequently, a certified spanish translator was obtained to translate the parent responses. accordingly, the certified translator translated the survey questions and the english speaking responses to spanish and the spanish speaking responses to english to ensure that all parent responses were understood by both the spanish and english speaking parents. transcription began immediately after the first interview and continued throughout the interview process, totaling over 211 pages of double-spaced text. careful review of all transcriptions allowed for clearer understanding and interpretation of the data. all spanish translations of parent responses were transcribed by a professional transcription service company. though the ehs home visitor and the certified spanish translator provided translation during the parent interviews, professional transcription services were utilized for all spanish interview translations to ensure further accurate interview transcription. upon completion of all transcriptions, detailed themes had emerged, which later formed the basis for the coding system. creating new pathways for dialogue 68 written narrative observations. in addition to data collected from interviews and focus groups, the ehs staff and parent responses of their use of journey of discoveries written narrative observations from the kidscan 2014-2015 school year were included in the data. the journey of discoveries is a unique observational approach where the observations are written by staff and parents and given directly to the child in the first person narrative. during the kidscan 2014-2015 school year, the journey of discoveries written observations that document children’s development and growth were shared between teachers and parents and placed in children’s portfolios. this case study method of analysis consisted of parent and teacher interviews from the use of journey of discoveries observations. collaboration occurred between the ehs staff and the kidscan’s child development specialist throughout the 2013-2014 school year to develop the journey of discoveries observation tool. the journey of discoveries tool was derived from a “learning stories” (carr 2001; carr & lee, 2012) narrative assessment and adapted based on the cultural context of the kidscan head start and the current children’s assessment and portfolio system of the ehs program. as part of the study, training and coaching on the implementation of the journey of discoveries observational process were provided to the ehs staff during summer and fall, 2014. bi-weekly trainings and consultation were offered at each ehs site that participated in the study. trainings were also available for parents on the journey of discoveries process, upon request by the ehs staff. ehs staff received electronic copies of the journey of discoveries observational tool. the journey of discoveries parent version was also translated into spanish for parents who preferred spanish copies. the ehs staff distributed hard copies of the english and spanish parent version of the journey of discoveries to parents to complete at home. the use of ipads and tablets were utilized to expand opportunities for ehs staff and parent collaboration through voice dictation of journey of discoveries observations. ehs staff and parents were given the option to either handwrite their journey of discoveries or use ipads or tablets for voice dictation to complete the journey of discoveries. the ehs staff began to use ipads and tablets to transcribe their audio recorded journey of discoveries. upon completion of the transcription, the journey of discoveries were printed and placed in children’s portfolios. the children’s portfolios were reviewed and discussed with parents during scheduled home visits and at the classrooms. in addition, journey of discoveries that was voice recorded by parents in spanish was translated into english using the ipad program, google translate. being mindful of possible parents with limited time, such as single working parents, and parents who were illiterate or preferred to orally share their journey of discoveries observations, teachers and home visitors used multiple strategies to support parent completed journey of discoveries. parents with limited time were given the opportunity to verbally share their observations with the teacher or home visiter who would then write down the journey of discoveries for the parent. parents had the option to verbally share their journey of discoveries, referred to as "stories" at morning drop off or afternoon pick up at the classroom, during home visits, and parent meetings. parents who had limited time or preferred to share via technology were encouraged to send teachers and home visitors text or email observations, photos, or videos. additionally, staff offered to create the journey of discoveries using the parent observations and photos. upon completion of journey of discoveries, ehs staff and parent use of journey of discoveries were then analyzed as a potential model for collaboration and family engagement in the school readiness process. 69 white data analysis this intrinsic case study consisted of data analysis of ehs staff and parent responses for their use of journey of discoveries. maxqda was used to code the parent and teacher interviews and focus groups. the maxqda is a pc-based program that helps with systematic evaluation, interpretation, and coding the transcripts (creswell, 2009. open axial coding was utilized to analyze the parent and teacher interviews and focus groups responses for completion of the journey of discoveries narrative observations and investigation of collaboration between staff and parents. open coding was used to develop labels, and axial coding was used to recognize relationships between identified codes. additionally, a selective coding process was used to extract main themes that emerged from the data analysis (creswell, 2009). one researcher coded the data, while additional member checks were conducted in order to assess the accuracy of the participants’ responses (yin, 2009). a random sampling for member checks was utilized to ensure validity of the participant responses. merriam (2009) suggested for researchers to pursue a process of identifying categories and incorporate open coding and refinement through axial coding to allow for identification and deeper understanding of emerging themes before moving to the next data set. however, movement from one transcription data set to the next in the current study helped identify what merriam (2009) refers to as the “deeper meaning” throughout the ehs staff and parent interviews analysis. multiple levels of codes were outlined into lists where sub-codes were created based on the research question. for example, the most prominent level codes revealed were: (a) connection, (b) partnership, (c) building of relationship and (d) the value of shared understanding. these four themes demonstrated how collaboration occurred between ehs staff and parents through use of the journey of discoveries. thus, the carefully selected measurement tools using axial coding and maxqda for data analysis supported possible future replication of the study and ensured validity and reliability (suter, 2012). the data was analyzed to look for rich themes and descriptions in the parent and staff responses from the interview and focus groups regarding their use of journey of discoveries. the data provided both the range and complexity in the data collection processes and offered an intensive, holistic description and study characteristic of a case study (merriam, 2009). this intrinsic case study analysis included the ehs teacher and parent surveys use of the journey of discoveries as a potential prototype model to provide opportunity for parents and educators to further collaborate in the process of school readiness. in order to ensure the anonymity of each of the ehs sites, pseudonyms were developed for each ehs program. the three ehs sites that were included in the study are referred to as baby, bambino, and bebé. comments for the interviewees are quoted directly from the transcripts from the semi-structured interviews and focus group conversations, including full sentences, partial sentences, sometimes adverse phrasing, incorrect grammar and use of the english language. [brackets] were used around text to show words that were added to further explain details, remove uncertainty, or to emphasize words previously mentioned by an interviewee along with previous dialogue. focused attention was used to ensure that the bracketed words and phrases represented the interviewee’s intentions and did not change the meaning of their words. creating new pathways for dialogue 70 collaboration between parents and teachers the main research question for this study was: does collaboration occur between parents and teachers through journey of discoveries? in addition, if so, how and in what ways does collaboration occur? interviews with ehs staff and parents at the three ehs sites revealed evidence demonstrating collaboration through use of the journey of discoveries. upon review of the data, four central themes across all three ehs sites were identified (a) connection, (b) partnership, (c) building of relationships and, (d) teachers and parent shared value and understanding of children’s learning. these four themes significantly demonstrated how collaboration occurred between ehs staff and parents through use of the journey of discoveries. collaboration through connection data revealed that the three ehs sites interviewed shared a deeper connection through their participation in journey of discoveries. each ehs staff implemented the journey of discoveries following the kidscan adopted procedure. however, each ehs staff member was in different phases of implementation of the journey of discoveries. for example at ehs bambino site, hv1 dictated the journey of discoveries from parents’ verbal sharing during home visits. hv1 would then transfer her notes to a hard copy of the journey of discoveries and place them in the child’s portfolio. the portfolios were shared during weekly home visits. at the ehs bebé site, hv2 audio recorded the parent journey of discoveries and transferred the transcription to files stored on an agency computer. hv2 shared the electronic documents of the journey of discoveries during weekly planned “socializations.” the socialization offered ehs enrolled children and their parents/guardian opportunity to socialize, support each other, eat a meal together, and participate in a parent-child activity. all but one, ehs baby teachers completed the journey of discoveries through hand written observations. the handwritten journey of discoveries were placed in the child’s portfolio and shared with parents during class hours or quarterly scheduled home visits. there was one ehs baby teacher who piloted use of an ipad to complete the journey of discoveries via audio recording and transcription. at each of the ehs sites, the staff and parents referred to their experience using journey of discoveries as a means for deeper connection, thus, fostering collaboration through the connection that occurred between staff and parents. for instance, one ehs staff said, i think it also shows the parents how we feel about them, the things we write about, the words that we use…shows them our connection to them (t1 at baby). i [the teacher] find myself wanting to share the journey of discovery [with the parents], “oh, let me tell you”…and then they [the parents] want to read it [journey of discovery] or they want to hear more about it. so, it’s communication, it’s definitely opened up (t1 at baby). the ehs staff indicated that when the journey of discoveries was first offered to parents, a deeper connection and collaboration occurred. 71 white i started connecting more with my parents. it was right when the journey of discoveries started, so i think it was highly effective (t1at baby). furthermore, the ehs staff illuminated this same feeling of connection with parents through the journey of discoveries. the journey of discoveries helped staff develop more openness to collaboration with parents throughout the time the families were enrolled in the program. i think that the stories [journey of discoveries] we write, we kind of open ourselves up to them; and they do the same with us. and it just carries out throughout their time here, and we just talk about [their child] more (t1 at baby). ehs staff also posited that through the journey of discoveries a sense of connection was created with parents. this connection occurred even when the parents were not present at the center. it also helped parents to understand the teacher’s feelings toward their children. we’ve [teachers] connected with them [parents] physically [when they are at not at the ehs site] through the journey of discoveries. so i think it, it makes them feel, you know, back to [feeling] safe, and trust [safe and trust with the ehs teachers], that they know what their child’s doing and, and how their child’s growing (t1 at baby). with the journey of discoveries and the pictures that we add, it’s a whole book of memories that [when] a lot of parents drop their children off and feel like they’re missing out. now they don’t have to feel like they’re missing out (t1 at baby). i think it makes, it helps the parents understand better how we feel about their children. it just makes it clearer for them that we’re thinking about them and caring for them (t3 at baby). doing the journey of discoveries, i think has brought us closer to the children. and which makes it harder when they leave [when they leave the program] (t1 at baby). the ehs staff reported that parents often have busy schedules and full lives. ehs staff shared that time constraints often created barriers for collaboration with parents. however, ehs staff also indicated that the journey of discoveries offered opportunity for parents to connect by creating feelings of closeness, thus strengthening a willingness to collaborate. i think we will get a lot more parent journey of discoveries because the bonds are so close between teacher and parent that you get a ton of stories just off of when they’re asking, “how was your night, how was your weekend?” how, you know. checking in with them (t4 at baby). when we work together… when they [share], their experience, we are more close. we—we connect. we—we are humans (hv2 at bebé). creating new pathways for dialogue 72 i can hear her saying it [reading the journey of discoveries out loud]. so, just a parent reading that will be like, i can hear it…they’re going to be able to just connect with it [journey of discoveries] (t1 at baby). the journey of discoveries also revealed collaboration through family engagement in close, personal ways. opportunities for collaboration became available through journey of discoveries as staff was able to engage families through building on their funds of knowledge, connecting to their culture, and lived experiences. for mexican families. they celebrate la rosca de reyes. they cook a piece of bread, y [and] they share, the family share. this—it’s more about sharing, about family, tradition, culture. and they try to include that in our—in their journey [journey of discoveries], too, because it’s part of their life (hv2 at bebé). you know, it’s a very valuable [the journey of discoveries is], good and connects the mother with the child (hv2 at bebé). i [teacher] hope they [referring to parents] all write to their child, because it just, you know, it shows a deeper level of connection (t2 at baby). the ehs staff and parents identified a sense of connection, which created feelings of openness towards each other and led to deeper connection. for example, at ehs baby site, t1 shared, “since the journey of discoveries. if you think about it, our communications is [sic] a lot more open.” similarly, t2 at the baby site responded, “right from the beginning, it started that open communication [from] them writing stories, and teachers writing stories.” the journey of discoveries increased connection, open dialogue, and sharing for both ehs staff and parents. collaboration though partnership at each of the ehs sites, teachers, home visitors, site supervisor, and parents viewed partnership occurring through collaboration. partnership included the collaborative efforts that took place through sharing ideas, planning, working, and reflecting using the journey of discoveries. furthermore, partnership was considered as being fully present in the moment. this type of partnership fostered respect and care for one another. collaboration to me is working together, and, and planning and reflection. (hv1 at bambino). [when parents were asked to define collaboration through partnership they responded] be present. be there. participate (p1 at bebé). partnership included seeing and utilizing each other as a resource of support. as partners, ehs staff and parents opened up to each other, shared needs, and worked together towards solutions. it was only through shared dialogue and collaboration that ehs staff and parents were able to share about the intimate details of their lives. 73 white is [it is important] to have parents be on-board as partners with you. and to plan together, to wonder together, to rejoice together. and when parents maybe have concerns, you know, they’ll bring them to me. or, or if i have concerns, i bring them to them, and it’s a very open-ended relationship. partnership is how i like to look at it (hv1 at bambino). yeah. it’s nice, literally, to have somebody else also have an eye on your child. she [the home visitor] caught my son’s, lazy eye, and she’s also been very interested in us taking him to the doctor, which is something i was doing very minimally [before she enrolled in the ehs program]. i did go to the doctor, and i probably wouldn’t have normally taken my kids to the doctor and they caught anemia for [my child], and a lazy eye… and [the home visitor] caught it through pictures [pictures that were included in the journey of discoveries document] (hv1 at bambino). we [ehs staff] are not robots. we listen [to parents]. we pay attention. we catch [what they are saying]. we can see what they need. we can see what they are looking for. you see. maybe it’s like a little door opens, to support the family (hv2 at bebé). collaboration in partnership has been a part of the head start cornerstone principles for many years. however, when they began implementing the journey of discoveries, ehs staff and parent relationships improved when they considered parents to be partners. ehs staff worked to get parents to “buy in” to the new journey of discoveries observation process. i think it [collaboration as partners] helped when we started doing the parent journey of discoveries (t2 at baby). i [the home visitor] had to make it like important to the parents. like, “oh, it’s, you know, i really need your [the parent] help. and you’re like, your child’s first teacher. and you see a lot more of your child than i do. so i really need you on board with this [the journey of discoveries], and let me teach you how this works.” so that’s what i’ve done (hv1 at bambino). we started off [at the time of enrollment of a new family into the ehs program] that [the teacher] would be writing a letter [journey of discoveries] to him [the child] every week, and that she [the mom] could write letters to him [her child] too; and that they [the teacher and parent] could basically create this portfolio [collection of the journey of discoveries documents] or baby book together. and the mom was extremely excited that she would be able to add to it, as well, and that it would be a collaborative project (t1 at baby). partnership did not start immediately or often easily. it took time to build trusting relationships. ehs staff’s work involved consistency with the families. they saw the children and families daily at the centers during drop off or pick up of the children. for home visitors, they visited the families in their homes weekly for socialization. the purpose of the parent-child activity was to strengthen the bond between the parent and child; the ehs staff partnered with parents in the parents’ role as the primary educator of their child. creating new pathways for dialogue 74 i feel like it’s been a developing partnership. i feel like i’ve been slowly… as [my child has] gotten older, it’s become more clear… but it’s taken a little bit of time, i think (p2 at bambino). just coming every week [the home visitor provides weekly home visits in the parents’ home] observations [journey of discoveries], it’s,… it’s [journey of discoveries] been an obvious part of the that partnership, and it’s been very helpful, you know, just to have someone else’s… that’s not family, or close friends’ observations (p2 at bambino). the journey of discoveries offered opportunity for the ehs staff and parents to share about the children’s learning, discoveries, and development. the sharing of information, as partners, supported closeness and offered new insight and knowledge to both the ehs staff and parents. sharing also created a sense of belonging and equal investment by ehs staff and parents in the collaborative efforts through of journey of discoveries. the journey [journey of discoveries], for me, it’s personal… i save time, but at the same time, i can complete my job with the family and be more close, because when they [have] their experience, they share it with me at the same time [the parents share their experience with the home visitor through the journey of discoveries] (hv2 at bebé). they’re [the parents] excited to see me [the home visitor] and to share with me little, little milestones or, or accomplishments that they’ve experienced (hv1 at bambino). it’s like writing it [journey of discoveries] to the child, it makes us [the parents] stop and see what the child’s learning, and then writing it to the teacher so that they know how he’s learning at home (p6 at baby). we’re sharing in their child’s discoveries and their child’s journey... and through that sharing in the journey and the discovery [journey of discoveries], they’re gaining knowledge and their child is growing and expanding (hv1 at bambino). the data revealed a pathway through implementation of the journey of discoveries that created partnerships between ehs staff and parents. furthermore, it enhanced families as valued partners. partnering through the use of journey of discoveries revealed that the families were valuable members in the partnership. they have the opportunity—parents have the opportunity to include more things, like neighbors. grandparents. you see. and put [they include the relatives in the journey of discoveries] names! because, they tell me, the names, — cousins… ‘look in the picture [photos are often included in the journey of discoveries document]. [for example] it’s your cousin sitting next to you. you—you’re eating together tortillas’ (hv2 at bebé). i do feel, that we’re, like, it’s like a team, the teacher [referring to home visitor] and me [the parent] at home, so she says to me, “it’s where the child is [developmentally],’ so we’re [my family] going to work at home, and she [the home visitor] here [at the classroom], both-we’re both, forming a team (p2 at bebé). 75 white it [journey of discoveries] opened up more communication…the teachers asked more about them [the children (p6 at baby). the ehs staff and parents indicated that they felt they were not alone in supporting the children. they had a new sense of partnership, connecting them together for a common purpose and goal of collaboration. at bebé, p1 stated, “we’re together in this experience” [referring to collaboration through the journey of discoveries] (p1 at bebé). furthermore, ehs staff viewed journey of discoveries as a new opportunity to encourage parent collaboration as partners in sharing their stories of children’s learning. the teachers encouraged parents to partner through the journey of discoveries. for example, t2 at baby posed, the process on home visits [ehs teachers conducted home visits three times per year]. so even just at pick up or something, you know, we show them stories that we might have written that week [referring to the journey of discoveries], or something that we saw. and it makes them want to do that [to write their own journey of discoveries]. i’m like, ‘oh, here, let me offer you this parent journey of discoveries;’ and then they get to add their own stories to their book [child’s portfolio], [and give] their input (t2 at baby). collaboration through partnership took time and trust. the journey of discoveries offered ehs teachers and parents a tool for collaboration that led to meaningful partnerships. collaboration through building relationships the data revealed the theme of collaboration that occurred through the building of relationships. the home visitor referenced collaboration transpiring through careful construction of relationships, hv2 at bebé is quoted as saying, “collaboration is-is a bridge. it—is a—is something we can connect” (hv2 at bebé). collaboration can be interpreted as a process that connects ehs staff and parents together, bridging and connecting the partner members together. it’s like holding hands and being in a circle, so it all goes hand to hand (p1 at baby). i do feel like from writing the stories [the journey of discoveries] does increase the collaboration…because we’re sitting down, together, and talking about things (p3 at bambino). [the role of the home visitor is to connect to families to resources] to support, yes. their-their necessity. whatever they need. can be in education. can be in health. can be in nutrition (hv2 at bebé). it’s a teamwork. we need to work together. it’s a collaboration, because i have—i can connect the family to the different resources in the community, but at the same time, the family need to be connected. it is my part, [to] connect and create that bridge between our [ehs program] services, the community, and the family (hv2 at bebé). creating new pathways for dialogue 76 collaboration occurred through the relationship by building trust in each other. trusting relationships supported collaboration, sharing, and networking of ideas. trust built confidence and reassurance that another person would be there when needed. this included the different “seasons” in life that build a sense of interdependence and the need for each other. relationships were important in building communities that collaborate together. maybe it is at the moment when mami [mommy] feel comfortable to me [to open] up to say it, something about, a situation difficult at home, because she is not able to say it before [home visitor referring to the parent sharing thorough the journey of discoveries] (hv2 at bebé). when the parents see the, the trust and the bond we have with their children, then we form a bond and the trust with the parents (t1 at baby). some of my parents talk to me [the teacher] about things almost like i am a mother figure because i have young moms (t1 at baby). the things that some of my parents tell me, it just shows me how much they trust us [teachers] and trust me. so that i’m a little surprised that they tell—i appreciate that they involve me in their whole family; but sometimes it surprises me, the stuff that they share. it makes me feel good that they want to share with us (t2 at baby). i think it [the journey of discoveries] helps us [teachers] get insight into their home life. just doing home visits is more of an observation because we’re only there an hour, [or] hour and a half. but this [the journey of discoveries] is a little more detailed into their personal life, [for example] their bedtime routine. you know, if a parents writes a journey of discovery about how they read bedtime stories every night, you know that that’s something, and a routine that they have established at home. so it’s nice for us [teachers] to know that too, and we can always bring that into the classroom if it’s something to, you know, make the child feel that home to school bond (t3 at baby). ehs program staff looked for ways to strengthen relationships with parents, open doors to collaborate, and build on the families’ strengths. journey of discoveries strengthened the foundations of these relationships by encouraging ehs program staff and parents to listen to each other. dialogue that occurred between ehs staff and parents, with the child at the center, inspired a sense of connection. so maybe there’s, the writing styles of the parents [journey of discoveries], it’s like our [the teachers] little, our little gateway into, you know, how it really is [for the child at home] (p1 at baby). [a] mom wrote to her [child], “we went to the park, and you saw this,” and “when i sing to you, you respond like this to me.” and that was, it just was a whole nother level of personal. and so it was really, it was really nice (t1 at baby). i think that they realize now that we’re not just teachers, we’re not just babysitting; that 77 white we love these children, and we take care of them like they’re our own. i mean, this is like our little second family. and we would do anything for these kids (t1 at baby). the journey of discoveries helped parents to focus intently on their children. it also provided parents opportunities to share with staff about their lived experiences outside of the context of the ehs program, which built these authentic relationships. it [journey of discoveries] gets us [parents and home visitor] talking more about my kids and i think that’s is really good. it increases our chance to have focused time with them [parent spend more time with their children] (p1 at bambino) and we are more close. you see? and not just [the home visitor] looking [at the child] during playgroup [socialization]…mom tells me what she does with [the child] during sunday and at church. (hv2 at bebé) but now [as a result of] the journey of discoveries, they are sharing more of their life experience. (hv2 at bebé) the building of relationships was a key aspect of collaboration between ehs staff and parents. as young children, such as ehs infants and toddlers, started to learn about themselves, others, and their world, close, caring relationships with their parents and teachers played an important role, which can be seen through journey of discoveries. these caring relationships were strengthened through the interactions, exchanges, and dialogue that took place between ehs staff and parents. it was evident from the data that ehs staff and parents placed importance on their relationships with each other. the journey of discoveries provided a space for deepening relationships, family engagement, and the health and well-being of young children the value of teacher and parent shared understanding this study revealed that both ehs staff and parents valued their experience using the journey of discoveries. furthermore, journey of discoveries was found to create mutual feelings of value and shared understanding about their lived experiences and provided a deeper understanding of the challenges parents face in their lives. because i’m listen [ing] [to] what they [the parents] tell me [through the journey of discoveries]. i share that kind of experience [at] the same time…of course, that open [s] one new space between us. you’re creating bonding, you know, that kind of affection, or respect, or values, or understanding (hv2 at bebé). [the parent will tell the home visitor] why, sometimes, she [the parent] cannot come to the playgroup [socialization]. why, sometimes, she’s tired. because, when she tell [me], during the journal [journey of discoveries], she does this, this and this. i can understand, “wow, she’s tired. she has a lot to do.” [it] is more like comprehensive… i listen more to the reasons. (hv2 at bebé) creating new pathways for dialogue 78 the journey of discoveries provided ehs staff with opportunities to “check-in” with parents about the staff’s level of understanding of the content of parents’ communication. it created a checks and balances system, where assumptions and biases were minimized. i can see it. i mean they’re engaged with me. and they’re talking and then i’m writing [home visitor transcribes the parent verbal reported journey of discoveries] and i am asking them, “is this what you said? did i capture it right?” and it’s something that they feel sure of because they’re expressing it. it’s not something that we’re trying to get out of them, that they’re unsure of what we’re looking for. and it’s real and, you know, and that we care enough to, to write that down. i mean, that’s important (hv1 at bambino). collaboration through using the journey of discoveries created more awareness for the ehs staff and formed shared understanding through sensitivity and respect. she [the parent] can tell me [home visitor] more about [child’s] attitude, behavior, if he’s happy or not, if he is mad, or he don’t like this, or he—he like another one (hv2 at bebé). i think they’re [the parents] so used to me [the home visitor] saying and noticing things that, that, you know, it’s just auto, they just think, “oh, that’s just [the home visitor].” but when they see it written [journey of discoveries] down in a formal way with pictures, i think that it’s like more, it means more to them that i took the time to capture [what they said] and that they value that. and i think that causes them to value [the journey of discoveries] (hv1 at bambino). acknowledgement of the parent perspective, lived experiences, potential barriers, and perceived success was powerfully exchanged between ehs staff and parents through the journey of discoveries. consequently, these exchanges were valued and generated mutual understanding. they both [parents], enjoy [the journey of discoveries] and i [the home visitor] feel it’s really important because actually it’s a formal acknowledgement of their child. it’s like concrete. it’s like, “yeah, you’re always acknowledging things that you see or, you know, or parent interaction.” like i always try to say, “wow, i really like, you know, the way you two are doing this activity together [parent and child],” or whatever. you know? you [the home visitor] acknowledge the parent. you acknowledge their engagement. you acknowledge all of that (hv1 at bambino). well, i mean you’re valuing what they [the parents] have to say if they’re telling you a story and you’re writing it down word for word. [journey of discoveries] that in itself is acknowledgment and value (hv1 at bambino). it’s [journey of discoveries], just like a formal acknowledgement in a sense of them and their child. and whenever you are acknowledging a person’s child, you’re acknowledging them… because they’re so closely tied (hv 1 at bambino). 79 white journey of discoveries created a level of shared understanding that supported collaboration between ehs staff and parents, leading to similar perceptions of school readiness. it’s [journey of discoveries] a building block. it’s a building block and a tool at this point. and [journey of discoveries builds] shared understanding of school readiness (hv1 at bambino). parents expressed deep appreciation for the ehs staff for sharing their perspective of their children’s learning and development. it was evident that ehs staff took great pride in their journey of discoveries and demonstrated care through the carefully written stories of the children’s encounters, specifically considering the social and cultural context of these encounters. these encounters included their interactions with peers, adults, materials, and the environment, creating an exchange of stories between ehs staff and parents. the teachers, when they write their notes [journey of discoveries], they’re either telling us about how they’re [the children] helpful or how they smile, or how—what they enjoy, so that helps us [the parents] also see at home more what’s going on (p2 at baby) they [the parent] know us. so it’s [journey of discoveries] never going to be wrong. it’s never going to be, oh, this wasn’t written [journey of discoveries] very well. they’re, they’re from us. they’re going to love it; it’s about their child. they’re going to love it no matter what. (p1 at baby) so you just kind of know what they [the parents] perceive and you add to it or you sort of broaden their understanding. but you’ve got to always acknowledge what they bring to you and value it in order for them to value what you have to say. (hv1 at bambino) [ehs teacher] has a family where the mom is also a teacher, and works long hours. and so grandpa drops off and picks up, and so she’s [the mom] not getting to be here [at the classroom], and seeing, you know, kind of what’s going on in the classroom. … she can’t come to the parent meetings. but she gets to still see what [the teacher] is doing with her child every single day… she does get to read those stories [journey of discoveries], and so she’s understanding what’s going on at the school, even though she’s no longer here [physically present at the ehs center]. (t1at baby) and it [journey of discoveries], gives us [teachers more understanding], that’s where it’s nice, because it gives us more insight to how it is as home. (t1 at baby) ehs staff saw the journey of discoveries as an opportunity to write a letter, describing the children’s encounters of their experiences while they were in their care. this was reported by p1 at baby: “they [the parents] immediately understand [the teachers journey of discoveries]. it’s like… it’s like a letter of love (p1 at baby)” this idea of creating value through letter writing was also confirmed by a teacher who referred to journey of discoveries as the “lost art of letter-writing” (t1 at baby). this was also reiterated by a parent and a teacher at baby: “we write it like a personal letter” (p2 at baby). “they’re… it’s like looking at just a bunch of little letters or stories” (t1 at baby). these journey of discoveries “letters” carried personal messages creating new pathways for dialogue 80 written directly to the child and shared by teachers, home visitors, parents, and community. ehs staff, parents, and children were intricately connected and woven together through the sharing of these lived experiences. journey of discoveries strengthened relationships, partnership, and collaboration between parents and teachers creating a shared understanding of children’s learning and development. discussion head start has a long history of partnering with parents (ecklc, 2014). in recent years, head start has focused on family engagement (ecklc, 2011). by offering social support to parents, head start programs have historically had a positive impact on parent-child relationships (ncpfce, 2013). as a result of positive teacher and parent relationships, young children have the opportunity to learn important social skills needed to be successful in different environments (rogoff, 2003), such as home and school. the ehs sites that participated in the current study were in the process of identifying ways to document and report seven outcomes, identified in the parent family community engagement (pfce) framework (ecklc, 2011). as a result, the ehs programs were seeking ways to further collaborate with ehs parents and families and increase family engagement. this study examined the prototype model, journey of discoveries, as a possible tool for teachers to collaborate with families. the purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ and ehs parents’ incorporation of journey of discoveries narrative observations as a method for capturing children’s learning and development. description and analysis of teachers’ and ehs parents’ use of journey of discoveries was investigated as a possible pathway for collaboration as an essential aspect of school readiness (cowan, et al., 2004; mcallister, et al., 2005). this form of collaboration was revealed through the process of using journey of discoveries, where ehs staff and parents shared written narrative observations to document children’s learning process. four central themes emerged: (a) connection, (b) partnership, (c) building of relationship, and (d) the value of teacher and parent shared understanding. each of these themes show how journey of discoveries created collaboration between teachers and ehs parents. journey of discoveries created collaboration by establishing close connections between ehs teachers and families through shared narrative observations. research indicates that parents are more likely to share about the children’s home experience when they have close, trusting relationships with teachers (bryk & schneider, 2003). journey of discoveries is an example of one model used to document the children’s daily routines to improve connection between children, families, and staff. ehs staff and parents shared and collaborated with each other about what occurred during these daily routines through shared narrative observations. to establish connection with ehs parents outside of kidscan, ehs home visitors met weekly with each parent and child in the home setting to support the parents’ and child’s goals and to provide comprehensive services and referrals that connected families to community resources. these interactions and support services are examples of ways that ehs staff and parents established connections to reveal children’s home experiences through journey of discoveries. partnership was also a crucial aspect of the program, as it demonstrates collaboration occurring between ehs staff and families. the journey of discoveries showed partnership occurring through collaboration between ehs staff and parents who dialogued together about children’s learning processes. partnership included parents as equal partners with ehs staff. 81 white according to the pfce framework from early childhood knowledge learning center (2011), “parents share their knowledge about their child’s interests and progress at home, and together staff and families use this information to set and work towards goals for the child in the classroom, home, and community” (ecklc, 2011 p. 4). partnering with parents through journey of discoveries supported the pfce’s framework of family engagement in the child’s learning process and demonstrated the essential role of parent and staff partnership in children’s success. each of these aspects of partnership was established through the collaboration that occurred between ehs staff and families’ use of journey of discoveries. building relationships as a bridge that links ehs programs to children’s home environment was a key aspect of collaboration in this study. ehs parents were often busy with demanding work and school schedules. thus, ehs staff found it difficult to collaborate and build relationships with parents (haines, summers, turnbull, & turnbull iii, 2015). yet, the journey of discoveries provided a pathway for ehs staff and families to deepen their relationships by accommodating parents with busy schedules. this was an important aspect of the study because head start comprehensive services can be complex and require additional time for parents to document services received, often contributing to an adverse impact on parent relationships with ehs staff. the sharing of information through the journey of discoveries supported building healthy relationships, which lays a foundation for future academic success for children (ackerman & barnett, 2000; deming, 2009; mcallister et al., 2005). relationships between ehs staff, parents, children, family members, and the community was a central aspect of journey of discoveries. relationships were strengthened through the sharing of diverse perspectives. each member was valued as equal partners in the journey of discoveries. at each of the three ehs sites, the parent and teachers shared how they valued collaboration through the supportive relationships that were established by the use of journey of discoveries narrative observations. staff and ehs parents’ practice of journey of discoveries fostered mutual understanding of children’s learning experiences, revealing the collaborative nature of journey of discoveries. collaboration is necessary as children’s early learning experiences are reinforced by caring, trusting adults who join forces on their behalf (bryk & schneider, 2003). often, teachers and parents do not collaborate about the education of young children (mcallister, et al., 2005; robinson-zanartu & majel-dixon, 1996; tveit, 2009). yet, research shows educators and parents who work together in collaboration can better support young children’s learning and development (epstein, 2001; bryk & schneider, 2003). school readiness begins before children enter formal education (bransford, et al., 2000). research studies also indicate that promoting high quality early learning experiences for young children supports early brain development (bransford, et al., 2000; nichd, 2003). this demonstrates how children’s early learning experiences can be supported by educators and parents who collaborated through the sharing of journey of discoveries narrative observations. it is vital that during early development, educators collaborate with parents to support school readiness and the education of young children (cowan, et al., 2004; mcallister, et al., 2005). implication for practice in order for educators to support young children’s learning, it is important to consider how educators view children’s development, including their acknowledgment of the significance of creating new pathways for dialogue 82 parent-child relationships (lester & sparrow, 2010). educators need to foster collaborative relationships with parents to support young children’s learning and development (lester & sparrow, 2010). this study examined one model that successfully demonstrated collaboration between educators and parents through the use journey of discoveries narrative observations. collaborative efforts may be thwarted when parent and teacher perceptions differ. for example, head start and ehs families’ perceptions about school readiness may differ from head start policy and the expectations of educators. it is important for educators to understand head start and ehs parents’ perceptions and goals for their children in order to engage with families in the education of their children. head start and ehs programs may benefit from teamwork, such as the teamwork used in journey of discoveries, as a method to help teachers understand parent perceptions and desires for their children’s education. it is critical that an alliance between educators and parents occur to support school readiness. a kidscan grandparent (custodial guardian) expressed, “the importance of head start school readiness is to establish a foundation for learning. it means that children are ready for school, families are ready to support their children’s learning, and schools are ready for children.” furthermore, elkind (2007) posits, “hurrying children into adulthood violates the sanctity of life by giving one period priority over another. but, if we really value human life, we will value each period equally and give unto each stage of life what is appropriate to that stage” (p. 221). educators need to collaborate with parents through embracing children’s learning from a holistic approach, while validating parent household practices and connecting to families funds of knowledge (gonzález, moll, & amanti, 2005). a parent sharing his or her lived experiences with teachers legitimizes parent experiences and encourages understanding from teachers, which can lead to enhanced family engagement in the child’s learning process. it is vital for educators and program administrators to consider new opportunities for collaboration, such as journey of discoveries, as an approach that leads to enhanced parent engagement in the school readiness process. implication for policy this study underscores the critical need for head start programs to work diligently to collaborate with parents on the education of their children through the inclusion of strategies that can support the development of children’s school readiness skills. important studies have confirmed the social and economic benefits of early education for children, especially for those who are lowincome (doyle, harmon, heckman, & tremblay, 2009; ludwig & phillips, 2007). children who attend effective early childhood development programs are better prepared for kindergarten and have higher language and cognitive skills in the first years of elementary school (deming, 2009). head start policy should include children’s assessment practices that create authentic opportunities for parents to ensure connection between home and school experiences. policy needs to include assessment practices, such as journey of discoveries, where parents are the central force, as the leader in children’s education. thus, the importance of early learning supported through educators and parent collaboration is essential in the school readiness process. implications for research researchers should look for innovative head start agencies that implement assessment practices to engage families in authentic collaboration. kidscan management and ehs teachers were 83 white successful in developing deep, caring relationships with parents because the kidscan agency looked for pioneering ways to build meaningful interaction with families. the kidscan management and teachers were invested in and devoted to identifying areas of needed growth in their relationships with parents. they worked diligently to find creative solutions to engage families in the school readiness process. by working together with head start programs, such as kidscan, researchers can support authentic partnership and collaboration with families by evaluating program practices and policies that increase cooperation with families in the school readiness process. research should include families and head start teachers and administrators as co-collaborators in future research through a participatory action method (merriam, 2009). limitations research indicates that low ses families and teacher education level may influence the results of the study. (nichd early child care research network, 2003). the participants in this study were predominantly highly trained staff; while the parent participants were from low socioeconomic status (ses) families. research has indicated that adults with a higher education levels have longer conversations with children compared to adults with less education who have been shown to have fewer conversations and to primarily give commands when communicating with children (hoff, 2006; levine, miller, richman, & levine, 1996). furthermore, teachers with minimal college education may not have adequate training and knowledge of the importance of parent engagement and school readiness. thus, they may demonstrate poor effective communication skills with parents. further investigation of teachers with varying experience may be necessary and produce different results. in addition, another limitation of this study includes this study’s sample size of ehs parents. parents were from a small geographic area located in northern california. this small sample size of parents may contribute to issues of generalizability. the limited number of parents included in the study cannot be generalized to all populations. further research with other early education programs using journey of discoveries may be warranted. a larger, more diverse parent population may produce different results. moreover, future research needs to include a larger sample size comprised of parents of various types of programs. for example, families who have children enrolled in family child care, head start preschool programs, private and varying publicly funded programs using journey of discoveries may provide differing results. a larger, diverse population of families with varying ses may offer valuable information and further the investigation of journey of discoveries as one possible method for collaboration that may lead to enhanced parent engagement in the education of children. future studies need to examine parent and teachers use of journey of discoveries from larger cross-cultural populations (cozby, 2007). a larger study examining cross cultural populations using the journey of discoveries may generate different results (matsumoto & yoo, 2006; weisner, 2002). diverse cultural practices using the journey of discoveries may produce differing outcomes (gonzales, et al., 2005; rogoff, moore, najafi, dexter, correa-chavez, & solis, 2007). additional demographic variables should be considered to provide further understanding of the use of journey of discoveries as a technique for educators and parents to collaborate and enhance parent engagement in children’s education (cozby, 2007; suter, 2012). it is essential that future research consider all possible factors through careful selection of creating new pathways for dialogue 84 measurements to help minimize limitations while conducting research studies on the important topic of collaboration (aspland & gardner, 2003; cozby, 2007; suter, 2012). conclusion journey of discoveries offers a broader understanding of collaboration between parents and teachers. journey of discoveries is a representative model of partnership and a novel approach to establishing open, two-way communication between parents and educators, where young children’s learning is valued and paramount. this study revealed that teacher and ehs parent collaboration can occur through journey of discoveries, and it appears to be a promising practice that can lead to enhanced family engagement. connection, partnership, building of relationships, and the value of teacher and parent shared understanding were central themes identified in this study. though the study findings cannot be generalized to other populations, journey of discoveries is an innovative model that captures children’s learning and development by generating new pathways of collaboration through teachers and families in the school readiness process. references ackerman, d. j., & barnett, w. s. 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(2013). case study research: design and methods. 5 th ed. sage publications. creating new pathways for dialogue 88 appendix a journey of discoveries staff and parent interview survey questions 1. please tell me a little about yourself – your background 2. do you see yourself as a central force in helping prepare your child or children for school? if so, how? 3. do you see yourself in a collaborative partnership with your children’s teacher or parent? please describe in detail. 4. does the process of journey of discoveries increase collaboration with your teacher/parent? 5. do you think this experience has changed your understanding of school readiness? if so, how? 6. have you had a child go through the early head start or head start program previously? what was your experience with the level of communication with your teacher from the old method to the new method of using the journey of discoveries? 7. how effective has your experience and participation in using journey of discoveries been with your communication with staff/parents? 8. has your experience and participation in using journey of discoveries helped your communication with staff/parents? if so, please describe. 9. has your journey of discoveries changed your interactions with children? please describe in detail. 10. please describe your experience writing the journey of discoveries observations in the first person (writing directly to the child). please describe in detail. 11. has journey of discoveries created a shared understanding between you and your teacher/ parents? if so, please describe. 12. is there anything else you would like to share about your experience with using journey of discoveries? 13. do you have any else you would like to share? abstract dialog, 18(4), 80-104 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research article scaffolded dialogic reading professional development for transitional kindergarten teachers of dual language learners carola matera california state university channel islands elvira armas and magaly lavadenz loyola marymount university this article presents the results of a study examining a 6-month project funded by the u.s. department of education that focused on enhancing teacher learning and instructional practices in transitional kindergarten (tk) in a large urban california school district. the project integrated and adapted the doing what works (2012) dialogic reading practices 1 into ongoing professional development for 28 tk teachers working in classrooms with high percentages of 4and 5-year-old dual language learners (dlls). we employed a quasi-experimental design that used a comparison group to examine how teaching practices changed both with and without the project’s coaching support. data from classroom observations, teacher surveys, and coaching reflections indicate that implementation of scaffolded dialogic reading practices improved tk teachers’ knowledge and oral language instructional strategies for teaching dlls. keywords: dual language learners, dialogic reading, transitional kindergarten, teaching practices a growing body of research confirms that a positive early learning experience before kindergarten significantly narrows the school-readiness gap (isaacs, 2012; national council de la raza [nclr], 2011) and that children’s engagement is central to learning pre-academic skills—oral language, reading readiness, print awareness, and early math and science (cross, woods, & schweingruber, 2009; national early literacy panel, 2008; pianta et al., 2005). the unprecedented growth in the diversity of the student population (garcia & jensen, 2009) demands the promotion of high-quality instruction for all learners that meets the unique and 1 doing what works (dww) was a website established by the what works clearinghouse at the u.s. department of education. the dww’s mission was to support teachers and administrators to implement evidence-based practices in daily k-12 classroom instruction. the site was suspended in 2013. visit http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/ http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/ scaffolded dialogic reading professional development 81 varied needs of children with different abilities and differing cultural and linguistic backgrounds (castro, garcía, & markos, 2013; vitiello, 2013). although effective instruction is indispensable to all students, dual language learners (dlls) need additional support to fully engage in daily learning practices (goldenberg, 2008). in particular, the use of storybooks by teachers of dlls has been identified as a successful method of supporting language and literacy development. working with stories helps dlls develop a wide range of skills such as vocabulary and reading comprehension of story elements, including storyline, actions, and events, all of which are closely linked to literacy success in later years (bus, van ijzendoorn, & pellegrini, 1995; scarborough & dobrich, 1994). dll teachers must be culturally competent and fully prepared and equipped with at least a working knowledge of how dlls learn and develop language and literacy as well as social, emotional, and cognitive skills (california department of education, 2011; castro, páez, dickinson, & frede, 2013). however, the early learning field is experiencing a shortage of both multilingual and monolingual teachers who are knowledgeable in children’s development of languages and cultural awareness (alliance for a better community, 2012). equally important, early learning educators also lack ongoing support to enhance their knowledge of how to integrate dll strategies with evidence-based practices that promote oral language and literacy development (castro et al., 2013). we present the results of a 6-month study funded by the u.s. department of education that focused on enhancing teacher learning and improving instruction in culturally and linguistically diverse transitional kindergarten (tk) programs. 2 this article covers four topics: (a) research on language and literacy development for dlls and dll teacher development, (b) the study methods and design, (c) the study results, and (d) implications for language and literacy instruction and practice in diverse early childhood settings. research in language development for dlls dlls are children who are born in bilingual or multilingual environments that support learning more than one language concurrently or children who are raised in a single-language medium and exposed to an additional language—generally english—later in their childhood (office of head start, 2009). the language development of dlls varies significantly based on several factors: their language proficiency and exposure; their family, schools, and community; their household income; their attendance in a dual language program; the quality of community and societal interactions in terms of the acceptance, encouragement, and valuing of diversity; and their citizenship or immigration status (castro et al., 2013; garcia & jensen, 2009; urzúa & gomez, 2008). moreover, researchers claim that learning more than one language does not delay, confuse, or hinder development; by contrast, it bolsters english language and literacy development (see dixon et al., 2012; hammer et al., 2012; and petitto, 2009). dll children use what they know in their first language to develop literacy competence in the second language (august, calderón, & carlo, 2002; cardenas-hagan, carlson, & pollard-durodola, 2007). dll students’ rates of language learning vary depending on several factors, including the need to master two language systems, attendance at english-only schools, the opportunities to access the home language in the communities of residence and participation, and the ability of their 2 instituted in 2010, california transitional kindergarten programs are state funded. 82 matera et al. teachers to respond to dlls’ specific language and literacy needs (california department of education, 2013; castro et al., 2013). findings from brain studies show that bilingual children access and process new information in more efficient ways and that bilingualism has long-term positive effects (bialistok, 2001; garcia-sierra et al., 2011; kuhl, 2011; mechelli et al., 2004). the benefits of bilingualism are unquestionable. nevertheless, dll children living in poverty or less advantaged households face challenges in learning and development (american institutes for research, 2012) and therefore need additional individualized support to strengthen their home language use, to learn english, and to improve overall learning outcomes (saunders, goldenberg, & marcelletti, 2013). oral language development high-quality teacher-child interactions, physical surroundings, and instructional support systems are found to be vital to ensuring school readiness for dlls (castro et al., 2013; espinosa, 2010; magruder, hayslip, espinosa, & matera, 2013). research suggests that oral language development plays an essential role in facilitating young children’s learning and development in school and in other aspects of life (dickinson & porche, 2011). notably, research supports developing both the home language and english for dlls (hakuta & garcía, 1989; national association for the education of young children, 1996; slavin & cheung, 2003; tabors, 1997; tabors & snow, 2001; thomas & collier, 2002). research also demonstrates the multiple advantages of continuing the development of a home language and the learning of english at a young age. such benefits include cognitive enhancement (bialystok, 2001; castro et al., 2011; diaz, 1985; jessner, 2008; kessler & quinn, 1980; zelasko & antunez, 2000); improved school readiness (zelasko & antunez, 2000); and the transfer of reading knowledge in a second language (páez & rinaldi, 2006). as a result, early childhood teachers—whether monolingual, bilingual, or multilingual— must be purposeful in using language strategies in the classroom that facilitate both home and english language development by dlls (burchinal, field, lópez, howes, & pianta, 2012; hakuta & garcia, 1989; national association for the education of young children, 1996; slavin & cheung, 2003; tabors, 1997; tabors & snow, 2001; thomas & collier, 2002). teachers of young dlls can develop a systematic approach to learning about their students’ language experiences outside of school at the beginning of the year, monitoring their home and english language development, using explicit and intentional support and strategies, and collaborating with families to encourage the use of their home language. these practices help dlls to acquire critical english language skills and promote a strong foundation for language and literacy in any language. bridging language and literacy development with dual language learners: dialogic reading practices language and literacy—the abilities to speak, listen, read, and write—begin in early childhood. oral language plays a critical role in children’s learning to read and write (dickinson & porche, 2011). young learners further develop language skills in the early academic years—learning scaffolded dialogic reading professional development 83 more words, understanding language concepts, and developing alphabetic knowledge. in particular, vocabulary, decoding, and comprehension practice foster skills critical to reading and writing. these skills are learned in a developmental continuum and through direct participation in communication-based experiences. developmental learning milestones for children have a direct impact on their school readiness, future academic success, and ability to manage other opportunities in life (sénéchal, lefebre, thomas, & daley, 1998). however, dlls need additional support to facilitate their ability to make connections between prior knowledge and new concepts, ideas, and vocabulary in english (california department of education, 2013). dialogic reading is an instructional practice based on dialogue generated between adults and small groups of children through the use of a storybook. the story serves as an anchor and platform through which participants can engage in methodological and creative conversations that make connections with their prior experiences, interests, and ideas. dialogic reading is designed to promote language learning through three distinct levels: level 1, which focuses on vocabulary instruction; level 2, which focuses on building comprehension and expanding children’s responses; and level 3, which focuses on promoting children’s retelling of stories and making connections with their lives and experiences outside of school. these levels are organized within a framework in which teachers prepare lessons by following specific implementation criteria, such as using small groups of three to five children, using stories with clear plots, and satisfying the need for repeated readings of the same story. by using questioning strategies and directly teaching vocabulary, teachers ensure that children experience language in rich and inspiring ways that lead them to understand the plot of the story and engage in retelling the story while making connections with their own personal life experiences and culture (lonigan, anthony, bloomfield, dyer, & samwel, 1999; lonigan & whitehurst, 1998). dialogic reading was originally developed to foster family and child engagement through strategies for storytelling (whitehurst, 1998) and was later broadly replicated with children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (chow, mcbride-chang, & cheung, 2008; jimenez, filippini, & gerber, 2006; lim & cole, 2002; valdez-menchaca & whitehurst, 1992). studies showing positive effects of dialogic reading practices on children’s language development have led to the use of such practices as classroom interventions, which have yielded robust results, particularly for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds (hargrave & sénéchal, 2000; lonigan & whitehurst, 1998; valdez-menchaca & whitehurst, 1992). dialogic reading studies were vetted by the u.s. department of education’s what works clearinghouse (2004) at the institute of educational sciences and published on the online doing what works website. additional instructional guidance was produced to support preschool teachers in implementing evidence-based practices (doing what works library, 2012). newer research, albeit scant, shows positive effects of implementing dialogic reading practices in classrooms with dll children through professional development (blamey, beauchat, & sweetman, 2012; cohen, kramer-vida, & frye, 2012a). although these studies focus on only the first level of dialogic reading (namely, the teaching of vocabulary), the results demonstrate the success of showing teachers how to use explicit strategies and techniques to enhance vocabulary and to deliberately use academic language to engage children. more studies are needed to explore and evaluate the efficacy of professional development across the entire dialogic reading framework. 84 matera et al. teacher professional development to facilitate early language development for dlls effective language instruction and the implementation of successful dll teaching strategies are imperative, both in classrooms with english instruction and in those with spanish instruction (cohen, kramer-vida, & frye, 2012b). by employing instructional language approaches, teachers systematically incorporate children’s home languages into their teaching to maximize engagement and access to the curriculum. the strategies employed in classrooms with either englishor spanish-based instruction bridge children’s existing knowledge about a topic as well as the new knowledge and understanding introduced in the classroom. the literature contains little information about how professional development can support monolingual and bilingual teachers to systematically build language and literacy skills for young dlls, particularly in classrooms where english instruction is used (martinez-beck & zaslow, 2006). a more comprehensive understanding of how to develop teachers’ working knowledge of scaffolds and ongoing support is needed to ensure that all children can more meaningfully benefit from language and literacy instruction (garcia, jensen, & cueller, 2006; zepeda, castro, & cronin, 2011). teachers typically receive pre-service professional development training on various separate topics (e.g., early language and literacy development and english language development). this includes dialogic reading, which is often taught without instruction on dll scaffolding. a sufficient body of research demonstrates also that “one-shot” trainings for in-service teachers alone do not lead to positive changes in instruction and improved learning outcomes for children. to meet the unique needs of young children, especially dlls, teachers need welldefined and continuous support in the implementation of developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate practices in different classroom contexts. teachers also need effective training in evidence-based strategies that significantly improve children’s english language skills (castro et al., 2013; espinosa, 2010; saunders et al., 2013). moreover, to increase teacher expertise in oral language and instructional support for dlls, professional development must integrate all curriculum areas and must be contextualized for each classroom setting. the scaffolded dialogic reading framework: supporting teachers of dlls the original dialogic reading framework (lonigan & whitehurst, 1998) does not address the specific needs of dlls or identify scaffolding practices targeting dlls. given the substantial research findings indicating that effective language instruction and instructional strategies for dlls are imperative (cohen et al., 2012b; national early literacy panel, 2008), this study developed the scaffolded dialogic reading framework (see table 1), in which teachers systematically incorporate dll supports as strategies to maximize engagement and access to the curriculum. these research-informed strategies assist teachers in teaching new vocabulary, expand their use of visuals and realia, and help them to assess prior knowledge. scaffolded dialogic reading professional development 85 table 1. supporting dlls in dialogic reading: the scaffolded dialogic reading framework dr level and focus original dialogic reading required dll supports pre-level non-existent in original dialogic reading framework pre-level: background knowledge and engagement using differentiated questions, discover and document vocabulary from children’s prior knowledge in english and home language progressive examples: -what do you see here? (point to object in picture) -can you describe what you see on this page? -what do you think/predict this story is about? summarize the story without giving the end away (motivation to engage) level 1: develop vocabulary academic language identify 3-4 academic words related to story use new words throughout the day in other contexts identify 3-4 academic words related to the story based on children’s prior knowledge assessment in pre-level session (see pre-level) use movement, gestures, realia, songs, photographs in teaching the academic words use home language to develop and review vocabulary create experiential opportunities to preview story concepts and vocabulary contextualize the words in the story and give examples of how the words are used in a different context 86 matera et al. dr level and focus original dialogic reading required dll supports level 2: prompt descriptions comprehension and expressive & receptive language focus on the key parts of the story expand children’s comments and responses and ask connecting questions create experiential opportunities to preview story concepts and vocabulary ask differentiated questions based on child’s english proficiency level use home language to review vocabulary and ask clarifying questions use movement, realia, songs, gestures, and visuals to enhance comprehensibility repeat child’s response and ask him/her to repeat check for understanding of storyline, assess vocabulary knowledge, and expand language based on child’s response provide materials for parents to discuss story at home in home language level 3: encourage retelling personalizing the story experience teachers set the stage, listen and document encourage demonstrating parts of the story elicit retelling story in own words through different activities (e.g. using felt board, role playing, inventing different endings) extend conversations beyond story plot elicit personal connections with real life assess receptive and expressive language skills in english and home language (based on the state’s preschool learning foundations) assess productive and interpretive english language development and usage (based on state’s eld standards) assess and encourage use of vocabulary and language structures included the story use movement, realia, songs, gestures, and visuals to retell story use home language to support retelling and comparison of story to students’ own lives provide materials for parents to retell story at home in home language scaffolded dialogic reading professional development 87 coaching as part of professional development for teachers of dlls teachers’ knowledge of the language and literacy development of dlls and related practices can be enhanced by instructional coaching. indeed, in their study of 291 early childhood educators, neuman and cunningham (2009) found that professional development alone had only negligible effects on teachers’ practices. when coaching was combined with professional development sessions, both teachers’ knowledge and their competency in teaching this population increased in statistically significant ways. other research notes that instructional coaching benefits k-12 teachers in the same way that early childhood educators may benefit from professional development designed to promote the translation of research into practice through reflection and evidence-based support (kohler, mccullough, & buchan, 1995; miller, 1994; skiffington, washburn, & elliott, 2011). overall, the literature clearly indicates that coaching is essential to support early childhood educators in developing young children’s language and literacy. however, additional guidance on high-impact teaching practices for dlls in the context of language and content knowledge instruction is still needed. background and purpose in september 2010, california’s governor signed into law the kindergarten readiness act of 2010. the rationale behind this mandate for tk lies in the growing body of research confirming that high-quality early learning and preschool experiences significantly reduce the schoolreadiness gap, which begins by age three (nclr, 2011). research indicates that engaging children in pre-academic skills (oral language, reading readiness, print awareness, and early math and science) and facilitating oral language development are critical for all learners (cross et al., 2009; dickinson & porche, 2011; national early literacy panel, 2008; pianta et al., 2005; snow, burns, & griffin, 1998), especially children from non-english-speaking homes (cannon, jacknowitz, & karoly, 2012). the 2010 law requires school districts to provide kindergarten to students who turn 5 years old by the first of september. additionally, california’s school districts are required to provide a noncompulsory tk program to 4-year-olds who turn five by the second of december. based on these changes, tk provides the youngest children (4-year-olds) in the kindergartenelementary system with the first year of a 2-year educational program taught by a credentialed elementary school teacher. 3 the kindergarten readiness act of 2010 indicates that tk differs from traditional kindergarten instruction in the implementation of a modified, age-appropriate curriculum. tk is taught by elementary school teachers with little or no preparation in early childhood language and literacy instruction for young dlls. hence, our study focused on advancing teachers’ knowledge, skills, and expertise in implementing evidence-based instructional practices and strategies that enhance dlls’ oral language development. this focus 3 children who turn 5 years old by september 1 are enrolled in traditional kindergarten. transitional kindergarten is the first year of a 2-year voluntary kindergarten experience for those 4-year-olds whose fifth birthday falls between september 2 and december 2. the ca education code was amended in 2015 to permit local education agencies and charter schools to have the option of tk admission for children who will be five after december 2 during that same school year. specifications can be found at http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/el/le/yr15ltr0717.asp?print=yes 88 matera et al. also recognized the need in the tk programs of large urban school districts to provide sound and novel teaching practices (espinosa & matera, 2010) that respond to a growing ethnically and linguistically diverse student population (espinosa & zepeda, 2009). purpose this study aimed to examine changes in teaching practices related to effective language and literacy instruction for dlls in tk classrooms as a result of the implementation of professional development and coaching on scaffolded dialogic reading. research question the following research question g”uided our inquiry: what is the impact of scaffolded dialogic reading professional development on dll classroom practices for participants with and without coaching support, as measured by the observation protocol for academic literacies (opal©) and the dialogic reading teacher survey (lavadenz, armas, & matera, 2011)? methodology procedure the study was a joint venture between a large urban school district’s tk program and a research center at an institution of higher education. over a 6-month period, we employed a quasiexperimental nonequivalent, posttest-only design (cook & campbell, 1979) using a comparison group to evaluate changes resulting from scaffolded dialogic reading professional development with presence and absence of coaching support in teaching practices within classrooms having young dual language learners. the participants in this study were elementary school teachers who taught tk in a large urban district in southern california with 31% of english learners, and 48% of tk/k students identified as english learners/dlls (see table 2). we randomly selected half of the group of 28 participants into the coaching treatment group and the scaffolded dialogic reading group. the coaching treatment group was identified through a random selection process that was structured by clustering all participating schools into a total of seven geographic regions across the large urban school district. within each of these regions, a proportionate number of schools was chosen. this resulted in a randomly selected group of 14 teachers, or 50% of the overall number of teachers who received in-classroom instructional coaching (neuman & cunningham, 2009) by a total of 4 coaches. the remaining 14 teachers were placed into the control group, where they participated in six training sessions on scaffolded dialogic reading. scaffolded dialogic reading professional development 89 table 2. participant age range, ethnicity, and gender (n=25) demographic variable n % age range 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-56+ 1 4 5 4 1 10 4 16 20 16 4 40 race/ethnicity asian hispanic/latino/a white/caucasian other 2 13 9 1 8 52 36 4 gender female male 25 0 100 0 note: a total of 28 teachers were recruited for this project. however, only 25 teachers responded to demographic data inquiries. table 3 average years of teaching, authorization, and degree (n=25) demographic variable m sd minimum maximum years of teaching 17.00 7.81 6 38 years of teaching in early childhood/preschool setting 12.48 9.32 1 40 n % type of teaching credential multiple subject administrative services 25 4 100 16 other authorization bilingual authorization cross-cultural language and development other (sb 1969, lds) 9 13 2 38 54 8 degrees obtained bachelor’s master’s 25 11 100 44 note: a total of 28 teachers were recruited for this project. however, only 25 teachers responded to demographic data inquiries. 90 matera et al. two researchers conducted classroom observations at the end of the study and one researcher served on the professional development training team. monthly scaffolded dialogic reading professional development sessions targeted crucial components of tk such as the use of preschool standards, beginning in the 48-month age range and building into the kindergarten standards. other topics included teaching language across the curriculum, embedding evidencebased language practices, and developing language enrichment activities and instructional strategies for dlls. during the second part of the academic year (january-june), scaffolded dialogic reading practice was incorporated into the monthly professional development trainings and implemented by teachers in their classrooms twice per week (august 2010-january 2011). table 4 details the topics presented for each of the six sessions. table 4 professional development sessions and coaching plan overview, january-june 2011 session # and month topics length of session coaching component 1. january overview: dialogic reading overview and evidence with dual language learners. open-ended questions: follow the car (commentwait, ask, and respond by adding more) strategy focus on dual language learning: meeting the language needs of students model dialogic reading: role play using butterfly, butterfly and spat the cat 1 hour 1 hour 15 min. 1 hour 15 min. 1 hour 45 min. assign coaches to schools/ teachers establish and communicate number of visits and duration negotiate release time for teachers/meeting time for preand post-conferences 2. february introduction/overview of the three level framework for interactive dialogic reading parent connection: sample activities use of follow the car dialogic reading strategies with parents 2 hours 1 hour provide opal training for coaches establish and communicate coaching model: phase 1 – demonstration lesson; phase 2 – co-teaching; phase 3 – observation scaffolded dialogic reading professional development 91 3. march dialogic reading for dlls level 1 focus lesson planning strategies: peer (prompt, evaluate, expand, and repeat) and crowd (completion, recall, open-ended, wh-questions, distancing) strategies modeling: modeling using tough boris and the cow that went oink 1 hour 15 min. coaches conduct phase 1 visits and support meet with coaches network to support and debrief experience 4. april dialogic reading for dlls level 2 focus book selection process, planning a dialogic reading lesson focusing on type 2 questions modeling: level 1 and level 2 questions using the cow that went oink and tough boris 1 hour 45 min. coaches conduct phase 2 visits and support meet with coaches network to support and debrief experience 5. may dialogic reading for dlls level 3 focus planning a dialogic reading lesson focusing on level 3 questions 1 hour 45 min. coaches conduct phase 3 visits and support meet with coaches network to support and debrief experience 6. june doing what works overview nation-wide project dialogic reading – foundation for literacy development teacher survey celebration of product 1 hour 45 min. conduct closure debrief session with coaches while participants in the control group only participated in the scaffolded dialogic reading professional development sessions, participants in the treatment group received coaching 92 matera et al. support in addition to the sessions. the coaching model followed a traditional three-part trajectory: (a) a pre-observation dialogue between coach and teacher, (b) the actual observation, and (c) the post-observation dialogue between coach and teacher. in this way, coaching included “pre-, mid-, and post-sessions” for the randomly selected subset (n = 14) of the total number of teacher participants (n = 28) across the three distinct phases of coaching implementation. each pre-session required the coach and teacher team to identify a focus area, such as questioning strategies during stage 1 of the dialogic reading process. this pre-session typically occurred inperson before or after school or via email or telephone conferences. the mid-session involved the coach visiting the teacher’s classroom to demonstrate, co-teach, or observe a lesson, as described in the phases below. the post-session also occurred in-person before or after school and included a debriefing conversation focused on evidence recorded during in the session. consequently, each teacher participant in the coaching group was engaged in three sessions during each of the three tk coaching phases described here. in-classroom coaching phase 1: demonstration lesson and establishment of rapport (3 sessions, “pre-mid-post”). this phase involved an introductory session between the teacher and coach. the coaches and tk teachers met or communicated prior to the demonstration lesson regarding the type of lesson or strategy that they preferred to have demonstrated with their students (pre-session). the coach delivered a demonstration lesson (midsession) while the teacher observed and collected evidence using the opal protocol. the postsession discussion included an evidenced-based conversation surrounding the elements of effective practice for dlls integrated within the scaffolded dialogic reading framework. in-classroom coaching phase 2: co-teaching (3 sessions, “pre-mid-post”). the doing what works (2012) book selection criterion was used to select books for the tk program that were donated by an independent foundation. each tk teacher and his or her respective coach developed lessons collaboratively based on the book leo the late bloomer. this planning occurred primarily via electronic communications (pre-session). the coach and teacher delivered the co-developed lesson plans collaboratively while recording anecdotal evidence using the opal tool (mid-session). the post-session discussion included an evidenced-based conversation about the elements of effective practice for dlls integrated within the scaffolded dialogic reading framework. in-classroom coaching phase 3: opal-dialogic reading observation (3 sessions, “pre-mid-post”). the teachers worked collaboratively during the professional development sessions to plan a lesson that would be observed by a coach (pre-session). the coach and teacher identified areas of focus based on the comprehensibility domain of the opal with dialogic reading (lavadenz et al., 2011). each coach observed his or her teacher(s) using the selected criteria (mid-session). the post-session discussion included an evidenced-based conversation regarding the elements of effective practice for dlls integrated within the scaffolded dialogic reading framework. scaffolded dialogic reading professional development 93 measures and analysis data were collected for all teacher participants, where available. of the 28 participants, 23 consented to a post-project observation using a validated classroom observation measure—the opal© (lavadenz & armas, 2010), an 18-item likert scale used to examine in-classroom project implementation; 25 participants responded to the electronic administration of a dialogic reading tk teacher survey. accordingly, the following quantitative and qualitative data were collected using three key instruments: (a) 23 classroom post-project observations using the opal instrument (aligned with dialogic reading strategies, table 5), along with documented evidence of tk teachers’ implementation of dialogic reading practices; (b) 25 surveys administered to teacher-participants to assess their knowledge of dialogic reading practices before and after all the professional development sessions; and (c) reflections from the four coaches on implementation and support for control group teachers. each of the instruments, data collection methods, and analysis is described below (see table 6). table 5 opal domains and indicators construct indicator rigorous and relevant curriculum 1.1 emphasizes problem solving and critical thinking 1.2 access to materials, technology, resources 1.3 access to content in primary language 1.4 organization of curriculum and teaching 1.5 allows transfer of skills from primary language 1.6 establishes high expectations connections 2.1 relates instructional concepts to students’ realities 2.2 helps students make connections 2.3 makes learning relevant and meaningful comprehensibility 3.1 scaffolds instruction 3.2 amplifies student input 3.3 explains key terms 3.4 provides feedback and checks for comprehension 3.5 uses informal assessments interactions 4.1 facilitates student autonomy 4.2 modifies procedures to support learning 4.3 communicates subject matter knowledge 4.4 uses flexible groupings 94 matera et al. the observation protocol for academic literacies (opal). the opal is a research-based classroom observation tool that measures classroom practices and interactions from sociocultural and language acquisition perspectives (lavadenz & armas, 2010). the protocol uses a 6-point likert scale (1-6, low to high) to rate instruction for academic literacy, defined as a set of 21 st century skills, abilities, and dispositions. table 5 provides an overview of the opal. table 6. study measures instrument purpose type of data analysis opal classroom observation protocol aligned with scaffolded dialogic reading practices to determine levels of implementation quantitative – likert scale 1-6 qualitativeanecdotal notes post-analyses anova tk teacher survey to gather demographic information and knowledge of dialogic reading preand post of participants quantitative qualitative descriptive constant comparative using open coding coach reflection logs to gather postprogram evidence from the coaches’ perspectives qualitativenarrative journal entries constant comparative using open coding dialogic reading tk teacher survey. the dialogic reading tk teacher survey was administered once at the end of the study. this survey was a self-reported measure to gather information about participants’ perceived awareness and knowledge of scaffolded dialogic reading (preand post-program). survey items related to scaffolded dialogic reading, language routines for dlls and coaching were based on research-based elements of the scaffolded dialogic reading approach and effective practices for working with young dlls. content experts reviewed all items and provided feedback on the clarity of items and their alignment to practice. the survey was administered electronically, and the participants answered questions organized into five sections: (a) demographic information (14 multiple-choice and open-entry responses), (b) perceived awareness and knowledge of scaffolded dialogic reading prior to training (7 likert scale items), (c) perceived awareness and knowledge of dialogic reading after training (8 likert scale items), (d) open responses about implementation aligned with opal domains (5 total), and scaffolded dialogic reading professional development 95 (e) open responses regarding coaching (3 total; only the teachers who received coaching completed these items). coaches’ reflection logs. twelve reflection forms were collected from the coaches to gather information about how coaching affects classroom practice but also to highlight any commonalities emerging from each of the coaching phases. these forms included the following: (a) a log of the date, time, teacher, and focus of each coaching visit; (b) pre-session (visit) reflection, including questions posed, materials used, and lesson focus; (c) mid-session (visit) reflection regarding reactions to lesson delivery and use of the opal to generate evidence-based statements during the lesson; and (d) post-session (visit) reflection on what went well, aspects to change, teacher questions, and notes on debriefing the lesson using the opal. coaches’ reflections were analyzed using the dialogic reading tk teacher survey questions: (a) open responses about implementation aligned with opal domains (5 total), and (b) open responses regarding coaching. analytical approach mann-whitney tests (cohen, 1988) were conducted to determine the differences in the implementation of doing what works (2012) (dww) practices for the random sample of teachers who received coaching and those who received only dww professional development. these tests were used instead of the more common t tests for independent means due to the small sample size (n = 23). additionally, data triangulation was conducted through the use of a dialogic reading tk teacher survey and the collection of coaching reflection logs. results results obtained from our data analyses allowed us to answer the research question: “what is the impact of scaffolded dialogic reading professional development on dll classroom practices for participants with and without coaching support, as measured by the observation protocol for academic literacies (opal©) and the dialogic reading teacher survey (lavadenz, armas, & matera, 2011)?” the mann-whitney tests conducted for the classroom observation data include a total of 23 out of 28 teacher participants who consented to the opal post-classroom observation (see table 7). additional analyses reported for the background-demographic questionnaire and dialogic reading tk teacher survey included a total of 25 respondents who responded to the electronic survey. the results for all data sources: (a) classroom observations, (b) teacher surveys, and (c) coaches’ reflection logs are discussed in the following section. 96 matera et al. table 7 dialogic reading coaching phases coach phase 1 demonstration lesson phase 2 co-teaching phase 3 observation feedback teacher 001 1 x x x teacher 002 1 x x participant hospitalized at the end of school year. teacher 004 1 x x x teacher 008 3 teacher 009 3 x x x teacher 011 2 participant not assigned to a coach. x x teacher 012 3 x x teacher dropped out of project. teacher 014 2 x x x teacher 017 4 x x x teacher 018 4 x x x teacher 019 4 x x x teacher 021 2 x x x teacher 024 2 x x x teacher 015 did not consent to coaching support. opal post-classroom observation results to answer the research question, mann-whitney tests were used (see table 8). the results of these analyses allow us to report levels of statistical significance between the coached and uncoached groups. this yielded the following results as reported in table 8: (a) total score, rs = .25, d = .51, p = .24; (b) rigorous and relevant curriculum, rs = .22, d = .48, p = .31; (c) connections, rs = .34, d = .67, p = .11; (d) comprehensibility, rs = .23, d = .34, p = .28; and (e) interactions, rs = .21 d = .44, p = .32. cohen (1988) suggested guidelines for interpreting the cohen’s d statistic. he suggested that a weak effect had a value of d = .20, a moderate effect had a value of d = .50, and a strong effect had a value of d = .80, using these criteria, moderate effects were noted for the overall opal rating (d = .51) and the connections domain (d = .67) (table 8). overall, quantitative data from the opal observations revealed mid-range ratings across the opal domains for both the coached and uncoached groups, particularly in the area of addressing rigorous and relevant curricula through meaningful interactions. scaffolded dialogic reading professional development 97 table 8 comparison of opal ratings based on whether coaching occurred. mann-whitney tests (n = 23) scale (aggregated indicators) a group n m sd z d rs overall opal (all 18 indicators) 1.17 .51 .25 .24 no 12 3.52 0.67 yes 11 3.85 0.61 rigorous and relevant curriculum domain (1.1 to 1.6) 1.02 .48 .22 .31 no 12 3.29 0.66 yes 11 3.62 0.71 connections domain (2.1 to 2.3) 1.59 .67 .34 .11 no 12 3.25 0.71 yes 11 3.7 0.62 comprehensibility domain (3.1 to 3.5) 1.09 .34 .23 .28 no 12 3.77 0.75 yes 11 4.02 0.73 interactions domain (4.1 to 4.4) 0.99 .44 .21 .32 no 12 3.77 0.83 yes 11 4.09 0.59 teacher survey results insights from the dialogic reading tk teacher surveys and classroom observations indicated that the initial implementation of dialogic reading supported tk teachers’ development of knowledge and practices with dlls. however, the vast majority of respondents and classroom observations indicated that (a) more time was needed to fully integrate dialogic reading practices into routine instruction and (b) more support is required to improve teachers’ learning of practices (coaching through video, demonstration, or peer observation). teachers’ self-reported ratings for dialogic reading awareness and knowledge before and after the professional development sessions indicate that all teachers were fully credentialed with english learner authorization. their years of teaching in early childhood or preschool settings ranged from 1 year (minimum) to 40 years (maximum). each participant was from a different school site, and site demographic data revealed that the english learners served ranged from 9.1% to 76.7% (m = 43.48%, sd 18.70). two participants taught in a bilingual program for tk students, and the remaining teachers instructed dlls using a structured english immersion model that included some opportunities for primary language support. tables 2 and 3 present additional demographic data regarding the program participants. 98 matera et al. coaches’ reflection logs across all coaching phases, reflection logs indicated that all coaches were utilizing the dialogic reading framework to plan, deliver, and observe instruction in each of the classrooms. additionally, all coaches reported a need for more time to preview and debrief lessons and for more information about the students in the classroom. logs revealed that the opal helped the coaches identify key elements in lesson planning and delivery. the coaches reported planning together and considering dll needs with dialogic reading using the opal comprehensibility domain as a guide for planning. another common theme identified in the coaching logs indicated that all teachers had many questions about grouping and preparedness for dialogic reading lessons, particularly at level 3. furthermore, the coaches reported that the teachers welcomed the in-classroom support and collaborative work with their respective coach. the next section highlights some of the coaches’ statements from each of the coaching phases: coaches’ reflections from phase 1: demonstration lesson and establishment of rapport. the coaches and teachers planned together and considered dll needs with dialogic reading using the opal comprehensibility domain to guide these conversations. communication between the teachers and coaches occurred primarily through email prior to the classroom visits. all coaches reported that the opal tool helped ensure attention to key elements in lesson planning. however, the coaches consistently reported that time restrictions prevented them from planning thoroughly and holding debriefing sessions after lesson delivery. coaches’ reflections from phase 2: co-teaching. for the co-teaching phase, the coach led the introduction of vocabulary, and the teacher conducted the story reading and developed wh questions (what, where, why, who, for example). this planning occurred primarily by email and by phone. the coaches reflected on the minimal amount of time available to meet in the classroom before the lesson. discussions were short and limited to the logistics of the lesson. however, all coaches reported that the co-teaching experience was valuable in that it presented an opportunity to apply and refine practice with a co-instructor in an applied context. coach 3’s comment provides insight into how this collaborative lesson delivery provided time for both teaching and in-the-moment reflection: “students were engaged and active. after touching on the vocabulary, they were responsive when i asked wh questions. they were able to connect the realia photos and identify places that matched the vocabulary.” coaches’ reflections from phase 3: opal-dialogic reading observation. during phase 3, the coaches conducted observations using a pre-, mid-, and post-observation approach to maximize opportunities for reflection. post-observation reflections revealed that all teachers had many questions about grouping and preparedness for level 3 lessons, and some teachers struggled with how to apply the dialogic reading routine and expressed concern that using the same story might bore their students. the teachers welcomed the coaching experience but also indicated a need for additional support sessions to increase their knowledge, implementation skills, and level of comfort with coaching observations. such reflection is illustrated in the following comment: “teachers were worried that they weren’t ‘doing it right.’ they both felt that these strategies (dialogic reading) are excellent and that they just had to dive in and build it into their weekly routine. both wanted to ‘make time’ to fit this in.” scaffolded dialogic reading professional development 99 a follow-up meeting with the coaches and research team members affirmed the written reflections indicating that teachers found it challenging to release responsibility for learning from the teacher to the student during the implementation of dialogic reading levels 1-3. these comments underscore the need for sustained professional development coupled with evidencedbased coaching conversations to support the shift from a surface-level understanding of scaffolded dialogic reading to a deeper level of teachers’ understanding that ultimately improves students’ understanding. discussion the recent passage of legislation mandating tk in california provides expanded learning opportunities for children with no preschool experience and young 5-year-olds, including the critical developmental and readiness skills and abilities required to meet the challenges encountered in traditional kindergarten. the centrality of teachers’ expertise in fostering oral language and literacy skills for dlls in specific tk classrooms in california and other states has rarely been examined. nevertheless, the implications of our study can apply to both the professional preparation and development of teachers of dlls and to additional research on this topic. this will be helpful since little information has been available about how professional development can support early learning monolingual and bilingual teachers in systematically building language and literacy skills for dlls (martinez-beck & zaslow, 2006). in summary, despite the short duration of the professional development project, quantitative and qualitative data sources provide evidence of the impact of program implementation. the tk teachers in this study increased their knowledge and skills related to dialogic reading and dll strategies by using scaffolded dialogic reading practices, as revealed by implementation-level ratings on the opal and dialogic reading survey. additionally, it appeared that coaching helped to improve the implementation of scaffolded dialogic reading, as reflected by the measures of impact, which yielded moderate effect size for the opal overall composite score and the connections domain. as reflective practitioners themselves, the coaches used their observations to inform their approach to supporting tk teachers’ knowledge and skills in using scaffolded dialogic reading practices. this was documented through coaches’ reflections and appeared to contribute to determining the necessary type of support (co-teaching, demonstration, or observation); the timing of observations; and procedures for communicating with teachers (face-to-face communication, email, video, or phone calls). the additional value of coaching in the project is consistent with the literature on the impact of coaching and the professional development of teachers of young children (kohler et al., 1995; miller, 1994; skiffington et al., 2011). as such, our findings intersect with those for the research-based practice of dialogic reading (lonigan et al., 1999) as applied by teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse tk students and the developing body of research on the professional development that is needed to build language and literacy skills for dlls (martinez-beck & zaslow, 2006). overall, the findings show a need for teachers to continue to gain knowledge about each of the levels of scaffolded dialogic reading to reach a more sophisticated level of implementation that can maximize students’ engagement in language and literacy practice. 100 matera et al. conclusion the body of research on young bilingual learners is expanding at the state, national, and international levels. as we concurrently improve programs and practices for teaching dlls in the united states, we must continue to emphasize additive approaches that support and sustain these children’s developing language skills in english and consider their dual language abilities throughout their education. the findings of the present study have several implications for teacher professional development and research on the language and literacy development of dlls. implications for the professional development of teachers of dlls the implications of three key findings are discussed below: 1. the duration and intensity of professional development affect the depth of teacher learning and confidence. however, professional development alone does not ensure depth of implementation. as in neuman and cunningham’s (2009) study, the tk teachers in the current study increased their dialogic reading knowledge and skills. this suggests the value of instruction in and application of scaffolded dialogic reading, and adds support for the effectiveness of professional development that includes embedded classroom practice. 2. evidence-based feedback facilitated by peers and coaches using the opal can provide effective support for teachers and their implementation of instructional practices for young dlls. 3. improving teachers’ implementation of research-based practices entails flexibility in order to facilitate embedded professional development based on observations of diverse student learning needs. for states that have enacted policies such as tk classrooms, this research also has implications for evaluating the longitudinal effects of such policies. implications for research on the language and literacy development of dlls additional research that examines the impact of scaffolded dialogic reading on dlls is needed. addressing the learning needs of dll children requires continuous support for early childhood teachers to implement evidence-based language and literacy practices in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. studies should include nested research designs that examine teacher knowledge and skills, along with measures of the oral language and literacy development and growth of dlls. although this study did not directly examine the impact of scaffolded dialogic reading on children’s vocabulary or reading development, the teachers did report that coaching support augmented the children’s knowledge in use (lavadenz, armas, & matera, 2012). based on this finding and research on scaffolded dialogic reading, improving dll teachers’ abilities to implement research-based language and literacy practices will support their students’ literacy 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(2011). preparing early childhood teachers to work with young dual language learners. child development perspectives, 5(1), 10-14. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2010.00141.x implementing and evaluating a strategy to improve the adoption of of evidence-based practice by nurses working in army medical treatment facilities dialog, 18(2), 106-113 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary practical implications for site based well child visits in head start kristina m. roberson, jane e. blood-siegfried, and anne l. derouin duke university john p. vartenisian virginia tech children in poverty are at greater risk for developmental and health problems and face significant barriers in accessing routine preventive healthcare. evidence based guidelines recommend stricter adherence to the schedule of well-child care to promote early identification and treatment. literature indicates that well-child visits in school settings make a difference among low-income children with unmet preventive healthcare needs. this study describes the implementation of a well-child visit program in a head start site with enrollments of children living in poverty. the comparison study design measured the aggregate percentage of children up to date with well-child visits against historical pre-data. there were clinical increases in the proportion of children up to date with the site-based intervention. implications support the establishment of school-based health centers in head start sites that provides well-child visits as well as illness management. keywords: school based clinic; school based health center; nurse practitioner; preschool; head start; low-income children; well-child care; preventive pediatric health when compared to all children, children in poverty face significant barriers in accessing preventive care that includes regular assessment of growth, health, and development alongside early diagnosis and treatment (american academy of pediatrics, 2013). at least 11.4 million children in the u.s., or 16% of all children, do not see a health care provider for an annual preventive well child visit due to issues involving health care access (data resource center for child and adolescent health, 2012). lack of insurance, insurance coverage gaps and transportation are among these barriers. in 2012, the poverty rate for children under age 6 was 24.4%, or 5.8 million kids (u.s. census bureau, 2013). compared with the health of higher income peers, low-income families experience higher rates of infant mortality, and their children evidence slower childhood growth, poorer nutrition, and more frequent and severe chronic diseases such as asthma (child trends, 2012). they also have lower immunization rates, increased obesity, and obesity-related complications (american academy of pediatrics, 2013). due to the increased health risks practical implications for well visits in head start 107 associated with poverty, the american academy of pediatrics (2000) and the agency for healthcare research and quality (2011) have developed evidenced based guidelines that recommend stricter adherence to an age specific schedule of preventive visits for youth in lowincome families. head start’s enrollments are comprised mainly of children from families living at or below the federal poverty level. in an effort to address health disparities among children in poverty and promote early identification and treatment, all head start sites are mandated to ensure at least 90% of enrolled children are up to date on the age specific schedule of preventive well-child care (u.s. department of health and human services, 2009). research has shown that site based well-child visits provided in school settings, such as head start, can make a difference in access to care among low income children with unmet preventive healthcare needs. silberberg and cantor (2008) conducted an observational case study among four elementary schools with a high level of unmet health needs among low-income children. the study demonstrated that school-based visits significantly improved health service utilization, yet only among the neediest children. a similar comparison study by wade, mansour, line, huentelman and keller (2008) concluded that the school based model of health care delivery demonstrated statistically significant improvement of student reported quality of life among elementary and middle school students. more influence was found on children that generally have impeded access to care, specifically those without private health insurance, and those with lower household income levels. transferrable models for site based well-child care come from school based or school linked health centers in which services are shaped to meet the needs of the setting. school based health services can encompass a full or limited range of healthcare depending on the unique needs of the population. the essential component is having a designated area that is devoted to service provision. once the specific services and space have been determined, consideration must be given to required administrative approvals, hours of availability, supplies, equipment, and staffing (illinois maternal and child health coalition, 2013). our study this quality improvement study introduced a site based well-child program at a southeastern u.s. head start location in order to increase the percentage of enrolled children who were up to date with the american academy of pediatrics’ age specific preventive visit guidelines. the study site operates a large head start program that has encountered challenges in meeting the 90% mandate. a root cause analysis determined that parents faced a number of barriers in accessing preventive healthcare for their children that mirror the obstacles noted at the national level. the site specific barriers included lack of health insurance, inability to pay out of pocket, and lack of transportation (s. yellock, personal communication, february 11, 2013). site-based preventive visits were made available at the start of the school year. the preventive visit was performed by a volunteer nurse practitioner with available appointments two weekday evenings every month in 2 hour blocks of time. some appointments were offered on one saturday morning each month to accommodate parent work schedules. this project did not intend to serve as a medical home for participants, but as a safety net for children without continuous accessible medical care who were due for a single well-child 108 roberson et al. visit. every parent-child dyad was referred for support and guidance in accessing resources and navigating the health care system in order to address and overcome access barriers. key findings well-child compliance rates the proportion of children that were up to date with well-child care at the beginning of both school years was nearly equal at 14% in 2012 and 13% in 2013. during august through december 2012, there was a slight and steady percentage increase each month (august, 14%; september, 18%; october, 29%; november, 44%, december, 85%). during the same time period in 2013, there was an 84% increase in august through october with a 28% loss in november followed by recovery of the prior gain in december (august 13%; september 80%; october 97%; november 69%; december 97%). health conditions identified a number of health conditions were identified during the well-child visits. the most common diagnosis was seasonal allergies found among 30% of children. twenty-seven percent needed immunizations, and 22% had asthma. the remaining other 22 medical ailments included: insect dermatitis (1), anemia (1), lymphadenopathy (1), umbilical hernia (1), developmental delay (1), heart murmur (3), upper respiratory infection (5), hives (1), peanut allergy (1), speech delay (2), visible dental decay (1), rash (1), behavioral concerns (1), ear-wax impaction (1), and enlarged tonsils (1). of note is the observation that of the n=37 children, only 5 (14%) had no health conditions identified. twelve children (32%) had one detected illness, and 20 (54%) had anywhere from two to four co-occurring health ailments. treatments and referrals of the 32 children identified with a medical diagnosis, 13 received treatment only, 3 received referral only, and 16 received both treatment and referral. treatment only was provided mostly for children with acute illnesses such as viral upper respiratory infections, rash, and ear wax impaction. referrals only were made to the local health department for past due immunizations, and for dental services due to visible tooth decay. children that received a combination of treatments and referrals were for diagnoses that required ongoing medical treatment and management such as asthma, anemia, heart murmur, developmental delay, and food allergy. most of the children with chronic ongoing medical diagnoses were already known to the head start staff, thus the healthcare provider’s role entailed reinforcing established management plans, and ensuring appropriate documentation so that head start staff could follow through and make certain health needs were being fully addressed. practical implications for well visits in head start 109 parent satisfaction the response rate for parent satisfaction surveys was 70% (n=26). extremely satisfied received the highest rating among all 5 survey measures (figure 2). overall care was the survey item that received the highest percentage of extreme satisfaction (80%), and was followed by convenience of on-site services (77%). there was more satisfaction with ease in obtaining follow up information (73%) as compared to the convenience of hours offered (69%). ease of making an appointment had the lowest percentage in regards to parent satisfaction (62%). one respondent indicated extreme dissatisfaction in all aspects of parent satisfaction. thirty percent of parents wrote comments in the section of the survey for additional feedback and suggestions. quality of service was the most common theme and was observed in 8 of the 11 surveys. parents used terms such as “a+ service”, “helpful”, “informative”, and “great”. customer service attributes were described in 45% of the returned surveys with words to describe the health care team as “kind”, “gentle”, “nice”, “friendly”, and “professional”. terms specific to thankfulness and appreciation were written in 5 of the 11 parent surveys. one parent suggested “have(-ing) someone there on a day to day basis”. staff satisfaction eighty-three percent (n=20) of the health and family services staff responded to the staff satisfaction survey. convenience of on-site services received the highest proportion of extreme satisfaction (60%) among all the staff satisfaction measures (figure 3). ease of making appointments had a 25% extreme satisfaction rate followed by an equal frequency distribution among very satisfied (35%) and satisfied (35%). fifteen percent of staff was extremely satisfied with the ease of receiving follow up information, and this was the only measure where staff responded in all five satisfaction categories. twenty-five percent of staff was very satisfied, and a total of 20% were either very or extremely dissatisfied. in regards to overall experience, no staff member reported being either dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied. thirty-five percent were extremely satisfied, 30% were very satisfied, and 35% were satisfied. nine staff members, or 38%, wrote comments on the staff satisfaction survey. two described the site based well-child program as an asset by describing it as “a beneficial service” and “great resource”. two others spoke to their satisfaction indicating they were “pleased” and “extremely satisfied” with the service, while two staff members commented on the convenience of site based preventive visits. three suggestions were made. the first was that each center “have well-child check-ups…here at school”, the second was that “lead hemoglobin checks” be provided on-site, and the last suggestion was that there be a “more timely response in receiving completed exam forms (i.e. documentation) after well-child visits.” summary and recommendations the study demonstrated a clinical increase with improved well-child compliance rates. the year 1 december 84% compliance rate with no intervention increased to 97% at december year 2 with intervention. this 13% increase was of practical importance in sustaining the momentum and meeting the 90% compliance rate goal at the end of the school year in may. 110 roberson et al. the focus of this study was well-child visits, yet the study reinforced the recommendation that any head start program implementing school based services should tailor the services based on individual program needs. the head start program had needs beyond those of well-child care for which such services were not offered, three services in particular. the first was treatment of acute ailments as multiple times during project implementation the nurse practitioner was asked if sick children could be seen although this was not within the scope of the study. within the first four months of the program year there were 126 children that had at least one or more occurrences of 3 day consecutive absences due to illness (i. cuthrell, personal communication, march 12, 2014). the second service need was for immunizations. twenty-seven percent of the children seen in the site based well-child program needed immunizations. additionally, according to the tracking system, only 30% of all the children enrolled at head start were up to date with immunizations at the end of project implementation in december (s. yellock, personal communication, march 12, 2014). lastly, 22% of the children seen in the well-child program had asthma, and program wide there were 66 children had asthma diagnoses with no asthma care plan noted in the tracking system (s. yellock, personal communication, march 12, 2014). this substantiates the need for school based healthcare aimed at the treatment and management of asthma. the appointment scheduling process is also pivotal with school based healthcare. setting up an appointment should be efficient for both staff and parents as this directly impacts the perception and ease of making an appointment. with this study, parents communicated with family advocates to schedule an appointment. family advocates then contacted health staff who then contacted the nurse practitioner who then confirmed the slot or responded back with an alternative time. this cumbersome process reflected in the lower satisfaction scores among parents and staff in regards to ease of making appointments. much like a medical office, there should be a straight line process where parents speak to one person who can look at the schedule and make an appointment. additionally, a “straight line” process must be in place for getting documentation of the well-child visit to the family advocate staff person that is responsible for ensuring all enrolled children have proof of being up to date with well-child visits. during implementation, the documentation was given to health staff at the end of the visit, and health staff forwarded the completed form to the family advocate. yet, there was often a lag in response time and the family advocate often did not know if the child kept the appointment or not. the family advocate had the charge of ensuring each child had documentation of a well-child visit on file before being enrolled, or within 30 days following enrollment as mandated by the division of child development (north carolina general statute chapter 110, 2014). not having the documentation in a timely fashion impedes the decision making process about whether a child is permitted to attend, and could’ve resulted in unwarranted absences. this reflected in staff’s satisfaction with the east of receiving follow up information which was the only survey item where respondents selected items in all five satisfaction choices. in this study, a nurse practitioner performed the well-child visit, yet the option exists for registered nurses to perform a health check screening visit that meets well-child visit requirements. the north carolina general statute chapter 110-91(1) (2014) states that a required health assessment can be done by a public health nurse meeting the department’s standards for the early, periodic screening, diagnosis and treatment program. under this statute, registered nurses may complete the child health training program that is a standardized practical implications for well visits in head start 111 curriculum that focuses on the american academy of pediatrics age specific and evidenced based guidelines entitled bright futures. once certified, registered nurses are able to perform a comprehensive history and complete physical assessment that includes all the required components of the well-child visit and is billable under medicaid (university of north carolina gillings school of global public health, 2014). in such a scenario, a registered nurse could triage and screen children and refer those with identified or suspected health conditions to be seen and evaluated by a consulting nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or physician. initiation of site based healthcare is an accomplishment with two feasible options for sustainability that build upon community partnerships. the first involves a framework wherein a local federally qualified health center (fqhc) provides outreach to head start with the specific goal of facilitating access to healthcare. fqhcs and head start serve similar, if not overlapping, populations, and both have complementary purposes. both understand the role and value of the early screening, diagnosis, and treatment, and both are federally funded grant programs with many of the same grant requirements (beckerman & evans, 2011). the second possibility is a community-academic partnership wherein a local school of nursing at a higher institution of learning works to establish a nurse managed health center (nmhc) model. through either a fqhc or a nmhc, the affordable care act has specific provisions authorizing federal grants for operations and construction of school based health centers. not only can such collaboration enhance compliance with well-child care, but there is also the opportunity to prevent consecutive absences for acute illness (rash, fever, etc.), promote immunization rates, and ensure care planning and treatment for chronic conditions including asthma. all of the aforementioned are key indicators for the program information report that all head start sites submit annually to the office of head start. also, under health care reform, a larger portion of children may have health insurance which presents the opportunity for third party reimbursement through medicaid or commercial insurance for site based services (holmes, 2010). direction for future study may include expanding the study to span a full school year and measuring the compliance of other key health indicators such as treatment of chronic conditions, immunization rates, and dental exams. the option also exists to study school based healthcare in the context of illness related absences to assess the impact on absenteeism as poor attendance is linked to overall lower academic achievement and end-of-grade failure (kerr et al., 2012). experimentation with site based healthcare in head start could occur by having control and intervention sites in programs with multiple locations. the opportunity also exists to explore other variables that impact compliance rates with well-child care particularly the level of staff support provided to parents navigating the health care system. further analysis could entail recording multiple barriers that parents face versus only recording one primary barrier. the study aim was to increase the proportion of compliance with the age specific schedule of well-child care to 95%. the compliance rate at december year 1, with no intervention, was 84% which was along the upper end of the measure. in year 2, with intervention, the rate of compliance at the end of december was 97%. the year 1 84% starting point teeters on ceiling effect as the score is near the highest possible value prior to intervention. this constrains the amount of upward change possible and reduces the variability needed to support statistical analyses. in a program of with 1,072 children, a priori sample size estimation using g*power software suggested a minimum sample size of 192 children to find a significant difference based on an estimated effect size of 0.10, α = 0.05 and 80% power (faul, erdfelder, lang & buchner, 2007). approximately half of the sample, 96 children, would’ve been randomly selected from 112 roberson et al. historical surveillance in year 1 without intervention, and the remaining half from year 2 with the site based intervention. in this study the sample size (n=37) was not large enough to perform tests of statistical significance, thus it is not known to what extent the increase in compliance is attributed to chance given the overall historical trend. head start staff used a variety of methods to engage parents and recruit participants. these methods included face to face contact, phone calls and letters sent home with children. the study did not employ a script or defined recruitment steps and instead relied on historical processes when identifying children who were behind with well child visits. it is likely that such variability impacted participation and ultimately sample size. access to the site based well-child visits could have been further promoted by having the nurse practitioner on site during morning and afternoon hours. expanding the hours offered to include daytime appointments may have allowed for more access that may have also increased the sample size therein permitting statistical analyses. the evening and weekend hours may have served as an access to care barrier for some families. in retrospect, it would have been insightful to capture data about how many children were offered a site based visit yet declined to make an appointment and why, as well as how many children did not keep an appointment due to the hours services were offered. in conclusion, school based healthcare plays a central role in increasing access among the medically underserved (clark & jones, 1997). it also supports the view that alternative methods must be identified and implemented to ensure the provision of preventive pediatric health care services (kataoka-yahiro & munet-vilaro, 2002). the early head start national resource center and the head start bureau have recommended the utilization of community partnerships with local healthcare providers for preventive health services, and have encouraged head start programs to collaborate with a local clinic willing to donate well-child exams to families with 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http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_110/gs_110-91.html http://sph.unc.edu/nciph/nciph-chern/ http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p60-245.pdf http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/head%20start%20requirements/45%20cfr%20chapter%20xiii/45%20cfr%20chap%20xiii_eng.pdf http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/head%20start%20requirements/45%20cfr%20chapter%20xiii/45%20cfr%20chap%20xiii_eng.pdf (continued on next page) volume 18, number 2 2015 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles building a classroom community that supports english learners in preschool cindy hoisington, jessica mercer young, louisa anastasopoulos, and sue washburn...….. 1 communicating with head start parents about their child’s weight status jessica a. hoffman, catherine wirth, sarah johnson, sonia carter, matthew dubois, colin cox, and carmen castaneda-sceppa………………………………………………………… 31 harvest for healthy kids: a nutrition education curriculum aligned with the head start child development and early learning framework betty izumi, jessica hoffman, cara eckhardt, angela johnson, jennifer hallman, dawn barberis………………………………………………………………………………………. 43 improving access through implementation of site based well-child visits in head start kristina m. roberson, jane e. blood-siegfried, anne l. derouin, and john p. vartenisian.. 57 the role of physiological regulation in understanding the influence of child abuse potential on children’s behavioral problems julie schatz-stevens, bethany cockburn, and jennifer lefever……………………………. 71 research-to-practice summaries supporting english learners in preschool: strategies for teachers cindy hoisington, jessica mercer young, louisa anastasopoulos, and sue washburn…… 85 engaging head start families in childhood obesity prevention: school-home communication about children’s height and weight screenings jessica a. hoffman, catherine wirth, sarah johnson, sonia carter, matthew dubois, colin cox, and carmen castaneda-sceppa………………………………………………………… 92 harvest for healthy kids: head start teachers’ perceptions of curriculum usability betty izumi, jessica hoffman, cara eckhardt, angela johnson, jennifer hallman, dawn barberis………………………………………………………………………………………. 98 practical implications for site based well child visits in head start kristina m. roberson, jane e. blood-siegfried, anne l. derouin, and john p. vartenisian.. 106 intervention implications: the links among early risk for abuse, children’s regulation, and behavioral problems julie schatz-stevens, bethany cockburn, and jennifer lefever…………………………….. 114 (continued from previous page) dialog from the field expanding mental health consultation in early head start: recommendations for supporting home visitors in increasing parental engagement samantha pittenger, tori van dyk, alayna schreier, michelle haikalis, mary fran flood, and david hansen…………………………………………………………………………….119 literature review dialog, 17(2), 17-57 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article early childhood literacy and language programs: supporting involvement of dlls and their families kandia lewis temple university marika ginsburg-block university of delaware the purpose of this literature review was to identify effective early childhood literacy and language programs that were developed for dual language learners (dlls), and their families, or could be adapted for this population. a search of eric and psychinfo databases from the earliest date to the winter of 2008 yielded over 300 abstracts, of which 10 programs met inclusion criteria and three of those programs including six treatment conditions were considered to have met criteria for effectiveness. overall these programs were found to yield significant positive effects for children’s early literacy and language outcomes at post-testing and one year follow-up. program effectiveness varied by time point and outcome measure. a significant relationship was found between program duration and effectiveness at follow-up. program components requiring further evaluation are discussed. dll and early childhood literacy and language a main focus within the area of early childhood education is on enhancing the development of literacy and language skills for children, birth to six years of age (fischel, bracken, fuchseisenberg, spira, katz, & shaller, 2007; gettinger & stoiber, 2008; hansen, 2004; justice, mashburn, hamre, & pianta, 2008; whitehurst, zevenbergen, crone, schultz, velting, & fischel, 1999). longitudinal research conducted by whitehurst and colleagues has shown positive correlations and longitudinal stability between early literacy and language skills and later reading skills (1999). overall, researchers have concluded that emergent literacy skills are strongly correlated with both later reading skills (al otaiba & torgesen, 2007; vellutino, scanlon, & zhang, 2007) and academic achievement in general (clements, reynolds, & hickey, 2004). the relationship between early literacy and language skills and later achievement is even more critical for dual language learners (dlls), children who are acquiring a second language while developing their first, who have demonstrated achievement gaps with non-dlls (espinosa, 2005; garcia and miller, 2008; rodriguez-brown, li, & albom, 1999; samson & 18 lewis & ginsburg-block lesaux, 2009; st. clair & jackson, 2006). the early childhood longitudinal study found that hispanic students who did not have a basic understanding of oral english at the beginning of kindergarten were more likely to achieve low academic success in both reading and mathematics in fifth grade (ecls-k, 1999). additionally, this study found that positive early childhood education experiences could aid in decreasing the achievement gap between dlls and nondlls (1999). the findings of this longitudinal study suggest that early childhood education is important for dlls not only for early literacy and language development but also for later academic success. furthermore, the national center for education statistics reports that dlls, specifically native spanish speakers, are the fastest growing student population in us schools (nces, 2004; nces, 2010). currently, dlls represent approximately 30% of head start students, with 80% coming from spanish-speaking homes (mathematica policy research institute, 2010). the early childhood literature contains suggestions for components of family involvement programs that may be relevant for a dll population, yet the majority of these suggestions are based on reports and guided materials (mccollum & russo, 1993; peacoraro & magnuson, 2001; patsy, 1994; violand-sanchez, 1991; ziegler, 1998) or correlational and descriptive studies (delgado-gaitan, 1991; dever & burts, 2002; drake et al., 1996); thereby, lacking empirical evidence of program effectiveness. however, this literature provides illustrative information about potentially promising aspects of family involvement programs for dlls. garcia and miller report that cultural differences need to be addressed concerning dlls (2008). for example, it has been reported that literacy and language development for bilingual students progresses more slowly than for monolingual students (bialystok, 2007) and that these differences should be addressed and incorporated into literacy and language programs for dlls (garcia et al., 1974). although not based on empirical evidence, espinosa argues that the inclusion of culturally and linguistically relevant material in the classroom builds mutual trust and respect among students, teachers and families. in addition, she purports that when schools develop rapport with families it helps to reduce the discontinuity between dlls, their families and the schools. others have asserted that the purpose of including culturally relevant aspects into family involvement programs is to demonstrate to parents that their culture and language is important and relevant to their child’s education (haynes & gebreyesus, 1992; quintero & huerta-macias, 1993). additionally, espinosa has explored the differences in the socialization and teaching of language and literacy in different cultures and concluded that the way in which children are taught at home is not always compatible with the way children are taught at school (2005). it may be that the discrepancy in the method of teaching between home and school results in a discontinuity for the student, which may result in a student’s decreased perception of him or herself as a learner (espinosa, 2005; garcia and miller, 2008; mcghee and richgels, 1996). for example, young children form expectations and attitudes for when they are supposed to talk, to whom they should talk, and what type of language is appropriate. this suggests that when cultural expectations of the home and school differ, the child may initially feel some discomfort and anxiety in the school setting. the correspondence between teaching and learning approaches in schools and at home may contribute to dll students’ academic progress. for example, it was demonstrated that when teachers organize grouping patterns and participation rules that are more consistent with a child’s home culture, children’s level of attention and participation improved (espinosa, 2005). espinosa early literacy and family involvement programs 19 argues that adapting the school environment to include culturally responsive approaches such as, student’s histories, language, and values consistent with student’s cultural values, will promote continuity between home and school and subsequent academic achievement. family involvement for the purpose of this literature review, family involvement refers to several aspects of parenting including, parent interactions with their child, parental beliefs, attitudes, and expectations, parent participation in their child’s academic life, and the home literacy environment. the quality of the home literacy environment (i.e., the number of books in the home, library visits, time spent reading with the child, and the child’s age) is associated with literacy outcomes for children (roberts, jergens & burchinal, 2005; rush 1999). thus, family involvement is a relevant factor in children’s development of emergent literacy skills. consequently, research on early childhood literacy programs has incorporated efforts to maximize parents’ involvement in their young children’s literacy development (gelfer, higgins, & perkins, 2001; huebner, 2000). throughout the last decade there has been a growing interest from researchers and educators in the relationships between schools and families due to findings that life outside of school also has an impact on children’s academic achievement (christenson & sheridan, 2001; epstein, 1995). some studies portray the relationship between families and schools as strained and in some cases, broken. for example, one study reported that half of teachers believe that most parents fail to motivate their children so that their children will want to learn in school (christenson & sheridan, 2001, findings from the metropolitan life survey). the role of family involvement and children’s achievement is not only an interest of researchers and educators, but an interest of policy makers as well. the no child left behind act of 2001 requires schools receiving title i funds to use part of that money towards improving parent school relationships (mattingly, prislin, mckenzie, rodriguez, & kayzar, 2002). thus, the research on family involvement in schooling has educational, policy and financial implications. empirical evidence supports that family involvement has an impact on young children’s academic achievement (baker, piotrkowski, & brooks-gunn, 1998; blom-hoffman, o’neil-pirozzi, volpe, cutting, & bissinger, 2006; whitehurst, arnold, epstein, angell, smith, & fischel, 1994). and if family involvement is efficacious it is important to investigate how best to garner this essential resource. the empirical research on family involvement programs is conflicting. some studies report that family involvement programs have a positive impact on children’s academic achievement and promote family involvement (baker et al., 1998; blom-hoffman et al., 2006; neuman, 1996; whitehurst et al., 1994), while other studies report that family involvement programs do not have an impact on children’s academic achievement or family involvement (st. pierre, ricciuti, & rimdzius, 2005), and other studies report mixed results in terms of child achievement and family involvement (clarke, 1993; crowe, norris, & hoffman, 2004). several researchers have conducted meta-analyses and reviewed the literature concerning the relationship between family involvement and children’s academic achievement (fan and chen 2001; ginsburg-block, manz, & mcwayne, 2010; mattingly, prislin, mckenzie, rodriguez, & kayzar, 2002; nye, turner, schwartz, 2006). in a meta-analysis conducted by mattingly and colleagues, the authors report that there is not much empirical support to claim that family involvement programs are effective in improving student achievement or improving 20 lewis & ginsburg-block parent participation (2002). however, the authors do not conclude that these programs are ineffective, but rather, that there are methodological inconsistencies between program evaluations (2002). mattingly found that several studies used questionnaires, others used measures of academic achievement, others used interviews, and still others used measures of attendance to evaluate family involvement programs (2002). this illustrates that the varied findings of family involvement studies could be attributed to the degree to which the tools utilized were psychometrically sound. in a meta-analysis, bus and van ijzendoorn provide empirical support that utilizing different literacy measures to determine effect sizes can result in vastly different findings and conclusions (1999). thus, the differences in the measures (i.e., questionnaires and standardized assessments) used to evaluate parent participation programs may contribute to the varied findings reported in the literature. research illustrates the impact that the measures used have on the findings and conclusions of family involvement studies. in a meta-analysis, fan and chen concluded that family involvement programs demonstrate effects on academic achievement when studies measure academic achievement with an overall indicator (such as a gpa rater), rather than with a subject-specific indicator, such as literacy. mattingly and colleagues found that studies defined family involvement differently (2002). for example, one study defined family involvement as increased communication between parents and teachers whereas another study defined family involvement as increased involvement of parent’s in their child’s homework routine (2002). the initial program found children’s achievement scores improved whereas the latter study found no significant improvement in achievement scores (2002). thus, the varying classifications for family involvement may also help explain the conflicting results among studies investigating these programs. epstein suggests that there are six types of family-school involvement, which include parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaboration with the community (1995). in this model, parenting relates to schools helping parents understand about their child’s development; communicating is a two-way relationship in which both parents and teachers share positive and negative information about the child; volunteering refers to recruiting parents to be involved with school activities; learning at home involves teachers efforts to provide interactive assignments that facilitate parent and child interaction with schoolwork; decision making refers to teachers including parents in classroom practices and policies; finally, collaboration with the community refers to schools building relationships in the community in an effort to extend school services into the community (1995). several empirical studies support epstein’s theory by demonstrating the existence of multiple domains of family-school involvement (fantuzzo, mcwayne, perry, childs, 2004; manz, fantuzzo, power, 2004). therefore, it is important to specify the operational definition of family involvement when developing, implementing or evaluating a family involvement program. thus as mattingly suggested, the lack of empirical evidence supporting one conclusion about family involvement programs in general may not be related to the ineffectiveness of parent participation programs, but to the lack of a common operationalized definition of family involvement in addition to the diversity of methodologies used to evaluate these programs. it should also be noted that since family involvement is difficult to manipulate (mattingly, 2002) this often precludes the use of experimental designs in family involvement research; thereby contributing to the inconsistent findings of evaluations of parent participation programs. early literacy and family involvement programs 21 the dll gap although, native spanish speakers are the fastest growing student population in us schools (nces, 2004; nces, 2010) there is a lack of research regarding this population. fan and chen (2001) and mattingly and colleagues (2002) meta-analyses investigated a combined total of 66 family-school involvement programs and out of those programs only four programs were specifically designed for dlls and their families. there are very few studies that have experimentally investigated the impact that family involvement programs in general, let alone those specifically designed for dlls, have on literacy and language outcomes (st. clair & jackson, 2006). purpose in light of the increased need to support dll students’ literacy and language skills and develop ways to promote family involvement a review of the literature to identify programs that serve this population is warranted. the aim of this review is to identify effective early childhood (birth to 6 years of age) literacy and language programs designed for dlls and their families or with the potential for adaptation. specifically, this systematic review of the literature will 1) identify the research designs and measures used to evaluate family involvement programs 2) identify the experimentally or quasi-experimentally designed studies and examine how effective the intervention programs are for promoting family involvement and child literacy and language outcomes, specifically for vocabulary and reading skills, and 3) better understand components of effective family involvement programs and specifically those designed for dlls and their families. method a search of eric and psychinfo databases from the earliest date in the databases to the winter of 2008 was conducted. the search terms included reading, literacy, early childhood education, literacy programs, early intervention, family involvement, parent participation, parent involvement, and family programs. varied combinations of these terms resulted in over 300 abstracts and these studies were narrowed down to 50 relevant articles. approximately 20 of these studies described a family involvement program in early childhood literacy. additionally, a hand search of the table of contents of early child development and care, early childhood research quarterly, nhsa dialog: the research-to-practice journal for the early education field, schools and families: creating essential connections for learning, and the school community journal was conducted from the spring of 2003 to the winter of 2008, which is recommended best practice to identify potential programs the electronic search of eric and psychinfo databases might have missed (cooper, hedges, & valentine, 2009; page, 2008). the hand search did not yield any additional programs. 22 lewis & ginsburg-block publication bias it should be noted that the search strategies used in this literature review were limited to electronic databases and hand searches of published studies, reports, and materials to identify programs that met inclusion criteria. thus, although meta-analytic strategies were used to summarize the findings, this study is not an exhaustive meta-analysis because it does not include a search for unpublished studies (i.e., conference presentations). the inclusion of unpublished studies may help to ensure that identified studies are free from the publication bias effect (orwin, 1983). publication bias is the idea that studies producing significant effects may be published more often than studies yielding insignificant results. a funnel plot displaying mean effect size on the x-axis plotted against the standard error on the y-axis was employed to determine the presence of publication bias. a biased sample would show an asymmetrical plot in which small sample studies disproportionately yielded larger effects (begg, 1994). this phenomenon was not observed. however, given the small sample size, there may not have been enough data points to draw a conclusion from this figure. in order to quantify and test the significance of the correlation between standard error and treatment effect for this set of studies, comprehensive meta-analysis (cma) 2.0 was used to conduct the begg and mazumdar rank correlation test and egger's test of the intercept (begg & mazumdar, 1994; egger, davey smith, schneider, & minder, 1997). results of the rank correlation test yielded a kendall's tau b of 0.53333, p = 0.13. egger’s test yielded t = 2.53 (df = 4), p = 0.06. neither of these two-tailed t-tests yielded significant results at p<.05; however, egger’s one-tailed t-test would be significant at p = .03. overall, based on these three indicators of publication bias it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions regarding publication bias, which may be attributed to the small sample size. inclusion criteria below is a list of the criteria used for including a program in the literature review, the criteria necessary for a program to be labeled an effective program and the operational definition of what it means for a parent to be involved in their child’s academic career. criteria for inclusion of program in literature review 1. family involvement programs that will specifically target dlls and their families. 2. programs specifically designed to promote the involvement of dlls and their families. if the first two criteria were not met then all of the following criteria were met: 3. a family involvement and a literacy and/or language program that demonstrate a statistically significant difference in child literacy and /or language outcomes between intervention and control groups, and in which an effect size can be calculated to describe the practical significance of the improved child literacy and/or language outcomes. thus, the family involvement program improves the literacy and/or language skills of the children whose parent’s took part in the program. 4. an early childhood education program (birth to 6 years of age). 5. a program that includes an explanation of the intervention or the evaluation method. early literacy and family involvement programs 23 criteria for labeling a program effective 1. an experimentally or quasi-experimentally designed study, considered the “gold standard” of evaluation (campbell and stanley, 1963; william, 1976), with findings supporting that children who took part in the program scored statistically significantly higher on at least one early literacy or language assessment (i.e., research-developed and standardized assessments with validity and reliability measures), based on analysis of variance and/or analysis of covariance (f statistic), than children who were in the control or the comparison group. additionally, an experimentally or quasi-experimentally designed study for which an effect size could be calculated to describe the practical significance of the program. and 2. an experimentally or quasi-experimentally designed study that measured family involvement. the operationalized definition of involved is measured by reports of parents beliefs of their role in their child’s academic life, parents/teachers perception of child’s improvement in reading, parents/teachers perception of the strengths and weaknesses of the program, amount of parents who continue the program (attrition rate), and parents/teachers who report they would continue with the program after it ended (institute of education sciences what works clearing house, 2008). findings a total of 50 articles gleaned from 300 abstracts were considered relevant for this literature review. of those 50 articles, 10 programs from 11 studies met criteria to be included in the literature review (see table 1). of those 10 programs, 8 were specifically designed for dlls and their families. of those 8 programs specifically designed for dlls and their families, only one program was evaluated through an experimentally designed study and found to meet criteria for effectiveness in promoting family involvement and increasing child literacy or language outcomes (st. clair & jackson, 2006). the other 2 non-dll programs, which were gleaned from 3 studies, were also evaluated experimentally and reported parent participation and significant improvement in child literacy and language outcomes among participants (arnold et al., 1994; baker et al., 1998; whitehurst et al., 1994). a list of these 10 programs in alphabetical order is included, along with the name of the program, whether or not the program was designed for dlls, demographic information (see table 1), a brief description, the findings, the limitations, and the references (see table 2). 24 lewis & ginsburg-block table 1 family involvement programs program designed for a dll population effective program dialogic reading (dr1 and dr2) no yes family initiative for english literacy (fiel) yes no family literacy bags (flb) yes no flame yes no home instruction for preschool youngsters (hippy) no yes language is key yes no migrant education even start family literacy program (mees) yes yes readiness center (rc) program yes no storybook reading yes no the literacy connection yes no early literacy and family involvement programs 25 table 2 summary of parent involvement and early childhood literacy programs # program description dll demographics findings limitations references 1 dialogic reading: (2 studies) in book reading with children the adult typically reads while the child listens. in dialogic reading (dr) the child is the storyteller while the adult listens, asks questions, adds additional information and prompts the child to increase his/her details of the material in the book. as the child becomes more at ease being the storyteller the adults are instructed to ask open-ended questions. designed to teach adults effective techniques when reading to preschoolers (i.e., ask child questions, provide child with feedback etc.) parents were instructed on dialogic reading (dr1) via videotape or an in-person trainer. no, but does include a spanish kit. families come from middle-upper ses backgrounds. children: 64, 24-34month olds. 31 boys and 33 girls. parents: 100% mothers. no further information on parent and child demographic breakdown. no information on teacher demographics. the videotapetraining package was just as effective as the in person training and the videotape training was found to be a cost-effective way of implementing the program. children in the intervention group (direct instruction, and videotape) scored significantly higher on the ppvt, eowpvt, and the itpa-ve than the control group. there was no significant difference between group scores on the ipta-gc. children in the intervention group (videotape) scored significantly higher on the ppvt and the eowpvt, than the direct instruction group. there was no significant difference between group scores on the itpa-ve. not specifically designed for dlls. does not take into account parents’ ideas/suggestions or opinions when designing sessions. arnold, d. h., lonigan, c. j., whitehurst, g. j., & epstein, j. n. (1994). accelerating language development through picture book reading: replication and extension to a videotape-training format. journal of educational psychology, 86(2), 235-243. 26 lewis & ginsburg-block the goal of this 6week dr2 intervention is to develop a practical interactive book reading intervention for day-care’s, preschool programs and head start centers. reading sessions occur daily for 10 minutes per group. training occurs at the center via videotape. no, but does include a spanish kit. families from low ses backgrounds. children: 3-year old children, 55% boys, 22% white, 55% black, 23% hispanic, 100% fluent in english. parents: 100% mothers, 55% black, 22% white, and 23% hispanic, 90% native english speakers. no information on teacher demographics. children in the school plus home reading condition performed better on the one word at posttest and the 6 month follow up than children in the school reading condition. no significant differences between school reading and school plus home reading conditions for the itpa or ppvt at posttest or follow up. not specifically designed for dlls. does not take into account parents’ ideas/suggestions or opinions when designing sessions. whitehurst, g. j., arnold, d. s., epstein, j. n., angell, a. l., smith, m., & fischel, j. e. (1994). a picture book reading intervention in day care and home for children from lowincome families. developmental psychology, 30(5), 679-689. early literacy and family involvement programs 27 2 family initiative for english literacy (fiel) parents attend information sessions once a week for an hour after school. then parents work with their children on those lessons. teachers gave information lessons. the goal is to empower parents to connect the literacy activities to their own social and cultural backgrounds. codeswitching, which is alternating between languages, was used. the theoretical approach for literacy development was based on a whole language approach. yes children: preschool, kindergarten, and 1 st grade. parents: spanish-speaking and english-speaking no further information on parent and child demographic breakdown. no information on teacher demographics. parents reported that the program met their needs and interests. parents reported an increase in selfconfidence with reading and writing. teachers reported that children responded enthusiastically to their parents as teachers. nonparticipatory staff reported that they observed parents being actively involved. teachers and non-participatory staff reported that they observed that children discussed topics of readings in terms of culture, social issues, and cognitive development. no direct measure of child literacy outcomes reported. a whole language approach was used, which can be seen as a limitation. parents are required to come into the centers, which limits the accessibility to parents who are unable to make it to centers. this program requires a great deal of time that may be hard for working parents to do. this was not an experimentally designed study. quintero, e., & huerta-macias, a. (1993). whole language: critical curriculum for family literacy. the school community journal, 3(2), 45 61. 28 lewis & ginsburg-block 3 family literacy bags (flb) designed to get families and children reading at home. reading materials were in spanish and english and sent home with children in bags. each bag contained 3 children’s books that varied in developmental levels and genres, extension activities that focused around a theme (materials for the activities were included) and a guidebook with information and guidelines for reading and discussing books with children. yes 2,340 families, primarily white and middle class. children: kindergarten aged. parents: spanishspeaking and englishspeaking. teachers: 65 kindergarten teachers no further information on teacher, parent, and child demographic breakdown. parents reported learning new ways to read and discuss books, new information about availability of books, and information about their child’s language skills. some dll parents reported their appreciation for materials in spanish. other dll parents did not appreciate the inclusion of books in spanish because they reported that they were more concerned about their child learning english. some non-dll parents did not like that some of the books were in spanish. teachers reported that children were excited about taking the flb home. no direct measure of child literacy outcomes reported. parents reported concern about reading materials in spanish. some parents tired of the flb as the year went on. this was not an experimentally designed study. there is no direct relationship building between parents and teachers because children are sent home with the bags and teachers and parents are not required to interact directly, although teachers and parents reported more communication as a result of the program. dever, m.t., & burts, d.c. (2002). an evaluation of family literacy bags as a vehicle for parent involvement. early child development and care, 172(4), 359370. early literacy and family involvement programs 29 4 flame a family literacy program with strategies for parents to help children’s literacy development at home. this was a 2-year study. children were exposed to books and other literacy related materials. program used a literacy-modeling framework, which encouraged parents to read in order to encourage their children to read. parents were encouraged to increase their own english literacy. yes a total of 60 families were involved. children: prekindergarten to third grade. parents: average mean age was 33, 100% mothers, 100% native language was spanish. no information on teacher demographics. at the end of the second year of the study – parents reported an increase in literacy materials in the home. parents reported an increase in literacy practices (i.e., writing) and frequency of reading. parents reported having a better understanding of their role as their child’s “first teacher.” there is no direct relationship building between parents and teachers because a facilitator who is not a teacher does the instruction. does not address/promote incorporating spanish language or hispanic culture. this was not an experimentally designed study. rodriguez-brown, f.v., li, r.f., & albom, j.b. (1999). hispanic parents’ awareness and use of literacy-rich environments at home and in the community. education and urban society, 32(1), 41-58. 30 lewis & ginsburg-block 5 home instruction program for preschool youngsters (hippy) a home-based early childhood education and parent involvement program for parents with limited formal education. parents are trained by paraprofessionals during home visits. parents and paraprofessionals role-played the lessons. parents read to their children and worked on the activity packets. there were a total of 60 packets. the activity packets were designed to reinforce cognitive skills in language, sensory and perception discrimination, and problem solving. no low-income families from new york city. cohort i – children: 69, 4 and 5year-olds. in hippy group 16% african american, 38% hispanic, 27% white, and 19% other, 49% girls. in control group 47% african american, 28% hispanic, 13% white, and 22% other, 59% girls. cohort ii – children: 113, 4 and 5year olds. in hippy group 33% african american, 32% hispanic, 21% white, and 14% other, 36% girls. in control group 20% african american, 29% hispanic, 30% white, and 21% other, 46% girls. parents: 63 parents did not speak english as their primary language. no information on teacher demographics. a 2-year, quasiexperimental design. in cohort i children in the hippy group scored significantly higher on the cooperative preschool inventory (cpi) than children in the control group p < .034. this effect was educationally meaningful d = .75. in cohort i, teachers rated children using the child classroom adaptation index (ccai). in hippy groups, children were rated as better adapted to the class than children in the control group p < .03. this effect was educationally meaningful d = .68. there was no significance on the above measures for cohort ii. there was no replication effect, because there was no significance on the cpi and ccai for cohort ii. not specifically designed for dlls. does not offer reading materials in other languages. does not take into account parents’ ideas/suggestions or opinions when designing sessions. baker, a. j. l., piotrkowski, c. s., & brooks-gunn, j. (1998). the effects of the home instruction program for preschool youngsters (hippy) on children's school performance at the end of the program and one year later. early childhood research quarterly, 13(4), 571-588. early literacy and family involvement programs 31 6 language is key designed to prepare parents and others working with children to promote language development. the program has special value for children who are bilingual or have learning disabilities. uses a repeat again strategy when child mixes native language and english. yes designed for children between 2 and 4 years of age. specifically helpful for children with language disabilities or children from linguistic minority backgrounds. training materials are in spanish, korean, tagalog, vietnamese, mandarin, cantonese subtitles, and english. no findings because this was a resources guide that described a family involvement program. the efficacy of the model has been supported by research with children with disabilities and with dlls. this is a resource guide. this was not an experimentally designed study. cole, k., maddox, m., lim, y. s., & notari-syverson, a. (2002). language is the key: a program for building language and literacy. “talking and books” [and] “talking and play” resource guide [with videotapes]. washington research institute 1-32. 32 lewis & ginsburg-block 7 migrant education even start family literacy program (mees) parents were offered 25 1-hour training sessions, with most parents participating in about half. the mees staff worked with teachers to design the weekly sessions. the content of the parent sessions matched the child’s curriculum. mees staff modeled ways to support children learning the different content areas and provided parents with resource materials to help learning at home. yes children: 14 dll kindergarteners were in the intervention group and 15 dll kindergarteners were in the control group. 59% female. parents: 97% hispanic and one family was vietnamese. 64% female. no information on teacher demographics. a 2-year, quasiexperimental design. at the end of the first year kindergarteners in the intervention group scored higher on standardized assessments than kindergarteners in the control group but this difference was not significant. in first grade (the second year of the program), children in the intervention group had significantly higher gains from kindergarten on verbal reasoning, letter-word identification, writing, and the general score of the wmls compared to children in the control group. both groups had similar gains in picture vocabulary. does not offer materials in spanish. does not take into account parents’ ideas/suggestions or opinions when designing sessions. does not report parents’ perception of the program. small sample size. there is no direct relationship building between parents and teachers because mees staff, not teachers conducts the information sessions. st. clair, l., & jackson, b. (2006). effect of family involvement training on the language skills of young elementary children from migrant families. the school community journal, 16(1), 3141. early literacy and family involvement programs 33 8 readiness center (rc) program school-based readiness program for preschool children. 12 weeks long. parents attended programs for half the day, 2 days a week and also participated in a drop-in program once a week. teachers modeled for parents “how to teach”, explaining concepts to be taught, the reason the methodology is appropriate for this age group and how to use these concepts at home. parents were sent the message that they are their child’s “first teacher”. yes children: 313 4-yearolds; 186 5-year-olds at follow-up; 50% are dlls. parents: 313. 89% mothers, 7% fathers, 4% grandparents/caregivers; 186 parents at follow-up. languages spoke other than english: hindi, punjabi, gujarati, urdu, tamil, chinese, vietnamese, eastern european, arabic, and western european teachers: 100% female english-speaking parents reported more social goals while dll parents reported more academic goals for being involved in the rc program. all parents reported an improved relationship with their child’s teacher. teachers reported their goals changed from covering material in the curriculum to collaborating with parents. in year 2, children 5years-old, literacy outcomes were assessed. children in the program had higher means on standardized assessments (vocabulary subtest of the stanford-binet intelligence test, test of early reading ability, printing performance, and early number sense) than children who did not attend the rc. dlls had lower means than nondlls. all questions/ surveys were in english, which is a limitation when giving surveys to dll parents. parents are required to come into the centers, which limits the accessibility to parents who are unable to make it to centers. this program requires a great deal of time that may be hard for working parents to do. this was not an experimentally designed study. pelletier, j., & corter, c. (2005). design, implementation, and outcomes of a school readiness program for diverse families. the school community journal, 15(1), 89116. 34 lewis & ginsburg-block 9 storybook reading a 12-week program, parents attend a training session once a week to learn ways to interact with their child while reading to their child. parents and the facilitator discuss the goals and expectations for that week’s reading. parents visit their child’s class and read the new book with their child for 15 minutes. reading materials are available in spanish and english. yes two head start centers, serving families of low ses. children: 3-year-olds. 2 of the children spoke only spanish. parents: total of 41; 26 african-american, 14 hispanic, and 1 caucasian. 37 mothers and 4 fathers. no information on teacher demographics. from tape-recorded reading session found that different types of text (highly predictable text v. narrative text) resulted in different patterns of interactions between parents’ and children. observed from tape recordings that parents took on more collaborative reading with highly predictable text and more of a teaching role with narrative text. parents who reported having reading difficulties used more attention vocative, chiming, and repeating strategies whereas parents who reported proficiency in reading used more bridging and recalling strategies (all p’s were significant). no direct measure of child literacy outcomes reported. there is no direct relationship building between parents and teachers because a facilitator who is not a teacher does the instruction. parents are required to come into the centers, which limits the accessibility to parents who are unable to make it to centers. this was not an experimentally designed study. neuman, s. b. (1996). children engaging in storybook reading: the influence of access to print resourced, opportunity, and parental interaction. early childhood research quarterly, 11(4), 495-513. early literacy and family involvement programs 35 10 the literacy connection a 12-week program. tutors, graduate students, demonstrate how parents should interact with their children when reading. provides one-to-one tutoring for parents with low literacy and/or low english language skills. tutoring sessions were held in the morning, afternoon, and evening and childcare was provided free of charge. a variety of approaches were used to recruit parents to participate in the program. yes children: 0 to 8 years of age. parents: 17 original parents signed up and 12 completed the program. 9 parents’ first language was spanish. the other parents’ first language was english. 11 mothers and 4 fathers. no information on teacher demographics. found all 15 parents were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the program. 86% (~13) of parents signed up for a second literacy connection program. there is no direct relationship building between parents and teachers because a graduate student does the tutoring. small recruitment size. this was not an experimentally designed study. garrett, s.d., rechis, r., garcia, r., rivera, l., & landreth, l. (2002). the literacy connection. a report in early childhood literacy: programs & strategies to develop cultural, linguistic, scientific and healthcare literacy for very young children & their families, 2001 yearbook 36 lewis & ginsburg-block program evaluation methods (research question 1) inter rater reliability was calculated to assess the agreement between raters who categorized abstracts in this literature review. three student researchers categorized over 300 abstracts into three groups, non-relevant articles, relevant articles, and of those relevant articles, studies that discussed a family involvement program in early childhood language or literacy. inter rater reliability coefficients showed high (.95) agreement among the three undergraduate students. when agreement was not reached the first author made the final decision. research design the 40 relevant research articles not included in this study consisted of a variety of research designs including guided materials, case studies, reports and descriptive studies. however, these studies did not utilize a comparison design in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, therefore, these studies did not meet criteria to be included in this literature review. all four experimentally designed studies, which evaluated a total of 6 treatment conditions, utilized a comparison group in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the family involvement intervention. two of the experimentally designed studies, which both implemented the dialogic reading (dr) program (dr1 and dr2), compared two different intervention groups to a control group. participants in the dr1, dr2, and home instruction program for preschool youngsters (hippy) studies were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group (arnold et al., 1994; baker et al., 1998; whitehurst et al., 1994). in the migrant education even start family literacy program (mees) program, parents self-selected whether to be involved in the experimental group and the control group was matched for dll status from the same location (st. clair & jackson, 2006). parent evaluation measures the 10 programs included in this literature review implemented a variety of data collection methods to evaluate program effectiveness. outcome measures included parent knowledge, behaviors, and satisfaction. some programs asked parents to complete questionnaires/surveys, other programs interviewed parents, and some programs used a combination of both methods. in addition to the variety of instruments used to evaluate family involvement, there were a variety of questions different programs attempted to answer through their program evaluations. for instance, the readiness center (rc) program interviewed parents to discover the aspects of the program they enjoyed, strategies they learned from their child’s teacher, and their feelings about being their child’s “first teacher” (pelletier & corter, 2005). other studies gathered information about parents’ perceptions of the usefulness, strengths, and weaknesses of the program and materials (dever & burts, 2002; quintero & huerta-macias, 1993; rodriguez-brown et al., 1999) or parents willingness to be involved in the program again (garrett, rechis, garcia, rivera, & landreth, 2002). whereas other studies inquired about parents reading habits with their children (arnold et al., 1994; dever & burts, 2002; rodriguez-brown et al., 1999; whitehurst et al., 1994). two of the programs that implemented an experimental design, mees early literacy and family involvement programs 37 and hippy, did not include data on parent perceptions or beliefs. instead these programs used attrition rates to evaluate the degree of family involvement. in addition to varying measurement instruments used, studies also implemented varying data collection strategies. several studies conducted focus groups with parents, others conducted in-depth individual interviews, while other studies observed the literacy activities parents engaged in with their children (whitehurst et al., 1994; ziegler, m. f., 1998). two studies inquired about parents reading habits with their children after their participation in the program (dever & burts, 2002; rodriguez-brown et al., 1999), while others inquired about parents reading habits with their children before their participation in the program (arnold et al., 1994; whitehurst et al., 1994). of the 10 programs included in the literature review, one program, the family literacy bags (flb) program, documented parent perceptions before and after their participation (dever & burts, 2002). teacher evaluation measures in addition to parent evaluations, several studies included teacher social validity. two, of the 11 studies asked teachers to complete a questionnaire in order to gather data on teachers’ perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of the program (dever & burts, 2002; quintero & huerta-macias, 1993). child literacy and language outcome measures. the four experimentally or quasi-experimentally designed studies, mees, hippy, and dr1 and dr2, implemented various measures to directly assess students’ literacy and/or language outcomes as a result of the family involvement program. studies used standardized assessments including the vocabulary subtest of the stanford-binet intelligence testrevised (sb-r; refer to thorndike, hagen, & sattler, 1986) which assesses cognitive ability, printing performance (refer to simmer, 1989) which assesses concepts of print, test of early reading ability (tera2; refer to reid, hresko, & hammill, 1989) which assesses a composite of reading skills, and early number sense (refer to case, 2000) (pelletier & corter, 2005) which assesses numerical concepts; the peabody picture vocabulary test – revised (ppvt-r; refer to dunn & dunn, 1981) (arnold et al., 1994; neuman, 1996; whitehurst et al., 1994) which assesses receptive vocabulary; the concepts of print test (copt; refer to clay, 1979) (neuman, 1996) which assesses concepts of print; the woodcock-muñoz language survey (wmls; refer to woodcock & muñoz-sandoval, 2001) (st. clair & jackson, 2006) which assesses a variety of skills including vocabulary and reading skills; the cooperative preschool inventory (cpi; refer to educational testing service, 1974) which assesses personal-social behavior, vocabulary, numerical concepts, and sensory skills; the metropolitan readiness test in kindergarten (mrt, 1976 ed) which assess school readiness skills; the metropolitan achievement test in first grade (mat, 5 th ed) (baker et al., 1998) which assess language, math and reading skills; and the expressive one-word picture vocabulary test (eowpvt; refer to gardner, 1981) which assesses expressive vocabulary, the illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities (itpa-ve; refer to kirk, mccarthy, & kirk, 1968) which assesses verbal fluency, and the illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities-grammatical closure (ipta-gc), which assesses grammar (arnold et 38 lewis & ginsburg-block al., 1994; whitehurst et al., 1994). there was also a research-developed assessment, the our word, which was used by whitehurst and colleagues to assess expressive vocabulary skills (whitehurst et al., 1994). population demographics participants varied in socio-economic status (ses), ethnicity, age group, and primary language spoken in the home. participants in the dr1 study were all mothers who came from middleupper ses backgrounds (see table 2). there were 31 boys and 33 girls (64 total), aged 24 to 34months old who participated in the study (arnold et al., 1994). participants in the dr2 study were all mothers who came from low ses backgrounds (see table 2). there were seventy-three 3-year old children who participated in the study (whitehurst et al., 1994). in the hippy program, participants came from low-income ses backgrounds from new york city, of which sixty-three parents did not speak english as their primary language (baker et al., 1998). there were two cohorts in the study (see table 2). there were sixty-nine 4 and 5year-olds in the first cohort and one hundred-thirteen children in the second cohort (baker et al., 1998). in the mees program, 29 kindergarten aged children (14 dll kindergarteners were in the intervention group and 15 dll kindergarteners were in the control group) participated (see table 2) (st. clair & jackson, 2006). effect sizes (research question 2) effect sizes for each child outcome measure for the 6 treatment conditions identified across the four experimentally or quasi-experimentally designed studies (mees, hippy, dr1, and dr2), were calculated. a statistically significant treatment effect was signified as a reliable difference in language or literacy skill gains for children in the experimental group. the effect sizes (es) for each of the dependent variables (the assessments used) were estimated by computing hedges’s g, which uses a correction factor to utilize with small samples and provides an unbiased estimate of the population standardized deviation for the experimental versus control and comparison groups (cooper & hedges, 1994; turner & bernard, 2006). the difference between the experimental and control group means were divided by the pooled standard deviation, which is computed from both groups, g = (cooper & hedges, 1994). when non-significant results were reported without data such as group means, sd or results of a significance test, which are needed to calculate a precise es, the es was set at zero, which is a standard practice (ginsburg-block, rohrbeck, & fantuzzo, 2006). including non-significant effects prevents inflation of the overall es calculation. using the cma 2.0 program, a random-effects model was produced to pool the mean effect size estimates and determine confidence intervals across the six experimental treatments, accounting for the non-independence of the two treatment conditions in dr1 and dr2. a random-effects model estimates the effect size with the assumption that there is not one but several underlying true effects (borenstein, m., hedges, l. v., higgins, l. p. t. & rothstein, 2009; schappin, wijnroks, uniekn venema, & jongmans, 2013). the q and i 2 statistics were m1 m2 s early literacy and family involvement programs 39 computed to assess the amount of heterogeneity within each set of pooled effect sizes. a nonsignificant q value indicates that the effect sizes are relatively homogeneous. i 2 reports the percentage of variation within a group of studies due to heterogeneity rather than chance. this statistic may be a better indicator of heterogeneity in small n meta-analyses (higgins & thompson, 2002; wilson, 2011). when overall effects are determined to be homogeneous, they may be summarized together using an overall mean effect size estimate, while analysis of potential effect size moderators is not necessary (ginsburg-block, rohrbeck, & fantuzzo, 2006; turner & bernard, 2006). in addition to an overall mean effect using all of the treatment outcomes reported by time point, overall mean effects were calculated for vocabulary (i.e., receptive and expressive measures) and reading outcomes by time point exclusively. effect sizes by program the mees program used the woodcock-muñoz language survey, which measures a child’s knowledge of english language skills. in addition, there were five assessments measuring language, reading and writing skills: a picture vocabulary test (pv), a verbal reasoning test (vr), a letter-word identification test (lwi), a writing test (w), and a broad score (bs), which was the composite score of the pv, vr, lw, and w tests. when comparing the experimental group with the control group at time one (i.e., immediate post-testing), the ess ranged from .21 for pv to 1.25 for vr and the overall es for the mees program was .94 (see table 3). the hippy program used several measures including, a standardized reading measure at the end of the program and after a one year follow up to assess students’ academic outcomes from the intervention, assessing cognitive achievement and knowledge of colors, shapes, letters, and numbers. when comparing the experimental group with the control group, the es for the standardized reading assessment directly after the program and a year later was g = .28 and g = .74, respectively (see table 3). two studies were included in this literature review evaluating the dr program, dr1 and dr2 and the ess was calculated for both studies (see table 3). in the dr1 study, there were three groups including two experimental groups and one control group. the two experimental groups included a condition in which parents were trained to use dr via videotape training sessions (dr1 home video) and a condition in which parents were trained to use dr directly from an in-person trainer (dr1 home direct). there were four assessments measuring language and literacy skills at pre-test and post-test, in which all four of the assessments were standardized. the assessments included the expressive one-word picture vocabulary testrevised (one word); the peabody picture vocabulary test-revised (ppvt-r); the illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities-verbal expression (itpa-ve); and the illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities-grammatical closure (itpa-gc). when comparing the dr1 home video group with the control group, the es ranged from .00 for itpa-gc to .91 for e one word (see table 3). when comparing the dr1 home direct group with the control group, the es ranged from .00 for vocab-e, vocab-r and grammar to .69 for itpa-ve (see table 3). when comparing the dr1 home video group and the dr1 home direct group, a trend does emerge for the overall effect on language and literacy outcomes. the dr1 home video group, es =.58, showed a relatively stronger effect than the dr1 home direct group, es = .17 (see table 3). there were also three groups including two experimental groups and one control group in the dr2 study. the two experimental groups included a condition in which dr was conducted 40 lewis & ginsburg-block at school through the students’ teacher (dr2 school) and a condition in which dr was conducted at school and home through the students’ teacher and parent (dr2 school plus home). there were four assessments measuring language and literacy skills at pre-test and posttest, in which three of the assessments were standardized and the fourth assessment was a research developed assessment. the three standardized assessments included the expressive one-word picture vocabulary test-revised (one word); the peabody picture vocabulary testrevised (ppvt-r); and the illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities – verbal expression (itpa-ve). the research-developed assessment was called, the our word. students were also assessed a year after their completion of the program using the three standardized assessments, e one word, ppvt-r, and itpa-ve. when comparing the dr2 school group with the control group directly following the completion of the program, the es ranged from -.03 for itpa and .21 for e one word and the overall es for the dr2 school group was .10 (see table 3). when comparing the dr2 school group with the control group a year following the completion of the program, the es ranged from -.23 for ppvt-r and .23 for e one word and the overall es for the dr2 school group was -0.03 (see table 3). when comparing the dr2 school plus home group with the control group directly following the completion of the program, the es ranged from .03 for itpa-ve to .42 for e one word (see table 3). when comparing the dr2 school plus home group with the control group a year following the completion of the program, the es ranged from .01 for ppvt-r to .23 for itpa-ve (see table 3). overall, there does not appear to be a clear trend between language and literacy outcomes collected immediately after post-test or a year after. however, a trend does emerge for the overall effect on language and literacy outcomes when comparing the dr2 school group and the dr2 school plus home group. the dr2 school plus home group showed a relatively stronger effect than the dr2 school group immediately after the intervention (dr2 school plus home es =.26, se = .31; dr2 school es = .10, se = .29) and one year after (dr2 school plus home es =.14, se = .36; dr2 school es = .03, se = .33). early literacy and family involvement programs 41 table 3 effect sizes of hippy, mees, and dr programs on children’s literacy and language by program, treatment condition, outcome measure and time point study treatment condition outcome type (time point) program or measure nintervention ncontrol hedges g seg 95% ci baker et al. (1998) hippy reading (t1) metro ready readingk (std) 37 32 0.28 0.24 [-0.20, 0.75] reading (t2) metro ach reading1 (std) 37 32 0.74** 0.25 [0.25, 1.23] st. clair & jackson (2006) mees overall (t1) mees 12 14 0.94* 0.43 [0.09, 1.78] vocab (t1) wmls picture vocab (std) 12 14 0.21 0.38 [-0.57, 0.98] verb reasoning (t1) wmls vr (std) 6 11 1.25 0.53 [0.15, 2.33] letter-word id (t1) wmls lwi (std) 12 14 1.12 0.41 [0.36, 2.04] writing (t1) wmls w (std) 12 14 0.90 0.40 [0.08, 1.71] reading (t1) wmls broad score (std) 12 14 1.21 0.42 [0.28, 1.94] arnold et al. (1994) dr1 home video overall (t1) dr1 home video 14 24 0.58 1 0.34 [-0.08, 1.25] vocab-e (t1) e one word (std) 14 24 0.91 0.12 [0.22, 1.60] vocab-r (t1) ppvt-r (std) 14 24 0.59 0.12 [-0.09, 1.26] verb fluency (t1) itpa-ve (std) 14 24 0.88 0.12 [0.19, 1.57] grammar (t1) itpa-gc (std) 14 24 0.00 1 0.11 [-0.66, 0.66] dr1 home direct overall (t1) dr1 home direct 22 24 0.17 1 0.29 [-0.40, 0.74] vocab-e (t1) e one word (std) 22 24 0.00 1 0.09 [-0.58, 0.58] vocab-r (t1) ppvt-r (std) 22 24 0.00 1 0.09 [-0.58, 0.58] verb fluency (t1) itpa-ve (std) 22 24 0.69 0.09 [0.09, 1.28] grammar (t1) itpa-gc (std) 22 24 0.00 1 0.09 [-0.58, 0.58] note. all studies included a control group. hippy = home instruction program for preschool youngsters; mees = migrant education even start program; dr1 home video = dialogic reading home, parent’s trained on intervention with a video; dr1 home direct = dialogic reading home, parent’s trained on intervention directly in person; dr2 school = dialogic reading school/teacher only intervention; dr2 school & home = dialogic reading school/teacher and home/parent intervention; overall = overall mean es computed from all outcomes reported for a treatment condition; id = identification; vocab-e = expressive vocabulary; vocab-r = receptive vocabulary; t1 = time point 1; t2 = time point 2; metro ready readingk = metropolitan readiness test in kindergarten, reading subtest; metro ach reading1 = metropolitan achievement test in first grade, reading subtest; wmls picture vocab = woodcock-muñoz language survey – picture vocabulary; wmls vr = woodcock-muñoz language survey – verbal reasoning; wmls lwi = woodcock-muñoz language survey – letter-word identification; wmls w = woodcock-muñoz language survey – writing; wmls broad score = woodcock-muñoz language survey – broad score; e one word = expressive one-word picture vocabulary test – revised; ppvt-r = peabody picture vocabulary test – revised; itpa-ve = illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities – verbal expression; itpa-gc = illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities – grammatical closure; std = standardized measure; rd = research developed measure. 1 = a value of zero was used as a placeholder to calculate the overall effect size because statistics to compute effect sizes were not reported. p values for the overall mean less than .05 or ,01 are indicated *p<.05; **p<.01 42 lewis & ginsburg-block table 3 continued effect sizes of hippy, mees, and dr programs on children’s literacy and language by treatment condition, outcome measure and time point study treatment condition outcome type (time point) condition or measure nintervention ncontrol hedges g seg 95% ci whitehurst et al. (1994) dr2 school overall (t1) dr2 school 26 22 0.10 0.29 [-0.46, 0.66] vocab-e (t1) e one word (std) 26 22 0.21 0.29 [-0.36, 0.78] vocab-r (t1) ppvt-r (std) 26 22 0.15 0.29 [-0.42, 0.72] verb fluency (t1) itpa-ve (std) 26 22 -0.03 0.28 [-0.60, 0.54] vocab-r (t1) our word (rd) 26 22 0.07 0.29 [-0.50, 0.64] overall (t2) dr2 school 23 14 -0.03 0.33 [-0.69, 0.62] vocab-e (t2) e one word (std) 23 14 0.23 0.33 [-0.44, 0.89] vocab-r (t2) ppvt-r (std) 23 14 -0.23 0.33 [-0.89, 0.44] verb fluency (t2) itpa-ve (std) 23 13 -0.10 0.34 [-0.78, 0.58] dr2 school & home overall (t1) dr2 school & home 19 22 0.26 0.31 [-0.35, 0.87] vocab-e (t1) e one word (std) 19 22 0.42 0.31 [-0.20, 1.04] vocab-r (t1) ppvt-r (std) 19 22 0.23 0.31 [-0.38, 0.85] verb fluency (t1) itpa-ve (std) 19 22 0.03 0.31 [-0.58, 0.64] vocab-e (t1) our word (rd) 19 22 0.36 0.31 [-0.26, 0.98] overall (t2) dr2 school & home 16 14 0.14 0.36 [-0.56, 0.85] vocab-e (t2) e one word (std) 15 14 0.19 0.36 [-0.54, 0.92] vocab-r (t2) ppvt-r (std) 16 14 0.01 0.36 [-0.71, 0.72] verb fluency (t2) itpa-ve (std) 16 13 0.23 0.36 [-0.50, 0.96] note. all studies included a control group. hippy = home instruction program for preschool youngsters; mees = migrant education even start program; dr1 home video = dialogic reading home, parent’s trained on intervention with a video; dr1 home direct = dialogic reading home, parent’s trained on intervention directly in person; dr2 school = dialogic reading school/teacher only intervention; dr2 school & home = dialogic reading school/teacher and home/parent intervention; overall = overall mean es computed from all outcomes reported for a treatment condition; id = identification; vocab-e = expressive vocabulary; vocab-r = receptive vocabulary; t1 = time point 1; t2 = time point 2; metro ready readingk = metropolitan readiness test in kindergarten, reading subtest; metro ach reading1 = metropolitan achievement test in first grade, reading subtest; wmls picture vocab = woodcockmuñoz language survey – picture vocabulary; wmls vr = woodcock-muñoz language survey – verbal reasoning; wmls lwi = woodcock-muñoz language survey – letter-word identification; wmls w = woodcock-muñoz language survey – writing; wmls broad score = woodcock-muñoz language survey – broad score; e one word = expressive oneword picture vocabulary test – revised; ppvt-r = peabody picture vocabulary test – revised; itpa-ve = illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities – verbal expression; itpa-gc = illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities – grammatical closure; std = standardized measure; rd = research developed measure. 1 = a value of zero was used as a placeholder to calculate the overall effect size because statistics to compute effect sizes were not reported. p values for the overall mean less than .05 or ,01 are indicated *p<.05; **p<.01 early literacy and family involvement programs 43 effect sizes by skills the overall effect for the 6 treatment conditions from the four experimental studies was calculated using a random-effects model to determine the combined effect of these family involvement programs on all children’s language and literacy skills assessed (e.g., vocabulary, reading, early literacy). the overall effect size for the combined child outcomes was analyzed at two time points. time point one included immediate post-test language and literacy assessment outcomes and time point two included one-year follow-up post-test language and literacy assessments. the overall effect size for all language and literacy outcomes evaluated for time points one and two were .32 and .33, respectively (see table 4). although these four experimental and quasi-experimental studies used different child outcome measures there were two common skills assessed by at least two of the studies. both the mees and both experimental conditions of dr1 and dr2 programs assessed receptive and expressive vocabulary (mees: pv; dr1: e one word and ppvt-r; dr2: e one word, ppvtr, and our word) skills. these analyses were also calculated separately by time point one and time point two. the overall effect sizes for both receptive and expressive vocabulary combined across mees, dr1 home video, dr1 home direct, dr2 school and dr2 school plus home were .26 and .05, for time points one and two, respectively (see table 4). additionally, the mees and hippy programs reported a global reading score (bs and standardized reading assessment, respectively); however an overall mean effect could only be computed for time point one. at time point two only the hippy program collected this data. the overall effect size for global reading for mees and hippy for time point one was .68 (se= .46; see table 4). table 4 overall mean effect sizes across programs by outcome variable using random effects model outcome time point nstudies hedges gw se 95% ci p-value combined ti only 6 0.32 0.12 [0.08, 0.56] .01** combined t2 only 4 0.33 0.26 [-0.17, 0.84] .019** vocab t1 only 5 0.26 0.14 [-0.02, 0.54] .066 vocab t2 only 3 0.05 0.24 [-0.43, 0.52] .853 global reading t1 only 2 0.68 0.46 [-0.22, 1.58] .140 note. combined = all literacy assessments [writing, receptive and expressive vocabulary, verbal fluency, letter word identification, and global reading skills]; vocab = receptive and expressive vocabulary; t1 = time point 1; t2 = time point 2; hedges gw = weighted hedges **p ≤.01. reported effective program components (research question 3) moderator analysis. both the q and i 2 indicators of heterogeneity were used to determine the suitability of moderator analysis for each set of study outcomes (see table 5). time one mean effects combined across all outcomes and for vocabulary only were homogeneous, as was the mean effect calculated for time two vocabulary, thus moderator analyses were not warranted. in contrast, a significant q and moderate i 2 of 73% indicated that the effect sizes used to estimate global reading at time one were heterogeneous. due to the small sample of studies (i.e., n=2) 44 lewis & ginsburg-block comprising the global reading mean es score, moderators could not be explored for this outcome variable using anova. while a significant q was not obtained for the overall combined effect size at time two, the i 2 indicated that 51% of the variance within this group of study effects was due to study heterogeneity. given this moderate level of heterogeneity, random effects anova analyses were attempted to test for the potential effects of intervention setting (i.e., school or home only versus school and home) and the use of video training techniques (i.e., video training versus person-mediated training) on outcomes at time two (see table 6). no significant differences were found between the two studies using one setting (hippy and dr2 school only) versus the one study employing two settings (dr2 school plus home); however the qwithin was approaching significance at p = .06 and the i 2 of 71% reported for the studies in the one setting group indicates that these two studies are heterogeneous and it is not valid to combine their means. significant differences were found between the overall mean es derived from the hippy study versus the two dr2 conditions, potentially demonstrating the advantage of personmediated training versus video. however, given that this was a comparison of two different treatments, moderator effects may be attributed to other program features as well. while random effects anova analyses were inconclusive about the impact of moderators per se, regression analyses with a continuous moderator variable were also conducted. all four of the experimentally and quasi-experimentally designed studies provided information about the duration of the intervention (number of weeks) and the number of sessions or session activities participants were given the opportunity to complete. mixed-effects metaregression analyses were computed for outcomes at time one and time two to determine the degree to which either of these two variables had an effect on children’s literacy and language outcomes. results revealed that the duration of the intervention, but not the number of sessions or activities was significantly related to program effectiveness in these family involvement programs at time point two (see table 7). neither the duration of the intervention in weeks nor the number of sessions/session activities was significantly related to program effectiveness at time one. early literacy and family involvement programs 45 table 5 homogeneity analyses and mean effect sizes for hippy, mees, and dr programs by outcome outcome time point nstudies qw df p-value i 2 combined ti only 6 3.59 5 .610 0.00 combined t2 only 4 4.09 2 .129 51.09 vocab t1 only 5 2.98 4 .561 0.00 vocab t2 only 3 0.13 1 .722 0.00 global reading t1 only 2 3.75 1 .052* 73.37 note: combined = all literacy assessments [writing, receptive and expressive vocabulary, verbal fluency, letter-word identification, and global reading skills]; vocab = receptive and expressive vocabulary; t1 = time point 1; t2 = time point 2; qw = q within *p ≤.05. table 6 random effects anova homogeneity analyses and mean effect sizes for moderator variables variable nstudies qb p-value qw p-value i 2 mean es 95% ci p-value setting school or home school and home training video person-mediated 3 2 1 3 2 1 .628 - - 3.96 - - .428 - - .047* - - - 3.46 0 - .127 0 - .063 1 - .722 1 - 71.11 0.00 - 0.00 0.00 - .388 .143 - .049 .742 - [-.368, 1.143] [-1.01, 1.291] - [-.433, .530] [.258, 1.225] - .315 .808 - .843 .003** note: qb = q between; qw = q within; es = effect size *p ≤.05 **p ≤.01. table 7 mixed-effect model regression for dosage of intervention at time point 2 dosage moderator hedges gw se 95% ci z-value q df p-value sessions/packets-y intercept -0.565 0.933 [-2.393, 1.264] -0.606 --0.545 slope 0.018 0.018 [-0.017, 0.053] 1.002 1.004 1 0.316 residual (qresid) ----1.000 1 0.317 total (q) ----2.004 2 0.367 durationy intercept 0.006 0.261 [-0.505, 0.518] 0.023 --0.981 slope 0.007 0.004 [0.000, 0.014] 1.991 3.963 1 0.047* residual (qresid) ----0.127 1 0.722 total (q) ----4.089 2 0.129 note: sessions/packets = the number of sessions and/or activity packets offered; duration = the length of the intervention in weeks; qresid = q residual,*p ≤.05. 46 lewis & ginsburg-block descriptive analysis. of the 10 programs included in this literature review, only the dr1 and dr2 studies experimentally evaluated program components. the dr1 study examined parent video training compared to direct in-person training of the experimental components (i.e., dialogic reading) and its impact on children’s literacy and language outcomes. children in the dr1 home video condition performed relatively better than children in the dr1 home direct group on receptive and expressive vocabulary tasks. the dr2 study examined the teacher administration compared to the combined administration (parent and teacher) of the experimental components (i.e., dialogic reading) and impact on children’s literacy and language outcomes. children in the dr2 school plus home condition performed relatively better than children in the dr2 school only group on receptive and expressive vocabulary tasks given immediately after the intervention. the eight programs designed for a dll population described information parents and researchers reported as effective aspects of the program. two components that were present across multiple programs were incorporating family’s native languages and culture into the program, as well as co-constructing the program with families. regarding language, one aspect that was reported as helpful for promoting positive relationships with families was the inclusion of children’s books, questionnaires/surveys, child literacy and/or language outcome assessments and other materials in different languages. seven of the eight programs designed for a dll population (excluding the mees program) addressed language concerns by including reading materials, instructions, and assessments in different languages, mainly spanish. one of the reported limitations for the study that conducted research on the rc program was that all of the questionnaires/surveys that parents were asked to fill out were in english (pelletier & corter, 2005). although psychometric properties for the measures were not reported, parents indicated that some items were difficult to understand (pelletier & corter, 2005). of the eight dll-targeted programs, there were two programs that integrated cultural aspects. the fiel program incorporated mexican culture into the themes for the literacy activities. for instance, puppetry, which is a popular art in mexico, was included as a theme for one weeks lesson and other weeks other mexican cultural aspects were integrated into the lessons (quintero & huerta-macias, 1993). project flame also incorporated culturally relevant aspects into the program. for instance, the program emphasized the importance of the family or “familias” role in their child’s emergent literacy development (rodriguez-brown et al., 1999). parents from the fiel and project flame programs reported anecdotally that the incorporation of culturally relevant and meaningful components into the program was a beneficial aspect of the program (quintero & huerta-macias, 1993; rodriguez-brown et al., 1999). furthermore, parents reported they benefited from being included in the program development and felt more empowered to be their child’s teachers at home (pelletier & corter, 2005; rodriguez-brown et al., 1999). parents also reported the relationship with their child’s teacher was enhanced as a result of the collaborative nature of the program, which they accounted for by their continued involvement in the program (dever & burts, 2002; pelletier & corter, 2005; quintero & huerta-macias, 1993; rodriguez-brown et al., 1999). overall, there were three program components identified by participants and researchers as effective aspects of the programs; however, empirical evaluation was not used to assess these components. these components included integrating family and children’s language and culture into the programs and collaborating with families to construct the family involvement programs. early literacy and family involvement programs 47 although these components were identified in the literature as effective, empirical testing is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of these program components. discussion the present literature review supports a causal relationship between family involvement programming and young children’s literacy and language development. through electronic and hand searches of the published research literature, four experimental or quasi-experimental group comparison studies evaluating six treatment conditions were identified. overall the results of these studies demonstrate positive and significant program effects at immediate post-testing and at one year follow-up. past studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between family involvement and children’s literacy and language development (farver, xu, eppe, & lonigan, 2006; raz & bryant, 1990; sénéchal & lefevre, 2002; sonnenschein & munsterman, 2002; stevenson & fredman, 1990). however, these previous studies did not provide support for a causal relationship between family involvement and children’s literacy development. moreover, the overall effect of these family involvement programs showed a meaningful improvement of more than one-third of a standard deviation for the average treatment group child versus the average control group child in literacy or language skills immediately after the intervention and one year following the intervention. these benefits were found for children from middle and low-income backgrounds and although only one program was specifically designed for dlls there were dlls whose literacy and language skills improved as a result of their parent’s participation. given the benefits that these programs have on children’s literacy and language outcomes it is imperative that more programs are developed for dlls, who perform worse on language and literacy measures than their non-dll peers (reardon & galindo, 2009). for instance, head start faces (1997-2009) showed that dll preschoolers’ knew less vocabulary than their monolingual peers. unfortunately, this disparity continues throughout children’s academic careers, with dlls performing below non-dlls in reading in fourth and eighth grade (nces, 2010). providing dll children and their families with effective family involvement programs might help to improve children’s language and literacy skills. critique of research designs and measurement methods the group comparison designs identified varied in level of experimental control. the two dialogic reading studies (dr1 and dr2) implemented an experimental design that allowed for comparisons to be made between two intervention groups and a control group. this design is more compelling than an experimental versus control group, which can only claim an intervention was better than no intervention. as a result, arnold et al. (1994) and whitehurst and colleagues (1994) demonstrated that family involvement in the form of dialogic reading is beneficial in schooling for children’s literacy and language development. program evaluations also varied in terms of the outcomes they measured. the mees program produced relatively strong effects for children’s literacy, oral comprehension and overall reading skills. whereas the dr1 and dr2 programs seemed to produce relatively strong effects for children’s expressive vocabulary skills. because programs investigated different 48 lewis & ginsburg-block components of literacy and language development, it is difficult to determine whether a particular program was more or less successful than others in producing increased results for a specific outcome. furthermore, the differences in effect sizes may also be related to the family literacy curricula children were being exposed to. although all studies did not measure the same outcomes the results demonstrate that there were relatively stronger outcomes for children’s reading skills compared to their vocabulary skills immediately after children’s parents participated in the program. to that end, bus and van ijzendoorn demonstrated that teaching students different reading skills could result in dissimilar reading outcomes (1999). thus, the variation in the types of skills children were exposed to across programs might have contributed to the diverse effect sizes reported for similar literacy and language measures. the mees program appeared to produce the strongest results overall at post-testing. this finding may be related to the amount of knowledge parents had about their child’s reading curriculum. for instance, the mees program collaborated with parents when creating the literacy curriculum, which may provide some explanation for the strong effect sizes reported. another explanation could be due to the design of the mees program. unlike the design of the hippy, dr1, and dr2 studies, the mees study did not employ a randomized sampling procedure. therefore, parents self-selected to participate in the program, which skews the treatment group sample to potentially represent parents who were already strongly involved in their children’s educational development. in fact, the mees program also had the smallest sample size and greatest error terms. another concern within the family involvement literature is the inconsistent method in which parent participation is measured. as previously mentioned, the hippy and mees programs used attrition rates to evaluate family involvement. these studies did not directly measure family involvement. parent “buy-in” or parents’ perceptions of the effectiveness of these programs are descriptive in nature but may provide valuable information. attrition rates provide information on an individual’s continued involvement in a program. utilizing attrition rates allows one to conclude that a variety of factors may have contributed to an individual’s premature removal from a program. however, this method provides little information about the specific factors that influenced an individual’s decision to leave a program (mccurdy & daro, 2001). therefore, attrition rates should be used in conjunction with other socially validated indicators of participant satisfaction, such as interviews and questionnaires. of the ten programs included in this literature review, there were two studies that included teacher perspectives or included a direct component between schools and home (i.e., parents went to their child’s school) when evaluating the program. in light of reports such as the metropolitan life survey, which finds that half of teachers believe that most parents fail to motivate their children so that their children will want to learn in school (christenson & sheridan, 2001) it seems important for studies evaluating family involvement programs to report data on teacher perspectives as well as parent perspectives. additionally, it has been shown that building a trusting relationship between families and teachers promotes home and school relationships (adams & christenson, 2000, nastasi, 1998, 2005; nastasi, varjas, bernstein, jayasena, 2000; nastasi, varjas, schensul, tudor silva, schensul, ratnayake, 2000). furthermore, trusting relationships between home and school have been positively correlated with children’s academic performance (adams & christenson, 2000). fantuzzo, mcwayne, and bulotsky argue that a critical element of successful prevention and intervention programs stem from partnership based research in which parents are considered partners (2003). early literacy and family involvement programs 49 program moderators and components in the current study potentially effective program moderators were empirically explored and additional program components were further explored descriptively. moderators included the number of settings in which the program was employed (one or two), the type of training parents received (video versus person), and the program dosage including duration of the program in weeks and number of sessions or activities offered. while ecological theory and research have suggested that prevention programs engaging children in multiple settings, such as home and school, lead to greater generalizability of effects beyond a single setting (flaspohler, meehan, maras, & keller, 2012; okamoto, kulis, marsiglia, holleran steiker, & dustman, 2013), we were unable to support this point empirically given our small sample of group comparison studies. our comparison of findings across studies suggested that children’s literacy and language outcomes were better supported when their parents were trained by a person compared to video training at one year following the program. however, at the study level, effect sizes were larger for child outcomes in the dr1 program immediately after the intervention when parents were trained via videotape than when trained in person by a trainer. again, given the small number of studies in the current literature synthesis and other program differences beyond training facilitation, further investigation of video-training as a moderator is warranted. particularly because using a video to train parents is likely more cost-effective, more feasible, and could be more widely dispersed to reach more parents, thereby potentially improving the literacy and language outcomes of more children (arnold, et al., 1994). the hippy program spanned two academic years as compared to the mees, dr1, and dr2 programs which lasted no more than several months, thereby providing parents with the longest amount of time to learn and participate in parent involvement activities. the hippy program study found an impact on children’s literacy skills one year later, but not immediately following the program, a phenomenon ziegler referred to as the “sleeper effect” (zigler & muenchow, 1992). the results of our meta-regression analysis, which took into account the dosage and effects of all six treatment conditions, revealed that the duration of family involvement programs indeed significantly contributed to children’s literacy and language outcomes measured one year after the family involvement program was implemented, but not at immediate post-testing. the number of program sessions or activities aside from program duration was unrelated to program effectiveness at post-testing or one year follow-up. these findings demonstrate the benefits of early literacy programs that include an ongoing parent component, because these programs have the potential to alter children’s literacy outcomes over time. in addition, longitudinal research designs, which follow children’s progress over time are warranted because they may provide a more balanced picture of the costs and benefits of investing in early childhood programming for families. in addition to examining moderators, we noted several ways in which program components differed among all of the family involvement programs included in this literature review. in some programs the family component was delivered in the school setting, while for others the family component took place entirely at home. in the flb program, children were sent home with bags that contained reading materials, instructions for parents, and activities for parents and children to work on. this method enabled many parents to participate in the program without needing to come into the schools. however, parents and teachers reported that there was also increased communication because parents called teachers to ask questions 50 lewis & ginsburg-block regarding the flb program (dever & burts, 2002). this finding is consistent with another study, which experimentally manipulated home and school communication; thereby demonstrating the benefits of increasing positive teacher reports of student behavior (fantuzzo, davis, & ginsburg, 1995). although seven of the eight family literacy and language programs designed for a dll population included materials in different languages, only two of the programs incorporated methods that acknowledged cultural diversity into the program. cultural diversity includes differences between cultures that may speak the same language, such as spanish, but engage in different cultural activities, which include differences in food and celebrations (quintero & huerta-macias, 1993). quintero and huerta-macias assert that the purpose of including culturally relevant aspects in the fiel program was in an effort to demonstrate to parents that their culture and language is important and relevant to their child’s education (1993). other researchers support this assertion and argue that tailoring lessons to incorporate cultures represented in the community facilitates a positive relationship between parents and educators as well as empowering culturally and linguistically diverse students (espinosa, 2005; garcia and miller, 2008; mcghee and richgels, 1996). adapting non-dll programs for dll populations although the majority of the family involvement programs designed to specifically address the needs of a dll population lack empirical evidence of effectiveness according to the criteria in this literature review, these programs provide descriptive information about ways in which family involvement programs may be adapted for a dll population. for example, some parents who participated in the flb program reported reluctance to read to their children in spanish because they wanted their children to learn english (dever & burts, 2002). yet other descriptive data from scholars (espinosa, 2005; garcia and miller, 2008; mcghee and richgels, 1996) and parents (dever & burts, 2002; pelletier & corter, 2005; quintero & huerta-macias, 1993; rodriguez-brown et al., 1999) indicate that considering language differences is important in order to promote positive relationships with families. while empirical testing is needed, it may be beneficial to offer information sessions or send materials home to parents explaining the importance and the benefits of maintaining children’s native language because bilingualism has been associated with a variety of cognitive, social, and economic advantages (bialystok, 2007). furthermore, a key aspect for improving the relationships between families and schools is to include parents in the process of developing a family involvement program. collaborating with parents about important culturally relevant themes to incorporate into programs has the potential to build and strengthen the family-school relationship. it has been argued that establishing collaborative relationships with families provides educators with information to support their student’s individual language and literacy development (parlakian & sanchez, 2006). moreover, the infusion of cultural components into family involvement programs can be empowering not only for the students (espinosa, 2005; garcia and miller, 2008; mcghee and richgels, 1996) but also for parents to continue to support their children’s academic development (mcwayne, hampton, fantuzzo, cohen, & sekino, 2004; pelletier & corter, 2005; rodriguez-brown et al., 1999). finally, the four experimentally and quasi-experimentally designed studies utilized potentially positive components that may be employed when designing family involvement early literacy and family involvement programs 51 programs for dlls. one promising component of the mees, hippy, dr1, and dr2 programs included the use of an in-depth training procedure for parents and teachers. research supports that the use of training programs increases parents’ sense of self-efficacy (gross, fogg, & tucker, 1995; tucker, gross, fogg, delaney, & lapporte, 1998; warschburger, von schwerin, buchholz, & petermann, 2002;), which leads to improved outcomes for children (sofronoff & farbotko, 2002; tucker et al., 1998). other components that should be tested empirically, but appeared promising for parents in the mees, hippy, dr1, and dr2 programs were the use of resource materials and research based literacy curriculums that emphasized the importance of exposing children to vocabulary through the use of story book reading (arnold, et al., 1994; baker, et al., 1998; st. clair & jackson, 2006; whitehurst et al., 1994). these findings are significant for practice because it suggests that early childhood programs could enhance the efficacy of their programs by including families in their programming in order to help reinforce young children’s literacy and language skills. limitations there are several limitations with this literature review. the first limitation involves the search methods. the key words and phrases could have limited the scope of the search and the potential to find other resources that did not necessarily include terms such as, family involvement, parent participation, or parent involvement. however, an attempt to find as many family involvement programs was made. a hand search was conducted in order to reduce the likelihood of excluding relevant family involvement programs. another limitation was related to the lack of information that studies provided. unfortunately, many of the studies did not provide detailed information about the demographic make-up of the individuals in the studies. this made it difficult to examine any of the potential cultural differences that might have existed across the populations. however, additional information was sought by contacting authors of several of the family involvement programs to request further information about the programs and the participants (page, 2008). a further limitation was due to the criteria used to include the programs in the study as well as the criteria for labeling a program as effective. since the criterion for an effective program were limited to an experimentally or quasi-experimentally designed study, there were non-dll programs that were omitted based on their design. however, studies that were designed with a dll population in mind were included regardless of design in order to provide a description of the components that programs for dlls employ to address dlls needs. for example, several programs designed for dlls incorporated multiple languages and cultural aspects into the design. thus, programs that targeted dll populations and provided explanations about the program design in order to address the needs of dll populations were included. although these programs might improve child outcomes the studies did not employ a quasior experimental design in which to evaluate the effect of the program on children’s outcomes. therefore, future studies should investigate these programs using a more rigorous and experimental design. another limitation relates to the operationalized definition of involvement because, as epstein discusses, there are numerous ways of defining family involvement. for the purposes of this literature review the definition of involved was operationalized based on the measures that 52 lewis & ginsburg-block researchers used to measure involvement. these definitions of involvement include parent interactions with their child, parental beliefs, attitudes, and expectations, parent participation in their child’s academic life, and the home literacy environment. the varying definitions of involvement and the diversity of outcome measures employed made it difficult to make comparisons across programs or draw conclusions about the best family involvement program for child literacy and language outcomes. finally, it should be noted that the majority of programs included in this literature review that investigated or discussed the needs of dlls, with the exception of the readiness center program (pelletier & corter, 2005), focused on parents whose native language was spanish. in the united states there is a large hispanic population and this population continues to increase (rodriguez-brown et al., 1999; rusakoff, 2011; thomas & collier, 2002); thus, it can be expected that this population would be the focus of research within this area. however, this limits the majority of the findings in this literature review of the dll population to families sharing spanish language. conclusion although the issue of family involvement, early childhood education, literacy and language, and dll populations appears to be of major concern for researchers, educators, and policy makers there is a staggering lack of experimentally designed studies investigating the relationship between family involvement and young dlls literacy and language skills. however, four studies evaluated through experimental or quasi-experimental designs demonstrated statistically and practically significant effects on early childhood literacy and language skills; therefore, there are several family involvement programs in early childhood literacy that utilize group comparison designs. additionally, studies that were experimentally evaluated were found to have strong effects on children’s literacy and language skills, not only immediately after the program (arnold et al., 1994; st. clair & jackson, 2006; whitehurst, et al., 1994) but these results were maintained over a period of time (baker, et al., 1998; st. clair & jackson, 2006; whitehurst, et al., 1994). unfortunately due to the current low-funding climate many early childhood programs are being defunded and/or losing funds. this literature review demonstrates the importance of providing even more intensive programming that lasts in order to improve and maintain children’s positive literacy and language development. furthermore, results of the dr2 program demonstrated that parent and school collaboration benefitted children’s literacy and language development (whitehurst, et al., 1994). consistent with mattingly and others, this literature review suggests that family involvement studies have inherent methodological flaws including inconsistent definitions of family involvement and diverse methods of measuring this component (christenson & sheridan, 2001; 2002). these aforementioned issues might help explain the seemingly lack of empirical evidence (2002). therefore, further investigation of these family involvement programs need to be conducted with special consideration for the measures used and the operationalized definition of family involvement. in addition, the gap in the literature on early childhood education literacy and language programs that adapt for linguistic and cultural differences should be addressed in future studies. these studies should employ experimental designs to gather empirical research on these programs. additionally, rigorous evaluations should be conducted in order to support whether or early literacy and family involvement programs 53 not these programs promote family involvement for linguistically and culturally diverse populations as well as for non-dlls. furthermore, theoretically promising programs for dlls without an evaluative component such as the fiel program (quintero & huerta-macias, 1993) should be systematically and methodologically analyzed. finally, programs designed for dll populations might benefit from the suggestions and strategies discussed in this review paper, such as providing materials and books in different languages and encouraging collaboration between families and schools, while these studies must continue to undergo experimental evaluations. references adams, k. s., & christenson, s. l. 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(eric document reproduction service no. ed419967). * references marked with an asterisk indicate studies included in the literature review dialog, 18(4), 129-132 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary professional development for transitional kindergarten teachers of dual language learners: learning and applying scaffolded dialogic reading carola matera california state university channel islands elvira armas and magaly lavadenz loyola marymount university this research to practice paper summarizes a study on professional development in the form of in-situ coaching for transitional kindergarten (tk) dll teachers as they implemented a practice known as scaffolded dialogic reading. the practice itself was effective at improving teachers’ knowledge and competency in teaching dlls, and coaching significantly increased this effect. keywords: dual language learners, dialogic reading, transitional kindergarten, teaching practices, professional development, coaching head start teachers have access to very well designed, research-based guidance to develop a systematic approach to support preschool dlls in the context of classrooms. this guidance is especially contextualized to fit in classrooms with one dll child or many, when the classroom includes many different languages, and/or when the teachers’ languages do not match the languages of the children. the findings from this research study illustrate a way in which teachers can be supported while implementing best dll language practices in preschool classrooms with dual language learners. dialogic reading is a research-based practice with positive effects on children’s language development (hargrave & sénéchal, 2000; lonigan & whitehurst, 1998; valdez-menchaca & whitehurst, 1992). vetted by the u.s. department of education’s what works clearinghouse (2004) at the institute of educational sciences, dialogic reading studies have been published on the online doing what works website. dlls need additional support to facilitate their ability to make connections between prior knowledge and new concepts, ideas, and vocabulary in english (california department of education, 2013). to adapt dialogic reading for teaching dlls, dll language strategies are embedded in the original protocol to create a revised protocol called “scaffolded dialogic 130 matera et al. reading” (see appendix). using the scaffolded version, teachers can support dll children’s language proficiency, regardless of the language of instruction. in a dual language approach, for example, teachers would use this version in their dialogic reading practice in both spanish and in english. while there is little literature on teacher professional development to meet the unique needs of young children, especially dlls, the research affirms that teachers need effective training in evidence-based strategies that significantly improve children’s english language skills (castro et al., 2013; espinosa, 2010; saunders et al., 2013). research also indicates the importance of evidence-based support and reflection (kohler, mccullough, & buchan, 1995; miller, 1994; skiffington, washburn, & elliott, 2011). additionally, newer research (neuman and cunningham, 2009) examines the impact of coaching on teachers’ knowledge of the language and literacy development of dlls and related practices, and finds that typical sporadic and fragmented professional development trainings alone were ineffective, but achieved significant improvements when combined with instructional coaching (neuman and cunningham, 2009). overall, the literature clearly indicates that coaching combined with sustained, high quality professional development is essential to support early childhood educators in developing young children’s language and literacy. research, albeit scant, also supports the application of coaching with dialogic reading since positive effects have resulted from implementing dialogic reading practices through professional development in classrooms with dll children (blamey, beauchat, & sweetman, 2012; cohen, kramer-vida, & frye, 2012a). the study presented here recognizes the findings of positive effects of dialogic reading and the need for support for teachers of dlls and. it assesses the impact of in-situ professional development with and without coaching during the implementation of scaffolded dialogic reading. scaffolded dialogic reading practice scaffolded dialogic reading extends across the original three stages, with a pre-level to help assess language skills. the practice begins with teachers setting up groups of three to five children (small groups are a foundation strategy for dlls) and also sharing the storybook with families to. as in un-scaffolded dialogic reading practice, teachers choose storybooks that are attractive, have a clear sequence of events, present a clear plot that gets resolved and fits in the context of a current theme/topic/project being studied. as preparation for scaffolded dialogic reading, support is needed for teachers in documenting and monitoring dll children’s english language development and home language. at the pre-level, teachers introduce the story, and present a short summary of what the story is about without giving the ending away. they ask focused questions showing two to three preselected pages in the storybook. these questions elicit children’s background knowledge and engage their language skills in the target language. with a child found to be at the initial stage of english language development, for example, the teacher needs to be able to ask questions that allow the child to participate over time at progressive stages of language development. the first level focuses on vocabulary, and requires the teacher to prepare the lesson based on the individual children’s earlier responses (during the pre-level). in order to introduce new words, concepts and ideas, teachers use gestures, movement, clear explanations in the context of professional development 131 the story, and connections with the children’s own personal experiences. additional strategies include bridging with the children’s home language instead of using simultaneous translation, using the vocabulary in songs, poems, and extending them to play centers/activities. using similar strategies, level 2 focuses on building comprehension and expanding children’s responses while level 3 promotes children’s retelling of stories and making connections with their lives and experiences. the study summarized here measures the impact on participants with and without coaching support using the observation protocol for academic literacies (opal©) and the dialogic reading teacher survey (lavadenz, armas, & matera, 2011). we found that data from classroom observations, teacher surveys, and coaching reflections indicate that initial implementation alone of scaffolded dialogic reading practices improved tk teachers’ knowledge and oral language instructional strategies for teaching dlls. overall, quantitative data from the opal observations revealed mid-range ratings across the opal domains for both the coached and uncoached groups. teachers who experienced coaching saw significantly greater improvement in tested areas of rigorous and relevant curriculum, connections, and comprehensibility. implications for professional development and research the findings stem from research with young dlls and therefore apply to head start preschool programs where one third of the children enrolled nationwide are dlls. implications arise in two areas: (1) teacher professional development; and (2) research on language and literacy development of dlls. the study indicates that the duration and intensity of professional development in the form of coaching affects the depth of teacher learning and confidence. this supports neuman’s & cunningham’s (2009) finding that coaching as professional development “situated in practice”, i.e., when embedded in classroom routines, appears to yield good results. the study also supports other work referenced above showing the value of evidence-based feedback. facilitated by peers and coaches, coaching can make professional development effective for head start teachers implementing instructional practices for young dlls. in-situ coaching needs to be ongoing and work progressively as teacher competencies improve. time and flexibility for head start teachers to gather dll children’s language background experiences from families and assess individual language development in both home language and english before and throughout implementation. this will enable not only the practice itself, but the observations and reflections that are shared in coaching, and which are necessary for teachers to develop dll instructional competencies. the findings indicate that more research on language and literacy development would be beneficial in order to evaluate longitudinal effects of in-situ coaching. additional research is needed that examines the impact of scaffolded dialogic reading on dlls. nested research designs could examine effects on teacher knowledge and skills, along with measures of the oral language and literacy development and growth of dlls. 132 matera et al. references blamey, k., beauchat, k., & sweetman, h. (2012). vocabulary instruction through storybook reading. nhsa dialog: a research-to-practice journal for the early childhood field, 15(2), 260-265. doi:10.1080/15240754.2012.666687 california department of education, early childhood division. (2013). california’s best practices for young dual language learners. governor’s advisory council on early learning and care. sacramento, ca: author. castro, d. c., garcía, e. e., & markos, a. m. (2013). dual language learners: research informing policy. chapel hill, nc: the university of north carolina, frank porter graham child development institute, center for early care and education—dual language learners. cohen, l. e., kramer-vida, l., & frye, n. (2012a). implementing dialogic reading with culturally, linguistically diverse preschool children. nhsa dialog: a research-to-practice journal for the early childhood field, 15(1), 135-141. doi:10.1080/15240754.2011.639965. espinosa, l. m. (2010). getting it right for young children from diverse backgrounds: applying research to improve practice. upper saddle river, nj: pearson education. hargrave, a. c., & sénéchal, m., & (2000). book reading interventions with language-delayed preschool children: the benefits of regular reading and dialogic reading. early childhood research quarterly, 15, 75-90. kohler, f. w., mccullough, k. m., & buchan, k. a. (1995). using peer coaching to enhance preschool teachers’ development and refinement of classroom activities. early education & development, 6, 215-239. lavadenz, m., armas, e., & matera, c. (2011). dialogic reading teacher survey. los angeles, ca: loyola marymount, center for equity for english learners. lonigan, c. j., & whitehurst, g. j. (1998). relative efficacy of parent and teacher involvement in a shared-reading intervention for preschool children from low-income backgrounds. early childhood research quarterly, 13(2), 263-290. doi:10.1016/s0885-2006(99)80038-6 miller, s. (1994). peer coaching within an early childhood interdisciplinary setting. intervention in school and clinic, 30(2), 109-113. doi:10.1177/105345129403000208 neuman, s., & cunningham, l. (2009). the impact of professional development and coaching on early language and literacy instructional practices. thousand oaks, ca: sage. saunders, w., goldenberg, c., & marcelletti, d. (2013). guidelines for english language development instruction. american educator, 37(2), 13-25, 38-39. skiffington, s., washburn, s., & elliott, k. (2011). instructional coaching: helping preschool teachers reach their full potential. young children, 66(3), 12-19. valdez-menchaca, m. c., & whitehurst, g. j. (1992). accelerating language development through picture book reading: a systematic extension to mexican daycare. developmental psychology, 28(6), 1106-1114. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.28.6.1106 what works clearinghouse. (2004). dialogic reading: report summary. institute of education sciences. retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport.aspx?sid+135 summary for head start 2010 conference dialog, 16(4), 64-87 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 requests for further information should be addressed to susan sonnenschein at sonnensc@umbc.edu. we thank sumit bose, kavita chana, mindy cleveland, ashley crowner, armeta dastyar, amanda gonnsen, kierra gregory, julie grossman, lauren hall, benjamin hong, erika johnson, janice keung, avneet kumar, katherine moler, ari patel, amber savage, zion seyoum, cassandra surber, sarah stark, paula strassle, edna tembeli, sol ye, and lannie zelaya for their assistance. research article relations between preschool teachers’ language and gains in low income english language learners’ and english speakers’ vocabulary, early literacy and math skills susan sonnenschein, joy a. thompson, shari r. metzger, and linda baker university of maryland, baltimore county this study explores whether the quality of head start teachers’ language fosters gains in children’s vocabulary, literacy, and math skills, and whether the pattern is similar for low income english language learners and english speakers. children (n=191) attended two urban head start centers. the class (language modeling scale) was used to observe the quality of teachers’ language. children’s skills were assessed in the fall and spring on measures of expressive and receptive vocabulary, early literacy, and math skills. the pattern of results differed for english language learners and english speakers and across outcome measures. the quality of teachers’ language predicted gains in english language learners’ receptive and expressive vocabulary, but not that of english speakers. in addition, the receptive vocabulary of the english language learners predicted gains in their phonological awareness and math skills. the relation between teachers’ language and children’s print knowledge was moderated by their receptive vocabulary. that is, the quality of teachers’ language predicted gains in print knowledge only among those children who had higher vocabulary scores. these results underscore the role that teachers’ language can play and the importance of children’s vocabulary for their early academic development. preschool is considered an important context for developing young children’s early literacy and math skills (barnett, 2008; bowman, donovan, & burns, 2001; pianta, barnett, burchinal, & thornsburg, 2009; snow, burns, & griffin, 1998). attending preschool is beneficial for all children; however, it is arguably more important for low income children and nonnative english speakers (dearing et al., 2009; garcia & miller, 2008; hamre & pianta, 2005). head start children begin preschool generally one standard deviation below the national average on measures of literacy and math skills, and low income hispanic english language learners display skills about one third of a standard deviation below their english speaking peers (hindman, skibbe, miller, & zimmerman, 2010). much attention has been given to what characterizes effective preschool instruction (e.g., barnett, 2008; early et al., 2006; mashburn et al., 2008). relevant factors include the mailto:sonnensc@umbc.edu teacher’s language 65 curriculum, the type and quality of teachers’ interactions with children, and teachers’ socialemotional support of children (pianta et al., 2009). one important component of teachers’ interactions with children is the nature of the language teachers use. although research shows that teachers’ language is related to children’s early academic skills, our knowledge of the processes through which teachers’ language fosters the skills of children from different backgrounds is still fairly limited (dickinson & porche, 2011). this study investigates how the quality of the language used by preschool teachers fosters gains in low income children’s vocabulary, early literacy, and math skills. of particular interest are potential differences in effects for english language learners and english speakers, given research showing that the effectiveness of specific types of teacher interactions varies with characteristics of the children (connor, morrison, & slominski, 2006). preschool teachers’ language the nature of the language preschool teachers use is related to children’s early academic skills (e.g., connor et al., 2006; dickinson, mccabe, & essex, 2006; dickinson & tabors, 1991). teachers’ use of rare and challenging vocabulary, extended discourse, and dialogic reading techniques when speaking or reading to children accounts for significant variance in children’ s early language and literacy skills (see dickinson et al., 2006; neuman, 2006 for reviews). one important predictor of children’s early literacy development is their vocabulary (biemiller, 2006). research by wasik and colleagues (wasik, bond, & hindman, 2006; wasik & hindman, 2011) shows the importance of the language used by teachers for children’s vocabulary development. children in classrooms where teachers received training to increase the quality of their language interactions and instruction earned higher receptive vocabulary scores, as well as phonological awareness scores, than children in control classrooms. the investigators tested only direct relations between teachers’ language usage and children’s outcomes, but it is possible that the relation is better conceptualized as one where children’s vocabulary mediates the relation between teachers’ language and children’s early literacy skills. that is, research shows that teachers’ language predicts gains in children’s vocabulary (e.g., wasik et al., 2006; wask & hindman, 2011) and children’s vocabulary is related to their early literacy skills (biemiller, 2006). accordingly, in the present study, we examined whether children’s vocabulary was a mediator between teacher’s language and gains in children’s early literacy. classroom interactions that foster growth in vocabulary (as well as other aspects of language and early literacy) include teachers conversing with children, asking them openended questions that require more than a yes-no response, and introducing new vocabulary and concepts to children (neuman & dickinson, 2003). without specific instruction, teachers do not spend much time engaging in such interactions; even with instruction, it can be difficult to accomplish growth in children’s vocabulary (wasik & hindman, 2011). teachers of english language learners face additional challenges because the english skills these children bring with them to school is highly variable, and there is still little consensus on what are best practices to foster their english language and literacy competencies (goldenberg, 2008). many teachers of preschool english language learners report not being sufficiently informed of effective strategies and techniques to use (worthington et al., 2011). 66 sonnenschein et al. children’s vocabulary growing up in a home where parents talk with children using a rich and varied vocabulary predicts children’s own vocabulary development (hoff, 2006). hart and risley (1995) found that the number of different words children hear at home during the first few years of life predicts their subsequent vocabulary and iq (see also hoff, 2003). and, as other researchers have shown (dickinson et al., 2003; kendeou, van den broek, white, & lynch, 2009; storch & whitehurst, 2002), young children’s vocabulary is related to their phonological awareness and print knowledge. however, children from low income families hear far fewer words and a more limited range of different types of words than their middle income peers (hart & risley, 1995; hoff, 2003; pan, rowe, singer, & snow, 2005). they also engage less frequently with printed matter or in interactions that can foster phonological awareness or knowledge of print (adams, 1990; serpell, baker, & sonnenschein, 2005). the relatively limited experience low income children have at home with such forms of language and literacy interactions highlights the need for careful consideration of what occurs at school. low income english language learners are particularly dependent upon what goes on at school for their english language development (hammer, miccio, & wagstaff, 2003; hammer, lawrence, & miccio, 2007). these children are less likely to hear english at home (hammer et al., 2003) or engage in literacy-related interactions with parents (brooks-gunn & markman, 2005; raikes et al., 2006). the consequences of entering kindergarten without being fluent in english are longlasting (kieffer, 2008). english language learners who are not fluent in english or have limited english vocabularies are likely to have long-term difficulties with reading comprehension and other aspects of reading (mancilla-martinez & lesaux, 2011; snow et al., 1998). research documents the relation between preschool children’s vocabulary knowledge and their early literacy (e.g., kendeou et al., 2009; storch & whitehurst, 2002) and math skills (e.g., hindman et al., 2010). hindman et al. (2010) found that head start children’s vocabulary at the start of preschool was one of the strongest predictors of gains in literacy and math skills. similarly, kendeou et al. (2009) found that preschoolers’ early language skills, indexed by receptive vocabulary, listening and television comprehension, predicted their decoding skills, indexed by phonological awareness, and word and letter identification. hindman et al. (2010) explained their findings by noting that children need to have sufficient vocabulary to understand instruction in literacy and math. similarly, jordan, huttenlocher and levine (1992) noted that children need to be able to understand the wording used in math problems. children’s math skills far less research has focused on children’s math development than on their language and literacy development (cross, woods, & schweingruber, 2009). low income children have fewer math-relevant experiences at home than middle income peers (tudge & doucet, 2004). moreover, parents feel less competent to assist children with math than literacy development (brenneman, stevenson-boyd, & frede, 2009; cannon & ginsburg, 2008). partially in response to the limited home-based math experiences of many children, a recent report by the national research council on math learning in early childhood stressed the need for more high quality math instruction in preschool (cross et al., 2009; see also teacher’s language 67 ginsburg, lee, & boyd, 2008). in addition, as noted previously, children need to be able to understand what teachers are saying to benefit from instruction in math (hindman et al., 2010). they need to have sufficient vocabulary to understand math terms (e.g., the words for numbers and operations) and math word problems. several researchers have shown the relation between english speaking children’s vocabulary and math skills (e.g., cowan et al., 2011; hindman et al., 2010; jordan et al., 1992; levine, jordan & huttenlocher, 1992; romano, babchiishin, pagani, & kohen, 2010). for example, cowan et al. (2011) found that second graders’ oral language skills (grammar and receptive vocabulary) predicted their third grade math skills. jordan and colleagues (jordan et al., 1992; levine et al., 1992) found that although middle income children did better than low income ones on math tasks involving verbal reasoning skills, the income-related differences were not evident on nonverbal math tasks. they attributed the differential patterns on the two types of tasks, at least in part, to differences in children’s vocabulary. the problem of limited vocabulary can be even greater for english language learners (kempert, saalback, & hardy, 2011). attending a preschool program that fosters vocabulary skills should increase low income hispanic children’s math skills, through the increase in vocabulary. present study as the prior review indicates, the quality of teachers’ language usage is related to children’s vocabulary and early literacy skills (wasik et al., 2006; wasik & hindman, 2011). and, children’s vocabulary is related to their early literacy and math development (collins, 2010; hindman et al., 2010). there are still, however, important gaps in our knowledge of the relations between teachers’ language usage and low income children’s early academic skills, some of which are addressed by this study. we investigate whether the relation between teachers’ language usage and low income children’s early academic skills is direct or indirect, that is, one mediated by children’s vocabulary. we extend work on the relation between teachers’ language usage and children’s early literacy skills to children’s math development by exploring the relations between teachers’ language, children’s receptive vocabulary, and math skills. we also consider whether the relation between teachers’ language usage and children’s academic skills is similar for english speakers and english language learners. we hypothesize that the quality of teachers’ language usage will predict gains in children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary. we also hypothesize that children’s receptive vocabulary will predict gains in their early literacy and math skills. thus, we hypothesize that the relation between teachers’ language usage and children’s early literacy and math skills is mediated by children’s receptive vocabulary. receptive rather than expressive vocabulary is used in the mediation analyses because understanding what the teachers are saying is what is important in this context (e.g., hindman et al., 2010). these results have implications for improving our understanding of how teachers’ language facilitates young children’s academic development. the results will have particular relevance for understanding english vocabulary development in low income english language learners (goldenberg, 2008). 68 sonnenschein et al. method overview children in this study were participants in a larger project designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the core knowledge preschool sequence (http://www.coreknowledge.org) being implemented in several head start centers in baltimore, md. the core knowledge preschool sequence is based on e.d. hirsch’s views about the importance of conceptual knowledge for facilitating children’s learning (www. coreknowledge.org). the program includes three overarching areas: language and literacy development, knowledge acquisition and cognitive development, and physical well-being and motor development. the authors of this paper conducted the evaluation but played no role in the implementation of the core knowledge preschool sequence or the training of the teachers. all children attending the focal head start centers received this curriculum. however, only children whose parents gave them permission to participate in the evaluation were tested by project personnel. more than half of the children attending the focal head start centers spoke spanish at home as their primary language. however, none of the teachers was fluent in spanish; most knew no spanish or only a few words. note that the core knowledge preschool sequence is an english language curriculum. participants participants were preschool-aged children attending two urban head start centers. the centers were located within close proximity of each other, were run by the same director, and had the same policies and curriculum. children were recruited for this study in two waves over a two year period. data from both waves were combined into one set for analyses. 1 recruitment took place in the fall of each of two consecutive years. consent forms requesting parental permission for children to participate in the evaluation were sent home to all children attending the focal head start centers. the consent forms were printed in english and spanish. consent to participate in the study was received for 71% of the children enrolled in the centers in the fall of wave 1 and 75% of the children enrolled in the fall of wave 2. of the children whose families gave permission for them to participate in the study, complete data were available for 79%. those with missing data were excluded from analyses. data from 25 children were not included due to not meeting our selection criteria (13 children were bilingual; 12 children provided data in both waves. this is discussed further below). there were 191 children in this study (mean age = 4.03 years, sd = .56). they attended one of 25 classes (wave 1: 11 classes, wave 2: 14 classes). classes had a mean of 18.48 students (range 12-20). the number of children per classroom who participated in this study 1 mixed anova’s were used to determine whether there were differences in growth patterns between the two waves of children on the various language, early literacy and math measures. wave was the between-subjects factor, fall and spring test scores were repeated measures. neither main effects comparing waves 1 and 2 nor interactions involving wave were statistically significant (p>.10). accordingly, data from the two waves were combined in all analyses. http://www.coreknowledge.org/ teacher’s language 69 ranged from 3 to 12. three classrooms had five or fewer participating children; 16 classrooms had between six and nine participants, and five classrooms had between 10 and 12 participants. each classroom had one teacher and one teacher’s assistant. all of the teachers were female and had completed college. six of the teachers were new to the centers during wave 2, eight taught there during waves 1 and 2. however, all teachers in the study received ongoing training in the core knowledge preschool sequence, a curriculum that emphasized the nature of language used with the children. no additional information about teachers’ background was available to the evaluation team. of the 191 children, 108 were spanish monolingual (henceforth called english language learners) and 83 english monolingual (henceforth called english speakers). ninetyone of the children were from wave 1 (59 english language learners, 32 english speakers); 100 were from wave 2 (49 english language learners, 51 english speakers). twelve of the 191 children participated in both waves 1 and 2; however, only their wave 1 data are included here. see table 1 for additional demographic information about the participants. all english language learners were hispanic. english speakers were african-american with the exception of one hispanic boy and one girl whose ethnicity was not specified. as is apparent, ethnicity was conflated with english fluency. such a conflation is not uncommon with hispanic families, many of whom are immigrants and not fluent in english (garcia & jensen, 2009; garcia & miller, 2008). children’s english language fluency was determined through parent report and school records. parents indicated on a three-point scale how well their child spoke and understood english and spanish; options included ‘a little’, ‘okay’, and ‘well’. children who spoke and understood english “well”, but spanish “a little” were categorized as english monolingual. conversely, children who spoke and understood spanish “well” but english “a little” were categorized as spanish monolingual. thirteen children spoke and understood english and spanish well; they were classified as bilingual. the number was too small to permit analysis as a separate group; therefore, they were not included in this study. assignment to classrooms was not based on degree of fluency in either language. table 1 number of participants by wave, gender, and language status wave 1 wave 2 total boys girls boys girls english language learners 32 27 30 19 108 english speakers 16 16 26 25 83 total 48 43 56 44 191 70 sonnenschein et al. measures receptive vocabulary. the receptive one-word picture vocabulary test (rowpvt; brownell, 2000) was used to assess children’s receptive language skills. children were shown a series of four pictures and a word was read aloud by the tester. the child was asked to identify the picture associated with the word. a child received a score of 1 for a correctly identified picture and 0 for an incorrectly identified picture. scores for each item were summed. internal consistency reliability for children between ages 3 and 5 in the normative sample was excellent, as indicated by a cronbach’s alpha of .96,. cronbach’s alpha in the present study was also excellent, .97 2 in both the fall and spring. expressive vocabulary. the test of preschool early literacy (topel; lonigan, wagner, & torgesen, 2007) definitional vocabulary subtest assessed children’s expressive vocabulary. there were 35 items in this subtest. children were shown a series of pictures and were asked to name each picture and explain how it was used or to describe one of its important features or attributes. for example, a child was shown a picture of a sun and asked “what is this?” after responding, the child was asked “is it yellow or blue?” separate scores were given for being able to name the picture (define) and describe its function or attributes (function). a score of 1 indicated a correct response and 0 indicated an incorrect response. scores on the define and function aspects of each item were combined, in keeping with the publisher’s directions, and scores across items were summed for a total score. reliability in the normative sample was excellent (cronbach’s alpha of .94), as it was in the present study, with a cronbach’s alpha of .98 in both the fall and spring. early literacy skills. two aspects of early literacy, phonological awareness and print knowledge, were assessed using the topel (lonigan et al., 2007). the phonological awareness subtest consisted of 27 items that assessed children’s elision and blending abilities for sounds and words. for elision items, the child was asked to say a word and then asked to say the word without specific sounds (e.g., “say backyard without back”). for blending tasks, the child was asked to listen to different sounds and combine them to form a new word (e.g., “what word do these make: gum (pause) drop?). approximately half of the elision and blending tasks included pictures of the relevant words, half did not have pictures. a score of 1 was given for correct responses and 0 for incorrect responses. scores were summed. the print knowledge subtest assessed children’s knowledge of conventions of print and alphabet knowledge. this subtest consisted of 36 items. children were shown a series of pictures and asked to identify letters or words, point to specific aspects of print, say letter sounds, or identify letters associated with specific sounds. for example, a child was shown a picture containing three numbers and one letter and asked “which is a letter?” a score of 1 was given for correct responses and a score of 0 for incorrect responses. scores were summed. topel developers reported good reliability for the phonological awareness subtest (cronbach’s alpha of .87). the alphas in this study were .82 (fall) and .85 (spring). the 2 cronbach’s alpha statistics for each measure were computed by combining wave 1 and 2 scores. teacher’s language 71 developers noted excellent reliability for the print knowledge subtest (cronbach’s alpha of .95). in the present sample the alphas were .94 (fall) and .96 (spring). math skills. the woodcock-johnson tests of achievement iii, applied problems subtest (wj-iii; woodcock, mcgrew, & mather, 2001) was used to assess children’s math skills. children were shown pictures and asked questions that assessed various math skills, including cardinality, discriminating quantities, addition, subtraction, and understanding number symbols. the child scored a 1 for a correct response and a 0 for an incorrect response. scores were summed. test developers noted excellent reliability, with cronbach’s alphas ranging from .92 to .94 for children age 2 to 5. cronbach’s alphas in this study in the fall and spring ranged from .84 to .88 for the two comparable forms a and b. teachers’ language. the classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta, laparo, & hamre, 2007) was used to examine the quality of teachers’ language. the class is a commonly used measure for assessing classroom quality. it assesses three domains (based on 9 individual scales) of classroom quality: emotional support, classroom management, and instructional support. factor analyses conducted by researchers who use the class reliably produce two factors, emotional climate (includes scales for positive and negative climate) and instructional climate (includes scales for concept development and quality of feedback, two of the three scales comprising the instructional support domain; howes et al.,2008; pianta et al., 2005). however, according to the publishers, one can use individual scale scores in analyses. for example, the language modeling scale, one of the scales in the instructional support domain, was used in recent research by justice, mashburn, hamre, and pianta (2008). in the present study, we also focus on the language modeling scale. the scale examines the amount and quality of teachers’ use of language stimulation and language facilitation during interactions with children through open-ended questions, repetition and extension, self and parallel talk, and advanced language. these characteristics of language interactions have been shown to predict children’s growth in vocabulary (e.g., wasik & hindman, 2011). ratings are done in the classroom for a minimum of four 30-minute cycles. each cycle consists of 20 minutes of observation followed by 10 minutes of record keeping. during the 20 minute observation the observer watches everything that is happening in the classroom with particular attention paid to the teacher’s instructional interactions and behaviors. the observer also takes notes during this time period. immediately following the observation period, the observer provides numerical ratings on each of the scales within each domain. ratings on the language modeling scale range from 1 through 7, with a score of 1-2 representing low quality (teacher does not converse much with children, few child-initiated conversations, majority of teacher’s questions are close-ended, little repetition or expansion of children’s remarks by teacher, teacher uses little advanced language), 3-5 representing midlevel quality (teacher’s behaviors are intermediate between that of ratings for low quality and high quality: teacher sometimes converses with children, some of conversations are childinitiated, teacher asks a mix of open-ended and close-ended questions, teacher sometimes repeats or extends students’ responses, teacher sometimes maps her remarks to that of child, teacher sometimes uses advanced language), and 6-7 representing high quality (teacher often converses with children, clear effort by teacher to engage children in conversation, teacher asks 72 sonnenschein et al. many open-ended questions, teacher repeats or extends children’s responses, teacher makes remarks contingent on children’s remarks, teacher uses advanced language). ratings for each scale within a domain are averaged across observation cycles. language practices for english language learners (language practices). this measure, which was developed by the researchers, documents teacher practices useful with english language learners (august, carlo, dressler, & snow, 2005; espinosa, 2005; goldenberg, 2008). four teacher practices were assessed: using visual aids, speaking slowly/using repetition, explaining meaning of key words, and incorporating spanish words into daily vocabulary. observers rated the frequency of occurrence of each of the four behaviors on a 7point scale (1=not at all, 7= most of the time). ratings were done at the end of each cycle of class ratings. ratings for each item were averaged across observation cycles. cronbach’s alphas for the four-item scale were .79 in the fall and the spring. procedure assessment of children’s skills. children were individually administered the rowpvt, wj-iii applied problems, and the three subtests from the topel in the fall and spring by trained research assistants. each child was tested during two separate testing sessions in a quiet room in his or her school. testing took place in english. during the first session, children completed the rowpvt and wj-iii applied problems subtest. during the second session, children completed the three subtests (print knowledge, definitional vocabulary, and phonological awareness) from the topel. administration of wj-iii applied problems was counterbalanced, such that half of the children received form a in the fall and b in the spring, and half received form b in the fall and a in the spring. the length of time between the first and second testing sessions ranged from 1 day to 3 weeks; the typical time between sessions was about one week. teachers’ language. classroom quality was assessed using the class (pianta et al., 2007) in the fall and spring. during the summer prior to wave 1 data collection, a research assistant satisfactorily completed a training program conducted by class developers. the research assistant then trained the observers who would conduct classroom observations and served as one of the observers of classroom quality herself. observers were trained using the three master videos provided by the class developers. training continued until the observers achieved ratings within one point of the master coders on 80% of the codes on the videos. mean percentage agreement with the master code for language modeling was 81%. disagreements were discussed and resolved. after achieving the required level of agreement with the master videos, the observers worked in pairs in a classroom. the average level of agreement was 94% on the language modeling scale. this procedure for determining reliability is similar to that used by justice et al. (2008) and others using the class. once reliability was achieved, observers worked individually in classrooms. there were four observers, two advanced undergraduates and two graduate students, in wave 1. the two graduate students served as observers during wave 2. teacher’s language 73 each classroom was observed one morning in the fall and spring for four 20-minute cycles; language modeling scores were averaged across the four cycles (see pianta et al., 2007). the fall and spring data were averaged to compute the average yearly language modeling score for each classroom. language practices. after making ratings on the class observation forms, observers completed the language practices form. as with scores on the class, scores on language practices were averaged across the four cycles. fall and spring scores were combined to compute a yearly average. inter-rater agreement was established by having observers perform ratings in the same classroom. overall agreement (ratings within one point of each other, consistent with how class reliabilities were calculated) was very high (fall: 93%, spring: 96%). results although both raw scores and standard scores were available for all academic measures, only raw scores were used in the analyses reported in this paper because the floor of some measures was too high. that is, children earned raw scores too low to convert to standard scores or the standard scores did not differentiate well among children who earned low raw scores. we first present preliminary analyses to validate the data analytic strategies used in the study. we then present results of the assessments of children’s academic skills, followed by data on the quality of the teachers’ language. the final section addresses the central hypotheses of the study, that children’s vocabulary mediates the relations between the quality of teachers’ language and children’s academic outcomes. preliminary analyses because children were nested within 25 classrooms, it was important to determine whether such nesting needed to be considered through multilevel modeling. multilevel modeling allows researchers to calculate regression coefficients that take nesting or clustering effects into account. unconditional means models and intraclass correlations (icc) were used to determine whether a significant proportion of the variance in the outcomes was due to clustering within classrooms. unconditional means models using the mixed procedure to fit a cross-sectional model as described by peugh and enders (2005) were tested in ibm spss version 19. iccs were also calculated using spss. ideally, less than five percent of the variance in outcome scores should be attributed to classroom clustering (icc≤.05; krull & mackinnon, 2010). however, an acceptable guideline for these icc values is .05-.15 (hedges & hedberg, 2007). there was no evidence to suggest that clustering by classroom was a factor in the present study for receptive vocabulary, z =1.00, p =.32, icc=.060, print knowledge z=0.63, p =.53, icc=.003, or math skills, z=0.49, p =.62, icc=.024. test statistics could not be calculated for phonological awareness because the hessian matrix was not positive definite, an 74 sonnenschein et al. indication that for this outcome, multilevel modeling procedures would not result in reliable coefficient estimates. in contrast to findings with the other outcomes, there was some evidence to suggest that clustering by classroom may impact regression coefficients for expressive vocabulary, z=2.05, p =.04, icc=.20. therefore, we estimated the regression of expressive vocabulary on teachers’ language interactions using multilevel modeling and found that the pattern of results was the same as with ols regression (see appendix a for both sets of coefficients). in sum, nesting was not a significant factor for most of the outcomes. the pattern of findings for the one measure where nesting was a factor was comparable using multilevel modeling and ols regressions. therefore ols regressions were used in all analyses to facilitate comprehension of the results among readers who are unfamiliar with multi-level modeling. we also correlated children’s gender with their vocabulary, literacy and math scores to see if we needed to consider gender a covariate. we computed separate zero order correlations for the english speakers and english language learners and obtained correlations ranging from .026 to .125. because none of the values was statistically significant (all ps>.10), gender was not used as a covariate. gains in children’s vocabulary, literacy and math skills mixed anovas were used to determine whether there were gains in children’s achievement scores from fall to spring and whether there were differences in achievement patterns between english language learners and english speakers. the repeated variable was fall/spring test score; the between subject variable was language group. means and standard deviations are provided in table 2. analyses revealed significant overall gains in children’s raw scores from fall to spring on receptive vocabulary, f(1,177)=147.79, p<.001, ηp 2 =.455, expressive vocabulary, f(1,176)=173.14, p<.001, ηp 2 =.496, phonological awareness, f(1,176)=93.30, p<.001, ηp 2 =.344, print knowledge, f(1,178)=125.73, p<.001, ηp 2 =.414, and math skills, f(1,182)=153.84, p<.001, ηp 2 =.458. also revealed were main effects of children’s language group, such that english speakers scored higher than english language learners on four of the five measures: receptive vocabulary f(1,177)=153.13, p<.001, ηp 2 =.464, expressive vocabulary, f(1,176)=200.54, p<.001, ηp 2 =.533, phonological awareness, f(1,176)=52.18, p<.001, ηp 2 =.229,and math skills, f(1,182)=62.86, p<.001, ηp 2 =.257. the main effect of language group was not significant for print knowledge, f(1,178)=0.01, p=.93. the english language learners and english speakers also showed significantly different patterns of gains for receptive vocabulary, f (1,177) =12.22, p=.001, ηp 2 =.065. both groups of children displayed a significant increase from fall to spring in receptive vocabulary scores (english language learners f (1, 99) = 162.30, p <.001, ηp 2 =.62; english speakers, f(1,78) = 28.36, p <.001, ηp 2 = .267), but english language learners showed a greater increase in scores than english speakers (see table 2). in light of these differences and in order to retain the ability to detect different patterns of performance, analyses were done separately for english language learners and english speakers, unless otherwise specified. teacher’s language 75 table 2 means and standard deviations of raw scores on children’s vocabulary, early literacy and math tests fall spring n m sd m sd receptive vocabulary english language learners 101 12.73 10.29 23.00 12.25 english speakers 79 35.47 12.73 41.15 12.09 analyses gain from fall to spring f(1, 177) = 147.79 p < .001 ηp 2 = .455 language group f(1, 177) = 153.13 p < .001 ηp 2 = .464 gain x language group f(1, 177) = 12.22 p = .001 ηp 2 = .065 expressive vocabulary english language learners 101 6.09 9.73 15.28 14.54 english speakers 77 32.64 15.13 42.00 13.60 analyses gain from fall to spring f(1, 176) = 173.14 p < .001 ηp 2 = .496 language group f(1, 176) = 200.54 p < .001 ηp 2 = .533 gain x language group f(1, 176) = 0.02 p = .901 ηp 2 = .000 phonological awareness english language learners 102 4.93 3.47 7.72 3.76 english speakers 76 8.75 3.91 11.45 4.69 analyses gain from fall to spring f(1, 176) = 93.30 p < .001 ηp 2 = .344 language group f(1, 176) = 52.18 p < .001 ηp 2 = .229 gain x language group f(1, 176) = 0.02 p = .879 ηp 2 = .000 print knowledge english language learners 101 6.86 7.13 11.97 10.21 english speakers 79 6.72 7.60 12.34 10.26 analyses gain from fall to spring f(1, 178) = 125.73 p < .001 ηp 2 = .414 language group f(1, 178) = 0.01 p = .930 ηp 2 = .000 gain x language group f(1, 178) = 0.29 p = .594 ηp 2 = .002 math skills english language learners 104 2.20 3.06 4.73 3.87 english speakers 80 6.29 4.04 8.86 4.10 analyses gain from fall to spring f(1, 182) = 153.84 p < .001 ηp 2 = .458 language group f(1, 182) = 62.86 p < .001 ηp 2 = .257 gain x language group f(1, 182) = 0.01 p = .911 ηp 2 = .000 note: language group refers to english language learners and english speakers. receptive vocabulary was assessed with the receptive one word picture vocabulary test. the topel was used to assess expressive vocabulary (definitional vocabulary subtest), phonological awareness, and print knowledge. math skills were assessed with the woodcock johnson-iii applied problems subtest. 76 sonnenschein et al. quality of teachers’ language with children class ratings for teachers’ language ranged from 1.75 to 6.00 (maximum =7) with an average of 3.52 (sd=1.06). about 60% of the ratings fell between 3 and 5, which the developers categorized as mid-level quality (see pianta et al., 2007). about 7% fell in the high range and 33% fell in the low range. descriptively, teachers frequently conversed with children but less frequently extended children’s remarks, used advanced vocabulary, or used openended questions. such findings are consistent with those found by justice et al. (2008). ratings from the language practices measure provide additional information about the nature of the language used by teachers in the classroom. the mean rating for using visual aids to supplement oral language was 3.93 (sd = 1.28) out of 7, a mid-level rating. about 64% of the ratings fell between 3 and 5. the mean rating for repeating directions or speaking more slowly was 3.46 (sd=1.28). field notes indicated that almost all the language practices scored in this category involved the teacher repeating directions to the children. the mean rating for explaining the meanings of key words was 2.62 (sd=1.24). about 40% of the scores fell in the 3-5 range; the remaining 60% were below 3. the mean rating for incorporating spanish was 1.87 (sd=.92); 84% of the ratings were below 3. these low ratings likely reflect the fact that the teachers and aides were very limited in their knowledge of spanish. relations between teachers’ language and children’s academic outcomes we first present tests of the relations between teachers’ language and gains in children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary. we next present tests of the relations between teachers’ language and children’s early literacy and math skills with children’s receptive vocabulary as a mediator. because children’s receptive vocabulary did not mediate gains in print knowledge, we decided post-hoc to test whether children’s receptive vocabulary was instead a moderator of the relation between teachers’ language and gains in children’s print knowledge. relations between teachers’ language and gains in children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary. regression analyses were conducted with teachers’ language scores as the predictor and children’s spring vocabulary scores as the outcome. each child received a teacher language score based on the score his or her teacher received. the child’s fall vocabulary score served as a covariate. separate regressions were conducted for children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary. teachers’ language scores significantly predicted gains in english language learners’ receptive vocabulary, β=.207, t(97)=3.26, p=.002, and expressive vocabulary, β=.291, t(98)=4.77, p<.001 (see tables 3 and 4). teachers’ language uniquely accounted for 4% of the variance in gains in english language learners’ receptive language skills and 8% in their expressive language skills. in contrast to findings with english language learners, teachers’ language was not a significant predictor of gains in english speakers’ receptive, β=.069, t(76)=0.85, p=.40, or expressive language skills, β=.008, t(74)=0.12, p=.91. teacher’s language 77 table 3 teachers’ language predicting gains in children’s receptive vocabulary b se b β english language learners (n=101) fall receptive vocabulary scores 0.87*** 0.08 .73 language modeling 2.45** 0.75 .21 english speakers (n=79) fall receptive vocabulary scores 0.67*** 0.08 .71 language modeling 0.76 0.90 .07 note: r 2 = .62, f(2, 97)=77.72, p<.001 for english language learners. r 2 = .51, f(2, 76)=39.14, p<.001 for english speaking children. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001 table 4 teachers’ language predicting gains in children’s expressive vocabulary b se b β english language learners (n=101) fall expressive vocabulary scores 1.08*** 0.09 .72 language modeling 4.11*** 0.86 .29 english speakers (n=77) fall expressive vocabulary scores 0.74*** 0.06 .82 language modeling 0.10 0.86 .01 note: r 2 = .64, f(2, 98)=86.57, p<.001 for english language learners. r 2 = .68, f(2, 74)=77.00, p<.001 for english speaking children. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001 relation between teachers’ language and gains in children’s early literacy skills. we first tested for direct effects of teachers’ language on gains in children’s early literacy skills using teachers’ language as the predictor and children’s scores on spring phonological awareness and print knowledge as the outcomes. fall phonological awareness (or print knowledge) scores were entered as covariates. separate regressions were conducted for phonological awareness and print knowledge. after testing direct effects of teachers’ language, we tested whether children’s receptive vocabulary mediated the relation between teachers’ language and gains in children’s early literacy. as noted earlier, receptive vocabulary was used in these analyses rather than expressive vocabulary because children first need to understand what their teachers are telling them. tests of mediation were conducted using regressions to test the relation between teachers’ language and gains in children’s phonological awareness and print knowledge, the relation between teachers’ language and gains in children’s receptive vocabulary skills, and the relation between gains in children’s vocabulary skills and gains in early literacy skills, controlling for the effects of teachers’ language (mackinnon, 2008). phonological awareness. the quality of teachers’ language did not significantly predict gains in english language learners’ phonological awareness, β=-.001, t(99)=-0.02, p=.99 (table 5), but a significant direct effect between two variables is not necessary to test for mediating effects of a third variable (mackinnon, 2008). as presented earlier, teachers’ language was a significant predictor of gains in receptive vocabulary for english language 78 sonnenschein et al. learners, β=.207, t(97)=3.26, p=.002. after we controlled for fall phonological awareness scores, receptive vocabulary was a significant predictor of english language learners’ spring phonological awareness scores, β=.524, t(99)=5.92, p<.001. it accounted for 16% of the variance in the gains in phonological awareness. table 5 teachers’ language predicting gains in children’s phonological awareness b se b β english language learners (n=102) fall phonological awareness scores 0.66*** 0.09 .61 language modeling -0.01 0.31 -.001 english speakers (n=76) fall phonological awareness scores 0.65*** 0.12 .54 language modeling 1.17** 0.43 .27 note: r 2 = .31, f(2, 73)=16.34, p<.001 for english speaking children. r 2 = .37, f(2, 99)=28.56, p<.001 for english language learners. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001 using the method discussed by mackinnon (2008), we calculated the mediated effect by multiplying the unstandardized regression coefficients for the relations between teachers’ language and vocabulary skills (b=2.453) and the relation between vocabulary skills and phonological awareness (b=.161). the standard error of the mediated effect was calculated using the standard errors of each effect, .75 and .03, respectively. the estimated mediated effect is approximately 0.39, and the estimated standard error of this effect is approximately 0.14. the test statistic is then calculated by dividing the mediated effect by the standard error of the mediated effect, z=2.86, p=.004. the 95% confidence interval associated with the mediated effect, (0.12, 0.67) does not include zero, which also indicates that the mediated effect is statistically significant. in contrast to the pattern with english language learners, teachers’ language predicted gains in english speakers’ phonological awareness, β=.268, t(73)=2.71, p=.008. teachers’ language accounted for 7% of the variance in the spring phonological awareness scores of the english speakers. given that teachers’ language did not predict significant gains in english speakers’ receptive vocabulary, mediation analyses were not appropriate. print knowledge. teachers’ language did not significantly predict gains in english language learners’ print knowledge, β= -.026, t(98) = -.42, p=.68 (table 6). we again used the mackinnon (2008) method to test the mediated effect of teachers’ language on gains in english speakers’ print knowledge through gains in their receptive vocabulary. direct relations between teachers’ language and gains in print knowledge skills were not present, but it was still possible to test for a mediated effect (mackinnon, 2008). after we controlled for fall print knowledge scores, receptive vocabulary was not a significant predictor of english language learners’ spring print knowledge scores, β=.062, t(96)=0.89, p=.378. the mediated effect was calculated by multiplying the unstandardized regression coefficients for the relations between language modeling and vocabulary skills (b=2.453) and the relation between vocabulary skills and print knowledge skills (b=.050). the standard error of the mediated effect was calculated using the standard errors of each effect, .75 and .06, respectively. the estimated mediated teacher’s language 79 effect was 0.12, and the estimated standard error of this effect was 0.14. the mediated effect was not significant, z=0.85, p=.397. table 6 teachers’ language predicting gains in children’s print knowledge b se b β english language learners (n=101) fall print knowledge scores 1.13*** 0.09 .79 language modeling -0.27 0.63 -.03 english speakers (n=79) fall print knowledge scores 1.08*** 0.10 .80 language modeling 1.67* 0.67 .18 note: r 2 = .63, f(2, 98)=83.64, p<.001 for english language learners. r 2 = .63, f(2, 76)=65.59, p<.001 for english speaking children. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001 as with findings for phonological awareness, teachers’ language did predict gains in english speakers’ print knowledge, β=.175, t(76)=2.51, p=.01. teachers’ language uniquely accounted for 3% of variance in these children’s print knowledge. again, given that teachers’ language did not predict gains in english speakers’ receptive vocabulary, mediation analyses were not appropriate. we conducted additional post-hoc analyses to determine why the mediated effect for gains in children’s print knowledge was not significant. perhaps one needs a certain fund of vocabulary knowledge for teachers’ emphasis on language during class interactions to predict gains in children’s print knowledge. research shows that children’s vocabulary scores can moderate relations between other language and literacy scores. for example, dickinson et al. (2003) found that the relation between phonological sensitivity and print knowledge varied with the vocabulary knowledge displayed by children. research reviewed by goldenberg (2008) indicated that children who started the school year with higher english proficiency scores showed greater gains on language measures than children who started with lower scores. connor et al. (2006) found that different patterns of teacher interactions were effective depending upon the child’s vocabulary skills. with these findings in mind, we conducted regression analyses to test whether the effect of teachers’ language on children’s print knowledge varied with children’s vocabulary knowledge. we used children’s receptive vocabulary scores averaged across fall and spring as a moderator variable. unlike in prior analyses, this analysis combined data from english language learners and english speakers because it was not the home language that mattered but the amount of english the child knew. the relation between teachers’ language and gains in children’s print knowledge was in fact moderated by children’s receptive vocabulary, β=.102, t(168)=2.12, p=.04 (figure 1). when children’s receptive vocabulary was high (one standard deviation above the mean of this sample), teachers’ language significantly predicted gains in children’s print knowledge, β=.150, t (168)=2.04, p=.04. in contrast, when children’s receptive vocabulary was low (one standard deviation below the mean of this sample), teachers’ language did not significantly predict gains in children’s print knowledge, β= -.078, t (168) = -1.06, p=.29. similarly, when 80 sonnenschein et al. children had mean levels of receptive vocabulary, teachers’ language did not predict gains in children’s print knowledge, β=.036, t(168)=.710, p=.48. in short, teachers’ language directly predicted gains in children’s print knowledge only when children had better vocabulary skills. figure 1. teachers’ language predicting children’s spring print knowledge scores, controlling for fall print knowledge scores, at different levels (mean, ± one standard deviation) of receptive vocabulary averaged over the year. * p=.04. relation between teachers’ language and gains in children’s math skills. regression analyses were conducted with teachers’ language as the predictor and children’s spring math scores as the outcome variable. children’s fall math scores served as a covariate. teachers’ language did not directly predict gains in english language learners’ math skills, β=.034, t(101)=0.48, p=.63 (table 7). however, as previously discussed, we would not necessarily expect teachers’ language to be a direct predictor of gains in children’s math skills. instead, it is more likely that receptive vocabulary is a mediator between teachers’ language and gains in children’s math skills. tests of mediation were conducted following mackinnon (2008). teacher’s language 81 table 7 teachers’ language predicting gains in children’s math skills b se b β english language learners (n=104) fall applied problems scores 0.89*** 0.09 .71 language modeling 0.13 0.27 .03 english speakers (n=80) fall applied problems scores 0.76*** 0.08 .75 language modeling 0.30 0.28 .08 note: r 2 = .51, f(2, 76)=52.56, p<.001 for english language learners. r 2 = .58, f(2, 77)=53.91, p<.001 for english speaking children. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001 as presented earlier, teachers’ language was a significant predictor of english language learners’ gains in receptive vocabulary, β=.207, t(97)=3.26, p=.002. after we controlled for fall math scores, receptive vocabulary was a significant predictor of english language learners’ spring math scores, β=.306, t(99)=3.48, p=.001. it accounted for 5% of the variance in the gains in english language learners’ math skills. the mediated effect was calculated by multiplying the unstandardized regression coefficients for the relations between teaches’ language and english language learners’ receptive vocabulary skills (b=2.453) and the relation between receptive vocabulary and math skills (b=.099). the standard error of the mediated effect was calculated using the standard errors of each effect, .75 and .03, respectively. the estimated mediated effect was 0.24, and the estimated standard error of this effect was 0.10. the mediated effect of teachers’ language on gains in english language learners math skills through their receptive vocabulary was significant, z=2.40, p=.02. the 95% confidence interval associated with the mediated effect, (0.04, 0.44) does not include zero, which also indicates that the mediated effect is statistically significant. teachers’ language did not predict english speakers’ gains in math skills, β=.079, t(77)=1.06, p=.29. given that teachers’ language also did not predict gains in english speakers’ receptive vocabulary, mediation analyses were not appropriate. however, after we controlled for fall math scores, receptive vocabulary was a significant predictor of english speakers’ spring math scores, β=.316, t(76)=3.83, p<.001, accounting for 7% of the variance. discussion this study explored the relations between the quality of head start teachers’ language and low income english language learners’ and english speakers’ gains in vocabulary, literacy, and math skills. our primary hypothesis was that teachers’ language would predict children’s receptive vocabulary which, in turn, would predict gains in children’s early literacy and math skills. novel aspects of this study included testing whether children’s vocabulary mediated the relation between teachers’ language and children’s early literacy outcomes, and extending the inquiry to include children’s math skills. of particular interest was whether the pattern of results would be similar for low income english language learners and english speakers. 82 sonnenschein et al. the relations between teachers’ language and children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary differed for english language learners and english speakers and across outcome measures. these findings show the important role that the language used by teachers plays, and the significance of children’s vocabulary for early literacy and math development. there were four particularly noteworthy findings. one, both english language learners and english speakers displayed significant increases from fall to spring in their receptive and expressive vocabulary. however, english language learners earned lower receptive and expressive vocabulary scores than english speakers. although the english language learners did not close the gap between themselves and their english speaking peers after a year attending head start, the gap in their receptive vocabulary skills did narrow. it is important to find effective means of instruction to close the gap and improve all children’s vocabulary (pianta et al., 2009). as shown in this study and in others (e.g.,biemiller, 2006; kendou et al., 2009), children’s vocabulary predicts their early academic skills. research by duncan et al. (2007) underscores the importance of children’s early academic skills for later school success. two, the quality of teachers’ language with english language learners predicted gains in these children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary. as hypothesized, teachers’ language predicted the receptive vocabulary of english language learners, which in turn predicted gains in their phonological awareness and math skills. in other words, the receptive vocabulary skills of children who were learning english mediated the relation between teachers’ language interactions and children’s phonological awareness and math skills. (based on theoretical grounds, expressive vocabulary was not considered to be a potential mediator.) this pattern of findings extends related research by dickinson and colleagues (dickinson &tabors, 1991; dickinson & porche, 2011), and wasik and hindman (2011), among others, by showing that the relation between teachers’ language and english language learners’ early academic skills may be better conceptualized as an indirect one, mediated by children’s vocabulary. three, the relations among teachers’ language, children’s receptive vocabulary, and gains in early literacy differed for phonological awareness and print knowledge. unlike patterns with phonological awareness, the relation between teachers’ language and gains in children’s print knowledge was moderated by children’s receptive vocabulary. teachers’ language predicted gains in children’s print knowledge when children displayed higher vocabulary levels; such children typically were english speakers. the quality of teachers’ language did not predict gains for children with lower vocabulary scores, typically english language learners. such a pattern of differential benefit related to the level of children’s vocabulary skills is consistent with research reviewed by goldenberg (2008) and research conducted by connor et al. (2006). four, the relation between teachers’ language and english speakers’ gains in vocabulary was different from the parallel relation involving english language learners. although english speakers’ receptive vocabulary predicted gains in their phonological awareness, print knowledge, and math skills, the quality of teachers’ language did not predict vocabulary gains. how can we explain that the quality of language displayed by teachers predicted gains in vocabulary for english language learners but not english speakers? as noted, english language learners’ receptive and expressive vocabulary was much more limited than that of english speakers. therefore, a more basic form of instruction might be sufficient for english language learners to acquire new vocabulary. results from the class and the language teacher’s language 83 practices protocols indicated that the teachers conversed with the children, but they did not frequently use advanced vocabulary or open-ended questions. they did, however, use visual aids and repetition during half the observations. such a pattern would enable english language learners to increase their basic knowledge of english but not necessarily promote growth of more advanced language skills. at first glance, the fact that the quality of the teacher language was not associated with gains in english speakers’ vocabulary seems inconsistent with results from wasik and hindman (2011), who found that the use of high quality language led to increases in children’s vocabulary. the wasik and hindman (2011) sample was african american, as was the sample of english speakers in the present study. although a direct comparison across the two studies is not possible because of differences in the measures used, it appears that the quality of the teachers’ language in the wasik and hindman (2011) study was higher than in the present study. that is, fewer of the teachers in the former study seemed to demonstrate poor quality language (based on the percentage of teachers who showed low fidelity to the language fostering basis of the intervention). only 16% of the teachers in the wasik and hindman (2011) study could be considered to demonstrate lower quality language compared to 33% of the teachers in the present study. thus, the difference in results between the wasik and hindman (2011) study and the english speakers in the present study could reflect differences in the quality of the teachers’ language. three important limitations of the study should be noted. the data from this study were correlational, collected at just two time points, thus precluding causal interpretations. future research should assess children’s vocabulary several times during the school year, particularly during mid-year. in addition, all of the english language learners were low income hispanic children; therefore, findings may not apply to other groups of english language learners. a third limitation is that we did not design the intervention and had no control over the quality of the teachers’ language. it could be that any exposure to english, regardless of the quality of the input, might have led to growth in the vocabulary of the english language learners. future research could use teachers not specifically trained using a curriculum that emphasizes language and compare them to teachers trained to use a curriculum that emphasizes language. based on the findings from this study, two additional lines of research, one focusing on teachers and one focusing on children, should be considered. future research should explore what kinds and amount of training is needed to ensure that all teachers use language in the classroom known to facilitate children’s vocabulary. future research also should follow low income children longitudinally to document their literacy and math skills as they enter elementary school. what skills in preschool best predict academic outcomes for low income english language learners and english speakers? the results from this study underscore the importance of children’s vocabulary development for their academic development (collins, 2010; hindman et al., 2010). low income children routinely enter kindergarten with more limited vocabularies than their middle income peers (snow et al., 1998), largely because the experiences they have at home do not foster the vocabulary growth needed to support progress in school. preschool can serve an important function for these children, especially for those who do not hear english at home. the results from this study also underscore the need to improve the quality of instruction in low income preschool classes (burchinal, vandergrift, pianta, & marshburn, 2010; marulis & neuman, 2010). although the quality of the language displayed by teachers was associated with gains in the vocabulary of the english language learners, these children 84 sonnenschein et al. still received much lower scores than their english-speaking peers. as noted by august et al. (2005) and goldenberg (2008), among others, vocabulary skills are critical to these children’s subsequent academic development. the results are particularly pertinent for teachers of english language learners, many of whom believe they lack appropriate strategies for working with those students (worthington et al., 2011). professional development for teachers should focus on the importance of children’s vocabulary for their early academic development, why the language they use with their students matters, and on ways they can interact with children from different backgrounds to improve their vocabulary. such preservice or inservice instruction will need to be intensive and ongoing (barnett, 2008; wasik & hindman, 2011). it is important to keep in mind that the teachers in this study were highly qualified; that is, they had earned bachelor degrees and received training in the curriculum. despite these qualifications, the teachers’ language modeling scores fell, on average. in the mid-level range. this highlights the need for more intensive teacher training. references adams, m. 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(2001). woodcock johnson tests of achievement. rolling meadows, il: riverside publishing. teacher’s language 87 appendix a table 8 ols and multilevel modeling regression coefficients for teachers’ language predicting children’s definitional vocabulary english language learners (n=101) ols multilevel modeling variable fall expressive vocabulary scores 1.08 (0.09)*** 1.06 (0.91)*** language modeling 4.11 (0.86)*** 4.12 (0.90)*** english speakers (n=77) ols multilevel modeling variable fall expressive vocabulary scores 0.74 (0.06)*** 0.76 (0.06)*** language modeling 0.10 (0.86) 0.22 (0.99) note: standard errors in parentheses. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p ≤ .001 dialog, 18(1), 19-42 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 the development of this paper was supported by a grant awarded to drs. susan sheridan and carolyn pope edwards by the department of health and human services (dhhs) -national institute of child health and human development (nichd), administration for children and families (acf) and office of the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation (aspe); and the department of education (ed) -office of special education and rehabilitative services. the opinions expressed herein are those of the investigators and do not reflect the funding agencies (grant #1r01h00436135). appreciation is extended to the early childhood practitioners, coaches, researchers, children and families who provided their time and insight to this project. the development of this paper was supported by a grant awarded to lisa knoche. appreciation is extended to the early childhood practitioners, coaches, researchers, and students who provided their time and insight to this project. research article strategies to support parent engagement during home visits in early head start and head start lisa l. knoche nebraska center for research on children, youth, families and schools; university of nebraska-lincoln christine a. marvin university of nebraska-lincoln susan m. sheridan nebraska center for research on children, youth, families and schools; university of nebraska-lincoln this study explores strategies used by early childhood professionals (ecps) involved in a school readiness intervention to support parent engagement in young children’s learning. thirty-two ecps were recorded during home visits with young children and their families who were enrolled in early head start and head start programming. frequency of strategy use is reported, and strategy use is significantly correlated with rates of parentecp interactions during visits but not to parent-child interaction rates nor with overall quality ratings of parent-child engagement. ecps’ overall success in promoting parent engagement was positively and significantly correlated with ecps’ efforts to elicit parent observations and ideas in both programs, but also with affirming parent competence in early head start and with brainstorming and discussing future plans in head start. findings have implications for the implementation of the head start parent, family and community engagement (pfce) framework, and the professional development of early childhood professionals. keywords: home visiting, parent engagement, head start, early head start 20 knoche et al. home visiting has been used for decades in early prevention and intervention programs (berhman, 1993). recent state and federal initiatives have resulted in an increase in and the promotion of more home visiting services for families of young children (adirim & supplee, 2013; astuto & allen, 2009; health resources and services administration, 2010). often programs using a home visit model target families with key risk factors for poor child development outcomes including young first-time parents, parents with children who display delays or challenging behaviors, low income households, low family education levels, and/or isolated geographic locations with limited access to social, health or educational supports. it has been estimated that between 400,000 and 500,000 families each year in the united states receive some form of home visitation services; this includes 3% of all families who have children under the age of 6 in the home (davis, james & stewart, 2009). in 2013-14, nearly 65,000 children and families participated in early head start and head start programs that offered home visiting as a primary service delivery approach (office of head start, 2014). in addition, 87.3% of the 333,000 children under age 3 and their families receiving services associated with the individuals with disabilities education act, part c in 2012 were supported primarily through home visits (u.s. department of education, 2014). in early head start (ehs) programs, home visits are utilized to help advance parenting skills and guide parents in maximizing children’s learning in the everyday activities of the home environment (acf, 2002, 2008; mcbride & peterson, 1997; raikes & love, 2002). ehs home visiting is an evidence-based program (avellar, paulsell, sama-miller, & del grosso, 2013) and has been proven effective at promoting child outcomes (avellar & supplee, 2013). home visits to parents in ehs programs are judged most effective when visitors engage the parents and children together (raikes et al. 2006; roggman et al., 2012). head start (hs) programs for children three to five years of age are designed to address children’s school readiness in the context of family strengths and needs; this can be done via a homeor center-based model. center-based teachers or family service workers are required to make periodic visits to family homes to educate parents about child development and inform them of the children’s progress in an effort to engage parents in their children’s learning. children in center-based hs programs make more gains in cognitive and socio-emotional development when individualized home visiting sessions with parents are a part of the program compared to group-based, parent-education sessions alone (warr-leper, 2001). support of parent and family engagement is a key tenet of both ehs and hs. in 2011, the office of head start introduced the head start parent, family and community engagement (pfce) framework. the framework provides ehs and hs programs with a guide for implementing head start performance standards related to parent and family engagement (acf, 2011). the pfce framework includes foundational elements such as program leadership, continuous improvement and professional development. it also includes impact areas such as family partnerships, teaching and learning, and program environment. all of these are intended to be implemented in support of positive family engagement (e.g., parent-child relationships) and child outcomes. head start and early head start programs can benefit from strategies to help effectively execute this framework. parent engagement during home visits 21 promoting parent engagement parent engagement, defined as parent partnerships with professionals as well as parent relationships with children (sheridan, marvin, knoche, & edwardsauthors, 2008), is an important component of home visiting. positive engagement between parents and professionals are considered primary protective factors (christenson & sheridan, 2001authors, 2001; weissberg & greenberg, 1998) or safety nets (christenson, 2000) for young children. partnerships between parents and professionals act as safeguards and are particularly important during the infant, toddler and preschool years (raffaele & knoff, 1999) when parents construct their preferred or perceived role in their children’s education. although much has been written about parent behaviors that contribute to positive outcomes for children, less is known about the professional behaviors that can assure parent-professional partnerships and subsequent quality parent-child relationships. relationships between parents and caring early childhood professionals (ecps) can be responsible for the children’s learning and development if they provide experiences that are consistent, coherent, and coordinated across the various home and community (school) settings within which children reside (early, pianta, taylor, & cox, 2001; eayrs & jones, 1992; ramey, 1999). collaborative parent-professional partnerships often correlate with positive socialemotional and behavioral outcomes for children and families, and can promote intervention effectiveness and efficiency (grolnick & slowiaczek, 1994; knoche, cline & marvin,authors, 2012; trivette, dunst, & hamby, 2010). however, partnership must extend beyond parental involvement in professionally-designed plans and activities to be effective (haynes et al., 1989). rather, parent-professional partnerships that link important learning contexts for children, generally strengthen learning and development in the home, and result in positive parental feelings of control and responsibility for children’s learning (christenson & sheridan, 2001authors, 2001; koren, paulson, kinney, yatchmonoff, gordon, & dechillo, 1997; thompson, lobb, elling, herman, jurkidwewicz, & helluza, 1997). professionals who strive to promote family competence and confidence in advancing their children’s learning and development at home generally enable family members to eventually establish their own goals, independently meet their own needs and those of their children over time, and advocate for their children when they enter formal schooling (mcbride, 1999; wilson & dunst, 2004). parent-professional partnerships that focus on parents’ engagement in planning for, making decisions about, and interacting with their developing children relate to a host of positive developmental outcomes (henderson & berla, 1994; knoche, sheridan, edwards, & osbornauthors, 2010; raikes et al., 2006; roggman et al., 2001; sheridan, eagle, cowan, & michelsonauthors, 2001). the specific qualities that define parentprovider interactions during home visits have received initial examination (friedman, woods & salisbury, 2012; knoche, sheridan, edwards & osbornauthors, 2010; mcbride & peterson, 1997; paulsell, boller, hallgren & esposito, 2010; roggman, 2008); additional investigation in this important area is warranted. home visits and parent-child relationships studies of home visiting practices have acknowledged their benefits, and more specifically, their effects at engaging parents during the visit, focusing attention on children’s developmental 22 knoche et al. abilities and needs (i.e., cognitive, language or social behaviors) and establishing positive relationships with parents (raikes et al., 2006; sweet & applebaum, 2004). direct facilitation of parenting skills is beneficial for promoting positive change in parent behaviors. in a review of 51 home visiting programs that targeted infants/toddlers or preschool age children, 25 programs were found to have positive impacts, and those focused on teaching parenting skills showed positive growth in parents’ abilities to effectively parent their young children (kahn & moore, 2010). boyce et al. (2010) found positive changes in mothers’ language-supporting behaviors and the quality of home literacy experiences for young children in a migrant head start program, compared to mothers and children in a control group, when the home visitors promoted shared book-making and story reading between children and their parents. the pals curriculum (landry, 2006) also resulted in positive changes in parent behaviors following a series of homebased sessions in which parents were coached and supported in learning how to attend constructively to their infant/toddlers’ communicative signals, interests in toys and play activities and provide encouragement or cooperative interactions during daily routines of dressing, eating, and bathing. additionally, children showed positive gains in communication, social interaction and play skills following completion of the pals program. furthermore, a specific focus on the parent-child relationship during home visits has also proven to support engagement. peterson, luze, eshbaugh, jeaon, and kantz (2007) found that when home visitors in an ehs program focused on facilitating parent-child interactions, mothers were more likely to stay highly engaged in these type of activities. higher engagement was observed in mothers when the home visitor discussed child development or family issues and less engaged when the topics were community resources. similarly, roggman, boyce, cook and jump (2001) found that the ehs visitor’s ability to encourage parent-child interactions was a factor in positive outcomes based on ratings of parent satisfaction and improvements, as well as visitor reports of “partnerships.” subsequent evaluations revealed that home visits that engaged the parent and focused their attention on children’s development, and their reported concerns or needs, significantly reduced the drop-out rates of parents enrolled in ehs programs (roggman, cook, peterson, & raikes, 2008). finally, raikes, green, atwater, kisker, constantine and chazan-cohen (2006) reported that the proportion of time the ehs home visitors spent in parentchild focused activities with families predicted both children’s developmental outcomes when children were 3 years of age and parents’ support for children’s language learning. home visitors do not always spend sufficient time facilitating a focus on parent-child interactions, however (mcbride & peterson, 1997). peterson et al. (2007) reported that less than 3% of any home visit by a part c or ehs home visitor was spent with parents interacting with their children; ecp-child and ecp-parent interactions dominated visit time with ehs teachers spending 45% of the visits discussing children’s development. only 19% of any visit was spent modeling or coaching parent-child interactions. determining strategies to facilitate home visitors’ support of the parent-child interaction is needed. getting ready intervention the getting ready intervention for early childhood programs (knoche, cline & marvin, 2012; knoche et al., 2010; sheridan, knoche, edwards, bovaird, & kupzyk, 2010; sheridan, marvin, knoche, & edwards, 2008authors, 2012; authors, 2010; authors, 2010; authors, 2008) was designed to provide an integrated, ecological approach to early intervention and school readiness parent engagement during home visits 23 programs that is research-based, family-centered and collaborative in nature. it integrates the principles of triadic (parent-child-professional) intervention (mccollum & yates, 1994) and collaborative (conjoint) consultation models (sheridan & kratochwill, 1992, 2008; sheridan, kratochwill & elliott, 1990authors, 1992, 2008; authors, 1990) in ways that focus early intervention on shared problem solving; it aims to advance the school readiness of young children and their families via enhanced relationships and interactions. in this model, professionals provide early intervention through a prevention lens that focuses on parents’ abilities to (a) engage in warm and responsive interactions with their child, (b) support their children’s autonomy, and (c) participate in children’s learning. the focus on parent-professional relationships and parent-child interactions is believed to enhance not only children’s developmental readiness for school but parents’ readiness to act as advocates and support their children’s learning across ecological and temporal contexts (i.e., in preschool, elementary school, and beyond). a primary focus of the getting ready project was the ecps’ use of 11 getting ready strategies to advance their relationship with parents (one strategy) and indirectly encourage (four strategies) or directly prompt (six strategies) parents’ quality interactions with their children in everyday routines and activities (see table 1). indirect getting ready strategies include the ecps’ efforts to encourage parent to interact with their children during visits, focus the parents’ attention on children’s strengths, affirm parents’ actions as supportive of children’s learning, and provide developmental information that educates parents about what to expect and aim for in their interactions with their children. direct getting ready strategies include the ecps’ efforts to elicit parents’ reports of observations of their children, discuss concerns and prioritize what parents consider most important for their children, brainstorm ideas for what might help advance their children’s development, suggest specific strategies to try in the visit, model and have parents practice new strategies or styles of interaction with their child, and discuss specific plans for what the parents can do to advance children’s development between visits with the ecps. table 1 provides definitions of the getting ready strategies. the strategies that constitute getting ready are directly aligned with the head start pfce framework (acf, 2011). the getting ready strategies contribute to a program environment that encourages relationships with families, and provides a focus for professional development with staff. furthermore it is directly designed to support family engagement outcomes, including parent-child relationships, as well as child outcomes. results of studies investigating the efficacy of the getting ready intervention to-date (cf. knoche et al., 2012; sheridan et al., 2010; 2011; 2014authors, 2012; authors, 2010; 2011; 2014) highlighted these associations. significant changes in parent behavior and child behavior have been reported for families involved in the getting ready project. parents in the ehs programs who experienced the getting ready intervention were significantly more warm and sensitive in interactions with their children, supportive of their children’s autonomy and offered more developmentally-appropriate guidance, directives and learning supports as compared to parents in the “business as usual” control group (knoche et al., 2012authors, 2012). additionally, preschool children involved in the getting ready intervention consistently showed significantly greater positive effects in social emotional functioning, including a reduction in observed activity level over time than children in comparison classrooms (sheridan et al., 2010; sheridan et al., 2014authors, 2010; authors, 2014). similarly, these children showed advances in language skills at rates better than children 24 knoche et al. whose parents did not experience getting ready supports (sheridan, knoche, kupzyk, & edwards, 2011authors, 2011). table 1 getting ready strategies and home visit coding guide getting ready strategies definition and instruction establish/re-establish relationship with parent meaningful interaction and conversation exchange between the early childhood professional (ecp) and parent that convey support, caring, or interest in family activities and well-being on the part of the facilitator. exchanges personal information, acknowledges parent’s response, discusses topics outside the bounds of the home visit; “small talk.” coded for the duration of the conversation/topic by either the ecp or parent. indirect strategies: encouraging parent engagement establish dyadic context elements of the environment are intentionally and actively arranged or rearranged to increase probability of developmentally matched, mutually enjoyable parent-child interaction; makes efforts (irrelevant to success) to provide activities that support dyadic/parent-child interaction either directly through parent or indirectly through child. focus parent’s attention on child strengths verbal statements are used to comment upon child’s strengths and to draw parent’s attention to particular competencies or actions within child. these comments may be in retrospect or occurring during the home visit. affirm parents’ competence developmentally supportive interactions are warmly recognized and expanded upon, as are characteristics of child competence. provide developmental information verbally labels or interprets child’s emotional, cognitive, language, and/or motor abilities within context of play and interaction. ecp provides parents with education around developmental milestones and why or how to engage child in an activity. direct strategies: inviting parent engagement with child elicit parent observations through questions or supportive statements, invites parents’ input regarding child’s development, likes/dislikes, and supportive strategies. focus is on observations parent makes about the child. parent engagement during home visits 25 reprinted with permission from knoche, sheridan, edwards & osborn (2010)reprinted with permission from authors (2010) an analyses of the getting ready strategies used by ecps in ehs and hs programs (knoche, sheridan, edwards & osborn, 2010authors, 2010) revealed a positive relationship between the frequency of total strategy use and rate of interactions between parents and ecps during home visits. associations of individual strategies to outcomes were not investigated. overall, ecps in the treatment group used the getting ready strategies significantly more often than those in the control group, and total strategy use was significantly related to effectiveness of implementation in both groups. effectiveness was rated by considering the ecps’ ability to offer parents opportunities to collaborate, initiate discussions with the parent, and focus the parent on the parent-child relationship. ecps in the hs group were significantly more effective than the ecps from the ehs group. furthermore, correlations between total strategy use and parent-ecp engagement, as well as effectiveness of implementation, were significantly different for the ehs and hs groups. stronger associations between parent engagement and total strategy use were observed in hs than in the ehs program. what remains to be understood is the individual getting ready strategies that contributed to these outcomes. with such an understanding, researchers and facilitators of professional development programs that serve hs and hs might be able to better anticipate which home visit strategies contribute to family engagement outcomes, including parent-child relationships. by discuss/prioritize concerns this will typically occur during agenda setting or planning for next visit. discusses concerns for child as seen by ecp and parent. collaborates with parent to select concerns to focus on. engages parent in conversation about priorities and desires; might ask about concerns. this is a support for discussion; parent might not have any concerns. brainstorm this process is collaborative, a back and forth between ecp and parent. invites parent to brainstorm/select strategies that fit into their home and daily routine. suggest/ provide directives this process is directive. the ecp makes explicit statements to parent about behaviors to support the target child’s development and /or parent-child interaction. this is typically not done as part of a collaborative conversation with parent. model/promote practice and interaction dyadic interaction roles are momentarily taken on by ecp to enhance parent’s repertoire of developmentally appropriate strategies for interacting with child. whether prompted directly or indirectly, parent responds by trying out the modeled behavior; it is promoting practice and modeling only if ecp demonstrates and turns it back to parent to practice. discuss future plans and goals, directions discussion of strategies that will be used at home and/or in classroom to support child’s development and how those strategies will be carried out. keeping track of progress and activities for next contact/visit may also be discussed. 26 knoche et al. understanding these associations, programs can shape training activities to support meaningful family partnerships, including meaningful parent-child interactions. purpose of study and research questions the purpose of this study was to explore how specific individual getting ready intervention strategies demonstrated by ecps related to ratings of parents’ engagement during home visits, including the frequency with which parents engaged with the ecps and their children. the behaviors of ecps and families from ehs and hs form the basis for this exploration; however, we do not intend to pursue statistical comparisons between the programs. specifically we asked: 1. what is the rate with which ecps use each of the getting ready strategies to facilitate parent engagement during home visits? 2. how does the use of specific individual getting ready strategies by ecps relate to the frequency of interaction between (a) parents and early childhood professionals; and (b) parents and children in each program? 3. how does the use of specific individual getting ready strategies by ecps relate to the overall quality of the parents’ engagement during home visits with (a) early childhood professionals and (b) their children in each program? 4. how are the specific individual getting ready strategies related to ecps overall success in conducting home visits to facilitate parent engagement? methods participants in this study were 32 ecps involved in the getting ready project, a large, federallyfunded longitudinal research study investigating the effects of a parent engagement intervention on school readiness. the present study summarizes the findings related to the strategy use of 18 early head start and 14 head start ecp participants in the treatment groups of the larger study. the ehs programs serving families with children ages birth to 3 years were located within three community service agencies in rural counties in a midwestern state; each agency employed between five and 21 ecps. in the ehs agencies, ecps provided services through weekly home visits scheduled to last up to 90 minutes and 2-hour monthly family group activities (socializations) held at the community agency. the average size of an ecp caseload in these ehs programs was 10 families. the hs classrooms were housed within various elementary schools in one school district in a midsized, midwestern community. these center-based hs services were provided to children ages 3 to 5 years, 5 days per week for half-day (4 hour) programming. in addition to center-based services, the ecps visited families’ homes five times per academic year, with visits lasting up to 60 minutes. in addition, parent-child group socializations were held at the school three to four times per academic year. the average classroom/caseload size for each ecp was 18 children and families in these hs programs. table 2 presents demographic information for participating ecps, including age, level of education, years of experience and race/ethnicity data. on average, ehs professionals had parent engagement during home visits 27 approximately 7 years of early childhood experience. the ecps in the hs programs averaged 12 years of early childhood experience. most demographic characteristics for the two groups of ecps were not statistically different. analyses indicated that educational level, however, was statistically higher for the hs group, who were required by the public school employer to have bachelor’s degrees and state teacher certification in early childhood education. 28 knoche et al. table 2 demographic information of early head start (ehs) and head start (hs) early childhood professionals early head start (n = 18) head start (n = 14) overall (n = 32) mean age (sd) 32.61 (10.08) 38.62 (45.57) 35.62 (10.34) mean length of employment (in months) 37.58 (60.66) 45.57 (47.15) 41.72 (53.17) mean early childhood setting experience (in months) 85.11 (74.67) 145.35 (109.49) 116.35 (97.51) mean home visiting services experience (in months) 33.50 (51.76) 64.36 (83.73) 49.50 (70.63) mean length of time in getting ready intervention (in days)*** 349.28 (292.34) 824.21 (420.84) 557.06(422.42) gender: female 100% 100% 100% race/ethnicity*** white/caucasian hispanic/latino other 30.8% 61.5% 7.7% 92.9% 7.1% 63.3% 33.3% 3.7% level of education*** high school diploma some training beyond high school; no degree one-year vocational training certificate two-year college degree four-year college degree some graduate college coursework graduate degree 7.7% 15.4% 7.7% 38.5% 30.8% 35.7% 42.9% 21.4% 3.7% 7.4% 3.7% 18.5% 33.3% 22.2% 11.1% child development related degree*** 50% 100% 76.9% early childhood teaching endorsement/certificate*** 15.4% 100% 59.3% another type of endorsement or certification 50% 75% 66.7% child development associate credential 30.8% 16.7% 24% ***p < .001. chi-square analyses reveal statistically significant demographic differences between ehs and hs groups parent engagement during home visits 29 professional development: training and coaching the purpose of professional development in the getting ready project was to support ecps’ in developing competence and confidence in their interactions with parents, so as to support the parents’ own competence and confidence in their interactions with their children. the model of professional development was also relationship-based. the primary components of professional development in the getting ready project were a training institute, individual coaching, and group coaching. prior to beginning to deliver the getting ready intervention, all ehs and hs ecps assigned to the treatment groups were introduced to the getting ready strategies via a two-day training institute. the content of training was focused on helping ecps understand the 11 getting ready strategies, their use during home visits, socializations, and other interaction opportunities with families and children, and their ability to integrate important family-centered practices into home visits. key personnel from the getting ready research team led the training sessions. one-day “booster sessions” were held for all ecps after one year of participation and for any new ecp who began employment after the study began. once trained, ecps received coaching twice per month from a getting ready coach to support their use of the strategies. the purpose of getting ready coaching was to support the initial training and move practitioners towards use of the getting ready strategies in their practice with families. one session each month was individualized and one took place in a group format with three to five ecps from the same program. individual sessions were one hour in length; group sessions were 90 minutes to 2 hours. getting ready coaching involved videomediated feedback and reflection on a recent home visit with a family. coaching sessions followed a format promoted by hanft, rush and shelden (2004) that involved an opening/initiation, shared observations, reflection, and evaluation. in each coaching session, the getting ready coach focused on one or more specific getting ready strategies, asked reflective questions, highlighted professional strengths, and helped ecps set goals for strategy use in their visits with families between coaching sessions. coaches were three females with master’s degrees in a human services field, and extensive experience in parent consultation and early childhood intervention and education. data collection at the beginning of their participation in the getting ready study, each ecp completed a demographic survey (sheridan, edwards, & knoche, 2003authors, 2003). on these surveys, ecps documented their own educational background, professional experiences, certifications, gender, and ethnicity/race. home visits completed by ecps were video-recorded. the ecps selected the family from their caseload to participate in recording; the family provided consent. to control for familiarity between the ecp and parent, the family had to have been assigned to the ecp for at least four months. recorded visits ranged from 20 to 90 minutes in length; children were present and healthy for all visits, as were at least one parent. recordings were collected by members of the research team at least twice per year (approximately every six months), over a two-year period of family participation. between one and six home visits were recorded for each of the 32 ecps in this study; more recordings were 30 knoche et al. collected from ecps who were in the study for a longer period of time. sixteen ecps had one recording; four had two recordings; two had three recordings; none had four recordings; five ecps had five recordings and five ecps had six recordings. a total of 85 video-records were used for the current analyses, representing 30 ecp visits in ehs programs and 55 ecp visits in the hs programs. for analyses, one average rating for each of the 32 ecps was computed (described below). measurement of study variables the key variables in this investigation are derived from the getting ready home visit coding guide used to code the 85 home visit videotapes. specifically, the home visit coding guide measures (a) ecps’ rate of use of individual getting ready strategies (i.e., rate per minute defined as total strategy frequency/total minutes of visit), (b) rate of interaction between parents and ecps and rate of interaction between parents and children (frequency of one-minute intervals with an observed interaction/total minutes of visit), (c) engagement quality between parents and ecps (rated from 1 [low] to 4 [high] on a likert scale), and (d) ecps’ overall success at initiating parental engagement and focus on the parent-child relationship (rated on a four-point likert scale from 1 [low] to 4 [high]) during the visit. after coding all 85 home visit videotapes, a single value for each ecp was computed by averaging values across all of their respective (recorded) home visits. this resulted in 32 values for the analyses (one for each ecp). the getting ready home visit coding guide was adapted from the home visit observation form (hvof; mcbride & peterson, 1997). the hvof was based on a familycentered approach to home visiting in early intervention programs with a coding scheme that quantitatively describes ecp practices within the home visit. modifications to the hvof allowed for the assessment of getting ready strategies and important parent-child/parentprofessional interactions and overall ecp success and parent responsiveness in the ehs and hs programs. the face and content validity of the adapted form was established by having two expert authorities review the definitions and provide suggestions for adjustment of the coding form prior to its use. the final version of the getting ready home visit coding guide specifies a partialinterval recording system. for each video-recorded home visit, one-minute partial interval recording procedures were used wherein getting ready strategy use was coded if it was observed to occur at all during a one-minute interval. during these same intervals, the frequency of interaction contacts between parents and ecps, parents and children, and ecps and children in the home visit were also coded. these procedures were used for the duration of each videorecorded home visit. coders were six independent research assistants, trained in the getting ready home visit coding guide. at the end of each 10-minute segment of a home visit, general levels of parent engagement and ecp success were assessed. coders assigned a score, from 1 (low) to 4 (high) to rate parental level of interest and engagement with the ecp, as evidenced by parent engagement in bidirectional discussions, initiations and elaborations on meaningful issues for the child and family, and demonstrations of active participation in activities presented by the ecp. the ecp was then rated once for overall success based on her provision of ample opportunities for collaboration, meaningful conversations and discussions with the parent, and a focus on the parent-child relationship and parent-child interactions. parent engagement during home visits 31 coding procedures the six independent coders were trained to accurately and reliably code ecp use of getting ready strategies during their interactions with families in each home visit recorded. coders viewed sample videos that demonstrated ecps using the various getting ready strategies, practiced coding these behaviors in pairs, and then independently coded a minimum of three sample videos. all coders were required to independently obtain an inter-rater reliability of 85% before proceeding to independent coding of the videos for this study. during the ongoing coding process, reliability checks were completed for approximately one-third of the videotapes to assess inter-rater reliability; an 85% cut-off was considered an acceptable level for this type of behavioral data (suen & ary, 1989). in cases where reliability rates decreased below 85%, coders were provided a refresher course in coding. inter-rater agreement for all getting ready strategies ranged from 91.6% to 99.6%. in addition, the cohen’s kappa statistic, an estimate of inter-rater reliability for exact agreement and controlling for chance, was at .80; values higher than .60 are considered substantial (landis & koch, 1977). for the two likert-type scales of parent engagement and ecp success at promoting engagement, inter-rater agreement for rating within one point ranged from 93.5% to 97.3%; exact rating agreements ranged from 68.4% to 80.6%. intra-class correlations (iccs) were computed for exact agreements. the average icc for parent engagement with the ecp was .81 with a range of .63 to .92; the icc for ecp success at promoting parental engagement was .69, with a range of .62 to .85 (knoche et al., 2010authors, 2010). results getting ready strategy use the 11 getting ready strategies were used by ecps in both ehs and hs programs, however the full set of strategies was not necessarily used by each individual ecp. results are reported in mean rate per minute, per getting ready strategy (see table 3). the differences in program contexts (e.g., teacher education, frequency of visits, age of children served) prompted the reporting of results for ehs and hs programs independently, although no statistical comparisons were pursued. the ecps in the ehs programs averaged .60 strategies per minute or during about 36 minutes of a 60-minute home visit. about one-fifth of these strategies were focused on establishing/reestablishing the parent-professional relationship. these ecps used indirect and direct strategies at comparable rates (m =.24/minute), meaning that they were each used during approximately 24% of a 60-minute home visit. the average use per minute was greater for the four indirect strategies (m = .06/minute) than the six direct strategies (m = .04/minute). the ecps’ most frequent indirect efforts to encourage the parents to engage with their children included providing developmental information and focusing the parent’s attention on children’s strengths (.08/minute each; almost 5 minutes in a 60-minute home visit). nearly as often, the ecps affirmed the parents’ competence; the least used indirect strategy was prompting parents to consider positioning themselves for (dyadic) interactions with their children. 32 knoche et al. the most frequent direct strategy used by ecps in ehs was eliciting parents’ observations and ideas about their children’s development or interests; this was used almost 8 minutes during a 60-minute home visit. about half as frequently, the ecps made suggestions for how parents might interact with a child, and modeled and promoted practice in the visit. the ecps did not appear to use many direct strategies to discuss concerns, plan goals and future actions, or brainstorm ideas for what might work at home with their children. the ecps in the hs programs averaged .56 getting ready strategies per minute, or use of strategies during approximately 34 minutes of a 60-minute home visit. about one-fourth of these observed strategies were focused on establishing or re-establishing the relationship with the parent. ecps in hs relied on direct strategies more frequently than indirect strategies; the cumulative indirect strategy use was .20/min (12 minutes out of 60-minute home visit) and direct strategy use was .24/min (14 minutes out of 60-minute visit). indirect efforts to have parents engage in interactions with their children included prompts to encourage dyadic interactions (m = .05/minute), focusing the parents’ attention on children’s strengths (m = .07/minute) and affirming the parents’ competence in supporting their children’s learning (m = .06/minute). direct strategies were most often prompts to elicit the parents’ observation of their children, (m = .07/minute), suggesting how the parent might interact in the visit (.08/minute), and discussing goals and plans for the future (.06/minute). discussing concerns, brainstorming and modeling were used less than .01/minute by the ecps in hs programs. parent engagement during home visits 33 table 3 mean ratings for frequency of strategy use, interaction rates and overall quality ratings of ecp effectiveness and parent engagement early head start ecps n = 18 head start ecps n = 14 m (sd) m (sd) getting ready strategies establish/re-establish relationship with parent 0.12/min. (0.09) 0.15/min. (0.08) indirect strategies establish dyadic context 0.03 (0.03) 0.05 (0.02) focus parents’ attention on child strengths 0.08 (0.06) 0.07 (0.06) affirm parent’s competence 0.05 (0.05) 0.06 (0.05) provide developmental information 0.08 (0.06) 0.02 (0.02) direct strategies elicit parent observations and ideas 0.13 (0.07) 0.07 (0.04) discuss and prioritize concerns 0.01 (0.01) 0.01 (0.02) brainstorm 0.002 (0.01) 0.01 (0.01) suggest/provide directives 0.07 (0.05) 0.08 (0.04) model/promote practice/interaction 0.005 (0.01) 0.01 (0.09) discuss future plans and goals 0.02 (0.03) 0.06 (0.03) interaction rates (per minute) parent-ecp rate of interaction 0.82 (0.10) 0.71 (0.16) parent-child rate of interaction 0.70 (0.17) 0.66 (0.11) ecp-child rate of interaction 0.57 (0.18) 0.72 (0.11) overall quality ratings a parent engagement with ecp 2.99 (0.63) 3.02 (0.46) parent engagement with child 2.95 (0.95) 2.95 (0.29) ecp success at promoting engagement 2.49 (0.80) 2.94 (0.41) a rating scales 1 (low) to 4 (high) 34 knoche et al. relationship between strategy use and frequency of interactions during visit table 3 provides a summary of the interaction rates for ecps in the ehs and hs programs. these are also reflected in figure 1 in terms of minutes of interaction during a 60-minute home visit. the ecps in the ehs program interacted with parents during visits at a rate of .82 interactions per minute. this included question-answer exchanges, directing information or explanations to the parent and prompting or encouraging parents’ interactions with the children using the getting ready strategies. less frequently, at a rate of .57/minute, these ecps engaged with the children during their visits. this ecp-child interaction rate was less frequent than the parent-child interactions rate (m =.70/minute). figure 1. interaction duration in ehs and hs next, we explored whether strategy use by ecps in ehs programs was related to interaction rates. there were three getting ready strategies that significantly correlated with the rate of parent-ecp interactions in the ehs program (see table 4). for these ecps, focusing attention on the child’s strengths and offering suggestions (r =.55, p < .05; r = .54, p < .05, respectively) were significantly and moderately related to the rate of parent-ecp interactions. a significant but negative correlation was noted for ecps’ efforts to help the parent discuss their concerns and their rate of interaction with parents (r = -.53, p < .05). 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 parent-ecp interaction parent-child interaction ecp-child interaction 49.2 42.0 34.2 42.6 39.6 43.2 early head start head start # o f m in u te s d u ri n g 6 0 -m in u te h o m e v is it parent engagement during home visits 35 the ecps in the hs program interacted with the parents (m =.71/minute) about as frequently as they interacted directly with the children (m = .72/minute). parent-child interaction rates during these visits and socializations (m =.66/minute) were nearly as frequent as those enjoyed by the ecp with the children. ecps’ efforts to establish a relationship with the parent and indirectly provide developmental information had significant and moderately positive associations with the rate with which ecps interacted with parents in the hs program (r =.69, p < .01; r = .54, p < .05, respectively). no other getting ready strategies were significantly correlated with parent-ecp interaction rates for the ecps in hs programs. relationship between strategy use and quality of parent engagement with ecp and child overall quality ratings were reported for the parents’ engagement with the ecps, and with their children, as well as the ecps’ success in promoting parents’ engagement in the visits. table 3 provides a summary of those findings in mean ratings on a scale of 1 (low) to 4 (high). next, we explored whether getting ready strategy use by ecps in the two programs was related to the quality ratings of overall parent engagement using correlation analyses. correlations are presented in table 4. the ecps in the ehs program received mean ratings in the higher than midpoint range on the 4-point scale for all three items. parents were rated at 2.99 and 2.95 respectively for the quality of their engagement with the ecp and with their children. ecps received a mean rating of 2.49 on the 4-point scale for the quality with which they promoted parent engagement in the home visits. in the ehs programs, no significant relationships were identified between individual getting ready strategies and parents’ engagement with their children or with the ecps. overall mean ratings for the quality of parents’ engagement with ecps in hs programs and with their children were on the higher than midpoint range with mean ratings of 3.02 and 2.95, respectively. similarly, the quality of these ecps’ effectiveness in engaging the parents during visits was rated higher than midway along the 4-point scale, with a mean rating of 2.94. a higher quality of parent engagement with ecp was related to the ecps’ use of the following strategies: brainstorming (r = .55; p < .05), elicit parent observations and ideas (r = .59; p < .05), provide developmental information (r = .55; p < .05), and discuss future plans and goals (r = .60; p < .05). there were no significant correlations noted for individual getting ready strategies and the quality of parent engagement with their children. 36 knoche et al. table 4 correlations between ecp use of getting ready strategies in home visits and parent interaction rates and quality of parent engagement and ecp effectiveness promoting engagement with child getting ready strategies parent-child rate of interaction parent-ecp rate of interaction quality of parent engagement with ecp quality of parent engagement with child ecp’s overall success ehs hs ehs hs ehs hs ehs hs ehs hs establish relationship with parent -0.26 -0.42 -0.34 0.69** 0.01 0.47+ -0.46 -0.30 -0.11 0.36 indirect strategies establish dyadic context 0.56 -0.20 0.29 0.000 -0.17 0.11 -0.21 -0.04 0.23 0.24 focus attention on child’s strengths 0.13 -0.27 0.55* 0.07 0.05 0.32 0.11 0.18 0.41+ 0.48 affirm parent’s competence 0.39 0.08 0.18 0.43 -0.25 0.10 0.22 -0.35 0.57* 0.23 provide developmental information 0.13 -0.37 0.14 0.54* -0.28 0.55* -0.03 -0.10 0.38 0.25 direct strategies elicit parent observations and ideas 0.24 -0.03 0.24 0.31 0.001 0.59* -0.03 -0.07 0.51* 0.56* discuss/prioritize concerns 0.07 0.16 -0.53* -0.38 0.23 -0.31 0.31 0.42 0.30 -0.41 brainstorm 0.14 -0.06 0.21 0.09 0.34 0.55* 0.16 0.19 0.24 0.60* suggest/provide directives -0.16 0.003 0.54* 0.15 0.16 0.34 -0.14 0.35 0.17 0.39 model/promote practice and interaction 0.20 0.27 0.09 0.001 0.30 0.28 0.28 0.09 0.47 0.41 discuss future plans and goals -0.18 -0.03 -0.16 0.22 0.30 0.60* 0.10 0.12 0.20 0.68** +p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01 parent engagement during home visits 37 relationship between strategy use and ecp success in visits finally, we were concerned with whether getting ready strategy use was related to the ecps’ overall success at supporting parent engagement during home visits. bivariate correlations were computed to explore this possibility (see table 4). the ecps’ overall success in engaging the parents in the ehs visits was significantly related to the ecps’ use of two indirect and one direct strategy. these indirect strategies were affirming parent’s competence (r = .57; p < .05) and the ecps’ efforts to focus the parents’ attention on children’s strengths (r = .41; p < .10). the direct strategy of eliciting parent observations and ideas was also correlated significantly with the ecps’ overall success in engaging parents during home visits (r = .51; p < .05). alternatively, three direct strategies were significantly and moderately related to the ecps’ effectiveness to engage parents during visits and socializations in the hs programs. these were the ecps’ efforts to elicit parent observations and ideas (r = .56; p < .05), brainstorming (r = .60; p < .05), and discussion of future plans and goals (r = .68; p < .01). summary of results collectively, the ecps in the ehs and hs programs used an average of one getting ready strategy every two minutes during visits with families. ecps in ehs used indirect strategies more than direct; the opposite was true of hs providers. overall, both groups of ecps were observed establishing (or re-establishing) their relationship with parents repeatedly in their visits (m = .12 to .15 per minute). nearly as often, ecps in both programs indirectly encouraged parent engagement by focusing parents’ attention on children’s strengths (m = .07 to .08 per minute), affirming parents’ competence (m = .05 to .06 per minute) and establishing the context for parent-child interactions (m = .03 to .05 per minute). the ecps directly prompted parent engagement by eliciting parental observations and ideas (m = .07 to .13 per minute) and suggesting specific actions with the children in the visit (m = .07 to .08 per minute). these getting ready strategies were used at noticeably higher rates in both programs than brainstorming, modeling and discussing concerns. differences were noted between the rate with which ecps in early head start and head start indirectly encouraged parent engagement by providing developmental information and how often they directly prompted parent engagement with modeling and discussing future plans and goals. positive correlations were found for ecps’ overall success in engaging the parent and their efforts to elicit parent observations and ideas. there were no significant correlations for individual strategies and the quality of the parents’ engagement with their children and only the ecps in hs showed a strong correlation between their use of specific (direct) strategies and the quality of the parents’ engagement with the ecp during visits. interaction rates between parents and children were comparable across programs. however ecps in ehs interacted with parents at a slightly higher rate than hs providers; alternatively, ecps in hs interacted with children with more frequency than their ehs colleagues. 38 knoche et al. discussion the current study explored how getting ready intervention strategies were used during ehs and hs home visits, and investigated whether specific individual strategies differentially related to the ecp’s overall success in promoting parent engagement in home visits. this makes a contribution towards “unpacking the box” of early childhood home visits (peterson et al., 2007). it adds to a limited knowledge base on the specific qualities that define quality parent-provider interactions during home visits, and defines qualities that can promote parent-child interactions. furthermore, it is timely because it informs the efforts of ehs and hs programs that are accountable for implementing head start performance standards related to parent and family engagement via the head start parent, family and community engagement (pfce) framework (acf, 2011). the study suggests that the getting ready strategies are perhaps one means of achieving the outcomes or activating the impact areas of the pfce framework (acf, 2011). the getting ready approach, with its focus on child and parent school readiness outcomes and parentprofessional and parent-child relationships, is directly aligned with the desired outcomes and approach associated with the pfce. the pfce approach is intended to be individualized and flexible to meet the needs and priorities of many different families. consequently, ecps in ehs and hs programs need to be able to comfortably engage parents in ways that are appropriate to the strengths and needs of the family and children. data indicate that the getting ready strategies can be individualized and used to meet the needs of a range of program and population contexts, including those that vary by geography (suburban versus rural), program structure (center-based versus home-based), population served (infants and toddlers versus preschool aged children), and with professionals of varying education and early childhood experience. additionally, findings from the present study can be used to inform professional development and training efforts for home visiting professionals. the study highlights specific ecp behaviors that did and did not occur during ehs and hs home visits with families. understanding current practices in these two sample programs may help us identify pfce indicators commonly in place and the training needs of ecps to promote less evident indicators. targeted professional development activities, including intentional mentoring and supervision of early intervention personnel, could be supported to enhance services for children and families at risk. such a model of support is currently being used in the getting ready project, as previously described. descriptions of specific behaviors that reflect pfce framework (acf, 2011) allow program directors and professional development trainers to design activities for observation and practice of skills for engaging parents in their children’s learning and development and a way for directors to evaluate providers’ efforts with parents over time. providers want and need specific examples for interacting with parents in ways that will foster productive engagement with the ecp and the children. the getting ready strategies reflect the pfce framework and complement the findings of previous studies describing coaching strategies used by early intervention providers (friedman et al., 2012). the strategies offer both direct and indirect ways for providers to engage parents as learners, and as life-long educators of their children through positive parent-child interactions, and meaningful parent-professional partnerships. the results of the present study suggest that professional development efforts at the preservice or in-service levels may be well advised to include practice in the use and application of a wide range of parent engagement approaches such as the getting ready direct and indirect strategies, since family factors, program schedules and ecps’ own self-efficacy due to parent engagement during home visits 39 experience or lack thereof, can influence their interactions with parents. the getting ready strategies include behaviors all ecps can use if they are working with infants, toddlers or preschool children and their families, whether in home-based only programs or center-based programs that complement their efforts with parent conferences and home visits. ecps should feel that in every interaction with parents they have a collection of strategies that they can use to establish a healthy working relationship with parents and match their current understanding of the parents’ wishes and needs, as well as their own comfort in effectively helping the parents move to new levels of engagement with their children. limitations this study is among only a few that looks at specific strategies used by ecps in home visits with families of young children to facilitate parent engagement (parent-child relationships and parentchild partnerships) in children’s learning. despite important practices that were uncovered, certain limitations are noteworthy. first, the purpose of the study was to provide an analysis of one type of parent engagement intervention – getting ready. as such, we did not compare different intervention packages that are designed to encourage parent participation. findings can only be generalized to the getting ready project. second, the families involved in the recorded home visits were selected by their respective home visitors. this could confound the findings in that ecps might have differentially selected families with whom they had greater rapport. third, the sample sizes of participating ecps and recorded home visits were relatively small, preventing the use of advanced statistical analyses. approaches such as multi-level modeling would be most appropriate for questions involve child and family behaviors. fourth, the averaging of scores across multiple home visits for professionals precludes us from investigating specific family characteristics that might also contribute to intervention implementation; family characteristics could influence the strategies used by ecps. additionally, the mean values are more robust for ecps for whom we had multiple recordings. finally, since random assignment to specific strategies was not possible in this study, we are unable to establish a causal connection between the strategies used within the home visits and the observed outcomes. confirming a link from strategies to child and family outcomes is an important next step in this work. conclusions collectively, the getting ready strategies appear to offer both ehs and hs programs an approach compatible with their target populations and program structures to positively influence the school readiness and developmental outcomes for young children (sheridan et al., 2010; sheridan et al., 2011; 2014authors, 2010; authors, 2011; 2014). ecps aim to engage each parent in seeing their child in new ways, which can foster confidence and subsequent feelings of warmth and sensitivity toward their developing child. the getting ready project appears to have a positive effect on what the ecps are doing with parents during their visits, reflecting that a combination of strategies are used to enhance parent-ecp and parent-child relationships. further studies are needed, however, to explore step-wise influences of strategy combinations as well as parent behaviors that may prompt ecp strategy use and can elicit parent-ecp and parent-child 40 knoche et al. engagement during visits and positively affect parent-child interaction rates and quality over time. research on home visitation interventions are sorely needed to understand what structure and approach works for certain samples of high risk families, across geographically diverse settings, for a variety of outcomes and goals particularly in light of increasing federal dollars to support home visitation efforts. future research should test these effects more systematically than we are able to do given the design and limitations of the present study. furthermore, replication of the study with participants from other program sites and program models (i.e. idea part c services) would allow for analyses of consistency of strategy use within each program model and/or populations of children (peterson et al., 2007; trivette, dunst & hamby, 2010). differentiation of approaches that support parent engagement in their children’s early learning and development are important. references adirim, t., & supplee, l. 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(2004). checking out family-centered helpgiving practices. in e. horn, m. m. ostrosky, & h. jones (eds.), family-based practices. young exceptional children monograph series no. 5. longmont, co: sopris west. dialog, 18(1), 1-18 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 the research reported here was supported by the institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education, through grant r305a060021 to the university of virginia – funding the national center for research on early childhood education (ncrece). the work of the first author was partially supported by the institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education, through grant r305b090002 to the university of virginia. the opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the institute or the u.s. department of education. correspondence concerning this manuscript should be addressed to manuela jiménez, t. denny sanford school of social and family dynamics, po box 873701 tempe, az 85287-3701. email: manuela.jimenez@asu.edu research article can coaches be good raters of teacher-child interactions in early childhood settings? manuela jimenez arizona state university bridget hamre and jennifer locasale-crouch university of virginia this paper assesses the potential of coaches to provide objective and valid ratings of teacher-child interactions. the study examines the association between a coach-ratings measure, the teacher knowledge and skills scale (tkss), and the classroom assessment scoring system (class), an observational measure that has been found to be a valid assessment of teacher-child interactions. the study also examines the association between one possible source of bias, the coach-teacher relationship, and the coaches’ ratings of teacher-child interactions. a sample of 152 early childhood teachers and 12 coaches implementing a coaching intervention participated in this study. results show a strong correspondence between coaches’ and observers’ ratings of teacher-child interactions, as well as a tendency for coaches to rate teachers with whom they have higher-quality relationships more favorably. the paper discusses possible ways in which the coaches’ ratings can be improved and used to have a more reliable, cost-effective way to assess teacher-child interactions. keywords: teacher assessment, teacher-child interactions, coaching, ratings, coaches. as part of the current efforts to improve early childhood education, policymakers and practitioners are searching for reliable, easy to implement, and cost-effective measures of indicators of quality in early childhood education programs (howes et al., 2008; zaslow, tout, halle & forry, 2009; zaslow, tout & halle, 2011). in addition, developers of interventions for early childhood programs are often interested in documenting whether or not their efforts to improve teachers’ practice have been successful. a study by sabol, soliday hong, pianta & mailto:manuela.jimenez@asu.edu 2 jimenez et al. burchinal (2013) found that observational assessments of teacher-child interactions are the strongest predictor of children’s learning in early childhood education settings when compared to popular quality indicators such as staff qualifications and staff-child ratio. observation is often considered the gold-standard in assessment of teacher-child interactions (cash, hamre, pianta & myers, 2012; domitrovich et al., 2009; pianta, 2006; pianta & hamre, 2009; raver et al., 2008). however, observations can be costly and labor-intensive, posing an obstacle for the assessment of teacher-child interactions (blanton, sindelar & correa, 2006; howes et al., 2008). this obstacle has generated a need for cost-effective assessments of teacher-child interactions. coach ratings of teacher-child interactions may be one alternative to costly observational measures. coaching can be defined as a professional development model focused on providing teachers with individualized support to improve their teaching practice (boatright, galluci, swanson, van lare & yoon, 2008; neuberger, 2012). in this form of professional development, coaches regularly observe teachers and provide feedback based on their observations, which puts them in a privileged position to assess teacher-child interactions. the present study assesses coaches’ potential to provide valid ratings of teacher-child interactions by examining the association between a coach-ratings measure, the teacher knowledge and skills scale (tkss, locasale-crouch & hamre, 2008a), and a widely used observational measure, the classroom assessment scoring system (class, pianta, la paro & hamre, 2008). the class is an instrument that assesses teacher and children’s behaviors related to child development and later achievement (office of head start, 2013), and that has been found valid and reliable for the assessment of teacher-child interactions (burchinal, vandergrift, pianta & mashburn, 2010; curby et al., 2009; dominguez, vitiello, maier & greenfield, 2010; domitrovich et al., 2009; la paro et al., 2009; sabol et al., 2013). this has led the office of head start to include the measure as part of the monitoring process of its programs. the tkss and the class were both developed based on the teaching through interactions framework (hamre et al., 2013), which allows the comparison of ratings of the same types of interactions by different raters. the study also looks into coaches’ ability to provide objective ratings of teachers’ interactions with children by examining the association between one possible source of bias, the coach-teacher relationship, and coaches’ ratings of teacher-child interactions. assessing early childhood teachers’ interactions with students investments in early childhood education have significantly increased during the last decades (zaslow, tout & martinez-beck, 2010). quality rating and improvement systems (qris) play an increasingly important role in ensuring the impact of these investments by assessing several indicators of quality of early childhood education programs. these assessments provide important information that can guide program improvement and help determine whether policy investments in specific indicators of quality have positively impacted children’s development and learning (connors-tadros & carlson, 2011; sabol et al., 2013; zaslow et al., 2009). qris use several quality indicators to assess early childhood program quality (connorstadros & carlson, 2011; sabol et al., 2013). however, the degree to which these indicators predict children’s learning varies. sabol and colleagues (2013) examined different quality indicators and identified observed teacher-child interactions as the indicator that most strongly predicted children’s learning, among indicators such as staff qualifications, family partnerships and learning environments. this finding makes it especially important to identify reliable, cost coach ratings of teacher-child interactions 3 effective measures of teacher-child interactions. although observations are considered the most direct and reliable measure for assessing teacher-child interactions (cash et al., 2012; domitrovich et al., 2009; pianta, 2006; pianta & hamre, 2009; raver et al., 2008), the use of observational assessments may be prohibitive for early education programs due to the high costs and logistical challenges it entails (howes et al., 2008). the use of observational assessments can be equally challenging for researchers and developers of interventions interested in assessing the effectiveness of their programs in improving teachers’ interactions with children. this aspect of observation has driven researchers and policymakers alike to search for reliable, easy to implement, cost-effective measures for assessing teacher-child interactions (howes et al., 2008; zaslow et al., 2009, 2011). to address this need, researchers and practitioners assessing k-16 teachers’ practice have previously used reports from informants such as principals (gray, 2010; jacob & lefgren, 2008), students (kyriakides, 2005; potvin, hazari, tai & sandler, 2009), and even parents (ostrander, 1996). although the use of these reports in teacher evaluation systems has decreased due to concerns about reporters’ bias (e.g. principals may resort to un-standardized ways to assess their teachers [bill and melinda gates foundation, n.d.; weisberg, sexton, mulhern & keeling, 2009]), research has shown that when using reliable assessments, reporters such as principals and students can provide valid assessments of teachers’ behavior (bill and melinda gates foundation, 2012; doumen, koomen, buyse, wouters & verschueren, 2012; harris & sass, 2009; li, hughes, kwok, & hsu, 2012). despite their potential validity, some of the reports used in k-16 settings may not respond to early childhood education’s specific needs. directors of early childhood education centers often do not have the time to regularly observe teachers in their classrooms (arend, 2010; guernsey & ochshorn, 2011; riley & roach, 2006), thus limiting the reliability of director assessments of teacher-child interactions. furthermore, although student ratings have been used to assess teacher-child interactions in older grades (bill and melinda gates, n.d.; kyriakides, 2005; li et al., 2012; potvin et al., 2009), there are concerns about using this type of assessment with young children. young children may be confused by the tasks that assessing their interactions with their teacher would involve, they may have difficulties responding to verbal direction, and they may not respond consistently (national research council, 2008, p. 202). given these limitations, it is important to identify additional sources for reliable reports on early childhood teachers’ interactions with children. coaches as raters in the past decades coaching interventions have begun to gain popularity, particularly in early childhood education. a considerable number of interventions (e.g. domitrovich, et al., 2009; driscoll & pianta, 2010; pianta, mahsburn, downer, hamre & justice, 2008; powell, diamond, burchinal & koehler, 2010; raver et al., 2008), as well as several qris (isner et al., 2011) have chosen to include this professional development approach in their programs. coaching can be broadly defined as a model focused on providing teachers with individualized support to improve their teaching practice (boatright et al., 2008; neuberger, 2012). various approaches to coaching are currently being used to support early childhood teachers. in their review of research on researcher-led coaching and coaching within qris, isner and colleagues (2011) describe some of the ways in which these approaches vary: coaching 4 jimenez et al. models can have a broad focus on improving teachers’ practice or they may have a more specific focus on improving teachers’ implementation of a given curriculum. they can also vary in the type of activities prescribed, including activities as diverse as needs assessment, modeling of practices and observation of teachers’ practice. these activities can be delivered with a frequency that ranges between once a week to less than once a month, and for periods of time that vary between a couple of months and up to two years. finally, the interactions between coach and teacher can be done either in-person or remotely (through phone or online, using videotaped observations). despite this variety, most coaching models meet the definition of coaching provided by head start’s national center on quality teaching and learning (ncqtl, 2012), which defines coaching as a cyclical approach that involves planning, observations of teachers’ practice in the classroom and reflection and feedback about the practice. since most coaching models include repeated observation of teachers’ practice during extended periods of time (domitrovich et al., 2009; hsieh, hemmeter, mccollum & ostrosky, 2009; isner et al., 2011; pianta et al., 2008; raver et al., 2008), coaches implementing these models are in a unique position to assess teachers’ interactions with children. their repeated observations of teachers’ practice provide them with a large amount of information about their interactions with children. in this case, the task of coaching itself can increase coaches’ ability to reliably assess teachers’ interactions with children (bill and melinda gates foundation, 2012), making coaches’ ratings a possible cost-effective assessment of teacher-student interactions. relationship bias even though coaches’ tasks can set them up to provide cost-effective ratings of teachers’ interactions with students, coaches, just like other reporters, are susceptible to bias. one type of bias that has been identified in general performance assessment situations is the dyad-specific, or relationship bias (hoyt, 2000) which refers to bias attributable to the raters’ perception of specific ratees. for instance, a coach may rate higher those teachers who show more commitment to the coaching process, regardless of their observed level of teacher-child interactions. relationship bias may be of special concern with coaches’ ratings because the constant interaction that is fundamental to a successful coaching process may promote closer relationships between coaches and teachers. these relationships may, in turn, bias the coaches’ ratings of a given teacher with coaches rating higher the specific teachers with whom they have higherquality relationships. a similar concern has been brought up by critics of principal ratings to assess teachers, who mention relationship bias as one of the elements that can affect principals’ evaluations, with principals rating higher those teachers with whom they have better relationships (gray, 2010; harris & sass, 2009; jacob & lefgren, 2008; ostrander, 1996). although there is not much research specifically on relationship bias in principals’ ratings, research from other fields shows that positive relationships between supervisors and subordinates can influence supervisors’ ratings of the subordinates’ performance. this research has found that subordinates with higher quality relationships with their supervisors obtain higher performance ratings than subordinates with lower quality relationships, after controlling for their objective performance (breuer, nieken & sliwka, 2011; duarte, goodson & klich, 1994; ferris, munyon, baski & buckley, 2008; lefkowitz, 2000). a high-quality rater-ratee relationship could also bias ratings by leading raters to provide more accurate ratings (e.g. closer to the observers’ ratings) for those ratees with whom they have coach ratings of teacher-child interactions 5 higher-quality relationships. research on performance assessment has found that raters were more invested in the observation process when they were observing employees with whom they have higher-quality relationships (antonioni & park, 2001), which can lead to raters providing more accurate ratings for these employees. in coaching, coaches may pay more attention during observations of teachers with whom they have higher quality relationships which could lead to more accurate ratings for this subgroup of teachers. the present study: myteachingpartner and the teaching through interactions framework the purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which coaches using a specific coaching approach can provide objective ratings of teacher-child interactions that correspond with observers’ ratings using a validated observational instrument. two specific questions were addressed: 1) to what extent are the coaches’ ratings associated with the observational ratings of teachers’ interactions with students made by trained observers?; and 2) to what extent are the coaches’ ratings associated with the quality of the coach-teacher relationship, both independently or in association with the observers’ ratings? knowing if bias affects coaches’ ratings would provide an initial assessment of their objectivity, and if needed, would also allow us to develop strategies to reduce it and help coaches improve their ability to provide objective ratings of teacher-child interactions. based on previous research regarding the role of relationship bias in raters’ ratings, we hypothesize that coaches will provide higher and more accurate ratings of teacher-student interactions for teachers with whom they report higher-quality relationships. the coaching model used by coaches in this study is myteachingpartner (mtp; pianta, mashburn, et al., 2008). similar to other coaching models (ncqtl, 2012) this model takes a cyclical approach that involves planning, observations of teachers’ practice in the classroom and reflection and feedback about the practice (pianta, mashburn, et al., 2008). mtp has been found to have positive impact on teachers’ practice and children’ learning and development in evaluations of implementations led both by the developers (downer et al., 2011; 2013; mashburn, downer, hamre, justice & pianta, 2010; pianta, mashburn, et al., 2008) and by states’ agencies (early et al., 2014). mtp consists of a web-mediated coaching process in which every two weeks teachers mail their coaches a 30-minute long videotape of their practice in the classroom. after observing the whole tape, coaches provide teachers with written prompts focused on improving teachers’ observation of their own practice, and supporting the analysis of specific teacher-student interactions seen in the video. teachers’ responses to these prompts, as well as any other concerns that the teacher may have, are discussed during a following conference (via phone), where coach and teacher also come up with an action plan for the next video recording. mtp is grounded in the teaching through interactions framework (tti; hamre et al., 2013), a research-based model of effective teacher-child interactions. the tti framework focuses on three domains of teacher-child interactions: (a) emotional support, which includes how teachers promote social and emotional functioning in the classroom; (b) classroom organization, which includes “processes related to the organization and management of children’s behavior, time, and attention in the classroom” (pianta, la paro & hamre, 2008, p. 3); and (c) instructional support, which encompasses teachers’ efforts to promote learning in their classroom. in spite of the theoretical differentiation between these three domains, recent studies 6 jimenez et al. have found that an overall factor including elements from all domains predicts children’s outcomes across developmental domains (hamre, hatfield, pianta & jamil, 2014). the coaches’ rating measure (tkss) and the observational measure (class) used in this study are also based on the teaching through interactions framework. method participants and settings the data for this study were collected as part of a larger intervention aimed at improving teacherchild interactions for early childhood teachers. the intervention was implemented in nine sites across the united states. the present study includes data on 152 teachers who participated in the coaching condition of the intervention, and their 12 coaches. demographic statistics are presented in table 1. each coach worked with a group of 10 teachers in average (range from 5 to 14) in the span of a school year. the number of coaching cycles a teacher completed varied, with teachers completing an average of 10 cycles (range from 1 to 21). table 1 demographic statistics for participant teachers and coaches teachers (n = 152) coaches (n = 12) gender (female) 91.4% 100% race/ethnicity african american 43.2% 16.67% caucasian 35.7% 83.33% hispanic 14.6% asian 1.9% other 3.1% highest education aa or less 39.1% bachelor’s 37.2% master’s 23.7% 75% education specialist 16.67% doctoral degree .08% teaching experience mean (sd) 14.56 (9.56) 13.67 (9.71) range 0 43 1.5 32 teacher at head start 50.6% public school 36.4% coach ratings of teacher-child interactions 7 measures observational measure of teacher-child interactions. the classroom assessment scoring system, class (pianta, la paro & hamre, 2008), is an observational instrument scored from 1 (low) to 7 (high) that assesses teacher-child interactions (hamre et al., 2013). previous research using the class has shown the predictive validity of this measure in relation to children’s academic, language and social skills (curby et al., 2009; mashburn et al., 2008; sabol et al., 2013). for the purpose of this study, a team of observers trained on the class coded the videos submitted by teachers for the coaching process. training consisted of a presentation of short videos that illustrated the class dimensions, followed by a practice coding of five mastercoded videos. in order to be able to code, observers had to pass a reliability test in which they needed to score within one point of the master code in 80% of the scores for five videos. while observers were coding they attended weekly meetings to avoid drift on their codes due to rater bias. observers coded the first 30 minutes of videos submitted by teachers. all segments were double coded and inter-rater reliability was conducted across all footage, with intra-class correlations (iccs) calculated at the video level ranging from .42-.51. although these iccs are not ideal, the use of multiple scores within a certain time frame can improve their reliability. this study used the overall class score at the end of the intervention, which averaged the scores for videos sent by teachers during the last four months of the intervention year (between march and june). previous studies using the class have found similar inter-rater reliability statistics (mashburn et al., 2008). at the same time, the data analyzed in the present study has been found to be sensitive enough to identify impacts of mtp on teachers’ interactions with students (downer et al., 2013). internal consistency was calculated using the scores for the three class domains, resulting in an alpha of .83, showing good internal consistency of the measure. coach ratings of teacher-child interactions. at the end of the intervention coaches were asked to complete the tkss (locasale-crouch & hamre, 2008a) for each of the teachers with whom they worked. this 22-item scale measures coaches’ perceptions of the quality with which a teacher is interacting with children in the classroom. the measure includes items from each one of the three domains of the tti framework, such as “teacher provides kids with comfort and assurance” and “teacher gives kids hints when they can’t figure the response out”. for this scale coaches were asked to select the response that reflected how much they had seen the teacher engaging in the specified behavior on a 5-point likert scale in which 1 was never and 5 was very frequently. this measure showed high internal consistency, with an alpha of .967. for this study, coaches were asked to rate their teachers’ interactions with students based on their observation of the same videos used by the observers for their class ratings. however, the tkss asked coaches to rate teachers with students based on their recollection at the end of the coaching process of what happened in the videos, while the observers provided their ratings immediately after watching each individual video. coach-teacher relationship. the teacher-coach relationship scale (tcrs, locasale-crouch & hamre, 2008b) was used to assess coaches’ perceptions of their relationship with the teacher. this 7-item scale was adapted from a previous version used in research with preservice teachers. the measure is set on a response scale from 1, strongly disagree, to 5, 8 jimenez et al. strongly agree. examples of the items include “i have a good relationship with the teacher,” “i am comfortable sharing ideas with the teacher,” and “interactions with the teacher leave me annoyed and frustrated” (reverse item). the internal consistency of the tcrs in this study was high (alpha = .92) data analysis a hierarchical linear regression was conducted to examine the degree to which the observational ratings of teacher-child interactions (measured by the class) and the quality of the coachteacher relationship (measured by the tcrs) predicted the coaches’ ratings of these interactions (measured by the tkss). this regression controlled for the coaches’ years of education and of teaching experience, and the number of coaching cycles in which the teacher participated. to account for the fact that teachers are nested in coaches, the analyses were run in hlm7 student with a two-level model in which teachers were nested within coaches. the first step of the regression added the observational ratings of teacher-child interactions to the model and the second step added the quality of the coach-teacher relationship. to test the hypothesis that coaches provide more accurate ratings of teachers with whom they have a higher-quality relationship the third step added an interactional term between the observers’ ratings and the coach-teacher relationship. results the goal of this study was to assess coaches’ ability to provide objective ratings of teacher-child interactions that correspond with a previously validated observational measure. the associations between the coaches’ ratings of teacher-child interactions and several coach, teacher and dyad characteristics were assessed in order to identify variables that should be included in the model as covariates to improve the reliability of the findings. descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations are presented in table 2. only coaches’ characteristics were found to be significantly associated with coaches’ ratings of teacher-child interactions, with coaches with more years of education providing higher ratings of their teachers’ interactions with students. consequently only the coaches’ characteristics were included as covariates in subsequent models. because the number of each teacher’s videos that the coach had access to depended on the number of coaching cycles in which the teacher participated, this variable was also included as a covariate in the model. correlations also show that coaches’ ratings have a moderate positive correlation with both the observers’ ratings and the coach-teacher relationship. teachers that received higher ratings on their interactions with students from their coaches also received higher ratings on their interactions based on observations of their practice. coaches also provided higher ratings for the quality of their relationship with these teachers. coach ratings of teacher-child interactions 9 table 2 descriptive statistics and correlations. correlations mean (sd) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. coaches’ years of education 18.47 (.75) -.252 ** -.016 .007 -.250 ** .080 .052 -.002 .276 ** .303 ** 2. coaches’ years of teaching experience 13.67 (9.71) -.120 .092 .069 -.299 *** -.054 -.026 .079 .053 3. number of coaching cycles 10.86 (3.58) -.036 .326 *** -.014 .231 ** .384 ** .526 ** .389 ** 4. teachers’ years of teaching experience 14.56 (9.56) -.104 .464 *** -.044 .078 .106 .045 5. teachers’ years of education 15.84 (1.69) -.045 .100 .250 *** .157 .139 6. difference in age (teacher – coach) -5.23 (14.71) -.054 -.043 -.030 -.154 7. difference in ethnicity (1 = match) .32 (.47) -.023 .127 .122 8. observational ratings of teacher-child interactions 4.48 (.53) .438 ** .570 ** 9. coach-teacher relationship 4.27 (.83) .552 ** 10. coach ratings of teacher-child interactions 3.614 (.76) . * p ≤ .05. ** p ≤ .01. *** p ≤ .001 10 jimenez et al. associations between coaches’ and observers’ ratings the first research question examined the extent to which coaches’ ratings of teacher-child interactions are associated with observational ratings in a validated instrument. analyses found a strong correspondence between observers’ and coaches’ ratings of teacher-child interactions, even after adding the quality of the coach-teacher relationship to the model (see model 3 in table 2, β = .655, p < .001). this means that coaches and trained observers provided similar ratings of teachers’ interactions with children, even after taking into account the association between the coaches’ relationship with teachers and their ratings. table 3 prediction of coach rating scores of teacher-child interactions (tkss) by observed ratings (class scores) and quality of coach-teacher relationship (tcrs), and the interaction between class and tcrs. model 1 a model 2 b model 3 c model 4 d β (se) β (se) β (se) β (se) intercept -4.253 (1.977) -3.530 (2.235) -1.750 (2.419) -1.828 (2.451) level 1 (teacher) number of coaching cycles .085 (.015) *** .043 (.014) ** .019 (.016) .019 (.016) observational ratings .736 (.090) *** .655 (.092) *** .670 (.092) *** coach-teacher relationship .209 (.072) ** .242 (.075) ** observational ratings x coach-teacher relationship .154 (.106) level 2 (coach) coaches’ years of education .366 (.058) ** .353 (.120) * .273 (.129) .276 (.131) coaches’ years of teaching experience .015 (.007) .013 (.009) .009 (.009) .009 (.009) deviance 320.968 271.625 264.978 267.368 a unconditional model, includes only covariates. b adds covariates and observational ratings to the unconditional model. c adds the coach-teacher relationship to model 1. d adds the interaction between observational ratings and coach-teacher relationship to model 2. * p ≤ .01. ** p ≤ .001 role of coach-teacher relationship the extent to which coaches’ ratings are associated with the quality of the coach-teacher relationship was assessed in models 3 and 4. model 3 includes the quality of the coach-teacher coach ratings of teacher-child interactions 11 relationship and observers’ ratings of the teacher-child interactions, while model 4 adds an interactional effect between the quality of the coach-teacher relationship and the observers’ ratings. the results of model 3 show that there is a significant relation between the quality of the coach-teacher relationship and coaches’ ratings, confirming our hypothesis of a tendency of coaches to report higher levels of teacher-child interactions when they have a higher-quality relationship with a teacher. however, the results of model 4 show that there is no significant association between the interaction of the quality of the coach-teacher relationship and the observers’ ratings, and the coaches’ ratings. this means that coaches tend to give higher ratings to teachers with whom they have a higher-quality relationship, regardless of the level of effective teacher-child interactions identified by an objective observer. these findings provide evidence to reject the hypothesis that coaches provide more accurate ratings to teachers with whom they have a higher quality relationship. discussion the goal of this study was to establish whether coaches’ ratings of teacher-child interactions could be a cost-effective alternative to observational instruments, by providing objective ratings that are associated with trained observers’ ratings of these interactions using a validated observational instrument. the study provides evidence that coaches using the tkss can provide relatively accurate ratings of teacher-child interactions when compared with observers’ ratings. coaches’ ratings on the tkss showed a strong correspondence with observers’ ratings, and the degree of correspondence (i.e. the accuracy of coaches’ ratings) was not found to vary depending on the quality of the coach-teacher relationship. this correspondence, however, was not perfect. results show that coaches tend to rate teachers’ interactions with children higher when they have a higher-quality relationship with them. in summary, coaches’ ratings corresponded well with observers’ ratings and this association was the same across teachers, regardless of the quality of the coach-teacher relationship. this finding provides support to the use of coaches’ ratings to assess teacher-child interactions. the use of coaches as reporters of teacher-child interactions has several advantages. in most coaching models, classroom observation is already one of the coaches’ main tasks, and in these observations the coaches are focused on the teacher’s practice. since coaches are already collecting information about effective teacher-child interactions, a coach-reported measure such as the one used in this study would not be a demanding extra task on the coaches. this, added to the short length of the instrument used, makes the tkss a time-effective measure for coaches to assess their teachers’ interactions with children. the use of a standardized measure like the tkss signifies an improvement from other methods historically used for assessing k-12 teachers’ performance, such as parental feedback and principals’ informal walk-throughs (davidson-taylor, 2002; jacob & lefgren, 2008; skretta, 2007). thus, even though the tkss was developed to capture coaches’ ratings of teacher-child interactions, this measure could also be used to more reliably capture other reporters’ ratings, such as program directors. by providing a standardized measure, the tkss could allow directors to focus on the same specific interactions in every classroom, improving the reliability of the assessment process. this study, however, only presents evidence of the coaches’ ability to provide objective, valid scores on the tkss. further research would be needed to assess if this is 12 jimenez et al. a measure that program directors can use given their constraints to regularly observe classrooms, and whether or not program directors can also provide objective ratings using this measure. role of the coach-teacher relationship in spite of the evidence provided in this study regarding the correspondence between coaches’ and trained observers’ ratings of teacher-child interactions, coaches’ tendency to provide higher ratings to those teachers with whom they have higher-quality relationships could generate doubts about the appropriateness of the use of their ratings. although further research is required to understand this bias in coaches, research in similar fields could provide an initial approximation to the issue. previous studies have highlighted the mediating role of the rater’s affect in the association between the relationship and the raters’ ratings (judge & ferris, 1993). based on this research we could hypothesize that coaches’ affect influences the information that they attend to, how they interpret it, how they select it to make judgments and how they recall it (forgas & george, 2001). this influence could lead coaches to unintentionally interpret their observations in a way that matches their initial perception of the teacher (duarte et al., 1994). in a way, this bias then may be a result of unavailability of part of the information the coach would need to provide an objective rating of the teacher’s interactions with children. if this was the case, one way to reduce the influence that affect has on coaches’ information recall would be to train and support them to use all the relevant information to make the ratings. this support could involve a process where coaches are asked to take detailed notes of their teacher observations using the required framework (in this case the tti). these detailed notes would provide the coach with a written record of what happened in the classroom, decreasing the need for the coach to recall these interactions and providing a more accurate account of the observed teacher-child interactions. this would allow coaches to base their ratings in specific interactions seen in the observation instead of their general impression after the observation. similar trainings focused on improving the observational process of raters in other fields have found that such trainings effectively increase the reliability of the reporters’ ratings (kline & sulsky, 2009; noonan & sulsky, 2001; roch & o’sullivan, 2003). at the same time, the notes would provide more reliable information for the overall coaching process, which could also help improve its effectiveness. another way to increase the precision of the tkss is to use it in combination with reports from other sources that could complement each other and provide a more complete picture of what happens in the classroom. previous research has found that multisource assessments are more reliable than single reporter assessments (bill and melinda gates foundation, 2012; li et al., 2012). some qris already collect other ratings of teacher-child interactions such as teacher self-report ratings (howes et al., 2008). these reports, along with ratings from teacher aides or from other teachers that observe the assessed teacher, could be used to complement the coaches’ ratings. since these ratings are already being collected as part of the qris they would not be an extra burden on the teachers, maintaining the cost-effectiveness of the measure. the present study provides evidence of how a measure of coaches’ ratings of teacher-child interactions could be a valuable addition to a multisource assessment. however, further research would be needed to assess the reliability and validity of other reporters’ ratings in early childhood education, as well as their combined value in a multisource assessment. coach ratings of teacher-child interactions 13 this study interpreted the significant association between the coach-teacher relationship and the coaches’ ratings as a bias in the coaches’ ratings due to the quality of the relationship. however, due to the study’s design this finding can also be interpreted as coaches engaging in higher-quality relationships with teachers that show higher levels of teacher-child interactions. higher quality of teacher-child interactions may facilitate the coaching process and increase the opportunities for coaches to provide positive feedback and reinforcement, creating a positive climate in the coaching process that is more conducive to higher-quality coach-teacher relationships. further research is needed to better understand how a high-quality coach-teacher relationship develops in order to improve our understanding of its association with coaches’ ratings. practical implications the present study provides evidence supporting the use of the tkss, a coach-reported measure of teacher-child interactions. however, this study examined the ratings provided by coaches participating in one specific coaching approach, a researcher-led implementation of a webmediated coaching intervention. this is only one of several different approaches to coaching that are currently being implemented in early childhood education programs, and some of mtp’s differentiating characteristics may limit the generalizability of these findings to other approaches to coaching. researchers and practitioners should consider these differences if they are interested in using this measure. for instance, in their review of researcher-led coaching and coaching within qris contexts isner et al. (2011) found that researcher-led coaching tends to have more frequent coaching meetings and last longer than coaching within qris. these differences may allow coaches in researcher-led implementations of coaching more opportunities to observe and have a clear idea of the interactions between the teachers they are working with and their children, improving their ability to provide reliable ratings. the generalizability of these findings can also be affected by the training received by coaches in this study. in mtp coaches received training on the tti framework, which is the basis for mtp, the class and the tkss. this type of coaches’ training, however, is an exception from what coaching interventions within qris settings usually do. in most cases, coaches’ expertise is assumed to be a prerequisite for the job, and training is not provided. coaches are usually left to figure out on their own how to implement the coaching intervention (galluci et al., 2010). research has found that training can increase raters’ accuracy (cash et al., 2012; hoyt & kerns, 1999), so it is possible that coaches not trained in the specific coaching’s framework (in this case the tti) would not be able to provide reports that correspond as highly with observational ratings made based on the framework. these two issues result from the differences between researcher-led coaching and coaching within the context of qris. it is important to note, however, that the landscape of coaching within qris is changing, with state agencies starting to use coaching approaches developed by researchers with positive results (early et al., 2014). in this case the differences between researcher-led implementations and coaching within qris may be minimized and findings from this study could be generalizable to the qris context. finally, although the use of technology in coaching in increasing (isner et al., 2011), there are still few coaching models that observe teachers’ practice via videotapes, and it is possible that the findings from this study would not be generalizable to in-person coaches. the 14 jimenez et al. use of videotapes for ratings of teacher-child interactions may facilitate the rating process by allowing raters to watch an interaction as often as they feel necessary, while raters doing live observations have to be able to focus on the interactions when they are in an environment full of distractions. these distractions could burden coaches’ attention and limit the objectivity of their ratings. although the present study provides evidence that coaches and observers basing their assessments on video observations provide ratings that correspond well, future studies should assess whether this correspondence translates to assessments based on in-person observations. because of the importance of the coach-teacher relationship, researchers and practitioners interested in using ratings like the tkss should also consider the effects on the coaching process of coaches rating the teachers they work with. introducing this assessment as part of the coaches’ task may change the coach-teacher relationship from a helping one to an evaluative one, which may endanger the establishment of a high-quality relationship. to ensure that the assessment task doesn’t intervene with the coaching process coaches’ ratings should be framed as part of a process to help teachers improve their practice in the classroom and to identify programor center-wide issues that should be targeted in future professional development efforts. limitations this study has several limitations. participating coaches assessed teachers’ interactions with children using information from several 30-minute long videotapes that teachers chose to send to their coach for feedback. because teachers select the videos, they can contain bias introduced by teachers’ choice of activities or by their desire to appear competent to the coach. at the same time, it is possible that the limited time for observation did not provide enough information for the coach to make a thorough assessment of teachers’ interactions with children. however, mtp coaches base the feedback and training provided to teachers in the information gathered from these videos. given mtp’s previous evidence of positive impacts on teachers’ practice (downer et al., 2013; pianta, mashburn et al., 2008), the information provided in these videos seems to be sufficient to provide useful feedback and training. this evidence, along with this study’s findings of correspondence between coaches’ and observers’ ratings of teacher-child interactions, supports the idea that these videos provided coaches with enough information for reliable ratings of teacher-child interactions. in this case, the findings from this study could be considered conservative, since the correspondence between coaches’ and observers’ ratings for coaches that have longer opportunities to observe teachers could be higher than the correspondence identified in this study. a second limitation in this study concerns the timing of measurement. while observational data were a composite of the last four months of observers’ ratings of teacher-child interactions, the coaches’ ratings were only collected once at the end of the year. coaches were asked to base their ratings on the last observations they made of the teachers’ practice, which typically varied from march through june. better alignment between the timing of assessments may improve the level of correspondence between coaches’ and observers’ ratings. coach ratings of teacher-child interactions 15 summary the present study provides initial evidence of coaches’ ability to provide ratings of teachers’ interactions with children that correspond with observers’ ratings in a validated observational instrument when basing these assessments on video observations of teachers’ practice in the classroom. however, the results also show that coaches rate teachers’ interactions with children higher when they have a higher-quality relationship with them. despite this limitation, coaches’ ratings could be a cost-effective option for researchers and practitioners interested in assessing teacher-child interactions. to improve the reliability of coaches’ ratings researchers and practitioners could provide coaches with tools to help them use all the relevant information to make their ratings, or they could use coaches’ ratings along with ratings of other reporters of the teachers’ practice to increase the reliability of the measure. further research is needed to examine the validity of the suggested multisource assessment in relation to both other validated assessments of teacher-child interactions (e.g. classroom observations), and children outcomes, as well as the effectiveness of coaches’ training to increase the reliability of their assessments. research is also needed to assess the generalizability of these findings to ratings made by coaches within the qris context or based on in-person observations. references antonioni, d., & park, h. 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(2010). measuring the quality of early care and education programs at the intersection of research, policy, and practice. opre research-to-policy, research-to-practice brief. washington, dc: office of planning, research and evaluation, administration for children and families, u.s. department of health and human services. dialog, 18(1), 101-105 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary building meaningful partnerships with families to promote early literacy development: implications for practitioners amber friesen san francisco state university gretchen butera indiana university this research to practice paper summarizes the findings of a study that sought to understand head start families’ existing beliefs and practices about early literacy. guided by the “funds of knowledge” perspective (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992), this approach views families as resourceful, competent, and essential partners in their child’s learning. families were asked to complete the family literacy survey, which included likert scale-items and open-ended questions. the findings found that while families’ valued early literacy learning, they reported few home activities related to children’s specific early literacy skills (i.e., writing the child’s name, learning letter sounds), instead relying on the head start program to address the development of these skills. practical implications are detailed including supporting families’ knowledge of early literacy and building on their existing literacy practices. keywords: family partnerships, beliefs, early literacy development, head start a young child’s family, community, and culture provide an important setting for early literacy development as they begin to communicate with others, explore ways of using text, and find enjoyment in reading books with others. upon entering early education settings like head start, there is evidence that partnerships between school and home can positively support young children’s development in many areas, including literacy development (e.g., darling & westberg, 2004; sheridan, knoche, kupzyk, edwards, & marvin, 2011). in turn, bridging learning between the home and classroom is viewed as an essential component of best practices in high-quality early education (copple & bredekamp, 2009; dec, 2010; naeyc, 2009). some approaches to building partnerships with families focus on assessing perceived deficits in a family’s home literacy practices (e.g. lack of books, limited writing of text) and then training families to replicate school-like early literacy activities in the home to address the family’s alleged shortcomings. these attempts often do not acknowledge the existing literacy practices within the home and may undermine families’ confidence in their own ability to 102 friesen & butera support their child’s learning (e.g. auerbach, 1995; denessen, 2007; mcnaughton, 2006; ordonez-jasis, 2010; rodriguez-brown, 2010). an important alternative to building family partnerships begins by seeking to understand the family and community context of the child with the intent to build from already evident capacities within them (dunst & trivette, 2009; mcnaughton, 2006). termed “funds of knowledge” (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992), this perspective assumes that families are competent, resourceful, and have gained meaningful knowledge from their own unique life experiences. an important beginning to this approach is to understand families’ beliefs and practices about literacy and use this to help building partnerships with families (bingham, 2007). our study we asked families within a rural, midwestern head start program to report their early literacy beliefs and practices using the family early literacy survey. this instrument included likert scale items, revised from a previously used tool (approaches to beginning reading and reading instruction; evans et al., 2004; evans, barraball, & eberlee, 1998). the items asked family participants to rate the importance of different early literacy activities, goals, and strategies. the survey also included open-ended questions, which sought to uncover the “literacy stories” of a family (edwards, pleasants, & franklin, 1999), inquiring about the family’s daily routines that include literacy, personal experiences acquiring literacy, and expectations about their child’s early literacy development while in the head start program. families were invited to complete the surveys at the head start centers during an already scheduled family activity. the survey was also sent home in children’s backpacks in an effort to achieve full program participation.. of the 269 eligible families in the program, participants from 213 families completed the survey, representing an 89% response rate. survey participants were primarily mothers under the age of under the age of 30 who were caucasian and english speaking. most family respondents had a high school degree or a general equivalency diploma (ged) and nearly half of the family participants did not work outside the home. key findings families early literacy beliefs the likert scale items within the family early literacy survey examined what families’ believed was important preschool early literacy learning. analysis revealed two distinct factors, or groupings of items, based on the family participants’ responses. factor one was composed of items related to specific early literacy skills, such as sounding out letters to read new words, hearing different sounds in words (phonological awareness), and practicing to immediately recognize words (i.e., sight words). factor two included items about common strategies to support early literacy such as encouraging children’s confidence in guessing words, attempting to write themselves, and developing broad reading interests. family members rated factor 2 (early literacy strategies) items significantly higher in importance compared to factor 1 (specific early literacy skills). partnerships with families 103 families early literacy practices the first three open-ended questions focused on family practices related to supporting children’s early literacy development. the first question asked families to explain how reading, writing, and/or communicating were used in their homes during a typical day. almost all of the literacy activities described were those completed with, or by, their child. adult literacy activities were seldom mentioned. most commonly respondents described reading with their child or completing homework together. few responses described activities supporting children’s specific early literacy skills. the second question asked family members to identify what they viewed as the most important things they did to support their child in learning to read, write, and communicate. the most common responses included reading together or a writing-related activity (e.g. painting, coloring, drawing). less than a third of responses focused on a specific early literacy skill such as helping their child learn letter sounds. a fifth of the responses did not identify activities related to literacy and instead described general caregiving behaviors such as providing encouragement and spending time with the child. the third question asked family members about their own experiences learning to read and write. over a quarter recalled negative experiences. further, it was common for family members to be identified as helping them learn rather than teachers or school. families’ expectations about early literacy learning in head start a fourth open-ended question asked families to share their expectations about what head start should do to support children’s early literacy. the majority of responses identified specific literacy skills including recognizing the alphabet, recognizing and writing their names, sounding out letters and words, and word recognition as the responsibility of the program.. implications for practice valuing early literacy development the family literacy survey findings demonstrate that families value early literacy development as important for their children. likert scale items were consistently rated as very important and open-ended responses detailed support for early literacy within the homes. this is an important finding in itself as both families and head start value the importance of early literacy development. it is clear that families and the program share common ground from which to build partnerships that support children’s early literacy development. supporting families’ understanding of early literacy skills family members did not rate specific early literacy skill items as highly on the likert scale questions as they did items describing literacy strategies. similarly, in the open-ended questions 104 friesen & butera family members described using general literacy strategies such as reading with children in their home but they did not describe activities that supported specific early literacy skill development. it may be that families do not report activities to support early literacy skill because they do not see it as developmentally appropriate given their child’s age as a preschooler. however, it may also indicate that families are unsure what early literacy development entails and what they could do to support this type of learning. head start programs may consider providing families with information about the multifaceted nature of early literacy development. it is important to help families understand that helping children acquire literacy involves more than reading stories with children or learning alphabet letters. in providing this information, sensitivity is needed as families may have had negative experiences in their own experiences and may continue to struggle with some literacy uses. providing families with ideas to support children’s early literacy should emphasize the essential role that family plays in a child’s development, detail the multi-faceted literacy skills to be acquired in a clear and accessible way, and include many examples. developing supports which draw on families’ existing funds of knowledge utilizing a funds of knowledge approach wherein family strengths and capabilities are the focus (rather than deficits)), it becomes apparent that there are meaningful ways for families and practitioners to begin working together. for example, many family respondents described the importance of encouraging their child, reading together each night, and engaging in efforts to talk with their children. validating these practices and sharing how interactions during this time can support specific skill development is important. this could include modeling how interactive discussions during book reading can build vocabulary and comprehension and providing examples of how phonological awareness (e.g. syllables, rhyming, onset-rime) can be integrated within a book reading or discussions. conclusion this study sought to explore the early literacy beliefs and practices of families with children in a rural midwestern head start program. the results of the family early literacy survey, collected from a large majority of the families in the program, provide important insights into building bridges between a head start and families. in finding that families’ valued early literacy development and already engaged in a variety of different literacy-rich activities within their home (e.g. book reading, homework), a positive beginning place for this partnership is apparent. further, in seeking to build families’ knowledge and confidence about their child’s early literacy skill development, practitioners can build from families’ strengths and existing funds of knowledge. in turn, it is hoped that efforts to support young children’s literacy development can be meaningful in both the home and head start program. partnerships with families 105 references auerbach, e. r. 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(2009). naeyc developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood programs serving children from birth to age 8: a position statement adapted 2009. washington, dc: author. retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/psdap.pdf ordonez–jasis, r. (2010). rethinking family literacy through a critical lens: a focus on culturally and linguistically diverse families. in k. dunsmore and d. fisher (eds.), bringing literacy home (pp. 332–347). newark, de: international reading association rodríguez-brown, f. v. (2010). the home–school connection: lessons learned in a culturally and linguistically diverse community. london: routledge. sheridan, s. m., knoche, l. l., kupzyk, k. a., edwards, c. p., & marvin, c. (2011). a randomized trial examining the effects of parent engagement on early language and literacy: the getting ready intervention. journal of school psychology, 49, 361-383. http://dec.membershipsoftware.org/files/position%20statement%20and%20papers/position%20statement_cultural%20and%20linguistic%20diversity.pdf http://dec.membershipsoftware.org/files/position%20statement%20and%20papers/position%20statement_cultural%20and%20linguistic%20diversity.pdf dialog, 17(4), 148-154 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary asthma and academic achievement: how are head start children affected? ethan j. schilling western carolina university stacey neuharth-pritchett and a. michele lease university of georgia yvette q. getch western kentucky university head start children with asthma represent a unique student population with unique needs. this study examined the ways in which a diagnosis of asthma can affect the later academic achievement of these students in a sample of 788 children identified as having asthma. results indicated statistically significant group differences in standardized reading and mathematics scores, with students with asthma performing worse than students without this diagnosis in both academic areas. in reference to reading abilities among students with asthma, indicators of socioeconomic status, gender, and level of school absences were found to be predictive of reading scores. regarding mathematics abilities, results indicated the significant contribution of both socioeconomic status and level of school absences in predicting the math scores of students with asthma. variables regarding the family environment (access to resources and family routines also contributed to explaining the asthma-academic achievement relationship in a full model including all these variables. recommendations for head start practitioners for adequately serving the needs of students with asthma are also discussed. keywords: asthma, academic achievement, head start asthma is the most prevalent respiratory chronic illness for american school-aged children, with an estimated 7.1 million children (9.6%) diagnosed with the condition (bloom, cohen, & freeman, 2010). of this group, children under the age of five are diagnosed with the condition at higher rates than any other age group (akibani & asthma and academic achievement 149 schoendorf, 2002). therefore, it is important to understand the influence of the condition on children’s school outcomes. research suggests children with asthma are at greater risk for physical and mental health outcomes when compared to their healthy peers. these difficulties include poorer general health outcomes (collins, gill, chittleborough, martin, taylor, & winefield, 2008), more frequent nighttime waking and subsequent sleep deprivation from asthma symptoms (fiese, everhart, and wildenger, 2009), and a higher incidence of internalizing behavior problems, including anxiety and depression (fiese et al., 2009; röder, kroonenberg, & boekaerts, 2003). whereas studies have documented higher school absenteeism in children with asthma (dean, calimlim, kindermann, khandker, & tinkelman, 2009; moonie, sterling, figgs, & castro, 2008, other aspects of school functioning, particularly academic achievement, are less clear. given this fact, it was to goal of this study to to examine the academic achievement of former head start children with asthma, with a particular emphasis on the role that family factors, including access to resources and regular family routines, might play in potentially playing a role in this relationship. asthma and academic achievement research regarding the effects of asthma on academic achievement is largely inconclusive. some studies indicate children with asthma perform more poorly than their healthy peers on measures of academic functioning, particularly reading (kohen, 2010; liberty, pattemore, reid, & tarren-sweeney, 2010), whereas others have found that these children perform just as well or even better on measures of reading and math achievement when compared to healthy peers (moonie et al., 2008; moricca et al., 2012). given these different findings, it’s important to recognize the factors that might contribute to the academic achievement of head start students with asthma disease related variables one mechanism by which asthma could adversely affect the academic achievement of head start students is in the disease process itself. it is well established that many children with chronic health difficulties face challenges in academic functioning at as a result of associated cognitive deficits. in children with asthma, these effects can often occur as a result of medication (corticosteroid) use and associated side effects, which can include mood disturbance in the form of depression, hyperactivity, and increased behavior problems in the classroom (e.g., agitation, aggressiveness, and oppositional behavior); all which can lead to poor academic performance at school (cerullo, 2006; taras & potts-datema, 2005). studies examining more direct cognitive effects of inhaled corticosteroid use have found prolonged use of these medications to be associated with deficits related to verbal memory (brown, rush, & mcewen, 1999), declarative memory (newcomer, craft, hershey, askins, & bardgett, 1994), and attention deficits (chen et al., 2013). 150 schilling et al. demographic factors: gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status koinis-mitchell, murdock, and berz (2004) found that gender differences are apparent in the child’s emotional response to asthma with girls with asthma often reporting lower perceptions of self-competence in disease management. moreover, social-emotional difficulties such as these are recognized to place school-age children at risk for poor academic outcomes, including broader learning difficulties and school dropout (quiroga, janosz, bisset, & morin, 2013). despite this fact, the direct role that gender might play in the association between asthma and academic achievement is less clear. some researchers examining this relationship have controlled for gender, to adequately address research questions of interest (kohen, 2010). others have found no relationship between gender and outcome variables related to achievement among students with asthma (koinismitchell, adams, & murdock, 2005). regarding ethnicity, some studies have demonstrated that african american and hispanic families experience greater functional limitations as well as higher levels of poverty resulting from asthma when compared to their non-hispanic white counterparts, potentially pointing to a more direct effect of ethnicity (koinis-mitchell et al., 2010). most studies attempt to control for ethnicity variables when examining asthma effects on academic achievement, as few have looked beyond the role of such variables as potential markers for achievement (liberty et al., 2010). furthermore, some still argue that any effects of minority status observed are largely still a function of related variables, namely issues of socioeconomic status (ses) (taras & potts-datema, 2005). research consistently demonstrates that students from economically disadvantaged families are at a greater risk for poorer school outcomes and that these effects are particularly apparent when the child begins school (arnold & doctoroff, 2003). associated characteristics of low-ses families, which have been demonstrated to contribute to the asthma-academic achievement relationship, include greater parent distress resulting from economic strain, less access to educational materials (e.g., books) in the home, and less overall importance placed on education by parents (aikens & barbarin, 2008). as a result, children coming from lower-ses families sometimes do not achieve the same level of early academic success as those children from higher-ses families, who are more likely to have received a greater level of early academic preparedness at home (arnold & doctoroff, 2003). it is expected this relationship would similarly hold for students with asthma. absences and asthma severity students with asthma, particularly those with less well-controlled forms of the disease, tend to miss more school days than healthy peers and more than peers with bettercontrolled asthma (moonie et al., 2006). as reported in the literature, estimates of the difference in average days absent annually range anywhere from 1.3 (moonie et al., 2006) to 22 (lodha, puranik, kattal, & kabra, 2003) more days missed by these students. students with asthma miss more school days for a number of reasons including doctors’ appointments, increased severity of asthma symptoms (e.g., labored breathing, fatigue), and proactive avoidance of potential contact with asthma triggers at school (taras & asthma and academic achievement 151 potts-datema, 2005). research suggests school absences in students with asthma are associated with multiple indicators of poor academic achievement including poorer mathematics performance (kohen, 2010) and word reading scores (liberty et al., 2010) as measured by standardized achievement tests. the family environment, access to resources, and family routine exposure to adverse sociodemographic events could place children with asthma at risk for a host of negative outcomes including less access to community resources including quality health care (eggleston et al., 1999), and fewer opportunities to participate in developmentally appropriate activities (eggleston et al., 1999). furthermore, more recent evidence indicates that family-related variables may serve an important role in moderating the effects of ses in the form of lower family income on the educational success of children living in these environments (aikens & barbarin, 2008). furthermore, the presence of family routines in daily activities such as mealtimes, nighttime curfews, and homework is also accepted as an integral element to promoting a sense of cohesion in the family, while also serving a protective role in the health and well-being of children (roche & ghazarian, 2012). characteristics of low ses neighborhoods that might contribute to a lack of consistent family routines include less social organization and economic constraints (e.g., parents working long hours to support the family; leventhal & brooks-gunn, 2005). it is therefore apparent how aspects of more advantageous home environments in the form of higher access to community resources and the existence of family routines might play a role in contributing to the positive educational outcomes of students. however, the role of such variables in moderating this relationship among students with asthma is not clear. it was the goal of this study to address this question. summary of research methods for the purposes of the current study, data from a group of former head start children enrolled in the national head start/public school early childhood transition/ demonstration study (ramey et al., 2000) whose parents/caregivers completed the question of whether or not they had received a doctor’s diagnosis of asthma were examined (n = 5711). of this group, 788 were identified by their parents as having an asthma diagnosis (14% of the sample). data regarding demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, ethnicity, ses, school absences) were inspected within the sample of students with asthma to determine the role that each might play in contributing to the ultimate academic achievement of former head start students with asthma. information was also collected regarding families’ level of access to resources within their community using the family resource scale (leet & dunst, 1985) and current levels of family routines using the family routines inventory (boyce, jensen, james, & peacock, 1983) in order to determine the influence of these characteristics above and beyond basic demographic characteristics on the academic achievement of former head start students with asthma. to adequately address research questions, 152 schilling et al. children’s academic achievement data from a standardized test of academic achievement within the areas of reading and mathematics (woodcock-johnson psychoeducational battery-revised) administered at the end of the third grade school year was examined. major findings overall, differences were observed in the academic abilities of former head start children with and without an asthma diagnosis. regarding reading abilities, a slight significant difference was observed between reading scores on the wj-r for students without asthma and students with an asthma diagnosis. in reference to mathematics abilities, there was also a significant difference between the mathematics scores on the wj-r between students without asthma. in both cases, former head start students with an asthma diagnosis performed worse on standardized measures of reading and mathematics abilities in comparison to healthy peers; although these overall differences were slight. in reference to reading achievement, gender, socioeconomic status and number of school absences served as significant predictors of reading scores for students with asthma with boys, those living above the federal poverty line, and lower numbers of annual school absences performing better on this measure. in reference to mathematics achievement, socioeconomic status and number of school absences served as significant predictors of mathematics scores for students with asthma with those living above the federal poverty line and with lower numbers of annual absences performing better on this measure.. finally, a full model including both family-related variables (access to resources and level of family routines) was statistically significant in predicting reading and mathematics abilities in former head start student with an asthma diagnosis; indicating the potential importance in considering these family characteristics. taken together, results of the current study point to the importance of examining other factors (i.e., demographic and other family characteristics) beyond solely the effects of having received an asthma diagnosis in determining disease effects at school. implications for practice this study adds to the growing body of knowledge regarding how chronic health conditions including asthma can affect the ultimate school success of children. in addition, this is one of the first studies to examine such effects in former head start children, a population already vulnerable to negative school outcomes. the results of the current study suggest that variables including ses, school absences, and gender all contribute to an explanation of academic achievement in this group. the fact that familyrelated variables (i.e., access to resources and family routines at home) also played a role in contributing to the prediction of achievement scores among students with asthma might portray the importance of considering the influence of these variables as well. of note, these are all variables that have been shown to contribute to overall school success in the general school population as a whole, suggesting that students with asthma are perhaps not so different. the following recommendations are suggested: asthma and academic achievement 153 1. look above and beyond the fact that a student has received an asthma diagnosis in order to determine what might be holding back that student from achieving academically in school. 2. be aware of potential barriers to school success that may exist for head start students with asthma (i.e., increased absences, less well-controlled asthma symptoms, reduced family support). to the extent possible, work hard in conjunction with families, other school staff, and community agencies to attempt to remove these barriers. 3. as with all students, ensure that the needs of head start students with asthma are adequately addressing in the school environment. while the school 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(2013). early adolescent depression symptoms and school dropout: mediating processes involving self-reported academic competence and achievement. journal of educational psychology, 105, 552-560. ramey, s. l., ramey, c. t., phillips, m. m., lanzi, r. g., brezausek, c., katholi, c. r., & snyder, s. (2000). national head start children’s entry into public school: a report on the national head start/public school early childhood transition demonstration study. washington, d.c. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, head start bureau. roche, k. m., & ghazarian, s. r. (2012). the value of family routines for the academic success of vulnerable adolescents. journal of family issues, 33, 878-897. röder, i., kroonenberg, p. m., & boekaerts, m. (2003). psychosocial functioning and stress-processing of children with asthma in the school context: differences and similarities with children without asthma. journal of asthma, 40, 777-787. taras, h., & potts-datema, w. (2005). childhood asthma and student performance at school. the journal of school health, 75, 296-312. dialog, 16(1), 103-126 copyright © 2013 issn: 1930-9325 correspondence should be addressed to: momoko hayakawa, (institute of child development, university of minnesota, 51 e. river parkway, minneapolis, mn, 55455. email: michelle englund can be contacted at englu008@umn.edu, mallory warner-richter can be contacted at mwr@umn.edu, and arthur reynolds can be contacted at ajr@umn.edu. research article the longitudinal process of early parent involvement on student achievement: a path analysis momoko hayakawa, michelle m. englund, mallory n. warner-richter, & arthur, j. reynolds university of minnesota, twin cities this longitudinal study investigated the process whereby early parent involvement in preschool effects student achievement from kindergarten through 6 th grade. participants were 1,539 low-income, mainly african american children and their mothers, in the chicago longitudinal study. program children (n = 989) received one or two years of the child-parent center (cpc) program – a preschool intervention that strongly promoted parents’ development of parent involvement skills within the school and at home. children from similar backgrounds who did not attend the cpc, but participated in available local resources (e.g. day care), were obtained as a comparison group (n = 550). path analysis revealed an interactive process among parent involvement, academic achievement, and children’s motivation. early parent involvement directly influenced kindergarten achievement, which in turn influenced first grade student motivation. highly motivated children then encouraged parents to continue involvement. the cyclic nature of this process across elementary school was observed. the model accounted for 61% of the variance in 6 th grade achievement. findings suggest that early parent involvement promoted in the cpc program, sets the stage for subsequent parent involvement, student motivation, and academic achievement throughout early and middle childhood. educators, parents, and educational researchers are concerned about the gap in academic achievement evident between low-income african american and caucasian children in the united states, whereby african american children are on average scoring 8 points lower than white students on tests of reading achievement (with a mean of a 100 and a standard deviation of 15) by the time they begin kindergarten (duncan & magnuson, 2005). according to duncan and magnuson (2005), this achievement gap not only continues, but also widens across elementary school. this gap has been a concern for both researchers and policy makers since the dissemination of the highly publicized coleman report by the u.s. department of education during the johnson administration (coleman et al., 1966). as suggested by james coleman over thirty years ago, there is now empirical evidence that parent involvement can significantly reduce this achievement gap (e.g. lee & bowen, 2006). research thus far has shown that parent’s participation in school activities has been consistently 104 hayakawa et al. associated with achievement gains as well as enhanced socio-emotional development in children (e.g. barnard, 2004; fan & chen, 2001; jeynes, 2005; lee & bowen, 2006; sheldon, 2002; sheridan, knoche, edwards, bovaird, &kupzyk, 2010; sheridan, eagle, & dowd, 2005). furthermore, childhood interventions with a focus on parent involvement, such as the childparent center (cpc) program, have successfully increased achievement among low-income african american populations (e.g. reynolds et al., 2011). findings thus far suggest that parent involvement is a critical element in increasing student achievement (fan & chen, 2001; mattingly et al., 2002) and may serve as a means to reduce the achievement gap between white students and low-income racial minority groups (jeynes, 2007). however, the mechanisms through which parent involvement has a significant and long-term impact on children’s achievement is still unknown. although there is an abundance of research indicating the positive contribution of parent involvement in school on children’s and adolescents’ academic achievement (e.g. barnard, 2004; christenson & carlson, 2005; fan & chen, 2001; jeynes, 2005; lee & bowen, 2006; sheridan, knoche, kupzyk, edwards, & marvin, 2011), the developmental processes by which parent involvement in preschool has an effect on academic achievement later in middle childhood are largely unexplored. given research findings indicating that there is an association between student motivation and academic achievement (e.g. grolnick&slowiaczek, 1994; gonzalesdehass, willems, & doan holbein, 2005), it is possible that student motivation acts as a mediating variable explaining the persistent influence of early parent involvement on later achievement. however, very little work has been done examining motivation as a potential mediator and the majority of the studies examining the association between parent involvement and children’s socio-emotional development, including motivation, have primarily been crosssectional (nokali, bachman, &votruba-drzal, 2010). according to duncan and magnuson (2005), the achievement-gap exists at a very early age – even before children start school. it is thus imperativeto focuson early parent involvement in preschool as it may provide a foundation for subsequent processes and continue to have a persistent impact on children’s academic achievement longitudinally during a period when the gap in achievement is increasing between african american and white children. the current study specifically examines theinteractive processes by which early parent involvement in preschool affects later academic achievement in middle childhood, and the potential mediating role of motivation in that process. defining parent involvement parent involvement is a broad construct consisting of multiple elements. epstein has developed a framework including six typologies of parent involvement derived from examining parent involvement within the school context (1992; 1994; 2005). there is still much debate over whether children benefit most from a specific type of parent involvement (e.g. parents volunteering in school events vs. parents helping children with their homework at home). to address the issue of identifying specific types of effective parent involvement, fan and chen (2001) conducted a meta-analysis examining the effectiveness of various parent involvement intervention programs aimed at improving children’s academic achievement. although all types of parent involvement influenced children’s development, results from the meta-analysis of parent involvement influences on cognitive achievement indicated that parent early parent involvement, motivation, achievement 105 involvement in school was a critical factor in determining children’s academic achievement in grade school. although variations in the definition exist, parent involvement in school is generally measured as parents’ participation in school related activities and has been linked to numerous achievement outcomes (e.g. helping with homework, attending extracurricular activities, attending parent-teacher conferences, volunteering in the classroom; see, for example, christenson & rounds, 1992; bogenschneider, 1997; izzo, weissberg, kasprow, &fendrich, 1999; lee & bowen, 2006; steinberg et al., 1992). as such, the focus of this paper is on parent involvement within the context of school activities. a theoretical explanation describing the influence of early parent involvement on later achievement is needed. the “five hypothesis model” developed through the examination of longterm effects of the cpc intervention(reynolds, ou, &topitzes, 2004)integrates five disparate hypotheses regarding the mechanisms underlying the contribution of early childhood education interventions and provides a broad framework for examining the relation between early childhood education interventions and academic achievement. of particular importance to the present study, this model suggests pathways through cognitive achievement, family influences, and student motivation. the five hypothesis model is a useful tool to help organize and understand the direction of various effects impacting educational outcomes. however, asthe model captures processes within a large time period, it lacks the specific identification of microprocesses that occur across development. furthermore, for the same reason, the model also does not explain how cognitive, family, and motivation pathways interact with each other across time. childhood parent involvement influences achievement early parent involvement in the school influences numerous areas of children’s cognitive development. preschool parent involvement is associated with strong pre-literacy skills even after controlling for socioeconomic status(arnold, zeljo, doctoroff, & ortiz, 2008). this effect of early parent involvement on early achievement is evident through both direct and indirect effects (reynolds, 1989; 1991; 1992). reynolds (1989) examined the influence of numerous variables as a predictor of first grade reading achievement and found that early parent involvement, student motivation, and kindergarten achievement had significant direct and indirect effects. in a subsequent analysis, reynolds (1991) examined first and second grade achievement and found indirect effects of parent involvement -the effect of student motivation on achievement was explained through parent involvement. further highlighting the importance of early parent involvement and examining long-term outcomes of parent involvement, miedel and reynolds (1999) found that parent involvement during preschool and kindergarten predicted lower rates of retention and special education placement through the eighth grade.moreover, early elementary parental school involvement hasbeen found to have a positive influence on academic achievementinto adolescence for urban african american and caucasian children as well for both boys and girls (jeynes, 2005). overall, results from extant literature suggest that parent involvement has a very strong influence on student achievement. furthermore, longitudinal studies have demonstrated the long term and cyclic influence of parent involvement on achievement. children’s achievement in first grade has been found to directly encourage subsequent parent involvement in third grade, which then directly affects subsequent achievement (englund, luckner, whaley, & egeland, 2004). moreover, even after controlling for background characteristics and risk factors, parent involvement in school is 106 hayakawa et al. significantly associated with lower rates of high school dropout, increased on-time high school completion, and higher levels of educational attainment (barnard, 2004). research findings suggest that the process occurring between parent involvement and academic achievement is cyclic beginning early in a child’s life and that parent involvement and achievement influences one another throughout childhood and adolescence. this persistent effect indicates the influential power of early parent involvement on children’s later academic achievement. however, it is still unclear how parent involvement in schools influences students’ academic achievement. to date, numerous studies have provided evidence for the correlation between parent involvement and children’s academic success (e.g. fan & chen, 2001; hoover-dempsey & sandler 1997; mattingly et al., 2002). yet the positive contributionof parent involvement is not limited to children’s academic success but also affects children’s social and emotional development. thus the association between parent involvement and socio-emotional characteristics (e.g. student motivation) also deserves further examination (amato, 2005). student’s motivation to do well in school may play an important role in the cyclic process between parent involvement and academic achievement (grolnick & ryan, 1989; reynolds et al., 2004). although parent involvement is very clearly an important factor contributing to children’s cognitive development, children’s motivation may provide a critical linkage between parent involvement and school achievement across childhood. parent involvement influences motivation a growing body of research has demonstrated the benefits of parent involvement for social functioning (izzo et al., 1999; mcwayne et al., 2004; reynolds, 1989; rimm-kaufman, pianta, cox, & bradley, 2003; supplee, shaw, hailstones, & hartman, 2004). for example, nokali, bachman, and votruba-drzal (2010), found that elementary school children with highly involved parents had significantly higher levels of social functioning, fewer behavior problems in school, and were more motivated to perform well in school. studies examining the association between parent involvement and children’s socio-emotional development, specifically motivation, have primarily been cross-sectional however. although cross-sectional data is important to understand associations between factors, longitudinal data is necessary to examine process questions. children’s motivation to achieve may be a key factor mediating the relation between parent involvement and later educational achievement. high levels of parent involvement are positively associated with children’s self-esteem and life satisfaction (wenk et al., 1994). furthermore, parents’ early expectations of their childrencan have an effect on children’s motivation and self-efficacy (e.g. marchant et al., 2001; reynolds & sukhdeep, 1994). this, in turn, may contribute to children’s optimism about life and promote a sense of self-competence, influencing individual’s educational and occupational attainment in the long-term. studies of elementary and high school students (e.g., gonzales-dehass, willems, & doan holbein, 2005) show a beneficial relation between parental involvement and motivation. gonzales-dehass and colleagues (2005) propose that parental involvement positively affects students’ perceived control and competence, offers a sense of security and connectedness, and helps students to internalize educational values. gonzales-dehass and colleagues also propose that student motivation encourages parent involvement. thus, parent involvement may http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01447.x/full#b28 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01447.x/full#b33 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01447.x/full#b48 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01447.x/full#b50 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01447.x/full#b50 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01447.x/full#b56 early parent involvement, motivation, achievement 107 cyclically influence students’ ability to academically succeed by affecting individual characteristics (e.g. motivation), which in turn impact subsequent parent involvement. this cyclic process among parent involvement, student motivation, and school performance has been found among middle school children (grolnick and slowiaczek, 1994) but the unfolding and development of this process has not been examined in early childhood. motivation influences academic achievement student motivation may also play an important role in children’s academic achievement, as motivated children want to do well in school and thus put in more effort. considering the students’ influence on their own achievement, wigfield and eccles (2002) examine the association between children’s motivation and academic achievement. they assert that children’s motivation to do well starts very early and develops in complexity as they age. wigfield and eccles theorize that early in the child’s schooling career, young children are optimistic about learning and are highly motivated and positively perceive learning in school, relative to their later years. therefore, if children are most receptive to motivation early in childhood and the effect of motivation carries forward through children’s academic careers, there is a need to understand how to foster motivation early in childhood. after examining the influence of parent involvement on students’ motivation, gonzalez-dehass (2005) suggest that perhaps students’ motivation influences parent involvement, which fuels subsequent student motivation. this possibility, however, has not been systematically examined from early childhood throughout middle childhood. further evidence suggests that motivation is important not only in how children value tasks, but also in how well they perform on tasks. in a 1990 study, gottfried examined the effects of children’s self-rated motivation on later measures of achievement, iq, and perception of competence in various subjects. she found that children who had higher levels of motivation received better grades and higher ratings of achievement by teachers (though not standardized test scores). further, children who were highly motivated at ages 7 and 8 were more likely to be highly motivated at age 9, even above and beyond their iq, achievement, and other factors (gottfried, 1990). therefore, it is not only possible for achievement motivation to affect actual achievement, but also to affect later motivation. as researchers begin to understand the dynamic process of parent involvement, student motivation, and student achievement, it is clear that children play an active role in continuing the process. related literature thus far has provided insight for specific links between parent involvement and achievement, parent involvement and motivation, and motivation and achievement. however, the interrelation among these constructs and the influences of early foundational processes early parent involvement, early motivation, and early academic achievement have not been assessed and require further attention. this investigation is necessary to understand the interactive developmental process occurring between parent involvement, student motivation, and children’s academic achievement prior to school age and across middle childhood. it has been suggested that in order to clarify the direction of influences, statistical methods such as path analyses and structural equation modeling be employed (gonzalezdehass, 2005). the purpose of the present study is to examine the developmental process whereby early parent involvement in preschool initiated through the child-parent center intervention influences 108 hayakawa et al. children’s later academic achievement in middle childhood. more specifically, we ask the question, “what is the process by which early parent involvement (i.e., during preschool and the kindergarten years), as a result of the cpc intervention, influences later parent involvement, childhood motivation, and achievement in elementary school? this question uniquely examines the role of student motivation within the context of parent involvement in the cpc program – an issue that has never been addressed in previous studies examining cpc intervention effects. we use a path analysis to examine the process whereby parent involvement in preschool contributes to later parent involvement, motivation, and academic achievement across the first six years of school. methods sample the sample for this study was taken from the chicago longitudinal study (codebook; chicago longitudinal study, 2005), a prospective study of 1,539 racial minority children (93% africanamerican, 7% hispanic) who attended the government-funded child-parent center (cpc) prekindergarten program (n = 989) in chicago public schools in 1983-1985 (reynolds, 2000) for at least one year, and comparison children (n = 550) who did not attend the cpc program but were also from low-income chicago neighborhoods. these comparison children were of the same age as the cpc program children, and they participated in an alternative all-day kindergarten program in 5 randomly selected chicago public schools serving low-income children. although the original sample consisted of 1,539 children, of these, 8 were missing valid identification and thus data on 1,531 participants were utilized in the present study (for additional information on the sample see the codebook; chicago longitudinal study, 2005). the cpc program is a title 1 funded pre-kindergarten program located in the poorest neighborhoods of chicago. a central operating principle of the cpc is that parent involvement is a critical force in children's development. direct parent involvement in the program is expected to enhance parent-child interactions, parent and child attachment to school, social support among parents, and consequently promote children's school readiness and social adjustment. the centers make substantial efforts to involve parents in the education of their children both at school and at home. at least one-half day per week of parent involvement in the program is required. furthermore, the unique feature of the parent program is the parent resource room, which is physically located in the cpc, adjacent to the classrooms. a full-time staff, the parentresource teacher, organizes the parent room in order to implement parent educational activities, initiate interactions among parents, and foster parent-child interactions. parents may also attend ged classes at the centers. in addition to participating in parent resource room activities (e.g., arts & craft projects), parents volunteer in children's classrooms, go on class field trips, help prepare breakfasts and lunches, and engage in education and training activities. each cpc site also has a school community representative – a hired staff, who is also a member in the community – who conducts home visits and outreach to engage difficult to reach families. the parent resource teacher, with the help of the school community representative, encourages and provides opportunities for parent involvement and engagement in the school, home, and community. over the past three decades, the same types of parent involvement activities have continued to be encouraged throughout all cpcs in the midwest. as described, parent early parent involvement, motivation, achievement 109 involvement is a key feature of the cpc program, and thus was assessed within the cpc context in the present study. children in the intervention group and comparison group were well-matched on child and family characteristics such as race/ethnicity, gender, and family risk factors. means and standard deviations for both the cpc and comparison group are presented in table 1. the sample was evenly split between males (50 percent) and females (50 percent). our cpc participants (n=988) attended the cpc program for at least 1 year (of those, 534 children attended cpcs for two years). the comparison group did not attend cpc preschool, but did attend a full-day kindergarten program within chicago public schools. our study sample is comprised of children from low-income families. more than three-fourths of the sample had single mothers at the time their birth (n = 1,169), and more than 80% (n = 1,281) were eligible for the free lunch program (see table 1 for further demographic details). table 1 means and standard deviations for matched child/family characteristics child/family characteristics cpc non-cpc participants participants n = 988 n = 543 males 48% (476) 53% (287) african-american 93% (916) 93% (507) hispanic 7% (72) 7% (36) single mother (age 0-3) 77% (758) 76% (411) mother age less than 18 at time of child's birth (age 0-3) 16% (154) 17% (95) 4 or more children in household (age 0-3) 16% (158) 18% (98) afdc (now tanf) participation (age 0-3) 63% (623) 62% (335) eligible for free lunch (age 0-3) 84% (832) 83% (449) 60% or greater poverty in school attendance area (age 0-3) 78% (767) 73% (398) mother did not graduate from hs (age 0-3) 51% (503) 60% (324) mother not employed (age 0-3) 67% (665) 64% (348) notes: numbers in parentheses indicate number of participants with corresponding characteristic. chi-square tests were conducted on each variable to test for significant differences between groups. only one variable, “mother did not graduate from hs (age 0-3)” was statistically different between groups (p value = .001). further investigation showed that this difference was only significant for females in the sample; males in the sample were not significantly different. measures child-parent centersparticipation at preschool. cpc participation was coded as a continuous variable indicating the number of years participated in the program. a child was coded as 0 if they did not participate in the child-parent centers, 1 if they participated for 1 year, and 2 if they participated for 2 years. cpc participation is not a group based categorical nor dichotomous measure, but rather a continuous measure. a child’s participation was obtained from school records and parent surveys. 110 hayakawa et al. achievement in kindergarten, 3rd, 6th grades. the iowa test of basic skills (itbs; hieronymus, lindquist, & hoover, 1980; hieronymus & hoover, 1990) was administered each year of elementary school from kindergarten through 6 th grades. in the analyses reported herein, the kindergarten assessment was the 35 item word analysis subtest of pre-reading skills (reliability = .87; m = 59.71, sd = 13.68). for 3 rd (m = 97.05, sd = 16.84) and 6 th grades (m = 123.68, sd = 17.78) the itbs reading comprehension subtests for the corresponding grades (national norms for 1988) are included (internal consistency reliability at 3 rd and 6 th grade > .90; reynolds, 2000). parent involvement. parent involvement within the cpc context emphasized parent involvement related to children’s schooling. all cpc parents were required to participate in events and activities for a minimum of one half day every week. parents were especially encouraged to attend events held within the school environmenti.e. workshops in the parent resource room co-located in the cpc, volunteering in children’s classrooms, and assisting teachers on class field trips. to appropriately assess parent involvement as defined within the cpc program, this study measured the variety of activities that parents participated in, among those that were encouraged in the cpc model. data on all cpc parents were used in the present study’s analyses as all parents were involved and engaged in the cpc program, to varying degrees. although this cpc model was developed in the 1960’s and the sample families participated in the program during the mid-80’s, as these cpcs continue to operate under the same parent involvement model, these assessments of parent involvement remain relevant across time. parent involvement in preschool. parents were surveyed retrospectively (in grade 11) about their involvement in various activities when their children were in preschool (age 3-4). parents answered “yes” or “no” on a checklist of the following activities: “attended programs in the parent resource room”, “attended school meetings”, “attended school assemblies”, “gone on class field trips”, “volunteered in classroom (helped the children or teacher)”, “received a home visit from teacher or other staff member”, “has a parent teacher conference”, “dropped off or picked up my child from preschool or kindergarten”. each parent’s responses were summed for a total possible score of 8. the mean score on this item was 5.83, with a range of 0-8, and standard deviation of 1.83. in a prior study of parent involvement of the child-parent centers that use this measure (meidel, 1999), validity was established by correlating the included retrospective parent reports taken at grade 11 with parent reports taken at 2 nd and 4 th grade. it was found that the retrospective and prospective reports were significantly correlated (p < .01). because parent involvement has been found to be relatively stable over time from preschool to the early grades (izzo et al., 1999), we feel confident that this retrospective parent report provides evidence to the validity of the measure. parent involvement in grades 1-3 and grades 4-6. teachers were surveyed about each parent’s involvement in school activities during grades 1-6. in each year, teacher rated “parent(s) participate in school activities” on a scale of 1-5 with 1=”poor/not at all”, 2= “below average/some”, 3 = “average/satisfactory”, 4 = “above average/good”, 5 = “excellent/much”. available scores for grades 1-3 (range = 1-5, m = 2.54, sd = 0.98) and grades 4-6 (range = 1-5, m = 2.49, sd = 1.05) were averaged to obtain one score for each time period. if data were missing from one of the years during the respective time period, the average of the two available early parent involvement, motivation, achievement 111 years was taken. if only one year was available, then that year was used for data analysis purposes. factor analyses established this measure’s construct validity, and previous studies have found this measure to have a high degree of reliability (alphas > .90; reynolds, 2000). student academic motivation in kindergarten, grade 1 and grades 3-4). teachers were surveyed each year about each student’s academic achievement motivation on several items. teachers responded on a 1-5 scale with 1=”poor/not at all”, 2= “below average/some”, 3 = “average/satisfactory”, 4 = “above average/good”, 5 = “excellent/much” for each item in each year. items at each grade were combined and averaged to obtain an average composited score for each grade. the items in kindergarten were “likes reading and reading readiness activities”, “finishes work”, and “is eager to learn”. items in grade 1 were “shows interest in learning”, “reads for enjoyment”, and “completes work according to instructions”. the mean score at kindergarten/grade 1 was 3.36, with a range of 1 to 5, and a standard deviation of 1.13. items in grade 3 and 4 were “learns easily” and “is motivated to learn.” the mean score at grades 3-4 was slightly lower, 3.17. the range was 1-5 with a standard deviation of 1.07. both the kindergarten and 3 rd /4 th grade measures of motivation were found to be highly reliable (5 items; 4 items; respectively). risk index. eight risk factors from ages 0-3 (pre-intervention) comprise this index which was used as a control variable (m = 4.52, sd = 1.69). if each risk factor was present at any point from age 0-3 years (except for afdc information, which was measured by age 8), it was coded as 1. the eight factors were summed to create a scale of 0-8. risk factors include: single mother, mother age less than 18 at time of child’s birth, 4 or more children in household, afdc (now tanf) participation, mother unemployed, mother did not graduate from high school, eligible for free lunch, 60% or greater poverty in school attendance area. information for these risk factors was collected from administrative records as well as parent surveys. child’s gender. boys were coded 1, girls as 0. missing data full information maximum likelihood estimation (fiml) was used to allow analysis of the full sample using mplus (muthén&muthén, 2010). this method fits the model to the non-missing values for each observation. for computations using missing data, fiml estimation has been shown to perform adequately for both missing completely at random and missing at random data sets. further, fiml estimation has all of the strengths of single or multiple imputation (widaman, 2006). table 2 describes the extent of the missing data. about half of the data for the early parent involvement variable were missing due to a low response rate by parents on the retrospective survey. recognizing this as a significant amount of missing data, we ran all models with the full sample (n = 1,531) as well as the sample that had early parent involvement data (n = 765). although background characteristics differed on several factors (e.g. cpc participation, kindergarten achievement, mothers’ education) we obtained nearly identical results with the full sample as with the complete data sub-sample; therefore, we present results for the full sample only. 112 hayakawa et al. table 2 comparing cases with missing or non-missing data for early parent involvement missing not missing p-value early pi early pi any cpc preschool 61% 68% 0.003 k achievement 58% 61% 0.004 males 53% 47% 0.028 african-american 91% 95% 0.009 single mother (age 0-3) 76% 77% n.s. mother age less than 18 at time of child's birth (age 0-3) 18% 15% n.s. 4 or more children in household (age 0-3) 17% 16% n.s. afdc (now tanf) participation (age 0-3) 65% 60% 0.045 eligible for free lunch (age 0-3) 84% 83% n.s. 60% or greater poverty in school attendance area (age 0-3) 77% 75% n.s. mother did not graduate from hs (age 0-3) 57% 51% 0.012 mother not employed (age 0-3) 66% 66% n.s. data analysis plan the cpc program emphasizes parent involvement as an integral component of an effective early childhood education experience. participation in the cpc program (compared to children not involved in the cpc program) sets the stage for initial and continued parent involvement across childhood. we sought to test how cpc participation initiates higher levels of early parent involvement that then cascades to have an effect on early achievement. a path analysis was conducted as the primary model for analyzing the process among cpc participation, early parent involvement, subsequent parent involvement, children’s motivation, and academic achievement (figure 1). based on previous literature and the five hypothesis model, we predicted that the early parent involvement as part of the cpc pre-kindergarten initiates a cascade of influences through its effect on early achievement, later parent involvement, and children’s motivation to perform well in school. given research linking early parent involvement to achievement and motivation across a variety of periods over development, we also predicted a cyclic process whereby early parent involvement contributes to achievement and student motivation, which then independently influence subsequent parent involvement, motivation, and achievement. prior to entering achievement scores in the path analysis model, the itbs achievement scores were divided by 10 to maintain a similar scale with the other variables in the model (i.e. parent involvement, motivation).we then tested the proposed path model using mplus version 6.1 (muthén&muthén, 1998-2010). furthermore, mplus was used to obtain bootstrapped standard errors for the indirect effects. the comparative fit index (cfi), the root mean square error of approximation (rmsea), and the standardized root-mean-square residual (srmr) were evaluated to determine whether the model was an acceptable fit of the data. a model is usually considered having an acceptable fit when the cfi is at .90 or above and the rmsea or srmr is at .08 or less (hoyle, 1995; hoyle &panter, 1995; mcdonald & ho, 2002). early parent involvement, motivation, achievement 113 figure 1. path analysis examining preschool intervention, parent involvement, achievement and motivation across childhood 3rd grade achievement 6th grade achievement early parent involvement 1st~3rd grade parent involvement 4th~6th grade parent involvement kindergarten/ 1st grade motivation 3rd~4th grade motivation 3rd~4th grade motivation kindergarten achievement 114 early parent involvement, motivation, achievement results correlations to examine the associations among the variables, we calculated pearson correlations. means and standard deviations are also noted (appendix 1 and 2). on average, participants had one year of cpc participation, as they were evenly split among no cpc, one year of cpc, and two years of cpc participation. parents, who on average were involved in 5~6 school activities during preschool, were rated yearly as “satisfactory involvement” by teachers during grades 1~6. moreover, teachers on average rated yearly student motivation as “satisfactory” during kindergarten ~ 4 th grade. all zero-order correlations among the variables were statistically significant at p < .01 with the exception of 3 rd ~4 th grade motivation with early parent involvement. path analysis results of the path analysis for the full model are shown in figure 2. the overall model was a good fit to the data, 2 (15, n = 1,531) = 83.65, p < .001, root-mean-square error of approximation (rmsea) = .06, 90% cis [.044, 066], comparative fit index (cfi) = .98, standardized root mean square residual (srmr) = .02, and accounts for 61% of the variance in children’s achievement in third grade. early parent involvement, motivation, achievement 115 figure 2. results of path analysis examining preschool participation, parent involvement, student achievement, and student motivation. n=1,531. cpc preschool participation kindergarten achievement 3rd grade achievement 6th grade achievement early parent involvement 1st ~3rd grade parent involvement 4th ~6th grade parent involvement kindergarten/ 1st grade motivation 3rd ~4th grade motivation .23** .19** .07* .48** .18** .33** .09** .35** .16** .27** .25** .43** .31** .21** .59** .19** .08** .10 .44 .61 .12** .04 .24 .21 .29 .48 note: control variables for path analysis include: single mother, mother age less than 18 at time of child’s birth, 4 or more children in household, afdc (now tanf) participation, mother unemployed, mother did not graduate from high school, eligible for free lunch, 60% or greater poverty in school attendance area. unexplained variances are indicated by vertical arrows for each outcome. 116 hayakawa et al. table 3 unstandardized, standardized, and significance levels for the full model (standard errors in parentheses; n = 1,531) path model estimates unstandardized standardized p-value male  num. cpc years -.104 (.043) -.062 .016 risk  num. cpc years -.011 (.013) -.022 .385 num. cpc years  early parent involvement .404 (.080) .185 .001 male  early parent involvement -.153 (.138) -.042 .270 risk  early parent involvement .057 (.038) .052 .136 early parent involvement  k achievement .054 (.026) .072 .040 num. cpc years  k achievement .370 (.040) .227 .001 male  k achievement -.200 (.068) -.073 .003 risk  k achievement -.127 (.019) -.157 .001 early parent involvement  k~1 st gr. motivation .032 (.021) .052 .129 k achievement  k~1 st gr. motivation .395 (.017) .480 .001 num. cpc years k~1 st gr. motivation -.029 (.031) -.022 .351 male  k~1 st gr. motivation -.362 (.052) -.161 .001 risk  k~1 st gr. motivation -.049 (.015) -.073 .001 early parent involvement  1 st ~3 rd gr. parent involvement .094 (.017) .177 .001 k~1 st gr. motivation  1 st ~3 rd gr. parent involvement .282 (.024) .325 .001 k achievement  1 st ~3 rd gr. parent involvement .063 (.020) .089 .002 male  1 st ~3 rd gr. parent involvement -.064 (.044) -.033 .142 risk  1 st ~3 rd gr. parent involvement -.096 (.014) -.165 .001 k~1 st gr. motivation  3 rd gr. achievement .527 (.044) .351 .001 1 st ~3 rd gr. parent involvement  3 rd gr. achievement .284 (.042) .164 .001 k achievement  3 rd gr. achievement .331 (.033) .267 .001 male 3 rd gr. achievement -.205 (.070) -.060 .004 risk  3 rd gr. achievement -.097 (.022) -.097 .001 1 st ~3 rd gr. parent involvement 3~4 th gr. motivation .118(.024) .119 .001 k~1 st gr. motivation  3~4 th gr. motivation .217 (.022) .253 .001 3 rd gr. achievement  3~4 th gr. motivation .246 (.015) .431 .001 male  3~4 th gr. motivation -.140 (.042) -.073 .001 risk  3~4 th gr. motivation .008 (.012) .014 .511 1 st ~3 rd gr. parent involvement  4 th ~6 th gr. motivation .332 (.033) .308 .001 3~4 th gr. motivation  4 th ~6 th gr. motivation .230 (.042) .211 .001 3 rd gr. achievement  4 th ~6 th gr. motivation -.011 (.022) -.018 .616 male  4 th ~6 th gr. motivation -.126 (.057) -.060 .028 risk  4 th ~6 th gr. motivation -.041 (.017) -.066 .016 3 rd gr. achievement  6 th gr. achievement .621 (.028) .587 .001 3~4 th gr. motivation  6 th gr. achievement .350 (.047) .189 .001 4 th ~6 th gr. parent involvement  6 th gr. achievement .140 (.035) .083 .001 male  6 th gr. achievement -.195 (.066) -.055 .003 risk  6 th gr. achievement -.054 (.020) -.051 .008 early parent involvement, motivation, achievement 117 number of years in the cpc program. table 3 shows the unstandardized and standardized path coefficients, significance levels, and the standard errors for all paths controlling for general and early childhood risk. the number of years a child participated in the cpc program significantly predicted the child’s kindergarten achievement ( = .227, p = .001) and early childhood parent involvement ( = .185, p = .001), but not kindergarten-first grade motivation. kindergarten achievement. as expected, kindergarten achievement significantly predicted achievement over time at both third grade ( = .267, p = .001) and sixth grade ( = .587, p = .001). interestingly, although neither cpc participation nor early parent involvement predicted kindergarten-first grade motivation, early achievement predicted kindergarten-first grade motivation ( = .480, p = .001). parent involvement. early parent involvement predicted kindergarten achievement ( = .072, p = .034) and subsequent parent involvement at first-third grade ( = .177, p = .001) and fourth-sixth grade ( = .308, p = .001). furthermore, 4 th /6 th grade parent involvement predicted 6 th grade achievement ( = .083, p = .001). student motivation. as for motivation, kindergarten-first grade motivation significantly predicted third grade achievement ( = .351, p = .001), first-third grade parent involvement ( = .325, p = .001) and subsequent motivation in third-fourth grade ( = .253, p = .001). furthermore, student motivation in third-fourth grade continued to predict subsequent parent involvement in fourth-sixth grade ( = .211, p = .001) and sixth grade achievement ( = .189, p = .001). total indirect effects from early parent involvement were also examined. early parental involvement had total indirect effects on third (.084, p < .001) and sixth grade achievement (.072, p < .001), third-fourth grade motivation (.083, p < .001), and fourth-sixth parent involvement (.081, p < .001). achievement pathway. a number of significant indirect paths were identified from early parent involvement to later academic achievement. first, an achievement pathway was identified wherein early parent involvement predicted kindergarten achievement and then subsequent achievement. parent involvement pathway. a parent involvement pathway was identified where early parent involvement influenced academic achievement in middle childhood through parent involvement in elementary school. also, a parent-involvement-motivation pathway was found where early parent involvement predicted first-third grade parent involvement, which then predicted third-fourth grade motivation, and finally sixth grade achievement. furthermore, a significant indirect pathway was found where early parent involvement predicted early achievement, which then predicted student motivation, and then later achievement. motivation pathway. early parent involvement affected sixth grade achievement through a significant indirect path leading from early parent involvement to motivation to subsequent parent involvement and then to achievement. highlighting motivation as a critical intermediary variable, another significant indirect path was found where parent involvement 118 hayakawa et al. affected achievement, which then influenced motivation leading to subsequent parent involvement, and then middle childhood achievement. finally, demonstrating the complex and cyclic nature of the contribution of parent involvement, the seventh indirect path identified early parent involvement as a predictor of early achievement, leading to a motivation-achievement-motivation-achievement transaction. most indirect effects revealed an immediate association between early parent involvement and early achievement, which set up a cascade of influences on subsequent parent involvement, motivation, and achievement. discussion the purpose of this study was to examine the interactive developmental processes underlying the association between early parent involvement and later academic achievement as instigated by the child-parent center (cpc) preschool program. we focused on the initial influence of the cpc preschool intervention on early parent involvement and early student achievement, while also highlighting the subsequent process that influences 6 th grade achievement. the cpc is a high quality preschool program with a specific focus on encouraging parent involvement in the school. the cpc program has proven effective in numerous short term and long term outcomes (reynolds, 1989; reynolds et al., 2011), but the contribution of early parent involvement and its childhood process through student motivation on achievement, from preschool into middle childhood, had not been examined until now. the most important finding to emerge was that early parent involvement, as instigated by cpc preschool participation, appears to initiate the process underlying the persisting and cyclic process among childhood parent involvement, achievement, and student motivation, even after controlling for early risk factors. interestingly, there was no direct path from the cpc intervention to early motivation (i.e. kindergarten-1 st grade), nor from early parent involvement to early motivation. instead, early parent involvement predicted early achievement, which contributed to enhancing early student motivation, and in turn had an impact on subsequent parent involvement and student achievement. thus, early parent involvement sets the process in motion through its direct effects on achievement and later parent involvement. early student achievement played a critical role within this parent involvement process. high achieving kindergarteners (in response to early parent involvement) are further motivated to continue to perform well in school. recognizing their young children’s academic success and motivation, parents are then further encouraged to continue to be involved in school. observing this continued parent involvement, children are once again motivated to perform well in school, and this then contributes to continued high achievement. thus, academic achievement throughout childhood provides a concrete measure of success, which reinforces the cyclic process of parent involvement-achievement-motivation. this process supports previous findings by reynolds (1991), suggesting that both early parent involvement and early student achievement mediate the effects of early student motivation. therefore, results from our study suggest that the cpc, with its focus on early parental involvement, serves as a catalyst that sets up the foundation of the early parent involvement – achievement – motivation pathway throughout childhood. our findings confirm the idea that motivation plays an integral role in the cycle of parent involvement and student achievement. identifying the influence of student motivation within the early parent involvement, motivation, achievement 119 parent involvement-student achievement process is a unique contribution that adds to previous studies of cpc effects on children’s development. our path analyses revealed that children with highly involved parents perform better in school than peers without highly involved parents. those children who perform better were highly motivated to continue to perform well in school, and this in turn appeared to encourage parents to be involved. parents who were highly involved early in childhood continued to be involved in middle childhood, and this then motivated children to perform well in school. thus parent involvement and student achievement influenced successive achievement and involvement through student motivation. this flow of linkages supports becher’s (1984) idea that parents of high achievers hold high expectations for their children’s academic performance, and thus are engaged in involvement in children’s academic life (e.g. reinforcing what children learned in school, providing opportunities to solve problems). our findings extend becher’s ideas by adding student level characteristics into the process. most importantly, our findings further an understanding of the developmental process of early parent involvement over time, beginning in early childhood and proceeding through middle childhood. the persistent and cyclic process of parent involvement, student achievement, and student motivation appears to be a critical element in reducing the achievement gap. not only is the achievement gap between african american and white students observed early in preschool and kindergarten, but the gap continues to expand during childhood and middle childhood (magnuson & waldfogel, 2008). therefore, to decrease the achievement gap, interventions must aim to both reduce the achievement gap early in preschool and kindergarten and incorporate a mechanism which allows the maintenance of higher achievement in the low-income african american population. some early interventions have successfully produced the initial gain in achievement, but failed to maintain the increased achievement throughout childhood (currie & thomas, 2000). findings from our study not only provide a potential solution to initially decreasing the achievement gap, but more importantly, provide a mechanism through which the early effects of parent involvement and achievement can be carried forward throughout childhood. limitations a specific strength of the present study is that the sample consisted of a largely low-income, african american population, which provides a unique opportunity for research. it is critical to examine this population because low-income children are typically starting school at a lower level and due to the achievement gap they are already behind their white classmates by kindergarten entry (duncan & magnuson, 2005). however, this focus on a low-income and african american sample also prevented us from examining cross-ethnic variations of the parent involvement process, where associations among parent involvement in school, student motivation, and student achievement may differ. furthermore, our measure of early parent involvement was a retrospective report. it would be of concern if there were low variability among parent’s responses (i.e. all parents identified themselves as highly involved parents); however, there was high variability on the early parent involvement behavior measure. furthermore, there was a significant correlation with prospectively obtained parental involvement data from k-6 teachers, suggesting the measure is valid. the retrospective parent involvement measure significantly correlated with the teacher ratings of parent involvement during grades 1-3 (r = .20, p < .001) and grades 4-6 (r =.14, p < 120 hayakawa et al. .001). therefore, although it would have been better to have obtained the information prospectively, our measure captures varying levels of parent perceptions of parent involvement in preschool and provides a valid measure of early parent involvement in school. future directions this study examined the influence of early parent involvement in the school originating within the cpc preschool intervention context. however, it would be valuable to examine the effects of different types of parent involvement on student motivation (gonzalez-dehass et al., 2005). it is yet unclear what type of parent involvement most enhances student motivation. even within the school, parents can be involved in numerous ways. for example, parents can volunteer in classrooms, frequently communicate with the teacher, or get involved in the pta. gonzalezdehass et al. (2005) suggest that simply increasing the frequency of involvement may not be the most effective method for increasing students’ motivation, but instead the quality of involvement is more influential in enhancing student motivation. moreover, because ethnic variations in parent involvement in the schools and perceptions towards student motivation and achievement exist, future studies should investigate whether the associations examined in the present study are similar across different subgroups, such as socioeconomic classes and ethnicities. the majority of participants in this study consisted of low-income african american families. our findings support previous research (e.g. bogenschneider,1997) that has identified the importance of parent involvement for children’s achievement, especially among families that lack resources. that early parent involvement in school can have strong and persisting effects into middle childhood for motivated children from low-income families, is a critical finding noteworthy for practitioners. this is a key step in developing interventions aimed at decreasing the achievement gap between african american and white children that occurs early in childhood and maintaining the increased level of achievement for this population (duncan & magnuson, 2005). furthermore, previous studies examining parent involvement and student achievement have identified ethnic differences in the effects of various types of parent involvement (e.g. parent involvement in the school, parent communication, parental supervision) on academic achievement (hong & ho, 2005). not only are there variations across ethnicities in types of parent involvement influential for achievement, but also variations in mediators that explain the association between parent involvement and achievement. hong and ho (2005) examined students’ aspirations as a mediator of parent involvement and achievement and found that students’ aspirations were consistent predictors across all four ethnic groups for initial achievement as well as subsequent academic growth. their results support our findings of student motivation as a key mediator in the association between parent involvement and achievement. however, the role of cross-ethnic variations in types of parent involvement is still unclear, and it would be beneficial to examine the associations among varieties of early parent involvement, student motivation, and achievement across numerous ethnicities. our findings highlight the significant and persisting contribution of early parent involvement on student’s school progress throughout childhood. educators and practitioners can benefit from studies examining the links among early parent involvement, student motivation, and later achievement by understanding what areas to bolster during childhood. clearly, early parent involvement sets the stage for the cascade of behaviors that lead to high student early parent involvement, motivation, achievement 121 achievement. the next application of this study is to understand how best parents can be involved and how educators and practitioners can enhance the link between early parent involvement and achievement for children from all backgrounds. conclusion our findings help further the field’s understanding of the process underlying an early parent involvement intervention’s effectiveness, and its influence on student achievement throughout middle childhood. although the importance of parent involvement, particularly within the homeschool partnership has been established in the area of education science (christenson, 2004; cowan, swearer, & sheridan; 2004), we know less of how and why this occurs. moreover, identification of the mechanisms through which early parent involvement has persisting influences on children’s achievement is especially important given legislation such as the individuals with disabilities education act and no child left behind that requires schools to involve families in children’s education. parent involvement researchers, such as joyce epstein (2005) have been arguing for multilevel and longitudinal examinations of the effects of various school actions to increase family involvement. only longitudinal, empirical analyses provide guidance to how programs can most efficiently benefit children, and how we can tailor them to be most cost-effective. the present study reveals that enhancing early parent involvement sets the child on a trajectory towards positive achievement in school and high motivation towards academics. as students perform better and are motivated to do well in school, parents then become more involved in their children’s schooling, thus continuing the positive cycle of students’ achievement. although further research is needed, schools can draw on our findings to implement strategies to increase parent involvement and student motivation as an effective and compelling way to decrease the achievement gap during early childhood and create a system that maintains higher levels of academic achievement for all students. acknowledgment manuscript preparation is supported in part by nichd grant no. hd034294 and the human capital research collaborative at the university of minnesota. references amato, p. r. 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(2002).children's motivation during the middle school years. in j. aronson (ed.), improving academic achievement: contributions of social psychology. san diego: academic press. early parent involvement, motivation, achievement 125 appendix 1 table 4 descriptive statistics of variables used in path model mean s.d. year of cpc participation .99 .84 k word analysis skills 59.71 13.68 3 rd grade reading achievement 97.05 16.84 6 th grade reading achievement 123.68 17.78 k~1 st grade motivation 3.37 1.13 3 rd ~4 th grade motivation 3.16 .96 early parent involvement 5.89 1.83 1 st ~3 rd grade parent involvement 2.54 .98 4 th ~6 th grade parent involvement 2.49 1.05 126 hayakawa et al. appendix 2 table 5 correlations among path model variables years of cpc participation k achiev. 3 rd gr. achiev. 6 th gr. achiev. k/1 st gr. motivation 3 rd /4 th gr. motivation early pi 1 st ~3 rd gr. pi k achievement .25** -------------- 3 rd gr. achievement .12** .51** ------------ 6 th gr. achievement .13** .48** .74** ---------- k/1 st gr. motivation .12** .51** .58** .55** -------- 3 rd /4 th gr. motivation .08* .39** .63** .61** .56** ------ early pi .17** .11* .10* .14** .12* .03 ---- 1 st ~3 rd gr. pi .19** .30** .42** .39** .41** .42** .20** -- 4 th ~6 th gr. pi .14** .20** .26** .31** .26** .34** .14** .40** *p<.01, **p<.001 dialog, 18(4), 1-23 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research article associations of adversity to indicators of child well being in a high quality early education context shannon guss university of oklahoma – tulsa brenda jones-harden university of maryland amanda stein ounce of prevention fund noreen yazejian and nina forestieri university of north carolina at chapel hill studies have shown that adversity in childhood has harmful effects on well-being across the lifespan. this study examined the prevalence of children’s cumulative experiences of adversity, based on parent report, in a national sample of low-income children (n=3,208) enrolled in a high quality early childhood education (ece) program. it explored the association between family adversity that occurred within the year prior to the parents’ interview and the child’s well-being measured after the interview. well-being was based on language, school readiness, and social emotional outcomes. almost half of all families reported experiencing at least one adversity. family adversity was associated with worse school readiness and health outcomes. adversity had mixed associations with socialemotional outcomes and no association with language outcomes. this study also explored time enrolled in ece (dosage) as a protective or promotive factor in relation to adversity. time in program had a positive relationship to most child outcomes and could be interpreted as a promotive factor within the context of adversity for all outcomes except behavioral concerns. keywords: adverse childhood experiences (aces); early education dosage; achievement gap the cumulative risk model is frequently used to explain how poverty negatively impacts the development of young children (aber, 2012; evans, li, & whipple, 2013). multiple studies have pointed to the negative impact of cumulative risk, as measured by a variety of family 2 guss et al. dysfunction indicators, risky family demographics, and economic hardship variables on children’s outcomes (e.g., burchinal, roberts, zeisel, hennon, & hooper, 2006; sameroff & seifer, 1983; stanton-chapman, chapman, kaiser, & hancock, 2004; yumoto, jacobson, & jacobson, 2008). in cumulative risk studies, these factors are combined to create a continuous scale of accumulated risk for the purpose of examining the additive effects of those risks (appleyard, egeland, vandulmen, sroufe, 2005; ayoub et al, 2009; dube et al., 2003; evans & kim, 2013; raikes, vogel, & love, 2013). while these studies often combine demographic risk, such as socioeconomic status or family structure, with experiential risk, such as family instability and family conflict, it is also important to examine experience disaggregated from demographics in order to understand how different domains of risk impact children, how various risks cluster together within samples, and ways in which risk creates ongoing vulnerability (evans, li, & whipple, 2013; masten & monn, 2015). adverse childhood experiences (i.e., aces), defined herein as an event or series of events that threaten children’s physical, emotional, or psychological health and safety, have been documented to be associated with multiple negative shortand long-term outcomes (i.e. appleyard et al., 2006; evans, 2004; felitti et al., 1998; mistry, benner, biesanz, clark, & howes, 2010). early experiences of adversity can disrupt brain architecture, compromise physiological and psychological responses to future stressors, limit cognitive development, and increase lifelong vulnerability to stress-related illnesses (felitti et al., 1998; shonkoff & garner, 2012). there is evidence that the experience of adversity during early childhood, versus later in life, has detrimental and pernicious effects on children’s outcomes (shonkoff & garner, 2012). further, the higher prevalence of these experiences in low-income sub-populations is a matter of social justice, as these experiences are associated with reduced human flourishing. thus, early childhood scholars have called for more investigation into the effects of adversity on young children’s outcomes across domains of child development, with an emphasis on children living in poverty. another compelling empirical and policy/practice question pertains to identifying factors or experiences during the early childhood period that may buffer children against the negative effects of such adversity or promote positive outcomes even in the context of adversity. one factor that merits further examination is participation in high quality early childhood programs, which has been found to bolster children’s school readiness (camilli, vargas, ryan, & barnett, 2010; weiland & yoshikawa, 2013) and to have long-term impacts on participants well-being as adults (campbell, ramey, pungello, sparling, & miller-johnson, 2008; schweinhart et al., 2005). one line of research in early childhood has examined dosage, defined as the amount or timing of either current or cumulative participation in early education programming. this research has generally suggested that more time in high-quality early education programs is beneficial for children’s developmental outcomes (zaslow, et al., 2010). however, very little is known about the associations between ece dosage and outcomes among children who have experienced early adversity. adversity in the context of poverty adversity in the lives of young children can take many forms, including traumatic events, and deprivation of needed human interaction, protection, or access to basic resources. a review of literature from the u.s. and the united kingdom shows that children living in poverty experience associations of adversity to indicators of child well being 3 a myriad of adversities, such as family instability, harsh parenting, unsafe neighborhoods, health problems, corporal punishment, substandard housing and high mobility (evans & kim, 2013). poverty-related risks seem to have a particularly harsh impact on children during early childhood. experiencing severe poverty (i.e., families with incomes less than 50% of the u.s. federal poverty level [fpl]) in early childhood is associated with a broad range of developmental problems in the physical-biological, cognitive-academic and social-emotional domains (duncan & brooks-gunn, 1997; yoshikawa, aber, & beardslee, 2012). further, low-income children are less likely than middle –income children to experience enriching activities, healthy limitations of screen time, and high quality early care environments (evans & kim, 2013; ruzek, burchinal, farkas, & duncan, 2014). overall, the context of poverty is linked to various types of additional adversities that negatively affect the health and well-being of families and the learning and development of children. risk factors such as mental illness, substance abuse, interpersonal/community violence, and material hardship often characterize the experiences of many children from impoverished backgrounds (ackerman, brown, & izard, 2004; evans, 2004). research supports the possibility that these types of risk factors may act as mechanisms through which poverty affects young children, and may more directly influence child outcomes than poverty itself (gassman-pines & yoshikawa, 2006; jones-harden, monahan, & yoches, 2012). burgeoning evidence documents the negative impact of early adversity on brain development and autonomic stress (ans) response systems (johnson, riley, granger, & riis, 2013). executive functions of working memory, attention shifting, and inhibitory control are impaired by current and ongoing stress (diamond, 2013). persistent stress in the absence of a warm and responsive caregiver is related to changes in the architecture of the brain (shonkoff & garner, 2012). the rapidly developing brain of young children is particularly sensitive to these stressors (johnson et al., 2013). recent advances in our understanding of the brain support past research on the sensitivity of children’s development in the context of poverty and other adversities (brooks-gunn & duncan, 1997). these more current studies were foreshadowed by work in the late 1990s, which added much to our understanding of adversity and resilience. in 1998, the adverse childhood experiences (aces) study broke ground in preventive health by linking long-term health outcomes to traumatic or stressful experiences during childhood, that is, experiencing parental divorce, having a parent with a mental illness, having a parent with a drug or alcohol problem, witnessing domestic violence, having a household member who was incarcerated, or experiencing physical, psychological, or sexual abuse, or neglect (felitti et al., 1998). the number of these experiences in childhood, summarized as an ace score, showed a graded relationship with adulthood risky health behaviors, chronic health problems, and premature mortality (felitti et al., 1998, dube, et. al, 2003). this study borrows from the family dysfunction questions of the aces study, but does not include abuse nor neglect. benefits of high quality early childhood programs exposure to high-quality early education experiences may be beneficial for children, and may be an important step toward achieving social justice for children and families living in poverty (irvine, 2010). risk can be attenuated through protective and or promotive processes at the individual or familial level. protective processes buffer individuals from risk, so that the 4 guss et al. protective process is particularly good for individuals at risk. promotive processes, however, tend to be good for all individuals regardless of risk, but may compensate for problems associated with an individual’s experience of adversity (henry, sheffield morris, & harrist, 2015; masten & monn, 2015). to a very limited extent, high-quality early care and education programs have been explored as one ecological context or intervention that may protect children from the effects of family and other environmental risk factors. in a study examining children’s home and child care environments, children experiencing poor home environments, as well as low-quality child care environments, were found to have particularly poor social-emotional outcomes (watamura, phillips, morrissey, mccartney, & bub, 2011). however, the authors also found that high quality child care compensated to some degree for children’s poor home environments. in a study focused on cumulative risk (burchinal et al., 2006), children experiencing multiple risks had poorer outcomes, which were mediated by the parenting they received. child care quality, however, was a protective factor with respect to these children’s mathematics skills and behavior problems during elementary school. high quality early childhood programs, by definition, are characterized by factors that build resilience, such as children’s experience of warm, responsive and stimulating relationships with teachers and caregivers. there is a paucity of evidence regarding the benefits of early care and education programs for young children who experience severe adversity. early head start (ehs) studies document worse outcomes for children with multiple family risks, but show that enrolling in both ehs and head start (hs) provided additional benefits (ayoub et al., 2009; raikes et al., 2013). this study builds on that finding by exploring more experiential risk, rather than demographic risk, within a context of exposure to quality early education and care. previous research findings have suggested that children’s developmental outcomes are better when they enter care early and stay for a longer duration (yazejian, bryant, freel, burchinal, & the educare learning network (eln) investigative team, 2015; zaslow et al., 2010). although we did not find studies examining the association among early education dosage and adversity, research generally supports the notion that greater exposure to high-quality care is related to higher levels of school readiness skills among low-income children (lee, zhai, brooks-gunn, han, & waldfogel, 2014; wen, leow, hahs-vaughn, korfmacher, & marcus, 2012). the findings from these few studies call for more research which examines the influence of experiencing multiple adversities on the developmental outcomes of young children who experience participation in high quality early care and education programs. to address this gap in the literature, the current study examined the prevalence of multiple adversities, the relationship of these adversities to child outcomes, and whether the relationship between adversity and outcomes was different for children with different levels of exposure to high quality programs. the current study given the breadth of the cumulative risk literature and its connection to child outcomes, studies that explore the influence of specific domains of risk may clarify the types of intervention needed for children and families. understanding how family experiential risk relates to child outcomes, but controlling for demographic risk, can provide unique information about children and families experiencing more severe adversity within the ongoing adversity of living in associations of adversity to indicators of child well being 5 poverty. additionally, due to the importance of examining factors that can protect against early adversity or promote positive outcomes within adversity, the current study fills a gap in the literature by examining the protective or promotive influence of participation in high quality early care and education with a wide range of young children.. this study capitalizes on a large sample of children living in poverty and explores subgroups of those experiencing different levels of adversity within the context of poverty and different doses of high quality early care and education. adversity is defined as an event or series of events that threatens children’s physical, emotional, or psychological health and safety and has been documented to be associated with multiple negative shortand long-term outcomes for children. specifically, the adversities examined in the current study were food insecurity, housing insecurity, caregiver depression, family incarceration, family drug or alcohol problem, child witnessing interpersonal violence, and a family member being the victim of community violence. this study borrowed from the family dysfunction items used in the ace study, as well as including severe economic hardship experiences. beyond the ace study, these types of risk factors are frequently studied within cumulative risk literature to understand the relationship between adversity and variations in children’s outcomes. this study approaches the cumulative risk model uniquely, separating out demographic risk, and testing its association with child outcomes. because of interest in the effects of participation in early care and education on children’s outcomes, this study also examines whether the dosage of high quality early education that children receive through ongoing enrollment interacts with adversity to better predict child outcomes. the amount of time, measured in years, children have been enrolled is referred to as dosage. previous examination of this dataset has documented that, after controlling for a number of family factors that might be associated with both earlier enrollment and children’s outcomes, the longer children remain in the educare program, the better they fare over time (yazejian et al., 2015). while dosage has been found to be important within this dataset, the focus of this study are the association between adversity and children’s outcomes. this study’s secondary aim is to expand the limited research that documents potential protective or promotive effects of highquality early care and education on the outcomes of young children experiencing adversity. this investigation will address the following 3 research questions: 1. what is the prevalence of adversity in a national sample of low-income children enrolled in a high quality early childhood program? 2. is cumulative adversity associated with poorer social-emotional, language, and school readiness outcomes for low-income children? 3. does length of time in a high quality early childhood program moderate the association between adversity and child outcomes? method participants the sample includes a total of 3,208 children enrolled in educare, a high quality early education program, during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. the parents of more than 90% of enrolled children consented for their children’s data to be included in the implementation study 6 guss et al. database from which these data were extracted. children were enrolled in educare for 1.55 years (sd=1.08), on average. the amount of time children had been enrolled on the day of their last assessment used for this study varied. specifically, 46.9% of children had been enrolled less than a year, 30.2% had been enrolled 1-2 years, 11.9% had been enrolled 2-3 years, and 11% had been enrolled 3 or more years. the average age of children at program entry was 2.35 (sd=1.41) years. ages of the children at the last assessment used for this analysis varied from less than 1 year old (2.7%), 1-2 years old (8.5%), 2-3 years old (13.8%), 3-4 years old (20.3%) and 4 or more years old (54.7%). data for this study are from 18 early care and education schools, located in 15 u.s. cities including phoenix, az, denver, co, washington, d.c., miami, fl, atlanta, ga, chicago, il, kansas city, ks, new orleans, la, waterville, me, lincoln, ne, omaha, ne, oklahoma city, ok, tulsa, ok, seattle, wa, and milwaukee, wi. demographic characteristics reflected the types of families in u.s. cities who qualify for ehs/hs (i.e., family income below the fpl). about half of the sample were boys (52%). the sample was comprised primarily of children of color (42% black, 39% hispanic). another 11% of children were white, and 8% other races; dual language learners comprised 31% of the sample, with the majority (27.9%) having spanish as a home language. most children were reported by their parents to be in very good to excellent health (average score of 4.26, sd=.83 on a scale of 1-5, where 1 = poor and 5 = excellent). ten percent of the children had an individualized education program (iep) or individualized family service plan (ifsp) indicating receipt of special education services. nearly half of the families were headed by single parents (49%). primary caregivers’ (mothers in more than 90% of the cases) mean age was 25.71 (sd=6.15) years old at the birth of their child. primary caregivers had an average of 12.41 (sd=2.13) years of education. procedures this study includes data from the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 academic years. families were recruited into the study following enrollment into the early childhood program. following enrollment, parent interviews were collected annually and asked about the last year of the family’s life. child outcomes were assessed on a schedule according to the child’s age. details of the schedule are outlined along with measure information. the most recent child outcome was used across multiple ages. for each child in this sample, the parent interview used for analysis must have occurred prior to the child outcome used for analysis. the parent interviews included questions from which the adversity score was calculated per child. standard procedures for protecting human research subjects were followed, including protection of confidentiality, informed consent, and training of key study personnel in the rights of human research subjects. measures parent measures. the parent interview provided an array of information on family characteristics and self-report of experiences within the last year. characteristics included the mother’s age at the time the child was born, the primary caregiver’s highest level of education, and the structure of the family. family characteristics were used as control variables. family associations of adversity to indicators of child well being 7 experiences were used to calculate the main independent variable – adversity. there was an average of 5.08 (2.58) months between the parent interview and child assessments, with the parent interview always preceding the child assessment. interviews were completed with families by the early education programs’ family support staff who generally had established relationship with the families. adversity. through the parent interview, families were asked about a series of events in a section of the interview labeled “what happened last year” (educare learning network, 2007). examples of items included “in the last year… did your child live with someone who had a drug or alcohol problem?” parents answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to these questions to identify family adversities of living with someone with a substance abuse problem, having a family member incarcerated, having a family member who was the victim of a violent crime, and the child witnessing domestic violence. these questions were chosen based on their similarity to the family dysfunction items of the ace study questionnaire. other questions asked whether the family had been homeless in the last year, to which they could answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’. they were also asked how often they had run out of food. if they answered “sometimes” or “often”, this risk was counted as a ‘yes’. a tool reported as being reliable in identifying depression was used to identify families with depressive symptoms (andrews, 1995). answering ‘yes’ to 2 of the 3 questions on the tool is interpreted as a positive screen for depression. each risk was dichotomized into yes-risk experienced equaled 1 and no-risk not experienced equaled 0 and summed into the adversity scale. these variables produced a cumulative account of adversity, based on parent report. the adversity score was calculated for any child with non-missing data on at least one risk experience variable, in order to use as many cases as possible for analysis. the range of the adversity scale was from 0 to 7. as this scale is a sum of various negative experiences, rather than a number of items intended to measure a single construct, internal reliability is not appropriate to calculate. however, point biserial correlations are often used to indicate how well certain items discriminate for a specific score. this can be used for this score, as all items are dichotomous. this correlation is shown in table 1, where it is indicated that all items discriminate fairly equally for the overall adversity score. additionally, the cumulative method is appropriate to use when items correlate with one another. table 1 also shows that the risk variables correlate with one another, therefore summing them reduces multicollinearity in the predictive model. 8 guss et al. note: *p < .01, **p < .001; n = number of responding parents; percentage = percentage of responding parents who experienced this adversity. child measures. each child enrolled in the program could be assessed on a number of measures. all enrolled children were eligible for a teacher-completed rating of behavior designed to understand social-emotional protective factors of children. children who were turning 2 years old were eligible for an auditory language scale. three year old children were eligible for an auditory language and receptive vocabulary test. they were then given these two assessments in the fall of their first head start year and each spring thereafter. finally, in the spring before their kindergarten year, children were assessed with the bracken school readiness assessment. social emotional development. the devereaux early childhood assessment (deca) is a group of rating tools that were used to assess children’s social emotional development. in academic year 2012-2013, the deca for infants and toddlers (deca-i/t: mackrain, lebuffe, table 1. summary of correlations, frequencies, and prevalence of individual adversities measure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 overall adversity score 2 parent screened positive for depression .57** 3 ran out of food .52** .19** 4 lived with someone with drug or alcohol problem .44** .09** .03 5 witnessed domestic violence .53** .13** .07** .37** 6 family member incarcerated .58** .13** .07** .21** .21** 7 family member victim of violent crime .50** .14** .03 .18** .30** .27** 8 homeless in the last year .45** .15** .11** .06** .16** .15** .14** n 3208 3208 3208 3159 3150 3174 3172 3180 percentage 18% 23% 5% 6% 16% 7% 7% associations of adversity to indicators of child well being 9 & powell, 2007) and the deca (lebuffe & naglieri, 1999) were used. in academic year 201314, the deca-p2 (lebuffe & naglieri, 2012) was used in place of the deca for preschool-age children. the infant form includes initiative and attachment subscales. a self-regulation subscale is added in the toddler and preschool versions, and an additional screener examines behavior concerns in the preschool version only. the technical manual for the measure reports that internal consistency estimates for teacher raters on these subscales ranged from .87 to .94 for the infant and toddler forms, .80 to .90 for the deca preschool form, and from .85 to .94 for the deca-p2 preschool form. typical ranges for t-scores on each subscale are between 41-59, while scores of 40 and below represent areas of need for initiative, attachment, and selfregulation. scores above 60 indicate a need for behavior concerns, but a strength for initiative, attachment, and self-regulation. language development. language development was examined using two direct assessment tools – the peabody picture vocabulary test – version 4 (ppvt-4; dunn & dunn, 2007) and the preschool language scale—fifth edition (pls-5; zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2011). the ppvt-4 is a test of receptive vocabulary, which can be used with individuals from ages 2.5 to 90 years. children are shown a series of four pictures and asked to identify the picture that reflects the provided vocabulary word. as reported by the publishers of the measure, split-half reliability within the two forms ranged from .89 to .97. test-retest reliability ranged from .91 to .94. the ppvt was used in this study with children 3 to 5 years old. it produces a standard score with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. the second tool, the pls-5, is a structured play-based assessment designed for children from birth to seven years of age. it is used to evaluate children’s receptive and expressive language skills, as well as their understanding and use of grammatical rules. the pls-5 has two subscales: auditory comprehension (ac) and expressive communication (ec), and is available in english and spanish. only the auditory comprehension sub-scale was examined for the current study. the standardization sample included 1,400 children from 45 states in the united states, matched with the census child population. split half reliabilities range from .80 to .97. test developers report that sensitivity for the total language score is .83, and specificity is .80 (zimmerman et al., 2011). school readiness. the bracken school readiness assessment – version 3 was used to directly assess children’s familiarity with academic concepts (bracken, 2007). it measures familiarity with academic concepts, with subscales of colors, letters, numbers and counting, sizes and comparisons, and shapes. the subscales are combined to form a school readiness composite score, which is standardized for children 3 years to 6 years and 11 months. test-retest reliability was estimated using the pearson’s product-moment correlation. the average corrected stability coefficient ranged from .76 to .92 (bracken, 2007). the standard score has a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. child health. two measures of children’s health were examined based on parent report, both derived from the parent interview – an overall health rating and a health problems summary score. the overall health rating was reported on a scale from 1-5, with 1 being poor and 5 being excellent. parents were also asked to report whether their child experienced the following specific health problems: allergies, diabetes, sickle cell disease, high lead levels, anemia, eczema, hearing difficulties, asthma, obesity, vision problems, or any other health problems. the health problems summary score was calculated as the sum of all health problems reported. in the analysis models, both the overall health rating and health problems score were standardized with a mean of 0 and standard deviation of 1. 10 guss et al. dosage. dosage was measured as length of time in care. time in care was calculated for each assessment as the difference between the child’s age at assessment and their age of entry divided by 365.25, providing a measure of the time in years children had attended the program. mean time between enrollment and the interview was 12.39 (12.7) months, with enrollment always preceding the interview. the varying amounts of time between enrollment and assessment of outcome measures created a variable that roughly defined the amount of exposure children had to the classroom and also defined the amount of time families had access to program supports. results descriptive analyses examined the distribution of individual adversities, demographic characteristics, and child outcome variables within the sample, as well as correlations between adversity and child outcomes. inferential analyses examined associations between time in educare and child outcomes using two-level hierarchical linear models with children nested in classrooms. a large set of covariates was included to produce conservative estimates of associations – site, child age, gender, race, primary language, family structure, education level of the primary caregiver, whether the child had an ifsp/iep, and age of the child’s mother when the child was born. it should be noted that demographics often used in cumulative risk models are controlled for within this model. specifically, variables such as family structure, education level of the primary caregiver, and age of the child’s mother can also identify risks such as single parent, no high school education, and teen parent. models using assessments with multiple versions controlled for test version (deca), and the model using assessments with multiple languages controlled for test language (pls-5). the adversity scale score and the interaction between adversity and dosage were included in the models to examine relationships between child outcomes and adversity and whether this relationship differed by time in educare. all analyses were conducted with sas 9.3. there was diversity within the number and types of adversities experienced by the sample. table 1 lists the prevalence of individual adversities experienced as well as correlations between the adversities. bivariate correlations between the adversities confirmed the appropriateness of the cumulative approach to combining the adversities into a single scale. the cumulative approach is appropriate when risk variables correlate with one another. combining risks reduces problems of multi-collinearity in regression analyses while also providing information about the additive relationship of risk to the outcomes of interest. most adversities correlated with one another, with the exception of running out of food with two variables – having a family member who was a victim of a violent crime and living with someone with a drug or alcohol problem. frequencies of the variables showed that running out of food was the highest reported adversity (23%) and living with someone with a drug or alcohol problem was the least reported adversity (5%). the distribution of cumulative adversity scores in the sample is presented in table 2. almost half of all children in the sample (48.25%) experienced at least one adversity within the year preceding their parent interview. associations of adversity to indicators of child well being 11 child outcome distributions are shown in table 3. means of the pls-5 and the deca resembled national norm means and standard deviations. the ppvt and bracken scores were below national norms by approximately half a standard deviation. correlations between child outcomes and the predictors of interest adversity and time in educare are also presented in table 3. table 3. child outcomes descriptive statistics correlations n mean sd adversity dosage deca initiative 3072 52.30 9.54 -.04* .07*** deca attachment 3072 51.14 9.42 -.06** .04* deca self-regulation 2837 50.71 10.28 -.08*** .00 deca behavioral concerns 2242 50.29 10.42 .11*** .01 ppvt 2133 92.94 15.32 -.01 .13*** pls-5 auditory comprehension 1994 97.49 13.83 -.06* .13*** bracken 1521 92.51 14.93 -.08** .16*** health rating 3191 4.26 .83 -.08** .04* sum of health problems 3208 .48 .80 .13** .02 note: +.05<p<.1, *.01<p<.05, **.001<p<.01, ***p<.001 regression results are presented in tables 4-6. due to the correlational nature of this study, and the large sample size, models are interpreted more conservatively, at the p>.01 level. that is, alpha levels were set lower in order to reduce the likelihood of type i error. in the hierarchical linear models controlling for site and demographic characteristics, both adversity and time in educare were predictive of social-emotional outcomes. higher adversity scale scores were associated with higher scores on the deca behavioral concerns (b=.81, sd=.18) subscale, and with lower scores on initiative (b=-.37, sd=.14) and self-regulation (b=-.62, sd=.17) subscales. more time in educare was associated with higher deca initiative (b=.53, se=.17), but also higher deca behavioral concerns (b=.56, se=.19) scores. interactions between adversity and dosage were not significant in the deca models. table 2. prevalence of cumulative adversity number of adversities 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 percentage of sample 51.75 27.40 13.44 4.05 1.84 1.00 .53 0 n=3,208 12 guss et al. adversity and dosage were associated with school readiness scores, but not language scores. school readiness scores were lower for those experiencing more adversities (brsa: b=1.40, sd=.36). there was not a statistically significant relationship between adversity and the two language variables – auditory comprehension or receptive vocabulary. receptive vocabulary, auditory comprehension, and school readiness assessment scores were higher for those with more time in educare (ppvt: b=1.90, sd=.26; pls-5: b=1.42, sd=.27; bracken: b=1.38, sd=.30). again, there were no significant interactions between dosage and adversity. children’s health rating and number of health problems were associated with adversity, but not with dosage. higher adversity scale scores predicted worse parent-reported health (b=08, sd=.02) and more health problems (b=.11, sd=.02). there were no significant relationships to dosage, nor significant interactions between adversity and dosage. table 4. fixed and random effects for predictors of deca subscales attachment n=2958 initiative n=2958 self-regulation n=2736 behavior concerns n=2155 fixed effects intercept 51.56 (0.33) 52.73 (.30) 50.90 (0.30) 50.15 (0.36) adversity -.33 (.14) -.37* (.14) -.62** (.17) .81** (.18) dosage .41 (.16) .53* (.17) -.39 (.19) .56* (.19) adversity*dosage .09 (.14) -.05 (.14) .16 (.16) .03 (.17) site f=1.75* f=1.42 f=1.08 f=2.69*** age (months) .04 (.02) .16** (.02) .18** (.02) -.17** (.03) male -2.32** (.29) -2.68** (.30) -3.19** (.35) 4.03** (.38) dll -.62 (.47) .08 (.49) 1.73** (.57) -1.26* (.63) black -.05 (.64) -.35 (.66) -.58 (.78) 1.14 (.91) hispanic .64 (.67) .46 (.69) 1.58+ (.81) -1.17 (.91) other race .32 (.73) 1.42+ (.75) 1.75* (.89) -1.05 (1.01) single parent -.26 (.31) -.27 (.32) -1.08* (.37) 1.62** (.41) iep/ifsp -2.61** (.51) -4.05** (.53) -3.73** (.60) 3.12** (.65) parent education .04 (.08) .09 (.08) -.04 (.09) .06 (.10) mother’s age at birth -.01 (.02) .02 (.03) .06+ (.03) -.07 (.03) random effect variances intercept 27.63** 20.46** 16.42** 18.45** level 1 residual 55.41** 60.18** 76.18** 72.60** note. standard errors are in parentheses. dll = dual language learner; iep/ifsp = individualized education plan or individual family support plan *p < .01, **p < .001 associations of adversity to indicators of child well being 13 table 5. fixed and random effects for predictors of language and school readiness ppvt receptive vocabulary n=2048 pls5 auditory comprehension n=1932 bracken school readiness n=1444 fixed effects intercept 92.99 (.28) 98.07 (.36) 93.44 (.46) adversity -.41 (.27) -.65 (.28) -1.10* (.34) dosage 1.90** (.26) 1.42** (.27) 1.38** (.30) adversity*dosage -.40+ (.24) -.22 (.25) -.01 (.29) site f=7.30** f=9.77** f=6.78** age (months) .07 (.03) -.03 (.03) -.07 (.05) male -2.10** (.56) -3.80** (.58) -2.89** (.69) dll -8.28** (.89) -2.60* (1.26) -2.22 (1.10) black -2.63 (1.30) -3.73* (1.36) -.46 (1.60) hispanic -4.94** (1.29) -3.61 (1.44) -3.42 (1.58) other race .08 (1.45) -.34 (1.52) 3.21+ (1.78) single parent -.47 (.60) .40 (.61) -.45 (.74) iep -6.81** (.96) -8.75** (1.06) -5.10** (1.19) parent education 1.29** (.15) .52* (.15) 1.13** (.18) mother’s age at birth .09+ (.05) .04 (.05) .14* (.06) random effects variances intercept 0.02 0 3.72+ level 1 residual 155.83** 158.20** 161.48** note. standard errors are in parentheses. dll = dual language learner; iep/ifsp = individualized education plan or individual family support plan *p < .01, **p < .001 14 guss et al. table 6. fixed and random effects for predictors of standardized health rating and health problems health rating n=3069 health problems n=3085 fixed effects intercept .07 (.02) -.09 (.02) adversity -.08** (.02) .11** (.02) dosage .03+ (.02) .02 (.02) adversity*dosage -.01 (.02) .03 (.02) site f=2.85** f=5.55** age (months) -.01 (.01) .01 (.01) male -.09 (.04) .16** (.03) dll -.07 (.06) -.24** (.06) black -.17 (.08) .12 (.08) hispanic -.32** (.08) -.12 (.08) other race -.26* (.09) .08 (.09) single parent -.03 (.04) .10* (.04) iep -.21* (.06) .42** (.06) parent education -.00 (.01) .02* (.01) mother’s age at birth -.00 (.00) -.00 (.00) random effect variances intercept 0 0 level 1 residual .95** .89** note. standard errors are in parentheses. dll = dual language learner; iep/ifsp = individualized education plan or individual family support plan *p < .01, **p < .001 discussion based on parent report, almost half (48.25%) of this sample of children had experienced family adversity at a very young age. before children’s entry to kindergarten, these parents report that the family had run out of food, been homeless, or struggled with depression, community violence, drug or alcohol addiction, incarceration, or intimate partner violence. this provides a unique addition to the cumulative risk literature, with a focus on adverse experiential risk at the family level, controlling for other demographic risks. the frequency of these adversities within a large, national sample clarifies that these occurrences are not rare. adversity is part of the story of children enrolled in early childhood programs serving low-income families, making the experience of poverty even harder. data from the national survey of children’s health provide information on the prevalence of these factors for children birth to age 17. similarly to this study, the most commonly reported adversity is economic hardship (sacks, murphy, & moore, 2014). out of children birth to 5 years of age, 25% experienced economic hardship, 6% lived with someone with drug problems, 6% lived with someone who was mentally ill, 3% were victims or witness to violence in their community, 4% witnessed domestic violence, and 5% lived with a parent who associations of adversity to indicators of child well being 15 had been incarcerated (sacks et al., 2014). another nationally representative study estimated that almost 6% of children between two and five years-of-age had witnessed violence in their community during the previous year and one percent of children under two were exposed to a shooting in the previous year (finkelhor, 2009). the current study found similar results for running out of food (23%), living with someone with a drug or alcohol problem (5%), and witnessing domestic violence (6%). however, this study had higher reports for other variables, with 18% of caregivers screening positive for depression, 7% of children having family members who had been victims of a violent crime, and 16% having family members who had been incarcerated. these differences could be due to differences in the wording of questions or in an actual higher prevalence that is related to the low-income sample. indeed, rates of depression tend to be higher among women, minorities, people with less than a high school education, and those who are disabled, unemployed, or without health insurance (center for disease control and prevention [cdc]., 2010). in addition to higher rates of mental health and substance use, rates of violence are also higher in low-income populations compared to more general populations. increasingly, young children growing up in the context of poverty are contending with the incarceration of a parent. estimates are that 2 million children have an incarcerated parent (grayson, 2007). one unique outcome for this group of children is managing the ambiguous loss of a parent, and its implications for attachment relationships and trauma (bocknek, sanderson, & britner, 2009; shlafer, & poehlmann, 2010). the prevalence of these factors, along with their associations with social-emotional and academic outcomes, calls for practice and policy to attend to issues of adversity in the lives of children from low-income families. social-emotional outcomes. some of the associations with social-emotional outcomes were in the expected direction – negative relationships between adversity and social emotional outcomes – initiative, self-regulation, and behavioral concerns. behavioral concerns were higher with more adversity by .81 points for each additional adversity, for children experiencing average dosage. similarly, the lower self-regulation scores (b=-.62) indicated worse outcomes for at-risk children with average dosage. this is in line with a growing body of research documenting the association between experience of adversity and its negative association with children’s self-regulation (hamoudi, murray, sorensen, & fontaine, 2015). however, dosage was not consistently related to more positive outcomes for children, with more dosage associated with more behavioral concerns. this echoes other results showing more time in childcare being associated with lower social competence and more behavior problems (nichd, 2002). early childhood programs may play an important part in supporting children’s resilience by helping to build self-regulation, social competence, and problem solving skills (bierman, nix, greenberg, blair, & domitrovich, 2008; raver et al., 2011). a recent metaanalysis showed stronger effects for social-emotional learning (sel) when programs had specific interventions focused on sel (schindler et al., 2015). alternatively, it may be that the greater prevalence of risk within group care settings has a peer effect that would reduce outcomes for all children within the group (bulotsky-shearer, dominguez, & bell, 2012; fantuzzo, lebouef, & rouse, 2014). the challenge of reducing stress and supporting social competencies is a challenge within the group care setting, and this challenge is further complicated with high proportions of children whose development may be compromised due to adversity. interventions seeking to reduce behavior problems in classrooms might consider the concentrations of multi-risk children and families in a classroom or program. 16 guss et al. walsh (2006) suggests that those working with multi-stressed families be sensitive to this context by helping families prioritize amongst their many needs. further, she emphasizes the need to overcome cycles of withdrawal and distrust, forge respectful partnerships, persistently communicate belief in the family’s potential to overcome, and increase problem-solving and prevention skills as a shared activity (walsh, 2006). this challenging aim of practice with families requires school staff who specialize in working with families experiencing stress and trauma. school readiness. one of the stronger results of this study was the association of adversity to the brsa (b=-1.10). children with average dosage scored 1.10 points lower on the brsa for each additional adversity. while a practical interpretation is that this is a small difference, it may be these small differences that are related to larger differences later. analysis of growth trajectories in the early childhood longitudinal study – kindergarten (ecls-k) data documents that the gap in school readiness at kindergarten entry widens throughout schooling, highlighting the importance of arriving to kindergarten with strong skills (layzer & layzer, 2009). language. while the school readiness result was strong, the same relationship to adversity did not hold for receptive vocabulary (ppvt) or auditory comprehension (pls). for children with average dosage, auditory comprehension had a trending negative association with family adversity and positive association with dosage. the ppvt was not significantly associated with adversity, but there was a 1.90 point gain for children experiencing an additional year in educare with average adversity. academic knowledge can be considered a culture-specific skill, but language is a broader species-specific skill. these differing types of skills may develop differently in their association with risk (masten & monn, 2015). the narrow concepts assessed with the brsa are most likely learned in the classroom. unlike language, that can be learned in many contexts, these schoolrelated concepts may be harder to grasp for children experiencing adversity. self-regulation has been explored as a possible mediator, or path, to academic skills, with mixed results (raver et al., 2011; blair & diamond, 2008). as self-regulation is negatively associated with adversity, classroom practices can incorporate an understanding of adversity within learning by considering the unique needs of children under stress. for example, children who have experienced a lot of stress may have dysregulated stress systems that perceive threat more rapidly than others, or be hyper-reactive (mclaughlin et al., 2015; curtis & cicchetti, 2013). in one study, a larger variety of classroom activities and materials was related to an unhealthy stress response, an increase in cortisol levels, after controlling for emotional support (hatfield et al., 2013). more activity maybe stressful to children if teacher sensitivity is lacking. however, higher emotional support, measured by levels of warmth and sensitivity, has been associated with a decline in cortisol levels, indicating a healthier stress response (hatfield, hestenes, kintner-duffy, & o’brien, 2013). self-regulation, and associated behavior, is closely linked to the stress response system. insults to the ans system through multiple family adversities may result in allostatic load and related health problems (blair et al., 2011). this study has some evidence of this connection based on the association between adversity and health outcomes within this very young population. more adversity was related to a lower health rating and more identified health associations of adversity to indicators of child well being 17 problems. health rating and the sum of health problems was not related to dosage and neither variable was moderated by dosage. limitations a limitation of this study is the self-report of adversity by the families. families had the right to choose whether to respond, possibly limiting the sample, and could also have provided a false response for questions that were uncomfortable. in most circumstances, this problem was somewhat ameliorated by the involvement of family support workers who had a relationship with these families and are tasked with using the interviews to better understand and support families. another limitation of this study was the lack of comprehensiveness about the adversities children experience. while parents were asked about a large set of difficult experiences impacting families, the chronicity and severity of adversities is unknown. adversities such as children’s experience of abuse or neglect were not included. like drug abuse and domestic violence, these questions may not be answered by all families, but certainly have a negative impact on the development of children and are likely to coincide with additional stressors. while this study attempted to narrow the scope of cumulative risk to family adversity, rather than a mix of adversity and demographics, these risks could be further narrowed into economic and traumatic domains, or direct and indirect domains. another limitation was the cross-sectional nature of the sample, based on all children in the program across two years. while this provided a large snapshot of potential variation in children’s experiences of adversity, it had two related limitations. first, 54% of the children included in this sample were still enrolled in the ece program the following year. this half of the sample had the potential to benefit from more time in the program. it is possible that more time in the program following the adversity would have a different pattern of associations with outcomes. while the cross-sectional method provided the benefit of seeing the association of adversity with child outcomes among the children who are likely to be in the program at any given time, it is limited in showing the potential for recovery from adversity, or resilience. analysis of a larger set of these data found somewhat different patterns between dosage and social emotional outcomes. yazejian et al. (2015) found that while entering educare earlier was associated with less regulation and more behavior concerns, additional years in the program were related to reduced negative outcomes over time for both self-control and behavior concerns. likely reasons for the differences in findings between the two studies are in the sample and methods used. this study incorporated only the two most recent years of data collection, whereas yazejian et al. used data gathered over six program years. the current study also did not impute for missing data, capitalize on the longitudinal nature of the data, or include age of entry along with time in care. the benefit of this cross-sectional approach, however, is that it has captured a natural grouping of adversity in a very recent group of children enrolled in programs serving low-income families. the use of dosage as the main program variable could also be considered a limitation. the calculation of dosage, as years enrolled, does not capture specific days when the child attended. however, dosage does capture a measure of the interacting systems of home and school – as dosage is the amount of time the parent had access to the program. this level of 18 guss et al. analysis seems appropriate to a study of family adversity because it measures potential time that family systems might interact with the early care and education system. closely related to the choice of dosage as the moderator, a limitation of this study is that it is correlational, with no control group with which to compare. families brought their children to the program, and therefore selection bias is an issue in this sample as well. this bias is reduced by using a large variety of covariates that would be related to selecting into the program in the models, but is not eliminated. another limitation is the specificity of generalization. the age of children is mixed, from children under 1 year to children up to 5 years of age. while this allowed for a broader examination of the relationships, there are issues to consider. children may develop different in the context of adversity at different ages. while younger children may be attuned to their parents’ stress (tronick & beeghly, 2011; waters, west, & mendes, 2014), older children may be more likely to have difficulty understanding life changes (bocknek et al., 2009). while exploration of these differences will be beneficial in future research, the exploration of these narrowed associations in children under 5 years is a first step. to control for the varying ages in the dataset, the child assessments were standardized, norm-referenced measures. the use of the norm-tables allow us to compare all children to others their same age with the same standardized score. future directions the focus of this paper was to separate experiential risk from demographic risk as a unique contribution to the broader literature showing cumulative risks predicting poorer outcomes for children. additional research on domains of risk can inform us of the extent to which various forms of risk effect children, thereby prioritizing the foci of interventions or family support practices to have maximum benefit. additionally, identifying how varying risks tend to correlate can help design programs for families around risks that tend to co-occur. for example, while risks correlated with each other and the overall adversity score, a cluster of domestic violence, drugs, and incarceration had slightly higher correlations with one another. if this were replicated in other samples, it would provide stronger evidence that programs addressing domestic violence will likely need to assist families with drug and alcohol issues, either dependency or codependency. these families may also benefit from information that would help a child cope with the ambiguous loss of a family member who becomes incarcerated (bocknek et al., 2009). family development within the context of adversity provides a plethora of salient research directions from the micro-processes between children and their caregivers to the macroprocesses of policies that ameliorate or worsen children’s experience of adversity. recent analysis of early head start data indicates that the program was successful in reducing maltreatment (green et al., 2014). early education programs may serve as the settings in which interventions can successfully prevent or reduce the experience of other adversities as well. conclusion the pattern of association showed worse initiative, self-regulation, school readiness, and health outcomes for more reported adversity. of the outcomes in this study, only language and associations of adversity to indicators of child well being 19 attachment showed no negative association with adversity. further, for children with average adversity, there was a positive association of dosage with initiative, language, and school readiness outcomes. the lack of moderation by dosage suggests that the relationship between adversity and child outcomes did not differ for children with differing levels of dosage. another way of looking at this finding is that children experiencing varying adversities benefitted equally from time in the program, as evidenced by the relationship of higher dosage with higher outcomes given average adversity. the exception to this finding was the association of both adversity and dosage to higher behavioral concerns, an undesirable outcome. these findings indicate that adversity may appear in classrooms with symptoms of selfregulation struggles, behavioral concerns, academic learning difficulties, and health problems. data from this study provide evidence that practitioners providing high quality early care and education can influence negative trends in these areas. while this study did not find that high quality care was a protective fact or, it did support early education as a promotive factor of language and school readiness outcomes for children experiencing adversity. the mixed findings for social-emotional outcomes could imply that children experiencing adversity, including the adversity of poverty itself, may need more intensive social-emotional programming to help them build strengths in these areas. as family adversity is part of the story of these lower outcomes, involving families in building social-emotional strengths will be important as well. this paper links the literature of cumulative risk with studies of adverse child experiences by examining the domain of cumulative experiential adversity – family dysfunction and economic hardship. it also adds to literature showing that demographically high risk families had better outcomes when children were enrolled in both ehs and hs (raikes et al., 2013). because more time in the program seemed to be a promotive factor in language, school readiness, and some social-emotional outcomes, development of policies that help retain high risk families may provide added and continued benefit to children. acknowledgements the findings reported here are based on research conducted as part of the educare learning network implementation study funded by the buffett early childhood fund and the george kaiser family foundation under contract to frank porter graham child development institute in conjunction with the educare learning network implementation study research consortium. generous local sources fund each site’s local evaluator. the implementation study research consortiumconsists of representatives from 20 programs participating in the evaluation, the local and national evaluation contractors, and the ounce of prevention fund. principal researchers in the consortium (and their research institutions) have included jane atwater (university of kansas), gary bingham (georgia state university), donna bryant (university of north carolina at chapel hill), margaret burchinal (university of north carolina at chapel hill), alan cobo-lewis (university of southern maine), rachel chazan cohen (george mason university), lori ellingford (arizona state university), nancy file (university of wisconsin-milwaukee), sheridan green (clayton early learning, denver), daryl greenfield (university of miami), brenda jones harden (university of maryland), miriam hirschstein (university of washington), diane horm (university of oklahoma-tulsa), todd jackson (ounce of prevention fund), jolene johnson (university of nebraska medical center), brian mangus (anselm center, edmund oklahoma), mark nagasawa (erikson institute), nicole patton-terry 20 guss et al. (georgia state university), tony raden (ounce of prevention fund), helen raikes (university of nebraska-lincoln), lisa st. clair (university of nebraska medical center), amanda stein (ounce of prevention fund), susan spieker (university of washington), mary sweet-darter (anselm center, edmund oklahoma), katherine theall (tulane university), dale walker (university of kansas), julie washington (georgia state university), noreen yazejian (university of north carolina at chapel hill). references aber, l. (2012).poor and low family incomes: infant/toddler development, and the prospects for change: back to the future. in s. l. odom, e. p. pungello & n. gardner-neblett (eds.), infants, toddlers and families in poverty: research implications for early child care (pp. 281-306). new york, ny: the guilford press. ackerman, b. p., brown, e. d., & izard, c. e. 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(2011). preschool language scales fifth edition (pls-5). bloomington, mn: pearson. dialog, 18(4), 44-58 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research article “the opportunity to get ready”: early head start program innovation anita s. charles bates college mary anne peabody university of southern maine this article describes a qualitative case study within an urban early head start program in the northeast. this one-year study explores the experiences of various stakeholders involved in the program designed to reach highly vulnerable families who were not eligible for early head start due to complex life experiences. the goal of this research was to deepen the knowledge base regarding the benefits and challenges of this approach by learning from parents and the practicing professionals' perspectives. findings are discussed in terms of literature relevant to ecological theory, family resilience, and coping with stressors with an emphasis on supporting staff who in turn support both young children's school readiness and families in a collaborative community process. this article also identifies next steps useful to professionals and scholars interested in initiating or studying this approach to expand early head start to the most vulnerable infant, toddlers and their families within comprehensive early childhood education programs. keywords: vulnerable families, early head start, ecological theory, spatialized critical theory, resilience early head start (ehs) was designed as a multi-generational program to improve children’s developmental outcomes by providing high quality child and family development services that support and enhance family functioning. ehs was specifically created to improve the early developmental, social, emotional, physical health, and educational experiences of infants and toddlers in families who meet the federal poverty guidelines. under the standard model of ehs, the program is provided for families whose parents are either working or enrolled in school, thereby providing the necessary child care and educational experiences for their children birth to age three. consequently, many vulnerable families with infants and toddlers facing the greatest risks are not enrolled, and typically come to the attention of other service systems, such as homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, the courts, or child welfare offices (knitzer & lefkowitz, 2006). although national guidelines exist for ehs programming, a discretionary level of decision-making exists at state and local levels to best serve specific community needs. 44 charles & peabody ehs models of delivery are typically center-based, home-based, or a combination of these two. early head start has been touted as having positive impact, including improvements in children’s cognitive, social-emotional, and language development, as well as in parental selfsufficiency (u.s. department of health and human services, 2006). as noted by rafferty, griffin, and robokos (2010), early head start is the only national program focused on improving multiple developmental domains of infants and toddlers in families in poverty. studies indicate positive impacts on child development and parental behaviors from head start and early head start (barnett, 2007; u.s. department of health and human services, 2006). despite the strengths espoused in ehs research and evaluation, researchers have called for new or alternative strategies for serving families who have large numbers of demographic risk factors (u.s. department of health and human services, 2006). many parents of vulnerable babies and toddlers are themselves in highly stressed economic and psychological circumstances that go beyond poverty and lower educational levels. for these parents, enrolling in school or maintaining employment may be a long-term goal, but not an immediate one. these families may be dealing with adverse life experiences such homelessness, mental health, substance abuse, other special needs of their children, or open cases through the department of health and human services. they may be negotiating drug court, participating in domestic shelter programs, and attempting to find alternative living arrangements. mandated programs or basic survival become the priority, which can then move a family forward to the longer range goal of employment or education. given these challenges, some families with young children are not ready for school or employment attendance, making them ineligible for early head start under current guidelines. this leaves an unmet, yet critical, community need. this ethnographic case study examines a response to this need through an innovative and integrative approach to supporting eight targeted high-need families served by an urban head start center in new england. the model, referred to pseudonymously in this paper as the capture program, was established using federal money intended for vulnerable families from the region who qualify based on four key priorities: substance abuse, homelessness, special needs (of parents and/or children) including mental illness, and open cases through department of health and human services (dhhs). under this funding that permits creative use of programming, parents do not need to meet the school or job requirement of the traditional ehs program. the design for this particular early head start capture program was developed by the regional hs staff to meet the contextualized needs of highly vulnerable families and children. this study is a narrative portrayal of the capture program in the first year of operation, and of the perceptions and lived experiences of various stakeholders, including parents, teachers, and administration participating in the model. this qualitative narrative assists in building an understanding of the program’s successes and challenges in its first year of operation and lessons learned in moving forward toward sustainability. this study is intended to assist early head start personnel as well as local, state and national policy makers, within and beyond new england, in understanding the complex reality of implementation of this type of program for early head start. this project has the potential to impact policy, reform, and continued support for some of our most fragile families. early head start 45 theoretical framework ecological systems theory the conceptual framework for our research is based primarily on bronfenbrenner’s (1974, 1994) seminal work in creating an ecological model of human development. this paradigm centers on a multifaceted systems-based understanding of “place” as a nuanced interconnection of contexts and cultural spaces. later iterations of bronfenbrenner’s model, known as the ecological systems theory (est), incorporated the importance of reciprocal interactions, called proximal processes, between the individual child and the representatives from various external systems. consequently, an est perspective requires a complex consideration of “the person, the processes of interaction, the multiple contexts, and time” (burns, warmbold-brann, & zaslofsky, 2015, p. 250). it is particularly suited to understanding urban education and poverty. in addition, we consider the concept of family resilience in coping with stressors emerging from conditions that place families at risk of school and societal difficulty (vandsburger, harrigan, & biggerstaff, 2008; wadsworth et al., 2013). we purposely focus on bronfenbrenner’s (1974) early work as pivotal in the field of early childhood education. he defined the “child’s ecology” as multilayered contexts including the immediate contexts of home and school as well as the supporting layers of community, family, and social systems. children grow and learn in multi-dimensional realities, and must therefore be understood within these authentic environments. ecological variables within systems may include the parents’ work, transportation, extended family dynamics, social supports, historical contexts, and more, some of which factors are modifiable through social policy (bronfenbrenner 1974, 1994). this ecological model expands our view of children to allow for new understanding of how a child’s actual and potential lives may be impacted. a key tenet of this theory is that all levels are interconnected and each subsystem influences all others (weiss, lopez, kreider, & chatman-nelson, 2014). similarly, gruenewald (2003), in a framework of spatialized critical theory, explained that geographical space intersects with politics and belief systems and “simultaneously reflects and reproduces social relationships of power and domination” (p. 628), and thereby reinforces cultural production, including the legitimization and reproduction of institutional authority. gruenewald suggested that such a reality ignores the learning experiences in the places outside of school. we can apply a critical space-conscious lens to our own work by recognizing the overlapping intersections and realities of the lives of the families and children both within and outside the school setting, including a recognition of the dynamics of power structures embedded in various relationships. extending the ecological model to factors of resilience for families in poverty, wadworth et al. (2013) longitudinally examined a poverty-related stress model to conclude that “multicomponent interventions” (p. 723) for families in poverty may include assisting parents in developing coping skills and reducing economic strain. they stated that parents’ “use of efficacious coping is associated with better mental health, which is in turn associated with child outcomes via parent–child relationships” (p. 723). the researchers call for more research on family processes and suggest “family-based interventions” for these families (p. 723). in another study, vandsburger et al. (2008) drew data from 128 families whose children attended head start or similar programs to explore resilience in families dealing with economic hardship. communication and connection with others, particularly family members, were self46 charles & peabody identified factors in dealing with stressors. these researchers conclude that a strengths-based perspective is “paramount” in intervention processes. if assessment tools rely on “deficit-focused data such as dependencies, disabilities, and dysfunctions associated with living in poverty, this focus inevitably influences assessment and treatment processes. a focus on deficits may lead to overlooking family and individual strengths and thus forego opportunities for practice interventions that facilitate autonomy and self-efficacy.” (p. 30) their research strongly recommends strength-focused communication between social workers or home visitors and family members. ambivalence in working with families in poverty ecological models can expand our understanding of working with families in poverty. since poverty is aligned with multiple risk factors, it impacts developmental outcomes in young children (rafferty et al., 2010; wadsworth et al., 2013). this theory suggests that “economic factors within the family (e.g., lower income, inadequate family resources) influence child development through their impact on parental mental health and parenting practices” (rafferty et al., 2010, p. 547). the stresses caused by poverty are “arduous and dispiriting” (wadsworth et al., 2013, p. 713). halpern (1993) emphasizes three key societal factors that create ambivalence in how people in support services and programs regard poor families. the first is the belief that poverty is due to individual -not societal -behaviors and choices, and thus a result of irresponsibility or of inadequate individual skills or traits. the second factor is that service workers expect poor parents to protect their children’s well being, while simultaneously doubting that they actually have the capacity to do so. and third, service workers tend to expect more from families than is reasonable, especially in regard to adequate housing, jobs, or economic opportunities. since the mid-1900s, the prevailing societal attitude has been that, while poor families deserved to parent their children, poverty was “a reason to intervene in their lives” (halpern, 1993, p. 161). insisting that poor families require expert intervention ironically disempowers those families and “undermined whatever confidence and abilities the families had in their child rearing” (p. 162). consequently, services are often paradoxical in intent – to both enable and control recipients; to understand the families’ lives and yet to interpret their lives from outside; to help link poor families to mainstream norms and opportunities, and simultaneously to note their deviation from these norms through categories of dysfunction. furthermore, service providers often abandon, undermine, or underfund their own efforts to reach these families (halpern, 1993). this ambivalence and contradiction create a “fragile foundation for helping relationships” (halpern, 1993, p. 163). consequently, service providers need guidance in building healthy relationships with vulnerable families (wadsworth et al., 2013), and particularly in those families where the parent-child relationship is at risk. providers also struggle with “day-in, day-out pressures related to working in contexts characterized by scarcity, social isolation, and depletion” (p. 164). these conditions leave the service providers themselves feeling vulnerable and often disempowered. research indicates that childhood teachers need better preparation in early head start 47 understanding and dealing with both schooland society-related stressors in the lives of vulnerable children (onchwari, 2010). early childhood education – challenges and strategies professionals within early childhood education settings, such as head start, that address highly vulnerable families must face a number of challenges that are not easily resolved. as halpern (1991) reflects, “how can we reconcile providers' expertise and families' own intimate knowledge of their life situation? what are the moral dilemmas in service provision under conditions of poverty? what should and can providers do when confronted with such dilemmas in their work? what are the interests of different stakeholders in the service system, and how should these be negotiated?” (p. 362). the families accessing the capture ehs program are particularly vulnerable through an additional set of factors that place them at risk. these factors may include an overwhelmed caregiver, an unsupportive community context, and a constitutionally vulnerable child or children (halpern, 1993). thus, ehs program developers must decide to what extent they will work on parenting and to what extent the focus should be on extra-familial stressors, particularly in relation to a multi-tiered est understanding of context. professionals may confront negative responsiveness from families toward their efforts of building trust and mutuality, and these responses may lead to providers’ feelings of anger and abandonment (halpern, 1993). the complexity of this type of outreach to families requires “an effort to link different kinds of truth into a coherent helping strategy” (p. 166). in this relationship, the provider needs to gain “significance” for the parent as a person who might bring “new possibilities and room for change” (pp. 166-167). providers themselves need to process feelings and challenges in similar ways that they help families to do. it may also be useful for providers to consider a framework of resiliency. families use resiliency resources to confront stressors. vandsburger et al. (2008) identify resiliency factors, including: personal traits such as positive self-esteem and self-reliance; a shared belief system with expressions of optimism, spirituality, and heritage; a social support network of family and friends; and coping strategies to solve problems and maintain family integrity. wadsworth et al. (2013) suggest the need for a deeper understanding of parental coping skills. tapping into these resiliency resources may enable service providers to enhance successes for children and parents. helping relationships and home visits home visits, as part of a hybrid onsite and at-home support system, were built in as a component of the capture program, conducted by the classroom teachers themselves. the intent was that the teachers would thereby have a strong ecological understanding of the child’s and family’s life, both in and out of school (burns et al., 2015). home visits from service providers can build a relationship that enhances family participation and satisfaction (korfmacher, green, spellmann, & thornburg, 2007). these visits 48 charles & peabody send a message of care and concern and enable teachers to better understand the children’s and parents’ lives, and may also help parents become more engaged in their children’s learning (lin & bates, 2010). however, in light of the ecological systems theory, early intervention programs must be “sensitive and responsive to the cultural ecology of their participants” (slaughter-defoe, 1993, p. 173) and focus on a strength-based exploration of these families (vandsburger et al., 2008). without this contextual sensitivity, program providers’ concerns may not match the concerns of the families being visited. as slaughter-defoe (1993) cautions, “home visitors would do well to explore their own programmatic assumptions and to determine whether these assumptions are shared by the families with whom they are involved” (p. 178). there must be ongoing dialogue among program developers, providers, and participants about agreed-upon goals (slaughterdefoe, 1993), including opportunities for reflective supervision (rafferty et al., 2010). methodology setting and participants we used an ethnographic case-study approach for our research. we completed two rounds of semi-structured interviews of six families (at least one parent or guardian from each family), for a total of twelve family interviews. one family left the program mid-year, and another family arrived; thus, those two families were only interviewed once. we also interviewed the six staff (teachers and administrators) twice. the two program teachers and four administrators were interviewed in late fall and again in the spring. data collection and analysis we conducted interviews using a consistent, but flexible, set of questions from december 2013 to may 2014, each interview lasting 15-45 minutes. all interviews were recorded and transcribed. transcripts were open-coded individually by both researchers and then compared to enhance reliability. we organized codes into repeating ideas and then grouped into themes which were examined in the context of our theoretical framework. the researchers met several times to resolve areas where coding or interpretations differed, and they also met with the program director to confirm and discuss all findings. findings and discussion parent interviews parental supports and attitudes. the capture program had been recommended to parents as fitting the criteria based on life circumstances. in at least one case, the parent attended drug court. most of the mothers had heard about it through a local shelter for victims of domestic violence. a father had been told of the program through department of health and human services because his baby had been born drug addicted. early head start 49 parental positive beliefs and attitudes toward the capture program remained consistent throughout the entire year. during the early winter interviews, when asked about their overall perceptions of the teachers and program, parents stated that the teachers are “happy and friendly” and “nice.” one mother said her son “loves it here,” and another said that her daughter “gets up in the morning saying i want to go to school.” the parents repeatedly heard the message from the teachers that they cared and wanted to work collaboratively with the family. one mother stated, “they’re really good at asking you if there’s anything they can do,” and several others verified this same support. in the springtime, they echoed similar sentiments, unequivocally praising the program and the teachers. they continued to speak highly of the teachers, with comments that “they care,” “they’re awesome,” and “they talk to me,” with personal illustrative anecdotes. in one case, a mother was allowed to come in whenever she wanted to breastfeed her baby, and she was provided with a private area in which to do so. one mother appreciated that the teacher asked, “how’ve you been since you’ve done drug court, or how’s your ged going?” these positive comments support the importance of communication and trusted connections as factors of resilience (vandsburger et al., 2008), as this support assisted families in meeting attendance requirements of the ehs program and their outside obligations. parents appreciated a number of benefits of the capture program. they recognized the access to resources, the ability to “get stuff done” in a day, and the benefits to their children. the families were deeply grateful for the christmas gifts provided to their children, and also for day-to-day needs such as a crib, extra formula, or diapers, validating the critical importance of helping to alleviate economic strain when possible (wadsworth et al., 2013). parents spent their freed-up time going to appointments, such as drug court and dhhs meetings, and even just finding some rare “me time.” in both winter and spring, parents recognized a number of developmental skills that their children were learning, including toilet training, colors, social skills, routines, songs, and simple sign language. they did not feel judged based on their life circumstances. for example, one mother said, “they’re very friendly people, as opposed to being very businesslike and very much like oh well you don’t have this, we’re going to call the state on you.” another said, “they don’t do [home visits] to hop into your business like you’re nasty. they do it to be supportive which is great.” the message sent to the parents was a positive one of support to build on their strengths (vandsburger et al., 2008). “system” realities. these parents had strong goals for themselves and the belief that they could achieve them, but recognized that they were entrenched in a larger context that held a strong grip on them. one mother spoke of moving to get a “fresh start.” another said, “i’ve worked really hard to get my kids back. i’m going to work the hardest i can.” some had goals for ged and then college, and were in a transition program to make this happen. others had career goals and were applying for jobs. sometimes the focus was more immediate: safe housing, better mental health, and staying clean and sober. but these parents also had a poignant understanding of being individuals within sociocultural and historical ecologies. for example, one mother, after stating her hopes for a viable future, said quietly, “it’s hard to get out [of the system] once you get in. no matter how hard you want to work for anything.” and another stated, “i didn’t picture myself here a year ago. i really thought i wouldn’t make it. nobody gets out.” 50 charles & peabody this layered contextual understanding on the part of parents confirms burns et al.’s (2015) contention that a fully-realized est model must include processes of interaction, context, and time. challenges. the families noted several challenges they faced throughout the year. the parents expressed anxiety and frustration around the lack of transportation in order to access the program. most either walked or took the local buses, but even when parents had a car, they worried about the costs and maintenance of having it. there was also ambivalence around leaving a young baby in someone else’s care during the day. two of the mothers felt that their babies were too young to be away from them for that amount of time, but didn’t want to lose their spot in the program. teacher interviews teacher perceptions and feelings, winter. the teachers provided the most complex aspect of the study, often wavering among contradictory feelings: sympathy for families, and a collaborative sense of respect and communication, but also feeling worn down, burnt out, or frustrated with the parents. they both expressed a sense of “culture shock” in working in capture. (pseudonyms are used throughout for all teachers and administrators.) the two teachers selected for the classroom each brought a level of experience in providing child care to infants and toddlers. for one the position was a promotion from the role of assistant teacher in another ehs classroom to head teacher. she was pregnant, went on maternity leave, and returned during the year of operation. these transitions impacted not only the teacher, but the co-teacher, parents, and children. for the second teacher, the position was her entry into head start as an agency, including extensive learning of federal guidelines, paperwork, data collection, and the family support model indicative of all head start positions. both teachers shared in the interviews personal histories of resilience that made them attuned to the complex needs of the families served in capture. in the fall, the two teachers expressed great compassion and eagerness to help the families succeed. one teacher, marie, recognized that “the families are struggling to survive every day.” similarly, the other teacher, teresa, said, “capture is filled with a lot of survivors.” however, even in the early interviews, the teachers expressed ambivalence about their relationships with parents. marie was yelled at by a parent, and revealed her internal tension in reflecting on the incident: i was crying when she left, it was horrible. i had never had anybody treat me as awful as she did, just yelling cause she’s got anxiety, and she’s got some mental issues with memory… she has been through the ringer. and i feel for her ‘cause i know where she’s at… she was hostile to everybody… she’s a manipulator. marie was hurt, angry, and sympathetic, all at the same time. during her first interview, marie expressed other contradictory feelings toward families. for example, she made the statement that babies don’t always come in “clean” so the classroom water activities help “get them a little cleaner.” but this comment was immediately followed by, “but they get up every day, they walk to the bus station and take the bus here every day.” her early head start 51 implied judgment of a lack of cleanliness is contradicted by the recognition of the difficulty in arriving at all. similarly, marie stated, “the kids need to have normalcy in their life, and this is the one consistency that they have. i want to save and help everybody.” clearly, the implication is that these children do not otherwise have a normal or consistent life, and that they need “saving,” though it is unclear from what. in one instance, marie said she used a “calm voice” with parents, at least one of whom asked her not to speak to her “like a child.” the teacher then defended her voice tone: “[the parent] needs to have somebody that is going to tell her what she needs to do…. she needs to rise up too.” the indication here is that the parent needs to step up to her responsibility, and that the teacher is justified in speaking to her in an authoritative voice. in similar fashion, the other teacher, teresa, made remarks that vacillated between care and frustration, compassion and judgment. teresa expressed genuine concern for families, and yet indicated the desire to fix “everybody” and “everything,” when she stated: no matter how hard you try to come across as positive, they’re going to hear that they’re not good enough, because they’re going through so many different things in their lives… sometimes you want to fix everybody and help everybody, and you just can’t. you have to meet them where they’re at. and remember that they are doing the best that they can and you’re making a difference in the six hours that you have with these kids…. they’re at the end of the rope and don’t know what else to do. look at it in their perspective. it makes things a little clearer. you want to fix everything and you can’t. her confusion around who or what to fix comes through. does she want to fix the parents themselves, or the circumstances and “systems” they are inextricably caught up in? interestingly, teresa recognized this tension in herself, stating, “we need to put ourselves in these parents’ shoes, or try to anyways. but we don’t always, sometimes you forget.” in the winter, the teachers both expressed satisfaction with their job. marie said she felt “lucky” and teresa said she loved working with the families. they also praised the program itself, recognizing its ability to make a difference in the lives of these families. teacher perceptions and feelings, spring. in a few short months, the teachers’ perceptions and feelings would undergo a dramatic shift. as noted in a previous section, the parents themselves were highly satisfied with the quality of the program throughout the year. but the teachers had become more overwhelmed, cynical, and burnt out. the contradictory feelings emerged more directly in the spring. for example, marie made the following comments: [the parents are] pushing the boundaries with us just like any normal child would do. they’re not on their best behavior, they’re not supposed to be. so it’s wonderful that they have the comfort level with us to do that. we want to pull our hair out, but it’s ok… it’s not easy for some of them to have to depend on resources. then you have some of the families that take advantage of having those resources. here she explicitly and unapologetically refers to parents as being like a “child,” while believing that such a comfort level for this behavior is “wonderful.” this comment is in stark contrast to 52 charles & peabody her early defense of using a “calm” voice that one parent interpreted as being treated “like a child.” furthermore, in this passage, marie sympathizes that it’s difficult to depend on resources, yet simultaneously critiques those who “take advantage” of those resources. teresa’s impatience of families by springtime is striking. she stated, we have families that it’s hard for them to follow through. this is a free program, and they think they can just drop off their child and pick them up, and a lot of them don’t want to be bothered with anything else… it’s hard to look at [the children] and see the neglect sometimes that they’re being given and you can’t imagine treating your child that way, and you want to scoop up all the babies and bring them home. and you can’t. like marie, teresa appears to critique the parental follow-through, to suggest that they don’t want to be “bothered,” and to want to rescue these babies by bringing them home. the teachers seemed surprised and overwhelmed, even in the spring, by the needs of the families. better support for teachers. teresa recognized her own need for more training on “how to approach families that have a wall up, and you just can’t get through, and you have a job to do, and you know that the child has needs that need to be met, and how you can handle that, how you can reach out better to those families.” teresa reflected, “it’s definitely been quite the journey, of a rocky road and smooth surfaces. we’re still learning on what works for the families and what works for us and reaching out to resources that we have, and just asking hey we really need this to do our jobs so we’re not burnt out.” marie said, “i wish we had known the difficultness with the families before we started. not that it would change anything but it would give a nice little heads up.” staff/administrative interviews the support structure for capture involved many individuals (pseudonyms given). the family services manager (angela) coordinated many of the social service activities including referrals to community resources, and supported families in transitions in and out of services. the education and special services manager (amanda) was responsible for supervision of the educational services; guiding curriculum and program planning, development, and training. she served as resource for teachers and managed the children’s special education provisions, developed individual education or family service plans, and worked closely with teachers, parents, and referral agencies. the site supervisor (carla) was a social worker by training and provided support to classroom teachers and staff throughout the agency. the director of the agency (meg) was responsible for program requirements at the state and federal level, fiscal operations and overall leadership. program details, reflections on beliefs about the program. the capture program was uniquely developed in response to an unmet need in the community. the family service manager, angela, explained that this particular program has the intent to “envelop [families] with child development, good family support, lots of resources, building of community.” she believed that the capture program is more “focused” than other ehs programs and builds in early head start 53 more support. the education manager, amanda, explained further: “this model allowed us for the first time to target a population that we were unable to serve in the past.” likewise, the director, meg, described capture as a way to “get our feet wet” in working toward a combination model of home and school support. amanda described how families were located: “we went to [the local domestic violence shelter]… they sent us 4 out of our 8. we contacted dhs. we got two from them. and two from our waitlist receiving services through child development services or an identified need, whether it was drug addiction or mental health.” several of the staff referred to capture as providing a “safe place” for children to be. however, the notion of “safe place” embeds some ambivalence, as staff referred to this safety both from the perspective of parents who feel secure in where they leave their children during the day (“safe place to bring your baby”), and from the perspective of staff in helping children have a more stable environment than they might otherwise have (“i’m worrying about child safety and nutrition”). amanda explained: this clearly is a program that we feel works and is doing what we feel is our mission. it allows us to reach that population of families who fall between those cracks but clearly need an opportunity to send their children somewhere safe so they can do the things they need to do to get their lives back together…. if you want to go to our [other] early classrooms, you have to be working or go to school more than 75% of the time. these folks aren’t there yet, they’re not ready for that. they need the opportunity to get ready. complex “systems” understanding. the administrative staff had a strong understanding of the complex “systems” framework happening in these families’ lives, and of the interconnectedness of factors. for example, amanda stated, “if you don’t have a safe place to bring your baby, you can’t go get your counseling, you can’t go for your drug test… somebody is working on their ged.” others echoed these sentiments, including the director meg who said, “they have some time to address the needs they have as individuals, whether it’s their housing issue, their mental health issue, whatever it may be.” the site supervisor, carla, noted, “i believe that there are a lot of people who want to end the cycle, to change where they are in life. we are instilling the fact that parents are capable. they have worth and that it can be done in small steps… they believe that they are able to do more with the support of this program.” she continued: all of our parents’ plates seem very full and their situations aren’t just frustrating. there are mental health issues, there’s substance abuse, there are court ordered families. we have families under protective custody who dhhs feels that while their children are in our care we can help parents see and learn what it is they need to do or keep them on track and let them know that somebody is willing to help support them to meet those plans and goals they make with other agencies so they can have their children living in their home. recognition of, and respect for, needs and strengths of families. throughout the year, the staff expressed unambiguous compassion and respect for the families, recognizing their need for support as well as their strengths. in the winter, the site supervisor carla reflected, “[the parents] are looking for our support and they are also taking away a lot of the modeling 54 charles & peabody that the teachers do with their children. they are forming realistic limits and setting boundaries with their children.” carla went on to say, “we are really getting some truth that has to do with daily life. for some people when it rains it pours. i believe that a secure person has compassion to listen and see where people are coming from…. being part of that journey with them. not just ‘i’m the professional, you’re the parent. let me give you the information and do as i say.’” here, carla, unlike the novice teachers, was able to recognize the deeper importance of a respectful relationship with parents. in the spring, she reiterated this point saying, “[the parents] are very very comfortable with coming forward and know that they’re not being judged as a bad parent but needing a resource.” she talked about the value of open and collaborative conversations with parents. amanda, the education manager, also spoke respectfully of the parents: even if they for whatever reason are not in the home for that moment, that week, that whatever, they’re still finding ways to get their children here whether its neighbors or others or whatever, these kids are still coming. and they are happy about being here… i said to [one parent] you are so patient, you have things to do but he knows you care, that’s a really wonderful skill to have and not everybody has that, and she was like, thanks,… and i said, you should be recognized. what you do is supporting his success every day. teachers needing more support. without a doubt, the most urgent need for the program was recognized across both staff and teachers as the necessity for more emotional and educational support for teachers than they received, reflecting research conclusions (weiss et al., 2014; onchwari, 2009) of a lack of teacher preparedness to handle the stresses of the population they serve. in the early part of the school year, the family services manager, angela, reflected, “all of the families in this classroom have issues that are going to cause stress. it’s every day and it’s every family, and i think for staff that can be challenging. it’s also helping staff see families in a bigger context. that will be my role.” the head administrator reiterated, “these families all have intense needs… being new to those [teacher] roles means that there is a need for more support, a need for more ongoing regular supervision, all of those things to help make that happen so that the staff don’t burn out. it’s very easy for [teachers] to burn out. and finding qualified [teachers] is not easy.” the site supervisor echoed this sentiment: “it’s difficult to teach [the teachers] how to leave work here when they go home.” by spring, the staff acknowledged that they had not done enough work in this area to help sustain and retain the teachers. the family service manager said, “i was providing crisis intervention, that’s what i was doing, and they needed more clinical [emotional support]. they probably needed both.” several others recognized their error in hiring two new staff for a program with sometimes-overwhelming needs. the administrators recognized that there were often competing value-systems at work between the teachers and the parents. for example, the family service manager, angela, stated, “you may have families that may not want the things that you want for them, and it’s kinda balancing that out… you can’t fix somebody’s life, you can only support as they look at their options they have available to them. if parents are not doing the things that staff believe would be best for the children, it sometimes can get in the way of the relationship.” angela understood early head start 55 that the parents were not “attacking” the teachers, but were coping with enormous stressors. the director meg similarly stated, i know that staff clearly had lots of concerns about the needs of their children based on the situations they were in. … particularly for the staff, brand new, it can come across as, this is just wrong. it’s not what you might want, but it doesn’t make it wrong. it’s helping them understand the value piece, beliefs and values of ourselves and how do you set that aside sometimes. we probably need to do more training around that area, agency wide, around our values and beliefs. similarly, the education manager reflected, “we’ve had a few missteps where teachers are really wanting families to have the best, and in doing so, they sometimes jump the gun about when they address an issue or how they address an issue… we are fixers, so when they share something we want to fix it. sometimes we speak too soon or we speak a little strong. that piece has been tough. i didn’t anticipate it.” two examples. two examples in particular wove their way through the interviews, building a narrative that illustrated the ambiguities and complexities in working through systemic realities and conflicting values (halpern, 1993). the first was a case of the only father in the study, a young man with the sole care of three children including his daughter who had been born drug-addicted. the home sleeping arrangement seemed reasonable and safe – he and the two boys slept on the bed, while the baby slept on a trundle next to the boys’ bed. the early head start teachers and staff felt that he needed a separate crib for the baby, but he liked the proximity of the kids and knew they were safe. the father felt that the teachers were judging his ability to parent, and the teachers felt that he was resisting a necessary piece of equipment for the baby. in the end, he begrudgingly accepted the crib. when asked what made him change his mind, he stated that he had talked with his mother who convinced him it was better to agree and accept than to pull the baby from the program. the second example was the situation of a breast-feeding mother. the baby was the youngest of five children and the only girl. the mother was extremely conflicted about being away from her baby, and the ehs providers had set up a private area for the mother to come in at any time to nurse the baby. the mother, who was working with dhhs on having all of her children back in her home, needed to have the baby in ehs in order to achieve her goals for schooling and to be able to attend aa meetings, but also knew that the time with her baby was precious and fleeting. the teachers and administrators recognized her conflicted feelings. the education manager reflected, “this mom was… close to taking her away. we worked on finding new bottles. we set up a breast-feeding station for her so that she could come back every day if she wanted to feed the baby. she could just bring her for two hours after she had been fed so that she could at least have the experience and mom could go do something, and we were so flexible and supportive that the baby is now here all the time and she’s feeding from a bottle.” the site supervisor also reflected on this particular situation, saying, “she said she would not leave her child with anybody else. she has faith in us. and we started very slowly with her, we all love to keep our children home with us and be their caregiver. life doesn't always allow that.” 56 charles & peabody attendance issue. another issue that wove its way through the interviews was that of attendance. ehs has a policy that requires 85% attendance to keep a place for the child. while the policy makes sense in terms of holding families accountable and being able to provide consistent programming for the children, it also doesn’t always rise to the top as a priority for families, especially given the difficulties with transportation. although the reality didn’t always hit the 85% expectation, the families committed to getting their children to capture despite the challenges. as the education manager said, “the 85% is my issue, it’s not their issue. living it has made it real.” the family service manager echoed these thoughts, reflecting, “if you look at their attendance, for the most part, it was pretty strong. i think there might have been one month and it was december. what happened? something happened. and then you realize that it’s december and there’s snow everywhere and people are trying to transport.” the director, meg, echoed these thoughts, stating, “parents are getting their children here, day in and day out. i will say, on really snowy weather, that day, they’re not coming and i get it. walking in the snowstorm is not fun. but other than that, they’re here… they’re consistent. … it’s huge that they’re following through.” home visits. a last concern mentioned across all participants was the lack of consistent home visits. the intent of capture was to have the teachers conduct visits on fridays, a nonschool day for children. however, within a couple of months, it was clear to all that this expectation could not be adequately met. several factors contributed to this challenge. first, the teachers often needed to use fridays to complete cumbersome but necessary paperwork, to meet with other staff, and to plan and organize curriculum materials. second, it was challenging to set up home visits with families, both in finding time to organize the visits, but also in establishing consistent and reliable time frames with families. most parents had sporadic phone service, and, while the teachers checked in with every parent every day at drop-off and pick-up, these periods were not well-suited to setting up home visits. furthermore, the families living in the domestic violence shelter were not yet in stable home environments. given these circumstances, while home studies were conducted by teachers and appreciated by the families as a positive occurrence, including one observed by a researcher, we do not delve into the details of those visits as not being relevant to the intent and focus of this paper. implications and recommendations there is great promise in the capture program to consider the implications of programs targeting families in highest need, as well as the potential for creating a replicable model. results from this study show that early head start can reach out to previously ineligible, yet extremely vulnerable, families and provide services that create opportunities to become eligible for the regular programming. results from the first year of operation indicate that an increased level of emotional and educational support is necessary for the teachers. consistent and frequent clinical reflective supervision from a mental health professional will better position teachers when faced with complex family situations. the need for professional development training was also identified, specifically around building relationships with parents and deeper understanding of issues of trauma, mental health, impact of cumulative risk factors on families and children, and resiliency. as articulated by meg, early head start 57 the director, “a lot of our staff [teachers] in early childhood don’t necessarily receive a lot of training or education in engaging with adults. they’re clearly taught to engage, educate and nurture children, but adults are different. i think we can always get better at that.” the administrative staff also felt that, as the program grows, attention to parent education will be warranted. working closely with community agencies that already offer parent education was discussed as the administrative staff saw capture as a vehicle that had inherently enhanced strong partnerships, with potential to better integrate services. the education manager stated, “one of the things that we’ve noticed is that we’ve enhanced our relationships with some community partners. the local domestic violence shelter and the department of health and human services are some of our biggest conveyers of information and referrals sources.” implications of the struggle with transportation and an inadequate busing system were community issues that impacted attendance. conversations about innovative ways to address transportation issues were emerging based on this study. conclusion difficult life experiences, especially when they accumulate or are numerous, present real challenges. highly vulnerable families may not be able to meet basic program expectations for early head start, necessitating alternative program models. through the ecological theory lens, programs must focus on small but important daily growth and place emphasis on supporting staff who in turn support young children's school readiness and families in a collaborative community process that recognizes strengths of the family as well as stressors across multiple contexts. addressing the multiple challenges families face is difficult, and family change is a slow and often discouraging endeavor. supporting program staff, engaging in relationships with parents and community partners, and focusing on infant and parent mental health (anakwenze, 2013; mcallister, 2007) all provide opportunities to reach a previously-unmet population in the field of early childhood. organizational readiness, including a solid infrastructure that commits to financial resources, mental health supervision for teachers, and expansion of professional development offerings, aligns with the mission, goals and resource allocation of early head start. the most vulnerable infants and toddlers and their families can and should be reached within comprehensive early childhood education programs that give them the opportunity to get ready for the next steps in their lives. references 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(2014). preparing educators to engage families: case studies using an ecological systems framework (3 rd ed.). los angles: ca: sage. running head: dialog, 17(1), 36-55 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article results of a survey and follow-up interview with head start staff concerning social skills instruction in preschool classrooms tina l. stanton-chapman, mary d. voorhees, rebecca berlin, martha e. snell, and lindsey d. forsten university of virginia failure to promote preschoolers’ social competence can lead to significant deficits in social skills development, school readiness, and academic success. while early childhood teachers play an essential role in fostering children’s social competence, there is limited research available about the value teachers place on social skill instruction and the instructional strategies they use. this study employed a survey and interviews to investigate the practices used by five head start (hs) programs in the mid-atlantic region to promote childrens’ social competence. results indicated that respondents: (a) identified peer interaction and friendship skills most often as important social skills to teach; (b) reported using classroomwide and naturalistic interventions to teach these skills; and (c) described challenges to addressing children’s social skill needs. implications of these findings for preschool programs are discussed in terms of professional development to support teachers to implement evidence-based social skill methods. social competence is defined as a multidimensional construct that includes: a) peer interactions (e.g., conversation, cooperative play, language skills), b) emotional and behavioral regulation, and c) the use of appropriate behavior in challenging situations (e.g., during conflicts) (brown, odom, mcconnell, & rathel, 2008; raver & zigler, 1997). the office of head start (hs) in their head start child outcomes framework (2010) includes social-emotional development as a curricular focus with domains and indicators reflecting all of these constructs (e.g., social relationships, self-control or self-regulation). previous research has shown that children from low-income households are at a greater risk for developing problem behaviors and having lower social competence (qi & kaiser, 2003); this creates a challenge for programs, such as hs to meet children’s needs in all developmental domains including social and emotional development. children’s level of social competence has been shown to affect school readiness and future academic success (denham, 2006; peth-pierce, 2000). however, many early childhood programs, including hs programs, are not adequately prepared to meet the needs of children with low social competence (committee on early childhood, adoption, and dependent care, 2005; kaufmann & wischmann, 1999). unfortunately, children with social competence difficulties are often removed from programs or are at risk for being removed as a result of their problem behavior (gilliam, 2005; raver & knitzer, 2002). specifically, in a national study, results of a survey 37 gilliam found that on average 6.7 per 1,000 preschool children were expelled for their challenging behavior. more recently, quesenberry, hemmeter & ostrosky (2011) found that five out of the six hs programs they studied, expelled children with intensive behavioral concerns. snell and colleagues (2012) found similar practices were reported to be used by administrators and staff they interviewed in some hs programs. given that hs programs were developed to promote school readiness for low-income preschool-age children, it is important to assess the extent to which teachers value and promote social competence in hs classrooms and to identify ways to support hs staff to address children’s social emotional needs to prevent these expulsions. limited research has investigated teachers’ perceptions of the value of social skills as a curricular focus or how these beliefs affect their observed practices of social skills instruction in the preschool classroom. research that is available indicates that teachers rate social skills as being highly important in the preschool curriculum (baumgart, filler, & askvig, 1991; west, brown, grego, & johnson, 2007), but social skill instruction receives less emphasis due to the increased pressure to focus on academic skills (copple & bredekamp, 2009; elkind, 2001; stipek, 2006). appl and spenciner (2008) examined preservice teachers’ perceptions of teaching social skills in the preschool classroom. in this study, participants who were close to the completion of their teacher education program believed that teachers should take a more active role in teaching social skills, but newly admitted preservice participants believed that teachers should not become involved. this is troublesome as research has documented that children without adequate social skills are at-risk for: a) experiencing difficulties in interpersonal relationships with adults and peers; b) evoking highly negative responses from others due to their problem behavior; and c) showing a higher incidence of peer rejection (mize, 2005). the early childhood (ec) environment provides an important context for the development of children’s social competence. the ec teacher, who has been called the “critical factor” in the classroom environment (hestenes & carroll, 2000), is uniquely positioned to support children’s social skill development in the classroom context. a skilled and observant teacher can select intervention strategies to meet the needs of individual children and the demands of the classroom environment. program-wide positive behavior support (pwpbs), often depicted as a pyramid with three tiers of increasing intervention intensity, provides a conceptual framework for the selection of strategies tailored to children’s differing needs (frey, young, gold, & trevor, 2008). pwpbs is the implementation of behavioral support strategies, along a continuum of intensity, through a process that is focused on social behavior instruction, guided by data-based decision making, and consistently implemented across preschool environments (stormont, lewis, beckner, & johnson, 2008). tier 1 or universal pbs intervention involves a comprehensive set of strategies that are implemented with all children in a program. these strategies include prevention methods (e.g., teaching behavior expectations, creating developmentally appropriate environments), strategies to support positive teacher-child relationships, and classroomwide social skill interventions (e.g., the use of social competence curricula) (brown, odom & conroy, 2001; brown, odom & mcconnell, 2008; dec, 2007, dec, 2009, fox et al., 2003; lewis, beckner, & stormont, 2009). the main focus is on the prevention of problem behaviors, providing early intervention for those at-risk, and creating environments that will lead to improved small-group and individual intervention outcomes. tier 2 and 3 pbs interventions involve targeted social skills instruction for smaller numbers of children with more extreme problem behavior and social limitations (e.g., bambara & kern, 2005; fox et al., 2003, fox, carta, strain, dunlap & hemmeter, 2009). social skill 38 stanton-chapman et al. instruction methods could include naturalistic interventions (e.g., providing on-the-spot social support during peer interactions, assisting children in peer conflicts) or explicit social skills instruction (e.g., providing prompts to target children, teaching peers to play with target children). tier 2 pwpbs focuses on the 10% to 15% of students who continue to display problem behaviors even with tier 1 strategies in place (sugai, horner, lewis, & cheney, 2002). through the use of data-decision rules, students are identified before problem behaviors become severe and chronic and receive explicit social skills instruction (stormont et al., 2008). tier 3 interventions typically serve 5% to 7% of students who display serious and chronic behavioral challenges (lewis, sugai, & colvin, 1998). pwpbs begins with classroom-wide strategies first and then, if needed, moves to more individualized, higher-intensity strategies. surprisingly little is known about the methods preschool teachers use to promote children’s social competence (e.g., arranging the environment, encouraging peer interactions for friendship building, or modeling appropriate social behaviors (buysse, goldman, & skinner, 2003). professional development materials related to social competence training have been developed for early childhood teachers (e.g., center on the social and emotional foundations of early learning, 2011; center to mobilize early childhood knowledge, 2011). these professional development materials have well-scripted training sequences and problem-solving activities to assist teachers in social skills training during the everyday classroom routines. despite the value that teachers place on children’s social competence, researchers have reported that the majority of teachers do not extensively employ social skills interventions in the classroom (brown & conroy, 2001; mcconnell, mcevoy, & odom, 1992). for example, mcconnell and colleagues (1992) used direct observation methods to determine if ec preschool teachers frequently used evidence-based social skills intervention to promote peer interactions in their classrooms. they observed low to moderate intervention implementation and found that teachers were less likely to implement targeted and individualized interventions (e.g., explicit social skills instruction) than more global intervention approaches (e.g., environmental arrangements, discussions of appropriate social behavior). west et al. (2007) asked division of early childhood members to rate the acceptability, feasibility, and use of peer interaction interventions. while the majority of these interventions were rated as acceptable, members’ ratings of their actual use of many of the strategies were lower than ratings of their perceived value. additional research is needed to learn about practices used in early childhood programs to promote children’s social skills and to examine whether a tiered model is used to individualize instruction based on children’s needs . in the current study, the researchers used a survey and interviews to investigate the practices used by five head start (hs) programs in the mid-atlantic region to address children’s problem behavior and promote children’s social competence. the purpose of collecting this information was to design an intervention and training package based on a pbs framework that would be feasible for use in hs programs. we began by administering a survey that included open-ended questions and classroom scenarios designed to gain an understanding of hs staff’s discipline and social skills instruction issues and practices. surveys are commonly viewed as an effective method to gather information from a large number of people, and, if well-designed, surveys provide constructive program planning information (snyder & wolfe, 2008). interviews were also conducted with forty-five hs staff from the same programs to collect more detailed information about their practices and the challenges they faced in regard to addressing problem behavior and promoting children’s social competence. we were interested in knowing whether the follow-up interviews would meaningfully extend and also agree with our survey findings. results of a survey 39 this paper focuses on three research aims related to social skill instruction that were part of our larger study. (refer to snell, berlin, voorhees, stanton-chapman, & hadden 2012 and snell, voorhees, berlin, stanton-chapman, hadden, & mccarty 2012) for study aims related to discipline practices). the first aim was to identify hs staff perceptions regarding the most important social skills to address for young children. the second aim was to identify the strategies hs programs use to teach social skills. the third aim was to identify challenges to providing social skill instruction. with the social-emotional competence focus of hs (hyson, 2003; raver & zigler, 1997; yoshikawa & knitzer, 1997), we expected the majority of the respondents to identify important social skills to teach in the classroom. however, with increased focus in early childhood programs on pre-academics we also expected staff to identify challenges or issues regarding social skill instruction. additionally, while we anticipated staff would identify strategies they used to teach social skills, we did not expect these strategies would utilize the hierarchy recommended for promoting young children’s peer interactions (brown et al., 2001; brown et al., 2008; stormont, lewis, beckner, & johnson, 2008). the overall purpose of this study was to obtain information relevant to designing effective professional development activities for the implementation of pwpbs within head start programs that would be sensitive to program policies and teacher needs. method participants a total of 108 ec educators, early childhood special educators (ecse), assistant teachers, and other program staff (e.g., mental, behavior or family specialists; directors; coordinators) from five hs programs agreed to participate in this study. seventy-eight of these participants completed the survey; the 30 respondents who did not complete the survey did not differ statistically from the participating sample. we requested participation from teachers, assistant teachers, and other program staff because each of these staff members had the potential to influence the way that social skills were addressed in the program. all participants worked in hs programs with children ages 3-5 years in a mid-atlantic state. the number of classrooms varied across the five programs (range 926) with an average of 17.6 children in each classroom. between 8% to 15% of the children enrolled in each program had identified disabilities, most often categorized as speech and language impairments or global developmental delays and less often as autism or physical disabilities. the programs were operated by either the public schools (n = 2) or community organizations (n = 3) and were typically led by a lead teacher and an assistant teacher. classrooms were located in child care centers, elementary school buildings, and in buildings that only housed preschool classrooms. approval from an university institutional review board (irb) was obtained for both the survey and the interview portions of the study. survey participation was anonymous. participants gave consent for participation by agreeing to take the survey but signatures were not collected to protect anonymity. verbal consent was obtained for the study’s interview portion to protect participants due to the sensitivity of their answers. the survey respondents varied in terms of position, experience, education, and specialized training. table 1 presents demographic information for survey participants. thirtyeight of these respondents described themselves as classroom teachers, 25 as assistant teachers, 40 stanton-chapman et al. and the remaining 15 reported that they were in supervisory or consulting positions within the program (e.g., program directors, coaching and mentoring trainers, mental health specialists). the participants were primarily females between 36 and 55 years old with the majority (45%) having from six to over 16 years of experience working with young children. forty-five participants (58%) described themselves as white/non-hispanic, 26 (33%) described themselves as african-american/black, and 2 (3%) described themselves as hispanic/latino/latina. fortyfive participants from across the five programs were interviewed: administrators (n = 9), teachers (n = 11), teaching assistants (n= 10), behavior specialists (n = 4), mental health specialists (n = 3), family support staff (n = 5), and collaborating partner staff (n = 3). of the 45 participants, 15 also had completed the survey (1 administrator, 14 other staff members). all of the interview participants were from the same hs sites as the survey participants. demographic information was not collected for the interview participants due to a request from the university’s irb. the university irb felt school districts would be able to identify participants if their demographic information was recorded. given the sensitivity of responses, we agreed to this request. results of a survey 41 table 1 demographic information for survey participants number of respondents percentage position classroom teacher 38 48.7% classroom assistant 25 32.1% other role 15 19.2% number of years in current position 0-2 years 33 42.3% 3-5 years 22 28.2% 6-10 years 13 16.7% 11-15 years 6 7.7% 16+ years 4 5.1% number of years working with young children 0-2 years 6 7.7% 3-5 years 17 21.8% 6-10 years 22 28.2% 11-15 years 9 11.5% 16+ years 24 30.8% highest level of education high school/ged 20 25.6% child development associate (cda) 6 7.7% associate’s degree 10 12.8% bachelor’s degree 21 26.9% master’s degree 15 19.2% other 6 7.7% gender male 2 2.6% female 76 97.4% age 18-25 years 5 6.4% 26-35 years 16 20.5% 36-45 years 24 30.8% 46-55 years 23 29.5% 56-65 years 7 9.0% 65+ years 2 2.6% skipped question 1 1.3% race/ethnicity white/non-hispanic 45 57.7% african-american/black 26 33.3% hispanic/latino/latina 2 2.6% asian/pacific islander 1 1.3% bi-racial 1 1.3% native american 0 0% skipped question 1 1.3% 42 stanton-chapman et al. procedures surveys. teachers, assistant teachers, and specialists were recruited for survey participation through their program directors. letters were first sent to program directors requesting their permission to participate in the study. once permission was obtained from program directors, project staff attended a staff meeting for additional participant recruitment. all participants who agreed to participate in the study completed an anonymous internet-based survey of hs staff beliefs about discipline, social skills, and classroom practices. those who did not have access to a computer or felt uncomfortable using a computer were given the option of completing a paper-based survey. most participants (n=69) completed an internet-based form, but a few (n=9) completed a paper-based version of the same survey. both versions of the survey took about 30 minutes to complete, with a range of 20 to 45 minutes. completed paperbased surveys were mailed to project staff to protect anonymity. there were no demographic differences between participants who completed the online survey versus those who completed the paper-based survey. participants received an incentive for participation. once they completed the online or paper-based survey, they submitted a stamped postcard with their contact information to the university. we then mailed a $5 gift card to their preferred address. participants were made aware that they were not obligated to submit a postcard if they were concerned about their anonymity. interviews. as previously noted, nine program administrators (directors and coordinators) from each of the five programs were interviewed in order to gain an overview and understanding of their program practices and policies. next, administrators from each program nominated staff members who were involved in providing support to children or families regarding behavior or social issues to be interviewed; this included teachers (n=11), teaching assistants (n=10, a mental health or behavior specialists (n=7), family service specialists (n=5) and collaborating program staff (n=3). all hs staff who were asked to complete interviews agreed to participate. they received a $100 gift card for their participation. interviews ranged from 45 to 90 minutes. teachers, assistant teachers, and specialists were interviewed separately with the exception of one classroom team who requested a joint interview. all interviews were audio recorded with participants’ consent and were transcribed verbatim by research assistants who were blind to the hypotheses of the study. the interviews were conducted by project staff who held doctoral degrees in education and had extensive ecse classroom experience or by doctoral students. measures survey. the social competence in preschool survey (berlin, hadden, & voorhees, 2008) was developed to gather information on participants’ perceptions of discipline and social skills in the classrooms and their responses to these behaviors. the survey was reviewed by a group of experts (e.g., program directors and ecse professionals not participating in the study; university professors with expertise in ecse, teacher attitudes and beliefs, positive behavior support, and developmentally appropriate practices) and revised based on their input. the revised survey was then piloted with 17 staff (teachers, assistant teachers, mental health results of a survey 43 specialists, and program directors) from two hs programs that were not participating in the current study; final revisions were made based on their input. for more information regarding the survey measure, please refer to snell, berlin et al., (2012). the survey was placed on an internet-based platform (survey monkey™) but was made available in paper form. the survey included 10 demographic questions (e.g., gender, age, race, education, years of teaching experience); five open-ended questions (e.g., what are the top three challenging behaviors you face in your classroom?; what strategies are you currently using to teach social skills?); and six classroom scenarios. this paper reports only on survey participants’ data from one open-ended question (give two examples of what you do to encourage positive interactions between children in your classroom) and two conflict scenarios designed to provide an indication of how staff foster peer interaction and would respond to challenging social skills situations. the first conflict scenario was “lissy is a little girl with significant language delays. one day the teacher notices that she is standing off to the side while the other children play house in the dramatic play area. what should the teacher do?” the second conflict scenario was “on the playground, the teacher notices brenda and juan arguing over a ball. brenda tells juan that she does not want to be his friend anymore. what should the teacher do?” the participants were expected to provide a narrative addressing how they would handle this situation if they were present in this situation. interview. interviews were used to gather more in-depth information about hs staff views regarding social skill instruction; there were some variations in wording for program staff and teachers (voorhees, berlin, & hadden, 2008). our two primary questions for the current study were: “what are the most important social skills taught in the classroom?” and “tell me about any specific social skills curricula that are used in your classroom.” we included standard probes (follow-up questions to gather additional information about how the curricula were implemented, how social skills were taught within classroom activities, and the challenges to curricula implementation and social skills instruction). data analysis open-ended survey questions. the open-ended questions and the conflict scenarios were coded by two project staff members who held doctorate degrees in education. responses were coded at the word or phrase level to capture the social skills the respondents were describing (e.g., sharing toys, positive interactions). to develop the a priori categories that guided the full content analysis, one researcher reviewed 20 responses (25% of respondents) for each open ended question (classroom practices and classroom situations) and noted key ideas that were represented in each of the 20 responses. responses were sampled across time points to ensure that responses did not over represent a particular program. analysis was conducted at a “unit of meaning” level so one response could have contained multiple key ideas. the researcher then reviewed the key ideas looking for similarities across respondents in order to develop initial categories or themes. once themes were identified, the researcher defined the themes using exemplars from the responses that had already been reviewed. responses that represented discrete units of thought that did not answer the question posed were sorted into a miscellaneous category to be reviewed at a later date. once these initial themes were developed, the first and second researchers reviewed an additional sample of responses (30%) to determine 44 stanton-chapman et al. the extent to which the themes were also evident in this additional sample. the researchers independently coded the responses using the list of a priori categories that were developed by the first researcher. the researchers then met to discuss and refine the categories. these refined categories were then used to code all of the responses using the nvivo (qsr international, 2008) software program. the 78 surveys were then coded using the nvivo software and 20% (16 surveys) were double-coded for reliability purposes yielding an inter-rater reliability of 80%. conflict scenario survey questions. with the guidance of a qualitative methodologist, project staff developed a scoring rubric to be used to rate the survey responses within the conflict scenario section of the survey. the rubric went through seven iterations during its development. two to three raters who scored a sample of survey responses tested each version. refinements to the rubric were made after reviewing the raters’ agreement level at each stage of development. the final version was tested by three raters who reached an agreement level of 90% on a selection of 60 responses. we used a pbs prevent-teach-reinforce framework (dunlap, lovannone, & english, 2009) to create the anchors within the rubric. descriptive examples for high, medium and low anchors were developed for each question to assist with the coding process. participants’ responses were rated as low (e.g., response addresses the social issue in a reactive manner; response doesn’t answer the question), medium (e.g., response addresses the immediate problem in a constructive manner using universal interventions such as referring to a social skills curricula or influencing the structure of social groups), or high (e.g., response shows thought and reflection about the individual child’s behavior or situation such as prompting the target child to respond in a certain way or teaching peers how to interact with the target child). the rubric was sent to two experts in the field of ecse to review and validate. two main questions were answered as part of this validation process: a) are the rubric categories and descriptions appropriate (e.g. does the content make sense?), and b) have we sorted the sample responses appropriately into the high, medium, and low categories? once feedback was received from the field experts, the 78 conflict scenarios were coded by two project staff who held doctorate degrees in ecse. sixteen conflict scenarios (20%) were double-coded for reliability purposes. interobserver agreement (ioa) for the reliability sessions was 97.5%. interviews. we used recommended qualitative research methods (barnett, bell, & carey 1999) to ensure the trustworthiness of our findings. more specifically, to ensure credibility we: a) used “rich data” or transcriptions of tape recorded interviews, rather than post-interview notes; b) obtained member checks by sending transcribed interviews and our conclusions to interviewees for confirmation; c) triangulated interview findings with observations in interviewee’s classrooms, and d) used a peer debriefer to give feedback on methodological issues (e.g., potential inquirer bias on data analysis). a student research assistant transcribed each interview; then to ensure accuracy, an experienced research team member listened to the tapes while reviewing each corresponding transcription. few errors were identified, however, if errors were found or if audiotape segments were found to be unintelligible, the researcher who conducted the interview listened to the tape segment and made corrections. next, a systematic and verifiable process was used to develop analytic categories (miles & huberman, 1994) and to code the data using nvivo, a computer-assisted program. two research staff read all of the interviews from one hs program and developed a list of seven a priori categories that were based on: a) this initial review of the transcripts, b) the purpose of the results of a survey 45 interviews, and c) the interview questions. next, the two staff developed specific definitions for each category and used these definitions to independently code interviews from one randomly selected hs program. after they each had coded one or two interviews the researchers met to compare and discuss their codes and to resolve any disagreements by further defining codes. this review and discussion resulted in changes to the primary categories and the addition of subcategories to best depict emerging patterns across programs. the final coding categories included ones related to problem behavior and discipline practices (refer to snell, voorhees, et al., 2012) and social skills instructional practices; but only the categories pertaining to this study are reported here. these included: a) social: most important social skills to teach; b) universal strategies: methods that are used to support social-emotional development for all children in the classroom; and c) challenges: barriers to supporting children's social-emotional skills (e.g., what challenges, if any, do you have in teaching social skills to your students?). since codes were based on teacher responses and not on the three levels of intervention, secondary and tertiary level codes were not developed as teachers indicated strategies that they use for all students rather than a select few. the researchers used these finalized categories to recode all of the interviews from this initial hs program and then independently coded all of the interviews from a second hs program. they reached 100% agreement on the primary and secondary categories for both sets of interviews. these data were then entered and sorted by categories using nvivo. next, one of the researchers coded the interviews from each of the other three programs and entered and sorted the data using nvivo. the second researcher reviewed all of the coded data for these three programs and discussed the codes with the first researcher to resolve any disagreements. the researchers reached 100% agreement on the coded categories. matrices were developed to summarize the interview data for each program. additionally, cross program matrices were developed to compare responses across programs. for more information regarding the interview measure, please refer to snell, berlin et al., 2012. results survey data survey participants were asked to “give two examples of what you do to encourage positive interactions between children in your classroom”. table 2 presents the response data for this question. since respondents were asked to provide two examples, percentages do not equal 100%. seventeen respondents (22%) provided one response only, and 12 answers were too vague to code properly. the most frequent categories of responses were (a) naturalistic peer interaction strategies: facilitation of social interactions and encouraging children to talk (n=35, 45 %), role plays and modeling (n=23, 29%), talking about feelings or encouraging children to use their words (n=16, 21%), or (b) classroomwide interventions: organizational strategies (e.g., scheduling time for small groups, setting up the physical environment to allow for interactions, n=22, 27%), and social skills curriculum (n=12, 15%). 46 stanton-chapman et al. table 2 number and percentage of teacher strategies reported by survey respondents to encourage positive interactions between children teacher strategies number of respondents percentage of respondents classroomwide interventions organization strategies 22 27% uses social skills curricula 12 15% talks about friendships 7 9% naturalistic peer interaction interventions facilitation of social interactions and encouraging children to talk 35 45% role plays and modeling 23 29% talks about feelings and encourages children to use their words 16 21% helps children work through disputes and problem solves 8 10% redirects when children are not interacting properly 2 3% for purposes of this study, teachers responded to two conflict scenarios that addressed social skills. these scenarios provided an indication of how staff would foster positive peer interaction and respond to challenging social situations in the classroom. these data were analyzed by qualitative methodology and the scoring rubric of low, medium and high described earlier. for the first conflict scenario where a child with language delays is not joining in play in the house center, 17 participants (18%) received a high score for their response. examples of highly rated responses included provide lissy with a way to communicate such as pictures or a visual communication system, and model play skills with lissy using storybooks and puppets. these responses reflect explicit social skills interventions. sixty-four participants (82%) received a medium score for their response. examples of medium responses included engage lissy in one-to-one play with a teacher, reinforce and praise all social interactions between lissy and her peers, and enlist the help of others such as the speech-language pathologist. these responses reflect naturalistic peer interaction interventions. none of the participants received a low score on the first conflict scenario. for the second conflict scenario where two children were arguing over a ball and one child told the other she did not want to be his friend, nine participants (12%) received a high score for their response. examples of highly rated responses included talking with brenda about the problem and asking how she feels about the situation, helping brenda and juan come up with solutions to the problem, and having discussions about feelings and friendships in order to work out the problem. these responses reflect naturalistic peer interaction interventions. sixty-three participants (81%) received a medium score for their response. medium rated responses included allowing the children to problem-solve on their own and using social stories with the children. these responses reflect a combination of naturalistic peer interaction interventions and results of a survey 47 classroomwide interventions. six participants (7%) received low scores for their response to the second conflict scenario. low rated response examples included stopping the interaction and taking the ball from the children and telling the children to apologize to one another. interview results important social skills for children to learn. interview participants were asked to respond to open-ended questions concerning social skills. results were analyzed by program for two reasons. first, the university irb wanted to make sure interview participants remained anonymous to the fullest extent possible. we felt analyzing data by program rather than individually would allow this to occur. second, programs tend to follow certain curricula, philosophies, and procedures. we wanted to see how programs differed rather than individuals. when asked “what are the most important social skills for children to learn?” the majority of participants (60%; teachers, teaching assistants and mental health or behavior specialists) responded with statements that were categorized as peer interaction and friendship skills. examples of skills in this category included sharing, getting along with peers, learning how to interact and communicate with peers, respecting one another, taking turns, cooperating and being good friends. for example, a mental health specialist identified the most important social skills as: "getting children to share and just respect one another and use their words to communicate." one teacher commented: “communication is important. how can they possibly be friends if they can’t speak to one another?” a second teacher listed: “verbalization…cause if you can’t express yourself in one way or another, hopefully in a more positive manner…then you are going to run into problems”. a variety of reasons were provided for the importance of these skills. for example, one teacher explained, “some of them don’t have siblings and have never been in daycare, so i think it’s really important to let the children know that we are all here to work together and we’re all friends.” a teaching assistant indicated: “with this age group it is important to get them socially ready…with their peers and for kindergarten.” other social skills that were considered important but mentioned less often were categorized as behavior control (34%, recognizing and expressing feelings, respecting boundaries, keeping hands to self), and social problem-solving (12%, conflict resolution, working out problems with peers, making good choices). curricula used to teach social skills. interviewees were also asked to describe the curriculum they used (if any) to teach social skills to all children in the classroom. four out of the five programs indicated that they used the al’s pals curriculum 1 (wingspan, 2004). one of these programs also used the second step curriculum 1 (2007). the fifth program used i can problem solve 1 (shure, 1992) as the program-wide social-emotional curriculum but some teachers and guidance counselors used al's pals as a supplement. the 46 lessons in the al’s pals curriculum are conducted twice a week lasting 10-15 minutes and extend over a 23-week period; lessons focus on skills such as recognizing and dealing with emotions and social problemsolving. the curriculum makes use of creative role plays, puppets, music, and movement as a substance abuse prevention program, but many viewed the program as a good tool for promoting social-emotional development. the majority of interviewees indicated that they like the al’s pals curriculum because “it relates to kids and the children learn a lot” and “puppets seem so 48 stanton-chapman et al. real that it doesn’t seem like it is the teacher telling you…it’s this fun little character telling you what to do or what not to do”. interviewees also described specific instructional strategies they used to teach social skills during classroom activities; these are summarized in table 3. in regard to methods for teaching children about emotions, resolving conflict, and social problem-solving most respondents from all five programs described strategies from their class-wide social skills curriculum (e.g., calm down and problem-solving steps, the use of al’s place as a quiet place for children to calm down). some teachers noted that it was hard to teach social skills without a specific curriculum such as al’s pals. responses regarding strategies to promote peer interaction and friendship skills were similar to survey responses but did not mention the use of a specific curriculum. classroomwide techniques were described by respondents from four programs. reading books about friendship, acting out stories, and discussions with children about friendship were mentioned by staff from three programs. one teacher noted: “our big motto in class is that we are all friends. we don’t have to play with each other to be friends but we all get along and respect each other.” staff in two programs mentioned organizational strategies: arrangement of physical space (e.g., setting up centers that would promote interaction such as restaurant, providing space for two or more children to play in each center) and planned activities (e.g., board games and paired peers). for example, one teacher noted: “sometimes we have a buddy day and i say, go get your special friend…to go to dramatic play.” naturalistic interventions (e.g., modeling and providing play suggestions) were mentioned by staff from all five programs. a teacher in the program that described the richest variety of strategies commented: “we just do it as we need to.” a teacher from another program explained: “if they do things, i’ll say-friends don’t like to be hit and you are going to make your friend upset and they won’t want to play with you…if someone was doing those kinds of things to you, you would be sad…teachable moments.” table 3. categories of interview responses regarding social skill instruction methods and challenges theme categories number of programs social skill instruction methods social skills curricula techniques (calm down &, problem-solving steps) modeling appropriate skills providing play suggestions friendship activities (e.g., reading books, acting out stories, and discussions about friendship) organizational strategies: (e.g., arrangement of physical space planned activities). 5 5 5 4 2 social skill instruction challenges social-emotional curricula implementation issues (scripted, need for extensive training) meeting individual children’s social-emotional needs increased pressure to teach academics 5 3 3 results of a survey 49 challenges when using a social-emotional curriculum. participants also identified challenges to the use of a social-emotional curriculum or to social skills instruction (refer to table 3). three types of challenges were mentioned most often. staff from all five programs mentioned specific challenges in regard to using a program-wide curriculum. while interview respondents considered the al’s pals curriculum to be valuable, some also indicated that it can be a challenging program to implement because it is scripted and requires extensive training to use. for example, a mental health specialist noted: "the teachers feel like they cannot go off the script even if they feel like the kids aren't going to get it." an administrator responded, “teachers must be trained to use al’s pals. many of our new staff are not able to receive the training because the training often conflicts with other head start trainings. they cannot participate [in al’s pals] without the training.” in two programs, social skills lessons were delivered by someone other than classroom teacher, as is the case in a program where the guidance counselor visited the class twice a week to do the al’s pals lesson. several teachers expressed concern that children seemed to understand the al’s pals lessons but did not integrate these skills into classroom activities, indicating that these social-emotional skill lessons did not generalize on their own. one teacher expressed her worry about her students learning the target skills through curriculum songs: “i think with al’s pals, the challenge is, you teach the lessons and then sometimes, the kids get the song but they don’t get the step.” program staff also had concerns about the curriculum’s effectiveness for children with significant problem behavior. one mental health specialist indicated, “i don’t see al’s pals working beyond children with mild behaviors…when it gets to moderate or severe behaviors....al’s is out the door”. interview participants in three out of the five programs discussed the challenge of meeting children’s social-emotional needs and the need for classroom staff to use more individualized strategies. an administrator noted: “approximately 10-20% of the children…could benefit from a more intensive social skills curriculum.” a behavior specialist noted that some classroom staff do not understand the need for explicit social skill instruction for children with severe and persistent problem behavior; these staff feel that children should be punished for misbehavior rather than taught how to behave. she explained: “trying to work with teachers in understanding that just like we need academic modification and differentiation sometimes we need differentiation for behavior. [teachers] are very willing to give a child modified scissors if they have fine motor difficulty [and use] hand over hand [prompting] but giving that different expectation for behavior seems harder.” an additional challenge mentioned by staff in three out of the five programs was the increased pressure to teach academic skills and how this limits the time spent on social skills instruction. for example, a behavior specialist noted: “when they are looking at their lesson plans for the week…teaching the academic skills stands out…and they feel a lot of pressure...to teach the 123s and abcs…it’s hard for them to understand that the other [social skills instruction] is important too.” a teacher explained that the program was using an ec curriculum and a literacy curriculum and noted: "my major challenge with using [the social skills curriculum] is that there is not enough time in the day.” a teacher in a different program noted: i know it is not a good thing to say out loud [but social-emotional] development is more important than that academic piece because if you can’t get your social-emotional intact… academics are not going to come. that is my biggest pet peeve and i truly feel 50 stanton-chapman et al. we’ve lost sight of this; it’s more important now than it ever was before because they are not getting that [social emotional piece] at home. discussion the current study examined the views of hs staff about the value of social skills instruction and strategies used by hs programs to foster children’s social competence in order to determine how their current practices fit within the tiered pbs framework. social skills difficulties are common in hs classrooms and it is critical to address these during the early childhood years. while research indicates the importance of early instruction of social skills in the classroom by teachers, it is necessary to investigate whether teachers, assistant teachers, and program administrators understand both the value of teaching social skills and how to teach social skills in the classroom. the first study aim was to identify the social skills that hs staff considered most important to teach preschool children. we thought that hs program staff would emphasize skills similar to those described in the 2003 head start outcomes framework (e.g., developing friendships with peers, expressing feelings, following rules, using compromise) (office of head start, 2003) and this was substantiated. it is worthy to note that peer interaction skills were identified most often as important skills to teach. these findings are similar to those of odom et al. (1994) and west et al. (2007) who reported survey data that indicated that teachers thought that young children would benefit from social skills interventions targeting peer interaction skills. the second study aim was to determine methods used in these programs for social skills instruction. as we anticipated, since all of the programs in our study had adopted a curriculum focused on social skill development, the use of their adopted curriculum was mentioned as the primary universal intervention method for social skill instruction-especially in regard to emotional regulation and social problem-solving. while participants in the study also described a variety of appropriate teaching approaches for social skill instruction, the most frequently reported strategies from both the survey and interview fall under universal classroomwide or naturalistic peer interaction interventions (brown et al., 2008). it is important to note that many of these strategies involved whole group instruction or were used during “teachable moments,” rather than involving planned methods to help students apply and generalize skills to daily routines. it is interesting that respondents did not mention using more explicit instructional techniques (e.g., prompting children to interact with their peers or teaching peers to interact with target children) when describing their own practices, but that they did provide examples of these types of strategies when responding to the lizzie classroom scenario. this is congruent with previous research (mcconnell et al. 1992; west et al, 2007) indicating that even if teachers are aware of these explicit instructional techniques and view them as acceptable, they still may not employ them in their own classroom. while classwide universal interventions provide the foundation for supporting children’ social-emotional development, it is imperative for teachers to be able to use explicit instructional techniques when universal methods are not effective and children continue to repeatedly make the same social competence errors. research shows that when teachers provide explicit social skills instruction and model the key social skills needed to develop their relationships with peers, problem behavior decreases and social skills improve for these children results of a survey 51 (durlak, weissberg, dymnicki, taylor, & schellinger, 2011; joseph & strain, 2003). therefore, selecting strategies that are feasible and effective in improving children’s social competence skills makes philosophical sense (brown & conroy, 2011). teacher prompting, positive reinforcement, and direct instruction have been identified as effective instructional strategies for use with children with more intensive support needs (chandler, lubeck, & fowler, 1992; sontag, 1997). interview data from the current study reveal interesting reasons as to why teachers feel challenged to provide social skills training in the classroom. some of the main concerns were the training requirements and lack of flexibility of a scripted curriculum. while some of these requirements are necessary to ensure fidelity of intervention implementation, it may beneficial to provide for some flexibility (e.g., order of topics addressed) to address teachers’ needs for autonomy. respondents also noted the need for additional specialized strategies to address the needs of children with severe and persistent problem behaviors and did not feel their current methods or social curricula addressed these needs. the use of a tiered pwpbs approach holds promise for addressing this need. training and coaching hs staff to use this tiered intervention approach would help them to build on the universal interventions that are currently used by many programs to include more specialized strategies to meet the needs of children who require more intensive and targeted support (fox, et al 2009; snell, voorhees, et al., 2012). finally, interview participants indicated that the pressure to teach academics impeded teachers’ ability to provide required social skills instruction. this finding is consistent with the results of other studies which reported that preschool teachers expressed difficulty finding time to teach social skills when programs had an academic emphasis (early et al., 2007). federal mandates such as no child left behind (nclb) place considerable stress on academic skill instruction. the development of standards and the accountability created by testing requirements have resulted in pressure on teachers of younger children to prepare them to meet these later requirements. as a result preschool programs feel obliged to place more emphasis on academic skills (e.g., phonemic awareness, oral vocabulary and comprehension, conventions of print, numeracy skills) to ensure that all preschoolers will be ready for the academic challenges of kindergarten (copple & bredekamp, 2009; stipek, 2006). early childhood advocates warn against the possible detrimental effects of an academic emphasis, especially if it leads to less stress on other crucial areas of development such as social competence (copple & bredekamp, 2009; elkind, 2001). limitations the current study was subject to several limitations. first, this study relied on a sample of teachers and staff from a small number of hs programs in one region of the country. further, the sample of teachers who were interviewed included a selected subset, rather than all of the teachers who were surveyed and demographic information was not collected about this subset. also, the samples for the survey and interviews had some overlap in participants. had the samples been identical and randomly selected from programs across the country, generalization of findings would have been more feasible. second, the samples we used were clearly not a diverse representation of ec professionals serving young children. since only 3% of the survey sample described themselves as hispanic/latina/latino, the responses did not reflect a significant cultural subset of ec staff teaching in programs across the country. however, the 52 stanton-chapman et al. sample was unique in that it illustrated the diversity of professionals with respect to program type and professional background. third, due to a request from the university irb, we were unable to collect demographic data on the interview participants. while this information would be helpful to the reader, it allowed for more truthful responses since participants knew their identity was anonymous, and their participation could not be determined by their employer. fourth, we analyzed the data as a whole rather than by the roles the participants served within their ec programs (e.g., teachers, assistant teachers, administrators). it is possible that there are differences in how administrators and mental health specialists responded than how teachers and assistant teachers would respond. since administrators and mental health specialists are not in the classroom on an everyday basis, their responses may reflect how they would ideally want to teachers to respond, but teachers and assistant teachers responded based on what is possible to do given the current classroom context. finally, it is possible to have different interpretations of the conflict scenario ratings. for example, in the conflict scenario regarding lissy who has significant language delays and was withdrawn, we gave a high rating if the participants suggested that the teacher encourage lissy’s peers to include her in their play. others may give this answer a lower rating if they expected the response to mention that the teacher would train the peers to include lissy in their play. implications this study adds to the ongoing debate about social skill instruction in the preschool classroom in several ways. rather than having teachers rely solely on a scripted curriculum to teach social skills, they should be trained to use a wide range of evidence-based methods to teach social skills in the classroom during natural routines across the day. we cannot presume that simply providing staff with a curriculum will mean that the social skill needs of all children are met in preschool classrooms. as previously noted, the use of a comprehensive pwpbs approach holds promise to addressing the social-emotional needs of all children in the hs classroom. quesenberry, hemmeter, and ostrosky (2011) found that hs programs who used more elements of this tiered pbs approach received higher ratings in regard to addressing challenging behavior and promoting social competence. when programs had stronger policies and procedures in place to support children’s social competence, teachers were more likely to indicate that they conducted ongoing assessment of children’s social skill development and embedded social competence instruction throughout their daily routine. another key area of investigation concerns how to support teachers in implementing this hierarchy of evidence-based practices. as suggested by brown and colleagues (2001, 2008), the development of more “teacher-friendly” interventions that practitioners consider feasible to use is a step in this direction. however, we must also focus our efforts on designing and implementing more effective training methods to assist teachers to learn how to apply these strategies; classroom staff benefit most from follow-up support that focuses on teachers’ application of practices (sexton, snyder, wolfe, lobman, stricklin, & akers, 1996; snyder & wolfe, 2008). coaching coupled with videotaped examples of desired instruction in the classroom is an effective method to improve program quality that should be incorporated in training (ramey & ramey, 2006). additional research is needed to uncover the variables that promote change in ec educators’ knowledge of and ability to teach social skills to children. results of a survey 53 1 the al’s pals curriculum (wingspan, 2004) is a program that develops social, emotional, and behavioral skills in young children ages 3 to 8 years old. skills taught include: expressing feelings appropriately, using kind words, caring about others, using self-control, solving problems peacefully, and making safe and healthy choices. the second step early learning program (committee for children, 2007). teaches selfregulation and executive-function skills that helps preschool children learn skills to manage their feelings, make friends, and solve problems. the i can problem solve program (shure, 1992) is a cognitive-based social and emotional program targeting children ages 4 to 12 years old. the program uses games, stories, puppets, illustrations, and role-plays to help children acquire a problem-solving vocabulary, learn to understand their own as well as others' feelings, think of alternative solutions, and think of potential consequences to an act. references appl, d. j., & spenciner, l. j. 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(1997). lessons from the field: head start mental health strategies to meet changing needs. new york: national center for children in poverty. microsoft word table of contents 20(1).docx volume 20, number 1 2017 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers: a head start implementation study trina d. spencer, sarah a. weddle, douglas b. peterson, john l. and john l. adams…..... 1 understanding cultural factors contributing to obesity in head start hispanic preschoolers: perceptions from one county head start m. elizabeth miller, stephanie nicely, marisol del teso-craviotto, and geralyn timler...... 29 “we are here for the kids”: a case study about including children with disabilities in head start alina mihai and gretchen butera.……….…………………...………………...……………. 48 program enrollment options and teacher self-efficacy for promoting partnerships with parents in preschool programs paula thompson, christine marvin, and lisa knoche…………..…………………………... 69 dialog from the field authentic assessment to measure outcomes in creative arts marisa macy, bingbing zhang, yixuan ji, and robert macy…………………….………..... 83 research-to-practice summaries implementing a multi-tiered model of narrative language intervention in headstart preschool classrooms trina d. spencer, sarah a. weddle, douglas b. peterson, john l. and john l. adams……. 96 helping preschoolers develop phonemic awareness skills using sound boxes m. elizabeth miller, stephanie nicely, marisol del teso-craviotto, and geralyn timler...... 101 including everyone from the start: lessons learned from head start alina mihai and gretchen butera ……….…………………...………………...……………. 106 promoting partnerships with parents in preschool programs: does the number of classroom sessions a day matter? paula thompson, christine marvin, and lisa knoche…………..…………………………... 112 microsoft word mihai rtp.docx dialog, 20(1), copyright © 2017, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice including everyone from the start: lessons learned from head start alina mihai indiana university kokomo gretchen butera indiana university bloomington this research to practice article summarizes the findings from a case study focused on examining how children with disabilities were included in eight head start classrooms in one midwestern head start program. lessons learned from this study provide important implications for practice. specifically: (1) teachers must be provided with support to recognize and address the individual needs of children with disabilities in their classroom; (2) teachers need to intentionally facilitate peer interactions between children with and without disabilities; (3) key stakeholders involved in serving children with disabilities should prioritize developing effective partnership; (4) efforts are necessary to reduce the negative impacts of external factors, such as the uneven distribution of children with disabilities across classrooms, influencing the quality of inclusive classroom environments. keywords: inclusion, head start, collaboration, peer interactions mihai and butera (2017) report findings from their case study focused on one head start program in a midwestern state. in this study, data gathered in classroom observations and teacher interviews were employed to examine how children with disabilities were included in eight head start classrooms. specifically, the study examined how head start teachers planned and adapted activities for children with disabilities in their classrooms, how children with disabilities participated in activities and interacted with peers and adults, and how teachers collaborated with other professionals about the needs of children with disabilities. findings from the study revealed that teachers understood the importance of addressing children’s individual needs and were motivated to teach so that all children learned. however, teachers differed in the extent to which they made adaptations to support the needs of children with disabilities in their classrooms and including everyone from the start 107 how well they facilitated peer interactions. these differences provide important lessons about how children with disabilities can be included in inclusive preschool classrooms. the program under study is located in a rural area and served children from six different counties. teachers were from the communities; they were experienced and had worked with young children for at least 6 years. considering these circumstances, the findings from this study may be limited in generalizability. the implications for practice, nevertheless, are particularly important to consider given that a substantial number of children with disabilities are enrolled in head start, and programs should strive to ensure that children with disabilities are well-served. in the following, we present four themes that outline lessons to be learned from this study. helping teachers to recognize and address individual needs simply placing children with disabilities in the same classroom with typically developing peers is insufficient to support optimal developmental outcomes. rather, early childhood programs must provide accommodations and adaptions to meet the needs of children with disabilities and ensure they are active participants in the classroom (hurley & horn, 2010). further, children with or without disabilities must have multiple opportunities to actively engage with one another (diamond & hong, 2010). only then will preschool inclusion lead to “a sense of belonging and membership, positive social relationships and friendships, and development and learning” as emphasized in the joint position statement on inclusion of the division for early childhood (dec) and the national association for the education of young children (naeyc; dec & naeyc, 2009, p. 2). the eight teachers in our study differed considerably in how they planned and adapted activities for children with disabilities. some of the teachers worked with children in small groups, simplifying activities, and focusing on children’s specific areas of need. for example, martin both simplified and expanded the storybook reading activities based on what he knew about the children. similarly, laura provided colin with sensory activities during station time because she felt he needed them. teachers sometimes planned activities with children’s iep goals in mind. for example, lynn planned math activities where children counted jellybeans, performed simple addition and subtraction, or sorted them by colors, depending on the children’s abilities and learning needs. however, in other instances, children’s specific needs were not acknowledged in lesson planning. some teachers seemed uncertain about how to support children with disabilities in the classroom, as was the case of hannah, who explained that she “got the tip of the iceberg” from taking an introductory course in special education in her early childhood education degree program. she found her teacher preparation to be insufficient to provide children with disabilities in her classroom with the support they needed. other teachers also reported that they felt that additional training was needed. however, other teachers seemed unaware that they might benefit from professional development. under such circumstances, it is imperative to provide opportunities for self-reflection about teaching and adequate support for teachers to ensure quality learning environments are provided for all children. clearly, some teachers need additional professional development and support to enact high-quality inclusive practices. it is important for administrators to regularly assess teacher needs and ensure that they are provided with the knowledge and skills necessary to teach the children in their classroom, who may have a variety of needs that change from year to year. 108 mihai & butera some teachers, like cathy and roberta, reported feeling uncomfortable when they singled children out by making adaptations to activities. cathy explained that a child with a developmental delay in her classroom “doesn’t really get a lot of accommodations because he wants to do what everyone else does.” similarly, roberta believed children are different from each other, and it is important to accept their differences and to teach children to respect each other. an important lesson from this case is that while acceptance and appreciation of differences should be fostered when working with young children, it is important to also provide children with needed accommodations and adaptations. ensuring that children with disabilities have access to activities and are supported in their participation are central features of early childhood inclusion and all programs would do well to implement them (dec & naeyc, 2009). the importance of facilitating peer interactions the teachers in our study also differed considerably in how they facilitated peer interactions in their classrooms. some teachers appeared to be more aware than others of the potential difficulties that children with disabilities might experience in initiating and sustaining interactions with peers. noticing that jimena, an english language learner with a speech and language impairment who had difficulty playing with her peers, juanita joined the children’s play herself. she facilitated interactions by providing suggestions based on what children were already doing and extending their play to include jimena. in martin’s classroom, several children had behavior problems, which negatively impacted their interactions with peers. martin’s approach was to explicitly teach children the classroom rules, emphasize them often, and facilitate interactions when children had difficulties playing together, at times entering their play. laura was purposeful in her praise of children with disabilities in her classroom emphasizing positive attributes and creating a positive climate in her classroom, where all children played and interacted well together. in classrooms where teachers were not observed consistently supporting positive peer interaction, children with disabilities had difficulties forming relationships with their classmates. this was the case of becky in hannah’s classroom. children noticed her behavior as different from theirs and were reluctant to interact with her. lyle, in cathy’s classroom, also had difficulties interacting with peers. in one instance, several children who were playing in the sandbox left when lyle climbed in. only when a teacher facilitated activities, did we observe lyle actively engage with other children. it is clear that head start teachers must be purposeful in planning and implementing opportunities for children to interact with one another. while we know that there are benefits for children with disabilities when they are educated alongside more competent peers, particularly in language development and social competence (hanusek, kain, markman, & rivkin, 2001; justice, logan, lin, & kaderavek 2014; rafferty, piscitelli, & boettcher, 2003), it is important to note that children without disabilities also benefit from interactions with their peers who are unlike them. teachers can work to maximize these benefits by facilitating interactions in which all children actively engage with one another. this can also contribute to creating a sense of belonging and the development of friendships, particularly important features of inclusion (dec & naeyc, 2009). including everyone from the start 109 the value of collaboration when the different professionals serving children with disabilities work well together, outcomes for children are likely to improve (hunt, soto, maier, liboiron & bae, 2004). still, research suggests that preschool teachers and various specialists often struggle to work together (brown, knopf, conroy, googe, & greer, 2013; butera, friesen, horn, palmer, &vaiouli, 2016). this was evident in our study, both within and outside of the head start program. overall, teachers worked well with one another and appreciated the opportunity to plan together and to share lesson ideas. however, teachers differed in the extent with which they found the program’s disabilities coordinator to be supportive. in some instances, the disabilities coordinator lacked sufficient time to provide teachers with help, particularly when the same coordinator visited several locations and had additional assigned tasks. given this circumstance, the disabilities coordinator and the teachers had not developed the collaborative relationship that was needed if teachers were to welcome and adopt provided suggestions. considering that disability coordinators are the primary resource for teachers regarding children with disabilities, it is important to understand how head start programs can foster better collaborative relationships between teachers and other professionals who are to support them. several of the teachers in our study had difficulties collaborating with the school district, particularly the early childhood special education teachers serving children who were dually enrolled. juanita and lynn reported feeling frustrated with the lack of communication with the school district program, which only took place when they initiated it. juanita described her participation in the iep meetings as minimal even when she made an effort to attend. without an active role in developing the children’s ieps, the document itself provided juanita with little guidance on how to help children with disabilities in her classroom. martin believed the school district saw their head start program as a “day care center” and failed to recognize the work of the teachers in supporting children and families. since collaboration between key stakeholders is essential for implementing high-quality early childhood inclusion, it is imperative that head start programs and school districts prioritize communication and collaboration between professionals serving young children with disabilities. it is also essential for classroom teachers to be more meaningfully included in iep meetings, as is required by idea. not all interactions with the school district were negative, and we had the opportunity to observe one particularly positive collaboration. sylvie, a speech language therapist who worked with several of the teachers in the study, was appreciated for her willingness to consult with teachers on how to address children’s individual needs. sylvie sometimes worked with children in the classroom instead of pulling them out and, at times, she also ate lunch with head start children and teachers. it is important to understand how collaborative relationships could be developed so that children are provided with additional support beyond the limited time spent with specialists. this will likely lead to children’s better acquisition of skills and generalization across settings. the role of external factors factors external to the teachers’ direct work with children influenced the extent to which they were able to focus on the effective inclusion of children with disabilities in their classrooms. several of the teachers reported that the amount of paperwork that they needed to complete 110 mihai & butera interfered with their ability to plan for all children, including children with disabilities in their classroom. further, the uneven distribution of children with disabilities across classrooms interfered with teachers’ efforts to plan and implement adequate learning activities. some teachers had several children with significant needs while others had only a few children with disabilities whose special needs were mild. overall, across the classrooms, many more children were identified by the teachers as having special learning needs than were identified with a disability (i.e., had an iep). all of the head start classrooms included a lead teacher and an assistant. in addition, they had support from parent volunteers and a specialist who came in the room. however, in some circumstances, when classrooms included several children with significant needs for support, teachers and teacher assistants too often found themselves preoccupied with ensuring the safety of the children and had less time to plan and adapt activities. in hannah’s room, becky needed one-on-one support to prevent her behaviors from interfering with her safety or the safety of the other children in the classroom. hannah’s teacher assistant, jamie, spent much of her time supervising becky, which interfered with her ability to help with classroom activities. this case clearly illustrates that having an equal number of children in each classroom is not equitable, and programs should consider the specific needs for support that children have. teachers explained to us that children were placed in classrooms depending on bus routes. in this rural head start program, a bus had to sometimes travel a long distance to pick up a child from an isolated location. no doubt, the costs associated with placing children with more intense needs equitably across classrooms must be considered. however, since the percentage of children with disabilities in a classroom is associated with the overall quality of the classroom environment (gallagher & lambert, 2006), it is important to consider how children are placed in classroom to provide better learning environments for all children. the head start program benefitted from a partnership with a community mental health program. this was an important resource, but underutilized. teachers explained that while a behavior therapist came to consult twice a month, given the high turnover within the center, teachers were unsure who would be visiting their classroom next. teachers also reported that they did not receive feedback after a mental health specialist had visited their classroom. of great concern, from teachers’ perspectives, were the missed opportunities to collaborate with all of those who are serving children in their classrooms. the head start teachers had ongoing opportunities to get to know the children and their families. other professionals should make the most of the resource provided by head start teachers’ knowledge and experience. since children transition to school after their time in head start, effective partnerships between key stakeholders are essential if the goal is to maintain the “head start” that children receive in preschool. conclusion the head start teachers in our study and the children in their classrooms provided valuable insight into how the inclusion of children with disabilities can best be supported in head start. while teachers understood the importance of addressing children’s individual needs and were motivated to support the development of children in their classrooms, they differed in how they addressed the needs of children with disabilities. two important features of effective early childhood inclusion relate to ensuring that children with disabilities have access to activities and including everyone from the start 111 are supported to actively participate in the classroom (dec & naeyc, 2009). as we observed the classrooms in our study, we concluded that inclusion was best supported when teachers recognized and addressed the individual needs of children with disabilities in their classroom through intentional planning of activities and specific efforts to facilitate peer interactions between children with and without disabilities. lastly, when including children with disabilities, it is important to promote the development of effective partnerships between all stakeholders serving children with disabilities and to make efforts to reduce the negative impacts of external factors, such as the uneven distribution of children with disabilities across classrooms. references brown, w. h., knopf, h. t., conroy, m. a., googe, h. s. & greer, f. (2013). preschool inclusion and response to intervention for students with disabilities. in v. buysee, e. s. peisner-feinberg & h. f. ginsberg (eds.) handbook of response to intervention in early childhood (pp. 339-354). baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing co. butera, g., friesen, a., horn, e., pamer, s., & vaiouli, p. (2016). adults working and playing well together. in e. horn, s. palmer, g. butera, & j. lieber (eds.), six steps to inclusive preschool curriculum: a udl-based framework for children’s school success (pp. 183-196). baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing co. division for early childhood & national association for the education for young children. (2009). early childhood inclusion: a joint position statement of the division for early childhood (dec) and the national association for the education of young children (naeyc). chapel hill, nc: author. diamond, k. e., & hong, s. y. 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(2010). family and professional priorities for inclusive early childhood settings. journal of early intervention, 32(5), 335-350. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053815110385650 justice, l. m., logan, j. r., lin, t. j., & kaderavek, j. (2014). peer effects in early childhood education testing the assumptions of special-education inclusion. psychological science, 25(9), 1722–1729. doi:10.1177/0956797614538978 rafferty, y., piscitelli, v., & boettcher, c. (2003). the impact of inclusion on language development and docial competence among preschoolers with disabilities. exceptional children, 69(4), 467-479. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290306900405 dialog, 18(2), 85-91 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary supporting english learners in preschool: strategies for teachers cindy hoisington, jessica mercer young, louisa anastasopoulos, and sue washburn education development center, inc. this research to practice paper summarizes a study of supporting preschoolers with language differences (spld), a professional development (pd) program aimed at building the capacity of preschool teachers to support the language and literacy development of young english learners (els). it describes practical strategies and approaches included in the program that all preschool teachers can useformative assessment, specific language-support strategies, and adaptations to classroom activitiesto promote el children’s oral language, receptive language, and pre-literacy skills. keywords: early childhood; preschool; language learning; els over the past ten years the numbers of children learning english in addition to another home language has risen by almost 60% in the united states (ballantyne, sanderman, & mclaughlin, 2008). english learners (els) now comprise about 30% of the population of head start classrooms (u. s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, 2013). throughout their school years these children will face challenges that have the potential to limit their english vocabulary development, negatively impact their later reading ability, and make them increasingly vulnerable to underachievement and dropping out as they approach the high school years (ballantyne et al., 2008; capps et al., 2005). research clearly shows that all young children, including els, need high-quality language and literacy instruction. they need opportunities to hear and use language; explore words and sounds; interact around books and print; and apply emerging reading and writing skills (dickinson & neuman, 2006; national early literacy panel, 2008). el children, however, have additional language needs (haager & windmueller, 2001). they require targeted supports for building vocabulary and increased opportunities to hear and use language. they need teachers who actively facilitate their participation in play and other classroom activities and who help them establish the types of social relationships with other children that promote language learning. in order to effectively support els, teachers need to understand the nature of second language development. they need to know, for example, that when young 86 hoisington et al. children are introduced to two languages sequentially rather than simultaneously, the first language provides a foundation for learning the second (tabors, 2008). teachers also need to understand that el children are not a homogenous group, but unique individuals who bring a variety of background experiences to the language learning process (espinosa, 2008). research shows that teachers benefit from professional development (pd) that centers on el language development and on the practices teachers can learn and use with els in their own classrooms. these practices include specific strategies for supporting el children’s language directly as well as pedagogical approaches for promoting a language-rich classroom culture and for addressing the language needs of individual els (santos, darling-hammond, & cheuk, 2012). effective pd also supports teachers to try out new practices, observe children’s responses, and reflect on their own teaching (neufeld & roper, 2003; webster-wright, 2009). teachers benefit when pd includes work with a knowledgeable coach who can observe the teacher trying out new practices, engage the teacher in joint reflection, and help the teacher plan responsive follow-up activities (darling-hammond, 2012). the study supporting children with language differences (spld) is a pd program aimed at building the capacity of preschool teachers to promote the language and literacy development of the el children in their classrooms. spld incorporates three fundamental teaching practices:  collecting language assessment data on el children and using the data to inform curriculum planning  implementing specific language support strategies with els throughout the day  grouping el children intentionally in learning centers and during classroom activities during this study we offered the program to 19 teachers in a large urban head start center. teachers were asked to attend three full day instructional sessions, implement research-based language-support strategies and approaches in their own classrooms, and work with an onsite coach in between sessions. in order to study the effectiveness of spld on teachers and children, researchers conducted assessments in the 19 spld classrooms as well as in 16 classrooms where teachers were not participating in the program. researchers used the early language and literacy classroom observation pre-k tool (ellco pre-k; smith, brady, & anastasopoulos, 2008) to collect data on the language and literacy quality of the classroom environment and teachers’ instructional strategies. researchers collected data on el children using a variety of standardized language and literacy assessments including the preschool language scale, 4 th ed. (pls-4; zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2002). in order to better understand the process through which spld impacted teacher practice, researchers also conducted a case study of grace, an spld teacher, as she worked with maria, an el child in her supporting english learners in preschool 87 classroom. we have used examples from the case study in this paper to illustrate spld teaching strategies and approaches. implications for practice collecting language assessment data on el children and using the data to inform curriculum planning in spld teachers collected data about children’s language and literacy development from multiple sources including el children’s families and teachers’ own observations. grace interviewed maria’s mother at the beginning of the school year and asked questions such as what language(s) does your child’s family speak at home? when did your child first begin communicating in english? and in what settings does your child use the home language and/or english? grace used her own head start home visit form as well as the family language questionnaire (tabors, 2008) for guidance. in the classroom grace collected data on maria’s receptive and expressive language use. grace kept a running record of the words that maria responded to and/or used in daily classroom activities and conversations. when grace reflected on this assessment data she was surprised to learn that the classroom was maria’s only english-learning environment and that maria knew and used fewer words than grace had previously believed. this information led her to choose maria as her focus child in the program. spld teachers also had access to data from the standardized language and literacy assessments that were given to el children as part of the research study. with support from their coaches, teachers used all of these data sources to plan ongoing language and literacy goals and experiences for el children that were responsive to their individual language needs. specific knowledge of individual children’s language levels also enabled teachers to adjust the ways in which they introduced and facilitated classroom activities to make them more accessible to els. implementing specific language support strategies with els throughout the day in spld teachers learned a set of language support strategies and used them with el children consistently and intentionally throughout the classroom day. although these strategies apply to teachers’ work with all young children, they are especially critical for els. these seven strategies support els’ language and vocabulary development directly, make learning activities more accessible to els, and scaffold els’ participation in the social life of the classroom (tabors, 2008). each of them is described below using examples drawn from the case study of grace. adjust your own language to meet the needs of individual el children. when teachers use language that meets the needs of individual el children, they make classroom conversations accessible to els and create opportunities for introducing appropriately challenging new words. during a dramatic play restaurant scenario, for example, grace narrated maria’s actions by saying maria is getting the corn, maria is 88 hoisington et al. serving the corn, and this corn is delicious! by using the familiar word corn and short repetitive sentences, grace was able to focus maria’s attention on the new words serving and delicious. restate and reframe comments and questions. when teachers restate and reframe comments and questions, they provide el children with additional language clues that help children understand key words and phrases. for example, grace reframed a question for maria when she asked her are you going to set the table now? are you going to put the plates and cups on the table now? grace also restated other children’s comments to maria. when a child said to maria give me the green one during a painting activity, grace said maria, haley is asking you for the green paint. provide word definitions in context. when teachers provide simple definitions of new words in context, they provide children with environmental clues that support children’s understanding of key words and phrases. for example, grace defined the word squeeze in context of a science experiment. grace showed maria how to squeeze a plastic bottle to move different objects with air. she also defined the word squeeze in context when she said to grace: you have to squeeze the bottle hard; to squeeze means to press. scaffold oral language with pictures, props, and body language. when teachers communicate the meanings of words using pictures, props, and body language, they provide clues in addition to language and contextual clues. for example, as grace defined the word squeeze in context, she also held up her fists, squeezed them hard, and dramatically scrunched up her face to emphasize the physical effort she was making. grace routinely used picture cues on classroom charts. on the classroom rules chart, for example, she placed photos of children demonstrating each of the rules. observe and interpret children’s behavior and provide relevant vocabulary. when teachers closely observe children’s behavior, they can narrate the child’s actions and introduce or reinforce relevant vocabulary. grace did this when she said maria is getting the corn and maria is serving the corn during the restaurant activity. when teachers observe children closely, they also have opportunities to interpret children’s ideas and questions and provide relevant language. for example, grace noticed maria looking around the art area during a painting activity and she said it looks like you are trying to find more paint. what color are you looking for? follow up to check for understanding. when teachers follow up to assess children’s understanding of new words, they can identify any misunderstandings children have and, if necessary, provide additional language clues. teachers may follow-up immediately, by observing the child’s response to a comment or question, or during a subsequent activity. grace assessed maria’s understanding of vocabulary introduced during restaurant play in the morning (plates, cups, bowls, and set the table) by inviting maria to set the tables at lunchtime. increase the complexity of your own language as children are ready. teachers increase the complexity of their own language as children gain more fluency in supporting english learners in preschool 89 english by gradually introducing more challenging vocabulary and using longer, more complex sentences. grace used this strategy during subsequent readings of a storybook. during the first read grace talked with children about the words shirt, pants, scream, and dirty. during the fourth read she promoted discussion of the words teenager, tight, and fitting room. grouping el children intentionally el children’s social interactions impact their language development. peers provide “comprehensible” input for els because children use language that is more direct, simple, and contextualized than the language used by adults (krashen, 1981). grace paired maria with a number of different children during open-ended and structured activities including building, computer games, book browsing, play dough, and drawing. grace observed that maria was using and playing with words and sounds during these paired activities and that she was developing friendships with a number of children in the class. these interactions resulted in a friendship book that grace made with maria in order to support maria’s emerging literacy skills and acknowledge maria’s happiness about these emerging relationships. spld teachers also adapted routine classroom activitiesincluding dramatic play and book readingto better meet the needs of el children and support their inclusion. adapting activities—dramatic play supports. dramatic play scenarios provide the concrete and familiar props that el children need as scaffolds for language. teachers can support els’ language by grouping children in the dramatic play area who are at different levels of english language development and facilitating their play from the inside and from the outside (hadley, 2002). grace intentionally introduced sets of related words during the restaurant scenario: plate, cup, bowl, and napkin; salad, vegetable, and meat; and set, serve, place, and order. grace also used complex language to describe maria’s and the other children’s play behaviors (setting the table, taking orders, cooking and serving the food). she reinforced new vocabulary by connecting the play to children’s everyday experiences (going to a restaurant, observing cooking at home, setting the table in the classroom). when she played the role of a customer in the restaurant, grace supported maria’s dramatic play from the inside by ordering a meal, asking for a napkin, and paying the bill. she also supported play from the outside and acted as a stage manager when she suggested the roles children might play (customer, waiter, waitress, and cook), facilitated interactions between maria and other children (ask maria what they have for dessert) and by narrating maria’s actions as maria played the role of waitress. adapting activities—book reading. a compelling story is a rich source of interesting new words, and it has the potential to provoke children’s thinking and help them make language connections to personal and shared experiences. spld’s primary adaptation to the book reading routine consisted of the teacher reading the same book multiple times with a small group of el children. this grouping adaptation enables teachers to target the language needs of individual els. it also ensures that el children 90 hoisington et al. who are at a beginning level of learning english have many opportunities to participate in book conversations and not be overshadowed by their more english-fluent peers. grace read the book max’s dragon shirt by rosemary wells four times to maria and three other el children as her coach recorded the reading on video. over the course of four readings grace:  initiated discussion of increasingly challenging words and language  supported children’s deeper understanding of story concepts  gradually transferred responsibility for “reading” the story to the children after each reading grace and her coach used the video recording to assess maria’s understanding of the story and story vocabulary. with her coach’s help grace planned subsequent readings that were responsive to maria’s growing language and understanding. by the fourth reading maria and the other el children were able to act out the story as grace leafed through each page in the book and provided cues. during a final and fifth reading, grace read the book to the whole group as maria and the other el children assisted. adapting activities—language helpers. “language helpers” is a type of peer coaching based on the idea that even very young children can be taught to support the language use of their el peers (hirschler, 1994). children can be taught to initiate play and conversation, and to adjust, restate, and reframe their words if they sense they are not being understood. spld teachers selected language helpers based on their social maturity and their interest in interacting with other children, as well as their english language fluency. grace actively coached another child, haley, as a language helper for maria. she showed haley how to: initiate and maintain contact with maria; ask simple questions; check for understanding; and wait for maria’s response. she then paired maria and haley during a painting activity and briefly coached haley to used the language helper strategies before leaving the girls to play independently. video taken by grace’s coach showed evidence of maria and haley laughing together as they appeared to jointly plan a paint-mixing trick on the teacher. conclusion the results of this study indicated that spld was effective in building teachers’ capacity to promote el children’s expressive language, receptive language, and pre-literacy skills. teachers positively impacted the language and literacy skills of els in their classrooms by collecting language assessment data on el children and using the data to inform curriculum planning; implementing specific language support strategies with els throughout the day; and grouping el children intentionally in learning centers and during classroom activities. the overall findings from this study suggest that the intentional inclusion of els in classroom activities and a sustained emphasis on teaching strategies and approaches that support their inclusion, may be the key to promoting els’ language success in early childhood classrooms. it also suggests that intensive pd that focuses on el teaching and learning, and that includes onsite coaching support, may be instrumental supporting english learners in preschool 91 in providing preschool teachers with the knowledge and skills they need in order to effectively support their young el students. references ballantyne, k. g., sanderman, a. r., & mclaughlin, n. (2008). dual language learners in the early years: getting ready to succeed in school. washington, dc: national clearinghouse for english language acquisition. capps, r., fix, m., murray, j., ost, j., passel, j. s., & herwantoro, s. (2005). the new demography of america’s schools: immigration and the no child left behind act. washington, dc: urban institute. darling-hammond, l. (2012). creating a comprehensive system for evaluating and supporting effective teaching. stanford, ca: stanford center for opportunity policy in education. dickinson, d. k., & neuman, s. b. (eds.). (2006). handbook of early literacy research (vol. 2). new york, ny: guilford press. espinosa, l. m. (2008). challenging common myths about young english language learners. (fcd policy brief advancing pk–3 no. 8). new york, ny: foundation for child development. retrieved from http://fcd-us.org/resources/challenging-common-myths-about-young-english-languagelearners hadley, e. (2002). playful disruptions. early years, 22(1), 9–17. haager, d., & windmueller, m. p. (2001). early reading intervention for english language learners at-risk for learning disabilities: student and teacher outcomes in an urban school. learning disability quarterly, 24(4), 235–250. hirschler, j. a. (1994). preschool children´s help to second language learners. journal of educational issues of language minority students, 14, 227–239. krashen, s. (1981). principles and practice in second language acquisition. london, uk: prentice hall international. national early literacy panel. (2008). developing early literacy: report of the national early literacy panel. a scientific synthesis of early literacy development and implications for intervention. washington, dc: national institute for literacy. neufeld, b., & roper, d. (2003). coaching: a strategy for developing instructional capacity, promises, and practicalities. washington, dc: aspen institute program on education; providence, ri: annenberg institute for school reform. retrieved from http://www.annenberginstitute.org/publications/list.html santos, m., darling-hammond, l., & cheuk, t. (2012, january). teacher development to support english language learners in the context of common core state standards. paper presented at the understanding language conference, stanford, ca. retrieved from http://ell.stanford.edu/papers/policy smith, m. w., brady, j. p., & anastasopoulos, l. (2008). early language and literacy classroom observation tool, pre-k (ellco pre-k). baltimore: brookes. tabors, p. o. (2008). one child, two languages: a guide for early childhood educators of children learning english as a second language (2nd ed.). baltimore: brookes. u. s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families. (2013). report to congress on dual language learners in head start and early head start programs. washington, dc: author. retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/report_to_congress.pdf webster-wright, a. (2009). reframing professional development through understanding authentic professional learning. review of educational research, 79(2), 702–739. doi: 10.3102/0034654308330970 zimmerman, i. l., steiner, v. g., & pond, r. e. (2002). preschool language scale. (4th ed.) (english edition). san antonio, tx: the psychological corporation. dialog, 19(3), 94-98 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary helping preschoolers develop phonemic awareness skills using sound boxes elizabeth durst and laurice m. joseph the ohio state university the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of sound boxes as a supplemental instructional technique on improving phoneme segmentation performance for a sample of preschoolers enrolled in a head start program. sound boxes activity coupled with modeling, guided practice, and corrective feedback was implemented and gradually faded as students mastered phoneme segmentation skills. a multiple probe across participants design was used to compare children’s phoneme segmentation performance during baseline and sound boxes intervention conditions. all children’s performance on phoneme segmentation tasks during sound boxes intervention was above their baseline performance levels. children were able to maintain their high phoneme segmentation performance levels after modeling, guided practice, and eventually the sound boxes were gradually removed. in addition, children were able to generalize segmenting some of the phonemes when they were presented within words that were not directly taught during sound boxes activity. implications for using sound boxes in the classroom and at home are provided. keywords: phoneme awareness; early literacy intervention young children who have not acquired fundamental early literacy skills such as phonological awareness may experience challenges acquiring reading skills when they enter the primary grades. it is critical that early child educators explicitly teach phoneme awareness to increase the likelihood that children will acquire reading skills with ease (e.g., bentin & leshman, 1993; byrne & fielding-barnsley, 1991; hatcher, hulme, & ellis, 1994; smith, scott, roberts, & locke, 2008). the phonological awareness skill that is most predictive of early reading and spelling skills is phoneme segmentation. (nation & hulme, 1997; al otaiba, et al., 2010). phoneme segmentation involves attending to and articulating each individual sound in a spoken word. for example, the teacher may say the word /sit/ and ask the children to break the word apart and say each individual sound such as saying /s/ /i/, and /t/. it is no surprise that phoneme segmentation is considered the most challenging skill in the hierarchy of phonological awareness skills (chappell, stephens, kinnison, & pettigrew, 2009). elkonin (1973) created an activity called sound boxes that assists young children in acquiring phoneme segmentation skills with ease. this has also been referred to “ as “say it 95 durst & joseph move it” activities. sound boxes have been effective for improving primary grade students’ with and without disabilities performance on phoneme segmentation, word recognition, and spelling (e.g., joseph, 2002; keesey et al., 2015). there have been minimal studies, if any, that examined the effects of this technique for preschool children especially those who are at risk such as those enrolled in a head start program. the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of sound boxes on head start children’s performance on phoneme segmentation performance. we addressed the following research questions: “do sound boxes improve phoneme segmentation performance for children who are enrolled in a head start program?” and “will the children maintain and generalize their phoneme segmentation performance after supportive prompts are systematically removed?” summary of research methods participants participants were three preschool children, winston (male; age 4-10), mia, (female; age 5-2) and nolan (male; age 4-7). all of the children were african-american and attended a head start program in a large metropolitan city in the midwest. these children were chosen to participate in the study as they performed below benchmark levels on individual growth and development indicators (igdis) measures (i.e., rhyming, alliteration, and picture naming). in addition to igid measures, a pre-assessment revealed that the children were not able to segment consonantvowel-consonant (cvc) sounds in words at the start of the study. these words from the preassessment were used to teach phoneme segmentation skills in the study. sound boxes activity sound boxes consist of a drawn rectangle divided into three sections according to the number of sounds in words. in this study, cvc words were used so the rectangle was divided into three sections according to the number of sounds in each word that were taught to the children. for example, the rectangle would be divided into three sections for the word “cat.” tokens were placed below the divided sections of the rectangle. at the start of the sound box lesson, the teacher modeled the procedure by slowly articulating each sound in a word and sliding the tokens in the respective divided sections of the rectangle as each sound was articulated. next, the instructor guided the children in completing this activity by having them place the tokens in respective sections as they and the instructor articulated the sounds of a cvc word. afterwards, the children completed the task independently with instructor corrective feedback, which consisted of providing the correct response if the children made an error. verbal praise such as saying, “correct” was given for correct responses. in this particular study, children were asked to segment each individual sound in a total of five words. they were also asked to segment sounds in nonsense words that were not directly taught to determine if they were able to transfer segmenting sounds from one word to another. when children demonstrated mastery of segmenting sounds in words, the modeling and guided practice components of the intervention were removed to determine if the children were able to maintain their level of performance without these supports. eventually, the sound box structure phonemic awareness skills 96 was removed, and the children only received corrective feedback after segmenting sounds in the words. research design we used a multiple baseline across participants design to examine the effects of the sound boxes against a baseline condition when no sound boxes were implemented. during baseline and intervention conditions, children were administered an assessment probe that required them to segment each sound in a word that was orally presented to them. each probe contained five cvc words totaling 15 sounds to segment. we compared children’s performance on the probes between baseline and intervention conditions. summary of results all children improved over their baseline levels of performance on phoneme segmentation tasks when the sound boxes with modeling, guided practice, and corrective feedback were implemented. it took some children fewer trials than others to attain mastery level of performance. all children were able to maintain their high levels of performance after the modeling and guided practice instructional components were gradually removed. with regards to transferring their segmentation of phonemes to unknown words, all children were able to complete the task at about 50% accuracy by the end of the study. the magnitude of the effects of the sound boxes intervention was strong for all students. the intervention effects remained strong even after some of the instructional components were removed. discussion and implications for practice explicitly teaching young children phonemic awareness skills is crucial for helping them develop basic reading skills with ease when they enter the primary grades. this is especially the case for young children who are at risk of not developing reading skills. a phonemic awareness skill that is strongly related to achieving basic reading decoding and spelling skills is phoneme segmentation (nation & hulme, 1997; al otaiba, et al., 2010). results of this study showed that sound boxes coupled with modeling and guided practice opportunities were effective for teaching a sample of preschoolers how to segment sounds. although more research is needed involving preschoolers with and without disabilities, the results of this study were consistent with prior studies demonstrating that sound boxes was effective for helping children acquire phonological skills (e.g., keesey et al., 2015; maslanka & joseph, 2002). implications for using sound boxes in the classroom and at home with preschoolers at risk of not acquiring proficient literacy skills or who have identified disabilities in early language and literacy skills are as follows: a. sound boxes consist of manipulative materials that are appealing to young children and designed to promote active student engagement in learning phonemic awareness skills. these materials can come in the form of a divided rectangle on a dry erase 97 durst & joseph board accompanied with tokens or they can come in the form of tiles shaped like boxes for children to slide and put together as they articulate each sound in a word. b. sound boxes can be embedded within a comprehensive early literacy program to teach children beginning, middle, and ending sounds in words. they can also be used as an intensive intervention procedure that supplements the general early literacy curriculum for students with disabilities and who are at risk of not acquiring phonemic awareness skills. c. in addition to helping children segment individual sounds in words, sound boxes can serve as a supportive structure for helping children string together sounds and blend them to form a word. for instance, have children slide their finger across the divided boxes as they say the sounds together. d. sound boxes activity can be used when young children transition from an early childhood program such as head start to kindergarten and from kindergarten to first grade. beginning with the kindergarten teacher, children can be taught to transition from attending to individual sounds in spoken words to linking those sounds to letters. this will facilitate children’s understanding of the alphabetic principle. for example, tokens or tile boxes can be replaced with plastic letters or letter tiles. children are instructed to slide the letters into the boxes or move the letter tiles and place them next to each other as they sequentially articulate each sound in a word. by at least the middle of first grade, children can write the letters in the boxes as they sound out the word. e. the supportive visual, auditory, and physical prompts that are inherent in the sound boxes activity can be gradually faded as children master phonological skills. tracking children’s progress while using the sound boxes can help teachers determine when to fade the supports (i.e., de-intensify the intervention). references al otaiba, s., paranik, c. s., rouby, d. a., greulich, l., sidler, j. f., & lee, j. (2010). predicting kindergartner’s end of year spelling ability based on their reading, alphabetic, vocabulary, and phonological awareness skills as well as prior literacy experiences. learning disability quarterly, 33, 171–183. bentin s., & leshem, h. (1993). on the interaction between phonological awareness and reading acquisition: it’s a two-way street. annals of dyslexia, 43, 125–148. byrne, b., & fielding-barnsley, r. (1991). evaluation of a program to teach phonemic awareness to young children. journal of educational psychology, 83, 451455. chappell, j. c., stephens, t. l., kinnison, l., & pettigrew, j. d. (2009). educational diagnostician’s understanding of phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and reading fluency. assessment for effective intervention, 35, 24–33. elkonin, d. b. (1973). u.s.s.r. in j. downing (ed.), comparative reading (pp. 551-579). new york: macmillian. hatcher, p., hulme, c., & ellis, a. w. (1994). ameliorating reading failure by integrating the teaching of reading and phonological skills: the phonological linkage hypothesis. child development, 65, 41-57. joseph, l. m. (2002). facilitating word recognition and spelling using word boxes and word sort phonic procedures. school psychology review, 31, 122–129. keesey, s. konrad, m. & joseph, l. m. (2015) word boxes improve phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondences, and spelling skills of at risk kindergartners remedial and special education, 36, 167-180. maslanka, p. & joseph, l. m. (2002). a comparison of two phonological awareness techniques between samples of preschool children. reading psychology, 23, 271-288. nation, k., & hulme, c. (1997). phonemic segmentation, not onset-rime segmentation, predicts early reading and spelling skills. reading research quarterly, 32, 154–167. phonemic awareness skills 98 smith, s. l. scott, k. a., roberts, j., & locke, j. (2008). disabled readers’ performance on tasks of phonological processing, rapid naming, and letter knowledge before and after kindergarten. learning disabilities research & practice, 23, 113-124 dialog, 17(3), 96-103 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary accelerating preschoolers’ content vocabulary and world knowledge: collaboration between teachers and researchers sharolyn d. pollard-durodola university of denver jorge e. gonzales and deborah c. simmons texas a&m university the purpose of this three-year investigation was to develop an 18-week shared book reading intervention guided by teacher feedback on instructional practices, including the design and delivery features from the shared book reading and vocabulary research that could be effectively implemented by preschool teachers to accelerate children's content vocabulary knowledge. the results of this study bridge research to practice by contributing to the theoretical understanding of the feasibility of instructional practices that intensify typical shared book reading practices. keywords: vocabulary, shared books reading intervention as children learn to use more words, they learn more about the world around them and become better prepared to participate in discussions about academics and life experiences, and to comprehend text in later school years (catts, fey, zhang, & tomblin, 1999; hirsch, 2006). many children initially acquire vocabulary concepts and related general content knowledge through daily “informal informational lessons” (neuman, 2006, p. 25) with a parent or other adult. such rich informational conversations allow children to gain vocabulary knowledge in the context of acquiring world knowledge so that they become able to talk about broad experiences. in contrast, children who are not exposed to rich early language experiences may arrive at school with gaps in vocabulary and connected world knowledge that negatively impact their ability to benefit from general school instruction and academic discussions (hart & risley, 1995). these children require evidence-based school practices that can accelerate vocabulary learning early while building content knowledge. traditionally, one of the primary approaches to accelerating young children’s vocabulary knowledge has involved reading and talking about books (ezell & justice, 2005; what works clearinghouse [wwc], 2006; whitehurst & lonigan, 1998). in this intentional approach to vocabulary acceleration, informational texts and storybooks that are paired by a content-related theme (the earth) and topic (land/water) can be used to integrate frequent exposures to new 96 pollard-durodola et al. words and concepts. thus, such interactive book reading approaches with opportunities for language stimulation (e.g., extending children’s oral responses to open-ended questions about a story, modeling appropriate language use) have been found beneficial for vocabulary learning – especially for children who enter school with low vocabulary knowledge ( lonigan, shanahan, & cunningham, 2008; national early literacy panel [nelp], 2009; zucker, cabell, justice, pentimonti, & kaderavek, 2012). indeed, interactive shared book reading that integrates intentional book discussions around both informational texts and storybooks may accelerate both content vocabulary learning (liquid, solid, melt) and world knowledge (e.g., science concepts). however, most typical shared book reading practices are not robust or interactive enough to support children’s oral vocabulary development in ways that can close both early word and knowledge gaps (mol, bus, & de jong, 2009; penno, wilkinson, & moore, 2002). additionally, to date, there is no clear understanding of which scientifically based shared book reading practices are usable and feasible for teachers in real classroom settings. purpose of the study the purpose of this study was to describe design and delivery features from the shared book reading and vocabulary research that may effectively and feasibly be implemented by preschool teachers while accelerating children’s content vocabulary knowledge in daily 20-minute thematic lessons (science and social studies themes/topics). implementing a design research methodology, the researchers systematically developed and refined an interactive shared book reading intervention through cycles or phases of planned observations, analyses of lesson implementation, and curriculum revision to determine under which conditions the intervention would be effective in real school settings (reinking & bradley, 2008; shavelson, phillips, towne, & feuer, 2003). to our knowledge, this methodology has been used in the design of few preschool vocabulary curricula (bradley & reinking, 2011;neuman & dwyer, 2011) or in the development of preschool vocabulary interventions in which teacher collaboration, insight, and feedback played a decisive role. the present study gave preschool teachers an opportunity to bridge research and practice by providing insights into the feasibility of a scientifically grounded interactive shared book reading approach to boost children’s oral language abilities. method design and context of the study the design experiment consisted of three distinct phases that allowed researchers to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a content-based vocabulary shared book reading approach conducted in head start and early childhood centers: phase i: preliminary intervention design (year 01) phase ii: field testing, teacher feedback, and curriculum refinement (year 01) phase iii: intervention effects, teacher feedback, and curriculum refinement (years 02 and 03) content vocabulary instruction 97 school districts. teachers and students participating in the study came from two school districts that had a high percentage of students with low socioeconomic status (ses) (e.g., free and reduced-priced lunch) who were likely to enter school with limited exposure to rich vocabulary and world knowledge, placing them at risk for future comprehension difficulties. teachers. across the three years of the design experiment, 25 preschool teachers (intervention teachers, n = 16; comparison teachers, n = 9) with similar educational and professional experiences participated in the study. students. across the three years of the design experiment, 309 students participated in the study (phase ii, n = 36, phase iii, n = 273) from low-ses families and from ethnically diverse backgrounds. data collection, analysis procedures, and results below are summarized the procedures for data collection and analysis across the three design experiment phases. phase i: preliminary intervention design. prior to designing the intervention, the three researchers worked to better understand typical shared book reading practices in preschool settings with children with limited vocabulary knowledge. first, researchers informally observed shared book reading lessons in three classrooms at a preschool center and independently recorded field notes about the length of the book reading session, target word instruction, adultchild interactions/conversations, organization of book reading content, instructional format, and text genre. second, the researchers reviewed the shared book reading literature from 1990 to 2006 to identify features of effective shared book reading interventions conducted with young children who came from low-ses backgrounds and/or who exhibited low vocabulary knowledge. lastly, one researcher and a doctoral student reviewed three commonly used preschool curricula and materials to determine their alignment with evidence-based shared book reading and vocabulary practices (e.g., evidence of explicit vocabulary instruction, vocabulary instruction distributed before, during, and after book reading). the researchers observed that (a) typical preschool book reading sessions were brief (averaging 5-7 minutes in length), (b) student engagement was minimal with little adult-child conversations, (c) informational texts were not used, (d) word meanings were not always emphasized, and (e) there was little priming of students’ background knowledge during the book reading session. further, the review of the three preschool curricula and materials used in the participating districts indicated that (a) vocabulary instructional tasks were somewhat consistent with scientifically based practices and (b) provided limited information on how to scaffold instruction for difficult tasks or develop background knowledge related to new words and connected information. by comparison, a review of previously conducted school-based shared book reading interventions conducted in head start or subsidized child-care settings indicated that more effective book reading interventions included many of the following practices: (a) repeated text readings (e.g., two readings per text), (b) interactive adult-child dialogues, (c) multiple exposures to vocabulary to accelerate learning, (d) intentional teaching of words during brief incontext discussions, and (e) instruction and discussions before, while, and after reading the text. 98 pollard-durodola et al. collectively, findings from the curricular and shared book reading literature review and observations of typical shared book reading practices were used to guide the design of a multidimensional shared book reading approach with the following goals: (a) world knowledge (science) would be developed by priming background knowledge through multiple exposures to weekly instructional units organized around twin texts (one storybook + informational text per week) connected by a theme and smaller topic; and (b) word knowledge would be accelerated through the strategic selection and explicit instruction of high-utility content-related words (three words per book, six per week) across multiple contexts with repeated text readings and interactive discussions. this shared book reading routine would utilize a five-day instructional sequence. day 1 would be used to introduce (a) a storybook and important background information on an important theme/concept (e.g., the earth is made of land and water.) and smaller topic (ocean); (b) three semantically related vocabulary (e.g., ocean, wave, underwater) with child-friendly definitions (waves are the ocean water that move back and forth.); and (c) comprehension questions (what was a big thing that happened to the sharks in the story?). day 2 would include a second reading/discussion of the book and activities to review vocabulary via opportunities to make connections between words, concepts, and life experiences (look into the magic mirror and tell us about the ocean that you see!). days 3 and 4 would accomplish the same goals but would introduce and extend new information via a thematically linked informational text and three new semantically related words. finally, day 5 would integrate all words (n = 6) and knowledge learned in the week with opportunities to make connections to science concepts from previous weeks. phase ii: field testing, teacher feedback, and curriculum refinement. the primary objective in phase ii (year 01) was to field test and refine the preliminary shared book reading intervention with the assistance of four preschool teachers, who implemented the shared book reading lessons in two-week curricular thematic units with a group of children (n = 9) in their classrooms. prior to implementing the intervention, teachers received three hours of professional development (pd), in which researchers-developers demonstrated how to read and talk about books, words, and a science topic. the participating preschool teachers completed a teacher feedback form (a scale from very low to very high) to provide insights into the feasibility of the instructional tasks (appropriateness of activity sequence, etc.) and the usability of the materials (ease of using manipulatives, ease of teacher instructions, etc.). after field-testing the shared book reading lessons, the four teachers met with researchers and shared their insights in two focus group discussions. the teachers’ feedback was as follows: (a) higher-level thinking tasks required more scaffolding strategies in the curriculum due to the linguistic demand of the language structures for young children; (b) additional resources were needed for building children’s limited background knowledge so that children could understand critical science vocabulary and related concepts well enough to be able to participate in interactive discussions with the teacher and other children; (c) the complex sentence structures in some informational texts threatened the ease of reading/comprehending book content; (d) the number of new words taught per book should be gradual so that young children could become acclimated to the book reading process; and (e) more activities and opportunities were needed to monitor individual child responses and progress within the larger group discussion. overall, teachers confirmed that students successfully learned the six words taught per week and reported content vocabulary instruction 99 instances of children using the words to describe life experiences beyond the book reading session (e.g., i saw a liquid at home!). teachers’ comments and feedback were subsequently used to refine the instructional approach (integrate additional background on taught concepts using relevant visuals; integrate opportunities for paired student practices so that teachers could monitor and extend individual child responses, etc.) and to guide the development of a comprehensive 12-week content-based (science themes) preschool shared book reading vocabulary intervention using a five-day scope and sequence of daily 20minute interactive book discussions. phase iii: intervention effects, teacher feedback, and curriculum refinement. in phase iii (years 02 and 03), researchers evaluated the impact of the content-based shared book reading intervention on preschool children’s vocabulary outcomes (researcher-developed and standardized measures) and refined the curricular intervention while investigating its features in terms of their potential usability and feasibility. initial 12-week science intervention. in the first randomized trial (year 02), 18 teachers were randomly assigned to implement the 12-week shared book reading intervention (n = 11) with supporting thematic science books and materials or the practice-as-usual (comparison) condition (n = 7; teachers in this group used their own books and typical book reading strategies). all teachers implemented shared book reading with a large group of 9 to 10 children who were at or below the 30th percentile on the peabody picture vocabulary test iii [ppvt], forms a and b (dunn & dunn, 1997). these children required intensive early intervention with oral language extensions because they exhibited low vocabulary knowledge and were at risk for later reading comprehension difficulties. pd was provided prior to intervention implementation and followed by three distributed 90-minute booster sessions (beginning, middle, and before the end of the intervention) to ensure consistent high-quality teaching. nine of the 11 intervention teachers met with 2 researchers in a focus group held one month after the intervention period to discuss their implementation experiences. teachers reported ease in using pictures (use of book pictures/illustrations to teach vocabulary and connected concepts) and vocabulary cards (picture concept cards with pictures depicting vocabulary, connected concepts, and themes). most teachers reported using explicit vocabulary instruction as a key component of the intervention, including using key words in the discussion such as vocabulary exposure and vocabulary rich. in terms of curricular weaknesses, teachers referred to the “length” of the session, (it was too long for young children) and group size (too many children in the group). further, 18% felt that children sometimes did not understand some of the vocabulary concepts (e.g., year – a period of time from one birthday to the next) due to difficulty of the target word. the teachers were satisfied with the following intervention design and delivery features, which they found feasible to implement: thematic science instruction, vocabulary review tasks, and scaffolding with pictures and book illustrations to teach and clarify word and concept knowledge. however, the consensus was for shared book reading to occur in smaller groups (5 or 6 students) because it was difficult to manage the behavior of a larger group of young children during the 20-minute book discussions even when an instructional aide engaged the students in the class who were not participating in the shared book reading intervention with other activities (e.g., center-based activities). 100 pollard-durodola et al. in addition to teacher feedback, results from expressive and receptive curriculum based vocabulary measures indicated that children learned the science vocabulary concepts that were taught as reflected. however, no statistically significant main effects were found on standardized receptive and expressive vocabulary measures. we hypothesized that the brief intervention period (12 weeks) and large group size (9-10 children) may have limited opportunities for interactive conversations for preschool children with limited vocabulary and world knowledge. in response to these year 02 findings, the shared book reading approach was refined to increase the (a) feasibility of instructional practices, (b) instructional extensiveness of the intervention (i.e., 18 weeks of instruction; the addition of two social studies themes; additional background information), and (c) dialogue opportunities for children to make explicit and deeper connections between taught words and their background knowledge. we believed that at-risk children would benefit from broader and deeper word-world connections that result from understanding relationships between new words and their broader connected concepts (nagy, 2007). these “networks of concepts” or knowledge could be facilitated through higher-level cognitive vocabulary tasks requiring more analytical thinking (e.g., what happens to a riverbank when we have a lot of rain? what is the difference between a stream and a river?), additional background knowledge, and oral language modeling. expanded 18-week science+social studies intervention. in year 03, 21 teachers were randomly assigned to either the 18-week intervention (n = 13) or the practice-as-usual (comparison) condition (n = 8) and taught smaller groups (5-7 children). the pd module was more intensive in this year with initial pd including more research evidence on the rationale for specific intervention strategies (use of informational texts, repeated reading, stopping for brief in-context definitions, etc.). as in year 02, the researchers also provided 90-minute pd booster sessions (beginning, middle, and before the end of the intervention) to offer feedback on teachers’ implementation practices and to ensure consistent high-quality teaching. in this year, curriculum based vocabulary outcomes indicated that children were able to learn the science and social studies concepts that were taught, and, unlike in year 02, statistically positive and significant results were found for the standardized receptive vocabulary measure (ppvt-iii). that is, children in the intervention group scored higher at posttest than children who participated in typical shared book reading practices. however, unlike previous interactive shared book reading studies, the intervention did not have a statistically significant effect on children’s expressive vocabulary. it is possible that preschool teachers required more intensive pd to adequately scaffold interactive analytical discussion tasks. discussion although previous studies have examined the use of shared book reading as a tool for developing and extending at-risk children’s oral vocabulary in school settings (lonigan, anthony, bloomfield, dyor, & samwell, 1999; neuman & dwyer, 2011; wasik, bond, & hindman, 2006), few investigators have relied on cycles of curriculum development and refinement in collaboration with preschool teachers to better understand the feasibility and usability of scientifically based book reading practices. guided by teacher insights and feedback, the researchers conducting the current study learned more about the features of instructional content vocabulary instruction 101 feasibility and usability of a content-based shared book reading intervention implemented with children in high poverty settings. feasibility and usability of instructional practices overall, preschool teachers in the present study implemented many shared book reading instructional features with ease (e.g., repeated reading of texts, brief in-context definitions, and distribution of open-ended questions throughout the thematic book reading process) while maintaining a high teaching quality. teachers also learned to integrate content instruction across thematically paired informational texts and storybooks although initially they were more comfortable reading from storybooks. lastly, teachers preferred implementing tasks that required brief rapid vocabulary reviews and the use of instructional visuals (pictures, book illustrations, theme cards) during the book reading process. many teachers, however, were not accustomed to scaffolding analytic discussions and did not always know how to extend children’s conversational abilities beyond typical book reading practices. this became apparent in the implementation of instructional tasks that required higherlevel analytical thinking and discussion to help children make important conceptual connections (e.g., if you tasted sea water would it taste like water we drink every day? why or why not?) and talk about conceptual differences (what is the difference between frozen water and liquid?).these tasks remained challenging for some preschool teachers. in a separate observation study, however, researchers found that content related shared book reading instruction that emphasized analytical association-level talk, predicted growth in children’s receptive vocabulary (gonzalez, pollard-durodola, simmons, taylor, davis, fogarty, & simmons, 2013). in the end, these higher level analytical discussions are dependent on the teacher’s expertise in providing feedback, extending oral responses, and modeling appropriate language use. implications and suggestions for practice overall, findings from this study indicate that children can benefit from explicit and targeted content vocabulary instruction and that teachers can learn to implement research-based book reading practices in ways that accelerate children’s oral language abilities. one key challenge is providing the appropriate level of instructional support for early childhood educators that will impact children’s vocabulary and oral language acquisition (dickinson, 2011). classroom observation research suggests that increasing teachers’ awareness of their instructional behaviors via ongoing opportunities for personalized feedback (e.g., extensive coaching) and self-reflection (pianta & hamre, 2009) may improve adult-child language interactions in at-risk settings. specifically, it may be beneficial for preschool teachers to engage inreflective conversations with other practitioners and/or an instructional coach about their content based shared book reading implementation. in these conversations, teachers can identify: (a) what is working (i feel most confident about engaging children in a discussion on the week’s theme prior to reading the book.), (b) what needs attention (i’m having difficulty with moving too quickly through the lesson and asking open-ended questions without creating a discussion.), (c) 102 pollard-durodola et al. children’s successes (my children are able to talk about the big thing that happened in the storybook); and (d) children’s difficulties (my children have difficulty talking to their partner about what they learned on a book page.). insights gained from this process can be used to establish two or three goals to strengthen implementation practices and content learning. goals may include the following: 1. model how to talk about conceptual differences and similarities prior to asking . children to engage in analytical conversations. 2. use sentence stems as a conversational prompt to help children talk about important concepts: “cindy, say my favorite liquid is ______.” 3. encourage children to talk about concepts during paired conversations: “ana,turn and tell your friend about the living things that you might find in a meadow. say, “ ____(s) can live in a meadow. in our study, we reviewed and adjusted instructional goals as teachers made progress and felt more confident about their ability to engage children in interactive conversations. this method of ongoing pd with reflection and targeted feedback is important when engaging children who require intensive language support in interactive content discussions... in conclusion, findings from the present study suggest that when designing future interventions intended to improve children’s literacy and language achievements in preschool settings, researchers must pay significant attention to the skills of the teachers delivering the curriculum (hamre et al., 2009) in addition to the design and use of scientifically based instructional materials and practices. references bradley, b. a., & reinking, d. 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(2006). intervention report: shared book reading. retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/wwc_shared_book_092806.pdf. whitehurst, g. j., & lonigan, c. j. (1998). child development and emergent literacy. child development, 69, 848872. zucker, t. a., cabell, s. q., justice, l. m., pentimonti, j. m., & kaderavek, j. n. (2012). the role of frequent, interactive prekindergarten shared reading in the longitudinal development of language and literacy skills. developmental psychology, doi:10.1037/a0030347 dialog, 18(4), 59-79 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research article effects of a culturally responsive interactive book-reading intervention on the language abilities of preschool dual language learners: a pilot study carol scheffner hammer teachers college, columbia university brook sawyer lehigh university despite evidence that interactive book-reading is a way to promote children's language skills, few book reading interventions exist for latino dual language learners (dlls). the goals of this pilot study were to (a) examine the effects of participation in a culturally responsive interactive book-reading intervention on the language abilities of preschool dlls and (b) investigate the social and cultural validity of the intervention. with 73 mother-child dyads (35 intervention and 38 control), we examined the effectiveness of the intervention on children's language skills, as measured by standardized assessment and language samples. children in the intervention group made significantly greater gains in number of different words produced and mean length of utterance in words than children in the control group. no intervention effects were found for the standardized language measures. mothers reported the intervention had strong social and culturally validity. future directions for refinement and further testing of this intervention are discussed. keywords: book-reading; intervention; latino; culture learning to read is a critical skill that all children living in the united states must accomplish to be successful in school and beyond. this process becomes more complex for dual language learners (dlls), given that the children’s home language is typically different from the oral and written language that they encounter in school (snow, burns & griffin, 1998). dlls are children who are learning a second language (e.g., english) either simultaneously or sequentially with their home language (gutiérrez, zepeda & castro, 2010). dlls exhibit varied levels of exposure to and use of their two languages, such that some children have stronger skills in one language than the other while other children have more balanced skills (montrul, 2008). we focus on spanish-speaking children because spanish is the predominant home language spoken by dlls in the united states (national center for education statistics, 2015). 60 hammer & sawyer dlls face additional socio-demographic risk factors (e.g., economic disadvantage) that are related to academic under-performance (august & hakuta, 1997). educational statistics indicate that latino children have less than optimal reading performance beginning in kindergarten and continuing through high school (national center for education statistics, 2015). children who attend head start are not exempted from these poor reading outcomes. although head start programs have been shown to support children’s development, head start faces found that children from low-income homes, including children learning to speak spanish and english, entered and exited head start programs with language and emergent literacy skills that lagged behind middle-class children (aikens, kopack klein, tarullo, & west, 2013). thus, it is important to build the foundation for reading success early. extant research has shown a well-documented relation between children's early language abilities and later reading outcomes (e.g., dickinson & mccabe, 2001; joanisse, manis, keating, & seidenberg, 2000; scarborough, 2001; storch & whitehurst, 2002; tomblin, zhang, buckwalter, & catts, 2000). relationships have been found between preschoolers' vocabulary, language comprehension and their elementary school reading abilities (catts, fey, zhang, & tomblin, 1999, 2001; catts, fey, tomblin, & zhang, 2002). children's grammatical and narrative abilities have also been implicated as factors that impact outcomes (e.g., catts et al., 1999; catts et al., 2002; craig, connor, & washington, 2003; scarborough, 1998). the relation between language and later reading outcomes has also been demonstrated with dlls. work by hammer and colleagues demonstrate that support for children’s spanish (home language) during the preschool years promotes children’s later reading outcomes in both english and spanish. specifically, hammer and colleagues found that growth in spanish receptive language during children’s two years in head start positively predicted children’s early reading and letter-word identification abilities in both spanish and english in kindergarten and first grade (hammer, lawrence, davison, & miccio, 2009; davison, hammer, & lawrence, 2011). robust evidence indicates that the home literacy environment, including parent-child book-reading has positive effects on children’s language and literacy outcomes (e.g., britto & brookes-gunn, 2001; burgess, hecht & lonigan, 2002; de jong & leseman, 2001; dickinson & tabors, 2001; gest, freeman, domitrovich, & welsh 2004; raikes et al., 2006; speece, ritchey, cooper, roth, & schatschneider, 2004; storch & whitehurst, 2002). one well-studied adultchild book-reading intervention to support children's language development is interactive reading. interactive book reading the aim of interactive book reading, such as dialogic reading, is to promote adult-child talk during shared-book reading interactions. interactive reading is based on the premise that parents should (a) encourage their children to talk about the books that were read to them, rather than being passive participants, (b) provide maximally supportive feedback to their children, and (c) scaffold progressive changes in their children’s abilities (whitehurst et al., 1988). during book reading interactions, parents support their children’s language development by providing rich language experiences. for instance, parents use open-ended prompting and questioning to engage the child in a discussion about the book and expand upon what their child says (e.g., child says “dog”, and parent responds “brown, fuzzy dog”) to model more advanced language skills. culturally responsive intervention 61 studies conducted with parents of various economic and cultural groups have shown that a relatively short period of implementation of interactive reading is sufficient for interactive reading to result in meaningful changes in children’s vocabulary and expressive language abilities and literacy development (e.g., arnold et al., 1994; cohen, kramer-vida, & frye, 2012; huennekens & xu, 2010; lim & cole, 2002; whitehurst et al., 1994). yet, research on the positive contribution of interactive book reading is not consistent, and little research has focused on preschool dlls. a recent report from the what works clearinghouse indicated mixed effects for interactive book-reading on preschool children’s language and literacy skills (u.s. department of education, 2015). additionally, several meta-analyses found that interactive reading may be less effective for lower ses families than higher ses families (manz, hughes, barnabas, bracaliello, & ginsburg-block, 2010; mol, bus, de jong, & smeets, 2008). furthermore, only one study has focused on the effects of parent-implemented interactive reading with spanish-english dll children (huennekens & xu, 2010). while effects were promising, more research is needed. cultural context it is possible that the finding from the meta-analyses by the manz et al. (2010) and the mol et al. (2008) that interactive book-reading had diminished effectiveness for low-income families may be because intervention practices did not align well with families’ values, strengths, and goals (e.g., carrington & luke, 2003; janes & kermani, 2001; roggman, cook, peterson, & raikes, 2008). when developing interventions, it must be remembered that language and literacy practices are culturally defined. the practices parents engage in vary due to differences in the goals for development, view of and uses of language, and the environments in which children are raised (carrington & luke, 2003; gillanders & jiménez, 2004; hammer, nimmo, cohen, draheim, & johnson, 2005; heath, 1983; phillips, 1983; rogoff, 1990). the seminal works of heath (1983) and phillips (1983) demonstrate that integration of the family’s cultural beliefs and practices into an educational program maximizes children’s academic outcomes. the cultural relevance of the strategies and materials is an important consideration in developing interventions for latino (or any cultural group) families. there is a void in the literature on whether interactive book-reading is a socially acceptable home literacy practice for latino families, but descriptions of latina mothers’ reading styles indicate that interactive reading may be culturally appropriate in some homes (boyce et al., 2004; hammer et al., 2005). hammer and colleagues (2005) observed shared book reading of ten puerto rican mothers and their preschool children. forty percent of the mothers used an interactive reading style, in which mothers read the text of books, stopped periodically to ask questions and responded to their children’s comments. in a study of 47 immigrant spanishspeaking latina mothers, boyce and colleagues (2004) found that mothers used a range of interactive reading strategies, such as asking and answering questions, connecting the book to personal experiences, making predictions, and eliciting children’s recall of the story. to extend this work, one goal of this pilot study was to explicitly examine whether interactive reading was a socially valid style of book-reading for spanish-speaking families of preschool dlls. beyond examining the degree of cultural appropriateness of interactive book-reading, other factors, such as the language used during book-reading and the type of books, are important to consider. family members should be encouraged to read to children in the language 62 hammer & sawyer in which they are most proficient. children’s exposure to spanish is related to children’s language and literacy abilities in spanish (duursma, romero-contreras, szuber, proctor, & snow, 2007; hammer, davison, lawrence, & miccio, 2009; hammer, komaroff, rodríguez, scarpino, & goldstein, 2012; hoff, core, place, rosario, señor, & parra, 2012) and english (hammer et al., 2012). dlls’ language abilities in spanish and in english lay the foundation for their reading ability in the school-age years (august & shanahan, 2006; davison, hammer, & lawrence, 2011; dickinson, mccabe, clark-chiarelli, & wolf, 2004; hammer et al., 2009). additionally, interventions need to take into account the cultural relevance of the materials provided to mothers. in the united states, it may be difficult for parents to find storybooks in spanish that are not direct translations from english. thus, the content and themes may not be relevant to latino families, a heterogeneous group with differing countries of origin. work by janes and kermani (2001) provides important insight into the importance of using culturallyinformed materials. in their intervention study, which targeted book-reading strategies with latino parents of preschoolers, the researchers experienced very high attrition. they found that reading commercial off-the-shelf texts, even when in spanish, did not appeal to the parents who viewed reading as not enjoyable, or even a punishment, during childhood. in the second year of the study, parents were encouraged to make their own books, which revealed themes related to developing a moral purpose and becoming a well-educated individual. similarly, boyce, innocenti, roggman, norman and ortiz’s (2010) work demonstrates the value of using culturally relevant books and materials to promote book reading and story telling. through their intervention in which latina mothers created books that were meaningful to them and their children, mothers significantly increased their use of language elicitation techniques and the quality of their home language and literacy environment in comparison to a control group that received no intervention. taken together, these studies attest to the importance of including culturally relevant books when designing an intervention for latina mothers and their preschool children. a culturally responsive interactive book reading intervention calls have been made by the national association for the education of young children (naeyc) for culturally-responsive practices and interventions. such interventions are to value and infuse the families’ cultures into practice, seek to “support and preserve” children’s usage of their home language, use the home language to support children’s acquisition of english and collaborate with families to develop approaches that are “developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate” (naeyc, 1995, 2009). unfortunately, there is a paucity of culturally-responsive interventions for latina mothers and their children. this study is designed to meet this need by conducting an initial examination of a culturally-responsive book reading intervention, madres educando a sus niños (mothers educating their children). the program was designed to train latina mothers to support their children’s language development through interactive book-reading strategies using eight culturally-informed books that were iteratively developed for this project (see table 1). culturally responsive intervention 63 table 1. culturally-informed books developed and used in intervention title content un viaje a la casa de abuela/a trip to abuela’s house the alvarez family travel to their homeland to visit their relatives. fiesta patronales the children learn more about their culture by attending their first fiesta patronales. rosa aprende una lección/rosa learns a lesson one of the alvarez children learns an important lesson about respecting her elders. bobo y los pollos/bobo and the chickens the alvarez children learn about bobo, a classic cultural comic character. hasta los piratas tienen vecinos/even pirates have neighbors the alvarez children learn how neighbors and friends band together to help each other. ir al rio /going to the river the alvarez children go on a traditional weekend trip with their extended family. la flor y el colibrí /the flower and the hummingbird when the family went to a traditional folktale play, the parents tell their children about their childhood. ¡un viaje maravilloso!/a wonderful trip! the alvarez family travels home and remembers what a wonderful time they had visiting their family. the content of the books were established through in-depth consultations with latina mothers from the community where the project occurred. initially, the first author conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 latina mothers. the mothers were asked about their beliefs about parenting and aspects of their culture about which they wanted their children to learn. during the interviews, the mothers discussed the importance of family and the cultural values of showing respect for elders and helping others in times of need. they also talked about their enjoyment of festivals and gatherings that occurred in their homeland. the first author used the information shared by the mothers to identify possible themes for the books. she then worked with a children’s writer and an illustrator to create the books. throughout the development process, the first author consulted with a team of 5 latina mothers. the mothers provided input about each of the themes and the story lines and the illustrations as the individual books were created. feedback from the mothers was discussed with the author and illustrator who then revised each book. revisions were shared with the mothers to make certain their comments had been addressed appropriately. the books present a series of related stories about the alvarez family who visited their maternal grandmother in their home country. in each book, the family encountered various cultural values, traditions, and/or events. also, questions were written into the books to prompt mothers to ask their children questions about the stories. the questions addressed different levels of abstraction based on the work of van kleeck, gilliam, hamilton and mcgrath (1997) who found that lower and higher levels of language were beneficial for promoting language. level 1 questions, “matching perception,” involved language that was more concrete such as “what is this?” level 2 questions, “selective analysis/integration of perception” questions, were slightly 64 hammer & sawyer more abstract, focusing on characters, the scene or recalling information (e.g., what do mama alvarez and her children see out the window?”). level 3 questions, “reorder/infer about perception,” entailed discussions of information just presented or the character’s feelings or required judgments about what happened in the book (e.g., why is rosa embarrassed?”). level 4, “reasoning about perception,” were the most abstract and involved problem solving, making hypotheses, or explaining concepts or actions (e.g., “why is juan pablo hiding the treasure map?”). two sets of questions were provided in each book so that mothers could vary the questions across multiple readings of the books. english and spanish versions of each book were created, and families were encouraged to read in their preferred language(s). home visitors conducted eight home visits with the mothers, with each visit occurring approximately two weeks apart. the home visits were conducted in the language of the mothers’ choosing. see table 2 for a summary key components of the home visits and the activities provided to the mothers. during the initial home visit, the home visitors discussed the important role that parents can play helping their children get ready for kindergarten through reading books. they shared that the program would help the mothers do this by teaching them interactive book reading strategies. in addition, the home visitors discussed how the program would help the mothers share their culture with their children as well as support children’s language development in spanish and english. the subsequent home visits began with a discussion about the mothers’ efforts to use the interactive book reading strategies that were presented during the previous home visit with their children as well as the mothers’ usage of the activities that they had been given to do with their children. during each home visit, the home visitors introduced the book about the alvarez family that was designed for the home visit. they summarized the story line and explicitly taught the interactive book reading strategy that was targeted on that home visit (e.g., modeling asking questions, identifying and defining key vocabulary). in home visits five through eight, mothers were also provided commercially produced bilingual books to read to their children, in addition to the book about the alvarez family. post-its were placed in these commercial books to remind the mothers to periodically ask questions about the book. the home visits ended by reviewing with the mothers how to complete the activities the mothers were to do before the next home visit. these included reading the book about the alvarez family and asking questions about the story, teaching key vocabulary words in the story, telling their children stories about their childhood or family related to the theme of the alvarez book (and/or sharing family photos), and making a paper version of the alvarez book as a tool to retell the story. in light of the limited nature of research on culturally and linguistically responsive parent-implemented book-reading interventions for latino families, it was also critical to gain mothers’ perspectives on madres educando a sus niños. thus, there was scheduled time during each home visit to discuss the mothers’ usage of the books and supplemental materials as well as what they valued/did not value about the intervention. culturally responsive intervention 65 table 2. structure of the home visits key activities planned for each home visit materials/activities provided 1. time spent talking with the mother about her family or the week to build a relationship with the mother. 2. provide overview of the program and goals – 1 st home visit 3. interview mother about social validity of the intervention – books, strategies, activities 4. provide overview of the home visit 5. discuss key interactive book reading strategy a. asking questions about pictures in the book (hv 1) & strategies for helping children succeed at answering questions b. asking questions about the story (hv 2) c. asking questions about the character’s feelings (hv 3) d. expanding upon what the child says (hv 4) e. asking questions about what had happened or what would happen in the story. review of expanding upon what the child says (hv 5) f. review of all types of questions. practice asking questions using other books. (post-its placed in books to prompt mothers to ask a question) (hv 6) g. continued review and practice with additional book provided by the project (hv 7) h. use questions with children’s own books (hv 8) 6. discuss how to teach vocabulary (key words identified for the mothers) 7. go over the activities mothers are to do before the next home visit 1. book written for the project. example questions written into the books. (hv 1-8). 2. activity card that reminded mothers of key strategies to use and encouraged mothers to share photos and/or stories about childhood and family. 3. vocabulary card & activity – key words selected from the books 4. make a short book using illustrations provided from the project book. encourage the child to retell the story to others. 5. generalize question asking to other books provided by the project (post-its put on pages to remind mothers to ask questions) hv 5-8 the purpose of the study the purpose of this pilot study was two-fold. our first goal was to investigate whether children who participated in a culturally responsive interactive-book reading intervention would demonstrate greater gains in language abilities than children who were in the control condition. we predicted that intervention children would show larger gains in language skills than control children. a second goal was to assess the social and cultural validity of the intervention. based on the manner in which the books were developed (via consultation with latina mothers), we expected the intervention to have strong social and cultural validity. 66 hammer & sawyer method participants ninety latina mothers and their children were recruited from an urban head start program in central pennsylvania. in order to participate, mothers had to be native speakers of spanish, and all children were spoken to in spanish and english by the mother, father or other family member (e.g., grandmother). none of the mothers involved in the development of the books participated. in addition, children had no parent or teacher concerns about their development and were eligible to attend kindergarten in the following school year. mothers and their children were randomly assigned to either the intervention or control group. group assignment was stratified by the languages the mothers reported using when talking to their children (i.e., more english than spanish, equal amounts of spanish and english, and more spanish than english). seventy-three mother-child dyads completed the project, with 35 dyads in the intervention group and 38 in the control group. of the 17 dyads who did not complete the project, the reasons for attrition were as follows. six dyads (1 intervention; 5 control) moved out of the area. eleven dyads (9 intervention; 2 control) stopped their participation for reported various reasons (e.g., family health issues, new job). there were no significant differences at pre-test for any of the dependent child language variables between children who completed the project and those who did not. [note: due to space considerations, statistics can be provided by contacting the corresponding author.] the majority of mothers were of puerto rican descent (81.2%). the remaining mothers were dominican (8.7%), mexican (4.3%), cuban (4.3%), or honduras (1.4%). mothers averaged 11.3 years of education. there were no differences in maternal education between the intervention and control conditions (t = .48; p = .64). children ranged in age from 43 months to 66 months, with a mean age of 56.30 months (sd 4.6 months). children were evenly divided by gender (50% boys, 50% girls). less than half (41.4%) of the children were in their first year of head start, whereas 57% were in their second year. one child was in his/her third year. english was the primary language of instruction in the head start classrooms. more than half (60%) of children were born on the united states mainland. all mothers reported their children were exposed to spanish in the home. children were introduced to english at a wide range of ages. sixty-one percent were introduced to english at birth. for the remaining children, they were exposed to english between seven and 52 months (m = 30.71 months; sd = 12.25 months). at the time of the project, the mothers varied in regard to the languages used when speaking to their children. almost one quarter (24%) of mothers spoke equal amounts of spanish and english, 13% spoke more spanish than english, and 33% spoke all spanish to their children. twenty-four percent of mothers spoke more english than spanish, and only 7% percent spoke all english to their children. for those children whose mothers reported speaking all english, the father or grandmother spoke all or more spanish with the children. slightly more than half of children (56%) used predominantly or all english when talking to their mothers. one quarter (25%) of children spoke all english to their mothers and 31% spoke more english than spanish. thirteen percent spoke equal amounts of spanish and english; seventeen percent spoke more spanish and english and 15% spoke all spanish. culturally responsive intervention 67 procedures assessment. children’s language skills were assessed preand post-intervention using both a standardized assessment battery and language samples elicited from a narrative task and mother-child book-reading task. pre-test data were collected prior to any implementation of intervention, and post-test data was collected immediately following the completion of the four month intervention. standardized assessment. all children’s language abilities were assessed in both spanish and english language abilities. children were assessed at their preschool center by trained bilingual data collectors. the assessments were the picture vocabulary and oral comprehension subtests of the woodcock test of achievement iii (in english; woodcock, mcgrew, & mather, 2001) and batería iii (in spanish; muñoz-sandoval, woodcock, mcgrew, & mather, 2005). the order of the spanish and english assessment sessions was counter-balanced. the picture vocabulary subtest begins with items that require children to identify a picture that represents the object/action stated by the examiner and quickly progresses to items that require the child to name the object/action that is pictured. for the oral comprehension subtest, the child provides antonyms or synonyms to spoken words and completes oral analogies (e.g., elephant is to big and mouse is to ___). split-half reliability coefficients for children ages 3-5 ranges from .76 -.84 for picture vocabulary and .85-.90 for oral comprehension (mcgrew & woodcock, 2001). additionally, children’s conceptual vocabulary was assessed using the expressive oneword picture vocabulary test: spanish-bilingual edition (eowpvt-se; brownell, 2001a) during the spanish assessment session. the eowpvt-se provides a measure of the children’s combined spanish and english expressive vocabulary. children are asked to name pictures in their dominant language, but may also respond in their second language. internal consistency as measured by cronbach’s alpha is .92-.93 for children ages 4-5 (brownell, 2001b). language samples. the language samples that involved a narrative task and a motherchild book reading were collected in the children’s home. during the narrative task and motherchild book reading, mothers and/or children were instructed to speak in the language in which they were most comfortable. the interactions were video recorded. for the narrative task, a bilingual examiner instructed children to look at a wordless picture book entitled a boy, a dog, a frog and a friend (mayer & mayer, 1971) and asked to tell the story of what was happening by looking at the pictures. an examiner prompted children by saying, “i’d like you to tell me a story. we’ll use this book that has no words.” the examiner then encouraged the child to talk about the illustrations in the book by using open-ended prompts such as, “tell me what is happening,” “tell me more,” or “oh –look!” and pausing. for the mother-child book-reading task, mothers were asked to share a novel age-appropriate book in either english or spanish, who will tuck me in tonight?/¿quien me arropara esta noche? (roth, 2004) with their children. mothers were instructed to look at the book as they typically would. trained bilingual research assistants transcribed the language samples verbatim and coded and analyzed them transcripts using the systematic analysis of language transcripts (salt; miller & iglesias, 2012) for two linguistic variables: (a) mean length of utterance (mluw) in words – mlu is well-established as a valid measure of syntactic abilities and (b) number of different words (ndw) – a measure of expressive vocabulary. intervention. as previously stated in the description of the intervention, participants in the intervention condition received bi-monthly home visits over a four-month time period for a 68 hammer & sawyer total of eight visits. home visits typically lasted 90 minutes. the majority of mother-children dyads received all eight visits (64.6%). the average number of visits was seven, with a standard deviation of 1.8 visits. five bilingual staff (native speakers of spanish) from the families’ community conducted the home visits. the home visitors, who were referred from the local participating head start centers, had to have had experience working with young children and at least a high school degree. although it would have been preferable to have native spanish-speakers with teaching certification serve as the home visitors, such individuals were not identified in the community to carry out the intervention. prior to each home visit, the first author conducted training sessions with the home visitors. each training session began with a discussion of the specific goals and objectives for the home visit as well as a review of the book and materials that were to be given to the mothers. the first author then provided the home visitors with a soft-scripted lesson plan that was discussed in detail. the lesson plan outlined the key components of the home visit and provided detailed instructions related to the specific goals and objectives. each training session lasted approximately 90 minutes. the home visitors used the soft-scripted lesson plans during their home visits. also, during each visit, home visitors interviewed mothers using standardized questions about the social and cultural validity. home visitors informed mothers that this was a pilot study and that their input about the books and activities would be helpful for future revisions to the project. home visitors asked mothers whether they read the books and used the interactive reading strategies/completed the associated activity. home visitors also asked about the mothers’ and children’s enjoyment of the books/activities as well as solicited feedback from mothers on suggestions to improve the project. home visitors recorded mothers’ responses onto a log sheet at each visit. the control group received four packets that contained early math activities that focused on counting, recognizing and naming shapes, and pattern matching. each packet contained the materials for two to three activities as well as instruction cards that were written in parentfriendly language in both spanish and english. the packets were disturbed to the parents through their children’s head start teachers. the parents in the control group did not receive home visits. analyses descriptive statistics for the standard scores on the standardized assessments and for mlu-w and ndw were then computed. to address our first research question, we conducted ancovas using list-wise deletion to examine the intervention effect on children’s language outcomes. in regard to standardized assessment, all children but one (n = 72; 99%) completed the two spanish subtests and the eowpvt-se at both time points. sixty-three children (86%) completed the english picture vocabulary, and 58 children (79%) completed the english oral comprehension subtests at both time points. thirty-nine (53%) children completed both narrative tasks, and 41 (56%) mother-child dyads completed both pre-and postbook-reading interactions. we controlled for pre-test performance when modeling the gain score (i.e., pre-test score subtracted from post-test score). we chose gain scores to be our outcome variables rather than post-test scores because this allowed us to more easily interpret the degree of change associated with the intervention. we controlled for pre-test scores because children’s initial performance is culturally responsive intervention 69 routinely associated with changes in performance, specifically children who score high initially often demonstrate a lesser gain. the age range of participating children was 23 months. thus, for the analyses of the language samples, we controlled for children’s age because children’s language development is strongly associated with chronological age; age was not used as a covariate in the analyses of the standardized assessments because age was already accounted for in the utilized standard scores. as stated previously, children could use their preferred language during the narrative and book-reading tasks. for each task (i.e., narrative and book-reading), we conducted t-tests for each variable to determine whether there were significant differences between the children who spoke in all/predominantly spanish (i.e., spanish or mixed) and all english. we found no significant differences for any of the variables at pre-test and post-test. [note: due to space considerations, statistics can be provided by contacting the corresponding author.] additionally, because our sample size was small, we did not have the power to conduct ancova analyses controlling for pre-test scores separately by language; for example, only 10 children spoke in all or predominantly spanish in the narrative task at both time points (5 intervention, 5 control). thus, we analyzed language variables for each task (i.e., narrative and book-reading) as one group and did not analyze english gains separately from spanish gains. for the social and cultural validity analysis, we examined the data that was gleaned by the set of questions that home visitors asked of mothers in the intervention group during each of the home visits. specifically, we summarized mothers’ reports of whether they read the book, used the interactive readings strategy, and completed the activity. we then synthesized mothers’ open-ended comments about their participation in the intervention. data were reviewed for emergent recurring ideas (either positive or negative) that shed light on mothers’ perspectives of the intervention. results preliminary findings table 3 presents the means and standard deviations for all variables at pre-test and post-test for the intervention and control groups. the standardized assessment results are reported in standard scores. table 4 provides bivariate correlations between measures of children's standardized language ability at pre-test, and table 5 provides bivariate correlations between language variables derived from the language samples. because english and spanish were combined for the language variables, correlations were not conducted between the standardized language variables (which are reported separately by language) and the language sample variables. correlations with values of .1, .3, and .5 are interpreted as small, moderate, and large, respectively (cohen, 1988). medium to large positive correlations were found between tasks in the same language, whereas small to medium correlations were found across languages. 70 hammer & sawyer table 3 descriptive statistics at pre-test, post-test, and gain scores and t-test results for gain scores measures pre-test m (sd) post-test m (sd) gain scores m (sd) intervention control intervention control intervention control p spanish pv 50.46 (20.06) 48.05 (19.83) 40.85 (26.05) 42.45 (21.39) -9.91 (14.69) -5.61 (7.89) .13 spanish oc 76.74 (17.39) 75.18 (15.17) 75.76 (20.71) 77.29 (18.89) -1.59 (11.64) 2.11 (11.85) .19 eowpvt 99.79 (18.48) 100.86 (20.45) 104.65 (16.75) 103.97 (18.11) 4.73 (11.83) 1.08 (12.98) .23 english pv 90.03 (17.16) 85.82 (17.15) 90.91 (13.77) 90.79 (10.48) 1.00 (5.57) 5.42 (12.45) .07 english oc 89.63 (10.55) 89.87 (8.72) 94.81 (11.03) 97.63 (13.24) 5.25 (11.66) 6.60 (11.99) .67 ndw: narrative 41.97 (20.90) 45.80 (17.58) 56.19 (23.71) 45.16 (11.73) 10.87 (18.51) 0.46 (13.79) .05 mlu-w: narrative 4.04 (1.67) 4.08 (1.15) 4.84 (1.32) 5.09 (1.31) 0.62 (1.29) 1.04 (1.47) .36 ndw: book-reading 21.69 (19.19) 28.33 (30.49) 27.12 (26.59) 24.04 (30.48) 1.47 (23.79) -4.00 (18.93) .42 mlu-w: book-reading 2.30 (0.82) 1.95 (1.00) 2.53 (1.09) 1.72 (0.97) 0.47 (0.89) -0.38 (1.19) .02 culturally responsive intervention 71 intervention effects on children’s language skills standardized assessment. we found no significant intervention effects on gain scores computed for the standard scores of spanish picture vocabulary (f= 0.21, p = .65), spanish oral comprehension (f= 1.70, p = .20), expressive one word (f= 1.21, p = .28), english picture vocabulary (f= 2.11, p = .15), or english oral comprehension (f= 0.03, p = .86). for expressive one word, english picture vocabulary and english oral comprehension, children’s pre-test scores were significantly associated with their gain scores (respectively: f= 21.10, p = .000; f= 67.41, p = .000; f= 62.50, p = .000). table 4. correlations between children's standard scores at pre-test 2 3 4 5 1 spanish pv .80*** -.44*** -.24* -.36** 2 spanish oc --.24* .004 -.15 3 english pv -.70*** .59*** 4 english oc -.61*** 5 eowpvt - note. pv = picture vocabulary, oc = oral comprehension, and eowpvt = expressive one word picture vocabulary test. table 5. correlations between children's language sample variables at pre-test 2 3 4 1 narrative.: ndw .68*** .24* .24 2 narrative: mlu-w -.27* .39*** 3 book-reading: ndw -.37** 4 book-reading: mlu-w - child language in narrative task. in these analyses, we controlled for child’s age as well as pre-test scores. for number of different words [ndw], we found a significant intervention effect on gain score computed (f= 4.16, p = .049), with a small effect size (d = .27). children’s pre-test scores were also significantly associated with their gain scores (f=11.18, p = .002), but age was not significantly related (f= 1.96, p = .17). combined, age, pre-test score, and treatment group explained 32.9% of the variance in gain scores for children’s ndw. there was no intervention effect for gains in mean length of utterance-word [mlu-w] (f= 0.71, p = .41). children’s pre-test scores, but not their ages, were significantly related to mlu-w gains (pre-test: f= 10.31, p = .003; age: f= .02, p = .89). child language in book-reading task. in these analyses, we again controlled for child’s age and pre-test scores. there was no intervention effect for ndw gains (f= 0.71, p = 72 hammer & sawyer .41). children’s pre-test scores (f= 4.37, p = .04), but not their ages (f= 1.88, p = .18), were significantly related to ndw gains. we found a significant intervention effect on gain score computed for mlu-w (f= 8.08, p = .008), with a medium to large effect size (d = .79). children’s pre-test scores were also significantly associated with their mlu-w gain scores (f=11.09, p = .002), but age was not significantly related (f= 0.92, p = .34). combined, age, pre-test score, and treatment group explained 31.8% of the variance in gain scores for children’s mlu-w. social and cultural validity of the intervention our second research goal was to ascertain the social and cultural validity of the intervention. mothers in the intervention condition (n = 35) provided feedback about the intervention. overall, 95% of the mothers reported reading the project’s weekly book at least once (range 84%-100%), and 87% of the mothers reported doing the associated activity (range 59%-97%). the lower end of the range was reported at the seventh visit and was attributable to family circumstances for the week (e.g., child ill, family emergency) rather than the intervention. all mothers indicated that they made a conscientious effort to use the targeted reading strategies (e.g., embedded questions, elaborating on their child’s talk). they reported that these strategies extended their child’s thinking about the books as well as helped the child understand and enjoy the books more. some mothers reported doing this easily, while other mothers thought this was harder at first because it was new, but that it would get easier with practice. systematic data was not collected on which language mothers (and others, if applicable) read the books. however, when providing information about the engagement with the intervention, 20% of the mothers stated that they (or other family members, such as fathers or grandparents) would read the book in both languages to the child (e.g., spanish, followed by english). approximately two-thirds (65%) of mothers expressed that the books allowed them to share aspects of their culture with their children, such as different cultural festivals like fiesta patronales or cultural values like children showing respect for adults. several mothers mentioned that the books reminded them about aspects of their culture that they had personally forgotten. one mother said the child’s father was very happy with the project because the father and child could discuss their puerto rican heritage and that these times really created a bonding experience for the father and son. another mother stated at the end of the intervention that the project “helps parents that come from another country to keep practicing their cultures and prepare their child for kindergarten.” only one mother indicated that one of the books was a cultural mismatch; specifically, the book was not aligned with her religious beliefs. she told the home visitor after reading “fiesta patronales” that she changed the wording to indicate a non-religious celebration because she did not celebrate the holiday. half of the mothers (49%) indicated that their children enjoyed the stories so much that they shared the stories (either reading with another person or retelling story) with others. other individuals included grandparents, father/stepfathers, siblings, cousins, and teachers. one mother told the home visitor that her child “even tells his bus driver from head start about the books” and can’t wait for his mother to read the book to him. several parents reported that their children’s teachers asked mothers about the project because the teachers had noticed a change in the child’s reading interest and/or ability. culturally responsive intervention 73 mothers reported that they and their children liked the majority of the books a great deal. as would be expected, children and mothers had preferences about books. some mothers reported their children did not like “bobo and his chickens” and “the flower and the hummingbird” as much as the other books. also, some mothers thought “even pirates have neighbors” was more appropriate for boys than girls. at the final home visit, mothers were asked an open-ended question about whether they had any final comments. twenty mothers (57%) volunteered that participation in this project was beneficial to the mothers and/or the children. for instance, one mother reported that she felt “kind of sad that it's [project] almost over because my son is more interested in reading now than before starting this project. it has helped me in knowing how i can help do better in school.” another mother stated, “this program has helped me a lot interacting with my son and keeping him focused. i am learning how to better understand how to help him learn.” discussion with the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity of the children and families in preschool programs, interventions that incorporate the families’ culture and language are greatly needed to engage families and ultimately affect children’s language abilities (cf. janes & kermani, 2001). given this need, we developed an interactive book-reading intervention that integrated the latino culture. in particular, we went through an extensive process of developing eight books in close collaboration with latina mothers. the books were written to represent important cultural values and practices of the latino community, including importance of family, respect of elders, value of helping others, family gatherings and local legends. spanish and english versions were available to accommodate the language preferences of families. the purpose of this study was to pilot and assess our culturally responsive interactive book-reading intervention for latina mothers and their dll children. overall, our findings demonstrate that this culturallyresponsive intervention has promise for improving children's language skills and is seen as being socially and culturally valuable by families. intervention effects at the end of the four-month intervention, changes were observed in children’s expressive language abilities. specifically, children’s lexical diversity increased when telling a narrative, which indicates that their vocabularies were increasing. because the intervention included specific vocabulary activities that occurred along with the book reading activities, we believe that children became more aware of vocabulary words and increased the diversity of words that they used when telling a story. in addition, increases were observed in the length of the sentences children produced when talking about a book with their mother as she read to them. we suggest that this may have occurred because the intervention provided mothers and children with supports for talking about books when reading them. this in turn promoted children’s use of language when reading books that were not part of the intervention. these findings provide additional evidence that interactive reading has positive effects on latino dll children’s expressive language abilities (huennekens & xu, 2010). these findings also align with the extant research showing that interactive reading supports the 74 hammer & sawyer language development of monolingual english-speaking children (e.g., arnold et al., 1994; cohen, kramer-vida, & frye, 2012; lim & cole, 2002; whitehurst et al., 1994). although the intervention showed promise for some dimensions of children’s expressive language, no significant gains were made in children's spanish or english language abilities as measured by standardized assessments. potential reasons for the lack of change as well as potential revisions to the intervention will be described in the future directions section. social and cultural validity because of the integration of the latino culture throughout the intervention, we hypothesized that mothers would find the intervention social and culturally valid. our findings support this hypothesis. in particular, mothers expressed pleasure with the books, indicating the books allowed them to share their culture with their children. although this intervention was explicitly focused on mothers, it is striking that mothers reported that other family members became involved. mothers stated that other family members, particularly fathers, enjoyed reading the books and discussing their heritage with their children. latino families typically have close relationships with extended family (e.g., harwood, leyendecker, carlon, asencio, & miller, 2002), and family members, such as aunts/uncles and grandparents, often play a role in supporting children’s development (e.g., reese, goldenberg, loucky, & gallimore, 1995). our data also indicate that mothers used the interactive book-reading strategies and found participation in the project valuable. the majority of parents expressed that they were trying the interactive reading strategies (e.g., asking questions, elaborating children’s talk). although mothers indicated these strategies required conscious effort on their part, they described the benefit of the strategies on their children’s comprehension of the story. thus, it appears that even if interactive reading strategies were not part of these latina mothers’ typical reading interactions, mothers found the strategies to be valuable and were willing to use them. additionally, mothers reported that participation in the project increased children’s motivation to read. children enjoyed reading the books with their mothers, and mothers shared that their children initiated sharing the stories with others (e.g., family members, teachers). increasing children’s motivation to read is critical given that children’s motivation is associated with children’s language and literacy skills (e.g., dale & crain-thoreson, 1999; sènèchal, 2006). future directions for the intervention there are several reasons why the intervention may not have produced more robust effects. first, it may be that the amount of change that occurred over a four-month period was too subtle to have been captured by the selected standardized assessments. using custom-designed measures that were more aligned with the intervention may have demonstrated additional effects on children’s development, as was the case in the work of cohen and colleagues (2012). second, the dosage of the intervention may not have been sufficient to produce large changes in children’s language abilities. in two studies of a dialogic reading intervention for preschoolers, whitehurst and colleagues (1994) found significant effects on children’s language abilities as measured by standardized assessments when teachers and parents were actively implementing dialogic reading. therefore, because this intervention was just aimed at mothers, the culturally responsive intervention 75 intervention may need to occur over a longer period of time. this would provide mothers with more time to learn and use the techniques and more time for the changes in mothers’ language to result in changes in the children’s language abilities. another approach that we will consider in future research is to expand the intervention into children’s classrooms. this would provide children with a more intensive homeand school-based intervention and would assist teachers in making their classrooms more culturally relevant. many teachers want to integrate the children’s cultures into their classrooms but do not have access to meaningful materials. third, it may be that mothers were not using the strategies with sufficient fidelity to produce enough change in children’s language skills. mothers self-reported the frequency with which they read to their children using the suggested strategies. however, we have no indicator of the quality of implementation. in previous research with latino families in this community, the first author learned that families found having a separate observer or recording equipment in the home was intrusive to families and potentially could lead to decreased family engagement in the intervention. future research will explore non-intrusive means to collect fidelity of implementation data as well as examine implementation fidelity as a moderating variable in the effectiveness of the intervention. mothers in the intervention were coached by paraprofessionals who were from their community. although we believe that having home visitors from the families’ community is a strength of the intervention, our home visitors were not early childhood educators with formal training in this area. [note: although we attempted to recruit latina early childhood teachers to be the home visitors, few teachers resided in the community, and those that did, all had full-time jobs and did not have time for extra work responsibilities.] we provided home visitors with detailed training and soft-scripted lessons plans, which have been shown in previous research to support teachers’ high fidelity of implementation (piasta, justice, mcginty, mashburn, & slocum, 2015). yet, given our home visitors lack of formal training, even more intensive training and coaching may have been needed in order to support the mothers’ use of the targeted strategies. in the future, we will provide the home visitors with more guided practice that includes role playing through which we can provide more input about their use and teaching of the strategies. along with this, we will develop videos of mothers using the key strategies with their children that will be made available for the home visitors and mothers. interventionists have found that allowing trainers and participants the opportunity to see targeted strategies in use is particularly valuable (e.g., downer, pianta, fan, hamre, mashburn, & justice, 2011). study limitations findings from this study are promising but should be interpreted with caution due to three limitations. first, we were not able to analyze the language samples from the children separately by language (english and spanish) due to the small number of participants for each category. we value having participants speak in their preferred language. thus, in a replication study, we again would not mandate the language for participants to use in the tasks, but we would increase our sample size to address this methodological limitation. second, the amount of missing data for the language samples was higher than desired. the language sample data collection occurred in the families’ homes in the summer. anecdotal evidence indicates that mothers were less amenable to data collection at this time because they perceived the project as educational and associated with the head start academic year. summer was dedicated to family and recreational activities, 76 hammer & sawyer not educational appointments. third, social and cultural validity data was collected by the home visitors. although this can be a strength in that mothers and home visitors had established rapport, it is possible that mothers were not as candid about their views when talking with the home visitors. at the onset and throughout the project, we did stress to mothers that their input was greatly desired in order to develop a valid intervention, and as such, they seemed to have felt comfortable to share both positive and negative aspects (e.g., mothers did not read/do activities, criticisms of several books) of the intervention. thus, it does not appear that the collection of data by home visitors was a major barrier. however, future research should include opportunities for mothers to share their perspectives with someone who did not work with the family. fourth, we were not able to investigate differences in mothers’ views based on country of origin. most of the families were of puerto rican descent. however, we did not note any patterns in the social and cultural validity data that would indicate that mothers who were not puerto rican had differing perspectives on the intervention than mothers from puerto rico. conclusion extant evidence has shown a well-documented relation between children's language abilities and reading outcomes (e.g., catts et al., 1999; storch & whitehurst, 2002). because the home literacy environment, specifically mother-child book-reading, is an important contributor to the language abilities of young children (e.g., mol et al., 2008), many researchers and educators are concerned with ways to enhance the home literacy environment. in these attempts, researchers and educators must be sensitive to cultural and linguistic differences of families by providing materials and strategies that align with families’ values and practices. currently, there are few culturally-relevant interventions that educators can use to help promote children’s language abilities. our intervention, which used using culturally-relevant materials and practices, shows promise as a means to promote children’s language abilities as was evident by the effects on children’s language abilities and reports of strong social and culturally validity. acknowledgements the authors would like to thank the head start mothers and staff that provided highly valuable input into the development of the intervention. in addition, they thank suzanne bradbeer and bot roda for their work on the books well as sandra rosario and lindsay powers who served as the project coordinators. this project was supported by a grant from the administration for children and families, office of planning research and administration (90yf0065). references aikens, n., kopack klein, a., tarullo, l., & west, j. 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(2001). woodcock-johnson iii tests of achievement. itasca, il: riverside publishing. dialog, 23(2), copyright © 2020, issn: 1930-9325 research to practice merging policy and practice: powerful teaching and learning in preschool emily brown hoffman ball state university colleen e. whittingham university of north carolina at charlotte this research to practice summary describes how an 8-week case study used field notes, interviews, and video-based fieldwork to examine local instructional practices and to investigate the policies and protocols which facilitate these practices. we describe how one head start classroom successfully navigated external accountability mandates while privileging students’ academic development and overall well-being when they attended to organizational infrastructure, instructional capacity, and the factors at their intersection. findings indicate that while policies and protocols necessitated by external mandates impacted the organizational infrastructure, their intentional integration with sound pedagogy and the center’s mission facilitated instructional capacity in a climate where children thrive. we therefore discuss how such decisions can be replicated in other head start locations. keywords: early childhood policy; early childhood protocols; compliance; instructional practices; classroom interactions introduction in an era of increased accountability and decreased availability of resources, many head start programs face the dual challenge of meeting the requirements of external mandates to assure continued funding while simultaneously meeting the social, emotional, and academic needs of the children and families whom they serve. while the social, cultural, and historical contexts of no two head start locations (or even classrooms!) are exactly alike, most local providers are working within the same national circumstances. it may be helpful, therefore, to highlight the successes of specific locations in the hopes that their experiences and stories may be of benefit to others. in this spirit, we investigated a 4-year-old head start classroom situated within a large urban managing policy and practice 103 community to ask: how does one preschool classroom balance the requirements of external accountability and the need for high quality instruction to meet the teaching and learning needs of teachers and students? when focusing on the policies and protocols of influence on, and influenced by, the teachers’ instructional practices, we see that the triangle1 classroom, and the center in which it is situated, are examples of success. as is common of all head start programs, the center must contend with external social and economic factors while complying with external mandates to secure funding in an economically under-resourced context. head start programs are deliberately community-based, and effectively navigating policies is context-dependent, with programs successfully working within parameters to provide students with a rigorous and compassionate early education. we use a bioecological lens (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006) to investigate the triangle community’s successful navigation of accountability while continuing to privilege students’ academic development and overall well-being. a bioecological model transitions the focus on the influences of processes as dynamic influences rather than the environment as a static influence. we describe one classroom’s navigation of external accountability and effective, developmentally appropriate instruction through investigating both interpersonal relationships as well as the resources of ability, skill, and knowledge in one early childhood classroom. study description to make sense of the complex social interactions and the multiple networks of influence on the instruction observed in the triangle classroom, we engaged in an 8-week case study (yin, 2013) paired with video-based fieldwork (jewitt, 2012) to describe classroom instructional practices and the policies and protocols facilitating these practices. qualitative methods, such as interviews with key personnel and observational field notes generated during class time and team meetings, informed our understanding of the broader systemic structures in place, whereas the video data facilitated an up-close understanding of the interactions between teachers and students. we also reviewed artifacts supplied by the broader funding agency including job descriptions, employee handbooks, parent communication, and curricular guidelines to help us understand the origins of the policies witnessed in practice. in addition to a handful of infant and toddler classrooms on the main level, the center houses six preschool classrooms on the second floor of their building, situated on a main thoroughfare in a community on the south side of a large midwestern city. the triangle community consists of 17 students and three teachers, and receives blended funding from head start, preschool for all, and the child care assistance program (ccap). mrs. zachmann is in her third year in the triangle classroom and her third year teaching. mr. pearson is an african american teacher with 12 years of experience, and mrs. o’neal is an african american teacher with 31 years of experience. both mr. pearson and mrs. o’neal have spent the last four years in the triangle classroom, which consists of pre-kindergarten students ages 4 and 5. some of the students are in their second year 1 participant-selected pseudonyms are used in place of all names and locations 104 hoffman & whittingham in this classroom due to recent center reorganization. all classroom teachers, all 17 students, and three building administrators consented to participate in the study designed. in total, 30 observational field notes, 12 interview transcripts, and 5 collaborative team meeting transcripts were generated and analyzed alongside classroom and center artifacts for evidence of center-level policies and protocols as the plausible causes of the rich interactions between teachers and children captured on video. over 140 hours of video data were generated over four sequential weeks, collected using three video cameras simultaneously. this range of data collected allowed analysis across contexts and through various viewpoints. all data were collected by the second author, and as a white, cisgender woman immersed in the higher education community, it was imperative that multiple data sources were collected from multiple perspectives to assure the lived experiences of primarily black participants was representative of their realities and not whitewashed by the authors’ positionalities. the second author maintained positionality field notes throughout the process of data generation, and regularly cross-checked these during analysis. reviewing the video data alongside participants and seeking member-checks following initial stages of analysis also served to mitigate potential misunderstandings arising from our social, political, and cultural differences. mirroring compton-lilly’s (2007) process of analyzing classroom level data contributed to a detailed account of the specific instructional experiences and perspectives for each of the participants to inform the construction of a preliminary codebook. open coding of classroom observational data identified salient features of instruction, while interview and team meeting transcripts fleshed out the descriptions of enacted policies and protocols. initial coding facilitated the identification of salient topics and the secondary constant comparative coding facilitated our identification, comparison, and sorting of data points according to similarities and differences (strauss & corbin, 1990). categorical analyses were then applied to school-based data (i.e., the artifacts previously mentioned) and the codebook was expanded and revised to accommodate additional data. this allowed classroom interactions, events, and activities captured on video to be viewed side-by-side along the school-wide insights gathered via interview and artifact analysis. findings the policies and protocols necessitated by head start program performance standards, coupled with other external accountability factors, created multiple influences on the teacher-child interactions and instructional capacity of the triangle classroom. social service agency (ssa) leadership the ssa lives its mission to “partner with children, youth, and families whose potential is at risk to create hope, opportunity, and bright futures” by communicating this mission with every possible stakeholder, including the teachers, the kitchen staff, the cleaning crew, and the volunteers. any adult spending time in the center must complete training centered around this mission, making it clear from the outset that involvement with this organization will require a commitment to relationship building in both word and action. managing policy and practice 105 community collaborative childhood center (cccc) leadership while the demands of external compliance are often achieved when teachers and support personnel simply comply with protocols developed in a top-down decision-making model (marzano, et al., 2005), the cccc site director (ms. cooper) manages the day-to-day operations for the building, with educational coordinators overseeing and supporting the early head start and head start classrooms. shared decision making across leadership levels increases buy in from all stakeholders. workload & division of labor the ssa’s and the cccc’s commitment to promoting students’ success and their commitment to protecting instructional time are reflected in the decisions made around infrastructural leadership. when non-instructional tasks are offloaded to support staff, and division of labor decisions are made at the classroom level, develop organically, and adjust fluidly, the teachers’ workload is reduced and more of their energies can be spent focused on instruction and relationship building. this center and the broader organization also intentionally seek out qualified employees who share a philosophy of life-long learning. professional development participation in a multi-year grant-funded collaborative coaching program allowed the teaching team “to look at things from a different perspective,” by supporting their implementation of reflective decision making. mr. pearson’s and ms. o’neal’s attitudes towards pd as a meaningful and reflective practice is attributed in part to their participation in quality pd, which included monthly on-site meetings and video reflection practices which both teachers described as the highlight of participation. curricular decisions while the center leadership and the funding agency selected the adoption of the creative curriculum, the teachers’ instructional capacity in implementing the curriculum fostered opportunities to engage students in meaningful ways. for example, curricular decisions emphasize student exploration and situated learning, as daily plans include 45-60 minutes of free center play. teachers use these opportunities to reflect on ways to expand their usefulness through assessments and documentation. assessment & documentation 106 hoffman & whittingham while the center’s protocol requires current and accurate evidence for all learning standards addressed, and center administration checks classroom and student files sporadically for completion, the triangle teachers comply with external requirements for data collection and documentation to authentically and meaningfully inform their practice. teachers therefore create an environment which fosters student learning and well-being by integrating their pd knowledge to make decisions grounded in evidence and research. team meetings instructional plans for each week reflected the collaborative climate and reflective conversations that occurred during the weekly meetings. these weekly meetings included discussion on what instructional approaches were working (or not working) with individual students based on teacher observations and documentation. instructional decisions were then made after the teachers connected observations to the standards, drew on research to justify decision making, and set attainable goals to create unique solutions for individual students. the teachers were able to integrate their teaching philosophy into a collaborative plan, proving to be very influential to high quality teacher-child interaction. also recognizing that physical classroom space impacts the ways children and adults learn and move, the teachers make decisions about materials available informed by student observations and order the daily schedule to support developmentally appropriate practice. implications for classroom practice & professional development tighten up transitions instructional time is at a premium, and with additional requirements such as handwashing before and after mealtime, tooth brushing after breakfast, etc., it is imperative that students not spend time “sitting and waiting.” consider creating a classroom routine where students seamlessly clear their breakfast table, brush their teeth, “move their clip” to indicate their attendance, and then select a book or dance along to a go noodle video on the carpet while waiting for the rest of the class to join them. this type of classroom routine facilitates independence, addresses multiple standards, and maintains students’ attention and interest without the need for ‘down time.’ community of individuals members of the cccc feel appreciated for their individual contributions to a collective mission, which purposely makes space for diverse opinions, different approaches, and lots of personalities. mrs. o’neal explains that this works because of the dedication of the staff to “be present in the classroom. be present for your staff, your coworkers, the children. you don’t know what they are going through in their day, and then we have to be present for each other.” the ssa and cccc leadership cultivate relationships and intentionally hire individuals whom they respect, and this atmosphere infuses the building. managing policy and practice 107 strive for continuous improvement teachers, staff, and administrators consistently discuss how they can improve teaching and learning in their classroom and in the entire building. while the center celebrates successes and acknowledgements accomplishments, the adults in the building are tireless in their efforts to raise the bar of achievement for both themselves and the students. continuous discussions about improvement result in a teaching climate that prioritizes academic achievement while developing the whole child. similar to their ability to fulfill regulations and mandates in purposeful ways that do not compromise instructional quality, the ssa, the cccc, and the employees believe that they and their students are worthy of educational environments always growing and improving. references bronfenbrenner, u., & morris, p. a. (2006). the bioecological model of human development in r. m. lerner & w. damon w. (eds.), handbook of child psychology: theoretical models of human development (vol. 1.) (pp. 793-828). wiley. compton‐lilly, c., (2007). the complexities of reading capital in two puerto rican families. reading research quarterly,42(1), 72-98. haslip, m. j., & gullo, d. f. (2018). the changing landscape of early childhood education: implications for policy and practice. early childhood education journal, 46(3), 249-264. jewitt, c. (2012). an introduction to using video for research. national centre for research methods. marzano, r. j., waters, t., & mcnulty, b. a. (2005). school leadership that works: from research to results. ascd. strauss, a. l., & corbin, j. m. (1990). basics of qualitative research (vol. 15). sage. yin, r. k. (2013). case study research: design and methods. sage publications. dialog, 19(3), 42-59 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 this research was made possible by grant number 90yr0055 from the office of planning, research, and evaluation, administration for children and families, u.s. department of health and human services. its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the office of planning, research, and evaluation, the administration for children and families, or the u.s. department of health and human services. research article lessons from training early head start staff to implement an evidence-based parenting intervention myae han, rena hallam, jason t. hustedt, jennifer a. vu, and juana gaviria-loaiza university of delaware the purpose of this study was to understand the process of implementing promoting first relationships (pfr; kelly, zuckerman, sandoval, & buehlman, 2008b), an evidencebased parent-child interaction intervention, within an early head start (ehs) home visiting program. this study documented seven home visitors’ early experiences with intervention implementation, specifically preparation and training on the intervention, overall experience to use of the intervention, challenges and issues identified during implementation, as well as recommendations and suggestions for sustainability of pfr within the ehs program. data were collected via semi-structured individual interviews. we employed a constant-comparative method and a systematic coding process. findings indicate that overall, home visitors reported an alignment between the intervention content and their own philosophies, a belief that implementing the intervention improved their home visiting practice, and a sense that participating families benefited from the experience. some negative experiences were identified in relationship to the lengthy training process and changes in home visiting practice. major challenges included learning about intervention content and managing household issues. recommendations for sustaining the intervention after initial implementation are also reported. keywords: early head start; parenting intervention; home visiting; implementation evidence-based programs are of high interest to researchers and policymakers and are now frequently required when conducting federally-funded research in areas such as human services and education. however, there have been growing concerns about scaling up evidence-based interventions in community settings because the local context can be very different from the context where the intervention was initially developed. agencies adopting evidence-based interventions often experience unexpected issues during implementation. according to supplee and metz (2015), developers of evidence-based programs may face serious challenges meeting the needs of local communities and users. successful outcomes are achievable only if the 43 han et al. intervention is implemented with high levels of fidelity and quality (supplee & metz, 2015). in order to achieve successful implementation in practice settings, it is critical to understand the context and the conditions of implementation and to systematically examine implementation processes. such information is vital in applying evidence-based practice in human service prevention programs. early head start and home visiting as a context for intervention early head start (ehs) is a comprehensive child development initiative with a strong emphasis on parent involvement and research-informed practice, including a program of federally-funded research on the use of evidence-based parenting interventions aimed at reducing families’ negative experiences with stress (buffering toxic stress consortium principal investigators, meyer, & fortunato, 2013). established in 1994 as a downward extension of the federal head start initiative for preschool-age children, ehs offers services to children up to age 3 and their parents, including pregnant women. ehs provides an ideal context to study implementation, as the comprehensive nature of the program promotes a range of different types of interventions (e.g., health, parent education, early education experiences) and the federal head start program has historically been viewed as a “national laboratory” for services to young at-risk children and their families (zigler & seitz, 1982). further, prior research suggests that ehs offers a strong foundation for program implementation. in a nationally representative randomized control trial program evaluation, love and colleagues (2002) found that children who participated in early head start had more positive outcomes on measures of cognitive and language development and were also less aggressive, compared to control group children. the national early head start initiative has incorporated home visitation as a model practice, with local early head start grantees having the option to deliver either home-based or center-based service models dependent on the needs of families in their communities. across the u.s., home visits have become a key component of practice in early care and education and public health services. home visitation is often considered an essential strategy for intervening with high-risk families of very young children, as it provides a more intimate context for delivering information and assistance to families and provides an opportunity for more dyadic types of intervention. home visiting efforts across different agencies tend to have similar broad goals of enhancing child and family development. however, programs vary greatly in targeted outcomes (e.g., health, education), method of delivery (e.g., use of a specified curriculum), and target population (zero to three, 2009). prior research suggests that the efficacy of home visiting is quite mixed (e.g. daro, 2006; filene, kaminski, valle, & cachat, 2013; goyal, teeters, & ammerman, 2013; sweet & appelbaum, 2004). in general, positive outcomes have been found more often and effects when found are modest (filene et al., 2013; sweet & appelbaum, 2004). researchers in home visiting practice point to the need to study implementation, and specifically fidelity, in order to better understand parent and child outcomes (jones harden, chazen-cohen, raikes, & vogel, 2012). studying the implementation of interventions the implementation or installation of evidence-based interventions in community-based evidence-based parenting intervention 44 programs is of increasing significance, as recent research has demonstrated that even welldeveloped programs may fail or be less effective due to implementation issues “on the ground” (jones-harden, chazan-cohen, raikes, & vogel, 2012; supplee & metz, 2015). particular attention has been paid to the role of implementation in the professional development of the early care and education workforce as an important bridge to high quality practice (halle, metz, & martinez-beck, 2013; odom, 2009). implementation science provides the field with a framework for conceptualizing how to study and monitor processes regarding the preparation and support for field staff as well as the quality of intervention implementation with children and families. this offers researchers a model for examining the conditions of implementation and modifying those conditions as needed (blase, fixsen, sims, & ward, 2014). implementation science posits that a set of organizational drivers scaffolds the infrastructure around a particular intervention and that attention to these drivers increases the likelihood of successful operations as well as enhances the potential for sustainability of the intervention (fixsen & blase, 2008). from an implementation perspective, the likelihood of successfully launching and sustaining an evidence-based intervention relies on three types of drivers: competency, organization, and leadership (fixsen & blasé, 2008). competency drivers relate to the selection, professional development, and support of staff who are the actual implementers of a specific intervention. organizational drivers include the gathering and utilization of data to inform decision-making, the development of responsive administrative procedures to support effective implementation, and the need to collaborate with external parties when necessary. leadership drivers refer to the importance of effective agency leaders and leadership teams in managing the overall process. one of the key premises of implementation science and the focus of this study is the importance of feedback loops to ensure adequate conditions are in place to promote high quality execution of an intervention as aligned to the above three organizational drivers (fixsen & blase, 2008). this aspect is particularly significant when field or agency staff are the primary agents of change. feedback loops enable researchers and practitioners to collaboratively make implementation decisions based on authentic data from the field. from an implementation perspective, feedback loops between field staff, program administrators, and researchers should be intentional – meaning that both the type of information and the frequency of its collection should be considered in light of agency operations and features of the intervention. the current study the current study uses early head start as a context for examining the implementation of the promoting first relationships (pfr; kelly, zuckerman, sandoval, & buehlman, 2008b) intervention. the study examined the perspectives of the home visitors responsible for a new parent-child intervention during the first year of implementation as part of their regular home visits with families. by examining stakeholders’ perspectives in the early phases of implementation, researchers and agency staff can more carefully monitor fidelity of implementation and adjust the infrastructure as needed to bring about needed conditions for effective implementation of the intervention. the early head start (ehs) program involved in this research serves approximately 200 young children and their families in the mid-atlantic area. the partnering ehs program is mature and well-established, having started in 1997 during the third wave of ehs expansion. it 45 han et al. operates both homeand center-based programs in urban, suburban, and rural settings. all home visiting staff are trained to use parents as teachers (e.g., zigler, pfannenstiel, & seitz, 2008), which is employed as the program’s primary curriculum. in the current study, which is part of a larger investigation of families’ experiences with the pfr intervention, a subset of the program’s current ehs home visiting staff was trained in pfr and began delivering pfr during their home visits with some families. this was possible due to a convergence of the ehs program’s goal of improving the quality of home visiting and the supervision of home visitors and the researchers’ interests in integrating an evidence-based parent-child interaction model into typical ehs practice. interviews with the staff members were conducted during initial implementation of the pfr intervention, in order to inform scale-up of the intervention within a large and wellestablished ehs program. the purpose of this study was to understand the process of implementing the pfr intervention as an element of existing ehs home visiting services. our research was guided by three questions: 1. how did the home visitors perceive implementation of the pfr intervention as part of an early head start home visiting program? 2. what kinds of challenges and issues were identified during implementation? 3. what kinds of suggestions and recommendations were identified by the home visitors to promote sustainability of the pfr intervention in the early head start program? by examining these three questions, we aim to identify lessons related to the implementation of evidence-based interventions within early head start programs. method participants the participants were seven early head start home visitors in the partnering ehs agency. these home visitors were randomly selected from amongst the existing 14 home visitors in the ehs program as a first cohort to receive pfr training and began implementing this intervention as part of their home visiting sessions. all home visitors selected for this initial cohort agreed to participate in the study. demographic information for the home visitors is reported in table 1. the majority of home visitors serve families in home-based programs (n=6). only one served families in a center-based program, and this home visitor had the largest caseload. this distribution of home visitors and their caseloads is typical of the early head start program, where the majority of the home visiting staff provide home-based services. fewer staff members provide home visits to center-based families, and these staff members have larger caseloads because the home visits occur less frequently. home visitors’ education levels and years of employment varied as shown in table 1. home visitors selected one family from their current caseload to participate in this study. evidence-based parenting intervention 46 table 1 demographic information demographics participant information (n=7) age range 36 61 years ethnicity (n) hispanic (2), non-hispanic (5) highest education level (n) some college credit (1), associate’s degree (2), bachelor’s degree (3), master’s degree (1) years of employment with current ehs program (n) 1-5 years (5), 6-10 years (2) program type (n) home-based (6), center-based (1) average caseload (n) 2 families (1), 6 families (1), 12 families (4), 20 families (1) intervention: promoting first relationships promoting first relationships (pfr; kelly et al., 2008b) was developed to guide caregivers in building nurturing and responsive relationships with their young children from birth to age three, thus encouraging growth in the children’s social-emotional development, language, and cognition. pfr is a manualized, strengths-based intervention delivered by community-based service providers who first participate in an extensive training and fidelity process. providers may be individuals who work with caregivers and young children, such as early childhood professionals, home visitors, and social workers. pfr has been used in both home and centerbased practice to enhance family engagement in early care and education (hallam, han, vu, & hustedt, 2017) the intervention is based on video reflection between caregivers and trained pfr staff, focusing on positive feedback and based on principles of attachment theory. home visitors lead 10 weekly sessions, using four key strategies aimed at teaching parents how to provide sensitive and responsive caregiving: (1) joining, or establishing rapport with the caregiver; (2) giving positive, instructive, verbal feedback; (3) using videotapes of caregiver-child interactions to show caregivers their strengths in practicing parenting skills; and (4) asking reflective questions to discover needs of the caregiver and child (kelly, zuckerman, & rosenblatt, 2008a). during five of the 10 hour-long sessions, caregiver-child dyads are videotaped during brief interaction sessions. on the alternate weeks, the service provider and caregiver review the unedited videotapes together. this is used to support a consultation strategy where the service provider reviews pfr principles and guides discussion with the caregiver (kelly et al., 2008a; spieker, oxford, kelly, nelson & fleming, 2012) using actual examples of the caregiver’s strengths. initial results from prior pfr research (kelly et al., 2008a) indicated that caregivers participating in the intervention were more sensitive and responsive to their children and that the children in turn were more responsive as well. a community-based randomized control trial (spieker et al., 2012) examined the effects of pfr with a sample of 210 caregivers and toddlers in state 47 han et al. dependency, where the toddlers had experienced recent changes in their caregiver placement. for caregivers in the pfr intervention group, the researchers found significantly greater understanding of their toddlers’ social-emotional needs compared to caregivers in the control group (d = 0.36 immediately post-intervention). caregivers that received pfr also showed higher levels of sensitivity compared to caregivers in the control group (d = 0.41 immediately post-intervention). child outcomes were similarly positive, as caregiver reports of child competence were significantly more positive in the pfr group than in the control group (d = 0.42 immediately post-intervention. the evidence base related to pfr has continued to grow. additional studies of pfr provide further evidence of the intervention’s impacts on physiological regulation (cortisol production patterns; nelson & spieker, 2013) as well as sleep regulation (d = 0.67 at a 6-month follow-up; oxford, fleming, nelson, kelly, & spieker, 2013). training and delivery of pfr pfr can be delivered by anyone who is trained and certified by the pfr developer. however, there is a lengthy training and post-training process in order to maintain one’s status as a pfr provider. the pfr training, in which the home visitors in this study participated in order to become certified on the intervention, involved attending a 3-day workshop followed by approximately 20 weeks of mentored online support, involving distance learning with a coach employed by the pfr developers at the university of washington. during the first 10 weeks of mentored support, the pfr coach worked with a pair of home visitors and provided online coaching on a weekly basis, reviewing training videotapes of parent-child interaction exemplars and discussing the key pfr concepts. during the second 10 weeks, home visitors delivered pfr with an initial ehs family from their caseload and received support from the pfr coach. the process usually involved the pfr coach reviewing a video recorded home visiting session with a participating family, asking the home visitor to reflect on their practice, and providing feedback to the home visitor. the home visitors also received additional support from a research project staff member who was also receiving pfr training. this support included additional individual coaching sessions often repeating and emphasizing pfr concepts. the amount of coaching support was individualized based on each home visitor’s need. all home visitors completed 10 pfr sessions (e.g., the second 10 weeks of training) with one family prior to the current implementation study. the pfr training process also included assessments of fidelity to the intervention. for each home visitor, the process began with videotaping a pfr home visit, including reflection and conversation between the home visitor and caregiver. then this video was sent to pfr staff at the university of washington for an external fidelity check and scored using their fidelity checklist. a score of 38 points out of a possible 40 was considered to be a passing score. if home visitors did not initially pass, additional fidelity checks were conducted until a passing score was received. data collection the study protocol was approved by the university’s institutional research review board prior to the study. consent from home visitors and families was obtained before data collection. we evidence-based parenting intervention 48 employed semi-structured interviews as our means of gathering home visitor perspectives on implementation. interview questions were developed by a leadership team consisting of four investigators, who are university faculty and experts in the areas of early childhood education and early intervention, and a project coordinator who received pfr training. the interview questions were about overall experiences with the pfr training process and content, challenges and issues of implementation, home visitor experiences with participating families, and recommendations for sustainability. during the interviews, a base set of common questions was employed, and follow-up questions and/or prompts were used when needed for a greater depth of information. the project coordinator conducted an individual interview with each of the home visitors. each interview session took about 30-40 minutes and was audio-taped. all interviews were then transcribed verbatim. the lengths of transcripts were between 14 -27 pages per interview, totaling 126 pages of 12-point font, single-spaced word documents. no names were used in the transcripts. code numbers were used to protect the confidentiality of subject identities in the transcripts. data analysis the constant-comparative method (merriam, 1998) and systematic coding (miles & huberman, 1994) were used for the qualitative analysis process. we used qualitative data analysis software, nvivo 10 (qsr international, 2014). verbatim transcripts were downloaded to nvivo. transcripts were read in their entirety by two researchers several times prior to the analysis in order to develop familiarity with the data. during this process, a table of summary content was developed for each interview transcript. two researchers, a principal investigator (pi) of the current project and a doctoral student, analyzed and coded the transcript together. both have prior experience with qualitative analysis. peer debriefing and member checks were then conducted twice with the entire research team including the three faculty members who also share the role of co-principal investigators and the project coordinator who developed the interview questions. for code development, an initial coding scheme category was created based on research questions consisting of three major themes addressing different aspects of the implementation process: home visitors’ experience with pfr implementation, challenges/issues with implementation, and recommendations for sustainability. home visitors’ experiences were categorized as positive, negative, or neutral experiences. this is represented in figure 1. two researchers, pi and doctoral student, reviewed each transcript together and identified sub-codes under each category of home visitors’ experiences (positive, negative, neutral), challenges and issues with implementation, and recommendations for sustainability. when there was disagreement in identifying or defining the code, constant comparative methods were used by discussing the code names, scopes, and definitions until consensus was achieved. when consensus was not reached on some codes, these codes were discussed during the peer debriefing and member checking process. next, a codebook was developed and included the definition of each code and examples of cases. using the codebook, two researchers reviewed and recoded entire transcript. this process took more than 8 months. initial results were shared with the entire project team during peer debriefing. 49 han et al. figure 1. initial coding scheme categories. using nvivo allowed us to calculate the frequency of each code and the number of sources of transcripts. in total, 857 interview segments were identified that related to the implementation process and were coded. among them were 274 segments related to home visitors’ experiences with pfr implementation, 339 segments related to implementation challenges and issues, and 167 segments related to recommendations for sustainability. some interview segments were double-coded if they encompassed multiple scheme categories, which is why the frequency of total number of segments is greater than the sum of segments across the three categories. no double codes were assigned within the same category. to increase credibility of the qualitative analysis process (mertens, 2010), the researchers had prolonged and persistent engagement with data, and multiple researchers engaged in process of coding development and checked each other’s subjectivity. peer debriefing and member checking were used to monitor the trustworthiness of the results. in addition, nvivo qualitative software was used to keep notes and comments, which allowed us to monitor our own biases during coding process. results our overall goal was to examine the implementation process of the evidence-based promoting first relationships intervention as it was incorporated into early head start home visiting practice. our interviews with home visitors who carried out the intervention revealed the following results which are presented in order of our research questions. implementation process home visitors’ experience with pfr implementation positive negative neutral challenges/ issues with implementation recommendations for sustainability evidence-based parenting intervention 50 q1. home visitors’ experience of the pfr implementation process nvivo qualitative analysis software (qsr international, 2014) provides a visual distribution of codes in relation to the frequency and amount of language content coded in any particular set of data. figure 2 shows the frequency of major topics of codes related to the home visitors’ experience with the pfr implementation process. thus, the visual displays the relative size of each code across all the interview transcripts coded. table 2 reports the description/definition of these codes. figure 2. home visitors’ experiences with pfr implementation. note. each parenthesis reports total frequency of each code and the number of unique references/the number of home visitors (maximum 7). 51 han et al. table 2 description of codes for home visitors’ experiences code description positive expressing explicit positive feelings pfr content positive experience with pfr strategies, content, materials video expressing positive experience with the use of video experience from families family reporting positive feelings or experiences during pfr visit training positive experience with training process in general self-confidence/skill increasing self-confidence or skills with home visiting practice. expressing personal or professional growth other support positive experience with support provided by research project staff family condition characteristics or situation of family which made pfr visit more successful family relationship improvement of relationship between family and home visitors negative expressing negative feelings such as frustration training negative experience with trainer or training process pfr content negative experience with questioning techniques, number of handouts repetition negative experience with repetitive sessions or reflection video resistance to video or uncomfortableness neutral neutral feelings about the pfr in general not positive, not negative video neutral experience with videotaping training neutral experience with training process within figure 2, the size of each square represents how comparatively how much the home visitors talked about the topics of codes within the total experience segment. we divided these codes by positive, negative, and neutral experiences related to the pfr implementation process. it is important to note how many home visitors mention each code in addition to overall evidence-based parenting intervention 52 frequency of codes. therefore we report both in our analysis. the first number in the parenthesis indicates the total frequency of codes across all transcripts and the second number indicates the number of unique references, in other words, the number of home visitors whose interview included that code (maximum 7). for example, positive (214, 7) means that there were 214 segments related to the positive experience with the pfr implementation among all 274 segments related to experience codes and that these codes were drawn from interviews with all 7 home visitors’ transcripts. overall, the majority of comments by home visitors were related to positive experiences with implementation. the most prevalent positive experiences were about the content of the pfr intervention, use of video, positive experiences with families, the training process, and increasing self-confidence and skills. some examples of actual quotes from home visitors include the following.  “i can’t say enough good things about it, i love it (about pfr content),”  “it (addressing social emotional issues) was easier in pfr to do that because it gave us the tools, kind of a step-by step questions to ask and things to say and even the video,”  “the video was so concrete in that you‘re going back and looking at that segment, it was very easy for me to zero in on things,”  “i think that was good for the mom personally, she’s gonna feel so good after we’re done,”  “it (reflection) made mom more comfortable with the ideas, she seemed to be much more okay with reflecting on her child’s inner world, her inner world,”  “pfr definitely honed my skills in being able to notice little things, it was good for me professionally, it is really rewarding, that made me feel so much better and the way we discuss.” some negative experiences were also expressed by the home visitors in regard to the training process and pfr content. these comments addressed the lengthy training process and experiences with the trainer, repetition of the same information in pfr content, and discomfort with videotaping. some examples of quotes from home visitors include the following.  “i think at the end they got a little tired because there were a lot of video-taping and a lot of talking,”  “i feel like i wasn’t properly trained in the video” “it (online coaching) is certainly not ideal, it’s not my favorite, just because you’re not getting person-to person interaction.” q2. challenges and issues with implementation figure 3 reports the challenges and issues identified during the pfr implementation process and table 3 presents descriptions of the most frequent codes and examples of actual quotes by the home visitors. a total of 339 segments were identified as codes related to challenges addressing various issues during the implementation process. as part of our pfr implementation plan, we 53 han et al. placed greater importance on identifying challenges and issues with the initial implementation process. figure 3. challenges and issues identified. note. each parenthesis reports total frequency of each code and the number of unique references/the number of home visitors (maximum 7). pfr session/content (63, 7) household issues (61, 7) doing two programs (39, 7) scheduling (31, 7) length of time (22, 7) technology (35, 7) research process (19, 5) decision making (11, 4) time commitment (18, 4) trainer (16, 4) resource org. (15, 5) fidelity (8, 3) challenges and issues (339, 7) evidence-based parenting intervention 54 table 3 descriptions and summarized examples reflecting major implementation challenges addressed by home visitors major codes code definitions and examples pfr session/content definition: any challenges with pfr session/contents such as strategies, techniques, handouts, reflection process, etc. examples: uncomfortable with video reflection or recording by home visitors and family, not intervening in caregiver-dyad interaction when the caregiver was having a hard time, letting the caregiver lead, not giving suggestions during dyadic interaction. household issues definition: situations presented by ehs family that interfere with pfr home visit. examples: family sickness, sibling distraction, presence of other family members (large family), family emergency doing two programs definition: challenges related to delivering both ehs program and pfr intervention. examples: helping family to understand both curricula [parents as teachers (pat) & pfr], balancing time between pat and pfr. technology definition: issues with the use of technology examples: internet accessibility issues during online training, lack of experience with video recording and uploading. scheduling definition: challenges with scheduling with trainer, family, or other home visitors. examples: scheduling difficulty with a pfr trainer due to different time zones (east coast vs. west coast), scheduling difficulty with families due to holidays or missing visits. one strategy used in the pfr intervention involves asking reflective questions to discover needs of the caregiver while the home visitor and caregiver review a video recording of a previous caregiver-child dyad interaction. home visitors identified this strategy as one of the challenges, because some were used to actively providing suggestions right away instead of serving as a guide who helps the caregiver to identify an area for further development through a reflective questioning process. uncomfortableness with video recording was also identified as a challenge as part of the pfr sessions. various household issues were identified and those were often issues the home visitors cannot control such as family sickness. doing two programs, technology and scheduling issues were also identified by all seven home visitors. examples from the transcripts are included in 55 han et al. the table 3. our goal was to identify these challenges and issues early on and address them as we move forward with implementation. we will describe how we addressed some of these issues in the discussion. q3. suggestions and recommendations based on their initial experience in completing the 10-session pfr intervention with one family, we asked home visitors about any suggestions or recommendations to promote the sustainability of pfr in ehs. figure 4 reports these suggestions and the frequency of codes. table 4 describes the examples of summary quotes by home visitors related to each code. figure 4. suggestions for the sustainability of pfr implementation by home visitors. note. each parenthesis reports total frequency of each code and the number of unique references/the number of home visitors (maximum 7). home visitors addressed ‘ongoing support’ as a critical element for sustainability. they presented various ideas of different forms of ongoing support as indicated in table 4. they also suggested some ideas for the pfr trainer and pfr coach as well as ways to integrate pfr with ehs programs. these suggestions are also presented in table 4. evidence-based parenting intervention 56 table 4 suggestions/recommendations for sustaining the promoting first relationships intervention in early head start suggestions/ recommendations examples ongoing support  need for ongoing support such as group reflective practice sessions, coaching, or supervision.  train supervisors, not just home visitors  need for individual coaching as well as group coaching  at least monthly sessions for any types of support  having a local trainer/coach suggestions for pfr  flexibility with length of training and trainer  depending less on video. too much video watching  one-on-one online coaching instead of paired coaching for pfr coach  pfr trainer in close proximity integrating pfr and ehs  beneficial to integrate pfr into ehs  various ideas on how to implement: e.g., doing pfr first and doing pat after, doing pfr 3 weeks and 1 week exclusively for other ehs services in each month, meshing pfr with pat, using pfr as supplement organization skills  better organization skills are needed when using manualized program review with families  need for continued review of pfr with family even after they are done with sessions. despite a number of challenges and implementation issues home visitors faced, overall these data show that the majority of home visitors identified benefits of integrating pfr into ehs. furthermore, they suggested numerous ideas for sustainability such as having ongoing support and developing better organization skills to promote the use of pfr within the ehs program. discussion this study uses early head start home visitor interview data to identify lessons that can be drawn from our experiences in embedding an evidence-based intervention within typical ehs program activities. our research questions focused on home visitors’ experiences with 57 han et al. implementation process of pfr into their home visits, challenges and issues identified while beginning to implement the intervention, and their recommendations and suggestions for sustaining the pfr intervention as part of ehs practice. at the time of their interviews, each home visitor had completed the 10-session pfr intervention with their first family. thus, the interviews provided a timely means of investigating initial experiences in implementing the new pfr content home visitors had just learned. the home visitors provided rich information relevant to the further implementation of pfr within early head start home visits. they were receptive to implementing pfr and reported largely positive experiences. they also identified a number of issues and challenges and offered suggestions for sustainability. an immediate goal of this research was to inform our implementation process as the pfr intervention was being scaled to reach more ehs families, prior to training an additional cohort of ehs home visitors. however, given potential challenges related to a mismatch between settings where interventions are developed and the settings in which they are later delivered (supplee & metz, 2015), these findings have more general applicability to researchers (or ehs agencies) seeking to apply evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies as part of ehs practice. we will describe the lessons we learned from this study of initial implementation and will identify some ways in which we were able to employ this information in feedback loops that informed further implementation processes. the lessons below apply to pfr as well as to other interventions that are delivered by home visitors or other agency-based staff. first, gathering intentional implementation data aids the researcher in understanding whether and how the target intervention can be successfully situated within the existing agency. there are several key considerations in establishing a match between an intervention and an ehs program. it is important to have an in-depth understanding of the requirements of the intervention, its timing and duration, as well as staff requirements and program capacities (vu, hustedt, pinder, & han, 2015). once that initial match has been made, notions of intervention philosophy, time investment on the part of field staff, and technical issues are important indicators of whether the intervention will be sustainable. for example, if staff members lack the technical expertise to upload or edit videos and this is a necessary component of the intervention, supplemental training will be needed or programs may need to seek an intervention with requirements that better match the skills of current staff. in our case, members of the research team provided ehs staff with additional support needed to master the technology involved in pfr. this allowed home visitors to be more independent with the use of technology after receiving the training. as a general lesson, it is important to gather implementation data on an ongoing basis to inform continued implementation. second, gathering data specifically from field staff allows for evolution of infrastructure to better support implementation. timing of data collection is also key in information gathering. in our case we were able to adapt conditions within the ehs agency in response to home visitor feedback. all the home visitors that we interviewed provided suggestions about the need for ongoing additional support for pfr, beyond the support already provided by the intervention developers through the initial training process. in response, we created a position within the ehs agency for a job-embedded coach, trained by the pfr developers but available locally to provide consultation as needed. this job-embedded coach provided within-agency infrastructure for in–the-moment coaching and technical support related to intervention implementation. also in response to home visitor feedback, we made modifications to the supervision process, and revisions to our plans for group reflective practice sessions, which are now led by the jobembedded coach. evidence-based parenting intervention 58 third, the creation of systematic feedback loops builds a process within the agency that allows for bi-directional sharing of information as well as the establishment of time and energy devoted to examining implementation data. in our work, we have identified specific time points to collect feedback from field staff and participating families in order to garner timely implementation information. important to this process is the need to collect information that is essential to the implementation (and not just the content of the intervention) as well as the systematic analysis of information that accompanies effective implementation. lastly, another lesson involves the need for researchers to maintain an open dialogue with the intervention developers and/or intervention resource as implementation proceeds. this provides a capacity for rapid response to emerging implementation issues and helps build a foundation for sustainability. intervention fidelity is a key issue that will need to be addressed when training field staff on any intervention. additionally, in our case, there were scheduling difficulties based on the availability of local ehs staff and the pfr trainer, and we were able to reschedule future trainings so that they were concentrated on days of the week when home visitors were more likely to be working in the office and less likely to be in the field. on a larger scale, when we began developing the position for an embedded pfr coach within the ehs program, we were able to gain input from the pfr developers on how to turn a new staff member into an expert trainer and what types of support for home visiting staff to transition to this new position. although this level of communication with developers is not possible in all cases, agencies can connect with the entity that is sponsoring or supporting the target intervention (e.g. professional development agency, school district, local non-profit, etc.) in conclusion, when an evidence-based-intervention is implemented in the local setting, it is important to examine the process and conditions of implementation and identify potential challenges at early stages of implementation. our study provides an example of how data-driven conversation and feedback from field staff could facilitate sustainability of the intervention. successful implementation depends on data-driven conversation among field staff, researchers, and administrators during the implementation process. ongoing and frequent feedback loops between researcher and field staff are crucial to successful implementation of the intervention. while our study identified key themes in the context of interviews with home visiting staff during initial implementation of pfr, the home visitors raised issues that are likely to be central to implementation of new interventions in other contexts. in our case, the collection of data during the initial implementation process allowed us to make necessary adjustments that facilitated continued implementation and promoted sustainability of the intervention in the longer term. in the context of an increasing emphasis on adapting evidence-based interventions for use in settings such as early head start, and examining the outcomes associated with these interventions, the scientific study of implementation plays a critical role. references 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(2014). implementation science: changing hearts, minds, behavior, and systems to improve educational outcomes. oakland, ca: the wing institute. buffering toxic stress consortium principal investigators, meyer, a. l., & fortunato, c. (2013). parenting interventions in early head start: the buffering toxic stress consortium. zero to three, 34(2), 73-86. daro, d. (2006). home visitation: assessing progress, managing expectations. chicago, il: ounce of prevention fund and chapin hall center for children. retrieved from http://www.theounce.org/pubs/homevisitation.pdf http://www.theounce.org/pubs/homevisitation.pdf 59 han et al. filene, j. h., kaminski, j. w., valle, l. a., & cachat, p. (2013). components associated with home visiting program outcomes: a meta-analysis. pediatrics, 132, s100. doi: 10.1542/peds.2013-1021h fixsen, d.l., & blase, k.a. (2008). drivers framework. chapel hill, nc: the national implementation research network, frank porter graham child development institute, university of north carolina at chapel hill. goyal, n. k., teeters. a/. & ammerman, r. t. (2013). home visiting and outcomes of preterm infants: a systematic review. pediatrics, 132, 502-516. doi: 10.1542/peds.2013-0077 hallam, r., han, m., vu, j., & hustedt, j. t. (2017). meaningful family engagement in early care and education programs: the role of home visits in promoting positive parent-child interaction. advance in early education and day care, 20, 51-66. doi:10.1108/s0270-402120160000020007 halle, t., metz, a., & martinez-beck, i. (2013). applying implementation science in early childhood programs and systems. baltimore, md: brookes publishing. jones harden, b., chazan-cohen, r., raikes, h., & vogel, c. (2012). early head start home visitation: the role of implementation in bolstering program benefits. journal of community psychology, 40(4), 438-455. doi: 10.1002/jcop.20525 kelly, j. f., zuckerman, t., & rosenblatt, s. (2008a). promoting first relationships: relationship-focused early intervention approach. infants & young children, 21, 285-295. doi: 10.1097/01.iyc.0000336541.37379.0e kelly, j. f., zuckerman, t. g., sandoval, d., & buehlman, k. (2008b). promoting first relationships: a program for service providers to help parents and other caregivers nurture young children’s social and emotional development (2 nd ed.). seattle, wa: ncast programs, university of washington. love, j., kisker, e., ross, c. m., schochet, p. z., brooks-gunn, j., paulsell, d., et al. (2002). making a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers and their families: the impacts of early head start. volumes i-iii: final technical report [and] appendixes [and] local contributions to understanding the programs and their impacts. washington, dc: u.s. department of health and human services, head start bureau. merriam, s.b. (1998). qualitative research and case study applications in education (2 nd ed.). san francisco: jossey-bass. mertens, d. (2010). research and evaluation in education and psychology. integrating, diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. california: sage. miles, m. b., & huberman, a. m. (1994). qualitative data analysis (2 nd ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. nelson, e. m., & spieker, s. (2013). intervention effects on morning and stimulated cortisol responses among toddlers in foster care. infant mental health journal, 34(3), 211-221. doi: 10.1002/imhj.21382 odom, s. (2009). the tie that binds: evidence-based practice, implementation science, and outcomes for children. topics in early childhood special education, 29(1), 53-61. doi:10.1177/0271121408329171 oxford, m. l., fleming, c. b., nelson, e. m., kelly, j. f., & spieker, s. j. (2013). randomized trial of promoting first relationships: effects on maltreated toddlers' separation distress and sleep regulation after reunification. children and youth services review, 35(12), 1988-1992. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.09.021 qsr international pty. (2014). nvivo qualitative data analysis software version 10. spieker, s. j., oxford, m. l., kelly, j. f., nelson, e. m., & fleming, c. b. (2012). promoting first relationships: randomized trial of a relationship-based intervention for toddlers in child welfare. child maltreatment, 17, 271-286. doi:10.1177/1077559512458176 supplee, l. h., & metz, a. (2015). opportunities and challenges in evidence-based social policy. social policy report, 28 (4), 3–16. sweet, m., & appelbaum, m. i. (2004). is home visiting an effective strategy? a meta-analytic review of home visiting programs for families with young children. child development, 75, 1435-1456. doi: 10.1111/j.1467.8624.2004.00750.x vu, j. a., hustedt, j. t., pinder, w. m., & han, m. (2015). building early relationships: a review of caregiver-child interaction interventions for use in community-based early childhood programs. early child development and care, 185, 138-154. doi: 10.1080/03004430.2014.908864 zero to three (2009). reaching families where they live. retrieved from http://www.zerotothree.org/publicpolicy/policy-toolkit/homevisitssing_mar5.pdf zigler, e. & seitz, v. (1982). social policy and intelligence. in r.j. sternberg (ed.). handbook of human intelligence. new york: cambridge university press. zigler, e., pfannenstiel, j. c., & seitz, v. (2008). the parents as teachers program and school success: a replication and extension. journal of primary prevention, 29, 103-120. doi: 10.1007/s10935-008-0132-1 http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/policy-toolkit/homevisitssing_mar5.pdf http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/policy-toolkit/homevisitssing_mar5.pdf dialog, 19(3), 104-109 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary collaboration opportunities through dialogue with diverse voices annie white california state university channel islands this research to practice paper summarizes a qualitative study on an ehs program that utilized a narrative observation process, referred to as journey of discoveries, to examine collaboration between parents and teachers. journey of discoveries creates a pathway of collaboration for ehs teachers and parents by capturing children’s learning and development through the sharing of narrative observations. journey of discoveries was an effective collaboration approach resulting in: (a) connection, (b) partnership, (c) building of relationship, and (d) the value of teacher and parent shared understanding. keywords: early head start; collaboration; partnership; school readiness; learning stories; journey of discoveries early head start (ehs) is a family-focused program that provides comprehensive and community-based services to address developmental goals for children from birth to three years of age, including services for prenatal families. early head start is based on the assertion that all children have explicit needs, and children from low socioeconomic families, in particular, can benefit from a comprehensive developmental program (nhsa, 2012). in addition, ehs offers support to parents in their development of child-rearing roles, involvement in school activities and work-related issues, and participation in training programs, while linking families to community resources (nhsa, 2013). an important service to ehs families includes family engagement where the family is the central force in helping prepare children for school and life (ecklc, 2014). family engagement involves family members, as leaders, making decisions in their role as primary educators of their children (ncpfce, 2014). to support school readiness, it is important that educators understand parental practices and parents’ expectations of their children’s academic success (seginer, 2006). research shows that parents and family members are more likely to become engaged in young children's development and learning when they have positive and trusting relationships with supportive teachers (bryk & schneider, 2003). however, teacher perceptions of their relationship with children and parents can impact a child’s development (howes, phillipsen, & peisner-feinberg, 2000). additionally, the warmth, the level of responsiveness, and sensitivity of the parent can also support healthy development (chazan-cohen raikes, brooks-gunn, ayoub, kisker, & fuligni, 2009; grossmann, grossmann, fremmer-bombik, kindler, scheuerer-englisch, & 105 white zimmermann, 2002; nichd 2003; roggman, boyce, & cook, 2009). the role of parents is essential in the school readiness process and educators need to collaborate with parents and work together on the behalf of young children. yet, research indicates that educators often do not recognize parent perspectives about education (mcallister, et al., 2005; robinson-zanartu & majel-dixon, 1996; tveit, 2009). teachers who do not have a shared understanding about school readiness cannot effectively collaborate with parents regarding school readiness. consequently, there is a critical need for teachers to collaborate with parents on the education of children. moreover, there is limited research that demonstrates how educators and parents can collaborate in the school readiness process to ensure student academic success. often educators want to unite with parents in the education of children, but there is inadequate understanding of how teachers can create opportunities for parents to have an authentic voice and join in collaboration in the school readiness process. it is important that head start educators understand parents’ perceptions and give parents the opportunities to have a voice in the education of their children, in order to support healthy development and school readiness skills. this qualitative case study examined an ehs program use of a narrative observation approach, referred to as journey of discoveries, to document children’s learning and development. the journey of discoveries is used by the ehs program staff to engage parents in school readiness through written and/or audio recorded narrative observations of children’s learning experiences. the journey of discoveries is an innovative observation approach modeled from new zealand’s learning stories formative assessment method and based on the cultural context of the ehs program (carr, 1998; carr, 2001; carr & lee, 2012). following the learning stories model, journey of discoveries observation approach focuses on making visible children’s strengths, interests, achievements, their interactions with adults, peers, family, and the influence of their culture, community, and family heritage (carr & lee, 2012). the journey of discoveries narrative observation approach was used by the ehs program in conjunction with an existing child assessment instrument tool (california department of education, 2015). the child assessment instrument is utilized as an observation tool to provide educators with a means to assess children’s learning. the journey of discoveries was used in conjunction with the child assessment tool as examples of contextual evidence to support the assessment ratings while engaging parents as leaders in children’s learning. this study examined the ehs program use of journey of discoveries and the impact on teacher and parent collaboration efforts to enhance family engagement. this qualitative study investigated the ehs program implementation of this new narrative observation approach to document children’s learning as a pathway for family engagement in the school readiness process. this study is intended to assist ehs program staff as well as local, state and national policy makers, to consider assessment practices that include diverse parent voices and perspectives on children’s learning experiences. in light of increased focused attention on head start child assessments and learning outcomes, the journey of discoveries observation approach has the potential to impact policy, reform, and foster authentic dialogue while engaging parents as leaders in children’s learning. collaboration opportunities 106 theoretical framework third space the conceptual framework of third space was used for this study to understand how ehs teachers and families can engage in authentic dialogue through shared written narrative observations of children’s learning. this conceptual framework is based from gutiérrez, et al. (1999) idea that educators can work to promote family engagement in a child’s learning process by creating a third space. the authors defined third space as zones of development that expand student learning. the third space creates a neutral place where teachers and ehs parents unite, focusing on the child at the center and celebrating growth and development. third space offers an alternative paradigm by changing the arena and increasing the probability of respectful, responsive, and reciprocal interactions between parents and teachers. through partnership, educator and student analysis of discourse and literacy practices can foster a culture of collaboration where hybrid activities, roles, and practices can lead to productive context of development (gutiérrez, et al., 1999). gutiérrez, et al. (1999) propose educators need to be more attentive to the idea of developing third spaces in school settings and applying the concept of third spaces to the school curriculum and pedagogy, with more intention towards incorporating the student’s home culture, prior knowledge, and lived experience. according to barrera and corso (2003) educators need to believe that a third space exists. to engage with ehs parents in the school readiness process, teachers must accept that there is no one version of reality, but rather multiple realities (barrera & corso, 2003). by engaging with families and sharing multiple voices and perspectives in a neutral third space, ehs children are viewed as capable and competent learners. third space helps frame the idea of the journey of discoveries as opportunities for parents and teachers to find an alternate way to meet in a neutral setting through the sharing of narrative child observations. journey of discoveries was developed to support an ehs program assessment practice, to strengthen teacher and parent collaboration, and to offer the opportunity to see children’s learning and development from different perspectives through a third space. methodology this study used a qualitative research method of a single-case study design (yin, 2009). the purpose of this investigation was to conduct a case study of three ehs programs use of the journey of discoveries observation approach and the possible impact on collaboration between teachers and parents. the study interviewed participants from the three ehs programs which consisted of seven ehs staff, including one site supervisor, two home visitors, and four teachers, and eighteen parents. findings and discussion finding revealed four central themes, demonstrating collaboration occurred through use of the journey of discoveries. the four significant themes were identified as (a) connection, (b) 107 white partnership, (c) building of relationship and, (d) the value of teacher and parent shared understanding. collaboration through connection ehs staff and parents referred to their experience using journey of discoveries as a means for deeper connection, thus, fostering collaboration through the connection that occurred between staff and parents. the journey of discoveries also revealed collaboration through family engagement in close, personal ways. opportunities for collaboration became available through journey of discoveries as staff was able to engage families connecting to their culture and lived experiences. for instance, one ehs staff said, i think it also shows the parents how we feel about them, the things we write about, the words that we use…shows them our connection to them (t1 at baby). i [the teacher] find myself wanting to share the journey of discovery [with the parents], “oh, let me tell you”…and then they [the parents] want to read it [journey of discovery] or they want to hear more about it. so, it’s communication, it’s definitely opened up (t1 at baby). collaboration though partnership at each of the ehs sites, teachers, home visitors, site supervisor, and parents viewed partnership occurring through collaboration. partnership included the collaborative efforts that took place through sharing ideas, planning, working, and reflecting using the journey of discoveries. furthermore, partnership was considered as being fully present in the moment. this type of partnership fostered respect and care for one another. is [it is important] to have parents be on-board as partners with you. and to plan together, to wonder together, to rejoice together. and when parents maybe have concerns, you know, they’ll bring them to me. or, or if i have concerns, i bring them to them, and it’s a very open-ended relationship. partnership is how i like to look at it (hv1 at bambino). collaboration through building relationships collaboration occurred through the building of relationships. one ehs staff referenced collaboration transpiring through careful construction of relationships, hv2 at bebé shared, “collaboration is a bridge. it—is a—is something we can connect” (hv2 at bebé). collaboration can be interpreted as a process that connects ehs staff and parents together, bridging and connecting the partner members together. it’s like holding hands and being in a circle, so it all goes hand to hand (p1 at baby). collaboration opportunities 108 the value of teacher and parent shared understanding both ehs staff and parents valued their experience using the journey of discoveries. furthermore, journey of discoveries was found to create mutual feelings of value and shared understanding about their lived experiences and provided a deeper understanding of the challenges parents face in their daily lives. because i’m listen [ing] [to] what they [the parents] tell me [through the journey of discoveries]. i share that kind of experience [at] the same time…of course, that open [s] one new space between us. you’re creating bonding, you know, that kind of affection, or respect, or values, or understanding (hv2 at bebé). conclusion the journey of discoveries offers a broader understanding of collaboration between parents and teachers. journey of discoveries is a representative model of partnership and a novel approach to establishing open, two-way communication between parents and educators, where young children’s learning is valued and paramount. this study revealed that ehs teacher and parent collaboration can occur through journey of discoveries, and it appears to be a promising practice that can lead to enhanced family engagement. connection, partnership, building of relationships, and the value of teacher and parent shared understanding were central themes identified in this study. finding indicate journey of discoveries is an innovative model that captures children’s learning and development by generating new pathways for teacher and parent collaboration in the school readiness process. references barrera, i., & corso, r. (2003). skilled dialogue. baltimore, md: brookes. bryk, a.s. & schneider, b. (2003). trust in schools: a core resource for improvement. russell sage foundation. california department of education. (n.d.). retrieved april 25, 2015, from http://www.desiredresults.us carr, m. (1998). assessing children’s learning in early childhood settings: a professional development programme for discussion and reflection-support booklet and videos: what to assess, why assess, how to assess? wellington: nzcer press. carr, m. (2001). assessment in early childhood settings: learning stories. sage. carr, m., & lee, w. (2012). learning stories: constructing learner identities in early education. sage publications, incorporated. chazan-cohen r, raikes h, brooks-gunn j, ayoub c, pan ba, kisker ee, fuligni as (2009). low-income children’s school readiness: parent contributions over the first five years. early education and development, 20, 958–977. gonzalez-mena, j. (2001). cross-cultural infant care and issues of equity and social justice. contemporary issues in early childhood, 2(3), 368-371. grossmann, k., grossmann, k.e., fremmer-bombik, e., kindler, h., scheuerer-englisch, h. & zimmermann, p. (2002). the uniqueness of the child-father attachment relationship: fathers' sensitive and challenging play as a pivotal variable in a 16-year longitudinal study. social development, 11(3), 307-331. gutiérrez, k., baquedano-lopez, p., & tejeda, c. (1999). rethinking diversity: hybridity and hybrid language practices in the third space. mind, culture, & activity: an international journal, 6(4), 286-303. howes, c., phillipsen, l. c., & peisner-feinberg, e. (2000). the consistency of perceived teacher– child relationships between preschool and kindergarten. journal of school psychology, 38(2), 113-113-132. 109 white mcallister, c. l., wilson, p. c., green, b. l., & baldwin, j. l. (2005). “come and take a walk”: listening to early head start parents on school-readiness as a matter of child, family, and community health. american journal of public health, 95(4), 617–25. national head start association: public policy research department office of head start, congregational review service data (2012). nichd early child care research network. (2003). families matter—even for kids in child care. journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics, 24, 58-62. robinson-zanartu, c., & majel-dixon, j. (1996). parent voices: american indian relationships with schools. journal of american indian education, 36 (1). roggman, l. a., boyce, l. k., & cook, g. a. (2009). keeping kids on track: impacts of a parenting-focused early head start program on attachment security and cognitive development. early education and development, 20(6), 920-941. seginer, r. (2006). parents' educational involvement: a developmental ecology perspective. parenting: science and practice, 6(1), 1-48. tveit, a. d. (2009). a parental voice: parents as equal and dependent – rhetoric about parents, teachers, and their conversations, educational review 61(3), 289–300. yin, r. k. (2009). case study research: design and methods 4th ed. in united states: library of congress cataloguing-in-publication data. dialog, 17(2), 105-120 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 dialog from the field a review of empirical evidence and practical considerations for early childhood classroom observation scales lia e. sandilos temple university james c. diperna the pennsylvania state university the current article presents a critical review of empirical evidence for six observation scales commonly used in practice to evaluate the quality of the early childhood classroom environment. specifically, the theoretical foundation, content, and psychometric properties are reviewed for each scale. based on the strengths and limitations of the evidence for each measure, recommendations are made regarding use of these specific systems in early education settings. as research has indicated that improving teaching quality is crucial to students’ academic success, early childhood education (ece) has received increased attention and scrutiny (bill & melinda gates foundation, 2012; zaslow, martinez-beck, tout, & halle, 2011). the emphasis on accountability in education (e.g., no child left behind act, 2001) also has led to growth in research examining specific teaching practices in early education that may influence later academic achievement, particularly for children considered to be at risk for poor outcomes (zaslow et al., 2011). the identification of practical instruments that can provide reliable and valid data regarding “educational quality” is critical for bringing about positive changes in practice. one method commonly used to evaluate teaching practices is systematic classroom observation. a number of systematic observation scales have been created to examine various aspects of instruction and classroom quality. these observation systems directly measure a wide range of teaching strategies, classroom and curricular resources, and administrative practices hypothesized to promote positive academic, social, and emotional growth in children. data gathered from these scales have been used to identify best practices in the classroom, inform teacher professional development programs, and guide educational policy (halle & vick, 2007). however, selecting an appropriate observation scale for use in practice can be difficult given the range of available scales, and in some instances, the limited information available regarding each measure’s theoretical and technical properties. as such, the purpose of this article is to provide a critical review of several observation systems available to assess early childhood classroom 106 sandilos & diperna environments and instructional practices. specifically, we systematically review six observation scales that assess various qualities and instructional practices within early childhood classrooms. in addition to providing a brief description of the content and constructs assessed, connections are made to developmental theories underlying each scale. psychometric properties of scores also are reviewed in an attempt to identify strengths and limitations of observation scales measuring global classroom quality. several methods were used to identify the observation scales included in this review. first, a systematic search was conducted for relevant published literature via three electronic databases: psycinfo, proquest, and eric. examples of descriptive terms used to conduct the literature searches included: classroom, classroom quality, childhood, early childhood, ecological, pre-kindergarten, observation scale, observation schedule, observation system, teacher behavior, teaching methods, teaching quality. these searches yielded a number of relevant studies (e.g., scale validation, empirical studies using classroom observation systems). in addition, three compendium reports on early childhood measures (halle & vick, 2007; malone et al., 2010; snow & van hemel, 2008) were consulted to identify prospective scales. finally, the buros mental measurements yearbook was utilized to identify relevant scales that were not located through the initial search strategies. based on these search strategies, a total of 43 early childhood classroom observation scales were identified for initial consideration. to be retained for the review, each scale had to meet five specific criteria. of the 43 instruments identified initially, 37 were excluded from this literature review because they failed to meet at least one of the required criteria. (a complete list of the excluded measures can be obtained by contacting the first author). the specific inclusionary criteria and number of scales that failed to meet them (n) were as follows: 1. developed for use in pre-kindergarten classrooms (n = 3). 2. appropriate for use in early childhood classrooms across the u. s. (n = 1). 3. assess global aspects of the classroom environment and instructional quality (n = 12). 4. require direct observation in the classroom (n = 4). 5. focused on classroom-level variables (i.e., whole class, teachers/caregivers; n = 17). thus, six scales were retained for inclusion based on the aforementioned criteria. the selected scales consisted of the following measures: assessment profile for early childhood programs: research edition ii (assessment profile; abbott-shim & sibley, 1998), childcaregiver interaction scale (ccis; carl, 2007, 2010), classroom assessment scoring system, pre-k (class pre-k; pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008), early childhood classroom observation measure (eccom; stipek & byler, 2004), early childhood environment rating scale-revised (ecers-r; harms, clifford, & cryer, 1998), and the preschool classroom implementation rating scale (pci; frede & miller, 1990). after identifying the observation scales for inclusion in the review, theoretical and psychometric (reliability and validity) evidence were examined for each scale. reliability and validity of scores must be carefully considered when selecting assessments to use in research and practice (gall, gall, & borg, 2007). reliability is “the degree to which measurement error is absent from scores” yielded by a measure, and it is evidenced by the consistency of scores (gall et al., 2007). forms of score reliability reported in this study were interrater, internal consistency, review of classroom observation scales 107 and test-retest. interrater reliability is the agreement between the scores of two or more observers. internal consistency reliability refers to the consistency of item scores within a single measure. test-retest reliability (also referred to as stability) is the correlation between scores on the same measure at two different time points. validity is defined as “the degree to which evidence and theory support interpretation of test scores entailed by proposed uses of tests” (standards for educational and psychological testing; aera, apa, ncme, 1999). the types of validity evidence considered in this review included concurrent, predictive, and structural. concurrent validity is the extent to which the scores on a measure correlate positively with a criterion variable administered simultaneously. predictive validity is an estimate of how accurately scores on one measure can predict a criterion variable obtained at some later time. structural validity is the analysis of the way in which items/subscales on a measure reflect the constructs that they are purported to represent (gall et al., 2007). to examine the psychometric evidence of the aforementioned observation scales, reliability and validity evidence are reported within the description of each measure. specific descriptive labels for reliability and validity evidence have been applied consistently throughout this review to maintain uniformity among the descriptions of observation scales. criteria for reliability were as follows: < .60 = unacceptable, .60 to .69 = marginally acceptable, .70 to .79 = partially acceptable, and ≥ .80 = acceptable (nunally & bernstein, 1994; salvia & ysseldyke, 2007; sattler, 2001). criteria for validity were as follows: < .30 = weak, .30 to .70 moderate, and > .70 = strong. 108 sandilos & diperna table 1 characteristics of observation scales of early childhood classroom quality observation scale key characteristics observation scale framework _______purpose domains assessed age range rating format assessment profile: research edition ii (abbott-shim & sibley, 1998) developmental systems, naeyc dap evaluate learning environment and teaching practices classroom: learning environment, scheduling, curriculum methods, interacting, individualizing ages: 3 7 years (center-based child care, preschool programs, kindergarten classrooms) 12 items per subscale totaling to 60 items dichotomous items (yes/no) child-caregiver interaction scale (ccis; carl, 2007) attachment, constructivist, ecological, naeyc dap assess caregiver interaction across age groupings and settings three domains: emotional, cognitive/physical, social infancy through school age (centerand homebased early childhood programs) 17-item likert-type scale ranging from 1 (inadequate) to 7 (excellent) classroom assessment scoring system, pre-k (class; pianta la paro, &hamre, 2008) developmental systems, attachment, constructivist, behavioral assess the quality of the interactions between teachers and their students three domains: emotional support, classroom organization, & instructional support versions available for toddler, prekindergarten, primary, & secondary grades 10 dimensions rated on likert-type scale ranging from 1 (low) to 7 (high); 30-minute observe and record cycle (at least two recommended) early childhood classroom observation measure (eccom; stipek & byler, 2004) constructivist, didactic evaluate academic instruction, social climate, & resources; assess constructivist (child-centered) and didactic (teachercentered) instructional approaches constructivist (childcentered) subscales: instruction, management, social climate didactic (teachercentered) subscales: instruction, management, social climate ages 4 – 7 (preschool, kindergarten, & first grade) 32 items rated from 1 (practices are rarely seen) to 5 (practices predominate) review of classroom observation scales 109 early childhood environment rating scale-revised (ecersr; harms & clifford, 1980; harms, clifford, & cryer, 1998) naeyc dap measures global quality of early childhood center-based programs seven subscales: space and furnishings, personal care routines, language-reasoning, activities, interaction, program structure, parents and staff ages 2.5 – 5 years (preschool & kindergarten) 43-item likert-type scale ranging from 1 (inadequate) to 7 (excellent); 2.5 – 3 hour observations (preferable) preschool classroom implementation rating scale (pci; frede& miller, 1990) constructivist measures general quality factors for a cognitivedevelopmental classroom twelve subscales: room arrangements, routine, planning, work/free play, clean-up, recall, small group, outside, circle, teacher/child interactions, classroom management, team evaluation & planning ages: 3 – 6 (preschool & kindergarten) 52 items rated as not observed, not evident, evident, or optimal; authors suggest observers spend one full day in a classroom 110 sandilos & diperna table 2 reliability and validity evidence for observation scales of early childhood classroom quality reliability evidence validity evidence observation scale sources interrater (+/-1) internal consistency (α) test-retest concurrent predictive structural assessment profile research edition ii, 1998 abott-shim & sibely 1998 .83 .91 .83 .91 b .64 .74 d .42 j , .54 k cfa indicated 5 first-order factors & 1 second-order factor ccis, 2007, 2010 carl, 2007, 2010 .88 .93 a .94 .67 – .75 d .62 l class, 2008 pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008 .53 1.00 .76 .89 .18 .62 a .45 .63 d -.35 m cfa indicated 3 factor model eccom, 2004 stipeck & byler, 2004 .74 .92 a .73 .98 .30 e ; .37 f ; .41 g .49 n , .58 o , .67 p cfa indicated separate 1-factor models for constructivist and didactic scales r ecers-r, 1998 harms et al., 1998 .71 .71 .88 .69 c .60 h , .68 i .49 q cfas indicated 1-, 2and 3factor models pci, 1990 barnett et al., 1988; 2008 .94 1.00 .89 .93 d .60 e note. a intraclass correlation coefficient (icc). b item response theory. c pearson correlation (r). d ecers, ecers-r. e higher-order thinking skills. f basic math skills. . g basic literacy skills. h ecers-e literacy subscale. i class pre-k emotional support domain. j story retell. k print concepts. l keystone stars quality rating. m time off task. n mathematics standard (β). o reading fluency (β). p letter-sound recognition (β). q peabody picture vocabulary test. r cfa conducted on finnish and estonian teachers. review of classroom observation scales 111 to help facilitate the review of evidence for each measure, the guiding theoretical framework, purpose, domains assessed, age range, and rating format of each observation scale are displayed in table 1. in addition, published reliability and validity evidence for each scale is reported in table 2. assessment profile for early childhood programs: research edition ii (assessment profile; abbott-shim & sibley, 1998). the assessment profile is a global measure of the quality of an early childhood learning environment and teaching practices (abbott-shim & sibley, 1998; lambert, 2003). the assessment profile is aligned with naeyc dap (1997) standards (lambert, 2003; quality assist, 2012). in addition, the framework of the assessment profile appears to reflect the developmental systems model learning perspective, which applies general systems and ecological theories to the classroom environment (copple & bredekamp, 2009; pianta, 1999), and it emphasizes the interaction between the child, the teacher, and the environment. as shown in table 1, the scale contains five primary classroom domains (i.e., learning environment, scheduling, curriculum methods, interacting, and individualizing; abbott-shim & sibley, 1998). the assessment profile, which can be used in classrooms with children ages 3 to 7 years, contains 60 dichotomous (yes/no) items. the assessment profile research edition originally was developed using item response theory (irt; abbott-shim & sibley, 1992). average interrater reliability estimates and internal consistency coefficients fell in the acceptable range (abbott-shim, lambert, & mccarty, 2000; abbott-shim & sibely, 1992). the revised assessment profile research edition ii was standardized on 2,820 classrooms across the u.s. (abott-shim & sibely, 1998). with the revision of the assessment profile, second-order factor analysis was conducted to assess structural validity, and results indicated that the five observed scales stemmed from a single underlying construct of global classroom quality (abbott-shim et al., 2000). concurrent validity analysis between the assessment profile and the ecers yielded moderate to strong correlations (abbott-shim, 1991; wilkes, 1989; see table 2). predictive validity evidence was identified in a 2006 study in which scores from the assessment profile were used to divide a sample of teachers into high, medium, and low quality classrooms, and the results indicated that children in the high quality classrooms scored significantly higher than lower quality classrooms on tests of print concepts and story retell (gallagher & lambert, 2006). no published studies of long-term stability, however, are currently available for scores from the assessment profile: research edition ii. child-caregiver interaction scale, revised edition (ccis; carl, 2007, 2010). the ccis is a global observation rating measure of teacher interactions with children (table 1). the framework for the ccis was developed to address limitations of the arnett caregiver interaction scale (cis; arnett, 1989). the theoretical framework of the ccis is based upon child-caregiver attachment theory (ainsworth & bowlby, 1991; bretherton, 1992) and socialization practices during parent-child interactions (baumrind, 1991). in addition, ecological theory (bronfenbrenner & morris, 1998), constructivism (kozulin, 1986), and research regarding early brain development were used to guide the development of the scale (carl, 2007, 2010). the ccis also reflects naeyc dap 2009 recommendations for developmentally appropriate practices (carl, 2010). the ccis consists of three primary interaction domains: emotional/interactional, cognitive/physical, and social/connections within a wider world. the 112 sandilos & diperna ccis can be used in classrooms with children ranging from infancy to elementary. there are a total of 14 items on the scale that are rated from 1 (inadequate care) to 7 (excellent care). an acceptable level of interrater reliability for ccis scores was reported from training sessions in carl’s (2007) dissertation (table 2). internal consistency coefficients also were in the acceptable range (carl, 2007). a strong concurrent relationship was observed between the ccis and the “interactions” subscale of the ecers-r and an overall moderate correlation with the ecers-r. predictive validity analyses indicated that keystone star scores (state-awarded quality rating for early childhood classrooms) were found to be positive predictors of scores on the ccis (carl, 2007; halle & vick, 2007). information regarding recent revisions to the ccis indicated that construct validity was established by a panel of experts who reviewed the scale (carl, 2010). no published evidence has been reported regarding interrater reliability of ccis scores during actual classroom observations, and there are no published data regarding the test-retest reliability of scores. in addition, structural analysis of ccis has not been reported in the published literature to date. the classroom assessment scoring system, pre-kindergarten (class pre-k; pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008). the class pre-k is an observation system intended to examine the quality of the interactions between teachers and their students(la paro, pianta, & stuhlman, 2004). toddler, elementary and secondary versions of class are also available. teaching quality on all versions of class is assessed in terms of three major domains consisting of emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support (table 1). the primary theoretical focus of the class framework is the developmental systems model of early learning (pianta, 1999). however, within each domain attachment, behavioral, constructivist, and metacognitive theories are evident (hamre, pianta, mashburn, & downer, 2007). the class pre-k consists of 10 items coded on a scale of 1 (low) to 7 (high). as many as six cycles can be completed in one class pre-k observation, but the authors recommend a minimum of two cycles. one class cycle consists of a 20-minute observation and 10 minutes of coding scores. interrater reliability for scores on class pre-k has varied with indices falling in the unacceptable to acceptable ranges across studies (hamre, mashburn, pianta, & locasalecrouch, 2008; pianta et al., 2008; sandilos & diperna, 2011). internal consistency score reliabilities for 2, 3, and 4 cycles of class for preschool and third grade classrooms range from partially acceptable to acceptable (pianta et al., 2008). stability analyses within a school year indicate that the emotional support domain demonstrates the highest levels of stability (curby, grimm, & pianta, 2010). classroom organization and instructional support exhibit lower levels of stability, with instructional support consistently demonstrating the lowest score stability over time (curby et al., 2010; pianta et al., 2008). structural validity of the class framework has been tested in several studies in the united states and finland (downer et al., 2012; hamre et al., 2007; pakarinen et al., 2010). the three-factor structure (i.e., emotional support, classroom organization, instructional support) has demonstrated the best fit across validation studies (downer et al., 2012; hamre et al., 2007; pakarinen et al., 2010). concurrent validity analyses have yielded moderate correlations with the ecers-r (pianta et al., 2008; see table 2). predictive validity evidence has indicated that scores on the emotional support domain demonstrate a moderate negative relationship with the amount of time children are observed review of classroom observation scales 113 being off-task (rimm-kaufman, curby, grimm, nathanson, & brock, 2009) and a positive relationship with growth in sound awareness skills (curby, rimm-kaufman, & ponitz, 2009). limited evidence of moderate to strong predictive validity of class scores with socialemotional and academic outcomes across grade levels was identified. in addition, research regarding the class should continue to assess the stability of scores over time, as certain domains (e.g., instructional support) have exhibited low levels of reliability in previous research (curby et al., 2010). early childhood classroom observation measure (eccom; stipek & byler, 2004). the eccom originally was developed for educational-quality research. the theoretical framework for the scale is based on both constructivist (child-centered; kozulin, 1986) and didactic (teacher-centered) theories of learning (halle & vick, 2007; stipek & byler, 2004). the eccom measures classroom quality through instruction, social climate, and management subscales (table 1). preschool through first grade classrooms may be observed with the eccom. a total of 32 items on the eccom are rated from 1 (practices are rarely seen) to 5 (practices predominate). the psychometric properties of the eccom have been examined in the united states, finland, and estonia. interrater agreement for the eccom, both in the united states and abroad, fell in the acceptable range, and internal consistency indices ranged from partially acceptable to acceptable across subscales (halle & vick, 2007; lerkkanen et al., 2012; stipek & byler, 2004; see table 2). concurrent validity analyses indicated a moderate positive relationship between the eccom constructivist (child-centered) subscale and teachers’ ratings of students’ higher-order thinking skills, as well as a moderate positive relationship between the didactic (teachercentered) subscale and teachers’ ratings of basic literacy and math skills in their classroom (stipek & byler, 2004). predictive validity analyses indicated that first grade teachers who received higher eccom ratings on both instructionallyand emotionally-supportive childcentered practices had a higher percentage of students who met end-of-year standards in lettersound recognition, reading fluency, and mathematics (perry, donohue, & weinstein, 2007). structural validity of eccom has been examined with a sample of finnish and estonian classrooms, and the results indicated that separate one-factor models (child-centered & teachercentered) best fit the data (lerkkanen et al., 2012). no evidence of test-retest reliability has been reported in published literature regarding the eccom. additionally, no structural validity evidence for the use of the eccom with classrooms in the united states was identified through searches of published literature. early childhood environment rating scale – revised (ecers-r; harms, clifford, & cryer, 1998). the ecers-r is a widely used instrument that assesses characteristics of preschool, kindergarten, and child-care programs. the framework of the original ecers (harms & clifford, 1980) was based on research regarding developmentally appropriate practices at the time when the licensing and accreditation process for ece programs was first being established (sakai, whitebook, wishard, & howes, 2003). the 1998 revision of the ecers-r utilized the naeyc 1997 dap guidelines as the primary conceptual framework (harms et al., 1998). as a result, the ecers-r assesses seven distinct components of the classroom: space and furnishings, personal care routines, language-reasoning, activities, interaction, program structure, and parents and staff (table 1). the ecers-r features 43 items 114 sandilos & diperna rated from 1 (inadequate) to 7 (excellent; harms et al., 1998). a 2.5to 3-hour observation period is recommended by the authors (harms et al., 1998). reported interrater reliability for the ecers-r fell in the partially acceptable to acceptable ranges (harms et al., 1998; denny, hallam, & homer, 2012). internal consistency reliability estimates for scores on subscales also ranged from partially acceptable to acceptable (harms et al., 1998). average test-retest reliability fell in the marginally acceptable range (clifford, 2005). concurrent validity analyses indicated that the ecers-r interactions subscale demonstrated a high-moderate correlation with the class pre-k emotional support domain, and the ecers-r language and reasoning subscale correlated moderately with the ecersextension literacy subscale (denny et al., 2012). predictive validity analyses yielded a moderate positive correlation with scores on the peabody picture vocabulary test (harms et al., 1998), and a panel of experts reviewed the revised scale to examine construct validity (zaslow et al., 2011). factor analytic findings regarding the structural validity of the ecers-r have been inconsistent, as different studies yielded one or two domains of classroom quality, as opposed to the seven distinct aspects of classroom quality suggested by the authors (perlman, zellman, & vi-nhuan, 2004; snow & van hemel, 2008). most recently, gordon, fujimoto, kaestner, korenman, and abner (2013) identified a 3-factor solution (table 2). no evidence was found to support the current factor structure of the published version of the ecers-r. also, minimal research was found identifying moderate to strong associations between ecers-r scores and child outcomes. preschool classroom implementation rating scale (pci; frede & miller, 1990). the pci originally was created as a measure of fidelity for the high/scope perry preschool curriculum but subsequently was revised for use in all preschool and kindergarten programs (frede & miller, 1990; halle & vick, 2007). the framework for both the high/scope perry preschool curriculum and the pci was based on vygotsky’s work in constructivist philosophy (kozulin, 1986) and piaget’s research on cognitive development (piaget, 1952). the pci is composed of 12 subscales (i.e., room arrangements, daily routine, planning, work/free play, clean-up, recall, small group, outside, circle, teacher/child interactions, classroom management and organization, team evaluation & planning). the 52 items of the pci are rated using a 4-point continuum: not observed, not evident, evident, or optimal (table 1). the scale can be used in preschool and kindergarten classrooms, and the authors recommend spending a full day in a classroom to achieve the most accurate ratings (frede & miller, 1990). interrater reliability coefficients reported from training and real-time observations fell in the acceptable range (barnett et al., 2008). the test-retest and internal consistency reliability estimates also fell in acceptable ranges (barnett, frede, mobasher, & mohr, 1988; barnett et al., 2008). regarding concurrent validity, a moderate relationship was identified between the pci and ecers-r (barnett et al., 2008; see table 2). it should be noted that there is limited published empirical evidence of acceptable reliability and validity of pci scores in non-constructivist-based classrooms; previous research indicated that classrooms with constructivist-based curricula (i.e., high/scope perry preschool, tools of the mind) scored higher on the pci than non-constructivist-based classrooms (barnett et al., 1988; barnett et al., 2008). no predictive or structural validity evidence has been reported in the published literature to date. review of classroom observation scales 115 strengths and limitations of reviewed classroom observation scales across the six observation scales that met criteria for inclusion in this review, several overarching strengths emerged. first, many of these scales used key developmental theory and/or prior empirical research to inform the scale development process. the most commonly represented frameworks were constructivist learning theory, attachment theory, developmentalsystems model, and naeyc dap guidelines. second, all of the scales place some emphasis on caregiver/teacher and child interactions as a focal point of the observation; a practice that is theoretically justified by prior empirical research (baumrind, 1991; pianta, 1999). moreover, the inclusion of emotional climate and adult-child interactions are strong characteristics for observation scales, as teacher-child relationships have been identified as an important aspect of early academic success (la paro & pianta, 2000; pianta, la paro, payne, cox, & bradley, 2002). third, interrater agreement and internal consistency reliability were reported for all of the scales, and indices fell primarily in partially-acceptable to acceptable ranges. in addition, moderate to strong concurrent validity evidence also has been demonstrated for all of the scales. finally, on a practical level, many of the reviewed scales can be used in a variety of preschool environments (i.e., home care, child care, center-based) and up through the early elementary grades (kindergarten, 1 st grade, 2 nd grade); though additional evidence for use across grades/age ranges is still needed for some measures. the scales also allow for a range of time during which an observation can be conducted (e.g., 30 min – 3 hours). beyond these collective strengths, there are some common limitations shared across multiple measures included in the review. for example, three of the scales were published nearly 15 years ago (i.e. assessment profile, ecers-r, pci). the evolution of early childhood theory, research, and practice during this time period may have implications for the validity of interpretation of results from these measures. in addition, as shown by the variability in factors assessed across measures, there is a lack of consensus on an operational definition of “classroom quality.” while some observation systems place emphasis on daily scheduling, material resources, and physical structure of the environment (i.e., ecers-r, pci), other scales focus largely on specific areas of quality such as interpersonal interactions and/or didactic techniques (i.e., eccom, ccis, assessment profile). of the systems included in this review, the class pre-k and eccom appear to demonstrate the most balance among socio-emotional, instructional, and behavioral elements of high quality classrooms. with regard to psychometric properties, each scale is lacking published evidence regarding at least one type of reliability or validity. evidence of test-retest stability and structural validity could not be located for many of the observation scales. specifically, testretest data were missing for three of the scales (i.e., assessment profile, ccis, eccom), factor analytic methods were not used to examine the internal structure of two scales (i.e., ccis & pci), and structural results were inconsistent for the ecers-r. for several of the measures, interrater reliability coefficients were based on data collected during observer training as opposed to actual data from real-time observations (i.e., pci, ccis). in addition, there was limited evidence indicating strong predictive relationships between scores on the reviewed scales to outcome variables, as measures often yielded moderate correlations with academic or socioemotional outcomes. 116 sandilos & diperna recommendations for practioners the goal of this review was to examine observation scales that can be used to assess global quality in early childhood classrooms. recommendations for practice are grouped into three categories reflecting aspects of the early childhood classroom environment that practitioners may wish to examine. material resources and physical structure. the ecers-r and pci directly examine concrete material resources in the classroom. the reliability of scores on both scales indicates that ratings are fairly consistent across observations, which may be related to the objective nature of many of the items (e.g., material present or not present). the inconsistent results of structural analyses of the ecers-r and the lack of structural evidence for the pci are significant limitations for both scales. however, research continues to be conducted on the ecers-r and there is substantial concurrent validity evidence linking scores on ecers-r subscales to those on similar measures of classroom quality. the ecers-r may be best used as a measure of physical quality and quantity of materials in the classroom, as it does not measure instructional practices. the pci may be most effective in capturing high quality teaching and instructional resources in constructivist-based classrooms (barnett et al., 2008). teacher-child relationship. although all of the scales address, to some extent, the teacher-child relationship, the ccis and the class pre-k appear to most comprehensively assess this key aspect of classroom quality. both the ccis and class pre-k were developed within the past 5 years, and they provide domains focusing on emotional and social interactions between caregivers and students. however, additional research is needed regarding the psychometric properties of the ccis, as no other published data have been identified since the 2007 validation study. conversely, although class pre-k has the most recent publication date of the scales included in this review, it is one of the more thoroughly researched measures. in particular, studies of structural validity in different countries and with varying samples have consistently supported the presence of three primary domains (downer et al., 2012; hamre et al., 2007; pakarinen et al., 2010). academic instruction and didactic practices. several of the scales reviewed in this study assess teachers’ instructional practices. the assessment profile, class pre-k, and eccom all examine various aspects of academic instruction, and have demonstrated moderate relationships with academic outcomes. the three measures appear to present global and theoretically supported views of instructional practices; however, there are unique characteristics of each scale that should be considered in the selection process. in a review of the assessment profile, snow and van hemel (2008) identified the dichotomous format of the scale as a limitation, as teachers may receive credit for specific instructional practices, but the frequency and type of instruction would remain unclear due to the truncated method of scoring (snow & van hemel, 2008). with regard to the eccom, the individualizing subscale requires that educational documents be examined (e.g., referrals, assessments, and parent-teacher communication), which is an important consideration as this information may be difficult to obtain in some observation settings (snow & van hemel, 2008). one critique of the instructional review of classroom observation scales 117 support domain of class pre-k has been the absence of evaluation of major academic areas (i.e., reading, math, science, etc.; snow & van hemel, 2008). thus, it is important that users carefully consider what aspects of instruction they wish to observe before selecting a scale. directions for future research & development this review provides information about early childhood observation scales that are currently available for use in primary classrooms, as well as some insight regarding future research needed to substantiate the use of all reviewed measures. several conclusions can be drawn from this review. first, there are multiple components of classroom quality that can be measured, so it is important to examine the constructs emphasized by each scale (e.g., interactions, materials, etc.). second, practical aspects of each scale should be considered within the context of the classroom and constraints of the observation before selecting a specific measure for use (e.g., length of observation, appropriate grade level, types of information/documentation needed). third, several of the scales need to be updated to reflect current research and theory regarding early childhood education. fourth, there are both strengths (e.g., internal consistency, concurrent validity) and gaps (e.g., structure, stability) in the psychometric evidence for many of the scales. finally, the reviewed scales primarily have demonstrated moderate relationships with academic and socioemotional outcomes, but all of the measures would be substantiated by further research linking observational teacher-quality data to student achievement and socio-emotional development. data from observation systems can be used to promote effective instruction for children. however, early childhood educators need to be confident that recommendations resulting from assessments of classroom quality are valid and informed by empirically sound data collection methods. thus, it is important for educational practitioners and researchers to be cognizant of the strengths and limitations of each observation scale. an assessment of “global classroom quality” may be most accurate and comprehensive when observational ratings are considered in conjunction with other classroom-based data (e.g., student surveys, 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(2011). quality measurement in early childhood settings. baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing co. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php dialog, 18(1), 43-60 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research article examining families’ early literacy beliefs and practices within a head start program: building bridges amber friesen san francisco state university gretchen butera indiana university bridging early literacy learning between home and early education settings requires understanding families’ literacy beliefs and practices. in this study, 213 families in a rural midwestern head start program completed the family early literacy survey, which asked participants to report literacy beliefs and practices using likert scale-items and open-ended questions. the findings document that families believed it was important for their child to develop early literacy and that they engaged in strategies to support early literacy development such as reading a book with their child or helping them with their homework. however, they reported few home activities related to children’s specific early literacy skills (i.e., writing the child’s name, learning letter sounds), instead relying on the head start program to address the development of these skills. implications of the findings for building bridges between preschool programs and families to support children’s early literacy skills are discussed. keywords: family partnerships, beliefs, early literacy development, head start “somehow we need to bridge the gap between home and school so that reading in one is reading in the other” (taylor, 1983, p. 95). children actively engage in trying to understand the world around them at a young age within the context of their home, community, and culture (bronfenbrenner, 1979). it is within these settings that children’s ways of, “talking, listening, writing, reading, acting, integrating, believing, valuing, and feeling” (gee, 2001, p. 35) begin to develop, providing a foundation for early literacy development. relying on their family members as their primary models, children begin to acquire foundational literacy skills that are both meaning-focused (e.g. comprehension, vocabulary) and code-specific (e.g. alphabetic knowledge, phonological awareness) (friesen & butera, 2013; goldstein, 2011; whitehurst & lonigan, 1998). these early learning experiences 44 friesen & butera provide the foundation for later reading and writing success (duncan et al., 2007; national early literacy panel, 2008; reardon, valentino, & shores, 2012). when a child begins attending a preschool program, she continues to be influenced by her environment and the people within it (landry, smith, swank, & guttentag, 2008). there is evidence that promoting strong partnerships between school and home within early education settings can strengthen the impact of instruction on young children’s learning (e.g. epstein, 2001; henderson & mapp, 2002; weiss, caspe, & lopez, 2006), including children’s early literacy development (darling & westberg, 2004; sheridan, knoche, kupzyk, edwards, & marvin, 2011). for example, in a review of 20 different family intervention studies that included a total of 1,583 families, a positive association was found between family involvement and children’s early literacy acquisition (darling & westberg). in turn, bridging learning between the home and classroom is viewed as an essential component of best practices in high-quality early education (dec, 2010; copple & bredekamp, 2009; naeyc, 2009). for some children and families, a bridge between home and school can be easily built as the practices within the home compliment both the expectations and learning within the classroom. in her seminal work in which she coined the term “family literacy”, taylor (1983) followed six families who actively engaged in shared book reading, writing activities, and creative play with their young children, creating a rich oral language environment. upon entering school, these children seamlessly integrated into typical school-based early literacy activities and the families comfortably engaged in activities expected of them for supporting their child’s learning at home (e.g. homework, continued book reading at home, ample opportunities to explore and use text). in other instances, children enter preschool settings in which the literacy practices emphasized within their homes and community contrast with the literacy practices within the school setting. these differences have been captured in several, influential ethnographic works (e.g. compton-lilly, 2003; heath, 1983; purcell-gates, 1995; taylor & dorsey-gaines, 1988). for example, an oral language tradition including verbal storytelling and informal chats with neighbors may be more prevalent forms of literacy in some families and communities as opposed to reading and writing of text. research has also documented that children within some families have limited opportunities to develop early literacy due to challenges (e.g. health, emotional well-being, lack of finances, disability) and/or limited accessibility to resources (e.g. books, time, quality childcare) within their family or community (foster, 2002; neuman, 2006; park, turnball, & turnball, 2002). these children then enter preschool programs with different or limited early literacy abilities compared to their peers (denton flanagan, & mcphee, 2009; justice, bowles, pence turnbull, & skibbe, 2009; markowitz et al., 2006). acknowledging the significance of how families impact children’s learning and development in all areas, including early literacy, early care and education programs are urged to involve and partner with families (e.g. dec; naeyc). for example, head start, the nation’s flagship early intervention program for low-income children and their families, has adopted two pertinent frameworks to guide to promote children’s learning and engage families. the first, the head start development and early learning framework, outlines 11 domains reflective of the program’s commitment to children’s holistic development, including physical growth & health, social-emotional competence, creative art, and literacy knowledge & skills (office of head start, 2010). within the literacy knowledge & skill domain, specific elements including book appreciation, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, print concepts and conventions, and early writing are emphasized. the second framework, the head start parent, family, and families’ early literacy beliefs and practices 45 community engagement framework, stresses the need for families to be systematically involved in program foundations and impact areas in order to increase family engagement in the program’s activities and ensure positive child outcomes (office of head start, 2011). at issue is how to best involve families in promoting children’s early literacy. historically, functional approaches to family involvement have focused on assessing perceived deficits in a family’s home literacy practices (e.g. lack of books, limited writing of text) that must be remedied. in this approach, families are trained to replicate school-like early literacy activities in the home to address the perceived deficits. the sustainability and meaningfulness of these attempts have been questioned as these interventions may undermine families’ confidence in their own abilities and do not facilitate a reciprocal partnership with schools (e.g. auerbach, 1995; denessen, 2007; mcnaughton, 2006; ordonez-jasis, 2010; rodriguez-brown, 2010). an alternative approach to supporting family involvement begins by seeking to understand the family and community context of the child with the intent to build from already evident capacities within them (dunst & trivette, 2009; mcnaughton, 2006). adopting the funds of knowledge perspective (moll, amanti, neff, & gonzalez, 1992), it is assumed that families are competent, resourceful, and have gained meaningful knowledge from life experiences. in this approach, family involvement initiatives seek to make full use of family capacities and strengths to inform school practices (gonzalez, moll, & amanti, 2005). an important beginning to this approach is to understand families’ literacy beliefs and practices in order to design effective literacy instruction to bridge home-school settings (bingham, 2007) understanding families’ literacy beliefs and practices beliefs may be one of the best indicators of the decisions individuals make throughout their lives (fives & buehl, 2008). researchers have examined the beliefs family members hold about early literacy development (e.g. baker & scher, 2002; bingham, 2007; debaryshe, 1995; debaryshe, binder, & buell, 2000; evans fox, cremaso, & mckinnon, 2004; fitzgerald, spiegel, & cunningham, 1991; lynch, anderson, anderson & shaprio, 2006; sonnenschein, baker, serpell, scher, turitt, & munserman, 1997; spiegel, fitzgerald, & cunningham, 1993; stipek, milburn, clements, & daniels, 1992). an important finding from this research is that families differ in their beliefs about how children most effectively acquire early literacy skills, with some family members favoring practices that promote a more skills-based, phonetic approach to early literacy instruction while others favor a more experiential, whole language perspective. for example, in an early effort, fitzgerald, spiegel, and cunningham (1991) examined the beliefs of 108 parents of kindergarten-aged children using open-ended and likert scaled questions. the findings suggested that parents with lower reading levels valued early literacy development that was more skill-based in contrast to those with higher reading levels who valued more experiential, whole language approaches. similar findings have been observed in other studies of families who differ in educational level (lynch et al., 2006; stipek et al., 1992) and socioeconomic status (debaryshe, 1995; sonnenschien, et al., 1997). families’ beliefs about early literacy development may contrast with those ascribed to by early educators. for example, evans et al. (2004) surveyed 148 families and 53 kindergarten teachers using their likert scale, approaches to beginning reading and reading instruction (abrri). items were designed to capture different approaches to early literacy development (phonetic, skill-based vs. holistic, whole language). while the results indicated that both families 46 friesen & butera and teachers believed support for children’s literacy development was critical, families ascribed more often to skills-a based approach to early literacy acquisition while teachers supported a more holistic perspective. the beliefs families hold about early literacy development may influence home practices that support children’s learning (e.g. bingham, 2007; debaryshe, et al., 2000; lynch et al., 2006). for example, lynch et al. (2006) asked 35 parents with preschool-aged children to use a 5-point likert scale to rank the importance of various early literacy components as they relate to how children learn to read and write. the participants were also asked to name the five most important ways that they helped their children acquire early literacy. the results of the study indicated that families’ answers were highly correlated with the self-reported behaviors they used in the home to support literacy development. bingham (2007) examined the relationship between 60 mothers’ early literacy beliefs and their book reading interactions with their four-year-old children using both self-reported measures and observations. the results indicated that the mothers’ literacy beliefs were positively related to the quality of the home literacy environment and their book reading interactions with their children. for example, if a mother believed that joint book reading was important in supporting their child’s early literacy skills, they were more likely to be observed engaging in this activity with their child and enjoying the activity (e.g. positive affect, verbalizations, and physical contact). purpose of this study given the importance of early literacy development, there is a need for continued investigation into how early education settings can effectively partner with families to meaningfully support young children’s learning. this is especially important for building bridges with families facing challenging circumstances including poverty, as is the case for children and families enrolled in head start. by adopting the funds of knowledge perspective (moll et al., 1992; gonzalez et al., 2005) that recognize the capacity and strengths of families, existing literacy beliefs and practices within homes can provide an important foundation to build partnerships that support children’s early literacy development (barnett, carolan, squires, & clarke brown, 2013; office of head start, 2010). specifically, findings about how families view children’s early literacy development can be used to design early literacy instruction that bridge learning between families and early education programs. this study was guided by the following research questions: 1) what do families believe is important for their preschool-aged child to learn about early literacy? 2) how do families describe their efforts to support their preschool-aged child’s early literacy development? 3) what do families hope that their preschool-aged child will learn about early literacy within head start? families’ early literacy beliefs and practices 47 methods setting this study was conducted within the quarry hills head start preschool program (qhhs; pseudonym) located within a rural area of a midwestern state. the qhhs program serves 281 families in five centers located across a three county service area. like all head start programs, children are eligible to attend qhhs if their family meets the income guidelines. as of 2014, the guidelines stipulated that a child from a family of four was eligible if the family made less than $23,850. currently, the percentage of families living below the poverty line within the qhhs service area exceeds the national average (u.s. census bureau, 2010). like many head start programs, a family case manager at each of the qhhs centers plays an important role in involving families within the program. these individuals manage family recruitment and eligibility, facilitate bi-monthly family meetings and activities, organize goal-setting meetings with families, and supervise family support for qhhs. the program engages in a conscientious effort to support families in being part of their children’s early literacy development. this included sending home weekly “homework” packets consisting of worksheets and games related to classroom literacy activities. a library book was usually sent home with the packets, accompanied by a generic set of questions that the family could use to discuss the book with their child. further, families were given a list of specific academic, social, and study skills children were to learn in head start based on a document about kindergarten readiness from a nearby public school kindergarten program. the list included early literacy skills such as being able to identify all uppercase and lowercase letters, recognize at least half of the letter’s sounds, and write their first name. participants all families (n = 281) currently enrolled in the qhhs program were invited to participate in the study. twelve families had more than one child enrolled in the program and completed one survey. thus, 269 families were eligible to participate and 213 families completed a survey, representing an 89% response rate. family members who completed the survey were primarily mothers (77%) under the age of 30 (63%), caucasian (87%), and fluent in english (100%). respondents indicated that they had either dropped out of high school (17%) or had obtained a high school degree or a general equivalency diploma (ged) (66%). nearly half of the family participants did not work outside the home (49%). instrument the family early literacy survey was developed to address the study’s research questions. in the first section, demographic information about the family participant was collected (e.g. name, age, highest level of education, current employment, relationship to head start student). the second section of the survey utilized a revised version of the likert scale items in the survey entitled approaches to beginning reading and reading instruction (abrri; cronbach’s 48 friesen & butera alpha, .70) (evans et al., 2004; evans, barraball, & eberlee, 1998). this scale asks participants to rate 22 items on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (no importance) to 5 (high importance) according to their importance in learning to read, write, and communicate. the first 14 of these items described early literacy activities, materials, and goals often encountered in early childhood settings. the last eight abrri items included strategies that adults might use to support children’s early literacy. the scale was modified with permission from the authors so that a picture was included with each statement in order to increase readability (m. a. evans, personal communication, june 30, 2010). for example, one abrri item asked the participants to rate how important it was for a child to have the confidence to guess a word using a picture or topic. the corresponding picture included the word “sun” and an illustration of a sun. a young girl was pictured saying, “i think this word says sun because of the picture!”. in the third and final section of the survey, participants were asked five open-ended questions about the families’ literacy experiences, beliefs, and practices. these questions sought to uncover what edwards and her colleagues (1999) call the “literacy stories” of a family and aimed to illustrate the family’s literacy beliefs and practices. questions included inquiry about the family’s daily routines and literacy uses, personal experiences learning to read and write, and expectations about their child’s early literacy development in the qhhs program. the final question simply asked families if they had anything additional to share. survey pilot the family early literacy survey was pilot tested with a convenience sample of 25 families of preschool-age children to evaluate its usability and ensure item clarity (fowler, 2009; mcmillan & schumacher, 2006). pilot study participants were asked to complete the survey and provide feedback, including general impressions of the survey, suggested changes regarding wording or organization, or additions about anything they felt was important for supporting children’s early literacy from a family perspective. minor revisions to wording and survey format on the openended questions were made after the pilot testing. procedures program staff provided information about convenient times to administer the survey when family members would already be at the five qhhs centers (e.g. picking up children, attending family activities) between the end of september and beginning of october. all families within the qhhs program received a postcard in their child’s backpack inviting one member of their family to complete a survey and explaining that in appreciation, participants would receive a $10 gift card to a large retail store and a children’s picture book. during the specified time at each center, families were greeted and directed to the space in the center for survey completion (e.g. a meeting room, foyer, classroom). depending on the size of the center, 2 4 individuals who had completed necessary human subjects approval were trained to facilitate survey completion on site. these individuals were available to read the survey aloud to the participants or scribe responses, if requested. in total, 120 surveys were collected at the heat start centers. families’ early literacy beliefs and practices 49 for those families who could not attend the face-to-face survey sessions, the surveys were sent home within their child’s backpack. the survey included instructions to return the survey to the center upon completion. in total, 89 surveys were collected in this manner. in four cases, the survey was completed over the phone by the first author after the families expressed interest but were unable to come to the center at the given time and/or fill it out themselves. data analysis to organize data collected, each survey was coded according to center and classroom, and data were gathered on spreadsheets. quantitative data (i.e. demographics and likert scale responses) were imported to spss, a quantitative data analysis program, for statistical analyses. survey responses to the open ended questions were organized into categories initially and then into themes of interest (creswell, 2002; merriam, 2009). this was completed first on paper and then using the qualitative software program, nvivo. for example, in responding to the first question about typical activities that involve reading, writing, and communicating, family member respondents often explained ways they read together. initial categories included times families read together (e.g., we always read together before bed), types of materials read together (e.g., my daughter always wants to read princess books with me), and who reads with the child (e.g., my kids love to read together too). these three categories were combined into one theme entitled, reading together. to strengthen the trustworthiness of the themes that emerged and ensure that the perspectives about the data were not biased by the researcher’s perspective, three peer reviewers were asked to review a selection of the open-ended questions (20% of all surveys received), searching out counter-examples and providing their own perspective on emerging categories/themes (mcmillan & schumacher, 2009). ensuing discussion between the peer reviewers and researchers helped ensure that the wording of the theme titles was clear and that there was agreement on how the responses had been organized. results families’ early literacy beliefs the first research question guiding this study sought to understand what families’ believed was important for their preschool-aged child to learn about in regards to early literacy. within the family early literacy survey, the abrri survey items asked family member to rank the importance of a variety of early literacy skills for their preschool child. response to the items on the abrri scale were negatively skewed (values -0.768 to -2.754, m= 1.27) as 84% of all responses on the survey about the importance of various early literacy skills were answered “very important” (60.8%) or “important” (23.2%). a full range of scores in which responses varied from “very important” to “not important at all” was found in 16 of the 22 items. items with the highest mean ratings of importance related to learning the alphabet (4.83), using books with easy sentences and familiar words (4.68), and developing confidence to guess words (4.57). the mean and range of all scores for each item are provided in table 1. 50 friesen & butera table 1 descriptive statistics for abrri items item m sd range practice and learn letters of alphabet 4.83 .456 3-5 use books with familiar spelling and easy sentences 4.68 .640 2-5 develop confidence to write in whatever form one can 4.67 .578 3-5 develop ability to sound out words 4.64 .732 1-5 use picture cues to read new words 4.64 .634 2-5 develop oral language as basis for reading-writing 4.60 .619 2-5 develop confidence to guess words from picture-topic 4.57 .749 1-5 know letter combinations represent sounds 4.50 .757 2-5 sound out letter-groups of letters to read new words 4.48 .800 1-5 develop broad reading interests 4.45 .839 1-5 develop ability to hear separate sounds in words 4.43 .854 1-5 practice to immediately recognize words 4.43 .856 1-5 use books with high interest, natural language 4.31 .845 1-5 use general word knowledge to read a new word 4.28 .902 2-5 develop ability to fluently read aloud with expression 4.26 .967 1-5 divide words with parts-syllables to read new word 4.22 .915 1-5 think about similar looking words to read new word 4.20 1.012 1-5 use pronunciation rules to read new words 4.14 1.071 1-5 use meaning of text read to read new words 4.12 1.068 1-5 develop personal dictionary with words-topics of interest 4.12 .976 1-5 skip to rest of sentence for help on new word 4.11 1.004 1-5 develop accurate oral reading 4.09 1.117 1-5 a factor analysis was conducted to examine the underlying structure of the items from the abrri scale. the kaiser-meyer-olkin measure of sampling adequacy was .916 and the intercorrelation matrix of the 22 items showed both high and low correlations (.174 to .729), indicating that the matrix was factorable. due to the high correlation between items, an initial solution was obtained using the maximum likelihood method and designating a promax rotation (field, 2009). the extraction of two factors was specified in the method because an initial analysis resulted in two eigenvalues (10.24, 1.87) that accounted for 55% of the variance in responses for all items. the use of two factors was further supported by the change of slope observed in the scree plot after the second point (tabachnick & fidell, 2013). to evaluate the subsequent factor loadings, a cutoff point of 0.4 was used to guide interpretation (field, 2009). the resulting two factors did not represent different beliefs about how early literacy was best acquired (e.g. phonetic, skill-based vs. holistic, experiential approach) as it had in past research with the abrri scale (e.g. evans et al., 2004). instead, factor 1 consisted of 15 items that predominantly related to specific early literacy skills (cronbach’s alpha, 0.95). these included items such as sounding out letters to read new words, hearing different sounds in words (phonological awareness), and practicing to immediately recognize words (i.e., sight words). factor 2, defined by six items, also included items about early literacy development (cronbach’s alpha, 0.81). however, most of these items related to commonly considered strategies to support early literacy rather than specific early literacy skills. factor items included statements about families’ early literacy beliefs and practices 51 children’s confidence to guess words, develop broad reading interests, recognize letters, and write in whatever form the child uses. an important caveat relates to an item asking about oral language development, which loaded on both factors. it may be that oral language is well suited to both categories. alternatively, families may not have understood what the question meant. therefore, the item was dropped from the analysis. non-parametric statistics were used to further examine respondents’ answers within the two factors (field, 2009). overall, items were rated significantly higher in importance within factor 2, which predominantly represented commonly considered strategies to support early literacy (m = 4.64) compared to factor 1 that represented more specific early literacy skills (m = 4.31; wilcoxon signed-rank test, p < 0.001). education level appeared to influence the importance survey respondents placed on items within the first factor (kruskal-wallis, p < 0.05). participants who had completed some postsecondary education (e.g. two year associate degree, four year bachelor’s degree) rated these items significantly higher (m = 4.77) than those with a high school degree/ ged equivalence (m = 4.65) or who had not completed high school (m = 4.59). education level was not significantly related to items on the second factor (commonly considered strategies to support early literacy). further, there were no other significant relationships between demographics characteristics (age, ethnicity, employment) and response within each factor. the commonalities for each item on the abrri and the two subsequent factors are presented in table 2. table 2 two-factor structure for abrri item communality factor 1 factor 2 factor 1: specific early literacy skills use pronunciation rules to read new words 0.73 0.94 - use meaning of text read to read new words 0.71 0.85 - develop accurate oral reading 0.70 0.85 - use general word knowledge to read a new word 0.68 0.85 - divide words with parts-syllables to read new word 0.71 0.80 - sound out letter-groups of letters to read new words 0.58 0.77 - know letter combinations represent sounds 0.44 0.73 - think about similar looking words to read new word 0.57 0.70 - develop ability to fluently read aloud with expression 0.60 0.65 - develop personal dictionary with words-topics of interest 0.56 0.64 - develop ability to hear separate sounds in words 0.46 0.63 - skip to rest of sentence for help on new word 0.44 0.63 - practice to immediately recognize words 0.48 0.61 - develop ability to sound out words 0.23 0.46 - use books with high interest, natural language 0.46 0.44 - 52 friesen & butera factor 2: common strategies to support early literacy use books with familiar spelling and easy sentences 0.50 - 0.79 use picture cues to read new words 0.52 - 0.75 develop confidence to guess words from picture-topic 0.49 - 0.73 develop broad reading interests 0.41 - 0.59 practice and learn letters of the alphabet 0.37 - 0.47 develop confidence to write in whatever form one can 0.23 - 0.42 develop oral language as basis for reading-writing 0.37 0.31 0.36 note: factor loadings smaller than 0.40 are represented by dashes. families’ early literacy practices the second research question examined family practices related to supporting their preschoolaged children’s early literacy development. the first three open-ended questions focused on these practices as well as experiences that may inform their practice (i.e., family members’ personal experiences learning to read and write). for each question, the responses are detailed below and frequency is provided in table 3. in the first open-ended question, family participants were asked to explain how reading, writing, or communicating was used in their homes during a typical day. almost all of the literacy activities described were those completed with, or by, their child. their own literacy practices or more general literacy uses in their home were seldom mentioned. the most common responses included reading together (67%) and homework, referring at times to the daily head start homework (e.g. the “homework” packets the program sent home each week) and/or other children in the family’s homework (42%). over a third of participants (39%) explained that they supported children’s language development throughout the day. for example, “we always ask about each others’ days” or “we talk about what we see and are doing”. some families also reported using writing-related activities like coloring and drawing, detailing specific activities such as, tracing or writing letters, and specific writing materials such as chalk, paint, or pencils were listed (30%). it is also important to note that there were few responses describing activities to support their child’s specific early literacy skills such as learning letter sounds or helping the child write their name (13%). in the second question survey respondents were asked to identify what they viewed as the most important things they did to support their child in learning to read, write, and communicate. as in the previous question, the most common responses included reading together (62%) or writing-related activities (e.g. painting, coloring, drawing) (37%). less than a third of respondents (29%) indicated they participated in activities focused on specific early literacy skills (e.g. letter recognition or letter sounds). of note is the fact that 20% of the responses related to general caregiving behaviors such as providing encouragement and spending time with the child, rather than any activity specific to early literacy. in the third question, survey respondents were asked to describe their personal experiences learning to read and write. over one-fourth (27%) recalled negative experiences such as “i had a hard time with it”. of note was the fact that respondents identified family members helping them learn more often than teachers or school (24% vs. 12%). for example, “my grandmother spent a lot of time with me helping me.” families’ early literacy beliefs and practices 53 table 3 family literacy survey open-ended responses question most common themes* examples of responses what activities in your typical reading together (67%) “we always read before bedtime.” day include reading, writing, and homework (42%) “we help the girls with their homework.” communicating? communicate with each other (39%) “i talk a lot with my kids – they are all i have.” writing-related activities (30%) “writing letters to family” specific early literacy skills (13%) “mommy helps dale recite his abc’s…” what are the most important things reading activities (62%) “get easy books for her to help read, also reread…” that you do to help your child in writing-related activities (37%) “i draw letters and ask her to draw like i did.” head start learn to read, write, specific literacy skill instruction (29%) “letter sounds” and communicate? adult behaviors (21%) “encourage child everyday” what do you remember about your overall negative experience (49%) “hard, i was a slow reader….i got very frustrated.” own experiences learning to read overall positive experience (25%) “i remember i loved to read…it made me feel and write? family memories (24%) independent.” school memories (12%) “i remember my papaw (who raised me) teaching me to read at the age of 6 out of a dictionary. what should a child learn about specific literacy skill instruction (64%) “small words, small sentences, letters, name, be reading, writing, and general interest in literacy (31%) friendly, manners, patience.” communicating in head start? social/emotional competency (20%) “they should learn that it will be used everyday.” “getting along with others.” *note: some responses included content that fit under numerous categories. in turn, the percentages do not equal 100% and are instead reflective of how often this type of response appear 54 friesen & butera families’ expectations about early literacy learning in head start the final research question sought to uncover families’ expectations for their preschool-aged child in head start regarding early literacy development. in turn, the fourth open-ended question asked family members what they thought their child should learn about reading, writing, and communicating during their time in head start. the majority of responses (64%) listed specific literacy skills including recognizing the alphabet (27%), recognizing and writing their names (18%), sounding out letters and words (17%), and word recognition (14%). almost a third of the answers (31%) eluded to the importance of developing a general interest in literacy such as “that it is important and fun” and “that it is very important to be successful in the future and that it will make them smart.” the second most common responses related to the development of social emotional competence rather than literacy per se. these family members wanted their children to be respectful and learn to control their emotions (20%). for example, one participant wrote, “getting along with others, being a good listener, and wanting to listen” while another stated, “that it is hard but just keep trying and stay calm.” to provide an opportunity for families to give additional information related to the research questions, the final question asked family participants if they had anything else they would like to share. over four fifths of respondents left this blank or wrote “no”. of those that did respond, the most common answers related to the positive impact of the qhhs program. one mother wrote how head start had been “great for both of her sons,” referring to the one that attended the program and his younger sibling, and she reported using the homework packets with both children. another individual wrote that before head start the family did not read a lot but now that her daughter wanted to look at books, “we all read more”. discussion this study sought to explore the early literacy beliefs and practices of families with children in a rural midwestern head start program. the results of the family early literacy survey, collected from a large majority of the families in the program, provide important insights into building bridges related to early literacy between an early education program and the families it supports. in seeking to uncover the existing literacy beliefs held by families, the survey responses demonstrated a strong belief that early literacy development was important for their preschoolaged children. this was demonstrated by how all abrri scale items were ranked as very important for children’s early literacy development. this finding alone is significant as both families and the head start program agree on the importance of supporting early literacy development. . previous studies that examined families’ beliefs about early literacy development have uncovered dichotomous views about how early literacy development is best supported (e.g. phonetic, skill-based vs. holistic, experiential approaches). however, the results of the factor analysis for the abrri scale (evans et al., 2004) in the current study resulted in two factors different from the findings in previous studies using this scale. in this study the first factor generally represented specific types of early literacy skills (e.g. sounding out letters, developing syllable awareness) while the second factor described commonly considered strategies for supporting children’s early literacy (e.g., encouraging children’s interests in literacy, building skills in writing by encouraging early attempts). the fact that survey respondents are the family families’ early literacy beliefs and practices 55 members of preschool children who in most cases are not yet undertaking the formal process of learning to read and write may explain in part why the factor structure did not reflect a skillsbased phonetic approach or a holistic, experiential approach as specific issues related to how children acquire literacy are not yet relevant. the factor structure in this study may also be evidence that families in this study were unsure about what early literacy development entailed and how they could support this learning. overall, survey respondents ranked items pertaining to commonly considered strategies for supporting early literacy significantly higher in importance than items reflecting specific early literacy skills. further, families were more likely to name a commonly considered strategy for supporting early literacy (i.e., reading a book with their child) as an activity they used in their home than they were to report activities supporting specific early literacy skills. non-parametric statistics suggested that education level appeared to influence the importance survey respondents placed on items within the first factor. family participants with higher educational achievements were more likely to rank early literacy skills as more important than respondents with less education. as the majority of family participants in the qhhs program had not pursed higher education, the need to expand our understanding of the influences of family members’ own educational experiences on their literacy beliefs and practices is apparent. however, caution is needed in interpreting these findings as the sample with this interpretation given the small sample included only a small percentage (17%), which had completed education beyond high school or a ged. family participants reported within the open-ended responses that they currently undertook a variety of activities within their homes to support their children’s early literacy development. this included reading together, completing homework, and talking together. it is important to note that when asked how literacy was used within their homes, most responses described activities with their children instead of describing their own literacy uses such as reading the newspaper, making a grocery list or reading information from a computer’s website. these findings suggest that these types of literacy activities may not be especially salient in the homes of qhhs families, or at least were not being recognized as important funds of knowledge. family respondents appeared to believe that their child’s early literacy skills would be acquired in the head start program. numerous survey respondents acknowledged their own struggles with literacy and it seems apparent that those who struggled in acquiring it themselves may lack a clear understanding of the processes involved in acquiring literacy. more importantly, they are not likely to see themselves as particularly competent in supporting early literacy development in their children. under these circumstances, they may stick to what they know they can do such as looking at a book with their child or helping them with homework by sitting with them, leaving more specific early literacy skills to be taught within head start. limitations it is important to acknowledge the limitations of this study to accurately situate the results and promote thought about how to address these issues in further research. first, the study focused on the literacy beliefs and practices of families in one head start program that is not necessarily representative of other head start programs across the country. it is thus important to use caution in generalizing findings to other head start or early education programs. further research should examine family literacy beliefs and practices in a range of head start program types as well as in other early care and education programs. 56 friesen & butera a survey was chosen as a means to examine the early literacy beliefs and practices of a large community of families. it enabled data to be collected from the majority of families in the qhhs program (89%), which is recognized as a high return rate in social science research. however, there are limitations to this type of data collection. the survey included the abrri scale (evans et al., 2004). this was the first known time that this tool was used with families in head start. as the scale was adapted to aid family members’ comprehension of questions the nature of the instrument changed and the impact of these changes is unknown but may influence the scale’s external validity. further, assistance was offered to families’ completing the survey at the centers. this enabled family members to take part in the study with limited skills/confidence in their own literacy skills. however, this could have impacted participants’ ability to respond openly and rather respond in a way they felt was proper (social desirability). lastly, the families who did not participate probably represent those who are more disengaged from the head start community (and may arguably be those most in need of support). in turn, it is these families that may most need partnership with the program in order to support children’s early literacy. in turn, further research utilizing other data sources (e.g., interviews, observations, focus groups) and seeking all families’ voices would be important to purse. further directions the study provides some important insight into how the early literacy bridge between families and programs might best be designed and built. utilizing a funds of knowledge perspective in which the strengths and capabilities of the families’ are focused upon, it becomes apparent that there are meaningful places to begin. for example, many family respondents described the importance of encouraging their child, reading together each night, and engaging in efforts to talk with their children. further, a number of responses recalled the important role of their own families in helping them learn to read and write. this suggests that families view themselves as having the potential to support children’s literacy, a role that the head start program could emphasize and support. like many head start programs in recent years, qhhs program has intensified its efforts to support early literacy learning. for example, seeking to involve families in their efforts, early literacy homework packets were being regularly sent home. many families reported completing this “homework” within the survey as a way to support their children’s early literacy. indeed, such packets may be an important first step in building the early literacy bridge between the program and families. however, it also runs the risk of simply expecting families to replicate school literacy practices without building from their own existing literacy practices and expertise. the qhhs program and other head start programs would do well to identify existing funds of knowledge within families and use this knowledge to inform the design of efforts such as the “homework” packets. this may be a matter as simple as adding a few additional questions to the program’s family needs assessments or sending home a questionnaire that seeks to learn about families’ literacy stories as the open-ended questions in the survey did. it may also be that head start teachers making home visits can inquire about family literacy practices. efforts can then draw from these responses and seek to build instruction based on what families are already doing. in our recent work with head start families, we have sought to design monthly family projects that connect to classroom learning but also provide opportunities for families to families’ early literacy beliefs and practices 57 positively engage with their child within their own routines and practices (butera, friesen, mihai, & vaiouli, in progress; friesen, butera, mihai, & palmer, 2012). for example, when focusing on measurement in the classroom, the project encouraged families to look for different measurement tools in their homes (e.g. thermometers, rulers, measuring cups), compare feet sizes, and measure items in their homes with a ruler that was included with the instructions. when a child brought back the project, qhhs teachers provided children with the opportunity to tell about what they did with their family to measure. further, family members were asked to come into the class and share how they use measuring within their home and at work (e.g. construction worker, baker, seamstress). it is also the case that “homework packets” or projects as described above can be used to help families learn about supporting early literacy skills. brief introductions to the activities families and their children are to complete together can include an explanation of the rationale for supporting early literacy skills. for example, in the measurement family project a brief summary of a fictional picture book read in class about measurement was included along with questions that family members could ask their child about the story. there was a brief explanation of why it was important to engage in discussion about stories after they are read. the focus letters in the classroom were provided with instructions for families to look for letters in print in their homes and they were asked to help their child make note of the sound of the letter. further, families were encouraged to examine different letters and words for their sizes and shapes. in each instance, a brief explanation was provided about how knowing letter names and sounds would help children learn to read and write. on a large scale, the need for a multi-generational effort to support literacy development seems apparent (anderson, anderson, 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(1998). child development and emergent literacy. child development, 69(3), 848-872. http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0693.pdf dialog, 22(2), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 the effects of a whole-classroom repeated book reading intervention on the language development of children in head start alina mihai indiana university kokomo gretchen butera indiana university bloomington language development is enhanced by children’s opportunities to actively engage in meaningful language interactions with adults. this study employed a pretestposttest quasi-experimental group design to examine the effectiveness of a repeated book reading approach and its impact on children’s language development. participants included the children in four head start classrooms from a rural midwestern head start program whose teachers had been trained to use the repeated book reading approach. at the end of the intervention, children who had experienced the repeated book reading approach registered significant gains in their discourse ability scores compared to children in the control condition. further, they experienced growth in their vocabulary compared to their scores at the beginning of the year. this study extends previous research findings and informs early childhood practice by providing a repeated book reading model which preschool teachers can use to promote essential language skills. keywords: literal and inferential language, vocabulary development, repeated book reading, head start. in today’s technological society, well-developed language and literacy skills are essential to ensure children’s success with academics and beyond. more than ever before, american schools are concerned with providing instruction that leads to well-developed language and literacy skills and enables children to critically think, understand, and learn by providing them with the tools they need to continuously seek out and gain new knowledge. these skills facilitate children’s active participation in the social world and empower them to contribute as citizens in their communities (dickinson, darrow, ngo, & d’souza, 2009). unfortunately, not all children easily develop language and literacy skills or consistently benefit from early literacy instruction despite the emphasis placed on their acquisition in the early research article 40 mihai & butera years of schooling. it is under such circumstances that one third of fourth graders in our nation currently read below a basic level, with nearly half of the children from low-income families constituting this population (national center for education statistics, 2017). as they advance through their schooling experience, poor readers are at risk of lagging further and further behind in school achievement compared to more literate children (hindman, wasik, & snell, 2016; magnuson, duncan, lee, & metzger, 2016; whitehurst & massetti, 2004). too many of these children fail to complete high school each year (fiester, 2010), thus limiting their future job opportunities, increasing the chances that they will experience poverty and unemployment (hernandez, 2011; mcgee & richgels, 2003; snyder, de brey, & dillow, 2019), and limiting their potential to provide their own children with an enriching early language and literacy environment at home. early language and literacy development in their development as readers, children begin to acquire critical precursory skills long before entering formal schooling (duncan et al., 2007; lonigan, burgess, & anthony, 2000; piasta. 2016; wasik & newman, 2009). researchers describe two different but related sets of early literacy skills (dickinson, golinkoff, & hirsh-pasek, 2010; paris, 2005; riordan, reese, rouse, & schaughency, 2018; whitehurst & lonigan, 1998), both of which typically demonstrate significant growth during the preschool years. code skills, such as alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and concepts about print, relate to preparation for formal reading instruction, children with well-developed code-related skills are able to recognize letters, associate them with sounds, and eventually decode words (dickinson et al., 2010; snow & matthews, 2016). children also develop meaning-focused skills, including oral language, vocabulary, background knowledge, and inferential language (dickinson et al., 2010; lennox, 2013). meaning-focused skills influence reading motivation and comprehension and become increasingly important as children move beyond learning to read toward reading to learn (chall & jacobs, 2003; lennox, 2013; neuman, 2010; snow & matthews, 2016). meaning-focused skills include literal and inferential language and it is important for children to develop both in the early years of life. literal language requires children to label, describe, or respond to information that can be readily perceived (e.g., describing the illustrations in a book). in contrast, inferential language skills ask children to infer and reason about what they perceive (blank, rose, & berlin, 1978; zucker, justice, piasta, & kaderavek, 2010; e.g., predicting what might happen in a book). being able to integrate what they already know with new information and talk about text helps children construct meaning and supports the development of essential skills needed for later reading comprehension. engaging with text by listening and discussing events that are removed from their immediate context allows children to make inferences and analyze information, which helps develop listening and reading comprehension (filiatrault-veilleux, bouchard, trudeau, & desmarais, 2016; hall, 2016; mckeown & beck, 2003; snow, 1991). research has demonstrated that the most essential preschool classroom dimension for later literacy achievement is teacher support for extended discourse, which engages children in rich conversations during book reading or in other classroom activities (dickinson, mccabe, & essex, 2006; justice, jiang, & strasser, 2018). in particular, extended conversations promote conceptual knowledge and vocabulary growth as well as children’s use of inferential language (dickinson & porche, 2011; dickinson et al., 2009). yet, many preschool teachers tend to dominate the effects of a repeated book reading intervention 41 conversations and fail to take advantage of opportunities to extend topics and encourage children to elaborate ideas (cabell, justice, mcginty, decoster, & forston, 2015; dickinson, 2003; dickinson, freiberg, & barnes, 2011). dickinson and porche’s (2011) longitudinal study examining the relationship between language experiences in preschool and children’s later language and reading abilities found associations between preschool conversations and children’s language and literacy outcomes in fourth grade. classic research studies (e.g., hart & risley, 1995; heath, 1983) demonstrate that the language and literacy environments in the home play an important role in preparing children for schooling. for children from low-income families, home environments may be less likely to support the meaning-focused skills important in school (hart & risley, 1995). under these circumstances, preschool classrooms must assume a critical role by providing a comprehensive curriculum that emphasizes the development of children’s language skills in preparation for formal schooling (lennox, 2013). head start and early literacy head start, the nation’s flagship early intervention program has served preschool children and their families from low-income communities for over five decades. during this time, the program aimed to impact children’s school readiness by providing comprehensive and culturally responsive services. head start’s history has included a number of threats to its viability when the results of various research studies questioned its efficacy (zigler & muenchow, 1992; zigler & styfco, 2004). in an effort to respond to the questions raised by these studies, the head start impact study (hsis) was mandated by congress in the 1998 reauthorization and sought to determine the program’s influence on key developmental child outcomes. a nationally representative sample of nearly 5,000 children was randomly assigned to either head start services or a control group without access to head start and subsequently followed from program entry through the end of children’s third grade year of school (puma et al., 2012). related to children’s language and literacy outcomes, findings from the first year of the study identified small to moderate effects on the pre-reading, pre-writing, and vocabulary skills of children in head start but no impact on children’s oral comprehension and phonological awareness (administration for children and families, 2005). findings from subsequent years of the study demonstrated that, while head start had modest effects on children’s language and literacy skills during the time the children were attending the program, the effects faded in elementary school. only one significant impact remained at the end of third grade, a positive impact for the 4-year old cohort on a reading assessment and a negative impact for the 3-year old cohort on grade retention (puma et al., 2012). it is important to note that the head start children’s scores, although higher for the 4-year old cohort compared to the control group, remained lower than average for the population. overall, the hsis conclusion was that the favorable impact of head start was insufficient to close the achievement gap between children in poverty and the rest of the population (puma et al., 2012). these findings have been criticized by others, including edward zigler (2010) who pointed out that both groups in the study were ill-chosen and “badly contaminated” (p. 2). zigler (2010) reminded us that over the years “scientists, policymakers and the public have developed unreasonable expectations” of head start (p. 3). nevertheless the findings of the hsis have served to emphasize the importance of quality for head start programs. one important finding from the 42 mihai & butera hsis particularly relevant here is that the children in the head start sample scored below the 50th percentile in oral comprehension (administration for children and families, 2010). the hsis measures of oral comprehension assessed children’s ability to “understand and make inferences from phrases and sentences spoken in english” (administration for children and families, 2005, p. 4-5). several authors have raised concerns that preschool classrooms may not be adequately supporting the development of inferential skills essential to children’s ability to use language to think and understand (e.g., lennox, 2013; sembiante, dynia, kaderavek, & justice, 2018; van kleeck, 2008). book reading and language development in preschool classrooms aside from book reading being a pleasant experience for both children and adults, children are introduced to advanced language structures, may participate in extended conversations, learn new vocabulary, build conceptual knowledge, and develop print awareness during book reading (lennox, 2013; montag, jones, & smith, 2015; reese, 2013). by recalling events, children develop their memory and begin developing an awareness of what they can and cannot recall from previous readings of a book. these skills lay the foundation for the development of metacognitive abilities, essential for later academic achievement (reese, 2013). several meta-analyses of research assessed the overall effect of book reading on children’s language and literacy skills (e.g., mol, bus, de jong, & smeets, 2008; nelp, 2008; sénéchal & young, 2008; wasik, hindman, & snell, 2016). results indicated that shared reading has moderate effects on children’s oral language development and print knowledge. one approach to book reading with positive effects on children’s early literacy is repeated book reading (morrow, 1988). based on the premise that repetition is valuable, repeated book reading offers children multiple opportunities to review and understand concepts, as well as engage in extended talk about the story problem and characters (mcgee & schickedanz, 2007; trivette, simkus, dunst, & hamby, 2012). trivette and colleagues (2012) demonstrated in a meta-analysis that repeated book reading has a positive influence on children’s vocabulary and comprehension. there is evidence that preschool teachers generally agree that reading aloud with young children results in benefits for children (hindman & wasik, 2008; teale, 2003). although they may differ in how they read and the types of books they select, most teachers choose to read books in their classrooms (dickinson, 2001). however, simply reading books to young children or inviting them to talk about a book and acknowledging their responses is not sufficient to foster early literacy development (gonzales et al, 2014; mcgee & schickedanz, 2007; mckeown & beck, 2003). in fact, zucker and colleagues’ (2013) study of the relationship between shared reading and children’s longitudinal outcomes revealed that, while the frequency of reading was related to children’s receptive vocabulary growth in preschool, frequency of reading is not a significant predictor of children’s language and literacy skills in kindergarten and first grade. rather, it is the quality of language interactions during book reading that enhances children’s development (cabell, zucker, decoster, melo, forston, & hamre, 2019; dickinson, & porche, 2011; lennox, 2013; riordan et al., 2018; tompkins, bengochea, nicol, & justice, 2017; zucker, cabell, justice, pentimonti, & kaderavek, 2013). researchers have pointed out that analytic talk about books helps children make predictions, inferences, and connections to personal experiences and prior knowledge (mcgee & schickedanz, 2007). in high-quality book readings, teachers model inferential thinking, ask openthe effects of a repeated book reading intervention 43 ended questions, allow children to reflect, and are responsive to their answers (mckeown & beck, 2003). in other words, children’s language skills are enhanced when teachers are intentional and purposeful in planning book reading activities that actively engage children. repeated book reading extends the opportunity for high-quality teacher-child language interactions and provides opportunities to develop both literal and inferential language. using book reading to support literal and inferential language the framework of levels of abstraction in preschoolers’ discourse developed by blank and her colleagues (1978) and adapted by other researchers provides an overview of how children can be supported in developing both literal and inferential language skills (see table 1). children’s ability to make inferences is critical to reading comprehension and correlates with academic performance (dickinson & smith, 1994; nation, 2005; tompkins, guo, & justice, 2013; van kleeck, 2008). further, reese (2013) argued that book reading discussions help children make interpretations and evaluate aspects of stories in ways that help them prepare for formal school settings. book reading lends itself naturally to extended discourse and may be an ideal activity to support the development of inferential language skills. table 1 levels of abstraction in preschoolers’ discourse level of abstraction description examples level i: matching perception (literal language) level ii: selective analysis of perception (literal language) level iii: reorder/ infer about perception (inferential language) level iv: reasoning about perception label objects or characters locate objects or characters notice or direct attention to objects or characters rote counting imitation/ repetition of utterance describe characteristics of objects or characters describe story actions/ scenes recall information previously mentioned complete sentence make inferences summarize information define provide point of view identify similarities and differences make judgments generalize about events text-to-life connection and/ or comparisons predict problem solve explain “what are these?” “can you find chester at his school?” “what is he doing?” “what did mrs. raccoon do? who remembers?” “look at the tip of his nose, it’s red. what do you think that might mean?” “why do you think he looks sad?” “why do you think he stayed home when he was sick?” “what are some of the things we find in a zoo?” 44 mihai & butera (inferential language) “so amos, he has to ride bus number five. what would happen if we got on bus number four?” t: “if you were gonna fly a kite, where would you go?” note: adapted from blank et al. (1978), price et al. (2012), van kleeck et al. (1997), and zucker et al. (2010). much of the research on the value of book reading has focused on vocabulary outcomes. however, a body of knowledge confirming the importance of supporting inferential language skills is emerging (e.g., hindman, wasik, & erhart, 2012; merz et al., 2015; van kleeck et al., 1997; van kleeck et al., 2006; zucker et al., 2010). earlier studies focused on parents’ reading behaviors, in particular mothers’ interactions with their children during book reading. in one such study, van kleeck and colleagues (1997) examined the book reading interactions of 35 middle class parents and their preschool children and concluded that parental input at the four levels of abstraction was positively and significantly correlated with children’s language gains. further, parents’ language input at both lower and higher levels of abstraction correlated with children’s abstract language development, suggesting that discussion during book reading provides opportunities to engage with both literal and inferential language. in a subsequent study, van kleeck, woude, and hammett (2006) extended their work by focusing on preschool children with language impairment in head start. results indicated that children in the treatment group experienced greater growth in literal and inferential language skills than children in the control group. these findings are encouraging, but it should be noted that the study’s intervention was conducted by trained researchers working with children one-on-one, making it difficult to generalize findings to small group or whole classroom book reading. zucker and colleagues’ (2010) work examines preschool teachers’ use of literal and inferential questions and children’s responses during whole-class shared readings. findings identified significant associations between the level of teachers’ questioning and children’s responses, with literal questions eliciting more literal responses and inferential questions eliciting inferential child responses. however, this study is descriptive and correlational. hindman and colleagues (2012) examined the role of discussions during book reading on preschooler’s vocabulary learning. specifically, the authors analyzed teachers’ use of literal and inferential language during book reading and how it was linked to children’s vocabulary development. results indicated that children learned more words when teachers used more talk, both literal and inferential during book reading. dunst and colleagues’ (2012) meta-analysis examined the relationship between different types of inferential book reading strategies and children’s language and literacy development. teaching strategies that were particularly effective included asking open-ended questions, providing or eliciting explanations about story events, relating events and characters in the story to children’s personal experiences, and asking children to make predictions about a story. the researchers concluded that adults’ use of inferential language had positive effects on young children’s language and literacy development. overall, there is considerable evidence that the development of literal and inferential language skills can be supported in adult-child interactions and book reading appears to be a particularly suitable context for this. it is important to note that much of the research has been conducted on book reading between one adult and once child. more research is needed in order to establish that book reading can be effectively used by early childhood teachers in common the effects of a repeated book reading intervention 45 preschool classroom activities, such as whole classroom book reading. the present study addresses these gaps in the research by implementing a year-long teacher-led repeated book reading intervention in two head start classrooms and gathering efficacy data. we addressed the following research question: what is the impact of a repeated book reading approach on children’s literal and inferential language development? we investigated whether there were significant effects for children who participated in repeated book reading as opposed to those who engaged in book reading “as usual.” based on previous research, we hypothesized that engaging in the repeated book reading program would result in greater language growth for children in the intervention group. method research design to examine the effects of the intervention on children’s outcomes, a pretest-posttest quasiexperimental group design was used. group comparison studies seek to determine whether an intervention makes a difference in outcomes for participants (creswell, 2008; gersten et al., 2005; odom et al., 2005). in the present study, the design permitted an examination of the effect of the repeated book reading intervention on the language skills of children who participated in the intervention compared to those who engaged in book reading “as usual.” setting and participants this study was conducted in four classrooms in the elm park head start (ephs) program, a rural program in a midwestern state. the name has been changed to protect anonymity of the program. four ephs teachers and the children in their classrooms volunteered to participate in the study. two teachers and their students constituted the intervention group and two teachers and the students in their classrooms represented the control group. in total, 63 children from the four classrooms participated in the study, 32 in the experimental and 31 in the control group. the majority of children in each classroom participated in the study, including approximately 88% of the children in the intervention classrooms and 86% of children in the control classrooms. child demographic information is presented in table 2. by the end of the school year, 5 children in the experimental group and 8 children in the control group left the classrooms and the study. the transition of children in and out of the program or between centers or classrooms (full or part-time) was not uncommon in the program and in many cases depended upon parents’ ability to continue to qualify for services. 46 mihai & butera table 2 child demographic information all of the head start teachers in the study worked in the same head start program. the two teachers in the experimental group worked in the same building, while the two teachers in the control group were located at other head start centers in the program. all four teachers were caucasian and english language speakers. none of the four teachers were novice. one teacher from each group had a bachelor’s degree, while the other two had associate’s degrees in early childhood education. all classrooms met four days a week for 3.5 hours a day. an initial classroom observation using the early language and literacy classroom observation tool (ellco; smith, brady, & anastasopoulos, 2008) provided a measure of the early language and literacy environment in each of the four classrooms and provided an understanding of how book reading activities were conducted. the ellco observations indicated that all four teachers made some efforts to engage children in conversations, but conversations were not extended and teachers seldom expanded on children’s language initiations. on occasion, teachers were observed explaining an unfamiliar word to the children but in general, opportunities to build vocabulary were not emphasized in classroom activities or conversations. each classroom included a library area and all teachers reported regularly reading books to children. however, teachers reported that they rarely read a book more than one time. furthermore, teachers seldom engaged children in inferential language interactions. discussion after the book was read was limited and appeared incidental. teachers were observed asking the same question of each child without follow-up on children’s responses. general procedures approval for research involving human participants from the university institutional review board was obtained before the research began. using a recruitment script, the program director contacted teachers to ask for volunteers interested in participating in the study. the program director provided the researcher with the names of teachers who were willing to participate. all the children in the classrooms taught by these teachers had the opportunity to participate in the study if the parent of the child signed the permission slip. for their participation in the study, each classroom and condition children in total children in the study race age gender caucasian biracial hispanic range m sd male female experimental 32 59 (93.6%) 2 (3.2%) 2 (3.2%) 39 61 months 53.71 5.44 19 13 classroom 1 18 16 classroom 2 18 16 control 31 39 63 months 54.22 5.48 11 20 classroom 1 18 14 classroom 2 18 17 total 63 59 (93.6%) 2 (3.2%) 2 (3.2%) 53.96 5.42 30 33 the effects of a repeated book reading intervention 47 of the four teachers received an honorarium of $300 per semester and were given the books that were used in the study. a repeated book reading intervention was implemented in the experimental classrooms over a 7-month period. children were assessed preand postusing two early literacy measures: the preschool language assessment instrument 2 (plai 2; blank, rose, & berlin, 2002), and the peabody picture vocabulary test-fourth edition (ppvt-iv; dunn & dunn, 2007). classrooms observations collecting fidelity of implementation data were conducted on a weekly basis in the intervention classrooms. description of the intervention teacher training. the teachers were prepared to use the repeated book reading approach in a half-day of training designed to help teachers acquire the knowledge, skills, and dispositions (naeyc, 2009) required to implement this approach. subsequently, additional training in the classroom and weekly coaching provided teachers with further support implementing the intervention. during the training, teachers were introduced to the repeated book reading approach and the benefits of this activity for children’s language and literacy development were explained. teachers discussed their book reading practices, the diversity of language and literacy experiences children bring to school and the key role preschool classrooms have in supporting children’s early literacy development. teachers were introduced to specific strategies for repeated book reading including ways to support vocabulary development and ask questions during reading. in addition, during the training, teachers were taught to model analytical thinking and ask increasingly complex questions to help children make inferences across the book during (mcgee & schickedanz, 2007). the teachers were trained about how a good reader would approach the text and stop three or four times during reading to reveal their thoughts. teachers were encouraged to use expressions such as “i am thinking that…” and then follow up with analytical questions for the children. mcgee and schickedanz (2007) found that this approach supports children’s analytic thinking and use of inferential language. during the trainings teachers were provided with opportunities to practice the new strategies with each other and then by reading to the children in the following days. four additional training sessions between the researchers and teachers took place over the course of the project. the meetings provided an opportunity for the teachers to reflect on their practice and engage in problem solving about their use of the repeated book reading strategies. in these meetings, the teachers and the researcher also decided on the books to use in the following weeks. based on the teachers’ preference for specific curricular themes, both the researcher and the teachers suggested books that could be used and a decision was ultimately made by consensus. intervention classrooms were provided with books every few weeks, after the team decided on specific titles to use. teachers in the control group were provided with the same books on three visits throughout the year and were encouraged to read the books to the children. no further guidance was provided. repeated book reading intervention. the intervention was conducted over 28 weeks, from october until mid-may. the teachers were provided with 28 books and lesson plans with suggestion of questions, comments, and focus vocabulary words for each book. the books 48 mihai & butera included a variety of genres (e.g., fiction, rhyming books, and counting books). vocabulary words from the books were selected based on their importance for understanding the story and their potential likelihood of being used in conversations within and outside of the classroom (e.g., giant, friendly, lonely, problem, shiver). each book was read three times a week. different aspects of the story were emphasized in each reading. repeated reading also provided the opportunity for extended comprehension and expansion of children’s vocabulary and background knowledge related to the book’s content (see table 3). adapting mcgee and schickedanz’s (2007) framework for repeated book reading, a first reading was structured to introduce the main character(s), the central idea of the book, and new vocabulary. the teacher initially pointed to pictures, and used facial expression, body language, voice modulation, or simple definitions to explain a word’s meaning. during the reading, the teacher made comments about the story and modeled inferential thinking. after the story, he/she asked follow-up questions to build comprehension and to model their own extended thinking. in a second reading, the children were prompted to recall the character(s) and the problem of the story and the teacher continued to ask more questions to extend children’s understanding of the characters’ feelings, thoughts, and motivations using increasingly abstract talk. finally, the third reading of a book was an opportunity for children to reconstruct the story as the teacher read selected sections of the text. the teacher asked questions to prompt the children to make connections between the story and their personal lives and experiences. vocabulary continued to be emphasized throughout the second and the third reading as teachers provided definitions and encouraged children to use new words in their responses to questions and discussions about the story. what is unique about this repeated reading approach is that it teaches vocabulary systematically and promotes inference making by building on children’s increasing understanding of the concepts and ideas introduced within the book. given the new conceptual knowledge, vocabulary, and diversity of genres a book may present, multiple exposures to the same book maximize children’s opportunities to learn as they meaningfully engage with the text. concepts related to universal design for learning are also important in the intervention in that early literacy activities are planned to provide multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement (conn-powers et al., 2006; horn & banerjee, 2009). with repeated reading, additional learning opportunities are created to address different learning styles and levels of ability, ensuring that children are engaged, motivated, and provided with a variety of formats for demonstrating their learning. throughout the study, teachers were observed implementing the repeated book reading strategies on a weekly basis. in the first three to four weeks, classroom visits followed a coaching cycle similar to a clinical supervision model (krajewski, 1993; showers & joyce, 1996) which has been used successfully to coach teachers for emergent literacy instruction (e.g., hsieh, et al., 2009; mccollum, hemmeter, & hsieh, 2011). each classroom visit included: (a) collaborative planning before teaching-observation; (b) practice and observation; (c) discussion and feedback; and (d) collaborative planning for the next visit. in the collaborative planning sequence, the teacher and the researcher had a brief discussion to reaffirm the focus of the observation and review information from the previous visit. as the teacher read the book, the researcher used a fidelity of implementation measure. immediate feedback was provided and data collected during the observation was used to guide discussions. before concluding the visit, the teacher and researcher planned for the next observation and set goals for what the teacher could focus on next. the effects of a repeated book reading intervention 49 table 3 components of repeated book reading first reading second reading third reading before reading during reading after reading make the problem explicit by introducing the main character and the main idea. use the book covers and illustrations as needed. explain key vocabulary [use multiple means of representation and engagement] remind children that they have read the book before and ask questions about the characters and the main problem invite the children to recall the title and identify the problem and the characters. [use multiple means of engagement and expression] provide vocabulary support by pointing to illustrations, using gestures, or facial expressions as relevant, and giving simple definitions. make analytical comments that reveal the main characters’ thoughts and feelings and ask follow-up analytical questions based on these comments. provide vocabulary support by giving more verbal definitions. continue to model analytic comments by asking more frequent questions to help children make additional inferences. integrate a guided reconstruction of the story. read some of the text and have the children reconstruct parts of the story by showing illustrations and asking a few focused questions that elicit children’s responses. (e.g., “what is happening here? what will happen next?”). ask follow-up questions based on children’s responses and encourage children to use new vocabulary words. [use multiple means of expression and engagement] [use multiple means of representation, expression, and, engagement] ask “why” questions to extend comprehension and use comments and follow-up questions to prompt answers (e.g., “i’ thinking…). ask “why” questions that may extend beyond the story and connect events in the story to children’s lives. ask “why” questions that may extend beyond the story (e.g., what would have happened if…?) [use multiple means of expression and engagement] note. adapted from mcgee and schickedanz (2007) data collection. data sources included child assessments, a fidelity of implementation measure, the ellco, and a social validity survey. child assessments. children’s language outcomes were assessed preand postintervention using two measures: the preschool language assessment instrument 2 (plai 2; 50 mihai & butera blank et al., 2002), and the peabody picture vocabulary test-fourth edition (ppvt-iv; dunn & dunn, 2007). the assessments were conducted by the researcher and three doctoral students in special education, all of whom were experienced with child assessments. plai-2 is a nationally standardized assessment tool for children’s discourse skills. plai2 measures children’s performance on four levels of language abstraction: matching, analyzing, reordering, and reasoning about perception (see table 1). the assessment reflects children’s overall competence with both receptive and expressive language across the four levels of abstraction. plai-2 assesses both literal and inferential language and combines them in a language discourse ability score, which can range from 49 (i.e., very poor) to 160 (i.e., very superior). during the assessment, children might be asked for a non-verbal response (e.g., “show me your shoes” – this item targets receptive language at the first level of abstraction, or “point to all of the pictures that are not cups” – receptive language at the third level of abstraction) or a verbal response (e.g., “what is this called?” – expressive language at the first level of abstraction, or “tell me what is happening to the glass in these pictures” – expressive language at the third level of abstraction). plai-2 is recommended for use in intervention programs to document language development and measure discourse abilities for research studies, as well as children’s language as it relates to classrooms discourse and academic achievement. coefficient alphas for the subtests and the discourse ability score range from .70 to .94. in the study, test-retest reliability for the receptive and expressive subtests and the discourse ability score exceeded .80. test validity was investigated including content-description, criterion-prediction, and construct-identification validity with results demonstrating plai-2 is a valid measure of children’s discourse skills. administering this assessment took approximately 30 minutes for each child. the ppvt-4 is a widely used, norm-referenced, assessment of child receptive language and is ideal for measuring vocabulary growth in response to instruction. the test asks children to point to one of four pictures that show a given word. having a wide range of difficulty, the test can be used with children at various levels of language development. standard scores can range from 20 (i.e., extremely low) to 160 (i.e., extremely high). ppvt-iv has a split half-reliability of .94 to .96 and cronbach’s alpha of .96 to .97 for ages 3 to 5. it took approximately 20 minutes to administer the ppvt-iv to each child. fidelity of implementation measure. the researcher completed a fidelity of implementation checklist for each classroom observation. the checklist included observable teacher behaviors that indicated the implementation of instructional strategies for repeated book reading activities. the checklist provided a space for taking notes regarding implementation of strategies for supporting vocabulary and extending children’s comprehensions before, during, and after book reading. an estimated level of implementation was determined using a 3 point scale: low implementation, average implementation, and high implementation. over the course of the study, both teachers obtained an overall fidelity of implementation score slightly above average (i.e., 2.09 and 2.5). the early language and literacy classroom observation. at the beginning of the year, the early language and literacy classroom observation tool (smith et al., 2008) was administered in both control and experimental classrooms to gain an understanding of the language and literacy environment in these settings. additional visits were conducted in the control classrooms throughout the year to ascertain whether teachers were engaging children in book the effects of a repeated book reading intervention 51 reading activities. we noted that teachers displayed the provided books in the classroom and read them to children using their regular routines. social validity survey. at the end of the study, the two teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire about their perspectives on the intervention. the questionnaire included eight questions structured as a five-point likert scale and seven open-ended questions. the questions assessed the teachers’ views of the implementation and outcomes of the intervention. results the research question examined whether the repeated book reading intervention had a statistically significant positive effect on the treatment group’s language skills as measured by receptive vocabulary and literal and inferential language (i.e., discourse ability) scores. lenth’s (2006) power and sample size computer software was used to determine the sample size that would be sufficient for the intervention to have adequate power. studies using similar outcome measures with reported means and standard deviations for their control and intervention groups were examined and van kleeck and colleagues’ (2006) reported outcomes for plai-2, and wasik and colleagues’ (2006) data for ppvt were used. calculations indicated that a sample of 28 children in each condition was needed to be able to reject the null hypothesis for both outcome measures with probability of 0.8, type i error probability of 0.05, and an estimated effect size of 0.5. preand posttest scores on the ppvt-iv and plai were used to examine the effect of the intervention on children’s early literacy development by measuring receptive vocabulary development and discourse ability. the means and standard deviations for all children’s pretest and posttest scores on the two early literacy measures are presented in table 4. table 4 means and standard deviations for pretest and posttest measures note: ppvt-iv = peabody picture vocabulary test – iv; plai = preschool language assessment instrument. two repeated measures anova were used to determine if there was a statistically significant effect of time on the intervention group. specifically, we used children’s preand postmeasure and group pretest posttest growth effect size m sd m sd m sd ppvt-iv experimental 89.85 20.44 96.44 16.49 6.59 14.21 0.38 control 94.22 13.85 95.61 13.97 1.39 11.94 plai experimental 88.33 20.02 95.38 21.81 6.46 11.5 0.74 control 99.61 19.25 94.65 13.35 -4.96 16.93 52 mihai & butera test scores for discourse ability and receptive vocabulary as within-subject variables and group assignment (i.e., intervention or control) as between-subject variables. discourse ability skills levene’s test of equality of variances indicated that variances were similar between the two groups prior to the intervention (f = .067, p = .797). results revealed a statistically significant interaction between time and treatment, f(2, 46) = 7.776, p = .008. children in the intervention classroom experienced significant growth in the discourse ability scores at posttest compared to children in the control group and there was a large effect size (d = 0.74). the discourse ability scores of children in the intervention classrooms increased post intervention by 6.46 (sd = 11.5) points on average, while those of children in the control group decreased by 4.96 (sd = 16.93) points on average (see table 4). it is important to note that the discourse ability score was obtained through a conversion of scaled scores which account for the child’s age (blank et al., 2002). hence, slightly higher posttest raw scores (1.82 points on average) indicate that the decrease in posttest discourse ability scores for children in the control group is a result of not making sufficient progress throughout the 7 months in which the children in the experimental classroom received the intervention, as opposed to a decline in skills. follow-up paired samples t-tests were conducted to further examine the changes experienced by children in each group. the analyses indicated that children in the intervention classrooms registered significant growth in the discourse ability scores from preto posttest, t(25) = 11.106, p = .008. in contrast, children in the control classrooms did not make significant gains at posttest, t(22) = 1.403, p = .174. receptive vocabulary levene’s test of equality of variances indicated that variances for the two groups were not significantly different prior to the intervention (f = 1.442, p = .236). the interaction between time and treatment was not statistically significant, f(2, 48) = 1.922, p = .172. using cohen’s (1977) convention, there was a small to moderate effect size (d = 0.38) indicating a difference between these two groups, with the experimental group outperforming the control group by .38 of a standard deviation. by examining the children’s means standard scores for receptive vocabulary development it is evident that children in the experimental group increased their scores by 6.59 (sd = 14.21) points on average, while scores for children in the control group remained relatively constant with an increase of 1.39 points on average (sd = 11.94; see table 4). paired samples t-tests were conducted to further examine the change in children’s growth rate from preto post-intervention in each of the two conditions. results revealed no statistically significant change between preand posttest scores for children in the control classrooms, t(22) = .559, p = .582. in contrast, children in the intervention classrooms experienced a statistically significant positive change from preto posttest, t(26) = 2.410, p = .023. these results provide additional evidence that the repeated book reading intervention had a positive effect on the vocabulary development of children in the experimental classrooms despite the statistically nonsignificant independent samples t-test. the effects of a repeated book reading intervention 53 overall, results indicated that children in intervention classrooms made significantly larger gains in their discourse ability score at posttest compared to children in the control classrooms. while children in the experimental group experienced growth in their receptive vocabulary scores as well, the difference in growth rate compared to children in the control classroom did not reach statistical significance. given the observed small to moderate effect size, the non-significant difference may likely be explained by considering the influence of the sample size on the p value. discussion while children’s trajectories of language learning vary, preschool classrooms have the vital role of providing all children with support for development of a broad range of early literacy skills. to become good readers, children need to acquire a variety of early literacy skills, including skills related to decoding text and skills that will support reading comprehension. yet, despite the increased emphasis in early literacy in preschool, classroom studies reveal that teachers tend to emphasize code-related skills in their teaching and focus less on engaging children in rich conversations that enhance vocabulary, conceptual knowledge, and children’s use of abstract language (dickinson & porche, 2011; dickinson et al., 2009; hindman & wasik, 2008). since teacher support for extended classroom discourse is essential for later achievement in literacy, continued efforts to enhance the quality of classroom discourse and teachers’ interactions with children are essential (dickinson et al., 2006). this is particularly relevant in classrooms serving children at-risk for reading difficulties, whose home environments may include few opportunities to engage in extended conversations (hart & risley, 1995; heath, 1983). the purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a repeated book reading intervention and its impact on children’s language skills. children’s language skills were assessed by a measure of discourse ability (i.e., plai-2), which encompasses both literal and inferential language, and a measure of receptive vocabulary (i.e., ppvt). two head start teachers and the children in their classroom participated in the intervention by reading a book three times each week following the repeated book reading approach, while two teachers and their classrooms constituted a control condition in which books were read without a specific set of instructional strategies. a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental group design was used to investigate the effect of the repeated book reading intervention by assessing the language outcomes of children who participated in repeated book reading compared to those who did not. in the study, children in the two intervention classrooms registered significantly larger gains in their discourse ability scores at posttest compared to children in the control condition. further, they experienced greater growth in their receptive vocabulary compared to their scores at the beginning of the year in comparison to children in the control classrooms. given the observed small to moderate effect size, the non-significant difference in the ppvt scores may likely be explained by considering the influence of the sample size on the p value. following cohen’s advice (1992) regarding sample size, the power analysis for this study indicated that a sample of 28 children in each group would be needed to reject the null hypothesis for both outcome measures with a probability of 0.8, type i error probability of 0.05, and an estimated effect size of 0.5. considering the result of the power analysis, 32 children were initially enrolled in the experimental group and 31 in the control group, to ensure the sample size would be sufficient if a few children from each condition would leave their classrooms. while the initial sample size was deemed adequate, throughout the year, more children than initially anticipated moved, leaving the 54 mihai & butera experimental group with an enrollment of 27 children and the control group with 23 children. it is possible that with a larger sample size, the analyses would have shown a significant difference in the scores of children in the experimental compared to the control group for both receptive vocabulary and discourse ability scores. overall, these findings provide evidence that children can be effectively supported in learning vocabulary and inferential language skills when teachers learn to effectively use repeated book reading in a whole classroom setting. key components of the intervention included the strategies teachers used to engage children in extended conversations about the story by asking them to recall (i.e., literal language) or make inferences and hypotheses based on the book (e.g., inferential language). this study contributes to the body of research examining the value of book reading for supporting literal and inferential language development. several aspects of the study are noteworthy. first, the intervention was implemented by teachers rather than trained researchers (e.g., van kleeck et al., 2006), and provides a beginning understanding of how teachers can be supported to intentionally target the development of inferential language skills in their classrooms. this is important considering that interventions implemented by classroom teachers may result in more sustainable outcomes and impact on children’s development than interventions delivered by trained researchers. second, the intervention was implemented in the context of whole classroom book reading, which is a commonly used activity in most preschool classrooms. third, most studies specifically focused on examining how teachers support inferential language skills have been descriptive in nature (e.g., tompkins, zucker, justice, & binici, 2012; zucker et al., 2010). the present intervention study provides evidence that teachers can be supported in their efforts to intentionally embed skill development in preschool classroom activities and presents a model for guiding these efforts. fourth, to examine children’s growth in using literal and inferential language skills, the present research used a measurement tool specifically designed to assess them (i.e., blank et al., 2002). fifth, this intervention provides much needed evidence that book reading can effectively be used as a vehicle to improve language skills in addition to vocabulary development. as revealed by the nelp (2008) report, more research is needed to demonstrate the positive effects of activities such as book reading on a variety of oral language skills, since much research to date has focused on vocabulary outcomes. lastly, results from this study support findings from the research literature indicating that children’s language development is best supported when children are provided with ample opportunities for rich language interactions with adults (lennox, 2013; mckeown & beck, 2003; wasik & neuman, 2009). implications for research and practice the findings of this study have important implications for practice, particularly for supporting language development in preschool classrooms serving children at-risk for reading difficulties. research indicates that children from low-income families are more likely to experience difficulties with reading by the time they reach fourth grade (national center for education statistics, 2011), including difficulties with comprehension (administration for children and families, 2010). since preschool age children have the ability to develop skills that support later reading comprehension, such as inferential language skills, preschool classrooms should ensure the effects of a repeated book reading intervention 55 that children are provided with opportunities to develop these critical skills. the present study provides evidence that preschool classrooms can successfully provide such opportunities to develop children’s language and informs early childhood practices as to how these skills can be supported. further, this research provides evidence for a model of supported book reading that can be applied in early childhood classrooms to promote preschoolers’ language development. in the present study, whole classroom book reading was used given the limited support within the classrooms for using small groups with only one teacher and one teacher assistant. teachers reading books in small groups may often struggle to address management concerns while reading. therefore, the advantages of reading to the whole group are apparent. it is important to consider how teachers can be supported to read books in a variety of instructional structures, including small groups and with individual children. this would be particularly relevant for attending to the individual needs of children with disabilities. even as children’s trajectories of language learning vary, preschool classrooms have the vital role of providing all children with experiences to support the development of a broad range of early language and literacy skills. since teacher support for extended classroom discourse is a particularly robust predictor of later achievement in literacy, continued efforts to enhance the quality of classroom discourse and teachers’ language interactions with children are essential. repeated book reading is one important instructional tool towards this end. limitations the intervention was implemented in two preschool classrooms, with a homogeneous sample of participants (i.e., rural and caucasian), which limits generalization and the conclusions that can be drawn from the findings. further, a convenience sample of teachers who volunteered to implement the intervention in their classroom was used due to accessibility and in complying with the recommendation of the ephs administration. therefore, replication of this study with larger randomized samples is needed before findings from this research can be generalized to other preschool classrooms. it is important to note, however, that the researchers took measures to ensure that participants in the two conditions were comparable, which is an essential quality indicator in quasiexperimental research (gersten et al., 2005). this was ensured by considering teacher’s professional experience, level of education, the classroom environment each teacher provided for supporting language development, as well as the characteristics of the children in their classrooms (e.g., presence of disability). the researcher’s weekly presence in the experimental classrooms helped support the teachers in their implementation of the intervention and contributed to a more in-depth understanding of how the intervention influenced other aspects of the classroom. yet, it is likely that being observed regularly and the desire to please the researcher may have influenced the teachers to consistently use repeated book reading in their classrooms and apply the strategies associated with the intervention. an additional limitation is that most fidelity of implementation data was collected by one of the researchers. however, other individuals also observed book reading activities and shared their impressions. further, the teachers were encouraged to share their thoughts and debrief with the researcher after each observation. we believe that these procedures may have reduced experimenter bias. 56 mihai & butera lastly, a common limitation in classroom-based research is for analyses to be conducted at the student level rather than the classroom level. it is argued that type 1 error is increased when analyses are based on individual student scores given that students are nested in classrooms assigned to a control or experimental condition. further, when the student is used as the unit of analysis classroom effects are not taken into consideration. in the present study, using the classroom as a unit of analysis would have resulted in a small sample size (n = 2 classrooms in each condition), which would have limited the possibility to conduct statistical analyses. larger scale studies with a higher number of classrooms in each condition that allow the use of statistical analyses at the classroom level are needed to replicate the validity of the findings from this study. directions for further research findings from this study demonstrate that preschool teachers can be supported to use practices that enhance children’s vocabulary and discourse ability skills. two major directions for future studies derive from these results. first, larger scale randomized studies using the repeated book reading intervention are needed to replicate the findings from this research and allow for generalization of findings to other preschool classrooms. extending coding to include children’s language might provide a better understanding of how teachers’ literal and inferential language is related to children’s responses. second, research is needed to determine what type of professional development opportunities would be most effective to train teachers to use the repeated book reading framework employed in this study. an avenue to extend the findings from this study would be to analyze the extratextual talk that takes place before, during, and after reading and in an attempt to understand how it fosters literal and inferential language skills. in a previous study, zucker and colleagues (2013) found that extratextual talk before, during, and after reading was associated with children’s expressive vocabulary, preschool letter knowledge, and receptive vocabulary in kindergarten. in another study, teachers’ talk before, during, and after shared reading had differential effects on receptive and expressive vocabulary. teachers’ talk about vocabulary after reading benefited children’s expressive vocabulary, while the placement of teacher talk did not impact children’s receptive vocabulary. untangling how talk before, during, and after reading supports literal and inferential language skills would provide an understanding of how activities can be best structured to support language development. future research might also investigate how the repeated book reading approach could be used with small groups or with individual children. while this would likely present added benefits, future studies might explore the feasibility of using various instructional groupings within the constraints of the preschool classroom (e.g., only one lead teacher and a teacher assistant). lastly, while the results from this study are encouraging, particularly considering the growth children in the 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(2013). the role of frequent, interactive prekindergarten shared reading in the longitudinal development of language and literacy skills. developmental psychology, 49(8), 1425-1439. dialog, 16(4), 104-106 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary social stories: a positive behavior intervention for typically developing preschoolers mary e. mcnelly and janediane smith university of north carolina at charlotte the purpose of this research-to-practice summary is to discuss the impact that social stories can have on challenging behavior within preschool classrooms. past research has focused on social stories as an intervention for children with disabilities. the current study extended the research to look at the effect of social stories on children who are typically developing. results showed that the children experienced a decrease in challenging behavior (e.g., hitting, biting) and an increase in prosocial skills (e.g., sharing, expressing emotions). the participating teachers reported that social stories were easily embedded in preschool classrooms, were positive supports for children with challenging behaviors, and were easy to implement. social stories are a small investment with a big return; reducing challenging behavior in the classroom helps to provide a better learning environment for all of the children in the class. challenging behavior is a prevalent issue in child care centers today. children who are preschool aged are still developing social-emotional skills; sharing, taking turns, expressing emotions, as well as many other skills that are needed for children to interact appropriately in group settings. children who have not yet acquired these skills may become frustrated and exhibit challenging behaviors. they may not be able to engage in play with other children, but rather play on their own. the national institute of child health and human development early child care research network found that length of time children spend in child care is related to more problem behaviors and lower ratings of social skills (2006). over time, these behaviors can turn into patterns of challenging behavior (ostrov & crick, 2007). once established, these patterns are likely to continue into elementary school. they can affect a child’s ability to participate in learning and have negative effects on the development of academic skills and language (bulotsky-shearer & fantuzzo, 2010). patterns of challenging behaviors are also associated with peer rejection and student-teacher conflict during the elementary years (ostrov & crick, 2007). it is the teacher’s job to help the children learn how to interact with their peers appropriately. interventions and positive behavior supports (pbs), such as social stories, are needed to prevent these patterns of challenging behaviors from forming. using social stories 105 positive behavior supports and social stories the teaching pyramid offers early childhood educators, administrators, and therapists pbs strategies, which can be used to help children overcome challenging behaviors (hemmeter & fox, 2009). one such strategy that has been used to intervene in instances of challenging behaviors and teach social skills is social stories. social stories are short stories that explain a social situation and teach social strategies. they are created based on the individual child’s behavior and can be written by teachers, parents, and therapists who are close to the child and have observed the behavior. they focus on the appropriate behaviors, or target behaviors, which the child needs to learn. social stories can discuss a variety of situations, from how to initiate play to separating from parents in the morning. they are positive interventions, written from the perspective of the child (gray & garand, 1993). a social story is usually accompanied by clip art or photography (crozier & tincani, 2007). the length of a social story can vary, depending on the attention span of the child but sentence structure and language used should be easy for the child to understand. the stories used in this study were twelve sentences long and included photographs that showed each of the target social skills (e.g., a picture depicting the target child sharing with a peer). three comprehension questions were included in the story (e.g., what can you do if a friend has the toy you want?). social stories can be used in the classroom, at home, or to teach social skills in other settings. summary of research findings this study found that social stories may reduce challenging behavior and increase prosocial behaviors for preschoolers who are considered to be typically developing. the children participating in this study had not been formally identified as having developmental delay or disability. researchers also found that the type of play children engage in may also be affected by the intervention. children who received the social stories intervention decreased in solitary play and increased in cooperative play. one child also experienced a decrease in temper tantrums after the introduction of the social stories. finally, the teachers who used the social stories in their classrooms during this study found that they were easily embedded into preschool classroom routines. in the social validity questionnaire, mrs. smith stated, “this was easy to implement in the classroom. it only took 5-10 minutes at the beginning of centers, but helped caleb a lot.” all three teachers stated that social stories were effective in reducing challenging behavior. mrs. baker stated, “we saw that ian made huge strides in social skills. he began to engage in play with his peers and the tantrums began to occur less and less.” finally, all three teachers commented that they would use social stories in the classroom again. implications research has shown that social stories may impact a child’s challenging behaviors. teachers who have used social stories found them to be useful in reducing challenging behavior in the classroom and building social skills (crozier & tincani, 2007). social stories are easily embedded into classroom routines (crozier & tincani, 2005). stories, reading centers, and story 106 mcnelly and smith time are integral parts of preschool classrooms. the intervention used in this study took less than five minutes to implement daily. early childhood educators, therapists, parents, and other professionals that work with young children can learn more about social stories through workshops and can write their own social stories. social stories are positive interventions that can fit with a school’s positive behavior support plan. it could be helpful and beneficial for administrators to explore options for training teachers on assessing behavior through observation and writing social stories that fit the individual needs of the target child. conclusion this study shows the positive impact that social stories can have on a child’s challenging behavior. by targeting the behavioral needs of the individual child, they can help children engage in positive social interactions. social stories are a small investment with a huge return; studies have shown that they can reduce challenging behavior and increase prosocial skills. reducing challenging behavior in the classroom could give teachers more time and opportunities to meet the educational needs of all the children in the classroom. references bulotsky-shearer, r. j. & fantuzzo, j. w. (2010). preschool behavior problems in classroom learning situations and literacy outcomes in kindergarten and first grade. early childhood research quarterly. advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2010.04.004 crozier, s. & tincani, m. (2007). effects of social stories on prosocial behavior of preschool children with autism spectrum disorders. journal of autism and developmental disorders, 37, 1803-1814. doi:10.1007/s10803006-0315-7 crozier, s. & tincani, m. j. (2005). using a modified social story to decrease disruptive behavior of a child with autism. focus on autism and other developmental disabilities, 20(3), 150-157. gray, c. a., & garand, j. d. (1993). social stories: improving responses of students with autism with accurate social information. focus on autistic behavior, 8(1), 1-10. hemmeter, m. l. & fox, l. (2009). the teaching pyramid: a model for the implementation of classroom practices within a program-wide approach to behavior support. nhsa dialog, 12(2), 133-147. doi:10.1080/15240750902774718 national institute of child health and human development early child care research network (2006). child-care effect sizes for the nichd study of early child care and youth development. american psychologist, 61(2), 99-116. doi:10.1037/0003=0666x.61.2.99 ostrov, j. m., & crick, n. r. (2007). forms and functions of aggression during early childhood: a short-term longitudinal study. school psychology review, 36(1), 22-43. dialog, 19(3), 27-41 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research article scaffolding preschoolers’ acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of phoneme segmentation skills using sound boxes elizabeth durst and laurice marie joseph the ohio state university the purpose of this article is to describe a study that examined the effects of a supplemental instructional method called sound boxes on the phoneme segmentation performance of a sample of preschoolers enrolled in a head start program. the sound box intervention was implemented using most to least prompting procedures as a way to scaffold children’s acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of phonemes. findings revealed that all children improved their performance on phoneme segmentation tasks during the implementation of the sound box intervention. results also showed that all children were able to maintain their high phoneme segmentation performance levels after prompts were removed. additionally, children were able to generalize segmenting a fair percentage of phonemes when they were presented within words that were not directly taught during intervention sessions. limitations of the study and directions for future research as well as implications for head start educators who may be interested in implementing this intervention are provided. keywords: phoneme awareness; early literacy intervention all too often, young children who reside in low income households experience limited opportunities to engage in early literacy activities resulting in low levels of school readiness upon entering kindergarten when compared to their peers who reside in average to high income households (foster, lambert, abbott-shim, mccarty, & franze, 2005). it has been estimated that, without proper early literacy instruction, about 75% of young children who struggle acquiring early literacy skills will continue to have problems with reading throughout their entire school career (scarborough, 2002), and some are likely to be identified with learning disabilities (snow, burns & grifith, 1998). these young children require high quality early intensive literacy instruction to narrow the achievement gap between them and their peers who are functioning at average or above average reading achievement levels (hatcher, hulme and snowling, 2004; yeh, 2003). high-quality early literacy skill instruction for young children involves instruction that focuses on explicitly and systematically teaching fundamental early literacy skills (justice et al., 2008). one such critical early literacy skill that should be explicitly and systematically taught to young children is phonemic awareness. indeed, phonemic awareness is one of the domain 28 durst & joseph elements included in the head start learning standards that can be found in the head start child outcomes framework released in 2000 (us department of health and human services, 2003). although, supporting young children’s phonemic awareness is a part of head start learning standards, several head start educators were surveyed, and they reported infrequent use of phonological strategies in their classrooms (hawkin, johnston, & mcdonnell, 2005). phonemic awareness is the alertness to and manipulation of sounds in spoken words. teaching phonemic awareness involves isolating, blending, and segmenting sounds in spoken words. it is important that early childhood educators teach children phoneme awareness as it has been well established that the acquirement of phonemic awareness is highly predictive of early reading achievement (e.g., bentin & leshman, 1993; byrne & fielding-barnsley, 1991; hatcher, hulme, & ellis, 1994; smith, scott, roberts, & locke, 2008; vellutino, scanlon, & lyon, 2000). among the range of phonemic awareness skills that early child educators teach children to perform, segmenting phonemes is the most advanced skill and most related to reading decoding skills (nation & hulme, 1997) and spelling (al otaiba, et al., 2010). phoneme segmentation involves the teacher saying the word /cat/ and asking the children to say each individual sound in the word such as saying /c/ /a/, and /t/. researchers recommend that instructional lessons on phonemic awareness skills such as phoneme segmentation be direct, fast paced, include a small group of children, and consist of tasks that involve having the children identify and manipulate sounds in spoken words (leafstedt, richards, & gerber, 2004). one such supplemental method designed to teach phoneme segmentation is called sound boxes (also referred to as “say it move it activities”), which was created by d. b. elkonin in russia to teach preschool children to attend to sound sequences in spoken words (elkonin, 1973). it is included as part of several comprehensive reading programs such as reading recovery (clay, 1993) and kindergarten peer assisted learning (k-pals; fuchs et al., 2001). sound boxes, subsequently described in detail in the methods section, consist of visual prompts that are designed to assist children in completing the task of segmenting sounds in words successfully. although studies have examined the effects of comprehensive phonological instruction that encompassed the sound boxes technique (ball & blachman, 1991; bentin & lesham, 1993; hohn & ehri 1983; rafdal et al., 2011), these studies did not show how sound boxes alone influenced young children’s early literacy performance. there have been some studies that explored the effects of using sound boxes as the sole intervention. most of these studies included primary grade school age children with and without disabilities (alber-morgan et al., 2016; keesey, konrad, & joseph, 2015; joseph, 1998/1999; joseph, 2000; joseph, 2002). for instance, joseph (1998/1999) examined the effects of this procedure on teaching word identification and spelling to second graders with learning disabilities. in this study, the sound boxes increased the children’s word recognition and spelling performance. these findings were also supported by joseph (2000) who compared the effects of using sound boxes, word sorts (grouping words with similar patterns), and no supplemental instruction on teaching first graders’ phoneme segmentation, word recognition, and spelling performance. findings indicated that there were no significant differences between sound boxes and word sort groups on phoneme segmentation, word recognition, and spelling performance. however, these groups significantly outperformed the no supplemental instruction group. sound boxes were also used to teach word identification and spelling to 9 to 10 year olds with intellectual disabilities (joseph, 2002) and first graders who were receiving supplemental title 1 reading instruction (alber-morgan et al., 2016). findings revealed that the children performed above baseline (no intervention) conditions on word identification and spelling when sound scaffolding preschooler’s phoneme awareness 29 boxes were implemented. when sound boxes were used to teach segmenting sounds and making letter-sound correspondences to kindergartners who were at risk of not developing early literacy skills, the children improved greatly on segmenting sounds, making letter-sound correspondences, and spelling words (keesey et al., 2015). maslanka and joseph (2002) was the only study that examined the effects of using sound boxes with preschool children. in their study, the children were caucasian and attended a private preschool. they were randomly assigned to participate in either a sound box or a sound sort intervention group. findings revealed that children in the sound box group outperformed children in the sound sort group on isolating initial sounds and segmenting phonemes. with the exception of maslanka and joseph’s (2002) study, most of the studies that were described here explored the effects of sound boxes with primary grade children. in maslanka and joseph’s (2002) study, preschool participants were caucasian, resided in middle to high socioeconomic conditions, and attended a private preschool. more studies are needed to explore the effects of sound boxes with samples of preschool children who are of ethnic and racial origins other than caucasian, preschool children who reside in low socio-economic conditions, preschool children who attend a head start program, preschool children with disabilities, and preschool children who are at risk of not developing critical emergent literacy skills such as phonemic awareness. not only are there few studies that have explored the effects of sound boxes on the phonemic awareness performance of preschool children at risk of reading difficulties, there are no studies that assessed maintenance and generalization performance with this sample of young children. moreover, there are no studies that examined the systematic fading of the sound box prompting procedures to determine if children can eventually perform phonemic awareness skills independently without the visual and verbal prompts. the process of gradually removing supportive prompts as students demonstrate success with academic tasks is often referred to as scaffolding (mcgee & ukrainetz, 2009) and has been shown to be effective in several studies (e.g., lutz, guthrie, & davis, 2006; mayfield, glenn, and vollmer; 2008; park, weber, & mclaughlin, 2007). moreover, from a comprehensive review of the effects of reading interventions on individuals with special needs, researchers concluded that the interventions that appeared to have the strongest effects were those that incorporated systematic prompts and gradual removal of prompts (browder, wakeman, spooner, ahlgrim-delzell & algozzine, 2006). the purpose of the current study was to extend the research on the effects of sound boxes by exploring their usefulness for helping preschool children who were at risk of reading difficulties and who were enrolled in a head start program. the aim of the current study was to examine whether this sample of young children can segment sounds in spoken words that were directly taught to them using the sound boxes as well as generalize those skills to untaught words. additionally, the purpose of this study was to explore the effects of systematically removing the verbal and visual prompts incorporated within the task as the young children became successful at performing the skill. this helped determine if children can maintain their performance levels when the supportive structures were removed. the following research questions guided this study: (1) do sound boxes improve phoneme segmentation performance for children who are enrolled in a head start program? (2) will the children maintain and generalize their phoneme segmentation performance after supportive prompts are systematically removed? 30 durst & joseph methods participants and setting the participants of this study consisted of three english speaking preschool children, winston (male; age 4-10), mia, (female; age 5-2) and nolan (male; age 4-7) who are african-american and who attended a head start program in a large metropolitan city in the midwest. the participants met eligibility requirements to enroll in the heat start program due to residing in households with income levels that are below the state poverty level. criteria for participating in the study included referral from the head start teacher (i.e., children were nominated to participate in the study if they were observed to perform below their peers on early literacy skills in the classroom), obtained parental permission, and below benchmark performance on individual growth and development indicators (igdis) measures (i.e., rhyming, alliteration, and picture naming). specifically igid scores on rhyming were 16, 5, and 4 for winston, mia, and nolan, respectively. igid scores on alliteration were 4, 5, and 4 for winston, mia, and nolan, respectively. igid scores on picture naming were 16, 14, and 16 for winston, mia, and nolan, respectively. initially five participants were recruited, however, two of the participants moved and withdrew from the head start center just prior to the start of the study. before this study was implemented, a proposal was submitted to the university human subjects review board detailing the protection of the participants and the implementation of ethical practices. the study was approved and was in compliance with the institution’s internal review board requirements of human subjects’ participation in research studies. the setting for the study took place in a head start center in a midwestern urban area. a classroom that was separate from the children’s regular head start preschool classroom was used for the study as it contained minimal noise level and mainly free from distractions. the instructor was a doctoral student who was working as a consultant for head start at the time of the study. pre-assessment and selection of words to be taught a pre-assessment was administered to identify a set of words that children did not know how to segment. several words containing consonant-vowel-consonant (cvc) patterns obtained from a list of words found in mccormick’s (2003) textbook were administered to the children until five words that the children were unable to segment were identified. the instructor presented each word orally to the student, and the student was asked to repeat the word followed by saying each sound in the word. for example, the instructor said the word, “fan”, asked the student to say the word and then asked, “now, say each sound in the word “fan” by first saying the beginning, the middle, and then the ending sound. the words that were chosen for inclusion in the study were the first five words in which the children were not able to segment any of the sounds in those words. the words were, “fan”, “jet”, “kid”, “mop”, and “bus.” words with different beginning, middle, and ending sounds were chosen to control for potential transfer effects across words. they were included on all baseline and intervention assessment probes and were used to teach phoneme segmentation across all intervention phases. scaffolding preschooler’s phoneme awareness 31 dependent variables the primary outcome variable was defined as the number of sounds said correctly in the correct order on phoneme segmentation probes. five-item phoneme segmentation probes containing the aforementioned selected words were administered during baseline and during intervention phases of the study. generalization was defined as the number of sounds in nonsense words said correctly. these words were not directly taught during the intervention sessions, however, they contained some of the same sounds that were taught during intervention sessions. nonsense words were used instead of real words to minimize chances of being exposed to words during the time that the study took place. each child was administered a total of three generalization probes. specifically, a list of 15 different nonsense words containing consonant-vowel-consonant patterns was generated, and the words were randomly selected and placed on one of a total of three probes. thus, each generalization probe consisted of a different set of five nonsense words. for instance, nonsense words, “maf”, “nov”, “vem”, dop, and vis” were included on probe 1; “lam, “kud, pag, fon, and zim” were included on probe 2; and “ked”, “tun”, “ret”, “jad”, and “tep” were included on probe 3. experimental design and procedures a single subject multiple probe across participants design, a variation of the multiple baseline design (cooper, heron & heward, 2007), was used to examine the effects of sound boxes and the gradual removal of the visual and verbal prompts included in the procedure. this design was used instead of the standard multiple baseline design to prevent children from experiencing frustration and fatigue due to multiple administrations of phoneme segmentation probes during the baseline phases of the study. in the multiple probe design, probes are administered periodically across baseline sessions rather than on every session as in the case with multiple baseline designs. sound boxes intervention was implemented in a staggered (stair case) like fashion across participants. the first participant received the intervention when a stable baseline was achieved for that participant. the second participant remained in baseline until the first participant demonstrated an upward trend in performance toward achieving mastery, which was approximately 90 percent correct on phoneme segmentation probes. the third participant remained in baseline until the second participant demonstrated an upward trend toward achieving mastery performance, which was achieving approximately 90 percent correct on phoneme segmentation probes. implementing the intervention in this staggered like fashion across participants controlled for extraneous variables. phase 1: baseline. during the baseline phase, phoneme segmentation probes were administered periodically across sessions. no intervention was implemented during this phase. the following procedures were used during the administration of the phoneme segmentation probes. the instructor presented each word orally to the student, and the student was asked to repeat the word followed by saying each sound in the word. for example, the instructor said the word, “mop”, and then asked the student to repeat the word. next, the instructor asked the student to say each sound in the word “mop” by first saying the beginning, the middle, and then the ending sound. the student could earn one point for each sound said correctly as long as it 32 durst & joseph was stated in the correct order. for the word “mop”, the student received a total of three points if they said /m, /o/, and then /p/ in that order. on each probe, the student could earn up to a total of 15 points. no corrective feedback for incorrect responding or verbal praise for correct responding was provided. phase 2 intensive support. in this phase, the instructor followed a script detailing the sound boxes procedure using modeling, guided practice, and independent practice with corrective feedback. the five cvc words were taught individually to each child during each instructional session. specifically, the sound boxes consisted of a drawn rectangle divided into three sections according to the number of phonemes in the cvc words. figure 1 depicts an illustration of this technique. for each word, the instructor said the word, demonstrated placing tokens in the divided sections of the rectangle as she slowly articulated each sound in the word (i.e., modeling). next, the instructor prompted the child to place the tokens in their respective sections as the child and the instructor together said each sound in the word (i.e., guided practice). afterwards, the child was asked to complete the task independently with instructor corrective feedback. corrective feedback consisted of providing the child with the correct response if the child made an incorrect response. verbal praise such as saying, “ correct” was given for correct responses. after all five words were taught during each daily session, a phoneme segmentation probe was administered at the end of each daily session following the same procedures as used during baseline sessions. these procedures were repeated on every session during this phase until the child demonstrated at least 90 percent accuracy on probes on two consecutive sessions. generalization probe 1 was administered at the end of this phase just before the implementation of intervention phase 3 using the same procedures as the baseline and intervention probes. figure 1. illustration of sound boxes phase 3. moderate support. once the child met performance criteria in phase 2, phase 3 was implemented. in this phase, the instructor followed a script detailing the implementation of sound boxes procedures without the modeling and guided practice scaffolding preschooler’s phoneme awareness 33 components. the children were asked to segment the sounds of the words using the sound boxes on their own with corrective feedback. corrective feedback consisted of providing the child with the correct response if the child made an incorrect response. verbal praise such as, saying “correct,” was given if the child made a correct response. after each word was taught using the sound boxes with corrective feedback during each daily session, the phoneme segmentation probe was administered at the end of each daily session using the same procedures as in all prior phases. once students were able to maintain 90 percent accuracy on probes on at least two consecutive sessions, they moved onto phase 4 of the study. generalization probe 2 was administered at the end of this phase just before the implementation of intervention phase 4 using the same procedures for administering baseline and intervention probes. phase 4 minimal support. in this phase, the instructor asked the children to segment the sounds when the words were presented without the visual supportive structures of the sound boxes. the instructor only provided the children with corrective feedback and verbal praise (i.e., same form of feedback and praise as was used in phases 2 and 3), which occurred after each response made by the children. the phoneme segmentation probe was administered at the end of each daily session following the same procedures as in all prior phases. generalization probe 3 was administered at the end of this phase using the same procedures for administering baseline and intervention probes. it should be noted that, throughout the study, the segmentation and generalization probes in all phases of the study were administered without any of the support structures including modeling, guided practice, sound box materials, or corrective feedback. procedural integrity instructional integrity was assessed to ensure that the procedures were implemented with fidelity. a trained independent observer who was a graduate student in a school psychology program observed 17% of the experimental sessions. the independent observer was given two scripts, one for implementation procedures during experimental conditions and one for phoneme segmentation probe administration procedures. the independent observer was asked to place a checkmark next to each line on the scripts if the scripts were followed as written. to calculate a mean adherence to each script, the number of checkmarks was divided by the total number of possible checkmarks. mean adherence to following the instructional script was 98% (range = 95– 100%), and mean adherence to correctly administering phoneme segmentation probes was 99% (range = 98-100%). interobserver agreement (ioa) to ensure that phoneme segmentation probes were scored reliably, a graduate student trained in the administration of the probes independently scored 17% of children’s responses on the probes administered during baseline and intervention phases and 25% of the generalization probes. an item-by-item comparison was made between the instructor’s and independent observer’s scores on children’s responses on each item to ensure that inter-observer reliability scores were above 90%. mean percent of agreement between independent observers and instructor’s scores on item 34 durst & joseph responses on probes were calculated by dividing the number of scoring agreements by the total number of scoring agreements plus scoring disagreements and multiplying that sum by 100. mean percent of ioa for probes administered during experimental sessions was 97% (range = 80–100%). percent of ioa for the generalization probes was 98% (range = 93–100%). results figure 2 presents a graph depicting children’s phoneme segmentation performance across baseline and intervention phases. findings revealed that all children demonstrated low and stable performance during baseline phases of the study. when sound boxes with modeling, guided practice, and corrective feedback were implemented, all children improved on their performance on phoneme segmentation probes. after modeling and guided practice followed by the sound boxes were gradually removed, all children were able to maintain a high level of phoneme segmentation performance. each child’s performance as seen in figure 2 revealed that it took winston fewer learning trials (n = 6) to segment a total of 15 phonemes at about 90% accuracy than it took mia and nolan (n =8) when sound boxes with modeling, guided practice, and independent practice with feedback were implemented (i.e., phase 2). it appears that winston and mia steadily showed an upward trend in performance during intervention sessions under phase 2 with mia showing the most dramatic upward trend in performance from session to session. nolan’s performance remained stable at mainly segmenting a total of about 6 to 7 phonemes correctly in about the first seven intervention sessions then improved to segmenting 10 to 15 phonemes correctly in subsequent sessions. importantly, all children demonstrated consistently high levels of performance ranging from segmenting 13 to 15 phonemes correctly during phases 3 and 4 when most of the support structures were systematically removed. scaffolding preschooler’s phoneme awareness 35 figure 2. sessions table 1 presents the means and standard deviations of children’s phoneme segmentation performance across baseline and intervention phases. winston, mia, and nolan demonstrated a mean change score of 9.9, 8.2, and 7.84 respectively from baseline to intervention phase 1; a mean change score of 13.1, 15.0, and 12.6 respectively from baseline and intervention phase 2; and a mean change score of 13.6, 15.0, and 13.9 respectively from baseline to intervention phase 3. findings revealed that all children correctly segmented a comparable number of beginning, middle, and ending sounds across intervention phases. specifically, children as a group correctly 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 winston mia phase 1 baseline phase 2 modeling, leading, sound box and feedback phase 4 – feedback only phase 3 sound box and feedback nolan 36 durst & joseph segmented 58% of the beginning sounds, 51% of the middle sounds, and 52% of the ending sounds on probes administered during the first intervention phase. during the second intervention phase, children as a group correctly segmented 98% of the beginning sounds, 97% of the middle sounds, and 88% of the ending sounds. during the final intervention phase, children as a group correctly segmented 100% of the beginning and middle sounds and 98% of the ending sounds. table 1 participants’ means (m) and standard deviations (sd) on phoneme segmentation probes across experimental phases phase 1baseline phase 2 intensive support phase 3-moderate support phase 4-minimal support participant m sd m sd m sd m sd winston 1.4 0.5 11.3 3.6 14.5 1.00 15.0 0.0 mia 0.0 0.0 8.2 6.0 15.0 0.0 15.0 0.0 nolan 0.8 1.0 8.6 3.8 13.4 0.5 14.7 0.6 to assess the overall magnitude of the intervention effects, percent of non-overlapping data (pnds; scruggs, mastropieri, & casto, 1987) and improvement rate differences (irds; parker, vannest, & brown, 2009) were calculated for all children. pnds were calculated for each participant by identifying the highest performance data point during baseline and counting all intervention performance data points higher than the highest baseline point (i.e., nonoverlapping data) and dividing that number by the total number of intervention data points and multiplying that sum by 100. pnds were calculated separately between baseline and each of the intervention phases. winston obtained pnds of 100% between baseline and all intervention phases. mia obtained pnds of 86% during the first intervention phase and 100% in subsequent intervention phases. nolan obtained pnds of 90% during the first intervention phase and 100% in subsequent intervention phases. all children’s pnds showed strong intervention effects as all exceeded pnds of 70% (scruggs, mastropieri, & casto, 1987). a more conservative estimate of the magnitude of intervention effects is improvement rate differences (irds) with irds of .70-1.0 reflecting strong effects, .50-.70 reflecting moderate effects, and below .50 reflecting small or questionable effects (parker, vannest, & brown, 2009). irds were calculated for each participant by subtracting the improvement rate in the intervention phase from the improvement rate in the baseline phase (i.e., irt – irb = ird; parker, vannest, & brown, 2009). in the case of this study, ird was calculated between baseline and the first intervention phase. ird reflected strong intervention effects for all three children (winston ird = 1.0; mia ird = .85, and nolan ird = .90). thus, all three children showed significant improvements from baseline to intervention phases. scaffolding preschooler’s phoneme awareness 37 table 2 presents the number of phonemes segmented correctly across all participants on each generalization probe. winston and mia obtained higher performance on generalization probes after phase 3 of the intervention was completed than after phase 2 of the intervention was completed. there was a very slight change in nolan’s scores on generalization probes between intervention phases 2 and 3. all participants obtained higher performance on generalization probes after phase 4 of the intervention was completed than after phase 2 of the intervention was completed. when performance on all three generalization probes were combined, winston, mia, and nolan correctly segmented 51%, 44%, and 53%, respectively, of the phonemes in untaught nonsense words. table 2 participants’ performance on generalization probes participant generalization probe 1 generalization probe 2 generalization probe 3 winston 6 7 10 mia 3 9 7 nolan 7 6 11 discussion the purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of sound boxes plus modeling, guided practice, and independent practice with corrective feedback on the phoneme segmentation performance of preschool children enrolled in a head start program. additionally, this study sought to examine the effects of systematically removing instructional prompts such as modeling and guided practice followed by removing the use of the sound boxes materials on all of the outcome variables. findings revealed that the sound boxes plus modeling and opportunities for guided and independent practice helped the children improve their phoneme segmentation performance. this was an important finding as phoneme segmentation is considered a precursor skill to learning how to make letter-sound correspondences and decode and spell words (nation & hulme, 1997; al otaiba, et al., 2010). the preschool children in this study were close to entering kindergarten, and the acquirement of this skill may likely ease their understanding of the alphabetic principle. these findings extend the current literature on the effects of sound boxes as the current study consists of children attending a head start program in an urban setting. prior studies reporting on the positive effects of sound boxes on phoneme segmentation performance consisted of preschool children attending a private school in middle to high socioeconomic setting (maslanka & joseph, 2002) and with primary grade school age students (e.g., keesey, konrad & joseph, 2015; joseph, 2002). not only did this study extend the research by including young children who were enrolled in a head start program and who were at risk of not developing literacy skills, it also extended the research by examining the systematic removal of the visual and verbal prompts as 38 durst & joseph children approximate proficient performance. prior studies examining the effects of sound boxes did not include the systematic fading of prompts such as modeling, guided practice, and the sound box materials, which is important to examine if the goal is to help students make the transition from completing tasks correctly with guidance to successfully completing tasks independently. in this study, children were able to consistently maintain high levels of phoneme segmentation when the prompts were systematically removed. the finding of this current study supports other studies that systematically faded supports to facilitate children’s successful independent performance on tasks (e.g., lutz, guthrie, & davis, 2006; mayfield, glenn, and vollmer; 2008). another way that the current study extended prior studies was that this study included generalization measures. in the current study, children were also able to generalize segmenting about a total of 50% of the sounds in words that were directly taught to untaught nonsense words. all children improved their performance on generalization probes from probe 1 to probe 3. these results indicated that, overall, the children demonstrated better performance on the generalization measures as they became proficient at segmenting phonemes.. this finding was expected given that children are likely to generalize skills in untrained contexts as they achieve mastery and perform skills with greater independence (skinner & daly, 2010). moreover, teachers can instruct in an efficient manner if they are able to use methods that not only help children acquire skills in one context but that also help children transfer those skills to another context (konrad, helf, & joseph, 2011). limitations and directions for future research while internal validity is strengthened through the use of single subject designs such as the multiple probe design, external validity is compromised. in the case of this study, findings cannot be generalized to every preschool child who is enrolled in a head start program and who is at risk of not developing early literacy skills. however, the great advantage of these designs is that they permit the ongoing observation of a dynamic interaction between the intervention and students’ performance across time. in the current study, the trend in each student’s data set revealed that each student responded favorably to the sound boxes intervention. replication of the current study will strengthen its positive findings. another limitation was that the amount of words that children learned to segment was relatively small in number. this was due to it being the end of the school year, and there was not enough time to examine the prompt fading effects using more sets of words. if this study were replicated, the researchers may want to allocate more intervention sessions so children have an opportunity to learn to segment more words than the amount that was taught in this study. in this study, modeling and guided practice instructional components were removed at the same time in one phase followed by the removal of the entire sound box structure in the subsequent phase. the way in which these prompts were systematically removed in this particular study was appropriate given that participants’ continued to maintain high levels of performance during prompt fading phases. this confirms the notion that the use of scaffolding can improve the efficiency of phonemic awareness instruction (mcgee & ukrainetz, 2009). however, some children with even more challenging learning needs may need a more extensive prompt fading procedure. for instance, there may be four prompt fading phases rather than just two for those children. the first prompt fading phase may consist of removing the modeling scaffolding preschooler’s phoneme awareness 39 component only followed by removing the guided practice component in the second phase. the sound boxes structure could be removed in phases three, four, and five by first removing the divided sections of the box leaving a rectangle in phase 3 and then removing the rectangle in phase 4 followed by removing the tokens in phase 5. thus, future researchers may need to examine the effects of a more extensive prompt fading procedure for participants who are functioning at lower levels than the participants in this study. it also may be interesting to determine if more extensive prompt fading procedures have a stronger impact on students’ performance on generalization measures. the current study was conducted in a one to one instructional format. from an instructional efficiency perspective, it may be useful for future researchers to examine the effects of the intervention with small groups of children to determine if the magnitude of the intervention effects is similar when implemented in a small group context. social validity with regards to teacher acceptability of the sound boxes intervention was not formally assessed in this study. future researchers should assess teachers’ perceptions of the feasibility of implementing the intervention in their classrooms. in addition to measuring teachers’ perceptions, future researchers may wish to conduct post study observations in the classroom to determine if the teacher is using the intervention. implications for practice it is important for early childhood educators such as head start instructors to have proper training and instructional tools and materials to teach phonemic awareness well to young children (cheesman, mcguire, shankweiler, & coyne, 2009). it should be noted that it was not the purpose of this study to address all the possible ways that phoneme segmentation can be taught. the sound boxes technique that was examined in this study is just one tool that early childhood educators can use to teach phoneme segmentation. the advantages of using sound boxes are that sound boxes are a low cost and an easy method for teachers to implement. the visual structure and the opportunity to manipulate materials may make learning phoneme segmentation more appealing for young children who are having difficulty acquiring these skills. specifically, the children become aware of the positions of the phonemes through the visual structure. the visual structure of the sound boxes may also be especially helpful for children who may find it challenging to attend to each individual sound in a word. modeling, guided practice, and independent practice with feedback procedures that are used in conjunction with the sound box materials are instructional procedures that are universal and can be implemented in many classrooms across many countries around the world. these procedures are also low cost and easy for teachers to use when teaching new skills to children (bursuck & damer, 2011). when teachers scaffold instruction in this way, they may permit skills to be learned that are otherwise perceived to be challenging for young children who are academically at risk of not developing early literacy skills proficiently. early childhood educators such as head start teachers can incorporate sound boxes within a more comprehensive early literacy program that they are already using in their classroom (e.g., rafdal, et al., 2011; ball & blachman, 1991). early childhood educators can also use sound boxes to supplement general early literacy instruction in the classroom for children who are not meeting early literacy standards. when young children 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(2003). the head start path to positive child outcomes. washington, dc: us department of health and human services, administration of children, youth and families/head start bureau vellutino, f. r., scanlon, d. m., & lyon, g. r. (2000). differentiating between difficult to remediate and readily remediated poor readers: more evidence against the iq-achievement discrepancy definition of reading disability. journal of learning disabilities, 33, 223-238. yeh, s. s. (2003). an evaluation of two approaches for teaching phonemic awareness to children in head start. early childhood research quarterly, 18(4), 513-529. dialog, 18(3), 133-150 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 the project that supported this literature review was contracted with mathematica policy research, inc., by the office of planning, research, and evaluation, administration for children and families, u.s. department of health and human services. opinions and statements included in the paper are solely those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the sponsoring agencies. dialog from the field tailored teaching: emerging themes from the literature on teachers’ use of ongoing child assessment to individualize instruction lauren akers and patricia del grosso mathematica policy research emily snell temple university sally atkins-burnett mathematica policy research barbara a. wasik temple university judith carta university of kansas kimberly boller and shannon monahan mathematica policy research ongoing child assessment is increasingly viewed as a tool for informing and individualizing instruction in early childhood, yet little is known about how ongoing child assessment is implemented at the classroom or the programmatic level. this literature review focuses on how teachers use ongoing assessment and adjust instructional practices and content to better meet the individual strengths, needs, and interests of young children. we identified four important issues in the literature in ongoing assessment in early childhood: (1) many teachers do not consistently collect ongoing assessment data, nor do they use it for instruction and individualization; (2) barriers to using data include lack of pedagogical content knowledge and knowledge about how to conduct assessments and interpret data; (3) teachers want more training and professional development in this area; and (4) more needs to be known about how to support the successful implementation of ongoing child assessment. keywords: ongoing assessment; individualization; instruction 134 akers et al. over the past two decades, there has been considerable growth in the use of assessments in early childhood education settings (snow & van hemel, 2008). for many years, the most common use of assessment in early childhood was to provide information on children’s developmental status and examine how they performed relative to peers or to specified criteria in order to identify and monitor the development of students who had special needs. however, with the heightened emphasis placed on using data to make decisions at all levels of education in the last decade, increased attention has been given to how early childhood teachers use ongoing assessment to adjust instructional practices and content to better meet the individual strengths, needs, and interests of young children (peisner-feinberg & buysse, 2013; snow & van hemel, 2008). individualization of instruction has been considered a “best practice” in early education programs (national association for the education of young children, 2005) and is now a requirement in the head start program performance standards (head start performance standards, 2011). definition of ongoing assessment and individualization ongoing child assessment refers to the process of “continuing observation and documentation teachers complete to determine whether teaching practices need to be adapted to better meet children’s needs” (national center on quality teaching and learning, 2012, p. 1). in other words, teachers use ongoing child assessment to monitor the progress of children over time in order to assure that children meet developmental and educational goals. when used for individualizing, teachers examine each child’s progress over time with the intended goal of individualizing instruction to improve the child’s progress. in this context, the term individualized is used to refer to instruction that is responsive to each child’s unique strengths and challenges through modifications that better meet the child’s individual needs. these modifications might include increased opportunities to practice a skill, knowledge, or behavior; changes in curriculum; adaptations of instructional approaches; and environmental or other supports. purposes of ongoing assessment ongoing child assessment has four primary purposes: (1) to inform the teacher’s instruction for the entire group; (2) to determine whether current instructional approaches are supporting a child; (3) to determine whether and which additional support or modifications to instruction are needed for the child; and (4) when appropriate, to determine whether the child’s rate of growth has changed in response to the support or modification. overall, in early childhood settings, the goal is to use information from ongoing assessment to track progress and then scaffold children’s learning to support school-readiness. approaches to ongoing assessment there are two general approaches to ongoing assessment in early childhood education: use of (1) general outcome measures (goms) and (2) curriculum-embedded measures tailored to a teachers’ use of ongoing child assessment 135 particular curriculum. table 1 presents examples of assessment tools used by teachers in classrooms to obtain information about children’s development. table 1 ongoing assessment tools used in early childhood education name of tool description general outcomes measurement a individual growth and development indicators (igdis) for infants and toddlers (greenwood et al. 2011b; greenwood et al. 2006; walker et al. 2008) different tasks used to monitor the growth of infants and toddlers across multiple domains. a school-age version (dibels) is available. a technology component is also available. preschools igdis (missall et al. 2008; roseth et al. 2012) different tasks used to monitor the growth of preschoolers in language and literacy (get it, got it, go). a school-age version (dibels) is available. a technology component is also available. m-class circle (amplify education n.d.) a web-based system that includes ongoing assessment tools and data linked to approaches for individualizing instruction in the social, emotional, early literacy, and early math domains for 3to 5-year-olds. a school-age version is available. a web-based system is also available. curriculum-embedded approaches b,c child observation record (cor), cor advantage (high/scope educational research foundation 2003, 2013) a curriculum-based assessment providing systematic observational assessment of young children's knowledge and abilities in multiple domains of development. the preschool cor is used to assess children from age 2½ to 6 years, and the infant-toddler cor is for programs serving children between ages 6 weeks and 3 years. a technology component is available. desired results developmental profile (drdp©), drdp 2015 (california department of education and center for child and family studies at wested 2013, 2015) a criterion-referenced assessment designed to assess multiple developmental domains for children from birth to age 12. the drdp is aligned with california learning and development foundations. a technology component is available. learning accomplishment profile (lap) and early learning accomplishment profile (e-lap) (hardin and peisner-feinberg 2001, 2004) a criterion-referenced observational assessment used to assess development across six domains. the e-lap assesses children from birth to 36 months old (414 developmental skills arranged hierarchically). the lap assesses children from 36 to 72 months old (383 developmental skills arranged hierarchically). a technology component is available. 136 akers et al. name of tool description the ounce scale(™) (meisels et al. 2003) a criterion-referenced observational assessment used to document the development of children from birth to 42 months. it consists of three interrelated elements: observation records, family albums, and developmental profiles and standards. a technology component is available. teaching strategies: gold® d (teaching strategies, inc. 2011) a criterion-referenced observation-based assessment system. it is grounded in 38 research-based objectives that include predictors of school success and are aligned with state early learning standards, the common core state standards for kindergarten, and the head start child development and early learning framework. it can be used with children from birth through kindergarten. a technology component is available. athe goms presented in this table are used for illustration purposes. these illustrations are assessments used in the research studies we reviewed. the authors are not recommending particular measures for use. bthe curriculum-embedded tools presented in this table are used for illustration purposes. these assessments were reported as the primary assessment by more than 5 percent of teachers in the head start family and child experiences survey (faces) (hulsey et al. 2010) and the early head start family and child experiences study (baby faces) (vogel et al. 2011). the authors are not recommending particular measures for use. csee halle et al. 2011 for more information on particular curriculum-embedded tools, and for information more generally about how to evaluate an instrument’s reliability and validity. dearlier versions for teaching strategies gold® were called creative curriculum® developmental continuum for ages 3–5 (teaching strategies, inc. 2001) and creative curriculum® developmental continuum for infants, toddlers, & twos (teaching strategies, inc. 2006). general outcomes measures. in the gom approach, teachers use a brief measure with strong evidence of reliability and validity to conduct frequent, standard assessments of children’s progress toward a long-term goal. central to this approach is the repeated measurement of a few key skills that represent the entire skill set required to achieve a given goal, rather than measuring the full skill set. a child’s increasing proficiency on a gom is indicated by improved performance on these same skills measured over time. with goms, children’s performance may be measured as infrequently as three times per year or as often as once per week (jenkins et al. 2009). the probes to obtain these performance samples typically range from one to five minutes, depending on the outcome (that is, the knowledge, skill, or behavior) being measured. one common application of goms is response to intervention (rti)—an approach to early intervention involving the regular screening of all children throughout the year. children not progressing as expected receive intensive support as well as frequent assessments to test whether the support is helping (hamilton et al. 2009; national association for the education of young children et al. 2012; buysse and peisnerfeinberg 2013). goms typically do not focus on the full set of child outcome domains. most goms in preschool currently focus on language and literacy, and some focus on mathematics. curriculum-embedded approaches. the most commonly used systems for assessing the progress of children in early care and education are curriculum-embedded approaches. these assessments are used to examine children’s progress relative to early learning standards and the teachers’ use of ongoing child assessment 137 skills and knowledge taught via a specific curriculum. teachers using this approach often collect assessment information as they are teaching their normal curriculum. the assessment tasks are intended to be authentic in context; that is, they should mirror experiences typical to the child’s daily life (pretti-frontczack et al. 2011). some curriculum-embedded approaches are developed by the curriculum developers to align closely with the material being taught (“curriculum-based assessments” such as the teaching strategies: gold assessment used with the creative curriculum), whereas other such assessments are derived from national standards and developmental expectations (“curriculum-embedded assessments” such as galileo and the work sampling system). teachers typically assess children’s performance in relation to criteria on rubrics provided by the assessment system. these rubrics specify different levels of performance based on end-of-year goals, but often provide no guidance regarding children’s expected progress throughout the year. in addition, although the tasks being assessed are embedded within daily activities and aligned with curriculum goals, the tasks are not standardized and require teachers to collect assessment data from multiple sources. the assessments may use a variety of data collection methods, such as observation recording forms, worksheets, standardized assessments, and portfolios. compared to goms, curriculum-embedded approaches are (1) more common in early childhood settings than goms; (2) more demanding for a teacher to implement (that is, they require greater teacher skills and knowledge because they are less proscriptive); and (3) more comprehensive, as they traditionally cover several domains of development. policies and evidence supporting use of ongoing assessment policymakers and other federal and state officials are increasingly recognizing the importance of ongoing assessment to individualize instruction during early childhood. for example, in the past five years, the office of head start has elaborated its vision for preschool child and family outcomes, added a stronger focus on program and classroom quality in its monitoring system, and created professional development tools to support ongoing assessment in daily practice. the head start early learning outcomes framework is a blueprint for achieving the child-specific goals of the program through alignment of curricular approaches, assessments, and professional development activities (u.s. department of health and human services 2015). in 2012, the secretary of health and human services’ advisory committee on head start research and evaluation advocated investment in supporting evidence-based and data-informed practices across all domains of quality teaching and learning (advisory committee on head start research and evaluation, 2012). using ongoing child assessment to individualize instruction is considered a best practice in early education programs (national association for the education of young children, 2005; sandall, mclean, & smith, 2000) and is a requirement in the head start program performance standards (2011). however, the existing evidence base on the features of high-quality implementation and the effects of ongoing assessment on instructional quality and child outcomes is limited and sometimes restricted to early elementary settings. the small body of literature suggests that teachers who use ongoing assessment to individualize their instruction reduce the school readiness gap for children at risk (al otaiba et al., 2011; landry, swank, anthony, & assel, 2011). some studies have also shown that these teachers design more 138 akers et al. effective instructional programs, and have students who achieve better outcomes, than teachers who do not assess progress. for example, studies have shown that ongoing assessment in reading (sometimes combined with guidance for individualized instruction) raises teachers’ awareness of students’ current levels of reading proficiency and improves the instructional decisions they make (connor et al., 2009; fuchs, deno, & mirkin, 1984). the use of ongoing assessment data—often merged with other professional development supports, such as mentoring—has also been linked to growth in literacy outcomes in preschool through first grade (ball & gettinger, 2009; landry, anthony, swank, & monseque-bailey, 2009; wasik, hindman, & jusczyk, 2009). in one experimental study, infants and toddlers whose home visitors used progress monitoring and received web-based guidance in making data-based intervention decisions demonstrated more growth in their communication skills than those whose home visitors did not use progress monitoring (buzhardt et al., 2010; buzhardt, greenwood, walker, anderson, et al., 2011). it is important to note that most of the available studies that provide evidence linking the use of ongoing assessment to better instructional decision-making and positive child outcomes relate to goms rather than curriculum-embedded approaches. these studies typically include supports such as technology-enhanced systems that offer immediate, tailored feedback around using data to tailor instruction, making it infeasible to isolate the effects of ongoing assessment alone. the recommendations provided by the technology-enhanced systems may be a critical factor in fostering improved instructional decision-making and child outcomes. knowledge gaps remain currently, head start requires that teachers aggregate and analyze assessment results three times per year in their classrooms (head start performance standards, 2011). the intent is for head start teachers to gather baseline data, make instructional changes based on mid-year analysis, and use year-end data to report progress and inform program improvement. similar types of assessment are also being implemented in public schools using the response to intervention (rti) model (gersten et al., 2009; hamilton et al., 2009). despite the importance of using assessment to inform instruction and the requirements to do so, information on how teachers actually collect and use assessment data to inform their practice and individualize for children across early education–related disciplines is limited. little is known about how or how well teachers implement ongoing assessment to adjust instructional or caregiving practices and content and thus better meet the individual strengths, needs, and interests. the current review aims to highlight what is already known in the existing literature on the use of ongoing assessment for individualization of instruction and identify important gaps in our understanding. specifically, this literature review seeks to answer the following questions:  what are the steps and activities involved when early childhood education teachers use ongoing assessment to individualize instruction? in other words, what do early childhood education teachers actually do and how are they doing it?  how do early childhood education teachers perceive ongoing assessment, and what do they know about ongoing assessment practices?  what barriers do early childhood education teachers face when using ongoing assessment to individualize instruction? teachers’ use of ongoing child assessment 139  what supports can assist early childhood education teachers to use ongoing assessment to individualize instruction literature search the literature search targeted research related to early childhood education (which we defined as including children from birth through third grade) and early childhood special education. the search was limited to references from 2002–2012; search terms are presented in table 2. librarians conducted searches in education research complete and the education resource information center (eric) through ebscohost; librarians also conducted searches in sage. in addition, members of an expert consultant group recommended research that fell outside the targeted years for the literature review, including research that was still in press. together, the literature search and the expert recommendations yielded 1,325 unduplicated references (1,281 references from the literature search and 44 from the expert recommendations). based on a set of criteria determined by the project team, trained reviewers carefully screened all identified references for relevance. the vast majority of studies were screened out for being off topic; some studies were screened out for not being a relevant document type (for example, a newspaper article) or for not relating to early childhood. screeners ultimately identified 173 references to include in the review. table 2 search criteria search criteria parameters target populations infant* or toddler* or preschool* or “pre-school”* or “early elementary” search terms progress monitoring (descriptor) or “progress monitoring” or “response to intervention” or “instructional effectiveness” or “multi-tier* systems of support” differentiated instruction (descriptor) or ([differentiated or personal* or individualized] and [assessment or monitoring]) curriculum-based assessment (descriptor) or “curriculum-based assessment” (benchmark or curriculum-embedded or “curriculum embedded” or curriculum-referenced or formative) and assessment (data-based or data-informed or data-driven) and (“decision making” or decision-making) years 2002–2012 140 akers et al. themes from the literature characteristics of the literature reviewed study designs. throughout the remainder of this article, a “study” refers to any reference included in the review, including empirical studies, conceptual pieces, best-practice guides, and literature reviews. of the 173 studies included in the review, almost half (48 percent) were empirical studies, 36 percent were conceptual pieces, 13 percent were guides that provided overviews of best practices or standards, and 2 percent were literature reviews or reviews of measures. the empirical studies included 56 descriptive studies (of which 25 were psychometric), 15 randomized controlled trials (rcts), 7 quasi-experimental designs (qeds), and 5 single-case designs (scds). although curriculum-embedded approaches to ongoing assessment are the most commonly used type of assessment in early childhood, most of the empirical studies with more rigorous designs (that is, rcts, qeds, and scds) focused on goms. the goms use standard tasks and the research gathered evidence of the reliability and validity of those standard tasks. age groups and sample characteristics. across all 173 studies, 92 discussed the use of ongoing assessment to individualize instruction with students in early elementary school (some studies also included students beyond third grade), 80 with children in preschool, and 35 with infants and toddlers. of the 173 studies, 34 reported on more than one age group (e.g., preschool and early elementary). sixty-nine studies included discussions on using ongoing assessment with children with disabilities, and 34 studies included children enrolled in head start or early head start programs. domain. across and within all age groups, studies most commonly discussed the use of ongoing child assessment in the domains of language, literacy, or reading (47 percent of all studies). fewer studies focused on the use of ongoing assessment in the domains of mathematics (16 percent) and social and emotional or behavioral outcomes (16 percent). (please note that 29 percent of studies did not specify a domain. science and motor development were covered by 2 percent and 1 percent of studies, respectively.) scope. as we discuss next, using ongoing assessment for individualization involves multiple steps: deciding what data to collect and how; conducting the assessment; documenting, organizing, and interpreting information; and making and implementing instructional decisions. rather than examining the process in its entirety, nearly all empirical studies in the review focused on only one or two steps in the process of using ongoing assessment to tailor teaching. in addition, most studies examined teachers’ use of this process with a particular assessment tool. no studies examined implementation across a range of ongoing assessment tools. activities for individualizing instruction to address the question of what teachers actually do when using ongoing assessment for individualization, we report the various implementation activities discussed across the 173 studies. the activities identified in the review include selecting an observation or assessment teachers’ use of ongoing child assessment 141 target and method, documenting and organizing information on children’s progress, and interpreting and applying data to inform instruction and individualization. selecting an assessment target and method. ongoing child assessment begins when the teacher selects an assessment target and method. the assessment target is the knowledge, skill, or behavior that the teacher wants to assess. examples of assessment targets in preschool include recognizing shapes or colors when they are named, showing an understanding of cause-and-effect relationships, persisting in assembling a puzzle with fewer than 20 pieces, and taking turns with another child when playing a matching game. the assessment method is the way that the teacher gathers information about the skill, knowledge, or behavior of interest. examples of assessment methods include naturalistic observations; structured tasks, such as asking a child to name pictures, shapes, numbers, or letters using flashcards; and standardized or norm-referenced tests. the assessment system that the teacher uses (which program managers—rather than teachers—often select) can influence decisions about the target and method. specifically, goms typically define the target and method, while most curriculum-embedded approaches rely on teachers to determine which learning objectives to assess and how to assess them within their curricular activity. the supports available to the teacher within different assessment systems also vary, and some assessment systems link more closely to the curriculum than others. literature discussing how teachers select assessment targets was conceptual rather than empirical and consisted of recommendations for practice rather than what teachers actually do. recommendations included identifying targets that align with the curriculum; measure critical outcomes of the curriculum; are teachable, observable, or measurable; are generalizable in that they can be used and observed across multiple settings and promote skill development across related domains; and are universally designed such that all children can participate, regardless of the extent of any disabilities (bagnato, mclean, macy, & neisworth, 2011; fuchs & deno, 1991; good & kaminski, 1996; good, gruba, & kaminski, 2001; hojnoski & missall, 2007; hosp & ardoin, 2008). no studies focused specifically on teacher-level decision-making related to selecting an assessment method. in early childhood education, researchers have promoted the use of authentic assessments for instructional planning (defined as systematic recording of developmental observations about the naturally occurring behaviors and functional competencies of young children in daily routines by familiar and knowledgeable caregivers in the child’s life) over the use of standardized, norm-referenced tests (bagnato, neisworth, & pretti-frontczak, 2010; bagnato et al., 2011). some researchers maintain that authentic assessments are better suited for the early childhood context because they are “developmentally appropriate, representative, accurate, functional, and strengths based, especially for children with disabilities” (bagnato et al., 2011). other researchers maintain the importance of looking at the skill in the same way across time so that teachers can more easily attribute any change to differences in the child rather than differences in the task. pretti-frontczak and colleagues (2011) reviewed practice standards for assessment from professional organizations, various committee reports, and legislative policies. they summarized six common themes related to assessment practices for early childhood education, concluding that assessments should be (1) authentic (through the use of tasks “that reflect typical experiences rather than discrete isolated tasks that are irrelevant to the child’s daily life”), (2) ongoing, (3) developmentally appropriate, (4) individualized, (5) natural (through the use of 142 akers et al. structured observations of children doing typical tasks within their usual routine and setting), and (6) multifaceted (through the use of multiple sources and approaches to assessment). it is important to note that a long-standing tension exists between the use of standardized tasks versus authentic activities for ongoing assessment. supporters of standardized tasks argue for consistent, reliable measurement that is objective. alternatively, other researchers argue that children are not good test takers and may not respond to standard tasks and/or may not understand what they are being asked to do in a standard task. documenting and organizing information. once teachers collect ongoing assessment data, they need systems for documenting the information that enable reflection and interpretation (pretti-frontczak et al., 2011). the systems should be organized in a way that enables teachers to efficiently and easily access the data. in the literature reviewed, checklists and ratings were the most commonly cited methods for documenting information (mentioned in 13 and 10 studies, respectively), while other types of documentation include anecdotal records, children’s work samples (for example, drawings, writing samples, classwork), audio recordings, language samples (transcriptions of child language), and running records of oral reading. this information is then often organized using various systems, including portfolios for compiling data from multiple sources; graphs; and teacher-, school-, district-, or program-developed systems, such as excel spreadsheets or paper-based systems for recording data on children’s progress (see, for example, jarrett, browne, & wallin, 2006; mcconnell & missal, 2008). prevalent in the literature were studies that discussed web-based or technology-enhanced systems (see, for example, burke & vannest, 2008; fuchs, fuchs, & hamlett, 1994; ysseldyke & bolt, 2007). these systems include “off-the-shelf” programs for documenting, organizing, and assisting teachers with instructional planning and individualization. interpreting and applying data to instruction. once ongoing assessment data have been collected, documented, and organized, the critical next steps involve interpreting the data and then using the information to individualize instruction. across the studies, teachers often relied on web-based or technology-enhanced systems, coaches or mentors, or decision points set by schools or districts to help them interpret data (al otaiba et al., 2011; goertz, nabors oláh, & riggan, 2009; roehrig, duggar, moats, glover, & mincey, 2008; wasik et al., 2009). studies noted that teachers used ongoing assessment data to help them form small groups (debaryshe, gorecki, & mishima-young, 2009; gettinger & stoiber, 2008, 2012; wasik et al., 2009); create and implement tiered tasks or lesson plans (marcon, 2009; wasik et al., 2009); and identify children in need of one-on-one assistance (gettinger & stoiber, 2008, 2012; goertz et al., 2009). several studies looked at the efficacy of web-based or technology-enhanced systems designed to assist teachers in using ongoing assessment data to inform instruction and individualization (al otaiba et al., 2011; bolt, ysseldyke, & patterson, 2010; buzhardt et al., 2010, buzhardt, greenwood, walker, anderson, et al., 2011; fuchs, fuchs, hamlett, and stecker, 1991; fuchs et al., 1994; landry, swank, smith, assel, & gunnewig, 2006; landry et al., 2009; landry et al., 2011; ysseldyke & bolt, 2007). children whose teachers or home visitors had access to a webor computer-based system that provided immediate feedback with instructional recommendations had higher levels of achievement than children whose teachers or home visitors did not (al otaiba et al., 2011; buzhardt, greenwood, walker, anderson, et al., 2011; landry et al., 2009; ysseldyke & bolt, 2007). the use of technology to prompt the teacher with recommended instructional strategies based on the data that teachers input into the system teachers’ use of ongoing child assessment 143 was more prevalent with goms. it appeared to be easier to create decisions rules and program technology when the tasks were the same across children. despite these promising findings, research also suggests the critical role of implementation integrity—teachers using the technology and recommendations in the intended way—in achieving satisfactory results. for example, in a random assignment study of the effects of a technology-enhanced ongoing assessment and instructional management system— accelerated math—on math instruction in elementary schools, ysseldyke and bolt (2007) found teachers were using progress monitoring tools with less than half of students, despite a recommendation to implement the program with all students in their classes. when the researchers explored whether teachers chose to implement the program with certain types of students, they found no systematic method teachers were using to exclude students. teachers also varied in their quality of implementation. in a follow-up study, the researchers noted that the teachers who more successfully implemented ongoing assessment were in general more effective teachers (bolt et al., 2010). however, it is important to note that more effective teachers in this study may have been more likely to successfully adopt instructional innovations, such as ongoing assessment; the use of ongoing assessment may not have caused teachers to be more effective. supporting teachers teachers’ knowledge and beliefs and the resources available to support them are critical to the successful implementation of ongoing assessment, but results from this literature review suggest numerous barriers to successful use of ongoing assessment. although teachers may recognize the value of ongoing assessment and its use is mandated by head start, they do not consistently collect ongoing assessment data nor do they use it for instruction and individualization. teachers face barriers to using data, including a lack of pedagogical content knowledge and knowledge of assessment and interpretation of data. teachers report a desire for more training and professional development on using ongoing assessment to individualize instruction, but limited research exists to inform the approaches to training with the greatest promise for supporting teachers. teachers’ perceptions, use, and knowledge of ongoing assessment. across studies that reported on teachers’ perceptions of, experiences with, or knowledge of ongoing assessment and using data to inform instruction, findings suggest that although practitioners may recognize the value of ongoing assessment, they do not consistently collect ongoing assessment data nor do they use it for instruction and individualization (orosco & klingner, 2010; venn & mccollum, 2002). barriers to teachers’ use of assessment data to inform instruction. the literature pointed to two main barriers to using assessment data to inform instruction: (1) teachers’ knowledge of and skill in using assessment results to individualize instruction and (2) the breadth and depth of teacher knowledge of the content area (keilty, larocco, & casell, 2009; orosco & klingner, 2010; roehrig et al., 2008). across studies that asked teachers about their experiences using ongoing assessment to inform instruction, teachers consistently cited the need for additional training and support (see, for example, roehrig et al., 2008; kashima, schleich, spradlin, & indiana university, 2009). in particular, teachers wanted more professional development and support around how to (1) administer universal screening and progress 144 akers et al. monitoring assessments, (2) analyze data to make data-driven instructional decisions, and (3) change the curriculum and instruction to focus on evidence-based practices. professional development to support ongoing assessment. despite the need for additional training and support, only 18 of the 173 studies reviewed described the training and support provided to teachers implementing ongoing assessment (al otaiba, 2005; bagnato, suen, brickley, smith-jones, & dettore, 2002; ball & trammell, 2011; buzhardt et al., 2010; buzhardt, walker, greenwood, & carta, 2011; buzhardt, walker, greenwood, & heitzrnanpowell, 2012; fuchs et al., 1991; gajus & barnett, 2010; gettinger & stoiber, 2008, 2012; greenwood, buzhardt, walker, howard, & anderson, 2011; grisham-brown, hallam, & prettifrontczak, 2008; landry et al., 2006; landry et al., 2009; landry et al., 2011; marcon, 2009; wasik et al., 2009; zoll & rosenquest, 2011). fewer studies examined the approaches to supporting teachers with the most promise for improving their ability to use ongoing assessment for individualization. of the studies that described the types of assistance offered to teachers to support their use of ongoing assessment and using data to inform instruction, most offered initial trainings, which ranged from online professional development opportunities to multiday workshops, followed by ongoing one-on-one support from mentors or coaches (gettinger & stoiber, 2008, 2012; grisham-brown et al., 2008; wasik et al., 2009; zoll & rosenquest, 2011). although studies suggest that teachers can benefit from professional development on the use of ongoing assessment for individualization, research on the types of professional development that should be offered to teachers is not conclusive (buzhardt, greenwood, walker, anderson, et al., 2011; landry et al., 2009; landry et al., 2011). only one random-assignment study examined the role of various professional development methods on teaching behavior and children’s school-readiness (landry et al., 2009). the study found that teachers who received online professional development coupled with immediate, detailed feedback and mentoring showed the greatest improvements in their teaching behavior and in children’s school-readiness when compared to teachers who had coaching around classroom instructional interactions (not specifically tied to data) and teachers who completed assessments on their own but received no feedback from either live coaches or technology-generated tailored recommendations. however, additional approaches of professional development and support in the use of assessment data to inform instruction remain relatively unexplored in the literature. discussion the use of ongoing assessment in early childhood education has garnered increased attention from educators, administrators, policymakers, and researchers (buysse & peisner-feinberg, 2013; division for early childhood of the council for exceptional children, 2013). this literature review shows that the field is still in the early stages, and research on the implementation and effectiveness of ongoing assessment is still growing. the literature suggests that although teachers may recognize the value of ongoing assessment and its use is mandated by head start, they do not consistently collect ongoing assessment data nor do they use it for instruction and individualization. studies reported that teachers have indicated that they face a number of barriers that hinder their ability to interpret data and use data for individualizing instruction. in particular, teachers report a greater need for professional development about child development, pedagogical content, assessment practices, teachers’ use of ongoing child assessment 145 and evidence-based instructional approaches. teachers also may find the process of conducting ongoing assessment overly burdensome or complicated, especially in the busiest or most underresourced centers. among the few studies that examined the effects of professional development on teaching behaviors, comprehensive professional development seems to be more effective than no professional development, and professional development appears to be more effective when it includes technology-driven support with immediate, detailed feedback (buzhardt, greenwood, walker, anderson, et al., 2011; landry et al., 2009; landry et al., 2011). the literature is clear, however, that many teachers are not successfully implementing ongoing assessment for individualization and instruction without the assistance of a technology-based system that provides immediate feedback and recommends next steps for instruction. this suggests that investing in that type of technology would yield greater benefits for children. although current studies provide valuable information on teachers’ use of ongoing assessment for individualization, little is known about how critical each step in the process is to high quality use of the data to inform instruction and individualize. in addition, little is known about the key indicators of high quality implementation at each step in the process. this review suggests we lack solid evidence regarding which ongoing assessment activities best support individualization and enhance child outcomes. limited information is available about some of the activities involved in the process of using ongoing child assessment data for instruction and individualization. most studies focus on one or two of the activities, leaving few examples that focus on the process in its entirety. little is also known about the use of ongoing assessment in domains other than language and literacy and, to a lesser extent, social and emotional development and mathematics. few causal studies examine the types of ongoing support for teachers, particularly teachers working with children from birth to age 5, which may lead to improvements in teacher knowledge, instructional quality, and child outcomes. a few studies provide evidence of positive effects of ongoing assessment, but these studies typically include technology-enhanced systems that offer immediate, tailored feedback around using data to tailor instruction; therefore, it is not possible to isolate the effects of ongoing assessment alone. these studies also typically examine the use of goms, which are not used as commonly in early childhood as curriculum-embedded approaches. ultimately, this review points to a number of gaps in the knowledge base about ongoing assessment for individualization that future research should address. in particular, additional research is needed on the use of ongoing assessment with curriculum-embedded assessments and in domains other than literacy and language. although literacy is an important focus for the early grades, there is increased attention on both social and emotional issues and other content areas in the field of early childhood. it would be important to understand how assessment could be used in a variety of areas to provide information that can be used to modify instruction. further, studies are needed to help the field better understand whether and how teachers use ongoing child assessment to individualize instruction. although ongoing assessment is being used widely throughout head start, the current literature suggests that teachers struggle to take the significant step from collecting data to using it in classrooms. specifically, teachers may lack the knowledge of child development, pedagogical content, assessment practices, and evidence-based instructional approaches that they need to use ongoing assessment to individualize instruction. additional training and support may be necessary for teachers to successfully implement this process. however, few studies have closely examined all the activities involved in implementation to understand where in the process 146 akers et al. teachers experience the greatest challenges. more information is needed about how to best support teachers with training and professional development on using ongoing assessment to individualize instruction. the most promising strategy thus far has been the use of technology that provides immediate feedback and recommendations for teachers. it would be helpful for teachers to understand what specific strategies can be implemented with children if they are having problems in specific areas. knowing how to identify the problem is important, but teachers also need to understand what the data they collect means and how to try different, research-based instructional approaches to ensure that all children have opportunities to learn. future research should also study—and explore how to address—other potential barriers to teachers’ use of ongoing assessment, such as feeling overburdened with other work, not understanding the utility of ongoing assessment data to their instruction, and not knowing how to incorporate data into their curriculum and teaching practice in a way that addresses the needs of all children in the classroom. lastly, more research is needed to determine whether high-quality implementation of ongoing assessment to inform individualization is linked to improved instructional practices and, ultimately, improved child outcomes. references advisory committee on head start research and evaluation. retrieved may 1, 2012, from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/advisory_com/index.html al otaiba, s. 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(2011). sustainable practices in mentoring: tools to support child outcomes and a mentoring protocol in early language and literacy.” nhsa dialog, 14(4), 213–228. dialog, 22(1), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 it has been a privilege and a pleasure to serve as the editor of dialog. i have decided it is time to move out of the editor role to pursue other professional commitments. my time as editor has been marked by both change and progress for the journal. while the national head start association was unable to continue their support of the paper version of the journal, they have continued to be connected to the journal and provide in-kind support for our work. we transitioned the journal to an open access online publication. we also secured the support of the center for educational measurement and evaluation within the cato college of education at unc charlotte and have used the university platform for digital scholarship to give the journal a permanent home. from a content perspective, we have continued and expanded the tradition of including researchto-practice summaries with each research article. we have also established dialog as a forum for high quality qualitative research that presents the subjective experiences of head start teachers, parents, children, and administrators. we have featured a wide range of topics over the years and have always attempted to provide innovative research articles that are both of interest to the early childhood education profession and useful to the head start community. going forward, there is still much work to do and researchers can contribute to our ongoing understanding of the challenges head start programs continue to face, such as serving dual language learners and families from increasingly diverse cultural backgrounds and negotiating partnerships within communities with changing family demographics. in addition, the work of teachers is as stressful and challenging as ever. early childhood programs in general face ongoing challenges related to professionalizing the workforce, raising salaries and benefits, and retaining high quality teachers. it is my hope that the journal can continue to feature research studies that address the reliability, validity, and cultural sensitivity of early childhood assessment systems. i plan to remain on the editorial board and look forward to focusing on editorial assignments in this area. as a profession, we can support teachers by helping insure that the assessment resources they have available to them are practically feasible to implement, and yield information that is valid, useful for instructional planning purposes, and actionable. dialog can be a forum for research evidence that supports high quality assessment practices in the early childhood classroom. it is my pleasure to introduce dr. rebecca shore as our new editor. rebecca is a professor of educational leadership at unc charlotte and is the author of numerous articles and books on child development. she is a passionate advocate for high quality early childhood education and has a keen appreciation for the value of developmentally appropriate and cognitively stimulating programming for young children. she has also held a wide range of positions in the education field including teacher and principal. i am confident that under her leadership the journal will be in excellent hands and will continue to prosper for years to come. sincerely, dr. richard g. lambert letter from the editor dialog, 17(1), 20-35 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 this research was supported by a cooperative agreement between the us department of education, the corporation for public broadcasting, and the public broadcasting system for the ready to learn initiative, pr#u295a050003. research article the effects of literacy messages in an educational television program: a content analysis and experiment annie m. moses john carroll university nancy a. jennings university of cincinnati rachel brod john carroll university steven d. hooker arcadia university brian cordell and tabatha sallee university of cincinnati educational television programs have the potential to promote literacy affect as well as literacy skills in young children. this study involved a content analysis and field experiment to investigate the impact of the literacy messages conveyed in an educational children’s program on preschoolers’ and kindergarteners’ attitudes about literacy. the content analysis showed that program included many positive messages about literacy, especially the power of reading and the encouragement of literacy activities. however, the results of the experiment did not show statistically significant differences between participants who viewed the program and those who did not. trends did emerge, particularly related to gender. these trends, along with implications and limitations of the current investigation, are discussed. keywords: television, early literacy development, literacy attitudes even in the midst of new and innovative media products, television remains a steadfast companion for young children (rideout & hamel, 2006). children between birth and age 6 watch, on average, an hour and a half or more of television and videos per day (rideout & hamel, 2006), and decades of researchers have found that television has measureable effects on effects of literacy messages in television 21 young children (pecora, murray, & wartella, 2007). television can successfully affect one important area of children’s development, their language and literacy development (moses, 2008). although gains in literacy skills are critical, skills are not enough. children must also hold positive attitudes about literacy and perceive aspects of literacy and language as useful, interesting, and/or enjoyable. while although more is known about the impact of television on children’s literacy skills, little is known about how television impacts children’s attitudes about literacy. television and literacy skills development television can have a positive effect impact on children’s literacy and language skills development, including increasing their vocabulary knowledge, letter recognition, phonemic awareness, concepts of print and more (for review, see moses, 2008; fisch, 2004). for example, television programs that aim to teach specific words can increase young viewers’ knowledge of those words (naigles & kako, 1993; rice & woodsmall, 1988). child viewers of educational television programs, in particular, have shown improvements in their vocabulary acquisition and knowledge (duffy, fox, horwood, & northstone, 2004; linebarger & walker, 2005; silverman, 2009a; silverman, 2009b). moreover, children’s “talk” (i.e., vocalizations, words, multiple words) around the content featured during viewing sessions also increases (anderson et al., 2000; crawley et al., 2002). these are just a few examples of the impact that educational television can have on young children’s early literacy skills. although positive effects have been found, children’s programming is not created equal. extant research indicates that different types of programming (educational vs. non-educational) influence children in different ways (gola, mayeux, & naigles, 2012). more specifically, watching educational programming has been linked to more positive literacy and language outcomes, whereas watching non-educational (e.g., entertainment) programs has been linked negatively to literacy and language outcomes (e.g., anderson, et al., 2001; ennemoser & schneider, 2007; wright, et al., 2001). with increasing a greater focus on children’s literacy achievement across childhood, this places a priority on children’s exposure to educationallyoriented programming. in addition to content, children’s television programs also vary in how well characters, storylines and features (sound effects, visual effects, pacing, etc.) appeal to young viewers, which in turn has implications for their learning from television, such as their literacy learning. horton and wohl (1956) first conceptualized a “seeming face-to-face relationship between spectator and performer” (p. 215) as a parasocial relationship formed from parasocial interactions. in this case, characters on screen address the child viewer by directly looking at and talking to the camera and, from the child’s point of view, this feels as though the character is talking directly to him/her. when embedded within educational content, a parasocial interaction can engage facilitate learning. for example, research on blue’s clues suggests that children do interact with the characters both verbally and nonverbally (crawley, anderson, wilder, williams, & santomero, 1999) and, moreover, that with repeated exposure to the program, children’s interactions with the educational portions of the program increase (crawley et al., 2002). similarly, with dora the explorer, another preschool television program that utilizes parasocial interactions, calvert and her colleagues (2007) found that active engagement with the content predicted children’s comprehension of the central story. in addition, research suggests 22 moses et al. that interaction with an on-screen character leads to increased intrinsic motivation for the learner (kawachi, 2003). therefore, appeal and interaction with characters play a role in children’s engagement with content and, hence, their learning when the content is educational. interestingly, gender also plays a role in children’s appeal to characters and, subsequently, their learning from characters. hoffner (1996) found that boys were more likely to select same-sex characters as their favorite character than girls and that parasocial interactions with same-sex characters were different for boys than for girls. almost a decade later, wilson and drogos (2007) found similar results with preschool children. preschool boys chose same-sex characters as their favorite more frequently than girls, but girls had a stronger desire to be like their favorite character than boys. in addition, gender was not predictive of parasocial interaction (wilson and drogos, 2007). similarly, calvert and her colleagues (2007) found that girls identified with the hispanic female character (dora) more than boys, and girls benefited more from interactions with dora. as such, gender seems to have implications for character appeal as well as viewers’ learning outcomes. television messages about literacy educational programming, by definition, aims to promote learning in children, whereas entertainment and other non-educational programs do not. however, educational programs vary in which outcomes they aim to foster in young viewers, from social-emotional skills to content knowledge (math, science, language arts, etc.) or to physical development. although educational programming has generally been linked to positive literacy and language outcomes, a small number of studies suggest that programs do not present or portray literacy equally. content analyses have found that not every program contains positive messages about literacy, even educationally oriented programs (moses & other, 2008; mates & strommen, 1995). many programs fail to include characters interacting with literacy at all or characters say very little about how they feel or think about literacy. a few even contain negative messages about literacy (moses & duke, 2008; mates & strommen, 1995). moses and duke (2008) found 464 literacy messages across 44 hours of the top 10 most viewed programs by 2to 5-year-olds. they found that 20% of literacy messages portrayed literacy positively, in which that is, characters engaged with print and showed it to be interesting, useful or enjoyable (e.g., a character reading a book for pleasure). approximately 3% of literacy messages that they coded, though, were negative, in which reading or writing print was portrayed as not interesting, not useful, or not enjoyable (e.g., characters distracting each other from reading a book). although positive and negative messages were found, the vast majority (77%) of the interactions that characters had with print did not portray literacy in a positive or negative way; rather, characters remained neutral about the enjoyment and necessity of literacy. in addition to neutral messages, researchers have noted “missed opportunities” to convey to young viewers the power and purpose of print (moses & duke, 2008; mates & strommen, 1995). these missed opportunities included: (a) a lack of print on artifacts that would typically have print, such as a map or newspaper, (b) illegible print on artifacts, or (c) print that was absent completely from a interaction in which it could have been included. such findings cut across the most popular programs for young viewers and suggest that different literacy content (positive versus negative) may affect young viewers’ feelings about literacy differently. effects of literacy messages in television 23 television and literacy attitudes children’s attitudes or beliefs about literacy are an essential component to their literacy achievement (baker & wigfield, 1999). children as young as 3 years old differ in how they feel about literacy (i.e., not all young children have positive attitudes about literacy), and their literacy attitudes have been found to develop over time (saracho & dayton, 1991). in addition, some have found that boys and girls differ in their attitudes about literacy, with girls reporting more positive attitudes about reading than boys (e.g., mckenna, kear, & ellsworth, 1995). because attitudes develop early and likely lay the foundation for later attitudes about literacy, children need early, positive models of literacy and experiences with literacy. literacy attitudes are an important element of children’s overall literacy development. yet, very little is known about how television impacts children’s literacy attitudes. evidence from linebarger (2001) suggests that children vary in whether they view television as a learning tool and whether they see themselves as able to learn new information from it. she found that their beliefs related to their reading scores as a result of viewing a children’s television program (with or without captions and narration) and that gender mattered, too. results demonstrated that when boys perceived television as a learning tool and/or believed that they could learn new information from it, they scored higher on an oral reading measure (after exposure to the target television programming). their scores contrasted with boys who did not see television as a useful learning tool and/or felt that they could not learn new information from television. beliefs about television and one’s ability to learn from did not appear to help girls, as they scored higher on the oral reading measure when they had lower beliefs about television and/or their ability to learn from it. while these data indicate gender differences with regard to attitudes about television, only one known study has examined television’s impact on children’s attitudes about reading and writing. that study indicated that participants’ feelings about literacy did not change after watching either positive or negative clips that were 1 to 4 minutes long (moses, 2011). however, participants did comprehend the nature of the messages, that is, that positive clips portrayed literacy in a positive way and that negative clips that portrayed literacy in a negative way. the current investigation aimed to extend this line of research through two studies: 1) a content analysis of an educational program called super why! for messages about literacy, and 2) a field experiment to examine the impact of the program’s literacy messages on young children’s attitudes about literacy. the hypothesis for study 1 was: hypothesis 1: super why! will contain many positive, explicit messages per episode about literacy, with a particular focus on reading rather than writing or other literacy activities. the hypotheses for study 2 were: hypothesis 1: exposure to multiple positive, explicit messages about literacy in super why! will positively affect 4to 7-year-olds’ attitudes about reading. hypothesis 2: boys will have a higher reading attitude score than girls. hypothesis 3: children who like the program and/or program characters will have higher reading attitude scores after viewing the program. 24 moses et al. study 1: methods design following a line of content analysis of children’s programming focused on language and literacy, study 1 utilized a content analysis methodology in which super why! episodes were coded for messages about reading, writing and other aspects of literacy. forty-three episodes from the second and third seasons of super why! were selected for analysis. dvd copies and episode scripts of these episodes were obtained from the program’s producers. materials super why! is a popular educational children’s television program, which airs on the public broadcast service (pbs) during times targeted for young viewers. the program is geared toward 3to 6-year-olds and aims to promote a set of early literacy skills that predict later reading achievement (http://www.pbs.org/parents/superwhy/program/index.html). its first season was evaluated for its the program’s impact on early literacy skills, and results showed that viewing super why! episodes increased preschoolers’ symbolic representation and phonemic awareness, letter recognition, and speech to print matching (linebarger, mcmenamin, & wainwright, 2009). while although studies have shown that other children’s programs can positively affect children’s early literacy skills (moses, 2008), few contain positive messages about literacy, as mentioned earlier (moses & duke, 2008). super why! has not previously been analyzed for messages about literacy, however, initial viewings of the program informed hypothesis 1 for experiment 1, and the intention was to use the results from experiment 1 to inform the selection of episodes utilized in experiment 2. procedure a codebook was developed to include code labels, definitions and examples of each code to use when analyzing episode scripts (see table 1). the first version of the codebook contained predetermined codes and definitions based on past research (moses & duke, 2008; linebarger & piotrowski, 2010). the first author trained a primary coder, and they piloted the codebook on scripts randomly selected from the first and second seasons in order to refine and finalize the codebook. the codebook was updated until no new codes emerged. in the final step, the first and primary coder established sufficient inter-coder reliability on a set of scripts that had not been used previously and were not included in the final sample. they reached a cohen’s kappa of .91, indicating a high level of agreement and completing coder training. with a finalized codebook, the primary coder coded the 43 episodes from seasons 2 and 3. she used the episode scripts as the main source for coding; however, if any questions arose about an interaction or action around a literacy message, then she consulted the dvd copy. an inter-rater coder was also trained to code a subset of the sample to assess the reliability of the codebook. for 30% of the overall sample, inter-coder reliability reached a kappa of .927, which indicates a high level of agreement between the primary and secondary coders. the primary and http://www.pbs.org/parents/superwhy/program/index.html effects of literacy messages in television 25 secondary coders discussed all disagreements and resolved them before final analyses were conducted. table 1 codes and accompanying definitions used to analyze episodes for affective messages about literacy code definition r_pow, w_pow, lit_oth_pow literacy gives you power to solve a problem, save the day r_use, w_use, lit_oth_use literacy is useful for accomplishing a task r_nec, w_nec, lit_oth_nec literacy is necessary to complete a task r_aff, w_aff, lit_oth_aff having positive feelings about literacy r_means, w_means, lit_oth_means literacy is a means to an end r_hap, w_hap, lit_oth_hap literacy make someone else happy r_enc, w_enc, lit_oth_enc giving encourage to another character or viewer to engage in literacy r_praise, w_praise, lit_oth_praise giving another character or viewers praise after engaging in literacy r_eff, w_eff, lit_oth_eff having positive feelings about effort towards literacy r_adv, w_adv, lit_oth_adv reading takes you on an adventure that is exciting coding each episode script was coded for affective messages about literacy, and this was operationally defined as any verbal statement made by a character that mentioned his/her feelings or beliefs about print literacy, including reading print, writing print, and signing or talking about letters, words or sounds connected to print. with respect to the third code (singing or talking about letters, words or sounds), one example is when the character alpha pig encourages viewers to sing an alphabet song by saying “abc…sing with me!”; this was coded as “lit_other_enc”. statements that did not mention the character’s feelings or beliefs about print were not coded, even if it related to an aspect of literacy, such as a character naming a letter and/or sound that appears on screen without further commentary (e.g., “and now a y. it sounds like ‘eeee’ in this word.”). statements were one sentence or phrase in length. a character could repeat the same statement about literacy more than once, and each instance was counted (e.g., “the super readers save the day” was repeated three times during the closing song, and this statement was coded as three instances of “r_pow”). every statement that indicated a character’s feelings or beliefs about print was coded for three characteristics: 1) the affective quality of print or a stated belief about the purpose of print mentioned by the character (reading is powerful, writing is useful, etc.); 2) the type of literacy activity referenced by the character (reading, writing, or singing or talking about print [referred to as “literacy other”]); and 3) the type of statement made by the character (an explicit or direct statement about the character’s feelings or beliefs about print, or an implicit, or indirect, statement about the character’s feelings or beliefs about print). 26 moses et al. study 1: results results show that super why! episodes contain many positive, explicit statements about the affective qualities and purposes of reading, writing, and other literacy activities. in fact, across the 43 episodes that were coded, 2,727 statements about reading, writing, or other aspects of literacy were found. table 2 includes the frequency and percentage of each message type for both seasons. across the two seasons, the number of messages coded ranged from 48 to 79 per episode, and there were, on average, 63 affective or purpose statements per episode. table 2 frequency and percentage of literacy messages in seasons 2 and 3 of super why! code frequency percentage reading encouragement 749 27.5 reading is powerful 527 19.3 reading is useful 279 10.2 other literacy encouragement 260 9.5 writing encouragement 198 7.3 reading praise 189 6.9 reading is a necessity 132 4.8 reading is a means to an end 86 3.2 writing is useful 84 3.1 writing positive affect 74 2.7 reading makes someone happy 60 2.2 writing praise 44 1.6 other literacy praise 23 .8 reading affect 13 .5 writing makes someone happy 3 .1 other literacy affect 2 .1 other literacy effort towards literacy 2 .1 reading takes you on exciting adventures adventures 2 .1 total 2727 100.0 with respect to literacy messages season by season, the number of literacy messages per season 2 episodes ranged from 53 to 79 and, on average, seasons 2 episodes contained 65 statements. the number of messages in season 3 episodes ranged from 48 to 72 messages and, on average, season 3 episodes contained 62 messages. as table 2 indicates, just over 80% of the statements (2,202 out of 2,727) focused on six specific codes. although the frequency of occurrence differed somewhat between seasons, the six most common messages/themes to appear in both seasons include: 1) reading encouragement (749 statements), 2) reading empowerment (527 statements), 3) reading usefulness (279 statements), 4) general literacy encouragement (260 statements), 5) writing encouragement (198 statements), and 6) reading praise (189 statements). effects of literacy messages in television 27 the messages about the affective quality and purposes of reading, writing and other literacy activities were stated in both explicit and implicit ways by characters in the program throughout the episodes. however, the vast majority of the statements about literacy were stated explicitly (2,484 out of 2,727 or 91% of affective or purpose statements) rather than implicitly (243 out of 2,727 or 9% of affective or purpose statements). super why! characters used their literacy skills in different ways – they could be seen reading, writing, singing and talking about print in each episode. many of the messages about literacy, though, involved statements about reading (2,035) rather than writing (402) or other literacy activities (289). this trend is similar when looking at season 2 versus season 3, with characters engaging with reading (approximately 74% and 75%, respectively) far more often than writing (approximately 16% and 14% respectively) and other literacy activities (approximately 11% for both). study 1: discussion findings from the current content analysis indicate that when emerging readers and writers watch super why!, they are exposed to a multitude of positive, explicit messages about literacy. across seasons 2 and 3, no negative messages about literacy were found. in addition, super why! viewers witness characters explicitly discussing many positive feelings about literacy and positive reasons for being literate. positive, explicit statements put a spotlight, in particular, on literacy as being powerful, useful, and something to be encouraged or praised. this contrasts extant research in that very few of the most popular children’s programs include messages about literacy. with its concentration of positive and explicit messages about literacy, super why! appears to have the potential increase young viewers’ attitudes about literacy. yet, the question remained whether exposure to these messages about literacy over time would impact children's attitudes about literacy. this is especially a concern for children who may not readily develop positive feelings and perceptions about literacy. therefore, study 2 was conducted to address questions of effects. study 2: methods design the second study involved an experimental design in which participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: the experimental group who viewed 20 episodes from seasons 2 and 3 of super why! and the control group who did not view any programming. control participants served as a monitor of literacy attitudes in children from with similar demographic characteristics as the participants in the experimental group. sample one hundred and sixty-five children between the ages of 3 and 7 years were initially recruited from three elementary schools and seven child care centers in a midwest, urban city. the 28 moses et al. research team recruited from local child care centers and schools in low income neighborhoods with a large non-white population. of the 165 children initially recruited, 16 children were withdrawn from the analysis because of incomplete data. of the remaining 149 children, 56% of the 75 preschoolers were girls, and 40.5% of the 74 kindergartners were girls. once receiving parental consent, classrooms were randomly assigned to either the control or experimental condition. child participants completed all project-related tasks in their school or child care center, including viewing episodes (for the viewing condition) and all child assessments. parent surveys to assess the family demographics were sent home with the children and returned by mail. stimuli episodes were selected based on the results of study 1’s content analysis. the average frequency of literacy messages, as they appeared in each episode, was calculated. episodes were selected in which the 6 prominent literacy messages from the content analysis appeared at or above the mean. twenty-three episodes met the initial criteria. in order to maintain the integrity of the coding scheme and daily viewing for the participants in an organized manner (1 episode per day for 4 weeks), 20 of the 23 episodes were selected. measures for the children, an assessment of their attitudes about literacy was administered at both preand post-testing sessions. fiin addition, for children in the experimental viewing group and children in the control group who could correctly identify the name of the program from a logo of the super why! program, an assessment of the child’s appeal of the characters and the show was completed at post-test. appeal measures could only be given at post-test because the children needed to gain familiarity with the show and characters before expressing their liking of them. reading attitude measure. the reading attitude measure (ram) consisted of two parts: 1) open-ended general reading attitude questions and 2) a modified version of the elementary reading attitudes survey (mckenna and kear 1990; mckenna, kear, and ellsworth1995). the open-ended questions asked children to articulate their reasoning for why it is important to read and write. one question asked about reading and the second asked about writing. a modified version of the elementary reading attitudes survey was developed in order to be able to use the same scale with both preschooler and kindergarteners. the original scale consists of 20 questions on a 4-point scale, displaying the cartoon character of garfield in various states of emotion. of the 20 questions, 12 questions were selected (see table 3). because the original scale was created for children between first and sixth grade, some of the questions were not included for the ram. items were excluded because they asked about reading activities typically associated with older, and presumably independent reading, children (e.g., “how do you feel when you read aloud in class?” and “how do you feel when it’s time for reading class?”; mckenna, kear, & ellsworth, 1995). while the 4-point scale was maintained, different pictures, which that did not involve the garfield character, were utilized. the pictures rangeding from a smiley face making a “thumbs up” gesture to a smiley face making a “thumbs down” gesture. data analyses of the scale revealed that reliability of the scale increased to α = effects of literacy messages in television 29 .760 with the removal of two items (see table 3); therefore, the ram was calculated as a sum of scores for the remaining 10 items. table 3 items for the modified reading attitudes survey item number item 1* how do you feel when you read a book on a rainy saturday? 2 how do you feel when you read a book in school during free time? 3 how do you feel about reading for fun at home? 4* how do you feel about getting a book for a present? 5 how do you feel about spending free time reading? 6 how do you feel about starting a new book? 7 how do you feel about reading instead of playing? 8 how do you feel about going to a bookstore? 9 how do you feel about reading different kinds of books? [prompt: “a story, or a book that tells you information about the world around you, or book with the alphabet in it, different kinds of books”] 10 how do you feel when the teacher asks you questions about what you read? 11 how do you feel about reading in school? 12 how do you feel about learning from a book? note: items removed from analysis appeal. in order to assess children’s interest and liking of characters and the program and whether that influenced their attitudes about literacy, appeal was assessed in two ways: 1) program appeal (i.e., how much children liked the program as a whole, how it compared to children’s favorite programs, etc.) and 2) character appeal (i.e., how much children liked the 4 main characters and identified characters as a friend or being like a friend). in addition, children were asked to nominate one of the super readers as their favorite and articulate why. procedures after obtaining parent permission and child assent, children completed individual pre-test sessions with research team members. once the testing was completed for the classroom, viewing classrooms watched 20 episodes of super why! (1 each day for 4 weeks). following the 20-day viewing period, all children participated in individual post-test sessions with research team members. study 2: results with respect to hypothesis 1, a between-subjects anova was run to examine whether experimental participants differed from control participants on their attitudes about reading at posttest. it also examined whether differences existed between males and females in preschool versus kindergarten. no significant differences were found for the main effect of condition (f(1, 146) = .957, p = .330, ηρ² = .007) or grade (f(1, 146) = .014, p >.905, ηρ² = .00.) but trended 30 moses et al. toward significance for gender (f(1,146) = 2.78, p = .098, ηρ² = .02). (note that groups did not differ in their reading attitudes scores at pretest along any of these variables.) although not statistically significant, both male and female participants in the experimental group tended to score slightly higher on the posttest reading attitudes measure than their control counterparts a repeated measures ancova was conducted to examine whether differences existed by condition (experimental versus control) over time (pretest versus posttest reading attitudes) and by gender (male versus female), when controlling for grade (preschool versus kindergarten). no significant differences were found for the main effect of time (f(1,136) = .72, p = .789, ηρ² = .001), the interactions between time and condition (f(1,136) = .148, p = .701, ηρ² = .001) or time and gender (f(1,136) = .616, p = .434, ηρ² = .005). although not statistically significant, experimental participants’ scores increased slightly from pretest to posttest whereas control participants’ decreased slightly from pretest to posttest. that is, children’s reading attitudes scores dropped went down, on average, for children who had not seen super why! whereas a slight increase was noted for children who had viewed the super why! episodes. further analyses involved chi-squares tests to examine whether there were significant relationships between two categories: condition (experimental versus control) and attitudes (high versus low). the frequency of participants’ reading attitudes scores at pretest and posttest were analyzed and split into approximately two equal groups (higher attitude scores versus lower attitude scores). chi-square tests did not show statistically significant relationships at pretest [χ 2 (1, n = 142) = .095, p = .758], but did trend toward significant at posttest [χ 2 (1, n = 146) = 2.78, p = .096]. similar to the trend noted in the univariate anova analysis, more experimental children had higher reading attitudes scores than control children after the treatment of 20 episodes of super why! also, the number of control children who had lower reading attitudes scores increased from pretest to posttest, whereas the number of experimental children with lower reading attitudes scores decreased from pretest to posttest. table 4 displays the number of children at pretest and posttest in each condition and attitude category (note that the sample size for pretest was lower than at posttest by 4 children). table 4 total number of experimental and control children with low versus high reading attitudes scores at pretest and posttest pretest reading attitudes scores posttest reading attitudes scores low high low high control 35 40 43 34 experimental 33 34 29 40 results from the anovas and repeated measures anovcas provided an initial answer regarding hypothesis 2, but they also indicated that gender may be playing an important role. data suggest larger mean differences for boys than girls, in that males in the control group experienced a decrease in their reading attitudes scores from pretest (m =31.67 , sd = 6.46) to posttest (m = 30.28, sd = 7.07)whereas males in the experimental group experienced a slight increase in their reading attitudes scores from pretest to posttest (m = 31.03, sd = 5.35, m = effects of literacy messages in television 31 31.34, sd = 5.67, respectively). females in the control group experienced a slight increase in their attitudes scores from pretest (m = 31.68, sd = 6.96) to posttest (m = 32.50, sd = 6.06), and females in the experimental group remained the same in their attitudes scores after viewing episodes of super why! (m = 32.72, sd = 5.41, m = 32.72, sd = 5.24, respectively). additional analyses involved chi-square tests to examine whether there were significant relationships between condition (experimental versus control) and attitudes (high versus low) by gender. chi-square tests revealed no significant relationships between conditions at pretest on girls’ and boys’ reading attitudes scores [χ 2 (1, n = 142) = .313, p = .576 for females; χ 2 (1, n = 142) = .644, p = .422 for males]. chi-square tests revealed no significant relationship between experimental and control females on posttest reading attitudes scores [χ 2 (1, n = 146) = .549, p = .459] but trended toward significant for males by condition [χ 2 (1, n = 146) = 3.065, p = .08]. in this case, a greater number of experimental males had higher attitudes about reading than control males at posttest, and the number of males in the higher reading attitudes category increased from pretest to posttest for experimental males but decreased for the control males. table 5 displays the number of males and females at pretest and posttest in each condition and attitude category (note, again, the sample size difference at posttest by 4 children). table 5 total number of males and females by condition and attitude category at pretest and posttest pretest reading attitudes scores posttest reading attitudes scores low high low high control males 18 19 24 13 females 17 21 19 21 experimental males 22 16 17 21 females 11 18 12 19 a final step in the analyses examined the differences between condition, gender and grade level for participants’ attitudes about reading from pretest to posttest. results from the repeated measures anova did not reveal significant differences by time and condition (f (1, 133) = .120, p >.05) or the interactions of these factors (ps >.05), but examining the means and standard deviations reveals that, especially in kindergarten, males in the experimental group slightly increased in their attitude scores after viewing episodes as opposed to kindergarten males in the control group who experienced a slight decrease in their attitudes scores from pretest to posttest. with respect to the third hypothesis about the appeal of characters and the program and literacy affect, analyses were conducted for those children in the viewing condition only. results suggested that the program was well liked by almost all of the viewers: 91.3% reported that they liked the show “a lot”. only 2 preschoolers indicated they did not like the show. no significant differences were noted in appeal of the program by age or gender of the viewer, and no significant difference were noted in the appeal to the program and their reading attitude. although gender did not play a role in the appeal of the program, differences were noted with respect to the gender of the characters that the children identified as their favorite. results 32 moses et al. indicated that girls were significantly more likely to select princess presto (94.7%) and wonder red (85.7%) as their favorite characters than boys [χ 2 (4, n = 68) = 40.92, p < .05]. boys were significantly more likely to select super why (89.7%) as their favorite character, and only boys (no girls) selected alpha pig as their favorite (see table 6). table 6 child viewer’s selection of their favorite super why! characters gender of child favorite character total super why alpha pig princess presto wonder red more than 1 character male 26 (89.7%) 2 (100.0%) 1 (5.3%) 1 (14.3%) 8 (72.7%) 38 (55.9%) female 3 (10.3%) 0 (.0%) 18 (94.7%) 6 (85.7%) 3 (27.3%) 30 (44.1%) total 29 (42.6%) 2 (2.9%) 19 (27.9%) 7 (10.3%) 11 (16.2%) 68 (100.0%) although gender was a factor in their selection of favorite characters, no significant differences were noted found between the appeal of a particular character and children’s reading attitude. however, an examination of comments made by children for the reasons why they picked particular characters as their favorite revealed trends associated with literacy skills. while whereas some comments referred to the appearance of the character (“because he has green” for super why) or gender (“because they are girls” for princess presto and wonder red), other reasons related directly to the power exhibited by the character and the character’s literacy skills (“because he has the power to read” for super why and “because she can spell” for princess presto). interestingly, more comments about reading and literacy elements were associated with the super why character than with any of the other characters, and all of these comments were made by boys. of the 37 comments made about super why, 21.6% of them were directly related to reading. discussion developing literacy skills in the early childhood years is critical to a child’s success in learning to read and writing as well as later schooling. yet, as children learn the mechanics of reading, writing, speaking and listening, they are also developing attitudes and perceptions about literacy. if children feel positively about literacy and their ability to engage in literacy activities, then they will likely engage in reading more and become good readers and writers. many different factors in children’s home and school environments influence the skills, attitudes and perceptions of that they develop over time. during this critical time, children are exposed to many hours of television, and the content on television has been shown to influence a variety of academic and non-academic skills including in literacy and language, and attitudes. results of the first study revealed that super why! characters offer viewers many positive, explicit statements about reading, writing and other literacy activities. to test the impact of these statements, the second study examined whether the messages had an impact and whether characteristics of the messages (appeal) facilitated effects. although the results showed no statistically significant differences between participants who viewed 20 effects of literacy messages in television 33 episodes of the program, important trends emerged. first, children who viewed the program tended to have slightly higher reading attitudes scores after watching the program than children who did not view the program. for the control children, scores tended to decreased from pretest to posttest. this may indicate a gap that could widen over time, as children’s attitudes about literacy generally decrease as they get older (mckenna, kear, and ellsworth 1995). the results do not support the conclusion that the program made a significant impact; however, trends suggest that greater exposure may lead to statistically significantstronger effects. with regard to a second trend, it appears that gender may be playing a role in the ways in which the program might influence that developmentliteracy attitudes. past research has shown that boys and girls in the early childhood years do differ in their feelings about reading (mckenna, kear, and ellsworth 1995), with girls generally feeling more positive about reading and boys feeling less so. this gender gap has been found as early as first grade and widens as children progress through their schooling. boys, then, seem more susceptible to negative feelings about reading, and this may have long-term consequences for their overall literacy development and success. trends from the second investigation indicate that positive messages about literacy may help counter the decline in attitudes about reading that boys experience; with greater exposure, significant differences might have been found. finally, appeal of the program and particularly of specific characters may also be a factor for children’s literacy attitudes. linebarger and wainwright (2007) identified familiarity with media characters as a strategy which may be particularly well suited to support learning. moreover, fisch (2004) also suggests that the “efficacy of educational content on television may be mediated by the character who delivers it” such that “viewers may attend more to the characters’ words or action” which is expected to result deeper processing of the educational content (pp. 185-186). while although appeal to the show and specific characters did not have a significant effect on children’s literacy attitudes scores, trends suggest that they were identifying with characters and that they were noticing the literacy messages embedded in the character. this seems particularly true for boys, who mentioned these literacy messages with the super why character more frequently than girls and who chose super why as their favorite character more frequently than girls. this suggests that a male character who portrays the power, enjoyment and usefulness of literacy has the potential to positively impact boys’ literacy attitudes similar to findings in previous research (i.e., girls’ interactions with and appeal to a strong female character benefited their educational outcomes when viewing a different preschool television program; calvert et al., 2007). limitations these findings, though, must be interpreted in light of the limitations of the study. one limitation involves participants’ exposure to the program. children may not have viewed a sufficient amount of the program to significantly change their developing attitudes about reading. a longer period of regular viewing may have had a greater impact. related to exposure, control children may have been exposed to the program outside of school and been influenced by the literacy messages in the program. therefore, future research should consider this when designing a study of television’s effects impact on literacy attitudes. related to exposure, participants only viewed a program that contained a multitude of positive, explicit messages about literacy. the assumption guiding this selection was that these 34 moses et al. messages would have the greatest chance of changing children’s attitudes, if change was indeed possible. yet, negative messages about literacy may have a different or stronger effect than was found in experiment 2. however, there was concern about finding a program with the same amount and magnitude of negative messages as well as a concern about intentionally showing young viewers negative messages for an extended period of time. therefore, the current investigation only focused on a program with many positive, explicit literacy messages. still, results could not speak to the impact of negative messages about literacy on young children’s attitudes about literacy. another limitation relates to the measures utilized in this study. the literacy attitudes measures were not specific to super why! content. instead, participants were assessed on more general measures of reading attitudes developed in extant research. assessments of messages specifically presented in the episodes may have yielded different (and significant) results that were not found with the ram instruments. 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(2001). the relations of early television viewing to school readiness and vocabulary of children from low-income families: the early window project. child development, 72 (5), 1347–1366. http://pbskids.org/read/files/superwhy_research_view.pdf microsoft word miller ra.doc dialog, 20(1), copyright © 2017, issn: 1930-9325 research article understanding cultural factors contributing to obesity in head start hispanic preschoolers: perceptions from one county head start m. elizabeth miller, stephanie nicely, and marisol del teso-craviotto miami university geralyn timler james madison university obesity rates among low-income hispanic preschoolers are higher than those of lowincome whites, highlighting the need for understanding the culturally factors that may contribute to obesity. utilizing a community-based approach, a survey was distributed to hispanic head start families; preschooler body mass index (bmi) was calculated. two focus groups examined caregiver perceptions about weight status and meal practices. the rate of overweight/obesity in the preschoolers was 44%, whereas, 79.4% of caregivers reported child weight as “normal.” caregivers perceived “thinness” as a disadvantage, favored home-cooked meals, and expressed a desire for children to assimilate to mainstream foods, but these practices could contribute to unhealthy weight status. obesity prevention within head start must account for caregiver perceptions of healthy weight and incongruities between cultural values, meal practices and weight guidelines. findings provide considerations for head start programs when designing culturallyrelevant obesity prevention programs that are responsive to hispanic families’ cultural needs and perceptions. keywords: low-income, hispanic, preschoolers, obesity prevention, cultural perceptions hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the us, with an estimated one in three us children identifying as hispanic by 2030 (colby & ortman, 2015). the hispanic community is at a higher risk for developing a variety of health conditions (centers for disease control and prevention [cdc], minority health, 2015) and low-income hispanics in particular are at an increased risk of developing obesity. the prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity is higher among hispanics (22.4%) than among non-hispanic whites (14.1%) (skinner & skelton, 2014). according to the ohio 2014 pediatric nutrition surveillance system (pednss) data, the hispanic cultural practices contributing to preschool obesity 30 prevalence of obesity in low-income hispanic children age 2 to <5 was 17.9% compared to 13.5% in low-income non-hispanic whites (hornbeck, 2016). obesity during childhood places a child at higher risk for additional health risks such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease (dietz, 1998), highlighting the need for identifying and intervening early within the hispanic community, particularly among preschoolers. the reasons for this disparity in hispanic preschooler childhood obesity rates are multifactorial, however it is critical to understand the specific influences of culture that may contribute to higher obesity rates among this population in order for culturally relevant interventions to be designed and delivered (laws et al, 2014). literature review and theoretical framework the institute of medicine’s accelerating progress in obesity prevention (iom, 2012) report recommended a comprehensive approach to childhood obesity prevention that includes the community. the increasing socioeconomic and health disparities over the last twenty years (us department of health and human services, 2005; berkman, 2009) underscore the need to design effective interventions that meet the needs of diverse populations. before effective interventions can be designed and implemented, community organizations and stakeholders need to be engaged in a systematic process of identifying and outlining the relevant issues. community level interventions require a research methodology that takes into account the social and cultural dynamic of a community and its members. as such, community-based participatory research (cbpr), a research paradigm that espouses equitable community partnerships to address community health issues and eliminate disparities, has become a widely accepted research approach used to better understand issues of public health concern (israel, schulz, parker, becker, 1998; minkler, 2010). within cbpr, community is defined as individuals who share a common identity and may not include a geographical location (israel, eng, schulz, & parker, 2005). cbpr is an important community-based research paradigm because the practices and strategies improve the quality and validity of research findings through the inclusion of community members in the research (israel et al, 2005b). this approach to research is unique in that it values the contributions and capacity of community members throughout the process (minkler & wallerstein, 2008). cbpr methods have been used to combat childhood obesity and to better understand the disportionately higher rates of obesity among hispanic children (de la torre et al., 2014; schaefer, camacho-gomez, sadeghi, kaiser, german, de la torre, 2015). the robert wood johnson (rwj) foundation’s 2014 state of obesity special report on racial and ethnic disparities in obesity recommends that community-based strategies and interventions are culturally and linguistically appropriate to maximize effectiveness. the report also highlights recommendations that latino parents be educated about childhood obesity and the importance of healthy eating and promotes community partnerships to leverage resources and expertise to create solutions. for example, the healthy rc kids partnership (rwj, 2014) utilized cbpr collaboration between residents and community stakeholders in a low-income latino community in california to identify barriers to healthy eating and active living. the idaho partnership for hispanic health project utilized cbpr to identify hispanic families’ barriers to healthcare through a community assessment. results of the assessment subsequently informed the design of a community-based program. cbpr has also been used within early head start, a birth to three 31 miller et al. program for low-income families, to understand how the family support approach affected the health and development of the children (mcallister, green, terry, herman, & mulvey, 2003). authors in these studies concluded that the cbpr approach enhanced the creation of conclusions which led to the development of more culturally relevant and effective programs. studies conducted among low-income hispanic families have shown that hispanics present certain beliefs and attitudes that may influence parent behavior regarding feeding practices (vera-becerra, lópez, & kaiser, 2015) and that these beliefs and attitudes are different for non-hispanic groups such as whites (gomel & zamora, 2007) and african americans (skala, chuang, evans, hedberg, dave, & sharma, 2012). in a recent review, russell et al. (2016) highlighted a gap in understanding the behaviors of parents and children from disadvantaged backgrounds that contribute to obesity in children. evidence from this review suggested that predictors of child obesity in early life, such as unhealthy feeding practices, poor diet, and sedentary behaviors are more prevalent in economically disadvantaged families. however, only three studies in this review of the literature included mexican families, and those did not specifically address cultural factors. it is important to note that needs assessments and interventions developed as a result of the cbpr process are unique to each community and not necessarily transferrable from one community to another. as such, the needs and barriers of each community must be assessed. this is especially important for addressing the needs of hispanic communities, which can differ from each other significantly in terms of immigration status, country of origin, income and educational levels, and integration within the larger community. project background given that approximately 21% of head start families in the selected ohio county self-identified as hispanic in the 2014-2015 academic year, and that head start provides parent education, support and resources to build a healthy family, head start is an ideal organization to assist in generating a more comprehensive understanding of the multiple factors that contribute to the higher rates of obesity among low income hispanic preschoolers in order to develop effective interventions (office of head start, 2015). as such, the authors of this study partnered with an ohio county head start program who had identified obesity as a health concern based on a 26.7% obesity rate among hispanic preschoolers in the county. utilizing a cbpr approach, the researchers, key stakeholders and community members developed a survey and conducted focus groups to assess the specific barriers present in the healthy weight status in this hispanic head start community. the purpose of this study was to better understand barriers that hispanic families in this county face in raising healthy weight head start preschoolers. to achieve this goal, and based on previous findings of factors that contribute to obesity among low-income hispanics, a multimethod research study was implemented to examine hispanic parents’ perceptions of 1) their child’s weight status and 2) the influence of culture in their food selection, preparation and meal practices that may contribute to the child’s weight status. the long-term objective of this study is to use this information for the design of culturally relevant obesity prevention interventions. the research questions that were generated in conjunction with head start leadership and an advisory board included: 1) what are hispanic parents’ perception of their hispanic cultural practices contributing to preschool obesity 32 head start children’s weight status? and 2) how does their hispanic culture influence food and meal practices that might contribute to weight status? methods this study employed both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. the quantitative data consisted of both a parent survey, and height and weight measurements of the head start preschoolers resulting in a calculated body mass index (bmi) percentile. the qualitative data were elicited via two hispanic focus groups. an advisory board, consisting of the researchers and head start parents, teachers, family service workers, and administration from this county, was created to collaboratively facilitate the research process. this advisory board was representative of the county head start community. the parent survey was developed by the advisory board to examine family meal preparation and eating practices. survey responses were then used to inform questions for focus groups conducted with a sample of hispanic caregivers to provide a deeper understanding of survey results. the research team conducted a review of the literature prior to the initial advisory board meeting in order to better understand the categories for assessing child eating and physical activity behaviors. the national health nutrition examination survey (cdc, 2016) and 5-2-1-0 obesity prevention recommendations from the childhood obesity: assessment, prevention and treatment expert committee (barlow & the expert committee, 2007) were used to guide initial discussions with the advisory board. survey development was done in conjunction with the input and feedback from advisory board members, who were not only members of the head start community, but individuals with a professional and/or personal understanding of child health. the advisory board identified important categories to assess, including child and family eating habits, intake of fruits and vegetables and sugar-sweetened beverages, physical activity, shopping, cooking, food insecurity, healthcare access, screen time, and demographics. board members were instrumental in helping construct the questions to enhance participant readability and understanding. several board members represented either parents or providers of hispanic children enrolled in the program and as such were able to provide the research team with additional information on how to make the survey culturally-relevant and sensitive to the needs of the hispanic families served by the program. prior to survey administration, several parent representatives on the board completed the survey and provided additional suggestions on clarifying the wording of questions or survey instructions. the study was approved by miami university’s institutional review board. participants participants for both the survey and focus groups included caregivers of preschoolers from one ohio county head start program who self-identified as hispanic during the 2014-2015 academic year. participants were recruited with assistance from the head start teachers and family service workers and data collection occurred during the monthly parent meetings. recruitment flyers and posters were created in spanish and english, disseminated to families and displayed at each head start site in the county. participants were invited to attend the october monthly parent 33 miller et al. meeting and were also incentivized for participation with lunch and a grocery gift card. during the monthly parent meetings, parents completed the survey and families were invited to participate in the focus groups. sixty-three hispanic caregivers completed the survey; demographic data for this sample is presented in table 1. participants for the focus groups included twenty-nine caregivers including one male and twenty-eight females. all focus group participants were first-generation immigrants from mexico. no other identifying characteristics were collected from the participants to minimize potential concerns for possible undocumented families. table 1 hispanic survey participant demographic data demographic question frequency (n=63) percent what is your age? 20-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 46-50 23 11 17 10 2 36.5 17.4 27.0 15.9 3.2 primary language spoken english spanish english and spanish no response 2 51 7 3 3.2 81 11.1 4.8 which category best describes you? parent working in the home parent working outside the home parent in technical school or college teen parent in school grandparent/guardian 48 16 2 1 1 76.1 25.4 3.2 1.6 1.6 number of children under 18 living in household one two three four five six seven 7 10 28 13 2 2 1 11.1 15.9 44.4 20.6 3.2 3.2 1.6 hispanic cultural practices contributing to preschool obesity 34 which of the following adults live in your household? mother father grandparent aunt/uncle/cousin sibling/in-law guardian/foster parent step parent boyfriend/girlfriend/partner 61 47 3 16 2 1 3 1 96.8 74.6 4.8 25.4 3.2 1.6 4.8 1.6 which best describes your family? two-parent family female head of household male head of household no response 56 4 0 3 88.9 6.3 0 4.8 do you receive snap or food stamp benefits? yes no i don’t know no response 47 12 1 3 74.6 19.0 1.6 4.8 do you receive wic benefits? yes no no response 47 12 4 74.6 19.0 6.3 data collection and measures quantitative a 65-item survey, created in both english and spanish, was developed in conjunction with the advisory board and included questions about weight status, food intake, mealand food-related practices, and food insecurity, as well as specific questions about cultural foods and practices. the demographic data collected included self-identified ethnicity, home language, and household information. survey data was collected during the monthly parent meetings in october 2015 in all of the head start locations in the county. instructions for completion of the consent form and survey were read aloud in both english and spanish. during the meeting, child height and weight were measured using the portable health-o-meter 800kl digital scale and secca stadiometer and entered on the survey. a standardized measurement protocol was used to ensure consistent measurement. body mass index (bmi) percentiles were calculated for each student using the center for disease control’s bmi percentile standards (cdc,bmi percentile calculation, 2015). 35 miller et al. qualitative after the survey data was collected and analyzed, two forty five-minute focus group sessions were held at one of the head start sites in which all families were hispanic. parents who completed the survey were invited to participate in the focus group sessions. the family service worker introduced the native spanish-speaking researcher to the group. consent forms were distributed, explained, and signed prior to participation. both sessions were conducted entirely in spanish. the focus group facilitator encouraged participation, promoting an open exchange of dialogue among the group, and all participants were provided the opportunity to contribute to the discussion and given adequate time to explain their experiences. the majority of parents (all but one at each session) were active in sharing their experiences. table 2 outlines the focus group questions. probing was used to follow-up on questions and provide clarification to answers. table 2 focus group questions for hispanic caregivers 1. in a typical day, what types of foods do you eat? tell me about the role of food in your culture. what is the importance of food and weight as an aspect of your culture? please describe and provide examples. 2. 3. what is your experience with meals in your home? follow up: do you cook? do you eat meals together? where do you eat meals? is there anything you would like to change about your meal routine? what are your children’s favorite meals? 4. 5. tell me about your grocery shopping experience. tell me about the types of foods you purchase. follow up questions: is it easy to find the food you want from your culture? are there foods that you would like to have but are not available? 6. 7. do you think there are differences between your food choices and eating habits, and those of other non-hispanic families? it may help to think about when you eat, who you eat with, how often you go out for dinner, etc. data analysis using spss (ibm corp., 2013), frequencies were calculated from the quantitative data. the focus group recordings were transcribed verbatim in spanish and then translated into english. content analysis and open coding were conducted in which the transcripts were reviewed and then coded. codes were assigned to the text; similar codes were classified into categories; categories were grouped to form themes (strauss & corbin, 1998). themes were substantiated with participant quotes. the quotes were chosen based on their ability to best capture the central themes identified. data saturation was achieved following the second focus group, at which time no new categories or themes emerged from the analysis of interview transcripts. the findings hispanic cultural practices contributing to preschool obesity 36 were triangulated with information from the quantitative survey data and through member checking following data analyses of focus group sessions. the procedures for the data collection and analysis are outlined in figure 1. figure 1. data collection procedures 37 miller et al. results survey sixty-three hispanic caregivers completed the survey. highlights of the parent survey are presented in table 3. responses related to weight perceptions, family meal preparation and dining habits, and cultural food accessibility are shown. seventy-nine percent of parents perceived their child’s weight as normal, whereas only 4.8% perceived their child to be overweight. nearly 21% of parents were not confident that their child eats enough. in terms of meal preparation, 85.7% reported always preparing meals at home, 71.4% always prepare meals from their culture, and 36.5% perceive meals from their culture to be more nutritious. over half of the respondents (55.6%) stated that foods from their culture are easily available. in addition to preparing meals at home, 76.6% of caregivers identified that they always eat meals at the table. table 3 frequency table of survey responses survey question frequency n = 63 percent at this time, i think my child’s weight is underweight normal weight overweight no response 2 50 3 8 3.2 79.4 4.8 12.7 i am confident that my child eats enough never/seldom/sometimes often/always no response 13 47 3 20.6 74.6 4.8 meals are prepared at home never/1-2 days week 3-4 days week 5-6 days week every day no response 0 0 7 54 2 0 0 11.1 85.7 3.2 hispanic cultural practices contributing to preschool obesity 38 my family eats meals at the table (versus in the car, in front of the tv or computer) never/seldom sometimes/often always no response 8 5 47 3 12.7 8.0 76.6 4.8 i prepare foods from my own culture (e.g. mexican) never/seldom sometimes often always no response 0 3 11 45 4 0 4.8 17.5 71.4 6.3 where do you get information about healthy eating, active play, healthy growth and weight (check all that apply)? doctor/nurse internet/website/google search head start school staff friends family members wic 51 21 26 9 12 13 81* 33.3* 41.3* 14.3* 19* 20.6* note. *these percentages are not cumulative focus groups three major themes were identified through the qualitative data analyses: (a) belief that “being skinny is not healthy” (b) value of home cooked meals and eating together, and (c) hispanic community network as a source of health and nutrition information. the qualitative themes are presented in relationship to results of the parent survey. belief that “being skinny is not healthy”. the survey results indicated that hispanic parents’ perceptions of their child’s weight were not congruent with the actual bmi measured by the research team, as shown in table 4. 39 miller et al. table 4 comparison of child actual bmi percentile and caregiver perception of weight status underweight normal overweight/obese no response percent of children in bmi percentile classification 8.5% 47.5% 44% n/a caregiver perception of child weight 3.2% 79.4% 4.8% 12.7% all of the participants’ comments related to weight focused on the disadvantage of thinness. in fact, one participant stated that, “in the hispanic mentality, being skinny is not healthy”. this statement points to a cultural perception of body image and the undesirability of being thin within this group. i let her eat because she is skinny and small…. she is skinny and i do not know about your families but my grandmother, for example, was obsessed about us not being skinny because she related skinny to not being healthy. i tell the pediatrician ‘she does not gain weight’ and she performs a physical on her. after all they said ‘your daughter is well; her weight and height are ok; do not worry about her.’ i still get concerned, but they say everything is ok, but i do not think she gains any weight. i have a daughter who is 8 years old, she is very skinny. someone told her that she does not look hispanic. and i ask her “why?”. “because i do not have hips and all hispanic girls have hips. this concern about the disadvantage of “thinness” also led parents to cook in order to please their children or get them to eat more food, as well as providing new culture foods to accommodate their children’s exposure to american foods. cook to please. focus group participants collectively discussed the importance of “cooking to please”. conversations surrounding meal preparation highlighted parent concern regarding “thinness”. participants admitted to making a variety of foods in order to increase child food consumption during meal times, “i have to make a lot of food, hoping they would eat the same thing, but cooked in a different way.” one participant stated, “you cook to spoil your children with what they like to eat”. another stated, “at times it seems like we have a buffet…..however i do make it hoping that they (the children) will eat it. we all try to cook what they like to eat so they can eat it”. parents expressed concern with their children receiving appropriate nutrients. concern was also expressed about others’ perception of their child’s weight, as it related to thinness. one parent stated “she (the child) eats well, but she is slim, some people will think that she eats small amounts but she eats a lot. no one believes it”. hispanic cultural practices contributing to preschool obesity 40 providing new culture foods. the focus group participants also reported attempts to maintain their traditional ways of cooking. however, they felt it was important to integrate american meals/foods into their children’s diet in order to support the child’s assimilation with american culture. incorporating american foods was also cited as another strategy for increasing the amount and types of foods consumed by participants’ children, especially as children became more accustomed to american foods through school meal programs. one participant stated, “my children eat homemade food. if they want to eat (fast food) like, three times a month, we take them to wendy’s, to give it (american food) a bit more.” providing these new culture foods is another way for caregivers to decrease their own concerns about the child being too skinny, as well as cooking to please their children and assuring that they will eat. sometimes i cook american food for my daughter. […] the oldest goes to school, eats american food. then, sometimes she’s invited to parties too, and her friends are american, they eat, and so i try to get her used to it, i cook macaroni and cheese, and other american meals. hispanic families perceived their cooking as a healthier option than the food provided by american families. one parent stated, “americans eat what they take with them, they unpack it and put it in the microwave or the oven. and that’s it.” although participants perceived american food to be pre-packaged and more processed than that prepared in the hispanic community, they still felt it was important to offer american foods to their children. value of home-cooked meals and eating together. results of the survey indicated that hispanic families have several meal-related practices (cooking meals at home and eating meals at the table) that have been associated with lower obesity rates (gable, chang, & krull, 2007). for instance, 85.7% of hispanic families reported cooking meals at home every day and 76.6% reported eating meals at the table (as opposed to doing it in front of the tv or in the car). in terms of cooking meals from their home cultures, 71.4% of hispanic families reported doing so every day, while 17.5% did so often. in addition, only 7.9% considered those meals less nutritious than typical us meals. during the focus groups, participant comments indicated that cooking meals at home and eating together were valued practices in their country of origin and were traditions they wanted to instill in their offspring, “when i was a little girl…. we all eat together, and it was the time that we all share together”. another participant stated, ‘in my house, we eat only the food that i cook, not food from another place. in my home, we have homemade food if my children want to eat food.’ challenges with parenting at meal times. although parents discussed the importance of eating together as a family, the majority of participants identified challenges faced during family mealtimes. these challenges focused on children’s attempts to use electronic devices (such as tablets and ipads) or to watch television while eating. one participant stated, “the children are eating with the tablets next to them. i have to tell them that tablets are not allowed at the table.” sometimes they come to the table with their tablets or with their toys and i have to tell them that we need to sit down to eat. they sit down but they want to play with their toys and i say “put the toy to the side” and then they do not want to eat. 41 miller et al. another mealtime challenge discussed was parent perceptions of their children as “picky eaters”. “my children do not like to eat anything green; no color green. what do you do? ...do you think they should eat it? do you pressure your children to eat it?” “there’s a brand of milk i started buying for my children [...] but they don’t like it. it is the same milk, the blue cap. kroger brand they will drink, i don’t know if it has a bad flavor. i think it does depend on the brand.” parents discussed their own childhood mealtime experiences versus that of their children, “in mexico, we used to eat first and play and watch tv when we were done.” one participant stated, “i would like to pass practices/traditions on to my children, but now the rules have changed and children dictate the rules.” another replied, “children used to listen to their parents which is the difference.” influence of head start on child eating practices. according to participant comments, head start plays a significant role on the eating practices of the children enrolled in the program. child food preferences are often sculpted by the school environment, where meals and snacks are offered on a daily basis for children in the program. one parent shared “i have one daughter that likes stew broccoli but the other one does not because at school they do not cook it like that”. another parent stated that “i cook american food for my daughter because they are here….and go to school and eat american food there”. changes in the type of milk offered at the school (transition from 2% to 1% milk) have created discrepancies and additional challenges for parents, “she has no problem drinking milk at home, but the milk at school is different. i think it’s the flavor of the milk..[i buy] the one with the red lid”. another parent stated, “there is another milk with the blue lid, but it comes like clear water. my daughter does not like it because it tastes like water.” hispanic community network for health information. networks of support are strongly embedded within this hispanic community. one participants stated “it is all about hispanic mothers and mothers in general supporting each other during the morning that we have to go to work”. participants also alluded to information shared within their community. health and nutrition information, while not necessarily verified as accurate or factual information, is shared among the women. for example, one caregiver stated” i do not know if you know who i am talking about, but she says broccoli can make some people sick.” other types of information shared included specific information about allergies “if you feel sick after drinking milk, it could be that you are milk intolerant”. while survey results indicated that 81% of hispanics get their health information from the doctor or nurse, 33% selected internet and another 33% selected family or friends. based on discussions, participants revealed that they received information from clinics, but they may not necessarily follow the suggestions. internet information may be in the form of youtube videos, which are typically found by their older children. one participant stated, “i hear about it (information) on the internet, about cheetos, the fat ones with cheese. they are the ones that my daughter does not like since she saw the video.” another participant followed up by stating, “cheetos, i honestly don’t buy them because i have seen the youtube videos and saw that cheetos is made from petroleum.” hispanic cultural practices contributing to preschool obesity 42 discussion the results of this study reveal important factors that must be considered when addressing obesity in low-income hispanic populations including caregiver beliefs about ideal body weight and shape, the value and importance of traditional meal practices and the desire to integrate some of those practices with mainstream american practices, and optimal resources for obtaining information about child health and nutrition. an unexpected finding of this study was that some of the information obtained from the qualitative and quantitative methods did not align as anticipated. data from the focus group interviews provided more nuanced understanding about parent perceptions and beliefs and in some cases, revealed the potential for misinterpretation when only one data source is viewed. according to anthropometric readings, 44% of the sample was overweight or obese. however, the majority (79.4%) of parents perceived their child’s weight status to be within normal limits for age. examination of focus group discussions demonstrated that perception of child’s weight status was influenced by family/cultural norms. the caregivers in this group expressed preoccupation about the undesirability of thinness, rather than concerns about obesity, a trend seen in other studies with hispanic parents (gomel & zamora, 2007), and more importantly, they presented their weight perceptions in cultural terms, as reflecting hispanic constructions of a desirable body, just as other hispanic groups in the literature (messiah, asfour, arheart, selem, uhlhorn, & natale, 2015). this has important implications, since hispanic parents’ inability to recognize overweight due to their cultural and social norms may prevent them from engaging in obesity prevention (ganter, et al., 2015). an additional concern is parents’ lack of association between obesity and health problems, which echoes research that has suggested that hispanic mothers do not associate their child’s weight status with global ratings of their child’s overall health (baker & altman, 2015). this positive perception of overweight (or lack of concern) may create barriers in the form of parent lack of engagement in behavior change around healthy eating and physical activity. parents felt satisfied with the child’s weight and therefore saw no reason to engage in action to make change. the implication of this finding is that obesity reduction interventions may not be effective unless caregivers understand and agree to the importance of maintaining a healthy weight. additionally, school to parent communication about children’s weight status needs to include important education regarding the relationship of the child’s weight status to chronic health risks. this is an important factor as research has concluded that parental recognition of their child’s overweight is inversely related to healthy eating habits and physical activity (vanhala, keinanen-kiukaanniemi, kaikkonen, laitinen & korpelainen, 2011). collaboration with hispanic parents to discuss healthy weight and develop culturally-relevant communications that are sensitive to beliefs and practices should be an important priority for the head start community. head start needs to take parental perceptions of weight into account when designing obesity prevention programs, as the lack of recognition of overweight creates barriers to change in healthy eating and physical activity. the caregivers expressed their efforts to eat home cooked meals as a family as often as possible, a trend that mirrors the opinions of other low-income hispanic parents (skala, chuang, evans, hedberg, dave, & sharma, 2012). our research did not examine the specific content of these home-cooked meals, therefore further research needs to explore what constitutes these meals cooked at home and how country of origin influences menu selection. it is important to examine food selection and preparation practices at the local level because of the multiple 43 miller et al. intricacies of hispanic cultures that vary from country to country, and across socioeconomic and racial groups. in this study, mexico was the country of origin for the focus group participants. according to mexico’s secretary of health, mexico leads the world in childhood obesity. in a 2010–2011 census of weight and height of public elementary school students ages 6 to 12 in mexico city, 43% of boys and 37% of girls were overweight or obese (mexico secretary of health, 2015). these data suggest that one must not assume home-cooked meals based on country of origin food practices will necessarily result in a healthy weight and that it can be misleading to characterize hispanic traditional food and meal practices as healthy (vera-becerra, lopez, & kaiser, 2015). working with hispanic families to generate new recipes, adapt their traditional recipes to make them healthier, and/or offering caregiver-child cooking classes to assist with picky eating could be effective strategies for improving weight status while simultaneously embracing their cultural heritage. hispanic caregivers reported adding to current family meal traditions to become “more american”. the views expressed about american practices focused on offering children fast food and introducing them to “party foods” such as macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, and pizza. these views point to a need to develop intervention strategies that account for the value of both their own cultural practices and us-style eating. that is, families need guidance in choosing healthier american practices to adopt when attempting to help children integrate with the mainstream culture. the importance given to maintaining cultural meal and cooking practices, while at the same time adopting practices and foods of the new culture, show how the integration of different cultural attitudes and behaviors is not a clearly defined, one-directional development that leads to assimilation, but a complex process of multiple outcomes. caregivers reported they did not view health care professionals as the only source of information related to child nutrition and wellness. although caregivers may be receiving nutrition information from healthcare providers as confirmed in our survey data, the focus group data suggest that we must consider the role of alternative sources of information for families and the extent to which these sources reinforce or challenge cultural perceptions of healthy weight and body image. this highlights the importance of better understanding how families obtain and share health information. for example, easy access to internet content in spanish makes health information less dependent on the medical establishment, which is, for the most part, an englishspeaking medium. in addition, the caregivers also relied on their own individual and collective parenting skills. hispanic families have been shown to disregard child feeding recommendations by healthcare providers based on the variances between these recommendations and cultural/family practices (franzen-castle & augiree, 2015). informal health communication strategies are common among us hispanics (katz, ang, & suro, 2012) and help explain why these caregivers did not problematize their relationships with doctors when discussing nutrition. easy access to the internet in the home language, and close community ties can be important assets for access to, and dissemination of health and nutrition information, but the example of the cheetos video on youtube shows that families need skills to critically evaluate the information they are receiving from these alternative sources. possession of those skills should not be automatically assumed when preparing educational materials for the head start community. hispanic cultural practices contributing to preschool obesity 44 implications for practice interventions targeting hispanic families need to consider the role of the caregivers’ cultural practices as well as the social network in child rearing, feeding/meal practices and nutrition/health education. data from focus groups confirm that hispanic families seek information related to parenting and health from friends and family members. as such, networks of support need to be clearly identified and included in the education of hispanic families. as head start examines strategies for addressing childhood obesity for this subgroup, interventions must purposefully consider the influence of a family’s social network on the receipt and transmission of health information. specific recommendations include: • ensure that head start policy council/advisory boards include families from the hispanic community in order to examine if policies and communications are culturally relevant and sensitive to the needs of families in the program. • future research needs to examine the most effective way for educating and reaching hispanic families that may be similar or different to how traditional head start families are educated. the overarching goal of head start is to support the mental, social, and emotional development of children while also providing children and their families with health, nutrition, social, and other services. primary methods of family education include written messaging sent home in the child’s backpack and monthly parent meetings held at the head start locations. given what we have learned about the potential beliefs of hispanic families and the role of the social networks, the question remains whether this is the best method to create transformational family change. interventions such as recipe adaptation, meal/cooking strategies and selection of healthy american foods might be best if provided for the social network instead of just the head start family. • head start may need to consider providing outreach education and support to the broader hispanic social network to effectively permeate the community and impact health behaviors. in addition, given the perceptions of weight status, head start may consider reviewing communication methods for delivering child weight status information to parents as well as collaborating with local primary care physicians to ensure consistent, culturally-relevant health education. future research may need to consider what the contents of that letter should be in order to meet the cultural needs of hispanic families and communicate the importance and relevance of the child’s weight status to his/her overall health. conclusion the results of this report highlight the importance of using both quantitative and qualitative data to inform deeper understanding of the cultural practices and beliefs that contribute to childhood obesity in hispanic families. the inclusion of members of the community of interest ensured that the findings generated were culturally relevant and sensitive to the needs of the hispanic head start community in this county. findings from this study supported results of previous research in which hispanic parents perceive their child’s overweight status to be “healthy” due to a cultural norm related to undesirability for thinness. this belief may prevent parents from engaging in health promotion 45 miller et al. and obesity prevention behavior change. the findings also revealed that the hispanic culture influenced meals practices such as home-cooked family meals, cooking to please children’s food preferences, and incorporating american foods to bridge food cultures, but these practices may contribute to an unhealthy weight status for the child. additionally, while maintaining cultural meal and cooking practices was found to important to hispanic families, adopting practices and foods of the new culture was also important. in light of that, families need guidance in choosing which american food practices to adopt that will support a healthy weight and help children integrate with the mainstream culture. strategies suggested included working with hispanic families to generate new recipes, adapt their traditional recipes to make them healthier, and/or offering caregiver-child cooking classes to assist with picky eating. both the findings and implications from this study provide considerations for head start programs when designing effective, culturally relevant obesity prevention programs that are responsive to hispanic families’ cultural needs. acknowledgements the authors would like to thank our bcesc head start partner, the advisory board, teachers, family service workers and staff who provided valuable insight into the development of the survey and facilitation of successful data collection. in addition, thank you to suzanne prescott, jane connelly, and nikki taylor for their trust in the partnership and navigation of head start. this project was supported by a grant from the office for the advancement of 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(2015). child feeding practices and overweight status among mexican immigrant families. journal of immigrant and minority health, 17(2), 375-82. dialog, 18(3), 1-25 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research article relationship between peer social competence and academic readiness for head start children: a multi-method, multi-source measurement approach tracy carter clopet and rebecca bulotsky-shearer university of miami best practice in early childhood assessment supports a comprehensive multi-method, multi-source measurement approach, with tools validated for use with culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse populations (national research council, 2008). this study employed this approach to assess peer social competence in relation to gains in academic readiness for 527 preschool children. canonical correlations revealed concordance between measures of teacher-reported and observed peer social competence. path models suggested that these measures were uniquely and differentially associated with gains in direct assessments of academic readiness; with teacher-reported interactive peer play associated with greater gains in vocabulary and observed communication with peers associated with greater gains in listening comprehension. additionally, observed conflict with peers was associated with significantly fewer gains in alphabet knowledge and mathematics. findings support the need for a comprehensive measurement approach that includes multiple perspectives and methods for examining peer social competence with culturally and linguistically diverse preschool children from low-income backgrounds. keywords: multi-method, multi-source; peer social competence; school readiness; head start living in poverty is associated with exposure to multiple stressors (e.g., family stress, lack of desirable housing, exposure to community violence), which place children at risk for poor academic readiness for kindergarten (duncan, brooks-gunn, & klebanov, 1994). during preschool, peer social competence has been identified as an important protective factor for academic learning, helping to buffer the negative influence that living in poverty has on children’s early school adjustment (hamre & pianta, 2007; mashburn et al., 2008; national association for young children (naeyc), 2009). peer social competence encompasses the ability to fit in with and develop a network of positive relationships with peers (raver & zigler, 1997). research suggests that children who display social competence are more likely to engage in positive peer interactions that foster skills essential to both social and academic domains of school readiness (including problem solving, empathy, and cognitive and language 2 clopet & shearer competencies; coolahan, fantuzzo, mendez, and mcdermott, 2000; fantuzzo, sekino, & cohen, 2004; mcclelland & morrison, 2003; zigler & bishop-josef, 2006). while peer social competence is recognized as a key contributor to children’s school readiness, it is complex to measure as it is embedded within social relationships, interactions and contexts. studies typically rely on a single informant, such as a parent or teacher, to provide ratings on children’s peer social competence. current best practice in early childhood assessment recommends the use of a comprehensive, multi-method, multi-source approach that is sensitive to culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse populations (national research council, 2008; standards; american educational research association [aera], american psychological association [apa] and the national council on measurement in education [ncme], 1999). in accord with the best practice recommendation, this study extends prior research by using a comprehensive assessment of preschool peer social competence as it occurs dynamically within the classroom context. multiple measures developed specifically for use with culturally diverse populations from low-income backgrounds were used to investigate the relationship between peer social competence and academic readiness for a sample of head start children. theoretical framework to guide inquiry the bioecological model provides a framework for studying and assessing peer social competence within context. in accord with this model, children’s development occurs within the context of several nested systems. proximal settings, such as the home and preschool environments, have the most direct influence on the child (bronfenbrenner, 1979). opportunities for children to practice and master developmental challenges are embedded within interactions in these proximal contexts (kontos & keyes, 1999). as children interact with teachers and peers in the classroom, they have direct opportunities to master social and academic skills (downer et al., 2010; pianta, 2006). it is through children’s interactions in the classroom that school readiness skills develop over time (bronfenbrenner & morris, 1998; carta & greenwood, 1985). children who are able to engage successfully with peers in the classroom are likely to develop cognitive, as well as social emotional skills, which are essential to school readiness. in contrast, children who are unable to successfully participate in social interactions with peers may be missing out on these early learning opportunities. social competence and learning social competence in preschool settings is often assessed through observations of peer interactions in the classroom. through this observational method, early childhood researchers have identified a set of positive and negative behaviors observed within the context of peer interactions in the preschool classroom (fantuzzo, coolahan, mendez, mcdermott, & suttonsmith, 1998). a series of research studies have found that positive behaviors that promote peer interactions and negative behaviors that interfere with peer interactions are differentially associated with learning outcomes during preschool. a summary of this research conducted within early childhood programs serving children from low-income backgrounds is described below. peer social competence and academic readiness 3 positive peer interactions and learning outcomes. behaviors that promote positive peer interactions are conceptualized as strength-based, prosocial behaviors such as initiative, problem solving, helping other children, and showing creativity during play (fantuzzo et al., 1998). these interactions are seen as naturally occurring opportunities in the classroom that support cognitive development by allowing children to model and extend the behaviors of their peers (mendez & fogle, 2002; nicolopoulou, mcdowell, & brockmeyer, 2006). research has supported links between positive engagement with peers and mathematics, literacy and receptive vocabulary skills (ginsburg, pappas, & seo, 2001; pellegrini, 1984). research conducted with head start children has also demonstrated positive associations between positive peer interactions and teacher reported literacy and mathematic skills (cohen & mendez, 2009; fantuzzo, sekino, & cohen, 2004; mendez & fogle, 2002). difficulties in peer interactions and learning outcomes. research suggests that difficulties interacting with peers can be characterized by two types of behavior: disruptive behaviors and disconnected behaviors (arnold, homrok, ortiz, & stowe, 1999; fantuzzo et al., 1998; hart et al., 2000; winsler & wallace, 2002). children characterized as being disruptive with their peers show overt and relationally aggressive behaviors that include initiating fights, taking objects from peers, excluding peers from play, and tattling to the teacher (arnold et al., 1999; wood, cowan, & baker, 2002). children characterized as being disconnected from their peers show a lack of engagement, including a preference for solitary activities, or a social anxiousness or fearfulness that inhibits engagement with peers (hart et al., 2000). these children are often observed playing alone or anxiously hovering outside a playgroup (coplan et al., 2009; hart et al., 2000). both disruptive and disconnected behaviors with peers have been linked to lower engagement in positive, cooperative peer interactions, which support learning in the preschool classroom (coolahan, fantuzzo, mendez, & mcdermott, 2000; fantuzzo et al., 1998). much of the research examining the associations between negative peer interactions and academic skills has focused on kindergarten and elementary school children. findings from these studies consistently document that problems in peer interactions are associated with lower academic performance, as well as lower ratings on other related measures that support academic achievement (ladd, kochenderfer, & coleman, 1996). less is known about the association between negative peer interactions and learning during the preschool years. however, recent studies with head start children document negative associations between difficulties in peer interactions and academic skills. in these studies, disruptive and disconnected behaviors with peers are associated with greater emotional and behavior problems and lower academic achievement during preschool (bulotsky-shearer, bell, romero & carter, 2014; fantuzzo, sekino, & cohen, 2004; hampton & fantuzzo, 2003; sekino, 2006). measuring peer social competence in context in accord with the bioecological framework, there is a critical need for child-focused assessment measures that capture children’s behavior and development as it is naturally occurring in transaction with complex proximal systems, such as the preschool classroom. scholars have responded to this need in the field by developing rating scales and observation methods of children’s positive and negative engagement with peers that focus on children’s behavior during several social and academic contexts in preschool. two measures in particular have contributed 4 clopet & shearer to the growing body of research demonstrating the importance of this contextual approach to assessment: the penn interactive peer play scale (pipps; fantuzzo et al., 1998) and the individualized classroom assessment scoring system (inclass; downer, et al., 2010). the pipps, a teacher report measure of children’s behavior with peers during play, was developed in close partnership with head start teachers and parents to inform early intervention among high-risk urban preschoolers (fantuzzo et al., 1998). many of the available measures for assessing social competence are deficiency oriented, or downward extensions of tools validated for use with elementary school children and lack psychometric evidence for use with preschool children. in contrast, the pipps employed a strengths-based, developmental approach to assessing the peer play behaviors of preschoolers from low-income backgrounds. the validity of the pipps was later extended to preschool children from hispanic backgrounds (castro, mendez & fantuzzo, 2002). recent studies using the pipps (fantuzzo et al., 1998) have demonstrated that displaying positive behaviors with peers during play is associated with increased academic readiness skills; whereas displaying negative behaviors within peer play is linked to lower social and academic functioning (e.g. bulotsky-shearer, manz et al., 2012; coolahan, fantuzzo, mendez, & mcdermott, 2000; fantuzzo, manz, atkins, & meyers, 2005; fantuzzo, sekino, & cohen, 2004; mendez, fantuzzo, & cicchetti, 2002). additionally, to compliment existing measures of children’s competence in classroom interactions, the inclass was developed to provide a process-oriented, observational tool that captures children’s interactions in real-time (downer et al., 2010). prior to the development of the inclass, limited observational methodology focused on early childhood competencies was available. the primary challenge in the development of such measures was a lack of consensus around developmentally appropriate constructs in early childhood. more recently, however, consensus in the field around the developmental salience of interactions – both positive and negative with teachers, peers, and tasks has grown (see pianta, 1999). the focus of this study is on interactions with peers specifically; initial studies with the inclass have demonstrated that observed positive engagement with peers in the classroom is associated with increased social and academic skills and decreased behavior problems (downer et al., 2010; williford, wittaker, vitiello, & downer, 2013). the nature of the pipps and inclass measures allows researchers to examine children’s classroom engagement within the dynamic developmental demands of the peer context. findings from initial studies using the pipps and inclass suggest that children’s classroom behavior does vary across classroom contexts; in head start samples, this variation has been found to be uniquely and differentially associated with social and academic outcomes during preschool and elementary school (bulotsky-shearer et al., 2008; bulotsky-shearer & fantuzzo, 2011). specifically, children who demonstrate early difficulties engaging in structured learning situations are more likely to have social (less interactive and greater disconnected play) and academic readiness difficulties (bulotsky-shearer, et al., 2008). children who evidence early problems in peer interactions demonstrate greater difficulties with peers at the end of the year (greater disruptive and disconnected play); and children who evidence early problems in teacher interactions demonstrate lower social competence with peers (interactive play; bulotsky-shearer et al., 2008). in order to gain a better understanding of children’s peer social competence, research studies employing contextual assessments across multiple methods and sources are needed to inform a comprehensive understanding of children’s behavior. examining information from multiple methods and sources is critical as distinct information about a child’s behavior can be gleaned through various perspectives. teachers’ peer social competence and academic readiness 5 have extended time and experience with the children in their classroom, in addition to having knowledge of normative behavior with reference to the many children they have taught. however, characteristics of the teacher (i.e., level of education, mental health, classroom stress) may affect both their assessment of a child’s behavior and the level of agreement across raters (kohen, brooks-gunn, mccormick, & graber, 1997; szatmari, archer, fisman, & streiner, 1994; waterman et al., 2012). whereas, observation methods, while considered a “more objective” approach to assessment, are often criticized for only capturing a snapshot of children’s behavior during a circumspect moment in time. in addition, until recently observation measures for studying this association in preschool were not available. the present study extends prior work by combining the unique strengths of the pipps and inclass measurement approaches, to capture children’s interactions with peers as they naturally occur in the preschool classroom. additionally, the association between peer social competence and gains in academic readiness skills were examined in this study to investigate the unique predictive ability of teacher report and observation measures of peer social competence for preschool children in head start. moderation by child sex developmental research suggests that sex differences in behavior and early academic skills start to emerge in preschool (bulotsky-shearer, bell, romero & carter, 2012; keenan & shaw, 1997; mendez, fantuzzo, & mcdermott, 2002). research suggests that preschool girls have an advantage over boys with regard to early social skills (keenan & shaw, 1997; mendez, fantuzzo, & mcdermott, 2002) and exhibit an advantage in language, literacy, and mathematic skills that is maintained during the preschool year (bell, greenfield, & bulotsky-shearer, 2013; coolahan, fantuzzo, mendez, & mcdermott, 2000; ponitz et al., 2008; qi, kaiser, & milan, 2006; stowe, arnold, & ortiz, 2000). while these sex differences in mean levels of social and academic skills have been documented, few studies have been conducted examining whether the associations between peer social competence and academic outcomes differ by children’s sex. the few early childhood studies that have examined the associations between peer social competence and academic outcomes suggest that prosocial and problem behavior may play a more important role in supporting academic skills for girls than boys. for example, zevenbergen and ryan (2010) found a direct negative association between attention problems and academic skills for preschool girls, but not for preschool boys. interestingly, bierman, torres, domitrovich, welsh, and gest (2009) found that teacher-reported prosocial behavior in head start children was related to literacy and mathematic skills for both boys and girls; but the association was stronger for girls (bierman et al., 2009). given these limited findings, this study investigated whether the direct associations between peer social competence and learning outcomes differed for boys and girls. summary and limitations of prior research early childhood research suggests that peer social competence is positively associated with academic readiness skills, particularly for preschoolers from low-income families (hamre & pianta, 2007; mashburn et al., 2008; national association for young children [naeyc], 2009). 6 clopet & shearer however, most of what is known from prior research relies on a single source of measurement. incorporating the strengths of two perspectives, a child’s teacher and an objective observer, may reveal a comprehensive picture of children’s competencies with their peers in the classroom. second, more can be learned from early childhood studies of peer social competence for culturally and linguistically diverse children, from low-income backgrounds. while there is a wealth of research on the topic of play in early childhood (fromberg & bergen, 2006), few measures have been developed and validated for use with diverse populations (national research council, 2008) limiting rigorous studies within this population. lastly, there has been a recent call by early childhood scholars to obtain a contextual understanding of children’s behavior within the naturalistic contexts in which it emerges, such as the preschool classroom (bulotskyshearer et al., 2008); however, few studies have incorporated such an approach primarily because of the lack of validated measures that are sensitive to the dynamic preschool context in which peer social interactions occur. study purpose the purpose of this study was to extend prior work by examining three research questions; first, what is the relationship between peer social competence as rated by a teacher and through a direct observation? given prior research and theory, we expected that across sources of measurement (i.e. teacher report and observation) there would be convergent and divergent relationships among the dimensions of peer social competence. specifically, teacher reported and observed dimensions measuring behaviors that promoted positive engagement with peers were expected to be more strongly associated with each other (convergent relationship) and inversely related to teacher reported or observed dimensions measuring behaviors that interfered with positive engagement with peers (divergent relationship). similarly, dimensions capturing behaviors that interfered with positive engagement with peers were expected to be more closely related to each other across methods than with dimensions capturing prosocial peer engagement behaviors. second, what is the relationship between peer social competence measured in the fall and gains in academic readiness skills across the preschool year? it was expected that prosocial behaviors would be positively associated with gains in academic readiness skills across a preschool year. conversely, it was expected that behaviors marked by difficulty engaging with peers would be negatively associated with gains in academic readiness skills across the year. given the importance of the two unique perspectives of the preschool teacher and objective observer, it was thought that the two measures of peer social competence would uniquely predict gains in academic readiness, highlighting the importance of considering both perspectives in the assessment of children within the classroom context. lastly, we asked, does the relationship between peer social competence and academic readiness differ for boys and girls? based on what is known about the importance of social interactions to academic learning, particularly for preschool girls (bierman, torres, domitrovich, welsh, & gest, 2009), we hypothesized that the association between peer social competence and academic readiness would be significant for both boys and girls but that the relationship would be stronger for girls. peer social competence and academic readiness 7 method participants as part of a larger, two-year study conducted in collaboration with a large urban head start program in the southeastern united states, a total of 16 centers (72 classrooms) were chosen that were culturally and linguistically representative of families served by the program. a subsample of children was randomly drawn from the larger study whose parents gave consent for their participation (n = 527). six to nine children were randomly selected from each participating classroom, stratified by age and sex. at the beginning of the preschool year, the children in this subsample ranged in age from 36 to 59 months (m = 47.83, sd = 6.71 months) and sex was split evenly with 49% boys. the majority of children were either african american (41.3%) or hispanic (54.2%). all children were from families that met the federal criteria for enrollment in the head start program (annual income of $23,050 for a family of four; federal register, 2012). demographic information from the lead head start teachers who participated, indicated that 100% were female and 74.3% were of hispanic or latino background. the teachers also reported their race, indicating that 55.7% were white, 24.3% black or african american, and 18.6% other. approximately 18.6% of teachers had a master’s degree, 55.7% a bachelor’s degree, 15.7% an associates degree, and 10% child development associate credentials. on average, teachers reported working as a preschool teacher for 12.54 years (sd = 7.21, range = 135 years). measures peer social competence. peer social competence was assessed using the penn interactive peer play scale (pipps-t; fantuzzo et al., 1998) and the individualized classroom assessment scoring system (inclass; downer, et al., 2010). penn interactive peer play scale. the teacher version of the penn interactive peer play scale (pipps-t; fantuzzo et al., 1998) was used by teachers to assess children’s peer social competence within the classroom context at the beginning of the preschool year. the pipps-t is a 32-item rating scale used to measure common play behaviors that facilitate or interfere with peer interactions in the classroom. the pipps-t was developed specifically for use with lowincome, urban head start children and has been validated for use with latino samples (castro, mendez, & fantuzzo, 2002). construct validity studies of the pipps-t have revealed three dimensions: play interaction, play disconnection and play disruption, each demonstrating high internal consistency (cronbach’s alpha = .92, .91, and .89, respectively). items on the play interaction scale reflect prosocial behaviors that facilitate play with peers, such as “shares toys with other children”, “encourages others to join play”, “shows creativity in making up play stories and activities.” items on the play disconnection scale reflect withdrawn and avoidant play behaviors, such as “hovers outside play group” and “wanders aimlessly.” items on the play disruption scale reflect aggressive and antisocial play behaviors that interfere with peer play, such as “starts fights and arguments”, “does not take turns”, and “disrupts play of others.” for the present study, all three dimensions were used. convergent and divergent validity has been established by direct observations of play, peer sociometrics, and measures of learning behaviors, temperament, emotion regulation, psychological adjustment, and 8 clopet & shearer social skills (coolahan et al., 2000; fantuzzo et al., 1998; mendez, mcdermott, & fantuzzo, 2002). individualized classroom assessment scoring system. the individualized classroom assessment scoring system (inclass; downer et al., 2010) was an observational measure used to assess children’s peer social competence in the preschool classroom at the beginning of the year. the inclass is a child-focused observational assessment of individual children’s classroom engagement with teachers, peers, and tasks, and is comprised of 10 dimensions (positive engagement, communication, and conflict with teachers; sociability, assertiveness, communication, and conflict with peers; engagement, self-reliance, and behavior control within tasks; downer et al., 2010), which has been validated for use with low-income, diverse samples of preschool children (vitiello, booren, downer & williford, 2012). for the present study the four dimensions that pertain to peer interactions (sociability, assertiveness, communication, and conflict with peers) were used. convergent and divergent validity has been established and the peer engagement domain has demonstrated high reliability (alpha = 0.92) (downer, et al., 2010). for the peer sociability dimension, observers code behaviors, such as “proximity-seeking, shared positive affect, cooperation, and popularity.” for the peer assertiveness dimension, observers code behaviors, such as “initiation and leadership.” for the peer communication dimension, observers code behaviors, such as “initiates, sustains and uses various purposes of speech.” for the peer conflict dimension, observers code behaviors, such as “aggression, negative affect, attention-seeking, and confrontation.” each dimension is coded on a seven-point scale, ranging from low, medium and high frequency and quality of behavior. higher ratings are indicative of better quality and/or more frequent positive interactions, with the exception of conflict with teachers/peers where higher ratings are indicative of more negative interactions. codes are based on detailed behavioral descriptions. more details on the observation protocol can be found in the procedures section. english language screener. due to the linguistic diversity of the sample, and given that children were directly assessed in english, children’s english proficiency was assessed using the preschool language assessment scale (prelas; duncan & de avila, 1998). the prelas is designed for use with children four to six years of age and assesses receptive and expressive language skills, syntax, vocabulary, and command of grammatical phrases. the first two subscales of the prelas2000 have been widely used as part of an english language routing procedure in large-scale studies of head start children (head start impact study, puma et al., 2005; vogel et al., 2008). in this study, the first two (out of five) subscales of the prelas2000 were used. the two subscales “simon says” and “art show” are comprised of 10 items each, measuring expressive and receptive english language skills. a total observed score for each child ranges from 0 to 20. “simon says” is structured like the familiar children’s game. children are given simple prompts that measure their listening comprehension and receptive language skills (e.g., “simon says, touch your ear”). the “art show” is structured in a flip-book format where children are asked to name common household and classroom items, and for certain items they are also asked to identify their function (e.g., “what can you do with it [book]?”). this measures their expressive language skills. according to the published manual, cronbach’s alphas are .88 and .90 for “simon says” and the “art show”, respectively (duncan & de avila, 1998). peer social competence and academic readiness 9 academic readiness. the learning express (le; mcdermott, et al., 2009) was used as a direct assessment of children’s language, literacy and mathematics skills in the fall and spring of the preschool year. the le has a total of 325 items, which are evenly split between two equivalent forms. the assessment is comprised of four subscales including alphabet knowledge, vocabulary, listening comprehension, and mathematics. the items on each subscale are in order of increasing difficulty, with the number of items administered determined by basal and ceiling rules. the le was developed specifically for use with low-income, head start children. construct validity studies with a large sample of culturally diverse head start children revealed high internal consistency for each of the subscales: .98 for alphabet knowledge, .96 for vocabulary, .93 for listening comprehension, and .96 for mathematics. convergent and divergent validity has been established by correlations between the four subscales and teacher ratings of children’s literacy, mathematics, and science skills, and direct assessments of early reading ability, receptive vocabulary, and mathematics ability (mcdermott et al., 2009). procedure data collection. this study was part of a larger federally funded study. approval for the project was obtained by the university institutional review board. for the larger study, two cohorts of participants were recruited in the fall of 2011 and the fall of 2012 based on their participation in the head start program. consent was first obtained from the center directors, then teachers, and finally parents of children in participating classrooms. data collection for this project occurred during the fall and spring of the 2011-2012, and 2012-2013 academic years. demographic information for all children was obtained through center records and verified by teachers. due to the linguistic diversity of the sample and limited equivalent validated measures of academic skills in english and spanish for head start children, children were screened for their english proficiency prior to conducting direct assessments in english using the prelas2000 (e.g., espinosa, 2005). only children determined to be proficient enough in english were assessed based on a cutoff score (ranging from 2-5) as guided by criteria used in previous national studies of children from low-income backgrounds (head start impact study, puma et al., 2005; vogel et al., 2008). early in the fall of each project year, children were assessed on their language, literacy and mathematics skills using the learning express. trained research assistants administered direct assessments to children individually in a quiet space outside of the classroom. administration time for the learning express was an average of thirty-minutes. teachers of participating children completed the pipps-t questionnaire about children’s peer play behaviors in the classroom in mid-october after having had 6-8 weeks to observe children’s skills. in addition, children were individually observed in the classroom using the inclass. to become certified observers, research assistants completed an intensive two-day observation training course conducted by an inclass certified trainer. observers were required to reliably code five video training segments within 80% of master codes determined by expert coders from the university of virginia inclass team of researchers, educators, and designers of the measure. upon successful completion of the training, observers completed a minimum of three 10-minute cycles (m = 3.64 cycles; range 3-4 cycles) followed by 5 minutes of real time coding for each participating child. final codes for each dimension were computed by averaging each dimension code across each of the child’s observation cycles. to control for observer drift 10 clopet & shearer during the observation period, 20% of observations were double coded. inter-rater agreement within one point was high, 92.4% overall. finally, in the spring of each project year, children were again assessed on their language, literacy and mathematics skills using the learning express. data analytic approach relationship between teacher-reported and observed peer social competence. both convergent and divergent relationships between the pipps and the peer engagement dimensions of the inclass were examined by conducting bivariate correlations and canonical correlation analyses. canonical correlation analysis, as suggested by weiss (1972), is a commonly used approach to examine the complex associations between multidimensional measures (fantuzzo, bulotsky, mcdermott, mosca, & lutz, 2003), such that convergent and divergent relationships between two sets of variables emerge (weiss, 1972). high loadings (greater than or equal to 0.50; weiss, 1972) within the canonical structure are indicative of how strongly a particular variable is contributing to the multivariate relationship between the two measures. the canonical correlation coefficient (rc) is the pearson r relationship between the two variables on a given canonical function; this value ranges from 0 to 1 and is directly analogous to the multiple r in regression. relationship between peer social competence and gains in academic readiness. the unique contribution of each dimension of the pipps and inclass was examined in relation to gains in academic readiness skills on the learning express (alphabet knowledge, vocabulary, listening comprehension, and mathematics) across a year in head start, using multiple regression analysis within a structural equation modeling (sem) framework, in mplus version 6.0 (muthén & muthén, 1998–2010). child demographic variables (age, sex, ethnicity) and the fall academic readiness skills were included as covariates in the model. sem was chosen as the most appropriate data analytic strategy for the ability to account for the nested structure of the data for several reasons. first, sem within mplus allows the nested structure (or hierarchical nature) of the data to be accounted for through the use of a sandwich estimator (iacobucci, saldanha, & deng, 2007). in this study, children were nested within classrooms and intra-class correlations (icc’s) revealed that 1.14-8.70% of the variance in the spring academic readiness skills was attributable to the classroom. in addition, sem in mplus addresses missing data in the models using full information maximum likelihood (fiml; hancock & mueller, 2006; kline, 2005). fiml has been shown to be unbiased when data are missing completely at random (mcar; enders & bandalos, 2001) and has been suggested as best practice for developmental research (mccartney, burchinal, & bub, 2006). moderation by child sex. to examine whether the association between peer social competence and gains in academic readiness differed by child sex, a multiple group analysis was conducted in sem (bollen & long, 1993; kline, 2005; preacher, rucker, & hayes, 2007). the multiple group analysis tested whether the regression model examining the association between peer social competence and gains in academic readiness differed for boys and girls by comparing a model where the parameter estimates were constrained equal across groups (estimated similarly for boys and girls) and a model where the parameter estimates were allowed to freely vary peer social competence and academic readiness 11 (estimated separately for boys and girls). a χ2 difference test was conducted to determine the difference in the fit of each of the models to these data (steiger, shapiro, & browne, 1985). results descriptive statistics to ensure data were normally distributed, variables were examined for outliers, homoscedasticity, and kurtosis. no violations of assumptions were found. descriptive statistics including means and standard deviations for all variables are displayed below in table 1. bivariate correlations between all variables are provided next in table 2. of note, teacher-reported interactive peer play was significantly and positively associated with observed sociability, and communication with peers. teacher-reported disruptive peer play was significantly and positively associated with observed conflict with peers. lastly, teacherreported disconnected peer play was significantly and negatively associated with observed sociability, and communication with peers; and significantly and positively associated with observed conflict with peers. fall and spring academic skills subscale scores were moderately positively correlated (alphabet knowledge: r(484) = 0.58, p<0.001, vocabulary: r(484) = 0.67, p<0.001, listening comprehension: r(484) = 0.44, p<0.001, and mathematics: r(484) = 0.74, p<0.001). pipps and inclass are calculated t-scores; learning express is based on irt scores 12 clopet & shearer table 1 descriptive statistics for child measures n m sd fall play interaction (pipps) 516 53.20 9.35 play disruption (pipps) 517 44.48 8.34 play disconnection (pipps) 515 40.79 7.97 peer sociability (inclass) 527 3.40 1.07 peer assertiveness (inclass) 527 1.86 0.92 peer communication (inclass) 527 2.44 1.02 peer conflict (inclass) 527 1.36 0.51 alphabet knowledge (learning express) 511 191.05 48.90 vocabulary (learning express) 511 177.09 54.96 listening comprehension (learning express) 511 187.02 45.63 mathematics (learning express) 511 180.81 46.54 spring alphabet knowledge (learning express) 486 229.01 44.95 vocabulary (learning express) 486 213.26 45.68 mathematics (learning express) 486 224.41 42.80 listening comprehension (learning express) 486 210.13 39.90 note. scores for the pipps represent standardized t scores (m = 50, sd = 10). scores for the inclass represent raw scores (range: 1-7). scores for the learning express represent irt scores. peer social competence and academic readiness 13 note. child age was significantly correlated with play interaction (0.27, p < 0.001), play disconnection (-0.14, p < 0.01), peer sociability (0.18, p < 0.001), peer assertiveness (0.20, p < 0.001), peer communication (0.28, p < 0.001), fall and spring alphabet knowledge (0.37, p < 0.001; 0.38, p < 0.001), vocabulary (0.43, p < 0.001; 0.39, p < 0.001), mathematics (0.51, p < 0.001; 0.47, p < 0.001), and listening comprehension (0.44, p < 0.001; 0.36, p < 0.001). child sex (dummy coded, girls = 1) was significantly correlated with play interaction (0.15, p < 0.001), peer conflict (-0.13, p < 0.01), and fall and spring listening comprehension (0.09, p < 0.05; 0.13, p < 0.01). being of hispanic background (dummy coded, hispanic = 1) was significantly correlated with play interaction (0.24, p < 0.001), play disruption (-0.12, p < 0.01), play disconnection (-0.14, p < 0.01), peer communication (0.12, p < 0.01), peer conflict (-0.14, p < 0.01), fall and spring alphabet knowledge (0.10, p < 0.05; 0.21, p < 0.001), fall vocabulary (-.10, p < 0.05), and spring mathematics (0.18, p < 0.001). no other correlations with demographic variables reached significance. * p < .05, ** p < .01 table 2 bivariate correlations between child measures 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 fall 1.interaction (pipps) __ -.37** -.54** .18* -.12** .20** -.04 .24** .16** .29** .26** .21** .20** .27** .19** 2.disruption (pipps) __ .52** .02 .07 -.03 .28** -.10** -.003 -.06 -.05 -.12* -.06 -.17** -.05 3.disconnection (pipps) __ -.13** -.06 -.14** .10* -.18** -.08 -.20** -.13** -.17** -.07 -.25** -.10* 4.peer sociability (inclass) __ .65** .69** -.06 .15* .12** .14** .17** .13** .02 .14** .08 5.peer assertiveness (inclass) __ .68** .06 .11* .16** .18** .18** .10* .07 .14** .09 6.peer communication (inclass) __ .01 .17** .23** .28** .25** .18** .18** .24** .20** 7. peer conflict (inclass) __ -.04 .03 -.03 .01 -.10* -.003 -.13** -.05 8.alphabet knowledge (learning express) __ .42** .63** .38** .58** .31** .57** .30** 9.vocabulary (learning express) __ .62** .54** .33** .67** .50** .49** 10.mathematics (learning express) __ .50** .56** .55** .74** .51** 11.listening comprehension (learning express) __ .27** .49** .42** .44** spring 12.alphabet knowledge (learning express) __ .34** .64** .38** 13.vocabulary (learning express) __ .51** .57** 14.mathematics (learning express) __ .47** 15.listening comprehension (learning express) __ 14 clopet & shearer relationship between teacher-reported and observed peer social competence canonical correlation analyses indicated a significant multivariate relationship between teacher ratings of children’s peer play and observations of children’s engagement with peers (wilk’s lambda = .85 criterion, f (12, 1341.70) = 7.13, p < .001). two significant canonical correlations (canonical rc = 0.06, p < .001, and 0.12, p < .001, respectively) yielded canonical variates indicative of prosocial engagement with peers and conflict engagement with peers. the canonical variates, prosocial engagement with peers and conflict engagement with peers, are labeled according to the pattern of the highest loadings from each multivariate construct. table 3 displays the loadings based on the variate pairs for the two significant canonical relationships. table 3 canonical structure of fall teacher reported (pipps) and observed (inclass) peer social competence the greatest overlap in the conflict engagement with peers variate pair was between the pipps disruptive peer play dimension and the inclass conflict with peers dimension. squared canonical correlations (similar to r 2 regression statistic) showed that the prosocial engagement with peers variate pair accounted for the greatest amount of overlap (5.84%) between the two measures. the conflict engagement with peers variate pair accounted for 5.38% of the overlap between the two measures. redundancy analysis demonstrated that the dimensions of the pipps explained 4.7% of the variance in the dimensions of the inclass. relationship between peer social competence and gains in academic readiness standardized parameter estimates are presented in table 4 for each of the multiple regression analysis models. canonical variate set conflict engagement with peers prosocial engagement with peers play interaction (pipps) .05 .94 play disruption (pipps) .89 -.45 play disconnection (pipps) .17 -.78 peer sociability (inclass) .36 .80 peer assertiveness (inclass) .43 .51 peer communication (inclass) .24 .91 peer conflict (inclass) .90 -.26 note. n = 514. entries are standardized structure loadings indicating statistically significant (p < .001) canonical relationships. loadings ≥ .50 are considered substantial contributors and are underlined. peer social competence and academic readiness 15 note. child sex and ethnicity are dummy coded variables, with girls = 1; hispanic = 1. * p < .05, ** p < .01; *** p < .001 child age was positively associated with all spring academic readiness skills, with older children demonstrating greater gains in alphabet knowledge, vocabulary, mathematics and listening comprehension skills. each of the fall academic skill subscales was positively associated with the corresponding spring academic readiness skill. table 4 fall teacher reported (pipps) and observed (inclass) peer social competence variables associated with spring academic readiness skills, controlling for child age, sex, and ethnicity, and fall academic skills spring academic readiness skills alphabet knowledge vocabulary mathematics listening comprehension β se β se β se β se child demographics age 1.31*** 0.28 1.03** 0.31 0.97*** 0.23 1.38*** 0.30 sex 3.55 3.55 3.37 3.26 -1.96 2.25 8.28* 3.44 ethnicity 10.33** 3.51 -7.14 3.98 7.13* 3.01 -0.20 3.78 fall academic skills alphabet knowledge 0.39*** 0.03 vocabulary 0.42*** 0.04 mathematics 0.53*** 0.04 listening comprehension 0.22*** 0.04 fall peer social competence pipps play interaction -0.03 0.25 0.50* 0.24 0.09 0.20 0.13 0.19 play disruption 0.01 0.23 -0.15 0.23 -0.22 0.19 0.11 0.24 play disconnection -0.30 0.32 0.36 0.32 -0.26 .26 -0.09 0.27 inclass peer assertiveness -0.16 2.05 -5.23 2.89 -0.07 1.72 -3.88 2.62 peer communication 2.09 1.71 4.01 2.54 1.43 1.70 4.91* 2.12 peer conflict -7.07* 3.61 -3.04 3.92 -8.64** 3.06 -4.51 3.84 16 clopet & shearer unique association between teacher-reported peer social competence and gains in academic readiness. teacher reported interactive peer play was positively associated with spring vocabulary skills, indicating that children who were rated by teachers with higher interactive play with their peers in the beginning of the year, displayed greater gains in vocabulary skills across the school year. no other associations were found between teacherreported peer social competence and gains in academic readiness. unique association between observed peer social competence and gains in academic readiness. sociability with peers was not significantly correlated with spring school readiness skills and was highly collinear with other inclass peer social competence variables. therefore, to avoid suppression effects, the observed sociability with peers variable was trimmed from the models that included the inclass variables (friedman & wall, 2005). communication with peers was positively associated with gains in listening comprehension across the year, controlling for child demographic variables, indicating that children who engaged in more communication with peers in the fall made greater gains in listening comprehension skills across the year. observed conflict with peers was negatively associated with gains in alphabet knowledge and mathematics, indicating that children who displayed more conflict with peers in the fall made fewer gains in alphabet knowledge and mathematics across the school year, controlling for child demographic variables. moderation by child sex a multiple group analysis tested whether the regression model examining associations between peer social competence and gains in academic readiness skills differed for boys and girls. the regression model was tested allowing the parameters to be estimated freely across boys and girls. a χ 2 difference test was conducted to determine if this model had a significantly better fit than the more restricted model where the parameters were constrained equal across boys and girls. the χ2 difference test was non-significant, indicating that the two models did not differ significantly with respect to the overall fit of the model to these data. based on these findings, the most parsimonious model (where the parameters were constrained to be equal across groups) was retained (steiger, shapiro, & browne, 1985). therefore, results suggested that associations between peer social competence and gains in academic readiness were similar for both boys and girls. discussion current best practice in early childhood assessment supports the use of a comprehensive multi-method, multi-source measurement approach that is validated for use with culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse populations (national research council, 2008; standards; aera, apa & ncme, 1999). this approach was employed in this study to assess peer social competence in relation to academic readiness for preschool children from low-income families. results provided support for some degree of concordance between a teacher-reported and an observed measure of peer social competence. in combination, these measures were uniquely and differentially associated with gains in academic readiness skills, with teacher peer social competence and academic readiness 17 reported interactive peer play associated with greater gains in vocabulary and observed communication with peers associated with greater gains in listening comprehension. additionally, observed conflict with peers was associated with significantly fewer gains in alphabet knowledge and mathematics. findings support the need to incorporate a comprehensive measurement approach that includes multiple perspectives and methods for examining peer social competence with culturally and linguistically diverse preschool children from low-income backgrounds. relationship between teacher-reported and observed peer social competence overall, the pattern of correlational results among teacher-reported peer play (pipps) and observed engagement with peers (inclass) provided evidence of convergence across the two methods of measurement. consistent with prior research, behaviors that promoted positive engagement with peers, such as initiating or joining in play, were positively correlated across teacher and observer measures (cumberland-li, eisenberg, & reiser, 2004; denham et al., 2003; ladd & hart, 1992; vaughn, 2001). teacher-reported interactive play skills were associated with observed sociability, assertiveness and communication with peers. conversely, behaviors that interfered with positive engagement with peers during early childhood, namely, teacher-reported disruptive and disconnected play and observed conflict with peers were more highly correlated with each other across methods and sources, and inversely related to the set of prosocial peer engagement behaviors. this set of findings confirms that regardless of measurement method, peer social competence is a multidimensional construct, reflecting multiple dimensions of behaviors that promote and interfere with positive engagement with peers. in addition, the pipps and inclass shared common variance in the measurement of the construct of peer social competence. however, the canonical correlation analyses showed that this overlap was low (rc = 0.06 for prosocial engagement with peers; rc = 0.12 for conflict engagement with peers). this finding is comparable to other early childhood studies documenting low correlations between teacher and parent report measures of children’s behavior (winsler & wallace, 2002). one potential reason for the low overlap between these two measures is that teachers were asked to rate children’s interactions with their peers during play interactions. observers rated children’s engagement with peers across all routine classroom contexts. furthermore, while both the pipps and the inclass capture peer social competence broadly, the discrete behaviors that teachers and observers report on may not be completely aligned. this may have contributed to the low overlap between the measures. despite these limitations, this study is unique in combining both teacher and observer perspectives’ that may reveal different, yet equally important aspects of a child’s behavior. relationship between peer social competence and gains in academic readiness the unique contribution of the dimensions of the pipps and the inclass was examined in relation to gains in academic readiness skills, controlling for child demographic covariates and initial academic readiness skills. we found that children who were rated by their teacher with higher interactive play skills in the beginning of the year showed greater gains in vocabulary 18 clopet & shearer skills by the spring. observed communication with peers was associated with greater gains in listening comprehension across the year. conversely, observed conflict with peers in the fall was related to fewer gains in alphabet knowledge and mathematics. the pattern of associations is consistent with previous research conducted with preschool children from low-income backgrounds. for example, several studies have found that prosocial engagement with peers is positively associated with gains in academic readiness skills, whereas conflict with peers is negatively associated with academic readiness skills during the preschool year (bulotksyshearer, bell, romero & carter, 2012; bulotsky-shearer, manz et al., 2012; cohen & mendez, 2009; coolahan et al., 2000; fantuzzo et al., 2004; ginsburg, pappas, & seo, 2001; ladd, kochenderfer, & coleman, 1996; mendez & fogle, 2002; pellegrini, 1984). interestingly, we found a consistent pattern of positive associations between prosocial peer engagement and children’s gains in language and literacy skills across the year. this finding may be understood within the context of classroom activities provided for children in head start programs, where opportunities to practice language and literacy skills are often embedded within free play with peers (mccune, 1995; vygotsky, 1978). children in this study who were rated by their teachers and directly observed as displaying greater prosocial behaviors with peers may have had increased opportunities to practice and develop their language and literacy skills through their engagement with other children. conversely, children in our study who displayed difficulties engaging with peers early in the year made fewer gains in alphabet knowledge and mathematics skills across the year. previous research suggests that opportunities to learn the alphabet and practice mathematics are more closely tied to structured instructional times in the classroom; such as whole or small group instruction (clements, 2002; clements, sarama, & dibiase, 2002; copley & padron, 1999; fuson, carroll, & drueck, 2000). it is possible that children who demonstrated conflict behaviors with peers were having difficulty engaging in learning during those more structured, cooperative learning times. teachers can help reduce the risk of academic difficulty for these children by promoting interactive play in the classroom through the use of evidence-based techniques, such as resilient peer treatment (rpt; fantuzzo, mcwayne & bulotsky, 2003). through rpt, teachers pair prosocial children with less socially skilled children. studies of rpt with head start children have demonstrated increased collaborative peer play interactions among both the prosocial and less socially skilled children following the intervention (fantuzzo, manz, atkins, & meyers, 2005). moderation by child sex findings from the multiple group models indicated no difference in the association between peer social competence and gains in academic readiness skills for boys and girls. while developmental research suggests that sex differences in mean levels of social competence and academic skills begin to emerge in preschool (bulotksy-shearer, bell, romero & carter, 2012; keenan & shaw, 1997; mendez, fantuzzo, & mcdermott, 2002), findings are mixed as to whether the association between social competence and academic skills differs across child sex (bierman et al., 2009; zevenbergen & ryan, 2010). it may be that, in preschool, the relationship between children’s engagement with peers within the classroom and academic readiness is similar for boys and girls at this early age. few studies in early childhood have examined whether this association differs for boys and girls and future research is warranted. the peer social competence and academic readiness 19 consistency of associations regardless of child sex in this study may suggest however, that interventions and curriculum targeting peer social competence and academic readiness in head start may not have to be tailored separately to boys and girls. limitations and future directions despite this study’s contribute, there are several limitations that must be acknowledged. due to the high correlation across fall and spring academic skill scores, there was limited variance remaining in the academic outcomes to be predicted by the peer social competence variables. child age and fall academic readiness skills were strongly associated with spring academic readiness skills, limiting the degree to which peer social competence variables could uniquely contribute to academic outcomes. this is consistent with prior research suggesting that child demographic variables and prior academic skills account for a high amount of variance in future academic achievement (duncan et al., 2007; laparo & pianta, 2000; meisels, 1996, 1999; tramontana et al., 1988). although few statistically significant direct relationships between social-emotional skills and gains in academic readiness emerged in our final regression models, the results contribute to the broader field by demonstrating consistent patterns of associations between peer social competence and gains in academic readiness, using a rigorous approach to assessment in an at-risk sample. future studies should consider studying this association across a longer period of time, perhaps as children transition into kindergarten. having multiple assessment points across a longer period of time, may aid in identifying social-emotional contributors to children’s academic skills by allowing children more time to change and by capturing greater variability in academic growth trajectories (singer & willet, 2003). additionally, while the inclass was selected based on rigorous empirical support and utility with head start children, recent research with the inclass suggests that there is variability in children’s engagement with peers across activity settings. for example, during free play or outdoor time, children have a greater degree of choice and opportunity to engage with peers, and this is associated with higher positive engagement with peers (booren et al., 2012; vitiello, booren, downer & williford, 2012). in this study, observations of children’s peer engagement were conducted across the preschool day while children naturally cycled through multiple activity settings such as whole group, small group, or free play. while beyond the scope of this study, future work should focus on developing analytic methods to account for activity settings and perhaps weight children’s peer engagement scores according to the opportunities present for children to interact with their peers. this may provide a more accurate assessment of children’s peer engagement skills that can be used to better understand and support children’s unique competencies and needs within the peer context. lastly, given that each child has a unique pattern of competencies and needs, developmental researchers are beginning to use child-centered analytic approaches, such as latent profile or cluster analyses. these types of analyses allow for the identification of distinct subgroups of children who exhibit similar patterns of skills or behaviors in the classroom (distefano & kamphaus, 2006). while variable centered approaches, like the one used in this study, are useful in identifying linear associations among variables (such as peer social competence and early academic readiness), child-centered approaches may be useful in understanding the unique pattern of peer social competence within children (such as identifying subgroups of children who share common patterns of competencies or needs within peer 20 clopet & shearer interactions). it is likely that certain groups of children who display different patterns of peer social competence may vary in their level of academic and social risk. therefore, identifying children’s initial patterns of competencies and needs may tell us more about how children are able to take advantage of learning interactions within the classroom (konold & pianta, 2005; mcwayne & bulotsky-shearer, 2013; mcwayne, hahs-vaughn, cheung & green wright, 2012; sabol & pianta, 2012). this type of approach is an important complement to a variable-centered approach, and may be useful particularly with samples of children from low-income backgrounds, to identify those subgroups of children in most need of targeted intervention efforts prior to kindergarten entry (mendez, fantuzzo, & cicchetti, 2002; ramey & ramey, 1998). implications for policy and practice both researchers and practitioners have called for assessments that have practical utility and directly inform curriculum planning and intervention (hirsh-pasek et al., 2005). assessment tools that rely on observations of children’s behavior as they emerge within routine classroom activity settings lend themselves more easily to classroom instructional activities implemented by the teacher than direct assessments of isolated skills (meisels, 1999). in addition, incorporating multiple perspectives on children’s development from those individuals most proximal to the child is critical to inform a comprehensive understanding of their developmental competencies and needs (fantuzzo, mcwayne, & bulotsky, 2003). teachers are key informants when assessing children’s behavior, but their individual perspectives may contain variance associated with their perspective, rather than the child’s skills (waterman et al., 2012). in contrast, observers are able to be more objective as they are free from prior knowledge of the child, but they only see a snapshot of the child’s behavior during a circumspect moment in time. therefore, combining the strengths of these two perspectives can provide a comprehensive picture of children’s competencies with peers in the classroom that could be used to inform interventions with children in the head start classroom. of concern, are children with difficulties engaging with their peers in head start classrooms who we, and others, have found are at risk for missing out on early learning opportunities, which may set them further behind academically as they transition to kindergarten (coolahan, fantuzzo, mendez, & mcdermott, 2000; 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(2006). the cognitive child vs. the whole child: lessons from 40 years of head start. in d. g. singer, r. m. golinkoff, & k. hirsh-pasek (eds.), play = learning: how play motivates and enhances children’s cognitive and social emotional growth (pp. 15-35). new york, ny: oxford university press. dialog, 23(1), copyright © 2020, issn: 1930-9325 current early educator knowledge, practice, and needs regarding informal assessment audra i. classen the university of southern mississippi jean kang the university of north carolina at greensboro gregory a. cheatham the university of kansas early educators are urged to use authentic assessments which assess young children's development using systematic observation of real-life experiences and activities (susman-stillman, bailey, & webb, 2014). however, only a limited number of studies are available regarding early educators' current practices and needs associated with systematic informal assessment (early et al., 2007; madaus, rinaldi, bigaj, & chafouleas, 2009; pretti-frontczak, kowalski, & brown, 2002). researchers provide a framework for this study by dividing the dec recommended assessment practices (2014), and naeyc assessment indicators of effectiveness (2003) into four themes: choosing assessment methods, collecting data, collaborating with families, and analyzing data. the framework was then used to design the survey instrument for the purpose of determining early educators' current: (a) use of informal assessment methods, (b) knowledge and beliefs about the effectiveness of informal assessment methods, and (c) needs for training related to using informal assessment methods. results indicate that early educators working in settings other than head start revert to using two informal assessment methods (i.e., anecdotal notes, event/frequency) which match most teachers' selfrating of their knowledge regarding anecdotal notes. finally, early educators in the current study reported needing additional training related to all informal assessment methods except for anecdotal notes. keywords: informal systematic assessment, head start, ecse preschool research article 2 classen, kang & cheatham introduction the fields of early childhood (ec) and early childhood special education (ecse) have advocated for high-quality preschools using quality curricula (catalino & meyer, 2015; copple & bredekamp, 2009; naeyc & naecs/sde, 2003) that include informal and formal assessment opportunities. according to the division for early childhood (dec), “assessment informs intervention” and is vital to providing quality instruction and services for young children who have developmental delays/disabilities (dec, 2014, p. 8). intentional, systematic, and effective intervention requires the early educator (ee) to use multiple data collection methods (dec, 2014; naeyc & naecs/sde, 2003) to regularly monitor children's progress, interpret data, and make data-based decisions (codding, skowron, & pace, 2005). various assessments allow professionals to learn what skills children have mastered and what skills require educators’ support to develop. in fact, head start and many ecse programs urge educators to use authentic assessments, which assess young children’s development using systematic observation of real life experiences and activities (susman-stillman, bailey, & webb, 2014). however, consistent implementation of ongoing, authentic assessment in ec education settings and everyday practices remains a concern due to the push for more standardized testing in ec settings (schultz, kagan, & shore, 2009). furthermore, only a limited number of studies are available regarding ecs’ current practices and needs associated with assessment (early et al., 2007; madaus, rinaldi, bigaj, & chafouleas, 2009; pretti-frontczak, kowalski, & brown, 2002). systematic informal assessments (sia) for the purpose of this study, we defined systematic, informal assessments (sia) as precise observation approaches with structured procedures for regularly obtaining individual child-level data in natural routines and context that are teacher-developed or adapted (classen & cheatham, 2015; wolery & ledford, 2014; wortham & hardin, 2016). specifically, this study was interested in exploring the following sia; (a) anecdotal notes, (b) event/frequency sampling, (c) partialinterval sampling, (d) whole interval sampling, (e) momentary time sampling, (f) duration sampling, and (g) latency sampling. the authors’ chose the aforementioned sias because they can provide a holistic view of all children’s skills, with and without disabilities; and connect outcomes to interventions and programmatic changes (bagnato, 2005; macy, bricker, & squires, 2005). there are reliable and validated assessments that are criterion referenced which collect data through systematic observation (e.g., assessment, evaluation, and programming system (aeps) and teaching strategies gold). criterion-referenced assessments provide information on individual children’s strengths and needs in specific areas measured. however, those assessments often include limited number of items to be observed that are not child specific or ees often need more information in order to provide individualized supports (wortham & hardin, 2016). thus, criterion referenced assessments are beyond the scope of this article (for more information see lambert, 2017; wortham & hardin, 2016). an advantage of sias is that these methods are flexible enough to collect individual child specific information such as function of behavior, interest, preferences, skill development and knowledge acquired (bagnato, 2005; wortham & hardin, 2016). therefore, when correctly implemented, sias can supplement diagnostic evaluations, formative and summative evaluations and ees can have deeper understanding of each child as a whole (wortham & hardin, 2016). early educator informal assessment survey 3 professional association guidance for informal assessment practices the division for early childhood (dec) of council for exceptional children (cec), and the national association for education of young children (naeyc) each provide guidance for the use of informal assessment procedures (see table 1). these organizations recommend that early intervention assessment should (a) monitor ongoing child progress; (b) occur in typical environments, activities, and routines; and (c) identify functional strengths and abilities (bagnato mclean, macy, & neisworth, 2011). finally, the four themes in table 1 were used to develop the survey questions. table 1. alignment of assessment practices (dec) and indicators (naeyc) with assessment themes practices and indicators four themes dec naeyc choosing assessments collecting data analyzing data collaborating w/ families 1 11 x x 2 11 x x 3 3 x x 4 3 x x 5 3 x x 6 8 x x x 7 7 x x 8 9 x 9 5 x x 10 6 x x 11 11 x x 1 x x x x 2 x x 4 x x x 10 x x note. x=dec assessment practices and naeyc indicators present in each theme. furthermore, the dec assessment practices six through nine support the use of sia. these recommended practices urge ecs to: 4 classen, kang & cheatham (a) use various methods, including observation and interviews, to gather assessment information from multiple sources, including the child’s family and other significant individuals in the child’s life; (b) obtain information about the child’s skills in daily activities, routines, and environments such as home, center, and community; (d) implement systematic ongoing assessment to identify learning targets, plan activities, and monitor the child’s progress to revise instruction as needed (dec, 2014, p.8). implications for informal assessment professional development (pd) even though the literature provides evidence that sia provide trustworthy child progress and program impact evidence, sias are not widely used (neisworth & bagnato, 2004). in recent research, ees report a lack of confidence in selecting informal assessments, as we define sia and other criterion referenced informal assessments, during specific classroom routines (krasch & carter, 2009). in addition, ees may not consider partnering with families in choosing and using sia or other informal assessments advantageous (banerjee & luckner, 2013). similarly, researchers revealed inconsistent informal assessment use in a recent survey study conducted in minnesota (susman-stillman et al., 2014). these researchers hypothesized that administrators not requiring informal assessment data or ees not understanding the purposes of informal assessment limited ees’ informal assessment use. further challenges have been described in the research as: (a) limited time to implement, document, and research evidence-based assessment tools (banerjee & luckner, 2013; susman-stillman et al., 2014); (b) an inability to keep young children engaged during assessments (banerjee & luckner, 2013); (c) competing priorities; and (d) difficulties integrating assessment into regular routines (bagnato, neisworth, & pretti-frontczak, 2010; susman-stillman et al., 2014). other research reported that ees have associated pd on informal assessment with their improved understanding of the links between quality education and positive outcomes for all young children (early et al., 2007; waitoller & artiles, 2013). thus, the research literature suggests pd on informal assessment needs to (a) develop ees’ understanding that informal assessment is important to their daily practice, (b) improve ees’ capacity to perform various informal assessments, and (c) enhance ees’ self-efficacy and “buy in” related to informal assessments (fixsen, naoom, blase, friedman, & wallace, 2005). however, our ability to support and meet ees’ pd needs related to sia, is diminished by our limited understanding of their informal assessment perspectives (wilkins, 2008). therefore, the purpose of this study was to answer the following research questions: (a) how and for what purpose do ees (i.e., ec head start and child care setting or ecse public preschool settings) currently use informal assessment methods? (b) what are ees’ perspectives about their knowledge of informal assessment methods? (c) what are ees’ beliefs about the effectiveness of informal assessment methods? (d) what are ees’ needs for training related to using informal assessment methods? and (e) how do ee participants’ demographic characteristics impact their responses regarding informal assessment? early educator informal assessment survey 5 method an online survey was developed and distributed to ees in two states. a descriptive, multivariate analysis was conducted. the following sections describe in detail participants, data collection, and data analyses. recruitment ees from across two states were invited to participate in the study through multiple recruitment strategies. researchers distributed an email (more detail is provided below) containing an explanation of the study's purpose, the participation criteria, and consent for participating statement. if a professional agreed to take part in the study, s/he completed the survey through the link provided within the email. researchers included participants if they: (a) were currently teaching in an ec setting (e.g., ecse district classroom, head start classroom, child-care center, or kindergarten classroom), (b) were serving children between three to five years old, and (c) had at least one child with a disability in the classroom. ec policy differs across states. therefore, authors purposefully chose two states at different places in the ec workforce improvement process to provide a representation similar to the national context (for individual state ratings see, whitebook, mclean, austin, & edwards, 2018). state one. demographic data for this southeastern state is: 59% caucasians, 37.5% african americans, 1.2% two or more races, 1% asians, .9% other races, and .4% native north americans. survey emails were sent directly to 20 ees in one county school district using publicly available email addresses. these educators were then asked to forward the survey link to colleagues fitting the inclusion criteria using the snowball method. additionally, the state head start director agreed to share the survey’s purpose in a state-wide pd and email the survey link to three head start centers representing rural and urban areas of the state. approximately 73 head start educators agreed to participate through this distribution. finally, one ec special education (ecse) coordinator in a local urban school district provided time for approximately 15 ecse teachers to complete the survey. thus, approximately 150 ees across state one received the survey and 88 ees completed the survey. state two. demographic data for this southeastern state is: 71.2% caucasians, 22.1% african american, 1.6% american indian, 2.8% asian, and 9.1% hispanic or latino. the director of a state ec professional association division agreed to distribute the survey link via email to approximately 3,000 members (e.g., ees, administrators, professionals in related areas, higher education faculty, and families within this organization’s listserv). a reminder email asking email recipients to complete the survey was sent to non-completers two weeks after the initial email. although no exact numbers on how many members are currently working in preschool settings are available, the organization’s annual trend data shows about one-third of members work in preschool settings. as a result, 63 ees completed the survey. 6 classen, kang & cheatham participants and settings the total number of 151 ees responded to the survey; 88 from state one and 63 from state two. however, thirty-seven total participant surveys were excluded, because the participants failed to answer a significant portion of the informal assessment section (i.e., they only answered two questions in this section). the total number of participants included in final data analyses process was 114 (see table 2). participants’ mean age was 42.9 years and 99% (n=113) were female. the largest racial group represented was african american (n=67; 58%) followed by caucasian (n=45; 39%). additionally, two other participants identified themselves as other race (n=1; 99%), and more than one race (n=1; 99%). the ec workforce nationally is much more diverse than k-12 educators (us department of education, 2016). our ee demographics are comparable to the recent ec workforce index reporting national ee demographics to be 60% white, 58% hispanic, and 48% african american (whitebook, mclean, austin, & edwards, 2018). forty-four participants (38.6%) reported holding multiple licensures and 38 (33.3%) reported holding birth-kindergarten state licensure. due to differences in licensure categories, researchers combined any professional licensure or certificate associated with teaching children between birth and kindergarten (e.g., ecse classroom, head start classroom, child-care center, kindergarten classroom) into the birth-k category. educators reported working in the ec field for an average of 5.48 years and in their current setting for an average of 3.5 years. early educator informal assessment survey 7 table 2. participant demographic information (n=114) gender female male n=113 (99.1%) n=1 (.9%) age mean = 42.9 range = 21-80 race african american or black caucasian or white other multiple n=67 (58.8%) n=45 (39.5%) n=1 (0.9%) n=1 (0.9%) geographic location of the classroom rural suburban urban other n=60 (52.6%) n=19 (16.7%) n=28 (24.6%) n=6 (5.3%) licensure birth-kindergarten other missing n=57 (50.0%) n=56 (49.1%) n=1 (.9%) years in current classroom mean = 3.5 range = 1-24+ ec classroom setting head start other setting missing n=66 (57.9%) n=46 (40.3%) n=2 (1.7%) disability type in current classroom * multiple responses allowed vi hi autism dd ld ebd id ohi n=7 n=7 n=25 n=61 n=8 n=27 n=5 n=25 years working in ec mean = 5.48 range = 1-24+ students with ifsp/iep mean = 2.65 range = 0-20 total students in classroom mean = 16.47 range = 3-24 note. vi=visually impaired; hi=hearing impaired; dd=developmentally delayed; ld=learning disability; ebd=emotional behavioral disorder; id=intellectual disability; and ohi=other health impaired; ec=early childhood 8 classen, kang & cheatham just as the ees varied in their experience and licensure, so did their classroom characteristics. sixty participants (52.6%) were currently teaching in classrooms located in rural areas. participants reported their current work was at a head start program (n=66, 57.9%), preschool special education only classroom (n=18, 15.8%), infant and toddler services (n=5; 4.4%), ecse inclusive setting (n=5; 4.4%), and licensed child care setting (n=6, 5.3%). researchers recoded the participant work setting data into head start (n=66, 57.9%), other setting (n=46, 40.3%), and missing (n=2, 1.7%). finally, participants reported various child disabilities within their classrooms across both states; developmental delay (dd) was the most common (n=61, 53.5%), followed by emotional behavior disorder (ebd) (n=27, 23.7%), other health impairment (ohi), and autism (n=25, 21.9%). participants reported a mean of 2.65 students in each classroom had an ifsp/iep. data collection procedures researchers designed an online survey to explore ees’ knowledge about and use of informal assessment methods to measure social-emotional and academic skills. the principal investigators of this study taught assessment courses in ec teacher preparation programs and developed the survey based on extensive review of research literature. after the researchers developed the initial survey, six ec experts provided feedback regarding the survey’s length, clarity of questions, need for additional questions, and provided general suggestions. based on the reviewers’ feedback, researchers revised the survey by adding, combining, removing, and reordering questions. after the primary investigators obtained institutional review board approval from each state, the survey was separately distributed in each state using qualtrics. survey instrument the final survey consisted of two parts with thirty questions. the first part of the survey aimed to gather demographic information while the second part focused on participants’ informal assessment practices, and training needs. demographic information. researchers divided the demographic portion of the survey into two subsections with twelve questions. the first subsection, “information about you” asked five questions about the participants’ age, gender, years of experience, licensure or certification, and race/ethnicity. the second subsection, contained seven questions focused on participants’ current work setting. the questions included information on geographic location (i.e., urban, suburban, rural), type of current classroom, the total number of children in the classroom, and types of disabilities represented in the classroom. current informal assessment practice. the second part of the survey included a comprehensive definition for each informal assessment method to ensure participants had a shared understanding of each assessment method. participants were first asked about their use of various informal assessment methods, such as what method they were currently using, how often they used each method, about whom they collected data, and how they used the data. next, participants answered questions about how they select informal assessment methods, and what, if any, informal early educator informal assessment survey 9 assessment methods are required by their program administrators. finally, participants shared information about what prevents them from using various informal data collection methods. perception of assessment knowledge and effectiveness. additionally, the participants were asked to rate their informal assessment knowledge and their beliefs about the effectiveness of each informal assessment method. participants rated their informal assessment knowledge of each method using a 5-point likert scale (1=no knowledge, 2=very little knowledge, 3=some knowledge, 4=practicing knowledge, 5=expert knowledge). participants rated each method’s effectiveness using a 6-point rating scale with one being “very ineffective” to six being “very effective.” training received and needs. participants also answered questions about their training experiences, and they described training they desired for each assessment method. participants selected all options that applied to their experiences given the following choices: a) self-taught, b) university/college course work, c) mentoring on the job, d) in-service training, and e) no training. next, the participants indicated the training level they would require to effectively implement each informal assessment method using a 4-point rating scale question (1=none, 2=some, 3=quite a bit, 4=an extreme amount). data analyses procedures after closing each survey, researchers downloaded the qualtrics data from each state to statistical package for social sciences (spss inc.) version 24 for analyses. after researchers from each state reviewed, cleaned, and assigned a code for each participant to protect confidentiality, researchers merged the two data sets. analyses by respondents and variables did not show any significant trends in missing data. as mentioned previously, 114 participant surveys were considered complete and included in the final analysis. responses from these 114 participants were analyzed in two ways: first, descriptive analyses were conducted including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. second, independent samples t-tests were conducted to explore the relationships between participants’ demographic characteristics (e.g., the education setting, years of experience) on the informal assessment methods used, the average rating of the participants’ informal assessment knowledge and effectiveness, and level of training need. results results are organized into four sections that correspond to the research questions posed in this study. the four sections include: (a) current use of informal assessment methods, (b) educators’ perceptions about their informal assessment knowledge, (c) educators’ perceptions about each informal assessment method’s effectiveness, and (d) training needs. within each of these sections, researchers provide additional results reporting the relationship between educators’ demographic characteristics (i.e., ec education setting, and years of teaching experience) and their informal assessment perspectives. 10 classen, kang & cheatham current use of informal assessment methods the survey asked participants several questions about their current informal assessment methods. following sections will discuss the results in more detail. numbers and types of methods used. the majority of participants (n=95, 83.3%) reported currently using 1-2 informal assessment methods. ees reported anecdotal notes as the method most widely used (n=100, 87.7%), followed by event/frequency (n=35, 30.7%), other (n=20, 17.5%), and partial-interval sampling (n=13, 11.4%). eight participants (7.0%) reported not using any informal assessment methods. in addition, duration (n=8, 7.0%), latency (n=8, 7.0%), momentary time (n =7, 6.1%), and whole interval (n=5, 4.3) sampling assessment procedures were reported to be used the least. method selection and frequency use. participants reported that many program administrators (n=85, 74.5%) required ees to use anecdotal notes and some required event/frequency sampling (n=20, 17.5%). very few ees indicated administrators required momentary time (n=6, 5.2%), latency (n=4, 3.5%), whole interval (n=3, 2.6%), duration (n=3, 2.6%), and partial-interval (n=2, 1.7%) sampling. when specific data collection methods were not required, ees selected informal assessment methods using various criteria (see figure 1). fiftyone educators (44.7%) used anecdotal notes daily or several times daily while 20 educators (17.5%) used event/frequency daily or several times daily (see table 3). figure 1. early educators’ selection criteria for each assessment method (n=114). early educator informal assessment survey 11 table 3. note. only 103 participants answered this question. wk. = week; mo. = month. how data is collected and used. participants reported that they used informal assessment methods to obtain a developmental snapshot of all young children with and without disabilities. for example, participants reported collecting informal data about children with individualized education program (iep) (n=82, 71.9%); an individualized family service plan (ifsp) (n=15, 13.1%); and children without disabilities (n=57, 50.0%). when asked how they used the collected data, 74 participants (64.9%) used the data to make instructional decisions for both children with and without disabilities. yet it is more concerning that 56 participants (49.1%) did not use sia to make instructional decisions. similarly, 73 educators (64.0%) used data to prepare for parent-teacher conferences, 56 participants (49.1%) used data to inform interventions, and 55 participants (48.2%) used data for writing, monitoring, and revising ifsp/iep goals. relationship between demographic characteristics and educator perspectives. there was a statistically significant (i.e., p<.01, or p<.05) difference in the mean number of informal assessment methods used by head start teachers (m=1.55, sd=1.01) and teachers working in settings other than head start (m=2.17, sd=1.53); t (110) = -2.60, p=.012). thus, head start teachers used significantly fewer informal assessment methods compared to those in settings other than head start. in addition, there was significant difference in how often educators used anecdotal notes, event/frequency sampling, partial interval sampling, and duration sampling between the groups (table 4): head start teachers used anecdotal notes significantly less often early educators’ self-rating of frequency use per informal assessment (n=114) daily several times daily 1x wk. 2x wk. 3x wk. 2x mo. 3x mo. never missing anecdotal n=30 26% n=21 18% n=10 9% n=7 6% n=5 4% n=28 25% n=2 2% n=0 0% n=11 10% frequency n=14 12% n=6 5% n=6 5% n=2 2% n=5 4% n=13 11% n=1 1% n=56 49% n=11 10% partial n=2 2% n=3 3% n=7 6% n=3 3% n=5 4% n=8 7% n=0 0% n=75 66% n=11 10% whole n=3 3% n=3 3% n=4 4% n=4 4% n=2 2% n=7 6% n=0 0% n=80 70% n=11 10% momentary n=5 4% n=2 2% n=4 4% n=1 1% n=2 2% n=8 7% n=0 0% n=81 71% n=11 10% duration n=4 4% n=2 2% n=2 2% n=2 2% n=4 4% n=8 7% n=2 2% n=79 69% n=11 10% latency n=2 2% n=2 2% n=3 3% n=2 2% n=2 2% n=7 6% n=1 1% n=84 74% n=11 10% 12 classen, kang & cheatham than those in other settings. however, head start teachers used event/frequency, partial interval sampling, and duration sampling significantly more often than teachers working in settings other than head start. when comparing teachers with more than ten years to those with less than ten years of experience there was no significant difference in the mean number of informal assessment methods used or frequency of use. table 4. t-test results head start vs. other education settings – frequency of use (n=114) head start other missing n m sd n m sd t df anecdotal notes 63 3.68 2.40 39 5.23 2.01 -3.35** 100 12 event/frequency 63 7.17 1.59 39 4.62 2.88 5.78** 100 12 partial interval 63 7.24 1.71 39 6.03 2.81 2.70** 100 12 whole interval 63 7.33 1.76 39 6.51 2.48 1.95* 100 12 momentary time 63 7.24 1.93 39 6.72 2.38 1.20 100 12 duration 63 7.29 1.78 39 6.38 2.66 2.04* 100 12 latency 63 7.29 1.83 39 6.85 2.41 1.04 100 12 note. only 102 participants answered this question; **p<.01; *p<.05 educators’ self-assessment of their informal assessment knowledge participants rated their knowledge for each informal assessment method using a 5-point likert scale (i.e., 1=no knowledge, 2=very little knowledge, 3=some knowledge, 4=practicing knowledge, 5=expert knowledge). the mean rating score for anecdotal notes was higher (4.39, sd=0.546) than other informal assessment methods, which ranged between 2.02 (i.e., latency) and 2.69 (i.e., event/frequency). these data can be viewed in table 5. early educator informal assessment survey 13 table 5. systematic informal assessment knowledge self rating (n=114) n m sd missing combined practicing and expert knowledge n (%) anecdotal notes 105 4.39 .54 9 102 (97.1%) event/frequency 104 2.69 1.29 10 34 (32.4%) partial interval 105 2.30 1.11 9 17 (16.2%) whole interval 105 2.26 1.09 9 15 (14.3%) momentary time 105 2.20 1.06 9 12 (11.4%) duration 105 2.18 1.09 9 14 (13.3%) latency 105 2.02 1.01 9 9 (8.6%) note. only 104-105 participants answered this question; influences of educator’s demographic characteristics. a statistically significant (i.e., p<.01 or p<.05) difference was found in the way educators from head start versus those in settings other than head start rated their knowledge of anecdotal notes and event/frequency (table 6). ees working in settings other than head start had mean scores ranging between 2.58 (i.e., latency) to 2.95 (i.e., partial interval) compared to the head start mean scores ranging from 1.67 (i.e., latency) to 1.89 (i.e., partial interval). although educators working in the other than head start settings had higher mean scores for their informal assessment method knowledge, a significant difference was not found. additionally, when comparing teachers with more than ten years of experience to those with less than ten years, there was no significant difference in how educators rated their knowledge of informal assessment methods. 14 classen, kang & cheatham table 6. t-test results for systematic informal assessment knowledge rating (n=114) head start other missing n m sd n m sd t df anecdotal notes 63 4.46 .59 40 4.30 .46 1.45** 101 11 event/frequency 63 2.17 1.22 39 3.49 .97 -5.67* 100 12 partial interval 63 1.89 .96 40 2.95 1.03 -5.27 101 11 whole interval 63 1.84 .91 40 2.90 1.05 -5.37 101 11 momentary time 63 1.81 .91 40 2.78 1.00 -5.04 101 11 duration 63 1.76 .89 40 2.78 1.07 -5.18 101 11 latency 63 1.67 .84 40 2.58 1.03 -4.87 101 11 note. only 102-103 participants answered this question; **p<.01, *p<.05 educators’ beliefs about informal assessment effectiveness in terms of effectiveness, participants used a 6-point likert scale to rate their beliefs about each informal assessment methods’ effectiveness (i.e., 1=very ineffective, 2=ineffective, 3=somewhat ineffective, 4=somewhat effective, 5=effective, and 6=very effective). a summary of these findings can be found in table 7. participants rated anecdotal notes as effective (mean = 5.08, sd=1.09) while other methods were rated between somewhat ineffective (i.e., latency sampling=3.27, whole interval=3.28, partial and momentary sampling=3.29, and duration=3.34) to somewhat effective (i.e., event/frequency sampling=3.69). early educator informal assessment survey 15 table 7. systematic informal assessment effectiveness ratings (n=114) n m sd missing combined effective and very effective n (%) anecdotal notes 99 5.08 1.09 15 80 (70.1%) event/frequency 93 3.69 1.58 21 42 (36.8%) partial interval 90 3.29 1.46 24 23 (20.1%) whole interval 87 3.28 1.44 27 21 (18.4%) momentary time 86 3.29 1.46 28 22 (19.2%) duration 86 3.34 1.49 28 25 (21.9%) latency 86 3.27 1.45 28 21 (18.4%) note. only 104-105 participants answered this question relationship between demographic characteristics and educator perspectives. a statistically significant (i.e., p<.001, p<.01, or p<.05) difference was found in the way educators from head start versus those in the other head start settings rated the effectiveness of event/frequency, partial, whole, duration, and latency sampling (table 8). when comparing teachers with more than ten years of experience to those with less than ten years, there was no significant difference in how educators rated the effectiveness of informal assessment methods. 16 classen, kang & cheatham table 8. t-test results for systematic informal assessment effectiveness rating (n=114) head start other missing n m sd n m sd t df anecdotal notes 63 5.10 1.05 35 5.09 1.17 .041 96 16 event/frequency 63 3.27 1.57 30 4.57 1.19 -3.98*** 91 21 partial interval 63 2.94 1.41 27 4.11 1.25 -3.73* 88 24 whole interval 62 3.02 1.44 25 3.92 1.25 -2.74* 85 27 momentary time 62 2.98 1.40 24 4.08 1.31 -3.30 84 28 duration 62 3.03 1.48 24 4.13 1.22 -3.20** 84 28 latency 62 3.00 1.42 24 3.96 1.30 -2.86* 84 28 note. only 86-98 participants answered this question; ***p<.001, **p<.01, *p<.05 training needs identified by early educators limited training was reported as the largest barrier to ees using informal assessment methods (n=64, 56.1%). in addition, 21 participants (18.4%) reported not being sure how to select the right methods, 15 participants (13.2%) were not comfortable using the methods, and 13 participants (11.4%) said they were too busy teaching to informally assess children. about 61 participants (53.5%) said they learned about the assessment methods through in-service training while 40 participants (35.1 %) through university course work, 34 (29.8%) learned through mentoring on the job, and 29 (25.4%) were self-taught. in addition, 12 participants (10.5%) reported no training related to informal assessment methods. for self-ratings of training level needed, 52 participants (45.6%) reported needing some to extreme training regarding informal assessment methods (see table 9). early educator informal assessment survey 17 table 9. systematic informal assessment level of training needs (n=114) n m median sd missing anecdotal notes 105 1.74 1.60 .92 9 event/frequency 106 2.27 2.22 .92 8 partial interval 106 2.40 2.33 .88 8 whole interval 106 2.41 2.36 .90 8 momentary time 106 2.41 2.35 .92 8 duration 106 2.37 2.32 .92 8 latency 106 2.43 2.38 .93 8 note. only 105-106 participants answered this question influences of educators’ demographic characteristics. a statistically significant (i.e., p<.01, or p<.05) difference was found in the way educators from head start versus those in setting other than head start rated their level of training need for event/frequency, partial interval, whole interval, and duration (table 10). specifically, there was a statistically significant difference in the scores for event/frequency training need in head start (m=2.43, sd=1.00) and event/frequency training need in the other than head start settings (m=2.03, sd=.73) conditions; t(2.22)=p<.01. statistically significant results for partial interval training need in head start (m=2.40, sd=.98) and partial interval training need in settings other than head start (m=2.38, sd=.70) conditions; t(.140)=p<.05. finally statistically significant results for whole interval training need in head start (m=2.43, sd=.98) and whole interval training need in settings other than head start (m=2.35, sd=.77) conditions; t(.442)=p<.05. when comparing teachers with more than ten years of experience to those with less than ten years, there was no significant difference in how educators rated their level of training needed for each informal assessment method. 18 classen, kang & cheatham table 10. t-test results for systematic informal assessment level of training needs (n=114) head start other missing n m sd n m sd t df anecdotal notes 65 1.77 .98 39 1.72 .82 .273 102 10 event/frequency 65 2.43 1.00 40 2.03 .73 2.22** 103 9 partial interval 65 2.40 .98 40 2.38 .70 .140* 103 9 whole interval 65 2.43 .98 40 2.35 .77 .442* 103 9 momentary time 65 2.43 1.00 40 2.38 .80 .298 103 9 duration 65 2.38 1.02 40 2.33 .76 .317* 103 9 latency 65 2.43 1.00 40 2.43 .84 .030 103 9 note. only 104-105 participants answered this question; **p<.01, *p<.05 discussion ongoing, sia is essential to ees making instructional decisions. using ongoing assessment for planning and progress monitoring is considered a fundamental indicator of quality programs for all young children, including children with disabilities (dec, 2014; naeyc & naecs/sde, 2003). this study’s purpose was to explore ee’s knowledge, current practice, and pd needs regarding informal assessment. early educators’ current informal assessment practice results indicate that ees working in head start typically use two informal assessment methods (i.e., anecdotal notes, event/frequency) and ees working in settings other than head start used event/frequency, partial interval, and duration sampling less often than educators working in head start settings. these results suggest that ees’ limited informal assessment knowledge impacted their varied use of sia. educator reports of consistently using few data collection methods suggest that ees may not be adequately prepared to meet the call for choosing multiple data sources for planning instruction and making decisions about services (dec, 2014; wolraich, gurwitch, bruder, & knight, 2005). educators’ limited use of varied sias may be due to educators’ self early educator informal assessment survey 19 reports of limited informal assessment knowledge and training which are further discussed in the next sections. early educators’ informal assessment knowledge and effectiveness ratings another objective of the current study was to determine teachers’ informal assessment knowledge. results indicate that most teachers’ self-rating of their knowledge regarding anecdotal notes positively matched their reported frequency of anecdotal assessment use. however, 37-55% stated they never used any informal assessment method except anecdotal notes. of those using anecdotal notes, only 33% (n=51) reported collecting data daily or several times daily, and only 28% (n=30) collected anecdotal data two to three times per month. this is of particular concern considering 53%-80% of participants (range 56-84) reported never using any other informal assessment data. these data reveal that ongoing sia is not occurring for the majority of participants. these results are similar to previous research indicating ees are still grappling with how to collect ongoing data through embedded natural routines and instruction (banerjee & luckner, 2013; nrc, 2008). professional development needs the analyses revealed three significant findings related to informal assessment pd needs. implementation science suggests that “teachers’ buy-in” related to using a specific instructional approach greatly impacts their frequency and quality of use (fixsen et al., 2005). similarly, wilkins (2008) explained that pd integrating educators’ beliefs and building confidence will improve learning outcomes that can be sustained for longer periods of time. the current results indicate ees’ beliefs about the effectiveness of each informal assessment method impacted their current practice and use. for example, ees rated anecdotal notes as the most effective, event/frequency sampling as somewhat effective, and latency sampling as somewhat ineffective. participants rated anecdotal notes and event/frequency most effective and most commonly use. limitations as with most studies, this investigation had limitations. findings should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size and the convenient, snowball sampling method. furthermore, the other than head start group consisting of preschool special education only educators, infant and toddler educators, ecse teachers, and licensed child care educators may not have adequately represented the entire ec workforce. selfreport measures may also contain discrepancies between reported knowledge and current use and actual knowledge and classroom practice. however, the teacher’s self-ratings of their informal assessment use were strengthened by questions forcing them to choose the best descriptor of their informal assessment use and frequency, rather than simply asking if they did or did not use each informal assessment method, which limited bias and provided more detailed data. additionally, participants across the two states did not work in similar settings. however, the differences between states more closely represent various ec settings in the united states. these limitations should be considered if this study is to be replicated on a larger scale. 20 classen, kang & cheatham future research future research can include a one day informal assessment training and follow-up classroom observations of actual teachers using assessment methods to verify and validate teachers’ perceptions. in addition, the survey instrument should be further developed to include specific questions related to how teachers choose assessment methods, analyze data, and collaborate with families to understand children’s skills and develop instructional plans. furthermore, studies in the future should explore how ees’ meet the assessment needs of children from diverse cultural, linguistic, and family backgrounds (e.g., family beliefs, composition, ses) across various states. implications for practice these data have important implications for pre-service and in-service pd. as indicated by participants, pre-service teacher preparation programs should enhance how they address informal assessment methods in course work, practicum experiences, and assignments. specifically, preservice and in-service training should include multiple opportunities to observe teachers using sia and practice administering sia methods with various children for various purposes (dec, 2014; naeyc & naecs/sde, 2003). in addition, assessment pd should occur over time using mentoring or coaching supports to explicitly connect effective curriculum design to the sias role in the instruction process. thus, researchers and teacher education programs designing pd training should consider how they may address ees’ buy-in and beliefs regarding the effectiveness of sia methods. moreover, researchers and pd facilitators should recognize implementation of newly gained informal assessment skills will require time and ongoing support. second, most ees indicated their informal assessment knowledge was gained through inservice training while less than a third of participants gained informal assessment knowledge from their pre-service training. the data from the current study signifies the need for pre-service teacher education programs to review and improve their assessment courses so future educators can become proficient in implementing various informal assessment methods. similarly, banerjee and luckner (2013) suggested that teacher education programs need to provide multiple opportunities for teacher candidates to practice using formal and informal assessments for children with varied characteristics in real-life situations and different settings. furthermore, participants in banerjee’s and luckner’s study reported needing more training on how assessment relates to planning instruction, progress monitoring, and writing meaningful goals. another study reported ees’ desire for video examples of assessments occurring in natural settings and daily routines (susmanstillman et al., 2014). third, ees in the current study reported needing additional training related to all informal assessment methods except for anecdotal notes. in addition, barriers such as not being sure how to select the “most effective” methods, not being comfortable using the methods, having a busy schedule or limited time to use other methods, and not preferring particular assessment methods were identified. these survey outcomes may be related to participants’ limited informal assessment knowledge and could be addressed in a pre-service or in-service training. pd related to selecting informal assessment methods and knowing each methods’ time commitment may improve the use of whole interval, momentary, partial interval, duration, and latency sampling. in addition, pd delivery should include coaching, online modules, (waitoller & artiles, 2013) and communities of practice. other studies revealed similar findings regarding participants’ early educator informal assessment survey 21 preferred pd delivery methods (e.g., howes, james, & ritchie, 2003; ramey & ramey, 2005; susman-stillman et al., 2014). specifically, participants reported that the most beneficial delivery and support method for pd to be onsite mentoring and coaching (susman-stillman et al., 2014). moreover, other research suggested ongoing pd (i.e., monitoring, mentoring, and supervising) provided by administrators supports ees’ use of evidence-based practices (howes, james, & ritchie, 2003; ramey & ramey, 2005). references bagnato, s. j. (2005). the authentic alternative for assessment in early intervention: an emerging evidence-based practice. journal of early intervention, 28(1), 17-22. doi:10.1177/105381510502800102 bagnato, s. j., mclean, m., macy, m., & neisworth, j. t. (2011). identifying instructional targets for early childhood via authentic assessment: alignment of professional standards and practice-based evidence. journal of early intervention, 33(4), 243-253. doi:10.1177/1053815111427565 bagnato, s. j., neisworth, j. t., & pretti-frontczak, k. (2010). linking authentic assessment and early childhood intervention: best measures for best practice. baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing co. banerjee, r., & luckner, j. l. (2013). assessment practices and training needs of early childhood professionals. journal of early childhood teacher education, 34, 231-248. doi:10.1080/10901027.2013.816808 catalino, t. a., & meyer, l. e. (2015). environment: improving access and participation. in r. m. santos (ed.), dec recommended practices: enhancing services for young children with disabilities and their families (pp. 5363). los angeles, ca: division for early childhood of the council for exceptional children. classen, a., & cheatham, g. a. (2015). systematic monitoring of young children’s socialemotional competence and challenging behaviors. young exceptional children, 18, 1-19. doi:10.1177/1096250614523970 codding, r. s., skowron, j., & pace, g. m. (2005). back to basics: training teachers to interpret curriculum‐based measurement data and create observable and measurable objectives. behavioral interventions: theory & practice in residential & community‐based clinical programs, 20(3), 165-176. doi:10.1002/bin.194 copple, c., & bredekamp, s. (2009). developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. national association for the education of young children. 1313 l street nw suite 500, washington, dc 22205-4101. division for early childhood (2014). dec recommended practices in early intervention/earlychildhood special education 2014. division for early childhood (dec), (2014). dec recommended practices in early intervention/early childhood special education 2014. early, d. m., maxwell, k. l., burchinal, m., alva, s., bender, r. h., bryant, d., ... & henry, g. t. (2007). teachers' education, classroom quality, and young children's academic skills: results from seven studies of preschool programs. child development, 78(2), 558-580. doi: 4139245 fixsen, d. l., blase, k. a., naoom, s. f., & wallace, f. (2009). core implementation components. research on social work practice, 19(5), 531-540. doi:10.1177/1049731509335549 howes, c., james, j., & ritchie, s. (2003). pathways to effective teaching. early childhood research quarterly, 18, 104-120. doi:10.1016/s0885-2006(03)00008-5 krasch, d., & carter, d. r. (2009). monitoring classroom behavior in early childhood: using group observation data to make decisions. early childhood education journal, 36, 475-482. doi:10.1007%2fs10643-009-0316-1 macy, m., bricker, d., & squires, j. (2005). an examination of the validity and reliability of a curriculum-based assessment approach used to determine eligibility for part c early intervention services. journal of early intervention, 28, 295-310. doi:10.1177/105381510502800101 madaus, j., rinaldi, c., bigaj, s., & chafouleas, s. m. (2009). an examination of current assessment practices in northeastern school districts. assessment for effective intervention, 34, 86-93. doi:10.1177/1534508408325882 moiduddin, e., bush, c., manley, m., aikens, n., tarullo, l., malone, l., and lukashanets, s., (2017). a portrait of head start classrooms and programs in spring 2015: faces 2014-2015 data tables and study design. opre report 2017-101. washington, dc: office of planning, research, and evaluation, administration for children and families, u.s. department of health and human services. 22 classen, kang & cheatham national association for the education of young children (naeyc) & national association of early childhood specialists in state departments of education (naecs/sde) (2003). early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. national research council. (2008). early childhood assessment: why what and how. committee on developmental outcomes and assessments for young children. board on children, youth, and families, board on testing and assessment, division of behavioral and social sciences and education, 145-177. neisworth, j. t., & bagnato, s. j. (2004). the mismeasure of young children: the authentic assessment alternative. infants & young children, 17, 198-212. doi:2004/07000 pretti-frontczak, k., kowalski, k., & brown, r. d. (2002). preschool teachers' use of assessments and curricula: a statewide examination. exceptional children, 69, 109-123. doi:10.1177/001440290206900108 ramey, s. l., & ramey, c. t. (2005). creating and sustaining a high-quality workforce in child care, early intervention, and school readiness programs. in m. zaslow & i. martinezbeck (eds.), critical issues in early childhood professional development (pp. 355-368).baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing co. saluja, g., early, d. m., & clifford, r. m. (2002). demographic characteristics of early childhood teachers and structural elements of early care and education in the united states. early childhood research & practice, 4(1), n1. schultz, t., kagan, s., & shore, r. (2009). taking stock: assessing and improving early childhood learning and program quality. washington, dc: national early childhood accountability task force. retrieved from http://www.eec.state.ma.us/docs/sharon%20lynn%20kagan%20presentation%20to%20eec%20board.pd f susman-stillman, a., bailey, a. e., & webb, c. (2014). the state of early childhood assessment: practices and professional development in minnesota. center for early education and development, university of minnesota. retrieved from http://ceed.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/the-state-of-early-childhoodassessment-practices-and-professional-development-in-minnesota.pdf u.s. department of education, (2016). office of planning, evaluation and policy development, policy and program studies service, the state of racial diversity in the educator workforce, washington, d.c. 2016. retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/highered/racial-diversity/state-racial-diversity-workforce.pdf waitoller, f. r., & artiles, a. j. (2013). a decade of professional development research for inclusive education: a critical review and notes for a research program. review of educational research, 83, 319-356. doi:10.3102/0034654313483905 whitebook, m., mclean, c., austin, l.j.e., & edwards, b. (2018). early childhood workforce index – 2018. berkeley, ca: center for the study of child care employment, university of california, berkeley. retrieved on february 18, 2019 from http://cscce.berkeley.edu/topic/early-childhood-workforce-index/2018/. wilkins, j. l. (2008). the relationship among elementary teachers’ content knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices. journal of mathematics teacher education, 11(2), 139–164. doi:10.1007/s10857-007-9068-2 wolery, m., &b ledford, j. (2014). monitoring intervention and children’s progress. in m. e. mclean., m. l. hemmeter., & snyder, p. (eds.), essential elementsfor assessing infants and preschoolers with special needs. (pp.383-400). upper saddle river, nj: pearson publishing. wolraich, m. l., gurwitch, r. h., bruder, m. b., & knight, l. a. (2005). the role of comprehensive interdisciplinary assessments in the early intervention system. in m. j. guralnick (ed.), a developmental systems approach to early intervention (pp. 133–149). baltimore, md: paul h. brookes. wortham, s. c., & hardin, b. j. (2016). assessment in early childhood education. merrill/prentice hall. microsoft word ohle_rtp final_11618.docx dialog, 21(1), copyright © 2018, issn: 1930-9325 early childhood teachers’ use of dual language digital books kathryn a. ohle university of alaska anchorage this qualitative study investigated how dual language digital books are used by early childhood teachers working with primarily alaska native children and families. in particular, there was a desire to know how the teachers used the books in their classrooms and if the resources were used to foster early literacy and/or to help teach and preserve native languages. the research was situated in six preschool classrooms where the researcher observed the teachers using the books and conducted semi-structured interviews to triangulate the data. using a qualitative approach to analysis, findings emerged that teachers used the books to introduce in a variety of group settings. additionally, how they used the books appeared to be in direct response to their students and their needs. implications for teachers, families, and administrators are shared. keywords: dual language books, early childhood teachers, indigenous populations language extinction is a reality for many communities around the world and is particularly true for those in alaska, where only 22% of alaska native peoples can speak their language (olson & alaska state legislature, 2012). this massive loss of language is due in part to young children having few opportunities to use and become literate in their native languages. “we need to focus attention on changing the patterns of interaction and the message children receive about the value and status of their heritage languages” (cummins, 2005, p. 590) for, “if little ones can learn the language, then the language will have a chance of surviving” (rodriguez & warrior, 2013). many people, including myself, have responded by embarking on projects that provide dual language materials in multiple languages. our project was accomplished by collaborating with unite for literacy, an organization that provides an abundance of digital picture books to children, families, and teachers in over thirty languages, and talented alaska native partners, who helped translate and narrate the books. the project provides useful, accessible resources to local communities and sends the clear message that all languages are important. while creating dual language digital children’s books with unite for literacy was intended to help revive and retain languages, the creation of books does not fully reflect the entirety of the contributions needed to perpetuate alaska native and other indigenous languages. research-to-practice summary teachers’ use of dual language books 81 what is truly needed is a collaboration between teachers, families, children, and communities who stress bilingualism as being a priority and teachers are in the unique position to create an environment where everyone works together to promote dual language practices. study description we focused on how the books are used by teachers with their students and families in six head start preschool classrooms that primarily serve alaska native children and families. we pursued these two research questions: how do teachers in an alaskan community use dual language digital books in their classrooms? do teachers use these resources to foster early literacy and/or to help teach and preserve native languages? these research questions were answered by conducting interviews and observations in a tribal head start, which serves three to five-year old alaska native and american indian children with a part-time program and six-week to fiveyear old early head start children who attend a full day program. at the time of the study, the center did not promote a particular language, although the majority of native families that speak a language other than english tend to speak yup’ik. the six teacher-participants had between one and twenty years of experience, varying levels of education, and were of different cultural backgrounds. half were bilingual and the majority were women. most participants had been introduced to the books on the unite for literacy website during a staff meeting, where the researcher demonstrated how to use the books, facilitated a conversation on how the books could be used, and solicited ideas about how they see language being emphasized within the school. the teachers also received a handout on how to access the primarily non-fiction books that support young readers through the use of audio buttons, which allow readers to hear narrations by native speakers. the books included predictable language, frequently used vocabulary words, and reinforced many beginning concepts with pictures that portray a rich diversity of peoples. the observations occurred at a time convenient to the teacher. during the visits, the researcher observed the teachers formally and informally introduce the books using tablets and/or large projection screens. there was also variation in grouping strategies, with some working with the entire class, one with two to three children, and the majority with between six and ten children in a small group. several also provided time for independent exploration. after the observations, teachers discussed the lesson. the interview included questions about how they used the dual language digital books, if using them changed their instructional practices, if they saw the children or their families using them, how they reinforced early literacy practices and home languages, and any pros or cons to using them. the major findings were that the books were used to help introduce specific content and concepts, reinforce and teach early literacy concepts, and reinforce home languages. results content/concept-specific instruction. frequently, teachers were observed using the books to introduce certain topics of inquiry or to reinforce concepts at their students’ developmental levels. for example, jeffrey, whose class was studying marine wildlife, pulled up the book, who is in the ocean? on the ipad and had his four and five-year-old students listen to it 82 ohle in english and converse about the topic. this helped them access their prior knowledge and then introduced them to sea anemones and leopard sharks. he also paused to share information about the animals, elicit information from them, and reinforce strategies like making predictions and explaining phenomena. allison chose not to focus on a particular content area but instead to informally reinforce concepts to her two and three-year-old students as they arose, using the books during free choice time where she called children to her table and allowed them to pick a book on the ipad. the books were used as conversation starters, allowing her to make connections to skills they practiced in the classroom and to them personally. inclusion of early literacy concepts. while teachers were observed using the books to introduce certain topics or to reinforce developmentally appropriate skills, the instruction always reinforced an early literacy concept as well. jeffrey added phonics instruction when he modeled how to decode the word “fish,” and allison helped her students make text-toself connections when discussing if they liked cookies. similar comprehension strategies were observed in other classrooms as well. when reading follow your feet with the class using a large tablet, tanisha prompted the children to think about what else they used their feet for; afterwards, as they explored books with partners, she continued to help them make personal connections, like when she asked them to consider an animal that looked similar but lived in alaska. teachers also emphasized new vocabulary. julie did this using the book, who loves flowers? when she introduced her students to what a gardener, florist, and botanist were by asking questions and modeling how they might figure them out. recognition and reinforcement of diverse languages. while many teachers included vocabulary in their lessons, about half of them intentionally introduced vocabulary in a language other than english. for example, mary started her whole group lesson by asking if anyone had heard another language. after the class identified a student with a vietnamese mother and another with an indigenous grandparent, mary chose a book where she switched between english, inupiaq, and vietnamese. another teacher, amelia, introduced the word “cold” in inupiaq using the book, is it cold outside?, choosing a language that reflected her own background. using hand motions, the children practiced it repeatedly. the children’s connections and fascinations with the various languages seemed to have an impact on the teachers, inspiring them to further recognize or reinforce multiple languages. for example, after listening to the book in inupiaq, several children asked amelia to play the book in spanish, which she did by changing the narration language on the smartboard, prompting the children to repeat the words in the new language. responding to their excitement even further, amelia extended the book exploration afterwards. the children were quick to respond, prompting the adults to press the inupiaq buttons, shouting, “do it again!” in sum, the teachers used the dual language digital books to reinforce content and concepts, emphasize emergent literacy concepts, and recognize and reinforce multiple diverse languages. while in most cases the books did not fundamentally alter the teachers’ instruction, the teachers were responsive and intentional in how they used them to engage the children. teachers’ use of dual language books 83 discussion & implications the main research questions in this study were how teachers use dual language digital books in their classrooms and if teachers use these resources to foster early literacy and/or to help teach and preserve native languages. based on the observations of the six teachers, we found that onethird of the teachers used the books to introduce certain topics of inquiry or to reinforce popular concepts appropriate to their students’ developmental levels. two-thirds of the teachers used the books to recognize and reinforce diverse home languages; and all six of the teachers taught or reinforced early literacy skills. these skills were taught and reinforced in a variety of settings, including whole and small group and independent exploration choice time. while not in response to an explicit research question, an underlying theme present in the findings was the teachers made many of their instructional decisions in response to the children. in the case of those who used the books to reinforce certain content or concepts, the teacher with older students was able to engage in higher-level conversations around things like sea urchins while the teacher with much younger students responded by sharing more simple books that reinforced counting. this also played a part in the instructional settings they used. for example, allison, who had the youngest students, incorporated the dual language digital books into her choice time whereas julie had slightly older children who could sit in a group and listen. this process of responding to students also surfaced throughout the instances when diverse languages were reinforced. for example, amelia and julie spent more time listening to the books in different languages, but they and their children seemed to have a natural interest in this. in sum, the teachers used the books in a fashion that responded to their children’s needs. while the results were telling, commentary around what was not seen is also important. in this study, while teachers did reinforce multiple languages, they did not appear concerned about the vulnerable state of the alaska native languages. although they mentioned that it was good to use and share the books and their center focuses specifically on serving indigenous populations, promoting different languages was not at the forefront. this may be because few of their children speak an indigenous language, and the teachers were focused on responding to the children’s immediate needs. however, if teachers do not intentionally use dual language books and promote indigenous languages amongst the youngest of learners, who will? these results have several implications for teachers, families, and administrators. therefore we recommend teachers: (a) consider how they might incorporate children’s home languages in meaningful ways that improve children’s literacy skills and reinforce their cultural identities. we recommend moving beyond having the children listen to the words and repeat them. for, if teachers prompt their students to use the expressive vocabulary of their home language, the students can learn and use these words with greater frequency, which could lead to long-term language revitalization efforts. (b) allow the students to lead the way using their biliterate skills (delbridge & helman, 2016). evidence-based strategies for teachers who do not use bilingual instruction but have students who are include collaborative writing of life events, authoring dual language texts, creating vocabulary bridges, considering identity during reading, and hosting family literacy nights. (c) model how to use the dual language digital books with their families to introduce content and concepts being attended to in class, teach early literacy skills, and reinforce multiple languages. even better, it would be advantageous to integrate the family’s language and culture and collaborate with families to construct programs that do so, a strategy that has emerged as being effective when considering literacy and language programs that have long-term impacts on dual language learners (lewis & ginsburg-block, 2014). 84 ohle we recommend families: (a) be encouraged to develop the native languages that are spoken in their home without fear of hindering the academic development of their child in school. (b) read dual language digital books like those available on unite for literacy with their children so the children are exposed to the native languages. (c) use their children’s teachers as models to increase the quality of the interactions during shared book reading. in this study, the teachers wove in questions that emphasized comprehension, vocabulary, and phonemic awareness. this could be done through a scaffolded program within a family literacy night where families receive dual language books and assistance in using dialogic reading strategies. we recommend school administrators consider: (a) how they might obtain duallanguage materials. while unite for literacy’s site was used by these teachers, it is not the only tool that supports dual language learners. (b) how they will assist their teachers in incorporating multiple languages into the classroom. when teachers of dual language learners participate in professional development that is content-specific, incorporates coaching, and uses assessment in progress monitoring, “teachers made significant gains in the quality of their language and literacy practices and general classroom environment” (hoisington, young, anastasopoulos, washburn, 2015, p.25). also, when teachers gain knowledge about dialogic reading, their teaching improves, boosting students’ engagement (matera, armas, & lavadenz, 2016). conclusion by having access to dual language digital books, communities across alaska are finding themselves with more resources that have the potential to help encourage early literacy development and to promote native languages, and they are receiving the message that their language and culture matter. however, the real value is when: (a) teachers make the decision to use these books intentionally, using them to teach content and concepts, reinforce early literacy skills, and systematically teach indigenous languages. (b) teachers show families their language and culture are important by demonstrating a willingness to include them within the classroom, inspiring families to become more involved in their children’s lives. (c) teachers help children learn and use their native languages so they experience the many advantages of becoming biliterate. for while dual language digital books are important, it is the teachers’ use of them that ultimately makes the difference. references cummins, j. (2005). a proposal for action: strategies for recognizing heritage language competence as a learning resource within the mainstream classroom. modern language journal, 89(4), 585-592. delbridge, a., & helman, l. a. (2016). evidence-based strategies for fostering biliteracy in any classroom. early childhood education journal, 44, 307-316. hoisington, c., young, j. m., anastasopoulos, l., & washburn, s. (2015). building a classroom community that supports english learners in preschool. nhsa dialog, 18(2), 1-30. lewis, k., & ginsburg-block, m. (2014). early childhood literacy and language programs: supporting involvement of dlls and their families. nhsa dialog, 17(2), 17-57. matera, c., armas, e., & lavadenz, m. (2016). scaffolded dialogic reading professional development for transitional kindergarten teachers of dual language learners. nhsa dialog, 18(4), 80-104. olson, d., & alaska state legislature (2012). legislature passes bill to protect alaska native languages. retrieved from http://www.neaalaska.org/nea/sites/default/files/billprotectaknativelang.pdf teachers’ use of dual language books 85 rodriguez, r. g., & warrior, d. (2013, september). semillitas project supports tribal language preservation. intercultural development research association (idra) newsletter. retrieved from http://www.idra.org/idra_newsletter/september_2013_student_engagement/semillitas_project_support s_tribal_language_preservation/http://www.idra.org/idra_newsletter/september_2013_student_engage ment/semillitas_project_supports_tribal_language_preservation/ children’s books hartman, h. (n.d.) who is in the ocean? retrieved from www.uniteforliteracy.com hartman, h. (n.d.) is it cold outside? retrieved from www.uniteforliteracy.com locke, l. (n.d.) who loves flowers? retrieved from www.uniteforliteracy.com mcguffee, m. (n.d.) follow your feet. retrieved from www.uniteforliteracy.com microsoft word cox final.docx dialog, 21(1), copyright © 2018, issn: 1930-9325 factors related to head start teachers’ implementation of physical activity programming colin m. cox, jessica a. hoffman, mariya shiyko, amy m. briesch, and carmen castaneda-sceppa northeastern university this study examined factors that predicted head start preschool teachers’ use of the physical activity components of i am moving, i am learning (im/il), a nationally disseminated obesity prevention program. lead teachers (n=120) in a large city in the united states completed questionnaires to self-report im/il implementation, demographic information, their general attitudes toward physical activity promotion, and their specific attitudes about implementing im/il. three variables were associated with teachers’ program usage: (a) prior teacher training, (b) teachers’ perceptions about program usability, and (c) teachers’ prior experience leading physical activity. results also highlighted head start teachers’ positive attitudes about the benefits of promoting physical activity. many head start teachers described im/il as a feasible and acceptable physical activity promotion program. however, training opportunities were variable and more comprehensive and consistent training would be important. keywords: community health, physical activity programs, child obesity, preschool children typically do not engage in recommended levels of physical activity while in early care and education settings (pate, mciver, dowda, brown, & addy, 2008; pate, pfeiffer, trost, ziegler, & dowda, 2004; shen et al., 2012). recent studies have highlighted the positive relationship between motor skills and participation in physical activity (fisher et al., 2005; williams, carter, kibbe, & dennison, 2008). it is suggested that children with more advanced gross motor skills are more likely to engage in physical activity. moreover, research has also highlighted that physical activity is positively related to cognitive development among elementary school children (sibley & etnier, 2003) and may improve children’s ability to exert effortful and goal directed behavior (best, 2010). together, these findings highlight the research article factors related to head start 69 importance of promoting physical activity with young children to prevent childhood obesity and to instill healthy habits at a young age. one explanation for the low physical activity levels across early care settings may be that there is variability in how programs promote physical activity (bower et al., 2008; pate et al., 2004). the limited research on physical activity promotion within childcare settings show that structured curriculum-based programs are associated with higher levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (annesi, smith, & tennant, 2013; fitzgibbon et al. 2011; trost, fees, & dzewaltowski, 2008; van cauwenberghw, de craemer, de decker, & cardon, 2013). although basic interventions, such as adding playground equipment or leading simple gross motor activities 30 minutes per day (binkley & specker, 2004), are associated with small increases in children’s physical activity levels, the extent to which improvements in physical activity levels are sustained remains questionable (finch, jones, yoong, wiggers & woldendum, 2016; sims, scarborough, & foster, 2015). moreover, there is a growing recognition of the need for multicomponent interventions (hoelscher, kirk, ritchie, & cunningham-sabo, 2013; howie et al., 2014) and physical activity related training and resources for teachers (de marco, zeisel, & odom, 2014; pate et al., 2016). many head start programs utilize i am moving, i am learning (im/il), a flexible program focused on preventing childhood obesity among young children. although recent evidence suggested obesity levels have plateaued (pan, blanck, sherry, dalenius, & grummerstrawn, 2012) among children of color and children from low-income households, the prevalence of obesity rates remain at concerning levels (ogden, carroll, kit, & flegal, 2014). im/il’s physical activity goals are to increase the quantity of time children spend in moderate to vigorous physical activity during their daily routine in order to meet national guidelines for physical activity and to improve the quality of structured movement experiences facilitated by teachers and adults (finkelstein et al., 2007; fox, hallgren, boller, & turner, 2010). despite widespread dissemination, there are limited data on how teachers use im/il and the impact that im/il has on children’s physical activity (fox et al., 2010). im/il was developed as a flexible program that would fit seamlessly into head start programming with each site having autonomy over implementation (fox et al., 2010). given this flexibility in program usage, it is important to understand how often teachers implement the program’s varied activities. this is particularly important because children’s physical activity levels across childcare sites (pate et al, 2008; pate et al., 2004; trost, fees, & dzewaltowski, 2008) and schools (dusenbury, brannigan, falco, & hansen, 2003; rohrbach, graham, & hansen, 1993) vary. teacher characteristics, such as enthusiasm, self-efficacy, and preparedness, have contributed to higher levels of program implementation (rohrbach eta al., 1993). moreover, teacher perceptions of treatment acceptability (kazdin, 1980), program feasibility (elliot, 1988; reimers, wacker, & koeppl, 1987), program impact (von brock & elliot, 1987), understanding the steps involved in implementation (reimers, wacker, & koeppl, 1987), and administrator support (han & weiss, 2005; rohrbach et al., 1993) may also influence program usage. ultimately, multiple, interconnected factors may be involved with program usage (briesch, chafouleas, neugebauer, & riley-tillman, 2013), and it is important for research to further explore factors related to intervention fidelity (dusenbury et al., 2003). in preschool settings, teachers are often responsible for leading physical activities, yet research has not sufficiently explored how preschool teachers’ attitudes relate to their preparedness and willingness to implement this type of instruction. qualitative studies have illustrated varying attitudes, with some teachers expressing beliefs that it was not their role to 70 cox et al. lead structured physical activities (cashmore & jones, 2008; o’connor & temple, 2005) or implement this type of programming (derscheid, umoren, kim, henry, & zittel, 2010). in the initial im/il evaluation, the majority of teachers endorsed feeling enthusiastic about the program (finkelstein, 2007). however, in follow-up, half of the head start programs identified staff buyin as a barrier to implementation (fox et al., 2010). the relationship between preschool teachers’ attitudes and their use of physical activity programming is an area that deserves further exploration. within school settings, intervention integrity and sustainability are common problems (pence, justice, & wiggins, 2008; whitehurst et al., 1994), and it is valuable to determine which teacher factors correspond with more frequent and broader utilization of im/il. the primary objective of this study was to examine teachers’ general attitudes about physical activity programming and their specific beliefs about im/il in relationship to their im/il implementation. this study sought to answer the following research questions: (1) how frequently do head start teachers use each of the im/il physical activity components? (2) do head start teachers’ general attitudes toward promoting physical activity predict how often they implement physical activity components of im/il? (3) do head start teachers’ attitudes toward the im/il program in particular predict how often they implement physical activity components of im/il? methods participants lead teachers (n=167) from head start programs (n=22) in a large city in the northeast were invited to participate (n=120 teachers participated; 72% response rate). participant characteristics and demographics are described in table 1. participation was voluntary and anonymous. instruments a four-part teacher questionnaire was developed for this study that measured teachers’ demographics, im/il implementation, general attitudes toward physical activity promotion in preschool, and specific attitudes toward implementing im/il. the questionnaire was reviewed and revised by a group of university-based experts in childhood obesity prevention and implementation science and head start administrators. the questionnaire was pilot tested with two head start teachers. demographic questions. this section included questions about teachers’ gender, race, ethnicity, the number of years they taught preschool children, and the number of years they taught in head start. teachers’ im/il implementation. this variable measured the frequency with which teachers implemented im/il program lessons, activities, and components in the past year (rohrbach et al., 1993). the five im/il physical activity components included: (1) listening to the choosy cd; (2) incorporating equipment (e.g., jump rope, hula-hoop) and props (e.g., factors related to head start 71 scarves, sticks) in physical activity; (3) leading basic movement activities (e.g., stretching, running, jumping); (4) leading structured activities; and (5) using movement vocabulary (fox et al., 2010). response options included: never, about once a month, about once a week, 2-3 times a week, 4-5 days a week, and several times a day. table 1 teachers’ attitudes toward physical activity promotion. this variable was measured using an 8-item general attitude scale for physical activity (gas-pa) that was developed for this study. items were developed based on findings from relevant research and the theory of planned behavior (ajzen, 1991). items focused on preschool teachers’ attitudes in three general areas: (1) whether they perceive their students’ levels of physical activity to be concerning; (2) how they see their role as a preschool teacher in the promotion of physical activity; and (3) how they view benefits associated with children engaging in physical activity (table 2). responses were based on a 6-point likert scale (i.e., strongly disagree to strongly agree). the gas-pa demonstrated high reliability (α= .97). teachers’ attitudes toward im/il. this variable was assessed using a modified version of the usage rating profile-intervention revised (urp-ir; briesch et al., 2013). the urp-ir is a 29-item measure that assesses six factors that explain whether an individual will adopt and utilize an intervention over time (i.e., acceptability, understanding, family school collaboration, feasibility, system climate, and system support). responses were based on a 6point likert scale (i.e., strongly disagree to strongly agree). reliability for the modified urp-ir was high (α= .90). reliability for the acceptability (9 items; α=.83), understanding (3 items; head start teacher demographic characteristics (n = 120) n % gender female 116 96.7 male 4 3.3 race black/african american 39 33 other 37 31.6 white 31 26.5 asian/pacific islander 9 7.7 american indian or alaskan native 1 0.9 ethnicity non-hispanic/latino 71 71.7 hispanic/latino 28 28.3 leading physical activities experience 97 79.3 no experience 22 20.7 training received im/il training 92 79.3 did not receive im/il training 24 20.7 72 cox et al. α=.86), and system climate (3 items; α=.85) subscales was high and similar to previous reliability estimates (briesch et al., 2013). although slightly lower, the family school collaboration subscale (3 items; α=.71) met the .70 criterion for research based scales (netemeyer, bearden, & sharma, 2003). scores for the feasibility subscale (6 items; α=.68) and system support subscale (3 items; α=.67) were slightly below this criterion suggesting mild concerns around their internal consistency. procedures all study procedures were approved by the institutional review board. the first author met with head start education supervisors during a monthly meeting to outline the purpose of the study and logistics of survey administration. teachers who completed the questionnaire were eligible to enter a lottery where they could win a $20 gift card. copies of the survey were delivered to all participating head start sites on the same day, and surveys were presented in an envelope with directions for administration. data analysis statistical analyses were conducted in pasw statistics 18 (spss, inc., 2009, chicago, il). the im/il total usage and im/il component usage scores were calculated to describe how frequently teachers reported utilizing im/il physical activity components over the school year. the im/il total usage score was calculated through computing the average of frequencies for all im/il components. the im/il component usage scores were calculated in the same manner for each major im/il component: (1) choosy cd, (2) equipment and/or props, (3) basic movement activities, (4) structured activities, and (5) movement vocabulary. usage scores ranged from 0 (never) to 5 (several times a day). descriptive statistics were calculated for the im/il total usage variable and the im/il component usage variables. teacher responses on the gas-pa and urp-ir were centered and converted into scores by averaging the values for teacher responses across items (range = 0-5). subscale scores on the urp-ir were similarly calculated through averaging teachers’ responses across the items that comprised each of the six subscales. descriptive statistics were calculated for teachers’ responses on the gas-pa and the modified urp-ir. intra-class correlations (iccs) were computed to evaluate whether there was a cluster effect within each head start site. the icc value was calculated for the primary outcome (i.e., im/il total usage score). to determine whether teachers’ general attitudes toward physical activity and their specific attitudes toward im/il predicted their usage of im/il, a standard linear multiple regression was conducted using a stepwise method. the following predictor variables were entered into the model: teacher usability ratings (urp-ir scores), gas-pa scores, previous im/il training, number of years of working with preschool students, and number of years leading physical activities: yim/il total usage score= β0+ β1 urp-ir + β2 gas-pa+ + β3 im/il training +β4 preschool experience+ β5 physical activity experience + ε. factors related to head start 73 table 2 teacher responses on the general attitude scale for-physical activity (gas-pa) and usage rating profile-intervention revised (urp-ir) gas-pa items urp-ir subscales mean sd mean sd i am concerned that children at my school do not get enough physical activity. 2.89 1.7 urp-ir total score 4.86 0.56 i think children should have the opportunity to be physically active during school. 5.44 1.14 acceptability 5.16 0.62 as a teacher, i should play a role in helping my students be physically active. 5.46 1.1 understanding 5.02 0.86 as a teacher, i should find opportunities for my students to be physically activity during the school day. 5.48 1.05 family school collaboration 4.48 1.1 as a teacher, i should lead activities that help my students be physically active during school. 5.45 1.06 feasibility 4.88 0.67 i think that keeping students physically active helps them do better in their schoolwork. 5.38 1.1 system climate 5.12 0.68 i think keeping students physically active helps them behave better in class. 5.24 1.24 system support 3.70 1.23 i think that physical activity can help students’ attention/concentration/focus. 5.30 1.13 note. scores ranged from 1 to 6; 1= strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=slightly disagree, 4= slightly agree, 5=agree, 6=strongly agree 74 cox et al. results teacher im/il implementation teachers’ mean im/il total usage score was 2.64 (sd=0.73), suggesting that components of im/il were implemented more than once per week (i.e., a score of 2 = about once a week; a score of 3 = 2-3 times a week). the most frequently used im/il component was vocabulary (m=3.50, sd=1.04), with teachers on average incorporating movement vocabulary into classroom activities nearly four to five days a week. the second most frequent component was implementing unstructured activities (m=3.16, sd=0.88), which teachers reported doing approximately two to three times per week. in contrast, teachers on average reported implementing structured activities (m=2.43, sd=0.94), using the choosy cd (m=2.29, sd=1.22), and using equipment and props (m=1.95, sd=0.84) less often, approximately once a week. teachers’ attitudes toward physical activity promotion teachers’ responses on the modified gas-pa suggested strong positive attitudes about the importance and benefits of promoting physical activity 2). the overall mean was 5.40 (sd=1.02) and the median value was 5.71, indicating most teachers agreed or strongly agreed with nearly all of the statements; indeed only five teachers (4.1%) reported disagreement with the statements. average responses across items demonstrated minimal variability, with the mean scores ranging from 5.24 (sd=1.24) to 5.48 (sd=1.05). teachers’ attitudes toward im/il. overall, the mean score on the urp-ir was 4.86 (sd=0.56), suggesting that teachers agreed with most items (table 2). mean scores on the acceptability subscale were the highest (m=5.16, sd=.62), indicating teachers agreed that im/il was an acceptable intervention. on the system climate subscale, mean scores were similarly high (m=5.12, sd=.68), indicating that teachers believed the program was compatible with the school environment. mean scores on the understanding subscale also indicated that teachers understood how to implement im/il (m=5.02, sd=.86). mean ratings were slightly lower on the feasibility (m=4.88, sd=.67) and family school collaboration (m=4.48, sd=1.1) subscales. lastly, teachers’ mean scores on the system support subscale (m=3.70, sd=1.23) suggested they slightly disagreed that they needed help from other staff to implement im/il. the relationship between teacher attitudes and im/il usage the icc value of 0.01 was below the 0.1 standard for a small effect (hox, 2002). based on this finding, there was no clustering effect in the data, so teacher site was not taken into consideration in the analyses. the final model consisted of three predictor variables: prior im/il training (p < .001), mean urp-ir (p= .002), and prior experience leading physical activity (p= .037). results factors related to head start 75 of the analysis suggested this model explained 27.5% of the variance in teachers’ use of im/il, r2=.275, f (3,110) =13.54, p<.001. overall, these results suggested that teachers who attended the im/il training endorsed using im/il more frequently (𝛽 = .73 𝑆𝐸 =. 16 ,𝑝 =<. 001). specifically, teachers who attended training scored .73 points higher on the im/il total usage than those who didn’t attend the training. this difference corresponds to a medium effect size and indicates that im/il training was associated with more frequent usage of im/il (cohen, 1988). further, higher im/il usability scores on the urp-ir scale were associated with higher im/il total usage (𝛽 = .34 𝑆𝐸 =. 11 ,𝑝 =. 002). in comparison to prior im/il training, the impact of urp-ir scores was smaller yet in the expected direction. lastly, teachers’ prior experience leading physical activities was also positively associated with the im/il total usage score (𝛽 = .26 𝑆𝐸 = . 12 ,𝑝 =. 037). the effect size of this predictor was small (cohen, 1988). discussion given limited research on the implementation of im/il, a nationally disseminated program, this study explored head start teachers’ use of the program and factors that are related to its implementation. the results provide preliminary data on the frequency with which head start teachers in a large city in the united states utilize im/il to promote physical activity. overall, reported estimates for leading structured activities were less than estimates for leading unstructured activities. one factor contributing to these results may be that leading unstructured activities (e.g., free play outside on the playground) require less planning and effort than structured activities. national recommendations suggest that preschool children engage in at least 60 minutes of structured active play every day (national association for sport and physical education, 2009; u.s. department of health and human services, 2010); therefore, this finding highlights the gap between current recommendations and actual practice and underscores the need to do more to help teachers promote structured active play in head start. another goal of this study was to explore preschool teachers’ attitudes toward physical activity programming. results revealed positive attitudes toward promoting physical activity in the classroom and the benefits associated with physical activity. this finding departed from previous qualitative studies where themes emerged regarding teacher reports of physical activity programming not aligning with their role (cashmore & jones, 2008; derscheid et al., 2010; o’connor & temple, 2005). in the current study, teachers also reported positive perceptions regarding the usability of im/il, suggesting high intervention acceptability, good program understanding, perceptions that the program was feasible to implement and that it fit with their head start context, and that increased family school collaboration may strengthen the program. prior research has found that teachers’ enthusiasm for, comfort with, and beliefs about the strength of programs are associated with higher implementation fidelity (rohrbach et al., 1993), so our findings are encouraging for im/il usability within head start classrooms. limitations the following limitations should be considered when interpreting study findings. first, participants were restricted to one city and data may not be generalizable to head start programs 76 cox et al. beyond that city. second, results are based on teacher self-report. research has highlighted validity concerns with using self-report measures to assess implementation integrity involving school-based interventions (fiske, 2008; pence et al., 2008). given this issue, efforts to ensure anonymity were made to promote accurate reporting. third, the im/il total usage score may have failed to capture some of the variability that exists between classrooms. for the measurement of both structured and unstructured activities, teachers endorsed a range of usage (e.g., 2 to 3 times a week, several times a day) rather than providing a specific frequency (e.g., 5 times a week). although this im/il total usage score provides general information on teacher use of im/il, the response categories did not allow for calculating the true difference between teachers’ usage. implications for school health physical activity promotion programs are associated with increases in children’s physical activity levels (annesi et al., 2013; binkley & specker, 2004; fitzgibbon et al. 2011; hannon & brown, 2008; trost et al., 2008). im/il is designed for head start programs that serve children at increased risk for overweight and obesity and allows for flexibility and autonomy over implementation. the head start teachers in this study believed that im/il is a feasible, understandable, and acceptable program. teachers reported promoting physical activity throughout the day by engaging students in various unstructured movement activities. moving forward, it is important to understand reasons for teachers’ higher frequency facilitating unstructured active play relative to their lower frequency leading structured active play, and relatedly, barriers and facilitators of implementing structured activities in the classroom. program sustainability is a common problem within schools (pence et al., 2008; whitehurst et al., 1994). to ensure optimal implementation, it is important to provide teachers with ongoing support, interactive training and consultation (de marco et al., 2010; howie et al., 2014; pate et al., 2016) and to make sure that im/il training is part of the orientation when new teachers are hired. results from this study suggested the head start teachers have attended training/s on im/il. for further improvement, head start sites focus on continuing to evaluate and strengthen their im/il training program to increase teachers’ use of structured activities. flexibility is considered an important factor when implementing obesity prevention programming (adams, zask, & dietrich, 2009; howie et al., 2014), which is a fundamental feature of im/il. as such, to capitalize on this strength and ensure more frequent implementation, it is important to promote teachers’ comfort in using all im/il components independently. conclusions the current study demonstrated that prior exposure to im/il training, teachers’ perceptions of program usability, and their prior experience leading physical activities were associated with higher levels of im/il usage. the strongest predictor of im/il usage was previous participation in im/il training. these results support previous research suggesting that training is a significant component of program implementation (durlak & dupre, 2008), particularly physical activity programming (de marco et al., 2014; pate et al., 2016). also, teachers who felt positively about factors commonly related to intervention implementation (e.g., acceptability, understanding, factors related to head start 77 feasibility) were more likely to use im/il. findings from this study suggest that evaluating attitudes toward specific physical activity promotion programs (e.g., feasibility, system support, and climate) may be more important than general attitudes about teachers’ roles in physical activity promotion. acknowledgements the authors are grateful for the participation of the head start teachers and administrators who helped to make this study possible. the authors have no affiliation with the i am moving/i am learning program and have not conflicts of interest to disclose. references adams, j., zask, a., & diethrich, u. 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(2008). preschool teachers’ fidelity in implementing a comprehensive language-rich curriculum. language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 39(3), 329-341. doi:1044/0161-1461 factors related to head start 79 reimers, t. m., wacker d. p., & koeppl, g. (1987). acceptability of behavioral interventions: a review of the literature. school psychology review, 16, 212-227. rohrbach, l. a., graham, j. w., & hansen, w. b. (1993). diffusion of school-based substance abuse prevention program: predictors of program implementation. preventative medicine, 22(2), 237-260. shen, b., reinhart-lee, t., janisse, h., brogan, k., danford, c. & jen, k. c. (2012). african american preschool children’s physical activity levels in head start. research quarterly for exercise and sport, 83(2), 168174. doi:10.1080/02701367.2012.10599847 sibley, b. a., & etnier, j. l. (2003). the relationship between physical activity and cognition in children: a metaanalysis. pediatric exercise science, 15(3), 243-256. sims, j., scarborough, p., & foster, c. (2015). the effectiveness of interventions on sustained childhood physical activity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled studies. plosone, 10(7), e0132935. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0132925 spss inc. released 2009. pasw statistics for windows, version 18.0. chicago: spss inc. trost, s. g., fees, b., & dzewaltowski, d. (2008). feasibility and efficacy of a “move and learn” physical activity curriculum in preschool children. journal of physical activity & health, 5(1), 88-103. van cauwenberghe, e., de craemer, m., de decker, e., & cardon, g. (2013). the impact of a teacher-led structured physical activity session on preschoolers’ sedentary and physical activity levels. journal of science and medicine in sport, 16(5), 422-426. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2012.11.883 von brock, m. b., & elliot, s. n. (1987). the influence of treatment effectiveness information on the acceptability of classroom interventions. journal of school psychology ,25(2), 131-144. whitehurst, g. j., epstein, j. n., angell, a. c., payne, a. c., crone, d. a., & fischel, j. e. (1994). outcomes of an emergent literacy intervention in head start. journal of educational psychology, 86(4), 542-555. williams, c. l., carter, b. j., kibbe, d. l., & dennison, d. (2008). increasing physical activity in preschool. a pilot study to evaluate animal trackers. journal of nutrition education and behavior, 41(1), 47-52. doi:10.1016/j.neb.2008.03.004 u.s. department of health and human services (2010). the surgeon general’s vision for a healthy and fit nation. retrieved from http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/initiatives/healthy-fit-nation/obesityvision2010.pdf dialog, 22(1), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 video self-reflection michelle grantham-caston cynthia dicarlo louisiana state university research suggests that teachers with increased education and experience are better able to support learners; the challenge is to find the time for ongoing professional development within teachers’ busy schedules. we know from the literature that one-time professional development trainings, also known as one-shot workshops, are ineffective for creating sustained changes in practice, however, this remains the predominant method of continuing professional development (garet, porter, desimone, birman, & yoon, 2001). coaching as professional development has been shown as effective, but it is both labor-intensive and expensive (early, maxwell, ponder, & pan, 2017). a more recent alternative is ongoing video-based professional development (durand, hopf, & nunnenmacher, 2015). in addition to using video to deliver professional development, video has also been used for self-reflection. self-reflection is important for the development of new behaviors (brownell, ross, colon, & mccallum, 2005) and the purpose of this study was to use video self-reflection to determine if it would impact the quality of interactions in the early childhood classroom. keywords: professional development, video self-reflection, productive reflection the study the study was conducted at a campus-based childcare center in the southern region of the united states that serves children from birth through pre-k. the program was accredited by the national association for the education of young children (naeyc, 2018), adhered to criteria set forth in the infant/toddler environmental rating scale (iters, 2006) and followed a reggio emiliainspired philosophy in the education and development of young children. research suggests that teachers are better able to be self-reflective when provided with a framework. we used the classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2005), which looks at the quality of interactions between teacher and children. three early childhood teachers were selected for this study based on their initial class toddler scores. teachers received a brief 2-hour overview of the class tool prior to the study. teachers were recorded weekly for a period of 15-minutes at random times throughout the day during breakfast, whole group, centers, or music and movement. teachers were asked to watch research-to-practice summary 100 grantham-caston & dicarlo and score their video using the class toddler tool. during the initial phase of the study, we also had a class-reliable coach score the teacher’s video to determine her reliability in scoring the tool, but did not share the coach’s scores. during the second phase of the study, the teacher still scored her own video, but we also had the coach create a voice-over video using screencast-omatic ©. screencast-o-matic allows audio from the coach to be superimposed on the video, which was then shared with the teacher. the feedback allowed the teacher to see and hear what was happening in the room at the time of the video while also hearing the coaches’ comments related to her performance on the class tool. this allowed each teacher to compare the coaches’ feedback to her self-assessment, and to also see where she might make changes in her classroom. during both study phases, the coach also scored the videos to determine the teacher’s reliability in self-scoring. key findings the focus of this study was to determine if teachers using video self-reflection would be able to self-score using the class tool reliably, and increase their class scores. teachers were video recorded at random to garner an accurate portrayal of the classroom as experienced by the child. throughout the study, the teachers made comments on the unscheduled nature of the observations. one teacher expressed her preference for non-scheduled visits stating that although she “… was not expecting to [be videotaped] today [and she was] glad … because [the researcher was] able to see what i do every day.” another teacher expressed a similar sentiment, remarking that, “it was not that bad. sometimes i did roll my eyes when [the researcher] came in with the camera; but it was worth it. it was better not knowing when [she was] coming as i was not stressed all week knowing that i was going to be observed on a certain day.”, while another stated, “…when we know we are going to be observed we worry all week about what we are going to do.” we found positive professional growth and collaboration among the participating teachers. during the initial video recordings, the researcher overheard one of the three teachers talking with her instructional support director expressing her “enjoy[ment] in watching each other’s [videos] and talking about the videos.” previous research has identified the value of professional learning communities in helping teachers examine their practices (cherrington & loveridge, 2014). in this study, the teachers created their own community of support by viewing each other’s video observations and discussing their practice and interactions with the class toddler tool. by the end of the study, all the teachers reliably assessed their performance through video selfreflection and were able to be reflective about their teaching. the teachers’ scores did not decrease; they were able to process, understand and view perspectives that were used to improve their teaching practices. of the three teachers, one teacher was not reliable by the end of the initial phase, but became reliable during the video voice-over coaching phase. through the video voiceover, the coach was able to provide more specific information on which teaching practices to use and give feedback in which routines and activities worked well within the classroom. this type of feedback aligns with adult learning theory, which recognizes that learning is intertwined and adult development occurs across multiple dimensions with learning experiences (knowles, holton & swanson, 2005). it is important to note that some research suggests there may be dangers associated with not having an external perspective as one could “fail to lead to an improvement in pedagogical practice and process quality” (durand, et al., 2015, p. 38). the video voice-over coaching provided video self-reflection 101 teachers with an external perspective. teachers were instructed to watch the video voice-over and email any questions or comments to the researcher for further discussion. the video voice-over feedback led to an increase in performance along with positive comments from the teachers, including the flexibility of watching the videos repeatedly and at their convenience. one teacher expressed, “i am learning more and want to continue to learn more. i see what i could have done here or there.” she also mentioned, “i score myself a 3 because i see where i need to improve... [on] scaffolding and … more small group activities.” these comments support the notion that the video feedback helped teachers to reflect on their practice and recognize where they needed to make improvements. consistent with previous literature, evidence from the present study validated that when teachers are given explicit instructions their skills increased (fukkink & tavecchio, 2010). additionally, teacher attitudes toward behavior change appeared to have been impacted. across the study, teachers became more comfortable with the process, “these videos have helped me feel more comfortable when people come in to observe as i would always be nervous before.” and were more receptive to making changes in their behavior based on feedback from the researcher “...helps to see what we have done...” or “...i could have done that...i didn’t think of that.” anecdotally, one teachers commented, “i have really enjoyed this [video process] because i know what class is about and have enjoyed the [video voice-over] feedback.” the teachers in this study commented they were uncomfortable being videoed and seeing how they looked on camera, but the benefits they received outweighed their discomfort, which is similar to previous research (lamkin, 2015). summary & recommendations consistent with previous research, results of this study suggest that teachers benefited from reflection when given a framework for reflection (durand, hopf, & nunnenmacher, 2015). programs striving to meet the demands of developing a well-trained staff on a limited budget might consider using video recording and reflection as part of their overall professional development plan. in this study, teachers became increasingly aware of the class toddler framework through the viewing of their videos at their leisure. to complete video recording without assistance, a tripod or swivl © is needed, which could be bought with technology funds or through a grant. either device can be used with a smartphone or tablet device to allow for easy videoing of oneself. a tripod is stationary and would need to set up in a corner that has a nice view of the entire space to be videoed. a swivl is a docking station for a table device or smartphone that can track movement and sound. once the device is docked on the swivl, you link all the devices, and begin recording. after completing the video, teachers can view themselves on the device or upload to a storage system. then teachers can view at their convenience which can be on a break or in the luxury of one’s own home. for effective and productive viewing of one's self, a framework is necessary (e.g., ecers, iters, class). programs focusing on professional development should plan to review the framework so teachers can become more familiar with the tool prior to using video. in this study after reviewing the tool initially with teachers, we scored practice videos using the tool, which allows for discussion and clarification of the items on the tool. in our initial phase of the study, we allowed teachers to first score themselves without feedback, which may have increased their comfort level with the process. teachers should consider selecting a variety of different activities across the day to video in order to reflect on multiple 102 grantham-caston & dicarlo activities; there can be learning from successes experienced during these activities that can be replicated in other activities. depending on individual preference, teachers may choose to begin videoing an activity that is going very well, in order to practice using the framework and making this activity even better. conversely, teachers may choose to initially target a problematic time of day to help identify strategies for improvement. either strategy can be beneficial. the first time viewing yourself on video can be challenging, however consider taking detailed notes as if writing a script. this will allow for reflection of the teaching practice and interactions with the children as it relates to the framework. the more teachers observe their own practice through video selfreflection using a framework, the more familiar they will become with the framework’s criteria. within this study, teachers using this process both increased their reliability in scoring the class tool and increased their personal scores using the class framework. equally beneficial, is they become more comfortable with self-reflection based on the objective feedback and formative coaching which could be observed and considered at a time and place of their own choosing. references brownell, m. t., ross, d. d., colon, e. p., & mccallum, c. l. (2005). critical features of special education teacher preparation: a comparison with general teacher education. journal of special education, 38(4), 242-252. cherrington, s., & loveridge, j. (2014). using video to promote early childhood teachers thinking and reflection. teaching and teacher education, 41, 42-51. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2014.03.004 durand, j., hopf, m., & nunnenmacher, s. (2015). potentials and challenges of video-based self reflection for the professionalization of early childhood education and care professionals. early child development and care,186(1), 23-41. doi:10.1080/03004430.2015.1031124 early, d. m., maxwell, k. l., ponder, b. d., & pan, y. (2017). improving teacher-child interactions: a randomized controlled trial of making the most of classroom interactions and my teaching partner professional development models. early childhood research quarterly, 38, 57-70. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2016.08.005 garet, m., porter, a., desimone, l., birman, b., & yoon, k. (2001). what makes professional development effective? results from a national sample of teachers. american educational research journal, 38(4), 915-945. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3202507 fukkink, r. g., & tavecchio, l. w. (2010). effects of video interaction guidance on early childhood teachers. teaching and teacher education, 26(8), 1652-1659. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2010.06.016 harms, t., cryer, d., & clifford, r.m. (2006). infant/toddler environmental rating scale – revised edition (iters-r). new york: teachers college press. knowles, m. s., holton, e. f., & swanson, r. a. (2005). the adult learner: the definitive classic in adult education and human resource development. amsterdam: elsevier. lamkin, s. m. (2015). "the more i watch, the more i’ll learn": teacher professional growth and development through video (unpublished doctoral dissertation). retrieved from proquest llc (proquest number: 3722403). national association for the education of young children. (2018). naeyc early learning program accreditation standards and assessment items. (rev. ed.). washington, dc: author. pianta, r. c., la paro, k. m., & hamre, b. k. (2008). classroom assessment scoring system™: manual k-3. baltimore, md, us: paul h brookes publishing. (continued on next page) volume 18, number 1 2015 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles can coaches be good raters of teacher-child interactions in early childhood settings? manuela jimenez, bridget hamre, and jennifer locasale-crouch………………………….. 1 strategies to support parent engagement during home visits in early head start and head start lisa l. knoche, christine a. marvin, and susan m. sheridan………………………….…... 19 examining families’ early literacy beliefs and practices within a head start program: building bridges amber friesen and gretchen butera…………………………………………..……………. 43 asthma prevalence in an inner-city head start sample: links with family income, education and race/ethnicity ozlem bekar, ellen halpern, faith lamb-parker, howard steele, miriam steele, and robecca shahmoon-shanok……...……………….……………………................................. 61 prevalence and impact of trauma in a diverse head start sample marla pfenninger saint gilles and john carlson……………………………………………. 74 research-to-practice summaries coach reports of teachers’ practice: an alternative for assessing teacher-child interactions in early childhood classrooms manuela jimenez and jennifer locasale-crouch………………….….……………………. 92 parent engagement during home visits in early head start and head start: useful strategies for practitioners lisa l. knoche, christine a. marvin, and susan m. sheridan………………………….…... 95 building meaningful partnerships with families to promote early literacy development: implications for practitioners amber friesen and gretchen butera…………………………………………...……………. 101 asthma in head start children: practical implications for detection of some sociodemographic risk factors with suggestions for head start staff ozlem bekar, ellen halpern, faith lamb-parker, howard steele, miriam steele, and robecca shahmoon-shanok……...……………….……………………................................. 106 addressing trauma in a diverse head start sample: relevance for practitioners marla pfenninger saint gilles and john carlson…………………………………………….. 113 (continued from previous page) dialog from the field language stimulation techniques for three-year-old and four-year-old children: patterns of language development hope elisabeth wilson, jannah w. nerren, and carol d. abel…………………...…….......118 dialog, 17(4), 138-143 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 kalani m. palmer, department of human development and environmental studies, indiana university of pennsylvania; heather j. bachman, department of psychology in education, university of pittsburgh. this research was supported by grants to dr. bachman from the spencer foundation (#200800190), as well as the office of research and the school of education at the university of pittsburgh. the content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the funders. we thank the project team for their hard work and diligence, and a special thank you is also extended to the children, families, and center staff who participated in the pitt school readiness study. correspondence concerning this article should addressed to kalani m. palmer, department of human development and environmental studies, indiana university of pennsylvania, 114a ackerman hall, indiana, pa 15705. email kpalmer@iup.edu research-to-practice summary black parents of preschoolers educational attainment: implications for parenting practices kalani m. palmer indiana university of pennsylvania heather j. bachman university of pittsburgh within the black community exists great variability in parenting practices; however very little research has examined the parenting heterogeneity within this group. moreover studies of black parents often contain samples with minimal variation in educational attainment. the purpose of this study was to identify the potential role of educational attainment in predicting parenting differences within the black community. this study focused on home literacy promotion and parent involvement in school, two parenting practices often associated with children’s academic achievement. the sample consisted of 103 black parents with a wide range of educational attainment and preschool-aged children enrolled in urban child care centers. the results suggest that attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree is associated with a richer home literacy environment but the same pattern was not evident for parent involvement in school. implications for parent engagement are discussed. over the last few decades, there have been significant increases in educational attainment for black americans. in 1970 the percentage of black americans with at least a bachelor’s degree was 6.1%, but in 2013 that percentage had increased to 22% (u.s. department of education, 2013). moreover, there has been a rise in educational attainment particularly for black women. the percentage of black woman in 1970 with at least a bachelor’s degree was 5.6% but in 2013 23.4% of black women have attained at least a bachelor’s degree. these increases in educational attainment in the black community are significant and maybe positively associated with changes in parenting practices that are related to academic achievement. black parents of preschoolers education 139 within the home there are multiple parenting practices that support and enhance development in children (baumrind, 1991; brody & flor, 1998; bronfenbrenner & evans, 2000; clark, 1983; steinberg, dornbusch, & brown, 1992). specifically, home enrichment practices (e.g., rich language exposure) and parent involvement in school are two that have been identified in the research literature as supportive of academic skills (morrison, bachman, & connor, 2005; taylor, clayton, & rowley, 2004). home enrichment practices are often positively associated with cognitive performance in preschool (leventhal, martin, & brooks-gunn, 2004) and early elementary grades (smith, brooks-gunn, & klebanov, 1997). additionally, an extensive review found positive associations between parent involvement and cognitive performance in both preschool and kindergarten (fan & chen, 2001). the family investment model (conger & donnellan, 2007) suggests that socioeconomic factors (e.g., parent education, family income) are connected indirectly to academic achievement through parenting practices, such that achievement-supporting parenting practices may differ as a result of socioeconomic factors. thus, the increase in educational attainment for black adults, particularly black women who are often the primary caregiver, is expected to promote a more cognitively stimulating and an academically enriching home environment (bingham, 2007; conger & donellan, 2007; foster, 2002; roberts, jurgens, & burchinal, 2005; taylor et al., 2008; weigel, martin & bennett, 2006). this study focuses on black parents with varying levels of educational attainment. in the black community, increases in education are not necessarily met with immediate increases in financial resources (kewalramani, kewal ramani, gilbertson, fox, & provasnik, 2007; mcadoo, 1981). as a result, it is important to examine educational attainment and not just income in studies of black families. this paper will focus on the influence of parent educational attainment on two parenting practices associated with preschoolers’ school readiness skills: the home literacy environment and parent involvement (clark, 1983; mcwayne et al, 2004; senechal & lefevre, 2002). summary of research methods parents were recruited over a two year period, from 28 urban community-based child care centers, located in primarily areas with high poverty rates within a mid-atlantic city. parents were recruited during afternoon and evening hours at the child care center. the original sample includes 289 participants from 3 cohorts of parents with children 4 to 5 years of age, including 133 black parents. approximately 16% of black families (n = 22) left the child care center prior to completion of the study; a few of the reasons provided include loss of child care funding, a family move to a new area, and maternity leave. this attrition rate is comparable to other studies of low-income, urban families of young children, such as the three-city study (bachman, coley, & carrano, 2011). as a result, the final analysis sample includes 103 black parents. the educational attainment of parents included 33% high school diploma or less, 45% some college but less than a bachelor’s degree, 23% bachelor’s degree or more; the average years of education was 14.5 years. the partnership status includes 23% married, 10% cohabitating, 19% in a romantic relationship, 48% single. the average income-to-needs ratio was 1.52, indicating a relatively low-income sample (boushey, brocht, gundersen, & bernstein, 2001), but the range was of 0 to 4.60. the median age was 30, with a range of 20 to 50 years of age. 140 palmer & bachman eligibility to participate was based on the age of the child enrolled in the preschool classroom; all children were required to be four by november 1 st . participants were asked to complete the questionnaire by telephone with a trained interviewer for approximately 45-60 minutes. if multiple attempts to conduct a phone interview were unsuccessful, a small group of parents completed the questionnaire at home and returned it to the preschool teacher. overall, the parent interview completion rate was 91%, with 84% of parents completing the telephone interview, and 16% of parents completing the questionnaires at home. teachers reported on parents’ involvement in the spring. the parent questionnaire included a series of measures: (1) parents’ psychological functioning using the center for epidemiologic studies depression scale (ces-d, radloff, 1977), (2) parents’ perceived relationship with their child using items from the conflict/anger scale (pianta, 1994), and (3) the home literacy environment using items from the griffin and morrison (1997) home literacy environment scale. teachers completed a parent involvement measure using items from the parent-teacher involvement questionnaire (miller-johnson, maumary-gremaud, & the conduct disorders research group, 1995). major findings the results of this study suggest that the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree is associated with higher home literacy promotion than completing high school or just some college. the findings of this study support previous research examining maternal education and the home environment in more diverse or white samples, such that higher levels of maternal education are often associated with more cognitively stimulating home environments (evans, shaw, & bell, 2000; roberts, jurgens, & burchinal, 2005; senechal & lefevre, 2002). past literature has examined the role of education on parenting practices among black parents; however the samples often lack participants with a post-secondary degree (brody & flor, 1998; roberts, jurgens, burchinal, 2005). in contrast, family income was not a significant predictor of these home enrichment practices. although the income-to-needs ratio initially positively predicted the home literacy environment, it was reduced to non-significance after educational attainment was added to the model. this finding is important because income is dynamic, and may increase or decrease over time, but educational attainment will never decrease. thus, the investments that black parents make in the home environment as a result of their own educational attainment may be more stable than income-based investments over time. while educational attainment was associated with home literacy promotion, the same pattern did not emerge for parent involvement; teachers’ reports of parent involvement did not significantly differ across parent education levels. the measure of parent involvement used in this study assessed the frequency of interactions which might detect greater involvement because of issues or concerns (gutman & mcloyd, 2000). there may have been differences by educational attainment in the quality or description of these interactions. it is also possible that the value of educational attainment in a preschool setting differs from a k-12 setting. other factors such as parenting experience or parent age may be a more valued resource in a preschool setting. black parents of preschoolers education 141 implications for practice these results suggest that teachers and professionals may need to provide greater support to parents with low levels of educational attainment. to improve the quality of the home environment, parents will need to feel confident in their ability to engage in literacy promoting activities and to support children’s development and learning in general (shumow & lomax, 2002). early childhood education (ece) professionals can support parent efficacy using multiple methods, some of which include informally modeling for parents (vicarious experience), providing simple steps or activities (allowing for mastery experience), and providing feedback that highlights parent strengths (verbal persuasion) (bandura, 1997). in addition, although the attainment of a bachelor’s degree in this study was not meaningful in detecting differences in parent involvement, ece teachers did perceive older black parents as more involved in their child’s preschool education than younger black parents. it is possible that in an ece setting parenting experience or parental age is more valued and influential in the parent-school partnership than educational attainment. furthermore, in studies of black families, older mothers reported higher parental efficacy than younger mothers (stevens, 1988). parents with a greater sense of competence or confidence in their parenting ability also tend to be more involved in their child’s education (elder et al, 1995). if this is the case, then ece providers may need to initiate and actively engage in relationship building with younger parents to encourage their involvement. tips for practitioners data collection for ece professionals, it is important to not to assume that all low-income families lack higher education, especially when working with black families. furthermore, administrators in ece programs may want to consider including educational attainment questions for parents on intake forms and update this information regularly as it may change. monitoring the educational attainment of parents will provide a more accurate description of families’ socioeconomic resources and allow for more informed programmatic decisions. relationship building overall, in order for ece professionals to be successful in their efforts to support rich home literacy environments and parent involvement, we recommend establishing a positive relationship with parents which will strengthen their attempts to support parental efficacy. for effective relationship building, naeyc (n.d.) has identified best practices, some of which include providing activities for the home and two-way communication. we suggest that efforts are employed using multiple methods (e.g., phone, in-person, paper documents, electronic formats) to accommodate the needs and preferences of parents. specifically with younger parents and black parents, electronic options with user friendly mobile sites such as social media outlets (e.g., facebook, twitter, shutterfly share site), classroom webpages/blogs, and email apps may prove beneficial, since both young people and members of the black community tend to access 142 palmer & bachman the internet with a mobile device (duggan & smith, 2013). mobile sites can be used to share the following: (1) school, classroom, and community events, (2) ideas for home activities, (3) supportive resources, and (4) a more in depth view of classroom activities through work samples, photographs, and student quotes. in addition, when communicating with parents, we recommend that ece professionals make an effort to listen and empathize. the goal is to partner with parents and work together toward a shared goal of supporting their child’s development. by listening and attempting to understand a parents’ perspective, ece professionals will be better able to connect with parents. parent efficacy mobile friendly electronic formats may be useful in establishing regular communication as well as supporting parent efficacy. ece professionals can model high quality developmental interactions and share short video clips of these interactions during a home visit, in a parentteacher conference, or through email and text messages. moreover, ece professionals may also video record the parent engaging in high quality developmental interactions and share those video clips with feedback highlighting the strengths exhibited in the video. these strategies demonstrate modeling, mastery experience, and a persuasive talk from a credible source (i.e., an early childhood professional), all of which have been identified as methods for promoting efficacy (bandura, 1997). references bachman, h. j., coley, r. l., & carrano, j. 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(2013). table 104.10: percentage of persons age 25 and over, by race/ethnicity, years of school completed, and sex: selected years, 1910 through 2013. in u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics (ed.), digest of education statistics (2013 ed.). retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_104.10.asp. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_104.10.asp volume 22, number 2 2019 issn: 1930-9325 letters, words, books and video tape contents letter from the editor dr. rebecca a. shore research articles 1. head start teachers’ beliefs and reported practices for letter knowledge hope k. gerde 1-21 2. teacher talk during children’s play in head start preschools: differences in quantity, differences in quality judy hicks paulick 22-38 3. the effects of a whole classroom repeated book reading intervention on the language development of children in head start alina mihai and gretchen butera 39-60 4. the impact of video self-reflection on teacher practice michelle grantham-caston and cynthia f. dicarlo 61-75 research-to-practice summaries 5. current practices for teaching letter and letter sound knowledge in preschool including strategies for improving instruction in these areas hope k. gerde 76-83 6. supporting dual language learners’ language development using relevant teacher talk during playtime judy hicks paulick 84-88 7. “let’s read this book again!”: using repeated book reading to support literal and inferential language skills in inclusive preschool classrooms alina mihai and gretchen butera 89-98 8. video self-reflection michelle grantham-caston and cynthia dicarlo 99-102 dialog, 17(4), 1-21 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research article ideal leadership in head start programs: understanding leadership from the perspectives of teachers and directors in an era of changing expectations and increased accountability sandra e. gonzalez california state university, long beach the purpose of this study was to examine how directors and teachers define ideal leadership practices of head start programs. data were collected by means of interviews and completion of a demographic questionnaire and an adapted version of the leadership practices inventory (lpi) from six programs in southern california. the findings revealed ideal leadership practices in alignment with the practices of transformational leadership. directors described ideal leadership practices to include a clear vision, collaboration, and staff motivation. teachers described ideal leadership practices to include visibility of the director at the classroom level, leading by example, encouragement, and professional development opportunities. the results of this study are critically important with the shifts in policy to increase quality of and expand access to early childhood education programs for all children. ideal leadership practices are vital to meeting the needs of the changing expectations of head start programs. keywords: leadership; head start; qualitative research there is currently a new valuing of early childhood education and corresponding significant shifts in policy (gammage, 2006; johns, 2005; mitchell, 2002). the field of early childhood education has increased in importance due to the benefits associated with participation in quality programs. children who attend quality early childhood education programs, including programs such as head start, are more likely to have later success in school and life. however, while the field of early childhood education has increased in significance, there is scant literature on leadership at the early childhood education level and great variance in the manner that services are delivered. the shifts in policy to increase access to participation in early childhood education and increased accountability for quality of programs require practices of effective leadership. understanding the desired leadership practices in early childhood education settings including head start can increase consistency and quality service delivery. over the past few decades, public school researchers have consistently reported that school leadership is vital in developing and sustaining school level conditions believed essential for instructional improvement (rosenholtz, 1989; hallinger & heck, 1996). the need for ece leadership is just as great as the need in later grades of public school, but the form of leadership 2 gonzalez will likely be different for ece programs. the purpose of this paper is to identify what effective leadership practice is in terms of processes and outcomes within the field of ece (mujis, aubrey, harris & briggs, 2004). ece is different from education in the later grades. there is a close connection to families as partners in the education of children, a developmental approach in a more personal atmosphere that attends to the whole child, and in the case of head start, there are heavy demands upon administrators to ensure that programs are following rules and regulations. given these unique conditions of ece, this research explores how current directors and teachers define effective leadership practices and strategies that directors, site supervisors, and administrators can implement to increase program quality and teacher motivation. head start represents the most important effort in early childhood education in the united states, serving over 1.1 million children (age’s birth to 5) and families every year. head start is a federally funded preschool program that serves children and their families that are economically disadvantaged by providing them with comprehensive services to ensure school readiness. it has been a premiere early childhood program for over 40 years (jacobson, 2007). in alignment with the president’s proposal, investment in federal head start programs is likely to continue to grow. the president’s plan will maintain and build on current head start investments to support a greater share of infants, toddlers, and 3-year-olds in america’s head start centers, while state preschool settings will serve a greater share of 4-year-olds (early learning, 2013). the president’s plan also includes greater accountability of head start programs. greater accountability in head start head start programs are mandated to follow federal regulations that define standards and minimum requirements for operations and services (office of head start, 2011). compliance with the regulations is key to meeting the requirements of the grant, school readiness, and for continued funding. the push for educational reform and increased accountability that has been a common topic of discussion in the k-12 setting is now transcending transitioning to the preschool level. this has led to changes in the landscape and accountability of head start programs. new policy integrated into the federal regulations requires head start programs to demonstrate and ensure the delivery of quality services to the children served in order to prevent losing their funding. the health and human services secretary referred to this policy as an essential step “in raising the bar on quality in head start programs.” in addition, this policy also demonstrates the obama administration’s effort to ensure that the “program fulfills that mission by holding programs accountable for classroom quality and high standards of program integrity” (administration for children and family services, 2014). for the first time since head start’s inception, there have been few opportunities to introduce competition in the grant process. prior to the passing of this policy, if an entity was awarded a head start grant and complied with standards (minimum compliance or corrected deficiencies when they arose) then renewal was automatic (health and human services, 2010). the change in policy requires more accountability on program outcomes and compliance to head start federal regulations. purpose of study and research questions the purpose of this qualitative study was to address the gap in the literature and identify ideal leadership in head start programs 3 leadership practices that directors and teachers perceive as ideal for effective leadership in head start programs that to allow for more consistent delivery of quality service. this study captures the voices of those who are in the field and defines what constitutes ideal leadership from their experiences. this study investigates the manner in which head start directors and teachers define leadership and highlights some of the common themes regarding ideal leadership. specifically, this study explores the role of transformational leadership in head start programs. this study was guided by the following research questions: a) what are the perceptions of head start directors on ideal practices of leadership? b) what are the perceptions of head start teachers on ideal practices of leadership? and, c) how do the perceptions of directors compare and contrast to the perceptions of teachers? theoretical framework for the purpose of this study, transformational leadership was the theoretical framework used to analyze effective leadership practices in early childhood education settings. transformational leadership is defined as a “process in which a leader engages with others to develop a connection that raises the level of motivation and morale in both the leader and follower” (northouse, 2010). this type of leadership style involves the leader being able to identify needed change, create a vision, and inspire followers to meet that vision. in this approach, the leader is attentive to staff needs and makes use of intrinsic motivation to help staff reach and maximize their fullest potential (bass & riggio, 2006). this study specifically, integrated kouzes and posner’s model of transformational leadership. kouzes and posner (2003, 2007) conducted extensive research to determine the leadership competencies that are essential in leading a successful organization and identified five fundamental practices that allow leaders to get extraordinary things accomplished: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart (kouzes & posner, 2007; northouse, 2008). the first practice, model the way, is one in which leaders are able to find their own voice and express it to others (kouzes & posner, 2007). leaders are clear about their own values and philosophy before being able to guide others. in addition, an important concept in this practice is that leaders follow through on their promises and commitments and affirm the common values they share with staff. inspire a shared vision, the second practice, is one in which leaders passionately believe they can make a difference and create a compelling vision to guide people’s behaviors (kouzes & posner, 2007; northouse, 2010). in alignment with this practice, leaders are able to envision the future and create an ideal image of how to guide the organization. leaders are able to visualize future positive outcomes and communicate the vision to staff. the third practice, challenge the process, is the willingness of leaders to challenge the status quo and take the risk of stepping into the unknown (kouzes & posner, 2007). the leader, in accordance with this practice, is not afraid of challenging the norm in an attempt to make things better for the organization. this includes being willing to change, improve, innovate, and grow. fourth, the practice of enable others to act, is the ability of outstanding leaders to effectively work with people (kouzes & ponser, 2007). in alignment with this practice, leaders are able to encourage, foster collaboration, and build trust with staff and key stakeholders 4 gonzalez (northouse, 2010). teamwork and cooperation are highly valued by the leader. lastly, the practice of encourage the heart, is one in which the leader is able to recognize the contributions that staff make. leaders encourage the heart by rewarding others for their accomplishments (kouzes & posner, 2007; northouse, 2010). effective leaders are attentive to this need and rely on intrinsic motivation as a means of giving praise and recognition to staff. in summary, the kouzes and posner leadership model is one that engages leaders to inspire staff to want to accomplish extraordinary things. transformational leadership is the practice effective leaders use to transform values into actions, visions into realities, challenges into innovations, separateness into collaboration, and risks into rewards (bass & riggio, 2006; kouzes & posner, 2003). it is about a creating and maintaining a climate in which staff are able to turn challenging opportunities into remarkable successes. this model is one that can be implemented in a variety of settings including the field of education. application in education the application of transformational leadership in the field of education, including early childhood education, is one that can be effective in achieving the purposes of student achievement and delivery of quality services. this model has been effective in assisting school leaders in creating a school culture conducive to student learning (lucas & valentine, 2002. lucas & valentine (2002), in a study conducted to assess principal leadership and its impact on school culture, found that school leaders are the primary source for setting and articulating a vision that fosters a collaborative culture to facilitate school learning. two of the most effective ways to increase student achievement are through effective leadership and strong school culture (peterson & deal, 2002). in the field of education, it takes a collaborative team approach to accomplish extraordinary results. the model of transformational leadership allows for leaders to mobilize followers to share the same vision and meet the needs of students (kouzes & posner, 2007). transformational leaders have been found to have a strong impact and influence on student achievement (mcrel, 2004; lucas, 2002). it is important for school systems, including the field of early childhood education, to discover the type of leadership that is most likely to improve school culture and, as a result, the delivery of quality services. the kouzes and posner leadership model is relevant to this study because it provides a foundation of specific practices that leaders in early childhood education, including head start, can implement in order to create an environment that fosters and embraces the vision of student achievement. in recent years, head start programs have increased in size, scope, and complexity, and more accountability has been placed on head start to demonstrate effectiveness. to successfully address these changes, head start directors must have the knowledge, skills, and commitment to guide programs effectively in a changing world (office of head start, 2011). the office of head start has referred to effective leaders in head start as individuals who are able to support, motivate, outreach to the community, and empower others to believe in the vision of the program. these are all concepts that are in alignment with the practices of transformational leadership. further, this theoretical framework is able to provide the lens to operationalize and assess the research questions as they relate to effective leadership in education, including head start, in an era of accountability. ideal leadership in head start programs 5 literature review quality experts and well-regarded quality improvement programs universally express the important role that top management plays in defining, measuring, and improving quality. scholars in the field of early childhood education recognize the important role leaders have in the implementation of a high-quality program. the work that directors are responsible for includes management and leadership functions that have an impact on program quality. today an increasing number of infants, toddlers, and young children are attending early childhood education programs that provide them with their first experience outside the home and lay the foundation for later school success (nupponen, 2005). early childhood educators are the most important ingredient shaping the delivery of quality educational experiences, after parents. in preschool and early childhood education programs, all staff are responsible for creating and maintaining an environment conducive to cognitive, emotional, and social learning, but the administrator is the “primary architect” (73) and promoter of the values and standards that ensure everyone and everything in the school building functions adequately (gur, 2011). as the concept of leadership continues to be on the radar, one common finding is that effective leadership matters to the success of early childhood programs. effective leadership in early childhood programs results in quality programs and services for young children and their families. capable and responsible leadership is an important factor identified in determining the most and least successful children’s settings and services. leaders of ineffective settings were unable to develop their staff to make services the central vision (bloom & sheerer, 1992). the daily decisions that leaders make are influenced by their own views of quality, and impact how they choose to implement what they believe quality to be in early childhood programs (lesson, 2012; nupponen, 2005). although individual perspectives are often overlooked, program directors are the “gatekeepers to quality” (citation with page). as leaders of early childhood programs, program directors’ view of quality set the tone for implementation of quality in their programs (bloom & sheerer, 1992; lesson, 2012). directors of early childhood programs have a multitude of responsibilities in the development, implementation, and evaluation of their programs. leaders of early childhood programs must have strong leadership skills in order to implement high-quality programs (bloom & sheerer, 1992). a qualitative study conducted by sciaraffa (2004) demonstrated that personal characteristics and values that influence directors of high-quality programs include “concern for children and families, high expectations, value of trust, respect, sense of professionalism, belief in teamwork, and high demands” (12). these characteristics are in alignment with the practices of transformational leaders, and therefore transformational leadership is an effective approach to the implementation of a high-quality program. morgan (2000) identified eight areas of competency that are important in the role of program director. the eight areas include the ability to plan and implement a developmentally appropriate care and education program for children and families; the ability to develop and maintain an effective organization; the ability to plan and implement administrative systems that effectively carry out the program’s mission, goals, and objectives; the ability to administer effectively a program of personnel management and staff development; the ability to foster good community relations and to influence the child care policy that affects the program; the ability to maintain and develop the physical facility; the legal knowledge necessary for effective management; and the ability to apply financial management tools. these competencies referenced by morgan (2000) demonstrate how the work that early childhood administrators 6 gonzalez engage in has a direct link to program quality. many of the competencies identified are found in to directors who have the knowledge base necessary to lead, develop effective systems, and establish working relationships with staff. a similar study was later conducted by siraj-blatchford and manni (2007) in their effective leadership in the early years study (eleys) aimed at identifying core competencies. the eleys study identified the following competencies as necessary for effective leadership in programs of early childhood education: identifying and articulating a shared vision; ensuring shared understanding, meaning and goals; effective communication; encouraging reflection; building a learning community; encouraging and facilitating parent and community partnerships; and engaging in the balance of both leading and managing (siraj-blatchford & manni, 2007). these competencies demonstrate the importance of leaders in early childhood education being able to set a vision and engage in other practices that involve the ability to work with staff, parents, and the community. in addition, similar to studies conducted in the k-12 setting, research has found that being able to establish working relationships and inspire staff are key characteristics for early childhood education leaders. bloom (2000) found that effective early childhood leaders demonstrate the following four characteristics: goal oriented, have a clear vision, establish good working relationships with staff, and responsive to parent needs. in addition, according to fleming and love (2002), effective leaders of early childhood education programs have the capability to empower staff by means of developing and building relationships with teachers and parents. the findings from these two studies overlap with the findings from studies conducted in k-12, with the exception that leaders of early childhood education programs need to have more frequent interaction with parents than their k-12 counterparts. there is also a positive relationship between an administrator’s leadership style and the school culture in all dimensions of preschool. school culture in preschool is shaped by the mutual interactions between administrators, staff, family, and the environment. administrators help to shape the school culture by developing the model for values and beliefs; setting the structure; and shaping its symbols, ideologies and discourse. a positive school culture has been found to increase academic success and have an effect on teachers’ dedication and their trust in administration, colleagues, and parents (schein, 2011). other key practices that have been identified as essential to early childhood education leaders include an emphasis on the leader’s ability to implement strategies to motivate his/her followers. solly (2003) highlighted the leader’s ability to demonstrate enthusiasm, passion, and inspiration as central characteristics in effective leadership styles. in a later study, whalley (2003) emphasized influence rather than authority as an important element in leadership. this further highlights how important it is that leaders not just manage operations, but also engage with staff to achieve the desired outcomes. effective leadership in early childhood education is crucial, and the need has never been greater than at this time of increased accountability and recognition of the value of early education (talan, 2010; mitchell, 2002). evidence of early childhood education benefits has shifted the attention to quality programs and the need for effective leadership. high-quality programs tend to ensure that children are better situated for school readiness. there is limited research focusing on early childhood education leadership, however, the existing literature demonstrates that effective leadership in early childhood education is in alignment with the practices of transformational leadership, specifically kouzes and posner’s model. many of the common core concepts identified in the literature as necessary for effective ideal leadership in head start programs 7 leadership focused on the need for the leader to have a vision and develop relationships with staff and parents. these two concepts are related to the practices of inspire a shared vision, enable others to act, and encourage the heart from the kouzes and posner’s transformational model of leadership. effective leaders are able to guide and work with staff to accomplish the purpose of early childhood education, which is school readiness. effective early childhood education leaders are able to set a clear vision for the program and staff (bloom, 2000; siraj-blatchford & manni, 2007; morgan, 2000). the vision of the leader should be upwards, provide guidance, and benefit the organization as a whole (neugebauer, 1998). effective leaders are able to ensure that staff are aware of their role and understand what is expected and how they fit into the vision. in addition, it is the leader’s responsibility to help staff set goals and help them reach their goals by providing the necessary tools and information needed. leaders who are able to see this relationship are able to lead in an early childhood education setting. in summary, effective leaders are able to establish and maintain working relationships with the people in their organization and the families of the children served (bloom, 2000; siraj-blatchford & manni, 2007; morgan, 2000; solly, 2003; whalley; 2003; zembert, 2011). this includes the leader’s ability to support and inspire staff, which are important concepts in leadership of early childhood education programs (neugerberger, 1998). a leader who motivates staff and places a high emphasis on relationships is able to obtain results. this is due to the message of confidence in the ability of staff that the leader demonstrates. time is spent on working with staff to accomplish goals and the vision, rather than devoting time to checking on teachers to ensure they are performing well. the supportive role is not limited to inspiration, but also includes the ability to provide staff with the resources, feedback, and input necessary for problem solving. methodology this study explored the perspectives of current head start directors and teachers regarding ideal leadership practices. as a result, a qualitative study to explore and investigate this topic was deemed the most appropriate. holloway and biley (2011), refer to qualitative inquiry as “the most humanistic and person-centered way of discovering thoughts and actions of human beings” (p. 974). the use of a qualitative study allows the research questions to be further investigated by means of hearing the voices of the leaders and teachers in the field regarding the manner in which effective leadership is defined and identify effective leadership practices identified. data were collected by means of interviews and completion of a demographic questionnaire and an adapted version of the leadership practices inventory (lpi) survey. the rationale for using interviews as the means for data collection was to obtain open-ended responses to the questions. this approach provides rich thick data and allows for data to be collected from the participants’ points of view and in their natural setting. qualitative research makes stories interesting to others by having the researcher collect, transform, and interpret data (holloway & biley, 2011). in addition, a questionnaire was incorporated into this study in an attempt to obtain additional information regarding the manner in which directors and teachers in the field of head start perceive certain leadership practices. the integration of the questionnaire allowed for a greater understanding of the leadership practices that head start staff perceived to be essential for ideal leadership. 8 gonzalez purposeful sampling was used in this study. the logic of qualitative research is concerned with an in-depth understanding of small samples (hesse-biber & leavy, 2011). it is common for qualitative researchers to use purposeful sampling in the selection process in an attempt to gain further understanding and in-depth exploration of a central phenomenon. in order to do this, researchers intentionally select sites and individuals (plano clark & creswell, 2010). creswell (2007) explains that purposeful sampling is appropriate for qualitative research because it provides a means of selecting the study’s sites and participants because they possess an understanding of the information needed. this approach allowed for the intentional selection of various individuals from 6 different head start programs within southern california. a purposeful sample of 15 staff was obtained, 6 directors and 9 teachers, to participate in this study. the selection criteria required that each participant for this study have a minimum of 3 years experience with head start. this criterion was selected to reduce the likelihood that staff would provide testimonies without sufficient experience in the head start setting. data were collected within a 4-month time period and analyzed simultaneously using a constant comparative approach (lincoln & guba, 1985). the analysis included the transcription of audio-recorded interviews and the coding of field notes and completed questionnaires and surveys. a coding system was developed and refined to facilitate review and sorting of the data. data collected was analyzed using both open and focused coding. in the open coding process, the transcripts and field notes were read several times to increase familiarity with the data. during the focused coding process, the transcripts and field notes were reviewed for special notation of key concepts and/or topics that were visible from the data. first, the themes captured the concepts that were most cited throughout the data and provided an in-depth understanding and response to the study’s research question. the themes were further analyzed in accordance with the five leadership practices cited by kouzes and posner’s (2003) model of transformational leadership. data not fitting into this coding scheme were reanalyzed and determined to be either divergent data or categorized as miscellaneous data. the final stage of the data analysis included summing up the findings from the study and validating the results. results research question 1: directors perceptions of ideal leadership practices staff motivation: leaders as cheerleaders. every single director in this study agreed that staff motivation is of high importance for ideal leadership in head start. an effective head start leader was described as an individual that is able to motivate staff to achieve the vision of the program. a couple of the directors, specifically mentioned the need for administrators to be “cheerleaders” in order to motivate staff. for example, “we are cheerleaders, and our main goal—you know, most of our people, we hire them because they're skilled. so i don't usually—our job shouldn't be to train that much really. it's building the skill.” participants shared that providing positive feedback to staff was important to increase staff motivation, and described the impact that this has on the children and families served. many of the participants also made specific reference to praise as an important strategy for staff motivation. this included mention of both verbal and written praise during several of ideal leadership in head start programs 9 the interviews. the importance of providing staff with praise was shared by one of the director’s who mentioned: “people forget how verbal, how far verbal or written praise goes. sometimes we forget because we are so busy and bogged down. as a director, there’s so much i have to do. so many different jobs . . . there’s so much responsibility, and i’m doing so much that sometimes i forget to give praise where praise is due.” he further elaborated that providing praise is a very simple strategy that potentially has a great impact on staff. vision. having a clear vision was identified as a key concept necessary for ideal leadership. a clear vision helps to ensure that desired goals are met, and that all staff are aware of the goals. developing and maintaining a vision is a critical aspect for school improvement and school leadership. having a vision was a theme that was evident in four of the interviews. for example, one of the directors stated, “there has to be a vision. there has to be a direction. there has to be a leader. that leader needs strong people to support the work and to build a team.” this director made reference to the importance of a leader having a vision to guide the program. this director also made reference to the vision as a guiding source and a change agent. this same sentiment was stated by another director who shared the important role that having a vision has on leadership in early childhood education: you need to have a clear vision of what you want for the program. people have to buy into the vision, be part of the vision. it has to be a collective vision but you definitely, as part of the vision, need to know what you stand for so that others know. this director’s response indicates the importance of the leader first and foremost having and understanding of the vision of the program, and also the importance of having staff as part of the vision. this same idea was further reiterated by another director who mentioned, “i think that the best way to have a shared vision with staff is when they are part of the vision. they are part of developing it and maintaining it.” this director shared her feelings of how critical it is to have staff be a part of the vision as a component of developing a shared vision. another director shared the importance of keeping the vision of the program in mind when making decisions. “my vision is of setting goals . . . with the driving force always being what is in the best interest of the children and families.” a vision was not only deemed necessary to guide the program, but also seen as one of the key channels that drive the decision making for the programs. collaboration. collaboration was identified as an important concept for leadership in head start programs. the responses identified the need for head start staff to work collaboratively in order to meet the vision of the program. several of the directors mentioned that collaboration was instrumental in order to get the work done, since the leader was not able to accomplish this on their own. one director, specifically mentioned the following: “when i first met my staff, i talked to them about the fact that i can’t do this job alone, but instead that i am going to involve them and am going to need their help.” collaboration was described as a necessary action related to leadership in head start for staying connected, working towards a 10 gonzalez common goal, and making decisions. likewise, another director discussed the concept of collaboration and indicated that being able to collaborate is necessary for ideal leadership in head start because it allows for all staff to work towards a common goal despite being located at different sites. “we have the head start office and then we have 11 head start sites, so we're not all located at the same place. so even though we're at 12 different locations and some work in the morning and some work in the afternoon, it's important to feel that we're all part of the same team, going in the same direction. so that's certainly important. again, kind of that teamness, inclusiveness, certainly people feeling valued. again, the relationships, we're very big on relationships. . . meanwhile working together toward the common goal of helping, providing the best possible services to the children and families.” the set up of head start programs is unique in comparison to schools in the k-12 setting because classroom sites are not all located on one campus, but instead throughout the community the program serves. as a result, the need for collaboration is of even greater importance in this type of set-up, because it allows for leaders to be aware of the overall program despite not being present on the same campus. another director referenced collaboration as a necessary characteristic of leadership, and shared the importance of involving all stakeholders. “collaboration is important when working with staff, parents, and the community. collaboration is one of my core values because i love to engage others in the process and see how resources can be shared.” this director referred to collaboration as vital to maximizing resources and the inclusion of all key stakeholders at vital for achieving their mission. in summary, directors agreed on the need for all staff to get the work done. the practice of collaboration was shared to be necessary in order to accomplish the vision and make the best decisions for the overall program. establishing and maintaining working relationships with staff was seen as instrumental for collaborative practices within the head start program. research question 2: teachers perceptions of ideal leadership practices encouragement. every single teacher in this study agreed that motivation is of high importance for ideal leadership in head start. an effective head start leader was described as a director that is able to motivate staff to achieve the vision of the program and feel valued. participants shared that providing positive feedback to staff was important to increase staff motivation and described the impact that this has on the children and families served. teachers shared that their sense of feeling valued will trickle down to how they approach their work in serving the children in the program. staff motivation was agreed to be very important. statements such as “it’s everything, its absolutely everything,” “it’s of high importance. i think it’s always needed,” “motivation is key,” and “if staff is motivated, they will enjoy coming to work” were just some of the responses from the teachers when asked about the importance of staff motivation. several of the participants also described the importance motivation has on the overall head start program. many of the participants referred to the importance of having staff motivated because it impacts the children and families served. “very important to keep the ball rolling. it’s important for staff to feel good about the work they do, and this will reflect in the ideal leadership in head start programs 11 work they do.” another teacher further emphasized the importance of leadership by sharing that the lack of staff motivation could impact the services to children in the program. “i tell my staff all the time right now, you know what, if you don’t feel good at work then our children aren’t going to feel good. it’s just that simple.” many of the teachers also referred to praise as one of the important strategies for staff motivation. this included mention of both verbal and written praise during several of the interviews. “it is important and, as i just said, telling us, ‘oh, you guys are doing a good job.’ ” this teacher shared that, although she is there to fulfill her responsibilities, receiving praise is key to motivation of staff. “for instance, we need to be recognized. i think it’s terrible to go into a job where you’re constantly, ‘okay, i hear you. i’m working my hiney off.’ where’s ‘thank you for doing a good job. i appreciate it’?” this teacher shared simple phrases that a director could use to praise staff and the impact that this has on increasing teacher satisfaction. another teacher mentioned the importance of providing feedback, but to equally remember to include feedback that is not only constructive but also acknowledges areas of strength. she mentioned: “i think more of encouragement, like, you know they say, they review our paperwork all the time and they, you know, they give us feedback on what we should fix and, what we’re missing. but i think they should do an equal amount of, like, acknowledgment, of like, oh wow i saw that you did this and oh wow, i noticed you implemented this on your lesson plans, great idea, great strategies, or you know.” this teacher indicated that providing feedback that highlights areas of strengths can be very encouraging for staff. yet another teacher reiterated this by stating, “saying thank you, emailing, or maybe a phone call recognizing the job that we do... i think it’s just that, acknowledging and saying thank you.” be involved: importance of leader visibility. visibility of the leader was mentioned as a key strategy for ideal leadership of head start programs. this was an area that several of the teachers mentioned as needing to be strengthened in head start directors. six out of nine teachers were firm in stating that head start directors need to be more visible at the classroom level in order to stay connected to the program and increase teacher satisfaction. one of the teacher participants specifically stated that directors as leaders of the head start program need to be more visible in the classroom: “i think that as a leader, [the director] should be able to go into the classroom to observe, give criticism in a nice way—constructive criticism. be involved. come out of the office. turn the computer off. get in the classroom and deal with the children. remember where we came from. if it wasn’t for the children we wouldn’t have a job… stay connected.” this teacher during the interview acknowledged that directors have many duties and responsibilities to attend to, but that visiting the classrooms was also important. she shared that by means of visiting the classroom the head start director can see firsthand the work that is being done with the children in the program. another teacher in this study referred to the need for the head start director to be visible before parents as well. this teacher mentioned that “there are years, complete years that they [parents] don’t know them [the director]. they don’t even know who they are… it would be 12 gonzalez nice, yeah, at the first part of the [parent] meeting that the director introduce and present themselves.” she referred to the need for directors to not only visit the classrooms, but also participate in parent meetings in order to know the needs of the parents and listen to their concerns. this was seen as another means for helping the director stay connected to the community, children, and families that are served by the program. several other teachers shared that visibility of the director at the classroom level is important for teacher motivation and to see the work that is done at the classroom level. one of the teachers specifically mentioned that directors should “be visible in the classrooms, be actively involved.” lead by example. leading by example was another practice that teachers considered important for ideal leadership of head start programs. leading by example was considered crucial for being able to inspire a shared vision with staff and as a motivating factor. a leader who believes in the vision and behaves in a manner that reflects that was seen as important. “[the director] has to be an example, a hard worker. this is what i want us to do. this is what i expect us to do, and this is our goal by the end of the year. so when you set goals in your vision, you have to also have that instilled in your own personnel.” this teacher made specific reference to the important role that directors have in modeling the behavior they expect from their staff. this teacher shared that staff look to the director to determine certain behaviors. similarly, another teacher shared, “i think it helps people see the vision by seeing an example of the vision, working together and having conversations.” this teacher shared the important role that a director has in being a role model and how staff look to the director to assess if they believe in the vision. yet another teacher shared that “leaders need to be motivated themselves, positive and knowledgeable of child development. at meetings leaders can share this feeling with staff to inspire them.” this teacher, also expressed the importance of directors modeling the behavior that is expected of staff in order to have all staff believe in the vision of the program. another relevant concept that was shared by teachers regarding the concept of leading by example is the importance of follow-through. teachers mentioned that it is important for directors be able to follow through on ideas, promises, and concerns. for example, one teacher mentioned the “importance of two-way communication and follow-through on concerns.” this teacher shared that it is important for directors to follow through on concerns they mentioned they would address. likewise, another teacher elaborated this concept further by stating, “i think that it’s important that head start leaders are able to walk the talk… [if you don’t,] people that you work for will not respect you for a very long time.” this teacher made reference to the importance of directors following through on their verbal commitments to staff. for teachers it was important for directors to follow through in order to obtain respect from staff. professional development. professional development opportunities were a request that was repeatedly shared by teachers as a means to be able to maximize their potential. six teachers shared that having opportunities for professional development allowed staff to gain skills that could enhance the work that they currently do. although, head start regulations require teachers to receive a minimum of 15 hours per year of professional development, teachers shared the need to have these courses tailored to their specific needs. “attending workshops because they will help us meet the goals that we want to attain and areas that we have goals for.” this teacher referred to the need for professional development to not only meet her needs to enhance her skills, but also to meet the goals of her professional development plan. ideal leadership in head start programs 13 another teacher referred to the need for ongoing professional development opportunities in order to learn new ideas and strategies to use in the classroom. teachers indicated that having continuous opportunities to attend trainings and workshops was an area that was needed in order to enhance their classroom instruction. research question 3: comparison of perceptions interview findings. the interviews with teachers and directors revealed important practices for ideal leadership of head start programs. both groups described their responses from personal experiences and shared practices they considered necessary for ideal leadership in head start. the responses from the directors included many of their current practices, while teachers shared practices that are currently implemented and/or that they would like implemented. the response from both groups included some similarities but also some differences. some of the similarities in the response of both teachers and directors included the need for staff motivation, the shift towards school readiness, and the need to have a vision. teachers and directors both shared the importance of staff motivation. directors shared the need to have administrators and leaders be “cheerleaders” for staff in an attempt to increase motivation and job satisfaction. teachers also shared this need to have directors motivate staff in order to increase teacher satisfaction and have a sense of being valued. another similarity was regarding school readiness. both teachers and directors shared how school readiness has transformed head start programs. teachers and directors agreed on how head start is now more geared to preparing children academically. for example, one of the teachers has “seen many changes, including in academics. head start is now more like kindergarten; there is more focus on academics.” a director reiterated this concept, stating, “i’ve seen head start move towards school readiness.” lastly, both groups agreed on the importance of having a vision. teachers and directors agreed on how vital it is for the director of the program to have a vision. directors referred more to the importance of developing a vision, while teachers referred to the importance of having directors model the vision. there were also certain differences that were captured in the responses of the teachers and directors. teachers had a tendency to discuss more of their experiences related to the impact of the head start program on the children and families served, while directors discussed more of the program operations. for example, one teacher stated, “in terms of my experience as my journey, i think it has been very rewarding. i love working with the families because you get to see a lot, you get to see the benefits of our program.” on the other hand, when directors were asked to share their journey in head start, many responded with responses regarding program operations that included the budget, compliance, systems, and services. another example that demonstrates the difference in the responses was in the manner in which directors and teachers defined the role of leadership in early childhood education. teachers described the role of leadership as something big, while directors described it using more concrete terms, where without effective leadership the program would fall apart. teachers described the need for leadership by stating that leadership was the “brain of the computer,” another teacher referred to leadership as impacting “everything from the macro to the micro,” while directors were more inclined to discuss the impact that lack of leadership can have on a 14 gonzalez program. for example, one director mentioned, “without strong leadership you can’t flourish.” another noted difference was in the manner in which staff motivation was discussed. although both groups shared the need for staff motivation, directors also shared the difficulty that their role has sometimes with personnel-related issues. three of the directors mentioned that handling personnel issues is one of the most difficult aspects of the position. adapted leadership practices inventory (lpi) findings. all of the participants in this study completed the adapted version of the leadership practices inventory (lpi). an analysis of the completed surveys provides a better understanding of which leadership practices are perceived to be the most important by teachers and directors. model the way was the practice rated as the most relevant for ideal leadership in head start by teachers and challenge the process as the least relevant. on the other hand, directors rated the practice of enable others to act as the most relevant for ideal leadership in head start, while the practice of inspire a shared vision was rated the least important. the results of the adapted leadership practices inventory (lpi) demonstrate the desired ideal leadership practices of head start directors and teachers. in review of the results of how teachers and directors scored the lpi, there were some distinct differences in the practices that were considered the most important for ideal leadership. in addition, another noted difference with the scoring of the adapted lpi was that directors had an overall tendency to score the lpi higher compared to the teachers. recommendations for practitioners the results from this research study have several implications on recommended practices for current and aspiring leaders in ece. the results revealed practices in alignment with the practices of transformational leadership. the results from this study also confirm the importance of developing relationships as an aspect of effective leadership. these practices are not only in alignment with kouzes and posner’s (2003, 2007) model of transformational leadership but also emphasize the leader’s ability to establish a relationship with staff by means of communication, providing feedback, listening, and sharing information. further, the leader has the ability to guide and influence the vision of the program by means of the relationship that he or she establishes with the staff. in alignment with the results of this study, the following recommendations made: 1. model the way. directors should ensure to lead by example and follow through on all promises and concerns in order to earn and sustain credibility with staff (kouzes and posner, 2003, 2007). in accordance with this practice, it is recommended that directors be aware that staff are observing their actions, and as a result engage in authentic and reliable behavior that exemplifies behavior desired from their staff. directors can engage in acts that are not solely administrative but also more hands-on with staff. an example of such behavior includes providing coaching to teachers on desired interactions with children. this can be accomplished during classroom visits, an area that was identified as a needed practice by teachers in this study. 2. inspire a shared vision. teachers and directors both referred to the importance of having a vision as a needed practice for ideal leadership. an effective leader understands the ideal leadership in head start programs 15 importance of establishing a clear vision. in accordance with this practice, directors should be sure to have a vision and be able to motivate staff to be a part of that vision. directors should be able to envision the future of the program and enlist others in the common vision (kouzes & posner, 2007). 3. enable others to act. collaboration was an identified practice for ideal leadership of programs. in alignment with this practice it is recommended that directors encourage collaboration, build teams, and empower their staff (kouzes & posner, 2003, 2007). this is also important because of the variety of comprehensive services that are provided to children that require collaboration among the various service area disciplines. 4. encourage the heart. staff motivation and encouragement was an area that was regarded as highly important by both directors and teachers. this includes providing staff with praise and appreciation (kouzes & posner, 2003, 2007). directors should provide staff with feedback and praise on their areas of strengths. teachers made reference to the value and impact that giving praise and showing appreciation has on staff and overall program morale. additionally, this study revealed the importance of visibility. teachers mentioned the importance of directors being visible at the classroom level in order to stay connected to the program and make decisions based on these observations. as a result, it is recommended that directors integrate classroom visits as a part of their normal routine. 5. challenge the process. professional development is helpful in enhancing the knowledge and skills of practitioners, as well as keeping staff abreast of changes in the field. in accordance with the findings from this study, directors should be sure to provide teachers and staff with ongoing professional development opportunities. teachers should be provided with professional development to assist them in becoming effective in their role, remain up-to-date on trends, and learn best practices. conclusion this study was prompted by the limited amount of research by scholars and educators devoted to the leadership practices in early childhood education. the purpose of this study was to investigate ideal leadership practices of head start programs from the perspectives of current staff in the field. with the shifting policy, understanding leadership of head start and early childhood education programs is critical to increasing quality and expanding access to early childhood education. the need to develop strong leadership in early childhood education is of great significance in order to improve the quality of services delivered to children and families (mujis et al., 2004; nupponen, 2005). specifically, changes in accountability, including in head start, require that programs demonstrate the delivery of quality services in order to avoid losing funding. as a result, understanding ideal leadership is vital in order to ensure that quality services are delivered consistently and to accomplish the goal of school readiness. a key component of this research study was to identify ideal leadership practices of head start programs through the lens of transformational leadership. transformational leaders are agents of change who are good role models, able to lead by example, create and articulate a clear vision, empower and inspire others to meet goals, and behave in a manner that makes followers trust them. transformational leadership is an effective approach in the field of education due to the support that leaders provide teaching staff and the impact that it has on student achievement. further, transformational leaders are able to understand and value the importance of relationships 16 gonzalez in the accomplishment of goals and are able to inspire staff to adopt a desired vision. in the educational setting, transformational leaders are able to intrinsically motivate staff to meet the needs of students and focus on student achievement. the results of this study supported the need for transformational leadership in head start programs. this study revealed the ideal leadership practices to be in alignment with the practices of transformational leadership. the results of this study are important due to the shift in attention and policy regarding expanding access to quality early childhood education programs for all children, with particular importance for children of disadvantaged backgrounds, including the head start constituency. this has resulted in greater accountability being placed on head start programs to deliver quality services in order to maintain funding. ideal leadership practices are needed to meet the needs of the changing expectations of head start programs. references administration for children & families (2014). an office of the administration for children and families. bass,b., & riggio, r. 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(2003). the pen green leadership centre: developing leadership learning and growing learning communities. paper presented at the 8 th early childhood convention, palmerston north, new zealand, september 22-25. 18 gonzalez appendix a: interview protocol thank you for participating in this interview. the purpose of this interview is to assist me in collecting data related to my dissertation. i am conducting a research study entitled leadership in head start settings. this interview will assist me to gain further insight and understanding on how ideal practices are defined and to assess common themes and patterns related to leadership in head start programs. the data collected will remain confidential and your name and the name of your organization will be maintained in total confidentiality. your participation in this interview is voluntary and you may withdraw at any point without any penalty. participation in this interview should take approximately 60 minutes. * for teaching staff please note that this is not an evaluation of your program and/or director. the goal is to develop a further understanding of ideal leadership practices in head start. interview questions: 1. 1. how long have you been in the field of early childhood education? • how long have you been in your current position? 1. 2. tell me about your journey so far in the world of head start? • is there a metaphor for your journey? from when you started to now? 1. 3. what role does leadership have in early childhood education? 2. 4. how would you describe ideal leadership in head start program? • what are some of the important principles and values that guide effective leadership? 1. 5. how can leaders inspire a shared vision of all staff? • what are some of the specific strategies that can be implemented? 1. 6. how important is staff motivation? • what are some of the specific strategies that can be used to motivate staff? • how can leaders/director’s increase teacher satisfaction? • can you provide me with an example of when you have been motivated by a leader? 1. 7. how would you like decisions to be made in your program? • what involvement should staff have? • what involvement should teachers have? 1. 8. how can a leader/director challenge staff to maximize their potential? • what are specific strategies that can do this? • can you provide me with a specific example? 1. 9. what lessons of leadership have you learned thus far? ideal leadership in head start programs 19 appendix b: adapted leadership practices inventory leadership practices inventory questionnaire adapted version m. kouzes and barry z. posner. all rights reserved. used with permission in the questionnaire below please indicate to what extent you rate each of the statements to be important for effective leadership in the head start setting. choose the response number that best applies to each statement and circle it under that statement. 1= almost never 2= rarely 3= seldom 4= once in a while 5= occasionally 6=sometimes 7=fairly often 8=usually 9=very frequently 10=always 1. 1. sets a personal example of what he/she expects of others. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 2. talks about future trends that will influence how our work gets done. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 3. seeks out challenging opportunities that test his/her own skills and abilities. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 4. develops cooperative relationships among the people he/she works with. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 5. praises people for a job well done. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 6. spend time and energy making certain that the people he/she works with adhere to the principals and standards we have agreed on. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 7. describes a compelling image of what our future could be like. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 8. challenges people to try out new and innovative ways to do their work. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 9. actively listens to diverse points of view. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 10. makes it a point to let people know about his/her confidence in their abilities. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 11. follows through on promises and commitments that he/she makes. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 12. appeals to others to share an exciting dream of the future. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 13. searches outside the formal boundaries of his/her organization for innovative ways to improve what we do. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 14. treats others with dignity and respect. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20 gonzalez 1. 15. makes sure that people are creatively rewarded for their contributions to the success of our projects. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 16. asks for feedback on how his/her actions affect other people’s performance. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 17. shows others how their long term interests can be realized by enlisting in a common vision. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 18. asks “what can we learn?” when things don’t go as expected. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 19. supports the decisions that people make on their own. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 20. publicly recognizes people who exemplify commitment to shared values. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 21. builds consensus around a common set of values for running our organization. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 22. paints the “big picture” of what we aspire to accomplish. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 23. makes certain that we set achievable goals, makes concrete plans, and establish measureable milestones for the projects and programs that we work on. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 24. gives people a great deal of freedom and choice in deciding how to do their work. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 25. finds ways to celebrate accomplishments. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 26. is clear about his/her philosophy of leadership. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 27. speaks with a genuine conviction about the higher meaning and purpose of our work. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 28. experiments and takes risks, even when there is a chance of failure. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 29. ensures that people grow in their jobs by learning new skills and developing themselves. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. 30. gives the members of the team lots of appreciation and support for their contributions. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ideal leadership in head start programs 21 appendix c: demographic questionnaire demographic questionnaire leadership in head start settings please complete this brief questionnaire. 1. 1. position title:____________________________________________ 1. 2. years in head start:_______________________________________ 1. 3. years in current position: __________________________________ 1. 4. highest degree earned:____________________________________ 1. 5. please list any certificate/permit/credential:___________________ _______________________________________________________ gender:________________________________________________ volume 22, number 1 2019 issn: 1930-9325 contents letter from the editor richard g. lambert research articles articulating high quality free choice time in head start preschools: a framework to support professional development and classroom observations judy hicks paulick ……………...……………………………………………………….... 1 head start and hippy better together: examining current collaborations amber l. brown ……………………………………………………………...…...……..….. 27 using coaching and performance feedback to increase head start teachers’ use of teaching pyramid model practices cynthia baughan, vivian i. correa and reem muharib……..…………………….…………. 57 an analysis of services available to dual language learners and their families at head start christine meng…………………………………....………………..……………………… 77 research-to-practice summaries gentle facilitation of free choice time: supporting children’s development during authentic play judy hicks paulick .…………………………………………………………......................... 92 lessons learned from head start and hippy collaboration amber l. brown .………………………………….……………………………………….... 96 coaching head start teachers on the use of teaching pyramid model practices in the claswsroom cynthia baughan, vivian i. correa and reem muharib………………………………….…... 103 the availability of head start services to dual language learners and their families christine meng…….……..………...………....………………..………………………….… 109 nhsa dialog, 24(1), copyright © 2021, issn: 1930-9325 head start teachers’ views on the family-teacher relationship alison hooper the university of alabama juana gaviria-loaiza university of delaware this study looked at head start teachers’ relationships with families. the purpose of the research was to document home-school relationships from the perspective of teachers and to understand the teacher characteristics that may predict how teachers perceive their relationships with families. the study used a national sample of head start teachers and a questionnaire called the family provider/teacher relationship quality measure. results suggest that teachers’ job satisfaction, caregiving beliefs, and depressive symptoms all predicted how they viewed relationships with families. these results point to the importance of continuing to support teachers’ psychological wellbeing and their developmentally appropriate beliefs, as these may promote positive relationships with families. keywords: home-school relationships, early childhood education, head start introduction the relationship between school and home is important to young children’s learning and development (christenson & sheridan, 2001). research has found that parents play a greater role in supporting children’s development than early childhood education (ece) teachers and programs (nichd early child care research network, 2002). therefore, positive home-school relationships are important contributors to children’s learning (epstein, 2001). research has shown that family engagement contributes to children’s learning (daniel et al., 2016; galindo & sheldon, 2012; hill & taylor, 2004). family engagement is an important component of the head start program model. in fact, head start has a legislative mandate to include families in program decisions and to offer families support and opportunities for involvement, as reflected in the head start performance standards (us department of health and human services, 2016). little of the research on family engagement has looked at the role of teachers and their relationships with families (christenson & carlson, 2005). this is increasingly important given the growing diversity of children. families from diverse backgrounds may face barriers to research to practice summary head start teacher views on the family-teacher relationship 63 involvement in their child’s education. for example, they may speak a different language from the teacher, or they may have cultural differences that are not understood by the teacher or program (öztürk, 2013). however, when teachers build strong relationships with families, these relationships can act as a buffer against risk factors like including poverty and family instability (nalls et al, 2010). strong family-teacher relationships are also related to increased family involvement (knopf & swick, 2007). when families feel comfortable with a teacher, they are more likely to share information and concerns, which can help teachers better individualize their instruction (baker & manfredi-petitt, 2004). research has identified three important components of the teacher-family relationship that serve as a foundation for defining family-provider relationship quality: family-specific knowledge, attitudes about families, and teacher practices with families (bromer et al., 2011). family-specific knowledge is the knowledge teachers have about families generally—such as knowledge of factors that promote healthy family functioning and effective parenting practices—as well as knowledge about the specific families they are serving. attitudes about families includes respect, commitment and caring, empowerment, openness to change, and understanding children’s context and how that affects development (forry et al., 2012). overall, teachers tend to perceive their level of respect for families more highly than it is perceived by families (hadley & rouse, 2018). teacher practices that facilitate teacher-family relationships include both relational skills and goal-oriented skills, like engaging in joint decision-making with families (halgunseth et al., 2009). although teacher-family relationships are important, they are challenging to measure. until recently, there has not been a measure that comprehensively examined the quality of family and provider/teacher relationships in ece. the family and provider/teacher relationship quality (fptrq) suite of measures (kim et al., 2014) was developed to address this need. this new instrument has the potential to measure the teacher-family relationship from multiple perspectives and comprehensively examine knowledge, practices, and attitudes using one questionnaire. most studies of teacher-family relationships have focused on how families view the relationship. however, it is also important to consider how teachers perceive their relationships with families. teachers’ characteristics like psychological wellbeing, are related to areas like how teachers respond to children and to their job-related stress (jeon et al., 2019). however, little is known about how teacher characteristics may influence home-school relationships from the perspective of the teacher. current study the purpose of our study was to explore teacher characteristics that may influence the way teachers perceive the quality of their relationships with families. we had two research questions: 1. how do head start teachers perceive the quality of their relationships with families? 2. what teacher characteristics predict the perceived quality of head start teachers’ relationships with families? 64 hooper & gaviria-loaiza to answer these questions, we used secondary analysis of quantitative data collected through the head start family and child experiences survey: 2014 cohort (faces 2014; tarullo et al., 2017). faces 2014 was a nationally representative descriptive study of head start programs, teachers, children, and families. the current study utilized the data from the teacher survey. participants in our sample were 229 head start teachers who completed the fptrq short form teacher questionnaire and demographic survey. the fptrq short form for teachers has 23 items that teachers answer about their work and relationships with families. these 23 items are averaged to obtain a total score and three construct scores: family-specific knowledge (e.g., “i know how parents discipline their child,”), practices (e.g., “how often are you able to set goals with parents for their child?”), and attitudes (e.g., “sometimes it is hard for me to support the way parents raise their children.”). most items are scored on a four-point scale, and higher scores represent more positive relationships with families. we completed multiple regression analyses to examine teacher characteristics that predicted teachers’ fptrq total score and construct scores. we examined these teacher characteristics as predictors: reported depressive symptoms, job satisfaction, beliefs about developmentally appropriate instruction, age, years of experience, level of education, and race and ethnicity. key findings on average, teachers had a total score of 73.2 on the fptrq. there are not yet thresholds for high and low fptrq scores, so we converted construct scores into the percentage of possible points to make these scores easier to interpret. teachers earned an average of 61% of the possible points on the family-specific knowledge construct, for an average score of 12.2 out of a possible 20. of the five items, teachers most frequently agreed that they knew about families’ culture and values. they least often agreed that they knew how families disciplined their children. they had an average score of 30.0 on the attitudes scale out of 36 points, 83.3% of the possible points. of the nine items, teachers most often said that they teach and care for children because they enjoy it. they had the lowest score for the item about supporting how parents raise their children. for practices, teachers had an average score of 30.6 out of a possible 36 points, 85.0% of the points possible. they most often reported frequently talking to parents about children’s progress. teachers least often reported that they believed it was part of their job to respond to issues or questions outside of normal care hours. through the multiple regression models, we found that attending graduate school and having more child-centered beliefs both predicted higher fptrq total scores. looking at family-specific knowledge, black teachers scored 1.12 points lower than white, non-hispanic teachers. teachers’ age negatively predicted family-specific knowledge, meaning that older teachers tended to have lower scores on this construct. other predictors of higher family-specific knowledge included more child-centered beliefs, more didactic beliefs, and more years of teaching experience. for the attitudes construct, black teachers scored significantly higher than white non-hispanic teachers, 1.15 points on average. teachers who reported fewer depressive symptoms and those with more child-centered beliefs had significantly higher attitudes scores. finally, for the practices construct, teachers who had at least some graduate school credits, black teachers (compared to white, nonhead start teacher views on the family-teacher relationship 65 hispanic teachers), and those with higher job satisfaction all had higher scores on their practices with families. summary and recommendations teachers play an important role in family engagement through their practices with families, their attitudes towards families, and their family-specific knowledge. in this study, we examined head start teachers’ reported relationships with families using the fptrq measure. we also considered whether head start teachers’ characteristics predicted how they perceived their relationships with families. we found that overall, teachers reported that they had close, positive relationships with the families of children in their classroom. building on that finding, we found some teacher characteristics that were related to more positive relationships with families. these varied by the constructs of the home-school relationship. this helps to confirm that home-school relationships are complex and multi-faceted. it may be important to continue to consider attitudes, knowledge, and practices with families separately, as well as looking at the overall quality of teachers’ relationships with families. one notable finding is that teachers’ depressive symptoms predicted lower attitudes about families. this builds upon previous research that teachers’ psychological wellbeing relates to their interactions with both children and families (hamre & pianta, 2004; mclean & connor, 2015). because of this, it is important to continue to support teacher wellbeing, especially in head start where teachers tend to report higher levels of depressive symptoms than other ece contexts (whitaker et al., 2015). positively, there is evidence that teacher depressive symptoms can change when teachers have access to things like workplace supports (hindmin & bustamante, 2018). additionally, the finding that black teachers tend to have higher scores in some fptrq constructs than white, non-hispanic teachers warrants further study, especially whether having a racial match between families and teachers may contribute to positive relationships. a next step in this research is to study how teacher-family relationship quality relates to children’s social and academic outcomes. another important step is to consider the quality of the teacher-family relationship from the families’ perspective. children’s learning is best supported when teacher and families have positive relationships (epstein, 2001). supporting head start teachers to have positive relationships with families may be one strategy that can contribute to closing the opportunity gap. head start programs are leaders in family engagement work within ece. moving forward, head start programs can continue to support teachers to have positive relationships with families. this could include more training, coaching, and education about reciprocal family engagement. our results suggest that supports for teachers not directly related to their work with families, such as encouraging higher job satisfaction, psychological wellbeing, and more developmentally appropriate beliefs may be another avenue for helping teachers build more positive relationships with families. 66 hooper & gaviria-loaiza references baker, a., & manfredi-petitt, l. (2004). relationships, the heart of quality care: creating community among adults in early care settings. washington, dc: national association for the education of young children. bromer, j., paulsell, d., porter, t., henly, j., ramsburg, d. (2011). family-sensitive caregiving: a key component of quality in early care and education arrangements. in m. zaslow, k. tout, t. halle & i. martinez-beck (eds.), quality measurement in early childhood settings. baltimore, md: brookes publishing. christenson, s. l., & carlson, c. (2005). evidence-based parent and family interventions in school psychology: state of scientifically based practice. school psychology quarterly, 20(4), 525-528. christenson, s., & sheridan, s. m. (eds.). (2001). schools and families: creating essential connections for learning. guilford press. daniel, g. r., wang, c., & berthelsen, d. 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(2018). teacher depression as a dynamic variable: exploring the nature and predictors of change over the head start year. journal of applied developmental psychology, 61, 43-55. jeon, h. j., kwon, k. a., walsh, b., burnham, m. m., & choi, y. j. (2019). relations of early childhood education teachers’ depressive symptoms, job-related stress, and professional motivation to beliefs about children and teaching practices. early education and development, 30(1), 131-144. kim k., porter t., atkinson v., rui n., ramos m., brown e., . . . nord c. (2014). family and provider/teacher relationship quality measures: user’s manual. washington, dc: office of planning, research and evaluation, administration for children and families, u.s. department of health and human services. knopf, h. t., & swick, k. j. (2007). how parents feel about their child’s teacher/school: implications for early childhood professionals. early childhood education journal, 34(4), 291-296. mclean, l., & connor, c. m. (2015). depressive symptoms in third‐grade teachers: relations to classroom quality and student achievement. child development, 86(3), 945-954. nalls, a. m., mullis, r. l., cornille, t. a., mullis, a. k., & jeter, n. (2010). how can we reach reluctant parents in childcare programmes?. early child development and care, 180(8), 1053-1064. nichd early child care research network. (2002). child-care structure → process → outcome: direct and indirect effects of child-care quality on young children's development. psychological science, 13 (2002), pp. 199-206 öztürk, m. (2013). barriers to parental involvement for diverse families in early childhood education. journal of educational and social research, 3(7), 13-16. tarullo, l., knas, e., klein, a. k., aikens, n., malone, l., & harding, j. f. (2017). a national portrait of head start children and families: faces 2014. opre report 2017-98. administration for children & families. u.s. department of health and human services, administration on children, youth, and families/head start bureau. (2016). head start performance standards and other regulations. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/policy/45-cfr-chap-xiii whitaker, r. c., dearth-wesley, t., & gooze, r. a. (2015). workplace stress and the quality of teacher–children relationships in head start. early childhood research quarterly, 30, 57-69. dialog, 17(1), 1-19 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article spanish-speaking parents' beliefs about their young children's learning and language development jeannette mancilla-martinez university of california, irvine nonie k. lesaux harvard graduate school of education in recognition of the increasing cultural, linguistic, and economic diversity among the early childhood population, knowledge about parents’ beliefs concerning the way in which children learn has the potential to directly inform early childhood programs charged with the task of developing young children’s language. this study investigates latino, spanish-speaking parents’ (n = 200) beliefs about their 24to 48-month-old children’s learning and (dual) language development; all children attended early head start/head start. given that patterns of spanish language use can vary along a continuum of mostly spanish to mostly english, we also examine potential differences in beliefs by patterns of reported home language use. results of this study, using principal components analysis, reveal that spanish-speaking parents’ beliefs about the way in which young children learn and develop language vary widely. we discuss ways in which early childhood programs can build on parents’ existing knowledge base to maximize students’ learning opportunities. supporting language development is a primary goal in early childhood education programs given the link between children’s early linguistic environment and overall educational achievement, extending into adulthood (e.g., dickinson & freiberg, 2009; hohm, jennen-steinmetz, schmidt, & laucht, 2007; storch & whitehurst, 2002; taanila, murray, jokelainen, isohanni, & rantakallio, 2005). with the recognition that learning begins in the home, a major principle of effective teaching is to build on what children already know (bransford, brown, & cocking, 2000). this implies that to provide an optimal learning environment classroom language practices should be aligned with what is familiar to young children. yet, discrepancies between what is taught at home and what is expected at school have long been documented for children from culturally, linguistically and economically diverse homes as compared to the mainstream in the united states (e.g., adair & tobin, 2008; cazden, 1988; heath, 1981; lewis, 2001; rodriguez & olswang, 2003; ald s, ). for instance, heath’s seminal work on language socialization underscores ways in which mainstream schooling practices can disadvantage 2 mancilla-martinez & lesaux children from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. in a similar vein, in contrast to native-born, english-speaking parents, ald s reports that latino, spanish-speaking immigrant parents consider teachers to be the experts and thus as the ones who can best support their children’s academic development. more recently, adair and tobin report that immigrant parents tend to hold ideas about early childhood education that differ from those of the early childhood educators and organizations, resulting in a mismatch between the ideals of the early childhood programs and the communities they aim to serve. in recognition of the increasing cultural, linguistic, and economic diversity among the early childhood population, knowledge about parents’ beliefs concerning the way in which children learn has the potential to directly inform early childhood programs charged with the task of developing young children’s language. this is an especially pressing need for the early childhood population of children from latino, spanish-speaking, low-income homes; latinos are the nation’s largest minority group and latino children under the age of 6 represent one of the fastest growing segments of the population (fortuny et al., 2009; passel, cohn, & lopez, 2011), but overwhelmingly live in poverty. the determinants of academic outcomes are many and complex, but the role of poverty is well documented (brooks-gunn & duncan, 1997; conger & donnellan, 2007; farah et al., 2006), with its negative effects being even greater for very young children than for children in middleand later-childhood and adolescence (duncan, ziol-guest, & kalil, 2010; hernandez, 2004). and while, historically, latino children have been the least likely group to attend early childhood programs, there has been a recent shift in this trend; for example, over one-third of the total head start enrollments are latino children (u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, head start bureau, 2011). therefore, if we are to effectively serve this growing and academically vulnerable population, there is reason to empirically describe parents’ beliefs about the way in which children learn and develop language prior to children’s formal school entry. this study investigates latino, spanish-speaking parents’ beliefs about their 24to 48month-old children’s learning and language development; all children attended early head start/head start. given that patterns of spanish language use can vary along a continuum of mostly spanish to mostly english, we also examine potential differences in beliefs by patterns of reported home language use. the results of this study have the potential to inform efforts aimed at facilitating learning, in general, and language development, in particular, for young children from spanish-speaking homes attending early childhood programs. children’s learning and language development: parent beliefs two canadian studies shed light on the extent to which parent beliefs concerning young children’s learning varies by cultural background. specifically, each study investigated minority and majority preschool parents’ language and learning beliefs (johnston & wong, 2002; simmons & johnston, 2007). johnston and wong found that chinese canadian mothers were less likely than mainstream canadian mothers to treat their children as equal conversational partners, meaning that they tended to refrain from engaging in extended conversations and tended to discourage conversations with adults who were not familiar to the child. however, compared to mainstream canadian mothers, chinese canadian mothers tended to use picture books and flash cards to a greater extent, thus adhering to a belief that instruction, rather than exploration, is needed for learning. additionally, chinese canadian mothers reported reading to spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs 3 their children much less often. in a very similar study, simmons and johnston focused on indian canadian and mainstream canadian mothers’ language and learning beliefs. the authors found that, compared to the mainstream canadian mothers, indian canadian mothers of preschoolers rated family as being centrally important for young children to learn about. additionally, indian canadian mothers were more likely to correct errors in their children’s speech and ask their children to repeat utterances after them, reflecting a more adult-centered than child-centered method of language teaching. in contrast, mainstream canadian mothers were more likely than indian canadian mothers to expect their children to engage in conversations with non-family adults in social settings, to use parallel talk, to ask their children to relate personal narratives, and to read to their children. in the u.s. context, an emerging line of research conducted with latino families focuses on parent beliefs about their children’s learning, language practices, and development. for example, rodriguez and olswang (2003) investigated parents’ beliefs and values about childrearing, education, and language impairment. mexican-american and anglo-american mothers of early elementary-age children with language impairments completed questionnaires and a subsample participated in an interview. the authors found that mexican-american mothers held beliefs and values that were more traditional, authoritarian, and conforming compared to the anglo-american mothers. for example, the mexican-american mothers believed they should not be active participants in their children’s school as schools held the primary responsibility for educating their children. similarly, as part of a larger, five-country study focused on comparing early childhood educators’ and immigrant parents’ ideas about preschool, adair and tobin (2008) report findings from their work in the united states with mexican immigrants living in arizona. this ethnographic study revealed that mexican immigrant parents believed schools should focus on promoting their children’s academic and social readiness and on teaching english, while they (the parents) should focus on maintaining the home language (spanish, in this case) and culture (mexican). the authors qualify this finding by noting that, in arizona, children would soon be transitioning to english-only kindergarten environments from bilingual preschool settings, potentially contributing to this orientation by parents. hammer and colleagues (2007) also investigated parent beliefs about children’s education with a group of mothers of puerto rican descent living in the u.s., each with children attending head start programs. the authors compared the beliefs of mothers who exposed their children to spanish and english since birth and mothers who exposed their children only to spanish through age 3, at which time they enrolled in head start and thus became exposed to english. the findings revealed that, in line with rodriguez and olswang’s (2003) results, most mothers believed schools have the primary responsibility for educating children. however, they also believed they play a role in supporting their children’s learning at home. thus, the authors conclude that the mothers held both traditional and progressive beliefs. specifically, mothers placed a high value on social skills, including respectful interactions, and they also valued conformity and self-direction. somewhat surprisingly, mothers who did not expose their children to english until head start entry placed more emphasis on self-direction and less on conformity compared to mothers who exposed their children to both languages since birth, which the authors attribute to a desire to incorporate mainstream cultural values given their desire to move to the mainland u.s. as expected, however, mothers who exposed their children to both languages since birth reported teaching their children early literacy-related skills, including book reading, more frequently than mothers who did not expose their children to english until head 4 mancilla-martinez & lesaux start entry, presumably because of their greater knowledge of the skills with which children are expected to enter u.s. classrooms. as hammer and colleagues’ (2007) study reveals, latino children in the u.s. are often exposed to both spanish and english. yet, we know little about the way in which latino, spanish-speaking parents think about their young children’s spanish and english development. in one of the few studies on latino parents’ attitudes regarding bilingualism and their personal decisions about home language use, schecter, sharken-taboada, and bayley (1996) focused exclusively on 10 families in the u.s. who decided to maintain spanish in the home. via interviews, parents noted academic benefits, geographic relocation adaptability, and job-market competitiveness as key reasons for spanish maintenance. similarly, although focused on latino spanish-speaking and anglo english-speaking parents’ rationale for enrolling their children in a spanish-english dual-language immersion program at the elementary school level, craig’s (1996) study offers relevant insight into parents’ beliefs about bilingualism. using a survey, craig found that while both sets of parents generally expressed similar beliefs towards all aspects of bilingualism (e.g., developing english fluency is essential, bilingual children have increased employment opportunities), latino parents differed from anglo parents in that they were more concerned with ensuring that their children maintained the minority language (spanish, in this case). furthermore, a qualitative analysis of an open-ended question that probed parents’ reasons for enrolling their children in the dual-language immersion program revealed important differences. specifically, anglo parents cited positive exposure to cultural diversity, early second language acquisition, and enhanced career opportunities as the major reasons for their enrollment decisions. in contrast, latino parents cited spanish language and cultural maintenance as the primary reasons for their enrollment decisions. given that young latino children represent the largest and fastest growing segment of the u.s. population, account for a growing share of the population of children enrolled in early childhood programs, and evidence persistently low academic achievement, insight into their parents’ beliefs about children’s language and learning is needed. unlike most other studies that have focused on contrasting the beliefs of minority and majority parents, we focus exclusively on spanish-speaking parents who enrolled their children in head start/early head start. specifically, the present study aims to contribute to the research base by describing spanishspeaking parents’ beliefs about their 24to 48-month-old children’s learning and (dual) language development, and by examining the extent to which differences in beliefs emerge as a function of their reported patterns of home language use. method participants the sample, drawn from a larger study focused on young children’s vocabulary development, consisted of 200 spanish–english bilingual child-caregiver dyads recruited from early head start (ehs) and head start (hs) collaborating programs in the northeast u.s. in these programs, english was the primary language used in the classroom. child characteristics. children were between 24 and 48 months of age, with an even split by gender (99 females; 101 males). according to parental report, all children, except 6, spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs 5 were latino. among this small group these children, 1 was identified as black and 5 were identified as “other.” the majority of the children were born in the mainland u.s. (92%) and the remaining in the u.s. territory of puerto rico (8%). within their families, 30% of the children were first-borns, 51% were secondor third-born children, and the rest had between 3 and 9 older siblings. parent and household characteristics. in contrast to the children, the majority of the mothers (79%) were foreign-born. thirty-one percent of foreign-born mothers reported the u.s. territory of puerto rico as their country of birth, followed by guatemala (21%), the dominican republic (17%), and mexico (9%); the remaining 1% was born in other latin american countries. of the fathers for whom we had data (n=155 or 78%), most were also foreign-born (77%). of these, 30% were born in the u.s. territory of puerto rico, followed by guatemala (21%), dominican republic (13%), mexico (12%), and ecuador (1%). over half of mothers reported having no employment (55%), while the remainder reported either full-time (33%) or part-time (12%) employment. in contrast, the majority of fathers (63%) were employed fulltime, with the remaining either reporting having no employment (24%) or being employed parttime (13%). the average total numbers of years of education for mothers was 9.9 years (sd = 4.4) and for father it was 9.8 years (sd = 3.8). the families overwhelmingly reported being in income brackets below the federal poverty guideline for a family of four (federal register, 2011). that is, 67% of families reported an income of up to $20,000 with the remaining families reporting an income above this amount (14% = $20,000 to $40,000 income bracket; 8% = $40,000 to $80,000 income bracket). additionally, 8% reported “i don’t know” and 3% did not report their income level. measures a two-part parent interview was conducted with all participating families. the first part focused on information about family demographics (as previously described) and home language use while the second part focused on parent beliefs about learning and language development. the interview was prepared in both english and spanish and two rounds of back translation were undertaken to assure comparability of the two versions. home language use. parents were first asked about the language(s) they hoped their child would speak as adults and they were then asked a series of questions related to their actual home language use practices. specifically, four home language input questions referenced talk directed to the child by the mothers, fathers, other adults in the home, and other children in the home while four home language output questions referenced the talk directed by the child to the mother, father, other adults in the home, and other children in the home. the responses to these questions are on a 5-point scale where 5 = only english, 4 = mostly english, 3 = equal amounts of english and spanish, 2 = mostly spanish, and 1 = only spanish. thus, low values on this 5point scale indicate a preference for spanish, middle values indicate roughly equal preference for both languages, and high values indicate a preference for english. parent beliefs. the second part of the parent interview focused on parent beliefs about young children’s learning and language development. this portion of the interview was adapted 6 mancilla-martinez & lesaux from questions from johnston and wong’s (2002) survey of childrearing beliefs. however, we developed an additional set of questions about parental beliefs and values related to children learning two languages. parents were asked to rate their level of agreement with statements related to three overarching categories as follows a) children’s learning (10 items), b) children’s language learning (10 items), and children’s dual language learning (9 items). each statement was on a 5-point scale as follows: 1) strongly disagree, 2) somewhat disagree, 3) not sure, 4) somewhat agree, and 5) strongly agree. all of the survey items appear in the appendix. procedure the interview was administered to each individual parent participant by trained research assistants, and took place at the child’s home or school. the interviews were conducted in either spanish (63%) or english (37%), per parent preference. ninety-four percent of the interviews were conducted with the mother, with the remaining 6% conducted with fathers, grandmothers, aunts or, in only one case, with a person identified as “other.” the interviews lasted approximately 20 minutes. results home language use when parents were asked about the language(s) they wanted their child to speak when s/he was older, nearly all (97%) reported hoping that their child would grow up to be a spanish-english bilingual. three parents said they hoped their child would speak only spanish and three said they hoped their child would speak spanish, english, and other languages; none said they hoped their child would grow up to speak only english. the most common reasons for wanting their children to be bilingual were so that they could maintain contact with their spanish-speaking family members and because they believed bilingualism would afford their children more job opportunities. considering that bilinguals rarely hear both (or multiple) languages equally nor develop equal fluency in both (or multiple) languages (de houwer, 2007; oller & eilers, 2002; pearson, fernandez, lewedeg, & oller, 7), we first examined descriptive statistics of children’s reported language input and output at home. as shown in table 1, children in this sample were mostly spoken to in spanish by their mothers and other adults in the home while fathers and other children in the home were closer to providing children with approximately equal amounts of english and spanish language input. children in this sample also spoke mostly spanish to their mothers and other adults in the home and also used approximately equal amounts of english and spanish when speaking to their fathers and to other children in the home. spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs 7 table1. child’s language input, output, and combined home language use child language input mean sd n language spoken to the child by the mother 2.82 1.33 200 language spoken to the child by the father 3.38 1.77 176 language spoken to the child by other adults 2.68 1.53 198 language spoken to the child by other children 3.28 1.46 199 input total mean 2.92 1.17 child language output mean sd n language child speaks to mother 2.13 1.17 199 language child speaks to father 2.94 1.88 177 language child speaks to other adults 2.16 1.41 200 language child speaks to other children 3.51 1.45 200 output total mean 2.61 0.93 note: the home language questions were on a 5-point scale where low values indicate a greater preference for spanish, middle values indicate a preference for both spanish and english, and high values indicate a greater preference for english. because the home language questions were on the same scale (as described above), a home language score was calculated for each child using the 8 questions that referenced the mother’s, father’s, other adults and other children’s language directed to the child at home (n = 4) and the child’s language directed to mothers, fathers, other adults and other children in the home (n = 4). an average was calculated for each child using the number of items responded to as the denominator. an acceptable response to each question included “not applicable”; the denominator was adjusted for each case when calculating the average home language exposure score. each child first received an average input (sample grand mean = 2.61; sd = 0.93) and an average output score (sample grand mean = 2.92; sd = 1.17) and pearson correlations revealed a significant, positive, and strong correlation between the averaged language input and output scores (r = .76, p < 0.001, n = 200). the positive relation between the average input and average output language scores (i.e., language directed to the child and language used by the child) suggests that as children’s input contained more english, their output tended to also contain more english. thus, for the purposes of subsequent analyses, combining the input and output scores to arrive at an overall home language use score was warranted. the overall home language use variable was used to examine potential differences in parents’ beliefs about children’s learning and language development. descriptive analyses table 2 displays the sample means for each of the parent beliefs items by category, with the sample standard deviations in parentheses. as previously described, items for the three categories were on a 5-point scale as follows: 1) strongly disagree, 2) somewhat disagree, 3) not sure, 4) somewhat agree, and 5) strongly agree. for ease of interpretation, the last column 8 mancilla-martinez & lesaux on the table also displays the percentage of parents who somewhat or mostly agreed with each statement. table 2. sample means and standard deviations by category, including the percentage of parents who somewhat or strongly agree with each statement, by category n mean percent (sd) category : children’s learning children who spend time quietly observing tend to be smart (learning 1) 197 3.81 (106) 64 it is important to find out what kids are thinking (learning 2) 197 4.46 (0.70) 93 parents should let children experiment, even if they might make mistakes (learning 3) 197 4.40 (0.91) 89 parents should wait until young children ask before giving help (learning 4) 196 3.23 (1.44) 52 three-year-olds are too young to help with household chores (learning 5) 197 2.83 (1.55) 38 young children learn best when they are given instructions (learning 6) 200 4.40 (0.75) 91 young children learn important things while playing (learning 7) 200 4.51 (0.66) 95 young children should be given choices instead of being told what to do (learning 8) 200 3.82 (1.17) 70 young children generally like the same things as their parents (learning 9) 199 3.33 (1.33) 52 grandparents or older family members give good advice about the way that young children grow up (learning 10) 200 4.15 (0.86) 79 category 2: children’s language learning parents should ask young children to repeat new words in order to help them learn to talk (language 1) 197 4.65 (0.59) 96 speech is especially important because it helps young children to make friends (language 2) 197 4.49 (0.77) 93 children understand some words even before they can speak (language 3) 197 4.50 (0.71) 93 the proper titles for people (“aunt” sally) are more important to learn than the names of objects (language 4) 196 3.28 (1.26) 47 it is more important for young children to speak clearly than to speak politely (language 5) 197 3.54 (1.27) 55 if parents use “baby talk” (like “wawa” for water, or “jamies” for pajamas) their child won’t learn to speak well (language ) 197 3.88 (1.33) 74 young children should always be encouraged to communicate with words rather than gestures (language 7) 200 4.40 (0.80) 91 when babies, they are trying to communicate something (language 8) 200 4.37 (0.81) 87 children will learn to talk on their own, as long as they are spoken to (language 9) 200 4.36 (0.87) 90 young children should be allowed to take a turn in conversations that include adults who are not family members (language 10) 200 3.10 (1.39) 44 spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs 9 category 3 children’s dual language learning young children who are exposed to two languages will naturally learn both well (dual language 1 200 4.17 (1.04) 83 if possible, families should use the school language at home with young children (dual language 2) 200 3.39 (1.39) 58 adults in the family should use mostly the home language at home in talking with young children (dual language 3) 200 3.95 (1.16) 74 young children can easily keep two languages separate and know which one to use in different situations (dual language 4) 200 3.98 (1.08) 72 adults should avoid mixing two languages in conversation with young children (dual language 5) 199 3.35 (4.40) 52 children should be corrected when they mix two languages in the same sentence (dual language 6) 200 3.40 (1.37) 59 children learn the language of school from siblings and peers rather than from their parents (dual language 7) 200 3.58 (1.30) 63 it is more important that children are able to understand the home language than to speak it (dual language 8) 200 3.28 (1.28) 49 parents should correct children if their pronunciation in the home language sounds ‘foreign’ (dual language ) 200 3.47 (1.44) 58 the category 1 items reflect parent beliefs about children’s learning, with each of the 10 items under this category labeled learning 1, learning 2, and so on. as the sample means and standard deviations show, there was considerable variation in parents’ average levels of agreement with these statements. in fact, 3 items yielded an average response of “not sure” and also showed the most variation. specifically, as shown in the last column, only half of the parents (52%) somewhat or mostly agreed that parents should wait until young children ask before giving help (learning 4) and that young children generally like the same things as their parents (learning 9), and only 38% somewhat or mostly agreed that three-year-olds are too young to help with household chores (learning 5). the category 2 items reflect parent beliefs about children’s language learning, with each of the 10 items under this category labeled language 1, language 2, and so on. as with category 1 items, on average, the sample means and standard deviations show considerable variation in parents’ average levels of agreement with these statements, with 3 items yielding an average response of “not sure” and also showing the most variation. just over half of parents (55%) somewhat or mostly agreed that it is more important for children to speak clearly than to speak politely (language 5), and under half of parents that the proper titles for people (“aunt sally”) are more important to learn than the names of objects (47%; language 4) and that young children should be allowed to take a turn in conversations that include adults who are not family members (44%; language 10). finally, the category 3 items reflect parent beliefs about children’s dual language learning, with each of the 9 items under this category labeled dual language 1, dual language 2, and so on. to an even greater extent than was the case with the first 2 categories, there was wider variation regarding the extent to which parents somewhat or strongly agreed with these statements. that is, of the 9 items, 5 yielding an average response of “not sure” and also showed the most variation. fifty-nine percent of parents somewhat or mostly agreed that children should be corrected when they mix two languages in the same sentence (dual language 6), 58% that parents should correct children if their pronunciation in the home language sounds ‘foreign’ 10 mancilla-martinez & lesaux (dual language 9) and that if possible, families should use the school language at home with young children (dual language 2), 52% that parents should avoid mixing two languages in conversation with young children (dual language 5), and 49% that it is more important that children are able to understand the home language than to speak it (dual language 8). characterizing parental beliefs like previous studies that have investigated parent learning and language beliefs, as previously described, we utilized a questionnaire comprised of numerous statements for parents to rate their levels of agreement. to capture the variability within each category in as few factors as possible, we conducted a principal components analysis (pca) for each of the 3 categories investigated (children’s learning; language learning; dual language learning). this, in turn, resulted in a more meaningful interpretation of spanish-speaking parents’ underlying beliefs and allowed us to explore potential differences by patterns of home language use. factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0 were extracted. because nearly all correlations in each of the four factor correlation matrices fell below the .32 threshold, an orthogonal varimax rotation was used (tabachnick & fiddell, 2007). in interpreting the rotated factor pattern, an item was said to load on a given component if the factor loading was .40 or greater for that component. as previously described, we also explored the extent to which the generated factors in each of the three categories related to reported home language use (i.e., the overall home language use variable, with low values indicative of a preference for more spanish use and high values indicative of a preference for more english use). beliefs about children’s learning. a three-factor solution was found, which explained cumulatively 50% of the total variance (see table 3). five items were found to load on factor 1, which was interpreted to represent dependence. four items were found to load on factor 2, which was interpreted to represent exploration. finally, three items were found to load on factor 3, which was interpreted to represent independence. note that two statements (learning 2 and learning 8) can be considered complex variables given that they each loaded on two factors (thurstone, 1947). most importantly, however, interpretation of these factors remained unchanged. finally, investigation of differences by reported home language use revealed that parents who reported using more spanish than english in the home were more likely to agree with factor 1, the dependence factor (r = -0.38, p<.001); no significant differences were found for factor 2 (exploration) and factor 3 (independence) by home language use status. spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs 11 table 3. beliefs about children’s learning (n = 195) factor 1: dependence factor 2: exploration factor 3: independence children who spend time quietly observing tend to be smart (learning 1) 0.48 0.04 0.37 it is important to find out what kids are thinking (learning 2) 0.47 0.58 -0.26 parents should let children experiment, even if they might make mistakes (learning 3) -0.07 0.66 0.06 parents should wait until young children ask before giving help (learning 4) 0.01 0.02 0.81 three-year-olds are too young to help with household chores (learning 5) 0.69 -0.15 0.14 young children learn best when they are given instructions (learning 6) 0.62 0.30 -0.02 young children learn important things while playing (learning 7) 0.14 0.75 0.09 young children should be given choices instead of being told what to do (learning 8) 0.04 0.45 0.46 young children generally like the same things as their parents (learning 9) 0.25 0.03 0.60 grandparents or older family members give good advice about the way that young children grow up (learning 10) 0.69 0.10 0.13 eigenvalues 2.49 1.37 1.16 total variance explained 50% beliefs about children’s language learning. a three-factor solution was also found, which explained cumulatively 55% of the total variance (see table 4). five items were found to load on factor 1, was interpreted to represent active language use. three items were found to load on factor 2, which was interpreted to represent social norms. finally, two items were found to load on factor 3, which was interpreted to represent sophisticated language use. finally, investigation of differences by reported home language use revealed that parents who reported using more spanish than english were more likely to agree with factor 2, the social norms factor (r = -0.29, p<.001); no significant differences were found for factor 1 (active language use) and factor 3 (sophisticated language use) by home language use status. 12 mancilla-martinez & lesaux table 4. beliefs about children’s language learning (n = 196) factor 1: active use factor 2: social norms factor 3: sophisticated talk parents should ask young children to repeat new words in order to help them learn to talk (language 1) 0.79 -0.05 -0.02 speech is especially important because it helps young children to make friends (language 2) 0.64 0.22 0.16 children understand some words even before they can speak (language 3) 0.75 -0.13 -0.06 the proper titles for people (“aunt” sally) are more important to learn than the names of objects (language 4) -0.01 0.78 -0.07 it is more important for young children to speak clearly than to speak politely (language 5) 0.05 0.77 -0.07 if parents use “baby talk” (like “wawa” for water, or “jamies” for pajamas) their child won’t learn to speak well (language ) 0.24 -0.17 0.46 young children should always be encouraged to communicate with words rather than gestures (language 7) 0.65 0.12 0.20 when babies, they are trying to communicate something (language 8) 0.67 0.12 0.09 children will learn to talk on their own, as long as they are spoken to (language 9) 0.34 0.50 0.39 young children should be allowed to take a turn in conversations that include adults who are not family members (language 10) -0.09 0.04 0.88 eigenvalues 2.85 1.50 1.12 total variance explained 55% beliefs about children’s dual language learning. a two-factor solution was found, which explained cumulatively 45% of the total variance (see table 5). six items were found to load on factor 1, which was interpreted to represent no language mixing and three items were found to load on factor 2, which was interpreted to represent bilingual facility. note that one variable (dual language 3) loaded onto both factors and is thus considered a complex variable (thurstone, 1947); however, interpretation of these factors remained unchanged. additionally, one variable (dual language 2) did not load onto either factor using the aforementioned .40 criterion. however, this variable trended toward factor 1 and can be meaningfully interpreted there. finally, investigation of differences by reported home language use revealed that parents who reported using more spanish than english in the home were more likely to agree with both the spanish use, mixing factor (r = -0.24, p<.001) as well as with the bilingual facility factor (r = -0.31, p<.001). spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs 13 table 5. beliefs about children’s dual language learning (n = 199) factor 1: no language mixing factor 2: bilingual facility young children who are exposed to two languages will naturally learn both well (dual language 1) -0.02 0.78 if possible, families should use the school language at home with young children (dual language 2) 0.38 -0.01 adults in the family should use mostly the home language at home in talking with young children (dual language 3) 0.46 0.57 young children can easily keep two languages separate and know which one to use in different situations (dual language 4) 0.06 0.80 adults should avoid mixing two languages in conversation with young children (dual language 5) 0.54 0.20 children should be corrected when they mix two languages in the same sentence (dual language 6) 0.67 0.11 children learn the language of school from siblings and peers rather than from their parents (dual language 7) 0.66 0.09 it is more important that children are able to understand the home language than to speak it (dual language 8) 0.67 -0.06 parents should correct children if their pronunciation in the home language sounds ‘foreign’ (dual language ) 0.62 0.16 eigenvalues 2.70 1.34 total variance explained 45% discussion early childhood programs strive to optimize young children’s development, including their language skills. gaining insight into parents’ beliefs about learning, in general, and language development, in particular, can help bridge children’s home and classroom experiences so that children’s learning opportunities are maximized. this is especially important for children who come from linguistically, culturally, and economically diverse homes; often, there is a difference between children’s learning experiences and opportunities at the home and in the classroom, and, indeed, understandings about how learning unfolds and how language develops. therefore, this study investigated spanish-speaking parents’ beliefs about their children’s learning and language development, while also examining the extent to which differences in beliefs emerged depending on parents’ reported home language use. the results revealed that, within each of the three aspects of children’s language and learning studied (i.e., beliefs about 14 mancilla-martinez & lesaux children’s learning; beliefs about children’s language learning, and beliefs about children’s dual language learning), there was substantial variation among parents’ beliefs. in other words, discussed in more depth below, the spanish-speaking parents in the sample cannot be characterized as adhering to a common orientation about the way in which young children learn and develop language—there was not a general level of consensus among the sample studied. this is an important point to underscore because early childhood programs may erroneously assume that parents who share the same cultural, linguistic, and economic background—in this case, latino, spanish-speaking parents from low-income homes—tend to share similar beliefs about children’s learning and language development. furthermore, we identified a relationship between parents’ beliefs and their reported home language use, such that parents who reported more spanish than english use at home tended to be in greater agreement with many of the questions asked. we discuss our three specific findings below, with attention to the implications for early childhood programs, such as early head start/head start. beliefs about children’s learning when we looked specifically at parents’ responses to questionnaire items focused on beliefs about children’s learning, three distinct factors emerged: dependence, exploration, and independence. given past research documenting latino parents’ strong sense of interdependence (e.g., rivera & rogers-adkinson, 1997), the dependence factor was not surprising. this factor included items such as ‘three-year-olds are too young to help with household chores’ and ‘young children learn best when they are given instructions.’ as has been described previously, all parents in the study were spanish-speaking, but parents who reported more use of spanish compared to english at home were more likely to be represented by this factor. some work suggests that latino, spanish-speaking parents may be hesitant to enroll their children in early childhood programs because they perceive them as too didactic and prefer more family-oriented, informal child care arrangements (hashima & amato, 1994; holloway, fuller, rambaud, & eggers-pierola, 1997; phillips, voran, kisker, howes, & anglobook, 1994). while results of our study do not speak directly to this issue, the fact that parents who reported more spanish than english use tended to be in greater agreement with the dependence factor suggests that early childhood programs should attend to the extent to which the preschool is warm and inviting for parents and children. at the same time, parents’ reported home language use was not associated with the other two factors, exploration and independence, suggested that the parents in this study tended to view children as inquisitive when it comes to learning. for example, items captured by this factor included ‘parents should let children experiment, even if they might make mistakes’ and ‘young children should be given choices instead of being told what to do.’ however, parents generally valued independence as a goal for learning. for instance, an item captured by this factor included ‘parents should wait until young children ask before giving help’. though seemingly contradictory, the fact that differences did not emerge among the participating parents as a function of patterns of home language use on the exploration and independence factors is in line with hammer and colleagues’ (2007) findings that spanish-speaking parents tend to incorporate beliefs and values of the mainstream culture (e.g., exploration) while maintaining some from their own culture (e.g., independence). spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs 15 beliefs about children’s language learning an examination of parents’ responses to the questions focused on beliefs about children’s language learning revealed three factors: active use, social norms, and sophisticated talk. parents tended to value the active use of language. for example, items captured by this factor included ‘parents should ask young children to repeat new words in order to help them learn to talk’ and ‘young children should always be encouraged to communicate with words rather than gestures.’ parents also adhered to an orientation that they should encourage their children to use adult-like language (i.e., sophisticated talk); they believed that ‘if parents use “baby talk” (like “wawa” for water or “jamies” for pajamas) their child won’t learn to speak well’. additionally, while the value of social norms emerged as important for all participating parents, those who reported more spanish than english use at home tended to be in even greater agreement with this factor. as with the dependence factor finding, this finding was also not unexpected given that the concept of respect has been found to be prevalent among latino, spanish-speaking families (e.g., garc a coll & pachter, 2002; halgunseth, ispa, & rudy, 2006; valdés, 1996). for instance, one of the statements captured by this factor included the greater importance of proper titles (e.g., “aunt” sally) compared to the names of objects. indeed, to be respectful means deferring to those in positions of authority, which includes school personnel (e.g., teachers and administrators). early childhood programs may lack knowledge of parents’ values related to social norms and may inadvertently perpetuate a sense of a hierarchical relationship wherein the preschool staff is in a position of power compared to the families they serve. a simple strategy of encouraging parents to refer to the preschool staff by first name or, alternately, by referring to parents in the same formal manner, may potentially foster an increased sense of shared values and respect with spanish-speaking parents, ultimately promoting a sense of community and improving students’ educational outcomes (nieto, ; bloom, katz, slosken, willet, & wilson-keenan, 2000). additionally, it is worth noting that, as group, the spanish-speaking parents in the sample overwhelmingly agreed that words should be encouraged over gestures. yet it is worth noting that gestures can facilitate language development (goldin-meadow & alabali, 2013) and for children who are learning english, gestures may in fact play an even more important role, particularly during the early childhood years. the field might recommend, then, that early childhood programs inform parents about the value of gesturing for promoting children’s language development and communication skills. beliefs about children’s dual language learning finally, and arguably the most unique contribution of this study, we probed parents’ beliefs about children’s dual language learning, identifying two factors: no language mixing, and bilingual facility. as noted earlier, there was greater variability in beliefs regarding children’s dual language learning than in beliefs about the first two components (children’s learning and children’s language learning). the no language mixing factor—as the label implies—represented a view that use of spanish and english should not be mixed. items captured by this factor included ‘adults in the home should use mostly the home language at home in talking with young children’ and ‘adults 16 mancilla-martinez & lesaux should avoid mixing two languages in conversation with young children’. in contrast, the bilingual facility factor represented a view that there is relative ease in simultaneously acquiring and using two languages. specifically, aside from the complex variable that loaded onto both factors (i.e., ‘if possible, families should use the school language at home with young children’), two items were captured by this factor: ‘young children who are exposed to two languages will naturally learn both well’ and ‘young children can easily keep two languages separate and know which one to use in different situations’. parents who reported using more spanish than english at home tended to be in greater agreement with both factors, no language mixing and bilingual facility. one might expect that parents who reported more english than spanish use could also be in strong agreement with the no language mixing factor, but an examination of the items captured by this factor reveal a general preference toward spanish use by parents. for instance, one of the items stated ‘parents should correct children if their pronunciation in the home language sounds ‘foreign’ and another that ‘children learn the language of school from siblings and peers rather than from their parents’. thus, these items seem to reflect a value for correct spanish pronunciation and a belief that parents provide the primary spanish language modeling. regarding the bilingual facility factor, it was not surprising that parents who reported more spanish than english use at home tended to be in greater agreement with the items captured by this factor. as these parents use more spanish at home and, we hypothesize, view the acquisition of english (at school, for instance) as not interfering with the acquisition of spanish, and vice versa. on the other hand, it may be that parents who use more english than spanish at home might do so because they are concerned that the use of spanish might negatively interfere with their young children’s english acquisition. together, these findings offer important insights for early childhood programs serving children from dual language learning homes, in this case english and spanish speakers, underscoring in particular the variability in parents’ beliefs about young children’s dual language learning. on the one hand, some parents believed it was not acceptable to mix both languages. but, on the other hand, some parents believed children could easily negotiate two languages simultaneously. although the research base is quite clear that bilingualism in itself is not a risk factor for low academic achievement (de houwer, 1999; snow, 1992), it is clear that misconceptions about the process of dual language learning remain among the public (espinosa, 2008; mclaughlin, 1992). we agree with lopez, barrueco, feinauer, and miles (2007) that latino, spanish-speaking parents, such as those in our study, might benefit from knowledge about bilingual language development given the often confusing and unclear messages to which they are often exposed. furthermore, early childhood educators might themselves benefit professional development on the topic because they generally do not have much training and/or coursework related to working with dual language learners (alliance for a better community, 2012). directions for future research results of our study underscore the heterogeneity that exists among a given sample of spanishspeaking parents with respect to their beliefs about their young children’s learning and language development. we note that the parents studied were from low-income households and thus that spanish-speaking parent’s learning & language beliefs 17 results must be restricted to this specific subset of the population. moreover, as with previous work documenting parent beliefs about children’s learning, we used a questionnaire. while the utility of a low-cost, easy-to-administer questionnaire cannot be underestimated as it can, at minimum, give early childhood programs serving large numbers of dual language learning families a snapshot of parent beliefs, in fact naturalistic observations of parents’ behaviors and interactions with their young children represent an important next step. this is particularly the case in order to minimize concerns about social desirability response bias, while simultaneously providing important data to inform the validity of utilizing questionnaires to tap into parents’ beliefs about learning and language development. furthermore, interviews would help shed further light on parents’ rationale for their responses (i.e., agreeing, disagreeing or being unsure about the statements). this is especially important for survey items that generated a wide range of responses, such as the children’s dual language learning component. even though the office of head start, for instance, mandates that programs support and strengthen children’s native languages (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008), it is essential to reiterate that staff who speak the families’ native language(s) continue to be sorely needed (garcia & frede, 2010; garcia & jensen, 2009; national task force on early childhood education for hispanics, 2007). finally, although differences in parents’ and early childhood educators’ beliefs have been reported (adair & tobi, 2008), there is a need to further explore teachers’ beliefs related to learning and language development, especially for dual language learners. summary given the achievement gaps documented between latino, spanish-speaking children and their peers prior to formal school entry, this study brings insight into the learning and language beliefs of these children’s parents insight that should be capitalized on by early childhood programs committed to advancing this population’s overall achievement beginning in the preschool years. results of this study reveal that, within a sample of spanish-speaking parents, beliefs about the way in which young children learn and develop one or two languages vary widely. references adair, j., & tobin, j. 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(1947). multiple factor analysis: a development and expansion of vectors of the mind. chicago: university of chicago. u. s. department of health and human services (2008). dual language learning: what does it take? head start dual language report. washington, dc: author. u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, head start bureau. head start program fact sheet, fiscal year 2011. retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/mr/factsheets/2011-hs-program-factsheet.html ald s, g. ( ). con respeto: bridging distances between culturally diverse families and schools. new york: teachers college press. http://www.ecehispanic.org/work/expand_mainreport.pdf http://www.ecehispanic.org/work/expand_mainreport.pdf http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?reportid=140 http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/mr/factsheets/2011-hs-program-factsheet.html nhsa dialog, 25(2), copyright © 2022, issn: 1930-9325 benefits of prenatal enrollment in early head start on successful smoking cessation elyse shenberger katherine zinsser university of illinois chicago despite known negative health effects, many women continue smoke during pregnancy, and many do not access available cessations supports. in a population of low-income mothers with children enrolled in early head start (ehs) we explored which demographic, smoking behavior, and treatment access characteristics were associated with being referred for smoking cessation services. findings highlighted equity among referrals, consistent with ehs’s anti-racist foundation. we found mothers only reporting smoking history were missed compared to mothers who reported current smoking behaviors, which presents an important opportunity for prevention work, given relapse rates. finally, we found when ehs knows about a pregnancy, either from early referral to ehs or from other children receiving services, the referral mechanism is most successful. implications for ehs include an emphasis on recruiting earlier in gestation. keywords: smoking cessation, pregnancy, early intervention summary of literature although smoking rates have decreased over the last several decades, smoking during pregnancy remains a challenging health problem at a rate of roughly 9% (azagba et al., 2020). pregnant women are more likely to quit smoking during pregnancy than any other time in their life, yet still over half do not quit (2020), and prenatal smoking is associated with adverse maternal, child, and family outcomes (chen et al., 2019; wakschlag et al., 2006). referrals are a critical, understudied component in accessing substance use treatment, which typically occurs through prenatal visits, as well as wrap-around social services, such as early head start (ehs). several factors may explain why pregnant women are not referred for smoking cessation, including a mother’s access to providers who can supply referrals as well as their comfort disclosing stigmatized behavior. although primary care often serves as a gatekeepers to cessation referrals, few adequately assess for smoking or properly refer to treatment (chang et al., 2013). there are also discrepancies in comfort disclosing, with african american and hispanic women displaying research to practice summary benefits of prenatal ehs enrollment on smoking cessation 51 higher nondisclosure rates when reporting smoking to their obstetricians (scherman et al., 2018). we also know that social support can enhance comfort disclosure rates by lowering stigma (birtel et al., 2017). social support can come in many forms, but specifically during pregnancy, we know that women who are living with or married to their partners are more likely to successfully quit smoking (riaz et al., 2018). unfortunately, it is unclear from the literature the racial and ethnic makeup of those who are provided referrals during pregnancy; however, we know women who smoke during pregnancy disproportionally come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and adverse social circumstances (maughan et al., 2004). research also suggests these women are more likely to be younger and have less education (azagba et al., 2020). ehs programs routinely come into contact with and build long-term relationships with women who are placed at risk for prenatal smoking due to the age, income-level, and experiences of stress (eclkc, 2018). ehs’s focus on forming strong relationships with family units leads us to expect that it would out-perform the regular medical system in terms of reducing disparities in accessing cessation services. program-type (home visiting, center-based, or blended models) may also allow ehs enrollees differential access to referrals or differential comfort disclosing. research into home visitor models indicates mothers with mental health concerns especially benefit from this type of programming, as their needs are addressed in parallel to other child and family needs. (early childhood learning & knowledge center, 2021). location is another factor that may relate to referral provision, especially given local differences in density of services, indicating that for areas with fewer cessation resources, there are also likely fewer referrals. smoking is more prevalent in rural communities, but there is also less access to cessation resources in these areas (horn et al., 2012). there may also be lower provision of referrals to minority populations, especially those which require linguistically appropriate treatment options. one study found spanish language substance use treatment required patients to travel three times the distance of english language services (guerrero et al., 2013). ehs is in a unique position to provide a two-generation intervention for mothers struggling with smoking cessation during pregnancy; however, this intervention is only successful if mothers are provided referrals for services. this begs the question: who is being missed and why might these programs not be meeting the needs of all the families they serve? the current study this study sought to understand characteristics of ehs mothers who reported smoking at some point during or before pregnancy and did not receive cessation referrals. participants in this sample displayed higher smoking rates than the general population (20%), and were largely white, young adults (see table 1 for participant characteristics). data was taken from the ehs family and child experiences study (babyfaces), and analyzed variables were selected from the literature above representing demographic, smoking behavior, and treatment access characteristics (see table 1). hierarchical logistic regressions were run to evaluate which predictors were associated with not receiving smoking cessation referrals. 52 shenberger & zinsser key findings three key findings were evident from these analyses. firstly, mothers of color are being referred in equivalent ways to white, non-hispanic women. secondly, mothers who reported smoking at some point during pregnancy were more likely to receive cessation referrals than those who reported a history of smoking. finally, we found that two characteristics of a families’ relationship with ehs significantly explained their likelihood of being referred for cessation services. if the mother had other children already enrolled in ehs, or if the mother had spent longer amounts of time in ehs, they were more likely to receive a referral. importantly, these family characteristics were more important than the mother’s smoking behavior (see shenberger & zinsser, 2022) implications for ehs programming results from this study first highlight who is being provided referrals. we found racial and ethnic equity among referral receipt, which is encouraging and consistent with ehs’s foundation in antiracist programming (eclkc, 2021a). compared to other facets of the healthcare system, this is a strength for ehs, especially considering racial differences in comfort disclosing stigmatized behavior to physicians during prenatal visits (scherman et al., 2018). findings also highlight that mothers who report a history of smoking during their ehs intake are not as likely to be referred for services as those who smoked during a pregnancy. this oversight is problematic because nearly 60% of women who quit smoking during a pregnancy relapse within 6 months of delivery (colman & joyce, 2003), placing themselves and their young children at risk for significant health complications. moreover, prior studies have shown that women who are medicaid recipients (e.g., many ehs families), have postpartum depression, or have increased stress are also at increased risk of relapse (colman & joyce, 2003; notley et al., 2015; solomon et al., 2007) making continued cessation support and relapse prevention an important family-level service. secondhand smoke (shs) continues to pose risk to the child even after pregnancy, and is similarly associated with adverse health concerns in early childhood (e.g., asthma, ear infections, sudden infant death syndrome (cdc, 2020)). this exposure, however, could come from any member of the household, and unfortunately, having more friends or family members who smoke is also a risk for postpartum relapse in mothers who quit during pregnancy (solomon et al., 2007). thus, having a history of smoking should not be overlooked during needs assessments, and automatically including this as grounds for referral would be a simple adjustment to cessation referral programming that could have a multi-generational benefit for ehs families. lastly, our results indicate that when a pregnancy is known to ehs, either because the mother was referred at some point early in pregnancy or because she has other children enrolled and is already receiving services, the smoking referral mechanism is most successful. and these referrals are occurring regardless of present or historical smoking behavior. this is likely because programs are best able to provide wrap-around services to families who are already fully integrated into their system and who have established positive, trusting relationships with ehs. benefits of prenatal ehs enrollment on smoking cessation 53 recruiting ehs families pre-pregnancy is difficult, but essential to early intervention efforts. one method of delivering ehs services earlier in pregnancy could be through referrals from obstetricians. a primary care study found that facilitating an initial connection to hs on behalf of families increased retention and attendance (silverstein et al., 2004), which helps establish relationships with ehs. other recommended referral sources may include local high schools, wic, health departments, or state-run referral programs, such as iris (integrated referral and intake system) in illinois (iris, n.d.). ultimately, smoking cessation during pregnancy remains a challenging health problem impacting both mother and child. the present study showed that ehs is in a favorable position to refer many women to access critical supports, and it does so without racial or ethnic bias. at the same time, over half of ehs families who reported a history of smoking or smoking during pregnancy did not receive a cessation referral, and most of these are new mothers or more recently enrolled in ehs. findings from this study shed light on opportunities to expand early intervention and prevent relapse, benefitting both mother and child. references azagba, s., manzione, l., shan, l., & king, j. (2020). trends in smoking during pregnancy by socioeconomic characteristics in the united states, 2010-2017. bmc pregnancy and childbirth, 20(1), 52. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-020-2748-y birtel, m. d., wood, l., & kempa, n. j. (2017). stigma and social support in substance abuse: implications for mental health and well-being. psychiatry research, 252, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.01.097 cdc. (2020). health effects of secondhand smoke. centers for disease control and prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/health_effects/index.htm chang, j. c., alexander, s. c., holland, c. l., arnold, r. m., landsittel, d., tulsky, j. a., & pollak, k. i. (2013). smoking is bad for babies: obstetric care providers’ use of best practice smoking cessation counseling techniques. american journal of health promotion, 27(3), 170–176. https://doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.110624qual-265 chen, h. l., cai, j. y., zha, m. l., & shen, w. q. (2019). prenatal smoking and postpartum depression: a metaanalysis. journal of psychosomatic obstetrics and gynecology, 40(2), 97–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/0167482x.2017.1415881 colman, g. j., & joyce, t. (2003). trends in smoking before, during, and after pregnancy in ten states. american journal of preventive medicine, 24(1), 29–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0749-3797(02)00574-3 early childhood learning & knowledge center. (2021). research on home visiting programs . u.s. department of health and human services. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/program-planning/home-visitor-supervisorshandbook/research-home-visiting-programs early childhood learning and knowledge center. (2018, july 12). early head start program options . u.s. department of health and human services. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/programs/article/early-head-startprogram-options early childhood learning and knowledge center. (2021). advancing racial and ethnic equity in head start. u.s. department of health and human services. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/culture-language/article/advancingracial-ethnic-equity-head-start guerrero, e. g., kao, d., & perron, b. e. (2013). travel distance to outpatient substance use disorder treatment facilities for spanish-speaking clients. international journal of drug policy, 24(1), 38–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2012.04.004 horn, k., brewer, a., desrosiers, a., doster, c., henes, a., janes, b. b., mangskau, k., mckone, p., michael, d., miller, e., meyers, j., nutting, j., west, p., & romelle, j. (2012). cutting tobacco’s rural roots: tobacco use in rural communities. in american lung association. kondrat, d. c., sullivan, w. p., wilkins, b., barrett, b. j., & beerbower, e. (2018). the mediating effect of social 54 shenberger & zinsser support on the relationship between the impact of experienced stigma and mental health. stigma and health, 3(4), 305–314. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000103 maughan, b., taylor, a., caspi, a., & moffitt, t. e. (2004). prenatal smoking and early childhood conduct problems: testing genetic and environmental explanations of the association. archives of general psychiatry, 61(8), 836–843. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.61.8.836 notley, c., blyth, a., craig, j., edwards, a., & holland, r. (2015). postpartum smoking relapse-a thematic synthesis of qualitative studies. addiction, 110(11), 1712–1723. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.13062 riaz, m., lewis, s., naughton, f., & ussher, m. (2018). predictors of smoking cessation during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. addiction, 113(4), 610–622. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14135 scherman, a., tolosa, j. e., & mcevoy, c. (2018). smoking cessation in pregnancy: a continuing challenge in the united states. in therapeutic advances in drug safety (vol. 9, issue 8, pp. 457–474). sage publications ltd. https://doi.org/10.1177/2042098618775366 shenberger, e. r., & zinsser, k. (2022). falling through the cracks of early intervention and prevention: missed smoking cessation referrals for mothers in early head start. head start dialogue. solomon, l. j., higgins, s. t., heil, s. h., badger, g. j., thomas, c. s., & bernstein, i. m. (2007). predictors of postpartum relapse to smoking. drug and alcohol dependence, 90(2–3), 224–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2007.03.012 tandon, m., si, x., belden, a., spitznagel, e., wakschlag, l., & luby, j. (2013). parenting practices in pregnancy smokers compared to non smokers. journal of clinical medicine research, 5(2), 84. https://doi.org/10.4021/jocmr1283w wakschlag, l. s., leventhal, b. l., pine, d. s., pickett, k. e., & carter, a. s. (2006). elucidating early mechanisms of developmental psychopathology: the case of prenatal smoking and disruptive behavior. child development, 77(4), 893–906. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00909.x dialog, 17(3), 84-89 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary classroom computers and social interaction among low-income preschool children heather c. janisse eastern michigan university navaz bhavnagri, xiaoming li and bonita stanton wayne state university sara johns eastern michigan university sheretta butler-barnes washington university in st. louis despite increases in computer availability in the classroom, very little data exists on computer availability and its use in head start classrooms. therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of availability of computers on urban preschoolers’ naturally occurring social interactions in head start classrooms across one school year. the sample consisted of 66, predominantly african american, lower income preschool children in four urban, head start classrooms. a design was employed in which three classrooms had computers, while one classroom served as the comparison group. naturally occurring social interactions were observed during free-play sessions over an 8month period. differences in social interactions across classrooms and school year were analyzed. results suggest that classroom computer availability may increase the interactive behavior of preschoolers. implications of study findings for use of computer centers in the preschool classroom are discussed. keywords: computers, social interaction, preschool children advancement of educational technology over the past two decades has resulted in government policy to increase computers in the classroom (mcmillan culp, honey, & mandinach, 2003). children now get an early start on becoming technologically literate (e.g., no child left behind act, 2001; naeyc, 2012) and computers are increasingly being integrated into young children’s classrooms. despite this increase, there is a substantial disparity in access to and functionality of technology between different socio economic statuses (ses) (judge, pucket, and bell, 2006). 84 janisse et al. regardless of ses, caucasian parents are more likely than african american or latino parents to have internet access (calvert, rideout, woodlard, barr, & strouse, 2005) and kindergarteners from minority families are less likely to attend schools that provide students with internet access (parsad & jones, 2005; rathbun, west, & hausken, 2003). even though there have been general increases in computer availability in the classroom, very little data exists on computer availability and its use in head start classrooms (bewick, 2000). according to bewick (2000), the majority of head start teachers in one state reported that they had computers available for use with children. however, 17% said they didn’t use them at all with the students and the majority (68%) had only one computer for a classroom of 16-20. furthermore, lack of incorporation of the computers into the curriculum, inadequate equipment, and some concern over the appropriateness of use with young children was noted. therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of availability of computers on urban preschoolers’ social interactions in the head start classroom across one school year. the following review examines the issues related to computers and social interactions that have arisen over the past few decades. we aim to provide a new direction and shift the old debate. are computers developmentally appropriate materials? the major debate in the 1990’s was whether computers were developmentally appropriate for young children (clements & nastasi, 1993; cordes & miller, 2000; haugland & wright, 1997; naeyc, 1996; shade & watson, 1990) and if so, could young children operate the computers (borgh & dickson, 1986; king & alloway, 1992). to resolve this debate, computer proponents have provided empirical evidence that computers, when used appropriately and interactively, have the potential to transform conventional material for children, making it easier to organize and access information (freeman & somerindyke, 2001) and can benefit children’s cognitive and social development (naeyc, 2012). however, some educators have cautioned that assumptions about children’s cognitive development cannot be made based on children’s proficiency in manipulating computer icons (e.g., elkind, 1996). furthermore, a limitation of this line of research is that most of the studies available involve small sample sizes, usually of only one or two preschool classrooms. do computers cause social isolation in children? the second issue in the 1980’s was a concern that computers in the classroom would cause children to be isolated from their peers and deprive them of socialization (baker, 1985; barnes & hill, 1983; lipinski, nida, shade, & watson, 1986). this notion of “social interaction deprivation” by computer has not been supported in the research literature. typically, children use computers in dyads or groups in classroom settings (e.g., clements, 1994; swigger & swigger, 1984). hence a plethora of social interactions are reported. for example, heft and swaminathan’s (2002) reported preschoolers observing and acknowledging each other; commenting, sharing and helping each other on the computer; as well as peer conflicts regarding turn-taking and sharing of the computers. however, no known studies have used a design in which they compare the social interactions of classrooms with and without computers. classroom computers and preschool interaction 85 how does computer activity compare to other activity? a third issue was to compare the social interactions when working on a computer to social interactions when playing with other objects. some researchers suggest that young children show increased pro-social behaviors when working together on a computer compared to other classroom activities such as toy-focused play (lipinski et al., 1986; mccormick, 1987; svensson, 2000). muller and perlmutter (1985) found that preschoolers spent significantly less time engaging in peer interactions while at puzzle play (7%) than they did while at computer play (63%). additionally, only 11% of the time was spent in solitary activity at the computer, while 55% of the time was spent in solitary activity with the puzzle. anderson (2000) found that 4-year-old’s cooperative play in the computer center paralleled the proportion of cooperative play in the block center. however, one limitation of this research is that most of these studies had predominantly middle class and european-american children, and not low-income, urban, and/or minority children where computer access disparities exist (calvert et al., 2005; nces, 2003). do computers displace important activities? a fourth issue is whether computer activity displaces other important developmental activities. hohmann (1994) argues that for preschoolers and kindergarteners, the addition of computers to the environment has positive social consequences and appears not to disrupt other classroom social interactions. lipinski et al. (1986) found that computer novelty initially interrupted freeplay activity patterns by drawing children away from traditional activities. however, most activities returned to baseline levels within two weeks. given the above issues and limitations of past research, our goal was to open up a new line of investigation; to examine the impact of availability of computers on the social interactions of urban, low-income preschool children during indoor free play in classrooms. based on the research reviewed above and other studies that have found positive effects of computers (e.g., rhee, & bhavnagri, 1991; li & atkins, 2004; li, atkins, & stanton, 2006; floyd, canter, jeffs, & judge, 2008; lonigan, allan & lerner, 2011; diamond & lee, 2011), we made the following conservative hypothesis: the availability of computers in the classrooms would not have a significant adverse impact on preschoolers’ social interactions during indoor free play. summary of research methods the study sample consisted of 66 preschool children enrolled in a head start program in a midwest urban city. children were recruited from four classrooms at three head start sites. the majority of children were african american and came from families with a low household income. classrooms were randomly assigned to either receive a new computer center in the classroom or to a control condition that received the standard head start curriculum and learning center options. the computers were pre-installed with age-appropriate educational software programs (e.g., millie's math house and bailey's book house) and were set up near one another with chairs for two children per computer. each child in a computer classroom had 15 minutes per day to play on the computer with their choice of available software. 86 janisse et al. live observations of social interactions were conducted in the head start classrooms during each classroom’s one hour free-play session. during free-play, the child could have been in the computer center or any other center in the classroom. therefore, observations occurred across varied contexts. observation sessions occurred twice a week, every other week for eight months, allowing for approximately 60 observations per child. all children’s social interactions were recorded by trained observers using a coding system developed by bhavnagri (1987). observations included a primary code of social interaction, which varied from isolated/nonsocial behaviors, observing others, parallel play and positive and negative interactions. the child’s verbal behavior, affect, and target of interaction were also recorded. analyses of social interactions during free play and developmental trajectories of social interactions during free play across the school year based on classroom computer availability were conducted. major findings overall, results showed that the presence of computers in the classroom did not have an adverse impact on preschoolers’ social interactions. children in classrooms with computers did not show lower amounts of interactive behavior across social, verbal or affect domains. on the contrary, the children in computer classrooms were more likely than children in classrooms without a computer to display socially interactive behaviors, to be verbal, and to display more affect. children in the computer classroom condition were also more likely to interact with peers and less likely to play alone. additionally, both computer and control classrooms displayed an increase in social interactions across the school year. this finding is fitting with developmental expectations for children of preschool age (rubin & krasnor, 1980; smith, 1978). there was some evidence that negative social, verbal, and affective interactions were more prevalent in the computer classroom. however, negative interactions were infrequent (≤ 4%) and this difference may be a consequence of increased social interactions. both positive interactions and negative ones are likely to increase across the school-year (ramsey, 1995) and friends are likely to engage in more cooperation and conflict than non-friends (hartup & brett, 1987; hartup, 1992). because children are interacting with one another more frequently, it increases the chances of positive and negative behaviors. we do not interpret this as an indication that computer presence is harmful in light of the other findings. together, the results from this study suggest that the availability of computers in urban preschool classrooms may have a positive influence on children’s social interactions. this conclusion is consistent with past studies that have found the interactions of children on the computer to be interactive and social in nature (e.g., bergin et al., 1993; muller & perlmutter, 1985). however, the results from this study are not limited to on-computer activities, suggesting that the computer center may have a more general impact on classroom behavior. implications for practice the primary implication of this study is that investing resources into a computer center in head start classroom can have a positive effect on social development. results suggest that the positive effect may be carried over to off-computer interactions between children. findings also add to the limited research that has been done on the effects of computers in head start classroom computers and preschool interaction 87 classrooms. thus it expands our knowledge of potential benefits of the computer center in early childhood education. computers may be a unique tool that fosters social learning. the presence of computers could alter children’s views of self and alter behavior. haugland (1992) found that the self-esteem of 4-year-old children in classrooms with computers was significantly higher than children without computers. perhaps children view computers as “adult machines” and when allowed to explore them, they feel important, capable, and competent (haugland, 1996). additionally, computers may offer an opportunity for children to engage in an activity that promotes child-child interactions. research shows that children prefer to work on computers with peers (e.g., swigger & swigger, 1984). perhaps social interactions on the computer promote the learning of pro-social behaviors, which carries over to other classroom activities. this hypothesis is consistent with vygotsky’s view on socially mediated learning (vygotsky, 1978). the naeyc and fred rogers centers highlight the importance of using technology and media appropriately in early childhood settings (2012). they emphasize that technology should be used for activities that are educationally sound and developmentally appropriate. they also highlight the importance of training and digital literacy for our early childhood educators. consistent with these recommendations, we believe that the practical implications reported here could be further enhanced with greater teacher/adult involvement in the child’s computer activity, greater integration of the computer into classroom curriculum, and computer training and assistance for teachers (bewick & kostelnik, 2004; bergen, 2000, 2002; naeyc, 2012; plowman & steven, 2005). it should also be noted that the american academy of pediatrics recommends discouraging screen exposure for children under age two and limiting the total amount of entertainment screen time for older children to one or two hours per day (aap, 2013). references american academy of pediatrics (2013). policy statement: children, adolescents, and the media. pediatrics, 132(5), 958-961. anderson, g. t. 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(1978). mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. running head: language stimulation techniques dialog, 18(1), 118-134 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 dialog from the field language stimulation techniques for three-year-old and four-yearold children: patterns of language development hope elisabeth wilson university of north florida jannah w. nerren and carol d. abel stephen f. austin state university one in 4 children in america ages 0-5 live in poverty (federal statistics, 2012); this group is far more likely to enter school as linguistically disadvantaged and the gap increases as they progress through school. this study investigates the effect of indirect language stimulation techniques on preschool children enrolled in head start programs in rural east texas. the results from this study indicate differing patterns of language development between 3and 4-year-old children, in response to their teacher’s use of indirect language stimulation techniques in normal day-to-day teaching. specifically, the intervention using speak techniques had a positive effect on the expressive english language vocabulary development of 4-year-old at-risk preschool children. key words: language stimulation, constructivism, head start, language development according to the national institute for literacy, the manner in which adults talk with children matters (cornerstones, 2009, p. 4). when caregivers set up environments that give reasons for children to talk; build upon the interests of children; extend or restate what children say; model quality language; and intentionally make time to talk with children; basic language skills are facilitated (cornerstones, 2009; pence & justice, 2008, p. 166). indirect language stimulation is a form of encouraging children to use language in informal day-to-day interactions with them— without sitting the group down for explicit direct more demanding formal instruction (krashen, 1982). these language stimulation techniques are well supported in the literature on developmentally appropriate practice for young children (bohannon & bonvillian, 1997; bredekamp, 2011; national reading panel 2000; pence & justice, 2008, p. 60; snow, burns & griffin, l998; snow, 1983), and can easily be remembered using the acronym speak. seek opportunities to engage in conversation with children. the first step in incorporating speak is to create an active learning environment that allows children to construct knowledge as they learn through play. as children move about the classroom, teachers sit alongside and language stimulation techniques 119 converse with them at an appropriate level, providing children with opportunities to hear and use descriptive language. personalize communication with children by talking about what they are doing or seeing. as teachers of ells move through the day with their students, it is important to be descriptive about children’s activities, and the materials they use. an example of this is a teacher sitting with a child as he constructs a block tower. the teacher simply says “you are building a tower!” when the child processes this information, the teacher might add “you are building a very tall tower!” engage children in conversation by asking open-ended questions. when ells begin to make attempts at using the english language, it is helpful to increase their use of language by asking questions that have no correct answer. this provides a risk-free environment in which children can practice newly acquired words. often, well-intentioned teachers squelch fledging attempts at language in an enthusiastic attempt to keep the child talking. rather than asking “what color is it?” “how many are there?” and other questions that might intimidate the child, ask open-ended questions where any answer is correct. an example of this might be “you made a tower! who lives there?” if the child chooses not to answer, the teacher, without pressuring the child might eventually comment something such as “such a big tower! a giant could live there.” assist children’s language by expanding what they say. when children attempt language, saying for instance “tower,” the teacher simply follows the child’s lead with “yes, it is a tower.” this expansion, where the teacher adds information to the words the child says, reinforces the child’s speech, while providing new words. this can also be used to help children hear the correct syntax and grammar of language. an example might be a child at the lunch table holding up his food and telling you “i eat sandwich.” the teacher can indirectly correct the grammatical error and add additional information by saying “you are eating a sandwich! it’s a peanut butter sandwich.” keep it simple; refrain from bombarding language learners with too much information at once. if you have had the experience of traveling to a country where you did not speak the language, perhaps you remember feeling overwhelmed by the seemingly constant chatter of the unfamiliar words. now imagine that experience with a patient teacher alongside you, describing in short conversational sentences all that you see and do. what a difference! used daily, speak techniques can become second nature to the teacher, and will go a long way in assisting the youngest learners with their language skills. a simple 2-day training provided for head start teachers on integrating speak techniques into regular classroom teaching, has shown to be helpful in developing the vocabulary of preschool students from backgrounds of poverty. if language skills are not developed early in life, the educational opportunity and outcomes for these socially and economically disadvantaged children will be predictably and systematically lowered (satz, 2012; stanton-chapman, chapman, kaiser, hancock, 2004; u.s. department of health and human services, 2003). background research has consistently shown both the need for early childhood language interventions and the effectiveness of such interventions on academic outcomes (rafferty & griffin, 2010; olsen & deboise, 2007; stanton-chapman et al., 2004; finn, 2010). this has lead to growing federal 120 wilson et al. and state support for the implementation of response to intervention (rti) from such notable organizations as the division of early childhood (dec), the national association of the education of young childhood (naeyc), and the head start association (greenwood et al., 2011). this model supports differentiating instruction based on demonstrated need before children arrive in kindergarten—focusing on prevention and early intervention, rather than labeling students with learning disabilities (bayat, mindes, & covitt, 2010). emphasis is placed on evidence-based practice that supports improved opportunity for learning among at-risk children (bruder, 2010; pcer, 2008). language development of children from poverty children who come from homes at or below the established governmental definition of poverty are at an increased risk of language delays, decreased exposure to environmental texts and home language use, and increased emotional and economic stress in the child’s life. in all likelihood, a combination of these factors contributes to the decreased language abilities and achievements in young children from backgrounds of poverty (espinosa & lopez, 2007; westby & hwafroelich, 2010). these language delays can have implications for young children that last well into their school-aged years (peterson, mayer, summers, & luze, 2010). research has shown that children who begin school with more risk factors and fewer language skills are often on a trajectory of school failure (satz, 2012; whitted, 2010). early language skills, including both receptive and expressive language, have been shown to predict future reading ability (goodman, libenson, & wade-whoolley, 2010; national early literacy panel, 2008). receptive language skills are those skills that allow children to understand verbal language and vocabulary. expressive language skills are those skills that allow children to speak and communicate orally. developmentally, these skills emerge at different rates and in predictable patterns according to age and language acquisition (hill & flynn, 2006). specifically, receptive language tends to develop before expressive language (snow, burns & griffin, 1998), and this pattern holds for children with language delays (american speechlanguage-hearing association, 2011), children learning a second language (hurly & tinajero, 2001; kohnert & pham, 2010), and children who are deaf or hard of hearing (mayne, 1998). constructivist-based language stimulation according to constructivist thought, the process in which children learn and acquire language depends heavily on their social milieu (vygotsky, 1933). social constructivism, an important concept in vygotsky’s work, emphasizes the role of interaction with others in a social context to support the learning of language, which in turn, supports further knowledge construction (jones, brader-araje, 2002). language is an important building block of understanding, and occurs in shared situations (bodrova & leong, 2007). to fully comprehend another’s meaning, an exchange of information through language must take place. essentially, language is a tool which allows children to sharpen other mental tools. the power of a constructivist setting is in the social exchange of teachers and caregivers “searching for understandings of concepts, then structuring opportunities for students to refine or revise these understandings through posing contradictions, presenting new information, asking questions, encouraging research, and/or language stimulation techniques 121 engaging students in inquiries designed to challenge certain concepts” (brooks & brooks, 2002). this social constructivist approach to learning was essential in the development of speak, as the strategies are designed to capture children engaged in and thinking about activities, and then furthering children’s language and thinking through social exchange. when teachers and caregivers of young children are able to provide developmentally appropriate language stimulation techniques that facilitate language acquisition, children are able to actively engage and make sense of their environment as they construct meaning (marlowe & page, 2012); this process of active personal engagement facilitates growth in language in the early stages of development (dickenson, 2001; national institute for literacy and national center for family literacy, 2008; owens, 2008; snow, burns, & griffin, l998). thus the development of language is viewed through a social constructivist framework in this study. language intervention techniques that rely on student-centered and environmental cues for language development have been shown to improve language skills, especially for young children (bouchard et al., 2010; conboy, 2010). specifically, these interventions have focused on matching adult language to the child’s current focus of attention and are grounded in social interactionist theories which recognize that language learning is facilitated through social interactions with mature language users (bohannon & bonvillian, 1997; bouchard et al., 2010; national institute of child health and human development, 2000). the results have been shown to have long-term effects on the academic success of young children. speak strategies differ somewhat from the developmentally appropriate language techniques used by most teacher/researchers such as hart & risley (1975); justice et al (2008); and piasta et al (2012) in that speak targets the lower levels of language and vocabulary development typical of children in head start programs and works to reduce the cognitive load as it stimulates and encourages vocabulary growth and language use and interaction. hart and risley (1995) concluded that quantity of language is the most important aspect of children’s language experience, and that the amount of talk going on is the most important aspect to evaluate when selecting optimal language experiences. the amount of words heard by the children in this work is emphasized and valued. while it is certainly beneficial for children to hear and engage in a high amount of positive language, the speak approach focuses more on targeted, precise language, rather than elaborate, lengthy dialogue that could overwhelm children with limited language ability. pages 3-4 in the good talking with you video program manual explains this difference: did you notice the number of questions and commands miguel’s mother, leslie, used in an attempt to get him to talk? 85% of her speech to miguel was composed of questions and commands. that’s too many for a young preschool child who is trying to learn language and especially too many for miguel, who is behind in his language development (good talk with you, 2007). while an “elaborative style” may work for children with more experiences in language (hoff, 2001, p.290), it is suspected that for very young children who may not be progressing well in their language development (or children for whom english is their second language) less may be more, which is the intent of this research on the at risk populations in head start programs. following krashen’s model (1982) emphasizing comprehensible input in a risk-free environment that keeps the affective filter comfortably low, the present study anticipated that the low ses students in the treatment preschool head start classrooms, including children who are nearly 122 wilson et al. learning english, would benefit from an intervention involving simple, personalized scaffolding using speak language techniques, building on each child’s individual responses and interests, to encourage each to learn and use english. the speak strategies are effective for children with lower levels of language because research has shown that children with lower levels of language often find themselves in classrooms dominated by teacher talk; thus missing out on opportunities to engage in meaningful dialogue that can stimulate language and thinking. flanders (1970) reported that teachers of lowachieving students spent about 80 percent of the classroom time talking at students, rather than with students. in classrooms with higher numbers of students from poverty, teachers talk more and students talk less (lingard, hayes, & mills, 2003), and english language learners in many classrooms are typically asked only very simple questions or no questions at all, limiting their opportunities to engage in talk (hoguan eng ho, 2005). in addition to the volume of teacher talk versus student talk, and teacher-student conversation in classrooms, researchers have identified the types of talk that are more and less helpful. good, well-meaning teachers incorporate questioning into their teaching, and while questioning is an important tool that teachers use, children, particularly children with limited language abilities, also need opportunities for meaningful, easy-to-follow dialogue if they are to learn. unfortunately, most questioning uses an initiate–respond–evaluate cycle (cazden, 1988) in which teachers initiate a question, a student is expected to respond, and then the teacher evaluates the answer. this is not effective with children with limited language abilities, as they are often unable or uncomfortable using the language necessary to generate the answer, this limiting the verbal exchange. the speak techniques utilize a slower rate of conversation, more specific and precise selection of vocabulary, and less questioning altogether. speak techniques would be over-simplistic for children with high levels of language development, as these children would require more questioning to promote critical thinking and expanded vocabulary. based upon the substantial research regarding the efficacy of language stimulation techniques, particularly among children with low-levels of language proficiency, this research study was conducted to investigate the effects of a low-cost, 2-day professional development program for head start teachers. specifically, the research questions were as follows: 1. after accounting for age, language background, gender, and ethnicity, what is the effect of professional development regarding indirect language stimulation techniques (speak) on the english expressive language of at-risk preschoolers in head start programs? 2. after accounting for age, language background, gender, and ethnicity, what is the effect of professional development regarding indirect language stimulation techniques (speak) on the english receptive language of at-risk preschoolers in head start programs? methods the study consisted of two phases. in the first phase of the study, the intervention included teachers who were responsible for the 4-year-old classrooms at a local head start facility in rural east texas. the following year, the study was extended to phase two, and focused on teachers and children in the 3-year-old classrooms at the same facility. the study was conceptualized as 2 language stimulation techniques 123 phases because of the differences between 4-year-old and 3-year-old language development, it was hypothesized that there may be varying effects by the age level of the children (i.e., phase of study). for both phases, teachers were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. the intervention teachers received 2 days of professional development addressing language stimulation techniques. teachers were trained using videos which modeled appropriate speak strategies; they later practiced them in the classroom with children to become more familiar with the new techniques. their understanding of speak techniques was demonstrated through pre/post surveys, pre/post testing, and later while teaching in the classroom during monthly observation visits from the trainer-researcher who checked fidelity using a research tested rubric ranging from 1 (no interaction with students to 5 (engaged in quality interaction with most students). the children in treatment and control classrooms were assessed on expressive and receptive language skills prior to the professional development using the ppvt-iv and the evt2. following 6 months after the intervention, children were again assessed using measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary. intervention the intervention consisted of 2 days of professional development for head start teachers in rural east texas. there were 4 teachers involved in the study, and they were not compensated for their participation. all of teachers in the study had at least 3 years of teaching experience in the preschool setting and none spoke spanish, although there was a spanish speaking paraprofessional in each classroom. once trained, the treatment teacher maintained fidelity to the treatment. observations in treatment classrooms revealed the intervention teachers averaged 3-4 (average to good) level of implementation of language stimulation techniques on the scale of 0 to 5 (5 indicating an excellent level of quality language support, 4 indicating good interaction with few missed opportunities, and 3 showing average engagement with children with some missed opportunities). this helped confirm that the intervention teachers understood and implemented the new language stimulation techniques. as this is not a validated measurement of the use of techniques, it was used as a confirmation of fidelity to the intervention, but it was not included in the final analyses. the program centered around five sequential video tapes from educational productions demonstrating how to stimulate language development in normally developing and languagedelayed children who are 3, 4, and 5 years of age. these language stimulation techniques are developmentally appropriate for all children in their use of strategies that relate directly to what the child is interested in and extends what the child says (owens, 2008; snow, 1983). these videos were supplemented with group discussions and interactions and modeling with preschool children at the training facility. the training focused on specific strategies for head start teachers which were generally easy to learn and implement in their everyday interactions with children. these interactions are designed to occur throughout the day, including instructional, child-led center-based, transitional, outside play, or feeding (snack, lunch, etc.) times. it is based on the acronym, “speak” which represents the following strategies: seek opportunities to engage in conversation with children. the training helped teachers identify areas throughout the regular school day to seek out opportunities to engage children in conversations around what they were seeing or doing. for example, if a child is building in the 124 wilson et al. block center, the teacher might seize the opportunity to comment on, verbally label the child’s actions or objects, and eventually ask questions. personalize communication with children by talking about what they are saying and doing. rather than creating artificial settings for language instruction, this strategy capitalizes on authentic conversation, in which the teacher engages the children in talking about what the child is seeing, doing, or interested in. engage children in conversation by asking open-ended questions. many questions that teachers ask tend to be limiting when it comes to language stimulation. questions with one correct answer are often daunting to a child with limited language skill. questions with yes or no answers do no provide opportunity for extended language practice. this training emphasizes the use of open-ended questioning at the appropriate level. assist children’s language by expanding on what they say. at the lower levels of expressive language use, children often use single-word sentences. as they progress in their language abilities, these utterances develop into multiple word sentences, but may lack conjunctions, adjectives, and adverbs. this training helps teachers increase children’s language by repeating their communications in an expanded version to help them hear and eventually use expanded language. keep it simple, by refraining from bombarding the children with too much or too complex language all at once (wasik, 2010). many well-intentioned adults assume that more language exposure is the solution to increasing children’s language capabilities. research even supports the notion of high frequencies of language exposure as beneficial (hart & risely, 1995). however, when the language is too complex, too rapid, or filled with too many questions, children with limited language capabilities are not able to respond and engage in conversation. this training assists adults in allowing children space in the conversation and in finding the appropriate level of vocabulary and sentence length to ensure language processing. using these techniques, teachers are able to scaffold language instruction specific to the child’s current skills and focus their interactions based upon the child’s interests. fidelity to this model was measured by monthly visits to each treatment teacher’s classroom, in which the research observed interactions between the teachers and children in activities inside the classroom, as well as in transitional and playground times. observations were recorded using a researcher-created rubric. interactions were coded based upon the level (or type) of interactions, as well as the quality and frequency of each teacher’s incorporation of indirect language techniques into everyday school activities. the fidelity visits were instrumental in providing support to the teachers. after the observation period, the researcher was available to answer questions and provide additional clarification and encouragement for the teachers in implementing the strategies. while the monthly visits were intended to observe and insure fidelity to the treatment, they had the unintended consequence of providing this forum for support. sample the sample of children for this study included the children in classrooms of the teachers who participated in the professional development (n=65) and the children in the other classrooms at the center whose teachers served as the control (n=63). the children involved in the study were all enrolled in the local head start facility in rural east texas, and thus are classified as lowlanguage stimulation techniques 125 income and at-risk for lowered educational achievement. the rural community had a diverse ethnic and linguistic population and diminishing economic opportunities. it is located over 140 miles from the nearest urban center. approximately equal numbers of children participated in phase 1 (n=65) and phase 2 (n=63) of the study (see table 1 for demographic statistics). approximately 30% of the treatment (n=17) and control (n=22) groups had a home language background of spanish, as identified on the information provided by the parents when the children were enrolled. this was determined by the primary language spoken in the home. the 39 children with home language backgrounds other than english, had a range of english language skills. however, all students who participated in the study had a minimum proficiency in english to provide a valid score on both the ppvt and evt assessments, as evidenced as the ability to complete the practice questions provided at the beginning of the assessments (dunn & dunn, 2007; williams, 2007). results of the ppvt and evt indicated that all children in the study, including those with spanish speaking backgrounds, began with extremely low receptive (m=80.11, sd=24.85) and expressive (m=79.22, sd=18.22) standardized language scores when compared to the national norming sample for both tests (dunn & dunn, 2007; williams, 2007). the remaining children came from english speaking homes (n=48, treatment; n=41, control). the children were primarily from minority ethnic backgrounds, including african american (n=32, treatment; n=33, control), hispanic (n=18, treatment; n=24, control), and other or multi-racial backgrounds (n=14, treatment; n=4, control), with only 1 participating child from the treatment group and 2 participating children from the control group with caucasian backgrounds. approximately equal numbers of male (n=39, treatment; n=33, control) and female (n=26, treatment; n=30, control) children participated. the mean age of the children at the end of phase one of the study did not significantly differ between the treatment (m=47.4) and the control (m=54.0) groups, nor did it differ in phase two (m=52.3, treatment; m=46.0, control). the age ranged from 43 to 67 months. a chi-square analysis was conducted, and there were no significant differences between the treatment and control groups for the demographic variables (see table 1). table 1 demographic information treatment control chi-square n percent n percent 2 p gender male 39 60.0 33 52.4 .755 .385 female 26 40.0 30 47.6 ethnicity white 1 1.5 2 3.2 n/a black/african american 32 49.2 33 52.4 hispanic 18 27.7 24 38.1 other/multiracial 14 21.5 4 6.3 language background english 48 73.8 41 65.1 1.161 .281 spanish 17 26.2 22 34.9 phase phase 1: 4-year-olds 31 47.7 34 54.0 .504 .478 phase 2: 3-year-olds 34 52.3 29 46.0 note. the chi-square analysis could not be conducted for the ethnicity variable as the expected cell counts are less than 5. 126 wilson et al. instrumentation pvt-iv. the peabody picture vocabulary test (4 th edition; ppvt-iv) is a measure of receptive language, in which children must identify pictures matching words of increasing difficulty. it is widely used for research and diagnostic purposes (dunn & dunn, 2007). among the scores of the norming sample, representative of national demographics, this instrument was shown to have strong internal reliability (α=0.96; dunn & dunn, 2007). taking less than 20 minutes to administer to children, this instrument was given to each participant prior to beginning the intervention in september and again in april for each year of the study. evt-2. the expressive vocabulary test (2 nd edition; evt-2) is a measure of expressive language in which children must formulate a word given a stimulus. it is also widely used for research and diagnostic purposes for preschoolers and english language learners (millett et al., 2008; williams, 2007). among the scores of the norming sample, representative of national demographics, this instrument was also shown to have strong internal reliability (α=0.96; williams, 2007). the administration of this instrument followed the same schedule as the ppvt-iv. results the 4-year-old children in phase 1 of the study began with extremely low receptive (m=80.11, sd=24.85) and expressive (m=79.22, sd=18.22) standardized language scores (see table 2 for variable means of raw scores) which is to be expected prior to beginning head start programs. these scores put the children in the 7 th to 14 th percentiles, when compared to the national norming sample for both tests (dunn & dunn, 2007; williams, 2007), and is indicative of the literature that has illustrated deficits in language abilities and opportunities for children from poverty (snow, burns, & griffin, 1998). table 2 variable means treatment control mean sd mean sd range t age in months 53.91 6.74 54.83 6.68 [43, 67] .773 pre-ppvt iv raw score 39.74 21.75 39.00 16.50 [0, 94] -.216 post-ppvt iv raw score 60.98 20.97 62.02 19.46 [16, 109] pre-evt 2 raw score 31.48 16.57 31.56 16.66 [0, 73] .027 post-evt 2 raw score 47.46 16.07 45.38 14.07 [0, 138] note. there were no statistically significant differences between groups in pre-scores or age. in both phases of the study, it was found that the teachers had high fidelity to the intervention. on each observation, teachers in the treatment groups ranked a 4 or 5 on the quality of interactions with the children in their classrooms. this indicates that these teachers were able to incorporate the speak strategies into the daily routines of their classrooms in order to enhance the language development of the at-risk students at the head start facilities. language stimulation techniques 127 the initial receptive language (ppvt-iv) and expressive language (evt-2) scores were compared across treatment and control groups (see table 2). there were no statistically significant differences for either measure (receptive, t(126)=-.216, p=.829; expressive, t(126)=.027, p=.979). additionally, there were no statistically significant differences in the children’s age in months at the end of the study (t(126)=-.773, p=.441) between treatment conditions. thus, it can be assumed that the groups did not vary significantly on any of the target variables prior to beginning the study. analysis of variance in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention for children involved in the study, an analysis of variance (anova) was conducted for both receptive and expressive vocabulary. to account for the children’s achievement prior to beginning the study, a growth scores was calculated for each measure by taking the difference in pre-intervention and post-intervention raw scores on the ppvt-iv and evt-2. thus, the growth scores represent the number of items that children could answer correctly at the end of the study that they could not answer correctly prior to the beginning of the study. raw scores, as opposed to standard scores, were used in the calculation of growth because the intervention occurred over a period of 6 months and standardized scores are less sensitive to change over shorter amounts of time. however, because raw scores are not standardized across ages, the age of the child was included as a covariate in the analyses. the anova used language growth scores as the dependent variable. treatment condition, phase (3or 4-year-old classroom), ethnicity, and home language background were included as categorical background variables. finally, the interactions between treatment condition and each of the background variables were included in each analysis. see tables 3 and 4 for the results of these analyses. table 3 analysis of covariance summary receptive language (ppvt-iv) growth source sum of squares df mean square f p ηp 2 corrected model 1887.92 14 134.85 1.40395 .167 .147 intercept .97 1 .97 .010 .920 <.001 treatment 8.36 1 8.36 .0986 .769 .001 age in months 271.14 1 271.14 2.804 .097 .024 phase 3.55 1 3.55 .0437 .848 <.001 gender 468.80 1 468.80 4.84* .030 .041 ethnicity 25.05 3 8.35 .0986 .967 .002 language background 23.64 1 23.64 .244 .622 .002 treatment * phase 138.87 1 138.87 1.43 .233 .013 treatment * gender 12.55 1 12.55 .130 .719 .001 treatment * ethnicity 198.56 3 66.1989 .684 .563 .018 treatment * language background 246.81 1 246.81 2.552 .113 .022 error 10927.32 113 96.70 total 75429.00 128 128 wilson et al. note. **p < 0.01, **p < 0.05 table 4 analysis of covariance summary expressive language (evt 2) growth source sum of squares df mean square f p ηp 2 corrected model 3212.24 14 229.45 4.22** <.001 .343 intercept 4.02 1 4.02 .074 .786 .001 treatment 51.70 1 51.70 .951 .331 .008 age in months 102.91 1 102.91 1.894 .172 .016 phase 885.69 1 885.69 16.30298 ** <.001 .126 gender 59.62 1 59.62 1.10097 .297 .010 ethnicity 288.52 3 96.17 1.770 .157 .045 language background 20.24 1 20.24 .0372 .543 .003 treatment * phase 549.98 1 549.98 10.120** .002 .082 treatment * gender .761 1 .761 .014 .906 <.001 treatment * ethnicity 94.22 3 31.41 .5878 .631 .015 treatment * language background 79.92 1 77.92 1.434 .234 .013 error 6140.97 113 54.35 total 37854.00 128 note. **p < 0.01, **p < 0.05 receptive language. there were not statistically significant differences between the growth in receptive language, as measured by the ppvt-iv, between children in classes with teachers who participated in the intervention and children in the control group (f[1,128]=0.086, p=.769, ηp 2 =.001). in addition, there were no significant differences detected by age of the child, phase of the study, ethnicity, language background, or any of the interaction terms (see table 3). the only significant difference in receptive language growth was between gender (f[1,128]=4.84, p=.030, ηp 2 =.041), with males demonstrating larger growth (estimated marginal mean=24.920, se=2.045) than females (estimated marginal mean=20.921, se=2.634). expressive language. the pattern of results for expressive language were quite different from receptive language. while there were no significant differences by treatment condition, age, gender, ethnicity, or language background (see table 4), there was a difference between phases of the study (f[1,128]=16.298, p<.001, ηp 2 =.126). children in the 3-year-old classrooms (estimated marginal mean=20.759, se=1.845) had more growth in expressive language than children in the 4-year-old classrooms (estimated marginal mean=11.198, se=1.991), after accounting for the other variables in the model, including age of the child. in addition, the interaction between treatment and phase was statistically significant (f[1,128]=10.120, p=.002, ηp 2 =.082). thus, the treatment had a differential effect on children in each phase of the study, with the difference between the treatment (estimated marginal mean=14.893, se=2.789) and control (estimated marginal mean=7.504, se=2.502) conditions in the 4-year-old classrooms showing greater gains than in 3-year-old classrooms (treatment, estimated marginal mean=20.018, se=2.688; control, estimated marginal mean=21.500, se=2.140). in other words, the treatment had a larger effect on the expressive language of language stimulation techniques 129 children in the 4-year-old classrooms than for children in the 3-year-old classrooms. and, this effect for the 4-year-old children was statistically significant. discussion the intervention had an effect on the expressive language development of children in the 4-yearold classrooms. although the intervention only consisted of 2 days of professional development, the benefits for the language development for educationally at-risk children in rural communities are promising based upon the results of this study. this provides preliminary support for costeffective professional development for head start teachers. effects of the intervention the greatest effects of the intervention occurred in measures of expressive, as opposed to receptive language. this is perhaps unsurprising given that the intervention focuses on constructivist-based language stimulation techniques centered around the child’s own utterances. the primary goal of the intervention is to increase the child’s spoken and oral communication (expressive vocabulary), rather than the passive increase of words comprehended (receptive vocabulary). although these two skills are highly correlated, receptive language typically develops first and is considered by many researchers to be a prerequisite skills for expressive language (millet et al., 2008). with the large delays in the development of receptive language, as well as the considerable growth of expressive language in treatment conditions for the children in the 3-year-old classrooms, there were no discernible effects of the intervention for the second phase of the study. future studies should expand the sample size and increase the frequency of support for teacher implementation to investigate if this intervention can be effective for younger children in head start facilities. as deficits in early language skills and backgrounds of poverty are both risk factors for low educational achievement (e.g., hart & risely, 2003; whitehurst, 1997), it is important to continue to investigate early language interventions. this study shows the effects of a small and simple intervention, providing training on language development techniques to head start teachers using a fairly balanced model (landry et al, 2010) of professional development. the cost of this training is minimal, taking only 2 days (10 hours) of time. as the researchers were interested in replication of the intervention and the feasibility of large-scale implementation, minimal follow-up training was implemented. thus, the increase in expressive language of the 4-year-old group of children in the intervention groups is important. this study shows that small interventions in head start programs can have an effect on the expressive language development of children. as early childhood programs are facing increasing budgetary limitations and cut backs (steinhauer, 2011), cost effective interventions that can improve the language capacity of children from backgrounds of poverty are imperative. patterns of home language although over 30% of the sample came from spanish-speaking homes, no differences were noted in their expressive or receptive language growth. this result is explained by the low levels 130 wilson et al. of language pre-test scores, indicating lowered english skills for children from diverse home language backgrounds. all children benefitted equally from the intervention. it is also possible that the small numbers (n=39) of spanish-speakers in the sample limited the power to detect differences. future research should examine this effect in more detail. it is also possible that had the interventions and the testing been conducted in the students’ native language, the effect of the intervention would have been greater for these students. unfortunately, given the rural context of the study, teachers to implement the intervention in spanish and testing materials available in spanish were limited. limitations both phases of this study were conducted in one head start facility in rural east texas. although this facility provides services for children from across the county, the generalizability of the study is limited. future research is needed to determine if the intervention would be as effective in urban and nonrural contexts. the study is also limited in its size. it is possible that sample size constricted the ability to detect differences among the groups, despite the effectiveness of the intervention. this is made more likely due to the large variations in scores among the groups, particularly in phase 2 of the study. other limitations include responsivity of treatment teachers to the strategies taught them (piasta et al, 2010); the question of sustainability over time; and variations in those conducting assessment of preschoolers and observing the teachers to determine fidelity to the treatment. as no observations were conducted in the control group classrooms, it is unknown to what extent these teachers were using the speak strategies. as all participants in the study taught at the same facility, some sharing of resources and strategies between treatment and control teachers may have occurred, although the participants in the intervention group were informed of the research model and asked to maintain the integrity of the research groups. finally, it was outside of the scope of this study to measure the development of nonenglish languages through the speak strategies. as one-third of the sample was spanishspeaking, future research should investigate the effects of these indirect language techniques on the development of both the native and non-native languages of the children. implications policy. as the intervention in this study is cost-effective and relatively easy to implement and has shown preliminary improvements to children’s language development, there are potential policy implications. in particular, this study demonstrates that interventions with teachers, such as professional development activities, do make a difference in the development of children, particularly those children most at-risk for educational and academic delays and in older (4-year-old) classrooms. the professional development focused on providing modeling of techniques and strategies, group discussion, and hands-on experience and practice with children. policy-makers should begin to investigate high-quality training, such as constructivist-based language stimulation, to improve the ongoing support for teacher development among head start teachers where the effects of poverty are known to be the strong (snow, burns, & giffin, 1998). even when facing decreasing budgets and increasing needs and diversity of students, costlanguage stimulation techniques 131 effective professional development can work to improve learning outcomes for children from poverty. practice. this study demonstrated the potential effectiveness of the use of constructivist-based techniques for language acquisition. head start teachers and early childhood practitioners working with children from poverty should be supported in their use of child-centered, developmentally appropriate, and scaffolding techniques to develop expressive language. when teachers can be sure to engage with the child and direct language towards the child’s interest, matching word choice to the child’s zone of proximal development (levykh, 2008), children’s language will develop at an accelerated pace. this is especially important for children from poverty who are already showing signs of language delays that may impact academic achievement in later years. this intervention can work to reduce these educational disparities that exist between children from more privileged environments and children from poverty. future research. this study has several directions for future research. first, studies can expand the scope to test the effectiveness of constructivist-based language stimulation techniques for other populations, including children in urban settings and over longer periods of time (landry et al, 2010). in addition, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of professional development on academic outcomes. this link between teacher supports and instruction to child achievement, particularly with populations of children from poverty and those at risk for academic delays, supports increased emphasis on this model for professional development. further research could build on this finding to expand to other types of hands-on and discussionbased trainings to develop other skills in teachers and target other delays in young children; training could also extended to parents and bilingual classroom teachers. initial surveying of teacher perceptions (baker et al, 2010) and increased mentoring and progress monitoring by the teachers should also be explored to strengthen outcome (landry et al., 2009). final thoughts this study has investigated the effectiveness of a 2-day professional development on constructivist-based language stimulation techniques. it showed that this cost-effective intervention had a significant effect on the 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(2007). expressive vocabulary test manual (2 nd ed.). minneapolis, mn: pearson. nhsa dialog, 24(1), copyright © 2021, issn: 1930-9325 evaluation of obesity prevention in a head start program m. elizabeth miller and stephanie nicely miami university an evaluation of the i am moving, i am learning strategies was conducted in one head start program. a mixed methods design was used, including caregiver and teacher surveys, and nutrition specialist classroom observations. 249 caregivers and 46 teachers participated. teachers identified their influence on preschoolers through role modeling of healthy eating and physical activity and were observed using the program mascot and music. however, they did not model physical activities and engaged in limited nutrition discussions during meal/snack times. teachers identified the need for more time to incorporate imil activities, additional resources for implementation, more caregiver engagement with imil, and takehome activities/music. most caregivers were not familiar with imil/5210 messages and did not incorporate health behaviors at home. future research could explore the impact of caregiver engagement in imil on child/family behavior change and strategies for enhancing teacher modeling of movement in the classroom. keywords: obesity prevention, early childhood education, program evaluation, head start, overweight introduction in 2018, 16.6% of children served by the head start program had obesity, making it a significant health concern (imoisili et al., 2020). the national prevalence of obesity among low-income children is disproportionately higher than children in a nationally representative sample nhanes (cdc,2020 ). early care and education programs have been called upon to address childhood obesity and facilitate prevention interventions, especially among at-risk populations (centers for disease control and prevention, 2021)). the office of head start (hs) has reinforced the need for the development and implementation of obesity prevention efforts beginning in a child’s formative, preschool years. as an early education program serving more than a million racially and ethnically diverse low-income families across the us each year, hs is an ideal setting for prevention programming (us department of health and human services, 2019). i am moving i research article 48 miller & nicely am learning (imil) was designed as one proactive approach to address childhood obesity in hs through direct education and policy, systems, and environmental (pse) changes (finkelstein et al., 2007). imil is a set of enhanced, active learning strategies embedded within the existing school readiness curriculum, designed to be an integrated approach to addressing childhood obesity among lowincome preschool age children (finkelstein et al., 2007). the main goals of imil are to increase the quantity of time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (mvpa) during a child’s daily routine (unstructured play), improve the quality of structured movement experiences intentionally facilitated by teachers and caregivers, and improve healthy food and beverage choices for children every day (finkelstein et al., 2007). the hs program has also integrated nutrition messaging from a program known as 5-2-1-0, that shares similar goals to imil. the name 5-2-1-0 refers to consuming five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables, limiting screen time to two hours per day, engaging in one or more hours of daily physical activity, and consuming zero sugary drinks (rogers & motyka, 2009). the incorporation of imil and 5-2-1-0 align with existing goals of hs programming to provide sufficient time, space, equipment, materials, and adult guidance to promote active play that supports the development of gross and fine motor skills (us department of health and human services, nd). imil supports initiatives like 5-2-1-0, and as such the hs programs often use the 5-2-1-0 messaging to educate families on both physical activity and nutrition as an extension of imil in the classroom. hs also requires that meals provide at least one-third of a child’s daily nutritional needs, that staff and children eat together family style, and that programs adhere to serving sizes and minimum standards for nutrient content and menu planning required by the u.s. department of agriculture’s national school lunch and school breakfast program (finkelstein et al., 2007). ensuring high-quality implementation of obesity prevention programs is important to highlight program improvements that will assure program effectiveness (moreell-samuels et al., 2018). other components of implementation that have been identified as critical are staff training and participant engagement (spoth et al., 2013). however, limited implementation evaluation of imil has been reported. hs in region 3 (west virginia, virginia) conducted an evaluation, but primarily focused on the perceptions of teachers and other program implementers within hs (fox et al., 2010). another study highlighted the successful implementation of imil through an academic-community partnership and teacher training, but the focus was on the role of partnership for successful implementation (zahnd et al.,2017) no other evaluations of imil implementation have been reported. the purpose of this research was to conduct an evaluation to examine the implementation of imil in one hs program. the framework for evaluation in public health from the centers for disease control and prevention was used to guide this evaluation research (cdc, 2017). figure 1 outlines the logic model that was designed in conjunction with a hs advisory committee and utilized for this imil evaluation project. the specific research questions guiding this study were a) to what extent are hs teachers utilizing materials, role-modeling physical activity, and providing nutrition messages? b) what are the barriers and facilitators identified by teachers during the program implementation of imil? and c) to what extent are imil and 5-2-1-0 implemented in the home environment? process evaluation: obesity prevention intervention 49 methods this cross-sectional study utilized teacher and caregiver surveys, as well as classroom observations, to conduct an evaluation post-implementation of the imil program. the timeline for post-implementation evaluation occurred 6 months following the initial training , and was predetermined in order to provide hs evaluation data within the academic year. the institutional review board at the authors institution approved the research study. participants participants included teachers and caregivers of preschool students across all 13 sites (25 classrooms) in one hs program in the midwest. two hs nutrition specialists were recruited to assist with the research study due to their familiarity with the teachers and their role in nutrition monitoring in the classrooms. teachers and caregivers were recruited via email and flyers sent home through children’s backpacks. the survey was sent along with recruitment materials. the informed consent was the cover page of the email and flyer sent to potential participants. researcher contact information was provided for teachers and caregivers in the event of questions or concerns regarding the survey. program implementation and training one hs program in the midwest adopted the imil program as an enhancement to their standard classroom curriculum. training was scheduled for november and the imil enhancements were incorporated into the spring curriculum (january-may). imil was intentionally incorporated during circle time, activity centers, mealtime, and in 5-2-1-0 messages communicated to caregivers through handouts in children’s backpacks. the existing curriculum in each classroom was updated with weekly imil activities to be utilized. hs faculty and staff were required to attend a one-day training organized by the hs program and delivered by imil trainers. training included strategies for intentionally incorporating physical activity into classroom learning; improving food choices in the classroom and at home; and developing action steps to implementing the program in the classroom to reduce childhood obesity rates and simultaneously meet hs standards. at the training, attendees also received necessary materials to implement the imil program. these included music and movement cds, weekly lesson plans, and ‘choosy dolls’. choosy is an influential superhero who promotes and defends healthy habits through songs like my heart says thank you, my teeth need brushed, the sugar monster, boss of my body, stir the soup, and let’s make a salad. choosy serves as a mascot of imil and helps reinforce healthy choices for children. the music contains lyrics which guide the children through different movements while providing health/nutrition education. classroom teachers were expected to lead the movements through visual cues (doing the movements) and encouraging the children to follow and sing along. for example, a popular song that is often incorporated during circle time is my heart says thank you. the song lyrics say, “when i (eat my veggies, run, jump, move) my heart says thanks you”. teachers could use the choosy doll to have 50 miller & nicely children move with or play the song via a youtube video as a visual cue. during mealtimes at school, teachers were expected to sit at the table and eat with the children, as well as talk about healthy food choices, using choosy as a role model. choosy could also be incorporated into large motor movements during unstructured play time (choosy rides on a big wheel, plays on the swings, goes down the slide). caregivers were encouraged to implement the nutrition and physical activity information at home through weekly 5-2-1-0 nutrition messages and choosy activities, such as coloring activities and examples of indoor physical activity. children were also able to take choosy home over a weekend as a reminder of healthy habits at home. posters were available to be posted in the classrooms and around the hallways of the school as visual reminders for caregivers, children, and teachers to make healthy choices. instruments following the train-the-trainer event, hs staff co-developed the evaluation measures (caregiver surveys, teacher surveys, and nutrition specialist classroom observations) with the project researchers through examination of evaluation questions utilized in previous process evaluation research. the survey instruments were pre-tested with the county hs advisory board, composed of current and former hs caregivers, teachers and staff and then revised based on their feedback. teacher survey the 20-item teacher survey consisted of open-ended, demographic and 4-point likert scale questions (outlined in table 2) focusing on implementation of the imil/ 5-2-1-0 programs in the classroom. survey questions focused on teacher perception of the imil program, barriers and facilitators to program implementation, perceived student behavior changes as a result of program implementation, and perceived personal behavior change as a result of utilizing the program in the classroom. all teachers completed the imil training prior to program implementation (as required by the hs program), and were subsequently invited to complete the survey. teacher surveys were sent out electronically to teachers’ hs email and on paper through hs internal office mail. participation in survey completion was voluntary and anonymous. teachers were incentivized with a $10 gift card for completion of the survey, as well as assisting with weekly written caregiver survey completion reminders, which were placed in all parent communication folders. caregiver survey the 10-item caregiver survey was designed to assess caregiver familiarity, receptiveness, and readability of imil health messaging, including the 5-2-1-0 healthy eating, active living message. question responses used a 4-point likert scale (table 2). surveys and consent forms (available in both english and spanish) were sent home with each enrolled child at the end of a pre-designated school day. caregivers in each classroom who returned the survey were entered in a drawing for a $10 gift card. process evaluation: obesity prevention intervention 51 52 miller & nicely nutrition specialist observation checklist structured observations were conducted using a nine-item checklist to evaluate the implementation practices of the imil program, observe teacher and student engagement in imil activities, examine classroom use of 5-2-1-0 (or other nutrition) messaging, and evaluate teacher interaction with students during meal/snack times related to nutrition and healthy eating discussions. the hs program’s two nutrition specialists were trained to use the checklist and mock observations in 3 classrooms were conducted to determine inter-rater reliability, which was 100%. teaching staff did not receive notification prior to classroom observations. nutrition specialists received a $25 gift card to assist with the development and completion of the checklist, as well as all classroom observations. data analysis descriptive statistics were utilized for highlighting survey data from caregivers and teachers using spss (ibm, 2017). open-ended questions were analyzed using a phenomenological approach. significant statements from the qualitative data were coded by two researchers trained in qualitative methods. themes were generated from the analysis of the significant statements (creswell & poth, 2016). results across the 13 preschool sites (25 classrooms) in the hs program, 249 caregivers and 46 teachers participated in the research study. table 1 provides caregiver and teacher descriptive statistics. the 249 caregiver respondents represented a 57% response rate, whereas 100% of the teachers completed the survey. teachers table 2 summarizes the teacher survey results. the majority of teachers either agreed or strongly agreed that they have an important influence on both the physical activity and food preferences of preschoolers and that they (teachers) are important role models for healthy eating and physical activity. the majority of teachers also reported that imil was important to them. forty-seven percent (47%) of teachers found some degree of challenge to incorporating imil into daily lesson plans, yet over 90% reported feeling comfortable implementing the activities. almost all (97%) teachers reported seeing an increase in preschoolers talking about and asking about choosy (the imil character mascot). importantly, 85% of teachers reported that they had seen some/a lot of educational improvement, such as improved behavior, increases in child interests in nutrition and active play, and improved attention span, as a result of implementation of the imil program. qualitative themes around the specific challenges included more time to incorporate the activities into the daily classroom routines; additional resources to implement the activities, such as including more choosy dolls and music cds; and support/ideas to expand the activities in the process evaluation: obesity prevention intervention 53 classroom with more intentional integration in daily lesson plans and specific take-home activities (and music) for caregivers to engage the children at home. teachers identified the need for more caregiver engagement with the imil activities, and suggestions for child engagement at all levels of ability (adaptations). strengths identified by teachers were the motivation and fun of the music along with the connection to the choosy mascot, which led to the children’s increased awareness of health, physical activity, and nutrition. themes of qualitative responses and sample quotes are provided in table 3. caregivers table 2 summarizes caregiver responses to the imil survey. two-thirds (66%) of caregivers reported that they were not at all familiar or only slightly familiar with both the imil and the 5-2count % count % 18-29 72 28.9 14 30.4 30-39 119 47.8 10 21.7 40-49 22 8.8 12 26.1 50-59 12 4.8 7 15.2 60+ 5 2.0 3 6.5 race white 177 71.1 41 89.1 african american/black 37 14.9 3 6.5 asian 11 4.4 1 2.2 american indian 3 1.2 0 0.0 ethnicity hispanic/latino/spanish origin 58 23.3 1 2.2 non-hispanic/latino/spanish origin 188 75.5 41 89.1 education level did not graduate high school 25 10.0 graduated high school 81 32.5 some college 56 22.5 college degree 74 29.7 teaching experience (years) 2 years or less 5 10.9 3-5 years 18 39.1 6-10 years 5 10.9 more than 10 years 18 39.1 caregivers teachers head start caregivers and teachers demographic characteristics table 1 age note. 1 teacher did not indicate race, 4 did not indicate ethnicity 54 miller & nicely 1-0 programs provided by hs. additionally, 58% reported not incorporating any of the 5-2-1-0 behaviors at home, although a majority of caregivers indicated that they read (94%) and highly valued (52.6%) the nutrition and health information provided by hs. interestingly, only 44.5% of caregivers stated that they found this information to be very important. nearly 80% of caregivers also reported that the information provided by hs was easy to understand. qualitative responses provided by caregivers included wanting more information on how to deal with picky eaters, portion control guidelines for children, healthy/easy recipes (such as macaroni and cheese, smoothies, and recipes hiding vegetables in food), suggestions for getting children to try new foods, label reading at the grocery store, dental care, and a report on the child’s overall day. table 2 head start teacher* and caregiver** survey responses teacher survey strongly disagree disagree agree strongly agree % (f) % (f) % (f) % (f) i can influence food preferences of preschoolers 0 (0) 6.5 (3) 60.9 (28) 32.6 (15) i can influence child physical activity 0 (0) 0 (0) 39.1 (18) 60.9 (28) i have seen an increase in preschoolers asking for choosy since program implementation 0 (0) 2.2 (1) 45.7 (21) 52.2 (24) not important slightly important moderately important very important % (f) % (f) % (f) % (f) teacher perception of the importance of their role in nutrition education 0 (0) 2.2 (1) 26.1 (12) 71.7 (33) importance of role in guiding physical activity with preschoolers 0 (0) 0 (0) 19.6 (9) 80.4 (37) importance of imil to teacher 0 (0) 2.2 (1) 41.3 (19) 56.5 (26) importance of 1-1 coaching to help with imil implementation 32.6 (15) 41.3 (19) 19.6 (9) 6.5 (3) not comfortable slightly comfortable moderately comfortable very comfortable % (f) % (f) % (f) % (f) teacher comfort implementing physical activity and nutrition 0 (0) 8.7 (4) 30.4 (14) 60.9 (28) not challenging slightly challenging moderately challenging very challenging % (f) % (f) % (f) % (f) degree of challenge incorporating imil into classroom 50 (23) 30.4 (14) 13 (6) 4.3 (2) process evaluation: obesity prevention intervention 55 no improvement very little improvement some improvement a lot of improvement % (f) % (f) % (f) % (f) improvement in educating success resulting from imil 0 (0) 13 (6) 71.7 (33) 13 (6) caregiver survey caregiver familiarity with imil and 5210 healthy behavior messages not at all slightly somewhat extremely % (f) % (f) % (f) % (f) imil 40.6 (101) 23.3 (58) 24.5 (61) 9.6 (24) 5210 54.6 (136) 12 (30) 20.1 (50) 11.6 (29) never rarely sometimes always % (f) % (f) % (f) % (f) family incorporates 5210 behaviors at home 53 (132) 5.2 (13) 28.5 (71) 13.3 (33) child talks about imil at home 49.8 (124) 14.9 (37) 22.1 (55) 10 (25) how often do kids talk about choosy at home? 28.1 (70) 18.9 (47) 36.5 (91) 15.7 (39) caregiver uses nutrition info provided by head start 7.6 (19) 16.5 (41) 53.8 (134) 20.9 (52) not important/ not value % (f) low importance/ value a little % (f) moderately important/ somewhat valued % (f) very important/ value a lot % (f) importance of head start nutrition /health info to family 8.4 (21) 8.8 (22) 36.5 (91) 44.6 (111) value of head start nutrition/health info to family 2.8 (7) 11.6 (29) 30.5 (76) 52.6 (131) very difficult to understand somewhat difficult to understand slightly difficult to understand easy to understand % (f) % (f) % (f) % (f) understanding of nutrition education materials supplied by head start 3.6 (9) 2.8 (7) 10.4 (26) 79.5 (198) no % (f) yes % (f) caregivers read nutrition education materials sent home by head start 4.4 (11) 94 (234) note. * n = 46, ** n = 249. % indicates percentage of responses. f indicates frequency of responses. imil = i am moving i am learning. 56 miller & nicely nutrition specialist classroom observations two hs nutrition specialists conducted structured observations in 25 hs classrooms. they noted that the majority of the classrooms observed were actively using the imil mascot, choosy, and the musical cds. they reported that many of the teachers were using videos associated with the imil program (found on youtube), but were not modeling the physical activities for the children, instead using this as a time for class preparation or socialization. they relied on the video to guide the movement. nutrition specialists reported that teachers engaged in limited discussions on food and nutrition during meal/snack times. with the exception of one learning center, the imil and 5questions theme sample quotes time represent the time needed to review and incorporate activities into daily classroom routines “having time to fit it (imil) in with everything else we have to do” resources/support represents supplies and materials needed to effectively implement the imil program  “i wish there were more songs and videos to implement into the classroom” caregiver engagement “wish we had the ability to teach caregivers the songs and copy the cds" student challenges represents the challenges teachers face with student engagement/behaviors during and after program implementation “i have some trouble with physical activities just getting the kids to follow directions” program materials represents handouts, videos, posters, dolls, songs that reinforce program concepts “more choosy songs and activities for the students” purposeful integration represents a strategic plan for integrating imil into the current head start curriculum “more planned choosy activities” caregiver support represents resources/strategies to engage caregivers in the imil program and ensure continually from school to home “not enough take-home activities so that the students get exposure at home and get their caregivers/caregivers involved” music motivation represents the songs/music  “the music encourages movement” health awareness represents students increased awareness of health, nutrition, and physical activity “enjoyable way for kids to be aware of their health” program mascot represents choosy, the imil character/program mascot “kids love to sing and learn from choosy” qualitative quotes and themes from head start teachers table 3 what are the strengths of imil? what specific challenges do you have implementing imil? what resources or supports do you need to implement imil? process evaluation: obesity prevention intervention 57 2-1-0 posters and visual displays were not present or visible on the date(s) of the observations. table 4 summarizes the nutrition specialists’ observations. discussion the results of this mixed methods study suggest that hs teachers acknowledge that physical activity and nutrition education are important to the preschool population and are cognizant of their role in increasing child physical activity and healthy food choices through the preschool program. the majority of teachers recognized the importance of imil programming in their classroom, however, many of the teachers found it challenging to incorporate imil into daily lesson plans and had difficulty aligning the imil program with current curricular guidelines, no yes not observed  % (f)  % (f)  % (f) 88 (22)  12(3) 72 (18) 28 (7) 36 (9) 64 (16) 16 (4)  84 (21) 4 (1) 32 (8) 64 (16) 40 (10) 48 (12) 12 (3) 20 (5) 76 (19) 4 (1) 24 (6)  44 (11) 32 (8) 32 (8) 64 (16) 4 (1) 44 (11)  56 (14) 0 (0) not at all % (f) a little % (f) a lot % (f) not observed % (f) teacher appears knowledgeable about imil 24 (6) 28 (7)  28 (7)  20 (5) teacher appears knowledgeable about 5210 64 (16) 8 (2) 8 (2) 20 (5) note. n = 25 teacher displays positive attitude toward nutrition/ food/ healthy eating teacher displays positive attitude towards physical activity children happy/ enthusiastic during physical activities children happy/ enthusiastic in the nutrition activities head start nutrion specialist classroom observations of imil table 4 choosey program posters easily visible 5210 posters displayed  choosy incorporated into classroom choosy doll and/or cd used in classroom  teachers are engaged in imil activity teachers discussed healthy food choices with children at mealtime 58 miller & nicely outside of the activities that were embedded into the curriculum once per week. teachers felt they needed dedicated time to better identify strategies for integrating the program into the classroom curriculum, as well as identifying the need for additional/ supplemental supplies and resources and focused coaching for effective and ongoing implementation. these findings are consistent with other research on the implementation of the imil program within hs, citing insufficient training and time as two major barriers to sustainable implementation (fox et al., 2010). one recent study utilized annual teacher/teacher aide professional development training for imil implementation following a local policy change requiring imil in daily lesson plans (zahnd et al., 2017). a previous evaluation report indicated that teachers desire more materials and resources, additional and more detailed instructions about how to implement imil activities, and guidance on how to assess and monitor children’s movement skills (fox et al., 2010). the current evaluation also highlighted teachers' concerns of not having enough time to implement imil activities throughout the program day. additionally, the choosy mascot was seen as an integral component of program implementation among children served by the program. previous research has highlighted the use of mascots and cartoon media characters as an effective strategy for increasing a child’s appetite, preference for, choice and intake of healthy foods, in comparison to no character branding (kraak & story, 2015). the utilization of the imil mascot was noted by both caregivers and teachers to be effective in engaging children in physical activity and healthy eating discussions. classroom observations in this study highlighted the fact that many teachers were not modeling the physical activities or participating in the meal with the children, instead using this as a time for class preparation. this highlights a need to explore barriers or facilitators to demonstrating movement and healthy eating as part of the implementation of imil. previous research has shown that school staff serve as healthy role models and students are more likely to practice those healthy behaviors if they see teachers/staff engaging in those as well (action for healthy kids, 2015). gehris, gooze, and whitaker (2015) found that teachers and children benefit from moving together because it motivates children and promotes teacher–child relationships, as well as other important benefits. staff wellness programs offered through hs may provide an opportunity for teachers to learn movement skills and increase competence and confidence in demonstrating movements in the classroom, which may translate to positive role-modeling and subsequent improvements in student health (hibbs-ship et al., 2015). hs caregivers in this study placed high value and importance on nutrition and health information disseminated by the hs program. the majority acknowledged that they viewed the nutrition education materials disseminated by hs, yet most caregivers were unfamiliar with the imil and 5-2-1-0 programs. nearly half of caregivers did not translate the 5-2-1-0 health information and messages into health behaviors at home. recent research has identified similar findings around caregivers' lack of understanding of 5-2-1-0 health messaging used in preschool programs and the need for practical strategies for initiating behavior change at home (nicely, et al, 2019). additionally, classroom observations revealed that the 5-2-1-0 posters and imil choosy posters were not displayed in most of the classrooms. despite caregivers reporting that the nutrition education materials were easy to understand, caregiver knowledge and awareness of 5-2-1-0 healthy eating, active living messaging and the imil program was limited, likely due to the lack of clear signage seen in the classroom connecting the activities and behaviors from school to home. signage that is clear on the purpose and is familiar, has been shown to be effective in creating behavior change (meis & kashima, 2017). process evaluation: obesity prevention intervention 59 one published report examining the effectiveness of imil implementation identified a high level of caregiver awareness with imil (fox et al., 2010). the difference between that region’s implementation and the hs program utilized in this study was the targeted caregiver focus of the program. the hs program evaluated for this study relied predominantly on written information disseminated to caregivers in weekly home folders or through enrolled children’s backpacks as the primary means of caregiver engagement in the imil program. caregiver familiarity with the program elements would be a precursor to program replication in the home environment. additionally, teachers in this study identified that higher levels of caregiver engagement would improve program implementation. teachers acknowledged that imil activities replicated at home would improve overall program effectiveness and outcomes. teachers recommended caregivers receive copies of musical cds and a list of physical activities to use at home. a caregiver workshop on the use of the materials in encouraging physical activity and healthy food choices at home would also be an important component for caregiver engagement, rather than providing materials alone. previous research has shown that caregiver engagement and personalized resources can assist in translating knowledge and skills into home settings which can improve outcomes related to obesity prevention in children (fitzgibbon et al., 2012; pathirana et al., 2018) and is an important program enhancement for imil implementation (hoard, 2007). limitations a strength of this evaluation was the triangulation of data, in which the caregivers and teachers were surveyed in conjunction with structured observations conducted by the program nutrition specialists, examining the use and implementation of imil within each classroom. a limitation of this study was that the evaluation examined only one program in the midwest. as such, the results may not be representative of other programs who have implemented the imil program. however, scant research has been published around the implementation of imil in hs. additionally, while the caregiver response rate to the survey was high, no data was collected from caregivers who did not respond, so it is uncertain if they would have provided different answers or perspectives. implications this study highlights the importance of evaluation for obesity prevention programming for preschoolers. however, there is a dearth of research around obesity prevention efforts in preschool children, particularly low-income children where higher rates of obesity are seen. our findings accentuate the need for additional, targeted preschool strategies and resources that promote teacher modeling of physical activity and discussion of healthy eating and nutrition during mealtime. it also highlights the need for purposeful engagement of caregivers utilizing visuals and movement resources to translate imil and 5-2-1-0 physical activity and nutrition messages at home for caregivers. moreover, the choosy mascot appeared to be an effective and integral component of the imil program to engage children in physical activity and healthy eating discussion. in light of our findings, more research is needed to better understand the barriers teachers face in demonstrating movement activities with children. a qualitative study may be recommended in order to generate rich, descriptive data around this topic. additionally, health education and 60 miller & nicely promotion policies and strategies, such as a wellness program for hs teachers and staff, may enhance competence of teachers in engaging in physical activity, which then may translate to teacher comfort and confidence in role-modeling imil activities in the classroom. findings also indicated that caregivers are highly interested in receiving nutrition information from hs, yet were unfamiliar with the imil program and 5-2-1-0 messaging. the hs program implementation evaluated for this study utilized weekly written educational material as the main form of caregiver engagement. this form of information dissemination did not result in high levels of caregiver familiarity with the program, and as such, a broader examination is needed to explore the types of messages and information dissemination strategies that best resonate with caregivers. this study highlights that future research needs to focus on targeted caregiver/family programming to increase mvpa and healthy food offerings and selections outside the structured school setting. caregiver engagement in programming has the potential to be a significant factor in eliciting longterm child and family behavior change to prevent and reduce obesity, and should be the focus of future imil program implementation and evaluation along with further 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(2020). prevalence of overweight and obesity among children enrolled in head start, 2012-2018. american journal of health promotion, 35(3), 334–343. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117120958546 http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/component/content/article/39-step-3-challenges/1514-staff-as-healthy-role-models http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/component/content/article/39-step-3-challenges/1514-staff-as-healthy-role-models https://www.cdc.gov/eval/framework/index.htm https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/stage1_survey.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/media/8589 https://doi.org/10.1080/19325037.2015.1077488 https://www.researchconnections.org/files/meetings/ccprc/2007/26/26dheadstartobesityprevention.pdf https://www.researchconnections.org/files/meetings/ccprc/2007/26/26dheadstartobesityprevention.pdf https://www.researchconnections.org/files/meetings/ccprc/2007/26/26dheadstartobesityprevention.pdf process evaluation: obesity prevention intervention 61 kraak, v. i., & story, m. (2015). influence of food companies' brand mascots and entertainment companies' cartoon media characters on children's diet and health: a systematic review and research needs. obesity reviews : an official journal of the international association for the study of obesity, 16(2), 107–126. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12237 meis, j. & kashima, y. (2017). signage as a tool for behavioral change: direct and indirect routes to understanding the meaning of a sign. plos one 12(8): e0182975. https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0182975 morrell-samuels, s., rupp, l.a., eisman, a. b., miller, a. l., stoddard, s. a., franzen, s. p., hutchinson, p., & zimmerman, m.a. (2018). measuring the implementation of youth empowerment solutions. health promotion practice. 19(4), 581-589. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839917736511 nicely, s., miller, m. e., del-tesso cravioto, m. 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(2005). developing a process-evaluation plan for assessing health promotion program implementation: a how-to guide. health promotion practice, 6(2), 134-47. spoth, r., rohrbach l. a., greenberg, m., leaf, p., brown, h., fagan, a., catalano, r. f., pentz, m. a., sloboda, z., & hawkins j. d. (2013). addressing core challenges for the next generation of type 2 translational research and systems: the translation science to population impact (tsci impact) framework. prevention science. 14, 319-351. united states department of health and human services. administration for children and families: office of head start. head start program performance standards. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/ sites/default/files/pdf/hsppsappendix. pdf. accessed july 2, 2019. united states department of health and human services: head start/early childhood knowledge and learning center. (2019). head start program facts: fiscal year 2018. retrieved december 15, 2020 from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/about-us/article/head-start-program-facts-fiscal-year-2018 zahnd, w. e., smith, t., ryherd, s. j., cleer, m., rogers, v., & steward, d. e. (2017). implementing a nutrition and physical activity curriculum in head start through an academic-community partnership. journal of school health, 87(6), 465-47. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12515 https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.17 https://doi.org/10.1002/hpja.17 https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/about-us/article/head-start-program-facts-fiscal-year-2018 https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/about-us/article/head-start-program-facts-fiscal-year-2018 https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/about-us/article/head-start-program-facts-fiscal-year-2018 dialog, 19(3), 89-93 copyright © 2017, issn: 1930-9325 research reported in this publication was supported by the u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families under grant number 90ye0157. the content is solely the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily represent the official views of the u.s. department of health and human services. research-to-practice summary four classrooms model how teachers use spanish in head start elizabeth b. miller new york university national head start policy mandates incorporating dual language learner (dll) children’s home language in classroom instruction. it is less clear, however, how this is actually implemented in early childhood classrooms. in four local head start centers in a predominantly spanish-speaking dll county, classroom observations helped shed light on when the home language of spanish was used and how it may have contributed to dll children’s school readiness skills. the observations revealed that spanish was used to promote certain academic as well as planning and recall skills; to provide emotional caregiving; and to communicate with parents as well as during daily health routines. thus, in line with head start’s “whole child” model, spanish was used for academic, socio-emotional, and health development as well as to strengthen the home-school partnership. keywords: dlls, head start, spanish instruction the population of dual language learner (dll) children in the u.s. – young children who are learning more than one language simultaneously, their home language and english (espinosa, 2013) – is growing rapidly. among younger children in head start and early head start, dlls now represent over a third of all participants, the vast majority of who come from spanishspeaking homes (u.s. dhhs, 2014). in order to accommodate these children, national head start mandates pertaining to dll children stipulate that programs must: 1) support children in the acquisition of their home language and english; 2) provide comprehensive head start services to families in culturally appropriate and respectful ways; and 3) improve outreach and increase enrollment and quality of services to dll children and their families (u.s. dhhs, 2008). despite these lofty and commendable goals, a number of practical challenges arise for ece educators who work with dlls, especially with regard to teaching and practice (u.s. dhhs, 2008; zepeda, castro, & cronin, 2011). chief among these concerns is how to best promote dll children’s language acquisition in their home language and english. importantly, 90 miller little research to date has been able to determine exactly how teachers and staff use children’s home language in the classroom. present study the purpose of the present study was thus to explore how spanish was supported day-to-day in head start classrooms. in particular, from observations in four purposely-sampled head start classrooms, i explored how spanish was used in these head start settings, focusing on the ways spanish may have contributed to dll children’s school readiness skills around physical, cognitive, socio-emotional development necessary for children’s success in school (u.s. dhhs, head start approach to school readiness, 2011). the local head start umbrella agency in this study was located in a large, urban county in the southwestern u.s., and the vast majority of participating children were latino. the executive director and the educational director of the local head start agency recommended observing four specific sites throughout the county in order to observe a range of possible spanish language classroom interactions between teachers and children. the specific recommended sites each had a substantial population of enrolled spanish-speaking dll children, with their families speaking english to varying degrees. a total of 4-5 days (16-20 hours) was spent observing each classroom for a total of seventeen days observing across the four classrooms and seventy hours of detailed field notes. the observations focused on when and how teachers used spanish for whole class instruction, small group and one-on-one instruction, emotional caregiving, play, classroom directions, and interactions with parents, as well as how children responded to such use. key findings from the observed daily use of spanish coupled with discussions with the teachers and center directors, one clear, overarching theme emerged: spanish was used to promote english language skills throughout the school readiness domains central to head start’s “whole child” model – cognitive development, socio-emotional development, health, and family functioning. embedded throughout each of the school readiness domains, which are central to the “whole child” model, was this focus on incorporating spanish to help promote english language skills. i detail below how spanish was used in each domain. cognitive development 1) academic language and literacy activities. all of the large group language and literacy activities like story time and songs as part of formal instruction were exclusively in english with then direct translation into spanish. such explicit translation provided spanishspeaking dll children with more opportunities to make connections to the learning material by helping them to overcome limits with english vocabulary. it also helped increase dll children’s overall conceptual understanding of the material independent of the language in which in occurred. spanish in head start 91 2) other academic skills. during instruction in other academic domains, however, i observed teachers and children using english almost exclusively with little spanish. this was particularly the case whenever i observed instruction related to letter names and sounds. during instruction in these other academic domains, teachers asked questions and prompted the children in english, and the children responded in english. 3) executive function skills. an important component of the curriculum at the local head start umbrella agency was the executive function skills of planning and recall, particularly during center time. i observed that teachers often asked children in one language where they planned to work during center time and then translated into the other. most children answered in english, but a few children who felt more comfortable using spanish answered in spanish or in a mixture of both languages. similarly, when center time was over, teachers conducted recall activities in both languages. daily routines the focus on the english language skills was not just limited to academic activities, as spanish was also used regularly throughout the daily routine to help the class transition. spanish was also used daily in all the classrooms to help support the home language during the morning routine on the carpet. during this time the teacher sang a good morning song in both english and spanish and provided an overview of the day in both languages, including reviewing the calendar. socio-emotional development the language interactions emphasizing socio-emotional skills, such as when teachers provided children with emotional caregiving, were often more casual in nature as they were not part of formal classroom activities. i observed teachers first used spanish and then loosely translated into or continued speaking in english. thus, there were fewer direct translations from one language to another and more a conveyance of general meaning. further, these interactions modeled for the children how to switch back and forth between languages while helping to build english vocabulary. health routines 1) mealtimes. mealtimes of breakfast and lunch were an essential part of the children’s day. given the many different types of food that the children encountered and head start’s specific curricular focus on healthy foods, several of the language interactions that occurred during mealtimes had to do with the food itself and directly translating key vocabulary from one language to another. yet, other times during the meals, the language interactions consisted more of casual small talk, and were similar in scope to when teachers provided emotional caregiving to children. in these cases the teacher said something in spanish and then loosely translated into or continued speaking in english to convey general meaning. 92 miller 2) teeth brushing. each child had their own toothbrush at the center that they used daily to brush their teeth after breakfast. during this time in the classrooms, i observed that the teachers often used spanish when they began the activity with the class to help explain the routine. once the introduction to the brushing routine was over, because teachers assisted children with teeth brushing one-on-one instead of in a group, i observed the teachers go back and forth between languages depending on the child they were assisting. teeth brushing was therefore one of the rare activities in the classroom that teachers could specifically tailor their language choice with a child at the individual level. they spoke in english to children who were able to understand, and they spoke in spanish to children who lacked proficiency with english and then directly translated for them. family functioning the centers i observed made a special effort to engage parents. in each classroom, all communications and reminders to parents as well as classroom bulletin boards were in both english and spanish, and teachers reported on children’s progress to parents in both languages. the bilingualism promoted by these local head start centers helped foster a close parentcaregiver connection regarding the child, particularly because many of the parents did not speak english proficiently. because the majority of the parents served by the local head start umbrella agency spoke only cursory english, they relied on the spanish translations from the teachers for the bulk of their understanding. these translations not only helped teachers and parents communicate effectively, but they also simultaneously helped the parents learn key english vocabulary words. summary and recommendations this study revealed that spanish was used in classrooms to promote english language skills in accordance with head start’s “whole child” model in the school readiness domains of cognitive, socio-emotional and health development, as well as family functioning. the constant incorporation of spanish in each classroom across developmental domains seemed to help solidify dll children’s understanding of english. therefore, classroom use of spanish was quite deliberate in many head start activities, and it was tailored in ways that may promote important school readiness skills across multiple developmental domains for spanish-speaking dll children. by using spanish to build english vocabulary and comprehension skills, it is possible the children at this local head start agency will be better prepared for kindergarten as language is one of the key building blocks of academic competence and particularly for dll children. the use of english for the majority of classroom academic activities highlights the effortful balance between providing adequate exposure and learning opportunities in english and fostering spanish-speaking dll children’s home language. the difficulty ensuring this balance was expressed by many head start teachers nationwide as they reported struggling how to best promote dll children’s language acquisition, as well as how to best to support their transition out of the head start program (u.s. dhhs, 2008; zepeda et al., 2011). results from this study indicated that the teachers i observed navigated these same difficulties arguably with some success. teachers used spanish to promote english language across multiple developmental spanish in head start 93 domains in accordance with head start’s “whole child” model and to help nurture the homeschool partnership, but they also used a great deal of english to adequately support children with the english language demands of school by helping them to overcome language barriers. such a balance can hopefully be a model to other centers, particularly when they serve large numbers of spanish-speaking dlls, as programs know it is important to support the home language, but often struggle how to do so. the results from this study have further possible significance for practice. the local head start umbrella agency in this study spent a considerable share of their annual budget hiring bilingual teachers. in cases where head start cannot hire an appropriate, highly-qualified bilingual teacher, it may behoove the program to teach the new hire key words and phrases that they can use with the dll students in their class and pair them with an assistant who speaks the language. hiring a monolingual english-speaking teacher, however, does not negate the importance of the teacher being able to communicate effectively with parents, which may require a deeper and more detailed knowledge of the home language. in this instance, an assistant teacher who speaks the home language can be particularly helpful. it is important that centers consider the language background of children in the community when making hiring decisions. in sum, this study used observations to explore how spanish was supported day-to-day in head start classrooms and how it may have possibly contributed to spanish-speaking dll children’s school readiness. the findings reveal that spanish was quite deliberate in head start classrooms and was used to promote english language skills across multiple school readiness domains in line with head start’s “whole child” model of development. the constant incorporation of spanish at each site across domains seemed to help solidify dll children’s understanding of english in ways that may prepare them sufficiently for kindergarten in cognitive, health, and socio-emotional development. references espinosa, l. m. (2013). early education for dual language learners: promoting school readiness and early school success. washington, dc: migration policy institute. u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, office of head start (2008). dual language learning: what does it take? head start dual language report. washington, dc: author. u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, office of head start. (2011). head start approach to school readiness – overview. retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/sr/approach u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, office of head start (2014). head start program fact sheet, fiscal year 2014. retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/data/factsheets/docs/hs-program-fact-sheet-2014.pdf zepeda, m., castro, d. c., & cronin, s. (2011). preparing early childhood teachers to work with young dual language learners. child development perspectives, 5(1), 10-14. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2010.00141.x http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/sr/approach http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/data/factsheets/docs/hs-program-fact-sheet-2014.pdf dialog, 19(3), 110-123 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 dialog from the field leading head start turnaround: a four-stage turnaround model for transforming program performance seanelle s. tracy and michael wischnowski st. john fisher college head start programs must meet federal performance standards or may now face a process of "recompetition", a situation where the current grantee could lose the head start program to other agencies. this article is based on interviews with head start directors who were faced with the threat of recompetition, but were able to turn around their programs in time to avoid the possibility of losing them. a model for head start turnaround emerged in these interviews and is shared in this article. keywords: recompetition; federal performance standards; head start; turnaround; turnaround model; program improvements; federal review; low-performance; highperformance; monitoring tools; program transformation; organizational change many head start programs are faced with the problem of chronic non-compliance and deficient statuses. recent reports to congress (2014) indicate that chronic poor performance is an increasing epidemic for head start grantees. however, there is an absence of literature that investigates the action steps of head start leaders during the turnaround process. this study addressed the urgent need to investigate the approaches used in non-compliant and deficient programs to successfully meet the hsps and achieve a federal monitoring review with no findings. accordingly, the purpose of this article applies the turnaround practices as identified by six head start directors that improved their low-performing programs and transformed the programs to full compliance with all head start performance standards to achieve a successful federal monitoring review and introduces a four-stage turnaround model to transform low program performance. the research participants. participants were selected from a list generated by ohs identifying grantees that met the study criteria. 41 grantees were identified as meeting the criteria. the selection criteria for participants included: (a) each participant must be a grantee or delegate operating a head start program; (b) at the grantee’s federal monitoring review 2 (fr2), the program must have achieved a full compliance finding; and (c) the grantee must have previously received a finding of six or more non-compliances or one or more deficient findings from their federal monitoring review 1 (fr1) during 20072009. 111 tracy & wischnowski the researchers invited all eligible grantees and its delegates to participate in the study. the participants represented head start grantees across 25 states: located in arizona, arkansas, california, florida, georgia, idaho, illinois, iowa, kansas, kentucky, louisiana, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, missouri, nevada, new york, ohio, oklahoma, south dakota, texas, utah, washington, west virginia, and wisconsin. the programs are operated by a mix of private nonprofit (n= 19), public schools (n=9), universities (n=2), and native-american tribal (n=11) programs. the participants included head start directors who have led their programs from non-compliant or deficient status to achieve full compliance over the past two reviews. this accomplishment demonstrates substantial improvement in program performance. all of the eligible head start directors were invited to participate via email. the selections of participants were determined by the number of respondents that agreed to participate. a total of six programs agreed to participate. however, rich data about head start directors’ competencies and action steps were gathered. the interview process commenced over four months. interviews were conducted from april through july 2013. head start directors selected were asked to participate in one telephone interview and complete one questionnaire to gather demographic data about the director and head start program. the questionnaire was administered online, and data were collect using qualtrics, a web-based survey collection software. each telephone interview ranged between 40 and 75 minutes long. in addition to the questionnaire, the researchers requested the participant’s report of findings from fr1 and fr2 in addition to the most recent program information report (pir). interview questions focused on how the head start turnaround directors facilitated the change process, described challenges during the process, and the culture and climate of the program during the change process. more specifically, the questions focused on strategies used to facilitate the improvement process, monitoring practices, communication, and professional development. the employment of a qualitative cross-case analysis guided this study in documenting head start turnaround practices and created a road map for other head start programs to facilitate program turnaround from low-performing and operating out of compliance to highperforming programs operating in full compliance with the hsps. furthermore, the qualitative design offered in-depth reflective insight into leadership practices, monitoring procedures, organizational culture, and turnaround practices implemented by head start directors. currently, this phenomenon is not explored, so there is a critical need to introduce discourse about the practices of head start directors as they facilitate the improvement processes. the introduction of their respective reflections on how they facilitated change will provide programs that are currently low-performing a road-map to lead to improvements that ultimately benefit the children served. the researchers ascribed meaning from the data provided by head start turnaround directors as they detailed the improvement trajectory in achieving full compliance status. improving head start. in 1975, ten years after the inception of head start, the administration for children and families (2013) (acf) developed a set of performance standards that were issued in compliance with the code of federal regulations (federal register, 1975) and programs were mandated to adhere to these standards to maintain their ohs funding. in 2007, congress reauthorized head start with new implications. the improving head start for school readiness act, better known as the head start act of 2007, was developed to strengthen the quality of programs. operating under a new framework, the act a) encompassed state early learning standards; b) increased stringency in teaching qualifications; c) developed a leading head start turnaround 112 system of designation and renewal for grantees; d) increased program monitoring; and e) enhanced the hspss (policies and procedures for designation renewal, 2011). program monitoring. during a federal monitoring review, a program is evaluated on its ability to provide evidence of meeting the standards. reviewers act as evidence finders evaluating program performance. grantee compliance outcomes are determined by the review team. at the review’s completion, grantees achieve one of three determinations: (a) compliant, (b) noncompliant, and (c) deficient. a grantee with no findings identified during the review will be determined as compliant. a grantee with one or more areas of non-compliance and no deficiencies is determined as noncompliant. grantees with one or more deficiencies are deemed deficient (report to congress on head start monitoring, 2008). deficiencies are more serious than non-compliances, a performance failure in one of the following eight areas: (a) a threat to the health, safety, or civil rights of children; (b) denying parents their rights to exercise their full roles and responsibilities related to the operation of the program; (c) failing to comply with the program standards; (d) misuse of funds; (e) loss of legal status, childcare license, debarment from receiving federal grants or contracts; (f) failure to meet or correct any agency requirement; (g) failure of the governing body to exercise its legal and fiscal responsibilities; and (h) failure to resolve an area of non-compliance (42 usc 9801). grantees are expected to correct noncompliances and deficiencies. a deficiency finding will almost guarantee a grantee an immediate pathway to recompetition. recompetition. in the 2007 head start act, recompetition mandates that any grantee which fails to provide high-quality services set by new federal quality regulations must reapply and compete for its grant against other potential community providers. under the rules of recompetition, 25 percent of head start grantees are evaluated annually for compliance with the standards (policies and procedures for designation renewal, 2011). if a program is considered a high quality head start program, the system offers continued grants to the existing grantee for a period of five years noncompetitively. in the past, head start grantees would automatically continue its funding despite its failure to comply with head start performance standards. under recompetition guidelines the low-performing grantee may also reapply for the grant. this system of designation renewal also distinguishes grantees delivering high-quality head start services. moreover, offering continued grants to high quality head start programs for a period of five years. the goal of recompetition is to raise the quality of services and defund low-performing grantees. until now, a process of competition has never been part of the refunding of programs. in some instances, grantees have been the long standing sole grantee of the head start grant (headstartredesignation.com). evidence of low-performance. the most recent reports to congress on head start monitoring (2013 & 2014) provides evidence of the need for congress to provide supports to thoroughly investigate the reasons for the poor-performance of grantees during monitoring reviews. in 2014, ohs conducted 850 monitoring reviews. of the 850 reviews conducted, 502 head start grantees experienced a first-year, triennial federal monitoring performance review, or other review and 292 follow-up reviews. of the first-year, triennial, and other reviews (558) 764 findings were identified. monitoring reviews outcomes are as follows: 1) compliant, 2) one or more non-compliances with no deficiencies, or 3) one or more deficiencies. interestingly, 57 percent of the grantees reviewed were identified as having one or 113 tracy & wischnowski more non-compliances. in 2013, ohs conducted 983 monitoring reviews. only 32.4 percent of the grantees were deemed compliant. moreover, in 2012, ohs conducted 949 monitoring reviews, only 20 percent of the grantees were deemed compliant. albeit, the recent trend documents some improvement in grantee compliance, however the numbers of grantees demonstrating noncompliance findings provides evidence of low performance and the need for supports on head start turnaround. turnaround. studies of attempts to turn around organizations have been analyzed in the for-profit, not-for-profit, and public sectors, including schools. within this literature, turnaround is theorized in three ways: (1) as a “condition” (armenakis, fredenberger, cherones & field, 1995, p. 231); (2) as a “process” (short, palmer, & stimpert, 1998, p. 155) and (3) as a “consequence or end state, of successful strategic actions” (short, palmer, & stimpert, 1998 p. 155). at their conclusion, turnaround efforts will result in one of two divergent end states: failure or recovery. (hager et al, 1999; slatter, 1984; stewart, 1984). turnaround literature asserts that there are unique competencies of turnaround leaders (public impact, 2008). the researchers assert a set of core competencies that fall into four clusters: (a) driving for results; (b) influencing for results; (c) problem solving; and (d) showing confidence to lead. first, the turnaround leader sets, prioritizes, and monitors high performance goals. secondly, the leader focuses on creating a team to support and influence others. the leader builds morale and empowers the team with a clear vision and ongoing professional development. thirdly, the leader demonstrates competencies in resolving conflicts. finally, the leader demonstrates the confidence and commitment to the mission and vision of the turnaround (public impact, 2008). school turnaround models. school turnaround research emerged in the late 1990s, and there are several scholars that have contributed to the leadership on school turnaround literature (duke, 2006; fullan, 2006a; leithwood, harris & strauss, 2010; murphy & meyers, 2008). much literature is derived from cross-sector research on turnaround practices and analyzed to create a framework for districts and schools to develop turnaround plans based on research and best practices to transform chronically low-performing schools (hess & gift, 2009; herman et al., 2008; murphy, 2008b;). much of the turnaround research provides evidence that turnaround efforts are not sustained and often student achievement regresses, school re-culturing energies diminish, and improvement efforts are limited ( duke & landahl , 2011). turnaround models used in schools are derived from practices and models from the business sector, albeit the success of school turnaround is not as well documented as business sector turnaround (meyers, 2008). according to meyers (2008), there is a paucity of literature that is demonstrative of successful school turnaround. for example, in a study conducted by aladejem, birman, orland, harr-robins, heredia, parrish, and ruffini (2010) approximately 1,000 low-performing elementary schools were examined to recognize schools that demonstrated drastic and continued improvement, only 47 schools met the criteria. moreover, the researchers assert that few schools within the u.s. demonstrate dramatic and sustainable achievements. much literature details the strategy implemented by principals or districts to turn low-performing schools into higher performing successful schools. however, little empirical research documents the success of turnaround interventions and much less literature lends itself as a guide to successful turnaround (meyers, 2008; public impact, 2007). leading head start turnaround 114 no child left behind (nclb) is the impetus for many initiatives at the federal and state levels to improve schools and implement turnaround strategies (duke, 2012). in addition, president obama’s reform of head start also has regulations that can identify low-performance and threaten a program with closure. obama’s stated mission is to ensure children have the best opportunities for school readiness. the obama administration’s plan to increase accountability in head start grantees that are chronically low-performing by imposing the concept of recompetition and forcing grantees to reapply for their head start grant and allow higher performing programs to vie for their grant (whitehouse.gov, 2011). interestingly, some critics blame the education policies that create accountability systems for low-performance of schools. notably, levine and levine (2012) criticize no child left behind (nclb) and race to the top (rttt) for the cycle of chronic low-performance in k-12 settings. under nclb, low achievement scores are reasons to close or restructure schools; similarly, in head start programs, grantees that perform poorly during the federal review risk losing their head start grant, consequently, another organization may apply for its grant to provide head start services in the existing grantee’s community. levine and levine (2012) argue that low student achievement extends beyond low test scores and teacher accountability. they describe social factors that are attributed to low student achievement, for example, inequitable school resources in poor and more affluent communities. furthermore, the critics posit that crowded schools and rapid growth are all attributes to low student achievement. additionally, levine and levine (2012) proffer systems of accountability modeled after business practices are creating unintended consequences like student test scores correlating with teacher performance, therefore creating an incentive for schools to cheat. the researchers assert that more businesses are investing in education due to the millions of dollars in funds available to corporations for developing software and tutoring services. many private corporations are benefiting from business turnaround models intended to benefit the education of students. levine and levine (2012) argue that the turnaround model is “destructive to public education” (p. 113). moreover, they posit replacing the turnaround model with individualized instruction and eliminate the business model trajectory. whereas the researchers critique the turnaround model as an intervention for failing schools, they claim districts have limited influence over the implementation of turnaround as a model for improvement strategy. moreover, the turnaround model is driven by federal mandate under president obama’s race to the top (rttt) initiative. at the head start level, there are no documented models of turnaround to choose from. however, there are organizations that take over grants of chronically low-performing head start programs and ensure that children have access to head start services. these programs have a specialized capability to put in place a team of staff to ensure children have a head start program to attend without interruption. community development institute head start (cdihs) based in denver, colorado is funded by ohs. cdihs provides interim services when a head start program grant is relinquished, suspended, or terminated. cdihs is awarded a new grant at the same funding amount as the former grantee. according to cdihs, they provide a staff of highly qualified consultants to support and continue head start program operations. existing staff of the former grantee will need to reapply for their jobs and begin the hiring process as new employees. cdihs will typically serve as the grantee for one year until a replacement grantee is selected (www.cdiheadstart.org). at the head start level, there are no documented models or studies of turnaround. with the threat of recompetition and the increase of low-performing head start programs, the field has an urgent need to focus on identifying the organizational change process and turnaround 115 tracy & wischnowski strategies employed by head start directors. these leaders are faced with the task of guiding their programs from a state of low-performing to high-performing head start programs, but not much is known about what they actually do to make the turnaround happen. consequently, the existing research identifies turnaround in the context of schools, nonprofits, churches, and organizational turnaround. the purpose of this study is to examine the dynamics of the turnaround process in head start programs as described by directors of underperforming programs that experienced turnaround and the leadership behaviors implemented to facilitate performance improvements in full compliance of the head start performance standards (hsps) for federal review accountability. four-stage turnaround model. the researchers ascribed meaning to the data analyzed from study results documenting the strategies of the directors, compared them with the turnaround literature, and developed a model to operationalize the turnaround strategies that had some consensus. these actions fell into four stages: a) preparing self; b) accessing resources; c) leading others; and d) turning around systems. stage one: preparing self. turnaround depended on the leader’s capacity for change. the directors described developing self-efficacy skills to guide the turnaround strategy, engaging in self-reflection and developing the inner strength for change. preparing self activities varied in emphasis among the directors. however, all engaged in one or more of the following: (a) self-reflection to assess their personal readiness to guide turnaround; (b) gaining personal confidence; (c) working with a coach; and (d) staying connected to developments within the field. self-reflection. the directors described their process of self-reflection as they assessed their personal readiness to facilitate the change effort. recognizing formidable challenges ahead, they checked their inner resources as well as their support from family to take on further work. one director recounted the self-reflection of her predecessor, which ended in a decision to not continue in the position: a lot of departments had to make budget cuts and for the director at that time it was very stressful and she decided that (she had been in head start for a long time as well) for her family and for herself that leaving the program was what was in her best interest because of the high stress that was going on at that time. i think it was just too much for her. this “gut check” was critical to committing to the process. furthermore, directors who decided to take on the turnaround did so by gaining confidence, working with a coach, or staying connected to developments within the field. gaining confidence. the directors talked about their mentors as vital to preparing themselves for the turnaround. the directors sought advice from supervisors whom helped them gain personal confidence in preparing for the change process. directors described personal factors attributed to the turnaround success and the importance of gaining support from the ceo and leadership team. “i’m pretty fearless,” said one director. “i was confident that it could be done.” however, she stated that “institutionally, there was strong support from the president and ceo who is my direct supervisor and the rest of the senior leadership team.” leading head start turnaround 116 the director later demonstrated self-efficacy skills in preparation to execute the course of action necessary for turnaround, which she attributed to her own attitude buttressed by the support of the leadership team. working with a coach. one director recounted that she went so far as to hire a personal coach. “i went through doing all these things and all of the changes,” she said and she decided “i needed a life coach…. [i was] determined and committed, but i needed to get to know myself better.” the director demonstrated readiness to improve herself with external help so that she could better lead others. staying connected to developments within the field. the directors described constantly assessing the head start landscape to stay abreast of policy changes: “as a management team, the leadership of this program are a lot smarter than we were [before the federal review] and have taken a much more proactive approach to constantly reading, trying to stay ahead of what requirements are and expectations. i honestly have to say head start has changed so fast in the last couple years… i truly can’t hardly even get through all the e-mails we get on a daily basis with new webinars requested and new information requested. so there’s been a rapid change.” what was helpful was “trying to stay more engaged with local state and federal regs.” the director described the need to a more proactive stance for dealing with the regulator rather than being reactive to it, and she said it helped. stage two: accessing resources. the second stage, accessing resources, moves beyond the personal to the programmatic. the directors named resources necessary to strengthen the turnaround effort, accessing formal or informal technical assistance. formal technical assistance. formal technical assistance included the support of an ohs or independent consultant. formal technical assistance was established in legal contracts or terms defined by ohs. these agreements defined expectations and described functions and expectations for both the director and consultant. the consultants provided technical assistance to help directors develop capacity to lead turnaround. interestingly, some of the directors described their fear of sharing sub-standard performance information with ohs officials in concern of penalties: “we were very leery of sharing information with people because you want to be able to talk to your consultant and say, this is what we’re doing, is this okay?” and recounted one head start director “if it’s not okay, help me fix it, not tattle on me…so you need to have a consultant that you can trust.” consequently, she hired an independent consultant and kept questions with her ohs officials general. these concerns illustrate that independent consultants allowed directors to be more transparent in order to fix non-compliances. in contrast, another director demonstrated satisfaction with the technical assistance ohs provided: we’ve had the same one for the last two or three years but, you know, for the two or three years before that we were constantly having a new grant specialist. i finally had somebody that i was familiar with and was familiar with me. the researchers derived from director interviews that in addition to getting technical support the head start directors asked questions of people they trusted, ensuring they implemented the steps towards compliance. 117 tracy & wischnowski informal technical assistance. the directors also assessed the need to employ informal technical assistance, where the resources are not defined by ohs with specific outcomes and relationships. the directors engaged with these resources on an as-needed, casual basis, not requiring a formal agreement. informal assistance materialized through: (a) the director’s own previous experiences in other programs; (b) support from other head start directors; (c) serendipitous knowledge gained through head start trainings; (d) attendance at head start association meetings; and (e) application of ohs tools. some directors implemented strategies learned in past jobs. one director described how she gained support from other directors: “everywhere i went i asked every person i knew how their monitoring review went and what they were cited on and i had an ongoing list, about five pages of notes, and took the information and measured it against things i needed to fix, and i made sure it was done.” the director described her process for gaining information about common federal review findings and utilized the information to assure her program was not cited for the same issues. one of the veteran turnaround directors stated that exchanges of “trade information” were more frequent prior to recompetition. consequently, the threat of recompetition had created a fear that other head start programs would compete for their grant. the directors only connected with individuals they trusted whether ohs officials, consultants, or other directors. stage three: leading others. after directors gained some technical assistance, they described an increase in confidence to achieve turnaround goals. they articulated a vision of success and communicated expectations to staff. the directors often described fragmentation within their agencies resulting in the need to transform employees’ self-interest into a new concern for shared goals. the directors provided lessons on how to lead others during the turnaround through a) reculturing; b) improved communication; c) providing professional development; and d) monitoring plans for continuous improvement. all directors acknowledged the situation with stakeholders and encouraged participation from their subordinates, parents and board, detailing the challenges with staff and stating that it would require concerted effort and new approaches to survive. the directors confirmed that not all staff committed to the vision and some decided to leave the program. “at first we had some staff that have been here longer than me,” said one director, “and i remember hearing ‘this is not broke. why are we going to try to fix it? this is the way we’ve always done it.’ the staff really weren’t happy with change…. we really had to try to stay the course and work on helping them understand why the change was necessary.” one director said in hindsight that she wished she would have been more specific with staff regarding the performance standards that pertained to their area: “i think that was something that we just never really did was share the performance standards with the staff—‘here’s the standard, here’s what we have to do, here’s the change that’s coming.’” once the current situation and a plan for the future was established, the directors implemented efforts to re-culture that included steps to gain further staff support. reculturing. the directors stated that they accomplished re-culturing first by building different relationships with staff in an effort to shift the culture from ‘this-is-how-we-havealways-done-it’ to a culture of accountability and compliance. one director engaged staff in a two-day retreat to discuss long-standing issues and work towards healing and cohesiveness. another sought support of an organizational coach to engage managers in monthly retreats and reorganize to ensure the appropriate structure for compliance. directors coached staff through the change process, recognizing that more attention and feedback to staff on everyday practices leading head start turnaround 118 was needed. some directors kept an intense focus on the standards and used them to monitor progress in combination with ongoing professional development to ensure staff were competent in meeting program outcomes. through training, communication, and support, the directors redefined employees’ work to support the vision and provided them with information throughout the change process through regular staff meetings. one director placed all new policies online but quickly learned that the bus driver and other staff that did not have access to internet. the director corrected the change by creating binders customized for them. the binders included copies of all the operating policies and were placed in an area available to all staff. the director insisted that all staff have access to ensure alignment. improved communication. directors engaged staff in regular communication which included staff meetings to ensure individuals stayed on point and were aware of new developments. one director described why he decided to have regular monthly staff meetings: “in reviewing, ‘how did these simple errors that really were just simple human error happen…’ that became one of the possibilities that maybe we needed to go back to a staff meeting every single month.” additionally, the director illustrated that follow-up and accountability were critical for the sustainability of program improvements. this included following up on action items and holding staff accountable for task completion. professional development. directors said they transformed their organizations by rebuilding departments consisting of people wanting to work toward program compliance. directors invested in training to ensure staff were competent in meeting program outcomes in the department they were assigned. directors unpacked standards, reinforced policies and best practices, and provided clarity about roles, expectations, and the implications of change. additionally, supervisors who reported to the directors received specific professional development around data monitoring and reflective supervision. one director described professional development through mentoring: “so when a staff member comes in they also have a mentor or someone that is supporting them and it’s ongoing.” she described the importance of providing ongoing support to staff. what made a difference was “spending a lot of time and effort in promoting education for staff members, continuing education, and professional development goals. quality is also investing in the staff members that work for the agency.” through training and support, directors redefined employees’ work and attitudes. each director made reference to the importance of aligning staff to support the vision. one of the change leaders described the attitudinal shift in her program: “there was more of a sense of accountability that things are focused on the performance standard versus the way that we’ve always done them.” although directors recognized that compliance was ultimately their responsibility, they nurtured a culture of accountability where program success was a part of each employee’s role. monitoring plans for continuous improvement. the directors’ strategies included a plan to assess the effectiveness of staff through monitoring plans. they shared practices for improving operations for organizational efficiency and full compliance with the standards by detailing the importance of monitoring and ongoing efforts to evaluate their programs. they described the importance of regular classroom visits and being aware of health and safety related issues. one director explained that the program openly invited independent auditors to inspect the facility to ensure continuous improvement. “i didn’t sit back and wait for somebody to come and find it,” the director affirmed. “i wanted to find it first.” 119 tracy & wischnowski the directors’ ascribed the importance of being proactive in getting program performance information. as concerns are identified, the director must track and follow-up on goals to ensure the program is on the road to full compliance. three of the six directors discussed their use of the protocol as a monitoring tool to guide program improvements. the protocol is a comprehensive tool which encompasses the head start program content areas and includes a list of questions designed to measure grantee compliance with the standards. annually, ohs develops a new monitoring tool to guide both head start programs and federal reviewers in gathering key indicators regarding grantee compliance with the head start act, fiscal regulations, and the standards. the protocol evaluates grantee performance in seven content areas: (a) program governance (gov); (b) management systems (sys); (c) fiscal integrity (fis); (d) eligibility, recruitment, selection, enrollment, and attendance (ersea); (e) child health and safety (chs); (f) family and community engagement (fce); and (g) child development and education (cde) (fy 2014 office of head start monitoring protocol, 2013). three of the six directors interviewed stated the protocol was effective in supporting self-evaluation. self-monitoring became an ongoing process that consisted of effective monitoring tools. directors implemented timelines to monitor program goal completion. they provided staff the administrative support necessary to meet target dates, establishing regular checks to ensure staff followed policies as prescribed. additionally, the monitoring plans provided the directors with current data on goals and program outcomes. stage four: turning around systems. the directors provided the researchers with important tips for how to lead yourself and others during the preparing self, accessing resources, and leading others stages. in the final stage, turning around systems, the directors utilized the skills gained in the previous stages to target deficient program areas. the action steps in this stage are related to systems that directors had to affect to avoid losing their programs. they exhibited some commonality in their deficiencies and targeted the following systems: (a) human resources, (b) finance, (c) shared governance, and (d) ongoing monitoring. directors shared their practices for improving operations and meeting full compliance with the standards related to these areas. human resources. the directors championed overall improvements by concentrating on the human resource functions of the organization. all six directors stated that their programs improved in standing by having staff in positions where they met the educational requirements as stated in the standards. job descriptions were updated to align with mandated educational requirements. the directors revealed that they held staff accountable and provided them with clear expectations. one director insisted that the education supervisor follow written education plans and holds her staff accountable to assure program compliance. as roles changed, directors provided staff clarity as to the implications and new reporting structures. program hiring policies were enhanced to assure that candidates met the mandated educational requirements prior to hire. staff roles were redefined to ensure operational efficiency and effective service delivery. finance. the directors made significant improvements in the fiscal area, owning their need for financial literacy. the dramatic turn in program performance was attributable to building an internal capacity for knowing fiscal processes and procedures. although the circumstances were very unique in each instance, directors confidently articulated financial leading head start turnaround 120 matters with an understanding of their role and responsibility to provide better oversight of the fiscal areas of the program. shared governance. the directors stated that improving shared governance also required a paradigm shift. they expanded professional development to include parents and board members to make certain they were aware of the standards. they aligned agendas with the standards, assuring that board and policy committee members understood and approved agenda items as needed. they also identified board and parent training needs to provide coaching and support on the deficiency issues. as the turnaround unfolded, board members and parents expressed more interest and subsequently became more engaged in governance activities. ongoing monitoring. the directors emphasized effective monitoring of performance as essential for successful turnaround. the directors monitored for: (a) staff performance and compliance; (b) accuracy of data and follow-up; (c) timely reporting; (d) fiscal performance; (e) governance policies; (f) program effectiveness; (g) service delivery; and (h) head start changes. they consistently monitored for updates and changes in regulations that affected the program and delivery of services, regularly checking the early childhood learning and knowledge (eclkc) website and connecting to other programs about changes in order to remain aware of new developments that could affect their program’s compliance status. one director warned that missing minor details was unacceptable and stressed monitoring the fine print. the directors monitored their programs for compliance and engaged in informal or formal technical assistance and recognized the importance of data to monitor their programs. kowal and hassel (2011) found that turnaround leaders are driven by data. reflecting on and implementing the four-stage turnaround model the researchers analyzed the interview transcripts and compared strategies to the turnaround literature, and developed a four-stage turnaround model to operationalize the unique steps these directors utilized to turn around their troubled head start programs. in the first stage, preparing self, the leaders developed self-efficacy skills and generative capabilities to guide the turnaround strategy. in the second stage accessing resources, the directors assessed the types of technical assistance resources available to guide the turnaround strategy. in the third stage, leading others, the participants led staff in a reculturing process, improving communications, executing ongoing monitoring systems, and providing professional development. all stages influenced the final stage, turning around systems, focused on turnaround efforts in human resources, finance, shared governance, and ongoing monitoring. of course, other areas in head start systems could be addressed at this stage, including services for students with disabilities, but these happened to be the stages that these head start directors needed to turn around their situations. figure 1 provides an illustrative presentation of the model. the model provides flexibility in that the outer legs can be increased or decreased depending on the systems targeted for improvement. the unlabeled boxes would hold these other systems. for example, if a director determines that non-compliance concerns are only in the shared governance area, one outer leg would be depicted in the model. if the director determines change necessary in the fiscal and shared governance areas there would be two outer legs depicted and so on. however, the preparing self, accessing resources, and leading others stages are critical and do not provide the same flexibility as the outer legs. in sum, the preparing self and accessing resources stages support the head start turnaround leader in developing capabilities 121 tracy & wischnowski and strategy. in the leading others stage, the leader influences staff change and performance to operate in alignments with the standards within the designated systems. the interview findings revealed that there are specific competencies of a head start turnaround director and commonalties in the action steps taken to guarantee full compliance with the standards, accomplishing successful federal monitoring reviews with no findings and in full compliance with the head start standards. as a result of the lessons learned, study participants offer valuable insights as to the specific issues that affect low-performing programs during the turnaround of a head start program. the lessons the directors provide offer detail regarding the turnaround leadership competencies and the actions steps necessary to turnaround troubled head start programs. figure 1. four-stage turnaround model. adapted from “unveiling a path to head start turnaround: investigating how head start directors transform low-performing programs into high-performing programs” by s. tracy, 2013. leading head start turnaround 122 references 40 fr 27562, june 30, 1975 administration for children and families (september 27, 2013). fy 2014 office of head start monitoring protocol. retrieved from 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(2011). we can't wait: president obama takes action to improve quality and promote accountability in head start programs [press release]. retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/08/we-cant-wait-president-obama-takes-actionimprove-quality-and-promote-ac tracy, s. (2013). unveiling a path to head start turnaround: investigating how head start directors transform low-performing programs into high-performing programs (doctoral dissertation). retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/data/rc/fy-2014-head-start-monitoring-report.pdf http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/data/rc/fy-2014-head-start-monitoring-report.pdf dialog, 18(4), 105-110 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary addressing adversity to support family and child well being shannon guss university of oklahoma – tulsa brenda jones-harden university of maryland noreen yazejian university of north carolina at chapel hill serenity weeden and jennifer ladner tulsa educare, inc. this study documented that nearly half of a large national sample of head start and early head start children enrolled in participating programs experienced adversity and that this adversity is related to their learning and development. however, children in the programs, including those who had experienced adversity, had better outcomes in some domains if they had longer durations in their early childhood programs. implications of these findings include the need to a) understand the experiences of the children and families in head start as part of preventing and reducing adversity; b) address the effects of adversity in instructional and other interventions to promote children’s learning and development; and c) work to retain high risk families through targeted programming and professional development. keywords: adverse childhood experiences (aces); early education dosage; achievement gap this study found a link between adversity and lower scores on several assessments of children’s learning and development in the context of a high quality early care and education (ece) setting. further, this study found positive associations between child outcomes and dosage, defined as the number of months children were enrolled in the ece setting. the positive association of dosage to child outcomes did not vary by number of adversities experienced, suggesting that children experiencing differing levels of adversity may similarly benefit from longer time in high quality ece settings. 106 guss et al. current study adversity. because poverty is associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing adversities such as those examined in the current study (evans & kim, 2013), it is critical to understand the impact of the accumulation of these risks on head start children’s outcomes. adversity puts children’s learning and development at risk, a situation incompatible with the goals of head start programs (hamoudi, murray, sorensen, & fontaine, 2015). adversity was conceptualized in this study as a specific type of cumulative risk experienced by the child’s family – living with someone with a substance abuse problem, having a family member incarcerated, having a family member who was the victim of a violent crime, a child witnessing domestic violence, a family being homeless, a family running out of food, or a mother screening positive for depression. we intentionally elected to examine these experiential risks that were distinct from demographic risk, such as parent education and family structure, because experiential risks are amenable to prevention programs. thus, by analyzing these experiential risks, termed adversities, while controlling for demographic risks, we were able to consider factors affecting head start children that may be well suited to intervention. dosage. a family’s connection to a high quality ece setting may influence the family system in positive ways (crosnoe, augustine, & huston, 2012; raikes, et al., 2013; green et al., 2014). family resilience theory would place ece settings in an ecosystem that influences the adaptability of the family system (henry, morris, & harrist, 2015). therefore, dosage was conceptualized as the time the family had access to the resources of the program, and was defined as the number of months a child was enrolled in the high quality ece setting. based on past research, we speculated that dosage could be a protective factor for children at risk or a promotive factor for all children, including those at risk. protective factors help children who are particularly at risk, but may not be as effective for children with lower risk. promotive factors are those that are good for all children, regardless of risk. child outcomes. several child outcomes – social-emotional, receptive vocabulary, auditory comprehension, school readiness, and health were examined in this study. language (receptive vocabulary and auditory comprehension) and school readiness (knowledge of concepts) were directly assessed by researchers. social-emotional skills were observed and rated by teachers. health outcomes were collected from parents through an overall rating of their children’s health and an index of their health problems. this study had three questions, answered through hierarchical linear regression of one year of data from a national sample (n=3,208) of children enrolled in early childhood programs serving low-income children. we explored the prevalence of adversity in the sample, adversity’s associations to child outcomes, and whether associations between adversity and child outcomes differed by dosage. study findings almost half of all participant children experienced at least one adversity in this study; some children experienced up to six. more adversities were associated with less positive ratings on three out of four social emotional factors (initiative, self-regulation, and behavioral concerns, but adversity implications 107 not attachment). adversity was also associated with less knowledge of basic concepts related to school readiness and worse health outcomes, but not with language outcomes. dosage appeared to be a promotive factor, showing significant positive relationships to outcomes for all children in the sample. these promotive relationships related to several child outcomes, including initiative, auditory comprehension, receptive vocabulary, and school readiness. dosage did not appear to be a protective factor, as the relationship between dosage and outcomes was not stronger for children who experienced more adversity. instead, the positive association of dosage to these outcomes did not differ by level of adversity, suggesting that children experiencing a range of adversities may benefit from longer durations in highquality early care and education – particularly for initiative, language, and school readiness outcomes. implications for practice three key implications for practice stem from our work, specifically the importance of: a) understanding the experiences of the children and families in head start as part of preventing and reducing adversity; b) addressing the effects of adversity in instructional and other interventions to promote children’s learning and development, and c) working to retain high risk families through targeted programming and professional development. understanding the experience of head start families is a first step in tailoring services to meet their needs. thus, family support workers and other staff should be trained and supervised to obtain this information in a sensitive, respectful and empathic manner. the adversities examined in this study are unfortunately commonplace within contexts of poverty, so it is likely that ece staff will be presented with opportunities to help families cope with these risks. importantly, knowledge about these adversities may allow ece programs to intervene prior to their negative impact on children’s development. a first step is asking about these experiences in non-judgmental ways. an example of a non-judgmental approach is the use of reflective listening and refraining from advising or “fixing” until the family’s experience is understood. families experiencing multiple adversities, in particular, need time and positive experiences with family support workers to overcome distrust and withdrawal (walsh, 2006). when mothers feel that they are being negatively judged, their stress can be contagious to their infants (waters, west, & mendes, 2014). thus, using reflective listening or motivational interviewing may reduce the stress of children and parents. however, maintaining a non-judgmental stance does not equate with avoiding these difficult conversations. family support workers can show concern for the well-being of families and children by learning about families’ experiences, including what they have tried thus far to address problems, reflecting on the strengths and coping skills of families, and exploring alternatives if needed. educating families about the negative effects of adverse experiences can be part of a showing a family that the program staff are partners in supporting the child’s development and learning. because stress can reduce cognitive function, parents may need help prioritizing and problem-solving among many needs, including prevention and reduction of adversity (diamond, 2013; walsh, 2006). classroom staff can also support children as they struggle to cope with acute or chronic stress. providing high quality early care and education was related to better initiative, language, 108 guss et al. and school readiness skills. thus, high quality care is essential to supporting children’s efforts to use self-help skills, become independent explorers, use and develop language, and learn concepts related to school – such as letters, colors, numbers, and shapes. however, other aspects of learning and development may be more difficult to support in the context of adversity. selfregulation, behavior concerns, and health were negatively related to adversity, but dosage in the high quality setting was not promotive of these outcomes. thus, self-regulation, and related aspects of behavioral problems and health, may need particular attention in ece settings serving high-risk populations. self-regulation and health can be negatively impacted by repeated insults to the stress response system over time (mclaughlin et al., 2015). hormone cortisol, an indicator of stress, has been shown to have greater decline in classrooms providing more emotionally supportive interactions (hatfield, hestenes, kintner-duffy, & o’brien, 2013). healthy and nurturing relationships and predictable schedules provide security to children who may be hyper-reactive to stimuli, or dysregulated in other ways. additionally, environments can be set up to provide soft, quiet areas where teachers can provide support to children who are struggling to selfregulate. this support may be in the form of affection/nurturance, one-on-one book reading, talking about feelings and coping skills, or even the provision of quiet, alone time for children. engaging, but not overstimulating, children whose experiences may have compromised their social and emotional competencies is a difficult, but important, responsibility of teachers working with high-risk children. while these approaches can serve to support self-regulation, recent meta-analyses suggest that social-emotional curriculums that focus on child skills and teacher stress management are more effective than general approaches in improving socialemotional competencies (schindler et al., 2015). another implication of this study includes the need to keep high-risk families connected to high quality programs. directors can take a leadership role regarding the task of retaining high-risk families. family support workers can be trained and supported to utilize creative, individualized strategies to retain high risk families. examples include the provision of concrete incentives (e.g., diapers, formula, toys, children’s books), addressing families’ concrete needs (e.g., case management), facilitating their receipt of needed psychological services (e.g., mental health treatment), and delivering culturally relevant engagement activities (e.g., family dinners, parent-child dances). directors may also consider training family support workers to use motivational interviewing, as it has been shown to be part of effective interventions with highrisk families (e.g., dishion, shaw, connell, gardner, weaver, & wilson, 2008). finally, and perhaps most importantly, there are many services that can be incorporated into ece programs, directly provided or as part of collaborative partnerships, which are designed to address the adversities examined in this study. examples of programs to reduce food insecurity include mobile markets that bring produce to the school or initiatives that send packs of food home with families. hosting support groups that address parenting needs can also improve access to supports for mental health, including the importance of self-care as part of providing care to children. additionally, there are parenting interventions (buffering toxic stress consortium, meyer, a., & fortunato, c., 2013) and mental health interventions (e.g., ammerman, putnam, altaye, stevens, teeters, & van ginkel, 2013) which have been integrated into ongoing ece programs that have a specific goal of buffering children against the impact of such adversities. planning programming and partnering with community agencies leverages broader specialties to meet the needs of families experiencing adversity to keep them connected to the ece program. adversity implications 109 another way programs can keep families enrolled is through the presence of on-site mental health consultants who provide support to children, parents, and teachers. these specialists can observe in classrooms and provide tips on managing the classroom, particularly when there are an abundance of dysregulated children. mental health specialists often help teachers and parents to appropriately support children with difficult behaviors, which may improve the child’s chances of being successful in the classroom environment. if this specialist also gets input from the families on meeting the child’s needs, the mental health specialist may become a resource of information or support to the family, thus solidifying family connections to the program. mental health specialists can be another avenue through which families’ resources are widened and opportunities to make changes or access needed services are increased. in sum, the findings of this study argue for heightened attention on the part of ece programs to the adversities families experience and their impact on children and parents. an important benefit of long-term participation in high-quality ece programs is potentially better outcomes for children reared in contexts characterized by adversity. further, it is critical that ece programs provide supports to children and families experiencing adversity and thus potentially prevent and reduce further stressful life events. references ammerman, r. t., putnam, f. w., altaye, m., stevens, j., teeters, a. r., & van ginkel, j. b. (2013). a clinical trial of in-home cbt for depressed mothers in home visitation. behavior therapy, 44(3), 359-372. buffering toxic stress consortium, meyer, a., & fortunato, c. (2013). parenting interventions in early head start: the buffering toxic stress consortium. zero to three, washington, dc: zero to three. crosnoe, r., augustine, j. m., & huston, a. c. (2012). children’s early child care and their mothers’ later involvement with schools. child development, 83(2), 758-772. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01726.x diamond, a. (2013). executive functions. annual review of psychology, 64(1), 135-168. doi: doi:10.1146/annurevpsych-113011-143750 dishion, t. j., shaw, d., connell, a., gardner, f., weaver, c., & wilson, m. (2008). the family check-up with high-risk indigent families: preventing problem behavior by increasing parents’ positive behavior support in early childhood. child development, 79(5), 1395–1414. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01195.x evans, g. w., & kim, p. (2013). childhood poverty, chronic stress, self-regulation, and coping. child development perspectives, 7(1), 43-48. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12013 green, b. l., ayoub, c., dym-bartlett, j., vonende, a., furrer, c., chazan-cohen, r. vallotton, c., & klevens, j. (2014). the effect of early head start on child welfare system involvement: a first look at longitudinal child maltreatment outcomes. children and youth services review, 42, 127-35. hatfield, b. e., hestenes, l. l., kintner-duffy, v., & o’brien, m. 2013). classroom emotional support predicts differences in preschool children’s cortisol and alpha-amylase levels. early childhood research quarterly, 28(2), 347-356. hamoudi, a., murray, d.w., sorensen, l., & fontaine, a. (2015). self-regulation and toxic stress: a review of ecological, biological, and developmental studies of self-regulation and stress. opre report # 2015-30, washington, dc: office of planning, research, evaluation, and administration for children and families, u.s. department of health and human services. henry, c. s., morris, a., & harrist, a. w. (2015). family resilience: moving into the third wave. family relations, 64(1), 22-43. doi: 10.1111/fare.12106 mclaughlin, k. a., sheridan, m. a., tibu, f., fox, n. a., zeanah, c. h., & nelson, c. a. (2015). causal effects of the early caregiving environment on development of stress response systems in children. proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america, 112(18), 5637–5642. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1423363112 raikes, h., vogel, c., & love, j. m. (2013). family subgroups and impacts at ages 2, 3, and 5: variability by race/ethnicity and demographic risk. monographs of the society for research in child development, 64-92. 110 guss et al. schindler,h., kholoptseva, j., oh, s. yoshikawa,h., duncan, g., magnuson, k. shonkoff, j. (2015). maximizing the potential of early childhood education to prevent externalizing behavior problems: a meta-analysis, journal of school psychology, 53 (3). p. 243-263. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2015.04.001. walsh, f. (2006). strengthening resilience in vulnerable multistressed families. in j. nageotte (ed.), strengthening family resilience (2nd ed., pp. 251-287). new york: guilford press. waters, s. f., west, t. v., & mendes, w. b. (2014). stress contagion: physiological covariation between mothers and infants. psychological science, 25(4), 934-942. doi: 10.1177/0956797613518352 (continued on next page) volume 17, number 3 2014 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles examining interdisciplinary collaboration within a comprehensive early childhood education framework elizabeth anderson…………………. ……………………………………..….………….... 1 impact of classroom computer availability on preschoolers’ social interactions heather c. janisse, navaz bhavnagri, xiaoming li, bonita stanton, sara johns and sheretta butler-barnes………………………………………………...................................... 16 promoting shared cultural and linguistic backgrounds among children and families in early head start/head start programs jeannette mancilla-martinez and nonie k. lesaux………………………………………….. 35 accelerating preschoolers’ content vocabulary: designing a shared book intervention in collaboration with teachers sharolyn d. pollard-durodola, jorge e. gonzalez and deborah c. simmons.…...…………. 49 research-to-practice summaries creating an agency-wide, interdisciplinary literacy project in comprehensive early childhood programs elizabeth m. anderson…………………..………………………….….……………………. 76 classroom computers and social interaction among low-income preschool children heather c. janisse, navaz bhavnagri, xiaoming li, bonita stanton, sara johns and sheretta butler-barnes………………………………………………...................................... 83 bilingual teachers in early head start/head start jeannette mancilla-martinez and nonie k. lesaux………………………………………….. 90 accelerating preschoolers’ content vocabulary and world knowledge: collaboration between teachers and researchers sharolyn d. pollard-durodola, jorge e. gonzalez and deborah c. simmons.…...…………. 96 dialog from the field head start professional development: great leadership, great intentions and great expectations meghan m. fitzgerald………………...………….………………………………………......104 (continued from previous page) the teaching strategies gold® assessment system: measurement properties and use diane c. burts and do-hong kim…..…………………………………………………........... 122 microsoft word spencer ra.docx dialog, 20(1), copyright © 2017, issn: 1930-9325 research article multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers: a head start implementation study trina d. spencer northern arizona university sarah a. weddle the may institute douglas b. petersen university of wyoming john l. adams northern arizona university teachers and teaching assistants from three head start classrooms implemented a multitiered narrative intervention in their preschool classrooms. they delivered large group, small group, and individual lessons with students and administered and scored a progress monitoring tool with all children once a month. a quasi-experimental control group design was conducted to determine the effect of the multi-tiered intervention on children’s story retelling skills and story-based language comprehension. the extent to which the head start teachers’ could deliver the intervention with fidelity and administer and score the progress monitoring probes accurately were examined. feasibility data were collected via interviews and questionnaires. results indicated statistically significant improvements favoring the treatment group at winter and spring assessment points for story retelling and language comprehension. all measures of teachers’ fidelity and reliability were above acceptable standards. as teachers and teaching assistants became more comfortable delivering the intervention, teachers’ perceptions of the intervention’s feasibility increased. keywords: language intervention, implementation, narratives although reading comprehension is clearly important—it is the reason why students learn to read—it has been largely ignored in preschool and early elementary grades. the focus in the early years instead has been on narrowly defined skills such as phonemic awareness, concepts of print, and alphabetic knowledge (dooley & matthews, 2009). there appears to be a patent contradiction between what is most valued in school and what is taught. there is, however, 2 spencer et al. promise and validation in noting that students learn what teachers focus on in their instruction. decoding is a perfect case in point. because decoding-related skills have been primarily emphasized in the early school years, very few students struggle with word-level reading and reading fluency (nakamoto, lindsey, & manis, 2007). conversely, reading comprehension has not been a major focus of teacher instruction, and thus predictably, reading assessments consistently indicate that the vast majority of students across the u.s. do not meet grade-level expectations for reading comprehension (e.g., national center for education statistics, 2015). young children with risk factors such as low income face unique challenges with respect to comprehension development. children from disadvantaged backgrounds on average, perform lower than peers from more advantaged backgrounds on reading comprehension tasks. in fact, approximately 80% of culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse students read below grade level when reading comprehension tests are used to measure reading achievement (national center for education statistics, 2015). comprehension should be targeted early (mcnamara & kendeou, 2011), yet teachers have not addressed reading comprehension in the younger grades, especially in preschool and kindergarten, for one glaringly obvious reason— young students do not yet know how to read. teaching them to comprehend text that they cannot access is not possible. fortunately, reading comprehension has an oral language complement, and oral language can be addressed at very early ages before children can read. there is mounting evidence that indicates that when teachers engage in oral language instruction, children learn what is taught (gettinger & stoiber, 2008; justice et al., 2009; pollarddurodola et al., 2011). these oral language activities are suitable for building comprehension in preschool, and the more the oral language instruction focuses on language that is reflective of written language, the more likely oral language skills will transfer to reading comprehension. narrative language (storytelling), in particular, can help bridge the gap between oral and written language. narratives often contain the same level of language complexity as written language. thus, through narrative-based language intervention, teachers can help young children learn to comprehend language that is similar in complexity to the written language they will need to decode and comprehend in later grades. because the majority of students in the u.s. perform poorly on reading comprehension assessments, the responsibility of teaching reading comprehension falls not only on special education, but also on general education. those students who do not make adequate progress in the classroom, or who are identified as having a disorder, will need more intensive, differentiated instruction. multi-tiered system of support (mtss) is a promising approach to differentiated instruction that is trickling into early childhood education (buysse & peisner-feinberg, 2013). in fact, the national head start association jointly prepared a position statement about tiered frameworks in early childhood education with the national association for the education of young children, the division of early childhood of the council for exceptional children, and the national head start association (2013). the joint position statement provides direction to early childhood professionals about the assessment recommendations and the need for tiered supports to promote achievement for all children. multi-tiered systems of support tiered systems are designed and implemented in a school-wide fashion to make prevention, rather than remediation, possible for students of various ability levels (greenwood & kim, multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers 3 2012). within an mtss framework, all children are initially assessed via universal screening and identified as either being on target for academic expectations or being in need of more intensive instruction in a given area. all students are then assigned to different tiers of instruction according to their specific needs. tier 1 instruction typically takes place in the general classroom setting, and all students in that tier are provided a similar intensity of instruction, with few individualized supports or scaffolding. according to research implemented in elementary schools, approximately 80% of students respond sufficiently to tier 1 instruction (mellard, mcknight, & jordan, 2010). however, this does not appear to be the case with head start preschoolers—at least not in the domain of language. spencer, petersen and adams (2015) found that over 50% of students in head start classrooms scored below the benchmark for language. they recommended that those students receive small group, targeted oral language intervention. such interventions can be considered tier 2 or secondary supports. these students participate in both tier 1 instruction and tier 2 intervention, and their progress is regularly monitored. there are still some students who do not make adequate progress even when given tier 1 and tier 2 support. these students are assigned to the third and highest level of intensive support, tier 3. tier 3 is often a preliminary step to special education, or equivalent to special education, depending on the mtss model (fuchs & fuchs, 2005). only a few students in each class should need this level of support. importantly, mtss requires reliable and valid assessments that are easy to use and can be repeated over time to assess progress (deno, 2003). students’ responsiveness in their respective tiers of instruction is monitored and data are used to make educational decisions pertaining to the intensity of instruction. multi-tiered narrative intervention story champs (spencer & petersen, 2012a), the narrative intervention curriculum examined in this study, was designed specifically for multi-tiered implementation for preschool and schoolage children. some studies have examined the impact of story champs on outcomes of schoolage students (petersen, brown, ukrainetz, degeorge, spencer, & zebre, 2014; petersen, thompson, guiberson, & spencer, 2015; gardner, spencer, & petersen, 2015), but much of the research and development has occurred in head start preschool classrooms, where the needs for language promotion are high (spencer et al., 2015). the validity and reliability of a curriculum based measurement tool for language and comprehension (i.e., narrative language measures) have also been examined in previous research (petersen & spencer, 2012). the current study represents the first attempt to integrate all of the intervention and assessment components to form a multi-tiered system of language support in head start preschool classrooms. in the remainder of this section, we provide an overview of story champs, the narrative language measures, and then describe each study that preceded the current study. the active ingredients of story champs include carefully constructed, personally-themed stories and explicit teaching procedures based on the effective teaching literature. twelve stories serve as the basis for instruction, all of which reflect themes that are commonly experienced by young children (e.g., getting hurt, misplacing something, wanting something someone else has). the stories were designed with intentional structures so that they can be targeted during intervention. each story is 68-70 words long and contains the same story grammar structures based on the stein and glenn (1979) framework: character, setting, problem (initiating event), feeling (internal response), action (attempt), and ending (consequence). in addition, each story 4 spencer et al. was constructed with the same linguistic features. they each have two causal subordinate clauses using the word because, one temporal subordinate clause using the words after or when, one temporal tie using the word then, one instance of dialogue, two adjectives, and one adverb. these story and linguistic structures align with the developmental expectations of typical preschool/kindergarten children and accepted academic standards (national governors association center for best practices & council of chief state school officers, 2010; teaching strategies, inc., 2010). in all three tiers of story champs, the teacher models the stories and then supports the children to tell and retell stories. storytelling and/or the language used to tell the stories are targeted in intervention, depending on the child’s language skills; however, the purpose of the program is not to memorize or learn the stories themselves. multiple exemplar training across the twelve stories is used to reveal the pattern of stories (i.e., story structure) and encourage the use of more complex, academically-related language in the context of storytelling (i.e., linguistic structure). the goal is to use the story champs stories to teach the acquisition of story and linguistic structures that generalize to other language contexts such personal storytelling under natural conditions and comprehending and retelling books that teachers read aloud. although story champs is a three-tiered curriculum, the possible arrangements—large group, small group, and individual—do not necessarily align with tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 of mtss. for example, in one center, large group story champs instruction may constitute a tier 2 intervention. likewise, a tier 3 intervention may be delivered to small groups instead of only one child at a time. with respect to explicit teaching procedures, there is a specified set of strategies embedded in the story champs curriculum based on explicit preschool teaching principles that are informed by behavioral science, developmental theory, and empirical evidence that clearly connect early language development and literacy (archer & hughes, 2011; catts, fey, zhang, & tomlin, 2001; justice, mashbrun, hamre, & pianta, 2007; lonigan, 2006; storch & whitehurst, 2002). young children who enter kindergarten with strong language skills find greater academic success than those children who have difficulty with language-related tasks in preschool (chaney, 1998; gallagher, frith, & snowling, 2000; justice et al., 2007; lonigan, burgess, & anthony, 2000; o’connor & jenkins, 1999). as outlined by justice et al., 2007, high quality literacy instruction in preschool is centered around contextualized, purposeful, explicit, systematic language-related instruction, where the teacher often engages students in conversation, with students having frequent opportunities to talk, the repeated use of open-ended questions, expansion and recasting of student responses, and modeling of complex, academic language. story champs integrates these evidence-based, high-quality language and literacy instructional practices into a semi-manualized curriculum. these teaching procedures are centered around multiple stories that children are expected to retell with appropriate story grammar structure and language complexity. to facilitate the teaching of the structures in the stories, a five-panel set of illustrations accompany each story and a set of story grammar icons are used to help make each part more concrete. master lesson plans (or procedural checklists) outline the required steps for implementation at each tier. because the master lesson plans do not contain scripts, we consider the program to be manualized, but flexible. the steps are required, but how each step is delivered depends on the skill, creativity of the teacher, and the needs of the children. although the steps differ slightly between large group, small group, and individual implementation (e.g., structured based on group size and opportunities to respond), the overarching principle is that visual multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers 5 materials (illustrations and icons) are faded while the demand for more independent storytelling increases. the process of prompt fading is gradual and systematic so that children can be successful. the visuals are removed within session to ensure children do not become dependent on them. simple responding games are used to encourage children to be actively engaged while they listen to a peer retell the story. during the development of story champs, a companion assessment tool was also developed so that data-based decisions could be made for the identification of children for more intensive tiers and their progress can be monitored related to those interventions. the narrative language measures (nlm) for preschoolers (spencer & petersen, 2012b) involves three types of narrative tasks. the primary task is retelling, whereas, generating personal stories and answering questions about stories serve as secondary tasks. there are 25 parallel stories used in the administration of the nlm for preschoolers, with each story comprising a separate form for repeated administration over time. stories were constructed using the same story and linguistic structures as the story champs stories. importantly, the nlm stories are not used in story champs so that they are unfamiliar to children during assessment. to administer the retell task, an examiner or teacher reads a short introductory script, reads a story, and then asks the child to retell the story (see sample in appendix). scoring can be done in real time or audio recorded for later scoring. if the personal generation task is administered, the examiner or teacher tells one of the parallel stories as if it is his/her own experience and asks the child if something like that has ever happened to him/her. it is more difficult to score personal stories in real time, so the child’s story is audio recorded and scored later. after the child retells the story, the examiner or teacher may choose to ask a set of five story structure questions. large group story champs. spencer, petersen, slocum, and allen (2014) completed a quasi-experimental control group study with four head start classes and with 71 preschoolers who were culturally and linguistically diverse. author served as the interventionist because this was the first attempt to deliver narrative intervention to a large group up to 20 children at a time. she conducted 12 sessions over three weeks each lasting approximately 15-20 minutes. some features that are unique to the large group procedures include an exclusive focus on retelling skills, choral responding to help all the children produce parts of the story, and a peer-tutoring component in which every child retold the modeled story to a classmate. each participant’s retell, personal generation, and question answering skills were assessed at preintervention, post-intervention, and at a 4-week follow up. results indicated that the treatment group’s retell (p = .046, d = 0.49) and question answering (p = .023, d = 0.56) scores were statistically significantly higher than the control groups at post-intervention and follow-up but the intervention had a minimal impact on children’s personal generation skills. importantly, this pattern of results was consistent for the subgroup of children who were english language learners (55% of total group) as well as the group as a whole. small group story champs. in the first study of small group story champs (spencer & slocum, 2010), participants included five diverse preschoolers enrolled in head start who had limited language skills. using multiple baseline across groups experimental design, the five participants were distributed among three small groups of four students. authors served as interventionists and only focused on teaching story grammar. the teaching procedures ensured children received practice in both retell and personal generation tasks. icons and illustrations were systematically faded to encourage more independent retelling and storytelling and games 6 spencer et al. were used to enhance active listening and motivation. intervention was delivered four days a week for 7-18 minutes. based on visual analyses of graphs, all five preschoolers retold more complete stories following intervention, and improvements in personal stories were also noted for most of the participants. the researchers noted the potential for differentiated intervention, although not attempted in their study, because each participant presented with diverse needs (e.g., vocabulary, story grammar, lengthening utterance, use of subordination). in a follow up study (spencer et al., 2015), the small group format was investigated again with children with limited language skills attending head start. however, this time differentiation was built into the procedures so that each child could receive support that matched their language needs. using participants’ nlm-retell results, interventionists identified story grammar and linguistic components that were missing from their retells and selected targets for intervention in a flexible ongoing manner. during sessions, a single interventionist delivered story champs to four children while prompting their use of individualized targets. interventionists followed the master lesson plan steps, but tailored his/her prompting to the needs of the children. for example, one child in the group worked on temporal and causal subordination, another child was encouraged to use longer sentences, another child was working on telling complete stories with all the story grammar components, and the last child was encouraged to use english verbs. participants received intervention twice a week for 15-20 minutes a day for nine weeks. using a randomized group design, the treatment children showed statistically significant improvements over the control group on the nlm-retell task (p = .02, d = 1.05) and a distal norm-referenced narrative assessment (p = .014, d = 1.04), but not on the personal generation task. a bilingual speech-language pathologist and two psychology students served as interventionists instead of the researchers themselves. individual story champs. to examine the individual or tier 3 arrangement in head start classrooms, spencer, kajian, petersen, and bilyk (2014) conducted a multiple baseline, multiple probe study with five preschoolers with developmental disabilities, four of whom were spanish-speaking english learners. each child received 24 sessions of story champs, each lasting 10 to 15 minutes, twice a week. individual intervention procedures are similar to the small group procedures in that both retell and personal stories are addressed and the illustrations and icons are faded within session. the unique feature, however, is the use of pictography (mcfadden, 1998). after the child retold the model story, with and without the support of illustrations and icons, the child told a personal story. the interventionist used stick notes to draw each part of the child’s story (i.e., character, problem, feeling, action, ending). the child used the sticky note drawings to retell his/her own personal story. because the children had fewer oral language skills than participants in the other studies, one of the primary measures was the answering questions task of the nlm. in addition, children were allowed to look at pictures when the examiner read the nlm story and when they retold the stories. all children showed meaningful improvements on story retells with and without pictures present, answering questions, and personal stories. implementation variables invested policy makers and administrators encourage practitioners to select interventions with sufficient empirical support. unfortunately, equal attention is not given to the evidence of multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers 7 successful implementation of those interventions and the conditions in which quality implementation and positive student outcomes are achieved (fixsen, naoom, blasé, friedman, & wallace, 2005). although it is important to disseminate interventions with strong evidence of efficacy, it is equally important to ensure that empirically supported interventions are usable, feasible, and effective when delivered in the real world, by practicing teachers. implementation science researchers have recommended that questions pertaining to the application of research should be addressed even in early stage intervention research and development. werner (2004) suggested that by examining implementation variables in the early stages of intervention research, developers gain insight into the culture of real world settings and receive rapid feedback about what works and what doesn’t work during the formative period of the intervention. when end users serve as intervention agents, for example, researchers become aware of barriers to implementation that may not have been detected if researchers had delivered the intervention. early detection of barriers and obstacles to implementation allow researchers to revise and refine an intervention before it advances through the phases of research to more costly large-scale efficacy studies (fey, finestack, & schwartz, 2009; odom, et al., 2005). efficacy research coupled with implementation science can inform the development and sustainability of interventions and lead to better outcomes for children (durlak & dupre, 2008). there are important implementation variables to consider during early phases of intervention research, including characteristics of the intervention, the individuals who implement it, and the context in which the intervention is implemented (durlak & dupre, 2008). for example, the extent to which an intervention matches the values embedded in the intended setting may determine how well the intervention is adopted and sustained (harn, parisi, & stoolmiller, 2013). an intervention must also be able to fit with the other necessary activities of that setting. the transportability of an intervention to different settings should not be assumed because it has been examined in a similar, but different setting. this is especially true for head start classrooms that differ from district sponsored or private preschools in terms of the required daily activities (e.g., meals, teeth brushing), the qualifications of teachers, and the population they serve. when designing new interventions for head start implementation, questions of efficacy and implementation are paramount. summary and current study the purpose of the current study was twofold. first, we investigated the efficacy of a new, author-developed, commercially available multi-tiered oral language curriculum designed to improve language comprehension and ultimately, although not measured, reading comprehension. under relatively typical conditions in head start classrooms, teachers and teaching assistants delivered all interventions and administered progress monitoring probes across the year. research staff provided initial training, modeling, and coaching. the second purpose was to investigate aspects of implementation to ascertain the extent to which a multitiered system of language support was feasible for head start teachers and teaching assistants to use effectively. specifically, fidelity of intervention implementation was observed regularly, fidelity of administering the progress monitoring probes was evaluated, and reliability of scoring was measured. in addition to the fidelity and reliability measures, teachers and teaching assistants completed an implementation feasibility questionnaire at regular time points across the year to document their self-efficacy with the interventions and assessments, the level of support 8 spencer et al. they received and/or needed to implement the program, the ease and time efficiency of the program, and the students’ engagement during the intervention. in the four studies reported above, researchers and research assistants administered and scored the nlm. the fidelity of nlm administration was documented alongside scoring reliability. results indicated that the researchers and research assistants were able to administer the nlm with mean fidelity of 95% and score it with high agreement (mean=93%). although psychometric data indicate that the nlm has excellent evidence of validity and reliability, much of those data are based on researcher administration. more information is needed on the feasibility of using the nlm in the natural setting with end users (i.e., head start teachers). in all the studies above, the intervention was examined under researcher-influenced conditions. all of the sessions took place in head start classrooms, but the researchers or research assistants provided the interventions, which adds personnel and resources to the implementation. fidelity of story champs implementation, consisting primarily of adherence to procedural steps and quality, was documented for all four studies, with a mean fidelity of 98.3% across the studies. although this might suggest the intervention is easy to use, all that is clear is that it was easy for the researchers and their research assistants to use, who do not represent the end users. in all of the studies, head start teachers were asked to complete a short 5 or 6 item questionnaire to elicit their thoughts about the feasibility and potential of story champs in their classrooms. the questionnaires included items about the ease of story champs to learn, how well the students seemed to enjoy the lessons, whether the teachers thought the program was developmentally appropriate, and how interested they were in using the program. responses were recorded in a likert scale from 0-5. the mean score across the four studies was 4.7 (range 3.7-5.0), suggesting that the teachers perceived story champs to be highly appropriate and feasible in their classrooms. to fully implement an integrated multi-tiered system of language support, the implementation of a multi-tiered intervention with end users needs to be examined. although the measurement of implementation fidelity and teachers’ perceptions were reasonable given that these studies represent early development and design studies (collins, joseph, & bielaczyc, 2004), the logical next step is to investigate the multi-tiered narrative intervention under more natural conditions with head start teachers and teaching assistants delivering the lessons. it will be important to know if after implementing the program, head start teachers remain as optimistic about story champs. furthermore, it will be important to examine whether fidelity of administration and reliability of the nlm can still reach acceptable levels when examiners other than researchers administer the assessment. five specific research questions addressed the two-fold purpose of investigating the efficacy of story champs and the feasibility of story champs and the nlm in head start preschool classrooms. 1. to what extent does a multi-tiered narrative intervention improve student’s narrative language and language comprehension skills when it is implemented by head start teachers and teaching assistants? 2. to what extent do head start teachers and teaching assistants implement multi-tiered narrative intervention with fidelity? 3. to what extent do head start teachers and teaching assistants administer a narrative retell assessment with fidelity? 4. to what extent do head start teachers and teaching assistants score a narrative retell assessment with reliability? multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers 9 5. to what extent do head start teachers and teaching assistants perceive multi-tiered narrative intervention and assessment to be feasible and do their perceptions improve with time? method participants and setting this research took place in a southwest state in a mid-size city. researchers invited three teachers from three different head start centers to participate in the study and to implement the multi-tiered system in their classrooms. all three sets of teachers accepted the invitation and completed a brief demographic survey asking about their teaching experience, their education, and the number of children in the classroom. in two of the classrooms, teaching assistants also helped implement the multi-tiered intervention and conduct assessments, but they did not complete the demographic survey. three other teachers from three different head start centers were invited to serve as control classrooms. two half-day classrooms and one extended day classroom were represented in both conditions. at the beginning of the year, the research team conducted observations of each classroom using the early language & literacy classroom observation (ellco; smith, brady, & anastasopoulos, 2008). the ellco is a measure of classroom environment quality and includes items related to classroom structure, curriculum, language environment, books and book reading, and print and early writing. items are rated on a five-point likert scale, where five represents exemplary and one represents deficient. it yields two subscales: general classroom environment and language and literacy. scores closer to the total possible indicate higher quality than those further from the total. table 1 displays the teacher and classroom characteristics of each condition. with the exception of classroom c and its comparison classroom on general classroom environment, the groups received similar ellco ratings. 10 spencer et al. table 1 teacher and classroom characteristics (n = 6) treatment group (n=3) comparison group (n=3) mean number of years employed in early childhood 11 10 mean number of students 19 17 highest educational level associates degree 1 1 bachelor’s degree 2 2 ethnicity hispanic/latino 1 0 native american 1 1 caucasian 1 2 ellco general classroom environment (total possible = 35) classroom a 19 19 classroom b 16 13 classroom c 30 20 ellco language and literacy (total possible = 60) classroom a 26 33 classroom b 19 19 classroom c 36 33 note. ellco = early language and literacy classroom observation all research activities, including the data collection performed by the research team, took place in the preschool classrooms. teacher and teaching assistant teams completed all intervention sessions and the progress monitoring assessments. the person responsible for each activity of the mtss implementation differed in all three classrooms. in classroom a (full day), the teacher delivered large group lessons and administered the nlm-retell task while one assistant delivered the small group lessons, and the other assistant delivered the individual lessons. in classroom b, the teacher delivered the large group lessons and the teaching assistant delivered the small group and individual lessons and conducted the progress monitoring probes using the nlm. in classroom c, the teacher completed all of the lessons and assessments herself. child participants included 105 children attending preschool in the classrooms of the teachers who were recruited to participate in the study. children ranged from three years, one month to five years, one month at the beginning of the study. when parent permission was obtained, parents completed a demographic survey to document children’s ethnicity, primary multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers 11 language, and whether there were developmental concerns. all children were administered the clinical evaluation of language fundamentals – preschool (celf-p; wiig, secord, & semel, 2004) to describe their language skills at the onset of the study. child characteristics are detailed in table 2. table 2 child characteristics (n = 105) treatment group (n=53) control group (n=52) age in years, m (sd) 3.69 (.549) 3.97 (.575) primary language, n (%) english 41 (77.4) 37 (71.2) spanish-other 12 (22.6) 15 (28.8) disability classification, n (%) no concern 42 (79.2) 40 (76.9) parent/teacher concern 7 (13.2) 3 (5.8) current iep 4 (7.5) 9 (7.3) ethnicity, n (%) african american 1(1.9) 1(1.9) hispanic/latino 27 (50.9) 27 (51.9) native american 13 (24.5) 12 (23.1) caucasian 5 (9.4) 8 (15.4) bi-ethnic 7 (13.2) 2(3.8) other 2 (3.8) celf-preschool ss, m (sd) 79 (16) 75 (19) note. m = mean; sd = standard deviation; iep = individualized education program; celf = clinical evaluation of language fundamentals; ss = standard scores. research design and general procedures to answer research question one, a quasi-experimental, control group design was conducted. in line with mtss models, outcome data were collected seasonally (fall, winter, spring) on all the children in the six classrooms. fidelity was observed in each treatment classroom several times a month and the first author conducted monthly interviews with the teachers to document barriers and successes during the implementation. 12 spencer et al. each of the three treatment classrooms was assigned an mtss coach. the coach for the two half day classes had a bachelor’s degree in psychology and the coach for the full day class was a school psychology doctoral student. the first author collaborated and mentored the coaches throughout the study, and occasionally provided direct support to the teachers and teaching assistants. the informed consent process and pretesting phase occurred during september and october of the school year. before teachers began delivering story champs in their classroom, they attended a two-hour didactic training on story champs and watched a coach demonstrate one or two intervention sessions in their classrooms. they also learned to administer and score the nlm-retell. during the training session, they practiced several times but were not required to reach a criterion. because one of our research questions was about the fidelity and reliability the teachers could achieve we did not train them to mastery as we did the research assistants (see below). coaching and feedback were thereafter provided approximately twice a month. all teachers began delivering the large group procedures mid november and continued with the large group procedures for four weeks. the recommended dose of large group story champs was two times a week during the first four weeks. after four weeks, a progress monitoring probe was conducted. in collaboration with the researchers, the teacher and teaching assistant team identified children for small group and individual intervention, which began in january. children who scored between atwo and seven on the progress monitoring probe were assigned to the small group instruction, whereas children who scored between zero and two were assigned to individual instruction. once a month from december to april, the researchers asked the treatment teachers and teaching assistants to complete a questionnaire and conducted interviews with the head start teams to gather feedback about implementation. the teachers and teaching assistants conducted progress monitoring probes monthly to examine the extent to which the children were making progress and to identify when modifications were needed. the teachers and teaching assistants were free to move children in and out of intervention groups based on the nlm-retell results and other observations. from january to april, the recommended dose of intervention was one large group lesson per week and two small group or individual lessons per week. the researchers provided the teachers with dose tracking form, which consisted of a simple log for documenting the date the session was conducted and the students who were present. teachers and teaching assistants did not consistently complete the dose tracking forms, and therefore we are unable to report the exact dose that was achieved. however, through the monthly interviews, we were able to ascertain that the children attending the full day classroom received approximately 90% of the recommended dose, children in classroom b received about 50% of the recommended dose, and children in classroom c received approximately 75% of the recommended dose. after each lesson, teachers and teaching assistants sent a take home activity home with the children. take home activities were single sheets of paper with the illustrations and the story printed in color. there were simple instructions for the parents to help them engage the children in storytelling activities using a familiar story from the school lessons. this component of the intervention was optional and the use of the take home activities was not monitored. intervention the independent variable consisted of four major components integrated together in a mtss fashion. the components included: large group narrative instruction, small group narrative multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers 13 intervention, individual narrative intervention, and progress monitoring probes using the nlmretell task. the teachers and teaching assistants implemented all of the components with support from their mtss coaches. story champs, a multi-tiered narrative intervention curriculum, was the program used to deliver large group, small group, and individual interventions. specific steps for each type of tiered lesson are briefly described in the introduction section, detailed in the story champs manual (spencer & petersen, 2012a), and outlined in the master lesson plans (procedural checklists) in the appendix. in addition, videos of the large group (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4hzbfris6a) and small group (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqluxtbburu) procedures can be viewed online. measurement to address the first question of efficacy, the nlm-retell task was used as a proximal measure because the skills tested are directly related to the skills taught in story champs. nonetheless, the nlm stories were novel to the children at the time of assessment, which provided some evidence that their performance represented improved storytelling and language skills and not just familiarity with the stories. another measure, the assessment of story comprehension (spencer, goldstein, kelley, sherman, & mccune, 2017), served as a moderately distal outcome measure because the skills tested are not directly taught in the story champs program, but stories are used in both so they are similar. at three time points (fall, winter, and spring), researcher assistants administered these two measures. teachers and teaching assistants also administered a single nlm-retell to all of the children in the classroom for progress monitoring purposes once a month during the study. teachers and teaching assistants (in collaboration with the researchers) used the results of the progress monitoring probes to determine if what they were doing was working and to make intervention modifications if needed. because the teachers and teaching assistants were considered participants and not researchers, trained to mastery, the results of the progress monitoring probes are not considered outcome data. rather, they are part of the independent variable of implementing a multi-tiered system of language support. narrative language measures – retell. undergraduate research assistants administered the nlm-retell measure (see sample in appendix). the first author provided didactic instruction on the administration and scoring procedures. the research assistants were allowed to practice for as long as they needed to master the administration procedures. to be qualified to administer the nlm-retell, each research assistant was required to administer the measure to one of the mtss coaches multiple times until it was administered with 100% fidelity. to learn how to score, research assistants read the scoring manual and practiced scoring. to be qualified to score the nlm-retell, each research assistant had to score 10 retells with at least 90% agreement with the first author. administration of the nlm-retell is standardized. before beginning the administration steps, the examiner placed a booklet with five pictures that corresponded to the nlm story in front of the child. the examiner read the script, “i’m going to tell you a story. please listen carefully. when i’m done, you are going to tell me the same story.” then, the examiner read the story with a moderate pace and normal inflection while pointing to the pictures in front of the child. after the examiner read the story, he or she said, “thanks for listening. now, you tell me that story.” only standardized, neutral prompts were allowed; “it’s okay. just do your best.” and 14 spencer et al. “i can’t help you but just tell the parts you remember.” when the child appeared to be done retelling the story, the examiner asked, “are you finished?” the same administration procedures were taught to the teachers and teaching assistants. of the 25 nlm parallel stories, teachers and teaching assistants used the stories allocated for progress monitoring (16) whereas the research assistants used the stories designed for benchmark assessments in the fall, winter, and spring (9). at the three assessment points, each participant was administered three nlm stories in random order at each assessment point. administration of three nlm stories took about 5-8 minutes. all three child retells were scored and the best score of the set of three was used in the analyses. this procedure reduces confounds such as distraction, motivation, and background information impeding the validity of the results. this is especially important for very young children who are not accustom to taking tests and because the assessments took place in the classrooms surrounded by commotion and noise. each assessment session was audio recorded. research assistants completed the nlmretell scoring while listening to the audio files so that they could re-listen as needed. given the noisy conditions of the classroom during assessment, and that young children do not always speak clearly and loudly, it was necessary to listen to the audio files carefully. to score, the research assistants adhered to the guidelines in the nlm manual. retells were scored for the inclusion, clarity, and completeness of each story grammar element. a score of 2 was awarded for a complete and clear response, 1 was scored for an incomplete or unclear response, and 0 was scored when the child did not include the specific story grammar element. retells that included a basic complete episode (i.e., problem, attempt, consequence or ending) were given bonus points. in addition to the story grammar elements, children’s retells were scored for the inclusion of language complexity using a frequency count. the words then, because, when, and after earned one point for each use up to three points, except for the word then, for which the maximum points possible was one. the nlm preschool (spencer & petersen, 2012b) forms have adequate alternate form reliability (r = .85, p < .0001) and strong evidence of concurrent validity (r = .88-.93). factor analyses reveal that the retell task loads on two constructs—comprehension and production while the personal generation task loads primarily on production and the answering questions task loads primarily on comprehension. administration and scoring of all the nlm tasks are standardized, and research has yielded high fidelity of administration (91-98%) and scoring agreement (91-96%; petersen & spencer, 2012; petersen & spencer, 2016). within the current study, fidelity with which the research assistants administered the nlm-retell was calculated for 35% of the total number of retells collected at fall, winter, and spring. the mean fidelity was 98.9% (range = 75%-100%). independent scorers also examined 35% of the retells collected at fall, winter, and spring. point-by-point scoring agreement was calculated between the two independent scorers. the mean scoring agreement was 92.7% (range = 72.7%-100%). assessment of story comprehension. the assessment of story comprehension (asc; spencer et al., 2017) was used as a moderately distal outcome measure. the asc is similar to the nlm in that a short story is read to the child, but it differs in the responses expected of the children. in the nlm, children retell stories and in the asc, children answer a series of recall and inferential questions. like the nlm, the asc stories reflect personally relevant themes such as someone ruining something, wanting to play with someone, and breaking a favorite toy. however, the asc stories are longer and more complex than the preschool nlm stories so that less common vocabulary words can be supported with story multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers 15 context information. moreover, the asc does not have pictures available to use during administration like the preschool nlm. the primary purpose of the asc is to assess preschoolers’ higher-level comprehension skills such as vocabulary and inferencing and to retain authenticity for young preschool children. the asc can be used to identify children who need support in language comprehension and to monitor language comprehension growth over time. there are nine parallel asc forms to align with seasonal administration (three at a time) in fall, winter, and spring. each child was administered a unique sequence of asc forms. the first three asc forms were administered in the fall, the next three in the winter, and the final three were administered in the spring. at fall, winter, and spring, all three administrations were scored, but only the best score of the set was used in the analysis. this strategy helped reduce potential confounds related to motivation, background knowledge, and distractions during asc administration. research assistants were trained to administer and score the asc. they attended a onehour training workshop in which they learned about and practiced administering the asc. to be qualified to administer the asc, each research assistant had to administer the asc to one of the mtss coaches with 100% fidelity. research assistants read the asc manual to learn how to score the assessment and practiced using 10 ascs prepared for training purposes. to be qualified to score the asc, each research assistant had to score an additional 10 ascs and achieve 90% agreement with the first author. administration of the asc is standardized and takes approximately 2-3 minutes per story and 8-10 minutes for a set of three. examiners read the introduction script, “you are going to listen to a story. it is called danny and the big hill. hmmm. i wonder what will happen in this story. let’s think about the title, danny and the big hill. what do you think will happen?” the first item involves prediction based on the title. children’s responses were recorded on the asc protocol. then the examiner said, “now you are going to listen to the story. listen carefully because i’m going to ask you some questions about the story. are you ready?” the examiner read the story using normal inflection and at a moderate pace. when he or she was finished, he or she said, “thanks for listening. now i’m going to ask you some questions.” items 2, 4, and 6 of the asc are recall questions about what the character was doing and what happened in the story. items 3, 5, and 7 are inferential questions that require children to connect two parts of the story or use background information to answer the question accurately. the final question is a definitional vocabulary item. each story has one word with contextual support and this item requires the children to define the word. if a child is unable to give a correct definition, the examiner follows up with a choice of two. for example, “does apologize mean to ask a question or to say sorry?” children’s responses to the questions were recorded on the asc protocol and scored later. asc administrations were audio recorded, but the recordings were only used for scoring when the examiner was unable to hear or understand responses during the administration. otherwise, the ascs were scored within a few days of administration using the written responses recorded on the protocols. asc scoring guides for each story were developed to promote reliability scoring. the guides include sample answers for items 1-7 that qualify for 2, 1 or 0 points. generally, however, the scoring guidelines suggest that 2 points are awarded for clear and complete answers, 1 point is scored for incomplete or unclear answers, and 0 points are given for incorrect answers. the definitional vocabulary item is scored on a 0-3 scale where 3 points are given for a complete and accurate definition, 2 points are given for a partially 16 spencer et al. complete definition or an example, 1 point is given if the child answers the choice of two follow up question. a total of 17 points are possible for each of the ascs. fidelity with which the research assistants administered the asc was calculated for 35% of the total number collected at fall, winter, and spring. the mean fidelity was 99.5% (range = 78.5%-100%). independent scorers also examined 35% of the ascs collected at fall, winter, and spring. point-by-point scoring agreement was calculated between the two independent scorers. across all time points, the mean scoring agreement was 92% (range = 52%-100%). fidelity of story champs to document the extent to which head start teachers and teaching assistant could implement the story champs interventions with fidelity (question two), mtss coaches observed each type of intervention in each classroom at least once a month. because the teachers did not carefully track the dose and the coaches were not present in the classrooms every day, we are unable to determine the portion of the total interventions our fidelity observations represent. when fidelity observations were conducted, the mtss coach sat in an area that did not disrupt the lesson but close enough to hear. she used the procedural checklists (see sample in appendix) as a basis for judging adherence to the intervention steps. a checkmark was made for each step that was completed correctly. in addition, the mtss coaches answered three questions about the quality of prompts, corrections, and differentiation that were observed. observations indicating that the behavior occurred “always” were given 2 points, behaviors observed “sometimes” were given 1 point, and behaviors observed “never” were given 0 points. these were added to the adherence steps to yield the percent of steps completed accurately and with quality (correct steps plus quality points divided by the total number of steps plus total number of quality points). fidelity and reliability of nlm research questions three and four address how well the teachers and teaching assistants were able to administer and score the nlm-retell task. because mtss models require assessment data as the basis for identifying children for the different tiers, and for making ongoing decisions, it is essential that the end users are able to use the assessment tools appropriately. teachers and teaching assistants administered one retell probe to all of the children in their class once a month. the head start teachers and teaching assistants used audio recorders to record their assessments. the teachers and assistants were given a set of 16 nlm stories/protocols (see sample in appendix) for each child. the teachers and teaching assistants scored directly on these protocols. when the study was complete, the researchers collected the protocols. mtss coaches listened to 100% of the audio files and used a fidelity checklist to judge the extent to which the teacher and/or teaching assistant administered the nlm correctly. at the same time, the mtss coach scored the child’s retells without referencing what the teacher or teaching assistant had scored. the nlm-retell fidelity checklist consisted of eight items that measured how closely the examiner adhered to the script and read the story word for word with normal inflection and at a moderate pace. point-by-point agreement was used to calculate scoring inter-rater reliability. multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers 17 feasibility questionnaire to examine the extent to which head start teachers and teaching assistants perceived story champs and the nlm to be feasible in their classrooms when implemented in a multi-tiered fashion (question five), we created a 26-item questionnaire. twenty-two of the items were likert scale items, where 0 represented strongly disagree and 6 represented strongly agree. these items were grouped into four categories: self-efficacy, supports, ease of use, and child engagement. sample items in the self-efficacy category included i am able to use story champs effectively and i am comfortable making modifications to fit the needs of my students. for the supports category, sample items included i do not need additional supports to deliver story champs and the center director supports the use of story champs. ease of use was intended to determine if the teachers had enough time to plan and implement story champs and whether they could fit the nlm and the interventions in among their other tasks. sample items for child engagement included my students are engaged during story champs activities and my students enjoy story champs. fifteen of the items were about story champs whereas seven items were about the use of the nlm-retell measure. the final four questions were open-ended so that teachers and teaching assistants could report their favorite part, their least favorite part, what modifications they made, and suggestions they had to the research team about how to improve the program. mtss coaches gave a questionnaire to each teacher once a month about the same time they administered the progress monitoring probes but before the interview with the researcher. the teachers’ and teaching assistants’ answers to the open-ended questions served as a guide for discussions. interviews lasted approximately one hour. in addition to the content in the feasibility questionnaire, the researcher worked with the teachers and teaching assistants to interpret the results of the nlm-retell measure and make data-based decisions. results with respect to the first research question, an analysis of covariance (ancova) was used to determine the effects of the story champs intervention on nlm-retells and asc scores at both winter and spring assessment points after controlling for group differences. prior to this analysis, data were screened for normalcy using an analysis of variance (anova), homogeneity of regression slopes, and homogeneity of variances. all assumptions were met for the ancova procedure. using a significance level of .05, results indicated that there were statistically significant group differences for the intervention group on the winter nlm-retells, f(1, 102) = 5.96, p = .016, partial η2 = .06 and spring nlm-retells, f(1, 102) = 6.59, p = .012, partial η2 = .06, with medium effect sizes. there were also statistically significant differences in asc scores between groups at the winter, f(1, 102) = 9.02, p = .003, partial η2 = .08 and spring assessment points, f(1, 102) = 7.83, p = .003, partial η2 = .07 favoring the intervention group, with medium effect sizes (see table 3). 18 spencer et al. table 3 intervention efficacy with means, standard deviations, and significance levels for nlm and asc scores at winter and spring assessment points control group treatment group m sd m sd f df p n2 nlm-retell winter 8.26 5.36 10.73 4.6 5.96 (1, 102) .016* .06 nlm-retell spring 10.29 5.25 12.8 4.29 6.59 (1, 102) .012* .06 asc winter 6.16 5.1 7.81 4.7 9.02 (1, 102) .003* .08 asc spring 7.21 4.66 8.4 4.56 7.83 (1, 102) .006* .07 note. nlm = narrative language measures; asc = assessment of story comprehension; m = mean; sd = standard deviation; df = degrees of freedom; n2 = partial eta squared. *p < .05 teachers’ and teaching assistants’ ability to implement the tiered interventions correctly and with quality was monitored to address research question two. overall procedural fidelity was moderately-strong across all group arrangements implemented by teacher and teacher-assistant teams. for the large group procedures, mean fidelity was 86.7%; for the small group procedures, mean fidelity was 83.8%, and for the individual procedures, mean fidelity was 94.8%. the number of observations for each tier of intervention, the mean fidelity, and ranges are displayed in table 4. there were more opportunities to observe large group story champs and fewer opportunities to observe individual interventions. table 4 teachers’ intervention fidelity arrangement number of observations mean fidelity range large group 9 86.7% 73.3-100% small group 8 83.8% 68.2-95.5% individual 6 94.8% 80-100% multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers 19 to address research questions three and four, we assessed the extent to which the head start teachers and teaching assistants were able to administer and score the nlm-retell measure. mean administration fidelity was 96.6%, while point-by-point scoring agreement with the coaches was 84.9%. these data are displayed in table 5. table 5 teachers’ administration fidelity and scoring reliability of the narrative language measures mean range nlm-retell scoring reliability 84.9% 54.5 – 100% nlm-retell administration fidelity 96.6% 66.7 – 100% note. nlm = narrative language measures teachers’ perceptions of the feasibility of multi-tiered intervention were averaged across all the teachers and teaching assistants who completed the questionnaire each month. although there were subtle differences between the reporters, in general, all of the teachers’ reports followed a consistent pattern. figure 1 shows mean feasibility scores across the months. the first month of implementation was the most difficult for the head start teachers and teaching assistants. they reported lower self-efficacy, receiving fewer supports from the other staff and administrator, more difficulty with implementing the procedures, and lower child engagement. improvements were noted in all areas from january to april, with very high feasibility reported in march and april. in may, however, scores in self-efficacy, supports, and ease of implementation decreased. child engagement remained high in may. 20 spencer et al. figure 1. mean feasibility scores from december to may. the open-ended items on the feasibility questionnaire allowed us to capture the teachers and teaching assistants’ thoughts about the things they liked and the obstacles they experienced. we examined all of the questionnaires for comments and found that there was a great deal of overlap between comments and themes. in table 6, we have provided sample statements that reflect the general themes. the positive comment that was made most consistently was how much the children enjoyed the lessons. the obstacle that was repeated more than others was about time and the balance needed to complete all of their other tasks. 3.33 4.4 4.71 5.64 5.88 4.75 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 self-efficacy 3.83 4.67 5 5.29 6 4.2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 supports 4 4.86 5.06 5.13 5.83 4.67 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 ease 4.33 6 5.56 5.67 6 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 engagement m ea n fe as ib ili ty s co re s multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers 21 table 6 feedback from head start teachers and teaching assistants positives obstacles we have experienced that it works. would like to use in weekly lessons plans. parents reported practicing at home. stories were easy. center director supports use. my students enjoyed the intervention. enjoyed large group procedures most. students were engaged. extended activities into centers. adhering to administration procedures. lack of time and other commitments. need more training and support. lots of turnover in class. challenging for younger students. classroom management difficult during small group. discussion efficacy of interventions is of paramount importance. in the evidence-based practice climate, educators must know what works. but, there is also the matter of how well a given intervention integrates or fits into real classroom environments and systems (albin, lucyshyn, horner, & flannery, 1996; strain, barton, & dunlap, 2012). real classrooms do not operate in a clean and completely organized manner, as is the case in the laboratory (evans & weist, 2004). schoolbased interventions are ultimately implemented in chaotic, busy environments that, during efficacy trials, are typically moderated by the intensive involvement of researchers. this poses real challenges for educators who attempt to apply an empirically supported intervention in their natural setting (adelman & taylor, 2000; harn, parisi, & stoolmiller, 2013). research that encompasses implementation variables can help transport research into practice (fixsen et al., 2005). although tiered systems of support around behavior have a rich history in early childhood settings (benedict, horner, & squires, 2007; fox, dunlap, & crushing, 2002), multitiered systems of instruction targeting literacy are relatively new in preschool settings (buysse & peisner-feinberg, 2013; greenwood et al., 2011). in addition, differentiating during small group lessons is common in preschools; however, explicit literacy lessons accompanied by a presentation manual are less common (bailet, repper, murphy, piasta, & zettler-greely, 2013). despite an abundance of research from k-3 investigations, the findings from mtss literacy models do not automatically apply in head start preschools. early childhood has a different set of factors relevant to the implementation of mtss. therefore, the need to examine variables that promote or impede the implementation and sustainability of interventions is significant. for this implementation study, we merged questions of efficacy and feasibility when a multi-tiered intervention program was delivered by head start teachers and teaching assistants in their active and hectic environments. this project was built upon four previous investigations of the story champs program, in which researchers and research assistants delivered the lessons and 22 spencer et al. completed all of the assessments. moreover, this was the first examination of story champs when all three tiers of instruction were integrated into classrooms and the nlm guided formative assessment. efficacy of multi-tiered narrative intervention the efficacy results indicate that the intervention, when delivered by the head start teams, was effective at producing statistically significant improvements on story retelling and language comprehension, with medium effect sizes. both of these outcomes are highly meaningful for young children. improvements in these skills are likely to impact broader comprehension skills related to storybook read alouds, inferencing skills, and vocabulary development. with respect to language production, the improvements children made in storytelling suggest that, at the end of the year, they produced longer more complete sentences and used more complex sentences to convey past events. among many anecdotal comments about how well the treatment group was talking, one center director, who did not have a full picture of what the intervention was, reported that of the three classrooms in her center, the treatment classroom was the only class in which the children could carry on an extended conversation with her. the children were friendlier and more confident. she said that the differences between the classes were obvious and exciting. children who received the treatment were likely much more prepared for kindergarten as their language comprehension and production skills met multiple early learning objectives (national governors association center for best practices & council of chief state school officers, 2010; teaching strategies, inc., 2010). it is particularly important to focus on the language of young children who are at risk for future reading comprehension difficulty (mcnamara & kendeou, 2011). children who attend head start preschool programs tend to have highly disproportionate rates of reading difficulty (national center of education statistics, 2015). this high percentage of reading difficulty has not improved in any meaningful way over the past 20 years (national center of education statistics, 2015). it is clear that the almost exclusive focus on decoding in the early years has not made a significant impact on later reading outcomes. because the primary focus of school-age reading assessments is on reading comprehension, it only makes sense that decoding and comprehension should be of concern. children who have stronger language skills do better in school (mehta, foorman, branum-martin, & taylor, 2005; griffin, hemphill, camp, & wolf, 2004; bishop and edmondson, 1987; fazio, naremore, and connell, 1996). instead of waiting until children struggle with reading comprehension, which isn’t validly measured until second or third grade, we can instead intervene early by measuring language comprehension and incorporating mtss for language at a very young age. the children in this study who participated in mtss for language made significant improvements in their ability to retell and answer questions about complex, literate narrative language that is reflective of the written language they will need to decode and comprehend in school. the language skills that the children attained lay the foundation for later reading comprehension and academic language (catts, fey, tomblin, & zhang, 2002; dickinson, golinkoff, & hirsh-pasek, 2010; hirsch, 2003; storch & whitehurst, 2002; tunmer & chapman, 2012; walker, greenwood, hart, & carta, 1994). this study offers preliminary evidence that mtss for language can be implemented at an early age, and that multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers 23 young students can make meaningful, significant gains in their use and comprehension of literate, academic language. feasibility of multi-tiered narrative intervention research questions two through four addressed the extent to which the head start teachers and teaching assistants were able to implement the story champs intervention and administer the nlm-retell measure with fidelity and score the nlm reliably. a general standard for high fidelity and reliability is 90%, whereas 80% is acceptable. the teachers and teaching assistants were able to meet the acceptable standard. although the teachers’ and teaching assistants’ fidelity and reliability scores were lower than the research teams’ in the current and previous studies, it was encouraging to see that their fidelity and reliability was within acceptable limits. small group story champs was more challenging for the teachers and teaching assistants because those lessons were conducted during learning centers when the children are engaged in a variety of activities around the classroom. the children who were not participating in the small group intervention were noisily playing. in contrast though, large group story champs involved the entire class so there were not added distractions for the children and the teacher. all of the teachers and teaching assistants reported that the small group lessons were most challenging because they had never taught small group explicit lessons, and managing the behavior of three to four children at a time was difficult. based on the mean fidelity scores, it appears that the individual lessons (94.8%) and the nlm-retell administration (96.6%) were easiest for the teachers to do. this is likely because during these activities the teacher or teaching assistant was working with only one child at a time. it was encouraging to find that the nlm-retell scoring agreement was within an acceptable range (84.9%). we expected this to be the most challenging aspect of the mtss because the teachers reported that this type of assessment was unfamiliar to them. the inter-rater reliability for the nlm-retell indicates that with some training and practice, children’s retells can be scored by head start teachers and teaching assistants. if a valid assessment can be scored reliably, then it can be used for making decisions in a formative manner. results of the feasibility questionnaire produced a number of interesting findings. the consistent pattern across all the teachers and teaching assistants was that the feasibility was lowest during the first month they implemented the program, but steadily improved over the next four months. it is likely that as the teachers and teaching assistants became more comfortable delivering the interventions and administering the assessment, they perceived the activities as easier, the children were more engaged, and others were more supportive of the implementation as a whole. feasibility scores for the story champs interventions were overall higher than the feasibility scores for the nlm. this was not surprising since this type of progress monitoring was unusual to the head start teachers and teaching assistants. one area that did not show incremental increases was child engagement. the increase in engagement to the maximum score came in the second month of implementation and remained high until the end of the year. the most unusual finding, however, was that teachers reported a decrease for self-efficacy, supports, and ease of implementation in the last month of school. there was a significant drop in scores in may in all feasibility categories except engagement. this was puzzling. the only anecdotal evidence that supports this type of drop was that teachers reported that, in the late spring, the students’ behavior became more difficult to manage. there were more field trips and visitors 24 spencer et al. during the last month, which meant there were more activities competing for the time that was typically used for story champs. based on the teachers’ and teaching assistants’ open ended remarks about the things they liked and the obstacles they encountered, a number of discoveries were made. overall, the teachers and teaching assistants appeared to enjoy the program and reported that the children made meaningful language gains. they thought the lessons were fun and engaging, and that parents, center directors, and other staff members in the classroom supported the implementation of multi-tiered narrative intervention. some of the teachers took it upon themselves to extend the concepts into other parts of their day and used the story grammar icons to help children understand books read aloud in the classroom. the obstacles appeared to be the same for all of the teachers at one time or another. for example, initially the teachers reported that it was difficult to adhere to the procedures in the master lesson plans and follow the scripts for the nlm-retell administration. teachers reported that classroom management was challenging because the children who were not receiving small group intervention were playing freely. there are other potential options for scheduling that could reduce this obstacle, but since small group instruction was not commonplace in these classrooms, the best time for intervention was during center time. the most significant obstacle was time. teachers and teaching assistants appeared frustrated with the number of tasks they had to complete every day and that they were not always able to fit everything in. although they enjoyed the multi-tiered lessons, there was no requirement for them, which meant that story champs would be the first thing to slip off the schedule. there was a significant amount of turnover of the staff members in classroom b that was likely responsible for the lower dose of intervention achieved (e.g., 50% of recommended dose). a number of revisions and additions have been made to the story champs program as a result of direct feedback from the head start teachers and teaching assistants. one of the new components of story champs is the inclusion of center activities. teachers requested materials to help reinforce the concepts during child-directed activities. we created three specific sets of materials and activities, including sequencing pictures, story strips (for drawing stories), and storybooks. to use the storybooks, a set of blank books goes in a literacy center. each page of the book has a story grammar icon on it (i.e., character, problem feeling, action, ending) and four lines with plenty of space for drawing. children draw their pictures that correspond to the icons and then dictate each part of the story for the teacher to write. another revision involved more information in the master lesson plans and the development of a sample script. because explicit instruction was less familiar to the teachers, one requested more help with what to say while she learned how to deliver the lessons. we created scripts for one teacher to use, but as soon as she was comfortable with the lessons, she did not need to refer to it anymore. this script has since been added to the story champs manual. finally, teachers suggested that videos would help them learn the program. none of the teachers read the manual even though the researchers gave them one and asked them to read it. a video manual instead of a paper version may be a more accessible way to provide training to busy teachers. limitations and future directions although this study makes an important contribution to the current knowledge on mtss models in early childhood education, there are a number of weaknesses and areas for future study that multi-tiered narrative intervention for preschoolers 25 should be noted. for instance, due to limited resources, we were unable to document the type and quality of instruction in the control classrooms. we would have also liked to conduct more thorough and more frequent observations in the treatment classrooms to document any carryover effects. one teacher commented that because of story champs and the nlm, she knew what to expect from her students in terms of language. others have reported that teachers learn to recast and expand children’s language through the use of story champs, but we were unable to document whether this occurred outside of story champs lessons. future research should examine the extent to which teachers’ general language facilitation improves as a result of using story champs. another weakness of this study was that we were unable to conduct a follow up probe to examine the extent to which the language advantage sustained because post-testing was completed just before the school year ended. it is unknown whether the oral language production and language comprehension improvements we observed would be robust enough to have a durable impact. given the significant disadvantage the child participants had in language (e.g., mean celf-p of 79), it may take multiple years of intensive language promotion to significantly improve their academic achievement (dickinson et al., 2010; paris, 2005). nonetheless, this is a worthy area of study for the future. few studies have followed children long enough to examine a causal link from early oral language intervention to later reading comprehension (fricke, bowyer-crane, haley, hulme, & snowling, 2013). it is possible that limited general classroom organization seen in the comparison to classroom c could have reduced the language growth the children in that classroom experienced. preschool classroom quality predicts literacy outcomes in that the higher the classroom quality the more the students learn (cunningham, 2010). in this study, the differences in general classroom organization favored the treatment group. unfortunately, with such small samples further analysis of ellco differences and their impact on the outcomes was not 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(2004). celf preschool 2: clinical evaluation of language fundamentals preschool. pearson/psychcorp. implementing and evaluating a strategy to improve the adoption of of evidence-based practice by nurses working in army medical treatment facilities dialog, 18(2), 58-70 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research article improving access through implementation of site based well-child visits in head start kristina m. roberson, jane e. blood-siegfried, and anne l. derouin duke university john p. vartenisian virginia tech children in poverty are at greater risk for developmental and health problems and face significant barriers in accessing routine preventive healthcare. evidence based guidelines recommend stricter adherence to the schedule of well-child care to promote early identification and treatment. literature indicates that well-child visits in school settings make a difference among low-income children with unmet preventive healthcare needs. this study describes the implementation of a well-child visit program in a head start site with enrollments of children living in poverty. the comparison study design measured the aggregate percentage of children up to date with well-child visits against historical pre-data. there were clinical increases in the proportion of children up to date with the site-based intervention. implications support the establishment of school-based health centers in head start sites that provide well-child visits as well as illness management. keywords: school based clinic; school based health center; nurse practitioner; preschool; head start; low-income children; well-child care; preventive pediatric health when compared to all children, children in poverty face significant barriers in accessing preventive care that includes regular assessment of growth, health, and development alongside early diagnosis and treatment (american academy of pediatrics, 2013). at least 11.4 million children in the u.s., or 16% of all children, do not see a health care provider for an annual preventive well child visit due to issues involving health care access (data resource center for child and adolescent health, 2012). lack of insurance, insurance coverage gaps and transportation are among these barriers. in 2012, the poverty rate for children under age 6 was 24.4%, or 5.8 million kids (u.s. census bureau, 2013). compared with the health of higher income peers, low-income families experience higher rates of infant mortality, and their children evidence slower childhood growth, 58 roberson et al. poorer nutrition, and more frequent and severe chronic diseases such as asthma (child trends, 2012). they also have lower immunization rates, increased obesity, and obesity-related complications (american academy of pediatrics, 2013). due to the increased health risks associated with poverty, the american academy of pediatrics (2000) and the agency for healthcare research and quality (2011) have developed evidenced based guidelines that recommend stricter adherence to an age specific schedule of preventive visits for youth in lowincome families. head start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to five by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development (u.s. department of health and human services, 2011). its enrollments are comprised mainly of children from families living at or below the federal poverty level which is defined as a monthly household income at or less than $1,962, or an annual household income at or less than $23,550 for a family of four (u.s. office of the federal register, 2013). in an effort to address health disparities among children in poverty and promote early identification and treatment, all head start sites are mandated to ensure at least 90% of enrolled children are up to date on the age specific schedule of preventive well-child care (u.s. department of health and human services, 2009). research has shown that site based well-child visits provided in school settings, such as head start, can make a difference in access to care among low income children with unmet preventive healthcare needs. silberberg and cantor (2008) conducted an observational case study among four elementary schools with a high level of unmet health needs among low-income children. the study demonstrated that school-based visits significantly improved health service utilization, yet only among the neediest children. a similar comparison study by wade, mansour, line, huentelman and keller (2008) concluded that the school based model of health care delivery demonstrated statistically significant improvement of student reported quality of life among elementary and middle school students. more influence was found on children that generally have impeded access to care, specifically those without private health insurance, and those with lower household income levels. transferrable models for site based well-child care come from school based or school linked health centers in which services are shaped to meet the needs of the setting. school based health services can encompass a full or limited range of healthcare depending on the unique needs of the population. the essential component is having a designated area that is devoted to service provision. once the specific services and space have been determined, consideration must be given to required administrative approvals, hours of availability, supplies, equipment, and staffing (illinois maternal and child health coalition, 2013). this quality improvement study introduced a site based well-child program at a southeastern u.s. head start location in order to increase the percentage of enrolled children who were up to date with the american academy of pediatrics’ age specific preventive visit guidelines. the study site operates a large head start program and has encountered challenges in meeting the 90% mandate. at the end of the 2009-2010 school year, 88% of children were up to date with well-child visits. the 2010-2011 end of school year rate was 88%, and the 20112012 end of school year rate was 83%. the 2012-2013 school year was the first time in decades that the site achieved a 90% compliance rate. sustaining that momentum and driving that compliance rate even higher would entail determining and addressing the historical root causes of access disparities in the county. a root cause analysis determined that parents faced a number of barriers in accessing preventive healthcare for their children that mirror the obstacles noted at improving access to healthcare 59 the national level. the site specific barriers included lack of health insurance, inability to pay out of pocket, and lack of transportation (s. yellock, personal communication, february 11, 2013). objectives and aims this study was designed to assess if provision of site-based well-child care increased compliance with the recommended schedule of preventive visit guidelines in a head start program. the aim was to increase the percentage of enrolled children who were up to date with the american academy of pediatrics’ age specific preventive visit guidelines so that a 95% compliance goal was met. methods design a comparison study design spanned an implementation period of five months, august through december, 2013. pre-implementation discussion and planning occurred june and july 2013. implementation began in august and ended in december. the percentage of children who were up to date with age-specific preventive healthcare guidelines was measured after the intervention and compared to historical pre-data. setting the setting was a head start program in the southeastern united states that has been a federal head start grantee for more than four decades. the vast majority of children in head start come from families that are at or below the federal poverty level as eligibility for head start services is based on meeting federal poverty guidelines. since head start is federally funded, enrolled children and their families receive head start services at no cost. the study site has 10 child development centers that meet high standards for program quality, facilities, and ratio of children to caregivers. all have a 5-star rating as issued by the local division of child development, and are accredited by the national association for the education of young children therein meeting national standards of quality for early childhood education. the head start program runs on a nine-month calendar year that begins in august and ends the following may. center hours of operation are monday through friday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year, the program reported an enrollment of 1072 students consisting of 796 three to five year olds, and 276 children aged birth to two years (g. highsmith, personal communication, june 18, 2013). among children ages three to five, 82% met eligibility criteria for living below the federal poverty line. ethnic demographics consisted of 20% hispanic or latino, and 80% non-hispanic or non-latino in origin. in regards to racial demographics, 72% were black or african american, 4% were white, 3% were biracial/multi-racial, and 3% were asian. parents of the remaining 18% declined to identify 60 roberson et al. their child’s race. additionally, 72% of children in head start lived in a household with only one parent. sample inclusion criteria for a site based well-child visit were children ages 3-5 years who were not up to date with the age specific schedule of well-child care, and who were experiencing a barrier in access to care. eligible children were identified by head start staff from among the 10 center sites using a web-based software system called child plus that tracks and indicates when a child is due, or past due, for a well-child visit. once identified, staff contacted the parent via face to face contact, phone call, or letter and inquired if the family was experiencing a barrier in access to preventive healthcare for the child. the presence of a barrier to access was substantiated by the parent’s report and encompassed the domains of healthcare availability, accessibility, accommodation, affordability, and acceptability (penchansky & thomas, 1981). each eligible child was offered a site-based well-child visit when all three inclusion criteria of age, not being up to date, and access barrier were met. parents either declined the visit, or agreed to and scheduled a visit. this resultant sample size was 37 participants. description of intervention site-based preventive visits were made available at the start of the 2013-2014 school year. the preventive visit was performed by a volunteer nurse practitioner with available appointments two weekday evenings every month in 2 hour blocks of time. some appointments were offered on one saturday morning each month to accommodate parent work schedules. saturday appointments coincided with the weekends that the central office was open for community workshops. each two hour time block allowed a minimum of six 20 minute visits, which translated to a minimum capacity of 12 to18 preventive health visits each month. the well-child visits incorporated the age-specific guidelines specified by the american academy of pediatrics (2000) and the agency for healthcare research and quality (2011). a head start health unit staff member, all of whom were either certified medical or nursing assistants, performed the pre-visit work up by obtaining biometric measurements, conducting sensory screenings, and administering a developmental and behavioral assessment. the medical or nursing assistant also reviewed the available health information and prepared referral information as appropriate for hemoglobin testing as well as immunizations. once the visit work up was complete, the nurse practitioner gathered the child’s medical history and performed a physical examination. age appropriate anticipatory guidance was delivered to parents in the form of written and verbal communication using the american academy of pediatrics bright futures guidelines (2008). this project did not intend to serve as a medical home for participants, but as a safety net for children without continuous accessible medical care who were due for a single well-child visit. every parent-child dyad was referred to a family advocate for support and guidance in accessing resources and navigating the health care system in order to address and overcome access barriers. study approval was obtained from duke university institutional review board, improving access to healthcare 61 and head start’s governing board of directors, policy council, and health services advisory committee. evaluation measures the primary outcome was compliance with the recommended schedule of pediatric preventive health care visits. the well-child care program was the independent variable, or input, while the compliance rate was the dependent variable, or effect. secondary outcomes included identified health conditions, treatments provided and referrals made, along with measurement of parent and staff satisfaction. compliance with the recommended schedule of well-child care was operationally defined as the proportion of children that were up to date divided by the total number of children in the head start program. ransaville and hakim (2000) determined levels of compliance with the american academy of pediatrics’ preventive healthcare visit guidelines based on a lenient ±2 month window around the due date based on the child’s date of birth, or the date of the last documented preventive health visit. for project purposes, the proportion of children that were compliant, or up to date, was defined as having the recommended well visit within ±2 months of the due date, and noncompliance was defined as not having the recommended well visit within ±2 months of the due date. treatment provided and referrals made for health conditions identified during visits were also tracked and measured to capture effectiveness as the principle of the preventive visit is early screening, diagnosis, and treatment. treatment and referral was operationally defined as the number of children treated and/or referred divided by the total number of children seen in the well-child program. the third and fourth outcomes were parent and staff satisfaction. satisfaction results were captured using likert survey questionnaires. surveys inquired re ease of making an appointment, convenience of visits, ease in obtaining referral information, and overall care and experience. in addition to assessing satisfaction, these surveys allowed parents and staff an opportunity to provide suggestions that would afford additional justification for project sustainability and recommendations for changes. data collection procedure to protect participant’s privacy, all data collected was either aggregated, de-identified or anonymous in nature, and no protected health information was collected. data forms and surveys were kept at the site in a locked file cabinet in a locked records room that only staff had access to. the final electronic dataset was stored in a limited access folder that only the principal investigator and study personnel had access to. anonymous and aggregated compliance rates were provided monthly to study personnel. de-identified demographic and health information was captured on data collection forms completed by study personnel at the time of the well-child care visit and included: visit month, child age, access barrier, health insurance carrier (current or within last 3 months), medical home, diagnosis, treatment provided and referral made. parent surveys were distributed following the well-child visit, and staff surveys were distributed post implementation. all surveys were anonymous and optional. 62 roberson et al. analysis the proportion of students that were compliant with the recommended schedule of pediatric preventive healthcare was reported monthly to study personnel. the post intervention percentage was then compared to the prior year’s historical data. percent complaint year 1 with no intervention was compared to percent complaint year 2 with intervention. the remainder of the collected data was input into spss software and analyzed using descriptive statistics. response rates for both the parent and staff survey questionnaires were also calculated and analyzed using descriptive statistics. results a total of 37 children were seen with the majority presenting during the month of september (table 1). the age group that received the highest number of well-child care visits was the 4 year olds. the single most commonly reported access to care barrier was a lack of insurance followed by not being able to get an appointment within the needed time-frame. table 1 visits per month, age, barrier, and insurance n=37 % visits per month aug 3 8 sept 22 59 oct 6 16 nov 5 14 dec 1 3 age 3 6 16 4 25 68 5 6 16 barriers to access of care cannot locate provider 1 3 no available appointment 12 32 transportation 0 0 cannot afford to pay 1 3 no insurance 19 51 prefer another provider 4 11 insurance medicaid 22 60 private 3 8 none 12 32 improving access to healthcare 63 most parents identified medicaid as their child’s current or most recent health insurance coverage. there were 7 children whose parents indicated that the child currently had no insurance coverage, yet did have coverage within the prior 3 months. medical home data indicated that 32% of children identified a local federally qualified health center as their usual source of ongoing healthcare, and 30% identified no medical home. over the course of the implementation period, there were a total of 11 children that did not show for their well-child appointment with one no-show in august, four in september, and two each month in october, november, and december. well-child compliance rates the proportion of children that were up to date with well-child care at the beginning of both school years was nearly equal at 14% in 2012 and 13% in 2013 (figure 1). during august through december 2012, there was a slight and steady percentage increase each month (august, 14%; september, 18%; october, 29%; november, 44%, december, 85%). during the same time period in 2013, there was an 84% increase in august through october with a 28% loss in november followed by recovery of the prior gain in december (august 13%; september 80%; october 97%; november 69%; december 97%). health conditions identified a number of health conditions were identified during the well-child visits (table 2). the most common diagnosis was seasonal allergies found among 30% of children. twenty-seven percent needed immunizations, and 22% had asthma. the remaining other 22 medical ailments included: insect dermatitis (1), anemia (1), lymphadenopathy (1), umbilical hernia (1), developmental 64 roberson et al. delay (1), heart murmur (3), upper respiratory infection (5), hives (1), peanut allergy (1), speech delay (2), visible dental decay (1), rash (1), behavioral concerns (1), ear-wax impaction (1), and enlarged tonsils (1). of note is the observation that of the n=37 children, only 5 (14%) had no health conditions identified. twelve children (32%) had one detected illness, and 20 (54%) had anywhere from two to four co-occurring health ailments. treatments and referrals of the 32 children identified with a medical diagnosis, 13 received treatment only, 3 received referral only, and 16 received both treatment and referral. treatment only was provided mostly for children with acute illnesses such as viral upper respiratory infections, rash, and ear wax impaction. referrals only were made to the local health department for past due immunizations, and for dental services due to visible tooth decay. children that received a combination of treatments and referrals were for diagnoses that required ongoing medical treatment and management such as asthma, anemia, heart murmur, developmental delay, and food allergy. most of the children with chronic ongoing medical diagnoses were already known to the head start staff, thus the healthcare provider’s role entailed reinforcing established management plans, and ensuring appropriate documentation so that head start staff could follow through and make certain health needs were being fully addressed. parent satisfaction the response rate for parent satisfaction surveys was 70% (n=26). extremely satisfied received the highest rating among all 5 survey measures (figure 2). overall care was the survey item that received the highest percentage of extreme satisfaction (80%), and was followed by convenience of on-site services (77%). there was more satisfaction with ease in obtaining follow up information (73%) as compared to the convenience of hours offered (69%). ease of making an appointment had the lowest percentage in regards to parent satisfaction (62%). one respondent indicated extreme dissatisfaction in all aspects of parent satisfaction. table 2 health conditions found during examinations n=37 asthma 8 allergies 11 eczema 3 failed vision 4 failed hearing 3 need immunizations 10 underweight 2 overweight 2 other 22 improving access to healthcare 65 thirty percent of parents wrote comments in the section of the survey for additional feedback and suggestions. quality of service was the most common theme and was observed in 8 of the 11 surveys. parents used terms such as “a+ service”, “helpful”, “informative”, and “great”. customer service attributes were described in 45% of the returned surveys with words to describe the health care team as “kind”, “gentle”, “nice”, “friendly”, and “professional”. terms specific to thankfulness and appreciation were written in 5 of the 11 parent surveys. one parent suggested “have(-ing) someone there on a day to day basis”. staff satisfaction eighty-three percent (n=20) of the health and family services staff responded to the staff satisfaction survey. convenience of on-site services received the highest proportion of extreme satisfaction (60%) among all the staff satisfaction measures (figure 3). ease of making appointments had a 25% extreme satisfaction rate followed by an equal frequency distribution among very satisfied (35%) and satisfied (35%). fifteen percent of staff was extremely satisfied with the ease of receiving follow up information, and this was the only measure where staff responded in all five satisfaction categories. twenty-five percent of staff was very satisfied, and a total of 20% were either very or extremely dissatisfied. in regards to overall experience, no staff member reported being either dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied. thirty-five percent were extremely satisfied, 30% were very satisfied, and 35% were satisfied. nine staff members, or 38%, wrote comments on the staff satisfaction survey. two described the site based well-child program as an asset by describing it as “a beneficial service” and “great resource”. two others spoke to their satisfaction indicating they were “pleased” and “extremely satisfied” with the service, while two staff members commented on the convenience of site based preventive visits. three suggestions were made. the first was that each center “have well-child check-ups…here at school”, the second was that “lead hemoglobin checks” be provided on-site, and the last suggestion was that there be a “more timely response in receiving completed exam forms (i.e. documentation) after well-child visits.” 62% 77% 69% 73% 80% ease making appt. conveneince of on-site convenience of hrs ease follow up info overall care figure 2. parent satisfaction extreme satisfaction 66 roberson et al. discussion implications the study demonstrated a clinical increase with improved well-child compliance rates. the year 1 december 84% compliance rate with no intervention increased to 97% at december year 2 with intervention. this 13% increase was of practical importance in sustaining the momentum and meeting the 90% compliance rate goal at the end of the school year in may. the focus of this study was well-child visits, yet the study reinforced the recommendation that any head start program implementing school based services should tailor the services based on individual program needs. the head start program had needs beyond those of well-child care for which such services were not offered, three services in particular. the first was treatment of acute ailments as multiple times during project implementation the nurse practitioner was asked if sick children could be seen although this was not within the scope of the study. within the first four months of the program year there were 126 children that had at least one or more occurrences of 3 day consecutive absences due to illness (i. cuthrell, personal communication, march 12, 2014). the second service need was for immunizations. twenty-seven percent of the children seen in the site based well-child program needed immunizations. additionally, according to the child plus tracking system, only 30% of all the children enrolled at head start were up to date with immunizations at the end of project implementation in december (s. yellock, personal communication, march 12, 2014). lastly, 22% of the children seen in the well-child program had asthma, and program wide there were 66 children had asthma diagnoses with no asthma care plan noted in the child plus tracking system (s. yellock, personal communication, march 12, 2014). this substantiates the need for school based healthcare aimed at the treatment and management of asthma. the appointment scheduling process is also pivotal with school based healthcare. setting up an appointment should be efficient for both staff and parents as this directly impacts the perception and ease of making an appointment. with this study, parents communicated with family advocates to schedule an appointment. family advocates then contacted health staff who then contacted the nurse practitioner who then confirmed the slot or responded back with an alternative time. this cumbersome process reflected in the lower satisfaction scores among parents and staff in regards to east of making appointments. much like a medical office, there should be a straight line process where parents speak to one person who can look at the schedule and make an appointment. additionally, a “straight line” process must be in place for getting documentation of the well-child visit to the family advocate staff person that is responsible for ensuring all enrolled children have proof of being up to date with well-child visits. during implementation, the documentation was given to health staff at the end of the visit, and health staff forwarded the completed form to the family advocate. yet, there was often a lag in response time and the family advocate often did not know if the child kept the appointment or not. the family advocate had the charge of ensuring each child had documentation of a well-child visit on file before being enrolled, or within 30 days following enrollment as mandated by the division of child development (north carolina general statute chapter 110, 2014). not having the documentation in a timely fashion impedes the decision making process about whether a child is permitted to attend, and could’ve resulted in unwarranted absences. this reflected in staff’s improving access to healthcare 67 satisfaction with the ease of receiving follow up information which was the only survey item where respondents selected items in all five satisfaction choices. in this study, a nurse practitioner performed the well-child visit, yet the option exists for registered nurses to perform a health check screening visit that meets well-child visit requirements. the north carolina general statute chapter 110-91(1) (2014) states that a required health assessment can be done by a public health nurse meeting the department’s standards for the early, periodic screening, diagnosis and treatment program. under this statute, registered nurses may complete the child health training program that is a standardized curriculum that focuses on the american academy of pediatrics age specific and evidenced based guidelines entitled bright futures. once certified, registered nurses are able to perform a comprehensive history and complete physical assessment that includes all the required components of the well-child visit and is billable under medicaid (university of north carolina gillings school of global public health, 2014). in such a scenario, a registered nurse could triage and screen children and refer those with identified or suspected health conditions to be seen and evaluated by a consulting nurse practitioner, physician assistant, or physician. initiation of site based healthcare is an accomplishment with two feasible options for sustainability that build upon community partnerships. the first involves a framework wherein a local federally qualified health center (fqhc) provides outreach to head start with the specific goal of facilitating access to healthcare. fqhcs and head start serve similar, if not overlapping, populations, and both have complementary purposes. both understand the role and value of the early screening, diagnosis, and treatment, and both are federally funded grant programs with many of the same grant requirements (beckerman & evans, 2011). the second possibility is a community-academic partnership wherein a local school of nursing at a higher institution of learning works to establish a nurse managed health center (nmhc) model. through either a fqhc or a nmhc, the affordable care act has specific provisions authorizing federal grants for operations and construction of school based health centers. not only can such collaboration enhance compliance with well-child care, but there is also the opportunity to prevent consecutive absences for acute illness (rash, fever, etc.), promote immunization rates, and ensure care planning and treatment for chronic conditions including asthma. all of the aforementioned are key indicators for the program information report that all head start sites submit annually to the office of head start. also, under health care reform, a larger portion of children may have health insurance which presents the opportunity for third party reimbursement through medicaid or commercial insurance for site based services (holmes, 2010). direction for future study may include expanding the study to span a full school year and measuring the compliance of other key health indicators such as treatment of chronic conditions, immunization rates, and dental exams. the option also exists to study school based healthcare in the context of illness related absences to assess the impact on absenteeism as poor attendance is linked to overall lower academic achievement and end-of-grade failure (kerr et al., 2012). experimentation with site based healthcare in head start could occur by having control and intervention sites in programs with multiple locations. the opportunity also exists to explore other variables that impact compliance rates with well-child care particularly the level of staff support provided to parents navigating the health care system. further analysis could entail recording multiple barriers that parents face versus only recording one primary barrier. 68 roberson et al. limitations the study aim was to increase the proportion of compliance with the age specific schedule of well-child care to 95%. the compliance rate at december year 1, with no intervention, was 84% which was along the upper end of the measure. in year 2, with intervention, the rate of compliance at the end of december was 97%. the year 1 84% starting point teeters on ceiling effect as the score is near the highest possible value prior to intervention. this constrains the amount of upward change possible and reduces the variability needed to support statistical analyses. in a program with 1,072 children, a priori sample size estimation using g*power software suggested a minimum sample size of 192 children to find a significant difference based on an estimated effect size of 0.10, α = 0.05 and 80% power (faul, erdfelder, lang & buchner, 2007). approximately half of the sample, 96 children, would’ve been randomly selected from historical surveillance in year 1 without intervention, and the remaining half from year 2 with the site based intervention. in this study the sample size (n=37) was not large enough to perform tests of statistical significance, thus it is not known to what extent the increase in compliance is attributed to chance given the overall historical trend. head start staff used a variety of methods to engage parents and recruit participants. these methods included face to face contact, phone calls and letters sent home with children. the study did not employ a script or defined recruitment steps and instead relied on historical processes when identifying children who were behind with well child visits. it is likely that such variability impacted participation and ultimately sample size. access to the site based well-child visits could have been further promoted by having the nurse practitioner on site during morning and afternoon hours. expanding the hours offered to include daytime appointments may have allowed for more access that may have also increased the sample size therein permitting statistical analyses. the evening and weekend hours may have served as an access to care barrier for some families. in retrospect, it would have been insightful to capture data about how many children were offered a site based visit yet declined to make an appointment and why, as well as how many children did not keep an appointment due to the hours services were offered. conclusions school based healthcare plays a central role in increasing access among the medically underserved (clark & jones, 1997). it also supports the view that alternative methods must be identified and implemented to ensure the provision of preventive pediatric health care services (kataoka-yahiro & munet-vilaro, 2002). the early head start national resource center and the head start bureau have recommended the utilization of community partnerships with local healthcare providers for preventive health services, and have encouraged head start programs to collaborate with a local clinic willing to donate well-child exams to families with no means to pay (early head start national resource center, 2004). results of this study reveal that site based healthcare in a head start program through community partnerships is feasible and has the potential to improve access to care by addressing the gap between literature and practice and placing school based health centers at head start programs. improving access to healthcare 69 declaration of interest there were no potential 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(2013). income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the united states: 2012. retrieved from www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p60-245.pdf u.s. department of health and human services, administration of children and families, early childhood learning and knowledge center (2011). about head start. retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/about u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, office of head start. (2009). head start performance standards title 45 code of federal regulations chapter xiii subchapter b. retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/head%20start%20requirements/45%20cfr%20chapter%20x iii/45%20cfr%20chap%20xiii_eng.pdf u.s. office of the federal register (2013).federal register, volume 78, number 16. retrieved from https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/01/24/2013-01422/annual-update-of-the-hhs-povertyguidelines wade, t., mansour, m., line, k., huentelman, t., & keller, k. (2008). improvements in health related quality of life among school based health center users in elementary and middle school. ambulatory pediatrics, 8(4), 241-249. http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_110/gs_110-91.html http://sph.unc.edu/nciph/nciph-chern/ http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p60-245.pdf http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/about http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/head%20start%20requirements/45%20cfr%20chapter%20xiii/45%20cfr%20chap%20xiii_eng.pdf http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/standards/head%20start%20requirements/45%20cfr%20chapter%20xiii/45%20cfr%20chap%20xiii_eng.pdf https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/01/24/2013-01422/annual-update-of-the-hhs-poverty-guidelines https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/01/24/2013-01422/annual-update-of-the-hhs-poverty-guidelines microsoft word spencer rtp .docx dialog, 20(1), copyright © 2017, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice implementing a multi-tiered model of narrative language intervention in head start preschool classrooms trina d. spencer northern arizona university sarah a. weddle the may institute douglas b. peterson university of wyoming john l. adams northern arizona university this implementation study examined the efficacy and feasibility of a multi-tiered narrative intervention when head start teachers and teaching assistants delivered all of the interventions and progress monitoring probes. in six head start classrooms, 105 children were assigned to receive the intervention or to receive their typical instruction. children who attended the three classrooms that implemented the multi-tiered intervention showed significantly better story retelling and language comprehension skills than the children who attended preschool in the control classrooms. additional questions addressed the feasibility of a multi-tiered system in head start classrooms. findings indicate that head start teachers and teaching assistants can deliver large group, small group, and individual lessons with ease; they can administer brief progress monitoring probes and score children’s retells without great difficulty. after a few months implementing the new program, teachers and teaching assistants became more comfortable with the procedures and considered a multi-tiered system to be more doable in their classrooms. keywords: head start, mtss, implementation, language, narrative typical conversational language that preschool students are expected to understand and use at multi-tiered model of narrative language intervention 97 home and in the community is usually very different from the language demands encountered at school. preschool is an excellent time to begin helping students use and understand the more complex, academic language that they will need to read, write, and comprehend in later grades. oral language activities that are founded on narration (storytelling) can help bridge the gap between oral and written language. the vast majority of preschool students would benefit from an increased focus on narrative-based academic language, yet those students who are at risk for later reading difficulties, including children from low income households and who are culturally and linguistically diverse, may need even more intensive, differentiated language instruction. multi-tiered systems of support (mtss) are a promising approach to differentiated instruction that is trickling into early childhood education (buysse & peisner-feinberg, 2013). mtss entails the use of frequent progress monitoring and the delivery of instruction at different levels of intensity (tiers). tiered systems are designed and implemented in a school-wide fashion to make prevention, rather than remediation, possible for students of various ability levels (greenwood & kim, 2012). although there is an abundance of research evidence on mtss for students in k-3, these research findings do not necessarily apply to the preschool setting. early childhood education introduces new factors to consider for the implementation of mtss for language. it is important to recognize that real classrooms do not operate in a clean and completely organized manner, as is the case in the laboratory. school-based interventions are ultimately applied in chaotic, busy environments. this poses real challenges for educators who attempt to apply an empirically supported intervention in their natural setting. therefore, it is important to know whether or not it is feasible to implement mtss for language in preschool settings. with few exceptions (e.g., benedict, horner, & squires, 2007), the application of mtss in preschool is relatively new, and mtss for language has been given even less attention. story champs (spencer & petersen, 2012a), the narrative intervention curriculum examined in this study, was designed specifically for multi-tiered implementation in preschool and k-3 classrooms. story champs explicitly targets oral narrative-based academic language, which is an important precursor to reading comprehension. a number of previous studies have examined the efficacy of story champs components (e.g., small group instruction). however, the current study represents the first attempt to integrate all of the intervention and assessment components to form a multi-tiered system of language support in head start preschools, and to examine whether preschool mtss using story champs is feasible. the current study this project was built upon four previous investigations of story champs in head start preschools; however, in the earlier studies researchers and research assistants delivered the lessons and completed all of the assessments. the purpose of the current study was two fold. first, we investigated how well story champs would improve story retelling and language comprehension, second, we examined whether a multi-tiered system of language instruction would be feasible for head start teachers and teaching assistants to implement, and whether they could use the intervention and assessment tools effectively in their natural environments. there were five specific research questions: 98 spencer et al. 1. to what extent does a multi-tiered narrative intervention improve student’s narrative language and language comprehension skills when it is implemented by head start teachers and teaching assistants? 2. to what extent do head start teachers and teaching assistants implement multi-tiered narrative intervention with fidelity? 3. to what extent do head start teachers and teaching assistants administer a narrative retell assessment with fidelity? 4. to what extent do head start teachers and teaching assistants score a narrative retell assessment with reliability? 5. to what extent do head start teachers and teaching assistants perceive multi-tiered narrative intervention and assessment to be feasible and do their perceptions improve with time? method following a traditional mtss approach, outcomes were collected seasonally (fall, winter, spring) on the children in six classrooms (105 preschoolers). these included measures of story retelling and language comprehension. across the year, head start teachers and teaching assistants implemented all four components of the mtss model: large group narrative instruction, small group narrative intervention, individual narrative intervention, and progress monitoring probes using a narrative retell task (spencer & petersen, 2012b). throughout all tiers of story champs instruction, story illustrations and brightly colored icons were used to teach story structure (character, problem, feeling, action, and ending). instructional strategies included active student responding while children retold stories and scaffolding of visual supports. videos of the large group (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4hzbfris6a) and small group (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqluxtbburu) procedures can be viewed online. and the retell assessments can be downloaded from www.languagedynamicsgroup.com. while teachers and teaching assistants delivered all interventions and administered progress monitoring probes across the year, research staff provided initial training, modeling, and coaching. researchers monitored the fidelity with which the teachers and teaching assistants delivered the story champs lessons and administered the progress monitoring probes, as well as observed how accurately they were able to score the progress monitoring narrative retells. in addition, teachers and teaching assistants completed an implementation feasibility questionnaire at regular time points across the year to document their comfort with the interventions and assessments, the level of support they received and/or needed to implement the program, the ease and time efficiency of the program, and the students’ engagement during the intervention. summary of results • mtss for language using story champs, when delivered by the head start teams, was effective at producing statistically significant improvements on story retelling and language comprehension, with medium effect sizes. • head start teachers and teaching assistants were able to implement the story champs intervention and administer the narrative retell probes with fidelity and score the multi-tiered model of narrative language intervention 99 children’s retells reliably. although the teachers’ and teaching assistants’ fidelity and reliability scores were lower than the research teams’ in the current and previous studies, it was encouraging to see that their fidelity and reliability were within acceptable limits. • the teacher reports about feasibility of the program in their classrooms yielded consistent patterns. the first month of implementation was the most difficult for the head start teachers and teaching assistants. they reported less comfort with the procedures, receiving fewer supports from the other staff and administrators, more difficulty with implementing the procedures, and lower child engagement when they began the interventions. however, meaningful improvements were noted in all areas as the school year progressed and they became more familiar with the procedures. recommendations for implementation head start teachers are in a unique position to address language comprehension and prevent reading comprehension difficulty with the children they serve. children who participate in an explicit and differentiated language intervention such as story champs will likely be much more prepared for kindergarten than children who do not. it is particularly important to focus on academic language for young children who are at risk for future reading comprehension difficulty (mcnamara & kendeou, 2011) because children who have stronger language skills do better in school (mehta, foorman, branum-martin, & taylor, 2005). • when a tiered approach is implemented, all children can receive an intensity of intervention (e.g., large group, small group, one-on-one) based on their individual needs. importantly, the language skills that the children need to learn resemble the written language that lays the foundation for later reading comprehension and academic language (catts, fey, tomblin, & zhang, 2002). • some of the teachers took it upon themselves to extend the concepts into other parts of their day (e.g., circle time, snack time) and used the icons to help children understand books read aloud in the classroom. this is a helpful strategy so that the story structure and academic language (e.g., grammar, vocabulary) can be reinforced throughout the day and across the week, which enhances retention. • we recommend that when centers or classrooms are considering adopting a multi-tiered framework or curriculum, that sufficient administrative supports are also put into place so that learning something new does not overwhelm teachers. as with any new program, there is a phase of learning how to use it. strong, supportive leaders can help promote a smooth transition of the new intervention and enhance its sustainability long term. • learning a new program while in the process of managing a classroom can be challenging. teachers reported that classroom management was difficult because the children who were not receiving small group intervention were playing freely. because explicit small group instruction was not commonplace in these classrooms, the best time 100 spencer et al. for intervention was during center time. for future implementations, teachers should consider other potential scheduling options that might reduce this obstacle. references benedict, e. a., horner, r. h., & squires, j. k. (2007). assessment and implementation of positive behavior support in preschools. topics in early childhood special education, 27(3), 174-192. buysse, v., & peisner-feinberg, e. (eds.). (2013). handbook of response to intervention in early childhood. baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing company. catts, h. w., fey, m. e., tomblin, j. b., & zhang, x. (2002). a longitudinal investigation of reading outcomes in children with language impairments. journal of speech, language, and hearing research, 45(6), 11421157. greenwood, c. r., & kim, j. m. (2012). response to intervention (rti) services: an ecobehavioral perspective. journal of educational and psychological consultation, 22(1-2), 79-105. mcnamara, d. s., & kendeou, p. (2011). translating advances in reading comprehension research to educational practice. international electronic journal of elementary education, 4(1), 33. mehta, p. d., foorman, b. r., branum-martin, l., & taylor, w. p. (2005). literacy as a unidimensional multilevel construct: validation, sources of influence, and implications in a longitudinal study in grades 1 to 4. scientific studies of reading, 9(2), 85-116. spencer, t. d., & petersen, d. b. (2012a). story champs: a multi-tiered language intervention program. laramie, wy: language dynamics group. spencer, t. d., & petersen, d. b. (2012b). narrative language measures-preschool. laramie, wy: language dynamics group. nhsa dialog, 24(1), copyright © 2021, issn: 1930-9325 measuring height and weight in head start preschoolers: suggestions for best practices m. elizabeth miller, stephanie nicely, and paul branscum miami university measuring height and weight in preschool children is an important way to track their growth patterns and identify potential nutrition and health risks. converting these measurements to a bmi-for-age percentile and tracking this over time, allows head start (hs) programs to help with preventing obesity in the early childhood years. these measurements also allow hs to evaluate obesity prevention programs implemented in hs programs. however, looking at height and weight measurements and the process used to measure children is important to assure accurate measurements. the purpose of this study was to examine the height and weight data at two time points in one program and explore the perceptions of health staff around the data collection process. best practices for measuring height and weight of hs preschoolers are discussed. keywords: early childhood education, obesity, measurement, body mass index, screening introduction in 2018, 16.6% of head start preschoolers had obesity, with a range across states from 12.5 to 27.1 percent (imoisili et al., 2020). lowering obesity rates among children is among the nation’s public health goals outlined in healthy people 2030 (office of disease prevention and health promotion, 2020). this is important because preschoolers who are overweight or obese are five times as likely to be overweight or obese by the age of 12, and are more likely to become overweight or obese as adults (centers for disease control and prevention [cdc], 2013). additionally, childhood obesity has both immediate and long-term negative outcomes related to physical, social, and emotional health (freedman et al, 2007; griffiths et al, 2010; may et al., 2012 & must et al, 2006). height and weight measurements in children are converted into a body mass index (bmi) for age percentile that is used to classify their weight status (underweight, overweight, obese), track their growth patterns, and identify potential health risks (bell et al., 2018; cdc, 2020 ). early care and research to practice 74 miller et al. education programs, such as head start (hs) have been identified as ideal locations for obesity prevention initiatives and evaluation (institute of medicine, 2013) . more specifically, since hs programs are required to report child weight classifications (i.e., underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese) to the us department of health and human services [usdhhs] on the program information reports (office of head start, 2020), this data could also be used to monitor obesity in low-income preschoolers across the us, where overweight and obesity remains high (imoisili et al., 2020). in the 2016 head start health manager descriptive study (karoly et al., 2016) almost 86 percent of programs identified obesity as a major concern and 80% of programs obtained height and weight measurements on-site. therefore, examination of the measurement data and discussion with hs programs related to needs around the data collection process could provide valuable insight into potential needs and best practices around this process in hs. the purpose of this study was to 1) examine and compare the height and weight data of preschoolers in one program at two time points during the school year and 2) explore the perceptions of health staff around the data collection process. methods used to conduct the study study design & procedures at the beginning of the school year, a 60-minute mandatory nutrition training was conducted by the hs nutrition manager. the training included nutrition information, menu/meal guidelines, and instructions on how to use the stadiometer and scale for child measurements, although, most of the training addressed nutrition guidelines with approximately ten minutes addressing the height and weight measurements. verbal instructions regarding strategies for conducting school-based anthropometric measurements as recommended by the cdc (2018), including removing shoes, hair accessories, and coats/jackets during measurements, were provided. teachers recorded the height and weight measurements (in both august and february) on a spreadsheet that was returned to the nutrition manager who entered the information into the childplus data management system. to better understand the practices around the height and weight measurement collection, the ten members of the hs health team participated in a 60-minute focus group (fg). the attendees included the program-level nutrition staff and nursing/health staff who provided services to all hs sites and training for the height and weight measurements. three overarching questions guided the fg: 1) what is the process your program uses to collect the height and weight of preschoolers in your program? 2) who is responsible for conducting the measurements? 3) what are some of the challenges around data collection? de-identified height, weight, bmi-for-age, weight classification and each child’s gender and age was received by the research team for each time point and compared from the august to the february measurement to examine growth patterns over this time period. the focus group was audio recorded, transcribed, and coded. codes were organized into themes. preschooler height and weight measurements 75 findings from the study forty-six teachers across 13 hs sites collected height and weight measurements of 455 enrolled preschoolers in august and february. during the 6-month period, children significantly increased in height and weight, growing on average 1.36 inches and gaining 2 pounds. the average bmifor-age percentile decreased by 3.99 points from the 65th percentile to the 61st percentile. however, 39 children lost height (or did not exhibit height growth), 104 children lost weight (or did not exhibit weight growth), and 60 children gained more than 5 pounds during the 6 months. two-hundred sixty (260) measurements indicated normal growth across the two time points. three themes were identified from the focus group with the ten health staff: pressures on hs teachers; hs teacher lack of understanding of bmi; and lack of precision of the data collection. the health team described the pressures on teachers that may influence their ability to see the height and weight measurements as a priority. they described teacher time as a major challenge. the health managers also described that they perceived the teachers lack understanding of the measurements and how these measures are connected to their roles as teachers. the health team also described how these previous factors (e.g., other time pressures and not seeing the connection of the measurements to their teaching role or academic outcomes) may influence the lack of precision of the data collection. discussion summary research has shown that monitoring height, weight and bmi and implementing programs in early childhood can steady the rise of childhood obesity through elementary school (moreno-black, et al, 2016). the purpose of this study was to examine height and weight data of hs preschoolers and to explore hs health team perceptions of this measurement process. when first looking at the average bmi-for-age change from august to february, it appears that obesity rates in these children declined over the 6-month period, which would be important. however, when looking at the individual measurements where height and weight losses were seen, there were questions whether challenges in the measurement process could have contributed to these declines. almost 25 percent of the children had a decrease in weight or had no weight gain over the 6-month time frame, which would be unlikely given children’s growth patterns. previous research has shown that challenges in the measurement process can be related to the person obtaining the measurements and variations in the child such as hydration, fidgeting, fatigue, time of day, and positioning (himes, 2009). in this program, teachers and classroom staff were responsible for collecting height and weight measurements, which may be similar in other hs programs with program sites across large geographic locations or those with limited staffing. however, barriers such as teachers’ daily responsibilities, time pressures, and lack of understanding around the importance or relevance of the measurements may have contributed to reduced reliability and precision. therefore, despite 76 miller et al. receiving standardized equipment and a brief training, a more in-depth training in conducting height and weight measurements, including interpreting bmi results and understanding the impact of errors on the child’s bmi status, may be needed (nihiser et al., 2007). the training could include demonstration and practice sessions to exhibit understanding and proper technique, as well as examples illustrating how small errors in height and weight in preschool children can impact bmi percentile and associated weight status category. providing additional information regarding the association between obesity and academic performance may assist in increasing teacher understanding of the measurements, as well as their role in the process. additional continuing education or professional development opportunities for hs staff may also be created to teach best practices and enhance the foundational knowledge around height/weight/bmi measurement in children. limitations a strength of this study included the large number of child paired height and weight measurements to examine. however, the results are limited to one hs program and may not reflect the way in which all head start programs collect height and weight of preschoolers. additionally, the individual(s) responsible for measurements may vary across programs, counties, and states. individuals may even change from measurement to measurement due to staffing changes. more research is needed to explore how bmi measurements are collected at various programs across states, who is responsible for overseeing and collecting the measurements, and the training provided in order to determine best practice recommendations. suggestions for height and weight measurements in practice this research provides insight into potential challenges of measuring the height and weight of preschoolers enrolled in hs. however, more research is needed to explore whether other hs programs have similar experiences. hs performance standards (usdhhs, nd) provide general guidance on health assessments, but allow programs to tailor health policies/practices to meet the needs of each program’s size, staffing and capability. this may result in differences in how height and weight measurements are conducted and who is responsible for collecting this data. the impact on the accuracy of the height and weight measurements that may occur as a result of these differences could be minimized by the use of best practices. while a college degree is not required to take high-quality height and weight measurements, adequate and on-going training is necessary to ensure measurements are accurate and trusted. suggestions for best practice include assigning dedicated staff to conduct the measurements (or partnering with external organizations who have the expertise to conduct measurements); limiting the number of data collectors; conducting regular hands-on training for those who will be conducting height and weight measurements. other suggestions include choosing appropriate/consistent measurement equipment (to include regular calibration); measuring at the same time of day; and creating a standardized, written measurement protocol with images of correct child positions and storing the document with the equipment, as to be available for each use. guidance from national hs with templates for policies and protocols around measuring height preschooler height and weight measurements 77 and weight may be beneficial, as hs is in a position to monitor obesity of low-income children enrolled in the program through these measurements. references bell, j.a., carslake, d., o’keefe, l.m. et al. (2018). associations of body mass and fat indexes with cardiometabolic traits. journal of the american college of cardiology. 72(24),3142-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2018.09.066 centers for disease control and prevention. (2013). cdc vital signs: progress on childhood obesity. retrieved january 5, 2021 from https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/childhoodobesity/index.html centers for disease control and prevention. (2018). body mass index (bmi) measurements in schools. retrieved january 5, 2021 from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/bmi/bmi_measurement_schools.htm centers for disease control and prevention. (2020). healthy weight: about children and teen bmi. retrieved january 5, 2021 from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/childrens_bmi/about_childrens_bmi.html#whatisbmi freedman, d.s., dietz, w.h., srinivasan, s.r., & berenson, g.s. (2007). cardiovascular risk factors and excess adiposity among overweight children and adolescents: the bogalusa heart study. journal of pediatrics, 150, 12-17. griffiths, l.i., parsons, t.j., & hill, a.j. (2010). self-esteem and quality of life in obese children and adolescents: a systematic review. international journal of pediatric obesity, 5(4), 282-304. https://doi.org/10.3109/17477160903473697 himes, j.h. (2009). challenges of accurately measuring and using bmi and other indicators of obesity in children. pediatrics,124 suppl 1:s3-s22. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2008-3586d imoisili, o., dooyema, c., kompaniyets, l., lundeen, e. a., park, s., goodman, a. b., & blanck, h. m. (2020). prevalence of overweight and obesity among children enrolled in head start, 2012-2018. american journal of health promotion, 890117120958546. advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117120958546 institute of medicine. (2013) evaluating obesity prevention efforts: a plan for measuring progress. washington dc; national academies press; 20. retrieved january, 2021 from https://doi.org/10.17226/18334. karoly, a., martin, l.t., chandra, a., & messan setodji, c. (2016). head start health matters: findings from the 2012-2013 head start health manager descriptive study for regions i-xii. opre report 2016-44, washington, dc: office of planning, research and evaluation, administration for children and families, u.s. department of health and human services. retrieved on january 2021 from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/2016_44_hshmmainreport_oct2016_b508.pdf. may, a.l., kuklina, e.v., & yoon, p.w. (2012). prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors among us adolescents, 1999−2008. pediatrics 129(6),1035-1041. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-1082 moreno-black, g., boles, s., johnson-shelton, d., & evers, c. (2016). exploring categorical body mass index trajectories in elementary school children. journal of school health, 86, 495-505. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12402 must, a., hollander, s.a., economos, c.d. (2006). childhood obesity: a growing public health concern. expert review of endocrinology & metabolism, 1, 233-254. https://doi.org/10.1586/17446651.1.2.233 nihiser, a.j., lee, s.m., wechsler, h., et al. (2007). body mass index measurement in schools. journal of school health, 77(10), 651–671. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2007.00249.x office of disease prevention and health promotion (2020) healthy people 2030: reduce the proportion of children and adolescents with obesity. retrieved december 3, 2020 from https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/overweight-and-obesity/reduceproportion-children-and-adolescents-obesity-nws-04 office of head start. (2020). the 2020-21 head start program information report. retrieved january 5, 2021 from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/2020-2021-hs-pir-form.pdf . us department of health and human services. (n.d.). head start program performance standards. retrieved on january 2021 from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/hspps-final.pdf us department of health and human services. (2016). office of head start. retrieved on january 5, 2021 from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/office-of-head-start dialog, 23(2), copyright © 2020, issn: 1930-9325 parents’, teachers’, and administrators’ views on children’s transitions to kindergarten: a research to practice summary virginia e. vitiello university of virginia this study documented perspectives from parents, teachers and administrators involved in children’s transitions from public pre-k into kindergarten within a large, diverse county. the purpose was to better understand how these stakeholders experience transitions and how they view their roles in the transition process. qualitative results indicated a wide range of transition practices were in use, although use of specific practices varied from program to program. thematic analysis indicated areas of agreement and points of divergence in how stakeholders viewed transitions. results are discussed in relation to considerations for teachers and administrators interested in streamlining the transition from pre-k to kindergarten. keywords: preschool, kindergarten transition background the transition to kindergarten encompasses the months leading up to a children’s first day of school and the weeks or months after school starts while the child and family adjust to the new setting. the start of kindergarten often represents an exciting transition in young children’s lives, but it can also be very challenging. it is particularly challenging for young children facing adversity due to racial minoritization or unstable family economic conditions, as well as for children learning english as a second language (yelverton & mashburn, 2018). public pre-k programs, including head start and state-funded pre-k, seek to reduce the extent to which these challenges affect children and give them the best possible start in school. a common goal across these programs is to work with families and schools to ease children’s transitions into kindergarten (pears et al., 2018). many counties and school divisions make deliberate plans to address children’s transitions and facilitate entry into school. common transition practices include things like hosting orientation events, taking children on classroom visits, and holding parent-teacher meetings prior to the start of school (ahtola et al., 2011). there is some evidence that transition practices like these matter for children. for example, the use of more transition practices is associated with better child research to practice parents’, teachers’, and administrators’ views 91 outcomes upon school entry (ahtola et al., 2011; benner et al., 2017; locasale-crouch et al., 2008; shulting et al., 2005). however, just counting the number of transition practices in use presents a very limited perspective on how at-risk children and families experience the start of school. to present a more comprehensive perspective on this issue, it is important to hear from multiple stakeholder groups – parents, pre-k teachers, kindergarten teachers, and administrators – to understand how transitions happen within a system and how each group views their roles. current study the current study used qualitative data collection and analysis to describe transition experiences from the perspectives of parents, teachers, and administrators involved in children’s transitions from public pre-k into kindergarten. we also sought to identify areas of agreement and disagreement in the views of these stakeholders. our research questions were: 1. what transition practices were in use in this county? 2. were transition practices from program to program and school to school fairly uniform, or did they vary? 3. what themes emerged across parents’, teachers’, and administrators’ descriptions, and to what extent did these stakeholders agree or disagree in how they discuss these themes? this study was conducted in a large county that serves children from diverse racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and language backgrounds. the county has a central office that oversees all early childhood programming, but it provides most of its pre-k in school-based classrooms in partnership with the local school district. in addition to these classrooms, some children are placed in private centers and others attend standalone head start centers. participants included 9 administrators (three district-level administrators, three center directors, and three principals), 10 preschool teachers, 13 kindergarten teachers, and 10 parents. participants spoke to us during face-to-face interviews or focus groups lasting 60-90 minutes. these meetings were audio-recorded and transcribed. transcriptions were coded by the research team to identify transition practices and themes related to transitions. findings transition practices parents, teachers, and administrators described a wide range of transition activities. these activities fell into four broad categories: • connecting with families. this included hosting panel discussions, sending information home with children, using apps to communicate with families, and hosting orientations or open houses for families to attend. 92 vitiello • coordination between pre-k and elementary school staff. this included meetings between administrators, joint planning by pre-k and kindergarten teachers, and sharing information on individual children. • professional development. this included workshops and trainings on transitions, state standards, and suggested transition activities for pre-k teachers to implement throughout the school year. • activities involving children. this included visits to kindergarten classrooms, kindergarten orientations, learning about kindergarten from pre-k teachers. some pre-k teachers made adjustments to classroom routines to get closer to a kindergarten schedule. some kindergarten teachers conducted observations of individual children in their pre-k classrooms and did child assessments. some children were also invited to participate in a school-readiness summer program provided by the school system. this broad range of transition practices underscores the creative and diverse approaches to supporting children and families entering school that were apparent in this school district. variability in transition practices participants told us that transition practices varied from school to school. district administrators told us that they provide schools with guidance about transitions, but implementation of specific practices is up to individual schools and child care programs. specific types of variability that were noted by one or more participants included the following: • different schools approached transition programming differently, with some implementing multiple, comprehensive transition practices across the year and others doing only a single orientation event. • pre-k teachers noted that it was easier to coordinate with kindergarten teachers for children who would be staying in the same school for kindergarten. • pre-k teachers differed in the level of individualized support they provided to families, with some taking the initiative to provide higher levels of support than others. • families differed in whether or not they actively engaged with the opportunities available to them. themes related to transitions three main themes emerged from our qualitative coding. within each theme, different participant groups often expressed different opinions and perspectives. theme #1: pre-k investment in successful transitions we heard the most enthusiastic and detailed plans for children’s transitions from pre-k administrators and teachers. several spoke of transitions as a year-round process involving multiple touch-points with families. elementary school administrators and teachers provided more limited explanations of transitions, and several mentioned that they relied on the local child care office to manage transitions. parents’, teachers’, and administrators’ views 93 theme #2: school readiness centered on the “mechanics” of school multiple participants spoke of getting children and families ready for school by focusing on things like filling out paperwork, tracking important dates, and teaching children about school routines (e.g., getting lunch in a cafeteria, packing their backpacks, putting on their coats). parents, in particular, also spoke about their children’s academic and social-emotional readiness for school, including writing their names and sounding out words. theme #3: concern about alignment between pre-k and kindergarten many participants, especially parents, discussed their concerns that pre-k and kindergarten experiences were not adequately aligned. pre-k teachers were concerned that data reports they completed on each transitioning child often did not make it to the child’s kindergarten teacher. parents were particularly concerned that their children were over-prepared for kindergarten compared with other children, and worried that their children might feel bored or disengaged. discussion summary the results of this study reveal diverse and varied transition practices in use across this school district, with some evidence of uneven implementation from school to school. pre-k programs seemed to take on a high level of responsibility for families’ experiences around the transition to kindergarten. parents, teachers, and administrators had different perspectives on transitions, with parents expressing the most concern over children’s academic readiness and whether children coming from pre-k programs were over-prepared for kindergarten. limitations this research was conducted in one county with a limited number of parents, teachers, and administrators. this county differs from many other counties in the united states because it is very large; very racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse; and has a central office coordinating preschool services. the findings from this work may not be generalizable to counties and school districts that are substantially different from this one. in addition, descriptive studies like this one cannot help us understand causation (for example, whether more support for families causes children to have better transitions). implications despite the limitations, there are several implications of this work that practitioners may consider as they try to streamline transitions and support children at the start of kindergarten. 94 vitiello think about how school readiness is defined and whether that definition is shared across parents, teachers, and administrators. it may be helpful to have pre-k and kindergarten teachers work toward a common understanding of the skills children need in order to be successful in kindergarten. try to ensure that parents and teachers can easily find and access the school readiness guidelines, once developed. develop a framework outlining what a successful transition involves and that is aligned to your community’s definition of school readiness. think about what supports parents need in order to get their child enrolled in kindergarten; what skills and experiences children should have leading up to the start of school; and what schools and teachers need to know about each child entering kindergarten. consider who is responsible for different aspects of children’s transitions, and whether there is broad agreement about how these responsibilities should be distributed. coordinating across multiple systems, schools, and child care programs is complicated and these complications are not easy to resolve, but it may be possible to identify a few things to address initially, like whether pre-k programs have access to information they can share with parents, or how information is transferred from pre-k to kindergarten teachers. conclusions this research study highlights how complex it is to support children and families through the prek to kindergarten transition. it also shows the creativity and diverse ideas that pre-k and kindergarten programs are putting into practice to reach children and families. much more work is needed to understand how transitions affect children and whether comprehensive transition plans can buffer children against negative effects. further research is needed that seeks inputs from multiple stakeholder groups, that considers family and program contexts, and that examines transitions as a developmental process unfolding over time. references ahtola, a., silinskas, g., poikonen, p., kontoniemi, m., niemi, p., & nurmi, j. (2011). transition to formal schooling: do transition practices matter for academic performance? early childhood research quarterly,26(3), 295302. benner, a. d., thornton, a., & crosnoe, r. (2017). children’s exposure to sustainability practices during the transition from preschool into school and their learning and socioemotional development. applied developmental science, 21(2), 121-134. locasale-crouch, j., mashburn, a. j., downer, j. t., & pianta, r. c. (2008). pre-kindergarten teachers’ use of transition practices and children’s adjustment to kindergarten. early childhood research quarterly, 23, 124139. pears, k. c., carpenter, l., kim, h. k., peterson, e., & fisher, p. a. (2018). the kids in transition to school program. in a. j. mashburn, j. locasale-crouch, and k. c. pears (eds.), kindergarten transition and readiness (pp. 283-302). new york, ny: springer. schulting, a. b., malone, p. s., & dodge, k. a. (2005). the effect of school-based kindergarten transition policies and practices on child academic outcomes. developmental psychology, 41(6), 860–871. yelverton, r., & mashburn, a. j. (2018). a conceptual framework for understanding and supporting children’s development during the kindergarten transition. in a. j. mashburn, j. locasale-crouch, and k. c. pears (eds.), kindergarten transition and readiness (pp. 3-29). new york, ny: springer. dialog, 22(1), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 lessons learned from head start and hippy collaborations amber l. brown university of houston clear lake the purpose of this project was to examine the blending of the head start and hippy programs. data on current head start/hippy collaborations was collected through focus group interviews with home visitors, teachers, parents, and administrators. themes discovered through qualitative analysis included the recognition of home visiting as a way to provide services to more families; the ability to provide additional services to children and families; increased communication between all parties involved in the collaboration; better perceived outcomes for both the children and the parents; the difficulty of including all the requirements of both programs in their work with families; difficulties around assessment; and the lack of time among home visitors to serve families, plan, and train. major recommendations for future programs were to plan for the collaboration of services during the grant writing stage; partner with school districts in order to track the long-term outcomes for children; and the most frequent recommendation was to adjust case-loads to reflect the additional work required of program staff to meet each programs’ requirements in the collaboration. keywords: early childhood education; hippy; head start; home visiting; program collaboration the purpose of this project was to investigate potential models of formal collaborations between two proven early childhood programs, one delivered in the classroom (head start) and one delivered by parents in the home (home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters – hippy). head start and hippy share the common goals of preparing children for kindergarten by closing the achievement gap and empowering parents as first and best teachers for their children (u. s. department of health and human service, 2015; hippy usa, n.d.). with the current economic conditions, non-profits and community organizations are struggling to maintain funding. to ensure that the limited funding available for early childhood is used efficiently, it would seem to be in the best interest of programs serving the same population to pool resources. with common goals, philosophies, and populations head start and hippy are ideally positioned to collaborate with each other. while several informal collaborations exist throughout the country, there is not a set of formal guidelines for head start and hippy programs who wish to establish a formal collaboration. this paper includes the results of an investigation into three head start programs research-to-practice summary 97 brown that operate in collaboration with hippy. the purpose was to gather information about these current head start and hippy collaborations. this study examined the following research questions: (1) what models for collaboration are currently used in head start/hippy collaborations? (2) what were the motivations behind the current head start/hippy collaborations? (3) what are the perceived benefits of head start/ hippy collaborations as expressed by administrators, staff, and parents? (4) what are the perceived challenges of head start/hippy collaborations as expressed by administrators, staff, and parents? overview of head start program the head start program is a comprehensive early childhood program designed to help break the cycle of poverty by providing children of low-income families with services to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs. (garces, thomas, & currie, 2002; smolensky & gootman, 2003). at the time of its inception, head start was unique in their approach to supporting the whole child rather than just focusing on classroom learning (garces, thomas, currie). while the focus of the head start program has evolved over the years, the primary goal continues to be to better prepare children from low-income families to be both developmentally and cognitively ready for school. outcomes of head start participation. there has been extensive research over the past several decades documenting the effectiveness of head start for children who lack the same educational opportunities as children from middle and upper-class families. children who participated in head start as preschoolers show significantly better language and cognitive development than demographically similar children who did not attend head start (aikens, klein, tarullo, & west, 2013; love et al., 2002). in addition to cognitive benefits, at the end of program participation, head start children score better on social-emotional development, have better social skills and impulse control, and exhibit fewer problem behaviors such as aggression and hyperactivity (aikens et al., 2013; love et al., 2002). while there are some studies that question the long-term benefits of head start, other studies have found that former head start children had higher attendance rated in elementary school (connolly & olsen, 2012); continued to have higher scores on tests of academic and executive functioning through fifth grade (greenberg & domitrovich, 2011); and are less likely to be held back a year by eighth grade (phillips, gormley, & anderson, 2016). the benefits of head start participation are even evident through adulthood. garces, thomas, and currie (2002) used data from the panel survey of income dynamics to review outcomes for close to 4,000 adults followed from childhood. among european–americans, adults who had attended head start were significantly more likely to complete high school, attend college, and possibly have higher earnings in their early twenties than their nonparticipant siblings. african american adults who had attended head start were significantly less likely to be booked or charged with a crime than were their nonparticipant siblings. other studies document that as adults, head start graduates are more likely than non-head start graduates to graduate high school, head start/hippy collaboration 98 attend at least one year of college, are less likely to be unemployed, report higher wages, and are less likely to be in poor health (bauer & schanzenbach, 2016; johnson; 2010). overview of the hippy program hippy is a free, early intervention program for parents of 3-, 4and 5-year-old children developed in israel and brought to the united states in 1984, hippy now operates 128 communities in 20 states and the district of columbia as well as ten other countries internationally. hippy is intended to provide educational enrichment to at-risk children from low ses and immigrant families by training parents to prepare their children to be ready for school. the major purpose of hippy is to increase children’s school readiness by empowering parents to be active in their children’s education and by providing home instruction. the hippy program includes three key components: the hippy curriculum, individual home visits for parents with a peer mentor, and monthly group meetings for parents (hippy usa, n.d.). outcomes of hippy participation. there is a great deal of evidence documenting the positive effects of hippy on students’ school readiness at kindergarten entry. numerous studies have shown that hippy children perform better on measures of school performance such as reading ability, language learning, social development, classroom adaptability, and mathematics skills than non-participants (barnett, roost, & mceachran, 2012; brown & johnson, 2014; johnson, martinez-cantu, jacobson, & weir, 2012; lopez & bernstein, 2016). other studies have shown that hippy students had better attendance, more social skills, fewer behavior referrals, fewer suspensions, and higher standardized test scores when compared to students from similar socio-economic backgrounds (bradley & gilkey, 2003; brown & lee, 2014; klein, weiss, & gomby, 2001). research also indicates that hippy participation supports children by enhancing their home literacy environment, the quality of parent-child verbal interaction, and parents’ ability to help their children learn (brown & johnson, 2014; jacobson, 2003; roundtree, 2003). in addition, parents participating in hippy had significantly increased confidence in their role as their child's first teacher between the start and end of hippy program participation (barnett, roost, & mceachran, 2012). hippy participation also increases parent and family involvement in their child’s education. barhava-monteith, harre, and field (1999) found that hippy parents in new zealand were significantly more involved than comparison caregivers in educational activities. these activities included things like helping with field trips, serving on school committees, and serving as teachers’ aids. hippy parents were also significantly more likely to be involved in an adult education class. how do head start and hippy fit together? head start programs promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to enrolled children and families. they engage parents in their children's learning and help them in making progress toward parents’ educational, literacy and employment goals. significant emphasis is placed on the involvement of parents in the administration of local head start 99 brown programs. similarly, the purpose of the hippy program is to support parents as their child’s first teacher to increase school readiness. this is done with a structured curriculum that is delivered to the children by their parent. the purpose of the home visit in both the head start and hippy programs is to help parents improve their parenting skills and to assist them in the use of the home as the child’s primary learning environment. the home visitor works with parents to help them provide learning opportunities that enhance their child’s growth and development. examples of current collaboration models head start home-based with hippy  hippy is used as the curriculum for the home visits. the hippy curriculum offers 30 weeks of activities, but the head start home-based option requires 32 home visits. typically an additional home visit is added to the beginning and the end of the program year to meet this requirement.  each home visit lasts a minimum of 90 minutes (rather than just 60 minutes with hippy alone) with the additional 30 minutes on an activity with the child.  monthly parent meeting follows the hippy group meeting model plus two socializations focused both on the parents and the children. hippy as the home visiting /volunteer component of head start center-based option  hippy serves as the home visiting and parent-teacher conference component of a centerbased head start program.  the parent involvement component of the hippy program fulfills the required home visits and parent-teacher conferences home-visiting requirement of head start and the volunteer requirement of the parent, family, and community engagement framework (pfce framework). dual enrollment  often children are enrolled in both the head start and hippy programs simultaneously with each program running side-by-side with varying degrees of overlap in services.  the collaboration between programs includes communication between the hippy homevisitors and the head start teachers and administrators.  as with the other collaboration models, family participation in the hippy program fulfills the parent involvement component of the pfce framework. head start/hippy collaboration 100 the current study this study used a qualitative descriptive research design through focus groups and interviews at three existing head start/hippy collaborative sites to garner the programmatic, implementation and logistical details of how local communities have already blended hippy into the head start model. site 1 used hippy as the curriculum for 36 three-year-old children in the home-based head start program. these children then transitioned to a center-based four-year-old head start program. site 2 had 35 families in the county that participated in both programs – exemplifying the duel enrollment model of collaboration. finally, site 3 served 72 families of three and fouryear-olds using the home-based option with hippy as the curriculum. a total of five focus groups and three director interviews were conducted. after the transcription of the focus group and interview recordings, the data were analyzed to first classify the information from all of these sources into several initial categories defined by the research questions. these initial categories included: motivation for collaboration, services for families, benefits to children, communication, benefits to parents, challenges, and recommendations. overview of findings motivations for collaboration  the value of serving families by going to their homes.  the ability to provide more services with less money. perceived benefits of collaboration  head start and hippy worked together to do more for children and families than each program could on its own.  the ability to provide services to families that might not be available outside of the collaboration.  the added communication between all of the parties involved in both programs. this included communication between the home visitor and the child’s classroom teacher, the home visitor and the head start administrator, the parent and the home visitor, the parent and the child’s classroom teacher, the parent and the child, and even among other parents in the programs.  the overwhelming majority of comments made by all the focus group participants were related to the benefits of the head start/hippy collaboration for children. the home visitors/staff and parents specifically mentioned higher scores on formal assessments, smoother transitions to the classroom, improved school readiness, development of routines related to school, improved social skills, and bonding time with parent. perceived benefits for parents  the support parents received from the relationship with their home visitor. 101 brown  parents gained confidence in their own parenting skills.  parents indicated increased confidence in their ability to be their child’s first teacher.  parents gained a better understanding of the expectations of their child once they begin school and their role as parents in supporting their child once they are in school.  the understanding and confidence to be an advocate for their child.  parents reported benefits from the development of social networks among the parents in the collaborative program. challenges to collaboration  the practical issues with blending the requirements and regulations from two different programs into one collaborative program.  challenge of blending the different assessments and require the results to be entered into different database or software program.  lack of commercially available assessment that is designed to capture everything that happens during a home visit.  the lack of time, specifically for those using the home-based option with hippy. this is perhaps because their hippy home visitors also served as the head start parent advocate. overview of recommendations for future collaborations  participants suggested that during the grant writing process, plan for the continuation of services for children and families beyond the head start/hippy collaboration.  participants suggested sites partner with local school districts so children who participate in the hippy/head start collaboration can be assigned a school identification number. this will allow the program to continue to track a child’s academic progress through graduation  lower caseloads for home visitors than typical in a traditional head start home-based program. most of the home visitors in the focus groups recommended a caseload of 9 or 10 families. the home visitors also suggested flexible caseloads for home visitors with high-needs families as discussed in the previous section.  programs set aside for home visitors to plan for lessons, enter data, and receive training. remember that hippy requires additional time in preparation and training.  plan for assessment. the home visitors requested that whenever possible, choose assessments that meet the requirements of both programs. they also suggested having a method of documenting assessments that met the requirements of both programs to eliminate the need to enter the same data into two different software programs. references aikens, n., klein, a. k., tarullo, l. b., & west, j. (2013). getting ready for kindergarten: children’s progress during head start. washington, dc: office of planning, research and evaluation, administration for children and families, u.s. department of health and human services. head start/hippy collaboration 102 barhava-monteith, g., harre, n., & field, j. (1999). an evaluation of the hippy program in new zealand. child development and care, 159, 145-157. barnett, t., roost, f. d., & mceachran, j. (2012). evaluating the effectiveness of the home interaction program for parents and youngsters (hippy). family matters, 91, 25–35. bauer, l., & schanzenbach, d. w. (2016). the long-term impact of the head start program. the hamilton project, the brookings institution. retrieved from http://www.hamiltonproject.org/assets/files/long_term_impact_of_head_start_program.pdf bradley, r. h., & gilkey, b. (2003). the impact of hippy on school performance in third and sixth grades. in m. westheimer (ed.), parents making a difference: international research on the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters (hippy) (pp. 91-101). jerusalem: the hebrew university magnes press. brown, a. l., & johnson, u. (2014). the impact of early intervention on school readiness and parent involvement of at-risk children. nhsa dialog: a research-to-practice journal for the early childhood field,17(1), 74-87. retrieved from https://journals.uncc.edu/dialog/article/view/71/219 brown, a. l., & lee, j. (2014). school performance in elementary, middle and high school: a comparison of children based on hippy participation during the preschool years. the school community journal, 24(2), 83-106. retrieved from http://www.adi.org/ journal/2014fw/brownleefall2014.pdf connolly, f., & olson, l. s. (2012). early elementary performance and attendance in baltimore city schools’ prekindergarten and kindergarten. baltimore, md: baltimore education research consortium. retrieved from http://baltimore-berc.org/pdfs/ prekkattendancefullreport.pdf garces, e., thomas, d., & currie, j. (2002). longer term effects of head start. american economic review, 92, 999– 1012. greenberg, m., & domitrovich, c. (2011). the harrisburg preschool program evaluation: final report. university park, pa: pennsylvania state university, prevention research center. hippy usa. (n.d.). about us. retrieved from https://www.hippyusa.org/about-us/ jacobson, a. (2003). evaluating hippy in texas: process and progress. in m. westheimer (ed.), parents making a difference: international research on the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters (hippy): pp. 291-304. jerusalem: the hebrew university magnes press. johnson, r. c. (2010). the health returns of education policies from preschool to high school and beyond. american economic review, 100(2), 188-194. johnson, u. y., martinez-cantu, v., jacobson, a. l., weir, c. m. (2012). the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters program’s relationship with mother and school outcomes. early education and development, 23, 713 – 727. klein, l., weiss, h., & gomby, d. (winter, 2001). what we know about how hippy works: a summary of hippy evaluation research. new york, ny: hippy usa. lopez, a., & bernstein, j. (2016). 2016 hippy evaluation. report submitted to parent possible, colorado, usa. love, j. m., kisker, e. e., ross, c. m., schochet, p. z., brooks-gunn, j., paulsell, d., . . . vogel, c. (2002). making a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers and their families: the impacts of early head start. washington, dc: u.s. department of health and human services, administration on children, youth, and families. phillips, d., gormley, w., & anderson., s. (2016). the effects of tulsa’s cap head start program on middle-school academic outcomes and progress. developmental psychology, 52(8), 1247-1261. roundtree, w. (2003). maternal scaffolding behavior within the hippy context. in m. westheimer (ed.), parents making a difference: international research on the home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters (hippy), (pp. 181-192). jerusalem: the hebrew university mangnus press. smolensky, e., & gootman, j. a. (eds.). (2003). working families and growing kids: caring for children and adolescents. washington dc: national academics press. u.s. department of health and human services administration for children and families office of head start. (2015). head start early learning outcomes framework: ages birth to five. retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/sr/approach/pdf/ohs-framework.pdf dialog, 17(4), 119-123 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary ideal leadership in head start programs sandra e. gonzalez california state university, long beach the field of early childhood education (ece) has risen to the top of the national educational agenda as a way to overcome the achievement gap and assure that all children learn. with increased recognition comes greater accountability. the field of ece, particularly head start is under scrutiny to produce measureable results. leadership is crucial to assure both commitment to the holistic goals of ece and the requirements of accountability. the first step is to determine the views of those who know best, those who are working closely with children. the purpose of this paper is to report research on how current head start directors and teachers define effective leadership practices and strategies. these practices will help leaders and aspiring leaders in ece settings to be able to motivate teachers and gain the necessary tools to lead in a time of measureable results. keywords: head start; leadership; qualitative research the field of early childhood education (ece) has risen to the top of the national educational agenda as a way to overcome the achievement gap and assure that all children learn. president obama has enacted a series of new investments to establish high-quality preschool for every child in america. this is because of the overwhelming research that demonstrates the short and long term benefits associated with participation in ece programs. ece programs have also been found to be instrumental in preparing children to be school ready and in closing the achievement gap (business roundtable, 2012; hughs,2010; lambert, 2003; martin; 2010). however, with increased recognition comes greater accountability. the field of ece is under greater scrutiny to produce measureable results, particularly head start programs. leadership is crucial to assure both commitment to the holistic goals of ece and the requirements of accountability. as leaders seek to determine the factors that lead to the overall quality of early childhood programs it is necessary to focus on effective leadership strategies to successfully compete in a time of increased accountability. the first step is to determine the views of those who know best, those who are working closely with children. the purpose of this report is to report research on how current head start directors and teachers define effective leadership practices and strategies. these practices will help leaders and aspiring leaders in ece settings to be able to motivate teachers and gain the necessary tools to lead in a time of measureable results. 120 gonzalez over the past few decades, public school researchers have consistently reported that school leadership is vital in developing and sustaining school level conditions believed essential for instructional improvement (rosenholtz, 1989; hallinger & heck, 1996). the need for ece leadership is just as great as the need in later grades of public school, but the form of leadership will likely be different for ece programs. in ece there is a close connection to families as partners in the education of children, there is a developmental approach in a more personal atmosphere that attends to the whole child, and in the case of head start programs, there are heavy demands upon administrators to ensure that programs are following rules and regulations. given these unique conditions of ece, this article will explore how current directors and teachers define effective leadership practices and strategies that directors, site supervisors, and administrators can implement to increase program quality and teacher motivation. research was conducted at six head start programs in southern california. data were collected by means of interviews and completion of a demographic questionnaire and an adapted version of the leadership practices inventory (lpi). the findings revealed ideal leadership practices in alignment with the practices of transformational leadership. directors identified staff motivation, having a vision, and collaboration as ideal leadership practices, and teachers identified encouragement, leader visibility, leading by example and professional development as the ideal practices for effective leadership. the results of this study are critically important with the shifts in policy to increase quality of and expand access to early childhood education programs for all children. ideal leadership practices are vital to meeting the needs of the changing expectations of head start programs. ideal leadership practices all of the directors in the study agreed on the high level of importance of staff motivation. they described an ideal leader as an individual who is able to motivate staff to accomplish the vision of the program. they said that effective directors are “cheerleaders” to their staff. this included praise and providing positive feedback to staff on their work. a couple of the directors also shared recommended strategies to encourage staff. these included making time to meet with staff on an individual basis and taking the time for recognition and acknowledgement. directors also shared that effective leadership includes having a vision to guide the program. several of the directors reported that having a vision is a necessary practice for ideal leadership because it provides direction. leaders need not only to have a vision but also be able to have staff buy-in to the vision and be the driving force behind decisions made for the program. additionally, directors shared the importance of collaboration in being able to meet the vision of the program. this was seen as instrumental because it allows for all staff to be involved in the service delivery. being able to develop working relationships was also seen as a key element of collaboration because it allows for a cohesive process to get the work done. the interviews with teachers revealed ideal leadership practices to include; encouragement, visibility, leading by example, and opportunities for professional development. all teachers shared that encouragement was a needed practice of ideal leadership. receiving praise and feedback on their performance, along with “thank you”, were shared as being important to increase staff motivation. every single teacher interviewed indicated that receiving positive feedback was needed for staff motivation and the impact that this would have on not ideal leadership 121 only their performance but also how this would “trickle down” to how they would approach their work at the classroom level. teachers also shared the importance of visibility from the director as crucial for ideal leadership. this was indicated to be an area that needs to be strengthened. teachers stated that having directors be more visible and involved in the classroom level is vital in order to stay connected to the program and increase teacher satisfaction. the teachers in this study recognized the multitude of duties that directors have but stated that it is essential for directors to visit the classrooms in order to be aware of what occurs at the classroom level, see the children and families that are served by the program and be able to make decisions based on their observations. leading by example, was another practice that was shared by teachers. teachers shared the importance of directors behaving in a manner that demonstrates they believe in the vision and to follow through on verbal promises. it was indicated that directors need to be able to behave in a manner that demonstrates they believe in the vision and how this is transferred on to staff. in addition, teachers stated that directors should follow through on verbal promises and concerns in order to obtain respect from their staff. the last practice that teachers reveled for ideal leadership was the need for ongoing professional development opportunities. several teachers indicated that having opportunities to participate in professional development was vital for to maximizing their potential. teachers requested that professional development that is tailored to meet their needs be provided to them in order to enhance their skills. professional development was stated to be vital for ideal leadership because it allows staff to learn best practices and remain abreast trends in the field. recommendations for practioners the views of directors and teachers in this research study have several implications for current and aspiring leaders in ece. their definitions of ideal practices were in alignment with transformational leadership and confirm the importance of developing relationships as an aspect of effective leadership. kouzes and posner’s (2003, 2007) model of transformational leadership captures their views because it emphasizes the leader’s ability to establish a relationship with staff by means of communication, providing feedback, listening, and sharing information. further, the leader has the ability to guide and influence the vision of the program by means of the relationship that he or she establishes with the staff. there are several recommendations that follow from this study: 1. directors should lead by example and follow through on all promises to address concerns and earn and sustain credibility with staff. because teachers are observing the actions of directors, they must engage in authentic and reliable behavior that lives up to staff expectations. furthermore, directors can engage in acts that are not solely administrative but also more hands-on with staff. an example of such behavior includes providing coaching for teachers on desired interactions with children. this can be accomplished during classroom visits, an area that was identified as a needed practice by teachers in this study. 2. teachers and directors both referred to the importance of having a vision as a needed practice for ideal leadership. an effective leader understands the importance of 122 gonzalez establishing a clear vision. in accordance with this practice, directors should be sure to have a vision and be able to motivate staff to be a part of that vision. 3. directors should encourage collaboration, build teams, and empower staff. this is also important because of the variety of comprehensive services that are provided to children that require collaboration among the various service area disciplines. most importantly, directors need to establish collaborative practices with the local school districts in order to ensure children are school ready. 4. staff motivation and encouragement were regarded as highly important by both directors and teachers. teachers made reference to the value and impact that giving praise and showing appreciation has on staff and overall program morale. additionally, this study revealed the importance of visibility. teachers mentioned the importance of directors being visible at the classroom level in order to stay connected to the program and make decisions based on these observations. directors can integrate classroom visits as a part of their normal routine. an effective leader monitors performance expectations, builds commitment, enthusiasm and excitement (hawley & rollie, 2002). directors should spend time visiting the classrooms, interacting with children and families, and observing instruction. directors build trust through the supporting and nurturing of teachers and allowing relationships to grow and develop. this can also allow directors an opportunity to provide teachers with feedback, including praise. 5. professional development is helpful in enhancing the knowledge and skills of practitioners, as well as keeping staff abreast of changes in the field. teachers should be provided with professional development to assist them in becoming effective in their role, remain up-to-date on trends, and learn best practices. developing skills in these areas will enrich the quality of the program and therefore increase the quality of experiences for the children who attend. these recommendations provide a critical road map for leaders to guide successful head start programs. lead by example, establish a clear vision, collaborate, motivate, and develop the capacity of teachers. this kind of leadership is important for schools at all levels of education, but it is perhaps most crucial at the very beginning of a child’s educational journey. references business roundtable & corporate voices for working families. (2003). early childhood education: a call to action from the business community. washington, d.c: publisher. hallinger, p., & heck, r. (1996). reassessing the principal’s role in school effectiveness: a review of empirical research. educational administration quarterly, 13(4), 423-451. hawley, w. & rollie, d. (2002). the keys to effective schools. thousand oaks, ca: corwin-press. hughes, j. n. (2010). identifying quality in preschool education: progress and challenge. school psychology review, 39(1), 48-53. johns, t. (2005). investing in preschool. leadership, 34(3), 30-32. kouzes, j., & posner, b. (2003). the five practices of exemplary leadership. san francisco, ca: john wiley & sons. kouzes, j., & posner, b. (2007). the leadership challenge. san francisco, ca: john wiley & sons. lambert, l. (2003). leadership capacity for lasting school improvement. alexandria, va: ascd. ideal leadership 123 martin, s. (2010). an early childhood intervention programme and the long-term outcomes for students. child care in practice, 16(3), 257-274. rosenholtz, s. (1989). teachers’ workplace: the social organization of schools. new york, n.y.: longman. dialog, 18(4), 123-128 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary development of a culturally responsive book reading intervention for latina mothers and their head stat children carol scheffner hammer teachers college, columbia university brook sawyer lehigh university parents are encouraged to read books to their young children because of the impact book reading can have on later language and literacy development. however, few bookreading programs are designed for parents of culturally diverse backgrounds. the purpose of this article is to: (a) describe a book-reading intervention that was created for latina mothers and their head start children, (b) provide an overview of the results, and (c) discuss the implications for teachers. in general, we found that the intervention had an effect on children’s language abilities. children who received the intervention used more vocabulary words and produced longer utterances in language samples than children who were in the control group. participating mothers appreciated that the program allowed them to share their culture with their children as well as to learn how to use interactive book reading strategies. implications for practitioners are discussed. keywords: book-reading; intervention; latino; culture the importance of reading books to children is well established. book reading helps lay a foundation for children’s later language and literacy abilities by building children’s vocabulary, comprehension of language, and grammatical abilities (dickinson & mccabe, 2001; joanisse, manis, keating, & seidenberg, 2000; catts, fey, tomblin, & zhang, 2002). to assist parents provide high quality book reading experiences for their children, interactive book reading (or dialogic reading) interventions have been developed. the goal of these interventions is to assist parents provide a rich language environment for their children by engaging their children in talk about books by: (a) asking open-ended questions, (b) modeling language for and providing supportive feedback to their children, and (c) scaffolding their children’s language abilities (whitehurst, falco, lonigan, fischel, debaryshe, valdez-menchace & caulfield, 1988). despite calls for culturally responsive interventions from the national association for the education of young children (naeyc, 1995, 2009), few book-reading interventions have been tailored to latino families and their children. the purposes of this article are to describe the 124 hammer & sawyer development of a culturally-responsive, interactive book-reading intervention for latina mothers and their head start children, to give an overview of the results and to discuss the implications of the findings for teachers. development of a culturally-responsive book-reading intervention madres educando a sus niños/mothers educating their children, a culturally-responsive bookreading intervention, was designed to teach latina mothers to use interactive book reading strategies to support their children’s language development in spanish and english. the intervention is implemented through a series of home visits that center around eight culturallyinformed books that we designed specifically for this project (see table 1). we developed the books through an iterative process that included in-depth consultations with latina head start mothers who lived in the community where the project occurred. first, we interviewed latina mothers about their views and beliefs about parenting and about key facets of their culture that they wanted their children to learn. during the interviews, the mothers highlighted the importance of family, showing respect to others, particularly elders, being well mannered, and helping others in times of need. they also discussed the importance of festivals, family gatherings and the foods of their homeland. this information was then used to develop the themes for each book. we then teamed with an illustrator and author of children’s books to create the series of books used in this intervention. a team of five mothers provided feedback on the initial content of the stories and illustrations. their input was used to make revisions to each of the books. the mothers then reviewed the changes to the books to make certain that the books reflected their comments. the books chronicle the experiences of the alvarez family who travel back to their homeland to visit their grandmother and their extended family. during their travels, the family has experiences that highlight cultural values, traditions and events (see table 1). questions are included on various pages in each of the books which prompt mothers to talk with their children about the stories. when implementing the intervention, bilingual home visitors from the families’ communities conducted eight home visits that were scheduled approximately every two weeks. home visitors used either spanish and/or english during the visits, depending on the mothers’ preferences. at the first home visit, the home visitors shared the importance of parents reading books to their children and discussed that talking to their children about books when reading would help their children get ready for school. during each of the home visits, the home visitors introduced a new book from the alvarez series to the mothers. they shared the story that was contained in the book and then taught a targeted interactive book reading strategy to the mothers. these included: modeling language for children, asking questions of varying levels of difficulty and abstraction, providing verbal feedback to the child, and expanding upon what the child said. during the final three home visits, the home visitors also provided the mothers with commercially produced bilingual books with post-it notes in them that prompted mothers to engage in dialogue with their children while reading. the purpose was to help the mothers generalize use of the interactive book reading strategies to other books beyond the stories about the alvarez family. at the end of each home visit, the mothers were provided with activities to do with their children over the week. the activities included reading the targeted book to their culturally responsive intervention 125 children using the new interactive language strategy, teaching vocabulary words related to the books, asking their children to retell the stories and/or telling their children stories about their childhood or family that were related to the theme of the book. these activities were reviewed at the beginning of the subsequent home visit. at each home visit, home visitors also gathered mothers’ feedback about the intervention, the books and activities. table 1 culturally-informed books developed for madres educando a sus niños/mothers educating their children title of the book theme un viaje a la casa de abuela/a trip to abuela’s house the alvarez family takes a trip to their homeland to visit relatives. fiesta patronales the children learn about their culture at fiesta patronales. rosa aprende una lección/rosa learns a lesson one of the alvarez children experiences a key lesson about respect. bobo y los pollos/bobo and the chickens the alvarez children find out about bobo, a comic figure in the culture. hasta los piratas tienen vecinos/even pirates have neighbors the alvarez children experience how latinos help each other in times of need. ir al rio /going to the river the alvarez family takes a weekend trip with their relatives and experiences the joy of family. la flor y el colibrí /the flower and the hummingbird the alvarez children learn a traditional folktale and learn about their parents’ childhoods. ¡un viaje maravilloso!/a wonderful trip! the alvarez family returns home and talks about the marvelous visit they had with their relatives. an initial evaluation of the book reading intervention the mothers and their children seventy-three latina mothers and their preschool children from an urban head start program in central pennsylvania completed our initial evaluation of madres educando a sus niños/mothers educating their children. all mothers were native speakers of spanish and all children were spoken to in spanish and english by their mother, father or other family member (e.g., grandmother or grandfather). the majority of mothers were of puerto rican descent (81%). the other mothers were dominican, mexican, cuban or honduran. the children averaged 56 months of age, with half being girls. sixty percent were born on the united states mainland. more than half of the children were in their second year of head start, where english was the language of instruction. 126 hammer & sawyer the evaluation the mothers were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group. mothers in the intervention group received the book reading intervention as described previously. mothers in the control group received a series of four packets that contained math activities that targeted counting, shape recognition and naming, and pattern matching. the language abilities of all children were evaluated before the intervention began and once it was completed. children’s vocabulary and language comprehension abilities were assessed in spanish and english using the picture vocabulary and oral comprehension subtests of the woodcock test of achievement iii (in english; woodcock, mcgrew, & mather, 2001) and batería iii (in spanish; muñoz-sandoval, woodcock, mcgrew, & mather, 2005). also, the children’s conceptual vocabularies were assessed using the expressive one-word picture vocabulary test: spanish-bilingual edition (eowpvt-se; brownell, 2001). the test allows children to answer in spanish or english to obtain a global measure of children’s vocabularies in spanish and english. additionally, language samples were elicited from the children as they told a story while looking at a wordless picture book (narrative task) and while their mother read a book to them. the mothers and children were asked to speak in the language that was most comfortable for them. language samples were transcribed verbatim and coded and analyzed using the systematic analysis of language transcripts (salt; miller & iglesias, 2012) for two linguistic variables: (a) mean length of utterance (mlu-w) in words – mlu is well-established as a valid measure of syntactic abilities and (b) number of different words (ndw) – a measure of expressive vocabulary. initial promise of the intervention overall, our findings show that this culturally responsive intervention has promise for increasing children’s language abilities and that families view the intervention as being socially and culturally meaningful. in particular, we found that children who received the intervention, madres educando a sus niños/mothers educating their children, made significantly greater increases in their expressive language abilities than children in the control group. specifically, children who received the intervention increased their expressive vocabularies (i.e., ndw) and increased the average length of their utterances (i.e., mlu-w) more than children who did not receive the intervention. the increased length of the utterances means that the children’s sentences and questions were becoming more grammatically complex. we did not observe differences in children’s language abilities as measured by standardized tests. this is not unexpected given that this was a relatively short intervention. additionally, participating mothers found the intervention to be socially and culturally valid. all mothers stated that they tried to use the target interactive language strategies and that the strategies helped their children think more about the books. a number of mothers said that other family members, including fathers and grandparents, read the books to the children first in spanish and then again in english. a large majority (65%) of the mothers spoke about the value of the books and how the books allowed them to share their culture with their children. one mother spontaneously commented on how the books served as a bonding experience between her child and his father. culturally responsive intervention 127 several of the mothers commented that the stories in the books reminded them about facets of their culture that they have forgotten. additionally, half of the mothers discussed that their children greatly enjoyed the books and shared the stories with others in the family and their teachers. also, several mothers commented that their children’s teachers noticed a change in the children’s interest in books. implications for educators this project has two important implications for educators. first, the project demonstrates the value of incorporating books and materials into classrooms that reflect the cultures of the children and families they serve. when we were first beginning the project, we bought a variety of books and educational materials that reflected latino cultures to our team of mothers. the mothers gave us valuable feedback about which materials truly spoke to them and reflected their culture. they helped us identify songs and poems that we could use for our supplemental activities as well as helped inform us of books and materials best reflected their culture. it would be highly possible for teachers in head start and other early childhood centers to create teams of parents who could provide them with input about books, songs, poems, materials and activities that could be incorporated into the classroom. this would help integrate all children’s cultures into the children’s educational experiences. the team could meet periodically to provide input, and teachers could gradually integrate more and more culturally relevant books, materials and activities into their classrooms over the year. in addition, the parent team could collect culturally relevant materials for use in the classroom. for example, they could contribute photos of their homeland and/or cultural events that could be used to create books for the classroom or for sequencing activities where children retell a story based on a cultural event that occurred at home or in their community. the team could also help develop and/or carryout culturally relevant activities, such as simple art projects or cooking activities, in the classroom. photos could be taken of the children engaging in the activities, and books could be made for use in the classroom. alternatively, programs could host family nights during which parental input is gathered and/or materials were made for use in classrooms. the second implication of the project is that latina mothers are very interested in learning and using interactive book reading strategies to promote their children’s language development in spanish and english and to prepare their children for kindergarten. educators could capitalize on this interest by conducting a series of trainings for parents at their centers/schools, during home visits or during family nights. during these trainings, teachers could model how to read interactively with children, with an emphasis on asking open-ended questions, modeling language of children, expanding upon children’s responses, and engaging children in conversations about the books. educators could then create a lending library and/or make culturally relevant books (as described above) and send books home with the children. sticky notes or post-it notes could be placed on various pages of the books that provide parents with example questions and prompts that they could use to engage children in conversations about the stories. through these efforts, relationships between teachers and families would be strengthened. in addition, teachers would obtain valuable input from parents about books, materials and activities for their classrooms. such activities could increase parental involvement in the program as well as make the classrooms more culturally inclusive. 128 hammer & sawyer acknowledgements we would like to extend a special thank you to the head start mothers and staff who provided their valuable input as we developed the intervention. we would also like to thank suzanne bradbeer and bot roda for their work on the books that were central to the intervention, and sandra rosario and lindsay powers who were the project coordinators. in addition, we thank the administration for children and families, office of planning research and administration for the grant that supported this work (90yf0065). references brownell, r. (2001b). technical manual. expressive one-word picture vocabulary test: spanish-bilingual edition. novato, ca: academic therapy publications. dickinson, d., & mccabe, a. (2001). bringing it all together: the multiple origins, skills, and environmental supports of early literacy. learning disabilities research and practice, 16, 186-202. catts, h., fey, m., tomblin, b., & zhang, x. (2002). a longitudinal investigation of reading outcomes of children with language impairments. journal of speech, language, & hearing research, 45,1142-1157. joanisse, m., manis, f., keating, p., & seidenberg, m. (2000). language deficits in dyslexic children: speech perception, phonology, and morphology. journal of experimental child psychology, 77, 30-60. miller, j. & iglesias, a. (2012). systematic analysis of language transcripts (salt), research version 2012 [computer software]. middleton, wi: salt software. muñoz-sandoval, a.f., woodcock, r.w., mcgrew, k.s., & mather, n. (2005). batería iii woodcock-muñoz: pruebas de aprovechamiento. rolling meadows, il: riverside publishing. national association for the education of young children (naeyc, 1995). responding to linguistic and cultural diversity: recommendations for effective early childhood education. washington, dc: naeyc. national association for the education of young children (naeyc, 2009). on responding to linguistic and cultural diversity. washington, dc: naeyc. whitehurst, g., falco, f., lonigan, c., fischel, j., debaryshe, b., valdez-menchace, m., & caulfield, m. (1988). accelerating language development through picture book reading. developmental psychology, 24, 552559. woodcock, r.w., mcgrew, k.s., & mather, n. (2001). woodcock-johnson iii tests of achievement. itasca, il: riverside publishing. dialog, 18(3), 85-90 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary the implementation and study of dialogic buddy reading in a head start classroom mary jane mcilwain auburn university m. susan burns and c. stephen white george mason university the current naeyc campaign, early ed for president (naeyc, 2015), highlights the power that resides in a strong research practice partnership. this is particularly powerful when an evidence-based practice is initiated and studied in the context of a real classroom using scientific implementation. this research to practice summary shares how single subject research, coupled with qualitative interviews, are used to explore the feasibility and benefits of daily dialogic reading conducted by sixth grade students and head start students in a diverse, urban suburban elementary school. fidelity to dialogic reading done by mixed age reading buddies, or dialogic buddy reading, was attained to varying degrees and doing so led to vocabulary gains in the younger children. additional benefits were found for both older and younger students, as well as ways to improve fidelity over time or during future replications. keywords: reading; shared reading; read aloud, dialogic reading, peer tutoring the current naeyc campaign, early education for president (naeyc, 2015), emphasizes the power in our profession. we find ourselves in a well-informed place empowered with intentional teaching by thoughtful and energetic educators. these teachers understand how to filter and focus relevant research in their diverse contexts. this project provides a model for such teachers. the model facilitates the scientific implementation and study of dialogic reading (dr), an evidence based practice shown to increase oral language skills in young children, in daily classroom routines. decades of research highlight the positive impact of dr on oral language of young children (mol, bus, de jong, & smeets, 2008). dr is an interactive read aloud structure that prompts the child to gradually take on more and more responsibility for the story telling across multiple rereads. the dr protocol is enacted during the second reading of a soon to be favorite story. the reader periodically prompts that child to tell what is happening throughout the story. four types of prompts exist along a continuum of sophisticated thinking: a cloze prompt calls for the implementation and study of dbr 85 a single word response, recall prompts a description of a specific action, an inference is prompted based on an open ended question, or a personal connection is prompted through a distance question or model. following the prompt, the reader evaluates the child’s response to determine the most appropriate way to enhance or extend the conversation. the enhancement usually involves the reader restating what the child said in a way that modifies and extends either vocabulary or grammatical structures. finally, the reader skillfully guides the child to repeat that aspect of the conversation using as much of the enhanced language as possible. this prompt, evaluate, enhance, repeat cycle is remembered through the acronym, peer; and the prompt options are remembered through the acronym crowd (pearson early learning, 2002). the following conversation between a teacher and a preschool student is an example of dr at work while reading, whistle for willie: peggy [teacher]: “so instead he began to turn himself around—around and around he whirled… faster and faster…” what was it like when he whirled? “he whirled…faster and faster…” ralph [child]: he falls. ms. peggy: he falls? not totally, but almost! so when he “whirled” he went around and around in circles, right? ralph: fast, fast, fast! ms. peggy: fast, fast, fast. when he whirled he went around and around in circles really fast. ralph: fast, went around in circles fast. ms. peggy: let’s do it! [ms. peggy and ralph go around and around in circles] i’m whirling! i’m whirling! i’m whirling! ralph: i’m whirling! i’m whirling! (burns, johnson & assaf, 2012) research supports the used of dr to increase the oral language levels of very young children. in turn, oral language has positive correlations with eventual reading achievement (lonigan, 2007). daily dialogic reading could have significant educational impact on children we serve. it follows, then, that we would strive to find ways to bring daily dr into our preschool classrooms. one way is to tap the resources readily available in elementary schools that serve pre-kindergarten through fifth or sixth grade. the teachers involved in this project began to wonder how successful sixth grade students could be at facilitating dr with head start students. various peer-tutoring structures have met with various levels of success and fidelity often has a role to play in these outcomes. there, they considered how the level of fidelity to dr might be measured so as to inform future reiterations of dr projects, creating a scientific implementation of the routine. the study the current work brings the dr research into a new generation of study, shifting dr to dialogic buddy reading (dbr). the project involved a reading specialist and a head start teacher collaborating to study the degree to which sixth grade students can facilitate dr with head start students in a diverse urban suburban elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. in addition to conceptualizing how fidelity to dbr might be described and measured in 86 mcilwain et al. an authentic classroom context, the researchers looked for ways to leverage improvement to fidelity in future reiterations of dbr. tools from single subject research and mixed methods research were integrated to create an empirically sound design that was rigorous, yet flexible enough to implement in the classroom using the classroom teacher and reading specialist. book specific vocabulary assessments were developed to measure how the work in dbr influenced specific word learning in the younger children. additionally, a fidelity observation checklist was used to describe the extent to which the pairs adhered to the components of dbr. finally, interviews provided the opportunity to describe how the sixth grade students perceived the work of dbr. the three measures— vocabulary probes, fidelity observations, and interviews—converged to help practitioners understand what dbr might look like in a classroom, determine if it was a valid program to embrace, and consider how it might be improved. the procedure for implementing and studying dbr involved training the sixth grade students, establishing dbr as a classroom routine in the head start classroom, and selecting the pairs for data collection. the training began in october and took place during the 15-minute arrival time for students in the school—the same time dbr would occur in the head start classroom once started. the specialist met with 17 sixth grade students in the media center daily to run through various activities that included viewing and analyzing a video tutorial, roleplaying and book and vocabulary selection. the older students were paired with the younger students in november and the dbr work began in the head start classroom. dbr quickly became a much loved and anticipated routine in the lives of the older and younger children, not to mention the head start teacher, her assistant and the reading specialist. the space was energized with so much excitement, laughter and talk about the books and one another’s lives. although 17 pairs participated in dbr each morning, the researchers only collected data from six pairs. these pairs were selected randomly. the selected reading buddies read through selected books and chose five they wanted to reread. vocabulary probes were developed based on the chosen books to find words the younger students did not know before the multiple rereading of the stories. the older students were interviewed in november and in may. vocabulary and observation data was collected across 10 weeks in march, april and early may. key findings visual analysis of the observation data showed that pairs’ fidelity to the implementation of the dbr protocol varied, but that this fidelity can be easily measured via the observation tool. results from the tool also indicated that additional scaffolding and routine experiences with dbr lead to higher usage of components and completion rates of the peer cycle. although fidelity fluctuated across pairs, analysis of the data from the vocabulary measures show younger students increased in their receptive and expressive knowledge of the targeted words. additionally, the results of the delayed post assessment indicate that this upward trend continued well after the targeted books and scaffolds for those particular words were no longer being used (mcilwain & burns, 2014). analysis of the interview data showed several related benefits for both the younger and older child in each pair. these benefits include joint attention, vocabulary or word learning, thinking, relationships and a sense of accomplishment. misconceptions of the purpose of dbr and distractions influencing decision making during use of the dbr protocol also became evident as the interview data was analyzed. however, these older students also the implementation and study of dbr 87 offered solutions to the obstacles, stating that collaborative choices between the buddies might increase adherence to the dbr protocol and help the pairs bring more cycles to completion (mcilwain, 2012). implications for the implementation and study of dbr in classrooms the results indicate that dbr is a feasible and sustainable, evidence based practice that can increase the oral language skills used by head start students. additionally, continued study of ways to improve students’ fidelity to the dbr protocol during buddy reading might increase these benefits. the power of replication rests in the hands of others interested in joining in the conversation as to how dbr can become a powerful tool in classrooms across the country. the model shared in this project serves as a starting point for other practitioners interested in the scientific implementation of dbr in their classrooms. the following sections describe the model and offer some variations that may enhance fidelity and ease of implementation and study. be intentional about the why and the what why do you want to implement dbr in your classroom? the research in dr shows that this activity increases the vocabulary and language complexity used by younger students. both of these benefits have an important impact on future literacy development and academic success. you may want to focus on one or both of these aspects of oral language. access to reasonable measurements is also part of this decision. consider the assessment tools you already use to analyze retelling of stories and students’ use of language structures. these can be used to monitor the impact of dbr. other language assessments that are easy to administer include marie clay’s, record of oral language and the oral language acquisition inventory (manning & patterson, 2004). developing individual vocabulary probes as done in this model can be a bit time consuming. another idea is to collaborate with the speech pathologist in your building to administer a standardized vocabulary test like the peabody picture vocabulary test, which is used in many of the studies in dr. using a single subject design is a way of staggering data collection so you aren’t constantly assessing all of your children. set up assessment windows of eight to 12 weeks for 6 children. decide how often the assessments need to be conducted within the window—every week, every two weeks? rotate a new six pairs into the next assessment period. repeat the cycle throughout the school year. you can look at the results to see if they are replicated across assessment windows. be intentional about the how how will fidelity be enhanced, sustained and measured? the observation tool used in this project was very simple but effective (appendix a). you can set up observation windows that 88 mcilwain et al. align with the assessment windows and only observe those pairs during that time. decide how long you will observe each pair during the sessions and maintain that consistency. how will the older students be trained? collaborate with another specialist or resource teacher to conduct training sessions in short bursts, daily during school arrival or dismissal. resources that support trainings include videos like, read together talk together, and websites such as, this project did not provide coaching after the initial training sessions were completed; however, ongoing coaching and feedback using the observation checklist could be very powerful for both the older and younger students. this could be done immediately following or even during an observation. just indicate that the pair was coached during or after the observation period on the observation protocol. also, you can collaborate with another teacher in the building so one teacher provides coaching to those students not in an observation/assessment window while the other teacher observes those in the observation/assessment window. be intentional about the way to sustain and grow how will you invite input from the children? periodically interview the important people in this work—the children. develop a simple list of interview questions like those used in this project (appendix b). this will allow you to make adjustments as necessary. you can also interview the parents to see if the children’s reading behaviors are changing at home. are the children asking to read with their parents more often as a result of dbr being a part of the daily routine? if so, then the next step will be to share the process with the parents so they can conduct dr regularly at home. be intentional about the sharing of the learning share, share, share what you are learning. collaborate with a specialist or instructional coach to analyze the data generated from your assessments, observations and interviews. relay your findings informally to parents, administrators and other teachers through bulletin boards, posters, and brochures. share your work with a teacher research network through articles and presentations. partner with a researcher from a college or university for other opportunities. conclusion intentional implementation and study of dbr in the classrooms carries a great deal of potential. the research shared in this article kicks off a new generation of study in dr by bringing an evidence based practice typically conducted by parents and teachers to the daily experience of our children in head start classrooms in the form of dbr. data collected via the observation checklist showed various levels of fidelity to the dbr protocol and assessments showed vocabulary was positively impacted. there is indeed power in our profession, particularly as teachers access evidence based practices through their own intentional and systematic study. the implementation and study of dbr 89 references burns, m. s., johnson, r. t., & assaf, m. m. (2012). preschool education in today’s world: teaching children with diverse backgrounds and abilities. baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing co. lonigan, c. j. (2007). vocabulary development and the development of phonological awareness skills in preschool children. in r. k. wagner, a. e. muse, & k. r. tannenbaum (eds.), vocabulary acquisition: implications for reading comprehension. new york: guilford press. manning, m., & patterson, j. (2004). the oral language acquisition inventory: linking research and theory to assessment and instruction. childhood education, 81(2), 117–117. mcilwain, m. j. (2012). dialogic buddy reading: fidelity, vocabulary, sustainability. george mason university. retrieved from http://gradworks.umi.com/35/01/3501610.html mcilwain, m. j. & burns, m. s. (2014, december). dialogic buddy reading & vocabulary trends. presentation at the 64 th annual literacy research association conference, marco island, florida mol, s. e., bus, a. g., de jong, m. t., & smeets, d. j. h. (2008). added value of dialogic parent-child book readings: a meta-analysis. early education and development, 19(1), 7–26. http://doi.org/10.1080/10409280701838603 naeyc. (2015). 2015 naeyc annual conference. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v518byov2nq pearson early learning. (2002). read together, talk together. united states: pearson education, inc. http://gradworks.umi.com/35/01/3501610.html 90 mcilwain et al. appendix a post training/pre intervention interview: 1. tell me how dialogic buddy reading will work for you and your buddy (or your students). 2. what do you think you will like most about dialogic buddy reading? 3. what concerns you about dialogic buddy reading? post intervention interview: 1. tell me how dialogic buddy reading worked for you and your buddy (or your students). 2. what did you like most about dialogic buddy reading? 3. what did you like least about dialogic buddy reading? 4. what would you change about dialogic buddy reading? 5. (for teachers only) describe the how you feel your students’ home literacy experiences influence their book interactions at school? dialog, 18(1), 61-73 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 acknowledgement: the authors are deeply grateful for the funding of both the research and demonstration project from 1999 through 2004 by new york city administration for children's services (acs), division of head start during the data collection process and to the philip and lynn straus foundation during the period of data analysis and writing. research article asthma prevalence in an inner-city head start sample: links with family income, education and race/ethnicity ozlem bekar the new school for social research jewish board of family and children's services ellen halpern rutgers university newark faith lamb-parker bank street college howard steele and miriam steele the new school for social research rebecca shahmoon-shanok jewish board of family and children's services the head start bureau has described asthma as a “growing problem” and “top chronic disease among head start children” (rehnquist, 2002). this study examined the racial/ethnic and ses-based contributors to asthma prevalence among children attending three head start centers in a multi-ethnic, densely populated city in the u.s. sample consisted of 1312 families. findings indicated that poverty -over and above the effects of race/ethnicitywas a primary risk factor for asthma in this population: every thousand dollars increase in yearly income decreased the odds of asthma by 4%. in addition, hispanic/latino ethnicity and asian race were predictive of very high and very low rates of asthma, respectively. there was a positive relationship between asthma status and caregivers' education level, which may play a role in reporting of asthma cases. these findings are of significant value to inform formulation of effective intervention programs at head start centers. keywords: asthma, inner-city; childhood; poverty; race/ethnicity; head start 62 bekar et al. given that early childhood asthma may negatively impact socio-emotional development (mrazek, schuman, & klinnert, 1998), school readiness (halterman et al., 2001), school attendance (diette et al., 2000; ladebauche et al., 2001; moonie, sterling, figgs, & castro, 2006; taras & potts-datema, 2005), and primary caregivers’ ability to retain full time jobs (baydar, joesch, kieckhefer, kim, & greek, 2006), high asthma prevalence among head start children is a cause for serious concern. these disruptions in families’ work and education routines ultimately interfere with head start’s primary mission of providing comprehensive social, cognitive and health experience for young, low-income children (rehnquist, 2002). this study aims to describe the asthma prevalence and its relationship with socio-economic status (ses) among a diverse sample of head start children living in a densely populated metropolitan city in the u.s. although it is a well-established and consistent finding that asthma is more prevalent among head start children (mcgill et al., 1998; nelson, awad, alexander, & clark, 2009; rundle et al., 2009; slezak, persky, kviz, ramakhishan, & byers, 1998; vargas et al., 2004), research has yet to elucidate the ways in which race/ethnicity and ses are linked with asthma among this population and how cultural factors may play a role in the detection and reporting of asthma. increased risk for asthma among head start children is highly associated with the disproportionate burden of this disease among preschool children from low-income, ethnic minority backgrounds. it is estimated that approximately 1.7 million children in the u.s. develop asthma by the time they reach the age of five, which corresponds to 8% of all children in this age range (american lung association (ala), 2012). emergency room visits and hospitalization rates are the highest among children between birth and four years (akinbami, moorman, garbe & sondik, 2009). of children within this age range, those of a low socio-economic status are 1.5 to 2.4 times more likely to have asthma than children coming from high-ses backgrounds (bloom, cohen, & freeman, 2011; seguin, nikiema, gauvin, zunzunegui, & xu, 2007), and according to 2011 lifetime prevalence estimates, black preschool-aged children are approximately 2.3 times more likely than their white peers to develop this illness (american lung association, 2012). these income and racial/ethnic disparities in early childhood asthma represent the largest gap among all age cohorts (halfon & newacheck, 1993), and tend to diminish by the age of nine (case, lubotsy & paxson, 2002; chen, matthews & boyce, 2002). in addition, studies have reported several specific risk factors for high asthma morbidity among head start children including obesity (jacobson, et al., 2008b), increased exposure to allergens such as mold, cockroaches and mice (ladenbauche et al., 2001) and tobacco smoke (rotsides et al, 2010; vergas et al., 2004), which are strongly associated with economically disadvantaged environments (brooks-gunn & duncan, 1997; currie, 2005; federico & liu, 2003). however, studies drawing from national survey data to investigate raceand ses-based disparities in pediatric asthma generated mixed results. in one large, nationally representative sample (n = 20,717), chen, martin and matthews (2006b) found both race and parental education to be unassociated with asthma prevalence among children younger than 18. other findings suggest that poverty qualifies the effects of race/ethnicity on asthma status (brooksgunn & duncan, 1997; claudio, stingone, & godbold, 2006; currie, 2005; federico & liu, 2003; smith, hetcher-rose, wertheimer, & kahn, 2005). still other research has found asthma rates among black children to be less reactive to changes in family income compared to those of non-black children (fox-ray, thamer, fadillioglu, & gergen, 1998; halfon & newacheck, 1993; miller, 2000). discrepant results may stem from collapsing the data across ages, since ses and race/ethnicity in childhood asthma 63 ses-based disparities in asthma prevalence differ in magnitude and direction across different age cohorts, which can counterbalance the findings (chen, matthews, & boyce, 2002). our study sought to investigate (1) the prevalence of asthma within each racial/ethnic minority group within a low-income head start sample, (2) the associations between caregivers’ income and education, and children’s asthma prevalence after race/ethnicity and other covariates are taken into account, and (3) if the observed relationships can be explained by a third variable, e.g., pre/post term birth or the neighborhood/area of the head start center. we believe that furthering our understanding of the relationship between asthma, race/ethnicity and ses is crucial if we are to design well-informed and cost-effective interventions to reduce the burden of health disparities among head start families. method data used in this study were drawn from a larger longitudinal project which was completed between the years of 1999 and 2004 by the relationships for growth and learning (rfgl) program (shahmoon-shanok, lamb-parker, halpern, grant, lapidus, & seagle, 2005; shahmoon-shanok, welton, & lapidus, 1989). rfgl is a community-based, ongoing early screening and intervention program, which delivers mental health services to diverse low-income children between two and nine years and their families on-site in head start, day care and other preschools. rfgl is run by the institute for infants, children and families (iicf), and is overseen by the jewish board of family and children’s services (jbfcs), a large, non-sectarian, multiprogram mental health and social service agency in new york city. participants participants were recruited from three head start centers where the rfgl provided mental health services. centers were located in washington heights, lower east side and brooklyn in new york city. during the five year period, 1951 caregivers provided data on one or more of the variables of interest in this study during their first enrollment at the centers. children between the ages of two and five with complete data on asthma status, race/ethnicity and income were included in the analyses. the final sample consisted of 1312 children. cases that are excluded from the final sample did not differ from the ones that are retained on income, gender and pre/post term birth. due to high rates of incomplete data for chinese children, whose caregivers reported having fewer years of education (m = 9.2) and only 1.1% of asthma prevalence rate for their children, asthma prevalence and caregivers’ years of education were lower among the excluded cases compared to the retained cases. however, asthma prevalence rates or the education level of the caregivers were not significantly different between retained and excluded cases among black and hispanic/latino participants. thus, the final sample’s characteristics are found to be highly consistent with the larger sample. 64 bekar et al. measures a 41-item health record questionnaire (hrq) was completed with all caregivers at the time of registration to the head start centers. hrq included questions about pregnancy/birth history, hospitalizations/illnesses, health problems, and physical/psychological/social development of target children. a positive asthma status was assigned if the primary caregiver answered affirmatively to the question “has your child had asthma?" the primary measure of ses was yearly household income, self-reported by the primary caregiver. income was coded in $1000 increments from $0 to $20,000 and in $5000 increments for amounts more than $20,000, in line with the previous research (case, lubotsky, & paxson, 2002; chen, martin,& matthews, 2006a). secondly, data for education levels of caregivers were available for a large subsample of children (n = 907) and this variable represented the number of school years that primary female caregivers completed. caregivers were asked to identify their children’s ethnicity/race in an open ended question format. answers were categorized first as hispanic/latino, then as non-hispanic black, non-hispanic white, and asian. hispanic/latino category included children who were identified as hispanic, latino, hispanic/latino, mexican, dominican, spanish, panamanian, honduran, salvadoran, puerto-rican, and guatemalan. the black racial category included children who are identified as black, jamaican, and haitian. asian category included children who were identified as chinese or asian. ethnicities not belonging to any of the above categories (e.g. bengali, trinidadian) were included in the "other" category. white children were also included in the "other" category because there were too few white cases (n = 4) to permit separate analyses. child’s age was calculated based on the date of the interview with the primary caregiver. information on child’s gestational age was gathered by asking the question “was the child born more than three weeks early or late?” results demographics table 1 displays demographic characteristics of the sample. our sample mainly consisted of racial and ethnic minority children: approximately 16% of children were black, 77% were hispanic/latino, 5% were asian, and 2% was categorized as "other". approximately 52% of children were female. age ranged from 28 to 60 months with an average of 42 months (sd = 6.3). the average yearly income of families was $11,812, and it ranged from $1,300 to $32,942. approximately 90% of the families had less than $20,000 annual income. yearly family income did not significantly differ among racial/ethnic groups. the average education level of primary female caregivers was 11.5 years (sd = 2.87, n = 907), with significant differences between racial/ethnic groups, f (2, 886) = 22.99, p <.001. lowest level of school education was found among the primary female caregivers of asian children (m = 9.3 years), which was significantly less than of the caregivers of hispanic/latino children (m = 11.5 years), t(68.7) = -6.21, p <.001, and caregivers of black children (m = 12.3), t(92.2) = 7.57, p <.001. the difference in years of schooling between the caregivers of hispanic/latino and black children was also significant, t(204.6) = 3.36, p <.01. there was a significant but small positive correlation between family income and primary female caregivers’ years of schooling, r(907) = .08, p <.05. when different racial/ethnic groups were examined ses and race/ethnicity in childhood asthma 65 separately, correlations between income and education within black and hispanic/latino groups became stronger (r(119) = .22, p <.05; r(712) = .12, p <.01, respectively), whereas a negative relationship appeared within the asian group, r(58) = -.40, p < .01. table 1 participants characteristics pre-term or post-term birth rate was 8.8% in this sample. caregivers who were more educated reported more incidents of pre/post term birth, t(108.68) = 2.08, p < .05. income was not a significant predictor of pre/post-term birth status. the prevalence of asthma was 10.4%, with more males (12.3%) compared to females (8.6%) found to have asthma, χ 2 (1, n = 1285) = 4.57, p < .05. asthma prevalence also differed significantly between the three racial/ethnic groups, χ 2 (2, n = 1281) = 12.33, p < .05. the prevalence of asthma was almost two times higher among hispanic/latino children (11.4%) than black children (6.4%), χ 2 (1, n = 1216) = 4.45, p < .05. further, none of the asian children were reported to have asthma. the three head start centers had different racial/ethnic profiles. the vast majority of participants at the washington heights site were hispanic/latino (99%), whereas the brooklyn site had 50% hispanic/latino and 44% black children. about 77% of the children at the lower east side site were asian and 22% were hispanic/latino. a comparison of asthma rates between these three sites revealed that washington heights site had the highest rate of asthma (12%), followed by brooklyn (9%) and the lower east side (4%). the difference in asthma rates between the sites was significant, χ 2 (2, n = 1312) = 8.46, p < .05. in order to further investigate the relationship between the effects of neighborhood and race/ethnicity, we created cross m (sd) n (%) age (in months, n = 1312) 42.16 (6.33) gender (female, n = 1285) 673 (52.4) race/ethnicity hispanic/latino 1014 (77.3) black 202 (15.4) asian 65 (5.0) other 31 (2.4) total 1312 (100%) primary female caregiver education (in years, n = 907) less than high school high school or more 11.47 (2.88) 317 (35.0) 590 (65.0) annual family income (n = 1312) hispanic/latino black asian other $11, 812 ($5,540) $11, 823 ($5,278) $11, 642 ($6,664) $12, 149 ($4,638) $11, 859 ($7,532) child was born 3 weeks early or late (n = 1282) 113 (8.8) 66 bekar et al. tabulations between race/ethnicity and asthma status for the brooklyn site, which consisted of both hispanic/latino and black children. in this site, 51% of asthma cases were accounted for by hispanic/latino children, and 33% and 15% were accounted for by black and other race children, respectively, χ 2 (3, n = 459) = 8.23, p <.05. we also compared the rates of asthma only among hispanic/latino children using the location of the head start center as a predictor variable. analyses did not yield any significant effects of neighborhood on asthma prevalence among hispanic/latino children. prevalence of asthma among each racial/ethnic subgroup is displayed in table 2. within the hispanic/latino subsample, children from mexico had a lower asthma prevalence rate (n = 25, 4%) compared to children from the dominican republic (n = 30, 13.3%) or from children who were identified as hispanic/latino (11.5%). among the black subsample, 15.8% of jamaican (n = 19) and 6.5% of children who were identified as “black” were reported to have asthma, whereas none of the haitian (n = 30) children were reported to have asthma. these within racial/ethnic group differences were not significant. table 2 prevalence of asthma among different racial/ethnic groups (n = 1312) racial/ethnic group n % of asthma cases black 153 6.5 haitian 30 0 jamaican 19 15.8 hispanic/latino a 933 11.5 mexican 25 4.0 dominican 30 13.3 other hispanic/latino b 26 15.4 asian/chinese 65 0 other race/ethnicity 31 22.6 a includes children whose ethnicity were reported as ‘hispanic’, ‘latino’ or ‘hispanic/latino’. b includes children whose ethnicity were reported as ‘spanish’, ‘panamanian’, ‘honduran’, ‘salvadoran’, ‘puertorican’ or ‘guatemalan’. asthma status was significantly associated with lower yearly family income, t(1310) = 2.57, p < .05. when racial/ethnic groups were analyzed separately, this relationship between asthma status and income remained significant only among hispanic/latino children, t(1012) = 2.26, p < .05. within black and "other" race categories, family income levels were still higher among children who did not have asthma compared to the ones who did, although these differences were not significant. bivariate analyses were not conducted within the asian group since no asthma cases were reported for these children. the education level of the primary female caregivers was not significantly associated with asthma prevalence, although there was a marginally significant positive relationship between the two variables, t(132.8) = 1.81, p = .07. to further investigate this relationship, years of education was coded into ordinal values which reflected whether the primary female caregiver has completed high school or not. cross-tabulation of this education variable with asthma status ses and race/ethnicity in childhood asthma 67 revealed that reports of asthma were 8% among children whose primary female caregivers did not complete the high school, whereas it increased to 12% within children of at least high school educated caregivers, χ 2 (1, n = 907) = 4.38, p < .05. child age was not found to be significantly associated with asthma status. being born three weeks earlier or later than the due date was also not significantly related to having asthma, although these children had a higher rate of asthma (14.2%) compared to children who were born around the due date (9.9%). to investigate the unique variance explained by the effects of socio-demographic variables on asthma prevalence, logistic regression models were employed. in these analyses, "other" category in race/ethnicity was excluded from the sample since this group does not provide a theoretically meaningful comparison group. asian children were also excluded in order to prevent the complications stemming from zero-cell variance (hosmer & lemeshow, 1989), since none of the asian parents reported positive asthma status. age, gender, and pre/post-term gestational age were entered in the first step as control variables. dummy codings for hispanic/latino were entered in the second step. with this coding, black children subsample served as the reference group. finally, the ses indicator variable (income or years of education of the primary female caregiver) was entered. results of logistic regression analyses are displayed in table 3. males were 31% more likely to have asthma compared to females (p =.055), whereas age and pre/post-term birth were not significantly associated with asthma status. hispanic/latino children were approximately two times more likely to have asthma compared to black children. the effect of income was significant over and above that of race/ethnicity: one unit increase in family income was associated with a 4.4% decrease in the odds of having asthma among this sample of preschool children, after removing the effects of race/ethnicity and other covariates. table 3 logistic regression analyses predicting asthma prevalence from income and race/ethnicity among hispanic/latino and black children (n=1162) or 95% ci p p ll ul b lo ck 1 age 1.00 .97-1.03 .89 gender (female) .69 .48-1.00 .055 born 3 weeks early/late 1.55 .88-2.78 .14 b lo ck 2 age gender (female) born 3 weeks early/late 1.00 .69 1.59 .97-1.03 .48-1.00 .85-2.75 .96 .056 .16 hispanic/latino ethnicity 2.19 1.15-4.16 <.05 b lo ck 3 age gender (female) born 3 weeks early/late hispanic/latino ethnicity 1.00 .69 1.59 2.25 .97-1.03 .47-1.00 .88-2.86 1.18-4.28 .95 .055 .13 <.05 annual income .96 .92 1.00 <.05 68 bekar et al. note. or = odds ratio, ci = confidence interval; ll = lower limit; ul = upper limit. when racial/ethnic groups and head start sites were analyzed separately, the multivariate relationship between income and asthma status remained significant only for hispanic/latino children, or = .95, 95% ci = [0.91, 1.0], and only at the head start center located in washington heights, which serves primarily hispanic/latino families, or = .94, 95% ci = [0.90, 0.99]. we also tested whether an interaction term between race/ethnicity (with hispanic/latino and black children) and income would predict the asthma outcome by including this variable in the last step of the logistic regression analysis; yet, this interaction was not significant, or = .98, 95% ci = [0.87, 1.09]. the education level of the primary female caregiver was not significantly associated with asthma status after control variables and race/ethnicity were entered into the model (see table 4). table 4 logistic regression analyses predicting asthma prevalence from the primary female caregivers' education and race/ethnicity among hispanic/latino and black children (n=789) or 95% ci p p ll ul b lo ck 1 age 1.00 .96 1.03 .89 gender (female) .87 .56 1.37 .55 born 3 weeks early/late 1.8 .96 3.48 .07 b lo ck 2 age gender (female) born 3 weeks early/late 1.00 .89 1.77 .97 1.04 .57 1.40 .93 3.38 .99 .62 .09 hispanic/latino ethnicity 3.01 1.19 7.60 <.05 b lo ck 3 age gender (female) born 3 weeks early/late hispanic/latino ethnicity 1.00 .88 1.71 3.27 .97 1.04 .56 1.38 .89 3.28 1.29 8.30 .94 .58 .11 <.05 less than high school education 0.64 .38. 1.07 .09 note. or = odds ratio, ci = confidence interval; ll = lower limit; ul = upper limit discussion overall, our findings indicated that approximately one in ten children in our sample had asthma, and being from a low-income household was a significant predictor of asthma morbidity, even within the restricted income range of head start families. specifically, we found that approximately every thousand dollars increase in annual family income decreased the probability of having asthma by 4% for each child regardless of race/ethnicity, age, gender, and pre/post term gestational age. the significant relationship between asthma and family income in this ses and race/ethnicity in childhood asthma 69 minority sample highlights the importance of risk factors that are highly associated with family income. asthma is an inflammatory disease and its premorbidity and course are considerably affected by allergens like dust, mold, roaches and pesticides, commonly found in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods (claudio et al., 2006, perera et al., 2002). in case of an asthma risk indicated by a physician, improving suboptimal environmental conditions to prevent and manage asthma symptoms (e.g., buying air conditioners, air purifiers, replacing a carpet) proves to be financially challenging for low-income families (mansour, lanphear, & dewitt, 2000). in addition, low-income may generate additional parental stress, which can act as a risk factor both for the onset (klinnert, kaugars, strand, & silveira, 2008) and exacerbation of asthma symptoms through compromised immune systems and increased allergic reactions in infants (klinnert et al, 2001), and suboptimal treatment adherence (celano et al., 2010; rohan et al.,2010). we found the relationship between income and asthma prevalence to exist for hispanic/latino children, but not black children as has been reported in other studies (halfon & newacheck, 1993; fox-ray, thamer, fadillioglu, & gergen, 1998; miller, 2000). it is also of note that hispanic/latino ethnicity remains as a significant predictor of asthma prevalence even after income was included in the model. neighborhood location of the head start center was not a significant predictor of asthma prevalence when race/ethnicity’s effects were taken into account. these findings indicate that race/ethnicity acts as a co-determinant of disparities in asthma prevalence in a way that is not fully mediated by poverty, but may be mediated through some other variables that are associated with race/ethnicity (kawachi, daniels, & robinson, 2005). first, genetic vulnerability can be viewed as a primary mechanism through which racial/ethnic differences operate (joseph, ownby, peterson, & johnson, 2000). yet, studies have also found that people who come from the same racial background, but live in different countries, have significantly different asthma prevalence rates (eldeirawi et al., 2009; holguin et al., 2005). a second explanation could lie within cultural beliefs and practices associated with certain racial/ethnic backgrounds. for example, in a sample of 40 parents of low-income black children, mansour, lanphear, and dewitt (2000) reported that some parents refrain from using a daily asthma management/prevention medication in an effort to protect their children from developing an addiction. similarly, dominican-american and puerto-rican parents have been found to prefer using alternate, natural remedies and relaxation techniques in lieu of prescribed medication to treat asthma symptoms (koinis-mitchell et al., 2008). thirdly, chronic stress and language/culture-based communication problems in minority populations may relate the distinct variance explained by race/ethnicity (clark, anderson, clark, & williams, 1999; zanchetta & poureslami, 2006). in line with this final explanation, flores, bauchner, feinstein, and nguyen (1999) reported that even after controlling for parental education and income, minority status is still associated with not having visited a physician within the past year. since our findings indicate that both race/ethnicity and family income are associated with asthma status, albeit probably through separate pathways, they add to existing suggestions for further research to determine the particular mechanisms through which the effects of race/ethnicity are carried to disparities in asthma prevalence. another finding in our study was that no asian children were reported to have asthma. although previous research stated that asian children had lower levels of asthma prevalence compared to other ethnicities in the u.s. (akinbami, moorman, garbe, & sondik, 2009; claudio et al., 2006; lee, brugge, francis, & fisher, 2003), and studies conducted in china reported asthma rates as low as 1.1% in rural areas and 6.3% in urban areas (ma et al., 2009; zheng et al., 70 bekar et al. 2002), underreporting is still a possible explanation for the absence of asthma cases among asian children in this sample (nolan & may, 2002; partridge, 2000). in addition, the low rate could simply reflect high levels of undiagnosed asthma cases among asian children, which would indicate serious obstacles to access to health care among these families. moreover, 94% of asian families in our study listed their primary language as chinese. language barrier is one of the major causes of suboptimal health care received by immigrants (andersen & newman, 1973), which may explain unawareness and therefore underreporting of asthma cases in our sample. consistent with at least one other study (chen, martin, & matthews, 2006a), parental education was found to be positively related with asthma prevalence, i.e., more educated parents reported more asthma cases. this finding highlights the problems related to detection and diagnosis of asthma symptoms among less educated families in head start centers. one study conducted in head start centers in east and central harlem reported that only 41% of children with probable asthma were under the care of a physician for this disease (bonner et al., 2006) and due to poor parental management practices, between 30 and 46% of head start children who have asthma used emergency departments in the previous year to manage symptoms (jacobson et al., 2008a; mcgill et al., 1998; vargas et. al., 2004). our results should be viewed in light of several limitations. first, our detection of asthma cases relies on parental report and not on physician diagnosis, which might have resulted in underestimation of asthma rates in our study (roberts, 2003). secondly, our sample did not include white or high-ses children, therefore we were not able to evaluate the magnitude of the disparity in asthma burden associated with racial/ethnic minority status or financial disadvantage. another caveat is that we could not differentiate whether children were born preor post-term, as this information was gathered within one self-report variable. this may have obscured our results, since premature and post-term birth do not exert the same level of negative influence on lung functioning in young children (harju et al., 2013). finally, the education data was missing for a substantial number of primary female caregivers, limiting our analyses of this predictor to a smaller subsample, and potentially introducing a non-random responding bias. the head start bureau has described asthma as a “growing problem” and “top chronic disease among head start children” in the past decade (rehnquist, 2002). to the best of our knowledge, this study has been the first to investigate the effects of family income and parental education on asthma status among head start children coming from hispanic/latino, black and asian backgrounds. we found that even a small increase in family income makes a significant difference in the odds of having asthma, even in the restricted income range of head start families. should our results be replicated, they provide important data to inform the formulation of cost-effective prevention and intervention programs that can be utilized in head start centers, in service of improving children's health and learning as well as decreasing the overall negative economic impact of the disease stemming from medical expenses, loss of school days and work hours. our findings also highlight the possibility of suboptimal detection of asthma among head start children especially in immigrant and lower-educated families. thus, head start staff may benefit from more training on how to recognize asthma symptoms in preschool children and educating children and parents on symptom detection and management (walders, mcquaid, & dickstein, 2004). ses and race/ethnicity in childhood asthma 71 references akinbami l.j., moorman, j.e., garbe, p.l., & sondik, e.j. 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(2002). childhood asthma in beijing, china: a population-based case-control study. american journal of epidemiology, 156(10), 977-983. http://www.biomedexperts.com/abstract.bme/19913396/asthma_allergy_and_ige_levels_in_nyc_head_start_children http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02770900903114564 http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02770900903114564 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15842111 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15842111 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=fan%20x%5bauthor%5d&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=12419771 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=sun%20f%5bauthor%5d&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=12419771 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=wang%20j%5bauthor%5d&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=12419771 dialog, 22(2), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 supporting dual language learners’ language development using relevant teacher talk during playtime judy hicks paulick university of virginia oral vocabulary is an important component of children’s preliteracy development. free choice time (fct) provides a space for teachers to model oral language and engage with children about topics that are of particular interest to children. the researcher studied english immersion classrooms of dual language learners that were higherand lower-scoring on the class instrument, examining the amount and sophistication of teachers’ talk. teachers in the higher-scoring classrooms provided more exposure to talk, more sophisticated talk, longer interactions, more discussions, and fewer directives than teachers in the lower-scoring classrooms. this research has implications for the preparation of head start teachers, particular with regard to facilitating fct and engaging with children during play. the researcher provides suggestions for supporting teachers to engage with children during this important time of day. keywords: play, vocabulary development, teacher development, free choice time introduction and background a teacher approaches a pair of preschoolers who are playing with trains, trucks, and tracks on a rug during free choice time (fct). she notices one of the children—a native spanish speaker who is learning english—lift the bed of a dump truck and deposit a few lego blocks in a pile next to the road the two have created. the child looks up at the teacher and smiles. in this moment, the teacher has a variety of choices regarding how to enter the play. similarly, she has choices about the language she uses. and while, “wow! what are you working on?” is likely to gain her entry into the play, a differently-worded, “i notice you just emptied the bed of your dump truck!” not only gains entry, but also serves to model relatively sophisticated language. oral language development during preschool is related to language outcomes in elementary school (nichd eccrn, 2016; storch & whitehurst, 2002), and children from lower-income families tend to enter school with lower scores on language assessments (national center for educational statistics, 2009). fct is the time of day when children, engaged in activities of their choosing, are uniquely primed for language learning. when teachers engage in discussions with children so that the children and adults share a joint locus of attention, those discussions support research-to-practice summary using relevant teacher talk during play 85 children’s language development (clark, 2003; dickinson & tabors, 2002). in other words, as long as teachers are being sensitive not to disturb or derail children’s engagement, fct is an ideal time for teachers to be developing children’s language. while some head start programs offer bilingual instruction, most programs provide english immersion. for young dual language learners, who make up nearly a third of head start students nationwide (us department of health and human services, 2015), fct provides unique opportunities for language development that include the following: being able to listen and observe language (tabors, 2008) while still engaging in robust play with peers, engaging in one-on-one conversations with adults who can provide some home language support (espinosa, 2010; author, 2013), and having the time and space to practice language in a low-stress environment (garcia & jensen, 2007). even when teachers are not able to engage in sophisticated discussions with each child during fct, this unique block of time offers a variety of opportunities for language development. while current observation tools like the class (pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008) focus on the quality of teacher-child interactions more generally, they do not focus in particular on the words teachers are using. the current study builds on the research on the class, providing additional measures of classroom quality during fct in an effort to understand the range of teacher talk across classrooms during this time of day. the researcher examined variability in the amount, sophistication, and intent of teacher talk. the researcher asked: in classrooms with fct that scored higher or lower on the class, how does the talk that children are being exposed to differ in terms of amount, sophistication, and type? study description for this study the researcher conducted (1) a quantitative analysis of the amount and sophistication of the words that the teachers used when talking to or with children during fct; and (2) a qualitative examination of transcripts of the teacher talk to identify the type of talk teachers were using with children during fct. the four focal classrooms in this study—english immersion head start preschool classrooms in one head start district in northern california—were the two highest and two lowest scoring classrooms for the “instructional support” dimension of the class (pianta et al., 2008) within a larger sample of 16 classrooms. the researcher observed and recorded six full blocks (averaging 35 minutes apiece) of fct in each classroom from september to december, with an average of ten days between visits. all of the teacher talk was transcribed. the words the teachers spoke were counted. the counts determined the “words per minute” and the “rare words per minute” for each lead teacher. “rare” words were based on the word list from a 1982 study by moe, hopkins, and rush, who found that a mere 309 words accounted for approximately 80% of children’s spontaneous oral language. any words not found on that list were classified as “rare,” although those words tended to be quite common words—often adjectives, slightly less common verbs, or somewhat specified nouns—rather than particularly esoteric words. in the literature on vocabulary development, these would be akin to tier 2 words with some tier 1 words mixed in rather than tier 3 words (beck, mckeown, & kucan, 2013). for both the words per minute and the rare words per minute scores, ancova analyses accounted for covariance within teachers and compared the lower-scoring and higher-scoring classrooms. 86 paulick next, the teacher talk was coded for intent. each transcript was broken into utterances, and the utterances were divided into interactions, with an interaction defined as a teacher engaged with a child or small group of children with a joint locus of attention. each interaction was coded as “direct,” “inform,” “question,” (gest et al., 2006) and/or “discuss.” interactions that included more than one type of intent received multiple codes. findings and implications for practice both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of teacher language were found to be different between the classrooms that scored higher and lower on the class. total minutes total words total rare words visits to lower-scoring classrooms (n = 12) 420 21,391 4,826 visits to higher-scoring classrooms (n = 12) 398 32,878 7,355 table 1. words spoken by teachers table 1 shows that across approximately the same number of minutes, the teachers in the lower-scoring classrooms spoke considerably fewer words and considerably fewer rare words. since exposure to words is related to language outcomes, this discrepancy across classrooms may be important. it may be important to support teachers in using more talk with and around children during fct and relatively more sophisticated talk. figure 1. numbers of interactions across classroom quality 0 50 100 150 200 direct question inform discuss higher-scoring classrooms lower-scoring classrooms using relevant teacher talk during play 87 figure 1 illustrates the findings about the type of the language teachers were using with their students. there were more than three times as many interactions with discussions in the higher versus the lower-scoring classrooms, and just shy of half as many interactions with directives. numbers of interactions with close-ended questions and information were approximately equal across the two types of classrooms. although many interactions included both close-ended questions and discussion, interactions that included both directives and discussion were rare. in other words, although the researcher is not saying that a directive-free preschool classroom is ideal (or would even be possible), it was rare in this sample to find interactions that were both directives and discussions. it seems to be somewhat of a zero-sum game, whereby a preponderance of directives precludes time for discussion. in other words, too much of fct taken up by brief, directive interactions may detract from the sustained discussions that are more likely to develop children’s language. in the highest-scoring classrooms in this study, the teachers were talking more, including more sophisticated words, than in the lower-scoring classrooms. likewise, in the highest scoring classrooms, considerably more of the interactions with children were sustained and could be classified as discussions. on the other hand, in the generally lower-scoring classrooms in the study, many more of the interactions were brief and directive. overall, children in the higher-scoring classrooms were getting exposure to more talk and more sophisticated vocabulary from their teachers than their peers in the lower-scoring classrooms. in light of this finding, the researcher has some suggestions for early childhood teachers and teacher educators. • teachers need to be aware of the opportunities for hearing and producing talk that they are providing children during fct, particularly given how ripe this part of the day is for children’s language development. • teachers may require training regarding how to enter play in ways that do not disrupt or derail the play. • teachers may also require training regarding how to incorporate appropriately sophisticated words into their talk. • in this study, many directives during fct were associated with fewer discussions. it may make sense to encourage limiting directives during fct by setting expectations prior to this block of time. • not surprisingly, in classrooms where more words were spoken by teachers, more sophisticated words were spoken by teachers. it may make sense to encourage more, but thoughtful, talk by teachers during fct. • teachers from classrooms that were higher-scoring on the class seem already to be providing relatively richer linguistic environments for students. it may be helpful to engage those teachers in supporting teachers who are struggling with this aspect of instructional support. conclusion research indicates that children from low-ses families are likely to have smaller vocabularies than their more advantaged peers (carlo, august, mclaughlin, et al., 2004; white, graves, & slater, 1990), and children who do not develop strong oral language skills during the preschool years fall behind their peers with regard to literacy development, even before entering kindergarten 88 paulick (biemiller, 2006; snow, burns, & griffin, 1998). therefore, it is vital that children have exposure to strong models of oral language early and that they have opportunities to develop their own oral language. all head start teachers should have access to training in how to support oral language development across the preschool day and during fct in particular, including learning how to engage children in discussions and how to model relevant, interesting vocabulary use for children. references beck, i. l., mckeown, m. g., & kucan, l. (2013). bringing words to life. new york, ny: guilford press. biemiller, a. (2006). vocabulary development and instruction: a prerequisite for school learning. in d. k. dickinson, & s. b. newman (eds.), handbook of early literacy research, (pp. 41-51). new york, ny: guilford publications. carlo, m. s., august, d., mclaughlin, b., snow, c. e., dressler, c., lippman, d. n., ... & white, c. e. (2008). closing the gap: addressing the vocabulary needs of english‐language learners in bilingual and mainstream classrooms. the journal of education, 189(1 & 2), 57-76. clark, e. v. (2003). first language acquisition. cambridge: cambridge university press. dickinson, d. k., & tabors, p. o. (2002). fostering language and literacy in classrooms and homes. young children, 57(2), 10-18. espinosa, l. m. (2015). getting it right for young children from diverse backgrounds: applying research to improve practice. upper saddle river, nj: pearson. garcía, e. e., & jensen, b. (2007). helping young hispanic learners. educational leadership, 64(6), 34-39. gest, s. d., holland-coviello, r., welsh, j. a., eicher-catt, d.l., gill, s. (2006). language development subcontexts in head start classrooms: distinctive patterns of teacher talk during free play, mealtime, and book reading. early education and development, 17(2), 293-315. moe, a. j., hopkins, c. j, & rush, r. t. (1982). the vocabulary of first-grade children. springfield, il: charles c. thomas publishing. national center for education statistics. (2009). national assessment of educational progress: an overview of naep. washington, d.c.: national center for education statistics, institute of education sciences, u.s. dept. of education. nichd early child care research network. (2016). early child care and children’s development in the primary grades: follow-up results from the nichd study of early child care. american educational research journal. pianta, r. c., la paro, k. m., hamre, b. k. (2008). classroom assessment scoring system: manual k-3. baltimore, md: brookes publishing. snow, c. e., burns, m. s., & griffin, p. (1998). preventing reading difficulties in young children. washington, dc: the national academies press. storch, s. a., & whitehurst, g. j. (2002). oral language and code-related precursors to reading: evidence from a longitudinal structural model. developmental psychology, 38(6), 934-947. tabors, p. o. (2008). one child, two languages: a guide for early childhood educators of children learning english as a second language. baltimore, md: brookes publishing. white, t. g., graves, m. f., & slater, w. h. (1990). growth of reading vocabulary in diverse elementary schools: decoding and word meaning. journal of educational psychology, 82(2), 281-290. doi: 10.1037/00220663.82.2.281 dialog, 17(3), 35-48 copyright © 2014, issn: 1930-9325 research article promoting shared cultural and linguistic backgrounds among children and families in early head start/head start programs jeannette mancilla-martinez university of california, irvine nonie k. lesaux harvard graduate school of education while recruitment and employment goals of early head start/head start (ehs/hs) programs with respect to bilingual staff are clearly outlined in the program policies, nationally, little is known about their implementation on the ground, especially in programs that serve large numbers of latino children. the present study targeted an urban ehs/hs program that serves a large number of spanish-speaking dual language learning families. an interview with the program’s human resources director was conducted to gain insight into the program’s recruitment and retention strategies for latino/a staff. additionally, via the administration of a survey to lead teachers (n = 109), we sought to gain concrete insight into teachers’ language and ethnicity characteristics and to learn whether and, if so, for which purposes teachers reported using spanish in their classrooms. our results suggest that the two-pronged recruitment and retention strategy employed by the program likely related to the high rates of ehs/hs teachers in the program who identified themselves as latinas and who reported using spanish in the classroom. such efforts appear to be a step in the right direction given the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in today’s ehs/hs classrooms. the great majority of early head start (ehs) and head start (hs) programs serve dual language learning families, with only 16% enrolling english-only families exclusively (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008; vogel et al., 2006). while dual language learning families are a diverse group, representing numerous ethnicities and language backgrounds, latino children from spanish-speaking homes account for the greatest share of the ehs/hs population of dual language learners. that is, over one-third of ehs/hs children are latino (administration for children and families, 2008), and almost one in four come from families in which spanish is the primary language (hamm, 2006; u.s. department of health and human services, 2006). these demographics represent a unique characteristic of ehs/hs programs as compared to early childhood settings, nationally. for example, a national survey found that, in comparison, only approximately 8% of 3and 4-year old children enrolled in early childhood education settings are identified as hispanic or latino (saluja, early, & clifford, 2002). 36 mancilla-martinez & lesaux ehs/hs policy expects programs to strive to employ qualified bilingual staff in order to strengthen instruction for children, as well as to facilitate effective communication with parents and families (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). however, it is often difficult for programs to find, attract, and retain qualified, bilingual staff (national task force on early childhood education for hispanics, 2007; u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). this means that while recruitment and employment goals of ehs/hs programs with respect to bilingual staff are clearly outlined in the program policies, nationally, little is known about their implementation on the ground. that is, at the site-level, we know very little about efforts to recruit and retain bilingual staff and about the actual ethnicity and language backgrounds of ehs/hs staff, especially in programs that serve large numbers of latino children. we also know very little about whether and how spanish is used by ehs/hs teachers in the classroom (freedson, 2010). we do know, however, that there is some research that finds that when bilingual staff is present, it tends to be the assistant and not the lead teachers who speak students’ native languages (joseph & chazan cohen, 2000). given these questions, in conducting this study, we targeted an urban ehs/hs program that serves a large number of spanish-speaking dual language learning families. from our visits to the program, we suspected that a substantial percentage of the lead teachers were latina, spanish speakers, but statistics from across the program were not available and there was little information about the extent to which spanish was used, if at all, in the classrooms. to answer these questions, we interviewed the program’s human resources (hr) director to gain greater insight into the program’s recruitment and retention strategies for latina staff. we also administered a survey to all lead teachers to gain concrete insight into teachers’ language and ethnicity characteristics and to learn whether and, if so, for which purposes teachers reported using spanish in their classrooms. early childhood educators in the u.s. national statistics help to paint a picture of the characteristics of early childhood educators (referring to lead teachers) in this country. in general, the average early childhood educator for children aged 3 and 4 years old in the u.s. is a white woman of about 39 years of age (saluja et al., 2002); teachers at for-profit centers are slightly younger (m=35 years) and teachers in public school settings are slightly older (m=42 years). nearly every early childhood teacher is female (99%) and the majority (78%) is white (saluja et al., 2002); only 6% identify as “hispanic” or “latino” (saluja et al., 2002). teachers in hs classrooms are reported to differ from the national sample in some striking ways, especially with respect to ethnic diversity. for example, less than half (48%) of hs teachers are white while over one-third (35%) are black (saluja et al., 2002). furthermore, saluja and colleagues found that 6% of hs staff members who worked directly with children identified themselves as hispanic. however, based on information reported through the annually required program information report, hamm (2006) reports that over one-quarter (27%) of hs teachers identified themselves as hispanic in 2005 (hamm, 2006). the conflicting statistics relate to whether “hispanic” is included as a category under “race/ethnicity” (saluja et al., 2002 or whether it is a separate question, regardless of race (hamm, 2006). this diversity carries through to language use. about one-third (29%) of hs teachers reported that they were proficient in a language other than english (hamm, 2006). together, these statistics suggest that bilingual teachers in early head start/head start 37 hispanic/latino early childhood educators account for a greater share of the population in hs settings, compared to the national average for all early childhood education settings. however, these national statistics do not tell us about how this population is distributed across programs, which vary with respect to their concentration of latino children. teachers’ ethnicity is particularly of interest in programs serving high concentrations of latino children. bilingual staffing in programs serving dual language learners given the substantial population of dual language learners enrolled in ehs/hs programs, the organization has advanced the goal of recruiting more teachers who share the same language and culture as their students. one rationale for this goal stems from consistent findings that highquality early care is associated with improved language development and overall school-related achievement (e.g., brooks-gunn, 2003; nichd early child care research network & duncan, 2003). the most effective, high-quality center-based programs include two major components: a rich curriculum, including an emphasis on language and parental involvement, and a responsive, well-educated staff that results in a setting characterized by teacher-child interactions known to support development (brooks-gunn, 2005). while the vast majority of this research has been conducted with native english speaking children (national early literacy panel, 2008), there are implications to be drawn for dual language learning children, especially related to their oral language development. for instance, we know that language development is intertwined with cultural norms for language use (faltis, 2001; heath, 1983). therefore, hiring early childhood education teachers who share the home language and home culture of their students and families may promote more robust language learning at school while simultaneously facilitating communication with parents and families. ultimately, this would also advance progress towards meeting two characteristics of effective programs. at the same time, the minimal research conducted with dual language learning preschoolers, the (emerging) evidence indicates spanish is, indeed, sometimes used in the classroom but not commonplace (barnett, yarosz, thomas, jung, & blanco, 2007; chang et al., 2007; piker & rex, 2008). for example, chang et al. found that in pre-k classrooms across several states, only a modest amount of the teacher-student interactions in classrooms with bilingual spanish-english teachers and students took place in spanish (17.26% of all direct and indirect teacher-student interactions); however, even this minimal amount of spanish use resulted in higher ratings of the quality of teacher-child relationships. shedding light on patterns of language use, in their ethnographic study of teacher-child interactions in one head start classroom, piker and rex (2008) found that the latina assistant teacher offered spanishlanguage support to the spanish-dominant students. however, in this setting, the spanish was primarily used for translating information previously conveyed in english by the white, monolingual english-speaking lead teacher. current study national statistics tell us that early head start/head start (ehs/hs) teachers tend to be more ethnically diverse than the overall population of early childhood educators and that spanish is used by some preschool teachers (and/or teacher assistants) in some of the classrooms. 38 mancilla-martinez & lesaux however, there are reports that not only finding and attracting, but also retaining, qualified bilingual staff can be a challenge for programs (national task force on early childhood education for hispanics, 2007; u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). we thus interviewed the human resources director of a program serving a large concentration of latino children to gain insight into the program’s staff recruitment and retention strategies. we also sought to specifically examine the ethnicity and language backgrounds of teachers within this program and investigated whether and, if so, for which purposes teachers reported using spanish in their classrooms. study context & participants the study was conducted in a small city in the northeastern u.s. of the entire population, 38% of individuals identify as latino, 83% of whom are non-native english speakers. the city has one of the highest poverty rates in the state; 40% of the families are headed by a single mother and more than one-third of children live in households with incomes below the federal poverty level. within the overall ehs/hs program studied, three types of programming are offered, spanning the prenatal period (i.e., for pregnant mothers) through the end of the preschool period (i.e., child age 5), including early head start (prenatal to age 3), head start (age 2.9 to 5), and a summer migrant component (prenatal to age 5). the participants in this study consisted of 109 early head start and head start lead teachers at 8 program sites. the average teacher reported having 16 students in her classroom (sd = 6), with an average of 11 students (or 69% of the class) reported to hear or speak spanish at home (sd = 5). interview with human resources director a principal member of the research team conducted a semi-structured phone interview with the human resources (hr) director in late spring 2011, following ongoing communication and collaboration for that academic year. the interview was open-ended and included 4 guiding issues as follows: 1) recruitment of teachers (e.g., from where?), 2) retention strategies and the extent to which they seem effective, 3) challenges encountered in recruiting and retaining teachers, and 4) ways in which the program bridges language differences when they exist across families and children. the interview was framed at the outset to be about these issues, generally, but especially with respect to hiring and retaining latina teachers. leading up to the interview, the researcher and the hr director had ongoing communication about the overall study and discussed capacity-building initiatives, including potential further collaboration. in the course of these discussions and meetings, the program’s commitment to promoting spanish-speaking children’s achievement was made clear by the hr director. the interview lasted approximately 25 minutes. bilingual teachers in early head start/head start 39 teacher survey all lead teachers (n = 122) were asked to voluntarily and anonymously complete a researcherdeveloped survey during the 2010-11 academic year (see appendix). a total of 109 surveys were returned, yielding a response rate of 89%. the two-page survey, modeled after the head start family and child experiences survey (faces; zill et al., 2006), included background questions (e.g., education, years of experience, ethnicity) as well as specific questions about teachers’ spanish language use in the classroom. in addition to a question that asked about teachers’ frequency of spanish use (if at all), we asked teachers to identify the purposes for which they used spanish with their students, providing a range of options, including: to instruct or teach; to clarify; to give directions; to guide transition times; to comfort; and to socialize during nonteaching times. the surveys were mailed to the program’s hr director and subsequently distributed to the 8 site administrators. the site administrators then distributed the surveys to teachers, collected them, and returned the completed surveys in a sealed envelope to the hr director. the research team then obtained the surveys for processing and analysis. our findings teacher recruitment and retention strategies the interview with the hr director opened with a context-setting discussion of the linguistic diversity inherent in the program and the institutional response. specifically, the program aims to have a staff that is, collectively, bilingual and bicultural, with the specific goal of at least one teacher in every classroom who speaks spanish. the hr director reported that when this is not possible due to capacity issues, then there is definitely one or more spanish-speaking teacher(s) on site who interfaces with the spanish-speaking families. at the same time, cognizant of language barriers, similar to many other programs serving large numbers of non-native english speaking families, english as second language classes are offered to parents. more uniquely, however, at the time of the interview, a conversational spanish class was planned for teachers and staff, demonstrating the program’s commitment to ensuring that teachers and parents can communicate. following this opening discussion about the linguistic context and program response, the interview shifted to focus on recruitment and retention. as a primary recruiting strategy, the director of the overall program and the hr director have, for many years, made themselves (and thus the program) visible to the college community, professors and students alike, by sitting on boards and advisory committees. in turn, the hr director reports several positive by-products or dividends of having a hand in the college scene, predominantly relating to staff recruiting and to the quality of their pipeline. for example, they have had the chance to influence college curricula focused on early childhood development to ensure that current trends and issues (e.g., diversity, health and well-being, extreme poverty) are addressed and that graduates’ skills and knowledge reflect the program’s needs. at the same time, those colleges approach the program with interns in their early childhood education (ece) program and they are met with “open arms.” 40 mancilla-martinez & lesaux a second recruitment strategy is to visit local high schools (charter and non-charter) to talk with students not just about what ehs/hs is, but what high quality child care is and looks like in an effort to show the pipeline to the younger kids. in these sessions, they encourage students to “shadow teachers, sit in on trainings, and consider whether you might like to become a substitute teacher in the classroom, etc.” one location they target is a local alternative high school that includes many vocational programs, including an ece program; the school is designed for high-risk youth who may not persist in a traditional academic setting. the director and hr director also sit on the advisory committee for the ece program. in addition, in the service of program quality and staff retention, a primary program goal and strategy has focused squarely on advancing the education levels of the adults within the organization. while internal professional development is regularly provided, there are also incentives for staff to continue to pursue formal education. specifically, some program money is always put aside to support educational coursework at the bachelor’s and master’s level; for example, approximately 30% of permanent teachers are parents of children formerly enrolled in ehs/hs who came in as substitute teachers and were supported to advance their education. additionally, this program has been the recipient of a federal grant that supported a partnership with a 2-year college to provide evening educational services for the staff. as part of this partnership, some of the college teaching was in spanish and spanish-speaking tutors were available to support the participating latinas. the hr director noted that almost all graduates of this program are still on staff with them, which led to her report that, overall, the program has experienced an “extreme” amount of loyalty on the part of their teachers. this loyalty is evidenced in the program’s 9% turnover rate, mirroring that of the annual overall turnover rate of educators, but substantially lower than the hs average in the northeastern u.s. (30%; dennehy & marshall, 2005). this suggests that the program’s persistent press for capacity building is effective and may, ultimately, have implications for students’ positive social and emotional adjustment as stable relationships are needed (e.g., pianta & nimetz, 1991; shonkoff & phillips, 2000). teachers’ demographic characteristics while the focus of this study was on gaining insight into the recruitment and retention strategies for latino/a staff within a program serving large number of spanish-speaking dual language learners and on documenting teachers’ reported ethnicity and spanish language use, we also describe the participating teachers’ gender, education, and years of teaching experience (see table 1). given the available information on ehs/hs teachers’ characteristics, nationally, we were able to compare the sample statistics to these national statistics. gender, ethnicity, race. as expected based on national data, the ehs/hs teachers in our sample were nearly all females (99%). however, our sample included a substantially larger percentage of latina teachers (53%) compared to the overall national average and national average for head start programs (6% each). additionally, our sample identified themselves as black (7%) at rates similar to the overall national average (10%), but at notably lower rates than the head start national average (35%). bilingual teachers in early head start/head start 41 education and years of experience. only one-quarter (24%) of teachers in our sample reported having a bachelor’s degree or higher, which is substantially lower compared to the overall and the hs national average (50% and 40%, respectively). as a result, compared to the overall and the hs national statistics, a higher percentage (29%) of teachers in the sample reported having an associate’s degree. our sample reported more years of teaching experience than the national average (11 years vs. 6.8 years), but reported the same amount of average years (7 years) of teaching in ehs/hs. spanish use in the classroom the majority of teachers (74%) reported that they spoke spanish. of those teachers who indicated spanish proficiency, when asked about their use of spanish in the classroom, nearly all (88%) reported using at least some spanish. in fact, over half of these teachers (52%) reported frequent or very frequent spanish use. using the 5 options previously described, we next asked about their reason(s) for using spanish in the classroom; for ease of interpretation, we grouped the 5 options into 3 categories, from more to less formal reasons for using spanish as follows: 1) for instruction/teaching and for clarification, 2) to give directions and to guide transitions, and 3) to comfort and to socialize during non-teaching times. as shown in table 2, of the 74% of teachers who reported using spanish, 83% reported using spanish for multiple purposes, with over two-thirds (67%) reporting that they used spanish for all purposes provided. six teachers indicated using spanish solely for instruction/teaching and for clarification, 5 reported using spanish exclusively to give directions and to guide transitions, and 2 reported using spanish only to comfort and to socialize during non-teaching times. implications and recommendations early head start and head start (ehs/hs) programs aim to employ bilingual staff given the number of dual language learning children they serve. at the same time, however, they report difficulty in finding, attracting, and retaining bilingual staff qualified in early childhood education (u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). it is important to clarify that the organization’s goal is not simply to hire teachers who share their students’ native language, but also their cultural background (national task force on early childhood education for hispanics, 2007; u.s. department of health and human services, 2008). several areas of research support this policy recommendation, including that focused on the relationship between early language experience and language development, early language learning and overall socioemotional development, and that focused on the relationship between language and culture. teachers in the ehs/hs program studied—serving predominantly latino children and families—identified themselves as latinas at substantially higher rates than reported in overall and hs national statistics (53% vs. 6%, respectively). moreover, the program evidences relatively low turnover rates (9%). aside from this program’s ability to recruit and retain teachers that share the cultural background of the children and families they serve—an important step for program quality—many of these teachers also share the children’s linguistic background. not only did most teachers report that they spoke spanish, but nearly all of the spanish-speaking 42 mancilla-martinez & lesaux teachers indicated frequent use of spanish in the classroom. in fact, teachers reported that spanish was used for a variety of reasons, from using it for non-academic purposes such as to socialize with children during non-teaching times to using it specifically to instruct. the cultural and linguistic match we found in this study between ehs/hs teachers and families is precisely one of the key recommendations put forth by the national task force on early childhood education for hispanics (2007). these statistics are likely related to the two-pronged recruitment and retention strategy employed by the program; namely, creating a teacher pipeline at community colleges and local high schools and providing support for increasing the education levels of those within the organization. however, before specifically interpreting the strategies employed by this program, it is important to underscore that the clear goal is to employ bilingual and bicultural staff (in this case, spanish-speaking latino/as). despite this clearly articulated goal, capacity issues do not allow for this occur all of the time and, recognizing the non-negotiable need to ensure that parents and staff are able to communicate, the program took several concrete steps to minimize language barriers between parents and teachers. as one example, the program ensures that, independent of whether the lead teacher speaks spanish, spanish-speaking teachers are readily on site to interface with spanish-speaking families. additionally, the program offers esl classes to parents, a strategy that tends to be widely recommended across the school system (e.g., breiseth, robertson & lafond, 2011). most uniquely, the program was in the midst of creating a conversational spanish class for teachers and staff, an action that further demonstrates their commitment to fostering effective parent-teacher communication, and a feasible strategy for the field, generally. with regard to the strategies the program outlined as key to recruiting bilingual and bicultural teachers, the creation of a pipeline at colleges appeared to be effective for them. as the hr director noted, one important by-product of their close involvement with the college community was that they were able to influence college curricula focused on early childhood development, ensuring that the skills and knowledge of the students were aligned with their program needs, and facilitating internships in their program for ece teacher candidates. given that turnover rates have been documented to be higher among staff with lower qualifications and who feel less competent (dennehy & marshall, 2005), efforts to create a pipeline of teachers who reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of the communities they serve, with specific attention to preparing teacher candidates to address students’ language needs, including that of dual language learners, should certainly continue (chu, martinez-griego, & cronin, 2010 whitebook, kipnis, sakai, & almaraz, 2011). this may represent a particularly feasible strategy for similar programs across the nation. additionally, we found that the program’s focus on local high schools represented a creative mechanism for extending the pipeline to younger students. such an approach appears to be a step in the right direction to inform students about what it really means to become an ece teacher. for instance, by encouraging high school students to shadow teachers, concrete experiences are afforded to students that they might not otherwise have and such experiences have the potential to go a long way in planting the seed for pursuing a career in ece. we note that the high schools the program partners with, reflecting the demographics of the local community, serve a large latino population. in terms of staff retention, the program is well aware of increasing educational requirements and is committed to ongoing, onand off-the-job learning. that is, like all other ece programs, pd opportunities are regularly provided. however, in addition, the program is bilingual teachers in early head start/head start 43 focused on advancing the education levels of staff—in this case comprised of large numbers of latino/as—within the organization. by allocating monetary resources for teachers’ completion of educational coursework, whether leading to undergraduate or graduate degrees, the program sends a clear message that their (latino/a) staff is valued, likely contributing to the loyalty on the part of teachers underscored by the hr director. next steps and conclusion although these findings suggest there is reason to believe the cultural and linguistic classroom context in which these predominantly latino children are served—and the efforts to bridge language barriers across staff and families—ought to result in positive educational outcomes, the limited amount of research that has focused on ehs/hs dual language learning families does not allow for even tentative conclusions about the link between shared teacher-family language and culture and student achievement outcomes. while the foundation is in place for improved teaching and learning as a function of cultural and linguistic cohesion across staff and families, an important next step in this area of research is to explore these potential associations with child outcomes both intentionally and deliberately. at a basic level, future research should document the extent to which teachers’ language use reports, including their reported reasons for using spanish, relate to their observed language use in the classroom context. by providing empirical corroboration, concerns about the validity of self-reports can be minimized. additionally, future research should investigate not only whether program’s are committed to hiring staff who share students’ native languages, but also specific expectations regarding the use of those native languages in the classroom. at a more nuanced level, studies that explore teachers’ rationale for opting to use spanish would provide valuable information about the extent to which teachers are purposefully electing to use one language over the other (e.g., spanish or english), informing our understanding of teachers’ knowledge related to second language learning. such work is sorely needed as research finds that teachers and staff often do not know how best to support their dual language learning students. indeed, the national task force on early childhood education for hispanics (2007) reports that, at all levels of early childhood education, there is a shortage of teachers who are specialists in second language acquisition. more recently, whitebook and colleagues (2011) report considerable variation in the extent to which students pursuing b.a. degrees in ece were equipped to address the needs of dual language learners, with the authors noting that college instructors themselves might benefit from professional development (pd) in this critically important area. it is likely that pd opportunities for lead teachers and program staff who work directly with children and families would be beneficial, especially pd focused on the process of second language acquisition. we agree with whitebook and ryan (2011) that, to be effective, pd opportunities should to be tailored to teachers’ levels of expertise. in conclusion, as with all studies, the findings reported here must be interpreted in the context in which the study was conducted. considering that minimal research has focused on preschool dual language learners, studies that include larger samples from numerous programs in regions across the country would further inform our understanding about the extent to which ece programs that serve large numbers of dual language learners—like the one studied here— are able to recruit and retain bilingual, bicultural staff. results of our study suggests that targeted strategies for the recruitment and retention of latino/a early childhood educators, such as 44 mancilla-martinez & lesaux creating a pipeline of teachers at the high school and community college level while simultaneously allotting monetary resources for the educational advancement of those already part of the organization (whether as teachers’ assistants or as parents), are effective. such efforts evidence a program’s dedication toward promoting and responding to issues of biculturalism and bridging language differences and appear to be a step in the right directly given the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in today’s ehs/hs classrooms. references administration for children and families (2008). head start program fact sheet: fy2008.retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/about/fy2008.html barnett, w.s., yarosz, d.j., thomas, j.h., jung, k., & blanco, d. (2007). two-way monolingual english immersion in preschool education: an experimental comparison. early childhood research quarterly, 22, 277-293. breiseth, l., roberston, k., & lafond, s. (2011). a guide for engaging ell families: twenty strategies for school leaders. retrieved from www.colorincolorado.org/pdfs/guides/engaging-ell-families.pdf brooks-gunn, j. (2003). do you believe in magic? what we can expect from early childhood intervention programs. social policy report, society for research in child development, 17. retrieved from http://www.srcd.org/documents/publications/spr/spr17-1.pdf brooks-gunn, j. (2005). early childhood education: investing in quality makes sense. aera research points, volume 3, issue 2. retrieved from http://www.aera.net/uploadedfiles/journals_and_publications/research_points/rpfall05.pdf chang, f., crawford, g., early, d., bryant, d., howes, c., burchinal, m., et al. (2007). spanish-speaking children’s social and language development in pre-kindergarten classrooms. early education and development, 18, 243-269. chu, m., martinez-griego, b., & cronin, s. (2010). a head start/college partnership: using a culturally and linguistically responsive approach to help working teachers earn degrees. young children, 65 (4), 24-29. dennehy, j., & marshall, n.l. (2005). workforce characteristics of infant and toddler caregivers in centers, family child care homes, and early head start programs: a massachusetts capacity study research brief. center for research on women. faltis, c. (2001). joinfostering: teaching and learning in multilingual classrooms. new york: prentice-hall. freedson, m. (2010). educating preschool teachers to support english language learners. in e.e. garcia & e.c. frede (eds.), young english language learners: current research and emerging directions for practice and policy. (pp. 165-183). teachers college press. hamm, k. (2006). more than meets the eye: head start programs, participants, families, and staff in 2005. head start series, brief no. 8. washington, dc: center for law and social policy. retrieved from http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/0311.pdf heath, s. b. (1983). ways with words: language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. joseph, g.e., & cohen, r.c. (2000). celebrating cultural and linguistic diversity in head start. washington, dc: administration of children, youth and families. national early literacy panel. (2008). developing early literacy: report of the national early literacy panel. washington, dc: national institute for literacy. national task force on early childhood education for hispanics (2007). para nuestros niños: expanding and improving early education for hispanics [main report]. tempe: arizona state university. nichd early child care research network & duncan, g. j. (2003). modeling the impacts of child care quality on children's preschool cognitive development. child development, 74, 1454-1475. pianta, r.c., & nimetz, s.l. (1991). relationship between children and teachers: associations with classroom and home behavior. journal of applied developmental psychology, 12, 379-393. piker, r. a., & rex, l. a. (2008). influences of teacher-child social interactions on english language development in a head start classroom. early childhood education journal, 36, 187-193. saluja, g., early, d.m., & clifford, r.m. (2002). demographic characteristics of early childhood teachers and structural elements of early care and education in the united states. early childhood research &practice, 4, 1-19. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/about/fy2008.html http://www.colorincolorado.org/pdfs/guides/engaging-ell-families.pdf http://www.srcd.org/documents/publications/spr/spr17-1.pdf http://www.aera.net/uploadedfiles/journals_and_publications/research_points/rpfall05.pdf http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/0311.pdf bilingual teachers in early head start/head start 45 shonkoff, j., & phillips (2000). from neurons to neighborhoods: the science of early childhood development. washington, dc: national academy press. u. s. department of health and human services (2006). head start program information report: py2005-2006. retrieved june 24, 2009 from the u. s. department of health and human services web site: http://www.hsnrc.org/content/forum3/userfiles/file/enrollment_by_primary_language_o f_the_family.pdf u. s. department of health and human services (2008). dual language learning: what does it take? head start dual language report. washington, dc: author. vogel, c., aikens, n., burwick, a., hawkinson, l., richardson, a., mendenko, l., chazan-cohen, r. (2006) “findings from the survey of early head start programs: communities, programs, and families.” washington, dc: u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families. retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/survey_ehs/reports/findings_ehs/findings_ehs_survey.pdf whitebook, m., kipnis, f., sakai, l., & almaraz, m. (2011). learning together: a study of six b.a. completion cohort programs in early care and education: year 3. berkeley, ca: center for the study of child care employment, university of california at berkeley. whitebook, m., & ryan, s. (2011). degrees in context: asking the right questions about preparing skilled and effective teachers of young children. nieer policy brief (issue 22, april 2011). new brunswick, nj: national institute for early education research. zill, n., resnick, g., kim, k., o’donnell, k., sorongon, a., et al. (2006). head start performance measures center family and child experiences survey (faces 2000), technical report. washington, dc: us department of health and human services. http://www.hsnrc.org/content/forum3/userfiles/file/enrollment_by_primary_language_of_the_family.pdf http://www.hsnrc.org/content/forum3/userfiles/file/enrollment_by_primary_language_of_the_family.pdf http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/survey_ehs/reports/findings_ehs/findings_ehs_survey.pdf 46 mancilla-martinez & lesaux appendix teacher survey thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. please note that all of your answers will be kept confidential and that individual teachers’ responses will not be shared outside of the research team. the information from these surveys will be reported only in terms of average responses across all teachers. also, please note that the purpose of this survey is not to evaluate schools or teachers, but rather to gain descriptive information about typical practice in ehs/hs. you may choose not to answer any or all of the questions. 1. in total, how many years have you been teaching (including all grades and preschool)? number of years: _____ 2. how many of those years have you been teaching head start (as either lead or assistant teacher)? number of years: _____ 3. what is the last or highest grade of school you have completed? (mark one.) less than secondary (high school) some secondary school (grades 7-12) completed secondary school (through grade 12) ged certificate vocational/trade school some community college completed 2 years of community college some college or university, not vocational school or trade school completed 4-year college or university some graduate level education after college completed graduate level education after college 4. do you have a teaching certificate or license? yes no 5. do you have a child development associate (cda) credential? yes no 6. have you taken courses in early childhood education? yes no if yes, approximately how many? ______________ 7. have you taken courses on teaching bilingual children? yes no if yes, approximately how many? ______________ bilingual teachers in early head start/head start 47 8. are you currently a member of a professional association for early childhood education (for example, naeyc, nhsa, nea)? yes no if yes, please list them here: ___________________________________________ please note that this section refers to the characteristics of your current classroom – not to the summer and/or migrant program (if applicable). 9. if you speak spanish, how often do you use it in the classroom with the students? never very rarely rarely occasionally frequently very frequently 10. if you use spanish with your students, for what purposes do you use it? please mark all that apply: to instruct or teach to give directions to clarify to comfort to guide transition times to socialize during non-teaching times 11. how many other adults are in your classroom on a regular basis? ______________ what are their positions? ________________________________________ 12. how often do these other adults in the classroom use spanish with your students? never very rarely rarely occasionally frequently very frequently 48 mancilla-martinez & lesaux 13. how many of the total number of students in your classroom speak or hear spanish at home? total number of students in the class: _______ number of students who speak or hear spanish at home: _______ optional questions: 14. what is your race/ethnicity? ____________________________ 15. what is your gender? female male dialog, 18(3), 47-71 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research article from research to evidence-based practice: an account of the scientific implementation of dialogic buddy reading mary jane mcilwain auburn university m. susan burns and c. stephen white george mason university the research to practice rift is apparent as evidence-based practices remain outside the “real world” of schools. in this study we create and implement a program capitalizing on the research in dialogic reading (dr), a shared reading protocol used by adults with young children. the study employed a single subject design to examine the implementation of a modified version of dr in a head start classroom, whereby sixthgrade student use the dr protocol as they read with the pre-school students. fidelity to the major components of dr was considered in the design, training, and implementation phases of the adapted protocol in this authentic context. visual analysis of observation data is discussed using systems theory; indicating dbr can be implemented with varying levels of fidelity. therefore, evidence-based practices can transfer to the “real world” of schools provided that rigorous implementation and constructive use of fidelity measures are present within a well-defined, responsive system leading to continuous enhancement. keywords: reading; shared reading; read aloud as we consider evidence-based practices and how they transfer to the “real world” of schools, we strive to address practical and available resources in the school combined with rigor and fidelity to evidence-based practice. in our case we create and implement a program capitalizing on the research in dialogic reading, a shared reading protocol used by parents, teachers, and caregivers with young children. more specifically, this article shares how schools can transform dialogic reading (dr) to dialogic buddy reading (dbr), whereby upper elementary students use the dr protocol with a school’s youngest students. this article is meant to appeal to a particular group of stakeholders—those researchers, teachers and specialists interested in using and contributing to empirically sound literacy learning research in diverse, early childhood and elementary classrooms. though fidelity has come to be regarded as a tool to evaluate teachers’ ability or willingness to adhere to evidence-based practices or research-based commercial programs, the authors of this article conceptualize fidelity as a tool to be embraced by 48 mcilwain et al. researchers, teachers and other education professionals as a way to implement evidence-based practice with increasing fidelity, in the “real world” of schools. research focused on fidelity to emergent literacy activities like dr is important to determine ways of impacting the inequalities that exist as students enter school (lee & burkam, 2002). dr has a rich and varied research base supporting its inclusion in early childhood and elementary routines focused on increasing various aspects of oral language development. applied research investigating ways to increase fidelity of dr in children’s lives across varied educational contexts will build on students’ existing social and linguistic tools; and allowing these students to access such tools will leverage early success in reading and writing. this emerging line of research is very exciting as it connects classroom and scholarship in a way that builds literacy and equity for many students often marginalized. the purpose of this study is to initiate the exploration of using sixth grade students to conduct daily dialogic reading with head start students in order to bring the benefits of dr to more children typically found at the lower end of the achievement gap. the construct of fidelity to implementation offers insights into two elemental areas: defining the varying levels of adherence to the components of dialogic reading achieved by the pairs of students throughout the study and determining leverage points to enhance fidelity to implementation by sixth grade students as students continue to work together. systems theory (senge, 1994) provides a framework to relate the levels of fidelity attained to what fidelity might look like in the future, provided the leverage points are addressed. the design of the study is informed by a review of the literature synthesizing research from three relevant areas: dialogic reading, fidelity as it relates to implementation science, and peer tutoring. however, first a definition of dialogic reading is provided to orient readers to the routine’s protocol. dialogic reading (whitehurst et al., 1988) is a structured way of interacting with very young children while reading storybooks. dialogic reading (dr) has repeatedly improved the vocabulary and verbal expression of children when used at home and at daycare centers (mol, bus, de jong, & smeets, 2008). the structure, or protocol, for the adult child interaction is initiated during the rereading of previously shared stories, and it invites the child to participate in the telling of the story. the protocol includes four steps. first, the parent or teacher prompts the child. the prompt can ask for a word (as in a cloze procedure), the recall of an action, an inference based on open-ended questions, or a personal connection. the prompt is followed by an adult evaluation of the child’s response through praise and correction. the evaluation is quickly followed with an extension of the child’s initial response. finally the cycle is completed when the adult asks the child to repeat the extended response to the initial prompt. two acronyms aid a reader’s recall of the dialogic reading protocol. first, the dr cycle- prompt, evaluate, extend, and repeat—is remembered by peer (pearson early learning, 2002). second, the various prompt options—cloze, recall, open ended questions, whquestions, and distance questions—is captured by the acronym, crowd (pearson early learning, 2002). two scaffolds picturing peer and crowd can be found in appendix a. the following excerpt is an example of an interaction scaffolded through the dr protocol while reading the story, whistle for willie: peggy [teacher]: “so instead he began to turn himself around—around and around he whirled… faster and faster…” what was it like when he whirled? “he whirled…faster and faster…” ralph [child]: he falls. from research to evidence-based practice 49 ms. peggy: he falls? not totally, but almost! so when he “whirled” he went around and around in circles, right? ralph: fast, fast, fast! ms. peggy: fast, fast, fast. when he whirled he went around and around in circles really fast. ralph: fast, went around in circles fast. ms. peggy: let’s do it! [ms. peggy and ralph go around and around in circles] i’m whirling! i’m whirling! i’m whirling! ralph: i’m whirling! i’m whirling! (burns, johnson, & assaf, 2012) burns et al. (2012) discuss the value of including dr as a routine in preschool classrooms because of its documented positive effects on children’s development of oral language, as shown in the following review of the literature. dialogic reading the dr research base of 26 years has allowed replication across the previously mentioned contexts and has employed multiple designs, with each generation of studies considering the limitations shared by the older studies. the united states department of education’s what works clearinghouse (wwc) reviewed four studies of dr and concluded that the activity has potentially positive effects on oral language, print knowledge and early reading and writing (dialogic reading. what works clearinghouse intervention report, 2006). these and other studies use a quasi experimental design, including a control group, and statistical analysis of standardized language tests (arnold, lonigan, whitehurst, & epstein, 1994; chow & mcbridechang, 2003; fielding-barnsley & purdie, 2003; huebner, 2000b; whitehurst et al., 1988). in addition, many studies coded audio or video taped dr sessions (blom-hoffman, o’neil-pirozzi, volpe, cutting, & bissinger, 2006; briesch, chafouleas, lebel, & blom-hoffman, 2008; huebner, 2000b; huebner & meltzoff, 2005; jimenez, filippini, & gerber, 2006; whitehurst et al., 1988), and began to include single subject designs (briesch et al., 2008). as the contexts move from the home to daycare centers and classrooms, some studies also included researcher created vocabulary and linguistic measures (hargrave & senechal, 2000; lonigan & whitehurst, 1998; senechal, 1997; valdez-menchaca & whitehurst, 1992; whitehurst & arnold, 1994) common themes running through limitations listed across designs and contexts are: 1. the need to study dr’s prolonged influence in low socioeconomic environments (arnold et al., 1994; briesch et al., 2008; huebner, 2000a; mol et al., 2008; morrow, 1988; whitehurst et al., 1994) 2. the need to study dr’s influence on english language learners language and how this relates to reading acquisition in the second language (jimenez et al., 2006) 3. the need to increase fidelity to the protocol and frequency of use (briesch et al., 2008; chow & mcbride-chang, 2003; halsey, 2008; hargrave & senechal, 2000; huebner, 2000b; lonigan & whitehurst, 1998) 50 mcilwain et al. each of the three limitations is considered in design of the present study. fidelity to implementation is of particular importance to this dissemination of the work because the work explores the degree to which sixth grade students can take on the role usually played by parents, teachers or adult cares givers when conducting dr with young children. however, fidelity to implementation merges with implementation science as the project focuses on the use of dr in the context of a real classroom operating within the demands of an existing school program. fidelity and implementation science treatment fidelity, or fidelity of implementation, refers to the degree to which an intervention is implemented according to the critical program components. researchers in the public health and education fields agree that treatment fidelity is imperative; however, the construct of fidelity broadens to include what occurs before implementation in order to enhance fidelity of implementation across contexts. this broader perspective adds the likelihood of high treatment fidelity and therefore strengthens relations to outcomes and increases internal and external validity (borrelli et al., 2005; resnick et al., 2005). literature in the health sciences and education also describe two different ways of explaining five core components of fidelity. one summary labels the components as design, training, delivery, receipt, and enactment (borrelli et al., 2005). a second summary divides these five components into two categories: fidelity to structure (adherence, duration, and participant responsiveness) and fidelity to processes (quality of delivery, program differentiation, and participant responsiveness) (o’donnell, 2008; ruizprimo, 2006). many researchers agree that a multi method approach to developing measures across all dimensions will positively influence fidelity findings and communication (borrelli et al., 2005; ruiz-primo, 2006; smith, daunic, & taylor, 2007). doing so generates a more complete picture of what happened before and during implementation and, if related to the outcomes of the intervention, will aid in replication efforts. just as researchers determined that the construct of fidelity should be broadened beyond implementation, researchers in curriculum and instruction and special education are finding that what fidelity actually looks like or how it plays out in various classrooms needs to be considered(cook & odom, 2013; harn, parisi, & stoolmiller, 2013a; johnson & mcmaster, 2013; lendrum & humphrey, 2012). implementation science offers a way in which to organize, synthesize and disseminate such efforts. implementation science seeks to define methods that aid in the systematic study how evidence-based practices become routine practices across contexts (cook & odom, 2013). the research to practice gap points to the need to determine what level of fidelity is deemed adequate to produce positive outcomes (lendrum & humphrey, 2012) and how to facilitate and document adaptations to implementation that optimize a practice’s use across diverse contexts while maintaining integrity to the core components that are shown to cause these outcomes (harn et al., 2013a; johnson & mcmaster, 2013). the difficulty of systematically studying and sharing research on these two points is that each will look different for each practice being studied and then different again for each context in which it is being studied. however, as researchers work with practitioners to address these elements, practice will begin informing scholarship in a way that will facilitate uptakes of evidence-based practices across diverse contexts (harn et al., 2013a), developing equity from the classroom to scholarship and back. from research to evidence-based practice 51 harn et al. (2013) note the full construct of fidelity consists of both structure and process dimensions, but also state that literacy outcomes are predicted by process fidelity—quality of delivery, program differentiation, and participant responsiveness. as such, the goal of increasing implementation fidelity of a particular literacy based practice in any given context may benefit by addressing those areas in the effort to make the practice sustainable. this process may constitute a method for balancing fidelity with adaptability, a need articulated by johnson & mcmaster (2013) as they and others studied the effectiveness and practical use of peer tutoring in elementary schools. peer tutoring the research focused on peer tutoring spans decades, and, the topic continues to be studied and refined due to its potential to raise achievement across academic and social levels. a recent meta-analysis synthesized past research, concurred with other meta-analysis studies, and found that cross age and same age peer tutoring is an effective instructional routine. leung (2015) extended the research base to define best practices in the design of a peer tutoring program, some of which include: age with secondary and college attaining larger effect sizes than elementary and kindergarten; ability level of the tutor with the effect size being larger for lower ability tutors and high and low ability tutees; structured sessions attained larger effect sizes; and peer tutoring in reading and math produced larger effect sizes than those in other subjects. two elementary, same-age, mixed ability, structured, peer tutoring programs in literacy have shown some promise according to a wwc intervention report on beginning reading. first, the wwc reviewed twelve studies focused on classwide peer tutoring (cwpt), with one study meeting the criteria for evidence standards. cwpt involves students in a single classroom being paired (random, mixed ability or same ability) to review and practice previously taught literacy content. the tutoring session is structured within a 30-minute block and, according to wwc, has the potential to facilitate positive effects on general reading ability (what works clearinghouse (ed), 2007). other cwpt research, including studies that reach beyond beginning reading and those studies not meeting the criteria set by wwc, also find positive effects of cwpt on various targeted literacy behaviors and in a variety of contexts (bowman-perrott, 2009; greenwood, 2001; greenwood & finney, 1993; hashimoto, utley, greenwood, & pitchlyn, 2007) however, the studies including fidelity measures show these positive outcomes vary according to levels of fidelity to implementation met (greenwood, 2001; greenwood & finney, 1993; hashimoto et al., 2007; maheady, harper, mallette, & karnes, 2004). wwc reviewed research associated with a second promising early literacy, peer tutoring program, peer assisted learning/literacy strategies (pals)—also a same age, mixed ability, structured program. pals involves mixed ability pairs that work through a structured 35 minute periods three to four times a week. specific interactive structures beyond first grade include partner reading, summarizing, and predicting. structures for kindergarten and first grade include phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, and sight words in addition to passage reading, retelling and predicting. forty-five studies were reviewed with respect to effects on alphabetics, fluency and comprehension and three met the evidence criteria, with one meeting with reservations. based on these studies, pals shows potentially positive effects in alphabetics (which includes phonemic awareness), no effects in fluency and mixed effects in comprehension (which includes vocabulary by nature of the cloze procedure used in the measurement). other studies of pals 52 mcilwain et al. show positive effects in a variety of early literacy behaviors (phonological awareness, phonics, fluency and comprehension) spanning kindergarten through second grade and across contexts (fuchs, fuchs, thompson, otaiba, et al., 2001; mathes, grek, howard, babyak, & allen, 1999; mathes, howard, allen, & fuchs, 1998; mathes, torgesen, & allor, 2001; mcmaster, kung, han, & cao, 2008; saenz, fuchs, & fuchs, 2005). like the studies of cwpt, and not surprisingly so, effectiveness is a function of fidelity to implementation (fuchs, fuchs, thompson, otaiba, et al., 2001; fuchs, fuchs, thompson, svenson, et al., 2001; mathes et al., 1998; stein, berends, fuchs, mcmaster, saenz, et al., 2008) as researchers work to take cwpt and pals to scale, another line of cross age peer tutoring research is emerging. reading together (hattie, 2006) involves more able readers from the upper elementary grades reading with second grade students struggling to get beyond simply decoding text to more strategic and meaningful activity with text. as with cwpt and pals, reading together is structured, takes 30 minutes to implement and is expected to supplement core-reading programs. unlike cwpt and pals, participation in reading together is limited to those identified as needing intervention, whereas the class-wide programs involve all students. hattie (2006) conducted evaluations at different implementation cites and concluded that younger students participating in reading together make progress fluency and comprehension, as well as show increased motivation. although specific fidelity measures are not shared, recorded sessions of reading together did show variances in how the program was implemented at the teacher and tutor levels (hattie, 2006). the literature in peer tutoring is promising as it studies children’s ability to take on fairly complex teaching roles as defined by the critical components and processes in the respective programs. fidelity of implementation measures included observation checklists focused on teacher facilitation and student implementation (fuchs, fuchs, thompson, otaiba, et al., 2001; fuchs, fuchs, thompson, svenson, et al., 2001; mathes et al., 1999; stein, berends, fuchs, mcmaster, sáenz, et al., 2008). the promise is accentuated because positive outcomes are measured as researchers work the practitioners across diverse contexts to make adaptations to the programs based on the experiences in the field (greenwood, 2001; greenwood & finney, 1993; johnson & mcmaster, 2013; mcmaster et al., 2014; mcmaster, insoon han, coolong-chaffin, & fuchs, 2013). dialogic buddy reading the present study initiates the next generation of dr studies in the form of dbr, in which 6 th grade students were trained to facilitate dbr with head start students in a public elementary, pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, school. the following sections detail the exploration of the following questions: what level of fidelity to implementation can be observed and measured when sixth grade students conduct dbr with head start students? what are the leverage points for improving fidelity to implementation over time? if sixth grade students could facilitate daily dbr with head start students, then the positive effects of dr could reach many more children to provide experiences that help children develop vocabulary, linguistic complexity, and decontextualized use of language. from research to evidence-based practice 53 method this study employed a single subject, multiple probe design to study the successful implementation of dbr in a head start classroom. the data collection included vocabulary probes linked to positive trends in students’ receptive and expressive vocabularies; however, the detailed presentation of these data are available in another report (mcilwain, 2012; mcilwain & burns, 2014) so will be alluded to but not repeated here. the primary focus of this article is the fidelity to implementation of dbr, indicating how evidence-based practices transfer to the “real world” of schools given rigorous implementation and constructive use of fidelity measures. the training needs and the young age of head start students in the fall led to the following timeline and recruitment and selection procedures. first, all students in head start and sixth grade students were recruited by mid september. random selection with replacement was used to select six pairs for data collection at this point; however, all pairs participated in dbr simultaneously in the preschool classroom. to prepare for dbr, the older students were trained in september and october without their buddies in order to provide the preschool children time to adjust to the routines of school activities. buddies began working together in november providing time for the pairs to become comfortable with one another and to orient the younger students to sustained storybook reading. data collection using pre-selected books and pre assessed vocabulary words began in february. all students, 14 pairs and one trio, participated in dbr simultaneously in the preschool classroom four mornings per week. the younger students waited for their buddy by sitting in a circle on the rug. the younger students always had a book that they selected with them, and as weeks went on, would be pretend reading or sharing with a friend when the older students entered. the buddies would greet each other with smiles, hugs and high fives; then they would go to their favorite spots in the classroom to begin reading. the older student of each pair involved in data collection brought a book box with them which included the specified book or books that needed to be read during vocabulary data collection phases. the space was energized with a great deal of activity, language and laughter that usually centered on the books being read. there were times of play as students from different pairs became engaged with one another’s books or conversations. however, students were consistently focused on dbr. all pairs participated in dbr at the same time in the typical classroom context. moreover, all fidelity observations were collected in this classroom context as these students engaged in dbr. the following sections provide more detail about the participants, measures, design, and analysis used. participants the study took place in a small, diverse, suburban public elementary school that served head start through sixth grade. according to the school system’s demographic information, the school membership during the year the study took place included 463 students. forty-five percent of the population was female and 55% was male. student demographic characteristics broke down into the following ethnic categories: 0.2% american indian, 6.7% asian, 10.7% african american, 26.6% hispanic, 8.0% multiracial, 47.7% caucasian (school website, 2011). approximately 20% of the student population received english language support. roughly 28.61% of the school population participated in the free and reduced lunch program. 54 mcilwain et al. the participant pool consisted of 17 sixth grade and 15 head start students. the students represented a diverse range of socio-economic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds that mirrored that of the school membership. ten sixth grade students were female and seven were male. six head start students were female and nine were male. the ethnic backgrounds of the sixth grade students broke down into the following categories: one asian student, two african american students, six hispanic students, two multiracial students, and six caucasian students. the ethnic backgrounds of the head start students broke down into the following categories: three asian students, four african american students, six hispanic students, and two multi-racial students. the language background of the sixth grade students broke down into the following categories: 10 students spoke english only, four students spoke spanish and received english language services at school, two students were bilingual in spanish and english, one student was bilingual in urdu and english. the language used in the homes of the head start students broke down into the following categories: three students spoke english only; three students spoke predominantly english but had one parent that spoke spanish; five students spoke spanish; one student spoke french and english at home; one student spoke turkish at home; one student spoke urdu at home; and one spoke arabic at home. the average age of the sixth grade students in november of 2009 was 11 years and nine months. the average age of the preschool students in november of 2009 was four years and zero months. the participant pool was organized into 14 pairs and one trio. the dominant language spoken was matched for seven pairs—three pairs spoke english and four pairs spoke spanish. five pairs and one trio consisted of females. six pairs consisted of males. three pairs consisted of a male and a female. selected participants. six pairs were randomly selected for data collection. the pairs were identified on individual pieces of paper and placed in one of two containers representing two additional pools, english or spanish. four pairs were selected from the english pool and two were selected from the spanish pool. the selected pairs are described using numbers and pseudonyms. pair number one consisted of two females, ashley (a caucasian sixth grade student) and maria (an african american and hispanic head start student). ashley was 12 years of age, spoke english, and her teacher considered her to be on or above grade level in language arts. qualitative observational data collected during fidelity checks noted that she exhibited calm and deliberate mannerisms. maria was four years and 10 months of age and in her second year of head start. she had one sibling, her twin sister. she spoke english in the home; however, her mother was learning english and spoke to her in spanish. ashley exhibited quiet and obedient mannerisms during dbr sessions. pair number one used english during dbr. pair number two consisted of two females, lizzie (a caucasian sixth grade student) and sashi (an north african head start student from egypt). lizzie was 12 years and four months of age, and spoke english. her teacher considered her to be on grade level in reading, but she received special education support for writing. qualitative observational data collected during fidelity checks noted that lizzie exhibited animated or expressive mannerisms and often needed to refocus sashi. sashi was four years and two months of age and in her first year of head start. she had one younger sibling. she spoke arabic in the home. sashi exhibited inattentive and playful mannerisms during dbr sessions. pair number two used english during dbr. pair number three consisted of one female and one male, jenny (an african american and hispanic sixth grade student) and jeremy (a hispanic head start student). jenny was 11 from research to evidence-based practice 55 years and two months of age. she was bilingual in english and spanish, and she did not receive any english language support at school. she was considered by her teacher to be on or above grade level in language arts. qualitative data collected during fidelity checks noted that jenny was mild mannered and a little unsure of herself with jeremy in some instances. jeremy was four years and nine months of age and in his first year of head start. he had three older female siblings, all in elementary school. he spoke spanish at home. jeremy exhibited attentive, quiet and comedic mannerisms during dbr sessions. pair number three used english and spanish during dbr. jenny read in english or spanish and they dialogued predominantly in spanish. pair number four consisted of two males, ferrel (a caucasian sixth grade student) and don (an african american head start student). ferrel was 11 years and five months of age, spoke english, and was considered on grade level in language arts. qualitative data collected during fidelity checks noted that ferrel exhibited very deliberate mannerisms and was oriented towards leadership. don was four years and 11 months of age and in his second year of preschool. he had no siblings. he spoke english and french in the home. don exhibited attentive and energetic mannerisms during dbr sessions. pair number four used english during dbr. pair number five consisted of two females, noora (a hispanic sixth grade student) and marion (a hispanic head start student). noora was 13 years and two months of age. she spoke spanish, received english language support in school, and was considered below grade level in language arts. qualitative data collected during fidelity checks noted that noora exhibited focused, but playful mannerisms. marion was four years and nine months of age and in her first year of head start. she had no siblings. she spoke english and spanish in the home. marion exhibited attentive and obedient mannerisms during dbr sessions. pair number five used english and spanish during dbr, but tended to use more english based on marion‟s preference. pair number six consisted of two females, julia (an african american sixth grade student) and paige (an african american head start student). julia was 11 years and nine months of age, spoke english, and was considered below grade level in language arts. qualitative data collected during fidelity checks noted that julia exhibited animated and focused mannerisms. paige was five years and one month of age and in her first year of head start. she spoke english. she exhibited attentive, deliberate, and inhibited mannerisms during dbr sessions. pair number six used english during dbr. measure observations were documented using a fidelity protocol checklist (appendix b) which noted the type of prompt used (completion prompts, recall prompts, open ended prompts, whprompts, distance questions) and the components of dbr used (prompt, evaluate, extend, repeat) during each dbr cycle. a dbr cycle begins with a prompt and ends with a repeat. therefore, each observation denoted the number of dbr cycles initiated and the degree to which each component of a cycle was used during a seven to 10 minute period. procedure the procedure consists of a training phase and a delivery phase. the two are detailed below. keep in mind that each of these phases took place between 9:10 and 9:25 four mornings a week. 56 mcilwain et al. the times were within particular school periods, but did not disrupt formal instructional time for either age group. training phase. the training for dbr consisted of two stages. the first level involved learning how to select books and target words and how to conduct dbr. the second phase involved the pairs engaging in dbr with ongoing coaching from the researcher. a more detailed description of each phase follows. the first stage of the training occurred over twenty-eight 15 minute sessions at the onset of the study (september and october), but before the pairs began to meet. the researcher met with the older students in the school library. these students were provided guidelines, practice, and coaching in selecting appropriate books and vocabulary words. book selection criteria included a sense of story or interesting information, rich vocabulary, and engaging pictures. words targeted for discussion needed to be meaningful. the older students spent four sessions locating books that they felt were appropriate for dbr. the older students then worked in pairs to determine which books met the book selection criteria and which needed to be discarded. during the next four sessions, pairs read through the books and noted words that would work as targeted vocabulary by marking them with a sticky note. the researcher facilitated the older student discussions offering guidance as necessary. the next twenty 15 minute sessions of first stage of dbr training involved learning how to facilitate dbr. to start, the students viewed the 30-minute video, read together talk together (pearson early learning, 2002) from beginning to end. they then revisited different aspects of the video as they viewed live modeling and role-played with peers using the books and words previously selected. additionally, the students were provided with a guide to scaffold them in the dbr (appendix a), which was also used during training and during the intervention. the researcher used the dbr observation checklist (appendix b) to provide ongoing feedback to the role-playing pairs during the last week of october and the first week of november. the second phase of the dbr training began the second week of november. the older reading buddies began to implement the dialogic techniques with their preschool aged partners using books selected from the classroom library. the researcher individually coached all the pairs that made up the selection pool using the dbr observation checklist during the months of november, december, and january. delivery and data collection phase. six pairs were randomly selected for data collection in early february. while the relevant data for this paper is focused on fidelity to implementation, data was also collected on vocabulary learning as part of the larger study. the pairs of older students and head start students spent two weeks introducing and providing one read each of six books: growing vegetable soup, harry the dirty dog, how does a dinosaur go to school, the runaway bunny, is your mama a llama, and corduroy. the preschool student then chose three books they wanted to use during the intervention period. finally, a unique vocabulary measure was developed for each of the six preschool students based on their book selections by late february. bookmarks were created to scaffold and target the vocabulary words using the dbr protocol. an example of a bookmark for one story is included in appendix c. the purpose of the bookmark was to target specific vocabulary for the purpose of determining if the dbr protocol could be connected to the learning of those specific words—an aspect of the broader project that is detailed in another work. therefore, bookmarks were only used when reading those specific texts. however, fidelity observations were conducted across the duration from research to evidence-based practice 57 of the study regardless if book being read were part of the vocabulary study or others chosen from the classroom library. the intervention period used the following format. each pair worked with the selected books for five weeks. one of the three selected titles was reintroduced each of the first three weeks. the pairs were required to read the targeted book for the week at least once each day. the pairs read one to two books per reading session, so the targeted book was read every day during that week plus another book. the targeted book was kept in a book box delegated for the pair after it was reintroduced so that the pairs could use it again in subsequent weeks if they so chose. each preschool student was administered the vocabulary measure once a week during the five week period. the six pairs were organized into three distinct groups. the start time for each group’s five-week intervention period was staggered every two weeks. a graphic display of the timeline for the intervention and data collection can be found in appendix d. each bar represents a pair. the bar is divided into five sections, one section for each week. the dates for the week, the title of the book introduced, the targeted words for that book, and the dates for the vocabulary probe and fidelity observation are noted in each section. there was a total of nine weeks of data collection during the intervention phase. the researcher observed each of the six pairs at least once a week during the nine-week data collection period during march, april, and the first two weeks of may. this period provided eight observation checks for each pair. each observation was audio recorded as the checklist was applied. the audio allowed for reliability to be calculated, which is described in the next section. the fidelity protocol checklists were analyzed for each pair. this analysis focused on the number of complete dbr cycles per observation and a notation of the components neglected. a visual graph representing the fidelity measure was constructed for each set of dyads. reliability an inter-rater agreement was calculated in order to ensure accuracy of the measures. twentyfive percent of the 48 recorded fidelity observations were selected. two observation checklists were randomly pulled for each pair. the audio recordings of these sessions were transcribed. another researcher familiar with dbr applied a fidelity checklist to each of the transcripts. the checklists completed by the outside researcher were compared with those of the researcher in order to tabulate the number of agreements and disagreements. the inter-rater agreement ratio was calculated by dividing the total number of agreements between the researcher and the observations provided by an outside analyst across all pairs. this number was then divided by the number of agreements plus the number of disagreements, and multiplying that number by 100 (briesch et al., 2008). the inter-rater agreement ratio was .71 for the fidelity measure. validity threats to internal validity were addressed by paying very close attention to the delivery, receipt and enactment of dbr. observations using the fidelity checklist provided insights into to what degree the sixth grade students could use the dr protocol during delivery and receipt of dbr. interview data further supported internal validity, showing that sixth grade students shifted in their understanding of how to conduct dbr and why it is important to the younger buddy. 58 mcilwain et al. threats to external validity were minimized through the detailed description of diverse participants. additionally, the study design included two opportunities for replication of effects by staggering the start of the use of dbr techniques across dyads, with each dyad consisting of two buddy pairs. results the observational data is analyzed across pairs in order to develop a cross case synthesis of overall fidelity findings. first, each observation is broken down to assess the extent the critical components of the peer cycle were used by each pair. the graphs displaying this data are displayed in figure 1. a second analysis is then summarized in figure 2, indicating the percentage of components used and the percentage of completed cycles across pairs, both with and without the use of the more detailed support of the targeted vocabulary bookmark. the observation breakdowns and synthesis are followed by a summary of the vocabulary probe results, which are detailed in another work (mcilwain & burns, 2014) and a summary of a sustainability exploration, also detailed in another work (mcilwain, 2012). the vocabulary and sustainability summaries are included to better understand what level of fidelity to implementation might be needed to influence positive outcomes in vocabulary learning and what supported or hindered fidelity to implementation—helping to define potential leverage points for improvement of both the program and the implementation of the program over time and across contexts. cross case analysis of fidelity to the dbr protocol taken together, the results for pairs one (ashley and maria) and two (lizzie and sashi) indicate that fidelity to dbr is observable and measureable for sixth grade students working with preschool children. the number of initiated cycles increased when the older student used the bookmark; however, ashley and lizzie also initiated cycles when reading books that did not require the use of a bookmark for targeted vocabulary (observations one through five). the number of complete cycles increased when scaffolded with this visual support for lizzie; however, the same is not true for ashley. as with pairs one and two, the graphs for pairs three (jenny and jeremy) and four (ferrel and don) indicate that fidelity to dbr is an observable and measureable goal for sixth grade students. the graphs indicate an upward trend in the number of components used in each dbr cycle. also, ferrel began using the extended and repeat components more often in each subsequent check. the increased number of initiations and components began when the students were required to use the bookmarks to target vocabulary (observations three through seven), but they also continued once the bookmarks were no longer required. to continue the trend, observation breakdowns for pairs five (noora and marion) and six (julia and paige) also indicate that fidelity to dbr is observable and measureable in the elementary school setting. both pairs improve in number of initiations and number of components used across observations. noora showed improvements in number of initiations and completed cycles before the bookmark requirement began in observation four; and julia showed a bit of an implementation dip, but quickly recovered and returned to an upward trend in initiated from research to evidence-based practice 59 cycles, number of components used and completed cycles. figure 1. fidelity graphs for each pair a summary of the individual visual analyses of the fidelity graphs for pairs one through six consists of two different trends, number of available components used per dbr cycle and number of completed cycles. lizzie and sashi, jenny and jeremy, ferrel and don, and julia and 60 mcilwain et al. paige showed an upward trend in the number of components used for each dbr cycle. lizzie and sashi demonstrated this trend only when supported with the additional bookmark scaffold that targeted vocabulary. ashley and maria and noora and marion showed an upward trend in completed cycles. figure 2 shows these two trends in terms of the percentage of available components used and percentage of completed cycles per observation with and without the bookmark scaffold. the training and scaffolds supported student use of dbr in varying degrees, but measurable trends are present, which gives researchers a sense of what fidelity might look like if dbr is studied further and across multiple contexts. figure 2. percentage of available dbr components used and completed cycles summary of related vocabulary outcomes the bookmarks were used during the weeks students were reading books with the targeted vocabulary. the detailed report about how vocabulary was studied is included in another dissemination of the project (mcilwain & burns, 2014). the question explored the influence of dbr on the receptive and expressive vocabularies of preschool students. the vocabulary measure indicated a positive overall trend in increasing receptive vocabulary for each of the dyads (one dyad consisting of two pairs), although the paths to these gains varied. words learned before dbr introduction versus words learned after dbr were analyzed for the number of specific words retained by the preschool students after dbr to substantiate positive influence of dbr. this analysis showed one trend in dyad 1 (pairs 1 and 2), which was replicated in varying degrees in dyad two (pairs 3 and 4) and dyad three (pairs 5 and 6). the trend indicated that the words correct before dbr introduction remained constant in actual words and number of words, whereas the words learned after dbr increased in number and were constant across probes. therefore, dbr appears to have provided a scaffold that enabled preschool students to grow in receptive vocabulary. from research to evidence-based practice 61 the results on the vocabulary measure also indicated a positive overall trend in increasing expressive vocabulary for five of the students. words learned before dbr introduction versus words learned after dbr, as well as shifts in the students’ responses, were analyzed for constancy in number and specific words to substantiate positive influence of dbr. this analysis demonstrated a trend for student one in dyad one, which was replicated in varying degrees in dyads two and three. the trend indicated that dbr did exhibit a positive influence on expressive word learning, although the number of words learned varied from one to six among the individual preschool students. therefore, sixth grade students were able to consistently and successfully facilitate dbr, which enabled preschool students to grow in expressive vocabulary. summary of sustainability exploration the sixth grade students and participating head start teacher were interviewed pre and post delivery of the intervention to explore the sustainability of dbr. sustainability is based on the level of fidelity to dbr that can be attained and maintained over time and is a function of social validity, which is comprised of the social value of the intervention’s effects and the practicality of the intervention’s procedures (horner et al., 2005). figure 3 depicts the relationship between the highlighted themes found in the interview data. these themes are presented as “effects” and process considerations in a system of interdependent elements. systems thinking (senge, 1994) explains actions through interrelated components or elements. understanding the interrelated components of a system allows for the development of figure 3. the social value and sustainability of dbr. 62 mcilwain et al. strategic changes to be made to the system in order to develop and maintain the system’s production of wanted outcomes. these strategic changes are usually made at the leverage point of the system, often located at the delay (a point in the system that is underdeveloped), which create a sustainable program. figure 3 indicates that the effects develop literacy and civic responsibility in the participants. the practicality of the procedures involves fidelity to dbr and the focus of the students. literacy and civic responsibility can be viewed as connected to fidelity through the use of the dbr protocol. the analysis of the interview data indicated that the dbr protocol appears to promote joint attention, vocabulary or word learning, thinking, relationships and a sense of accomplishment. the dbr protocol also appears to facilitate the decision-making that leads to those noted outcomes. however, misconceptions regarding the purpose of dbr and distractions interrupted the influence of decision-making while using the protocol for some of the participants. the older participants voiced one option for addressing one aspect of the delay (distractions), which was to offer more collaborative choice between the older and younger students in book selection. providing more choices could increase interest, focus and potentially facilitate adherence to the dbr protocol more successfully by supporting decision-making that would sustain the buddy reading pairs through each step of the peer protocol. thus, incorporating more choice could begin to leverage the sustainability of dbr, a buddy reading program that has social value and practicality. other ways to minimize the delay and increase fidelity and focus of the procedures will be presented in the discussion. discussion evidence-based practices can be transferred to the “real world” of classrooms by recognizing and using the resources available in any given context. the construct of implementation science brings with it tools that can increase any given practice’s effectiveness in such classrooms: most importantly, the flexible adherence (harn, parisi, & stoolmiller, 2013b) to the structures and processes of the particular practice based on the needs of the specific children and teachers using the practice. the present study detailed how such a transfer occurred in the case of transforming dr, a practice used in homes and controlled classroom environments, to dbr, a practice used in real classrooms using sixth grade students and students in head start. this first effort at dbr looked at sixth graders’ implementation of dbr and sought to determine what fidelity might look like and how it might be measured. the critical components of dbr are identical to those well researched in the dr literature: prompt, evaluate, extend and repeat. these components are easily identifiable through observation and just as easily documented through the use of the fidelity observation checklist. results shared in this research showed fidelity to implementation varied across pairs, but also showed upward trends in the number of initiations, number of components used and number of completed cycles. in spite of the varied levels of fidelity, all preschool students increased in their word knowledge, albeit the measureable increases were small. however, vocabulary growth on the part of the younger students in dbr is not necessarily limited to the targeted words. that being said, vocabulary growth even of the targeted words will most likely be positively affected if the leverage points identified in the sustainability exploration are addressed by making some changes to how dbr is established as a routine in any given context. from research to evidence-based practice 63 based on this implementation of dbr, in which 17 pairs of students excitedly met four days a week in one very energized classroom for only 15 minutes a session, the leverage points are distractions and misconceptions about the purpose of dbr. these leverage points were determined through interviews with six of the older students and corroborated through the fidelity observations. the defined misconceptions are extended by the researcher’s ongoing reflection on the observations to include more understanding of the importance of bringing each initiation of a dbr cycle to completion by getting to the repeat. the students themselves provided a viable solution to distractions and the researcher and teacher discussed using ongoing coaching as a way of developing the students’ conceptual understanding of the purpose of dbr and how it is most effectively implemented. this coaching can be done in conjunction with the observation checklist, perhaps adding a space for noting the coaching prompt and the student’s response. to conclude, fidelity to implementation of the critical components of dbr can be measured using an observation checklist and its delivery may be enhanced by creating a system of flexible and systematic adaptations to the processes established in the specific context. the latter adaptations and processes can be determined and refined through systematic conversations that take the participants back to the observation data. systemic implementation of dbr in schools carries great potential for preschool students. dr is an evidence-based practice that positively influences a young child’s vocabulary, linguistic complexity and use of language. making dr a daily routine in head start programs as dbr will reach more children at risk of running into reading difficulties before those struggles have the opportunity to emerge. limitations to consider when replicating this study are finding ways to incorporate initial observations of reading interactions between the older and younger students so the influence of the dbr training can be described. also, future measures should include interview questions that elicit information about the sixth grade students’ understanding of the primary purpose of dbr and why dbr is so effective with young children. analysis of data based on these questions would inform ongoing coaching during implementation. as with dbr, adjusting the ideals of fidelity by embedding these into a systemic examination of the implementation of other evidence-based practices across contexts via implementation science will allow interested stakeholders to study not if that practice is effective in their context, but how to make that practice effective in their context. disseminating implementation science research such as this will help others replicate the successful implementation of evidence-based practices 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(2008). scaling up an early reading program: relationships among teacher support, fidelity of implementation, and student performance across different sites and years. educational evaluation & policy analysis, 30(4), 368–388. http://gradworks.umi.com/35/01/3501610.html 66 mcilwain et al. valdez-menchaca, m. c., & whitehurst, g. j. (1992). accelerating language development through picture book reading: a systematic extension to mexican day care. developmental psychology, 28(6), 1106–1114. http://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.28.6.1106 what works clearinghouse (ed). (2007). classwide peer tutoring. what works clearinghouse intervention report. what works clearinghouse. retrieved from eric. (what works clearinghouse. 2277 research boulevard, ms 5m, rockville, md 20850. tel: 866-992-9799; fax: 301-519-6760; e-mail: info@whatworks.ed.gov; web site: http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/) whitehurst, g. j., & arnold, d. s. (1994). a picture book reading intervention in day care and home for children from low-income families. developmental psychology, 30(5), 679. whitehurst, g. j., epstein, j. n., angell, a. l., payne, a. c., crone, d. a., & fischel, j. e. (1994). outcomes of an emergent literacy intervention in head start. journal of educational psychology, 86(4), 542–55. whitehurst, g. j., falco, f. l., lonigan, c. j., foschel, j. e., debaryshe, b. d., valdez-menchaca, m. c., & caulfield, m. (1988). accelerating language development through picture book reading. developmental psychology, 24(4), 552–59. from research to evidence-based practice 67 appendix a 68 mcilwain et al. from research to evidence-based practice 69 appendix b and c 70 mcilwain et al. appendix d – data collection chart from research to evidence-based practice 71 nhsa dialog, 25(1), copyright © 2022, issn: 1930-9325 understanding the impact of teachers’ language skills on professional development kate ascetta university of south carolina beth harn university of oregon this professional development study explored how teachers’ receptive language skills impacted their use of language enhancement strategies. twenty-one head start lead and assistant teachers participated in an online in-service designed to support their use of language enhancement strategies. findings show that teachers’ receptive vocabulary predicted how often they used language strategies. also, we found that prior to the professional development assistant teachers used fewer language enhancement strategies when compared to lead teachers. however, after receiving the professional development the gap between lead and assistant teachers’ use of language enhancement strategies began to close. keywords: professional development, language, head start teachers summary of literature professional development in school settings can be influenced by environmental factors (e.g., students’ skills, teachers’ traits, school type; desimone & hill, 2017); factors which may influence the how effective a professional development experience is in supporting teacher growth. factors such as age, educational experiences, years of teaching, and adult literacy levels may influence how a teacher engages with professional development (e.g., desimone & hill, 2017; zaslow et al., 2010). two factors not often studied, as it relates to professional development research, are teachers’ language skills and their role in the class (lead or assistant). lead and assistant teachers each play important roles in early childhood classrooms and yet little research has examined how the two groups might respond differently to professional development (curby et al., 2012). teachers are the primary language models for children in preschool settings. and yet, we currently do not measure the language skills of our teachers have as part of our professional development efforts that may influence their ability to provide language-rich environments for children (ascetta et al., 2019; halle et al., 2009; phillips et al., 2003). teachers’ knowledge of math and science research to practice summary 70 ascetta & harn impacts their students’ learning (berends et al., 2002). it is critical then that we build the same understanding of how teachers’ language ability might influence the creation of language-rich environments in early childhood settings (zaslow et al., 2010). the current study our study aimed to understand the possible relation between teacher initial receptive vocabulary skills and teachers’ classroom roles on their use of language enhancement strategies. all teachers, 21 lead and assistant head start teachers, received access to the online professional development (i.e., language enhancement strategies and self-monitoring content) and individualized written feedback. the first author created online modules with pre-recorded mini lectures for each of the five language enhancement strategies (i.e., repetition, expansion, open-ended questions, narration, and self-talk; see table 1 for definitions and examples). table 1. definitions and examples of language enhancement strategies language enhancement strategy example repeat: following a child’s utterance, the teacher provides a repetition within 3 s. this includes (a) repeating words in the child’s utterance. not required that the child responds. a child states, “car” and the teacher responds, “yes a car.” expansion: following a child’s utterance, the teacher provides an extension within 3 s. this includes adding new descriptive information to the utterance. not required that the child responds. a child reaches for cookie on the counter saying “cookie” and the adult responds, “you want a cookie.” open-ended question: teacher verbally prompts with a question that does not require a one-word response. expected that a child will verbally responds using at least a twoword utterance. teacher asks, “what do you think will happen next in the book?” self-talk: teacher verbally describes his/her actions. not required that the child responds. teacher states, “i’m getting the cd player for music time.” narration: teacher verbally describes the actions of a student(s). not required that the child responds child building in block area. teacher states, “you’re putting the blocks on top of each other.” understanding teachers’ language skills 71 over the course of six weeks, teachers viewed each module and were then encouraged to practice the strategies daily. at the end of each week teachers submitted both an online self-monitoring form (e.g., written account of which language enhancement strategy they used and how often they used them) and a 10-minute video that recorded the teachers engaging with children during three different classroom activities: (1) a mealtime, (2) a whole/small group, and (3) free play. we measured teachers’ receptive vocabulary using the ppvt-4 (e.g., a standardized language assessment used for people aged 2 to 99 years; dunn & dunn, 1997). as well has frequency count of how often teachers used the five language enhancement strategy during a 10-minute video both before and after the professional development. key findings overall, we found that teachers’ roles in the classroom were associated with differences in both receptive language skills and their use of language enhancement strategies. first, teachers who scored lower on the ppvt-4 (i.e., lower receptive language skills) were associated with using fewer language enhancing strategies. assistant teachers were more likely than lead teachers to have lower receptive language scores. next, we analyzed how a teachers’ role in the classroom might influence their use of language enhancing strategies both before and after receiving the online professional development. we found that the number, or frequency, of strategies tallied up from videos submitted by classroom teachers, increased for both lead and assistant teachers over time. before engaging in the online training lead teachers on average used 42 language enhancing strategies and assistant teachers used 26 strategies. both groups responded well to the intervention demonstrating increased average strategy use; lead teachers approximately 68 strategies and assistant teachers used 44 strategies. implications for professional development the next section will discuss how our findings contribute the understanding of how to best design professional development to support language strategies in early childhood settings. very little is known about the role that individual teachers’ language skills play in the creation of language-rich environments for young children (halle et al., 2009; phillips et al., 2003). we found that teachers’ receptive vocabulary skills, when measured by the ppvt-4 were surprisingly different. we are unsure at this point how this may directly impact creating a language-rich environment for young children. more research is needed to understand how that may or may not translate to classroom settings with preschool-aged children. we do know from parenting literature that when adult caregivers have lower vocabulary levels, we see similarly lower average vocabulary levels in young children (e.g., hart & risley, 1995). little research has examined the predictive nature of teachers’ receptive language skills and how it may impact instruction. one size does not fill when it comes instructing young children and perhaps the same applies for professional development for teachers. lead and assistant teachers bring with them unique strengthens and expertise; it would make sense that teachers would respond differently to a language-based professional development. examining of the dynamic relation between participants’ characteristics (like role and receptive language) and 72 ascetta & harn features of professional development is essential to strengthening our early childhood workforce, ultimately promoting improved positive long-term outcomes for children. our findings point to how teachers might benefit from differentiated professional development experiences –tailored to their levels of prior knowledge and skills. this may mean some teachers would benefit from a more intensive intervention which provides additional coaching sessions and for a longer period. this could allow assistant teachers to increase their consistent use of instructional strategies. knowing more about the teachers’ skills could help aid us as a field in designing more effective professional development experiences. references ascetta, k., harn, b., & durán, l. (2019). comparing self-reported and performance-based online feedback on early childhood teachers’ implementation of language strategies. early childhood education journal, 113. berends, m., chun, j., ikemoto, g. s., stockly, s., & briggs, r. j. (2002). challenges of conflicting school reforms: effects of new american schools in a high-poverty district. rand corporation. curby, t.w., boyer, c., edwards, t., & chavez, c. (2012). assistant teachers in head start classrooms: comparing to and working with lead teachers. early education & development, 23, 640–653. desimone, l. m., & hill, k. l. (2017). inside the black box: examining mediators and moderators of a middle school science intervention. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 0162373717697842. dunn, l., & dunn, l. (1997). peabody picture vocabulary test—third edition. circle pines, mn: american guidance service. halle, t., forry, n., hair, e., perper, k., wandner, l., wessel, j., & vick, j. (2009). disparities in early learning and development: lessons from the early childhood longitudinal study – birth cohort (ecls-b). washington, dc: child trends. hart, b., & risley, t.r. (1995). meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young american children. baltimore: brookes. phillips, d., crowell, n., whitebook, m. and bellm, d. 2003. english literacy levels of the early care and education workforce: a profile and associations with quality of care. berkeley, ca: center for the study of child care employment. pianta, r. c., mashburn, a. j., downer, j. t., hamre, b. k., & justice, l. (2008). effects of web-mediated professional development resources on teacher-child interactions in pre-kindergarten classrooms. early childhood research quarterly, 23, 431–451. zaslow, m., tout, k., halle, t., whittaker, j. v., & lavelle, b. (2010). toward the identification of features of effective professional development for early educators, literature review. washington, dc: u.s. department of education, office of planning. retrieved from www.ed.gov/about/offices/ list/opepd/ppss/reports.html dialog, 18(2), 98-105 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary harvest for healthy kids: head start teachers’ perceptions of curriculum usability betty izumi portland state university jessica hoffman northeastern university cara eckhardt portland state university angela johnson mt. hood community college head start jennifer hallman portland state university dawn barberis oregon department of education early learning division diets rich in fruits and vegetables are critical for overall health and well-being. the harvest for healthy kids curriculum is a nutrition education curriculum designed to promote fruit and vegetable intake among young children. the curriculum is aligned with the head start child development and early learning framework and is available online for free. our study assessed the extent to which head start teachers found the curriculum to be usable in their classroom settings. our results suggest that harvest for healthy kids is an acceptable and feasible way to promote fruit and vegetable intake among children and teachers understand how to implement the curriculum in their classrooms. head start teachers may need systems-level supports, such as assistance from their supervisors, to implement the curriculum. keywords: head start, nutrition education, farm-to-preschool, community-based participatory research, curriculum, harvest for healthy kids perceptions of curriculum usability 99 diets rich in fruits and vegetables are critical for overall health and well-being and are associated with reduced risk of obesity (he et al., 2004) and other diet-related chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases (bazzano, serdula, & liu, 2003), and type 2 diabetes (bazzano, li, joshipura, & hu, 2008). current national guidelines for children aged 2 to 8 years recommend consuming 1 to 1 ½ cups each of fruits and vegetables daily (u.s. department of agriculture& u.s. department of health and human services, n.d.). however, most children in the united states do not meet these recommendations (krebs-smith, guenther, subar, kirkpatrick, & dodd, 2010). specifically, only 9.8% of girls and 13.8% of boys aged 4 to 8 years consume the recommended daily amount for fruits and vegetables (guenther, dodd, reedy, & krebs-smith, 2006). low-income children are at greatest risk for low fruit and vegetable intake (rasmussen et al., 2006). given that food preferences are formed early in life (birch, 1999) and are difficult to change once established, preschool-aged children are important targets for nutrition education (mikkilä, räsänen, raitakari, pietinen, & viikari, 2005). early care and education settings have enormous potential to help children meet their recommendation for daily fruit and vegetable intake (story, kaphingst, & french, 2006; benjamin neelon, & briley, 2011). in addition to their ability to reach a large percentage of young children, childcare providers and preschool teachers can promote healthy eating habits by offering children a variety of fruits and vegetables in meals and snacks, and embedding healthy eating practices into daily activities (nicklas et al., 2001). to date, there are only a few evidencebased nutrition education curricula that are available for use in early care and education settings (kalich, arnold, austin, bauer, mcpartlin, & ferri, 2010; witt & dunn, 2012). head start is an ideal program for nutrition education targeted to preschool-aged children. during the 2013-2014 program year, nearly 950,000 children aged 3 to 5 years were enrolled in head start programs (u.s. department of health and human services, n.d.). in addition to their ability to reach large numbers of low-income children, head start programs are required to provide children with nutritious meals and snacks, include children in developmentally appropriate food-related activities, and provide children, parents, and staff with nutrition education. however, because head start programs have flexibility in how they fulfill their nutrition requirements, there is also large variation between and within programs (hughes, gooze, finkelstein, & whitaker, 2010; carraway-stage et al., 2014). for example, one study of head start programs in north carolina reported that delivery of nutrition education varied greatly from as frequently as weekly in some programs to yearly in others (carraway-stage et al., 2014). studies have shown that in head start programs and other early care and education settings, nutrition education implementation may be influenced by multiple factors, including teacher knowledge about nutrition, policies and regulations that hinder or promote food-based activities, access to nutrition education resources (e.g. supplies), time constraints, and level of priority placed on nutrition education by program administrators (derscheid, umoren, kim, henry, & zittel, 2010; cotugna & vickeryn, 2007; carraway-stage et al., 2014). harvest for healthy kids is the one of the few evidence-based farm-to-preschool interventions (izumi, eckhardt, hallman, herro, & barberis, 2015). the curriculum, which is available on-line for free, was designed using a community-based participatory research approach (israel et al., 2013) with an eight member workgroup comprised of head start administrators and teachers and researchers from portland state university (izumi et al. 2013). the curriculum is comprised of activity kits that feature different fruits or vegetables. each activity kit includes four key elements: activity plans, picture cards, educator newsletters, and family newsletters. the goal of the curriculum is to improve children’s knowledge of and 100 izumi et al. attitudes towards the target foods through, for example, cooking and tasting activities, read-aloud book discussions, transition activities, and mealtime discussions. to promote its successful implementation, the harvest for healthy kids curriculum was aligned with the head start child development and early learning framework (head start resource center, 2010) and designed to address multiple areas of child development and learning (table 1). our study this current study explored the usability of the harvest for healthy kids curriculum. the study was conducted over eight months during the 2012-2013 academic year. nine teachers across three head start programs pilot-tested the harvest for healthy kids curriculum. eight teachers were female; four teachers had 8 or more years of experience as a teacher in early care and education settings, four had 5-8 years of experience, one teacher had fewer than 5 years of experience, and all had earned a 4-year university degree. prior to pilot-testing the curriculum, the teachers participated in a 4-hour hands-on training during which they learned how to implement the kits. the teachers also participated in a 2-hour booster training. in addition to the trainings, the teachers were provided with the curriculum, $100 for supplies, monthly delivery of fruits and vegetables from the program’s central kitchen to use for sensory exploration and cooking activities, read-aloud books, and kitchen tools (e.g. grater, mixing bowls). we collected feedback from the teachers about the usability of the curriculum with a survey (n=9) and a focus group (n=6). the survey, which was administered before and after implementing the curriculum, asked teachers to use a 5-point scale (from 5 = strongly agree to 1 = strongly disagree) to rate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed that the harvest for healthy kids curriculum was acceptable, feasible, easy to understand, and required few systems supports to implement. the focus group was conducted after implementing the curriculum. two main questions were asked during the focus group: (1) what types of things made it easier for you to implement harvest for healthy kids? and (2) what types of things made it harder for you to implement harvest for healthy kids? summary of findings as expected given our partnership approach to developing the harvest for healthy kids curriculum, the teachers found the curriculum to be an acceptable way to promote fruit and vegetable intake among children. in addition, providing teachers with materials such as cookbooks, picture cards, and cooking equipment made it feasible to implement it in their classrooms. aligning the curriculum with the head start child development and early learning framework (head start resource center, 2010) also allowed the teachers to easily integrate harvest for healthy kids into their lessons and helped to ensure that the curriculum complemented, rather than competed with, their teaching responsibilities. given competing priorities, however, the teachers still found it difficult to implement the curriculum during certain times of the year, such as the beginning and end of the academic year and the period immediately before and after holidays or short vacation breaks. the teachers found the curriculum easy to perceptions of curriculum usability 101 understand; their understanding was enhanced by the pre-service and booster trainings, which focused on how to implement the curriculum. the teachers reported that implementing harvest for healthy kids required more systems-level supports than they initially anticipated. specifically, they relied on their education site managers, who are their immediate and on-site supervisors, to purchase other supplies, such as recipe ingredients (e.g. vegetable oil, soy sauce), that were needed to implement the activities. in addition, although the teachers expressed appreciation for the monthly delivery of target foods from the central kitchen, they also said that the fruits and vegetables often arrived later than expected, which made it difficult for them to carry out their lessons as planned. in hindsight, given their critical roles, education site managers and central kitchen staff should have been invited to participate on the curriculum development workgroup; doing so may have allowed us to anticipate and address potential implementation barriers related to systems-levels supports. conclusion our study suggests that the harvest for healthy kids curriculum may be appropriate for promoting healthy eating habits among children in head start programs. previous studies have delineated the multiple obstacles head start teachers encounter when promoting nutrition in preschool settings (hughes et al., 2010; carraway-stage et al., 2014). by using a participatory approach to developing the curriculum and aligning it with the head start child development and early learning framework (head start resource center, 2010), we attempted to address concerns related to these obstacles. it is important to note that we provided the teachers who participated in the current study with resources beyond what may be immediately available to other early care and education professionals. given that healthy eating habits are critical for lifelong health, we believe that resources to implement nutrition education in early care and education settings are an important investment. 102 izumi et al. table 1 examples of the alignment between the harvest for healthy kids curriculum and the head start child development and early learning framework activity domain domain element strategy picture cards physical development & health health knowledge & practice look at beets picture cards with children. discuss how beets are a good for you anytime food and give explanations of why eating vegetables is important. language development receptive language look at same-but-different beets picture card with children. introduce beet varieties (chioggia, golden, red). science knowledge & skills scientific skills & method look at how do beets grow? picture card with children. encourage children to make guesses about which part of the beet is for eating. conceptual knowledge of the natural & physical world look at how do beets grow? picture card with children. engage children in a discussion about how plants grow. cooking activity physical development & health health knowledge & practice model how to safely use a box grater. provide children with just enough help to use the grater on his/her own. for example, let the child hold the grater in one hand and a carrot in the other hand; use your hands to guide his hands to grate the carrot. fine motor skills allow children to use kitchen tools or their hands to help with food preparation. for example, when making asparagus tacos, children can use their hands to snap asparagus spears into small pieces. social & emotional development social relationships provide opportunities for children to take turns when cooking together. for example, when making winter root vegetable pancakes, children can take turns stirring or adding in spices, flour, and vegetables. self-concept & self-efficacy let children do for themselves what they are capable of doing when engaged in cooking activities, whether it is gathering ingredients, peeling vegetables, or cleaning up. perceptions of curriculum usability 103 activity domain domain element strategy cooking activity approaches to learning cooperation when making a recipe, ask children to work together to prepare the ingredients. for example, when making vegetable soup, ask children to take turns cutting or tearing the cabbage into small pieces to put into the soup. literacy knowledge & skills print concepts & conventions read recipes aloud to small groups of children, pointing to specific words and demonstrating left to right, right/left sweep, and top to bottom motion of print. mathematics knowledge & skills number concepts & quantities after making winter root vegetable pancakes, count out loud the number of pancakes made, pointing to each pancake as the number name is called out. ask children if there are enough pancakes for each person to get one pancake. measurement & comparison let children compare ingredient quantities for recipes. for example, when making carrot salad, pose questions such as “is there more salt or pepper in this salad?” taste & tell physical development & health health knowledge & practice taste asparagus with children. discuss how asparagus is a delicious anytime food because it is a vegetable. ask children to name their favorite vegetables. social & emotional development self-concept & self-efficacy taste berries with children. ask them to share their or their families’ experiences eating, picking, or cooking with berries. language development expressive language taste beets with children. ask them to describe the taste, texture, and smell of the vegetables. write down their words and read them back. 104 izumi et al. acknowledgements the authors would like to thank the teachers and staff at the head start program involved whose time and energy made this study possible. this study was funded by a community benefit grant from kaiser permanente northwest. references bazzano, l. a., li, t. y., joshipura, k. j., & hu, f. b. 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(2007). educating early childhood teachers about nutrition: a collaborative venture. childhood education, 83(4), 194-198. derscheid, l. e., umoren, j., kim, s. y., henry, b. w., & zittel, l. l. (2010). early childhood teachers' and staff members' perceptions of nutrition and physical activity practices for preschoolers. journal of research in childhood education, 24(3), 248-265. guenther, p. m., dodd, k. w., reedy, j., & krebs-smith, s. m. (2006). most americans eat much less than recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables. journal of the american dietetic association, 106(9), 1371-1379. he, k., hu, f. b., colditz, g. a., manson, j. e., willett, w. c., & liu, s. (2004). changes in intake of fruits and vegetables in relation to risk of obesity and weight gain among middle-aged women. international journal of obesity, 28(12), 1569-1574. head start resource center (2010). the head start child development and early learning framework promoting positive outcomes in early childhood programs serving children 3–5 years old: revised. hughes, c. c., gooze, r. a., finkelstein, d. m., & whitaker, r. c. (2010). barriers to obesity prevention in head start. health affairs, 29(3), 454-462. israel, b. a., eng, e., schulz, a. j., parker, e. a., & satcher, d. (eds.). (2013). methods in community-based participatory research for health. san francisco: jossey-bass. izumi, b.t., peden, a.m., hallman, j.a., barberis, d., stott, b., nimz, s., ries, w.r., & capello, a. (2013). a community-based participatory research approach to developing the harvest for healthy kids curriculum. progress in community health partnerships, 7(4), 379-384. izumi, b.t., eckhardt, c.l., hallman, j.a., herro, k., & barberis, d.a. (2015). harvest for healthy kids pilot study: associations between exposure to a farm-to-preschool intervention and willingness to try and liking of target fruits and vegetables among low-income children in head start. journal of the academy of nutrition and dietetics. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2015.07.020 kalich, k., arnold, l., austin, l., bauer, d., mcpartlin, d., & ferri, n. (2010). early sprouts: cultivating healthy food choices in preschool children and families. journal of nutrition education and behavior, 42(4), s125. krebs-smith, s. m., guenther, p. m., subar, a. f., kirkpatrick, s. i., & dodd, k. w. (2010). americans do not meet federal dietary recommendations. the journal of nutrition, 140(10), 1832-1838. mikkilä, v., räsänen, l., raitakari, o. t., pietinen, p., & viikari, j. (2005). consistent dietary patterns identified from childhood to adulthood: the cardiovascular risk in young finns study. british journal of nutrition, 93(06), 923-931. nicklas, t. a., baranowski, t., baranowski, j. c., cullen, k., rittenberry, l., & olvera, n. (2001). family and child-care provider influences on preschool children's fruit, juice, and vegetable consumption. nutrition reviews, 59(7), 224-235. perceptions of curriculum usability 105 rasmussen, m., krølner, r., klepp, k. i., lytle, l., brug, j., bere, e., & due, p. (2006). determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption among children and adolescents: a review of the literature. part i: quantitative studies. international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 3(1), 22. story, m., kaphingst, k. m., & french, s. (2006). the role of child care settings in obesity prevention. the future of children, 143-168. u.s. department of agriculture & u.s. department of health and human services. (n.d.). dietary guidelines for americans 2010. retrieved august 5, 2015, from http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/dietaryguidelines2010.pdfu.s. u.s. department of health and human services. (n.d.). "head start program facts fiscal year 2013 " retrieved august 5, 2014, from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/data/factsheets/2013-hs-program-factsheet.html. witt, k. e., & dunn, c. (2012). increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among preschoolers: evaluation of color me healthy. journal of nutrition education and behavior, 44(2), 107-113. http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/dietaryguidelines2010.pdfu.s more changes ahead for hs dialog: the research-to-practice journal for the early childhood field covid brought many changes to our personal and professional lives. as noted in our last issue, we underwent a name change in january 2022 from the national head start dialog to head start dialog. the name change indicates how our editors view early childhood care and initiatives as the way we ensure all children can access a proper “head start” in the journey of life. with this issue, we are excited to announce two additional editors to the journal, drs. bryndle l. bottoms and ann m. mickelson. dr. bottoms has served as managing editor while a graduate assistant in the center for educational measurement and evaluation at the university of north carolina at charlotte. after graduation, she began as a research assistant professor at the university of south carolina in the yvonne and schuyler moore child development research center. in this new role, she works on various research projects in collaboration with local government agencies to impact childcare facilities, access to resources, and referrals for interventions in the state of south carolina. we are thrilled that dr. bottoms is now joining us as a full time as an editor of hs dialog! additionally, we are excited to announce that dr. ann mickelson, an assistant professor in special education and child development at the university of north carolina at charlotte will be joining the editorial team. dr. mickelson brings her experience as an early interventionist, early childhood special educator, community college instructor, and researcher to the team. she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the department of special education and child development. her research focuses on interdisciplinary personnel preparation, early intervention, inclusion, and authentic partnerships with families. finally, we extend our sincere thanks to dr. pamela shue who will be stepping down from her editorial role. we thank her for her many years of dedication to this journal and to our field. over the decades, she has made a lasting impact on the legacy of hs dialog, and we wish her the best in her future endeavors. we hope you enjoy this issue and share it with your fellow researchers and educators. please feel free to send any comments or thoughts to any of us using our information below. happy reading! bryndle l. bottoms, editor bbottoms@mailbox.sc.edu ann mickelson, editor amickels@uncc.edu rebecca shore, editor rshore6@uncc.edu mailto:bbottoms@mailbox.sc.edu mailto:amickels@uncc.edu mailto:rshore6@uncc.edu support for the adults and young children in early childhood environments pamela l. shue, ed.d, editor appalachian state university along with the hot summer, early childhood education has been a hot topic in many community conversations. throughout the nation there is a teacher shortage in early childhood education. in some parts of the united states, especially where i am in north carolina, we have regions that have no licensed childcare programs, we call them childcare deserts. parents of young children are struggling to find quality and affordable care so they can get back to work. the lucky parents have found someone to care for their child, others have family, friends, or neighbors. some parents have decided to stay home and care for their children. what is most concerning is the fact that the additional funds childcare programs received from the federal government initiative to support them during the pandemic are set to end this fall. meaning that the extra income these teachers have received from these funds will come to an abrupt stop and experts warn that our society may experience a mass departure of childcare professionals leaving the field at this time. this issue of hs dialog will look at supports for young children and adults that many times are offered through a quality childcare program. when adults (parents and caregivers) have strong mental, physical, and emotional supports in their own lives, they can often help to provide the same supports to young children in their lives. the first article is by a collection of researchers from georgetown university (tidus, davis, perry, rabinovitz, & horen, 2022) and examines the infant and early childhood mental health consultation (iecmhc) support service. these services provide mental health consultants to work with families and adults/early childhood professionals to build and promote the social-emotional development of infants and young children. the iecmhc is an evidence-based prevention program and has been around for a long time. however, these researchers look at the program through a new theory of change lens. the theory of change investigates not just that iecmhc has positive outcomes, but asks, what are the “mechanisms that cause” this positive change. whether you are familiar or not with iecmhc, this article will prove to provide more information and insight into what causes these outcomes. the second research article, screening for adverse childhood experiences (aces) before age 3: evidence for the family map inventory, studies the validity of an electronic family map inventory (fmi) instead of the paper pencil version. they are from the university of arkansas for medical sciences (whiteside-mansell, mckelvey, lewis, & peters, 2022). additionally, they answered the questions (1) if the electronic fmi was effectively used as an intervention tool, (2) did educators use the tool to focus on supporting families related to the constructs in the original aces. as society continues to integrate technology into almost everything we do, using this to gather data and identify the correct supports for a parent/family is a much more efficient, effective, and familiar pathway to support families. to find the answers to their research questions you will need to read the manuscript, i promise it is a good read – lots to learn here. the final research article, falling through the cracks of early intervention and prevention, comes from researchers at the university of illinois chicago and examines the missed opportunities for referring a pregnant woman to a prenatal cessation smoking program (shenberger & zinsser, 2022). many young women and families receive services through their local health department and childcare organizations such as early head start (ehs). early head start is a comprehensive program that was developed to support low-income families with children under 3 years of age. this manuscript examines a pregnant woman’s challenges to receiving a referral to a smoking cessation program but even if a woman receives a referral in some communities there is limited or no access to these programs. as i read this article, it makes me wonder what other supports are falling through these cracks. each of the research articles listed above is followed by an accompanying research to practice. these manuscripts bring detailed ways for early childhood practitioners to apply the research in everyday, early education environments. to our readers, thank you for your dedication to our journal, to the field, and to the future of young children. microsoft word thompson ra.doc dialog, 20(1), copyright © 2017, issn: 1930-9325 research article program enrollment options and teacher self-efficacy for promoting partnerships with parents in preschool programs paula thompson university of nebraska-kearney christine marvin and lisa knoche university of nebraska-lincoln positive parent-teacher relationships are associated with positive child outcomes (minke, 2010). teacher characteristics such as self-efficacy and their work contexts, such as the number of children/families each teacher serves may influence teachers’ abilities to build those relationships. participants in this pilot study included families of children enrolled in publicly-funded preschool programs and their teachers. teacher and family demographic information, class schedules, and enrollment numbers were collected through survey. to assess their perceptions of self-efficacy regarding parent-teacher relationships, preschool teachers completed the teacher efficacy for promoting partnerships scale (moen, sheridan, & white, 2016). findings suggest that early childhood programs using single session models with fewer children and families assigned per teacher, may permit teachers to more quickly establish partnerships with parents or at least establish a confidence in working with parents sooner in the relationship than teachers assigned to double sessions/day. keywords: teacher self-efficacy, parent engagement, preschool, early childhood, parentteacher relationships, class size each year, approximately four million children enter kindergarten in the united states and many enter without the level of academic and social skills needed for success in school and social settings. high quality preschool programs demonstrate benefits for children, their families and communities. program qualities that appear to make a difference include well planned curriculum (division of early childhood [dec], 2007; national association for the education of young children [naeyc], 2003), teacher-child ratios and class size (bowman, donovan, & burns, 2001), children’s learning environment (harms, clifford, & cryer, 2014), teachers’ work 70 thompson et al. environment (allen & kelly, 2015b; ryan & whitebook, 2012), teacher qualifications (allen & kelly, 2015a; bredekamp & goffin, 2012; hyson, horm, & winton, 2012) and parent-teacher partnerships (fantuzzo, mcwayne, & perry, 2004; minke, sheridan, kim, ryoo, & koziol, 2014; sheridan, knoche, & edwards, 2010; sheridan, knoche, kupzyk, edwards, & marvin, 2011). consistently since 1964, federal dollars have been allocated for head start and early head start programs and recently they have been expanded for early head start family childcare programs in an effort to reduce achievement gaps (united states department of education, 2015). this trend has increased the need for early childhood teachers to partner with parents in order to provide needed continuity between home and “school” to positively influence young children’s development. furthermore, head start performance standards (administration of children and families [acf], 2016) recently called for the increase of service duration for center-based head start preschool programs from 448 contact hours to 1020 contact hours with children per year. prior to these revisions, a head start teacher could have two class sessions a day consisting of 17 children each, or a total of 34 children and families. the revised standards could result in a decrease in the number of children to no more than 20 children/families per day per teacher. extended hours and the possible transition from double session to single session programs would result in fewer children and fewer families with whom each preschool teacher would be expected to build relationships, and could increase the likelihood of more productive partnerships with parents. this pilot study explores this possibility. family engagement in children’s care and education and positive parent-teacher relationships are associated with positive outcomes for children’s academic and social development (minke, 2010). bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory (1979) suggests that multiple influences and overlapping systems affect children’s development. the overlapping system comprised of a family-school partnership reflects a connection between children's immediate learning environments and requires healthy relationships between teachers and parents. this meso-system of parent and teacher engagement in the care and education of young children is believed to result in positive child outcomes, but these parent-teacher relationships can be affected by a teacher’s ability to coordinate multiple parent engagement opportunities between the home and school environments (hoover-dempsey & sandler, 1997). understanding the link between program scheduling and teachers’ ability to arrange for multiple parentengagement opportunities could help clarify how best to ensure successful and effective partnerships between parents and teachers. a teacher’s reported self-efficacy for promoting such partnerships with parents in various program models could be one index of this linkage. parent engagement in early childhood education parent engagement in young children’s learning is not a new concept to the early childhood education community. since the late 1960’s, the federal head start act has included parent engagement as an integral element in providing quality services to children and families. in 1996, head start reportedly expanded its working definition of parent engagement and strengthened its link to positive outcomes for children and families (acf, 2015). more recently, it revisited the role of parent engagement with publication of the head start parent, family and community engagement framework (pfce) (acf, 2011). the framework identifies positive parent-teacher relationships as a key element in increasing parent engagement. similarly, since teacher self-efficacy and parent-teacher relationships 71 1985 the naeyc program accreditation standards, a research and practice-based framework, stressed the importance of parent engagement and parent-teacher relationships in two of the ten competencies for program excellence. naeyc also addresses these program qualities in their professional preparation standards for teachers (naeyc, 2010). specific elements for standard 2 building family and community relationships highlight supporting and engaging families and communities through respectful, reciprocal relationships and engaging families and communities in young children’s development and learning. finally, federal amendments for the individuals with disabilities education act (idea) in 1986 also addressed the importance of family-professional partnerships for family-centered services to families with infants and toddlers with disabilities. the law calls for development of individualized family service plans (ifsps) to focus practitioners’ attention on family needs and the family as the focus for enhancing children’s development and the family as a partner in early intervention programs (idea, 2004). furthermore, it defines “parent” to assure surrogate, foster, or other legal guardians are involved in children’s education planning when the biological parents are not available (walsh & taylor, 2010). parent-teacher relationships early childhood professionals often describe parents as young children’s primary and most important teachers as a way to express the significant role parents’ play in the growth, development and education of their children. raffaele and knoff (1999) found that parent engagement and qualities of the home environment could significantly impact children’s social and cognitive development specifically in the infant, toddler and preschool years. in addition, during the early years of their children’s lives parents begin to form their opinions and shape their behaviors related to the importance of their engagement with their children’s teachers to positively impact children’s development. teachers and parents can vary however in their expectations for preschool-age children based on personal experiences, cultural beliefs, changing familial and societal values and other factors contributing to inconsistent experiences and expectations for children in the preschool setting, versus the home setting (epstein, 1986; chung, marvin, & churchill, 2005; whitaker & dempsey, 2013). parent-teacher relationships that include joint goal setting and decision-making, as well as opportunities for frequent conversations between parents and teachers, can significantly increase interpersonal connections and communication between parents and teachers and positive outcomes for young children (sheridan, clarke, knoche, & edwards, 2006). a teacher’s confidence and ability to develop such relationships with parents provides a foundation for consistency between home and school settings and a bridge between home-school differences that can delay or challenge children’s learning. teachers’ confidence to partner with parents research studies have identified a variety of key teacher characteristics associated with positive teacher-child and parent-teacher relationships. teacher education, teaching experience and their knowledge of child development have proved to be consistent variables (boyd, grossman, lankford, loeb, & wyckoff, 2009; kontos & wilcox-herzog, 2001). teacher self-efficacy has 72 thompson et al. also surfaced as an important possible factor. (chung et al., 2005; fantuzzo et al., 2012). teacher self-efficacy has been defined as the “teacher’s belief in his or her capability to organize, execute, and successfully accomplish a specific teaching task” (tschannen-moran, hoy, & hoy, 1998, p. 202). a teacher’s sensitivity to his or her own strengths and deficits related to their role as a teacher has been identified as an important variable in teacher effectiveness or efficacy (ross & bruce, 2007; woolfork, rosoff, & hoy, 1990). how teachers feel, think, and motivate themselves on the job is influenced by their self-efficacy beliefs. individuals with strong self-efficacy tend to set goals that challenge their current capabilities and tend to have a stronger commitment to the goals they set (bandura, 1993). therefore, a preschool teachers’ ability to view themselves as capable of developing partnerships with parents will likely advance or delay the possibility of positive benefits for young children. program enrollment as a factor class size and teacher-child ratio are two key program factors associated with quality early childhood care and education programs. a smaller class size is often associated with higher quality programs and better outcomes for young children (reynolds et al., 2014; sheridan, williams, & samuelsson, 2014; yoshikawa et al., 2013). national organization standards such as the naeyc accreditation standards for early childhood education programs (2017) and the administration for children and families (acf) head start performance standards (2016) provide guidelines for early childhood programs on best practice related to teacher-child ratios for young children in group programs. both acf and naeyc require preschool programs to meet a 1:10 teacher-child ratio with a maximum class size of 20 children. however, state childcare licensing regulations and public school guidelines addressing teacher-child ratio and class size may vary from state to state. for example, in nebraska preschools, a 1:10 teacherchild ratio must be maintained, while maine permits a 1:18 ratio and states like california, georgia and texas have no limits on teacher-child ratio (barnett, schulman, & shore, 2004). a study of childcare program quality and characteristics conducted by the national institute for child health and human development (nichd) examined the relationship between children’s outcomes, program standards such as naeyc recommended practices, and state licensing regulations. children enrolled in classrooms with lower teacher-child ratios and smaller class sizes exhibited fewer behavior challenges and greater gains in language and cognitive outcomes. smaller class sizes and lower teacher-child ratios allowed teachers the time needed to engage in supportive interactions and longer conversations with children (nichd, 2000). sheridan et al., (2014) reported that working conditions such as class size and teacherchild ratio impacted preschool teacher’s ability to engage in stimulating and collaborative interactions with children. little can be found however, regarding the role the number of families served per teacher per day plays on teacher confidence and partnerships with parents. teacher-child ratios often describe the number of adults and children per classroom. but what if the number of class sessions per teacher is doubled each day? is it reasonable to suggest that enrollment numbers, including therefore attention to the number of class sessions and number of families served per day may be associated with the time teachers have to build relationships and partner with parents? teacher self-efficacy and parent-teacher relationships 73 purpose of the study this pilot study explores the impact that the number of preschool class sessions, and therefore total number of children and families teachers serve per day, have on teacher self-efficacy in promoting partnerships with parents. this study explored two key questions. first, what role does the number of class sessions held per day and total number of families served per teacher have on teachers’ confidence in promoting parents as partners? second, how does a teacher’s confidence in promoting partnerships with parents change over a year’s time for teachers in single sessions compared to those with double sessions a day? early childhood education program characteristics such as number of class sessions per day and teacher self-efficacy may play important roles in teachers’ abilities to enhance needed parent engagement in children’s learning and subsequent child outcomes. methods participants the sample for this current study consisted of 263 families of children enrolled in publiclyfunded preschool programs in a mid-western state and their 110 preschool teachers. program directors agreed to participate in a larger randomized control trial (rct) study of effects of parent-teacher partnerships on preschool children’s development outcomes. directors invited teachers to participate. as part of the rct, all enrolled children were screened for developmental delays. parents with children enrolled in classrooms with consenting teachers, were invited to participate if their children were 3 to 4 years of age and would remain age eligible for program enrollment for two consecutive years and showed delays (1.5 sd) in communication, social or cognitive skills. parents who consented to participate were primarily mothers (84%), unmarried (51%), white (75%), english-speaking (79%) with at least a high school diploma (71%). the 110 participating teachers were mostly white (94%), english-speaking (97%), females (95%) between the ages of 22-63; 85% held a 4-year college degree or higher and 71% of these teachers reported having an early childhood teaching certificate. teachers served children in either single or double session classrooms. more than half the teachers (n = 60) taught a single session a day serving 10-20 children and families (m = 16.6 children). another 50 teachers taught two half-day classroom sessions enrolling 9-25 children per session, for a total 19-50 children/families across the double sessions (m = 31.6 children). no teacher had more than two parents/children enrolled in the study. measures this study used three sources of information to explore the number of class sessions, the number of families served, and teachers’ self-efficacy in promoting parents as partners. a parent demographic questionnaire provided information related to parents’ gender, race, marital status, primary language, relationship to the enrolled child, and highest education level achieved. a teacher demographic questionnaire provided general information regarding a teacher’s age, race, 74 thompson et al. gender, primary language, education level, teaching schedule (single or double session) and total number of children and families served. the teacher efficacy for promoting partnerships scale (tepp) (moen, sheridan, & white, 2016) is a 20-item questionnaire designed to assess teacher self-perceptions of behaviors that promote positive parent-teacher relationships. the tepp scale is scored on a 5-point likert scale for teachers’ perceived effectiveness in partnering with parents (1 = not effective, 5 = very effective). the scale is designed around seven active behaviors which include: focusing on strengths (e.g., how effective are you at commenting to the parents about the strengths, accomplishments, or positive aspects of the family and child?), promoting teaming and collaboration (e.g., how effective are you at working together with parents to set mutual goals for their child’s development and generate options for intervention strategies?), encouraging (e.g., how effective are you at asking parents about their efforts to meet child and family goals, including successes and difficulties?), responding sensitively (e.g., how effective are you at using activities that incorporate different types of families reflective of children in the classroom?), communicating effectively (e.g., how effective are you at engaging parents in frequent and open two-way information sharing?), promoting skill development (e.g., how effective are you at providing parents with opportunities to explore learning with their child in the school environment?), and sharing resources/information (e.g., how effective are you at providing information about the resources and options that are available to the family?). moen, sheridan, and white (2016) surveyed sixty-seven public school preschool teachers ranging in age from 23-62 years (m = 38.12). eighty-six percent of the teachers surveyed held a minimum of a 4-year degree and 12% held a two-year degree. preliminary psychometric analyses confirm the tepp scale as a promising measure of teacher self-efficacy for promoting partnership. the tepp scale demonstrated positive and significant inter-item correlations (r’s >.300) and high internal consistency within the 20-items, with a cronbach’s coefficient alpha of .95. procedures data collectors conducted face-to-face visits with parents and distributed paper copies of the parent demographic questionnaire in the fall and spring each of the two years the children were enrolled in the preschool program. a 100% response rate was achieved for the parent demographic questionnaire at all collection points. parents’ written responses were entered by hand into the statistical package for social sciences (spss) data collection system. a random sample of 30% of the parent demographic questionnaire hand entries were checked for accuracy at each collection point and differences in recording discussed and changed as needed for the database. teachers continued with the same children/families for two years. teachers were emailed an invitation that included a password and a link to a website allowing them to complete the teacher demographic questionnaire in the fall of year 1 online. in the spring of year 1 and spring of year 2, the teacher demographic questionnaire and the tepp scale were completed online. a 100% response rate was achieved at all collection points. teacher online responses were exported into the spss data analysis system. baseline tepp scale scores were not collected in the fall of year 1 given the nature of the measure to have teachers reflect on past efforts with parents. teacher self-efficacy and parent-teacher relationships 75 data analysis mean tepp scores for spring of year 1 and spring of year 2 were reviewed for teachers in single session and double session classrooms. a multiple linear regression was calculated to predict tepp difference scores based on teachers’ number of class sessions (single or double), and number of families served in spring year 1 to spring year 2. in addition, a multiple linear regression was calculated to predict tepp scores in spring year 2 based on teachers’ number of class sessions (single or double), and number of families served in autumn of year 1, and to examine how these variables changed teachers’ self-efficacy for promoting parents as partners as the second preschool year came to an end. results the total scores from the tepps completed in the spring of each year were used to evaluate teachers’ self-efficacy for promoting partnerships with parents for teachers with single session and double session classrooms. there was a slight but significant shift in the tepp scores for all teachers from year 1 to year 2 (t = 3.37, p = .001). table 1 provides the mean tepp scores and standard deviations each year, as well as mean number of families served for teachers with single and double classroom sessions each day. overall, teachers with higher confidence levels on the tepp scale in spring of year 1 had a single session classroom with lower numbers of children and families to serve (m = 16.62). these teachers appeared to maintain their confidence into spring of year 2. teachers who taught double sessions each day in year 1 and therefore served higher numbers of children and families (m = 31.62) had lower confidence scores than teachers with a single class session a day. table 1 teacher tepp scores and number of families served by classroom sessions held per day in spring year 1 and spring year 2 class sessions per day time period teachers n mean number of families mean tepp score (sd) tepp difference scores single session year 1 60 16.62 84.13 (10.06) year 2 60 15.78 84.63 (8.59) .50 double session year 1 50 31.62 81.10 (12.92) year 2 50 28.68 86.84 (10.33) 5.74 76 thompson et al. however, teachers with double sessions increased their mean tepp score in year 2 and surpassed the mean tepp score for the single session teachers after a second year working with the same children and families. table 2 provides the results of analyses using teachers tepp difference scores. teachers with double class sessions each day had significantly larger difference scores on the tepp scale than the teachers with single sessions when comparing year 1 and year 2 scores. given the relationship between the number of sessions a day and total number of families served, further analyses were pursued (table 3). table 2 coefficients for tepp difference scores (spring year 1 to spring year 2) by class sessions when families served is held constant unstandardized coefficients standardized coefficients b std. error beta t p class sessions 4.79 2.59 0.28 1.85 0.07 families served -0.06 0.61 -0.06 -0.09 0.93 note. tepp = teacher efficacy in promoting partnerships table 3 coefficients for tepp scores by class sessions when families served is held constant unstandardized coefficients standardized coefficients b std. error beta t p class sessions -5.77 2.93 -0.32 -1.98 0.05 families served 0.49 0.19 0.42 2.60 0.01 note. tepp = teacher efficacy in promoting partnerships teachers who taught double sessions each day had a 5.7 lower tepp score when the number of families was held constant. in addition, teacher self-efficacy in promoting parents as partners decreased by nearly half a point (0.49) on the tepp scale for each additional family served when the number of class sessions per day was held constant. discussion what role does the number of class sessions held per day have on teachers’ confidence in promoting parents as partners? early childhood programs that use single session models with lower numbers of families served per teacher may see benefits in the level of confidence and speed with which teachers establish quality parent-teacher relationships. teachers with single class sessions per day in the current study reported class sizes of 10-20 preschool children and families in comparison to teachers with two half-day sessions whose daily enrollments and the teacher self-efficacy and parent-teacher relationships 77 number of families served were nearly double that count (19-50). if parent-teacher relationships are affected by a teacher’s ability to coordinate multiple parent engagement opportunities between the home and school environments (hoover-dempsey & sandler, 1997) and opportunities for frequent conversations between parents and teachers can significantly increase interpersonal connections, and teacher self-efficacy and positive outcomes for young children (sheridan et al., 2006), then single preschool sessions, with fewer parents with whom to build relationships, could provide the answer to desired outcomes promoted in the head start familycommunity engagement framework. the teachers’ high confidence levels after one year working with a fewer number of families suggests that single session classrooms provide teachers the time needed for possibly more frequent and/or longer interactions with parents at drop-off, pick up times or parent teacher conferences and home visits. how does a preschool teacher’s confidence in promoting partnerships with parents change over time for teachers in single session and double session programs? after one year of building relationships with children and families, teachers with just one preschool session a day reported higher confidence levels on the tepp scale than did teachers with a double session each day, and maintained this level of confidence into the second year with the same families. however, teachers with two sessions a day and twice the number of families to serve showed growth in their confidence in building partnerships with the parents after two years with the same families. time apparently does play a role in influencing how confident teachers feel about their ability to build partnerships with parents. the time needed to build partnerships with parents may come more quickly in single session programs with more frequent and/or longer interactions between parents and teachers being possible, or come more slowly with fewer opportunities and /or shorter interactions due to time constraints, as the data in this study suggest for teachers with double sessions and twice as many families to serve. current literature confirms that positive parent-teacher relationships and home-school connections positively impact child outcomes (fantuzzo et al., 2004; sheridan et al., 2010; sheridan et al., 2011). both naeyc and the office of head start (ohs) currently provide guidelines to solidify the importance of and assist early childhood programs in implementing positive parent-teacher relationships. the head start pfce framework (acf, 2011) promotes positive change for children and families through ongoing, reciprocal, and goal oriented parentteacher and parent-community relationships. the pfce framework states that these relationships are developed over time, and through a series of interactions between staff and families. it does not say however, the length of time needed/expected for healthy positive relationships to be established. is two years acceptable? too long? is 6-months desired? can we comfortably assume that one-year’s efforts will result in positive relationships? unfortunately, the current research is encouraging but limited in providing definitive direction for administrators and practitioners related to how program design and implementation can foster those relationships. the naeyc professional preparation standards for teachers (naeyc, 2010) state that teachers should understand, and value the importance and complex characteristics of children’s families and communities, and use this understanding to create respectful, reciprocal relationships that support and empower families, and involve all families in their children’s development and learning. however, these standards do not state how teachers are to build a confidence for carrying out these efforts. are extended field experiences in preservice education the answer (boyd, et al., 2009)? role-playing practice with parents in preservice? feedback from experienced supervisors on the job? or would an increased number of home visits in the 78 thompson et al. early days of the school year make a difference? it is clear that both naeyc and ohs value and stress the importance of teachers’ abilities to partner with parents, however they provide limited information on how to successfully implement these important practices. the current study lends some support for the use of smaller caseloads for teachers to help them establish that teacher confidence in a one-year period. the newly-released head start performance standards (acf, 2016) calling for increased duration of services for center-based head start children will likely have both positive effects as well as challenges as most changes do for programs. the shift will result in fewer children and families per teacher per day/week/month/year, and may increase costs associated with operating additional classrooms needed to maintain current program enrollments. however, fewer class sessions per day and a fewer number of families served per teacher have the potential for increasing the likelihood of positive reciprocal parent-teacher relationships more quickly by possibly increasing the frequency of interactions between parents and teachers per week/month, the amount of time available per interaction at drop-off and pick-up times or during scheduled home visits, conferences or phone calls, and the time available for preparation and follow-up. further research is needed to explore the effects of enrollment on teachers’ use of time for building parent-teacher relationships. time logs for all parent contacts completed by teachers in single and double session classrooms could explain whether available time is used for select parents, longer engagement with few or all parents, more frequent contacts for parents in one model or equally distributed for all families in any program. positive parent-teacher relationships are key to fostering a consistency between parent and teacher expectations for children’s learning and supporting connections between the home and preschool learning environments. these home-school connections foster young children’s development of key skills necessary for later school success (rimm-kaufman, & pianta, 2000). teachers’ confidence in their ability to partner with parents and establish positive working relationships with them could result in effective parent-teacher relations and positive child outcomes. the present study suggests that enrollment numbers per teacher could be associated with the speed with which this confidence develops. further research is needed to determine what other variables play key roles in teachers’ abilities to establish high confidence levels for promoting partnerships with parents. how much time in the work week/month is needed for teachers to interact with parents and what strategies are most efficient and effective to move the relationships and teacher confidence forward? furthermore, research is needed to determine what teacher characteristics and skills are associated with these higher confidence levels. no efforts were made in the current study to explore the relationship between teacher confidence levels on the tepp scale with teacher demographic information. nor were teachers in single and double session classrooms established as having similar demographic profiles. as shown in the present study, teachers may be able to establish high levels of confidence in promoting partnerships with families in time, despite having larger caseloads. more experienced teachers may demonstrate the confidence faster than novice teachers regardless of number of families served. furthermore, research is needed to determine at what point the higher number of families served diminishes any ability to establish teacher confidence and positive relationships. finally, the consequence of a delayed sense of teacher efficacy requires further evaluation. administrators are likely interested in knowing how delayed self-efficacy in teachers impacts program outcomes for children as well as for parent partnerships. teacher self-efficacy and parent-teacher relationships 79 limitations despite the encouraging findings from the present study, it did not include data on teachers’ prior knowledge or experience related to parent engagement or building relationships with parents. a second limitation was that data for this study derived from an intervention focused on parent engagement. the association between variables and teachers' participation in the intervention could have contributed to the teacher's report of self-efficacy and perception of the parentteacher relationship. a third limitation of this study was the lack of data related to teachers’ devotion of time weekly/monthly to parent engagement activities such as ongoing communication, parent-teacher conferencing, home visits or program-sponsored family events. this lack of data limits generalization to all preschool programs and teachers but attention to these limitations in future studies may help define the relationship between key teacher characteristics and positive parent-teacher relationships. conclusion this pilot study provides new insight on the value of teachers’ self-efficacy in partnering with parents. in addition, the study suggests possible benefits of program design elements related to single session classrooms with fewer children and families served per teacher per day. the recent head start call for increased service duration could result in full-day, single session classrooms for center-based preschools. this new regulation ultimately focuses on the importance of extended time with children to achieve positive child outcomes, however the impact of this movement on parent-teacher relationships is hypothetically promising. although strengthening parent-teacher relationships was not the explicit intent of the new head start standards, program administrators have an opportunity to positively influence child outcomes through enhanced parent engagement and partnerships with teachers, one of the foundational cornerstones of head start. further research is needed to verify these preliminary impressions about class session, number of families served and parent-teacher relationships. head start is not the only program however, that should be considering the significance of these findings. all early childhood programs regardless of their funding, standards or regulations have the opportunity to increase positive outcomes for children through positive parent-teacher relationships. kostelnik and grady (2009) suggest that the traditional model of family engagement in children’s education was parent as helper for events such as fundraising, classroom parties and field trip chaperones; however, the new model of family engagement recognizes the importance for families and teachers to act as partners in the education of young children. programmatic decisions related to enrollment and staffing provide a foundation for the supports that may be needed to effectively build these positive parent-teacher relationships. references allen, l., & kelly, b. 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(2010). understanding idea: what it means for preschools with disabilities and their families. missoula, mt: council for exceptional children, division for early childhood. whitaker, m., & dempsey, k. h. (2013). school influences on parents’ role beliefs. elementary school journal, 114(1), 73-99. 82 thompson et al. woolfork, e., rosoff, b., & hoy, w. (1990). teachers’ sense of efficacy and their beliefs about managing students. teaching and teacher education, 6(2), 137-148. yoshikawa, h., weiland, c., brooks-gunn, j., burchinal, m., espinosa, l., gormley, w., zaslow, m. j. (2013). investing in our future: the evidence base for preschool education. policy brief, society for research in child development and the foundation for child development. retrieved from: https://www.fcdus.org/assets/2016/04/evidence-base-on-preschool-education-final.pdf microsoft word cox rtp_final.docx dialog, 21(1), copyright © 2018, issn: 1930-9325 physical activity in head start classrooms: how teachers’ attitudes and training contribute to program usage colin m. cox, jessica a. hoffman, mariya shiyko, amy m. briesch, and carmen castaneda-sceppa northeastern university this research to practice article summarizes the findings of a study that examined the frequency of head start teachers’ implementation of the physical activity components of i am moving, i am learning (im/il). lead teachers in a large city in the united states completed questionnaires to self-report frequency of program implementation, their general attitudes toward physical activity promotion, and their specific attitudes about implementing im/il. teachers reported using movement vocabulary most frequently, followed by facilitating unstructured activities. implementing structured activities was less frequent. almost all teachers reported positive attitudes about promotion of physical activity in general and the im/il program specifically. three variables were associated with teachers’ program usage: (1) prior teacher training; (2) teachers’ perceptions about program usability; and (3) teachers’ prior experience leading physical activity. many head start teachers described im/il as a feasible and acceptable physical activity promotion program. understanding ways to promote more frequent implementation of structured active play is important. keywords: head start, preschool, physical activity, active play early childhood education programs and staff are key to the promotion of physical activity for young children. preschool teachers are often responsible for leading physical activities in their classrooms, yet research has not sufficiently explored how teachers’ attitudes relate to their preparedness and willingness to implement this type of instruction. many head start programs utilize i am moving, i am learning (im/il), a nationally disseminated program focused on promoting healthy eating and physical activity among young children. im/il’s physical activity goals are to increase the quantity of time children spend in moderate to vigorous physical activity during their daily routine to meet national guidelines for physical activity and to improve the research-to-practice summary physical activity in head start 97 quality of structured movement experiences facilitated by teachers and adults (finkelstein et al., 2007; fox, hallgren, boller, & turner, a, 2010). despite widespread dissemination, there is limited information on how teachers use im/il and the impact that im/il has on children’s physical activity (fox et al., 2010). im/il was developed as a flexible program that would fit seamlessly into head start programming with each site having autonomy over implementation (fox et al., 2010). given this flexibility in program usage, it is important to understand how often teachers implement the program’s varied activities and the extent to which teacher characteristics, such as enthusiasm, self-efficacy, preparedness, and perceptions about the program itself contribute to program implementation. the goal of this study was to understand the frequency of im/il implementation, teachers’ general attitudes about physical activity programming, their specific beliefs about im/il, and how those attitudes and beliefs were related to teachers’ implementation of im/il. project background the authors of this study had an 8-year partnership with an agency providing head start programming in a large city in the united states as part of a city-wide early childhood obesity prevention initiative. promotion of children’s physical activity levels at home, school, and in the community was one focus of the partnership. im/il was used across the city as the primary physical activity promotion program in head start. the idea for this study was generated by observations of variable levels of interest in physical activity promotion among teachers. methods researchers developed a teacher questionnaire that measured teachers’ demographic information, their im/il implementation, their attitudes toward promoting physical activity in preschool in general, and their attitudes toward implementing im/il specifically. the questionnaire was reviewed by head start staff and piloted with two teachers. a total of 120 lead teachers from 22 head start programs in the city completed the surveys during staff meetings. summary of results teachers were mostly female (96.7%); they had an average of 13 years of experience working with preschool-age children and 9 years as a head start teacher. the majority of teachers reported having prior experience leading physical activities with their students (81.5%), and had prior training on im/il (79.3%). the most frequently used im/il component was vocabulary, with teachers reporting incorporating movement vocabulary into classroom activities nearly four to five days a week on average. the second most frequent component was implementing unstructured activities, which teachers reported doing, on average, two to three times per week. in contrast, teachers reported implementing structured activities, using the choosy cd, and using equipment and props were reported less often, approximately once a week. 98 cox almost uniformly, teachers’ reported strong positive attitudes about the importance and benefits of promoting physical activity with their students in general. teachers reported positive attitudes regarding their perceptions of im/il as well. teachers believed that im/il was an acceptable intervention, that it was compatible with their school environment, and that they understood how to implement it. their ratings were slightly lower, but still positive, with regard to the feasibility of implementation. teachers did not believe they needed help from other staff to implement im/il. three factors in this study predicted teachers’ use of im/il in their classrooms. specifically, teachers who attended an im/il training endorsed using im/il more frequently. second, higher usability ratings were linked to more frequent im/il usage. finally, teachers’ prior experience leading physical activities was linked to more frequent im/il usage. the most important factor that predicted im/il usage in this study was prior im/il training. summary and recommendations the results of this study provide preliminary data on the frequency with which head start teachers in a large city in the united states utilized im/il to promote physical activity. overall, reported estimates for leading structured activities were less frequent than estimates for leading unstructured activities. one factor contributing to these results may be that leading unstructured activities (e.g., free play outside on the playground) require less teacher knowledge, planning, and effort than structured activities. another goal of this study was to explore preschool teachers’ attitudes toward physical activity programming. results revealed almost universally positive attitudes toward promoting physical activity in the classroom and perceptions about the benefits associated with physical activity. this finding departed from previous qualitative studies where themes emerged regarding some teachers reporting physical activity programming not aligning with their role (cashmore & jones, 2008; derscheid et al., 2010; o’connor & temple, 2005). teachers also reported positive perceptions regarding the usability of im/il, suggesting high intervention acceptability, good program understanding, perceptions that the program was feasible to implement and that it fit with their head start context. prior im/il training, teachers’ perceptions of program usability, and their prior experience leading physical activities were associated with higher levels of im/il usage. the strongest predictor of im/il usage was previous participation in im/il training. im/il is designed for head start programs, and it allows for flexibility and autonomy over implementation. based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made to promote higher levels of children’s physical activity in child care: (1) it is important to do more to help preschool teachers promote structured active play. this includes a better understanding of reasons why teachers may prefer to facilitate unstructured active play rather than leading structured active play, determining barriers specific to leading structured play, and addressing these barriers with the goal of having both structured and unstructured active play made available to children every day. (2) previous im/il training was the most important predictor of im/il usage in this study. given teacher turnover, it is important to think about ways to provide recurring trainings so that all teachers receive training as part of onboarding. additionally, it is important to physical activity in head start 99 provide ongoing training opportunities to teachers, assistant teachers, and onsite supervisors so staff can expand their knowledge, skills, and confidence in leading structured play and facilitating unstructured play with their students, and to promote norms in programs regarding the importance of both structured and unstructured play every day for young children. (3) this study revealed that previous experience leading physical activities contributed to how frequently teachers used im/il in the classroom. in addition to providing teachers with ongoing training opportunities related to active play, developing a mentorship program for new teachers or teachers with limited experience promoting physical activity may be helpful to teachers with less experience. teachers could be paired with more experienced teachers to provide opportunities for modeling, to address challenges, and to find new activities that promote active play in child care. references cashmore, a. w., & jones, s. c. (2008). growing up active: a study into physical activity in long day care centers. journal of research in childhood education, 23(2), 179-191. doi:10.1080/02568540809594654 derscheid, l. e., umoren, j., kim, s-y., henry, b. w., & zittel, l. l. (2010). early childhood teachers’ and staff members’ perceptions of nutrition and physical activity practices for preschoolers. journal of research in childhood education, 24 (3), 248-265. doi:10.1080/02568543.2010.487405 finkelstein, d., whitaker, r., hill, e., fox, m. k, mendenko, l, & boller, k. (2007). results from the “i am moving, i am learning” stage 1 survey (final interim report). princeton, nj: mathematica policy research, inc. retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/stage1_survey.pdf fox, m. k., hallgren, k., boller, k., & turner, a. (2010). efforts to meeting children’s physical activity and nutritional needs: findings from the i am moving, i am learning implementation evaluation (final report). washington, dc: us department of health and human services. retrieved from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/implement_moving_learning.pdf nhsa dialog, 24(1), copyright © 2021, issn: 1930-9325 challenges and best practices in bmi screening in head start: one program’s perceptions m. elizabeth miller, stephanie nicely, and paul branscum miami university body mass index (bmi) for age is an important screening tool utilized to track growth patterns in children and identify potential health risks. head start conducts bmi screenings to combat early childhood obesity. to adequately conduct surveillance over time and evaluate obesity prevention interventions implemented in hs programs, an examination of the raw measurement data and discussion with hs programs related to needs around the data collection process is important. the purpose of this study was to describe findings from the examination of raw height and weight data at two time points and explore the perceptions of health staff around the data collection process prior to the implementation of an obesity prevention/health promotion initiative. best practices for bmi screening are discussed. keywords: early childhood education, obesity, body mass index, measurement, screening introduction in the united states, nearly 13.7 million individuals are affected by obesity, and in 2015-2016, 13.9 percent of preschoolers (2-5 years old) had obesity (hales et al, 2017). the prevalence of obesity in head start preschoolers was 16.6% in 2018, with a range across states from 12.5 to 27.1 percent (imoisili et al., 2020). lowering obesity rates among children is among the nation’s public health goals outlined in healthy people 2030 (office of disease prevention and health promotion, 2020). preschoolers who are overweight or obese are five times as likely to be overweight or obese by the age of 12, and are more likely to become overweight or obese as adults (centers for disease control and prevention [cdc], 2013). additionally, childhood obesity has both immediate and long-term implications related to physical, social, and emotional health (freedman et al, 2007; griffiths et al, 2010; may et al., 2012 & must et al, 2006). body mass index (bmi) for age is an important screening tool utilized to track growth patterns in children and identify potential health risks (bell et al., 2018; cdc, 2020 ). early care and education programs have been identified as research article 38 miller et al. ideal locations for obesity prevention initiatives and evaluation (institute of medicine, 2013) . however, surveillance systems are needed to monitor obesity prevalence at the program level where prevention efforts may be implemented (hales et al., 2017; hoelscher et al., 2017). more specifically, head start program reports could serve as a source of obesity surveillance data in low-income preschoolers, where overweight and obesity remains high (imoisili et al., 2020). head start (hs) is a national early childhood program, serving over one million low-income children in the us to promote school readiness and provide nutrition, health, and social services (us department of health and human service [usdhhs], 2016). federal funding regulations require hs programs to screen bmi-for-age among children and annually report aggregate weight categorization (i.e. underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese) to the usdhhs (office of head start, 2020). program level policies and procedures outline a general protocol for nutrition assessments, inclusive of height, weight, and bmi collection and reporting, and parental notification and follow-up. hs performance standards require programs to actively engage in obesity prevention efforts in the classroom and through family partnerships (usdhhs, n.d.). in the 2016 head start health manager descriptive study (karoly et al., 2016) nearly 86 percent of programs identified obesity as a major concern, in which 45 percent reported spending more than a half a day per week addressing obesity-related issues and prevention efforts. additionally, the study reported that 80% of programs obtained these height and weight measurements on-site and 72% used height and weight as an outcome measure to monitor health promotion activities. to adequately conduct surveillance over time and evaluate obesity prevention interventions implemented in hs programs, an examination of the raw measurement data and discussion with hs programs related to needs around the data collection process could provide valuable insight. since data reported to the usdhhs is aggregate, examining the raw data over time at a program level may provide insight into potential needs and best practices around this process in hs. to date, this has not been reported in the literature. considering that hs serves more than one million children each year, they have the potential to impact child health and, in particular, prevention of overweight and obesity. research has shown that hs participants have healthier eating patterns, healthier bmis, and are at lower risk of being obese or overweight (lee et al., 2013; lumeng et al, 2015). one study previously conducted with hs has demonstrated benefits to child weight status, in which enrolled hs preschool-aged children with an unhealthy weight status showed a significantly healthier bmi by kindergarten in comparison to non-hs preschoolers (lumeng et al., 2015). given that an examination of raw measurement data over time and discussions with hs programs related to needs around the data collection process has not been previously reported in the literature, the purpose of this study was to 1) examine and compare raw height and weight data of preschoolers in one program at two time points during the school year and 2) explore the perceptions of health staff around the data collection process prior to the implementation of an obesity prevention/health promotion initiative. challenges and best practices in bmi data collection 39 methods study design & procedures the study design included secondary data analysis of height and weight data collected by hs teachers and one focus group with the hs health team including the health and nutrition managers, nutrition specialist, and site health staff. head start performance standards (usdhhs, n.d.) do not explicitly designate the persons responsible for height and weight measurements, therefore this is decided at the program level and often influenced by available resources. in this hs program, teachers were identified as the personnel responsible for annual child measurements. forty-six teachers across 13 hs sites in one program collected height and weight measurements of 455 enrolled preschoolers at two times points: at the start of the school year (august) and six months later (february). each head start site received the same digital scale (health-o-meter electronic self-calibrating digital scale) and stadiometer (secca 213 portable stadiometer). at the beginning of the school year, a 60-minute mandatory, all-staff, lecture-style nutrition training was conducted by the hs nutrition manager and included nutrition information, menu/meal guidelines, and instructions on how to use the stadiometer and scale for child measurements. the bulk of the training included information and updates on nutrition guidelines with approximately ten minutes addressing the bmi screening. verbal instructions regarding strategies for conducting schoolbased anthropometric measurements as recommended by the cdc (2018), including removing shoes, hair accessories, and coats/jackets during measurements, were provided. teachers recorded the height and weight measurements for each time point on a spreadsheet that was returned to the nutrition manager. for each time point measurement, the nutrition manager entered the height and weight into the childplus data management system, which calculated the bmi-for-age percentile and weight classification according to the cdc guidelines (2000). all data was then sent to the hs program data and monitoring coordinator. a 60-minute focus group (fg) with the ten members of the hs health team was conducted at the central early childhood education center by trained qualitative researchers to better understand their perceptions and practices around the height and weight measurement collection. the fg attendees included the program-level nutrition staff and nursing/health staff who provided services to all hs sites and training for the height and weight measurements. the fg guide was jointly created by the research team and the health advisory committee of the hs program and was reviewed by outside experts. three overarching questions guided the focus group: 1) what is the process your program uses to collect the height and weight of preschoolers in your program? 2) who is responsible for conducting the measurements? 3) what are some of the challenges around data collection? data analysis the research team received the de-identified paired height, weight, bmi-for-age, weight classification and each child’s gender and age. a paired t-test was used to examine statistical differences for height, weight, and bmi percentiles. height and weight of paired data were also examined and categorized based on typical growth patterns for children over a 6-month period [140 miller et al. 1.5 inch gain in height/2.5-pound gain in weight over 6 months]. the categorization of the paired heights and weights were defined as 1) a loss of height or weight or no change in either height or weight, 2) typical growth for a preschool-age child [1-1.5 inches in height/2.5-pound gain in weight in 6 months], or 3) an increase greater than 3-inches in height, and 5-pounds in weight in 6 months (hockenberry et al, 2016). bmi percentiles were examined for changes in categorization for each child over the 6-month period. bmi percentiles were not transformed to bmiz scores due to research indicating that bmiz levels in children with severe obesity and similar bmi percentile could differ by more than one standard deviation attributable to differences in age or sex (friedman et al., 2017). spss was used for all data analysis (ibm corp, 2017) the focus group was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. two qualitative researchers independently coded the transcript using constant comparative analysis (lincoln & guba, 1985), compared results, and reached consensus on all codes. codes were organized into themes and sample quotations were assigned for each theme. results secondary data were collected from children at 13 hs sites (n=455) in one program, of which 51% were male. table 1 reports the mean changes in height, weight, and bmi percentile from time 1(august) to time 2 (february). during the 6-month period children significantly increased in height (p < 0.001), and weight (p < 0.001), growing on average 1.36 inches and gaining 2.01 pounds, however their bmi for age percentiles significantly decreased by 3.99 points (p = 0.002). table 2 provides a summary of height and weight changes and identifies cases of no growth or declines in growth, normal growth, and extreme growth. overall, there were 58 (12.7%) changes in height that were of concern with 39 (8.6%) children losing height or not exhibiting height growth, and 19 (4.2%) children growing over 3 inches during this 6-month period. there were also 164 (36%) changes in weight that were of concern, with 104 (22.9%) children losing weight or not exhibiting weight growth, and 60 (13.2%) gaining greater than 5 pounds. when taken together, 260 (57.1%) measurements indicated normal growth across the two time points, 168 (36.9%) had variable time 1 time 2 effect size m(sd) m(sd) (partial eta squared) height (inches) 41.11 (2.49) 42.27 (2.71) <0.001 0.512 weight (pounds) 39.98 (7.27) 41.99 (8.06) <0.001 0.279 bmi (percentile) 64.92 (29.03) 60.93 (31.20) 0.002 0.021 p-value note. time 1 = august 2015, time 2 = february 2016 table 1 change in head start preschoolers' health indicators challenges and best practices in bmi data collection 41 concern over one measurement, and 27 (5.9%) children had a concern for both a height and weight measurement. changes in bmi-for-age weight status were also examined for each child. of note, 23 children (5%) changed at least two weight categories. for example, seven children went from a normal weight status in august to an obese weight status in february and three children went from underweight in august to overweight or obese in february. focus group data a total of ten members of the hs health (all female) team took part in the focus group. results of the focus group yielded three themes: pressures on hs teachers; hs teacher lack of understanding of bmi; and lack of precision of the data collection. one sample quote is provided in the results with additional quotes provided in table 3. the health team described the pressures on teachers that may influence their ability to see the height and weight measurements as a priority. they described teacher time as a major challenge. participant 2 stated “teachers come in and they feel pressed for time to get this done and i don't think they see that as really important.” the health managers also described that they perceived the teachers lack understanding of the measurements and how these measures are connected to their roles as teachers. participant 4 described that “because their job is to educate these kids, they don't get into the health aspect. they don't feel like it's their job to do, so they do it to check it off.” the health team also described how these previous factors (e.g other time pressures and not seeing the connection of the measurements to their teaching role or academic outcomes) may influence the lack of precision of the data collection. they described their observations of the teachers’ collection of height and weight measurements with participant 3 stating that “i had a teacher that lined them up, measured the first one and from there, "oh you're about an inch taller, you're about this, you're about this. okay, jump up on the scales, you're 38 pounds, oh you're about 39, you're about 38 and a half “. measurement f (% of total) range f (% of total) range f (% of total) range height (inches) 39 8.6% [0-5.5] 397 87.3% [0.2-2.5] 19 4.2% [3.5-10.3] weight (pounds) 104 22.9% [0-14.5] 291 64.0% [0.3-5.0] 60 13.2% [6.0-12.6] decrease/no change normal growth extreme growth frequency of change in head start preschoolers health indicators table 2 note. n = 455. extreme growth: height increase > 3 in. and/or weight increase > 5 lbs in 6 months 42 miller et al. discussion research has shown that implementing school-based bmi screening and intervention programs targeting early childhood can stabilize the obesity trajectory of children through elementary school (moreno-black, et al, 2016). since federally funded hs programs are required to collect height weight/bmi measurements of preschoolers, they are in a position to provide relevant, local obesity screening data of low-income preschool aged children, which has the potential to be used as surveillance data, as well as evaluation data for obesity prevention/health promotion programs over time. the purpose of this study was to examine raw height and weight data of hs preschoolers and to explore hs health team perceptions of the data collection process. an initial examination of the aggregate child bmi data revealed obesity rates in this group declined over the 6-month period, which would be a significant outcome for this program. however, after a review of the raw data, there were questions whether challenges in the measurement process theme supportive quotes pressures on hs teachers teachers got whammed with more testing this year on top of what they've been doing and they just feel like their time is sucked up . (participant10) their time is just as valuable as ours and i think they felt overwhelmed. (participant 5) hs teacher understanding of bmi i think they don't find it as important as we do. they don't understand the importance as it relates to health. the teachers actually get those [bmi feedback letters with height, weight, and bmi percentile] and place those into the back packs. i don't know that theythey actually read it. (participant 6) the data [bmi measurement] doesn't guide them, "oh, because i have this information, this is what i should do," really there's no connection between what they teach and the data. i think we should give them feedback like, "here are the results from your class," so they have some shared information about it? that would be helpful. (participant 5) they do it as requirement that they get it done, not that they are going to be able to do anything with it or get any kind of end result out of it. (participant 10) precision of the data collection sometimes they come into my office and use the equipment there instead of taking it to the classroom. the teacher brings the child in, he's got tennis shoes with soles like this, sets him on there and takes his height, i go, "you're not taking his shoes off? you just added 3/4 of an inch to his height." (participant 6) head start health team focus group themes and additional supportive quotes table 3 challenges and best practices in bmi data collection 43 could have contributed to these declines. nearly 25 percent of the children had a decrease in weight or had no weight gain over the 6-month time frame, which would be unlikely given children’s growth patterns. previous research has not been reported on child measurement challenges in hs programs specifically, however, challenges in obtaining accurate measurements in children in general have been reported and identified as predominantly related to child variations and persons obtaining the measurements (himes, 2009). qualitative results, while limited, provide some insight into perceptions of possible challenges experienced in collecting height and weight measurements in hs preschoolers. in this program, teachers and classroom staff were responsible for collecting height and weight measurements, which may be similar in other hs programs with program sites across large geographic locations or those with limited staffing. however, barriers such as teachers’ daily responsibilities, time pressures, and lack of understanding around the importance or relevance of the measurements may have contributed to reduced reliability and precision. therefore, despite receiving standardized equipment and a brief training, a more in-depth training in conducting height and weight measurements, including calculating and interpreting bmi results, and understanding the impact of errors on the child’s bmi status, may be warranted (nihiser et al., 2007). the training could include demonstration and practice sessions, which was not utilized in this study, to exhibit understanding and proper technique, as well as examples illustrating how small errors in height and weight in preschool children can impact bmi percentile and associated weight status category. providing additional information regarding the association between obesity and academic performance may assist in increasing teacher understanding of the measurements, as well as their role in the process. this is consistent with adult learning theory which states that adults learn best by understanding why something is important to know or do, and through experiential learning (knowles, 2015). additional continuing education or professional development opportunities for hs staff may also be created to teach best practices and enhance the foundational knowledge around height/weight/bmi measurement in children. professional development for staff can also serve to highlight the role and importance of bmi in obesity prevention evaluation for hs programs and weight status surveillance over time. this study has several strengths including, the number of child paired height and weight measurements and subsequent bmi categorization. the results of this study, however, are limited to the examination of one hs program height and weight measurement data and may not reflect the manner in which all head start programs collect anthropometric data of preschoolers. the national hs performance guidelines do not specify the personnel responsible for the collection of child measurements and, the individual(s) responsible for measurement collection may likely vary across programs, counties, and states (usdhhs, n.d.). individuals may even change from measurement to measurement due to staffing changes. hs programs may also vary substantially with respect to whether they offer height and weight measurements for children, or rely on outside sources (i.e. consultants, physicians). however, according to the 2016 health manager report, approximately 80% of hs programs provide on-site height and weight measurements to enrolled students (karoly et al, 2016). future research could explore how bmi measurements are collected at various programs across states, who is responsible for overseeing and collecting the measurements, and the training provided in order to determine best practice recommendations. another limitation includes the decision not to utilize bmiz-scores in the analysis. while this is often seen as common practice, recent research provides caution around utilizing z-scores in 44 miller et al. severely obese children, particularly when using the bmi as an evaluation measure for program outcomes (freedman et al., 2017), as might be done in hs programs. there is limited research around the process and personnel responsible for height and weight measurements in hs programs. previous research has used the bmi data collected by hs to evaluate policy and environmental interventions instituted at the local and state level as well as to evaluate change in bmi over time (ansari et al, 2015; lumeng et al, 2015). in each of these studies, anthropometric data was provided by hs with limited details provided around the process of anthropometric data collection. our research provides insight into potential challenges of anthropometric measurement of preschoolers that can occur at the hs program level where this data is collected. however, more research is needed to explore whether other hs programs have similar experiences. implications for practice there is a need for on-going surveillance and monitoring of the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children, especially in high-risk populations similar to those served by hs preschools (imoisili et al., 2020). head start performance standards outline the program's responsibility in supporting the nutritional health of enrolled preschoolers. however, general guidance is provided, giving latitude to each program to operationalize and tailor health policies at the local level to align with the program’s capacity for implementation, which may result in variations in how height and weight data is collected and who is responsible for collecting this data. the impact on the accuracy of height and weight measurement that may occur as a result of these variations could be minimized by the use of best practices. provision of regular training and standardization of data collectors, as well as limiting the number of data collectors, are considered components of best practice measures for bmi screening and surveillance (himes, 2009). additionally, while advanced formal education is not required to take high-quality measurements, adequate and on-going training is necessary to ensure reliability of results. local hs programs may benefit from assigning this task and training to specific personnel or partnering with external organizations who have this capacity to collaborate/assist with the data collection. choosing appropriate measurement equipment (to include regular calibration) and establishing standardized measurement protocols have also been identified as best practices (himes, 2009). suggestions for a measurement protocol include having a written document with images of correct child positions and storing the document with the equipment, as to be available for each use. guidance from national hs on the creation of local policies and protocols around bmi data collection may be beneficial, as hs is in a position to conduct bmi surveillance of lowincome children enrolled in the program and evaluate obesity prevention efforts over time. references ansari, a., pettit, k., & gershoff, e. 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in many countries. the united states congress passed goals 2000: educate america act (p.l.103-227) which added creative arts to the educational landscape in 1994. when designing a creative arts curriculum framework, educators must determine how to measure children’s learning and development. this article shares ways to integrate creative arts into a curricular framework, and use authentic assessment in the process. keywords: authentic assessment, curriculum framework, creative arts, early childhood education, integration creativity is a lifelong pursuit with roots in early childhood. young children need opportunities to experience creative arts (copple, & bredekamp, 2009; eckoff, 2008). integrating creative arts in early childhood and assessing child development is not only good for children, it is mandated by policy. in 1994, congress passed goals 2000: educate america act (p. l. 103-227), which added creative arts to the educational landscape. the educate america law stipulated that students will complete grades 4, 8, and 12 having met competencies related to creative arts. creativity is complex and difficult to define, but is essential for young children. may (2009) indicated that young children will benefit from creative activity and it prepares them to be critical thinkers. according to wright (2012), the arts foster creativity and innovation, foster problem-solving skills, transfer knowledge, and are fundamental in early childhood (edwards, 2010; wright, 2012). creative activity will provide young children opportunities to become imaginative thinkers, leaders of scientific discovery and business (yates & twigg, 2017). emerging studies are beginning to support art-based activity and assessment. flowers, carroll, green and larson (2015) carried out a study using art to assess young children’s environment education outcomes and revealed that drawing represents an effective way of evaluating children’s cognitive (environmental awareness) and affective (environmental attitudes) relationship to nature. the research also suggested that children show a preference for drawing and coloring on plants, animals and nature, supporting the importance of art-based education programs. science, 84 macy et al. technology, engineering, art, and math (steam) has become quite popular over the past decades, and there is a growing interest in steam-based knowledge and skills across professions (smith, king, & gonzalez, 2015). today, art is an essential part in early childhood education. therefore, steam integrates the arts in the stem curriculum to assist children to acquire stem knowledge (sharapan, 2012). according to grinnell and angal (2016), arts promote the creativity and ingenuity that are crucial for the nation’s economic development. the creative process has been a source of interest for researchers and others. graham wallas was a social psychologist who proposed a four-stage process to creativity (wallas, 1926). the wallas model of creative process begins with the first stage called “preparation.” in this stage the person is making observations about their world, and identifying an imaginative task or activity they are interested in tackling. the “incubation” stage involves thinking about the task or challenge and letting it incubate over time. an example of this is when sir paul mccartney was writing a song for the beatles he first came up with the melody, but took time to develop the lyrics. as a placeholder he used the words, “scrambled eggs” until he could think of the perfect words that had three syllables (sturges, 2014). the incubation period gave him time to let his ideas percolate. during the “illumination” stage mccartney had his aha moment when he landed upon the word “yesterday” to replace “scrambled eggs.” the last stage of “verification” is a time to check out the new idea or discovery. mccartney also verified that another artist hadn’t already written a song with the same features. later, e. paul torrance who was called the father of modern creativity, proposed the following ingredients as necessary for creative endeavors: (a) fluency, (b) flexibility, (c) originality, and (d) elaboration (torrance, 1971, 1993, 2003). when mccartney was engaged in songwriting, he had ideas flowing in a fluent manner. he was flexible in his approach and continued to work through his ideas to come up with an original song. the process was iterative and he continued to refine his song “yesterday” by elaborating and expanding on his creative ideas until he was near completion and could put the finishing touches on his lyrics and melody. the work of wallas and torrance can be applied to encouraging creativity in young children. exploring creative processes has many benefits. for one, creative arts can foster divergent thinking skills (geist, & hohn, 2009; loomis, lewis, & blumenthal, 2007). creative arts can help children express themselves when words are difficult to form (new, 2007). creative arts can lead to more sophisticated social play (holmes, romeo, ciraola, & grushko, 2015), as well as pretend play and storytelling (fehr & russ, 2016; leonard & yorton, 2014). “every art encounter requires that children use intellectual, social, and emotional skills, concepts, and knowledge throughout the creative process” (edwards, 2010, p. 31). in a study by alkuş and olgan (2014), both pre-service and in-service teachers were asked to share their perceptions about creativity. the researchers found that both groups of teachers faced challenges with implementing creative arts into the early childhood curriculum. teachers struggle with a range of issues from professional development (jeffrey & craft, 2004; schwartz & bloomgarden, 2001), to fostering creativity (orr & kukner, 2015; pavlou, 2009; rinkevich, 2011), to talking with children about creative arts (bell, 2011; shulsky & kirkwood, 2015). educators can integrate creative arts into the existing curricular framework, and use authentic assessment practices to show development and growth in the creative arts. authentic assessment of creative arts 85 creative arts and head start the head start early learning outcomes framework (“framework”) aims to nurture a deep understanding of the developmental and learning domains for children from birth to five (usdhhs, 2015). grounded in research, the framework describes the key areas of the development and learning, as well as the learning outcomes in order to assist adults to provide effective learning practices. this facilitates children to achieve the important learning outcomes (gallagher & lambert, 2006). the framework also is intended to serve as a guide for curriculum choices, learning materials, daily activities planning, and teaching practices. the key characteristics of the framework in selecting effective teaching practices are research-based, comprehensive, inclusive, manageable, and measurable. research-based practices are age appropriate, reasonable and achievable, and aligned with expectations for kindergarten. the comprehensiveness represents the coverage across essential domains of early childhood development to ensure children acquire skills and learning abilities to succeed in each area. inclusiveness embraces children from various linguistic, cultural, economic backgrounds, and with disabilities. manageable domains, sub-domains, goals and indicators are included to ensure effective implementation for successful programs. measurement can be applied to observable skills, behaviors and concepts for assessment. the framework is structured with five elements listed below: • domains that focus on five central areas of development, • subdomains consisting of categories within each domain, • goals that describe expectation of children’s learning and development, • developmental progressions that define the skills, behavior and concepts as they progress, and • indicators that describe specific observable skills, behaviors and concepts. the domains are areas that are critical to school and long-term success. they include approaches to learning, social and emotional development, language and literacy, cognition, perceptual, motor and physical development. one of the subdomains for approaches to learning is creativity. the responding goals are “child uses creativity in thinking and communication” (usdhhs, 2015, p.21). arts are beneficial for children in head start programs according to the domains introduced within the framework, including social-emotional and academics. even though, the framework indicates that it does not include creative arts as a single domain, due to the focus on school success and a set of key learning areas, it points out that art experiences are critical as a part of the early childhood curriculum. the benefits of creative arts can be incorporated to effectively promote development and learning across all the domains in the framework. moreover, creative arts can support the development of curiosity, fine motor skills, vocabulary, counting and objects relations, and self-regulation skills. the benefits of creative arts also provide opportunities for exploration and discovery, active and engaged learning, and individual expressions. the framework states that aligning curriculum with creative art activities ensures children broadened learning experiences and magnifies positive impacts on the outcomes. guiding principles support the creative art role as it facilitates the learning and development of young children in school and beyond. one of the guiding principles of the framework pointed out that developmental areas can be strengthened and foster learning 86 macy et al. simultaneously. creative arts can be integrated within the practices to achieve this. for example, an art project can be applied to illustrate concepts and help children gain fine motor skills and emotional benefits. diversity across family’s culture, beliefs, background, and language was emphasized in the guiding principles. creative art can act to empower teachers to conduct responsive and respectful learning spaces for children in order to express their unique experiences and backgrounds. as an example of the infusion of creative arts in the framework, one of the subdomains under perceptual, motor, and physical development is fine motor. some of the goals under subdomain fine motor are “child coordinates hand and eye movements”, and “child uses hands for exploration, play, and daily routines” (usdhhs, 2015, p.70). the developmental progressions for 16-36 months listed examples of activities that includes painting and drawing. the indicators target observations to identify that children have achieved or acquired such skills and behaviors. throughout the developmental progressions section of the framework, creative arts are applied across many development regressions. under social and emotional development, creative arts are mentioned when children draw a picture of their family, language, and tell a story. under communication, it is when children talk about what they have drawn, fine motor skills. under emergent literacy, it emphasizes when children practices drawing and scribbling. under cognitive development, creative arts can be used to represents a symbol and to express concepts. under mathematics development, creative arts are used when children drawing objects to represent numbers, addition and subtraction, and can especially benefit children who are dual languages. under scientific inquiry, it applies when children draw a picture to represent observable phenomena. under perceptual motor and physical development domain, creative arts serve the developmental goals when children draw fine details of observed objects. various domains use arts as part of the development and progress of children’s learning and experiences. it supports the notion that creative arts are very important to practice in head start to ensure a successful learning for children. brown and sax (2013) examined whether arts enrichment improves positive emotions of 174 low-income at risk head start children. ninety percent of the families were low-income based on federal poverty guideline. the settlement music school’s kaleidoscope preschool arts enrichment programs are adopted to use music, dance, and visual arts with daily learning. the children’s classroom emotions were collected via direct observation and teacher rated emotion expression and regulation. the frequency of positive and negative emotions across the day was compared with children at a nearby head start site. arts activities significantly increased observed positive emotion including interest, happiness, and pride compared with traditional learning classes. the results show that children in art-integrated head start showed increase in positive and negative emotion regulation when compared with children in traditional head start. the caring at columbia head start demonstrated a model that integrates creative art for mental health promotion. parents learn play skills via group discussion and hands-on activities to bond with their child through interactive play, art, and music. the caring at columbia head start parent-child program is an effective prevention program that promotes parent-child relationships by empowering creative-expressive play and arts (kestenbaum et al., 2016). research showed the importance of integrating creative arts for head start children to foster better development and learning. as described in the framework, creative arts can strongly facilitate children’s learning and development across all domains. programs and authentic assessment of creative arts 87 curriculum that integrate creative arts will promote better performances for children’s success. research findings emphasized those benefits for children’s development across different domains. these benefits can be utilized for head start to incorporate and assess more creative arts programs under the current framework. integrating creative arts into the curriculum many early childhood professionals may find it challenging to measure children’s development and learning in the creative arts domain. it is essential to demonstrate to parents and others what children are learning. having a system to observe and assess children’s progress in the creative arts will be necessary. creative arts does not have to be something that is part of the curriculum at certain times of the day, or during specific “art” activities. creative arts can be integrated into the existing early childhood curriculum through adultor child-initiated activities (johnson, rahn, & bricker, 2015). adult-initiated. when adults plan a curriculum or activities for children, creative arts integration can occur by making opportunities to explore: socio-dramatic play, language arts, music, movement, and/or visual arts. learning opportunities occur as a result of activities initiated by the adult (bagnato, mclean, macy, & neisworth, 2011). adults can use a variety of tools for inspiration. adult-initiated activities are planned out and facilitated by the adult. decide whether the activity will be process or product oriented. a product approach places emphasis on the outcome. for example, an activity for all the children in class is to make a paper plate mask that is part of a social studies theme on how different cultures use masks. specific materials are used in a step-by-step fashion. the activity is adult-directed and children follow the adult’s lead. all the masks look the same when the activity is done. a process approach places emphasis on the creative experience. an example of how the mask activity would be different with a process emphasis could be to provide children with a wide array of materials and ask them to make their own mask. each child’s mask would be unique and look different from the rest. both approaches can foster degrees of creativity in different ways. child-initiated. creative arts integration can occur when adults allow the child’s interests to emerge by embedding socio-dramatic play, language arts, music, movement, and/or visual arts opportunities during play and routines. learning goals for children are embedded into the opportunities that each child initiates for himself or herself given the environment and context purposefully designed by the adult (macy & bricker, 2006; rahn, coogle, & storie, 2016; snyder, hemmeter, mclean, sandall, & mclaughlin, 2013; synder et al., 2015; venn et al., 1993). embedded learning opportunities promote creativity because children are following their own interests and motivation, as opposed to direct instruction from the adult (macy & bricker, 2007). art education can produce positive learning outcomes, develop a better sense of cultural identity, and foster creative way of thinking in young children (stone & chakraborty, 2011). product approach in art education means the art projects have a specific finished results, and the final projects look similar from child to child (stone & chakraborty, 2011). children participate 88 macy et al. in this kind of activities that encourage them to copy an already created artwork, the scope of creativity is limited (mclennan, 2010). product approach offers limited opportunity for children to express their creativity, make decisions, and experiment with materials by themselves (stone & chakraborty, 2011). however, not all product approach in art education is unproductive; it is appropriate sometimes in the early childhood education settings. the process-based art education allows children to express themselves freely and demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and feelings in nonverbal ways (alter, hays, & o’hara, 2009). during the process-based art activity, children focus on exploration with the material and investigation of the art process, while adults stay aside during the activity. in this way, learners are free to explore and experience within multi-layered acts of cognition (dahlberg, moss, & pence, 1999). in addition, the process approach encourage children to think critically, to evaluate information showed by others (howard, 2004). this open-ended art activity provides young learners authentic and holistic way of learning. authentic assessment the latin origin of the word “assessment” is assidere which means to sit beside and get to know. assessment of the creative process are foundational in both the wallas (1926) and torrance (1971; 1993; 2003) creativity models. observing and documenting creative arts development in young children can be facilitated through the use of authentic assessment practices. authentic assessment is a way to gather data and capture what the child is able to do (bagnato & macy, 2010). it can also reveal emerging skills, as well as skills the child is not yet ready to tackle. macy, bagnato, and gallen (2016) state that authentic assessment is a useful alternative to traditional assessments because it incorporates materials, routines, and environments that are familiar to children. figure 1 shows a framework for integrating creative arts in a play-based early childhood curriculum. authentic assessment of creative arts 89 figure 1. authentic assessment in a play-based creative arts curriculum. 90 macy et al. in the figure an icon shows two people on a see-saw to represent authentic assessment. the adult plays with the child and can learn about the child’s development in the creative arts (i.e., drama, music/movement, and visual arts) through the context of play. no special kits or table top testing are needed (macy & bagnato, 2010). play can be a child-initiated activity whereby the child selects music, movement, drama, or visual arts that they find motivating. adult-initiated creative art activities are those the caregiver or teacher sets up for the child to experience. authentic assessment is the alternative to the standardized, traditional testing practices for assessing young children’s development progress. authentic assessment is known as play-based and naturalistic assessment, which is to collect information regarding a child’s behavior by familiar adults when the behavior is naturally happening (grisham-brown, hallam, & prettifrontczak, 2008). according to warner, lynch, nabors, and simpson (2008), authentic assessment can provide opportunities for children to apply their knowledge in real life contexts. results from authentic assessment can be used to direct program-planning, curriculum, and lesson plans (macy & bagnato, 2010). play-based assessment is one form of authentic assessment that can obtain information about the child’s strength and areas to work on (dennis, rueter & simpson, 2013). the assessment also includes observing how a child plays alone, with caregivers, with peers in free and structured play (dykeman, 2008). therefore, authentic assessment allows for more authentic results when observing and assessing young children (dennis, rueter & simpson, 2013). authentic assessment is an evidence-based practice (bagnato, 2007; bagnato, neisworth, & pretti-frontczak, 2010; kim, lambert, & burts, 2013; macy & bagnato, 2013). professionals have more tools to facilitate authentic assessment. due to the advances in technology in recent years, it is easier for professionals and families to use authentic assessment (macy, bagnato & gallen, 2016). several instruments are also available to provide children’s ongoing behaviors and skill acquisition, so families are able to see the progress their children are making. what follows are two vignettes that show how authentic assessment could be used to assess learning and development in the creative arts. child-initiated music and movement vignette annie went straight for the scarves in her preschool classroom when she arrived one morning. singing along with music while she danced was one of her favorite things to do. another child was already in the same area moving her body to the laurie berkner song, “all around my room.” annie bent over to pick up two rainbow scarves. next, she swung her hips and arms to the beat of the song. annie held a scarf in her left hand and a scarf in her right hand using a palmar grasp. she brought both hands to midline at different times in the song. annie smiled at her classmate while the music played. her preschool teacher was nearby and saw annie initiate the creative arts play-based activity. she jotted a note to remember the way annie was using her bilateral motor coordination in her play with the scarf while swaying to the rhythm, and then joined the children in dancing and singing. creative arts products. this is an example of a child-initiated play-based activity that annie’s teacher was able to use authentic assessment to observe and record child development during creative arts. the creative art products used were scarves located in an easy to reach authentic assessment of creative arts 91 basket for children near the classroom music center and an ipad with children’s music. annie’s teacher used a note taking system that she created for each child in her preschool class. specifically, annie had goals and objectives in fine and gross motor domains that were being observed and worked on in her individualized program. developmental progression. annie’s skills may have been documented during the expressive creative arts play in the following areas: gross motor ability to bend down and then get back up, move in a designated space, eye-hand coordination, social interaction with a peer and adult, communication (both receptive and expressive), cognitive ability to repeat song lyrics, interest in the song, and moving her body to the music. annie’s progress could be tracked over time to capture the changes taking place in her development and learning. this scarf play shows a process-oriented approach where the outcome of the activity was less important than the process of the actual music/movement experience. for example, the dance she created for the song is unique and focused on annie’s own interpretation of the music in how she moved her body (process). it was not a rehearsal in preparation for a recital where all the children would produce the same exact dance in a specific way (product). authentic assessment was how annie’s teacher documented annie’s development, growth, and learning. adult-initiated visual arts vignette mr. rico was having a family night for children and their families. before the event, he had each child in the class draw a self-portrait which was part of a unit he was teaching in social studies. in small groups of three, each child was able to interact with a teacher and look into a mirror during their drawing activity. a rich discussion took place during the art activity about faces. mr. rico often integrates creative arts with other areas of his curriculum (e.g., math, reading, science, social studies, etc.). when family night arrived, mr. rico introduced the families to the art studio. parents were asked to find their child’s self-portrait based on guesses and not labelled with their child’s name. annie and her parents looked at all the self-portraits hanging on the wall with names hidden. a discussion about the lines, shapes, patterns, and body parts were discussed. annie eventually couldn’t keep the secret any longer and blurt out which self-portrait was hers. creative arts products. the creative art products used were paper and colored utensils (e.g., crayons, chalk, pencils, markers, etc.), as well as a mirror for each child to see their face while they drew. having enough materials for each child gave mr. rico the ability to manage the small group. the responsive environment he created for children to focus on creative arts enhanced the adult-initiated activity because of the materials, environmental arrangement, attention to each child, and supportive communication. developmental progression. this is an example of an adult-initiated play-based activity that mr. rico integrated into the curriculum. he was able to document the way each child was using their fine motor skills to hold their writing utensil to create their masterpiece. mr. rico also indicated how children created semi-representational figures to express their ideas using lines and shapes to represent things like legs and arms. awareness of body parts and shape concepts were also noted during the small group activity. the self-portrait activity is an example 92 macy et al. of a product-oriented approach where the outcome of the activity was part of the focus of the lesson. differentiating instruction. mr. rico could use authentic assessment to consider children’s learning and development. he could use the information collected during his observations to differentiate instruction for children as needed. for example, for children not yet able to use a three-finger grasp to hold a utensil, mr. rico could supply adapted utensils that scaffold the tripod grasp. for social emotional development, mr. rico could support children in their comments related to self-identity. the adult-initiated creative arts activity could be made personal to each child in the group by noticing what they need and/or do not need through differentiation. differentiated instruction can be used with authentic assessment. authentic assessment can be used with an individual child or with a group of children. the music/movement vignette showed how authentic assessment could be used with an individual child, whereas the visual arts vignette showed how authentic assessment could be used with a group of children. the complete authentic assessment process starts with planning how to set up a system of ongoing observation and documentation. work together with others on the team (both professionals and parents) to implement authentic assessment. continue to use and refine authentic assessment practices. summary the purpose of the head start framework is to guide programs to select its assessment instead of serving as the assessment tool. the indicators defined by each domain, subdomain, and development progressions provided detailed and specific guidelines for assessment of those learning processes and outcomes. as required by the framework, the outcomes need to follow one of the elements for effective teaching practices to be reflected in observable skills, behaviors and concepts. bagnato, goins, pretti-frontczak, and neisworth (2014) provide a look at standards for authentic assessment. the authentic assessment relies on teachers, parents, and caregivers, as knowledgeable, informed individuals, to observe, record and capture information that is authentic in daily routines. this coincides with what the framework calls identified users: staff, teachers, parents, and community partners. the framework also guides curricula, assessments, and professional development provided by the head start programs. the framework provided the indicators that are aligned with the developmental domains, goals, and development progressions. they are completely in agreement with the authentic assessment measure that demonstrates the link between the goals and teaching practices. similarities and alignment between the authentic assessment and the assessment indicators within the framework context exist. authentic assessment is a useful way to monitor child progress. a growing body of research shows the promise of using authentic assessment in early childhood programs (macy & bagnato, 2013; pretti-frontczak, bagnato, macy, & sexton, 2011). teachers can spend more time encouraging creativity when assessment practices are easily mapped onto daily routines and classroom curricular activities. future research could examine helpful ways to support professionals in adopting this strategy (lambert, gallagher, & abbott-shim, 2015). authentic assessment of creative arts 93 authentic assessment can take place anytime and anywhere. no fancy materials are required. 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(2015). head start early learning outcomes framework. retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/elof-ohs-framework.pdf macy dftf macy dftf.2 macy dftf.3 microsoft word godfrey-hurrell final.doc dialog, 21(1), copyright © 2018, issn: 1930-9325 research article effects of coaching and performance feedback on preschool teachers’ implementation of the teaching pyramid model kristi godfrey-hurrell central piedmont community college vivian correa university of north carolina at charlotte laura truesdell scuola creativa previous research has indicated that a strong connection exists between children’s social and emotional development and their academic performance in school. yet, the literature has also shown that teachers may be inadequately prepared to help children in obtaining prosocial skills. the purpose of the current study is to describe a coaching model that was used with three child care center teachers as they implemented strategies connected with three targeted items from the teaching pyramid model, a comprehensive framework for supporting children’s social and emotional development. data were collected across four phases: prebaseline, baseline, intervention, and maintenance. results showed that using coaching plus performance feedback with teachers leads to increased levels of implementation of strategies associated with the teaching pyramid model. teachers also indicated positive attitudes toward the use of the coaching model. additionally, child social and emotional outcome data showed improvement for four of six children included. limitations of student and implications for future research are provided. keywords: behavior, coaching, professional development, social and emotional skills, preschool young children with social, emotional, and/or behavioral problems are at an increased risk for poor school and mental health outcomes. in fact, the prevalence rate of young children exhibiting challenging behaviors has been documented between 10-30% while those who experience mild multicomponent professional development 51 to moderate levels of behavioral issues ranges from 10-15%, both of which have shown to negatively affect cognitive functioning, overall development, and school readiness (cooper, masi, & vick, 2009; fox & smith, 2007; perry, holland, darling-kuria, & nadiv, 2011). researchers have suggested that these problems persist across time, and children with early adaptation difficulties are at higher risk for continued struggles (american academy of pediatrics [aap] council on early childhood, aap committee on psychosocial aspects of child and family health, aap section on developmental and behavioral pediatrics, 2016; fantuzzo, bulotsky-shearer, mcdermott, mcwayne, frye, & pearlman, 2007). further, children who have social-emotional competency problems often display negative behaviors with peers and adults, find themselves socially isolated, and experience negative interactions before entering primary grade educational settings; of particular note, these behaviors have been found to first manifest within child care settings (brown & conroy, 2011; perry et al., 2011). this often leads to an increased amount of child care teachers who struggle with identifying and meeting the social-emotional and behavioral needs of young children. additionally, children with behavioral problems are at an increased risk of peer rejection and preschool expulsion. according to u.s. department of education, recent data revealed preschool expulsions and suspensions as happening regularly with more than 8,000 pubic preschoolers being suspended at least once in their young educational careers (child care aware ® of america, 2015). therefore, identification and intervention for children who may be at risk for social and emotional delays and/or behavioral problems could be key to positive child outcomes and increased school readiness. mccabe and altamura (2011) reviewed assessments and intervention programs that have demonstrated empirical efficacy on the remediation of social, emotional, and behavioral problems in young children with a variety of disabilities and referral concerns. they found that interventions that targeted behavior problems, social skill delays, and emotion regulation deficits were the most effective. ten programs were reviewed and among them was the teaching pyramid model. mccabe and altamura (2011) described the model as, “one designed to promote social-emotional development and ameliorate behavioral concerns in young children that includes components that work at all ecological levels of the young child” (p. 553). the model is similar to other multi-tiered approaches such as positive behavior supports (pbs) and multitiered system of support (mtss). the pyramid framework includes four levels of practice: (a) positive relationships with children, families, and colleagues; (b) classroom preventive practices; (c) social and emotional teaching strategies; and (d) intensive individualized interventions (fox, dunlap, hemmeter, joseph, & strain, 2003). the teaching pyramid model assists in solving social-emotional and behavioral issues through the examination of adult behaviors, classroom practices, and adult-child relationships. according to fox et al. (2003), this multi-tiered intervention model which examines teacher-child relationships, the classroom environment, social and emotional teaching strategies, and individualized interventions could have the greatest potential to help all children develop prosocial skills, while effectively addressing the most challenging child behaviors with which teachers struggle. therefore, there is a need to investigate how to best support teachers in implementing such intervention models. joyce and showers (2003) provided support for the use of coaching when training teachers to use new strategies and interventions. researchers found that teachers who are coached are more likely to practice new strategies more often and with greater skill, adapt strategies more appropriately to their own goals and environment, and retain and increase skill over time. additionally, when compared to uncoached teachers, teachers who were coached were 52 godfrey-hurrell, correa, & truesdell more likely to assist children in understanding the new strategies and were able to demonstrate a clearer understanding of why and how learned strategies or methods are used (joyce & shower, 2003). more recently, schachter (2015) examined empirical research on the design, delivery, and measurement of the effects of professional development for early childhood teachers to provide understanding of what the field has done and give direction for future professional development. coaching was found to be a popular method for delivering professional development and provided participants with a more intimate relationship that focused on individualized learning and education. one such examination from mccollum, hemmeter, and hsieh (2011) used a coaching and performance feedback approach to professional development with an experimental group of seven teachers. in that study, researchers looked at the effects of coaching on emergent literacy instruction. results indicated significant positive effects as a result of the performance feedback offered to the teachers in the experimental group. additionally, fox, hemmeter, synder, perez binder, and clarke (2011) explored the effects of coaching teachers on the implementation of strategies within the teaching pyramid model. the authors found that the use of coaching and performance feedback had positive effects on the participants’ abilities to implement the teaching strategies associated with the teaching pyramid model. fox et al. (2011) stipulated that, not only was a framework such as the teaching pyramid model effective in supporting all children’s social-emotional development and providing extra support for those children who exhibited challenging behaviors, it was critical in offering teachers the right kind of help in implementing the model. they further reported that the individualized coaching provided to the teachers in the study was an essential component in improving teacher performance, especially given the multifaceted nature of the model. despite the seemingly positive outcomes of the fox et al. (2011) study, it had limitations. it was one of the only studies of its kind on the teaching pyramid model and did not address specific child outcomes related to social-emotional skills. it is evident that more research is needed to confirm the benefit of the framework for both teachers in the classroom and children receiving the supports needed to enhance their social and emotional competence and decrease behavioral concerns. the purpose of the current study was to extend research efforts showing the benefits of the teaching pyramid model framework with teachers and children in the early childhood environment. this study also adds to the research on the need for continued professional development of teachers to ensure high quality intervention implementation by identifying how coaching can be used to support teachers. therefore, the current study applied the teaching pyramid model and coaching strategies to three teachers who worked in a child care program with little to no special education training. specifically, researchers sought to answer the following: (1) to what extent will a multicomponent professional development model that includes coaching and performance feedback impact teachers’ implementation of three targeted skills associated with the teaching pyramid model observation tool (tpot)? (2) to what extent will teachers’ implementation of three targeted skills associated with the tpot impact targeted children’s scores on the ages and stages questionnairesocial/emotional (asq-se)? (3) what will be the teachers’ perceptions of the multicomponent professional development model? multicomponent professional development 53 methods participants and setting this study took place in a private faith-based community child care program located in an urban setting that served children 6 weeks to 6 years of age. the program enrolled 100 children in a total of seven classrooms. of the total enrolled, 5-10%, or 10 of the 100 children enrolled, of the program’s population had tuition subsidized by the state and were represented ethnically by 12 different countries. each classroom had at least two teachers; teachers were 20% caucasian and 80% african-american. this child care program was selected to participate because of the director’s interest in the study’s topic. coaching sessions occurred within each teacher’s classroom and data were gathered within the same environment. performance feedback and coaching took place in a separate room within the child care program and through email. participants in this study included three preschool teachers working in the same faithbased community child care program and six children who were enrolled in the teachers’ classrooms. the participants met eligibility requirements. for example, all teachers completed two 2-hr trainings supported by the local child care resource and referral agency in the first tier of the teaching pyramid model, which covered universal practices, within a year prior to the start of the study. additional criteria for involvement in the study included being open to performance feedback and individualized coaching, serving as a lead teacher in a classroom with children of at least 2 years of age, and working with a child with challenging behaviors in his or her classroom. upon conclusion of the study, teachers were provided a $75 gift card as an incentive. pseudonyms were assigned to each of the teachers and letters were assigned to each child. participant 1. mary was a 53-year-old african-american woman with an associate’s degree in early childhood education. at the time of the study, she had 30 years of teaching experience, all of which had occurred at the child care program that served as the study’s setting. she had 20 children enrolled in her classroom with one teaching assistant; all children were 3year-olds. participant 2. sharon was a 29-year-old african-american woman with the state’s early childhood credentials 1 and 2, and she was working toward an associate’s degree in early childhood education at a local community college. she had 13 years of teaching experience at the time of the study and was currently teaching 2-year-olds and had 18 children enrolled in her classroom with two teaching assistants. participant 3. john was a 29-year-old african-american male with 14 years of teaching experience. he studied for two years at a four-year university, majoring in community recreation, and was working toward an associate’s degree in early childhood education at a local community college. his classroom consisted of 21 children who ranged in age from 4-6 years with one co-teacher and one assistant teacher. child participants. there were six children included in the study. teachers were asked to choose two children from their classrooms who they believed had “challenging behaviors”. for the purpose of this study, “challenging behaviors” was defined as, “any repeated 54 godfrey-hurrell, correa, & truesdell pattern of behavior that interferes with or is at risk of interfering with optimal learning or engagement in prosocial interactions with peers and adults” (smith & fox, 2003, p.7). once identified, parent or guardian permission was secured, and teachers were asked to fill out the ages & stages questionnaire-social and emotional (asq-se; squires, bricker, & twombly, 2002). all six children were between the ages of 32-53 months at the time of the study, four children were caucasian and two were african-american. to protect child identity, children were labeled child a through child f; child a and b were enrolled in sharon’s classroom, child c and d were enrolled in mary’s classroom, and child e and f were enrolled in john’s classroom. pre asq-se and cutoff scores were: child b (40 months) 100 with a cutoff of 59, child c (42 months) 65 with a cutoff of 59, child d (52 months) 30 with a cutoff of 70, and child f (53 months) 30 and a cutoff of 70 (see table 1). the cutoff scores were used to establish need for intervention with regards to behavior. for example, if child scored above the cutoff, the child needs further evaluation and intervention, while a child who scored below the cutoff should be monitored and provided support (squires et al., 2002). table 1 pre-test and post-test data on asq-se scores participant age in months asq-se cutoff baseline post intervention child a 32 57 15 45 child b 40 59 100 65 child c 42 59 65 45 child d 52 70 30 15 child e 53 70 40 60 child f 53 70 30 15 design a single case, multiple probe across three teachers design (hitchcock et al., 2014) was used to examine the effects of a multicomponent professional development intervention on the three teachers’ implementation of three targeted skills connected with the teaching pyramid model. a single case, multiple probe design was used to document an observable change across participants; essentially to see if the implementation of the intervention was responsible for that change. additionally, researchers used the single case design because of the small sample size and literature does support the use of this design with small sample sizes (hitchcock et al., 2014). further, this design allows researchers to observe the functional relation of the intervention through replication which allows for stronger statements to be made as to the reliability of the results. therefore, the researchers implemented four phases: pre-baseline, baseline, intervention, and maintenance. data were graphed, and decisions regarding when teachers moved through the phases were based on a visual analysis of that data. in essence, the researcher examined the data for the teacher variables according to the kratochwill et al. (2010) features. six features were examined within and between condition data patterns: (a) level, (b) trend, (c) variability, (d) immediacy of effect, (e) overlap, and (f) consistency of data patterns across similar conditions. the researcher was able to analyze data using such features as level, trend, and consistency of data patterns. these features were then used to analyze data of the research to determine if there was a functional relation. multicomponent professional development 55 during the baseline phase, the teacher demonstrating the most stable individualized score began intervention first while the other teachers remained in baseline. when the first teacher reached stability in intervention, the second lowest scoring teacher entered intervention. the same process continued until the final teacher entered intervention. teachers were expected to reach an 80% criterion level before moving to maintenance phase. dependent variables teacher-focused dependent variable. the primary dependent variable in this study involved measuring each teachers’ ability to implement three targeted skills connected with the teaching pyramid model. the three targeted skills were chosen based on their overall scores on the teaching pyramid observation tool (tpot; hemmeter, fox, & snyder, 2014). the tpot was used in the study to measure each teacher’s ability to foster children’s social and emotional development within the framework of the teaching pyramid model. the tpot is a standardized rating scale that involves a 2-hr observation (e.g., assessment observations) of a teacher in an early childhood classroom, and an interview with that teacher. the tpot incorporates five types of items: observation only (items 1-9), observation and interview (items 10-12), interview only (items 13-15), red flags (items 16-31), and a challenging behavior item (this item is not assigned a number). the full tpot, from which all 31 items are recorded, is scored after both the observation and interview have been completed. in the current study, the full tpot was scored for each teacher after the first assessment observation. during the subsequent assessment observations, an individualized tpot was used for each teacher, in which the three lowest-scoring items and their subsequent indicators were scored. child-focused dependent variable. a second dependent variable in this study was the social and emotional outcomes for children who displayed challenging behaviors. six children across all three classrooms were identified in order to determine if each child’s social and emotional development was positively affected by the implementation of teaching practices connected with the teaching pyramid model. children were chosen based on both teacher recommendation and parent permission. the teachers administered the asq-se on each of their targeted children before intervention and upon completion of the maintenance phase; the pre and post-asq-se were scored by the primary researcher. the asq-se was chosen because of its alignment with the framework of the teaching pyramid model. it also has good reliability and validity results, is inexpensive, and is easy to use (henderson & strain, 2009). the asq-se is a 10to 15-minute assessment that is given in a questionnaire format. data collection and analysis data were collected using two versions of the tpot to measure each teacher’s ability to implement three targeted skills connected with the teaching pyramid model. the full tpot was used to: (a) establish pre-baseline scores, (b) determine three low scoring items, and (c) to measure follow-up scores during a posttest phase (e.g., maintenance). a modified tpot was then developed for each teacher based on the results from the full tpot pretest during the pre56 godfrey-hurrell, correa, & truesdell baseline phase. to do this the three lowest scoring items from the full tpot pretest were identified for each teacher and these items and data were then presented to the teachers during their first individual coaching sessions. the research design utilized visual analysis of the data; reviewing any change in: (a) level, (b) trend, (c) variability, (d) immediacy of effect, (e) overlap, and (f) consistency of data patterns across conditions. as data were collected on research question one, they were entered into a graph where researchers were then able to visually examine these changes and determine similarity across participants under the same condition. data for research question two were entered into a chart and compared from pre to post study to see if asq-se scores changed. information concerning teachers’ perceptions of the coaching model were also compared from pre to post study. procedure following recruitment and selection, researchers made an initial visit to the child care program to obtain written consent. after completing the consent forms, teachers were asked to select two children in their classrooms who exhibited challenging behaviors per the definition used in this study. parents of the children identified signed consent forms for participation in the study. after receiving parental consent, researchers used the tpot to conduct initial evaluations of teachers. following pre-baseline and baseline, coaching sessions were conducted and videotaped within the program in a separate room for 6-13 sessions; each participant varied in amount of coaching session needed. performance feedback was provided during the coaching sessions and in weekly emails sessions and were sent to each teacher between 6-13 sessions. data were collected through assessment observations, which were implemented within each of the three teachers’ classrooms by the second researcher. pre-baseline. during the first week, both researchers conducted a 2-hour full tpot pretest on each teacher, which involved using and scoring the entire instrument. observations took place during each teacher’s scheduled daily activities. for the full tpot pretest, each teacher was observed for approximately 2 hours during a range of classroom routines, including large and small group activities, center activities, and transitions between activities. baseline. three tpot items of concern were identified based on low scores; the second researcher began conducting assessment observations in the classroom two days per week focusing on these low scoring items for 3-9 sessions. observations were scheduled for each teacher based on individual class schedules and took place in each teacher’s classroom for up to 2 hours per observation. during baseline, teachers did not receive any coaching or performance feedback. the second researcher collected baseline data on the indicators connected with the three low scoring items or items of concern. baseline data were collected for each teacher by using the individualized tpot to observe the three targeted items, and assessment observations lasted up to 2 hours and involved a variety of classroom activities (e.g., circle time, free play time) and occurred two days per week. the individualized tpot meant that only the three items of concern and the associated indicators for that item were scored. researchers had initially planned to provide coaching on all three items of concern, but time constraints and teachers’ schedules limited the implementation of the intervention to one of the three items. thus, at the beginning of multicomponent professional development 57 the intervention phase, each teacher was asked to choose one item of focus on which he or she would like to receive coaching and performance feedback. the chosen item then became the focus of intervention. for example, mary had low scores for item 5, teaching children behavior expectations, item 7, teaching social and emotional competencies, and item 12, supporting friendship skills. mary chose to focus on item 7, teaching social and emotional competencies, as her target area of focus. this choice was individual for each teacher but was based on what the teacher felt their children needed and what they felt was most beneficial for their individual classrooms and their own professional development needs. for the items chosen, there were indicators that were to be addressed to score the item appropriately. item 5, teaching children behavior expectations (tbe), had seven indicators that were to be scored yes or no during the observation. for example, the first indicator, tbe1: teacher has posted behavior expectations or rules that are positively stated, include a visual, and are limited in number (less than five per major activity), had to be visually seen in the teacher’s room during the observation in order for the item to be scored a yes. each teacher needed to have at least three stable baseline data points on the targeted item, based on the tpot scores, before moving to the intervention phase. intervention. the intervention in this study involved coaching and performance feedback. each teacher entered the intervention phase at a staggered rate with a total of 6-13 sessions for all three teachers (e.g., john received 6 sessions, sharon received 11 sessions, mary received 13 sessions). the primary researcher was responsible for all intervention sessions and served as the coach; these sessions occurred twice per week for each teacher. over the course of the week, each teacher engaged in an initial planning session (20-30 minutes), observations (6090 minutes), coaching (occurred during observations), and performance feedback (30 minutes). the coaching model used involved action planning, feedback, and building new skills (hemmeter et al., 2014; lentini & fox, 2008). for example, the primary researcher (e.g., coach) opened the initial planning meeting by checking in with the teacher about progress during the previous week and reviewed the teacher’s professional development plan which included what was going well in the classroom, what was most challenging, and what was to be worked on for the week with regards to the targeted item on the tpot. the coach then provided supportive feedback by presenting teacher data based on classroom observation and highlighting areas of strength and progression of goals, this was then followed by suggestive feedback where strategies were presented for increasing tpot scores and additional goals were discussed. to assist the teacher in reflecting on practices, active listening and open-ended questioning were used to discuss what happened during the observations (e.g., when you provided specific feedback to the child, what occurred afterwards?). both the coach and teacher discussed what action was to be taken, what materials/supports/resources would be needed, and the planned action steps that would lead to successful implementation of indicators associated with the targeted item. the initial planning meeting then ended with a recap of what had occurred and what is to take place for the week. focused observation would occur once per week and this involved the coach acting as observer and coach using the teachers’ individualized plan from the initial planning meetings. the coach provided feedback and engaged in modeling during this time as needed. at the conclusion of each week, the coach provided each teacher with additional performance feedback via email that followed similar steps as the face-to-face meeting. for instance, the coach began the email with opening comments that included general, positive statements of what occurred that week and followed those comments with supportive feedback of implemented practices that included teacher data and specific examples observed (i.e., you did 58 godfrey-hurrell, correa, & truesdell a great job of naming the child’s feelings and talking about ways to express those feelings. for example, you said…). in addition, the email included suggestive comments of ideas for improving implementation of practices and a review of planned actions followed by a closing statement of encouragement with plans to meet the following week where this process would repeat until the teacher reached criterion. data on the primary dependent variable were collected on the target area of focus during baseline and intervention phases, however researchers continued to collect data on all three low scoring items for each teacher to determine if a carry-over effect (e.g., generalization) would occur for uncoached items. the coach supported and provided instruction for each teacher by identifying goals and desired outcomes and by reviewing activities that would help the teacher reach those goals, as discussed above; these goals were recorded on a coaching log that documented the coaching process. the second researcher provided the primary researcher with scores on each of the three targeted items for each teacher. a 1-hr assessment observation and was conducted once a week. the data collection forms used included the three targeted items and researchers indicated whether the indicators within the identified items were observed (yes) or not observed (no) during each observation. a percentage of indicators scored yes were recorded and graphed for visual analysis. a target criterion level was set at 80% for each teacher for his/her target item of focus. each teacher had to meet the 80% criterion at least three consecutive observations during intervention to conclude that phase and move on to the maintenance phase. for example, sharon and john targeted item 5, teaching children behavior expectations, which had seven indicators that had to be observed and scored a yes 80% of the time for three consecutive observations. maintenance. the maintenance phase of this study occurred five weeks after the conclusion of the intervention phase for each teacher and varied dependent upon when the teacher finished the intervention phase. the primary researcher conducted a full tpot assessment lasting 2 hours with each teacher during each teacher’s scheduled daily activities. data were collected on all items. interobserver agreement interobserver agreement (ioa) was assessed on 30% of the data across the first three phases of the study (pre-baseline, baseline, and intervention). to prepare for observer reliability, both researchers attended a training workshop on the tpot, during which they watched videos and practiced scoring the tpot. both researchers successfully completed the workshop by reaching an 80% agreement level as determined by the workshop’s developers on the full instrument. during the pre-baseline and baseline phases of the study, the primary researcher rated each teacher’s skill level related to the three targeted items chosen from the tpot. ioa was determined by comparing the primary researcher’s overall score to the second researcher’s score. the formula used for this calculation was the number of agreements divided by the number of agreements plus disagreements times 100, which resulted in the percentage of agreement (kratochwill et al., 2010). the data indicated a mean of 85% and a range of 77% to 100% during the pre-baseline phase, a mean of 97% during baseline, and a mean of 92% during intervention. multicomponent professional development 59 treatment fidelity fidelity was collected for 30% of the coaching and performance feedback sessions that took place during the intervention phase. the second researcher used fidelity checklists and conducted observations of the first researcher and reviewed emails with performance feedback for 30% of the sessions. data showed a mean of 71% with a range of 36% 88% for the observations and a mean of 81% with a range of 75% to 87% for the email with performance feedback. researchers did meet to discuss the variability in the data and tried to come to a consensus on the coaching checklist steps and requirements, however the fidelity means were low and will be discussed within the limitations. social validity social validity was assessed to determine the extent to which the coaching and performance feedback was socially acceptable to the teachers included in the study. data collection took place at the conclusion of the study and involved the three teachers completing a four-item consumer satisfaction questionnaire on a 5-point likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). teachers were asked to rate perceptions on the social importance of the teaching pyramid model, social acceptance of the coaching and performance feedback, and social significance of their individual skill change. results research question 1 the visual results of the percentage of targeted tpot items correctly implemented and the other two identified items of concern for each teacher are shown in figure 1, while results on the mean and range for each targeted item are presented in table 2. these data indicated that the coaching intervention resulted in higher implementation of strategies connected with the one targeted item selected by each teacher. some change was also noted for each teacher in the other two items of concern that were not specifically targeted by the coaching intervention, indicating that the intervention generalized to the implementation of other classroom strategies. all teachers reached and surpassed the 80% criterion level and demonstrated improvement in their implementation of the strategies related to the targeted items. in addition to examining the immediacy of effect from baseline to intervention for teachers’ use of strategies, percent of nonoverlapping data (pnds; scruggs & mastropieri, 1998) were calculated. it is suggested (scruggs & mastropieri) that 90% of data points above baseline should be considered very effective, 70% to 90% above baseline to be effective, 50% to 70% above baseline to be questionable, and below 50% to be ineffective. pnds were calculated separately for each teacher between baseline and intervention by identifying the highest performance data point during baseline and counting all intervention performance data points that were higher than the highest baseline point and dividing that number by the total number of data points in intervention and multiplying by 100. 60 godfrey-hurrell, correa, & truesdell figure 1. percentage correct on each teacher’s implementation of tpot items. sessions mary sharon john intervention baseline maintenance pe r c en ta g e c o r r ec t o n t po t it em s multicomponent professional development 61 table 2 percentage of tpot practices implemented for targeted items targeted item participant baseline m (range) intervention m (range) teaching behavior expectations mary 0 0 sharon 0 52 (0-86) john 0 49 (0-86) teaching social and emotional competencies mary 0 51 (13-88) sharon 11 (0-13) 33 (13-38) john 12 (0-13) 35 (13-63) teaching friendship skills mary 0 24 (11-56) teaching problem solving sharon 11 16 (11-33) john 9 (0-11) 23 (11-44) mary. the baseline data for mary indicated that she was not implementing any of the strategies associated with the indicators for any of the three targeted items. all of her scores remained at 0% during the baseline phase; therefore, she was the first teacher to enter intervention. out of the three targeted items for mary (e.g., item 5: teaching children behavior expectations, item 7: teaching social skills and emotional competencies, and item 12: teaching friendship skills), mary chose to focus on item 7: teaching social skills and emotional competencies. she began receiving coaching and performance feedback, and her implementation of the skills associated with the targeted item moved steadily up to a mean of 51% with a range of 13% 88% and pnd of 100% since all data points in intervention were above those in baseline thus indicating a strong intervention effect. the mean was calculated by adding together the overall scores of all observations during each phase and then dividing that number by the total number. although mary was not specifically coached on how to teach friendship skills, her implementation of that item, item 12: teaching friendship skills, showed slight improvement, reaching a mean of 20% with a range of 0% to 56% (see table 2) and a pnd of 100%. the third item, item 5: teaching children behavior expectations, remained the same at 0% and a pnd of 0%. mary’s maintenance data showed 0% for item 5: teaching children behavior expectations, 38% for item 7: teaching social skills and emotional competencies, and 90% for item 12: teaching friendship skills. these data showed a decrease in the target item but an increase in one of the uncoached items, item 12: teaching friendship skills. sharon. during baseline, the data indicated that sharon was not fully implementing any strategies related to her identified three items, item 5: teaching children behavior expectations (0%), item 7: teaching social skills and emotional competencies (13%), and item 11: teaching friendship skills (11%). she had stable baseline scores and was the second teacher to enter intervention. before entering intervention, she was presented with the three items of 62 godfrey-hurrell, correa, & truesdell concern and she chose to focus on item 5: teaching children behavior expectations. the coaching and performance feedback she received focused initially on encouraging her to choose five or fewer rules and then post a visual representation of those rules in the classroom, which is required as a prerequisite for any other indicators under that particular item to be scored “yes.” when she completed and posted the visual display of data, her scores improved significantly, moving from 0% to 57% from one assessment observation to the next, giving her a mean score of 48% with a range of 0% to 86% (see table 2); however her pnd was 63% reflecting a questionable or small effect. she also demonstrated improvement in the other two areas of concern that were not addressed in intervention, reaching a mean of 33% with a range of 13% — 38% for item 7: teaching social skills and emotional competencies and a pnd of 72% (effective), and a mean of 21% with a range of 11% —33% for item 11: friendship skills and a pnd of 27% thus indicating a small effect. maintenance data for sharon showed 86% for item 5, 50% for item 7, and 67% for item 11. john. john’s three targeted items of concern consisted of, item 5: teaching children behavior expectations, item 7: teaching social skills and emotional competencies, and item 11: teaching problem solving. during the baseline phase, john’s scores on the individualized tpot showed the most variance. although his scores for item 5 remained steady at 0%, a range of baseline scores were noted for items 7 and 11. baseline scores for john indicated a mean of 13% with a range of 0% to 25% for item 7: teaching social skills and emotional competencies and a mean of 9% with a range of 0% to 11% for item 11: teaching problem solving (see table 2). because of the unstable scores, john was the last teacher to enter the intervention phase. when he was presented with the three items of focus, he chose to work on item 5: teaching behavior expectations. as explained above, a visual representation of the rules was needed before any of the indicators on the tpot could be marked as “yes”. john’s scores moved from 0% to 71% within one observation after posting the rules; total intervention data showed a mean of 49% with a range of 0% to 86% for his target item and a pnd of 66%. he immediately was able to identify the rules he wanted to use because he was already talking about them with the children. the coaching and performance feedback john received also positively affected his use of non-targeted strategies associated with item 7: teaching social skills and emotional competencies, resulting in a mean score of 35% with a range of 13% to 63% and a pnd of 66%. the strategies connected with item 11: teaching problem solving, resulted in a mean of 23% and a range of 11% to 44% and a pnd of 33%. maintenance data for john showed 100% for both items 5 and 7 and 89% for item 11. these data demonstrated an increase in skill for the targeted item and both uncoached items. in addition to targeted tpot items, data was also taken to identify any carryover effect on other tpot items not targeted. all teachers increased in their full tpot scores with 13 or less coaching sessions from pre-baseline to maintenance. mary’s data for the preoverall tpot score (see table 3) during pre-baseline was 40% and the post overall tpot score was 65%; which showed a 15% increase over the course of the study. sharon demonstrated that she was able to maintain skills learned and showed increased carry over with the two uncoached target items. additionally, sharon’s preand postoverall tpot score showed a 21% increase from the pre-baseline score of 58% to the post-tpot score of 79% (see table 3). further, john showed a 17% increase from his pre-baseline overall tpot score of 60% to 87% at post overall tpot score (see table 3). multicomponent professional development 63 table 3 pretest posttest scores on full tpot participant pretest score posttest score 1 40% 65% 2 58% 79% 3 60% 87% research question 2 data for children were measured through a preand post-test of the asq-se. each teacher was given the corresponding questionnaire to fill out on the targeted children at the beginning of the study and again after the study had completed. data showed that four of the six children displayed less challenging behaviors post intervention while two children showed an increase in behavioral issues (see table 1). three different asq-se forms were used to correspond with the age of each target child. most showed a decrease in challenging behavior (see table 1) with some variability with child a and child e. child a (32 months) scored a 15 at baseline and a 45 at post intervention, a 30% increase in behaviors while child b’s post intervention score showed 35% less challenging behaviors. child c showed 20% less, child d was scored as having 15% less challenging behaviors, however child e (53 months) scored a 40 at baseline and a 60 at post intervention, a 20% increase. child f score resulted in 15% less challenging behaviors. research question 3 results from the social validity questionnaire showed that all (100%) teachers found the teaching pyramid model to be helpful with 66% reporting that they strongly agreed that coaching and performance feedback was beneficial to implementation of strategies in the classroom. further, 100% of teachers marked that they disagreed or strongly disagreed that they would have been able to implement the teaching pyramid model easily without coaching and performance feedback support. one teacher wrote, “working with the coaching project has helped me look at what children need individually on an emotional and social level so they can communicate independently with their peers around them”. discussion the results of this study demonstrate that the coaching plus performance feedback used with teachers led to higher levels of implementation of strategies associated with the targeted tpot item. it should be noted that the universal practices outlined in the teaching pyramid model— those related to building positive relationships and structuring supportive environments—were not identified as areas of concern. instead, the targeted items fell under the third tier, which covers the explicit teaching of social and emotional skills (hemmeter et al., 2014). the teachers thus demonstrated a fundamental understanding of the strategies associated with the model at the 64 godfrey-hurrell, correa, & truesdell beginning of the study. perhaps this was due to the previous training all had received with the teaching pyramid model. once the item of concern was identified and the teachers entered the baseline phase of the study, they demonstrated low scores related to the targeted items; many of the scores were recorded as 0%. at the end of the intervention phase, all teachers reached a score of at least 80% for the targeted items that they chose and in some cases the intervention seemed to influence the generalization of uncoached items as well. it would seem that the coaching intervention was the stimulus for the changes. however, when examining the effect size (e.g., pnds) of the current study results are varied and should be interpreted with caution. to increase effect size, it may be beneficial to extend the amount of time in intervention to further examine the impact of the intervention on teacher behavior. the current study attempted to replicate and extend the findings of a previous study in which three early childhood special education teachers received coaching in strategies related to all tiers of the teaching pyramid model (fox et al., 2011). although the current study only addressed a small portion of the strategies connected with the model, it adds to the literature by focusing on teachers within a child care program versus an early childhood special education public school setting and using effect size to demonstrate intervention strength. researchers applied the principles of both the teaching pyramid model and the particular coaching model used in the previous study to a different population of teachers, including three africanamericans with associate degree level training in early childhood education. previous studies have targeted teachers with bachelor’s and/or master’s level degrees with special training in special education. in addition, the teaching pyramid model strategies were applied to a group of 2-year-olds in one of the teacher’s classrooms (e.g., sharon), which was an age group not addressed by fox et al. (2011). based on the teacher’s performance, it would seem that the strategies can be applied to teachers serving children as young as 2 years of age. even though the child outcome data were variable, improvements were seen for four of the six children. this finding supports the fact that providing coaching and performance feedback to teachers is associated with increased teacher skill and knowledge of practices in the classroom, thus affecting child outcomes. limitations the study was affected by varied limitations. first, for much of the study, outside of the prebaseline phase, the tpot was altered to focus on only three particular items. the full tpot covers a total of 31 items; the researchers were trained to implement and score the instrument as a comprehensive instrument and changing its application may have affected its internal validity. both researchers were also closely involved in the study as coach and observer, and both researchers were invested in its results. however, the ioa data indicated good reliability therefore providing some assurance of internal validity. second, the asq-se is a questionnaire that is typically filled out by the child’s teacher and parent, however in this study only the teacher filled out the asq-se so scores may not have been a full representation of the child’s social and emotional development and behavior and since teachers did provide the scoring, it may have impacted the reliability. it is suggested that additional measures and observation be used to determine each child’s trajectory and that information should be gathered from multiple sources. multicomponent professional development 65 finally, the treatment fidelity means for the coaching and performance feedback were low. the checklist for coaching and performance feedback provided steps that the primary researcher who served as the coach was to follow, however there were several occasions where the coach took the lead of the teacher and found it difficult to keep to the exact steps. for example, sharon had some difficulty making decisions and the coach had to continually prompt her and provide leading questions to create goals, thus diverting from the coaching steps. providing coaching can be a dynamic process and in this case called for changes in the procedures to assure the teacher was receiving needed supports specific to his/her needs. implications for future research the findings of this study can be extended in multiple ways. first, future research should consider expanding the coaching intervention over a longer period of time which would allow for more targeted items on the tpot and could possibly increase effect size and reliability of the intervention. if resources allow, the majority of the school year should be devoted to multiple targeted tpot items for teachers across phases outlined in the multi probe design. it is suggested that more time be given to appropriately train teachers on all tiers of the teaching pyramid model (e.g., universal promotion, secondary prevention, and tertiary intervention), provide coaching supports, and extend the maintenance phase to include multiple observations to assure long term implementation, or sustainability, of strategies specific to children and teachers’ needs. it is also suggested that the teaching pyramid model be implemented in accordance to what is developmentally appropriate for the group of children being served; some methods may not be suitable for children under 2 years of age. secondly, children’s gains on multiple pretest and posttest outcomes should also be included. child assessment data should be collected through multiple sources (e.g., repeated observations of child’s behavior in the classroom environment) to verify the impact the teacher intervention has on the presence of challenging behaviors and/or social and emotional issues in children. it may even be beneficial to include parent report on children’s behavior as part of the data collection and social validity. having a comprehensive view of a child’s behavior may provide the coach and the teacher with ample sources of information to thoroughly understand the dynamic needs of the children being served. finally, the current study’s main strength was its focus on a diverse early childhood teacher population: african-american teachers within a private faith-based community-based child care program that served primarily white, middle-class toddlers and preschoolers with varying levels of education and training in early childhood. future research could investigate the impact teachers’ level of education and work settings have on meeting the needs of young children at high risk for having challenging behaviors and children who may be identified as having disabilities. the findings of this study demonstrated that teachers benefit from the individualized coaching model outlined above. the data also indicated that the coaching model could be applied to a different population of teachers and varied ages of children, with positive results. the study utilized a coaching and performance feedback intervention on one of the items of the tpot and participants showed improvements in their implementation of the strategies associated with that segment of the teaching pyramid model. further research can build on these outcomes by expanding the length of the study and by keeping the focus on teachers within child care settings. 66 godfrey-hurrell, correa, & truesdell references american academy of pediatrics [aap] council on early childhood, aap committee on psychosocial aspects of child and family health, aap section on developmental and behavioral pediatrics. (2016). addressing early childhood emotional and behavioral problems. pediatrics, 138(6), 1-7. retrieved from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2016/11/17/peds.2016-3025 brown, w. h., & conroy, m. a. (2011). social-emotional competence in young children with developmental delays: our reflection and vision for the future. journal of early intervention, 33, 310-320. doi:10.1177/1053815111429969 child care aware ® of america. (2015). 114th & 115th congress, 2016-2017 public policy agenda. retrieved from http://usa.childcareaware.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/finalccaoa-2016-2017-policy-agenda.pdf cooper, j. l., masi, r., & vick, j. (2009). social-emotional development in early childhood: what every policymaker should know. national center for children in poverty. retrieved from www.nccp.org/publications/pdf/text_882.pdf fantuzzo, j., bultosky-shearer, r., mcdermott, p. a., mcwayne, c., frye, d., & perlman, s. (2007). investigations of dimensions of social-emotional classroom behavior and school readiness for low-income urban preschool children. school psychology review, 36, 44-62. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.139 fox, l., dunlap, g., hemmeter, m. l., joseph, g., & strain, p. s. (2003). the teaching pyramid: a model for supporting social competence and preventing challenging behavior in young children. young children, 58, 48-52. fox, l., hemmeter, m., snyder, p., binder, d. p., & clarke, s. (2011). coaching early childhood special educators to implement a comprehensive model for promoting young children’s social competence. topics in early childhood special education, 31, 178-192. doi:10.1177/0271121411404440 fox, l., & smith, b. 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(1998). summarizing single subject research: issues and applications. behavior modification, 22, 221-242. doi:10.1177/01454455980223001 smith, b., & fox, l. (2003). systems of service delivery: a synthesis of evidence relevant to young children at risk of or who have challenging behavior. tampa, fl: center for evidence-based practice: young children with challenging behavior, university of south florida. squires, j., bricker, d., & twombly, e. (2002). ages & stages questionnaires: social-motional, a parentcompleted, child-monitoring system for social-emotional behaviors. baltimore, md: paul h. brookes. dear nhsa dialog readers, summer 2020 after a brief hiatus, i appreciate the opportunity to return as co-editor of the nhsa dialog journal with dr. rebecca shore. rebecca and i began our careers in higher education together and continue to remain close colleagues and friends, so i am thrilled to co-edit the journal with her. however, i would be remise if i did not acknowledge and thank dr. rich lambert – years ago as editor he stepped forward to save this journal and offered me an associate editor position, an amazing opportunity for someone early in her academic career, and to which i am very thankful. it is good to be back! our world has changed so much since the last issue. as we all learn to navigate a new way of life via social distancing, working remotely from home, zoom calls with family, friends and colleagues, and behind a mask to get the weekly groceries – i cannot help but think of all the early childhood educators out there facing this pandemic straight on. how can our world continue to prosper and support the individuals who are essential to the health, safety, care, and economic survival of all of us without someone willing to step forward and care for the youngest of our population? we all are facing so much uncertainty right now but for our world to continue we need these selfless individuals that support all of us. covid-19 has forever changed how we care and educate these young children. so, until a vaccine or cure is available, we need to rethink how we do what we do. it has impacted how we: operate child care programs; support and educate pre/in-service early childhood professionals; conduct our early childhood research. as states begin to lift stay-at-home restrictions and as information on the virus is updated, these child care professionals will need to pivot and adjust to a new set of protocols to keep themselves and children safe, in addition to providing care and experiences they know are best for young children’s growth and development. because of what they do, we have dedicated this issue to all of the child care heroes out there, who continue to care for our youngest population. thank you! in this issue you will find two research articles, along with their research-to-practice summary. the first article, implementing systemic informal assessment in early education settings by classen, kang, and cheatham investigates early educators’ current practices, knowledge, beliefs and training for informal assessments methods. although systematic informal assessments should be used to inform the early educator in making instructional decisions, the findings in the study demonstrate that head start teachers used fewer informal assessments compared to teachers in other child care settings and that anecdotal notes and event/frequency were the most popular. research continues to demonstrate that an educator “buy-in” is related to the quality and frequency of using informal assessments. the second article, teacher’s beliefs regarding dual language learners (dll) in head start by ramírez, cycyk, scarpino, lópez, and hammer examines head start teachers’ beliefs towards dlls and determines if their belief is supported by what current research tells us is best practice for a child’s dll development. in this study, six major themes emerged: definition of dll, value of dll home language and culture, ease of learning english, primary classroom language, home language use in the classroom, language difference vs language delay vs language disorder. the implications of these findings is further addressed in the research-to-practice summary providing recommendations on professional development and training that can enhance educational experiences for children from dll backgrounds. we hope you enjoy this issue and share it with your fellow researchers and educators. please feel free to send any comments or thoughts to me at shuepl@appstate.edu or dr. rebecca shore at rshore6@uncc.edu. thank you to the heroes out there! stay well and safe! sincerely, pamela l. shue, ed.d. shuepl@appstate.edu mailto:shuepl@appstate.edu mailto:rshore6@uncc.edu mailto:shuepl@appstate.edu nhsa dialog, 25(2), copyright © 2022, issn: 1930-9325 screening for adverse childhood experiences (aces) before age 3: evidence for the family map inventory leanne whiteside-mansell lorraine mckelvey kanna lewis rubie peters university of arkansas for medical sciences this study examined a web-based assessment of adverse childhood experiences (efmi-ace) of children birth to 3 years-of-age using the family map inventory (fmi-ace) conducted by early childhood education (ece) program staff. the paper version of fmi-ace (pfmi-ace) is a validated tool to screen aces among children birth to 5 years-of-age enrolled in home visiting programs. in this study, parents of children (n=1,591) enrolled in early head start (ehs) between august 2018 and july 2020 were interviewed using the electronically formatted family map inventory (fmi). the ehs providers interviewed parents through the fmi online system as part of their program family assessments. analyses mirrored the pfmi-ace validation study to confirm the fidelity of electric assessment of the fmi-ace (efmi-ace). further analyses examined the change in the efmi-ace responses in programs that interviewed families twice during ehs program participation. the efmi-ace score, like the validation study, was negatively associated with parental warmth and had a similar distribution. after a minimum 90 days of ehs services (m = 186, sd = 60; range 91-448), efmi-ace scores were statistically significantly reduced. the family-friendly screen for risk of aces functions similarly in electronic and paper administration and for children birth to 3 years-of-age. it showed small but statistically significant reductions after ehs services. keywords: adverse childhood experiences (aces), early childhood education, screening research article 24 whiteside-mansell et al. introduction engaging and supporting parents as key nurturers of children is a hallmark objective of early head start (ehs) and other high quality childhood education programs (u.s. department of health and human services, 2018, 2022). in particular, two-generation programs like ehs are tasked with supporting children’s optimal development directly, through educational programming, and indirectly, through collaboration with parents (or other caregivers). ehs programs are mandated to support parents in efforts to reduce child risks of poor development through partnership with parent in the use of educational services, supportive interventions, and referrals to community services. to be successful in this goal, educators require supportive training on developing partnerships with families and tools to systematically and accurately assess the environment while building a productive, goal directed relationship with the parent (u.s. department of health and human services, 2018, 2022). our growing understanding of the widespread negative impacts of adverse childhood experiences (aces) on children’s development highlights the import of interventions that support the parenting environment (centers for disease control and prevention, 2019; shonkoff et al., 2012). an array of studies has demonstrated that early experiences are consistently associated with adult emotional, social and health outcomes. these range from concurrent disruptions in development in early childhood to early adolescent behavior concerns to serious illness in adulthood such as cancer, diseases of the heart, lungs, and liver (american academy of pediatrics, 2014; chanlongbutra, singh, & mueller, 2018; gilgoff, singh, koita, gentile, & marques, 2020; hunt, slack, & berger; jimenez et al., 2017; mckelvey et al., 2015; mckelvey, edge, mesman, whiteside-mansell, & bradley, 2018; mckelvey, edge, fitzgerald, kraleti, & whiteside-mansell, 2017; mckelvey, whiteside-mansell, mckelvey, saccente, & selig, 2019). even though these studies underscore the need for screening and provisions for early intervention, there is a lack of consensus on the best method for concurrent screening during childhood. in particular in the context of building a collaborative partnership with parents, the choice of a screening tool is difficult. specific indicators of aces vary but are generally reports of traumatic events experienced in childhood, including direct experiences of maltreatment, for example, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse/neglect. indicators also includes parent/family characteristics associated with less optimal parenting such as incarceration of a family member, domestic violence, mental illness (shonkoff et al., 2012). the 1998 seminal study of adults reporting retrospectively identified 10 key indicators of aces (felitti et al., 1998). in this seminal work, the assessment of aces was a self-report assessment from adults reflecting on their childhood before age 18 (stevens, 2012). studies of the exposure to individual adverse experiences as well as the cumulative effect of the number of experiences (i.e. sum of indicators) has consistently indicated increased risk of poor outcomes as the number of adverse experienced increases (anda et al., 2006; brown et al., 2009). the tool used in the felitti et al study (kaiser-aces), is direct in the presentation of items used to assess abuse and neglect and has been excluded in some cases from research studies for that reason (health resources and services administration, 2015). the selection of a screening tool should depend on the expected use of the information (bethell et al., 2017). most are reworded versions of the kaiser-ace tool (burke, hellman, scott, weems, & carrion, 2011) or leave out the potential offensive constructs of neglect or abuse (bethell, screening for aces before age 3 25 newacheck, hawes, & halfon, 2014). the california department of health care services (dhcs) has adopted a screening tool for the pediatric setting. the goal of the s pediatric screen is so that ‘providers can better determine the likelihood a patient is at increased health risk due to a toxic stress response’ (“trauma informed care,” 2021). the dhcs uses pearls, the pediatric aces and related life-events screener (state of california department of health care services, 2022; thakur et al., 2020; “trauma informed care,” 2021). the pearls, like many ace screening tools, is based on the kaiser-aces tool reworded for the young child as the target of the screen. it has shown to be useful in the pediatric and research context (bethell et al., 2017). however, when the intent is to provide support or intervention on specific parenting or home environmental risk for adverse experiences and is reported by parents in face-to-face interviews with educators in child education programs, screeners like the pearls and kaiser-ace may be inconsistent with the goals of supportive collaboration. an important challenge is that the parent will most often the key informant and is likely reluctant to admit the existence of illegal or stigmatized behavior, such as child maltreatment, and drug use or abuse (mckelvey, selig, & whiteside-mansell, 2017). further, affirmative responses to questions about these exposures may require child welfare reporting. finally, the direct questions used for adults may disrupt rapport building with the child’s caregiver, making the link to resources or intervention difficult. the fmi system takes a different approach. the fmi-aces are proxies for the constructs identified (kaiser-ace) in adult retrospective reporting (anda et al., 2006; mckelvey, conners edge, et al., 2017; mckelvey et al., 2016) but appropriate for preschool children. for example, the fmi asks if the parent spanks with objects, rather than asking about confirmed physical abuse. the fmi is family-friendly and was developed in collaboration with ehs parents, educators and administrators to strengthen parent-provider relationships (whiteside-mansell, et al., 2013; whiteside-mansell, et al., 2007). the fmi implementation includes training in the use of the tool to enhance the parent-educator partnership. aces assessed using the family map inventory (fmiace) have been shown to be associated with concurrent parenting attitudes and behavior (mckelvey, whiteside-mansell, conners-burrow, swindle, & fitzgerald, 2016) and early physical and behavioral health indicators (mckelvey, conners edge, fitzgerald, kraleti, & whiteside-mansell, 2017). like the kaiser-ace, these validation studies indicate that reduction in the number of fmi-aces is associated with less developmental concerns for children. however, previous validation studies were conducted based on data from home visitor interviews with families and used a paper and pencil version of the tool. since the examination by mckelvey and colleagues (mckelvey, conners edge, et al., 2017; mckelvey et al., 2016), the fmi transitioned from a paper to an online educator-parent interview portal (efmi). like other electronic systems, efmi allows for easy access to information for educators, detailed reports of the interview that guide the ehs staff toward productive intervention efforts, document progress toward family goals, and make administrative supervision easier. on the other hand, similar to the concern for disruption of communication between medical provider and patient with the introduction of the use of electronic medical records (emr), there is a concern that the transition to an electronic system will disrupt the parent-educator partnership (alcocer alkureishi et al., 2016). the advantage of addressing potential aces as early as possible is obvious in the protection to children. further, addressing exposure to aces is in line with ehs goals. for example, ehs 26 whiteside-mansell et al. programs have goals related to supporting parents with depressive symptoms to receive treatment. in addition, while treatment is sought, ehs programs support parents during depressive episodes to protect children from the inconsistent parenting typically seen during depression. with these services focused on environmental conditions, children should see a reduction in the number of exposures. we had two goals in this study. first, we aimed to validate the fmi-ace captured through the electric system (efmi-ace) in the ehs context. to achieve this goal, we analyzed the association between efmi-ace and parental warmth, mirroring the validation study of the original paper version fmi-ace (pfmi-ace) used in home visiting programs (mckelvey, conners edge, et al., 2017; mckelvey et al., 2016). preliminary support for the validity for the electronic version has been conduct in older preschool children. in a study of families with children 3 to 5 years of age, the number of aces recorded through efmi-ace showed a distribution similar to those recorded through kaiser-ace (whiteside-mansell et al., 2019). our second goal was to produce evidence that ehs programs are using the fmi effectively as an intervention tool. the fmi is designed so that educators using the fmi electronic system correctly will focus on support to families related to the constructs including in the fmi-ace and reduce the number of exposures for children. we examined the change in the number of aces reported by families whose children are enrolled in ehs programs recorded through efmi-ace. we hypothesize that on average, ehs enrolled children whose educators use efmi-ace experienced a reduction in the number of aces. methods this study examined data extracted from the web-based efmi assessment system for nine agencies funded to provide ehs services. baseline records were included from agencies in seven states (n = 1,591): ar (n = 365), az (n = 549), de (n = 221), ky (n = 34), md (n = 35), nj (n = 112), and tx (n = 275); each contributing one interview per child between august 2018 and july 2020. for longitudinal analyses, a subset of three programs (n = 301, ar, az, and de) contributed a second interview. interviews were conducted by ehs providers. the study was approved by the university of arkansas for medical science human subjects office. a description of the participants is shown in table 1. children ranged in age from birth to 34 months (m = 16.3, sd = 8.4 months), 48% were male, and 65% were non-hispanic white. most caregivers had at least a ged (72%). the days between interviews were restricted to assure that at least 3 months had passed (range 91-448 days, m = 186 days, sd = 60 days). screening for aces before age 3 27 table 1 description and comparison of participants by analysis characteristics all baseline n = 1,591 fmi-ace and warmth scores a n = 740 paired interview b n = 301 interview 1 interview 2 child demographics male 47.6% 47.9% 47.5% child age in month mean (sd) a b 21.41 (10.51) 19.88 (10.39) 16.40 (8.34) 22.12 (8.35) racea b white american indian asian black native hawaiian/pacific other/multiple 48.59% 1.26% 0.75% 26.59% 0.38% 12.32% 47.97% 1.08% 0.41% 23.51% 0.27% 15.67% 44.85% 1.99% 0.33% 26.91% 0.33% 16.61% hispanic a b 49.10% 45.00% 55.15% caregiver demographics biological mother b 92.14% 92.84% 94.68% caregiver age in years mean (sd) 30.33 (7.78) 29.07 (6.30) 29.19 (6.26) 30.12 (6.10) education status b no high school degree ged high school degree votech, license some college college degree 17.54% 5.15% 33.75% 10.94% 21.25% 9.93% 18.78% 6.22% 31.35% 11.89% 20.68% 9.87% 27.58% 3.99% 28.24% 10.96% 18.94% 9.64% 24.59% 4.98% 28.57% 12.29% 16.61% 10.96% employment a b unemployed part-time (<30 hrs) full-time (>30 hrs) 36.20% 21.81% 39.93% 43.92% 20.17% 34.47% 46.84% 18.27% 33.55% 40.53% 20.92% 37.21% home characteristics number of children mean (sd)a 1.69 (1.39) 1.74 (1.39) 1.74 (1.43) 1.72 (1.38) number of adults mean (sd)a 1.04 (0.98) 1.10 (1.03) 0.96 (0.87) 0.88 (0.84) partner in the home a b 27.20% 53.92% 54.49% 52.49% note: 43 were missing sufficient information to compute baseline ace score, 825 were missing ace or parental warmth score at baseline a significant (p < 0.05) 2 or mean (t-test) difference in the values between those who are not missing ace scores and parental warmth at baseline and those who are missing either of them or both. b significant (p < 0.05) 2 or mean (t-test) difference in the values between those at baseline and those in the paired interview analysis. 28 whiteside-mansell et al. measures the family map inventory (fmi) screen for risks in the home and parenting environment for children from prenatal to age 5 (whiteside-mansell, et al., 2013; whiteside-mansell et al., 2007). the fmi is a research-based system that includes a structured and semi-structured interview, coded observations, and individualized reports of family needs and strengths. items used to assess aces (fmi-ace) are described in detail elsewhere (mckelvey, conners edge, et al., 2017; mckelvey et al., 2016). scores for items are yes (1) or no (0) indicating that the item was reported as an event in the family or child’s life. ace sum scores (e.g. efmi-ace score, pfmi-ace score, kaiser-ace score) were created as the number of aces identified through assessment of the specified method per participant. ace sum scores range from 0 to 10. parental warmth was assessed based on items from the piccolo parenting interactions with children: checklist of observations linked to outcomes (roggman, cook, innocenti, norman, & christiansen, 2009). eight items from the piccolo are embedded in the fmi. the observational tool was designed to measure affectionate touching, smiling, praising, and positive regard (e.g., touches child affectionately) on a 3-point scale (did not happen (0) to happen a lot (2). the 8 items had good reliability with = .90 and test-retest reliability was 80% (whiteside-mansell et al., 2007). parental warmth score is defined as the number of “at-risk” items (range: 0-8). additionally, a dichotomous variable indicating “emotional neglect risk” (yes/no), was defined as scoring “atrisk” on 5 of the 8 parental warmth items. statistical analyses to confirm the similar functioning of efmi-ace to the pfmi-ace, the distribution of the efmiace and pfmi-ace scores were compared. kaiser-ace score was also included in the comparison as a point of reference. furthermore, the association between the efmi-ace and parental warmth was assessed by testing the correlation between efmi-ace score and parental warmth score. multivariate analyses controlled for child gender, child age, child race/ethnicity, and caregiver education. to achieve our second goal and validate efmi-ace as an effective tool to be incorporated in an intervention to reduce the risk of aces, we examined the change in efmi-ace between the first and second interview. the sample for this analysis was limited to those whose second interview record was available. in accordance with our hypothesis, to evaluate the reduction in efmi-ace score over time, one-sided paired t-test was used (α=0.05). results as seen in table 1, of 1,591 assessments, 1,548 had sufficient data to compute fmi-ace scores. parental warmth was observed in 46.5% of assessments (i.e., required child present). compared to screening for aces before age 3 29 the full sample, the analytic subset with parental warmth data (n = 740) and paired follow-up data (n = 301) was demographically different; therefore, multivariate analyses included appropriate controls. as seen in figure 1, only 40% of children attending ehs (efmi-ace) experienced no potential adverse experiences. children participating in home visiting programs who are on average one year older (33 months compared to 21 month) were slightly more likely to experience at least one ace compared to the younger children attending ehs. finally, only 36% of adults who participated in the direct retrospective assessment reported no adverse experience as children. figure 1 comparison of percent of participants by number of family map inventory-ace scores by study abbreviation: efmi-ace = electric family map inventory-ace; pfmi-ace = paper family map inventory-ace; kaiser-ace= kaiser-ace. note: the bar chart compares the distribution of efmi-ace score, pfmi-ace score, and kaiser-ace score. each bar represents the percent of study population for each study. efmi-ace assessed a sample of children 21 months of age on average (n = 1,548) and pfmi assessed a sample of children 33 months of age on average (n = 1,282). kaiser-ace retrospectively assessed adults. a significant negative correlation r = -0.20 (p < .001) between efmi-ace and parental warmth was found. similar to mckelvey et al, a mixed-effect logistic regression, predicting emotional neglect risk (yes/no), demonstrated that with each additional efmi-ace score, the probability of 40% 30% 17% 6% 6% 32% 27% 18% 11% 12% 36% 26% 16% 10% 13% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% .00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 p ro p o rt io n o f p ar ti cp an ts number of aces efmi-ace pfmi-ace kaiser-ace 30 whiteside-mansell et al. having emotional neglect risk increased (mckelvey, conners edge, et al., 2017; mckelvey et al., 2016). for example, children in the highest efmi-ace score group (4+ aces) were had 16 times higher adjusted odds to experience emotional neglect (adjusted odds ratio [aor]=16.55, 95% confidence interval [ci]=3.18, 86.13) than those with no efmi-ace exposure. second, to examine the change in efmi-ace scores over time, a paired one-sided t-test found a significant reduction of 0.11 (95% ci=0.002, >999) with t(300) = 1.68 (p = 0.047) between time 1 (m = 1.12, sd =1.39) and time 2 (m = 1.00, sd = 1.34). this finding was also confirmed using non-normal test (z = -1.713, p = 0.04) with a relatively small effect size for the one-tailed test, r = 0.10. discussion for early childhood professionals, access to a family-friendly tool that supports the parent-educator partnership and provides an assessment of the child’s current exposure to adverse events is ideal. use of the fmi meets an array of program goals and ultimately supports two-generation services. the tool permits targeted individualization of services; providing opportunities to support the optimal parenting environment through education and resource referral and supportive services for children identified most at risk for poor developmental outcomes. based on the results of this study, the fmi in its electronic format used with parents/caregivers of children from birth to 3 years of age, functions similarly to the paper version. the rates of aces indicators were relatively consistent with what was demonstrated in earlier studies with slightly older age children using paper forms but with differences as expected. that is, the younger ehs children with less time to experiences adversity had fewer reported experiences than the preschoolers over 3 years. similar associations with validation constructs were also demonstrated and the efmi-ace, like the pfmi-ace, was associated with observed parenting behaviors. we also found support for the change over time of the fmi-ace score in the context of ehs programs. previous work has demonstrated that children in families with the highest levels of fmiaces were more likely to screen at risk for developmental delays, globally and specific to socialemotional development (mckelvey, conners edge, et al., 2017; mckelvey et al., 2016). while the change in aces across time in this sample was small, findings from a study of aces in another ehs sample indicate some evidence that reductions in aces experienced during infancy into toddlerhood does permit some developmental rebound, particularly in the cognitive and language domains (mckelvey, selig, et al., 2017). an important limitation in this study is the lack of a comparison group. without a comparison group, one cannot determine whether the reduction of scores would have happened outside the context of the ehs program nor the use of the fmi. while the use of the fmi broadly supports programming which could lead to improvements of the family and parenting environment, this study is limited in that ehs program services data are unavailable. program services data would permit an examination of resources and referrals provided to families. further, fmi follow up data were not available for families that did not remain in the program. screening for aces before age 3 31 this study suggests that the efmi-ace is an effective tool to identify and document early childcare program efforts to reduce children’s exposure to adverse events. further, it appears that the web-based data system did not disrupt the interview. the use of the system by multiple early childhood education programs across the u.s. suggests the system is both acceptable and feasible to implement. for ehs programs, the use of the electronic system has several advantages over the paper version including easy access by the ehs team to plan services, by administrators to review family progress and to provide aggregate summaries for all families in the program. each of these benefits could be instrumental in supporting the two-generation promise of the ehs program. references alcocer alkureishi, m., wei lee, w., lyons, m., press, v. g., imam, s., nkansah-amankra, a., … arora, v. m. 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(2022). screening tools | aces aware. retrieved february 5, 2022, from https://www.acesaware.org/learn-about-screening/screening-tools/# stevens, j. (2012). what aces/pces do you have? aces too high. retrieved february 5, 2022, from https://acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score/ thakur, n., hessler, d., koita, k., ye, m., benson, m., gilgoff, r., … burke harris, n. (2020). pediatrics adverse childhood experiences and related life events screener (pearls) and health in a safety-net practice. child abuse and neglect, 108, 104685. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104685 trauma informed care. (2021). retrieved february 11, 2022, from https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/provgovpart/pages/traumacare.aspx u.s. department of health and human services. (2018). head start parent, family, and community engagement framework 2nd edition. u.s. department of health and human services. (2022). family well-being: strategies to support family safety, health, and financial stability. whiteside-mansell, l., johnson, d., bokony, p., mckelvey, l., burrow, n., & swindle, t. (2013). using the family map: supporting family engagement with parents of infants and toddlers special issue on parent involvement and engagement in head start for dialog. the research-to-practice journal for the early childhood field, 16(1), 20–44. whiteside-mansell, l., mckelvey, l., saccente, j., & selig, j. p. (2019). adverse childhood experiences of urban and rural preschool children in poverty. international journal of environmental research and public health, 16(14). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142623 whiteside-mansell, leanne, bradley, r., conners, n., & bokony, p. (2007). the family map: structured family interview to identify risks and strengths in head start families. nhsa dialog, 10(3–4), 189–209. retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15240750701742239 nhsa dialog, 25(2), copyright © 2022, issn: 1930-9325 engaging families and addressing adverse childhood experiences in early head start lorraine m. mckelvey kanna n. lewis nicole edge leanne whiteside-mansell university of arkansas for medical sciences supporting parenting and home environments for children through collaborations with families is a critical function of early head start (ehs)/head start (hs) providers. building a strong partnership with caregivers allows educators to identify family strengths and identifying areas of concern in parenting and home environments, such as those linked to adverse childhood experiences (aces). family map inventory (fmi) is a tool used to screen for aces among children birth to 5 years-of-age while respecting the family needs. the effectiveness of fmi in its original paper format (p-fmi) has been validated. this study examined the validity of a new, web-based family map inventory (e-fmi) by (1) comparing the distribution of aces risks captured in e-fmi with the traditional p-fmi, and (2) investigating the association of aces captured through e-fmi and parental warmth. further, this study documented decreases in aces risks after center-based ehs services. keywords: early childhood education, adverse childhood experiences (aces), screening summary of literature adverse childhood experiences (aces) have been shown to have long-term negative consequences on children’s development as early as in infancy and early childhood; including developmental delays (bethell et al., 2014; mckelvey, conners edge, et al., 2017), and socialemotional behaviors (hunt et al., 2017; jimenez et al., 2016; kerker et al., 2015; mckelvey, selig, et al., 2017). further, the impact on educational experiences begins very early. using data from the national survey of children’s health, zeng and colleagues found that among 6,100 preschool age children, for each additional ace reported, there was an incremental increase in odds of suspension and expulsion from early childhood care and education programs (zeng et al., 2019). research to practice summary engaging families and addressing adversity 45 while care must be taken in the approach, best practice guidance on creating trauma-informed educational systems suggests that the ability to identify children and families with a history of trauma is important to support appropriate response (national child traumatic stress network & schools committee, 2017). as a result, there have been significant efforts to develop tools to screen for aces in families with young children and support interventions to reduce aces. to optimize the benefit of screening, instrument selection should be appropriate for the context in which they are used and for the expected intervention efforts that will be implemented based of the information gained (bethell et al., 2017). this study focused on a tool developed for programs working with families of children from birth of age 5, the family map inventory (fmi). the fmi allows early childcare educators and family support professionals to identify family needs and customize supportive services in partnership with parents (whiteside-mansell et al., 2007, 2013). the fmi includes items that measure aces (fmi-ace) that are appropriate for families with young children. for example, the fmi asks questions to determine if the parent engages in harsh parenting, rather than asking directly about whether the child has been physically abused. in response to the widespread acknowledgment of the importance of reducing aces, the fmi-aces was examined and validated for one-on-one interviews, using a paper format, with parents enrolled in arkansas home visiting programs (mckelvey et al., 2016). further, because the fmi was developed specifically to collaborate with parents, the interview is family-friendly and evidenced to enhance the parent-provider partnership (whiteside-mansell et al., 2013). the current study this study examined the use of the fmi with center-based early head start families when administered in one-on-one interviews using the electronic version. the electronic version offers several benefits over the paper version; it provides helpful prompts for actions that support identified concerns, including calculating the number of aces experienced by the child (ace score). however, it is unknown whether the electronic delivery of the fmi might disrupt the interaction between the provider and parent or the responses provided. for example, findings from studies of implementation of electronic health records suggest that when physicians spend more time facing the computer, their communication suffers and they are rated as being less patientcentered (street et al., 2014). thus, it cannot be assumed that paper and electronic systems function similarly. we had two goals for this study. first, we aimed to confirm the similar functioning of the fmiace captured through the electric system (efmi-ace) to the paper delivery (pfmi-ace) and validate the use of efmi-ace in the ehs context. our second goal was to produce evidence that ehs programs are using the fmi effectively as an intervention tool by examining whether ehs enrolled children whose educators use efmi-ace experience a reduction in the number of aces. we extracted fmi interview data from the online portal system used by ehs programs. this included nine agencies providing ehs services from seven states and resulted in a sample of 1,591 interviews of parents of children from birth to age 3 years. of these, 301 families had been interviewed twice at least nine months apart. 46 mckelvey et al. key findings we found that the distribution of the ace score for ehs children assessed through efmi-ace was similar to the distribution found in the previous study of families enrolled in home visiting interviewed using the pfmi-ace. in addition, the association between the ace scores and parental warmth was observed, which is also compatible to findings from the previous study. the association confirmed that the risk of the caregiver exhibiting emotional distance in interaction increased as the ace score increased. both findings supported the use of the fmi in electric format to assess aces. finally, families reported reduced ace scores after their child attended at least 3 months of ehs, compared to their initial ace scores. while this does not exclude the possibility that other factors such as the maturing of the child or the increased comfort of parenting as factors in the reduction of aces, it suggests that ehs experiences may have contributed to the reduction of these stressful experiences for children. implications for professional development early childhood education, like home visiting, have a mission to promote child development. developing a meaningful and productive partnership with families is a critical step in supporting optimal parenting and home environments. in this study, we examined one tool that supports programs in this effort, the fmi, in its new electric format. the fmi provides early childhood and family support professionals the opportunity to assess young children’s exposure to aces and to initiate interventions that either reduce the risk exposure or promote resilience. there are factors that programs should consider while addressing aces for children and families. aces include traumatic events in childhood, but it does not cover all of what we know negatively influences development (mcewen & gregerson, 2019). the fmi allows programs to measure not only aces but other potentially traumatic experiences such as deprivation related to poverty and homelessness. still, it is important to not overlook other experiences for which children and families may need additional support, such as experiences of racial injustice, discrimination, natural disasters, and other violence exposures. it is also important for the programs to be trauma-informed and sensitive to the needs of children and their families (zorrah, 2015). as such, all staff members should be trained to understand how trauma affects children and their families, recognize and respond to signs of trauma, and actively resist re-traumatization (substance abuse and mental health services administration, 2014). steps to building a trauma-informed approach typically involve staff education, supporting a culture of staff wellness, enhancing partnerships with families, ensuring that program policies and procedures (e.g. crisis response, discipline) consider the needs of children with experiences of trauma, and ensuring that cross system collaborations and community partnerships are in place to support children, staff and families (loomis & felt, 2020; menschner & maul, 2016; national child traumatic stress network & schools committee, 2017; substance abuse and mental health services administration, 2014). our data suggest that there is a benefit of ehs for reducing aces, still, identifying children with trauma should benefit the child and family by leading to more engaging families and addressing adversity 47 appropriate direct and indirect supports and referrals. in terms of indirect supports, infant and early childhood mental health consultation has shown to be effective in supporting teachers in working with children impacted by childhood trauma (perry & conners-burrow, 2016). other families may benefit from more direct support, such as a referral to a mental health treatment provider trained to support children and families impacted by trauma. it is also important to support the parents and family without judgment and to provide other appropriate educational and resource referrals (administration for children and families, 2020). additionally, in a trauma-informed approach, early childhood professionals are equipped to actively build resilience in children by providing the supportive and nurturing relationships essential for healthy child development and by focusing on teaching skills in children that will support their resilience. it is important for early childhood professionals to understand that behaviors that can result from early childhood trauma, like difficulties in learning and behavioral regulation, are behavioral symptoms and not intentional on the part of the child. in a traumainformed learning environment, educators teach and model social-emotional skills in the classroom to strengthen resilience (national child traumatic stress network & schools committee, 2017). they also take intentional steps to support self-regulation (e.g., building emotional literacy, teaching calm down methods). the development of these skills should also take place in environments designed to enhance children’s sense of physical and emotional safety so that they are able to relax and learn (e.g., ensuring safe physical environments, creating predictable routines, supporting children through transitions, ensuring adults are calm and composed). finally, many early childhood educators and family support professionals have experienced adversities and trauma in their lives (hubel et al., 2020), and some data would suggest at higher levels than the general population (phillips, 1997). just as we consider supports to children and their families, we must consider the well-being of the workforce to provide stable and nurturing services. the head start early childhood learning & knowledge center has additional resources to support staff well-being (promoting staff well-being | eclkc, n.d.). given the known long-term consequences of aces, the value of early intervention is apparent. early childhood educators are uniquely positioned to observe and assess both children and parents. head start and early head start program staff are perceived by parents with credibility as a key part of the community. this provides an ideal environment for conducting a family-friendly, interview-based aces screening to promote the provision of additional caregiver and child supports. references administration for children and families. (2020). the family partnership process: engaging and goal-setting with families. in administration for children & families. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/engaging-and-goal-setting-with-families.pdf bethell, c. d., carle, a., hudziak, j., gombojav, n., powers, k., wade, r., & braveman, p. (2017). methods to assess adverse childhood experiences of children and families: toward approaches to promote child well-being in policy and practice. in academic pediatrics (vol. 17, issue 7, pp. s51–s69). elsevier inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2017.04.161 48 mckelvey et al. bethell, c. d., newacheck, p., hawes, e., & halfon, n. (2014). adverse childhood experiences: assessing the impact on health and school engagement and the mitigating role of resilience. health affairs, 33(12), 2106–2115. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2014.0914 hubel, g. s., davies, f., goodrum, n. m., schmarder, k. m., schnake, k., & moreland, a. d. (2020). adverse childhood experiences among early care and education teachers: prevalence and associations with observed quality of classroom social and emotional climate. children and youth services review, 111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104877 hunt, t. k. a., slack, k. s., & berger, l. m. (2017). adverse childhood experiences and behavioral problems in middle childhood. child abuse and neglect, 67, 391–402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.11.005 jimenez, m. e., wade, r., lin, y., morrow, l. m., & reichman, n. e. (2016). adverse experiences in early childhood and kindergarten outcomes. pediatrics, 137(2), e20151839–e20151839. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.20151839 kerker, b. d., zhang, j., nadeem, e., stein, r. e. k., hurlburt, m. s., heneghan, a., landsverk, j., & mccue horwitz, s. (2015). adverse childhood experiences and mental health, chronic medical conditions, and development in young children. academic pediatrics, 15(5), 510–517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2015.05.005 loomis, a. m., & felt, f. (2020). knowledge, skills, and self-reflection: linking trauma training content to trauma-informed attitudes and stress in preschool teachers and staff. school mental health 2020 13:1, 13(1), 101–113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-020-09394-7 mcewen, c. a., & gregerson, s. f. (2019). a critical assessment of the adverse childhood experiences study at 20 years. american journal of preventive medicine, 56(6), 790–794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2018.10.016 mckelvey, l. m., conners edge, n. a., fitzgerald, s., kraleti, s., whiteside-mansell, l., edge, n. a. c., fitzgerald, s., kraleti, s., & whiteside-mansell, l. (2017). adverse childhood experiences: screening and health in children from birth to age 5. families, systems and health, 35(4), 420–429. https://doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000301 mckelvey, l. m., selig, j. p., & whiteside-mansell, l. (2017). foundations for screening adverse childhood experiences: exploring patterns of exposure through infancy and toddlerhood. child abuse and neglect, 70, 112–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.06.002 mckelvey, l. m., whiteside-mansell, l., conners-burrow, n. a., swindle, t. m., & fitzgerald, s. (2016). assessing adverse experiences from infancy through early childhood in home visiting programs. child abuse and neglect, 51(july), 295–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.09.008 menschner, c., & maul, a. (2016). key ingredients for successful trauma-informed care implementation. center for health strategies, inc. national child traumatic stress network, & schools committee. (2017). creating, supporting, and sustaining trauma-informed schools: a system framework. in the national child traumatic stress network. https://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/resources/creating_supporting_sustaining_trauma_informed_schoo ls_a_systems_framework.pdf perry, d. f., & conners-burrow, n. (2016). addressing early adversity through mental health consultation in early childhood settings. family relations, 65(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12172 phillips, p. (1997). a comparison of the reported early experiences of a group of student nurses with those of a group of people outside the helping professions. journal of advanced nursing, 25(2), 412–420. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.1997.1997025412.x promoting staff well-being | eclkc. (n.d.). retrieved august 14, 2022, from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/mentalhealth/article/promoting-staff-well-being street, r. l., liu, l., farber, n. j., chen, y., calvitti, a., zuest, d., gabuzda, m. t., bell, k., gray, b., rick, s., ashfaq, s., & agha, z. (2014). provider interaction with the electronic health record: the effects on patientcentered communication in medical encounters. patient education and counseling, 96(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2014.05.004 substance abuse and mental health services administration. (2014). samhsa’s concept of trauma and guidance for a trauma-informed approach. https://doi.org/hhs publication no. (sma) 14-4884 whiteside-mansell, l., bradley, r., conners, n., & bokony, p. (2007). the family map: structured family interview to identify risks and strengths in head start families. nhsa dialog, 10(3–4), 189–209. engaging families and addressing adversity 49 whiteside-mansell, l., johnson, d., bokony, p., mckelvey, l. m., conners-burrow, n., & swindle, t. m. (2013). supporting family engagement with parents of infants and toddlers. nhsa dialog, 16(1), 20–44. https://journals.uncc.edu/dialog/article/view/42 zeng, s., corr, c. p., o’grady, c., & guan, y. (2019). adverse childhood experiences and preschool suspension expulsion: a population study. child abuse and neglect, 97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104149 zorrah, q. (2015). near@home toolkit: a guided process to talk about trauma and resilience in home visiting. https://thrivewa.org/nearhome-toolkit-guided-process-talk-trauma-resilience-home-visiting/ nhsa dialog, 24(1), copyright © 2021, issn: 1930-9325 implementing i am moving, i am leaning in a head start program: strengths and challenges m. elizabeth miller and stephanie nicely miami university the i am moving, i am learning (imil) curriculum enhancement program has been adopted by many head start (hs) programs as a way to incorporate physical activity and movement into the curriculum. this study evaluated the implementation of the imil strategies within one head start program through the use of caregiver and teacher surveys, along with classroom observations that were conducted by trained hs nutrition specialists. this study presents barriers and facilitators to one hs program’s imil implementation and provides valuable insight into areas of future research and potential strategies to ensure imil program integration sustainability. keywords: obesity prevention, early childhood education, program evaluation, head start introduction obesity is a significant health concern among head start recipients, with 16.6% of children served by the program identified as obese (imoisili et al., 2020). the office of head start (hs) has recognized the need for the development and implementation of obesity prevention efforts throughout national hs programs. i am moving, i am learning (imil) was developed as one proactive approach to address childhood obesity in hs (finkelstein, et al., 2007). imil is a set of active learning strategies that are embedded within a program's existing school readiness curriculum. the main goals of imil are to increase the quantity of time a child spends in moderate to vigorous physical activity, improve the quality of a child’s structured movement experiences that are intentionally facilitated by teachers and caregivers, and improve a child’s healthy food and beverage choices (finkelstein et al., 2007). imil is often incorporated with a nutrition messaging program known as 5-2-1-0. the name 5-2-1-0 refers to consuming five or more daily servings of fruits and vegetables, limiting screen time to two hours per day, engaging in one or more hours of daily physical activity, and consuming zero sugary drinks (rogers & research to practice imil implementation strengths & challenges 79 motyka, 2009). imil and 5-2-1-0 are often used simultaneously to support the physical activity and nutritional health of preschoolers enrolled in the program, as well as provide consistent messaging to caregivers. imil implementation evaluations have been previously conducted by hs in region 3 (west virginia, virginia) and have primarily focused on the perceptions of teachers and other program implementers within hs (fox et al., 2010). no evaluation of imil implementation has been reported in other hs regions across the us. current study in order to better understand the needs and challenges in implementing imil in one hs program, this current study gathered feedback from teacher surveys, caregiver surveys, and nutrition specialist classroom observations. the research questions were: 1. to what extent are hs teachers utilizing materials, role-modeling physical activity, and providing nutrition messages? 2. what are the barriers and facilitators identified by teachers during the program implementation of imil? 3. to what extent are imil and 5-2-1-0 implemented in the home environment? teachers and caregivers of preschool students across the 13 sites (25 classrooms) in one hs program in the midwest participated in the study. all staff in the hs program received training on the imil strategies during the program’s fall semester, with plans to implement beginning the spring semester of the same academic year. post implementation evaluation occurred 6 months following the initial training, approximately 5 months into program implementation, in order to provide hs evaluation data prior to the end of the school year. data collected included structured observations, survey data, and responses to open-ended questions at the end of each caregiver/teacher survey. open-ended responses were analyzed and coded by two researchers. themes were generated from the codes (creswell & poth, 2016). all teachers in the program were asked to complete a 20-question survey. the survey asked about the implementation of the imil program/5-2-1-0 messaging in their classroom, including their perception of the program, barriers and facilitators to program implementation, and perceived student behavior change as a result of implementation. caregivers of enrolled students were also invited to participate in a 10-question survey to better understand their implementation of the healthy behaviors (from imil) at home and the readability of imil health messaging, including the 5-2-1-0 messages. to understand of the use of imil in the hs classrooms, two hs nutrition specialists conducted 25 classroom observations using a 9-item checklist to observe teacher and student engagement in imil activities, examine classroom use of 5-2-1-0 messaging, and evaluate teacher interaction with students during meal/snack times related to nutrition and healthy eating. 80 miller & nicely findings teachers forty-six teachers completed the survey. the majority of teachers either agreed or strongly agreed that they have an important influence on both the physical activity and food preferences of preschoolers in their classroom and serve as an important role model for healthy eating and physical activity. the majority of teachers reported that imil was important to them and recognized the benefits of the program on child health and development, with 85% of teachers reporting they had seen some/a lot of educational improvement, such as improved behavior, increases in child interests in nutrition and active play, and improved attention span, as a result of imil implementation. children seemed very favorable to the imil choosy character mascot, as evidenced by 97 % of teachers reporting an increase in preschoolers talking about and asking about the mascot. despite support for imil program implementation, forty-seven percent (47%) of teachers found some degree of challenge to incorporating imil into daily lesson plans. imil challenges theme #1: time. teachers expressed a desire for more time to intentionally embed imil curricular enhancements into school readiness curriculum. limited time available to incorporate imil activities into the daily classroom routine presented a challenge for effective daily program implementation. theme #2: resources/support. teachers identified the need for additional resources and support as a significant challenge. teachers discussed the supplies and materials needed to effectively implement the imil program, such as program materials, posters, videos and other tangible materials that reinforce program concepts. teachers cited the need for more choosy mascot dolls and music cds to better support classroom-based integration, especially as these resources appeared to better engage preschoolers into the programming. “support” represented the need for support from hs to develop a strategic plan for integrating imil into the current hs curriculum, with several teachers citing coaching or mentoring by trainers or other teachers who were effectively implementing the program. theme #3: caregiver engagement. teachers recognized that caregiver engagement was critical to ongoing program success. caregiver friendly take-home activities and music cds were cited as possible strategies for improving caregiver engagement and likelihood of the program being incorporated into the child's home environment. teachers expressed a desire to develop strategies for better engaging caregivers and increasing family buy-in to support continuity of programming outside the classroom. imil implementation strengths & challenges 81 imil strengths theme #1 music motivation. preschoolers were encouraged to move/dance and engage in physical activity when the music cds were used and/or music was played. the imil program incorporates several scripted songs on health, nutrition, and physical activity that were identified as a strength, along with the music cds and song/dance videos that were part of the program. theme #2 health awareness. teachers acknowledged that the imil program encouraged preschoolers to have an increased awareness of their own health, nutrition, and physical activity and this was identified as a significant program strength. theme #3 program mascot. the teachers reported that the preschool children enjoyed the imil character/program mascot, choosy, and enjoyed singing and learning from the mascot during classroom-based activities. caregivers caregiver familiarity with both the imil and 5-2-1-0 program was limited, with 66% of caregivers reporting they were “not at all” or only “slightly familiar” with both programs. fifty-eight percent reported not incorporating any of the 5-2-1-0 behaviors at home, although a majority of caregivers indicated that they read (94%) and highly valued (52.6%) the nutrition and health information provided by hs. nutrition specialist classroom observations twenty-five classroom observations were conducted by two trained hs nutrition specialists. the majority of classrooms observed were actively using the imil character mascot, choosy, and the musical cds. observations noted that many of the teachers were using videos associated with the imil program, but were not modeling the physical activities for the children but rather used the video to guide the movements. limited discussion on food and nutrition were noted during classroom meal/snack times, and posters and visual displays associated with imil and/or 5-2-1-0 were not present or visible on the date(s) of the observation, other than at one learning center. discussion summary hs teachers acknowledge that physical activity and nutrition education are important to the preschool population and are cognizant of their role in increasing child physical activity and healthy food choices. the majority of teachers recognized the importance of imil programming in their classroom, however, many of the teachers found it challenging to incorporate imil into daily lesson plans and had difficulty aligning the imil program with current curricular guidelines. 82 miller & nicely time was most frequently identified as the most significant barrier/challenge to effectively implementing the imil program. teachers felt they needed dedicated time to better identify strategies for integrating the program into the classroom curriculum. resources and support for program implementation were also cited as challenges during the initial implementation period, as teachers expressed the need for additional/ supplemental supplies and resources and also focused coaching/support for effective and ongoing implementation. the utilization of the imil mascot and musical cds were noted to be effective in engaging children in physical activity and healthy eating discussions, and were seen as significant strengths to the program. although teachers acknowledged the importance of role modeling healthy behavior, classroom observations highlighted that many teachers were not modeling physical activities or participating in the family-style meals with the children. this highlights a need to explore challenges or facilitators to demonstrating movement and healthy eating as part of the implementation of imil. teachers also acknowledged that program implementation would be most effective if activities and messages were translated into the child’s home setting. however, teachers felt that strategies needed to be more thoughtfully developed to engage caregivers in the program to increase replication outside of the classroom and recognized that current methods (typically sending written information home in a child's backpack) may not be an effective means of eliciting behavior change among families. teacher concerns with caregiver engagement were further supported by the results of the caregiver surveys which indicated that most caregivers were unfamiliar with the imil and 5-2-1-0 programs. although survey results indicated that hs caregivers placed a high value and importance on health and nutrition information disseminated by hs and that they viewed the information sent home, caregiver familiarity with the program remained low. teacher and caregiver survey results indicate a need for further exploration of the most effective communication strategies to ensure program messages and activities are received and implemented by caregivers. caregiver familiarity, receptiveness, and understanding with the program elements would be a precursor to program replication in the home environment and would ultimately improve child health outcomes. limitations a limitation of this study was that the evaluation examined only one program in the midwest, inclusive of thirteen hs sites across five communities. as such, the results may not be representative of other programs who have implemented the imil program. implications this study provides valuable insight into the challenges and strengths to implementing imil in hs. our findings highlight the need for a) time for teachers to thoughtfully plan and integrate imil curricular enhancements into the program curriculum, b) ample resources to support classroombased integration, especially music cds, videos, and mascot dolls, c) coaching/mentoring to imil implementation strengths & challenges 83 integrate imil throughout the child’s daily preschool experience, d) strategic plans to engage families/caregivers in the imil programming in the home environment. findings also indicated that caregivers are highly interested in receiving nutrition information from hs, yet were unfamiliar with the imil program and 5-2-1-0 messaging. more research is needed to explore the types of messages and information dissemination strategies that best meet the learning needs of caregivers/families served by the program. hs program may consider utilization of the program’s advisory council to discuss potential interventions to enhance caregiver involvement in imil programming. conclusion caregiver and teacher engagement in imil programming has the potential to be a significant factor in eliciting long-term child and family behavior change to prevent and reduce obesity and increase child physical activity and movement, and should be the focus of future imil program implementation and evaluation along with further examination of strategies to promote sustainable implementation of the program across hs locations. references finkelstein, d., whitaker, r., hill, e., fox, m.k., mendenko, l., & boller, k. (mathematica policy research) (2007). results from the “i am moving, i am learning” stage 1 survey, final interim report. prepared for the office of research, planning and evaluation, usdhhs. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/stage1_survey.pdf fox, m.k., hallgren, k., boller, k. & turner, a. administration for children and families. (2010). efforts to meet children’s physical activity and nutritional needs: findings from the i am moving, i am learning implementation evaluation. washington, dc: u.s. department of health and human services. imoisili, o., dooyema, c., kompaniyets, l., lundeen, e. a., park, s., goodman, a. b., & blanck, h. m. (2020). prevalence of overweight and obesity among children enrolled in head start, 2012-2018. american journal of health promotion, 890117120958546. advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117120958546 rogers, v. & motyka, e. (2009). 5-2-1-0 goes to school: a pilot project testing the feasibility of schools adopting and delivering healthy messages during the school day. pediatrics, 123(suppl 5):s272-s276. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/stage1_survey.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/stage1_survey.pdf https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/stage1_survey.pdf https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117120958546 microsoft word dialog 21(1) toc.docx volume 21, number 1 2018 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles early childhood teachers’ use of dual language digital books in alaskan communities kathryn a. ohle ………………...………………………………………………………….... 1 spanish-speaking preschoolers’ conceptual vocabulary knowledge: towards more comprehensive assessment jeannette mancilla-martinez, christa mulker greenfader, and wendy ochoa.…...……..….. 22 effects of coaching and performance feedback on preschool teachers’ implementation of the teaching pyramid model kristi godfrey-hurrell, vivian correa, and laura truesdell …………………….…………. 50 factors related to head start teachers’ implementation of physical activity programming colin cox………………………………………....………………..………………………… 68 research-to-practice summaries early childhood teachers’ use of dual language digital books kathryn a. ohle.………………………………………………………………....................... 80 conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers jeannette mancilla-martinez.……………………………………………………………….... 86 effects of a professional development intervention on preschool teachers’ use of the teaching pyramid model kristi godfrey-hurrell……………………………………... …………………….…………. 91 physical activity in head start classrooms: how teachers’ attitudes and training contribute to program usage colin m. cox, jessica a, hoffman, mariya shiyko, amy m. briesch, and carmen castaneda-sceppa……..……..………...………....………………..………………………… 96 dialog, 18(3), copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice summary milieu language strategies for children learning english emily mallory gayle luze iowa state university this research to practice paper summarizes a study on milieu language strategies implemented by head start teachers during center time, a time when children could choose what learning center to be at, such as dramatic play, reading books, sand table. the milieu strategies were effective at increasing verbal interactions between the child learning english (ell) and the teacher. keywords: ells, preschool, language acquisition, language strategies the number of children attending head start who are learning english as a second or multiple language (ells) is nothing new. given current enrollment rates, at least 30% of children in head start are from homes where english is not the primary language (u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, 2013). with the current enrollment rates and future projections, it is likely that the number of children who are ells in school systems is going to continue to increase in the coming years (garcia & jensen, 2009). how to best serve and educate these young children who are ells will most likely be an ongoing concern. most educational programming in head start and elementary schools is conducted in english and it is often in a preschool environment that children who do not speak english first encounter an english-dominant environment (jones, 1993). since most educational programming is conducted in english, children who are ells will develop mixed levels of proficiency and language skills in both english and their first language (jones & fuller, 2003). one consequence of mixed levels of language proficiencies, children of limited to no english speaking backgrounds are more likely to be placed in special education or remedial classes because of their perceived lack of language skills and abilities when in fact these children bring significant language knowledge and skills with them from their first language (baker, 2006; valdes & figueroa, 1994). however, teachers are often at a loss to know how to appropriately communicate and teach children whose first language is not english (nces, 2002; valdes & figueroa, 1994). consequently, it is essential to find teaching strategies that teachers of all grades, but especially of those teaching preschool, can implement to appropriately communicate and teach mallory & luze children who are ells. in the process of teaching and communicating with children who are ells, teachers need to be able to foster the language growth and development of these children. it is imperative that effective language strategies be found that can be used at the preschool level to reap the greatest benefits for children who are ells and help work toward reversing the cycle of academic underachievement among children and youth from non-english speaking homes. in a recent study of head start teachers, many teachers reported they had a limited number of effective strategies they could use for communicating with children learning english as a second language (worthington, et al., 2011). the research of hart and risley (1995) can be extrapolated from the homes of young children to classrooms. hart and risley (1995) found that when children’s environments, regardless of socioeconomic conditions, were filled with conversations and verbal interactions, the children’s language and vocabulary knowledge and skills increased. the same could be stated for classrooms, when children are surrounded by quality conversations and verbal interactions, their language skills are impacted. engaging in conversations helps children, especially children who are ells, gain fluency in english (restrepo & gray, 2007). when these children engage in conversations with teachers or english speaking peers, they have an opportunity to experiment with their developing english language skills. it is through trying new communication skills that are both correct, and get the child’s point across, or incorrect and leads to the child receiving corrective feedback, that children learn the ways to appropriately use the new language. talking and interacting with every child on a daily basis is considered a developmentally appropriate practice (kostelnik, soderman, & whiren, 2006). while this recommendation may seem like common sense, the authors note it is easy to unintentionally overlook the children who demand less of the teacher’s attention, such as children who are quieter, more self-sufficient, or who are ells. based on the importance of conversation skills, researchers have begun looking for possible language development strategies that will be effective with children learning english as a second language. one promising language-based teaching strategy is milieu language strategies. milieu language strategies have been found to foster the language growth and use in children who have language delays (hancock & kaiser, 2002; kaiser & hester, 1994; yoder, kaiser, goldstein, mousetis, kaczmarek, & fisher, 1995). children with language delays and children learning english as a second language have similar language needs, such as the need to be able to communicate with those around them, express needs and wants, and learn social communication skills, such as turn taking. these strategies have not only been shown to be effective, but to be learned easily by parents and teachers serving children in several different types of programs (hancock & kaiser, 2002; kaiser, hancock, & nietfeld, 2000; kaiser, ostrosky, & alpert, 1993). the strategies can be implemented within the context of ongoing classroom activities and with various classroom curricula. milieu language strategies may benefit children learning english as a second language when implemented by their teachers to promote language growth and acquisition of communication skills that are crucial for school success and communicating with others. milieu language strategies there are four different milieu language strategies: model, mand-model, time delay, and incidental teaching. the foundation for teacher-child interactions is based on environmental arrangements and joint attention. these strategies were originally developed by hart and rogerswarren (1978) and have been further defined and conceptualized by others, including kaiser, milieu language strategies for ells hendrickson, and alpert (1991), warren, yoder, and leew (2002), and hancock and kaiser (2006). environmental arrangement is based on two ideas: there are interesting materials in the classroom which the child is interested in and that some of these materials are out of reach of the child. model, the first milieu strategy, occurs when a teacher focuses on the interesting object the child has. the teacher provides a simple verbal model, a statement, regarding the object. when the child provides a correct response to the teacher’s model, the child is praised and the utterance is expanded, if the object is out of reach, the object is given to the child. if the child provides an incorrect or no response to the teacher, the teacher repeats the model, up to three times while giving the child time to respond each time, and the child is given the object after the third model. the second strategy, mand-model, is used when the child is highly interested in an object and in obtaining it and the teacher feels the child is likely to be able to respond correctly to the teacher. the teacher provides a mand, either a complex question or statement, to the child regarding the objects. if the child responds correctly, the object is given, if not, the teacher repeats the mand up to three times unless the child is losing interest and then the teacher provides a model, which is less complex and gives the child the object. the third milieu strategy is time delay and occurs when the teacher deliberately does not respond immediately to the child’s request or typical utterance in order to encourage the child to communicate with the teacher. there are eight ways in which a teacher can create a time delay situation: the first two are model and mand-model, previously described, sabotage in which the child is directed to a task requiring materials that are not within reach, violation of expectations occurs when the teacher deviates from the typical routine to do something silly instead, protestation is when the teacher does something the child does not like to encourage the child to protest about it, such as offering glue when the child wants a pencil, difficult materials occurs when the child is presented with a task that requires assistance from the teacher and the child is encouraged to request assistance, multiple parts occurs when a child is presented with a multistep task but does not receive all the necessary materials to complete the task, and finally, choice making is when a child is non-verbally presented a choice between two options and the child has to verbally indicate a choice. all of these situations are designed to encourage the child to ask for assistance. the fourth milieu strategy is incidental teaching and is the most linguistically demanding for the child. this strategy is used to teach the child a complex language skill, such as conversational turn taking about the interesting object, or to improve the child’s speech intelligibility. any of the above described situations is used as a starting point for this strategy. findings from the study the nine children in the study all showed signs of language growth when the teachers used milieu language strategies with them. children who were ells showed gains in expressive and receptive language skills on the bracken basic concept scales receptive and expressive (bracken, 2006) as well as the picture naming individual growth and development indicator (igdi; university of mn, 2006). the children had moderate to high effect sizes for the amount of language acquired during the study. the children who were native english speakers also increased in their language skills during the study. the results indicate that the strategies were successful with the children who were ells as they had the steepest language growth mallory & luze trajectories. the children who were ells still lagged behind their native english speaking monolingual peers in terms of expected age-equivalency language use and knowledge, but they made gains in their english skills. these results indicate that language-based teaching strategies are helpful in increasing conversational language use in children who are ells. implications for practice there are several implications for practice which emerged from the results of the study. the first implication for practice is recognizing that research from other fields regarding teaching strategies can be applied to new contexts and settings. it is important to realize that each child has unique characteristics that will influence the outcome of teaching strategies and that not all children are alike, thus, not all teaching strategies will be effective for all children. milieu language strategies provide a systematic framework for increasing the language expectations of children’s language use in a positive interactive manner. another implication for practice based on the study is the challenges that preschool teachers face teaching young children who are ells. it can be challenging to juggle the learning needs of all the children in the classroom. it is important to know the “why” behind the recommended use of teaching strategies and to be able to see how the strategies impact the children’s learning. thus it is also important for teachers to be able to flexibly and purposefully choose which strategies to use with a child based on the known and desired outcomes afforded with those specific strategies. consequently, teaching young children requires on-going learning and self-reflection to be able to meet all the needs of all the children in the classroom. milieu language strategies for ells table 1 milieu language strategies and examples strategy definition adult skill examples interesting materials materials and activities that children enjoy. knows child toy/activity preference. good observation skills to discriminate child interest. complete toy/activity preference list for each child. consider putting toys together in “fun” ways like the farm animals and shaving cream or race cars and water. in view, out of reach placing some desirable materials within view but out of reach of children. makes a physical environmental plan of how toys/materials can be in the child’s view and out of reach or limiting the number of toys available. put toys in see-through plastic bins or ziploc bags on a shelf taller than the child. difficult materials creating a situation in which children are likely to need adult assistance. accurate assessment of child’s fine/gross motor and self help skills. ability to be able to watch child “struggle” without always doing it for the child. toys that have zippers/ buttons, that are windup, pieces are kept in child proof containers. multiple parts providing small or inadequate portions of preferred materials/toys list of preferred materials with multiple parts. legos, blocks, potato head, cars and trains, play-doh, pegs, puzzles, bubbles, one chip or cookie instead of the entire bag. sabotage not providing all of the materials children will need to complete a task or otherwise preventing them from carrying out an instruction. list of child’s preferred tasks/ activities and how each can be adapted/sabotaged so the child may need to communicate about it. quietly removing a coloring marker while the adult and child are coloring together that the child is not using, not putting shovels at the sand table protest a situation in which a child wants the adult to stop doing something. ability to identify tasks which child finds frustrating and translate components of that task into play context. something that the child likes to do by himself but not something that is “mean” or the child finds particularly upsetting (like tickling). examples might be offering a glue stick instead of a pencil, or one book instead of another. silly situations a situation the adult sets up that violates a child’s expectations or that the child experiences as silly. ability to know what makes child laugh, knowledge of child’s cognitive understanding of “absurd”, and openness to having fun and being silly. putting the potato head parts (like glasses and mustache) on adult face. wearing the child’s hat, socks, shoes. putting child’s hat on pet or stuffed animal. choice making a situation in which the child is given an opportunity to make a choice between two or more activities or objects. assessment of choices that will be meaningful to the child within the context of routines or play, knowledge of child’s target language level. choices about drinks, food, toys, games, play location, music, books, where they sit. mallory & luze references baker, c. (2006). foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (4th ed.). clevedon, united kingdom: multilingual matters, ltd. bracken, b. a. (2006). bracken basic concept scale-3:receptive. upper saddle river, nj: pearson education, inc. bracken, b. a. (2006). bracken basic concept scale-expressive. upper saddle river, nj: pearson education, inc. garcia, e. & jensen, b. (2009). early educational opportunities for children of hispanic origins. social policy report, 23(2), 3-19. hancock, t. b. & kaiser, a. p. (2002). the effects of trainer-implemented enhanced milieu teaching on the social communication of children with autism. topics in early childhood special education, 22, 39-54. hancock, t. b. & kaiser, a. p. (2006). enhanced milieu teaching. in r.j. mccauley & m. e. fey (eds.), treatment of language disorders in children (pp. 203-236). baltimore: brookes publishing co. hart, b. & risley, t. r. (1995). meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young american children. baltimore: brookes publishing co. hart, b. & rogers-warren, a. (1978). a milieu approach to teaching language. in r. l. schiefelbusch (ed.), language intervention strategies (pp. 193-235). baltimore, md: university park press. jones, t. g. (1993). are preschool/day care personnel ready for non-english-speaking children? tesol quarterly, 27(1), 131-135. jones, t. g. & fuller, m. l. (2003). teaching hispanic children. boston: pearson education, inc. kaiser, a. p., hancock, t. b., & nietfeld, j. p. (2000). the effects of parent-implemented enhanced milieu teaching on the social communication of children who have autism. early education & development, 11(4), 423446. kaiser, a. p., hendrickson, j. m., & alpert, c. l. (1991). milieu language teaching: a second look. advances in mental retardation and developmental disabilities, 4, 63-92. kaiser, a. p. & hester, p. p. (1994). generalized effects of enhanced milieu teaching. journal of speech and hearing research, 37, 1320-1340. kaiser, a. p., ostrosky, m. m., & alpert, c. l. (1993). training teachers to use environmental arrangement and milieu teaching with nonvocal preschool children. the journal of the association for persons with severe handicaps, 18(3), 188-199. kostelnik, m. j., soderman, a. k., & whiren, a. p. (2006). developmentally appropriate curriculum: best practices in early childhood education (4th ed.). upper saddle river, nj: pearson education, inc. national center for education statistics. (2002). the condition of education 2002. washington: gpo. restrepo, m. a. & gray, s. (2007). optimizing literacy in english language learners seminars in speech and language, 28(1), 25-34. university of minnesota. (2006). picture naming (ages 3-5). retrieved on october 14, 2008, from http://ggg.umn.edu/get/procedures_and_materials/picturenaming/index.html u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families. (2013). report to congress on dual language learners in head start and early head start programs. washington, dc: author. retrieved on dec. 20, 2015 from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/report_to_congress.pdf valdes, g. & figueroa, r. a. (1994). bilingualism and testing: a special case of bias. norwood, nj: ablex publishing corporation. warren, s. f., yoder, p. j., & leew, s. v. (2002). promoting social-communicative development in infants and toddlers. in h. goldstein, l. a. kaczmarek, & k. m. english (eds.), promoting social communication: children with developmental disabilities from birth to adolescence (pp. 121-149). baltimore: brookes publishing co. worthington, e., maude, s., hughes, k., luze, g., peterson, c., brotherson, m. j., bruna, k., & luchtel, m. (2011). serving english language learners in head start: challenges, resources and strategies. early childhood education journal, 39, 51-60. yoder, p. j., kaiser, a. p., goldstein, h., alpert, c. l., mousetis, l., kaczmarek, l., & fischer, r. (1995). an exploratory comparison of milieu teaching and responsive interaction in classroom applications. journal of early intervention, 19(3), 218-242. dialog, 23(2), copyright © 2020, issn: 1930-9325 1 participant-selected pseudonyms are used in place of all names and locations a teaching and learning tightrope: navigating accountability mandates while maintaining sound pedagogical practices colleen e. whittingham university of north carolina at charlotte emily brown hoffman ball state university applying bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model, this article describes how one head start classroom successfully navigated external accountability mandates and privileged student academic achievement and overall well-being by attending to person (organizational infrastructure), context (instructional capacity), and the intersection of both. located in an economically under-resourced urban community, a government-funded preschool classroom achieved compliance with external mandates while maintaining pedagogically sound teaching practices. this 8-week case study complemented by video-based fieldwork examines local instructional practices and investigates the policies and protocols facilitating these practices. field notes, artifacts, interviews, and video data informed the analysis. findings indicate that while policies and protocols necessitated by external mandates impacted the organizational infrastructure, their intentional integration with sound pedagogy and the center’s mission facilitated instructional capacity in a climate where children thrive. keywords: early childhood policy; early childhood protocols; compliance; instructional practices; classroom interactions; head start introduction it is a tuesday afternoon, and the 17 students of the triangle classroom are resting on their cots after lunch. a few have already drifted off to sleep. others whisper and ask for yet another sip of water. janiyah’s1 and darien’s cots are near the multi-stall bathroom shared with the adjoining classroom, and the florescent light spills onto their blankets. “ms. zachmann, can you tuck me in like a race car driver?” darien asks. research article 52 whittingham & hoffman “i can, but you are already like a race car driver, fast, and strong, and ready to go!” she replies. “mrs. zachmann, can you tuck me in like a mermaid?” “i can, but you are already like a mermaid, graceful, and swift, and ready for new adventures!” while the two children settle in for nap time, mrs. zachmann retrieves her water bottle, her computer, and a teaching strategies gold® (tsg) manual. along with mr. pearson and mrs. o’neal, she takes her seat in a wooden chair at a student work table, slightly larger than the others so that the weekly team meeting of the classroom’s three teachers can begin. quietly, so as not to disrupt the children around them, she begins, “ok, so how is the [tree] study going? any thoughts or feelings?” mr. pearson says, “it’s going pretty good. you know, they are remembering [what we are learning] about the trees. i know that taliah remembers, ‘deciduous!’” “and even just that she pronounced it.” “…and she even pronounced it correctly too!” “she didn’t struggle with the word at all she was just like, ‘yeah, deciduous!’ and i was like, ‘yeah!’” “i was like, ‘kiss your brain!’ you know?!” “yeah, and when we are on the carpet, and i ask her a question, i don’t have to remind her to give me a complete sentence. she will say ‘i prefer...’ yeah, so that’s progress!” this vignette from one head start preschool classroom evidences the ways in which teachers comply with externally imposed requirements (weekly team meetings guided by the tsg framework) while providing academic rigor for 3and 4-year-olds in developmentally appropriate ways. whereas academic performance was previously expected as the result of engagement in formal schooling, an unprecedented level of academic performance is expected of children preceding elementary school entry. improving children’s preparedness for school success is a longstanding national priority (e.g., national governors’ association center for best practices, 2003, 2005) which increases pressure for and opportunities within early childhood education (ece) (goffin, 2010), especially for children from minoritized communities considered “at risk” of school failure. definitions of school readiness focus on social and academic competencies children are presumed to need to start kindergarten ready to learn (gallo-fox & cuccuini-harmon, 2018; mashburn & pianta, 2006). however, research has long emphasized the benefit of a ‘process’ over ‘product’ approach to defining the construct of school readiness, endorsing quality interactions as the most effective and productive sites of learning (heath, 1983; sheiffelin & cochran-smith, 1984; teale & sulzby, 1986). more young children in the united states are enrolled in preschool ece settings than ever before, and more of these settings are being funded externally (haslip & gullo, 2018). measures of mandated policy and protocol observance are necessary to prove accountability to external funders. classroom-level evaluation is consistent with decades of ece research (i.e., mashburn, et al., 2008) reifying the developmental nature of children’s learning by emphasizing the evaluation of a teaching and lerarning tightrope 53 environment, emotional support, and instructional supports over measured student outcomes. however, meeting the requirements of increased external accountability is often prioritized in ece settings when compliance is tied to funding, creating pragmatic challenges for centers with limited resources. thus, compliance to policies and protocols imposed by external funding sources often takes center stage for ece centers, especially where maintaining funds is crucial to a center’s viability. while some ece sites take an either/or approach to compliance and quality instruction—seeing the allocation of resources as capable of achieving only one of these aims successfully—others have integrated external mandates into practice in meaningful ways, continuing to foreground and value pedagogical excellence while also “checking the necessary boxes.” this both/and approach results from a steadfast vision of the purpose and intent of ece for all – one that is not waivered by fluctuating external influences but integrates them into their mission of quality instruction. the preschool classroom described here enacts the both/and approach, walking the tightrope between accountability to external funding agencies and accountability to the children and families they serve. focusing on the policies and protocols facilitating the triangle teachers’ instructional practices, we ask: how does one preschool classroom balance the requirements of external accountability and the need for high quality instruction to meet the teaching and learning needs of teachers and students? this classroom, and the center in which it is situated, are examples of success despite statistics predicting failure. the center must comply with external mandates to secure funding in an economically under-resourced context while additionally contending with external social and economic factors. such circumstances apply to numerous head start programs across the country and many of these programs effectively work within parameters to provide rigorous and caring educations to young children. however, head start programs are intentionally community-based, and successfully navigating policies is context-dependent. this article describes, through a bioecological lens, how one head start classroom successfully navigated external accountability and privileged student academic achievement and overall well-being. school culture as an ecological niche the head start early learning outcomes framework (us department of health and human services, 2015) has five central development domains to guide early learning contexts on young children’s development. one of the five domains, named ‘approaches to learning’, focuses on how children engage in learning through incorporating emotional, behavioral, and cognitive skills and behaviors. supporting children’s skills within the approaches to learning domain helps children successfully navigate new learning experiences and develop consistent relationships through developing self-regulation and executive functioning skills. while there are many factors that influence children’s approaches to learning, relationships with educators and instructional practices that support these relationships are critical to facilitating children’s early learning development and school readiness. the supportive environment the school and subsequent classroom creates to support student/teacher relationships and practices is foundational to creating a climate that positively influences children’s approach to learning. 54 whittingham & hoffman the ecosystem of an early childhood classroom places a developing child within nested systems of interaction that rely on relationships with individuals, groups, and the wider world. school climate can be defined as “the affective and cognitive perceptions regarding social interactions, relationships, values, and beliefs held by students, teachers, administrators, and staff within a school” (rudasill et al., 2018, p. 35). included in such a definition is the implication that perceptions of various systems and interactions that happen outside the school building discernibly impacts the culture of individual classrooms. for example, normative influences of the community and funding amounts and sources have always impacted both the proposed and enacted social interactions, relationships, values, and beliefs by children and adults in schools (rudasill et al., 2018). and while all these different systems impact the school culture, it is the instructors who ultimately need to develop an ecological niche (brofenbrenner, 1992), or a context that meets the unique needs of students in classrooms on any particular day. no small feat, as a healthy and productive ecological niche needs to respond continually to various student characteristics, beliefs and behaviors of adults, the local community, and local through national policies (mccoy et al., 2013; thapa et al., 2013). in early childhood classrooms, there has been evidence of strong classroom cultures that produce an exceptional early learning context for children (connors, 2016). the concept of rich normality (cline et al., 2019) draws attention to the everyday moments that foster teaching and learning through classroom cultures that foster children’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive growth (edwards et al., 2012). by focusing on the rich normality of classroom culture, the small events that propel understanding and connection with local and broader contexts are brought to the foreground and examined (cline et al., 2019). through studying the rich normality of an early childhood classroom, this article investigates how teachers are able to successfully navigate systems of interaction and create an ecological niche. bioecological model of human development grounded in bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model (1979; 1992), the bioecological model of human development has an “interdisciplinary and integrative focus on the age periods of childhood and adolescence and its explicit interest in applications to policies and programs pertinent to enhancing youth and family development” (brofenbrenner & morris, 2006, p. 794). a bioecological model transitions the focus to processes instead of environment; participation in interactive and iterative processes over time produces the ability and motivation to partake in activities individually and collaboratively. this is seen in enduring patterns of proximal process such as group or solitary play, caring for others in distress, and reading (brofenbrenner & morris, 2006). five systems are part of the processes: the microsystem, mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem. succinctly defined, these systems consider human biology, their immediate environments, their larger social contexts, the interactions among these contexts, and the sociohistorical circumstances throughout an individual’s life course – from broad societal events to individual transitions (clark et al., 2018). through processes, the person and the environment influence one another bidirectionally, causing a need for assessment at multiple levels (clark et al., 2018). through an estimation of how the processes across systems impacts the quality and ability of early childhood education, it is critical a teaching and lerarning tightrope 55 to look at individuals, systems, and interactions that create the bioecological locality of study. because of the complex interplay of these factors on children’s development, ecological systems theory (1979) and subsequent bioecological models have long been used as a lens through which to investigate early childhood contexts. for example, studies of deaf children’s kindergarten readiness (clark et al., 2018), early learning opportunities for children in rural communities (iruka et al., 2020), and children’s literacy development (jaeger, 2016) have applied bronfenbrenner’s approaches. this study investigates one classroom’s navigation of accountability and instruction through looking at the power of proximal processes and their variations through both person and context, investigating both interpersonal relationships as well as the resources of ability, skill, and knowledge in one early childhood classroom. methods community & classroom context as a leading social service agency (ssa), the parent organization of the community child care center (cccc, or ‘the center’) serves nearly 40,000 children and families each year, delivering over 70 social service programs throughout 40 illinois counties. the ssa is recognized as a leading provider of quality programs and services to marginalized children and families at six ccccs across the state. responding to the growing need in one urban neighborhood, the ssa opened its second cccc in the community in 2007. one measure of quality programing for head start grantees is the classroom assessment scoring system (class) assessment. class is an observation instrument that assesses teacher-child interactional quality in center-based preschool classrooms that support children's learning and development: emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support (downer, et al., 2010). in 2001, class became a highstakes assessment when head start issued new guidelines. because of increasing demands for limited resources, head start grantees could be required to compete for renewed financial support if their class scores were deemed subpar. data from head start monitoring and class reviews suggest roughly a third of grantees would be designated for competition based on the revised criteria (45 c. f. r. § 1307 2011). however, the cccc preschools classrooms outperformed national averages on all class dimensions in 2014. part of a community collaborative childhood center (cccc), the triangle classroom is financially supported by head start and the department of human services’ child care assistance program (ccap). the agency overseeing the cccc is the head start grantee and has established conditions provisionary of continued funding beyond those enforced by head start. the triangle classroom is supported by head start and others because it provides early childhood educational (ece) services to children whose families cannot otherwise afford these opportunities. because of urban disinvestment, the local community has a national reputation for high rates of crime and unemployment. unfavorable social conditions create strain for children and families pursuing economic and educational stability. although many of their classroom practices relate to compliance and mandates, they are not compliance-driven. classroom practices are, first and foremost, pedagogically sound, while also in compliance with external policies and protocols. the results (as characterized by how the teachers talked about the students in the opening depiction of 56 whittingham & hoffman their planning time) are a highly productive and positive environment for young children traditionally categorized as ‘at risk.’ participants the triangle classroom is one of six preschool classrooms in the center, consisting of three teachers and 17 students, and receiving blended funding from head start, preschool for all, and the child care assistance program (ccap). mrs. zachmann is a third-year teacher, having spent the entirety of those years in the triangle classroom. mr. pearson and mrs. o’neal have 12 and 31 years of experience, respectively; both have prior experience in infant-toddler settings and have spent the last four years in the triangle classroom. previously a multi-age classroom, the triangles now consists of only pre-kindergarten students, ages 4 and 5 in their last year in a preschool setting. this was the second year in the triangle classroom for a handful of students because of the reorganization. the three classroom teachers, all 17 students, and three building administrators consented to participate in the study designed and approved under the guidelines of the participating university’s irb. qualitative case study to make sense of complex social interactions and networks of influence, this 8-week case study (yin, 2013) complemented by video-based fieldwork (jewitt, 2012) described classroom instructional practices and the policies and protocols facilitating these practices. while videobased fieldwork facilitated a close look at sites of interaction between teachers and students, qualitative methods informed the understanding of the systemic structures at play. field notes of team meetings and educator interviews served as primary data sources, supplemented by cccc artifacts such as job descriptions, employee handbooks, parent communication, and classroom curricula, analyzed to consider the origins of the policies witnessed in practice. field notes and initial interviews with the three classroom teachers were generated during the first two weeks of classroom observations. beginning the third week, video data were collected for four sequential weeks, using multiple cameras simultaneously, resulting in a collective 144 hours of video data. during the final weeks of classroom observation follow up interviews were held with the three teachers and the three building administrators, as an opportunity to clarify or elaborate on conversation threads that developed out of the first interview. in total, 30 observational field notes, 12 interview transcripts, and 5 collaborative team meeting transcripts were generated and analyzed alongside classroom and center artifacts for evidence of center-level policies and protocols as the plausible causes of the rich interactions between teachers and children captured on video. this range of data collected in dual contexts allowed examination across contexts and through various perspectives to triangulate findings and identify themes. as white cisgender women immersed in the (d)iscourse of higher education (gee, 1996, 2005), we relied on multiple data sources from multiple perspectives when attempting to understand the perspectives of primarily black participants. reviewing the video data alongside participants and seeking member-checks following initial stages of analysis served to mitigate potential misunderstandings arising from our social, political, and cultural differences. a teaching and lerarning tightrope 57 data analysis a recursive processes of data collection and analysis provided a systematic way to meaningfully filter large data sets that are the natural outcome of researching the “wonderful messiness of classroom interaction” (wohlwend, 2009, p. 240). each iteration contributed to a detailed account of the classroom practices and informed the construction of a preliminary codebook. open coding of classroom observational data identified salient features of instruction, while interview and team meeting transcripts fleshed out the descriptions of enacted policies and protocols. mirroring compton-lilly’s (2007) classroom level data contributed to a detailed account of the specific literacy experiences and perspectives for each of the interlocutors and informed the construction of a preliminary codebook. open coding of classroom data identified salient topics; a constant comparative approach facilitated the identification, comparison, and sorting of data points according to similarities and differences (strauss & corbin, 1990). next, constant comparative methods and categorical analysis were applied to school-based data and the codebook was expanded and revised to accommodate additional data. finally, categorical analysis allowed classroom interactions and school-wide insights, incidents, events, and activities be viewed sideby-side. multiple sources of evidence, such as observation, interview, and artifacts, created a chain of evidence, presenting the claims in a linear fashion to explain how these codes contributed to the conclusions reached (yin, 2013). policies and protocols operationally defined external accountability to an ece site is often operationalized through mandated policies and protocols. for the purposes of this study, policies are defined as the principles, rules, and guidelines formulated or adopted by an organization to reach its long-term goals. policies are designed to influence major decisions, actions, and activities taking place within the boundaries set by them. in the case of the cccc, some of the policies in place explicitly derive from the head start program performance standards (hspps, 2016). others were developed by the cccc’s grantee, or the ssa. additional policies were developed and implemented at the center level. protocols are the specific methods employed to express policies in action in day-to-day operations of the organization. most protocols are internally derived or adopted from other sources to meet the specific needs of the cccc. for example, hiring family support staff is a policy instated by head start, but the way in which family support staff are assigned their cases follows cccc policies – family support staff work with family units instead of classroom units. local policies require the triangle teachers to phone the front desk any time they exit the building outside of their assigned playground time. together, policies and protocols ensure that a point of view held by the governing body of an organization is translated into steps that result in classroom practices compatible with that view. 58 whittingham & hoffman findings the policies and protocols necessitated by hspps, coupled with other external accountability factors, created multiple influences on the teacher-child interactions and instructional capacity of the triangle classroom (figure 1). informed by the analysis of observational field notes, interview transcripts, and team meeting transcripts, these influences are related to either person through organizational infrastructure (yellow), context through instructional capacity (blue), or a combination of both person and context (green). organizational infrastructure is defined as policies and protocols that support the healthy operation of the organization and the classroom but are not explicitly connected to teaching and learning outcomes. instructional capacity refers to influences that are related directly to teaching and learning. this section defines each influence, describes the policies and protocols in place at the center complying with the standard, and explains how classroom practices integrated compliance in intentional and purposeful ways while continuing to forefront student learning. figure 1. influences on teacher/child interactions person: organizational infrastructure organizational infrastructure includes, but is not limited to, ssa and cccc administrator leadership, divisions of labor and/or workload allocations, and decisions about teacher transitions. a teaching and lerarning tightrope 59 although ‘once removed’ from the triangle classroom events, these infrastructures reify the value of rich teacher-child interactions as evidenced by the investment in support staff whom ‘lighten the load’ of classroom teachers, allowing them to focus on teaching and learning. for example, it is commonplace for teachers to spend time on managerial tasks such as collecting field trip permission slips, replenishing classroom supplies, or contacting parents regarding student absences. in the triangle classroom, data analyses indicate that off-loading of managerial or administrative tasks allowed teachers to focus on building interpersonal relationships focused on learning spending free-play and open-center time child watching, creating opportunities for genuine, personalized, and scaffolded interactions between teachers and children. ssa leadership. the ssa invests in its mission to “partner with children, youth, and families whose potential is at risk to create hope, opportunity, and bright futures” by investing in the quality of interactions children have with any adult on site – including teachers, support staff, volunteers, and interns. specific to volunteers and interns working in ssa early childhood settings such as triangle classroom is an additional handbook including an appropriate language packet detailing scenarios observed in ece spaces with suggested verbal responses to such conflicts. for example: child who is feeling sad about parent leaving, lost chance at activity, having to wait for turn, being misunderstood, etc.: toddler: "we know you are sad; mom will be back later." "this might be hard for you to do, but you can do that activity later. let’s do this now." preschool: "what's the matter, why are you crying?" reaffirm the child's feelings and then give the child some choices on ways to say good-bye or another activity to do to give child some power since loss of power may be felt for situation they are feeling sad about. the scenarios draw from a university research study cited in the handbook, and the ageappropriate speech and language milestones information is referenced to johns hopkins. providing volunteers with this level of research-based support, including an in-person orientation and resources such as the handbook to refer to later, influence the ways in which all adults entering the cccc building interact with children. it is clear from the outset of one’s involvement with this organization that language and relationships are key values, and how to achieve these values as a member of their team. cccc leadership. administrators emphasizing compliance often implement a topdown decision-making model (marzano et al., 2005). external compliance is achieved when teachers and support personnel comply with protocols developed and implemented by the administration, with little to no collaborative input. instead, the cccc site director (ms. cooper) manages the day-to-day operations for the building, with educational coordinators overseeing and supporting the early head start and head start classrooms. ms. cooper’s leadership embraces ssa’s vision by putting these policies into practice. she cited the strength of the agency’s staff orientation program, but commented that the same does not exist 60 whittingham & hoffman at the center level. she planned to create a cccc-specific handbook, outlining “what to expect the first week, the second week, to help them get that full orientation of what to expect when they come into the building.” ms. cooper’s approach serves a dual purpose – compliance with the required intake policy established by the ssa and through more personal and meaningful means by involving established staff, who themselves meet the requirements of an external protocol (continued credentialing) in the process. she upholds ssa’s policies for interviewing and hiring quality candidates and sees value in retaining these candidates as employees. ms. cooper’s investment in her staff is an outgrowth of the support she feels in her administrative role. ms. cooper’s workplace satisfaction influences her ability to provide the same for her staff; the comradery and professionalism observed and described within the vertical organizational infrastructure are also evident horizontally, at the staff/peer level. workload & division of labor. ssa and cccc decisions around infrastructural leadership reflect a commitment to promoting students’ success by protecting instructional time. teacher workload is reduced when non-instructional tasks are offloaded to support staff, and division of labor decisions are made at the classroom level, developing organically and adjusting as needed. the first priority is reflected in the ssa’s decision to fund support staff who help teachers carry the burden of most health and safety compliance tasks, and in the center’s decisions in hiring people qualified to perform the duties of their position and simultaneously committed to the mission of the organization. ms. zachmann comments that ms. cooper “is very, very conscious of hiring people with a very positive attitude that are mission driven and believe that what we are doing is important.” examples include the janitorial and facilities staff, the numerous family support staff, and the division of clerical/maintenance responsibilities between the triangle teachers. at ssa, family support staff are numerous – six full time employees plus a director and an intern, serving just under 150 students – and work both alongside and independent of classroom teachers. instead of being assigned to a specific classroom (and a different one each year), each member of the support team carries a caseload of families that remains consistent from year to year. given this approach, parents have one steady ‘point person’ with whom they have developed a lasting relationship over time, and to whom they can turn if in need of bus fare or employment help, as ms. zachmann points out. this relationship also relieves some of the often-stressful conversations about student truancy and tardiness, for example, that may otherwise take place between the classroom teacher and the parent. this is something that family support addresses “because they have a stronger relationship with the parents around those nitty gritty things.” ms. zachmann distinguishes between the “bubbly” role of the child’s teacher, in contrast to the family support staff who “understand what is going on financially with the parents, family wise. on a need to know basis they will tell us something, but we don’t need to know everything that is going on, if that makes sense.” instead, the triangle teachers can focus their energies on teaching and learning, knowing that the social needs of families are attended to by the family support staff. this model also preserves the privacy of the parents, allowing them to also maintain a focus on their child(ren). a teaching and lerarning tightrope 61 clerical/maintenance responsibilities also reveal the cccc’s commitment to protecting instructional time. access to clean and well-stocked facilities is one provision of the hspps. whereas updating student contact information, taking inventory of the first aid kit, and replacing worn toothbrushes are often the responsibility of classroom teachers, and often accomplished during centers or free play time when students are involved in learning, the cccc protects such instructional time by employing a full-time staff member to complete safety checks and file appropriate paperwork for the 14 classrooms on-site, from restocking the first aid kit and replacing toothbrushes, to updating each classrooms’ emergency contact binder. given the supportive climate and resources, only a fraction of teacher resources are expended on non-instructional duties. teachers make divisions of labor decisions locally, with master and assistant teachers’ voices equally heard. for triangle teachers, defining instructional roles is intentional, responsive, and fluid. for three months prior to ms. zachmann’s hire, mr. pearson and ms. o’neal ran the triangle classroom as a pair. ms. zachmann describes the transition from two to three team members: i came into the room a couple of times just to observe, to see the summer before i started how the routine was, so i could just kind of ‘fit in’ because i didn’t want to come in and jolt everything and be like ‘this is how we do it.’ these roles are also fluid and intentional. ms. o’neal describes, “we kind of continually sit and assess the routines, like, ‘hey, i’ve got this going on and i need to take care of this at this time so, ok then will you handle this transition…’” teacher transitions. hspps mandates no more than 20 children enrolled in any one class of 4and 5-year-olds. classes must be staffed by a teacher and an aide, or two teachers. the ssa caps preschool classroom enrollment at 17. the six preschool classrooms at the cccc are each staffed by at least one certified ece teacher (birth-grade 3) and two teachers with either the child development associate (cda) credential or an ece associates’ degree. positions are described and defined as master classroom teacher and classroom teacher. the term ‘aide’ is intentionally avoided. because adults work in partnership, they share an understanding of how to develop learning activities and how to support children; it is difficult to discern upon observation which adult in the room is the designated master teacher. they communicate about teaching in ways that make ongoing collaboration a reality (baker and manfredi-petitt 2004; casper and theilheimer 2010). with three classroom teachers, the required teacher/student ratios rarely require attention. if an adult needs to step out to talk to a parent, use the restroom, or take their lunch break, the remaining two teachers maintain classroom practices without loss of any instructional time. classroom staffing is also intentional, with ms. zachmann opening the classroom at 7:00am and remaining until 3:30pm, ms. o’neal joining her at 8:00am and leaving at 4:30, and mr. pearson arriving at 9:00 and closing the classroom. this structure creates a manageable workday for teachers and provides consistency for children. no instructional time is compromised in transitions debriefing an additional adult on the day’s happenings. 62 whittingham & hoffman context: instructional capacity center policies and protocols provide the resources necessary for teachers to advance their professional knowledge around developmentally appropriate, culturally sustaining practices. for example, the structured protocol for weekly team meetings normalized the practice of using classroom observational data to inform weekly pedagogical decisions. similarly, center culture purports a ‘teacher-as-learner’ mindset, supporting professional development opportunities for classroom teachers, assistant teachers, food preparation staff, and administrative personnel. the outcomes of such investment in adult learning are often evidenced in teacher-child interactions, as well as custodian-child, receptionist-child, and cook-child interactions. in essence, data captured the rich normality of the classroom and showcased how such small important moments were made possible through supports. professional development. professional development is widely considered by both communities of scholarship and of practice to be the most effective means of improving classroom instruction (buysse, et al., 2009). from single-day, decontextualized workshops to sustained partnerships between schools and content experts, the term “professional development” can imply a broad range of structures meant to improve teaching and learning in schools. given this description, childcare centers with limited resources may choose to offer a one-size-fits-all workshop to meet their professional development requirements for staff as a way of ‘checking the box.’ however, effective professional development needs to be focused, systemic, and actively engaging, to building on pedagogical content knowledge (raphael, et al., 2002). translating policies into practice, the cccc regularly seeks opportunities to collaborate with local ece experts in sustained and sustainable ways. for example, the center participated in a grant-funded, multi-year collaborative coaching program supporting their implementation of reflective decision making. mr. pearson described participation as allowing them “to look at things from a different perspective,” describing video reflection practices as the highlight of participation. the project involved monthly meetings in teaching teams and monthly meetings with coaches to review their classroom teaching videos. mr. pearson’s and ms. o’neal’s attitudes towards pd as meaningful and reflective practice is attributed in part to their participation in quality pd, but also in part to their own attitudes about teaching and learning. to return to the influence of the ssa and the cccc on classroom instruction, it can be noted that this center and the broader organization intentionally seeks out qualified employees who share a philosophy of life-long learning. curricular decisions. in the over 60 years that have passed since the inception of both head start itself and the high/scope preschool curricular research (schweinhart, et. al., 2005), the role of academics in preschool settings continues to be contested. however, there is consensus that a curriculum, as broadly defined by head start, is a necessary roadmap when planning and implementing classroom instruction. head start’s early learning outcomes framework is a written plan that includes “(i) goals for children’s development and learning,” and compliance with this framework is a head start mandate. however, grantees are provided some autonomy when making curricular decisions regarding “(ii) the experiences through which they will achieve these goals.” a teaching and lerarning tightrope 63 a near majority (49.2% [heller school for social policy and management]) of grantees have adopted the creative curriculum for preschool, the cccc included. this curriculum features hands-on, project-based investigations to integrate learning naturally across the day. because creative curriculum emphasizes student exploration and situated learning, daily plans include 4560 minutes of free center play. ms. o’neal described this as the most fruitful time for studentinitiated conversation, when she can elaborate on their interests to develop problem-solving skills and advanced vocabulary. center input and agency ultimately selected and funded the adoption of the creative curriculum. but the teachers’ instructional capacity in implementing the curriculum foster opportunities to engage students in meaningful ways. teachers capitalize on these opportunities and reflect on ways to increase their effectiveness through assessments and documentation. assessment & documentation. teaching strategies gold (tsg) is an assessment tool used in combination with creative curriculum to document and monitor student growth. each of the triangle teachers is responsible for maintaining current and accurate documentation for one third of the students. they have individual folders in the tsg documentation system, but pragmatically teachers can upload evidence for any of the students in the class. mr. pearson describes, ms. o’neal “might say, ‘mr. pearson, i put some pictures up’, or ‘ms. zachmann i put some pictures up’, and then i go on [tsg] and just see the pictures and then just type in the observation.” documentation accounts for student learning, and is in compliance with tsg. center protocol requires current and accurate evidence for all learning standards addressed, and center administration checks classroom and student files sporadically for completion. mr. pearson describes how the team maintains this accountability, and how it informs instructional planning, such as small group centers: ms. z.: ok. that sounds good. do you have anything in particular in mind? mr. p.: probably some numbers with the quantifying. like if i have 10 bears, and if i spin and got 10, then how many bears do i have?... so they can identify the number and then know, ‘ok, so which one is bigger?’ ms. z.: i am looking at the math data to see… with number [recognition] we are good, and connecting numerals to quantities we are pretty high. you know what we are lower in? mr. p.: what? ms. z.: comparing and measuring. that is where we are the lowest [on data]. ms. o.: like with the scale? ms. z.: yeah with the scale for comparing. mr. p.: oh, i got something good. i’ve got a measuring tape at home and we can use the scales… beyond documentation, observational data are used to inform classroom practice. ms. zachmann commented, “the lesson planning itself is almost less important than what is in the data, what are your kids able to do?” focusing on student achievement and growth, the triangle teachers plan classroom experiences to meet students’ developmental needs. during one team meeting, the triangle teachers collectively reflected on their observations of student conner over the past week, and brainstormed instructional strategies to support the class’s newest member in reaching two academic milestones: 64 whittingham & hoffman ms. z: ok, so he needs work on numeral recognition and letter recognition. so, for numeral recognition it will help him to be in [mr. p’s small group], and as far as letter recognition, i mean, we can continue to push it through all parts of the day. we are constantly referencing letters and letter sounds. maybe i can grab him in the morning and do a puzzle. ms. o.: we can get them to sit on a letter again. like, after they come in from the outside or something like that. ms. z.: oh yeah. ok. ms. o.: they liked that. they had to call out what letter they were sitting on. so, if they didn’t remember they could help a friend. ms. z.: ok that’s great. we will utilize the letter… i’ll just call them letter tiles [typing] for them to sit on after gross motor to promote letter name recognition. sounds good. the triangle teachers comply with external requirements for data collection and documentation to authentically and meaningfully inform their practice. by integrating their pd knowledge with student data, and implementing reflective decision making, they create an environment fostering rich teacher-child interactions, grounded in evidence and research. person & context: evidenced in team meetings in addition to staff meetings and weekly memos, center communication compliance requires the triangle team hold weekly meetings. therefore, every thursday the triangle teachers have one hour of protected common plan time. meetings are only held when all three teachers are in attendance. if someone is unavailable, the meeting is rescheduled when all can participate. as the education coordinator for the preschool classrooms, ms. stevenson attends these meetings once a month, to observe and answer questions or share information relevant to the preschool teams. ms. zachmann leads the meetings and completes a weekly team meeting protocol as the conversation progresses. this protocol provides skeletal guidance for the topics to be discussed, and is shared electronically with ms. cooper (center director) and ms. stevenson (education coordinator) once complete. while each meeting follows this sequence, conversation unfolds organically. ms. zachmann will often pause the exchange to record the information being shared in the correct ‘box’. meetings are both focused and productive, relaxed and casual. no one checks the time during the conversation, and when the team has covered all the necessary information, in just under, or just over, the full hour, they wrap up. these meetings are joyful. teachers always lead with the positive, sometimes anecdotes about their experiences with children. transcripts of five weekly meetings were qualitatively coded using constant comparative analysis (saldana, 2012); the following characterizations reflect the collapsed codes from this analysis. across the all topics discussed each week, the team engaged in collaborative problem solving and brainstorming. on the triangle team, this included: soliciting feedback from a quiet team member, suggesting ideas rather than dictating solutions, reifying each other’s ideas, asking for clarification towards a teaching and lerarning tightrope 65 collaborative understanding, and validating each other’s observations, actions, choices through indirect compliment. within this collaborative climate, the triangle team created an instructional plan for the coming week based on their reflective conversations. for example, these conversations included reflecting on: the successes/challenges of their instructional approaches and the performance of, and uptake by, students based on student observations and documentation. reflective conversations, a result of the collaborative climate, precede classroom decision making. the decision-making processes observed among the triangle teachers through the weekly team meetings can be characterized as: connecting observations to the standards, drawing on research to justify decision making, setting attainable goals based on their reflection, creating unique solutions for individual students based on their individual circumstances, and verbalizing how they integrate their teaching philosophy in practice. these meetings are at the crux of influence in terms of teacher-child interaction. the priorities established by the ssa and the cccc, coupled with the policies and protocols mandated from external sources, meld with teachers’ curricular and pedagogical knowledge fostered by professional learning opportunities. classroom space & materials. the triangle teachers recognize that the physical classroom space impacts the ways children and adults perceive the practices taking place there, and are mindful of the environment they create. conversations are ongoing, and decisions about materials available in each interest area are informed by student observations. per the early childhood environment rating scalerevised (ecers-r) guidelines (harmes et al., 1998) an assessment tool adopted by head start for classroom accountability, the triangle classroom has nine identified interest areas open to students during center time: art, music, blocks, dramatic play, science and nature, math and numbers, computers, sand and water, and books. during planning meetings, the team discusses interest areas, gauging student interest and appropriate use of materials. for example: ms. z.: what about block area? mr. p.: they are using the blocks more. ms. z.: i noticed that too ms. o.: they took the flowers [from floral shop introduced to dramatic play during the plant unit] and put them on their building, and then they took the flowers and put them on the block, with the fabric, making it beautiful. ms. z.: was daniyah a part of that? ms. o.: yes. ms. z.: yeah, she is really into making things aesthetically pleasing. ok great. anything else in particular that needs to be changed and updated? how is the water table going? mr. p.: we need more dirt. schedule and time allocation. the triangle teachers are mindful of the ways they use classroom time, from ordering the daily schedule in ways that makes sense, to minimizing the time spent in transitions. cccc logistics dictate certain parts of the daily schedule – for example, the triangle classroom is assigned a specific time in the gross motor room and a specific time on 66 whittingham & hoffman the playground. classroom teachers structure the rest of their routine around these reoccurring events. when ms. zachmann joined the triangle classroom, she was hard-pressed to find opportunities to document student learning. to meet cccc policies regarding student documentation and to use documentation to inform instruction, ms. zachmann introduced small group work to the daily routine. for 8-10 minutes, students meet with one of the triangle teachers to make targeted progress on a head start pre-k learning standard. these quick interactions are designed to maintain student interest while also gathering important information about students’ learning and growth. ms. zachmann describes: when i started, small groups were not a thing. so, we added that in and we kind of picked the time that made the most sense to fit it in. we thought it made sense right after morning meeting, right before centers then it is kind of like your exit ticket to go to centers. when you finish your small group then you can go pick your area. because each teacher works with a small number of students, and because students are well-versed in center time expectations, students are free to leave small group once they have engaged with the activity. in some instances, students complete the task (e.g., reordering the letters in their name, classifying a group of plastic animal toys, or sequencing a series of story cards) in just a few minutes. in other cases, students may remain engaged for up to 20 minutes, choosing to spend some of their center time remaining in small group. this intentional ordering of the daily events, with small group leading into centers, allows for students’ individual needs and interests to be attended to, without compromising the time requirements imposed on the daily schedule by outside entities. given their creative scheduling, the triangle teachers can accomplish the required curricular activities alongside additional practices they value. small groups are used to transition students into center time, while writer’s workshop is a vehicle to transition students out of centers. triangle teachers use a chime to ask students to clean up their centers in a staggered fashion – blocks and dramatic play which require more time to reassemble are called first, while puzzles and the reading corner are called last. staggering eliminates bottlenecks in the bathroom and at the sink (students must wash their hands and are offered a water drink before getting their writing materials), and allows one classroom teacher to supervise center clean up, while one teacher attends to students washing up, and the third is ready to work with the first students ready to write. timely and purposeful transitions are vital in ece spaces, as they occur frequently during the day. students do not remain in one place on one task for very long, and time spent on compliance with handwashing and water drinks can add up. teachers also use the weekly meeting to self-evaluate these transitions, modifying classroom practice to increase efficiency and meet student needs. ms. z.: i have one we can work on, i wanted to mention, i guess productivity slash positive climate. it has been great that the weather has been warm and we have been able to go outside again, but i feel like the transition to go outside has been pretty hectic the last couple days. ms. o: oh yeah. ms. z.: part of it has been because we have only had two people in the room, but even when we only have two people in the room we should be able to execute a a teaching and lerarning tightrope 67 good transition to get outside. so, what are the things… i guess one loose end is david. one of us has to make sure he is getting his coat on, so maybe during writing time one of us can make sure like, i’ll give the heads up that we are about to get in line, but we will make sure, or keep each other accountable to make sure that he has shoes on, and that we are getting him together. mr. p.: yeah today it was those shoes. intentional plans that guide the daily routine, and thoughtful decisions about how to make transitions within that routine less cumbersome, reclaim lost time and increase the opportunity for rich teacher-child interactions in small moments. given the supports provided by organizational infrastructure, and the investment in instructional capacity, the triangle teachers are in a unique position to both recognize the value of these moments, and to make the most of them. in the present study, local policies and protocols were enacted in such a way that teachers in the triangle classroom felt supported by their administration and grateful to be part of a like-minded team in a positive climate. this is not to say that the community, the cccc, or the teachers, students, and families of the triangle classroom did not face challenges. many external factors weighing on this classroom community could have compromised teacher-child interactions and instructional quality. despite these barriers, ms. zachmann, mr. pearson, and ms. o’neal remained focused and dedicated. triangle teachers could offload many non-instructional tasks, making them more available to students pragmatically, but even more importantly the triangle teachers engaged each other in emotional offloading, making them more available to students emotionally. triangle classroom didn’t ‘lose their cool.’ during 128 hours of classroom observation over eight weeks (at the end of the school year, no less!), we noted that one teacher was short with one student one time. that is no small feat. taken together, the impactful ways broader policies and local protocols are enacted to build organizational infrastructures and increase instructional capacity in big ways, but also in the small, rich normality moments that add up to equal importance. permeating themes across person and context the influences defined and described here are not exhaustive of all factors at play considering teacher-child interactions. however, they are the most common and most influential observed in the triangle classroom. successfully navigating compliance with external mandates and accounting for other factors of influence comes with practice, and is supported by the following four values observed in action at the center. community of individuals. members of the cccc feel valued for their individual contributions to a shared mission. the common values held by employees include a respect for diverse opinions, different approaches, and lots of personalities. mrs. o’neal describes this call to “be present in the classroom. be present for your staff, your coworkers, the children, you don’t know what they are going through in their day, and then we have to be present for each other.” the ssa and cccc leadership hire and work for people whom they respect, and this climate permeates the building. ms. stevenson, the education coordinator for the preschool classrooms agrees, saying: 68 whittingham & hoffman there is no i in it. it is about we, supporting each other and helping each other and finding out what works best. we monitor what we do, and i like knowing ‘this is what we are about,’ and we check ourselves. i like that they do all that. i like the whole business of it. we aren’t just out there, trial and error, but we have a plan. we have a mission and we have specific procedures and guidelines to follow. a lot of places don’t have that. consistent flexibility. policies and protocols are in place to demonstrate consistency and fairness, and yet they are written widely enough that pragmatic change is welcome when necessary. always open to improvement, the center and the ssa welcome change when change makes sense; ms. cooper looks for ways to meet the changing needs of the community and her students, while remaining consistent in the overall message. she says, “my biggest thing is really just working with my team to know the importance of their role here. when you show up, we win.” growth mindset. there is a consistent discourse among teachers, staff, and administrators to strive to do better. the center community celebrates successes and acknowledgements accomplishments but is tireless in its efforts to continue to raise the bar of achievement – for themselves and for their students. ms. stevenson mentioned their interest in developing more reflective practice groups among teachers, saying, “…you want teachers to talk about their practice, you have a topic, or everyone brings a topic, and you want them to be able to talk and reflect about that.” prioritizes academic achievement while developing the whole child. these shared discourses about the center and its purpose result in a teaching climate that prioritizes academic achievement while developing the whole child. much like their ability to comply with regulations and mandates in purposeful ways that do not compromise instructional quality, the ssa, the cccc, and the employees thoughtfully hired to uphold this mission, believe that a strong educational foundation is one piece of student success. when asked what the single most important skill they each wanted their students to leave their classroom having mastered, mr. pearson responded: how to self-regulate when something doesn’t go their way. instead of just blowing a gasket or blowing their top, to be able to calm themselves and come to approach someone in a manner that they can be understood, or an understanding manner. self-regulation was also a theme for ms. zachmann, who said, “i want them to be able to continue to take a deep breath and think, ‘is this a big deal or a small deal?’, and really be able to regulate their emotions.” when students are able to regulate their own emotions, they can tend to those of their classmates. ms. o’neal states: i think they are really learning to respect each other. to care about each other. and to just learn and enjoy learning. learning is fun. socially i really, really want them to be able to communicate their needs, wants, and express themselves verbally. a teaching and lerarning tightrope 69 ms. cooper’s hope is “that they are inquisitive and they are asking questions and just curious about life. all the things that kids already are, but it is up to the teachers to be able to keep that.” discussion within a government-supported ece climate, adherence to policies and protocols ensure continued financial support. in some cases, increasing external mandates create a climate where compliance is emphasized as the primary measure of success. overwhelmed by compliance with external requirements, limited resources are sometimes readily allocated in ways that compromise instructional quality. fortunately, some ece settings have implemented policies and protocols to ensure both compliance with external regulation and continued student academic success. using a bioecological model to investigate the features of person and context of such both/and implementation provides opportunities to support other sites that struggle to find such balance on the tightrope. therefore, “collaborative participatory research and ethnographic studies of teachers who accomplish innovative and inclusive ece in culturally diverse high poverty communities is urgent for the profession” (comber, 2011, p. 135). with young children on the leading edge of a steady demographic change, classroom instruction, including preschool interactions, must reflects the rich cultural experiences of all children. what was historically deemed ‘high-quality’ preschool instruction must now also incorporate the flexibility and sensitivity necessary to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population. and yet, in an era of normative standardized literacy curriculum, many ece educators are not receiving the support necessary to enact practices in their preschool classrooms that fits the developmental needs and cultural identities of all students. federal funding avenues, state grant incentives, district curriculum adoptions, local allocation of materials, professional development, and building leadership are but a few of the external factors influencing classroom instructional quality. these influences are not unilateral, nor are they easily defined. for this reason, it is not enough to simply investigate the developmentally-grounded and individually-responsive nature of teacher-child interactions without also investigating the policies and protocols that support these instructional practices. future directions observing the practices of the triangle classroom gives substance to the generalities we believe to be true about the purposeful balancing act when navigating requirements imposed globally while teaching young children locally. as the political, economic, and social climate of the united states changes, so will the role and process of external compliance in ece. amidst fluid and often competing discourses of influence, the triangle teachers, and their peers nationwide, must remain steadfast in their vision of school readiness for the preschool child, considering both what young students need to be prepared for school, and what schools need to be prepared for the diverse needs of their students. for the cccc described here, these values have provided a successful backdrop against which to do just that. 70 whittingham & hoffman references baker, a. c., & manfredi-petitt, l. a. 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(2020). a culture of assessment: a bioecological systems approach for early and continuous assessment of deaf infants and children. psychology in the schools, 57(3), 443-458. cline, k. d., gilb, m., & vaught, m. (2019). honoring children's ways of knowing: a story of trust and transformation in a kkndergarten classroom. learning landscapes, 12(1), 77-90. comber, b. (2011). making space for place-making pedagogies: stretching normative mandated literacy curriculum. contemporary issues in early childhood, 12(4), 343-348. compton‐lilly, c., (2007). the complexities of reading capital in two puerto rican families. reading research quarterly,42(1), 72-98. connors, m.c. (2016). creating cultures of learning: a theoretical model of effective early care and education policy. early childhood research quarterly, 36, 32-45. downer, j. t., booren, l. m., lima, o. k., luckner, a. e., & pianta, r. c. (2010). the individualized classroom assessment scoring system (inclass): preliminary reliability and validity of a system for observing preschoolers’ competence in classroom interaction. early childhood research quarterly, 25, 1-16. edwards, c. p., gandini, l., & forman, g. e. (2012). the hundred languages of children: the reggio emilia experience in transformation. praeger. gallo-fox, j., & cuccuini-harmon, c. m. (2018). the non-tested years: policy’s impact on early childhood curriculum. the educational forum, 82(4), 475-490. gee, j. (1996). social linguistics and literacies: ideology in discourses. routledge. gee, j. p. (2005). an introduction to discourse analysis: theory and method (2nd ed.). routledge. goffin, s. g. (2010). ncrece in focus: increasing knowledge in early childhood. university of virginia national center for research on early childhood education. harmes, t., clifford, r., & cryer, d. 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(2016). race to the top – early learning challenge. author. u.s. department of health and human services (2015). head start early learning outcomes framework: ages birth to five. author. wohlwend, k. e. (2009). early adopters: playing new literacies and pretending new technologies in print-centric classrooms. journal of early childhood literacy, 9(2), 117-140. yin, r. k. (2013). case study research: design and methods. sage publications. dialog, 18(4), 111-116 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 i would like to acknowledge the help of margaret hoban for her help in entering data. research-to-practice summary preschooler digital usage and visual spatial performance: implications for the classroom kathleen keefe-cooperman long island university post this research to practice paper summarizes a study focused on typically developing preschooler’s integrated technology usage. different amounts of usage were found based on parental education, ethnic/racial identity, and ses. television viewing patterns from a 2010 study were also compared to a 2014 group of children. preschoolers from the 2014 group were watching similar amounts of television, but also had increased technological device usage. children had greater total screen time than in the past. lower maternal education, lower ses, and being from a historically disadvantaged background were associated with greater usage time. preschoolers with higher reported digital media usage had lower wppsi-iv visual spatial composite scores and full scale iq scores, on average. strategies to improve visual spatial skills in the classroom setting are provided. keywords: visual spatial functioning; preschooler; screen time; mobile devices; integrated technology visual and spatial abilities are progressively mastered as a skill set during childhood, and used in everyday life as an adult. the action of unlocking a door with a key, addressing an envelope, or hanging a picture on a wall are the result of playing with legos, stacking blocks, or completing puzzles as a child. thinking spatially allows us to focus on object location, shape, the relation to other objects, and what happens when items move (newcombe, 2010). mastery of spatial skills has increasingly been linked to later academic achievement. science, technology, engineering and math fields (stem) build upon those early years of motor development (uttal, meadow, tipton, et. al., 2013). the young children of today have never known a life without mobile devices, computers and television. digital usage is growing, as noted in the increase of children using a mobile device for media activity from 39% in 2011 to 80% in 2013 (rideout, 2014). children who are poorer or of minority status have higher usage rates daily (rideout, 2013). preschoolers are digital natives who are drawn to mobile technology and able to easily maneuver through applications (apps). many benefits are cited in relation to increased access to technology. chiong and schuler (2010) note that mobile learning provides a venue for underserved children to be able to access educational material, and that teachable moments can now occur anytime and 112 keefe-cooperman anyplace. that is correct if digital usage is optimally implemented and the focus is on educational material. as an example of a negative unintended consequence, radesky et al. (2015) examined the frequency of mobile device usage in low income mother-child interactions, and found fewer interpersonal interactions as use increased. at-risk children already show less optimal sleep health, and related adaptive and cognitive functioning issues (keefe-cooperman & brady-amoon, 2014). digital usage provides an additional detraction for already disadvantaged youth, and impedes educational efforts to close the achievement gap. understanding how digital usage impacts spatial development is key. integrated technology usage may be taking up time previously spent building blocks, or stacking pots on a kitchen floor. the way children play with a smart device is different. touch screen usage involves a physically different manipulation of objects. fingers are used to move items across the screen in a two dimensional manner. there is no stacking or turning of items physically. in fact, only one hand is typically used to move digital media (manches, 2011). puzzles can now be completed on a touch screen without the child ever learning to physically turn the items so as to fit them into a space. two dimensional media objects lack the perceptual cues of threedimensional items, and negatively impact future application due to the limited nature of movement (barr, 2013). understanding the impact of digital device usage related to visual spatial functioning will set the stage for the development of curricula in the classroom to optimize preschooler educational readiness. findings from this study preschoolers from a 2010 study (612 children) were compared to preschoolers from a 2014 study (492 children) because of the digital explosion into everyday life that occurred between the two time periods. television viewing patterns have remained similar over time, but technological device usage has increased. the 2014 group watched about the same amount of television, and had additional screen time through digital usage. the 2014 preschooler group had higher daily total screen time amounts as a result. additionally, on average, children who were reported to watch greater amounts of television had higher amounts of technology usage. european american preschoolers reported statistically significant less digital device time usage than african american participants, but not latino(a), and asian participants. see table 1 for the time usage for each of the 2010 and 2014 racial/ethnic preschool groups. parents in the “at risk” income level reported statistically significant greater amounts of digital device time usage than those in the lower middle class, middle class, and upper middle class. see table 2 for the time usage for each of the 2010 and 2014 ses preschool groups. historically disadvantaged and poorer children are spending more time on digital devices. maternal education was also related to digital media usage based on differences between group means, but no clear pattern was found. see table 3 for the time usage for each of the 2010 and 2014 maternal education preschool groups. greater daily digital usage was associated with lower visual spatial performance. spending even small amounts of time daily with integrated technology was associated with lower wppsi-iv overall intelligence test scores, and visual spatial scores. those with the least amount of resources are at the most risk for lower visual spatial abilities. preschooler digital usage and visual spatial functioning 113 table 2 television viewing times, smart device usage, and total screen time in minutes for socioeconomic groups from the 2010 and 2014 preschooler groups ses group n television digital device total screen wppsi-iv time time time vs m (sd) at risk/lowest income 2010 59 2 – 3 hrs 2 – 3 hrs 2014 53 2 – 3 hrs 45 – 60 min > 3 hrs 90.11 (10.36) lower middle class 2010 (combined with middle class) 2014 74 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 2 – 3 hrs 95.12 (10.60) middle class 2010 625 1 – 2 hrs 2 – 3 hrs 2014 204 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 2 – 3 hrs 95.94 (11.32) upper middle class 2010 141 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 121 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 1 – 2 hrs 98.23 (11.10) total 2010 847 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 452 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 2 – 3 hrs 95.66 (11.22) note. wppsi-iv visual spatial (vs) composite score is derived from the block design and object assembly subtest scores; m = 100, sd = 15. a television and total screen usage time have been collapsed into time categories: 1 – 2 hours; 2 – 3 hours; > 3 hours. b digital device usage time has been collapsed into categories: 15 – 30 minutes; 30 – 45 minutes; 45 – 60 minutes. 114 keefe-cooperman table 3 television viewing times, smart device usage, and total screen time in minutes for maternal education groups from the 2010 and 2014 preschooler groups maternal n television digital device total screen wppsi-iv education time time time vs m (sd) did graduate high school 2010 10 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 9 1 – 2 hrs 30 – 45 min 2 – 3 hrs 92.13 (9.32) high school graduate 2010 51 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 22 2 – 3 hrs 15 – 30 min 2 – 3 hrs 86.4 (13.43) some college 2010 103 2 – 3 hrs 2 – 3 hrs 2014 63 2 – 3 hrs 30 – 45 min 2 – 3 hrs 91.39 (9.63) college degree or higher 2010 477 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 352 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 1 – 2 hrs 97.11 (11.12) total 2010 641 1 – 2 hrs 1 – 2 hrs 2014 446 1 – 2 hrs 15 – 30 min 2 – 3 hrs 95.64 (11.33) note. wppsi-iv visual spatial (vs) composite score is derived from the block design and object assembly subtest scores; m = 100, sd = 15. a television and total screen usage time have been collapsed into time categories: < 1 hour; 1 – 2 hours; 2 – 3 hours; > 3 hours. b digital device usage time has been collapsed into categories: 15 – 30 minutes; 30 – 45 minutes; 45 – 60 minutes. implications for practice there are several implications for practice which emerged from the results of the study. the first is that parents from lower ses backgrounds, having less maternal education, or from a historically disadvantaged racial/ethnic identity need to be informed about integrated technology and visual spatial functioning. the second is that including more fine motor and visual spatial play activities into the ongoing curriculum may improve overall abilities and lead to greater stem success in later grades. educating parents the preschool setting can be a key place for facilitating positive visual spatial growth and informing parents. of particular importance to this issue, head start classrooms were developed to lessen socio-economic disparities so as to improve school readiness (usdhhs, 2005). children who are poorer, have mothers/female caregivers with less education, or are of historically disadvantaged minority/ethnic status are on technological devices more than their peers, and are missing opportunities for developmental growth. the head start programs, and preschooler digital usage and visual spatial functioning 115 other programs that provide schooling for underserved children, can make a difference in improving future stem readiness. in addition to the ongoing daily curriculum, head start parent information meetings are often held to improve parent knowledge on a variety of subjects. the teacher also has ongoing contact and input with the parent. this can empower the teacher to be an agent of change for the parents. head start works on the premise that there is a partnership between parents and the school in facilitating their children’s education. the data from this study can be used to provide parents with the information that can guide integrated technology usage in the home. parents turn to teachers for help related to families and parenting. teaching parents about the importance of spatial development in preparation for school readiness is key (verdine, golinkoff, hirsh-pasek & newcombe, 2014). showing parents that there is data associating digital device usage with lower visual spatial functioning is a form of empowerment. informed parents are more likely to develop daily routines and schedules that will support optimal development for their children and lead to greater educational success. incorporating visual spatial play in the classroom curriculum the preschool classroom setting typically contains several play areas where preschoolers can go to play with blocks, legos or other three dimensional building toys. integrating spatial education as more of a key part of the curriculum will result in gains in the stem related fields (verdine et al., 2014). implementing a spatial education as part of the ongoing daily curriculum will identify at risk children and improve overall abilities. a way to successfully achieve spatial education is to move blocks, puzzles and shapes from activity areas to part of the curriculum. the preschool setting can be a place of compensation for increased digital usage in daily life. the findings from this study showing the association between lower visual spatial functioning and digital device usage emphasize the need to proactively compensate with the use of structured spatial lessons. head start teachers are skilled educators who can improve visual spatial functioning and resultant school readiness skills. references barr, r. (2013). memory constraints on infant learning from picture books, television, and touchscreens. child development perspectives, 7(4), 205-210. chiong, c., & shuler, c. (2010). learning: is there an app for that. investigations of young children’s usage and learning with mobile devices and apps. new york: the joan ganz cooney center at sesame workshop. keefe-cooperman, k., & brady-amoon, p. (2014). preschooler sleep patterns related to cognitive and adaptive functioning. early education and development, 25(6), 859-874. manches, a. (2011). digital manipulatives: tools to transform early learning experiences. international journal of technology enhanced learning, 3(6), 608-626. newcombe, n. s. (2010). picture this: increasing math and science learning by improving spatial thinking. american educator, 34(2), 29. radesky, j., miller, a. l., rosenblum, k. l., appugliese, d., kaciroti, n., & lumeng, j. c. (2015). maternal mobile device use during a structured parent–child interaction task. academic pediatrics, 15(2), 238244. rideout, v. j. (2013). zero to eight: children’s media use in america 2013: a common sense media research study. new york: the joan ganz cooney center at sesame workshop. 116 keefe-cooperman rideout, v. j. (2014). learning at home: families’ educational media use in america. a report of the families and media project. new york: the joan ganz cooney center at sesame workshop. u. s. department of health & human services. head start impact study: first year findings. washington, dc: 2005. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/impact_study/reports/ uttal, d. h., meadow, n. g., tipton, e., hand, l. l., alden, a. r., warren, c., & newcombe, n. s. (2013). the malleability of spatial skills: a meta-analysis of training studies. psychological bulletin, 139, 352402. doi:10.1037/a0028446 verdine, b. n., golinkoff, r. m., hirsh‐pasek, k., newcombe, n. s., filipowicz, a. t., & chang, a. (2014). deconstructing building blocks: preschoolers' spatial assembly performance relates to early mathematical skills. child development, 85(3), 1062-1076. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/impact_study/reports/ dear nhsa dialog readers, winter 2019 in this season of thanksgiving, i am grateful for your interest in research and practice in that most important of all learning windows of opportunity, early childhood. stepping up to take the editorial helm of this important journal is professionally energizing and humbling. i am grateful to dr. richard lambert for both his mentorship along the way (i have published in, and guest-edited prior issues) and for his trust in me to pick up where he has left off in this important work. he still maintains an important role on the editorial advisory board, and fortunately his office is but a few steps down the hall from mine, so his sound advice is close at hand! as you likely read in dr. lambert’s farewell editorial address in the last issue, my background is in secondary education work; former teacher and high school administrator for 28 years. spending almost three decades rather desperately addressing secondary school reform, while at the same time raising two children of my own, naturally lead to fervent advocacy for high quality early childhood education for all children. in my role in the department of educational leadership at the university of north carolina at charlotte, i work to ensure that future school principals and superintendents see the critical importance of understanding child development as well as cultivate their own important roles as educational leaders who work for policy change. my ultimate vision is to see a “free and appropriate” high quality education begin on our maternity wards and i know that if you are reading this journal, you understand this quest. i titled this issue “letters, words, books, and video tape” as it moves from that most preliminary of literacy components, teaching sounds and shapes of letters, on to word usage in language development, book usage for literacy development, and ultimately the impact of video self-reflection on teacher practice in head start classrooms. keeping with the journal’s formatting, these articles sharing research studies are followed by articles aimed at translating this research into practice. in our opening research article, hope gerde and her team from michigan state university (lori skibbe, megan goetsch, and sarah douglas) share with us how 48 head start teachers teach preschool children about letter knowledge while also exploring the influence of teachers’ beliefs and practices on teaching and learning. in her follow-up research-to-practice article, dr. gerde shares practices from her study as well as additional research-based practices for teaching letters and letter-sound knowledge to young children. in our second research article, dr. judy hicks paulick of the university of virginia shows important connections between teacher-child interactions during free choice time and results on the class instrument regarding language development. in her research-to-practice article she delves more deeply into the usage of “rare” words during teacher-child interactions, as well as compares categories of interactions such as those aimed to “direct,” “inform,” “question,” and/or “discuss.” the work has implications for teacher training and suggests that head start teachers need access to professional development on how to support oral language development throughout the preschool day, even (and particularly) during free choice time. our third research article explores the effects of a whole-classroom repeated book reading intervention on language development of 63 children across 4 rural head start classrooms. alina mihai of indiana university kokomo and gretchen butera of indiana university bloomington found that the children who experienced the repeated book reading approach registered significant gains in their discourse ability scores compared to children in the control group. their research-to-practice article shares with practitioners how to best use the repeated book reading model and includes strategies to help develop children’s inferential language skills which may be critical to support reading comprehension. this issue concludes with a study focused on teacher self-reflection using videovoiceover coaching by michelle grantham-caston and cynthia dicarlo of louisiana state university. teachers involved in analyzing their teaching videos with voiceovers provided by coaches, became more aware of the class toddler tool criteria they were using. the experience influenced their reliability in scoring, and the children of teachers who participated enjoyed increased class scores. in their research-to-practice article, grantham-caston and dicarlo break down precisely what technology is required to replicate the video production with voice-over coaching, as well as strategies for a variety of improvements based on targeted outcomes. we hope you enjoy your journey from letters to words to books to video, exploring new research and practices to improve educational environments for young children. feel free to send any comments or thoughts to me at rshore6@uncc.edu and encourage fellow researchers and educators to share our issue with others, and their own research with us! future issues: for our next issue of nhsa dialog: the research-to-practice journal for the early childhood field, i am bringing aboard a former colleague, dr. pamela shue, to serve as coeditor. we are currently brainstorming themes for special issues and welcome your ideas for that project. meanwhile, i will be presenting at the nhsa parent and community engagement conference in anaheim, california next month and if you are in attendance, please stop by and introduce yourself to me. i would love to treat you to coffee and brainstorm ideas for future journal themes and other ideas for sharing your work. gratefully, rebecca a. shore, ed.d. rshore6@uncc.edu rebecca shore, editor university of north carolina at charlotte no, this is not a play on the title of gabriel garcia marquez’ nobel prize winning book, love in the time of cholera. (although, like the book, delivering early childhood education in the time of covid has certainly had its share of twists and turns!) it’s just an attempt to remind us of the importance of reading and staying abreast of the research in our field to best serve children and families. it is also a reminder that amidst unprecedented uncertainties, our critical work will move forward during this difficult year and hopefully transport us to a deeper understanding of the importance of, among other things, our own health and its place in the important field of early childhood education. so take a break, sit back and relax, and enjoy some research (and researchto-practice) from scholars working in our field. as we enthusiastically bid farewell to the unusual year of 2020 with somewhat desperate hopes of a return to anything resembling “normal” in the coming year, we are pleased to produce this winter issue of the nhsa dialog. heartfelt thanks to my co-editor, dr. pamela shue, my managing editor, bryndle bottoms, and all of our manuscript reviewers for trudging forward through uncertain times with positive attitudes to help publish three different issues of the journal this year while simultaneously learning how to teach online, how to learn online, and how to generally “live” virtually as productively as possible, albeit from “home.” this new lifestyle (almost entirely online) has been a first for many of us! our winter journal issue is still presented in its familiar format containing eight articles for your reading and learning pleasure; four research articles followed by four research-to-practice articles by the same authors with a focus on practice. we open with the transition from pre-k to kindergarten: parent, teacher, and administrator perspectives by dr. virginia vitiello of the university of virginia. vitiello recruited parents, teachers, and administrators engaged in a larger, longitudinal study to focus in on the range of transition practices from pre-k to kindergarten, as well as investigating uniformity within the use of those practices. she interviewed 9 administrators (3 from the school district, 3 from centers, and 3 elementary school principals) in addition to 10 preschool teachers, 13 kindergarten teachers, and 10 parents of preschoolers to gather data. she gleaned 3 important themes from her data collection. it may come as no surprise to many of us that one theme was “much of the energy, enthusiasm, and sense of responsibility for children’s successful transitions was borne by preschool, rather than elementary school, administrators, teachers, and parents.” this really hit home with your editors from our studies in north carolina in the last decade (shore, shue, & lambert, 2010; bish, shore, & shue, 2011, and shue, shore, & lambert 2013) through which we found elementary principals felt sorely lacking in background knowledge for welcoming pre-k to their schools, even though they did, indeed welcome them. vitiello also found that there was more emphasis on the “mechanics” of the transition than on love of learning in the time of covid actual “readiness” skills for children, and that there were issues of concern around lack of alignment of curriculum between the pre-k experiences and their kindergarten curriculum. this last theme from vitiello’s work made for a natural transition to our second research article, an investigation of the curricula (and quality) of early childhood educators. this article shares results of a study by dr. rachel schachter and dr. laura justice, both at the university of nebraska at lincoln, in collaboration with dr. shayne piasta of the ohio state university. their work addresses the challenges faced when trying to identify a common definition of curriculum across the field of early childhood education. their extensive review of literature led them to articulate 7 key features of quality. their large pool of almost 500 participants resulted in another large pool of 35 different curricula being used. dive in! our third research article is a case study focused on one particular government-funded preschool classroom in an economically under-resourced community to answer the research question, “how do required policies and protocols reflect and shape effective classroom interactions?” in their 8week qualitative case study, dr. coleen whittingham of the university of north carolina at charlotte, and dr. emily brown hoffman of ball state university investigate the bidirectional influences of the macrosystems on the microsystem. their research involved interviews, fieldnotes, artifacts, employee handbooks, parent communications, classroom curricula and even videotape, to consider the origins of the policies witnessed in practice. read their research to learn about triangle teachers in a triangle classroom. our final research article by dr. rebecca shearer-bulotsky, christine f. delgado, jhonelle bailey, jenna n. futterer & rinatte l. gruen of the university of miami is titled examination of children referred and identified with socioemotional and behavioral needs in head start. this important work examined the prevalence of children identified with disabilities in a large urban head start program serving diverse preschool children living in poverty. from a sample of over 7,300 preschool children, their findings suggest that gender (boys) and ethnicity (hispanic) were associated with higher rates of identification for disability, including emotional/behavioral disability. this work further highlights that early identification is crucial so that “early intervention and support can be provided within the classroom and home setting, to improve children’s adaptive behavior and positive engagement in formative learning experiences that set the stage for future school and life success.” in closing, we hope to have fed your love of learning by presenting something new about teaching, learning, head start, and the field of early childhood education. we also extend a reminder to always take precautions for yourself to stay safe, all the while we know you are keeping our children safe, developing, and thriving whether in-person or through a screen. when educators learn, it’s almost assured that students will learn (brunsek,, perlman, et al, 2020) and school outcomes will improve (shore, lambert, & shue, 2020). we hope that you will have some creative and productive new thoughts as you dive into this last issue of the nhsa dialog for 2020. references bish, m., shore, r. & shue, p. (2011). preparing elementary principals for preschool. principal magazine, 90(5), 20 – 24. brunsek, a., perlman, m., mcmullen, e., falenchuk, o., fletcher, b., nocita, g., kamkar, n. and shah, p. (2020). a meta-analysis and systematic review of the associations between professional development of early childhood educators and children's outcomes. early childhood research quarterly 53 217–48. shore, r., lambert, r., & shue, p. (2020). the early childhood directors leadership institute: using formal assessment data to drive leadership improvement. the journal of leadership and policy in schools. shore, r., shue, p., & lambert, r. (2010). ready or not – here come the preschoolers. phi delta kappan, (92)3, 32-34. shue, p., shore, r., & lambert, r. (2012) prekindergarten in public schools: an examination of elementary school principals’ perceptions, needs and confidence levels in north carolina. leadership and policy in schools, 11(2), 216-233. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0885200620300284 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0885200620300284 dialog, 22(1) copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 using coaching and performance feedback to increase head start teachers' use of teaching pyramid model practices cynthia c. baughan anderson university vivian i. correa and reem muharib university of north carolina at charlotte the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of individualized coaching and performance feedback on the implementation of teaching pyramid model practices by three head start teachers. participants were lead teachers in three preschool classrooms located in one head start program. during the intervention, teachers received weekly individualized coaching on teaching pyramid model practices, followed by a weekly classroom observation and emailed performance feedback. all three teachers demonstrated increased implementation of teaching pyramid model practices after the intervention was introduced. these results suggest that individualized coaching and performance feedback may support head start teachers’ implementation of evidence-based practices that can enhance the social and emotional development of young children and address challenging behaviors in the classroom. keywords: head start, coaching, teaching pyramid model, social-emotional development social-emotional competence in young children is highly associated with long-term success in school (fantuzzo et al., 2007) and throughout life (jones, greenberg, & crowley, 2015). socialemotional competence is defined as “a set of skills including self-regulation, self-concept, selfefficacy, and prosocial behaviors with teachers and peers” (fantuzzo et al., 2007, p. 46). evidence of the relationship between social-emotional competence and other developmental skills, such as cognitive and communication skills (brown & conroy, 2011), academic growth in reading and mathematics (mcclelland, acock, & morrison, 2006), and later life outcomes (denham et al., 2003; jones et al., 2015; moffitt et al., 2011) are well documented. however, many young children enter early childhood settings without the social and emotional skills necessary to succeed in the school environment. these children are more likely than their socially competent peers to exhibit challenging behaviors, receive negative attention from teachers (strain, lambert, kerr, stagg, & research article 58 baughan et al. lenkner, 1983), be rejected by peers (odom et al., 2006), and experience failure in school (tremblay, 2000). from an attachment theory perspective (pianta, 1998), child-teacher interactions are crucial in the early years; and, the quality of early child-teacher relationships can be used as a predictor of children’s social skills as older children (howes, 2000). more recently, research findings demonstrate the critical role that supportive adult relationships and positive experiences have on building skills for resilience in young children (center on the developing child at harvard university, 2015). for these reasons, early childhood teachers must be competent in practices that build responsive relationships with young children, create supportive environments, and teach appropriate social and emotional skills that can support long term success and buffer against the effects of adverse experiences. the teaching pyramid model (fox, dunlap, hemmeter, joseph, & strain, 2003) is one specific approach to positive behavior intervention and support (pbis) that promotes these skills. this comprehensive model was designed to help teachers implement evidence-based practices that support social-emotional development in young children (fox et al., 2003). it consists of three different levels of support: (1) tier 1 promotion (e.g., forming responsive relationships and creating supportive environments for all children in the early childhood setting), (2) tier 2 prevention (e.g., explicit instruction of social and emotional skills to target the development of needed skills in young children), and (3) tier 3 intensive intervention (e.g., individualized behavior support plans for children with persistent challenging behaviors). unfortunately, many early childhood teachers do not have the resources or training to implement evidence-based practices that are likely to support children’s social-emotional competence (branson & demchak, 2011; carter & norman, 2010). one national study revealed 9.5% of preschool teachers in federally-funded programs reported having expelled at least one preschool child within 12 months, with african-american preschool children twice as likely to be expelled from preschool as caucasian children (10.0 and 5.8 per 1,000, respectively), and more than five times as likely as asian-american children (1.8 per 1,000; gilliam, 2005). recently released data from the office for civil rights (ocr) confirms these patterns of preschool suspensions and racial disparity in preschool suspensions. of the participating preschool programs, 6% reported having suspended a child at least once, with nearly 5,000 preschool children suspended during the course of a year. african-american children represented 42% of preschool children suspended while only representing 18% of children enrolled in preschool. additional data from the ocr indicated these patterns of suspension and expulsion continue throughout k-12 school settings (us department of education office for civil rights, 2014). although research findings indicate approximately 10% of kindergarten children exhibit challenging behaviors (kupersmidt, bryant, & willoughby, 2000; west, denton, & germinohausken, 2000), there is particular concern about the social-emotional competence of children living in poverty. children from low-income backgrounds may be at greater risk of developing significant challenging behaviors in comparison to the general population (qi & kaiser, 2003). in fact, about 46.5% of children living in poverty enter school with deficits in social-emotional competence, and over 20% enter school with significant challenging behaviors (kaiser, hancock, cai, foster, & hester, 2000). to support the development of children in poverty, head start was created to provide comprehensive services to young children and their families and, specifically, to promote the cognitive, social, and emotional development of children from low-income backgrounds (administration for children and families, 2015). many children and families receive services teaching pyramid model 59 through head start programs. during 2015-2016, more than 1,080,000 children were enrolled in head start, with more than 450,000 preparing to enter school (office of head start, 2017). prior research suggests, though, that increasing numbers of children in head start programs display challenging behaviors (eberhart-wright, 2002, as cited in snell, berlin, voorhees, stantonchapman, & hadden, 2012a), with externalizing behaviors the most prominent challenging behavior identified by head start teachers (snell et al., 2012b). furthermore, it is suggested not all children with behavioral difficulties receive services that meet their behavioral needs in head start programs (qi & kaiser, 2003). although head start requires in-service teachers to attend a minimum of 15 hours of professional development every year (improving head start for school readiness act, 2007), reports from head start teachers reveal that they are often overwhelmed by not being equipped to handle challenging behaviors in the classroom (domitrovich et al., 2009; driscoll & pianta, 2010). challenging behaviors likely contribute to increased stress (friedman-krauss, raver, neuspiel, & kinsel, 2014), and classroom staff need more training related to classroom management and behavioral support (snell et al., 2012a). these statements are consistent with the findings of quesenberry, hemmeter, and ostrosky (2011) who investigated six head start programs through interviews and document analysis. the researchers found that all six head start programs scored poorly on both teaching social-emotional skills and supporting children with challenging behaviors in the classroom. to address such concerns, whittaker and harden (2010) suggested head start teachers may particularly benefit from supports such as training, observations, feedback, and consultation related to implementing behavior support strategies and classroom interventions. further, it is possible that training head start teachers in the use of evidence-based practices may increase their capacity to promote appropriate social and emotional development at a universal and targeted level, and prevent the development of persistent challenging behaviors in some children. providing teachers with ongoing individualized support with feedback on their implementation of evidence-based practices has more lasting effects than a one-day workshop (wayne, yoon, cronen, zhu & garet, 2008). teacher consultation (e.g., benedict, horner, & squires, 2007; carter & norman, 2010) and coaching (e.g., fox, hemmeter, snyder, binder, & clarke, 2011) are models of individualized supports for preschool teachers examined in the literature. teacher consultation is used to help teachers improve their skills to support children with challenging behaviors. in this model, a consultant provides a teacher with the strategies needed to improve the classroom arrangements, as well as teaching practices to promote the socialemotional competence of children (dougherty, 2000). consultation is shown to increase preschool teachers’ implementation of pbis universal practices in the classroom (benedict et al., 2007; carter & norman, 2010), practices that are likely to promote appropriate development of socialemotional skills. coaching is another model found to increase teachers’ use of evidence-based practices (kretlow & bartholomew, 2010). in preschool settings, coaching in combination with other strategies can improve teacher-child interactions (zan & donegan-ritter, 2014) and the implementation of teaching pyramid model practices (fox et al., 2011). fox and colleagues (2011) investigated the effects of teacher coaching and performance feedback on the implementation of teaching pyramid model practices by three public preschool teachers. the researchers provided each teacher with individualized coaching based on their scores from the teaching pyramid observation tool (tpot; hemmeter, fox & snyder, 2014). the results of this study suggested a functional relation between teacher coaching and performance feedback and teachers’ implementation of teaching pyramid model practices. however, the study did not provide data on the behavioral outcomes of children. 60 baughan et al. similarly, godfrey-hurrell, correa, & truesdell (2018) investigated the effects of teacher coaching and performance feedback on the implementation of teaching pyramid model practices by three private preschool teachers. findings suggested teachers increased their levels of implementation and demonstrated a positive view of the coaching model. to our knowledge, these are the only studies that have examined the effects of coaching and feedback on teachers’ use of teaching pyramid model practices. due to the paucity of studies examining the effects of teacher coaching on the implementation of teaching pyramid model practices, and due to the existing need to support head start teachers, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of coaching three head start teachers on their use of teaching pyramid model practices in the classroom. additionally, we intended to measure the effects of teacher coaching on social interactions within the classroom. we specifically addressed the following research questions: (1) what is the impact of coaching and performance feedback on head start preschool teachers’ use of teaching pyramid model practices in the classroom? (2) what is the impact of teacher coaching and performance feedback on social interactions in the classroom? methods participants lead teachers in a head start preschool classroom who had no prior formal training in the teaching pyramid model that exceeded a one-day training session were eligible to participate in this study. a purposive sampling procedure was used to recruit interested teachers through the administrator of a head start program with whom the researchers had an existing relationship. the study included three head start classroom lead teachers who were interested in receiving training related to promoting the social-emotional competencies of children, as well as preventing challenging behaviors in the classroom. a signed written notice of informed consent was obtained from each participating teacher. parental consent was not needed as the researchers did not collect data on specific target children. the first teacher, hellen (pseudonym), was an african american female with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. she had 25 years of experience working with young children in an early childhood setting. hellen had 17 children, ages 4 and 5 years old, in her classroom. all the children in her classroom were reported to be african american. the second teacher, joey (pseudonym), was an african american female with a bachelor’s degree in child development and family studies and a master’s degree in family and community services. she had six years of teaching experience in early childhood settings. joey had 17 children, ages 4 and 5 years old, in her classroom. all the children in her classroom were reported to be african american. the third teacher, sharon (pseudonym), was an african american female with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in business. she had 12 years of experience working in an early childhood setting. sharon had 17 children, ages 4 and 5 years old, in her classroom. all the children in her classroom, except two who were biracial, were reported to be african american. teaching pyramid model 61 setting the study took place at a head start program located in an urban neighborhood in the southeastern united states. the program had a total of three preschool classrooms serving 51 children between the ages of 4 and 5 years old who were predominately (94%) african american. the classrooms operated as a half-day program starting at 7:45 a.m. and ending at 1:45 p.m. five days per week. each classroom had a lead teacher and a teaching assistant. classrooms included children with and without disabilities. all teachers and teaching assistants in this program were african american. observations took place in each of the teachers’ classrooms. coaching sessions took place in a separate room within the preschool building. measures teaching pyramid observation tool. the tpot for preschool classrooms was used to measure each teacher’s implementation of teaching practices associated with the teaching pyramid model, and to identify potential areas of needed improvement for each teacher. developed by hemmeter and colleagues (2014), the tpot is a rating scale completed by a trained observer during a two-hour classroom observation of a teacher in an early childhood educational setting, followed by an individual interview with the teacher with questions connected to the practices of the teaching pyramid model that may not be able to be clearly observed in the classroom (e.g., practices related to supporting families, involvement in behavior support plans, teacher’s selection of teaching strategies and materials, approaches to individualizing instruction). the tpot consists of 141 indicators that are organized into three main subscales: (a) indicators of 14 key practice areas related to universal practices and targeted teaching practices, (b) red flag indicators associated with practices that are likely to elicit challenging behaviors, and (c) strategies for responding to challenging behaviors and developing individualized interventions (hemmeter et al., 2014). the tpot manual provides an extensive description of the literature from which the key practices and indicators were derived, as well as a description of each key practice area. the tpot manual provides an operational definition for each indicator within the 14 key practice areas. based on these definitions, the observer rates the teacher’s implementation of an indicator as a “yes” if it is observed, or a “no” if it is not observed. to determine a score, the number of indicators rated as a “yes” within each key practice area out of the total number of indicators within each area is used to calculate a percentage of implemented practices. for example, if an area (e.g., transitions between activities) has eight indicators and the teacher implements two of them, the percentage would be 25% for that key practice area. successful completion of and certification through a tpot reliability training workshop is necessary to ensure reliable scoring when using this measure. for the purpose of this study, two researchers (first and third author) successfully completed this workshop and received reliability status. reliability and validity of the tpot has been described in previous research (e.g., snyder et al., 2013). specifically, reliability was reported as high (phi coefficient = .89; g coefficient= .95), and convergent validity of the instrument was .70 for emotional support, .73 for classroom organization, and .76 for instructional support (snyder et al., 2013). the validity was determined by measuring the correlations with the classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta, 62 baughan et al. laparo, & hamre, 2008). thorough descriptions of the psychometric integrity of the tpot are available in the tpot research edition manual (hemmeter et al., 2014). individualized tpot. an individualized tpot form was used to measure each teacher’s implementation of teaching practices related to specific areas across baseline and intervention phases. the researchers created the individualized forms to include only the key practice areas and corresponding indicators for the three lowest scoring areas from the initial tpot observation for each teacher. percentages for each of the key practices areas were calculated using the same procedure described above. experimental design an experimental single-subject multiple probe across participants design (horner & baer, 1978) was used to assess the effects of coaching and performance feedback on the skills of three head start teachers in their implementation of teaching pyramid model practices. like other singlesubject designs, a multiple probe design allows for visual analysis of the data. through this research design, a researcher aims to demonstrate a functional relation between the intervention and dependent variables, rather than a statistical significance. the baseline logic in this research design consists of three factors: (a) prediction, (b) verification, and (c) replication. a prediction can be demonstrated when the data path is stable and in the opposite direction of the wanted effects in the intervention. a verification can be demonstrated when no changes are occuring with the second and third participants who are still in the baseline phase. this shows that without intervention, changes in the dependent variables are not occuring, and that changes in the dependent variables of the first participant are caused by the intervention. finally, the replication factor can be demonstrated by changes in the dependent variables of the second and third participants after the introduction of intervention (cooper, heron, & heward, 2007). showing these three factors, a study demonstrates a functional relation. unlike a multiple baseline design, a multiple probe design does not require ongoing data collection in the baseline phase. instead, probing is sufficient. in addition to time-efficiency, this design prevents the participants from unnecessary observations, which may disrupt the learning environment, or make the participants feel frustrated or uncomfortable. in the current study, the percentage of indicators implemented by the teachers related to each of the areas on the individualized tpot form was measured during baseline and intervention phases. all three teachers began the baseline phase at the same time. when a stable trend was observed after four data points, the first teacher entered the intervention phase. the remaining two teachers continued in baseline with intermittent probes until the first teacher demonstrated two stable intervention data points. then, the second teacher entered the intervention phase. the same procedures were followed with the remaining teacher. mastery criterion was defined as implementation of 80% of the indicators in the targeted area. dependent variables primary variable. the primary dependent variable of this study was the percentage of teachers’ implemented practices related to the targeted key practice area identified during the https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1c1ejfa_enus657us658&q=sufficient&spell=1&sa=x&ved=0ahukewj3vbob6zfcahwevlmkhbqoaacqkeecccyoaa https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1c1ejfa_enus657us658&q=efficiency&spell=1&sa=x&ved=0ahukewi2_k_j6zfcahupvlmkhzyldzqqkeecccyoaa teaching pyramid model 63 baseline phase for each teacher. during baseline and intervention phases, teachers were assessed using the individualized tpot forms. observers calculated the percentage of indicators teachers implemented for each of the areas on the individualized forms. secondary variables. two secondary variables were included to examine the social interactions within the classroom. these data were used as supplementary confirmation of data collected using the tpot. the logic for choosing this measure was based on findings that improved social interactions and reductions in challenging behaviors were found in classrooms where teachers received coaching and classroom support to implement pyramid model practices (hemmeter, snyder, fox, & algina, 2011 as cited in hemmeter et al., 2014). one of these secondary variables included classroom observations on the social interactions between the teacher and children (teacher-child), using 15-second momentary time sampling. teachers scored (+) if a positive interaction was observed (e.g., complimenting, giving praise, attentively listening to children, watching children). teachers scored (-) if a negative interaction was observed (e.g., using verbalizations, such as “stop doing,” or “don’t do,” or threatening negative consequences). teachers scored (0) if no interaction was observed (e.g., cleaning up without attending to children’s talk, being busy with paperwork). data were recorded for 15 minutes during circle time and center time, and the total duration of one transition. the other secondary measure included classroom observations on the social interactions of children (child) in the classroom, using 15-second momentary time sampling. because this study primarily focused on measuring changes in teacher practices as opposed to changes in the behavior of specific children, the researchers chose to collect summary data that provided a broader view of the classroom social climate by using the indicator in the tpot to score whether or not a challenging behavior occurred. to remain consistent with the indicators from the tpot, data were recorded on the challenging behaviors (e.g., disruptive, noncompliant, or challenging behaviors as defined by hemmeter et al., 2014, in the tpot) exhibited by children in the classrooms during circle time, center time, and transitions. although this measure focused on identifying undesired behaviors, the aim of the measure was to examine possible improvements in social interactions and behavior such as that noted by hemmeter and colleagues (2011) as a result of teacher’s becoming more competent in supporting appropriate social and emotional development. summary social interaction data related to children was scored (-) if a challenging behavior was observed in any child in the classroom at the end of each interval. the observations lasted 15 minutes during circle and center times. observations during transitions lasted for the duration of one complete transition. an observation during each activity (i.e., circle, centers, transition) per condition (i.e., baseline, intervention) per teacher was conducted once. after the completion of each observation, the number of each outcome (i.e., +, -, 0) was divided by the total number of intervals (e.g., 60), and multiplied by 100 to generate a percentage for each of the aforementioned secondary measures. interobserver agreement interobserver agreement (ioa) was assessed on 25% of the data across baseline and intervention phases. the two researchers who had successfully completed tpot reliability training collected data. one researcher collected data on all baseline and intervention sessions. another researcher collected data on 25% of baseline and intervention sessions for ioa purposes. ioa was calculated indicator-by-indicator in each of the three areas for each teacher using the formula of dividing the 64 baughan et al. number of agreements by the total number of agreements and disagreements multiplied by 100 (kazdin, 1982). an acceptable mean of interobserver agreement was 80% or above across each phase for the primary dependent variable. the mean of ioa at baseline phase was 85% (range = 80% to 90%). the mean of ioa at the intervention phase was 90% (range = 85% to 95%). procedures after receiving institutional review board approval and consent forms from the teachers, the study began. pre-baseline. an initial tpot observation was conducted in the pre-baseline phase with the goal of identifying the lowest scoring areas to inform the focus of intervention for each teacher. during this phase, the two trained researchers conducted an observation of each of the three teachers using the tpot. consistent with the guidance in the tpot manual, each of the twohour observations was conducted in the teacher’s classroom, using and scoring the first eleven key practice areas of the tpot measure during typical classroom activities. immediately following each observation, the respective teacher was interviewed individually by both researchers to complete the last three areas of the measure. researchers used the tpot scores to identify the three lowest scoring areas and create an individualized tpot observation form for each teacher as described previously. baseline. based on the tpot scores obtained at pre-baseline phase, the lowest three scoring areas were identified for the baseline observations. at this phase, one of the trained researchers conducted 2-hour observations using the individualized tpot forms. the baseline observations began the day after the conclusion of pre-baseline. the baseline observations took place in each of the teachers’ classrooms, during the daily activities (e.g., circle time, centers, & transitions). during the baseline phase, no coaching or performance feedback was given to the teachers. additionally during this phase, a classroom observation of social interactions (i.e., secondary variables) was conducted in each classroom by a second researcher. based on the baseline data, researchers identified the focus area for intervention for each teacher (i.e., low scoring and most stable area). intervention. the intervention phase started with the teacher, who first recieved four stable baseline data points, and was then staggered across teachers as described previously. the intervention included individual coaching and performace feedback provided by the same researchers who rated the teachers on the tpot. specifically, one researcher coached teachers on strategies to implement the indicators of the targeted area, and a second researcher observed the teachers and provided them with performance feedback. the researchers followed the intervention steps suggested for coaching on the teaching pyramid model in prior research. individualized coaching sessions were conducted once a week by one researcher, each session lasting approximately 10 minutes. following the example of fox and colleagues (2011), coaching entailed goal setting with each teacher, developing an action plan, and providing suggestions and feedback related to their implementation of teaching pyramid model practices. coaching sessions took place in a separate room and were audiotaped. teaching pyramid model 65 following each coaching session within the same week, the second researcher, who did not participate in the coaching session, observed the teacher in the classroom and collected intervention data, using the individualized tpot form. although the indicators related to the targeted area was the focus of the intervention, data were also collected on the other two low scoring areas assessed during baseline to explore potential effects of the intervention on nontargeted areas. based on the observations, the second researcher provided individualized performance feedback related to the targeted area through email at the end of the week. performance feedback included noting what the teacher had done well, and providing a suggestion for a challenge that was observed. this method (i.e., the use of email) was necessary in order to measure fidelity of implementation of performance feedback. coaching sessions and individualized performance feedback were provided to all three of the teachers until they met the criterion level of at least 80% on indicators in their targeted areas for improvement or the school year ended. in addition, a classroom observation on social interactions for each teacher was conducted by the researcher not providing coaching. intervention fidelity fidelity of intervention was analyzed for 25% of the data. based on training resources located through the technical assistance center on social emotional interventions (http://challengingbehavior.cbcs.usf.edu) fidelity checklists were used to assess the fidelity of intervention. one checklist consisted of 12 steps and was used to assess the fidelity of coaching sessions. the second checklist consisted of eight steps and was used to assess the fidelity of performance feedback emails. one researcher used these fidelity checklists when listening to 25% of the audiotaped coaching sessions, and when reviewing 25% of performance feedback emails. the intervention fidelity was 100% on the coaching sessions as well as performance feedback emails, provided to each of the participating teachers. data analysis a visual analysis of the data was conducted to determine if there were any changes in levels, trends, and stability of data across participants. for the primary dependent variable, a graph of the percentage of targeted tpot items as well as those in the non-targeted areas implemented correctly by each teacher was used. for the secondary dependent variables, descriptive statistics (i.e., percentage of intervals) were used to analyze potential differences in social interactions in baseline and intervention phases. results figure 1 represents the data on the primary measure of this study (percentage of tpot indicators in three areas) that show the effects of coaching and performance feedback on teachers’ implementation of teaching pyramid model practices. figure 2 shows the data on the secondary measures (social interactions) that show the effects of coaching and performance feedback on the social interactions within the classroom. 66 baughan et al. primary variable results hellen. hellen’s targeted area was transitions between activities (e.g., using warnings, teaching expectations of transitions, providing positive descriptive feedback for engaging in the transitions, keeping children engaged during transitions). her non-targeted areas were supportive conversations (e.g., acknowledging children’s communication, calling children by name, joining children’s play and having a conversation with children), and prompting children’s engagement (e.g., providing developmentally-appropriate activities, communicating at eye level, assisting children in selecting centers). baseline. figure 1 shows a decreased trend in hellen’s data in terms of the percentage of implemented indicators related to transitions between activities with a range of 13% to 38% (m = 22%) of the eight indicators related to transitions between activities. baseline data related to supportive conversations with children show a range of 30% to 50% (m = 38%) of the 10 indicators of this area. baseline data related to promoting children’s engagement ranged from 11% to 33% (m = 22%) of the nine indicators of this area. intervention. based on baseline data, transitions between activities was the lowest scoring area with the most stable trend, and, therefore, the targeted area of intervention. hellen’s intervention data show a substantial increase in the percentage of her implemented indicators in the targeted area (i.e., transitions) with a range of 50% to 88%. she mastered the criterion of 80% or higher on the targeted area after receiving three coaching sessions. increases also occurred in one non-targeted area, promoting children’s engagement. in this non-targeted area, hellen scored between 33% and 67% as opposed to 11% and 33% during baseline. however, no increases were observed in hellen’s non-targeted area of supportive conversation between baseline and intervention phases (range= 30% to 50%). statistically, improvement rate difference (ird; parker, vannest, & brown, 2009, 95% of confidence interval) was used to measure the effect size. ird values range from 1.00 (the intervention has large effects on the dependent variable) to 0 (the intervention has no effect on the dependent variable). ird results for hellen were 1.0 in transitions between activities, 0.33 in supportive conversations, and 0.66 in prompting children’s engagement. joey. joey’s targeted area was teaching friendship skills (e.g., prompting children to initiate interactions and respond to their peers; praising children who are working together; using a variety of strategies to teach sharing, turn-taking and other friendship skills). her non-targeted areas were providing directions (e.g., using simple, short, and specific directions; providing positive descriptive feedback for following directions; telling children what to do rather than what not to do; redirecting children who are withdrawn) and teaching social and emotional competencies (e.g., structuring activities for children to work together, modeling expected social skills and emotional competencies, helping children reflect on their use of social skills or emotional competencies). baseline. baseline data on providing directions show a range of 29% to 57% (m = 43%) of the seven indicators of this area. in terms of teaching social and emotional competencies, baseline data ranged from 0% to 13% (m = 8%) of the eight indicators of this area. baseline data show a stable trend on teaching friendship skills with no range (m = 0%) of the nine indicators of this area. intervention. based on baseline data, teaching friendship skills was the lowest scoring area with the most stable trend, therefore, teaching friendship skills became the targeted area of intervention. after a stable trend at a zero level during baseline, joey’s data on the targeted area teaching pyramid model 67 of intervention substantially increased with a range of 67% to 100% of indicators. joey mastered the criterion of 80% or higher on the targeted area after receiving four coaching sessions, and was able to implement 100% of indicators in the targeted area of intervention after receiving the fifth coaching session. increases were also observed on the non-targeted areas of intervention. providing directions increased from 57% of indicators during baseline phase to 86%, at its highest, during intervention. teaching emotional and social competencies increased from 12.5% during baseline to 88%, at its highest, during intervention. joey’s ird results were 1.0 in teaching friendship skills, 0.66 in providing directions, and 1.0 in teaching emotional and social competences. sharon. sharon’s targeted area was promoting children’s engagement. her non-targeted areas were providing directions and supportive conversations. baseline. baseline data on supportive conversations with children ranged from 20% to 50% (m = 30%) of the 10 indicators of this area. baseline data show a decreased trend on promoting children’s engagement with a range of 0% to 62% (m = 21%) of the nine indicators of this area. another decreased stable trend was also observed on providing directions with a range of 14% to 28% (m = 18%) of the seven indicators of this area. intervention. based on baseline data, promoting children’s engagement had the most stable trend with low scores; therefore, promoting children’s engagement became the targeted area of intervention. although sharon did not reach the mastery criterion of 80% on the targeted area of intervention because of the short duration of study, a clinically substantial increase occurred. sharon’s implementation of the tpot items of promoting children’s engagement increased from a stable trend of 0% of indicators during baseline to 56% during intervention after receiving two coaching sessions. other clinically substantial increases were also observed on the two nontargeted areas. supportive conversations with children increased from a range of 20% to 50% during baseline, to a range of 60% to 70% during intervention. providing directions increased from a range of 14% to 28.5% during baseline phase, to a range of 28.5% to 71% during intervention. sharon’s ird results were 1.0 in supportive conversations, 0.85 in promoting children’s engagement, and 1.0 in providing directions. secondary variables results figure 2 shows the results of the social interaction measures. hellen’s classroom. during baseline, the percentage of positive interactions with children for hellen was 8% of intervals during transitions, 4% during whole group time, and 49% during centers. the percentage of the teacher’s negative interactions with children was 33% of intervals during transition, 30% during whole group time, and 14% during centers. the percentage of no interactions with children was 58% of intervals during transitions, 67% during whole group time, and 37% during centers. results of summary child social interactions in hellen’s classroom during baseline show consistent results related to challenging behaviors during baseline. the percentage of intervals in which at least one child was engaging in challenging behavior was 46% of the intervals during transitions, 32% during whole group time, and 33% during centers. no social interactions data were able to be collected in hellen’s classroom during the intervention phase due to her resignation from her teaching position. 68 baughan et al. joey’s classroom. during baseline, the percentage of positive interactions with children for joey was 67% of intervals during transitions, 95% during whole group time, and 84% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 1 1 1 2 transitionstargeted supportive conversations promoting engagement 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 1 1 1 2 teaching friendship skillstargeted directions teaching social and emotional competencies 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 1 1 1 2 promoting engagementtargeted supportive conversation directions figure 1. teachers’ implementation of pyramid model practices. joey sharon hellen sessions p er ce n ta g e o f in d ic at o rs i m p le m en te d r el at ed t o t p m baseline coaching teaching pyramid model 69 during centers. the percentage of negative interactions with children was 0% of intervals during transition, whole group time, and centers. the percentage of no interactions with children was 33% during transitions, 5% during whole group time, and 14% during centers. results of summary child social interactions in joey’s classroom during baseline show variable percentages of intervals in which at least one child engaged in challenging behavior with 33% of intervals during transitions, 57% during whole group time, and 25% during centers. during intervention, the percentage of positive interactions with children for joey increased to 100% of intervals during transitions, and remained stable during both whole group time (97%) and centers (88%). the percentage of the teacher’s negative interactions with children also remained stable across all three settings (range = 0% to 3%). the percentage of no interactions with children decreased to 0% during transitions, and whole group time, and 12% during centers. intervention summary child social interaction data in joey’s classroom show a decline in challenging behaviors. the percentage of intervals in which at least one child engaged in challenging behavior was 30% during transitions, 10% during whole group time, and 5% during centers. sharon’s classroom. during baseline, the percentage of positive interactions with children for sharon was 31% of intervals during transitions, 92% during whole group time, and 52% during centers. the percentage of the teacher’s negative interactions with children was 18% during transition, 8% during whole group time, and 7% during centers. the percentage of no interactions with children was 49% during transitions, 0% during whole group time, and 59% during centers. results of summary child social interactions in sharon’s classroom during baseline show high numbers of intervals in which at least one child was engaged in challenging behaviors for two of the settings. the percentage of intervals in baseline was 66% during transitions, 68% during whole group time, and 11% during centers. during intervention phase, social interaction data indicate the percentage of positive interactions with children for sharon remained at a similar level as in the baseline phase; 59% of intervals during transitions, 79% during whole group time, and 65% during centers. the percentage of the teacher’s negative interactions with children increased to 21% of intervals during transition, 41% during whole group time, and 19% during centers. the percentage of no interactions with children decreased to 0% of intervals during transitions and whole group time, and 16% during centers. intervention summary child social interaction data in sharon’s classroom show inconsistencies in the percentage of intervals in which at least one child engaged in challenging behavior. the percentage of intervals decreased to 27% during transitions, and 21% during whole group time, but increased to 22% during centers. discussion the current study investigated the effects of coaching and performance feedback on the implementation of practices related to the teaching pyramid model by three head start teachers. the findings of this study suggest a functional relation between individualized coaching and performance feedback and the implementation of teaching pyramid model practices. 70 baughan et al. figure 2. percent of intervals of teachers’ and children’s social interactions. note. t > c teacher’s interactions with children, c challenging behaviors of children, + positive interactions, negative interactions, o no interactions. bl = baseline, int = intervention. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 t>c c t>c c t>c c t>c c t>c c t>c c transitionbl group-bl centers-bl transition-int group-int centers-int + o teacher resigned before last observation hellen 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 t>c c t>c c t>c c t>c c t>c c t>c c transitionbl group-bl centers-bl transition-int group-int centers-int joey 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 t>c c t>c c t>c c t>c c t>c c t>c c transitionbl group-bl centers-bl transition-int group-int centers-int sharon teaching pyramid model 71 these results extend the findings of a previous study that examined the impact of coaching and performance feedback on the implementation of teaching pyramid model practices of three public preschool teachers (fox et al., 2011). although the current study explored only three areas of concern for each teacher, data indicted a functional relation between the intervention and an improved knowledge and use of practices related to this model. as previously shown, hellen’s and sharon’s areas of concern were at the universal level of the teaching pyramid model (i.e., nurturing and responsive relationships, and high quality supported environments). on the other hand, joey’s areas of concern were related to more explicit targeted teaching practices that could be used universally with the whole class or under the secondary tier to target social-emotional and behavioral needs of specific children who are at risk for developing challenging behaviors. although the teachers’ needs were related to practices that could fall under different tiers of the model, the findings of this study demonstrated the effects of individualized coaching and performance feedback on the implementation of teaching pyramid model practices, regardless of under which tiers their needs fell. as the graphed results demonstrate, all three teachers showed an immediate increase in their targeted area of intervention. although lesser and variable, improvements occurred on the non-targeted areas of intervention for each teacher. this implies that targeting one area of the teaching pyramid model in intervention may increase implementation of practices in other areas that were not targeted in intervention. although one teacher, sharon, did not master the criterion of 80%, her ird results suggested a large effect size in the targeted area, as well as the non-targeted areas. additionally, both hellen and joey exceeded the mastery criterion within three to five coaching sessions. this finding addresses fox and colleagues’ (2011) recommendation in which they directed future researchers to examine the minimal amount of coaching needed to improve teacher’s implementation of practices. further, hellen’s and joey’s data manifested large effect sizes in the targeted areas and moderate to weak effect sizes in the non-targeted areas. the results of the present study also add to the literature by providing data on social interactions within the classroom related to children. the findings showed little improvements in regards to children’s challenging behavior after the teachers received individualized coaching and performance feedback; however, there are some considerations related to the interaction data that are interesting to note. for example, during hellen’s baseline transitions, she was either not engaging, or engaging in negative interactions with the children in her classroom at the end of 91% of the intervals recorded. not surprisingly, at the end of nearly half (46%) of the intervals recorded, at least one child in her classroom was engaged in challenging behaviors. these findings are consistent with transitions being the targeted area of support identified through the tpot. further, when looking across all contexts at hellen’s interaction data, a pattern of substantial amounts of time either not engaged, or engaged in negative interactions with children is also consistent with her anecdotal reports of feelings of stress. it is also interesting to compare the baseline data on positive interactions for joey, who had received prior training, to the other two teachers, who had no prior knowledge of the pyramid model. lastly, the intervention social interactions data for joey reveals a consistent pattern of positive interactions within the classroom across contexts, confirming that individualized supports for this teacher may have helped enhance her competencies and increase consistency related to teaching pyramid model practices. 72 baughan et al. limitations a few limitations associated with the current study need to be considered. first, the time allocated for this study was short and in the spring of the school year. the short period of time and the ending of the school year prevented researchers from gathering more data on sharon’s implementation of tpot items related to her three areas of concern. the short time also prevented researchers from collecting maintenance data on all three teachers. the end of the school year is also a time when special events occur, altering the typical school schedule, and potentially influencing both teacher and child behaviors. second, before beginning the study, the teachers were promised a $70 gift card upon the completion of the study. this incentive might have influenced their performance during the study to meet the expectations of completing the study, rather than being fully invested in the process and potential outcomes. third, the presence of the observer during assessment observations might have altered teachers’ performance during the intervention. in other words, there was no way of ascertaining whether the teachers implemented the teaching pyramid model practices only during the observer’s presence or also beyond that time period. a fourth limitation is associated with the differences in teachers’ prior experience. joey was the only participant who had some exposure to the teaching pyramid model before the study took place, although her previous exposure to the model did not exceed a one-day workshop. this could explain why joey was the only teacher whose areas of concern were related to more explicit targeted teaching practices as opposed to more universal practices. further, joey’s competence related to universal practices implemented under the first tier of the teaching pyramid model, and her quick response to the intervention suggests her awareness may have influenced her change in performance, relative to the other two teachers who did not have prior knowledge. related to child social interactions data, one limitation to the data collection procedure chosen is whether it truly represented what was actually happening in the classroom. for instance, the absence of a child with challenging behaviors could have influenced the results of child social interactions measured during intervention in joey’s classroom. that is, the data collection procedure (i.e., once during baseline and once during intervention) did not control for other variables, or identify if the challenging behaviors were isolated to one particular child or demonstrated by multiple children. the last limitation to this study is the differences in teachers’ targeted-areas of intervention. although the essence of this study was to examine individualized coaching fitted to each teacher’s needs, the results might have been more powerful had the targeted areas of intervention been the same across teachers. finally, because this study was implemented in one setting (i.e., head start), it remains unknown whether similar results would manifest in other settings such as private childcare centers. therefore, results should be interpreted with caution in regards to their generalizability to other teachers in different early childhood settings. implications for practice the low implementation of practices related to the teaching pyramid model demonstrated in baseline data is consistent with prior research that suggests many early childhood teachers do not have the level of training needed to successfully promote appropriate social-emotional development, or use preventative strategies when supporting young children with challenging teaching pyramid model 73 behaviors in the classroom (branson & demchak, 2011), nor sufficient skills to handle problem behaviors in the classroom (domitrovich et al., 2009; driscoll & pianta, 2010). to ensure that early childhood professionals are prepared to support the development of social competencies in young children, the above concerns should be addressed at two levels. first, early childhood teacher preparation programs need to provide preservice teachers with training in a comprehensive model, such as the teaching pyramid model, to prepare them to support the development of social-emotional skills in all children based on individual children's needs. second, as suggested by whittaker and harden (2010), in-service early childhood teachers need professional development supports to acquire and enhance skills related to promoting social competencies and preventing challenging behaviors in young children. the findings of the present study revealed increases in teachers’ implementation of teaching pyramid model practices due to coaching and performance feedback, school administrators need to consider feasible approaches to provide in-service preschool teachers with training followed by individualized supports, such as ongoing coaching and performance feedback, to improve their implementation of evidencebased practices. as suggested by joey’s response to the intervention, teachers may be able to quickly and effectively increase their use of evidence-based practices when they receive initial awareness through professional development trainings followed by individualized supports that help them advance and refine their use of the strategies. it is also crucial to provide teachers with wide opportunities to practice strategies that address challenging behaviors of children with developmental disabilities. research findings have shown a relationship between professional development and attrition of teachers (gersten, keating, yovanoff, & harniss, 2001). anecdotally, hellen expressed feelings of stress related to responding to a child with developmental disabilities and challenging behaviors in her classroom. although her data indicated overall improvements, she expressed that she felt otherwise; and, although we are not aware of her reasons, it is possible that these feelings may have contributed to her decision to resign from her position during the timeframe of this study. suggestions for future research the results of this study can be extended in several ways. first, researchers should examine the individualized coaching framework on more than one targeted tpot area, as we chose to do, such as the study previously conducted by fox et al. (2011) in which they included all tpot areas. this approach can provide a bigger picture regarding the extent to which coaching and performance feedback can be effective. second, although the social interaction data in this study presented an opportunity to consider the effects of the intervention on the social climate of the classrooms, future research could examine the relation between individualized teacher coaching and performance feedback on child outcome data specific to children who need targeted supports to develop social-emotional skills such as sharing, turn taking, and expressing emotions, as well as children who engage in challenging behaviors. this can be done by defining each child’s desired targeted skill/behavior, collecting data on each child during each phase, and presenting the data on a graph. in addition, future research should include collecting maintenance data to examine whether individualized coaching and performance feedback has lasting effects on teachers’ implementation of teaching pyramid model practices. finally, to strengthen understanding of the effects of coaching and performance feedback, researchers should investigate the effects of 74 baughan et al. coaching and performance feedback across teachers whose needs fall under the same key practice area of the teaching pyramid model. conclusion the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of individualized coaching and performance feedback on the implementation of teaching pyramid model practices by three head start teachers. the findings of this study demonstrated increased implementation of teaching pyramid model practices after introducing individualized coaching and performance feedback. the intervention resulted in a more immediate increase of implemented practices in the targeted area of each teacher compared to their non-targeted areas. ird results suggested a large effect size on the targeted area for each teacher. the summary results on the social interactions of children were inconclusive. the variability may be attributed to the missing data from one of the classrooms as well as the summary approach in the data collection procedures. in other words, this study did not provide data on specific target children. nevertheless, the current study contributes to the literature by adding evidence of the benefits of individualized coaching and performance feedback on head start teachers’ implementation of evidence-based practices, thus, potentially positively impacting the social-emotional development of young children in head start programs. references administration for children and families. 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(2010). beyond abc’s and 123s: enhancing teacher-child relationship quality to promote children’s behavioral development. nhsa dialog, 13(3), 185-191. doi: 10.1080/15240754.2010.493472 zan, b., & donegan-ritter, m. (2014). reflecting, coaching, and mentoring to enhance teacher-child interactions in head start classrooms. early childhood education journal, 42, 93-104. doi:10.1007/s10643-013-0592-7 nhsa dialog, 25(2), copyright © 2022, issn: 1930-9325 falling through the cracks of early intervention and prevention: missed smoking cessation referrals for mothers in early head start elyse shenberger katherine zinsser university of illinois chicago smoking rates have decreased overall but smoking during pregnancy remains a challenge with impacts to mother, child, and family. referrals are a critical component in accessing cessation, yet research identifies several barriers to access. early head start (ehs) is one avenue for referrals, and we wanted to understand which characteristics describe those who have received prenatal smoking cessation referrals from ehs. methods. this project utilized secondary data from the ehs family and child experiences study (n = 144). we conducted three hierarchical logistic regressions based on the following characteristics pulled from the literature—demographics (e.g., race, ethnicity, age, education, marital status, and partner at home), smoking behavior, and accessibility (e.g., language, location, siblings in ehs, length of time (lot) in ehs, and program type)— removing nonsignificant variables at each stage of the hierarchy. results. results indicated no significant differences in referral rates across demographics (ps > .32). results also showed smoking during pregnancy predictive of referral receipt (or = 10.35, p < .05). lastly, results showed longer lots with ehs (or = 4.41, p < .01) and siblings in ehs (or = 10.98, p < .05) significantly associated with referral receipt. discussion. we found equity among referrals, consistent with ehs’s anti-racist foundation. we found mothers only reporting smoking history were missed. finally, we found when ehs knows about a pregnancy, either from early referral to ehs or from other children receiving services, the referral mechanism is most successful. future work should include an emphasis on recruiting earlier in gestation. keywords: smoking cessation, pregnancy, early head start, referrals introduction although smoking rates have decreased recently, smoking during pregnancy remains a challenging problem at roughly 9% (azagba et al., 2020). pregnant women are more likely to quit smoking during pregnancy than any other time in their life, yet still over half do not quit (2020). difficulty research article 34 shenberger & zinsser quitting during pregnancy is notable because nicotine can cross the placental barrier (wickstrom, 2007). prenatal smoking is associated with adverse maternal, child, and family outcomes (chen et al., 2019; wakschlag et al., 2006), but unlike genetic or biological risk factors, treating mothers who smoke is a uniquely valuable intervention target, as this behavior is relatively modifiable. thus, it is important to improve cessation interventions. referrals are a critical, understudied component in accessing substance use treatment, which typically occurs through prenatal visits, as well as wrap-around social services, such as early head start (ehs)—a comprehensive program designed to support well-being for low-income families with children under 3 (early childhood learning and knowledge center (eclkc), 2018). ehs is in a unique position to provide a twogeneration intervention; however, this intervention is only successful if mothers are provided referrals for services. this begs the question: who is being missed and why might these programs not be meeting the needs of all the families they serve? barriers to accessing cessation services several factors may explain why pregnant women are not referred for smoking cessation. primary care regularly serves as a gatekeeper to these referrals. yet, although obstetricians have widely available training for addressing prenatal smoking (5as; fiore et al., 2000), few adequately assess for these behaviors or properly refer to cessation treatment (chang et al., 2013). given the barriers to accessing cessation referrals, it also makes sense to evaluate factors that may influence a mother’s ability or comfort in seeking referrals in the first place. a key mechanism in the referral process is needs identification, which relies on mothers reporting smoking behavior. however, there are discrepancies in comfort disclosing, with african american and hispanic women displaying higher nondisclosure rates when reporting smoking to their obstetricians (scherman et al., 2018). on the contrary, social support often enhances comfort disclosing, with social support associated with lower stigma among those in substance use treatment (birtel et al., 2017). during pregnancy, supportive partners may be especially important for social support, as women who successfully quit smoking during pregnancy are more likely to live with a partner or be married (riaz et al., 2018). with disclosure a key step in accessing cessation resources, having social support (e.g., those who live with a partner or are married) likely increases mothers’ comfort disclosing and thus also their access. it is unclear from the literature the racial and ethnic makeup of those who are provided referrals during pregnancy; however, we know women who smoke during pregnancy disproportionally come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and adverse social circumstances (maughan et al., 2004). research also suggests these women are more likely to be younger and have less education (azagba et al., 2020). it could be the demographics of those missed for referrals mirror those of women who smoke during pregnancy, but with this gap in the literature, these risk factors must be investigated. missed smoking cessation referrals 35 opportunities for expanding referrals unfortunately, primary care physicians and obstetricians are often unable to deliver cessation referrals due to time demands or other restrictions (chang et al., 2013). in contrast, needs assessments and referrals for social services are regular practice for many other agencies coming into contact with pregnant women, including our nation’s largest public early childhood education provider—head start (hs)—and its infant and toddler equivalent, ehs (eclkc, 2018). ehs emerged out of the war on poverty as a two-generation intervention (administration of children and families, 2021) and strives to form strong relationships with family units to promote child well-being. for these reasons, we would expect it to out-perform the regular medical system in terms of reducing disparities in accessing cessation services. ehs case managers gather information from families to establish needs, and then arrange and coordinate identified services to meet those needs (miller, 2021). although there are overarching structural similarities across ehs programs, variation in referral practices may be associated with programmatic differences, and the present study strives to understand how some aspects of ehs explains cessation referral practices. location is another factor that may relate to referral provision, especially given local differences in density of services, indicating that for areas with fewer cessation resources, there are also likely fewer referrals. smoking is more prevalent in rural communities, but there is also less access to cessation resources in these areas (horn et al., 2012). there may also be lower provision of referrals to minority populations, especially those which require linguistically appropriate treatment options. one study found spanish language substance use treatment required patients to travel three times the distance of english language services (guerrero et al., 2013). guerrero’s 2013 study, however, was conducted in an urban setting, and rural pregnant smokers who require spanish language services may be even less likely to have cessation options for referral. additionally, ehs programs have varying program types: home visiting, center-based, and blended models. center-based programs deliver early childhood services primarily in classroom settings; however, home visits still occur at least twice annually (eclkc, 2018). for home-based programs, services occur through weekly visits to the child’s home, focusing on fostering parents’ skills in supporting their child’s development (2018). research into home visitor models indicates mothers with mental health concerns especially benefit, as their needs are addressed in parallel to other child and family needs. (early childhood learning & knowledge center, 2021). ehs programs that utilize a home-visiting model may be better positioned to detect mother’s smoking behaviors (e.g., through home observation). home visiting may also allow for an enhanced relationship between mothers and case managers, potentially increasing disclosure and referrals more than center-based programs. having more time to establish a trusting relationship is another program-level factor potentially impacting referrals. if a mother accessed services earlier in pregnancy or was already engaged with services via another child’s enrollment, she would naturally have access to cessation resources earlier in gestation than new mothers or mothers faced with a waitlist. these program differences necessitate understanding not only which women are missing out on receiving referrals, but also why these referrals are not being consistently provided to those who need them. 36 shenberger & zinsser the present study this study seeks to understand characteristics of ehs mothers who reported smoking at some point during or before pregnancy and did not receive cessation referrals. the first set of variables we examine are demographic (e.g., race, ethnicity, age, education level, marital status, whether mothers have a partner living at home). as race, ethnicity, and social support are all related to comfort disclosing smoking behavior during pregnancy (birtel et al., 2017; canella, 2006; riaz et al., 2018; scherman et al., 2018; thoits, 2011), these variables are included. although there is no known literature describing demographic characteristics of pregnant women missed for referrals, we know women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to be younger and have lower education (azagba et al., 2020); therefore, these metrics were also selected. the second variable set evaluates timing of smoking behavior—whether mothers report only a history of smoking or whether she reported smoking during pregnancy. the third set of variables we examine relates to treatment access (e.g., language, location, whether mothers have other children enrolled in ehs, how long mothers spent using ehs services, program type). we know spanish language cessation services are less prevalent (guerrero et al., 2013), and rural areas have disproportionally more smokers and disproportionally fewer cessation resources (horn et al., 2012). we also know intensity of services—whether because of program type (i.e., center-based, home-based, or mixed) or whether the family has been integrated into ehs longer or has other children enrolled—may also play a role in accessing referrals (blair, 2013; early childhood learning & knowledge center, 2021). we expect those factors of smoking behavior and service intensity (e.g., program type, another child in ehs, longer time in ehs) to be predictive of referral receipt. we also expect factors related to comfort disclosing (e.g., marital status, partner living at home) may be predictive of referral receipt. to our knowledge, no specific literature cites demographic characteristics of those receiving smoking cessation referrals; thus, that was also an area of exploration in this study. methods this project evaluated secondary data from the ehs family and child experiences study (baby faces)—a longitudinal cohort study designed to maintain current, thorough information to support ehs (vogel & boller, 2014). the baby faces study (n = 976) enrolled a nationally representative sample of parents of one-year-old children (n = 782) across 89 ehs programs. this study used data from structured interviews with mothers and program administrators. participants the baby faces dataset contains a larger sample of pregnant smokers than the general population (20% compared to 9%; azagba et al., 2020). predictor variables were selected from the literature review above and were grouped into three overarching categories: demographic characteristics, smoking behavior characteristics, and referral accessibility characteristics (see table 1). women in this sample were predominantly white and non-hispanic. additionally, most were never married and were not living with a partner. this sample ranged in age from 16 to 39 years old and missed smoking cessation referrals 37 most had some high school, but not college, education. smoking behavior in the present study was reported at two timepoints: before pregnancy only (n = 73) and/or during pregnancy (n = 71). 81.94% of this sample did not receive appropriate referrals based on their current or past smoking habits. no variable was available specifically measuring english-language comprehension; thus, the respondent’s first language was selected as a proxy. this sample consists predominantly of speakers with english as their first language, living in mainly rural settings. regarding intensity of services, 69.44% of mothers did not have other children receiving ehs services and were enrolled in ehs services ranging from 0 to 89 months (m = 18.69mos, sd = 19.92mos). additionally, 18 mothers were enrolled in center-based, 31 mothers were enrolled in home-based, and 95 mothers were enrolled in blended programs. table 1 sample characteristics of main sample, one-year-old cohort, and current study parent study (n=782) present study (n=144) percentage n percentage n race* white, non-hispanic 48.72% 381 70.83% 102 person of color 48.08% 376 25.69% 37 age (mean (sd)) 22.24 (12.28) 25.39 (5.04) education level* some hs/degree 61.76% 483 77.08% 111 some college/degree or higher education 23.27% 182 22.22% 32 marital status* married 26.21% 205 20.83% 30 divorced/separated 4.48% 35 6.94% 10 never married 56.14% 439 71.53% 103 partner living at home* yes 40.15% 314 48.61% 70 no 47.06% 368 51.39% 74 first language* english 63.43% 496 93.75% 135 spanish 22.12% 173 5.56% 8 another child in ehs* other child(ren) in ehs 26.47% 207 30.56% 44 no other child(ren) in ehs 60.74% 475 69.44% 100 program location urban 69.95% 547 61.81% 89 rural 30.05% 235 38.19% 55 program type center based only 18.03% 141 12.50% 18 home-visitor based only 13.81% 108 21.53% 31 blended model 68.16% 533 65.97% 95 note. participants were allowed to decline to answer any question with which they were not comfortable (missing data is denoted and will not be substituted). 38 shenberger & zinsser data collection data collection was conducted by an external research group, and after representative ehs programs were scanned for eligibility, research coordinators worked with on-site ehs representatives to determine program administrators, teachers, and families who may also be potential study participants (vogel & boller, 2014). data for this current study was collected over the phone. all participants gave written informed consent prior to interview, and research was conducted ethically according to local institutional review boards. family interviews were conducted using computer-assisted telephone interviews, which allowed for standardized administration and skip logic (2014). this study uses a subset of data collected through baby faces family interviews including race, ethnicity, age, marital status, education level, whether there is a partner living at home, first language, and if there are other children enrolled in ehs. interviewers also asked mothers about smoking behavior and cessation referral receipt during pregnancy. for this analysis, we also computed the length of a family’s engagement with ehs using the date of first engagement with the program and the date of interview. parents were compensated $35 for participation (2014). for program-level data, researchers conducted telephone interviews with ehs administrators to collect information about program type and location (2014). data analysis as some families in this sample attended the same program, we ran an interclass correlations (icc) to evaluate whether specific programs constituted a nest within our data. results indicated program contributed no significant amount of variance in our outcome variable (icc=0.00, 95% ci [-0.01, 0.04]). to answer our research question of who is/is not receiving referrals, we ran hierarchical, logistic regressions. analyses were conducted in r version 3.6.3/r studio version 1.4.1106 (r core team, 2020). continuous variables (e.g., mother’s age, months spent in ehs) were standardized and mean-centered. to test a fundamental assumption of regression, we evaluated a variance inflation factor (vif) testing for multicollinearity of predictors, and any values lower than 4 were deemed acceptable and assumed to contribute independent variance to the model. all vif scores were between 1.01 and 1.27. we conducted three hierarchical logistic regressions based on the categories described above—demographics, smoking behavior, referral accessibility— parsimoniously reducing the model by removing variables not statistically significant at each stage of the hierarchy. lastly, we ran a best-fit model including only those variables significant after all three stages of the hierarchy. results results from model 1—demographic predictors—indicated no significant differences in referral rates across race, ethnicity, age, marital status, partner living at home, or education level (ps > .32; see table 2 for all predictor z-scores). no predictors from model 1 were carried into model 2. in model 2, however, timing of smoking behavior was significant, such that those who reported smoking during pregnancy were more likely to receive referrals (or = 10.35, p < .05). the missed smoking cessation referrals 39 smoking behavior variable consequently got carried into model 3. model 3, which included smoking behavior and treatment access metrics—location, language, program approach, length of time (lot) spent in ehs, and siblings enrolled in ehs—yielded significant predictors. although smoking behavior was no longer significant, both lot with ehs (or = 4.41, p < .01) and if mothers had other children enrolled in ehs (or = 10.98, p < .05) were significantly, positively associated with referral receipt. model 4 was the most parsimonious, or best-fit, model and included solely significant predictors from model 3 (lot with ehs, siblings enrolled in ehs). these predictors remained significant. model 4 established that one unit longer lot with ehs services (e.g., 19.92 months) increased mother’s odds of receiving a referral by 4, compared to mothers who spent less time in ehs (or = 4.47, p < .01). model 4 also found that having additional children in ehs increased odds of referral receipt by 16 (or = 16.16, p < .05). to explore further, we tested the interaction between these two significant predictors in model 4. this exploratory model did not yield a significant interaction between lot with ehs and siblings in ehs (or = 2.70, p = 0.3259), nor did it yield a significant first-order effect of lot with ehs (or = 2.78, p = 0.1345). this model, however, did yield a significant first-order effect of siblings in ehs, indicating that having other children enrolled in ehs resulted in a smoking cessation referral nearly 12x more frequently than those who did not have other children enrolled (or = 11.95, p < .05). table 2 hierarchical logistic regression z-scores of predictors for smoking cessation referrals variable model 1 model 2 model 3 model 4 (constant) -1.91 -5.59*** -2.91** -6.37*** variables person of color -1.01 college and above -0.24 married partner at home -0.06 age 0.96 smoking during pregnancy 2.19* 1.55 spanish as first language 0.97 urban location -0.26 home-based ehs vs. center 0.94 mixed ehs vs. center 1.02 siblings in ehs 2.06* 2.53* months in ehs 3.01** 3.19** note. significant at p < .05, ** significant at p < .01, *** significant at p < .001 models 1-4 increase in complexity and parse out non-significant variables from prior models. model 1 includes only demographic variables, model 2 includes only the smoking behavior variable, and model 3 includes the smoking behavior variable and cessation access predictors. 40 shenberger & zinsser model 4 is the best fit, or most parsimonious model, including only covariates and significant variables from model 3. discussion this study examined demographic, smoking behavior, and treatment access metrics to predict which ehs mothers received smoking cessation referrals. this work was the first—to our knowledge—to examine referral receipt specifically, as much of the existing literature focuses on cessation. three key findings are evident from these analyses. firstly, mothers of color are being referred in equivalent ways to white, non-hispanic women. secondly, mothers who reported smoking at some point during pregnancy were more likely to receive cessation referrals than those who reported a history of smoking. finally, we found that when context, namely characteristics of a families’ relationship with ehs, was considered, prior significant predictors were no longer significant. cessation referrals criteria for maternal and child health access to referral services and enrollment in ehs are associated with several child benefits, like higher kindergarten readiness, improved developmental milestones, and dental check-ups (national head start association, n.d.). for families, ehs enrollment is associated with positive parenting practices, (national head start association, n.d.) and assistance with food, housing, and income (osgood-roach & wevers, 2020). referrals are particularly important during pregnancy as there is service continuity postpartum, and many of ehs’s peripartum services are delivered exclusively through referral, which includes nutritional counseling, oral, physical, and mental health care, substance abuse prevention and treatment, and housing stability (eclkc, 2021b). all of this emphasizes the importance of evaluating who is left out of receiving these services. results from this study first highlight who is being provided referrals. we found equity among referral receipt, which is encouraging and consistent with ehs’s foundation in anti-racist programming (eclkc, 2021a). compared to other facets of the healthcare system, this is a strength for ehs, especially considering racial differences in comfort disclosing to physicians during prenatal visits (scherman et al., 2018). while those with difficulty quitting are more acutely in need of getting connected to care, a history of smoking pre-pregnancy remains a significant risk factor as nearly 60% relapse within 6 months of delivery (colman & joyce, 2003). moreover, those who are medicaid recipients (e.g., many ehs families), have postpartum depression, or have increased stress are also at increased risk (colman & joyce, 2003; notley et al., 2015; solomon et al., 2007). this is notable as secondhand smoke (shs) continues to pose risk to the child even after pregnancy and is similarly associated with adverse health concerns in early childhood (e.g., asthma, ear infections, sudden infant death syndrome (cdc, 2020)). this exposure, however, could come from any member of the household, and unfortunately, having more friends or family members who smoke is also a risk for postpartum relapse in mothers who quit during pregnancy (solomon et al., 2007). thus, having a history of smoking should not be overlooked during needs assessments, and automatically including this as missed smoking cessation referrals 41 grounds for referral would be a simple adjustment to cessation referral programming that could have a multi-generational benefit for ehs families. identifying contextual factors associated with cessation referral results from the best-fit model indicate that when a pregnancy is known to ehs, either because the mother was referred at some point early in pregnancy or because she has other children enrolled and is already receiving services, the smoking referral mechanism is most successful, regardless of present or historical smoking behavior. this is likely because programs are best able to provide wrap-around services to families who are already fully integrated into their system and who have established positive, trusting relationships with ehs. aligned with these findings, and given the extent to which shs is detrimental to children and families, head start (hs) recently underwent a substantial initiative to revise their smoking cessation programming. with stakeholder involvement, hs integrated cessation strategies into already existing infrastructure (the head start tobacco cessation initiative; moody-thomas et al., 2014) via additional focus on smoking cessation and shs exposure during needs assessments. this initiative also included training workshops for hs staff centering around psychoeducation about nicotine addiction, cessation resources, and evidence-based counseling interventions (moody-thomas et al., 2014). while it is encouraging to see the expansion of smoking cessation services in hs, findings from the present study indicate that such programs will primarily benefit families already wellintegrated. what remains unclear is how best to increase the referrals made to women earlier in their connection to ehs. one method of delivering ehs services earlier in pregnancy is through referrals from obstetricians. a primary care study found that facilitating an initial connection to hs on behalf of families increased retention and attendance (silverstein et al., 2004), which helps establish relationships with ehs. other recommended referral sources may include local high schools, wic, health departments, or state-run referral programs, such as iris (integrated referral and intake system; iris, n.d.)). overall, integrating new families into ehs sooner is most effective for early intervention, and future work should evaluate how an iterative process like the hs tobacco cessation initiative could be revised to include an emphasis on recruiting and retaining this population earlier in gestation. limitations there are notable limitations to this study. first, the baby faces dataset relied on retrospective reporting from ehs mothers—which could be prone to recall bias—and did not allow for referral or smoking disclosure confirmation. consequently, we do not know whether mothers reported smoking during pregnancy and were not given a referral, whether mothers were not connected to ehs at the time of smoking behavior, or whether mothers were not comfortable disclosing smoking behavior. predictors also did not all have equivalent group sizes, which may have led to underpowered testing of certain predictors, masking potential results. lastly, there may be some selection bias. although this data is nationally representative, all families selected are active 42 shenberger & zinsser participants in ehs, meaning that families who have difficulty engaging with services may be disenrolled from ehs and ineligible for this study. it is also likely that these particular families are in even greater need of smoking cessation and other referral services. as such, results should be considered an undercount of those provided appropriate smoking cessation referrals. conclusion ultimately, smoking cessation during pregnancy remains a challenging health problem impacting both mother and child. the present study showed that ehs is in a favorable position to refer many women to access critical supports, and it does so without racial or ethnic bias. at the same time, over half of ehs families who reported a history of smoking or smoking during pregnancy did not receive a cessation referral, and most of these are new mothers or more recently enrolled in ehs. findings from this study shed light on opportunities to expand early intervention and prevent relapse, benefitting both mother and child. references administration of children and families. 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(2007). effects of nicotine during pregnancy: human and experimental evidence. current neuropharmacology, 5(3), 213–222. https://doi.org/10.2174/157015907781695955 nhsa dialog, 25(1), copyright © 2022, issn: 1930-9325 self-efficacy in early childhood educators: the impact of online teaching during the covid-19 pandemic ruth guirguis bmcc-cuny raquel plotka pace university due to the covid-19 pandemic, several early childhood education programs in the united states and around the world were forced to shift to online instruction. while virtual learning was found to be challenging for all age groups, this mode has been especially challenging for early childhood educators. the present study explored the challenges that teachers faced when adjusting their early childhood education practices to an online format during the covid-19 health crisis and also explored those activities that teachers found most effective. furthermore, this study explored the role of online teaching in teachers’ sense of self-efficacy and assessed whether support from families and program administration played a role in teacher self-efficacy. lessons for the role of online education in early childhood, with implications for practice, are discussed. as online instruction becomes more prominent in all areas of education, the lessons learned during the pandemic should prove informative long after the crisis is overcome. keywords: self-efficacy, challenges, covid-19, online/virtual, early childhood introduction during the spring of 2020, many countries around the world went into quarantine as a result of the coronavirus (covid-19) health crisis. all early childhood education programs moved to online instructional platforms; teachers and students alike resumed their academic teaching and learning virtually. early childhood educators were faced with teaching fully remote programs with little to no preparation time. this drastic change in instruction, along with limited teaching resources, school, and family support, created a unique demand on teachers’ abilities to deliver instruction. in the united states and throughout the world, many early childhood programs attempted to initiate support systems to meet the needs of their teachers and students. yet, there was no uniform call regarding what those supports should be. hence, early childhood programs, teacher experiences, and support varied widely. research article 38 guirguis & plotka teaching remotely presented a challenge to all k-12 educators, as well as faculty at the undergraduate and graduate level (e.g. kim, 2020; plotka & guirguis, 2020). specifically, remote teaching in the early childhood grades created a unique set of challenges due to the active nature of young children’s learning; these challenges directly impacted the engagement of young children in meaningful learning experiences. yet very little is currently known about teachers‘ experiences and the challenges they faced while adjusting to this new reality. nor is much yet known about which of the different strategies that teachers used to engage children were found to be most effective. furthermore, there has been a paucity of research that explores either the impact these challenges have had on teachers’ sense of self-efficacy or the support systems that have had a positive impact on teachers’ sense of self-efficacy during this health crisis. a teacher’s sense of self-efficacy, which will be discussed in detail below, has been shown to play a key role in children‘s academic and behavioral outcomes in the preschool classroom (gebbie et al., 2012). the present study aimed at exploring early childhood teachers’ experiences with teaching virtually during these unprecedented times, the challenges these teachers experienced, supports these teachers may have had or may have needed, and the impact these elements had on their respective senses of self-efficacy. early childhood educators’ challenges while teaching online most early childhood educators subscribe to the assumption that learning is an active process fostered by an environment that provides opportunities for exploration, manipulation, social interactions, and play (plotka & guirguis, 2020). these assumptions are rooted in the works of theorists such as piaget and vygotsky, as well as the most important approaches in early childhood education, such as those of montessori or reggio emilia (dodd-nufrio, 2011; edwards, 2002). in particular, piaget believed that children are active learners and create knowledge by exploration and manipulation; children progress from manipulating objects to the ability to manipulate symbols (piaget, 1932). similarly, vygotsky believed that young children make meaning of the world through social interactions with peers and adults (vygotsky, 1978). following these theorists, most approaches in early childhood education incorporate exploration through play, music, and the arts (dodd-nufrio, 2011). thus, the idea of providing instruction to young children through a screen is mostly foreign to early childhood education, and, for the most part, does not adequately align with theoretical and practical frameworks (plotka & guirguis, 2020), which made the transition to online teaching especially challenging for many early childhood teachers. it should be noted, however, that even before the current health crisis, online and virtual instruction had been expanding both in the united states and globally. for example, the upstart program has been providing online preschool instruction for thousands of children in the united states since 2013 (mader, 2018). the program, funded by the federal government, has delivered online instruction to preschool children in idaho, mississippi, indiana, south carolina, rural ohio, and philadelphia. thirty percent of young children in utah attend this online preschool program (mader, 2018). in addition, though there is currently little research on the academic results of upstart, there is a limited body of research exploring the challenges teachers (mostly those outside the united states) have faced while teaching young children online during covid. the few existing studies point to covid-19 teacher efficacy 39 challenges in implementing curriculum in a developmentally appropriate way. early childhood educators in turkey reported trouble with remote learning due to a lack of student engagement and motivation (korkmaz & toraman, 2020). another concern early childhood educators reported was the lack of authentic strategies provided to modify instruction and meet different types of learning styles virtually. use of social interaction, group work, small group pair and share, and many other typical peer and collaborative teaching strategies was challenging, especially at the beginning of the new remote learning world (korkmaz & toraman, 2020). keeping young children engaged in online learning proved to be the most difficult task for teachers (szente, 2020). particularly difficult was the task of having to reduce the time spent on a given topic to maintain students’ attention and engagement while also embedding storytime, songs, music, and movement in a fluid and consistent way throughout the lesson. teachers also navigated ways to have students share their thoughts more frequently so that teachers could hear thoughts and ideas from all students. pre-pandemic studies showed that some online activities allow for social interaction between students while they practice turn-taking, conversational language, and social etiquette (kulovana & theodotou, 2012). similarly, studies have shown that young children benefit from adult assistance while engaging in remote learning (kulovana & theodotou, 2012). teachers tried certain strategies to engage children in remote learning with social interactions, and they had some successes. since, for example, the virtual learning environment encourages turntaking when individuals in online classes speak, teachers were able to hear and respond to students more effectively than in a typical in-person learning environment (szente, 2020). nevertheless, there has not been much more exploration of the types of activities that teachers found most effective while teaching online, or to what degree early childhood teachers felt they were effective at virtually facilitating social interactions with young children. lastly, early childhood educators reported the challenges they experienced in managing students’ emotional well-being. the adverse effect of a drastic change in routines, including separation from peers and teachers, has impacted young children’s emotional and social development (singh et al., 2020). young children have displayed feelings of irritability, uncertainty, fear, and isolation (singh et al., 2020). while teachers gather information about children’s well-being using a variety of methods, including observation of children’s play, interactions, and drawings, the online platform can present a challenge for teachers in observing and understanding children’s well-being. little has been explored about teachers’ experiences or their ability to assess well-being in young children and their perceptions of children’s emotional states. teacher sense of self-efficacy a teacher’s sense of self-efficacy has been shown to play a key role in children’s academic and behavioral outcomes in the preschool classroom (gebbie et al., 2012). self-efficacy is described as a person’s belief in their ability to succeed in a specific situation (bandura, 1997). bandura believed that these beliefs determined how people feel, think, and act; he proposed that a sense of self-efficacy affects a person’s perseverance in overcoming challenges, the level of effort they apply, and their presence (bandura, 1997). teachers’ sense of self-efficacy is the belief teachers have in their ability to organize the necessary activities to engage children in learning and impact student development and achievement. promoting student learning involves a teacher’s ability to 40 guirguis & plotka create and plan developmentally meaningful activities, openly communicate with and support families, and assess and manage behaviors (skaalvik & skaalvik, 2010). additionally, it constitutes the teacher’s belief in their ability to manage teaching tasks, obligations, and challenges (barni et al., 2019). high levels of self-efficacy in teachers have been related to high levels of self-esteem, job satisfaction, and motivation (pinchevsky & bogler, 2014), as well as children’s academic success and positive behavioral outcomes (gebbie et al., 2012). yet the degree to which early childhood teachers felt self-efficacy while teaching remotely during covid has not been explored. influence of support systems on teacher self-efficacy teachers’ sense of self-efficacy can prove especially important during times of crisis. despite the many challenges educators face while teaching online, a teacher’s sense of self-efficacy is positively correlated to the support they receive from both administration and parents (stipek, 2012). according to stipek (2012), administrators play a key role in a teacher’s sense of selfefficacy; support from school administration could improve teacher self-efficacy, whereas a lack thereof could hinder it. teachers’ perception of support from their administrators has been shown to have a direct relationship to student performance (stipek, 2012). similarly, wahlstrom and louis (2008) found that a teacher’s perception of support from their leadership had a direct effect on instructional practices. in a study surveying teachers in turkey, teachers expressed that one of their biggest challenges in shifting to online instruction was negative attitudes between administration and teachers, as well as lack of support from school administration (korkmaz & toraman, 2020). similarly, according to skaalvik and skaalvik (2010), teachers’ perceptions of parental support were found to be as critical to teachers’ sense of efficacy as administrative support; teachers’ perceptions of their relationships with families were associated with higher self-efficacy levels (skaalvik & skaalvik, 2010). specifically, self-efficacy was found to be influenced by ongoing communication and collaborative relationships between parents and teachers (skaalvik & skaalvik, 2010). the online learning environment can prove challenging for communication between teachers and families (leonhardt, 2020). but it also can create opportunities for communication; in some ways, communication might even have increased during this time. in a norwegian school district study, communication between parents and teachers increased during the pandemic. parents were able to connect with their child’s struggles and challenges with learning because they were able to see it with their own eyes in their homes and daily lives. parents taking on the role of in-home educators allowed them to be more understanding and strive to communicate with their child’s teacher more often than during a typical in-person school day (bubb & jones, 2020). nevertheless, this study was conducted in an elementary school, and it is unclear how increased parent participation in their children’s learning might have affected the virtual preschool setting, where communication with families is even more central. covid-19 teacher efficacy 41 purpose of the present study the covid-19 health crisis, and the resulting expansion of online instruction in the united states and the world, have presented the opportunity to study the most underexplored area of experiences and challenges related to online teaching in early childhood. given the central role teacher selfefficacy plays in teacher motivation and children’s behavioral and academic outcomes, this study aimed to explore teacher self-efficacy among those teaching online during the covid-19 pandemic. this study especially aimed at examining challenges and supports that teachers experienced during this period, specifically teacher perception of support from the school administration, support from parents, and increases in teacher-parent communication. finally, the role of these support systems in teachers’ sense of self-efficacy during the covid-19 pandemic was also explored. the present study aimed to answer the following questions: 1. what have been teachers’ most common experiences and challenges while teaching young children online during the covid-19 pandemic? 2. has teaching online during the pandemic impacted teachers’ sense of selfefficacy? 3. to what extent has support from the school administration, support from families, and open communication with families impacted teacher self-efficacy during the covid-19 pandemic? method participants participants were 54 preschool teachers who were teaching young children online due to the covid-19 health crisis in a major metropolitan area in the u.s. teachers worked in a variety of early childhood education settings such as child care programs and private preschools. table 1 describes the participants and shows the frequency and percentages of the participants’ respective titles as well as the type of early childhood education program in which they taught. the majority of participants held the title of teacher (n = 37, 69.8%). the largest number of participants indicated that they were working in childcare programs (n = 15, 30.6%), followed by private preschools (n = 9, 18.4%). one individual did not provide informed consent, and this individual’s data were removed from the dataset, thereby reducing the final sample size to 53. participants described their classroom composition. the age of the children in their classes ranged from 17 months old to 9 years of age, with a mean of 4.16 (sd = 1.52). the number of children in the classes ranged from 8 to 30, with a mean of 15.04 children (sd = 4.32). 42 guirguis & plotka table 1. participant demographics survey item n % title teacher 37 69.8 assistant teacher 16 30.2 total 53 100.0 school description public school 5 10.2 private preschool 9 18.4 private faith-based/parochial 6 12.2 head start 3 6.1 universal pre-k 8 16.3 child care program 15 30.6 other publicly funded preschool program 3 6.1 total 49 100.0 procedure and instrument this was a convenience sample made up of early childhood education teachers. teachers were asked to fill out an online survey about their experiences teaching young children online during the covid-19 crisis. educators teaching young children solely online were recruited to fill out the survey after institutional review approval was obtained. data collection took place a few months into the pandemic, in the spring and summer of 2020. teachers were recruited by word of mouth and volunteered to participate in the study. to answer the research questions, a survey was sent to early childhood teachers to measure their teaching experiences, challenges, and sense of self-efficacy. teacher reports have been widely used in the study of social processes in the classrooms and teacher self-efficacy (rimm-kaufman et al., 2000) and have shown to have predictive validity (fuhs et al., 2015). the survey consisted of quantitative data, and participants reported their experiences at a single point in time. before the survey was administered, it was shared with small focus groups of preschool teachers teaching online to ensure that it reflected common experiences and processes taking place in the classroom based on teachers’ experiences. the survey consisted of a four-point scale ranging from 1 not effective, 2 somewhat effective, 3 effective, 4 very effective. item descriptions for the survey are provided in the results section. the survey assessed the following constructs: teacher experiences. several survey questions were designed to get a well-rounded sense of teachers’ experiences and challenges. one of the questions asked teachers to rate items related to teachers’ challenges in supporting children’s development and skills virtually. teachers were also asked to rate the developmentally appropriate activities that they found most effective when teaching online—and to assess the level of children’s participation in virtual learning activities. lastly, one of the questions was designed to measure teachers’ perceptions of children’s wellbeing. covid-19 teacher efficacy 43 teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. teachers were asked to report on their sense of selfefficacy before the pandemic while teaching in-person and again during the pandemic while teaching online. the items touching on teacher self-efficacy were adapted from the teacher selfefficacy early childhood survey developed by epstein and willhite (2017). teachers’ perception of support. teachers were asked to report on their experiences of support from their school administration. it was also requested that teachers rate the level of support they perceived themselves as receiving from families in their program. lastly, teachers were asked about the level of communication with families during remote learning. results this study aimed at exploring teachers’ experiences and challenges while they taught online during the covid-19 pandemic and the role these experiences—as well as their perceptions of support from administrators and parents—played in their sense of self-efficacy. research question 1: what have been the most common teacher experiences & challenges the first research question aimed at exploring teachers’ challenges and experiences during the pandemic while they taught young children online. to answer this question, descriptive statistics were used to illustrate the extent of teacher experiences. the results in table 2 show that teachers found it challenging to adequately address each of these early childhood goals through virtual modes of teaching. teachers found it most challenging to support social skills, such as helping children make friends, adjust to routines, and follow rules. teachers experienced fewer challenges when it came to teaching academic content and skills. (see next page for table) 44 guirguis & plotka table 2. teachers’ experiences of challenges how challenging was it to address each of the following early childhood education goals when teaching online? n min max m .sd supporting family needs 53 1 4 2.05 0.86 helping children learn the alphabet, numbers, or other information that will prepare them for school 53 1 4 2.32 0.93 helping children make friends 53 1 4 2.98 0.99 helping children interact with other children positively 53 1 4 2.45 0.95 giving children the opportunity to play 53 1 4 2.45 1.06 helping children learn how to follow rules 53 1 4 2.6 0.96 helping children learn about appropriate behaviors 53 1 4 2.57 0.88 helping children learn about classrooms routines and schedules so they are prepared for school 53 1 4 2.87 1.05 implementing activities that were developmentally appropriate and engaging for children was reported to be one of the most challenging aspects of teaching young children online. teachers found that not all strategies worked equally effectively. table 3 shows that teachers rated storytime/reading books, games and social activities, sing-alongs, and one-on-one time between children and teachers as the most effective activities on the online platform. direct instruction and hands-on activities without an adult assisting at home were the least effective. table 3. activities teachers found effective teachers tried different online activities to engage children during this time. what activities were most effective? n min max m sd storytime/reading books 53 1 4 3.05 0.86 games and social activities 53 1 4 3.07 0.89 direct instruction 53 1 4 2.39 0.81 sing-alongs 53 1 4 3.05 0.79 one-on-one time with teachers 53 1 4 3.13 0.83 hands-on activities with an adult assisting 53 1 4 2.94 0.94 hands-on activities without an adult assisting 53 1 4 1.96 0.8 art activities 53 1 4 2.7 0.93 teachers reported that many children did not participate in several of the online learning activities designed to engage them. for example, table 4 shows that the largest number of teachers indicated that only about half the class typically participated in group activities (n = 18, 34%). covid-19 teacher efficacy 45 table 4. children’s participation in online learning how many children typically participated in learning activities? n % none 2 3.8 a few children 15 28.3 about half of the class 18 34.0 almost the whole class 14 26.4 total 53 100 managing students’ emotional well-being was reported as a major challenge for early childhood educators. the negative effect of the sudden and significant changes in younger children’s routines, including their separation from teachers and friends, has impacted their emotional and social development (singh et al., 2020). in the present study, and through the survey provided to teachers, 53 early childhood teachers were asked using a four-point scale ranging from 1, not at all, 2 somewhat, 3 moderately, 4 extremely to rate their perception of the emotions their students felt during remote learning. teachers reported that 44% of the students were somewhat disengaged, while 36% were very disengaged. results showed that 44% of students were somewhat confused, 44% were very confused, 50% of the students were somewhat overwhelmed, and 25% were very overwhelmed. teachers also reported that 45% of the students were somewhat sad, 25% of them were very sad, 28% were somewhat anxious, 61% of the students were very anxious, 36% felt somewhat lonely, 24% felt very lonely, and 39% were somewhat scared, while 21% were very scared. in addition, table 5 showed teachers’ perceptions of children’s emotions. table 5. teachers’ perceptions of children’s well-being emotions young children experience during online classes n min max m sd confused 53 1.00 4.00 2.67 0.95 disengaged 53 1.00 4.00 2.56 0.86 lonely 53 1.00 4.00 2.03 0.97 scared 53 1.00 4.00 1.86 0.94 sad 53 1.00 4.00 2.18 0.89 overwhelmed 53 1.00 4.00 2.18 0.85 anxious 53 1.00 4.00 2.28 0.94 research question 2: has teaching online during the pandemic impacted teachers’ sense of self-efficacy? to address this research question, the researchers created two measures of teacher efficacy. one measure reflected the efficacy of teachers before the onset of the pandemic while they were teaching in person, and the second measure reflected teacher efficacy after the onset of the pandemic. based on the small sample size and unequal variances, paired t-tests were used to assess 46 guirguis & plotka teacher efficacy before the covid-19 pandemic, while teachers taught in person, and during the covid-19 crisis, while they taught online (carifo & perla, 2009; de winter & dodou 2010; guerra et al., 2016; norman, 2010). table 6 shows that teachers experienced significantly lower levels of self-efficacy while teaching online after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic than before the pandemic when they taught in person. all items in the self-efficacy measure were statistically significant, which indicates that teachers felt a significantly lower sense of self-efficacy when teaching remotely during the pandemic; this decline was consistent among all aspects of selfefficacy. table 6. paired samples t-tests comparing self-efficacy (n=53) mean mean pre post question pandemic pandemic t p how much can you do to control disruptive behavior in the classroom? 3.45 1.94 11.78 0.001 how much can you do to motivate students who show low interest in learning activities? 3.52 2.13 11.22 0.001 how much can you do to get students to believe they can do well in school? 3.69 2.60 8.24 0.001 how much can you do to help your students value learning? 3.54 2.60 8.92 0.001 how much can you do to get children to follow classroom rules? 3.58 2.16 11.34 0.001 how much can you do to calm a student who is disruptive or noisy? 3.33 1.96 11.34 0.001 to what extent can you craft good questions for your students? 3.39 2.96 3.96 0.001 how well can you establish a classroom management system with each group of students? 3.58 2.43 10.24 0.001 how much can you use a variety of assessment strategies? 3.41 2.58 6.30 0.001 to what extent can you provide an alternative explanation as an example when students are confused? 3.56 2.56 7.42 0.001 how much can you assist families in helping their children do well in school? 3.35 2.88 5.14 0.001 research question 3: to what extent did experiencing support predict teacher self-efficacy during the covid-19 pandemic? to answer this research question, the individual items were averaged to arrive at a composite score. these composite scores were computed so that simultaneous multiple linear regression could be conducted, predicting teacher self-efficacy. the efficacy scale used in this study was previously validated using all 24 items (long version) as well as using only 12 items (short version) from the scale (tschannen-moran & hoy, 2001). the long version of the scale has a cronbach’s alpha of .94 and the short version of the scale has a cronbach’s alpha of .90. tschannen-moran and hoy (2000) also conducted an efa on each subscale of the instrument: instructional strategies, management, and engagement. all three subscales, for both the long and short versions, have cronbach alphas ranging from .81-.90. covid-19 teacher efficacy 47 therefore, for this study, we used a composite of the scores obtained from the short teacher selfefficacy scale version before the onset of the covid-19 pandemic ranging from 2.62 to 4.00, with an average score of 3.50 (sd = 0.40) (epstein & willhite 2015; tschannen-moran & hoy, 2001). composite teacher self-efficacy scores after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic ranged from 1.00 to 4.00, with an average score of 2.46 (sd = 0.60). the composites were also reliable, with cronbach’s alphas ranging from .90 for pre-covid-19 teacher self-efficacy composite to .91 for post-covid-19 teacher self-efficacy composite. research question 3 asked to what extent support from school administration, support from schools in the program, and open communication with families predicted teacher efficacy after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. to address this research question, simultaneous multiple linear regression procedures were conducted. support from school administration, support from families in the program, and open communication with families were entered as predictors in the model. prior to interpreting the regression model, tolerance and the variance inflation factors (vif) were examined. per cohen et al. (2004), the results indicated that multicollinearity was not an issue given that tolerance values were above .10 and vif values were less than 10. the model was statistically significant (f(3, 49) = 4.41, p < .01, r2 = .165.) and accounted for 16.5% of the variance in teacher efficacy after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. the findings in table 7 revealed that an increase in feeling supported by the families in the program significantly predicted teacher efficacy after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic (β = .24, p = .04). feeling supported by the school administration and keeping open communication with families were not statistically significant in the model. table 7. regression coefficients model b se β t p tol. vif i feel supported by the school administration 0.16 0.10 0.21 1.50 0.13 0.81 1.23 i feel supported by the families in the program 0.24 0.11 0.31 2.11 0.04 0.72 1.37 i was able to keep open communication with families 0.03 0.13 0.03 0.24 0.81 0.76 1.30 note. tol = tolerance, vif = variance inflation factor. overall model (f(3, 49) = 4.41, p = .008, r2 = .165. discussion the covid-19 health crisis has forced many early childhood education programs in the united states and around the world to shift to online instruction. this situation has presented the opportunity to study the experiences and challenges teachers of young children face while teaching online. despite the global shift to online teaching, very few studies have explored early childhood educators’ experiences and challenges. the present study attempted to bridge this gap in knowledge by addressing the experiences and challenges teachers faced. similarly, despite the central role of teachers’ sense of self-efficacy in children’s developmental outcomes, no study has 48 guirguis & plotka assessed the role of online teaching in teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. lastly, this study attempted to study the role of support systems in teachers’ experience of self-efficacy. online education has been growing in recent years, and it is expected to continue to grow even after the covid-19 health crisis is resolved. the lessons learned throughout his period can inform future online practices for teaching very young children. major findings one of the major findings of this study indicates that teachers experienced challenges when attempting to address early childhood goals in the virtual setting. teachers found that supporting social skills, such as helping children make friends, adjust to routines, and follow rules was especially challenging. they also reported that teaching academic content and skills was less difficult. implementing developmentally appropriate activities was also challenging in the virtual setting. nevertheless, teachers found storytime/reading books, games, and social activities, singalongs, and one-on-one time between children and teachers to be most effective. hands-on activities were only effective when adults were able to assist the children at home. direct instruction and hands-on activities without an adult assisting at home were not very effective. however, children’s participation and engagement suffered, as many teachers reported that several children did not participate in many of the learning activities. lastly, teachers found that they perceived children as having experienced mostly confusion, disengagement, and loneliness during this period. the pandemic and the need to teach online has significantly affected teachers’ sense of selfefficacy. teachers reported that their confidence declined when it came to their ability to control disruptive behavior, motivate students, and help children believe in themselves and value learning. similarly, teachers felt a decline in confidence in their ability to help children follow rules, calm disruptive children, craft good questions, establish classroom management systems, use a variety of assessment strategies, clarify information to confused children, and help families. despite these challenges and the decrease in teachers’ sense of self-efficacy, however, teachers revealed that feeling supported by the families in the program significantly impacted their levels of self-efficacy. lessons learned and implications for the future one of the most important lessons learned from this study was that when preschool teaching went online, children’s social skills suffered the most. while teachers felt that helping children develop social skills, follow rules, or adjust to routines was extremely difficult, they found teaching academic content was less challenging. this finding should be considered highly informative when contemplating online education platforms for young children, as academic skills might be promoted at the expense of social skills. this study showed that teachers have tried to engage young children in activities that are best translated to an online platform. the activities that teachers found most effective, such as storytimes and sing-alongs, were teacher-centered. online platforms do not seem to easily incorporate child-centered activities, such as exploration and self-expression. furthermore, despite teachers’ covid-19 teacher efficacy 49 great efforts, almost half their students did not participate in such activities, pointing at the challenges in engaging young children in online learning. lastly, responses to the survey discussed here show that teaching online during a pandemic have affected teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. the most important sources of support that teachers received came from families in their programs. this finding should be considered when designing interventions to promote teachers’ sense of self-efficacy during crises such as the one we are enduring currently. administrators should look into expanding opportunities for teacher-family support. in addition, since teachers felt their greatest sources of support came from families, administrators should look into providing consistent sources of support 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(2008). how teachers experience principal leadership: the roles of professional community, trust, efficacy, and shared responsibility. educational administration quarterly, 44, 458–495. microsoft word mancilla-martinez final 11718.docx dialog, 21(1), copyright © 2018, issn: 1930-9325 research article spanish-speaking preschoolers’ conceptual vocabulary knowledge: towards more comprehensive assessment jeannette mancilla-martinez vanderbilt university christa mulker greenfader california state university, fullerton wendy ochoa university of california, irvine this study examined spanish-english preschoolers’ (n = 32) vocabulary performance when using traditional english-only measures compared to measures that utilize conceptual scoring (i.e., vocabulary knowledge in terms of known concepts independent of whether the label for the concept is known in either spanish or english) designed for and normed on spanish-english bilinguals. children’s performance at the item level on the conceptually-scored measures was also examined. in english, receptive and expressive average scores were in the below-average ranges. however, on the conceptually-scored vocabulary measures, the average scores were within the average range, receptively and expressively. examination of children’s performance at the item level suggests there may be differences by language in bilingual children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary performance. the findings underscore the value of utilizing conceptually-scored vocabulary measures, suggesting that their use may have potential to distinguish language difference from language disorder among young bilingual learners. keywords: bilingualism, vocabulary knowledge, vocabulary assessment, conceptual vocabulary, spanish-speakers early vocabulary skills are key predictors of later achievement outcomes, among native and nonnative english-speaking populations alike (dickinson, 2011; mancilla-martinez & lesaux, 2017; morgan, farkas, hillemeier, hammer, & maczuga, 2015). but compared to their native englishspeaking peers, children from spanish-speaking homes in the united states — hereon referred to as spanish-english bilinguals — disproportionately evidence english vocabulary skills, beginning prior to formal school entry, that raise concerns about their future academic prospects (garcía & frede, 2010; garcía, jensen, & scribner, 2009; national task force on early childhood education for hispanics, 2007). additionally, low-income status hinders child development, conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 23 including academic achievement (brooks-gunn & duncan, 1997). given that spanish-english bilinguals in the u.s. disproportionately come from lower-income homes compared to their monolingual peers (lópez & velasco, 2011), the recurrent findings of this group’s lower vocabulary scores compared to their monolingual-english, higher-income peers are not surprising. however, the historical lack of reliable and valid vocabulary assessments designed for and normed on bilingual children continues to represent one of the greatest challenges in gaining insight into this population’s vocabulary performance and development, and, by extension, on differentiating a language difference from a language disorder (bedore & peña, 2008; klingner, 2014; ortiz & artiles, 2010; paradis, genesee, & crago, 2011). this study was designed with the goal of moving the field forward in gaining a better understanding of spanish-english bilingual preschoolers’ vocabulary knowledge. we sought to determine the utility of assessing receptive and expressive vocabulary skills using standardized measures designed for and normed on spanish-english bilinguals that utilize conceptual scoring, compared to using receptive and expressive vocabulary measures designed for and normed on english monolinguals. additionally, we examined the proportion of children potentially deemed “at-risk” for low academic achievement when english-only compared to conceptually-scored vocabulary measures are used. finally, to gain further insight into spanish-english bilingual students’ patterns of performance in each language by domain (i.e., receptive and expressive vocabulary), we examined their performance at the item level on the conceptually-scored vocabulary measures. results of this study have the potential to pave the way for a more inclusive notion of what it means to evaluate — with implications on how to support — the vocabulary development of young bilingual children by focusing on the use of standardized vocabulary measures that use conceptual scoring to tap understanding of concepts regardless of whether the label is known in spanish or english. misrepresentation and bilingual assessment as for all learners, misrepresentation of bilinguals as having a learning disability is consequential. for bilinguals in particular, english proficiency emerges as a key factor that contributes to misidentification. the “exclusionary clause” under the individuals with disabilities education act (idea) states that eligibility determination must not be primarily related to limited english proficiency (individuals with disabilities education act, 1997). yet, many bilinguals, especially young children, are in the process of developing both their native language and english skills. if limited english proficiency should be excluded as a primary eligibility determination, bilingual children may be at risk for misidentification and this appears to be the case. for example, morgan and colleagues (2012) report that, compared to their monolingual peers, bilingual children tend to be referred to early intervention and special education at lower rates. the need to ensure that bilingual children are properly identified cannot be overstated, and this process must begin prior to formal school entry (reichow, boyd, barton, & odom, 2016). the reality, however, is that the majority of bilingual children continue to be assessed only in english despite calls to ensure that both languages are accounted for (national academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine, 2017). like any single assessment, vocabulary measures should not be the only tool used to screen for potential academic difficulty in later years. however, speech pathologists and researchers commonly incorporate vocabulary measures into their battery of assessments when 24 mancilla-martinez, greenfader, & ochoa evaluating the language development of young english monolinguals (beitchman, nair, clegg, & patel, 1986; gray, 2004; sheng & mcgregor, 2010a; tomblin et al., 1997; walker, greenwood, hart, & carta, 1994). although less explored, language measures that include a vocabulary component have also been found to predict academic difficulties among young spanish-english bilinguals (lugo-neris, peña, bedore, & gilliam, 2015; mancilla-martinez & lesaux, 2011, 2017; peña, bedore, & kester, 2015a, 2015b; sheng, peña, bedore, & fiestas, 2012). as an example, morgan and colleagues (2015) found that 2-year-olds with expressive vocabulary delays were at a high risk for later speech-language services, but limited english proficient children from low-income homes tended to receive speech-language services at significantly lower rates compared to their english-proficient peers. the authors hypothesize that an insufficient understanding by speech-language pathologists on how to differentiate a language difference from a language disorder might be at play. use of conceptually-scored vocabulary assessments — hereon defined as assessments that reflect vocabulary knowledge in terms of known concepts by crediting the item as correct independent of whether the label for the concept is known in either spanish or english — may represent one mechanism by which to more accurately assess bilingual students’ vocabulary skills, potentially minimizing misidentification and maximizing the match between their educational needs and the supports provided. dual vocabulary development: the case for conceptual vocabulary bilingual children’s vocabulary knowledge has been shown to be distributed across languages, severely limiting the extent to which monolingual vocabulary measures can provide accurate insight into performance and development in this domain (e.g., bedore, peña, garcia, cortez, 2005; mancilla-martinez & vagh, 2013; oller & eilers, 2002; pearson, fernández, & oller, 1994). indeed, grosjean’s (1982, 1989) seminal work has long cautioned researchers against the monolingual view on bilingualism (i.e., that the bilingual is, or should be, two monolinguals in one person and should thus have “equal” proficiency in both languages). yet, there continues to be a reliance on measures designed for monolinguals, and bilinguals’ performance is appraised based on monolingual standards. the revised hierarchical model (kroll & stewart, 1994), similar to cummins’ (1979) well-known linguistic interdependence hypothesis, posits that bilinguals represent their two languages in separate lexicons, but that they do so with one conceptual (language-free) system subserving both languages. cummins’ work further underscores that proficiency in one language facilitates proficiency in another, particularly if a certain threshold of proficiency is reached in the native language. for instance, if a child learns the spanish word semilla, s/he has a general conceptual understanding of the word, facilitating the acquisition of the english equivalent (seed). an additional consideration when attending to bilingual children’s vocabulary development is that, unlike their monolingual peers, their language environments are fundamentally different; bilinguals receive input in two languages, though the amount of exposure to each language and children’s own use of each language varies widely. further, the setting (e.g., home vs. school) can play a role in priming bilinguals toward a more monolingual or bilingual language mode (bialystok, luk, peets, & yang, 2010; grosjean, 1982, 1989, 2008), underscoring the need to attend to both languages when assessing bilingual children’s vocabulary. yet, standardized english language assessments in the u.s. rarely attend to whether conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 25 linguistically diverse speakers are included in the norming samples (luk & christodoulou, 2016). it is beyond the scope of this study to investigate the extent to which conceptually-scored vocabulary measures better predict who goes on to experience academic challenges, but examining bilingual children’s english-only compared to conceptually-scored vocabulary performance via standardized measures with established psychometric properties has the potential to provide preliminary insight into this complex issue. predictive validity evidence of language and literacy assessments used with young bilinguals remain scarce (bandel, atkinsburnett, castro, wulsin, & putman, 2012), but spanish-english bilinguals typically exhibit vocabulary scores within or above the average range when conceptual scoring is utilized. however, extant work has relied on the adaption of monolingual measures to proxy conceptual vocabulary knowledge (gross, buac, & kaushanskaya, 2014; mancilla-martinez, pan, & vagh, 2011; sheng et al., 2012; mancilla-martinez & vagh, 2013). an open question is whether use of conceptually-scored standardized vocabulary measures designed for and normed on spanishenglish bilinguals would mirror these findings. if so, these standardized measures could represent a promising mechanism for informing determinations, both in research and practice, regarding whether bilingual learners might require further language supports stemming from a genuine disability or whether they are simply still in the process of developing their language skills (bedore & peña, 2008). vocabulary assessments that utilize conceptual scoring while the call for vocabulary assessments designed for and normed on bilinguals is not new, historically, there has been a lack of such measures. in turn, a common practice in research and classrooms throughout the u.s. has been to adapt monolingual measures to index bilingual children’s vocabulary knowledge (e.g., pearson et al., 1993, 1995; pearson & fernandez, 1994). the most common adjustments to accommodate both languages for bilinguals are total and conceptual vocabulary scores. a total vocabulary score is derived by summing all the words in spanish and english (e.g., children receive double credit for knowing both puerta and door) while a conceptual vocabulary score is derived by summing all the words in spanish and english but then subtracting translation equivalent items (e.g., children do not receive double credit for knowing both puerta and door). research to date generally demonstrates lower performance when bilinguals are tested in single-language vocabulary but comparable performance to their monolingual peers when adjusted total or conceptual vocabulary scores are used (core, hoff, rumiche, & señor, 2013; gross et al., 2014; mancilla-martinez et al., 2011; mancilla-martinez & vagh, 2013; patterson, 1998; pearson et al., 1994; pearson et al., 1993; peña, bedore, & kester, 2015a). while debate remains concerning the extent to which total or conceptual vocabulary is a better index of bilingual children’s overall vocabulary knowledge, work focused on psycholinguistic aspects of bilingualism points to the existence of one combined lexicosemantic store that is similar to monolinguals (dijkstra & van heuven, 2002; kroll & sunderman, 2003), providing theoretical support for the use of conceptually-scored measures. yet, use of adapted measures proves challenging for numerous reasons, not the least of which is the lack of norms associated with the adaptation of monolingual measures. we underscore that conceptually-scored vocabulary measurement is distinct from the concept of code-switching, though there are similarities. code-switching refers to a natural, 26 mancilla-martinez, greenfader, & ochoa distinctive occurrence among bilinguals, in which speakers shift between languages, at the word, phrase, sentence, or utterance levels (garcía, 2009; grosjean, 1989; wei & martin, 2009). in other words, instead of strictly using one language in a single speech act (e.g., conversation), code-switching is characterized by the juxtaposition of two different linguistic systems (gumperz, 1982; poplack, 1980). while both code-switching and conceptual vocabulary scoring depend on bilingual children’s linguistic reservoir, code-switching is used to compensate lexical gaps in a language that is less developed than the dominant language during conversations to accomplish their communicative goals (genesee, paradis, & crago, 2004), while conceptual scoring is a sensitive way to accurately capture their lexical knowledge. as such, conceptual vocabulary scoring refers to the acceptance of responses in either spanish or english and does not entail students’ mixing of two linguistic systems (e.g., spanish and english) during a conversational interaction. the focus of this study is on the assessment of vocabulary via use of standardized measures that apply conceptual scoring among children negotiating both spanish and english. to our knowledge, the co-normed vocabulary assessments, receptive one-word picture vocabulary test4: spanish-bilingual edition (rowpvt-4: sbe; martin, 2013) and expressive one-word picture vocabulary test4: spanish-bilingual edition (eowpvt-4: sbe; martin, 2013) represent the only set of standardized vocabulary assessments currently available to assess spanish-english bilingual children’s separate receptive and expressive vocabulary using conceptual scoring. these measures were designed for and normed on spanish-english bilinguals, beginning at age two and extending through to adulthood, who speak spanish and english with varying levels of proficiency. receptive-expressive vocabulary patterns of performance as with english monolinguals (benedict, 1979), spanish-english bilinguals generally appear to exhibit better receptive than expressive skills (gibson, oller, jarmulowicz, & ethington, 2012; gross et al., 2014; miccio, tabors, páez, hammer, & wagstaff, 2005; oller et al., 2007a; oller, pearson, & cobo-lewis, 2007b; windsor & kohnert, 2004). however, findings on the nature of the receptive-expressive gap are mixed for spanish-english bilinguals. some work reports that young spanish-english bilinguals exhibit a receptive-expressive vocabulary gap in both languages (i.e., that receptive skills are higher than expressive skills), but that the gap is larger in spanish (gibson et al., 2012; gross et al., 2014; miccio et al., 2005; oller et al., 2007a, 2007b; swanson, rosston, gerber, & solari, 2008). yet, others have found the opposite pattern, even among children with and without language impairments (gibson, peña, & bedore, 2014a, 2014b). furthermore, other work reveals that young spanish-english bilinguals indeed evidence higher receptive than expressive vocabulary in spanish, but higher expressive than receptive vocabulary in english (mancilla-martinez & vagh, 2013). more work is needed in this area, and examining preschoolers’ receptive and expressive vocabulary performance on spanish-english conceptually-scored measures at the item level could contribute to the open question of receptive-expressive vocabulary gaps. more practically, examining students’ performance at the item level can help inform instructional efforts aimed at bolstering this population’s vocabulary skills by providing guidance into the types of words bilinguals appear to already know or need support to develop. conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 27 among others, considerations when evaluating bilingual children’s receptive and expressive performance at the item level include context (e.g., home or school), cognates (i.e., words that share common or exact roots in both languages such as “elephant” and “elefante”), and categorization (e.g., broader semantic categories of words known such as “animals,” “foods,” etc.). bialystok and colleagues (2010) developed their own system to classify known english words as either “home” or “school.” they identified a word gap between bilingual and monolingual-english children in their english “home” vocabulary, such that monolingual children ostensibly knew more english “home” words than the bilingual children. however, no differences between the two groups were found in their knowledge of english “school” words. however, the authors acknowledge that categorizing words as being primarily from the “home” or “school” context is not absolute, and they thus call for additional research that uses more detailed categories. another type of category may be cognates and studies have shown that bilingual children tend to perform better on cognate than non-cognate words (kroll, gerfen, & dussias, 2008). yet, an important consideration is that recognition of cognates does not appear to be automatic, even for older students, and instead appears to require explicit instruction (nagy, garcía, durgunoglu, & hancin-bhatt, 1993; hancin-bhatt & nagy, 1994; moss, 1992). the macarthur-bates communicative development inventory (cdi, fenson et al., 2007) semantic categories offer a potentially useful framework by which to examine spanish-english bilingual children’s vocabulary performance at the item level. the cdi inventories are used to gauge the number of words children typically learn first in multiple languages, including spanish and english, and the words are grouped in semantic categories (e.g., animals, outside things, people). notably, previous research has shown that the english and spanish cdi inventories can be used with preschool-aged spanish-english bilingual children (mancilla-martinez et al., 2011). exploring the utility of the cdi semantic categories for understanding spanish-english bilingual children’s conceptually-scored vocabulary knowledge is an area ripe for research as little is known about the types of words bilingual children know, limiting efforts to promote their oral language skills (garcía & frede, 2010). the present study this study examines spanish-english bilingual children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary utilizing english-only and spanish-english standardized measures that utilize conceptual scoring. results of this study have the potential to advance our understanding of this population’s overall vocabulary knowledge and to provide preliminary insight into the extent to which measures that utilize conceptual scoring may represent a promising mechanism for minimizing misrepresentation of bilinguals in special education. the results likewise have instructional implications for supporting this group’s vocabulary development. we address two key research questions: (1) how do spanish-english bilingual preschoolers’ receptive and expressive vocabulary skills compare when english-only vs. spanish-english standardized measures that utilize conceptual scoring are used? relatedly, does, and if so to what extent, the proportion of bilingual children deemed “at risk” for low academic achievement change depending on the measures used? 28 mancilla-martinez, greenfader, & ochoa (2) what are spanish-english bilingual children’s patterns of performance at the item level on the spanish-english receptive and expressive vocabulary measures that utilize conceptual scoring? in line with previous research that has adapted monolingual measures to proxy spanish-english bilingual children’s conceptual vocabulary knowledge, we hypothesized that our sample of spanish-english bilingual preschoolers would evidence higher scores on the receptive and expressive standardized vocabulary measures that use conceptual scoring compared to the english-only measures. thus, we expected that the percentage of preschoolers identified as “atrisk” would be attenuated via use of the conceptually-scored measures. further, and also in line with previous work, we hypothesized that children would evidence stronger receptive than expressive performance on the conceptually-scored measures. however, given the scarcity of work that has examined this population’s vocabulary performance on conceptually-scored measures at the item level, we did not have a solid basis for making hypotheses about preschoolers’ item level performance. method participants the sample consists of 32 spanish-english bilingual children, including one set of twins, enrolled in a state-funded preschool or transitional kindergarten program in southern california (female n = 20; male n = 12). on average, children were 54.7 months old and the average child had been enrolled in preschool for 12.7 months (see table 1). instruction was provided in english to all children. children were included in the study if parents reported spanish use in the home, solely or with english. parent interviews, prepared in spanish and english, were conducted with all of the families, except one due to scheduling conflicts (we obtained key demographic information on this family from a screening form at study entry). most interviews (81%) were conducted with mothers. all children were reported by their families to be u.s.-born and latino (see table 1). nearly all parents were foreign-born, and parents reported fewer than 10 years of education, on average. following brooks-gunn, duncan, and britto (1999), we identified four income-toneeds ratio categories (see appendix a), as follows: deep poverty (income-to-needs ratio less than .50), poverty (income-to-needs ratio greater than or equal to .50, but less than 1.0), near poverty (income-to-needs ratio greater than or equal to 1.0, but less than 1.5), and low income (income-to-needs ratio greater than or equal to 1.5, but less than 2.0). on average, families had an income-to-needs ratio at the poverty level (.90). procedure participants were recruited from a large collaborating school district in southern california. the preschool director disseminated flyers for parent recruitment to all classrooms, and teachers distributed the flyers to all children’s parents. parents who agreed to participate returned the screening form, permitting trained research assistants (ras) to directly contact families and conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 29 invite them into the study. all families who reported using spanish at home, solely or with english, were invited to participate. ras gained formal consent and conducted telephone or inperson interviews (per parent preference) and administered the direct child vocabulary assessments. all ras were spanish-english bilingual, biliterate undergraduate and graduate students. parent interviews provided relevant demographic data (see table 1), as well as detailed information on home language use (described below). children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary skills were assessed using direct standardized assessments in english (using monolingual english measures) and conceptually (using spanish-english conceptual measures). testing was conducted over two days, with ras administering one set of vocabulary assessments (i.e., english-only or spanish-english conceptual) per day; the order of administration was counterbalanced. english-only assessments took about 35 minutes and spanish-english conceptual assessments about 45 minutes. for the spanish-english conceptual measures, all testing began in spanish per parent report of spanish as the dominant home language. parent interview with two exceptions, all parents completed the roughly 30-minute interview in spanish. the demographic information is summarized above (see table 1). we also collected information from parents on home language use (see table 2). parents were asked to report on the language(s) that the mother, father, other adults and other children in the home used when speaking to their child, and on the language(s) their child used when speaking to each of these members, as applicable. the following scale was used: 1 = only spanish, 2 = mostly spanish, 3 = equal amounts of english and spanish, 4 = mostly english, and 5 = only english. measures english receptive vocabulary. english-only receptive vocabulary was assessed with the receptive one word picture vocabulary test4 (rowpvt-4; martin & brownell, 2011). children identified pictured objects, actions, and concepts that were ordered by increasing difficulty, beginning with the easiest concepts and ending with less frequently encountered items. the task was discontinued when the child made 6 errors within 8 consecutive responses. the publisher reports the median internal consistency reliability coefficient as .97. conceptual receptive vocabulary. spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive vocabulary was assessed with the receptive one-word picture vocabulary test4: spanishbilingual edition (rowpvt-4: sbe; martin, 2013). children identified pictured objects, actions, and concepts that were ordered by increasing difficulty, arranged in a developmental sequence specific to the bilingual normative sample using classical test theory and item response theory, beginning with the easiest concepts and ending with less frequently encountered items. the task was discontinued when the child made 4 errors within 6 consecutive responses. as a spanish-english conceptually-scored measure, children were presented with the target item first in spanish (per parent report of spanish being the dominant home language). if a child indicated the incorrect answer or did not respond at all, the examiner repeated the question in english, allowing for the assessment of receptive knowledge in either language. if the child missed the 30 mancilla-martinez, greenfader, & ochoa item once both languages were targeted, the item was scored as incorrect. the publisher reports the median internal consistency reliability coefficient as .95. table 1 demographic characteristics for spanish-english bilingual children and their families demographic characteristics average values & percentages child age in months, average (n = 32) 54.7 (5.6) child age at preschool entry in months, average (n = 26) 42.0 (5.6) child’s country of birth (n = 32) united states 100% child’s ethnicity (n = 32) latino 100% parents’ country of birth united states mexico peru guatemala mother father (n=32) (n=29) 3% 10% 94% 86% 3% 0% 0% 3% parents’ age at immigration under 10 years old 10-18 years old over 18 years old mother father (n=29) (n=25) 17% 16% 31% 32% 52% 52% parents’ education total years, average mother father (n=30) (n=28) 9.6 (4.2) 9.9 (3.3) family economic condition deep poverty (<.50) poverty (.50 to <1.0) near poverty (1.0 to <1.5) low-income (1.5 to <2.0) middle-income (>2.0) average 19% 39% 26% 13% 3% 0.90 (0.5) note. standard deviation in parentheses. some questions were not answered by interviewees, as reflected by the sample sizes noted. conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 31 table 2 patterns of home language use for the spanish-english bilingual students mostly spanish equal amounts mostly english pattern % n % n % n r input by mother to child (n = 31) 90 28 6 2 3 1 output by child to mother (n = 31) 58 18 23 7 19 6 .4* input by father to child (n = 29) 72 21 7 2 21 6 output by child to father (n = 29) 52 15 21 6 28 8 .7*** input by other adults to child (n = 29) 93 27 3 1 7 2 output by child to other adults (n = 30) 57 17 13 4 30 9 .4~ input by other children to child (n = 29) 41 12 17 5 41 12 output by child to other children (n = 29) 38 11 21 6 41 12 1.0*** overall input: family to child (n = 31) 71 22 16 5 13 4 overall output: child to family (n = 31) 45 14 10 3 45 14 .7*** note. ~ = p = .05, * p<.05, *** p<.001 english expressive vocabulary. english-only expressive vocabulary was assessed with the expressive one word picture vocabulary test4 (eowpvt-4; martin & brownell 2011). children named pictured objects, actions, and concepts that were ordered by increasing difficulty, beginning with the easiest concepts and ending with less frequently encountered items. the task was discontinued when the child failed six consecutive items. the publisher reports the median internal consistency reliability coefficient as .95. conceptual expressive vocabulary. spanish-english conceptually-scored expressive vocabulary was assessed with the expressive one-word picture vocabulary test4: spanish-bilingual edition (eowpvt-4: sbe; martin, 2013). children named pictured objects, actions, and concepts that were ordered by increasing difficulty, arranged in a developmental sequence specific to the bilingual normative sample using classical test theory and item response theory, beginning with the easiest concepts and ending with less frequently encountered items. the task was discontinued when the child failed six consecutive items. as a spanish-english conceptually-scored measure, children were first prompted in spanish (per parent report of spanish being the dominant home language). if the child did not respond or answered incorrectly, the examiner repeated the prompt in english, allowing for the assessment of expressive knowledge in either language. if the child missed the item once both languages were targeted, the item was scored as incorrect. the publisher reports the median internal consistency reliability coefficient as .95. the bilingual normative sample for both the rowpvt-4: sbe and eowpvt-4: sbe (martin, 2013) approximates the u.s. hispanic population; roughly 63% of the normative sample was of mexican origin, roughly 41% resided in the west coast region of the u.s., and about one-third reported less than a high school education. if under age 18, accounting for roughly 73% of the sample, parent education is utilized. the present sample is similar to this normative sample, although the present sample is predominantly of mexican origin, is entirely from the west coast region of the u.s., and reported lower levels of education. table 3 illustrates the distribution of items for both the rowpvt-4-sbe and the 32 mancilla-martinez, greenfader, & ochoa eowpvt-4-sbe (martin, 2013) in semantic categories, modeled after the macarthur-bates cdi toddler long forms (fenson et al., 2007). we utilized the cdi semantic categories because they represent the types of words children typically learn first, in both spanish and english. each item was entered once, with no overlap. the semantic category, “other nouns,” included nouns that did not fit into any of the other categories. table 3 spanish-english bilinguals children’s (n=32) receptive and expressive vocabulary performance on the spanish-english conceptual vocabulary measures (using either spanish or english) receptive expressive macarthur-bates cdi number of items % correct number of items % correct animals 9 91 18 50 vehicles 3 74 8 63 toys 1 100 2 33 food and drink 6 67 10 56 clothing 6 89 2 63 body parts 3 96 6 80 small household items 6 72 7 79 furniture and rooms 3 100 5 26 outside things 9 74 7 45 places to go 2 86 2 17 people 4 77 2 38 games and routines 1 53 1 0 action words 13 66 7 50 nouns 17 63 28 35 adjectives/descriptive words 11 68 0 - average percentage 78 45 note. macarthur-bates cdi was used to categorize items from the receptive and expressive conceptual vocabulary assessments. items were classified once; there were no overlapping categories containing the same item. items on the receptive and expressive tests are not exactly equivalent. while not exactly similar, the majority of the items between the conceptual and english assessments were the same; there was over 90% overlap between the two language versions of both the expressive and receptive assessments. additionally, it is interesting to note the percentages of cognates for each assessment. the percentages of the total number of words administered that were cognates are as follows: english receptive – 40%; conceptual receptive – 38%; english expressive – 36%; and conceptual expressive – 46%. conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 33 analytic approach research question 1a: mean score comparisons. the first step was to compare spanish-english bilingual children’s english-only and spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive vocabulary scores. we thus first conducted paired t-tests between the english-only and spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary scores to examine whether a difference exists across languages, receptively and expressively (i.e., between-language comparisons). we then also conducted paired t-tests within-language to examine whether a difference exists within language, that is between english receptive and english expressive vocabulary, as well as between spanish-english receptive conceptually-scored vocabulary and spanish-english expressive conceptually-scored vocabulary (i.e., within-language comparison). we underscore that the standardized assessments we utilized provide normative information for determining whether standard score differences exist between receptive and expressive vocabulary (i.e., within-language differences in receptive and expressive vocabulary). for this reason, we conducted paired-t-tests using both the raw and standard scores. our rationale for using raw scores was that absolute differences that may exist are masked by standard scores. however, and as noted, we felt compelled to also examine standard score differences given that the assessments rely on standard score differences when determining whether discrepancies exist between students’ within-language receptive and expressive vocabulary. we also calculated effect sizes for both the betweenand within-language comparisons and interpret differences using cohen’s (1992) conventions for effect sizes (i.e., ~.2 a small effect, ~.5 a medium effect, and .8+ a large effect). research question 1b: at-risk classifications. in line with previous research (e.g., gibson et al., 2012; gross et al., 2014; miccio et al., 2005; oller et al., 2007a, 2007b; windsor & kohnert, 2004), we next compared the proportion of students who fell within each of the following three categories on the english-only vs. the spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive vocabulary measures: 1) -1 sd below the mean, 2) within the average range, and 3) +1 sd above the mean. research question 2: performance at the item-level. we examined the extent to which children demonstrated knowledge in spanish, compared to having to resort to english or to not knowing the item. as noted, all children were administered the spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary measures in spanish first (per parent report of spanish being the dominant home language, not because administration has to begin in spanish), and then in english for any missed spanish items. thus, we calculated the percentage of items known in spanish, then in english if missed in spanish, or in neither language if missed in both languages. results preliminary descriptive analyses as table 2 shows, there was a positive, moderate association between patterns of language exposure and language use for mother/child, father/child, and other adults/child pairs. further, the language association between other children in the home and the target child was virtually 34 mancilla-martinez, greenfader, & ochoa perfect (r = .97, p <.001). we thus combined the language exposure (i.e., all questions related to the language(s) children heard from household members) and language use (i.e., all question related to the language(s) children spoke to household members) data. the correlation between the language exposure and language use variables was positive and high (r = .72, p < .001). we then proceeded to create a composite home language variable by averaging the overall home language exposure and overall home language use to reflect spanish-english bilingual students’ home language. the home language composite average was 2.1 (1.0), reflecting predominant spanish use at home. table 4 displays the correlations among all measures. there is a positive, moderate association between income and home language and between income and the english-only receptive and expressive vocabulary measures. however, there is no association between income and spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary. further, the magnitude and significance of association between students’ english-only receptive and expressive vocabulary performance and students’ spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive vocabulary performance is similar. finally, home language is not associated with children’s vocabulary scores. table 4 correlations among all variables for spanish-english bilingual children (n = 32a) income home language englishonly receptive englishonly expressive spanishenglish conceptual receptive spanishenglish conceptual expressive income 1.0 .51** .39* .46** .03 -.10 home language --1.0 .04 .10 .07 -.09 english-only receptive ----1.0 .75*** .52** .43* english-only expressive -- -- -- 1.0 .33 .41* spanish-english conceptual receptive -- -- -- 1.0 .63*** spanish-english conceptual expressive -- -- -- -- 1.0 note. *p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p <.001; n = 32, except for income and home language as 1 parent interview was missing conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 35 key results research question 1a: mean score comparisons. table 5 displays spanishenglish bilingual students’ english-only and spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive vocabulary raw and standard scores. between-language comparisons. comparison of the english-only and spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive vocabulary raw and standard scores revealed a significant difference, such that students performed lower on english-only compared to spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary (9.4 raw score point difference; 18.6 standard score point difference). indeed, the effect size for the raw scores was moderate (-0.58) and it was large when comparing the standard scores (-1.34). however, when comparing students’ english-only and spanish-english conceptually-scored expressive vocabulary, results differed depending on whether raw or standard scores were considered. although spanish-english expressive conceptually-scored vocabulary raw scores were higher than english-only expressive raw scores, on average (4.9 raw score point difference), this raw score difference did not reach statistical significance and the effect size was small (-0.31). however, the expressive standard score difference of 23.8 points was statistically significant, indicating that students evidenced higher spanish-english conceptually-scored than english-only expressive vocabulary standard scores, yielding a large effect size (-1.40). within-language comparisons. comparison of children’s raw and standard scores on english-only receptive compared to english-only expressive vocabulary reveal a significant difference; students performed lower on expressive compared to receptive vocabulary (7.2 raw score point difference; 6.2 standard score point difference). here, the effect size was moderate (0.43). furthermore, when utilizing the difference scores provided by the publisher, 50% of our sample evidenced a significant difference between their english receptive and expressive scores. of these students, 88% evidenced higher receptive than expressive scores. the publisher reports that more than 25% of the standardization sample also evidence such a standard score difference. finally, when comparing students’ spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive vocabulary to their spanish-english conceptually-scored expressive vocabulary, results differed depending on whether raw or standard scores were considered. while there was a significant within-language difference in children’s spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive raw scores, with students performing lower on expressive compared to receptive vocabulary (11.7 raw score difference and large effect size of 0.77), the standard score difference was not significant (1 standard score point difference and negligible effect size of 0.06). additionally, when utilizing the difference scores provided by the publisher, 56% of our sample evidenced a significant difference between their spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive scores. of these students, 61% evidenced higher receptive than expressive scores. the publisher reports that more than 25% of the standardization sample also evidence such a standard score difference. research question 1b: at-risk classifications. table 6 shows the percentage of spanish-english bilingual children across each category (i.e., -1sd below the mean, average range, and +1sd above the mean) on the english-only and spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive vocabulary measures. when english-only vocabulary measures were 36 mancilla-martinez, greenfader, & ochoa considered, compared to the spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive vocabulary measures, there were notable differences in the percentage of spanish-english bilingual children across each category. specifically, nearly half and over half of the spanishenglish bilinguals were classified as -1sd below the mean on receptive and expressive englishonly vocabulary, respectively. but when spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary was accounted for, the landscape changes considerably, with spanish-english bilingual children’s classifications as being -1sd below the mean reduced to 12.5% receptively and 6% expressively. table 5 between-language (top of table) and within-language (bottom of table) comparisons of spanish-english bilingual children’s (n = 32) receptive and expressive vocabulary raw and standard score means (standard deviations in parentheses) between language comparisons raw standard scores receptive english 39.1 (16.0) 84.8 (14.7) receptive conceptual 48.5 (16.4) 103.4 (12.9) english-conceptual difference cohen’s d -9.4 (t = -3.36, p = .0021) -0.58 -18.6 (t = -6.92, p <.0001) -1.34 expressive english 31.9 (17.7) 78.6 (17.8) expressive conceptual 36.8 (13.8) 102.5 (16.2) english-conceptual difference -4.9 (t = -1.60, p = .1195) -23.9(t = -6.69, p <.0001) cohen’s d -0.31 -1.40 within language comparisons raw standard scores receptive english 39.1 (16.0) 84.8 (14.7) expressive english 31.9 (17.7) 78.6 (17.8) english difference 7.2 (t = -3.39, p = .0019) 6.2 (t = -2.84, p = .0080) cohen’s d 0.43 0.38 receptive conceptual 48.5 (16.4) 103.4 (12.9) expressive conceptual 36.8 (13.8) 102.5 (16.2) conceptual difference cohen’s d 11.7 (t = -5.40, p <.0001) 0.77 0.9 (t = -0.43, p = 0.6727) 0.06 note. receptive english refers to the receptive one-word picture vocabulary test, receptive conceptual refers receptive one-word picture vocabulary test4: spanish-bilingual edition, expressive english refers expressive one-word picture vocabulary test, and expressive conceptual refers to the receptive one-word picture vocabulary test4: spanish-bilingual edition. all of the assessments are based on a population distribution having a mean of 100 and standard deviation of 15. research question 2: performance at the item-level. table 3, shown previously, shows the percentage of overall correct items answered by children in either spanish or english for each macarthur-bates cdi (fenson et al., 2007) semantic category on the receptive and expressive spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary measures. on average, 78% of conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 37 answers were correct in either language receptively and 45% were correct in either language expressively. we next examined the percentage of correct answers that the children gave in spanish, receptively and expressively, before potentially resorting to english, and the percentage of correct answers in english (of the total answers). on average across all semantic categories, the majority (62%) of the children answered correctly receptively when initially prompted in spanish; 16% of children gave correct answers on the receptive assessment when prompted in english. on expressive vocabulary, however, only 24% of the children gave the correct answer when initially prompted in spanish; 21% of children provided the correct answers on the expressive assessment in english. figure 1 illustrates the breakdown by cdi category, for both receptive and expressive language, of the percentages of children who answered: (1) correctly in spanish (dark grey shading); (2) correctly in english (medium gray shading); and (3) incorrectly in both languages (light grey shading). as a final step, to glean further insight into the children’s receptive and expressive knowledge in english given that the assessments began in spanish per parents’ report of spanish being the dominant language, we calculated the percentages of correct answers given in english of those prompted in english (figure 2). on the receptive assessment, on average, 38% of the questions were prompted in english (after being answered incorrectly in spanish; see dark grey shading) and, of those, 55% were answered correctly (see light grey shading). on the expressive assessment, on average, 71% of the questions were prompted in english (after being answered incorrectly in spanish; see dark grey shading) and, of those, 35% were answered correctly (see light grey shading). table 6 comparison of at-risk classifications for spanish-english bilinguals, based on englishonly and spanish-english conceptual receptive and expressive vocabulary assessments -1sd average range +1sd receptive english-only spanish-english conceptual 47% 12.5% 53% 75% 0% 12.5% expressive english-only spanish-english conceptual 59% 6% 38% 75% 3% 19% discussion to our knowledge, this is the first study to assess spanish-english bilingual preschoolers’ vocabulary knowledge using standardized receptive and expressive measures that utilize conceptual scoring and are specifically designed for and normed on this population, and also the first study to describe students’ patterns of conceptually-scored receptive and expressive vocabulary performance at the item level. two key findings emerged from this study. first, in line with previous work (e.g., core et al., 2013; gross et al., 2014; mancilla-martinez et al., 2011; pearson et al., 1993), vocabulary measures that utilize conceptual scoring appear to be a step in the right direction to gain a more comprehensive understanding of young spanish-english 38 mancilla-martinez, greenfader, & ochoa bilingual children’s vocabulary knowledge, although there are caveats to consider. second, the description of students’ performance on the conceptually-scored spanish-english vocabulary measures revealed that receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge may differ. we discuss the findings in the sections that follow, focusing on assessment implications but also offering preliminary implications for practice and directions for future work in this area. if bilingual students’ vocabulary had only been assessed in english — a common practice in u.s. classrooms — a different profile would have emerged, namely one in which young spanish-english bilinguals are found to evidence a substantial receptive and expressive english vocabulary gap and are identified as “at-risk” at high rates. in a normal distribution, roughly 1516% of the population is expected to fall -1sd below the mean. yet, 47% and 59% of children in our sample fell -1sd below the mean receptively and expressively, respectively, on english-only vocabulary (see table 6). furthermore, the within-language comparison of students’ raw and standard scores revealed a significant receptive-expressive english vocabulary gap, such that their performance was significantly higher receptively than expressively. as a reference point, the publisher reports that more than 25% of the standardization sample evidence a difference between their english receptive and expressive scores for this age bracket, but they do not specify the direction of the gap (i.e., whether receptive or expressive is higher); in our sample, 50% evidenced this pattern, with nearly all (88%) evidencing higher receptive than expressive scores. in contrast to the english-only vocabulary results, when measures that utilize spanishenglish conceptual scoring were considered, only 12.5% and 6%, receptively and expressively, respectively, of bilingual preschoolers fell -1sd below the mean (see table 6). furthermore, the within-language conceptually-scored vocabulary comparisons revealed that, as was the case with english-only vocabulary, bilingual students evidenced significantly higher receptive than expressive scores. however, this was only the case when raw scores were considered. that is, when comparing standard scores, the 1 standard score point difference was not significant. again as a reference point, the publisher reports that 25% of the standardization sample evidence a difference between their conceptually-scored receptive and expressive scores for this age bracket, but they do not specify the direction of the gap (i.e., whether receptive or expressive is higher); in our sample, 56% evidenced this pattern, with over half (61%) evidencing higher receptive than expressive scores. this means that, as a sample, spanish-english bilingual children generally evidence higher receptive than expressive scores, whether english-only or spanish-english conceptually-scored performance is considered. the between-language comparisons provide further insight. when directly comparing english-only and spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive vocabulary, students performed significantly higher on spanish-english conceptuallyscored vocabulary compared to english-only vocabulary, whether raw or standard scores were considered. however, when comparing english-only and spanish-english conceptually-scored expressive vocabulary, findings were mixed. even though, on average, bilingual preschoolers evidenced higher expressive raw scores on the measures that utilized spanish-english conceptual scoring compared to the english-only measures, the difference did not reach significance. but when standard scores were compared, the difference was significant. the bulk of work to date has focused on comparing standard scores (gibson et al., 2012; gross et al., 2014) and our results align with those of previous findings, revealing that receptive and expressive scores that utilize spanish-english conceptual scoring tend to effectively be higher than english-only scores. conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 39 figure 1. comparison between receptive and expressive spanish-english conceptual vocabulary, illustrating the percentage of correct answers in spanish, percentage of correct answers in english (of the total answers given), and the percentage of incorrect answers in both languages. there were no expressive items in adjectives/descriptive words. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. animals vehicles toys food and drink clothing body parts small household items % correct in spanish %correct in english % incorrect 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. furniture/ rooms outside things places to go people games/ routines action words nouns adj./ desc. words 40 mancilla-martinez, greenfader, & ochoa figure 2. comparison between receptive and expressive spanish-english conceptual vocabulary, illustrating the percentage of questions prompted in english, and, of those, the percentage of correct answers given in english. there were no expressive items in adjectives/descriptive words. note that the english percentages are not an overall representation of students’ english receptive vocabulary, but instead represent the percentage of words known conceptually in english if the item was missed in spanish. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. rec. exp. animals vehicles toys food/drink clothing body parts small household items % prompted in english % correct in english conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 41 taken together, our results comparing patterns of receptive and expressive vocabulary performance diverge with those of others who have pointed to the possibility of expressive language delays, and particularly of spanish expressive language delays (gibson et al., 2012; gross et al., 2014; miccio et al., 2005; oller et al., 2007a, 2007b; swanson et al., 2008). while our results do reveal that spanish-english bilingual preschoolers’ tend to evidence higher receptive than expressive vocabulary scores, in english and in spanish-english conceptuallyscored measures, the gap is larger in english, when standard scores (the typical metric used in previous studies) are considered. these mixed findings likely relate to the nature of measures used; while previous work has compared english-only versus spanish-only vocabulary, we focused on comparisons of english-only versus spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary. our second key finding, targeting performance on the conceptually-scored measures, provides more insight and nuance on the nature of the receptive-expressive gap. at the surface level, spanish-english bilingual children’s receptive and expressive spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary performance did not differ; the average standard score in both domains was 103 (see table 5). however, comparison of students’ raw scores on the conceptually-scored measures revealed a significant difference, such that bilingual preschoolers had higher receptive compared to expressive spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary scores. thus, similar to english monolinguals (benedict, 1979), spanish-english bilinguals indeed appear to exhibit better receptive than expressive skills (gibson et al., 2012; gross et al., 2014; miccio et al., 2005; oller et al., 2007a, 2007b; windsor & kohnert, 2004). but examination of students’ performance at the item-level lends unique insight into conceptually-scored vocabulary performance. as noted, the conceptually-scored vocabulary measures were administered to children in spanish first and missed items were re-administered in english. an examination of the extent to which children obtained the correct response in spanish or resorted to english revealed that children generally evidenced spanish receptive vocabulary knowledge without resorting to english. in contrast, the percentage of correct responses on expressive vocabulary in spanish was notably lower, resulting in a higher percentage of questions prompted in both languages, and over half of the expressive questions were answered incorrectly in both languages. indeed, only 38% of the items were re-administered in english on the receptive conceptually-scored assessment, whereas a majority (71%) of the items had to be re-administered in english on the expressive conceptually-scored assessment. once assessed in english, children were more likely to produce the correct response receptively than expressively (55% vs. 35%). while these results give us insight into children’s spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabularies, it is plausible that children’s english skills were under-represented; children who initially answered correctly in spanish were not given the opportunity to respond in english and thus their english receptive and expressive skills might have been higher than our study was able to determine. notwithstanding the noted limitations of our results given the standardized test administration requirements, our findings do suggest different patterns between receptive and expressive vocabulary and indicate there might be differences between types of words (based on the cdi semantic categories) children know. to this end, it is important to consider the context (i.e., such as the home or preschool) in which children might encounter different semantic categories of words (bialystok et al., 2010). children performed highest in spanish on the spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive categories for “body parts” and “clothing,” on the receptive categories for “furniture and rooms” and “toys,” and on the expressive categories for “small household items” – vocabulary likely heard and/or used at home. on the other hand, children resorted to english at the highest rate on the spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive categories for “nouns” and “games and routines,” 42 mancilla-martinez, greenfader, & ochoa on the receptive categories for “action words” and on the spanish-english conceptually-scored expressive categories for “places to go” – all likely topics encountered with greater frequency in a school context. further, the context in which children were assessed likely influenced their patterns of performance as the setting can play a role in priming bilinguals toward a more monolingual or bilingual language mode (see grosjean, 1982, 1989, 2008). in this case, children attended english-only preschools; they may have responded in english expressively on account of the instructional context. that is, they may have purposely switched expressively to english. by re-administering missed spanish items in english, children may have gathered that either language was acceptable, which is true, and may have preferred to respond in english. although the finding that the majority of children exhibited strong spanish receptive skills suggests a fair amount of exposure to and familiarity with spanish vocabulary, it does not allow for deep insight into their english receptive vocabulary; because they were not prompted in english first, we do not know the extent of their english vocabulary comprehension. assessment implications our sample of spanish-english bilinguals evidenced spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary knowledge that does not raise concerns, based on standard scores. but when raw scores were considered, students tended to evidence stronger receptive compared to expressive skills, which is not unexpected given previous findings and the children’s developmental stage. together, these findings have assessment implications for preschool classrooms serving children from spanish-speaking homes, particularly in how language disabilities in spanish-english bilinguals are diagnosed. while we know little about how best to predict language impairment among bilingual populations (lugo-neris et al., 2015), we do know that roughly 7% of monolingual english speakers have language impairments (tomblin et al., 1997); the percentage of bilingual children flagged as potentially at-risk for language impairments should be roughly similar (gilliam, peña, bedore, bohman, & mendez-perez, 2013). yet, roughly half of our sample fell -1sd below the mean on english-only receptive and expressive vocabulary, but only 12.5% and 6% did so when spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive vocabulary, respectively, were assessed. our findings suggest that using spanish-english conceptually-scored measures could potentially improve the diagnostic accuracy of a language disability for young spanish-english bilinguals. relatedly, assessments that utilize conceptual scoring and provide normative data, such as the standardized assessments used in this study, appear to hold potential for raising educators’ awareness of the strengths that their spanish-english bilingual students bring to the languagelearning task. by having a more comprehensive understanding of the words bilingual children know, educators may have higher expectations, resulting in higher quality instruction and potentially helping to minimize misrepresentation. specifically, use of conceptually-scored measures to assess bilingual students’ vocabulary could enable educators to focus their efforts on language learning tasks that build upon students’ conceptual skills. for example, if a spanishenglish bilingual preschooler does not appear to understand instructions or a story, it may well be due to a mere language difference, not a disorder. that is, the child may indeed understand the concept being presented in the home language versus not understanding the concept in any language. attention to the semantic categories of words bilinguals did and did not encounter difficulties with, by language, can serve as one tool for teachers to select target words/concepts conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 43 for instruction, thereby supporting students’ language learning process and reducing the possibility of misidentification. finally, our sample demonstrated strong receptive skills in spanish, yet exhibited more reliance on english expressively. while young spanish-english bilinguals may exhibit a strong comfort in spanish receptive vocabulary, the fact that they are fairly balanced between the two languages on expressive vocabulary makes them prime candidates for verbal interactions in the classroom. encouraging talk across multiple contexts may be a useful strategy. limitations and future research findings from this study raise questions and issues to be addressed in future research. first, this study’s sample consisted of spanish-english bilingual children from spanish-speaking, predominantly mexican immigrant, low-income homes enrolled in a state-funded, englishmedium preschool program in southern california, and the majority of children were female. thus, any generalizations from our findings must consider the demographics of the children studied. for example, we do not have data on the children’s length of exposure to english, or sources of english for the children, limiting our understanding of whether they are simultaneous or sequential bilinguals. further, the lack of association between children’s home language use and their vocabulary was expected given our small sample size and the predominant use of spanish in the home; both factors likely placed a limit on the detection of a relationship. yet, home language use and income positively and significantly correlated, as did income and students’ english vocabulary. these patterns of association point to the need for further research in this area. the fact that income only related to english vocabulary, but not spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary, raises the possibility that the english measures proxy experiential differences between monolinguals and bilinguals, namely children from low-income homes. second, our comparison of spanish-english bilingual students’ performance on the english-only and spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive vocabulary measures must not be taken to mean that the items on the tests in the two languages are equivalent. there were a handful of different words between the english-only and spanishenglish conceptually-scored versions. additionally, the overlapping words (i.e., the words that were on both versions) were presented in different orders, reflecting the different levels of difficulty of words in english and spanish. however, these differences were slight, and we were thus able to make a comparison between the two types of assessments, offering insight into the competencies of young spanish-english bilinguals in both languages. in order to minimize concerns about testing effects, the two types of assessments (english-only and spanish-english conceptually-scored) were administered on different test days. third, our description of students’ performance at the item level is limited in its scope. while it provides a good indication of children’s knowledge receptively and expressively in spanish, as this was the language in which all questions were initially asked per parent report of spanish being the dominant language, it does not serve as an indicator of children’s english knowledge. for example, a child could have known words in english, but followed directions/answered in spanish because that was the language in which the prompt was given. further research differentiating between spanish and english expressive and receptive knowledge is warranted. 44 mancilla-martinez, greenfader, & ochoa an additional consideration is that analysis of raw compared to standard scored yielded somewhat different results. specifically, we found stable results in the receptive domain such that significant differences emerged between and within languages independent of whether raw or standard scores were considered. however, results for the expressive domain revealed that significant between-language differences emerge only when standard scores are considered, and we underscore that previous work has relied on standard score comparisons. yet the opposite was found for the within-language comparison such that a significant difference only emerged on the receptive conceptually-scored measures when raw scores were considered. because standard scores do not measure absolute growth, the argument can be made that use of raw scores may be more appropriate. however, the standardized conceptually-scored measures used rely on standard score differences to flag students with a receptive-expressive gap, compelling us to compare students’ performance using both metrics. finally, it was beyond the scope of this study to investigate the extent to which use of the spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary measures predict spanish-english bilingual students’ later academic outcomes and/or possible language impairments compared to singlelanguage measures. goodrich, lonigan, kleuver and farver (2015) recently investigated the predictive validity of spanish-english conceptual scoring among preschoolers from spanishspeaking homes, finding that spanish-english conceptual scores did not predict later singlelanguage vocabulary scores. however, the authors relied on the adaptation of monolingual measures to index spanish-english conceptual knowledge, and they underscored that studies that investigate the predictive validity of spanish-english conceptual scoring in diagnosing language impairment are needed and may prove useful. at the same time, it is also possible that the associated norms for the standardized conceptual vocabulary measures mask the need for vocabulary supports among children from low-income homes; such a possibility further underscores the need for studies that investigate the predictive validity of these measures. we believe that longitudinal studies are a natural next step to address this critically important issue, and utilizing a larger sample size and a wider developmental range will allow for more concrete, generalizable findings. relatedly, inclusion of measures that tap spanish-only receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge would lend additional insight into this population’s vocabulary knowledge. given the district's practical concern with additional testing time from preschoolers' instructional day, we limited testing to english-only and spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary measures. our findings demonstrate that spanish-english bilingual children from immigrant, lowincome homes evidence receptive and expressive spanish-english conceptually-scored vocabulary knowledge that is on par with that of their monolingual english peers, when standard scores are considered. consequently, spanish-english bilingual children’s at-risk classifications mirror those of their monolingual english peers. however, we found that a significant betweenlanguage difference only holds for receptive, but not expressive, vocabulary, when raw scores are compared. finally, our analysis of children’s performance at the item-level on the conceptually-scored vocabulary measures provides unique insight into receptive and expressive patterns of performance in each language and reveals that spanish-english bilinguals evidence rather strong spanish receptive vocabulary knowledge and more distributed spanish and english expressive vocabulary knowledge. this work underscores the need to ensure that we recognize and appropriately assess the knowledge base that spanish-english bilingual preschoolers bring to the vocabulary-learning task and suggests that reliance on monolingual measures and monolingual norms will provide only partial insight and a misrepresentation of bilingual conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 45 students’ knowledge, contributing to misidentification and thus placing a limit on appropriate instructional supports. references bandel, e., atkins-burnett, s., castro, d. c., wulsin, c. s., & putman, m. 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(2004). the search for common ground part i. lexical performance by linguistically diverse learners. journal of speech, language, and hearing research, 47, 877-890. doi:10.1044/10924388(2004/065) conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 49 appendix a computing the income to needs ratio the official u.s. definition of poverty is based on a comparison of a household’s income to an income threshold level that varies by family size and composition. the threshold levels are updated annually for inflation with the consumer price index. if a family’s total income is less than the threshold level, the family is considered to be living in poverty. for example, in 2001, a family of five (two adults and three children under age 18) with an annual income of $25,000 had a poverty threshold of $21,135 and thus an income-to-needs ratio of 1.18, which is above the poverty level (but considered to be near poverty). the 2014 poverty thresholds issued by the u.s. census bureau were used to calculate the income-to-needs ratio for this study. see http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/threshld/index.html for threshold levels by year. following brooks-gunn, duncan, and britto (1999), we identified five income-to-needs ratio categories as our sample was predominantly living at or near poverty. five categories were identified: deep poverty (income-to-needs ratio less than .50), poverty (income-to-needs ratio greater than or equal to .50, but less than 1.0), near poverty (income-to-needs ratio between 1.0 and 1.5), low income (income-to-needs ratio between 1.5 and 2.0), and middle income (income-to-needs ratio greater than or equal to 2.0). dialog, 16(4), 48-63 copyright © 2013, issn: 1930-9325 research article effects of social stories on the behaviors of typically developing preschoolers mary e. mcnelly and janediane smith university of north carolina at charlotte challenging behaviors are not exclusive to children with disabilities; they can also affect typically developing children. this study used a multiple baseline design across participants to look at how a social story intervention affected the challenging behaviors (e.g., temper tantrums, hitting, yelling) of three typically developing preschoolers. overall, results showed that the social stories decreased challenging behaviors from baseline to intervention. children also experienced an increase in prosocial behaviors and social validity indicated that teachers believed the social story was effective in teaching social skills. this study added to the existing literature on social stories by researching their effect on a population that had not yet been studied. these findings suggest that social stories can be effective interventions for typically developing preschoolers who demonstrate challenging behaviors. the preschool years are a time of social-emotional development in children, as they are learning how to interact with peers and demonstrate socially appropriate behaviors in a group setting, self-regulate their behaviors, and express their emotions effectively. as they are learning, practicing, and refining new behavioral skills, children can become frustrated in social situations and exhibit inappropriate behaviors such as yelling, hitting, biting, spitting, teasing, or pushing. these behaviors can be typical for preschool aged children because they are still developing their social skills. however, from a teacher’s perspective they can be challenging within the context of a preschool classroom. in this setting, young children are surrounded by peers and need to apply a variety of social skills such as sharing, taking turns, negotiating, as well as self-regulating and expressing emotions. if children have not acquired these skills, challenging behavior can arise. children look to the adults with whom they have formed positive relationships to teach them how to appropriately deal with social conflicts. in the classroom, it is the teacher who is responsible for teaching appropriate social skills; however, many early childhood educators feel unprepared to manage behavior problems and teach social skills in the classroom (frey, lingo, & nelson, 2008; hemmeter, santos, & ostrosky, 2008). positive behavior supports (pbs) provide strategies to promote the prosocial behaviors of all children in the classroom (duda, dunlap, fox, lentini & clark, 2004; gettinger & stoiber, 2006; simonsen, sugai, & negron, 2008). the teaching pyramid, a model of pbs geared towards young children, offers teachers a structured model of prevention and intervention that can assist them in supporting classroom behaviors of effects of social stories 49 all young children (hemmeter & fox 2009; hemmeter, ostrosky, & fox, 2006).for children who continue to demonstrate challenging behaviors, more individualized strategies, such as social stories, are used to help teach children more appropriate behaviors. social stories are short stories written for an individual child or small group of children to teach appropriate behaviors and social skills. positive behavior support and the teaching pyramid research has shown that implementing pbs in the preschool classroom can increase positive behaviors and decrease challenging behaviors (duda, dunlap, fox, lentini, & clarke, 2004; gettinger & stoiber, 2006). gettinger and stoiber (2006) researched the effects of a pbs intervention known as functional assessment collaboration and evidence based treatment (facet) in children in pre-kindergarten to 1 st grade. the intervention consisted of a team-based functional behavior assessment, development of a behavior support plan, implementation of a behavior support plan with observations to monitor child’s progress, and an evaluation of child’s progress. the study examined the effects of the facet intervention on both children with documented disabilities (the target children) and children who are typically developing (the generalization children). results showed that both groups of children showed an increase in positive behaviors in the classroom. hemmeter and fox (2009) described the teaching pyramid as an evidence-based model of pbs which promotes the social and emotional development of young children. the pyramid has four levels: (a) building positive relationships, (b) supportive environments, (c) social emotional teaching strategies, and (d) individualized interventions. the first tier, building positive relationships refers to the teachers who are supporting the children’s play, conversing with children and supporting the communicative attempts of children in the classroom, praise children’s appropriate behaviors, and develop positive relationships with the children and their families. in the second tier, a supportive environment refers to a classroom with high-quality curriculum, adequate materials, and teachers who use evidence-based practice. in this environment children would be engaged in meaningful and developmentally appropriate activities throughout the day. the third tier, social-emotional strategies, refers to teaching social skills to children who are struggling to engage in socially appropriate behaviors. teachers can utilize a variety of strategies to accomplish this goal; they can model the desired behavior for the child, role-play with the child, or provide a verbal prompt. after this is completed the child can practice and refine the skill through play with peers (hemmeter et al., 2006). the last tier is individualized interventions, which refers to assessment-based behavior support plans. these plans would be created by a team, including parents, administrators, teachers, and specialists, and implemented in the classroom and school environment. the teaching pyramid offers many strategies that can be used to help young children with challenging behaviors in a typical preschool setting; one method of employing pbs strategies is through the use of social stories. social stories social stories are an intervention that can be written for a specific child or group of children and focus on his/her behavior goal(s); the intent is to use the story to teach a child appropriate social skills that will help to alleviate the child’s frustration in social situation and prevent challenging 50 mcnelly & smith behavior. social stories are concise narratives, written within the target child’s reading comprehension level, and written from the child’s point of view (gray & garand, 1993). for example, if a child is struggling to share toys, the social story would model appropriate ways to ask for a toy from a friend, wait for a turn with the toy, or find a toy that is similar. soenksen and alper (2006) found that social stories are easily embedded into the child’s school routine, as reading and listening to stories are activities that occur consistently in classrooms. teachers reported positive opinions of the intervention and noted that they would like to continue to implement social stories in their classrooms (crozier & tincani, 2005, 2007; scattone, tingstrom, & wilczynski, 2006; soenksen & alper, 2006). past research has focused on social stories as a behavioral intervention for school-aged children with autism. crozier and tincani (2005) found that a modified social story was effective in reducing the disruptive behavior of talking out in the classroom for an eight-year-old boy with autism. research is beginning to look into utilizing social stories for children with other disabilities. a study by soenksen and alper (2006) looked at using a social story intervention within an inclusive classroom. their study examined the use of social stories to assist a boy with hyperlexia in gaining appropriate attention from peers across three settings. these authors found a positive increase in prosocial skills (i.e., appropriately gaining the attention of his peers) at the end of the intervention. soenksen and alper also recommended that research be extended to children of differing abilities and other age groups. the effect of social stories as an intervention for typically developing preschoolers demonstrating challenging behavior in the classroom has not been comprehensively studied. the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of social stories on the challenging behaviors and prosocial behaviors of typically developing preschoolers. specifically, this study answered two questions: 1. to what extent did social stories decrease challenging behaviors? 2. to what extent did social stories increase prosocial behaviors? methods participants and setting this study took place at a private child care center in a southeastern suburban area. the preschool was determined to be a high quality facility by the state’s regulatory standards. a nonprobability convenience sampling technique was used to obtain participants for this study. this study included three typically developing children; caleb, ian, and elliot. the children were selected from three different preschool classrooms. classroom a’s enrollment included 18 children (three to five year olds), classroom b’s enrollment included 15 children (four and five year-olds), and classroom c’s enrollment includes 18 children (four and five year-olds). all three classrooms had assistant teachers. to be included in the study, children demonstrated challenging behaviors (e.g., hitting, having tantrums, ignoring the teacher) in the classroom setting during free play daily despite teacher guidance strategies being in place (i.e., precorrection, redirection, encouragement). free play is a daily time where children choose the center (e.g., blocks, dramatic play, math and manipulatives, books, science, art) where they want to play, what materials or toys they are going to use, and with whom they are going to play. the effects of social stories 51 children included in this study had not been formally identified as having developmental delay or an iep in accordance with the individuals with disabilities education act (idea, 2004). each classroom’s teachers nominated three students who met the eligibility criteria. an informal prebaseline assessment was used by the researcher to assess which of the nine nominated children needed the intervention the most. while nine children were nominated by their teachers, only four of the children met the eligibility requirements. the three children with the highest frequency of challenging behaviors were included in the study. participant 1. elliot is a four-year-old boy who lives with his two sisters and two parents in an upper middle class home. he is the youngest sibling in his family. elliot was in classroom c. his teacher reported that elliot often came to school in a “bad mood” and was easily irritated by his peers. his tone of voice and language changed when he became irritated; he began to tease his friends by calling them names and taking their toys. elliot struggled to use appropriate words to solve conflicts with his peers and struggled to share toys. he was often physically aggressive with his peers. he became easily frustrated, or upset, when he had a conflict with a peer, or when he was struggling to do a task on his own, like a puzzle or art project. his teacher reported that he struggled to complete tasks because he could not do them “perfectly”. his teacher used precorrection by reviewing rules daily, used redirection by encouraging him to share classroom toys and wait his turn, and praised elliot when he displayed positive behavior. the teacher had communicated with elliot’s parents verbally, through notes, and in a parent teacher conference concerning his challenging behavior. participant 2. caleb is a four-year-old boy who is the only child in his family. he lives with two parents in an upper middle class home. caleb was in classroom a. his teacher reported that caleb often copied the negative behavior of his peers and refused to play appropriately despite constant redirection from the teacher. he was defiant towards the teacher, telling her no when he was redirected or given a direction. he also struggled to use his words when having a conflict with a peer and would hit his friends or take toys out of their hands. the teacher reported that if he was struggling with challenging behavior while he was playing in a center she would give him “three chances,” meaning that she would redirect him three times, and then she followed through by removing him from the center. they also tried separating him from the children whose behavior he was copying. the teacher also communicated with caleb’s parents about the challenging behavior both verbally and through notes. participant 3. ian is a four-year-old boy who lives with his grandmother and younger sister in a home that is considered to be low income. he is the oldest child. ian was in classroom b. during the teacher interview, his teacher ian was reported to have difficulty engaging with his peers. he often expressed that he felt “upset” when he wanted help with something, such as drawing a flower or putting together a puzzle. at times, ian had tantrums in an attempt to gain attention from his teacher. during the tantrum he would yell “no” and “i don’t like you” and kicked at his friends or teachers. the teacher reported that redirection was used to distract ian from his tantrum and challenging behavior. usually the teachers would offer him a choice between two activities that he enjoyed, such as reading a book, playing with a baby doll in the dramatic play center, or drawing with markers. the teacher had communicated with ian’s grandmother about his challenging behavior several times verbally, through notes, and during a parent-teacher conference. 52 mcnelly & smith design a single-subject, multiple baseline design across participants was used to examine the effect of social stories on children’s challenging behavior. first, baseline data was collected to establish a pattern of behavior. then the intervention was implemented with the child who had the highest and most stable challenging behavior, while baseline data continued to be collected for the other children. when the first child reached a desirable level of appropriate behaviors, the intervention was implemented with the second child. the same procedure was applied to the third child. by providing interventions for each subject at a separate time, this design controlled for extraneous variables (e.g., child’s maturation, illness, events in the child’s life). dependent variables challenging behaviors include aggressive behaviors (e.g., hitting, biting, kicking, pushing, and spitting), defiant behaviors (e.g., ignoring the teacher, non-compliance to the teacher’s directions, and running away from the teacher), and disruptive behaviors (e.g., yelling, teasing, taking toys and other classroom objects from peers, having temper tantrums, pouting, screaming, and whining). prosocial behaviors include friendship skills (i.e., sharing, taking turns, and waiting for a turn, engaging in play with peers), expressing emotions using words, and problem solving skills (i.e., going to the teacher for help, using one’s words). definitions of challenging and prosocial behaviors were developed by the researcher through observation and are located in table 1. effects of social stories 53 table 1 definitions of dependent variables behavior definition – prosocial behaviors sharing child plays with the same toys with another child at the same time, they play either separately or together. taking turns when two children want the same toy at the same time and pass it back and forth, or one child chooses to wait until the other child is finished with the toy. initiating play child asks to join in play with another child or group of children, or child asks another child or a group of children to play with him/her. expressing emotions child says “i feel…” and names an emotion (happy, sad, tired). asking for help child goes to the teacher and tells the teacher about his/her problem. using words child uses words to express himself/herself, such as “i don’t like it when you do that” or “please stop.” behavior definition – challenging behaviors hitting child strikes another person with one or both hands on any part of that person’s body. biting child puts teeth on another person’s body or own body and applies pressure to the skin. may or may not leave a mark. kicking child aims foot towards another person and swings it towards another person’s body. pushing child places one or both hands on friend, moving child away from him/her. spitting child expels saliva from his/her mouth towards another person. yelling child raises his or her voice to a volume that is above all other voices in the classroom. teasing child calls another child names, such as “stupid” or “ugly.” taking toys and other classroom objects child takes toy or other classroom object away from another child without receiving permission from the child who was using it. ignoring the teacher the teacher gives a direction to the child, but the child does not acknowledge the teacher, continuing with what he/she was doing. temper tantrums child whines/screams, while lying on the floor, going limp, kicking, hitting, or stomping feet. pouting child pushes out his or her lower lip and furrows the forehead. it may be accompanied by the child crossing his or her arms across the chest. whining child uses a high-pitched tone to complain or show dissatisfaction with a social situation (e.g., “it’s not fair.”) data collection and analysis data was collected using event recording and was entered onto a coding sheet. specifically, a frequency count was used to document challenging behavior and prosocial behavior. each time a specific behavior occurred, it was tallied on the coding sheet. the coding sheet is available upon request. type of play was observed concurrently. the coding sheet was developed by the researcher and piloted before the beginning of this study. to measure the duration of a temper tantrum, a stopwatch was used and the time was documented. 54 mcnelly & smith this research design utilized visual analysis and descriptive statistics to analyze behavior. first, as data were collected, they were entered onto a graph. then the effect of social stories on the challenging behaviors and prosocial behaviors of participants was analyzed by calculating the means and standard deviations. additionally, means and standard deviations were calculated to assess the effect of social stories on the prosocial behavior of the participants. procedure pilot. the coding sheets, teacher interviews, social validity questionnaire, and fidelity checklist were piloted in a separate classroom in the same center. the classroom enrolled 14 three and four year old children with an assistant teacher and a lead teacher. as a result of the pilot study, one challenging behavior and one prosocial behavior were added to the definitions and coding sheet. during the pilot, inter-observer agreement was 91.23% between the two observers using the coding sheet. classroom evaluations. prior to the start of the study, a behavioral specialist was invited by the researcher to assess each classroom through e-mail communications. the behavioral specialist was not related to the school, but worked for the county in which the preschool is located. the staff language/ interactions subscale of the early childhood environment rating scale-revised (ecers-r) was used by the behavioral specialist to ensure that the classrooms were providing interactions that built positive relationships, had a supportive and engaging environment, and were using strategies to teach social-emotional skills (harms, clifford, & cryer, 2005). the ecers-r is a reliable measure; inter-rater reliability for the full measure was 86.1%. the interrater internal consistency score for the subscale was 0.86. the total score for the entire measure was 0.91 these scores confirm the measure to be both reliable and valid (harms, clifford, & cryer, 2005). the behavioral specialist visited the preschool over a period of three days, spending between 1 hour and 45 minutes and 2 hours and thirty minutes with each class. the behavioral specialist concluded that each classroom was providing appropriate interactions and supporting the social and emotional needs and development of the children. pre-baseline measures. a pre-baseline informal assessment was conducted on each child nominated and the three children with the highest frequency of challenging behaviors were included in the study. the pre-baseline assessment was completed over a period of five days. each child nominated was observed for 10 minutes daily during free play centers. data on prosocial and challenging behaviors were collected using a frequency count and entered onto a coding sheet. teacher interview. the researcher interviewed each child’s teacher about the child’s challenging behaviors; this information was used to choose behavior goals that would be the focus of each child’s social story. specifically, the researcher asked the teacher what behaviors affected the child’s ability to participate in play with peers and learn through play during centers, when and where in the classroom the challenging behaviors were occurring, and what strategies the teachers had been using to address the challenging behaviors (i.e., precorrection, redirection, ignore negative behavior, or praise for positive behavior). the following is an example of an effects of social stories 55 interview question; what behavior affects the child’s ability to participate in play with peers and learn through play during centers? social stories. information from the interviews and the baseline observations was used to develop the social stories. the researcher wrote each child’s social story, using the guidelines suggested by carol gray (gray, 2010; see also gray & garand, 1993). stories were no more than 10 sentences long and were accompanied by clip art or pictures. the stories targeted the challenging behavior with which the child was struggling and targeted prosocial behaviors that would be more appropriate for the child to use in the classroom. the entire story was typed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper and laminated. the researcher also wrote three comprehension questions to go along with each story, which were included at the end of the social story. comprehension questions concerned the text of the story. baseline. baseline data were collected for 10 minutes during morning center time for 8 days. prior to data collection, the classroom teacher precorrected by reviewing the rules with all the children in the class. during the observation, the teacher redirected challenging behavior and praised prosocial behavior for the target children, but social stories were not used during this time. after the baseline period, the intervention was administered to the first child while baseline data continued to be collected for the other two children. intervention. during the intervention phase, the classroom teacher read the child’s social story to him or her once each day in a quiet corner of the classroom and followed up with three comprehension questions, which were included in the story, to ensure that the child understood the story. if the child had difficulty answering the comprehension questions, the teacher also used feedback and error correction strategies to assist the child. intervention lasted no more than 5 minutes. immediately following the intervention the child was observed for 10 minutes during morning centers. at the beginning of the observation, the teacher precorrected by reviewing the rules and focused on the target behavior(s) that were taught with the social story. as in the baseline observations, the teacher redirected challenging behaviors and praised the specific prosocial behaviors that were taught in the social story. inter-observer agreement inter-observer agreement was obtained for at least 30% of all observations across conditions. two observers were used to obtain inter-observer agreement. the first observer is the researcher, who is a graduate program student. the second observer is a retired elementary school teacher with a master’s degree. the observers used event recording of the behaviors and inter-observer agreement was calculated by dividing the total number of agreements by the total number of agreements and disagreements for prosocial behavior data, challenging behavior data, and type of play data. the criterion for inter-observer agreement was 80% or higher. inter-observer agreement occurred for 34% of the observations for elliot, 38% of the observations for caleb, and 32% of the observations for ian. the mean level of inter-observer agreement for elliot was 86.9% (range= 88.3%-92.3%). the mean level of inter-observer agreement for caleb was 87.5% (range= 80%-100%). the mean level of inter-observer agreement for ian was 87.9% 56 mcnelly & smith (range=80%-100%). during at least 30% of the inter-observer agreement sessions, a measure of fidelity was also taken. treatment fidelity treatment fidelity was assessed using a checklist of the intervention steps that needed to be implemented during baseline, intervention, and post-intervention. the checklist was created by the researcher, based on a 2005 study by crozier and tincani. prior to beginning the study, the fidelity checklist was included in the pilot. the baseline checklist had four steps, the intervention had five steps, and the post-intervention had three steps. the steps during baseline observations and post-intervention observations included teacher guidance strategies such as precorrection, redirection, and praise. during the intervention, steps included choosing a quiet area to sit, reading the story with the child, and asking the child comprehension questions. fidelity measures were collected for at least 30% of the total baseline sessions, 100% of social stories implementation, and 30% of post-intervention sessions. the observer wrote the date, name of the child, and time of day at the top, and then checked off each step as it was collected. the criterion for fidelity was 100%. treatment fidelity was 100% for all three participants. for more information on the fidelity checklist, please contact the first author. social validity social validity was measured using a questionnaire. social validity revealed the teacher’s opinions of the intervention. after all children received the intervention and reached an acceptable level of prosocial behaviors, his/her teacher was given the questionnaire. the teacher was asked five open-ended questions concerning the ease of implementation, acceptability, and outcomes of the social stories. the social validity questionnaire was developed partially from the questionnaire used in a 2007 study on social stories by crozier and tincani. however, the researcher adjusted the existing questions and added a question to meet the needs of the current study. for more information on the social validity questionnaire, please contact the first author. results prosocial and challenging behavior data were collected for 39 days and entered onto a graph for visual analysis. visual analysis shows that all three children experienced a decrease in the frequency of challenging behaviors and an increase in the frequency of prosocial behaviors during intervention when compared to their baseline data. while the frequency of prosocial behaviors increased for each child, the data showed variability. the decrease in the challenging behavior during intervention showed a more stable pattern. the frequency of challenging and prosocial behaviors for each child is presented in figure 1. during baseline, elliot’s mean frequency of challenging behavior was 6.88 (sd= 3.60) per baseline observation and his mean frequency of prosocial behavior was 1.38 (sd=1.30). effects of social stories 57 following intervention, elliot’s mean frequency of challenging behavior was 1.42 (sd=1.34) and mean frequency of prosocial behavior was 5.33 (sd=2.33). during baseline, caleb’s mean frequency of challenging behavior was 7.69 (sd=2.84) and his mean frequency of prosocial behavior was 1.62 (sd=.72). following intervention, caleb’s mean frequency of challenging behavior was .75 (sd=1) and his mean frequency of prosocial behavior was 5.75 (sd=1.77). during baseline, ian’s mean frequency of challenging behavior was 6.65 (sd=3.01) and his mean frequency of prosocial behavior was 1.65 (sd=1.23). following intervention, ian’s mean frequency of challenging behavior was 1.27 (sd=2.45) and his mean frequency of prosocial behavior was 6.18 (sd=2.68). ian was the only child participating in the study who had temper tantrums. the mean duration of temper tantrums during baseline was 35.12 seconds. during intervention observations, ian did not have any tantrums. 58 mcnelly & smith figure 1. frequency of prosocial and challenging behaviors for participants. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 challenging behavior prosocial behavior baseline intervention elliot 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 challenging behavior prosocial behavior caleb 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 challenging behavior prosocial behavior ian elliot effects of social stories 59 type of play a frequency count was used to collect data on type of play. data are represented in figure 2. the graph shows that overall, the children engaged more in onlooker play, parallel play, associative play, and cooperative play following the social stories intervention than they did during baseline. likewise, the children engaged less in unoccupied play and solitary play after the social stories intervention than they did during the baseline observations. social validity when asked about the importance of social skill development in the classroom, all three teachers said that social skills were highly important and a part of the school’s curriculum. also, the three teachers agreed that their participating children showed progress in social skill development during the intervention when asked about the effectiveness of the social stories in teaching social skills. the questionnaire also asked the teachers if the social story was effective in reducing challenging behavior. two of the three teachers reported that there was a decrease in challenging behaviors for the target child after the intervention was implemented in the classroom. however, one teacher found that the social story would only decrease the challenging behaviors for a period of time and later that day the child would revert to the challenging behavior. when asked if the social story intervention was practical for use in a pre-kindergarten classroom, two of the teachers found the social story intervention to be practical for use in the classroom. however, one teacher found the social story intervention difficult to implement because of the amount of children enrolled in the classroom (n=18). the last question pertained to the adaptability of social stories for other behaviors, routines, and times of day. all three teachers agreed that they would like to adapt the social stories for use at other times during the day. 60 mcnelly & smith . figure 2. type of play data for each child 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 elliot baseline intervention 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 caleb baseline intervention 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 ian baseline intervention effects of social stories 61 discussion this study added to the existing literature on social stories by researching their effect on a population that had not yet been studied, preschool aged children who are considered to be typically developing. the results of the study indicate that social stories helped to decrease the challenging behavior (e.g., temper tantrums, yelling, hitting, ignoring the teacher) of all three typically developing children who were displaying challenging behavior and participated in the social stories intervention. these findings are consistent with past research that looked at the effect of social stories on children with autism spectrum disorders (agosta, graetz, mastropieri, & scruggs, 2004; crozier & tincani, 2005, crozier & tincani, 2007). crozier and tincani (2007) found that social stories decreased the inappropriate play behavior and disruptive behavior of two preschool children with autism spectrum disorders. gettinger and stoiber (2006) studied the effect of pbs strategies on children with disabilities as well as children who were typically developing. they also found that their strategies, which included teaching social skills through interventions other than social stories, were successful for both the children with disabilities as well as the children who were typically developing. the current study is the first known to look at the effect of social stories on children who are typically developing with challenging behaviors; the children in this study have not been formally identified with developmental delays or disabilities. while all three children showed an increase in prosocial behaviors, there was more variability in the results. this suggests that there is no clear impact of social stories on prosocial behaviors. these findings were consistent with those of crozier and tincani (2007), who studied the effect of social stories on the inappropriate behavior of three preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders. they found that the social story had little effect on one child’s prosocial behavior of talking to peers. for elliot, the social story was effective in reducing challenging behavior and increasing prosocial behavior, although the data for prosocial behavior was more variable. also, elliot showed an increase in onlooker play, parallel play, associative play, and cooperative play. there was a decrease in solitary play from baseline to intervention, but an increase in unoccupied play. the increase in unoccupied play combined with the variable prosocial data suggests that the social story had no clear impact on the development of his social skills in free play with peers. caleb also experienced a decrease in challenging behavior and an increase in prosocial behavior. caleb’s data showed the least amount of variability. also, he showed a decrease in both unoccupied and solitary play and an increase in onlooker, parallel, associative, and cooperative play. it appears that the social story intervention not only helped to reduce his challenging behavior, but also helped to increase his prosocial skills. ian experienced a lower frequency of challenging behavior and a higher frequency of prosocial behavior during intervention than he did during baseline. also, ian decreased in unoccupied, solitary, and onlooker play and increased in parallel, associative, and cooperative play during the intervention. finally, prior to the social story intervention, ian was observed having tantrums on seven different days. on two of those days he had two tantrums. after the social story was introduced, he did not have any more tantrums. the decrease in temper tantrums coincides with the introduction of the social story intervention. it should be noted that during baseline observations, ian’s challenging behavior data shows variability; this is in part due to the fact that he was suspended from the preschool for a period of two days. when he returned to the preschool, his behavior improved. also, during the intervention period, ian’s 62 mcnelly & smith grandmother told the teacher that she had implemented a reward system at home. if ian received a good report on his behavior at school he was rewarded when he got home. she initiated the reward system immediately following his suspension, which is a possible reason for the reduction of challenging behavior following the suspension. overall, the social validity questionnaire showed that the teachers had a positive opinion of the social stories intervention. all three teachers agreed that the social stories intervention was effective in teaching social skills. also, two of the teachers agreed that the social stories intervention was practical within the classroom routine. these findings are consistent with teacher opinion in previous studies which studied the effect of social stories on children with autism (crozier & tincani, 2005,2007; scattone, tingstrom & wilczynski, 2006, soenksen & alper, 2006). one limitation to this study is the timeframe of the intervention. this study took place during the second half of the school year. as a result, it had to be finished by the end of the school year. given more time, a stronger pattern of prosocial behavior may have emerged. also, using a second strategy (i.e., role play) in conjunction with the social story intervention might have led to a more stable pattern of prosocial behavior. the facet intervention successfully used more than one pbs strategy to help children learn social skills and self-control (gettinger & stoiber, 2006). a second limitation is although the multiple baseline design controls for extraneous variables to a certain extent, the decrease in challenging behavior and increase in prosocial behavior may not be solely the result of the social story. variables such as a home based reward system may have also influenced the results of the study. finally, type of play data was collected using a frequency count, which showed how many times each child engaged in the different types of play. collecting data on the duration of the types of play would show the length of time each child engaged in the different types of play from baseline to intervention and would have made a stronger comparison. future research might also look at the effect of social stories on the duration of different types of play. also, this study looked at the effect of social stories on one child’s tantrums; when the social story was introduced, the tantrums completely disappeared. further research on social stories and temper tantrums could validate this finding. finally, this study added to the existing literature on social stories by researching their effect on a population that had not yet been studied, preschool aged children who are typically developing. more research with typically developing children is needed to validate the effectiveness of a social story intervention. the purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a social story intervention on the prosocial and challenging behavior of preschool aged children who are typically developing. previous research on social stories explored their effect on children with autism spectrum disorders. the results of this study indicate that social stories can help to decrease a typically developing child’s challenging behavior and increase prosocial behavior during free play. concurrently, the type of play children engaged in was affected by the intervention; the children who participated in this study showed increases in parallel, associative and cooperative play after the social story intervention was implemented. these findings suggest that social stories are effective interventions for young children. effects of social stories 63 references agosta, e., graetz, j. e., mastropieri, m. a., & scruggs, t. e. 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(2006). teaching a young child to appropriately gain attention of peers using a social story intervention. focus on autism and other developmental disablilties, 21(1), 36-44. doi:10.1177/10883576060210010501 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/02711214040240030201 nhsa dialog, 25(1), copyright © 2022, issn: 1930-9325 comparing louisana and pennsylvania head start teachers’ physical and mental health adam t. blancher michelle m. yetman tyler reekes louisiana state university health sciences center– shreveport (lsuh-s) racial disparities have been found to exist within the health care setting; this paper investigates the existence of such differences among head start (hs) staff in terms of health and wellness. the purpose of the study was to compare physical health indicators from a louisiana hs sample to a previously published data set of pennsylvania hs staff (whitaker et al., 2013). we surveyed a predominately black (85.6%) group of hs teachers (n = 195) using a modified questionnaire developed by a pennsylvania research team. the responses were analyzed against a national reference and pennsylvania group of hs teachers (whitaker et al., 2013). results indicated that hs teachers have a higher prevalence of health-related problems than the national sample. however, our sample of black teachers in hs start classrooms experienced worse physical health than white women with similar characteristics (age, marital status). these results have profound implications regarding health disparities and the physical well-being of hs teachers. keywords: head start; racial disparities; health outcomes; louisiana introduction preschool teacher health and wellness while the benefits of early childhood education have been well documented, there is less clear research being done on the educators who deliver services to young children. there is a paucity of research in terms of preschool teacher well-being, both from a physical and emotional perspective. in fact, in a review of the literature pertaining to preschool teacher well-being, the field of published research was described as "deeply fragmented", "narrow", and "limited" (hall-kenyon et al., 2013). therefore, it is important to understand the characteristics of the individuals educating this population. research to practice summary 84 blancher et al. preschool teachers are fundamental in the developmental of young children, and their mental health can directly impact the children they work with. for example, previous research found that teachers who have struggled with depression were more likely to request that students be expelled from the preschool environment (silver & zinsser, 2020). when hs teachers do not have access to specific interventions such as institutional support or social-emotional support, they are more likely to report burnout (sandilos et al., 2020). a lack of job control, poor relationships with coworkers, and teaching a higher number of children, perceived as challenging, have been found to negatively affect early childhood teachers' mental health (schaack & stedron, 2020). additionally, teacher-related stress has negatively impacted the quality of the teacher-student relationship and classroom dynamics, namely the emotional climate within the classroom (penttinen et. al, 2020). these factors led researchers in pennsylvania to investigate the health status of hs staff (whitaker et al., 2013). specifically, they sought to compare a group of women working in hs to a national sample of those with similar sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., age, education, race/ethnicity, and marital status). they were interested in determining if there was a higher prevalence of reportedly poor health, sick days, depression, and specific health-related variables such as obesity, asthma, hypertension, and diabetes. the results suggested that the hs sample had a significantly increased prevalence of overall health indicators compared to the national sample (whiter et al., 2013). these findings suggest that higher levels of physical health problems would impair a teacher's ability to participate in classroom activities and their ability to model good health habits (whitaker et al., 2013). furthermore, a higher incidence of mental health problems (e.g., depression) could lower a teacher's sensitivity to the child-teacher relationship and interfere with promoting healthy emotional regulation in children (harding et al., 2018). moreover, these health and wellness indicators suggest undesirable effects on school readiness and overall child development. the current study used the questionnaire designed by the pennsylvania study (whitaker et al., 2013) to compare a sample of predominately black hs teachers to that of a predominately white hs sample. the study examined the two sample's current health status, number of physical health conditions, number of unhealthy days, number of work absences due to illness, and the presence of depressed mood. the questions in both the current study and the pennsylvania comparison study were modeled on similar items using either the national health interview survey (nhis, 2011) or the behavioral risk factor surveillance system (brfss; pickens et al., 2018). these two surveys were chosen for their capacity to compare findings between the current study results and those of the national surveys. current study the purpose of our study was to explore hs teachers from louisiana against a previous studied group of hs teachers from pennsylvania, examining numerous health variables. racial disparities among head start staff 85 study design as part of an agency-wide health and wellness program, louisiana teachers were surveyed using a modified version of the survey created by whitaker et al (2013) about their pre-existing health conditions and current physical health status (see full article for questionnaire). comparisons were then made between the current louisiana sample, and those reported in whitaker et al (2013). both groups contained a majority of female subjects; this was an expected finding as hs employs over 84% of women (head start, n.d.). the pennsylvania and louisiana samples were similar in composition, with the only difference being race. the pennsylvania sample was predominately white, whereas our study was predominantly black. the purpose of comparing these samples was to determine if the louisiana sample experienced a higher prevalence of health-related problems when compared to the pennsylvania sample as well as to the national comparison group. we also wanted to ascertain if head start teachers have different health conditions and access to health care based on their race. participants hs staff from 11 centers in a medium-sized city in louisiana were surveyed. paper and pencil surveys were used due to the lack of consistent access to the internet across centers. a total of 195 valid surveys were returned and utilized for analysis purposes. completed surveys represented an 86.6% completion rate. the surveys were administered during a back-to-school orientation training for all 11 hs centers. the survey was administered to the group as a whole, so individual center response rates were not calculated. study questionnaire a modified version of the "pennsylvania head start staff wellness survey" was used in order to obtain information regarding the physical and mental health of hs teachers (whitaker et al., 2013). the current survey included demographic variables and questions regarding physical and mental health, healthcare access, and how these factors affected work. the present sample was compared to the 2011 version of the nhis (cdc, 2011) and the pennsylvania study (whitaker et al., 2013) sample. 86 blancher et al. key findings note. the national reference sample was surveyed in 2011; the pennsylvania sample was surveyed in 2012; the louisiana sample was surveyed in 2019. in general, teachers in louisiana were at much higher risk for health-related problems than those in pennsylvania and national samples and the primary difference between the groups was race. the national reference sample was 12.8% black/african american, the pennsylvania sample was 6% black/african american, whereas the louisiana sample was 85.6% black. regarding healthrelated quality of life indicators, the louisiana sample had significantly higher rates of obesity (68.2%), and high blood pressure (46.7%) compared to the other samples. additionally, 24.6% of the louisiana sample reported fair to poor health status, whereas only 5.1% (national sample) and 14.6% (pennsylvania sample) reported such health status. finally, mirroring the results of the pennsylvania sample (96.5%), significantly fewer louisiana teachers reported a personal doctor (75.4%) than the national reference sample (86.4%). teacher mental health in the present study, teachers were asked to describe their mental health regarding poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent. of the 195 respondents, 9.8% reported poor to fair, 38.5% reported good, 32.8% reported very good, and 18.5% reported excellent. for comparison purposes, the whitaker and colleagues (2013) sample had 23.5% of respondents endorse depression as diagnosed by a health professional. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 percentage of health indicators among louisiana, pennsylvania, and national hs staff participants louisiana (n = 195) pennsylvania (n = 2122) national sample (n = 9118) racial disparities among head start staff 87 summary and recommendations replicating the findings of the pennsylvania study (whitaker et al., 2013), the louisiana hs teachers experienced higher levels of physical health conditions and poorer health-related quality of life indicators than the national reference sample. furthermore, our findings suggest that when compared to hs staff from pennsylvania with similar age, education, and job position, our sample had significantly higher rates of obesity and high blood pressure and reported higher rates of fair to poor health. our sample generally had less access to a personal physician. it is important to note that both the national and hs pennsylvania samples were majority white, while the hs louisiana sample was majority black. these significant discrepancies highlight a racial disparity in health care among hs teachers. racial disparities in health and health care arise from institutional discrimination, the unequal geographic distribution of medical resources, pathophysiology, economic status, insurance coverage, and differences in trust, knowledge, and familiarity with medical procedures (smith, 1998). this racial health disparity can affect not only the teachers' well-being but also the children they serve. the pennsylvania study suggested that the poor health status of preschool personnel may ultimately affect the healthy development of the students (whitaker et al., 2013). cutler & lleras-muney (2014) suggested that education and health are interconnected in that higher education levels create opportunities for better health (e.g., better jobs, higher pay) and improves social (e.g., increased social connectedness and conscientiousness) and emotional health (e.g., better stress management, higher self-esteem). the higher rate of health problems in our predominantly black hs teacher sample places the children they serve, who are already considered disadvantaged, at even more risk for opportunity gaps and poor developmental (health and educational) outcomes. the pennsylvania study noted higher rates of depression compared to the rates seen in the national reference sample. specifically, 23.5% of the pennsylvania sample reported being diagnosed with depression by a healthcare professional, whereas the national reference sample only reported 17.6% (whitaker et al., 2013). in comparison, only 9.8% of our sample reported poor to fair mental health, suggesting that 90% had at least good mental health. this finding was surprising because we expected our sample's problematic mental health status to be rated higher than the pennsylvania sample. future studies may wish to explore buffering factors, such as the role of community and religion in certain regions, such as in the south, that insulate individuals against negative mental health stressors. conclusions and future directions this study provides additional evidence for the need to address hs teachers' health. our predominantly black sample is at risk for multiple health-related problems that could potentially impact the already disadvantaged children they educate. continued efforts are needed at the local, state, and national levels to improve access and education regarding the importance of health and a healthy lifestyle. however, the research is still quite limited on the effects of interventions targeted to improve teachers' health. in addition, more research must be conducted to uncover what specific teacher health behaviors (i.e., exercise, healthy diets) have the greatest impact on children's development. since both groups of hs teachers report more unhealthy days in comparison to the national sample, effort should be made into understanding the stress associated 88 blancher et al. with being a preschool teacher and perhaps, specifically a hs teacher. all hs centers should make health and wellness a priority. centers could appointment a ‘wellness coach’, discussion health and wellness at weekly staff meeting, and invite staff to think of ways to help create a culture of wellness within their center. our results indicate the hs teachers are an ’at risk’ group and great effort needs to be made in terms of institutional health and wellness programing. based on the results of this study, future programing should target both mental health as well as physical health. references cutler, d., & lleras-muney, a. (2014). education and health (a. j. culver, ed.). encyclopedia of health economics, 1, 232–245. elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-375678-7.00309-6 hall-kenyon, k. m., bullough, r. v., mackay, k. l., & marshall, e. e. (2013). preschool teach well-being: a review of the literature. early childhood education journal, 42, 153–162. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-0130595-4 harding, s., morris, r., gunnell, d., ford, t., hollingworth, w., tilling, k., …& kidger, j. (2019). is teachers’ mental health and wellbeing associated with students’ mental health and wellbeing?. journal of affective disorders, 242, 180-187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.08.080 national health interview survey. (2011). centers for disease control and prevention national health interview survey, questionnaires, datasets, and related documentation, 1997 to the present. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis1997-2018.htm#2011 pickens, c. m., pierannunzi, c., garvin, w., & town, m. (2018). surveillance for certain health behaviors and conditions among states and selected local areas — behavioral risk factor surveillance system, united states, 2015. mmwr. surveillance summaries, 67(9), 1-90. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss6709a1 penttinen, v., pakarinen, e., von suchodoletz, a., & lerkkanen, m.k. (2020). relations between kindergarten teachers' occupational well-being and the quality of teacher-child interactions. early education and development, 31(7), 944–1010. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1785265 sandilos, l., goble, p., & schwartz, s. (2020). burnout and teacher-child interactions: the moderating influence of sel interventions in head start classrooms. early education and development, 31(7), 1169–1185v. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1788331 schaack, d., le, v., & stedron, j. (2020). when fulfillment is not enough: early childhood teacher occupational burnout and turnover intentions from a job demands and resources perspective. early education and development, 31(7), 1011–1030. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1791648 silver, h. c., & zinsser, k. m. (2020). the interplay among early childhood teachers' social and emotional well-being, mental health consultation, and preschool expulsion. early education and development, 31(7), 1133–1150. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1785267 smith, d. b. (1998). addressing racial inequities in health care: civil rights monitoring and report cards. journal of health politics, policy and law, 23(1), 75-105. https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-23-1-75 whitaker, r. c., becker, b. d., herman, a. n., & gooze, r. a. (2013). the physical and mental health of head start staff: the pennsylvania head start staff wellness survey, 2012. preventing chronic disease: public health research, practice, and policy, 10, 1–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd10.130171 https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-375678-7.00309-6 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-013-0595-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-013-0595-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.08.080 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis1997-2018.htm#2011 https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss6709a1 https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1785265 https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1788331 https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1791648 https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1785267 http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd10.130171 dialog, 22(2), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 head start teachers' beliefs and reported practices for letter knowledge hope k. gerde, lori e. skibbe, megan goetsch, and sarah n. douglas michigan state university children’s knowledge of letters at kindergarten entry is a critical marker of literacy development and predicts later reading achievement. young children vary widely in their letter knowledge and that variation may be due to the ways in which early childhood educators approach letter instruction. the present study interviewed 48 head start teachers about their beliefs and practices in supporting letter knowledge for children in their classrooms. results indicated that early educators believe teaching preschool children about letters is important and they articulated a variety of strategies for promoting this knowledge, primarily through playful learning experiences. teachers capitalize on children’s names, particularly the first letter, when beginning their letter instruction, providing some evidence for why children’s name letters tend to be first known. in addition, other features of letters (e.g., position in the alphabet) and research-based practices (e.g., teaching letters and sounds in conjunction) were not prevalent approaches to instruction. keywords: letter knowledge, letter-sound knowledge, head start, preschool, teacher practice, teacher beliefs upon entrance to kindergarten, child knowledge of alphabet letters is the strongest predictor of early literacy skills and later reading achievement (hammill, 2004; mcilraith, 2018; schatschneider, fletcher, francis, carlson, & foorman, 2004; national early literacy panel [nelp], 2008), making preschool a critical time to focus on this core skill. this task is particularly important for preschoolers who live in poverty, as they are likely to name fewer letters than their peers living in families with higher socioeconomic status (barbarin et al., 2006) putting them at risk for reading difficulties (schatschneider et al., 2004). thus, it is essential to consider how preschool programs serving children from high-poverty communities, such as head start, approach letter knowledge instruction. there is a strong connection between how teachers approach teaching letters and children’s letter naming abilities (lieberman & schwartz, 2012). even when considering what parents do at home, school-based letter knowledge instruction is strongly associated with children’s ability to name letters (piasta & wagner, 2010). the practices that teachers use to support children’s literacy research article 2 gerde et al. development in general are predicated on teachers' beliefs about literacy development and instruction (bingham & hall-kenyon, 2013; scull, nolan, & raban, 2012). letter knowledge provides a foundation upon which children learn to read (nelp, 2008; piasta & wagner, 2010), thus, teachers’ beliefs as well as the practices they use to promote children’s letter knowledge development prior to kindergarten entry warrant examination, which is the purpose of the present study. the importance of letter knowledge for later reading in preschool, children’s letter knowledge is related to other literacy skills including phonological awareness (lerner & lonigan, 2016), decoding (molfese, beswick, molnar, & jacobi-vessels, 2006), and writing (diamond, gerde, & powell, 2008; gerde, skibbe, bowles, & martoccio, 2012; puranik, lonigan, & kim, 2011). letter knowledge is predictive of reading skills in kindergarten, first, and second grade (lonigan, burgess, & anthony, 2000; mcilraith, 2018; schatschneider et al., 2004) and acts as a protective factor. young children who are able to name more letters are less likely to be considered at-risk for developing reading difficulties later (piasta, petscher, & justice, 2012; torppa, poikkeus, lasskso, eklund, & lyytinen, 2006). thus, it is vital for children to develop a strong foundation in letter knowledge prior to kindergarten entry. the current study investigates teachers’ reported instructional practices surrounding letter knowledge in head start programs, which predominantly serve low-income children (powell, 2013). children living in low-income environments are more likely to exhibit developmental lags in core academic skills, such as letter knowledge (barbarin et al., 2006). as such, letter and word knowledge have been emphasized strongly in early educational programming, with some success (powell, steed, & diamond, 2010). head start programs have effectively helped children with low literacy skills to make gains in letter knowledge throughout the school year, although the number of letters children typically know remains behind their more advantaged peers (diamond et al., 2008; norwalk, diperna, lei, & wu, 2012). as one example, children who attend head start are able to name an average of 2.3 more letters than children living in poverty who do not attend head start (puma, bell, cook, heid, & lopez, 2005). as students who enter kindergarten with underdeveloped skills tend to remain behind throughout their entire education (duncan et al., 2007), it is important to understand the ways in which head start teachers provide support for this foundational literacy skill. factors that influence letter learning features of letters. research in children’s development of letter knowledge has found that some letters are easier to learn than others (huang, tortorelli, & invernizzi, 2014; justice, pence, bowles, & wiggins, 2006; tortorelli, bowles, & skibbe, 2017). children are more likely to learn and retain letters when their name and sound coincide (e.g., b, m, p; cardoso-martins, mesquita, & ehri, 2011; evans, bell, shaw, moretti, & page, 2006; treiman, kessler, & evans, 2007), they are personally relevant (e.g., in own name, justice et al., 2006; treiman & kessler, 2003) and relevant in other contexts (e.g., x marks the spot; bowles, skibbe, & justice, 2011). some work (e.g., mcbride-chang, 1999), but not others (justice et al., 2006), has found that letters at the beginning of the alphabet are more familiar to children than letters at the end of the alphabet. head start teachers’ beliefs and practices for letter knowledge 3 in addition, uppercase letters tend to be learned before lowercase letters (pence, bowles, skibbe, justice & wiggins, 2010; treiman & kessler, 2004; drouin, horner, & sondergeld, 2012). regrettably, the role of instruction in this learning is currently unknown. learning contexts. research has identified a myriad of practices known to support letter learning for young children. exposure to letters, both uppercase and lowercase, increases a child’s chance of successfully naming those letters (fry, 2004). it seems presenting both forms of the letter to children can facilitate letter learning because children use their knowledge of uppercase letters to understand more about lowercase letters (pence et al., 2010). in order to ensure that students are receiving quality letter instruction, research recommends that literacy lessons in the pre-k classroom have an explicit instructional aspect (jones, clark, & reutzel, 2013; justice & pullen, 2003). explicitly drawing children's attention to letters is essential for letter learning because children do not look at print in books or their environment unless adults specifically draw their attention to print (evans & saint-aubin, 2005). intervention studies have found that children learn more letters when teachers point to print, identify letters, and discuss features of the letters with them. these types of activities can be incorporated into book reading sessions (justice, mcginty, piasta, kaderavek, & fan, 2010), yet a number of intervention studies have successfully taught children letters within the context of play (roskos & christie, 2011; roskos, christie, widman, & holding, 2010; vanhoorn, nourot, scales, & alward, 2014). strategies that incorporate teaching letters in conjunction with other literary skills are more effective than practices that teach letters alone in isolation. for example, teaching letter names at the same time as letter sounds is more effective than teaching the skills independently (lonigan et al., 2013; piasta, purpura, & wagner, 2010) however, curricula may not provide support for such integrated learning (skibbe, gerde, wright, & samples-steele, 2016). intervention studies have identified the use of writing as a means of supporting children’s letter naming abilities (aram & biron, 2004, hall, simpson, guo, & wang, 2015; hofslundsengen, hagtyet, & gustafsson, 2016). this may be due to the attention that is drawn to the letter and its form when children write (gerde et al., 2012; aram, 2005). finally, providing multiple and repeated opportunities to use letters in meaningful ways is key to letter learning (jones et al., 2013). in summary, children learn some letters before others. unfortunately, we do not know whether this is due to the features of the letters themselves or the contexts in which they are taught, that is, the ways in which teachers instruct children about these letters. by interviewing teachers, we obtain a more accurate understanding about what matters for children’s development of letter knowledge, a vital early literacy skill. teachers’ beliefs influence their practice teachers’ selection and enactment of teaching strategies for promoting letter knowledge may be influenced by teachers’ beliefs about how children develop and use letter knowledge (bingham & hall-kenyon, 2013; scull et al., 2012). teacher beliefs about literacy development consist of the views and knowledge teachers hold about planning, teaching, and evaluating the skills that children need to develop (cunningham, zibulsky, & callahan, 2009). evidence suggests that the diverse educational background of early childhood educators results in a wide variety of beliefs regarding the academic achievement of preschoolers (mcmullen et al., 2005). for example, teachers with 4 gerde et al. master’s degrees tend to emphasize oral language development more than teachers with bachelor’s degrees (burgess, lundgren, lloyd, & pianta, 2001). teacher beliefs often include what educators assume to be the goal or outcome of their lesson plan. further, work has found that teachers’ attitudes about children’s ability influences their assessment and expectations of the child’s performance in the classroom (scull et al., 2012). ultimately, these beliefs are translated into practice, affecting the instructional methods used by teachers in the classroom (cunningham et al., 2009). therefore, considering teachers’ beliefs and practices for the essential skill of letter knowldge is important. due to the significant impact letter knowledge can have on children’s future literacy skills and development, it is important to explore how head start teachers’ beliefs about letter knowledge influences their instructional practices in the classroom. therefore, the present study examined head start teachers’ beliefs and reported practices for supporting young children’s letter knowledge in the classroom. specifically, teachers reported on their beliefs regarding the importance of letter knowledge for pre-kindergarten children including how many letters and which features (e.g., letter name, sounds) they should know prior to kindergarten. further, teachers were asked to identify the teaching strategies they employed to promote children’s letter knowledge. methods participants participants included 48 head start teachers (all female). teachers were primarily caucasian (88%), however, other ethnicities were represented including african american (4%), asian (2%), latina (2%) and multiracial (4%). most teachers reported their highest degree as a bachelor’s degree (35%), or associate’s degree (35%), while others reported a master’s degree (26%) or high school diploma (4%) as their highest degree. sixty-three percent of the teachers reported their highest degree major specialized in early childhood education/development or a related field. on average, the teachers had 17.17 years of teaching experience (sd = 8.14, range 1-35 years). procedures purposive sampling was utilized in this study (creswell & clark-plano, 2017) to identify participants with unique knowledge and experience regarding the phenomenon of interest to this study (i.e., head start teachers of pre-kindergarten children). thus, head start teachers were recruited via an informational letter sent to directors inviting teachers to participate. head start programs were selected because we had an existing research relationship with the organization; however, no professional development was being provided simultaneously by this research team. teachers signed up to participate during one of their four regularly scheduled head start-led inservice days. eligible teachers included lead and assistant teachers from pre-kindergarten (4-yearold) head start classrooms; all teachers who signed up met this eligibility criteria. multiple interview days were made available, so teachers attending on different days had equal opportunity to participate in the study. before any interview questions were asked, participants were able to ask project personnel questions about the study and complete consent forms. head start teachers’ beliefs and practices for letter knowledge 5 using an interview protocol, trained graduate research assistants (n = 4) and the first author, all with at least a master’s degree in child development and preschool teaching experience, conducted individual teacher interviews. the interviews were structured, consisting first of demographic questions, followed by seven questions that asked teachers to report on their beliefs about and practices for supporting children’s letter knowledge. only designated prompts were used (e.g., “are there any other ideas you would like to share?”). to enhance accuracy and credibility of the data (creswell & miller, 2000), at the end of each question interviewers repeated back to participants the response they heard and asked, “am i capturing what you intended to say?” the initial questions were open-ended to capture teachers’ broad beliefs and practices whereas other questions were targeted to understand more about how teachers’ beliefs aligned with recommended practices in the field. questions included: 1) do you believe it is important to teach preschool children about letters? why or why not? 2) tell me about anything you do to support letter knowledge in your classroom, 3) do you believe it is important for children to learn letter sounds before they enter kindergarten? why/why not? 4) do you help children to link letter names and letter sounds? how? 5) in what order do you teach letters of the alphabet? 6) do you teach uppercase first, lowercase first, or do you teach them at the same time? 7) how many letters do you think children should know before entering kindergarten? all interviews were audio recorded and lasted between 15-20 minutes each. the research assistants transcribed the audio data verbatim. the first and third authors—both with at least a master’s degree in child development and preschool teaching experience—engaged in thematic analysis utilizing a recursive step-by-step process that involved the following six phases (braun & clarke, 2006). to familiarize ourselves with the data, we read and re-read the transcriptions, noting initial ideas. generating initial codes took place in a systematic fashion across the entire data set to collate statements relevant to codes. as data were collected and organized, we searched for themes by collating codes. we included illustrative teacher quotes to support the reasoning for each theme identified. during this phase, we used semantic and latent data analysis. with a semantic approach, themes were identified within their explicit or surface level meanings, making no inferences beyond that about the data (vaismoradi, turunen, & bondas, 2013). this occurred through the creation and grouping of codes and patterns that emerged within the data set. this was followed by latent analysis, where data were examined to identify underlying ideas, assumptions, and specific conceptualizations (braun & clarke, 2006). once the initial search was completed, a review of themes took place as the two coders came together to discuss the themes at length. differences were settled via discussion and consensus; few differences were evident (e.g., one coder identified toys with letters as letter materials and another as letters in play). this analysis continued as data was defined and themes were named as specifics of each theme were generated. analysis was an iterative process through discussion and refining of the major themes. illustrative quotes and context were examined as evidence for themes. once this process was complete, we produced a final report of findings (braun & clarke, 2006). in order to summarize the various teaching practices reported to support letter knowledge and letter-sound knowledge, researchers counted the responses using enumeration (miles & huberman, 1994). for closed-ended questions, for example, do you teach uppercase first, lowercase first, or do you teach them at the same time?, frequencies of responses for each category were identified. trustworthiness of the data. steps were taken to ensure the credibility of the interview data. responses across teachers indicated that saturation of the data were met, at least for these 6 gerde et al. participants (guest, bunce, & johnson, 2006). member checking occurred during interviews and following analyses. during interviews, interviewers regularly checked in with participants to ensure they captured the participants’ ideas accurately (creswell & miller, 2000). following analyses, a summary of the findings was sent via mail and email to all participants with the instructions to review and comment on the results, “particularly if you feel as though your ideas are not represented,” ensuing a well-established member checking process (oktay, 2004). we received four responses, all of which were positive that their ideas were included in the report. results head start teachers beliefs about teaching letters to preschool children overwhelmingly, teachers (97.6%) reported that teaching letters to young children was important. of these teachers, 54.2% reported utilizing direct instructional approaches to teach letter knowledge, while 17% reported that their role was to expose and support children’s knowledge of letters. for example, one teacher said, “…so i do think it is important to expose and introduce them to letters and that letters make letter sounds, not necessarily to drill it into their head…” recognizing that individual teachers may have different approaches to children’s letter learning. teachers articulate several rationales for why letter knowledge was important. the majority of these rationales aligned with two ideas. one group, 49% of teachers, reported that teaching letters was important in helping children develop later reading skills. one teacher commented that “…reading is one of the most important things a child should know, and you have to start with the letters”. a second group, 29% of teachers, said that teaching letter knowledge aids children’s kindergarten readiness. one teacher’s response cited the increasing demands of kindergarten, stating “kindergarten is different than it used to be, so they need to have a bigger knowledge base going into kindergarten than before.” finally, 14.5% of teachers reported that teaching children about letters is needed to both develop their future reading skills, as well as prepare them for kindergarten. uniquely, one teacher reported that teaching letters was important for promoting a child’s identity “to give them [children] identity and be able to identify themselves to others.” in addition to the categories mentioned above, many teachers reported supplementary reasons for why letter knowledge was important. eighteen percent of teachers specifically mentioned that letter knowledge plays a role in helping children “learn to recognize their names…” also, 10.4% of teachers said that teaching letters can be used as a means of developing writing skills as well as reading skills. head start teachers reported teaching strategies for supporting letter knowledge teachers report a variety of strategies for teaching letters (see figure 1). the most common strategy reported for promoting letter knowledge was incorporating letters into children’s playful learning experiences (79.1%). for example, one teacher stated, “we use alphabet cookie cutters with play-doh” another teacher reported, “we sing the letters of their names, have alphabet bingo, and alphabet matching games with letters.” sixty-five percent of teachers reported preparing a head start teachers’ beliefs and practices for letter knowledge 7 print rich environment as a strategy for promoting letters. for example, “we have their names in various areas, on their cubbies, their coat-closet, their toothbrush, usually it’s in about 10 places in the classroom.” one teacher reported, “my room is literacy enriched so everything is labeled.” another stated: so, it is just like exposure, just like smothering them in a very print rich environment. one that they are actively a part of. i label everything in my room, but then i have them also make labels. and, it may not look like mine, but to them it does. figure 1. number of head start teachers that reported using each strategy teachers identified to promote letter knowledge. thirty-five percent of teachers reported providing a variety of materials children could explore to promote letter knowledge. for example, teachers reported, “we have stamps and letter punches.” “you know, magnetic letters and foam letters,” and “i have a rug with all the letters on it.” also, half of teachers (54.2%) indicated that they engaged in intentional letter instruction. this included, “i introduce a letter a week, so each week we go over a letter,” “each week we also do an abc page—it is like an alphabet book—for each letter of the week.” in fact, 39% of teachers 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 n u m b er o f h ea d s ta rt t ea ch er s 8 gerde et al. taught one letter per week. twenty-seven percent of these teachers reported discussing letter sounds in their letter-of-the-week instruction. fifty-two percent of teachers reported promoting letter knowledge during writing experiences as illustrated by this comment, “i do writing worksheets every monday on the letter of the week.” others reported, “we practice name writing everyday” or “we practice copying letters and letter-like-forms daily.” other strategies included promoting letters during book reading or routine activities. twenty-five percent of teachers identified book reading as a strategy they used to promote letter knowledge as illustrated by this quote, “obviously we read a lot of stories, those are pretty much the main ways [we promote letter knowledge].” another stated, “we do lots and lots of read alouds.” eighteen percent of teachers reported focusing on letter knowledge during a class routine. for example, “i do a lot of letter recognition with job chart and assignments” or “every day we have a message board, and it’s divided into four squares and one square is always devoted to a phonological awareness or a letter type of activity. ten percent of teachers reported eliciting family involvement to promote letter knowledge. for example, one teacher reported, “i count on parents a lot to supplement what we do at this level.” another identified letter knowledge homework she sent home. “my homework is not anything they have to complete, it’s just one way that we can get parents involved in the education of their child.” finally, six percent of teachers reported using a letter curriculum; all of these teachers used zoophonics, a phonics-based letter-sound curriculum. how many letters should children know before entering kindergarten? when asked how many letters head start teachers believe children should know before entering kindergarten, teachers reported a variety of expectations, or benchmarks, for their students. benchmarks included a range of numbers from 10, reflecting the head start standard, to 15 through all 26 letters. other benchmarks articulated by teachers included children knowing “as many letters as possible,” “at least half of the letters,” and “at least the letters in their name.” thirty-nine percent of teachers said they wanted their children to know all of the letters prior to kindergarten entry. for example, one teacher said, “my goal is that they know all of them,” and another teacher said, “i’d love for them to know all of them.” thirty-seven percent of teachers directly referenced the head start program standard of knowing 10 letters by the end of the program; all but one of these teachers articulated that, to be successful, students should exceed this standard as illustrated by this teacher response: they should know at least ten for head start, that’s what the kindergarten teachers expect, but ultimately, if they want to stay academically with the rest of the kids and be able to keep up on the pace that kindergarten sets, they really need to know all the letters before they go to kindergarten. interestingly, teachers’ responses fell into two categories: teacher-designated (24.3%) or childfocused (75.6%). teacher designated benchmark responses were characterized by their specificity and adherence to a program goal or teacher expectation, usually involving a certain number of letters that all children should know without differentiation between children. for example, one head start teachers’ beliefs and practices for letter knowledge 9 teacher said, “i try to teach them at least 15” another reported, “for head start we are taught that they should know 10, so 10.” teachers reporting child-focused benchmarks identified goals that explicitly considered or accounted for children’s differentiated development. these teachers recognized the importance of considering the individual child when creating goals as illustrated in this teacher response: to me, it varies by child, what they’re ready to learn, where they are. i have children that already know a lot. and i have some children that come in and no one’s worked with them before. i try to think about where they are and work on what they know and expand from there. twenty-nine percent of teachers with child-focused benchmarks specifically said that the number of letters a child should know by the end of head start varies from child to child (e.g., “it depends on the child and their learning style”). further, nineteen percent of teachers also said they wanted children to “know as many letters as possible” recognizing that one specific goal may not meet the needs of every child. this idea is illustrated in the following teacher response: for kids that come in with no concepts whatsoever and are behind developmentally, i think knowing all the letters is a high expectation for them, and high expectations are good, but it might not fit everyone’s child. another critical child-focused benchmark included children identifying the letters in their own name (38.7%). for example, “i would think it would be nice for them to know the letters in their name.” most of the teachers articulating child-focused benchmarks (74.1%) held more than one benchmark for the children in their classrooms. for example: i think 10 is an appropriate start, i think they at least need to know the letters in their name, but for some that is only three letters. head start says 10 and i think that is a fair number, i personally would like to see them leave knowing all, but they all may not be ready for that. in what order do head start teachers introduce letters to children? enumeration was used to identify the order in which teachers introduced letters of the alphabet to children. results indicated that the most popular order employed by teachers was to teach the children the letters in their name first. in fact, 47% of the teachers begin letter instruction with the letters in the children’s first names, particularly the initial letter. teachers reported that letters in the child’s name were the most meaningful to the child and that those were the letters to which they could most easily relate. one of them stated that she, “…wants them to learn the letters of their name because it has greater importance to them personally.” similarly, a second group of teachers (17%) considered child interest or ability when selecting the letters they taught. these teachers recognized that children have varied interests when it comes to what letters they want to learn. for example, one teacher stated that, “it depends on what they ask and how many letters they know already.” 10 gerde et al. very few teachers reflected on other features of letters and principles of child development when ordering their letter instruction. however, one teacher reported that she teaches the letters that are most easily recognized by young children (i.e., “you know, like the letters o and a”). another teacher indicated that she orders her instruction using knowledge of children’s sound development stating, “i’ve gotten together with my speech therapist and gotten information from her and found out what sounds children are expected to know at what age.” interestingly, 22% of the teachers preferred to teach the letters in a random order. teachers did not always give a reason for why they chose a particular random order; however, four teachers reported that they did not want the children to memorize the alphabet song or list without actually being able to individually recognize the letters as illustrated by the following teacher quote: i try not to go in any order with the letters because a lot of the time, they can say their abcs but you are really not sure if they really know or if they are just saying it. so, i try to mix the letters up throughout the year and in that way i could get a little sense about whether they know their letters or just memorize the song and matching. twenty percent of the teachers used the alphabetic order to teach letters. two of these teachers reported that they start out with alphabet order but end up emphasizing more on name letters or will mix up the order during the school year. one teacher reported that: i know alphabet order isn’t the most appropriate, but i have never been told another way. i have always been told “oh i will give you that list” but i never receive it. i just do alphabetic order because it’s easier. do head start teachers begin instruction with uppercase, lowercase, or both? sixty-nine percent of teachers reported teaching both uppercase and lowercase together (e.g., “i teach them at the same time, i teach the letters as they are in print”). as one teacher put it, “i teach them all at the same time, mostly because, first letter is uppercase and the rest of them are lower case, i don’t do the whole name in one case just because that’s not how it is.” while no teachers reported beginning instruction with lowercase letters, 31.3% of teachers reported teaching uppercase letters first. responses indicated this decision reflected the ease and importance of uppercase letters. for example, one teacher reported, “i focus on uppercase letters; they’re more concrete for them to handle.” another teacher’s response reflects this idea clearly: it is mainly uppercase because that is the first letters of their name, which is uppercase 100%. when i have children write their name and i give them a model, i tend to give them all capitals. it tends to be what they are drawn to first and i think it is easier to learn. head start teachers’ beliefs and practices for letter knowledge 11 do head start teachers believe it is important for children to learn letter sounds before they enter kindergarten? head start teachers articulated three distinct beliefs about the importance of children learning letter sounds prior to kindergarten. the majority of teachers (61%) believed, “yes” (i.e., “absolutely”, “definitely”) that letter-sound knowledge was essential for kindergarten preparation. teachers’ responses reflecting this sentiment included, “yes, so that they are ready to start reading in kindergarten” and “yes, i work really hard on it. i think head start has [a goal of] ten letter sounds but, i really like them to learn more in order for them to be on track when they get to kindergarten and not be behind.” a second group of teachers (29%) believed letter-sound knowledge to be important but recognized that exposure rather than an expectation of mastering this skill was appropriate. for example: i think it is important that they are exposed to it, so they have an awareness that each letter has their own sounds, because it does help with reading skills and things like that. i don’t think it is important for them to have it all down perfectly. another indicated, “i would say it is important but not my top priority.” one teacher’s remarks reflected her understanding of the challenges children face regarding such advanced expectations: i think at this age, it kind of goes hand in hand that they need to know their letters, they need to know the sounds, or some sounds before they go to kindergarten that way they can start to learn to read and hit those academic levels in kindergarten but, i don’t know how much of it is realistic. where do we stop and say “no we need to allow them to be kids and it will come when it comes. i feel like a lot of the guidelines and the expectations are set by people who have never been teachers, especially teachers of early childhood education and so they’re not, they don’t understand maybe where these kids really are, especially our head start kids, they come from way different family backgrounds than say a middle-class family or an upper-class family so they are trying to just deal with life, let alone having to learn their letters and sounds. a third, smaller group of teachers (12.2%), did not believe letter-sound knowledge was important prior to kindergarten entry, instead identifying this as something to focus on in kindergarten. for example, one teacher stated, “you know, i do think that [knowledge of letter sounds] is something they should teach in kindergarten. i think that is a kindergarten skill.” other teachers in this category reflected that preschool children were not ready for this skill, “no, letter sounds is really a beginning reading skill, and i have not yet met a preschooler that is ready to begin reading.” how do head start teachers help children to link letter names and letter sounds? despite these varied beliefs about the importance of letter-sound knowledge, unanimously 48 head start teachers reported, “yes,” they help children to link letter names and letter sounds. teachers 12 gerde et al. reported, “yes, always. it’s kind of hard not to” and “yes, that’s part of their exposure; i try to do that as much as possible.” teachers’ responses reflected the importance they placed on this skill: no sense in bothering to teach letters if you’re not gonna talk about sounds. i think they’re gonna learn it easier if it’s all together versus, okay, we’re gonna do the letters now and then second half of the year try to work on the sounds. teachers identified a range of practices they used to support letter-sound knowledge (see figure 2). these reported practices included singing songs (58.5%), playing games (34.1%), and introducing sounds during routines (26.8%) (e.g., letter of the week or identifying jobs). in addition, a few teachers reported using book reading (14.6%), name writing (9.7%), or talking about names (21.9%) as a way to talk about letter-sound correspondence. figure 2. number of head start teachers that reported using each teacher identified practice for supporting lettersound knowledge. several teachers (31.7%) reported engaging in letter-sound learning through informal conversations. for example, one teacher reported: practices other than random when you’re walking by a child and you’re writing their name and then you help them by, if they don’t know the letter’s name, the sound, you give them the name or sound. i would say that’s more of an opportunity. i don’t have a procedure, it’s just all day, every day. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 n u m b er o f h ea d s ta rt t ea ch er s head start teachers’ beliefs and practices for letter knowledge 13 when teachers were asked to identify the teaching practices they used to support letter-sound knowledge, just 39.1% identified strategies that support letter-sound knowledge specifically. that is, over sixty percent of teachers identified only sound awareness opportunities (e.g., rhyming, syllables) or other literacy-focused opportunities (e.g., identifying letter names, saying vocabulary words) rather than letter-sound awareness opportunities. unlike the detailed descriptions of practices teachers used to support letter knowledge, the letter-sound practices reported were often vague. for example, one teacher stated, “we say the letter sounds from their names, clap their names, journals, book reading, we do a lot of letter sounding” and another said, “um, like spelling out their names, we’ll do the sounds or doing the jobs we might spell out or say the name of the job saying the sounds, you know, that kind of thing”. in addition, 43% of teacher responses reflected a level of spontaneity indicating that much of this support may be unplanned or only occur when a child initiates it. discussion our interviews with head start teachers revealed that most teachers recognize the importance of teaching preschool children about letters, which aligns with core standards in preschool and kindergarten (copple & bredekamp, 2009; head start resource center, 2010; piasta et al., 2012) as well as research reports showcasing the significant role letter knowledge has in children’s future reading skills (mcilraith, 2018; nelp, 2008). indeed, letter knowledge at kindergarten entry is the strongest predictor of later literacy success (schatschneider et al., 2004), perhaps explaining an increasing demand for children to know about literacy concepts earlier than in the past. certainly, teachers reported awareness of the “increased” demands of kindergarten, in terms of reading and writing, but, until now, little was known about the practices they report engaging in to support this knowledge. despite the fact that some curricula do not provide teachers with adequate instructional support for teaching letter knowledge (justice, 2006), head start teachers report multiple teaching methods to effectively teach letters to young children. preschoolers living in poverty, like those attending head start, are at greater risk for reading difficulties because they do not learn all the letter names (barbarin et al., 2006) without intentional support before kindergarten (connor, morrison, & slominski, 2006). teachers reported using strategies such as embedding letters into playful activities, providing a print rich environment, encouraging children to write letters, and identifying letters during book reading to teach letters to children. these are all recommended practices for supporting early literacy (e.g., copple & bredekamp, 2009; justice et al., 2010; roskos et al., 2010; roskos & christie, 2011; vanhoorn et al., 2014). thus, head start teachers recognize developmentally appropriate activities for promoting letter knowledge. the most common strategy teachers reported employing in their classrooms was promoting letters through playful experiences. for example, fishing for the letters in the water table, playing a letter jumping/hop scotch game, and creating a collage with letters from stickers, newspaper, and fliers in the art area. though it was less frequently reported, some teachers reported promoting letters through socio-dramatic play experiences (e.g., talking about letters on food boxes or menus in the kitchen area) as well. teachers’ use of playful experiences to support children’s letter knowledge is encouraging, as play is a successful way to increase children’s literacy learning (roskos & christie, 2011; vanhoorn et al., 2014). children’s learning is enhanced in playful experiences in ways not observed in formal learning settings (mcinnes, howard, miles, & 14 gerde et al. crowley, 2009). children within playful conditions show more on-task behavior, which can support independent learning (e.g., whitebread, coltman, jameson, & lander, 2009). the games and playful opportunities identified by teachers in this study give intentional space for children’s spontaneous discoveries to play with letters, sounds, and words. even more, head start teachers still incorporate playful learning as a meaningful way to teach children about letters, despite policies existing to reduce play in early childhood classrooms (miller & almon, 2009). on the other hand, although over half of teachers reported engaging children in writing to promote letter knowledge, all of the examples provided focused on copying letters rather than writing within playful or meaningful writing experiences (e.g., creating books, writing an order, or composing a story) as recommended in the literature (e.g., bingham, quinn, mcroy, zhang, & gerde, 2018; gerde, bingham, & wasik, 2012). in addition, teachers did not articulate ways that they model or scaffold writing, though these teaching strategies are recommended (quinn, gerde, & bingham, 2016) and do promote early writing (gerde, bingham, & pendergast, 2015). fortunately, if teachers do scaffold writing, it is likely that the scaffolds focus on letter knowledge; identifying letters for children to write was the most common print-focused scaffold observed of teachers in previous classroom-based research (bingham, quinn, & gerde, 2017). unfortunately, though nearly all teachers report including ample environmental print in their classroom environments, teachers did not report using this print as a support for the writing opportunities they provided, though this approach is recommended (gerde, goetsch, & bingham, 2016). an integrated approach to letter learning, that includes learning letter names and sounds together, has been identified to be more effective than learning letters in isolation and is recommended practice (lonigan et al., 2013; piasta et al., 2010; piasta & wagner, 2010). while teachers reported disagreement in their beliefs about the importance of letter-sound knowledge prior to kindergarten entry, they all reported engaging in practices which linked letter names with their sounds. unfortunately, the majority of these reported strategies did not support letter-sound correspondence specifically, but rather phonological awareness or literacy broadly (e.g., print concepts), which does not align with recommendations for supporting letter knowledge through letter-sound correspondence instruction (lonigan et al., 2013). for example, teachers reported singing songs like “willoughby, walloughby, woo” to support letter-sound knowledge, but this song draws attention to ending sounds of words not letter-sound correspondence explicitly. this is not unexpected as it aligns with previous work suggesting that teachers spend more time helping children learn the letters than teaching them to map letters to sounds (pelatti, piasta, justice, & o’connell, 2014). in addition, it seems teachers do not clearly understand what strategies can be used to promote letter-sound instruction. this finding is not surprising, as a recent review of the most widely used curricula in head start identified many curricular supports for early phonological skills, like sound awareness and rhyming, but few supports for advanced skills like letter-sound correspondence (skibbe et al., 2016). explicit instruction, such as drawing attention to lettersound correspondence, providing opportunities for children to say the letter name and corresponding sound, and identifying/listening for words beginning with the letter sound are essential tools for developing these skills (jones et al., 2013; lonigan et al., 2013; piasta & wagner, 2010). this important finding suggests a strong need for teacher education and curricular supports targeting the area of letter-sound awareness. while there are many different ways to approach letter knowledge instruction, some teaching strategies reported did not align with research-based practices. for example, research has suggested that using letter-of-the-week instruction, while quite common in preschool classrooms head start teachers’ beliefs and practices for letter knowledge 15 (huang & invernizzi, 2012; justice et al., 2006) as with our sample, may not be the most effective way to teach letters due to the undifferentiated focus on each letter and the limited opportunities for repeated exposure throughout the year (sunde, furnes, & lundetræ, 2019; piasta, 2016). however, nearly forty percent of teachers still reported using this approach suggesting that communicating research-based instructional strategies to teachers still needs to be a priority. head start teachers have varying standards regarding the number of letters they believe children should know before entering kindergarten, although 93% of teachers believed students need to know, or were capable of knowing, more than the 10 letters recommended in head start standards at the time of the interviews. many held goals for children to know all letters, which aligns with recent research recommendations to know 18 uppercase and 15 lowercase letters by the end of preschool (piasta et al., 2012). however, 76% of teachers reported objectives that were child-focused, choosing to craft goals based on the individual child’s strengths and needs. classrooms in which teachers approach instruction using a more child-centered approach have positive impacts on young children’s learning (perry, donohue, & weinstein, 2007) and identify greater gains in language and literacy skills (connor et al., 2009). providing appropriate instructional support is particularly important when working to support at-risk learner’s academic achievement (hamre & pianta, 2005). overall, interviews revealed that most teachers consider holding multiple benchmarks appropriate when creating letter knowledge goals for their students. further, these individualized benchmarks also appear to contribute to teachers’ use of multiple and varied instructional strategies. teachers focus on letters in children’s names previous work has identified that some letters are easier to learn because of their features (huang et al., 2014; treiman et al., 2007). specifically, several studies postulate that children learn the letters in their name before other letters because of their personal significance (bowles et al., 2011; treiman & kessler, 2003). in fact, ample correlational studies identify letters in a child’s name, particularly the first initial, to be the first letters children recall, name, and use in their writing (treiman & broderick, 1998; treiman, kessler, & baurassa, 2001). our findings indicate that teachers often target name letters first in their approach to teaching letters. this may support or reinforce children’s learning of these particular letters, particularly for those who enter preschool with no or very low letter knowledge, as is the case for many children attending head start (e.g., diamond et al., 2008; piasta & wagner, 2010). when asked what order teachers taught letters, 47% identified that they started with name letters. in addition, 92% of teachers reported placing special emphasis on children’s name letters and 98% targeted each child’s first initial during instruction. further, teachers used name letters as a minimum benchmark when setting goals for children’s letter learning (31.7%) (e.g., “…at least they need to know their name letters”). this suggests that while it is true that children identify and use name letters before other letters, this may be related to the fact that, at least in this sample, head start teachers focus their letter instruction on children’s name letters. previous work has found other features including the sound the letter makes (treiman et al., 2007), and position in the alphabet (bowles et al., 2011; mcbride-chang, 1999) to predict children’s knowledge of the letters. in contrast, teachers did not report targeting letters due to these features. additionally, it is suggested that uppercase letters are learned before lowercase letters (drouin et al., 2012; pence et al., 2010; treiman & kessler, 2004). this does not seem to be a 16 gerde et al. function of teacher instruction as our data indicate that the majority of teachers introduce both upper and lowercase together, which aligns with recommended practice (jones et al., 2013; pence et al., 2010; piasta et al., 2012). teachers did not indicate that these features influenced the order or process they used for teaching letters. beyond the name letters, teachers identified wide variation in responses—many of which did not align with recommended practices—regarding the order in which to teach the letters (e.g., “for me, i do it a-z; i realize kids have to learn letters out of order, but at this stage, we do it one at a time”). some relied on teaching materials from the local kindergarten (e.g., “i do the list from the kindergarten teacher because that seems to be the way they work on it”) and others reported knowing what not to do, but could not articulate what to do (e.g., “i do it alphabetical order, and i know that is not the most appropriate but, i have never been told the other ways to do it”). there is evidence here that professional development regarding appropriate letter order is necessary. further, the pace of letter learning articulated by the majority of teachers, that is, teaching one letter each week, is ineffective and inefficient. recent research examining variations in the pacing of letter instruction found that children had higher letter knowledge at the end of preschool when they were in classrooms that employed a quicker pace (i.e., faster than one letter per week) for letter learning (sunde et al., 2019). intervention work has demonstrated effects when teaching 3-4 letters each week (piasta & wagner, 2010) and other methods recommend a letter-a-day pacing (jones et al., 2013). teaching one letter each week does not permit teachers to differentiate time for or focus on letters, which are easier or more difficult to learn as suggested by the research literature (e.g., treiman et al., 2007). using a letter instruction approach which permits varied attention to individual letters can be beneficial for all children. reducing introduction time for each letter can offer children the opportunity to engage with each letter earlier in the school year and allows children multiple opportunities to cycle through the alphabet in various orders depending on features of letters, including name letters (for examples see jones et al., 2013). this approach permits more time for challenging letters and less time for the letters all children know early (e.g., b, o, x, as suggested by bowles et al., 2011). educational implications communicating with teachers about effective and research-based practices that can be implemented in head start classrooms in developmentally appropriate ways may impact children’s letter knowledge outcomes. for example, child and teacher directed classroom activities involving explicit instruction are linked to preschool students’ alphabet knowledge (connor et al., 2006; jones et al., 2013), particularly when this instruction includes opportunities to see, say, and hear both letter names and sounds (piasta & wagner, 2010). other effective strategies that promote students’ alphabet knowledge include using writing as a means of drawing attention to letters (aram & biron, 2004; hall et al., 2015; hofslundsengen et al., 2016) and identifying letters and letter sounds during shared book reading (justice et al., 2010). providing a variety of print in the classroom, particularly when it is meaningful to young children, can help promote letter knowledge (gerde, goetsch, & bingham, 2016; neumann, hood, ford, & neumann, 2012). examples include putting children’s names on cubbies, labeling learning centers and materials, and posting teacher and child writing (copple & bredekamp, 2009; gerde et al., 2016). in addition, imbedding letters into children’s play experiences is a consequential way to provide opportunities to identify letter head start teachers’ beliefs and practices for letter knowledge 17 names and sounds (roskos et al., 2010; vanhoorn et al., 2014). it is essential to ensure all letters are covered multiple times supporting the recommendation for repetition in letter instruction (jones et al., 2013). to accomplish such repetition, it seems teachers need to pick up the pace to target 3-4 letters each week as recommended (see piasta & wagner, 2010; sunde et al., 2019) rather than only one letter each week. finally, introducing upper and lowercase together is essential, particularly in light of recommendations for children to know a majority of both upper and lowercase letters prior to kindergarten (piasta et al., 2012). utilizing specific teaching strategies or incorporating these effective teaching strategies within the framework of a curriculum, may increase children’s letter knowledge. limitations and future directions while this study utilized a rigorous structured interview methodology, which allowed teachers to report all practices they use to promote letter knowledge, it does not include direct observation of teacher behaviors. although some previous work has identified that teachers’ reported practices generally align with their observed practices (e.g., gerde, wright, & bingham, 2019; for a review see hook & rosenshine, 1979), more work is needed in this area. future work might expand on the interview data presented here by observing enacted practices. we recognize the data were obtained from a relatively small sample of teachers who all work in a head start center. interviews with teachers in other early childhood programs reflecting different funding structures, programmatic models, and policies may produce different findings. although we met the criteria for saturation (guest, bunce, & johnson, 2006), it is possible additional discoveries might have been made with a larger participant pool. future research should explore the practices of early childhood educators from a diverse group of programming models. conclusion head start teachers recognize the importance of letter knowledge for young children and target this skill in their instruction. this instruction, overwhelming focused on children’s name letters, seems to play an important role in children’s letter learning and may provide evidence for why name letters are learned first (treiman & kessler, 2003; treiman et al., 2001). although teachers report a range of practices for supporting letter knowledge, beyond a focus on children’s name letters, teachers do not capitalize on the features of letters (i.e., name-sound similarity) or researchbased practices (e.g., teaching letter names and sounds in conjunction) for promoting this vital skill. head start teachers need more education and professional development focused on effective strategies to increase children’s letter knowledge, particularly in light of recent work indicating that the current head start benchmarks for letter knowledge may be too low when considering risk for reading difficulties in later grades (piasta et al., 2012). references aram, d. 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(2013). content analysis and thematic analysis: implications for conducting a qualitative descriptive study. nursing & health sciences, 15(3), 398–405. vanhoorn, j., nourot, p. m., scales, b., & alward, k. r. (2014). play at the center of the curriculum. columbus, oh: pearson higher ed. whitebread, d., coltman, p., jameson, h., & lander, r. (2009). play, cognition and self-regulation: what exactly are children learning when they learn through play? educational and child psychology, 26(2), 40–52. doi:10.1007/s11409-008-9033-1 microsoft word miller rtp.docx dialog, 20(1), copyright © 2017, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice unhealthy weight status in head start preschoolers: the role of hispanic culture m. elizabeth miller, stephanie nicely, and marisol del teso-craviotto miami university geralyn timler james madison university obesity rates among low-income hispanic preschoolers are higher than those of lowincome whites, highlighting the need for understanding the culturally factors that may contribute to obesity. utilizing a community-based approach, a survey was distributed to hispanic head start families; preschooler body mass index (bmi) was calculated. two discussion groups examined caregiver perceptions about weight status and meal practices. caregivers perceived “thinness” as a disadvantage, favored home-cooked meals, and expressed a desire for children to assimilate to mainstream foods, but these practices could contribute to unhealthy weight status. obesity prevention within head start must account for caregiver perceptions of healthy weight and incongruities between cultural values, meal practices and weight guidelines. findings provide considerations for head start programs when designing culturally-relevant obesity prevention programs that are responsive to hispanic families’ cultural needs and perceptions. keywords: obesity prevention, head start, preschoolers, hispanic, culture hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the us, with an estimated one in three us children identifying as hispanic by 2030 (colby & ortman, 2015). the hispanic community is at a higher risk for developing a variety of health conditions (centers for disease control and prevention [cdc], 2015) and low-income hispanics in particular are at an increased risk of developing obesity. the prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity is higher among hispanics (22.4%) than among non-hispanic whites (14.1%) (skinner & skelton, 2014). according to the ohio 2014 pediatric nutrition surveillance system (pednss) data, the prevalence of obesity in low-income hispanic children age 2 to <5 was 17.9% compared to 13.5% in low-income non-hispanic whites (hornbeck, 2016). obesity during childhood places a child at higher risk for additional health risks such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease (dietz, 1998), highlighting the need for identifying and intervening early within the hispanic community, particularly among preschoolers. the reasons for this disparity in hispanic preschooler childhood obesity rates are multifactorial, however it is critical to understand the 102 miller et al. specific influences of culture that may contribute to higher obesity rates among this population in order for culturally relevant interventions to be designed and delivered (laws et al, 2014). project background the authors of this study partnered with an ohio county head start program who had identified obesity as a health concern based on a 26.7% obesity rate among their hispanic preschoolers. researchers, together with key stakeholders and community members developed a survey and conducted discussion groups to better understand barriers that hispanic families face in raising healthy weight preschoolers. methods quantitative a 65-item survey was developed and included questions about weight status, food intake, meal and food-related practices, and food insecurity, as well as specific questions about cultural foods and practices. survey data was collected during the monthly parent meetings in october 2015 in all of the head start locations in the county. during the meeting, child height and weight were measured using standardized equipment,, and body mass index (bmi) percentiles were calculated. after the survey data was collected and analyzed, two forty five-minute discussion group sessions were held with hispanic parents to gain a deeper understanding of survey results. results sixty-three hispanic caregivers completed the survey and twenty nine caregivers participated in the discussion groups. three major topics were identified from the discussion group: a) belief that “being skinny is not healthy” b) value of home cooked meals and eating together, and c) hispanic community network as a source of health and nutrition information. belief that “being skinny is not healthy”. the survey results indicated that hispanic parents’ perceptions of their child’s weight were not in line with the actual body mass index (bmi). seventy-nine percent of parents perceived their child’s weight as normal. only 4.8% perceived their child to be overweight, when in fact 44% of the children were overweight or obese. conversations in the discussion group surrounding meal preparation highlighted parent concern regarding “thinness”. this concern was specifically related to how others perceived their child’s weight status, with a perception of “thinness” being viewed negatively within the hispanic community. providing new culture foods. participants reported attempts to maintain their traditional ways of cooking. 71.4% always prepare meals from their culture, and 36.5% perceive meals from their culture to be more nutritious. despite attempts to maintain traditional meal practices, participants felt it was important to integrate american foods into their children’s diet influence of hispanic culture on preschooler obsesity 103 in order to support the child’s assimilation with american culture. hispanic families perceived their cooking as a healthier option than the food provided by american families yet still felt it was important to offer american foods to their children. value of home-cooked meals and eating together. in terms of meals preparation, 85.7% of hispanic families reported cooking meals at home every day and 76.6% reported eating meals at the table (as opposed to doing it in front of the tv or in the car). discussion groups revealed that cooking meals at home and eating together were valued practices in their country of origin and were traditions they wanted to instill in their offspring, challenges with parenting at meal times. the majority of participants identified challenges faced during family mealtimes. these challenges focused on children’s attempts to use electronic devices (such as tablets and ipads) or to watch television while eating. another mealtime challenge discussed was parent perceptions of their children as “picky eaters”. influence of head start on child eating practices. according to participant comments, head start plays a significant role on the eating practices of the children enrolled in the program. child food preferences are often sculpted by the school environment, where meals and snacks are offered on a daily basis for children in the program. changes in the type of milk offered at the school (transition from 2% to 1% milk) have created additional challenges for parents as they attempt to balance the practices they have within their own home environment with those being implemented at school. hispanic community network for health information. networks of support are strongly embedded within this hispanic community. health and nutrition information, while not necessarily verified as accurate or factual information, is shared among head start parents and caregivers. results indicated that 81% of hispanics get their health information from the doctor or nurse, 33% selected internet, and another 33% selected family or friends. participants revealed that they received information from health clinics, but may not necessarily follow the suggestions given as they tend to more heavily rely on information received by members within their own community. summary & recommendations findings from this study supported results of previous research in which hispanic parents perceive their child’s overweight status to be “healthy” due to a cultural norm related to undesirability for thinness, which is similar to what other researchers have found (baker & altman, 2015; vanhala, keinanen-kiukaanniemi, kaikkonen, laitinen, & korpelainen, 2011). this belief may prevent parents from engaging in health promotion and obesity prevention behavior change. the findings also revealed that the hispanic culture influenced meals practices such as home-cooked family meals, cooking to please children’s food preferences, and incorporating american foods to bridge food cultures, but more research needs to be conducted to better understand how these meal practices may contribute to an unhealthy weight status for the child. additionally, while maintaining cultural meal and cooking practices was found to important to 104 miller et al. hispanic families, adopting practices and foods of the new culture was also important. in light of that, families need guidance in choosing which american food practices to adopt that will support a healthy weight and help children integrate with the mainstream culture. data from discussion groups confirm that hispanic families seek information related to parenting and health from friends and family members within their social network, similar to other research findings that indicated that informal health communication strategies are common among us hispanics (katz, ang, & suro, 2012) as such, head start may need to identify and include networks of support in the education of hispanic families. obesity reduction interventions may not be effective unless caregivers understand and agree to the importance of maintaining a healthy weight. as such, head start programs need to educate caregivers about the relationship of the child’s weight status to chronic health risks and consider parental perceptions of weight when designing obesity prevention programs. both the findings and implications from this study provide considerations for head start programs when designing effective, culturally relevant obesity prevention programs that are responsive to hispanic families’ cultural needs. other recommendations include: 1. ensure that head start policy council/advisory boards include families from the hispanic community in order to examine if policies and communications are culturally relevant and sensitive to the needs of families in the program. 2. head start programs need to explore the most effective way for educating and reaching hispanic families. current methods of family education include written messaging sent home in the child’s backpack and monthly parent meetings held at the head start locations. including the hispanic social network in head start programs, such as recipe adaptation, meal/cooking strategies and selection of healthy american foods, may result in increased participation and more successful outcomes. 3. head start may consider providing outreach education and support to the broader hispanic social network 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(2014). prevalence and trends in obesity and severe obesity among children in the united states, 1999-2012. jama pediatrics, 168(6), 561-566. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.21. vanhala, m. l,. keinanen-kiukaanniemi, s. m., kaikkonen, k. m., laitinen, j. h., & korpelainen, r. i. (2011). factors associated with parental recognition of a child’s overweight status: a cross sectional study. bmc public health, 11, 665-672. retrieved from http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-11-665. new year, new name rebecca shore, ed.d, editor university of north carolina at charlotte happy new year! we here at the dialog all hope that you found time to relax and recharge somewhat during the winter holidays. change is stressful, the “unknown” even more so, and as increasingly unpredictable as tomorrow seems, the more we realize the need to focus on living in the present, accomplishing what is reasonable, and doing our best to bring joy and encourage curiosity to the children in our charge. as we have dealt with global pandemics, regional weather events, changing venues for instruction, delayed (and cancelled) flights, the list goes on and on, we hope that you recognize that grabbing those unforeseen chunks of downtime (in airports? hospitals? classrooms?) and just reading an article or two in your ever-ready professional reading file will be enriching. the university where one of our journal editors works underwent a name change through “rebranding”. the university of north carolina at charlotte is now referred to as just charlotte, and this seemingly small change brought forth months of reworking designs and logos for anything and everything that was associated with that brand (including our journal). in light of this change, and taking advantage of an opportunity that had been discussed for years, we used this time to also change our journal name to align with our vision. you’ve probably noticed that our research and research-to-practice articles extend beyond the borders of the united states, we are an international journal. and while we still focus on the earliest years of learning, much of which takes place within the walls of head start and early head start classrooms, we are no longer directly affiliated with the national head start association. so, after much discussion and deliberation, the new name for the journal is head start dialog: the research-to-practice journal for the early childhood field. we hope you enjoy our new look while maintaining our high quality of content. we appreciate the patience of our authors in navigating this change and as always, welcome your comments, thoughts, and service if you are interested in serving as a peer review for the journal. words matter! relationships matter! and it takes words to build relationships through communication. this issue of the head start dialog journal is chock full of some fascinating studies about teacher and assistant teacher language skills and the implementation of language enhancement strategies, communication factors that affect relationships between teachers and parents in head start classrooms, and the dramatic increase in the importance of word usage when instructional delivery was forced online due to covid. to start off, kate ascetta of the university of south carolina and beth harn or the university of oregon tie these teacher traits to teacher professional development effectiveness with some very interesting findings for both teachers and leaders. next, luz torres-rendon and katherine zinsser of the university of illinois, chicago share predictors discovered for parent-teacher relationship quality in head start classrooms based on a large sample from 176 programs, 346 centers, and 2 classrooms within selected centers. among other findings, their research highlighted important implications for teacher training, teacher experience, teachers’ perceptions of family-centered practice, and ethnic/racial match for supporting parents’ feelings of comfort in the parent-teacher relationship. more specific to our recent reality of online delivery due to covid, ruth guirguis of bmcc-cuny and raquel plotka of pace university explored the important role of teacher self-efficacy in teacher motivation and children’s behavioral and academic outcomes, particularly in times of crises such as the present. it may come as no surprise that they found when teaching went online, teachers found that teaching academic skills was manageable, however, young children’s social skills suffered. our issue concludes with a study of racial disparities among the physical and mental health needs of head start staff by adam blancher, michelle yetman, and tyler reekes of louisiana state university health sciences center at shreveport. as we know, the first step toward solving a problem is identifying it. their study compared data from head start staff in louisiana to a previously published data set on staff in pennsylvania. they found that there was a significant discrepancy in the overall health and access to quality health care for select head start staff, largely following lines of socioeconomic status and race, raising the need to address professional development for staff with more focused intention toward achieving equitable outcomes for all based on needs assessments. and as is our custom, all of our research articles are followed up with research-to-practice articles for leaders to share with practitioners in the field. our thanks to all of our researchers and practitioners as we embark on a new year with new challenges but with new knowledge to help improve learning environments for young children. again, best wishes for a wonderful 2022 to all! dialog, 18(1), 106-112 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 acknowledgement: the authors are deeply grateful for the funding of both the research and demonstration project from 1999 through 2004 by new york city administration for children's services (acs), division of head start during the data collection process and to the philip and lynn straus foundation during the period of data analysis and writing. research-to-practice summary asthma in head start children: practical implications for detection of some socio-demographic risk factors with suggestions for head start staff ozlem bekar the new school for social research jewish board of family and children's services ellen halpern rutgers university newark faith lamb-parker bank street college howard steele and miriam steele the new school for social research rebecca shahmoon-shanok jewish board of family and children's services the head start bureau has described asthma as a “growing problem” and “top chronic disease among head start children” (rehnquist, 2002). this study examined the racial/ethnic and ses-based contributors to asthma occurrence among children attending three head start centers in a multi-ethnic, densely populated city in the u.s. sample consisted of 1312 families. findings indicated that poverty -over and above the effects of race/ethnicitywas a primary risk factor for asthma in this population. in addition, hispanic/latino ethnicity and asian race were predictive of very high and very low rates of asthma, respectively. there was a positive relationship between asthma status and caregivers' education level, which may play a role in reporting of asthma cases. these findings are of significant value to inform formulation of effective intervention programs at head start centers. asthma in head start children 107 asthma is approximately two to four times more common among head start children compared to children in the general population (nelson, awad, alexander, & clark, 2009; mcgill et al., 1998; slezak, persky, kviz, ramakhishan, & byers, 1998; vargas et al., 2004). this is a cause for serious concern, given that asthma negatively impacts socio-emotional development, school readiness, school attendance, and primary caregivers’ ability to retain full time jobs (mrazek, schuman, & klinnert, 1998; halterman et al., 2001; diette et al., 2000; ladebauche et al., 2001; moonie, sterling, figgs, & castro, 2006; taras & potts-datema, 2005; baydar, joesch, kieckhefer, kim, & greek, 2006). these disruptions in families’ work and education routines ultimately interfere with head start’s primary mission of providing comprehensive social, cognitive and health experience for young, low-income children (rehnquist, 2002). links between socio-economic status and asthma risk factors for asthma in preschool children are strongly linked with economically disadvantaged environments (federico & liu, 2003; currie, 2005; brooks-gunn & duncan, 1997). these income-associated risk factors include exposure to allergens such as mold, cockroaches and mice (ladenbauche et al. 2001), tobacco smoke (rotsides et al, 2010; vergas et al., 2004), frequent respiratory and ear infections (jacobson et al., 2008a), and obesity (jacobson, et al., 2008b). we know that preschool children who come from low socio-economic status (ses) are approximately two times more likely to have asthma than high-ses children (bloom, cohen, & freeman, 2011; seguin, nikiema, gauvin, zunzunegui, & xu, 2007). in addition, black preschool-aged children are approximately two times more likely than their white peers to develop this illness (american lung association, 2012). these differences in asthma occurrence (prevalence) are the largest among younger age groups, i.e., children (halfon & newacheck, 1993; case, lubotsy, & paxson, 2002; chen, matthews, & boyce, 2002). role of the head start one needs to pinpoint and accurately define the risk factors associated with asthma in order to implement accurate preventive and intervention policies. the link between race/ethnicity and ses among our children poses a considerable challenge to untangling their effects on asthma occurrence. in 2010, approximately one in three black and hispanic children, and one in ten non-hispanic white children suffered from poverty, showing that minority status is still strongly associated with low income (denavas-walt, proctor, & smith, 2011). head start agencies are potentially good places to try to understand the linkage among the various risk factors, and implement preventive care policies, because they serve primarily low-income, ethnic/racial minority preschool children, a population with alarmingly high asthma rates. what this study adds studies which investigated raceand ses-based disparities in pediatric asthma generated mixed results. in one large, nationally representative sample (n = 20,717), chen, martin and matthews 108 bekar et al. (2006b) found both race and parental education to be unassociated with asthma occurrence among children younger than 18. others suggested that poverty is more strongly linked with asthma compared to the effects of race/ethnicity (claudio, stingone, & godbold, 2006; smith, hetcher-rose, wertheimer, & kahn, 2005; federico & liu, 2003; currie, 2005; brooks-gunn & duncan, 1997). still other research has found asthma rates among black children was not as strongly linked with family income when compared with non-black children (fox-ray, thamer, fadillioglu, & gergen, 1998; miller, 2000; halfon & newacheck, 1993). different research findings may stem from the fact that researchers study slightly different age groups, or they group the data from different ages. grouping the data across ages may be problematic because the link between ses and asthma changes based on the age group that is being studied (chen, matthews, & boyce, 2002). therefore, in this study, we strictly focused on preschool children in head start. we believe that furthering our understanding of the relationship between asthma, race/ethnicity and ses is crucial if we are to design well-informed and cost-effective interventions to reduce the burden of health disparities among head start families. summary of research methods data were collected by the relationships for growth & learning program of the jewish board of family and children’s services (rfgl), an onsite integrated mental health service and consultation program serving at-risk children and their families (shahmoon-shanok, lambparker, halpern, grant, lapidus, & seagle, 2005; shahmoon-shanok, welton, & lapidus, 1989). final sample consisted of 1312 families in three head start centers located in different parts of new york city between the years of 1999 and 2004. children’s age ranged between two and five. a 41-item health record questionnaire (hrq) was completed with all caregivers at the time of registration to the head start centers. hrq included questions about pregnancy/birth history, hospitalizations/illnesses, health problems, and physical/psychological/social development of target children. a positive asthma status was assigned if the primary caregiver answered "yes" to the question “has your child had asthma?" the primary measure of ses was yearly household income, self-reported by the primary caregiver. data for education levels of caregivers were available for a subsample of children (n = 907) and this variable represented the number of school years that primary female caregivers completed. major findings sample characteristics our sample mainly consisted of racial and ethnic minority children: approximately 16% of children were black, 77% were hispanic/latino, 5% were asian, and 2% was categorized as "other". the average yearly income of families was $11,812, and it ranged from $1,300 to $32,942. approximately 90% of the families had less than $20,000 annual income. yearly family income did not significantly differ among racial/ethnic groups. asthma in head start children 109 race/ethnicity and asthma the rate of asthma among hispanic/latino children was 11%. this was almost two times higher than the asthma rate among black children, which was around 6%. further, none of the asian children were reported to have asthma. jamaican and dominican children were reported to have high asthma rates, 16% and 13% respectively. links between ses and asthma asthma status was significantly associated with lower yearly family income in the general sample. when racial/ethnic groups were analyzed separately, this relationship between asthma status and income remained significant only among hispanic/latino children. within black race category, family income was still lower among children who had asthma, although the correlation was not statistically significant. rate of asthma was reported as 8% among children whose primary female caregivers did not complete the high school, whereas this increased to 12% within children of at least high school educated caregivers. those children who were born postor pre-term had a higher rate of asthma (14.2%) compared to children who were born around the due date (9.9%), although this difference was not statistically significant. to investigate the unique effects of child and family variables on asthma, logistic regression models were employed. results indicated that males were 31% more likely to have asthma compared to females, whereas age and pre/post-term birth were not significantly associated with asthma status. hispanic/latino children were approximately two times more likely to have asthma compared to black children. the effect of income was significant over and above that of race/ethnicity: one unit increase in family income (approximately $1000) was associated with a 4.4% decrease in the odds of having asthma among this sample of preschool children, after removing the effects of race/ethnicity. location of the head start center or the education level of the primary caregiver did not yield significant/similar results. implications for practice overall, our findings indicated that low income is a significant correlate of asthma among children, regardless of the race/ethnicity, age and gender of the child. the link is stronger among hispanic/latino children compared to black children. the significant link between asthma and family income in this minority sample highlights the importance of risk factors that are highly associated with family income. asthma is an inflammatory disease and its onset and frequency are considerably affected by allergens like dust, mold, roaches and pesticides, commonly found in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods (claudio et al., 2006, perera et al., 2002). in case of an asthma risk indicated by a physician, improving negative environmental conditions to prevent and manage asthma symptoms (e.g., buying air conditioners, air purifiers, replacing a carpet) proves to be financially challenging for low-income families (mansour, lanphear, & dewitt, 2000). in addition, low-income may generate additional parental stress, which can act as 110 bekar et al. a risk factor for the onset (klinnert, kaugars, strand, & silveira, 2008) and exacerbation of asthma symptoms through compromised immune systems and increased allergic reactions in infants (klinnert et al, 2001), and poor treatment adherence (rohan et al.,2010, celano et al., 2010). parental education was found to be positively related with asthma, i.e., more educated parents reported more asthma cases. in no way does this suggest higher education of parents causes asthma, but rather higher education may mean greater awareness of this serious health problem linked to low ses. and as low ses, low levels of schooling among parents may exacerbate the problems related to childhood asthma, specifically through challenges associated with its detection and diagnosis. it is important to note that children of different ethnic backgrounds were reported to have different rates of asthma occurrence. for example, none of the asian children were reported to have asthma, whereas jamaican and dominican children had very high rates of asthma. recommendations: 1. poverty is a significant risk factor for asthma, probably due to its associations with suboptimal housing conditions and other toxic stresses. therefore, a. be aware of potential barriers to healthy practices and conditions at home, and educate parents in sympathetic, informal ways at frequent, regular intervals on how to prevent and on ways to manage the illness. 2. detection of asthma and administration of asthma treatment can produce anxiety and become a cognitive challenge even to educated parents and, perhaps especially, in some immigrant and lower-educated families. a. thus, head start staff would likely benefit from training on i. how to recognize asthma symptoms in preschool children and on ii. educating parents on symptom detection plus overall asthma 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(2005).rethinking race/ethnicity, income, and childhood asthma: racial/ethnic disparities concentrated among the very poor. public health reports,120(2), 109-16. taras, h., &potts-datema, w. (2005). childhood asthma and student performance at school. journal of school health, 75(8), 296-312. vargas, p. a., simpson p. m., gary wheeler, j., goel, r., field, c. r., tilform, j. m., & jones, s. m. (2004). characteristics of children with asthma who are enrolled in a head start program. journal of allergy and clinical immunology, 114,499-504. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15842111 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15842111 dialog, 22(1), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 the availability of head start services to dual language learners and their families christine meng edgewood college extant research on head start programs lacks knowledge and guidance to provide services to support dual language learners (dlls) and their families at the program level. this study analyzed data from the head start family and child experiences survey (faces, 2009) to classify head start services provided for dual language learners and their families and whether head start’s dll services would be related to the head start program goals, dll parents’ involvement, and family-school partnership. the analysis revealed two types of head start services for the dll children and their families: family/adult focus (dll family workshops, adult esl (english as a second language), interpreters, and translation) and child esl focus. services with the family/adult focus were related to the program goals of providing the families with more language and educational support and greater parent involvement and family-school partnership than services with child esl focus. research and practical implications are discussed. keywords: dual language learners, head start the influx of immigrants to the united states results in an increased number of children who come from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. some of these children, referred to as dual language learners (dlls), speak their native languages at home and learn english either simultaneously or sequentially (california department of education, 2008; office of head start, 2008). the dll children who are developing their english skills are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of poverty during the early years. because the dll families from low-income backgrounds often experience barriers to access and enroll their children in high-quality child care services, a lack of access to high-quality child care services can have implications for the dll children’s early learning and development (magnuson & waldfoge, 2005). head start supports the dll children and their families in several ways. for example, it is recommended to support the dll families’ native languages and encourage home literacy activities in the dll families’ native languages (office of head start, 2009). because the local communities have resources to support the dll families, head start often uses the resources available in the surrounding communities to provide language and educational support for the dll children and their families. another way to support the dll children and their families is through recruiting bilingual staff. although there is a shortage of bilingual staff members across the united research-to-practice summary 110 meng states, head start actively recruits bilingual staff members who are familiar with the cultural backgrounds of the dll children and their families because it is important to understand the cultural backgrounds of the dll children and their families when staff members work with this population. staff members who share similar linguistic backgrounds with the dll children and their families can also act as interpreters and translators, so the information and resources can be more accessible to the dll families. providing services and resources to the dll children and their families helps head start programs achieve several multifaceted goals. for example, because the parents of the dll children are often foreign-born, providing language and education training to the dll families can not only support the parents’ english skills but also familiarize the parents with the education system in the united states. providing inclusive curriculum and classroom teaching can validate the dll children’s cultural and linguistic backgrounds. connecting the dll children and their families to the resources in the surrounding communities can help establish social network for these families (arias & morillo-campbell, 2008). head start teachers who encourage family literacy activities in the dll children’s native languages can not only help preserve the dll families’ native languages but also promote the dll children’s english skills due to the process of cross-linguistic transfer (dickinson, mccabe, clark-chiarelli, & wolf, 2004; reese, garnier, gallimore, & goldenberg, 2000). head start has a dual focus on serving the dll children and providing direct services to the dll families (office of head start, 2009). depending on the resources available in the surrounding communities and the particular need of a head start program, generally speaking, the services that head start provides to the dll children and their families tend to focus on facilitating the dll children’s english acquisition, respecting and supporting the dll families’ native languages, and providing the parents of the dll children with educational and language support. consistent with the goal of serving the dll children, head start can connect the dll children with esl services. supporting the dll families’ native languages is also aligned with the goal of building a partnership with the dll families to support the dll children. because head start values its partnership with the dll families, providing direct services to the dll families can encourage school involvement and participation of the parents with the dll children. head start builds a partnership with the dll families in several ways. one way is to provide written communication in the dll families’ native language or their preferred language, so the information can be more accessible for the dll families (office of head start, 2009). another way involves providing interpretation during meetings (e.g., parent policy council meetings) and workshops for the dll families. other ways to facilitate the family-school partnership include seeking input from the dll families regarding the curriculum and creating opportunities for the dll families to volunteer in the classrooms. finally, depending on the available services, head start may provide educational training and resources, or english as a second language (esl) classes, for the foreign-born parents who need educational and language support. study description the first goal of the present study was to examine whether the head start services could be empirically classify into typologies or subgroups. the present study focused on seven types of the head start services provided for the dll children and their families: two types of services dll services at head start 111 provided for the dll children (english language assessments and connecting the child with esl services) and five types of services provided for the dll families (english assessments, activities and workshops for the parents, adult esl or education resources, interpreters, and translation services). second, the present study tested whether the typologies of head start’s dll services would be related to head start’s program goals and to what extent would the typologies of head start’s dll services be related to greater parent involvement and family-school partnership for the dll families. to address the research questions, the present study analyzed the data from the 2009 cohort of the head start family and child experiences survey (faces, 2009). faces (2009) was selected for analysis because this data set paid particular attention to the dll children and their families to understand the dll children’s head start experiences, the characteristics of the dll families, and the services that head start provided to the dll children and their families. the parents, teachers, program directors, and center directors completed the questionnaires. the parents completed the questionnaires that asked them about the extent of their involvement with their children at home. the teachers provided data on the extent of inviting and encouraging the dll parents’ family-school partnership. the program and center directors provided data on the types of head start’s dll services and the goals that their particular head start program hoped to achieve in providing the dll services. the present study analyzed a total of 955 dll children and their parents enrolled in 60 head start programs and 129 head start centers. approximately 51.6% of the dll children was male; approximately 97.4% of the dll children had non-white racial/ethnic backgrounds (e.g., hispanic, asian). approximately 88.9% of the parents were born outside the u.s., had less than high school education, and identified as low-income. summary of results typologies of head start’s dll services two typologies of head start’s dll services emerged from the analysis. the first typology included providing the following services: providing activities and/or workshops for the parents of dll children, providing information about adult esl or other education resources, providing interpreters, and translating written materials. because these services appeared to target the adults and families, the first typology was named as family/adult focus. the second typology only included the service of connecting the dll children with esl services. the second typology was named as child esl focus. approximately 69.4% of head start’s dll services was classified as the family/adult focus. in contrast, approximately 30.6% of head start’s dll services was classified as the child esl focus. connections with head start program goals it is important to understand whether head start’s dll services were aligned with head start’s program goals of supporting the dll children and their families. head start’s dll services with the family/adult focus were aligned with the following program goals: supporting the dll families’ english acquisition, helping the parents and families acculturate, respecting the dll families’ native languages, involving the dll parents in head start activities, using inclusive curriculum materials and teaching strategies that represented the dll families’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and working with the dll parents. head start’s dll services with the child esl 112 meng focus were aligned with the program goal of connecting the families with esl-related resources and services in the surrounding communities. connections with parent involvement and family-school partnership results showed that head start’s dll services with the family/adult focus were related to greater parent involvement and family-school partnership than head start’s dll services with the child esl focus. these findings demonstrated that providing language and educational support, interpreters, and translation services that targeted the dll parents could effectively increase the dll parents’ involvement at home and build the family-school partnership. recommendations for practice low-income dll families often have limited access to language and educational resources. as such, early education programs, such as head start, play an important role to fill this void for lowincome dll families. findings of the present study have the potential to identify head start services that can better support the dll children and their families. it is recommended to provide language and educational services for the dll children and their families. although the present study examined a limited number of head start’s dll services, these services are needed for the dll population. head start programs are encouraged to provide services that target both the dll children and their parents. connecting the dll children with esl services in the surrounding communities can help support the dll children’s english acquisition. providing adult esl classes, interpreters, and translation services can help the dll parents better understand the role that they play in their children’s early education. the types of dll services examined in the present study are consistent with head start’s dual focus on the children and their families. it is noteworthy for head start program and center directors and teachers to understand that head start’s dll services are related to dll parents’ greater involvement at home and greater family-school partnership. it is recommended to establish language services (e.g., interpreters, translation) when head start staff members work with the dll parents. for example, translating written materials to communicate with the dll parents about ways to support their children’s homework at home. offering adult esl classes can also help the dll parents acquire english skills and become better advocates for their children. in sum, identifying head start’s dll services can help head start programs streamline the services provided to the dll children and their families. the present study identifies several dll services that can promote parent involvement and family-school partnership. ultimately, these services can help the dll parents to better support their children. references arias, m. b., & morillo-campbell, m. (2008). promoting ell parental involvement: challenges in contested times (policy brief). east lansing, mi: great lakes center for education research and practice. retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed506652.pdf california department of education (2008). california preschool learning foundations (vol. 1). sacramento, ca: author. retrieved from https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/documents/preschoollf.pdf https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed506652.pdf http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/documents/preschoollf.pdf https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/documents/preschoollf.pdf dll services at head start 113 dickinson, d. k., mccabe, a., clark-chiarelli, n., & wolf, a. (2004). cross-language transfer of phonological awareness in low-income spanish and english bilingual preschool children. applied psycholinguistics, 25, 323-347. doi: 10.1017.s0142716404001158 magnuson, k. a., & waldfogel, j. (2005). early childhood care and education: effects on ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness. future of children, 15(1), 169-96. office of head start. (2008). dual language learning: what does it take? washington, d.c.: u.s. department of health and human services: administration for children and families. office of head start. (2009). program preparedness checklist: serving dual language learners and their families. washington dc: author. retrieved from http://www.buildinitiative.org/portals/0/uploads/documents/resource-center/community-systemsdevelopment/3d%203%20program%20assessment%20dual%20language%20hs%20tool.pdf reese, l., garnier, h., gallimore, r. & goldenberg, c. (2000). longitudinal analysis of the antecedents of emergent spanish literacy and middle-school english reading achievement of spanish-speaking students. american educational research journal, 37(3), 633-662. united states department of health and human services. administration for children and families. office of planning, r. and e. (2018). head start family and child experiences survey (faces): 2009 cohort [united states]. https://doi.org/10.3886/icpsr34558.v3 microsoft word godfrey-hurrell final 11618.docx dialog, 21(1), copyright © 2018, issn: 1930-9325 effects of a professional development intervention on preschool teachers’ use of the teaching pyramid model kristi godfrey-hurrell central piedmont community college this research to practice paper summarizes a study on a coaching model that was used with three child care center teachers as they implemented strategies connected with three targeted items from the teaching pyramid model, a comprehensive framework for supporting children’s social and emotional development. additional information is also provided concerning teacher attitudes toward the model and data on child social and emotional development. the coaching model was effective at improving teacher implementation of strategies. keywords: behavior, coaching, professional development, social and emotional skills, preschool over the past decade, literature concerning the importance of social and emotional health and behavior among young children has increased, with attention to school readiness and mental health outcomes being of major importance. children with challenging behaviors have increased rates of preschool expulsion and suspensions, are more susceptible to peer rejection, experience elevated negative interactions in educational settings, and are at higher risk for continued social and emotional delays and future behavioral concerns (american academy of pediatrics [aap] council on early childhood, aap committee on psychosocial aspects of child and family health, aap section on developmental and behavioral pediatrics, 2016; child care aware ® of america, 2015; cooper, masi, & vick, 2009; fantuzzo et al., 2007; fox & smith, 2007; perry, holland, darling-kuria, & nadiv, 2011). causes of these behaviors is multi-faceted but research has indicated that these behaviors tend to manifest in early childhood years and settings (brown & conroy, 2011; perry et al., 2011). as such, this could lead to an increased need for those who work with young children (e.g., child care teachers) to understand child behavior; acquire knowledge of effective, evidence-based strategies and interventions; and receive targeted professional development and support around social-emotional and behavioral needs. one framework, the teaching pyramid model (fox, dunlap, hemmeter, joseph, & strain, 2003), has been empirically shown to address challenging behaviors in young children. research-to-practice summary 92 godfrey-hurrell the model was noted as, “one designed to promote social-emotional development and ameliorate behavioral concerns in young children that includes components that work at all ecological levels of the young child” (mccabe & altamura, 2011, p. 553). the teaching pyramid model is a multi-tiered intervention model that examines the following levels: (a) positive relationships with children, families, and colleagues; (b) classroom preventive practices; (c) social and emotional teaching strategies; and (d) intensive individualized interventions (fox et al., 2003). this framework is meant to be implemented with fidelity, therefore technical assistance and training for those who will use the teaching pyramid model is suggested (national center for pyramid model innovations, n.d.). several authors have found coaching and performance feedback to have positive effects on early childhood teachers’ acquisition of skill and knowledge related to topics within the field (mccollum, hemmeter, & hsieh, 2011; schachter, 2015). further, fox, hemmeter, synder, perez binder, and clarke (2011) found increased participant implementation of strategies to be associated with the teaching pyramid model in their research on use of coaching and performance feedback. the study presented here extends the research findings on the positive effects of coaching and performance feedback with early childhood teachers when implementing the teaching pyramid model in early childhood settings. it also assesses the relationship between use of the model and children’s social-emotional outcomes. coaching and performance feedback the coaching model utilized in this research consisted of action planning, feedback, and building new skills (hemmeter, fox, & snyder, 2014; lentini & fox, 2008). before coaching could begin, each teacher was observed and scored on a standardized rating scale developed to compliment implementation of the teaching pyramid model known as the teaching pyramid observation tool (tpot; hemmeter, fox, & snyder, 2014). these observations occurred with each teacher within their respective early childhood settings over a 2-hr period with a teacher interview afterwards. tpot scores were analyzed and the coach met with each teacher to discuss scores. teachers were asked to identify one low scoring item as the focus for the intervention. this intervention model: initial planning, observations, coaching, and performance feedback occurred each week until the teacher met the criterion set forth for the study which was a score of 80% for each teacher on his/her target item from the tpot for three consecutive observations. over the course of the week, each teacher had his/her initial planning meeting with the coach (20-30 minutes), observations (60-90 minutes), coaching that occurred while observing in the classroom, and performance feedback (30 minutes). the initial planning meeting consisted of the coach and teacher creating a professional development plan for the week related to the target item on the tpot. the coach would assist the teacher in reflecting on practices used from the previous week by using active listening (e.g., “what i hear you saying is…) and open-ended questioning (e.g., why do you think this didn’t work?). a professional development plan would be created and/or added on to and included action steps and materials/supports/resources needed to successfully implement strategies associated with the target tpot item. the meeting would end with a recap of what was discussed and what would take place over the course of the week. professional development intervention 93 focused observation occurred once a week. the coach acted as observer, data collector, and guide during these sessions. the coach provided feedback and used modeling to assist the teacher in implementing the strategies discussed in the planning meeting. performance feedback concluded the week. the performance feedback consisted of highlighting strengths, showing progression of goals from the professional development plan, and providing suggestive feedback where strategies were presented for increasing the tpot score. plans would be made to meet again the following week to begin the process over. additionally, researchers conducted a preand post-test of the ages & stages questionnaire-social and emotional (asq-se; squires, bricker, & twombly, 2002) with six children, 2 from each teacher’s classroom, to determine if social and emotional development was positively affected by the implementation of teaching practices connected with the teaching pyramid model. this study demonstrated that the intervention model, coaching plus performance feedback, led to higher teacher implementation rates of tpot strategies. teacher feedback on the intervention model showed that all teachers found it beneficial and indicated they would not have been able to implement the teaching pyramid model with ease without the coaching and performance feedback. further, child data showed that four of the six children had reduced challenging behaviors post intervention. implications for professional development and research the results of this study imply that additional work is needed in several areas: (a) early childhood professional development, (b) research on teacher implementation of strategies associated with young children’s social-emotional development and behavior, and (c) impact of strategies used on child outcomes. those working with young children, especially in early childhood settings, need ongoing, targeted training that builds on their current knowledge and skill related to socialemotional development and behavior. as such the professional development offered needs to carry over into the classroom by providing teachers with on-site supports as they transfer knowledge learned from the professional development and refine their skill development in the classroom. this study demonstrated that when teachers have that on-site support to assist with knowledge transfer, teachers felt confident and supported in trying new strategies, thus leading to a more knowledgeable and skilled early childhood workforce. in this respect, coaching and performance feedback could be key in helping teachers: (a) target what is not working, (b) understand why those strategies are not working, (c) develop a plan to change, and (d) implement those evidence-based strategies that do work. this type of professional development allows teachers to focus on best practice to prevent, identify, and/or intervene when behaviors occur. a practical example might include assigning “coaches” within the early childhood setting who have expertise in certain topics (e.g., curriculum, behavior, classroom set up) to work with teachers on areas of need. these coaches could be peers, administration, and/or technical assistance providers and together the coaches and teachers would strategize; create professional development plans, as described in this study; conduct observations; and engage in performance feedback that includes reflection. teachers and coaches work in unison to plan, implement, and reflect on best practice for young children. this type of focused professional development could be key to increasing instructional competency and professionalism in the field. 94 godfrey-hurrell in addition to enhancing the knowledge and skill of early childhood teachers is the need for understanding and tracking the impact on child outcomes. the child data from this study showed reduced challenging behaviors from preto post-intervention for majority of children included. results imply that intentional professional development with teachers could positively impact child behavioral outcomes. assessment data that tracks child development in areas such as social-emotional development and behavior could assist “coaches” and teachers in understanding the impact of teaching practices on child behavior and development. using a valid and reliable assessment tool in addition to the coaching and performance feedback could further strengthen the implementation of evidence-based practices with young children. these research findings indicate that coaching deserves more research particularly around teacher skill acquisition and implementation of practices in early childhood settings to meet the diverse needs of children and teachers within those settings. additionally, child assessment data should be collected to further indicate impact of strategies used in the classroom, especially concerning behavior. references american academy of pediatrics [aap] council on early childhood, aap committee on psychosocial aspects of child and family health, aap section on developmental and behavioral pediatrics. (2016). addressing early childhood emotional and behavioral problems. pediatrics, 138(6), 1-7. retrieved from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2016/11/17/peds.2016-3025 brown, w. h., & conroy, m. a. (2011). social-emotional competence in young children with developmental delays: our reflection and vision for the future. journal of early intervention, 33, 310-320. doi:10.1177/1053815111429969 child care aware ® of america. (2015). 114th & 115th congress, 2016-2017 public policy agenda. retrieved from http://usa.childcareaware.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/finalccaoa-2016-2017-policy-agenda.pdf cooper, j. l., masi, r., & vick, j. (2009). social-emotional development in early childhood: what every policymaker should know. national center for children in poverty. retrieved from www.nccp.org/publications/pdf/text_882.pdf fantuzzo, j., bultosky-shearer, r., mcdermott, p. a., mcwayne, c., frye, d., & perlman, s. (2007). investigations of dimensions of social-emotional classroom behavior and school readiness for low-income urban preschool children. school psychology review, 36, 44-62. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.139 fox, l., dunlap, g., hemmeter, m. l., joseph, g., & strain, p. s. (2003). the teaching pyramid: a model for supporting social competence and preventing challenging behavior in young children. young children, 58, 48-52. fox, l., hemmeter, m., snyder, p., binder, d. p., & clarke, s. (2011). coaching early childhood special educators to implement a comprehensive model for promoting young children’s social competence. topics in early childhood special education, 31, 178-192. doi:10.1177/0271121411404440 fox, l., & smith, b. (2007). promoting social, emotional and behavioral outcomes of young children served under idea. technical assistance center on social emotional intervention for young children and center on the social emotional foundations for early learning (issue brief). retrieved from http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/do/resources/documents/brief_promoting.pdf hemmeter, m. l., fox, l., & snyder, p. (2014). teaching pyramid observation tool for preschool classrooms (tpot) manual, research edition [measurement tool]. baltimore, md: brookes. mccabe, p. c., & altamura, m. (2011). empirically valid strategies to improve social and emotional competence of preschool children. psychology in the schools, 48, 513-540. doi:10.1002/pits.20570 mccollum, j. a., hemmeter, m. l., & hsieh, w. (2011). coaching teachers in emergent literacy instruction using performance-based feedback. topics in early childhood special education, 33, 28-37. doi:10.1177/0271121411431003. national center for pyramid model innovations. (n.d.). pyramid model overview. retrieved from http://challengingbehavior.cbcs.usf.edu/pyramid/overview/index.html professional development intervention 95 perry, d., holland, c., darling-kuria, n., & nadiv, s. (2011). challenging behavior and expulsion from child care. zero to three, 4-11. retrieved from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/docserver/32-2_perry.pdf schachter, r. (2015). an analytic study of the professional development research in early childhood education. early education and development, 26, 1057-1085. retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2015.1009335 squires, j., bricker, d., & twombly, e. (2002). ages & stages questionnaires: social-motional, a parentcompleted, child-monitoring system for social-emotional behaviors. baltimore, md: paul h. brookes. nhsa dialog, 26(1), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 childcare directors’ perceptions of the past decade and what the future holds tracey hoffman miami university in an effort to learn more about childcare directors’ perceptions, this study surveyed seventeen directors in southwest ohio. the participants were asked about specific challenges they have experienced over the last decade, and how they envision the future of childcare. the results revealed that the topics most commonly discussed by directors were related to teacher shortages, retention of staff, and an increase in children’s behavior problems. the covid-19 pandemic exacerbated many of the issues mentioned by directors, especially with the addition of new state, federal, and licensing requirements. many also feared the permanent closure of centers due to financial strains and a lack of resources at the state and federal level. the article concludes with implications for childcare directors to be able to move forward and continue providing high-quality care and education for children and families. keywords: childcare, behavior concerns, directors, teacher retention summary of literature many children in the united states are spending at least part of their day in some type of childcare arrangement outside the home, including center-based care (u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics, 2016). as a result, childcare directors play a vital role in ensuring their centers provide high quality care and education for children and families. directors are often tasked with leading their staff through challenging times, such as during the covid-19 pandemic. in a national survey conducted by the national association for the education of young children (naeyc) in march 2020, many childcare directors were unsure about the future viability of the entire early care field. childcare directors face multiple challenges including staffing issues and retention efforts. teachers in early childhood education are some of the lowest paid professionals in the field of education (mcdonald et al. 2018). as a result, many childcare teachers may be dependent upon other family members for financial support and basic living expenses. low pay with increased responsibilities can lead to increased job stress. research shows that prolonged teacher stress can result in a poor classroom emotional climate and low teacher responsiveness (roberts et al., 2016). research to practice summary childcare director perceptions 47 poor climate and responsiveness can have a negative impact on the interactions between children and caregivers and the overall quality of the center. furthermore, hale-jinks et al., (2006) found that high turnover rates also lead to negative effects on young children (e.g. social emotional stress). children who experience high turnover rates in childcare can have disrupted relationships with their caregivers, which can have a harmful impact on the attachment process. this leaves children vulnerable, and can affect their overall well-being and ability to learn (cassidy et al., 2011). in addition, high turnover rates can also have adverse effects on caregiver stability and lead to insecure attachments in young children during their early years (varnas & cummings, 1993). due to the extended amount of time that children spend in childcare settings, children as young as three years old are being expelled from childcare at a rate three times greater than the rate of expulsions for k-12 students (gilliam & shahar, 2006). without guidance and intervention, children with severe behavior problems tend to remain stable or even escalate over time, putting these children at greater risk for dropping out of school or requiring specialized educational services as they get older (kortering & braziel, 1999; raver & knitzer, 2002). it is essential that childcare directors and teachers have the knowledge and skills to purposely design a classroom environment that will foster children’s social emotional development (kostelnik et al., 2007). arndt et al., (2021) suggested that perhaps there should be a discussion on ways to individualize job training rather than having general requirements that are the same for everyone. for example, if directors and teachers feel that they need more training and support to work with children who have behavior problems, they should receive professional development on this topic. this might allow for higher job satisfaction if directors and teachers are learning skills and information that relates to their specific needs. current study the purpose of this study was to learn more about childcare directors’ perceptions of the state of childcare. more specifically, the goal was to learn first-hand how childcare directors viewed the last decade, and how they envision the future of childcare. participants in this study were childcare directors in southwest ohio. online surveys were sent to a total of 57 program directors, and 17 of those individuals completed the survey online through qualtrics. the participants varied in age, level of education, and length of time in the childcare field. participants were asked four survey questions which are listed in the key findings. when analyzing the survey data, the investigator searched for patterns (common themes) in the survey responses using a content analysis approach. specifically, the data was analyzed using the following process: (a) prepare the data for analysis (b) become familiar with the data (c) identify units of analysis (d) define tentative categories for coding the responses (e) refine categories (f) establish category integrity (johnson & lamontagne, 1993) 48 hoffman key findings the survey questions for this study are listed below, together with some of the most common themes that emerged from each survey question. what are some specific changes you have witnessed over the last decade since you have been working in the childcare field? • changes in state requirements including quality rating and improvement system (ohio’s step up to quality – sutq); • licensing requirements (related to covid-19 pandemic); • staff shortages and difficulty hiring qualified teachers – decrease in work ethic/dedication; • high turnover rates of teachers and staff; • alarming increase in behavior problems in children attending childcare. what do you believe the childcare field will look like over the next five years? • childcares have a critical need for additional funding and resources if the childcare field is to succeed and thrive; • childcares must be able to adjust to new requirements and rules handed down by the state and federal government; • more appreciation and professionalization of the childcare field is needed in the future. what would you like to see changed or improved in the childcare field? • better pay for high quality teachers/staff and ability to compete with other businesses (e.g. retail, restaurants, etc.); • better teacher/staff benefits (e.g. health insurance, flexible work schedules, etc.); • less frequent changes of state requirements, licensing, and rules; • high quality professional development for all teachers/staff. do you feel optimistic or pessimistic about the future of childcare? • directors were optimistic about: pandemic brought to light the importance of childcare (essential workers), society learning the value of quality childcare and preschool; • directors were pessimistic about: lack of resources and supports, inability to find qualified teachers to hire, low pay for teachers, longer hours due to teacher shortage. childcare director perceptions 49 implications for moving forward in this study, childcare directors were asked about their views of the childcare field over the last decade, and how they envision the future. hiring and maintaining qualified teachers was a significant concern discussed by many of the directors in this study. ohio’s quality rating and improvement system (qris) strongly encourages and rewards programs for teachers possessing more education (e.g. associate degree, cda). however, thorpe et al., (2020) researched retention rates in childcares and found that those who were pursuing higher qualifications were likely to leave the field within the next twelve months. this data is concerning since our ultimate goal is to produce highly qualified teachers while keeping them in the field longer (to reduce the turnover rate). in regard to low pay and poor work conditions, teachers’ satisfaction with their jobs does matter (grant et al., 2019). higher job satisfaction in turn leads to better retention rates. developing some type of mentoring program might be an effective strategy to encourage relationships between teachers and provide the needed support. in addition, directors can also support their teachers simply by being physically present in classrooms on a regular or daily basis, which may be an added benefit for newer teachers. directors in this study voiced their concerns and felt their voices were not always heard by those individuals who were enacting new policies and requirements. despite the importance of hearing from childcare providers to establish early education policies, some research shows that they are often not included in the conversation at the state or federal level (van laere & vandenbroeck, 2017). several of the directors mentioned that the people who make the policies for childcare centers are often out of touch with the real issues. furthermore, directors and teachers should have a voice in the type of training and professional development they are required to complete. the childcare field has certainly seen high and lows over the last decade, especially during the covid-19 pandemic. several directors in this study felt positive about the future of childcare due to the important role they play in serving families and communities. for the childcare field to move forward in a positive and viable direction, there needs to be a stabilization of the childcare workforce, and more investments in behavioral supports and increased teacher compensation. references arndt, s., smith, k., urban, m., ellegard, t., swadener, b. b., & murray, c. (2021). reconceptualising and (re)forming early childhood professional identities: ongoing transnational policy discussions. policy forum in education, 19(4), 406-423. cassidy, d. j., lower, j. k., kintner-duffy, v. l., hegde, a. v., & shim, j. (2011). the day-to-day reality of teacher turnover in preschool classrooms: an analysis of classroom context and teacher. journal of research in childhood education, 25(1), 1-23. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/02568543.2011.533118 gilliam, w. s. & shahar, g. (2006). preschool and child care expulsion and suspension: rates and predictors in one state. infants and young children, 19, 228-245. http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1097/00001163-20060700000007 grant, a. a., jeon, l., & buettner, c. k. 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(2017). early learning in preschool: meaningful and inclusive for all? exploring perspectives of migrant parents and staff. european early education journal, 25(2), 243-257. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293x.2017.1288017 varnas, m. v., & cummings, e. m. (1993). caregiver stability and toddlers’ attachment -related behavior towards caregivers in day care. infant behavior and development, 17, 141-147. https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2006.10522826 https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/pdfs/our-work/public-policy-advocacy/effects_of_coronavirus_on_child_care.final.pdf https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/pdfs/our-work/public-policy-advocacy/effects_of_coronavirus_on_child_care.final.pdf https://doi.org/10.7916/d82v2qvx https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/10409289.2016.1127088 https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293x.2017.1288017 dialog, 18(2), 1-30 copyright © 2015, issn: 1930-9325 cindy hoisington, learning and teaching division, education development center, inc.; jessica mercer young, learning and teaching division, education development center, inc.; louisa anastasopoulos, learning and teaching division, education development center, inc.; sue washburn, learning and teaching division, education development center, inc. this study was conducted as part of renew: reading enrichment to nurture excellence in worcester, supported by the u.s. department of education under pr/award s359b070036. any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the u.s. department of education. we would like to acknowledge diane schilder, celia gomez, deborah spencer, craig hoyle, and linda hirsch, colleagues who assisted with conducting the study and critiquing the manuscript. we would also like to acknowledge the work and thinking of the spld coaches, and we would especially like to thank the teachers who participated in the project. they are the ones who work every day to improve the lives of young children. correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to cindy hoisington, education development center, inc., 43 foundry ave., waltham, ma 02453. email: choisington@edc.org research article building a classroom community that supports english learners in preschool cindy hoisington, jessica mercer young, louisa anastasopoulos, and sue washburn education development center, inc. this study details the implementation and evaluation of a professional development (pd) intervention program in language and literacy for early childhood teachers using a mixed method, quasi-experimental study design. the program, supporting children with language differences (spld), was offered over a six-month period to 19 teachers in a federally-funded preschool program. the pd, incorporating instructional course sessions, classroom-based assignments, and onsite coaching, was designed to build teachers’ capacity to promote the language and literacy development and learning of english learner (el) children in their classrooms. results showed a significant positive effect of the intervention on preschoolers’ oral language, receptive language, and preliteracy skills. moreover, the results of this study suggest that intentional inclusion of els in classroom activities and a sustained emphasis on the practices, strategies, and adaptations that support their inclusion may be the key to promoting els’ language success in early childhood classrooms. keywords: early childhood; preschool; language learning; els 2 hoisington et al. it’s ten o’clock on a weekday morning in a preschool classroom, and children are enjoying “choice time,” moving among a variety of small group learning areas: dramatic play, blocks, art, writing, science, and the cozy classroom library. the teacher, grace, has set out interesting materials and activities for children to use and talk about, and most of the children are excitedly engaged. several children however—maria, gloria, and aaron—seem to be on the periphery of the fun and learning. maria stands next to the writing table and watches transfixed as two other girls draw and talk about their daddies. she scribbles briefly on a piece of paper and holds the paper up in front of the girls, as if trying to get their attention. when she gets no response, she throws the paper in the trash and walks away. when grace takes some lemons and juicers over to the science table so she can help children make lemonade, gloria quickly picks up a slice of lemon and pops it in her mouth. “ew!” yell two other children. “that’s gross!” gloria spits out the lemon and starts to cry. meanwhile, in the block area, aaron has built a simple structure out of unit blocks. another boy comes over and asks, “hey, what are you making?” aaron angrily pushes the boy away and loudly yells, “no!” (composite excerpt from a literary coach’s journal). the number of children in pre-k to twelfth grade u.s. classrooms who speak languages other than english at home has risen by 60% over the past ten years (ballantyne, sanderman, & mclaughlin, 2008), and children like maria, gloria, and aaron, referred to as english learners (els), english language learners (ells), or dual-language learners (dlls), now comprise almost 30% of the population of head start classrooms (u. s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, 2013). not yet in kindergarten, these children face challenges that will compromise their english vocabulary development, negatively impact their later reading ability and long-term literacy outcomes, and make them increasingly vulnerable to underachievement and dropping out as they approach the high school years (ballantyne et al., 2008; capps et al., 2005). research also indicates that the literacy development of els is impacted by their oral language development in both english and their home language (miller et al., 2006). the need for high-quality language and literacy instruction in preschool is well documented (dickinson & neuman, 2006; national early literacy panel, 2008). indeed, research paints a clear picture of what preschool language and literacy instruction should look like, emphasizing oral language and extended discourse skills (dickinson, 2001; pellegrini & galda, 1993), phonological awareness including rhyming, blending, and segmenting (adams, 1990; bryant, et al., 1990; bus & van ijzendoorn, 1999; ehri, 1995; ehri et al., 2001), sense of storybook language and vocabulary (whitehurst & lonigan, 1998; hart & risley, 1995; kamil, 2004; scarborough, 1998; sulzby, 1994), knowledge about print and awareness of environmental print (lonigan, 2003; dickinson & snow, 1987; ehri, 1991; harste, woodward, & burke, 1984), letter recognition ability (adams, 1990; foorman, francis, beeler, winikates, & fletcher, 1997; scanlon & vellutino, 1996; snow, burns, & griffin, 1998; vellutino et al., 1996), and emergent writing (harste, woodward, & burke, 1984; schickedanz, 1999). in order to improve preschool instructional practices in language and literacy, there has been a concerted effort to promote intensive professional development (pd) in these domains. a review of early childhood pd programs found that pd which includes building a classroom community 3 specific learning goals for children, links educator knowledge and practice, and includes assessment as a tool for ongoing progress monitoring is more effective (zaslow et al., 2010). professional development also has a bigger impact when it is content-specific and integrates all aspects of teaching, including curriculum, instruction, and assessment (darling-hammond, 2012). children who are acquiring two languages, however, may have educational needs beyond those of monolingual children (haager & windmueller, 2001) whether they are learning two languages simultaneously (two languages are used with the child from birth) or sequentially (the second language is introduced at three years old or later, typically in pre-k) (mclaughlin, blanchard, & osanai, 1995). according to tabors and snow (1994), sequential learners in particular may experience different stages of second language acquisition including home language use (child communicates using the home language regardless of whether it is understood), a nonverbal period (child is actively listening to the features and sounds of the second language and developing receptive vocabulary), telegraphic or formulaic speech (child uses words or syllables in the second language to stand for entire thoughts or sentences), and productive language (child uses the second language with increasing confidence and simultaneously explores its rules and structure). in order to adjust their expectations and instruction to be responsive to the language needs of els, teachers need to understand the overlapping and flexible nature of these stages and the fact that all of them contribute positively to the second language learning process. teachers also need to understand the relationship between first and second language development and recognize the diversity among their el children in terms of their home language experiences (espinosa, 2008). teachers need to know for example that different el children may understand and use a different set of words in each language and that moving back and forth between languages (code-switching) is a normal part of the second language learning process (tabors & snow, 1994). pd aimed at increasing the quality of el teaching should communicate specific pedagogical strategies that promote a language-rich classroom culture, maximize el children’s opportunities to hear and use language, and address the specific language needs of individual el children (santos, darling-hammond, & cheuk, 2012). most early childhood teachers do not have deep knowledge of el language development, nor are they prepared to provide the types of english language supports els need: more explicit vocabulary instruction, more exposure to rich language, and more specific support for language in context (dickinson & tabors, 2001). moreover, children like maria, gloria, and aaron need direct support to enter actively into the life of the classroom and to develop the types of social relationships with their english-speaking peers that promote language learning (lindholm-leary & borsato, 2007; tabors, 2008). while researchers have demonstrated the potential of intensive, sustained professional development (in contrast to episodic training) to improve teacher instruction and classroom environments (gettinger & stoiber, 2008; grace, et al., 2008), evidence suggests that it may be easier to change concrete aspects of the environment (such as increasing the number of discrete literacy activities) than to promote changes in teachers’ instructional strategies (dickinson & caswell, 2007). early childhood teachers are a diverse group who come to the work with a wide range of knowledge and skills. effective pd recognizes the self-motivation and capacities 4 hoisington et al. that adults bring to the learning experience (dickinson & brady, 2006) and the role of collaboration in teachers’ construction of knowledge (lave & wenger, 1991; wenger, 1998). effective pd also respects the dynamic relationship between theory and practice, and it harnesses the authentic power of the classroom as a context for bridging the two (webster-wright, 2009). incorporating coaching into pd has the potential to play a significant role in supporting instructional change. when it is content-focused and collaborative, coaching fosters teachers’ pedagogical skills (appleton, 2008) and supports their capacity to reflect on children’s learning and their own teaching (neufeld & roper, 2003), particularly when the coaching consists of iterative cycles of implementation, collaborative reflection, and fine-tuning of practice (darling-hammond, 2012; snow, griffin, & burns, 2005). when coaches facilitate teacher reflection that emphasizes teacher action and inquiry, teachers are more likely to refine their practices, identify their own growing edges, try new strategies, and address teaching challenges proactively (ball & cohen, 1999). coaching may be particularly effective for early childhood teachers, since it is implemented with small groups and individual teachers and is therefore responsive to the wide range of teaching knowledge and skills typically found in early childhood programs (landry, 2009; onchwari & keengwe, 2008). this study examines the effectiveness of a pd program—including a course and onsite reflective coaching—designed to build teachers’ abilities to support the language and literacy learning of el preschoolers. the program incorporates the use of researchbased language-teaching practices and strategies, and it emphasizes the role of children’s social interaction and on-going formative assessment in fostering el children’s language and literacy development and learning. this study draws upon quantitative and qualitative data collected during the course of the program, including a qualitative case study meant to illustrate the program as enacted and to reveal the complexities of language teaching and learning in a preschool classroom. we investigate two overarching research questions: 1. does a prolonged research-based pd program that includes on-site coaching and reflective practice, and provides on-going assessment, improve the quality of teachers’ instructional strategies that support language and literacy development for els? 2. do el children in classrooms whose teachers receive the pd have greater gains in their language and literacy skills than children in comparison classrooms? method overview based on the literature, we designed a multifaceted three-year professional development intervention in language and literacy for early childhood teachers. all three years included one-to-one coaching for all participating teachers for the full school year. the goal of the first year of the program was to create high-quality classroom language and building a classroom community 5 print environments that provided all children with optimal language and literacy learning opportunities. the current study was conducted during the program’s second year as we implemented supporting children with language differences (spld), a two-credit course delivered in three full-day sessions over a six-month period. spld reinforced the ideas introduced in the first year of the pd and presented additional practices and strategies targeted at supporting els’ language and literacy development. coaches, as well as teachers, attended the instructional pd sessions during both years. in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the spld pd on teachers’ language and literacy practices and children’s language and literacy learning, we conducted a mixedmethods, quasi-experimental study. the methodology in this study involves integrating quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis within a single study or program of inquiry (creswell et al., 2003). the use of qualitative and quantitative analyses expands both the breadth and the depth of our understanding of teachers’ language and literacy instructional practices as they relate to els’ language and literacy development. participants in an effort to promote a community of practice among participating educators, we partnered with a head start program from a large urban district in the northeast and recruited teachers from the program’s five centers to take part in the three-year pd program. our goal was to maximize the participation of lead teachers in full-day classrooms, and the final sample of participants included 19 lead teachers in full-day classrooms, three assistant teachers, and five education managers, one from each of the head start program’s five centers. throughout the three years of the program, intervention teachers used opening the world of learning; owl (schickedanz & dickinson, 2005), a research-based curriculum that was selected because of its rigorous scope and sequence, evidence-based instructional strategies, and close alignment with the language and literacy emphasis of the pd. comparison classrooms were recruited from three other head start programs in nearby urban communities; all comparison teachers were lead teachers in their classrooms. this was a “business as usual” comparison condition. comparison teachers were not offered the language and literacy pd or any additional strategies for working with els. both the comparison and intervention programs serve economically disadvantaged families (at least 90% of enrolled families are at or below the federal poverty level) that are racially and ethnically diverse. there were 16 comparison teachers that agreed to allow the researchers to observe their classroom practice and assess their preschoolers. teachers from the comparison classrooms used the creative curriculum® for preschool, 4 th ed. (dodge, colker, & heroman, 2002), which according to the authors addresses the latest education research, best practices, and needs of individual learners. incentives were given to both intervention and comparison classrooms in the form of materials purchased for participating classrooms. in addition, teachers in spld received stipends for time spent at course sessions, since these were scheduled outside of regular work hours. teachers also received two college-level credits from a neighboring institution of higher education for successful completion of the course. 6 hoisington et al. while spld teachers had higher levels of education, on average, than comparison teachers—26% of spld teachers had an aa and 74% had a ba or higher, compared to 9% of comparison group teachers with a high school diploma, 41% with an aa and 50% with a ba or higher—the two groups were comparable in terms of early childhood experience, both averaging approximately 13 years in the field. for research purposes, the els were identified as children whose parental consent forms indicated that the child spoke a language other than english in the home, information that was then confirmed by the child’s teacher. a total of 33 different languages were spoken by children or in children’s homes, including spanish, portuguese, russian, farsi, arabic, italian, fanti, igbo, polish, creole, and twi. in the fall, 181 children from the 19 spld classrooms and 73 children from the 16 comparison classrooms were identified as els. in the fall, the average age for el children in spld classrooms was 48.0 months (sd = 5.9) and the average age for el children in comparison classrooms was 52.5 months (sd = 7.0). procedure data collection. as mentioned above, this study utilized a mixed-methods approach. qualitative data, collected from the intervention group, included a case study of one teacher and information provided by teacher and education manager focus groups. in addition, quantitative data were collected from teachers and students from both the treatment and comparison groups. details about data collection procedures follow. qualitative case study. we approached the case study from the perspective of cochran-smith (2013) and her suggestion that “we need researchers who can get at the nuances of the work of teaching and learning” (p. xi), because “teaching [is] unforgivingly complex, not simply good or bad, right or wrong” (p. x). similar to mitton kukner and murray orr (2015) we tried to understand the “multiple realities” (creswell, 2007, p.16) of teachers’ experiences as they developed and refined their language and literacy teaching practices with an emphasis on els. to illustrate the key concepts of spld, we conducted a qualitative case study of “grace,” a teacher participating in the spld course who was strongly committed to infusing her instructional practice with language and literacy enrichment strategies and engaging els in all aspects of the classroom community. this case study is based on the field notes, classroom observations, reflective conferences, and other coaching communications of the language and literacy coach who worked with grace during all three years of the program, including the spld school year. grace was the preschool teacher of “maria,” who was learning english in a typical preschool classroom. qualitative focus group data collection. teachers and education managers in spld participated in separate focus groups at the end of the school year. in order to triangulate the data, the same semi-structured interview questions were asked of both groups. these data were transcribed by a research assistant and qualitatively coded to capture the key themes, categories, and concepts related to teachers’ instructional practices. building a classroom community 7 quantitative data collection. teachers’ instructional strategies and their language and literacy practices were observed twice per school year, once in the fall and once in the spring, by a team of data collectors who were blind to classroom condition and blind to the study’s hypothesis. each observation session began after children arrived at preschool (around breakfast) and concluded after lunch (before naptime). child data were collected in the fall and spring for all children whose parents agreed to participate in the study by a separate team of data collectors who were also blind to study condition and had not observed teachers’ instructional practices. data were collected in two testing sessions so as not to over-burden the preschoolers; each session lasted approximately 30 minutes. quantitative measures. we used one classroom observation tool, the early language and literacy classroom observation pre-k tool (ellco pre-k; smith, brady, & anastasopoulos, 2008) to assess the language and literacy quality of intervention and comparison classrooms. we assessed children using four measures including the prelas 2000 (duncan & deavila); the preschool language scale, 4th ed. (pls-4; zimmerman, steiner, & pond, 2002); the phonological awareness literacy screening for preschool (pals pre-k; invernizzi, sullivan, & meier, 2001); and the peabody picture vocabulary test-4 (ppvt-4; dunn & dunn, 2007). in addition to informing the research, data from these standardized assessments were selectively shared with the teachers, coaches, and five education managers for formative assessment purposes. this process will be described in greater detail below. teachers’ instructional strategies. classrooms were observed by trained data collectors who were blind to the study condition using the ellco pre-k, an observational tool that examines the quality of language and literacy practices and materials in early childhood classrooms. the ellco pre-k is designed specifically for early childhood settings, focusing on important pre-literacy activities like storybook reading, circle time conversations, and child-originated story-writing. the tool examines 19 items in 5 critical areas: classroom structure, curriculum, language environment, books and book reading, and print and early writing. in addition, the ellco produces subscale scores in general classroom environment (composite of classroom structure and curriculum) and language and literacy (composite of language environment, books and book reading, and print and early writing) and an ellco total score. classroom observers participated in a three-day training run by the ellco coauthor who is also a co-author of this study. after the training, observers with a weighted cohen’s kappa score lower than .70 participated in additional observations and training until they reached an acceptable level of inter-rater reliability. in addition to the initial training, and prior to each data collection period, all returning observers participated in reliability checks, which included joint classroom observations followed by the calculation of inter-rater reliability, to ensure reliability among all individuals conducting ellco pre-k observations. all completed ellco pre-k observations were reviewed by the researchers to ensure that data collectors were collecting adequate evidence, and to confirm that the evidence corresponded with the scores assigned to each item. 8 hoisington et al. children’s language and literacy knowledge. el children were first assessed on the prelas 2000, a language screener used for 4–6 year-old children that provides an assessment of oral english language speaking ability. the oral language subscale provides a range of scores from 0–100 and a corresponding proficiency score of 1–5, where 1 is a non-english speaker, 2–3 corresponds to a limited english speaker, and 4–5 is a fluent english speaker. children were also assessed on the auditory comprehension subscale of the pls-4, a norm-referenced assessment of receptive language skills that provides insight into children’s comprehension of english but does not require them to produce oral language. the pals pre-k was used to assess children’s fundamental literacy skills including letter knowledge, beginning sounds and print word awareness. finally, the ppvt-4, a norm-referenced assessment, was used to assess receptive vocabulary in english. data sharing. as part of the intervention, the research team provided program administrators and education managers with formative evaluation feedback to inform the implementation of ongoing curricular activities. in addition, classroom data and individual child-level data were shared with each teacher and her coach semi-annually (fall and spring) for the purposes of improving classroom practice and tailoring instruction for individual els. more detail about how data were used as part of the intervention is provided below under the heading, “standardized assessments.” professional development intervention. the spld intervention focuses specifically on promoting effective language and literacy instructional practices targeted at preschool el children so that they will be prepared to benefit from the formal reading instruction that begins in kindergarten (august & hakuta, 2007). the intervention educates teachers about the process of second language acquisition and supports their knowledge and skills in engaging and working with the significant numbers of el children in their classrooms. spld’s approach is based on three fundamental and interconnected ideas:  conducting thorough language assessments is key to developing a responsive language curriculum for els,  implementing specific language support strategies intentionally throughout the classroom day sets the stage for el language development, and  grouping children intentionally maximizes opportunities for els to hear and use language in context by engaging them in classroom activities. the spld program as enacted in this study consisted of three integrated components: three full-day sessions of college-level coursework over six months, classroom-based assignments, and weekly on-site coaching. the assignments required teachers, with the support of their coaches, to implement new practices and strategies introduced in the sessions with specifically-chosen “focus” el children in their own classrooms. reflective coaching component. five coaches were selected based on their educational backgrounds (all had master’s degrees in education or a related field) and building a classroom community 9 their previous experience working with, or coaching, early childhood teachers. four coaches remained with the program for all three years and one coach left and was replaced before spld began. initially, coaches were steeped in a reflective approach to coaching, and throughout the duration of spld, coaches met regularly to reflect collaboratively with the spld instructor on their work with teachers. throughout the spld year coaches worked with teachers using an iterative observation and reflective conferencing cycle as teachers implemented spld practicebased assignments in their classrooms. coaches visited and observed teachers working with their “focus” el students and video-recorded teachers facilitating language-based activities and using language-support strategies introduced in the spld course sessions. after each video-recording, the coach and teacher watched the video separately and then met for a joint viewing and analysis. coaches facilitated teachers’ close observations of children’s language and behavior in the context of the spld instructional activities and strategies teachers were implementing. they helped teachers identify evidence of children’s language development and learning and reflect on the effectiveness of their own teaching. finally coaches supported teachers’ planning of follow-up language activities and strategies that would continue to bolster children’s learning and promote teachers’ ongoing inquiry into children’s learning. in addition, coaches supported teachers’ use of data from family interviews and standardized assessments to further inform their individualized planning for els. spld was designed to support teachers in integrating three practices—collecting and using language assessment data from multiple sources, implementing language support strategies, and grouping children intentionally—into all aspects of the classroom day. teachers were encouraged to use these practices to adapt classroom activities to meet the needs of els. the pd focused on adapting two typical preschool activities— dramatic play and book reading—and introduced an adaptation to the grouping idea— language helpers (hirschler, 2001)—that would enlist el children’s peers as active supporters of els’ language. we focused on adapting these activities in particular because of their great potential to support els’ engagement in classroom activities, increase their social interaction, and promote their english language development. collecting and using assessment data from various sources. although ongoing individualized assessment is well-recognized as best practice in preschool classrooms, there is a tendency for teachers to generalize about the language abilities of their el children (espinosa & lopez, 2007). the spld instructor stressed the importance of considering assessment information from a variety of sources in planning language experiences for groups and for individual el children. at the first pd session, instructors facilitated discussions with teachers about three primary sources of assessment data: family interviews, teacher observations, and standardized assessments. assessment data from these sources were then collected and analyzed with the help of the teacher’s coach. family interviews. instructors introduced a family questionnaire adapted from patton tabors (tabors, 2008) to help teachers get information from families about children’s language use, and to reinforce the idea that families are a valuable and often untapped source of information about their children’s skills. this instrument includes 10 hoisington et al. prompts such as “what language or languages do you use to talk to your child?” “who else does your child spend time with besides you?” and “if english is not your home language, please estimate how many english words your child knows.” teacher observations. the instructor in spld asked teachers to explicitly observe and document the specific words and phrases that their focus el children understood, used, or repeated throughout the day using the observing children learning english (ocle) observation tool, adapted from tabors (2008). by dating each word or phrase according to when they heard it, teachers could establish a language baseline for each child and a portfolio of the child’s language learning over time. standardized assessments. assessments of children’s receptive vocabulary, oral language, and emergent literacy skills and of teachers’ instructional practices were implemented in the fall before the beginning of the pd and in the spring after the pd had been completed. the data from these assessments were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the pd. they were also used formatively in feedback sessions as part of the spld intervention. in order to prepare the spld teachers and coaches for the feedback sessions, researchers first fully described the ellco pre-k and each of the standardized child language and literacy assessments in a group meeting. feedback was then presented individually to each spld coach-teacher team after each assessment period. feedback on teachers’ instructional strategies as assessed by the ellco pre-k was provided orally to each teacher and included areas of strength and areas for growth; however, teachers were not given their actual individual ellco scores. feedback was provided this way in order to avoid comparison of scores among teachers and to ensure that data would not be used for making personnel decisions. child data were provided, shared, and interpreted with individual teacher and coach teams by a member of the research team. coaches then supported each teacher’s use of the data to individualize instruction for el children. in addition, aggregate classroom and child outcomes were shared at the end of each intervention year with education managers, teachers, and coaches as a group. implementing specific language support strategies. teachers were assigned readings in patton tabors’ (2008) book, one child, two languages, which was used to reinforce the spld course content. during the first session of spld, instructors encouraged participating teachers to begin using the following support strategies (tabors, 2008) with el children immediately:  adjust language to meet the needs of the child.  restate and reframe comments and questions.  provide definitions in context.  scaffold oral language with pictures, props, and body language.  interpret understanding from behavior and provide relevant vocabulary.  follow up to check for understanding.  increase the complexity of your own language as child is ready. although these strategies are applicable to teachers’ work with all young children, instructors emphasized that they are especially critical for els. they support language building a classroom community 11 development directly, make learning activities more accessible, and scaffold participation in the social life of the classroom. these teacher/child language interactions also yield valuable assessment information about el children’s growing language abilities. grouping children intentionally. during the spld course, the instructor suggested ways of grouping children that would potentially increase child-child social interactions and support els’ language development. these strategies included (a) considering language assessment data in decisions about how to group children, (b) pairing and grouping el children with temperamentally compatible children (including fluent english speakers) during learning activities, and (c) shifting activities like bookreading (typically done with children in large groups) to smaller groups whenever possible. social development is a major focus in quality preschools, and teachers were encouraged to think and talk about how children’s social interactions might also impact their language development. peers provide “comprehensible” input for els, since the language they use is usually linked to the immediate context and is more direct and simple than the language used by adults (krashen, 1981). the instructor supported teachers to think about groupings that would increase opportunities for el children to engage in conversations, stimulate their child-child interactions, and promote a sense of community among all the language learners in the classroom, including els. adapting activities—dramatic play supports. research indicates that teacherchild conversations are an important part of language development, particularly when child-talk predominates (dickinson & tabors, 2001). dramatic play scenarios provide the concrete and familiar props that el children need as scaffolds. the teacher can introduce sets of related words, use complex language to describe children’s play behaviors, and extend language by connecting the play to children’s everyday experiences. in the spld course, teachers were introduced to specific adaptations for supporting dramatic play conversations from the inside and the outside (hadley, 2002). when the teacher supports play from the inside, she takes the role of a character in dramatic play. supporting play from the outside allows the teacher to act as stage manager. she supplies materials, ideas, and information to enrich children’s play and language, but she isn’t tied to a role in the scenario herself. adapting activities—book reading. book reading has the potential to provide exactly the type of mutually reinforcing language, cognitive, and social supports that el children need. a compelling story is a rich source of interesting new words, and it has the potential to provoke children’s thinking and make language connections to personal and shared experiences. spld’s primary adaptation of the book reading routine included reading the same book multiple times, with the teacher planning each reading based on an analysis of the previous one. coaches collaboratively planned the readings with teachers, and they analyzed each reading together using video-recorded observations. over the course of four readings the teacher was encouraged to:  initiate discussion of increasingly challenging words and language,  support deeper conceptual understanding, 12 hoisington et al.  group children to maximize interaction, and  gradually transfer responsibility for “reading” the story to the children. adapting activities—language helpers. “language helpers” is a type of peer coaching based on the idea that even very young children can be taught to support the language use of their el peers intentionally by initiating play and conversation, and by adjusting, restating, and reframing their words if they sense they are not being understood (hirschler,1994). teachers were encouraged to select language helpers based on children’s levels of social maturity and their interest in interacting with other children, as well as their english language fluency. the concept of “language helper” builds on and extends the grouping children intentionally concept. the teacher actively coaches designated language helpers to initiate and maintain contact with their el peers by using body language, asking questions, checking for understanding, and waiting for responses. results as stated in the introduction to this article, our study was guided by two overarching research questions: 1. does a prolonged research-based pd program that includes on-site coaching and reflective practice, and provides on-going assessment, improve the quality of teachers’ instructional strategies that support language and literacy development for els? 2. do el children in classrooms whose teachers receive the pd have greater gains in their language and literacy skills than children in comparison classrooms? table 1 below, lists the different sources of data used for this study and shows which research question(s) each one was intended to address. in the remainder of this section, we describe the results obtained from each measure and relate them to the corresponding research question(s). table 1 study data sources and the research questions they address research question data source 1 2 qualitative case study x x qualitative focus groups x ellco pre-k x prelas 2000 x pls-4 x ppvt-4 x pals x building a classroom community 13 qualitative case study: grace and maria field notes, classroom observations, reflective conferences, and other coaching interactions from three teachers were read, re-read, and inductively analyzed (creswell, 2007). the data were then coded for teachers’ willingness to infuse their instructional practice with strategies to engage els in the classroom and for the degree of alignment of their current teaching with the key components in the spld course. grace was chosen as an illustrative example of a teacher who was strongly committed to infusing her teaching practice with new strategies to engage els and whose practice was well-aligned with the intended pedagogy of spld. the data from grace’s coach were then reviewed and summarized and are presented below as a case study that addresses our exploration of both research questions. in relation to question 1 it provides an in-depth look at the types of learning experiences in which el children in spld classrooms were engaged and some of the ways in which spld strategies were enacted in classrooms. in relation to question 2 it paints a detailed picture of one child’s language and literacy development over time that augments the quantitative results. the case study of grace and her focus el preschooler, maria, is presented chronologically in an effort to illustrate how grace’s el teaching progressed over time in concert with her learning in spld. the case study also illuminates the relationship between grace’s evolving practice and maria’s language and literacy development. we have summarized the key components of the intervention as they were enacted by grace throughout the school year (see table 2). table 2 overview of the strategies grace employed with maria throughout the school year september october november december january februar y march first coaching meeting family interview teacher observation review of standardized assessments implementing language supports grouping children intentionally grouping children intentionally adapting dramatic play adapting dramatic play adapting book reading adaptin g book reading languag e helpers september first coaching meeting. in her first coaching conference, grace mentioned that one of her el children, maria, “talks all the time, is very happy, and has lots of friends” and that she didn’t think maria would be an appropriate focus child for spld. however, grace also revealed that she often had to remind maria of the classroom rules, and that she had observed other children saying, “no, maria!” and moving away from her 14 hoisington et al. during choice time. maria was also “inattentive” at the large-group circle time and often distracted other children. after discussion with her coach, grace agreed that it would be interesting to collect more evidence of maria’s language and social relationships. family interview. grace arranged a meeting with maria’s mother, relying on a portuguese-speaking colleague to translate. she learned that maria’s family spoke primarily portuguese, her afterschool babysitter spoke primarily spanish, and her only exposure to english outside of the classroom was from television and occasional conversations with her brother. grace was surprised to realize that the classroom was maria’s only english language environment. teacher observation. grace and her coach watched a video that had been taken of maria during dramatic play. although maria didn’t directly interact with the other children, she did play alongside them. she also used the phrases, “put it,” “c’mon,” and “take it out” with an adult volunteer. grace added these words and phrases to a list that already included “my shirt,” “i put it here,” “good morning,” “you my friend,” “corn,” “milk,” and some color names including pink, red, and blue. documenting maria’s receptive vocabulary and the words maria understood was more challenging for grace, and she and her coach talked about the importance of observing maria’s behavior to assess whether or not she knew a word’s meaning. october standardized assessments. grace learned that maria’s vocabulary was below the fifth percentile for other children her age. in addition, her oral language ability indicated a score of “1,” equivalent to a “non-english speaker.” grace was surprised by the information she had obtained from maria’s mother, her own observations, and maria’s scores on the standard language assessments, and she decided to work closely with maria as a focus child in spld. november implementing language supports. grace described the steps of a structured science activity for maria, showing her how to squeeze a plastic bottle to test moving a variety of small objects with air. when maria couldn’t get air out of the bottle, grace said, “you have to squeeze the bottle harder,” and demonstrated by squeezing her hands into fists. “squeeze means to press.” grace then placed each object one by one in front of the bottle, named it, and invited maria to try to move it by pointing to it and saying, “try to move the rock by squeezing the bottle. does the air push the rock?” during their conference her coach acknowledged grace’s use of several language strategies and asked her why she hadn’t asked maria to draw a picture of the results of the experiment as she had asked other children to do. together the coach and grace agreed that grace would continue to use clear, short sentences, define words in context, supplement verbal definitions with body language, and follow up with maria to check for building a classroom community 15 understanding. grace also planned to take advantage of opportunities for maria to create drawings or documentation that could be used as props for language and to pair maria with compatible english-fluent peers in subsequent activities. november and december grouping children intentionally. grace paired maria with multiple children; below are some examples of the interactions maria had with her fellow preschoolers. germaine. maria and germaine made “telescopes” with unifix cubes. maria repeated the word “telescope” after germaine and used the sentence “i making telescope.” she also used the longest phrases the coach and teacher had noted up until now, “that little piece for me put it” and “i no like no brother. love you.” kaneisha. maria and kaneisha made “oobleck” (liquid starch and glue) together. kaneisha showed maria what she was making, and that stimulated maria to ask, “for your mommy or for your daddy?” when kaneisha and the teacher joked back and forth “who made the mess?” “you made the mess!” “no, you made the mess,” maria repeated and played with their words, saying to herself, “you made the mess. no, you made the mess. big mess. you made it the mess. you guys made the mess, big mess.” terry. maria and terry looked at books together. when terry began reciting her story, maria imitated her saying, “pooh said….” when the teacher was looking for a specific book, maria said, “i no put it. terry put it.” when the teacher responded, “terry put it in the library?” maria said “i think,” and “miss b. look. i reading terry.” ashley. maria and ashley used the computer together, and ashley pointed out the names of items on the screen and described what was happening. during one story, ashley said to maria, “he’s under the rug see?” and “he’s sneaking under the rug.” during her reflective conference, grace noted maria’s growing expressive vocabulary (mess, piece, big, time, read/reading, like book/books), the words she was repeating, the increasing complexity of her sentences, and her even faster growing receptive vocabulary. grace also shared our classroom friendship book that grace had made with maria to document maria’s emerging social relationships. grace commented that she had observed maria leafing through it, pointing out her friends, and saying their names. december and january adapting dramatic play. during restaurant play with a small group, grace supported the dramatic play by taking part in the role-play and supporting the play from the inside. grace said, “i’d like maria to be my waitress. will you take my order, maria?” planned vocabulary included the names for table items (plate, bowl, napkin), words for appliances (stove, refrigerator, sink), kinds of food (salad, meat, vegetables, dessert), and action words like set, serve, place, and order. grace reframed sentences to provide definitions for new words. for example, she said, “maria, are you going to set the table now? are you going to put the plates and cups on the table now?” she also built sentences around the familiar word “corn” by saying, “maria is getting the corn out of the 16 hoisington et al. cabinet,” “maria is serving the corn,” and “this corn is delicious!” grace maintained her customer role as maria explored different roles, alternating from waitress to cook to customer saying, “i hungry too!” in her coaching conference, grace and her coach wondered whether maria would get a deeper language experience if grace encouraged her to stick with a particular role. they also talked about ways that grace could reinforce and extend maria’s “restaurant” words and language by using them when maria helped set the classroom tables for lunch. during a unit on families, grace supported play from the outside. she brought new baby items to the dramatic play area, named and described each item, and talked about how maria and claudia might use them. she showed children a small terrycloth bathrobe and encouraged them to touch it, saying, “this is the baby’s bathrobe. isn’t it soft?” “like my kitty soft,” responded maria. grace acknowledged maria’s comment and then suggested maria put the bathrobe on the doll “to keep her warm and dry.” “make baby cry,” said maria. “wah wah.” during her next reflective conference, grace and her coach talked about how grace’s intentional choice of items, along with her suggestions for using them, invited the children to engage in more complex play and use more language. her coach pointed out to grace that it was clear maria understood what soft meant because she had compared the softness of the baby’s bathrobe to the softness of her kitty. she suggested that grace consider other ways to help maria make connections between new words, such as warm and dry, and familiar concepts. january and february adapting book reading. grace facilitated four small group readings of max’s dragon shirt (wells, 1991), a story about a young rabbit named max who goes shopping for new pants with his older sister ruby. max falls asleep while ruby tries on dresses, and then gets lost looking for her. in the meantime he discovers a “dragon shirt,” puts it on, and spills ice cream on it. at the end of the story, max is found, with the help of a policeman and a teenager, and ruby has to buy the shirt instead of the pants they originally planned to buy. first read. grace focused on “getting lost” and “asking adults for help” as story concepts and on conceptual questions such as, “why did max get lost?” she emphasized vocabulary for articles of clothing such as pants, shirt, dress, and other words critical to story understanding such as dragon, disgusting, looked for, and screamed. the six participating children were engaged in the reading, however maria and the other three el children didn’t say much. during the reflective conference her coach pointed out the strategies grace used during the book-reading, defining shirt, pants, and dress by pointing to the children’s own clothing, and disgusting as “messy, nasty, and faded.” grace had also demonstrated looked for and screamed and restated important information like, “max fell asleep in the dressing room. he’s sleeping. see? his eyes are closed.” however, the coach also pointed out that when grace asked “why” questions about the story like, “why did max follow the teenager?” and, “why was ruby looking building a classroom community 17 for max?” the children didn’t answer and seemed confused about basic information such as how the characters were related. grace and her coach talked about the idea that the answers to grace’s “why” questions were never explicitly stated in the story but had to be inferred from the context. they also noted that maria had pointed to a picture and said, “she mad, ‘cause he dirty.” it was clear to grace and her coach that grace needed to help the children make sense of the characters and the sequence of story events before they could make inferences and understand the concepts she had originally planned to explore. they decided that grace would center the second read around the pictures in the book. second read. grace invited the four el children to the reading. she asked children what they remembered about the story, and maria said, “max got dirty the shirt” and “max eat ice cream.” during the reading grace pointed at each picture and asked, “what do you see?” on subsequent pages maria responded, “mommy and baby,” “ruby’s dress too small,” and “max goed to sleep.” grace acknowledged and extended these comments by providing direct repetitive commentary for each picture including, “now ruby is talking to the perfume lady. she is asking, ‘have you seen my brother max?’” she talked with children about the words escalator, dressing room, department, and lost and responded to children with simple but important follow-up questions like, “is that ruby?” and “are they going up or down?” which further served to uncover their misconceptions about story characters and events. although children were still confused about how max got found (maria said the policeman would “put max to jail”) and how max and ruby got reunited, they were clearly making progress. third read. grace read the story to the large group with maria sitting next to her, stopping periodically to invite maria and the other el children who had participated in the first two reads to fill in details. maria seemed pleased and comfortable with her role and contributed the comments, “max’s pants are nasty!” “this is not…ruby’s dress,” and “max scream because the lady there.” when prompted by grace, maria told the children the characters’ names, that ruby was a girl and max was a boy, and that they were brother and sister. she also provided some story details such as, “it’s red but it’s too small” in regard to the dress ruby tried on, and at the end she announced, “i told you she find him!” grace invited maria to fill in some words (disgusting, screamed, tight, and teenager), reviewed the definitions of others (department, fitting room, and vacuum) and introduced new ones (sportswear, perfume, and appliances). she wrapped up the reading by asking the whole group, “have you ever been lost?” and children excitedly responded, “my daddy lost me in the park,” and “i got lost in the store just like max!” grace used this opportunity to bring up her original planned concepts and talked about safety rules including, “always stay with an adult,” and “look for a policeman to help you if you get lost.” in the reflective coaching conference, grace planned the fourth read. she decided to have the el children tell the story as she read it, using props she made out of copies of pictures from the book. she also planned to emphasize each of the vocabulary words. fourth read. grace provided the four el children with paper cut-outs of each story character with a plan to invite them to act out the story as she facilitated with the 18 hoisington et al. pictures in the book. she asked more open-ended questions such as, “what happened to max in the dressing room?” and “what did ruby do next?” inviting children to give more complex answers. maria chose to play max and the teenager. on each page grace prompted the appropriate child to verbalize what his or her own character was doing, and she modeled what the character might say, such as, “i’m lost!” for max and, “where is max?” for ruby. in response to children’s comments, she also pointed out details in the story that hadn’t been mentioned yet, like the safety pin that was holding up max’s pants, and the make-up the teenager was wearing. maria used the words “nasty,” “messy,” and “disgusting” to describe max’s pants, and she used the terms “looked for” and “screamed,” illustrating these behaviors with her characters. she answered the question “what happened to max in the dressing room?” by saying, “look at him eyes is closing.” when grace asked, “why was max eating ice cream?” maria said, “the policeman!” and when she asked, “who helped max?” maria said, “teenager help too!” by the end of the fourth read, it was clear that maria had a solid understanding of story characters and events, and that she had learned some new vocabulary that could be reinforced during classroom conversations. it was also clear that she enjoyed the readings and the social interactions they had stimulated. after the fourth read, maria held onto the book and “read” it to another el child, ending by saying, “i tell my mom buy you dragon shirt. okay?” march language helpers. grace chose haley, a socially mature native english speaker with a strong vocabulary, to be maria’s language helper. during a multisensory finger painting activity she coached haley and facilitated her interactions with maria by asking questions: “haley, what does maria’s painting feel like compared to yours?” (“it feels rough”); suggesting ways to work together: “haley, what can maria help you with?” (“she can pass me the paint bottles”); restating maria’s comments: “haley, maria is asking you for the green paint,” and prompting: “haley, why don’t you ask maria if she wants to help paint that side?” toward the end of the painting activity, grace left the table to get more paint. maria and haley giggled as they conspired to add water to the paint bottles, turning to see if grace was watching. “you my friend,” maria said to haley. during the follow-up conference grace shared how surprised and pleased she was to see this video-recorded interaction between the two girls. she noted that it probably wouldn’t have occurred had she not intentionally paired the girls, scaffolded their interactions, and then provided them with time alone together. this qualitative case study clearly illustrates the specific strategies that one teacher made to adapt classroom activities to meet the needs of els. in addition, it points to the great gains that one el child can make when she is supported in her language development through specific strategies that engage her in classroom activities. building a classroom community 19 qualitative focus groups focus groups were conducted with teachers and education managers after the spld program ended and close to the end of the head start program year. teacher focus groups were conducted separately at each of the head start program’s five centers. the five education managers met together in one focus group. similar semi-structured interview protocols were used for teacher and education manager focus groups and each one was audio-recorded and transcribed. transcripts were coded using three coding steps: open coding, creating categories, and abstraction (elo & kyngas, 2008). in the open coding stage, exclusive codes were assigned to meaningful segments of text. these codes were compared for their consistency and differences. in the second stage, codes with similar meanings or pointing to similar basic ideas were grouped to form categories. the abstraction stage produced a set of higher order categories that captured teachers’ language and literacy instructional approaches. teachers shared their thoughts about the pd program as a whole and the spld course in particular. while teachers noted that there was too little time in the day to implement all of the assigned activities and strategies, they indicated that they had changed their classroom practice based on spld and that spld had benefitted their el students. teachers thought that rereading books was a particularly effective strategy for all students, especially els. although teachers had begun rereading books to children during year 1 of the three-year program, spld elucidated for teachers how els especially benefit from multiple readings. one teacher said: he picked up language from the book and was able to retell the stories, which i hadn’t noticed before. i mean, i knew that… he would sit and listen to stories and be very attentive, but for him to retell it was something new that i saw after so many book readings, and he really liked them. another spld practice that teachers noted as particularly beneficial for el language and literacy development was the language helper model. while some teachers assigned language helpers on an as-needed basis, other teachers established “language helper” as an official classroom job, incorporating this practice into their ongoing daily routine. in a separate focus group, education supervisors also pinpointed the language helper model as one of the techniques they felt made a real difference for the els in the intervention classrooms. one education manager stated, “it [the language helper model] was a good technique, and i think it even surprised [the teachers] by how well it worked.” a third practice specifically mentioned by focus group participants was using props to support language. in describing how she individualized her instruction for an el student who arrived in the middle of the school year, one teacher stated, “i started with pictures. if we sang any songs i made sure that i had pictures, i had puppets, or a flannel board to go with it.” finally, teachers made a connection between el children’s language development and their social interactions. as one teacher said, “before it was kind of like [he was a] bystander. he would just watch … now he’s more in there, and he’s playing cooperatively. and he’s included.” furthermore, education managers noted the importance of the instructional coaches and their ability to mentor teachers effectively. the education managers cited that they felt one of the most beneficial aspects of the pd program was the coaching component, and they indicated that they noticed a large difference in the classroom 20 hoisington et al. quality of spld teachers as compared to their other staff. in the focus group, many other managers agreed after one of them said, “it’s just you look at those [spld] classrooms compared to the other [non-participants] and it’s a vast difference . . . just some of the things that they do. definitely there is a big benefit to the coaching.” education managers also demonstrated an understanding of the role of reflective coaching and the use of video-recorded observations to help teachers reflect on their teaching and instructional goals. the education supervisors noted that, in addition to providing teachers with a concrete way to evaluate their own performance, the videorecordings gave them “a baseline for rapport with their coach and the ability for them to grow,” which they felt was one of the biggest benefits offered to teachers. quantitative results: teachers’ instructional strategies (ellco pre-k) as mentioned above, spld was implemented during the second year of a three-year pd program. the first year of the program focused specifically on promoting research-based language and literacy practices and creating a print-rich environment. during year 1, three teachers moved or dropped out of the intervention and three more teachers took their places. the new teachers had education levels similar to those of the teachers that left: two new teachers had bas and one had a master’s degree. in addition, one comparison teacher moved out of the sample. data from the ellco pre-k were collected in the fall and spring of year 1 and again in the fall and spring of year 2 (during spld). to analyze the quantitative data gathered on teachers’ instructional practices, we conducted repeated measures analyses of variance (rm-anova) using ellco pre-k data collected at four time points (fall and spring of year1 and year 2) in both spld and comparison classrooms. rm-anova results for the general classroom environment (gce) subscale of the ellco pre-k (table 3) indicate no significant interaction between spld and time, but they do show significant main effects of both spld (f(1, 98) = 9.04, p < .01) and time (f(1, 98) = 30.91, p < .001). table 3 repeated measure analysis of variance for general classroom environment subscale effect ms df f p spld 2.39 1 9.04 <.01 time 8.20 1 30.91 <.001 spld*time 0.05 1 0.20 0.66 error 26.00 98 it is important to note that rm-anova is an omnibus test statistic and cannot tell us which specific time points within each group were significantly different from each other. in order to isolate these differences, post hoc comparisons were conducted. corresponding gce means by group and time point are illustrated in figure 1. bonferroni corrections indicate no significant differences between the mean gce building a classroom community 21 subscale scores of spld and comparison teachers in year 1, but significant differences between the two groups in both the fall and spring of year 2. within the spld group, significant differences were evident between baseline gce subscale scores (fall year 1) and gce subscale scores at all other time points. mean scores from subsequent time points (spring year 1, fall year 2, spring year 2) were not significantly different from one another. the comparison group showed no significant differences in gce subscale scores across time. rm-anova of the language and literacy (ll) subscale (table 4) show results similar to those for the gce subscale: the interaction between spld and time is not significant, but there are significant main effects of both the spld condition f(1, 98) = 15.09, p < .001 and time f(1, 98) = 18.01, p < .001. table 4 repeated measure analysis of variance for language and literacy subscale effect ms df f p spld 4.64 1 15.09 <.001 time 5.54 1 18.01 <.001 spld*time 0.17 1 0.55 0.46 error 30.16 98 bonferroni correction results indicate no significant differences between the mean ll subscale scores of spld and comparison teachers at baseline (fall year 1), but significant differences between the two groups at all other time points. within the spld group, significant differences were evident between baseline ll subscale scores (fall year 1) and ll subscale scores at all other time points. mean scores from subsequent time points (spring year 1, fall year 2, spring year 2) were not significantly different from one another. the comparison group showed no significant differences in ll subscale scores across time. language and literacy subscale means by group and time point are illustrated in figure 2. 2.68 3.13 3.08 2.82 3.00 3.74 3.77 4.15 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 fall year 1 spring year 1 fall year 2 spring year 2 comparison (n=12) figure 1. ellco general classroom environment means for spld (n=14) and 22 hoisington et al. taken together, these results suggest that spld and comparison teachers were comparable to one another in both language and literacy and general classroom environment prior to the intervention. the results further indicate significant growth in both subscales for the spld teachers in year 1 with this growth sustained into year 2. finally, the results show no significant change for the comparison group on either the language and literacy or the general classroom environment subscales. quantitative results: el children’s language and literacy knowledge (prelas 2000, pls-4, ppvt-4, and pals) the spld intervention had a statistically significant effect on the language and emergent literacy development of el children in participating teachers’ classrooms, as measured by the standardized assessments delivered before and after the pd (see table 5). in the fall of year 2 the average oral language ability score on the prelas 2000 for els in spld (n = 162; els with proficient english were not included in this analysis) was 41.75. this indicates that, on average, the els in spld had a baseline oral language ability equivalent to the non-english speaker category (proficiency level 1, 0-56) whereas the children in the comparison classrooms had a baseline language ability of 56.4 which was at the cutoff of non-english speaker and limited-english speaker, (proficiency level 2, 57-66). in the spring, the mean oral language subscale score for spld children was 2.27 2.53 2.53 2.48 2.72 3.83 3.73 3.78 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 fall year 1 spring year 1 fall year 2 spring year 2 comparison (n=12) spld (n=14) figure 2. ellco language and literacy means for spld (n = 14) and comparison group (n = 12) building a classroom community 23 66.93. this constituted a scale score increase of 25.18 points, and is at the cutoff for proficiency level 3 (limited-english speaker, 67-76) an increase of almost two full proficiency levels. children in the comparison classrooms (n = 67) also showed gains, but the average gain on the prelas was much smaller, only 11.27 points over the same period, though they did make the cutoff for proficiency level 3 (comparison mean = 67.67). both comparison and spld els showed approximately equivalent gains on the english vocabulary assessment, the ppvt-4; however, on the pls-4 vocabulary assessment, els in the comparison group (n = 73) did not make gains from fall to spring. on the literacy assessment, the pals pre-k, els in spld (n = 171) showed gains on letter knowledge, beginning sounds and print word awareness, as did the comparison els (n = 73). table 5 spld and comparison means and sds, gain scores for prelas, pls-4 and pals assessments fall spring spld comp spld comp spld comp m (sd) m (sd) m (sd) m (sd) gain gain prelas 41.75 (24.78) 56.40 (22.26) 66.93 (17.75) 67.67 (16.54) 25.18 11.27 ppvt-4 81.07 (13.11) 83.48 (14.76) 88.04 (13.38) 90.25 (12.96) 6.79 6.77 pls-4 93.25 (12.61) 94.79 (11.51) 96.82 (11.60) 94.32 (13.94) 3.75 -0.47 pals letters 6.52 (9.11) 4.93 (7.24) 12.20 (9.95) 9.71 (8.81) 5.68 4.78 pals beg sounds 2.16 (2.69) 2.38 (3.07) 4.49 (3.44) 3.22 (3.63) 2.33 0.84 pals pwa 3.13 (2.62) 4.06 (2.55) 5.75 (2.62) 5.55 (2.44) 2.62 1.49 note: spld = treatment group, comp = comparison group, pals letters = pals pre-k letter knowledge subscale, pals beg sounds = pals pre-k beginning sounds subscale, pals pwa = pals pre-k print word awareness subscale. beyond simply observing that els made gains in their language and literacy skills from fall to spring, we wanted to assess the impact of the intervention on those skills. specifically, using ols regression analysis, we found that spld had a statistically significant effect on the spring scores of el children’s receptive language ability, oral language ability, and beginning sound awareness (measured by the pls-4, prelas, and pals beginning sounds subscale respectively), even after taking into account children’s fall scores. el children who were in spld classrooms showed greater gains in their language and literacy development than children in comparison classrooms, even after controlling for initial language and literacy skills (see table 6). in addition, el children who participated in spld classrooms also had slightly higher print and word awareness 24 hoisington et al. than non-spld children (this result approached statistical significance). after controlling for fall scores, the spld intervention did not have a statistically significant effect on the pals letter knowledge subscale. table 6 variables predicting spring language and literacy skills for els model b seb β r 2 model 1: predicting spring pls-4 score .282*** fall pls-4 score 0.518 0.053 .524*** spld intervention 3.365 1.373 .132* model 2: predicting spring prelas score .482*** fall prelas score 1 0.469 0.034 .720*** spld intervention 6.605 1.894 .173*** model 3: predicting spring pals score .126*** fall pals beginning sounds score 0.391 0.076 .311*** spld intervention 1.385 0.469 .180** model 4: predicting spring pals score .229*** fall pals print & word awareness score 0.464 0.056 .484*** spld intervention 0.622 0.32 .113~ note: spld intervention is the reference variable. ˜p = .054 *p < .05 **p < .01 ***p < .001 1 fall prelas does not include children scoring proficient in english. while all el children made significant gains from fall to spring on the ppvt-4 as measured by a paired samples t-test (p < .05), there was not a statistically significant effect of the intervention after controlling for fall scores. one potential reason for this lack of an intervention effect may be that the ppvt-4, which is an assessment of receptive vocabulary, is not a sensitive enough instrument to detect smaller effects in this population; the ppvt-4 was also normed on native english-speaking children and therefore may not be the most appropriate measure of language gains for els. whereas the pls-4 is also a receptive language assessment, it does more than assess vocabulary; rather it evaluates children’s basic receptive communication and language skills and therefore may be more sensitive to changes and development in children’s overall language understanding. interestingly, on the pls-4, children in spld classrooms started slightly behind their comparison peers but made greater gains, ending the year with higher oral language skills than the students in the comparison group. discussion the pd program described in this study included foundational early language and literacy training and emphasized the instructional practices, strategies, and adaptations that building a classroom community 25 support els’ inclusion and engagement in classroom activities. teachers who participated in the pd showed statistically significant gains in measures of instructional quality compared to comparison group teachers. these results are consistent with research that indicates pd is more effective when it is content-specific, incorporates collaborative coaching, and utilizes assessment for progress monitoring (appleton, 2008; darling-hammond, 2012; zaslow et al., 2010). analysis of classroom observation data from four time points (across two years) revealed that during the first year of the professional development teachers made significant gains in the quality of their language and literacy practices and general classroom environment, and sustained these gains during the spld year. in addition, qualitative findings revealed that spld teachers used spld practices—particularly multiple book-readings, the language helper model, and contextualizing conversations with props—and credited these with supporting els’ language and literacy development. the case study explicates these practices by detailing the multiple adaptations grace made to her typical classroom activities, including pairing and grouping children intentionally, facilitating dramatic play from the inside and the outside, and employing multiple readings of the same book. it also illuminates the interactions between a teacher and a coach over multiple conferences. in so doing, the case study begins to uncover the mechanisms through which reflective coaching supports a teacher’s capacity to apply el focused language-teaching strategies. for example, after the second reading of max’s dragon shirt, grace’s coach helped her identify how and why el children were not responding to the questions about the story. as a result, grace was able to reconfigure her questions to improve their effectiveness as evidenced by children’s increased responses. the qualitative data are certainly consistent with the research that coaching, when it emphasizes collaborative reflection and teacher action and inquiry, fosters teachers’ pedagogical skills (appleton, 2008; snow, griffin, & burns, 2005). the case study and education manager focus groups also indicate that coaching promoted teachers’ application of content introduced in the spld course. in addition, the case study underscores the use of video-recording as a coaching tool. by making children’s language and behavior visible to the teacher and coach, and making them available for joint reflection, video-recordings seemed to promote the teacher’s ability to identify connections between children’s learning and her instructional practices. although teachers in the focus group did not emphasize formative assessment as a beneficial spld practice, the case study serves to illuminate the iterative nature of the relationship between formative assessment and responsive language teaching. collecting and analyzing data from multiple sources alerted grace to maria’s specific language needs, which stimulated her to implement more responsive language-support strategies and subsequently to collect more specific data about maria’s language development. moreover, the qualitative data (from both the case study and the education manager focus group) suggest that analyzing formative data with the facilitation of an experienced coach builds teachers’ capacity to identify effective language-teaching strategies and refine their practices. in addition to the gains spld teachers made in their instructional practices and the adaptations that teachers made for els, the results of the quantitative study indicate a statistically significant effect of the intervention on el children’s language and literacy learning. after controlling for fall scores, el preschoolers in intervention classrooms 26 hoisington et al. made significantly greater gains than comparison group el preschoolers on measures of oral language development, receptive language development, and emergent literacy. the qualitative case study also provided a detailed picture of one child’s english language learning over time. specifically, the case study indicates that the adaptations grace made to classroom activities increased maria’s opportunities to engage in contextualized conversations. this engagement exposed maria to a wide range of words from more simple and “comprehensible” to more complex, and helped her to make meaning of words and concepts relevant to different situations (a science activity, a restaurant scene, taking care of a baby, a shopping excursion). this seemed to stimulate a recursive, positive cycle. maria’s increasing language skills created more opportunities for interaction, which in turn presented her with more opportunities to hear and use language. this relationship between language and social interaction was also noted by teachers in the focus group. for els’ emergent literacy knowledge, the quantitative data indicate that els in the intervention classrooms made greater gains in beginning sounds and print and word awareness but not in letter knowledge. we speculate that while most preschool classrooms focus on alphabet knowledge as a part of regular classroom practice, the book-reading adaptations that support els’ early literacy development are not typically a part of regular classroom practice and may have contributed to the intervention effect for beginning sounds and print and word awareness. in a review of the first year of the language and literacy program (young, schilder, & anastasopoulos, 2011), the authors examined the effect of the intervention on els’ language and literacy development. it is interesting to note that, while all children in the intervention made gains in their language and literacy development, there was not a statistically significant effect of the intervention for els in year 1. this suggests that, in order to impact the language development of el children, teachers need pd that specifically targets els and delineates the pedagogical knowledge and skills needed to support second language development. however, the fact that there was not a statistically significant effect of the intervention for els in year 1 suggests that the course sessions may have also played a central role in focusing coaches’ attention on the specific language needs of els. in year 1, as in year 2, coaches attended the instructional course sessions and worked one-on-one with teachers. the overall findings from this study suggest that the intentional inclusion of els in classroom activities and a sustained emphasis on the practices, strategies, and adaptations that support their inclusion, may be the key to promoting els’ language success in early childhood classrooms. limitations teachers were not randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, and therefore the results of this study are correlational in nature. comparison teachers were recruited from three different head start programs, whereas all of the teachers in the pd came from one program. there may have been some differences in program quality that were not taken into account in our models; however, all preschoolers in this study were els with similar family ses. in addition to the precautions taken to ensure reliable and valid data, building a classroom community 27 researchers aimed to reduce any possible observer expectancy effects by not distinguishing between intervention and comparison classrooms with data collectors. however, over time, data collectors may have noticed differences between the two groups, as intervention classrooms tended to be of a noticeably higher quality with regard to language and literacy practice, and this may have introduced some observer bias. an additional limitation of the study is that it does not clearly separate the effect of spld instructional sessions from the effect of one-to-one coaching, nor do the quantitative data explicate the relationship between the two. although it seems clear from the qualitative data that coaching increases the impact of the instructional sessions, a quantitative study would help to further uncover the mechanisms through which it does so. future directions research suggests that content-focused coaching that is responsive, relational, and reflective has the potential to play a significant role in supporting teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogy (appleton, 2008; kochan, 2002), their reflective capacity, and their ability to implement new practices (neufeld & roper, 2003). one interesting aspect of the current research is the inclusion of the qualitative case study which illustrates the interaction between a teacher and coach who worked together in spld. further research in this area could specifically parse out the value added to the pd by the coaching component through systematic investigation of a pd-without-coaching intervention and a pd-with-coaching intervention. this type of study might also further describe the mechanisms through which coaching influences teacher practice. in the present study, video-recorded observations were used during reflective conferences for a critical examination of the teachers’ instructional practices in relation to the strategies presented in the pd. these video-recordings may have played a key role in promoting els’ language and literacy development as they served to focus the teachers’ and coaches’ joint attention on discrete classroom interactions. future research might further describe the role of video-recording as a coaching tool. moreover, future research could also plan a randomized-control (rct) fully powered study to test for a cause and effect relationship between 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(english edition). san antonio, tx: the psychological corporation. dialog, 23(1), copyright © 2020, issn: 1930-9325 teacher beliefs and misconceptions regarding dual language learners in head start: an opportunity for enhancing professional development rica ramírez university of texas at san antonio lauren m. cycyk university of oregon shelley e. scarpino bloomsburg university lisa m. lópez university of south florida carol scheffner hammer teachers college columbia university teachers who have access to accurate information that strengthen their practices and dispels their misconceptions related to dual language learners (dlls) may be better equipped to provide a quality preschool experience to dlls in their classrooms. twenty-three female teachers working in head start preschool centers serving dlls were interviewed on their beliefs regarding dlls, dlls’ language development, and appropriate instructional practices for dlls. six major themes emerged through summarizing the beliefs of the teachers using modified consensual qualitative analysis. these themes included: (1) definition of dll; (2) value of dlls’ home culture and language; (3) ease of learning english; (4) primary classroom language; (5) home language use in the classroom; and, (6) language difference versus language delay or disorder. implications and recommendations for professional development are discussed. keywords: dual language learners, professional development, head start, early childhood development research-to-practice summary teacher’s beliefs regarding dlls in head start 49 the administration for children and families’ (acf) head start program performance standards (2016a) require that programs deliver developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate learning experiences to dlls. a variety of strategies are available to head start teachers and programs to enhance the educational quality for dlls and meet these performance standards (acf, 2016b); however, the beliefs that teachers hold regarding dlls likely influences the supports teachers choose to provide to dlls in the classroom (pettit, 2011). research indicates that teachers’ beliefs regarding dlls not only influence teaching practices but also dll children’s attitudes, motivation, and performance in the classroom (flores & smith, 2009; pettit, 2011). preschool teachers’ beliefs should be inclusive of dlls’ diverse needs, specifically attending to their language differences and the use of children’s home language in the classroom. yet, the beliefs of preschool teachers in head start working with dlls are not yet well known. the current study addressing teachers’ beliefs can inform the professional development that teachers are provided so that the increasing numbers of dll children in head start have quality educational opportunities and achieve academic success. the research question that guided the present study is: what are head start teachers’ beliefs regarding dual language development and instruction of dlls? by exploring teachers’ beliefs, we are able to discuss how these beliefs align with existing literature on culturallyand linguistically-relevant practices. implications and recommendations for professional development are tailored to head start teachers. twenty-three female head start teachers were administered a questionnaire covering various topics such as, teacher language and cultural background, teacher experience and training, teacher practices and language use with dlls, teachers’ beliefs about dual language development and dlls’ learning, and classroom characteristics. they were interviewed about their responses. these interviews were analyzed using rigorous qualitative methods to determine themes (hill, thompson, & williams, 1997). findings six major themes emerged regarding the beliefs teachers held towards dlls, dual language development, and dlls’ instructional practices. the findings inform recommendations for professional development on the topic of dlls for head start teachers that may contribute to an enhanced educational experience for young children from dll backgrounds. definition of dlls many teachers in this study were unclear as to how to define a dll. generally, teachers did not recognize that the term dll included children with varying proficiencies in their home language and in english. this inconsistency creates a legitimate concern with regard to the ways in which teachers identify who their dll children are and how to best serve their needs. in order to provide quality instruction to an increasing dll child population, teachers must have the appropriate 50 ramirez et al. theoretical, pedagogical, and cultural knowledge surrounding the definition of dlls (flores et al., 2009). the office of head start defines a dual language learner as a child “learning two (or more) languages at the same time, or a child learning a second language while continuing to develop their first (or home) language” (acf, 2013). the results of this study provide evidence that head start teachers should be provided with this definition in their professional development materials so as to have a consistent and accurate definition of dlls. value of dlls’ home culture and language importantly, teachers generally valued dlls’ home language, cultural diversity, and efforts to become bilingual. teachers held positive beliefs about bilingualism, and they believed that families should speak their heritage language at home. teachers’ encouraging perceptions of dlls’ home language, cultural diversity, and bilingualism can be used as a starting point for professional development in best practices by capitalizing on the positive beliefs teachers already hold. valuing and emphasizing children’s home language in the classroom, for example, aligns with recommendations provided by the national academies of sciences, engineering, medicine (2017) for education of young dlls. ease of learning english teachers did not have an accurate understanding of how a second language develops or how to best support dlls’ english language and literacy acquisition in the classroom. it can be assumed that preschool teachers who hold inaccurate beliefs are less likely to support dlls through the language learning process that is particularly crucial in children’s early years of development. a strong body of evidence suggests that dlls acquire academic language in their second language within five to seven years with proper support (genesee, 2016). this range for learning english is much longer and more effortful than preschool teachers believe it to be. dlls need planned and systematic support in acquiring a second language, which focuses on language for academic and social purposes as well as fostering their home language (genesee, 2016). therefore, providing head start teachers with professional development that highlights second language acquisition theory and practices to promote english language acquisition will help in addressing this misconception. home language use in the classroom head start teachers believed that the home language should be used in the home; however, they had varying beliefs about how and when it should be used in the preschool classroom. the majority of head start teachers believed that learning english should be prioritized and should be the primary language of the classroom. the use of the home language in the classroom depended on the language proficiency of the individual child and whether the child needed explicit instructions. best practices dictate the strategic use of the home language in the preschool classroom as a tool to support learning because of the shared infrastructure across languages, as substantiated in the literature (castro, 2014). opportunities for dlls to develop academic language proficiency are teacher’s beliefs regarding dlls in head start 51 missed when teachers focus on the home language only for social conversation and behavior management. language difference versus language delay or disorder these head start teachers also believed that a child who is exposed to more than one language could not be considered as having a language delay or disorder simply based on dll status. this belief is encouraging because dlls in k-12 are overrepresented in having some sort of language delay/disorder (sullivan, 2011). overrepresentation may arise from the lack of professional development teachers receive in linguistic differences, the paucity of practitioners who are themselves bilingual, and the lack of valid assessments. therefore, having head start teachers express that learning two languages does not cause a delay or disorder is encouraging. implications for professional development this study advances the current research by providing a robust and nuanced understanding of head start teachers’ beliefs surrounding the development and education of dlls. the findings of this study have implications for training head start teachers who work with preschool-aged dlls. professional development should address the specific misconceptions revealed in this study and provide instruction on how teachers can support dual language development in the classroom. based on our findings, the misconceptions that should be specifically addressed are those related to the definition of dlls, the ease with which dlls learn english, the use of english and other languages in the classroom, and the availability and use of appropriate assessments for dlls. teacher coaching and mentoring models can provide intensive, direct instruction to build teachers’ existing and accurate knowledge of dlls and facilitate a supportive environment in which to learn more about the development and instruction of dlls. in order for this professional development to be effective, it should be ongoing and intensive so that teachers are able to process the information received and then incorporate what they have learned into their teaching practices (wasik & hindman, 2011). through professional development, teachers will be able to more effectively teach dlls in their classrooms, thus improving the education of an ever-growing population in the united states. references administration for children and families. (2013). report to congress on dual language learners in head start and early head start programs. retrieved from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/dll_report_to_congress_executive_summary.pdf administration for children and families. (2016a). head start program performance standards. retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/hspps-appendix.pdf administration for children and families. (2016b). head start program facts: fiscal year 2016. retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/about-us/article/head-start-program-facts-fiscal-year-2016 http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/dll_report_to_congress_executive_summary.pdf https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/hspps-appendix.pdf https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/about-us/article/head-start-program-facts-fiscal-year-2016 52 ramirez et al. castro, d. c. (2014). the development and early care and education of dual language learners: examining the state of knowledge. early childhood research quarterly, 29, 693-698. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.08.003 flores, b. b., & smith, h. l. (2009). teachers’ characteristics and attitudinal beliefs about linguistic and cultural diversity. bilingual research journal: the journal of the national association for bilingual education, 31, 323-358. doi: 10.1080/15235880802640789 genesee, f. (2016). north america: rethinking early childhood education for english language learners: the role of language. in v. a. murphy & m. evangelou (eds.), early childhood education in english for speakers of other languages. (pp. 21-42). london: british council. hill, c. e., thompson, b. j., & william, e. n. (1997). a guide to conducting consensual qualitative research. the counseling psychologist, 25, 517-572. doi: 10.1177/0011000097254001 national academies of sciences, engineering, & medicine. (2017). consensus study report: promoting the educational success of children and youth learning english. washington, dc: ruby takanishi & suzanne le menestrel. pettit, s. k. (2011). teachers' beliefs about english language learners in the mainstream classroom: a review of the literature. international multilingual research journal, 5, 123-147. doi: 10.1080/19313152.2011.594357 sullivan, a. l. (2011). disproportionality in special education identification and placement of english language learners. exceptional children, 77, 317-334. doi: 10.1177/001440291107700304 u.s. department of education, office for civil rights. (2016). a first look: key data highlights on equity and opportunity gaps in our nation’s public schools. retrived from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/2013-14-first-look.pdf wasik, b. a., & hindman, a. h. (2011). improving vocabulary and pre-literacy skills of at-risk preschoolers through teacher professional development. journal of educational psychology, 103, 455-469. doi: 10.1037/a0023067 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.08.003 nhsa dialog, 24(1), copyright © 2021, issn: 1930-9325 helping young children develop emergent language and literacy skills: the roles of curriculum, training, and coaching barbara gunn influents innovations & oregon research institute jessie marquez & natasha compton influents innovations keith smolkowski oregon research institute this article discusses the need for accessible, practical, and cost-effective professional development for head start teachers in developing emergent language and literacy skills. we describe the components of abcduet: teaching materials, professional development and personalized coaching. the program is designed to make training and coaching in language and literacy teaching practices more effective, accessible, user-friendly, and sustainable, using innovative software and video assets. we report findings on the feasibility and efficacy of abcduet implementation on teacher and child outcomes from an evaluation of the program in 21 head start classrooms. outcome data indicate the program can be implemented in authentic preschool settings by teachers with varied educational backgrounds and experience, serving children with a wide range of emergent language and literacy skills. keywords: emergent language and literacy, professional development, video technology introduction reading ability is powerfully affected by the emergent language and literacy skills children acquire in early childhood (dickinson et al., 2003; landry et al., 2017; mccardle et al., 2001; national early literacy panel, 2008; nichd early child care research network, 2005). important developmental precursors to later conventional reading skills include: phonological awareness (castles et al., 2010; gunn et al., 2001) alphabetic understanding and letter writing (catts et al., 2005; molfese et al., 2011; scarborough, 1998; schatschneider et al., 2004), and vocabulary and oral language (lonigan et al., 2000; sénéchal & lefevre, 2002; storch & whitehurst, 2002). the research article 22 gunn et al. importance of teaching these early literacy skills is represented in the learning goals and curriculum frameworks across a broad range of early childhood policy reports (naeyc, 2018; head start, early reading first: jackson et al., 2007; reading first: gamse et al., 2008). despite recognition of the significance that preschool emergent language and literacy activities play in laying a foundation for long-term learning, many children, especially those living in poverty, still have limited access to high-quality emergent language and literacy experiences in early childhood, and begin elementary school less prepared than their peers (chatterji, 2006; hart & risley, 1995; lee & burkham, 2002; storch & whitehurst, 2002). language and literacy gaps accumulate and grow over time, and students in the u.s. continue to struggle with reading. according to the 2017 national assessment of educational progress, 32% of all fourth graders cannot read at a basic level, and most students (63%) are still not proficient readers by the time they finish high school. early childhood language and literacy curricula with the growing knowledge base on the mechanisms underlying reading acquisition, there is general consensus among policymakers, practitioners, and researchers of the need for commercially published preschool programs that develop the early literacy and language skills that provide a foundation for early reading development (dickinson et al., 2003; nichd, 2005; mccardle et al., 2001). most current preschool programs include instruction in the components of emergent language and literacy and most place a strong emphasis on developing these skills through activities that integrate thematic content and age-appropriate activities. however, they do not give pre-school teachers sufficient directions on instructional approaches to maximize learning for all children, especially those with limited home learning experiences (dickinson & brady, 2006; pcerc, 2008). this includes lack of specific guidance on how to explicitly present activities and how to provide sufficient practice, feedback, and review. furthermore, while most preschool curricula now include instruction in the evidence‐based components of early language and literacy, most program designers attend only superficially to the introduction and sequencing of this content, which overlooks the importance of providing teachers with a theoretically sound instructional design to follow. these gaps are particularly critical for those children with early language and learning delays who will need extra support to overcome their initial inequalities and catch up to their typically developing peers. indeed, the curricula that have been evaluated scientifically have failed to show positive effects on children’s literacy development (pcerc, 2008). many fail to include specific approaches that are effective for improving children’s learning, having been developed through market research instead of a formative process to identify the critical ingredients of the instruction (clements, 2007). professional development and personalized coaching growing evidence from early childhood research points to a related and important need for accessible, practical, and cost-effective professional development (pd) to support teachers in giving their children targeted, age-appropriate instruction that engages them and supports their development (barnett, et al., 2003; locasale-couch et al., 2016; piasta et al., 2020; wasik & hindman, 2011). the traditional one-size fits all ‘in-service’ model for training teachers in evidence-based practices offers limited opportunities for the ongoing practice and follow-up curriculum training and coaching 23 coaching feedback necessary to fully master and implement new teaching practices within a dynamic classroom environment. typical pd also provides limited avenues for helping teachers reflect on, and adjust their teaching practices, especially in preschools with limited resources to provide teachers with extended support. coaching has been shown to improve teachers’ instructional efficacy in elementary school classrooms (denton & hasbrouck, 2009; joyce & showers, 1996; reinke et al., 2014). in a summary of research on teacher training, joyce and showers (2002) found that training limited to presentation and theoretical discussion of skills, resulted in modest gains in teacher knowledge and in their ability to demonstrate the skill in the protective learning environment. however, there was no transfer of the skill to the classroom. the addition of demonstration contributed to gains in knowledge and in teacher’s ability to demonstrate the skill in the learning environment, but again these gains did not transfer to the classroom. the addition of classroom coaching to the previous modalities, however, had a dramatic impact on all three aspects of teacher learning (knowledge, skill demonstration, and classroom implementation). these findings on the effectiveness of coaching in elementary classrooms are bolstered by current research on the positive impact of coaching on head start teachers (e.g., diamond & powell, 2011; snell et al., 2019), and the impact of coaching on effective teacher-child interactions for boosting children’s development (domitrovich et al., 2009; downer et al., 2012; hamre et al., 2012). overview of abcduet preschool teachers and their assistants need evidence-based teaching tools, training, and coaching to help children develop emergent language and literacy skills. as part of a strategy to improve long-term health and education outcomes, the national institute of child health and human development (nichd) funded the development and evaluation of abcduet to support teachers and make training and coaching in foundational emergent language and literacy teaching practices more effective, accessible, user-friendly, and sustainable. abcduet aligns with the practice-based coaching model currently used in head start centers, and offers a solution for early education programs seeking effective training and coaching resources. abcduet uses technology and multimedia to bring active and responsive training and coaching tools directly to teachers’ classrooms. the 29-unit program offers tools for teachers, coaches, and support staff to strengthen emergent language and literacy routines and build a strong foundation for positive reading, academic, and health outcomes. in this section, we give an overview of development of abcduet, and describe the teaching tools, training and coaching components. the initial goals of the program were to use the evidence base on effective pre-k professional development and coaching approaches, combined with an innovative media-enhanced technology platform to provide cost-effective and accessible training and coaching to head start teachers and assistants. in addition, we explicitly incorporated the instructional design and delivery features in the abcduet instructional strand that we used in our previous curriculum development work (e.g., gunn et al., 2011; sprick et al., 2004). 24 gunn et al. development we developed abcduet in three stages, over a 2-year period. in stage 1, the formative research process, we created a design matrix that spelled out requirements and specifications for each component, and provided a blueprint for building the program’s content and format elements. in constructing the matrix, we elicited formative feedback from (a) expert consultants, (b) key informants, such as head start stakeholders and other service providers, and (c) focus groups of head start teachers. in stage 2, the development process, we developed the abcduet content in collaboration with head start teachers and administrators. this included the video scripts, textbased teaching materials and activities, technical requirements for the web and mobile applications, visual design requirements, production of media assets, user alignment with head start reporting requirements, and usability testing. in stage 3, we conducted an evaluation of the completed abcduet program in 21 head start classrooms. teaching tools and materials abcduet teaching tools and materials are colorful, durable, and portable materials designed for carrying out teaching and learning routines. the goal in developing the materials was to reduce the burden on teachers to search for, or create these tools themselves, so they can focus more of their teaching effort on meeting children’s learning needs. the supporting materials include alphabet wall cards, abc picture word cards, and letter air trace cards. the teaching materials support brief routines that provide teachers and other support staff with a reliable and consistent approach for delivering critical language and literacy learning experiences. they are centered on a series of four brief, engaging, developmentally appropriate teaching and learning routines that address the primary domains of emergent language and literacy: print awareness, alphabetic understanding, phonological awareness, and vocabulary and oral language. as a foundation for these learning domains, the abcduet teaching routines include a focus on the underlying behaviors, (e.g. sitting in a circle, keeping hands and feet to self, looking at and listening to teacher) that support language and literacy. delivered in 2-3 minutes or less, these predictable routines support small, incremental learning steps that strengthen children’s neural pathways, transfer new knowledge into their long-term memory, and build their confidence and motivation. over the course of a school year, these daily teaching routines cover a comprehensive scope and sequence of foundational emergent language and literacy skills that prepare children for kindergarten and future reading success. sequencing of abcduet instruction the sequencing of new content and skills in the abcduet instructional modules is designed to give children multiple opportunities, within and across units, to use their new knowledge (levin, shatil-carmon, & asif-rave, 2006; piasta & wagner, 2010). once new content and skills have been taught and practiced, review is programmed into the program scope and sequence giving children opportunities to practice and use what they have learned. in the first three modules, children learn simple behavioral routines for participating in circle time activities. these routines are practiced and re-taught as needed. the activities in the following 26 modules focus on teaching curriculum training and coaching 25 letter names and their most common sounds, how to form the letters of the alphabet using grossmotor skills, and developing vocabulary and oral language through interactive read-alouds and child-centered conversations using new vocabulary words. newly taught skills are repeated and reviewed on an ongoing basis to build on children’s growing knowledge. for example, when the letter m is introduced in circle time, teachers and children play an interactive picture/word card game with words beginning with m (e.g., m says /mmm/ in mouse), air trace the letter m, and identify capital and small letter m on the alphabet wall cards. during small-group and choice time, children who need more support can engage in activities with the teacher or aide to reinforce the name, sound and shape of letter m. abcduet also provides guidance for additional brief interactive reviews of previously taught letter names and sounds during transition activities such as handwashing and lining up to go outside. the same activities are used for each new letter and sound, so children become familiar with the activity routines and can focus on learning and using new skills rather than on learning a new activity or procedure. in follow-up feedback from the abcduet study, many teachers commented on the growth they experienced as teachers and the results they saw in their children’s skill development. a number of teachers highlighted the positive effects of practice and review for children who typically struggle with attention and behavioral challenges. prioritizing activities we learned from our previous curriculum development activities and our work in head start classrooms (gunn et al., 2011) that teacher time and the attention span of young children are both precious and limited commodities. with that in mind, and based on field observations and teacher feedback, we developed only those activities that have the strongest instructional value and are the most engaging for children. abcduet is designed to give teachers the basic structure to teach language and literacy skills successfully to children with diverse literacy backgrounds. this approach recognizes that some children may need many opportunities to practice and learn new skills, while others may need less. teachers are provided with documentary video examples of preschool teachers teaching the routines to their children as well as segments that model coaching interactions on key instructional details such as how to use attention signals, how to pace instruction to keep children engaged, how to make feedback most effective for children, and how to differentiate instruction for english language learners. the discrete, step-by-step structure of the program also makes it appropriate for use by assistant teachers whose training needs are frequently unmet due to centers’ limited resources. abcduet training and coaching abcduet draws from training and coaching approaches used in other fields in which professionals carry out critical routine practices in high stakes or challenging situations, such as medicine, aviation, athletics, and performing arts. to support teachers and help ensure their teaching success the components of the abcduet framework include: 26 gunn et al. online platform this web-based application for computer or mobile app for tablet or smartphone provides teachers and their support staff with on-demand access to a systematic training and coaching framework for strengthening emergent language and literacy teaching skills in the classroom environment. the platform facilitates the ongoing modeling, practice, and feedback necessary to master and implement critical teaching practices. multimedia we designed the video presentations to give teachers easy access to the evidence and rationale for the routines and teaching practices. they also provide critical models of the routines being carried out with children in real classrooms. learning the research rationale behind each routine and seeing the references motivated teachers to implement the teaching strategies. this, paired with examples of real teachers teaching the routines in real classrooms helped teachers prepare the routines, feel confident to try them in a busy classroom, and get ideas for environmental changes to support children’s’ attention skills and language and literacy learning. teachers said it was helpful to have ongoing access to the model videos, so they could re-watch them after having some time to practice. coaching abcduet’s coaching framework helps teachers and coaches engage in specific, responsive, and supportive feedback interactions that strengthen teaching practices in the classroom environment. video sharing and collaborative procedures for evaluation and feedback help teachers refine teaching practices and tailor their instruction to the needs of their classrooms. teachers watch the videos of teachers teaching the routines, and then rehearse the routines by role-playing with their coach. by role-playing both the roles of the teacher and child in each of the routines, teachers are able to experience the routine from the child’s point of view and gain a deeper understanding of the impact each teaching practice has on children’s learning, sense of security, and motivation. teachers learn and practice one new routine at a time, and video record their instruction to share with their coach. teachers in the study reported that they valued the step-by-step approach to coaching, with minimal demands on their time. watching the model videos before meeting with the coach helped them prepare for the session. role-playing the routine together helped teachers prepare to teach the routines with children. reviewing and reflecting on the teacher-made videos of each routine in the classroom helped teachers master teaching skills. several teachers shared that it was challenging to record themselves at the beginning, but they found it beneficial to see what worked, what could be improved, and notice details that were difficult to catch in real-time. abcduet study after the components of abcduet were fully developed, we conducted a 10-week study to test the feasibility and efficacy of implementing the program in head start classrooms. we randomly curriculum training and coaching 27 assigned 21 classrooms in two oregon head start centers to one of two conditions, abcduet (intervention) or control (wait-list), in which teachers participated in the usual language and literacy pd provided by their head start centers and used their usual literacy activities. we asked the following research questions: 1. do teachers in the intervention group use the evidence-based language and literacy instructional practices presented in the abcduet training, coaching, and teaching modules more than teachers in the control group? 2. how satisfied are intervention teachers with the training, coaching and instructional materials and technology features of abcduet? 3. do children of teachers in the intervention group demonstrate greater growth in knowledge of letter names and sounds than children of teachers in the control group? participants teachers were assigned within their center to condition. of the 14 teachers at center #1, eight were in the abcduet group and six were in the control group. of the seven teachers at center #2, four teachers were in the abcduet group and three were in the control group. after randomization of the 21 classrooms one teacher dropped out because she was assigned to a new job, so the final sample was 20 teachers. at the beginning of the study, all teachers provided us with teacher and child demographic information. table 1 summarizes teacher demographics by condition. table 1 teacher demographic characteristics abcduet control total sample 11 9 gender female 10 9 male 1 0 ethnicity hispanic 2 0 non-hispanic 9 9 education aa degree 5 6 ba /bs 6 2 post graduate 1 1 all children in study classrooms participated in the circle time activities, but only children who were entering kindergarten in the fall of 2019 were given the letter assessment to measure their knowledge of letter names and sounds. seventy-two children in the control group and 64 children in the abcduet group completed the pre and post assessment. the number of english learners (els) in the control classrooms ranged from zero to nine, and in the abcduet classrooms from one to 15. all els spoke spanish as their first language. the number of children with an 28 gunn et al. individualized family service plan (ifsp), ranged from one to nine in the control classrooms, and in the abcduet classrooms from zero to six. training the twelve teachers in the abcduet condition received a two-hour orientation from one of the investigators and the project research assistant. they showed the teachers how to access the abcduet web-based application and mobile app by projecting the abcduet technology onto a screen. the trainers also demonstrated for teachers how to navigate through the modules, how to access components (video, print, and interactives), and how to progress through the course. module 1 components provided teachers with a preview of what to expect with regard to the course content, teaching practices and coaching. teachers also accessed organizational materials, such as the scope & sequence, to guide their language and literacy teaching schedule. module 2 components provided teachers with foundational content on emergent language and literacy domains, the basic principles of explicit instruction, and how to set up the environment for language and literacy learning. teachers were asked to review module 3 (behaviors for language & literacy learning) independently the week after the orientation, and to connect with their coach via the abcduet platform to set up a 30-minute coaching session via teleconference. all teachers were successful in downloading the application and contacting their coaches. coaching coaching was provided by the investigator and the research assistant who conducted the trainings. during the 10-week study teachers completed four, 30-minute coaching sessions via the zoom video conferencing service. each coaching session focused on one of the four teaching routines (circle time behavior, picture word card, air trace, and read aloud). the coaches asked the teachers to prepare for each coaching session by reviewing the associated module’s video and print materials. each module had an interactive checklist component that guided the coaching procedures. in each session, teachers and coaches discussed what was going well, problem-solved challenges and used role-playing to refine previously learned teaching routines and to learn the new module’s routine. each module’s ‘teach take away’ provided a step-by-step framework to review and reflect on the newly learned teaching routines. teachers also submitted videos of the routines in their classroom, so teacher and coach could use the classroom video as a tool to reflect, refine and problem solve challenges in the context of the actual classroom. curriculum training and coaching 29 teacher measures at the beginning of the study, teachers completed a brief (13-item) demographic survey on years of teaching experience, gender, ethnicity, first language, and education. a summary of the teacher demographics is provided in table 1. we conducted the pre and post observations of teachers doing a circle time language and literacy activity, using a measure we developed in phase 1, to document the alignment of their instruction with the skills presented in the abcduet teaching modules. the instrument documents (a) content area, (b) instructional grouping, and (c) the nine evidence-based aspects of instructional delivery from abcduet teaching modules with ratings of present (1), partial (0.5), and absent (0) to document use of each skill during the activity. the project research assistant and the two developers conducted the observations. before conducting the first set of observations, they reviewed the operational definitions in the observation codebook for each aspect of instructional delivery. they then practiced coding videos of teachers teaching a language and literacy activity, until they reached inter-observer agreement. during the study, the research assistant and one of the developers also observed a subset of the teachers together to compare scoring and to maintain inter-observer reliability. at the end of the study, we assessed intervention teachers’ satisfaction with the abcduet training, coaching, and materials with a measure we developed and modeled after surveys we used for previous projects. the 37-item anonymous survey asked intervention teachers to rate the: a) quality of the program overall (e.g., how easy is it to implement abcduet?) b) quality of the individual program components (how satisfied are you with the web-based application?) c) ease of use of the components (e.g., how easy is it to use the mobile app?) d) helpfulness of the components (e.g., how helpful are the classroom materials?) e) quality of abcduet training (e.g., how valuable is the abcduet training in developing children’s language and literacy skills?) the likert response scale ranges from a score of 1 to a score of 5. child measures at preand post-test, the children in participating classrooms, who were going to kindergarten in the fall of 2019, were given a 10-item measure of letter names and sounds that were taught by abcduet intervention teachers during the study. children were shown a card with the upperand lower-case letter, one at a time, and asked to say the letter name and it’s most common sound. the letter cards were presented in the following order: a m k s t f d u h b. if the child did not respond, or gave an incorrect response, the tester told the child the letter name or sound and encouraged them to say it with them, followed by specific praise. 30 gunn et al. results the purpose of this study was to test the feasibility and efficacy of implementing abcduet in head start classrooms. we asked three research question to measure teacher use of evidence-based instructional practices, intervention teacher satisfaction with the abcduet program, and child growth in knowledge of letter names and sounds. the following is a summary of our findings. teachers as a development project, the purpose of the teacher assessments was to measure growth in the teaching practices that abcduet was designed to support, and to measure teacher satisfaction with the pd and coaching. figure 1 shows the gains that teachers in the abcduet intervention group made in their use of evidence-based teaching practices from pre to post training and coaching. overall, abcduet teachers made clear gains in their use of evidence-based teaching practices compared to the control teachers. table 3 summarizes the abcduet intervention teachers’ feedback on the abcduet program. teachers rated items on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 as the lowest and 5 as the highest. the table reports teacher responses for the two highest ratings for each question, with teachers reporting high levels of satisfaction across all aspects of the program. curriculum training and coaching 31 figure 1 change by group in use of evidence-based teaching practices note: have materials ready, use attention signal, get children’s attention, share goal, teach one skill at a time, model the skill, provide practice together, provide independent practice, provide immediate specific feedback, use appropriate pace & rhythm, keep lesson clear, concise, & brief, review and practice skill 32 gunn et al. table 2 intervention teacher feedback on abcduet abcduet overall rating scale percent agreement quality of the program above average to excellent 90% easy to be trained easy to very easy 100% easy to implement easy to very easy 73% recommend to other teachers likely to very likely 100% abcduet compared to other training and coaching experiences somewhat to much better 73% likely to use abcduet again likely to very likely 91% provides valuable training in creating a predictable learning environment agree to strongly agree 100% provides valuable training in developing children’s language and literacy skills agree to strongly agree 100% provides valuable training in teaching letter names and sounds agree to strongly agree 100% provides valuable training in teaching how to trace letters agree to strongly agree 100% provides valuable training in teaching vocabulary and oral language agree to strongly agree 100% training videos satisfied with the videos satisfied to very satisfied 91% easy to use the videos easy to very easy 100% videos were helpful helpful to very helpful 100% coaching experience satisfied with the coaching satisfied to very satisfied 100% easy to receive the coaching easy to very easy 100% coaching was helpful helpful to very helpful 100% mobile app satisfied with the mobile app satisfied to very satisfied 91% easy to use the mobile app easy to very easy 91% mobile app was helpful helpful to very helpful 73% web app satisfied with the web app satisfied to very satisfied 100% easy to use the web app easy to very easy 100% web app was helpful helpful to very helpful 100% classroom materials satisfied with the materials satisfied to very satisfied 100% easy to use the materials easy to very easy 100% curriculum training and coaching 33 materials were helpful helpful to very helpful 100% planning tools satisfied with the tools satisfied to very satisfied 91% easy to use the tools easy to very easy 91% tools were helpful helpful to very helpful 91% text-based materials satisfied with the materials satisfied to very satisfied 91% easy to use the materials easy to very easy 91% materials were helpful helpful to very helpful 91% children due to the short duration of the study, we chose to measure child gains in letter names and sounds that were taught in the intervention condition. children in the abcduet condition learned about 1.43 letter names from pretest to posttest while children in the comparison classrooms improved by 0.56 letter names, a statistically reliable difference of 0.87 (t18 = 3.03, p = .0072). children in the control condition gained about 1.22 letter sounds, intervention children gained about 1.65 letter sounds, but the difference of 0.42 was not statistically significant (t18 = 0.89, p = .3819). discussion abcduet is designed to meet the needs of all preschool children, especially those with weak or limited early literacy skills who are at risk for later reading problems. preliminary findings from our evaluation indicate that the program can be implemented by teachers with varied educational backgrounds and experience and for children with varying entry levels of literacy skills, including english language learners. as noted, teachers reported that having the abcduet ready-to-use classroom materials made it easier to teach the routines. they valued the model videos to see what the routines looked and sounded like with real teachers and children, and the step-by-step approach to coaching. we asked the teachers who participated in the study to also describe challenges and suggestions to improve the program. their feedback will inform continued program development to better meet the needs of teachers and their classrooms. suggestions included showing teachers implementing abcduet activities while navigating challenging child behaviors to demonstrate different approaches to completing the activities in more of the varied situations teachers encounter daily. teachers also requested a slightly smaller version of the alphabet wall cards to place in transition areas (e.g. hallway, lineup areas etc.) to facilitate review activities. while several teachers experienced challenges finding a place for the alphabet wall cards at children’s eye-level, they valued the environmental change to encourage eye-level and hands-on access to the alphabet. with respect to the technology, teachers experienced some challenges viewing and sharing videos in the mobile app only, and some struggled to unlock new modules. the technology issues were addressed by the developers by the end of the project. 34 gunn et al. based on positive and constructive teacher feedback we believe these preliminary outcomes, taken with the growth made in teaching practices by abcduet teachers, show the promise of this multimedia, interactive approach for training and coaching in early childhood classrooms. we also believe that the promising outcomes are a direct result of the close collaboration between us as curriculum developers-researchers and the teachers, resulting in an evidence-based language and literacy curriculum that can be feasibly and successfully used by teachers and their assistants. it was encouraging that despite children’s brief exposure to the instructional routines, there was a significant difference between the two conditions for letter names. in future studies we hope to study the effectiveness of the abcduet training and coaching when it can be implemented at the start of the year with adequate time for instruction and measurement. in a longer trial we will also be able to measure vocabulary growth as a result of the read aloud routines. future directions head start is the single largest provider of preschool education in the united states. the 2007 head start reauthorization act called on teachers to improve children’s school readiness by strengthening language and literacy skills. this has been supplemented with the 2017 mandates to implement a research-based coordinated coaching strategy, with a focus on practice-based coaching, giving head start and early head start teachers the opportunity to work closely with coaches in improving their teaching practices. abcduet aligns with the practice-based coaching model and offers a solution for early education programs seeking effective training and coaching resources in emergent language and literacy. abcduet’s training and coaching framework and assistive technology offer an effective, userfriendly, and sustainable model for providing high-quality professional development in critical teaching practices that support children’s behavioral and emergent language and literacy development. as part of an ongoing iterative design process, the project team plans to incorporate teachers’ valuable feedback into abcduet’s technology and its components. we also plan to share our findings with early education stakeholders so that we may best prepare abcduet for distribution in the early education marketplace. references barnett, w. s. 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(2011). improving vocabualry and pre-literacy skills of at-risk preschoolers through teacher professonal development. journal of educational psychology, 103 (2), 455-469. dialog, 22(2), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 the impact of video self-reflection on teacher practice michelle grantham-caston cynthia f. dicarlo louisiana state university research suggests that teachers with increased education and experience are better able to support learners (cowan & goldhaber, 2015; dicarlo, baumgartner, ota & jenkins, 2015). one-time professional development trainings have been considered ineffective for creating sustained changes in practice (andrews, bobo, & spurlock, 2010; ball & cohen, 1999; hamre, partee & mulcahy, 2017; pianta, mashburn, downer, hamre, & justice, 2008). in spite of this knowledge, most professional development in the field of education consists of workshops or single-event trainings (garet, porter, desimone, birman, & yoon, 2001). although noted in the literature as a powerful tool for changing practice, coaching is both labor-intensive and expensive (early, maxwell, ponder, & pan, 2017). there is a growing body of literature linking ongoing video-based professional development to improved teacher practices (durand, hopf, & nunnenmacher, 2015). self-reflection has been documented in the literature in the development of new behaviors and is the cornerstone of teacher quality initiatives (brownell, ross, colon, & mccallum, 2005), such as the national board for professional teaching standards (http://www.nbpts.org/). the purpose was to conduct a pilot study to investigate the use of video self-reflection on the quality of interactions in the early childhood classroom. keywords: professional development, self-reflection, classroom assessment scoring system (class) video-based training provides the learner with opportunities for training on demand. video content is accessible whenever the learner has the time. video allows the learner to select an area of interest and watch the training repeatedly. another more powerful use of video is for selfevaluation is when learners record their teaching and watch later to gain additional perspective through self-reflection. previous research suggests that analysis of teacher’s own practices is effective for developing reflective abilities about practice, more so than other forms of training (borko, jacobs, eiteljorg, & pittman, 2008; nagro, de bettencourt, rosenberg, carran & weiss, 2016; robinson & kelley, 2007; seidel, stürmer, blomberg, kobarg, & schwindt, 2011). the rationale for the use of video-based reflection is that it has been instrumental in considering one’s research article http://www.nbpts.org/ 62 grantham-caston & dicarlo own “pedagogical practice and accessing the underlying factor that makes one able and willing to act” (durand, hopf, & nunnenmacher, 2015, p.38). knowles, holton, and swanson (2005) created the andragogy in practice model to describe the principles of adult learning. they define adult learning “as the process of adults gaining knowledge and expertise” (knowles et al., p.157). andragogy stipulates that there are six key principles that should be considered for the adult learner; the need to know, previous foundational knowledge, readiness, orientation to learning, motivation, and self-concept (2005). video can be a powerful tool in evaluating one’s own practice. research suggests that teachers are better able to be self-reflective when provided with a framework (calandra, gurvitch, & lund, 2008; pianta et al., 2008; pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008). there are several framework tools that can be used to measure quality in an early childhood setting. the infant toddler environmental rating scale (iters) are used to evaluate the structural quality of the environment (harms, clifford, & cryer, 2015). these tools measure interactions of children-to-adults, child-to-child, materials in the environment, the environmental space and schedule of the day. these tools assess the quality of interactions between children and adults, children with materials, and interactions within the space. although the research is clear that higher scores on these measures lead to positive outcomes for young children (mcwilliam, de kruif, & zulli, 2002), these tools focus more on the static (materials) and structural (scheduling) qualities of classrooms and do not provide as much detail on teacher practices (harms, clifford, & cryer). in 2005, the national center for research in early childhood education (ncrece) with a group of researchers developed the classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2005). this tool provides a theoretically and empirically supported framework developed to improve the quality of interactions between teacher and students in early childhood education settings. concurrent to the development of the class tool, the nation has placed enormous pressures on the education systems for accountability of quality early childhood programs to ensure promotion of stimulating and nurturing environments (hamre, goffin & kraft-sayre, 2009). existing literature reveals that both video-self-reflection and class are links for growth in children and professional development support for teachers (pianta, mashburn, downer, hammer, & justice, 2008). specific to the current study, the term “video-based” refers to the video recordings of classrooms; the consultation process and web-based video examples as a tool for reflecting upon one’s pedagogical practice with a goal of improving social behavior. self-reflection is an important process as it can lead to new ideas or perspectives (fukkink & tavecchio, 2010). the term self-discovery allows for personal insight into one’s character, motivations, or needs. placing value on changed behaviors, where an individual can be empowered through self-discovery, allowing for changes to transpire. by implementing video self-reflection, teachers benefit and feel empowered, which can promote self-efficacy. when the teachers are empowered, their outlook and behavior modeling towards educating young children should shift to promoting more positive child outcomes per research. in todays’ society, technology-based virtual professional development is deemed necessary due to school budgets, time constraints, and the increasingly changing technological interventions that are in alignment with adult learning theory. professional development, which is utilized virtually can provide cost and labor effective alternatives to traditional face-to-face coaching (levin, 2012). the purpose of the present study was to determine the teacher’s ability to utilize video selfreflection as a structured learning tool to enhance teaching practice while successfully video self reflection 63 implementing virtual professional development. the study involved two tiers of professional development; tier i included self-reflection using the class tool, and tier ii included the additional component coaching in the form of video voice-over feedback. the following two research questions guided the present study: 1) how reliably teachers used video to assess their own performance using the class tool as a framework (as compared to a class-reliable external assessor)?; and 2.) which condition (tier i, video self-reflection, and tier ii, video voiceover coaching) produced the greatest increase in teacher’s class score? setting the study was conducted at a campus-based child care center in the south that serves children from birth through pre-k. the program was accredited by the national association for the education of young children (naeyc, 2017), adheres to criteria set forth in the infant/toddler environmental rating scale (iters, 2017) and follows a reggio emilia-inspired philosophy in the education and development of young children. the reggio emilia approach is based on certain fundamental values about how children naturally learn (edwards, gandini, & forman, 2012). in this approach, children co-construct their knowledge through interactions with other people and the surrounding environment, which is an essential element of classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta et al., 2005). the class instrument evaluates interactions between teacher-child, rating the emotional climate and critical thinking of the interactions to improve learning and development. participants inclusion criteria for the present study were based on the scores from the high stakes, statemandated class external evaluation observations. state-mandated external observations have been implemented for the past three years for all childcare and preschool settings. the targeted teachers exhibited the greatest need for professional development according to their class scores from the external observations. three female teachers were selected for participation in this study (see table 1). this study received approval from the university’s institutional review board and informed consent was obtained from participating teachers. table 1 participating teachers demographic information teacher ethnicity education experience (years) age group tammy african american bachelors of science in family & consumer science 13 2-3 year olds valerie african american bachelors of science in family & consumer science 7 1-2 year olds 64 grantham-caston & dicarlo danielle african american associate of applied science in early childhood education 6 2-3 year olds instrumentation the classroom assessment scoring system (class; pianta et al., 2005) was used to measure teacher’s classroom behavior and consists of two broad domains: emotional and behavioral support and engaged support for learning. the domains are divided into dimensions, which provide more specific detail describing the facets of each domain. the class tools rating scale consists of a likert-type scale (1-7) with a score of 1-2 representing low quality teacher-child interaction, a score of 3-5 representing mid-range quality, which is described as a mixture of effective interactions, and a score of 6-7 representing high quality, which is described as teacherchild interactions which are consistently observed throughout the observation. the emotional and behavioral support domain includes the dimensions of positive climate, negative climate, teacher sensitivity, regard for child perspectives and behavior guidance. teachers who score high in this area are responsive; acknowledging children’s feelings, and supporting their autonomy. engaged support for learning includes the dimensions of facilitation of learning and development, quality of feedback, and language modeling. teachers who score high in this area have the ability to engage in activities and language that facilitates child development. observation procedure researchers asked participating teachers to identify their most stressful periods of their instructional day and targeted those times for video observation. prior to the beginning of the study, teachers were familiarized with the class tool through a training overview, reviewing the class materials and viewing/scoring the videos in the class online library. throughout the study, 15-minute video segments of each teacher’s classroom were recorded and scored using the class toddler tool. in accordance with the class tool, teachers were asked to score each video segment, making note of evidence to support their numeric scores. by utilizing video recordings for self-reflection, teachers were able to view and assess their own teacher-child interactions across class’s multiple dimensions, allowing for more effective reflection, learning, teaching and increased self-efficacy. the primary researcher was trained to reliability on the class toddler tool and also scored the videos, compiling evidence to support scoring. study conditions this study consisted of two tiers: tier i, video self-reflection, and tier ii, video voice-over coaching. teachers moved to the more intensive tier when sufficient changes to their behaviors were not observed. tier i. in tier i, teachers scored a 15-minute video clip. as a measure of fidelity, a trained reliable class observer also scored the video. the expectation was that as teachers video self reflection 65 became increasingly aware of the class criteria by scoring their own behaviors, their instructional practices with children would change and their class scores would increase. in order to determine the utility of this approach, data were collected on a weekly basis across eight months. data were plotted for visual analysis to determine the effects of tier i, video selfreflection, while also calculating each teacher’s reliability with the primary researcher. if sufficient changes were not observed through the tier i video self-reflection, the teacher moved to tier ii, video voice-over coaching. tier ii. during tier ii, the primary researcher conducted video voice-over coaching sessions via internet after each teacher self-scored her video. the video voice-over coaching session allowed the researcher to share feedback within the teacher’s current video, using screencastomatic (2017), a software tool for recording screenshots allowing visual and verbal cues to be given for areas of strengths and areas for improvement. this low-cost, low labor-intensive intervention was intended to increase teachers’ understanding of the class criteria, and identify opportunities to use the recommended criteria within the context of the classroom. the nature of the video feedback allowed each teacher to view the video multiple times to observe her own interaction and hear the primary researchers’ feedback. this fit within the andragogy framework (knowles et al., 2005), as the video allowed teachers to see opportunities within their current classroom routine to use the suggested skills. data analysis data from this study were analyzed using visual analysis (kazdin, 2011) by comparing the primary researchers’ class scores to the teachers’ scores to determine if teachers reliably scored their video and to determine if teachers were increasing their class score scores through the use of video self-reflection (tier i) or video voice-over coaching (tier ii). research design in this study, single-subject research design was used to measure the changes in teachers’ behavior and the effect of self-reflection on the teacher’s class scores by engaging teachers in a selfreflection process, through scoring videotapes of their teaching using the class tool. single subject studies allow individual modifications to be made, which allows for positive behavior interventions to be implemented (kazdin, 2011). specifically, a multiple baseline design was used to measure the impact of the intervention (tier i or tier ii) across teachers. the multiple baseline design was practical in this study, as more than one teacher required intervention. experimental control was demonstrated through repeated introduction of each tier across teachers at different points in time (kazdin, 2011). data were collected during each phase for a minimum of five data points, as recommended in the what works clearinghouse: single-case design technical documentation (kratochwill, hitchcock, horner, levin, odom, rindskopf, & shadish, 2010). 66 grantham-caston & dicarlo inter-observer agreement the primary researchers and an additional class-certified observer dually coded 22% of all observations (n= 36). within one-point reliability was used to calculate the percent agreement per dimension across all observation sessions (cassidy, hestenes, hegde, hestenes, & mims, 2005). overall reliability was 93% (range, 85-100%). reliability data per dimension were as follows: positive climate reliability 100% (range, 100%); negative climate reliability 100% (range, 100%); teacher sensitivity reliability 91% (range, 60-100%); regard for child perspective reliability 100% (range, 100%); behavior guidance reliability 91% (range, 60-100%); facilitation of learning reliability 95% (range, 60-100%); quality of feedback reliability 85% (range, 50-100%); language modeling reliability 85% (range, 60-100%). results the researchers in the current study sought to determine if video self-reflection could impact teacher practices in the early childhood classroom. two separate interventions were applied to determine their effect on teacher behavior. two research questions specifically guided this study. those questions were: 1) how reliably teachers used video to assess their own performance using the class tool as a framework (as compared to a class-reliable external assessor)? and 2.) which condition (tier i, video self-reflection, and tier ii, video voice-over coaching) produced the greatest increase in teacher’s class score? research question 1: reliability research question one sought to determine if teachers could reliably assess their own performance, during each tier of the study. reliability was calculated between the teacher and the researcher using the formula of dividing the smaller raw score by the larger raw score to calculate the percentage. within each tier, the teacher’s reliability score for the first data point was compared to reliability for the last data point to determine each teacher’s percentage point increase or decrease. domain scores were calculated within each tier by averaging the dimension percentages for the first and last data point across all dimensions in that domain to determine each teacher’s overall percentage point increase or decrease. for tammy, tier i, domain 1: emotional and behavioral support resulted in an overall increase of seven percentage points (table 2). moreover, domain 2: engaged support for learning resulted in an overall increase of 17 percentage points (table 3), resulting in tammy being 100% reliable scoring the class tool as compared to the researcher. for valerie, tier i, domain 1: emotional and behavioral support resulted in an overall decrease of 33 percentage points (table 2). moreover, domain 2: engaged support for learning resulted in an overall decrease of 23 percentage points (table 3). valarie did not reliably score the class tool as compared to the researcher. for danielle, domain 1: emotional and behavioral support resulted in an overall decrease of 6 percentage points (table 2). domain 2: engaged support for learning remained constant with 100% reliability (table 3), all while reliably scoring the class tool as compared to the researcher. video self reflection 67 at the end of tier ii, all of the teachers reliably scored the class tool as compared to the researcher. the specific results for tier ii domains 1 and 2 are as follows: domain 1: emotional and behavioral support (table 4), resulted with tammy overall decreasing by 6 percentage points, valarie having an overall increase of 1 percentage point, and danielle decreasing by 5 percentage points. in domain 2: engaged support for learning (table 5), tammy remained constant with 100% reliability, valerie resulted in an overall decrease of 13 percentage points, and danielle resulted in an overall decrease of 11 percentage points. [see tables below] video self-reflection table 2 domain 1 tier i: teachers class scores as compared to the researcher note. ∆=difference table 3 domain 2 tier i: teachers class scores as compared to the researcher note. ∆=difference teacher dimension positive dimension negative dimension teacher sensitivity dimension regard for child dimension behavior guidance domain 1 emotional and behavioral support 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ tammy 100 100 0 100 100 0 67 100 +33 100 100 0 100 100 0 93 100 +7 valerie 100 67 -33 100 100 0 100 60 -40 100 50 -50 100 60 -40 100 67 -33 danielle 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 67 -33 100 67 -33 67 100 +33 93 87 -6 teacher dimension facilitate dimension quality of feedback dimension language modeling domain 2engaged support for learning 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ tammy 100 100 0 100 100 0 50 100 +50 83 100 +17 valerie 80 50 -30 100 75 -25 100 60 -40 93 70 -23 danielle 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 video self reflection 69 table 4 domain 1 tier ii: teachers class scores as compared to the researcher note. ∆=difference table 5 domain 2 tier ii: teachers class scores as compared to the researcher note. ∆=difference teacher dimension positive dimension negative dimension teacher sensitivity dimension regard for child dimension behavior guidance domain 1 emotional and behavioral support 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ tammy 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 71 -29 100 100 0 100 94 -6 valerie 67 71 +4 100 100 0 100 100 0 67 71 +4 100 100 0 87 88 +1 danielle 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 67 71 +4 100 67 -33 93 88 -5 teacher dimension facilitate dimension quality of feedback dimension language modeling domain 2engaged support for learning 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ 1st last ∆ tammy 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 valerie 100 100 0 100 60 -40 100 100 0 100 87 -13 danielle 100 67 -33 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 89 -11 70 grantham-caston & dicarlo research question 2: change in class scores research question two sought to determine if teachers could increase their class score during each tier of the study. tables 2-5 summarize teachers’ class scores as measured by the researcher across each dimension of the class toddler tool, with the exception of the dimensions of positive climate and negative climate, as the three teachers consistently scored in the high range. teacher sensitivity. table 2 and table 4 depict teacher’s class scores within the dimension of teacher sensitivity across tier i and tier ii. in tier i, tammy’s average class score was 5 (range, 4 – 5). when the tier ii intervention was applied tammy’s average class score increased to 6 (range, 6 – 7). this represents a 1-point increase. in tier i, valerie’s average class score was 5 (range, 5 – 6). when the tier ii intervention was applied valerie’s average class score increased 6 (range, 5 – 7). this represents a 1-point increase. in tier i danielle’s average class score was 5 (range, 5 – 6). when the tier ii intervention was applied danielle’s average class score increased to 6 (range, 6 – 7). this represents a 1-point increase. regard for child perspective. table 2 and table 4 depict teacher’s class scores within the dimension of regard for child perspective across tier i and tier ii. in tier i, tammy’s average class score was 5 (range, 4 – 6). when the tier ii intervention was applied tammy’s average class score increased to 7 (range, 6 – 7). this demonstrates a 2-point increase. in tier i, valerie’s class score was 5 (range, 4 – 6). when the tier ii intervention was applied valerie’s average class score increased to 6 (range, 5 – 7). this represents a 1-point increase. in tier i, danielle’s class score averaged 5 (range, 4 – 6). when the tier ii intervention was applied danielle’s average class score increased to 7 (range, 6-7). this represents a 2-point increase. behavior guidance. table 2 and table 4 depict teacher’s class scores within the dimension of behavior guidance across tier i and tier ii. in tier i, tammy’s average class score was 5 (range, 4 – 6). when the tier ii intervention was applied, tammy’s average class score increased to 6 (range 6-7). this represents a 1-point increase. in tier i, valerie’s average class score was 5 (range, 4 – 6). when the tier ii intervention was applied valerie’s average class score increased to 6 (range, 5 – 6). this represents a 1-point increase. in tier i, danielle’s average class score was 6 (range, 4 – 6). when the tier ii intervention was applied, danielle’s average class score increased to 7 (range, 6 – 7). this represents a 1-point increase. facilitation of learning. table 3 and table 5 depict teacher’s class scores within the dimension of facilitation of learning across tier i and tier ii. in tier i, tammy’s average class score was 5 (range, 5-6). when the tier ii intervention was applied tammy’s score increase to 6 (range, 5-6). this represents a 1-point increase. in tier i, valerie’s average class score was 5 (range, 4 – 7). when the tier ii intervention was applied valerie’s average class score increased to 6 (range, 5 – 6). this represents a 1-point increase. in tier i, danielle’s average class score was 5 (range, 5 – 6). when the tier ii intervention was applied danielle’s average class score increased to 6 (range, 5 – 6). this represents a 1-point increase. quality of feedback. table 3 and table 5 depict teacher’s class scores within the dimension of quality of feedback across tier i and tier ii. in tier i, tammy’s average class video self reflection 71 score was 4 (range, 4 -5). when the tier ii intervention was applied tammy’s average class score increased to 5 (range, 4 – 6). this represents a 1-point increase. in tier i, valerie’s average class score was 4 (range, 3 – 4); when the tier ii intervention was applied valerie’s average class score was 4 (range, 3 – 5). valerie’s average class score between tier i and tier ii remained constant. in tier i, danielle’s average class score was 4 (range, 3 – 6). when the tier ii intervention was applied danielle’s average class score was 4 (range, 3 – 5). danielle’s average class score between tier i and tier ii remained constant. language modeling. table 3 and table 5 depict teacher’s class scores within the dimension of language modeling across tier i and tier ii. in tier i, tammy’s average class score was 4 (range, 2 – 5). when the tier ii intervention was applied tammy’s average class score increased to 5 (range, 4 – 6). this represents a 1-point increase. in tier i, valerie’s average class score was 4 (range, 3 – 5). when the tier ii intervention was applied, valerie’s average class score was 5 (range, 3 – 6). this represents a 1-point increase. in tier i, danielle’s average class score was 5 (range, 4 – 6). when the tier ii intervention was applied, danielle’s average class score was 5 (range 5 – 5). danielle’s average class score between tier i and tier ii remained constant. discussion the general premise of this study was to determine if teachers could reliably engage in video selfreflection when provided with a framework to increase their class scores. findings from this study echo the literature in the demonstration of the positive benefits of the use of video selfreflection with the class tool, as they are both the class tool and self-reflection are linked to growth in children and professional development support for teachers (stuhlman, hamre, downer & pianta, 2015; pianta, mashburn, downer, hammer, & justice, 2008). during tier i and tier ii, the teachers were video recorded at random, in 15-minute increments at least once during the week, unless circumstances prohibited. the videos consisted of the teachers interacting with the children during breakfast, whole group, centers, or music and movement. the rationale for non-scheduled videotaping was to garner an accurate portrayal of the classroom as experienced by the child. throughout the study, the teachers made comments on the unscheduled nature of the observations. one teacher expressed her preference for nonscheduled visits stating that although she “… was not expecting to [be videotaped] today [and she was] glad … because [the researcher was] able to see what i do every day.” another teacher expressed a similar sentiment, remarking that, “it was not that bad. sometimes i did roll my eyes when [the researcher] came in with the camera; but it was worth it. it was better not knowing when [she was] coming as i was not stressed all week knowing that i was going to be observed on a certain day.”, while another stated, “…when we know we are going to be observed we worry all week about what we are going to do.” anecdotally, the present study appeared to provide positive professional growth and collaboration among the participating teachers. during the video recording for tier i, the researcher overheard the three teachers talking with their instructional support director about the video recordings. one of the comments being expressed was the teachers’ “enjoy[ment] in watching each other’s [videos] and talking about the videos.” cherrington and loveridge’s (2014) research suggest that, “...video and collective dialogues are useful professional learning tools for 72 grantham-caston & dicarlo teachers to examine and improves their teaching, structural, and relational challenges...” (p. 1). in this study, the teachers created a scenario similarly seen within my teaching partner (pianta et al., 2008) a costly coaching component of class, which recognizes the need for a community of support. the teachers in this study created their own community of support by viewing each other’s video observations and discussing their practice and interactions with the class tool. by the end of tier ii, all the teachers reliably assessed their performance through video selfreflection using the class framework and video voice-over coaching and were able to produce reflection (cherrington & loveridge, 2014). the teachers’ scores did not decrease as they were able to process, understand and view perspectives that were used to improve their teaching practices. of the three teachers, one teacher was not reliable by the end of tier i. however, she was reliable with the researcher in her scoring of the class toddler tool with video voice-over coaching in tier ii. through the video voice-over, the coach was able to provide more specific information on which teaching practices to use and in which routines and activities within the classroom. this type of feedback in alignment with adult learning theory which recognizes that learning is intertwined and adult development occurs across multiple dimensions with learning experiences (knowles, holton & swanson, 2005). access to video self-reflection and video voice-over coaching allowed the teachers to reflect on interactions, curriculum implementation, peer interactions and relationships in the videos while matching the experience to dimensions for scoring within the class framework (calandra, et al., 2008), which lead to gains in reliable scoring of the tool. however, research suggests there may be dangers associated with not having an external perspective as one could “fail to lead to an improvement in pedagogical practice and process quality” (durand, et al., 2015, p. 38). the video voice-over coaching during tier ii provided teachers with an external perspective. teachers were instructed to watch the video voice-over and email any questions or comments to the researcher for further discussion. the tier ii interventions led to an increase in performance along with positive comments from the teachers, including the flexibility of watching the videos repeatedly and at their convenience. one teacher expressed, “i am learning more and want to continue to learn more. i see what i could have done here or there.” she also mentioned, “i score myself a 3 because i see where i need to improve... [on] scaffolding and … more small group activities.” these comments support the notion that the video feedback helped teachers to reflect on their practice and recognize where they needed to make improvements. consistent with previous literature, evidence from the present study validated that when teachers are given explicit instructions their skills increased (fukkink & tavecchio, 2010). additionally, teacher attitudes toward behavior change appeared to have been impacted. comments during tier ii, indicated that teachers were more comfortable with the process. this study echo’s lamkin’s (2015) research, which found that, although uncomfortable, teachers viewed video self-reflection to be a valuable tool in spite of discomfort. the teachers in this study commented they were uncomfortable being videoed and seeing how they looked on camera, but the benefits they received outweighed their discomfort. limitations the teacher observations could be viewed as a limitation, as we did not adhere to the class requirements of conducting three 20-minute observations. this was due to scheduling conflicts. video self reflection 73 the threats to internal validity include availability and function of the technology equipment, which prohibited videotaping on some days. furthermore, obtaining the personnel and resources needed to consistently video record teacher behavior proved to be challenging and limited our ability to collect data at different times of the day. time was also a limitation. some teachers had difficulty finding the time to score the videotapes, as this type of professional development was new to them. future research future research could include a third tier, face-to-face coaching, to examine if face-to-face coaching could further impact teachers’ performance in the instructional domain of the class tool. moving through the tiers outlined in this study would ensure that face-to-face coaching, which is the most time intensive and costly intervention, would be reserved for those needing this higher level of support. additional research could investigate if gains made through the present study were maintained over time. because the study ended in tier ii, video voice-over coaching, we cannot say with certainty if the gains maintained in the absence of continued video voice-over feedback. anecdotally, the center found that this mechanism of professional development produced the desired effect and has continued this practice on a monthly basis. although not the focus of the present study, the shift in teacher’s perspective about the process of evaluation is also noteworthy, suggesting that this process may have contributed to teachers’ increased motivation to focus on skill development. participation in this study appeared to impact teachers’ personal value of their practice, self-worth and feelings, as noted by one teacher who stated that she, “… really enjoyed [watching the videos] and learned a lot and would like to continue.” furthermore, another teacher expressed her desire to continue learning after the completion of the study, “i am taking a [workshop on the] class [tool] so i can learn more. this has prompted me to want to learn more.” conclusion in this study, teachers became increasingly aware of the class toddler tool criteria through the viewing of their videos. this impacted both their reliability in scoring and increased class scores. consistent with previous research, results of this study suggest that teachers benefited from reflection when given a framework for reflection (durand, hopf, & nunnenmacher, 2015). this study contributes to the body of literature that suggests that these methods are consistent with the needs of adult learners (knowles, 1984; knowles et al., 2005). programs striving to meet the demands of developing a well-trained staff on a limited budget might consider using video recording and reflection as part of their overall professional development plan. references andrews, a., bobo, l., & spurlock, a. 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(2011). teacher learning from analysis of videotaped classroom situations: does it make a difference whether teachers observe their own teaching or that of others? teaching and teacher education, 27(2), 259-267. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2010.08.009 stuhlman, m. w., hamre, b. k., downer, j. t., & pianta, r. c. (2015). part 2: what should classroom observation measure. retrieved february 11, 2017, from https://curry.virginia.edu/uploads/resourcelibrary/castl_practioner_part2_single.pdf https://curry.virginia.edu/uploads/resourcelibrary/castl_practioner_part2_single.pdf (continued on next page) volume 17, number 4 2015 issn: 1930-9325 contents research articles ideal leadership in head start programs: understanding leadership from the perspectives of teachers and directors in an era of changing expectations and increased accountability sandra e. gonzalez…………………………………………………………..….………….... 1 family partnership with a head start agency: a case study of a refugee family shana j. haines, jean a. summers, ann p. turnbull and h. rutherford turnbull iii….…... 22 an exploration of how the foundations intervention influences family-professional partnerships in head start: a case study vera l. stroup-rentier, jean a. summers, susan palmer and ann p. turnbull……………. 50 the role of education in the parenting practices of black parents of preschoolers kalani m. palmer and heather j. bachman……...……………….…………………….......... 66 the prevalence of medication use in head start preschool sample erin seif and john carlson………………………………………………….………….…..... 83 the effects of asthma on academic achievement in a sample of former head start children ethan j. schilling, stacey neuharth-pritchett, a. michele lease and yvette q. getch….…. 99 research-to-practice summaries ideal leadership in head start programs sandra e. gonzalez………………………………………………….….……………………. 119 family partnership: practical implications from a case study of a refugee family shana j. haines, jean a. summers, ann p. turnbull and h. rutherford turnbull iii….…... 124 family-professional partnerships in head start: practical strategies using a partnership intervention vera l. stroup-rentier, jean a. summers, susan palmer and ann p. turnbull……………. 131 black parents of preschoolers educational attainment: implications for parenting practices kalani m. palmer and heather j. bachman……...……………….…………………….......... 138 medication use in a head start sample: relevance for practitioners erin seif and john carlson………………………………………………….………….…..... 144 (continued from previous page) asthma and academic achievement: how are head start children affected? ethan j. schilling, stacey neuharth-pritchett, a. michele lease and yvette q. getch…...148 book review poverty is not a disability holly s. kihm………………..………………………………………………………….......155 dialog, 19(3), 1-26 copyright © 2016, issn: 1930-9325 research article how spanish is used in head start: observational evidence from four classrooms elizabeth b. miller new york university developmental science recommends and national head start policy mandates incorporating dual language learner (dll) children’s home language in classroom instruction. it is less clear, however, how this is implemented in the real-world context of early childhood classrooms. in four local head start centers in a predominantly spanishspeaking dll county, exploratory qualitative observations helped shed light on when the home language of spanish was used in the classroom and how it may have contributed to dll children’s school readiness skills. emergent patterns from the observations revealed that spanish was used to promote certain academic as well as planning and recall skills; to provide emotional caregiving; and to communicate with parents as well as during daily health routines. thus, in line with head start’s “whole child” model, spanish was used in the domains of academic, socio-emotional, and health development as well as to strengthen the home-school partnership. implications for practice are discussed. keywords: dlls, head start, spanish instruction the population of dual language learner (dll) children in the u.s. – young children who are learning more than one language simultaneously, their home language and english (espinosa, 2013) – is growing rapidly. from 1994-95 to 2009-10, the number of school-aged dlls increased by nearly 65% from 3.2 million students to over 5.2 million students (national clearinghouse for english language acquisition, 2011), representing the fastest growing student segment in u.s. public schools (calderón, slavin, & sánchez, 2011). among younger children in head start and early head start, dlls now represent close to 40% of all participants, over 80% of who come from spanish-speaking homes (u.s. dhhs, 2014). in recent years, there has been a national push from developmental policy reports (e.g., mancilla-martinez & lesaux, 2014; mccabe et al., 2013) and research articles (e.g., barnett, yarosz, thomas, jung, & blanco, 2007; páez, tabors, & lopez, 2007) to include and incorporate dll children’s home language as much as possible in early childhood education (ece) settings. in line with this policy, national head start mandates pertaining to dll children stipulate that programs must: 1) support children in the acquisition of their home language and english; 2) provide comprehensive head start services to families in culturally appropriate and respectful ways in line with head start’s miller 2 “whole child” model of development; and 3) improve outreach and increase enrollment and quality of services to dll children and their families (u.s. dhhs, 2008). despite these lofty and commendable goals, a number of practical challenges arise for ece educators who work with dlls, especially with regard to teaching and practice (u.s. dhhs, 2008). chief among these concerns is how to best promote dll children’s language acquisition in their home language and english as well as the difficulty finding, attracting, and retaining bilingual staff qualified in ece. teacher preparation programs in particular suffer from a paucity of coursework and a lack of professional preparation to work effectively with dll families (zepeda, castro, & cronin, 2011), though professional accreditation organizations such as the national council for accreditation of teacher education (ncate) and the national association for the education of young children (naeyc) are changing their standards to include more of a dll focus. given these practical challenges, recent developmental research and policy reports on language acquisition aim to provide guidance on how to support children’s home language in the classroom. in a recent joint statement on dlls in ece, the u.s. departments of health and human services (hhs) and education (ed) provide policy recommendations to states and ece programs on concrete ways to help promote dll children’s development. in particular, the statement stresses that ece educators must be competent about the cultures of the children they serve and should receive training on how to promote first and second language development (u.s. dhhs and ed, 2016). little research to date, however, has been able to determine exactly how teachers and staff implement these guidelines and use children’s home language in a realworld context. the purpose of the current study was thus to explore how spanish is supported day-to-day in ece classrooms. in particular, from qualitative observations in four purposelysampled head start classrooms, i explored how spanish was used in these head start settings, focusing on the ways the use of spanish may contribute to dll children’s school readiness skills. theoretical framework this study is grounded in bioecological theory, which posits that human development results from the interplay of enduring reciprocal and continuous interactions between an organism and their environment known as proximal processes (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006). through such interactions occurring on a regular basis over extended periods of time, children come to understand the world and their place in it. the effects of these proximal processes on developmental outcomes systematically vary based on the characteristics of the person and their environmental context. consequently, children respond in varying ways to the environments they encounter. the current study considers the proximal processes of spanish language interactions between teachers and dll students in the context of head start classrooms over a period of a few months. this study is guided by bioecological theory such that as part of these classroom language interactions, children continuously and reciprocally converse with adults, which extend over many turns and reference topics beyond just the immediate present. consequently, children take part in the building of a complex linguistic structure where they ultimately learn to productively use language. from early naming exchanges with adults, children eventually become more adept at responding to listener’s cues and creating sentences with new information spanish use in head start 3 (tabors, 2008). these continuous and reciprocal language interactions enable children to participate in increasingly complex ways of communicating. therefore, early language interactions support and privilege later literacy experiences (uccelli, hemphill, pan, & snow, 1999), and can be used to explore how dll children fare in an ecological context like a head start classroom where they may be encountering formal academic english for the first time. spanish-speaking dll children’s english school readiness skills as mentioned briefly above, this study uses the term “dual language learner” (dll) to describe young children who are learning more than one language simultaneously – their home language and english (espinosa, 2013). this term encompasses the diversity of this population, which includes children from a wide variety of language backgrounds. young dlls may be of limited english proficiency, completely bilingual, or may not speak their home language fluently (august & hakuta, 1997). regardless of their home language experiences, dlls have less english language exposure and practice than monolingual english-speaking children – children from homes where english is the only language – and do not perform on par with such children on various emergent english skills (august & shanahan, 2006). furthermore, the majority of dlls in the u.s. come from spanish-speaking homes (garcía, 2012), and although bilingualism per se is not a risk factor, the population of latino children represents the largest group of children living in poverty in the u.s. (lópez & velasco, 2011), which further places spanishspeaking dlls at particular risk for delayed english language development (hoff, 2013; kieffer, 2010; mancilla-martinez & vagh, 2013). incorporating the home language of spanish in the classroom using dll children’s home language of spanish in the classroom may be an important pathway through which dll children can maximize their english language learning experiences in ece, as it helps them make better connections to the material in english-dominant child care programs and promotes the linguistic context in which dll children are served (barnett et al., 2007; espinosa, 2013). a sufficiently high quality match between the classroom language environment and children’s language capabilities can help children successfully become bilingual (mccabe et al., 2013). this may be particularly true when accounting for dll children’s skills inclusive of their home language and english (hoff, 2013; mccabe et al., 2013; pearson, fernández, & oller, 1993). furthermore, given the timing of sensitive periods for language development (nelson & sheridan, 2011), the preschool years may be an ideal time to learn two languages (bialystok, 2001, 2011; paradis, genesee, & crago, 2010; kuhl, 2009; mccabe et al., 2013). bilingual programs. bilingual programs aim to provide adequate exposure and learning opportunities in english in addition to fostering the home language (goldenberg, nemeth, hicks, zepeda, & cardona, 2013). such programs include transitional models that initially help children achieve fluency in their home language and then gradually move to english instruction. several empirical studies have found that preschool classroom use of both the home language and english may lead to improvement in spanish language skills and at least equivalent english emergent literacy skills compared with spanish-speaking dll children in allmiller 4 english contexts (e.g., barnett et al., 2007; burchinal et al., 2016; durán, roseth, & hoffman, 2010; farver, lonigan, & eppe, 2009; páez et al., 2007). research on bilingual programs with older elementary-aged children suggests similar results for transitional models compared with english-only programs by fourth grade (e.g., august & shanahan, 2006; goldenberg, 2012; slavin, madden, calderón, chamberlain, & hennessy, 2011; valentino & reardon, 2015). while it appears, therefore, that bilingual education likely supports development of the home language and english, less clear are the specifics of how to really incorporate children’s home language in the classroom. as possible pathways, the literature to date has focused mainly on english vocabulary building, emotional caregiving and other socio-emotional skills, as well as engaging family members and soliciting their participation in the classroom. english vocabulary building. although continued rich language opportunities in children’s home language may transfer and promote english language acquisition in important areas such as phonological awareness and emergent literacy (august & shanahan, 2006; castro, páez, dickinson, & frede, 2011; dickinson, mccabe, clark-chiarelli, & wolf, 2004; rinaldi & páez, 2008), spanish-speaking dlls tend to lag behind monolingual-english speakers particularly in english oral language skills, and especially among low-income children (hoff, 2013; mccabe et al., 2013; páez et al., 2007). spanish-speaking dll fourand five-year olds perform one to two standard deviations below monolingual-english norms, on average, on measures of english expressive and receptive vocabulary (hoff, 2013). while an initial language gap is understandable given the limited amount of home exposure to english, vocabulary gaps between spanish-speaking dlls and monolingual-english speakers are still significant at age 11 years (mancilla-martinez & lesaux, 2011). furthermore, similar to monolingual englishspeakers, spanish-speaking dll children tend to exhibit better receptive than expressive vocabulary skills (gibson, oller, jarmulowicz, & ethington, 2012), though both have been shown to be predictive of future academic skills (páez et al., 2007). best practice, therefore, for fostering spanish-speaking dll children’s english oral language skills in the classroom recommends focusing especially on english vocabulary building, and in particular, elicitation of english vocabulary. this includes rich explanations from storybook reading, frequent reading at home and in ece programs, and practicing target vocabulary words (collins, 2010). bridging explanations of key vocabulary with supplemental spanish contextual expansions or embedding spanish explanations of new words can also help facilitate english vocabulary building (lugo-neris, jackson, & goldstein, 2010). other researchers recommend that target english words should be taught together with strategies for using information from context, from morphology, from knowledge about multiple meanings, and from cognates with the home language to infer word meaning (e.g., carlo et al., 2004). despite these recommendations, it is unclear how teachers actually implement these strategies of supporting home language and english elicitation day-to-day in head start classrooms. executive function skills. a further area that previous literature has focused on as a way to incorporate the home language of spanish in the classroom has been through goaldirected behavior skills such as executive function – a set of cognitive processes necessary for selecting and successfully monitoring behaviors that facilitate the attainment of chosen goals (chan, shum, toulopoulou, & chen, 2008). recently, researchers have begun to focus on a possible advantage for bilingual children’s executive function skills (morales, calvo, & bialystok, 2013; bialystok, 2015), and particularly in the areas of working memory, cognitive spanish use in head start 5 flexibility, inhibitory control, and planning. this line of inquiry has mostly focused on balanced bilinguals – children who have balanced knowledge and facility of two languages equally (genesee et al., 1978) – and less so on dll children who may be dominant in one language. newer work, however, on executive function skills specifically with dlls has found that spanish-speaking dll children were better at planning and cognitive flexibility (hutchison, mead, & winsler, 2015) and had greater inhibitory control (malin, aldoney, taschman, & cabrera, 2015) compared with monolingual english-speakers. given that executive function is a major predictor of children’s academic success (best, miller, & naglieri, 2011; bialystok, 2015), promoting this advantage in the classroom has the potential to help spanish-speaking dll children catch up to their monolingual peers in english academic skills. socio-emotional skills. another area where incorporating the home language may be particularly useful for dll students is socio-emotional skills. starting in the mid-1980s, research on linguistically isolated dll children found they were at higher risk for social problems because they lacked the language skills necessary to communicate with their teacher and peers (garnica, 1983). tabors (1997) found that dll children needed social interaction to acquire proficiency in english, but lacked the language skills to have these interactions. studies on older dll students found they had a more difficult time adjusting to school, scored lower on measures of self-concept, and were rated higher in shyness and anxiety and lower in peer social skills by teachers compared with monolingual english-speaking students (spomer & cowen, 2001), and further that dll students may be overlooked for special education services because programs are unsure of their abilities due to language barriers (morgan et al., 2015). other work documents that preschool-aged dlls in particular may exhibit signs of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems (nemeth & brillante, 2011). teachers’ support of children’s home language in the classroom, however, allowed for closer teacher-child relationships and better social skills for dll children, perhaps because spanish allowed the children to adjust to the social demands of the classroom (chang et al., 2007). moreover, increased use of spanish by the teacher was associated with spanish-speaking dll children being less likely to be the victims of aggression, bullying, or teasing by their peers (chang et al., 2007), as other work demonstrates that the relationship between dlls and their teacher mirrors the relationship between dlls and their monolingual-english peers (gillanders, 2007). further, the quality of this teacher-child relationship was predictive not only of behavior, but also the change in academic skills from preschool to first grade (pianta & stuhlman, 2004). family engagement. a final area that research has focused on as a mechanism for incorporating children’s home language of spanish in the classroom has been family engagement, defined as the shared educational responsibility between families and programs over a child’s lifespan (weiss, bouffard, bridglall, & gordon, 2009). the home-school relationship is important to the academic success of all children and particularly for dll children, where prior work has documented a mismatch between school participation expectations and dll parents’ beliefs about their children’s education (halgunseth, jia, & barbarin, 2013). contrary to older research indicating that teachers believe dll parents are not interested in their children’s education (lightfoot, 2004; lópez, 2001), newer work demonstrates that dll parents often express great aspirations for their children’s education (fuligni & fuligni, 2007; spera, wentzel, & matto, 2009). it appears therefore, that strong connections between dll families and child care miller 6 providers can yield important benefits for children and can maximize their experiences in ece programs (halgunseth et al., 2013). ensuring such connections necessitates providers who can speak the same language as parents in order to communicate about their children’s progress in school and ways to support their children’s learning and development at home. an essential component of head start programs therefore recognizes parents as the first and primary teachers of their children and the importance of soliciting their participation in the classroom (zigler & styfco, 2010). similar to other areas, it is unclear how this is implemented day-to-day when parents do not speak english. present study prior literature on including spanish-speaking dll children’s home language in the classroom indicates that children can maintain their home language without compromising their english language acquisition, particularly when children feel emotionally supported, and teachers focus specifically on english vocabulary and enlist participation and support from parents (carlo et al., 2004; chang, et al., 2007; collins, 2010; halgunseth et al., 2013; lugo-neris, et al., 2010). however, no known research to date has been able to determine exactly how teachers and staff incorporate the home language in actual ece classrooms. analyses of large-scale data sets on head start such as the head start impact study (hsis; u.s. dhhs, 2002-2006) and the head start family and child experiences survey, 2009 cohort (faces-2009; u.s. dhhs, 20092013) indicate that classroom use of spanish impacts some developmental outcomes more than others (miller, 2016), however these large datasets provide only a small set of dichotomized variables on classroom use of spanish and lack detail on these language interactions. the present study therefore attempted to shed light on the “black box” of what goes on inside classrooms by conducting exploratory observations in four local, purposely-sampled head start classrooms. i chose to observe the head start program in particular given its stated commitment to serving dll children (u.s. dhhs, 2008). the focal phenomenon of these observations was classroom activities that teachers engaged in with their students promoting important school readiness skills around physical, cognitive, socio-emotional development necessary for children’s success in school (u.s. dhhs, head start approach to school readiness, 2011). further, the primary unit of analysis was the language interactions around these activities. thus, the study’s principal research question was: how is spanish used in local head start classrooms, for what purposes, and how may the use of spanish in the classroom possibly contribute to dll children’s school readiness skills? results from this study provide a detailed understanding of classroom spanish use. it went beyond dichotomous variables about whether teachers reported using spanish in the classroom and instead sought to identify the different patterns underlying classroom spanish use and how they may relate to dll children’s physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional school readiness. importantly, the results initiate discussion within the research community about how to better conceptualize home language use for future studies and how to better capture the complex dynamics in the match between the classroom language environment and children’s language abilities in a real-world context. spanish use in head start 7 method sites and participants this study was conducted with exploratory observations at four local, purposely-sampled head start sites. the local head start umbrella agency in this study was located in a large, urban county in the southwestern u.s. it currently serves nearly 4,000 children, about 85% of who are latino. given the high prevalence of latino children, in conforming to national head start policy, all the local head start classrooms strived to have bilingual lead and assistant teachers (executive director, personal communication, october, 14, 2014). however, the extent of spanish use in each individual classroom varied depending on the proportion of spanishspeaking dlls as well as the spanish abilities of the teachers. thus, while all classrooms were considered bilingual by the local head start agency, there was wide variation in the extent of classroom spanish use (executive director, personal communication, october 14, 2014). based on this variability in classroom use of spanish, the executive director and the educational director of the local head start agency recommended observing four specific sites throughout the county in order to observe a range of possible spanish language classroom interactions between teachers and children over the course of a few weeks. the specific recommended sites each had a substantial population of enrolled spanish-speaking dll children, with their families having considerable variation in english language proficiency. resultantly, teachers used spanish in these classrooms to varying degrees (educational director, personal communication, october 14, 2014). for example, one of the sites served a newer spanish-speaking immigrant community with little knowledge of english, whereas two other sites served more established second-generation communities with more english language skills though still not completely proficient, and the last site served a diversity of other language dll families including a sizeable spanish-speaking population. therefore, these centers showcased that despite their common denominator of language, the extent of proficiency in english and the subsequent reliance on spanish translations among enrolled families varied considerably. further, these centers had a history of working with researchers from the local university and their directors were open to research-practice partnerships (executive director, personal communication, october 14, 2014). finally, four sites were chosen as a number that would sufficiently enable the detailed level of observational field notes. prior to the start of the study observations, i held a meeting of all the teachers at each of the four sites where i explained the study purpose and obtained consent to observe their classrooms for a period of one week. teachers were administered a short, seven-question survey in which there was a response rate of 100%. they were asked their name, if they taught the morning or afternoon head start session, and if they were a lead or assistant teacher. i specifically wanted to observe lead teachers’ classrooms, as they were the primary classroom teachers. further, teachers were also asked if they spoke spanish and to estimate the percentage of the day they believed they used spanish for instruction: 0-25%, 25-50%, 50-75%, and 75100%. about 80% of all the teachers across the sites responded they were native spanish speakers and estimated that they used spanish in their classroom at least 25% of the time. lastly, teachers were able to indicate if they did not wish to participate in the study. in purposefully selecting lead teachers to observe, i aimed for one classroom in each of the spanish percentage brackets across the four sites in order to maximize variation in classroom miller 8 use of spanish. thus, i selected one teacher who reported using spanish for instruction 0-25% of the time at the first site (this was a caucasian teacher because i did not have any spanishspeaking teachers who reported using spanish in this bracket), another teacher who reported 2550% at the second site, a third who reported 50-75% at the third site, and a final teacher who reported 75-100% at the fourth site. the latter three teachers i observed were latina and native spanish speakers. each of these four classrooms also had an assistant teacher, each of whom was latina and a native spanish-speaker who reported using spanish at least 50% of the time for classroom instruction. importantly, though the caucasian teacher responded that she did not speak fluent spanish, on her survey form she wrote that she knew some choice phrases and words and otherwise relied on her spanish-speaking assistant teacher to further assist with translation, particularly with the parents of the children in her class (lead teacher site 4, personal communication, november 21, 2014). table 1 lists information about the four lead and assistant teachers as well as the center directors, including their spanish-speaking abilities and how much time they reported instructing children in spanish. to thank them for their participation in the study, each teacher pair received a $50 lakeshore gift card to use for their classroom. spanish use in head start 9 table 1 descriptive characteristics of the head start teachers and directors site 1 site 2 site 3 site 4 ethnicity lead teacher latina latina latina caucasian assistant teacher latina latina latina latina center director african-american latina caucasian african-american native-spanish speaker lead teacher yes yes yes no assistant teacher yes yes yes yes center director no yes no no % of day reported instructing in spanish lead teacher 75-100% 50-75% 25-50% 0-25% assistant teacher 75-100% 50-75% 50-75% 50-75% note. the lead teacher at site 4 indicated she knew key words and phrases in spanish and her assistant helped translate further for her with children and parents. 10 miller data collection the observations i conducted were semi-structured and did not use an established protocol. this was partly because such an exploration has never been done so there was no suitable protocol to use, as well as because the open-ended nature of the study’s research questions did not allow for a prescribed tool. instead, the focal phenomenon of the observations was based on a recent review of quality ece practices for young spanish-speaking dlls (castro, espinosa, & páez, 2011), and the unit of analysis was each language-based interaction among teachers and students. based on bioecological theory and the continuous and reciprocal language-based interactions that are the engines of development (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006), the observations focused on when and how teachers used spanish for whole class instruction, small group and one-on-one instruction, emotional caregiving, play, classroom directions, and interactions with parents, as well as how children responded to such use. the observations also took particular note of when spanish use related to such school readiness domains as promoting children’s engagement with the teacher and their peers; planning and recall of activities; addressing challenging behaviors that are common to dlls such as difficulty expressing ideas and difficulty following directions (nemeth & brillante, 2011); and fostering time-on-task in explicit english language acquisition such as targeted vocabulary and letter-word instruction. in particular, the observations focused on classroom use of spanish in relation to the development of the english oral language skills of vocabulary and comprehension in a general context. that is, how did classroom use of spanish generally help children communicate in english? although there are many other fundamental aspects of language development such as syntax and decoding skills, phoneme knowledge, and phonological awareness, this exploratory study primarily focused on the english oral language skills of vocabulary and comprehension given that oral language is one of the key building blocks of academic competence and particularly for dll children (yesil-dagli, 2011). further, i was interested in exploring how dll children’s home language could be incorporated in the classroom to help them generally communicate in a second language as opposed to mastering all the detailed mechanical aspects of the second language. as part of the classroom observations, i was particularly interested in teachers’ interactions with parents, so i arrived at the centers prior to opening each morning and stayed until the end of the day in order to observe parent drop off and pick up for each child. further, as an additional part of my observations, at the conclusion each site’s visits i met informally with the center directors to learn more about the types of families enrolled at the center, the different ways they supported spanish at the center, and any center-specific policies for incorporating the home language. a total of 4-5 days (16-20 hours) was spent observing each classroom for a total of seventeen days observing across the four classrooms and seventy hours of detailed field notes. field notes were initially written by hand as the most flexible way to record observations. each evening, the field notes were transcribed on computer before beginning the next day’s observations. data analysis and member checks the data analysis for these observations used an inductive approach (hatch, 2002), in which the spanish use in head start 11 field notes were used to uncover specific patterns leading to more general statements about the data. for each site, first cycle coding was done using descriptive codes, which summarized in a word or phrase the topic of a passage from the observation. the purpose of this coding method was to orient me to the data in order to analyze its general topic (saldaña, 2013). the coding was completed for one site before beginning observations at the next site. thus, the codes were refined using the constant comparative method (ccm; glaser & strauss, 1967), in which new data from other sites were compared to the initial codes and codes were subsequently refined in an iterative process. examples from the final list of first cycle codes are displayed in table 2 and included children’s play, emotional caregiving by teachers, and reminders to parents. table 2 abbreviated coding framework example of instances of classroom use of spanish, site 2 codes categories themes emotional caregiving non-academic interactions promoting national head start policies of dll language acquisition children's play greetings classroom labels physical classroom space reminders to parents interactions with parents parent-child book sharing mealtimes health and nutrition routines brushing teeth vocabulary instruction academic activities furthermore, as part of the data collection and analysis, a follow-up phone conversation was conducted with each teacher regarding the observations. during these conversations, i described the types of classroom activities in which i observed them using spanish and asked if this was typical and if they agreed with what i had seen. in all cases the teachers agreed and even elaborated on their reasoning for using spanish in that situation. at the end of the conversations i asked the teachers to provide me with any more information they thought i should know on when and how they used spanish in their classrooms. all the teachers provided some concluding thoughts, which helped me refine the first cycle codes (lead teachers sites 1-4, personal communication, january-march, 2015). once the first cycle coding was completed, i then used pattern codes as a second cycle coding method, which was a more advanced way of analyzing the data to further develop a sense of overarching categories (saldaña, 2013). thus, the first cycle codes were reorganized to develop a smaller and more select list of broader categories with the goal of organizing the data into themes. pattern coding in particular helped me develop “meta-codes” or categories that identified similarly coded data such as academic activities, health and nutrition routines, and interactions with parents. moreover, after i had developed these “meta-codes” or categories, i again followed up with the teachers to discuss the emerging patterns from the data about when 12 miller spanish was used in their classrooms. many of these patterns related to how classroom use of spanish supported english oral language skills. i asked the teachers if these were reasonable conclusions based on the spanish use in their classroom. again, the teachers agreed (lead teachers sites 1-4, personal communication, january-march, 2015). in particular, the lead teacher at site 1 shared with me that she ‘tried to include spanish throughout all aspects of the formal head start curriculum.’ that is, she tried to formally incorporate spanish throughout the day within a larger framework of head start’s “whole child” model (personal communication, january 23, 2015). this model was an interesting analytic lens that i had not previously considered, but that fit very well with the data and honored the teachers’ classroom experiences. the “whole child” approach to school readiness aims to help children at risk in the targeted domains of cognitive development, socio-emotional development, health, and family functioning in order to adequately prepare children for kindergarten (zigler & styfco, 2010). given head start’s mission of supporting spanish-speaking dll children’s school readiness, such preparedness necessitates a focus on each of these core developmental domains with particular regard to how they affect dlls (u.s. dhhs, 2008). i then further refined my categories using this analytic lens in order to make a concluding key assertion about the study, which highlighted how classroom use of spanish was used to promote school readiness skills across these multiple developmental domains. an abbreviated example of the final coding framework for one of the sites is displayed in table 2 in which many codes lead to more select categories which lead to the overarching theme of supporting dlls in accordance with national head start policy. finally, i met with the center directors one last time to discuss these findings. the directors agreed that it was the goal of each center to try and include dll children’s home language throughout the day in ways that were formally and informally integrated with head start’s curriculum (executive directors sites 1-4, personal communication, january-march, 2015). results despite initial reported differences in percentage of spanish instruction by the teachers, in actuality, i observed no meaningful differences across the four head start centers in how much or how often spanish was used. rather at each site i observed spanish being used daily in the classroom and regularly throughout the day for many different activities by teachers and children. i observed frequent spanish use by teachers during formal instruction such as academic activities, mealtimes, and other health routines, as well as during other, more informal interactions such as when teachers provided to emotional caregiving to children, when they communicated daily with parents during pick-up and drop-off, and as part of the daily classroom routine. spanish was almost always coupled with english in order to assist with both direct translation and more informal conveying of context. head start’s “whole child” model of development from the observed daily use of spanish coupled with discussions with the teachers and center directors, one clear, overarching theme emerged from the data pertaining to classroom use of spanish use in head start 13 spanish in these local head start programs: spanish was used to help promote the english oral language skills of vocabulary and comprehension throughout the school readiness domains central to head start’s “whole child” model of development. that is, the data demonstrated that at each of the four sites, spanish was used explicitly to help promote english oral language skills within the school readiness domains of cognitive development, socio-emotional development, health, and family functioning. at times, spanish was used to directly translate from english both key, established vocabulary and when introducing new target vocabulary. for example, as part of formal classroom instruction, teachers said vocabulary words in one language and then explicitly translated into the other. in other instances, spanish was used for loose, contextual translations that conveyed general meaning and seemed to model for children how to switch back and forth between languages. therefore, embedded throughout each of the school readiness domains described below which are central to the “whole child” model was this focus on incorporating spanish to help promote english vocabulary and comprehension. cognitive development academic language and literacy activities. although there were spanish literacy experiences to be had in the classrooms – each classroom had story books in spanish and all the labels in the physical classroom spaces were in both languages – all of the large group language and literacy activities like story time and songs were exclusively in english. direct translation into spanish was especially prevalent when the teacher conducted these academic activities with the class, and in particular during formal instruction, as the following examples demonstrate. in one instance, i observed one of the teachers reading the very hungry caterpillar to the class. on the last day, when the caterpillar eats through several different types of food, she asked the children ‘who knows what sausage is?’ when no one answered among a sea of blank faces, the teacher elaborated, ‘sausage is chorizo.’ immediately, the realization of what sausage is registered in the faces of the children and they responded, ‘ooooh!’ in another instance, i observed one of the teachers played a cd of the music man song. as the singer named all of the instruments – piano, flute, tuba – and played a few notes on each, the teacher called out translations into spanish: ‘el piano, la flauta, la tuba!’ so that the children could imitate playing the instruments. as another example, i observed the teacher reading caps for sale to the whole class. ‘why does the man have so many caps?’ the teacher asked the class about the title page. again, blanks stares from the children. ‘ok, why does the man have so many gorras?’ after hearing this translation, the children were able to attempt an answer to the teacher’s question. thus, it was clear the children did not understand the initial question as they did not know what a cap was in english. in order for them to answer, the teacher needed to translate cap, and some other subsequent words, into spanish in order for the children to comprehend the story. in each classroom i observed, such explicit translation provided spanish-speaking dll children with more opportunities to make connections to the learning material by helping them to overcome limits with the english vocabulary (lead teacher site 1, personal communication, january 23, 2015). as the above examples demonstrate, the translations of chorizo, gorras and the different instruments helped facilitate more in-depth thinking about the content that these vocabulary limits might have impeded as well as helped increase dll children’s overall conceptual understanding of the material independent of the language in which in occurred. 14 miller other academic skills. interestingly, the explicit use of spanish during academic activities was unique to activities emphasizing oral language skills such as vocabulary during story time. during instruction in other academic domains, i observed teachers and children using english almost exclusively at each of the four sites, even in the classrooms that reported instructing children more than half the time in spanish. this was particularly the case whenever i observed instruction related to letter names and sounds. as an especially illustrative example, i observed one of the teachers during literacy time in which this entire dialogue with the children took place in english. in fact, this interaction took place in the classroom in which the teacher reported instructing in spanish 75-100% of the time on my initial survey: teacher (t): ‘today we’re going to do alliterations. these are things that start with the same letter. remember we learned “j” is for jorge, jonathan, julio, jayson, and jillian. let’s do another letter. what letter is this?’ holding up a big card with the letter “s.” class (c): ‘it’s an “s”!’ shouted several children. t: ‘great! what words start with “s”?’ c: ‘a snake!’ answered one little girl. ‘sister’ answered another girl. t: ‘great. what about sugar? what starts with “a”?’ c: ‘“a” is for adam, alejandra, and my aunt abby’ answered one child. t: ‘yes, what else starts with “a”? a-a-a-apple! ok, now let’s do “l” for my friend luke or like l-l-lion!’ c: ‘l is for luca’ said another little girl. thus, instruction in other academic domains such as the above example of letter names and sounds took place daily almost exclusively in english – the teachers asked questions and prompted the children in english, and the children responded in english. this finding was even more interesting given that certain letters in spanish and english make very different sounds such as the letter “j.” yet in the example above, the teacher did not focus on the difference in sound between jorge and julio on the one hand and jonathan, jayson, and jillian on the other. instead she instructed the children in english based solely on the letter recognition, which phonemically might be confusing for children, and yet highlights how committed teachers were to using english in these other academic domains. executive function skills. an important component of the curriculum at the local head start umbrella agency is the promotion of goal-directed behavior such as the executive function skills of planning and recall. before center time – a free-choice activity at all the sites – teachers asked each child where they planned to work that day. similarly, when center time was over, teachers asked each child to recall where they worked, what they did and with whom. these planning and recall activities were the only activities across the sites during which i observed noticeable differences in how much spanish teachers used. at two of the sites, i observed teachers using spanish for these planning and recall activities often with direct translation. in these observations, teachers asked children in one language where they planned to work during center time and then translated into the other. most children answered in english, but a few children who felt more comfortable using spanish spanish use in head start 15 answered in spanish or in a mixture of both languages. for example, i observed one teacher asking the children in her class, ‘where are you going to work today?’ and then immediately, ‘dónde van a trabajar hoy?’ one child who particularly lacked proficiency in english answered, ‘i work in’ and then ‘casita.’ the teacher then asked her how to say casita in english. when she did not respond, the teacher translated for her ‘house area. you want to work in the house area today.’ similarly, when center time was over, teachers conducted recall activities in both languages. i observed teachers asking each child, ‘where did you work and with whom?’ and then immediately ‘dónde trabajaste y con quién?’ some children responded in english such as one little girl: ‘i played with the magna tiles with arely’ while others responded in spanish like one boy: ‘trabajé en el área de bloques con ricardo,’ or in a mix of both languages like the child above. at the other two sites, i observed planning and recall occurring only in english. the sites in which teachers reported instructing in spanish the most on my initial survey (50-75% of the time and 75-100% of the time), were the same sites at which i observed teachers incorporated spanish during planning and recall time. at the sites in which teachers reported instructing in spanish less, the teachers did not use spanish during these interactions. thus, at half of the sites when promoting goal-directed behavior such as planning and recall, i observed teachers using spanish to promote the english oral language skills of vocabulary and comprehension when instructing spanish-speaking dlls, particularly if they reported conducting a higher percentage of their instruction overall in spanish. these differences, however, were only observed during planning and recall time specifically. at no other time and for no other activities did i observe differences across the sites in how much spanish was used during the day. daily routines the focus on the english oral language skills of vocabulary and comprehension was not just limited to academic activities, as spanish was also used regularly throughout the daily routine. for example, i often heard several of the teachers asking, ‘who has to go to the bathroom? baño anyone? baño?’ spanish in the daily routine especially occurred throughout the day to help the class transition: ‘five more minutes. cinco minutos más.’ spanish was also used daily in all the classrooms to help support the home language during the morning routine on the carpet. during this time the teacher sang a good morning song in both english and spanish and provided an overview of the day, including reviewing the calendar. in one typical instance i observed the teacher asking the class, ‘ok, let’s talk about the calendar. luke, do you know what month it is?’ luke answered, ‘january.’ ‘very good. today is january 14, 2015,’ the teacher responded and then repeated, ‘14 de enero.’ in another observation, the teacher asked, ‘what day is today?’ several children shouted ‘monday!’ ‘that’s right. today is monday. hoy es lunes,’ answered the teacher. i even observed the teacher who was not a native spanish speaker translating the months and days of the week into spanish as part of the words and phrases she knew how to say. these translations ensured that all the children understood the key aspects of the calendar (lead teacher site 4, personal communication, march 6, 2015). 16 miller socio-emotional development another integral part of head start’s “whole child model” emphasizes socio-emotional skills. here as well, spanish was embedded throughout the language interactions within this domain in order to promote english vocabulary and comprehension, though it was used in a less formal manner than during instructional time where there was often direct translation between english and spanish. the language interactions emphasizing socio-emotional skills, such as when teachers provided children with emotional caregiving, were often more casual in nature as they were not part of formal classroom activities. thus, there were fewer direct translations from one language to another and more a conveyance of general meaning as the following examples indicate. further, these interactions modeled for the children how to switch back and forth between languages while helping to build english vocabulary (lead teacher site 2, personal communication, february 6, 2015). emotional caregiving. when teachers provided emotional caregiving to the spanishspeaking dll children in their class, which was a common daily activity at each of the four sites, i observed that they did so first in spanish and then loosely translated into or continued speaking in english. this included addressing a child as mija or mijo, a slang term of endearment in spanish, used in such instances as when teachers said, ‘siéntate mija. sit down sweetie.’ or ‘qué pasó mijo? what’s wrong sweetie?’ in other instances, teachers used spanish and then continued loosely in english to compliment children in a similar manner: ‘me gusta la trenza en tu pelo. your braid is so pretty.’ and ‘míra. tienes frozen en tu camisa. qué linda! i like your frozen shirt.’ likewise, when children felt ill, i observed that teachers tended to use a combination of both languages to help convey general meaning and build vocabulary: ‘qué te duele? tell me what hurts.’ or ‘sé que no te sientes bien. your mommy is coming to pick you up so you can feel better.’ lastly, teachers used spanish to help navigate conflict between children: ‘diana, agarraste la muñeca de patricia. you need to apologize to her. you can’t just grab things from other people.’ again, these examples illustrate that when providing informal emotional caregiving, teachers used spanish to help convey meaning in a general context rather than as direct translations from english. health routines another important part of the head start curriculum focuses on health routines, as good physical health, including nutrition, is imperative to children’s success in school (zigler & styfco, 2010). thus, mealtimes of breakfast and lunch were an essential part of the children’s day as was time to brush their teeth after eating in the morning. during both of these types of routines, teachers actively participated with the children, sitting with them at the table and eating the same foods as well as helping them to brush their teeth afterwards. health routines were therefore considered formal classroom learning opportunities. an extraordinary amount of language interactions occurred during these routines and, at each site, i observed the teachers incorporating spanish in a way that seemed to promote english vocabulary and comprehension. mealtimes. the menu for head start changed daily in order to provide the children spanish use in head start 17 with access to varied, healthy foods. at each site, the children sat at two long tables. one teacher sat with the children at the first table while the other teacher sat with the children at a second table. given the many different types of food that the children encountered and head start’s specific curricular focus on healthy foods, several of the language interactions that occurred during mealtimes had to do with the food itself and directly translating key vocabulary from one language to another. for example, i observed one teacher asking her table: ‘what food is this?’ ‘carrots!’ responded several children. ‘yes, carrots. zanahorias.’ in another instance the teacher said: ‘we are going to pass around the salad. what color is the salad?’ ‘green!’ answered the children. ‘that’s right. the salad is green. verde. that means it’s healthy for our heart.’ another time i observed the teacher ask: ‘what fruit is this?’ ‘it’s a tangerine’ responded the children. ‘yes, a tangerine. do you know what fruit it is related to?’ when none of the children answered, she continued, ‘it’s similar to an orange. una naranja.’ yet, other times during the meals, the language interactions consisted more of casual small talk, and were similar in scope to when teachers provided emotional caregiving to children. in these cases the teacher said something in spanish and then loosely translated into or continued speaking in english to convey general meaning. for example, i observed one teacher asking: ‘qué hiciste el fin de semana pasado? did it rain on saturday or sunday?’ in another instance i observed one little girl tell the teacher, ‘tengo una mascota en mi casa.’ ‘oh yeah? what kind of pet?’ the teacher asked. it was clear the little girl did not understand the teacher because the teacher quickly said, ‘qué tipo de mascota tienes?’ ‘un perro’ answered the little girl. ‘patricia has a dog,’ the teacher told the rest of her table. thus, whether formally discussing the actual food itself or during other casual, peripheral conversation, mealtimes offered rich opportunities to use spanish to promote english oral language skills of vocabulary and comprehension. at times these interactions consisted of direct translation between languages, particularly when discussing the foods served as a formal part of head start’s curriculum. and in other instances the language interactions were more casual and provided meaning in a more general context while seeming to model for children how to switch back and forth between languages. teeth brushing. another important health routine in head start is teeth brushing. each child had their own toothbrush at the center that they used daily to brush their teeth after breakfast. during this time at each site, i observed that the teachers often used spanish when they began the activity with the class to help explain the routine: ‘we brush our teeth all over. inside, outside, top, bottom, and tongue,’ which was immediately followed by, ‘dentro, afuera, arriba, abajo, y la lengua,’ while imitating the act of teeth brushing. similarly, i often heard teachers say, ‘nos cepillamos los dientes para tener dientes y encías saludables. we brush our teeth so we can have healthy teeth and gums.’ once the introduction to the brushing routine was over, because teachers assisted children with teeth brushing one-on-one instead of in a group, i observed the teachers go back and forth between languages depending on the child they were assisting. teeth brushing was therefore one of the rare activities in the classroom that teachers could specifically tailor their language choice with a child at the individual level. they spoke in english to children who were able to understand: ‘arely, come brush your teeth,’ and ‘run your toothbrush under the water when you are finished brushing,’ and they spoke in spanish to children who lacked proficiency with english and then directly translated for them: ‘no necesitas tanta pasta. you don’t need so much toothpaste.’ thus, teeth brushing was a unique opportunity to expose children english vocabulary and comprehension in a much more individualized manner because teachers assisted 18 miller them one-on-one. family functioning a final primary component of head start’s “whole child” model is family engagement. head start recognizes parents as the first and primary teachers of their children and the importance of soliciting their participation in the classroom (zigler & styfco, 2010). the centers i observed therefore made a special effort to engage parents. at each site, all communications and reminders to parents as well as classroom bulletin boards were in both english and spanish, and teachers reported on children’s progress in both languages. the bilingualism promoted by these local head start centers helped foster a close parent-caregiver connection regarding the child, particularly because many of the parents did not speak english proficiently (center director site 3, personal communication, february 20, 2015). during my time in the classrooms, i purposely arrived at the centers before they opened and stayed until all the children left in order to observe teachers greeting each child and their parent in the morning and afternoon. they always did so both in english and spanish: ‘good morning. buenos días.’ ‘good bye. see you tomorrow. adios. hasta mañana.’ other classroom reminders usually followed these salutations with teachers directly translating for parents from one language to another: ‘head start estará cerrado el próximo lunes por el día de martin luther king. next monday the center will be closed for mlk day.’ ‘today there is a mandatory lice check. necesitamos chequear las cabezas de los niños para piojos.’ ‘remember, we have a parent-teacher conference this afternoon at 1:30. tenemos una reunión de padres a la 1:30.’ teachers also often reported on children’s progress to their parents in both english and spanish: ‘luke did not wear his glasses today. luke no usó sus gafas hoy.’ ‘jonathan no comía hoy. jonathan did not eat his lunch today.’ ‘oliver played very nicely with the other children today. oliver jugó muy bien con los otros niños hoy.’ at the site in which the teacher did not speak spanish, she primarily spoke to parents in english with some key words in spanish: ‘good morning. buenos dias. i will see you this afternoon for our conference,’ and then the assistant teacher directly translated the rest for her in spanish. because the majority of the parents served by the local head start umbrella agency spoke only cursory english, they relied on the spanish translations from the teachers for the bulk of their understanding. these translations not only helped teachers and parents communicate effectively, but they also simultaneously helped the parents learn key english vocabulary words (center director site 3, personal communication, february 20, 2015). it is possible that with these few key english words, parents could communicate better with their children who often switched back and forth between languages. thus, within each of head start’s “whole child” school readiness domains – cognitive development, socio-emotional development, health, and family functioning – spanish was used to promote english vocabulary and comprehension. spanish was often included as part of formal classroom instruction when teachers introduced vocabulary words in one language and then directly translated into the other. in other instances, spanish was used for loose, contextual translations that conveyed general meaning and seemed to model for children how to switch back and forth between languages. figure 1 visually displays how spanish was incorporated throughout each of these school readiness domains. spanish use in head start 19 figure 1. the promotion of english oral language skills in accordance with head start’s “whole child” model of development. discussion this study conducted exploratory observations at four local head start sites to ascertain how spanish was supported day-to-day in ece classrooms. in particular, through analysis of detailed field notes, i examined how spanish was used in local head start settings, for what purposes, and how the use of spanish may possibly contribute to dll children’s school readiness skills. results from two cycles of coding, inductive analysis, and extensive member checks revealed that spanish was used to help promote english oral language skills of vocabulary and comprehension in accordance with head start’s “whole child” model of development in the school readiness domains of cognitive, socio-emotional and health development, as well as family functioning. this was true at all the sites i observed despite initial self-reported differences by the teachers in percentage of daily spanish instruction. this finding is consistent with bioecological theory and the proximal processes that are the engines of development (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006) as it detailed the reciprocal and continuous classroom language interactions in head start occurring between teachers and children. the constant incorporation of spanish at each site across developmental domains seemed to help solidify dll children’s understanding of english. the key assertion constructed from this study, therefore, is that classroom use of spanish was quite deliberate in many head start activities, and it was tailored in ways that may promote important school readiness skills across multiple developmental domains for spanish-speaking dll children. through the explicit focus on building english vocabulary and comprehension skills, it is possible the children at this local head start agency will be better prepared for kindergarten as oral language is one of the key building blocks of academic competence and particularly for dll children (yesil-dagli, •emotional caregiving •greetings •physical space •classroom reminders •storytime •songs •executive function skills •mealtimes •teeth brushing health cognitive socioemotional family functioning 20 miller 2011). this key assertion also converges with previous literature on incorporating the home language in the classroom necessitating a special focus on english vocabulary for spanishspeaking dll children (carlo et al., 2004; chang et al., 2007; collins, 2010; lugo-neris et al., 2010). teachers explained their reasoning for using spanish in the classroom as follows: ‘as the year goes on, i try to identify who needs more english or who needs more spanish. now almost all children made progress using english, though i’m still using both languages with the class to help those who need a little more in spanish’ (lead teacher site 2, personal communication, february 6, 2015) similarly, ‘i follow the lead of the child. if i speak to them in english and they answer in spanish, i know they feel more comfortable with the latter and will switch to spanish myself’ (lead teacher site 1, personal communication, january 23, 2015). thus, at each of the four sites i observed, teachers were purposeful in their use of spanish and for particular children. such classroom use of spanish helped children maintain connections with their home language in way that furthered their english language acquisition (center director site 3, personal communication, february 20, 2015). this may have been particularly the case when children felt emotionally supported, and teachers focused specifically on english vocabulary and enlisted participation and support from parents, as prior research suggests these to be important elements for preschoolers to maintain their home language while learning a new one (carlo et al., 2004; chang, et al., 2007; collins, 2010; halgunseth et al., 2013; lugo-neris, et al., 2010). although teachers used spanish often to help promote english oral language skills of vocabulary and comprehension during activities such as story time and singing songs, they used english almost exclusively during instruction in other academic domains. this was especially true for instruction related to letter names and sounds. it may be that the dll children already had sufficient exposure to english letter names and sounds from sources like television and media even if they used spanish exclusively in the home, so there was no added benefit for the teacher instructing the children in spanish for these domains. on the other hand, perhaps the children were answering based on rote memorization, which was possible in the format of the lessons on letter names and sounds, and they really would have benefitted from instruction in spanish in this domain. further, although a central component of oral language also includes expressive vocabulary, the spanish language interactions i observed between teachers and children were largely limited to receptive vocabulary. it may be that even though teachers were able to include children’s home language in the classroom, the curriculum they used was very didactic and teacher-centered. perhaps more child-centered instruction would have allowed for more elicitation of english vocabulary. nonetheless the lack of english expressive vocabulary in the classroom seemed like a missed learning opportunity for children to develop this critical academic skill, though both receptive and expressive vocabulary have been found to be predictive of future academic success for dlls (páez et al., 2007). despite the heavy use of spanish in the classroom, english played a prominent role in many academic activities for spanish-speaking dll children: ‘at the end of the year i hope all the children will understand english because they are going to kindergarten all in english.’ since most of the kindergartens that these head start children will attend predominantly use only english, teachers felt responsible for ensuring that the children were ready for such instruction (lead teacher site 2, personal communication, february 6, 2015). thus, the teachers seemed to incorporate a great deal of english in their classrooms in order to conform to these educational expectations of dll children. future research can further explore why teachers of spanish spanish use in head start 21 speaking dll children use spanish in some academic domains more than others, why spanish tends to be used for activities that promote receptive but not expressive vocabulary, and importantly, how to ease the disconnect between best practice on language development necessitating using the home language on the one hand and the focus on english for academic activities to prepare dll children for kindergarten on the other. the use of english for the majority of classroom academic activities highlights the effortful balance between providing adequate exposure and learning opportunities in english and fostering spanish-speaking dll children’s home language. the difficulty ensuring this balance was expressed by many head start teachers nationwide as they reported struggling how to best promote dll children’s language acquisition, as well as how to best to support their transition out of the head start program (u.s. dhhs, 2008; zepeda et al., 2011). results from this study indicated that the teachers i observed navigated these same difficulties arguably with some success. teachers used spanish to promote english oral language across multiple developmental domains in accordance with head start’s “whole child” model and to help nurture the homeschool partnership, but they also used a great deal of english to adequately support children with the english language demands of kindergarten by helping them to overcome language barriers. such a balance can hopefully be a model to other centers, particularly when they serve large numbers of spanish-speaking dlls, as programs know it is important to support the home language, but often struggle how to do so. the joint policy recommendations from the u.s. dhhs and ed for ece educators can be particularly useful here including fostering a climate that embraces diversity, partnering with families, and using a specific approach for second language acquisition (2016). significance and future directions the results from this research have possible significance for practice. the local head start umbrella agency in this study spends a considerable share of their annual budget hiring bilingual teachers. however, as this study demonstrates, even the teacher who was not fluent in children’s home language of spanish, but knew important words and phrases, was able to use the home language and successfully address the needs of dll children in her class together with the support of a spanish-speaking assistant teacher. therefore, in cases where head start cannot hire an appropriate, highly-qualified bilingual teacher, it may behoove the program to teach the new hire key words and phrases that they can use with the dll students in their class and pair them with an assistant who speaks the language. hiring a monolingual english-speaking teacher, however, does not negate the importance of the teacher being able to communicate effectively with parents, which may require a deeper and more detailed knowledge of the home language. in this instance, an assistant teacher who speaks the home language can be particularly helpful as was the case in this study. to that end, the recent policy recommendations from the u.s. dhhs and ed stress the importance of considering the language background of children in the community when making hiring decisions (2016). moreover, this study examined classroom use of the spanish language specifically. spanish-speaking dll children accounted for about 85% of all the total enrolled children at this umbrella head start agency, and in the u.s. as a whole, the majority of dlls come from spanish-speaking homes (garcía, 2012). the spanish language is ubiquitous as latinos are the fast-growing population in the u.s. such a substantial majority minority population allows 22 miller institutions such as head start to have the language resources and capacity to accommodate the language needs of these children. parents of current or former head start children make up close to 25% of all head start staff and spanish-speaking dll families account for almost 40% of all head start participants (u.s. dhhs, 2014), thus creating an infrastructure in which many head start staff members speak spanish. this may not be the case with other language minority groups. although spanishspeaking dll children were the vast majority of the head start participants at this umbrella agency, there was also a considerable asian population, which was very diverse and included vietnamese, korean, hmong, chinese, and filipino children. the classrooms i observed had very few of these children, and it would be interesting to see how head start accommodated these home languages, particularly because they are not as similar as spanish is to english. would it be possible, for example, to teach an english-speaking teacher the same key words and phrases to communicate effectively with other dll children and parents or to solely rely on an assistant teacher for translation? future work can observe these types of classrooms to gain insight into how centers incorporate home languages that are less common. interviews with center directors indicated this was possible (center director site 3, personal communication, february 20, 2015), though again, it is still unclear how this actually occurs day-to-day. lastly, it is important to acknowledge that although the centers i observed tried to be mindful in incorporating the home language in ways that truly respected the family’s culture and language, underlying this instruction was the presumption that children would become sufficiently fluent in english, and the expectation was that the dll children would learn english successfully. during my observations and in my discussions with the teachers and directors, there was no mention of the benefit of instructing in spanish for the few english-only speaking children in the class, or how this might possibly enable them to learn some spanish words as well. true dual-immersion programs in spanish and english do exist in head start, such as the east harlem bilingual head start program. however, the centers i observed were not among them. future work can examine how these dual-immersion centers incorporate spanish when it is considered on equal footing with english. in sum, this study used exploratory observations to investigate how spanish was supported day-to-day in ece classrooms and how it may have possibly contributed to spanishspeaking dll children’s school readiness. consistent with bioecological theory (bronfenbrenner & morris, 2006) as well as prior research in this area (carlo et al., 2004; chang et al., 2007; collins, 2010; lugo-neris et al., 2010), the findings reveal that spanish was quite deliberate in head start classrooms and was used to promote english oral language skills of vocabulary and comprehension across multiple school readiness domains in line with head start’s “whole child” model of development. given that oral language is one of the key building blocks of academic competence and particularly for dll children (yesil-dagli, 2011), the constant incorporation of spanish at each site across domains seemed to help solidify dll children’s understanding of english in ways that may prepare them sufficiently for kindergarten in cognitive, health, and socio-emotional development. references august, d. l., & hakuta, k. 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(2010). the hidden history of head start. new york, ny: oxford university press. nhsa dialog, 25(1), copyright © 2022, issn: 1930-9325 head start parents’ views on family-centered care: a research to practice summary luz m. torres-rendón katherine m. zinsser university of illinois in chicago this study looked at components of head start parent-teacher relationships: teachers’ knowledge and use of family-centered practices. specifically, the purpose of the research was to examine the perspective of head start parents and to better understand their classroom experiences as they relate to family-centered care. family-centered classroom practices and family-specific knowledge are two important components of developing effective parent-teacher relationships. the study used a national sample of head start teachers and parents. results suggest that parents and teachers tend to agree consistently on their perceptions of familycentered practices and responsiveness, across a variety of classroom settings. these results point to the importance of continuing to support teachers’ professional and family-specific substantive knowledge in order to promote positive relationships with families. keywords: early childhood education, head start, parent-teacher relationships introduction family engagement is a key component of early childhood education and has long been a focus in the performance standards of our nation's largest publicly funded preschool program, head start (u.s. department of health and human services, 2016). family engagement is a multidimensional construct that encompasses a variety of behaviors in which parents and the family unit play an active role in engaging in and enhancing their childrens’ learning experiences (epstein, 1995). there’s a robust literature base around the benefits of family engagement on childrens’ academic, as well as, social and emotional outcomes (barnard, 2004; rimm-kaufman et al., 2003). although family engagement is frequently discussed as school-based behaviors (e.g. parents volunteering in the classroom), family engagement models have moved towards incorporating home-based behaviors, such as parents extending classroom learning into the home. these more recent models have moved towards highlighting parents’ active role in facilitating the home-school research to practice summary 74 torres-rendón & zinsser connection (fantuzzo et al., 2000). at the same time, there has been an increasing recognition of the role that teachers play in cultivating a strong and positive relationship with families that can further promote parents’ engagement and comfort in interacting with the school system, therefore enhancing children’s learning (herman & reinke, 2017; nzinga-johnson et al., 2009). this research has, for the most part, paid little attention to the backgrounds and characteristics of teachers who are more skilled in utilizing family-centered practices (fcps) and has wholly disregarded parents’ perspectives. instead, most studies of family engagement and fcps rely on teachers’ perspectives and self-reported behaviors. fcps are also often described as a static component of the classroom and universally implemented for all children and families (trivette et al., 2010). in practice, however, fcps are supposed to be individualized, flexible, and responsive to each family’s unique circumstances (ramos et al., 2015). given the increasing diversity of families served by early care and education, it is unclear how similar families' experiences of fcps are within the same classroom and whether and how the racial and ethnic composition of a classroom is associated with parents’ and teachers’ reports of fcp use. this study aims to address this gap in the literature by focusing on identifying teacher professional characteristics that relate to how parents perceive their relationships with their classroom teachers across a variety of classroom contexts. of similar importance, another factor related to how parents and teachers form effective relationships is the level of knowledge parents share about their own culture and family rearing practices (i.e. family-centered knowledge) with their classroom teachers. when parents and teachers engage in ongoing communication, it encourages teachers to engage in more responsive practices and to be more attentive to family needs (bromer et al., 2011). establishing a solid parentteacher relationship promotes ongoing interactions and communication that empowers both teachers and parents (swick, 2004). therefore, it’s critical for teachers to cultivate high-quality interpersonal relationships with parents in order to support parent engagement and foster trust with families. current study the purpose of our study was to explore teacher characteristics that may influence parents’ perceptions of their teaching practices related to family-centeredness and responsiveness. we had four research questions: 1. what teacher personal and professional characteristics predict parents’ perceptions of family-centered practices? 2. to what extent does classroom composition influence parents’ perceptions of family centered practices? 3. what teacher personal and professional characteristics predict parents’ perceptions of family-specific knowledge? 4. to what extent does classroom composition influence parents’ perceptions of family-specific knowledge utilization? parents’ views of family-centered care 75 in order to examine and answer these research questions, we used secondary analysis of parent and teacher survey data collected through the head start family and child experiences survey (faces 2014-215 cohort). faces 2014 was a nationally representative study of head start programs, teachers, children, and families. the participants in our sample included 227 head start teachers and 474 parents who completed the fptrq questionnaires and demographic surveys. in order to examine these research questions, we completed hierarchical linear models to examine teacher characteristics that predicted parents’ perceptions of family-centered practices, and perceptions of family-specific knowledge utilized by their classroom teacher separately. we examined these teacher characteristics as predictors: teacher’s level of education, years of experience, training, race and ethnicity, and self-reported family-centered practices. key findings when examining the relationship between our key variables via correlations, teachers who reported greater levels of education also reported having more teaching experience, endorsed attending training in supporting dual-language/diverse learners, and also reported utilizing a greater number of family-centered practices in their classroom. conversely, thse teacher characteristics (education, years of experience, training, and self-reported practices) were not associated with parents’ perception of teachers' use of family-centered practices or parents’ perceptions of responsiveness in teaching, displaying or utilizing family-specific knowledge to engage parents. alternatively, parents' perceptions of family-specific knowledge was associated with perceptions of family-centered practices. meaning when parents when parents’ felt comfortable disclosing family-specific information with their classroom teacher (e.g. “how comfortable would or do you feel sharing with your childcare provider or teacher your employment status”), they also reported higher levels of family-centered practices displayed by their classroom teacher (i.e. collaborating, communicating, or responsive to families needs). when examining our research questions, we ran hierarchical linear models. through these models we did not find that teachers' demographic or professional characteristics significantly predicted higher family-centered practice or family-specific knowledge as reported by parents. when examining the role of the racial/ethnic composition of the students across head start classrooms, we found a significant interaction between teachers’ self-reported family-centered practices and parents’ perceptions of these practices. meaning, the classroom had a differential effect on parents and teachers agreement and convergence around these practices. moreover, there is a higher convergence in agreement between teachers and parents in classrooms where there is lesser degree of diversity among the children. conversely, there is lower agreement between parents and teachers in classrooms with higher heterogeneity and racial diversity. 76 torres-rendón & zinsser summary and recommendations teachers and parents play an important role in ensuring all children are thriving. specifically, teachers are tasked with creating a welcoming environment, engaging in family-centered practices in order to engage parents, and develop trusting relationships with families in order to have the individualized tools to support the families and children they serve. in this study, we examined the factors that may contribute to parents’ perceptions of family-responsive practices, as well as parents’ comfort in disclosing family-specific knowledge. we found a difference in the way parents and teachers perceived family-centered activities across different classroom contexts. additionally, we did not find significant predictors of family-centered practices or family-specific knowledge related to teachers’ education and professional development training. this highlights the importance of ensuring head start teachers are adequately trained to support the diversity of families they serve. when parents and teachers are able to collaborate, build trust, and develop open and ongoing communication, children and families are better supported. with this in mind, head start is a leading program that serves over a million children a year. through consistent implementation of their family engagement practices, they serve as an example for early childhood programs across the country. this study sheds light on the complexities of fostering and developing high quality parent-teacher relationships. this study only focused on parents’ perceptions of family-centered care and their perceptions of comfort in disclosing family-specific knowledge. moving forward, head start programs can continue to support families by creating welcoming environments, and adequately supporting teachers with family-focused professional development. these ongoing learning opportunities could include additional training, peercoaching, and education about reciprocal communication and family engagement. our results suggest that although teachers’ might believe that they are engaging in family responsive practices, they are not always consistent or explicit when we ask parents about their experiences. references barnard, w. m. 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(2015). understanding and measuring providers’/teachers’ cultural sensitivity with families: lessons learned and measurement recommendations (opre report 2015-55; p. 19). washington, d.c.: office of planning, research and evaluation, administration for https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 parents’ views of family-centered care 77 children and families, u.s. department of health and human services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/understanding_measuring_providers_teachers_c ultural_sensitivity.pdf rimm-kaufman, s. e., pianta, r. c., cox, m. j., & bradley, r. h. 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(2016). head start performance standards and other regulations. washington, dc. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/policy/45-cfr-chap-xiii/1302-50-family-engagement https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?kbbxn4 nhsa dialog, 24(1), copyright © 2021, issn: 1930-9325 curriculum, training and coaching to support the development of emergent language and literacy skills barbara gunn influents innovations & oregon research institute jessie marquez & natasha compton influents innovations keith smolkowski oregon research institute this article discusses the need for accessible, practical, and cost-effective professional development and teaching materials for head start teachers in developing their children’s emergent language and literacy skills. we describe the components of abcduet, a program designed to make training and coaching in language and literacy teaching practices more effective, accessible, user-friendly, and sustainable using innovative software and video assets. we summarize a study investigating the feasibility and efficacy of abcduet implementation on teacher and child outcomes from an evaluation of the program in 21 head start classrooms. results indicated that the program can be implemented in authentic preschool settings by teachers with varied educational backgrounds and experience, serving children with a wide range of emergent language and literacy skills. we conclude with feedback from study teachers on their experiences using abcduet’s technology and its components. keywords: emergent language and literacy, professional development, coaching, video technology introduction reading ability is powerfully affected by the emergent language and literacy skills children acquire in early childhood (dickinson et al., 2003; landry et al., 2017; mccardle et al., 2001; national early literacy panel, 2008). the importance of teaching these early literacy skills is represented in the learning goals and curriculum frameworks across a broad range of early childhood policy reports (naeyc, 2018; head start, early reading first: jackson et al., 2007; gamse et al., 2008). research to practice summary 68 gunn et al. with the growing knowledge base on the mechanisms underlying reading acquisition, there is general agreement among practitioners and researchers on the need for commercially published preschool curricula that develop the early literacy and language skills that provide a foundation for early reading development (dickinson et al., 2003; nichd, 2005; mccardle et al., 2001). most preschool curricula include instruction in the evidence‐based components of early language and literacy with age-appropriate activities and thematic content. however, curricula do not consistently give teachers clear directions on instructional approaches to maximize learning for all children, especially those with limited home learning experiences (pcerc, 2008). this includes lack of specific guidance on how to explicitly present activities and how to provide sufficient practice, feedback, and review. additionally, most curriculum designers attend only superficially to the organization and sequencing of this content, which overlooks the importance of providing teachers with a theoretically sound instructional design to follow. in addition to quality curricula, a related and important need exists for accessible, practical, and cost-effective training and coaching to support teachers in giving their children age-appropriate instruction that engages them and supports their development (locasale-couch et al., 2016; piasta et al., 2020). the traditional one-size fits all ‘in-service’ model for training teachers in evidencebased practices offers limited opportunities for the ongoing practice and follow-up coaching feedback necessary to fully master and implement new teaching practices within a dynamic classroom environment. typical coaching also provides limited avenues for helping teachers reflect on, and adjust their teaching practices, especially in preschools with limited resources to provide teachers with extended support. overview of abcduet as part of a strategy to improve long-term health and education outcomes, the national institute of child health and human development (nichd) funded the development and evaluation of abcduet. the program is designed to support teachers and assistants by making training and coaching in emergent language and literacy teaching practices more cost-effective, accessible, user-friendly, and sustainable. abcduet aligns with the practice-based coaching model currently used in head start centers, and offers a solution for early education programs seeking effective instructional materials, training and coaching resources. in this section we give a brief overview of the abcduet teaching tools, training and coaching components. abcduet teaching tools and materials abcduet tools and materials are colorful, durable, and portable materials designed for carrying out teaching and learning routines. the supporting materials include alphabet wall cards, abc picture word cards, and letter air trace cards. the materials are used for a series of brief, engaging, developmentally appropriate two to three-minute teaching routines that address the primary domains of emergent language and literacy: phonological awareness, alphabetic understanding, print awareness and vocabulary and oral language. curriculum training and coaching 69 the teaching tools and materials are used across the 29 instructional modules of abcduet. the sequencing of new content and skills in the modules is designed to give children multiple opportunities, within and across modules, to use their new knowledge (piasta & wagner, 2010). once new content and skills have been taught and practiced, review is programmed into the program scope and sequence, giving children opportunities to practice and use what they have learned. in the first three modules children learn simple behavioral routines for participating in circle time activities. these routines are practiced and re-taught as needed. the activities in the following 26 modules focus on teaching letter names and their most common sounds, how to form the letters of the alphabet using gross-motor skills, and developing vocabulary and oral language through interactive read-alouds and child-centered conversations using new vocabulary words. training and coaching in addition to the initial abcduet training, which can be delivered by head start staff, the program includes an online platform designed for interactive follow-up training and coaching. this webbased application for computer, or mobile app for tablet or smartphone, facilitates the ongoing modeling, practice, and feedback necessary for teachers to master and implement evidence-based teaching practices. teachers can access organizational materials, such as the scope & sequence, to guide their language and literacy teaching schedule. teachers can view video presentations that give the research evidence and rationale for the routines and teaching practices. they can also view models of the teaching routines being carried out with children in real classrooms. abcduet’s coaching framework helps teachers and coaches engage in specific, responsive, and supportive feedback interactions. after teachers watch the videos of teachers teaching the routines, they rehearse the routines by role playing both the roles of the teacher and child with their coach. teachers learn and practice one new routine at a time, and video record their instruction with their children to share with their coach. teachers in the study reported that they valued the step-by-step approach to coaching, with minimal demands on their time. several teachers shared that it was challenging to record themselves at the beginning, but they found it beneficial to see what worked, what could be improved, and to notice details that were difficult to catch in real-time. current study after the components of abcduet were developed and field tested, we conducted a 10-week pilot study to test the feasibility and efficacy of implementing the program in head start classrooms. we randomly assigned 21 classrooms in two oregon head start centers to one of two conditions, abcduet (intervention) or to a control condition, in which teachers participated in the usual language and literacy professional development provided by their head start centers, and used their usual literacy activities. at the beginning of the study, all teachers completed a demographic survey on years of teaching experience, gender, ethnicity, first language, and education. we conducted pre and post observations of teachers doing a circle time language and literacy activity, using a measure that documented the alignment of their instruction with the skills presented in the abcduet teaching 70 gunn et al. modules. at the end of the study, we assessed intervention teachers’ satisfaction with the abcduet training, coaching, and materials. at preand post-test, the children in participating classrooms, who were going to kindergarten in the fall of 2019, were given a 10-item measure of letter names and sounds that were taught by abcduet intervention teachers during the study. key findings at the end of the study, abcduet teachers made clear gains in their use of evidence-based teaching practices compared to the control teachers in each of the twelve skills presented in the teaching modules. teacher ratings of the abcduet training, coaching, and materials demonstrated high levels of satisfaction across all aspects of the program. teachers rated items on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 as the lowest and 5 as the highest. table 1 shows teacher responses for the two highest ratings for each question for the program overall. table 1 teacher ratings for abcduet overall abcduet overall rating scale percent agreement overall quality of the program above average to excellent 90% easy to become trained easy to very easy 100% easy to implement abcduet easy to very easy 73% recommend abcduet to other teachers likely to very likely 100% abcduet training and coaching compared to other training and coaching experiences somewhat better to much better 73% likely to use abcduet again likely to very likely 91% abcduet provides valuable training in creating a safe and predictable learning environment agree to strongly agree 100% abcduet provides valuable training in developing children’s language and literacy skills agree to strongly agree 100% abcduet provides valuable training in teaching letter names and sounds agree to strongly agree 100% abcduet provides valuable training in teaching how to trace letters agree to strongly agree 100% abcduet provides valuable training in teaching vocabulary and oral language agree to strongly agree 100% due to the short duration of the study, we chose to measure child gains in letter names and sounds that were taught in the intervention condition. children in the abcduet condition learned about curriculum training and coaching 71 1.43 letter names from pretest to posttest while children in the comparison classrooms improved by 0.56 letter names, a statistically reliable difference of 0.87. it was promising that despite children’s brief exposure to the instructional routines, there was a measurable difference between the two conditions for letter names. summary and teacher recommendations abcduet is designed to meet the needs of all preschool children, especially those with weak or limited early literacy skills who are at risk for later reading problems. preliminary findings from our pilot study indicate that the program can be implemented by teachers with varied educational backgrounds and experience, and for children with varying entry levels of literacy skills, including english language learners. we also collected feedback from intervention teachers at the end of the study. teachers reported that having the abcduet ready-to-use classroom materials made it easier to teach the routines. they valued the model videos to see what the routines looked and sounded like with real teachers and children, and the step-by-step approach to coaching. a number of teachers highlighted the positive effects of brief daily routines and the cumulative practice and review in the program scope and sequence for children who typically struggle with attention and behavioral challenges. we asked the teachers who participated in the study to also describe challenges and suggestions to improve the program. suggestions included showing teachers implementing abcduet activities while navigating challenging child behaviors to demonstrate different approaches to completing the activities in more of the varied situations teachers encounter daily. teachers also requested a slightly smaller version of the alphabet wall cards to place in transition areas (e.g. hallway, lineup areas etc.) to facilitate review activities. with respect to the technology, teachers experienced some challenges viewing and sharing videos in the mobile app only, and some struggled to unlock new modules. we addressed the technology issues at the end of the project to make the app more userfriendly. in future research, we hope to study the effectiveness of the abcduet teaching materials, training and coaching when it can be implemented at the start of the school year, with adequate time for teachers to teach the entire scope and sequence. in a longer study we will also be able to measure vocabulary growth as a result of the read aloud routines. as part of an ongoing iterative design process, the project team plans to continue to incorporate teachers’ valuable feedback into abcduet’s technology and its components. we also plan to get feedback from other early education 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(2008). developing early literacy: report of the national early literacy panel. washington, dc: national institute for literacy. naeyc early learning program accreditation standards and assessment (2018). national association for the education of young children. nichd early child care research network. (2005). pathways to reading: the role of oral language in the transition to reading. developmental psychology, 41, 428–442. piasta, s. b., farley, k.s., mauck s. a., soto ramirez, p., schachter, r. e., o’connell, a.a., justice, l.m., spear, c.f., & weber-mayrer, m. (2020), at-scale, state-sponsored language and literacy professional development: impacts on early childhood classroom practices and children’s outcomes. journal of educational psychology, 112(2), 329-343. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000380 piasta, s. b., & wagner, r. k. (2010). learning letter names and sounds: effects of instruction, letter type, and phonological processing skill. journal of experimental child psychology, 105, 324–344. doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2009.12.008 preschool curriculum evaluation research consortium. (2008). effects of preschool curriculum programs on school readiness (ncer 2008–2009). washington, dc: national center for education research, institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education. washington, dc: u.s. government printing office. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 104 early childhood educator self-efficacy for implementing early stem childhood teachers the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 2 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i2.2072 contact: dena harshbarger harshbargedk@unk.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). rtp early childhood educator self-efficacy abstract research substantiates that providing high-quality stem activities at an early age is important for young children to become college and career ready (moore et al, 2016). however, not all educators are as knowledgeable and/or confident in supporting stem instruction.  research suggests individuals with strong self-efficacy tend to commit to goals that challenge their current capabilities (bandura, 1993). therefore, educators may be more inclined to implement stem lessons if they feel knowledgeable and confident. the study used a multiple methods design including surveys, and self-reflection logs to explore how intentionally designed professional development impacted early childhood educators’ self-efficacy in planning and implementing early stem activities for preschool-age children. the findings found a significant increase from pre-survey to post-survey in early childhood educators’ self-efficacies for supporting preschool-age children’s stem activities. keywords early stem, self-efficacy, head start, stem instruction, professional development, early childhood educator preparation, preschool s cience and engineering careers are predicted to grow nearly 10% in the united states by 2029 (bureau of labor statistics, 2020). to address the united states’ workforce needs, many professional organizations (e.g., national association for the education of young children (naeyc), national council of teaching mathematics (nctm), national science teachers association (nsta)) through standards, frameworks, guidelines, and position statements advocate for the inclusion of stem curriculum during the early years (i.e., birth to age five) while young minds are most malleable and capable of developing lifelong thinking skills (sarama et al, 2018). purposefully designed stem activities can help young children develop the character traits of curiosity, problem-solving, and perseverance (lange et al., 2019). therefore, young children can and should be engaged in intentionally dena harshbarger paula thompson jane strawhecker university of nebraska at kearney http://harshbargedk@unk.edu the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 105 designed and developmentally appropriate early stem activities as a means of developing interests and a foundational background in stem (lange et. al, 2019: naeyc, 2001).   effective early stem activities should simultaneously incorporate many or all four stem disciplines (i.e., science, math, technology, and engineering) using a “play”-based format (stipek, 2017) to investigate and/or solve phenomenon-based, real-world problem (lange et al., 2019; sarama et al., 2018). phenomenon-based problems are observable facts or events occurring in young children’s everyday life or world. common phenomenon-based events for preschool-age children may include understanding changes in the weather or seasons, why stars shine in the sky or make patterns, how cold it needs to be for water to freeze, why soda pop makes a bubbly sound, or what plants need to grow (penuel & bell, 2016). in addition, early childhood (ec) educators should design stem activities that encourage young children to: (a) wonder; (b) use multi-modal senses to observe and explore; (c) notice and discover patterns; and (d) learn through trial-and-error (lange, 2019). these types of experiences increase opportunities for children to take the lead, have more ownership in the learning process, and actively engage in learning.  when ec educators plan early stem activities such as designing the strongest bridge, tallest tower, or a habitat for a particular animal, children act as engineers, designing and testing possible solutions or prototypes. based on the results or lack of results, ec educators should encourage children to adjust and/or improve their plan or prototype through trial-and-error (lange et al., 2019). however, many ec educators report having low self-efficacy related to their ability to design and facilitate early stem learning due to past experiences and current attitudes and are thus, less inclined to provide stem opportunities for young children (gerde et al., 2018). how educators feel, think, and motivate themselves on the job can be influenced by their self-efficacy beliefs (bandura, 1993). therefore, educators may be more inclined to implement stem lessons if they feel knowledgeable and confident for planning and implementing early stem activities. providing professional development (pd) designed to develop ec educators’ knowledge and/or confidence to support stem learning may increase the likelihood of early stem implementation. current study the purpose of this study was to determine how professional development (pd) designed to support participants’ knowledge for planning and implementing early stem with preschool-age children impacted ec educators’ self-efficacy. there were two main research questions: 1. what impact does a targeted professional development have on early childhood educators’ self-efficacy of early stem instruction?   2. what impact does a targeted professional development have on early childhood educators’ planning and implementation of stem instruction? participants of the study were, thirteen white, english-speaking females, working in head start programs as preschool classroom teachers (54%) or managers/coaches supporting preschool classroom teachers (46%) in the same midwestern state. most participants fell within the 26 –to-35year age range (54%), with 31% of the participants in the 36-to-45-year age range. all participants held a bachelor’s degree and for the majority (77%), the degree was in early childhood education (ece). those without a bachelor’s degree in ece had degrees in related fields (e.g., elementary education, social services).  on average, participants had seven years of experience working directly with preschool-age children (e.g., ages 3-5) with a range of 3 to 17 years of experience. the participants were enrolled in the same online graduate-level stem courses and engaged in an ongoing, collaborative stem project at a midwestern university. the project provided a cohort model of instruction with online graduate courses over a span of one year: two with early stem concentration, one math, and one specific to deeper understanding of developmentally appropriate practices in ece. a multiple methods research design involving two sources of information (e.g. a preand post-survey and ten monthly self-reflection logs) was used to gather information about participants’ behaviors and self-efficacies associated with planrtp early childhood educator self-efficacy the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 106 -ning and implementing early stem instruction for preschool-age children. key findings  ec educator confidence levels across all four disciplines (i.e., science, technology, engineering, math) increased from pre-survey to post-survey, with a statistically significant difference in the overall survey means (m = 3.3; m = 4.3). the results from the pre-survey (m = 3.3, sd = 0.5) and post-survey (m = 4.3 sd = 0.5) indicate that the participants’ self-efficacies for early stem changed, t = 25.71, p <.0.0001. data from the ec educator self-reflection logs revealed six common themes including: 1) implementation of early stem activities, 2) child responsiveness, 3) educator growth, 4) educator responsiveness, 5) sharing with colleagues, and 6) hands-on exploration. the themes are summarized in order of frequency mentioned by the participating ec educators.  theme 1: implementation of early stem activities   participants most frequently described planning and implementing early stem activities in which young children engineered structures. examples included children building or creating houses, towers, musical instruments, a sandbox “mud kitchen”, water pipes, and sprout houses to plant seeds. they also described using stem boxes or bins [kits containing purposefully provided materials] to conduct outdoor explorations. for instance, having the children create different-shaped bubble wands with various materials and testing different types of bubble solutions, figuring out how long it took snow to melt, what kind of food ants preferred eating, and building ramps on the playground using different materials to “...zoom matchbox cars down.”  theme 2: child responsiveness  participants often shared perceptions of how children responded to planned/implemented early stem activities, learning environments, and/ or materials. the participants’ self-reflection logs frequently included the words, “fun” and “enjoyed” when describing children’s responses to planned/ implemented early stem activities. enjoyment was noted as a motivating factor that led to the preschool-age children asking if they could do the stem activities again. some participants mentioned the preschool-age children wanted to complete the stem challenge more than once, using their imagination to try to improve upon previous attempts. for instance, “some of them [children] even got excited when their towers fell because they were able to build it better.” the participants reflection logs also described children engaging in stem activities by working together and interacting with one another. preschoolers used the materials provided, building upon their peers’ ideas and designs as well as asking and answering questions while learning from one another. theme 3: educator growth  many participants’ self-reflection logs contained statements reflecting teacher growth or increased self-efficacy for planning and/or implementing early stem activities. for instance, one shared, “i love how much easier it is getting to implement stem into day-to-day activities! i see stem teaching opportunities in places where i hadn’t thought of before.” other participants shared that although planning stem activities takes time, they perceived that it was becoming easier and more attainable with practice. participants frequently reflected on gains in confidence. one shared, “i am feeling that what i have learned has made me a better teacher and supervisor because now i am able to teach my staff as well which makes me proud.” theme 4: educator responsiveness  according to participants’ self-reflection logs, not rtp early childhood educator self-efficacy “i love how much easier it is getting to implement stem into day-today activities! i see stem teaching opportunities in places where i hadn’t thought of before.” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 107 only did the children enjoy the early stem activities, but many of the ec educators (participants) reported enjoying them as well. for instance, participants stated: “i am having a blast teaching the [stem] lessons!” and “teachers loved the activities because they were easy to follow and kept students engaged in activities.” after implementing stem activities and seeing the children’s responsiveness, several shared goals for doing the same stem activities again but with improvements or adaptations. many described wanting to modify and adjust the stem activity for future stem implementation. for instance, using a “variety of open-ended materials” was mentioned to enhance young children’s engagement. theme 5: sharing with colleagues  participants described planning to share or sharing information or ideas for early stem instruction with other educators, colleagues, and/ or administrators. several participants described providing early stem training for colleagues and/ or team members. connectedly, coaching was frequently mentioned as a means of sharing what they learned about early stem instruction with colleagues and/or other ec educators. several participants had already coached or planned to coach by sharing specific information and/or resources with colleagues and/or ec educators from the stem college courses they completed during the study. one participant wrote, “i have encouraged a few of my teaching staff to try and use my stem kit [created during courses completed as part of the study] in their classroom.”  theme 6: hands-on exploration when self-reflecting upon early stem implementation, participants often described how preschool-age children used hands-on materials and manipulatives (i.e., foam pieces, felt, blocks, cardboard tubes, rocks, glue, markers, straws, wooden craft sticks, and clay) to build or create structures or models. several participants’ self-reflection logs included descriptions of children creating shadows, shapes, houses, buildings, teeter totters, and snowflakes with varied materials. other participants described how the children solved a particular problem or challenge using hands-on materials. for instance, after reading a story about the three little pigs, a participant described children using materials to design a house that could withstand the wolf ’s “huffing and puffing.” others described children using hands-on materials to build sprout houses for planting seeds, designing catapults, creating shadow towers, making a volcano out of a pumpkin, crafting animal habitats, and fashioning musical instruments so they could have, “their very our own little marching band.” additionally, some participants described preschool-age children engaging in open-ended opportunities in which they used hands-on materials to explore and create with minimal constraints or directions. barriers and/or challenges to early stem instruction in addition to the six themes, participants’ self-reflection logs revealed perceived barriers and/or challenges related to implementing early stem activities for preschool-age children. some participants mentioned being busy or having other job-related priorities as barriers for implementing early stem activities. participants mentioned duties such as completing child assessments and/ or preparing for supervisory visits. others noted the time of the year (e.g., early or late in the school year) as being a challenge, which may be due to teacher home visits and/or parent teacher conferences. time constraints were also mentioned due to staff shortages. another barrier that was noted pertained to weather conditions being “too cold,” “rainy,” or “hot.”  implications  there are several implications of this study that educational leaders, institutes of higher learning, and educators can consider, particularly when designing pd opportunities designed for ec educators’ self-efficacies and instructional practices for supporting stem learning. suggestions based upon previous research and/ or the results of our study follow. increasing ec educators’ self-efficacy for early stem learning rtp early childhood educator self-efficacy the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 108 • create a community of learners by implementing a cohort pd model (e.g., groups of educators receiving similar experiences). ec educatorsare more willing to share and exchange instructional strategies and/or ideas with others when they are confident and feel ‘safe’ doing so. the cohort model is designed to increase confidence by providing structure, various levels of support, and opportunities for ec educators to collaborate and receive formative feedback in a low-stake format. • tailor pd opportunities to ec educators’ needs (e.g., time requirements, geographical location, workload, resources, funding, and time of year). provide multiple meeting times as well as face-to-face or virtual options for cohort meetings and/ or oneone coaching.   • design purposeful, ongoing, and interconnected pd opportunities connected to personal teaching practice and/ or instructional settings (i.e., preschool educators, instructional coaches, and program directors) to increase content and pedagogical knowledge (desimone, 2009; mcclure et al., 2017).    • encourage ec educators to engage in ongoing self-evaluation and goal setting through use of reflection logs, videos, discussions with colleagues, and other like methods. • empower ec educators to engage as educational leaders through opportunities to facilitate early stem pd activities for their teaching teams/colleagues including opportunities to rehearse, analyze, reflect on instructional practices, and set goals (sarama et al., 2018). increasing ec educators’ planning and implementation of early stem learning  • align pd with ec educators’ educational settings, allowing for purposefully  planning and implementation of early stem, meeting the specific needs of the young children they serve. • identify and address potential barriers and challenges to ec educators’ early stem implementation (e.g., workload, resources, and busy times of the year). • for outdoor early stem implementation, consider solutions and resources for challenges related to predictable weather conditions (e.g., heat, cold, wind, rain, snow). • support ec educators’ planning and implementation of early stem activities in which young children simultaneously incorporate many of the stem disciplines (e.g., science,  technology,  engineering, and mathematics).  • support ec educators’ planning and implementation of early stem activities in which young children investigate and/ or solve phenomenon-based, real-world problems (sarama et al., 2018). conclusion  it is essential that ec educators consider how stem knowledge, skills and experiences may impact school readiness and future career choices of young children. in addition, ec educators should self-reflect on their own knowledge, skills, and dispositions for supporting early stem, setting short-term and long-term pd goals toward increased self-efficacy. ec educators, particularly those providing care and education to head start children, often at higher risk of school failure, need to be well prepared and supported in providing developmentally appropriate and purposefully designed early stem activities. preparing the future stem workforce is not only important for meeting the increased stem workforce demands, but it can provide pathways toward financial stability through higher compensation and benefits often 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https://cadrek12.org/sites/default/files/drk12-early-stem-learning-brief.pdf https://cadrek12.org/sites/default/files/drk12-early-stem-learning-brief.pdf https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/jul2017/playful-math-instruction-standards https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/jul2017/playful-math-instruction-standards https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315626801 hs dialog, 26(2), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 bridging the gap: feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability of an integrated attachment-based training for teachers and parents in early head start carla caringi barron1 claire vallotton3 ann stacks1 olivia oates2 anike adekoya3 maria muzik2 katherine rosenblum2 holly brophy-herb3 1wayne state university 2university of michigan 3michigan state university early care and education (ece) programs often struggle to consistently engage parents in programming that supports caregiving at home. as part of an early head start (ehs) university partnership, we adapted an attachment-based, reflective training program centered on supporting teachers to share information with parents; and investigated its appropriateness, acceptability, and feasibility in the context of ehs. qualitative data from university-based facilitators (n = 8), infant/toddler teachers (n = 20), and parents (n =13), suggest that a small group format and a facilitator stance of openness, curiosity, and cultural humility promoted teachers’ and parents’ positive perspectives of hmb concepts. participants in this study helped us to understand challenges to hmb’s feasibility, including logistical challenges that need to be considered for successful implementation in other ehs sites. this study tapped the perspectives of stakeholders and provides insights that will support the implementation of ongoing, reflective training models across the ece system. keywords: early childhood education, early head start, infants, parent-teacher relationships, parent engagement, qualitative study, reflective learning research article integrated attachment-based training 49 introduction “hmb+p bridges the gap between the parents and the teachers and the children so that we’re working together as a team to better the development for the child” – early head start teacher sensitive and responsive caregiver-child interactions for infants and toddlers across home and early care and education (ece) contexts support optimal development and school readiness (e.g., halle et al., 2011; nichd early child care research network, 2002; tamis-lemonda et al., 2014). high quality experiences cannot be fully achieved for infants and toddlers without cooperation and communication among the caregivers across these care settings (elicker et al., 1997): parents or other family members at home (referred to here as “parents”) and educators (referred to here as “teachers”). importantly, for families in early head start (ehs), the parentteacher relationship is associated with positive program outcomes (elicker et al., 2013), which may be in part because the quality of this relationship predicts families’ duration of involvement (jeon et al., 2018). thus, family engagement in childcare is considered a standard of ece program practices (naeyc, 2019; u.s. dhhs, 2018a), and educator professional competencies (vallotton et al., 2021). national efforts have been made to provide resources and support to define and assess effective parent-teacher relationships (porter, et al., 2012), and the competencies needed by ece practitioners to develop, maintain, and utilize effective partnerships with families (u.s. dhhs, 2018b; 2018c). while ece programs understand the importance of and prioritize relationships, the focus of interventions is on dyadic relationships in the home or in the classroom, rather than the integration of these relationship systems. to address this, the us department of health and human services administration for children and families funded four ehs university partnerships, the parent-teacher intervention consortium, to develop and test integrated interventions for ehs center-based programs that could be delivered as part of their professional development and parent engagement requirements (see sheridan et al., 2020 and stacks et al., 2022). as part of this consortium, our team worked with ehs partners to develop and evaluate an integrated program. hearts and minds on babies (hmb) is an attachmentand mindfulness-based multilevel training curriculum that incorporates shared training components for teachers and parents. the program aims to reduce caregiver (i.e., teacher and parent) stress through mindfulness practice and to improve reflective functioning and responsive caregiving through understanding of and reflection upon infants’ and toddlers’ attachment needs. moreover, through engagement in the integrated parent-teacher components of the hmb program (named hearts and minds on babies + parents; hmb+p), these two crucial caregiver groups build shared language for effective communication and promotion of socialemotional development. in this paper, we present qualitative data on the shared parent-teacher component. specifically, we present data on the appropriateness, acceptability, and feasibility of the hmb+p program in the context of ehs. caringi barron et al. 50 addressing parent-teacher relationship quality through coordinated interventions despite national standards for family engagement, available assessments for the parent-teacher relationship, and the known value of this relationship for children’s development, there have been minimal training efforts or interventions specific to improving the quality of this relationship or aligning caregiver-child interactions across home and ece settings. most efforts to enhance the quality of infant and toddler interactions with caregivers focus either on the professional development of teachers or on parent-child interactions at home, rather than on a coordinated approach that could influence the same qualities of interactions in both of these important relationships (landry et al., 2017). rarer still are any approaches that specifically address the quality of the parent-teacher relationship in ece. coordinated training for these caregivers capitalizes on training across school and home contexts and show promising child development outcomes (e.g. biringen et al., 2012; yoshikawa et al., 2015); yet evidence for these interventions in the context of infant/toddler care are insufficient (sheridan et al., 2020). hearts and minds on babies as part of the parent-teacher intervention consortium, our team worked in partnership with ehs programs to develop hmb. the hmb program was adapted from an existing, evidence-based, multifamily parenting and mental health intervention, named mom power (muzik et al., 2015; rosenblum et al., 2018); a clinical intervention rooted in attachment theory, trauma-informed practice, and infant mental health. mom power aims to improve parents’ responsive caregiving by increasing their reflective functioning, relational empathy, and coping with parenting stress (ho et al., 2020, swain et al., 2017). hmb promotes responsive caregiving by increasing reflective functioning, which enables caregivers to effectively read and respond to attachment needs. it also supports caregivers’ ability to cope with stress by introducing mindfulness-based exercises. a primary goal of our collaboration was to ensure that hmb could be implemented by ehs programs within the context of their professional development and parent programming. over a five-year period, we conducted a series of plan-do-study-act cycles with our ehs partner sites to adapt hmb into a three-arm integrated training program that targets multiple levels of the child-caregiving ecosystem: administrators and center leaders (hmb+a); teachers (hmb+t); and parents (hmb+p). in all three hmb program variants, hmb concepts are shared through manualized content and relationship-based interactions. hmb+p: an integrated intervention to bridge the gap between teachers and parents in our initial design of a parent component to the hmb program, we trial tested the use of the original mom power parent intervention (muzik et al., 2015; rosenblum et al., 2018). while the attachment-based content was appropriate and acceptable to ehs parents, its clinical focus and time requirement (10 weekly two-hour groups and three 90-minute individual sessions) was not integrated attachment-based training 51 feasible for ehs programs or families. thus, we redesigned the hmb parent component to include three 90-minute parent trainings that were co-facilitated by an hmb-trained ehs teacher and a university facilitator. in collaboration with ehs partners, it was decided that parent trainings would be held during the school day. we also developed a parallel 8-hour teacher training that prepared teachers to present hmb concepts and materials to parents. a cornerstone of the hmb+p training is promotion of shared reflection which is foundational for building trusting and responsive relationships. its format supports this relationship building as university facilitators and teachers relate to each other in a reflective, relationship-based, and culturally responsive way during the teacher training. this is then carried forward to interactions between parents and teachers in the parent training. the goal is the cultivation of a shared language between parents and teachers to respond to children’s behaviors in an empathic and developmentally appropriate way, and to establish a deeper and more trusting communication between the caregiving partners. figure 1 describes the hmb+p training and highlights the parallel content for teacher and parent sessions. figure 1 the integrated hearts and minds on babies + parents training note: this figure displays the integrated nature of the hmb+p training. the teacher curriculum begins with discussion and activities to support the teachers use of the tree with parents. the parent curriculum follows by presenting this concept (the tree) to the parents during their first group. other core concepts – the wondering and response wheel, balanced caregiving, and sunshine time – are reviewed during the teacher groups with a particular focus on sharing these concepts with parents in the upcoming parent group and during caringi barron et al. 52 daily interactions, as well as applying the concepts in their relationships with parents. in addition to these foundational hmb concepts, mindful self-care concepts and time to practice strategies are included in both sets of trainings. parent and teacher groups include time for reflection and opportunities to discuss how hmb concepts fit within their cultural parenting/caregiving practices and cultural understanding. this integrated training model is unique in that it (a) addresses each critical relationship in the ece system; (b) invites and encourages teachers to turn their reflective lens toward parents; (c) builds foundational competencies with the teacher, then engages teachers as trusted sources of information for parents; and (d) builds teachers’ own competencies for communicating the concepts to parents and in the classroom. see stacks et al., (2023) for a detailed description of hmb concepts. implementation science strategies to ensure feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability an important aspect of the parent-teacher intervention consortium was to promote consistent, high-quality caregiving across home and ece settings through the development of useful content that fits within ehs philosophies and can be delivered without ongoing support from the university team. implementation science involves the use of scientific methods and strategies to investigate feasibility of interventions when they are moved from more controlled settings (i.e. a universitybased research study) to the community setting (durlak, 2015). defined by proctor and colleagues (2011), appropriateness of the hmb+p training refers to the perceived fit of the content of the curriculum within ehs, the relevance of the topics for ehs parents and teachers, and whether it is useful and practical within their lived experiences. acceptability calls attention to whether participants are satisfied with the content, format, and delivery of hmb+p in an ehs context. lastly. feasibility is assessed by asking providers or organizational settings whether the intervention can be delivered as intended, that is, whether programs can adhere to the recommended facilitator training and supervision, hmb delivery format, schedule, and ongoing use of the concepts. current study this qualitative study aimed to explore participant experiences of the hmb+p training to determine whether it was feasible to have teachers deliver hmb+p; and whether and how the training program was acceptable and appropriate. the study research questions were as follows: 1) what is the appropriateness of hmb+p for ehs? 2) how do stakeholders describe the acceptability of the hmb+p format and content? 3) is it feasible for teachers to deliver hmb+p? integrated attachment-based training 53 methods research design the current study employed qualitative phenomenological methodology, the goal of which is to document and understand participants’ experiences with a particular phenomenon (bhattacharya, 2017). hmb+p participant voices and experiences are critical to its ongoing and future use as they promote the implementation of relevant and useful training. thus, focus groups captured the experiences and perspectives of the ehs teachers, ehs parents, and university based hmb trainers who were involved in hmb+p. procedure this study was approved by the institutional review board (irb) at both lead institutions, wayne state university and michigan state university. parents and teachers who participated in hmb+p were recruited via flyers distributed to four ehs programs. additionally, university-based hmb trainers were recruited via email to add their perspectives. written consent was obtained prior to focus group implementation. focus groups varied in length but averaged 90 minutes. participants were given a meal and $40 cash for their time. a total of ten focus groups across four ehs sites were held in person and led by members of the research team: four teacher groups; four parent groups; and two university-based trainer groups. focus groups were led by experienced research team members who had knowledge of the hmb training program. focus groups were audio recorded, transcribed, and personal identifiers were removed. transcripts were checked for accuracy against the audio recordings. participants a total of eight hmb university-based trainers; 20 ehs teachers; and 13 ehs parents participated in the study. study findings and participant demographics are reported in aggregate to maintain a level of confidentiality. participants were predominantly black (83%) and female (93%). the distribution of race and education varied in each group (see table 1). table 1 participant demographics facilitators (n = 5) teachers (n = 14) parents (n = 11) total (n = 30) n % n % n % n % gender male 0 0 1 7.1 1 9.0 2 6.7 female 5 100.0 13 92.8 10 90.9 28 93.3 race a caringi barron et al. 54 american indian or alaska native 0 0 1 7.1 0 0 1 3.3 asian 0 0 0 0 1 9.1 1 3.3 black or african american 1 20.0 13 92.8 11 100.0 25 83.3 white 3 60.0 2 14.3 0 0 5 16.7 other 1 20.0 0 0 0 0 1 3.3 ethnicity hispanic/latino/a 0 0 2 14.2 1 9.1 3 10.0 highest level of schooling b high school/ged 0 0 2 14.2 4 36.3 6 20.0 some college credit 0 0 1 7.1 2 18.1 3 10.0 associate degree 0 0 5 35.7 2 18.1 7 23.3 bachelor’s degree 0 0 6 42.8 2 18.1 8 26.6 graduate degree 5 100.0 0 0 0 0 5 16.6 a percentage larger than 100 due to multiple races chosen b missing data: one parent participant did not answer measures semi-structured interview guide. qualitative data were gathered using a semi-structured interview process. guided by implementation science (durlak & dupre, 2008), the focus group interview protocol was developed to prompt study participants to think deeply about their experience participating in hmb+p and probe for their thoughts related to its feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability. following recommended protocol for qualitative interviewing (padgett, 2017), focus groups began with overarching questions about the hmb training experience such as, what general feedback do you have about hearts and minds on babies for ehs parents. teacher groups then continued with more specific questions such as: how is hmb+p relevant to the mission and goals of early head start and how does the workplace climate at your agency or center impact your ability to engage in training and use hmb concepts. additional questions for parents included: how was it to have an ehs teacher share information with you and what are you doing differently as a result of the hmb+p training. questions for university-based trainers included: what did you see as the advantages of having teachers share concepts with parents and what barriers did you observe or experience when planning and facilitating the parent groups. demographic information. a demographic form was used to gather information related to each participant’s race, ethnicity, gender identity, and level of schooling. teachers and facilitators were also asked about years working in the field. data analysis thematic analysis as described by braun & clarke (2006) was used to discern and capture the experiences of study participants. thematic analysis is deemed appropriate when the research integrated attachment-based training 55 questions focus on the lived experiences and perspectives related to a particular phenomenon (saldaña, 2021). data analysis was completed by a three-person university-based coding team lead by the first author. the team comprised of three cisgender women, one who identifies as black and two who identify as white. two of the members of the team hold masters-level training in social work and one was an undergraduate student at the time of the analysis. in addition, each held additional roles in the hmb implementation project: one team member was involved in hmb’s initial development, implemented hmb teacher groups, and co-facilitated three of the study focus groups; another member implemented parent groups and co-facilitated two of the study focus groups; the third member was involved in data collection and management. data analysis involved the use of qualitative software (dedoose, 2021). first, initial coding was completed by assigning in vivo codes within the transcripts (i.e., codes using the language and terminology used by the research participants). initial codes from each participant group were collated into themes and renamed to align with the content of the theme. initial themes from all transcripts were then collected, combined, and collated together (see figure 2). themes across participant groups were then grouped by relationship to each other and collapsed when deemed connected and similar in meaning. final theme groupings were then sorted into related categories. at the final level of this iterative analysis, clear definitions and names were generated for each of the categories relevant to the study questions (braun & clarke, 2006). figure 2 process of analyzing and categorizing data from three participant groups caringi barron et al. 56 considerations of trustworthiness strategies attending to rigor and trustworthiness were used throughout this study to ensure that data collection and analysis remain grounded in the participant perspective. while qualitative research captures the depth of an experience and the researcher's perspective can add to its richness (bhattacharya, 2017), it is important that the researcher's perspective is used to understand and interpret the participants’ views, not override the participants’ experiences with the researcher’s assumptions, expectations, and ideas (saldaña, 2021). this is especially important to consider in the hmb implementation, as members of the coding team had other roles in this study. therefore, it was critical to use bracketing, qualitative memoing, and peer debriefing throughout the data collection, analysis, and dissemination (padgett, 2017; saldaña, 2021). importantly, any researcher assumptions that were identified were discussed and challenged among the coding team to ensure that the identification of themes remained grounded in the data. throughout the data analysis period, coding team members met weekly and engaged in open discussions to challenge each other and discuss any differences in perspective. disagreements related to codes and themes were resolved by returning to the data and engaging in discussion until coming to a consensus (saldaña, 2021). findings this study’s purpose was to understand participant experiences of hmb+p. descriptions of participants and their data use the singular ‘they’ pronouns and the forms their and them. question 1: what is the appropriateness of hmb+p for ehs? three main categories emerged from the parents, teachers and university-based facilitators related to the appropriateness of the hmb+p training (table 2 lists final categories and themes): (a) cultural relevance of concepts; (b) promotion of parenting skills; and (c) promotion of parent-teacher relationships. table 2 final appropriateness categories and themes from teachers, parents, and university-based facilitators primary category theme cultural relevance of concepts theoretical foundations can be cross-culturally applicable some concepts challenged parental values and cultural/racial experiences promotion of parenting skills provided developmental knowledge promoted parenting efficacy promotion of parent-teacher relationships shared language shared experience new perspectives of each other integrated attachment-based training 57 cultural relevance of concepts data from this study suggest that the theoretical foundations and content of the hmb training can be applicable across cultures, particularly the importance of caregiver-child relationships and acknowledging children’s emotions. however, data also suggest that some of the hmb concepts challenged cultural and racial experiences, values, and beliefs related to raising young children. theoretical foundations can be cross-culturally applicable participants in this study agree that the theoretical foundations of hmb are applicable across cultures. this teacher believes that acknowledging one’s own feelings, children’s feelings, and co-regulation crosses all cultural beliefs: “i feel like it doesn’t depend on, it doesn’t, um, matter what culture, you still be able to acknowledge a child’s feelings. you still be able to balance yourself, you know, when, uh, approaching a child like i said before, you have to calm yourself before, you know, approaching.” some concepts challenged parental values and cultural/racial experiences data from this study suggest that some of the concepts promoted behavioral responses that challenged values and beliefs about parenting and the needs of young children that were learned through early relationships and family culture. this parent helps us to understand the dissonance that can be evoked when their childhood experiences were different from hmb concepts and ways they want to respond to their own children: “...when my eight-year-old decided to push the two-year-old off the porch...i need[ed] to take a breathe moment. ‘cause my first instinct because how i was raised, was like whack her on her butt send her to her room. and it’s, it’s hard to break what we grew up with. especially like with the new studies that come out ‘cause i look back and…it gives me, personally, it gives me that kind of confusion on like i saw that worked with my brother and i, but not wanting to do it with my kids.” promotion of parenting skills study participants identified ways that hmb+p was appropriate for parents of very young children. data suggest that hmb+p: (a) provided parents with developmental knowledge; and (b) promoted parenting efficacy and confidence. provided parents with developmental knowledge. data from this study suggest that hmb+p showed parents the dyadic and collaborative nature of communication and encouraged parents to consider the emotional needs behind their child’s behaviors, including wondering about and labeling their child’s emotions. this parent described how they were better able to respond to their child’s needs at separation after attending hmb+p: caringi barron et al. 58 “i tell him like it’s okay, i love you. he might cry a little bit but you know when i see him i tap him on the back and i be like, i be back. and i notice a difference not only taking him away from me all the time, but i noticed a difference in school. like his behavior, um, got a little better with him going away because it let him know like it’s okay for me to be apart from mom because she’s gonna always come back, so i’m happy that i did do that. it took a while but, but it, it really helped.” promoted parenting efficacy and confidence. in addition to developmental knowledge, data from this study suggest that hmb+p content and being in group with other parents, helped participants increase confidence in their parenting role and choices. this parent describes how hmb+p helped them to understand that they were not alone in struggling with parenting: “and we live in a world where everybody’s outputs this perfect life, that kids are perfect, they never sass, and they never talk back. so, then you sit back and you’re like, what am i doing wrong? so, the class helped...me understand these are the phases they go through. this is how you can help them through it. and that it’s normal. everybody goes through it not just me. ‘cause that can be hard.” promotion of parent-teacher relationships data from this study suggest that hmb+p promoted positive teacher-parent relationships through the following three themes: (a) shared language and shared experience; (b) new perspectives of each other; and (c) increased trust in the teacher. shared language and experience. teachers, parents, and university-based trainers noted that hmb’s unique way of presenting social emotional development, such as the tree metaphor, allowed for the development of a shared language that can be used among participants to talk about the importance of social-emotional development and early relationships for children. this teacher identifies how the shared language and shared experience of hmb+p promoted collaboration between parents and teachers: “i think that, um…once the teachers go through it [hmb+t] and then they’re able to use, utilize the concepts in their classrooms and then…we were able to go into the parent group and share what we’ve learned, and how we, um…facilitated in our classroom, and helped them to be able to…use the same concepts with their children at home. i think that it gives the parents, um…kind of a sight into the classroom without being in the classroom. like, okay. this is working for them in the classroom, i can do this at home. so it kinda bridges the gap, um, between the parents and the teachers and the children so that we’re working together as a team to better…the development for the child.” new perspectives of each other. this teacher talks about how hmb+p helped them to understand the importance of the parent’s perspective to their working relationship: integrated attachment-based training 59 “i would say that we have to have partnerships with the parents. so it [hmb+p] kind of helps, it helps like give us ideas how to talk to the parents or like ways to kind of understand maybe what they are bringing to the, to the, that side of, you know, for their child and kind of where they’re at and how we can meet in the middle.” increased trust. study participants noted that the integrated training approach allowed them to form more trusting relationships. this parent described how having the teacher as a facilitator of the parent group enhanced their confidence in the teacher, supported buy-in and connection to the material, and supported the parent-teacher relationship: “they went through the class [hmb+t], you know, before us. that alone boosts my confidence because at that point i know they know what they doing. you know, i have that confidence that, you know, they’re following the, you know, the training. i mean, they’re following the, the resources, what they learned in doing the training, everything.” question 2: how do stakeholders describe the acceptability of the hmb+p format and content? two main categories emerged from teachers, parents, and university-based trainers about the acceptability of hmb+p (table 3 lists final categories and themes): (a) cultural and racial experiences need to be considered; and (b) structure of training. while participants in this study noted that hmb was beneficial and relevant, dissonance between cultural beliefs and the hmb concepts was identified, and participants stressed the importance of time for teachers and parents to process these feelings and consider how hmb concepts might fit their lived experience. table 3 final acceptability categories and themes from teachers, parents, and university-based facilitators primary category theme cultural and racial experiences need to be considered content needs to be presented with stance of cultural humility and curiosity consider current and historical sociocultural contexts structure of ongoing training promoted reflection motivation to participate understanding of hmb concepts takes time cultural and racial experiences need to be considered themes from this study suggest that within the content of the training and its delivery, cultural and racial experiences of the participants must be considered. content should be presented with a caringi barron et al. 60 stance of cultural humility and curiosity that includes consideration of current and historical sociocultural contexts of families and staff. content needs to be presented with a stance of cultural humility and curiosity. data from this study underscored the importance of having time to discuss cultural and family norms and values related to young children’s development and parental responses. following is a quote from a university-based facilitator who is attempting to hold in mind the cultural and racial realities of some parents and teachers that can get in the way of embracing and putting into practice hmb concepts. this facilitator advocates for time to think deeply about cultural fit: i think that [the concepts] fit, but there isn’t time in the curriculum to, to fully unpack them. i think the wondering and response wheel [reference to a specific tool used in curriculum to enhance reflection], well, it’s hard, uh, for parents who...uh and teachers, who are in these very complex situations where they’re, they feel like there just isn’t time to stop and think. um, and also the belief where, just the thinking about you know, cultural and historical perspectives, how, you know, historical narratives where, like you, if you’re acting out, you just need to stop.” consider current and historical sociocultural contexts. focus group participants described the need for hmb facilitators to consider the current and historical sociocultural contexts of ehs families and staff, such as gender and racial identity experiences and the neighborhoods and communities within which they live. these parents offer reflections on the contexts within which they are raising their children and how racism and levels of safety impact disciplinary strategies used by their caregivers and themselves: “when i was growing up we were spanked if we was bad. and i tried not to do that. but sometimes it happens. if someone is in danger, someone is getting wacked on the booty. but trying to find that balance is kind of difficult because this is how i was taught. this is how we do it. it’s totally un-okay in other areas. so, trying to find what meets being okay around and being okay in your household has been kind of difficult.” “i believe it trickled down from slavery and how we was treated and how our parents was raised. because even the other day i saw a big long branch and told my son to come here...but i didn’t do it, you know. i talked to him and went and played by him with the rest of the kids. he said ‘no mommy i don’t want a whooping.’ i said, ‘good, because i don't want to beat you with this branch.’ structure of ongoing training a theme emerged from this study that suggests the way in which hmb+p is structured (ongoing, group-based, reflection, practice) helps parents think about and reflect on the changes they made in their parenting, which in turn helped parents to see how hmb the concepts fit with their lived experience. however, intrinsic motivation to attend benefitted participants, due to the ongoing nature of the group as well as the need for time to integrate hmb concepts. integrated attachment-based training 61 promoted reflection. this parent helps us to understand that hmb+p helped them gain insight about their own emotional and behavioral response, and now they are better able to respond to their child’s feelings: “for me, it just help me, you know, take time to assess their feelings before i react in a situation. i realize i react too quickly to situations. not just with [the threeyear-old], with my teenagers as well, so i’ve been caring about they feelings and it’s helpful.” motivation to participate. intrinsic motivational factors were important to acknowledge. some parents and teachers were intrinsically motivated to attend groups as they valued ongoing learning and wanted to support children in new ways. these parents identify intrinsic motivation to try the training and continue to attend hmb+p groups when they say that the concepts were relevant and useful: “anything where i can learn about what’s going on with my child, i put myself involved.” “after the first class, i was more excited to go to the next ones because…i tried those things. they worked, and i’m like “okay, i want to know more. what else can i do?” understanding of hmb concepts takes time to develop. participants in this study identified that understanding promoted use of the concepts. this university-based trainer states that a teacher has to “get it” in order to be able to integrate and use the information with parents: “you have to, like, you have to like, i don’t know how to...you have to get it, you have to be able to relate it to how it’s going to make you a better teacher and how it’s gonna make, you know, give the skills to parents to make them happier.” however, data also suggest that understanding of the concepts takes time. another universitybased trainer identified how hmb allows time to develop the understanding that is important to ongoing use of the concepts: “the hmb+p group was a nice way [for teachers] to stay connected to the material that i think just needs a lot of time to become an ingrained part of your...being. for head start, i think they need the...revisiting of it...to keep everyone connected to it all.” question 3: is it feasible for teachers to deliver hmb+p? data from the university-based trainers and teachers who participated in hmb+p teacher groups and co-led parent groups suggest two main categories to consider related to feasibility (table 4 caringi barron et al. 62 lists the final categories and themes): (a) the reality of the classroom and (b) elements needed to use and share hmb concepts. table 4 final feasibility categories and themes from teachers and university-based facilitators primary category theme the reality of the early childhood setting classroom responsibilities parent availability elements needed to use and share hmb concepts supportive learning environment dispositions professional knowledge and skills the reality of the early childhood setting teachers and university-based trainers expressed concern over classroom responsibilities that took precedence over the teacher’s facilitation of the three hmb+p groups. even though sites planned for consistent substitute teachers, teacher facilitators in this study described that it was difficult to leave the children and their co-teachers to facilitate hmb+p parent groups due to a lack of consistent staffing support in their classroom. additionally, some parents’ work schedules did not permit them to attend hmb+p sessions during the day, so teachers were prompted to share information at drop-off and pick up where parents’ time was limited. this teacher described the challenge to engage parents in conversation when the parents could not participate in hmb+p: “i think just for the parents who were part of the group, they benefited from it the most. parents who were not, it just a foreign language. they’re dropping their kids off, they going home, going to work. so it’s kind of hard to be like, “let me tell you about this tree [concept]!” when you’re on your way out the door.” this university-based trainer expressed concern about teachers facilitating parent groups due to their classroom responsibilities, which limited their time for debriefing and supervision: “for most of them [teachers], this was their first time doing something like this. they were [facilitating] the same group that we were in, and to assume that they didn’t need some debriefing time afterwards, it just seemed odd to me and then, and they, my teacher, too, had to go immediately into her classroom after group.” elements needed to use and share hmb information the second category related to feasibility includes the elements necessary for sharing hmb information with parents and facilitating hmb+p groups. data suggest three themes in this category: (a) supportive learning environment; (b) dispositions; and (c) professional knowledge and skills. integrated attachment-based training 63 supportive learning environment. participants in this study underscored the importance of their ehs program’s organizational and leadership supports to share hmb concepts with parents. when teachers did not have the logistical and emotional support from the administration, they experienced more challenges. this teacher who facilitated an hmb+p parent group describes what support from their administration was necessary to successfully implement the concepts as well as the hmb+p groups: “...there was support in terms of like, acknowledging the concepts and kind of encouraging us to use them...but i would say that we did probably need more support in terms of, like, they knew we were facilitating the meetings and doing these things, but we didn’t always have, like, [class]room coverage. so we didn’t, i feel like in that way, we didn’t always have support.” dispositions. teachers and university-based trainers identified intrinsic dispositions that were important for teachers to share and for parents to be ready to learn hmb concepts. these dispositions include being open-minded, a capacity for reflection, patience, and curiosity. this university-based trainer describes the importance of maintaining an open and curious stance when learning the concepts and sharing them with others: “i would say curiosity is, curiosity, um, for, some of our teachers, we saw reflective capacity really evolve, where they came in really struggling with it. uh, so i would say curiosity and some degree of readiness to, not, not even ready readiness in “ooh, i want to be more reflective. i want to increase my reflective capacity,” but “i wonder what this is all about?” professional knowledge and skills. teachers and university-based trainers acknowledged that successfully engaging teachers and parents requires hmb facilitators to have the following professional knowledge and skills: knowledge of early childhood and the hmb concepts, skills in group facilitation, and skills to engage parents. data from this study suggest that the required knowledge and skills for facilitation were best achieved by participating in an hmb group as a teacher or administrator before attending a training to facilitate an hmb+p group. this universitybased trainer highlights the importance of teachers having confidence in their professional knowledge when sharing hmb information with parents: “you have the tools, you have the...being able to go with your gut and do what you need to do, so i think they have to have some confidence that they can do this...it’s just a tool to be able to have that relationship and conversation with a parent.” discussion this study aimed to investigate the appropriateness, acceptability, and feasibility of an attachment and mindfulness-based intervention for ehs parents hmb+p. findings suggest that hmb+p was beneficial to teachers and parents who were able to participate in the group sessions and that teachers had the knowledge and skill to facilitate hmb+p, yet feasibility remained a problem due caringi barron et al. 64 in part to organizational capacity. overall, the parent group training sessions were acceptable for parents who were able to attend during the day, and parents were able to use the hmb concepts within their daily lives, suggesting the content was appropriate. importantly, findings from this study offer insights into the significance of supporting cultural humility in group facilitators and ways to integrate parent training and engagement in ece settings that enhances the parent-teacher relationship and caregiving quality. appropriateness and acceptability of hmb+p participants in this study helped us to understand the integrated nature of appropriateness and acceptability. we found that while the hmb concepts were culturally relevant, promoted caregiving skills and developmental knowledge, and that both the content and format promoted parent-teacher relationships, these benefits could be impacted by the format and delivery of hmb+p. for example, we found that it was important to consider the delivery of the hmb concepts (acceptability) as this may impact how the participants were able to integrate the concepts into their lived experience (appropriateness). we were particularly interested in whether the concepts and practices would be seen as culturally relevant, given variation in cultural views of young children’s emotions and behavior, and practices in responding to these (e.g., burchinal et al., 2010; dodge et al., 2005; dunbar et al., 2017; jambunathan et al., 2000). data from this study suggest that while the concepts are relevant to multicultural perspectives, this finding may not generalize to parents and teachers with cultural backgrounds different from the current study participants. we found that some hmb concepts challenged cultural views and required hmb facilitators to maintain a stance of cultural curiosity and cultural humility. participants stressed the importance of hmb facilitators providing time for teachers and parents to process these feelings and to consider how the concepts might fit their lived experience despite the dissonance they might first identify between hmb concepts and their beliefs about children. thus, findings underscore the need for more thought and training related to how the concepts were presented and discussed in the group. key concepts in hmb+p related to reflection, relationships, and responsiveness required facilitators to be flexible in the ways they delivered the content. for example, taking time to respond to participants’ differing perspectives that arose out of their cultural contexts, meeting these differences with curiosity, and encouraging exploration of the ideas through reflection. in this way, the participants could explore the ideas and perhaps their discomfort with them through reflection, without fear of risking a rupture within the group or with facilitators. principles of culturally responsive teaching and learning (gay, 2018) support these findings. connecting the material to the cultural values, language, and beliefs of participants, and using examples and perspectives of diverse participants, increases the acceptability of the training, and can promote integration and use of the hmb material (gay, 2018). participants in this study noted that the hmb material provided developmental knowledge and promoted feelings of efficacy and confidence among parents. the sharing of knowledge within a cultural framework paired with the hmb relationship-based and reflective structure, has the potential to bolster these outcomes. participants can learn material in ways that connect to their integrated attachment-based training 65 cultural experiences and have time to think about and practice new strategies, with opportunities for continued reflection and feedback from the group. teachers as facilitators: parallel content and format next, training teachers to run parent groups was an attempt to engage parents in a new way. this unique way of implementing parent groups allowed for the development of a shared language and shared experience between the teachers and parents, which furthered the use of the hmb concepts with the children. thus, hmb+p built a bridge between the classroom and the home environment and strengthened relationships between parents and teachers, which is particularly important to the lives of children and caregivers. improved teacher-parent relationships can increase parents’ access to information about their child’s classroom, learning, and development. in turn, this can promote parental self-efficacy and parental motivation to remain involved in the program and continue to invest in trusting relationships with teachers and staff (powell et al., 2010; rosenblatt & peled, 2002). in addition to these parental outcomes, improved teacher-parent relationships can also promote teacher efficacy and confidence in their educator role (karakus & savas, 2012). while the benefits of parent and family engagement are well documented, it can be challenging for educational programs to develop meaningful partnerships with parents that support continued engagement in services. indeed, we found that the ongoing nature of the hmb+p groups was a continued challenge to both teacher and parent attendance; which could impact the development and strengthening of parent-teacher relationships. in addition, there are multiple perspectives on what parent engagement entails. this research points to the importance of involving stakeholders to define and determine best practices to support parent engagement in ways that are unique to particular ece sites and teacher and parent populations. hmb+p used a unique training delivery format to engage and support families. although the use of teachers as facilitators presented additional challenges to the feasibility of implementation, the unique structure and format of hmb+p (with teachers as both participants in groups and facilitators of parent groups) was important to the benefits we found in this study. teachers and parents reported that hmb+p strengthened their abilities to communicate with one another about children’s behaviors and needs. when parents were able to attend the groups, parents and teachers developed a shared language for talking about children’s behaviors and needs and built a mutual understanding. teachers’ abilities to practice effective bidirectional communication with families, and their subsequent knowledge about the child and family is an important relationship skill in family engagement. communication between parents and teachers about children’s behavior and what it means provides a link between the home and ece contexts, and provides each caregiver with greater insights, enabling them to become more sensitive to children (elicker & fortnerwood, 1995; lang et al., 2016; owen, et al., 2000). feasibility of the hmb+p training daily realities of the ece setting. even the most effective intervention cannot be effectively implemented if it is not feasible in that setting. data from this study suggest things to consider that caringi barron et al. 66 could impact the implementation of hmb+p in ehs and childcare partners. first, the reality of the ece setting was identified as important to consider when implementing an ongoing, integrated training. as we were adapting mom power into hmb+p, parents noted that they wanted their child’s teacher to facilitate the hmb+p groups, that they enjoyed time to reflect with other parents, and that they needed childcare to attend parenting groups (stacks et al., 2023). ehs administration was very supportive of this idea but pointed to the head start performance standards as limiting in this context as they tried to juggle providing enough educational hours to children, professional development to teachers, and not going beyond a 40-hour work week for teachers or site leaders. this meant finding a way for teachers to be out of the classroom to prepare for and offer the group, de-brief, and attend reflective supervision, approximately 4 hours/month for 3 months. our ehs partners tried to be creative so that when teachers were out of the classroom a consistent, familiar substitute was available. this is important from an attachment perspective; it ensures that the coteacher does not endure additional stress and allows the teacher facilitator to be fully present in group and provide parents with a felt sense of security. however, teachers in this study reported challenges when they were scheduled to leave the classroom to co-facilitate the parent groups and we found that they were often unable to plan and debrief effectively due to time and staffing constraints. they also found it difficult to leave the children when they were unable to help the children understand and plan for who was going to come into the classroom to take their place. in addition, scheduling the teacher groups was challenging due to limitations on paid time for professional development. we found that agency trainings that satisfied requirements for licensure, for example cpr, would take precedence over hmb+p, and would contribute to inconsistent attendance. this element of feasibility connects with the participants’ views of the acceptability of hmb; that is, the ongoing nature of the group and the time and opportunity for reflection was important to the use and integration of the concepts; yet having sufficient time for reflection came into conflict with the daily realities of scheduling, staffing, licensing standards and children’s needs in the ece setting. reflective practices and supportive learning environments. next, individualand organizational-level implementation drivers were identified to effectively use and share hmb concepts and information. implementation science stresses the importance of identifying skills and attributes of staff, named competency drivers, that support the learning, use, and sharing of training concepts (durlak & dupre, 2008; fixsen et al., 2018). participants in this study identified several qualities, or dispositions that would support the learning and teaching of the hmb concepts. important to hmb were being open-minded and having a capacity for reflection, patience, and curiosity, which are key dispositions for learning and using reflective practices in early child education (vallotton et al., 2021). additionally, for participants in this study, a supportive learning environment included a level of organizational support that allowed teachers to engage in training, integrate the concepts with parents, and reflect. thus, the feasibility of implementing the hmb+p concepts in the context of ehs relied not only on overcoming logistical challenges related to staff time that inhibited full participation, but also on the psychosocial characteristics of individual teachers and their relationships in the ece setting that enabled them to engage fully in the content of the trainings. integrated attachment-based training 67 feasibility meets appropriateness and acceptability. there were challenges to consistent participation for both teachers and parents that are important to consider and understand in future iterations of hmb+p and other multi-session professional development trainings within the ece setting. an ongoing or multi-session group that relies on the relationships and reflective stance developed among group members over time, and presents content that builds from week to week, is challenging to implement within the ece setting and within the busy lives of teachers and parents. while parents stressed their own intrinsic motivations to participate in groups that will benefit their parenting skills and the children’s development, they also noted how hard it can be to add another commitment into their daily routines. in addition, considering the importance of culturally relevant teaching and the time it may take to integrate hmb concepts into interactions with young children, the concepts and strategies learned may not show immediate results. that is, for some parents, the implementation of hmb concepts may challenge some existing beliefs and experiences about behaviors which parents may need to consider and discuss among the group. these ideas take time to understand as it is often not until a parent (or teacher) has practiced it, gained skills, and experienced the benefits that they may see how it is relevant to them. strengths and limitations sampling within each stakeholder group – university-based trainers, teachers, and parents allowed for multiple perspectives on the hmb+p training. because the ece setting involves levels of important relationships, it was critical to understand the perspectives of all those involved. additionally, the use of an implementation science framework throughout the development and implementation of this study (community partnership-building, methodology, data collection, and dissemination) is a strength that can promote the implementation of hmb as well as other professional and parent training within the ece setting. further, research study staff who facilitated the focus groups and completed the data analysis were familiar with hmb content and its approach to training. this knowledge and experience allowed for rich discussion within the focus groups and probing questions that provided in-depth reflections about the hmb+p training. however, there are limitations that should be taken into consideration when interpreting the findings. first, the researchers did not return to the study sample to review the qualitative findings. member checking is an important trustworthiness strategy within qualitative research to ensure that the themes extracted from the data in fact do reflect the perspectives of the participants (padgett, 2017); and would also provide clarification of ideas and additional perspectives on the identified themes (saldana, 2021). the focus group data were collected just prior to the outbreak of covid-19. due to restrictions imposed during the height of the pandemic, we did not have access to our hard-copy forms that contained the participants’ contact information. further, while this study illuminates important considerations for the hmb+p program and posits that these could benefit other multi-session training programs within the ece setting, the findings are unique to this intervention within the context of our ece partner programs, and not generalizable beyond. however, the fact that these data come from participants across four different sites and in two different communities add robustness to the heuristic value of the findings. caringi barron et al. 68 future directions importantly, future hmb work must continue to cultivate a deeper understanding of how the challenges to an ongoing group format can be minimized to promote the relationships and time necessary to teach the concepts within a stance of cultural humility and curiosity. the use of culturally relevant teaching strategies is important to consider within professional development and family engagement, and important to future iterations of hmb+p. conclusion hmb+p is a unique integrated training model in which the format and delivery supports the learning and integration of relationshipand attachment-based content. the ece setting is a complex array of relationships that are critical to the social-emotional development of young children, and the sense of efficacy among teachers and parents. this study reflects the perspectives of stakeholders who would benefit from the hmb+p training, provides important considerations for future iterations of the hmb+p curriculum, and provides insights that could support development and implementation of this type of training model within other early child education settings. references bhattacharya, k. 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(2018c). relationship-based competencies to support family engagement: professional development assessment for teachers and child care providers. vallotton, c. d., brophy-herb, h., roggman, l., & chazan-cohen, r. (2021). working well with babies: comprehensive competencies for educators of infants and toddlers. minneapolis, mn: redleaf press. yoshikawa, h., leyva, d., snow, c. e., treviño, e., barata, m. c., weiland, c., gomez, c. j., moreno, l., rolla, a., d'sa, n., & arbour, m. c. (2015). experimental impacts of a teacher professional development program in chile on preschool classroom quality and child outcomes. developmental psychology, 51(3), 309–322. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038785 dialog, 23(1), copyright © 2020, issn: 1930-9325 teacher beliefs regarding dual language learners in head start rica ramírez university of texas at san antonio lauren m. cycyk university of oregon shelley e. scarpino bloomsburg university lisa m. lópez university of south florida carol scheffner hammer teachers college, columbia university knowing head start teachers’ existing beliefs can help to tailor the professional development they receive on topics surrounding dual language learners (dlls) development and best practices. teachers who have access to accurate information that strengthens best practices and dispels their misconceptions related to dlls may be better equipped to provide a quality preschool experience to dlls in their classrooms. twenty-three female teachers working in head start preschool centers were interviewed on their beliefs regarding dlls, their development, and instructional practices for dlls. modified consensual qualitative analysis was completed as an inductive, multi-step analysis process to summarize the beliefs of the participating teachers. six major themes emerged. these themes included: (1) definition of dll; (2) value of dlls’ home culture and language; (3) ease of learning english; (4) primary classroom language; (5) home language use in the classroom; and, (6) language difference versus language delay or disorder. implications and recommendations for professional development are discussed. keywords: teacher beliefs, head start, dual language learners, latino, professional development research article 24 ramirez et al. introduction head start programs and their delegates are currently experiencing increases in the number of dual language learners (dlls) they serve. in fact, dlls now make up 29% of children enrolled in head start (acf, 2013). dlls are defined as “children 0-5 years of age who are exposed to and learning through two distinct languages during a critical period of development” (castro, garcia, & markos, 2013, p. 2). despite this straightforward definition, it must be noted that the dll population is heterogeneous. there are a wide range of languages and cultural groups that make up this population, as well as great variation in children’s exposure to their two languages and their language skills across both languages (cecer-dll, 2011a). moreover, many children from dll backgrounds come from lower income homes (grantmakers for education, 2013). thus, head start programs and teachers are faced with addressing the unique language backgrounds, the disproportionate low-income status, and the educational needs of this growing population of dlls. because learning two languages impacts children’s language, literacy, socioemotional and cognitive development in unique ways, head start programs must be adequately prepared to foster high-quality educational environments for dlls (castro, espinosa, & páez, 2011). accordingly, the administration for children and families’ (acf) head start program performance standards (2016a) require that programs deliver developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate learning experiences to dlls. furthermore, head start teachers are expected to use evidencebased teaching practices and strategies that focus on the development of dlls’ home language and english language skills (acf, 2016b). a variety of strategies are available to head start teachers and programs to enhance the educational quality for dlls and meet these performance standards (acf, 2016b); however, the beliefs that teachers hold regarding dlls likely influence the supports teachers choose to provide to dlls in the classroom (pettit, 2011). research clearly indicates that teachers’ beliefs regarding dlls not only influence teaching practices but also dll children’s attitudes, motivation, and performance in the classroom (flores & smith, 2009; pettit, 2011; yoon, 2008). this study draws from the work of culturally relevant pedagogy, where teachers are responsible for assisting children to become academically strong while maintaining beliefs and classroom practices that are culturally competent (ladson-billings, 1995). preschool teachers’ beliefs should be inclusive of dlls’ diverse needs, specifically attending to their language differences and the use of children’s home language in the classroom. yet, the beliefs of preschool teachers in head start working with dlls are not yet well known. this study identifies head start teacher beliefs towards dlls and determines if these beliefs align with the existing literature on best practices and the current knowledge base about dual language development. addressing teachers’ beliefs can inform the professional development that teachers are provided so that the increasing numbers of dll children in head start have quality educational opportunities and achieve academic success. there is a paucity of research focused on the beliefs of preschool teachers, specifically, regarding dlls; therefore, the review of literature that follows focuses on the beliefs identified among k-12 teachers. teachers’ beliefs regarding dlls research conducted in grades k through 12 has indicated that dlls’ experiences in the classroom are relatively dependent on teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and practices towards culture and language teacher’s beliefs regarding dlls in head start 25 abilities (pettit, 2011). many teachers have positive beliefs about dlls, specifically regarding children’s willingness and determination to learn (gandara et al., 2005). teachers with positive attitudes tend to focus on what they could do to improve dll children’s learning (gandara et al., 2005). in contrast, some teachers have negative attitudes towards this population. in a survey of 422 k-12 teachers, an overwhelming 70% were not interested in having dlls in their classroom, and 14% outright objected to having dlls placed in their classrooms (walker et al., 2004). in addition, when walker and colleagues interviewed teachers about these beliefs, some overtly stated that their main responsibility was to the “majority” children in their classrooms as opposed to the minority dll children. for example, one teacher stated, “i feel my other students [not dlls] are more important to teach to because they are the majority” (walker et al., 2004, p. 146). attitudes such as these would invariably affect the interactions teachers have with dll children. it may be that teachers who hold negative beliefs about dlls do not have updated knowledge about dlls or suitable professional development opportunities necessary to better serve dlls (pettit, 2011; vasquez-montilla et al., 2014). in fact, most teachers in elementary mainstream classrooms lack the basic foundational knowledge regarding the development of dlls, despite the fact that as many as 88% teach dlls (karabenick & noda, 2004). moreover, walker and colleagues (2004) found that 87% of k-12 teachers (n=288) did not receive any training or professional development about dlls. consequently, many of these teachers felt unprepared when it came to instructing dlls (lopez, 2011; walker, 2004), which added to teachers’ negative feelings towards this population. given this lack of knowledge and professional development, teachers often hold several misconceptions about dll populations and their development. misconceptions regarding dlls there are many topics surrounding the development of dlls about which teachers tend to have misconceptions. three of these common topics are highlighted in the current study: (a) the use of children’s home language and english language acquisition; (b) the time required to learn a second language; and, (c) distinctions between dll status and language disabilities. first, some teachers have misconceptions regarding the use of dll children’s home language and english language acquisition. specifically, teachers may believe that the use of a language other than english at home and/or in the classroom will impede dlls’ english language development. the idea that children’s home language somehow hinders the acquisition of english is still prevalent (pettit, 2011; min shim, 2014; reeves, 2006), despite the breadth of research strongly disproving this claim (the national academies of sciences, engineering, medicine, 2017). in fact, it is well-known that the process of learning two languages does not hinder or confuse dlls’ language development in english if there is high-quality and strategic exposure to both languages (barnett, yarosz, thomas, jung, & blanco, 2007; castro, 2014; castro, garcia, & markos, 2013; durán, roseth, & hoffman, 2010). use of the home language may actually facilitate english language learning. research with spanish-speaking dlls, for example, has shown that using spanish in the classroom creates a foundation for developing language and literacy skills that can transfer to english (cummins, 2000; freeman, freeman, & mercuri, 2005). despite the existing evidence base, vasquez-montilla and colleagues (2014) reported that 73% of teachers from varied grade levels believed that rapidly learning english takes precedence over supporting dlls’ home language even if that means that children lose their ability to speak their home language in the long run. 26 ramirez et al. a second topic of dlls’ development that tends to lead to misconceptions among teachers is the time it requires to learn a second language. k-12 teachers frequently believe that dlls will acquire english fluency within a year and believe this is best accomplished when dlls are prohibited from speaking their home language (walker et al., 2004). there is an informal belief that learning english is quick and effortless and that proficiency can be gained with little help simply through natural exposure to the target language (genessee, 2016). conversely, research suggests that it can take anywhere from 5 to 7 years for children to learn academic language in english (cummins, 1981, 2000; freeman et al., 2005; the national academies of sciences, engineering, medicine, 2017). the third topic surrounding dlls’ development for which teachers tend to have misconceptions is the concept of language difference versus language disability. language disability or disorder is a significant disparity in language skills from what is typically expected for a child’s age, whereas a language difference is a “language style that deviates in some way from standard usage of the mainstream culture” (paul, 2007, p.166). for example, children from spanish-speaking backgrounds may not pronounce the sounds of english similar to a native english speaker; yet, this difference in pronunciation would never be classified as a speech sound disorder for which speech-language intervention would be warranted (gildersleeve-neumann, kester, davis, & pena, 2008; goldstein, fabiano, & washington, 2005). language differences are expected for children learning two or more languages; they are not, however, indications of a language disability. yet, educators’ difficulty in distinguishing language differences from disability, especially when dlls and children with a disability perform poorly on tasks that have high language demands in english, make dlls vulnerable to over referral to special education (gildersleeve-neumann et al., 2008; sullivan, 2011). according to sullivan (2011), dlls in the united states are increasingly overrepresented in special education, being 30% more likely to be identified as having a speech or language impairment than their monolingual peers. best practices for dlls to mitigate these misconceptions, teachers should have a well-informed understanding of dlls’ language development from a bilingual perspective as well as an understanding of how language and culture inform pedagogy (jong, harper, & coady, 2013). because the purpose of the study is to determine if head start teachers’ beliefs align with current best practices for dlls, the following section reviews two of these practices related to supporting dlls’ language and culture: using culturallyand linguistically-relevant classroom strategies and valuing dlls’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds. culturallyand linguistically-relevant strategies best practices for dlls include systematically using culturallyand linguistically-relevant strategies during instruction. these include presenting culturallyand linguistically-relevant content through storybooks and materials with cultural themes that are familiar to dll children to activate their prior knowledge and facilitate their comprehension and vocabulary development (conrad, gong, sipp, & wright, 2004). the use of culturallyand linguistically-relevant content can enhance dlls’ engagement and perception of their educational experience. for example, teacher’s beliefs regarding dlls in head start 27 naqvi, mckeough, thorne, and pfitscher (2013) found that when kindergarten teachers explicitly focused on cultural and linguistic aspects of books, the children in their classroom saw the value of reading and the value of their first language as being a source of capital within the classroom. fortunately, teachers are not generally resistant to including culturallyand linguistically-relevant materials in their classrooms. for example, sawyer et al. (2016), one of the few studies that has focused on the beliefs of preschool teachers of dlls specifically, found that most preschool teachers agreed that children benefit from learning information about other languages and cultures. thus, these strategies should be implemented in classrooms with dlls while taking into account their english proficiency and supporting the continued use of the home language. however, it has been found that preschool teachers infrequently use the home language during classroom instruction even when they speak the language of the dlls in their classrooms (sawyer et al., 2017; sawyer et al., 2016). identifying teachers’ beliefs around language use in the classroom will be helpful in understanding why this is the case. valuing dlls’ linguistic and cultural background the role of teachers working with dlls is not simple; teachers need not only help children acquire english and academic content but they also need to value and respect the diversity and individuality that each child brings to the classroom (barnett et al. 2007). teachers should view dlls’ cultural and linguistic background as an asset that can enrich instruction (wheeler, 2005). research has shown that preschool-age dlls whose language and culture are valued in their classrooms have higher self-esteem and motivation to succeed in the classroom (cummins, 2000). not only has there been a substantial amount of research surrounding the topic of valuing and supporting dlls’ home language (the national academies of sciences, engineering, medicine, 2017), but professional groups have also issued position statements on this topic. the division for early childhood of the council for exceptional children (2010) urges teachers to support and respect children’s home language through responsive practices. in addition, the national association for the education of young children (2009) partnered with the national association of early childhood specialists to issue a joint position statement regarding responsive and supportive programs for serving young dlls. the overarching theme addressed in this position statement was the need to have an integrated and well-organized system of early care and education that supports the learning and development of all children regardless of poverty, home language, and disability. limitations of current research despite the advances made by existing research in examining teacher beliefs, attitudes, and practices, there are several concerns that must be addressed to better support head start teachers of dlls. what appears to be lacking in the extant literature is the use of robust methods that provide an in-depth understanding of teacher beliefs. most of the existing research on teachers’ beliefs about dlls has relied on data from surveys and questionnaires almost exclusively (flores & smith, 2009; gandara et al., 2005; karabenick et al., 2004; pettit, 2011; sawyer et al., 2016; vasquez-montilla et al., 2014). surveys and questionnaires are useful as a starting point to understanding beliefs, attitudes, and practices but are not sufficient as they generally do not allow 28 ramirez et al. teachers to explain or expand upon their beliefs (pettit, 2011). interviewing teachers is a more robust method for gathering in-depth information on teachers’ perspectives towards dlls. one study to date completed interviews with teachers on the topic of dlls. walker and colleagues (2005) interviewed 6 of the 422 participants who were surveyed in their study, which allowed a closer look at the attitudes held by a small number of teachers of dlls. in addition, much of the research on teacher beliefs regarding dlls has included a combination of teachers across grade levels, such as elementary, middle school, and high school (karabenick & noda, 2004; min shim, 2014; vasquez-montilla et al., 2014; walker et al., 2005) and little to no research on preschool teachers. grade-level differences in the instructional experience and needs of children and teachers in elementary grades and beyond prevent generalization of these findings to preschool populations. it is reasonable to assume that teachers in preschool hold different beliefs than their colleagues working with dlls in other grades. this assumption is supported by research that has found a difference in attitudes towards dlls when elementary and high school teachers are compared (gandara et al., 2005; karabenick et al., 2004). therefore, the beliefs of preschool teachers should be addressed independently of teachers of other grade levels. the purpose of the present study the current study’s purpose was to focus on head start teachers working with dlls to better understand their beliefs regarding dual language development and instruction of dlls. this study also sought to determine whether head start teachers’ beliefs align with existing literature on culturallyand linguistically-relevant best practices. we focused on head start specifically because 29% of children enrolled in head start are dlls (acf, 2016), whereas other preschool programs only report that 12.6% of the children in their classrooms are dlls (u.s. department of education, 2016). given the substantial representation of dlls in head start, head start teachers must be prepared to instruct dlls with a well-informed background on dll development and best practices for their learning. knowing head start teachers’ existing beliefs can help to tailor the professional development they receive on these topics. teachers who have access to accurate information that strengthens best practices and dispels their misconceptions related to dlls may be better equipped to provide a quality preschool experience to dlls in their classrooms. thus, implications and recommendations for professional development are tailored to head start teachers. method participants twenty-three female teachers working in preschool centers in pennsylvania, new jersey, delaware, and florida participated. all preschool centers were head start grantees or delegates and served children from low-income backgrounds, many of whom were dlls of latino/a, african, and/or asian heritage. as reported by teachers on a standard demographic survey, the racial and ethnic distribution of teachers was: 43% latina, 39% white, 9% african-american, and 8% multiracial. the majority of teachers (n = 17) had a bachelor’s degree. the remainder had an teacher’s beliefs regarding dlls in head start 29 associate degree (n = 4), master’s degree (n = 1), or high school diploma (n = 1). teachers’ mean years of experience was 7.6 years teaching children from any background in preschool and 9.9 years teaching dlls specifically in any grade. three (25%) teachers were certified in bilingual education. teachers reported that they had received varied amounts of professional development regarding dlls, ranging from none (n = 4), minimal (n = 10), moderate (n = 3), to a great deal (n = 6). twelve teachers (52%) reported that they spoke spanish well or very well. nine teachers (39%) described a wide range of proficiency in one or more of the following languages: mandarin, french, japanese, italian, arabic, german, polish, portuguese, american sign language, korean, and quechua. procedure teachers were administered a questionnaire that included 61 multi-part questions targeting: teacher language and cultural background, teacher experience and training, teacher practices and language use with dlls, teacher beliefs about dual language development and dlls’ learning, and classroom characteristics. twenty-three of the questions specific to their understanding of dlls, dual language development, dlls’ educational needs, and classroom practices served as the basis of discussion for examining teachers’ beliefs. teachers were interviewed about their responses using 10 probe questions that corresponded to these topic areas. for example, teachers first responded to a question on the questionnaire which asked them to rate their level of agreement with the statement “use of dlls’ home language in the classroom helps them to learn english” using the following scale: strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree. once teachers selected an answer, they were then interviewed about their response with a probe question, “what made you select your answer?” an additional example was to ask teachers to rate their level of agreement with the statement, “you or another adult do specific activities to develop the native languages of dlls.” this was followed by the probe, “please describe the activities you were thinking of.” educational professionals who held a master’s degree or higher administered the interviews. the interviews were conducted in-person with teachers in their preferred language, english (n = 19) or spanish (n = 4), at the teachers’ preschool. the interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. analysis modified consensual qualitative analysis was completed as an inductive, multi-step analysis process to summarize the beliefs of the participating teachers (hill, thompson, & williams, 1997). because teachers revealed their beliefs regarding dlls throughout the interview, all interview content was analyzed. the first two authors first read all of the interview transcripts independently in their entirety to identify an initial list of discrete codes that represented teachers’ beliefs related to dlls. the list was then refined via discussion to yield 22 non-overlapping codes. specific code definitions were written. next, these authors coded and compared 4 randomly-selected interviews to further refine code definitions. the 20 remaining transcripts were divided between the two authors for coding. two authors coded each transcript, and differences were discussed and resolved by consensus. once coding was complete for all transcripts, the frequency of codes and 30 ramirez et al. their associated excerpts were examined to determine global themes. coding and analysis were facilitated by dedoose (sociocultural research consultants, 2012). findings six major themes emerged regarding the beliefs teachers held towards dlls, dual language development, and dlls’ instructional practices. these themes included: (1) definition of dll; (2) value of dlls’ home culture and language; (3) ease of learning english; (4) primary classroom language; (5) home language use in the classroom; and, (6) language difference versus language delay or disorder. each theme is discussed below. definition of dll the first theme centers on teachers’ beliefs regarding how a dual language learner should be defined. only two teachers recognized that the term “dual language learner” represents children from a wide range of language backgrounds and proficiencies. these teachers included in their definitions of dlls both children who learn english as a second language and children who learn english at the same time as another language. the remaining teachers had a narrow definition of who qualified as dlls. most often, teachers (13/23) specified that dlls were children who had no english exposure at home and demonstrated minimal english skills in the classroom. for example, one teacher explained that a dll is “someone who is not confident in english and has very limited english skills, and like can’t do…the classroom work on the same level as their peers because of their language skills.” similar to this teacher, many teachers did not categorize children who speak english well while also receiving regular input in another language at home as dlls. a few teachers (2/23) believed that children had to be proficient speakers of english and the home language to be considered dlls. in sum, the definitions provided by teachers as a group revealed inconsistency in the characteristics that would define children as dual language learners. value of dlls’ home culture and language the second theme related to teachers’ belief that the home culture and language of dlls were valued in their classrooms. all but one teacher provided one or more examples of ways in which children’s home cultures were referenced in classroom materials and activities. examples included books with multicultural themes or characters (17/23 teachers), celebration of diverse holidays (e.g., chinese new year; 9/23 teachers), show-and-tell activities highlighting home cultures (7/23 teachers), exposure to ethnic foods (4/23 teachers), use of teaching materials that reflected other cultures (e.g., puzzles; 5/23 teachers), ethnic music and dance (2/23 teachers), and classroom labels written in languages other than english (1/23 teachers). most teachers reported that these activities were important to form supportive relationships with the children and to help children and families feel comfortable in preschool. one teacher also felt that gathering information on children’s home culture informed her teaching: “what i did was i read a lot of information about their countries and so i can understand how they treat the kids, how they are being raised over here… because some behaviors in the classroom are different… [it] is just because of the culture.” despite the teacher’s beliefs regarding dlls in head start 31 support for using culturally-relevant materials, the vast majority of teachers did not explicitly reference use of other culturally-responsive instructional practices in their classrooms. most teachers (17/23) also believed that children’s home language was important and should be supported. while explaining their support of the home language, some teachers (10/23) stated that home language loss is a detriment to children. one teacher explained: even if we want the students to learn english well, we still want to respect their home language and value it because it’s such an important skill nowadays, especially, and you want them to first of all, not lose that ability, not be ashamed and think, “oh, thatat home you could speak that language but day-to-day life? no…, you can’t use that.” just want to let them know that it’s a valid, very useful skill. that they should be using it [the home language] and be proud of it. as noted in the quotation above, teachers provided varied reasons why they felt that home language loss would be problematic for dlls. these reasons included weakening the bonds children felt towards their family and culture and/or reducing children’s future advantages as speakers of two languages. thus, more than half of teachers (15/23) reported that they encouraged children’s parents to continue to speak to their children in the home language. ease of learning english the third theme that emerged was specific to teachers’ beliefs regarding how dlls learn english. teachers generally believed that learning english was easy for dlls as long as they received frequent and consistent english exposure. only two teachers stated that dlls required specific language supports from classroom adults to acquire strong english skills. in contrast, more than half of teachers (12/23) indicated that dlls simply needed to hear english regularly in the classroom and/or home to become proficient speakers. relatedly, seven of these teachers believed that dlls could successfully learn english in less than a year. one teacher discussed why she thought it was easy for dlls to learn english: …their brain is empty. you know what i mean? there’s like a sponge. and they, whatever they take off, whatever they like. ya know? they learn fast… it’s no barriers for them to learn any language or anything that they want to learn, there’s no barriers for that. the belief that children soak up new languages like a sponge was shared by several teachers. however, four teachers thought that that dlls needed more than a year to acquire english while three teachers felt the timeline for english acquisition varied by child due to a variety of factors. one teacher explained her perspective: i think there’s potential to catch up to english-only peers in less than a year but in other cases, it kind of depends on age and, like, how far advanced other kids are and how much exposure to english they’ve had in the past. there’s a bunch of different factors that can go into that. as alluded to in this excerpt, the most common factor that teachers felt influenced the speed of english acquisition was the use of english in the home. dlls who heard english in the home 32 ramirez et al. would acquire english more quickly. relatedly, some teachers (5/23) reported that they gave parents the suggestion to speak english to their children in addition to the home language. primary classroom language the fourth theme that emerged was teachers’ belief that english should be the primary language of the classroom. fourteen teachers believed in prioritizing english over dlls’ home language(s) in the classroom, which may have been related to the previous theme (i.e., increased english exposure would lead to faster english acquisition). many teachers provided a rationale to support this belief. several teachers (6/23) felt that using primarily english in preschool would better prepare children to enter english-only classrooms in kindergarten. one teacher explained: i’m looking at the further picture of if they don’t get it, what’s gonna happen to them? you know, most of the schools in the area are pretty much english-speaking teachers, even though that yes, there are bilingual schools and bilingual teachers, but it doesn’t mean they’re [children] always gonna get that. in addition, two teachers specified that english should be prioritized because it is the language of the united states. four teachers believed that the use of dlls’ home language in the classroom was disadvantageous for english language learning or, at a minimum, had no impact on learning english. regardless of their rationale (or lack thereof), teachers generally believed that using mostly or all english during classroom instruction was the preferred approach. home language use in the classroom the fifth theme revealed by teachers’ responses related to when and why dlls’ home language should be used in the classroom. despite the general emphasis on english exposure, all teachers expressed the belief that use of children’s home language was beneficial in the classroom at times. most often, teachers (16/23) felt the home language should be used to facilitate children’s understanding of classroom directions when english was not effective. this belief was held by teachers who were monolingual english speakers as well as those who spoke the language(s) of the dlls in their classrooms. for example, one teacher stated, “'i kinda do try really hard to start out with english, but i always make sure that [if] they really don’t get it, then okay, then i will use the home language.” similar to this teacher, many teachers reported speaking in english first, and then following up with a translation in the home language. another teacher described her approach: i always start in english, and i usually have pictures or manipulatives for them to see, so there’s the visual aspect. and if there’s any clarification necessary, then i go into mandarin. or, if they speak to me in mandarin, maybe to get more information from them, then i speak to them in mandarin. so that when i’m teaching, i teach in english. we wanna immerse them. teachers promoted the use of the home language for behavior management, in part, because some believed that the use of the home language facilitated children’s attention to tasks. the home language was thought to be linked to compliance with authority. for example: teacher’s beliefs regarding dlls in head start 33 i always use english and spanish when i’m getting their attention and when i’m organizing them, like in transition to lunch or outside or whatever. i think they have a big respect for the language... i get their attention faster when i talk in spanish... like they really listen. i don’t know if it reminds them of home or what it is, but when i speak spanish it’s like... okay she means business. more than half of teachers (12/23) also believed that use of dlls’ home languages strengthened children’s acquisition of instructional content and vocabulary. four of these teachers also explicitly stated that use of the home language benefited english language acquisition. the academic targets that teachers reportedly reinforced in the home language were colors, letters, and numbers or simple, high-frequency vocabulary. one teacher provided the following example: “i do some things in spanish during the lesson but it’s – i mean, i count, maybe i just go over the days of the week, you know, the numbers, the colors, i might get them a new word like, ‘leche, what is leche?’”. teachers infrequently reported use of dlls’ home languages to reinforce the academic content delivered during more complex lessons and did not discuss providing entire lessons in the home language. in addition, teachers believed in using the home language(s) in other ways in the classroom. the vast majority of teachers (20/23) reported that dlls were read to in their home language(s) during individual or small group literacy activities. use of the home language was also reported for social conversations with adults, such as those taking place during classroom greetings and snack time (6/23 teachers), as well as for singing classroom songs (7/23 teachers). teachers (8/23) also felt that dlls would naturally use the home language when interacting with peers who also spoke that language. furthermore, nine teachers were pleased that volunteers visiting the classroom would often use dlls’ home language(s). importantly, the majority of teachers (16/23) reported that their decision for use of the home language was predominantly based on dlls’ english language proficiency. dlls who spoke english well were not thought to need the support of their home language in the classroom. dlls who spoke less english, however, were believed to benefit from the use of the home language. one teacher described her decision regarding home language use for instruction: if i’m working in a small group on any kind of activity a math activity, a science activity, if there are children in my group that are only speaking a little bit of english then i’m gonna try to throw some spanish in there to help them understand a little better and to see if they’re getting an understanding. but if i have a group that speak more english then i just stick with the english. related to home language use, some teachers also decided to use dlls’ home language(s) to help children feel comfortable in the classroom environment. one teacher said: so, it’s like, you know, if, if you can’t give them a little bit of their own language to make them feel secure, they really, what are they gonna learn? because you’re not making them feel comfortable. you’re not making them feel welcome, to say, ‘okay, yes we do speak english, but i can also tell you in spanish to do that.’ 34 ramirez et al. language differences versus language delay or disorder the final theme was specific to how teachers believed children’s status as dual language learners converged with language delays or disorders and the process of differentiating between language difference and disorder. most teachers (19/23) believed that dlls were not at a greater risk for language and/or learning disabilities than children who only spoke one language. one teacher explained, “having a predominant first language and learning a second language doesn’t categorize you as having a disability… it doesn’t mean that you have a disability because you’re learning the english language”. two teachers who held this belief also believed learning two languages to be an advantage to dlls’ cognitive and language development. however, three teachers believed that dlls were at a greater risk of being misidentified for language and learning challenges as compared to their monolingual peers: “they are in risk if they don’t have someone who is bilingual to understand what is going on.” relatedly, three teachers felt that differentiating delay or disorder from the normal processes of dual language development was difficult and required bilingual assessors. one teacher explained, “it’s very difficult to assess children’s progress if you can’t do it in a language that they’re comfortable with, and so i think for assessment purposes there’s at least a need for more translators and people who are capable of doing these assessments in the children’s home languages.” yet, this belief was not widely reported. discussion the present study provides in-depth information on head start teachers’ beliefs towards children from dual language learning backgrounds to address the lack of previous attention paid to preschool teachers working with dlls. the findings inform recommendations for professional development on the topic of dlls for head start teachers that may contribute to an enhanced educational experience for young children from dll backgrounds. definition of dlls many teachers in this study were unclear as to how to define a dll. generally, teachers did not recognize that the term dll included children with varying proficiencies in their home language and in english. this inconsistency creates a legitimate concern with regard to the ways in which teachers identify who their dll children are and how to best serve their needs. in order to provide quality instruction to an increasing dll child population, teachers must have the appropriate theoretical, pedagogical, and cultural knowledge surrounding the definition of dlls (flores et al., 2009). the office of head start defines a dual language learner as a child “learning two (or more) languages at the same time, or a child learning a second language while continuing to develop their first (or home) language” (acf, 2013). the results of this study provide evidence that head start teachers should be provided with this definition in their professional development materials so as to have a consistent and accurate definition of dlls. teacher’s beliefs regarding dlls in head start 35 value of dlls’ home culture and language importantly, teachers generally valued dlls’ home language, cultural diversity, and efforts to become bilingual. similar to the findings of sawyer et al. (2016), teachers held positive beliefs about bilingualism, and they believed that families should speak their heritage language at home. preschool teachers who are responsive to children’s culture and language have been shown to positively impact children’s academic outcomes in the area of school readiness, including language, mathematics, and literacy (barnett et al, 2007; the national academies of sciences, engineering, medicine, 2017). teachers’ perception of dlls’ home language, cultural diversity, and bilingualism can be used as a starting point for professional development in best practices by capitalizing on the positive beliefs teachers already hold. valuing and emphasizing children’s home language in the classroom, for example, aligns with recommendations provided by the national academies of sciences, engineering, medicine (2017). ease of learning english teachers did not have an accurate understanding of how a second language develops or how to best support dlls’ english language and literacy acquisition in the classroom. according to genesee (2016), teachers expect young children to acquire native-like english proficiency effortlessly and largely without instruction. it can be assumed that preschool teachers that hold this belief are less likely to support dlls through the language learning process that is particularly crucial in children’s early years of development. a strong body of evidence suggests that dlls acquire academic language in their second language within five to seven years with proper support (castro, garcia, & markos, 2013; cummins 1981; genesee, 2016). this range for learning english is much longer and more effortful than preschool teachers believe it to be. dlls need planned and systematic support in acquiring a second language, which focuses on language for academic and social purposes as well as fostering their home language (genesee, 2016). therefore, providing head start teachers with professional development that highlights second language acquisition theory will help in addressing this misconception. home language use in the classroom head start teachers believed that the home language should be used in the home; however, they had varying beliefs about how and when it should be used in the preschool classroom. the majority of head start teachers believed that learning english should be prioritized and should be the primary language of the classroom. the use of the home language in the classroom depended on the language proficiency of the individual child and whether the child needed explicit instructions. this approach is contrary to what research says about the benefits of using children’s home language to learn a second language (lópez, 2012; paéz, tabors, & lópez, 2007). therefore, best practices dictate the strategic use of the home language in the preschool classroom as a tool to support learning because of the shared infrastructure across languages, as substantiated in the literature (bunch, 2013; castro, 2014; winsler, et al., 2014; zepeda, castro, & cronin, 2011). 36 ramirez et al. opportunities for dlls to develop academic language proficiency are missed when teachers focus on the home language only for social conversation and behavior management. again, this finding suggests the importance of teachers possessing an understanding of how language is acquired in preschool dlls through high-quality professional development. explicit language and literacy instructional strategies in dlls’ home language are recommended to strengthen their acquisition of english and academic skills (cecer-dll, 2011b). some examples of strategies to explicitly teach language and literacy instruction in the home language include: using visual cues and props, teaching content specific vocabulary instruction, book reading in the home language, and teaching in small groups (buysse, castro, & peisner-feinberg, 2010; goldenberg, 2008). in addition, providing children with ample opportunities to use language through language-focused activities that include sustained conversations, open-ended questioning, and rich, complex vocabulary are all ways in which to foster language and literacy skills in both english and children’s home language(s) (wasik & hindman, 2011b). language difference versus language delay or disorder these head start teachers also believed that a child who is exposed to more than one language could not be considered as having a language delay or disorder simply based on dll status. similarly, sawyer and colleagues (2016) found that preschool teachers believed dlls were not more likely than their peers to need special education. this belief is encouraging because dlls in k-12 are overrepresented in having some sort of language delay/disorder (abedi, 2006; sullivan, 2011). this overrepresentation relates to the lack of knowledge regarding cultural and linguistic differences and not the presence of a disability (abedi, 2006). overrepresentation may arise from the lack of professional development teachers receive in linguistic differences, the paucity of practitioners who are themselves bilingual, and the lack of valid assessments. this is particularly important because assessment results can influence teachers’ beliefs about dlls’ abilities and therefore, the type and quality of instruction that is afforded them (spinellie, 2008). therefore, having head start teachers express that learning two languages does not cause a delay or disorder is encouraging. however, it is clear that head start teachers also need access to appropriate assessments that account for dlls’ abilities in both languages and help to differentiate difference from delay/disorder. limitations despite the value that this study adds to understanding the perspectives of head start teachers of dlls, a few limitations of the current study require mention. these limitations provide avenues for future research on this topic. first, this study had a fairly small sample size, and all participants resided in the eastern united states. as a result, the themes revealed may be specific to particular populations of teachers working with particular populations of dlls. thus, future studies should consider examining the beliefs of larger groups of head start teachers from different geographic areas and dll populations. second, there were no direct observations conducted with teachers in this study, which would have allowed for the consideration of how teachers’ beliefs aligned with their observed classroom practices. although prior research suggests that teachers’ beliefs are connected to the educational experience of children in their classrooms, it was not possible to teacher’s beliefs regarding dlls in head start 37 examine this link with the use of qualitative interviews alone. thus, a study that includes simultaneous observations and interviews should be conducted in order to continue to inform issues of professional development for educating dlls. implications for professional development this study advances the current research by providing a robust and nuanced understanding of head start teachers’ beliefs surrounding the development and education of dlls. the findings of this study have implications for training head start teachers who work with preschool-aged dlls. professional development should address the specific misconceptions revealed in this study and provide instruction on how teachers can support dual language development in the classroom. based on our findings, the misconceptions that should be specifically addressed are those related to the definition of dlls, the ease with which dlls learn english, the use of english and other languages in the classroom, and the availability and use of appropriate assessments for dlls. teacher coaching and mentoring models can provide intensive, direct instruction to build teachers’ existing and accurate knowledge of dlls and facilitate a supportive environment in which to learn more about the development and instruction of dlls. in order for this professional development to be effective, it should be ongoing and intensive so that teachers are able to process the information received and then incorporate what they have learned into their teaching practices (wasik & hindman, 2011a). through professional development, teachers will be able to more effectively teach dlls in their classrooms, thus improving the education of an ever-growing population in the united states. references abedi, j. 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(2005, november). the use of cognitive interviewing to evaluate translated survey questions: lessons learned. in proceedings of the federal committee on statistical methodology research conference. arlington, va. winsler, a., burchinal, m. r., tien, h., peisner-feinberg, e., espinosa, l., castro, d. c. et al., (2014). early development skills of diverse dual language learners: the roles of home language use, cultural heritage, maternal immigration, and sociodemographics in ecls-b. early childhood research quarterly, 29, 750764. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.02.008 yoon, b. (2008). uninvited guests: the influence of teachers’ roles and pedagogies on the positioning of english language learners in the regular classroom. american educational research journal, 45, 495-522. doi: 10.3102/0002831208316200 https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=96 https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/2013-14-first-look.pdf hs dialog, 26(2), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 implementation of an integrated training for parents and teachers in early head start: a research to practice summary carla caringi barron1 claire vallotton3 ann stacks1 olivia oates2 anike adekoya3 maria muzik2 katherine rosenblum2 holly brophy-herb3 1wayne state university 2university of michigan 3michigan state university this qualitative study documented perspectives of professionals and parents who were involved in the implementation of an attachment-based training for parents and teachers in early head start (ehs). eight university-based facilitators, 20 ehs teachers, and 13 parents participated in focus groups to better understand the appropriateness, acceptability, and feasibility of hearts and minds on babies (hmb); a group-based, multi-session training with the goal of supporting social emotional development in young children through promotion of reflective functioning and mindfulness strategies for teachers and parents. data suggest that a small group format and a facilitator stance of openness, curiosity, and cultural humility promoted teachers’ and parents’ positive perspectives of hmb concepts. participants in this study also helped us to understand challenges to hmb’s feasibility, including logistical challenges that need to be considered for successful implementation in other ehs sites. keywords: early head start, parent-teacher relationships, parent engagement, qualitative study research to practice summary 108 caringi barron et al. introduction sensitive and responsive caregiver-child interactions for infants and toddlers across home and early care and education (ece) contexts support optimal development and school readiness (e.g., halle et al., 2011; tamis-lemonda et al., 2014). high quality experiences cannot be fully achieved for infants and toddlers without cooperation and communication among the caregivers across these care settings (elicker et al., 1997): parents or other family members at home (referred to here as “parents”) and educators (referred to here as “teachers”). national efforts have been made to provide resources and support to define and assess effective parent-teacher relationships (porter, et al., 2012), and the competencies needed by ece practitioners to develop, maintain, and utilize effective partnerships with families (u.s. dhhs, 2018b; 2018c). however, while ece programs understand the importance of and prioritize relationships, the focus of interventions is on dyadic relationships in the home or in the classroom, rather than the integration of these relationship systems. thus far, training and interventions have not adequately addressed the development of content and relationships that can bridge the gap between the classroom and the home environment. integrated training that promotes the provision of sensitive and responsive care in the classroom and provides the resources and skills to parents supports the parent-teacher relationship and the parent-child relationship (landry et al., 2017; sheridan et al., 2020). hearts and minds on babies (hmb) is an attachmentand mindfulness-based multilevel training curriculum that incorporates shared training components for administrators (hmb+a), teachers (hmb+t), and parents (hmb+p). the program aims to reduce caregiver (i.e., teacher and parent) stress through mindfulness practice and improve reflective functioning and responsive caregiving through understanding of and reflection upon infants’ and toddlers’ attachment needs. in all three hmb program variants (a, t, and p), hmb concepts are shared through semi-structured, manualized content and relationship-based and culturally responsive interactions; thus, presenting content in ways that attend to the unique emotional needs and racial, cultural, and ethnic values of the training participants (see stacks et al., 2023 for a description of hmb concepts and development). this study focuses on hmb+p which provides teachers with 8 hours of training over four monthly sessions to support their ability to share hmb content with parents at three 90minute parent meetings offered to parents monthly; and at drop-off and pick-up times. this study was guided by implementation science. implementation science involves the use of scientific methods and strategies to investigate feasibility of interventions when they are moved from more controlled settings to the community setting (durlak, 2015). defined by proctor and colleagues (2011), appropriateness of the hmb+p training refers to the perceived fit of the content of the curriculum within ehs, the relevance of the topics for ehs parents and teachers, and whether it is useful and practical within their lived experiences. acceptability calls attention to whether participants are satisfied with the content, format, and delivery of hmb+p in an ehs context. lastly. feasibility is assessed by asking providers or organizational settings whether the intervention can be delivered as intended, that is, whether programs can adhere to the recommended facilitator training and supervision, hmb delivery format, schedule, and ongoing use of the concepts. implementation of training in ehs 109 current study the current qualitative study explored stakeholder experiences of the integrated parent-teacher hmb+p training. guided by implementation science, research questions focused on understanding of hmb+p’s appropriateness, acceptability, and feasibility within an early head start (ehs) setting: 1. what is the appropriateness of hmb+p for ehs? 2. how do stakeholders describe the acceptability of the hmb+p format and content? 3. is it feasible for teachers to deliver hmb+p? to answer these questions, we conducted a total of ten focus groups across four ehs sites: four teacher groups; four parent groups; and two university-based trainer groups. these groups were held in person and led by members of the research team. our study sample included eight hmb university-based trainers; 20 ehs teachers; and 13 ehs parents. participants were predominantly black (83%) and female (93%). the distribution of race and education varied in each group. focus groups were run using a semi-structured interview protocol and were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. the research coding team used inductive thematic coding strategies to discern and capture the experiences of the participants. that is, we used participant words to identify, interpret, and categorize themes related to the research questions. key findings this study’s purpose was to understand participant experiences of hmb+p. first, three main categories emerged from the parents, teachers and university-based facilitators related to the appropriateness of the hmb+p training: (a) cultural relevance of concepts; (b) promotion of parenting skills; and (c) promotion of parent-teacher relationships. while participants found the content and concepts of the training relevant and useful in their lives, some concepts challenged cultural values, beliefs, and experiences that teachers and parents hold. in addition, participation in the group offered developmental knowledge and promoted parenting efficacy for parents; while the shared language and experiences within the group offered teachers and parents an opportunity to develop new perspectives of each other. two main categories emerged from the data related to the acceptability of hmb+p in ehs. that is, how do participants describe their satisfaction with the content, format, and delivery of hmb+p in an ehs context. again, cultural and racial experiences were highlighted. participants helped us understand that these experiences need to be considered when presenting content that has the potential to challenge beliefs and values. participants noted that the structure of the training supported ongoing learning and reflection and an understanding that learning and using these concepts may take time. however, participants also noted that a person’s motivation to participate in hmb+p was important in learning, reflecting upon, and using the hmb concepts in their daily lives. 110 caringi barron et al. lastly, data from this study suggest two main categories related to the feasibility of hmb+p implementation. participants noted that the reality of the classroom environment, including classroom responsibilities and parent availability often interfered with the teacher’s facilitation of, and parent attendance at, the hmb+p groups. the sharing of hmb concepts at drop off and pick up was also challenging. data also suggest that the elements needed to use and share hmb concepts are important to consider when assessing its feasibility. participants in this study noted that three elements need to be in place if an ehs setting would like to offer hmb+p. first, a supportive learning environment that includes the ehs program’s organizational and leadership supports. when leadership was supportive, teachers found it easier to be involved and use the hmb concepts in their work. in addition, intrinsic dispositions such as being open-minded, patient, and curious were also important for an hmb+p facilitator to share and use the concepts. lastly, it was important to participants in this study that hmb+p facilitators should have knowledge of early childhood and the hmb concepts, skills in group facilitation, and skills in engaging parents. it would be important for program decision makers to reflect upon whether they have these elements in place when planning to implement hmb+p. summary findings suggest that hmb+p was beneficial to teachers and parents who were able to participate in the group sessions and that teachers had the knowledge and skill to facilitate hmb+p, yet feasibility remained a problem due in part to organizational capacity. overall, the parent group training sessions were acceptable for parents who were able to attend during the day, and parents were able to use the hmb concepts within their daily lives, suggesting the content was appropriate. it was critical that hmb facilitators were curious about how concepts fit with different cultural values and beliefs and allow time for these discussions in the hmb+p groups – with teachers and parents. findings from this study offer insights into the importance of supporting cultural humility in group facilitators and ways to integrate parent training and engagement in ece settings that enhances the parent-teacher relationship and caregiving quality. we learned that hmb+p participants benefit when concepts are taught in a way that they could be reflected upon (i.e., presented with a stance of cultural humility); and integrated into existing cultural experiences (i.e., considering current and historical sociocultural context). hmb+p is a unique integrated training model in which the format and delivery supports the learning and integration of relationshipand attachment-based content. the ece setting is a complex array of relationships that are critical to the social-emotional development of young children, and the sense of efficacy among teachers and parents. this study reflects the perspectives of stakeholders who would benefit from the hmb+p training, provides important considerations for future iterations of the hmb+p curriculum, and offers insights that could support development and implementation of this type of training model within other early child education settings. implementation of training in ehs 111 references durlak, j. a. 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(2018c). relationship-based competencies to support family engagement: professional development assessment for teachers and child care providers. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-010-0319-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-010-0319-7 hs dialog, 26(3), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 perceptions of east coast migrant head start programs and multilingual families’ communication tricia c. clarke robert niewiadomski ana de jesus lovell quiroz xueyi luo yimeng li yidan shao diane rodriguez, ph.d. fordham university, graduate school of education multilingual families experience unique barriers as they seek to partner with schools to educate their children. this research study explored parents’ perceptions of access to multilingual early childhood programs and their perception of the communication process between multiple stakeholders of an early childhood program in their rural multilingual community. data were collected from forty-two families in a rural multilingual community in north carolina with and without children in an early childhood head start program, using surveys and focus group interviews in spanish and english. results revealed that most families believe they have access to the head start program and a positive perception of the communication processes. however, barriers related to enrollment and cultural and linguistic issues persist. this study has implications for multilingual families’ access to early childhood programs, such as head start programs, and their children’s future career and life prospects. keywords: multilingual education, early childhood education, migrant families, head start multilingual programs introduction this study investigated families’ perceptions of multilingual early childhood programs, notably head start, and their partnership and communication with various stakeholders. the findings offered insights for educators, program managers, and policymakers aiming to enhance early childhood education, especially for multilingual learners. research to practice summary clarke et al. 44 the findings revealed that families firmly believed that head start programs positively influence their children’s academic, social, and emotional development, aligning with established research on high-quality preschool programs (duncan & magnuson, 2013; pungello et al., 2010; reynolds et al., 2011; weiland & yoshikawa, 2013). furthermore, multilingual learners in head start programs outperform their peers in various developmental areas (stanley et al., 2016). in addition, families perceived head start programs as beneficial for their children’s social and emotional development, consistent with prior research emphasizing early childhood program benefits (stanley et al., 2016; stork & sanders, 2008). early exposure to literacy and mathematics is crucial for cognitive development (stork & sanders, 2008). likewise, families believed head start programs were pivotal in enhancing their children’s language acquisition and preserving their language identity. this finding aligns with research indicating head start’s advantages for multilingual learners (puma et al., 2010). language development is essential for family unity and academic success (justice et al., 2020; sawyer et al., 2017; smith, 2020). families perceived their partnership with head start programs as a robust channel for communication, a notable departure from earlier research documenting communication barriers in multilingual early childhood programs (sawyer et al., 2017; schneider & arnot, 2018). effective family engagement, as demonstrated in various studies (guo, 2010; epstein et al., 2018; gichuru et al., 2015; kossek & burke, 2014; libetti, 2019), is pivotal for children’s academic achievement and cultural awareness. a key element in achieving this success involves establishing effective relationships with families, a fundamental aspect of community-focused interventions (jasis & marriott, 2010). the study underscores the need to maintain and enhance family-centered approaches in head start programs. educators should provide comprehensive training in family-focused practices, including reciprocal communication and family engagement. ongoing learning opportunities, such as additional training and peer coaching, can empower teachers to support diverse families more effectively. program managers should consider strategic recruitment efforts to strengthen access to program resources and services, especially for families who still need to enroll. thus, this research provides valuable insights into families’ perceptions of head start programs, highlighting their positive impact on development, language acquisition, and family partnerships. implementing these recommendations can create more inclusive, supportive, and impactful early childhood education for multilingual learners and their families. summary of literature multilingualism plays a crucial role in developing and preserving literacy for children’s home languages (garcía, 2003; justice et al., 2020; kostoulas & motsiou, 2020; sawyer et al., 2017; smith, 2020; surrain, 2021). accordingly, plurilingual children’s families believe in the importance of multilingualism and are devoted to creating a strong multilingual environment at home (garcía, 2003; kostoulas & motsiou, 2020;). however, although many families seek to develop their children’s english skills, children's language identity formation can be thwarted without ongoing development of their home languages, and their family home language views of multilingual families 45 connections can be disrupted. multilingual families think highly of the value of language identity formation and literacy at home and pay attention to professional multilingual education opportunities (dos santos, 2019; smith, 2020). the reasons were that immigrant families understood the significant status of english in contemporary society, and learning english paved the way for children’s future careers and economic prosperity. multilingual families place importance on positive parent-teacher relationships and value themselves as crucial participants in the collaboration between home and school (sawyer et al., 2017). however, studies have pointed out barriers that hinder school-home communication. for example, previous studies found that families’ inability to access and comprehend education jargon and discrepancies in parental knowledge from teachers’ and families’ perspectives hinder schoolhome communication (larios & zetlin, 2018; sawyer et al., 2017; schneider & arnot, 2018). these barriers to school-home communication can be developed through school-initiated interventions, including employing bilingual assistants and bilingual liaisons (guo, 2010; wongvillacres et al., 2019). current study this study aimed to explore perceptions of partnership and how (mis)communication in schoolhome relationships affects engagement between multilingual communities and early childhood education programs. the following research questions guided our study: 1. how do families perceive their access to multilingual early childhood programs? 2. how do families perceive the partnership and communication processes between multiple stakeholders of early childhood programs in their rural multilingual community? to answer the research questions, we utilized a survey focused on two categories: (1) families with children in the head start program and (2) families without children in the program. following the survey, families were invited to focus group interviews, which were available online in english and spanish. a key feature of the online survey was its emphasis on the intersection of communication, language, motivation, and engagement. forty-two participants completed the surveys. seven of these participants had their children already enrolled in the head start program, while 37 participants were prospective families of the head start program. the researchers conducted a focus group interview based on the survey results to gain additional information about participants’ responses to the survey. the focus group interview consisted of eight open-ended questions. the interviews focused on the benefits of the head start program, communication, access to the program, and the potential support the program could provide to multilingual children. moreover, focus group interviews examined participants’ experiences with (mis)communication between school-home connections. clarke et al. 46 key findings overall, online surveys and focus group interviews revealed multilingual families' views about the head start program’s impact on their children’s academic, social-emotional, and language development, socialization, and communication skills, as well as their beliefs about the program’s ability to foster school-home communication, provide resources to families, facilitate program access and future program enrollment. more than 93% of prospective families believe the head start program would support their children's educational needs. furthermore, 96% of families agreed or strongly agreed that the head start program would teach their children essential life skills. focus group results reiterated these findings as current families expressed that the program had improved their children’s academic skills. families also cited a typical day’s activities in their children’s classroom, such as learning to write their names, playing with classmates, reading, and vocabulary acquisition, as factors in their children’s academic development. results also revealed families’ belief that the head start program supports their children’s social and emotional development. specifically, 93% of all the prospective families and 100% of families in the program strongly agreed or agreed that the program supports their children’s social and emotional development. additionally, during the focus group interviews, 75% of the families with children in the program expressed their satisfaction with the attention their children were receiving, especially in cases where children did not have siblings. language development of the families surveyed, 83% strongly agreed that the head start program supports their children’s language needs. another 17% were neutral in their response. further, over 80% of the families agreed or strongly agreed that the head start program makes their children feel welcome and accepted. focus group results showed that 75% of the families with children in the program believe the program supports their children’s language needs. with bilingual teachers employed by the head start program and access to translator services, 100% of the families either strongly agreed or agreed that the staff makes them feel welcome. social and communication skills families are also satisfied with the head start program’s efforts in developing their children’s social and communication skills. social skills are the behaviors children acquire based on environmental cues that dictate how they engage with others (takahashi et al., 2015). when children develop positive social skills, they enjoy positive relationships with others throughout their lives (aksoy & baran, 2010). communication skills are those that facilitate children’s ability to interact with others by conveying what they want to communicate in the ways in which they decide to communicate (allen, 2017). views of multilingual families 47 school-home communication families believe that the head start staff seems interested in communicating with them. schoolhome communication is the ability of families to interact in two-way communication with school personnel about their children’s educational development (laho, 2019). the results show that 75% of the families with children in the program strongly agree that the head start program keeps them informed about their children’s academic progress and school events. in addition, 47% of prospective families strongly agreed that they have easy access to the head start program. the survey results also indicated that 77% of the prospective families agreed or strongly agreed that they could communicate with the head start program. of prospective families, 60% agreed that the head start program would encourage family communication. focus group participants seemed satisfied with the head start program's methods to communicate with their families about their children’s progress. specifically, 65% of families with children in the program positively viewed communication between school and home, citing teacher outreach through conferences with families to discuss their children’s academic progress as an example. program-provided resources while the head start program provides different resources to families, focus group participants felt the program should provide resources beyond academic, social, and emotional support, such as a mental health worker or psychologist. they would also like family training programs that teach english or computer literacy. head start program access focus group participants found the program to be easily accessible. of this group, 80% of the prospective families and 86% of the families with children in the program found the location of the program to be convenient. additionally, four out of the five families in focus group interviews agreed that the program was accessible. families also expressed that they would make every effort to send their children to the program even if transportation was not provided. regarding immigration status, 90% of families from both categories (with/without children in the program) agreed or strongly agreed that their immigration status did not hinder their children’s participation in the program. overall, 43% of the families strongly agreed that the head start program would support the needs of their families. future enrollment and recruitment prospective families responding to the survey strongly agree (43%) about their plan to enroll their children in the head start program. 75% strongly agree that they would send their children to the program. however, only four of the families in the focus group knew about the program. they stated that information was disseminated by word-of-mouth and by comite de padres (the parent clarke et al. 48 committee). however, one parent indicated that she had no knowledge of the head start program, but if she did, she would have enrolled her child in the program. most families strongly agreed or agreed that the head start program actively recruited families. for example, 20% strongly agreed, and 57% agreed that the program uses various resources to promote enrollment. during the focus group interview, all the families knew about the program except for one. two families stated they knew about the program through the parent association in town. they agreed that the program could improve recruitment by sending flyers to all the households and making announcements to the entire town, similar to the emergency alerts used during a natural disaster. summary and recommendations this study explored families' perceptions of multilingual early childhood programs and the partnership and communication process between multiple stakeholders. results revealed that families felt a sense of partnership with the program and positively perceived communication between families and the head start program. furthermore, families believed that the head start program supported their children’s academic, social and emotional development, as well as their children’s language identity. also, families viewed the school and home partnerships as a vehicle for communication. overall, this study found that families positively perceive the head start program. families who are not yet enrolled in the program want to have their children enrolled, while families who are already enrolled will continue to partner with the program. families enrolled in the head start program felt that it supported their children’s academic, social, and emotional development, language acquisition, and development and that there was a strong school-home partnership. one of this study's limitations is that families who participated in the study were of two categories: families with children in the head start program and prospective families who may enroll their children in the program. focusing on two different family groupings led to split results. if families with children enrolled in the program or families without children in the program were invited to participate in two separate groups, program managers and leaders could strategically target programmatic efforts. the results of this study also highlighted barriers to enrollment in the head start program. although some families perceive that the head start program makes an effort to recruit families, more families expect the program to provide additional resources for future recruitment instead of conveying information by word-of-mouth. therefore, it will be important that future research investigates the head start program’s recruitment efforts, including how it communicates with families of children not yet enrolled, to strengthen access to resources and services supplied by the program to multilingual families. views of multilingual families 49 conclusion and future directions a significant contribution of the study is its insight into how multilingual spanish-speaking families in rural areas in the southeast united states perceive head start programs. future research could provide additional information about the program’s stakeholders, including the perceptions of administrators and teachers on the impact and effectiveness of head start programs that serve multilingual families, examine the difference in perception between the program’s view of its (mis)communication with families and how families view the degree to which they communicate with the program, explore the program’s recruitment practices and enrollment efforts toward multilingual families in the community to better inform multilingual families about enrollment in early childhood education programs, investigate the role of the program’s location and its connection to enrollment and multilingual family engagement, probe connections between enrollment and engagement in the head start program with students’ success in kindergarten and first grade, and contribute to reducing disparities in academic achievement among children from multilingual families by increasing access to education at a young age. acknowledgements we thank juvencio rocha peralta, executive director of the association of mexicans in north carolina (amexcan), inc., and javier gonzalez gonzales, ed.d., chief operating officer of the east coast migrant head start program, for their partnership. references aksoy, p., & baran, g. 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their children in the head start program. 75% strongly agree that they would send their children to the program. however, only four of the families in the fo... summary and recommendations conclusion and future directions dialog, 22(1), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 articulating high quality free choice time in head start preschools: a framework to support professional development and classroom observations judy hicks paulick university of virginia free choice time (fct) is ubiquitous on head start and other preschools’ daily schedules. yet, there is a lot of variation in what fct looks like across classrooms. we lack tools that identify strong fct practice, including how teachers ought to facilitate it. a framework for defining and gauging high quality fct in preschool classrooms is overdue. this study documents the development of and preliminary findings from the framework for free choice time (f-fct). based on a comprehensive fieldand research-based understanding of a range of teacher practice, this framework articulates low, middle-range, and high-quality practice across 23 elements within 5 dimensions. findings demonstrate some initial validity and reliability of the framework. the f-fct articulates a range of quality and can be used to support preservice and in-service teacher professional development. future work with the f-fct may have implications for preschool curricula, policy, and teacher professional development. keywords: head start, guided play, free choice, observation tool, teacher practice it is free choice time at a head start preschool in northern california. in one classroom, all of the children are busy at a variety of activities, including blocks, dress-up, painting, and working with playdoh. there is a quiet buzz in the room. a small group of girls is gathered around a doll, which is lying on a table. one girl holds a stethoscope to the doll’s chest while another puts a thermometer near its mouth. the small group looks solemn. the teacher looks up from her spot next to a child who was making a playdoh snake hiss, moves to the table, and quietly inquires, “is your doll ill?” the girls nod their heads yes. “what kind of sick is she?” the teacher probes. “we no know,” answers the smallest girl. “oh, you don’t know yet. well, keep examining her. what kind of community helper are you?” research article 2 paulick “we are doctors!” replies the girl who appears to be in charge. the teacher moves on to another group of children, and continues to move among the children throughout the 45 minutes of free choice time. a different class is also engaged in free choice time. the room is quiet. it is nearly thanksgiving, and half of the children are working with the lead teacher to make paper turkeys. the teacher shows the children what to do and then gives each child his or her own materials. the children work silently, and the teacher gently corrects them when they glue things in the “wrong” spots and praises them for engaging correctly with the task. “that doesn’t go there, han. do this.” “good, julia!” the other half of the children are at the other large table. there is a tortilla press for every three children, and everyone is making playdoh tortillas. after twelve minutes, the two groups switch activities. if children complete their turkeys before the timer rings, they are sent off to “go play” in the blocks area or the play kitchen on the other side of the classroom. no child is afforded more than 8 minutes for play before the block of free choice time is over. these two classrooms are less than a mile from each other in the same head start district. although in both classrooms the children were safe and engaged and the teachers purposeful and hardworking, these blocks of time were qualitatively different. the first scenario provides opportunities for children to explore, initiate, experiment, and inquire. the second scenario is teacher directed and objective driven with limited space for discussions. yet, both were called “free choice time” by the teachers. according to part 1302.3, subpart c of the head start policy and regulations from the us department of health and human services (2016), programs must “provide adequate opportunities for choice, play, exploration, and experimentation among a variety of learning, sensory, and motor experiences…” the regulation goes on to specify the necessity of both teacherinitiated and child-initiated activities in the course of the day. in general, free choice time (fct) is intended for child-initiated activities—what goble and pianta (2017) refer to as “childmanaged” in their description of a balanced curriculum—and some version of fct is on the schedule in most head start and other preschool classrooms across the united states. in this paper, i argue that when it is done effectively, fct should incorporate the essential elements of play into the preschool day and capitalize on the availability of educators to gently guide that play. furthermore, i argue that the field should have some common understanding of how teachers ought to facilitate that block of time and what it means to do so effectively, and i offer a framework for fct. finally, i provide modest evidence that a common understanding of fct can be used reliably. while teacher-initiated learning certainly has its place in the preschool curriculum (goble & pianta, 2017), fct is a uniquely important space in the preschool day for authentic play experiences for children. theory and research have posited and demonstrated the importance of play for children’s development (e.g., piaget, 1962; zigler & bishop-josef, 2006), providing ample reason to believe that a block of fct—the time of day that supports authentic play—can enhance the preschool curriculum. the field has tools that articulate strong practice in preschool classrooms in general (e.g., early childhood environmental rating scale (ecers), harms, clifford, & cryer, 1998; articulating high quality free choice time 3 classroom assessment scoring system (class), pianta, laparo, & hamre, 2008), but those tools were not designed specifically to account for the unique features of fct and the ways that teachers facilitate it. in other words, although those tools are used to score classrooms during fct, the tools do not specifically account for what may make fct uniquely powerful. furthermore, a classroom could score high on those measures without including fct in its schedule, which is problematic if play offers distinct benefits for children. conceptual framework the essential qualities of play. the work of levy (1978) and lillemyr (2009) provides a useful starting point for describing the qualities of play and what differentiates play from other activities in which children engage. levy (1978) describes play as it relates to the individual, in that play requires intrinsic motivation and locating control with the child. lillemyr (2009) describes contextual features necessary for play: (a) participants must be free to engage or not engage; (b) participants must have choices regarding how, when, and with whom to engage; and (c) there needs to be ample time to develop the play. constraints on these structures—freedom, choice, and time—according to lillemyr, detract from the fullness of play. in addition, play should be pleasurable and exploratory (isenberg & quisenberry, 1988). in sum, authentic play is childdirected, choice-based, intrinsically motivating, and requires ample time to be developed and sustained. benefits of play for children’s development. play is an important component of children’s overall healthy development. for example, research suggests that play serves a vital function for children with regard to socialization and cognitive development (barnett, 1990; lillemyr, 2009). play is a medium through which children make sense of the world and their place in it. play may also be important for various realms of problem solving, including not only things like exploring the properties of materials and manipulating language, but also negotiating interpersonal relationships and engaging in low-risk means of understanding the adult social and emotional world (e.g., paley, 2009). for example, children may use role-playing to sift through their confusion around an adult argument that they witnessed or a current event that they overheard: “play seems to serve as a buffer for children who often need to cope with change and digest baffling new experiences” (singer, golinkoff, & hirsh-pasek, 2006, p. 8). furthermore, research has shown that play supports children’s social and emotional development. play allows for the development of social skills (creasey, jarvis, & berk, 1998), such as collaboration, sharing, and conflict resolution (erikson, 1985; pellegrini & smith, 1998). additionally, play supports children’s emotional development (erikson, 1985) in addition to children’s self-confidence (trawick-smith, 1994). playtime during the preschool day offers time, space, resources, and playmates for all children (campbell & ramey, 1994) in addition to opportunities for some adult support. importantly, play provides a natural space for children’s language development. this is the case for children who are learning in their first language and for children who are learning in a language other than their home language (goldenberg, hicks, & lit, 2013). due to the childcentered nature of play experiences, the language that is used during play is necessarily relevant to children’s interests and experiences (dickinson & tabors, 2001), and is, therefore, likely to be built upon and retained (dunham, dunham, & curwin, 1993; lightbown, spada, ranta, & rand, 4 paulick 1999). child-directed playtime as part of the preschool day is a rare opportunity for teachers to engage in child-initiated, relevant, and developmentally appropriate conversations with children, the types of conversations that support language development. since nearly one in three head start participants comes from a family who speaks a primary language other than english (u.s. department of health and human services, 2016), it is important to consider the specific ways that teachers support language development in preschool (goldenberg, hicks, & lit, 2013). taking all of the above into account, play is implicated in healthy child development (shonkoff & phillips, 2000), including the full range of cognitive, social, emotional, and linguistic development. therefore, it makes sense that play should be included and supported in the preschool classroom. the teacher as facilitator of play. a recent body of work by weisberg and colleagues (e.g. weisberg, hirsh-pasek, & golinkoff, 2013) theorizes that “guided play” may be the logical middle ground in the perennial debate between adult-directed and child-directed instruction in preschools. while the research that came out of that debate (devries, reeselearned, & morgan., 1991; stipek, daniels, galluzzo, millburn, & salmon, 1998; marcon, 1999) supported the social, cognitive, and academic benefits for children of more choice in the curriculum, what choice looks like in classrooms and what the teachers’ role is in fct remains unclear. should the teacher direct, guide, or gently guide children? weisberg et al. (2013) presented “guided play” as the appropriate medium for preschool instruction. in the case of fct, i suggest that the guidance needs to be considerably gentler than the guided play that would accompany a content lesson with set curricular goals. thus, guided play and gently guided play are similar but not synonymous, and fct may be best suited for gently guided play. this type of play is evident in the first vignette, where the children were playing dress up and doctor and the teacher gently guided them to articulate what they were doing. fct is an ideal time of the preschool day to bring together authentic play experiences and gentle guidance (smilansky & shefatya, 1990; trawick-smith, 1994). teachers are “knowledgeable others” who can support and gently guide children during play (vygotsky, 1978). teachers’ knowledge of and relationships with their students allow them access to children’s play. while this access needs to remain respectful of the essential qualities of play (shmukler, 1981; roskos, tabors, & lenhart, 2009), it provides opportunities for teachers to gently guide children toward deeper understandings, richer vocabulary and oral language, and more satisfying peer interactions. teachers may be apprehensive about joining in play or about how to support children’s play (ashiabi, 2007), and that apprehension may combine with a lack of time, resources, and training (kagan, 1992) to create barriers to implementing play in the preschool classroom. furthermore, teachers vary in their theories of play, including the purpose of play and the teacher’s role in it (wood & bennett, 1997). wood and bennett (1997) observed that there was a range of play practice across the nine classrooms in their study, and teachers’ ideas about play were not always consistent with the ways that they implemented play in the preschool day. specifically, teachers tended to structure play far more than they had earlier articulated was beneficial for children. the teacher’s role, as hadley (2002) described, may be inside the flow—where the teacher is a participant in the play and can extend the play, or outside the flow—where the teacher helps the children process the play. either way, the teacher is present and engaged as a gentle guide—a participant, observer, mediator, facilitator, and/or manager, and the interactions support children’s development. nevertheless, these roles must be actively taught to teachers, since articulating high quality free choice time 5 teachers, for a variety of reasons, so rarely interact with individual children in preschool classrooms (kontos, 1999). different kinds of play involve different levels of support and autonomy (ashiabi, 2007), and teachers need support in judging when and how to engage. current observation tools. the class prek ((pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008)— which itself is built upon instruments like the early language and literacy classroom observation tool (ellco, smith & dickinson, 2002) and the ecers (harms, clifford, & cryer, 1998)—is used across the u.s. to measure the quality of instructional support, emotional support, and organization in preschool classrooms. the class is a strong tool for describing the quality of classroom environments, and it has been found reliable and associated with meaningful student outcomes (e.g. burchinal et al., 2008) in thousands of classrooms. like its predecessors, the class is consistent with high quality classrooms more generally and can be used during fct in addition to other times of the preschool day. however, the class was not designed to look specifically at fct. what would a tool focused on high quality fct include? first, in order to be consistent with the essential elements of play described above, the block of fct should be childdirected, choice-based, intrinsically motivating, and happen with ample time to be developed and sustained (cegowski, 1997; hirsh-pasek, golinkoff, berk, & singer, 2009; lillemyr, 2009; nicolopoulou, mcdowell, & brockmeyer, 2006). it follows that the classroom should feel safe and organized in ways that support engagement (e.g. pianta et al., 2008). second, if adults are to be the “knowledgeable others” during play, they need to be engaged in the play (berk, mann, & ogan, 2006; hirsh-pasek et al., 2009; nicolopoulou et al., 2006; vygotsky, 1978). this is a careful balance, as adults should not be suffocating the play or the players (pyle & danniels, 2017). in a classroom with one or two adults and 16 children, however, and depending on how the children group themselves, in 40 minutes of play (christie & wardle, 1992), each child would experience on average approximately five minutes of interaction with an adult. if the adult is to support and elevate the play, the interactions need to be rich. adults should be engaged, interested, and responsive. furthermore, teachers have a unique opportunity to talk with children during this brief interaction, and that talk has the potential to be rich, relevant, and supportive (bredekamp, 2004; hirsh-pasek et al., 2009; neuman & roskos, 1993; vygotsky, 1978) the teacher has opportunities to model rich vocabulary and revoice children’s language (weisberg et al., 2013). the elements identified as important in general for supporting preschoolers’ language development are likely to be important for dual language learners (dlls), as well. the measures are flexible enough to account for developmental differences between dlls and monolingual english speakers so that the teachers’ language support would be developmentally and linguistically appropriate for the dlls (goldenberg, hicks, & lit, 2013). for example, teachers who are supporting the play of dlls can provide realia as a means of bringing language to life, describe or define new words, gently and appropriately provide sentence frames and other language scaffolds, and bring the home language into conversations and play as much as possible (goldenberg, hicks, & lit, 2013). a talk environment where the teachers consistently encourage children’s talk and promote talk related to the children’s activities creates a joint locus of attention, which supports vocabulary development (clark, 2003). by modeling and encouraging developmentally appropriate talk and revoicing children’s talk, dlls have access to models of vocabulary, syntax, and semantics. overall, dlls, like their monolingual peers, require teachers 6 paulick who are sensitive to their language development. because the talk during high-quality fct is by definition relevant and interesting to children, it has the potential to be uniquely beneficial within the preschool day for dlls (dunham et al., 1993; lightbown et al., 1999). third, the materials in high quality fct should be varied, interesting, and open-ended in ways that allow for multiple entry points for meaningful engagement (christie & roskos, 2006; hirsh-pasek et al., 2009). furthermore, the materials should be accessible for children. materials in high quality fct might include: arts and crafts supplies; playdoh and clay; books and other literacy media; large and small blocks; trains, cars, and tracks; dolls, costumes, realia, and other dramatic play materials; puzzles and games. fourth, a vision of high quality fct should take into account both the elements that comprise private play-based preschools and the elements that make compensatory programs like head start and other preschools unique. while many of the elements are the same in those two contexts, given head start’s goals it is relevant to consider the focus on skill development, including language and academic development and with a focus on literacy, mathematics, science, and social skills. a tool for fct should, therefore, include teachers providing opportunities for all children to develop cognitively, socially, and physically (hirsh-pasek et al., 2009; murata & maeda, 2002). research objective given the potential benefits of gently-guided play during the preschool day, it is important that we understand what fct looks like in preschool classes and articulate what strong practice entails. this will provide useful information to support the development of pre-service and in-service preschool teachers, programs, curricula, and policy. the study that follows traces the development of the framework for free choice time (f-fct), which articulates what strong practice entails during fct and differentiates it from weaker implementations. the purpose of this study was to articulate the framework and to establish preliminary reliability, validity, and descriptive data on the tool. method this study included two stages: in stage 1, i conducted initial field work to understand the range of fct practices occurring in preschool classrooms and to articulate quality based on the literature and observations. in stage 2, i developed the framework for free choice time (f-fct) and conducted a pilot study to establish the tool’s reliability and validity and to collect descriptive data on a small sample of head start classrooms in northern california. in this section, i describe the two stages separately. stage 1: initial fieldwork observations in a variety of preschools. the articulation of high quality fct began during 6 months of observations, in which i observed for more than 40 hours in two classrooms with children ages 3-5 and conducted interviews with these teachers and their administrators in a articulating high quality free choice time 7 very highly regarded (berquist, 1966; firth, 2006) play-based university laboratory nursery school. fct comprised the vast majority of the day, so any training the teachers received was focused on how to set up and facilitate meaningful play experiences for and with children. teachers were apprenticed into their roles, with careful attention to when to enter into play and when to stand back, how to support children as they negotiate with peers, how to create stimulating invitations to play, how to make materials engaging and accessible for all children, and how to talk to children during play. the enactment of fct was consistent and seemingly powerful—children from diverse ethnic, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds and a variety of abilities and home languages were engaged, joyful, and productive for multiple long stretches of time across the day. this nursery school is a model for other play-based and reggio emilia programs, with frequent visitors observing its practice and an annual conference on play held on its grounds. further indicating the school’s quality, the waitlist for students is more than two years long, and there is very little teacher turnover. having gained an understanding of one high-quality enactment of fct at the nursery school, i then sought to capture the extent to which the teacher practices i observed there overlapped or differed from those in the head start and state-funded preschools. i observed and interviewed teachers in classrooms with students aged 3-5 in 10 head start and 14 state-funded preschools within one school district for a total of 80 hours, ranging from 2-3 hours per site using two different observation protocols, one open-ended and one more structured. the goal was to capture a range of fct practice in terms of what the children were engaged in, what the teachers were engaged in, the materials, and the kinds of talk that were occurring. every classroom had a block of the day set aside for fct. the head start classrooms used creative curriculum, and the state-funded classrooms used what the administrator described as a mix of curricula, including high/scope, creative curriculum, and teacher-designed emergent curricula. of the head start preschools, 6 were in urban contexts, 2 were more suburban, and 2 were rural. eight of the statefunded preschools were in an urban context, and 6 were more suburban. the observations and brief interviews with the teachers allowed me to conceptualize practices across a spectrum of quality. for example, in many of the state-funded preschools, fct was conceptualized as “centers time,” where teacher-determined groups of students rotated among tables with materials laid out. at one center, the children put together plastic loops into chains; at another center, they affixed stickers to a worksheet; at a third center, they looked through books. the teachers took on the role of time, materials, and conflict-resolution managers, with little interaction about the play itself with the children. in one of the head start classrooms that i observed, the children chose their activity for fct at the beginning of the block of time, and it was expected that they would stay in that area until fct was over. in yet another head start classroom, fct was taken up with an extended earthquake drill. in still other classrooms, there was a range of how the teachers interacted with the children, from getting down on the floor to work a puzzle with a child and talk about the dinosaurs in the picture to standing in front of the bathroom, calling children over to brush their teeth. this vast range of fct practice informed the descriptors in the f-fct. the brief interviews confirmed for me that while the teachers all believed fct was important, their explanations about why it was important were relatively vague: “it’s good to have different things during the day.” “choice is good for children.” “we have fct in all of the preschools.” none of the teachers i spoke with had experienced training on the purpose and practice of fct. 8 paulick dimensions and elements of the tool. the framework that was created as a result of this study includes the following dimensions: structures, affect and engagement, talk and language, materials, and opportunities for development (see table 1). within each dimension, there are low, medium, and high descriptors for between three and six elements that comprise the dimension. the categories and elements that comprise the framework for free choice time (ffct) (see appendix) emerged from the literature, and the descriptors emerged from my observations in classrooms. the categories, elements, and research support are summarized in table 1. while the framework has the potential eventually to be used for evaluation, at present it is recommended for teachers and administrators to reflect on teaching practice, set goals, and consider the complex enterprise of facilitating fct well. consulting existing observation tools. the class instrument was being used as a district observation tool in most of the classrooms i observed. for elements of the class that were, based on the literature, applicable to fct, i integrated them into the f-fct (see items with an asterisk in table 1). however, the class was not designed to look in particular at fct. there are aspects of high quality fct found in the literature review and observations that were not adequately captured in the class, including structural elements such as uninterruptedness, authentic choices, and time for engagement; language elements such as encouraging children to talk and engaging in talk that is relevant to children’s choices; material elements such as having abundant open-ended materials; and developmental elements such as opportunities for cognitive, motor, and social development. (in table 1, italics are used to indicate these research-based, nonclass features which were unique to the f-fct.) using the f-fct for an observation. to use the framework as an observation tool, the observer first observes a full block of free choice time and records evidence pertaining to any of the elements at any point during the observation. if there is more than one teacher in the classroom, the observer would focus mostly on the lead teacher for evidence of teacher-child interactions. immediately after the observation of the full block of fct, the observer records a holistic score and then uses the qualitative notes along with the rubric descriptors for each element to assign a 1-7 score for each of the 24 elements. the observer transfers those scores to the scoring sheet on the last page of the f-fct and then finds the average score for each dimension. a combined average of all of the average dimension scores is also calculated. stage 2: reliability, validity, descriptive data in order to test the reliability of the instrument, i completed a small pilot of the f-fct in a sample of the head start classrooms in two counties in northern california that were different from the district in which i did the initial observations. the two counties are administered together and include 52 head start classrooms, making it one of the larger districts in the state. a sample of 16 of the 52 (33%) of classrooms in the counties was used, including proportional representation of full-day and half-day classrooms. each classroom in the study included approximately sixteen children, a lead teacher and an assistant teacher. all of the children were 3.5 to 5 years old, and all were dual language learners—nearly all speak vietnamese or spanish at home. instruction in the articulating high quality free choice time 9 classrooms was in english, with some modest support in the home language when a teacher was able to provide it. sixteen classrooms across nine school sites (1-3 classrooms per site) were observed, each classroom two times over two months, and the f-fct was completed during each visit. consistent with class administration in previous research (e.g. pakarinen et al. (2010), each classroom was observed twice in order to account for day to day variability within classrooms during this particularly dynamic time of day. the scores from the two visits were averaged. in 25% of the classrooms, i was accompanied by another scorer whom i had trained on the instrument in four classrooms previously. for 11 of the 16 classrooms, the district was able to provide the official class prek scores from that fall. i ran correlations between the f-fct dimension scores and the three class domains and correlations between the average and holistic scores and the three class domains in order to do a modest test of concurrent validity. results there was a range of practice across the 16 classrooms. as the skewness and kurtosis data in table 2 illustrate, the scores for all of the dimensions aside from structures were normally distributed. the range differed among the dimensions. all of the average scores trended high: no minimum average score was lower than 2.8, and all of the dimension means were well above the mean score for the instrument (4.0). in other words, on average the scores were higher than would be expected if the range of observed fct practice were accounting for the full range of the f-fct. additional testing of the f-fct would help to elucidate whether this district was anomalous or whether the instrument itself requires recalibrating. the dimension ratings have a range from 1.9 points (materials) to 4.0 points (holistic) on a 7-point scale. in other words, fct practice in these 16 classrooms varied more widely in the holistic, structures, and talk and language dimensions than it did for materials (and, to some extent, for opportunities for development). again, within each classroom, the scores were an average of two visits in order to account for day-to-day variability within classrooms. the internal consistency of the f-fct was measured by calculating the cronbach’s alpha for each category (see table 2). the alpha for each of the categories is above .70, with three above .90, suggesting that the items in each category have a relatively high internal consistency—they appear to be measuring the same construct. the scores between the dimensions for the classrooms were highly correlated (see table 3). as tends to be the case with measures of classroom quality, high scores on one dimension were associated with high scores on the other dimensions, and lower scores were associated with lower scores. 10 paulick table 1 support in the literature for the elements of the framework for free choice time (f-fct) dimensions of the f-fct elements from research references structures o children are free to choose their activities o children are free to choose with whom they interact o children are free to move around the environment* o the block of child-directed playtime is uninterrupted o child-directed playtime is least 40 minutes (cegowski, 1997; christie & wardle, 1992; hirsh-pasek et al., 2009; lillemyr, 2009; nicolopoulou et al., 2006) affect and engagement o children are engaged in activities* o adults are engaged with children, demonstrating interest in children’s activities o the classroom is safe and organized* (berk et al., 2006; hirshpasek et al., 2009; nicolopoulou et al., 2006; vygotsky, 1978) talk and language o talk is encouraged and conversations are frequent* o talk is relevant to children’s play, and play objects are explicitly referenced o talk is pitched at the particular child’s developmental level o teacher talk is intended to discuss, probe, build on student language, revoice, redirect, explain, and extend* o teachers model, support, engage, and facilitate relatively sophisticated language* (bredekamp, 2004; goldenberg, hicks, & lit, 2013; hirsh-pasek et al., 2009; neuman & roskos, 1993; vygotsky, 1978; weisberg et al., 2013) materials o accessible* o varied and plentiful* o open-ended (christie & roskos, 2006; hirsh-pasek et al., 2009) opportunities for development o cognitive* o social o physical o conflict resolution* o opportunities are for all children, including els and children with special needs (hirsh-pasek et al., 2009; murata & maeda, 2002; vygotsky, 1978) note. *these items are part of the class instrument, as well. italicized elements are not directly addressed in the class instrument. articulating high quality free choice time 11 table 2 descriptive statistics for f-fct dimensions variable n m sd min max skewness se kurtosis se cronbach’s alpha structures 16 5.22 0.97 2.80 6.30 -1.50 .56 2.20 1.09 .74 affect & engagement 16 4.98 0.89 3.50 6.70 -.07 .56 .13 1.09 .93 talk & language 16 4.72 1.16 2.80 6.60 -.07 .56 -.40 1.09 .95 materials 16 5.87 0.64 4.80 6.70 -.57 .56 -.99 1.09 .83 opportunities for development 16 5.11 0.83 3.60 6.60 -.57 .56 .09 1.09 .91 actual average 16 5.19 0.83 3.58 6.56 -.62 .56 .33 1.09 - holistic score 16 4.63 1.09 2.50 6.50 -.10 .56 .18 1.09 - in order to test for inter-rater agreement with the f-fct, the two scorers scored independently and then compared scores. inter-rater agreement was high, as illustrated in table 4. the overall exact agreement between these scorers was 64%, with less than 1% of the scores more than one point discrepant. cohen’s kappa was run to determine if the agreement was beyond what would be expected by chance between the two raters’ scores for each dimension. there was high agreement for structures (k = .897, p < .001) and the holistic scores (k = .636, p < .05), and moderate agreement for affect and engagement (k = .433, p < .001), talk and language (k = .430, p < .001), and opportunities for development (k = .444, p < .001). the exact agreement for materials was not significant, perhaps because there are fewer elements that comprise the materials dimension. overall, this demonstrates that two scorers can use the instrument reliably across a small sample of classrooms. table 3 correlations among f-fct dimensions, actual averages, and holistic scores (n = 16) variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. structures — 2. affect & engagement .74** — 3. talk & language .74** .89** — 4. materials .76** .89** .87** — 5. opportunities for development .74** .95** .85** .82** — 6. actual average .86** .96** .95** .93** .94** — 7. holistic score .76** .95** .92** .88** .90** .95** — note. *p < .05 **p < .01 12 paulick in a subsample of 11 of the 16 classrooms observed (the classrooms for which class scores were available), most of the f-fct dimensions (aside from materials) were significantly correlated with the class instructional support sub-scores (see table 5). talk and language and opportunities for development were significantly correlated with the class organizational support sub-scores. none of the f-fct dimension scores were significantly correlated with the class emotional support sub-scores. the f-fct average scores were significantly correlated with the class instructional support and organizational support scores. even with a very small sample size, strong correlations of two of the three dimensions of class with many of the f-fct dimension scores and with the f-fct average scores suggest the f-fct captured in fct what class is capturing more broadly in these classrooms, particularly in terms of class instructional support. table 4 inter-rater agreement for f-fct dimension scores f-fct category % exact % 1 point adjacent % 2 points adjacent cohen’s k structures 75 25 — .90*** affect & engagement 53.6 42.8 3.6 .43*** talk & language 58.3 41.7 — .43*** materials 66.7 33.3 — .25 opportunities for development 65 35 — .44*** overall 66 33 1 note. *p < .05 **p < .01 ***p < .001 discussion the process of the development of the tool provides qualitative evidence of a range of teacher practice during free choice time since it was based on observations in 26 classrooms (24 stateand federally-funded preschools and two classrooms in a university laboratory school), demonstrating a wide range of practice. the pilot in a different school district demonstrates quantitative validation of that range. the pilot provides some initial evidence that the tool is able to capture a range of teacher practice during fct, a second scorer can be trained to use the tool in a way that is aligned with the first scorer, and this framework is aligned with a valid and reliable instrument. just as the class instrument provides a tool for articulating preschool teaching more generally (burchinal et al., 2008), the f-fct articulates a range of quality specifically during fct. value of this study the vignettes that began this article illustrated some of the range of teacher practice during fct. while a range of practice is to be expected in what is an undoubtedly complex enterprise (pianta et al., 2008), there is evidence to support the notion that there are higher and lower quality ways to facilitate fct in a preschool classroom. while the tool that was developed is philosophically articulating high quality free choice time 13 consistent with the class, the f-fct is uniquely suited to support and measure fct. given a lack of focus on this aspect of preschool curriculum and a concern that playtime is being reduced in favor of more “academically oriented” activities (zigler, 2009), that support is timely. the ffct can be used to support teacher professional development. it also provides a means for selfevaluation and peer-evaluation using a common language, allowing teachers to set clear instructional goals. the f-fct offers a synthesis of the range of quality of fct to the teacher preparation and professional development, research, and policy communities. a small piloting of the tool confirmed both that the f-fct can capture a range of teacher practice across the tool’s dimensions and that the range can be reliably measured across two scorers. furthermore, correlations with the class are encouraging in that the f-fct seems to be measuring during fct what the class is measuring more generally in these classrooms, at least in terms of the class measures of classroom organization and instructional support. this study provides some initial evidence that the f-fct demonstrates reliability and validity such that further testing and honing of the instrument is worthwhile. the study also provides some evidence that free choice time is being facilitated inconsistently across classrooms, even within the same head start district. furthermore, concern has emerged across the board for children—but particularly for children who are at risk of not thriving in school due to the myriad negative effects of poverty; a curricular focus on academic outcomes is resulting in increases in teacher-directed instruction and the diminution of time for play (miller & almon, 2009; bowdon, 2015). i suggest that play-based fct has the potential to bring together authentic play and sought-after outcomes, at least for a block of time during each preschool day. limitations of this study importantly, this study does not consider the outcomes of well-facilitated fct for children. work with this framework, including identifying classrooms where fct is facilitated across a range of quality, could lead to the identification of particular outcomes for children. those outcomes might be cognitive or academic, or they might involve motivation, self-regulation, or relational skills. understanding how fct affects children is a vital next step in this work. furthermore, this study does not consider in what ways well-facilitated fct is related to a teacher’s other instructional practices. the class scores provide some evidence that teachers who facilitate high quality fct are also facilitating the other portions of the preschool day in equally high-quality ways. if this is the case and specific training in fct could shift teacher practice more generally, the f-fct might have the potential to support more than just fct. again, further research is justified. finally, this study is limited by the fact that the observations that informed the descriptors and the observations that comprised the pilot were both in the same region of the u.s. and comprised an ethnic and linguistic population that is not necessarily representative of the u.s. population as a whole. it is possible that different geography might broaden or narrow the range of quality to be described across the tool. yet again, further research is justified. 14 paulick table 5 correlations between f-fct dimension scores and class scores (n=11) variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. structures — 2. engagement .89** — 3. teacher talk/language .85** .88** — 4. materials .86** .89** .89** — 5. opportunities for development .91** .95** .84** .81** — 6. actual average .95** .97** .95** .93** .95** — 7. holistic score .90** .97** .95** .89** .92** .98** — 8. class emotional .48 .36 .46 .20 .55 .44 .44 — 9. class organization .57 .54 .71* .38 .62* .61* .67* .87** — 10. class instruction .64* .75** .71* .55 .70* .71* .77** .36 .64* — note. *p < .05 **p< .01 articulating high quality free choice time 15 future directions the f-fct was carefully developed through classroom observations and consultation with the body of research, and initial reliability and additional elements of validity were demonstrated in a modest pilot. further work could establish or question additional facets of validity and the reliability of the framework for consistent and meaningful evaluations of teacher practice. this study provides a first step toward articulating what high-quality fct entails. the ffct should be tested in a broader range of classrooms, both head start and elsewhere, in order to understand any generalizability of the findings. furthermore, inter-rater agreement with additional scorers is warranted. in addition, it would be useful to look at both the context and the classroom demographics may be related to this quality rating. for example, how do teachers’ beliefs, training, and practices during other parts of the preschool day relate to the quality of their fct practice? how do student demographics, cultural practices, and parental beliefs relate to how teachers enact fct? finally, this tool can be used for professional development akin to what i observed in the highly-regarded university-based preschool, as a starting point for considering things like when to enter into play and when to stand back, how to support children as they negotiate with peers, how to create stimulating invitations to play, how to make materials engaging and accessible for all children, and how to talk to children during play. in sum, future work with this tool should tackle honing the implementation of the tool itself and using the tool to support teaching practice. conclusion we know that play is important for children’s development, and we know that high quality teaching is important for children’s learning. what we do not yet know is how best to incorporate play into the preschool curriculum in order to optimize social, emotional, motivational, and academic outcomes while maintaining preschool as an enjoyable, developmentally appropriate space. this lofty goal is, perhaps, of particular import for children from families who may not have a choice in which preschool they attend. there is good reason to believe that a block of gently guided free choice time is beneficial for all children. i have presented a framework for teacher practice during fct. tools like the class have shown us that an articulated framework with practices spelled out clearly can provide support for preservice and in-service teachers alike. the f-fct is a starting point for this work as it relates to fct, meaning there is also the opportunity for teachers to critique the tool itself as a means of pushing their fct practice. it is possible that supporting teachers in facilitating fct well could enhance their practice overall. the teachers i observed, like those depicted in the vignettes that began this paper, are hardworking individuals who want to do right by the children in their care. they are not always provided with the training or the means to do so, however. this framework, coupled with training on how to use it to support practice, has the potential to be a powerful tool. given the probable benefits of a block of high-quality playtime for preschoolers and the likelihood that a block of high-quality playtime is not likely to do harm, the f-fct provides an important foundation for further study of how teachers facilitate and support fct. 16 paulick references ashiabi, g. s. 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(2006). the cognitive child vs. the whole child: lessons from 40 years of head start. in d. singer, d. m. golinkoff, & k. hirsh-pasek (eds.), play = learning: how play motivates and enhances children's cognitive and social-emotional growth. new york, ny: oxford university press. zigler, e. (2009). introduction. in k. hirsh-pasek, r. golinkoff, l. berk, & d. singer, a mandate for playful learning in preschool: presenting the evidence. new york, ny: oxford university press. articulating high quality free choice time 19 appendix framework for free choice time [f-fct] to use this framework as an observation tool: 1. observe a full block of free choice time and take qualitative notes in the evidence section. 2. provide a holistic score that is your overall impression of the classroom with regard to free choice time. 3. use the rubric and your notes to score each element. 4. record scores on reporting form, averaging each individual score within the element to get the dimension score. low range middle range high range 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 score evidence structures choice teachers often regulate children’s choices (or activities and/or play partners) and movement. these regulations impede children’s choices and interfere with engagement. some of children’s choice making (of activities and/or play partners) and movement is impeded in ways that impede optimal engagement. children are supported in choice making and movement in the classroom in a way that encourages/fosters optimal engagement. (i.e. in a high range classroom, children are generally free to move and make choices; the teacher’s role is to support those choices rather than to regulate them.) uninterruptedness the block of free choice time includes frequent whole-class interruptions. these interruptions are generally random and not intended to foster engagement in play or the block of free choice time includes some whole-class interruptions that may not be specifically intended to foster engagement in play (e.g. an interruption may the block of free choice time is generally uninterrupted. any interruptions of play focus are rare and are designed to foster engagement in playful learning and support children’s growth. 20 paulick to support the development of playful learning practice. be purely managementoriented) amount of time <25 minutes 25-40 minutes at least 40 minutes exact # of minutes: low range middle range high range 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 score evidence affect and engagement engagement/ interest of children many children are disengaged during the block of free choice time. there is a lot of wandering, and children may be involved in inappropriate activities. there is some disengagement, but most of the children are engaged throughout most of the block of free choice time. there may be some “aimless wandering,” but it is minimal. all children are engaged throughout the block of free choice time. transitions among activities are fluid and developmentally appropriate (e.g. a child may briefly explore a few choices before settling into an activity.) engagement/ interest of teachers teachers are often not engaged with children and/or clearly uninterested or unenthusiastic about what children are engaged in. teachers are sometimes engaged with children. teachers are sometimes interested in or enthusiastic about what children are engaged in. all teachers are consistently engaged with children. teachers are clearly interested in and/or enthusiastic about what children are engaged in. teachers are rarely warm with children or teachers are sometimes warm with children. teachers are consistently warm (i.e. smiling, articulating high quality free choice time 21 there are negative interactions. proximate, playful) with children. children are seldom reinforced (or are rebuked) for trying something novel. children are sometimes reinforced for trying something novel. children are often reinforced for trying something novel. atmosphere and noise level the classroom feels unsafe and/or chaotic. the classroom feels somewhat safe and organized. the classroom feels safe and organized. consistently, the classroom is either completely silent or loud enough to be distracting. there are moments where the noise level is too high or too low. there is a buzz of activity. in other words, the noise level is high enough that it is clear there are interactions and engagement, but it is not so high that most children cannot concentrate low range middle range high range 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 score evidence talk and language talk environment teacher often promotes talk that is unrelated to the content and activities in which children are engaged. teacher sometimes promotes talk related to the content and activities in which children are engaged. teacher consistently promotes talk related to the content and activities in which children are engaged. 22 paulick children’s talk may be actively curtailed. children’s talk may be neither encouraged nor discouraged. children’s talk is actively encouraged. talk supporting engagement and cognitive development teachers rarely, if ever, take opportunities to probe, discuss, and extend children’s thinking. teachers sometimes take opportunities to probe, discuss, and extend children’s thinking. teachers frequently take opportunities to probe, discuss, and extend children’s thinking. talk specifically supporting language development teachers rarely, if ever, model language that is developmentally appropriate for the child. teachers sometimes model language that is developmentally appropriate for the child. teachers consistently model language that is developmentally appropriate for the child. (i.e. challenging but accessible vocabulary and syntax.) even when appropriate, teachers rarely take up the opportunity to revoice children’s speech. when appropriate, teachers occasionally take up the opportunity to revoice children’s speech. teachers generally take up the opportunity to revoice children’s speech in appropriate ways. teachers rarely ask questions that will elicit developmentally appropriate language/responses from children. teachers sometimes ask questions that will elicit developmentally appropriate language/responses from children. teachers often ask questions that will elicit developmentally appropriate language/responses from children. low range middle range high range 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 score evidence materials (e.g., art supplies like clay, paints, and craft materials; books; blocks, trains, and cars; dramatic play materials, dolls, and and realia; materials for games; sand and sand toys; puzzles; crayons, pencils, markers, and paper) articulating high quality free choice time 23 materials: accessibility classroom materials are generally only accessible by adults. classroom materials are available, but some materials require procurement by an adult. classroom materials are easily accessible (within arm’s reach) by all children. materials: amount and variety there is little variety in the activities (or few materials to support an activity) in the classroom. (e.g. the teachers may have put out materials for two or three activities, but that is the extent of the variety) there is some variety of activities (or materials that would support an activity) available in the classroom. there is a vast amount and variety of activities (or materials that would support an activity) in the classroom. use of the materials many of the materials are intended to be used in a close-ended way. some of the materials are intended to be utilized in an open-ended way. most of the materials are intended to be utilized in an openended way. low range middle range high range 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 score evidence 24 paulick opportunities for development cognitive development there are few developmentally appropriate opportunities for cognitive development in literacy, mathematics, and science. there are some developmentally appropriate opportunities for cognitive development in literacy, mathematics, and/or science. there are varied developmentally appropriate opportunities for cognitive development for all children in literacy, mathematics, and/or science. these include opportunities for problem solving, planning, and higher-order thinking across the various activities. social development there are few developmentally appropriate opportunities for children to express themselves and engage collaboratively in interactions geared toward social development. there are some developmentally appropriate opportunities for children to express themselves and engage collaboratively in interactions geared toward social development. there are varied developmentally appropriate opportunities for all children to express themselves and engage collaboratively in interactions geared toward social development. fine motor development there are few developmentally appropriate opportunities for children to develop fine motor skills. there are some developmentally appropriate opportunities for children to develop fine motor skills. there are varied developmentally appropriate opportunities for all children to develop fine motor skills. articulating high quality free choice time 25 gross motor development (e.g. engagement with big blocks, dressing oneself in dramatic play, movement with songs ) there are few developmentally appropriate opportunities for children to develop gross motor skills. there are some developmentally appropriate opportunities for children to develop gross motor skills. there are varied developmentally appropriate opportunities for all children to develop gross motor skills. conflict resolution teachers ignore conflicts and/or do not support children in resolving their own conflicts. teachers inconsistently support children in resolving their own conflicts. teachers consistently support children in resolving their own conflicts. (this includes modeling language appropriate for conflict resolution.) 26 paulick dimension element score (1-7) holistic holistic score: structures choice uninterruptedness time avg. score for structures: affect & engagement engagement/interest: children engagement/interest: adults (a) (b) (c) atmosphere/noise level (a) (b) avg. score for affect/engagement: talk & language talk environment (a) (b) talk supporting engagement talk supporting lang dev’t (a) (b) (c) avg. score for talk/language: materials accessibility amount/variety use avg. score for materials: opps for development cognitive social fine motor gross motor conflict resolution avg. score for opportunities for development: actual average (avg. of the averages): nhsa dialog, 26(1), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 behavioral consultation in inclusive preschool classrooms megan kunze university of oregon berenice de la cruz texas a&m university-san antonio the purpose of this report is to describe a behavior consultation model that has been successfully tested in early childhood classrooms. a behavior consultant can assist in a teachers’ use of behavior analytic techniques, which have proven successful in classroom settings when applied. recommendations for choosing a behavior consultant and successful behavior strategies are presented. keywords: behavioral consultation, inclusion, early childhood education, developmental delays, applied behavior analysis introduction challenging behavior in early childhood learning spaces is defined as disruptive behaviors which negatively impact learning and social engagement opportunities, decreasing the child’s opportunity for developmental progress (dunlap et al., 2006). challenging behaviors can disrupt the learning environment and may escalate to more injurious actions, potentially beginning with tantrums and increasing the harm to self and others (e.g., head banging, biting, and property destruction; erturk et al., 2017). in early childhood education/early childhood special education (ece/ecse) classrooms, these behaviors often manifest as aggression toward peers, elopement, and tantrums requiring teachers to be trained to prevent and respond to these behaviors effectively. while many early education teacher preparation programs require classroom management and guidance coursework, specific training on strategies to prevent challenging behavior and teach replacement skills is less common (d’agostino & douglas, 2021). one solution is to continue teacher education through behavioral consultation. consultation is defined as an expert passing their knowledge and skills to a mentee, who, in turn, can implement this newly learned approach (kunze & machalicek, 2021). more specifically, behavioral consultation, as delivered by a behavior consultant, involves a behavior expert mentoring a classroom teacher on strategies to decrease challenging child behavior using their expertise to prevent disruptive behaviors, respond to behavior escalations, and teach replacement behaviors. a research to practice summary 58 kunze and de la cruz critical focus of a behavior consultant is to support a child in their development of a healthy adaptive behavior repertoire (e.g., increasing communication, strengthening social interaction, and improving self-help skill set). behavioral consultation can provide training in various situations. for the early childhood educator, this type of consultation may provide specific guidance on setting up classroom environments, allowing for increased learning and communicating expectations for children to succeed. additionally, the behavioral consultant may observe during active classroom times, allowing for feedback on supporting play between peers. the behavioral consultant may model behavioral strategies during role-play scenarios before asking the teacher to implement the strategy directly with a child. praise and corrective feedback can be provided to the teacher when demonstrated in the classroom. teacher progress and areas of focus for practical improvement can be tracked independently. such self-evaluation data allows the behavior consultant to recognize skill deficits in teaching strategy implementation and adjust the appropriateness of these strategies to best meet the child’s needs. behavior consultants guide educators in using this data to make data-based decisions in the classroom. this example, behavioral skills training, is often utilized in behavioral consultation (see kirkpatrick et al., 2019). summary of research methods in a 4-year project implemented by the authors, behavior consultants provided recommendations to ece/ecse teachers in inclusive classrooms. overall, 44 early childhood classrooms were visited, with 196 teachers and 97 children. behavior consultants were employed by a non-profit agency focusing on children and families with developmental disabilities or delays. this agency partnered with a school district in a southern us state to provide behavioral consultation to preschool programs in the public school district. the behavior consultants were master degreed board-certified behavior analysts (bcba) or doctoral level bcbas with a minimum of five years of experience (range of 5-12 years). children were identified by the school or child development center supervisor as exhibiting challenging behavior which warranted outside assistance. each classroom teacher agreed that a behavior consultant would assist in training them to respond appropriately and prevent challenging behaviors in their inclusive learning environment. between two and six consult visits at various time points throughout the school year (i.e., august to may) were provided to each site. visits were 60 to 90 minutes in duration and occurred most often in a classroom, cafeteria, or playground setting. before the consultation visit, a written overview was provided to the consultant describing the classroom, staff, and focus child. summary of results consultation visits included a review of the problem, an observation, and detailed feedback. the review of the problem was a brief discussion between the consultant and the classroom teacher. this meeting was an opportunity for the teacher to describe the challenging behavior further and behavioral consultation 59 include what supports were currently in place. this review also included a brief history of the child. in some cases, the consultant reviewed the child’s individualized education plan (iep) to identify some developmental skills. following the review, the consultant completed their observation in the chosen setting. the consultant looked for the child’s expressive and receptive language, interactions with materials, and social interactions with peers. the consultant also took note of the teacher-child interactions, classroom management and routines, and adult behavior in the room. because the consultant did not intervene, work with, or model behavioral strategies directly with the child, detailed feedback was necessary to provide a clear suggestion. following the observation, the consultant created a written report of their observations, including strengths and suggestions. this report provides documentation to the classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, and center director for future reference. when specific strategies needed to be demonstrated for clarity to a classroom teacher, the director arranged for the teacher to leave the classroom to meet with the consultant or schedule a visit within a few days. ideally, the behavioral consultant presented and discussed recommendations with the teacher and director before leaving the site. however, this was not always possible. follow-up phone discussions occurred with the supervisory team on an as-needed basis between consult visits when an in-person meeting did not occur. individualized return visits were unique to each site and situation. figure 1 provides an overview of the consultation model. figure 1. behavioral consult model 60 kunze and de la cruz resources for choosing and using a behavior consultant several considerations should be taken when selecting a behavioral consultant. these considerations include experience with young children, knowledge of working with diverse cultures, knowledge of developmental differences and behaviors, experience working with various levels of professionals and necessary professional certification. we recommend that the behavioral consultant be a bcba, as bcbas have specialized training to provide behavioral consultation (bacb, 2021). it is important to note that not all behavior analysts have experience in ece settings. in this case, we recommend prioritizing experience over credentials. if the behavioral consultant lacks ece experience, the behavioral consultant should have a mentor they can consult with who has this experience. this mentor can be a supervisor or colleague. this information is often lacking from a resume or curriculum vitae. as such, engaging in conversation about this topic may be necessary to determine the behavioral consultant's experience. table 1 provides a list of the considerations discussed here. table 1. considerations for choosing a behavior consultant characteristic example in practice 1. experience > three years of experience in ece/ecse practice with young children in classroom settings considers themselves an expert in some behavior and consulting topics 2. cultural diversity explores personal bias to decrease its influence on work recognizes the importance of cultural and linguistic differences 3. knowledge of developmental differences experience with a broad range of disabilities and disorders signs and symptoms of some disorders 4. knowledge of behavior classroom management skills self-injurious behavior experience 5. varied practice work with new teachers work with experienced teachers 6. board certification as a behavior analyst adheres to ethics code to seek assistance when work is outside the scope of experience trends in behavioral strategies recommended to classroom teachers over the four-year projects emerged. table 2 lists the ten most frequent recommendations with corresponding examples of classroom concerns. behavioral consultation 61 table 2. top recommendations during behavior consultations top 10 recommendations sample classroom concerns to change through consultation teach a child to follow directions by clearly communicating expectations* chaotic transitions unestablished routines teaching child to request child difficulty requesting help limited vocabulary encouraging/supporting peer interactions and play skills* aggression during play and group time wandering use reinforcement effectively disruptive behavior to seek attention attention given to unwanted behavior individual expectations with consideration for classroom community elopement due to different expectations imitation of disruptive behavior as an escape communication system tantrums limited receptive or expressive language supporting self-help skills child inability to complete the task learned helplessness with high teacher attention using visual supports unclear classroom schedule and expectations unsure of appropriate behavior prevent disruptive behaviors, identify the function and teach replacement* time out or child sent home teacher responding incorrectly to child’s needs meet sensory needs high classroom noise level chaotic activity level table 3 shows common reasons children engage in disruptive behaviors in ecse classrooms along with recommended strategies to prevent disruptive behavior, responses, and replacement behaviors. table 3. common disruptive behaviors observed in ecse classrooms child reason for challenging behavior prevention strategies taught to teacher in consultation behavior taught to child by teacher (replacement skills) obtain attention 1. provide frequent attention and reinforcement 2. schedule time with adult or peer 3. engage in activity with the child 4. give choice of partner raise hand say “help” or “person’s name” 62 kunze and de la cruz obtain tangible 1. give choices of items/materials 2. prompt appropriate request for items 3. scheduled access to desired object teach appropriate request for items (later teach waiting and accepting no) obtain activity 1. give choices of activities 2. prompt appropriate request for activities 3. use activity schedules 4. provide something the child likes for completion of activity 5. scheduled access to desired activity teach appropriate request for activities (later teach waiting and accepting no) escape attention 1. scheduled breaks 2. modify seating arrangements appropriate request for time alone escape tangible 1. prompt appropriate refusal of items teach appropriate refusal of items (e.g., no thank you, i don’t want any) teach to tolerate activity escape activity 1. teach appropriate refusal of activities 2. add fun materials 3. modify task length, expectations, materials, instructions, response mode, and seating arrangement 4. break task down to make it easier 5. reduce distractions 6. provide peer supports teach appropriate refusal of activities (e.g., no thank you, i don’t want to do that) teach following directions teach to request help conclusion administrators can suggest behavioral consultation to train teachers in ece/ecse classrooms to meet the needs of a diverse population, including children with developmental delays and differences. a qualified behavior consultant can decrease challenging child behavior and increase developmentally appropriate teaching strategies. the behavior consultation model described here is just one example of consultation options for early educators. while it is recommended that schools seek outside support to address challenging behavior, administrators should review the behavioral consultant’s qualifications for the best fit. the strategies presented in this report are some strategies a behavior consultant should have expertise in 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(2013). ten principles of good interdisciplinary team work. human resources for health, 11(19), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-449111-19. https://www.bacb.com/the-2022-transition-what-you-need-to-know/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01108-7 https://doi.org/10.1177/019874290603200103 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0145445517741474 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-019-09322-z https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22618 https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-4491-11-19 https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-4491-11-19 microsoft word ohle_final_mb 11618.docx dialog, 21(1), copyright © 2018, issn: 1930-9325 early childhood teachers’ use of dual language digital books in alaskan communities kathryn a. ohle university of alaska anchorage this qualitative study investigated how dual language digital books are used by early childhood teachers working with primarily english-speaking alaska native children and families. in particular, there was a desire to know how the teachers used the dual language digital books in their classrooms and if the resources were used to foster early literacy and/or to help teach and preserve native languages. the research was situated in six preschool classrooms where researchers observed the teachers using the books and conducted semi-structured interviews to triangulate the data. using a qualitative approach to analysis, findings emerged that teachers used the books to introduce specific content or concepts, to emphasize home – but not heritage languages, and to reinforce early literacy skills using both whole group instruction and independent exploration time. additionally, how they used the books appeared to be in direct response to their students and their needs. implications for teachers, families, and administrators are shared. keywords: dual language books, early childhood teachers, indigenous populations, biliteracy “if little ones can learn the language, then the language will have a chance of surviving. along with the language, of course, is the culture. learning their language will help develop the student’s pride in their identity as a tribal person” (rodriguez & warrior, 2013). language extinction is a reality for many communities around the world and is particularly true for those in alaska, where only 22% of alaska native peoples can speak their heritage language (olson & alaska state legislature, 2012). many worry that based on the number of speakers and their ages, a large number of the endangered alaskan languages, considered to be the “backbone of our culture” are headed to extinction (dunham, 2011; olson & alaska state legislature, 2012). this concern is of such importance that it triggered a warning to the state that research article 2 ohle there is a “linguistic emergency”, with most of the 21 indigenous languages recognized by the state expected to go extinct by the end of the century (trudeau, 2018). language extinction is not just a problem for the preservation of language but also for the preservation of culture for, “the survival and revival of indigenous languages is imperative for the protection, transmission, maintenance, and preservation of indigenous knowledge, cultural values, and wisdom” (coolongatta statement on indigenous rights in education as cited in barnhardt & kawagley, 2010, p. 255). this massive loss of language is due in part to young children having few opportunities to use and become literate in their native heritage languages. “we need to focus attention on changing the patterns of interaction and the message children receive about the value and status of their heritage languages” (cummins, 2005, p. 590). many people, including myself, a non-native monolingual university professor and former early childhood teacher, and my colleagues have responded by embarking on projects that provide dual language materials in english and alaska native languages. our project entailed collaborating first with unite for literacy, an organization that provides an abundance of dual language digital picture books where children, families, and teachers can hear the books in over thirty languages, and second, with talented alaska native partners, who helped translate and narrate the books. the project provides resources to local communities and sends the clear message that all languages and cultures are important. for, as others engaged in projects that provide culturally and linguistically relevant materials like the semillitas seedlings for learning project found: the books, once completed, will be a really valuable learning tool for the young children of each tribe and will help preserve and foster language continuation… it is important to remember that it has been only recently that some tribes have begun developing written languages. some are struggling to develop orthographies and dictionaries. so the work we are doing is very important in helping them retrieve, revive and retain their respective languages. (rodriguez & warrior, 2013, p. 2) while the creation of the dual language digital children’s books with unite for literacy was inspired by hadaway and young’s finding that the “use of bilingual books in early literacy instruction may help to revitalize indigenous languages” (2014, p.359), the creation of books does not fully reflect the entirety of the contributions needed to revitalize indigenous languages and cultures. what is truly needed is a collaboration between teachers, families, children, and communities to help incorporate alaska native languages in their daily operations (smith, counceller, alvanna-stimpfle, & charles, 2018). this qualitative study then seeks to move beyond documenting the efforts that went into creating the dual language digital books (ayuluk, ayuluk, et al., 2015; ohle & bartels, 2017) by focusing on how the books are used by teachers with their students and families. it is one thing to have the materials in hand; it is another to really examine how the materials are being used and/or if they are used to foster the skills they were intended to. as a result, this study, conducted in six head start preschool classrooms that primarily serve english-speaking alaska native children and families, investigated how teachers use the dual language digital books in their classrooms and if the teachers use these resources to foster early literacy skills and/or to reinforce native languages. teachers’ use of dual language books 3 theoretical framework keeping in mind the needs of alaska native peoples, the study adopted an approach and a perspective that envisions not dying languages, but the possibility of languages that will help transmit the knowledge of place and the cultural traditions for families, children, and future generations. in considering the consequences specifically related to language status and power, the study was inspired and informed by cummins’ work on empowerment theory, which suggests schools that are successful in helping to empower their students incorporate minority students’ language and culture into the school program; encourage community participation and treat it as integral to the larger program; encourage students to use language to generate knowledge; and use professionals involved in assessment to advocate for students (1986). cummins’ empowerment theory postures that schools that both incorporate and celebrate minority languages display an increased sense of empowerment within their students, as the encouragement of home language use at school reinforces positive self-image and social and emotional maturation within children. they develop more positive identities as learners and are more engaged in literacy activities (bernhardt, et al., 2006). in addition, the inclusion of minority languages is linked to a stronger understanding of linguistics in regard to both languages and is significantly related to students’ academic success (1986). cummins’ theory affords teachers agency, encouraging them to take the lead in promoting dual language practices. it also suggests that teachers should work collaboratively to create an environment in which students, families, and community members work together to maximize the learning potential of all children. this is what inspired us to both create accessible dual language digital books and help teachers consider how to use them. as such, the following literature review details out the importance in considering the literature around dual language books; digital books; family involvement; and teacher involvement. why dual language digital books? why families? why teachers? “our goal is to help young children not only fall in love with books, but through those books celebrate their language and culture.” (clyde & condon, 2011, p. 12) choosing books. when considering what materials would be of value to help respond to the needs of alaska native peoples, we chose books. books help communities ensure local knowledge and stories will be preserved long after storytellers, elders, and authors pass on, thus becoming a permanent means of preserving language and culture. books also become a means to ensuring later educational success. researchers have documented that homes with 100 books that are used, enjoyed, and discussed are homes where children experience success in school and beyond; perhaps even more astounding, research has indicated having a 500-book library can boost a child’s education by 3.2 years, an effect that surpasses the effects of parental education levels (evans, kelly, sikora, & treiman, 2010). however, according to unite for literacy’s interactive book desert map, which shows in visual form the high prevalence of book scarcity, only 31-40 percent of homes in alaska have more than 100 books. this could be due to the fact that many families, because of their remote and rural locations, struggle to borrow or purchase books, leading to long-term accessibility issues, which we wanted to help resolve. 4 ohle this connection to later academic success comes from the numerous skills children obtain from using and interacting with books. in addition to transmitting important literature and themes from one generation to the next, books allow children to develop emotional intelligence and creativity while nurturing growth and the development of the child’s personality and social skills (norton & norton, 2010). when portrayed accurately, books can give students an appreciation about their own cultural heritage as well as others, as multicultural literature “cultivates an educated awareness to other cultural customs and values, promotes communication with people from other countries, and enhances experiences involving theirs’ and others’ cultures” (lowery and sabis-burns, 2007, p. 50). choosing dual language books. indigenous dual language books expand awareness of cultural and language diversity among both indigenous and non-indigenous readers by sharing both the dominant language (english) and a partner language. as such, “indigenous bilingual books offer an opportunity to create awareness of and help revitalize indigenous languages” (hadaway & young, 2014, p. 363). these dual language books also provide a vehicle in which emergent literacy skills can be taught, including those related to print concepts, fluency, vocabulary, phonemic and phonological awareness, and comprehension. many studies have shown that numerous skills in reading transfer from one language to another (bialystok, 1991, cummins, 1989 & 1991, hudelson, 1994, lessow-hurely, 2005, as reported in ovando & combs, 2012). these skills include general strategies, habits and attitudes, knowledge of text structure, rhetorical devices, sensorimotor skills, visual-perceptual, and cognitive function. there is also considerable evidence that vocabulary and complex structures of language are more readily encountered in books than in social conversation (cummins, 2000) and that students can comprehend much more through listening and reading (ovando and combs, 2012). all of these benefits can be facilitated through the use of dual language books. choosing digital books. given issues around accessibility and wanting to honor the origins of alaska native languages, which were oral, the decision was made to create digital books that included language files. this access is especially important for indigenous populations whose heritage language – the language of their ancestors – is different from their home language, or the one they grew up speaking. due in part to past efforts to repress alaska native languages as part of the forced assimilation of indigenous peoples, 75% of all alaska native children are living in homes where english is spoken more frequently than their native heritage language (devoe & darling-churchill, 2008) and the majority attend schools with teachers who do not speak it either. thus the only way to ensure the languages would be heard and taught accurately was by providing a recording of it within the context of the books. while digital books help ensure issues related to accessibility and accuracy, this medium is also recognized as an instructional material that builds on the funds of knowledge all children bring to school (gonzalez, moll, & amanti, 2009; moll, saez, & dworin, 2001). additionally, research has shown tangible benefits outside of those that exist for traditional forms. for example, ciampa found in her qualitative study of eight students in first grade, the digital books enhanced the reading motivation of her beginning readers (2012); other studies suggest the digital supports in such books can go beyond supporting engagement by also helping support vocabulary development, comprehension, and phonological awareness skills (verhallen, bus, & dejong, 2006; zucker, moody, & mckenna, 2009). while findings have shown higher levels of persistence during adult-led readings of digital books over adult-led readings of traditional teachers’ use of dual language books 5 books, they have also suggested that both media and manner matter, as results from a study of twenty-five preschoolers suggested medium effect sizes were present when adults were present (as opposed to children reading digital books independently) (moody, 2010). this finding reminds us that books alone do not make the difference but that we must also consider the impact of families and teachers using them. choosing to work with families. given that adults’ use of interactive book reading with children can yield significant gains in language skills, regardless of social class (whitehurst, epstein, angell, payne, crone, & fischel, 1994), with the home intervention seen as being critical (whitehurst & lonigan, 1998), one must consider the impact of and on families. beyond language skills, there is evidence that using dual language books encourages greater parent support and involvement in education (dutcher, 2004; perez, 2003; ernst-slavit, 1997; medina, 2010; rodriguez-valles, 2011; sneddon, 2008), which is important given that studies have demonstrated that parent involvement in school is significantly associated with lower rates of high school dropout, increased on-time high school completion, and highest grade completed (barnard, 2004). for example, in a study that looked at the effects of a school sending home dual language books, a close relationship was formed with the parents. “the provision of dual language books by the school signaled to parents and children the importance of valuing and developing their bilingual heritage” (sneddon, 2008, p.81). this also encouraged parents to become involved in the literacy practices of their children and demonstrated that there are “ways in which teachers (and indeed researchers) who do not share the languages of the children can still provide opportunities for children to develop as additive bilinguals... they provide spaces where evolving heritage identities can be explored, shared and developed” (p. 82). family involvement has also been stressed by those involved in language revitalization efforts around the world, who have stressed that indigenous language revitalization must include intergenerational transmission of the language in the home and community (henze & davis, 1999). choosing to work with teachers. while providing dual language books to families is important, one must remember the pivotal role a teacher plays in establishing a close relationship between the parents and schools. in the case of rodriguez-valls’ (2011) work with an after-school reading cooperative in which families were given bilingual books and instructions in dialogic reading, both the parents and children seemed to develop self-confidence. sneddon’s (2008) work looked at the effects of a school sending home dual-language books in a community in england and found that because of the teacher’s encouragement to learn the home language, a close relationship was formed between the school and the parents. in one case, this resulted in two albanian mothers then volunteering in the school. outside of encouraging parental involvement, naqvi, mckeough, thorne, and pfitscher (2012) also found that “children become more present, actively engaged and legitimized if opportunities are given to use their home language at school” (p.503) in their study, where the hope was that young dual language learners would be empowered to use their linguistic and cultural capital after having their home languages recognized and legitimized in the book readings by the teachers and local volunteers who read them. however, this objective was compromised when naqvi et al. found that only “...approximately 35% of the sessions showed some evidence of culturally and linguistically responsive teaching” (p. 522) and even fewer sessions showed substantial evidence, highlighting the need in the teaching community for 6 ohle greater support in linguistically and culturally responsive teaching practices that will support students in maintaining their native language. while naqvi et al. (2012) found that, “the school and teachers generally ignore their home languages and literacies, vital ‘funds of knowledge’ that might contribute to academic learning” (p. 503), we were interested in finding out if this would prove to be true in our community where there is a true risk of language extinction. we also wondered if the outcome might be different given that the dual language books we used were digital, an area previously unexplored in past studies. thus, desiring to build off the work already completed regarding the use of dual language books, digital books, family involvement, and teacher influences, we initiated a qualitative study to answer these two research questions: how do teachers in an alaskan community with the threat of language extinction looming use dual language digital books in their classrooms? do teachers use these resources to foster early literacy and/or to help teach and preserve native languages? methodology setting the study was conducted in a large urban area in alaska known for supporting a wide diversity of cultures, races, and languages, where 21% of the families’ primary language is not english and 107 different languages are spoken (asd, 2015). in particular, there is a large percentage of families who identify as alaska native but whose heritage language is not their home language, making it distinct and different from other diverse sites. the purposely-sampled school chosen for the study is a federally funded tribal head start and focuses specifically on serving alaska native and american indian populations: their mission statement reads, “building strong foundations with alaska native families through alaska native cultures and education” and all families must submit a copy of the child or parent’s certificate of indian blood (cib). there is not a similar requirement for teachers. the school serves 175 three to five-year old children and their families with a part-time program. additionally, 28 six-week to five-year old early head start children and their families attend the full day program. at the time of the study, it did not promote a particular alaska native language and most of its families spoke only english, although the majority of native families that speak a language other than english tend to speak yup’ik, the most common of heritage languages spoken by english learners in alaska (edfacts, 2014). the school was chosen because of its vested interest in promoting and preserving indigenous languages, its aspirations of becoming a language immersion school, and its past history of collaborating with the university to help promote culturally responsive teaching practices. study design using a convenience sample and in accordance with the recruitment and consent procedures approved by the researcher’s university institutional review board, teachers were recruited from six classrooms to participate in the study, which was focused on how teachers use the dual language digital books available on the unite for literacy website. participation consisted of teachers’ use of dual language books 7 allowing a researcher to observe in their classroom and also interview them. once the observations and interviews were completed, the researcher analyzed the data using a qualitative approach, allowing the most salient themes to emerge. participants. the six participants were early childhood classroom teachers that work with primarily alaska native and american indian children. they had between one and twenty years of experience, varying levels of education, and were of varying races and cultural backgrounds. half were bilingual (two of whom spoke alaska native languages) and the majority were women. no restrictions were put in place based on the age, gender, or cultural background of the teacher; in order to maintain confidentiality, little demographic information was requested and pseudonyms were used. most of the participants had been formally introduced to the books on the unite for literacy website during a winter staff meeting between six and eight weeks earlier by the school’s education coordinator and the researcher, where the researcher demonstrated how to use the books on the website, facilitated a conversation about how the books could be used, and solicited ideas from the staff about how they see language being emphasized within the school environment. the teachers also received a handout on how to access the books. materials. the books shared with the teachers are located on the unite for literacy website (www.uniteforliteracy.com), free of cost. there are over 200 books on the site in over 30 languages, two of which are alaska native languages (cup’ik, which is similar to yupik, and inupiaq). the books are original, primarily non-fiction picture books and are intended to support beginning readers, particularly through oral language, which is achieved through the use of audio buttons that allow readers to hear narrations by native speakers in the chosen language. the books include predictable language, frequently used vocabulary words, and reinforce many beginning concepts like colors, animals, and numbers. the text on the page ranges from one word to several sentences. additionally, the books include pictures and photographs that portray a rich diversity of peoples. because unite for literacy relies on volunteers to translate and narrate the books, the number of books available in each language varies. at the time of the study, there were fifty books available in cup’ik and twenty-five books in inupiaq. classroom observations. in order to get an accurate portrayal of how teachers use the dual language digital books, the school’s education coordinator requested each willing teacher arrange a time with the researcher to come in and observe them. the twenty to sixty minute observations occurred over a three-week period of time in the late spring (approximately six to eight weeks after the initial demonstration on how to use them) and at a time convenient to the teacher, which allowed them to make their own instructional decisions on how the books might be best used with their students. in all cases but one, the researcher sat apart from the class, careful to not interfere with instruction or interact with the students. she took field notes on how the teacher used the books in his or her classroom, with attention focused on how they used the books to promote concepts of early literacy and teach and reinforce indigenous languages. in the one case when the researcher did interact, it was to help access and read the dual language books upon student request. during the visits, the researcher observed many of the teachers formally and informally introduce the books to the children using tablets and/or large projection screens. there was also variation in grouping strategies, with a few teachers working with the entire class, one working with two to three children at a time, and the majority working 8 ohle with between six and ten children in a small group. several also provided time for the children to explore the books themselves. interviews. after the observations were completed, most teachers sat down in person with the researcher to discuss the lesson and how they planned on using the books with their students and their families. in one case, the teacher chose to email their responses and in another, the teacher voiced a reluctance to talk further given time constraints. the interview included questions about how the teachers used the unite for literacy dual language digital books, if using the books changed their instructional practices, if the teacher saw the children and/or their families using or interacting with them, how they reinforced early literacy practices and/or home languages using the books, and any benefits or disadvantages to using them. these interviews lasted no more than fifteen minutes. analysis. a qualitative approach, where key themes and patterns were identified through the use of coding, was used to help describe the resulting variation, individual experiences, and relationships (coffey & atkinson, 1996) that emerged in the field notes and interviews. a thematic analysis, where data was coded and segregated into data clumps for further analysis and description (glesne, 2006), was used to identify significant thoughts, ideas, and patterns, as is characteristic of open-coding schemes. the notes that emerged from both sources of data were then compared and contrasted, which enabled the most prolific ideas to emerge within and across individual responses and data sources (miles & huberman, 1984). this resulted in three major codes around content and concept-based instruction, early literacy skills, and efforts to recognize or reinforce diverse home languages. a fourth minor code also emerged – albeit just through the interviews around the teachers’ beliefs around families’ use of the books. these results were then shared with the education coordinator, who confirmed that they reflected what she saw during her informal observations and interactions within the classrooms. to ensure the research was conducted with rigor, efforts were made to ensure credibility through the clarification of researcher bias (i.e. the researcher’s role in creating the books and providing the initial training on how to use the books) so the research itself was transparent; to allow transferability by sharing sufficient detail of the results and the contexts in which they were gathered; to create dependability by using multiple methods of data collection and analysis; and to promote confirmability, by triangulating the data and using member checking. results using interview and observational data, this study sought to understand how teachers use dual language digital books in their classrooms and if they use these resources to foster early literacy and/or to help teach and preserve native languages. the major findings were that the books were used to help introduce specific content and concepts, reinforce and teach early literacy concepts, and recognize and reinforce home languages. a fourth minor code around the teachers’ beliefs around families’ use of the books was also noted. for the purposes of this paper, early literacy concepts include those that hit upon print concepts, fluency, vocabulary, phonemic and phonological awareness, and comprehension. an abbreviated display about how the teachers used them can be found in table 1. teachers’ use of dual language books 9 table 1 observational data teacher age of students activity observed materials used objective of lesson languages observed early literacy concepts reinforced jeffrey 4-5 whole group story time ufl books, ipads connecting the book to their unit on ocean study english comprehension (accessing prior knowledge), vocabulary amelia 3-5 whole group story time, snack time, dismissal ufl books, smartboard, hard copy books listening to books in multiple languages, introducing vocabulary english, inupiaq, spanish comprehension, vocabulary mary 3-5 whole group circle time, small group exploration ufl books, ipads listening to different stories english, vietnamese, chinese comprehension, vocabulary tanisha 3-5 whole group circle time, partner reads ufl books, table screen, ipads how to use the site to listen to books independently english, inupiaq comprehension (making predictions and connections) allison 2-3 choice time ufl books, ipads how to use the site to listen to books independently english, inupiaq comprehension julie 3-5 whole group story time, small group work dual language hard copy book, ufl books, ipads listening to different stories english, yup’ik, inupiaq comprehension content/concept-specific instruction frequently, teachers were observed using the books to introduce certain topics of inquiry the class was already studying or to reinforce popular concepts at their students’ developmental levels. for example, jeffrey, an experienced teacher whose class was studying marine wildlife, was observed pulling up the book, who is in the ocean? (hartman, n.d.) on the ipad and had his four and five-year-old students gather around a table to listen to it in english. he started the conversation by accessing their prior knowledge, prompting them with, “remember when we talked about sea urchins? what do you remember?” in response, the students generated responses like, “it was red!”, “it was blue!” and “you shouldn’t step on it.” jeffrey then helped them see the book as a resource by stating, “let’s see what other animals live in the ocean. this book is called, who is in the ocean?” where he then went on to introduce the children to sea anemones, fish (whom the children insisted were salmon!), starfish, sea turtles, and leopard 10 ohle sharks. he paused after each to share more information about the animals (“its correct name is a sea star and it has lots of legs and lives at the bottom of the ocean”), elicit information from the children (“what do fish need to breathe?”), and reinforce other strategies like making predictions (“how many eggs do you think the turtles lay?”), explaining phenomena (“why do think they are called leopard sharks?”), and reinforcing vocabulary (like “gills” and “kelp”). he later commented that since he only had english speaking students, he had not had the opportunity to incorporate the dual language component but “with some language training i would be more than willing to use dual language stories”. allison, a noticeably quieter teacher, chose not to focus on a particular content area but instead used the books to more informally introduce or reinforce concepts to her two and threeyear-old students as they naturally arose in the books. she chose to use the books during her students’ free choice time where she called three children to her table and allowed them to pick a book on the ipad. when they listened to violet counts to 100 (hartman, n.d.) in english, she asked, “do you know how to count to 100?” and after seeing a page full of cookies in december (francis, n.d.), she asked, “do you like cookies?”. the books were used as conversation starters, allowing her to make connections to skills they practiced in the classroom (like counting) and to them personally (by asking their opinions). in both of these cases, while the books were incorporated into the classroom, they did not fundamentally change the teachers’ instruction. inclusion of early literacy concepts while teachers were observed using the books to introduce certain topics of inquiry or to reinforce developmentally appropriate skills, the instruction always reinforced an early literacy concept as well. jeffrey, who commented that he finds both informal and formal opportunities to reinforce early literacy, added some phonics instruction when he modeled how to decode the word “fish” (“remember, the ‘s’ and ‘h’ work together to make “sh”) and allison helped her students make text-to-self connections when discussing if they liked cookies. similar comprehension strategies were routinely reinforced in other classrooms as well. when reading follow your feet (mcguffee, n.d.) with the whole class using a large tablet, tanisha, an experienced teacher, prompted the children to think about what else they used their feet for; afterwards, when they were allowed to choose their own books on an ipad with a partner, she continued to help them make personal connections to the books, like when she pointed to an animal and asked them to consider an animal that looked similar but that lived in alaska. teachers were also seen emphasizing new vocabulary. julie, a newer teacher, did this using the book, who loves flowers? (locke, n.d.) on an ipad when she introduced her three, four, and five-year-old students to what a gardener, florist, and botanist were by asking open-ended questions and modeling how they might figure it out. she commented later in her interview that she tried to label things and point out new words as much as possible during her instruction. teacher: “botanist. hmmm… i wonder what that is. let’s change the page to find out.” teacher (reads): “botanists study flowers to learn about plant life. do you?” child: “no one knows what flowers are like.” teacher: “but what do you see in the picture?” teachers’ use of dual language books 11 mary, a newer teacher, also did this in her whole group setting, as she read watch out! (hartman, n.d.) on an ipad: “deer are dashing… that’s pretty close to jumping. like, they are jumping really fast”. regardless of the approach, the books were used to reinforce early literacy concepts; as was the case with those that used the books to introduce content and concepts, the books were not used to fundamentally change the instruction. recognition and reinforcement of diverse languages while most of the teachers did include vocabulary in their lessons, about half of them intentionally introduced vocabulary in a language other than english. for example, mary started her whole group lesson by asking if anyone knew another language or if they had heard another language. after the class identified a student with a vietnamese mother (“he does! he does!”) and several children mentioned grandparents, mary intentionally chose a book where she switched between english, inupiaq, and vietnamese using the ipad so that she could reinforce multiple kids’ home languages, commenting during the lesson, “she keeps saying ‘goy chuin’. that must mean ‘watch out’!” she later explained that she knew the student did not speak vietnamese but that he understood it and she wanted to honor and reinforce that knowledge. another teacher, amelia, intentionally introduced the word “cold” in inupiaq using the book, is it cold outside? (hartman, n.d.) on the smartboard in the school activity room, choosing a language that was reflective of her own heritage language. using the book and hand motions, the children enthusiastically practiced the word over and over again. interestingly, even when the teachers did not intentionally draw attention to other languages, the children did. tanisha, who had shown her students how to change the narration language for a story, commented in an interview afterwards that she found herself particularly moved after listening to the book follow your feet (mcguffee, n.d.) in inupiaq with the class when a yup’ik student exclaimed, “it sounds like my aka!”. julie heard a similar comment when during an independent exploration time, a student who chose to listen to a book in cup’ik on an ipad excitedly shouted out, “it sounds like miss iris!”, another assistant teacher from the school who speaks yup’ik. this event then inspired julie to have miss iris read the book “berry magic” (sloat & huffmon, 2004) in yup’ik to the whole class, which was captured in field notes: miss iris sits down in the chair at the front of the room, the children fanned out around her in a semi-circle. she introduces the book berry magic, which is not a unite for literacy book, in yup’ik and starts to read, never pausing to translate. as she reads, the children look at her, rapt, and as she gets to the chorus in the story, she begins to sing. the children start rocking their bodies to the rhythm and the second time through, some begin to sing the yup’ik words with her, "atsa-ii-yaa, atsa-ii-yaa, atsaukina!" i find out later, the children have heard the story in english and while not fluent in yup’ik, were familiar with the rhythm and pace miss iris had used in previous readings of the chorus. the children’s connections and fascinations with the various languages seemed to have an impact on the teachers, inspiring them to further recognize or reinforce multiple languages. as did julie and miss iris, amelia also responded to their interests. in that instance, after listening to the book in inupiaq, several children asked if they could then listen to the book in spanish, which she then facilitated by changing the narration language on the smartboard and prompting 12 ohle the children to repeat the words in the second language. their excitement with this development was heightened by the fact that amelia allowed the children to come up and press the audio buttons on the smartboard, allowing them to make the choice of whether or not to listen in english or spanish; nearly every child chose the latter and as she commented later, “they wanted to hear the ‘cool languages.’” responding to their excitement even further, amelia then extended the book exploration after their snack time. the children were quick to respond, prompting the various adults in the classroom reading with them to press the inupiaq buttons, shouting, “do it again! do it again!” and laughing. in contrast with the previous findings, the dual language digital books were catalysts and appeared to change the instruction. interest in sharing with families while none of the teachers were observed sharing the books with families, a number of them thought it was a good idea or had even taken steps towards recommending them. for example, julie recommended the books on unite for literacy to an arabic family, who already knew about it. allison saw the books as being something good for children to use “instead of games” (when playing on their parents’ phones) when the parents were busy. amelia spoke about incorporating them as an option for fulfilling the children’s weekly reading goals (reading a certain number of pages each week), as an option for younger children wanting to do “homework” like their older siblings, or for parents to use on car rides. her response, which echoed allison’s comments, positioned the use of the books as being related to entertainment or something the children might use more informally or independently. however, these were in contrast to the views shared by jeffrey, who felt the dual language digital books were more beneficial for families because they were relatable, connected to different cultures, and a tool for them to use when reading to their children and working on comprehension skills. while jeffrey’s statements emphasized emergent literacy concepts and julie’s emphasis, in theory, may have been on reinforcing diverse languages (given that she specifically recommended them to a bilingual family), overall the uses did not reinforce how they used the books in their classroom. in sum, the teachers used the dual language digital books to reinforce content and concepts, emphasize emergent literacy concepts, and recognize and reinforce multiple diverse languages; they also acknowledged the potential use with families. in most cases the dual language digital books did not fundamentally alter or change the teachers’ instruction, nor were the recommendations for families meant to fundamentally alter their interactions; which leads one to believe that in response to the second research questions, “do teachers use these resources to foster early literacy and/or to help teach and preserve native languages?”, while the teachers were responsive and intentional in how they used the books to foster early literacy, in how they imagined families might use them, and in engaging the children, they did not typically use or view as ways in which to teach and preserve native languages. discussion the main research questions in this study were how teachers use dual language digital books in their classrooms and if teachers use these resources to foster early literacy and/or to help teach and preserve native languages. based on the observations of six teachers, it was found that oneteachers’ use of dual language books 13 third of the teachers used the books to introduce certain topics of inquiry or concepts the class was already studying or to reinforce popular concepts appropriate to their students’ developmental levels; approximately two-thirds of the teachers used the books to recognize and reinforce diverse home languages; and all six of the teachers taught or reinforced early literacy skills. these skills were taught and reinforced in a variety of settings, including whole group, small group, and independent exploration choice time. while not in response to an explicit research question, an underlying theme present in the findings was that the teachers seemed to make many of their instructional decisions, not in response to having the researcher in their classroom but instead, in response to the children’s ages, interests, and skills. this applied to all three results. in the case of those who used the books to reinforce certain content or concepts, the teacher with slightly older students was able to engage in higher-level conversations around things like sea urchins while the teacher with much younger students responded by sharing shorter and more simple books that reinforced counting. this also played a part in the instructional settings they used. for example, allison, who had the youngest students, simply incorporated the dual language digital books into her choice time, as opposed to trying to wrangle sixteen young children into a whole group instructional setting whereas julie had slightly older children who could sit attentively in a group and listen. the choices in which emergent literacy skills they reinforced were tied to their students’ developmental levels and needs as well, varying from demonstrating how one can use a picture cue to figure out a new vocabulary word, which was done with three to five year-olds, to modeling how one might decipher a digraph with four and five year-olds, to prompting them to make personal connections to a text with those ages two and up. there were also times when the teachers reinforced fluency, as julie and miss iris did during the reading of berry magic (sloat & huffmon, 2004) or when amelia had her students repeat the inupiaq and spanish translations during the reading of is it cold outside? (hartman, n.d.). in each of these instances, the teachers took cues from their students and seamlessly knit the prompts into their lessons, providing opportunities for the children to work on the skills that were most relevant to them. this process of responding to cues also surfaced throughout the instances when diverse languages were reinforced. for example, amelia and julie spent more time listening to the books in languages other than english but they, and their children, seemed to have a natural propensity and interest in this, as was seen when julie’s students sat rocking and singing during miss iris’ reading of berry magic (sloat & huffmon, 2004) and amelia’s students requested the book be read in spanish. in sum, the teachers used the dual language digital books but in a fashion that responded and attended to their children’s needs. one element that seemed to help the teachers respond to their children’s needs was that the books were digital, easily manipulated, and could be heard. this reinforces the finding from zucker et al. (2009), whose research indicated that such digital supports can support reading engagement, vocabulary development, comprehension, and phonological awareness skills, as this allows children, who cannot read on their own to explore and listen to books without needing assistance. several teachers took advantage of this by allowing the children to use tablets or ipads to listen to the books during small group, free choice times, and even during dismissal. this afforded the children some autonomy and also took pressure off the teachers when it came to trying to pronounce many of the indigenous words, an issue that was problematic for everyone but amelia and tanisha, who spoke an indigenous language themselves. despite the fact that most teachers did not speak an indigenous language, one finding that was of particular interest was the number of teachers who specifically tried to recognize and reinforce 14 ohle the use of diverse home languages. this percentage was higher than those found in naqvi et. al’s (2012) study and is particularly promising given that it has been documented that minority students who are empowered by their school experiences through the use of dual language books, may gain a stronger sense of identity. hudleston (1987) found that by encouraging native languages, children viewed themselves as competent readers and writers (not being limited by developing language skills). while the data in this study is too limited to generalizations or conclusions, it leads one to wonder what effect the use of dual language books might have on children like mary’s student who was vietnamese, or the student in tanisha’s room who made a connection to the word like “aka,” a native word used in their home. such connections are paramount for, as cummin’s theoretical framework suggests, students who are empowered by their experiences in school develop more confidence and motivation to succeed (2000). there is also reason to hope that the students could carry their experiences using the dual language digital books in the classroom into their homes. while none of the teachers spoke extensively about introducing them to families, albeit for one reference from julie, most said they thought it “was a good idea” to share the resource with them. additionally, allison and tanisha took the time to show their students how to access the dual language books online, which the students could then replicate at home. through developing the students’ ability to access these books at home they have the potential to interact with their family members in dual language digital book reading and “discover reading as an important skill, valued not only by the dominant language society, but also by members of their own or other language-minority communities” (naqvi et al., 2012, p.523). in this case, while not viewed during the observations explicitly, the dual language digital books have the potential to connect the student’s home and school lives, particularly if the teachers take the time to teach the parents dialectical interactive story book reading techniques (whitehurst et al., 1994), how to make intentional decisions when using digital books, or foster the “trick-up effect” by providing families with tips to reinforce media literacy lessons (rogow & scheibe, 2017). this could include having teachers model how to develop digital knowledge and skills, choose a quality digital books for all learners, establish routines for accessing books on digital devices, adopt and adapt evidence-based instructional techniques, and link digital books to provide integrated teaching and learning (roskos, 2017). while the results were telling, as it characteristic in many qualitative studies, commentary around what was not seen is also important. in this study, while teachers did reinforce multiple languages, they did not appear overly concerned about the vulnerable state of the alaska native languages. although they mentioned in their interviews that it was good to use and share the books with their diverse families and their center focuses specifically on serving alaska native and american indian populations, promoting alaska native languages was not at the forefront of their minds. this may be due to the fact that already, as jeffrey had commented, few of them and their children speak an alaska native language. and, as established earlier, the teachers were focused on responding to the immediate needs of the children; this makes it difficult to attend to much larger issues, like those around language revitalization. additionally, the dual language digital books in this study were mostly incorporated into without changing the instruction. however, if teachers do not attend to these issues, intentionally using dual language books and promoting indigenous languages amongst the youngest of learners, who will? teachers’ use of dual language books 15 implications these findings have implications for a variety of stakeholders, including teachers, families, and school administrators. teachers. all six teachers observed in this study were able to incorporate the use of dual language books into their classroom practice and during these observations, children in five of the classrooms were exposed to multiple languages. while the observations were too brief and the number of subjects too small to make any concrete conclusions, it is worth considering the many benefits that students receive when they are exposed to and learn other languages (ovando & combs, 2012). as such, we recommend teachers consider how they might transform their classrooms to incorporate the linguistic, cultural, social, and intellectual backgrounds students bring to school, incorporating children’s home languages in meaningful ways that improve children’s literacy skills and reinforce their cultural identities (dudley-marling & stires, 1992). to do so, we recommend moving beyond just having the children listen to the words but instead, repeat them. for, if teachers prompt their students to use the expressive vocabulary of the indigenous or heritage language, the students have opportunities to learn and use these words with greater frequency, which could assist in long-term language revitalization efforts. this could result in outcomes different from those documented by miller, whose work documented that often when teachers use the receptive vocabulary of a home language in their classroom, it is to support the acquisition and understanding of english (2016). for those teachers who are not comfortable using multiple languages or reinforcing biliterate practices, they can still contribute to students’ biliterate abilities by allowing the students to lead the way (delbridge & helman, 2016). evidence-based strategies for teachers who do not use bilingual instruction but have students who are include collaborative writing of life events, authoring dual language texts, creating vocabulary bridges, considering identity during reading, and hosting family literacy nights (2016). family literacy nights that encourage greater family support and involvement in education would be a great way to introduce the school community to the dual language digital books. since it cannot be assumed that families will seek out these resources or naturally know how to use them, teachers should make a point of introducing them and modeling how one can use the dual language digital books to introduce content and concepts being attended to in class, teach early literacy skills, and recognize and reinforce multiple languages, the same ways in which the study participants used them. even better, it would be advantageous to integrate the family’s language and culture into these programs and collaborate with families to construct the family involvement programs in the first place, a strategy that has emerged as being especially fruitful when considering literacy and language programs that have long-term impacts on dual language learners (lewis & ginsburgblock, 2014). families. families should be encouraged to develop their native heritage languages without fear of hindering the academic development of their child in school; as was witnessed in this study, many of the teachers were actively seeking out opportunities to recognize and build off families’ biliteracy and culture, as opposed to commonly held misperceptions that teachers are concerned that a second language is a hindrance. for those not confident speaking the indigenous languages of their peoples, as is the case for many alaska native families where generations have been prevented from learning their heritage language, reading dual language 16 ohle digital books like those available on unite for literacy helps ensure all family members are exposed to, and see the value in, native heritage languages. this is especially important in alaska, where the alaska native language council has explicitly spoken out about the need to help native peoples acknowledge and heal from the historical trauma inflicted through state and school policies and to support language normalization (smith et al., 2018). additionally, families can and should use their children’s teachers as models for how they might reinforce early literacy concepts while engaging in shared book reading. in this study, the teachers seemingly effortlessly wove in questions that helped emphasize comprehension strategies, vocabulary, and phonemic awareness. despite the natural fluidity witnessed in the classrooms, it cannot be assumed that all families naturally know how to do the same with their children. thus, using the teachers as models might be one way for families to increase the quality of the interactions; a second would be attending a scaffolded program within a family literacy night where families not only receive dual language books but assistance in using dialogic reading strategies (rodriguez-valls, 2011), as families’ use of dialogic reading has been critical in helping children make significant gains in language skills (whitehurst & lonigan, 1998); and a third would be by receiving in-depth training and while this method tends to increase parents’ sense of self-efficacy (lewis & ginsburg-block, 2014), all three options show promise in strengthening both the home-school connection and children’s literacy skills. school administrators. in order for change to occur, someone must take the lead and school administrators are in a unique position to do so, as they work at the systems level with both teachers and families. given that young children are more likely to experience incomplete acquisition of their heritage languages without systematic support at home and school (kohnert, yim, nett, et al., 2005) and cummins’ suggestions that schools can be successful in helping empower their students (1986), this is a role we encourage administrators to take on by considering the following measures: first, given the increasing interest in dual language education (u.s. department of education, 2015) and the mounting evidence that dual language programs both support biliteracy and greater family involvement in education, school administrators might consider if a dual language or immersion school might benefit them and the families they serve and second, how they might obtain dual-language materials. “resources, both material and human, must be considered, along with community interest. in the case of less commonly taught languages, these issues may define what is possible” (klee, lynch, & tarone, 1998, p.7). while unite for literacy’s site was used by these teachers, it is not to be implied that it is the only tool that supports dual language learners. thus, school administrators are urged to not only consider how they might implement an immersion or dual language program but also how they might partner with other researchers and educators, like myself, to create dual language materials. second, administrators should be aware that if they use dual language materials that utilize a digital medium, such as we did, they need to provide systemic supports. this includes providing teachers with professional development that support universal design for learning principles and the use of evidence-based tools; school-based information technology teams; and technical support that can respond to troubleshooting requests (biancarosa & griffiths, 2012). ideally, they would also want to urge their teachers to consider e-book quality, the physical environment, physical engagement, and instruction when choosing to integrate digital books into reading instruction (roskos, 2017). a third point of consideration is in regards to how administrators might assist their teachers in incorporating multiple languages into the classroom. while the teachers in this study teachers’ use of dual language books 17 did so in a variety of ways, studies have shown that first, when teachers of dual language learners participate in professional development that is content-specific, incorporates coaching, and uses assessment in progress monitoring, “teachers made significant gains in the quality of their language and literacy practices and general classroom environment” (hoisington, young, anastasopoulos, & washburn, 2015, p.25); and second, when teachers gain knowledge about levels of scaffolded dialogic reading, their teaching improves, boosting students’ engagement (matera, armas, & lavadenz, 2010). thus, administrators should not only consider whether an immersion school might benefit their students and how they might obtain materials but also how they would support their teachers in helping realize the potential benefits. limitations & future directions this study is not without limitations. to start, this study used a very small sample size and those that participated, did so in part because of the educational coordinator’s interest in infusing more dual language practices; it is not clear if they would have used the dual language digital books if left to their own devices. also, while it is important to honor and respect teachers’ schedules, preferences, and ownership of their classrooms, by coming in at the precise time they requested, it was not possible to see how the teachers used the books in a more natural, less contrived, setting. ideally, there would have been multiple observations in each classroom, completed over different parts of the day, leading to a more authentic assessment. finally, while the teachers’ perceptions and actions were important to capture, this study did not fully acknowledge the impact the families might have, as it did not include the families’ use of the dual language digital books or recognize the potential issues that occur when they themselves do not use their heritage language. attending to these two points would have provided a more complete picture of how the books are used and could benefit or compromise children’s early literacy and language acquisition skills. one of the other major limitations was related to the books themselves, as those that were available to the teachers in this study were limited. many of the other alaska native languages lack representation within the digital library and there were no alternatives for those without access to a mobile device, computer, or tablet. the stories are not necessarily reflective of each culture reading them, as they are more general, concept-driven books that were created for a very diverse audience, not just an indigenous one. this element, the use of books that represent important cultural values and practices of the community, proved to be incredibly valuable in a study of latino mother’s involvement in a culturally responsive interactive book-reading intervention (hammer & sawyer, 2016) and unfortunately, that was not attended to in such a thoughtful way in this study. this is less than ideal, as that both compromises the potential impact of the dual language books and could demonstrate to students that others do not necessarily value their unique cultures, a message that is unfortunately often received throughout their schooling (cummins, 2005). third, it would be disingenuous to make any statements regarding whether the teachers’ use of dual language digital books had an impact on the students or their perceptions of whether or not their culture was reinforced and valued. additionally, one cannot ascertain whether or not using dual language digital books will lead to biliteracy or the preservation of indigenous languages, both of which were part of the impetus behind the study. these limitations can only be overcome with a significant investment in time and resources. it is our hope that more studies 18 ohle of this nature might be performed so that donors, administrators, and volunteers agree to invest in future efforts to provide more resources and support teachers in their use of dual language children’s books. in alaska in particular, efforts must be made quickly to preserve indigenous languages, and investing the resources into finding alternative ways to do so is essential. conclusion “allowing children access to their native language is one way of enabling those who have been silenced to speak” (hudleston, 1987, p.840). by having access to dual language digital books, communities across alaska are finding themselves with more tangible resources that have the potential to help encourage early literacy development and to promote native languages; they are receiving the message that their language and culture matter; and they are seizing opportunities for elders and children, speakers and nonspeakers, to read together. for some, this may be the first time they have had access to an abundance of books; for many, the first time they have had books in their native heritage language. the symbolism in this – in having materials to read and listen to in languages other than english – is powerful and it is our hope that it signals an appreciation for language, for peoples, and for cultures. however, the real value is when teachers and families consciously make the decision to use these dual language books intentionally and thoughtfully, using them to teach content and concepts, reinforce early literacy skills, and systematically teach indigenous languages; when teachers show families their language and culture are important by demonstrating an appreciation of and willingness to include their heritage languages within the classroom, inspiring families to become more involved in their children’s lives and thus helping support their academic development; and when teachers help children learn and use their heritage languages so they experience the many advantages of becoming biliterate. for while dual language digital books are important, it is the use of them that ultimately will make the difference. acknowledgements this project could not be completed with support from others. more specifically, it received some financial support through the center for community engagement and learning at the university of alaska anchorage; technical support from research assistants nina lee and cambria houtte; and coaching and mentoring from dr. mark w.f. condon. much gratitude and appreciation to all! references anchorage public schools (asd). 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(2004). berry magic. alaska northwest books: portland, oregon. healthy children, healthy adults, in an unhealthy time pamela l. shue, ed.d, editor appalachian state university so here we are, over a year since the beginning of the pandemic, and how some things have changed. we now have vaccines to keep us safer, some people are back to their daily activities and for myself, back to teaching in the classroom, face-to face. however, not much changed for early childhood educators, most of them have stayed the course, they have continued to show up to work, adapt, support, and care for our young children in child care centers in this ongoing pandemic world. i was recently working on a project to interview child care educators and directors via zoom. the project had begun before the pandemic disrupted our world; however, during the interviews, the topic of covid emerged in their responses and how it has impacted their work. what i heard, saw and learned from each of them provided more insight into their daily world and struggles. i saw many very tired (some on the brink of exhaustion), some teary, and stressed teachers. they missed the daily interaction/communication with parents (who now needed to drop the children off at the front door), they missed allowing the children to just move freely throughout the entire classroom, and the spontaneity that comes with children at play. they learned new regulations so they could conduct their work while keeping everyone safe. one thing they wanted, was for the children to see their smiles. although directors’ comments were similar, staff turnover, although a common issue in child care in a typical year, was now creating major difficulty finding and retaining individuals who are willing to do this work in a pandemic. in this political world, early childhood receives bipartisan support and is a unifying issue so we need to find a better way to support these essential workers, so people want to become early childhood educators they are heroes! in this issue, you will find a research article and research to practice summary by hooper from the university of alabama and gaviria-loaiza from the university of delaware which looks at predictors of head start teachers’ perceived quality of relationships with parents. the study explores the quality of the family-teacher relationship and its impact on teachers’ job satisfaction, caregiving, and symptoms of depression. this article is so relevant, especially in the environment we find ourselves working in today and considering how covid has disrupted that relationship. the next article, comes out of the oregon research institute and influents innovations, helping young children develop emergent language and literacy skills: the roles of curriculum, training, and coaching (by gunn, marquez, compton, and smolkowski) explores the need for head start teachers to receive more professional development so that they can better support language and literacy skills. this article specifically looks at the abcduet program that is developed to provide teachers with language and literacy skills to support children from various backgrounds. the research to practice summary of this study offers an overview of the abcduet as well as teacher’s recommendations that can assist in improving the program. there are two research articles that address health in head start programs that come from researchers at miami university. the first one, challenges and best practices in bmi screening in head start: one program’s perspective is written by miller, nicely, branscum. the article examines body mass index (bmi) screenings that head start conducts to address obesity in young children. the article is followed by a research to practice article that offers suggestions for best practice when measuring height and weight in head start preschoolers. miller and nicely follow up that article with another one, evaluation of obesity prevention in a head start program. this article examines an evaluation of active learning strategies, that are incorporated into the head start preschool curriculum, i am moving, i am learning. i hope you enjoy this issue and share it with your fellow researchers and educators. please feel free to send any comments or thoughts to me at shuepl@appstate.edu or dr. rebecca shore at rshore6@uncc.edu. hs dialog, 26(2), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 authenticity of assessment in inclusive spaces marisa macy university of nebraska at kearney community chair at buffett early childhood institute, university of nebraska, omaha barriers related to assessment may prevent high quality transition practices from occurring. traditionally, assessment of young children involves table top testing where an assessor asks a child to perform standardized tasks that are often lacking developmental appropriateness with unfamiliar materials, in unfamiliar environments like a sterile clinical setting, and/or with people who are unfamiliar to the child. true skills may not be observed under such conditions as a traditional assessment. alternatively, professionals today across multiple sectors use authentic assessment to measure child outcomes that can be used to better understand children’s development and learning during the transition from preschool to kindergarten process. authentic “real-life” assessments measure skills that are functional rather than contrived, discrete tasks. this research-to-practice article shares practical application for authentic assessment leading to high quality transitions for children and families from preschool to kindergarten. keywords: authentic assessment, child development, early childhood education introduction a typewriter is a tool that can be used to write comedy, a love story, or a fairy tale. assessment is also a tool we use in early childhood settings to learn about a child’s development and learning. a fairy tale is not “real-life,” but a fantasy. many traditional assessments are built on fantasy where they do not show actual skills a person possesses that are functional and enable them to navigate their usual environments independently. traditionally, assessment of young children involves table top testing where an assessor asks a child to perform standardized tasks that are often lacking developmental appropriateness with unfamiliar materials, in unfamiliar environments like a sterile clinical setting, and/or with people who are unfamiliar to the child. true skills may not be observed under such conditions as a traditional assessment. alternative approaches to traditional assessment are warranted. sitting beside and getting to know is the original meaning of the word “assessment” or “assidere” in latin. authentic assessment is like a typewriter because both are tools that can be used for multiple purposes. research to practice summary authentic assessment 101 when conducting an authentic assessment, the observer notices a child navigating their familiar environments, with people who are familiar to the child, and with materials that are part of their daily routines. authentic assessment captures an ongoing story of what the child can do and what they might need. while many professionals would likely prefer conducting assessments of children with an authentic approach that incorporates their families and natural environments, there are at least five barriers that persist that can be overcome with practical applications. practical applications individualized transition practices are recommended when children transition from preschool to kindergarten. however, many early childhood programs continue to utilize a group strategy for transition practices. additionally, there are several barriers related to assessment which exist that prevent high quality transition practices from occurring. this next section will share limitations along with possible solutions, or practical applications, for authentic assessment leading to high quality transitions from preschool to kindergarten. collaboration first, authentic assessment is possibly defined differently by professionals from education, health, and social service sectors (macy, 2023). multidisciplinary teams that represent diverse fields may not appreciate and/or recognize how to embed authentic assessment practices that are recommended by professional organizations. families may be excluded in the assessment process when the professional team is not collaborating effectively. establish positive rapport and working relationship with the team, which includes families, to create optimal conditions for collaboration. assessment requires professional collaboration across sectors. many different professionals come together to support the child and family during this time. authentic assessment can be used as a common tool to strengthen the connections across the team. implement practices to gather input from team members using observations and insights using authentic assessment tools that are linked to curriculum and instruction. shared understanding another barrier for high quality transition practices is the lack of a shared definition of authentic assessment. as defined by bagnato and yeh-ho (2006), "authentic assessment refers to the systematic recording of developmental observations over time about the naturally occurring behaviors and functional competencies of young children in daily routines by familiar and knowledgeable caregivers in the child's life" (p.29). authentic assessment relies on reports and observations from parents and adults who have a relationship with the child. yet people who are strangers to the child often conduct assessments. professionals need a shared definition of authentic assessment and the child are needed to fully support their transition to kindergarten. 102 macy create a shared definition of the authentic assessment process with the team. this can be done during the first transition meeting and then reviewed each time the team meets. authentic assessment focuses on the child's strength and provides a clear understanding of the child's needs (bagnato et al., 2014; lee et al., 2015). team members benefit when there are clear expectations and when the team has a shared understanding of the process. materials and equipment familiar to child a third barrier is that some who assess young children may prefer the convenience of kits and prepackaged materials. however, objects within the child’s natural everyday environment are perhaps superior for observing the child. common materials that are used during routines show what the child can do, emergent skills, and not yet skills. familiar materials and equipment may be more difficult for professionals to incorporate in their assessments because it requires creativity and spontaneity. familiar materials can show what the child can do. to apply authentic assessment practices, use materials and equipment that the child will be familiar with that can be found in their home and/or familiar places like school and/or community. use materials that are culturally appropriate for the child and family. communicate with family members to determine what they prefer. be sure that materials and equipment are individually and developmentally appropriate for each child. professional development the fourth barrier to high quality transition practices is training. many professionals lack formal training in how to conduct authentic assessment. in a study of multidisciplinary professionals, many reported they had no formal training or professional development in the use of authentic assessment (bagnato et al, in press). participants in the study shared the way they learned how to do authentic assessment was on the job training. coordinated professional development around authentic assessment is recommended. take a workshop, class, or session(s) at an early childhood professional conference for training on how to assess children with authenticity when they transition from preschool to kindergarten. preservice and in-service professional development programs should have a comprehensive curriculum and it should include assessment, and specifically authentic assessment (bagnato, 2007; grisham-brown et al., 2008; macy, bagnato, & gallen, 2016; macy, bagnato, & weiszhaupt, 2019; sheridan et al., 2009). professional development can help with implementation of high-quality transition practices and assessment. mindset the final barrier is that many professionals view authentic assessment as requiring more time to administer and extra resources. the perceptions that authentic assessment takes longer than traditional assessment approaches is false (bagnato & macy, forthcoming). however, it may impact professional opinion and adoption of naturalistic assessment practices (bagnato & macy, 2010). authentic assessment 103 allow a growth curve when adopting new practices. it may take time to fully adopt authentic assessment practices. creating a growth mindset is helpful when implementing authentic assessment practices to support transitions. children and families will benefit from professionals who are positively supporting a high-quality passage from preschool to kindergarten. given these barriers, it is worthwhile to examine assessment practices when children and their families embark on their journey into kindergarten. practical application of research-based assessment strategies can be applied. discovering ways to overcome limitations of assessment practices can be beneficial for gaining an accurate understanding of child development and learning. a true picture of development and learning can be leveraged to obtain understanding that leads to better goals, instruction/intervention, curriculum, and evaluation of the program when a child transitions to a new setting like kindergarten (bagnato et al., 2011; grisham-brown et al., 2006). practical applications for authentic assessment: transition to kindergarten writers are encouraged to “show” and not “tell” when communicating to the reader. just like a writer using a typewriter to express ideas or communicate, an assessment can transfer information about learning and development. assessment is the process of gathering information. links to programmatic efforts are ideal when meaningful assessment is aligned to teaching and evaluation in preschool and kindergarten settings (hidayat et al., 2021; macy & bagnato, 2023). when we observe children in their natural environment doing things that are developmentally appropriate for them, we can learn about them. authentic assessment can show objective and subjective information about a child that is obtained from observation. objective data are the facts. like the child makes eye contact with their parent or familiar caregiver. subjective data are observations that have the assessor’s opinion or judgment. like the child seems happy when their parent enters the room. authentic assessment results can include both types of data from observing children engage in “real-life” activities that are meaningful and relevant to them that can be used when children transition from preschool settings to kindergarten (kaya, 2018; macy & bagnato, 2010). professionals across multiple sectors use authentic assessment to measure child outcomes that can be used to better understand children’s development and learning during the transition process. authentic “real-life” assessments measure skills that are functional rather than contrived, discrete tasks that are meant to differentiate performance on a norm-referenced measure. many commercial child focused assessments exist that are authentic and have strong psychometric properties (bagnato & macy, forthcoming). there are multiple people on the child’s team who can provide information with authentic assessment. table 1 shows different people who use authentic assessment. 104 macy table 1 who conducts authentic assessment? professionals who conduct contextual assessments children families environments early childhood educators yes yes yes early interventionists yes yes yes early childhood special educators yes yes yes occupational therapists yes maybe maybe physical therapists yes maybe maybe psychologists yes yes maybe social workers yes yes yes speech/language specialists yes maybe maybe pediatricians yes maybe maybe nurses yes maybe maybe researchers have studied implementation of authentic assessment practices and found reliable and valid outcomes when used by educators (moreno & klute, 2011). when people who are familiar with the child conduct authentic assessments, children are more likely to show their skills. materials and equipment that are in their everyday settings can benefit the assessment process in addition to familiarity with people doing assessments. the aeps-3 ready set (bricker et al., 2022a) is an authentic assessment tool that can communicate information about children’s learning and development when they transition to kindergarten. for practical application, a webinar entitled, “introducing the aeps-3 ready set” was developed that can be accessed at this youtube link. practical applications for authentic assessment and families writing a love story with authentic assessment involves the child’s family and familiar caregivers when they transition to new inclusive settings that are welcoming. family members can provide a distinctive lens into understanding child development and learning. authentic assessment can be used to support effective communication between professionals and parents (macy, bagnato, & weiszhaupt, 2019). parents can also be the first to notice if the child has variations in their development and/or learning. for practical application, the national head start association has developed, “toolkit: school readiness and the every student succeeds act” and can be accessed at this link. contextual/environmental authentic assessments are used to gain a deeper understanding of the child and family. the ecological theory provides a foundation for determining factors that influence a child’s development (bronfenbrenner, 1977, 1979, 1986; bronfenbrenner & ceci, 1994). environmental assessments consider many elements that play a role in the child’s learning and development that are important during transition. the aeps-3 family assessment of child https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrpzgyrdatu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrpzgyrdatu https://nhsa.org/resource/toolkit-school-readiness-essa/ authentic assessment 105 skills (facs; bricker et al., 2022b) is an authentic assessment tool that relies on family observations and input. since the aeps-3 was published in 2022, some studies have examined how professionals and parents view development. one study compared parental and professional views during transition to kindergarten with children attending montessori preschool programs in florida and idaho (macy et al., 2022). another study compared head start parents and professionals views of child development (macy et al., in press). both studies found congruency between parental and professional opinions. more action research with practical application is warranted on how to use authentic assessment to facilitate transitions for children and their families (macy et al., 2019; rome, 2016). future directions may include professionals using the aeps-3 ready set and facs with parents whose home language is different from english, as well as utilization of the aeps online platform to collaborate with families (macy, 2010; macy, 2023). conclusion assessments and typewriters are tools that can be used to tell a story. writing a story during transition to kindergarten can be enhanced with the use of authentic assessment. authentic assessment can be a way to create a sense of belonging for children, their families, and professionals. inclusive spaces are places where everyone belongs. references bagnato, s. j. 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(2010). authentic assessment in action: a “r-e-a-l” solution. national head start association dialog, 13(1), 1-4. bagnato, s., macy, m., smith, n., dionne, c., bruder, m.b., fevola, a., brock, j. r., & londoño, m. c., (in press). link virtual forum on authentic assessment for early childhood intervention: interdisciplinary and international consensus. perspectives on early childhood psychology and education. bagnato, s. j., mclean, m., macy, m., & neisworth, j. (2011). identifying instructional targets for early childhood via authentic assessment: alignment of professional standards and practice-based evidence. journal of early intervention, 33(4), 243-253. bagnato s. j., & yeh-ho, h. (2006). high-stakes testing with preschool children: violation of professional standards for evidence-based practice in early childhood intervention. kedi international journal of educational policy, 3(1), 22–43. bricker, d., dionne, c., grisham, j., johnson, j.j., macy, m., slentz, k., & waddell, m. 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(2019). family-friendly communication via authentic assessment for early childhood intervention programs. zero to three, 40(2), 45-51. macy, m., chen, c., & macy, r. (2019). assessment, evaluation, and programming system for infants and children: salient development and research factors to consider. journal of intellectual disability—diagnosis and treatment, 7(3), 68–76. https://doi.org/10.6000/2292-2598.2019.07.03.2 macy, m., pool, j., chen, c., rusiana, t., & sawyer, m. (2022). a preliminary examination of a kindergarten school readiness assessment. early childhood education journal, 50, 1035–1046. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643021-01237-7. macy, m., reid, m., & macy, r. (in press). where is there convergence and divergence in how parents and educators interpret child development and learning? head start dialog: the research-to-practice journal for the early childhood field. moreno, a. j., & klute, m. m. (2011). infant–toddler teachers can successfully employ authentic assessment: the learning through relating system. early childhood research quarterly, 26(4), 484-496. rome, a. (2016). authentic assessment as a vehicle for social change. english leadership quarterly, 38(3), 2–4. sheridan, s. m., edwards, c. p., marvin, c. a., & knoche, l. l. (2009). professional development in early childhood programs: process issues and research needs. early education and development, 20(3), 377–401. https://doi: 10.1080/10409280802582795. https://doi.org/10.17206/apjrece.2021.15.2.87 https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/91543 https://doi.org/10.6000/2292-2598.2019.07.03.2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01237-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01237-7 dialog, 23(2), copyright © 2020, issn: 1930-9325 a program-wide look at early identification of socioemotional and behavioral needs in head start programs to better serve children rebecca j. bulotsky-shearer, christine f. delgado, jhonelle bailey, jenna n. futterer & rinatte l. gruen university of miami early childhood programs, such as head start, that serve children at risk can implement programmatic screening procedures to ensure equitable identification of children displaying a range of socioemotional and behavioral needs. we examined administrative records linked to a program-wide mental health screening tool to examine patterns of special needs referral and identification for children within the head start program (n=7,301 children). findings showed that male, hispanic, and spanish-speaking dual language learner (dll) children were identified with a disability at a higher rate compared to female, non-hispanic, and non-dll children. children displaying challenging behaviors such as aggressive, oppositional, or disruptive behavior were identified at higher rates than children displaying shy or socially withdrawn behaviors. keywords: early identification; socioemotional; screening tools; head start introduction young children living in poverty are at risk of experiencing developmental, socioemotional or behavioral difficulties in part because of their disproportionate exposure to multiple ecological risks during the early childhood period (casey foundation, 2017; garbarino, 1995; qi & kaiser, 2003). early childhood programs such as head start serving children at risk have the opportunity to identify early developmental and behavioral needs and provide high quality, timely interventions that support children’s active engagement in early learning and socialization experiences that support kindergarten success (shonkoff, 2011). several national laws and best practice guidelines delineate procedures for early screening, referral, identification, and intervention services for young children, including the individuals with disabilities education act (idea, 2004), the head start program’s federal performance standards (u.s. dhhs, 2016) and the division for early childhood council for exceptional children recommended practices (dec, 2014). recommended procedures include screening and research to practice summary program-wide look at early identification of socioemotional needs 109 follow-up referral and assessment of all children displaying possible developmental delays or behavior concerns. importantly, procedures should be sensitive to family culture, language and ethnic background. however, in practice, many early childhood programs face challenges in equitable screening, identification and referral of children for early intervention services barriers to equitable procedures for screening and identification may result in the under-identification of children most in need of early intervention services. for our study, we took a closer look at the special needs pipeline in partnership with a head start program serving an urban-residing, ethnically, racially and linguistically diverse population of children and families. summary of research methods participants and procedures an entire cohort of children enrolled in a large urban head start program participated (7,301 children). as part of a university-head start research partnership, enrollment data were linked with a database containing the program’s mental health screening measure (the devereux early childhood assessment [deca]; lebuffe & naglieri, 1999) and children’s disability status. children were classified either as having a “suspected” or “identified” disability. children with a “suspected” disability had been referred for evaluation based on either a teacher, parent, or disability specialist concern, or programmatic screening result. children with an “identified” disability had received a formal comprehensive educational evaluation by a professional, had been diagnosed with a documented delay or disability, and were found eligible to receive early intervention services according to part b of idea (u.s. department of education, 2004). once the files were linked, the datafile was de-identified for analysis. key takeaways from the findings the descriptive picture of the percentage of children in the disability database showed that 7.2% of children were classified with a documented disability and were eligible to receive early intervention services and 5.2% of children fell in the “suspected” category, meaning that they were flagged for a concern about their development and referred for comprehensive evaluation. the majority of children identified with a disability were classified with a speech/language impairment; however, very few children were identified to receive early intervention services for an emotional/behavioral disability. this pattern is consistent with national studies. boys were more likely than girls to be in the group of children either suspected or identified with disability. hispanic and spanish-speaking dll children were also more likely than non-hispanic and non-dll children to be in the group of children either suspected or identified with disability. when examining patterns of socioemotional and behavioral needs within the group of children suspected or identified for mental health disability, we found that children displayed higher externalizing behavior on the deca behavior concerns subscale and lower self-regulated behaviors on the deca self-control subscale, compared to children who were not in the disability 110 shearer et al. group. the scores on deca attachment and initiative subscales were not significantly lower in the mental health disability group compared to the non-disability group, suggesting that children in the disability group may not be those children displaying shy, anxious, or socially withdrawn (traditionally called internalizing) behavior. recommendations for practice/programs a key theme important for early childhood programs like head start to consider, is that administrative data systems—often used for accountability and administrative purposes—can be valuable sources of information for formative evaluation and program improvement. through building trusting, bidirectional collaborations between program personnel and university researchers, administrative data can be analyzed and findings shared back with the program. in our study, we were fortunate to have a close working partnership with our local head start program and we shared a common value to improve services for children with socioemotional and behavioral needs. another key takeaway from our study is that intentional, systematic procedures are needed to support screening, assessment, and monitoring in early childhood programs. rather than just relying on teacher or parent referral, systematic screening using validated tools and follow-up procedures with trained staff can help identify where biases might be in the referral and identification pipeline and where additional support might be needed. programs serving children from ethnically, racially and linguistically diverse backgrounds may need to pay special attention to the unique cultural or linguistic differences that contribute to different patterns of development. in this study, our head start program partner provided services to a diverse population of children and families and our findings differed from some other national studies. best practices delineate that the screening and assessment process involve families as partners and ensure that the screening process is commensurate with the child’s family and home culture/language (head start program performance standards, 2016; dec, 2014). this is particularly important as researchers develop more validated assessment tools available for use in early childhood programs with diverse populations such as those from hispanic and dllbackgrounds (snow & van hemel, 2008). the broader field increasingly also recognizes and takes seriously the need to root out systemic racism and implicit biases that contribute to greater risks for suspension and expulsion of african american boys for challenging behavior within early childhood education programs, compared to their non-black counterparts (gilliam et al., 2016). such inequities further highlight the need for culturally competent early childhood screening and assessment. another important implication for early childhood programs is that dll children nationally tend to be over-referred to special education services for speech/language delays (gildersleeveneumann et al., 2008; sullivan, 2011). however, dll children follow a more complex path in developing expressive and receptive language skills than monolingual children (castro et al., 2011; lópez & páez, 2021; peña & halle, 2011) and this may be interpreted as a delay in pronunciation, productive language or expressive vocabulary skills. professional development and training of early childhood practitioners—teachers, speech/language therapists, and psychologists—is needed as well as validated assessment tools that could more accurately identify children who have a program-wide look at early identification of socioemotional needs 111 speech/language delay. a new resource (lópez & páez, 2021) can be disseminated providing many strategies for supporting spanish speaking dll children in early childhood programs. finally, it is important to recognize that children who display internalizing behaviors (such as anxious, socially withdrawn, or shy behavior) may be struggling just as much as children who display more externalizing (disruptive or aggressive) behaviors in the classroom and in the home context. researchers and mental health professionals with expertise in assessment should consult with head start programs to ensure that the measurement tools used programmatically offer an opportunity for all children’s socioemotional and behavioral needs to be equitably identified. references casey foundation. (2017). 2017 kids count data book: state trends in child well-being. kids count data center annie e. casey foundation. https://www.aecf.org/resources/2017-kids-count-data-book/#2017-state-dataprofiles-on-kids-well-being castro, d. c., páez, m. m., dickinson, d. k., & frede, e. (2011). promoting language and literacy in young dual language learners: research, practice, and policy. child development perspectives, 5(1), 15-21. division for early childhood. (2014). dec recommended practices in early intervention/early childhood special education 2014. http://www.dec-sped.org/recommendedpractices garbarino, j. (1995). raising children in a socially toxic environment. jossey-bass. gildersleeve-neumann, c. e., kester, e. s., davis, b. l., & peña, e. d. (2008). english speech sound development in preschool-aged children from bilingual english–spanish environments. language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 39, 314-328. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2008/030) gilliam, w. s., maupin, a. n., reyes, c. r., accavitti, m., & shic, f. (2016). do early educators’ implicit biases regarding sex and race relate to behavior expectations and recommendations of preschool expulsions and suspensions. research study brief. yale university child study center. https://medicine.yale.edu/childstudy/zigler/publications/preschool%20implicit%20bias%20policy%20brie f_final_9_26_276766_5379_v1.pdf lebuffe, p. a., & naglieri, j. a. (1999). the devereux early childhood assessment (deca): a measure of withinchild protective factors in preschool children. nhsa dialog: a research-to-practice journal for the early intervention field, 3(1), 75-80. https://doi.org/10.1207/s19309325nhsa0301_10 lópez, l. m. & páez, m. (2021). teaching dual language learners: what early childhood educators need to know. brookes: baltimore, md. peña, e. d., & halle, t. g. (2011). assessing preschool dual language learners: traveling a multiforked road. child development perspectives, 5(1), 28-32. qi, c. h., & kaiser, a. p. (2003). behavior problems of preschool children from low-income families: review of the literature. topics in early childhood special education, 23(4), 188–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/02711214030230040201 shonkoff, j. (2011). protecting brains, not simply stimulating minds. science, 333, 982-983. doi: 10.1126/science.1206014 snow, c. & van hemel, s. (eds.). (2008). early childhood assessment: why, what, and how. national academies press. sullivan, a. l. (2011). disproportionality in special education identification and placement of english language learners. exceptional children, 77, 317-334. doi:10.1177/001440291107700304 u.s. department of education. individuals with disabilities education act amendments of 2004, p.l. 105-17. (2004). [on-line]. available: http://www.ed-gov/offices/osers/idea/the_law.html u.s. department of health and human services (dhhs). (2016). final ruleprogram performance standards for the operation of head start programs by grantee and delegate agencies. 45 cfr chapter xiii rin 0970-ac63. author. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/hspps-final.pdf dialog, 23(2), copyright © 2020, issn: 1930-9325 the transition from pre-k to kindergarten: parent, teacher, and administrator perspectives virginia e. vitiello, nica kyra n. basuel, emily s. white, jessica e. whittaker, erik a. ruzek and robert c. pianta university of virginia the present study aimed to identify commonalities and points of divergence in the ways that parents, teachers, and administrators characterize children’s transition from public pre-k into kindergarten within a large, diverse school district. a wide range of transition practices were in use across the district, including practices designed to educate parents, connect pre-k and kindergarten stakeholders, train teachers, and provide transition experiences to children. transition experiences were not uniform across programs, though. using a consensual qualitative coding approach, we identified three crosscutting themes related to pre-k transitions: (1) pre-k programs and staff invest significant time and effort in supporting successful transitions; (2) preschool programs’ school readiness efforts often center on the “mechanics” of the transition, like completing paperwork and teaching children basic school behaviors; and (3) there are concerns about a lack of alignment between pre-k and kindergarten in terms of readiness, behavioral expectations, and learning goals. keywords: public preschool; kindergarten; transition practices; fade out; school readiness introduction the transition into kindergarten is widely viewed as a consequential and challenging time for young children (yelverton & mashburn, 2018). five-year-olds are rapidly developing new capacities to acquire knowledge, reason, complete tasks independently, and control impulses (skinner, 2018). these capacities can be strained by the expectations that kindergarten places on them: typically, longer school days, more structured learning time, less play time, no nap (bassok, latham, & rorem, 2016; griebel & niesel, 2009; rimm-kaufman & pianta, 2000). in addition, parents of new kindergartners find themselves in a new position relative to their children’s schooling compared with pre-k, one that often includes less choice in selecting their children’s teachers, less contact with teachers, and balancing children’s growing autonomy with the need to research article 2 vitiello encourage academic performance (griebel & niesel, 2009; rimm-kaufman & pianta, 2000). the transition to kindergarten therefore represents a dramatic shift across many parts of a child’s developmental system (rimm-kaufman & pianta, 2000). with ongoing expansions of pre-k (friedman-krauss et al., 2019), there is intense interest in how early childhood experiences can be leveraged to support positive development in elementary school (jenkins et al., 2019) as well as substantial interest in transition activities (e.g. pears, carpenter, kim, peterson, & fisher, 2018.). this makes it critically important that early childhood researchers pursue a thoughtful program of research on pre-k to kindergarten transitions. that research should (and does) include high quality experimental and quasi-experimental research, but also benefits from qualitative work that seeks input from the primary stakeholders in early childhood education: parents of rising kindergarteners, teachers, and administrators of pre-k and elementary programs. aligned with this goal, the current study sought to gain perspectives from parents, teachers, and administrators involved in kindergarten transitions from public pre-k programs in a large school district that reflects the nation’s demographic trends: increasing economic, racial/ethnic, and linguistic diversity. drawing from focus groups and interviews, we aimed to understand stakeholders’ transition experiences, expectations for pre-k and kindergarten, and the factors that support or hinder children’s successful transitions into school. the purpose of this work is to provide context that can support the development of new quantitative research and inform intervention efforts. theory and research on the transition to kindergarten research suggests that the start of school is challenging for some children. teachers report that about 16% of children have serious difficulties during this transition, and many more display less serious, but still concerning, problems (rimm-kaufman, pianta, & cox, 2000). it is important to note that these children are not evenly distributed across schools but tend to be concentrated in schools serving higher-risk, lower income children (rimm-kaufman et al., 2000). survey and qualitative data underscore the importance that parents place on children’s transitions into kindergarten. parents tend to report a high degree of satisfaction with their children’s pre-k experiences and believe that their children are well-prepared for school (bassok, markowitz, player, & zagardo, 2017; hatcher, nuner, & paulsel, 2012). although little research has triangulated views from parents, pre-k teachers, and kindergarten teachers within a single study, there is substantial consistency in prior research as to the skills and qualities that these different stakeholders emphasize in preparing children for school. stakeholders note the importance of children’s social skills and self-regulation, with a strong focus on school-specific skills like following teacher directions, paying attention, finishing tasks, and separating from parents (hatcher et al., 2012; mcintyre, eckert, fiese, digennaro, & wildenger, 2007; wildenger & mcintyre, 2010). parents consider children’s kindergarten experiences to be important in setting the stage for later learning (jarrett & coba-rodriguez, 2017). they are generally eager to participate in transition activities and report them as being largely positive experiences (la paro et al., 2003), although low-income parents are less likely to participate than middle income parents (mcintyre et al., transition from pre-k to kindergarten 3 2007). parents and teachers also note that transitioning a child into kindergarten is an ongoing process that spans several months, especially when parents’ cultural experiences and expectations differ from the norms of their child’s new school (miller, 2015). shortly after the transition into kindergarten, parents report relatively few concerns about their children but do state that they would have liked to receive more information about kindergarten academic expectations, their own child’s readiness for kindergarten, and what else they could have done to support a successful transition (mcintyre et al., 2007; wildinger & mcintyre, 2011). policies and practices that support successful transitions recognizing the significance of this issue for children and parents, many school divisions now have policies and practices in place to support the transition from pre-k to kindergarten, which can include one-off events or deeper levels of coordination across pre-k and kindergarten programs and teachers. there is some evidence that the intentional use of transition practices can support children’s well-being in kindergarten and mitigate the preschool fade-out effect (benner, thornton, & crosnoe, 2017). transition practices include a wide range of activities initiated by administrators, teachers, or parents, including taking children on classroom visits, parent and child orientation events, and parent-teacher meetings (ahtola et al., 2011; la paro, kraft-sayre, & pianta, 2003). studies have also found that the use of more transition practices is linked with better child outcomes in the first year of school (ahtola et al., 2011; benner et al., 2017; locasalecrouch, mashburn, downer, & pianta, 2008; schulting, malone, & dodge, 2005), and the use of transition practices may be of greater benefit for children of socioeconomic disadvantage (locasale et al., 2008). despite this fairly robust evidence, analysis of more recent, large scale data from the early childhood longitudinal study – kindergarten: 2011 cohort showed few significant associations between transition practices and child outcomes either overall or when specifically examining disadvantaged children (little, 2017). simple counts of transition practices provide one, very limited picture of transition efforts. from a more complex and comprehensive perspective, the concept of alignment across the various features of pre-k and kindergarten programs, systems, and experiences may be a more informative way to approach understanding these transitions. evidence suggests that promoting continuity in a number of experiences across pre-k and early elementary school can have numerous benefits for student achievement and may play a role in reducing the fade-out effect (abry, latham, bassok, & locasale-crouch, 2015; jenkins et al., 2015). a 2017 synthesis of pre-k – 3rd grade alignment literature points to the necessity of alignment between instruction (e.g., teaching practices, learning formats), content of instruction, and environment (e.g., behavioral expectations, classroom routines) in order to facilitate students’ transitions to formal schooling (stipek, franke, clements, farran, & coburn, 2017). the alignment of instructional and behavior management beliefs and greater coordination between pre-k and kindergarten teachers may not only result in higher teacher-rated academic and learning skills once children are in kindergarten, but also in higher achievement across grades (abry et al., 2015; jenkins et al., 2015). in spite of these benefits, there is evidence that pre-k and kindergarten experiences are becoming increasingly misaligned (bassok, et al., 2016). a key area implicated in the pre-k fade-out effect is in the misalignment of content: evidence suggests that children who have attended pre-k are often re-taught information 4 vitiello they have already mastered, meaning that they benefit less from their kindergarten experiences compared with children who had not attended pre-k (claessens, engel, & curran, 2014). another aspect of the transition process is the degree to which transition goals and practices articulated by administrators are implemented consistently throughout programs and schools. education in the united states is highly decentralized, and publicly funded pre-k adds yet another layer to these complicated systems. pre-k and kindergarten programs are supported by different funding sources and are therefore subject to different standards and accountability (stipek et al., 2017); in fact, preschool children within a community or even within a single classroom may receive funding from multiple sources (sandfort, selden, & sowa, 2008). many communities lack integrated policies or governance structures that span across pre-k and elementary schools, resulting in disconnects in the vision for pre-k to kindergarten transitions, whether and how information is shared, and standards for children’s learning and development (geiser, horwitz, & gerstein, 2012; marietta, 2010; stipek et al., 2017). this suggests the need to gain perspectives from multiple stakeholders across these complex systems, including administrators, teachers, and parents who have experience with different types of programs operating under diverse auspices. the school district context the current study was conducted in a large urban and suburban school district that serves over 100,000 pre-k through 12th grade students each year. many of the students come from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds: over half have a home language other than english and around 40% are identified as low income. a substantial number of students come from recent immigrant families in which neither parent is a u.s. citizen (u.s. department of education, national center for education statistics, 2017). by blending funding from local, state, and federal sources, the school system provides public preschool to 3and 4-year-olds whose families meet income and employment requirements. these funds finance three types of public pre-k programs: school-based, or pre-k classrooms that sit within schools; community-based, or pre-k classrooms housed within private childcare providers that reserve some spots for publicly-funded enrollees; and head start, which are housed both in stand-alone centers and within public schools. this allows programs to provide services that meet children and families “where they are” in the community, but also presents a challenge in guaranteeing that classrooms provide consistent, high quality experiences. a governing office, working in close collaboration with the school district, maintains coordination of policy and procedures with the school system concerning transition policies and practices, eligibility and access to programming, and strengthening alignment of curriculum and assessment across grades, as well as providing information to families on how to access social services. one of their largest challenges is determining how to coordinate various government entities and organizations to blend funding streams, minimize programmatic fragmentation, and create consistent programming for young children (and families) across multiple administrative auspices and locations. although there is a centralized administrative body, individual pre-k and kindergarten programs and schools have latitude in choosing their day-to-day programming. the governing office and school district provide a framework and program requirements, such as minimum education requirements for teachers, but preschool programs choose their curricula and make other key programming decisions. transition from pre-k to kindergarten 5 the current study this context provides a unique opportunity to learn from a large, diverse school district with some degree of central oversight that is engaging with challenges faced by school districts across the country: the need to provide high quality early education to families that represent many different backgrounds, home languages, and cultural expectations, as well as substantial program decentralization. the purpose of this research was to identify commonalities and points of divergence in parents’, teachers’, and administrators’ views of children’s transitions from public pre-k into kindergarten. using a combination of interview and focus group data, we examined the following questions pertaining to the transition from pre-k to kindergarten. first, what is the range of transition practices in use in this large, diverse school district? second, is there uniformity in the use of transition practices, or are experiences from program to program highly variable? third, what common themes emerge across these stakeholders’ perceptions of the transition from pre-k to kindergarten, and what are the points of agreement and disagreement in how they discuss these themes? method participants we recruited parents, teachers, and administrators engaged in a larger, longitudinal study to participate in this qualitative study. participants included 9 administrators (3 district administrators, 3 center directors, and 3 elementary school principals), 10 preschool teachers, 13 kindergarten teachers, and 10 parents of preschoolers. demographic information on participants is presented in table 1. teachers had an average of 12.8 years of experience (14.8 years pre-k teachers, 11.4 years kindergarten teachers); 22% of preschool teachers and 4% of kindergarten teachers reported having completed an early childhood major. preschool and elementary administrators reported an average of 11.3 years of experience, and 17% had completed an early childhood major (three district-level administrators were not asked to provide demographic information). 6 vitiello table 1 participant demographics parents teachers center directors and principals n 10 23 6 female 80% 100% 100% race/ethnicity black/african-american 20% 9% 9% hispanic/latino 30% 4% 4% white 20% 83% 83% asian 20% 4% 4% multiracial, native american, or other 10% 0% 0% language home language spoken in classroom english 30% 100% - spanish 30% 48% - other 40% 17% - income-to-needs ratio (mean, sd) 0.74 (.5) - - program type school-based 90% 56% 56% private, not-for-profit center 10% 44% 44% measures we developed sets of semi-structured interview and focus group questions tailored for each stakeholder group (administrators, teachers, parents) to provide participants an opportunity to give open-ended perspectives on transition. questions focused on three broad topic areas: funding and access to preschool, the transition to kindergarten, and support for diverse families. for the current study, we focus on our discussions related to transitions. questions were structured to include an open-ended prompt with follow-up questions. the interviews and focus groups were semistructured and allowed participants to lead the conversation and pursue themes as they arose. questions included: 1. what role do you play in transition practices? 2. what practices, if any, do you have to help families and students transition to kindergarten? (teachers and administrators only) 3. what is the transition experience like for parents and children? 4. do you find that there are particular populations of students and families for whom the transition process works smoothly and others for whom it doesn’t? (administrators only) transition from pre-k to kindergarten 7 5. what practices, if any, did your child’s teacher or school have to help you and your child transition to kindergarten? (parents only) procedure using hill’s guide to consensual qualitative research (1997) and creswell’s handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research (2003) to determine our methods, we conducted oneon-one interviews with the district-level administrators and small focus groups for the remaining participants, all face-to-face. interviews were used with the upper-level administrators due to scheduling constraints and to allow for administrators to speak individually about their experiences. one-on-one interviews with the three district-level administrators were conducted in the spring of the first study year when study children were in preschool. focus groups were used with school-level administrators, teachers, and parents to give participants a safe space for open-ended discussion, to empower individuals to speak within a group setting, and to facilitate comparisons of individual and shared experiences. focus groups are best used for capturing and understanding knowledge related to social processes (patton, 2002) and were therefore an appropriate format for these discussions. the focus groups involved groups of 2-10 participants. we used a snowball sampling approach to recruit participants: school principals and center directors recommended teachers to be contacted, and administrators and teachers recommended parents. all participants were fully consented for participation. interviews and focus groups lasted 60-90 minutes and were audio-recorded and then transcribed for coding to facilitate analysis. we held one focus group of three school principals and another group of three early childhood center program directors. after the administrator-level meetings, we conducted three pre-k teacher focus groups (n = 10 teachers) which were divided between school-based and center-based programs. school-based teachers were a mix of teachers from five elementary schools. the two private, not-for-profit childcare center-based focus groups were conducted with two groups with two teachers each from their respective preschool centers. subsequently, administrators and teachers helped us identify and recruit parents interested in joining focus groups. we met with two english-language parent groups (n = 3, n = 4) and with one spanish-language group (n = 2) in late spring 2017. all parents had children enrolled in public pre-k at the time of the meeting, and all groups met at local libraries. the parent focus group allowed us to understand how parents learned about and used transition practices, communicated with schools and teachers, and evaluated their children’s school readiness. a subset of these parents (n = 4) agreed to speak with us in the fall of the following school year, when their children were in kindergarten. parents were able to report on transition practices in the summer and early months of kindergarten, their communication with schools and teachers, as well as discuss their perspective on their children’s transition into kindergarten. finally, in the fall of the study’s second year, we conducted two focus groups with kindergarten teachers (n = 5, n = 8). we reached out to teachers consented in the larger longitudinal study, and teachers from eight different schools agreed to meet with us. these conversations were largely around transition practices used, how practices are implemented, and their evaluation of the 8 vitiello successes and challenges with transition. interview and focus group participants received a small honorarium for their participation. data analysis data were analyzed using a four-stage coding process based on hill’s (1997) consensual qualitative research process and facilitated by the use of the dedoose online qualitative coding application. first, using a grounded theory approach, the coding team (the first three authors) read through a random subset of transcripts, collaboratively developed a set of basic descriptive codes to characterize the broadest categories of responses, and used these codes to define excerpts within the transcripts (e.g., funding and access to preschool, transitions to kindergarten). all transcripts were then coded independently by at least two coders using these broad codes, and the coding team met to resolve discrepancies. second, we pulled out all excerpts that had been coded as related to transitions. coders independently read through each stakeholder group’s set of excerpts and identified main themes; coders then met to resolve discrepancies and identify core themes from each stakeholder group. third, an auditor who had not been involved in coding to that point reviewed each set of themes and offered comments and edits, and the coding team met to review the auditor’s suggestions and revise the themes accordingly. fourth, the coders cross-walked the themes from different stakeholder groups to identify cross-cutting themes, which are presented below. to protect identities, we jointly refer to preschool center directors and upper-level administrators as “preschool administrators”. results transition practices we compiled a list of all of the transition practices mentioned by administrators, teachers, or parents during interviews and focus groups (see table 2). they described a range of practices that fell into several broad categories. first, the most frequently mentioned practices were efforts to connect with and provide information to families. practices that fell into this category included hosting in-person and online panels to answer parents’ questions, sending information home with children, using apps to connect parents with kindergarten teachers, and holding kindergarten orientations or open houses for families to visit the schools. second, there were practices that focused on coordination between elementary and preschool staff. these included meetings between administrators, joint planning on the part of teachers, and sharing information about individual students, among others. a third category involved professional development for teachers: workshops on transitions, training on state standards, and providing teachers with a suggested calendar of transition activities across the year. (of note, several teachers told us that training opportunities specific to transitions occurred but were not very common.) finally, there were a range of activities that directly involved children. children visited kindergarten classrooms and participated in orientations. some schools conducted assessments or observations of children before they started kindergarten or identified children for inclusion in special summer readiness programs. pre-k teachers spoke to children about what kindergarten would be like and adjusted routines to better match kindergarten routines. some schools also organized social activities to transition from pre-k to kindergarten 9 connect entering children and families. in sum, responses underscored the diverse and wideranging approaches to transition that were in use across the district. 10 vitiello table 2. transition practices identified through interviews and focus groups practices that were organized, planned, or attended by: practices that were attended or experienced by: the district administrators /schools teachers/ classrooms parents students • coordinating local readiness networks • hosting panels of administrators for parents to ask questions • hosting live online forums to address parents’ transition questions • events with multiple agencies – sign up for library card, k registration, health services • open door for parents to come into office to ask questions • creating team of parent liaisons, education specialists to assist schools/teachers/ parents on transition • provide pre-k teachers with transition forms to share data with kindergarten teachers • meeting between pre-k administrators and elementary principals • kindergarten and pre-k staff create joint communication to the public about school readiness • kindergarten and pre-k staff cooperatively run open house/parent orientation • kindergarten holds informational meeting for parents of pre-k children about transition • phone calls to children or families before school began • send home information about the kindergarten program to parents • inform and train teachers about state standards • provide joint planning or collaborative time for pre-k and kindergarten teachers • provide year-round transition calendar/rubric to teachers • set up information sessions with parents of school-age children • identify children eligible for a kindergarten readiness summer program • support individual parents with registration (e.g., translate forms) • home visits by teacher or other pre-k staff • meeting(s) between pre-k teachers and kindergarten teachers • kindergarten and pre-k staff plan and implement transition practices together (e.g., kindergarten registration) • pre-k teachers provide transition forms to the kindergarten teacher or school • kindergarten and pre-k teachers participate in joint training • provide parents with information about their child’s progress toward development goals • assess and observe rising kindergarten students at orientation • kindergarten teachers prepare and distribute picture books introducing their schools • use apps to connect with families • send home questionnaires for families to fill out • give presentations to children and families • attend school readiness workshops if offered/available • talk about kindergarten with prek students • a spring orientation about kindergarten for parents of pre-k students • an open house or classroom visit for parents and children before the school year began • home transition activities provided/suggested by teacher or school • home transition activities not provided by teachers (e.g. reading with kids, social-emotional conversations) • parent-teacher conferences • receive information about their child’s progression toward development goals • family service workers at center-based pre-k reach out to parents • parents complete teacher questionnaires • use apps to connect with teachers • visits by incoming pre-k students to the kindergarten class before school begins • a spring orientation about kindergarten for children • attend playdates in the summer (organized by pto, school principals, or readiness networks) • arrange for upper grades buddies • exposure to kindergarten routines (eating in the cafeteria, calendar time, taking the bus, etc.) • reduced nap time during lead-up to kindergarten • assessed by kindergarten teachers at orientation • receive goodie bags (e.g. crayons and play doh) from kindergarten teachers at orientation • supplementary summer school if determined necessary transition from pre-k to kindergarten 11 variability in transition practices conversations with stakeholders indicated that there was considerable variability in schools’ and families’ engagement in children’s transitions. pre-k administrators, especially district-level administrators, reported setting out a framework and guidance around the transition to kindergarten, but noted that individual schools and programs had a lot of leeway around implementation. one pre-k administrator noted: we provide access to different ways of looking at transition for principals, but they decide how to do that. we can encourage, we’ve had conversations, we’ve had information on why kids’ transitions are more successful [...] and we have [over 100] elementary schools [...] i think schools who are connected to us because of their pre-k programs often do more than schools who are pulling from community programs that they may or may not be connected to. kindergarten teachers also noted that differences in transition practices largely came down to differences in school leadership, with some schools planning multiple activities to support children and parents while others were limited to a single orientation event. in one focus group, a teacher described her school’s practices, which included having an evening orientation for parents followed by individual appointments to help parents fill out paperwork while teachers conducted basic evaluations of their children. a teacher in the same group but from a different school noted “we just do a kindergarten orientation during the day, and the parents come in, and the pto has a room near the cafeteria…we don’t really do anything. we used to, but i’ve been at this school for six years, and i’m on my fourth principal, and every time you turn around, they’re changing.” pre-k teachers noted that it was easier to collaborate with kindergarten teachers when children were going to stay within the same school for kindergarten. one school-based pre-k teacher noted “there is a huge advantage for base-school kids because you have that constant communication and relationships with the team. my kids are split between being base-school and another neighborhood school…we don’t really receive communication from the other school.” similarly, some parents took advantage of multiple transition activities and placed a high value on preschool and school support, sending their children to supplemental summer programs, getting help filling out paperwork, and attending meetings hosted by the pre-k or elementary school., others were unable to attend, meetings (“i don’t remember well because i never got to go, they usually schedule [orientation events] at work hours”) or relied on teachers to lead transition activities. one parent noted, “during the transitions, the teachers are in charge of the transition. that is why this program is so beneficial to us, because we don’t have to do much. it is easier because the kids already know the abc, and that is the nice thing about this program.” it was also clear that some preschool teachers provided a high level of personalized support for parents. one parent noted that her child’s pre-k teacher was personally calling all of her students’ kindergarten teachers and had completed registration materials for parents. other parents described participating in various transition activities (orientation events and meetings) but received less individual support from the pre-k. 12 vitiello crosscutting themes theme #1: pre-k investment in successful transitions. related to the provision of transition practices, it was apparent across all stakeholder groups (including those from elementary schools) that much of the energy, enthusiasm, and sense of responsibility for children’s successful transitions was borne by preschool, rather than elementary school, administrators, teachers, and parents. preschool administrators described a multi-faceted, multi-touch approach to engaging families around transitions. this included holding kindergarten registration events that brought multiple community service agencies together, making translation services or one-on-one support available to families completing paperwork, educating parents about what to expect from public schools, training teachers about transitions, and conducting extensive outreach to connect with diverse communities. one pre-k administrator noted, “i think that our goal with all of our planning and collaborative work is to make sure that everybody is well equipped to talk about transition, so that transition doesn't mean in august, you're helping people get their immunizations or whatever, it starts months and months in advance.” likewise, preschool teachers spoke of how the transition to kindergarten was a year-round process beginning well before the start of kindergarten and involving multiple touch-points with families. one teacher stated, “i feel like all year, we're teaching our families how to advocate and be part of the school system because most of the [parents of] children in my classroom went to school in other countries, they're all immigrants here, so they're not familiar with it. [...] all those conferences and home visits are really valuable for helping parents with those transitions.” several parents and teachers described the high degree of personal investment that preschool teachers put into reaching out to children’s future kindergarten teachers to ensure that important information was passed along. parents also reported feeling highly satisfied with their children’s preschool experiences and with the level of support they had received around their children’s transitions into kindergarten. speaking about the experience of her current preschooler in comparison to one of her older children, one parent said “i see the difference with one of my girls. out of my four kids, one didn’t go, and you can notice the difference. she struggled to adapt to k. [...] even when she was in first grade, it was challenging for her.” elementary school principals and kindergarten teachers were more limited in their descriptions of the transition to kindergarten. principals described holding kindergarten orientations and similar events, but they also relied heavily on processes led by the county’s early childhood office. for example, responding to a question about whether she required or recommended certain transition practices, one principal said: “i think the county has some, and i'm sure i'm familiar with what those requirements are.” for teachers, it seemed much easier to support children who were transitioning from preschool classrooms co-located within their schools; they had more difficulty obtaining information from or collaborating with external programs. elementary school administrators and teachers described substantial demands on their time and attention that prevented them from focusing very heavily on any one specific group of kindergarteners. theme #2: school readiness centered on the “mechanics” of school. pre-k administrators (including principals with pre-k programs) and teachers tended to place much of their focus on supporting children and families around the “mechanics” of the transition into transition from pre-k to kindergarten 13 kindergarten. in supporting families, this meant helping parents keep track of important dates, complete paperwork, and learn about the norms of public schools. in supporting children, this meant making sure that children were comfortable with school behavioral expectations and routines. for example, one preschool teacher noted that she needed to “[get parents] used to checking your child's book bag, reading the information, and making sure you're writing it down in your calendars…” because parents would “not [get] so many reminders” once their children were in kindergarten. a kindergarten teacher similarly noted that they used time during orientation to let parents know some of the expectations for children, including “that they can put their coat on by themselves or attempt to tie their shoes or pack their backpacks.” despite this focus on the mechanics of the transition, some parents and teachers did mention the importance of more traditional school readiness skills. one parent, asked about satisfaction with her child’s preschool experiences, highlighted how well social-emotional skills had been addressed, including “emotions, [...] how to act with other students, they give them schedules, they give them confidence.” other parents mentioned their pride in seeing their children write their names or sound out words. one parent stated, “i’m proud of all 17 kids in that classroom…i’m proud of the way they have succeeded and the way that they have grown”. after her child started kindergarten, another parent reflected on her child’s readiness for school: “i feel like we were probably ahead of so many of the other children. just the first week when she came home and they were practicing writing their name i was like, we've been doing this for a year now.” theme #3: concerns about alignment between pre-k and kindergarten. across stakeholder groups, there were consistent descriptions of experiencing a lack of alignment or a lack of attention to alignment across preschool and kindergarten. there were clearly substantial efforts underway to foster alignment: for example, many schools created opportunities for preschool and kindergarten teachers to visit each other’s classrooms, and preschool teachers completed detailed transition reports on each child with assessment scores and notes about children’s behavior, likes, and dislikes. however, preschool teachers especially those not working in school buildings did not feel that kindergarten teachers received or utilized the transition reports. this concern was validated by kindergarten teachers, some of whom did not know that the reports existed or how to access them, with one stating to other teachers: “but you should keep your heads up, because a lot of times [the pre-k transition report] gets lost in the shuffle, [although] i think it's getting better.” for preschool administrators, alignment efforts seemed to center on three things: aligning curricula, promoting alignment through the use of standards, and getting preschoolers ready to meet kindergarten expectations. overall, though, discussions of alignment were characterized by vague descriptions or the notion that processes were already in place to support alignment. for example, when asked about curricular alignment, one preschool administrator noted, “but i think it’s aligned, and i talked with both elementary schools throughout the year, saying was there something we could’ve done more to prepare kids [...] and it’s always been pretty positive.” another preschool administrator discussed using state standards to foster alignment: “i look at the [state standards] for kindergarten and hand them to my staff and say hey, this is what we should be doing toward the end of the school year.” notably, some preschool administrators and teachers resisted efforts to push preschoolers to meet kindergarten standards. for example, one preschool administrator said “but i have seen push down of curriculum expectations in kindergarten, right? 14 vitiello [...] my children sleep for two hours until august 28 when they leave, because i refuse to decrease what is appropriate, play and sleep and socialization.” concerns about the lack of alignment were most apparent in comments from parents. nearly all parents felt that their children were academically over-prepared for kindergarten and worried that children would feel bored and disengaged. a typical parent comment after the transition to kindergarten was: “i asked her [the teacher], do you think that because he had head start he will feel bored, […] because some kids have had it and some kids not?” another parent stated, “there should be a more comprehensive list of what the school expects so that the kids come in on an even scale. because i feel like […] our kids were so far ahead, and i worry that [my child]'ll get bored.” this was in contrast to kindergarten teachers who often seemed more concerned with children’s ability to follow school routines and had relatively low academic expectations for students, exemplified in the fact that they assessed children on “...basic stuff. do you know any letters? can you count a little bit? do you know some colors and shapes?” secondary themes there were three additional themes that were clear across the transcripts and are worth mentioning briefly, although these were raised with somewhat less frequency and prominence. first, the transition to kindergarten was a transition for parents nearly as much as it was a transition for children. this is apparent in many of the excerpts cited above from teachers and administrators describing how they support parents but was also clear in what parents said after their children started kindergarten, such as “he seems to like his teacher. he seems to like his classroom. but i barely know anything about it. i get a weekly email and the weekly email just pinpoints subjects and that’s about it.” second, data sharing across pre-k and kindergarten was both a major focus for the school district and a source of frustration at multiple levels. upper-level administrators and preschool center directors clearly described efforts to provide information to kindergarten teachers via transition forms. as noted above, preschool teachers expressed uncertainty as to whether their transition forms were utilized by kindergarten teachers, and kindergarten teachers confirmed that they often did not receive the ones from outside of their own schools or received them too late to be of use. an additional, interesting subtheme was that, for kindergarten teachers, the value of preschool data was mainly in creating balanced classrooms, so that no teacher had all of the late birthdays or children with the lowest skills. they did not talk about using preschool data to inform instruction or behavioral approaches, and instead expressed the need to assess children on their own once the school year started. lastly, this community has invested substantial resources into creating local readiness networks groups of neighborhood stakeholders that meet to identify and address barriers to school readiness. these were viewed as a great success by some stakeholders, particularly at the administrator level, but many teachers and parents were not aware of them and it appeared that their potential was not yet felt throughout the school district. transition from pre-k to kindergarten 15 discussion the present study provides a snapshot of areas of alignment and misalignment between two large systems, a pre-k system serving low-income, ethnically diverse children and families, and an overlapping, large pre-k-12 school system serving over 100,000 children. together, these two systems have multiple accountability pressures and competing priorities that drive their decision making. although both systems are working toward the same positive outcomes for children, and despite their high level of collaboration, there are some notable points of friction. below, we discuss findings from our qualitative analysis and how this research may inform future work. what should transitions involve? the stakeholders we spoke with described a wide range of transition activities that included highlevel collaboration all the way down to playground meet-ups for children. notably, these activities went far beyond the limited number of transition activities described in some research studies: for example, the early childhood longitudinal study (ecls-k) surveyed practitioners about six specific practices, which did not include curricular alignment or other forms of coordination between kindergarten and pre-k teachers (schulting et al., 2005). there were also technologyenabled practices in use in this district which have not shown up in survey research, like holding online panel discussions or using apps to connect parents with kindergarten teachers. this suggests the need for more comprehensive surveys that include a greater range of practices, including social activities to connect incoming children with each other and practices that rely on technology. it also underscores a challenge with survey research, which is that basic counts of transition practices may fail to capture the complexities or potential impact of different transition activities. does holding an orientation have the same potential for impact as children visiting kindergarten classrooms, or as coordination at the district level to align expectations across grades? responses also underscored the variability in implementation. schools had wide latitude in determining how to support transitions. this may be appropriate, if schools are being responsive to the needs of the families they serve, but it may also mean that some families receive a much higher level of support than others with similar needs. who is responsible for successful transitions? in the current study, preschool administrators and teachers felt a strong sense of responsibility to get children ready for school but needed involvement from elementary schools to make transitions successful. likewise, the central early childhood office set forth strategies for promoting successful transitions but relied on individual programs to enact the recommendations. the investment and energy directed toward promoting children’s well-being were clear, but it was not always clear who was responsible for different parts of the process. one area that exemplified this variability and diffusion of responsibility was the practices related to child assessment and data use. preschool teachers reported spending substantial time completing transition forms. when children changed schools, it was unclear what happened to these forms or 16 vitiello whether they ever reached the child’s kindergarten teacher. when teachers received them, it was not clear how they were used or what purpose they served: kindergarten teachers preferred to assess children themselves and mostly used the transition forms from pre-k to form balanced classrooms. it is understandable that teachers want more up-to-date information on children’s skills and want to assess children themselves, but also understandable that pre-k teachers feel frustrated that data they provide are not often used. these challenges may ultimately be related to managing across these complex systems. researchers who study implementation point out that variability is inevitable in executing any program or practice (durlak, 2010). one option for further work in this area might include trying to identify the core components of successful transitions – more contacts with families? greater coordination between pre-k and kindergarten teachers? better connections between children and families in the new school? – and focusing efforts on implementing those specific components with greater consistency (durlak, 2010; fixsen, naoom, blase, friedman, & wallace 2005). another option would be to look at the accountability and incentive structures that surround transition practices and work within those structures to encourage better uptake (sandfort et al., 2008). what is school readiness? another challenge that emerged was that parents, teachers, and administrators did not have a single, unifying definition of school readiness that could serve as a link or handoff across the prek and kindergarten period – an outcome for pre-k and a starting point for kindergarten. it was clear that administrators and parents were proud of children’s academic skills, but nearly all participants spoke more elaborately about helping parents fill out forms or teaching children how to sit still than they did academics. kindergarten teachers also expressed low academic expectations for children entering their classrooms and reported emphasizing to parents the importance of basic skills like packing a backpack. this tendency to discuss school-specific skills and some aspects of social-emotional development over academic skills puts our respondents in line with prior research, which has repeatedly found that parents and teachers are most concerned about social-emotional and behavioral readiness (rimm-kaufman et al., 2001; hatcher et al., 2012). this is particularly striking because the quantitative literature as well as federal and state early childhood program standards are heavily focused on academic readiness (snow, 2006), and research indicates that preschool programs spend much of their time on academic topics (cabell, decoster, locasale-crouch, hamre, & pianta, 2013). these findings highlight interesting disconnects between the types of skills participants endorse as important versus the skills and practices they talk most about; what parents notice about children’s readiness versus what pre-k and kindergarten teachers think is most important; and between research literature and standards versus the daily experiences of teaching young children. more research is need in this area to better understand how these school-specific skills are related to children’s adjustment to school and how academic and social-emotional skills independently predict adjustment. what needs to be aligned? transition from pre-k to kindergarten 17 lastly, our conversations highlighted the complexity of the transition from pre-k into kindergarten and the many moving parts that may be aligned or misaligned. most concerning is the idea expressed by parents that kindergarten classrooms may not capitalize on their children’s academic skills. in fact, this is emerging as a plausible explanation for pre-k fade-out: children may come to school with strong academic skills, but teachers focus on teaching basic skills; and without instruction that builds on their skills, children’s pre-k advantages fade over time (claessens et al., 2014; engel, claessens, watts, & farkas, 2016). in the current study, it seemed that despite efforts to promote academic alignment, there was not a deep understanding of what alignment means, what it might look like, or how to go beyond assumptions about standards or curricula being aligned to think about alignment as environmentand skill-based. there were concerns about other types of alignment, as well. to what extent should pre-k programs be readying children for kindergarten routines by focusing on academics, reducing nap time, or having lunch in the cafeteria? what types of assessments should be used, and when should they be given? recent work to define meaningful types of alignment highlights content that builds on children’s knowledge, but also pedagogical techniques, routines around learning tasks, classroom management, and parent involvement at school (stipek et al., 2017). here, again, it seems important to understand the core components of alignment and focus efforts on those as a priority (fixsen et al., 2005). limitations this work has several limitations worth noting. first, we attempted to represent the diversity of this school division, but our sample was limited to the stakeholders who agreed to meet with us and who spoke english or spanish well enough to participate. this may have affected the perspectives that we were able to represent. of particular concern was our inability to connect with parents who primarily spoke languages other than english or spanish (e.g., arabic, urdu), of whom there is a sizable population in this district, or parents who might hesitate to engage with us in person due to concerns about their immigration status. in addition, it is important to note that all of the elementary school administrators in our focus groups housed pre-k programs within their schools. our conversations therefore do not represent the practices of schools that serve kindergarteners but do not have pre-k classrooms. there may be substantive differences in the way those principals approach kindergarten transitions. conclusion this work points to the complexity of supporting children’s transitions into school. pre-k and k12 administrators face serious challenges in promoting alignment across these decentralized systems. despite efforts on the part of the early childhood office and school district, it was apparent that there is still a need to build consensus around a series of topics: what aspects of school readiness are important for children, what schools should do to support successful transitions, and what transition practices are most effective for children. research has a role to play in resolving these questions. future research on these topics should re-examine school readiness skills, and 18 vitiello especially how school-specific skills are related to early school adjustment, to better understand their importance. researchers should also examine whether and how specific transition practices can ease the start of school and promote adjustment. information on these topics could help practitioners construct and implement a clearer, evidence-based roadmap to support children as they transition from pre-k to kindergarten. acknowledgments we gratefully acknowledge the support of our many partners: school district leaders, community programs, teachers, parents and children. their enthusiastic cooperation and participation made much of this work possible. we also extend appreciation and recognition to marcia kraft-sayre, marianna lyulchenko, laura helferstay, brittany kerr, arya ansari, and tara hofkens, who each made valuable contributions to the project. the research reported here was supported by the institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education, through grant #r305n160021 to the university of virginia. the opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the institute or the 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(2018). a conceptual framework for understanding and supporting children’s development during the kindergarten transition. in a. j. mashburn, j. locasale-crouch, and k. c. pears (eds.), kindergarten transition and readiness (pp. 3-29). new york, ny: springer. microsoft word mihai ra.docx dialog, 20(1), copyright © 2017, issn: 1930-9325 research article “we are here for the kids”: a case study about including children with disabilities in head start alina mihai indiana university kokomo gretchen butera indiana university bloomington a substantial number of children with disabilities are enrolled in head start and it is therefore important to understand how they are included in this context. the inclusion of children with disabilities in eight classrooms across one midwestern head start program is examined in this exploratory case study. how head start teachers plan and adapt activities with the needs of all children in mind, how they collaborate with others on behalf of children, and how children with disabilities participate in inclusive classrooms is described. findings were presented in four cross-case themes: 1) planning for children, 2) adapting activities for children with disabilities, 3) including all by facilitating peer interactions, and 4) connecting in a community. implications for practice are presented. keywords: inclusion, head start, collaboration, peer interactions as the largest provider of preschool education in the nation, head start’s mission has been to improve the school readiness of low-income children since 1965. school readiness in head start means “children are ready for school, families are ready to support their children’s learning and schools are ready for children” (united states department of health and human services (usdhhs), 2011). head start takes what can be described as a “whole child” approach to school readiness, promoting children’s development through educational, health and nutritional services. the program also engages parents in their child’s learning by helping these adults with their own educational and literacy goals with the idea that doing so will contribute to children’s school readiness (miller, farkas & duncan, 2016). in recent years, head start’s emphasis on school readiness has intensified. recent research demonstrates many head start children continue to fall behind their peers in readiness at kindergarten entry. findings from the national longitudinal study family and child experience “we are here for the kids”: a case study 49 survey indicate that although children participating in head start made gains on several measures of readiness, they continued to score below national norms on a number of early academic areas when entering kindergarten. the head start impact study indicates that head start children continue to lag behind their peers by about one-third standard deviation in important early literacy and numeracy skills (miller et al., 2016). head start has also been a major provider of early childhood special education (ecse) to children with disabilities. in 1972, congress mandated that at least 10% of the program’s national enrollment consist of children with disabilities. the program recognized that head start teachers would need training in competencies for teaching children with disabilities and offered it to teachers by establishing a “nucleus of 14 resource access projects” jointly funded by head start and the office of education’s bureau of education for the handicapped (zigler & styfco, 2011). head start did not place children with special needs in self-contained classrooms and implemented inclusion before appropriate education in the least restrictive environment for children with disabilities was mandated (zigler & styfco, 2011). within a few years of the congressional mandate, 13% of head start’s enrollment consisted of children with disabilities. in 2006, the head start regulations required all programs to have a disabilities service plan and a designated service disabilities coordinator to meet the needs of children with disabilities and their families. programs were charged with arranging for or providing special education and related services for eligible children unless services were already being provided by another agency (miller et al., 2016; usdhhs, 2011). the enrollment of children with disabilities in head start has continued to increase throughout the program’s history. barton, spiker, and williamson (2012), examining the data from the head start family and children experiences survey 2000 (zill, kim, sorongon, herbison, & clark, 2006), suggested that 8% of the children in this large nationally representative head start data set had an iep and a third met the criteria for a disability or developmental delay. in 2009, the division for early childhood (dec) and the national association for the education of young children (naeyc) released a joint position statement on inclusion. the statement emphasized the value of preschool inclusion for creating “a sense of belonging and membership, positive social relationships and friendships, and development and learning” (dec & naeyc, 2009, p. 2). for children with disabilities, research highlights the developmental benefits of being educated alongside more competent peers, particularly in language development and social competence (hanusek, kain, markman, & rivkin, 2001; justice, logan, lin, & kaderavek 2014; rafferty, piscitelli, & boettcher, 2003). families and practitioners note that two of the most valued characteristics of inclusive early childhood settings are the need to ensure that children with disabilities are active participants in the classroom and that early childhood programs provide accommodations and adaptions to meet the needs of children with disabilities (hurley & horn, 2010). clearly, what is required are classrooms in which children with or without disabilities have opportunities to actively interact with one another (diamond & hong, 2010). coordination among various service providers for children with disabilities in head start is an essential part of the process. federal law mandates that children with disabilities are entitled to services that address their learning needs from a variety of specialized professionals, including special educators, speech and language pathologists, social workers, physical and occupational therapists, psychologists, and health care professionals. when early childhood teachers and specialists work together as a team outcomes for children with disabilities in preschool settings are likely to improve (hunt, soto, maier, liboiron & bae, 2004). yet, the research also suggests 50 mihai & butera that preschool teachers and various specialists often struggle to work together. recently, mcdonnell and colleagues (2014) conducted a large nationally representative survey of head start teachers (n=254). the majority of the teachers reported that nearly a quarter of their class consisted of children with disabilities who were receiving special education or related services. they also responded that they did not work with a special educator on a regular basis. further, muccio and colleagues (2014) examined the perceptions and practices of head start educators and found a substantive gap between what supports were considered necessary and what was provided for successful inclusion. it is important to note that successfully including children with disabilities in inclusive head start classroom has as much to do with teacher values as it does with policy and practice reform and practitioners in many preschools sometimes struggle to collaborate (brown, knopf, conroy, googe, & greer, 2013; butera, friesen, horn, palmer, &vaiouli, 2016). specialists may be burdened with large caseloads and have little time to collaborate and consult with teachers so that children are provided ongoing support (dinnebeil, pretti-frontczak & mcinerney, 2009; mcdonnell et al., 2014). the roles and responsibilities of each professional may also be unclear (katz, maag, fallon, blenkarn & smith, 2010). purpose of the study given the evidence that a number of children with disabilities are enrolled in head start, it is important to understand how they are included in this context. the head start child development and early learning framework emphasizes the key role of the teacher in ensuring the progress of children with disabilities. in the current study, we sought to examine the inclusion of children with disabilities in a head start program. the following questions provided a focus for the study: 1. how do head start teachers plan and adapt activities for children with disabilities in their classrooms? 2. how do children with disabilities participate in activities and interact with peers and adults? 3. how do teachers collaborate with other professionals about the needs of children with disabilities? methods setting and participants the study was conducted in elmwood heights head start (ehhs)1, a program familiar to the researchers from previous research. the program serves about 450 mostly caucasian and english speaking children and families across six rural counties in a midwestern state and includes 1020% children with disabilities. after obtaining approval from the university institutional review board, the ehhs program director was contacted and asked if they were willing to participate. after consultation with the program coordinators at each center, ehhs agreed to participate and center coordinators were provided with a recruitment script to contact all potential teacher participants from their center. names of eight teachers from three different centers interested in “we are here for the kids”: a case study 51 participating were obtained. researchers contacted teachers through email to set up a time to meet and provide more information about the goals of the study. table 1 teacher demographic information teacher education teaching experience (in years) teaching experience in the current classroom juanita associate’s degree in early childhood education 6 3 cathy bachelor’s degree in elementary education 8 2 laura associate’s degree in early childhood education 10 6 martin associate’s degree in early childhood education 14 9 hannah bachelor’s degree in early childhood education 10 < 1 lynn associate’s degree in early childhood education bachelor’s degree in music 12 9 roberta associate’s degree in early childhood education 22 <1 kim bachelor’s degree in child development 13 9 note. all names and some identifying details have been changed to protect anonymity. participating teachers were experienced and had worked with young children for at least 6 years. demographic information for all teachers is presented in table 1. teachers were asked to describe their classroom, including the number of children in total, the number of children who were english language learners (ell) or with identified disabilities, and children they considered of concern (table 2). although most children with individualized education programs (ieps) were identified as having speech and language delays, most teachers noted their concerns about children with challenging behaviors. 52 mihai & butera table 2 classroom information teacher number of children english language learners children with identified disabilities/ disability category special education services for children with disabilities additional children of concern (no iep) juanita 14 3 speech or language (1) developmental delay (1) developmental prek half-day (3) developmental delay (1) attention difficulties (2) cathy 13 2 speech or language (2) speech therapy/ once a week (2) developmental support/ once a month physical limitations (1) speech or language (3) developmental delay (2) attention difficulties (1) challenging behavior (2) laura 19 n/a speech or language (3) developmental delay (2) speech therapy/ once a week (5) challenging behavior (1) martin 18 n/a speech or language (6) developmental prek half-day (2) speech therapy/ once a week (4) developmental delay (2) attention difficulties (2) challenging behavior (2) hannah 17 n/a speech or language (4) asd (1) developmental prek half-day (1) speech therapy/ once a week (4) developmental delay (3) attention difficulties (6) “we are here for the kids”: a case study 53 lynn 16 n/a speech or language (3) developmental prek half-day (2) speech therapy/ once a week (3) roberta 17 n/a n/a (one child in the process of being evaluated) n/a speech or language (1) attention difficulties (1) challenging behavior (1) kim 18 n/a speech or language (2) developmental prek half-day and speech therapy/ once a week (2) attention difficulties (1) challenging behavior (1) data collection to address the research questions, we employed an exploratory case study design (yin, 2008). case studies are particularly suitable for providing “in-depth descriptions and analyses of a bounded system” (merriam, 2009, p. 40). in our study, we specifically focused on ehhs as a bounded system and aimed to describe how the needs of children with disabilities were addressed. based on the literature, we anticipated uncovering challenges the teachers faced as they attempted to address the needs of all children. we believed they would encounter difficulties collaborating with other professionals and we wanted to deepen our understanding of the nature of the challenges. we anticipated that program level factors would influence how teachers worked with children and their families. we aimed to interpret our findings within the larger context of ehhs. we conducted an initial classroom observation together to develop an observation protocol and ensure that we were systematic and reliable in collecting observational data about classroom activities. in subsequent classroom observations we used a semi-structured observation protocol to capture classroom events related to how teachers provided instruction (e.g., large group and small group activities, individual work with children), how children with disabilities participated in activities and interacted with peers and adults (e.g., whether children actively engaged and sustained attention, whether they played with other children), and any observed instances of collaboration between professionals (e.g., specialist visits to the classroom). over the course of the spring semester, two researchers conducted classroom visits on days with typical classroom activities that were mutually convenient for teachers and researchers. we each spent one full day in each classroom, collecting running field notes and expanding on them shortly after each observation. we collected approximately 7 hours of observation in each classroom for a total of about 55 hours of observation. 54 mihai & butera an individual interview with each teacher was conducted with both researchers at a location and time that was convenient to teachers (often the center after or before teaching), shortly after observations were completed. interviews lasted between 45 to 90 minutes and were recorded with teachers’ permission. questions were intended to gather teachers’ perspectives on how they planned and adapted activities for children with disabilities in their classrooms, how they facilitated children’s interactions with their peers and how they collaborated with other professionals and families (see appendix a). also, we asked specific questions about what we had observed in our classroom visit in order to understand the teachers’ thinking. for example, we asked teachers to explain their perspectives about specific observed events in the classroom. data analysis as data collection ended, all interviews were transcribed. data was analyzed using a reiterative process that identified recurring themes (stake, 2005; yin, 2008). as part of the process, we identified examples across the data of how the teachers planned and adapted activities for children with disabilities, how children participated in the classroom and how teachers collaborated with other professionals. individually, each researcher coded data across observations and interviews and identified 4-5 themes for each teacher. we then compared our analyses and sought agreement with one another by describing how we understood the data, coming to consensus. we wrote individual case narratives for each teacher (see table 3) and collapsed individual case study themes into four cross-case themes presented in this paper: 1) planning for children, 2) adapting activities for children with disabilities, 3) including all by facilitating peer interactions, and 4) connecting in a community. “we are here for the kids”: a case study 55 table 3 example of the coding process for an individual case and the cross-case analysis teacher individual case study themes cross-case themes juanita facilitator of child interactions • juanita joins children in free play and models initiating play with others • she suggests children play with other another keeping individual needs in mind • juanita engages children with speech and language disabilities in conversations at meals • she plans weekly lesson with children’s iep goals in mind including all by facilitating peer interactions adapting activities for children with disabilities numbers matter • juanita has several children with significant learning challenges and they are not all identified • juanita also has english language learners in her class and she struggles to meet their needs struggling to collaborate • juanita has difficulties collaborating with other professionals on behalf of the children with disabilities in her classroom • she has difficulties having her voice heard in iep meetings • she lacks time and resources planning for children and connecting in a community connecting in a community findings planning for children during interviews, all eight of the head start teachers explained the importance of helping children acquire academic readiness skills to support success in school given the diversity of children in their classroom. hannah reported using the “kindergarten readiness sheets” given to parents by the local school district. she planned activities that taught numbers and letter recognition as part of readiness. lynn and laura made flashcards from the program’s screening tool to teach children letter sounds and counting. all of the teachers we observed helped children practice writing their names, another item on the kindergarten readiness sheet. despite the focus on readiness instruction, head start teachers considered recruiting children’s interest for the learning activity important. activities were based on what the teachers “knew the kids would like” or what was “fun” for the children. teachers referred to the time of the year, approaching holidays or special events to plan what the children would do. in early spring, cathy complained about how the weather made it difficult for the children to go outside 56 mihai & butera and have fun. she went on to say that she ended up using the circumstances to “do something fun. the easter bunny came [while they were out of the room] and we copied the patterns of his footprints in the mud outside our window”. juanita also placed a high priority on engaging children in learning and planned activities based on children’s interests. during one visit to her classroom we found the children thoroughly engrossed in a sticky form of clay. juanita explained that her own daughter had brought it home from school and she immediately asked “the teacher for the recipe. i knew they’d love it.” juanita also planned activities related to a popular disney movie when many of the children reported having seen it. laura’s efforts to plan activities based on children’s interests were often spontaneous, but she was purposeful in commenting on what children were doing during free play. during one observation, laura watched as jimmy and albert built a road of blocks for their toy cars. when the boys explained that the trucks were going home she used the opportunity to explain that trucks sometimes “had a garage which was a truck’s home.” later that day, laura pulled a book about trucks from a shelf and asked the children where cars and trucks were sometimes kept. both she and albert laughed when he shouted, “a garage!” in interviews, teachers explained that they used the children’s ieps to plan daily activities. lynn described how she thought about this in planning a math lesson: so, this child has an iep where we are working on learning her colors … then, i am going to put that [in], “sort jellybeans into colors” everybody else may be working on adding or subtracting, but we are working with … jellybeans. so you have to individualize [for] each. we are required to have a goal for all of the students with ieps at least in one to two sections [of the lesson plan]. in another interview, laura told us that she uses ieps to set weekly goals and fits them into the lesson plan. she reported feeling confident that “you can take almost any goal and put it into any activity i am doing and figure out a way to meet it. all teachers should be able to. it all overlaps.” as an example, she described how she might work on a student’s speech goal by reading books emphasizing the sound the student was working to articulate better (e.g., super silly sammy for /s/). the head start teachers in the study also planned activities with individuals other than the children in mind. during several observations, planned activities centered on art projects to be sent home. during one observation in juanita’s room, tiffany, the assistant teacher, spent much of the day melting crayons after shaving them in small pieces. the children were invited to sprinkle the shaved crayons on wax paper and then watched as she cut wax paper hearts with the melted crayons inside. without any explanation, tiffany wrote the children’s names on the final projects and proceeded to display them on the window. after one child said, “i wanted to write my name” tiffany had the child write her name on the card next to where she had written it. at the end of the activity, tiffany asked the children “does that make you feel happy?”, and pointed to the pretty colorful hearts on the window. none of the children responded. adapting activities for children with disabilities as was evident in observations and interviews, the head start teachers in our study differed from one another in how they planned activities for children with special needs. in some instances, the “we are here for the kids”: a case study 57 teachers demonstrated that they considered the needs of all children in their classroom. in other circumstances, it was not clear how the needs of children with disabilities were acknowledged. “if you want them to be better you have to believe.” one of the children in martin’s classroom recently transferred in from another head start center. ronnie had delays in language development and martin found him difficult to manage when he did not understand directions and struggled to learn the classroom routine. martin used a variety of strategies to keep ronnie engaged, often working with him in a small group or pairing him with another child who could help him participate. we observed him simplifying activities for ronnie and some of the other children while he was reading a storybook. for example, he explained that little red riding hood is “a little girl taking soup to her grandmother who is sick”. he also used laminated pictures and a felt board to illustrate the story putting the board close to ronnie and a few others. in the same lesson, it was clear that martin was also adapting the reading for children with more advanced language skills, asking them why it was important for little red riding hood to stay on the path. juanita and laura also addressed the individual needs of children with disabilities in their classroom by adapting activities. juanita’s classroom included two students with language delays who were learning english as a second language. juanita and her assistant teacher made sure to engage both girls in conversation especially at mealtimes and they also prompted language interactions between the girls and other children during free play and at recess. juanita was aware of the iep goals and objectives for the girls, but she reported that she did not find them helpful in guiding her planning. “they are not always realistic” she told us. “some are very vague.” asked about her participation in the children’s iep meetings she explained that, although she attended meetings when she was invited to, she was seldom asked for input and had little opportunity to help write iep goals or objectives which were already written before the meeting. in an interview, laura explained that she thought colin’s behavioral problems may be related to “sensory issues” although she was not sure about this. however, having read about “sensory issues” on the internet, laura provided colin with activities that might help him overcome these challenges, including shaving cream and finger paints at a table where he worked by himself with the materials while the other children were engaged at various centers. a few other children also participated in this activity. laura was convinced that children with challenging behaviors can be helped to learn new behaviors and develop appropriate interactions with peers and she thought that it was her role to teach them. she explained, “if you want them to be better you have to believe they can be better.” as she reflected, laura said, “we just put a smile on and say ‘hi, i’m glad to see you today, i missed you.’ and try to start fresh every day and try not to expect misbehavior.” in classroom observations, this attitude was evident in laura’s purposeful public praise of colin. when a child lost her name tag, laura commented, “colin is very good at finding things. ask him to help.” in her interview, laura was clear that she wanted to have a positive influence in the development of the children, commenting “that’s why i am here, because i want to make a difference.” “the tip of the iceberg.” other teachers in our study showed little evidence that they were adapting activities considering the needs of specific children. the teachers acknowledged the importance of doing so when we interviewed them, but they seemed uncertain about what to 58 mihai & butera do and we saw few of the strategies they described in interviews. in several instances, teachers reported feeling uncomfortable making adaptations to activities that might single children out. cathy explained that a child with a developmental delay “doesn’t really get a lot of accommodations because he wants to do what everyone else does.” pausing for a moment, she went on to explain that, “in free play, we just try to keep support staff closer to him in case he needs help with a social situation or something like that”. roberta explained in the interview that she believes children are different from each other and that it is important to accept their differences. she noted that she tried to explain this to both children and parents. in some cases, children with disabilities were assigned to an assistant teacher who tried to help them participate in classroom activities, sometimes adapting activities on the spot. jamie, the assistant teacher in hannah’s class, spent most of her time supervising becky. despite jamie’s supervision, becky wandered around the room during our observations, dumping objects into the aquarium and smearing paint on herself at the painting easel. becky screamed occasionally especially when she was redirected to an activity. jamie often tried to engage becky in activities with little direction from hannah, who explained in her interview that she did not know what to do for becky and that she ”has gotten worse” this year. in some classrooms, there was little evidence that activities were adapted for children with special needs and they sometimes were excluded from activities. in roberta’s classroom, alice came late one morning visibly upset. she proceeded to hit and kick other children while at circle time. roberta attempted to correct her asking her to “sit on her bottom”, but alice screamed “i don’t want to”. roberta had the assistant teacher take her to the library area for time out. the teachers did not interact with alice again until the end of the activity. roberta did not report needing additional skills to support the learning of children with special needs in her classroom. cathy and lynn also reported feeling competent in addressing the needs of children with special needs. martin reported that his previous experiences helped him. “i was doubtful of myself, but i learned i could do it.” however, other teachers explained that they lacked sufficient experience to know what to do. hannah and juanita seemed to think that additional training was important. hannah explained that she “got the tip of the iceberg” from taking an introductory course in special education in her early childhood education degree program. “i know about autism what it is. i need to know what to do. i’ve never been taught that.” including all by facilitating peer interactions classrooms we visited throughout the study differed both in the numbers of children with identified disabilities and the degree to which children’s disabilities required that teachers adapt or modify classroom routines and activities. the eight classrooms also differed in how peer interactions were supported. some teachers appeared to be more aware of potential difficulties children with disabilities might experience in initiating and sustaining interactions with peers than others. “we have to teach them.” in juanita’s classroom, jimena, an ell with a speech and language impartment, had difficulty joining her peers in play and frequently watched from afar as children played in centers. observing this, juanita entered the children’s play herself. when another child was playing with a toy video camera in dramatic play, juanita gave jimena a “we are here for the kids”: a case study 59 microphone and suggested that another child pretend to videotape them as they pretended to report the weather. several children in martin’s classroom had behavior problems which negatively impacted their interactions with peers. in his interview, martin emphasized that clearly stated and consistently applied rules were important in his classroom. during observations, we noted that classroom rules were posted and martin referred to them often, pointing to the posted rules while reminding children about keeping their hands and feet to themselves. he explained to us that children need to be helped to understand why their behavior causes problems with “their friends”: i also like to make the children work it out. i don’t believe in making them say they’re sorry. i try and show them what they have done. i tell them “you need to ask if they are okay. is there anything you can do?’ they are not sorry at this age. they want to yell at each other. i say “talk to them so you can see how they feel.” laura’s classroom included several children with behavior problems and speech and language delays. she was especially concerned about colin’s temper tantrums because she thought colin showed little remorse when he hurt other children and that this impacted his peers’ willingness to play with him. when colin was upset, she tried to help him identify the problem and find a solution. she explained that, “we use a book with pictures of kids from last year. it talks about respectful hands and respectful feet. what choices are respectful?” during one afternoon observation when the children seemed to be having difficulty following classroom rules, laura called the children to the circle area and they all read the “respect” book together. this reminder about respecting the space of others seemed to help and the children returned to free play. in her interview, laura commented “they don’t know what respect is, we have to teach them.” “they are just not going to play with him.” while both laura and martin were actively engaged in trying to help children get along with others, not all the teachers in the study were observed supporting positive peer interaction. in hannah’s classroom, becky appeared to have little direct interaction with her peers. in regard to becky, hannah commented in her interview, “i wish we had more time for her. it’s hard integrating her with 16 other kids when you don’t have that extra person.” she explained that she sometimes asked a few selected peers to play with becky or provide her with help in classroom activities, but she found it difficult to maintain this intervention. in the interview, hannah commented: i don’t think they interact much with her because she doesn’t try to interact with them. […] becky likes to eat flowers, and so she’ll be eating a flower and you’ll have one of the kids say “ms. hannah, becky is eating a flower”. so, you could tell they’re watching out for her in their own ways. same with the scissors. if you see becky with scissors, someone’s always “ms. hannah, becky has scissors” or “ms. hannah, becky is writing on her face with a marker.” so they’re watching her, they know everything that she is not supposed to be doing and they let you know, but i don’t see a lot of interaction with her. during our observations, we did not see hannah take an active role in supporting peer interactions. she explained in her interview that children in her classroom refused to play with 60 mihai & butera peers who did not initiate, show interest, or were aggressive, such as becky or jarrod, another child with challenging behaviors. one day we observed jarrod ripping patty’s costume, causing her to cry, and other children to protest his behavior. the assistant teacher, jamie, responded to this by instructing, “hey patty, tell jarrod why you are sad, what made you sad and have jarrod apologize”. patty continued to cry without approaching jarrod. when asked to comment on this situation in her interview, hannah described her approach to managing children’s behavior as “more of letting them try to figure out the conflict.” similarly, in cathy’s classroom, lyle is visibly rejected by peers. within a few minutes, each child playing in the sandbox leaves when lyle comes to play. cathy is aware of lyle’s difficulties interacting with peers and she talked about her approach to helping him in her interview: “we try to help him use his words to make more social interactions with his friends and he has made some progress with that, but there are some kids in the classrooms who have decided that they are just not going to play with him.” in the two days of observations, we noted only one instance when lyle engaged with peers in putting a puzzle together while the teacher assistant facilitated the activity. however, during the rest of the observations adults moved from group to group to supervise children rather than engage with them or facilitate interactions during their play. other head start teachers worked to understand the needs of children with disabilities. like martin and laura, kim was proactive in helping children learn classroom routines. in her interview, kim chuckled as she thought about a child with a disability she had taught in the past and commented, “she really has improved a lot […] she gave me a run for my money, but she also taught me a lot […] i think she also made my patience level a little better, because with her you just had to fly by the seat of your pants sometimes.” connecting in a community the head start teachers in our study sought help from each other as they planned for the children in their classrooms. they met during the program’s planning day when the children did not attend, asking one another for ideas and sharing materials on an ongoing basis. in interviews kim explained that “lynn and i collaborate well together to do curriculum planning.” while lynn reported, “i may be stumped, but kim may have some idea that is really cool.” most of the teachers planned activities with their assistant teachers, sharing ideas and the preparation workload. in several of the classrooms, children with disabilities were enrolled in the school district’s developmental preschool program for children with disabilities as well as head start. lynn explained that knowing how some of the children in her classroom had benefitted from dual enrollment, she was quick to make referrals of other children when she had concerns about a child’s development. she explained, “i think interacting in both environments helps. i have a little girl who is now two days here and three days there. i got her dually enrolled and in speech. i really pushed. walked mom through the paperwork.” unlike lynn, other head start teachers in the study were reluctant to make referrals to school district programs. juanita had worked previously in an ecse classroom and she did not think very highly of it. she told us that she had trouble establishing ongoing contact with the ecse teacher who taught several of her children in the afternoon and she explained that “i’m just not sure what they do over there.” under these circumstances, she was reluctant to make “we are here for the kids”: a case study 61 referrals even when she thought a child might need extra help. laura expressed similar opinions of the special educators in her school district and reported that she was relieved that she had no dually enrolled students this year. she chuckled, “i think they’re sending them to us instead.” laura thought the school district was especially likely to send children with behavior problems to head start. when the child in question had been in her classroom for a few weeks, laura told us she said “now i know. i know why she’s here.” many of the teachers reported collaborating with one of the program’s two disabilities coordinators, leanne hanson or jessica johnson, to plan how to address the needs of children who were of concern or identified as having special needs. according to the teachers, however, leanne had recently been assigned other administrative tasks in the program and she lacked sufficient time to offer much support. making her accessibility more problematic was the fact that leanne had recently been assigned an office in a different building. cathy and juanita reported that leanne sometimes observed children of concern and made suggestions. she also attended team meetings for children who were dually enrolled in head start and the school district programs. jessica, on the other hand, was described by the teachers as more frequently involved in helping teachers meet the needs of children with disabilities in their classrooms, particularly in the classrooms where her office was located. lynn found jessica’s presence at team meetings quite valuable and commented that “she is 110% for the kids.” others in the center explained that she provided them with materials and suggestions about how to support the children with special needs in their classrooms and they also said that she checked in about children’s progress. however, other head start teachers not located in the center where jessica’s office was, were less enthusiastic about her help. hannah and roberta reported that she came and observed a child and “conducted a walk-through” but did not provide any specific suggestions. laura and martin were uncomfortable with how jessica interacted with them. martin explained that “she’s not a people person. she is very critical...” we noted during several classroom observations that other adults were also observing in the classroom. when we asked about this, teachers reported that these individuals were from the community’s mental health program. laura explained “we have a contract with rupert center. a behavior therapist comes two times a month to help us.” several of the teachers were not sure that the help from the mental health center was especially useful, explaining that there was considerable turnover in personnel and they never could be sure who would come. they also reported that they did not often get any feedback from whoever had visited about what they were doing. the opportunity to share information and discuss challenges children presented was important to the relationships head start teachers had with other professionals. many of the head start teachers in our study told us about sylvie, a speech and language therapist from the school district assigned to work in their program. the teachers appreciated that sylvie was available for consultation and appreciated how she worked in the classrooms. we observed her working in more than one of the classrooms where she worked on children’s speech and language goals while participating in group activities. the teachers reported that she often left materials to help them continue to support speech and language objectives. martin reported, “she comes in and has lunch with us. she will work in the classroom and she always has good ideas for what to do.” sylvie was one of the few school district employees reported to have a good relationship with the head start program in our study. particularly troubling to most of the head start 62 mihai & butera teachers was their working relationship with the ecse of children who were dually enrolled. juanita’s frustration about lack of communication with the school district program were shared by lynn who reported that she only was able to talk about the progress of a child with an ecse from the school district if “i call her.” she doubted if it was worth the effort at times, reflecting that “those teachers don’t have a good feeling for the whole picture. sometimes i walk out of a case conference shaking my head.” asked if they visited the ecse classrooms of the children dually enrolled, several teachers reported doing so, although they reported that they did not feel welcome and the visits were seldom reciprocated. laura expressed concern about how colin would fare when he entered kindergarten next year. nevertheless, she did not refer him for services outside of head start. she was concerned about “setting him up for failure” and felt that the school system was unlikely to “listen to me.” juanita explained the problem from her perspective, reflecting that, “everyone needs to be on the same page…we always ask for their input on things… but there just is no collaboration.” martin expanded about what most of his fellow head start teachers made clear in their interviews: i really wish the school system would see us as teachers. in the past, we have tried to tell them about the kids we are sending on to them. often, they just don’t listen. then, too many times, they come back and tell us we were right. schools see us as a day care center. and we do have wrap around services. but, also, we know our kids and families. all of the head start teachers in our study described the importance of working with families of the children in their classrooms, especially when the child or family in question faced challenges. in an interview, hannah anguished about how to discuss a mother’s death from drug overdose with a child. laura also explained that she understood the struggles some families experienced: “i was there where they are now. we were poor. my children are […] in college and they are good kids… and now i don’t have to worry about whether i will be able to pay for the electricity.” like laura, kim related to the experiences of families of the children she taught. kim told us she thought that her own experience informed her about how she could help families. she told us: i really try to connect with all my families when i go on home visits and throughout the year. it’s a question of reaching out to the whole family, i think. i went on a home visit recently and was talking to the mom about her older child who is still having trouble with the alphabet. i gave her a packet to help her help her child.... i got her connected with our disabilities coordinator who helped her work with the school system […]. that family also has a baby with special health needsshe’s on a g-tube. so, i asked her if she was referred to early intervention. she wasn’t. i think because low-income families often don’t know what to ask. i gave her the information about how she could get some help. whether the head start classroom was full or half-day was often described as influencing the interactions head start teachers in our study had with families. in full day classrooms, teachers reported having more time to get to know the children and more frequent opportunities to interact with parents since they picked up their children from the classroom rather than from the bus. martin described his full-day classroom community as resembling a family, “they’re “we are here for the kids”: a case study 63 more like brothers and sisters. i mean we’re together eleven hours a day so, you know… we fight and argue, and make up.” hannah explained that she was new to head start and needed to spend a significant amount of time learning about her new responsibilities. she worried that this interfered with her opportunities to get to know families. she viewed her half-day assignment as making this more difficult for her. roberta was also new to head start and had worked in day care for over two decades. she commented, “little things are big here. like hand lotion. there’s a way to use it. and the paperwork. it’s a lot of work.” there was evidence that the paperwork and procedures were problematic for more experienced teachers as well. laura who had worked for the program for a while felt she never could stay ahead of the expectations, explaining that she was “bad at time management.” martin explained: “i’m bad at end of the month paperwork. it’s due by the second but on the seventh i’m still working on it. it gets worse when i’m trying to do home visits. it’s a mad house. our working parents often don’t know their work schedule and i have to reschedule.” the head start teachers also reported that other administrative procedures were problematic and interfered with their ability to respond to the needs of all the children. discussion observations and interviews in our study revealed that head start teachers understood the importance of addressing individual needs and they were well-motivated to teach so that all children learned. they planned activities with the children’s interests in mind and were concerned about providing children’s work to parents. teachers differed in the extent to which they made adaptations to support the needs of children with disabilities in their classrooms and how they facilitated peer interactions. in some cases, teachers were observed working with children in small groups, simplifying activities, and focusing on children’s specific areas of need. for example, martin both simplified and expanded the storybook reading for the children in his classroom and laura provided colin with sensory activities during station time. in other instances, however, observations did not demonstrate that children’s specific needs had been acknowledged in the lessons, as was the case with lyle in cathy’s classroom. given the central role of planning accommodations and adaptions to meet individual needs, it is of concern that not all children were actively included in lessons (hurley & horn, 2010). teachers also differed in how they facilitated peer interactions in their classrooms. some teachers, like roberta, felt uncomfortable singling children out. roberta explained in the interview that she believes children are different from each other and that it is important for both teachers and children to accept differences and treat one another with respect. while teaching children to accept differences is important and should be fostered early in life, we note that acceptance alone resulted in little peer interactions. it should be noted that teachers must facilitate peer interactions, as juanita did for jimena. in the absence of such facilitation we observed little interaction between children with disabilities and their peers. along with teaching children to appreciate differences, it is essential that teachers ensure children with disabilities have access to activities and are supported in their participation, central features of early childhood inclusion (dec & naeyc, 2009). teachers’ expectations for children with disabilities may also influence the learning opportunities they provide in the classroom. when teachers believed children were likely to learn because they were provided with appropriate support, they were persistent in their efforts to 64 mihai & butera teach them. this was the case for colin in laura’s classroom. no doubt, teachers’ skills and experience in working with children with disabilities influenced how they adapted activities to individual learning goals. our data suggests that some teachers, such as kim, recognized the impact of children with disabilities in their classroom on their own learning and appreciated the opportunity. these teachers seemed aware of their need for additional teaching skills to address the various needs of the children with disabilities in their classrooms, such as hannah. their awareness corresponds to the findings of muccio et al. (2014), who described how head start teachers reported needing additional professional development and support to enact high-quality inclusive practices. it is of note that other teachers, such as roberta, seemed unaware that they might benefit from help. it is imperative to ensure that teachers working in inclusive early childhood settings engage in self-reflection about their teaching and are provided with adequate training to provide quality learning environments for all children. professional development is also needed to equip teachers with the knowledge and skills required to effectively include children with disabilities. in addition, assistant teachers in our study often served an important role in supporting children with disabilities. they also would benefit from professional development to facilitate their work. across the interview and observation data collected there was evidence that external factors worked to facilitate or often interfere with how the head start teachers planned activities to address the needs of children in their classrooms. teachers reported using each other as a resource and collaborated to plan curriculum. yet, teachers differed in the extent to which they found the program’s disabilities coordinator to be of support. while some, such as lynn, benefitted from the collaboration, others, including martin and laura, found it difficult. this finding is consistent with hunt et al. (2004) who pointed out the importance of early childhood collaboration between teachers and other professionals. considering that disability coordinators are the primary resource for teachers regarding children with disabilities, it is important to understand how to foster better collaborative relationships within head start programs. it is was also of concern that there was little opportunity for the teachers to benefit from the expertise of the mental health consultants who came regularly to observe some children, especially considering the teachers identified these children as most troubling. the experiences of the teachers in our study was not unique. collaboration and consultation with specialists is acknowledged as problematic in the literature (dinnebeil et al., 2009; mcdonnell et al., 2014). the relationship between the head start program and the school districts who received the children from them was often strained. teachers explained that ecse teachers had visited on occasion and some maintained contact by telephone, but in most instances the head start teachers felt that communication was ongoing only if and when they made the effort to maintain it. teachers also believed they were given a minimal role in iep meetings where the children’s learning needs were being discussed and iep documents were not viewed as helpful. in other instances, the lack of collaboration with the school system made teachers be reluctant to refer children for evaluation. when collaboration was successful, the opportunity to develop trust seemed important. sylvie, the speech pathologist, was appreciated for her willingness to consult with teachers on how to address children’s individual needs beyond her direct work with the children. the fact that sylvie ate lunch with them was not lost on the teachers who generally felt like the school system did not treat them like professionals. under these circumstances, it is unlikely that any suggestions for supporting children would be taken seriously by the teachers. since collaboration between key stakeholders is considered “a cornerstone for implementing high-quality early childhood inclusion” (dec & naeyc, p.2), it is imperative that head start “we are here for the kids”: a case study 65 programs and school districts prioritize communication and collaboration about teacher and others serving young children with disabilities. the head start teachers reported in interviews that they lacked time to collaborate with others. the amount of paperwork they needed to complete and the program procedures they had to learn interfered with their planning for children. during observations, we often noted that teachers spent considerable amount of time with clipboards in hand completing paperwork instead of interacting with children. other administrative issues were problematic and interfered with the ability of the program to support the teachers’ efforts to plan for all children, according to the teachers. in our observations, we noted that children with special needs were not distributed across the program evenly. further, severity of disability made a difference in terms of the time the teachers needed to spend to accommodate specific needs. in hannah’s classroom, for example, the assistant teacher, jamie, was unavailable to help because her time was consumed with making sure becky’s behaviors did not interfere with the safety of all the children, including becky herself. many children in the head start classrooms we observed demonstrated significant needs, although not necessarily identified with a disability. as barton, spiker, and williamson (2012) point out, and was the case in our study, many more children in head start may require additional support. it became clear in our study that children with disabilities were not evenly distributed across classrooms in the program. some teachers had many children with very significant needs while others had only a few whose special needs were mild. juanita explained to us that children were placed depending on the bus routes. as gallagher and lambert (2006) pointed out, the percentage of children with disabilities in a classroom is associated with the quality of the classroom environment. therefore, it is important to understand how head start programs might better organize the assignment of children with disabilities to classrooms to provide better learning environments for all children. implications for practice our study focuses on the needs of head start teachers in one program. there is no reason to believe that all head start programs are similar. however, lessons learned from our study may be applicable to other head start programs in similar circumstances. our study demonstrates the need to better equip head start teachers with the skills needed to teach children with disabilities. teachers need to understand how to address individual needs, how to plan instruction, and how to facilitate interactions with peers for children with disabilities. it is also important to better understand how collaboration on behalf of children with disabilities can be improved. teachers in our study reported some struggles to collaborate both within and outside of the program. within the program, there was room for improvement in collaboration between teachers and disability coordinators. it might be important to consider geography in assigning support personnel, including a special education coordinator. collaboration with others outside of the program was also difficult at times. classroom teachers need to be more meaningfully included in iep meetings, as is required by idea. in the absence of active participation from general education teachers, ieps may provide little guidance for teachers on how to provide regular support for children with disabilities in their classrooms, as was the case with several of the teachers in our study. 66 mihai & butera teachers were concerned about many of the children in their classrooms who did not have ieps and for whom they did not receive any support. the release of the revised head start learning framework, which includes a requirement to provide necessary support for children who do not receive services through idea, is a promising new direction. it will be important to follow on whether these children are better served given the new regulations. early childhood programs should work to eliminate the impact of outside factors on the provision of services for children with disabilities. for example, to establish the most effective ratio of children with disabilities in each classroom depends on consideration of the needs to adapt activities and routines. placing children in classrooms based on other considerations, such as bus routes, is unlikely to result in the best outcomes for children and teachers. limitations our study has several limitations. first, while case studies provide an in-depth description of issues that may be important in a specific context, they are not designed to provide generalizable findings. the conclusions we draw in this study should be interpreted with care. second, the head start program we studied was a convenient sample, although, from our perspective we have no evidence to believe the program was atypical. third, it is probable that our presence in the classroom influenced the behaviors of both teachers and children, even though we tried to be as unobtrusive as possible. lastly, as with any qualitative study, we interpret our findings in the context of our own biases. however, in order to avoid misinterpretation of observed events, we were purposeful in sharing some of what we observed with the teachers and gathering their perspectives. further, we regularly checked in with each other by sharing notes and deliberating about emerging themes. references barton, l. r., spiker, d., & williamson, c. (2012). characterizing disability in head start programs: not so clearcut. early childhood research quarterly, 27(4), 596-612. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2012.04.002 brown, w. h., knopf, h. t., conroy, m. a., googe, h. s., & greer, f. (2013). preschool inclusion and response to intervention for students with disabilities. in v. buysee, e. s. peisner-feinberg, & h. f. ginsberg (eds.) handbook of response to intervention in early childhood (pp. 339-354). baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing co. butera, g., friesen, a., horn, e., pamer, s., & vaiouli, p. (2016). adults working and playing well together. in e. horn, s. palmer, g. butera, & j. lieber (eds.), six steps to inclusive preschool curriculum: a udl-based framework for children’s school success (pp. 183-196). baltimore, md: paul h. brookes publishing co. diamond, k. e., & hong, s. y. (2010). young children’s decisions to include peers with physical disabilities in play. journal of early intervention, 32(3), 163-177. doi:10.1177/1053815110371332 dinnebeil, l., pretti-frontczak, k., & mcinerney, w. (2009). a consultative itinerant approach to service delivery: considerations for the early childhood community. language speech and hearing services in the schools, 40(4), 435-445. doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2008/08-0028) division for early childhood & national association for the education for young children. (2009). early childhood inclusion: a joint position statement of the division for early childhood (dec) and the national association for the education of young children (naeyc). chapel hill, nc: author. gallagher, p. a., & lambert, r. g. (2006). classroom quality, concentration of children with special needs, and child outcomes in head start. exceptional children, 73(1), 31-52. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290607300102 “we are here for the kids”: a case study 67 hunt, p., soto, g., maier, j., liboiron, n., & bae, s. (2004) collaborative teaming to support preschoolers with severe disabilities who are placed in general education early childhood programs. topics in early childhood special education, 24(3), 123-142. https://doi.org/10.1177/02711214040240030101 hurley, j. j., & horn, e. m. (2010). family and professional priorities for inclusive early childhood settings. journal of early intervention, 32(5), 335-350. https://doi.org/10.1177/1053815110385650 justice, l. m., logan, j. r., lin, t. j., & kaderavek, j. (2014). peer effects in early childhood education testing the assumptions of special-education inclusion. psychological science, 25(9), 1722–1729. doi:10.1177/0956797614538978 katz, l. a., maag, a., fallon, k. a., blenkarn, k. & smith m. k. (2010) what makes a caseload (un)manageable? school-based speech-language pathologists speak. language, speech and hearing services in the schools, 41(2), 139-151. doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2009/08-0090) mcdonnell, a. p., hawken, l. s., johnston, s. s., kidder, j. e., lynes, m. j., & mcdonnell, j. j. (2014). emergent literacy practices and support for children with disabilities: a national survey. education and treatment of children, 37(3), 495-529. https://doi.org/10.1353/etc.2014.0024 merriam, s. b. (2009). qualitative research: a guide to design and implementation. san francisco, ca: josseybass. miller, e. b., farkas, g. & duncan, g. j. (2016). does head start differentially benefit children with risks targeted by the program’s service model? early childhood research quarterly, 34, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.08.001 muccio, l. s., kidd, j. k., white, c. s., & burns, m. s. (2014). head start instructional professionals’ inclusion perceptions and practices. topics in early childhood special education, 34(1), 40-48. https://doi.org/10.1177/0271121413502398 rafferty, y., piscitelli, v., & boettcher, c. (2003). the impact of inclusion on language development and social competence among preschoolers with disabilities. exceptional children, 69(4), 467-479. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290306900405 stake, r. e. (2005). multiple case study analysis. new york, ny: guilford press.
 united states department of health and human services (2011). head start approach to school readinesssoverview. retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/sr/approach yin, r. (2008). case study research: designs and methods (4th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage. zigler, e., & styfco, s. j. (2010). the hidden history of head start. new york, oxford university press. zill, n., kim, k., sorongon, a., herbison, r., & clark, c. (2006). head start family faces 2000. data user’s guide. rockville, md: westat. 68 mihai & butera appendix a teacher interview questions 1. how do you feel, overall, about the progress of the children with special needs in your classroom over the course of this year? 2. in general, how do you adapt classroom activities to meet individual needs? (include large group activities, small group, free play, transitions) 3. how do the children in the classroom interact with children with disabilities? what do you think helps this relationship? give us an example. (prompt about teacher involvement) 4. how do you help children resolve behavior problems? 5. how do you monitor children’s progress? (how are you using data to inform instruction?) 6. how do you collaborate with others to provide support for the children with special needs? (slps, developmental preschool teachers, the disabilities coordinator, others?) 7. how do you collaborate with the families of children with special needs? 8. from your perspective, how could collaborative relationships be improved? (with slps, developmental preschool teachers, the disabilities coordinator, parents, others?) 9. how do you manage your own time so you can effectively address individual needs? (focus on planning) 10. how confident do you feel about teaching the children with special needs in your classroom? what about your teacher assistant? dialog, 22(1), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 head start and hippy better together: examining current collaborations amber l. brown university of houston clear lake the purpose of this project was to examine the blending of two research-supported early childhood programs, one delivered in the classroom head start and one delivered by parents in the home – hippy. head start and hippy share the common goals of preparing children for kindergarten by closing the achievement gap and empowering parents as first and best teachers for their children. data on current head start/hippy collaborations was collected through focus group interviews with home visitors, teachers, parents, and administrators. themes discovered through qualitative analysis included: (a) the recognition of home visiting as a way to provide services to more families; (b) the ability to provide additional services to children and families; (c) increased communication between all parties involved in the collaboration; better perceived outcomes for both the children and the parents; (d) the difficulty of including all the requirements of both programs in their work with families; (e) difficulties around assessment; and (f) the lack of time among home visitors to serve families, plan, and train. major recommendations for future programs were to plan for the collaboration of services during the grant writing stage, partner with school districts in order to track the long-term outcomes for children, and the most frequent recommendation was to adjust case-loads to reflect the additional work required of program staff in order to meet each programs’ requirements in the collaboration. keywords: head start; hippy; home visiting; family involvement the purpose of this project was to investigate potential models of formal collaborations between two proven early childhood programs, one delivered in the classroom (head start) and one delivered by parents in the home (home instruction for parents of preschool youngsters – hippy). head start and hippy share the common goals of preparing children for kindergarten by closing the achievement gap and empowering parents as first and best teachers for their children. with the current economic conditions, non-profits and community organizations are struggling to maintain funding. to ensure that the limited funding available for early childhood is used efficiently, it would seem to be in the best interest of programs serving the same population to pool resources. with common goals, philosophies, and populations head start and hippy are ideally positioned to collaborate with each other. with their combined unique strengths, these programs may be able to maximize their ability to serve families, providing more comprehensive support. while several informal collaborations exist throughout the country, there is not a set of formal guidelines for research article 28 brown head start and hippy programs who wish to establish a formal collaboration. this paper includes the results of an investigation into three head start programs that operate in collaboration with hippy. the purpose was to gather information about three current head start and hippy collaborations. this study was guided by the following research questions: (1) what models for collaboration are currently used in head start/hippy collaborations? (2) what were the motivations behind the current head start/hippy collaborations? (3) what are the perceived benefits of head start/hippy collaborations as expressed by administrators, staff, and parents? (4) what are the perceived challenges of head start/hippy collaborations as expressed by administrators, staff, and parents? (5) what are the recommendations for future head start/hippy collaborations as expressed by administrators, staff, and parents? why collaborate? children living in poverty are often more likely to be at risk for developmental problems due to factors within the home environment such as parenting skills, quality of parent-child interactions, lack of educational resources, or learning opportunities. many low-income parents may not have access to information about the necessary skills or resources to adequately stimulate cognitive development and prepare their children for school (wagner, spiker, & linn, 2002; wilsonsimmons, jiang, & aratani, 2017). as a result, children from families of lower socioeconomic status (ses) may begin school without the necessary skills for academic achievement and are particularly at risk for reading difficulties. for example, while 45% of children from middle to upper ses families may demonstrate three or more signs of emergent literacy, only 19% of low ses children show similar signs (heath, et al., 2014). findings have been well documented in existing literature that these children may enter school with significant delays in a broad range of development (dickinson & mccabe, 2001; foorman & torgesen, 2001; moon & lee, 2009). more critically, the lack or poor development of these skills relate to later difficulties in school performance (claessens, duncan, & engel, 2009; o’conner, harty, fulmer, 2005; shaywitz, morris, & shaywitz, 2008). a growing body of research indicates that when parents and families are involved with their child’s education, the child has better grades and performs better on standardized tests (cheung & pomerantz, 2011; fan & chen, 2001; foiland, peterson, & davidson, 2013). additionally, increased family involvement is linked to improved student motivation, higher academic self-confidence, and improved self-regulatory skills (cheung & pomerantz; gonzalezdehass, willems, & holbein, 2005). traditionally referred to as parental involvement, family engagement describes the process of building genuine relationships with families. it is now recognized as essential to a child’s health and well-being as well as their school readiness and long-term academic success. however, the concept of family engagement goes beyond the traditional idea that it is the parent’s or family’s responsibility to be involved in their child’s education, but that it is also the responsibility of the entire education system to engage families as partners in children’s education. even with this focus on the importance of family engagement, the center-based head start program only requires two home visits per academic yearone of which must occur before the head start/hippy collaboration 29 program year begins (head start early childhood learning and knowledge center, n.d). however, the head start regulations do not specify the purpose or content of these home visits. in or to implement family engagement more systematically, some head start programs have recently collaborated with the home instruction for parents with preschool youngsters (hippy) program. hippy is a free, three-year program to help parents of pre-school aged children with limited formal education and lower family incomes. background of the study overview of head start program the head start program is a comprehensive early childhood program designed to help break the cycle of poverty by providing children of low-income families with services to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs. (office of head start, n.d.; garces, thomas, & currie, 2002; smolensky & gootman, 2003). at the time of its inception, head start was unique in its approach to supporting the whole child rather than just focusing on classroom learning (garces, thomas, currie). while the focus of the head start program has evolved over the years, the primary goal continues to be to better prepare children from low-income families to be both developmentally and cognitively ready for school. overview of head start learning outcomes framework. the head start program employs the head start early learning outcomes framework (hselof) to represent the five broad areas of early learning for young children. (u.s. department of health and human services, 2015). for 3 to 5-year-olds, these five areas are further broken into seven learning domains that reflect research-based expectations for the learning and development of young children. the hselof emphasizes the key skills, behaviors, and knowledge that programs must foster in children ages birth to 5 to help them be successful in school and life. the central domains are approaches to learning; social and emotional development; language and literacy; literacy; mathematics development; scientific reasoning; and perceptual, motor, and physical development. each domain is related to and influences the others. for example, as preschoolers’ working memory develops (a component of approaches to learning), their ability to follow multiple-step instructions improves, and their ability to learn complex math concepts increases (u.s. department of health and human services, 2015). each local head start program uses the hselof to guide their choices about curriculum, learning materials, daily activities, and teaching practices. by aligning instructional choices such as opportunities for play, exploration, discovery, and problem-solving with the hselof, head start programs can promote successful learning for children (u.s. department of health and human services, 2015). head start parent, family, and community engagement framework. family engagement also plays a critical role in children’s development and school readiness (dearing, kreider, simpkins, & weiss, 2006; fantuzzo, mcwayne, & perru, 2004; weiss, caspe, & lopez, 2006; raikes, et.al., 2006). the head start parent, family, and community engagement (pfce) framework family engagement outcomes is a research-based approach that illustrates how head start programs can work together as whole to promote family engagement (u.s. department of 30 brown health and humans services, 2011). it was designed to help head start programs achieve outcomes that lead to positive and enduring difference for children and families. the pfce framework was developed in partnership with programs, families, experts, and the national center on parent, family, and community engagement. it is a research-based approach to program change that shows how an agency can work together as a whole—across systems and service areas—to promote parent and family engagement and children’s learning and development (u.s. department of health and human services). the pfce framework is designed to support child development and school readiness within the context of their family. programs are encouraged to individualize their family engagement efforts based on the culture, language and different parent strengths challenges, and perspectives (u.s. department of health and human services). the pfce framework focuses on seven key areas: 1) family well-being, 2) positive parentchild relationships, 3) families as lifelong educators, 4) families as learners, 5) family engagement in transitions, 6) family connections to peers and community, and 7) families as advocates and leaders (u.s. department of health and human services, 2011). for each of these key areas, examples of strategies that can promote a successful outcome are given for both the program administration/staff level and the family level. outcomes of head start participation. there has been extensive research over the past several decades documenting the effectiveness of head start for children who lack the same educational opportunities as children from middle and upper-class families. children who participated in head start as preschoolers show significantly better language and cognitive development than demographically similar children who did not attend head start (aikens et al., 2013; love et al., 2002; u.s. departments of health and human service, 2010). in addition to cognitive benefits, at the end of program participation, head start children score better on socialemotional development, have better social skills and impulse control, and exhibit fewer problem behaviors such as aggression and hyperactivity (aikens, klein, tarullo, & west, 2013; love et. al., 2002; u.s. departments of health and human service). while there are some studies that question the benefits of head start beyond the early childhood years, other studies have found that former head start children had higher attendance rated in elementary school (connolly & olsen, 2012); continued to have higher scores on tests of academic and executive functioning through fifth grade (greenberg & domitrovich, 2011); and are less likely to be held back a year by eighth grade (phillips, gormley, & anderson, 2016). the benefits of head start participation are even evident through adulthood. garces, thomas, and currie (2002) used data from the panel survey of income dynamics to review outcomes for close to 4,000 adults followed from childhood. among european–americans, adults who had attended head start were significantly more likely to complete high school, attend college, and possibly have higher earnings in their early twenties than their nonparticipant siblings. african american adults who had attended head start were significantly less likely to be booked or charged with a crime than were their nonparticipant siblings. other studies document that as adults, head start graduates are more likely than non-head start graduates to graduate high school, attend at least one year of college, are less likely to be unemployed, report higher wages, and are less likely to be in poor health (bauer & schanzenbach, 2016; deming, 2009; johnson; 2010). head start/hippy collaboration 31 overview of the hippy program hippy is a free, early intervention program for parents of 3-, 4and 5-year-old children developed in israel and brought to the united states in 1984, hippy now operates 128 communities in 20 states and the district of columbia as well as ten other countries internationally. hippy is intended to provide educational enrichment to at-risk children from low ses and immigrant families by training parents to prepare their children to be ready for school. the major purpose of hippy is to increase children’s school readiness by empowering parents to be active in their children’s education and by providing home instruction. the hippy program includes three key components: the hippy curriculum, individual home visits for parents with a peer mentor, and monthly group meetings for parents (hippy usa, n.d.-a). hippy curriculum. hippy uses developmentally appropriate curriculum originally created in 1969 by the research institute of innovation of the national council of jewish women (ncjw) at hebrew university, jerusalem, israel (hippy usa, n.d.-b). the curriculum is well structured and provides systematic parental supports so that parents may facilitate their children’s learning at home. the goal of the curriculum is for parents to become the facilitator of the learning process with their child and gain confidence in their ability to be their child's first teacher. the hippy curriculum consists of 30 weekly packets (15 packets for 5-year-old), written in a clear scripted format. families also receive nine storybooks, a set of 20 manipulative shapes, and a kit of basic supplies such as scissors and crayons. each daily activity is designed with simple directions for parents to ensure a successful learning experience for the parent and child and includes tips for parents to extend the learning to all parts of their daily life. each lesson in the curriculum is primarily cognitive-based, focusing on language development, problem-solving, logical thinking, and perceptual skills. learning and play mingle throughout hippy's curriculum (hippy usa, n.d.-b). home visits. the hippy program is delivered in the family’s home by home visitors who are members of the participating communities and are often former parents of the program. they visit participating parents in their homes weekly or biweekly to instruct them in using the hippy educational materials. home visitors are crucial to the hippy model. their knowledge of their unique communities allows them to develop trusting relationships with the families and, by using the hippy materials with their own children, home visitors identify with the kinds of challenges parents face. the primary mode of instruction during each home visit is role play. role play provides opportunities for parents and home visitors to discuss the purpose of the activities and allows for reflection on the specific needs of learners (both the parent and the child). most of all, role play allows for the development of new teaching skills. the goal of the role play method of instruction is to promote a comfortable, non-threatening learning environment in which there is always room for mistakes (hippy usa, n.d.-e). additionally, role-playing supports parental empathy for the developmental capabilities of young children. finally, the role play method of instruction is easily managed by the peer mentors conducting each home visit and allows for parents with limited reading ability an opportunity to become effective first teachers of their children. the home visitor utilizes the role play method to instruct parents on how to complete the week’s activities with their children then parents, in turn, repeat the activities with their children during the week (hippy usa, n.d.-e). in a typical session, the home visitor spends 45 minutes to an hour role-playing the 32 brown hippy curriculum with the parent, giving the parent the opportunity to ask questions and to feel confident in their ability to work with their child. parents are encouraged to spend 15 to 20 minutes with their child working together on specific, curriculum-oriented lessons every day. before presenting a new lesson, every week the peer mentor follows up with each parent by reviewing the child's workbook and discussing the child's progress. monthly group parent meetings. parents also receive information and support in their role as their child’s first teacher during group meetings and field trips (hippy usa, n.d.-d). parents are strongly encouraged to attend monthly group meetings where they share their experiences with other parents and engage in enrichment activities involving issues related to parenting, employment, school/community/social services, and personal growth. parents chose the group meeting topics that help them learn how to be more effective parents and members of the community. childcare is provided during the group meetings where the children have the opportunity to interact socially with peers while their parents can interact with other parents. outcomes of hippy participation. there is a great deal of evidence documenting the positive effects of hippy on students’ school readiness at kindergarten entry. the very first major experimental study conducted in the u.s. and funded primarily by the u.s. department of education found that hippy students outperformed those in the comparison group at kindergarten entry on objective measures of school performance and teacher ratings of their motivation and adaptation to the classroom. hippy students also had higher attendance rates, scored higher on standardized achievement tests, and were perceived by their teachers as well-performing students (baker, piotrkowski, brooks-gunn, 1999). more recently, studies have shown that hippy children perform better on measures of school performance such as reading ability, language learning, social development, classroom adaptability, and mathematics skills than non-participants (barnett, roost, & mceachran, 2012; brown & johnson, 2014; johnson, martinez-cantu, jacobson, & weir, 2012; lopez & bernstein, 2016). other studies have shown that hippy students had better attendance, more social skills, fewer behavior referrals, fewer suspensions, and higher standardized test scores when compared to students from similar socio-economic backgrounds (bradley & gilkey, 2003; brown & lee, 2014; klein, weiss, & gomby, 2001). research also indicates that hippy participation supports children by enhancing their home literacy environment, the quality of parent-child verbal interaction, and parents’ ability to help their children learn (brown & johnson, 2014; jacobson, 2003; roundtree, 2003). in addition, parents participating in hippy had significantly increased confidence in their role as their child's first teacher between the start and end of hippy program participation (barnett, roost, & mceachran, 2012). hippy participation also increases parent and family involvement in their child’s education. barhava-monteith, harre, and field (2003) found that hippy parents in new zealand were significantly more involved than comparison caregivers in educational activities. these activities included things like helping with field trips, serving on school committees, and serving as teachers’ aids. hippy parents were also significantly more likely to be involved in an adult education class. head start/hippy collaboration 33 theoretical foundation of head start and hippy collaboration in addition to serving as an early education program, hippy incorporates features of family support programs. hippy is based on an ecological approach that recognizes children’s development as powerfully influenced by the families, communities, and societies in which they live (westheimer, 2003). hippy, therefore, aims to create greater continuity between home and school by enhancing children’s home learning environments. research has found that programs that are mostly home-based were three times more likely to target parenting than child outcomes as desired outcomes, whereas center-based programs like head start were equally likely to focus on child and parenting outcomes (raikes, et al., 2006). readiness for school is a consequence of cognitive, physical, emotion, and social developmental change in children. parents contribute to school readiness through their interactions with their children as well as early interventions such as those provided by hippy and head start. home instructors instruct parents through role-playing developmentally appropriate, cognitive-based, hands-on lessons (piaget, 1952) which parents then carry out with their preschool children to teach early literacy and cognitive skills important for school readiness. this process fosters cognitive development and preparation for the culture of school through scaffolding learning as well as direct teaching (berk, 2013). head start also follows a cognitive theory of early childhood development through hands-on and interactive discovery processes in classrooms. the curriculum of both programs fosters social/emotional and physical (fine and gross motor skills) development. the interactive learning environment in both hippy and head start supports children's growth in (a) language and literacy, (b) cognition and general knowledge, (c) physical development and health, (d) social and emotional development, (d) approaches to learning (piaget, 1936/1952). children are helped directly to adjust to the mental and social culture of school through their classroom experience as well as indirectly through hippy and head start involvement of parents. home visitors support families in their role as their child’s first teacher and emphasize that appropriate interactions between parents and children can strengthen the parent-child relationship and support emotional and social development necessary for academic success in the early years. hippy also supports a sense of parental self-efficacy (ardelt & eccles, 2001; barnett, roost, mceachran, 2012; nievar, jacobson, chen, johnson, & dier, 2011) as well as helps parents develop their social capital by teaching them to communicate and be advocates for their children in the school setting (caldera, burrell, rodriguez, crowne, rohde, & duggan, 2007). head start also emphasizes the role of parents as their child’s first and most important teacher and builds relationships with families that support family well-being and positive parentchild relationships (u.s. department of health and human services administration for children and families office of head start, 2011). families are supported as advocates for their children in both programs. head start programs provide comprehensive services to enrolled children and their families, which include health, nutrition, social services and other services determined to be necessary by family needs assessments, in addition to education and cognitive development services. hippy parents are assisted in connecting to the community for needed services as well. how do head start and hippy fit together? head start programs promote school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services to https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0885200611000044#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0885200611000044#! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0885200611000044#! 34 brown enrolled children and families. they engage parents in their children's learning and help them in making progress toward parents’ educational, literacy and employment goals. significant emphasis is placed on the involvement of parents in the administration of local head start programs. similarly, the purpose of the hippy program is to support parents as their child’s first teacher in order to increase school readiness. this is done with a structured curriculum that is delivered to the children by their parent. the purpose of the home visit in both the head start and hippy programs is to help parents improve their parenting skills and to assist them in the use of the home as the child’s primary learning environment. the home visitor works with parents to help them provide learning opportunities that enhance their child’s growth and development. blending the head start and hippy learning domains. like the hselof, the hippy curriculum is also arranged in domains of learning. each week of the hippy curriculum includes activities that cover the domains of literacy, math, science, motor, and language. integrated throughout these five learning domains are activities that promote social and emotional development, creativity, and fine motor development (hippy usa, n.d.-b). one area of specific importance to future academic success is literacy and language development. table 1 outlines the overlap of the hselof and the hippy literacy and language domains. table 1 head start and hippy literacy domain overlap head start learning outcomes language and communication & literacy hippy literacy and language domains attending and understanding listening skills story comprehension communicating and speaking receptive language expressive language verbal expression vocabulary vocabulary development phonological awareness phonemic/phonological awareness auditory discrimination print and alphabet knowledge print concepts letter knowledge picture reading letter recognition visual discrimination comprehension and text structure story retell story recall book knowledge story sequencing writing fine motor control pincer grip eye-hand coordination early writing experiences head start/hippy collaboration 35 the purpose of hippy is to empower parents and enable them to be the primary educators of their children. the program fosters parental involvement on the levels of family, school, and community to maximize chances of successful early school experiences. hippy’s focus on parents aligns with the pfce framework and can play an integral part in supporting a head start program (see table 2 below). table 2 head start parent, family, and community engagement (pfce) framework family engagement outcomes aligned with hippy parent involvement components pfce framework components hippy program parent components family well-being parents and families are safe, healthy, and have increased financial security.  home visitors frequently share information about community resources. as trust grows and families begin to reach out, referrals are often made to other agencies and programs.  parents are encouraged to attend partner school engagement activities (family nights, etc.). positive parent-child relationships beginning with transitions to parenthood, parents and families develop warm relationships that nurture their child’s learning and development.  the hippy curriculum provides an opportunity for developing trust through curriculum games and activities where child and parent share opinions and express their own ideas.  parent-child relationship is strengthened through habitually doing the hippy activities and reading books on a regular schedule. families as lifelong educators parents and families observe, guide, promote, and participate in the everyday learning of their children at home, school, and in their communities.  the hippy curriculum encourages families to learn together through experimentation, inquiry, observation, and play.  during the monthly group meetings, parents engage in enrichment activities related to parenting, employment, school/community/social services, and personal growth. families as learners parents and families advance their own learning interests through education, training, and other experiences that support their parenting, careers, and life goals.  the role-play instructional method involves the parent in age-appropriate activities with their child; thereby assisting them in understanding child development.  parents have the opportunity to practice the activities with their child while getting constructive feedback from their home visitor. 36 brown table 2 (cont’d) examples of collaboration models head start home-based with hippy. one model of blending the hippy and head start program is through the head start-home visiting program or the home-based option of head start. in this head start model, home visitors go to the family's home once a week and work with both the parents and their children. in addition to the home visits, children, parents, and their home visitor get together on a monthly basis for group socializations. in this type of collaboration, hippy then becomes the curriculum for the home visit. the hippy curriculum offers 30 weeks of activities, but the head start home-based option requires 32 home visits. typically an additional home visit is added to the beginning and the end of the program year to meet this requirement. each home visit lasts a minimum of 90 minutes (rather than just 60 minutes with hippy alone). each home visit in the head start home-based with hippy collaboration model consists of the following: a) the home-visitor works directly with the parent on the weekly hippy curriculum activities using the traditional role-playing method; b) the home visitor also works directly with the child on using activities designed to supplement the weekly hippy curriculum and meet the child’s individual learning goals; and c) the home visitor observes the parent interacting with the child. in addition to the weekly home visits, both hippy and the head start home-based option include group meetings (or socializations as they are referred to in the head start regulations) with family engagement in transitions parents and families support and advocate for their child’s learning and development as they transition to new learning environments, including ehs to hs, ehs/hs to other early learning environments, and hs to kindergarten through elementary school.  planning for routines and transitions through engaging in activities that build on parents’ and children’s self-confidence and positive self-image.  families are encouraged to attend backto-school activities at partner schools. family connections to peers and community parents and families form connections with peers and mentors in formal or informal social networks that are supportive and/or educational and that enhance social well-being and community life.  hippy home visitors are members of the target population and/or reasonably reflect the ethnic and cultural characteristics of the program families.  group meetings allow parents to come together and share their experiences as parents. families as advocates and leaders parents and families participate in leadership development, decision making, program policy development, or in community and state organizing activities to improve children’s development and learning experiences.  group meetings provide parents with enrichment activities (topics are selected by the parents), training and knowledge that will allow parents to be more effective as parents and as members of the community, more self-assured and more self-reliant. head start/hippy collaboration 37 a focus on providing support and enrichment both for parents and children. while hippy only requires 15 group meetings per program year, the head start home-based option requires a monthly parent meeting plus two socializations events per month. these group socializations are focused both on the parents and the children. the purpose of the socializations experience is to support child development by strengthening the parent-child relationship, as well as to provide peer interactions for the child and parents alike. the content includes helping parents to understand child development better and encourages parents to share with one another. socializations provide opportunities for children to engage with other children while being supported by their parents and the home visitor. families have the time to be together to learn from each other and engage socially with other parents. as with a center-based head start program, children and families who participate in the head start home-based with hippy collaboration receive comprehensive services designed to provide early, continuous, intensive, and comprehensive child development and family support services that will enhance the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development of children. these services may include health screenings and immunizations for children as well as referrals to mental health services, social services, and continuing education for parents. hippy and head start center-based option. another option for head start programs to collaborate with the hippy program is for hippy to serve as the home visiting and parent-teacher conference component of a center-based head start program. home visits are valuable in building respectful relationships with parents and in developing a broad understanding of every child in the program. a minimum of two home visits and two parent-teacher conferences will be conducted in the family's home language or using the services of an interpreter. in addition to the required home visits and parent-teacher conferences, the head start performance standards require centers to provide parents with opportunities to volunteer. the parent involvement component of the hippy program fulfills both of these requirements by providing a curriculum and structure for the home visits and parent conferences as well as opportunities for parents to volunteer with the guidance and support of their hippy home-visitor. in addition, family participation in the hippy program fulfills the parent involvement component of the pfce framework as required by the head start regulations. dual enrollment option. often children are enrolled in both the head start and hippy programs simultaneously with each program running side-by-side with varying degrees of overlap in services. the collaboration between the two programs can include access services not typically included in the hippy program such as well-child check-ups, dental care, and vision care for children as well as ged courses and social service referrals for parents/guardians. the collaboration between programs can also include communication between the hippy homevisitors and the head start teachers and administrators. this level of communication facilitates the support and nurture of the whole child both at the head start center and at home. as with the other collaboration models, family participation in the hippy program fulfills the parent involvement component of the pfce framework. 38 brown methods research design this study used a qualitative descriptive research design. a multiple case study will be used to offer multiple perspectives on this topic. the goal of qualitative descriptive studies is to provide a comprehensive summary of specific events experienced by individuals or groups (sandelowski, 2000). in this study, the event in question was the head start/hippy collaborations at each of the three participating sites. qualitative descriptive studies strive to discover the “who, what, and where of events or experiences” (sandelowski, pp. 338). the qualitative descriptive study is the method of choice when straight descriptions of phenomena are desired (sandelowski). head start/hippy collaboration sites three sites were chosen for this study. each of the sites currently engages in some type of collaboration between the head start program and the hippy program. the sites were recommended for participation in this investigation by the director of hippy usa. the researcher contacted the director of each site to solicit their participation in the study. site 1. this head start/hippy collaboration site is an exurban community located in the washington-arlington-alexandria metropolitan area. as of the 2010 united states census, there were 88,737 people, 30,873 households, and 23,732 families residing in the county. the racial makeup of the county was 81.4% white, 13.4% black or african american, 2.7% hispanic or latino, 1.4% asian, 0.4% american indian, 0.7% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. the county consisted of 30,873 households of which 40.4% had children under the age of 18. about 2.8% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.3% of those under age 18 (u.s. census bureau, n. d.). the head start/hippy collaboration is administered by the county public school system. at the time of this study, the collaboration provided services to 36 three-year-old children and 136 four-year-old children. services to three-year-olds were provided using the head start homebased option with hippy serving as the curriculum and service model. a center-based model was used to service four-year-old children. the current head start/hippy collaboration began as an effort to save the head start program for three-year-old children in the county. the previous head start program was administered by another agency. when the grant came up for renewal, the previous grantee did not wish to continue, and the public school system was encouraged to apply. however, in the grant writing process it became clear that the public school did not want the additional responsibility of bussing three-year-olds, so the decision was made to use the head start home-based option with hippy as the curriculum for three-year-olds. children who participate in the hippy three-year-old program are then guaranteed a place in the center-based head start program at age four. at the time of the grant proposal, the hippy program was also administered by the public school, and the hippy coordinator was asked to also oversee the head start program. rather than discontinue the hippy program in favor of head start, the decision was made to save both hippy and three-year-old head start by using hippy as the curriculum for the head start home-based option. the director of the program stated, “we saw the value of home head start/hippy collaboration 39 visiting and one-on-one parent/child interaction. so we wanted to make sure that we [found] a place for hippy so it wouldn't disappear from our community.” site 2. this head start/hippy collaboration is located in a rural, mostly agricultural, county in the midwest along the mississippi river delta. as of the 2010 census, there were 46,480 people residing in the county. the county includes 61.6% white, 34% black, 3.6% hispanic or latino, .03% native american, 0.5% asian, 0.1% from some other race, and 1.2% from two or more races (u. s. census bureau, n. d.). the county is a high area of poverty with 8.8% of the population in under 5-years old with 44% of the children under age of five reported as living in poverty 44% (u. s. census bureau). the head start program and hippy programs are both administered by a county agency that has been responsible for coordinating anti-poverty efforts in this county since 1964. the agency presently coordinates and manages 43 programs in the areas of community programs, education, housing, and childcare. the agency began administering the head start program in the county in 1965. in 2010, the agency was awarded a grant to operate the hippy program for the county. since both the hippy and head start programs serve the same population of families in the county, at the time of this study there were currently 35 families in the county that participated in both programs – exemplifying the duel enrollment model of collaboration. only about 20% of the families enrolled in hippy have children who are not enrolled in head start. information about the percentage of head start families who are enrolled not enrolled in hippy was not provided by the program administrators. while the programs technically run independent of one another, the fact that they are administered by the same agency and operate out of the same building provides a level of coordination and communication not always present in separate programs. site 3. the third head start/hippy collaboration investigated for this study is located in a large, urban city in the mountain west region of the united states. the city has a population of almost 3 million people and is the largest city in a 500-mile radius. according to the 2010 census, the racial makeup of the city is 68.9% white, 10.2% black or african american, 1.4% american indian, 3.4% asian, 0.1% pacific islander, 9.2% other race, and 4.1% two or more races. 31.8% of the population is hispanic or latino of any race, giving the city one of the highest populations of hispanics or latinos in the u.s. (u. s. census bureau). there are 250,906 households, of which 23.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them. 19.1% of the population and 14.6% of families are below the poverty line. out of the total population, 25.3% of those under the age of 18 live below the poverty line (u. s. census bureau). the head start/hippy collaboration in the city is operated by a non-profit organization with a century-long history of advancing early education in the area for families with limited opportunities. the organization began blending the hippy and head start programs over 30 years ago. originally the organization was delegated by the city to run the hippy program. when the organization wrote the grant to provide the head start program to the community – it was decided that hippy would be a perfect fit as the curriculum for the head start home-based option. currently, the organization offers three head start program options for families of three and fouryear-olds: full-day center-based; half-day center-based, and the home-based option with hippy as the curriculum. at the time of this study, there were 72 families enrolled in the homebased option with hippy. 40 brown data collection data for this study were collected through focus groups and interviews at three existing head start/hippy collaborative sites to garner the programmatic, implementation and logistical details of how local communities have already blended hippy into the head start model. data collection in a qualitative descriptive design typically includes minimally to moderately structured, openended individual and/or focus group interviews. focus groups can usefully be viewed as the qualitative counterpart to the quantitative survey, in that they are typically used in qualitative research to obtain a broad range of information about events (sandelowski, 2000). the staff at the hippy usa national office provided information about existing head start/hippy collaborations. also, initial contact and introduction of the researcher to the program site directors was made by staff at hippy usa. the first step of data collection involved focus groups at each of the head start/hippy collaboration sites. the goal of the focus groups was to identify the variety of ways in which the head start and hippy programs can be integrated at the practical level. the focus groups consisted of program administrators, home visitors and former and current parents (who are not current or former staff) from each existing head start/hippy collaborative sites. the focus groups provided insight into the decision-making process that led the head start agency to adopt the hippy model; the strategies used to blend the two programs; the perceived benefits of the collaboration; and, the challenges faced by blending the programs (see appendix a for the focus group protocol). the second step of data collection was an interview with the program administrator to gather information about the demographic makeup of the area, the agency/organization administering the program(s), and the history of the collaboration (see appendix b for the director interview questions). a total of five focus groups and three director interviews were conducted. two focus groups were held at site 1. one consisted of five hippy home-visitors and one program administrator. the second consisted of six current and former hippy parents (including two grandparents) plus the program administrator. at site 2 only one focus group was held. it consisted of five hippy home visitors, two current parents who participate in both the hippy and head start programs, the hippy program administrator and two head start program administrators. two focus groups were held at site 3. the first focus group consisted of four head start/hippy home visitors and one head start teacher. the second focus group consisted of seven current and former head start home-based with hippy parents (including one grandparent). the program administrators at each site chose the participants of each focus group. ideally, all three sites would have a separate focus group for parents and program administrators and staff; however, the program administrator at site 1 choose to stay for the parent focus group. the program administrator at site 2 chose to only have one focus group with parents, program administrators, and program staff together. the inclusion of the program administrator and program staff in the focus groups at these two sites may have limited the parent voice. parents may not have felt comfortable expressing themselves freely with program administrators and staff present. however, when the parent responses in site 1 and site 2 are compared with site 3 (where there were no program administers or staff in the focus group), parents at site 1 contributed 52 comments (the program administrator only observed and didn’t comment) during the focus group; parents at site 2 contributed 21 comments (compared to 43 made by the program administration and staff) during their focus group; while parents at site 3 contributed 39 comments during their focus group. head start/hippy collaboration 41 it is worthwhile to note that all of the parents who participated in the focus groups were mothers or grandmothers. while fathers are encouraged to participate in both the hippy and head start programs, it is still primarily mothers who are involved. each focus group was audio recorded and later transcribed, omitting names, for analysis. each participant in the focus groups and interviews were informed about the purpose of this study and signed informed consents. data analysis after the transcription of the focus group and interview recordings, the data were analyzed using nvivo 11. directed content analysis was employed to first classify the information from all of these sources into several initial categories defined by the research questions. these initial categories included: motivation for collaboration, services for families, benefits to children, communication, benefits to parents, challenges, and recommendations. to further analyze the data in each of these initial categories, pattern coding was employed. pattern codings are explanatory or inferential codes that categorize emergent themes into more meaningful, larger themes (saldana, 2016). these larger “meta” themes were then synthesized across the three sites to identify recurring patterns. findings motivations for collaboration site 1 and site 3 blended the head start and hippy programs by using the hippy curriculum and delivery model of home visits and role-playing as the method for delivering the home-based option of the head start to participating families. site 1 used the head start home-based with hippy collaboration model to serve the 3-year old children in their community, while site 3 offered the head start home-based with hippy model only to 4-year olds. both sites deliberately choose hippy as the method for delivery of home-based option of head start. the collaboration was intentional and planned. while the collaboration at site 2 was less intentional at the beginning, the teachers, administrators, and parents who participated in the focus group fully supported the collaboration. there were a few themes that occurred in regards to the motivation behind the head start and hippy collaborations across sites. at site 1, the director of the head start and hippy programs was originally the hippy coordinator for that area. she had seen first-hand the value of serving families by going to their homes. she stated in her interview that after, "looking at the community needs assessment and the fact that a lot of our families were living in isolation, [we] felt that [hippy] would be something that could bring families closer together." the value of home visiting was also a motivation for the original blending of the head start and hippy programs for site 3. according to the director during her interview, “we were already providing hippy services and [the grant writers] saw the value of home visiting and felt [hippy] would meet the requirements of the [head start] home-based option, so they wrote it into the grant." another theme that arose concerning the reason for intentionally blending the head start program with hippy was to provide more services with less money. the director of site 1 specifically wrote hippy into the head start grant to keep the program in the community. "our funds had 42 brown been cut and cut and cut, the community as a whole found ways to find pieces of grants and put it together to keep hippy rolling. well we wanted to make sure that we had secure peace, and so we initially wrote the grant to include hippy, and we wanted to do it as a home visiting for 3-yearolds.” perceived benefits of collaboration while each of the sites blended the head start and the hippy programs differently, the overwhelming feedback given by home visitors, teachers, and parents the focus group meetings was about the benefits of the collaboration. several of the focus group participants described the synergetic effect of the collaboration regarding the added benefits for both the children and the parents involved in the collaboration. participants at each site including 50% of the parents and 75% of the home visitors/staff at site 1; 50% of the parents and 60% of the home visitors/staff at site 2; and 71% of the parents and 100% of the home visitors/staff at site 3 commented on the ways in which head start and hippy worked together to do more for children and families than each program could on its own. for example, one home visitor at site 1 who had previously been a hippy parent before the two programs began the collaboration described the additional benefits as “not achievable by just head start alone or just hippy alone.” this home visitor went on to state that “…hippy brings the academics right into the home by showing the family how to do the teaching…head start then brings all the social services and community resources to support the family and create an awesome sense of community. so the whole family is supported, and the children are learning.” additional services for families. one of the benefits of the head start/hippy collaboration described by the focus group participants at all three sites was the ability to provide services to families that might not be available outside of the collaboration. while 20% of the home visitors/staff and 50% of the parents at site 1 and 40% of the home visitors/staff and 42% of the parents at site 3 mentioned additional services for families, this was especially evident at site 2 where the head start and hippy programs using the dual enrollment model. head start provides an array of healthcare, mental health, continuing education, and other social services to families. the families at site 2 who only participate in the hippy program (about 20% of the hippy families) are also able to receive the additional social services provided by head start through communication between the hippy home visitors and the head start program administrators. all of the home visitors and parents in the focus group at site 1 commented on the additional social services for families. one of the home visitors at site 2 described a hippy mother whose child was not in head start, “the mother didn’t have a ged, and i was able to refer her to the head start family advocate. she was able to help the mom get enrolled and back to school.” this level of cross-program service to families would not be possible without the collaboration agreement between the head start and hippy program administrators. increased communication. another important benefit of the head start/hippy collaboration that emerged from the focus groups was the added communication between all of the parties involved in both programs. this included communication between the home visitor and the child’s classroom teacher, the home visitor and the head start administrator, the parent and the home visitor, the parent and the child’s classroom teacher, the parent and the child, and even head start/hippy collaboration 43 among other parents in the programs. at site 1, 80% of the home visitors/staff and 100% of the parents indicated that communication was a benefit. one example of communication between the home visitor and the classroom teacher came from a home visitor who commented, “if i have a kid that is falling behind on the brigance assessment, i’ll go in and ask their teacher how they are doing in the classroom… we can work together and discuss whether or not they need additional help or if they were just having a bad day. or if the teacher says they know their colors, i’ll skip that part [during our home visit] and focus on something else.” at site 2, all of the home visitors/staff and 50% of the parents indicated that increased communication was a benefit. specifically, a home visitor at site 2 described a situation with one of the families they served. "the child was enrolled in head start, and we had an opening, so the family signed up for hippy. after a few visits, the mom began to open up to me about her depression. i was able to go to [the head start director], and they were able to set her up with mental health services. she is going to school now and thanks me all the time for helping her be a better parent and know how to work with her kids.” this is an example of communication at several levels. first, the home visitor was able to communicate with the head start director to facilitate the child’s enrollment in head start; then the parent was able to communicate to the home visitor about her depression; finally, the home visitor was able to communicate this parent’s need for mental health services to the head start director so the parent could receive help. at site 3, 60% of the home visitors/staff and 100% of the parents indicated that communication was an important benefit of the head start/hippy collaboration. an example given by one parent illustrated the added communication between the home visitor, the child's classroom teacher, and the parent. “my daughter was having a little bit of trouble in the head start classroom. it was hard for me to understand where she was having difficulty. i told [home visitor] and she talked with her teacher. they observed that she was having a little trouble putting things into groups and separating them. [home visitor] brought this to my attention and gave me activities to do, you know, like taking the things out of the dishwasher and sorting the spoons and forks where they should go. she loves to help out in the kitchen so she loved doing this activity and it helped her develop that skill a little better so that in the head start classroom she could keep up.” perceived benefits for children the overwhelming majority of comments made by all the focus group participants were related to the benefits of the head start/hippy collaboration for children. over half of the comments made by the home visitors and teachers and over 70% of the comments by the parents were about the improved outcomes for the children in the collaboration. the home visitors/staff and parents specifically mentioned higher scores on formal assessments, smoother transitions to the classroom, improved school readiness, development of routines related to school, improved social skills, and bonding time between parent and child. formal assessments. while this study does not include quantitative results of formal assessments, 100% of the home visitors at each of the three sites reported that the results of the formal assessments indicate that the children who participated in the collaborative program did well on standardized assessments. one home visitor indicated that "according to the data that we have…you can see this program works, what were are doing works." another home visitor from site 3 where there was a large spanish-speaking population of children indicated that the biggest 44 brown academic gain is with children for whom spanish is their first language. these children had significant increases in receptive language skills. transition to the classroom. in addition, 100% of the home visitors/staff from site 1 indicated that children who participated in the collaboration had a smooth transition to a classroom-based prekindergarten program or kindergarten. this is interesting since none of the home visitors/staff at site 2 and 41% of home visitors at site 3 mentioned this specific outcome for children. at site 1, the home visitor spends the first few weeks of the school year in the classroom of the children from their home visiting caseload of the previous year. the children already have a bond with their home visitor and feel comfortable in their new classroom due to the presence of their home visitor. one home visitor said that the "kids feel so good to see us…they really feel better when we are in the classroom even if it's just for a little while to help with the transition – it really works." school readiness. the most commented upon outcome of the collaboration for children was in the area of school readiness. every home visitor/staff and parent at each site had multiple comments about school readiness. the home visitors/staff at site 1 made 13 specific comments about school readiness while the parents made eight comments. at site 2, the home visitors/staff made ten comments about school readiness, and the parents made 9. finally, at site 3 the home visitors/staff at site 3 made 14 comments about school readiness, and the parents made seven comments. one parent at site 1 made the observation that the “curriculum of the home visits was really good and helped me prepare him for school. it was definitely in-line with what he needed to know for kindergarten. so it definitely helped him and gave him an advantage, especially in reading. he is a really good reader.” routines related to school. home visitors also noted that the children who participate in the collaborative program are ready for school. this readiness goes beyond academic skills such as recognizing letters and counting. the families in the collaborative program have established routines that promote school readiness. at site 1, 100% of the home visitors/staff and parents; at site 2, 60% of the home visitors/staff and 100% of the parents; and at site 3 60% of the home visitors/staff and 71% of the parents made comments about routines. these routines included reading to the child every day, establishing a place in the home to complete learning activates, and establishing the habit of completing learning activities at home. one home visitor described these routines as follows, "the child is now getting into the habit of working with their parents and as each year goes by they are taking the time to sit down and work on homework together. they have set a precedent, and that becomes a habit." bonding with parent. parents specifically but a few home visitors/staff in the focus groups also noted that participation in the collaboration led to a stronger bond between the parent and their child. specifically, at site 1, 20% of the home visitors/staff and 50% of the parents; at site 2, 40% of the home visitors/staff and 100% of the parents; and at site 3 20% of the home visitors/staff and 42% of the parents commented on the increased bonding time between parent and child. one parent stated that she loves being able to have her child at home and watch him learn, but “at the same time not just being home doing nothing, but you’re actually teaching him what he needs to know for school.” specifically, parents participating in the head start homebased with hippy collaboration stated that it was, “the best of both worlds.” another parent head start/hippy collaboration 45 stated, “…yes, the best of both worlds. he’s getting to learn while staying at home and i keep him close for a little longer.” development of social skills. the final outcome for the children noted by the home visitors/staff and parents is related to the development of children’s social skills. at site 1, 20% of the home visitors/staff and 100% of the parents; at site 2, 60% of the home visitors/staff and 100% of the parents; and at site 3 20% of the home visitors/staff and 86% of the parents commented on the increased bonding time between parent and child. a parent from site 1noted that before beginning the collaborative program her son was very sheltered and was uncomfortable with adults outside of herself and her mother. through the home visits and socializations her son has become very open and is now comfortable with other adults and enjoys playing with other children. she stated that "my son was so shy, he never talked to others – now he talks all the time." perceived benefits for parents in addition to the improved outcomes for children who participate in head start/hippy collaboration, there were added benefits to parents. parents in the collaborative program specifically noted the support received from the relationship with their home visitor and the social capital developed through relationships with other parents in the program. parents and program staff noted that through participation in the collaboration parents gained confidence in their own parenting skills as well as in their ability to be their child’s first teacher and in their role as an advocate for their child. parents also gained a better understanding of the expectations of their child once they begin school and their role as parents in supporting their child once they are in school. parent relationship with home visitor. all of the parents at each of the collaboration sites commented on the benefit of communication and relationship that develops between the home visitor and the parent. one parent stated, “i never used to read with my child. my home visitor told me at every single home visit, ‘you need to read with [child].’ i still didn't feel i had time to read with [child], but after being told to read, seeing [home visitor] read, and having her there to read with my child and me, by the end of the year she didn't have to tell me to read with [child], i am doing it on my own." this quote exemplifies the benefit of having a role model in the home every week to reinforce the importance of activities such as reading. a former parent of the collaborative program noted the trust that is built between the parent and the home visitor. she noted, “i can still call [home visitor] for anything. it’s like, i can call her with a question and she will come by and give me the information or just put it in my mailbox if i’m not home.” parent confidence in their own parenting skills. another benefit to parents who participate in the collaborative program mentioned by the home visitors and the parents was the confidence that parents gain. 20% of the home visitors/staff and 50% of the parents at site 1; 40% of the home visitors/staff and 100% of the parents at site 2; and 60% of the home visitors/staff and 100% of the parents at site 3 commented on parent confidence. one home visitor stated that "they're [the parents] are actually teaching their child something, they are proud of it as well as the child is proud of it. so it's good for both of them." this confidence also came from having the support of the home visitor and the role play of the activities before the parent is expected to do 46 brown the activity on their own with their child. one home visitor noted that "…it [role play] makes the activities less intimidating. reading the books first with me so if the parent doesn't know a word or two, they are able to learn it and be fluent when reading it with the child." parent support as their child’s first teacher. another benefit of the collaboration is the support they receive in their role as their child’s first teacher. this was the parent benefit most commented on at all three sites. specifically, at site 1, 100% of the home visitors/staff and parents made multiple comments on this benefit; at site 2, 80% of the home visitors/staff and 100% of the parents commented; and at site 3 100% of the home visitors/staff parents commented on the support parents received to be their child’s first teacher. parents in the collaborative programs learn to be organized, keep track of school-related supplies, and communicate with their child’s teacher about their child’s academic progress as well as any other concerns. one parent from site 1 commented that participation in the collaboration, “helped me develop the skills to be able to sit down and learn how to actually work with my kid in doing their activities with them. i show them how to do it, but without actually doing it for them and without just saying, ‘figure it out.’ all the materials and the home visits helped me learn to teach her better.” parent understanding of child expectations. through participation in the collaborative, parents also learn what to expect from their child and how to support their learning and development. at site 1, 60% of the home visitors/staff and 20% of the parents; at site 2, 40% of the home visitors/staff and 50% of the parents; and at site 3 60% of the home visitors/staff and 42% of the parents commented on the increased bonding time between parent and child. one home visitor noted that participation in the collaboration helps parents, “…understand what the expectations are for children at certain ages. a lot of time you talk to parents, and they want their kids to be reading and writing, but they don’t understand that making lines and scribbling is the beginning of writing." another home visitor explained that often parents question the curriculum. for example, one home visitor said that "i can explain to parents that jumping and hopping are developing their gross motor skills and that this is important to their learning." this grasp of the way children learn is important for parents if they are going to be their child's first teacher. parent’s ability to advocate for their child. another important support parents receive from participation in the collaborative programs is the understanding and confidence to be an advocate for their child. at site 1, 60% of the home visitors/staff; at site 2, 40% of the home visitors/staff; and at site 3 14% of the home visitors/staff commented on the increased ability of parents to advocate for their children. ironically, none of the parents mentioned this as a benefit of participating in the collaborative program. perhaps this is something that parents don’t often recognize in themselves, but the home visitors and program staff were able to identify it in parents. for example, a home visitor from site 1 noted that the parents who were in the collaborative program actually become the more involved parents once their child was in school. they become the ones that are participating in the parent policy, etc. another home visitor from site 1 commented that “the parents [from the collaborative program] are more prepared to deal with the teacher because they’ve had someone coming into their home, they’ve let someone come into their home for 32 weeks and talk to them. so they’re ready to talk to their child’s teacher, more confident and more relaxed. they also know what their child’s strengths and weaknesses are. if a teacher tells them their child doesn’t know their letters, they can pull out their home visiting portfolio and show the teacher that the child can do it.” head start/hippy collaboration 47 parent’s social support from other parents. one support parents and program staff specifically mentioned was the development of social networks among the parents in the collaborative program. at site 1, 40% of the home visitors/staff and 50% of the parents; at site 2, 40% of the home visitors/staff and 100% of the parents; and at site 3 60% of the home visitors/staff and 100% of the parents commented on the support they received from other parents in their program. these parent social networks develop from the time spent together at the socializations/group meetings that are a part of both the head start home-based model and the hippy program. these meetings gave parents the opportunity to meet and form relationships with other parents in their community. one parent commented that one of her favorite part of participating in the collaboration is “the emotional support… we have parent meetings where we have time to just talk to other parents.” one of the home visitors also stated that one of the biggest benefits of the collaboration to parents is “…the group meetings. to not even be around children because some parents don’t get out and socialize other than the parent group meetings. there they get to spend time with parents going through similar situations.” challenges to collaboration as with any collaborative effort, the focus group discussions brought several challenges to a truly effective head start/hippy collaboration to the service. these challenges included the practical issues with blending the requirements and regulations from two different programs into one collaborative program, the difficulties with assessment, and the lack of time to complete the requirements and still serve families in a collaborative program. differing program requirements. only one of the home visitors/staff from site 1 mentioned the challenge of blending program requirements, but 60% of the home visitors/staff from site 3 felt it was an issue. none of the home visitors or program staff from site 2 commented on this challenge. the difficulty of tracking all of the regulations and standards required by head start and hippy can be a challenge. one home visitor from site 3 mentioned the difficulty of including all the requirements of both programs in her work with families. she stated, “…it’s a lot of work for us. i’m not going to lie. i think that is the only downfall when you combine two programs together.” the director at site 1 mentioned the desire to truly blend the programs and not have to think of the requirements for each program separately. she described this as, “thinking in two different lands.” she went on to elaborate by saying, “…now i have to think this is a hippy requirement or this is a head start requirement. it would be nice to just think this is a program requirement because often time they [the requirements] are the same.” assessment. another obstacle to effectively blending the head start and hippy programs mentioned by the focus group participants is the fact that each program requires different assessments and require the results to be entered into different database or software program. 40% of the home visitors/staff from site 1, 20% from site 2, and 100% from site 3 commented on the issue of assessment. often the assessments required to meet the standards for head start and the assessments required by hippy do have several overlapping constructs, but there isn’t one assessment that covers all the constructs required. in addition, the site may have additional grants to fund the collaborative program – each of whom may have their own assessment requirements. this was especially the case at site 3 where a home visitor described the issue with assessment as’ 48 brown “…having to ask the same thing over and over. rather than having five or six assessments, it would be nice to combine everything into one or two.” another issue related to assessment is that there isn’t a commercially available assessment that is designed to capture everything that happens during a home visit. the director of site 3 described how her home visitors have to "get creative" to document learning during home visits. she states that "you really have to be creative and plan out how you are going to get observations and documentation [of home visits]…many home visitors have been making videos and taking pictures on their cell phones.” the final and most mentioned issue related to assessment across all three sites was that once the assessment has occurred, the data then has to be entered into two separate computer-based evaluation systems for each child. the home visitors for both site 1 and site 3 described the “double work” they have to complete to enter the required data for each program into the separate evaluation databases. lack of time. finally, the obstacle to blending the head start and hippy programs that arose most often during the focus group discussions was the lack of time. this problem was mentioned by 40% of the home visitors/staff at site 1 and 100% of the home visitors/staff at site 3. the home visitors at site 2 did mention the lack of time, but not specifically in connection with the collaboration. this is perhaps because their hippy home visitors only delivered the hippy curriculum and did not also have to include the additional 30 minutes of instruction with the child required by the head start home-based option. in addition, they are not also serving as the head start parent advocatewhich was the case for the home visitors from site 3. the typical head start home-based educator caseload is 12 families (u.s. department of health and human services administration for children and families office of head start, 2011). when you add the additional preparation, training, and activities required by hippy, there is often not enough time to adequately serve all 12 families. this lack of time is exacerbated when a home visitor is serving a family who is exceptionally high-need. this might be due to the family having a child with a disability, a family facing a financial crisis or homelessness, a family in an abusive situation, or any other circumstance that requires additional time and resources to ensure the family weathers the crisis. one home visitor from site 3 described this issue: "a lot of families require you to be there for more than an hour and a half because you can't just get up and leave when the time is up when a parent says to you, ‘i was abused this weekend by my husband.’ at that point you are making an action plan, you are making referrals, and you are just listening. this means that you have to text your next family letting them know you will be late. this means you are late for the rest of the day because you can't cut someone else's time short." another obstacle related to the lack of time brought up during the focus group discussions was related to the lack of time for training and professional development. this lack of training was mentioned specifically in regards to training specific to home visitors. one home visitor described the unique needs of a home visitor in a collaborative program, “we are teaching the family, but we are also social workers, counselors, and friends.” recommendations for future collaborations the participants of the focus groups had several recommendations for future head start and hippy programs that desire to collaborate. first, it was suggested that during the grant writing head start/hippy collaboration 49 process, plan for the continuation of services for children and families beyond the head start/hippy collaboration. for example, the director of site 1 commented that when a family wished to continue their hippy participation after their child turned four, they had to transfer to the hippy-only program offered by another organization in the area. there is no provision for continuing with hippy once the child is in the 4-year-old center-based head start program or once they enter public school prekindergarten or kindergarten. another recommendation was for programs to partner with local school districts so children who participate in the hippy/head start collaboration can be assigned a school identification number. this will allow the program to continue to track a child’s academic progress through graduation. this tracking also allows the school to track the types of early childhood experiences a child has and link those experiences to their academic progress. one of the most reoccurring themes in regards to recommendations was for future collaborations to plan for lower caseloads for home visitors than typical in a traditional head start home-based program. most of the home visitors in the focus groups recommended a caseload of 9 or 10 families. the home visitors also suggested flexible caseloads for home visitors with highneeds families as discussed in the previous section. in addition to lowering the caseload, it was suggested that specific time is set aside for home visitors to plan for lessons, enter data, and receive training. remember that hippy requires additional time in preparation and training. while the sites who followed the head start homebased with hippy model of collaboration both included a day for this in the typical schedule, this time was often used to reschedule home visits or to complete other tasks. finally, perhaps the most mentioned recommendation was to plan for assessment. the home visitors requested that whenever possible, choose assessments that meet the requirements of both programs. they also suggested having a method of documenting assessments that met the requirements of both programs to eliminate the need to enter the same data into two different software programs. discussion and conclusions focus group participants had a great deal to say about the benefits of the head start and hippy collaborations they were involved with. the benefits to children academically, socially, and emotionally were all discussed at each meeting. home visitors and parents alike felt that the children who participated in the collaborations with their families had a solid academic foundation that would follow them into the classroom when they began formal schooling. also, the focus group participants felt the collaborations between head start and hippy were beneficial to the parents involved. the parents not only gained more confidence as their child’s first teacher, but they had access to social services that allowed them to focus on parenting their child and making a better life for their entire family. there were some challenges to effective collaboration mentioned by the focus group participants. the main obstacle was related to time. home visitors did not feel they had enough time to serve the caseload expected by head start with the additional responsibilities required by the hippy program. the home visitors also felt they need more time for professional development, training, and planning. these are challenges that could be alleviated with additional funding to support lower caseloads and additional funds for training. another challenge discussed in the focus groups was the overlapping assessment requirements coupled with the two different evaluation 50 brown databases required by the two different programs. all of the collaborations investigated for this study occurred at the local level. therefore, each site is still required to meet all of the requirements of each program – even when these requirements overlap or are redundant. it is important to note the limitations of this study. first, typical to the descriptive qualitative research design, the data is based solely on the perceptions of the participants. since the perspective of the participants was limited to the head start/hippy collaboration model at their site. they are not able to comment on the differences between their head start/hippy collaboration and programs that are run independently. in addition, this study did not collect any data regarding child or parent outcomes as a result of participation in the collaborative program. therefore, the results of this study cannot be used to make assumptions about the merits of collaborative programs versus independent programs. overall, the participants of the focus groups and interviews were very supportive of the head start and hippy collaborations at their site. by working together to more effectively serve low-income children and families, head start/hippy collaborations help to alleviate the likelihood of children from low-income families to enter school with significant language and developmental delays (dickinson & mccabe, 2001; foorman & torgesen, 2001; moon & lee, 2009; national center for education statistics, 1999). the benefits of both the head start and hippy programs operating individually have been well documented in the literature (brown & lee, 2017; aikens et.al, 2013; barnett, roost, & mceachran, 2012; garces, thomas, & currie, 2002; johnson, martinez-cantu, jacobson, & weir, 2012; lopez & bernstein, 2016; love et. al., 2002; u.s. departments of health and human service, 2010; smolensky & gootman, 2003;). head start also has a documented record of supporting parents in the development of their child. while this study was not focused on the results of standardized assessments, future studies should compare the achievement and development of children who participate in the program with those who participate in head start only and hippy only. it is also recommended that future studies quantifiably document the change in parenting skills and parent involvement of parents participating in a head start/hippy collaboration. as stated earlier, head start and hippy share the common goals of preparing children for kindergarten by closing the achievement gap and empowering parents as first and best teachers for their children. researchers agree that it is crucial for young children to have meaningful time and attention from their parents, extended family, or other significant adults in their life (barhavamonteith et al., 1999; brown & johnson, 2014; jacobson, 2003). the results of this study suggest that collaboration between the head start and the hippy programs can more thoroughly and effectively serve low-income families and their children in our communities. references aikens, n., klein, a. k., tarullo, l. b., & west, j. 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(2017). strong at the broken places: the resiliency of low-income parents. national center for children in poverty. columbia university mailman school of public health. 54 brown appendix a please answer the following questions in the spaces provided, circle or tick the most appropriate options. 1. what is your role in this hippy/head start program? □ administrator □ teacher □ parent 2. how many years have you participated in this hippy/head start collaborative program…………………… thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire facilitator’s welcome, introduction and instructions to participants welcome and thank you for volunteering to take part in this focus group. you have been asked to participate as your point of view is important. i realize you are busy and i appreciate your time. introduction: this focus group discussion is designed to assess your current thoughts and feelings about the collaboration between the hippy and head start programs. the focus group discussion will take no more than two hours. may i tape the discussion to facilitate its recollection? (if yes, switch on the recorder) anonymity: despite being taped, i would like to assure you that the discussion will be anonymous. the tapes will be kept safely in a locked facility until they are transcribed word for word, then they will be destroyed. the transcribed notes of the focus group will contain no information that would allow individual subjects to be linked to specific statements. you should try to answer and comment as accurately and truthfully as possible. i and the other focus group participants would appreciate it if you would refrain from discussing the comments of other group members outside the focus group. if there are any questions or discussions that you do not wish to answer or participate in, you do not have to do so; however please try to answer and be as involved as possible. ground rules  the most important rule is that only one person speaks at a time. there may be a temptation to jump in when someone is talking but please wait until they have finished.  there are no right or wrong answers  you do not have to speak in any particular order  when you do have something to say, please do so. there are many of you in the group and it is important that i obtain the views of each of you  you do not have to agree with the views of other people in the group  does anyone have any questions? (answers).  ok, let’s begin warm up  first, i’d like everyone to introduce themselves. can you tell us your name? introductory question focus group: demographic details questionnaire focus group: discussion guide head start/hippy collaboration 55 i am just going to give you a couple of minutes to think about your experience with the collaboration of the hippy and head start at this center. is anyone happy to share his or her experience? guiding questions  how does your center blend the hippy and head start programs? (for example, is hippy used as the home-based curriculum? is hippy used as the parent involvement/volunteering element? is hippy used only as a referral for families who need more one-on-one intervention?)  what components of hippy are most successful at your center: home visits? curriculum roleplay? parent group meetings?  what are the attitudes of you and other parents, administrators or teachers towards the hippy/head start collaboration? (what did people think/say/do?)  what drove the positive/negative reaction? if negative, how could it be rectified?  what do you think are the benefits of the hippy/head start collaboration?  what do you think are the negative aspects of the hippy/head start collaboration?  do you think the collaboration of the hippy and head start programs improve the school readiness of participating children? if not, why not?  do you think the collaboration of the hippy and head start programs improve the parent involvement of participating families? if not, why not?  what are your thoughts on the blending of the mission of the hippy and head start programs?  what are your thoughts on the blending of the operating procedures of the hippy and head start programs?  what are the main issues around the practical collaboration between the hippy and head start programs?  what are the barriers to the hippy/head start collaboration? what are the enablers?  how would you make the hippy/head start collaboration easier? concluding question  of all the things we’ve discussed today, what would you say are the most important issues you would like to express about this hippy/head start collaboration? conclusion  thank you for participating. this has been a very successful discussion.  your opinions will be a valuable asset to the study.  we hope you have found the discussion interesting.  if there is anything you are unhappy with or wish to complain about, please feel free to email me at browna@uhcl.edu or speak to me later.  i would like to remind you that any comments featuring in this report will be anonymous.  before you leave, please hand in your completed personal details questionnaire. 56 brown appendix b director interview guide  when did your center begin blending hippy and head start?  how did this collaboration develop?  how does your center blend the hippy and head start programs? (for example, is hippy used as the home-based curriculum? is hippy used as the parent involvement/volunteering element? is hippy used only as a referral for families who need more one-on-one intervention?)  what components of hippy are most successful at your center: home visits? curriculum role-play? parent group meetings?  what are your thoughts on the blending of the operating procedures of the hippy and head start programs?  what are the main issues around the practical collaboration between the hippy and head start programs?  what are the barriers to the hippy/head start collaboration? what are the enablers?  how would you make the hippy/head start collaboration easier? the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 110 educational apps for young children: insights from parents the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 2 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i2.2073 contact: nicola urquhart urqu1720@mylaurier.ca copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). rtp educational apps for young children abstract many parents are interested in using educational apps to supplement their children’s literacy and math development at home. research shows that well designed apps can be a tool to support children’s learning, however parents might struggle to find well designed apps due to the large number that exist and their overall poor quality. the present study investigated how parents choose educational apps, including their attitudes towards teaching their children, the sources of information they use, and the features they look for in math and literacy apps. results indicate that parents are motivated to find educational apps but may not be certain about some important instructional features that would make an educational app effective. practical suggestions based on the findings are provided. understanding obstacles parents face as well as how they select instructional tools is important in order to identify ways to support parents in finding high quality educational apps that have the potential to supplement education at home. keywords educational apps, math, literacy, children, parents c an children learn from educational apps? as touchscreen devices become an increasingly prevalent part of many young children’s lives, there has been an increase in the number of software applications (apps) advertised as ‘educational’ tools to support young children’s learning of foundational skills such as math and literacy. existing research suggests that children can learn from high quality educational apps. for example, greater math learning gains for fourto five-year olds who spent some instructional time playing with a math app than for the children who completed more traditional paper-based math activities are found (outhwaite et al., 2023). another study found similar results for literacy skills in fourto five-year-old children who nicola urquhart eileen wood joanne lee gloria mele avery bruin wilfrid laurier university the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 111 used a literacy app compared to a non-literacy app (arnold et al., 2021). in addition, when parents or care-providers engage in app use with their children, known as co-use, learning outcomes can be improved (griffith & arnold, 2018). importantly, these positive results for apps as learning tools reflect research studies where the instructional quality of the apps was carefully controlled. unfortunately, app stores do not have regulations about what qualifies as an ‘educational’ app, and research has found that many commercially available apps are of poor quality (dubé et al., 2019). this means that parents/care-providers are faced with an overwhelming array of apps to choose from but no formal system to discriminate well-designed, instructionally relevant apps from those of poor quality. what makes a ‘good’ educational app? there are some features that are supported by the science of learning that make an app effective. first, the content of an app should be developmentally appropriate. for example, literacy apps for young children should include foundational literacy skills, such as phonological awareness related to letter-sound correspondence and playing with words and sounds such as rhyming or creating word families (e.g., b – bat, mmat). math apps for young children should include early counting principles, such as one-to-one correspondence which refers to the knowledge that each item must be counted once and only once, stable order (knowing that the counting sequence is always the same: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… and so on), and cardinality which refers to knowing that the last number counted represents the total number in the set. good apps support children by scaffolding (vygotsky, 1978) their learning. scaffolding refers to supports that an adult – or an app – provides to help the child go beyond their current abilities. in apps, this can include features such as difficulty levels, particularly those that respond to the child’s performance on activities/tasks by automatically moving up or down to better meet the child’s needs. feedback is also important. most apps provide feedback for correct answers but many do not provide feedback for incorrect answers (beyond a ‘wrong’ sound), which can leave the child guessing how to fix their mistakes (meyer et al., 2021). how do parents choose educational apps? there is some evidence that parents have challenges identifying the best apps, with some of these challenges attributed to inconsistencies or limitations in information on app store descriptions (montazami et al., 2022). there is also evidence that the criteria parents use to evaluate math apps is different than the criteria used by researchers/experts (urquhart et al., 2024). however, it is not currently known how parents specifically find and select educational apps. the present study addressed this gap by examining how parents choose educational apps targeting early literacy and math skills. method how did we test this? our study included a 30-minute survey which was completed over zoom. the survey included questions about: • math and literacy: parents’ ability to teach foundational math and literacy skills to their child, confidence teaching math and literacy, and self-reported number of math and literacy activities engaged with their child (e.g., baking, using a timer and reading, using magnetic letters ). • valued app features: parents described features they look for in apps (open-ended questions) as well as identified features from a curated list. • sources of information parents use: recommendations from teachers, ratings on websites (e.g., common sense media), rated from strongly disagree to strongly agree. • parent-child co-use of math and literacy apps, estimated from 0 to 100% of the time. • disuse of apps: has the parent ever chosen not to let their child use an app they had downloaded and an open-ended question about why they had made this decision. who completed our study? rtp educational apps for young children the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 112 in total, 65 parents of children twoto six-years-old completed the study. the average age of participants was 36.55 years and 89% were mothers whiile 11% were fathers. in terms of ethnicity, 65% identified as white, 11% south asian, 11% southeast asian, and the remaining 13% included middle eastern, latin american, black, indigenous, and west asian. as to highest level of education competed, 71% completed an undergraduate degree, 19% completed a graduate degree, and 10% completed high school. results overall 80% of parents said they had downloaded a math app and 86% had downloaded a literacy app. when parents were asked to spontaneously report the top features they look for in an app, the content (e.g., counting, songs), fun, and ease of use appeared for both math and literacy apps. when provided with a list of possible features, parents chose ease of use, quality of educational content, and fun for both math and literacy apps. parents estimated that on average, they co-used math apps with their child 31.93%, and 35.61% of the time for literacy apps, though responses were highly variable in both cases. what sources of information did parents use to choose apps? the sources of information used were the same for selecting math and literacy apps. the six sources endorsed from most to least included: • recommendations from teachers • recommendations from parents • parents’ own exploration of the app • online ratings • app store description • child’s request parents also reported often exploring apps before giving it to their child. did parental knowledge of and attitudes towards foundational math and literacy concepts influence their app decisions? overall, parents were the least certain about the cardinality principle of counting for math (e.g., generating the correct number of items to match a number) and phonological awareness skills (e.g., clapping syllables in words) for literacy. there was no clear pattern for how parental knowledge affected app choices. parents who had downloaded an educational app before (either math or literacy) had more positive attitudes towards teaching their child foundational concepts at home than parents who had not downloaded an educational app before. parents who said they explored apps before giving them to their child reported their child’s math and literacy knowledge as higher than parents who said they had not explored apps before giving them to their child. how often did parents disuse apps and why? less than half of parents (44.9% for literacy, 42.9% for math) had disused an educational app before. of those who had, the top three reasons for both literacy and math app disuse were lack of interest, lack of challenge, and cost. interpretations what do our findings tell us about how parents think about educational apps? since the majority of our participants had downloaded both a math and literacy app before, it appears that this is an instructional aid parents are interested in using. in addition, the finding that parents who had downloaded educational apps before rated their attitudes about teaching their child foundational skills as more important than parents who had not downloaded an educational app before further suggests that parents do consider educational apps to be a tool to teach their children. parents also indicated that of all the sources of information they might consider when choosing apps, a teacher’s opinion was the most important and their child’s opinion was the least important. this suggests that parents are looking for apps that can support their children’s education and that teachers are a valued source for determining what apps to try. rtp educational apps for young children the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 113 what do parents value in educational apps? the features parents said they looked for in apps were similar for math and literacy apps, with the functionality of the app (ease of use) and fun as two of the three most important features. this might reflect the previously mentioned overall poor quality of apps available for download – perhaps parents have to look for these basic features because many apps do not meet these criteria. when choosing from a list of features, the quality of the educational content in the app made top three, however, specific features that would make it high quality (e.g., levels and feedback) were not highly endorsed. this suggests that although parents might be looking for educational content, they may not know instructional features that could better support learning for their child. recommendations three key recommendations from the present study include the role of teachers for guiding parents, and parental exploration and co-use of apps. specifically, teachers may consider providing app suggestions since they have training in how children learn math and literacy, and parents indicate that they highly value teachers’ suggestions. also, it may be important to encourage parents to explore apps first to identify apps that will or will not work for their child. in addition, co-using the app with their child is known to promote learning (griffith & arnold, 2019) and can lead to the parents identifying features in apps more readily. many of the reasons for disuse mentioned by our participants are things that could be identified by exploring the app and/or co-using the app with their child. these recommendations can support parents to find apps that are developmentally appropriate and engaging for their child. scaffolding skills our findings also suggest that parents may need assistance in identifying instructionally relevant design features in apps. specifically, parents should be encouraged to seek out apps that have levels of difficulty built into the app design. this could include levels that the user can select themselves, or that the app automatically adjusts based on the child’s performance. automatic levels are often preferable. parents should also be encouraged to look for feedback in apps. high quality feedback for incorrect responses will allow users to work toward an answer by providing increasing levels of guidance. medium quality feedback for incorrect responses will include explanations. poor quality feedback for incorrect responses will simply be a ‘wrong’ sound. math skills the specific skills should be tailored to the child; however, there are foundational math skills specifically the counting principles to look for: one-to-one correspondence: activities that enforce the idea that each item is counted once and only once. • stable order: activities that enforce the idea that the counting sequence is always the same (1, 2, 3, 4, 5… and so on). • cardinality: activities that enforce the idea that if the first two concepts are applied, the last number counted represents the total number in the set. • activities that support this skill could include a scale with different quantities on each side, finding the total number, and voiceovers that reinforce the emphasis on the last number. literacy skills phonological awareness is an important predictor of reading. activities that target phonological awareness might include: • discriminating between sounds, particularly sounds letters represent. • identifying syllables in words. • manipulating the sounds in words, such as changing the starting, middle, or ending sound (e.g., bat  mat  map mop). • rhyming activities. conclusion as more educational apps are developed each year, and parents face pressures to educate their rtp educational apps for young children the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 114 children without being explicitly trained to choose between available educational tools, it is important for researchers to continue to find ways to support this process. our results highlight parents’ motivations to find educational apps and aspects where they can use extra support to do so effectively. references arnold, d. h., chary, m., gair, s. l., helm, a. f., herman, r., kang, s., & lokhandwala, s. 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(2024). how do canadian parents evaluate numeracy content in math apps for young children?. journal of children and media, 1-19.https://doi.org /10.1080/17482798.2024.2365186 rtp educational apps for young children https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2020.1863239 https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2020.1863239 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10234-z https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10234-z https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13213 https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13213 https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13339 https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2024.2365186 https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2024.2365186 dialog, 22(1), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 gentle facilitation of free choice time: supporting children’s development during authentic play judy hicks paulick university of virginia free choice time (fct) is on the schedule in nearly every head start classroom, but teachers tend to get relatively little training or support regarding how to enact fct. given that play is important for children’s development, what authentic play looks like as part of the preschool day should be intentional. the purpose of this study was to define high quality free choice time (fct) in head start classrooms. i developed and piloted the framework for free choice time (f-fct), which describes low, middle-range, and high-quality fct practice. findings from classroom observations demonstrate some initial validity and reliability of the framework and support the notion that there is a range of teacher practice, even in classrooms administered together. the f-fct can be used to support preservice and in-service teacher professional development. future work with the f-fct may have implications for preschool curricula, policy, and teacher evaluation. keywords: play; free choice time; teacher professional development; observation tool when asked how she was trained to implement free choice time (fct) in her classroom, a veteran head start teacher responded: “i’ve really just not thought about it that much. there are always so many other things to plan and prepare for. (fct) feels like a bit of a break—for the kids and for me.” this sentiment was common among the teachers that i worked with. while it is certainly reasonable for teachers and children to need a break during a long, busy day, fct may have the potential to support children’s learning in unique ways. therefore, it is important to consider what it means for teachers to facilitate fct well. the tool that was developed and piloted in this study offers a framework for considering what high-quality fct includes. although it does not constitute a “break,” per se, the framework articulates engaged and enjoyable fct, for both teachers and children. fct is the block of indoor time in the head start day when children have the opportunity to engage for a sustained period in activities that are pleasurable and exploratory, child-directed, choice-based, and intrinsically motivating. in other words, it is a time that can be accurately described as authentic play (isenberg & quisenberry, 1988; levy, 1978; lillemyr, 2009). while research-to-practice summary supporting children’s development during authentic play 93 research has shown unequivocally that play is vital for healthy development across a variety of domains (e.g., creasey, jarvis, & berk, 1998; pellegrini & smith, 1998; trawick-smith, 1994), researchers have not yet determined how best to incorporate play into the preschool curriculum. the current study is intended to further the research by articulating the role of teachers in gently facilitating play in classrooms. in a debate that has often pitted “direct instruction” against “constructivism,” where preschools can be either teacher-directed or child-focused, hirsh-pasek and colleagues (2009) advocate for somewhat of a middle ground – “playful learning preschool.” playful learning is a combination of teacher-guided playful content lessons (e.g. weisberg, hirsh-pasek, & golinkoff, 2013) and child-guided free choice time. a playful content lesson might, for example, involve the teacher bringing the children together for a read aloud about shapes, showing and naming shapes on a felt board, and then having the children work in centers where they will engage with shapes. free choice time, according to hirsh-pasek and colleagues, is also engaging and playful. but rather than being guided by the teacher and a particular learning objective, fct is child-directed and gently adult-facilitated. precisely what that gentle adult facilitation looks like in practice is what is addressed in this study and articulated by the framework for free choice time (f-fct). the purpose of this study was to articulate the framework and to establish preliminary reliability, validity, and descriptive data on the tool. study description the f-fct was developed during observations in 26 private, state-funded, and head start preschools and in consultation with scholarly research on play and learning. i began by observing in a renowned play-based preschool, capturing the aspects of teacher support for engaged play. i then observed in two dozen other schools, attempting to capture the range of how teachers set up and facilitated the block of the day called free choice time (alternatively, “choice time” or “indoor play”). in many of the classrooms, the class pre-k (pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008) was being used for evaluation. the class was not specifically designed to measure fct, however, so there are important aspects of fct that are not measured by the class. specifically, the class does not measure extended blocks of uninterrupted time with authentic choices set aside for play, nor does it measure the types of teacher-student interactions that are likely to develop children’s language during play. furthermore, the class does not measure the open-endedness of materials that are provided or opportunities for cognitive, motor, and social development. moreover, although high-quality fct is likely to score high on the class, a classroom could score high on the class without having a block of fct. the f-fct built on the elements of the class that are relevant to fct and added fct-specific elements that were missing. the tool has 23 elements across 5 dimensions. once the f-fct was developed, it was piloted in sixteen head start classrooms across nine sites in northern california. i trained a research assistant on the tool, and we were able to score reliably in the same classrooms. the tool is used by observing for a full block of fct and taking copious qualitative notes related to the elements. if there are multiple teachers in the classroom, the primary focus of the observation is on the lead teacher. immediately after the observation, the observer uses the notes to assign a holistic score and scores for each of the elements. the element 94 paulick scores are averaged to calculate each dimension score, and the dimension scores are averaged to calculate the actual average. findings and implications for practice the five dimensions of fct are described below, including an explanation of what high quality practice would look like for each dimension: (1) structures. the block of fct should be consistent with what we know about play. it should be child-directed, choice-based, and happen with ample time for the play to be developed and sustained. there is some evidence that at least 40 minutes of time is necessary for children to fully engage (christie & wardle, 1992). children should be able to move freely and choose their activities and materials freely. (2) engagement and affect. at the high range of the f-fct, all of the children and the teachers are engaged throughout the block of fct. children’s transitions among activities are developmentally appropriate. interactions are warm, there is a buzz of activity, and the classroom feels safe and organized. (3) talk and language. fct offers an opportunity for teachers to support children’s language development by modeling developmentally appropriate vocabulary and syntax and by encouraging children to talk about what they are passionate about and engaged in (bredekamp, 2004; hirsh-pasek et al., 2009; neuman & roskos, 1993; vygotsky, 1978; weisberg et al., 2013). at the higher range of the f-fct, teachers frequently take up opportunities to engage children in discussions about their play, and children are encouraged to talk. (4) materials. in the high range of the f-fct, the materials in the classroom are accessible to all of the children (christie & roskos, 2006; hirsh-pasek et al., 2009). there are varied materials so children can engage in a variety of activities, and most of the materials are intended to be used in an open-ended way. (5) opportunities for development. fct provides opportunities for children to develop cognitive skills like literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving; social skills like conflictresolution and collaboration; and fine and gross motor skills (hirsh-pasek et al., 2009; murata & maeda, 2002; vygotsky, 1978). what i found in pilot work with the f-fct in sixteen head start classrooms was a wide range of teacher practice across the dimensions of the tool. i also found that the scores were similar to class (pianta et al., 2008) scores for the classrooms, meaning that the f-fct is capturing in fct what the class is capturing more broadly. in my sample, the range of scores was lowest for materials and opportunities for development highest for talk & language and structures. in other words, there seemed to be more of a common understanding of what to have children do during fct than how to facilitate fct. this range of practice, particularly for talk during fct makes sense, since it can feel awkward to initiate a discussion that could be interrupting a child’s play. it is important to note that in a classroom with sixteen children and a lead teacher and assistant teacher, each child might get, on average, about five minutes of discussion with an adult during the block of fct. while the teacher will be interacting throughout the block of fct, each child will spend most of the block supporting children’s development during authentic play 95 without an adult. nevertheless, that adult interaction in addition to the intentional use of the materials, spaces, and time may be important for children’s development. the f-fct is a rubric that illustrates what the range of practice looks like across classrooms for these aspects of fct. teachers may be engaging in strong practice in one dimension or element and have room for growth in another. having a rubric allows teachers to locate their own practice and to set goals for improvement. it also allows teachers to observe one another in order to get ideas and to provide reciprocal feedback. conclusion there is good reason to believe that a block of gently guided fct is beneficial for all children. rather than reducing playtime in favor of more “academically oriented” activities (zigler, 2009), we have an opportunity to leverage the known benefits of play by facilitating fct skillfully. the f-fct provides an articulation of what high-quality fct can look like. it can serve as administrators’ and teachers’ guide for the implementation of fct that may support children’s growth and development. references bredekamp, s. (2004). play and school readiness. in e. f. zigler, d. g. singer, & s.j. bishop-josef (eds.), children’s play: the roots of reading (pp. 159-174). washington d.c.: zero to three. christie, j. f., & roskos, k. a. (2006). standards, science and the role of play in early literacy education. in d. g. singer, r. m. golinkoff, & k. a., hirsh-pasek, play = learning: how play motivates and enhances cognitive and social‐emotional growth (pp.57–73). new york, ny: oxford university press. christie, j. f., & wardle, f. (1992). how much time is needed for play? young children, 47(3), 28-33. creasey, g. l., jarvis, p. a., & berk, l. (1998). play and social competence. in o. n. saracho & b. spodek (eds.), multiple perspectives on play in early childhood education (pp. 116-143). albany, ny: state university of new york press. hirsh-pasek, k., golinkoff, r., berk, l., & singer, d. (2009). a mandate for playful learning in preschool: presenting the evidence. new york, ny: oxford university press. isenberg, j. & quisenberry, n.l. (1988). play: a necessity for all children. childhood education, 64(3), 138-145. levy, j. (1978). play behavior. new york, ny: wiley. lillemyr, o. f. (2009). taking play seriously: children and play in early childhood education—an exciting challenge. charlotte, nc: information age publishing. murata, n. m., & maeda, j. k. (2002). structured play for preschoolers with developmental delays. early childhood education journal, 29(4), 237-240. neuman, s. b., & roskos, k. (1993). access to print for children of poverty: differential effects of adult mediation and literacy-enriched play settings on environmental and functional print tasks. american education research journal, 30(1), 95-122. pianta, r. c., la paro, k. m., & hamre, b. k. (2008). classroom assessment scoring system—class. baltimore, ma: brookes. pellegrini, a. d., & smith, p. k. (1998). physical activity play: the nature and function of a neglected aspect of play. child development, 69(83), 577-598. trawick-smith, j. w. (1994). interactions in the classroom: facilitating play in the early years. new york, ny: merrill, pearson college division. vygotsky, l. s. (1978). mind in society. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. weisberg, d. s., hirsh‐pasek, k., & golinkoff, r. m. (2013). guided play: where curricular goals meet a playful pedagogy. mind, brain, and education, 7(2), 104-112. zigler, e. (2009). foreward. in k. hirsh-pasek, r. golinkoff, l. berk, & d. singer, a mandate for playful learning in preschool: presenting the evidence (pp. ix-xiii). new york, ny: oxford university press. nhsa dialog, 26(1), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 the state of childcare: exploring childcare center directors’ perceptions on the past, present, and future tracey hoffman miami university the purpose of this exploratory study was to examine childcare directors’ perceptions of the state of childcare centers throughout southwest ohio. seventeen directors were surveyed regarding the changes they have witnessed over the past decade, and how they envision the future of childcare. the results indicated that the childcare field has experienced many challenging issues such as, teacher retention, a lack of professionalism, and an increase in children’s behavior problems. in addition, directors discussed the need for higher pay and incentives to attract (and keep) qualified teachers. with added requirements from ohio’s quality rating improvement system (qris), program directors were feeling overwhelmed and stressed. the covid-19 pandemic also put a significant financial strain on programs, however, some directors believed that the pandemic also helped to recognize the importance of childcare. the article concludes with recommendations for the future, and possible strategies to address the concerns discussed by the directors. keywords: childcare, directors, early childhood, preschool introduction over the past decade, early childhood education for children birth to age five has received increased attention due to expanded research on the importance of high-quality care on children’s development and learning (world health organization, 2014). providing intellectually stimulating and emotionally supportive environments often results in positive outcomes during the early years of children’s lives (shonkoff, et al., 2012). the national association of education for young children (naeyc) has described the work of early childhood professionals, including childcares, as critical to our society and children’s wellbeing (2006). the role of the childcare director is crucial to this work and encompasses a variety of responsibilities including supervising staff, designing program plans, overseeing daily activities, and preparing budgets (bureau of labor statistics, 2022). over the past decade, especially during the covid-19 pandemic, childcare directors have experienced significant changes in state requirements and policies which have impacted every facet of caregiving. the pandemic not only caused substantial stress and financial research article 2 hoffman strain, but also demonstrated the importance of childcare centers for essential workers and those on the front line of the pandemic (bigras et al., 2021). quality childcare practices occur when programs receive support and resources to implement best practices to care for children. the purpose of a quality rating and improvement system (qris) is to set explicit standards and rules in place to improve the quality of care children receive by using a tiered system. for directors working in centers that receive public funding or participate in quality rating and improvement systems, their teachers are required to complete additional assessments and screenings to document child progress. these added requirements can take time away from teaching and director responsibilities, and often require extra training. over the past decade, the federal government has created funding opportunities for the improvement and access to high quality care for families, including the child care and development block grant act (ccdbg; administration for children and families, 2022). some of the ccdbg funds have also been used for states to create quality rating and improvement systems. with increased attention on the importance of high-quality childcare, directors are serving a more diverse population of children. a variety of childcare programs exist to serve diverse communities such as, public preschool programs, federally funded programs, and traditional private pay childcare centers. early head start and head start are federally funded programs that serve low income families and provide early care and education head start programs have a strong focus on early learning, health and wellness, and family engagement (u.s. department of health & human services, 2022). furthermore, some childcare programs operate as a non-profit and may be run by an individual, religious organization, or public school. professionalism in the childcare field professionalism in the childcare field has historically been an issue throughout the united states. as a result, childcare directors are faced with challenges when recruiting and retaining high quality staff. in the past, childcare has largely been viewed as an informal babysitting service, but over the last decade there has been a movement to formalize the childcare field. due to the complexity of the systems involved, the process has been difficult due to many barriers. however, an increasing recognition of the importance and necessity for high quality childcare has driven more standardized practices and systems to be developed (fuller et al., 2004). a professional status is often linked to four elements (1) a systematic base of knowledge; (2) a professional association; (3) a code of professional ethics; and (4) regulations with a career ladder (morgaine, 1999). the establishment of a qris system in ohio has been the first step in implementing a more professional status, but the added requirements can be cumbersome for directors and teachers. in addition, with high stakes testing taking place in schools, childcare directors are asking their teachers to focus on early academic skills (e.g. literacy, math, science, etc.) to help prepare children to enter kindergarten (bullough, 2014). due to a wide variety of types of childcare programs (e.g. federally funded, private), it can be challenging to meet the professional development requirements for each type of program. directors typically identify the goals and objectives of their programs, and then tailor the professional development accordingly. therefore, the development of a universal professional the state of childcare 3 development system should consider the unique needs of each program individually (buysse et al., 2009). for example, if a director has a large percentage of teachers in a head start program who have had no experience or training in children’s challenging behaviors, it may be useful to focus on topics related to social emotional teaching strategies. however, some qris require specific professional development topics, which leaves little time for supplementary training. in a survey asking childcare providers to prioritize professional development topics they would like to attend during the pandemic they chose (a) training to support children with social emotional and behavior problems; (b) health and safety practices; and (c) stress reduction strategies for teachers (daro et al., 2020). director challenges over the past decade over the past decade, childcare directors have faced a variety of challenges related to hiring and maintaining staff. teacher turnover rates appear to be much higher for childcares compared to other types of education programs. for example, center-based childcare has an estimated 33% to 50% turnover rate in the united states (wells, 2015). this rate is four times higher than the rate of elementary school teachers (rhodes & houston, 2012). furthermore, high teacher turnover rates can negatively impact the quality of instruction, which can result in children’s decreased cognitive, language, and social emotional skills (markowitz & bassok, 2018). staff retention has also been a challenging issue for directors in the childcare field, and covid-19 appeared to exacerbate the problem even more. pay rates for schools are sometimes double what childcare teachers bring home each week (grant et al., 2019a). when childcare teachers have families to support, they are often forced to seek employment opportunities with higher pay. the retail and hospitality industry offer a wealth of opportunities for higher pay with less demanding responsibilities (phillips et al., 2016). many of the teachers who work in childcare programs (outside of school districts) make such low salaries they often qualify for public benefits, such as food stamps (whitebook, et al., 2016). a study conducted by the national institute for early education research found that the rates of social-emotional problems reported by parents have continued to rise (jung & barnett, 2021). childcares directors report experiencing more behavior problems exhibited by children at younger ages. children as young as three years old are being suspended or expelled from childcare centers or preschool programs across the u.s. there are 6.7 suspensions per every 1,000 preschoolers, which is three times greater than the rate of expulsions for k-12 students (gilliam & shahar, 2006). children who spend more time in a childcare center tended to be less cooperative, more aggressive, and more disobedient at ages two, 4 ½, and in kindergarten (national institute of child health and human development early child care research network, 2006). it is unknown whether childcare programs are contributing to children’s behavior problems or failing to adequately address children’s behavior. more research is warranted to better understand how behavior problems come about and how they are addressed in childcare settings. the purpose of this exploratory research was to learn more about childcare directors’ perceptions of the state of childcare. in an effort to better understand some of the unique challenges that directors faced, this study was created to learn first-hand how childcare directors viewed the last decade, and how they envision the future. this study was driven by the following research questions: 4 hoffman 1. what are some specific changes that directors have witnessed over the last decade in the childcare field? 2. what will the field of early childhood (birthage 5) and childcare look like over the next five years and in the future? method participants and data collection participants in this study were childcare directors in southwest ohio. contact information was gathered from a list of childcare programs associated with a prekindergarten associate degree program at a southwest ohio university. online surveys were sent to a total of 57 program directors, and 17 of those individuals completed the survey through qualtrics. the participants varied in age, level of education, and length of time in the field of childcare (see table 1). participants had a wide range of experience in their positions, ranging from ten years to over 25 years. regarding level of education, the lowest level was a high school diploma while one participant had a doctoral degree. the ages of the directors ranged from 30-60 years old. table 1 childcare center directors' demographic information (n=17) characteristic n % participants 17 100 length in position 10-15 years 11 65 16-20 years 2 12 21-25 years 1 6 25+ years 3 17 highest level of education high school diploma or associate's degree 4 24 bachelor's degree 8 47 master's or doctorate degree 5 29 age in years 30-40 5 29.5 41-50 5 29.5 51+ 7 41 data collection and analysis participants were asked four survey questions which were all approved by the researchers’ institutional review board (irb). the survey questions were the following: the state of childcare 5 1. what are some specific changes you have witnessed over the last decade since you have been working in the childcare field? 2. what do you believe the field of childcare will look like over the next five years? 3. what would you like to see changed or improved in the childcare field? 4. do you feel optimistic or pessimistic about the future of childcare? the survey instrument was developed based on a thorough literature review and the authors’ professional experiences working with preservice teachers in childcare programs throughout ohio. in addition, many of mccoach et al.’s (2013) principles of survey design applied to the process used for the development of the survey used in this study. participation in this study was voluntary, and participants were allowed to withdraw at any time. the survey was open and available for participants to complete for a two-week period in early august, 2022. the online survey took approximately 20-30 minutes to complete, depending on the length of responses. when analyzing the survey data, the investigator searched for patterns (common themes) in the survey responses using a content analysis approach. specifically, the data was analyzed using the following process (a) prepare the data for analysis; (b) become familiar with the data; (c) identify units of analysis; (d) define tentative categories for coding the responses; (e) refine categories; (f) establish category integrity (johnson & lamontagne, 1993). the director responses were organized by survey question and then grouped into narrative units so that tentative themes could be identified. the themes were further analyzed to search for commonalities between survey responses. this process continued until the investigator was confident that the identified themes best represented the data. the following section provides the results of this analysis. results survey question 1: what are some specific changes you have witnessed over the last decade since you have been working in the childcare field? all directors who participated in the survey had over a decade of experience in the childcare field, and voiced their thoughts about trends they have witnessed. one prevalent theme was the changes in the state requirements, and several directors discussed step up to quality–ohio’s child care quality rating system (sutq). one person explained her opinions about the changes: the biggest change has been the addition of sutq rules. before the pandemic the childcare sector seemed to gain some credibility and during the pandemic we were deemed essential. it seems as that momentum to make us "professionals" has been tossed to the side. another person shared that “licensing rule changes and step up to quality requirements” were challenging, while another director felt that a “higher demand for affordable, quality programs, and sutq regulations” was needed. licensing changes were also a topic of discussion since covid-19 disrupted the day-to-day functioning of classrooms and programs. adjusting to the changes was a challenge because they all seemed to come at once. one director said: 6 hoffman licensing rules went from 42 to 25. publicly funded childcare (pfcc) went from paper invoices, to swipe card, to a tablet-based time and attendance system. overall the state has automated and integrated more systems, making specific changes to license/capacity easier to track from the program side (although learning those changes in process has been a challenge). one participant voiced her frustration that the state was requiring “more rules” than ever before, making it more difficult to focus on the curriculum and meet the needs of the children. staff shortages and a decrease in qualified applicants has always been a significant issue in the field of childcare, but covid-19 seemed to exacerbate the issue. a common theme in the survey responses was overcoming staff shortages and finding qualified teachers. some participants shared their concern over a lack of work ethic they have been witnessing over the past few years. “work ethic and worker dedication has decreased. increase of pay for teachers needs to take place. overall, hiring has decreased.” in addition, there seemed to be a general lack of interest in childcare positions since people can find higher paying jobs in the retail or restaurant industry. therefore, it is difficult to find suitable applicants. one director stated, “i have found that the interest in working in childcare has decreased.” another director said, “candidates for employment are difficult to find as many ghost (don’t show up) for the interviews. new candidates are often very transient.” another director said that her center was seeing “staffing shortages of major proportions,” which caused a great deal of stress to all of her staff. one director mentioned, “i have witnessed great people leave the field because of stress.” high turnover was also a common theme and discussed by many of the directors. some participants felt that the low pay was the reason, while others pointed to a lack of professionalism and work ethic. one director stated, “increased political/liberal ideologies are inappropriately being enmeshed into preschool curriculum. it is getting more and more difficult to hire quality individuals for early childhood settings.” families and children have been deeply impacted by the pandemic, and continue to struggle with locating high quality childcare programs for their children. over the past decade, the number of children with social emotional problems has risen significantly (coley et al. 2013). the increase in behavior problems was a theme commonly discussed by many of the directors. some mentioned an alarming increase in behavior problems being exhibited by children attending their centers. one director noted, “children with more social emotional dysregulation, trauma, foster and kinship/grandparents raising children are enrolled in our program.” in addition, children’s social emotional skills seemed to be suffering, perhaps as a result of limited socialization during the pandemic. one director felt that she was seeing many more children with behavior and mental health diagnoses and said, “i have seen increased challenging behaviors, especially in the area of mental health.” in one particular case, a director talked about some parents waiting to send their child to preschool and stated, “parents were choosing not to send their three-year old children to preschool; but waiting until their children turned four.” the state of childcare 7 survey question 2: what do you believe that the field of childcare will look like over the next five years? discussions about the future seemed to be a difficult and emotional topic for some of the directors. several went so far as to say they were fearful that they would have to close their doors permanently: it is very scary to think of and overwhelming at times. i know several places that have closed and i have close director friends at other centers that are now talking about how they can keep their doors open. our main problem is hiring qualified staff. we are in a position that we are hiring many new staff and having to train them on how to be a teacher. we are starting all over. the need for additional funding and support was a prevalent theme and frequently brought up by most of the directors. however, where the money and support would come from was still a question and a concern: childcare will need to be federally funded to survive. middle income families are struggling to afford childcare while providers are faced with the necessity to pay higher wages, along with increased expenses to supply chain shortages. many families will need to turn to family childcare for affordability reasons. new legislation and more rules and requirements were also discussed as barriers that programs had to adjust to. most centers shared their frustration over having too much paperwork and “red tape” to complete, which in turn took away from quality time spent with the children. directors felt overwhelmed about spending valuable time on tasks related to state rules and requirements. one person stated, “i think more changes will be made in legislation to (hopefully) provide more funding to early learning centers. i am hopeful that more teachers will come back to the field as many have left since the pandemic.” high quality staff who were invested in the program’s mission and teaching philosophy seemed to be harder to find. one person said, “we are hopefully stabilizing since the pandemic! and hopefully, there is increased interest and investment in the first five years for all programs; for profit and not-for-profit, faith based and secular.” many of the directors simply wanted their staff to stay once they were hired, and felt that “additional requirements (from the state) would make finding quality employees even more difficult.” some directors voiced a concern over having to close simply due to not being able to find teachers to hire, or due to their current staff leaving for higher paid opportunities. one director said that childcare centers will have to “reevaluate their business model if they plan to keep their doors open.” one theme mentioned by several of the directors was that they felt that childcare centers did not always get the appreciation and acknowledgement that they should, especially during the pandemic. some of the centers provided care for children and families during the height of the pandemic, despite their fears of contracting covid-19 themselves. however, one director had a more optimistic view about the next five years by stating, “i would like to think that the field of 8 hoffman childcare will be portrayed in a more positive light when it comes to working in the industry and how the professionals are viewed in the public.” survey question 3: what would you like to see changed or improved in the childcare field? low teacher pay was a common issue stated in survey question three. most directors who were surveyed brought up the low pay rate that teachers receive, and their concern that this would keep quality people from teaching in the childcare field. one director shared their point of view: our workforce is desperate for change, we have for too long paid low wages thereby keeping primarily women, and in the urban centers’ minority women in low wage, low benefit jobs. now that people can work at walmart, aldi, and target starting at $15-18 per hour, our workforce is no longer accepting positions at childcare programs for $12.50-14 per hour, which is our starting wage for an individual with no experience. each month i look at my budget to find ways to increase my overall wages, but there is no margin. unless the state of ohio, and the congress/senate/president infuse additional resources into this field there will be limited number of spaces for care and a whole generation of women will not be able to work because of lack of childcare available. we are hemorrhaging teachers and replacing them is taking 2 to 3 times longer than any other time in my tenure in this field. one director compared the childcare sector to public schools, and felt that the pay and benefits should be similar. she went on to say, “the rate of pay is an issue and we should be compensated just like public schools. put us on the same system.” another suggestion was to house childcares within public school buildings to make the transition easier for children entering kindergarten. teacher benefits were also mentioned since many programs cannot afford benefits for their staff. one person stated, “i would like to see better benefits for teachers working in childcare. the work that they do is proven to be essential and important, and i believe that they should be recognized as professionals.” providing high quality insurance was also an important incentive to attract those candidates who had families to support. a director made the following statement, “state or federal insurance plans for childcare teachers is imperative to entice teachers. small business owners are priced out of medical insurance benefits. financial support upfront is needed for necessary resources to increase.” some of the directors went so far as to describing their centers as “babysitters” for families, and felt that teachers were not always treated as professionals. multiple people discussed the need for more funding from the state for families to access high quality care, even for those families who don’t receive publicly funded childcare. “my personal center has a majority of children receiving publicly funded childcare. it would be nice to see the private pay families receive discounts and benefits from the state.” many directors basically wanted all children to have the highest quality of care possible, and felt that teachers needed to receive higher compensation for this to take place. the state of childcare 9 teachers simply wanted to be perceived as valued members of society who were also professionals. the constant changes in state and licensing rules was also a prevalent theme. some directors felt that the frequent changes in rules and regulations made it challenging to focus on all of the issues involved in running a childcare center. one director stated: rule changes (should be) limited to once every two years. more insight is needed from people working in the field to oversee new form changes; i think some of our wonderful ohio department of job and family services (odjfs) folks have been out of center work long enough they have perhaps forgotten what it is like to implement the rules in the chaotic busy-ness of the day. also, i wish that new hires could work with another staff member, not in ratio, until background checks come back. sometimes glitches make for long waits to be able to assign staff. we are so short staffed we want to be safe, but it would be great to be able to begin training staff earlier. high quality professional development was a consistent theme discussed by directors. for example, one person had teachers with different levels of experiences and shared, “i would like to see an improvement in the quality of professional development that is offered. i have veteran teachers who have been in the field for more than a decade and most of the trainings are geared towards entry level positions.” with the rise in social emotional issues in children, one director felt it was imperative for professional development training to focus on teaching caregivers how to work with children who have experienced some type of trauma. the same director also felt that teachers needed to be highly trained, which will require additional financial support: teachers are ill-equipped to deal with trauma and the expectation that they do so is leading to increased turnover and burnout. there is a need for outside assistance to come into centers to observe and provide constructive feedback and best practices. the field of ece could benefit from requiring degreed teachers. a child development associate credential (cda) is not sufficient to meet the needs of the children or sutq standards. financial support will need to be provided to centers in the form of subsidies to pay teachers more. recruiting more teachers into colleges needs to be accomplished but will not occur without increased pay and benefits. survey question 4: do you feel optimistic or pessimistic about the future of childcare? responses were mixed when it came to the future. some felt strongly that the future looked bleak without more funding sources, while others held out hope that childcares would survive and thrive in the future. obtaining more resources was one of the most common themes for this survey question. one person made the following statement, “i am generally an optimistic person, but without additional resources, our field will continue to decline.” those who were pessimistic 10 hoffman typically mentioned money and resources as barriers to the improvement of childcare services. one director made the following statement: i am not sure what the future holds for childcare. how can we rebuild something that is not supported by our representatives in our state? they think anyone can watch these children. unfortunately, many parents have to make that decision of who is going to watch their children because they can't find a center with open spots, due to staffing. another barrier brought up was the teacher shortage and lack of qualified candidates: i think that the expectations of employees have changed and it has become drastically harder to attract new applicants to the field. i think that the field in general is going to struggle if we can't find a happy medium between the price of tuition and wages. directors and teachers are having to work longer hours to fill in for fewer employees. this leads to higher burnout rates and exhausted staff. other directors mentioned the low pay rate and the fact that they simply could not compete with higher paid job opportunities (e.g. retail and restaurants): hiring staff has been almost impossible. as an owner/administrator, i am working from open to close, 5 days a week. if people do not start going back to work, we will not be able to increase our enrollment and we will slowly drain all of our resources. stabilization grants have helped but it doesn't bring staffing in the door. there were also several optimistic directors who felt that the future would be bright, and positive changes were on the horizon. a couple of directors felt that the pandemic brought some positive recognition regarding the importance of childcare: i feel optimistic about the future, just because a lot of attention has been put on childcare since the pandemic. i think that people are truly seeing the need for childcare and how important it is for the economy as families need quality childcare in order for them to work. they also realize how important early education is for the children to be ready to enter kindergarten and then develop the important skills necessary to be successful! another director mentioned, “i feel optimistic from the standpoint of the covid pandemic moving to the endemic stage. the number of families seeking care has increased.” several people stated that the value of childcare is now being recognized due to the pandemic so childcares need to use this momentum to push for more support, resources, and funding from the state and government. some directors had mixed reactions about the future of childcare. some felt that positive changes were possible, but a lack of funding continued to be a consistent topic. one person brought up some concerns she had about cultural topics: the state of childcare 11 i feel optimistic because i think our society is learning the value of preschool and quality childcare. i feel pessimistic because there is too much cultural pressure to include topics like lgbt and identity choosing to children as young as three. three-year-olds should be learning to be kind to everyone, but any kind of gender/sexual ideologies are inappropriate at this age. i am also concerned that funding or perks may not be offered to faith-based programs, and in my area, most of the people interested in early childhood education are hired by the public schools and head start, who can afford to offer the improved benefits. one director elaborated on her funding concerns and stated, “rates will need to go up significantly to offset increased expenses creating a catch-22. universal government supported childcare may be the only answer, but it appears it is not a priority of congress.” discussion the childcare field has seen many peaks and valleys over the last decade, which has produced resilient directors and teachers. the pandemic certainly brought on an unexpected set of stressors, which impacted programs in a variety of ways. some directors felt the pandemic brought a new sense of appreciation and recognition for the important role that childcare centers play in supporting children and families (including essential workers). on the other hand, the pandemic brought on financial burdens and extreme teacher shortages. finding and keeping qualified teachers was a significant concern discussed by many of the directors in this study. thorpe et al., (2020) researched retention rates in childcares and found that those who were pursuing higher qualifications were more likely to leave the field within twelve months. this data is concerning since our ultimate goal is to produce highly qualified teachers while keeping them in the field longer (to reduce the turnover rate). as a result, it is crucial for childcare directors to examine how to encourage childcare teachers to pursue more education without losing them altogether. in regard to low pay and poor work conditions, teachers’ satisfaction with their jobs do matter (grant et al., 2019b). therefore, work satisfaction should be the focus of childcare centers’ retention efforts. staff morale, administrative support, and recognition are just a few areas that directors can explore to help motivate teachers and staff. for example, directors might look for unique ways to recognize teachers for their high-quality teaching. developing some type of mentoring program might also be an effective strategy to encourage relationships between teachers and provide support. lastly, directors can support their teachers simply by being physically present in classrooms on a regular basis, which may be desirable for newer teachers. increased requirements and regulations were mentioned by many of the directors in this study. they felt their teachers had to jump through hoops to meet state requirements and obtain more education credentials. despite the importance of hearing from childcare providers to establish early education policies, they are often not included in the conversation at the state or federal level (van laere & vandenbroeck, 2017). several mentioned that they felt those who make the policies for childcare centers are out of touch with the real issues directors are experiencing. most childcare 12 hoffman research has traditionally focused on children’s experiences (shpancer, 2002), but perhaps research should broaden its focus to include childcare directors’ and teachers’ wellbeing and viewpoints. furthermore, directors should have a voice in the type of training and professional development their teachers are required to complete. arndt et al. (2021) suggested that perhaps there should be a discussion on how to individualize job training rather than having general requirements that are the same for everyone. for example, if directors or teachers felt they needed more training and support to work with children who have behavior problems, then they should receive professional development on this topic. this might allow for higher job satisfaction if they are learning skills and information that relates specifically to each person. conclusion the purpose of this exploratory study was to learn more about childcare directors’ views about the state of childcare, and how the field has changed over the last decade. the future of childcare was also addressed, based on the changes that have occurred. with more children being cared for outside the home, it is imperative for childcare centers to prevail and thrive. however, it is clear that changes need to happen at the community, state, and federal level. it is critical that we seek out feedback from those working in the childcare field when policies and laws are being created. future research should aim to focus on identifying and retaining qualified teachers, professionalizing the childcare field, and providing resources and funding to support high quality childcare programs. references administration for children and families. 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(2002). the home-day care link: mapping children’s new world order. early childhood research quarterly, 17, 374-392. swedish ministry of education. (2000). a new system of teacher education. stockholm: swedish ministry of education and science. thorpe, k., jansen, e., sullivan, v., irvine, s., & mcdonald, p. (2020). identifying predictors of retention and professional wellbeing of the early childhood workforce in a time of change. journal of education change, 21, 623-647. u.s. department of health & human services (2022, october, 31). head start services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohs/about/head-start van laere, k. & vandenbroeck, m. (2017). early learning in preschool: meaningful and inclusive for all? exploring perspectives of migrant parents and staff. european early education journal, 25(2), 243-257. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293x.2017.1288017 https://buffettinstitute.nebraska.edu/-/media/beci/docs/provider-survey-2-080420-final.pdf https://buffettinstitute.nebraska.edu/-/media/beci/docs/provider-survey-2-080420-final.pdf http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1097/00001163-200607000-00007 http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1097/00001163-200607000-00007 https://www.learntechlib.org/p/208200/ https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2018.1543856 https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/nieer-mayjune2021-pandemic-first-look826-el.pdf https://nieer.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/nieer-mayjune2021-pandemic-first-look826-el.pdf https://education.virginia.edu/documents/epwworkingpaper-70teacherturnoverinheadstart2019-05pdf https://education.virginia.edu/documents/epwworkingpaper-70teacherturnoverinheadstart2019-05pdf http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0003-066x.61.2.99 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ed531540.pdf https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-2663 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohs/about/head-start https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293x.2017.1288017 14 hoffman wells, m. b. (2015). predicting preschool teacher retention and turnover in newly hired head start teachers across the first half of the school year. early childhood research quarterly, 30(part a), 152-159. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.10.003 whitebook, m., mclean, c., & austin, l. e. (2016). early childhood workforce index – 2016. center for the study of child care employment. https://cscce.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/index-2016-executivesummary.pdf world health organization & unicef (2014). care for child development: improving the care of young children. accessed sept. 1, 2022. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241548403 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/j.ecresq.2014.10.003 https://cscce.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/index-2016-executive-summary.pdf https://cscce.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/index-2016-executive-summary.pdf https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241548403 dialog, 22(1), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 coaching head start teachers on the use of teaching pyramid model practices in the classroom cynthia c. baughan anderson university vivian i. correa and reem muharib university of north carolina at charlotte the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of individualized coaching and performance feedback on the implementation of teaching pyramid model practices by three head start teachers. participants were lead teachers in three preschool classrooms located in one head start program. during intervention, teachers received weekly individualized coaching on teaching pyramid model practices, followed by a weekly classroom observation and emailed performance feedback. all three teachers demonstrated increased implementation of teaching pyramid model practices after the intervention was introduced. these results suggest that individualized coaching and performance feedback may support head start teachers’ implementation of evidence based practices that can enhance the social and emotional development of young children and address challenging behaviors in the classroom. keywords: head start; coaching; teaching pyramid model; social emotional development young children who do not develop appropriate levels of social and emotional competence have an increased chance of experiencing negative interactions with teachers (strain, lambert, kerr, stagg, & lenkner, 1983) and peers (odom et al., 2006), and later failure in school (tremblay, 2000). there is strong evidence, however, that young children who develop social-emotional competencies have an increased chance of experiencing long-term positive outcomes throughout school and life (brown & conroy, 2011; denham et al., 2003; fantuzzo et al., 2007; jones, greenberg, & crowley, 2015; mcclelland, acock, & morrison, 2006; moffitt et al., 2011). one factor that has been found to be associated with the development of critical social and emotional skills is the quality of the relationships between a child and the important adults in his life (center on the developing child at harvard university, 2015), including the teacher-child relationship (howes, 2000). the teaching pyramid model (fox, dunlap, hemmeter, joseph, & strain, 2003) provides a framework for evidence-based strategies that early childhood educators can use to research-to-practice summary 104 baughan, correa, & muharib promote appropriate social-emotional development and competencies in young children through responsive relationships, supportive environments, explicit teaching of social and emotional skills, and individualized supports for children who experience challenging behaviors. however, many early childhood teachers will need access to resources and training to be able to implement such strategies in their classrooms (branson & demchak, 2011; carter & norman, 2010). supporting teachers to implement evidence based practices that promote social-emotional competence in young children should be a priority for early childhood programs. the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of individualized coaching and performance feedback on three head start teachers’ use of teaching pyramid model (fox et al., 2003) practices in the classroom, and how those practices may affect social interactions within the classroom. we addressed the following research questions: (a) what is the impact of coaching and performance feedback on head start preschool teachers’ use of teaching pyramid model practices in the classroom? and (b) what is the impact of teacher coaching and performance feedback on social interactions in the classroom? summary of research methods participants participants were three head start preschool classroom lead teachers who volunteered to receive training related to promoting social-emotional skills and preventing challenging behaviors in the classroom. all three teachers were african-american females with years of teaching experience ranging from six to twenty. one teacher had a bachelor’s degree, and two had earned a master’s degree. each lead teacher had a teaching assistant and 17 children, ages 4-5 years, in her respective classroom. one teacher had previously participated in a one-time professional development training session about the teaching pyramid model (fox et al., 2003). the other two teachers had no prior training. teacher coaching and performance feedback before coaching began, each teacher was observed and scored across the 14 key practice areas of the teaching pyramid observation tool (tpot) for preschool classrooms (hemmeter, fox, & snyder, 2014). based on the tpot scores, the researchers selected the lowest scoring key practice area as the focus for coaching for each teacher. these areas included ‘transitioning between activities’ for one teacher, ‘teaching friendship skills’ for another, and ‘promoting children’s engagement’ for the third. individual coaching sessions were conducted once a week for approximately 10 minutes in a separate room in the head start center. consistent with other studies that used coaching (e.g., fox et al., 2011; godfrey-hurrell, correa, & truesdell, 2018), each session included working together to set goals for what practices to implement during the week, developing a plan for how to implement these practices, and receiving feedback from the coach about their use of teaching pyramid model (fox et al., 2003) practices. following each coaching session at the end of the same week, each teacher was observed in her classroom by a second researcher who then emailed individualized performance feedback teaching pyramid model research to practice 105 to each teacher. each email focused on noting what the teacher had done well, and providing a suggestion for addressing a challenge seen in the classroom. research design we used an experimental single-subject multiple probe across participants design. data included a pre-intervention classroom observation using the tpot for preschool classrooms (hemmeter, fox, & snyder, 2014), weekly classroom observations using an individualized version of the tpot created for each teacher that included the key practice area that was the focus of coaching, and a pre-intervention and intervention observation of social interactions within each classroom. summary of results effects of coaching and performance feedback on teacher practices data from the individualized tpot forms indicate the three teachers increased their use of teaching pyramid model (fox et al., 2003) targeted practices following coaching and performance feedback. specifically, the first teacher increased to implementing 88% of the key practices related to ‘transitioning between activities’ after three coaching sessions. the second teacher increased to 100% of the key practices related to ‘teaching friendship skills’ after five coaching sessions. the third increased to 56% of the key practices related to ‘promoting children’s engagement’ after two coaching sessions. additionally, each teacher showed increases in the implementation of key practices related to areas on the tpot for preschool classrooms (hemmeter, fox, & snyder, 2014) that were not the focus of coaching and performance feedback. effects of coaching and performance feedback on social interactions in the classroom data from the observations of social interactions in the classrooms showed little change related to children’s antisocial behaviors following coaching and performance feedback. however, the social interaction data between the second teacher and the children in her classroom demonstrate a pattern that suggests implementation of teaching pyramid model (fox et al., 2003) practices may be associated with increased positive interactions between teachers and children, a practice consistent with the goal of creating responsive and supportive environments. discussion and implications for practice evidence of the association between social-emotional competence in young children and longterm positive outcomes is clear (e.g., brown & conroy, 2011; denham et al., 2003; fantuzzo et al., 2007; jones, greenberg, & crowley, 2015; mcclelland, acock, & morrison, 2006; moffitt et al., 2011), emphasizing the importance of teachers supporting the development of these skills within early childhood settings. results of this study on the effects of individualized coaching and 106 baughan, correa, & muharib performance feedback on three head start teachers’ use of evidence-based strategies that can promote social-emotional competence are promising. after receiving coaching and performance feedback, all of the participating teachers increased their use of teaching pyramid model (fox et al., 2003) practices in their classrooms. increases occurred immediately, with substantial increases noted in as few as three coaching sessions, and additional increases occurring in areas that were not the focus of coaching sessions. additionally, results related to the social interactions between the teachers and children in their classrooms suggest the level of use of evidence-based practices, such as those included in the teaching pyramid model (fox et al., 2003), are associated with the social climate established in the classroom. for example, when these practices are not being used, there may be lower levels of adultchild positive interactions; whereas, the use of these practices may increase responsivity and positive adult-child interactions within the classroom environment. finally, data from this study demonstrating low use of practices related to the teaching pyramid model (fox et al., 2003) before coaching sessions began is consistent with findings in other studies that suggest many early childhood teachers may not have adequate access to training that prepares them to successfully promote social-emotional development and prevent challenging behaviors in the classroom (branson & demchak, 2011; driscoll & pianta, 2010). although more research is needed to evaluate the effects of coaching on preschool teachers’ implementation of teaching pyramid model (fox et al., 2003) practices in the classroom, the findings from this study, in addition to those in prior research (e.g., fox et al., 2011; godfreyhurrell, correa & truesdell, 2018), suggest that individualized coaching is beneficial in supporting teachers’ use of evidencebased practices that promote social-emotional competence in young children. implications of these findings related to early childhood programs are as follows: (1) optimizing the effects of coaching and performance feedback may likely take longer than five sessions focused on one key practice area. the tpot includes 14 key practice areas, and extending coaching sessions and performance feedback across the full year and across multiple practice areas should prove a more powerful approach to increasing implementation and maintaining these skills. (2) the teaching pyramid model emphasizes evidence-based practices that promote the development of responsive relationships with young children and create supportive environments. teachers are encouraged to incorporate these strategies (e.g., keeping children engaged during transitions, teaching expectations, promoting children’s engagement in classroom activities, and engaging in supportive conversations with children) in their classrooms to develop safe, calm, and predictable environments for young children. (3) early childhood educators should explicitly teach appropriate social and emotional skills to young children throughout daily activities. for example, teachers can include book discussions related to emotions or friendship during whole group time, model how to respond to difficult situations during group and individual activities, provide descriptive feedback about what children are doing well to increase their awareness of their own actions, facilitate friendship skills during centers and outdoor play, and encourage children to reflect on their own feelings and behavior. (4) early childhood educators are encouraged to intentionally plan to increase their use of evidence-based practices that support social-emotional competence in their classrooms. the coaching process in this study involved working with teachers to identify a specific teaching pyramid model research to practice 107 goal (i.e., practice to implement) and then plan how to implement this practice within their own classrooms. even if a coach is not available, on a weekly basis, teachers could plan to work on developing their skills related to a key practice and then reflect on what went well and on what they may need to continue to improve. (5) early childhood administrators are encouraged to consider ways to increase professional development opportunities for teachers related to the development of social-emotional competence in young children, as well as ways to provide individualized support for teachers in their own classrooms on an ongoing basis. coaching sessions in this study lasted for 10 minutes once a week, resulting in positive classroom changes that did not require extensive amounts of time and support. references branson, d., & demchak, m. (2011). toddler teachers’ use of teaching pyramid practices. topics in early childhood special education, 30, 196-208. brown, w. h., & conroy, m. a. (2011). social-emotional competence in young children with developmental delays: our reflection and vision for the future. journal of early intervention, 33, 310-320. carter, d. r., & norman, r. k. v. (2010). class-wide positive behavior support in preschool: improving teacher implementation through consultation. early childhood education journal, 38, 279-288. center on the developing child at harvard university (2015). supportive relationships and active skill-building strengthen the foundations of resilience: working paper no. 13. retrieved from www.developingchild.harvard.edu denham, s. a., blair, k. a., demulder, e., levitas, j., sawyer, k., auerbach-major, s., & queenan, p. (2003). preschool emotional competence: pathway to social competence. child development, 74, 238-256. driscoll, k. c., & pianta, r. c. (2010). banking time in head start: early efficacy of an intervention designed to promote supportive teacher-child relationships. early education and development, 21, 38-27. fantuzzo, j., bulotsky-shearer, r., mcdermott, p. a., mcwayne, c., frye, d., & perlman, s. (2007). investigation of dimensions of social-emotional classroom behavior and school readiness for low-income urban preschool children. school psychology review, 36, 4462. fox, l., dunlap, g., hemmeter, m. l., joseph, g. e., & strain, p. s. (2003). the teaching pyramid: a model for supporting social competence and preventing challenging behavior in young children. young children, 58, 48-52. fox, l., hemmeter, m. l., snyder, p., binder, d. p., & clarke, s. (2011). coaching early childhood special educators to implement a comprehensive model for promoting young children’s social competence. topic in early childhood special education, 31, 178-192. godfreyhurrell, k., correa, v. i., & truesdell, l. (2018). effects of coaching and performance feedback on preschool teachers’ implementation of the teaching pyramid model. national head start association dialog, 21(1), 50-67. hemmeter, m. l., fox, l., & snyder, p. (2014). teaching pyramid observation tool for preschool classrooms (tpot) manual, research edition [measurement tool]. baltimore, md: brooks. howes, c. (2000). social-emotional classroom climate in child care, child-teacher relationships and children’s second grade peer relations. social development, 9, 191-204. jones, d. e., greenberg, m., & crowley, m. (2015). early social-emotional functioning and public health: the relationship between kindergarten social competence and future wellness. american journal of public health, 105, 2283-2290. mcclelland, m. m., acock, a. c., & morrison, f. j. (2006). the impact of kindergarten learning-related skills on academic trajectories at the end of elementary school. early childhood research quarterly, 21, 471-490. moffitt, t. e., arseneault, l., belsky, d., dickson, n., hancox, r. j., harrington, h., caspi, a. (2011). a gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america, 108(7), 2693-2698. doi:10.1073/pnas.1010076108 108 baughan, correa, & muharib odom, s. l., zercher, c. l. s., marquart, j. m., sandall, s., & brown, w. h. (2006). social acceptance and rejection of preschool children with disabilities: a mixed-method analysis. journal of educational psychology, 98, 807-823. strain, p., lambert, d., kerr, m., stagg, v., & lenkner, d. (1983). naturalistic assessment of children’s compliance to teachers, requests and consequences for compliance. journal of applied behavior analysis, 16, 243-249. tremblay, r. (2000). the development of aggressive behavior during childhood: what have we learned in the past century? international journal of behavioral development, 24, 129141. nhsa dialog, 26(1), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 a longitudinal study of behavioral consultation in inclusive preschool classrooms megan kunze university of oregon berenice de la cruz texas a&m universitysan antonio teachers in early childhood classrooms face a diverse child population, including children with developmental delays and differences (dd), requiring teachers to exhibit professional skills to address a broad spectrum of developmental needs. at times, early learners with and without dd exhibit challenging behaviors (e.g., aggression, tantrums). nevertheless, teachers find themselves ill-prepared to manage such behavior and teach under these circumstances due to limited training in classroom behavior management. applied behavior analysis (aba) is an effective treatment for children with various developmental differences and has proven successful in classroom settings when applied. this report describes a behavior consultation model used in a four-year project in 44 early childhood classrooms with 196 teachers and 97 children identified as having developmental delays and challenging behavior. recommendations for choosing a behavior consultant for similar settings and a discussion of recurring behavior strategies recommended are presented. keywords: behavioral consultation, inclusion, early childhood education, developmental delays, applied behavior analysis introduction the education of the handicapped act amendment of 1990 the 1990 amendment (public law 101-476) to the individuals with disabilities act of 1976 mandates that children be placed in the least restrictive classroom environment. the law supports an inclusive early childhood education (ece), where children with and without disabilities are taught together in the same classroom environment, which for many children, is considered best practice (odom, 2000). for teachers to successfully meet the needs of children with diverse development in a single classroom environment, they must have the combined knowledge of research article 36 kunze and de la cruz evidence-based practices of ece and early childhood special education (ecse). teachers need knowledge of each child’s developmental, behavioral, and pre-academic skills and the competency to teach to these unique needs. teacher preparation in ece and ecse inclusive education seeks to teach children at varying developmental stages and ability levels in a shared environment. however, many teacher preparation programs remain isolated in their training, focusing on general or special education. as a result of narrowly focused training programs (i.e., either ece or ecse with little to no cross-training), graduates are only partially prepared, without the knowledge or competency to meet the broader needs of developmentally diverse learners. segregated teacher preparation is not a new concern in early education. historically, significant emphasis has been placed on the importance of collaborative and comprehensive teacher preparation to succeed in inclusive practices (bergen, 1997). in 1994, kemple argued that educators trained to meet all childrens’ needs are what allow successful inclusion in early childhood programs (kemple, 1994). additionally, comprehensive training in ece and ecse heightens the possibility for children in inclusive settings to receive the highest quality education possible (bruder,1998). decades later, this problem remains a focal point in teacher preparation research (see guralnick & bruder, 2016; d’agostino & douglas, 2021a) and headline practice guidelines (see bruder et al., 2021) for ece and ecse. challenging behavior in early childhood spaces a particular area of concern for young children with disabilities is the impact of challenging behavior on social-emotional development. challenging behavior is defined as disruptive behaviors which negatively impact learning and social engagement opportunities, decreasing the child’s opportunity for developmental progress (dunlap et al., 2006). challenging behaviors can disrupt the learning environment and may escalate to more injurious actions, potentially beginning with tantrums and increasing the harm to self and others (e.g., head banging, biting, and property destruction; erturk et al., 2017). in ece/ecse classrooms, these behaviors often manifest as aggression toward peers, elopement, and tantrums requiring teachers to be trained to prevent and respond to these behaviors effectively. while many early education teacher preparation programs require classroom management and guidance coursework, specific training on strategies to prevent challenging behavior and teach replacement skills is less common (d’agostino & douglas, 2021b). in a survey of teachers in the state of virginia (granja et al., 2018), participants (n=918) described challenging behaviors (e.g., impulsivity, over-active, refusal, limited ability to follow directions, aggression) to occur daily and interfere with their care of other children and interfere with peer learning overall. over 50% of the teachers in this survey reported that teacher training and access to specialists would decrease challenging behavior and better support classroom teachers (granja et al., 2018). a longitudinal study of behavioral consultation 37 behavioral consultation one solution is to continue teacher education through behavioral consultation. consultation is defined as an expert passing their knowledge and skills to a mentee, who, in turn, can implement this newly learned approach (kunze & machalicek, 2021). more specifically, behavioral consultation includes a behavior expert mentoring a classroom teacher on strategies to decrease challenging child behavior. behavioral consultation can provide training in various situations. for the early childhood educator, this type of consultation may provide specific guidance on setting up classroom environments, allowing for increased learning and communicating expectations for children to succeed. additionally, the behavioral consultant may observe during active classroom times, allowing for feedback on supporting play between peers. the behavioral consultant may model behavioral strategies during role-play scenarios before asking the teacher to implement the strategy directly with a child. praise and corrective feedback can be provided to the teacher when demonstrated in the classroom. teacher progress and areas of focus for practical improvement can be tracked independently. such self-evaluation data allows the behavior consultant to recognize skill deficits in teaching strategy implementation and adjust the appropriateness of these strategies to best meet the child’s needs. behavior consultants guide educators in using this data to make data-based decisions in the classroom. this example, behavioral skills training, is often utilized in behavioral consultation (see kirkpatrick et al., 2019). the present study in a 4-year project implemented by the authors, behavior consultants provided recommendations to ece/ecse teachers in inclusive classrooms. overall, 44 early childhood classrooms were visited, with 196 teachers and 97 children. using the data from this 4-year project, the present study will: 1. describe an effective behavior consultation model, 2. emphasize critical factors to consider in choosing a behavior consultant, and 3. highlight recurring behavior recommendations, including two case samples. a behavior consultation model behavior consultants were employed by a non-profit agency focusing on children and families with dd. this agency partnered with a school district in a southern us state to provide behavioral consultation to preschool programs in the public school district. the behavior consultants were master degreed board-certified behavior analysts (bcba) or doctoral level bcbas with a minimum of five years of experience (range of 5-12 years). childs were identified by the school or center supervisor as exhibiting challenging behavior which warranted outside assistance. each classroom teacher agreed that a behavior consultant would assist in training them to respond better and prevent challenging behaviors in their inclusive learning environment. 38 kunze and de la cruz between two and six consult visits at various time points throughout the school year (i.e., august to may) were provided to each site. visits were 60 to 90 minutes in duration and occurred most often in a classroom, cafeteria, or playground setting. before the consultation visit, a written overview was provided to the consultant describing the classroom, staff, and focus child. consultation visits included a review of the problem, an observation, and detailed feedback. the review of the problem was a brief discussion between the consultant and the classroom teacher. this meeting was an opportunity for the teacher to describe the challenging behavior further and include what supports were currently in place. this review also included a brief history of the child. in some cases, the consultant reviewed the child’s individualized education plan (iep) to identify some developmental skills. following the review, the consultant completed their observation in the chosen setting. the consultant looked for the child’s expressive and receptive language, interactions with materials, and social interactions with peers. the consultant also took note of the teacher-child interactions, classroom management and routines, and adult behavior in the room. because the consultant did not intervene, work with, or model behavioral strategies directly with the child, detailed feedback was necessary to provide a clear suggestion. following the observation, the consultant created a written report of their observations, including strengths and suggestions. this report provides documentation to the classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, and center director for future reference. when specific strategies needed to be demonstrated for clarity to a classroom teacher, the director arranged for the teacher to leave the classroom to meet with the consultant or schedule a visit within a few days. ideally, the behavioral consultant presented and discussed recommendations with the teacher and director before leaving the site. however, this was not always possible. follow-up phone discussions occurred with the supervisory team on an as-needed basis between consult visits when an in-person meeting did not occur. individualized return visits were unique to each site and situation. figure 1 provides an overview of the consultation model. figure 1. behavioral consult model a longitudinal study of behavioral consultation 39 identifying a qualified behavior consultant several considerations should be taken when selecting a behavioral consultant. the first consideration is the experiences and expertise of the potential consultant. consultation requires expert knowledge and is difficult to define by time rather than the experiences of a position (kunze & machalicek, 2020). behavior consultants should consider themselves an expert in ece/ecse and be able to partner with other professionals when necessary to broaden their knowledge in practice (nancarrow et al., 2013). the behavioral consultant should have experience working with young children of various levels of development and abilities in a classroom environment. it is expected that early in their career, the potential consultant has extensive mentorship, which guides their practice toward expertise. for example, as described in the behavior analysis certification board (bacb) ethics code, new bcbas should work under the guidance of an experienced bcba for 12 months following certification when they are providing supervision to those accruing fieldwork experience towards certification (bacb, 2021). further, less experienced bcba should seek guidance until they are confident in their practice and fluent enough to teach others as required when in a behavior consultant role. selecting a behavioral consultant with experience in working with culturally diverse children and teachers is advisable to understand the importance of cultural practices within a classroom tailored to a particular population. such considerations include languages spoken in the classroom, languages spoken in the home, and knowledge of cultural considerations demonstrated in communication and activities (cycyk & duran, 2020). experience with culturally diverse children is recommended as a secondary consideration. similarly, the consultant should have experience working with professionals from various cultures. such experiences will increase the opportunity for open communication and recognition of bias during such interactions. 40 kunze and de la cruz third, the variation of child ability and developmental needs of each child should be matched with the experience and knowledge of the behavior consultant. for example, a child who falls asleep regularly during active classroom times may have a poor sleep schedule at home. following the principle of parsimony (i.e., identifying the most straightforward and accurate explanation for behavior first), consultants should recognize the need to conduct a medical rule out prior to suggesting classroom strategies (cooper et al., 2020). while it may seem redundant to highlight the knowledge of behavior as a consideration for a behavior consultant, we feel compelled to add it to the list of considerations. the consultant needs to have experience with various behaviors. despite certification, training, and experience, one consultant cannot have experience in every challenging behavior. for example, suppose a child engages in severe challenging behavior such as self-injurious behavior. in that case, it is recommended that the behavioral consultant have experience in self-injury prevention and deescalation techniques. thus, knowledge and practical experience in the challenging behavior in the classroom environment targeted for consultation is an important consideration when choosing a professional to train a teacher. additionally, the teacher's experience level should be considered when pairing them with a behavioral consultant is a fifth consideration. for example, the support necessary to guide a new teacher with less experience is more intense and may include comprehensive classroom management and environmental arrangement suggestions. a more seasoned teacher seeking support for one particular child may require a behavior consultant who is exceptionally competent in working with specific populations of children. lastly, we recommend that the behavioral consultant be a bcba, as bcbas have specialized training to provide behavioral consultation (bacb, 2021). it is important to note that not all behavior analysts have experience in ece settings. in this case, we recommend prioritizing experience over credentials. if the behavioral consultant lacks the experience mentioned above, the behavioral consultant should have a mentor they can consult with who has this experience. this mentor can be a supervisor or colleague. this information is often lacking from a resume or curriculum vitae. as such, engaging in conversation about this topic may be necessary to determine the behavioral consultant's experience. table 1 provides a list of the considerations discussed here. table 1. considerations for choosing a behavior consultant characteristic example in practice 1. experience > three years of experience in ece/ecse practice with young children in classroom settings considers themselves an expert in some behavior and consulting topics 2. cultural diversity explores personal bias to decrease its influence on work recognizes the importance of cultural and linguistic differences a longitudinal study of behavioral consultation 41 3. knowledge of developmental differences experience with a broad range of disabilities and disorders signs and symptoms of some disorders 4. knowledge of behavior classroom management skills self-injurious behavior experience 5. varied practice work with new teachers work with experienced teachers 6. board certification as a behavior analyst adheres to ethics code to seek assistance when work is outside the scope of experience effective behavioral strategies trends in behavioral strategies recommended to classroom teachers over the four-year projects emerged. table 2 lists the ten most frequent recommendations with corresponding examples of classroom concerns. as not all recommendations were ranked as top occurrences for all four years, the table also shows how many years that recommendation occurred in the top ten. table 2 also shows detailed data on the top 5 strategies most often recommended in year 4 of the project. the number of children for which a particular recommendation matched their challenging behavior. for example, the recommendation of teaching a child to follow directions was in response to 30 of the 38 children involved in the consulting sample. thus 79% of children observed were thought to benefit from their teacher focusing on teaching the child to follow directions by creating clear transitions and consistent routines and individually explaining these expectations. table 2. top recommendations during behavior consultations top 10 recommendations sample classroom concerns to change through consultation years occurred year 4** (n=38) teach a child to follow directions by clearly communicating expectations* chaotic transitions unestablished routines 1,2,3,4 30 (79%) teaching child to request child difficulty requesting help limited vocabulary 1,2,3 encouraging/supporting peer interactions and play skills* aggression during play and group time wandering 1,2,3,4 19 (50%) use reinforcement effectively disruptive behavior to seek attention attention given to unwanted behavior 1,2,3,4 14 (37%) individual expectations with consideration for classroom community elopement due to different expectations imitation of disruptive behavior as an escape 2,3,4 17 (45%) communication system tantrums limited receptive or expressive language 1,2,3 42 kunze and de la cruz supporting self-help skills child inability to complete the task learned helplessness with high teacher attention 1,2,3 using visual supports unclear classroom schedule and expectations unsure of appropriate behavior 1,2 prevent disruptive behaviors, identify the function and teach replacement* time out or child sent home teacher responding incorrectly to child’s needs 2,4 22 (58%) meet sensory needs high classroom noise level chaotic activity level 2,3 note. *case examples are presented for these recommendations; ** this column represents the number of children that benefitted from this recommendation. these numbers are provided for the top five most frequently used recommendations in year 4. case examples to further clarify the relationship between consult recommendations and classroom concerns, the two case examples below highlight teaching children to follow directions through clear expectations. while the names of the children and teachers have been changed, the description, recommendations, and data are actual. case example 1: teaching a child to follow directions. teachers were taught to work towards the child’s success in independently following directions by gradually decreasing the level of assistance provided. this strategy was recommended when teachers gave directions (whole group or to a specific child), and one or more children did not follow the directions independently or with support. therefore, the teacher presented the request so a child could follow a directive; if they did not, teachers were taught to provide a child with increasing levels of assistance to encourage child success. in behavior analytic terms, helping a child respond correctly is called prompting, and gradually decreasing assistance is known as fading. ms. acosta was a new teacher who reported that a 4-year-old child in her classroom, iris, did not follow directions most of the time. when the behavioral consultant observed, she noted that iris independently followed classroom directions during circle time 20% of the time. the behavioral consultant also noted that ms. acosta provided clear directions 50% of the time. in addition, the behavioral consultant noted that 20% of the time, other children prohibited iris from following directions (e.g., distracted iris, unintentionally blocked pathway). iris did not say or do anything when this occurred. the consultant made the following recommendations: 1. continue expecting iris to follow through with the teacher’s request, even when the child engages in inappropriate behaviors (i.e., crying, screaming, stomping, tantrums). 2. be firm, clear, and immediate with choices (e.g., first, throw away snack trach, then play). 3. teach iris words and gestures to communicate with peers and adults. 4. if bullying behavior is observed, intervene, and teach iris how to respond. a longitudinal study of behavioral consultation 43 ms. acosta received feedback and coaching regarding implementing the abovementioned recommendations six times throughout the school year. by the end of the school year, ms. acosta provided clear directions 100% of the time and iris independently followed directions 83% of the time. see figure 2 (on next page) for additional outcome data. figure 2. following directions in class case example 2: prevent disruptive behaviors, identifying the function, and teach replacement. this strategy was recommended when the child is engaged in disruptive school behavior. disruptive behavior included leaving an area without permission, biting, spitting, pinching, hitting, throwing toys and furniture, and screaming. these behaviors occurred when the child was asked to begin or end an activity, get or give up the item, and when the child was given attention or, in contrast, was not given attention. table 3 shows common reasons children engage in disruptive behaviors in ecse classrooms along with recommended strategies to prevent disruptive behavior, responses, and replacement behaviors. table 3. common disruptive behaviors observed in ecse classrooms child reason for challenging behavior prevention strategies taught to teacher in consultation behavior taught to child by teacher (replacement skills) obtain attention 1. provide frequent attention and reinforcement 2. schedule time with adult or peer 3. engage in activity with the child 4. give choice of partner raise hand say “help” or “person’s name” obtain tangible 1. give choices of items/materials 2. prompt appropriate request for items 3. scheduled access to desired object teach appropriate request for items 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 student follows directions teacher provides correct prompt teacher redirects more than once p er ce n ta g e baseline end of consult 44 kunze and de la cruz (later teach waiting and accepting no) obtain activity 1. give choices of activities 2. prompt appropriate request for activities 3. use activity schedules 4. provide something the child likes for completion of activity 5. scheduled access to desired activity teach appropriate request for activities (later teach waiting and accepting no) escape attention 1. scheduled breaks 2. modify seating arrangements appropriate request for time alone escape tangible 1. prompt appropriate refusal of items teach appropriate refusal of items (e.g., no thank you, i don’t want any) teach to tolerate activity escape activity 1. teach appropriate refusal of activities 2. add fun materials 3. modify task length, expectations, materials, instructions, response mode, and seating arrangement 4. break task down to make it easier 5. reduce distractions 6. provide peer supports teach appropriate refusal of activities (e.g., no thank you, i don’t want to do that) teach following directions teach to request help case example 3: needs description. in september, the behavioral consultant observed carlo in ms. bridget’s classroom. on the behavioral consultant’s first visit in september, she noted that carlo engaged in challenging behavior for 8 minutes during a 10-minute segment of time. his teacher directed carlo to join circle time 20 times before responding. he responded with verbal refusal (e.g., “i don’t want to!), property destruction (e.g., throwing items within reach), and elopement (e.g., attempting to leave the classroom with the item he was asked to give up). when he eventually went to circle, he stayed with the group for 2 of the 10 minutes. although ms. bridget constantly told carlo to do something, she only provided clear directions (i.e., made eye contact, stood at child level, ensured she had carlo’s attention) 50% of the time. because carlo was engaging in the typical disruptive behavior called escape activity (see table 3), ms. chavez was asked to respond to disruptive behavior by adhering to the following recommendations: 1. add fun materials to circle time activities. 2. modify expectations and instructions to be sure carlo hears the instruction. 3. reduce distractions by moving carlo’s seat away from the classroom door. 4. be clear and consistent with directions (e.g., make eye contact, get down on the child’s level, and ensure you have his attention before providing a direction). after four behavioral consults, carlos went to circle time after the teacher gave two verbal reminders. he followed directions for all 10 minutes of circle time. additionally, ms. chavez was observed to give clear directions 90% of the time. a longitudinal study of behavioral consultation 45 conclusion administrators can suggest behavioral consultation to train teachers in ece/ecse classrooms to meet the needs of a diverse population, including children with developmental delays and differences. a qualified behavior consultant can decrease challenging child behavior and increase developmentally appropriate teaching strategies. the behavior consultation model described here is just one example of consultation options for early educators. while it is recommended that schools seek outside support to address challenging behavior, administrators should review the behavioral consultant’s qualifications for the best fit. the strategies presented in this report are some strategies a behavior consultant should have expertise in implementing in an ece setting. while behavioral consultation can provide training in various situations, the outcome is for teachers to receive the necessary training from an expert, so they can, in turn, become experts themselves in decreasing challenging behaviors in their classroom environments. references behavior analyst certification board (bacb) (2022, july 7). the 2022 transition: what you need to know. littleton, 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(2016). early childhood inclusion in the united states: goals, current status, and future directions. infants & young children, 29, 166-177. https://doi.org/10.1097/iyc.0000000000000071 https://www.bacb.com/the-2022-transition-what-you-need-to-know/ https://doi.org/10.1177/105381519802100209 https://doi.org.10.1097/iyc.0000000000000191 https://doi.org/10.1177/1096250619864916 https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2021.1902435 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01108-7 https://doi.org/10.1177/019874290603200103 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0145445517741474 https://doi.org/10.1097/iyc.0000000000000071 46 kunze and de la cruz individuals with disabilities act amendment of 1990, 101 u.s.c. § 476 (1990). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/statute-104/pdf/statute-104-pg1103.pdf#page=49 kirkpatrick, m., akers, j. & rivera, g. (2019). use of behavioral skills training with teachers: a systematic review. journal of behavioral education, 28, 344–361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-019-09322-z. kemple, k. m. (1994). preparing teachers for inclusive education: the development of a unified teacher education program in early childhood and early childhood special education. teacher education and special education, 17(1), 38–51. kunze, m., & machalicek, w. (2021). interdisciplinary teams: a model to support students with autism. psychology in the schools, 59(7), 1350-1362. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22618. nancarrow, s. a., booth, a., ariss, s., smith, t., enderby, p., & roots, a. (2013). ten principles of good interdisciplinary team work. human resources for health, 11(19), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-449111-19. odom, s. l. (2000). preschool inclusion: what we know and where we go from here. topics in early childhood special education, 20(1), 20–27. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/statute-104/pdf/statute-104-pg1103.pdf#page=49 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10864-019-09322-z https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22618 https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-4491-11-19 https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-4491-11-19 dialog, 23(2), copyright © 2020, issn: 1930-9325 choosing quality early childhood curricula rachel e. schachter university of nebraska-lincoln shayne piasta the ohio state university laura justice the ohio state university this article summarizes a study investigating the curricula and features of those curricula used by 497 early childhood educators across one midwestern state. curricula were identified and coded for quality features derived from the research, theory, and policy literatures. results indicated that most educators utilized creative curriculum or high scope (over 60%); however, these and many other curricula did not include all the key quality features. importantly, most educators were utilizing curricula with no evidence of effectiveness for supporting children’s outcomes. furthermore, limitations in the presence of key curricula features may indicate that curricula generally are not adequately supporting early childhood educators. we conclude with a series of questions for educators and programs to consider when selecting their curriculum. keywords: curriculum, early childhood, educators, preschool introduction curricula are the foundation of early childhood education from which educators design learning environments and support the development of children (national association for the education of young children [naeyc], 2003; national center on quality teaching and learning [ncqtl], 2015). a curriculum is broadly considered to consist of a written plan focused on facilitating children’s learning across a variety of in a variety of content domains such as language and literacy, math, science, and social emotional development (kostelnik et al., 2019; ncqtl, 2015; us department of education). early childhood curricula should be informed by theories and research research to practice 96 schachter et al. about how children learn and develop (williams, 1999) and often build from children’s interests, experiences, and current skills to support learning (burchinal et al., 2002; clements et al., 2011; duncan et al., 2007; jones, 2012; jones & nimmo, 1994; naeyc, 2009). because of the important role of curricula, many state and federal policies require the use of curricula (quality compendium, 2019; u.s. department of health and human services [dhhs], 2010). there is a common understanding that curricula should be chosen locally by educators and programs to meet the needs of their families and schools. given the importance of curricula and the flexibility in choosing curricula, a growing set of curricula are available to educators and programs. however, less is known about which curricula educators and programs are choosing. more importantly, we do not know the quality of those curricula and if they are adequately supporting educators and facilitating learning for young children. by looking across the available literature from early childhood professional organizations (e.g., naeyc), policy documents (e.g., ncqtl), and research studies, several key features of curricula can be identified. these features are presented in table 1. although not exhaustive, this list includes features of curricula that are supported by theory, best practice recommendations, and/or empirical research (see schachter et al., in this publication for more information about the list and source documents). importantly, these features are critical components of curricula that can guide the planning and enactment of the curricula such that it can support the learning environment, instruction, and children’s positive outcomes. table 1 key features of quality curricula feature definition learning objectives curriculum has learning objectives for children support for planning curriculum has lesson plans that were tied to learning objectives. specified scope curriculum identifies the content that should be learned. specified sequence curriculum identifies the order in which content should be addressed. assessment curriculum contains a corresponding assessment to help understand how children are meeting curricular goals. training curriculum provides training. family involvement curriculum has ways to include home and school connections. research based publisher states that the curriculum is supported by research. content-specific curriculum focuses on developing one content area and skills associated with that content area. evidence of effectiveness curriculum has been found to have positive effects on children’s learning outcomes either through rigorous research identified by what works clearing house or other research studies. quality early childhood curricula 97 current study the purpose of this study was to identify the curricula used in early childhood classrooms, including head start, across one midwestern state. we were interested in how the reported curricula aligned with the key features of curricula identified in the literature review (table 1). participants for this study were 497 educators who completed a background questionnaire as part of a larger investigation of a state-sponsored professional development program. almost 40% reported that they were working in head start-affiliated classrooms and most participants’ (74.04%) programs received some type of subsidized funding either through federal or state sources. data were collected via survey (a background questionnaire) and summarized. we then conducted a content analysis (hsieh & shannon, 2005) to identify the presence or absence of curriculum features aligned with the existing literature (table 1) and, as relevant, we coded for how detailed the features were (in order to gauge the level of support the features offered educators in planning and enacting the curriculum). key findings reported curricula participants reported using 35 unique curricula. the most commonly used curriculum was creative curriculum (dodge et al., 2002; 53.12%), followed by: highscope (epstein & hohmann, 2012: 9.05%), handwriting without tears/get set for school (olsen & hohmann; 2.62%), montessori (montessori, 2012; 2.21%), let’s begin with the letter people (abrams & company, 1.61%), the core knowledge preschool sequence (core knowledge foundation, 2000; 1.61%), everyday mathematics (bell & bell, 1995; 1.61%), and mother goose time (anonymous, 2015; 1.01%). educators also reported using 27 other formal curricula, but each was used by four or fewer educators. twenty-nine educators reported using an educatoror school-created curriculum (5.84%). additionally, 29 educators reported not using any curriculum in their classrooms (5.84%). eighty educators reported using “other” documents not typically considered as curricula. for example, 34 educators reported the state early learning standards as their curriculum (6.84%), and some educators reported an assessment system as their curriculum (aeps, 5.84%; ati galileo, 0.60%). of the educators who responded with these “other” responses, 52 indicated these as their only curricula. thus, in total we found that 81 educators did report using any curriculum in their classrooms (16.30%). curricula alignment with key features we examined the alignment of the curricula with the key features from the literature. table 2 presents alignment of the most frequently reported curricula (those used by at least three educators) with the key features. although all of the 35 curricula used by educators included some key 98 schachter et al. features, most only partially aligned with quality features. importantly, only three curricula had evidence of effectiveness when evaluated in studies that were of sufficient quality to meet us department of education standards (what works clearinghouse); seven curricula had evidence of effectiveness when examined in additional studies. less than half of curricula provided lesson plans tied to learning objectives (43.8%) and curricula ranged in specification of learning objectives (15.63% of curricula provided no learning objectives, 34.38% provided broad learning objectives, 31.25% provided somewhat specified objectives, and 18.75% provided highly specified objectives). provision of a scope and sequence of content was also variable across curricula. only one third of curricula (34.4%) included or aligned with assessments. educators’ use of key features we also examined the features of curricula to which educators had access. as noted previously, most participants reported using creative curriculum or highscope constituting more than 60% of participants. importantly there is no evidence that creative curriculum supports positive outcomes for children, and highscope has not been tested with rigorous studies. across educators, only 15% were using curricula that had evidence of positive effects for children. when looking at the supports provided by the curricula that educators were using, most educators had curricula with somewhat specified or highly specified learning objectives (62%), but only 10% of educators had curricula that provided lesson plans tied to learning objectives. most educators used curricula with broad scopes (52.52%) and no sequence (86.35%) but did have curricula that included integrated or aligned assessments (70.38%). finally, most educators used curricula that provided ways of fostering family involvement (73.11%) and provided training (76%) to support implementation. summary and recommendations curricula are a critical tool for educators and programs in building the learning environment, implementing instruction, and bolstering positive outcomes for children. generally, curricula utilized by educators in this study were not fully aligned with key features identified in the literature. furthermore, over 15% of educators were not using a curriculum at all in their classroom. thus, our findings demonstrate that educators may not be using curricula that adequately support them in the classroom. educators play an important role in developing and implementing the curricula (pcer, 2008; schachter, 2017). given the various background experiences of educators in early childhood (whitebook et al., 2018) the importance of these individual key features may vary based on specific needs. for example, the specification of lesson plans may be more beneficial for less experienced educators who could use the scaffolding for planning and implementing instruction. similarly, if educators do not have expertise in a specific domain, such as math, provision of a scope and sequence of learning content would be beneficial for ensuring adequate coverage of the content in the curriculum. thus, educators and programs need to include contextual information as well as the key features of curricula in their decision-making processes. quality early childhood curricula 99 based on the extant literature as well as our findings we suggest that educators and programs ask the following questions as they select their classroom curricula: 1. does this curriculum allow for the generation of a written plan that facilitates children’s learning within or across domains such as language and literacy, social emotional development, math, science, and the creative arts? 2. can the curriculum be linked to learning objectives (such as head start or state standards) but is separate from those standards? 3. does the curriculum provide enough support via lesson plans, scope, and sequence of content, to support individual educators/myself in successful implementation? 4. what evidence is there that this curriculum works for supporting positive outcomes for children (possible resources include: what works clearinghouse, https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/fww/results?filters=,pre-k or ncqtl https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/curriculum/consumer-report)? 5. would a content-specific curriculum be appropriate for our program/classroom and children? 6. how does this curriculum align with or support our assessment systems in ways that allow for data-based decision making? 7. what are the ways this curriculum supports connections between families and schools? https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/fww/results?filters=,pre-k https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/curriculum/consumer-report 100 schachter et al. table 2. alignment of curricula used by at least three educators with key features curriculum learning objective contentspecific lesson plans and/or objectives scope sequence assessment family involvement evidence of effects the creative curriculum \ \ x x the highscope preschool curriculum \ \ x x \ handwriting without tears/get set for school \ \ x x x x \ montessori method x \ let’s begin with letter people \ \ \ \ x coreknowledge preschool sequence x x \ \ x x everyday mathematics \ x x x \ x x mother goose time preschool curriculum \ x \ \ x x the project approach \ secondstep \ x x x x x conscious discipline \ x x read, play and learn! \ x \ \ the dlm early childhood express \ \ x x x x a beka book homeschool curriculum \ x x x x x opening the world of learning (owl) x x \ \ x \ read it again prek! \ x x x x note. all of the listed curricula some sort of professional development and stated that they were “research based”. blank cell = no/none, x = yes, highly specified, rigorous evidence; \ = somewhat specified, broad, or some evidence quality early childhood curricula 101 references abrams & company. (2001). let’s begin with the letter people®. waterbury, ct: author. anonymous. (2015). mother goose time preschool curriculum. grawn, mi: experience early learning. bell, j., & bell, m. (1995). first grade everyday mathematics: teacher's manual and lesson guide (2nd ed.). chicago, il: everyday learning corporation. burchinal, m. r., peisner-feinberg, e., pianta, r., & howes, c. (2002). development of academic skills from preschool through second grade: family and classroom predictors of developmental trajectories. journal of school psychology, 40, 415-436. clements, d. h., sarama, j., spitler, m. e., lange, a. a., & wolfe c. b. (2011). mathematics learned by young children in an intervention based on learning trajectories: a large-scale cluster randomized trial. journal for research in mathematics education, 42, 127-166. doi:10.5951/jresematheduc.42.2.0127 core knowledge foundation (2000). core knowledge preschool sequence: content and skill guidelines for preschool. charlottesville, va: author. dodge, d. t., colker, l. j., & heroman, c. (2002). the creative curriculum for preschool. washington, dc: teaching strategies. duncan, g. j., dowsett, c. j., claessens, a., magnuson, k., huston, a. c., klebanov, p., ... & sexton, h. (2007). school readiness and later achievement. developmental psychology, 43, 1428-1446. doi:10.1037/00121649.43.6.1428. epstein, a. s., & hohmann, m. (2012). the highscope preschool curriculum. ypsilanti, mi: highscope press. hsieh, h., & shannon, s. (2005). three approaches to qualitative content analysis. qualitative health research, 15, 1277–1288. jones, e. (2012). the emergence of emergent curriculum. young children, march, 66-68. jones, e., & nimmo, j. (1994). emergent curriculum. washington, dc: naeyc. kostelnik, m. j., soderman, a. k., whiren, a., & rupiper, m. l. (2019). developmentally appropriate curriculum: best practices in early childhood, 7th edition. pearson. montessori, m., (2012). the montessori method. united states of america: renaissance classics. national association for the education of young children. (2003). early childhood curriculum, assessment, and program evaluation: building an effective, accountable system in programs for children birth through age 8. retrieved from: https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globallyshared/downloads/pdfs/resources/position-statements/pscape.pdf national association for the education of young children (2009). naeyc position statement: developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. retrieved from http://208.118.177.216/about/positions/pdf/psdap.pdf national center on quality teaching and learning. (2015). preschool curriculum consumer report. author. retrieved from: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/curriculum-consumer-report.pdf olsen, j., & knapton, e. (2008). handwriting without tears (3rd ed.). cabin john, md: western psychological services. preschool curriculum evaluation research consortium (2008). effects of preschool curriculum programs on school readiness (ncer 2008-2009). washington, dc: national center for education research, institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education. washington, dc: u.s. government printing office. quality compendium (2019). build initiative strong foundations for our youngest children. https://qualitycompendium.org/top-ten/types-of-indicators schachter, r. e. (2017). early childhood teachers’ pedagogical reasoning about how children learn during language and literacy instruction. international journal of early childhood, 49, 95111.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-017-0179-3 u.s. department of health and human services (2010). the head start child development and early learning framework: promoting positive outcomes in early childhood programs serving children 3-5 years old. arlington, va: head start resource center. whitebook, m., mclean, c., austin, l.j.e., & edwards, b. (2018). early childhood workforce index – 2018. center for the study of child care employment, university of california, berkeley. williams, l. r. (1999). determining the early childhood curriculum: the evolution of goals and strategies through consonance and controversy. in c. seefeldt (ed.), the early childhood curriculum: current findings in theory and practice (1-26). new york, ny: teachers college press. u.s. department of education, institute of education sciences, national center for education evaluation and regional assistance, what works clearinghouse. the dialog vol28iss02_stem.indd the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 4 what better way to close out the last days of summer than with the summer issue of th e dialog! we want to thank you for your support and patience as th e dialog has continued to proceed through substantial changes, particularly in our online platform and submission portal. we are thrilled with the outcomes and continue to work on implementing changes and improvements so that the journal can continue to support inclusive early childhood education professionals. news and updates in our last issue, we announced that dr. ann mickelson had stepped into the role of editor-in-chief. over the summer, dr. marla lohmann joined her in the role of editor. in coming weeks, we will begin building our edictoral team with a search for additional inclusive early childhood professionals to join us as associate editors, editorial review board members, and ad hoc reviewers. watch for the call to be posted on the journal website and our social media!! over the next several months, we will be announcing our editorial board, as well as many other exciting changes. we urge you to follow us on facebook, linkedin, bluesky, and x. in addition, please consider submitting a manuscript to be considered for publication in an upcoming journal issue. we are excited to bring you the summer 2025 issue of th e dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals! th is dialog special issue, science, technology, enginnerring and mathematics in early childhood (stem), curates a collection of fi ve research articles with corresponding reserach-to-practice summaries to support your work. stem in early childhood education involves integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics into fun, hands-on learning experiences for young children. it’s not about formal lessons, but rather about fostering curiosity, problem-solving, and critical thinking through play and exploration. th is approach helps children develop essential skills and a strong foundation for future learning in stem fi elds...and beyond! research articles in examining the infl uence of practice-based teacher education approaches on primary grades teacher candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics teaching, polly shares a study that examined how practice-based teacher education (pbte) approaches in two elementary education mathematics pedagogy courses infl uenced teacher candidates’ enactment of inclusive and equity-based mathematics teaching (iebmt), a synthesis of theory and research for eff ective mathematics teaching for all students. polly conlcudes the article with implications for both course activities and clinical practice experiences from the editors introduction to the special issue ann m mickelson ph.d. university of north carolina at charlotte marla j. lohmann, ph.d. colorado christian university the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 2 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i2.2067 contact: ann m mickelson amickels@charlotte.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 5 for teacher candidates to support their capacity to teach mathematics eff ectively. in our second article, fostering stem in early childhood programs: practices of preschool parents with stem backgrounds, keengwe presents a qualitative study that explored the experiences of families with backgrounds in stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and the strategies they use to support their young children’s stem learning. analysis of interviews revealed that family role models, preschool curricula, and a child’s intrinsic motivation and passion play key roles in fostering early interest in stem. th ird, platas, examined whether students in early childhood teacher education programs gained more knowledge in realtion to supporting early mathematical development in the subsequent decade since a previous study. in her article, does a decade make a diff erence? changes in preand in-service preschool teachers’ knowledge of early mathematical development, she compares data on preand in-service teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development gathered during 2008 as measured by the knowledge of mathematical development survey (kmds) and compares it to data gathered in 2017-2018. in a head start on stem: investigating the relationship of early childhood educator knowledge and self-effi cacy, th ompson and colleagues describe their research on teacher knowledgeand self effi cacy for stem instruction. th e authors used a multiple method design including scales, surveys, and self-refl ection logs of 13 head start preschool educators over 11-months. th e fi ndings suggested a signifi cant increase from pre-survey to post-survey in the participants’ self-effi cacies for supporting preschool-age children’s stem instruction. finally, urquhart and colleagues’ article, choosing and disusing educational technology: examining parents’ decision making about math and literacy apps for th eir young children shares their research on parent decision making for selecting mathematics and literacy apps for their children. research-to-practice summaries to supplement the fi ve research articles included in this issue, each author team also contributed a research-to-practice summary to share practical implications of their research for your work with young children and families. th ey are presented aft er the research articles. we hope you enjoy this summer 2025 issue of th e dialog! ann m. mickelson, editor-in-chief marla j. lohmann, editor introduction volume 23, number 1 2020 issn: 1930-9325 informal assessments & dual language learners contents letter from the editor pamela l. shue…………………………………………………………………………….. research articles current early educator knowledge, practice, and needs regarding informal assessment audra i. classen, jean kang, & gregory a. cheatham ………...…………………………... 1 teacher beliefs and misconceptions regarding dual language learners in head start: an opportunity for enhancing professional development rica ramírez, lauren m. cycyk, shelley e. scarpino, lisa m. lópez & carol s. hammer.. 23 research-to-practice summaries implementing systematic informal assessment in early education settings audra i. classen, jean kang, & gregory a. cheatham.………….…………......................... 40 teachers’ beliefs regarding dual language learners in head start rica ramírez, lauren m. cycyk, shelley e. scarpino, lisa m. lópez & carol s. hammer.. 48 the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 50 a head start on stem: investigating the relationship of early childhood educator knowledge and self-efficacy the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 2 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i2.1661 contact: paula thompson thompsonpj@unk.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). a head start on stem abstract research substantiates that providing high-quality stem experiences at an early age is important for young children to become college and career ready (moore et al, 2016). however, not all early childhood educators are as knowledgeable and/or confident in supporting early stem instruction. how educators feel, think, and motivate themselves on the job is often influenced by their self-efficacy beliefs. individuals with strong self-efficacy tend to commit to goals that challenge their current capabilities (bandura, 1993). therefore, educators may be more inclined to implement early stem lessons if they feel knowledgeable and confident. the study used a multiple method design including scales, surveys, and self-reflection logs of 13 head start preschool educators over 11-months. the findings suggested a significant increase from pre-survey to post-survey in the participants’ self-efficacies for supporting preschool-age children’s stem instruction. keywords early stem, self-efficacy, head start, stem instruction, professional development, early childhood educator preparation, preschool why stem instruction? between 2019 and 2029 in the united states, science and engineering careers are predicted to grow by nearly 10% (bureau of labor statistics, 2020). during this timeframe, new jobs requiring strong skills in science, math, technology, and engineering (stem), such as science and engineering managers, health care practitioners and technicians, and computer/mathematical scientists are predicted to grow the most. to meet the nation’s workforce needs, it is essential that pk-12 educators provide high-quality stem instruction to positively impact future generations in college and career readiness (mcclure et al., 2017). “by providing practitioners with the tools they need to continue facilitating progressive stem paula thompson dena harshbarger jane strawhecker libby yungdahl university of nebraska at kearney mailto:thompsonpj@unk.edu the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 51 learning, we are leveraging a growth-based approach that supports success beyond the early childhood years,” (frank porter graham child development institute, 2022). to address the united states (u.s.) workforce needs, many professional organizations (e.g., national association for the education of young children (naeyc), national council of teaching mathematics (nctm), national science teachers association (nsta)) through standards, frameworks, guidelines, and position statements advocate for the inclusion of stem curriculum during the early years. why early stem instruction according to the american university’s school of education (2020), birth to age five is when young minds are most malleable and capable of developing lifelong thinking skills. during this time-period, young children are rapidly making connections and creating neural pathways in the brain at an unparalleled rate. if these connections are not developed and fostered during the early years; the neural pathways will be lost. to prevent this from occurring, early childhood (ec) educators must support the development of these essential pathways by tapping into young children’s inherent curiosity (nsta position statement, 2014). young children want to know how things work and why things happen. according to the national science teachers association (2014), on average, preschool-age children ask 100 questions per day. in addition to asking questions, they also have the capacity and propensity to observe, explore, discover, and make sense of the world around them (national research council, 2001). the national association for the education of young children (naeyc & nctm, 2010) stated that young children can and should engage in developmentally appropriate science and engineering practices (i.e., making predictions, carrying out experiments, and collecting data) to set the foundation for successful k-12 learning. throughout these early stem experiences, young children are not only gaining stem knowledge but simultaneously developing character traits such as critical thinking and persistence (sarama et al., 2018). these traits may help young children build foundational background knowledge and interest in stem over time. because stem is inextricably linked to other disciplines, the experiences may enhance learning and academic achievement in other content areas (american university’s school of education, 2020). early stem investigations and results can be used to launch discussions and elicit written expressions to better understand stem concepts thus, creating a direct link between science and/or math instruction and the improvement of literacy and language learning (clements & sarama, 2014; sarama et al., 2018). therefore, when early childhood educators provide intentional and ongoing early stem opportunities, young children’s academic knowledge can continuously grow and advance, which increases the likelihood of career readiness for stem-based jobs. young children’s stem readiness while stem experiences offer many benefits to young children, there are external factors that can hinder young children’s preparedness and success with stem instruction. ec educators face several challenges in supporting young children’s stem learning, including their varied levels of understanding, experiences, and skills (lange et al., 2019). young children considered at risk of school failure often come from low-income homes and/or are minorities. young children considered at risk are often underserved and face barriers that negatively affect their stem readiness and academic achievement. recently, act scores for underserved students correlate with a cumulative suppressing effect on college readiness (act, 2017). furthermore, a significantly lower percentage of high school students who represent more than one of the underserved student criteria (e.g., minorities, low income) met the nation’s act stem benchmark (allen & radunzel, 2017). since 1965, the federal head start program has provided care and education services to our nation’s most vulnerable young children, often at-risk for school failure. examples of risk factors include living in poverty, receiving special education services, experiencing homelessness, and receiving public assistance. poverty can impact many areas of a child’s life, such as limited access to food, adequate living conditions, health care, and quality care and education (e.g., childcare, preschool). currently, the maximum income for a qualifying head start a head start on stem the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 52 family of four is $31,200.00 (office of the assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, united states health and human services, 2024). since head start educators are charged with supporting these vulnerable populations, steps must be taken to provide the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to promote school and future career readiness for the young children they serve. ec educators and those that support ec educators (i.e., managers, instructional coaches) must be confident and equipped to plan and implement stem instruction for young learners. unfortunately, research shows that several factors hinder ec educators’ abilities to do so. ec educators’ stem beliefs, attitudes, and stem subject matter knowledge many ec educators’ beliefs and attitudes about stem are sometimes negative or steeped in feelings of anxiety, possibly due to previous personal experiences. lange et al. (2019) reported ec educators’ lack of confidence as a limiting factor to young children’s stem success, stating that past experiences and current attitudes, often lead ec educators to be less inclined to provide stem opportunities for young children. to address these past issues and current beliefs, lange et al. (2019) suggested immersing ec educators in engaging, inquiry-based, and purposeful stem-based teaching practices. these purposeful experiences should provide opportunities for ec educators to revise their beliefs and begin to cultivate positive attitudes toward stem instruction so they may be more inclined and equipped to be effective role models during stem activities with young children. according to wilson et al. (1987) content knowledge refers to knowledge specific to the disciplinary concepts, skills, or topics being taught. kind et al. (2022) reiterated that content knowledge allows educators to be better equipped to design and implement high-quality instruction for any given discipline(s). if educators have a good understanding of content knowledge relevant to the lesson being taught, they can strategically select “instructional strategies appropriate for a student group, justify choices by explaining how these meet student learning needs; and track students’ learning and adapt in-class activities accordingly” (kind et al., 2022, p. 331). in other words, strong content knowledge allows educators to interpret and respond to learners’ needs more effectively and intuitively when teaching in educational settings. therefore, ec educators should be provided with opportunities to learn content knowledge specific to the concepts and skills they teach to young children within the four stem disciplines. for science, educators must have knowledge related to the next generation science standards (ngss) (nrc, 2013) cross cutting concepts (i.e., structure and function, cause and effect, and patterns) as they apply to the four domains or disciplinary core ideas (dcis) (physical science, earth science, life science, and engineering technology and applications of science). according to the ngss standards (2013), educators also need knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to science and engineering practices which emulate what scientists do to investigate the world as well as how engineers design and build systems so that they can effectively teach stem to young children. for math, naeyc along with nctm (2010) and clements & sarama (2014) stated educators must understand the mathematical learning trajectories to provide developmentally appropriate instruction that serves as a foundation for future learning. ec educators, themselves, require foundational knowledge of mathematical concepts such as number and operations, geometry, spatial relationships, and measurement, as well as having background knowledge of essential mathematical process skills (e.g., composing and decomposing, and unitizing) to support young learners’ mathematical understanding. however, having mathematical and science content knowledge does not necessarily make one an effective stem educator. educators must also have pedagogical content knowledge (wilson et al., 1987) to effectively convey the meaning of stem concepts in a way young children can understand and apply to new situations (lange et al., 2019). it is recommended that high-quality early stem experiences incorporate educators’ pedagogical content knowledge through use of the following strategies (lange et al., 2019): • provide and facilitate hands-on, exploratory learning opportunities • provide opportunities for young children a head start on stem the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 53 to “play” within the stem disciplines using blocks, games, socio-dramatic play, and/or manipulatives • ask open-ended questions to make young children think and wonder • listen, observe, and take anecdotal notes about alternative conceptions and what young children understand about stem concepts • use anecdotal notes to tailor and individualize future instruction • promote creativity and encourage multiple responses or different ways to solve problems or complete tasks even if “incorrect” • make connections within stem disciplines and other cross-curricular subjects • encourage young children to communicate and explain their thinking using evidence • refer to young children as scientists, mathematicians, or engineers as they design, test, and improve plans or prototypes through trial-and-error experiential learning • suggest ways to extend the investigation to explore emerging ideas the importance of early stem instruction is supported by research; however, increasing knowledge of the stem disciplines and/or learning how to teach early stem concepts, using child-centered strategies may be overwhelming and intimidating for many ec educators (clements & sarama, 2016; nsta, 2014), possibly due to past experiences and confidence levels related to one or more of the stem disciplines. ec educators’ self-efficacy for stem instruction according to bandura (1977), self-efficacy is an individual’s belief in one’s ability to reach a specific goal. unfortunately, many ec educators reported a lack of confidence, having low self-efficacy related to their abilities for designing and facilitating early stem instruction (lange et al., 2019). a study by gerde et al. (2018) found that self-efficacious educators were typically more willing and motivated to incorporate newer approaches such as those often aligned with stem instruction. however, they also noted when ec educators lacked self-efficacy in stem, they were less likely to provide stem experiences for the young children they served. accordingly, ec educator self-efficacy is yet another factor that may impact young children’s future stem preparedness and success with stem. to increase ec educators’ stem self-efficacy, it is recommended that they participate in ongoing and interconnected professional development (pd) opportunities that are intentionally designed to grow stem content knowledge and to model developmentally appropriate pedagogy (mcclure et al., 2017). when ec educators partake in pd that models the same hands-on, engaging learning experiences and practices recommended for young children, it can positively impact their pre-existing anxiety and/or attitudes about stem. for instance, a recent study (chen et al., 2021) indicated that ec educators who participated in stem-related activities and/or stem pd, reported higher levels of stem self-efficacy. in 2016, zee and koomen found that teachers who held positive affective attitudes were more likely to implement and further develop innovative pedagogical beliefs. the findings supported pd opportunities for educators as an effective means of increasing self-efficacy and promoting stem instruction. professional development and early stem instruction there are many research-based recommendations for designing and implementing quality stem instruction. according to sarama et al. (2018), effective pd opportunities should support ec educators in three areas including (1) learning developmentally appropriate stem concepts and practices; (2) becoming familiar with pedagogical strategies that strengthen early stem learning; and (3) applying strategies to promote inclusiveness and cultural responsiveness to form home connections with families, caregivers, and the community. however, pd should not be done using a “one and done” approach (darling-hammond et al., 2017). to be effective, pd opportunities for ec educators should be ongoing, connected to their personal teaching practice, and/ or instructional setting, and tailored to the ec educator’s changing needs (desimone, 2009; sarama et. al, 2018). when designing pd opportunities for ec educators, research suggests maximizing the benefits by including one or a head start on stem the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 54 more of the following (sarama et al., 2018, p. 4): • one-on-one coaching • well-structured professional learning communities or cohorts (i.e., a group of educators who participate in multiple pd opportunities together over time) • opportunities to rehearse, analyze, reflect on instructional practice, and set goals • engagement of teachers as leaders who facilitate early stem pd activities and provide a range of supports to their colleagues. relatedly, blonder and vescio (2022) found that pd opportunities with formative feedback from peers, coaches, and/or instructors, as educators applied what they were learning, increased educators’ self-confidence. a conceptual framework for effective pd suggested by desimone (2009) indicated that active learning, coherence, and collaboration are three essential components of pd. during pd teachers engaged in active learning practices like observing, receiving feedback, and analyzing student work whereas coherence ensured alignment with teacher knowledge, teacher beliefs, and student needs. to foster collaboration during sustained pd, teachers within the same grade or subject build a supportive professional community. furthermore, the benefits of pd opportunities were often compounded when teachers engaged in self-reflection and goal setting based upon formative feedback (desimone, 2009; melton et al., 2019; miller et al., 2019). the primary purpose of the study was to determine how pd opportunities specifically designed to support participants’ knowledge for planning and implementing stem with preschool-age children and incorporating research-based methods/approaches (e.g., self-reflection, goal setting), impacted ec educators’ self-efficacy and perceptions of early stem instruction. there were two main research questions: 1) what impact does a targeted professional development program have on early childhood educators’ self-efficacy of stem teaching? 2) what impact does a targeted professional development program have on early childhood educators’ planning and implementation of stem instruction? methods participants this study used a sample of head start educators, all enrolled in the same online graduate-level courses and engaged in an ongoing, collaborative early stem project at a midwestern university. the project provided a cohort model of instruction with four online graduate courses over a span of one year: two with a concentration on early stem, one on improving instruction in early math, and one focused on deeper understanding of developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education. the primary investigator (pi) for the study invited the head start educators by email to participate in the study. initially, fourteen head start educators consented to participate, however one chose to withdraw prior to pre-survey completion. the thirteen participants were white, english-speaking females, working in head start programs as preschool classroom teachers (54%) or managers/coaches supporting preschool classroom teachers (46%) in the same midwestern state. most participants fell within the 26 to 35 year age range (54%), with 31% of the participants in the 36 to 45 age range. all participants held a bachelor’s degree and for the majority (77%), the degree was in early childhood education (ece). those without a bachelor’s degree in ece had degrees in related fields (e.g., elementary education, social services). all participants (100%) were working in or supporting teachers working in preschool classroom settings. on average, participants had seven years of experience working directly with preschool-age children (e.g., ages 3-5) with a range of 3 to 17 years of experience. at the time of the post-survey, only twelve participants were retained. table 1 provides a summary of participants’ demographics. a head start on stem the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 55 a head start on stem table 1  participant demographics  characteristics    participants (n = 13) employment role/title classroom teacher 7 management (non-coaching) 4 coach 2 age range in years       19 – 25   1   26 – 35 7 36 – 45 4 46 – 55 1 gender   female   13   race        white, non-hispanic   13   language preference        english   13   highest level of education      master’s degree (early childhood) 1 bachelor’s degree (early childhood)   9   bachelor’s degree (other) 3 average years of experience working with young children      ages birth to three 3 ages three to five 7 ages birth to five 7 ages five to eight 2 the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 56 a head start on stem demographics demographic information collected related to the participants’ age, gender, race, primary language, age range of children served, type of classroom (e.g., full year), employment (e.g., job role, work schedule), additional/outside employment (e.g., summer employment), experience working with young children, highest education level achieved, and licensure/certifications. measures this study used two main sources of information to explore participants’ behaviors and self-efficacies associated with planning and implementing stem content for preschool-age children. a pre/post survey was completed to assist in answering research question one, gathering quantitative data related to participants’ change in self-efficacy for teaching early stem. the pre-survey, which was administered after participants consented and prior to beginning a graduate-level college course specific to the cohort, collected both demographic and self-efficacy data. eleven months after the pre-survey and near the completion of the study, a post-survey collected self-efficacy data. the post-survey used the same self-efficacy survey questions previously asked in the pre-survey. stem self-reflection logs were completed to assist in answering research question two, gathering quantitative and qualitative data for participants’ planning and implementation of early stem instruction. stem self-reflection logs were used to collect perceptive data about how the participants implemented and/ or promoted stem learning activities in preschool classrooms. ec educator self-efficacy scale (eceses) for supporting preschoolers’ stem development the eceses-stem was developed for the current study by examining two existing self-efficacy scales. the coaching efficacy scale (feltz et al., 1999), a 24item scale, focused on coaching individual athletes and/or athletic teams, whereas the science teaching efficacy belief instrument (riggs & enochs, 1990) used a 25-item scale to determine elementary teacher self-efficacy for teaching science. both scales were considered in the development of the eceses-stem to assist with wording of questions and scale format. the eceses-stem included a total of 40-items, 10-items in each of the four stem disciplines (i.e., science, technology, engineering, math). wording was consistent across each of the four stem disciplines, however each subset of ten focused on one stem discipline. for example, item one for the science discipline stated, “i believe i can effectively use observation/documentation to find out if a preschooler is in need of individualized support in science,” whereas item one for the technology discipline replaces the word “science” to “technology”. the scale was rated on a 5point likert scale asking participants to indicate the confidence with which they felt each statement to be true (1 = not confident to 5 = extremely confident). the stem for each item was “i believe i can….” (e.g., i believe i can effectively use observation/documentation to find out if a preschooler is in need of individualized support in science). overall mean ratings were calculated for each of the 40 items. in addition, overall mean ratings were calculated for each of the four stem disciplines. mean ratings between 4 and 5 suggested participants had higher perceived confidence for planning and implementing content for preschool-age children. mean ratings of 3 to 3.9 suggested moderate perceived confidence, and mean ratings of 1 to 2.9 suggested lower perceived confidence. the eceses-stem has not been validated for use with ec educators; however, the pi conducted a pilot study of the eceses-stem with three-experienced ec educators not affiliated with this study prior to its use in the current study. the pilot group completed the scale via qualtrics and provided written feedback via email to the pi regarding: ease of use, length of scale completion time, and general feedback on the wording and clarity of questions. the pilot group feedback was utilized to fine-tune the survey prior to implementation by establishing an anticipated completion time, and rewording instructions to increase clarity. a copy of the eceses-stem is available upon request. stem self-reflection logs the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 57 a head start on stem the stem self-reflection logs used in this study were a modification of logs available from the friday institute for educational innovation (friday institute for educational innovation, 2012).the logs were modified to align with research question two and for use with preschool educators rather than elementary teachers. the logs were used to collect perceptive data about how the participants implemented and/ or promoted preschool stem learning activities over time. six monthly self-reflection logs were emailed to the participants as linked google forms to gather data about early stem lesson applications in the preschool work setting and establish goals for future early stem instruction. a link to the log was emailed to each participant on the 20th of the month, followed by one email reminder on the first day of the subsequent month. the self-reflection logs used five open-ended prompts (e.g. something i tried this month to promote stem learning through the use of indoor environment was...). the three subsequent prompts asked about early stem learning through the outdoor environment, direct instruction, and family engagement. on the final question, participants were prompted to share their feelings and thoughts regarding the implementation and/or outcomes of early stem instruction with preschool-age children. a copy of the stem self-reflection log is available upon request. procedures recruitment and informed consent the pi for the current study emailed the potential participants, explained the study, and obtained informed consent. once informed consent was obtained, participants were prompted to complete an online qualtrics survey that included a collection of demographic information and self-efficacy for planning and implementing stem content for preschool-age children (pre-survey). eceses-stem survey the demographic survey and self-efficacy scale were generated using qualtrics (2021) software, and participants utilized their own computer and internet connection to complete the survey and scales within the stated 2-week time period. the completed surveys provided information about participant demographics, as well as their self-efficacy data for planning and implementing stem content for preschool-age children. eceses-stem survey scoring individual mean ratings were calculated for the eceses-stem pre-survey and post-survey. additionally, mean ratings from the pre and post surveys were calculated for each of the 40-items and the four stem disciplines (i.e., science, technology, engineering, math). stem self-reflection logs review each of the six individual participants’ self-reflection logs were combined into one transcript, for a total of six transcripts (i.e., february, march, april, september, october and november). using an inductive coding method, two independent observers completed a first cycle review of each transcript to establish emerging codes. after reviewing the self-reflection logs’ transcripts, the two coders met to create a codebook. a total of two self-reflection logs’ transcripts (30%) were randomly selected for a check of interrater agreement. the same two independent observers coded the randomly selected self-reflection logs’ transcripts and were required to be 80% reliable (salkind, 2006) across all previously identified codes. interrater agreement scores below 80%, prompted mutual review of the code definitions and consensus for coding those transcripts. individual codes had interrater agreements of 80% 96%, except for three; teacher responsiveness (29%), hands-on exploration (55%), and teacher growth (56%). after establishing consensus of the codes and updating the codebook, the two observers completed a second and final independent review, with each observer coding half of the self-reflection logs’ transcripts. analysis to allow for a richer understanding of the participants’ knowledge, skills, and self-efficacies for planthe dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 58 a head start on stem -ning and implementing developmentally appropriate stem activities for preschool-age children, a multiple methods research design (morse, 2003) was used. first, quantitative data from the self-efficacy scale pre and post ratings were collected and summarized. this data provided information about participants’ perceived confidence for planning and implementing stem content for preschool-age children (e.g., self-efficacy pre and post survey data). specifically, data was analyzed for the eceses-stem scale completed by the participants at two different times (pre and post) for this study. the results from the pre and post surveys represented participants’ perceptions of their self-efficacy for planning and implementing stem learning for preschool-age children. an overall mean rating was calculated for each pre and post survey. in addition, mean ratings were calculated for each of the 40-items across the four stem disciplines. a visual inspection of the mean scores was used to examine how head start preschool educators’ self-efficacies differed from pre-survey to post-survey. the four stem disciplines pre and post-survey means offered insight to the participants’ self-efficacy levels for 1) identifying individual needs of preschool children, 2) recognizing age appropriate skill development, 3) evaluating skill development, 4) facilitating effective activities, 5) providing individualized supports, 6) providing independent learning opportunities through use of the indoor and outdoor learning environments, 7) promoting content through everyday situations and daily routines, 8) involving parents in the learning process, 9) answering young children’s content questions, and 10) teaching stem content as well as they do other content areas (e.g., language, literacy, creative arts). in addition, a t-test was used to compare the mean scores and to examine whether the change was statistically significant. next, quantitative data from the coded stem self-reflection logs’ transcripts was collected and analyzed. the frequency of each code was determined by adding up the number of times each associated code was used over all six combined transcripts. the most frequently mentioned codes were identified from the data. in addition, qualitative data from the transcripts was analyzed through visual inspection, providing evidence for understanding and describing the ’participants’ planning and implementation of early stem instruction over the 11-month time frame. results self-efficacy for supporting preschool-age children’s stem development mean ratings from the eceses-stem pre and post surveys were used to evaluate participants’ self-efficacy for supporting preschool-age children’s stem development. the scale was rated on a 5point likert scale asking participants to indicate the confidence with which they felt each statement to be true (1 = not confident to 5 = extremely confident). table 2 provides the mean eceses-stem pre and post survey scores categorized by the four stem disciplines, along with the overall pre and post survey means. at both pre and post survey, participants reported higher confidence levels in the stem disciplines pertaining to science and math in comparison to technology and engineering. pre-survey on the eceses-stem pre-survey, mean scores ranged from 1.3 to 4.2. participants reported the highest confidence level at for three criteria, all within math instruction (m = 4.2): using observation/documentation to identify individual supports; facilitating activities to support development; and promoting skill development through everyday situations/daily routines. the lowest levels reported in the pre-survey included confidence for teaching one specific stem discipline (of the four) at the same level of confidence as for non-stem disciplines such as literacy. the mean scores ranged from 1.3 (engineering) to 2.4 (math). post-survey post-survey mean scores ranged from 2.5 to 5.0. at the time of the post-survey, the highest confidence level (m = 5.0) was for facilitating activities to support development for math. as shown on the last post-survey item, lower perceived confidence levels still existed for teaching technology at the same confidence level as other subjects (m = 2.6) and teaching the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 59 a head start on stem table 2 mean ratings for 1st and 2nd completion of the early childhood educator self-efficacy scale for supporting preschool-age children’s stem development scale mean rating pre-survey mean rating post-survey s t e m s t e m eceses-stem 3.7 3.2 3.0 4.1 4.6 4.3 4.2 4.6 eceses-stem overall means 3.3 * 4.3 prompt: “i believe i can...” use observation/documentation to identify individual supports. 3.7 3.5 3.2 4.2 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.5 recognize age-appropriate development. 3.5 3.2 3.0 4.0 4.6 4.3 4.1 4.7 evaluate age-appropriate development. 3.5 3.2 2.9 4.1 4.5 4.2 4.3 4.5 facilitate activities to support development. 3.9 3.2 3.0 4.2 4.7 4.5 4.3 5.0 provide opportunities for those in need of additional support. 3.7 3.2 3.0 4.0 4.7 4.3 4.3 4.5 promote independent opportunities through learning environments. 3.8 3.3 3.2 3.9 4.6 4.3 4.4 4.6 promote skill development through everyday situations/daily routines. 3.8 3.2 3.2 4.2 4.7 4.3 4.3 4.6 involve parents in their child’s skill development. 3.5 3.1 2.9 3.7 4.2 4.1 3.9 4.3 answer children’s questions. 3.8 3.3 3.0 4.3 4.6 4.3 4.0 4.6 teach ______ as well as other subjects. (e.g., science, technology, engineering, math) 2.0 1.6 1.3 2.4 3.2 2.6 2.5 3.2 note. the scale is measured on a 5-point likert scale; ec = early childhood; eceses-stem = early childhood educator self-efficacy scale for supporting young children’s stem development; s = science; t = technology; e = engineering; m = math; *p < .0001. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 60 a head start on stem engineering as well as other subjects (m = 2.5). the lowest yet still moderate to higher confidence levels at post-survey were shown for involving parents in their child’s engineering skill development (m = 3.9) and teaching science and math as well as other subjects (m = 3.2). see table 3. confidence levels across all four disciplines increased from pre-survey to post-survey, with a statistically significant difference in the overall ecsesstem means (m = 3.3; m = 4.3). the results from the pre-survey (m = 3.3, sd = 0.5) and post-survey (m = 4.3 sd = 0.5) indicate that the participants’ self-efficacies for early stem changed, t = 25.71, p <.0.0001. see table 3. implementation of stem in preschool classrooms the 13 participants were asked to self-reflect six times over the 11-month timeframe about their implementation and/or promotion of stem activities in preschool classrooms. data from the self-reflection logs revealed six common themes including: 1) implementation of early stem activities, 2) child responsiveness, 3) teacher growth, 4) teacher responsiveness, 5) sharing with colleagues, and 6) hands-on exploration. the frequency of each theme was determined by the number of times the participants mentioned each theme within the combined self-reflection logs’ transcripts, as shown in table 4. qualitative data for each of the six themes follows in rank order of the frequently mentioned themes. table 3 overall mean for pre-survey and post-survey scores on the eceses-stem (n = 13) survey mean standard deviation t-value pre-survey 3.34 0.54 post-survey 4.26 0.50 25.7093 table 4 themes: number of times mentioned in combined stem self-reflection logs transcripts theme number of times mentioned implementation of early stem activities 78 child responsiveness 75 teacher growth 67 teacher responsiveness 44 sharing with colleagues 42 hands-on exploration 35 the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 61 a head start on stem theme 1: implementation of early stem activities. participants most frequently mentioned implementation of planned early stem activities through direct teaching and/or use of the indoor and/or outdoor environments. this theme was mentioned by participants 78 times within the combined self-reflection logs transcripts. building and engineering activities. the participants commonly described the implementation of early stem activities in which young children built and engineered structures. for instance, one ec educator shared that small groups of young children used provided materials to build structures stating, “many of the children used the materials to build and engineer different structures based on their own developmental levels.” other participants described how they implemented early stem activities in which the young children engineered and built houses, towers, musical instruments, water pipes, and sprout houses to plant seeds. outdoor stem activities. accounts of early stem implementation went beyond the classroom setting with many participants purposefully planning and providing outdoor stem experiences. one ec educator described the use of “stem boxes or bins” [a box, tub, bin, kit containing purposefully provided materials] so the young children could readily explore outdoors. two examples of young children using an outdoor stem box included using materials to experiment with how long it takes snow to melt and to see what kind of food ants prefer eating. additionally, participants implemented early stem activities outdoors. one described, “...building ramps on the playground using different materials to zoom matchbox cars down.” another participant connected early stem to their study of physical science simple machines unit by encouraging the young children to find different machines around their playground. this outdoor exploration of simple machines led to the implementation of an indoor investigatory early stem activity where young children learned more about how a teeter totter worked as a machine. “the children worked in small groups indoors to build teeter totters and find ways to make it [the teeter totter] balance using plastic counting bears” as weights. early stem discipline activities. many participants mentioned implementation of early stem learning opportunities directly related to particular stem disciplines such as science or math. instances of implementing science activities were most frequently mentioned in participants’ february, march, and october self-reflection logs. for instance, one ec educator described taking young children on nature walks and having them use magnifying lenses to explore and describe their surroundings during their walk. several participants described how nature walks led to discussions about life science topics collectively including leaves, bark, tree beans, pumpkins, and pinecones. participants described implementing physical science activities such as light and shadows, sound, magnetism, density, and properties of matter. one ec educator described a physical science activity in which young children took rhythm sticks outdoors to try to find “instrumental objects” [objects that make sounds when moved or manipulated] and then compared the sounds the objects made. another participant shared how they implemented water play with a sandbox creating a “mud kitchen” as a means of investigating the physical science concept of properties of matter (e.g., liquids, solids, and mixtures. a third ec educator shared how the students explored physical science with magnets. just last week we spent time identifying the kind of things the magnet would or would not stick [to] and coming up with the reason why that is. we also explored a little with the magnetism in the sense that the magnetic pull can go through things such as a piece of paper, book, and table to make the paper clip move around. implementation of math activities was most frequently mentioned in the participants’ self-reflection logs during the months of september, october, and november. reported instances of implementation of early stem activities highlighting math concepts included subitizing, graphing, using 10-frames to create numbers, and geometry/shape-related activities. incorporating math talk and using activities from the learning trajectories website (clements and sarama, 2017/2019) were commonly mentioned. one ec educator described planning and implementing a large group activity in which they “drew two shapes and the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 62 a head start on stem the children identified and discussed their attributes, similarities, and differences.” another ec educator described having young children create shapes with various materials, stating, “the children composed different-shaped bubble wands and tested different types of bubble solutions.” yet another ec educator incorporated shapes into a unit about clothing. using stories to launch early stem activities. several participants mentioned using young children’s stories to introduce or enrich early stem experiences for large group activities or in conjunction with learning centers. two participants described a project in which young children used different materials to build a house after reading the story, the three little pigs. another ec educator described using a different version of the traditional story, we read the story, the three little super pigs. afterwards, i asked the kids what they could build to keep the wolf in. first the kids drew their building plan and then they got to build it [their planned building]. several participants mentioned reading children’s books aloud during large group times and then implementing related early stem activities during small group time and/or center time. one ec educator shared, one of my recent favorites involved reading the children’s book, after the fall: how humpty dumpty got back up again (santat, 2019) in a large group setting and then challenging my students to work in small groups to create a safer wall for humpty dumpty using legos and other materials. another ec educator referenced, dreaming up: a celebration of building (hale, 2012), stating, “earlier this month we talked about towers and how we think they were built. the kids then explored with building up. it has taken off. students loved it.” yet another ec educator read the story, 10 sparkly snowflakes (tales, 2017) and had the young children go outdoors to collect snowflakes so they could look at them through magnifying glasses. this ec educator shared how the young children noticed and discussed, “the unique patterns of each snowflake before making their own snowflakes using various mediums.” theme 2: child responsiveness. the theme of child responsiveness was mentioned by participants 75 times within the combined self-reflection logs transcripts. child responsiveness conveyed the participants’ perceptions of how the young children responded to planned/implemented early stem activities, learning environments, and/or materials provided. descriptions included but were not limited to: (a) the children’s enjoyment; (b) finding multiple ways to solve problems or complete challenges; and (c) social interactions, discussions, and learning. children’s enjoyment. the words, “fun” and “enjoyed” frequently emerged in the participant’s self-reflection logs when describing young children’s responses to planned/implemented early stem activities. three examples follow, “seeing how real snowflakes are all different was such a fun activity for all involved,” and “it was a lot of funstudents really loved it and learned a lot!” another participant described creating a song, this [musical stem activity] was super fun! we somehow created the pattern with floor sticks while playing a pattern. one of my friends [child] made the connection to a song, and belted out, we will… we will…rock you! instances of participants describing young children’s enjoyment follow, “the kids really enjoyed making their pond,” while another ec educator stated, “i did my final project from my stem class [developed during one of the courses completed as part of the study], the kids really enjoyed all the extra things in the centers.” other participants shared that the young children enjoyed subitizing math games, graphing activities, mathematical learning trajectories activities, exploring with funnels and sand to figure out why wet sand gets stuck, yet dry sand goes through, and predicting and testing items to see which sink or float. several participants shared that the children enjoyed the early stem activities, and the children wanted to do the activities again. children’s participation and engagement. many of the participants described the young children’s active participation and engagement during early stem activities. one stated, “children were engaged, responded to the question she [educator] asked, and they were excited to predict what was going to hapthe dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 63 a head start on stem -pen.” another ec educator reported feeling “amazed” as she watched the young children so engaged in working through the problem. yet another ec educator described the young children as being “engaged and wanting to learn more about trees” and being “engaged when they were actively exploring the room and making discoveries of what a magnet will stick to.” two additional participants stated, “i love that they [children] got so engaged and they [children] were in so much control of their learning” and “i am in a 6-hour classroom with 25 students who have numerous disabilities, and all of the students absolutely love stem time.” multiple ways to solve problems or complete challenges. participants mentioned the young children wanting to solve problems or complete stem challenges. one ec educator shared, “some of them [children] even got excited when their towers fell because they were able to build it better.” another ec educator stated, “the children really had to think about and discuss how they wanted to design and build the roof of their house in terms of size and shape [flat or inclined].” several participants described the young children’s use of imagination during open-ended stem activities. for instance, an ec educator described, “the children had fun finding new ways to use the stem materials through ongoing exposure and opportunities to use them.” another ec educator described the young children using their imagination during play, the students were pretending that the swings were rocket ships and they were on them and were flying to the moon. then when they got inside, they started building ‘rocketships with legos. yet another ec educator shared, “it was absolutely awesome to see what my preschoolers came up with and listen to them explain their thought process about why their wall was safer.” social interactions, discussions, and learning. several participants’ self-reflection logs included descriptions of young children working together and interacting with one another. the young children were frequently described as working in small groups and talking to one another as they solved problems and completed early stem activities. several participants cited instances of young children making suggestions about how to use the materials and/or building upon their peers’ ideas and designs. additionally, participants mentioned that the young children asked and answered questions while learning from one another. one ec educator wrote, “it [the stem activity] increased conversations about the topic and students asked questions we hadn’t even thought to talk about previously,” and another ec educator shared, [one] little guy had never thought to build [the tower] against a wall so with the right questions and inquiries, it became his idea. the next thing the little guy knew, he had several friends with him trying to build a tower as high as they could against the wall. theme 3: teacher growth. participants described teacher growth 67 times within the combined self-reflection logs transcripts. reflections related to teacher growth related to: (a) increased self-efficacy; (b) collaboration; and (c) other benefits of the study in terms of professional development opportunities. ec educator self-efficacy. many participants shared positive or affirmative statements regarding their self-efficacy or confidence related to early stem implementation across the six self-reflection logs. many described personal growth and/or feeling more confident. for instance, one ec educator described stem implementation as “feeling natural” in her classroom and others described stem implementation as becoming easier with experience. . one ec stated, “in the past, it was always easy to overthink implementing science and math activities or even trying to implement technology and engineering.” another ec educator shared, “i love how much easier it is getting to implement stem into day-to-day activities! i see stem teaching opportunities in places where i hadn’t thought of before.” “one ec educator described stem implementation as “feeling natural” in her classroom and others described stem implementation as becoming easier with experience. ” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 64 a head start on stem four different participants shared, “it’s still taking some adapting to spending more time on projects and lessons, but it is getting so much better!” “i love doing different stem activities all day long and i have learned to implement it as part of my lesson that it has just become such an easy transition.” “i am feeling that what i have learned has made me a better teacher and supervisor because now i am able to teach my staff as well which make me proud,” and, “i need to slow down a little because i get so excited and i want to implement everything all at once i constantly remind myself this is not the most effective way to promote stem learning.” collaboration. participants often stated feeling more confident using a team approach to early stem instruction. one shared, “we’re learning together as a team to break lessons and topic down more and spread it out so we can really dive into it.” another stated, my team has been printing off many of the lesson ideas to have for future reference and have been working on implementing more stem based lessons. we have also been adding more stem materials to our classroom and exploring them along with the kids to kind of learn as we go. yet another shared, this was a wonderful opportunity for head start staff. the stem team [study team] has provided us with so much knowledge, practical approaches, experiences along with a wealth of resources that we can make our programs stem rich! benefits of professional development opportunities related to the study. many participants identified early stem materials, resources, and practices/ strategies shared within the college courses they completed as part of the study as being beneficial to their professional growth and development. participants’ responses included, “i feel like i’m getting more and more resources with every class [course taken as part of the study]” and “i appreciate that we’ve gained so many ideas through these classes [courses provided as part of the study] to share with children.” another stated, i am really enjoying the textbook, specifically the stem books. since graduating college almost 10 years ago, a lot has changed! i think i understand stem better as it being described more as an approach-all day everydayrather than one solitary experience. participants also shared the benefits of the graduate-level college courses in terms of camaraderie provided as part of the overall study. the final december self-reflection logs contained the following participants’ comments, “i am absolutely loving all that i am learning, along with the collaboration with instructors and classmates this has been incredibly valuable, and i am beyond grateful!” another ec educator wrote, as this is my last reflection log, i cannot begin to explain how invaluable our coursework, our professors, the people in our cohort has been to me. i feel so grateful that i will be able to provide more meaningful, engaging stem lessons in my classroom, which will benefit my students for years to come. other participants described future collaboration, including this quote, we are working to plan a family stem night at our next parent meeting! we’re hoping to set up some fun and engaging stem activities for parents to engage in with their preschoolers. i have so many ideas i have gleaned from our classes. theme 4: teacher responsiveness. participants’ stem self-reflection log transcripts also contained descriptions of and/or perceptions of how the ec educators responded before, during, or after adultchild interactions, activities, or using learning environments. this theme emerged 44 times within the combined self-reflection logs transcripts. many self-reflection logs entries conveyed a sense of teacher enjoyment about using early stem activities with the young children. for instance, the following quotes were shared by various participants: “i am having a blast teaching the [stem] lessons!”, “i have actually enjoyed bringing the math lessons [shoe graph and math game] into the classroom.”, “students and staff enjoyed it and were really engaged!”, and “teachers loved the activities because they were easy to follow and kept students engaged in activities.” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 65 a head start on stem ec educators’ responses and facilitation during early stem activities. participants shared instances of how they responded to or facilitated early stem activities. one participant shared, after viewing a video [in a college course related to the study] of a child who couldn’t stop his tower from tipping and then moving to build it against a wall, i saw this same opportunity within the classroom and seized it once the little one became upset that he couldn’t get godzilla to the top. another ec educator shared that the young children initially thought they could only collect insects in the containers she provided for them to use during outdoor exploration. once she noted this, she explained to the young children that the containers could be used to hold any item they wanted to bring back for closer observation in the classroom. once she clarified this point, she shared that, “the containers have been in constant use.” another ec educator shared that the young children wanted to make different shapes, so she brought out more supplies for them to do so. yet another ec educator described how she followed the child’s lead and tried to engage the young children in different challenges using the materials in the “stem boxes or bins she had created for one of the early stem college courses she had completed as part of the study. ec educators’ goals and adjustments for future early stem implementation. after implementing early stem activities, several participants shared goals for doing the same early stem activities again and/or modifying and adjusting the early stem activity for future early stem implementation. for instance, one ec educator shared, “i would like to spend more time doing intentional activities with the materials so that students have a better understanding of what the materials are and ideas for using them.” other participants mentioned wanting to change up materials throughout the year and using a variety of open-ended materials to enhance the young children’s experience. one ec educator noted, “when there are more of those open-ended materials the young children seem to engage with them for a longer amount of time both during the day and over a duration of days.” another ec educator described incidentally implementing a early stem activity using sand and funnels and how she now planned to build upon this “happy discovery” in the future by “having the children try it with materials other than sand, such as water, snow, and ice.” after seeing the young children engage in outdoor exploration, another ec educator described her plan to make exploratory stem kits containing magnifying glasses, clipboards, paper, pencils, and bug catchers that go outdoors daily with the young children. theme 5: sharing with colleagues. the self-reflection logs’ entries referenced how many of the participants shared or planned to share information or ideas for early stem instruction with other educators, colleagues, and/or administrators via training opportunities and/or coaching. the theme emerged 42 times within the combined self-reflection logs transcripts. training opportunities. several participants described how they provided or planned to provide stem training for colleagues and/or team members. one participant shared, “i think it would be wonderful to introduce stem and train staff on it when they return in august.” another participant described developing a short training for teaching staff in january, “i am excited to share what we have learned and how it can easily be included into our lesson plans.” yet another ec educator wrote, “i want to work with teaching staff to intentionally focus on challenging the students by posing the questions and problems and emphasizing twenty-first century skills.” coaching. many participants described coaching as a means of providing suggestions for their colleagues and/or other ec educators. suggestions that participants shared or planned to share with colleagues and staff included: using math language daily, using stem during choice time, providing more time for early stem projects, incorporating small group or team activities, and taking materials outside. one ec educator shared an instance in which she was observing in an ec classroom that was struggling with classroom management. “i suggested changing up the lesson plans and providing more hands-on, engaging activities, and i suggested open-ended materials where they [the children] can create their own things.” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 66 a head start on stem other participants shared or planned to coach by sharing specific information and/or resources with colleagues and/or ec educators from the early stem college courses they completed during the study. for instance, many participants indicated that when coaching colleagues or other ec educators, they planned to recommend the use of resources from learning trajectories website (clements & sarama, 2017/2019). another stated, “in completing some of my stem activities for our classes [college courses completed as part of the study], i have encouraged my co-teachers to do similar activities with their groups and they have (subitizing, graphing, science experiments).” another participant wrote, “i have encouraged a few of my teaching staff to try and use my stem kit [created during courses completed as part of the study] in their classroom. theme 6: hands-on exploration. the participants also described how the young children used hands-on materials for building, creating, or exploring in various learning environments. this theme emerged 35 times within the combined transcripts. many participants reported early stem activities in which the young children used hands-on materials to design, engineer, create, explore, and/or build. participants mentioned using household and/or recyclable materials for early stem activities including 3d foam pieces, felt, blocks, cardboard tubes, rocks, toothpicks, glue, markers, straws, wooden craft sticks, toothpicks, and a type of clay referred to as ‘model magic.’ participants also cited young children using mathematical and scientific materials such as ten-frames, tweezers, magnifying lenses, petri dishes, balances, scales, and stem boxes or bins for hands-on experiences. many participants described how the young children used hands-on materials and manipulatives to create structures or models. for instance, young children created shadows, shapes, houses, buildings, teeter totters, and snowflakes with the varied materials provided by the participants. other participants described how the young children solved a particular problem or challenge using hands-on materials in the classroom or in an outdoor environment. for example, after reading a story about the three little pigs, some participants described young children using materials to design a house that could withstand the wolf ’s “huffing and puffing.” others described young children using hands-on materials to build sprout houses for planting seeds, designing catapults, creating shadow towers, making a volcano out of a pumpkin, crafting animal habitats, and fashioning musical instruments so they could have, “their very our own little marching band.” additionally, several participants described how the young children engaged in open-ended opportunities in which they used hands-on materials to explore and create with minimal constraints or directions from the participants. discussion and implications the multiple methods study examined head start preschool educators’ self-efficacy and instructional practices for supporting preschool-age children’s stem learning during their participation in a targeted professional development program that consisted of four graduate-level courses. as shown by the results, each of the 40 eceses-stem confidence-level mean scores increased. at the time of the pre-survey, six of the 10 indicators were deemed to be at the lower level of perceived confidence whereas after the intervention, only two mean ratings fell below 3.0. consistent with findings from sarama, et al. (2018), the implementation of a cohort model for professional learning over time and connected to educators’ classrooms, increases the likelihood that change will occur. with an increased understanding of how to integrate stem in early childhood classrooms, educators are more likely to involve young children in purposeful interactions with stem materials, increasing opportunities for young children’s development of critical thinking skills (englehart, 2016). relatedly, with opportunities for formative feedback overtime and from the college instructors and peers, the participants’ confidence levels were positively influenced (blonder & vescio, 2022). in addition to survey data, the combined transcripts from the self-reflection logs revealed six common themes (e.g., implementation of early stem activities, child responsiveness, teacher growth, teacher responsiveness, sharing with colleagues, and hands-on exploration) which contained perceptive data related to the participants’ confidence and inthe dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 67 a head start on stem structional stem practices. three of the themes (i.e., teacher growth, teacher responsiveness, and sharing with colleagues) relate to participants’ increased confidence. several participants described personal growth in terms of increased preparedness and confidence throughout the study and professional development opportunity. many mentioned greater early stem understanding and/ or having more confidence after trying stem activities with the preschool-age children. these findings align with what is known about self-efficacy and pd. educators are more likely to gain confidence when they participate in ongoing and interconnected pd opportunities designed to increase content and pedagogical knowledge (desimone, 2009; mcclure et al., 2017). this study incorporated sarama et al. (2018) recommendations for effective pd opportunities as it was ongoing (i.e., four courses taken over 11 months), connected to personal teaching practice and/ or instructional setting (i.e., preschool educators, instructional coaches, and program directors), and tailored to the ec educators’ needs (i.e., instructor and peer feedback, e-meeting times). consistent with a study conducted by chen et al. (2021), many participants in this study reported higher levels of stem self-efficacy after participating in early stem-related activities and pd. furthermore, the self-reflection logs’ transcripts frequently suggested an increase in participants’ confidence via teacher responsiveness. in this study, teacher responsiveness included opportunities to apply what was learned, self-reflect and set professional goals, all of which are known to be impacted by one’s self-confidence (bandura, 1993; gerde et al., 2018). the participants frequently shared instances of teacher responsiveness after applying their early stem knowledge to their own instructional setting. their self-reflection logs often conveyed personal enjoyment when watching young children partake in early stem activities, suggesting a positive effect. many of the participants mentioned their eagerness to plan for and implement additional early stem activities. the findings confirm zee and koomen’s (2016) study showing that educators with positive affective attitudes are more likely to implement and develop innovative pedagogical beliefs. relatedly, the theme of sharing with colleagues suggests educators must have confidence in order to willingly exchange instructional strategies and/or ideas with other educators. several of the participants disclosed either a future goal for sharing or having shared their early stem knowledge and/ or activities with colleagues. the ec educators in this study participated in structured pd in which they had ongoing opportunities to engage as educational leaders. for example, they facilitated early stem pd activities and provided a range of supports to their colleagues with frequent opportunities to rehearse, analyze, reflect on instructional practices, and set goals (sarama et al., 2018, p.4). the results of this study parallel previous studies (chen et al., 2021; desimone, 2009; mcclure et al., 2017) related to ongoing pd opportunities as an effective means of increasing self-efficacy and promoting early stem instruction. the remaining themes of implementation of early stem activities, hands-on exploration, and child responsiveness pertain to the participants’ instructional practices. the prevalence of the implementation of early stem activities theme indicates ongoing implementation throughout the study. as advocated by lange et al. (2019) and sarama et al. (2018), the participants frequently described whole and/or small group early stem implementation in which young children simultaneously incorporated stem disciplines to investigate and/or solve a phenomenon-based, real-world problem. as recommended by lange (2019), the self-reflection logs transcripts contained descriptions of participants incorporating early stem experiences in which young children used multi-modal senses to observe and explore, discover patterns, and learn through trial-and-error. many participants provided play-based indoor and/ or outdoor learning experiences to immerse young children in the scientific process. research supports the role of “play” as fundamental to effective stem instruction (stipek, 2017). the participants’ implementation of early stem included specific references to math, science, engineering, and technology. all four ngss (2013) disciplinary core ideas (e.g., life science, earth science, physical science, and engineering, technology, and systems) were represented in the participants’ account of early stem implementation. the participants described using exploratory science the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 68 a head start on stem experiences in which young children asked questions, made predictions, observed, explored, collected, and discussed the data collected through handson, inquiry-based investigations. bredekamp (2019) supports these experiences since they allow young children to grow their knowledge and skills related to life science, physical science, earth science, and engineering. stem technology refers to materials, resources, or tools that young children can use to solve a problem or to complete a design task (lange et al., 2019). the participants provided accounts of young children using technologies, including hands-on materials (e.g., household items or tools) to explore scientific phenomena or complete engineering designs. as supported by bredekamp (2019), blocks, math manipulatives, and games were also frequently used for stem implementation. the self-reflection logs’ transcripts also contained evidence of teaching specific mathematical process skills including reasoning and problem solving, communicating, and composing and decomposing (national research council, 2009). these interrelated skills have the potential to collectively enrich young children’s understanding of stem concepts, helping young children develop the character traits of curiosity, problem-solving, and perseverance (lange et al., 2019). additionally, many participants described young children’s responses to planned/ implemented early stem activities in terms of fun and enjoyment. the findings align with a study by atma et al. (2021) stating when students enjoy and are motivated to learn, they have a positive attitude. similarly, cudney and ezzell (2017) stated that motivation fostered a desire to learn and encouraged students to produce meaningful work. the results of the current study indicate that the young children enjoyed early stem activities and wanted to do them again, suggesting a desire for continued learning. relatedly, many participants described the young children’s active participation and engagement during early stem activities. reeve et al. (2004) described engagement as a student’s emotional and active involvement during a learning activity. active learning engages students and is therefore considered to be a teaching technique that supports learning (atma et al., 2021). the participants’ self-reflection logs’ transcripts provide evidence to support the national association for the education of young children and national council of teachers of mathematics’ (naeyc & nctm, 2010) joint position statement affirms that young children can engage in the science and engineering practices (i.e., making predictions, carrying out experiments, and collecting data). furthermore, the national research council (2001) stated that in addition to asking questions, young children should have the capacity and propensity to observe, explore, discover, and make sense of the world around them. one way that young children in this study were reported to make sense of the world around them during early stem activities was through social interactions. accounts of groups or pairs of preschool-age children working and interacting with one another as they engaged in learning from one another while participating in early stem activities substantiates what is known about social learning (vygotsky, 1986). in addition, the young children being reported as actively participating in early stem activities, the participants also described how young children persisted and often found multiple ways to solve problems or complete challenges. this is supported by sarama et al. (2018) and lange et al. (2019) who found that stem experiences allow young children to gain stem knowledge while simultaneously developing character traits that may build foundational background knowledge and interest in stem. limitations and future studies while the findings are encouraging, it must be acknowledged that the small sample size used for “the participants provided accounts of young children using technologies, including hands-on materials (e.g., household items or tools) to explore scientific phenomena or complete engineering designs. ” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 69 a head start on stem this study limits generalization of the findings. in addition, the study yielded inconsistencies with the return rate for the six self-reflection logs. future research focusing on ec educators’ abilities and use of strategies for promoting early stem instruction in both indoor and outdoor learning environments, particularly during times of inclement weather may help in preparing teachers to effectively and efficiently plan and implement early stem instruction. in addition, focusing on the dyadic relationship between coach and coachee and their self-efficacy levels before and after shared professional development opportunities, may assist the field in further defining the value of the coaching model and potential benefits for alignment of coaching and pd experiences. while it is important to remember the ever-increasing stem workforce demands, it is equally if not more important to consider how stem knowledge, skills and self-efficacy may impact career choices and/or readiness of young children, our future workforce. workforce demands often lead to higher compensation and benefits. ensuring ec educators, particularly those providing care and education to head start children, often at higher risk of school failure is important not only to fill the increased stem workforce demands, but to provide pathways toward financial stability. references act. 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(1986). thought and language-revised edition. cambridge, ma: massachusetts institute of technology. https:// mitpress.mit.edu/9780262517713/thought-and-language/ wilson, s. m., shulman, l. s. & richert, a. e. (1987). “150 different ways” of knowing: representations of knowledge in teaching. in j. calderhead (ed.), exploring teachers’ thinking (pp. 104-124). cassell. zee, m., & koomen, h. y. (2016). teacher self-efficacy and its effects on classroom processes, student academic adjustment, and teacher well-being: a synthesis of 40 years of research. review of educational research, 86(4), 981–1015. https://doi. org/10.3102/0034654315626801 hs dialog, 26(3), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 preparing early childhood educators to work with emergent bilinguals maria josé a. dias1 julia t. atiles1 jaime dice moore2 2east tennessee state university 2athens, georgia classrooms across the united states have become more culturally and linguistically diverse, and educators report feeling not well prepared to work with children who are learning more than one language. in early childhood education, teacher beliefs and efficacy influence classroom practices. english is privileged over other languages, and children who are bilingual are often treated as if they have a deficit. this pilot study describes the development and implementation of a professional development workshop series for head start educators that applies a strengthsbased perspective to emergent bilingual learning and explores how a translanguaging approach can not only empower children and educators but also engage families, expand learning opportunities, and make families a resource for educators. nine educators shared their feedback on their experience of the workshop series and the content. educators’ positive takeaways highlight the importance of ongoing professional development to improve practices of early childhood educators and the usefulness of a translanguaging approach for working with young children and their families. keywords: professional development, emergent bilinguals, head start, translanguaging introduction classrooms across the united states are increasingly more culturally and linguistically diverse, with the number of children who speak a language other than english at home increasing considerably over the past two decades, from 9.2 %, or 4.5 million students in 2010 to 10.4% or 5.1 million students in 2019 (the national center for education statistics, 2021). in head start programs across the nation, approximately 28% of children speak a primary language at home other than english, and 5% of children from english speaking homes are acquiring a second language (office of head start, 2021). these numbers suggest the need for a workforce that is prepared to work effectively with multilingual children. research article 2 dias, atiles, & moore some teachers of multiple language learners focus on problems rather than potential. they focus on “can’t” instead of “not yet” developed language skills. this way of thinking leads teachers to ask “what’s wrong?” with a student rather than asking “what can i do to build on existing strengths?” (larsen-freeman, 2018). the traditional practice of an english-only policy in most schools upholds the notion that english is the only acceptable medium of communication within the classroom (auerbach, 1993; shvidko, 2017). the goal of traditional education is for children to acquire english as quickly as possible, with the expectation that the english acquisition will make children academically successful and contribute to a reduction in the achievement gap (philipson, 1992). this is reflected in the term used to refer to children who are learning in multiple languages – english language learners (ells). in this paper, we refer to young children who are navigating language acquisition in two or more languages as “emergent bilinguals,” which positions the child’s bilingualism as a strength within the context of language and literacy development. this positioning and misconception that learning a second language puts children at a disadvantage leads to early childhood educators often holding erroneous beliefs about the importance of the english-only policy (fu et al., 2019). garcía and kleifgen (2018) argue that many educators believe that to successfully teach children, they need to be fluent in the languages that the children speak in their classrooms and that because they are not, they will not be effective in teaching them. research shows that fluency in children’s languages is not necessary to be a successful educator. however, an understanding that language is a cognitive, social, and educational tool that needs to be valued and respected is essential for effectively supporting the language development of emergent bilinguals (park, 2014). that focus on building relationships with children and families is more of a part of the curriculum in early childhood education than in later years. many educators report struggling with feelings of low efficacy in working with emergent bilinguals because of the lack of training (cummings, 2015; samson & collins, 2012; siller, 2018). research on professional development for educators working with children who are emergent bilinguals has shown effectiveness in changing educators’ knowledge, beliefs, and instruction, which impact children directly (cummings, 2015; tran, 2014; zaslow et al., 2010). however, there is limited research on the effect of professional development for educators of emergent bilinguals on their perceptions and efficacy (cummings, 2015; siller, 2018), which also influence children’s learning environments. studies that have explored the challenges and needs of early childhood educators who work with emergent bilinguals consistently report a lack of training and make recommendations for pre-service and in-service teacher training that include emergent bilinguals’ learning and development, as well as strategies for effective teaching (baecher & jewkes, 2014; dwarka, 2018). moreover, research suggests that increasing educators’ efficacy is linked to positive outcomes, such as more developmentally appropriate and innovative teaching practices, higher student achievement, and more purposeful work with at-risk learners (allinder, 1994; jordan et al., 1993). quantitative studies of both pre-service and in-service teachers have shown a significant difference in efficacy with training. for example, cummings (2015) found that in-service educators who received direct training in working with english language learners, or a bilingual certification/endorsement reported higher self-efficacy compared to those who did not. mccrary and colleagues (2011) found that a higher education program that was infused with ell-focused teaching emergent bilinguals 3 competencies increased the efficacy of both the pre-service teachers and their university faculty as a result of this practice. pre-service teachers reported feeling prepared to address the needs of ells, while faculty members reported feeling more knowledgeable about ell characteristics, teaching strategies, and appropriate assessment. it is clear that training influences educator efficacy in teaching children who are emergent bilinguals and that training can influence teacher beliefs and practices. in addition to the benefits of direct training, availability of support personnel can also help teachers feel more efficacious teaching ells. choi and colleagues (2020) conducted a multi-method study to investigate head start teachers who work with dual language learners (dlls). the researchers found that while teachers use instructional strategies specific for dlls they felt unsure about their preparation and expressed that they need more support and personnel to help them with communication. also, participants reported that they felt more comfortable teaching dlls when there was support. the present study adds to the current knowledge base on professional development that aims to increase the efficacy of early childhood educators who work with emergent bilinguals. the authors developed a series of professional development workshops designed to further head start educators’ knowledge and to develop practical skills for working with emergent bilinguals and their families using a strengths-based perspective for language learning. educators engaged in a series of workshops demonstrating practices that benefit emergent bilinguals and parent-educator relationships, as well as provided understanding about how deficit-based practices feel from the students’ perspective. translanguaging pedagogy in stark contrast to a deficit perspective of language learning, the authors drew from the translanguaging pedagogy framework to design this professional development (garcia & wei, 2014). translanguaging is a philosophy of language and education that challenges the monolingual orientation. garcía and kano (2014) defined translanguaging as a process by which students and teachers engage in complex discursive practices that include all the language practices of students in order to develop new language practices and sustain old ones, communicate appropriate knowledge, and give voice to new sociopolitical realities by interrogating linguistic inequality (p. 261). translanguaging is aligned with the national association for the education of young children’s concept of developmentally appropriate practice (dap). teachers who implement dap recognize the assets all young children bring to the early childhood classroom as individuals and as members of their families and communities. dap builds on children strengths by supporting their learning through multiple modalities of communication, creating a caring community of learners; engaging in reciprocal partnerships with families; and observing, documenting and assessing development and learning (naeyc, 2022). according to wright (2022), dap supports children’s development and learning by creating caring and equitable communities. furthermore, “young children are developing multiple social identities that include race, language, culture, ability, class, and gender, 4 dias, atiles, & moore among others, and intentional teachers affirm these in positive ways that do not negatively impact any others” (wright, 2022, p. 119). wright explains that in developmentally appropriate programs, “educators honor the perspectives, experiences, and realities of children and their families from culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse backgrounds. they work to bring each child’s home culture and language into the shared culture of the class” (p. 120). applying the dap philosophy, a translanguaging pedagogy integrates children’s bilingualism and knowledge development and strengthens children’s bilingual identities and socioemotional development (garcía et al., 2017). thus, translanguaging challenges dichotomous thinking because of its flexible and fluid nature. a translanguaging classroom is any classroom with students who speak a language different from the official language of instruction. students in a translanguaging classroom are encouraged to use their entire linguistic repertoire to make meaning and express themselves. from this perspective, students in a translanguaging classroom are called bilingual students (garcía et al., 2017). garcía and colleagues (2017) described the translanguaging classroom as “a space built collaboratively by the teacher and bilingual students as they use their different language practices to teach and learn in deeply creative and critical ways” (p. 2). using a translanguaging approach, educators can facilitate teaching and learning, not by ignoring the student’s full linguistic repertoire, but rather by developing their full competencies and sense of agency, helping students understand themselves and their place in the world (garcía et al., 2017). following this perspective, a translanguaging classroom has the distinct characteristic of a corriente (spanish word for current; a metaphor used by garcía et al., 2017, to show how fluid and dynamic translanguaging classrooms are) so that planning is flexible and adaptable. according to garcía et al. (2017), aspects of a translanguaging pedagogy that are necessary for educators to be able to see the students’ full linguistic repertoire and engage in translanguaging practices include: a) an educator needs to have a translanguaging ideological stance, b) an educator needs to build a translanguaging design (planning, instruction, and assessment), and c) an educator needs to make translanguaging shifts (moment-by-moment decisions educators make during instruction to meet the needs of their students). these three aspects were used as guiding principles to develop the professional development workshops in the present article. exploratory research on k-12 education provides insights for early childhood education. studies have shown that when teachers are trained in translanguaging practices, teacher practices can change. studies of professional development that lasts several months show promising results. menken and sánchez (2019) evaluated the impact of multiple schools implementing professional development and technical assistance in translanguaging pedagogy and found that the training changed how educators thought about their students, their practices, and how emergent bilinguals fit into their practices in instruction. similarly, holdway and hitchcock (2018) examined the shift of seven educators who participated in a 15-week online professional development course in which they studied their own practices and the benefits of including a students’ first language in the classroom. they found that educators had varied acceptance and resistance to translanguaging practices. although this study included some acceptance, future studies should explore the resistance and whether it is related to the specific professional development or other factors. teaching emergent bilinguals 5 studies on professional development in translanguaging pedagogy in early childhood education are mostly qualitative and similarly exploratory but show promise for this approach. kirsch and seele (2020), for example, examined the practices of four early childhood educators who worked with emergent bilinguals and showed that teachers who were attached to monolingual practices in the beginning of the professional development incorporated more translanguaging practices in their classroom and became more flexible. seltzer and colleagues (2020) described the results of having teachers observe young emergent bilingual children playing. teachers reported opening their minds to hear and see students through a translanguaging pedagogy lens and reported that kindergarteners engaged in translanguaging while they were in the play centers. these studies explore the mental shifts that educators report making as a result of professional development focused on translanguaging practices. they also demonstrate the disruption of monolingual policies and practices in a classroom and show the transformative potential of shifting to a translanguaging pedagogy. professional development training and pre-service teacher training seem to be the path to steer from monolingual to multilingual classrooms, to challenge the norm of the english-only practice, and endeavor to make classrooms more culturally and linguistically responsive. however, little has been discussed about what activities a professional training could include for early childhood educators to make the shift to a translanguaging pedagogy. research has highlighted the essential building blocks of an educator’s toolkit for developing a translanguaging classroom. in a review of the content of professional preparation programs for early educators working with young dlls, zepeda et al. (2011) identified six content areas that teacher preparation needs to focus on to meet the needs of emergent bilinguals, which were applied to develop a translanguaging workshop series. the areas are (a) understanding language development, (b) understanding the relationship between language and culture, (c) developing skills and abilities to effectively teach dlls, (d) developing abilities to use assessment in meaningful ways for dlls, (e) developing a sense of professionalism (this sense of professionalism is explained by using appropriate resources, understanding the sociopolitical context, and developing consciousness about biases), and (f) understanding how to work with families. in addition, the workshops were developed using españa et al.’s (2019) principles for teacher candidates to make the shift from monolingual only to multilingual practices, including a need to gain understanding of their own language practices and the connection between language and power; transform their bilingual students into knowers; and transform schools into democratic institutions for bilingual students in which their voices are included and heard. all of these suggested areas of expertise reflect the change that translanguaging pedagogy can have for an educational experience that builds on the strengths of diversity instead of using a deficit model. a workshop series for translanguaging pedagogy drawing from research on professional development and from the translanguaging pedagogy, the authors of the current study developed a series of four workshops to prepare head start educators to work with emergent bilinguals. the sessions had a duration of one and a half to two hours over two fall months of 2021. having time between workshops was intentional, so that educators had time to put strategies learned into practice and could share what worked and did not work during 6 dias, atiles, & moore the next meeting. opportunities for implementation and practice of strategies have been identified as a feature of effective early childhood professional development (castro et al., 2017). workshop series overview table 1 shows where each activity in the workshop series applied zepeda et al.’s (2011) content areas that teacher preparation needs to focus on to meet the needs of emergent bilingual students. table 1 zepeda et al.’s (2011) content areas for teacher preparation for working with dlls content area workshop workshop application 1 2 3 4 understanding language development x x stages of language development, affective filter, emergent literacy, bilingualism as an asset, comprehension and vocabulary development understanding the relationship between language and culture x x x x raise awareness about educators’ personal and cultural identities, multicultural and multilingual classroom, morning meetings, multicultural books, family engagement developing skills and abilities to effectively teach dlls x x x x develop empathy towards emergent bilinguals, school or program wide effort to embrace diversity, home language survey, strategies to develop comprehension and vocabulary, funds of knowledge, and activities for families to engage in biliteracy practices developing abilities to use assessment in meaningful ways for dlls x practice comprehension and vocabulary strategies to assess children’s understanding developing a sense of professionalism x x x x be intentional and provide meaningful learning environment and practices to emergent bilinguals understanding how to work with families x x home language surveys, funds of knowledge, see families as valuable resources workshop 1 was on developing and raising educators’ self-awareness regarding their personal and cultural identities, and developing empathy towards emergent bilinguals; workshop 2 on multiculturalism and emergent bilinguals supported educators’ understanding of the relationship between language and culture; workshop 3 on emergent literacy and practices supported educators’ understanding of language development and the development of skills and abilities to effectively teach emergent bilinguals; and workshop 4 on school and family engagement supported the use of assessment in meaningful ways for emergent bilinguals and the development of a sense of teaching emergent bilinguals 7 professionalism as explained by using appropriate resources, understanding the sociopolitical context, and developing consciousness about biases, as well as understanding how to work with families. each workshop’s content is described in more detail in the research-to-practice summary (atiles et al., 2023). all of these suggested areas of expertise reflect the change that translanguaging pedagogy can have for an educational experience that builds on the strengths of diversity. methodology a qualitative pilot study was conducted to evaluate if this series of professional development focusing on building teachers’ self-awareness and empathy towards emergent bilinguals, culturally responsive practices, emergent literacy, and school and family engagement was appropriate to equip early childhood teachers with best practices to work with emergent bilinguals. following an irb approved protocol, head start administrators invited their teachers to participate in the professional development. this purposeful convenience sample resulted in twenty-one participants attending and enrolling in the study in the first session. nine teachers attended the four sessions and completed the study. participants were eight females and one male. seven identified as white, one black, and one of hispanic descent. their age ranged from 24-63. their years of teaching experience ranged from 1-27 years with the mean years of experience being 11.33. six reported that their highest level of education completed was a bachelor’s degree in child development or early childhood education or related field, one held a master’s degree in early childhood education, one a bachelor’s degree in business, and one an associate degree in early childhood education. all worked in head start programs in a southeastern state. data collection participants completed an online preand post-survey that included a brief demographic questionnaire and the teachers’ sense of efficacy scale (short form) (tschannen-moran & woolfolk hoy, 2001). participants responded to the 12-item survey by selecting responses indicating how much they felt they could do in relation to various statements, ranging from 1 (nothing) to 9 (a great deal). the scale measures teachers’ beliefs about their effectiveness with students in the classroom and consists of three subscales: instructional strategy, classroom management, and student engagement (tschannen-moran & woolfolk hoy, 2001). the language of the scale was adapted for this study to specify how teachers felt about efficacy in relation to emergent bilingual students, instead of answering for the student body in general. items included questions such as “how much can you do to motivate emergent bilingual students who show low interest in schoolwork?” and “how much can you use a variety of assessment strategies with emergent bilinguals?” at the end of the post-survey, participants read: “before clicking ‘submit’, if you want, you can leave us a message. thank you for your participation in this study.” several participants included comments in that space or sent the authors emails of appreciation for the training and commenting on their takeaways. participants’ comments from the workshops were transcribed. the qualitative data were taken from survey comments, the workshop transcript, and 8 dias, atiles, & moore emails of participants’ comments, and the kwl chart (used in workshop 2 to identify what the teachers already knew and wanted to learn). takeaways from the data analysis are described in the following section. results three sets of data were analyzed: the kwl chart, and the comments made by participants during the workshops and unsolicited emails, and written comments in the open-ended question at the end of the survey. all of the data sources were included in the informed consent. the sample size precluded statistical testing of the data from the teachers’ efficacy scale. however, it is useful to note that the efficacy pretest scores ranged from 35 to 108 with an average of 70.66, and the efficacy posttest scores ranged from 74 to 104 with an average of 88.22. therefore, the selfefficacy scores increased on average 17.55 points. during workshop 2, researchers asked participants to complete the “what i know” and the “what i want to know” columns of the kwl chart as a way to remind them of this strategy that they can also use with children and to provoke reflection in the session. the completed kwl chart indicated that participants understood the importance of the context and that visual aids help the learner decipher meaning. additionally, teachers understanding that children’s frustration, difficulty transitioning, and misbehavior may be the result of lacking language skills. some of the participants knew some cultural celebrations and a few resources to help students and to talk with parents. participants were interested in learning some spanish, including learning the appropriate terms to communicate with parents in a formal and respectful manner; learning how to help children in their silent period as well as comforting or soothing words and phrases; and understanding words to navigate around disabilities (how to explain the iep process to a family). however, the authors chose to include how they addressed participants’ “what i want to know” requests on the “what i have learned” column. these included, translating welcome signs, welcome letter to parents, and basic classroom vocabulary; practicing strategies to integrate home language; discussing the stages of language development and the best way to help children progress through the stages, focusing on the importance of non-verbal language for comforting children; additionally, materials about the iep (programa o plan de educacíon individualizado) process in spanish were shared with the educator who had interest in this area. throughout the workshops, researchers modeled the use of the translanguaging pedagogy as a way to enhance their communication with students and families. finally, the transcripts of the participants’ comments made during the workshops or sent via email and comments written in the open-ended question at the end of the survey revealed teachers’ perceptions of how the professional development affected them and what they learned. from those, a series of take-aways emerged. takeaways one. build empathy this takeaway recognizes that empathy from the teachers towards the emergent bilinguals is needed in order for them to support the students’ through the challenges posed by language teaching emergent bilinguals 9 limitations. the activity aims at placing the teachers in the emergent bilinguals’ shoes; a situation where they do not know the language, yet are expected to respond to questions addressing comprehension. the educators reported that the activity of reading a story in spanish to a majority of monolingual english speakers gave them the chance to feel like the emergent bilinguals in their classrooms. building empathy towards emergent bilinguals may be the starting point to take the stance of a translanguaging pedagogy and improve instruction. one educator commented: i guess i had never thought about it, but it was very confusing for me. i was totally lost because i could not see the pictures and had no idea what they were saying. it will definitely make me think about what is important for all the children to see in and learn from the book the next time. two. engage families this takeaway recognizes that families are an excellent resource. educators engaging with the family as an ally and knowing they can learn with and from families is crucial to children’s education. a participant stated: i believe a child’s education benefits more when families and educators work together as a team… i feel family home activities should be connected in a way they can express their beliefs or customs, so each child has a little of their families in the classroom. another participant stated: “i also loved the idea of having the families bring in items, songs, and stories from their culture and sharing them with all the children.” both comments reflect on the concepts of funds of knowledge. they express the value of knowing about children’s interests and cultural background, thus building bridges between school and home. three. implement research-based strategies this takeaway addresses the importance of knowing various teaching strategies that can be used to promote language development. participants showed a positive reaction towards the emergent literacy practices presented during workshop 3. one participant stated: i will incorporate the tip of writing down questions beforehand when planning to read a book to the class. i will like the children to draw a picture in response to the story. presently, i introduce spanish words with the children whenever i'm able to. during transitions, i count up to 10 in spanish. i believe we can all benefit from this class [professional development workshop] especially during the literacy segments. thank you again for making this class available to us. another participant also demonstrated positive attitude towards implementing some of the strategies in her instruction, as follows, “the literacy ideas were great, ones i will definitely use in the classroom. especially labeling everything in english and spanish.” 10 dias, atiles, & moore four. intentional self-reflection this takeaway emphasizes the importance of teachers engaging in reflection about their practices while considering children’s individual, cultural, and language differences. when discussing how educators can incorporate children’s culture into the classroom and how to develop relationships with them, an educator emphasized the importance of “just learning more about the kids in your classroom and in the community and hopefully learning ways to help out.” another educator stated the importance of planning lessons ahead and considering the children they have in the classroom: “i was reminded to be intentional in my preparation.” in essence, educators not only have to perform their tasks, but also need time to reflect on their practices and the important role they play in children’s development. five. social-emotional support and comforting this final takeaway recognizes that learning a few words in the emergent bilinguals’ home languages allows the educator to provide socio-emotional support and comforting to the children. educators expressed wanting to have some language to be able to comfort emergent bilinguals in times of distress, demonstrating the need for a unique skillset needed to work with young children. while teaching the spanish language was beyond the scope of the professional development workshops, the “what i have learned” column of the kwl chart above explains how it was addressed by the authors. during the professional development, the researchers emphasized the importance of building bridges between school and families, and emphasizes how valuable of a resource family engagement can be in the teaching and learning process. because of covid-19, researchers suggested bringing in volunteers (family members) virtually via zoom to read a book or tell a story in their home language. the testimonial of one participant who invited a family member to read a story to the class showed the impact this type of activity can have in the classroom: when we approached a particular family about reading a story to the class, the first thing the parent said to us was, “i do not speak good english so i don’t think i should read the story.” when we told the parent we wanted him to read in spanish, he agreed and seemed more relaxed about the idea. the very next day, that parent read a story in spanish. i cannot even begin to accurately describe the twinkle in his child’s eyes as he heard his dad read a story to his class! the dad was smiling, and the kids were so excited to hear a story. it gave the classroom [children] a wonderful opportunity to talk about different languages, and it also empowered a family and made them feel involved. the children were able to follow along the story by using context clues from the pictures in the book and it was such a wonderful way to include families! i am planning on asking more families in our classroom to read stories or tell oral stories to our classroom [children]! this participant’s narrative illustrates the importance of perceiving families as allies in children’s learning development and how this professional development contributed to this mindset shift. teaching emergent bilinguals 11 discussion the workshop series was developed to enrich the professional toolkit of early childhood educators who work with emergent bilingual students. although the evaluation of this workshop series is exploratory, it illustrates early childhood educators’ thoughts and reflections on the experience of a professional development workshop series based on translanguaging pedagogy. participants described experiencing empathy towards bilingual students, expanded and positive family engagement, the usefulness for building relationships and relevant content for young children using concepts of emergent literacy, feeling responsibility as an educator, and the identification of the need to have more tools to support children’s social emotional development and needs. this pilot study illustrates the kinds of “aha” moments that educators can have when they experience learning through the eyes of an emergent bilingual, when they demonstrate that they value an ecology of multilingualism in the classroom, when they practice emergent literacy, and when they engage families as a resource in their practices. the results of this study suggest that there is value in providing a strengths-based approach to bilingualism for children who speak a language or languages other than english. this is in sharp contrast to the deficit-based perspective typically adopted in traditional language learning pedagogy (garcia et al., 2017). while most studies of ells or dlls have examined teacher education for children of school age, studies like the present one, demonstrate the additional value of applying a translanguaging approach to emergent literacy in early childhood because of this unique period in development. young children are more dependent on the social, emotional, and linguistic interactions of their families for making sense of the world and developing literacy. by applying translanguaging and treating children as emergent bilinguals, educators show respect for cultural differences and make family contributions into resources. the results of the kwl chart are similar to previous studies that found that teachers have a desire to learn the language of the child, and perhaps show the mistaken belief that knowing the child’s language is necessary for teaching them. however, these results also suggest that the overall intent of this desire may stem from the need to provide social and emotional comfort to the child, which is an important aspect of learning in young children, as well as to have meaningful and respectful communications and relationships with the families of young children. teachers reported ways that the workshops addressed these areas of deficit in their knowledge by giving them non-verbal tools for communication, helping them understand the context of language learning, and translating non-verbal cues from children. this study demonstrates how an intentionally designed professional development series for early childhood educators shows promise for influencing the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of educators who teach children who are emergent bilinguals. it also illustrates the application of the six essential components of an educators’ toolkit for working with emergent bilinguals as identified by zepeda and colleagues (2011) in a professional development training. there is still much research to be done exploring the potential of professional development using a translanguaging approach. future studies should explore the influence of various translanguaging practices on children's language learning and the influence of professional development in translanguaging on teacher practices. because early childhood language learning sets the foundation for identity and future language development, more studies need to be conducted on 12 dias, atiles, & moore translanguaging practices in the early childhood classroom to better understand how they compare to or are more powerful in influencing learning for this age group than the use of such practices with older students. an important application of this pilot study relates to participants’ recruitment, bias, and buy-in. the researchers experienced difficulty recruiting participants. while the participants were invested in learning about emergent bilinguals, their interest and commitment may not be representative of other early childhood teachers. in this study, low participation was perhaps due to the covid-19 virus and the fact that many educators feel overwhelmed by the extra duties the pandemic brought to their teaching environment. additionally, administrators described a phenomenon in which head start educators have become accustomed to being paid to attend professional development. this “earn to learn” model that is typically provided was not possible for the current study and resulted in a smaller sample with which this professional development workshop series could be piloted. a diverse sample will provide insight into the influence of such an approach on the knowledge, beliefs and practices of educators who are less willing to adapt their pedagogical style or methods. future studies should explore various methods for increasing participation including earn-to-learn professional development models that pay educators to participate in trainings as well as systemic buy-in on the importance of participating in professional training of this nature. with many educators reporting low efficacy in working with emergent bilinguals because of the lack of training (cummings, 2015; samson & collins, 2012; siller, 2019), this detailed professional development description on the four workshops can be used by teacher educators and trainers as a blueprint for lessons and professional development. more work is needed in creating professional development and pre-service teacher preparation programs for early childhood educators in the areas proposed by españa et al. (2019) for educators to make the shift from monolingual only to multilingual practices. understanding one’s own language practices and the connection between language and power would be useful in all teacher preparation programs to transform all students, including bilingual students, into knowers and to transform schools into democratic institutions where all students’ voices are included and heard. as the number of children who are emergent bilinguals is projected to grow even more in the coming years, workshops that focus on translanguaging are needed to support the professional development of educators who will meet this group of students with the knowledge, beliefs, and practices necessary to support their development and learning. references allinder, r. m. 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happiness, experiences, and ability to establish positive relationships. children from low-income families experience higher risk factors than their middleand upper-class counterparts. hence, fostering these skills early at home and in the classroom is essential. past research demonstrates various interventions to reduce problem behaviors and improve emotional socialization in children, as well as the impact of educating parents on effective emotion socialization practices. tuning in to kids online (tikol) is an emotion socialization parenting program aiming to support parents' understanding of children's social-emotional development and employ an emotion coaching style to help children understand, label, and regulate their emotions. this study examined the engagement, effectiveness, and acceptability of tikol in a small sample of head start parents. findings support using tikol to improve parents' emotion coaching practices, reduce parents' distressing reactions to children's behavior, and reduce parent-reported child conduct problems. keywords: parenting, early childhood, social-emotional development summary of literature fostering positive social-emotional health in young children has long-term implications on children's general development and learning. specifically, a lack of social skills can lead to longterm difficulties building strong relationships with peers, adults, and teachers, which may cause children to struggle academically (denham et al., 2015; kılıç, 2015). prosocial behaviors foster experiences of affirmative acceptance from peers, leading to higher-quality relationships. systemic barriers related to economic disadvantage and familial stress can increase problem behaviors across their lifespan (ramanathan et al., 2017). the relationships children develop contribute significantly to their interactions with others (sheridan et al., 2019). developing emotional competence early on can serve as a protective factor (i.e., characteristics that buffer against adverse life outcomes) and reduce the incidence of future problem behaviors, especially within low-income preschool settings like head start (denham et al., 2015; kılıç, 2015). research to practice summary williams and carlson 52 preschool-aged children experience a wide range of emotions that they are not always wellequipped to manage without direct instruction from an adult. studies show that approximately 1 in 4 preschool-aged children experience social-emotional difficulties (brown et al., 2012; lavigne et al., 1996). various parenting programs recognize the importance of positive parent-child relationships and have investigated the effects of strengthening those relationships and building emotional competence in young children (duch et al., 2019; leijten et al., 2017; xiao et al., 2018). emotion coaching is one emerging concept developed to teach children how to acknowledge, understand, and manage their emotions (gottman et al., 1996). research in the past twenty years has begun to focus on the positive effects of emotion coaching on young children's emotional development with great success (loop & roskam, 2016; wu et al., 2019). emotion coaching refers to a parenting philosophy and style of helping parents tune in to children's emotions, recognize expression of emotions as a time for teaching, validate children's feelings, guide the child to label the emotion, and help the child problem-solve in addressing their emotions (gottman et al., 1996, 1997). the tuning in to kids (tik) parenting program is an emotion socialization program grounded in emotion coaching developed to help parents (havighurst & harley, 2007). the program is typically provided in six two-hour sessions with groups of eight to 10 parents. research shows that parents who participated in tik reported an increase in using emotion coaching strategies (e.g., bjørk et al., 2022; havighurst et al., 2019), reductions in children's anxiety (edrissi et al., 2019), and conduct behaviors (e.g., (aghaie meybodi et al., 2019), and improvements in children's emotional knowledge and competence (havighurst et al., 2009). though these findings are promising, no evaluations of tik have been evaluated in the united states. this study focused on the online, self-guided adaptation of tik called tuning in to kids online (tikol; havighurst & harley, 2021). tikol condenses the information provided in the group sessions into 10 video modules covering topics such as emotion coaching, pausing before responding to children's negative emotions, and reacting to children's fears and anger. this selfguided adaptation allows parents and caregivers to learn about the topics at their own pace. research highlights barriers for families to access evidence-based interventions, including conflicting work schedules, life stressors, and transportation barriers (breitenstein et al., 2014). ensuring families’ well-being through access to evidence-based interventions is essential in education and proved especially critical during the covid-19 pandemic lockdown and restrictions (cook et al., 2021). current study this study examined an online and self-paced parenting program, tuning in to kids online (tikol), within a sample of head start parents. this online program was adapted from tuning in to kids (tik; havighurst & harley, 2007), a group-based parenting program developed to help parents support their children's emotions. tikol is a 10-video program that covers topics such as emotion coaching, displaying empathy, and managing various emotions and situations (e.g., anger, sadness, sibling conflict). benefits of emotion socialization practices 53 participants in the sample were predominantly white (88%), had completed some college (38%) or a postsecondary degree (62%), and were primarily working full-time (62%). this sample reflects a higher representation of educated parents and those who could have limited daily availability than the national head start population (u.s. department of health and human services, 2019). parents were granted access to the tikol content and guided to watch approximately one video per week. each week, parents completed questions related to their engagement with video modules and opportunities to practice the skills from the videos. surveys were administered to examine changes in parents' self-reported beliefs in emotion coaching and dismissing, parenting practices around children's negative emotions, and parent perceptions of their children's social-emotional behaviors. key findings there are three main findings from this study that provide support for tikol’s effectiveness, fidelity, and acceptability. first, parents' exposure to an emotion socialization curriculum improved parents’ beliefs in using emotion coaching to engage with their children's emotions. parents reported fewer distressed reactions and increased expressive encouragement. these changes were also associated with improvements in children's conduct behavior problems. a second main finding is that parents could complete tikol as intended. specifically, parents reported being "quite engaged" with the content and watched an estimated 97% of the weekly videos. the third and final finding is that parents in this study reported tikol as a highly acceptable intervention. these findings suggest that this online, self-paced parenting program may help reduce barriers to accessing an evidence-based program that can effectively change behaviors targeted in caregivers and their children. tikol can enhance how parents engage in their child's social-emotional development. its’ focus on emotion socialization practices sets the stage for collaborating effectively with their child’s early childhood educator to promote children’s emotional regulation and social skills across home and school settings. our study findings highlighted how vital emotion socialization parenting programs could be for parents' and children's well-being. there are also several implications from our study findings and other supporting literature on the impact of emotion socialization practices on early childhood educators and program administrators. implications for early childhood educators for those early childhood educators unfamiliar with the tikol program or emotion socialization practices, there is much to be learned. the five steps of emotion coaching include (1) being aware of the range of children’s emotions, (2) recognizing children’s emotional expression as an opportunity for teaching, (3) empathizing and validating child’s feelings, (4) helping children label their emotions, and (5) helping children problem-solve and manage their emotions (gottman et al., 1997). tikol emphasizes the importance of how adults react to children's strong emotions. reacting positively or negatively to children’s emotions can significantly impact these teachable moments and ultimately caregiver-child relationships. positive adult-child relationships can foster healthy social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment. williams and carlson 54 knowing that educators’ emotion socialization is similar to how parents socialize their children to emotions (denham et al., 2017) supports the importance of employing emotion coaching as a prevention practice in classrooms to promote healthy development in all children. when adults in schools have an awareness and shared understanding of addressing children’s emotions, it can help improve emotion regulation skills in both students and teachers (gus et al., 2015). educators in touch with their own emotional reactions (and how those have been developed from one’s own history) within the classroom are more likely to engage in emotion coaching practices and less likely to dismiss children’s emotions (ornaghi et al., 2022). helping parents to be in tune with their own emotions is believed to be the single most proximal factor to address when working to improve children’s emotion socialization (hajal & paley, 2020). implications for program administrators program administrators are charged with providing their staff with the training and resources necessary to foster positive social-emotional development in young children. they too can promote positive learning environments for children and help to facilitate strong family connections. working closely with caregivers in the home helps to ensure consistency in emotion socialization practices that promote children’s healthy expression of emotions. finally, creating a work culture that emphasizes caregiver well-being and resilience can have a profound impact on increasing educators’ emotional capacity for the hard work associated with teaching young children (zinsser et al., 2014). research suggests that educators with lower job-related stress are more likely to endorse positive emotion socialization practices (denham et al., 2017). program administrators can also commit themselves to ensure the latest evidence-based teaching practices are employed within their settings. national and local initiatives, such as the head start early childhood learning and knowledge center, can be accessed to obtain classroom curricula, new developments in best practices in classroom management, and the latest in evidence-based parenting practices and programs. online parenting programs, such as tikol, have the unique opportunity to reach families who ordinarily wouldn’t be able to access those supports. program administrators’ awareness of program accessibility, effectiveness, and acceptability are all essential considerations when working with caregivers who are invested in children's socialemotional development. often, early childhood education centers don’t have the resources or personnel to deliver group-based interventions to parents and caregivers, which can diminish the impact of evidence-based services (axford et al., 2012). however, research indicates that sharing information with parents via web-based media is just as effective as in-person resources (nieuwboer et al., 2013; spencer et al., 2020). providing accessible ways to connect to this information can improve relationships between centers, parents, and children. summary given the importance of fostering social-emotional development for young children, the results of this study cannot be understated. early childhood programs have a unique opportunity to engage parents and educators in positive emotion socialization practices across home and school benefits of emotion socialization practices 55 settings. head start’s dedication to viewing parents as collaborators in children’s education provides an opportunity to create unique professional development opportunities on the topic of emotional socialization that can be accessible to all caregivers. references aghaie meybodi, f., mohammadkhani, p., pourshahbaz, a., dolatshahi, b., & havighurst, s. s. 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(2014). a mixed-method examination of preschool teacher beliefs about social–emotional learning and relations to observed emotional support. infant and child development, 23(5), 471–493. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.1843 hs dialog, 27(1), 94-103 copyright ©2024, issn: 1930-9325 descriptive article enhancing fieldwork supervision during early childhood inclusive practicum placements: opportunity for collaboration between institutes of higher education sandra bequette edd1 reagan murnan phd2 marie kohart med3 jennifer francois phd4 kimberly wilson phd2 1emporia state university 2wichita state university 3university of kansas 4kansas state university this manuscript outlines a collaborative initiative among four state universities to enhance practicum and field-based experiences for early childhood education candidates. grounded in research highlighting the impact of early childhood experiences, the collaboration addresses challenges in the early childhood care and education (ecce) workforce by fostering inclusive decision-making and engagement with ecce partners. through dialogue and partnership, the initiative aims to ensure comprehensive training and support for future early childhood educators. it highlights the evolution of practicum experiences, emphasizing collaborative relationships between novice teachers, mentor teachers, and university supervisors. key components include the creation of universal training modules and an open-source platform to house training materials. the manuscript concludes with recommendations for enhancing practicum experiences and addressing workforce challenges, emphasizing ongoing collaboration and partnership in promoting highquality early childhood education. keywords: early childhood, field experience, inclusion, practice-based coaching, practicum bequette et al. 95 one afternoon in early spring, the conference room at the university department meeting buzzed with animated discussion. an endowed, early childhood faculty member leaned forward, her eyes bright with enthusiasm. "we need to rethink our approach to field experiences," she asserted. "our candidates deserve the best preparation possible, and that starts with well-trained mentor teachers and clinical supervisors." another seasoned faculty member from the department nodded in agreement. "absolutely. the impact of a skilled mentor can't be overstated. we need comprehensive training modules that not only address the basics but also delve into advanced mentoring strategies." across the table, a professor with a passion for innovative teaching methods chimed in. "why don't we collaborate with other state universities? we can pool our resources and expertise to create a robust training program that benefits all of our candidates." the room fell silent for a moment as everyone considered the proposal. then, a chorus of agreement echoed through the room, marking the beginning of a groundbreaking initiative. this conversation set the stage for a collaborative effort to enhance the quality of practicum experiences, ensuring that future early childhood teachers receive the guidance and support they need to thrive in their careers. research supports the importance of a child’s early years on later development (likhar et al., 2022). during early childhood, brain development progresses at a remarkable pace, deeply influenced by essential interactions with families, peers, teachers, and the broader community. all children thrive in environments rich with play and through opportunities to interact with others, learning language and social skills that will impact their later life (u.s. department of health and human services & u.s. department of education, 2023). the number of young children identified as having developmental disabilities continues to increase with nearly 18% of u.s. children, or one in six, having a disability that will impact their schooling and overall future success (zablotsky et al., 2019). when children are identified early and can experience a high-quality inclusive early childhood setting, the strongest outcomes for the child can be achieved. children with disabilities who receive high-quality inclusive early learning experiences with their general education peers have a much greater opportunity for later life success. however, young children may face barriers to accessing high-quality inclusive settings due to a lack of a qualified teacher workforce (dewhirst, 2023; rhodes & huston, 2012). to ensure that all young children are provided with high-quality inclusive early childhood environments, it is vital to develop ways to recruit, educate, and retain the early childhood workforce. evidence from prek–12 settings indicates that teachers who participate in comprehensive preparation and induction experiences are better prepared when they enter the classroom and are more likely to remain in the profession (podolsky et al., 2016). one way to develop a highly qualified early childhood workforce is through teacher preparation programs that ensure educators leave their programs well equipped to work in inclusive settings. practicum experiences practicum experiences are an essential component of teacher preparation (roberts et al., 2013). when novice educators are placed within high quality environments with well-established teachers along with careful guidance from university supervisors, they can apply knowledge gained from university courses to practice (dewhirst, 2023). providing opportunities to work within inclusive enhancing fieldwork supervision 96 settings that include students with and without disabilities contribute to the developing teachers’ ability to support and navigate the special education system within a school district. such systems can be complex, requiring the novice educator to modify curricula, gather data to inform individualized family service plan (ifsp) and/or individualized education programs (iep), and provide structures to support learner growth in accordance with ifsp/iep goals so that learners can access the general education curriculum, all which must adhere to federal regulations. in a carefully crafted field experience placement, a collaborative relationship is formed between the novice teacher, mentor teacher, and the university supervisor (dewhirst, 2023). within this triad, however, issues can arise (valencia et al., 2009). mentor teachers are selected because of their skill with young children, but they may lack experience mentoring adults (parker et al., 2021). they may be unfamiliar with how to articulate the “what and why” of their decision-making and provide effective feedback. mentor teachers may receive little guidance from higher education faculty and may be ill-prepared for their role, thus limiting opportunities for learning on the part of the novice teacher (roberts et al., 2013). while university supervisors can help foster collaboration between the mentor and mentee, this role can also be challenging due to working with multiple sites that may include virtual supervision due to location. in addition, university supervisors may lack understanding of the varied placements within early childhood care and education settings that can take place in part c early intervention programs, community-based early childhood programs, and public schools. these issues can lead to a fragmented clinical experience, limiting the professional development of the novice teacher. a way of solving these problems is a collaborative training program to prepare mentor teachers and university supervisors with skills to effectively support novice teachers across placement settings in reflecting on their learning, thus charting a positive path forward for the mentor/novice teacher partnership. additionally, there is recent reform emphasizing the necessity for a more clinical approach to teacher preparation (dewhirst, 2023; lafferty, 2018). in such an approach, field mentors and university supervisors take on more of a coaching stance when working with adult learners, promoting collaboration in planning, providing constructive feedback, identification of shortand long-term goals, and building in rich opportunities for reflective practices (parker et al., 2021). this intersection between academic understanding and application of pedagogy to the contextual setting of the classroom is even more pronounced in inclusive settings (roberts et al., 2013). within a community of practice, scaffolding learning experiences for the novice educator can be ongoing as the field mentor makes visible the many decisions made throughout the day. this article aims to detail the collaboration among four state universities to enhance practicum and field-based experiences. this was achieved through a series of training modules designed to improve the effectiveness of university supervisors and mentor teachers. first, the collaboration between the institutions of higher education will be described. then we will review how grant funding impacted the collaboration including creation of training modules easily accessed through an open-source canvas site, drawing on expertise from the field of early childhood. this article will conclude with recommendations for enhancing the quality of practicum experiences. bequette et al. 97 collaboration between institutes of higher education this innovative project was part of a collective endeavor by four state institutions of higher education (ihe) located in kansas. the project directly addressed challenges in recruitment and retention within the early childhood care and education (ecce) workforce. the envisioned outcome was a group of well-prepared, supported, and reflective early childhood educators who will positively influence the quality of infant/toddler and preschool settings. this, in turn, contributes to the long-term success of the ecce workforce. the partnership involved the development of a set of universal training modules that can be accessed by all ecce educator preparation programs in the state as well as other early childhood constituents (i.e., head start). the following is a review of how the collective endeavor was carried out. initial collaboration a state-wide training office dedicated to providing high-quality, accessible professional development opportunities for family childcare providers, childcare center staff, and other early education professionals issued a call for grant proposals. in response, program leaders from four early childhood teacher preparation programs within the state convened to explore the potential for collaboration, aligning their efforts with the objectives outlined in the call for proposals to better support early childhood teacher candidates. very quickly, the desire for training focusing on both mentor teachers and university supervisors to support high-quality fieldwork/practicum experiences became the forefront of the conversation. collaborators identified university supervisors and mentor teachers as the primary audience for the training modules, focusing on settings involving infants/toddlers and preschool-aged children. consequently, four specific target areas were established: (a) university supervisors working with infants/toddlers, (b) mentor teachers working with infants/toddlers, (c) university supervisors working with preschoolers, and (d) mentor teachers working with preschoolers. each ihe selected a targeted area based on individual program needs, including upcoming practicum/clinical experiences. a driving force was the opportunity to ensure mutually beneficial partnerships amongst all constituents involved in the program. secure grant funding each ihe worked independently to submit a proposal to the funding agency to promote the collaborative venture. a similar grant project title was adopted across institutions to signal to reviewers that, while each submission was independent, they were part of a larger, collaborative effort. for instance, each institution titled their project "kansas teacher educators unite," followed by their specific target area (e.g., preschool mentor teachers). additionally, in their respective grant proposals, each ihe identified key training areas tailored to their specific targets. for example, one ihe determined the necessity of modules that emphasized collaboration within the school environment, engagement with community members and families, and the delivery of effective feedback as an area to target within their comprehensive training modules. central to the grant funding was the opportunity to address the challenges of recruitment for and retention of the ecce workforce and to build awareness of and support within the state. enhancing fieldwork supervision 98 input from community partners as a central focus central to this endeavor is recognition of the importance of field experience placements on novice educator development. universities rely on early childhood partners to help educate preservice teachers. however, these placements often lack opportunities to form reciprocal, collaborative partnerships. barriers can exist between ihe and ecce programs, discounting educator experience and expertise developed in the workplace (build initiative, 2023). this collaboration looked for ways to build on the lived knowledge that ecce partners bring to the field, applying these understandings to enrich high-quality field placements. collaboration with community partners was conducted in various ways. one ihe identified community partners including directors and educators to review modules and module scripts for the training videos, adding keen insights from the field. reviewers from a variety of backgrounds were sought and provided a stipend for their efforts, including (a) expert reviewers for content validity and alignment with best practices (i.e., individuals with advanced degrees teaching in higher education); (b) field professional reviewers to verify the practical use and relevance of the training modules (i.e., ecce program directors, professional development specialists); and (c) target population reviewers to assess “user friendliness” (i.e., practitioners). as a result, module scripts and/or videos were revised and edited based on reviewer feedback before being sent to participants likely to engage in practicum experiences either as mentor teachers or university supervisors. this comprehensive approach ensured the training modules were robust, practical, and user-friendly, ultimately strengthening the partnership between universities and community stakeholders. creation of training modules the training modules were organized to ensure a consistent and effective learning experience. each module for each ihe followed a common format, comprising several key components. at the beginning of each module, a clear and concise overview was provided, outlining the primary goals and learning outcomes that participants were expected to achieve by the end of the session. this helped set the stage and provided a roadmap for the mentor teachers and university supervisors. each module incorporated instructional strategies grounded in research, specifically chosen to align with the learning outcomes determined by the respective ihe. by employing evidence-based practices, the training ensured that participants received high-quality and effective instruction. to enhance understanding and engagement, the modules included instances of case studies or "reallife" examples from the classroom. these examples helped bridge the gap between theory and practice, allowing participants to see the practical application of the concepts being taught. each module concluded with a final slide summarizing the key points covered, serving as a recap and reinforcing the main takeaways, ensuring that participants left the session with a clear understanding of the material. the training modules were created using powerpoint, providing a visually appealing and structured format for presenting the content. to deliver the training, screen sharing via zoom was utilized to record the modules. additionally, each ihe training module consisted of three videos: bequette et al. 99 the first video in the module provided an overview of the practicum experience specific to each ihe, including both site-specific information tied to the clinical experience, such as specific evaluation tools and ihe-specific practicum handbook information, along with universal training material that could be utilized by outside constituents. for example, participants learn how to complete a clinical evaluation form for a teacher candidate’s teaching, then apply understanding by completing a mock evaluation form using case study examples to promote application to the field. such videos were created to be used across different practicum age groups such as infant/toddler and preschool placements, ensuring both university supervisors and mentor teachers understand core components of the practicum experience at each respective ihe. as such, this format can be replicated by other ihes, ensuring that the practicum experience is tailored specifically to individual requirements. the second video was created collaboratively amongst all four ihes and focused on practicebased coaching to facilitate effective practice in the context of the busy classroom. coaching has been found to both support the work and continued growth of practicing teachers and promote highquality experiences for young children (miguel, 2020; varghese et al., 2022). a state-wide agency that unites higher education faculty and policymakers to enhance highquality early learning opportunities by transforming teacher preparation and professional development and is affiliated with the grant funder, granted permission for this collaborative to use one of their training videos on practice-based coaching. consequently, each ihe added information to a practice-based coaching video, making explicit connections to coaching preservice early childhood candidates in inclusive settings. included were short video clips that enabled the participant to apply key learning to the practicum setting such as how a mentor teacher could work collaboratively with the teacher candidate to develop shared goals and action planning. the final video examined principles of effective supervision tied to the specific age group (infant/toddler or preschool) and target audience (mentor teacher or university supervisor) and included a range of topics, all designed to support the novice educator including: (a) principles of effective supervision, (b) university supervisor and mentor teacher roles and responsibilities, (c) providing meaningful feedback, (d) supporting reflective practice, (e) collaboration, and (f) supervision in different contexts such as the natural setting of the home. videos were designed to be shared amongst ihes, providing evidence-based strategies for quality supervision for the respective age group and target audience. open-source site to house materials a shared youtube page was established for use across all participating ihes. once module videos were recorded, each ihe uploaded their videos to this youtube page as unlisted. to support accessibility of the training materials, the state funded organization responsible for grant oversight partnered with the ihe collaborative to host and maintain an open-access site using their learning management system (i.e., canvas). mentor teachers and university supervisors involved in ecce practicum experiences were directed to the canvas site to access their respective ihe training videos. the canvas site was structured to include institution-specific modules which include the three videos, and any additional resources as needed (i.e., evaluation forms). participants were provided with a direct link to the canvas site along with instructions to complete the training. enhancing fieldwork supervision 100 each ihe utilized the training modules during the semester that were most conducive to their program needs. for example, some ihes incorporated the training during the summer semester, allowing for concentrated professional development outside the regular academic year. on the other hand, other ihes integrated the training modules during the fall and spring semesters, aligning with ongoing practicum and field-based experiences. this approach allows for immediate application of learned concepts in real-time settings, enhancing the relevance and impact of the training. by offering flexibility in the timing of the training, each institution was able to tailor the use of these resources to best support their mentor teachers and university supervisors, ensuring that the training is both timely and effective. outcomes of the collective endeavor this section illuminates the transformative journey of clinical placements for early childhood candidates and the collaborative strides made with ecce partners resulting from this undertaking. from historical one-sided arrangements to inclusive decision-making, this section charts the evolution towards empowered engagement and enriched learning experiences. it highlights the emergence of heightened dialogue on course design and assessment, facilitated by newfound networking avenues. voices from the field clinical placements for early childhood candidates across various sites are often one-sided, with the early childhood program bearing most of the responsibility (roberts et al., 2013). information about the clinical placements is typically shared, but there is often little opportunity for partners to influence the clinical requirements. this grant has enabled a closer engagement with ecce partners, fostering partnerships within the community that will continue in future years. previously, clinical requirements were predetermined without input from partners. now, directors, mentor teachers, and expert reviewers feel "heard," and their suggestions are being implemented. the emergence of enhanced collaboration amongst ecce partners is regarded with enthusiasm, promoting increased dialogue on course design and assessment. this ensures that candidates graduate from ihe program with a solid understanding of early childhood programs for ages birth to eight, with and without disabilities. an example of such collaboration occurred when working with clinical partners to inform them of the grant project and discuss clinical requirements for candidates working with ages 0-3 within part c/early intervention programs. prior to the start of the clinical, information about course requirements was shared with clinical partners via an interactive zoom session. typically, assignments are created at the ihe level without input from partnership agencies who then must make the assignments work within the constraints of the placement. while meeting with site directors and mentor teachers, ownership of the clinical experience shifted from the ihe coordinator to shared ownership between all stakeholders involved in the meeting. rather than imposing on partner agencies to fulfill ihe requirements, the clinical became an opportunity to draw on the expertise of the field/site to impact practice. afterwards, drawing on partner feedback, the ihe coordinator adjusted course requirements to provide more of a shadowing experience within the collective agency, drawing out the rich experiences that occurred rather than limiting learning to a “one size fits all” experience. this collaborative effort extended to course design with input from community partners impacting what was shared in the early intervention clinical course. course outcomes, assignments, and content were enriched through the opportunity to gain insight from the field of early intervention. as such, a mentor teacher noted the following when discussing the teacher candidate: bequette et al. 101 “she is an exceptional teacher. she had the best primary coaching lesson plan that i have ever received from a student. when i asked her what prepared her for this, she highly praised your birth to three early intervention course and the videos that were shared in this course. i thought you would appreciate knowing how the coursework was being applied in such a great way. i don’t often get to see this level of understanding of coaching and questioning. so, it was really exciting to see how your courses are preparing students to do this level of coaching with families.” this quote is just one “slice” of feedback and is not comprehensive as the modules have not yet been implemented for all four universities to assess the complete impact. however, it speaks to the collaborative nature started with this endeavor with an opportunity for further conversations to occur between all stakeholders to enrich inclusive field experiences and ensure reciprocal partnerships are formed. additionally, an unexpected result arose from the rich dialogue among reviewers of the module scripts. these scripts, shared in google docs, facilitated open editing, suggestions, and comments. the collaborative process led to a dynamic exchange of ideas, with reviewers contributing insights, examples, and expanding the collective knowledge within the community. as such, upcoming clinical experiences are expected to be significantly enhanced by a deeper understanding of how all constituents in the process operate, ultimately ensuring high-quality learning experiences for young children. networking opportunities as a result of the collaboration, new networking opportunities emerged, fostering increased dialogue on course design and assessment. this ensures that ihe early childhood candidates graduate with a comprehensive understanding of early childhood and early intervention, birth to age eight and the roles of all constituents involved in the process. leveraging field experts serving in various capacities (e.g., teacher educators, professional development specialists), the ihes were encouraged to make the content publicly accessible for use by respective organizations. for example, one participant who is an early childhood professional development specialist, voiced her request to use the content for future training by noting, “i am really loving the information… i work with rural providers and there are directors of centers who are struggling! i wonder if this could be a tool for them to use in guiding the teachers they have to get on the correct path.” this unexpected outcome led to the canvas site being made available to any organization upon request including twoyear institutions that expressed interest in utilizing the resources. everyone agreed that the training modules could enhance their programs by providing learners with higher-quality field experiences. in addition, they noted the importance of incorporating continuity between two-year and four-year institutions and appreciated how this initiative could support this endeavor. these conversations helped facilitate a redesign of the site home page to ensure that any organization or institution with a link could access the materials. enhancing fieldwork supervision 102 outcomes-based assessment each ihe implemented specific methods to ensure participants effectively comprehended the content as well as gather feedback from mentor teachers and university supervisors who completed the modules. one ihe used the canvas site for an upcoming 0–3-year-old early intervention clinical. mentor teachers accessed the training module via canvas and completed an outcomesbased assessment using a qualtrics survey, which included reflective prompts drawing on content from the training videos. this allowed mentors to share feedback and ask clarifying questions. another ihe asked university supervisor participants to write a one-to-two paragraph synthesis of the key ideas from the modules, fostering ongoing dialogue and further insights. all participants received stipends for completing the modules. finally, after completing the clinical, feedback from mentor teachers and university supervisors will be sought to impact future use of the training modules, ensuring an on-going cycle of collaboration between ihes and partnership agencies. conclusions the fervent dialogue surrounding solutions to ensure high-quality inclusive early childhood settings catalyzed a transformative journey towards enhancing the quality of field experiences for early childhood educators. recognizing the pivotal role of mentor teachers and university supervisors, the collaboration among state universities was born, driven by a shared vision of providing the best preparation possible for teacher candidates or those serving in early childhood education capacities. through rigorous research and a commitment to inclusivity, the collaborative effort addressed critical issues in the early childhood workforce, ensuring that all young children have access to high-quality inclusive environments. the collaborative effort among the four state universities has made significant strides in enhancing practicum and field-based experiences for early childhood educators. through the development of universal training modules, this initiative has addressed critical challenges in recruitment and retention within the ecce workforce. this venture not only led to the development of universal training modules but also fostered a culture of collaboration among institutions. by pooling resources and expertise, the participating universities created a framework for ongoing dialogue and shared learning, transcending traditional boundaries. the resulting networking opportunities and exchange of ideas have enriched course design and assessment practices, empowering early childhood candidates and those in early childhood education roles with a comprehensive understanding of inclusive practices while also promoting mutually beneficial partnerships with community stakeholders. moving forward, it is essential to sustain and build upon this collaborative spirit. recommendations for practice include ongoing professional development for mentor teachers and university supervisors, further integration of inclusive practices into teacher preparation programs, and continued engagement with community partners to ensure relevance and responsiveness to evolving needs. enhancing the use of technology in training and supervision can help overcome geographical and logistical barriers, while robust mechanisms for ongoing research and evaluation can identify best practices and areas for further improvement. establishing formal support networks for novice teachers, including peer mentoring and professional learning communities, can provide additional layers of support and foster a sense of community and belonging. by continuing to prioritize collaboration over competition, we can collectively advance bequette et al. 103 the profession of early childhood education and, most importantly, positively impact the lives of young children and their families. the author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: this work was supported by kansas career pathways [grant numbers 2405, 2411, 2412; 2413]. references build initiative, 2023. in brief: learning from the new round of pdg birth-5 systems building grants. https://buildinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/pdg-series-career-pathways-1114.pdf dewhirst, c. b. 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and (2) examining children’s item-level performance on conceptually-scored measures. results indicated that, when assessed through english-only measures, spanish-english bilinguals’ receptive and expressive vocabulary scores were below average. however, when the conceptually-scored measures were used, their receptive and expressive vocabulary scores fell within average ranges. item-level analyses indicated potential language differences between bilingual children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary performance. these findings suggest the value of utilizing conceptually-scored measures to accurately assess bilinguals’ vocabulary abilities—especially when differentiating between language differences and language disorders. keywords: vocabulary; bilingualism; assessment for children living in spanish-speaking homes in the united states—hereon referred to as spanish-english bilinguals—early vocabulary learning occurs both in spanish and english, though the amount of exposure to each language and children’s own use of each language varies widely. yet, more often than not, when it comes time to assess their vocabulary abilities, these young spanish-english bilinguals are commonly evaluated using english-only measures, producing an incomplete picture of their overall vocabulary knowledge. one of the greatest challenges in gaining insight into this population’s vocabulary performance and development is a historical lack of reliable and valid vocabulary assessments designed for bilingual children (bedore & peña, 2008). research indicates that bilingual children’s vocabulary knowledge is conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 87 distributed across languages, severely limiting the extent to which english-only vocabulary measures can provide accurate insight into performance and development in this important domain (e.g., mancilla-martinez & vagh, 2013; pearson, fernández, & oller, 1994). further, context (e.g., home vs. school) can play a role in priming bilinguals toward one language over the other (e.g., grosjean, 2008), underscoring the need to attend to both languages when assessing bilingual children’s vocabulary. theoretical work, such as that outlined by cummins (1979), indicates that proficiency in one language facilitates proficiency in another. for instance, if a child learns the spanish word semilla, s/he has a general conceptual understanding of the word, facilitating the acquisition of the english equivalent (seed). therefore, use of conceptually-scored vocabulary assessments— i.e., assessments that recognize vocabulary knowledge in terms of known concepts regardless if the label is known in either spanish or english—may provide a more accurate assessment of bilingual students’ vocabulary skills. the call for vocabulary assessments designed for and normed on bilinguals is not new, but very few such measures exist, leaving the use of englishonly measures as standard practice. because such measures capture only a part of bilinguals’ vocabulary knowledge, there is a real possibility of over-identification of bilingual children as “at-risk” for compromised academic achievement by virtue of attending to vocabulary knowledge only in their developing language (english, in this case). considering how important early vocabulary skills are for future academic success—for both monolingual and bilingual students (dickinson, 2011; mancilla-martinez & lesaux, 2017)— determining ways to effectively support the vocabulary development of young spanishenglish bilinguals hinges on first gaining the most accurate understanding of their vocabulary knowledge. tapping vocabulary knowledge using measures that apply conceptual scoring seems like a promising direction to move in for this large and growing population of students in our schools. the current study in the current study, we examined the utility of using conceptually-scored vocabulary measures when assessing the vocabulary skills of spanish-english bilingual preschoolers (n=32). we compared their vocabulary performance when using standardized measures designed for and normed on spanish-english bilinguals that utilize conceptual scoring, with traditional, englishonly vocabulary measures designed for and normed on english monolinguals. for the conceptually-scored measures, the assessor first questioned the child in spanish (children’s dominant language, per parent report); correct answers could be given in spanish or english, and if the child did not correctly respond (or not at all) in spanish, the assessor would re-administer the question in english, once again allowing for a response in either spanish or english. we further investigated the proportion of children potentially deemed “at-risk” for low academic achievement when using english-only measures versus conceptually-scored vocabulary measures. finally, given that bilinguals receive input in two languages—which likely varies based on context—and that the differences between receptive and expressive vocabulary abilities for both monolingual and bilingual children have been reported, we examined the spanish-english bilinguals’ performance at the item level on the conceptually-scored vocabulary measures, investigating their patterns of performance in each language receptively and expressively. 88 mancilla-martinez key findings utility of conceptually-scored measures vocabulary measures that utilize conceptual scoring appear to be a step in the right direction to gain a more comprehensive understanding of young spanish-english bilingual children’s vocabulary knowledge. whereas the scores from english-only measures indicated a substantial receptive and expressive english vocabulary gap for this group of young learners, conceptuallyscored measures placed them just over normal ranges, expressively and receptively. implications for at-risk classification if spanish-english bilingual students’ vocabulary skills are only assessed in english—a common practice in u.s. classrooms—they are much more likely to be identified as “at-risk.” in a normal distribution, roughly 15-16% of the population is expected to fall less than one standard deviation below the mean. yet, 47% and 59% of children in our sample fell less than one standard deviation below the mean receptively and expressively, respectively, on the englishonly vocabulary assessment. on the other hand, when measures that utilize spanish-english conceptual scoring were considered only 12.5% (receptively) and 6% (expressively) of bilingual preschoolers fell less than one standard deviation below the mean. patterns of performance: results from the analysis at the item level spanish-english bilingual children generally evidenced higher receptive than expressive scores, regardless of whether english-only or spanish-english conceptually-scored measures were used. yet, the gap between these two domains was larger in english, when standard scores (the typical metric used in previous studies) were considered. an examination of the extent to which children correctly responded in spanish or resorted to english revealed that children generally demonstrated spanish receptive vocabulary knowledge without resorting to english. in contrast, the percentage of correct responses on expressive vocabulary in spanish was notably lower, resulting in a higher percentage of questions prompted in both languages, and over half of the expressive questions were answered incorrectly in both languages. these findings suggest different patterns between receptive and expressive vocabulary and indicate that there might be differences between the types of words children know—and the contexts in which they might appear (e.g., home vs. preschool). children performed highest in spanish on both receptive and expressive categories for “body parts” and “clothing,” on the receptive categories for “furniture and rooms” and “toys,” and on the expressive categories for “small household items”—vocabulary likely heard and/or used at home. however, children resorted to english at the highest rate on the spanish-english conceptually-scored receptive and expressive categories for “nouns” and “games and routines,” on the receptive categories for “action words,” and on the spanish-english conceptually-scored expressive categories for “places to go”—all topics likely encountered with greater frequency in a school context. conceptual vocabulary among preschoolers 89 summary and recommendations results of this study have the potential to pave the way for a more inclusive notion of what it means to evaluate—with implications on how to support—the vocabulary development of young bilingual children, by using standardized vocabulary measures that use conceptual scoring to tap understanding of concepts regardless of whether the label is known in spanish or english. our findings suggest that using spanish-english conceptually-scored measures may: • improve the diagnostic accuracy of a language disability for young spanish-english bilinguals; and • raise educators’ awareness of the strengths that their spanish-english bilingual students bring to the language-learning task. we urge educators to focus their efforts on language learning tasks that build upon students’ conceptual skills. for example, if a spanish-english bilingual preschooler does not appear to understand instructions or a story, it may well be due to a mere language difference, not a language disorder. that is, the child may indeed understand the concept being presented in the home language versus not understanding the concept in any language. using conceptuallyscored measures to assess bilinguals’ vocabulary knowledge can help educators gain a more accurate understanding of their students’ vocabulary skills. it is also helpful for educators to understand that contexts might influence the different types of words that spanish-english bilinguals know in either language. that is, certain words may be more frequently encountered in the home, and therefore known in spanish, versus the classroom, where english is the primary language. this understanding can help teachers to select target words and concepts for instruction, thereby building upon the students’ home language experiences to support their english development. finally, while young spanish-english bilinguals may exhibit a strong comfort in spanish receptive vocabulary, the fact that they are fairly balanced between the two languages on expressive vocabulary makes them prime candidates for verbal interactions in the classroom. encouraging talk across multiple contexts, with peers as well as with teachers and aides, may be a useful strategy. references bedore, l. m., & peña, e. d. (2008). assessment of bilingual children for identification of language impairment current findings and implications for practice. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 11(1), 1-29. doi:10.2167/beb392.0 cummins, j. (1979). linguistic interdependence and the educational development of bilingual children. review of educational research, 49(2), 222–251. doi:10.3102/00346543049002222 dickinson, d. k. (2011). teachers’ language practices and academic outcomes of preschool children. science, 333(6045), 964-967. doi:10.1126/science.1204526 grosjean, f. (2008). studying bilinguals. oxford, england: oxford university press. mancilla-martinez, j., & lesaux, n. k. (2017). early indicators of later reading comprehension outcomes among spanish-speaking language minority learners. scientific studies of reading, 21(5) 428-448. doi:10.1080/10888438.2017.1320402 mancilla-martinez, j., & vagh, s. b. (2013). growth in toddlers' spanish, english, and conceptual vocabulary knowledge. early childhood research quarterly, 28(3), 555-567.doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2013.03.004 90 mancilla-martinez pearson, b. z., fernández, s. c., & oller, d. k. (1994). patterns of interaction in the lexical growth in two languages of bilingual infants and toddlers. language learning, 44(4), 617-653. doi:10.1111/j.14671770.1994.tb00633.x dialog, 22(2), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 current practices for teaching letter and letter sound knowledge in preschool including strategies for improving instruction in these areas hope k. gerde michigan state university head start teachers (n = 48) were interviewed about their beliefs and practices for supporting letter knowledge in their classrooms. results highlighted that teachers believed letter knowledge to be an important skill for preschoolers to develop and articulated a variety of approaches to supporting this skill within their classrooms. promoting letter knowledge through play and children’s name letters were popular approaches; however, teachers missed many opportunities to promote letter and letter-sound knowledge with their children. thus, in addition to presenting findings from semi-structured interviews, this article provides a range of research-based practices available to promote letter and lettersound knowledge during preschool. keywords: letter knowledge, letter-sound knowledge, head start, preschool, teacher practice children’s knowledge of alphabet letters is a foundational literacy skill and a consistent predictor of later reading achievement (hammill, 2004; mcilraith, 2018; schatschneider, fletcher, francis, carlson, & foorman, 2004; national early literacy panel [nelp], 2008). children who can name more letters prior to kindergarten entry are less likely to have reading difficulties later (piasta, petscher, & justice, 2012; torppa, poikkeus, lasskso, eklund, & lyytinen, 2006). early learning standards (head start resource center, 2010) and professional recommendations (neuman, copple, & bredekamp, 2000) specifically point to letter learning as an essential component of quality literacy education, particularly for children living in poverty, as they tend to know fewer letters than their wealthier peers (barbarin et al., 2006; norwalk, diperna, lei, & wu, 2012). fortuitously, the ways in which early educators approach letter instruction matters for children’s development of letter knowledge (lieberman & schwartz, 2012; piasta & wagner, 2010). teachers’ beliefs about literacy (i.e., views and knowledge about planning, teaching, and evaluating children’s skills, cunningham, zibulsky, & callahan, 2009) and instruction seem to drive their selection of instructional practices (bingham & hall-kenyon, 2013). to understand more about how children develop letter knowledge, this study examined head start teachers’ beliefs and instructional approaches for supporting this valuable early literacy skill. research-to-practice summary strategies for improving letter instruction 77 the present study this study engaged 48 head start teachers in structured interviews of their beliefs and practices for promoting letter knowledge for prekindergarten age children. all teachers were female and the majority reported caucasian ethnicity (88%). teachers reported a highest educational degree of ba/bs (35%), aa (35%), ms/ma (26%), or high school diploma (4%). teachers were experienced with an average of 17.17 years of teaching (sd = 8.14). children in classrooms were four years old and thus, kindergarten eligible for the following year. informational letters were sent to teachers of four-year-old children to invite participation in the study. individual interviews occurred during a head start-led in-service day as to not disrupt teachers during teaching days. to ensure consistency, interviews were conducted by researchers trained in the interview protocol which included seven questions and designated prompts (e.g., “are there any other ideas you would like to share?”). open-ended questions were used to gather information about general beliefs and practices; targeted questions were used to identify alignment between beliefs and recommended practices in the field. see gerde, skibbe, goetsch, & douglas, 2019 (this issue) for specific questions. to enhance the credibility of the data, at the end of each question, interviewers repeated back to participants the response they heard and asked, “am i capturing what you intended to say?” (creswell & miller, 2000). interviews were audio recorded to ensure accuracy and transcribed verbatim following the interview. a recursive step-by-step process called thematic analysis was used by two coders with at least a ms degree in child development and preschool teaching experience to code teachers’ responses to each question (see braun & clarke, 2006). interviews were read by each coder independently to identify patterns of ideas which became themes. illustrative quotes were captured to exemplify each theme. the coders met to discuss the themes; disagreements were settled via consensus. with themes established, all interviews were coded in full. results & recommendations results of the study indicated that head start teachers identify preschool as a key period of time for children to learn about letters. this is important because teachers are more likely to use practices that align with their beliefs, particularly for literacy (bingham & kenyon-hall, 2013). further, although teachers do identify some developmentally appropriate approaches to letter learning such as incorporating letter materials (e.g., “fishing for magnetic letters, foam letters in a water table”) and discussions about letters into children’s play (roskos, christie, widman, & holding, 2010; vanhoorn, nourot, scales, & alward, 2014), other approaches identified in the interviews do not align with research-based practices (e.g., “teaching one letter per week”). in addition, numerous recommended practices for letter learning (e.g., “book reading,” justice, mcginty, piasta, kaderavek, & fan, 2010) were only reported infrequently. many teachers reported uncertainty about how to approach several aspects of letter learning with children in their classrooms. the next sections provide research-based recommendations for promoting letter knowledge by answering key questions many early educators have about letter instruction. 78 gerde how many letters should children know? identifying the number of letters young children need to know prior to kindergarten entry is a common question among teachers and parents alike. it was a point of disagreement among teachers participating in this interview study with reports ranging from 10 to 52 or “at least the letters in their name” to “all of them.” the fact is, letter knowledge is a necessary skill for decoding and a consistent predictor of later reading (mcilraith, 2018; nelp, 2008). therefore, the more letters a child knows when they enter kindergarten, the less likely they are to have reading difficulties (schatchneider et al., 2004; torppa et al., 2006). nationally, 65% of four-year-old children know all letters prior to entering kindergarten (west, denton, & reaney, 2000); however, only 21% of head start children know all of the letters by that time (diamond, gerde, & powell, 2008), reflecting an important need for guidance. fortunately, rigorous longitudinal research has identified optimal benchmarks for letter learning. research recommends children know 18 uppercase and 15 lowercase by the end of preschool to minimize risk to later literacy difficulties (piasta et al., 2012). head start has revised their letter knowledge standard to align with this recommendation. basically, the more children know about letters, letter sounds, and how letters work together to create words and meaning the better prepared they are to tackle the essential task of reading. what letters do children typically know? typically, the first letters children know are the letters in their names, particularly the first initial (justice, pence, bowles, & wiggins 2006; treiman & kessler, 2004). initials are often the first letters children write; name letters are frequently observed in children’s writing of other words (treiman, kessler, & borousa, 2001). nearly half of teachers in this study began their letter instruction with name letters citing the personally meaningful nature of these particular letters (e.g., “…because it has greater importance to them personally”). name letters are a great entre into the world of letters because they are interesting to children as a reflection of who they are; standards promote name recognition and name writing (head start resource center, 2010), two skills targeting these particular letters. it is important, however, to leverage these name letters into knowing letters beyond their name, to ensure children reach the benchmarks described above (i.e., piasta et al., 2012). capitalizing on name letters, teachers can encourage children to notice the letters in peers’ names and use these in meaningful ways to promote letter knowledge and social skills like writing letters to peers, writing peers’ names on play plans (as recommended by curricula including high/scope, tools of the mind), or using charts (e.g., sign in, jobs chart) or classroom labels (e.g., cubby labels) to identify peers’ names. in what order should i teach letters? while no studies to date have examined various instructional orderings for letters, the research literature does provide some guidance. name letters are not the only early adopters for children. some features of letters seem to make them easier to learn than other letters (bowles, skibbe, & justice, 2011; huang, tortorelli, & invernizzi, 2014) classifying them as early targets for letter instruction. children are more likely to know letters in which the letter name and sound align (e.g., strategies for improving letter instruction 79 b, m, p; cardoso-martins, mesquita, & ehri, 2011; evans, bell, shaw, moretti, & page, 2006; treiman, kessler, & evans, 2007), those with placements earlier in the alphabet (mcbride-chang, 1999), or when the letter is meaningful in other contexts (e.g., x and o for tic-tac-toe, bowles et al., 2011). importantly, this suggests that letter instruction might benefit from diversity in attention to letters that are more or less familiar to children. the teachers in this study, however, did not report capitalizing on these important letter features to inform their letter instruction, highlighting an important missed opportunity for letter learning. alternatively, teachers in the present study did, in general, subscribe to the practice of teaching both uppercase and lowercase letters simultaneously, which aligns with research recommendations (pence, bowles, skibbe, justice, & wiggins, 2010). it is important to move away from the traditional focus on uppercase letters only. while uppercase letters tend to be learned before lowercase letters (drouin, horner, & sondergeld, 2012; treiman & kessler, 2004), children utilize their knowledge of uppercase letters to inform their understanding of lowercase letters (pence et al., 2010). optimally, introducing both uppercase and lowercase in preschool supports later reading (piasta et al., 2012) and simultaneous presentation is recommended by letter learning approaches (jones & reutzel, 2012). what pacing should i use to promote letter learning? letter pacing or how quickly letters are introduced is an important consideration for letter instruction. recent research, examining various pacing practices for letter learning, discovered that children in classrooms that utilized a faster pace (i.e., faster than letter a week) for letter learning had higher letter knowledge at the end of preschool (sunde, furnes, & lundetrae, 2019). other work has recommended a one-letter-per-day (e.g., jones & reutzel, 2012) or to introduce 3-4 letters each week (piasta & wagner, 2010), both offering quicker paces than the traditional one letter per week approach. the commonly used, including by teachers in this study, letter-of-theweek approach is just too slow. in such pacing, all letters are not introduced until nearly the end of the school year limiting children’s capacity to use these letters in meaningful ways in their play, writing, and routines. it is essential to pick up the pace in terms of introducing letters so that children may begin to see the alphabet as a unit and engage in rigorous comparison across letters that allows for discrimination among letter names, sounds, and forms. teachers in the present study reported integrating opportunities with letters within children’s play, however the slow pacing they used often results in a focus on isolated letters rather than meaningful approaches like asking children as they play in the pretend kitchen, “which letters will you use to write ‘milk’ on your grocery list.” a quickened pace allows children to access multiple letters in their play, earlier in the school year. the quickened pace identified by sunde and colleagues (2019) was particularly valuable for children who began school with lower letter knowledge, demonstrating that this quick pace does not “leave children behind” but rather affords strategies that reinforces letter learning. for example, the speedier pace permits teachers to cycle through the letters multiple times which provides the repetition recommended to solidify children’s understanding of letters (jones & reutzel, 2012). in addition, reiterating that some letters are easier to learn than others (bowles et al., 2011; huang et al., 2014), this pacing approach permits teachers to diversify attention to letters by targeting instruction to letters that are less familiar to children. 80 gerde how do i promote letter-sound knowledge? letter knowledge includes both the names and sounds affiliated with alphabet letters (nelp, 2008). extensive research has identified children’s knowledge of letter sounds as a strong predictor of later reading and spelling skills across multiple languages (e.g., catts, herrera, nielsen, & bridges, 2015; leppänen, aunola, niemi, & nurmi, 2008; nelp, 2008). the development of letter-sound knowledge is essential to early letter learning because it is the mapping of letter sounds to letters that facilitates children’s capacity to decode words and thus, read with fluency (ball & blachman, 1991; carson, gillon, & boustead, 2013; ehri, 2005). the results of the interviews reported above indicated that while head start teachers targeted letter names in their instruction, they addressed letter sounds to a far lesser degree. similarly, families tend to focus on name rather than sound in their letter instruction with young children (robins, treiman, & rosales, 2014). this is not surprising as limited guidance is provided for teaching letter sounds in curricula (skibbe, gerde, wright, & samples-steele, 2016). nevertheless, teaching letter sounds in conjunction with letter names is more effective for promoting literacy development than teaching the skills independently (lonigan, purpura, wilson, walker, & clancy-menchetti, 2013; piasta, purpura, & wagner, 2010). children benefit from explicit discussions about the connections between speech sounds (i.e., phonemes) and printed letters (i.e., graphemes) (national institute of child health and human development, 2000) and opportunities to use letters and letter sounds in their play (roskos et al., 2010). how do i learn what children know about letters? in order to inform instruction, it is important to identify which letters and sounds children know and which are yet to be learned. this can be difficult as children arrive at school with incredibly varied letter knowledge including how many letters they know and which letters they know (justice et al., 2006; piasta, 2014; sigmundsson, eriksen, ofteland, & haga, 2017). many literacy assessments exist which include only a few items focused on letter knowledge (e.g., test of early reading ability, reid, hresko, & hammill, 2001; test of preschool early literacy (lonigan, wagner, torgesen, & rashotte, 2007). others assess all letters and letter-sounds (e.g., phonological awareness literacy screening, invernizzi, sullivan, & meier, 2001), but are time intensive. assessments which can be administered quickly and easily in the classroom and can be used across the school year to monitor progress are particularly useful (tortorelli, bowles, & skibbe, 2017). for example, the quick letter name knowledge (q-lnk) assessment (tortorelli et al., 2017), based on the work of bowles and colleagues (bowles, pentimonti, gerde, & montroy, 2014) offers a quick and informative approach to letter assessment. using this type of assessment allows teachers to identify 1) which children know most letters, so they can focus on other target skills, 2) which children are at the beginning or middle of their letter knowledge development, and 3) how these children change in this skill at multiple points across the year. this information will allow educators to provide differential instruction for individual children (piasta, 2014). strategies for improving letter instruction 81 conclusions head start teachers engage children in a variety of research-based practices for promoting letter knowledge but could benefit from further guidance to engage children in letter instruction that best supports children’s development of this essential early literacy skill. young children learn letters best when they are provided explicit instruction which includes the letter name, letter-sound, and form for both upper and lowercases (piasta et al., 2010; jones & reutzel, 2012; bowles et al., 2011). in addition, children need multiple opportunities to use these letters in meaningful ways; dramatic play and writing activities represent optimal venues to do this (e.g., bingham, quinn, mcroy, zhang, & gerde, 2018; christie et al., 2010). finally, it is recommended that teachers find out what their students know about letters using assessments that are short and classroom friendly (tortorelli et al., 2017). letter instruction that is differentiated by letter and individualized by child will help all children in the classroom to meet their kindergarten readiness goals (piasta, 2014). references ball, e. w., & blachman, b. a. 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(2000). the kindergarten year: findings from the early childhood longitudinal study, kindergarten class of 1998–99. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11145-009-9174-x http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11145-009-9174-x http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.96.2.265 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0142716401004040 examining contemporary approaches to the preparation of early childhood education professionals for inclusion ann m. mickelson, ph.d., editor university of north carolina at charlotte changes in federal law (congressional research service [crs], 2019; hebbeler, et al.,1991) and societal needs (burton, e al., 1992), in the 1980s led to an increase in the number of young children, with and without identified disabilities, participating in early childhood programs across the country (u.s. department of education, 2020). in response, the field experienced a paradigm shift regarding the way in which services for children were designed and delivered (buysse & wesley, 1993). this in turn spurred increased attention as to the preparation of the early childhood workforce. the anticipated shift toward inclusive practice created the impetus for the movement toward blended and other collaborative models of educator preparation (mickelson et al., 2023; pugach et al., 2011). blended and other collaborative models of preparation have long been lauded as promising approaches to effectively preparing candidates for inclusive practice. the historical literature from the beginning of the blended movement includes several program descriptions and other research as faculty responded to the needs of the field. (see mickelson et al., 2022, 2023 for more in depth accounts of the history of this movement). while blended and other collaborative approaches to preparation for inclusion have remained highly valued across the field, very limited literature has been published in recent decades resulting in the practice going forward without empirical support or contemporary practical guidance (brownell et al., 2011; mickelson et al., 2022). further, the dated literature base is increasingly difficult to apply to the increased diversity of educational contexts (mickelson et al., 2022). contemporary contexts necessitate a broader view of inclusion that considers the diverse and intersectional identities of the children and families served. further, these contexts call for recruitment of similarly diverse professionals into the field. indeed, recent definitions of inclusion come from a broad, shared equity agenda designed to ensure educational success for every group of learners experiencing marginalization (pugach et al., 2020; u.s. department of hhs and u.s. department of education, 2023). the aim of this special issue is to showcase the contemporary landscape of early childhood preparation for inclusion and highlight how higher education and community partners currently respond to the varied programmatic, licensure, clinical, and other contexts observed across the field. in essence, the purpose is to help update our aging literature base on blended and other approaches to the preparation of early childhood educators for inclusion. we received a strong response to the call for papers and the result is a robust collection of articles spanning multiple contexts and including descriptions of programs and program development processes, empirical studies, and a call to action. readers will undoubtedly benefit from the experiences and wisdom included. it is with great pleasure that we bring you this issue. we hope it will lead to further collaboration in pursuit of providing clear guidance for contemporary programs, and that it will mickelson 2 spur more research to develop a strong empirical foundation for our efforts as inclusive early childhood teacher educators and preparation programs. descriptive articles the special issue includes six descriptions of early childhood educator preparation programs and/or program development processes. the preparation programs depicted here include both newly developed and long-standing programs that have evolved over time. across these articles, authors explore what it means to be a “blended” program and to effectively prepare early childhood professionals for inclusive contexts. the programs described range in structure (e.g., single programs, distinct collaborating programs, dual certification programs), focus (e.g., standards, identity, definitions, specific elements of preparation such as diverse populations served, age ranges, and field components) and delivery format (e.g., campus-based, online). first, meyer and northey provide an overview of their experience at their university where early childhood education (ece) and early intervention/early childhood special education (ei/ecse) faculty were confronted with the task of reconceptualizing their blended undergraduate teacher preparation programs. their article attends to how faculty critically examined how “blended” was defined for their specific context and what it means for a program to be “blended” in general. in their contribution to this special issue, they explore influences that shaped faculty conceptions of blended in regard to sustaining inclusive values yet maintaining two distinct teacher education majors and programs. the authors conclude with recommendations for other ece and ei/ecse faculty who may also need to reimagine their conceptualization of blended teacher preparation due to current realities within ihes. next, harbin and purcell provide a description of a blended preparation program with particular attention to the influence of professional standards. they describe their innovative model of blended preparation for inclusive early childhood environments by detailing how the program aligns with the most recent professional standards in the fields of ece and ei/ecse (cec & dec, 2020; naeyc, 2020). their account shares how coursework, fieldwork, and embedded learning opportunities (e.g., reflection), leverage the current personnel preparation standards to “blend” ece and ei/ecse preparation within one program. their article also shares their perspectives on factors that contributed to contemporary blended programs, briefly describing the history and providing a description of the field's professional standards. finally, the authors present a sample of current blended program offerings in the field. winchell, rahn, linzmeier, tillett, becker, and heimer describe the blended, dual-certification program at the university of wisconsin – whitewater, a longtime and highly respected example of blended preparation. they provide a detailed programmatic overview of the ece dual-licensure personnel preparation program at this midwest institution. they also describe how factors including the collaboration of a blended faculty (i.e., one including general and special educators), a cohort model, a commitment to field placements throughout the program, and continual review and innovative practices form the foundation of the program. current program offerings including both campus-based and online delivery models to meet the needs of prospective students across the state and region are emphasized. the recent additions of two novel online programs to meet the changing needs of the workforce: a non-license exploring contemporary preparation 3 credential-based bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in public policy, are also detailed. finally, the authors explain how the unique components and multiple offerings position this program to prepare teacher candidates to educate all children within inclusive settings. winchell and colleagues conclude by sharing future directions for their program which include developing a master’s degree in ecse. evans, joseph, bartlett, and jozwik provide an account of the development of an inclusive preparation program that united ece, ei/ecse, and bilingual/english as a second language (esl) programming. the authors highlight the importance of long-term collaborative efforts in pursuit of inclusive preparation by detailing a 10-year process that led to the development of their inclusive early childhood teacher education program (iecte). importantly, this article illuminates the transformation that occurred within individual areas of teacher education that led to an evolving shared paradigm of critical inclusivity in ece. the authors detail this paradigm and its three tenets: (1) a dialogic approach, (2) curriculum revision, and (3) pre-service teacher guidance. the article offers implications for continuous growth through descriptions of transformative collaboration and advocacy in inclusive early childhood settings, such as intervention agencies, head start programs, childcare centers, community programs, and public schools. wiegand, matute-chavarria, and hernández share their process of reimagining a preparation program to better address preparation for idea part c ei. in so doing, they highlight the critical need for preparation in ei from the perspective of a state that does not currently require licensure to practice as an educator in part c. despite the critical importance of effective preparation for ei educators and other professionals, many states, like new mexico where this article is situated, do not require licensure for part c leaving many providers without adequate preparation. wiegand and colleagues share details about the development of project rise, reimagining intervention to support early childhood, a grant funded through the office of special education programs. this innovative program created a multicultural ei concentration within an existing ece birth-four nonlicensure program. the authors describe their aim of reimagining the preparation of ei providers through the lens of culturally sustaining practices, strengths-based practices, and yosso's community cultural wealth model. in describing the development and resulting program, wiegand and colleagues stress the importance of relevant local and state contexts, the specific project rise competencies, courses, and practicum experiences, and importantly the centrality of a collaborative team of faculty and partners in the development and execution of the program. bequette, murnan, kohart, francois, and wilson provide an important spotlight on field components in early childhood preparation for inclusion, a critical element of practice-based preparation and central to comprehensive training and support for future early childhood educators. this article highlights intercollegiate collaboration in one state by detailing a collaborative initiative among four state universities that sought to enhance practicum and field-based experiences for ece candidates and address challenges in the early childhood care and education (ecce) workforce by fostering inclusive decision-making and engagement with (ecce) partners. the authors describe how efforts helped emphasize collaborative relationships between novice teachers, mentor teachers, and university supervisors. baguette and colleagues describe the evolution of practicum experiences and key components including the creation of universal training modules and an open-source platform to house training materials. the manuscript stresses the importance of ongoing collaboration and partnership in pursuit of high-quality ece and concludes with recommendations for enhancing practicum experiences and addressing workforce challenges. mickelson 4 conceptual article the sustained and troubling national educator shortage is at a critical level. preparation programs are central to ameliorating this crisis and the authors provide a model to assist and promote effective educator recruitment, preparation, and retention strategies. in this conceptual article, lohman and macy describe a five-point model (stars): (a) supplemental funding during field placements, (b) teacher preparation that leads to ece and ecse dual licensure, (c) advocacy at the local, state, and national levels, (d) relationships between teacher preparation programs and local public and private early learning centers, and (e) supportive and ongoing mentoring for inservice early childhood special educators. the authors also provide recommendations and discuss how the stars model can help faculty combine research-supported strategies to develop a comprehensive and effective response to the teacher shortage. empirical manuscripts our special issue also provides two empirical contributions. first, panse, vanlone, ziegler, and george-puskar report a systematic review which examines the early childhood preparation literature specific to preparation for working with families. their focus recognizes the importance of family-professional collaboration on outcomes for children with disabilities and their families. in their mixed-methods systematic review, the authors identify and synthesize the current state of knowledge behind higher education programs and curricula geared towards improving preservice educators’ knowledge and practices regarding family-professional collaboration in inclusive settings. findings indicate that various instructional strategies and outcome measures have been employed to measure preservice educators' knowledge and practices. implications for future research are described. in response to the current dearth of empirical literature reporting on contemporary practice, mickelson and hoppey present an instrumental qualitative case study that provides a muchneeded empirical examination of one contemporary blended preparation program. this contribution recognizes the need and value for research examining programs as holistic systems. therefore, the authors employ a conceptual framework derived from cultural-historical activity systems theory (chat) and a research framework for studying collaborative teacher education. the resulting framework allowed for in depth holistic examination of the program as a system through investigation of six interacting parameters of practice (i.e., subject, object/outcome, tools, rules, community, and division of labor) and as an instance of collaborative preservice preparation through examination of five program dimensions (i.e., curricular coherence, faculty collaboration, depth of knowledge, performance/ portfolio assessments, and pk-12 partnerships. results provide an empirical description of the program and lead to implications for both research and practice. perhaps most importantly, the novel conceptual framework provides a model for future empirical examinations of contemporary practice. call to action our special issue concludes with a call to action from mcguire, sands, skoning, schafer, berschback, taylor, and stein. the authors highlight how the medical model of disability permeates educator preparation leading to a curriculum and approaches that encourage candidates to “fix” or “cure” young children with disabilities. the authors problematize the prevalence of the exploring contemporary preparation 5 medical model in preparation programs from the perspective of disabled preservice candidates who are ostracized as they see themselves in the very children spoken of as in need of “fixing.” mcguire and colleagues offer an alternative perspective and practical, useful strategies that can be implemented to build on the unique strengths and assets preservice candidates with disabilities bring to the early childhood field. this call to action was co-authored by teachers and candidates with disabilities to promote practices preservice faculty can use in their programs with the goal of recruiting and retaining candidates with disabilities. the recommendations shared stress that preservice preparation for equitable, meaningful inclusion must promote belonging and a positive perception of disability. conclusion while the development of the 2020 ei/ecse practice-based professional standards has spurred more research into early childhood preparation, there is still a dearth of literature to guide practice, and in particular, there are very few descriptive accounts of contemporary programs. this special issue presents the first such collection of articles focused on collaborative, blended and other approaches and perspectives of early childhood preparation for inclusion since the early 2000s. as these and other authors know too well, the contemporary academic publishing landscape has few spaces for descriptive work. however, it is imperative that this content be shared to ameliorate the outstanding lack of guidance and support for preparation programs seeking to design or implement collaborative (blended) and other approaches to preparation for inclusion. we hope this special issue can serve as a catalyst for further empirical research and the development of clear guidance for the field ultimately leading to effectively prepared collaborative, interdisciplinary professionals who promote positive outcomes for children and families. please join us as we strive toward a new, reconceptualization of preparation for early childhood inclusion. in closing, i would like to thank the hs dialog for the opportunity to provide this special issue and the fact that by being open access, its content will be available to all. ann m. mickelson, ph.d. editor, hs dial mickelson 6 references burton, c. b., higgins-hains, a., hanline, m. f., & mccormick, k. (1992). early childhood intervention and education: the urgency of professional unification. topics in early childhood special education, 11(4), 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/027112149201100407 buysse, v., & wesley, p. w. (1993). the identity crisis in early childhood special education: a call for professional role clarification. topics in early childhood special education, 13(4), 418– 429. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1177/027112149301300406 congressional research service. (2019). the individuals with disabilities education act (idea), author.https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/r/r41833 hebbeler, k. m., smith, b. j., & black, t. l. (1991). federal early childhood special education policy: a model for the improvement of services for children with disabilities. exceptional children, 58(2), 104– 112. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440299105800202 mickelson, a. m., correa, v. i., & stayton, v. d. (2022). blended preparation in early childhood and early intervention/early childhood special education: reflecting on the past, paving a path forward. teacher education and special education, 45(2), 101–122. https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064211037377 pugach, m. c., blanton, l. p., mickelson, a. m., & boveda, m. (2020). curriculum theory: the missing perspective in teacher education for inclusion. teacher education and special education. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406419883665 u.s. department of health and human services, early childhood learning & knowledge center. (2020, january 22). inclusion of children with disabilities. https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/policy/im/acf-im-hs-20-01 u.s. department of health and human services & u.s. department of education. (2023). policy statement on inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs. www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/earlylearning/joint-statement-full-text.pdf https://doi.org/10.1177/027112149201100407 https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1177/027112149301300406 https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/r/r41833 https://doi.org/10.1177/001440299105800202 https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064211037377 https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406419883665 https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/policy/im/acf-im-hs-20-01 https://sites.ed.gov/idea/idea-files/policy-statement-inclusion-of-children-with-disabilities-in-early-childhood-programs/ microsoft word thompson rtp.doc dialog, 20(1), copyright © 2017, issn: 1930-9325 research-to-practice promoting partnerships with parents in preschool programs: does the number of classroom sessions a day matter? paula thompson university of nebraska-kearney christine marvin and lisa knoche university of nebraska-lincoln positive parent-teacher relationships are associated with positive child outcomes (minke, 2010). teachers’ work contexts, such as the number of children/families each teacher serves each day/week and a teacher’s self-efficacy may influence teachers’ abilities to build those relationships. participants in this pilot study included families of children enrolled in publicly funded preschool programs and their teachers. to assess their perceptions of self-efficacy regarding parent-teacher relationships, preschool teachers completed the teacher efficacy for promoting partnerships scale (moen, sheridan, & white, 2016). findings suggest that preschool programs using a single all-day session model with fewer children and families assigned per teacher, may permit teachers to more quickly establish partnerships with parents, or at least establish a confidence in working with parents sooner in the relationship than teachers assigned to teach to double (two half-day) sessions each day. keywords: teacher self-efficacy, parent engagement, preschool, early childhood, head start, parent-teacher relationships, class size each year, approximately four million children enter kindergarten in the united states, and many enter without the level of academic and social skills needed for success in school and social settings. since 1964, federal dollars have been allocated for head start and early head start programs and recently they have been expanded for early head start family childcare programs in an effort to reduce achievement gaps (united states department of education, 2015). this trend has increased the need for early childhood teachers to partner with parents in order to provide needed continuity between home and “school” to positively influence young children’s development. furthermore, head start performance standards (u.s. department of health and human services, administration of children and families [acf], 2016) recently called for the increase of service duration for center-based head start preschool programs from 448 contact parent partnerships and teacher self-efficacy 113 hours to 1020 contact hours with children per year. prior to these revisions, a head start teacher could have two class sessions per day consisting of 17 children each, or a total of 34 children and families. the revised standards could result in a decrease in the number of children to no more than 20 children/families per day per teacher. extended hours and the possible transition from double session to single session programs would result in fewer children and fewer families with whom each preschool teacher would be expected to build relationships, which could increase the likelihood of more productive partnerships with parents. this pilot study explores this possibility. parent engagement in young children’s learning is not a new concept to the early childhood education community. since the late 1960’s, the federal head start act has included parent engagement as an integral element in providing quality services to children and families. more recently, head start revisited the role of parent engagement with publication of the head start parent, family and community engagement framework (pfce; acf, 2011). the framework identifies positive parent-teacher relationships as a key element in increasing parent engagement. similarly, the naeyc program accreditation standards, stress the importance of parent engagement and parent-teacher relationships, and their professional preparation standards for teachers (naeyc, 2010) emphasize the importance of supporting and engaging families and communities through respectful, reciprocal relationships and engaging families and communities in young children’s development and learning. finally, federal amendments for the individuals with disabilities education act (idea) in 1986 and again in 2004 also addressed the importance of family-professional partnerships for family-centered services to families with infants and toddlers with disabilities. the law calls for development of individualized family service plans (ifsps) to focus practitioners’ attention on family needs, the family as the focus for enhancing children’s development, and the family as a partner in early intervention programs (idea, 2004). parents and teachers working together has become the standard for high quality early childhood programs. during the early years of their children’s lives, parents begin to form their opinions and shape their behaviors related to the importance of their engagement with their children’s teachers. parent-teacher relationships that include joint goal setting and decision-making, as well as opportunities for frequent conversations between parents and teachers, can significantly increase interpersonal connections between parents and teachers and positive outcomes for young children (sheridan, clarke, knoche, & edwards, 2006). a teacher’s confidence and ability to develop such relationships with parents provides a foundation for consistency between home and school settings and a bridge between home-school differences that can delay or challenge children’s learning. research studies have identified a variety of key teacher characteristics associated with positive teacher-child and parent-teacher relationships. teacher education, teaching experience, and their knowledge of child development have proved to be consistent variables (boyd, grossman, lankford, loeb, & wyckoff, 2009; kontos & wilcox-herzog, 2001). teacher selfefficacy has also surfaced as an important possible factor (chung, marvin, & churchill, 2005; fantuzzo et al., 2012). teacher self-efficacy has been defined as the “teacher’s belief in his or her capability to organize, execute, and successfully accomplish a specific teaching task” (tschannen-moran, hoy, & hoy, 1998, p. 202). a teacher’s sensitivity to his or her own strengths and deficits related to their role as a teacher has been identified as an important variable in teacher effectiveness or efficacy (ross & bruce, 2007; woolfork, rosoff, & hoy, 1990). 114 thompson et al. individuals with strong self-efficacy tend to set goals that challenge their current capabilities and tend to have a stronger commitment to the goals that they set (bandura, 1993). class size and teacher-child ratio are two key program factors associated with quality early childhood care and education programs. a smaller class size is often associated with higher quality programs and better outcomes for young children (reynolds et al., 2014; sheridan, williams, & samuelsson, 2014; yoshikawa et al., 2013). national organization standards, such as the naeyc accreditation standards for early childhood education programs (2017) and the administration for children and families (acf) head start performance standards (2016), provide guidelines for early childhood programs on best practice related to teacher-child ratios for young children in group programs. a study of childcare program quality and characteristics conducted by the national institute for child health and human development (nichd) found that children enrolled in classrooms with lower teacher-child ratios and smaller class sizes exhibited fewer behavior challenges and greater gains in language and cognitive outcomes. smaller class sizes and lower teacher-child ratios allowed teachers the time needed to engage in supportive interactions and longer conversations with children (nichd, 2000). however, little can be found regarding the role the number of families served per teacher per day plays on teacher confidence and partnerships with parents. teacher-child ratios often describe the number of adults and children per classroom. but what if the number of class sessions per teacher is doubled each day? is it reasonable to suggest that higher enrollment numbers, often served in double session classrooms, and, therefore, higher number of families served per day, may be associated with the time teachers have to build relationships and partner with parents? study description this pilot study explores the impact that the number of preschool class sessions, and, therefore, the total number of children and families teachers serve per day, have on teacher self-efficacy in promoting partnerships with parents. early childhood education program characteristics, such as number of class sessions per day and teacher self-efficacy, may play important roles in teachers’ abilities to enhance needed parent engagement in children’s learning and subsequent child outcomes. the sample for this current study consisted of 263 families of children enrolled for two years in publicly-funded preschool programs and their 110 preschool teachers. the 110 participating teachers served the same children each year in preschool classrooms as part of either single or double session programs. of the 110 teachers, 60 taught a single session a day serving 10-20 children and families, while 50 teachers taught two half-day classroom sessions enrolling 9-25 children per session, for a total 19-50 children/families across the double sessions. teachers completed the teacher efficacy for promoting partnerships scale (tepp) (moen, sheridan, & white, 2016), a 20-item questionnaire designed to assess teacher selfperceptions of behaviors that promote positive parent-teacher relationships. parent partnerships and teacher self-efficacy 115 findings and implications for practice results from this study suggest that teachers with a single classroom session a day, with lower numbers of children and families served per teacher, may see benefits in their level of confidence for and speed with which teachers establish quality parent-teacher relationships. after one year of building relationships with children and families, teachers with just one preschool session a day reported higher confidence levels on the tepp scale than did teachers with double sessions each day and maintained this level of confidence into the second year with the same families. the teachers’ high confidence levels after one year working with a fewer number of families suggests that single session classrooms provide teachers the time needed for possibly more frequent and or longer interactions with parents at drop-off, pick up times or parent teacher conferences, and home visits. however, teachers with two classroom sessions a day and twice the number of families to serve showed growth in their confidence in building partnerships with the parents after two years with the same families. time apparently does play a role in influencing how confident teachers feel about their ability to build partnerships with parents. the time needed to build partnerships with parents however may come more quickly in single session programs with more frequent and or longer interactions between parents and teachers being possible. this pilot study provides new insight on the value of teachers’ self-efficacy in partnering with parents. in addition, the study suggests possible benefits of program design elements related to single session classrooms with fewer children and families served per teacher per day. programs making decision related to classroom enrollment numbers and or parent-teacher relationship expectations could use findings from this pilot study. the newly-released head start performance standards (acf, 2016) calling for increased duration of services for center-based head start children will likely have both positive effects as well as challenges as most changes do for programs. the shift will result in fewer children and families per teacher per day/week/month/year and may increase costs associated with operating additional classrooms needed to maintain current program enrollments. however, fewer class sessions per day and a fewer number of families served per teacher have the potential for increasing the likelihood of positive reciprocal parent-teacher relationships more quickly by possibly increasing the frequency of interactions between parents and teachers per week/month, the amount of time available per interaction at drop-off and pick-up times or during scheduled home visits, conferences or phone calls, and the time available for preparation and follow-up. head start programs and practitioners have the opportunity to lead the early childhood profession through programmatic decisions related to enrollment, staffing, and parent engagement practices. these decisions provide a foundation for the supports that may be needed to effectively build positive parent-teacher relationships, and ultimately increase positive outcomes for head start children and their families. references bandura, a. (1993). perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. educational psychologist, 28(2), 117-148. boyd, d. j., grossman, p. l., lankford, h., loeb, s., & wyckoff, j. (2009). teacher preparation and student achievement. educational evaluation and policy analysis, 31(4), 416-440. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373709353129 116 thompson et al. chung, l. c., marvin, c. a., & churchill, s. l. (2005). teacher factors associated with preschool teacher-child relationships: teaching efficacy and parent-teacher relationships. journal of early childhood teacher education, 25(2), 131-142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecte.2004.03.003 fantuzzo, j., perlman, s., sproul, f., minney, a., perry, m. a., & li, f. (2012). making visible teacher reports of their teaching experiences: the early childhood teacher experiences scale. psychology in the schools, 49(2), 194-205. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20623 individuals with disabilities education act, 20 u.s.c. § 1400 (2004). kontos, s., & wilcox-herzog, a. (2001). how do education and experience affect teachers of young children? young children, 56(4), 85-91. minke, k. m. (2010). helping teachers develop productive working relationships with families: the core model of family-school collaboration. international journal for school-based family counseling, 2, 1-13. retrieved from http://www.schoolbasedfamilycounseling.com/journal.html moen, a. l., sheridan, s. m., & white, a. s. (2016). teacher efficacy for promoting partnership scale: a preliminary psychometric study. poster session presented at the annual conference of the american psychological association conference, denver, co. national association for the education of young children (naeyc). (2010). naeyc standards for initial and advanced early childhood professional preparation programs. retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/caep/files/caep/naeyc%20initial%20and%20advanced%20standards%2010_201 2.pdf national association for the education of young children (naeyc). (2017). naeyc accreditation standards for early childhood education programs. national association for the education of young children. retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/academy/files/academy/standards%20and%20accreditation%20criteria%20%26% 20guidance%20for%20assessment_april%202017.pdf national institute for child health and human development (nichd) early child care research network. (2000). characteristics and quality of child care for toddlers and preschoolers. applied developmental sciences, 4, 116-135. reynolds, a. j., richardson, b. a. hayakawa, c. m., lease, e. m., warner-richter, m., englund, m. m.,…sullivan, m. (2014). association of a full-day vs. part-day preschool intervention with school readiness, attendance, and parent involvement. jama, 312(20), 2126-2134. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2014.15376 ross, j. a., & bruce, c. d. (2007). teacher self-assessment: a mechanism for facilitating professional growth. teaching and teacher education, 23(2), 146-159.sheridan, s., clarke, b., knoche, l., & edwards, c. (2006). the effects of conjoint behavioral consultation in early childhood settings. early education and development, 17(4), 593-617. sheridan, s., williams, p., & samuelsson, i. (2014). group size and organizational conditions for children’s learning in preschool: a teacher perspective. educational research, 56(4), 379-397. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2014.965562 tschannen-moran, m., hoy, a., & hoy, w. (1998). teacher efficacy: its meaning and measure. review of educational research, 68, 202-248. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543068002202 u.s. department of education. (2015). a matter of equality: preschool in america. retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/documents/early-learning/matter-equity-preschool-america.pdf u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families (acf), office of head start (2011). the head start parent, family, and community engagement framework: promoting family engagement and school readiness, from prenatal to age 8. retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/sr/approach/pfcef u.s. department of health and human services, administration for children and families, office of head start. (2016). head start program performance standards. retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/policy/45-cfr-chap-xiii woolfork, e., rosoff, b., & hoy, w. (1990). teachers’ sense of efficacy and their beliefs about managing students. teaching and teacher education, 6(2), 137-148. yoshikawa, h., weiland, c., brooks-gunn, j., burchinal, m., espinosa, l., gormley, w., zaslow, m. j. (2013). investing in our future: the evidence base for preschool education. policy brief, society for research in child development and the foundation for child development. retrieved from: https://www.fcdus.org/assets/2016/04/evidence-base-on-preschool-education-final.pdf nhsa dialog, 25(2), copyright © 2022, issn: 1930-9325 the evidence base for how and why infant and early childhood mental health consultation works kaela m. tidus annie e. davis schoch deborah f. perry lauren rabinovitz neal m. horen georgetown university infant and early childhood mental health consultation (iecmhc) is an evidencebased service in which consultants build capacity for early childhood professionals and programs to promote the social-emotional development of infants and young children. this paper describes the current state of the evidence for iecmhc, mapping the evidence to a new theory of change from the center of excellence (coe) for iecmhc. there is a substantial literature base regarding the effects of consultation on outcomes for infants and young children; yet the evidence for consultation’s specific mechanisms of change, moderators of impact, and reductions in disparities have been understudied. the authors identify gaps in the scholarly literature, articulate next steps for research, and conclude with a call to action for iecmhc researchers to expand rigorous studies to the range of settings in which iecmhc is implemented and to center social justice in the research questions, methods, and dissemination. keywords: iecmhc, early childhood, early childhood mental health introduction what is iecmhc? infant and early childhood mental health consultation (iecmhc) is an evidence-based service in which a mental health professional builds the capacity of early childhood professionals and programs to improve the social-emotional development of infants and young children and enhance equity in early childhood settings. these mental health professionals, referred to as iecmh consultants, have expertise in early childhood and indirectly help young children by partnering research article 2 tidus et al. with the adults who care for them. iecmh consultants adopt a “consultative stance” which defines how they approach all activities of consultation. the consultative stance, as defined by johnston & brinamen (2006), refers to how consultants prioritize the formation of strong, empowering, equitable relationships in their role, embodying tenets such as “wondering instead of knowing” and “avoiding the position of the sole expert”. within the context of a trusting relationship, the early childhood professional explores their relationships with young children, practices new ways of interacting with them, and develops confidence in supporting how the individual addresses challenging behaviors. iecmhc also referred to in this article simply as “consultation” is not therapy for children, families, or professionals. it is also not the same as coaching; although the two are complementary preventative services, iecmhc does not use predefined goals or strategies with consultees, and the consultants bring significant infant mental health expertise to their roles (naeyc, 2011). broadly, consultation programs are defined by their infrastructure, consultant workforce, and highquality services; beyond that, consultation is unique in its focus on non-directive, capacity-building relationships which lead to indirect effects on children and families. it is rooted in the principles of infant mental health and relational health, which center relationships as agents of change and emphasizes cultural and other contextual influences as essential to understanding a child or dyad (frosch et al., 2021; zeanah & zeanah, 2019). consistent with these theories, iecmhc is grounded in the recognition of how individual characteristics, developmental stage, and relationship quality are inextricably linked, and parallel processes (supervisor-consultant, consultant-provider, and provider-parent/child relationships) are intentionally invoked to promote positive outcomes (frosch et al., 2021; zeanah & zeanah, 2019). as a multilevel service, consultants seek to understand the intersecting levels of influence on a child, family, early childhood professional, and/or program, (e.g., organizational climate, cultural considerations, parent engagement) and to build upon strengths across these levels. iecmhc has been implemented in a variety of settings such as early childhood education (ece), home visiting, child welfare, family friend and neighbor (ffn) care, part c/early intervention services, and primary care. iecmhc programs vary based on the setting and individual models may evolve over time. nevertheless, an overarching framework articulates the core elements of an iecmhc program: a solid program infrastructure, highly-qualified consultants, and high-quality services (duran et al., 2009). these core components of an iecmhc program paired with readiness for change, positive relationships, and positive interactions contribute to iecmhc’s positive outcomes for children, families, professionals, and programs. key distal outcomes for iecmhc include improved early childhood professional skills and confidence in supporting early childhood mental health; programmatic improvements to support a positive climate; increased social-emotional skills and reduced externalizing behaviors in infants and young children; and reduced child suspensions and expulsions from ece programs. beyond these overall effects, iecmhc is intended to reduce disparities in these outcomes in early childhood programs and settings, both by providing additional supports to programs and children affected by poverty, discrimination, and other stressors and by building providers’ awareness of their own biases. how and why iecmhc works 3 what are theories of change? theories of change are a description or illustration used to understand the processes by which an intervention leads to desired short-term and long-term outcomes. it describes the hypothesized relationship between the necessary resources and activities that lead to those outcomes. many iecmhc studies have primarily focused on more distal outcomes and have overlooked the causal pathways that lead to these impacts (silver et al., manuscript under review). this pattern is characteristic of much of the extant literature on early childhood education programming (schindler et al., 2019). a recent systematic review of ece research concluded that use of a theory of change would have addressed common gaps in their methodology (schindler et al., 2019). in their review, all 277 studies had at least one goal regarding impacts to child outcomes, but less than half of the studies discussed implementation fidelity and standardization. this review suggests studies should look beyond outcomes, and understand the causal mechanisms for these outcomes. in particular, few studies investigated moderating factors that could impact the relationship between an intervention and the expected outcomes, which could be of interest to policymakers and program developers to dissect why particular ece programs elicit particular child outcomes (schindler et al., 2019). the use of a theory of change may also elevate issues of disparities in who benefits from interventions thus promoting greater attention to racial equity in ece. new theory of change for iecmhc the samhsa-funded center of excellence (coe) for iecmhc has several core initiatives: provide technical assistance to iecmhc programs across the nation, generate new professional development resources for iecmhc staff, and serve as a clearinghouse for iecmhc resources. to contribute to the knowledge base on iecmhc, the coe published a new theory of change (toc) for iecmhc in 2021 that identified the pathways and mechanisms through which iecmhc makes its impact, based on current research, theory, and clinical insights. this new toc portrays consultation as an indirect, relationship-based mental health service and articulates the essential constructs at multiple levels that affect the process and outcomes of consultation. the toc (figure 1) depicts four domains: participant characteristics, engaging in iecmhc, direct effects, and indirect effects. (see figure 1 on next page) 4 tidus et al. figure 1 theory of change for infant and early childhood mental health consultation the well-established outcomes of consultation are presented as the result of the pathway in the toc; specifically, programmatically, child outcomes, family outcomes, and reduction in disparities. to demonstrate the indirect nature of this impact, those outcomes are shown to be mediated by the direct effects of consultation on the early childhood professionals who participate in the service. their changes in behavior and attitudes to better support children’s social-emotional development are shown to lead to the final outcomes. these direct and indirect effects are shown to result from consultees’ active engagement in consultation. the process of engaging in iecmhc is described as a continuous interaction between the specific activities performed by the consultant as well as the quality of the relationship between consultant and consultee both of which are supported by reflective supervision provided to the consultant. lastly, the toc articulates the moderating role of the characteristics and skills of the individuals who enter into a consultative relationship. while there have been several recent reviews of the evidence base for iecmhc (i.e., albritton et al., 2019 and silver et al., manuscript under review), this article is distinct in that it organizes the literature in relation to this toc. this strategy reveals strengths and gaps in the knowledge base for the mechanisms through which iecmhc leads to the well-documented child-level outcomes that the prior reviews have reported on. through this approach, we hope to articulate key future directions for research, bolstered by the inclusion of research questions and methods from related fields. although iecmhc has been implemented in a variety of settings, the preponderance of peerreviewed findings report on iecmhc implemented in ece settings. in fact, during the course of how and why iecmhc works 5 this systematic review, the research team could find no published empirical studies of iecmhc in other settings in which it is implemented, including child welfare, primary care, and early intervention. there is a nascent literature base about the provision of consultation to home visitors, with the potential to indirectly benefit the families they serve. lambarth & green (2019) conducted a mixed-methods study of the impact of providing consultation to home visitors to support their work with families. over the course of 24 months, the consultants provided training, reflective group supervision, individual supervision, child-specific consultation, and referral information to a home-visiting program. as a result of consultation, the home visitors reported significant improvements in knowledge of child and adult mental health, confidence in partnering with parents, and leadership around mental health issues. this study in addition to multiple unpublished reports provides preliminary evidence for the positive impact of iecmhc in settings other than ece. due to the paucity of empirical studies available outside of ece settings, the remainder of this article will focus on findings from studies of ece-based iecmhc and will utilize language consistent with ece settings (e.g., “teacher” or “program director” instead of “consultee”). reviewing the evidence for the theory of change the next sections of this paper will review the evidence base for each of the four domains depicted in the toc. first, a definition of the domain is offered, followed by a description of the evidence for how that domain impacts the outcomes of iecmhc. examples from other early childhood research are included in areas where there are significant gaps in the iecmhc literature. each section ends with recommendations for future research in this domain. participant characteristics broadly, the participant characteristics section of the toc calls attention to the role of individual backgrounds, experiences, and attitudes on the process of iecmhc. because the work is relational and individualized, the work of consultation cannot be separated from the consultants’ and consultees’ personal characteristics. in other words, variables related to the individuals in consultation are thought to moderate the process and outcomes of consultation over time. there is scant research on the four constructs in this section of the toc and recommendations to address these gaps are provided. consultee’s characteristics and background. consultee’s characteristics and background seeks to explain how the personal attributes and professional experiences of the consultee are influential to the mechanisms of change in consultation. personal attributes of interest include demographic information (e.g., age, race/ethnicity), professional experiences (e.g., educational attainment, lead, or assistant teacher), and working conditions (e.g., organizational climate, compensation, class size). a few empirical studies have investigated the role of teacher characteristics on consultation outcomes. for example, heller and colleagues (2011) found that the impact of consultation on teacher self-efficacy depended upon a teacher’s age and level of experience, such that there was a greater impact for younger, less experienced teachers. in addition, davis and colleagues (2018) investigated the potential impact of teachers and children being the 6 tidus et al. same race/ethnicity in their secondary analyses of arizona’s iecmhc program evaluation dataset. over half of the participants were white children (54.5%) and teachers (59.7%), approximately one-quarter of children (22.8%) and teachers (27.4%) were latinx, and a smaller proportion were black children (12.5%) and teachers (6.3%). other ethnic groups (asian american or pacific islander, american indian or alaska native, multiethnic, and “other”) also had a small representation in the sample. by using multilevel modeling, the researchers found that teacherchild “ethnic match” was a moderator of effects. specifically, the consultative relationship predicted improvement in child attachment behaviors only when the teacher and child were the same ethnicity, and the connection between the relationship and some outcomes was strongest when the child was a boy of color. research from related fields supports the notion that teacher characteristics may be influential in eliciting shifts in the teacher-child relationship. a study by castle and colleagues (2016) investigated a myriad of teacher characteristics for a group of early head start teachers and found the field in which teachers earned their bachelor’s degree moderated the link between their temperaments and teacher-child interaction quality, such that adaptive temperament was associated with higher quality teacher-child interactions only when teachers had a degree in ece. no iecmhc studies have investigated the effect of teacher stress as a moderator of effects on the children, though there has been more research in ece settings that suggests this may play a role (gilliam et al., 2006). for instance, one study found that lead teachers' personal stress increased the perceived intensity of child anger-aggression and child anxiety-withdrawal, while assistant teachers' work stress was associated with lower perceived child social-emotional competence (jeon et al., 2019). furthermore, a study by li grining and colleagues (2010) found that head start teachers’ personal stressors were moderately predictive of lower use of effective behavior management strategies in the classroom. future research should continue to investigate consultee characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and degree type) as moderators, with a particular emphasis on whether certain consultee characteristics are associated with closing disparities in outcomes. consultant characteristics and background. in a parallel manner, consultant characteristics and background may affect the mechanisms of change in consultation. relevant personal attributes of the consultant may include identity characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, cultural background), professional background (e.g., degree type, licensure, years of experience), and working conditions (e.g., caseload, job stressors). only two studies (davis et al., 2018; green et al., 2006) have investigated linkages between consultant characteristics, mechanisms of change, and outcomes and found connections between consultant characteristics and the quality of the relationship formed with consultees, though degree type was non-significant. in a secondary data analysis conducted on a longitudinal evaluation dataset from a statewide iecmhc program, the authors used multilevel modeling and discovered that a stronger consultative relationship predicted greater improvement in classroom climate and child attachment behaviors only when the iecmh consultant had expertise in cultural diversity (davis et al., 2018). additionally, a study by green et al., (2006) was the first to look at the teacher-consultant relationship by employing hierarchical linear models to examine a myriad of consultant characteristics associated with iecmhc outcomes. interestingly, only consultants’ affiliation with a private practice predicted teachers’ perceptions of the impact of iecmhc (green et al., 2006). how and why iecmhc works 7 while consultant characteristics have only been explored in those few studies, research on characteristics of mental health professionals in relation to outcomes has been conducted. for instance, a study found that therapist occupational burnout had a negative impact on treatment outcomes (delgadillo et al., 2018). future research in iecmhc should investigate which, and to what extent, consultant characteristics can impact the consultative relationship, thus indirectly influencing the outcomes of iecmhc. readiness for change. the consultees’ readiness for change refers to the extent to which the consultee is open to working with the consultant and to considering new practices and ways of thinking. readiness can vary for individuals, leaders, and programs, with implications for the way consultation proceeds. importantly, this construct is not meant to judge who should receive consultation; rather, because consultants “meet people where they are,” it has implications for how consultation begins and how the relationship is built. of note, there are valid reasons for individuals and programs not to be “ready,” and this construct should be considered from a strengths-based perspective. for instance, communities with negative experiences being overdiagnosed or discriminated against by mental health systems may be perceived as "unready" but are actually demonstrating protectiveness of the children in their care. tribal communities have repeatedly experienced traumatic events throughout history, which may manifest distrust in interventions from non-native americans that impose western ways of thinking (tribal evaluation workgroup, 2013). consultants should approach consultation in these communities with understanding and build relationships that take into account the cultural practices and beliefs of the community they are serving. in addition, underfunded programs may feel that they first need to prioritize other needs before allocating the time and energy needed for consultation. there are no known studies that have assessed the impact of the construct of readiness for change on the process or outcomes of iecmhc. the iecmhc field is lacking a valid measure of readiness both at this individual consultee level, as well as the program level. nevertheless, there are relevant measures of readiness for change. for instance, the stages of changes (soc) scales have been used in other settings, such as child welfare. girvin (2004) used a soc scale called the university of rhode island change assessment (urica) in a study of primary caregivers receiving in-home child welfare services (girvin, 2004). despite finding differences in readiness for change and the frequency and severity of problems caregivers experienced, girvin noted the need for future research to incorporate flexible conceptualizations of readiness for change that take into account individual differences. iecmhc could employ measures such as the urica to better understand a consultee’s motivations or hesitation in incorporating changes suggested by the consultant. another consideration in collecting data on a consultee’s readiness for change is the need to avoid ethical issues. while readiness may affect the pace and emphasis of consultation, this is not intended to exclude people or programs who may be impacted by scarce resources. nevertheless, it is worth considering whether, for less “ready” programs, other supports might be more effective prior to consultation, such as coaching or professional development, to pave the way for iecmhc at the appropriate stage. embodiment of consultative stance. this element refers to the extent to which the iecmh consultant demonstrates the ten tenets of the consultative stance, as articulated in a book by johnston & brinamen (2006). the consultants’ use of this “way of being” in their interactions with consultees is the key distinguishing factor between iecmhc and related supports, such as 8 tidus et al. coaching and psychotherapy. no studies have yet quantified this complex facet of iecmhc implementation, nor have they evaluated its impact on outcomes. measuring nuanced aspects of a provider’s demeanor is challenging, yet examples are present in other disciplines. for example, provider’s adoption of the fan (facilitating attuned interactions) model’s arc of engagement has been well documented and measured. developed by erikson institute’s fussy baby network (fbn), this model provides a loose structure that can be used by a range of professionals to increase attunement in helping interactions and promote reflective capacity (heffron et al., 2016). in illinois, home visiting staff were trained in the fan, and evaluators measured their use of the model via surveys and interviews. after incorporating this model, home visitors were more self-regulated, collaborative, and focused on parenting (spielberger et al., 2016), and in the long run, they were more resilient on a measure of burnout (spielberger et al., 2019). a next step for iecmhc research is to create a reliable and valid measure of the consultative stance based on qualitative data and pilot testing. once developed and validated, the measure can be used to: 1) assess consultant fidelity to this “way of being” in the work; and 2) assess the extent to which embodiment of the consultative stance may predict direct and indirect outcomes. additional analyses could examine the interrelationships between the embodiment of the consultative stance, the background of the consultant, and the quality of reflective supervision. engaging in iecmhc alongside the importance of who participates in consultation, the actual process of engaging in consultation is a major predictor of outcomes. the activities that consultants perform, how they engage in the relationship with the consultee, and availability of reflective supervision all contribute to the effectiveness of iecmhc. reflective supervision. this element of the toc refers to the availability, frequency, and quality of reflective supervision (rs) for the iecmh consultant (tomlin et al., 2014). as depicted in the toc for iecmhc, reflective supervision is conceptualized as a moderator of the quality of the relationship between consultant and consultee. although research in rs in iecmhc is scant, research from other interventions supports the efficacy of reflective supervision to bolster providers’ ability to engage in reflective practice with consultees (frosch et al., 2018). the only known study to connect rs in iecmhc to outcomes was a 12-month pilot study by shea and colleagues (2022) which investigated the impact of implementing group reflective supervision for consultants serving ece settings in pennsylvania. after monthly 2 hour group reflective supervision sessions for 12 months, consultants demonstrated an increase in iecmh professionals’ reflective practice self-efficacy and use of reflective practice skills. these changes were measured using a new tool piloted by the authors (the reflective practice self-efficacy scale) and the use of self and reflective practice skills (heffron, 2013). additionally, this study found that consultees working with a consultant who was receiving reflective supervision reported decreased stress, which had not been seen in the year prior to beginning reflective supervision (shea et al., 2022). how and why iecmhc works 9 given the dearth of scholarly research on reflective supervision in iecmhc, it is important to note that reflective supervision has been studied in other settings with positive findings. other early childhood services have investigated provider stress and found the effects of reflective supervision on self-care behaviors on the iecmh workforce to mediate the effects of covid-19 stress (morelen et al., 2022). additionally, in a study conducted in part c, frosch and colleagues (2018) found that receiving reflective supervision was associated with reduced job stress, improvements in self-efficacy, and increased job satisfaction by using the reflective supervision self-efficacy scale for supervisees. future research should utilize quantitative measures of reflective supervision to measure its effects on iecmhc process and outcomes such as the reflective interaction observation scale (rios) (meuwissen & watson, 2021). consultative relationship. the consultative relationship is the alliance between consultant and consultee; a high-quality relationship is characterized by trust, respect, responsiveness, nonjudgment, equality, and shared vulnerability. dyads with strong alliances can navigate challenging conversations and differences in opinion and are well-positioned to productively discuss race, culture, and prejudice as pertains to the consultative process. input from consultants affirms that the formation of a strong alliance is a mechanism through which the activities of iecmhc may lead to direct and indirect outcomes. this construct has been included in several iecmhc studies. first, green et al. (2006) measured teacher-reported relationship quality among head start staff and concluded that, compared to other measured variables, teacher-consultant relationship quality was the single strongest predictor of teacher perceptions that consultation was effective. in a follow-up study, allen and green (2012) found that teacherand consultant-reported relationship quality was significantly positively correlated with each other, and that consultants who self-reported strong relationships with families were more likely to have stronger consultative relationships, as rated by teachers. using data from arizona’s iecmhc program, davis et al. (2020) found that higher consultant-rated relationship quality predicted greater improvements in several childand teacher-level outcomes, including teacher-child relationships, classroom climate, and teacher self-efficacy from baseline to six months. for several of those links, moderation analyses revealed that the effect was only significant when the child was a boy of color and/or the consultant self-reported having expertise in cultural diversity (davis et al., 2018). similarly, virmani et al. (2012) found that teacher-child interaction outcomes were predicted by how respected the teacher felt by the consultant. qualitative studies have described the consultative relationship by utilizing interviews with childcare providers (denatale, 2013; kniegge-tucker et al., 2020). this emphasis on the relationship can be seen in studies of other related services. for instance, the psychotherapy literature (for children and adults alike) has paid significant attention to the role of the relationship, which they refer to as the therapeutic alliance (elvins & green, 2008) and more recently, to the alliance formed via virtual psychotherapy (lederman & alfonso, 2021). similarly, the working alliance inventory tool has been used to measure home visitor-family relationship factors, including their bond or alignments on goals (becker et al., 2016; burrell et al., 2018). what distinguishes those studies, in contrast to the extant literature on the consultative relationship in iecmhc, is the use of a standardized measure. to increase the rigor of the current evidence for the pivotal role of the relationship, a measure should be created or adapted and validated in a 10 tidus et al. sample of consultants and consultees. in addition, future research should use this measure to ascertain whether relationship quality is a mediating variable in the outcomes for iecmhc, as is depicted in the toc. iecmhc activities. iecmhc is defined by the activities of the consultants, and those activities are adjusted to meet the needs of the specific consultee/ program served. at this time there is no definitive list of the core or essential activities of iechmc that is agnostic to setting. a few studies have discussed these activities in ece settings, providing some insight into the effects of certain consultation activities as influencing factors. in the evaluation of arkansas’ statewide iecmhc program, researchers found that more consultant time spent in the classroom specifically predicted greater reductions in problematic teacher interaction styles and greater use of positive classroom management strategies (connersburrow et al., 2013). this evaluation found that certain activities of iecmhc, such as frequency of consultant and consultee meetings, were associated with reductions in punitiveness. additionally, reductions in detachment and improvements in positive interaction styles were associated with a consultant’s effort to help a teacher understand a child’s challenging behavior. in a study conducted by alkon and colleagues (2003), the researchers found that a higher frequency of mental health consultation activities predicted lower rates of teacher turnover. additionally, they found that more years of consultation predicted greater change in center quality from time 1 to time 2, measured by the early childhood environment rating scale (ecers) (alkon et al., 2003). while the specific activities of iecmhc are of interest, the dosage that influences the outcomes from these activities is also important. one study found a “dose-effect” between the number of hours of consultation a child received and an improvement in child behavior scores, suggesting that more consultation yields better outcomes (upshur et al., 2009). furthermore, another study found that the frequency of consultation activities was slightly positively correlated with a change in the quality of teacher-child interactions (virmani et al., 2012). more research is needed on overall dosage as well as the impact of specific activities of iecmhc to inform programmatic decisions that would result in favorable outcomes. for other interventions, the role of provider adherence to a core set of activities is studied using measures of fidelity. for instance, a study of an implementation of the oregon model of parent management training (pmto) found that model fidelity was associated with better treatment outcomes (forgatch et al., 2021). specifically, high scores on their pmto-specific fidelity of implementation rating system (fimp) predicted increased effective parenting practices. although there is currently no definitive list of iecmhc activities, the research team at the coe is currently conducting a delphi qualitative study to fill in this gap in knowledge. a panel of carefully selected iecmhc experts from a variety of settings like early intervention, home visiting, and elementary schools are engaged in this consensus-building activity to determine the core elements of iecmhc that cut across settings. understanding the core activities of consultation can be used to create a fidelity measurement for iecmhc. kaufmann et al. (2012) highlighted the challenges in creating a fidelity measure for iecmhc—notably that unlike interventions such as pmto—it is not a manualized intervention designed by one entity, and iecmhc has been adapted to different settings. future research should investigate which specific activities lead to particular outcomes to further articulate iecmhc as a service. analyses should how and why iecmhc works 11 be conducted to explore whether frequency and duration of consultation activities mediate specific outcomes. direct effects while iecmhc is an intervention geared towards indirect changes in children, families, and programs, it does so by directly affecting the early childhood professionals who receive consultation. the consultee engaging in consultation may be impacted psychologically, behaviorally, and relationally. these impacts can yield improvements in their ability to support children’s and families’ social-emotional needs. consultees’ capacity to promote infant and early childhood mental health. consultation, though on behalf of children, occurs among adults. this collaboration often leads to changes in consultees’ knowledge, perceptions, emotions, relationships, and behaviors (cohen & kaufmann, 2005). an early seminal piece on mental health consultation describes how a consultant’s relatively light touch paves the way for a more widespread impact through changes to the consultee (caplan, 1963). these changes in turn lead to increased capacity to understand, empathize with, and respond sensitively to children’s social-emotional needs. research on mental health consultation has documented a range of direct effects, including consultee self-efficacy, consultee knowledge about social-emotional development, and enhanced consultee interaction style. for instance, heller and colleagues (2011) found that teachers who participated in the statewide louisiana consultation program demonstrated improved self-efficacy from preto postintervention, as well as improved self-reported competency with social-emotional development and managing challenging behavior. the recent illinois statewide iecmhc program evaluation found that staff in the intervention group receiving iecmhc demonstrated greater improvement in reflective capacity over time than those in the comparison group, as measured using the reflective functioning questionnaire and the provider reflective process assessment scale (spielberger et al., 2021). these increases in reflective capacity are important since adults with higher reflective capacity scores rated children’s behavior as demonstrating more strengths and fewer behavioral concerns, and overall teachers in the intervention group indicated a lesser impact of child challenging behavior on learning and relationships (spielberger et al., 2021). additionally, in a descriptive article written by silverman & hutchinson (2019), the authors detail how consultation can address multiple levels of systematic racism, using examples from the infantparent program at the university of california, san francisco (ucsf). the authors chronicle how consultation has salutary effects on consultees by increasing their self-awareness, thus allowing the consultee to recognize and reflect on issues related to race, trauma, and reproductive justice to address interpersonal and institutional racism (silverman & hutchinson, 2019). to continue to unpack the direct effects of consultation, new constructs should be investigated such as consultee implicit bias and trauma-informed care, which have been shown in related fields to be responsive to intervention. in a study of a practice-based coaching (pbc) model, the inclusion of coaches was found to allow teachers to recognize and address implicit biases in the classroom that allowed them to develop more emotionally supportive teaching practices, particularly for black boys, which could be applicable to iecmh consultants (catherine & swadener, 2021). additionally, while little is known about iecmhc’s effect on trauma-informed 12 tidus et al. attitudes, the attitudes related to trauma-informed care (artic) scale has been used successfully among staff employed in education, human services, and health care (baker et al., 2015). a limitation of the research around consultee capacity is the lack of significant findings for impact on the consultee in either of the two rct studies conducted to date (gilliam, 2016; reyes et al., 2020) as well as the absence of disaggregated analyses to determine whether these changes are equitable to consultees of color. future research should seek to better understand those null findings, engage in disaggregated analysis, and explore the aforementioned additional constructs of interest. indirect effects programmatic outcomes. the indirect programmatic effects of consultation refer to changes to improve the social-emotional context in which the child grows and learns. the “program” will depend on the recipient(s) of consultation but may include the classroom, home visiting program, childcare program, and others. the preponderance of the findings, with evidence from studies with diverse populations in both rural and urban communities, has been about improvements in classroom climate (davis et al., 2020; davis et al., 2018; heller et al., 2012) with a smaller body of evidence about changes in center quality (alkon et al., 2003) and expulsion rates (upshur et al., 2009). improvements in classroom climate have been measured in a variety of ways, such as quantitative measures like the preschool mental health climate scale (pmhcs), the classroom assessment scoring system (class), or through qualitative interviews. evidence for changes to classroom climate includes a study that investigated an integrated iecmhc and teacher training program in head start called the chicago school readiness project (csrp). raver and colleagues (2008) found positive changes in classroom climate for those classrooms receiving iecmhc. a program in rural appalachia focused its consultation services on the promotion of trauma-informed care to boost teachers’ competency in meeting the socialemotional needs of children and increase resilience in children (shamblin et al., 2016). postconsultation sites demonstrated a reduction in negative attributes on the pmhcs, though not an increase in positive attributes (shamblin et al., 2016). only one study, conducted by alkon and team, found significant increases in center quality from time 1 to time 2 as measured by an observational tool, as well as reported changes to center and child practices, as reported during qualitative interviews (alkon et al., 2003). additionally, a study of a consultation program in a head start program found that staff had reduced use of sick leave after consultation, which can be construed as better staff wellness (beardslee et al., 2010). consultation has also been shown to predict reduced rates of student expulsion in ece programs (upshur et al., 2009). expulsion rates have been an outcome of focus since gilliam’s (2005) landmark study which found a prekindergarten expulsion rate 3.2 times higher than that of k-12 students with older, black boys expelled at higher rates than their peers (gilliam, 2005). expulsion rates have garnered more interest in evaluations of iecmhc, but recently a colorado survey also linked knowledge of how to access iecmhc predicted lower suspension rates (miles et al., 2021). while it is evident that iecmhc is effective in reducing expulsions, there is little evidence yet how and why iecmhc works 13 that iecmhc addresses the racial disparities that manifest in expulsion rates (albritton et al., 2019). there has yet to be a study that measures iecmhc’s impact on program-level measures of equity. future research could employ measures of equitable socio-cultural interactions such as the assessing classroom sociocultural equity scale (asces) (curenton et al., 2019) to address this gap, and could investigate program-level policy changes that may also reduce systemic inequities built into program infrastructure. overall, while we know that programs seem to benefit from mental health consultation, it is important to investigate whether and how consultation may be addressing disparities that are evident at the program level such that systemic inequities in community resources do not dictate the quality of early childhood services available to children and families. child and family outcomes. the collaboration between consultants and consultees also indirectly affects children and families and may reduce disparities manifested by race, gender, socioeconomic status, and linguistic background. the vast majority of studies have investigated the impact of consultation on children (e.g., albritton et al., 2019), though there is a growing literature base on the impact on families (see for example bender et al., 2017). numerous studies have found that iecmhc has positive impacts on infants and young children. these studies have varied in research designs (e.g., randomized control trials (rct), quasiexperimental, and mixed methods) and settings (e.g., ece and head start). a wide range of measures have been used, including the devereux early childhood assessment clinical (decac), strengths and difficulties questionnaire, and the sutter-eyberg student behavior inventory. the majority of studies of child outcomes have been conducted with predominantly white samples (bender et al., 2017; gilliam et al., 2016; shamblin et al., 2016), few have been conducted with predominantly black samples (williford & shelton, 2008), and other racial/ethnic groups are poorly represented (see for exception beardslee et al., 2010); further disaggregation by race/ethnicity is rare (see for exception shivers et al., 2021). the majority of research on child-level impacts can be summarized into three main constructs: improving child social-emotional skills, reducing child externalizing behavior, and decreasing the risk of expulsion. multiple empirical studies have indicated that children’s social-emotional competencies (such as social skills, self-regulation, protective factors, and adaptive behaviors) increase after consultation (crusto et al., 2013; green et al., 2012; perry et al., 2008; shamblin et al., 2016). for instance, reyes & gilliam (2021) conducted an evaluation of the statewide consultation program in ohio and found that target children who received consultation demonstrated significantly higher scores for protective factors (deca scores for initiative and attachment) post-consultation compared to the control group. this was the first study to demonstrate impacts on non-target peers, who improved significantly on the initiative subscale compared to the control group. next, many studies have reported that children’s challenging behaviors tend to decrease after consultation (perry et al., 2010). for example, the randomized control trial (rct) of connecticut’s consultation program demonstrated significant decreases in hyperactivity, restlessness, and externalizing behaviors among children who received consultation compared to control group 14 tidus et al. children (gilliam et al., 2016). this finding has been replicated using other designs and a variety of measures. for example, another study found that children with identified concerns at baseline demonstrated significant improvement across all domains of the deca, with large effect sizes, after consultation (crusto et al., 2013). as described above, reductions in program-wide expulsion rates after consultation have been documented; in addition, there is emerging evidence that children at risk for expulsion are more likely to be retained in their ece setting after consultation (perry et al., 2008). an evaluation of arkansas’s statewide expulsion prevention initiative reported decreased challenging behavior and risk for expulsion among children who received consultation (conners edge et al., 2021). there is nascent literature on iecmhc’s impact on other child outcomes. for instance, a d.c. consultation program reported that children in schools receiving iecmhc had higher academic achievement scores a proxy measure for school readiness after one academic year of consultation (mathis et al., 2022). in addition, research is beginning to investigate equity in child outcomes, iecmhc evaluation data from arizona suggested that iecmhc may have a stronger positive impact when black children, and in particular black boys, are the focus of consultation as compared to white children (shivers et al., 2021). after 12 months of iecmhc, teachers reported lower levels of conflict with black children, who had higher scores of conflict at baseline, than they did with white children, thus the racialized conflict gap was closed. an additional finding was there was no differential impact between black girls and white girls. based on the anti-racist principles of mental health consultation (silverman & hutchison, 2019), it is thought that iecmhc may predict reduced disparities for children and families that may manifest by gender, race, income, linguistic background, and/or disability; this needs to be confirmed in future studies. while there is ample evidence for the impact of iecmhc on the social-emotional wellbeing of infants and young children, the evidence for family outcomes remains scarce. family outcomes like parent/caregiver perception of consultation and parent-reported child outcomes have not been investigated extensively in iecmhc, although a study conducted by bender and colleagues (2017) found that iecmhc positively influenced parent-child interactions. there is a range of other child and family outcomes pertinent to consultation that should be studied, including child internalizing behaviors, trauma symptoms, and caregivers' confidence in navigating the systems. while iecmhc has been shown to have the aforementioned positive effects in the short term, sustained effects on outcomes have yet to be demonstrated in iecmhc and necessitate longitudinal studies. in summary, the positive impacts for children have been replicated numerous times using different settings, measures, and research designs, but further research is required to investigate how iecmhc indirectly impacts disparities as well as other important child and family outcomes. pathways synthesis iecmhc is widely agreed to be an indirect mental health service in which the primary role of the consultant is to build the capacity of the consultee, who in turn creates an environment for children to thrive. in other words, changes in a consultee precede and are a necessary precondition for changes for a child. however, to demonstrate this pathway would require at least three-time points how and why iecmhc works 15 of data collection and the use of mediation analyses within a nested data structure. researchers have not yet conducted these analyses. not only have the indirect effects not yet been demonstrated, but there is evidence that contradicts the indirect nature of consultation as depicted in the theory of change. in the two randomizedcontrolled trials for iecmhc, significant effects at the child level were found in the absence of significant effects at the consultee level. in connecticut’s eight-week model of iecmhc, gilliam et al. (2016) found that children in the consultation group showed significantly greater reductions in externalizing behaviors than control children, yet there were no significant differences in classroom environment quality (as measured by the class) between classrooms that received consultation and control classrooms. similarly, in ohio’s six-week model of iecmhc, reyes & gilliam (2021) found significantly greater improvements in indicators of child resilience on the deca for intervention vs. control children, yet found no differences in intervention vs. control teachers or classrooms on multiples measures including classroom mental health climate, locus of control, depression, and teaching beliefs and practices. while these findings appear to contradict the theory of change, the absence of direct effects on teachers or classrooms may be an artifact of measurement. another limitation of the current evidence from rcts is that both programs are relatively short in duration. additional studies—including rcts—are needed to demonstrate the mediation of indirect effects of consultation in longer-duration models. to date, several mediation models have been tested in iecmhc studies that quantify indirect effects, albeit not the mediating role of consultee changes on child outcomes. consistent with the toc, green et al. (2006) found that the quality of the teacher-consultant relationship mediated the link between the frequency of consultation activities and the perceived effectiveness of consultation (per teacher report). in other words, the relationship was the mechanism of change whereby the amount of consultation predicted the extent of improvement in outcomes. importantly, bender et al. (2017) used mediation to investigate an understudied aspect of consultation the impact on parents/caregivers. specifically, they investigated the role of parentchild interactions and parental distress on the link between iecmhc and child outcomes. parentchild dysfunctional interactions (a subscale of the parenting stress index) mediated the association between iecmhc (i.e., whether in consultation or comparison group) and child outcomes (both behavioral problems and protective factors); parental distress was a non-significant potential mediator. while this model would benefit from replication in a study with three-time points of data, it suggests that changes in parent-child interactions may arise after consultation and lead to positive child outcomes. upshur and colleagues (2009) investigated an additional hypothesized mechanism of change improvement in child developmental skills but the findings were nonsignificant. in addition to the few mediation models tested to date, it is also important to note that research has investigated constructs that are hypothesized mediators of the impact of iecmhc, such as the consultative relationship and activities (see above). increasing clarity about how constructs are operationalized is a helpful precondition to including them in formal mediation analyses. further, beyond analyzing the indirect effects of consultation, there are many other pathways to explore quantitatively that are visually depicted and hypothesized in the theory of change. a few examples are: does the quality or amount of reflective supervision moderate a link between mental health consultant characteristics and the consultative relationship quality? does consultee readiness for 16 tidus et al. consultation moderate the link between the activities of consultation and the direct effects? and, does consultative relationship quality mediate the link between consultant embodiment of the consultative stance and programmatic outcomes? continuing to explore these pathways using moderation and mediation analyses will expand understanding of the ways in which consultation has its positive effects, and for whom, with implications for training and continuous programmatic improvement. discussion this paper presented the evidence base for infant and early childhood mental health consultation (iecmhc) through the lens of a new theory of change (toc) which articulates the mechanisms by which iecmhc is hypothesized to lead to key outcomes. by categorizing the findings from the extant research by the constructs of the toc, it is clear that the vast majority of research has investigated whether iecmhc has positive outcomes for children and the adults who work with them, but not how positive impacts are achieved or for whom they are strongest. furthermore, it is clear that consultation in early childhood education (ece) settings have been well-represented in the literature while all other settings (e.g., home visiting, primary care, child welfare) have been underrepresented. from a policy perspective, the question of program effectiveness is crucial for funding and program expansion. iecmhc’s effectiveness has been well established in ece, though research in other settings is just beginning. findings from published and some unpublished studies (not all of which are mentioned in this review) have repeatedly found that consultation in ece settings is associated with decreased child externalizing behavior, improved social-emotional skills, improved teacher-child interactions, and improved teacher skills and confidence regarding fostering a healthy climate. to build upon the effectiveness data from ece settings, best practices in implementation science dictate increased attention to quality and sustainability, including attention to health equity, workforce development, and program fidelity with flexibility. future directions for research areas of recognized need for additional research have been identified throughout this paper corresponding to each aspect of the theory of change for iecmhc. in addition, there are several cross-cutting next steps for iecmhc research that transcend the individual elements of the theory of change. first, an important area for improvement is the investigation of potential differential effects of consultation for children based on demographic and/or identity characteristics, such as race/ ethnicity, disability status, linguistic background, gender, socioeconomic status, and more. few studies to date have conducted disaggregated analyses of iecmhc outcome data (see for example shivers et al., 2021). to do so requires researchers to intentionally design research questions, collect data, and conduct statistical tests specific to equitable impact of consultation keeping in mind that equity for individuals in marginalized groups would entail greater benefit from consultation than individuals who are not in marginalized groups. it is critical to continue to how and why iecmhc works 17 examine the effects of iecmhc on disparities given the persistent inequities in expulsion policies for children of color compared to their white peers (gilliam, 2005; office of civil rights, 2016). while consultation is associated with reduced rates of expulsion, there is not currently evidence that it predicts reductions in disparities in expulsion based on race/ethnicity, gender, age, disability status, etc. (albritton et al., 2019). this is a glaring omission given the foundation of mental health consultation in principles of social justice and anti-racism. in addition, it is necessary for unpacking what works for whom, which would improve the precision of service delivery. it has long been challenging to concretely define and measure iecmhc given its non-directive, relationship-led principles. nevertheless, to align iecmhc with best practices in implementation science, it is important to articulate and standardize the core activities that define iecmhc and to use these core activities to create fidelity measures. there are not yet research-based criteria for what can be considered consultation (as distinct from other related supports such as coaching and reflective supervision). without such standardization, outcome data can be called into question as to whether different sites and even different consultants are truly all providing the same type of service. furthermore, it impedes efforts to measure the quality of implementation. this need for standardization has been further complicated by the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the provision of consultation services, which led to increased virtual consultation and greater emphasis on adult wellbeing supports. moving forward, researchers should create fidelity measures for iecmhc, pilot them, and analyze whether higher fidelity predicts better outcomes. this investigation should be inclusive of iecmhc in understudied settings which includes all settings other than ece. iecmhc is expanding to settings such as home visiting, child welfare, early intervention, primary care, and in at least one instance domestic violence shelters (brinamen et al., 2012). an iecmhc fidelity measure that transcends settings should provide structure as well as latitude for appropriate adaptations for different settings. in parallel to assessing implementation fidelity across settings, researchers must also prioritize the assessment of outcomes across settings. with the exception of home visiting, there is no known evaluation data for iecmhc in any setting other than ece, as described in detail in this paper. there is a nascent evidence base for consultation provided to home visitors. lambarth and green (2019) found that the 12 home visitors in their sample who received consultation for two years reported significantly improved knowledge of mental health and confidence in partnering with parents, but no significant effect on their stress. while this is a promising beginning, there is much yet to be discovered in terms of direct and indirect effects, replication of effects across samples and measures, and mechanisms of change specific to home visiting. expanding data collection to these settings is essential to determine how well consultation can be translated into disparate settings, and what different effects it might have depending on the target population in any alteration to service provision. similarly, across multiple constructs in the toc, new measures are needed before quantitative data collection can advance. for example, the consultative stance is central to the provision of iecmhc as it was originally conceived, yet there are no measures of this nuanced construct. hence, data cannot yet support its importance by investigating whether the quality of the consultant’s embodiment of the consultative stance predicts the strength of outcomes. to address the understudied constructs in the toc, researchers should either find and adapt existing measures or engage in best practices for measure generation and validation. 18 tidus et al. in addition to new measurement tools, researchers should work to both broaden and strengthen the research designs used for evaluating iecmhc. on the one hand, increased rigor in research design (i.e., use of control groups, data collection by trained research staff) can eliminate biases and alternative explanations for positive impacts that limit the credibility of findings. on the other hand, researchers should also expand the methods used to acknowledge non-western ways of knowing and to honor community voice and personal narrative as valid sources of data. limitations of the current study there are several limitations to the current review. as with any review of the literature, it is possible that we did not discover one or more articles on iecmhc, and that relevant papers have been published since this literature review was conducted in 2021 through early 2022. further, the extent of research on iecmhc and the constructs in its toc may be underrepresented in this article in light of the incorporation of some, but not all, of the “gray” literature on iecmhc. many iecmhc evaluations result in an evaluation report that may not ultimately be published in the peer-reviewed literature, often because of time limitations for the evaluators. the authors incorporated findings from the unpublished “gray” literature only when there were no pertinent findings in the peer-reviewed literature for a given construct, yet based on the decentralized nature of the gray literature, it is possible that the authors are unaware of the entirety of the findings relevant to this review. nevertheless, the authors referenced unpublished studies strategically where they could increase reader understanding while omitting studies with similar or redundant findings as appearing in peer-reviewed literature. this decision was thought to improve the parsimony of the paper while representing nuances of the literature base faithfully. each study design described in this review has strengths and limitations. many of the studies used a quasi-experimental research method without a control or comparison group; hence, significant changes over time cannot be definitively attributed to consultation. our review incorporates and labels all study designs, although some yield stronger conclusions than others. finally, there is insufficient evidence of effects across diverse groups of consultees, consultants, and children; many studies rely on primarily white, female samples of teachers and consultants with primarily white, male samples of children. there is also a lack of diversity in settings. the vast majority of the extant literature investigates iecmhc in ece (e.g., head start, center-based child care, home-based child-care, pre-kindergarten), consultation takes place in a range of other settings including home visiting, child welfare, primary care, and early intervention. addressing this need for diversity in samples and settings will strengthen the evidence for each construct, including those that have already been well replicated. this limitation can also be understood as a key future direction for research. conclusion the evidence for the beneficial outcomes of iecmhc is well-established, both for the direct recipients of iecmhc (adults working with children) and for the young children in their care. to better understand these positive impacts, train highly skilled consultants, increase equity in how and why iecmhc works 19 outcomes, and expand access to high-quality iecmhc, researchers must answer more nuanced questions about how it works and for whom. a theory of change structures these questions, and a new theory of change for iecmhc both helps summarize the extant literature and provides a clear research agenda for subsequent questions to explore. researchers have only just begun to delve into the mechanisms of change and potentiators of impact for iecmhc and continuing to explore these pathways may 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(2019). infant mental health: the clinical science of early experience. in c. h. zeanah (ed.), handbook of infant mental health (pp. 5–24). new york, ny: the guilford press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2008.12.002 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01839.x hs dialog, 27(1), 38-57 copyright ©2024, issn: 1930-9325 descriptive article preparing teacher candidates for inclusive practice: a program overview brooke winchell naomi rahn kristen linzmeier anne tillett lori becker lucinda heimer university of wisconsin-whitewater this paper provides a programmatic overview of an early childhood education (ece), dual-licensure personnel preparation program in the midwest. the foundation of the ece program includes blended faculty from general and special education, a cohort model, field placements every semester, and continual review and innovative practices. the ece program is offered in both campus-based and online delivery models to meet the needs of prospective students across the state and region. faculty have recently expanded the program array to include two additional online programs to meet the changing needs of the workforce: a non license credential-based bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in public policy. the ece program’s unique components and multiple offerings position it well to prepare teacher candidates to educate all children within inclusive settings. future directions include developing a master’s degree in early childhood special education. key words: early childhood, personnel preparation, dual-licensure introduction it is well established that high-quality early childhood programs support the healthy development of young children (bustamante et al., 2022; center on the developing child, 2010; heckman, 2017). competent and caring educators with specialized training and credentials are at the heart of high-quality early childhood programs (manning et al., 2019; national research council, 2015). early childhood educators are guided by developmentally appropriate practice (dap), winchell et al. 39 which is the core framework of principles and guidelines for implementing best practices in early childhood education (naeyc, 2022). early childhood educators who work with children with disabilities start with a developmentally appropriate foundation, and then layer additional supports and individualized intervention strategies to facilitate each child’s growth and development within a blended practices approach (grisham & hemmeter, 2017). early intervention/early childhood special education (ei/ecse) practitioners must have specialized knowledge and skills in many areas including collaborating with families and implementing evidence-based interventions (bruder et al., 2021). the division for early childhood (dec) recommended practices provide guidance to practitioners for promoting optimal learning outcomes for young children with disabilities and at risk for disabilities (dec, 2014). in addition to these recommended practices, naeyc and dec have developed professional preparation standards to guide programs in higher education in preparing educators. naeyc’s professional standards and competencies outline the knowledge, skills, values, and dispositions needed for early childhood educators to promote the development and learning of all young children (naeyc, 2019). in 2020, dec developed the first set of ei/ecse standards which emphasize the unique skills and knowledge needed for professionals who work with young children who have or are at-risk for disabilities and their families (dec, 2020). to effectively work with all young children including those with disabilities and their families, early childhood educators must have the knowledge, skills, and training to understand and use both dap and dec recommended practices as described in the naeyc and dec personnel preparation standards. blended teacher preparation programs train teacher candidates (tcs) to teach all young children, including typically developing children and children with identified disabilities (grisham & hemmeter, 2017; mickelson et al., 2023). university faculty developed the first blended early childhood teacher preparation programs several decades ago to prepare tcs to meet the needs of all children within inclusive settings (grisham & hemmeter, 2017; mickelson et al., 2022). in blended or merged programs, tcs are prepared in a “single curriculum with a complete integration of courses and field experiences designed to address the needs of all students, including those who have disabilities” (blanton & pugach, 2011, p. 226). in blended programs, faculty from both early childhood and ei/ecse disciplines collaborate to develop and implement the program which includes courses and practicum experiences needed to prepare tcs to teach in general and special education settings (blanton & pugach, 2011). core assumptions of a blended program model are that general and special education teachers require the same body of knowledge, tcs can be adequately prepared within the program (e.g., a 4-year curriculum), and graduates will be willing to assume roles in either general or special education (blanton & pugach, 2011). blanton and pugach (2011) suggest the following markers of practice for blended programs: a) a preservice curriculum with intentionally related and sequenced components, b) faculty collaboration at the course and program level, c) depth of tc knowledge in both general and special education, d) shared review of tc assessment by faculty from both disciplines, and e) partnerships with school districts and other community agencies. despite efforts of teacher preparation programs, the early childhood field is grappling with an ongoing shortage of early childhood educators, early interventionists, and early childhood special educators (bruder, 2021). although teacher shortages are not new (darling-hammond, 2022), the covid-19 pandemic exacerbated and amplified existing shortages (nces, 2022). according to the national center for education statistics (nces, 2023), 86% of public schools in the u.s. reported challenges in hiring teachers for the 2023-24 school year, with the highest vacancies preparing teacher candidates for inclusive practice 40 reported for general elementary and special education teachers. the early care and education field was hit particularly hard by the covid-19 pandemic (national academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine, 2022). the pandemic exacerbated long-standing challenges within the early care and education workforce including low compensation, inadequate benefits, limited opportunities for professional development, and high levels of stress and burnout (maier & roach, 2023; national academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine, 2022). the ei/ecse workforce has also experienced ongoing shortages which is concerning given the growing number of children with identified disabilities (bruder et al., 2021). according to a survey of part c coordinators across the united states, 100% of respondents indicated a shortage of qualified early intervention providers, with 71.7% reporting shortages of special educators or developmental specialists (idea infant & toddler coordinators association, 2022). ongoing workforce issues in the early care and education field have had negative impacts on young children and their families. following the pandemic, teacher shortages led elementary school leaders to implement stop gap measures like increasing class sizes, sharing teachers and staff with other schools, and having staff in roles outside of their normal duties (nces, 2022). in early care and education programs, many classrooms or entire programs shut down due to the covid-19 pandemic (lin & mcdoniel, 2023). these program closures led to a decrease in the number of high-quality early care and education programs available to families, with disproportionate impacts on low-income families and communities of color (u.s. department of health and human services & u.s. department of education, 2023). the shutdown of community early childhood programs also impacted the ability of ecse programs to provide inclusive services for preschool children with disabilities (u.s. department of health and human services & u.s. department of education, 2023). as our societal context continues to evolve, teacher preparation programs must change to meet the needs of the children and families served and the workforce (mickelson et al., 2022). one strategy to address these needs is to prepare a more diverse workforce that reflects the children and families being served (u.s. department of health and human services & u.s. department of education, 2023). higher education programs must develop innovative program models to attract and retain tcs. the early childhood education (ece) program described in this paper was developed nearly 25 years ago and is continuing to evolve to meet the needs of the field. in this paper, we provide an overview of our current ece program models, describe unique components of our program, and highlight recent innovations designed to meet the needs of the field. we also describe the impact of the program, current challenges, and future directions. early childhood education program models the ece program is a 4.5 year long, interdisciplinary undergraduate professional education program at university of wisconsin – whitewater (uw-w), a public university in the united states. the dual-license program is robust and placement intensive to ensure tcs are prepared to teach all children from birth to 8 years old (i.e., typically developing children and children with disabilities). the mission of the ece program is to: provide innovative interdisciplinary pathways to undergraduate and graduate degrees focused on meeting the unique needs of all children from birth through third grade. we prepare preand in-service teachers to use content knowledge and evidence winchell et al. 41 based practices in inclusive settings, to use relationship based and equitable approaches to support children’s learning, to engage and collaborate with families and other professionals, and to facilitate developmentally appropriate learning within the context of families, cultures, and communities. campus-based ece program the ece program is offered in two program models: campus-based and online (i.e., ece4u program). the impetus for the development of the original campus-based program was to prepare early childhood educators to meet the needs of all children and to support their families. faculty in the curriculum and instruction and special education departments discussed the separate early childhood programs offered in each department and the philosophical similarities between the faculty and programs. because of these discussions, the group members decided that a new "blended" program was in the best interest of uw w students and children and families. after a decade of planning, the dual-license blended ece program was launched in 2001. the face-to-face, campus-based program accepts up to 30 new tcs each year into a cohort. tcs apply to the program in their first semester of their sophomore year and complete 148 credits across six semesters. upon graduation, tcs are eligible for licensure in early childhood and early childhood special education. the most important impact of the program is the development of high-quality teachers, many of whom stay in the state to teach in preschools, head start programs, birth to three programs, and in kindergarten through third grade classrooms in public and private schools. teachers prepared through the ece program are neither “regular” nor “special” education teachers, but instead are well-prepared to teach all young children. online ece program (ece4u) beginning in 2010, the university began offering the ece dual-license program in an online format. this new, innovative program was designed to attract and retain tcs working full time in the field and tcs living in rural areas of the state. the ece4u program was created based on recommendations from advisory board members who knew that working educators needed a pathway to a bachelor’s degree and licensure that allowed them to continue to work while earning their degree. tcs entering ece4u have an associate of applied science (aas) degree in ece and typically bring years of experience working with children and families in childcare, head start, or elementary settings. the state technical college system has a consistent aas degree program which allowed uw-w to develop and maintain one articulation agreement with the entire system. the university also has articulation agreements with regional technical colleges and local community colleges. tcs complete the online program in six semesters over a 2-year period including summers. most courses are 8 weeks long (i.e., half semester), allowing tcs to carry a full course load while juggling fewer classes at a time. classes are offered in an online, hybrid format with preparing teacher candidates for inclusive practice 42 tcs meeting synchronously online six times per semester on saturdays. the program is predominantly staffed by a core group of adjunct faculty who are partnered with full-time tenure track faculty for mentorship and review. ece4u is unique because of the articulation agreements with aas programs and the strong relationship with instructors and advisors at the transfer institutions. furthermore, the program serves the entire state. most tcs in ece4u transfer from aas programs within a one-hour radius of campus. however, tcs attend from all over the state, many from locations that are not within driving distance of an ece degree and licensing program. in addition, few universities offer a transfer program that is online, allowing tcs to work while earning their degree and license. unique components of the ece program there are several unique aspects common to both the campus-based and online ece programs. these components are essential in providing high quality experiences to prepare tcs to work with all learners. blended/dual-licensure program curriculum the ece program was the first blended program in the state university system. in the development of the ece program, faculty and staff were cognizant of the need to develop course content that was reflective of all children and families, and that addressed both naeyc and dec personnel preparation standards. this blended program includes courses related to language arts, math, literacy, music, science, social emotional development, working with caregivers, and methods for working with children with disabilities. in all courses, the emphasis is on how to meet the needs of all children from birth to age 8 through high quality, high impact teaching. for example, across curriculum courses taught by curriculum and instruction faculty, tcs develop lesson plans that not only address learning outcomes for the whole group, but also include modifications and teaching strategies designed to meet the individualized needs of children with identified disabilities. the introductory course in early childhood education includes content in both general early childhood education and ei/ecse. assessment courses, which are taught by special education faculty, focus on ei/ecse-specific assessment knowledge and skills including developmental screening and assessment for eligibility for special education. however, these courses also address best practices in assessment for typically developing children including authentic assessment, portfolio assessment, using assessment data to make instructional decisions, and monitoring children’s progress. in the course focused on families, the instructor, who is a faculty member in the curriculum and instruction department, has updated the course to include a textbook focused on the experiences of families of children with disabilities. in these and other similar instances, faculty have designed the ece program curriculum and courses to blend early childhood and ei/ecse content. winchell et al. 43 blended faculty our program consists of a small core of six full-time employees: two faculty in curriculum and instruction, two faculty in special education, one instructional academic staff in curriculum and instruction, and one academic staff housed in special education. faculty in both departments are equally invested in the ece programs and have contributed their time and expertise to the development of the blended programs. there are additional staff who teach courses in the ece program from departments such as math, reading, music education, communication sciences and disorders, and educational foundations. all faculty and staff hold a related ph.d., ed.d., or master’s degree and have a minimum of 3 years of relevant teaching experience with young children. our core faculty and staff meet weekly for two hours as part of our commitment to continuous review and high quality. during weekly meetings we (a) provide updates on the program array, (b) address challenges and barriers within each program (i.e., ece, ece4u, early child care and education [ecce], and master of science in education-early childhood education policy) (c) work collaboratively on current initiatives, and (d) address any concerns with tcs to promote retention and success. our ongoing communication assists with cohesiveness of the interdisciplinary team, allows for continuous monitoring of the program, and provides opportunities to address barriers as they arise. moreover, the meetings provide built-in space for innovation. during these meetings, we generate new ideas, collaborate on current projects, and build upon existing initiatives. our core faculty and staff are leaders in their departments, the college, the university and the community. all core members who have been at uw-w for at least a year have been nominated for college advising and teaching awards. in addition to teaching and advising, the roles and responsibilities of staff and faculty are manifold. academic staff maintain program structures, pursue grant work, and participate in visioning and planning for meeting new program goals. as educator scholars, faculty pursue research that is community-based to benefit professionals and learners in the field of ece regionally, nationally, and internationally. we see ourselves as teachers, scholars, past practitioners, learning facilitators, curriculum planners, and theory-to practice negotiators. we share a common belief that early childhood is a critical time for children and their families, and it is our position that there are a variety of ways we can have an impact. cohort model cohort-based teaching and learning is an important focus of the ece program. tcs complete the program together, moving through required courses and field experiences while deepening their knowledge and skills. we strongly believe in the power of the cohort model. while tcs have individual lives outside of school, they have common ground they can all relate to as they have made the commitment to earning their degree while balancing work, family, and other personal responsibilities. during the first semester, tcs may feel apprehensive about having the same people in classes throughout their training. however, throughout the program, they build formal and informal supports that contribute to a positive cohort climate and acquire effective communication and team building skills, which they will continue to apply in professional settings preparing teacher candidates for inclusive practice 44 where team-based decisions affect the lives of young children and their families. during a study on cohorts, we found that many tcs believe that cohort-based learning is a positive aspect of the program and that it allows them to develop supportive relationships that they hope will continue throughout their professional ece careers (devore et al., 2008). faculty get to know tcs individually and support them in creative problem solving. additionally, the cohort model provides a sense of community and equity (e.g., responding to diverse perspectives, learning approaches, individual needs) for tcs and instructors. it is likely the tcs will have the same faculty/staff member more than once during their university career which can lead to deeper understanding of concepts. each course does not necessarily need to start with the tcs and the instructor getting to know each other. it also means the tcs know each other so the second semester and beyond looks different from some other models of instruction where there are new tcs in every course. this familiarity can lend itself to jumping into content sooner and going deeper into the pedagogical underpinnings of truly meeting the needs of all children. the cohort model also alleviates some anxiety about being able to enroll in all of the courses needed for graduation in a timely manner. tcs are guaranteed to have a "spot" in all classes from the time they enter the program until they graduate. reducing this stress means tcs can focus more of their energy on the content of the courses, planning experiences for children in their field placements, or participating in faculty-led professional development opportunities. for example, tcs have presented with faculty on the ece program models and undergraduate research at state and national conferences. we support tcs who seek out these opportunities as a way of beginning to network in professional circles, gaining valuable experience in presenting, and developing interests professionally that go beyond the classroom. placements and applied projects the ece program was designed around a core belief that tcs need meaningful opportunities to apply theory to practice. tcs are in a placement every semester, in placements ranging from 50 hours to full-time student teaching with children across the licensure age range in general and special education settings (see table 1). while most placements last 15 weeks, the placements in the sixth semester last 18 weeks as the tcs follow the district calendar for the first semester and continue their placement post-graduation for approximately two weeks. there are nine field experiences so that tcs experience the theory and pedagogy they are learning about in their courses in various settings. we strive to provide placements in which services are provided to young children with disabilities in inclusive environments. head start placements are inclusive given the federal requirement that head start programs ensure that 10% of their enrollment are young children eligible for special education services (improving head start for school readiness act of 2007, 2007). general education placements (e.g., infants/toddlers, kindergarten, student teaching: preschool placements) are chosen based on the quality of the programs and vary in the number of children with disabilities enrolled at any given time. we consistently place cts in our campus-based program which provides inclusive programming for children from 3 months to 5 years of age. general education placements in public schools (i.e., pre-student teaching: elementary and student teaching: elementary) often include children with identified disabilities or children currently being evaluated for special education. special education placements (i.e., pre-student teaching: special education and winchell et al. 45 student teaching: special education) include a variety of service delivery models and settings for children with disabilities. these include services provided by the special education team in inclusive classrooms as well as services delivered in small group and one-on-one formats in resource rooms and self-contained settings. tcs work directly with special education cooperating teachers and often see services delivered in a variety of ways based on child needs. tcs in early intervention placements are placed in part c programs serving infants and toddlers with or at-risk for disabilities and their families whenever possible, however these placements are challenging to secure and some tcs are placed in programs serving typically developing infants and toddlers and their families (e.g., school district playgroups for young children and families). table 1 ece program placements semester placement hours 1 head start 75 2 infants/toddlers kindergarten 50 50 3 student teaching: early intervention 300 4 student teaching: preschool 150 5 pre-student teaching: early elementary pre-student teaching: special education 50 50 6 student teaching: early elementary student teaching: special education full-time 9 weeks full-time 9 weeks we believe it to be our responsibility to teach and learn about diverse perspectives and viewpoints. every attempt is made to ensure that tcs have a variety of placements (e.g. rural, urban, with learners who speak english as a second language, programs designed for families with low incomes) so that tcs have opportunities to work with children and staff who are different from themselves. tcs from both program models can participate in international placement opportunities, two coordinated through the ece program. our campus has a long-standing relationship with the centers for interamerican studies foundation (cedei) in cuenca, ecuador, where tcs can spend half of their final semester of student teaching, living with a local family and teaching in a private school while also taking classes on the language and culture of the country. future opportunities in ecuador may include a three-credit summer preschool placement which would be shorter and less expensive making it more accessible to a larger group of tcs. in the past, placements were also made in a sovereign nation in the northern part of the state. tcs spent three weeks living and learning within the community where they engaged in fieldwork in pre-k preparing teacher candidates for inclusive practice 46 through 3rd grade classrooms at the community school and took a course introducing the culture of the sovereign nation at the tribal college. in addition, tcs worked with a community liaison to attend traditional and community events and visit historic sites. while in field placements, tcs take concurrent courses and implement what they have learned through various applied projects. each placement provides opportunities for tcs to plan and implement instruction, adapt and modify instruction for children with disabilities, conduct assessments, evaluate student learning outcomes, and collaborate with families and professionals (linzmeier et al., 2022). placements allow tcs to explore, practice, and apply new skills and strategies in real time. just as we believe young children learn by doing, we believe our courses should be an extension of this philosophical belief. faculty and staff provide opportunities for tcs to learn new content in coursework, and then tcs have the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of concepts in field placements. the cooperating teacher, university supervisor, and tc complete evaluations of the tc’s core knowledge and skills based on naeyc, dec, and interstate teacher assessment and support consortium (intasc) standards. they also complete a dispositions assessment based on values, commitments, and professional ethics as defined by the national council for accreditation of teacher education (ncate). these evaluations are completed at midterm and the end of the semester during pre-student teaching and student teaching placements. midterm feedback is discussed during a meeting with the tc, cooperating teacher, and university supervisor. university supervisors also conduct observations during student teaching placements to provide feedback to tcs on their teaching. additionally, throughout the program, tcs attend two reflective seminars in which they discuss their work in the field and develop three electronic portfolios for assessment of their knowledge, skills, and dispositions. key assessments as a blended program that prepares tcs for license endorsement through the state department of education, tcs must demonstrate proficiency across three different sets of professional standards: intasc, naeyc, and dec standards. in this spirit, the ece team developed seven key assessments to measure tc learning. initially, we wrote our own integrated standards and measured candidate learning on those standards using key assessments and associated rubrics. in 2019, our team embarked on the journey to earn naeyc higher education accreditation. as part of the naeyc self-study process, the ece team revised all key assessments to align with naeyc standards and key elements, adding relevant dec standards not explicitly outlined by naeyc. all seven key assessments are embedded into courses and field placements completed by all tcs regardless of program delivery model. the key assessments are completed during the second half of the program; four are completed during tcs’ final semester student teaching. this was an intentional decision because many of the courses taken by tcs in the campus-based program model during the first year of the program are transferred in for candidates in the online ece program delivery model through the articulation agreement. for example, during final student teaching tcs conduct a functional behavior assessment and develop and implement a behavior winchell et al. 47 intervention plan. other key assessments include an integrated curriculum project and the development of an individualized education program (iep). to meet the reporting needs of the state department of education, our institution’s audit and review (a&r) committee, and the higher learning commission (hlc), the core team members are responsible for ensuring we have and use an assessment plan that allows us to make data driven decisions. while the program has gone through three a&r cycles to date with no stipulations, the naeyc self-study process has forced us to reevaluate and revise our assessment plan, beginning with the development of our own mission statement and conceptual framework as well as identifying student learning outcomes outside of the teacher preparation standards. while we always informally reviewed the data from key assessments and made changes as a result, this process was formalized as we prepared for naeyc accreditation. each semester, course instructors and supervisors complete a scoring rubric, providing tcs with feedback on their key assessments against naeyc and dec standards. these are separate from grading rubrics as they may not include all considerations that go into grading, such as grammar. tcs receive a rating of advanced, proficient, basic or no evidence on each standard; the goal is for tcs to meet the standard with a rating of proficient. data from these rubrics are collected through a qualtrics survey each semester which provides evidence of tc proficiency on the standards every semester. each tc has seven data points across their time in the program. the data are used to inform program scope and sequence, key assessment directions and rubrics, course experiences and learning opportunities, and tc successful completion of final student teaching. these data have also been used to inform decisions about program scope and sequence during redesign efforts. continual review and innovation the ece program has evolved since 2001 and undergone many changes. the commitment of the ece team to continual review and intentional improvement has allowed the ece program to maintain high quality programming while being responsive to the field. the continual review process has led to innovation in curricular redesign and adding to the program array. response and impact from covid-19 pandemic the onset of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 created a need for major shifts in higher education (marinoni, land, & jenson, 2020), including changes in how teacher education programs prepare future educators (barnes et al., 2020; carrillo & flores, 2020; quezada et al., 2020). both our courses and field placements shifted during the pandemic. initially, our team offered ece courses in remote format with both synchronous and asynchronous components, with courses gradually shifting back to primarily in-person instruction later in the pandemic. the pandemic presented unique challenges for providing tcs with meaningful field experiences that were safe, and followed policies of universities, school districts, and early childhood agencies and centers. our college made the decision that all field placements would be virtual with the exception of final semester student teaching. throughout the pandemic, we coordinated preparing teacher candidates for inclusive practice 48 approximately 149 placements per semester in seven different practicum and student teaching experiences and pivoted to online placements. tcs who started the ece program during 2020 or in semesters to follow, had little, if any direct contact with children or experience in schools, community centers, or agencies. some tcs graduated from our program having all virtual placements leaving them with less hands-on experience prior to graduation. from these challenges, we learned two important lessons. first, strong relationships with community partners are critical to creating meaningful field placements, both for tcs and the partnering school or agency (linzmeier et al., 2022). second, the significant shifts in field placements and student teaching experiences during the pandemic reinforced the importance of placements in preparing early childhood teachers (linzmeier et al., 2022). ultimately, we discovered that it is not only the number of placements or hours in a placement that mattered, but also the quality and depth of the placements (linzmeier et al., 2022). curricular redesign great care was taken in the development of the program, and that level of care has continued as the faculty and staff are in a cycle of continuous curriculum development and redesign to ensure this rigorous program meets the needs of young children and their families today. the last redesign was implemented in 2019. the focus of those curricular changes included: (a) updating course titles and descriptions to more current terminology, (b) changing credit hours for five courses in the program to better represent shifts in course content and requirements, and (c) creating and eliminating courses. we created a second course on social emotional learning and two new courses on math content including one on steam strategies. three courses were eliminated; the content from two were combined with the new math courses and one reflective seminar was eliminated. one significant shift was that we changed the prerequisite for three introductory courses so that tcs could take the courses prior to admission to the ece program. this allowed prospective tcs to take courses within the ece major earlier to ensure the major was a match for their career goals. the ece team is currently in the process of an additional curricular redesign. the impetus of the latest redesign is to address recommendations made by the college’s administration team to reduce credits to degree and increase enrollment capacity. other considerations include the feasibility of maintaining the ece program's rigor given current resources (i.e., staffing) and revising our licensure plans in accordance with our state department of education’s licensure criteria. the primary objective is to reduce the ece program from a 4.5-year program to a 4-year program which aligns with the university system goal to offer programs that allow all students to graduate in 4 years. in order to reduce credits to degree, the redesign efforts include: (1) reducing the number of placements, (2) reducing credit hours for some placements, and (3) eliminating or combining some courses. while reconceptualizing the ece programs, the components valued most were prioritized. while placement credits were reduced, the wide variety of experiences was not. the placements allow the faculty to continue utilizing an applied project approach to much of the coursework. the inclusive nature of the programs is paramount and was a key consideration throughout the curricular redesign process. specific examples include making the special education content more visible to tcs by changing some course prefixes from eduindp (education interdepartmental) to speced (special education). another example includes taking winchell et al. 49 the two 3-credit assessment classes and merging the content into one 4-credit course to address redundancy across the two courses. additionally, tcs were having difficulty understanding the differences among the purposes of assessment. by having all aspects of assessment in one course, confusion over the purposes of assessment should be minimized. we are also responding to needs of tcs and the field by adding a special education field placement and an additional course on differentiation and planning for individual needs. we are also adding a course on bilingual education. the proposed changes streamline course content while maintaining rigor. moreover, the ece program will remain placement intensive to provide various and diverse experiences with children and families. reducing the program by one semester will allow tcs to graduate within 4 years which should be favorable for recruitment. revising our licensure plans in accordance with our state department of education’s licensure criteria has been a significant challenge. as part of the redesign process, we opted to create alternate pathways for students to complete the foundations of reading test. in order to do that, we were required to submit two separate licensure plans (i.e., regular education and special education). each licensure plan had to meet separate requirements from our state department of education. on paper, it looks like we have two separate licensure programs, when in actuality, we have one blended program resulting in two licenses (i.e., regular and special education). national association for the education of young children (naeyc) accreditation naeyc has served as the sole accreditor of early childhood programs since 2006 (naeyc, 2024). our ece program is the first baccalaureate program in the state to achieve this recognition. benefits of earning accreditation and participating in this reflective process included improving our knowledge of aligning student learning outcomes with course assessments, providing tcs more opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of national professional standards, and an increased awareness of the program and its value to the college community (naeyc, 2024). furthermore, the process forced our program to become structured and consistent with our data collection system, described earlier. we have been able to draw from this data for other reporting requirements. in addition, knowing how proficient our tcs are on naeyc standards also helped inform program redesign decisions. course syllabi alignment with division for early childhood (dec) standards as part of continual program improvement efforts, ece program faculty updated the ei/ecse standards used in course syllabi in 2020 when dec published personnel preparation standards for training ei/ecse professionals (dec, 2020). ece program faculty participated in national efforts to advance blended preparation and the use of the newly developed ei/ecse standards. in 2019, two members of the ece program team, one curriculum and instruction faculty member and one special education faculty member, participated in a think tank focused on blended preparation (early childhood personnel center [ecpc], 2020). the special education faculty member also participated in a workgroup to develop a crosswalk for the new ei/ecse and naeyc standards (ecpc, 2020). preparing teacher candidates for inclusive practice 50 new program offerings since the development of the ece campus-based and online programs, the ece team has developed two additional programs to meet the needs of the field. these innovative programs were designed to attract new tcs and increase the diversity of the workforce by appealing to a broader audience through different degree pathways than those offered in our undergraduate programs with licensure. non-license online bachelor’s degree program (ecce) our state has long had a system of education and credentials within the field of ece that are supported and organized by an independent not for profit organization. credentials are sets of courses designed around a topic relevant to the field of ece. these courses are offered and transcripted through the technical college system schools and state university system. a preschool credential is currently incorporated into the aas degree program that can be earned through technical colleges. however, there was no pathway to use earned credits toward a bachelor’s degree. in response to this situation and need in the field, uw-w created the non-license online major, early child care and education (ecce). the ecce program is designed for working professionals who have earned at least one credential and want to stack credential-based credits toward a degree. this degree is best suited for those who want to work in child care, preschool, head start or early head start, or for organizations supporting young children and families. there are two emphasis areas: teaching and leadership. the program is transformative by allowing for a high level of credit transfer (up to 90 of 120 credits) and completion of a final capstone placement in the tc’s place of employment while conducting action research in the field with the support of a community-based mentor. the focus of the major is to articulate credential courses already taken to build the major. this is a degree completion program, allowing tcs the opportunity to round out their bachelor’s degree building off those transfer credits as the foundation. the university offers five credentials: supporting dual-language learners, diversity, leadership, program development and nature based learning. there are eleven credentials that can be accepted into the major. tcs must take at least one credential at another institution. this ensures that it is truly a collaborative degree completion degree. several credentials and the aas degree program are offered in spanish through multiple technical colleges. one institution approached the university regarding establishing a pathway for these tcs to earn their bachelor’s degree as well. ecce received a grant from the state early childhood association to support the development of several bilingual courses and provide bilingual support services such as tutoring, text resources and advising. uw-w briefly offered general education courses bilingually on a rotation, however these courses had low enrollment and were discontinued. the ece online degree programs (i.e., ece4u and ecce) have had an impact on the ece workforce in the state, particularly through preparing tcs in rural areas and addressing the needs of non-traditional students. in the northern portion of the state, there are large areas with low winchell et al. 51 population density and no state university within driving distance. however, the entire state has been divided into service regions within the technical college system with the goal of providing access to an aas program in all areas of the state. online programming, such as that offered by uw-w, is able to fill the gap left for students who want to continue with their education by earning a bachelor’s degree. in addition to meeting the needs of students in rural areas, both ece4u and ecce were designed to meet the needs of nontraditional students. this has been done through several key program features. the online courses provide students who are juggling work and home responsibilities with the opportunity to continue their education. other programs offered through uw-w that support nontraditional students include online and evening tutoring, mailing textbooks from our bookstore and rental office, mailing library resources, and credit for prior learning. the programs also utilize intensive and consistent advising. potential students meet the program advisor at information or recruiting events. advising often begins before the student transfers to the university, helping with transfer credit questions. then, the student works with the same advisor from admission through graduation. students meet with the advisor individually every semester to check in, plan courses, track program progress, and answer questions. because of geography, the necessity to work, and life obligations, it is challenging to earn a bachelor’s degree and/or teaching licenses. the course and program structures provide the opportunity to meet the needs of students from around the state. supporting the education of our future (and current) educators ensures the best outcomes for our children. master of science in education early childhood educators have emerged as an essential workforce resource, and there is a dire need for ece advocacy in the larger legislative and education policy arena. in response to this need and building on the existing successful ece programs, the master of science in education (mse) in early childhood education policy (ecep) at the university was developed in 2022 to give professionals and recent graduates the tools needed to address systems-level solutions. this 30-credit program is one of few ece master’s programs in the country to focus on policy. it is specifically designed to reach historically underrepresented practitioners across diverse economic, racial, cultural, and linguistic contexts. studying together, students integrate self awareness within systems of privilege and oppression, analyze ece policies, and advocate for policy change to secure the profession. through their interdisciplinary studies, including the history of ece, research methodologies, and the legislative process, students become policy leaders ready to work with schools, non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, advocacy groups, and institutes of higher education. the instructional staff includes uw-w faculty as well as adjunct instructors who mirror the demographics of the students and are leaders in the ece field bringing expertise in public policy and cross-sector communication. the program includes an internship, offered both in-person or virtually, at the state, national or international levels working with agencies directly impacting policy for children and families. the mse program is asynchronous online and offers supplemental synchronous sessions, small group project work, and culminates in a policy focused capstone course. the service-based tuition offers preparing teacher candidates for inclusive practice 52 a special rate that creates equal access for inand out-of-state enrollment. supports for students include flexibility in scheduling courses, individual advising, and peer support through cohorts as a scheduling choice. in december 2023, the program’s first graduates earned their diplomas. the mse program is in service of inclusive environments through advancing equity for the early childhood workforce, the children they work with, their families, and broader communities through policy and ece systems change. capstone and internship projects have included family care providers advocating for community support through civic engagement, and projects on trauma informed care toward a more inclusive curriculum, among others. areas of needed improvement placement challenges given the multiple placements within the ece program, we face challenges as we work to ensure tcs engage in a variety of experiences throughout the ece program. the university is nestled in a rural community with three public elementary schools in the immediate community. building partnerships with schools and agencies in the city and surrounding communities lays the foundation for providing tcs with quality placements. our outreach extends to a 50-mile radius of the uw-w for tcs in the campus-based ece program, and to schools and agencies throughout the state for tcs in the ece4u program. this equates to fostering ongoing relationships with hundreds of contacts through personalized, ongoing communication. challenges in making placements include staff turnover, securing elementary special education placements with appropriately licensed cooperating teachers, and securing early intervention placements. one of the challenges we face with building relationships in the community is turnover with leadership and staff in schools and agencies. when the primary contact changes we often have to start relationship building over again and may experience a “waiting period” before we can place a tc while the position is being filled and the new teacher is adjusting to the position. an additional challenge is securing inclusive special education placements in elementary schools. tcs must have pre-student teaching and student teaching experiences with cooperating teachers in the same area of licensure as the focus of the placement. due to the teacher shortage in special education, some cooperating teachers have emergency licenses or do not hold the specific license that matches the placement focus. this often means we are limited with the schools and agencies we can partner with for special education placements. securing inclusive elementary placements can also be challenging because special education teachers are working with k through 5th grade even though we are licensing tcs only up to the 3rd grade level. this can limit the contact time a tc has with the intended age group. early intervention placements are often challenging to locate due to the reluctance of early intervention agencies to accept practicum students and student teachers. feedback from early intervention programs suggests that they are hesitant to host tcs given that relationships with families are critical as is the consistency of staff who interact with children and families. this leads to some tcs having limited experience in early intervention placements serving infants and toddlers through part c of the individuals with disabilities education act (idea, 2004). we often place tcs in alternative programs that serve infants and toddlers and their families. winchell et al. 53 other challenges include financial barriers for tcs and placement health requirements. tcs may be asked to travel as far as one hour to attend placements, requiring that they have reliable transportation. public transportation is generally not available and options for carpooling may be limited. the added expenses of campus parking, gas, insurance, and car maintenance present barriers for tcs. another challenge is ensuring tcs are in compliance with the placement’s health requirements. each school and agency have a prescribed set of requirements. given the vulnerable population that early intervention programs serve, the health requirements can be complex. the university health center provides support for tcs to meet health requirements but that comes with an extra cost. in addition, we also need to be respectful of tcs’ personal beliefs about health requirements, including covid-19 vaccination status. when looking for quality placements there are many factors to consider. we must make sure schools and agencies we partner with offer quality programming, meet licensure requirements, and allow tcs to complete requirements. gathering and maintaining placement data across semesters is essential so we can (a) identify placement qualities that align with our program's mission, (b) determine gaps in the type of placements being used, (c) make sure tcs have engaged in a variety of diverse placements throughout their degree program, and (d) efficiently access placement data as needed for reports and program monitoring. recruitment and retention as noted in the introduction, two strategies that higher education programs can use to meet the needs of the field include increasing the diversity of the workforce and developing innovative programs to recruit and retain tcs. the campus-based ece program has experienced recent challenges in both recruitment and retention of tcs. for many years, more tcs applied to the campus-based program than could be accepted given the 30 available slots within each cohort. in recent years, however, we have observed declining enrollment with cohorts of 19-26 tcs between 2019 and 2023. although the causes of the decline in enrollment are not clear, possible causes include program length (i.e., 4½ years to degree), changes in state licensure requirements resulting in other teacher preparation programs (both at our university and others within the state) that offer licensure in the k-3rd grade age band, and the covid-19 pandemic. ece4u and ecce are designed to meet the needs of those currently working in the field and so recruitment is targeted. the enrollment for the online programs has been increasing over the years. the program coordinator conducts presentations to future tcs around the state and attends conferences that are geared toward practicing professionals. meeting educators in these settings allows ece program staff to share educational opportunities and potential pathways to degree. one challenge that continues to persist is that educators, especially those with teaching licenses, do not match the racial, ethnic, or linguistic diversity of the state’s children. uw-w strives to alleviate this discrepancy through recruitment efforts and through creative and responsive programming. however, much more needs to be done in this area. retention of tcs enrolled in the campus-based ece program has declined in recent years. we hypothesize that the same issues impacting enrollment (i.e., time to degree, availability of other programs, and the covid-19 pandemic) are also impacting retention. anecdotally, we have seen preparing teacher candidates for inclusive practice 54 an increase in mental health challenges and other stressors (e.g., financial concerns) that appear to be more pronounced following the covid-19 pandemic. retention of tcs is a priority. once tcs enter any of the early childhood program majors, the faculty and staff use a variety of tools to support success and retention. the cohort model used by the ece major provides tcs with the ability to develop supportive relationships with peers. these connections can help during challenging times. program whole group meetings, such as orientation, and activities, such as annual team building, allow tcs to connect with each other within their cohort and across cohorts as well. supportive advising provides tcs with the opportunity to connect with their advisor and faculty members individually. adequate faculty and staff to support program array an additional challenge for the ece program is ensuring adequate faculty and staff to support the growing program array. although we have added programs (i.e., online ece program, mse in early childhood policy), we have not added new full-time faculty or staff to support these programs. the work of developing, coordinating, teaching, and advising is being carried out by the same number of individuals who originally staffed the campus-based and online ece programs. as we implement these new programs, administrative support will be critical to ensure adequate staffing. another challenge is staffing for the online ece program. the courses in the online ece program are currently taught by adjunct instructors rather than full-time faculty. adjunct instructors have excellent knowledge of current practices in the field but may not have a well-developed understanding of the ece program as a whole. while we make every effort to involve adjunct instructors in course and program development, we also want to be respectful of their time as they often have other full-time employment. one possible solution may be to hire additional faculty dedicated to the online ece program in the future, or to have current faculty teach both the campus-based and online versions of the courses. this would likely require hiring additional faculty and gaining administrative support. administrative support is critical in carrying out successful blended programs which are timeand resource-intensive (mickelson et al., 2023). future directions in this programmatic description, we provide an overview of the ece programs at uw-w which can be used by faculty at other institutions to guide the development or improvement of an inclusive blended program. the unique components of the ece program array ensure high quality training for tcs. these components include multiple placements, blended faculty, and innovative programming. a variety of comprehensive quality placements are a cornerstone of our programming and while they may be challenging to secure and navigate, the experiences gained by tcs are invaluable. blended faculty who are able to prioritize active collaboration provide the opportunity to participate in ongoing innovation and program improvement. innovative programming is responsive to the field’s need to recruit and support diverse tcs. those interested in creating a blended program can utilize this program description to identify components that align with their philosophy. those interested in revising aspects of their current program can utilize winchell et al. 55 the program description to review strong aspects of their program as well as areas in which changes can be made. whether an inclusive program is being created or modified through curricular redesign, there are several key supports to aid in this work. one suggestion is to seek out financial support from administration for time and effort to allow faculty and staff to deeply engage in this work. another suggestion is to utilize the financial support to involve all faculty in day-long planning sessions to identify key priorities and areas for change, have difficult conversations about the vision for the program, and consider changes in the field that should be incorporated in redesign. day-long planning sessions provide the needed time to fully develop new ideas, revisit former ideas, and gather input from all faculty and staff. another suggestion is to use the personnel preparation standards from dec and naeyc to guide efforts when modifying a program. using the personnel preparation standards ensures the modified program is up to date, responsive to the field, and following recommended practices. the ece program at uw-w has had an impact on the field by offering a variety of programming options that meet the needs of the field and of adult learners. both the campus-based and ece4u program models have consistently prepared cohorts of tcs who have the knowledge and skills needed to work with all young children ages birth to 8 years and their families. the program includes carefully sequenced courses and practicum experiences that address both naeyc and dec personnel preparation standards. tcs complete field placements each semester of the program, gaining experience in a wide variety of settings, helping prepare them to assume a variety of roles after graduation. upon completion of the program, tcs are eligible to apply for teaching licenses in both general and special education for children ages birth to 8 years. the program has also developed new and innovative models for preparing diverse educators and policy leaders. future directions include developing a master’s program in ecse to meet the needs of post-baccalaureate students seeking licensure in ecse. the ece programs will continue to evolve to meet the needs of the field and prepare tcs who are 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(2023). policy statement on inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs. https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/policy statement-on-inclusion-11-28-2023.pdf http://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/project/buildinghttps://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2023.2165985 https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/pdfs/resources/position-statements/standards_and_competencies_ps.pdf https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/pdfs/resources/position-statements/standards_and_competencies_ps.pdf https://www.naeyc.org/accreditation/higher-ed/accreditation dialog, 22(1), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 an analysis of services available to dual language learners and their families at head start christine meng edgewood college this study addressed gaps in current research on the types of services that head start provided for dual language learners (dlls) and whether the head start’s dll services would be related to the head start program goals, dll parents’ involvement, and family-school partnership. this study used the head start family and child experiences survey (faces 2009) to address these gaps. two types of head start’s dll services emerged: family/adult focus and child esl focus. the services with family/adult focus were related to the program goals of providing the families with language and educational support whereas the services with child esl focus were related to the program goals of connecting the families with the communities’ resources and services. further, services with family/adult focus were related to greater parent involvement and family-school partnership than services with child esl focus. research and practical implications are discussed. keywords: dual language learners, head start, latent class analysis dual language learners (dlls) refer to a population of children who speak a non-english language at home (california department of education, 2008; office of head start, 2008). this population includes children who are speaking their native languages and learning english either simultaneously or sequentially (office of head start, 2008). according to the u.s. census bureau (2015), the number of children who speak a non-english language at home has increased from approximately 19.8% in 2007 to approximately 20.9% in 2015. important issues that past research has examined regarding this population include: dll children’s english proficiency (kim, curby, & winsler, 2014), academic performance (mcleod, harrison, whiteford, & walker, 2016), the differential benefits of head start for at-risk children’s development (miller, farkas, & duncan, 2016), and social-emotional development (halle et al., 2014). while these studies document the dll children’s language, cognitive, and social-emotional trajectories, whether the services that head start provides for the dll children and their families are related to head start’s program goals of serving the dll population and can promote parent involvement and family-school partnership are gaps in extant research. thus, the present study explored various types of dll research article 78 meng services that head start provided for this population and whether these services could promote dll parents’ involvement and encourage family-school partnership. this investigation would provide valuable information regarding dll services at head start and shape child care services for this population. head start and dual language learners the demography of early childhood education programs is fast changing with an increased number of dll children. although the growth of the dll population fluctuated over time, the u.s. experienced a steady growth in the dll population and reached a growth of 63.54% in the past decade (ncela, 2011). at head start, reports indicated that the dll children attending head start increased from 25% in 2001 to 30% in 2009 (fortuny, hernandez, & chaudry, 2010; hernandez, denton, & macartney, 2007). this increased presence of dll children across the country and in early childhood education programs is accompanied by immigration. while 92% of the dll children at head start are born in the u.s. (u.s. department of health and human services, 2017), the dll children are likely to have immigrant parents. according to the u.s. department of health and human services (2017), approximately 86% to 90% of the dll children have parents who are born outside the u.s. among the dll population, the spanishspeaking children represent a fast-growing group in the united states. take head start for example, approximately 38% of the children attending head start are identified as hispanic or latino descendants, with approximately 79% of the parents report spanish as their primary language at home (u.s. department of health and human services, 2017). overlaid with the enrollment of the dll population at head start is the income eligibility based on the poverty guidelines as determined by the department of health and human services and section 645 of the head start act (office of head start, 2009). recent statistics showed that 61% of the dll children attending head start were at or below the federal poverty threshold and 81% of the dll children at head start were at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty threshold (u.s. department of health and human services, 2017). the dll children in poverty often face barriers of accessing and attending high-quality child care services and preschools (magnuson & waldfogel, 2005). however, evidence indicates that attending high-quality preschools can reduce the achievement gap for hispanic/latino children (laosa & ainsworth, 2007). providing quality child care services and education for low-income dll children is one of the goals of the head start programs. to meet the needs of the dll children and their families, the office of head start (2009) has offered a set of guidelines to help systematically set up the services, procedures, and systems for all head start programs. for example, it is recommended to understand the cultures of the dll children and their families and support dll families’ home languages to encourage home literacy activities in the families’ home languages (office of head start, 2009). when working with the dll parents, head start often relies on the resources in the surrounding community and connects dll families with local communities for language and educational support. head start programs also actively recruit and support bilingual staff who are familiar with the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the dll children and their families. the purpose of setting these guidelines is to ensure quality service delivery for the children who speak non-english languages and their families. as a whole, these services to dll families recognize that the parents play an important role in nurturing the dll children’s early development. thus, the goals of providing these services are dll services at head start 79 to work with dll families by providing language and education training, connecting resources in the community, providing inclusive curriculum and classroom teaching, and using dll families’ home languages and their cultures in family literacy activities. this service delivery model is consistent with evidence that documents the importance of supporting the dll children’s home languages (tabors, 1997). creating family literacy activities in the dll children’s home languages can also promote these children’s english acquisition due to the process of crosslinguistic transfer as indicated in past research (dickinson, mccabe, clark-chiarelli, & wolf, 2004; reese, garnier, gallimore, & goldenberg, 2000). head start services and parent involvement and familyschool partnership with head start’s dual focus on the children and their families, head start not only serves the dll children, but also provides direct services to support dll families (office of head start, 2009). although the types of services provided can vary from one program to another depending on the available resources and the needs of the particular head start program, the overall services provided for the dll children and their families tend to be related to the children’s english acquisition, maintaining their home languages, and providing the parents with educational and language support. regarding services provided to the dll children, head start makes an effort to assess the dll children’s english proficiency on a regular basis. given that the young dll children’s language capacities in english and their home language are still developing in early childhood, it is recommended to use assessments that are culturally and linguistically responsive while developmentally appropriate with the formative purpose to modify curricular materials and improve teaching practices (espinosa, 2005). to ensure that the dll children are progressing, comprehensive assessments of their english skills along with their home languages and other developmental domains is recommended accompanied by interpreters and other community members who are familiar with the children’s cultural and linguistic backgrounds if needed (espinosa, 2005; office of head start, 2009). depending on the particular dll child’s language performance, head start can also connect the child with esl services. additionally, to create an inclusive learning environment, incorporating the dll children’s languages and cultures in the curriculum and teaching strategies can help the dll children connect the classroom materials with their prior knowledge and experiences. with respect to the direct services for dll families, head start programs greatly encourage parents’ involvement and participation at school. this family-focused service delivery model is in accord with bronfenbrenner’s (1986) framework that conceptualizes the family and school as the microsystems with which the children interact the most during early childhood. the interconnection between the family and school as a part of the mesosystem can have direct influence on the children’s development (bronfenbrenner, 1986). built on this theoretical framework, the family is an important component of the head start’s service delivery model. as a result, head start focuses on establishing a partnership with the families. chief among these is to establish an open and effective communication with dll families. to do so, it is recommended to provide written communication in the families’ home language or their preferred language (office of head start, 2009). interpreting information presented during meetings (e.g., parent policy council meetings) and workshops can help the families understand what is being presented. head start also actively invites and encourages the dll parents’ involvement in the program 80 meng governance by providing input regarding curriculum and teaching practices and volunteering in the classrooms. as a part of the family-school partnership, head start recognizes that dll families’ home languages play a role in promoting family literacy. thus dll families’ home languages are respected. the parents are also provided with training, educational resources, or english as a second language (esl) classes. head start also partners with its surrounding communities to provide cultural and language support for the dll children and their families. the family-focused services can create opportunities to increase parents’ involvement and engagement at head start programs. research shows that 18% of spanish-speaking latino families provide their children with supplemental educational experiences, including enrolling the children in classes outside of head start, parent-child reading, and so on (mcwayne, melzi, limlingan, & schick, 2016). parents’ home-based involvement and school-based involvement can promote the dll children’s learning and development. additionally, the parents of dll children have high expectations and aspirations for their children (goldenberg, gallimore, reese, & garnier, 2001). providing interpreters at school meetings and events, offering the dll parents with educational training and classes, and translating written materials are some of the ways to support the dll parents’ educational expectations for their children (arias & morillo-campbell, 2008; zehler et al., 2008). the use of person-centered approach in head start services for the dll population past research has used the variable-centered approach to examine the challenges, strategies, diversity promotion, and parent involvement associated with various child care programs, including head start (buysse, castro, west, & skinner, 2005), the nature of parent involvement at head start (castro, bryant, peisner-feinberg, & skinner, 2004), and head start center goals and incentives associated with parent involvement (hindman, miller, froyen, & skibbe, 2012). however, the types of services that head start provides in serving the dll children and their families can vary systematically from one program to the next. with the available resources and staff, some head start programs may have interpreters and resources to provide esl and educational opportunities for dll families while other programs may be able to provide language assessments for the children and their families, offer translation services, and connect the children and their families to esl services in the communities. the person-centered approach can be useful to capture the diversity in head start’s dll services. typically, the level of analysis for the person-centered approach is the individuals by assuming heterogeneity in the individuals’ characteristics and identifying typologies or subgroups of individuals that reflect certain typologies or subgroups of characteristics (magnusson, 2003). in the present study, the level of analysis is the head start centers. rather than examining the association between head start’s dll services and parent involvement and family-school partnership as past research has often done, the present study takes advantage of the person-centered approach to capture the heterogeneity of head start’s dll services by identifying typologies or subgroups of head start’s dll services and examines whether the typologies or subgroups of head start’s dll services would be related to head start’s program goals of serving the dll population, parent involvement, and family-school partnership. the head start’s service delivery model has the dual focus of supporting the development of the children and establishing a partnership with the parents (u.s. department of health and human services, 2003). therefore, the person-centered approach is useful to identify typologies dll services at head start 81 or subgroups of head start’s dll services that are child-focused and ones that are family-focused and how the typologies of head start’s dll services are related to the head start’s program goals of serving the dll population, parent involvement, and family-school partnership. however, surprisingly, research on classifications of head start’s dll services and their associations with head start’s program goals, parent involvement, and family-school partnership has been largely absent. the present study intends to fill this gap in extant head start research. the present study the present study aimed to explore various types of services that head start provided for the dll children and their families. the present study examined seven types of dll services at head start: two types of services provided for the dll children (english language assessments and connecting the child with esl services) and five types of services provided for dll families (english assessments, activities and workshops for the parents, adult esl or education resources, interpreters, and translation services). the present study used the latent class framework to: (1) empirically classify the seven types of dll services at head start into typologies or subgroups, (2) test whether the typologies or subgroups of head start’s dll services would be related to head start’s program goals of serving the dll population, and (3) test whether the typologies or subgroups of head start’s dll services would be related to parent involvement and family-school partnership. the first research goal was to explore the nature of various services that head start offered for the dll population by using the person-centered approach to classify the head start’s dll services. the present study addressed the following research question: how would head start’s dll services be characterized by the seven types of dll services? based on the head start’s service delivery model with the focus on both the child and the family, it was hypothesized that a subgroup of dll services with the child focus and a subgroup of dll services with the family focus would emerge from the analysis. with respect to the second and third research goals, the research questions were: would the typologies of head start’s dll services be differentially correlated with head start’s program goals? and would the typologies of head start’s dll services differentially promote parent involvement and family-school partnership? given a lack of empirical evidence in past research to connect head start’s dll services with head start’s program goals, parent involvement, and family-school partnership, the second and third research goals remained exploratory and no hypotheses were offered. method the present study used data from the 2009 cohort of the head start family and child experiences survey (faces, 2009). the faces study aimed to understand the children’s experiences and development during the head start programs. to do so, the faces study collected data from the children, parents, teachers, and head start program and center directors. faces (2009) paid particular attention to the dll children and their families. a part of the study goals of faces (2009) was to understand the dll children’s head start experiences, the children’s early development and learning, and the services provided by the head start programs to the dll children and their families. 82 meng faces (2009) used a multistage sampling design with stratification at each stage of the sampling. the sampling frame was based on the head start program information report (pir) database for program year 2007–2008 from the 50 states and the district of columbia. the sampling design of the faces (2009) has been detailed elsewhere (malone et al., 2013) that describes the inclusion criteria and the sampling procedure to ensure representativeness of the sample. in the faces (2009), once an eligible program was selected for the study, two centers were randomly selected from each participating program. this sampling procedure resulted in an unweighted n of 60 head start programs (weighted n = 3464) and an unweighted n of 129 head start centers (weighted n = 14,969). data were collected from multiple informants, including the parents, teachers, program directors, and center directors. for the purpose of the present study, the analyses excluded the nondll children and included only the dll children (unweighted n = 955; weighted n = 127,441; 51.7% male; 2.6% white). table 1 presents detailed information on the descriptive statistics of the dll children and their parents. as a whole, 97.4% of the dll children had non-white racial/ethnic backgrounds. a large percentage (88.9%) of their parents were born outside the u.s., with less than high school education, and with low-income backgrounds. table 1 descriptive statistics of the dll children, parents, programs, and centers characteristics child characteristics m (sd) or percentage age 46.32 (6.46) % male 51.7% race/ethnicity % white 2.6% parent characteristics race/ethnicity % white 1.7% average family income $20,000-$25,000 %born in the u.s. 11.1% education (% high school and less) 80.3% program characteristics % bilingual teachers/assistant teachers 96.9% % recruiting bilingual teachers 76.0% center director characteristics age (in years) 46 (9.41) % male 10.2% race/ethnicity % white 62.3% education levels (% bachelor’s degree and above) 75.5% years at head start 12.63 (7.58) dll services at head start 83 measures head start dll services. head start program and center directors responded to seven binary yes/no questions at head start entry regarding whether the head start programs (1) gave english language proficiency tests to dll families (e.g., parents, children), (2) provided assessment of english skills for dll families (e.g., parents, children), (3) provided activities and/or workshops for the parents of dlls, (4) provided information about adult esl or other education resources, (5) provided interpreters, (6) translated written materials, and (7) connected the dll children with esl services. the head start program directors responded to the first four questions while the center directors responded to the last three questions. the seven binary yes/no questions showed acceptable reliability (α = .78 at head start entry). head start program goals for dll families. head start center directors responded to eight binary yes/no questions at head start entry regarding what they hoped to achieve with dll families: (1) helping them learn english, (2) connecting them to dll resources, (3) serving as a bridge for acculturation, (4) finding services within the community, (5) supporting and honoring the family’s first language, (6) making sure the parents were involved in the program, (7) providing dll curriculum materials and teaching strategies, and (8) working with the dll parents. the eight binary yes/no questions showed acceptable reliability (α = .82 at head start entry). parent involvement. parents responded to 25 binary yes/no questions regarding the extent to which they were involved with their children at both head start entry and head start exit. sample items included, “told the child a story,” “played counting games,” and “visited zoo or aquarium with the child.” the 25 items were summed to form a composite score of parent involvement. the scores ranged from 0 to 25 (α’s = .61 and .71 at head start entry and head start exit, respectively). family-school partnership. teachers responded to four items regarding the extent to which head start programs invited and encouraged the dll parents’ involvement and partnership with the programs on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree): promote cooperation between the staff and parents, ensure the parents do not feel isolated, encourage the parents’ learning, and support the staff in engaging the parents. the four items were averaged to form a composite score of family-school partnership (α = .84 at head start exit). covariates. a range of child, parent, program, and center director characteristics were included in the analysis as covariates. the child characteristics included child age, child gender, and child race/ethnicity. the parent characteristics included mother race, mother educational levels, whether the mother was born in the u.s., and family income. the program characteristics included the percentage of head start programs with bilingual teachers or assistant teachers and the percentage of head start programs were recruiting bilingual teachers. the center director characteristics included the directors’ age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational levels, and years at head start. 84 meng analytic strategy to test the hypothesis for the first research goal, how the head start dll services would be characterized, latent class analysis (lca) was performed using the mplus program (version 7.4; muthén & muthén, 1998-2015) with full information maximum likelihood estimation. lca is superior to traditional cluster analyses because lca uses the probabilistic approach with formal criteria (e.g., aic, the lo-menddll-rubin test) in model selections to assign individual cases to different latent classes (wang & hanges, 2011). in the present study, lca was used to capture the diverse dll services that head start provided to the dll children and their families by identifying the typologies or subgroups of head start dll services. for the first research goal, the lca models were estimated at the center level. a series of models that fit between one to three latent classes were performed. the akaike information criterion (aic; akaike, 1974), the bayesian information criterion (bic), the adjusted bayesian information criterion (abic), entropy, and the lo-menddll-rubin adjusted lrt test (nylund, asparouhov, & muthén, 2007) that compared between models with k classes and models with k1 classes were used to evaluate model fit. the best fitting model would have a smaller value in aic, bic, abic, and entropy greater than .70 (jung & wickrama, 2008; nylund et al., 2007). once the model that best fit the data with the appropriate latent classes was identified, lca produced the latent class membership that assigned head start centers into different latent classes. the latent class membership was used in subsequent analyses for the second and third research goals. to address the second research goal, regarding head start programs goals for the dll population, logistic regression was performed using ibm spss statistics for windows (version 22; ibm corp., armonk, n.y.) with the class membership as the predictor of the eight head start program goals for dll families while controlling for program and center director characteristics. logistic regression was performed at the center level with the center weight to ensure the representativeness of the head start centers. for the third research goal, the effectiveness of head start dll services on the dll parents’ involvement and family-school partnership, mixed effects modeling with maximum likelihood was performed using ibm spss statistics for windows (version 22; ibm corp., armonk, n.y.). in the mixed effects models, to account for the nesting structure in which the parents were nested within the centers, a random effect in which the parents were nested within the centers was specified. the class membership and covariates were treated as fixed effects with the continuous covariates (e.g., child age, family income) grand-mean centered. parent involvement at head start entry (grand-mean centered) was also controlled. finally, the individual weight was used to ensure that the sample was representative of the head start dll children and their parents. results the first research goal of the present study was to explore how the head start dll services would be characterized. table 2 showed that the two-class model was the best fitting model. although the aic, bic, and abic continued to decline from the one-class model to the three-class model, the largest decline was between the one-class model and the two-class model. entropy for all the models exceeded the recommended value. further, the lmrt test showed that while the two-class dll services at head start 85 model was better than the one-class model, the three-class model was not a better fitting model than the two-class model. these statistics appear to converge on the two-class model. in addition to these indices, the two-class model as the best-fitting model was selected based on the principle of parsimony and interpretability informed by the head start’s dual focus service delivery model. table 2 model fit statistics of latent class analyses and weighted and unweighted class size latent class class 1 class 2 class 3 aic 840.363 720.399 692.381 bic 860.382 763.297 758.157 adjusted bic 838.243 715.856 685.416 entropy 0.90 0.96 lmrt p value 0.02 0.65 two-class solution unweighted class size 102 27 weighted class size 2482 982 note. aic = akaike information criterion; bic = bayesian information criterion; lmrt = lomenddll-rubin adjusted lrt test. figure 1 illustrates the two-class model. class 1 was the largest class that comprised 69.4% of the sample (unweighted n = 102 centers; weighted n = 2482 centers). class 1 was characterized by providing activities and workshops for the dll parents, adult esl services, interpreters, and translating written materials. since class 1 appears to capture services provided to the dll parents and families, class 1 was labeled “family/adult focus.” in contrast, class 2 comprised 30.6% of the sample (unweighted n = 27 centers; weighted n = 982 centers). class 2 was characterized by providing esl services to the children and was labeled “child esl focus.” program goals that correlated with head start services for dll children and their families once the number of typologies or subgroups of head start dll services was identified, the second research goal was to examine whether the typologies of the head start dll services would be differentially related to various program goals of serving the dll children and their families. results of logistic regression (table 3) showed that “child esl focus” was significantly related to the program goals of helping dll families connect to dll resources (odds ratio = 6.82, p < .001) and finding services within the community (odds ratio = 2.15, p < .01) than “family/adult focus.” in contrast, “family/adult focus” was significantly related to the program goals of helping dll families learn english (odds ratio = 0.26, p < .001), serving as a bridge for acculturation (odds ratio = 0.29, p < .001), supporting and honoring dll families’ first language (odds ratio = 0.31, p < .001), involving dll families in the programs (odds ratio = 0.65, p < .01), providing dll curriculum materials and teaching strategies (odds ratio = 0.67, p < .001), and working with the dll parents (odds ratio = 0.72, p < .001). 86 meng figure 1. two-class model of head start services to the dll children and their families. note. class 1 = family/adult focus; class 2 = child esl focus; english proficiency tests = give english language proficiency tests; dll family assessment = assessment of english skills for dll families; dll parent workshops = activities/workshops for the parents of dlls; adult esl = information about adult esl or education resources; interpreters = provide interpreters; translation = translate written materials; children esl = connect dll children with esl services. table 3 results of logistic regression predicting program goals for dll families learning english resources connection acculturation community services home language class 2a b or b or b or b or b or -1.35*** 0.26 1.92*** 6.82 -1.25*** 0.25 0.77** 2.15 -1.17*** 0.31 program involvement dll curric. work with dll parents class 2 b or b or b or -0.44** 0.65 -0.40*** 0.67 -0.33*** 0.72 note. β = unstandardized beta coefficient; or = odds ratio. logistic regression controlled for program and center director covariates in table 1. learning english = helping dll families learn english; resources connection = helping families connect to dll resources; acculturation = serving as a bridge for acculturation; community services = helping dll families find services within community; home language = supporting/honoring dll families’ first language; program involvement = making sure dll families are involved in programs; dll curric = dll curriculum materials and teaching strategies; work with dll parents = working with dll parents. a reference group is class 1. dll services at head start 87 effect of head start services on dll parents’ involvement and family-school partnership the third research goal was to examine the effectiveness of head start dll services on dll parents’ involvement and family-school partnership. results of mixed effects modeling (table 4) demonstrated that “family/adult focus” was associated with greater parent involvement (β = -0.21, p < .001) and family-school partnership (β = -1.34, p < .001) than “child esl focus.” these findings indicate that, from the point of view of the program directors and teachers, head start’s dll services with the focus on the parents and families can better engage the parents than services with the focus on the children. table 4 results of mixed effects modeling predicting parent involvement and family-school partnership at head start exit parent involvement family-school partnership b (se) b (se) class 2a -0.21*** (0.39) -1.34*** (0.99) note. β = unstandardized beta coefficient; se = standard error. mixed effects modeling controlled for the covariates in table 1. a reference group is class 1. discussion because of the increased number of dual language learners, the demography of early childhood classrooms, such as head start, is changing. in light of a large proportion of the dll children living in poverty, it is suggested that dual language learners need extra support in addition to providing high-quality early childhood education to this population (mcnamara, 2016). however, no research thus far has examined the effectiveness of the dll services in connection to the head start’s program goals of serving this population and whether the head start’s dll services can increase the dll parents’ involvement and family-school partnership. this present study intended to fill these gaps by identifying the typologies of diverse dll services that head start provided to this population and examining whether the typologies of head start’s dll services would be differentially related to head start’s program goals of serving this population and whether the typologies of head start’s dll services would be differentially related to dll parents’ involvement and family-school partnership. with respect to the first research goal, identifying the typologies of head start’s dll services, findings of the present study support the dual focus of the head start’s service delivery model. specifically, latent class analysis identified two typologies of head start’s dll services: family/adult focus and child esl focus. the majority (69.4%) of the head start’s dll services have the family/adult focus. these services aim to connect dll families with language and educational resources, provide interpretation and translation services, and respect that the dll children’s home languages have an important place in home literacy activities and the dll children’s language development. in contrast, the child esl focus represents a small portion (30.6%) of the head start’s dll services that connect the dll children with esl services in the 88 meng community. as hypothesized, the typologies emerged from latent class analysis are consistent with the head start’s service delivery model of helping the dll children acquire english skills while assisting dll families to acculturate, learn english, and provide language and educational support. regarding the second research goal, findings showed that the typologies of head start’s dll services were differentially related to head start’s program goals of serving the dll population. specifically, head start’s dll services with the family/adult focus are correlated with head start’s program goals of helping dll families learn english, acculturate, support their home languages, involve the dll parents at head start, use dll curriculum materials and teaching strategies, and work with the dll parents. in contrast, head start’s dll services with the child esl focus are correlated with the program goals of connecting the families with dll resources and services in the community. this may be attributed to the fact that the dll children are enrolled in the head start classrooms, so connecting dll families to additional resources in the community may complement the instruction that the dll children receive in the classrooms. future research needs to examine whether and how these services are used by the families to understand whether the programs goals are actually achieved from the parents’ point of view. the questions of whether and how the services encourage dll families’ home languages and support the dll children’s english acquisition and the development of their native languages are warranted in future studies. while the present study shows that services with the family/adult focus are correlated with the program goals of getting the dll parents involved at head start and working with these parents, future studies need to further examine whether services with the family/adult focus are aligned with the program goal of providing curriculum materials and teaching strategies that are sensitive to the dll children’s needs. examining the alignment between head start services and program goals can help inform and shape current head start services and practices in support of the dll population. finally, with respect to the final research goal, results revealed that head start’s dll services with the family/adult focus can increase the dll parents’ involvement at home and improve the partnership between these parents and head start. this is aligned with bronfenbrenner’s (1986) ecological model that conceptualizes the family and school as important developmental contexts for the children’s development. the interconnection between the family and school is a part of the mesosystem that has influence on the parents’ involvement in their children’s early education. however, past research indicates that when being invited to participate in an early intervention program, many ethnic minority parents with head start children cited work schedule conflict as the biggest barrier in participating in the program (mendez, 2010). it is possible that the method of delivering some of the dll services explains the increase in dll parents’ involvement at home and their family-school partnership. it is also possible that the provision of the dll services increases the dll parents’ contact with head start. increased contact with head start may make it likely to send the message to the dll parents about the importance of parent involvement in their child’s education and be invited to participate in head start program governance. although the present study examined seven types of dll services, it should be noted that not all head start programs across the country provide the same services to dll families and their children. the services that head start provides depend on the needs of the head start program and the available resources in the community. considering that there is no single service that can meet the needs of the dll children and their families, head start programs use various services and collaborate with agencies in the local community to serve the dll children and their families. dll services at head start 89 limitations and future research several limitations of the present study need to be noted. first, although the faces 2009 provided national data to analyze head start’s dll services, the information available was limited. for example, although the head start program and center directors provided information on the types of services provided to the dll population, there was no information with respect to the implementation and delivery methods of the dll services and the effectiveness of such implementation and delivery methods. future research needs to examine how the dll services are implemented and whether the delivery methods of the dll services are effective at reaching out to the dll children and their families. relatedly, the services provided to the dll children and their families largely depend on the available funding and resources of a given head start program. thus examining whether the allocation of funding and resources plays a role in the provision of the head start’s dll services can shape head start program support and related policies for the dll population. another limitation of the present study involves the measure of the head start’s dll services. while the present study identified seven types of dll services at head start, there are other types of services for the dll population that are not available in the faces 2009 data set, for example, speech-language services. additionally, using reliable, valid, and culturally sensitive measures to assess the dll children’s language development in both english and their home languages has been a limitation in extant research (epstein, schweinhart, debruin-parecki, & robin, 2004). consequently, providing services to assess the dll children’s progress in their homes languages remains to be an obstacle. despite these limitations, the present study is among the first to use a national data set to examine head start’s dll services and its associations with head start program goals, dll parents’ involvement at home, and family-school partnership. findings of the present study can contribute to research on head start services for the dll population. implications and conclusion evidence generated from this study has implications for research on the dll children and their families and policies and regulations related to head start’s services for this population. the provision of head start’s dll services has research implications for dll families. this is noteworthy because low-income dll families often live in communities with insufficient language and educational resources. head start’s dll services provide access to language and educational support for dll families in poor communities. the language and educational support that head start offers can also promote family literacy and is likely to benefit the dll children via family literacy and parent engagement. equally important, findings of the present study have policy implications for head start or early childhood education programs in general. presently, although head start is committed to providing the dll services to the dll population, the provision of the dll services at head start largely depends on the funding, available resources in the surrounding community, and the particular needs of the head start program. further, there is no empirical evidence to date on the effect of head start’s dll services on dll parents’ involvement and family-school partnership to inform head start policies. the evidence generated from the present study suggests that head start’s dll services are needed for the dll population. to better serve this population, policies and regulations need to be put in place to help effective implementation and delivery of the dll services to dll families. 90 meng with the increased number of dll children in early childhood classrooms, no research thus far has examined what services can help support dll families. given head start’s goal of serving the children and their families, it is imperative to understand what head start services can better serve the dll population. the present study addresses this gap in extant head start research. with head start’s dll services, dll families can access the resources that they need to better support their children. references akaike, h. 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(2018). head start family and child experiences survey (faces): 2009 cohort [united states]. https://doi.org/10.3886/icpsr34558.v3 hs dialog, 27(1), 117-141 copyright ©2024, issn: 1930-9325 empirical article preservice preparation practices to increase family-professional collaboration: a mixed-methods systematic review chelsea pansé-barone1 janet vanlone2 lisa ziegler1 annie george-puskar3 1mississippi state university 2bucknell university 3fordham university due to the important impact family-professional collaboration has on child outcomes for infants, toddlers, children, and students with disabilities, research in special education preservice personnel preparation has evaluated the impact of higher education programs and curricula geared towards improving preservice educators’ knowledge and practices regarding family-professional collaboration in inclusive settings. the resulting literature has provided the field with insights as to instructional strategies faculty have implemented to better prepare preservice special educators to collaborate with families. the purpose of this mixed-methods systematic review was to identify and synthesize the current state of knowledge behind these instructional strategies intended to increase preservice educators’ knowledge and practices to collaborate with families. a total of 14 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1968-2024 were included in the study. findings indicate that various instructional strategies and outcome measures were used to measure preservice educators' knowledge and practices. implications for future research are described. keywords: family-professional collaboration, preservice teacher preparation, early intervention, early childhood special education, inclusion pansé-barone et al. 118 introduction inclusion refers to ensuring that all children, regardless of background and ability, have access to high-quality education programs and services that promote a sense of belonging and acceptance while helping to reach one’s academic, social, and emotional potential (odom et al., 2011). research suggests that inclusion can lead to academic and social benefits for children with and without disabilities in early childhood settings (beneke et al., 2019; justice et al., 2014; tsao et al., 2008). including children with disabilities in early childhood education programs was mandated in 1986 with the passage of public law 99-457 and has received continued legislative support at the state and federal levels since that time (guralnick & bruder, 2016). professional organizations, such as the national association for the education of young children (naeyc) and the division of early childhood (dec) of the council for exceptional children (cec), have also voiced strong support for inclusive practices in early childhood education (cross et al., 2009). ideally, inclusion in early childhood education programs transcends merely placing children with and without disabilities in the same setting by considering various factors pivotal to success, such as programmatic context and implementation of effective practices (love & horn, 2021). guralnick (2001) outlined four goals for inclusion in early childhood education. these include having universal access to educational programs, ensuring accommodations and feasibility, ensuring social and cognitive developmental progress for all children, and promoting social integration between children with and without disabilities. more recently, researchers reviewed these goals and recommended additional considerations focusing on the competency of teachers and staff in early childhood education and an expansion of social integration through families and communities (guralnick & bruder, 2016). family-professional collaboration family-professional collaboration is an essential component of successful inclusive practice, particularly within early childhood education (guralnick & bruder, 2016). the term collaboration is defined as “joining, pooling, or coordinating resources and entities to meet goals, overcome problems, and improve service delivery” (bricker et al., 2022, p. 2). for true collaboration to occur, back and forth communication, leadership, cooperation, and trust are just a few of the necessary components comprising collaboration as a construct (bricker et al., 2022; harry & ocasiostoutenburg, 2018; salas et al., 2005), and as others have noted, collaboration is a process, not an outcome (bricker et al., 2022). collaboration is complex, and within parts c and b of the individuals with disabilities education act (idea, 2004), it is also a mandated component of special education service provision between families and professionals as a way to support child and student outcomes. for the purpose of this manuscript, the aforementioned description of collaboration applies to the term family-professional collaboration, wherein families and professionals work together to achieve goals, address issues, and improve service delivery for children with disabilities. in this manuscript, the term family-professional collaboration is also inclusive of family-centered practices (dunst, 2002) and family-professional partnerships (bluebanning et al., 2004) both of which are specific types of family-professional collaboration in special education between families and professionals on individualized family service plan (ifsp) and individualized education program (iep) teams. preservice practices for family-professional collaboration 119 since the start of the handicapped children’s early education program (hceep) in 1968 which preceded the inception of the education for all handicapped children’s act (eha) in 1975, research has documented the benefits that occur when families are included and provided opportunities to participate as members of their child’s iep team. for early childhood special educators (ecse), family-professional collaboration is not merely beneficial; it is required. the eha now the idea (2004) – mandates that professionals provide families with meaningful opportunities to participate as members of their child’s ifsp or iep team (sec. 300.322). as a result of this legal mandate, the ability to collaborate with families is a required competency that preservice early interventionists, early childhood special educators, and k-12 special educators must be able to demonstrate prior to entering the field (council for exceptional children [cec], 2020; division for early childhood [dec] recommended practices, 2014). research suggests that collaboration with families results in a higher rate of inclusive placements for children with disabilities (krishnan, 2024). under part c of idea (2004), families are the recipients of services and are key figures who implement interventions in the child’s natural environment, which are settings where an infant or toddler without a disability would spend time, such as home, community, or childcare settings (sec. 303.26). the aim of early intervention services within the natural environment is for the child to be included in daily routines both at home and in early childhood education programs, as well as activities that the family enjoys doing together (raver & childress, 2015). overall, effective family-professional collaboration is key to ensuring young children with disabilities are fully included across all environments and settings where they spend time. essential collaboration skills for ecse preservice students within special education, family-professional collaboration has been recognized throughout history as essential to the provision of special education services, and equipping preservice teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary for collaborating with families is a critical component of inclusion in early childhood education (bricker et al., 2022). the initial practicebased standards for early interventionist/early childhood special educators (ei/ecse) are based on evidence from the research-base and were developed using an iterative process with input from experts in the field to inform high-quality educator preparation (stayton et al., 2023; stayton et al., 2024). the standards outline content areas and field experiences that support ei/ecse preservice teachers' knowledge and practices. while all eight standards are meant to emphasize family partnerships and collaboration, standard two, "partnering with families," and standard three, "collaboration and teaming," have a specific focus on content necessary for preparation in this area (stayton et al., 2023). in addition to using effective collaboration and communication skills, ei/ecse preservice students should understand family-centered practices, systems theory, and capacity-building practices in an effort to support families with advocacy and build confidence in their abilities to support their children (cec, 2020; dec, 2014). lastly, the “field and clinical experience” standard specifies that teacher candidates must participate in planned and developmentally sequenced field experiences in inclusive settings under the supervision of licensed professionals (cec, 2020). these standards explicitly describe the knowledge and practices that ei/ecse preservice students should know and be able to do upon completion of their personnel preparation program (stayton et al., 2023). pansé-barone et al. 120 while these standards provide important guidance for faculty on the requisite knowledge and skills necessary for high-quality ei/ecse preparation, research suggests that special education preparation programs experience challenges when it comes to adequately preparing preservice teachers in family collaboration (jones et al., 2020; kyzar et al., 2019). ultimately, this may impede the successful inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood education contexts (beneke & cheatham, 2016). for example, variation in state-specific licensure standards can also pose a challenge, because if state standards do not prioritize collaboration with families, faculty are less likely to prioritize this in their instruction (francis et al., 2021). variation in national organization standards could also create a challenge. the need for interdisciplinary training in ei/ecse preparation has been stated as an important need for ei/ecse preservice preparation (kilgo et al., 2019). professional organizations’ standards vary in the degree that they prioritize family-professional partnerships (burke et al., 2024) which could make it a challenge for faculty who need to make decisions regarding how much family-professional collaboration content to incorporate into their instruction. in addition, addressing the disproportionate rate of young children being suspended or expelled from early childhood programs (gilliam, 2005; loomis et al., 2022) points to the urgent need for preservice teachers to be prepared to collaborate with families. this collaboration is crucial for developing strategies to reduce exclusionary discipline in high-quality early childhood settings. therefore, the efficacy behind programs and curricula aimed at preparing preservice teachers with knowledge and practices regarding familyprofessional collaboration are necessary and likely very helpful to equip faculty in special education preparation programs to make decisions about instructional methods that have been shown to prepare preservice teachers in this area. inclusion in early childhood education has numerous benefits for all children, and effective family-professional collaboration is an essential component of high-quality inclusive practice in early childhood programs (u.s. dept. of health & human services and u.s. dept. of education, 2023). preservice ei/ecse teachers must be equipped with knowledge and practices in familyprofessional collaboration to support inclusion. to provide a holistic view of curriculum and instruction in the area of family-professional collaboration, a mixed-methods systematic review was conducted to answer the following research questions: 1. what are the characteristics of instructional strategies used in teacher preparation programs to increase preservice ei/ecse teachers’ knowledge and/or practices regarding familyprofessional collaboration? 2. do the instructional strategies improve preservice ei/ecse teacher knowledge and/or practices regarding family-professional collaboration? 3. what are the implications for faculty and researchers interested in instruction and curriculum development in this area? this mixed methods systematic review focuses on ei/ecse preparation, rather than general education, to specifically address the unique knowledge and practices required for preservice ei/ecse students to collaborate with families. preservice practices for family-professional collaboration 121 methods the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (prisma) (page et al., 2021) and prisma for systematic review protocols (prisma-p) (moher et al., 2015) were used to guide protocol development and report the methods for this systematic review. studies were also included if they included elementary special educators, since ecse spans prek through grade 3 (dec, 2014). studies that included interdisciplinary preservice preparation programs as well as dual preparation programs were also included as long as preservice special educators were included in the sample. inclusion and exclusion criteria eligibility criteria to determine inclusion/exclusion criteria were developed using sample, phenomenon of interest, design, evaluation, research type (spider) guidelines as well as the literature in early intervention, early childhood special education, and special education. inclusion criteria are as follows: year of publication (1968-2024, to align with the start of hceep); language (english); type of publication (peer-reviewed journal articles); location (conducted in the united states); research design (any empirical research design), participants (students enrolled in early intervention or special education teacher preparation programs), and outcomes (measures or explores practices and knowledge about family-professional collaboration). proquest was searched to identify dissertations. dissertations are not considered peer reviewed and as such, were not included in the final list of included studies; however, the reference lists were checked as part of the hand search process. results were excluded if: they were not a quantitative or qualitative study (e.g., book chapters, letters to the editor, conceptual papers, reports); the publication date was prior to 1968; the article was not published in a peer-reviewed journal; preservice teachers were not included in the sample; or if knowledge or practices were not explored or measured as outcomes. search strategy as this was a mixed-methods review that included both quantitative and qualitative research, the spider tool was utilized to develop key components of the research question and search strategy. in addition, a standardized peer review assessment form known as the peer review of electronic search strategies [press] is recommended by the cochrane handbook version 5.1 to increase search strategy validity. at the time that this research was conducted, press version 2015 was the most up-to-date version and was thus used for our study (mcgowan et al., 2016). consequently, a combination of the spider tool and the press assessment form were utilized to develop a search strategy that would: (a) be in alignment with the purpose of this review and (b) increase search sensitivity. after developing initial search terms and search filters, the press (2015) assessment form was used to obtain feedback on the search terms from a university librarian. a number of revisions were made to the search terms and filters as a result of this feedback, including: removing the english filter to avoid mistakenly excluding articles that did not tag language, including scopus in the list of databases, including just “special educat*” rather than both “early childhood special educat* and special educat*”, and revisions to boolean operators. pansé-barone et al. 122 the final search terms included the following: preservice or "pre-service" or "student teach*" or "teacher education" or (prepar* and teacher*) and collaborat* or partner* or cooperat* or involv* and "early intervention" or "special educat*" and parent* or famil* or father* or mother* or grandparent*. this search was run in each of the following databases: academic search complete, eric, apa psychinfo, scopus, and proquest. journal article websites, dissertation reference lists, and included article reference lists were hand searched to identify any additional studies that were missed. data collection and analysis search results were compiled using zotero software. this phase encompassed four steps: (1) title and abstract screening, (2) full article screening, (3) data extraction, and (4) risk of bias assessment. percent agreement and weighted cohen’s kappa statistic (cohen’s k) (cohen, 1960) were calculated to determine interrater reliability. percent agreement was determined by dividing the number of agreements by the total number of titles, abstracts, or articles and multiplying by 100. cohen’s k was calculated according to belur and colleagues (2018) and interpreted according to landis and koch (1977). twenty percent of data entries were selected at random for inter-rater reliability during the title screening, abstract screening, full article screening, and data extraction steps. the following information was extracted from the included studies: study design, study population, number and demographics of student and family participants, college/university type, class type (i.e., face-to-face, online, hybrid), and teacher preparation program type (i.e., licensure, non-licensure, alternative route to certification, dual certification, and interdisciplinary). data on the following instructional strategy characteristics were also collected: family as faculty, simulated ifsp/iep meetings, role play, vignette/case study, family as guest speaker, family as co-instructor, home visits, completing a project with a family, in-class activity with a family, virtual simulations, family interview, and service learning. there was an option to select “other” and describe further if the instructional strategy was not included in the aforementioned categories. data were also extracted on the dependent variable measured/phenomenon of interest (i.e., knowledge and/or practices), location where family-professional collaboration interactions occurred (i.e., family’s home, in class, field placement, remote/virtual, ifsp/iep meeting, family’s choice), and the format of collaborative interactions (i.e., face-to-face, written, electronic/virtual, family’s choice). results title and abstract screening after all results were compiled and duplicate records were removed (n=460), the first author screened n=1,038 titles and removed those that were conducted outside the us, were not written in english, were not empirical research studies (e.g., book reviews, letters to the editor), and/or examined topics outside the ei/ecse or special education field. the second and third authors preservice practices for family-professional collaboration 123 conducted interrater reliability. the results suggested moderate reliability (90.8% agreement; k=0.52). disagreements were discussed until consensus was reached. figure 1 prisma flow diagram *some records were excluded due to multiple reasons (e.g., were non-empirical and non-ei/ecse). the remaining n=841 abstracts were screened by the first author. abstracts were coded as to whether it was evident from the abstract that the study: (a) was conducted in the us, (b) used an empirical research design, (c) included preservice special education teachers as participants, and pansé-barone et al. 124 (d) examined knowledge and/or practices about family-professional collaboration. twenty percent of abstracts were selected at random and screened by the second and third authors for reliability. disagreements were discussed until consensus was reached. interrater reliability calculations at this step suggested substantial reliability (92.2% agreement; k=0.67). full article screening a total of n=27 abstracts were determined eligible for full article screening. the same steps were followed as described in the abstract screening step with the exception of adding a category to code whether the article was published in a peer-reviewed journal. at this step, dissertations were removed but set aside in an excel spreadsheet to hand search (n=1 study was identified as a result of the hand search, see pretti-frontczak et al., 2002). the first author screened all the articles. twenty percent were selected at random and screened by the second and third authors. disagreements were discussed until consensus was reached. reliability calculations suggested substantial agreement (91.3% agreement; k=0.795). after full article screening and the hand search of the dissertation reference lists were complete, a total of n=14 articles passed full article screening. see tables 1 and 2 for the full list of included articles and their study characteristics. data extraction study and university/program characteristics a total of n=5 qualitative, n=1 pre/post, n=1 quasi-experimental, and n=7 mixed methods studies were reviewed. with regard to outcomes measured, n=4 examined knowledge, n=7 examined practices, and n=3 studies examined both knowledge and practices. twelve studies were conducted at public universities, two at private universities, and none were conducted at a community college. teacher preparation program type included n=9 licensure, n=1 dual certification, n=3 combination. hindin and mueller (2016) included a combination of students pursuing licensure and dual certification, murray et al. (2013) included students pursuing teaching licensure and from interdisciplinary majors, and carr (2000) included students on licensure, nonlicensure, and alternative route to certification tracks. one study (pretti-frontczak et al., 2005) did not report teacher preparation program type. all included studies were conducted in face-toface classes, with none reporting online or hybrid class formats. preservice student demographics there was a total of n=466 preservice student participants across all included studies. four studies reported the total number of students but did not report student gender identity (able-boone et al., 2002; jenkins & sheehey, 2009; keilty & kosaraju, 2018; latunde & louque, 2012). studies that reported gender identity resulted in n=164 females, n=25 males. no other gender identities were reported. four studies included students majoring in ei/ecse, one included students pursuing prek-grade 12 special education licensure, four included students pursuing k-12 special education licensure, and five included a combination. finally, out of the studies that reported preservice practices for family-professional collaboration 125 student undergraduate/graduate classification, n=90 were classified as undergraduate students and n=154 were classified as graduate students. family demographics four studies reported including family member participants, totaling n=60 family members. twenty-six identified as male and n=45 identified as female. no other gender identities were reported. four studies that included family member participants reported family member demographics (collier et al., 2015; murray et al., 2013; murray et al., 2008; mcnaughton et al., 2007). of these, n=46 were white, n=7 were black or african american, n=5 were asian, n=7 were hispanic or latino, n=1 were native hawaiian or other pacific islander, and n=1 was other. one study reported family socioeconomic status (ses) (collier et al., 2015). in this study, n=2 were from a low ses background, n=11 were from a mid-ses background, and n=1 was from a high ses background. with regard to family member role, n=20 were mothers, n=9 were fathers, n=2 were siblings, and one study included n=5 self-advocates who were adults with children. there were no grandparents, adoptive parents, foster parents, single-parents, or parents in samesex relationships reported. instructional strategy characteristics data regarding the location of family-professional collaboration were extracted from studies that required students to interact directly with families. five studies included a combination of locations; out of those four, three required interactions in class and at the family’s home; one required interactions in field placements and the family’s home; and one required interactions in class and in field placements. when extracting data regarding the location of student-family interactions, we counted each location individually; thus, some studies may have more than one location represented. in total, n=5 cited the family’s home as the location where interactions between students and families took place, n=3 cited field placements (e.g., practicum, student teaching, service learning sites), n=10 cited interactions as occurring in class, and n=1 cited interactions as occurring virtually. none reported interactions as occurring during ifsp or iep meetings. the most frequent intervention characteristics were home visits (n=5), vignette/case study (n=5), and “other” (n=4). the studies that used other instructional methods included the following: the listen, empathize, and communicate respect, ask questions and ask permission to take notes, focus on the issues, and find a first step (laff) active listening strategy (mcnaughton et al., 2007); casequest (pretti-frontczak et al., 2005), and sending reminders home to families for upcoming iep meetings and impromptu conversations (latunde & louque, 2012; note that this was in addition to home visits). the remaining instructional strategies used were as follows: family as faculty (n=1), family as guest speaker (n=2), family as co-instructor (n=3), family as student (n=2), completing a project with a family (n=2), role play (n=2), completing an in-class activity with a family (n=1), family interview (n=2), and service learning (n=2). most mixed methods studies measured intervention outcomes using thematic analysis (e.g., e-journals, pansé-barone et al. 126 reflections, assignments submitted, questionnaire responses) and likert-scale items. see table 2 for specific measurements that were used in each quantitative and mixed methods study. risk of bias assessment all included studies were subject to risk of bias assessment using the mixed methods appraisal tool (mmat) version 2018 (hong et al., 2018). the mmat is designed to appraise the methodological quality and reporting of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies. items included in the mmat have been shown to have content validity of .80 or greater (hong et al., 2019). the mmat includes appraisal questions for the following general types of study designs: qualitative, quantitative randomized controlled trials, quantitative non-randomized studies, quantitative descriptive studies, and mixed methods studies. each type includes five questions to appraise study quality, with response options ranging from yes, no, and can’t tell. out of a possible score of 5/5 (100%), studies ranged from 20%-100%. two studies published prior to 2006 did not include specific research questions. due to this lack of specificity, we were unable to respond to the five quality appraisal items for those two studies. the percentage of quality indicators that were met in each included study are presented in the last column in tables 1 and 2. preservice practices for family-professional collaboration 127 table 1 characteristics of included qualitative studies author(s) (year) study design sample instructional method(s) outcome of interest key findings quality appraisal carr (2000) thematic analysis of open-ended pre/post questionnaires n=92 students (undergraduate/graduate not specified video of family story, miniprojects (e.g., family agency visit), problem-solving activities, interviews, panels, role plays knowledge pre-questionnaire results found that over half of students reported being “closely involved” (p. 58) with families. majority considered themselves responsible for students only. value-laden terms used (e.g., “overbearing”) and value conflicts with families were reported. majority reported very little training. post-questionnaire results found that participants’ would listen more, seek parent input, and ask families questions. some participants stated feeling better prepared to explain legal rights and the evaluation process, and that they planned to conduct home visits. – pansé-barone et al. 128 hampshire et al. (2015) qualitative description using constant comparative method to analyze small group discussion transcriptions, reflections, and a final project n=27 undergraduate students service learning projects with families (service learning sites varied) practices participants volunteered at a service learning site and participated in a forum to reflect on their experiences and make connections to class content. students applied the seven principles of partnership (turnbull et al., 2011) at their sites and felt that they gained knowledge they would be able to apply when working with families from diverse backgrounds in their future career. 80% keilty & kosaraju (2018) qualitative description using content analysis of text from student assignment n=8 undergraduate and graduate students viewing a videotaped ei home visit practices participants developed competency in relational and participatory practices in the area of assessment and revealed a need for additional learning experiences in the area of intervention implementation. 100% preservice practices for family-professional collaboration 129 latunde & louque (2012) document collection process with topic coding of participants’ activities completed during field placements to facilitate homeschool collaboration n=25 graduate students, comprised of student teachers and interns participants documented any activity they completed during field placement that directly aligned with state standards on home-school collaboration practices activities submitted were themed into the following categories: invitations to school programs, formal meetings (e.g., home visits, iep meetings), informal discussions and unscheduled meetings, sharing information, and indirect collaboration (e.g., iep writing). 60% murray et al. (2008) qualitative description using content analysis of focus group transcriptions n=9 undergraduate students parents as coinstructors and project participants, virtual family scenarios practices meaningful interactions with families emerged as an impactful approach to enhance preservice students’ parent/professional collaboration competencies. 100% pansé-barone et al. 130 table 2 characteristics of included quantitative studies author(s) (year) study design sample instructional method outcome of interest key findings quality appraisal able-boone et al. (2002) mixed methods (program evaluation, evaluated pre/post likert scale items and questionnaires examining students’ competencies to implement familycentered interventions) n=45 students (graduate/undergraduate not specified practices on a likert scale from 1-3, participants’ mean scores rose from 1.74, 1.57, and 1.73 to 2.86, 2.75, and 2.76 on interdisciplinary teaming, social inclusion practices, and familycentered interventions. 60% collier et al. (2015) mixed methods (pre/post/ and follow up survey data was analyzed using descriptive statistics while qualitative description and comparative method were used in the analysis of reflection papers) n=28 graduate students home visits, project-based and reflection assignments practices, knowledge increases in participants’ confidence and understanding of homeschool collaboration upon completion of the faf program in a class. 60% preservice practices for family-professional collaboration 131 hindin & mueller (2016) mixed methods (responses to closed and open-ended items were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively in response to a case scenario) n=37 undergraduate students case scenario knowledge participants suggested instructional strategies that could improve the problematic situation described in the scenario more often than describing strategies to enhance the family-professional partnership. 80% jenkins & sheehey (2009) mixed methods (data collected from syllabi, projects, grades, student evaluations, and guided notes) n=113 graduate and undergraduate students service learning knowledge participants’ course and project grades were measured as the learning outcome. student performance in the collaboration course taught across three years received an overall acceptable rating. in the families course taught across two years, students received an overall target rating. 60% kerns (1992) pre-/postand follow-up questionnaires including openand closed-ended questions were used to examine changes in student’s beliefs and practices n=32 graduate students informal interviews, projects, and guest speakers practices participants’ perceptions and comfort with working collaboratively with families were found to be more positive upon completion of the class. positive collaboration practice experiences were reported by participants at follow-up. 20% pansé-barone et al. 132 mcnaughton et al. (2007) experimental study calculating and comparing pre/post scores of active listening strategy use n=10 teacher candidates role-plays and reflective feedback practices increases in confidence and communication skills were measured among teacher candidates who participated in active listening training. role-play lends itself as a favorable method to prepare early childhood professionals for working collaboratively with families. 80% murray et al. (2013) mixed methods (t-test analysis of the family-professional partnership survey and learning objectives and activities survey, and content analysis of pre/post focus groups) n=19 graduate students (n=12 school psychology, n=7 special education) parents as coinstructor, class participants knowledge participants reported gaining new skills and tools to collaborate with families. t-test results suggest significant differences in participants’ ratings for eight out of 10 items on the family-professional partnership survey and over 90% reported questioning their initial ideas about social roles. 80% preservice practices for family-professional collaboration 133 pretti-frontczak et al. (2002) mixed methods (selfreported responses to a self-assessment inventory [sai] were analyzed using analysis of covariance [anova] to measure competencies; reflections themed to supplement course evaluation data to measure satisfaction) n=19 graduate students low (e.g., role play), moderate (e.g., observing ifsp/iep meetings), and high (e.g., family coinstructors) family involvement activities across courses and practicum practices, knowledge repeated measures anova results suggest statistically significant differences in self-reported responses to the sai on familycentered practices items. most students reported gaining family-centered practice knowledge through coursework and their work settings rather than practicum placements. pretti-frontczak et al. (2005) mixed methods (pre/post competence scores were computed and a repeated measures anova test was used to determine whether significant differences in scores existed n=28 graduate students case study and ejournal practices, knowledge participants reported increases in knowledge and application of skills related to familycentered practices and technology practices within eci. – pansé-barone et al. 134 discussion the purpose of this systematic review was to identify and synthesize studies that have evaluated specific instructional strategies intended to increase family-professional collaboration knowledge and practices, which is an essential component of successful inclusive practice in early childhood education. studies that included participants in preservice ei, ecse, and k-12 special education preparation programs were included to ensure we captured programs that prepare preservice students to teach children with disabilities from birth through grade 3. a review of the available literature in this area has important teaching implications for faculty members’ decisions regarding how to prioritize their instruction in the area of family-professional collaboration. our review synthesized the findings from qualitative, mixed methods and quantitative studies to provide a comprehensive summary of available research in this area. our review included 14 articles, and within that small number, one was a program evaluation (able-boone et al., 2002) and n=5 were qualitative studies. notably, one study utilized a quasiexperimental design, which provides insights into how to design this type of study within higher education programs (mcnaughton et al., 2007). the studies examined a variety of different instructional strategies, which makes it challenging to draw a definitive conclusion regarding the efficacy of any single approach. the only instructional strategy included in the final list of studies that is considered an evidence-based practice is service learning. in addition to the diverse instructional strategies used, preservice students’ knowledge and practices were also measured in a variety of ways. this likely resulted from various factors, including faculty's need to tailor assessment methods to the specific instructional strategies used, their preference for employing multiple evaluation methods, and the inherent challenge of assessing a complex construct like collaboration. taken together, we feel it’s important to point out that while the findings provide valuable information regarding the landscape of instructional practices for preservice ei/ecse students to enhance their knowledge and practices to collaborate with families, they do not allow us to determine that any of the strategies are evidence-based. this points to a dire need for additional evidence-based teaching practices that faculty can choose from to teach familyprofessional collaboration to preservice ei/ecse students. the lack of evidence-based practices for faculty to effectively teach family-professional collaboration has been noted in the literature (kyzar et al., 2019; strassfield, 2019). for example, kyzar et al. (2019) state, “yet, currently, the literature includes reports of isolated methods and strategies, and it is largely qualitative in nature” (2019, p. 322), and our findings further substantiate this; although the majority of studies identified in our review utilized mixed methods rather than qualitative-only methods. implications for faculty instruction despite the wide variation, our findings align with what several studies in the family-professional collaboration literature have found: that requiring students to directly interact with families is an effective way to increase preservice students’ confidence and competence to collaborate with families. the quantitative and mixed methods studies in this review that seemed to show the strongest effects required preservice students to interact with families of children with disabilities across the entire semester. although dated, murray and mandell (2004) interviewed early childhood intervention program graduates ranging from 6-30 months post-graduation to preservice practices for family-professional collaboration 135 understand the impact that a semester-long family-centered curriculum had on their current practice in the field. participants reported that having multiple opportunities to interact with families of children with disabilities helped them understand and apply family-centered practices, and that 6-30 months later, they were still incorporating family-centered practices into their work. some participants also reported increased confidence in interacting with families of young children with disabilities. in evaluating the description of family involvement in the courses in murray and mandell (2004) (e.g., father/sibling panels, identifying competencies, serving as instructors or co-instructors), these seem to align with moderateto high-level family involvement activities outlined in pretti-frontczak et al.’s study (2002) (e.g., family panels, families as coinstructors who develop syllabi). even though the variety of instructional strategies studied makes it impossible to draw definitive conclusions as to the degree of evidence supporting their use, this variety can be viewed in a positive light. incorporating instruction on partnering with families requires including this content across various aspects of teaching, including instruction, in-class activities, and projects. faculty with limited resources to compensate for families' time as well as faculty without access to families may wish to know how other faculty have incorporated this content into their instruction. according to the studies in this review, instruction without families present (e.g., case studies, role playing) yielded positive outcomes, which suggests that these instructional strategies are better than no instruction at all. many of these studies that utilized instructional strategies without families present may provide a helpful starting point for faculty to brainstorm ideas to include in their own instruction. in addition, some of the instructional strategies described in these studies can be applied to different types of classes (for example, family interviews could be assigned in both traditional and online courses). in-class activities and instruction a variety of in-class activities and instructional strategies were used in the included studies. examples of in-class activities and instructional strategies reported in these studies include case studies, role playing, reflective feedback, panels, and viewing videos. some studies also included families directly and frequently. these methods invited families to serve as co-instructors, faculty members, and guest speakers. the key findings presented in tables 1 and 2 suggest that all of these instructional strategies led to increased knowledge and practice application with regard to family-professional collaboration. it is important to note the variation in family participation with each of these methods. while we are unable to draw definitive conclusions based on the available evidence, we do hypothesize that the higher the family involvement (e.g., family as faculty), the more impactful and long-lasting the outcomes will be. by inviting families to collaborate to create the syllabus, provide students with feedback on assignments, and facilitate discussions, we can be certain that family voices are heard by our students and that families are placed in a position of having invaluable expertise to share. however, since these findings suggest that activities with lower family participation also offer benefits (e.g., case studies, e-journals; see key findings in tables 1 and 2), these should be considered for use in instruction as well. of the studies that incorporated these strategies, students were required to submit written reflections and/or participate in whole group discussions. questions and prompts specific to family-centered practice or family-professional collaboration were used to guide students in their reflections and to facilitate discussions. pansé-barone et al. 136 field experiences direct interaction with families presents an invaluable opportunity for students to apply instruction and theory to practice. latunde and louque (2012) and pretti-frontczak et al. (2002) evaluated family-professional collaboration activities during field placements. latunde and louque required students to document any activities they completed during field placements that aligned with state standards on family-professional collaboration, the activities documented ranged from direct interactions with families (e.g., informal discussions, home visits, observing iep meetings) to indirect interactions (e.g., invitations to school events, iep writing). many of these documented activities are important experiences for students to have, such as observing iep meetings. however, research on family-professional collaboration across both general and special education, such as family-centered practices (dunst, 2002), the dual capacity-building framework (mapp & bergman, 2019), family-professional partnerships in special education (blue-banning et al., 2004), and the overlapping spheres of influence (epstein, 2019) all emphasize the need for bi-directional, diverse opportunities for family-school collaboration; as well as the need for schools to move past only viewing school-centric forms of family participation as valuable (e.g., inviting families to school events and sharing information, as documented by students in latunde and louque’s study). this body of research suggests that schools should support and encourage family capacity to advocate, share their expertise on their child, participate as active members on ifsp and iep teams, and empower them to support their child’s development and learning. latunde and louque’s study suggests that students may not realize they are only engaging in basic forms of family-professional collaboration, which makes it imperative for faculty to provide guidance to support students to engage in diverse forms of family-professional collaboration during field experience that are in alignment with the dec recommended practices (dec, 2014) and cec ei/ecse initial practice-based standards (cec, 2020). pretti-frontczak and colleagues (2002) found that students in their study reported gaining more knowledge about family-centered practices through coursework and work settings than through practicum experiences. this discrepancy may stem from the limited opportunities preservice teachers have to observe family-professional interactions during their field experiences (accardo et al., 2020; collier et al., 2015). accardo et al. (2020) also note that many preservice students face restrictions at their field placement sites that limit their ability to interact with families. to address this, faculty could collaborate with mentor teachers to emphasize the importance of family-professional partnerships and create opportunities for students to engage with families more actively during their field placements. implications for future research there are several areas that can be explored in future research. the ability of higher education programs to measure students’ collaboration practices after graduation would be an informative and important outcome to measure (bricker et al., 2022). a consideration for future research is to measure students’ retention of family-professional collaboration knowledge as well as their use of practices taught in preservice preparation courses to understand the long-term effects of these instructional strategies. strassfield (2019) shared several recommendations to enhance familypreservice practices for family-professional collaboration 137 professional collaboration curriculum content that could be considered in future research. for example, examining the effects of a standalone course on family-professional collaboration could be a potential study, or evaluating methods to teach instruction on advocacy and dispute resolution resources. none of the included studies published after 2004 examined specific characteristics of family-professional partnerships outlined in blue-banning et al. (2004), and only two measured specific aspects of family-centered practice (keilty & kosaraju, 2018; pretti-frontczak et al., 2002). examining whether instructional strategies align with family-centered practices and/or family-professional partnerships is an important area to explore in future studies, as these two areas outline key skills and professional behaviors that preservice students will need to collaborate with families. studies on curriculum and instruction used in community colleges are an important area of future research. given their affordability and accessibility, community colleges can reach non-traditional students and offer certifications and transferable credits in a variety of early childhood fields. research on instruction that faculty are implementing in community college coursework is an area that needs to be explored. similarly, additional research is needed in hybrid and online class formats, as all of the studies in our review were conducted in traditional, face-toface courses. an additional area to consider for future research would be curriculum and instruction focused on enhancing preservice student competence to collaborate with families to address challenging behaviors specifically. none of the included studies focused on this area in particular. due to the rising number of suspensions and expulsions in early childhood, this is an area of great need for program graduates entering the field. finally, since the focus of this review was on early childhood special education, future research could explore the role of instructional strategies aimed at enhancing early childhood educators’ practices to collaborate with families. limitations while the findings presented here are a valuable starting point, there are a few limitations. first, while we wanted to include studies that included preservice ei/ecse and k-3 special educators, some of the descriptions of study participants were vague and only described as k-12 special education preservice students. this made it difficult to know for certain whether the participants were in fact intending to teach in the early grades or if they were aspiring to teach in later grades or high school. another limitation was difficulty determining the quality appraisal for included studies. we found that the more recent studies were easier to appraise due to more specific and detailed reporting requirements, which provided clearer descriptions of participants, methodologies, and outcomes. our decision to limit articles to those published in english and to exclude dissertations presented an additional limitation since studies could have been excluded that could have offered valuable insight. lastly, we did not extract data on child disability type. it is possible that families’ experiences and availability to participate in preservice preparation may be impacted depending on disability type and severity, so extracting this information may have provided helpful information for faculty. pansé-barone et al. 138 conclusion inclusion in early childhood education has numerous benefits for children with and without disabilities (beneke et al., 2019; justice et al., 2014; tsao et al., 2008), and it has received legislative support at the federal and state levels (guralnick & bruder, 2016). one essential component of inclusion is family-professional collaboration (guralnick & bruder, 2016). findings from this systematic review provide a clearer understanding about curriculum and instruction in teacher preparation programs regarding family-professional collaboration. across 14 included studies, this review supports previous research regarding the importance of direct interaction with families for preservice teacher development in family-professional collaboration. the results of this systematic review also revealed a significant gap in our understanding of effective strategies in teacher training aimed at bolstering preservice teachers' grasp and implementation of family-professional collaboration. given the importance of familyprofessional collaboration when it comes to successful inclusion in early childhood education, this points to an urgent need for further research on this topic. acknowledgement the authors would like to acknowledge and extend their sincerest gratitude to bradley brazzeal at the mississippi state university library for his service as a search strategy peer reviewer for this study. references able-boone, h., harrison, m. f., & west, t. a. 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cook & coley, 2017; fan et al., 2024; hirsh-pasek et al., 2015; suskind et al., 2015). high quality transition practices can have an impact on children’s learning (sands & meadan, 2022; sheridan et al., 2020; vernon-feagans et al., 2019). the transition from preschool to kindergarten has received a lot of attention over the years, with particular attention to the need to cater to the whole child using individualized assessments. translating research to practice is important for practitioners in supporting evidencebased transition assessment with children and their ehichoya edokhamhen tennessee state university kelcie burke university of nebraska marisa macy university of wyoming the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 40 families. this research to practice paper will share some ideas for preschool to kindergarten transition. transition the use of authentic assessment tools in assessing preschoolers’ transition to kindergarten has been increasingly recognized (bagnato et al., 2024; de sam lazaro, 2017; zyskind & macy, 2024). authentic assessment involves the practice of assessing children in their familiar environments and settings, like with their familiar caregivers and their peers (bagnato & macy, 2010; de sam lazaro, 2017; washington-nortey et al., 2022). this definition underpins the need to observe and evaluate children in their natural environments, which aligns with recommended practices for early childhood assessment (dec/naeyc, 2009). challenges exist in assessing children, especially with consideration to linguistic awareness and resources. with the increase in the number of children who speak languages other than english at home, the need for head start programs to adapt their assessment practices has become imperative (harvey & wennerstrom, 2023; hirsh-pasek et al., 2015; pianta et al., 2007; xu et al., 2022). this adaptation has become particularly necessary, especially during the transition from head start to kindergarten (cook & coley, 2021). next, we will share an overview of a study we conducted on individualized assessment practices that support children with collaboration from educators and families during transitions from preschool to kindergarten. overview of the study our study (macy, edokhamhen, & burke, 2025) examined the relationship between how parents whose children speak spanish, and their head start teachers viewed the development of their children during the kindergarten transition period. two components of the assessment, evaluation, and programming system (aeps-3; bricker et al., 2022a) were used. the aeps-3 family assessment of child skills (facs) (bricker et al., 2022b) was used by the parents, while the teachers used the aeps-3 ready set (bricker et al., 2022c). the study included nine head start teachers and nine families of children who speak spanish at home, who are enrolled in rural head start preschool and transitioning into kindergarten. the children were assessed across eight developmental domains (adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, social emotional, social communication, literacy, and math skills). congruency between parent and teacher perceptions was explored. findings from the study revealed that there were significant agreements between teachers and parents in skills like adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, literacy, and social emotional. however, there were discrepancies between parent and teacher ratings in the areas of math and social communication skills. parents in our study tended to rate their children higher in math skills than teachers. teachers tended to rate children higher in social communication skills compared to parents. these differences between parents and teachers’ ratings highlight the need for a collaborative assessment approach to reconcile and address potential gaps. parents’ responses to open-ended questions on these skills revealed diverse aspirations for their children. parents expressed a desire for personalized learning goals for their children that reflect family values and cultural contexts. research to practice connections the need for authentic assessment tools in assessing preschoolers’ transition to kindergarten has been receiving some attention (bagnato et al., 2024; d’amico et al., 2024; fan et al., 2024; shaul & schwartz, 2014). recent research has identified some key challenges in assessing multilingual learners during transition and specific strategies for implementing authentic assessment with multilingual learners (crowe et al., 2021; harvey & wennerstrom, 2023). we will share research to practice connections related to: (a) access, (b) collaboration, (c) assessment, and (d) individualization. access to linguistically appropriate assessment services access to linguistically appropriate assessment services remains a persistent barrier, particularly in rural areas where resources may be limited (shapiro & derrington, 2004; williams et al., 2013; zyssituatiing literacy-rich engagements the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 41 kind & macy, 2024). according to smith and clegg (2021), many communities are faced with a shortage of professionals who can conduct assessments in children’s home languages, which can potentially lead to inaccurate evaluations of children’s abilities. this limitation affects children whose primary language is not english, as they may struggle to fully participate in the assessment process when services are not available in their preferred language. by providing access to linguistically appropriate assessment tools, professionals need to understand and value the need for bilingual development. skills should be assessed in both english and home language. for example, carotta et al. (2023) emphasized the importance of assessing skills in both the home language and english to understand children’s full linguistic inventory. bilingual assessment tools should be made available while incorporating cultural contexts which can affect children’s communication styles and behavior. when such tools are not readily available, qualified interpreters should be utilized to interpret and convey children’s responses and behavior. collaboration between professionals and families the collaboration between professionals and families represents another critical area of concern. macy et al. (2019b) suggested that traditional assessment approaches often fail to meaningfully incorporate family perspectives and knowledge. when families who speak languages other than english attempt to engage with early childhood programs, they often encounter systems that may not be designed to facilitate their full participation. this can discourage parental participation and then result in missed opportunities to gather valuable information about children’s development. it is worthy to note that parents are vital observers of their own children’s development. it is useful to build or establish a strong relationship with families (barnard-brak et al., 2021; fan et al., 2022; sheridan et al., 2020; xu, 2020). there should be regular opportunities for a two-way dialogue between professionals and families. family members should be included as equal partners in assessment decisions. this should be done in the family’s preferred language to ease communication barriers. crane et al. (2011) emphasizes that consistent communication in families’ preferred language breeds successful collaboration. assessment practices that do not account for cultural differences another key challenge in assessing multilingual learners during transition is lack of cultural responsiveness in assessment practices. beasley et al. (2023) demonstrated how assessment tools and procedures that do not account for cultural differences may lead to inaccurate results and misinterpretation of children’s abilities. traditional standardized assessments often reflect mainstream cultural expectations and may not account for children from other cultural backgrounds. assessment tools should be developed and selected for practitioner use with cultural considerations in mind. some cultural undertones may make some of these tests biased when not accounted for. the use of culturally appropriate materials should be considered when administering these tests. lee et al. (2015) suggests that children demonstrate knowledge and skills more effectively when culturally familiar materials and activities are used during assessment. family routines and practices should also be considered during the development and administration of these assessments. “assessment tools should be developed and selected for practitioner use with cultural considerations in mind.” individualization in transition planning the individualization of the transition process is another significant challenge identified in recent research. according to sands et al. (2024), many transition practices follow a one-size-fits-all approach that may fail to address the unique needs of multilingual learners and their families. this approach can be problematic when children are navigating between different linguistic environments. situatiing literacy-rich engagements the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 42 effective individualized transition should begin early before the actual transition occurs. mickelson et al. (2022) recommend that the transition process should begin at least six months before the transition. this transition process should be tailored to meet the individual child’s needs. studies show that individualized transition practices lead to better outcomes for children and families (mickelson et al., 2022; sands & meadan, 2022). next, we will share ideas for implementing recommendations. recommendations for implementation to serve children in optimal ways, it is important to use effective assessment practices for children who have multiple languages. the implementation requires both immediate actions and long-term planning. during children’s transition to kindergarten, programs need to take specific steps towards the implementation of effective assessment practices for multilingual children and their families. now, let us look at specific recommendations for program implementation that emerged from current research related to: (a) assessment tools, and (b) program planning. assessment tools programs need to recognize that some traditional assessments may fall short in providing adequate support for multilingual learners. it is recommended that programs should review their current assessment practices for cultural responsiveness. programs need to examine their assessment tools and processes for assessing children who are multilingual and collecting information (bagnato & macy, forthcoming). by such examinations, programs can identify where they are and what improvements or changes that are needed to better serve multilingual children and their families. the next immediate action is for programs to identify and obtain relevant or appropriate assessment tools. without the right tools, it will be difficult for programs to effectively assess multilingual children. according to macy et al. (2019b), many programs may lack assessment tools that have been validated for use with children who speak multiple languages. family input represents another crucial component that programs should address immediately. programs can encourage family engagement when they include parents in the assessment process. this form of engagement will enable the program to gather meaningful input about children’s development. such inputs can be vital when deciding the right form of assessment for multilingual children. long-term planning in supporting multilingual learners, programs should provide professional development on authentic assessment for staff. according to sheridan et al. (2009), many programs provide very few professional development experiences, which proves insufficient for building lasting capacity. programs should provide on-going training opportunities for professionals to develop relevant cultural competence in bilingual assessment. programs need to partner with qualified experts in the areas of authentic assessment. to create a pipeline of bilingual professionals, dionne et al. (2021) suggests that programs should establish partnerships with local universities and colleges. this will ensure there are long-term strategies put in place to build capacities to conduct assessment in other languages other than english. a system for ongoing family engagement should be developed by programs. macy and bagnato (2023) assert that many programs struggle to maintain consistent family engagement over time. there should be a structure set in place by programs that support family engagement and participation in the assessment process. these can be in the form of a family advisory committee, or the establishment of regular communication channels between the parents and the program. additionally, programs should regularly evaluate and if need be, adjust their practices. bagnato et al. (2024) demonstrated that despite the recognized importance of authentic assessment, many programs often fail to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of their assessment practices. there should be a system for the collection of data that evaluates the effectiveness of assessment and its impact on children and families (bagnato et al., 2024; bagnato & macy, 2010; beasley et al., 2023). the implementation of the above recommendations requires ongoing commitment from program situatiing literacy-rich engagements the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 43 leadership and practitioner advocacy. research has shown that investing in these areas leads to better outcomes for children with multiple languages and their families during the transition to kindergarten (bagnato et al., 2024; dec/naeyc, 2009; mcwilliam, 2005). the implementation of culturally relevant assessment practices for multilingual learners poses both a challenge and an opportunity for the advancement of the field of early childhood education. although the process requires huge commitment and allocation of resources, the end product is beneficial for children, families, and programs. references bagnato, s., & macy, m. 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(2024). authentic assessment for children with language considerations: early identif cation and connection to services. perspectives on early childhood psychology and education, 8(1), 111-143. https://doi.org/10.58948/2834-8257.1069 situatiing literacy-rich engagements nhsa dialog, 25(1), copyright © 2022, issn: 1930-9325 predictors of parent-teacher relationship quality in head start classrooms luz m. torres-rendón katherine m. zinsser university of illinois in chicago the ability for parents and teachers to work together serves as a foundation for a collaborative and effective parent-teacher relationship (clarke et al., 2009). the quality of this relationship contributes to children’s school readiness and social competence (halgunseth et al., 2009). however, limited research has examined the role of teacher’s professional characteristics, or the role of the classroom racial/ethnic composition on parents' perceptions of family-centered practices. the current study aims to identify teacher and classroom characteristics that may be related to components of effective parent-teacher relationships by exploring predictors of parents’ comfort in disclosing family information and parents’ perceptions of their classroom teachers’ responsiveness. this study utilizes data from the head start family and child experiences survey (faces), 2014-2015 cohort. the sample includes survey data from parents (n = 747) and teachers (n = 227). results from this study suggest a congruence in parents’ and teachers’ perception of family-centered practices. these perceptions remained consistent across a variety of classroom profiles. keywords: early childhood education, head start, parent-teacher relationships introduction family engagement is a key component of early childhood education and has long been a focus in the performance standards of our nation's largest publicly funded preschool program, head start (u.s. department of health and human services, 2016). family engagement is a multidimensional construct that encompasses a variety of behaviors in which parents and the family unit play an active role in facilitating and enhancing their children’s’ learning experiences (epstein, 1995). there’s a robust literature base around the benefits of family engagement on children’s academic, as well as, social and emotional outcomes (barnard, 2004; rimm-kaufman et al., 2003; sheridan et al., 2011). research article 18 torres-rendón & zinsser although family engagement is frequently defined within the scope of school-based behaviors (e.g. parents volunteering in the classroom), conceptual models have moved towards incorporated home-based activities (e.g. parents working on learning activities at home) highlighting parents’ active role in facilitating the home-school connection (fantuzzo et al., 2000). at the same time, there has been an increasing recognition of the role that teachers play in cultivating a strong and positive relationship with families that can further promote parents’ engagement and comfort in interacting with the school system, therefore enhancing children’s learning (herman & reinke, 2017; nzinga-johnson et al., 2009). these family-centered practices include family-specific knowledge, attitudes towards families, family-centered practices, and welcoming environmental features (kim et al., 2015). prior research has shown associations between teachers' use of these practices and children’s positive outcomes such as academic school readiness, and lower observed problem behavior (bromer et al., 2011; forry et al., 2012; mendez, 2010; rimm-kaufman et al., 2003). key elements of establishing effective family-provider relationships (or, parent-teacher relationships hereafter) include a focus on family-centered knowledge, attitudes, and practices as well as the environmental features in the classroom that are welcoming and inviting for families. these elements have emerged as important factors that serve the foundation for building effective partnerships (bromer et al., 2011; forry et al., 2012). drawing from the early intervention literature, the provision of family-centered care and practices are associated with positive outcomes for both children and their families (hughes-scholes & gavidia-payne, 2019). this research has, for the most part, paid little attention to the backgrounds and characteristics of teachers who are more skilled in utilizing family-centered practices and has wholly disregarded parents’ perspectives. instead, most studies of family engagement and family-centered practices rely on teachers’ perspectives and self-reported behaviors. family-centered practices are also often described as a static component of the classroom and universally implemented for all children and families (trivette et al., 2010). in practice, however, family-centered practices are supposed to be individualized, flexible, and responsive to each family’s unique circumstances (ramos et al., 2015). given the increasing diversity of families served by early care and education, it is unclear how similar families' experiences of family-centered practices are within the same classroom and whether and how the racial and ethnic composition of a classroom is associated with parents’ and teachers’ reports of family-centeredness. this study aims to address this gap in the literature by focusing on identifying teacher professional characteristics that relate to how parents perceive their relationships with their classroom teachers across a variety of classroom contexts. of similar importance, another factor related to how parents and teachers form effective relationships is the level of knowledge parents share about their own culture and family rearing practices (i.e. family-specific knowledge) with their classroom teachers. when parents and teachers engage in open communication, it encourages teachers to engage in more responsive practices and to be more attentive to family needs (bromer et al., 2011). establishing a solid parentteacher relationship promotes ongoing interactions and communication that empowers both teachers and parents (swick, 2004). therefore, it’s critical for teachers to cultivate high-quality interpersonal relationships with parents in order to support parent engagement and foster trust with families. predictors of parent-teacher relationship quality 19 however, little is known about the ways in which teacher and classroom characteristics relate to parents’ comfort in engaging in this type of communication. despite the potential benefits of a high-quality parent-teacher relationship, parents and teachers both report levels of dissatisfaction with their interactions (lawrence-lightfoot, 2003). it’s critical that we examine these interactions in order to best support the ongoing development of these home-school relationships. using nationally representative data, this study aims to identify specific teacher and classroom characteristics related to the use of family-centered classroom practices as well as how these characteristics relate to parents’ comfort in knowledge-sharing. literature review parent-teacher relationships in early childhood family engagement is a key component of early childhood education and highlighted in the performance standards of our nation's largest publicly funded preschool program, head start (u.s. department of health and human services, 2016). head start’s two-generational model simultaneously addresses the needs of the child and family, but also recognizes the critical role of parents as a child’s first and most influential teacher. a guiding principle of head start is the importance of building and maintaining high-quality relationships between program staff and participating families in order to support children’s school readiness. characteristics that contribute to a positive parent-teacher relationship in early childhood include building trust, having open and ongoing communication, and collaborating (elicker et al., 2013). when teachers foster strong ties with families by being responsive and open the lines of communication, families feel more welcome at school and become more engaged in the teacherparent relationship. specifically, important elements of the parent-teacher relationship have emerged through prior research and serve as a foundation for defining parent-teacher relationship quality: family and background knowledge, attitudes about families, and teacher practices with families (bromer et al., 2011; forry et al., 2012). the two elements that this study focuses on are: family and background knowledge and family-centered practices. family specific knowledge. family-specific knowledge is defined as the knowledge and information teachers gain and learn about families in their care. this includes theoretical knowledge and understanding of factors that promote healthy family functioning, as well as knowledge about the specific families they are serving. family-specific knowledge includes teachers’ knowledge about families’ culture, parenting beliefs, as well as an awareness of families’ strengths and their needs. when parents and teachers engage in information sharing, it allows teachers to have an acute understanding of individual families and can allow teachers to engage in more responsive practices (bromer et al., 2011). family-specific knowledge provides teachers with a foundation for understanding individual children and families, provide the necessary information to be more responsive, and aid in the development of a high quality parent-teacher relationship (forry et al., 2012). in this study, we are interested in examining parents’ perception of their teachers’ understanding, and responsiveness to this knowledge. moreover, we’re interested 20 torres-rendón & zinsser in understanding the role of teacher and classroom characteristics that may influence these perceptions. family-centered practices. family-centered classroom practices refers to an approach to working with families that honors and respects their values and choices, emphasizes the importance of information sharing in order for families to make informed decisions, and is individualized and responsive to families needs (dunst, 2002). according to dunst and trivette (1996), family-centered practices have both relational and participatory components that are hypothesized to facilitate parent-teacher relationships. for example, teachers with strong intrinsic relational skills engage in more effective communication strategies that are responsive to families’ goals and are more culturally responsive (halgunseth et al., 2009). important participatory skills include engaging in advocacy, connecting families to resources and information that is relevant to them, and engaging in joint decision-making (bromer et al., 2011; forry et al., 2012). in reviewing the literature, researchers also found that when family-centered practices are implemented, parents’ report positive feelings and satisfaction with the services provided for their children (dempsey & keen, 2008). studies have also found that when providers engage and implement family-centered practices, this results in increased family engagement despite external barriers to participation (brookes et al., 2006). these outcomes are not only linked to positive family outcomes, but also to improved child outcomes (dunst et al., 2007), and providers' selfefficacy and competence (brown et al., 2009; trivette et al., 2010). however, there is wide variability in the degree to which family-centered approaches are implemented across program types (mcwilliam et al., 1995). parents in infant/toddler programs rated their education programs as providing more family-centered practices compared to parents of preschool children (age 3 to 5), highlighting the importance of gathering parents’ perceptions of implementation across early education programs. importance of parent-teacher relationships in head start despite recognizing the importance of establishing strong partnerships with parents, many educators acknowledge that developing a parent-teacher relationship is challenging (ratcliff & hunt, 2009), especially if parents’ and teachers’ ethnic, cultural, or linguistic backgrounds differ. for families of children from ethnic minority backgrounds, parent-teacher relationships are particularly important such that fostering partnerships early on can have positive effects on children’s outcomes throughout their school experience (nzinga-johnson, baker, & aupperlee, 2009). with the current ongoing demographic shift and changes to head start teacher education mandates, majority of preschool-aged children in head start classrooms are taught by a white majority teaching workforce (bassok et al., 2013), and families are more likely to experience cultural and linguistic differences, creating an additional barrier towards fostering strong parentteacher partnerships (howard & lipinoga, 2010). parents’ differing values, miscommunication, and feelings of “not being valued” are prominent, especially by latinx parents (carreón et al., predictors of parent-teacher relationship quality 21 2005; chrispeels & rivero, 2001). therefore, it’s critical to identify factors that may support the development of high-quality parent-teacher relationships. measuring multiple aspects of the parent-teacher relationship the family and provider/teacher relationship quality (fptrq) suite of measures (kim et al., 2015) was developed to examine both parent and teacher perspectives on their relationship. the fptrq measures the constructs of family-specific knowledge, attitudes towards families, family-centered practices, and environmental features, from the perspective of both parents and providers. therefore, this measure allows researchers to capture and examine the teacher-family relationship from multiple perspectives and comprehensively examine knowledge, practices, and attitudes using one reliable and valid questionnaire. specifically, we are interested in understanding how parents perceive this relationship by examining parents’ perceptions of their classroom teachers’ family-specific knowledge and parents’ perception of family-centeredness (as measured by family-centered practice) by their classroom teacher. factors related to teacher’s family-focused knowledge and family-centered practices why is it important to examine parents' perceptions of their teachers’ family-focused knowledge, and more importantly, how is this related to childrens’ outcomes? first, when teachers have an acute awareness of the families they serve and/or have an awareness of barriers to engagement, teachers are better able to respond to families' needs by providing resources and engaging in more responsive ways. as such, parents develop positive feelings towards a child’s early care and education teacher, which then are associated with positive academic outcomes among children. conversely, researchers hypothesize that increased family engagement may lead to enhanced provider understanding of parent perspectives and of parents’ goals for children in care (powell et al., 2010). therefore, it is necessary to examine teacher and classroom factors that may be related to how parents perceive these relationships, in order to better understand the phenomenology of the relationship. teachers’ personal and professional characteristics. preparing teachers and offering training focused on effective family engagement can positively impact teachers’ attitudes about families, improve knowledge regarding families’ roles in their children’s education, and increase family engagement practices (amatea et al., 2012; ratcliff & hunt, 2009). research has indicated that new teachers, despite receiving training focused on working with families, still struggle with family engagement and are skeptical of families’ roles in their children’s education (epstein & sanders, 2006; evans, 2013; markow & martin, 2005). teachers' education and years of experience have both been found to be related to the quality of teacher-child relationships (kontos & wilcox-herzog, 2001). however, little research has examined the role teacher education, experience, and training play in components of the development of teacher-parent relationships. 22 torres-rendón & zinsser another factor of interest is the teacher-child race match. when teachers and parents are similar with regard to their ethnic backgrounds, parents are more likely to report higher levels of parent engagement compared to mismatched dyads (mundt et al., 2015). although some researchers have highlighted that parent and teacher ethnic match might increase the parent’s comfort in interacting with the classroom teacher, which results in more effective parent-teacher relationships, head start serves over 1 million children a year from a variety of backgrounds and contexts. therefore, we were interested in further examining teacher’s professional characteristics such as education, years of experience, and training, and how these factors are related to parents’ perceptions of teachers’ family-focused knowledge and family-centered practices, as well as the role of racial ethnic match in fostering family-centered practice. teachers’ perceptions of family-centered practices. teacher perceptions of their own practice are extremely important and may highlight discrepancies between both parties in the parent-teacher relationship. if teachers’ rate themselves highly, we expect parents to also agree (and therefore predict high parent-reported family-centered practices). if teachers are engaging in high-quality family-centered practices, we expect parents to both rate teachers highly in respect to teachers’ family-centeredness but also in regards to their family-specific knowledge. in a study conducted by minke and colleagues (2014), researchers highlighted the importance of parents and teachers sharing the similar beliefs of their shared relationship. their results suggest that shared perceptions of relationship quality may be important in understanding reports of child behavior and finding ways to support positive student outcomes, especially in the presence of problem behavior. considering the context of head start, it’s critical to examine how teachers’ perceptions of family-centeredness aligns with parents’ perceptions of their practice. classroom context. researchers have suggested a critical need in teacher’s preparation programs in terms of their limited in-depth knowledge and understanding of children’s home context (smith & sheridan, 2019). with ongoing classroom demographic shifts, we must examine how the classroom context also plays a role in parents’ perceptions of teachers' engagement in family-centered practices, and demonstrates family-specific knowledge. prior studies have also suggested differential effects of classroom composition on classroom management practices (klapp & cliffordson, 2008), and have examined the teachers’ linguistic responsiveness as a function of classroom composition (sawyer et al., 2016). linguistically and culturally responsive practices may take different approaches, such as training and professional development for duallanguage learners (dlls) or emergent bilingual children. in summary, when teachers foster strong ties with families by being responsive and sensitive with children and families, parents feel more welcome at school and become more involved in their children’s education. thus, it is imperative to explore additional variables that can be improved (such as teacher training and education on cultural sensitivity and responsiveness) so that children and families receive the support they need to fully engage. predictors of parent-teacher relationship quality 23 the present study this study aims to identify teacher and classroom characteristics related to teachers engagement in family-centered practice and utilization of family-specific knowledge as perceived by head start parents. using a large, diverse, and nationally representative dataset, the current study aims to explore the following research questions: 1. what teacher personal and professional characteristics influence parents’ perceptions of family-centered practices? 2. to what extent is classroom composition related to parents’ perceptions of family centered practices, and is this relationship moderation by teachers’ self-reported family-centered practices? 3. what teacher personal and professional characteristics are related to parents’ comfort in disclosing family-specific knowledge? 4. to what extent is classroom composition related to parents’ comfort, and is this relationship moderation by teachers’ self-reported family-centered practices? based on prior literature, it is expected that teacher education, years of experience, training, and ethnic/racial match will be associated with parents’ perceptions of the utilization of these practices. as discussed earlier, teachers who identify with families either with similar values, expectations, or cultural backgrounds may be more likely to communicate more effectively, driving parents’ abilities to feel comfortable in engaging more frequently teachers who identify with families either with similar values, expectations, or cultural backgrounds (trumbull et al., 2001). current research has addressed the potential for teacher beliefs and practices to be influential, fostering or hindering positive parent-teacher relationships and parents’ involvement, but research has not examined the extent to which the classroom composition may influence these processes. thus, an examination of the teacher-related characteristics and practices is warranted to inform future examinations of parent-teacher relationship models. method participants data from the head start family and child experiences survey (faces) 2014-2015 cohort, a nationally representative sample of head start programs, centers, classrooms, children and their families will be used for this analysis. the faces 2014 study employed a multistage sampling approach, first sampling head start programs across the country who served children between the ages of 3 and 5 years old, selecting up to two centers per program, and two classrooms per center. the total sample included 176 total programs, 346 centers, and two classrooms within selected centers. the present study will only use data from classrooms from which teacher and family data were collected. the analysis sub-sample, therefore, will include data from 116 centers, 227 teachers, and 747 parents who completed the spring survey. majority teachers identified as female (96.5%), 24 torres-rendón & zinsser were either white (22.9%), black (31.7%), or hispanic/latino (36.0%) and on average had taught for 13.54 years (sd = 8.95). parents indicated the majority of households were single parent households (40.4%), used english as their primary language (75.1%), parents were not employed (33.1%), and majority maternal education was some college (31.8%). measures data for this study come from two parallel versions of the family and provider/teacher relationship questionnaire (fptrq; kim et al., 2015; ramos et al. 2014) which was shortened for use in the faces studies (forry et al., 2012). teacher-reported family-centered practices. the teacher measure of the fptrq (kim et al., 2015; ramos et al. 2014) is intended for early childhood education providers in centerand family-based care. this subscale of the fptrq asks teachers general questions about how they work with all parents of children in their care (e.g. “how often have you met with or talked to parents about goals you have for their child”). this family-centered practices subscale is intended to describe teachers’ perceptions of family-centered practices (e.g. “how often are you able to set goals with parents for their child”). parent-reported relationship quality components. the parent version of the fptrq asks parents general questions about how they work with their child’s (i.e. “how often have you met with or talked to your childcare provider or teacher about goals you have for your child”). these two subscales measure: (i) parents’ perceptions of family-specific knowledge (e.g. “how comfortable would or do you feel sharing the following information with your childcare provider or teacher?”) (ii) parent-rated classroom family-centered practices: (e.g. “my childcare provider or teacher uses my feedback to adjust the education and care provided to my child”). parents reported their perceptions using a 4-point likert scale (1 = never, 2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, 4 = very often). teacher demographics. each selected teacher was asked to complete a survey on their teaching experience (number of years teaching in head start), educational background (the highest grade or year of school completed), teaching credentials (e.g. child development associate), salary, and demographics (age, gender, race/ethnicity, see table 1). the following demographics will be included in the analyses to attend to the primary aims of the study: teacher education, and training to support dual-language/diverse learners (dlls). as cited earlier, teachers may use more culturally responsive practices, depending on the composition of the classroom. therefore, we use the dll-training variable, as a proxy for culturally responsive training. predictors of parent-teacher relationship quality 25 analysis descriptive statistics were used to examine the means and standard deviations of the variables of interest. before proceeding with planned hierarchical linear modeling (hlm; bryk & raudenbush, 1992) analyses, we examined the unconditional models to compute intraclass coefficients (iccs; james et al., 1984). hierarchical linear models (bryk & raudenbush, 1992) were then computed for two outcome variables: parents’ perceptions of teacher’s family-specific knowledge, and parents’ perceptions of family-centered practices. these models included teacher’s education, years of experience, dll training, racial/ethnic match and classroom composition as predictors. analyses were conducted in r (r core team, 2019). table 1. teacher demographics m (sd) years teaching 13.83 (9.00) age 47 (11.17) % female 96.8 race/ethnicity white 36.7 hispanic/latino 21.7 black/african-american 33.2 asian, pacific islander 1.2 american indian/alaska native 2.0 other race 5.3 highest level of education high school degree or less .80 some college 3.2 associates degree 23.5 bachelor’s degree 46.6 some graduate work 6.4 graduate degree 19.5 parent/child demographics. in the parent survey, parents were able to report their educational backgrounds, income level, family structure, and demographic variables including race/ethnicity, age, and marital status. similarly, they reported their child’s race/ethnicity (if different or mixed), first language, age, and gender (see table 2). the following child demographics of the classroom will be included in the analyses to attend to the primary aims of the study: classroom composition. the proportion of children of ethnically diverse backgrounds (including african-american, latinx/hispanic, asian-american, american-indian, and mixed-race) was calculated with the average head start classroom containing 76% of children from diverse backgrounds relative to their white peers. 26 torres-rendón & zinsser table 2. demographic characteristics of head start families m (sd) mothers’ age 29.86 (6.11) % mother’s race/ethnicity white 29.0 hispanic/latino 39.1 black/african-american 24.6 asian, pacific islander .9 american indian/alaska native 2.3 other race 4.2 mother’s highest level of education less than high school degree 28.4 high school diploma or ged 31.8 associates degree 31.0 bachelor’s degree 8.9 mother’s employment status working full time 27.6 working part time 24.5 looking for work 14.6 not in the labor force 33.4 results when examining descriptive analyses of the dependent variables, we discovered non-normal distributions for both perceived family-centered practices and family-specific knowledge variables. the distribution of scores suggests that most parents report either high levels or extremely low levels of either family-centered practices and comfort in disclosing family-specific information, with both variables resembling a u-shape distribution. after examining, we transformed both outcome variables to reduce the skewness to a better fit model using a power transformation using the powertransform package in r. this method uses the maximum likelihood-like approach of selecting a transformation of a univariate or multivariate response for normality, linearity and/or constant variance (box & cox, 1964). in examining the correlations among key variables via pearson’s product-moment correlation, we found that teachers who reported greater levels of education also reported having more teaching experience (r = .09, p <.01), have dll training (r = .33, p <.01), and report utilizing a greater number of family-centered practices (r = .26, p <.01; see table 3). parents' perceptions of familyspecific knowledge were associated with perceptions of family-centered practices (r = .45, p <.01). meaning, parents who felt teachers comfortable in sharing cultural and familial background also endorsed experiencing responsive and family-centered classroom practices by their classroom teacher. predictors of parent-teacher relationship quality 27 table 3. pearson’s product-moment correlations among key variables key variables 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1. teacher education .09** .33*** .26*** .02 .01 2. teacher experience .02 .09** -.03 .06 3. dll-training .05 .04 -.01 4. self-reported fcps .01 .04 5. family-specific knowledge .45*** 6. perceptions of fcps n 772 772 772 772 801 801 mean 9.02 13.83 0.17 30.69 9.06 38.17 sd 1.52 9.00 1.20 4.93 3.29 12.12 min 4 0 0 18 3 13 max 13 30 1 36 12 52 note. teacher experience is the number of years teaching; fcps = family-centered practices. correlation matrix included only completed observations, excluding missing data via pairwise deletion. * p ≤ .05, ** p ≤ .01, *** p ≤ .001 before proceeding with planned hierarchical linear modeling (hlm; bryk & raudenbush, 1992) analyses, we examined the unconditional models and found that intraclass coefficients (iccs; james et al., 1984) were not significant, meaning that classroom membership did not explain a significant amount of the variance in each dependent variable (see table 4). only 4% of perceptions of family-centered practices were attributable to classroom membership and 1% of parents’ comfort was explained by who their teacher was (james et al., 1984). examining perceptions of family-centered practices although nesting was not significant, there’s an inherent hierarchical structure of the data, therefore, we decided to continue with the originally planned hlm analysis method to explore how the teachers’ characteristics and racial/ethnic match is associated with perceived familycentered practice. to address rq1, to what extent does teacher personal and professional characteristics predict parents’ perceptions of family-centeredness, we constructed an hlm model using teacher education, experience, dll training, self-reported utilization of family-centered practices, and 28 torres-rendón & zinsser parent-teacher ethnic match as predictor variables with findings suggesting null effects (see model 1, table 4). we expected teacher professional characteristics, self-reported practice and ethnic/race match to be positively associated with perceptions of family-centered practices. this suggests that teachers’ professional background and ethnic/racial match is not significantly associated with parents’ perceptions of these practices by their classroom teacher. table 4. hierarchical linear models (hlm) for outcomes of interest fcps model 1 fcps model 2 knowledge model 3 knowledge model 4 icc .04 .04 .01 .01 intercept 40.03*** 40.25*** 92.57*** 94.69*** teacher education 0.07 0.09 0.44 0.62 teacher experience 0.05 0.02 -1.94 -2.38 teacher dll-training 0.22 0.18 2.17 2.48 teacher self-reported practices 0.60 2.73** 2.05 14.31 teacher race-match 0.02 0.16 teacher race 0.16 1.79 classroom composition 0.36 3.76 teacher self-reported practices*classroom composition -2.47* -14.31 * p ≤ .05, ** p ≤ .01, *** p ≤ .001 to answer rq2, we then explored the role of classrooms’ ethnic composition in predicting perceptions of family-centered practice. specifically, we aimed to explore the differential effects of student classroom composition and teachers’ self-reported practices, while controlling for teacher personal and professional characteristics. model 2 considers the ethnic/racial composition of the classroom. when controlling for teacher personal and professional characteristics, teachers’ family-centered practices significantly predict parents’ perceptions of family-centered practice (b = 2.73, p < .01). this relationship was clearer when examining the interaction between teachers’ self-reported practices and the different classrooms that were modeled. there was a significant interaction between teachers’ self-reported family-centered practice, and classroom composition when predicting parents’ perceptions of family-centered practice (b = -2.47, p < .05). in other words, this interaction suggests agreement between parentand teacher-reported family-centered practice, and this agreement consistently changes depending on the classroom context. figure 1 depicts this relationship such that in classrooms with a low minority percentage, teachers and parents agree more; but in classrooms with a high minority percentage, there is less of a relationship. predictors of parent-teacher relationship quality 29 figure 1. interaction effects between classroom composition and teacher familycentered practices on parent perceived practices note. classroom composition was determined based on the average percent of students of ethnic minority backgrounds in head start classrooms (76%). each slope represents three different classroom compositions, with low (58%), average (76%) and high (93%) proportion of students who identify as of mixed-race or ethnic minority backgrounds (african-american, asian, american indian, hispanic, etc.). this graph reveals a significant main effect for teacher self-reported practice. when teachers rate themselves highly, parents similarly perceive these practices at similar levels and tend to agree. we can see trend-level significance for classroom composition such that as classrooms become less homogenous (larger proportion of students of diverse backgrounds), parents perceive less of these family-centered practices. the significant interaction tells us that perceptions of practice vary as a function of the classroom composition. in classrooms with a relatively small proportion of children from ethnically diverse backgrounds (53%), both parents and teachers perceive greater levels of family-centered practices being utilized. conversely, as the proportion of ethnically diverse children increases (93%), both parents and teachers report fewer family-centered practice. examining family-specific knowledge to address rq3, we explored how the teachers’ professional characteristics (education, experience, dll training) and ethnic/race match was associated with parents’ perception of family-specific knowledge. results from this hlm model suggest teacher professional and personal characteristics are not predictive of parents’ perceptions of family-specific knowledge, nor does parent-teacher race/ethnicity significantly predict parents’ perceptions of family-specific knowledge. to examine rq4, model 4 leverages the same predictors from model 2, as well as the classroom composition variable, to explain variance in parents’ perception of family-specific knowledge. while controlling for teacher race, classroom composition was not predictive of parent comfort but the direction of the beta suggests that when the proportion of ethnically diverse children decreases, parents report greater levels of comfort. overall, the final two models infer that parents’ 30 torres-rendón & zinsser perception of family-specific knowledge is a distinct relational variable as opposed to perceptions of family-centered practice. although perceptions of family-centered practice may be associated with the context of the classroom in combination with teachers’ self-reported practice, this does not apply to perceptions of family-specific knowledge. discussion effective parent-teacher relationships are critical for children’s academic and behavioral success (garbacz et al., 2015; minke et al., 2014). this collaboration contributes to school readiness, later academic success, greater academic motivation, and social-emotional skills (halgunseth et al., 2009). the current study examines components of the parent-teacher relationship, and conceptualizes this relationship as both relational and pedagogical (intentional teaching practices). family-centered practices include practices that support parent engagement including communication, collaboration and responsiveness to families’ needs (spielberg, 2011). when teachers are actively utilizing such practices combined with an understanding of the family context, teachers are better able to tailor their instruction to support children's learning (bluebanning et al., 2004). the purpose of this study was to examine factors that are associated with elements of an effective parent-teacher relationship in early childhood settings. in addressing the current study aims, notable findings included the following: 1) we found a lack of nesting at the classroom level related to parents’ perceptions of family-centered practice and parents’ perceptions of family-specific knowledge; 2) we did not find that teacher professional and ethnic background to be associated with components of effective parent-teacher relationships; 3) parents and teachers agree have convergence and agreement when reporting on familycenteredness they perceive in classrooms. lack of shared experiences at the classroom level before conducting our analysis, we expected parents to report similar experiences of perceptions of practice as well as establish that these experiences may be attributable to the classroom teacher and the teachers’ background. interestingly, we found a lack of nesting within the classroom when calculating the intraclass coefficients (iccs) for both outcomes. these results highlight the variability of parents’ responses, which indicate considerable individual-level variability. moreover, only 4% of parents’ responses could be attributed to the classroom suggesting two alternative hypotheses: 1) parents’ experiences and perceptions may be attributed to centers and center support to engage families; and 2) considering the nature of parent-teacher relationships, we must also attend to parent characteristics that may be associated to perceptions of practice not attributable to the classroom. one example of center characteristics influencing the parent-teacher relationship is by examining program types. when comparing home-based programs to center-based care, the familiarity and intimate home context positively influenced parents’ perceptions of their caregiver and promoted flexibility rather than rigid policies to respond to parents’ needs (bromer & henly, 2004). head start has long recognized the importance of involving and supporting families. a provision of predictors of parent-teacher relationship quality 31 resources supports the systematic integration of family engagement efforts within head start centers, but these efforts must also be sustained by center leadership, administration and familysupport staff (mattera et al., 2013). examining center characteristics beyond the classroom may inform centers’ approach to engaging families by utilizing practices similar to those in home-based settings to promote a welcoming and family-centered approach to early care and education. parent characteristics that may also be related to differential experiences are related to the amount and quality spent communicating with their classroom teacher such as employment status and time constraints (christenson, 2004). additionally, parents’ expectations of this relationship, sense of self-efficacy, and attitudes have been shown to influence parent ratings of parent-teacher partnerships (dunst & dempsey, 2007). in gathering information from both perspectives, it is critical to understand how external characteristics may be associated with parent-teacher relationships within head start centers. in summary, the results from the current study are consistent with the general understanding and conceptualization of the parent-teacher relationship as multidimensional, and professional development programs need to address the ever-changing demographics and families that head start programs serve. teacher background & effective parent teacher relationships within our sample, teachers’ professional background (including education, experience and dll training) was not associated with parents’ perception of family-centered practice or parents’ perceptions of family-specific knowledge, two key elements of the parent-teacher relationship. this suggests that perceptions of family-centered practices and family-specific knowledge may vary as a function of several individual, interpersonal, or classroom dynamics beyond teacher professional characteristics. this also suggests that current pre-service and in-service training is not directly contributing to an increase in the utilization of these practices, as reflected in the literature. previous research has highlighted a combined effect of lack of training and confidence as barriers to effectively engaging in positive relationships with families, specifically with families of diverse backgrounds (christenson, 2004). additionally, family-centered training and professional experience is associated with positive attitudes about families, but not necessarily a change in behavior towards engaging in family-centered practices (king et al., 2003). it is important to further examine how teachers can foster greater levels of parent comfort. in fact, it is critical to distinguish the unique difference between family-centered practices and the process and relational variable of comfort as comfort develops over time. we theorize that years in the education systems, combined with immigration status (carreón et al., 2005), and family structure can negatively impact the development of comfort with classroom teachers. it is also important to note we did not control for the length a child was in the program or for siblings. information was not collected on the capacity at which parents knew teachers, rather, at their level of comfort in disclosing personal information. given that parents’ perceptions are a unique contributor to the conceptualization of the effective parent-teacher relationship, we must attend to other factors that may influence this variable beyond teacher characteristics. in addition to teacher professional characteristics and ethnic/racial match, previous research has identified trust and respect as critical in the ability for parents to engage in productive communication and 32 torres-rendón & zinsser collaboration with their classroom teacher. conversely, it is imperative for parents to be able to trust teachers’ expertise but also for teachers to gain that trust through support, communication and acceptance (blitch, 2017). congruent perceptions & classroom context as previously established, parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of parent involvement often differ (wong & hughes, 2006). this is especially true when parents and teachers’ perceptions of relationship quality differ (minke et al., 2014). in the current study, teacher’s self-reported practices positively predicted parents’ perception of family-centered practice suggesting that parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of family-centered practice align. these shared perceptions are elements of an effective parent-teacher relationship such that shared perceptions and congruent beliefs are associated with relational trust (bryk & schneider, 2002). further, when families and teachers have mutual beliefs, these interactions serve as a foundation for collaborative partnerships which can further support later academic success (halgunseth et al., 2009). when parents are able to partner and communicate with their classroom teacher, these positive interactions set the stage for effective collaboration and partnership to support the child. when examining the effects of classroom composition and teachers’ practice on parents’ perceptions of these practices, we found a differential effect of classroom composition on their perceptions of family-centered practice. when examining specific classrooms profiles (lower proportion of ethnic minorities versus higher proportion), we found that parents’ perceptions of family-centered practice were higher in classrooms with lower proportion of students from minority groups compared to a predominantly ethnically diverse classroom. when examining teachers’ self-reported family-centered practices, we see similar effects on how teachers are perceiving their own classroom practice. this finding supports how classroom context and student ethnic background plays a role in perceptions of classroom practices (steinberg & garrett, 2016). this may also indicate that the context of the classroom may also influence teachers beyond perceptions of practice, but the instruction taking place and teachers’ behavior. within this head start sample, the average classroom contained 76% of students of ethnic minority backgrounds. with the ethnic composition of classrooms changing and the growing number of classrooms becoming ethnically diverse, these findings identify a need to prepare teachers with specialized training. in classrooms with predominantly ethnic minority students, teachers reported utilizing less familycentered practices compared to teachers in less ethnically diverse classrooms. teachers may not feel as prepared to serve the needs of these diverse families to identify their use of family-centered practices. these results are timely and highlight the need to support teachers with specialized training in fostering improved parent-teacher relationships. lack of training and confidence to engage families have been identified previously as barriers in foster effective relationships (christenson, 2004). it is possible that current training around family and parental engagement is not sufficient to foster greater use of family-centered practices or parent comfort in sharing personal information with their classroom teachers. although the results of this study suggest families are able to have congruent perceptions of classroom practices that involve collaboration, communication, and responsiveness, we must also attend to classroom context and its effects on predictors of parent-teacher relationship quality 33 perceptions of practice. as classrooms across the nation are becoming more diverse, teachers’ must be trained to meet the needs of families entering head start. although head start’s family engagement framework and tenants highly encourage family engagement, this study has highlighted the need to further support teachers in engaging with these families and supporting them in the development of family partnerships. conclusion the purpose of this study was to examine teacher professional and classroom characteristics that may be associated with components of effective parent-teacher relationship quality. specifically, we wanted to explore how education, training, experience, teachers’ perceptions of familycentered practice and ethnic/racial match support parents’ perceptions of family-centered practices being used. additionally, we explored the effects of ethnic/racial classroom composition on perceptions of family-centered practices and the extent to which teacher’s had and utilized familyspecific knowledge. exploring how such factors may contribute to the enhancement of parentteacher relationships can inform future efforts to understand how to provide support for centers and teachers in providing family-centered practices for families they serve. a focus on the parentteacher relationship has highlighted the dimensionality of this construct and the importance of supporting effective partnerships between the home and school environments. we found that pedagogical family-centered practices are unique from relational practices (increasing parent comfort). additionally, teachers’ who are more experienced, have more education and training do not necessarily predict engaging in these practices. finally, we found that classroom composition has differential effects on classroom practices. the results highlight the need to further examine individual, interpersonal, classroom and center dynamics beyond teacher professional characteristics in order to provide support in the development of effective partnerships. limitations given the complexity of the design and size of data for the faces 2014, there are numerous anticipated limitations and obstacles for the present study. a limitation of this secondary analysis is that while all parents got to rate individual teachers, teachers rated their average relationship with all parents in the classroom, thus the data is not truly dyadic. future investigations can gather direct dyadic data (i.e. parent-teacher pairs rating the same relationship) to further explore issues of congruence in relationship ratings as well as variability. additionally, as relationship questions were only asked at one-time point, the analyses cannot speak to the developmental trajectory or growth in 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https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?saqnyi https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?saqnyi https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?saqnyi https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?saqnyi https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?saqnyi https://www.zotero.org/google-docs/?saqnyi hs dialog, 27(1), 142-168 copyright ©2024, issn: 1930-9325 research article an instrumental case study of blended preservice early childhood preparation ann m. mickelson1 david hoppey2 1university of north carolina at charlotte 2university of north florida blended and other collaborative models of early childhood personnel preparation center on the belief that they can improve the quality and availability of inclusive services for children with diverse abilities and their families. little is known, however, as to their relative efficacy to impact the inclusive practice of graduates. further, current understanding of this approach is complicated by a lack of common terminology, conceptions, and a dated, primarily descriptive literature base. to provide a contemporary empirical contribution, we applied a conceptual framework derived from activity systems theory coupled with a research framework for collaborative models to examine one preparation program as a system through qualitative case study. findings outline parameters of practice specific to collaborative program dimensions, elements of harmony and tension within the system, and cultural tools specific to the program’s attempts to meet its desired outcome. implications for current and future collaborative early childhood personnel preparation are discussed. key words: collaborative teacher education; early childhood; special education; teacher education reform; activity systems theory, blended preparation mickelson & hoppey 143 an instrumental case study of blended preservice early childhood preparation critical examination of the preparation of educators for inclusive practice is necessary to ensure they are equipped to meet the diverse needs of children within the complex educational contexts in which they will teach (artiles, 2003). the prevalence of inclusive models of service delivery for children with identified special education needs has increased across the pk-12 landscape over the past two decades (author et al., 2020). concurrently, increasing levels of diversity within ethnic, linguistic, economic, and family circumstances continue to alter the demographics of children and families with whom educators practice (federal interagency forum on child and family statistics, 2020). formal preparation of teachers and their positive dispositions about inclusion have been shown to be highly influential factors in the successful implementation of preschool inclusion (d’agostino & douglas, 2021; odom, et al., 2002; winton, et al., 1997; macy, et al., 2009). therefore, an important factor in the implementation of high-quality inclusion is the effective preparation of early childhood teachers to meet the needs of all children [u.s. department of health and human services (usdhhs) & u.s. department of education (usdoe), 2023)]. nevertheless, scholars have continued to lament that many educators are not adequately prepared for the realities of meeting the diverse needs of children in inclusive contexts (blanton, et al., 2011; chadwell et al., 2020; pugach et al., 2014). recently, chadwell and colleagues (2020) reported that only 20% (n = 1,296) of early childhood educators felt well prepared to teach children with disabilities while 70% felt well prepared to teach typically developing children. however, research as to how to best prepare educators for inclusion has been sparse (author et al., 2022; pinter et al., 2022). collaborative models of preservice preparation, those marked by efforts to unify general and special education higher education curricula (pugach et al., 2011), are viewed as having the potential to produce the attitudes, knowledge, and skills needed to prepare candidates to teach in inclusive classrooms (author et al., 2022; pugach et al., 2014; stayton, 2015). in the early childhood context, collaborative preparation combining early childhood education (ece) and early intervention/early childhood special education (ei/ecse) has historically been seen as a movement toward a common purpose of providing inclusive education for all children (author et al., 2022; piper, 2007; pugach, et al., 2011; stayton, 2015). while this movement now has a significant history, it is marked by confusion and misrepresentation due to a lack of common terminology (e.g., unified, blended, interdisciplinary), definitions, or guidance (author et al., 2022). while many terms are used to describe collaborative preparation in early childhood contexts, blended appears to be the most common and appears in documentation from leading professional organizations [i.e., the council for exceptional children’s (cec) division of early childhood (dec) and the national association for the education of young children (naeyc)]. therefore, the term blended will be used throughout this article to refer to collaborative early childhood preparation programs. the term collaborative will be used as a more general term to refer to preparation programs that combine preparation in general and special education regardless of targeted population. instrumental case study blended preparation 144 the initial impetus for the onset of blended early childhood preparation programs was to address and promote increased inclusion, yet there is a lack of empirical evidence, and little is known as to the ways in which or whether any particular model improves the preparation of teachers for inclusion (author et al., 2022; brownell et al., 2010). indeed, while the prevalence of inclusion has increased over time, data from the 42nd report to congress on inclusive services suggest that inclusion for preschool children has seen only a small increase (4.8%) since 2013 (u.s. department of education [usdoe], 2021). therefore, it is unclear whether the field has made progress toward the goal of increasing quality inclusion. leading teacher education scholars assert a need for in-depth examination of preparation approaches using a systems perspective (brownell et al., 2011; cochran-smith & zeichner, 2005; darling-hammond, 2006, 2010; grossman & mcdonald, 2008; pugach & blanton, 2009; pugach et al 2014). further, brownell et al., (2011) extoll the need to make linkages between theory, practice, and context in research on blended and other forms of collaborative teacher education (e.g., darling-hammond, 2006; desimone, 2009; wayne et al., 2008). analysis of collaborative preparation programs as holistic, comprehensive systems can uncover linkages as well as other aspects of program coherence and effectiveness thereby increasing understanding of not only how blended and other collaborative models of early childhood teacher education operate but also of their effectiveness and outcomes. however, pugach and colleagues (2014) found the existing empirical literature lacking in examinations of programs as holistic systems and consisting primarily of the investigations of isolated program components (e.g. course or practicum format). to provide a contemporary empirical contribution to the literature, we employed qualitative case study methodology (stake, 1995) to investigate: how can an early childhood teacher education program be understood as an activity system in the preparation of candidates for inclusive practice and in relation to models of collaborative (blended) teacher education? methodology we conducted this instrumental case study (stake, 1995) to produce a rich analysis of a contemporary instance of early childhood collaborative preparation through an activity theory perspective (engeström, 1987; engeström, & miettinen, 1999). our examination centered on how participants interpreted and made meaning of their experiences within the program, which compelled a constructivist paradigm of research. in the following sections, we describe our conceptual framework, selection of a research site, and participants. details as to data collection and analysis follow. conceptual framework we applied a conceptual framework (see figure 1) to understand the program as a system and as an instance of collaborative teacher preparation. first, we utilized cultural-historical activity mickelson & hoppey 145 systems theory, or chat (engeström, 1987; engeström, & miettinen, 1999; yamagata-lynch, 2010), to conceptualize the program as a system through the examination of six interacting parameters of practice (i.e., subject, object/outcome, tools, rules, community, and division of labor). chat (engeström, 1987; engeström, & miettinen, 1999 ) holds that the subject of an activity system does not operate towards its object and outcome in isolation. rather, activity is mediated through tools (vygotsky, 1978) and influenced by the social context in which it occurs. zeichner and colleagues (2015) call for the application of tools such as chat, to help preparation programs interrogate challenges and invent solutions to better prepare teachers for contemporary contexts. second, a research framework for studying collaborative teacher education (pugach & blanton, 2009) was applied within the chat framework to understand the program specifically as an instance of collaborative preparation. the pugach and blanton (2009) framework suggests a continuum of collaboration in teacher preparation with three distinct levels: discrete, integrated, and merged. five program dimensions guide analysis and help delineate the three levels: (a) curricular coherence; (b) faculty collaboration; (c) depth of knowledge; (d) performance/ portfolio assessments; and (e) pk-12 partnerships. taken together, our conceptual framework supported analysis resulting in an analysis of the program of interest with a focus on its collaborative nature. figure 1 collaborative teacher education (pugach & blanton,2009) as an activity system (engestrom, 1987; 1999; yamagata-lynch, 2010) rules: formal or informal regulations that affect how the activity takes place to varying degrees object: goal or motive of the activity division of labor: how tasks are shared among the community subject: individual or groups of individuals involved in the activity early childhood teacher education program tools: social others and artifacts that can act as resources for the subject in the activity community: the social group that the subject belongs to while engaged in the activity outcome: the end result of the activity note. the teacher education program as depicted as a system through chat and activity systems analysis. the subject of the system is the teacher education program. that program can be understood as a system through examination of six interacting parameters of practice (i.e., subject, object/outcome, tools, rules, community, and division of labor). since this particular study is concerned with the function of a program from the perspective of collaboration teacher education, the five program dimensions derived from pugach and blanton (2009) are embedded as a lens through which to consider the parameters of practice. mickelson & hoppey 147 selection of a research site purposeful sampling (patton, 2015) was used to select a blended early childhood teacher education program. to qualify, a program had to (a) share coursework across early childhood education and early childhood special education; (b) be focused on promoting inclusive practice; and (c) possess graduates who were at minimum in their second year of professional work. the program selected is located at a public, state university in an urban area within the southwest region of the united states. expertise and professional standards from both early childhood education and early childhood special education (i.e., dec and naeyc) are employed in the design and enactment of the program. the program embraces a core philosophy of inclusive practice, which was evident in the program mission statement. given that the program originally adopted a blended design in the early 1990s, the presence of graduates in their second year of post-program employment was assured. participants participants included current faculty, teacher candidates, and recent graduates; pseudonyms are used throughout this article. one faculty member, emily, served as the primary research liaison for the study. emily helped recruit other participants through snowball sampling (patton, 2015) including mona, the only other full time faculty member, who serves as a clinical professor and practicum coordinator. christine and sue, two adjunct faculty members, also contributed significant knowledge of the program due to the duration and nature of their involvement. christine holds dual roles as an adjunct instructor and part time practicum co-coordinator. she is also a former graduate of the program. sue has served as an adjunct course instructor since the early 1990s. both christine and mona also serve as field supervisors to candidates and liaisons between the program and practicum sites. a retired faculty member, barbara, also participated and provided extensive historical knowledge of the original program design and enactment. current teacher candidates enrolled in the program and recent graduates were recruited via email by the first author. a total of ten current students initially expressed interest and six agreed to participate. a total of 38 individuals who graduated from the program in the three years leading up to the study were also contacted and seven participated. see table 1. data collection upon institutional review board (irb) approval, data collection was conducted by the first author over a ten-month period. the data were organized into a case record (patton, 2015) comprising broad categories of participant perceptions, researcher observation, and documents (see figure 2). throughout data collection, i honored the emergent design flexibility inherent to this interpretative study which allowed the inclusion of data not previously identified as relevance emerged. details as to the continuous development of a researcher reflexive journal and data collection of each category follow. all referenced data collection protocols are available by request. note. the case (i.e., the ei/ecse preparation program) is contextualized in the socio-cultural and sociopolitical historical and contemporary context. data are identified and organized to support investigation of the issue and research question. figure 2 the case diversifying educational contexts state and national licensing faculty, candidate, & graduate characteristics program, department, college and university contexts. history of ece and ecse teacher education dec/naeyc blended program accreditation standards teacher education standards/ standards-based reform context history of collaboration in teacher education faculty/ program meetings campusbased program delivery field-based components of program interviewees faculty current candidates recent graduates m is si on /v is io n pr og ra m o f s tu dy a cc re di ta tio n li ce ns in g m ee tin g m in ut es documents sy lla bi pr og ra m h an db oo ks issues: the movement toward collaborative or blended models of teacher education now has a significant history and continues to grow particularly at the early childhood level (author et al., 2021; pugach et al., 2011). yet, this movement lacks an empirical foundation informing the field as to how such programs can function as systems to represent and impact major reform of teacher education for both general and special education. in an effort to inform broader teacher education reform efforts, this study will describe and analyze how the design and enactment of a blended early childhood teacher education program functions as a system to promote its desired outcomes related to preparing teachers for inclusive practice. research question: how can a collaborative [blended] early childhood teacher education program be understood as a system in the preparation of candidates for inclusive practice? information needed: • documents related to program design, development, and enactment. • intentions, philosophies and assumptions driving design and enactment. • defining characteristics of program design and of program enactment. • characteristics of various stakeholders (faculty, candidates, graduates). • responsibilities of various stakeholders. • mission and vision statements. • rationale of program design, development, and enactment. • program & individual definitions of effective inclusive teaching (conception of required knowledge, skills, and dispositions). • program & individual definitions of collaborative teacher education. • perceptions of program design and enactment from participants (faculty, current candidates, graduates). • observational data of program delivery/enactment/ planning. • course selection, sequencing, formats, materials. • characteristics of field sites preferred and available for clinical aspects of the program. nature of relationships. • accreditation & licensing materials/documents. course delivery field sites observation mickelson & hoppey 149 researcher reflexive journal and positionality each element of the research process was carefully documented chronologically in a reflexive journal (janesick, 2011) which provided an audit trail (merriam, 2009). entries included condensed and expanded field notes (spradley, 1979; 1980) created during and as soon as possible after each interview, discussion, or observation. the continual reflexivity supported triangulated inquiry (patton, 2015) in relation to the research context including participant, researcher, and audience positionalities. the evolving iterative analysis recognized the first author as the research instrument (janesick, 2011; spradley, 1980). given this stance, the first author’s positionality provided a foundation from which to ground the work as her personal experiences influenced study design and implementation. specifically, she was the recipient of collaborative and interdisciplinary preparation as a preservice candidate. as a practitioner, she worked with diverse children and families as a teacher in inclusive preschool settings and as a part c special instructor and service coordinator across urban and rural settings. she has experience as a faculty member in early childhood education at both the associate and bachelor’s degree levels which informs her perspective on the preparation of both ece and ecse professionals. she has a particular interest in the preparation of early childhood professionals for the provision of meaningful, inclusive services for all young children and families. the second author served as a critical friend to the first author throughout the research process. scholars have advocated for using critical friends as part of research triangulation to validate their research data (coghlan & brydon-miller, 2014). as a critical friend in this study, the second author played an active and reciprocal role by asking critical questions, examining data, providing advice, and critiquing the research (costa and kallick, 1993). additionally, his positionality as a former special education teacher and district inclusion specialist, as well as currently serving as university faculty member with a research agenda centered on understanding, developing, and studying the outcomes of high quality, clinically rich, and collaborative teacher education models informed the research process. participant perceptions: interviews participant perceptions of the program design and enactment were obtained through formal interviews and informal communication. (see table 1). the interview process was guided by semistructured interview protocols derived from the pugach and blanton (2009) research framework, particularly the descriptions provided of the five program dimensions of collaborative models of teacher education. an interactive and conversational tone was adopted to produce knowledge regarding the case through the relationship and dialogue of the researcher and participants (brinkman & kvale, 2015). all interviews and focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed to transform the data for further analysis. formal follow up interviews coupled with ongoing informal communication and formal member checking (brantlinger et al., 2005) provided an opportunity to clarify interpretations and support ongoing researcher reflexivity. instrumental case study blended preparation 150 researcher observation for the purposes of this study, an “observer as participant” stance (merriam, 2009, p.124) was embraced to allow the observation of the program design and enactment to take precedence over any sort of participation. observation targets included an array of program components to assist in constructing thick descriptions of the program as a system including course delivery and observations at commonly used field sites. (see table 2). a semi-structured observation protocol was used to guide the data collection process during observations to capture elements relating to the five program dimensions of the pugach and blanton (2009) research framework. observations of three field sites (each 2 hours in length) identified by program faculty as representative of the most commonly utilized practicum settings were also conducted. site visits included observation of classrooms during instruction, guided tours of the facilities, and informal discussions with directors and other staff. debriefing conversations ensued with program faculty after each observation and contributed to expanded field notes. additionally, the delivery of two courses was observed on campus totaling 4 hours (2 hours each course). the was supplemented with review of course syllabi and online platforms. documents documents particularly relevant to overall program function (e.g., design, enactment) and collaboration (e.g., across ece and ecse, as well as with field sites) were targeted with a total of 87 documents selected for review. included were course syllabi; online course shells; the program student handbook, the program practicum handbook, practicum supervision agreement; practicum observation protocol; program marketing materials; published articles related to the original program; program meeting minutes; faculty workload documentation; faculty and adjunct faculty curriculum vitae; programs of study; state licensure standards; public materials regarding the early childhood education context within which the university functions (i.e., state early learning framework, state early learning professional development plan, state early intervention program brochure); and student exit surveys. all documents acquired were either available to the public or made available to the researcher. data analysis data analysis commenced concurrently with data collection in the form of condensed and expanded field notes. this approach allowed for continuous data collection, member checking, and analysis (brantlinger et al., 2005; kvale & brinkman 2015; patton, 2015). interview transcripts, field notes, and completed observation protocols were transferred to atlas.ti® to assist in data management and further analysis using the constant comparative method until saturation had been reached as evidenced by the confirmation of data and patterns coupled with the absence of novel insight into the analysis as more data were obtained (corbin & strauss, 2008). analysis was conducted deductively using the conceptual framework as an analytical guide to provide structure to the emerging description (wolcott, 1994). open and descriptive coding (saldana, 2021; wolcott, 1994) was initially used to generate preliminary codes, which were further analyzed into categories using focused and structural coding to apply the analytical framework (i.e., the conceptual framework) (saldana, 2021; wolcott, 1994; mickelson & hoppey 151 yamagata-lynch, 2010). this supported the organization of the data corpus according to the parameters of practice derived from chat as well as the five program dimensions from pugach and blanton (2009) to generate a thick description of the program as a system of collaborative teacher education. categories from the initial coding process that did not initially appear to align with the elements of the framework were investigated further as potential additional parameters or dimensions. we then applied axial and selective coding to extend analysis (wolcott, 1994; yamagata-lynch, 2010). analytical memos (saldana, 2021) were developed throughout the coding processes as a means of extending the researcher’s reflective journal process and assuring the inclusion of all data in the overall analysis. credibility and trustworthiness the researcher’s reflexive journal served as an audit trail (merriam, 2009), and documented the application of the analytical framework (wolcott, 1994). credibility and trustworthiness were addressed through the use of source (observations, interviews, documents) and stakeholder (faculty, current students, graduates) triangulation (fontana & frey, 2005). these strategies also provided a means to search for alternative explanations (merriam, 2009) and disconfirming evidence (patton, 2015). finally, emerging descriptions of the program were continually shared with participants to solicit feedback, clarify, expand, and correct any inconsistencies or inaccuracies. a final description of key tenets and characteristics of the program was emailed to all program faculty who had participated to garner further feedback. collectively, these member checks helped confirm trustworthiness of the data and analysis ensuring results reflected participant perspectives accurately (brantlinger et al., 2005; glesne, 2011; patton, 2015). findings by developing analytic descriptions of each of the parameters of practice within the program as an activity system (engeström, 1987; engeström, & miettinen, 1999; yamagata-lynch, 2010) through the lens of collaborative teacher education program dimensions (pugach & blanton, 2009), an analysis of the program as a system was generated. we first provide an empirical description of the program as an activity system by detailing our analysis of the parameters of subject, object, outcome, tools, rules, community, and division of labor. second, we provide our analysis of that system from the perspective of collaborative teacher preparation using the collaborative program dimensions posited by pugach and blanton (2009). according to activity system theory, tensions and harmonies develop throughout the system as the various parameters interact. therefore, we probe elements of harmony and tension per activity theory and highlight the program’s key tenets and characteristics most salient to the collaborative approach to preparation. instrumental case study blended preparation 152 the program as an activity system the program as the subject of the activity system per activity theory (engeström, 1987; engeström, & miettinen, 1999; yamagata-lynch, 2010), the subject of a system is defined as the individual, the group of individuals, or the organization involved in the activity; in this case, the preservice preparation program. interviews with faculty indicated the program has been regarded as a collaborative model since the early 1990s. retired professor, barbara, stated the original rationale for developing a collaborative program stemmed from national calls to blend the fields of early childhood education and special education in response to the 1986 reauthorization of idea. barbara also shared additional factors including state licensure changes and recommendations from national professional organizations, namely cec/dec and naeyc, for developing blended programs. more of the early childhood preschool programs [in the community] were becoming inclusive. our early childhood program offered a license in ecse and a masters in ece. that combination made them strong leaders in the field…change agents...leaders in the community. many were the administrators of these inclusive settings and so they needed both perspectives to make it work. so our program was responding to a need that the the community had for professionals who knew both fields very well. review of the program handbook revealed the philosophical foundation of the program uses key literature from both fields to inform five fundamental and guiding program tenets, namely that early childhood education should: (a) be viewed from an ecological perspective, (b) be inclusive, (c) be family centered, (d) utilize collaboration and interpersonal skills, and (e) be culturally responsive. (student handbook, n.d., p. 5). the program offers a variety of degree/licensure options that represent both fields: master of arts (ma) in ece only, ecse license only, ecse endorsement only, ma in ece and licensure in ecse; and ma in ece and endorsement in ecse. document analysis of the associated programs of study, coupled with interview data confirmed the presence of six core courses that are common to all candidates and designed to include knowledge, skills, and dispositions from both fields. the object and outcome of the activity system the object within an activity system is the goal or motive of the activity while the outcome is the end result (engeström, 1987; engeström, & miettinen, 1999; yamagata-lynch, 2010). in this program, the general object is the preparation of early childhood educators. the assumptions and philosophies embraced by the program are evident in the program mission and philosophy statements. barbara asserted that the original program mission focused on “preparation of leaders who could act as change agents” to develop and sustain more and higher quality inclusion for young children. the current program mission is, to prepare early childhood professional leaders with the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of young children and their families within a rapidly changing and diverse society. mickelson & hoppey 153 our program aims to foster leaders who share a commitment to equity and excellence and an understanding of the strengths and needs of a diverse student population in order to optimize developmental, academic, and behavioral outcomes for children with and without disabilities from birth to age 8 (student handbook, p. 4). the focus on preparing leaders has been sustained over time. mona stressed that “every mission statement [they’ve] had for i don't know how long has always talked about the fact that we are preparing leaders because we are a graduate program.” while inclusion is not an explicit component, the statement illustrates a desire for candidates to demonstrate understanding of the strengths and needs of children with and without disabilities. further, emily and mona indicated that an attitude and philosophy of inclusion has been a sustained, core element of this program. mona specified that the program has historically focused on preparing candidates “across the two fields to work with diverse populations of children with and without disabilities.” the program’s commitment to preparing candidates to address issues of diversity in a “rapidly changing and diverse society” is also evident. faculty interviews coupled with document analysis revealed that the mission statement was derived from a conceptual framework that explicitly draws from the theoretical foundations of both ece (i.e., developmentally appropriate practice) and the ei/ecse (i.e., evidence-based practice). the student handbook includes the following description, the ece program is grounded in a sound theoretical basis and a commitment to developmentally appropriate, evidence-based practices. the ece specialization combines a theoretical, research, and clinical base from fields such as early childhood education, psychology, communication disorders and sciences, medicine, sociology, and special education (p. 4, emphasis added). also evident is the focus on combining interdisciplinary perspectives in the foundation of the program. in terms of outcome, the program graduates approximately 20 candidates each year with approximately 70% pursuing the dual program option: master’s degree in ece and ecse license or endorsement. emily described the primary professional role or identity for graduates was that of an “inclusive classroom teacher or ecse specialist.” she further explained that the graduate level status of the program afforded graduates opportunities to pursue consultative/itinerant roles as well as administrative/leadership roles "out of the classroom." document analysis of program records pertaining to employment outcomes of graduates (n=56) over the three years prior to this study indicated professional roles in a variety of early childhood settings including school district ecse positions, lead and master teachers in community preschool programs, community college instructors, early intervention providers, clinicians, coach and specialist positions, and directors or other administrators of early childhood education/childcare centers. our analysis revealed that of the 56 candidates who completed the program in the three years leading up to this study, the majority [n=52, (93%)] work full time in early intervention and/or early childhood special education (ei/ecse) roles. the next most instrumental case study blended preparation 154 common outcome is that of lead teachers in inclusive preschool classrooms serving children with disabilities who are identified as “high-risk” [n=18, (32%)]. the tools, community, rules, and division of labor within the activity system. within an activity system, activity is mediated through tools (vygotsky,1978) and influenced by the social context including the parameters of community, rules, and division of labor (engeström, 1987). tools tools include the social others and artifacts that can act as resources for the subject during the activity (engeström, 1987; engeström, & miettinen, 1999; yamagata-lynch, 2010). while preparation programs employ a wide range of tools, our analysis focused on those most salient to our description of this program’s function as a system and collaborative design: course syllabi, assignments, and performance-based assessments (pbas). faculty interviews and document analysis of syllabi indicated that assignments are strategically placed throughout the program to provide early knowledge and skill development leading up to full implementation and demonstration of proficiency through pbas which are embedded in practicum. mona described the developmental intention of this structure as, during courses they do assignments that rather mirror the types of things they will be doing in practicum, but in practicum they're implementing things under supervision whereas in classes sometimes they are just either planning or maybe not implementing. emily shared the pbas had been developed by a team of program faculty, exemplary graduates currently working in a variety of early childhood settings and roles, practicum supervisors, and employers of graduates. she also indicated that the pbas were designed to demonstrate candidate knowledge, skills, and dispositions in order to meet cec/dec preparation standards and state ei/ecse licensure requirements. at the time of this study, the program included seven pbas covering a range of topics including: assessment, challenging behavior, curriculum, intervention, literacy, mathematics, primary literacy, primary mathematics, and professional practice. analysis of course syllabi coupled with communication with program faculty helped in analysis of pba enactment in relation to blended course content. we present one example from a course syllabus focused on social competence and classroom supports. the course description states, the primary focus of this course is the cognitive and social development of infants and young children, and problems that may occur during the process. equally emphasized are prevention, positive behavior support, and intervention approaches for children birth to eight. knowledge, skills, and competencies related to working with children with behavioral challenges will be emphasized. there will be a focus on the practical application of intervention strategies based on current research. this class will focus on the implementation of evidence-based strategies (course syllabus, p.1). mickelson & hoppey 155 while findings related to the espoused program indicated the faculty participants perceive aspects of blended content across all courses, this course description and the pba completed in this course ( i.e., students conduct a functional behavior assessment (fba) and develop a behavior intervention plan (bip) reflect a primary focus on special education content. in contrast, an interview with sue revealed how a different course appears to demonstrate a more balanced approach to ece and ei/ecse content when preparing candidates to meet the diverse needs of all children pertaining to language and literacy. i think that in the specific coursework that i teach, like language and literacy, that we really try to make the point that every child is coming from a culture...that every child is unique and diverse ...that every child and family is going to be coming from their own life ways, their own values, beliefs and that part of teaching is building that relationship with families...whether the child has an identified special need or a challenge in communication or challenge because they were born with down syndrome or a challenge because they have cp or because they're also a dual language learner coming from a lower ses status. there are many factors that are involved...and so i see it as diversity in its broadest sense. but at the same time teachers really need to understand specific developmental challenges that can interfere with the child's growth and development but in the context of that family. looking across the programs of study, analysis suggests a relative balance of ece and ei/ecse content, yet not within each individual course. rather, special education content appeared concentrated in particular courses. those courses in turn had limited ece content as illustrated in the example above. community the parameter of community represents the social group that the subject belongs to while engaged in the activity (yamagata-lynch, 2010). the university that houses this program is a large research university located in the southwest region of the united states. it serves a diverse, non-traditional student population with more than one-third of undergraduates being first generation college students, one-third being students of color, and a robust number of international students (university website, 2023). the program is a graduate level preservice program situated within a college of education and human development that also offers elementary and secondary general and special education programs. the university does not offer undergraduate programs in ece or ei/ecse. the program combines traditional evening and weekend face-to-face classes with online instruction to support candidates who are currently working. at any given time, the program has approximately 170 candidates. each semester there are approximately 30 -35 candidates in the four practica, and lecture courses were observed to include approximately 25-30 candidates each. at the time of this study, the program consisted of two full-time program faculty, six adjunct faculty, nine field supervisors, and a network of practitioners and administrators across field sites. current faculty instrumental case study blended preparation 156 expertise and experience includes interdisciplinary roles of ece, ei/ecse, occupational therapy (ot), and speech language pathology (slp). the community surrounding the university can be characterized as a large, urban metropolitan area with a rapidly diversifying population. interviews with faculty indicated that ideal practicum sites would “demonstrate quality inclusion as well as evidence-based practice.” specifically, emily added settings should represent co-taught, inclusive classrooms, roles as inclusive specialists, coaches, or consultants, authentic transdisciplinary team experiences, and opportunities to engage in family coaching. however, emily and mona both shared that few such examples existed in the program’s community. researcher observations of three commonly used practicum sites and interviews with participants confirmed this description. while all three sites described themselves as inclusive, two of the three included unnatural proportions of approximately 50% children with disabilities and 50% without. all were center-based community early childhood programs serving toddlers through preschool. one site also provided kindergarten through its association with a public school district. the interactions between candidates, their cooperating teachers, and field supervisors are also important aspects of community within the program as a system. while some candidates and graduates shared negative relationships with cooperating teachers, most described relationships with their cooperating teachers and supervising faculty as supportive and positive. overall, analysis revealed a mixed picture of these interactions and relationships. for example, one current candidate reflected: the field supervisor came once at the beginning of my practicum and she was very available by email to answer my questions but she did not come to observe me when she was supposed to at the end, and when she did come, she came late so she didn’t see me when she was supposed to. my cooperating teacher had supervised some other people before and she was fantastic, but the field supervisor didn’t do her job very well. a graduate of the program also highlighted the perceived variability of support when she stated, my cooperating teachers were graduates of the program and were really good. that was great. mona was my field supervisor for two practica, but then i had another field supervisor who didn’t show up for our meeting. finally, the program’s community also includes an advisory board made up of various members including families of children with and without disabilities, professionals from community early childhood programs, ece and/or ei/ecse coordinators from school districts, graduates, and adjunct faculty. mona and emily both shared that the perspectives of these various partners are highly valued and used to continually improve the program. rules rules in an activity system are formal or informal regulations that affect how the activity takes place (yamagata-lynch, 2010). examples for teacher education include local, state, and national mickelson & hoppey 157 policies, licensure regulations, and professional standards. preparation standards and licensing regulations are particularly relevant to this study. only one discipline (ecse) is represented in the licensure structure of this program, yet, faculty indicated that personnel preparation standards from both fields are addressed in the program design. however, the pbas which were described as the primary form of candidate performance assessment are based solely on ei/ecse standards and therefore not directly reflective of ece. therefore, alignment to ece standards, namely naeyc standards, is conceptual rather than explicit and the program is not held accountable for ensuring those standards are met. division of labor finally, division of labor examines how tasks are shared among the members of the community (yamagata-lynch, 2010). the two full time program faculty are jointly responsible for the coordination, administration, and delivery of the program. as the only tenure-line faculty member within the program, emily is designated as the program coordinator while mona, a clinical faculty member, takes on the responsibility of the practicum coordinator. both faculty teach classes and advise candidates, albeit both shared that these tasks tend to be delegated according to professional designations of ece (mona) and ei/ecse (emily). analysis of the system as an instance of collaborative teacher education: elements of harmony and tension to complete the analysis and contextualization of the program in the analytical framework (wolcott, 1994), we analyzed the program’s function as an instance of collaborative teacher education. specifically, we focused on elements of harmony and tension in relation to the dimensions of collaborative teacher education: (a) curricular coherence; (b) faculty collaboration; (c) depth of knowledge; (d) performance/ portfolio assessments; and (e) pk-12 partnerships (pugach & blanton, 2009). finally, we classify the program according to the continuum of collaborative teacher education (blanton & pugach, 2011). our conceptual framework helped us investigate the intersection of these dimensions with the parameters of chat. in particular, tools, members of the social community, and artifacts that can act as resources for the subject during the activity and cultural tools, tools that become highly valued through continued and evolving use in relation to the program’s espoused object (engeström, 1987; engeström, & miettinen, 1999; yamagata-lynch, 2010) were useful in identifying aspects of harmony and tension to understand the program as an instance of collaborative teacher education. curricular coherence several examples of harmony in relation to collaborative teacher education and the program design were observed. indeed, the most salient cultural tool for this program emerged as the core set of courses that exist across all plan of study options. examination of these core course syllabi combined with faculty interviews and informal conversations illustrated ways the program seeks to blend content from both the ece and ecse perspectives. the program’s core philosophies were instrumental case study blended preparation 158 also observed to be indicative of programmatic efforts to blend the two fields. faculty felt strongly that curricular coherence was promoted by embedding the identified core philosophies in every class. faculty descriptions of how the program addressed diversity also illuminated aspects of harmony between the program and collaborative teacher education. examples illustrated how attention to diversity as a means to enact blended content reflected broader definitions of diversity which when embraced can promote inclusion as a broad, shared equity agenda (author et al., 2020). our analysis also revealed that the use of strategically sequenced and scaffolded learning activities. (i.e., pbas) showed promise as cultural tools yet represented both harmony and tension for the activity system. learning activities relating to preparing candidates to demonstrate proficiency of knowledge and skills through the pbas were indeed observed to be infused throughout coursework supporting coherence through the use of practical, authentic, and developmental learning opportunities (darling-hammond, 2006; pugach & blanton, 2009). further, results indicated coherence between the program’s mission and observed graduate outcomes which suggests harmony in relation to espoused and realized outcomes. however, the singular focus on ei/ecse in the pbas limits the strength of the collaborative design. the distinct separation of the majority of the ei/ecse content from the core program also signals a philosophical separation even if not intended. additionally, due to the single license option, the program was only accountable for actual adherence to ei/ecse standards putting the coherence across ece and ei/ecse curricular content at risk. further, participants pointed to a strong focus on preparation for the role of classroom teacher and more sufficient preparation for ece roles than that of ei/ecse. this presents significant tension in the activity system when compared to graduate outcomes that reveal that many of the graduates are in non-classroom ei/ecse roles. implications for practice are illuminated, not just for blended approaches, but for all early childhood preparation. similar to what has been reported in the literature, considerations of adequate preparation to ensure graduates are positioned to effectively work across the wide range of settings, roles, and responsibilities must be addressed in program design and implementation. faculty collaboration the historical literature has identified an interdisciplinary faculty team as a core element of blended teacher preparation (miller & stayton, 2006) and the degree to which faculty engage in collaboration in terms of frequency and purpose of shared work helps characterize the nature of the collaborative model (pugach & blanton, 2009). analysis of the program dimension of community through review of faculty vitae coupled with interview data revealed a shared value in the interdisciplinary nature of the program faculty and an example of harmony within the system and in relation to collaborative preparation. while data suggest that the initial program design and implementation was marked by a high level of interdisciplinary practice, faculty collaboration is limited in the current program representing tension in its efforts to enact the espoused object. while the entire team of faculty, adjunct faculty, and field supervisors represents interdisciplinary expertise and experience, each individual operates relatively independently and the entire team mickelson & hoppey 159 rarely if ever meets. this tension in the system compromises efforts to ensure curricular cohesion across all elements of the program or to engage in critical analysis about the purpose and nature of the collaborative nature of the program. this subsequently limits the ability of the team to engage in interdisciplinary implementation of the program or continuous program review; both of which have been touted as instrumental to collaborative approaches (pugach & blanton, 2009; miller & stayton, 2006). administration support, another important element recognized as a component of successful blended preparation (miller & stayton, 2006), for the original program development was described as “supportive” by barbara. currently, faculty described the program’s relationship with the department and college administration as neutral with positive and negative elements representing both harmony and tension within the system in relation to its collaborative design. mona shared, “i don’t think there are really any barriers at the school of education college level. i wouldn't say we get tons of support either, we're pretty independent.” emily added that the program’s independence can, “be good but also can be a barrier. since we are so independent and unique in many ways we are sometimes either ignored, or put with certain groups, or given requirements that don't make a lot of sense as a program.” depth of knowledge a central issue for collaborative models is related to what constitutes the respective expertise for general and for special educators (blanton & pugach, 2011) and demarcation as to how the knowledge of special educators is distinguished from the role and work of general educators (pugach & blanton, 2009). while the core program of study is reflective of both fields and completed by all candidates regardless of plan of study option, the program has designated courses that are specific to, and only for, candidates pursuing ei/ecse licensure. it can be argued that the shared coursework represents what is seen as crucial expertise for ece, while the additional courses are seen as ei/ecse specific expertise beyond that which early childhood general educators need to know and be able to do. this demonstrates the program’s acknowledgement of a distinct and value-added role for special education, with specialized knowledge and skills (blanton & pugach, 2011). faculty indicated the program best prepares candidates for two discrete roles, that of an inclusive classroom teacher/leader or an ei/ecse specialist. four of the six current candidates reported feeling that the role of ece classroom teacher dominated their preparation. for example, one candidate shared, “i would say the [ece] classroom is the main one and then the ecse consult is the second.” blanton and pugach (2011) state that another central issue related to depth of knowledge is whether there is sufficient program space to fully address all aspects seen as necessary for preparation in the two fields. the graduate level nature of this program appears to pose a significant issue as it does not afford the same curricular space as an undergraduate program. further, this program serves as both an initial licensure program and as an endorsement program. therefore, some candidates enter the program with little to no experience serving young children and families, or pedagogical training to do so. this presents a challenge for faculty to adequately prepare instrumental case study blended preparation 160 candidates for teaching in general, not to mention for both ece and ei/ecse. collectively, these issues represent areas of tension within the system in relation to the program aims and its actual capacity to enact those aims in relation to its blended approach. performance/portfolio assessments the design of candidate performance assessments illuminates the level of collaboration in a program as it reflects how faculty consider the relationship between special and general education (blanton & pugach, 2011). blanton and pugach (2011) assert that redesigning preservice teacher education as collaborative models necessitates reconsideration of performance assessments with particular attention to what constitutes adequate or appropriate depth of knowledge from each field. results of our analysis indicate that pbas are a strong feature and highly valued component of this program. faculty expressed that these learning experiences promote a developmental pathway culminating in the demonstration of proficiency through completion of the pbas in practicum settings. however, while all candidates experience these related learning activities, only those pursuing the ei/ecse licensure complete the actual pbas, significantly limiting the ability of the pbas to support a collaborative approach to preparation for all candidates. further, this suggests faculty maintain a mindset of separate ece and ei/ecse preparation. pk-12 partnerships according to pugach and blanton (2009), the parameter of pk-12 partnerships relates to how preservice programs work with pk-12 partners to build capacity and develop high quality field sites in the schools. faculty participants described the local inclusive ece context as of variable quality but also marked by increased quantity and quality of inclusive options for children, marking harmony and tension for the system. often inclusion is defined regionally by the mere presence of children with and without disabilities in the same setting and proportions of children with disabilities are often higher than would naturally occur. thereby limiting the program to sites that did not share the program’s definition of inclusion. the challenges reported by faculty in this study regarding securing and collaborating with field sites reveal significant tension regarding the program’s ability to provide adequate field experiences across the full range of the early childhood context; thereby compromising the blended approach. mona shared that, “finding practicum placements is a continuously evolving process” as relationships can be unreliable due to field practitioners’ own issues with capacity and perceptions of their responsibility related to supporting candidates. mona expressed that the availability of appropriate settings is, “a little bit sketchy” noting that, “it really depends on who the principals and special educators are.” further, she described inconsistencies that complicate relationships such as when “we might have a longstanding relationship with a particular site, with a particular school within a district, and if they have a change in principal or change in special educator then all of a sudden they are not willing to take students.” interviews with christine, adjunct instructor and co-coordinator of practica, illuminated additional difficulties in the process of finding and supporting field placements. she stated the program, “isn’t using the role of the field supervisor effectively.” she also indicated that resource allotment for practicum supervision is a significant factor in the nature of the university-field structure and mickelson & hoppey 161 relationships. cooperating teachers received stipends in the past. however, the university is no longer supporting that form of compensation as they “have a hard time reimbursing (mileage for) cooperating teachers…so to require that a cooperating teacher does more, which is really what i think probably needs to happen, how do you justify it?” data across participants also illustrated that the program has significant challenges securing practicum experiences for special education roles with birth to three-year-old children and primary sites (grades 1 – 3) is an additional area of challenge. christine shared, “programs that implement part c pulled back a lot from us a few years ago. i think they were feeling stretched, underresourced.” therefore, the capacity of the program to prepare candidates for professional roles as early intervention providers is significantly reduced. indeed, one graduate shared, i didn’t actually get really to do any home-type things. there were definitely bits and pieces talked about throughout our courses, what that might look like, but i did not get to experience or shadow anybody doing that. therefore, i am not as confident in that area. in contrast, the program’s relationships with preschool settings were described by mona as relatively “solid” with “ongoing, steady relationships” with several school districts that continually welcome candidates. she expressed value in this continuity as she shared that “the students that are placed in those districts and specifically with cooperating teachers who have had previous students have better experiences because the cooperating teachers get better at it the more students they host.” however, faculty shared that few sites align with the program’s ideals regarding best practices around inclusion and evidence-based practice, representing additional tension by limiting the program’s ability to enact its espoused collaborative design. despite the value in the advisory board, mona shared that it has not been convened in recent years due to limited time and resources. while the existence and value in this aspect of community represents potential harmony in the system, this fact presents significant tension. of particular importance related to collaborative preparation, program and adjunct faculty expressed hesitancy to challenge practice at field sites out of fear of losing practicum placements for candidates. therefore, critical examination of field sites and discourse around issues is avoided creating tension related to candidates’ support and space within the program to critically analyze practice. this represents an unfulfilled promise of the collaborative design and its object of producing leaders who in turn facilitate systems change toward inclusion. taken together, these descriptions illustrate the relationship between the field supervisors, sites, and candidates is marked by a limited level of interaction and therefore potentially limited ability to impact candidate learning or enact the blended model of the program. overarching analysis: the collaborative nature of the program we compared our complete analysis to the indicators for the three models of collaborative preparation: discrete, integrated, and merged (blanton & pugach, 2011; pugach & blanton, 2009). the program is best classified as an integrated model as it demonstrates acknowledgment that there is a “distinct and value-added role for special educators – a role that requires specialized knowledge and skills beyond what every teacher should know and be able to do” (blanton & instrumental case study blended preparation 162 pugach, 2011, p. 225). the core assumption of integrated models is that the redesign of both general and special education programs can link and integrate curricula to better prepare all teachers by providing a solid foundation for teaching all children. alignment with the integrated model was further evident in that the program adheres to aspects outlined in the typology of collaborative models for integrated models (blanton & pugach, 2011). for example, ece and ei/ecse teacher candidates study together for much of their initial preparation. common assessments exist in both areas (i.e., special and general) based on the portions of the program students complete together in the form of embedded learning activities. however, the classification of this program as an integrated model of collaborative teacher education is not without question. this particular program is a solo program offering a degree in one field (ece) and a license in the other (ei/ecse). therefore, coordination across different programs is not necessary. however, the single program design aligns somewhat with the original definition for blended early childhood preparation (miller & stayton, 1998). additionally, significant issues were identified related to the level of actual collaboration and interdisciplinary work within the program and between the program and field sites. these compromise the classification of the program as data pointed to a culture of delegation along disciplinary identities. this reality affords little opportunity for faculty to collaborate not to mention for candidates to observe or practice blended knowledge and skills. however, data in this study also point to clear and intentional coordination across the various program outcome options. limitations prolonged field engagement is seen as necessary to produce a rich description of the case (brantlinger et al., 2005; patton, 2015; stake, 1995). while the data generation period spanned ten months, the on-site observation period was limited to two weeks. this potential limitation was addressed through careful attention to issues of credibility, ongoing member validation as data generation and analysis ensued, attention to the audit trail, and triangulation strategies. further, extensive conversations with the faculty liaison and interaction with the collection of documents occurring for months prior to the on-site period supported preliminary data analysis and informed the on-site data collection. during the on-site data generation, the presence and purpose of the researcher was known to participants which may have influenced the activities observed. care was taken to establish rapport and attend to relationships (spradley, 1979) throughout the study, which afforded an opportunity to stay vigilant of issues of emic and etic perspectives and to collaborate with the participants as co-researchers (patton, 2015). emily served as the primary conduit through which access to the program was obtained and therefore as a gatekeeper (wanat, 2008) making it possible that access to data was influenced by her perspectives. the selected data types and collection strategies also pose limitations. interviews can lead to distortions of the data due to participant bias, researcher bias, anxiety, or politics (patton, 2015). observations provided a comparison to look for consistency and credibility of interview data through triangulation as described above but were likely influenced by the presence of the researcher. documents also provided a means for triangulating data, but may have been inaccurate or incomplete (merriam, 2009; patton, 2015). mickelson & hoppey 163 throughout, participant involvement in selection and triangulation across data types and sources assisted in addressing and minimizing these limitations. discussion and implications for some time now, policy recommendations have included an increased focus on the importance of adequately preparing all teachers to work with diverse children in inclusive contexts [i.e., blanton, et al., 2011; ncate blue ribbon report, 2010; power to the profession task force (ptp), 2020]. at the early childhood level, the longstanding movement to unify the fields of early childhood education and early childhood special education in pursuit of this outcome has a 30year history (author et al., 2022; miller, 1992; odom & wolery, 2003). increasing collaboration between dec and naeyc has resulted in joint position statements on inclusion and personnel preparation standards (dec/naeyc, 2009; dec, 2022) as well as formal alignments of the ece and ei/ecse personnel preparation standards (chandler et al., 2012; ecpc, 2020a). some licensing structures have also been observed to show support for blended or unified certifications in pursuit of adequately preparing early childhood teachers for inclusion (author et al., 2022; author, 2015; piper, 2007). for example, in 2020, the division of early childhood (dec) and the early childhood personnel center (ecpc) partnered to convene a think tank of experts focused on blended preparation. the resulting recommendations included a call for resources to support blended programs including a definition and case studies illustrating quality indicators (ecpc, 2020). moreover, the shifting policy landscape has necessitated that teacher education embrace the integration of diverse perspectives through interdisciplinary partnerships (hestenes et al., 2009; ptp, 2020; stayton, 2015). increasing levels of diversity within ethnic, linguistic, economic, and family circumstances continue to alter the demographics of children and families with whom educators practice (federal interagency forum on child and family statistics, 2020). subsequently, contemporary conceptions of inclusion have evolved beyond traditional, restrictive definitions (baglieri et al., 2011) to focus on “a broad, shared equity agenda designed to assure educational success for every group of marginalized learners” (author et al., 2020, p. 86). implications this case study produced a rich description of one contemporary program’s parameters of practice as they relate to dimensions of collaborative teacher education in its effort to design a program to effectively prepare inclusive teachers; something that was previously lacking in the literature base. this dearth of research is in itself an important implication, and this study illuminates the urgent need for research, understanding, and guidance for early childhood educator preparation, particularly for programs and faculty who aspire to design and enact a blended approach particularly given the advocacy for blended models by professional organizations and leaders in the field. specifically, implications for research garnered here include: (1) understanding contemporary collaborative models of teacher education; and (2) consideration of appropriate depth and breadth for blended programs. instrumental case study blended preparation 164 understanding contemporary collaborative models of teacher education the need for greater understanding and clarity regarding collaborative models of teacher education has been clearly established (author et al., 2022; blanton & pugach, 2011; dec, 2022). as the practice continues to become more prevalent, the field remains marked by vast differences in practice and terminology. this study provides an empirical analysis of one contemporary blended program and invites future similar research so the field can highlight the varied interpretations of the approach through comparative analyses. the application of common conceptual frameworks as analytic frames (wolcott, 1994), such as the application of the pugach/blanton (2009) research framework, can provide a means to engage in comparative analysis to examine common program dimensions. as noted by zeichner and colleagues (2015), methodology such as chat may prove particularly useful. the generation of a database of comprehensive studies could support the field in understanding the relative worth, utility, and effectiveness of collaborative preparation (brownell et al., 2011). our results also offer a program-wide analysis of systemic collaboration which is missing in the literature to date. while more program wide studies such as this one are sorely needed, more indepth analysis of collaborative program dimensions (pugach & blanton, 2009) and parameters of practice pertaining to programs as activity systems (engeström, 1987) are also in great need. importantly, investigation of cultural tools specific to collaborative or blended models could help the field identify signature pedagogies (shulman, 2005), descriptive identifiers, and quality indicators for blended approaches. pugach and blanton (2011) specify that collaborative teacher preparation must examine how the relationship between special and general education translates into pedagogies that are viewed as ‘‘good teaching’ for every child. finally, to truly validate and understand the impact of collaborative models of teacher education, longitudinal studies are also needed. foci of such longitudinal inquiry may include: (a) maintenance of programs; (b) graduate and child/family outcomes, and (c) systems change. consideration of appropriate breadth and depth for blended programs our findings suggest this program continuously struggles to provide balanced learning opportunities across various aspects of ece/ei/ecse including the three distinct age ranges, the professional roles and responsibilities associated with ece and ei/ecse, and issues of diversity and equity. this aligns with the historical literature (author et al., 2022, 2023; miller & stayton, 1998; 2006; piper, 2007; stayton, 2015) suggesting stagnancy and continued need since the inception of blended approaches. brownell et al (2011) called for research into collaborative teacher education to identify the characteristics of collaborative models of teacher education and how efforts relate to quality inclusive practice. as the field continues to explore blended approaches, it is important to consider the breadth and depth individual collaborative teacher education programs can be expected to achieve. given that the initial movement toward blended models focused on inclusion as defined by children with and without disabilities, examination of the future purpose of blended preparation must investigate how the approach can be reconceptualized to adequately prepare candidates for interdisciplinary work in diverse settings and employ a broader definition of inclusion. mickelson & hoppey 165 our findings also support the notion that consideration for breadth and depth of individual programs hinges strongly of various state licensure policy and requirements. at this time, only 8 states offer an ei/ecse blended licensure option (author, under review). this forces programs that aspire to enact a blended approach to pursue dual licensure options or focus solely on one license. our findings suggest that a singular license removes accountability which may lead to failure to fully address all standards. yet, attempts to pursue dual licensure add extra burden to program faculty. while acknowledging these challenges, dec recommends that all programs, regardless of licensure, align programs to both the ece and ei/ecse preparation standards (dec, 2022). crosswalks or alignments of the respective standards have been developed to support faculty through this process (dec/ecpc, 2020). what may be of greatest importance for the future of blended approaches to preparation is examination as to why initial and historical reform efforts have not produced change in educational settings for young children and in regards to professional roles and identities. the reconceptualization of roles and responsibilities must be at the forefront and may support interdisciplinary practice by helping the field shift from viewing professionals as “sole guardians of exclusive sets of knowledge” (edwards, 2010, p. 1). without direct renegotiation of roles, responsibilities, and relationships coupled with explicit attention to preparation of candidates to succeed in multiple, reconceptualized roles, the promise and original intentions of early childhood collaborative models of teacher education remain 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such differences among head start (hs) staff in terms of health and wellness. the purpose of the study was to compare physical health indicators from a louisiana hs sample to a previously published data set of pennsylvania hs staff (whitaker et al., 2013). we surveyed a predominately black (85.6%) group of hs teachers (n = 195) using a modified questionnaire developed by a pennsylvania research team. the responses were analyzed against a national reference and pennsylvania group of hs teachers (whitaker et al., 2013). results indicated that hs teachers have a higher prevalence of health-related problems than the national sample. however, our sample of black teachers in hs start classrooms experienced worse physical health than white women with similar characteristics (age, marital status). these results have profound implications regarding health disparities and the physical well-being of hs teachers. keywords: head start; racial disparities; health outcomes; louisiana head start head start (hs) is the largest, federally funded program among early childhood education programs in the united states. hs was established in 1965 to promote school readiness in children from low-income families (bergeron, 2020). as of 2020, hs's 10.6 billion dollar budget provided educational, nutritional, and social services to one million children preschool-aged children (3-5 years of age) and their families who live in underserved communities across the united states (stage, et al., 2020; bergeron, 2020). nationwide, hs employs around 1, 436, 008 teachers; the vast majority are women (bergeron, 2020). research article 52 blancher et al. preschool teacher health and wellness while the benefits of early childhood education have been well documented, there is less clear research being done on the educators who deliver services to young children. there is a paucity of research in terms of preschooler teacher well-being, both from a physical and emotional perspective. preschool teachers are fundamental to the development of young children, as their actions have direct implications on the children they serve (locasale-counch et al., 2007). in a review of the literature pertaining to preschool teacher well-being, the field of published research was described as "deeply fragmented", "narrow", and "limited" (hall-kenyon et al., 2013). although there has been a national emphasis on improving the quality of educational experiences for children in underserved populations, it is important to understand the characteristics of the individuals educating this population. preschool teachers are fundamental in the developmental of young children, and their mental health can directly impact the children they work with. for example, previous research found that teachers who have struggled with depression were more likely to request that students be expelled from the preschool environment (silver & zinsser, 2020). when hs teachers do not have access to specific interventions such as institutional support or social-emotional support, they are more likely to report burnout (sandilos et al., 2020). a lack of job control, poor relationships with coworkers, and teaching a higher number of children, perceived as challenging, have been found to negatively affect early childhood teachers' mental health (schaack & stedron, 2020). additionally, teacher-related stress has negatively impacted the quality of the teacher-student relationship and classroom dynamics, namely the emotional climate within the classroom (penttinen et. al, 2020). these factors led researchers in pennsylvania to investigate the health status of hs staff (whitaker et al., 2013). specifically, they sought to compare a group of women working in hs to a national sample of those with similar sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., age, education, race/ethnicity, and marital status). they were interested in determining if there was a higher prevalence of reportedly poor health, sick days, depression, and specific health-related variables such as obesity, asthma, hypertension, and diabetes. the results suggested that the hs sample had a significantly increased prevalence of overall health indicators compared to the national sample (whiter et al., 2013). these findings could indicate that higher levels of physical health problems would impair a teacher's ability to participate in classroom activities and their ability to model good health habits (whitaker et al., 2013). furthermore, a higher incidence of mental health problems (e.g., depression) could lower a teacher's sensitivity to the child-teacher relationship and interfere with promoting healthy emotional regulation in children (harding et al., 2018). moreover, these health and wellness indicators suggest undesirable effects on school readiness and overall child development. in the pennsylvania study, hs teachers reported higher rates of depression, severe headache or migraine, lower back pain, obesity, asthma, high blood pressure, and diabetes or prediabetes (whitaker et al., 2013). these results were concerning, given that teacher-related stress (physical or mental) negatively impacts quality interactions with students (penttinen et al., 2020). the current study used the questionnaire designed by the pennsylvania study (whitaker et al., 2013) to compare a sample of predominately black hs teachers to that of a predominately white hs sample. the study examined the two sample's current health status, number of physical health conditions, racial disparities among head start staff 53 number of unhealthy days, number of work absences due to illness, and the presence of depressed mood. the questions in both the current study and the pennsylvania comparison study were modeled on similar items using either the national health interview survey (nhis; 2011) or the behavioral risk factor surveillance system (brfss, 2011; pickens et al., 2018). these two surveys were chosen for their capacity to compare findings between the current study results and those of the national surveys. method study design a major health sciences center in the southern us partnered with the mental health services department of head start to develop an agency-wide health and wellness program. as part of this program, teachers were surveyed about their pre-existing health conditions and current physical health status (see questionnaire). appendix a contains the modified version of the pennsylvania study (whitaker et al., 2013) administered to a sample of head start teachers from louisiana. both groups contained exclusively female subjects; this was an expected finding as hs employs over 84% of women (head start, n.d.). the pennsylvania and louisiana samples were similar in composition, with the only difference being race. the pennsylvania sample was predominately white, whereas our study was predominantly black. the purpose of comparing these samples was to determine if the louisiana sample experienced a higher prevalence of health-related problems when compared to the pennsylvania sample as well as to the national comparison group. we also wanted to ascertain if head start teachers have different health conditions and access to health care based on their race. participants hs staff from 11 centers in a medium-sized city in louisiana were surveyed. paper and pencil surveys were used due to the lack of consistent access to the internet across centers. a total of 195 valid surveys were returned and utilized for analysis purposes. completed surveys represented an 86.6% completion rate. the surveys were administered during a back-to-school orientation training when all 11 separate hs centers gathered for training. the survey was administered to the group as a whole, so individual center response rates were not calculated. this survey was part of an ongoing health & wellness project in year iii and continued to receive positive feedback and participation from staff. study questionnaire the study we replicated for our current study created the "pennsylvania head start staff wellness survey" in order to obtain information regarding the physical and mental health of hs teachers (whitaker et al., 2013). the pennsylvania study used questions from the 2011 versions of the national health interview survey (nhis) (radloff, 1977) and the behavioral risk factor surveillance system (brfss) (comstock & helsing, 1976), which allowed them to compare their 54 blancher et al. results to national data the two questionnaires collected. basic demographic questions, which were part of the original study, were also included. a modified version of the pennsylvania survey was used in the present study. since the original survey required 30-40 minutes to complete, several questions were removed to shorten the completion time for our sample. since we could not follow up on results, we did not administer the 20-item center for epidemiologic studies depression scale (radloff, 1977) (ces-d), administered in the study by whitaker and colleagues (2013). additionally, follow-up questions on specific conditions such as depression were removed because it would have been difficult to obtain adequate responses. instead of surveying for these specific conditions, the examiners opted to survey the overall mental health of the participants. these modifications resulted in 7 comparable prevalence variables: obesity, asthma, diabetes three, more physical health conditions, fair or poor health, ≥ 14 unhealthy days, and physician access. the current survey included demographic variables and questions regarding physical and mental health, healthcare access, and how these factors affected work. the present sample was compared to the 2011 version of the nhis (cdc, 2011) and the pennsylvania study (whitaker et al., 2013) sample. the university's institutional review board approved all study materials. a copy of the final questionnaire is provided in appendix a. questionnaire administration the questionnaire was administered during a mandatory back-to-school in-service. before a scheduled break, the questionnaires were administered to participants, and instructions were provided. the research team left the room and collected the completed surveys as teachers left for their break. data analysis. the statistical package for social science (spss) 26.0 and microsoft excel were used to analyze descriptive statistics and percentages. z-tests of two independent proportions were conducted using the statistical calculator provided by epitools. we compared our sample to the national reference group provided by the pennsylvania study (whitaker et al., 2013) and the pennsylvania group of hs teachers. according to the pennsylvania study's data analysis: "survey commands in stata/se (version 12) were used to take into account the sample weights and variance estimates based on the complex sampling design of these surveys" (whitaker et al., 2013, p.4). these commands determined whether there was a significant difference in reported percentages of the variables in the present study. additionally, individual p-values were calculated using z-tests of two independent proportions using the online z-test calculator (epitools, n.d.). results demographics among the louisiana questionnaire participants, 85.6% were black/african american, 52% were 45 years or older, 73.8% had an associate's degree or higher, and 29.7% were married. by position, racial disparities among head start staff 55 39% were lead teachers, 19% were assistant teachers, 26.2% were teacher's aides, and the remaining 6.1% were listed as other (e.g., administrators, clerical, or nursing). table 1 displays the demographic variables for the louisiana sample, pennsylvania sample, and national reference sample for comparison purposes. table 1. sociodemographic characteristics of louisiana, pennsylvania, and national reference groups characteristic louisiana (n = 195) pennsylvania (n = 2122) national reference (n = 9118) n % [95% ci] n % [95% ci] n % [95% ci] highest education high school/ged 43 22.1 [16.2–27.9] 421 20.0 [18.3–21.7] 2,098 23.3 [22.2–24.4] associate 73 37.4 [30.6–44.2] bachelor or higher 71 36.4 [29.7–43.2] 1,270 60.3 [58.2–62.4] 3,468 38.3 [36.9–39.8] race/ethnicity black 166 85.6 [80.7–90.5] 126 6.0 [5.0–7.0] 1,532 12.8 [11.9–13.7] non-hispanic white 3 1.5 [0.21–3.2] 1,804 85.7 [84.2–87.2] 5,535 70.5 [69.2–71.8] non-hispanic other 6 3.1 [0.67–5.5] 53 2.5 [1.8–3.1] 737 6.2 [5.6–6.8] hispanic (any] 3 1.5 [0.21–3.2] 123 5.8 [4.8–6.8] 1,314 10.5 [9.8–11.2] relationship status married 58 29.7 [23.3–36.1] 1,310 62.4 [60.3–64.4] 3,902 52.9 [51.6–54.2] not married 112 57.4 [50.5–64.3] 791 37.6 [35.6–39.7] 5,195 47.1 [45.8–48.4] position lead teacher 76 39.0 [32.1–45.9] assistant teacher 37 19.0 [13.5–24.5] teacher’s aide 51 26.2 [20.0–32.4] other 12 6.1 [8.5–18.0] national reference comparison the national reference sample was 12.8% black/african american, whereas the louisiana sample was 85.6% black. as noted above, z-tests for independent proportions compared each health indicator. table 2 displays percentages and p-values for each comparison. four of the five health indicator variables were more common among the louisiana sample than the national reference group. asthma was the only non-statistically significant difference; however, similar to the 56 blancher et al. pennsylvania comparison, the national reference group had higher reported asthma rates (13.6%) than the louisiana sample (11.3%). regarding health-related quality of life indicators, 24.6% of the louisiana sample reported fair to poor health status, whereas only 5.1% of the national reported such health status. the louisiana sample had significantly higher rates of unhealthy days (27.8) compared to the national reference (12.6%). finally, mirroring the results of the pennsylvania sample, significantly fewer louisiana teachers reported a personal doctor (75.4%) than the national reference sample (86.4%). table 2. prevalence of health indicators among louisiana hs staff and national hs staff participants louisiana (n =210) % [95% ci] national reference (n = 9118) % [95% ci] sig. health indicator obesity 68.2 [61.7–74.7] 27.3 [26.0–28.6] <.01 * asthma 11.3 [6.7–15.7] 13.6 [12.5–14.7] .35 high blood pressure 46.7 [39.7–53.7] 18.1 [17.0–19.2] < .01 * diabetes or prediabetes 13.3 [8.5–18.1] 7.8 [7.1–8.6] < .01 * ≥ 3 physical health conditions 27.3 [21.1–33.5] 12.6 [11.7–13.5] < .01 * health-related quality of life fair or poor health status 24.6 [18.6–30.6] 5.1 [4.5–5.6] < .01 * frequent physically unhealthy days (≥ 14 d/mo) 27.8 [21.5–34.1] 12.6 [11.7–13.5] < .01 * health care access has personal doctor 75.4 [69.4–81.4] 86.4 [86.0–86.8] < .01 * note. the national reference population was surveyed in 2011; the louisiana population was surveyed in 2019 * indicates significant findings. pennsylvania sample comparison the louisiana sample was composed of 85.6% black/african american, whereas the pennsylvania sample was only 6% black. the pennsylvania sample was overwhelmingly white (85.7%) versus the louisiana sample, which was majority black; therefore, race was the main difference. z-tests for two independent proportions were used to determine the significance level for the comparison. table 3 displays percentages and p-values for each comparison. overall, the comparison between the louisiana sample and the pennsylvania sample yielded statistically significant differences among obesity (68.2% [la] vs. 37.1% [pa]), asthma (11.3% vs. 18.7%), high blood pressure (27.3% vs. 21.8%), fair to poor health (24.6% vs. 14.6%), frequent unhealthy days (≥ 14 days; 27.8% vs. 21.8%), and access to a personal doctor (75.4% vs. 96.5%). although there was a significant difference in reported asthma rates, the louisiana sample had significantly racial disparities among head start staff 57 lower reported rates than the pennsylvania sample. the louisiana sample did not differ significantly on the physical conditions of diabetes and ≥ 3 physical conditions; however, the louisiana sample reported slightly higher rates in each category. table 3. prevalence of health indicators among louisiana hs and the pennsylvania hs participants louisiana (n =195) % [95% ci] pennsylvania (n = 2122) % [95% ci] sig. health indicator obesity 68.2 [61.7–74.7] 37.1 [34.9–39.3] < .01* asthma 11.3 [6.7–15.7] 18.7 [17.0–20.3] .01* high blood pressure 46.7[39.7–53.7] 22.3 [20.5–24.0] < .01* diabetes or prediabetes 13.3 [8.5–18.1] 11.9 [10.5–13.3] .57 ≥ 3 physical health conditions 27.3 [21.1–33.5] 21.8 [20.0–23.6] .08 health-related quality of life fair or poor health status 24.6 [18.6–30.6] 14.6 [13.1–16.1] < .01* frequent physically unhealthy days (≥ 14 d/mo) 27.8 [21.5–34.1] 21.8 [20.0–23.6] .05 health care access has personal doctor 75.4 [69.4–81.4] 96.5 [95.7–97.3] < .01* note. the national reference population was surveyed in 2011; the louisiana population was surveyed in 2019. * indicates significant findings. teacher mental health in the present study, teachers were asked to describe their mental health regarding poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent. of the 195 respondents, 9.8% reported poor to fair, 38.5% reported good, 32.8% reported very good, and 18.5% reported excellent. for comparison purposes, the whitaker and colleagues (2013) sample had 23.5% of respondents endorse depression as diagnosed by a health professional. due to the different wording in questioning, depression, and the description of mental health, it is not a direct comparison. despite the inability to compare the variables of depression and mental health between the samples, it is noteworthy to identify that the minority (18.5%) of hs women in the louisiana sample consider their mental health excellent. discussion replicating the findings of the pennsylvania study (whitaker et al., 2013), the louisiana hs teachers experienced higher levels of physical health conditions and poorer health-related quality of life indicators than the national reference sample. furthermore, our findings suggest that when compared to hs staff from pennsylvania with similar age, education, and job position, our sample 58 blancher et al. had significantly higher rates of obesity and high blood pressure and reported higher rates of fair to poor health. our sample generally had less access to a personal physician. this significant discrepancy highlights a racial disparity in health care. it is important to note that both the national and hs pennsylvania samples were majority white, while the hs louisiana sample was majority black. racial disparities in health and health care arise from institutional discrimination, the unequal geographic distribution of medical resources, pathophysiology, economic status, insurance coverage, and differences in trust, knowledge, and familiarity with medical procedures (horner et al., 1995; smith, 1998). this racial health disparity can affect not only the teachers' well-being but also the children they serve. the pennsylvania study suggested that the poor health status of preschool personnel may ultimately affect the healthy development of the students (whitaker et al., 2013). previous research suggested that education and health are interconnected (cutler & lleras-muney, 2014). it is posited that higher education levels create opportunities for better health (e.g., better jobs, higher pay) and improves social (e.g., increased social connectedness and conscientiousness) and emotional health (e.g., better stress management, higher self-esteem; cutler & lleras-muney, 2014). their research also suggests that early education experiences (i.e., interactions with teachers) can profoundly impact the development of social skills, adjustment and emotional regulation, and learning skills (cutler & lleras-muney, 2014). therefore, given the connection between teachers' health and children's development, our findings are alarming. the higher rate of health problems in our predominantly black hs teacher sample places the children they serve, who are already considered disadvantaged, at even more risk for opportunity gaps and poor developmental (health and educational) outcomes. critical indicators of opportunity gaps for children of color include poverty and school readiness (dobbins et al., 2016). furthermore, it was discovered that only 26% of head start programs that provide educational experiences to black children are considered "high-quality," in contrast to 48% of white children (barnett et al., 2013). these issues have led the us department of health and human services (dhhs), which governs the office of head start to issue policies and standards to address these concerns. the dhhs created the head start performance standards and standard 1302.93 (staff health and wellness part b (us department of health and human services, 2015), which states: a program must make mental health and wellness information available to staff regarding health issues that may affect their job performance and must provide regularly scheduled opportunities to learn about mental health, wellness, and health education. (p. 64) the pennsylvania study highlighted the need for professional development to improve head start teachers' health due to the direct link between teachers' health quality and positive children's educational outcomes (whitaker et al., 2013). furthermore, the national head start association (nhsa) established a toolkit to support hs programs by implementing a health and wellness intervention program targeting the staff (nhsa, n.d). only one study to date implemented these specific guidelines to target teacher health and wellness (yetman et al., 2020). those researchers developed a ten-month program that included health education, health promotion, disease prevention, and utilization of behavioral-change technologies directed at health habit improvements. they found that a health and wellness program could effectively be implemented within a head start organization using this toolkit (yetman et al., 2020). racial disparities among head start staff 59 furthermore, the results suggested more positive attitudes toward a "culture of wellness" as rated by the teachers, and approximately 88% of participants reported making healthier lifestyle choices (yetman et al., 2020). the study did not investigate how a successful health intervention program improved or affected children's educational outcomes. therefore additional research is necessary to determine the effect of the intervention on children's learning. however, a study conducted in 2016 found that teachers' movements toward better health influenced that of the classroom environment related to health (e.g., obesity) (esquivel et al., 2016). taken together, continued advocacy for improvements in preschool teachers' health and wellness is important given its impact on children's developmental trajectories. the pennsylvania study noted higher rates of depression compared to the rates seen in the national reference sample. specifically, 23.5% of the pennsylvania sample reported being diagnosed with depression by a healthcare professional, whereas the national reference sample only reported 17.6% (whitaker et al., 2013). in comparison, only 9.8% of our sample reported poor to fair mental health, suggesting that 90% had at least good mental health. although our sample was not explicitly asked about depression, this low prevalence of mental health problems was unexpected. according to the national institute of mental health (nimh), individuals with chronic physical conditions experience an increased risk of mental health conditions (nimh, 2021). therefore, we expected our sample's problematic mental health status to be rated higher than the pennsylvania sample. future studies may wish to explore buffering factors, such as the role of community and religion in certain regions, such as in the south, that insulate individuals against negative mental health stressors. limitations and strengths the current study had limitations and strengths that should be acknowledged. since the hs teachers in this study were 100% female and primarily african american, gender and ethnic diversity limitations may apply. while this is a limitation, it is simultaneously a strength in that it highlights the importance of minority research as the teachers in this study differed from the white counterparts in a previously published comparable study. thus, the importance of considering race and cultural and regional factors should be considered in future studies. race and gender continue to be important variables for consideration when examining health care disparities. this study targeted 195 hs employees. due to the relatively small sample size and the regional nature of the data collection, extrapolation to hs, in general, is limited. future studies may wish to randomly sample hs teachers across the country to gain a balanced health status profile as a total group. an additional limitation of the study was the use of self-report data. the reliance on a single form of assessment, which is subjective in nature, is inherently limited in the data it will produce (steenejohannessen et al., 2021). however, based on the results, it did not appear the hs staff were attempting to portray their health status in an overly positive light. future versions of similar studies may want to employ objective measures of health such as biometrics (e.g., weight, bmi, blood pressure, diabetes screening, etc). while it is possible that other more nuanced differences between the two regional groups exist, such as use of religion for support, or regional / cultural differences that could also impact health outcomes, such subtle differences would require deep investigation to uncover. since hs teachers 60 blancher et al. in general are a very homogeneous group (hs teacher demographics, n.d.), the current study examines the obvious main difference between the groups, which was race, and significant differences were found. conclusion and future directions this study provides additional evidence for the need to address hs teachers' health. our predominantly black sample is at risk for multiple health-related problems that could potentially impact the already disadvantaged children they educate. continued efforts are needed at the local, state, and national levels to improve access and education regarding the importance of health and a healthy lifestyle. however, the research is still quite limited on the effects of interventions targeted to improve teachers' health. in addition, more research must be conducted to uncover what specific teacher health behaviors (i.e., exercise, healthy diets) have the greatest impact on children's development. standardization of wellness programs across hs centers is lacking, and additional guidance is needed. the performance standard 1302.93 (staff health and wellness part b) acknowledged the importance of and need for teacher wellness. while this was a good beginning, it has not yet been widely adopted in any type of formal manner across all 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(2020). establishing a health and wellness intervention program for head start teachers and staff. international journal of health, wellness, and society, 11(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.18848/2156-8960/cgp/v11i01 https://www.zippia.com/head-start-teacher-jobs/demographics/ https://www.zippia.com/head-start-teacher-jobs/demographics/ https://doi.org/10.2307/3350374 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2006.05.001 https://nhsa.org/files/resources/qi_toolkit_nurturing_staff_wellness.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis1997-2018.htm#2011 https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.ss6709a1 https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1785265 https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306 https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1788331 https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1791648 https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1785267 https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980020003687 https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000000760 https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/fr-2016-09-06/pdf/2016-19748.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd10.130171 https://doi.org/10.18848/2156-8960/cgp/v11i01 62 blancher et al. appendix a 1. how would you describe your overall physical health? _____poor _____fair _____good _____very good _____excellent 2. during the past 30 days, for about how many days have you felt very healthy and full of energy? 0 to 30 days = ________________________________________________________ 3. how would you describe your overall mental health? _____poor _____fair _____good _____very good _____excellent 4. in the past 7 days, how often have you been physically active for a minimum of 30 minutes per day outside of work? 0 to 7 days = ______________________________________ 5. how often do you typically you engage in moderate to strenuous exercise? (examples include walking fast, jogging, dancing, swimming, biking or other activities that cause a light or heavy sweat. _____daily _____5 or more times per week _____3 to 4 times per week _____1 to 2 times per week _____occasionally _____never 6. how often have you engaged in an activity to relax or manage stress? (examples include hobby, stretching, yoga). _____daily _____5 or more times per week _____3 to 4 times per week _____1 to 2 times per week _____occasionally _____never 7. how often have you used breathing activities to calm, reduce stress or let go? _____daily _____several times a week _____occasionally _____never 8. how often have you eaten 2 servings of fruits per day? (a serving equals half a cup of fruit or one medium fruit or ¾ cup of 100% juice). _____daily _____several times a week _____occasionally _____never racial disparities among head start staff 63 9. how often have you eaten 2 servings of vegetables per day? (a serving equals half a cup of vegetables or one cup of green leafy vegetables. does not include fried potatoes). _____daily _____several times a week _____occasionally _____never 10. how often have you drank one or more sugar sweetened beverages? (examples include soda, energy drinks, sports drinks, flavored coffee). _____daily _____several times a week _____occasionally _____never 11. how often have you eaten a well-balanced lunch at work? _____daily _____several times a week _____occasionally _____never 12. how often do you smoke cigarettes? _____daily _____several times a week _____occasionally _____never 13. how often do you smoke electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes)? _____daily _____several times a week _____occasionally _____never 14. how often does pain limit your life or work activities? _____daily _____several times a week _____occasionally _____never 15. in the past year, how often have you missed work due to illness or injury? (do not include maternity leave) _____never _____rarely _____once a month _____a few days a month _____at least once a week 16. in the last month, how often have you felt: that you were unable to control the important things in your life? _____never _____almost never _____sometimes _____fairly often 64 blancher et al. 17. confident about your ability to handle your personal problems? _____never _____almost never _____sometimes _____fairly often 18. that things were going your way? _____never _____almost never _____sometimes _____fairly often 19. difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them? _____never _____almost never _____sometimes _____fairly often 20. it seems i am "running on automatic" without much awareness of what i'm doing. _____almost never _____very infrequently _____somewhat infrequently _____somewhat frequently _____very frequently _____almost always 21. i rush through activities without being really attentive to them. _____almost never _____very infrequently _____somewhat infrequently _____somewhat frequently _____very frequently _____almost always 22. i get so focused on the goal i want to achieve that i lose touch with what i am doing right now to get there. _____almost never _____very infrequently _____somewhat infrequently _____somewhat frequently _____very frequently _____almost always 23. i do jobs or tasks automatically, without being aware of what i'm doing. _____almost never _____very infrequently _____somewhat infrequently _____somewhat frequently _____very frequently _____almost always racial disparities among head start staff 65 24. i find myself doing things without paying attention _____almost never _____very infrequently _____somewhat infrequently _____somewhat frequently _____very frequently _____almost always 25. during the past 12 months, have you seen or talked to a doctor or other health care professional about your health? _____yes _____no _____unsure 26. do you have one person you think of as a personal doctor or health care provider? _____yes _____no _____unsure 27. how hard is it for you to pay for the very basics like food, housing, medical care and heating? _____not hard at all _____somewhat hard _____very hard 28. how often do you get the social and emotional support you need? _____always _____usually _____sometimes _____rarely _____never 29. has a doctor or health care provider told you that you have one of the following chronic conditions? (check all that apply). _____arthritis _____asthma ______high blood pressure (hypertension) _____high blood sugar (diabetes) ______high cholesterol _____heart disease _____overweight _____none _____choose not to answer 30. the work i do serves a greater purpose. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 31. i am confident with the overall direction of the agency. (this includes vision, culture, leadership, finances). _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 66 blancher et al. 32. i really feel a part of a team. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 33. if i were in trouble, there are lots of people on this team that could help me. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 34. most people on this team (organization) can be trusted. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 35. most people on this team (organization) are friendly. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 36. the topic of health is present in our team meetings and other team events. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 37. in our team, it is expected that one takes care of his/her health. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 38. in our team, we exchange ideas about healthy living. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 39. i feel comfortable encouraging children i work with to try unfamiliar foods. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 40. i feel comfortable encouraging children i work with to be physically active. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree racial disparities among head start staff 67 41. i feel comfortable talking to parents about a child's eating habits. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 42. i feel comfortable in talking to parents about a child's physical activity. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 43. my health habits are an example for the children i work with. _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 44. my habits are an example for other staff / coworkers _____strongly disagree _____disagree _____agree _____strongly agree 45. how would you describe your interest in workplace programs that can help members reach personal health goals? ______highly interested ______interested ______somewhat interested ______not interested 46. how long have been employed at head start? _____less than 1 year _____1 – 5 years _____6-10 years _____11-20 years ______21 or more years 47. which of the following best describes your educations? _____less than high school _____high school graduate / ged _____technical certificate _____child development associate (cda) _____associate’s degree _____bachelor’s degree _____graduate degree 48. what is your gender? _____female _____male 49. how old are you? _____24 or younger _____25-34 _____35-44 68 blancher et al. _____45-54 _____55-64 ______65 or older ______choose not to answer 50. what is your race / ethnicity? _____asian-american _____african american _____hispanic _____multi-racial _____native american _____white _____choose not to answer _____other 51. which of the following best describes your position at head start? _____lead teacher _____assistant teacher _____teacher’s aide _____family support specialist / home visitor _____supervisor or operations manager _____bus driver / monitor _____nutrition or health staff _____administrative, clerical or central office staff _____other (please specify) _____________________________________ 52. which of the following best describes your marital status? _____married _____divorced _____widowed ______separated ______never married _____member of an unmarried couple _____choose not to answer 53. including yourself, how many people are living in your household? ____________ 54. what is your gross income? ______less than $20,000 _____$20,000 to 34, 999 _____$35,000 to 49, 000 _____$50,000 to 74, 999 _____$76, 000 to 99, 999 _____over $100,000 bryndle l. bottoms, ph.d., editor university of south carolina for several years, researchers and social scientists have been focused on identifying, serving, and educating vulnerable populations of children, particularly those populations of children who have continually been penalized or restricted from resources due to the color of their skin or the language they speak. across the country, different states are designing policies and creating infrastructure to support the needs of these children. at the same time, the political conversation regarding immigration and the conflicts arising among different religious groups demands that research, policy, and practice work towards the common goal of supporting those most vulnerable. this issue will focus on the unique ways two teams of researchers have investigated multilingual families and strategies to support their unique needs. this topic of serving and supporting multilingual families is relevant because of the current landscape of families across the united states. in 2019, it was reported that 75% of center-based early childhood educators served one or more hispanic children, and 1 in 5 worked in settings with an enrollment of 25% or more hispanic children (crosby, mendez, & stephens, 2023). more recently, the migrant policy institute reports one third of all us children under the age of five are dual language learners and are an even larger proportion of the population in states like california, new mexico, and texas. while spanish is the dominant second language in this country for most states, it cannot be ignored that dozens of other languages are also spoken across our nation. in our state of north carolina, this includes arabic, french, and telugu (2023). the first research article is by maria josé a. dias, julia t. atiles, and jamie dice moore of east tennessee state and athens, georgia. their research team crafted a professional development workshop series for head start educators to directly support multilingual families. the workshop introduced a pedagogy of a translanguaging approach, which aligns with developmentally appropriate practices by intertwining the individual experiences of both students and teachers and how they both engage with all languages. students are encouraged to use their entire language repertoire to make meaning of the classroom and world around them. the four workshops surveyed participants before and after to understand major impacts. the authors report five major findings, one of which is building empathy towards multilingual families. these findings are explored in more detail in the corresponding research to practice summary. while the first group of authors focused on educator practice, the next research impacts family engagement and family partnerships. tricia c. clarke and seven other scholars of fordham university in new york explored the perceptions of head start programming held by 42 engaging multilingual families multilingual families. their sample included both families with and without children, which brings a holistic view of how head start may be perceived. within early childhood partnerships, it is essential that families and communities feel that the environment is supporting their individual child’s development through social interactions with peers and structured learning activities. this research also demonstrates the need for children to be encouraged to use all known languages and develop a cultural identity as being multilingual. their corresponding research to practice summary explores the findings to impact teachers and practitioners. fundamentally, their research centered on the importance of empathy and inclusion of all languages within classroom and family interactions. this message has led the editorial team to issue a call for a special issue, in the hopes that this issue can change early childhood practices across the country. we welcome submission of research articles, research to practice narratives, and applied policy work that impacts bilingual children and families. this special issue is titled, supporting multilingual families in early childhood spaces. the call can be found on our website under announcements and has a due date of april 26, 2024. as we wrap up the year, the editorial team hopes you find time to be reflective of all the impactful work that you and your colleagues have been able to accomplish. we also wish you and your families a wonderful holiday season of rest and restoration, that sparks new energies and ideas to carry you into the year 2024! references crosby, d., mendez, j., & stephens, c. (2023). characteristics of the early childhood workforce serving latino children. national research center on hispanic children & families. https://doi.org/10.59377/564i2785e nhi giang, i. t., & park, m. (2023, march 14). dual language learners: key characteristics and considerations for early childhood programs. migrationpolicy.org. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/dual-languagelearner-characteristics monsen, l., & gregory, m. (2023, feb 16). the united states is rich in languages. shareamerica.org. https://share.america.gov/united-states-rich-in-languages/ https://doi.org/10.59377/564i2785e https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/dual-language-learner-characteristics https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/dual-language-learner-characteristics https://share.america.gov/united-states-rich-in-languages/ hs dialog, 27(1), 104-116 copyright ©2024, issn: 1930-9325 conceptual article early childhood special education stars: a five-point model for addressing the teacher shortage marla j. lohmann1 marisa macy2 1colorado christian university 2university of wyoming there is currently a crisis-level shortage of qualified early childhood educators, including early childhood special educators. teacher preparation programs must address the shortage through effective teacher recruitment, training, and retention strategies. we recommend a five-point stars model that includes: (a) supplemental funding during field placements, (b) teacher preparation that leads to early childhood education and early childhood special education dual licensure, (c) advocacy at the local, state, and national levels, (d) relationships between teacher training programs and local public and private early learning centers, and (e) supportive and ongoing mentoring for in-service early childhood special educators. this manuscript provides an overview of this stars model with specific recommendations for teacher educators. keywords: early childhood special education, teacher preparation, teacher shortage introduction there is currently a crisis-level shortage of qualified early childhood educators (schaack et al., 2021), including early childhood special educators trained to teach preschool children with disabilities receiving services under part b, section 619 of idea (peyton et al., 2018). while the shortage of certified teachers existed previously, the 2019 coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic exacerbated the problem, with a higher than normal number of teachers leaving the profession either for retirement or to pursue a different career (carver-thomas et al., 2022). this shortage of teachers is leading to students being taught by teachers without state teacher certification (carver-thomas et al., 2022; peyton & acosta, 2022) and higher student caseloads for special educators (peyton & acosta, 2022). at the same time that this shortage is occurring, there are increased expectations for young children to enter kindergarten with academic skills such as foundational knowledge in early literacy and numeracy, necessitating that all early childhood educators are well prepared for their roles (cho & couse, 2008; cook & coley, 2017). many preschoolers with disabilities, including lohmann & macy 105 children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, spend the majority of their school day in the inclusive classroom (zabeli & gjelaj, 2020), therefore, it is vital that their teachers are fully qualified for their roles and stay in those positions for several years. teacher preparation programs must proactively and comprehensively address the early childhood special education teacher shortage through the implementation of effective teacher recruitment, training, and retention strategies. in order to achieve this goal, we recommend a five-point stars model (figure 1) that includes: (a) supplemental funding during field placements, (b) teacher preparation that leads to early childhood education and early childhood special education dual licensure, (c) advocacy at the local, state, and national levels, (d) relationships between teacher training programs and local public and private early learning centers, and (e) supportive and ongoing mentoring for in-service early childhood special educators. this manuscript provides an overview of this stars model with specific recommendations of how teacher educators can use this model to address the teacher shortage crisis. figure 1 ecse stars model early childhood special education stars 106 supplemental funding during field placements the "s" in the stars model focuses on supplemental funding during field placement. traditionally, teacher preparation programs have culminated with a student teaching experience that lasts for one semester and allows teacher candidates to demonstrate their mastery of best practices in classroom instruction (greenberg et al., 2011). because these field experiences generally require full time, unpaid work, teacher candidates often must take out additional student loans to pay their bills during their student teaching (meltzer, 2022). this expectation for unpaid labor has been challenging for many college students (thompson & russell, 2017) but is even more so now with the increasing number of nontraditional students attending college (remenick, 2019). the national center for education statistics (1993) defines a non-traditional undergraduate student as one who meets one of more of the following characteristics: (a) older than the traditional 18-22 year old college student, (b) attending college part-time, (c) independence from parental support, (d) working full time, (e) having dependents, (f) being a single parent, and (g) having received a ged. one solution for addressing this challenge is through field placements that include payment for teachers. for pre-service teachers, this model is often referred to as teacher residencies (goodwin et al., 2018; henning, 2018; zugelder et al., 2021). in addition to the financial benefits to teacher candidates, teacher residency programs that last for the entire school year have been found to result in teachers who are better prepared for teaching in their own classrooms (mazzye et al., 2023) and are more likely to stay in the classroom for several years (goodwin et al., 2018). fallona and johnson (2019) suggested that schools consider using funding from title ii, part a of the every student succeeds act (essa) to fund teacher residencies. these federal funds are allocated for ensuring that all students have access to highly qualified teachers and up to two percent of a state’s essa funds may be used for this purpose (u.s. department of education, 2016). to make this funding use possible, teacher preparation programs must work in collaboration with local school districts. for universities or communities that do not have teacher residency programs, there are other options to provide supplemental funding during pre-service field experiences. for example, teacher candidates may be allowed to student teach in the school for a certain number of hours each week and count those paid experiences towards their student teaching. candidates and universities can pursue grant funding to cover the tuition and living expenses of candidates. and, some states, such as colorado, are now providing financial support to student teachers (meltzer, 2022). teacher preparation programs can also increase the opportunities for paid field work by developing and offering university-based alternative certification programs. this pathway to teacher licensure offers training and support to in-service teacher candidates who are acting as the teacher of record in a classroom while pursuing teacher training (bowling & ball, 2018). approximately 20% of teachers receive training through alternative pathways, such as alternative certification programs (national center for education statistics, 2022). these pathways may be especially appealing to non-traditional students who already have a bachelor’s degree in another field and seek an income while gaining teacher licensure. lohmann & macy 107 teacher preparation leading to dual licensure the "t" in the stars model focuses on teacher preparation leading to dual licensure. early childhood teaches who are explicitly trained in both developmentally appropriate early childhood practices and special education strategies are better able to support the various academic, communication, and social-emotional needs of the young children they teach. nutbrown (2021) argues that well-trained and highly qualified early childhood educators are vital for the success of young children. early childhood teachers must be prepared to meet the needs of all learners. in recent years, several states have launched universal preschool programs. at this time, approximately a dozen states and the district of columbia offer universal preschool or prekindergarten programs or are in the process of developing such programs (guevara, 2023). many states (e.g., colorado, florida, virginia) utilize community-based preschool programs to meet the demand. traditionally, teachers in these private early childhood centers may have minimal or training in inclusive practices (education law center, 2010) but must be prepared to support children with disabilities in their private school classroom due to universal preschool mandates. many early childhood teachers have reported feeling unprepared for meeting diverse student needs in the inclusive classroom (chadwell et al., 2020; majoko, 2016). teachers’ feelings about, and preparedness for, inclusion directly impacts the learning success of children in inclusive classrooms (tiwari et al., 2015). teachers with dual teacher licensure have more positive attitudes towards inclusive practices and teaching students with disabilities (kirksey et al., 2022). in addition, teachers’ self-reported perceptions of preparedness for teaching have been directly correlated with their attrition rates, with teachers who report feeling more prepared being more likely to stay in the classroom (deangelis et al., 2013). inclusive classroom teachers who are also trained to teach students with disabilities are more likely to remain in the classroom, even when they are supporting a large number of children with disabilities, than are their colleagues without special education training (gilmour & wehby, 2020). to address this feeling of not being prepared to support learning needs, we recommend that all early childhood educators are dually certified in both early childhood education and special education. universities that have implemented dual licensure programs have found that graduates are more prepared for meeting the needs of all learners in the inclusive classroom (anderson et al., 2015; kent & giles, 2016; kerns, 1996; kirksey et al., 2022). additionally, students with disabilities who are taught by dually certified teachers have been found to have better academic outcomes compared to their peers taught by teachers with one type of teacher certification (kirksey et al., 2022). recent research has also found that the type of licensure held by a teacher candidate’s cooperating teacher impacts the likelihood of the candidate’s eventual teaching position, with candidates who were mentored by a teacher with a special education endorsement being more likely to become special educators themselves (theobald et al., 2021). with this in mind, the authors recommend that teacher preparation programs ensure candidates are paired with early childhood special education stars 108 cooperating teachers who hold licensure in special education or early childhood special education. based on the existing research, we recommend university teacher preparation programs offer dual licensure programs include explicit training and field experiences in both general and special education (fallona & johnson, 2019). to do this, early childhood education and special education programs must work in collaboration to support and train teacher candidates. advocacy at the local, state, and national levels the "a" in the stars model focuses on advocacy at the local, state, and national levels. the merriam-webster dictionary (2023) defines advocacy as the process of supporting a cause. teacher education programs are uniquely positioned to advocate for the best interests of current and future teachers in their communities, as well as at the state and national levels. recent research indicated that teacher educators perceive advocacy to be a critical part of their roles (akin-sabuncu, 2022). teacher educators’ participation in advocacy efforts is vital because most legislators do not have a background, nor expertise, in education issues (mclaughlin et al., 2016). teacher educators can engage in advocacy in a number of ways at the local, state, and national levels, with overlapping work in various areas (figure 2). figure 2 advocacy at three levels advocacy must begin at the local level, within schools and districts, as well as the community as a whole. in the local schools, this local advocacy can take many forms including (a) formal and informal conversations with community stakeholders about best practices in education (fisher & miller, 2021), (b) mentoring colleagues (dubetz & dejong, 2011), (c) sharing resources with teachers and administrators that may lead to changes that will better meet student needs (murawski & hughes, 2021), and (d) using social media to engage in discussions about education policies (fisher & miller, 2021). teacher educators should lead these advocacy efforts and should support teacher candidates in learning advocacy skills. within their communities, teacher educators can advocate for policy changes through writing open letters published online local nationalstate lohmann & macy 109 (garahan, 2019). finally, in their own teacher education courses, they can advocate for children and teachers by encouraging a variety of student viewpoints and selecting diverse course materials (dubetz & dejong, 2011). at the state level, teacher educators can collaborate with faculty from other teacher preparation programs throughout the state to create, and advocate for, policies that support pre-service and in-service teachers. in many states, teacher preparation programs join forces through involvement in collaboration for effective educator development, accountability, and reform (ceedar) initiatives, which are aimed at meeting the unique needs of special education professionals in the state (ceedar, 2023). in addition, ecse teachers can engage in state-level advocacy through contacting elected officials regarding current and upcoming legislation that impacts young children and their families (council for exceptional children, 2023). on the national level, advocacy may be accomplished through participation in advocacy groups. the field of early childhood education offers several professional organizations that engage in advocacy efforts, such as (a) the national association for the education of young children (naeyc), (b) the national association of early childhood teacher educators (naecte), and (c) the national child care association (ncca). in the field of special education, there are several groups including (a) the council for exceptional children (cec), (b) the cec teacher education division (ted), and (c) the higher education consortium for special education (hecse). naeyc is a professional organization with approximately 60,000 members and focuses on ensuring high quality outcomes for children between birth and age eight (naeyc, 2023a). naeyc works at both the national and state levels to support legislation to benefit young children through (a) providing members with information, (b) publishing position statements, (c) publishing letters and official comments on policies, (d) connecting early childhood educators with legislators, and (e) launching the america for early ed initiative (naeyc, 2023b). naecte is composed of teacher educators who prepare people to work in early childhood classrooms and engage in advocacy efforts through the publication of position statements and conference presentations (naecte, 2023). the national child care association includes members from childcare centers of all sizes and provides members with information and tools to engage in advocacy efforts that support young children (national child care association, 2021). cec is the primary professional organization for the field of special education and has a robust policy and advocacy agenda that includes keeping members updated on national policies, supporting members in writing letters to congress, publishing position statements, and hosting a legislative summit in washington d.c. each year (council for exceptional children, 2023). for example, advocacy may include becoming active in a professional organization like the division for early childhood of the council for exceptional children (dec). dec advocacy efforts focus on professionals serving young children birth to age eight with disabilities. like dec, ted is a subdivision of cec. ted builds upon the work of cec by emailing members weekly updates about policies related to special education and teacher preparation, endorsing legislation that benefits teacher preparation efforts, and offering a special education legislative summit short course on policy to selected members each summer (teacher education division, 2023). hecse is an organization that was founded to support communication between programs early childhood special education stars 110 offering doctoral programs in special education and currently engages in organized advocacy at the national level to support legislation that benefits children with disabilities and their teachers (hecse, 2022). relationships between teacher training programs and early learning centers the "r" in the stars model focuses on relationships between teacher training programs and early learning centers. a fourth way that teacher education programs can address the early childhood special education teacher shortage is through relationships with local early learning centers. there are a variety of ways in which these partnerships can be formed and teacher preparation programs, as well as the area schools, must determine the model that is best for them. darling-hammond (2017) discussed a teacher training model used at one australian university in which university faculty collaborated with teachers and teacher candidates in a school. together, they engaged in lesson planning, curriculum development, and research. this type of partnership model can support university faculty in staying connected to the classroom, while providing preservice teacher candidates with highly supported field experiences and in-service educators the opportunity to continue their own professional development. rummel et al. (2022) shared about a partnership in which a school identified a need, specifically social-emotional learning, and reached out to the local university-based teacher education program to gain support and training to address this need. the university faculty used recent research to guide the support they provided and were able to conduct their own research, making the partnership beneficial to both parties. by building schools’ and teachers’ capacity to address their own needs through explicit training, teacher education programs can reduce teacher retention as teachers who feel confident in their abilities are more likely to remain in their teaching positions (bland et al., 2014). a third way that schools and universities can partner is through the use of grow-your-own (gyo) programs that support schools in identifying local community members who may be interested in becoming teachers and providing them the training to enter the teacher workforce (jackson & wake, 2022). gyo programs commonly include high school students, paraprofessionals, parents, and other community members with an interest in the teaching profession (gist et al., 2019) and remove many of the barriers that prevent these teacher candidates from receiving traditional teacher preparation (garcia, 2022). identified teacher candidates complete their teacher training at a partner university and are then employed in a partner school. the school may employ the teacher candidate or provide financial assistance during their teacher training (garcia, 2022). in addition to increasing the teacher pipeline, the use of gyo programs also increases the number of diverse candidates entering the teacher workforce (bianco & marin-paris, 2019; jackson & wake, 2022), as well as the retention rate of teachers prepared in this manner (gist et al., 2019). through participation in gyo programs, university teacher preparation programs can support local schools in recruiting early childhood special educators to work in their schools. lohmann & macy 111 regardless of the structure of the university-learning center partnership, there are several components that help ensure a successful endeavor. first, all involved parties must have a shared vision for the partnership; everyone should agree on the purpose and the goals for collaboration (day, 2022; farah, 2019). second, there must be a benefit in the partnership for all parties; if one party does not receive a benefit from the collaboration, they are likely to not fully engage (day, 2022). mutually beneficial partnerships ensure success. thirdly, both organizations must trust one another and the decisions made by the other party (rummel et al.,2022). supportive and ongoing mentoring and coaching the final "s" in the stars model focuses on supportive and ongoing mentoring and coaching. while partnerships between teacher preparation programs and public schools can support preservice teachers, these relationships can also be a means of addressing teacher attrition by offering needed training to in-service teachers. university teacher preparation programs can, and should, be involved in ensuring that teachers receive ongoing support and mentoring once they begin their careers. teacher coaching and mentoring is a form of job-embedded professional development that is tailored to unique teacher needs (kraft et al., 2018). teacher mentors and coaches can support pre-service and in-service teachers by providing both instructional and emotional supports tailored to the needs of the teacher (becker et al., 2019). recent research (keiler et al., 2020) found that more experienced teachers benefited the most from the feedback provided via teacher coaching, indicating that this mentoring process should be ongoing throughout a teacher’s entire career. mentoring and coaching programs for current teachers impact teacher instructional success in the classroom (jackson et al., 2019; mok & staub, 2021). in addition, ongoing teacher coaching increases teacher retention rates (deangelis et al., 2013; jackson et al., 2019). with this in mind, we recommend that university teacher preparation programs are actively partnering with graduates, as well as area schools, to provide this mentoring and coaching. another way that universities may support school-based coaching and mentoring is by providing specific training to mentors to enhance their content knowledge, as well as their knowledge of effective mentoring and coaching. cornelius et al. (2020) found that mentors who receive specialized instruction are effective at mentoring teacher candidates. similarly, melton et al., (2019) found that cooperating teachers who receive explicit training on mentoring are more effective at supporting pre-service and novice teachers. the research is clear that ongoing mentoring and coaching has a positive impact on both teacher effectiveness and teacher retention. additionally, the literature has identified the aspects of effective teacher mentoring and coaching. figure 3 provides a brief overview of these components. early childhood special education stars 112 figure 3 components of effective teacher mentoring and coaching component support in the literature personalized the mentor/coach offers supports that are uniquely designed to support the individual needs and goals of the teacher. even if the mentor/coach is supporting multiple teachers, the supports provided will differ for each teacher. akin, 2016; elek & page, 2019; hui, 2020; randolph et al., 2019 observations effective mentoring/coaching models include three stages for each observation: (a) a meeting before the observation to discuss what will be taught and set goals for the observation itself, (b) the observation, and (c) a meeting after the observation to discuss what the mentor/coach observed. hui, 2020; kraft et al., 2018 teacher reflection on an ongoing basis, the teacher and mentor/coach reflect on the instruction that is occurring in the classroom. they identify what is going well and issues/concerns that may need to be addressed elek & page, 2019; sutton et al., 2021; taylor et al., 2022; wetzel et al., 2017; wetzel et al., 2019 collaborative problem solving mentor/coach and teacher work together to identify potential solutions to the challenges that arise in the teacher’s classroom wetzel et al., 2019 emotional support mentor/coach engages in active listening to the teacher and uses what is heard to support the teacher’s needs, while building their self-confidence and self-reliance as a teacher. becker et al., 2019 instructional support mentor/coach aids teacher in lesson planning and offers explicit feedback on instructional practices. becker et al., 2019; elek & page, 2019; randolph et al., 2019; randolph et al., 2020; shanks, 2017; taylor et al., 2022 explicit modeling mentor/coach explicitly models best teaching practices for the teacher. the teacher can watch the mentor/coach engage in the teaching practice and then try it themself, while receiving feedback taylor et al., 2022 conclusion there is a crisis-level shortage of early childhood special education teachers. teacher preparation programs must respond to our workforce shortage in ways that will address this crisis by increasing the pipeline and improving the retention rates of teachers entering the field. the lohmann & macy 113 stars model presents ideas to ameliorate the crisis. by focusing on the five strategies in the ecse stars model, we can address the challenges that face early childhood special education. we posit that the teacher shortage can be reduced through combining these five effective strategies: (a) supplemental funding during field placements, (b) teacher preparation that leads to early childhood education and early childhood special education dual licensure, (c) advocacy at the local, state, and national levels, (d) relationships between teacher training programs and local public and private early learning centers, and (e) supportive and ongoing mentoring for inservice early childhood special educators. the key to success for addressing the early childhood special education teacher shortage is not inventing something new, but instead creating a comprehensive approach to the teacher shortage by combining research-supported strategies through the use of the early childhood special education stars model. the comprehensive approach involves collaborations within and outside traditional boundaries to create a seamless system of pathways for teacher recruitment, training, and retention. the stars model is a path for addressing our national teacher shortage. references akin, b. a. 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(2021). teacher residency as alternative pathway to licensure. journal of educational issues, 7(1), 14–33. https://doi.org/10.5296/jei.v7i1.17922 https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2021.1955779 https://doi.org/10.1108/ijmce-06-2017-0045 https://doi.org/10.1108/ijmce-06-2017-0045 https://doi.org/10.1108/ijmce-01-2021-0028 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01172-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01172-7 https://tedcec.org/ted-policy-and-advocacy-portal https://doi.org/10.1177/00144029211010162 https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2017.1322129 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2015.09.002 https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/essatitleiipartaguidance.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.02.006 https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2017.1309016 https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186x.2020.1791560 https://doi.org/10.5296/jei.v7i1.17922 nhsa dialog, 25(1), copyright © 2022, issn: 1930-9325 teacher-level traits as moderating factors of professional development kate ascetta university of south carolina beth harn university of oregon this professional development (pd) study investigated the role of teachers’ initial receptive language skills on the implementation of language enhancement strategies. early childhood lead (n = 12) and assistant (n = 9) teachers received pd designed to increase their use of language enhancement strategies. results indicated that teachers’ receptive vocabulary scores predicted their pretest language strategy usage; f(1, 19) = 6.40, p < .05, accounting for 25.2% of the variation in the frequency of language enhancing strategy. additionally, there was a significant difference detected by role at pre-intervention indicating assistants delivered fewer language enhancement strategies compared to lead teachers m = 41.3 (sd = 16.2) vs. m = 25.7 (sd = 12.0). however, post-intervention means demonstrated a closing of the gap between lead and assistant teachers’ implementation of language enhancement strategies. results interpreted by discussing the importance of examining the moderating impact of teacher-level traits in evaluating the effectiveness of pd. keywords: professional development, language introduction professional development conducted in educational settings is highly sensitive to contextual factors (e.g., students skills, teachers traits, school type; desimone & hill, 2017); factors which may influence the effectiveness of a professional development experience. desimone and hill (2017) emphasized that the next steps in pd research should focus on “unpacking the black box” and digging deep into the teachers’ traits that moderate the effectiveness of pd. factors such as age, educational experiences (i.e., variation in educational levels), years of teaching, and adult literacy levels may influence how a teacher engages with pd (e.g., baker & smith, 1999; desimone & hill, 2017; neuman, 1999; zaslow et al., 2010). for example, zaslow et al. (2010) explored the factors that may impact pd effectiveness in early childhood settings by reviewing 37 research article 2 ascetta & harn literacy and language studies. they found a wide range of impact, d = .13 to d = 1.41, of the pd impacting teachers’ use of instructional practices. however, they were unable to determine why there was such variation in effectiveness. only two of the studies they reviewed (baker & smith, 1999; neuman, 1999) explicitly adapted their interventions based on the contextual factors of participants. specifically, baker and smith (1999) made changes to their pd experience based the teachers’ instructional knowledge related to literacy and noted that they wished they had known more about their teachers’ skills prior to intervention. neuman (1999) found that their teachers in the “books aloud” training had a wide range of skill differences as they classified their participants as “highly trained” to “extremely needy” (p. 294) and so the researchers needed to provide more content specific training on the intervention rather than their more general pd planned experience. desimone and hill (2017) demonstrated how teachers’ years of experience and prior knowledge affected their engagement with their science instruction pd for secondary teachers. their findings revealed that teacher content knowledge (influenced by years’ of teaching and degree major) moderated the impact of the pd in that teachers with more knowledge benefited more from the pd. they postulated that the variation in background knowledge affected (minimized) the overall effect size of the pd experience. hamre et al. (2012) demonstrated similar findings and where teachers’ prior knowledge related to literacy impacted the effectiveness of a semester long course on literacy and language instruction. more research is needed to explore what factors, specifically teacher-level traits, are relevant when designing and evaluating the impact of pd to ensure greater effectiveness. variability in classrooms when we think about teacher-level traits that may influence effectiveness of pd, the majority of research has focused on the mediating or moderating impact of years of teaching (e.g., fischer et al., 2018; lee et al., 2015) and educational level (e.g., kraft & papay, 2014). research has consistently demonstrated that novice teachers (i.e., 1-3 years) are more likely to actively participate in pd than more established teachers (berends, 2000; feiman-nemser, 2012). also, participant age does not necessarily play a significant impact on the adult learners’ interest in or the effectiveness of online learning experiences (mulenga & liang, 2008). however, the findings on the impact of educational levels and majors are more inconsistent and less predictive. for example, williford et al. (2015) reported that teachers who majored in early childhood were more likely than those who did not to identify the occurrence of specific teacher-child interactions. while, early et al. (2006) found that teachers’ educational levels were not correlated with instructional skills. research on educational level and teaching experience remains inconclusive – suggesting perhaps that additional factors maybe moderating the effect of pd interventions. teacher characteristics the present study examined two lesser researched factors, teacher’s receptive vocabulary and their role (lead vs. assistant) in the classroom, and how those two traits might moderate the effect of language-based professional development intervention. teacher level traits 3 receptive vocabulary early childhood educators are reported to have the lowest adult language and literacy rates when compared to other educators (halle et al., 2009; zaslow et al., 2010). considering the emphasis placed on providing children, particularly those experiencing early disadvantages, with a languagerich environment the possibility of low language levels for early childhood teachers is particularly concerning. teachers are the primary language models for children in preschool settings. and yet, we currently do not measure the pre-skills our teachers have as part of our pd efforts that may moderate or mediate their ability to provide language-rich environments for children (ascetta et al., 2019; halle et al., 2009; phillips et al., 2003). we have established that teachers’ conceptual knowledge of math and sciences is more likely to influence their ability to improve outcomes for their students (berends et al., 2002). it is critical then that we build the same understanding of teachers’ language ability and how it might influence the creation of language-rich environments in early childhood settings (zaslow et al., 2010). our study examined the teachers’ receptive vocabulary and the possible impact of their skills on a pd experience. role of teacher position traditionally early childhood classrooms are staffed with two teachers: a lead and an assistant teacher (e.g., pianta et al., 2005; sec. 648a, 2021). staffing responsibilities have shifted over time and we now see assistant teachers providing more instructional support across the day (garner et al., 2015; han & neuharth-pritchett, 2010). for example, sosinsky and gilliam (2011) found that in head start classrooms, when compared to k-12 settings, lead and assistant teachers shared much of the same tasks (e.g., leading small instruction groups, reading books, facilitating play) in the daily classroom routine. bullough (2015) noted that only two studies have explicitly examined teaming in head start classrooms (i.e., fitzgerald & theilheimer, 2013; shim et al., 2004); as a field we know very little about the dynamics between lead and assistant teachers. there is great variability in the experiences, both in-service training and education, of lead and assistant teachers in early childhood contexts. very few studies have specifically examined the educational backgrounds of assistant teachers in early childhood contexts. assistant teachers tend to have lower education levels compared to lead teachers (garner et al., 2015; jones et al., 2012). unlike lead teachers, who typically have earned a bachelor’s degree (barnett et al., 2010), it is common for the highest degree held by assistant teachers to be a high school diploma (bellm et al., 2002). it should be noted that in 2013 head start standards started to require all assistant teachers be either have or be enrolled a program leading to at least a cda (sec. 648a, 2021); we do not have access to national data regarding the current educational status of head start assistant teachers. as previously stated, most early childhood classrooms are staffed with two or more teachers and yet it is common practice in research to only include the lead teacher in studies of professional development (e.g., sosinksy & gilliam, 2011). only a handful of studies (ascetta et al., 2019; sosinksy & gilliam, 2011; curby et al., 2012) explicitly include assistant teachers. with even fewer specifically targeting supports for early childhood assistant teachers (e.g., domitrovich et al., 2009). furthermore, little to no research exists that examines potential differences, in 4 ascetta & harn conceptual knowledge and instructional practices, between lead and assistant early childhood teachers (curby et al., 2012; fraser & meadows, 2008). early childhood research often disregards the inclusion of assistant teachers when conducting data analysis and fewer have specifically compared the effectiveness of a pd intervention on lead and assistant teachers (ascetta et al., 2019; curby et al., 2012). curby et al. (2012), examined language differences and found statistically significant different implementation rates of instructional supports (i.e., language modeling, quality of feedback, concept development) for the two groups with assistant teachers scoring lower than the lead teachers. they suggested that experience (e.g., years teaching, professional development) might play a larger role in the differences found between the two groups than educational attainment. further research is needed to isolate the factor(s) that contribute to variation in quality and quantity of language instruction implemented by lead and assistant teachers. recent studies, including the present one, seek to highlight the need to examine contextual factors when designing, delivering, and examining the effect of pd (e.g., desimone & hill, 2017; locasale-crouch et al., 2016). the present study this study explored the potential relation between teacher initial receptive vocabulary skills and effect of role on the implementation of language enhancement strategies. this data is part of a larger pd intervention study (please contact first author). all teachers, leads and assistants, received access to the online pd (i.e., language enhancement strategies and self-monitoring content) and individualized feedback. our study aimed to understand the following exploratory research questions: 1. to what extent do teachers’ receptive vocabulary skills predict their usage of language enhancement strategies? 2. does teacher role (lead vs. assistant) moderate the frequency of language enhancement strategies implementation? materials and methods participants we recruited from head start programs in the pacific northwestern region. twelve teaching teams (i.e., lead and assistant teachers) agreed to participate creating a convenience sample. twelve classrooms, 24 teachers, consented to participate. we had three inclusion criteria: (a) teacher, either assistant or lead, employed in only one head start classroom (not a rotating position); (b) work with children ages 3-5 years old; and (c) reliable access to the internet. please see table 1 for teacher demographic data. all teachers were female and their average age was 34 (range 22 – 61). the analysis sample included 21 teachers (12 lead teachers and 9 assistant teachers). three assistant teachers withdrew from the study prior to pretest; due to maternity leave, left position, and no longer wanted to participate. teacher level traits 5 table 1. demographics for teachers lead (n = 12) assistant (n = 9) number of years at head start <1 2 3 4 5+ 3 4 2 1 2 0 1 3 0 4 educational background high school ged associates bachelors masters 0 0 3 5 4 2 3 3 1 0 ethnicity white asian hispanic/latino other 11 1 0 0 3 0 5 1 ppvt-4 standard scores m = 92.83 (87 – 100) m = 83.33 (76 89) procedures all 21 teachers received access to the online learning management system used to deliver the intervention (i.e., language enhancement strategies (les) and self-monitoring modules). the first author created a module for each of the five language enhancement strategies (i.e., repetition, expansion, open-ended questions, narration, and self-talk) and two additional modules related to self-monitoring. each les module showed the clip of a classroom teacher, provided the operational definition of the strategy (see table 2) and then presented the clip again with the strategy highlighted when the language strategy occurred in the video clip. teachers were then prompted to view the clip again and see if they could identify the language strategy used. the final aspect of each les module contained written examples, with voiceover narration, of when teachers’ might use the strategy in their classroom. the two self-monitoring modules included: (1) a brief recorded powerpoint presentation on what self-monitoring is and why one would use it; and (2) information on how to complete the self-monitoring form. each module took approximately ten minutes, for a total viewing time of 70 minutes. teachers were required to view all modules at least one time; they had continued access to all modules during the four weeks that they received feedback on their use of the les. only one teacher viewed the modules more than once. after viewing the modules, teachers were prompted to practice the strategies for four weeks. each week teachers submitted both an online self-monitoring form and a 10-minute video; they submitted a total of four forms plus four videos. the intervention occurred over six weeks. 6 ascetta & harn table 2. operational definition and examples of language enhancement strategies language facilitation strategy example repeat: following a child’s utterance, the teacher provides a repetition within 3 s. this includes (a) repeating words in the child’s utterance. not required that the child responds. a child states, “car” and the teacher responds, “yes a car.” expansion: following a child’s utterance, the teacher provides an extension within 3 s. this includes adding new descriptive information to the utterance. not required that the child responds. a child reaches for cookie on the counter saying “cookie” and the adult responds, “you want a cookie.” open-ended question: teacher verbally prompts with a question that does not require a one-word response. expected that a child will verbally responds using at least a twoword utterance. teacher asks, “what do you think will happen next in the book?” self-talk: teacher verbally describes his/her actions. not required that the child responds. teacher states, “i’m getting the cd player for music time.” narration: teacher verbally describes the actions of a student(s). not required that the child responds child building in block area. teacher states, “you’re putting the blocks on top of each other.” measures several measures were used to address the research questions related to understanding the potential moderating effect of teacher level traits. prior to intervention, we collected a demographic survey (e.g., lead or assistant teacher, age, educational levels, etc.) and assessed their receptive vocabulary skills. additionally, we collected our outcome measure, the use of les via video submissions, at three points in time (i.e., pre-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up). teacher receptive vocabulary the peabody picture vocabulary test, fourth edition (ppvt-4; dunn & dunn, 1997) is a normreferenced measure of receptive language skills. test-retest reliability for the ppvt-4 is r = .93 and the internal consistency by age is reported as α = .94. the ppvt-4 was administered over skype or google hangout with each teacher following the ppvt-4 -4 tele-practice administration (“telepractice and the ppvt-4”, 2016). teacher level traits 7 teacher language enhancement strategies for our outcome measure we collected data on the frequency that teachers implemented the five les by coding videos. data was collected on the teachers’ usage of the five strategies taught in the pd: (a) open-ended question, (b) narration, (c) self-talk, (d) expansion, and (e) repetition (ascetta et al., 2019; girolametto & weitzman, 2002; pianta et al., 2008). see appendix a for operational definitions and examples of the five les, which are related to increasing language outcomes (e.g., girolametto & weitzman, 2002; pianta et al., 2008). data collection the observational data was gathered from three 10-minute videos during each phase of the study: three at pre-intervention, three immediately after intervention, and three approximately one month after intervention. at each phase of the study, the videos captured the teachers engaging with children during three different daily classroom activities: (1) a mealtime, (2) a structured whole/small group, and (3) a free play activity. the first author trained four data collectors, blinded to the purpose of the study, to code the videos collected. training included reviewing the language enhancement strategies and practice coding in person. then each coder received access to six new videos, to determine reliability. the coders achieved an average kappa of .81 with a range of .76-.95, which is considered strong (mchugh, 2012). additionally, we calculated drift assessment for 20% of the videos with kappa calculated at .82 (range .80 .91), .83 (range .79 .85), and .82 (range .81 .83), for pre-intervention, postintervention, and follow-up. analytic plan three different analytic methods were employed to address our first research question regarding the predictive nature of teachers’ receptive vocabulary skills (i.e., ppvt-4 standard scores) on their usage of les. we initially selected hierarchal linear modeling (hlm) due to the nested structure of the data (time nested within teacher) (raudenbush & bryk, 2002). specifically, the use a growth model was justified because data collection occurred at multiple time points (pretest, posttest, and follow-up). time was coded as: pretest = 0, posttest = 4, and follow-up = 5). after finalizing the unconditional growth model, a set of conditional growth models examined the first research question about the effect of intervention condition (i.e., graphed self-reported vs. performance feedback) on teacher total use of language facilitation strategies across time (i.e., pretest, posttest, and follow-up). a growth model was employed to examine the potential effect of teachers’ roles (i.e., lead or assistant teacher) on their total use of language facilitation strategies across time (i.e., pretest, posttest, and follow-up). the outcome, total use of language facilitation strategies, remained the same as the previous growth model. first, the ppvt-4 standard scores were added as a level two predictor in the two-level hlm growth model. the outcome, total frequency use of language facilitation strategies, remained the same as the previous growth models except that the random effect for the slope (time) was dropped from 8 ascetta & harn this model due the underpowered nature of the study. the hlm software did not allow it to run when level-2 predictors were added. this conditional model introduced ppvt-4 first as predictor of change over time and then the intercept; centered on the grand mean. when we were unable to detect a statistically significant effect, likely due to the underpowered nature of this exploratory study, we decided to conduct some additional exploratory analyses. next, we ran a linear regression to test the predictive nature of ppvt-4 on teachers’ pre-intervention les usage. last, a point-biserial correlation was run to further understand differences in their ppvt-4 scores, such as the possible relation between teachers’ roles) and the ppvt-4 scores. to investigate if the implementation of les varied between lead and assistant teachers we used two approaches. first, we entered the role as a possible predictor of variance for teachers’ language enhancement frequency totals using an hlm growth model. an additional exploratory analysis, point-bi-serial correlation, was conducted to gain further understanding the possible impact of role on les. results please see table 3 for means, standard deviations, and sample sizes. the following sections will examine the effect of teachers’ receptive vocabulary and role on their use of les. table 3. means, standard deviations, and sample sizes for teacher language enhancement strategy frequency of usage lead assistant language enhancement total n m range sd n m range sd pre-intervention 12 42.8 24-83 17.3 9 26.4 17-46 12.6 post-intervention 12 68.0 38-121 23.9 9 44.4 29-83 22.4 follow up 12 62.7 30-101 21.5 9 39.9 14-69 16.7 teacher receptive vocabulary the teachers’ ppvt-4 standard scores were entered as a level-2 predictor. the outcome measures was total frequency use of language enhancement strategies in our growth models (see table 4). the random effect for the slope (time) was dropped from this model due the underpowered nature of the study. this conditional model introduced ppvt-4 first as predictor of change over time and then the intercept; centered on the grand mean. the ppvt-4 scores estimated an additional 1.05 language enhancement strategy used at the intercept (pre-intervention), 𝑡(19) = 1.89, 𝑝 = .07. additionally, teachers’ pre-intervention ppvt-4 scores, on average, effected the change over time in frequency usage by 0.39 points 𝑡(38) = 1.74, 𝑝 = .09. the pseudo-r2 for predicting the intercept, after adding ppvt-4 in this model was 0.80; thus 80% of pre-intervention (intercept) variance is explained by the ppvt-4. also, the pseudo-r2 for predicting the slope, after adding teacher level traits 9 ppvt-4 in this model was 0.82; thus 82% of between-teacher variance is explained by ppvt-4 standard scores. 𝐿𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 1: 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑗 = 𝛽𝑜𝑗 + 𝛽1𝑗(𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑖𝑗) + 𝑟𝑖𝑗 𝐿𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 2: 𝛽𝑜𝑗 = 𝛾00 + 𝛾01(𝑃𝑃𝑉𝑇4𝑗) + 𝑢𝑜𝑗 𝛽1𝑗 = 𝛾10 + 𝛾11(𝑃𝑃𝑉𝑇4𝑗) we examined the potential associative relation between teachers’ ppvt-4 scores and their preintervention les usage by running a linear regression. a scatterplot of pre-intervention language usage against ppvt-4 scores with superimposed regression line was plotted and visual inspection indicated a linear relation between the variables. the residuals demonstrated homoscedasticity and normality. the ppvt-4 scores significantly predicted teachers’ pre-intervention language enhancement total scores, f(1, 19) = 6.40, p < .05, accounting for 25.2% of the variation in language total scores with a medium effect size, adjusted r2 = 21.3% (cohen, 2013). the regression equation predicted: pre-intervention language enhancement use = -27.26 + .46 x (ppvt-4 score). next, a point-biserial correlation was analyzed to explore the potential relation between teachers’ roles and their ppvt-4 scores. homogeneity of variances for ppvt-4 scores for lead and assistant teachers were assessed using levene's test for equality of variances (p = .07). we found a statistically significant correlation between teachers’ roles and ppvt-4 scores, rpb(51) = .73, with lead teachers associated with higher ppvt-4 scores than assistants, m = 92.8 (sd = 4.4) vs. m = 83.3 (sd = 5.0). table 4. conditional growth model for teacher total frequency of language enhancement usage with receptive vocabulary scores fixed effects random effects coefficient t df p estimate chi-square df p language enhancement intercept 27.76 3.78 19 .001 111.62 33.22 19 .02 ppvt-4 x intercept 1.05 1.89 19 .07 time 10.65 3.38 38 .002 ppvt-4 x time 0.39 1.74 38 .09 role of teacher we employed a growth model to examine the potential effect of teachers’ roles on their total use of language enhancement strategies across. this conditional model introduced role as both a predictor of both time and the intercept. assistant teachers used 21.7 fewer total language enhancement strategy uses at, the intercept (pre-intervention), then lead teachers, 𝑡(19) = −3.58, 𝑝 < .05 (see table 5). the pseudo-r2 for predicting the intercept, after adding role (assistant or lead) in this model was .70; thus 70% of pre-intervention (intercept) variance is 10 ascetta & harn explained by teachers’ role. additionally, assistant teachers, on average, used 5.67 less total strategies over time than lead teachers, 𝑡(38) = −1.74, 𝑝 = .09. also, the pseudo-r2 for predicting the slope, after adding role in this model was .61; thus 61% of between-teacher variance is explained by role. 𝐿𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 1: 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑗 = 𝛽𝑜𝑗 + 𝛽1𝑗(𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑖𝑗) + 𝑟𝑖𝑗 𝐿𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 2: 𝛽𝑜𝑗 = 𝛾00 + 𝛾01(𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑗) + 𝑢𝑜𝑗 𝛽1𝑗 = 𝛾10 + 𝛾11(𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑗) we conducted a point-biserial correlation to explore a potential association between teachers’ role and their pre-intervention and post-intervention total les use. using levene’s test for equality of variance (p = .91), the data demonstrated a homogeneity of variances. pre-intervention total les use was not normally distributed (shapiro-wilk’s test p < .05). due to one extreme outlier and skewed distribution of data, the decision was made to use a non-parametric test (kendall’s tau b) for the point-biserial correlation. a statistically significant association between role and preintervention les usage, 𝜏𝑏 = -.41, p < .05, demonstrated that assistant teachers used less strategies, m = 25.7 (sd = 12.0), than lead teachers m = 41.3 (sd = 16.2). in addition, an effect size was calculated using hedges’ g, which suggested that for every one standard deviation of change for assistant teachers, there was an approximately 1.08 standard deviation difference for lead teachers prior to intervention, hedges’ g = 1.08. during post-intervention, we found that the statistically significant association between role and total les usage remained, 𝜏𝑏 = -.43, p < .05, with assistant teachers still using less language enhancement strategies, m = 44.4 (sd = 22.4), than lead teachers m = 65.6 (sd = 23.9). however, when we compared post-intervention means the effect size decreased to hedges’ g = .88, slightly closing the gap between lead and assistant teachers’ implementation of les. discussion understanding the dynamic relation between content (i.e., knowledge, skills, or behaviors targeted), the delivery (i.e., how we present the content), and the context (i.e., participants’ characteristics) may provide us with more well designed and ultimately more effective professional development experiences for teachers (berkel et al., 2011; roberts et al., 2014). the next section will discuss how the findings from this study contribute to professional development research within the context of early childhood settings. we will present how this study’s findings fit into existing professional development research – specifically the impact of contextual factors on evaluation of effectiveness and possible implications for future design considerations. contextual factors and implications for effectiveness we hypothesized that teacher characteristics, such as role and language skills, would moderate the effect of the language focused pd intervention. teacher level traits 11 role lead and assistant teachers play important roles in early childhood classrooms (sosinksy & gilliam, 2011) and while research has shown that lead and assistant teachers often use different types of language (directive vs. enhancing) with children (curby et al., 2012; fraser & meadows, 2008) little research has examined how the two groups might respond differently to languagebased professional development interventions (curby et al., 2012). our results add to the work of curby et al. (2012) which found that lead teachers consistently outperformed assistant teachers after receiving a language intervention; the only other study that specifically compared lead and assistant teachers’ responses to language-focused professional development. we found prior to intervention lead teachers, on average, used 21.69 (p< .05 ) more total les than assistant teachers; and that classroom role explained 70% of pre-intervention variance in les usage. so, the majority of variation prior to intervention was explained by whether they were a lead or an assistant teacher. we also found while examining group mean differences that while both groups improved their usage of les, assistant teachers’ post-intervention average usage increased to m = 39.88, which almost equals the lead teacher pre-intervention usage (m = 42.80). meaning that after our intervention the average assistant used the same number of strategies as lead teachers did prior to pd. had we known this prior to conducting our study, we may have designed a pd experience with different content (e.g., more examples, etc.) or more intensive supports (e.g., more specific feedback) for the assistant teachers. additionally, while not statistically significant, we hypothesize that the interaction between time and role may mean that assistant teachers may have improved less than the lead teachers over time; thus given more time or perhaps an increased level of support during the intervention period that gap may have closed. future work should consider how role impacts a teacher’s ability to respond and engage with pd (locasale-crouch et al., 2016; roberts et al., 2014); it is critical that we understand the “who” factor and how that shapes the design of pd. we believe that more research is needed to examine, if based on teacher role, participants would benefit from differentiated professional development experiences –tailored to their levels of prior knowledge and skills. this may mean a more intensive intervention that provides additional coaching sessions (more than our sessions 4) and for a longer period of time (greater than four weeks; e.g., pianta et al., 2008) for assistant teachers to increase their consistent use of instructional strategies. we may also need future research to consider how teachers’ characteristics (e.g., initial skill, role, etc.) may lead to variation in treatment effects for pd (e.g., desimone & hill, 2017; robert et al., 2014; schachter et al., 2016). if we had not controlled for role in the classroom we may have watered down the effectiveness of the intervention when looking at both groups together; this level of analysis allowed us to see how two groups of teachers reacted to the intervention giving us a more nuanced picture of the pd effectiveness. zaslow et al. (2010) reported a wide range of effectiveness for language-based pd interventions in early childhood and the inherent difficulty of parsing out true meaning of effect sizes. this ambiguity, we argue as a result of missing moderation analysis procedures, may ultimately impact the determination of what constitutes an evidence-based practice. thus, more work is needed in this area to best determine how evidence-based practices related to pd work with different teaching populations. 12 ascetta & harn language very little is known about the potential moderating role that teachers’ language skills play in the creation of language-rich environments for young children (halle et al., 2009; phillips et al., 2003). we measured both their receptive vocabulary skills (i.e., ppvt-4) as well as their overall les usage throughout the study phases, a unique focus. we acknowledge that receptive vocabulary skills does not fully capture all language and literacy skills, we argue that one could use this a proxy measure for overall language skills. for example, prior research has shown correlations (ranging .56 to .88) between the ppvt and intelligence measures (e.g., hodapp & gerken, 1999). we found that teachers’ receptive vocabulary skills, when measured by the ppvt-4 were surprisingly different. lead teachers had a mean of 92.75 (average range) and a range from 87 to 100. assistant teachers had a mean of 83.60 (low average) and a range of 76 to 89. assistant teachers, on average, were almost one standard deviation below the national norm, with many performing well below average. we are unsure at this point how this may directly impact creating a language-rich environment for young children; we did find that the ppvt-4 scores predicted lower pre-intervention language enhancement use (adjusted r2 = 21.3%) and accounted for 25.2% of variation in their use over time. so, one could extrapolate that teachers who scored lower on the ppvt-4 used fewer les and that children taught by teachers with lower ppvt-4 standard scores received less opportunities to engage in language enhancing exchanges with their teachers. more research is needed to understand how that may or may not translate to classroom settings with preschool-aged children. we do know from parenting literature that when adult caregivers have lower vocabulary levels we see similarly lower average vocabulary levels in young children (e.g., hart & risley, 1995). little research has examined the predictive nature of teachers’ receptive language skills and how it may impact instructional behaviors. potentially using a measure like the ppvt-4 could provide some guidance for researchers as we develop pd to think about aligning content with the skills of the pd participants. the teachers’ limited receptive vocabulary skills may have moderated the impact of the intervention and future research should consider the impact of this learner characteristic when designing and evaluating the effectiveness of pd. receptive language skills could be a variable that moderates responsiveness to interventions (dane & schneider, 1998; locasale-crouch et al., 2016). we found that teachers’ (lead and assistant combined) pre-intervention language strategy usage ranged from 14 to 83 and post-intervention ranged from 29 to 121. so, the range actually widens after the intervention. our findings show that some observed teachers had high rates of language enhancement strategy use at both preand post-intervention, so they may not have benefited/needed the pd compared to teachers with fewer skills. knowing more about the teachers’ skills could help aid us as a field in designing more effective pd experiences. for example, anecdotally, one teacher reported that she was aware of the strategies prior to the intervention, and then implemented the strategies with more purpose after the intervention. when looking at the data for the three highest preforming teachers at pre-intervention, all maintained high levels of strategy use at post-intervention; however, what was noted is that they used a wider range of strategies at post-intervention. we hypothesize that some teachers improved marginally while others gained substantially. we suggest future research begin by re-evaluating the measurement tools used to capture changes in teacher behavior. for example, having behavioral measures designed to capture different types of language development (e.g., mlu, vocabulary, teacher level traits 13 response to questions) may provide more insight on how specific language enhancement strategies (i.e., open-ended, narration, self-talk, expansion, extension) impact language development in better, or worse, ways for young children. also, future research might consider the inclusion of additional coding schemes for adult language – specifically coding schemes that capture instructional practices when teachers are not implementing the les. one might hypothesize that a moderating factor, not explicitly addressed in this study but observed anecdotally, of interventions could be teachers’ pre-intervention expressive language patterns. this could have implications for both the design – what content and how it is delivered as well as the measurement of effectiveness. we theorize that teachers could be categorized into one of four groups based on their pre-intervention differences in characteristics: (1) uses high rates of language enhancement and low rates of directive language, (2) uses low rates of language enhancement and high rates of directive language, (3) uses low rates of both, or (4) high rates of both. so perhaps a more sensitive tool would measure not only frequency, but also code for different types of language instructional practices (i.e., directive and enhancing). understanding the patterns of teachers’ expressive language use in classrooms (e.g., frequency and qualities) might begin to explain the variation in teachers’ responsiveness to pd (e.g., desimone & hill, 2017; roberts et al., 2014). also, this type of examination may identify threshold points (higher/lower skilled) for participants that may explain response to the intervention (harn et al., 2013). the goal of professional development should move beyond increasing teachers’ total use of strategies, but rather, potentially, the variability and purpose with which they use language enhancement strategies to impact student outcomes. limitations and conclusion we have three limitations to the current study. first, the small number of participants limits our ability to discuss generalization. future studies will look to replicate and expand this work with a larger sample. when working with a larger sample, we would include additional demographic questions that would broaden our contextual understanding of possible variables that can contribute to the effectiveness of language interventions when working with lead and assistant teachers (e.g., number of years as a teaching pair, prior access to pd related to language enhancement, etc.). in addition to expanding beyond this pilot sample (n = 21), we would recommend utilizing a randomized control trial rather than the quasi-experimental design employed in this current study. introducing a control group would likely strengthen conclusions and increase the generalizability of such findings. lastly, we have included a limited number of measures to capture teacher’s language usage (i.e., observation and the ppvt-4). we have begun a line of inquiry to examine contextual factors such as the moderating effect of teachers’ role in the classroom and their receptive vocabulary skills on professional development. it is critical that we seek to identify what teacher-level traits may influence teachers’ interactions with a pd experience. this has implications for both designing (pre) and evaluating (post) responses to pd; understanding the components of pd that are linked to change in teacher practices is one of the next big steps in pd research (locasale-crouch et al., 2016). examination of the dynamic relation between participants’ characteristics and the features of professional 14 ascetta & harn development is essential to strengthening our early childhood workforce, ultimately promoting improved positive long-term outcomes for children. references ascetta, k., harn, b., & durán, l. 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(2015). program and teacher characteristics predicting the implementation of banking time with preschoolers who display disruptive behaviors. prevention science, 16(8), 1054-1063. zaslow, m., tout, k., halle, t., whittaker, j. v., & lavelle, b. (2010). toward the identification of features of effective professional development for early educators, literature review. washington, dc: u.s. department of education, office of planning. retrieved from www.ed.gov/about/offices/ list/opepd/ppss/reports.html hs dialog, 26(2), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 steps toward increasing kindergarten readiness jennifer baucom rebecca shore richard lambert university of north carolina at charlotte this research to practice article accompanies a study involving focus groups of preschool teachers and kindergarten teachers investigating what is meant by the term kindergarten readiness. participants within this study perceived school readiness as skills that students should exhibit on day 60 of kindergarten that would allow for them to have a successful kindergarten year. some skills that would be typical on day 60 of kindergarten are that students are: able to control their emotions and understand the emotions of others, understand how to behave in familiar environments when routines and procedures do not change, and are able to discriminate the sound that an alliteration and rhyme make but may not be able to explain the reason for the alliteration or rhyme. this article delves more deeply into the daily practices of early childhood educators while working to better prepare children for kindergarten and beyond and recommends six concrete steps for educators and parents toward reaching this level of preparedness for kindergarten. keywords: preschool, kindergarten, kindergarten readiness introduction this research-to-practice article is offered to complement our study investigating how preschool teachers and kindergarten teachers define the phrase “kindergarten readiness”. with the heightened accountability of preschool programs by state and federal lawmakers in today’s education environment, a formal definition of kindergarten readiness is needed. our study sought to contribute to the literature concerning what it means to be ‘kindergarten ready’ in one state by interviewing experienced preschool and kindergarten teachers who worked with young children each day. more specifically, our study participants were asked to define what a child’s skills and competencies need to be at day 60 of kindergarten for them to be successful in kindergarten and beyond. specifically, our study examined the perceptions of experienced kindergarten and preschool teachers in north carolina to determine the similarities and differences between these early research to practice summary kindergarten readiness in practice 95 educators’ perceptions of a developmental continuum used throughout our state called the north carolina early learning inventory (nceli) (ncdpib, n. d.). this instrument is widely used to measure kindergartners’ skills on day 60 of school, the date when the nceli is administered in north carolina kindergarten classrooms. it is considered a formative assessment by the north carolina department of public instruction’s office of early learning and measures students’ developmental levels in five areas: social-emotional, math, approaches to learning, language and literacy, and physical development. while education has been a field often criticized for employing teachers who tend to work in isolation or a specific silo, early childhood is often seen as even more solitary. for example, teachers in secondary schools typically operate through the support of subject area departments and elementary school teachers often work together by grade level, many early childhood environments are less well-defined by structure and some are even standalone organizations or businesses. our study suggested that an important effort that would be beneficial for practitioners in early childhood education would be to take part in high-quality systems of ongoing professional development and collaboration with colleagues and other ece professionals to increase knowledge of topics such as kindergarten readiness, ways of reaching it, and ways of measuring it. 1. professional learning communities can provide powerful early childhood educator learning opportunities. throughout our study that centered around teachers’ perception of one particular state’s effort (the nceli) and kindergarten readiness, it was evident that both preschool and kindergarten teachers were experts in their field and were knowledgeable and understood developmental levels of their students. the language that teachers in our focus groups used to discuss developmental milestones was rich and directly related to specific skills a student on the 60th day of school should exhibit. however, many expressed that this was the first time they had been joined with colleagues to compare perceptions of the phrase kindergarten readiness. both kindergarten and preschool teachers alike shared that they could benefit by taking part in professional learning communities to enhance their knowledge and to provide support to each other so that they are able to continue learning how a young learner develops. as research on learning and the brain and the critical timeframe of early childhood is constantly released, there is an ongoing need for teachers to stay up to date on that research. a framework such as a professional learning community (plc), widely used now in the k-12 system, would be an example of a supportive system in which these early educators could benefit from collaboration. as darling-hammond and richardson noted, professional development using the plc model can provide teachers with a variety of opportunities to share their knowledge, examine what they wish to learn and how they wish to pursue these goals, and serve as a support group and thus encourage changes at the school level (darling-hammond & richardson, 2009). beyond just support, professional learning communities have been shown to be important in helping educators focus on data and on specific needs of their student group as a whole and also those of individual students. examining strengths and weaknesses of student performance together allows educators to learn from each other and to have the opportunity to explore avenues outside of their classroom or school. professional learning communities can also provide a venue for https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15700763.2021.1921224 96 baucom, shore, & lambert quality coaching experiences that are uniquely specific to each school, grade level, age level, etc. the learning occurring within a professional learning community by focusing on specific performance data has the potential to be of higher quality because it brings together important, relevant stakeholders, and addresses specific needs of the school community along with specific needs that each individual teacher has. 2. kindergarten and preschool teachers need to be properly trained on agreed upon assessments administered in their specialty area. as resnick and resnick (1992) made popular decades ago referencing our k-12 school system, “what you test is what you get.” this statement held true in our study largely because kindergarteners who had attended a state preschool had been tested on specific criteria prior to entering (and being further tested) in kindergarten. it was recognized during the study that preschool teachers tended to score students higher on the criteria accepted for kindergarten students to know and be able to do on the 60th day of kindergarten than the kindergarten teachers. several factors account for these differences. one factor is that preschool students in our study were shown to exhibit a slight advantage over their peers who did not attend a quality preschool program prior to kindergarten when it came to familiarity with testing. preschool teachers had multiple experiences with assessing children throughout the year that were more atypical than those of a kindergarten teacher. perhaps they scored their students higher because the ongoing assessment of development and scaffolding toward the next milestones in early childhood ultimately caused their students to be more successful. another factor to be considered may be that of teacher bias and subjectivity when it comes to scoring a formative assessment that relies on observation to gather data on the students. it is important to note that the nceli assessment (administered in kindergarten) combined with the teaching strategies gold© assessment (an ongoing assessment used in preschool) is an assessment that is based on a teacher’s ongoing perception of whether or not a child has accomplished specific goals. this type of assessment is highly subjective to the view of the assessor. the preschool teachers that partook in the study were trained in assessing students with this instrument using the teaching strategies gold© interrater reliability. all teachers within the state of north carolina that teach ncprek students must be certified to administer this instrument. kindergarten teachers, on the other hand, are not required to be certified with this instrument and with interrater reliability. best practice would be that each assessor (teacher) take the teaching strategies interrater reliability training which is offered online and become certified so that bias and subjectivity will be minimized in measuring what a particular student has achieved. 3. teachers and administrators must not be afraid to advocate for developmentally appropriate practices. in the long life of the history of school testing, developing assessments for preschool children is somewhat in its infancy. throughout our study both preschool and kindergarten teachers expressed concern that some skills that were scored on the 60th day of kindergarten using the kindergarten readiness in practice 97 nceli were skills that were not officially taught prior or were not developmentally appropriate to be assessed on the 60th day of kindergarten. in fact, some teachers expressed that some locally made pacing guides did not introduce some of these skills until much later in the school year. if this is the case, then teachers and administrators should advocate for students, especially when it comes to developmentally appropriate practices. if the nceli assessed a skill that experts agreed should not be assessed on the 60th day of kindergarten, then practitioners should take note. most of the assessment instruments used in our study are recently developed tools and may still need some tweaking to better serve young students. experienced administrators and teachers need to use their voices and their expertise when determining developmentally appropriate practices. on the other hand, not all locally made assessments and pacing guides are always entirely researchbased. in other words, there may be room for revision and possible improvement. educators should pay close attention to research-based practices and consider using assessments and pacing guides other than just those that are locally designed. then, after evaluating different assessment instruments and approaches, educators should also consider taking a step outside of the classrooms and serving on state or federal initiatives that create such formal documents for their classrooms. an experienced teacher’s voice can be extremely important when state or federal agencies are developing and revising assessments and pacing guides that directly impact their daily classroom instruction and leaders should help bring their voices to the decision-making table. they can be the experts in the room since they are often on the front lines of using these important tools. 4. once a research-based assessment instrument has been agreed upon and is in practice, preschool and kindergarten instructional focus needs to address the skills assessed in the instrument. (in the case of north carolina, that would be the nceli). another area in defining kindergarten readiness would be that educators be intentional about what they teach and what specifically is assessed. if both preschool and kindergarten teachers are aware of what their state is assessing, and that those items assessed are an accurate measure of student success in kindergarten, then we need to instruct and assess those goals intentionally. for preschool teachers, this means instructionally pace themselves according to these key items on the instrument; again in our case, the nceli. these are the main objectives that will determine whether there is a match to see if a student is kindergarten ready. preschool teachers need to use data sessions within their professional learning communities and monitor each student's growth along the developmental continuum. being intentional with this instruction will only help educators focus on the important skills a child needs to enter kindergarten. in our state, kindergarten teachers have a short period of time of 60 days to assess students on their specific objectives. kindergarten teachers and administrators can track progress on these goals before school even starts. ncprek students have been assessed using teaching strategies gold© and their growth is documented through the online format. in north carolina, ncprek teachers have an obligation to report students' progress during their preschool year to the kindergarten programs that their children will be entering. kindergarten teachers have access to that information and can investigate their student data to properly understand their students’ strengths and weaknesses according to the data they receive before school starts. this information 98 baucom, shore, & lambert is a wealth of knowledge and can set the stage for progress monitoring these goals for their students. 5. eyes should be on data, even in early childhood development. to further address best practices for preschool teachers, kindergarten teachers, and administrators in the ece field, not enough can be said for data. the world of early childhood is rich with data. not only skills-based data, but developmental data that can help students grow exponentially better than if we just place some focus on skills. an example of this in our study could be the overall agreement that students needed consistency in their environment in order to be successful at this age. the developmental aspect of this is that children at this age are successful with familiar situations no matter what skill that they need to complete. students were successful in their day to day school life if they were provided consistency between the preschool classroom and the kindergarten classroom. the students were able to complete tasks more independently and with confidence. teachers and administrators can provide this environment for their students by being consistent with classroom procedures and rules. these same individuals can also provide new experiences for their students along with the “guide by the side” or scaffolding needed in unique or new situations. students requiring guidance during new situations was a skill that both kindergarten and preschool teachers agreed upon during this stage of development. teachers can maintain data that will help them move their children along that developmental continuum. instruction can be intentional when you truly understand the levels of the students you are teaching. teachers and administrators can conduct assessments that will help them progress monitor their students and discuss schoolwide and classroom expectations with the particular objectives on the nceli assessment. monitoring student data closely will help move students successfully along the continuum. 6. we must continue to advocate for preschool services for all children. it is noteworthy that preschool services in the state of north carolina are not guaranteed for each child, even though teachers and administrators all agree that a child that has attended a high-quality preschool program such as ncprek have a big advantage when it comes to kindergarten readiness. time and time again, throughout the study, kindergarten teachers expressed that students who had attended preschool were able to be more successful in the objectives included in the nceli than were those who had missed preschool. the kindergarten teachers had to be reminded that the researchers were only assessing typical kindergarten students, not just those that had attended preschool. research suggests that early intervention is the key to a child’s successful school career. if that is the case, then we should advocate for universal preschool in the state of north carolina and in all states. “in 1997, the supreme court of north carolina’s landmark decision in leandro v. state of north carolina affirmed every child’s state constitutional right to a sound, basic education beginning in early childhood” (north carolina early childhood coalition, 2023). this was an effort to provide universal preschool for children in north carolina. it is the year 2023, and we still do not have universal preschool. the state has made great strides to enhance the early childhood experience for all children in north carolina. hopefully one day, all children will have kindergarten readiness in practice 99 the same opportunities so that they all can be kindergarten ready on the first day of school. meanwhile, we will continue to work toward improving the field through research and practice. defining what is actually mean by the phrase kindergarten readiness is one such step. references north carolina early childhood coalition (n.d.). leandro v. state of nc. retrieved july 23, 2023 from https://ncearlyeducationcoalition.org/issues/leandro/#:~:text=in%201997%2c%20the%20supreme% 20court,education%20beginning%20in%20early%20childhood. darling-hammond, l., & richardson, n. (2009). teachers learning, what matters? educational leadership, 66(5), 46–53. https://outlier.uchicago.edu/computerscience/os4cs/landscapestudy/resources/darling-hammondand-richardson-2009.pdf orit avidov-ungar, hayak merav & sivan cohen (2023) role perceptions of early childhood teachers leading professional learning communities following a new professional development policy, leadership and policy in schools, 22:1, 225-237. http://doi.org/10.1080/1350293x.2019.1678717 resnick, l. b., and resnick, d. p. (1992). assessing the thinking curriculum: new tools for education reform. in b. gifford and m. o’conner (eds.) changing assessments: evaluation in education and human services, 30, 37–75, springer dialog, 22(1), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 “let’s read this book again”: using repeated reading to support literal and inferential language skills in inclusive preschool classrooms alina mihai indiana university kokomo gretchen butera indiana university bloomington in their development as readers, children begin to acquire critical precursory skills long before they enter school. young children’s language development is particularly enhanced by their opportunities to actively engage in meaningful language interactions with those around them. therefore, it is essential to ensure that early childhood classrooms provide all children with quality, accessible experiences that promote language development. this paper provides early childhood practitioners with a repeated book reading model which teachers can use to promote essential language skills. in particular, the repeated book reading model presented includes strategies to develop children’s inferential language skills which may be critical to support reading comprehension. an opening and closing vignette is provided to illustrate the use of this framework in an inclusive early childhood classroom. keywords: literal and inferential language, vocabulary development, repeated book reading, head start “can we go outside now?” asked jonathan in a wistful voice as vivian finished reading the story for the day. “i’ve lost them again”, she thought, with disappointment. vivian proceeded to get the children ready to go out on the playground, as they always did after story time. however, she was distracted and was thinking that once again, the reading didn’t go quite as she had planned. in the four years she had been teaching preschoolers, vivian had learned to use a variety of strategies to engage children as they read books together. on a regular basis, she tried to talk to the children about the story she had just read, having them recall what had happened and explain what they saw in the pictures. she also made a habit of using completion prompts by asking children to provide a missing word or complete a sentence, especially when they read rhyming books, or books that repeated a few sentences throughout. research-to-practice summary 90 mihai & butera oftentimes, vivian pointed out letters and commented about words that were long, short, or looked somewhat alike when she was reading. she traced words with her finger on the book, especially on book titles, to help children understand the direction of reading and to point out specific words. vivian knew she should also engage children in dialogue by asking open-ended questions starting with “wh-” prompts (e.g., “what…?”, “why…?”). she tried to do so regularly, but, most often, such questions remained unanswered. at times, children gave answers that made vivian doubt they understood the story. some children, including claire, who was identified as having a significant language delay, never offered to answer questions and remained silent when vivian asked a question. today, right before jonathan broke the silence to ask if they could go outside, the class had just finished reading “a sick day for amos mcgee” (stead, 2010) and vivian asked the children, “why do you think the animals went to the zookeeper’s house when he didn’t come to work in the morning?” laurie, one of the usually more attentive children in her class, tried to explain, “because…” and then she started playing with the velcro on her shoe. “because they wanted to get on the bus”, said conner who always loved to have the answer. vivian thought about the story reading again. “were the questions too hard for most of the children?” she wondered. were the books too challenging? what could she do to get the children to really engage with the concepts and ideas in the book? “a sick day for amos mcgee” was one of her favorite books and a wonderful opportunity to discuss friendship and caring for others. yet, her class had not gotten anywhere close to having a thoughtful conversation about the story and the problems it addressed. decades ago, anderson (1985) wrote about how we could help children become lifelong readers. “the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children” (p. 23), he asserted. reading aloud to children finds support for a number of reasons. aside from being a pleasant experience for both children and adults, book reading introduces children to more advanced language structures than they typically hear in classrooms. it engages them in extended conversations, helps them acquire new vocabulary, builds conceptual knowledge, and develops print awareness (lennox, 2013; reese, 2013). numerous studies have investigated the impact of book reading on children’s language and literacy skills with results indicating that book reading has a positive effect on children’s oral language development and print knowledge (e.g., mol, bus, de jong, & smeets, 2008; national early literacy panel, 2008). surprisingly, research on book reading also suggests that the frequency of reading does not appear to significantly predict children’s language and literacy skills (zucker, cabell, justice, pentimonti, & kaderavek, 2012). it may be that simply reading books to children is insufficient to foster early literacy development (mcgee & schickedanz, 2007; mckeown & beck, 2003). rather, children’s language development is supported when they actively participate in quality shared reading activities (mol et al., 2008). to help children become good readers then, teachers need to model the often invisible behaviors of a proficient reader as they read-aloud to children (cochran-smith, 1984). for example, teachers may demonstrate how they make meaning out of what they are reading by stopping to reflect, comment, or make predictions about what might happen next (mcgee & schickedanz, 2007). by modeling this meaning-making process out-loud and eliciting children’s participation, teachers provide children with the opportunity to hear and begin to use inferential language that promotes comprehension skills. “read this book again!”: using repeated book reading 91 this research-to-practice summary presents the framework that the teachers in our study (mihai & butera, 2019) used to engage the children in book reading activities. further, the types of early literacy skills that children are developing in preschool are described, with a focus on understanding the differences between literal and inferential language, and the importance of providing learning experiences that support the development of both. early literacy development children begin to acquire critical precursory skills long before they enter school (duncan et al., 2007; wasik & newman, 2009). broadly, these skills can be described as either code-based or meaning-focused. code skills include alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and concepts about print. these skills generally develop within a limited period of time (e.g., children generally learn the alphabet between 4 and 7 years) and they address a finite set of skills (e.g., 26 letters in the english alphabet; paris, 2005; paris, 2011). in contrast, children have unlimited opportunities to learn meaning-focused skills and will continue to develop them throughout their lives (paris, 2005; paris, 2011). in contrast to code-based skills, meaning-focused skills include the development of oral language, vocabulary, background knowledge, and inferential language (dickinson, golinkoff, & hirsh-pasek, 2010; lennox, 2013). meaning-focused skills are important to the development of reading comprehension. it also may be that meaning-focused skills are critical in the development of children’s motivation to read. meaning-focused skills become increasingly important as children move from learning to read toward reading to learn (lennox, 2013). nonetheless, both code and meaning-focused skills typically demonstrate substantial growth during children’s preschool years and both aspects of language development should be targeted in classroom instruction and intervention. a definition of literal and inferential language meaning-focused skills refer to both literal and inferential language development, but it may be important to understand the differences. literal language is used to discuss things that can be readily perceived. for example, a teacher might show an illustration in a picture book and ask the children about it. pointing to an elephant in the picture, the teacher might ask, “what animal is this?” inferential language, on the other hand, extends beyond information that is directly provided and requires children to use their reasoning skills and background knowledge (van kleeck, woude, & hammett, 2006). when reading a book and helping children use inferential language, a teacher might ask the children to make predictions, infer feelings, thoughts, and motivations of a character in the book, or make connections between what is happening in the story and the children’s own lives. the teacher might point to the picture of the same elephant and ask? “where might we see an elephant?” or pointing to the elephant’s trunk she might ask “what do you think an elephant uses his trunk for?” looking back at vivian in the vignette, it is apparent that the children in her classroom had difficulties engaging with the meaning-focused skills needed to respond to her question about the characters’ decision. vivian’s question, “why do you think the animals went to the zookeeper’s house when he didn’t come to work in the morning?”, asked children to make inferences about the characters’ thoughts and feelings, which requires children to think about the story in a decontextualized way. these skills require a higher cognitive demand than literal language skills. 92 mihai & butera using inferential language to extend discussion about a book will require children to advance from using language to label, describe, or respond to what can be readily perceived in the book to using language to consider what they hear and reason about what they perceive in the story (blank, rose, & berlin, 1978; zucker, justice, piasta, & kaderavek, 2010). a framework for supporting literal and inferential language although many preschool children are able to make inferences about what is read (van kleeck, 2008), research suggests that these skills are not consistently supported in many preschool classrooms. although most preschool teachers read books to children, they do not consistently engage children in extended talk during book reading activities (hindman, connor, jewkes, & morrison, 2008). it is estimated that approximately 70% of preschool teachers’ language should be targeted at the literal level and about 30% at the inferential level (blank et al., 1978). when teachers engage children with literal language about a story, children have opportunities to experience success by focusing on skills they have already mastered. on the other hand, providing input at higher levels challenges children’s emerging inferential skills and supports learning (van kleeck, gillam, hamilton, & mcgrath, 1997). researchers focusing on the levels of abstraction in preschoolers’ discourse describe a framework that illustrates how children can be supported in developing both literal and inferential language skills (see table 1 in mihai & butera, 2019; blank et al., 1978; price, bradley, & smith, 2012; tompkins, zucker, justice, & binici; van kleeck et al., 1997; zucker et al., 2010). the first two levels in this framework focus on literal language, while levels three and four target inferential language. the type of language tasks listed under levels 1 and 2 might seem familiar to many early childhood teachers and easier for children to engage in (e.g., labeling objects or characters, locating objects or characters on the page, counting objects or pictures, describing objects or characters, completing sentences). some of the tasks recorded under levels 3 and 4, however, are more difficult to address (e.g., making inferences, providing a point of view, generalizing about events, predicting, or problem solving). in some cases, teachers might try to target these more complex skills, as vivian did in the vignette, without receiving an appropriate response from children. in such cases, rather than concluding that children are not able to engage in complex thinking about elements of the book, it is important to consider how children’s learning can be scaffolded. repeated book reading is a promising approach for supporting both literal and inferential language within early childhood classrooms (mcgee & schickedanz, 2007; trivette, simkus, dunst, & hamby, 2012). repeated book reading the positive effects of repeated book reading on children’s early literacy development have been acknowledged for several decades (e.g., morrow, 1988). while steady progress has been made toward documenting the benefits of this approach to book reading (trivette et al., 2012), more effort is needed to introduce repeated book reading in preschool classrooms. mcgee and schickedanz’s (2007) repeated interactive read-aloud framework provides a way to use repeated book reading with young children. this repeated book reading framework actively engages children in asking and answering questions and allows teachers to systematically model and help children develop more complex language skills (see table 2 in mihai &butera, 2019). this type of scaffolding in which teachers systematically and deliberately target more “read this book again!”: using repeated book reading 93 complex language skills elicits child engagement and inferential language use (mcgee& schickedanz, 2007). the repeated book reading approach places emphasis on the instruction that takes places before, during, and after a book is being read, particularly teachers’ inferential talk during this time and children’s responses to it. these conversations are known to motivate children and promote comprehension (wasik & neuman, 2009). as such, before reading, children benefit from making predictions, responding to questions that build on their background knowledge, and learn key vocabulary that may be instrumental to understanding the book. during book readings, comprehension is extended through teachers’ comments, modeling of analytic thinking, and asking questions that require children to make further inferences. after reading, additional open-ended questions engage children in extended abstract talk. as they plan opportunities for children to actively engage in book reading activities, teachers need to be aware of how instruction can be designed to allow all children to participate. universal design for learning (udl) principles are an important resource for planning instruction in that udl supports provide access for all children (conn-powers, cross, traub, & hutterpishgahi, 2006; horn & banerjee, 2009). udl can be embedded within each repeated book reading with multiple means of representation and engagement emphasized as teachers introduce books or explain vocabulary in the first reading, and multiple means of expression increasingly evident as children take a more active role in the interactions in the second and third readings (see appendix a). in this manner, learning opportunities are created to address different learning styles and levels of ability, ensuring that children are engaged, motivated, and provided with a variety of formats for demonstrating their learning. further, to enable children to make meaningful connections over time, activities should allow for the lessons in language and literacy learned in book reading to be integrated across the day and over the school year into an overarching curricular thematic framework designed to solidify learning. along with much needed rest, fall break always brought opportunities for teacher professional development at the primrose early learning center. vivian had been delighted to see that other teachers also wanted to learn how to use storybook reading to support children’s learning. she was excited about the new ideas she had gathered at a session focused on using repeated book reading to support language development. she also really liked the presentation on universal design for learning she had attended and was excited to try out new ideas related to its use. as she planned for the first few weeks after break, she picked a few books and made plans for reading these with the children while they also learned about fall and forest animals. one of her favorite books was “fletcher and the falling leaves” (rawlinson, 2006), which told the story of a tiny fox named fletcher and his favorite tree. fletcher was worried when the tree’s leaves started turning brown and began to fall – he thought his tree was sick. fletcher tried to help the tree, but all the leaves fell off despite his efforts. he was happy when he realized that the tree did not die and that something magical had happened. knowing about her children’s love for nature and the outdoors, vivian knew they would love reading about fletcher and his adventures. she also thought she had some good ideas about how to keep them engaged! vivian planned to read the books three times (see plan in table 1) and designed several activities to extend the theme into the learning centers. they were going to take nature walks, collect 94 mihai & butera and sort leaves, paint with leaves, examine leaves in the science center, and use leaves to warm up their nests while pretending to be forest animals. vivian also planned to focus on helping the children to learn several new words each week and picked “worried”, “autumn”, “bark”, “den”, “magical”, and “icicle” to start. after using this repeated book reading approach for several weeks, vivian was pleased to note the children’s renewed enthusiasm for story time. her purposeful modeling of inferential thinking, the systematic teaching of vocabulary, and the opportunities provided for children to actively engage in the reading had transformed story time in their classroom. in just a few weeks, the children switched from “not this book again!” to “let’s read this book again!”, to vivian’s delight. the repeated book reading approach extended the opportunities for the highquality language interactions that vivian was hoping to foster in her classroom and provided all children with opportunities to meaningfully participate. even claire would often respond chorally or repeat a peer’s response, and seemed to have fun acting out words, pointing to pictures, or answering simple questions. references anderson, r. c. (1985). becoming a nation of readers: the report of the commission on reading. washington, dc: the national institute of education. blank, m., rose, s. a., & berlin, l. j. (1978a). the language of learning: the preschool years. new york, ny: grune & stratton. cochran-smith, m. (1984). the making of a reader. norwood, nj: ablex publishing corporation. conn-powers, m., cross, a., traub, e., & hutter-pishgahi, l. (2006). the universal design of early education: moving forward for all children. beyond the journal: young children on the web, 1-9. dickinson, d. k., golinkoff, r. m., & hirsh-pasek, k. (2010). speaking out for language: why language is central to reading development. educational researcher, 39(4), 305-310. duncan, g. j., dowesett, c. j., claessens, a., magnuson, k., huston, a. c., klebanov, p., ... japel, c. (2007). school readiness and later achievement. developmental psychology, 43(6), 1428-1446. horn, e., & banerjee, r. (2009). understanding curriculum modifications and embedded learning opportunities in the context of supporting all children’s success. language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 40(4), 406415. hindman, a. h., connor, c. m., jewkes, a. m., & morrison, f. j. (2008). untangling the effects of shared book reading: multiple factors and their associations with preschool literacy outcomes. early childhood research quarterly, 23(3), 330-350. lennox, s. (2013). interactive read-alouds an avenue for enhancing children’s language for thinking and understanding: a review of recent research. early childhood education journal, 1-9. mcgee, l. m., & schickedanz, j. a. (2007). repeated interactive read‐alouds in preschool and kindergarten. the reading teacher, 60(8), 742-751. mckeown, m. g., & beck, i. l. (2003). taking advantage of read-alouds to help children make sense of decontextualized language. in a. van kleeck, s. a. stahl, & e. b. bauer (eds.), on reading books to children: parents and teachers (pp. 159-176). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates publishers. mihai, a. & butera, g. (2019). the effects of a whole-classroom repeated book reading intervention on the language development of children in head start. national head start association dialog: the research-to-practice journal for the early childhood field, 22(2). mol, s. e., bus, a. g., de jong, m. t., & smeets, d. j. (2008). added value of dialogic parent– child book readings: a meta-analysis. early education and development, 19(1), 7-26. morrow, l. m. (1988). young children’s responses to one-to-one story readings in school settings. reading research quarterly, 23(1), 89-107. national early literacy panel (2008). developing early literacy: report of the national early literacy panel. washington, dc: national institute for literacy. “read this book again!”: using repeated book reading 95 paris, s. (2005). reinterpreting the development of reading skills. reading research quarterly, 40(2), 184–202. paris, s. g. (2011). developmental differences in early reading skills. in s. b. neuman & d. k. dickinson (eds.), handbook of early literacy research (vol. 3, pp. 228-241). new york, ny: the guilford press. price, l. h., bradley, b. a., & smith, j. m. (2012). a comparison of preschool teachers’ talk during storybook and information book read-alouds. early childhood research quarterly, 27(3), 426-440. rawlinson, j. (2006). fletcher and the falling leaves. new york, ny: greenwillow books. reese, e. (2013). tell me a story: sharing stories to enrich your child’s world. new york, ny: oxford university press. sembiante, s. f., dynia, j. m., kaderavek, j. n., & justice, l. m. (2018). teachers’ literal and inferential talk in early childhood and special education classrooms. early education and development, 29(1), 14-30. stead, p. c. (2010). a sick day for amos mcgee”. new york, ny: roaring book press. tompkins, v., zucker, t. a., justice, l. m., & binici, s. (2012). inferential talk during teacherchild interactions in small-group play. early childhood research quarterly. trivette, c. m., simkus, a., dunst, c. j., & hamby, d. w. (2012). repeated book reading and preschoolers’ early literacy development. cell reviews, 5(5). van kleeck, a. (2008). providing preschool foundations for later reading comprehension: the importance of and ideas for targeting inferencing in storybook‐sharing interventions. psychology in the schools, 45(7), 627-643. van kleeck, a., gillam, r. b., hamilton, l., & mcgrath, c. (1997). the relationship between middle-class parents’ book-sharing discussion and their preschoolers’ abstract language development. journal of speech, language and hearing research, 40(6), 1261-1271. van kleeck, a., woude, v. j., & hammett, l. (2006). fostering literal and inferential language skills in head start preschoolers with language impairment using scripted book-sharing discussions. american journal of speech-language pathology, 15(1), 85. wasik, b. h., & newman, b. a. (2009). teaching and learning to read. in o. a. barbarin & b. h. wasik (eds.), handbook of child development and early education: research to practice (pp. 303-327). new york, ny: the guilford press. zucker, t. a., cabell, s. q., justice, l. m., pentimonti, j. m., & kaderavek, j. n. (2012). the role of frequent, interactive prekindergarten shared reading in the longitudinal development of language and literacy skills. developmental psychology. zucker, t. a., justice, l. m., piasta, s. b., & kaderavek, j. n. (2010). preschool teachers’ literal and inferential questions and children's responses during whole-class shared reading. early childhood research quarterly, 25(1), 65-83. 96 mihai & butera appendix a example of a repeated book reading targeting literal and inferential language first reading second reading third reading before reading introduce main ideas: show the front cover of the book and ask the children if they know what kind of animal it shows. [literal language] tell them that they will hear the story of a tiny fox named fletcher and his favorite tree. fletcher is worried when the tree’s leaves turn brown and begin to fall – he thinks his tree is sick. fletcher tries to help the tree, but all the leaves fall off by the end. he is happy when he realizes that the tree did not die, but that something magical had happened. ask the children if they know why the leaves might have been falling in the story. [inferential language] show front cover of book: “what color do the leaves turn in the fall season?” look at the cover to see the different colors of leaves or show leaves you have in the classroom. [literal language] give clues to key vocabulary. explain that autumn is another word for fall. [inferential language] review the main ideas/ vocabulary: remind children that they have read this book before and ask them if they remember what happened to fletcher and his favorite tree in this story. [literal language] review the main ideas/ vocabulary: remind the children that they have read this book two times before and ask them to recall the title of the story. ask them in what season this story takes place and how they can tell. [literal and inferential language] while reading provide vocabulary support: as you open the book, show fletcher’s picture on the first page. explain that he is feeling worried and sad by using facial expressions. emphasize other provide vocabulary support: in this reading, when vocabulary is read, provide an explanation. for example, fletcher was “worried” because he thought something integrate a retelling of the story: retell the story events and focus on the problem of the story by reading some of the text and having the children retell part of the “read this book again!”: using repeated book reading 97 key vocabulary words as you read. [inferential language] support/ extend comprehension: as you read, make comments in 3-4 essential points in the story to model thinking and promote children’s understanding. concentrate on fletcher’s feelings. for example, after reading the first page where fletcher was beginning to get worried comment “i think fletcher is going to try to do something about the tree now” and then ask “why do you think he went to talk to his mom?” as you read, make additional comments and then ask questions “why did fletcher put the leaf back on the tree?”, “how did he feel when he saw the bare tree?”, “why did he put the leaf in a little bed?” [inferential language] bad was going to happen to the tree. “bark” is what trees are covered with. [inferential language] when you go outside to play, have the children touch the trunk of a tree and remind them of the new word. support/ extend comprehension: as you read, stop to make comments that model extended thinking and then ask questions to help children make inferences. in this reading, focus on the other characters in the book. for example, “the squirrel thought it was wonderful that the leaves were falling off the tree. why do you think she wasn’t listening to fletcher who told her not to take them away?”, “why was she not worried that the tree was losing its leaves?” also, “here, the friendly birds picked up the leaves and put them back on the branches. why do you think they put the leaves back on the tree?” [inferential language] text. carefully ask a few focused questions that elicit children’s responses. for example, “we all remember what happened to fletcher and his favorite tree in this story. who would like to share with us?” showing selected illustrations ask the children “what’s happening here?” and follow-up to ask what will happen next. [literal language] have the children not only recall, but also explain events in the story and the character’s thoughts and feelings. prompt with questions as needed. for example, have the children explain why fletcher was worried, why the squirrel and porcupine were not worried, why the birds helped put the leave back on the tree, why fletcher tried to save the last leaf, and how he felt at the end of the story. [inferential language] continue to emphasize vocabulary: encourage children to use the key vocabulary words when reconstructing the story. for example, does anyone remember what it means to be worried? what are trees covered with? work to connect word meanings to contexts that are familiar to children and encourage children to use new vocabulary words in their responses. “sometimes we 98 mihai & butera are worried when we think something bad might happen (give an example: when the kids go outside in the cold weather without warm clothes, you are worried they might get sick). when have you felt worried?” [inferential language] after-reading ask “why” questions to promote continued thinking: “why was fletcher trying to help the tree?” “why was he no longer worried at the end?” [inferential language] ask questions that promote continued thinking: “what would have happened with the squirrel if the tree hadn’t lost its leaves?”, “what will happen to the tree after the winter passes?” [inferential language] ask questions that promote continued thinking: “why did fletcher feel happy at the end of the story?”; “why did he go right back to his den to have a warm breakfast after he saw the tree covered with icicles?” [inferential language] universal design for learning multiple means of representation ✓ emphasize main ideas to highlight critical events in the story ✓ activate background knowledge related to season changes ✓ use pictures, verbal explanation, facial expressions, gestures, and point out new words. multiple means of action and expression ✓ allow children to respond verbally, by pointing, or acting out ✓ allow children to respond by following the teacher’s or a peer’s model ✓ allow children to respond chorally and individually ✓ ask questions with different levels of complexity multiple means of engagement ✓ make connections to what children are learning in the classroom and at home about animals and the fall season ✓ follow the children’s lead and make connections between their experiences and concepts in the story ✓ engage the children in using facial expressions and gestures ✓ make connections between the children’s contributions. note: adapted from mcgee and schickedanz (2007) nhsa dialog, 25(1), copyright © 2022, issn: 1930-9325 strategies supporting early childhood education teachers’ sense of self-efficacy ruth guirguis bmcc-cuny raquel plotka pace university early childhood education programs in the united states shifted to online instruction due to the covid-19 pandemic. early childhood educators faced many challenges around instruction, student engagement, and strategies that would support families during this time. as educators grappled with trying to implement practices that would be effective online, they also struggled with lower levels of self-efficacy. the present study explored how student engagement impacted teaching and learning and particularly how administrative and family support impacted teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. implications for effective early childhood teaching strategies and the structures that need to be in place to support teachers’ self-efficacy will be discussed. keywords: self-efficacy, challenges, covid-19, online/virtual, early childhood introduction the covid-19 health crisis forced early childhood education (ece) programs to move to online instructional platforms. educators were faced with the challenge of having to teach and engage young children through a screen without any guidelines on how to shift to online teaching. ece teachers had to implement this change with very limited teaching resources and support systems in place. additionally, the notion that ece teachers needed to provide instruction that aligned with traditional theoretical approaches that included exploration through play, music, and the arts (dodd-nufrio, 2011) was an insurmountable task that negatively influenced teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. social-emotional and engagement challenges research to practice summary 2 guirguis & plotka early childhood educators reported issues with student learning as a result of the lack of student motivation (korkmaz & toraman, 2020). a main concern reported revolved around the development of social skills. particularly as social interaction, group work, small group pair and share, and many other typical peer and collaborative teaching practices were difficult to implement (korkmaz & toraman, 2020). nonetheless, the most challenging task ece teachers reported was the ability to keep young children engaged (szente, 2020). ece teachers specifically reported difficulties around maintaining students’ attention and engagement during active activities involving music and movement. additionally, educators reported the challenges in managing students’ emotional well-being. the effects of the drastic change in routines, explicitly not being able to engage with peers and their teacher, impacted children’s emotional and social development (singh et al., 2020). teachers reported young children feeling confused, disengage, lonely, scared, sad, overwhelmed, and anxious. teacher sense of self-efficacy challenge while managing issues with engagement, social, and emotional skills during the covid-19 pandemic, ece teachers also faced many challenges with their sense of self-efficacy. teacher’s sense of self-efficacy is typically aligned with the level of support they receive from their administrator and the students’ families (stipek, 2012). this is important as teachers’ perception of support from their school leaders can positively or negatively affect self-efficacy which then impacts instructional practices (wahlstrom & louis, 2008) and student performance (stipek, 2012). teachers reported that one major challenge when turning to online instruction, was the lack of support from school administration (korkmaz & toraman, 2020). teachers’ perceptions of parental support was also critical to teachers’ sense of efficacy (skaalvik & skaalvik, 2010). specifically, communication and collaboration between parents (skaalvik & skaalvik, 2010). purpose of the present study as a result of the covid-19 health crisis and the ongoing growing discussion on online teaching platforms in early childhood, this study explored the experiences and challenges related to online teaching in the ece field. this study examined teachers’ self-efficacy during the covid-19 pandemic. explicitly, the challenges and supports that teachers experienced during this period, such as school administration parents support and their impact on teachers’ sense of self-efficacy. the present study aimed to answer the following questions: 1. what have been teachers’ most common experiences and challenges while teaching young children online during the covid-19 pandemic? 2. to what extent has support from the school administration, support from families, and open communication with families impacted teacher self-efficacy during the covid-19 pandemic? strategies for teacher efficacy 3 results this study looked at teachers’ experiences and challenges while they taught online during the covid-19 pandemic and the effect of these challenges teachers sense of self-efficacy. research question 1: what have been the most common teacher experiences and challenges? teachers found it most challenging to support social skills, such as helping children make friends, adjust to routines, and follow rules. they reported fewer challenges when it came to the actual content and instructional skills. however, determining and implementing instructional activities that were developmentally appropriate and engaging online, was difficult. teachers found that not all strategies worked with young children equally nor did activities that had traditionally worked well in person, work effectively online. storytime/reading books, one-on-one games, sing-alongs, and one-on-one time between children and teachers were most effective on most online platforms. direct whole class instruction and hands-on activities without an adult assisting at home, were the least effective. these type of teaching practices led to a major decrease in participation from many students. teachers indicated that only about half the class typically participated in these hands on and whole group activities. consequently, teachers reported challenges around the ability to support students emotional skills. in this study 53 early childhood teachers were asked to rate their perception of the emotions their students felt during remote learning. teachers reported that 44% of the students were somewhat disengaged, while 36% were very disengaged. results showed that 44% of students were somewhat confused, 44% were very confused, 50% of the students were somewhat overwhelmed, and 25% were very overwhelmed. teachers also reported that 45% of the students were somewhat sad, 25% of them were very sad, 28% were somewhat anxious, 61% of the students were very anxious, 36% felt somewhat lonely, 24% felt very lonely, and 39% were somewhat scared, while 21% were very scared (see tale 1). table 1: teachers’ perceptions of children’s well-being emotions young children experience during online classes n min max m sd confused 53 1.00 4.00 2.67 .95 disengaged 53 1.00 4.00 2.56 .86 lonely 53 1.00 4.00 2.03 .97 scared 53 1.00 4.00 1.86 .94 sad 53 1.00 4.00 2.18 .89 overwhelmed 53 1.00 4.00 2.18 .85 anxious 53 1.00 4.00 2.28 .94 4 guirguis & plotka research question 2: to what extent did experiencing support predict teacher self-efficacy during the covid-19 pandemic? teachers reported experiencing significantly lower levels of self-efficacy while teaching online after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic than when they taught in person. specifically, this question examined to what extent support from school administration, support from schools in the program, and open communication with families predicted teacher efficacy after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. the results revealed that support from school administration, support from families in the program, and open communication with families were statistically significant. suggesting that an increase in feeling supported by the families in the program and school administration significantly predicted teacher efficacy after the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. strategies to support teachers’ self-efficacy one of the major findings of this study indicates that teachers experienced challenges with student engagement which then negatively impact teachers’ self-efficacy. activities such as storytime/reading books, sing-alongs, and one-on-one time between student and teacher translated well in an online format. ece teachers found that these activities maintained student engagement for longer periods of time. activities that engage only the auditory and visual senses tend to translate well online between teacher and student. this suggests that when trying to implement activities that engage additional senses, it is critical that teachers engage in a collaborative preplanning session with the student’s family as these activities do not translate well online. teachers need to select activities that are considered to be technologically appropriate in order to increase student engagement. this means that one key concept to increasing engagement is first determining what activities can be done in small or one-to-one groups with or without adult support at home. once this has been determined, considering how to implement the activity, explicitly, the time and day of the week and whether this will be a live session or pre-recorded session is critical. as part of continuing the effort of implementing culturally sustaining pedagogies, in a virtual platform, understating each child’s home circumstance and scheduling challenges the family may have needs to be a consideration for teachers when deciding to implement an activity. consequently, administrators can provide workshops for teachers who are struggling with the implementation of technological appropriate practices in ece. the concept of pre-planning leads to the second challenge teachers faced which was lack of family support and the impact this then had on teachers’ self-efficacy. while more experiential type of activities can be done virtually, they required an adult to support children at home. hence, including families in the planning stages would be most effective approach to foster activities that engage all senses. in turn, this can have a positive impact teachers’ self-efficacy. providing parents with a way of communicating with teachers when issues come up can better support virtual student learning. having parent-teacher conferences by video or phone, holding virtual home visit to check in with families on a personal level, and offering opportunities for parents to provide feedback around remote learning, can serve as successful opportunities for families to take a more active role in teaching and learning virtually as well as supporting students’ social and emotional needs. strategies for teacher efficacy 5 a third major finding that teachers faced was the lack of administrative support and its negative impact on teachers self-efficacy. thus, administrators need to create practices that can support teachers’ confidence levels during challenging times. specifically, administrators, need to create an open form of communication with each teacher. they need to provide teachers with the platforms and the proper training to teach through new technologies. it is important for administrators to create an online culture of care where teachers are acknowledged, and all achievements and transitions are celebrated. touching base with teachers during faculty meetings and using this platform to share those achievements is key to creating a supportive online culture. having those in leadership make space and time for teaching strategies for self-care is as important as providing curriculum training. especially, since self-care is used a strategy for trauma informed practices. references dodd-nufrio, a. t. (2011, october 1). reggio emilia, maria montessori, and john dewey: dispelling teachers’ misconceptions and understanding theoretical foundations. retrieved march 27, 2021, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226689076_reggio_emilia_maria_montessori_and_john_dewe y_dispelling_teachers’_misconceptions_and_understanding_theoretical_foundations korkmaz, g. & toraman, c. (2020). are we ready for post covid19 educational practice? an investigation into what educators think as to online learning. international journal of technology in education and science. singh, s., roy, d., sinha, k., parveen, s., sharma, g., & joshi, g. (2020). impact of covid-19 and lockdown on mental health of children and adolescents: a narrative review with recommendations. psychiatry research, 293, 113429. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113429. skaalvik, e. & skaalvik, s. (2010). teacher self-efficacy and teacher burnout: a study of relations. teaching and teacher education, 26, 1059–1069. stipek, d. (2012). context matters: effects of student characteristics and perceived administrative and parental support on teacher self-efficacy. the elementary school journal, 112(4), 590-606. doi:10.1086/664489. szente, j. (2020). live virtual sessions with toddlers and preschoolers amid covid19: implications for early childhood teacher education. journal of technology and teacher education. wahlstrom, k. & louis, k. (2008). how teachers experience principal leadership: the roles of professional community, trust, efficacy, and shared responsibility. educational administration quarterly, 44, 458–495. facilitating transitions rebecca shore, ed.d., editor university of north carolina at charlotte our american cities, small and large, are filled with streets and roads. the streets and roads connect neighborhoods, shopping areas, schools, hospitals, and most of the important institutions and organizations that make up each city. those cities are then connected by larger freeways, and states are connected by even bigger interstate expressways. all sorts of signage accompany the roads and streets and freeways and interstates, helping guide us to where we want to go and facilitating our trips from place to place. entrance and exit ramps make it possible for us to easily maneuver from neighborhood streets to multilane routes to reach our destinations however near or far we may be destined. without the signage, and certainly without the on and off ramps for the highways, it would be a great challenge to get from place to place. clearly defined directions and well-paved thoroughfares make facilitating our journeys much more efficient and successful. now imagine our early childhood world. what is actually meant by the phrase “kindergarten readiness?” what do parents think? preschool teachers? kindergarten teachers themselves? this issue of the head start dialog includes articles about efforts to more readily and efficiently navigate the complex early education landscape, between caring for infants and ultimately helping children to become “kindergarten ready” on their road to elementary school ready, secondary school ready, and ultimately college ready. where are we going and are we there yet? this issue of the head start dialog starts off with a study investigating preschool and kindergarten teachers’ perspectives on defining the phrase “kindergarten readiness” in one state. experienced teachers at both levels were convened during the spring semester of 2022 and through multiple focus groups, discussed scoring variants on the north carolina early learning inventory (nceli) on the 60th day of kindergarten. the good news is that there was much agreement between the preschool teachers and the kindergarten teachers and the meaning of the phrase. additionally, the importance of children having a preschool experience prior to kindergarten rang through loud and clear from the kindergarten teachers. our second research article answers the question, “where is convergence and divergence in how parents and educators interpret child development when preschoolers transition in kindergarten?” marisa macy, of university of nebraska at kearney with the buffett early childhood institute, investigated interrater agreement between the parents of young children and the early childhood professionals working with their families from a rural head start program in the midwest as the children transitioned from preschool to kindergarten. the third research article in this issue is titled “bridging the gap: feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability of an integrated attachment-based training for teachers and parents in early head start.” the research team is large and dynamic, with a total of 8 researchers across 4 different institutions, including carla caringi barron of wayne state university, and claire vallotton of michigan state university. this study moves toward answering the “how will we get there?” question by investigating the perspectives of parents, infant/toddler teachers, and university-based facilitators to provide insights to support the implementation of ongoing, reflective training models across the early childhood education system. our final research article by rebecca p. jordan of salem college and teressa sumrall of appalachian state university is titled “capitalizing on early literacy standards in play.” their study helps with both determining where we are going as well as how we need to get there by addressing the early learning development standards that have been developed in all 50 states, and investigating how play can be used to support children’s progress towards meeting developmental milestones. focusing on early literacy standards, they propose that through “sensitivity”, preschool teachers can address standards through play, identifying early developmental milestones, and consequently play learning-rich extensions that build on children’s developmental readiness. following these four research articles are four research-to-practice articles to help bring these studies to a level where the rubber meets the road. we hope you enjoy learning as you read these new studies that aim to shed light on our journey and help to guide the way toward a more seamless and effective early childhood education for every child. hs dialog, 27(1), 169-185 copyright ©2024, issn: 1930-9325 call to action inclusive and equitable early childhood teacher preparation programs: recruiting and retaining teacher candidates with disabilities stacy n. mcguire1 michelle m. sands2 stacey n. skoning3 madison d. schafer4 benjamin d. berschback1 arielle taylor2 sawyer stein2 1bowling green state university 2northern illinois university 3university of wisconsin oshkosh 4neenah joint school district inclusive early childhood education teacher preparation programs are tasked with preparing teacher candidates to work with young children with and without disabilities. yet, many teacher preparation programs continue to function in a medical model of disability, where teacher educators teach candidates to “fix” or “cure” young disabled children. working from a medical model of disability positions young disabled children as problematic and ostracizes disabled teacher candidates as they see themselves in the very children spoken of by their teacher educators. instead, practices can be implemented to build on the unique strengths and assets disabled teacher candidates bring to the early childhood field. this call to action has been co-authored by disabled teachers and candidates to highlight the practices teacher educators can instill in their programs with the goal of recruiting and retaining disabled teacher candidates. keywords: disability, early childhood, special education, teacher candidates, teacher preparation introduction inclusive early childhood education (iece) teacher preparation programs equip teacher candidates with the skills and knowledge necessary to serve as both early childhood general and mcguire et al. 170 special education teachers, and as both direct and consultative agents. iece teachers are expected to support and follow policies and practices that align with the individuals with disabilities education act (2004) and the policy guidance that supports young disabled children’s inclusion in high-quality early childhood programs (2015, 2023). additionally, in the policy statement on inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs, they described its shared vision which includes “people of all abilities be included in all facets of society throughout their lives as it benefits not only individuals with disabilities but also all individuals in all communities” (2023, p. 2). young disabled children who are educated in inclusive settings deserve to see teachers who are like them: also disabled. persons with disabilities make up the largest minority group in the world (united nations enable, n.d.) and the percentage of college students with disabilities has increased over the past two decades (us government accountability office, 2024). in 2019, 21% of undergraduates reported having a disability (national center for education statistics [nces], 2023) and many students with disabilities choose not to disclose their disability to their institute of higher education (ihe). disabled persons hold unique and crucial insights on challenging cultural beliefs about normalcy and addressing the structural ableism embedded within education, including those held by many teacher educators in teacher preparation programs (keefe, 2022). though almost every university class is likely to have one or more disabled students enrolled, every disabled teacher candidate has a unique identity, set of strengths, and areas of needs. most importantly, they offer unique knowledge and expertise that will better support their future students with disabilities and their families (council for exceptional children [cec], 2016). furthermore, “the experience of disability is relevant to all marginalized groups – for all groups have people with disabilities in them” (anderson, 2006, p. 367). it is essential iece teacher educators and teacher preparation programs act as models and create educational spaces that promote inclusivity, and work to recruit and retain disabled teacher candidates (siuty & beneke, 2020). therefore, we call the field to ensure inclusivity and representation of individuals with disabilities in iece teacher preparation programs. traditional teacher preparation programs traditional general education and special education teacher preparation programs focus on identifying and “fixing” children with disabilities and their deficits, which has long-lasting impacts on students, teacher candidates, and teacher educators. within general education teacher preparation programs, there persists a rigidity and battle between ensuring equity and quality with achievement of standards and maintaining accountability (kofke & morrison, 2021). meanwhile, special education teacher preparation programs have prepared students to work with children with disabilities using practices that further exclude and ostracize disabled children and teacher candidates (keefe, 2022; lukins et al., 2023). relying more on a medical model of disability, traditional teacher preparation for special education has positioned disability as a deficit, problem, or deficiency within the individual that needs to be "fixed" or "cured" through intervention or therapy (ashby, 2012). the social model of disability, which positions disability as a social construct in which the environment, not an individual’s impairments, creates barriers (lawson & beckett, 2021), may be most often described when discussing inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education setting (freedman et al., 2019). however, mandates inclusive teacher prep programs 171 associated with idea, including requiring students be labeled with a specific disability in order to receive services, or creating individualized goals specific only to a student’s area(s) of deficit, are inherently more aligned with medical model approaches to disability (freedman et al., 2019). past research has noted how deficit-oriented, non-normative approaches to disabilities can impact not only students, but also teachers and teacher candidates. use of approaches where the focus is on a student’s challenges or deficits can impact teachers’ perceptions of disability and may result in students feeling stigmatized and struggling to be included by their non-disabled peers and teachers (bialka et al., 2024). these same approaches also can impact teacher candidates and in-service teachers who may not choose to disclose their own disability because they fear exclusion and ostracism from teacher educators and colleagues (cec, 2016; strimel et al., 2023). teacher candidates with disabilities have also reported feeling onerous to their teacher preparation programs and have encountered reticence or disinclination from program members concerned that accommodations could jeopardize the program’s ability to maintain professional standards (baldwin, 2007; griffiths, 2012; leyser & greenberger, 2008, strimel et al., 2023). barriers such as these exist even though cec (2006) (a national organization that, with its division for early childhood [dec], has established standards for professional preparation of special education teachers) has specifically acknowledged how teachers with disabilities can perform tasks with success when provided with the proper supports and accommodations. gao report on students with disabilities in higher education in april 2024, the us government accountability office (gao) published the report to congressional addressees on higher education education could improve information on accommodations for students with disabilities. this report includes the findings of a study conducted by the gao to determine trends and characteristics related to college students with disabilities, challenges students with disabilities encountered in accessing college education and how these were mitigated, and how the department of education (doe) helps mitigate these challenges. because ihes have a legal responsibility to ensure equal access to qualified students with disabilities (americans with disabilities act, 1990; section 504 of the rehabilitation act, 1973), colleges and universities must provide accommodations to students who self-identify as having a disability and provide documentation of their disability, and these institutions are prohibited from discriminating based on disabilities. however, the gao’s study found that disabled students continue to encounter barriers to academic success and graduate at a rate far less than nondisabled students. the gao report cites data from the beginning postsecondary students longitudinal study (national center for education statistics, 2017) which found that 47 percent of disabled students leave school without obtaining a degree, compared to 30 percent of students without disabilities. as a result of their study, the gao suggests that disabled students may not receive the adequate preparation needed to self-advocate for accommodations in the collegiate environment, and ihe disability services staff may need additional means of staying current on key information specific to accommodations for disabled students. considering the field of iece understands the need for and has had a commitment to providing high-quality education and care to all our youngest learners and their families (national association for the education of young children [naeyc], 2022), this is a call to action to mcguire et al. 172 those in higher education to take further steps to model those inclusive early childhood teacher preparation program practices to support disabled teacher candidates. within this paper we: (a) identify examples of current iece teacher preparation program practices and the potential impacts they may have on teacher candidates with disabilities, (b) call on iece teacher educators and preparation programs to utilize inclusive practices which can support all students, and then (c) suggest opportunities in research and policy to support and evaluate inclusive teacher preparation practices. this call to action has been co-authored by faculty members from three teacher preparation programs and disabled teacher candidates and teachers who are currently enrolled in or have recently completed their undergraduate teacher preparation programs within one of three midwestern public universities. each disabled author has independently determined what information they wish to disclose about their disability. ● arielle taylor (she/her) is a first-generation college student. she is a 22-year-old african american woman entering her third professional semester in the early childhood program at northern illinois university (niu). she is on the path to graduate in may 2025. arielle has been diagnosed with bipolar ii disorder and receives accommodations through the niu disability resource center. ● benjamin d. bershback (he/him) is a 2024 graduate of bowling green state university where he majored in special education. ben received special education and related services for dyslexia and auditory processing disorder. ● madison d. schafer (she/her) majored in early childhood special education and minored in environmental studies at the university of wisconsin oshkosh. she is currently teaching first grade. madison identifies as a person who is neurodivergent and received disability related services while attending university of wisconsin oshkosh. ● michelle m. sands (she/her) received her doctoral degree from the university of illinois in special education. she is currently assistant professor in the department of special and early education at northern illinois university and teaches courses in the inclusive early childhood education program. her research interests focus on supporting the alignment and continuity of practices between early childhood and elementary programs and supporting children with disabilities and their families during the transition to kindergarten. ● sawyer stein (they/them) is an autistic advocate entering their third professional semester at northern illinois university, with the hope of becoming a preschool teacher postgraduation in 2025. motivated by their poor treatment by schools since early childhood, sawyer was drawn to education with the goal of assisting disabled students who may not be identified for accommodations due to inequitable assessment practices. when referring to sawyer in this paper, they will most often be referenced using identity-first labels (i.e. autistic, disabled, etc.) as is their preference. ● stacy n. mcguire (she/her) received her doctoral degree from the university of illinois urbana-champaign in special education. she is currently an assistant professor of special education in the school of inclusive teacher education at bowling green state university. her research interests focus on providing equitable education for students with behavioral support needs and emotional and behavioral disorders. she has been diagnosed with a neurological disorder and identifies as a disabled individual. ● stacey n. skoning (she/her) is a professor in the department of special & early childhood education at the university of wisconsin oshkosh, where she also spent 13 inclusive teacher prep programs 173 years as the department chair. her research focuses on improving inclusive support for all students in general education settings. she has supported hundreds of students with a range of disabilities in pk-12 and in higher education. current issues in teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention, and recommendations for the future as we consider the need for more inclusive teacher preparation programs, it is important to consider the current issues and how we can best address those issues. in preparing this paper we worked with our student writers to identify ways in which they have experienced issues within their teacher preparation programs, as well as the possible solutions and recommendations they have for addressing those issues based on their own experiences. additionally, we have turned to the literature to support their recommendations and move towards more inclusive teacher preparation programs. the issues we will address in this call to action include: (a) belonging and perception of disability; (b) relationships, representation, and universal design for learning; (c) accommodations, accessibility, and supports; and (d) teacher dispositions. culture of belonging and perception of disability belongingness is an important part of student academic success (strayhorn, 2018; sotardi, 2022). ensuring all preservice teachers, including those with disabilities, perceive themselves as belonging at the ihe, in their program, and in the field of education is crucial. yet, the stigma of, or negative attitudes towards disability that can exist among faculty, instructors, or support staff can create barriers that lead disabled teacher candidates to feel as if they do not belong, to struggle with imposter syndrome, or feel as if they are not capable of being a teacher. it is this unconscious or conscious ableism that can hinder disabled teacher candidates within ihes (strimel et al., 2023), including iece teacher preparation programs. this can be seen through some of our authors’ experiences: for me, it is not easy to talk about my mental health, and as a black woman, most of our real everyday problems are seen as "excuses" rather than a problem. i find it hard to let people know my weaknesses because i want to be seen as strong, independent, and smart always, and not as the girl with bipolar disorder. i need to prove that i am just as smart and capable as my white counterparts, and i don't need anybody's help. it's hard for me to say, but in everyday life as a black woman, i have to prove myself. teacher educators have an important role to prepare teacher candidates to be inclusive of all children in educational environments. when teacher educators promote and foster inclusive environments that cultivate strong, individualized identities, they are actively demonstrating how individuals with disabilities and their identities as disabled individuals matter. yet, preservice teachers, particularly those preparing to become special education teachers, have traditionally been trained to identify and remediate problems or deviations from what is “normal” (ashby, 2012) as part of the medical model of disability (hayes & hannold, 2007; zaks, 2023). this medical model is the antithesis of one that supports a sense of belonging – rather it establishes mcguire et al. 174 the individual with the disability as being abnormal or something that needs to be changed or normalized. though it seems obvious that teacher educators should promote and foster inclusive environments and teach within this social model of disability, strimel and colleagues (2023) recently identified several barriers to access and equity within teacher preparation programs. barriers encountered by teacher candidates with disabilities include negative perceptions of teacher candidates, treating teacher candidates differently based on their disability, and a lack of access to varying educational experiences because of the candidates’ disabilities (bergerhuff et al., 2012; parker & draves, 2017; siuty & beneke, 2020; squires & countermine, 2018; squires et al., 2018). some of the long-term consequences of these barriers include lower likelihood of teacher candidates with disabilities’ disclosing their disability or accessing adequate support from their teacher educators, particularly during field placement, and an increased likelihood of candidates leaving the field, having a damaged sense of identity, or both (strimel et al., 2023). the cultivation of a sense of belonging and critical awareness of disability may influence how teacher candidates with and without disabilities also educate young children with disabilities within iece. additionally, the creation of inclusive environments that place value on diversity is one way of supporting students’ sense of belonging (allen et al., 2024). it is the responsibility of teacher educators to create, model, and promote inclusive educational environments and practices for teacher candidates that can contribute to disabled individuals’ sense of belonging and all teacher candidates’ use of inclusive practice. these practices also align with those within dec’s recommended practices (2014) and naeyc’s position statement on advancing equity in early childhood (2019) and code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment (2011). recommendations ● create and facilitate a safe and student-centered classroom community for all students. at the start of the semester, having students identify core values, beliefs, create social norms and sign student commitments not only helps ensure a positive student-centered classroom community, but are opportunities to model practices they can use when collaborating with others in a school environment. ● teach within a disabilities studies framework or use a critical lens to challenge biases which exist that can rely on assumptions and/or exclude children with disabilities and other minoritized populations (ashby et al., 2012; love & beneke, 2021; urbani et al., 2022). teaching using the book “rethinking disability: a disability studies approach to inclusive practice” (valle & conner, 2019) has helped all our candidates (early childhood, elementary, secondary, special education…) better understand the biases they hold and identify them on our campus. last year the class reading this text searched for biased language on our campus and found many examples including a presentation being given that announced “all who walked through the door would…” they recognized that whether you could walk or not made little difference in the amount of benefit someone would gain from participation. ● use an asset-based approach when discussing individuals with disabilities (urbani et al., 2022). “to better support disabled teacher candidates, a colleague and i hosted a session on navigating the job market. we discussed when and how to disclose a disability when applying for teaching jobs and how to leverage our assets during the interview process.” ● use inclusive language and offer opportunities for individuals to share their own unique inclusive teacher prep programs 175 perspectives, acknowledging that there may be individuals with disabilities within the classes being taught. use language that includes students in possible disabled populations, does not assume that students are all neurotypical and able-bodied, and is respectful of adults with disabilities having unique perspectives and contributions nondisabled people can’t provide. ● incorporate perspectives of or resources from individuals with disabilities in classroom discussions. “i always appreciate it when professors talk about the differing perspectives of disabled adults on aids and therapies provided to disabled children. recognizing that disabled people age and can advocate for their communities sends an important message to disabled students and abled peers who are not used to hearing disabled narratives.” relationships, representation, and universal design for learning (udl) positive relationships with students, as well as transparent representation of disability among faculty and staff, and use of universal design for learning (udl) in coursework can support students with disabilities and their sense of belonging. a new theme among college courses is the limited representation of marginalized groups in course materials (bird & pitman, 2020; brandle, 2020). however, when discussing marginalized groups, disability is often missing from the conversation. for example, a recent study examined open educational materials in political science to identify the extent to which marginalized groups were represented, specifically looking at race, ethnicity, lgbtq+, and women (brandle, 2020). similarly, another study examined course materials in the hard and social sciences, only reporting on gender and ethnic representation (bird & pitman, 2020). little attention is paid, however, to disability representation in course materials, especially in education. scholars agree that representation is important and valid (redding, 2019), and yet are not promoting representation when it comes to recruiting and retaining the group of educators who will work with our future disabled students. in addition to using representative course materials, having faculty who have disabilities and are willing to disclose those disabilities can be beneficial to students. just as before, there is literature supporting college student success when they have university professors of the same racial or ethnic background or of the same gender (llamas et al., 2019). a disabled college student likely benefits in much of the same way. as reported by one of our authors: as a college student, i completely benefited from faculty disclosing about their own disabilities and about their own transparency of disabilities. this conversation that happened a couple times, allowed myself to feel comfortable talking about my disabilities, it allowed me to relate and build connections with my professor, and to become more knowledgeable to share to others with and without disabilities. when faculty are open about their own disabilities, teacher candidates can see themselves succeed, see advocates in their teacher educators, and have a sense of belonging they may not have otherwise had. faculty can also use udl when teaching. udl is a framework for teaching built on universal design. universal design is a phenomenon that began in architecture, wherein structures mcguire et al. 176 originally created for the disability community can be used by the general public for many reasons (persson et al., 2014). a common example is the curb-cut effect. curb cuts were originally designed for wheelchair users to access sidewalks. however, many people soon realized they were also useful for parents of young children in strollers, delivery persons with shipments on dollies, and travelers pulling luggage behind them. universal design has since moved into educational spaces, where faculty (and teachers) can now use educational designs originally meant for the disability community for all students. udl, one of the most common forms of universal design in education, provides multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement (cast, 2018). as teacher educators we can teach, implement, and model appropriate udl principles for our students. our teacher candidates should be prepared to use udl in their future classrooms; therefore, we should be prepared to teach them how to use such principles with fidelity. we also should feel comfortable implementing udl in our own classrooms. by implementing udl principles we can reach all learners, including those who have disabilities, in our teacher preparation courses. finally, we should intentionally model udl principles by explaining why we are making instructional decisions for our students. when we explain our instructional decisions, we show teacher candidates how they can make similar decisions in their future classrooms. teacher educators who recognize the importance of using representative materials in their classes, including materials that represent the disability community, can disclose their own relationship with disability, and/or are able to implement udl principles through their teaching are more likely to build strong relationships with their students. we stress the importance of teacher-student relationships with our teacher candidates, and these same relationships are important for our teacher candidates. for example, one of our authors indicated: the relationships that i had between faculty was the reason that i was able to be successful in the program. professors who were willing to open up and have conversations were extremely impactful. recommendations ● use class materials that include people with disabilities (e.g., reading materials, videos, podcasts). if possible, use materials that include people from intersecting identities. “a classroom assignment i created was called a social media nano-ethnography. teacher candidates explored a search term or hashtag that was created by the disability community (e.g., #ableismexists, #wheniwasadisabledkid, #disabledwhileblack) on a chosen social media platform. then, they developed themes around the posts they found, discussed what they learned from the assignment, and how they could create more inclusive spaces for their disabled students.” ● create inclusive classroom norms and expectations. create a class expectation that states, “assume disabled people are in the class. not all disabilities are visible so you may not know if there are people with disabilities in class. when discussing issues related to disability, be cognizant of the language you use.” by creating a rule such as this, teacher educators are doing two things: (a) acknowledging that adults, too, have disabilities; and inclusive teacher prep programs 177 (b) allowing teacher educators to consider how they discuss disability. ● discuss your own relationship with disability. if you have a disability, disclose that information, the strengths you have because of your disability, and the accommodations you have in class. if you have a family member with a disability, discuss their strengths and the ways in which you accommodate their needs. ● provide an open space for teacher candidates to share how they can accommodate class activities, assignments, and assessments, regardless of disability status. this allows teacher candidates to be an active part of their learning and for them to consider how they may accommodate their students in the future. all students regardless of ability benefit from accessibility. options such as captions available during a lecture, multiple ways to access lecture notes, models available for assignments, and clear rubrics make all students more successful, and allow students with disabilities that are not identified to access coursework more easily. basic accessibility should be baked into all pre-service programs. ● collaborate with other faculty in creating spaces that are udl friendly. “i co-taught methods courses in our elementary education program as a way to support teacher candidates and faculty simultaneously as they learned about udl. this provided an opportunity to model co-teaching strategies and universal accommodations within the college classroom that would transfer to k-12 and support a wider range of teacher education candidates on our campus.” access to the accommodations and support necessary for success all students, regardless of ability, are entitled to an inclusive learning experience (ashby, 2012). these supports can be provided through accessibility or accommodations. accessibility is a change made to class materials or environmental structures that are provided to everyone (iwarsson & ståhl, 2003). an example of this might be to provide a copy of the slide deck on a course website so students can access it on their individual laptops in addition to seeing the slides on the board. teacher educators can use accessibility to meet the needs of all teacher candidates in their classroom while also attending to the needs of an individual learner. accommodations, in contrast, meet the needs of an individual learner by changing the way a task is presented but not what is being presented (lazarus et al., 2006). an example of this may be providing a paper copy of the slide deck for an individual student to use for note taking while also presenting the slides on the board for the rest of the class. we, as teacher educators, are trained to understand that accommodations do not reduce the difficulty of a task but instead change how our students access the material (lazarus et al., 2006). we also teach our teacher candidates how to use accommodations and accessibility in their own instruction, and our modeling of these techniques should be at the forefront of our repertoire. both accessibility and accommodations are necessary and should be considered for academic coursework, assessment procedures, and field placements (strimel, 2022). one of our authors explained the importance of accommodations this way: accommodations should be personalized, specific, clear, and meaningful. the system as it is now is impersonal and difficult to navigate. the easier it is for students to get accommodations, professors to understand them, and students to make use of them, the better students with disabilities will perform. mcguire et al. 178 teacher educators do not need formal letters to provide accessibility or accommodations to individual students. however, having a formal accommodation letter is helpful in ensuring accommodations are legally required to be provided to teacher candidates. university disability resource centers (drcs) or services are those dedicated to supporting college students with disabilities. according to the national center for college students with disabilities’ campus disability resource database (2024), 200 public universities and 162 private, not-for-profit universities currently provide some type of disability-related services (i.e., coaching, tutoring, or testing to provide documentation of a disability). however, in most cases documentation of a disability is needed to access academic accommodations or services through drcs. in the most recent survey from nces, only 37 percent of students who identified themselves as having a disability disclosed their disability to their college (2022). disabled teacher candidates may not know that additional support could be available to them through disability resource centers (drcs) at their ihe or they may not think they need additional support. although disabled students in college report using academic support services more often than those without a disability (nces, 2022), there are more supports and services available that are underutilized. our authors indicated they also had concerns related to accessing accommodations through their drcs: accommodations are too broad to be helpful, mental health is an area with additional challenges as many don’t see it as a disability and financial aid only lets you use it ‘as an excuse’ one semester, college classroom accommodations don’t transfer to the field well, and in general there is a lack of accountability for the provision of accommodations. due to the length of time it took for accommodations to properly be put into place through the university, i was not able to receive the appropriate accommodations. the accommodation that i needed was simply, access to the lecture online through a recording or virtual meeting. when i was not able to receive this support, my grades were a reflection. when students do utilize drcs to access accommodations, barriers such as instructor’s lack of implementation, and/or lack of relevance to courses not completed in a classroom or lecture room setting still exist. for example, drcs are not always equipped to understand the goals and expectations placed on teacher candidates during their field and student teaching placements (strimel, 2022). when teacher candidates are in the field, they are more likely to be unsuccessful or quit their program because of limited support. keefe (2022) shared a vignette of an autistic student who excelled in her coursework, but upon entering her student teaching placement was not provided with support beyond what her nondisabled peers received. the teacher candidate failed her student teaching placement but was able to graduate with a degree in special education. without a teaching license, though, she was only able to get a job for which she was overqualified. instructors in ihes often do not understand how to apply a non-educational law to an educational space (dieterich et al., 2017). there is no “idea” or other special education law to support the inclusive instruction in which teacher candidates should still be engaging. instead, teacher inclusive teacher prep programs 179 candidates are protected under section 504 of the rehabilitation act and the americans with disabilities act. however, neither of these laws are meant to be education laws, and instead provide supports to individuals in public places (antilla-garza, 2015). although there is a legal responsibility for instructors to provide accommodations to students with disabilities, there is also an ethical one. not providing or being hesitant to provide accommodations to disabled teacher candidates can make it challenging for them to access their instruction. in some cases, faculty have expressed concerns regarding fear the application of accessibility needs or accommodations will unfairly tailor instructional practices towards a small portion of the teacher candidates in a class, which will either make it easier for those candidates to complete class material or not allow them equal access to material therefore not allowing them to be fully prepared for their careers. one of our authors explained, i have often gotten pushback, confusion, and frustration with my needs from professors. sometimes, they never confirm they read my letter or subsequent email clarifying my needs. another author explained that requesting accommodations provoked an anxious response: being able to self advocate on what my accommodations were and how instructors were going to reply to me was anxiety provoking, due to the mystery of the unknown. our authors also shared ways that accommodations were helpful in their education: the adaptations that were granted to me were ones that would benefit my learning and allow processing time for me to answer questions at the right level. recommendations ● when provided with a letter of accommodations, identify ways in which the provided accommodations could be changed to accessibility needs for all teacher candidates in the classroom. “if a teacher candidate has an accommodation for a peer note taker, create a system that allows for a peer note taker for all students during each class session so all teacher candidates benefit from class-wide notes.” ● create opportunities for accessibility that will benefit all teacher candidates by providing as many materials as possible in open access methods. use of open educational resources (i.e., open textbooks) are a more affordable or no-cost option for all students, and in most cases are easily reproduced in a variety of formats and modes to support a variety of learners’ needs. alternatively, e-book versions of a textbook can be purchased with unlimited use access; in many cases these are available in printable, text only, and screen reader friendly formats. ● create opportunities for accessibility that will benefit all teacher candidates by providing materials in multiple formats (e.g., visually, auditorily, captioned). “the first night of class, i always teach students how to turn on captions in powerpoint. the second class, they learn how to add alt text to images. the third mcguire et al. 180 class, they learn how to add captions to videos. each class adds another skill. i model all of these by using them throughout the class to discuss accessibility of educational materials. in addition, i model having multiple options for learning by providing readings, podcasts, and video links to give students the opportunity to access information in multiple modes.” ● provide accommodations that can be implemented in field placements or create accommodations for field placements. “some examples of such accommodations include, but are not limited to: assignment to clinical placements easily accessible to public transportation routes, provision of more frequent check-ins with university supervisor, etc.” teacher dispositions many teacher preparation programs use “dispositions” as a tool or measure to identify what skills a teacher candidate has prior to entering the field. truscott and obiwo (2020) describe dispositions as “the tendencies to act based on beliefs, values, attitudes and prior experiences” (p. 23). fellner and kwah (2018) explain that “one of the central goals of teacher education is to instill and support dispositions in future teachers that welcome and value differences, whether in race, class, culture, language, or ability” (p. 520). however, fellner and kwah (2018) explain that although teacher educators are fostering a mindset that welcomes and values difference, they are doing so in a way that aims to target one set of teacher candidates: middle class, white teacher educators, who are the predominant teachers (i.e., 80% of teachers) in the field of education today (nces, 2022). this targeting of one group of teacher candidates is problematic because it does not account for variance in race, ethnicity, class, culture, language, or ability, the very dispositions we, as teacher educators, are trying to instill in our candidates. truscott and obiwo (2020) interviewed teacher candidates about their perceptions of dispositions. teacher candidates reported that dispositions depend on context. they may implement some of their dispositions differently with one child than they do another. the authors also found that teacher candidates felt it was important to have a core set of dispositions based on who they were as individuals. this core set of dispositions can be grounded in one’s values, based on an individual’s race, ethnicity, class, culture, language, or ability. as teacher educators, we have the duty to foster our candidates’ values, based on their background, and help them establish their own core set of dispositions. then, they can adapt those core values to the specific context in which they are being applied. while the conflation of dispositions and disability is described and deconstructed in the literature (bialka, 2015) in relation to the ideas of power and privilege within teacher education programs, the focus is primarily on the beliefs about disability held by the teacher candidates. what is missing from the literature is any discussion regarding the beliefs held about the teacher candidates themselves. the authors of this paper have observed that dispositions can be easily blamed, targeted, and rationalized as another way to exclude disabled teacher candidates from completing education programs. one example from the field is a candidate who was regularly arriving late or absent from her clinical placement. a meeting was scheduled to notify that candidate of a dispositional concern and a remediation plan was to be written. however, when inclusive teacher prep programs 181 meeting with the candidate it became clear that she was staying up late to complete assignments from a previous semester (when health concerns arose leading to several incomplete grades in courses) while trying to complete a new full semester of assignments and clinical work. she was staying up late working on assignments, then sleeping through multiple alarms. this candidate was demonstrating exactly the dispositions that she should be, but did not have the organization and planning skills to do this in a way that still allowed her to meet all her requirements. rather than remediating a disposition, that form was put away and appropriate accommodations were provided to help with sequencing work, organizing timelines, and allowing focus on one task at a time. with those supports in place, the candidate was able to successfully complete two semesters of course work in a semester and an additional month in the summer. she is now back on track to complete her licensure programs. recommendations ● avoid using standardized dispositions for all students. have each teacher candidate create their own self-assessment of teacher dispositions which can be used by themselves, their university supervisors, and their cooperating teachers. ● instead of “remediating” teacher candidates based on missed/failed dispositions, consider ways in which a teacher candidate’s strengths may be used to support their areas of need. one situation that comes to mind is when an autistic teacher candidate was not greeting students as they came into the classroom. a university supervisor began to tally the number of students this candidate greeted, unbeknownst to him. the university supervisor used this information to point out that the teacher candidate lacked appropriate dispositions and needed remediation so he could form proper relationships with students. instead of providing remediation, it is helpful to identify the teacher candidate’s strengths, leverage those, and use them to support possible areas of need. another teacher candidate with a learning disability, struggled to write on the board with proper spelling. after discussion, this was identified as not disposition-related and appropriate supports were provided that included preparing slides in advance and projecting type-written materials on the board instead of writing to make use of spellcheck and grammar-check, which was also a great model for his middle school students. conclusion teacher educators in programs specifically designed for iece are positioned to develop teacher candidates who will educate and support our newest generation. many of these youth will come from the world’s largest minority group: the disability community. yet, disabled teacher candidates are more likely to drop out of college, never enter the field, or leave the field early (bps, 2017; strimel et al., 2023) because they feel ostracized by a field that should be embracing them (cec, 2016; keefe, 2022; lukins et al., 2023). instead, we, as teacher educators, should be setting up systems that embrace the many strengths disabled teachers and disabled teacher candidates have. when we create teacher preparation programs that promote belonging and a positive perception of disability, develop relationships through representation and udl, provide accommodations and accessibility, and allow teacher candidates to design their own dispositions mcguire et al. 182 based on their unique strengths and needs, we can recruit iece teacher candidates who will be more likely to remain in the field. more importantly, young, disabled children will see a teacher who is just like them. to ensure we are recruiting and retaining disabled teacher candidates we propose implications for research, policy, and programs. implications for research much of the current literature pertaining to disabled teacher candidates is limited and focuses on their perceptions of teacher preparation programs. researchers may consider broadening their view to include the success of both teachers and students with disabilities, so we have a better understanding of why disabled teachers are needed in the field. such research may draw upon similar research which has been done to examine the importance of racially and ethnically minoritized teachers in classrooms. similarly, very little research has been conducted examining teacher dispositions for disabled teacher candidates and for teacher candidates from intersecting identities. researchers may consider ways in which dispositions can be further explored and how they can be developed in a way that is more relevant to a diverse group of teacher candidates. finally, researchers may consider examining the benefits of a disability studies informed teacher preparation program compared to traditional teacher preparation programs, specifically examining how such programs may help teacher candidates better understand the experiences of disabled students. implications for policy with only 37 percent of disabled students disclosing their disability to their university’s drc, it is important to consider how drcs are supporting (or not supporting) their disability communities. ihes may consider establishing more rigorous policies to ensure faculty are educated on the implementation of accommodations in coursework so students are more comfortable disclosing their disabilities. similarly, programs may consider working with their drcs to explore policy changes for field placements and other in-vivo experiences. ensuring disabled teacher candidates can access both coursework and field placements equitably is necessary for them to be retained. however, the current structure does not always allow for accommodations to be available during field work experiences. implications for programs programs may consider the ways in which faculty within the program view disability. as one of our authors indicated, many programs view disability as a “child issue” instead of an “adult issue.” this can be problematic because there are teacher candidates with disabilities. if we want to retain our disabled teacher candidates, we need to approach disability with the understanding that there are always disabled people around us. creating a common language and structure for how disability will be supported 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(2023). changing the medical model of disability to the normalization model of disability: clarifying the past to create a new future direction. disability & society, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2023.2255926 https://doi.org/10.5206/eei.v28i1.7757 https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315297293 https://doi.org/10.33043/josep.2.3.60-67 https://doi.org/10.33043/josep.2.3.60-67 https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064231170573 https://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/toolaction/pwdfs.pdf https://www.itejournal.org/wp-content/pdfs-issues/summer-2022/09urbanietal.pdf https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/earlylearning/joint-statement-full-text.pdf https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/policy-statement-on-inclusion-11-28-2023.pdf https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-24-105614.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2023.2255926 the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 37 does a decade make a difference? changes in preand in-service preschool teachers’ knowledge of early mathematical development the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 2 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i2.1782 contact: linda m. platas lplatas@sfsu.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). does a decade make a difference? ece mathematics abstract this study examines whether, in the wake of considerable research since 2007 on the importance of supporting early mathematical development, students in early childhood teacher education programs gained more knowledge in the subsequent decade in this essential area of development. the analysis compares data on preand in-service teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development gathered during 2008 as measured by the knowledge of mathematical development survey (kmds) and compares it to data gathered in 2017-2018. results showed that while the kmds mean scores of students in each of the education groups (beginning versus seniors versus math course) statistically differed for each collection year, there was no statistically significant difference between 2008 and 2017-2018 collection years for beginners. however, there was a statistically significant difference between 2008 and 2017-2018 collection years in average scores in the seniors and math course groups, resulting in lower mean scores in 2017-2018 than those in 2008. keywords early mathematics, early childhood education, preservice, in-service, teachers i n 2007, duncan and colleagues published an influential longitudinal study across three countries on kindergarten-entry predictors of academic success at third and fifth grade. controlling for socioeconomic status and mother’s education, the authors concluded that early math skills at entry to kindergarten had the greatest predictive power. long before duncan et al. (2007) contemplated such analyses, appeals for increased classroom support for early mathematical development appeared in academic journals (american educational research association, 2005; clements, 2001; ginsburg & golbeck, 2004), at national conferences and meetings (clements, 2004; copley & padron, 1998; national research council, 2005), linda m. platas san francisco state university the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 38 in position papers and standards (administration for children and families, 2005; national association for the education of young children & national council of teachers of mathematics, 2002; national council of teachers of mathematics, 2000) and in myriad of well-regarded texts on education (baroody, 1987; bowman et al., 2001; ginsburg et al., 1998; ginsburg et al., 2006). in 2001, the national research council and mathematics learning study committee stated, “the responsiveness of preschool teachers to the developmental level of a child in the domain of mathematics, helping to put in place the concepts that are prerequisites to success in first grade arithmetic, can provide the foundation for performance in the school years” (p. 83). since 2007, numerous studies have added to the evidence base on the importance of early mathematical development to later academic achievement (duncan & magnuson, 2011; geary et al., 2013; jordan et al., 2009; kwok et al., 2021). in 2010, multiple research teams published additional analyses of the 2007 longitudinal study, resulting in similar outcomes with additional subgroup effects (foster, 2010; grimm et al., 2010; hooper et al., 2010; pagani et al., 2010). relatedly, research studies have shown that early childhood programs that increase math skills can have lasting effects on academic achievement (gormley et al., 2018; mattera et al., 2021). researchers have found beneficial effects of quality mathematics curriculum on language and literacy outcomes (sarama et al., 2012) and large effect sizes of math interventions on early math development (joo et al., 2020; wang et al., 2016). researchers continue to investigate which mathematical skills are important (fyfe et al., 2019; nguyen et al., 2016). specific to head start, studies have found that black and latino students may be the recipients of the largest gains in math and language skills among children attending head start programs (national academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine, 2023). however, the authors of these reports express concern that enrollment in early childhood programs does not always result in better outcomes for children (p. 67). the quality of the program, including its curriculum and teachers’ abilities to support learning, has significant effects on child outcomes. prior to 2007, numerous studies examined mathematical activities in early childhood classrooms. many of these concluded that math activities that involved teacher and child interactions were not common (ginsburg et al., 1999; graham et al., 1997; sarama et al., 2004). as an example, in a study on 26 preschool classrooms (klibanoff et al., 2006), authors reported that activities around cardinality (including object counting) existed in all classrooms, but verbal counting sequence activities in fewer than 70%. fewer than 31% of classrooms engaged children in number ordering activities (e.g., “what number comes after seven?”). significantly, researchers found the growth in math knowledge over the course of the school year was positively related to the amount of math talk in the classroom (pp. 62-64), making the lack of math talk problematic. studies published since 2007 also demonstrate concern about the level of support for early mathematical development in preschool classrooms. in a 2021 study of 27 prekindergarten classrooms, results showed that teachers displayed lowto medium-support of early mathematics learning (cerezci, 2021). in a study of 30 private preschool centers, bachman et al. (2018) found that 4to 5-year-old children were exposed to an average of two minutes of math per day. concern has also been expressed before and after duncan and colleagues’ (2007) publication that teacher educators may not have the experience or information necessary to prepare early childhood teachers to provide mathematically rich environments and instruction (ginsburg et al., 2006). wright and colleagues (2021) reported that prekindergarten teacher accreditation policies across the united states are not aligned with state standard expectations, with only eight of 64 certification programs including a course on mathematics. an example of the misalignment between standards and teacher preparation programs is the inclusion of a new mathematics standard (standard 8) and related teacher performance expectations in california (california commission on teacher credentialing [ctc], 2023a). teacher preparation programs for preschool through 3rd grade in the state must now prepare teachers to demonstrate that they can, plan and implement mathematics instruction does a decade make a difference? ece mathematics the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 39 appropriate to children’s age, grade, and developmental levels (including children’s linguistic, cognitive, social and emotional strengths and learning needs) that is grounded in an understanding of california’s most current mathematics standards and framework and the most current preschool learning foundations and curriculum framework. (ctc, 2023b) relatedly, in a recent study across eight states (including two of the states included in this study) that surveyed early childhood education programs in community colleges and universities across each state, copeman pettig and colleagues (2018) revealed that faculty reported teaching math content in courses for practitioners who worked with preschoolers at “higher rates than they reported feeling capable of teaching that content” (p. 19). this indicates that teacher educators may have been recruited to teach math courses or encouraged to include more math content in their curriculum and development courses despite their (self-reported) insufficient skill level in understanding and teaching about early math development. in a recent review of early childhood teaching credential programs, schachner et al. (2023) noted that mathematics teaching was one of the domains with the least amount of coursework. given the considerable evidence for supporting early mathematical development, coupled with concerns about insufficient classroom support for that development, is there evidence that we have increased instruction on mathematical development for our preand in-service teachers? this study compares data on preand in-service teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development gathered during 2008 and compares it to data gathered in 2017-2018, a ten-year span. because teachers also gain knowledge through their everyday interactions in the classroom with colleagues and children, the study also examines whether two or more years of classroom teaching experience influences their knowledge of mathematical development. the timing of this study is particularly significant given that many teacher education programs were derailed beginning in the spring of 2020, so measurement prior to covid’s interference in instruction is a valuable window on a time when fewer confounds (i.e., absence of in-person observation and practicum courses and the high frequency of online instruction in early childhood education teacher preparation programs) may have affected instruction. consequently, teachers who completed some or all or their coursework and/or began their teaching careers during covid may have experienced differences in preparation for teaching. the instrument utilized in this study is the knowledge of mathematical development survey (kmds). knowledge of mathematical development survey in order to provide effective support for early mathematical development, research suggests teachers must develop a) comprehensive knowledge of mathematical content and concepts (litowski et al., 2020; ma, 1999); b) an awareness of young children’s mathematical development, including developmental trajectories that build on past knowledge and build the foundation for future knowledge (sarama & clements, 2009; turrou et al., 2021); and c) pedagogy that engages children and advances development through the use of meaningful representations and activities (baroody et al., 2006; clements et al., 2023; seo & ginsburg, 2004). it has also been argued that effective teaching of mathematics also requires respect for the mathematical thinking of the child (ball, 1993; ginsburg, 2016). this suggests that curriculum and development courses must include math-specific content and pedagogy, and that teacher educators must possess this knowledge themselves if they are to provide instruction in this domain. “effectively supporting early mathematical development in the preschool classroom also requires teachers to attend to children’s interests and provide meaningful opportunities for their engagement.” does a decade make a difference? ece mathematics the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 40 effectively supporting early mathematical development in the preschool classroom also requires teachers to attend to children’s interests and provide meaningful opportunities for their engagement. mathematical activities in these supportive classrooms are integrated, playful, useful, fun, and culturally inclusive (stipek & johnson, 2020). all in all, when combined with the need for deep understanding of mathematical concepts and appropriate pedagogy, this is a steep ask of early childhood teachers and their educators. considerable attention has been paid to the mathematics pedagogical and content knowledge of elementary school teachers. hill and colleagues’ (2008) seminal paper on pedagogical content knowledge has been cited over 3000 times. however, to date, the measurement of preand in-service preschool teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development has been limited. researchers have used interviews (mccray & chen, 2012; rosenfeld, 2012), achievement tests of mathematical pedagogical content knowledge (dunekacke et al., 2015; dunekacke et al., 2016), and questionnaires (anders & rossbach, 2015). this paper explores pre and in-service early childhood teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development in the year after duncan and colleagues’ (2007) publication and ten years later. the kmds was developed in 2007. the 20item survey includes questions on the verbal counting sequence, object counting, ordinal number words, addition and subtraction, division of sets (fair/equal sharing), and written number symbols and words. each item requires the respondent to choose which activity typically comes first in development (e.g., saying the counting words in order from 1-10 [i.e., “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10] or saying the counting words in order from six to ten [i.e., “6, 7, 8, 9, 10]), or mark “same” or “i don’t know.” rationale for selecting the items reflected two assumptions: they should be (a) representative of empirical research on early mathematical development and (b) indicative of activities that can and do occur in preschool classrooms (platas, 2014). the development of numeracy skills, including those described in the items on the kmds, represent the most predictive early math skills on later academic achievement (chu et al., 2015; duncan et al., 2007; duncan & magnuson, 2011; nguyen et al., 2016). the instrument validation and reliability were supported through two pilot studies (n = 20; n = 55) and a validation study with 346 preand in-service preschool teachers (citation omitted). the instrument has subsequently been used in several studies as described below. cox (2011) surveyed 207 teachers from 51 preschools examining dimensions of math anxiety and knowledge and beliefs about children’s mathematical development and classroom mathematics curriculum. the range of preschool classroom experience was 1 to 30+ years, with 89% with 2 or more years. cronbach’s alpha for the kmds for this sample was .88, with an average score of 11 correct out of 20. participants’ kmds scores were positively correlated with their beliefs that support for math development is age-appropriate in preschool (r = .25, p ≤ .001) and that math development is an important goal in the early years. there was no relation between the kmds score and math anxiety by category (high positive affect, high negative affect, or mixed), although there was a trend with higher kmds scores present in the high positive affect group. using the kmds in a study that examined differences between 98 preservice and 77 in-service preschool teachers’ knowledge of and beliefs about early mathematical development, kim (2013) found significant differences between the kmds scores (α= .81) of the two groups (m = 12.27 and 15.80, respectively; f(1,173) = 47.79, p < .001) resulting in a large effect size (η2 = .22). teachers in the in-service group all had either a bachelor’s or master’s degree, and 87% had participated in a professional development course on preschool mathematics in the previous three years. lange et al. (2022) utilized the kmds to measure change in knowledge of mathematical development during 23 preschool teachers’ engagement in a stem professional learning model (control = 24). results showed a statistically nonsignificant increase of .39 in scores from pretest to posttest. however, comparisons between posttest scores of the treatment group versus the control group resulted in a difference of 1.77 points, an effect size of d = .45. the present study contributes to our knowledge base on teacher preparation programs and their ability to support current and future teachers’ does a decade make a difference? ece mathematics the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 41 understanding of early mathematical development. in particular, this study examines whether, in the wake of considerable research since 2007 on the importance of supporting early mathematical development in the early years, early childhood teacher education programs have improved instruction over the intervening ten years on this essential area of development. this study uses the kmds to asks the following research questions: 1. is there a difference between 2008 and 20172018 in knowledge of mathematical development as measured by the kmds in the following groups: • beginning: students at the beginning of a post-secondary early childhood education degree • seniors: students at the end of a ba/bs in early childhood education with no math course • math course: upper division and master’s students at the end or at completion of a 3-unit semester early math development course 2. does two or more years of experience in preschool classrooms make a difference in the kmds score within each of the three groups in 2008 and 2017-2018? methodology data collection the study was approved by the author’s university institutional review board as well as a community college research review board. instructors of courses were contacted via e-mail and provided with a description of the study and a request for permission for the author to recruit participants and survey students. in 2008, all instructors contacted granted access. in 2017-2018, two instructors stated insufficient time left in the semester to allow survey administration and two indicated that the majority of the students enrolled were taking the requested class for general education units. the remaining instructors granted access to their classrooms and students. participants were given a $10 gift card as an incentive and assured that instructors would not be notified of participation status. gift cards were funded through a competitive university research mini-grant. return rate for completed surveys ranged from 75% to 100% per classroom with an average in 2008 of 97% and in 2017-2018 of 98%. completion of the surveys took 10-25 minutes. the last page of the survey requested demographic information, including previous and current employment in the field of early childhood education, information on enrollment in a mathematical development course, year of birth, and ethnicity. students were allowed to choose multiple ethnicities. participants in 2008, 346 participants were recruited through a stratified purposeful sampling method in order to obtain participants with differing experience, education, and exposure to an early math development course. participants included students from four community colleges in california (seven classrooms), three universities in california (six classrooms) and four ma/ba mathematical development courses in two states (western and eastern united states). in 2017-2018, 338 participants were recruited through an identical sampling method as 2008. participants included students from three community colleges in california (three classrooms), four universities in california (eight classrooms), and four ma/ba mathematical development courses in three states (western and eastern united states; three from the same states and systems as in 2008). for the purposes of these study, students who had a complete score for the kmds and were categorized as beginning (firstand second-year students enrolled in child development entry courses at community colleges and four-year universities), seniors (seniors with no math course), and math course (graduate master’s and undergraduate upper division students who had completed a 3-semester unit math development course) were included in the analyses. to reduce ambiguity and confounds, students who indicated that they had at one time or were currently taking a math course (18 students in 2008 and 11 in 2017-2018) but were not enrolled in the math courses surveyed, were not included in the analysis. cronbach’s alpha for the kmds for combined years 2008 and 2017-2018 was .76, indicating good reliability. does a decade make a difference? ece mathematics the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 42 demographics the average student age in 2008 was 27.37 years (n = 252; sd = 9.502) and in 2017-2018 24.28 years (n= 268; sd = 6.704). this difference was significant t(518) = 4.254, p = <.001. eleven students in 2017-2018 did not provide a birth year. students who identified as female in 2008 and 2017-2018 (n= 236 and 258, respectively) far exceeded the number who identified as male (n = 20 and 20, respectively). there was no significant change in gender identification from 2008 to 20172018 χ2(1) = .786, p = .870, two sided. between 2008 and 2017-2018, the proportion of students across ethnicities changed significantly, specifically in the percentages of latino, and white students χ2(5) = 51.770, p < .001. figure one shows the distribution of students in each reported ethnicity for each of the two reported years. the black portion of each bar represents the percentage of students in the beginning group, the medium gray the number of students in the senior group, and the light gray the number of students in the math course group. analyses by group showed that among seniors there was a change in the percentage of asian and white students χ2(5) = 21.111, p < .001. in the math course groups there was a change in the percentage of latino and white students χ2(4) = 37.774, p < .001. there was no change in ethnicity in the beginning group. results differences between groups’ kmds scores within years were examined through analysis of variance (anova) with appropriate post hoc tests. differences between (a) 2008 and 2017-2018 kmds scores and (b) effects of two or more years of experience within groups in 2008 and 2017-2018 were measured by a univariate analysis. research question #1: is there a difference in students’ knowledge of mathdoes a decade make a difference? ece mathematics figure 1 ethinicity in 2008 and 2017-2018 the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 43 -ematical development as measured by the kmds in 2008 or 2017-2018 between education groups? table 1 shows that there were statistically significant differences in 2008 between all groups in the mean kmds scores, with scores increasing from beginning students to seniors to those who had taken a math course. in 2017-2018, mean kmds scores increased in the same direction as 2008, with statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the beginning group and the math course group and between the seniors group and the math course group (see table 1). however, the difference in mean kmds scores between the beginning and seniors groups in 2017-2018 did not reach significance. as noted in table 2, there was no statistical difference between 2008 and 2017-2018 kmds mean scores in beginning students; there were statistically significant differences between 2008 and 2017-2018 kmds mean scores in seniors and math course students. the significant difference in kmds scores between 2008 and 2017-2018 in the math course group warranted further analysis, in particular because of the differences in student levels (undergraduate versus graduate) within this group. the range of kmds mean scores in 2008 in this group was 14.33 to 15.82. in 2017-2018, the range was 12.47 to 15.08. to further explore where these differences arose, anova was used to examine the variance within each year among courses included in the math course group. these 3-unit courses included courses that served only master’s students, only bachelor’s students, and some that included both bachelor’s and master’s students. in separate analyses by year, there were no statistically significant differences in the mean kmds scores between these courses. does a decade make a difference? ece mathematics group n mean (sd) p-value beginning seniors 20081 beginning 121 11.18 (3.89) seniors 73 12.81 (2.70) .002 math course 64 15.30 (2.27) <.001 <.001 2017-20182 beginning 149 10.58 (3.56) seniors 84 11.63 (3.42) .070 math course 46 13.54 (2.68) <.001 .007 table 1 kmds score means in 2008 and 2017-2018 between groups 1levene statistic significant; tamhane’s t2 post hoc test used n mean (sd) p-value 2008 2017-2018 2008 2017-2018 beginning 121 149 11.18 (3.89) 10.58 (3.56) n.s. seniors 73 84 12.81 (2.70) 11.63 (3.42) .020 math course 64 46 15.30 (2.27) 13.54 (2.68) <.001 table 2 differences in kmds score means between 2008 and 2017-2018 the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 44 however, in a comparison of mean kmds scores from all math courses in 2008 and 20172018 combined, there were significant differences between course h and courses a, b and c. note that table 3, with mean scores in descending order, shows that undergraduate versus graduate student status does not necessarily dictate the course kmds score mean. does a decade make a difference? ece mathematics course ba/bs (b)/ master’s (m) year n mean (sd) a b c d e f g p-value a m 2008 17 15.82 (1.59) b b/m 2008 16 15.50 (1.97) n.s. c m 2008 19 15.26 (2.62) n.s. n.s. d b 2017-2018 12 15.08 (1.31) n.s. n.s. n.s. e b/m 2017-2018 9 14.33 (2.74) n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. f m 2008 12 14.33 (2.81) n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. g b 2017-2018 5 12.67 (1.86) n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. h b 2017-2018 18 12.47 (3.01) .001 .008 .012 n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. table 3 anova by math course by year and graduate status1 1levene statistic non-significant; bonferroni post hoc test used the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 45 research question #2 does two or more years of experience in classrooms make a difference in the kmds mean scores within each of the three groups in 2008 and 2017-2018? a combined univariate analysis of students in 2008 and 2017-2018 with and without two or more years of classroom experience for the three student groups showed a statistically significant difference only in those students in the math course group. on average, kmds mean scores increased by 1.02, for those 2008 and 2017-2018 students who had taken a math course and had two or more years of classroom experience when compared to those who had less or no experience (t[40.06] = 2.09, p = .039, η2 = 0.039). when separated into cohorts, neither 2008 nor 2017-2018 student groups with and without two or more years of classroom experience reached a statistically significant difference in kmds mean scores. discussion this study was initiated to examine whether there were differences in preand in-service teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development in 2008 when compared to 2017-2018. given the extensive research on the importance of supporting young children’s mathematical development over the decades, and in particular since 2007, it could be expected that teacher education programs and teacher educators would have provided increased instruction and resources to their students around mathematical development and pedagogy. the results showed that while the kmds mean scores of students in each of the education groups (beginning versus seniors versus math course) statistically differed for each collection year, there was not a statistically significant difference between 2008 and 2017-2018 collection years for beginners. however, there was a statistically significant difference between 2008 and 2017-2018 collection years in average scores in the seniors and math course groups. surprisingly, the senior and math course groups achieved a lower kmds mean score in 2017-2018 than those in 2008. because of the differences between bachelor senior and masters students (i.e., admissions requirements and cost) included in the math course group, further investigation into whether there was a difference in scores by undergraduate versus graduate programs versus mixed programs was warranted. in an analysis by year and graduate status, with one exception, there was no significant difference between the scores. the one exception was an undergraduate math course that resulted in the lowest of all of the kmds averages, but was only statistically different from three of the highest performing courses. as indicated in table 3, kmds scores did not differ by graduate program status. in an attempt to explain the differences between 2008 and 2017-2018 in the senior and math course groups, i refer back to copeman pettig and colleagues’ 2018 study that found that teacher educators across eight states (including two of the states in this study) reported that they were teaching math content in courses beyond their comfort level. while we do not have a comparable study in 2008, it could be reasonable to expect that those who included math development in their curriculum and development courses and/or were teaching math development courses in 2008 were likely to be more comfortable as the pressure to include early math development courses in early childhood education programs had not yet begun in the field, better ensuring that those who taught those courses were more familiar with mathematical development. in support of this notion, of the four instructors teaching the surveyed math development courses in 2008, all had authored journal articles on early mathematical development. despite a considerable search in 2008, it was very difficult to find early math development courses. frequently courses were listed in college and university course catalogs but had not been taught for some time. by the time 2017-2018 rolled around, many more math courses were being taught, but only one of the instructors of the courses surveyed had authored journal articles on the topic (with one exception, the 2008 instructors were not teaching that year). as to the findings that two or more years of preschool teaching increases knowledge of mathematical development only for those who had taken a math course, it appears that teaching alone does not provide sufficient support for teachers in gaining knowledge of early mathematical development. however, for students who had completed a math development course, it seems that their ability to does a decade make a difference? ece mathematics the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 46 put that knowledge to practice serves to increase their understanding of that development even more. early childhood teachers want what is best for the children for whom they provide care and education. however, their efforts are stymied by a lack of engagement in early mathematical development and pedagogy during their teacher education paths. early childhood teacher educators also want what is best for the teachers they prepare. however, they themselves frequently are likewise not well prepared to support or understand mathematical development (ryan et al., 2014). researchers examining ways to support children in their mathematical development throughout their education have suggestions. aligning teacher requirements and preparation (and pay) between preschool and elementary school teachers could provide a path forward. this could engender shared expertise within teacher preparation programs, where faculty understanding of content knowledge, child development, and children’s mathematical development converge (stein & coburn, 2023). efforts are underway in the united states to provide better support for the understanding of mathematical development in teacher education and training programs (association of mathematics teacher educators, 2017; mccormick et al., 2020). states are beginning to increase their teacher training standards in early mathematics, partly in response to more robust early math standards for young children (california commission on teacher credentialing, 2023a; math in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade act, 2023; scherer et al., 2020). we have also learned that providing support for early academic skills like mathematics in preschool without a plan for sustaining that support in later years can result in a failure to support children as they build on these foundational skills (bailey et al., 2020; clements et al., 2013; stipek et al., 2017). this coordination requires both teacher standards and academic standards to be aligned from preschool through high school. unfortunately, longstanding traditions result in the housing of these policy systems separately (whitaker et al., 2022). programs like head start that engage in activities that support coordination between these programs and elementary schools have been shown to increase children’s language and mathematics skills (cook & coley, 2019). although perhaps an optimistic perspective, there is growing recognition that acquiring the skills to support children’s early mathematical development is an essential outcome of teacher education programs. perhaps the next decade will make a difference. references administration for children and families. 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https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048211058441 https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048211058441 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2379-3988.2017.tb00087.x https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2379-3988.2017.tb00087.x https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2016.1116343 https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2016.1116343 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.07.008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.07.008 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487120905514 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487120905514 the dialog vol28iss01 for separating.pdf the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 21 transition to kindergarten for preschoolers with multilingual abilities: do parents and professionals see eye to eye? the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 1 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i1.1789 contact: marisa macy mmacy2@uwyo.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). transition abstract many traditional assessment approaches lack specific strategies for supporting preschoolers who are multilingual learners during their transition to kindergarten. our mixed method study sought to understand parental and professional assessment collaboration during transition to kindergarten for preschoolers who are learning multiple languages. specifically, we examined the congruency between teachers and families of children who speak spanish at home who are enrolled in rural head start preschool and transitioning into kindergarten. overall, parents and professionals had similar views on child development for adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, literacy, and social emotional domains. however, there were meaningful discrepancies between parent and teacher ratings for math and social communication domains. results of this reliability study have implications for creating positive and supportive transitions for preschoolers using an authentic and collaborative assessment approach with prioritizing individualized strategies for children, their families, and professionals during the move to kindergarten. keywords authentic assessment, multilingual, head start, kindergarten, rural children who speak multiple languages may have special needs during transitions from preschool to kindergarten. assessment could be one of the needs they have that requires thoughtful consideration. gathering information to understand each child’s abilities and determining what is necessary from their early childhood education program for children to thrive are some of the purposes of assessment for transition to kindergarten (bagnato et al., 2024; d’amico et al., 2024; zyskind & macy, 2024). traditional assessments can be problematic because they can lack specific attention for supporting the child, their family, and professional(s) during educational and marisa macy university of wyoming ehichoya edokhamhen tennessee state university kelcie burke university of nebraska the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 22 environmental transitions (beasley et al., 2023; daley et al., 2011; murphy et al., 2013; nakajima et al., 2019; sheridan et al., 2020). there is added complexity for children who are multilingual and their families to access linguistically valid assessment services (carotta et al., 2023; macy et al., 2019b; smith & clegg, 2021). for example, rural areas may not have as many services compared to metropolitan areas that have more density in population and services. there could also be a lack of assessment practices that foster collaboration between professionals and families. young children from rural areas, and their families, whose home language is not english might have distinct needs from the assessment system (carotta et al., 2023; smith & clegg, 2021; teleki & buck-gomez, 2002). this transitional period is an important time for children and parents when they are particularly vulnerable to the limitations of the assessment system (early et al., 2001; ramey & ramey, 2004). careful planning can help a child and their family transition from preschool to kindergarten, however challenges exist (bassok et al., 2016; gordon et al., 2015; la paro et al., 2000; miller & goldsmith, 2017; sands et al., 2024). transition practices may lack individualization for children and their families (bassok & latham, 2017; cook, & coley, 2017; sands et al., 2024; shaul & schwartz, 2014). many transition practices focus on groups rather than individuals (macy et al., 2022). another problem with some transition practices is that they are not started early enough to make a difference (curby et al., 2015; denham et al., 2014; pianta, cox, & snow, 2007). there is frequently a lack of collaborative transition services where the family and professionals are working together as a team. oftentimes assessment is fragmented and not connected to other parts of a service delivery system. for example, a professional team conducts traditional assessments, however, the assessment results may not be used to create developmental and/or academic goals for children, inform the curriculum, and/or used for instruction (macy et al., 2005). authentic assessment should have treatment validity and lead to instruction or interventions (bagnato et al., 2011; snyder et al., 2015; xu et al., 2022) authentic assessment involves the practice of assessing children under naturalistic conditions and settings, like with their familiar caregivers and their peers (bagnato & macy, 2010, forthcoming; de sam lazaro, 2017; washington-nortey et al., 2022). an assessment that is authentic happens in places that are familiar to the child and doing the things they would typically do (e.g., play, routines, etc.). parents and teachers support children when they collaborate during the authentic assessment process (bagnato & macy, forthcoming; crane et al., 2011; harvey & wennerstrom, 2023). professional organizations in early childhood education have determined that inclusive practices provide children with the right to: (a) access, (b) participation, and (c) supports (dec/naeyc, 2009). authentic assessment can support all three of these organizing principles for inclusion of children and their families in preschool and kindergarten. while lots of professionals would agree that authentic assessment is a favorable way to collect meaningful information about children’s growth and learning, conventional testing is still the typical process for assessing children (bagnato et al., 2024; bagnato & macy, in press ). the current study examined an authentic assessment process that incorporated input from both parents and professionals who were working together for the transition of children, who are multilingual, from rural head start program to kindergarten. head start is a preschool program in the united states that started in the 1960s and serves children and their families who are eligible based on an economic need, and/or the child has a delay/disability (zigler & styfco,1993, 2000). a component of head start programs, assessment is typically initiated by teachers and staff that may also include parents in the process. head start has a comprehensive curriculum that focuses on the academic and developmental outcomes of the child, as well as a strong family component (zigler & styfco,1993, 2000). our primary research question was: what is the agreement between professionals and parents on children’s skills across 8 domains (math, literacy, adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, social emotional, and social communication) when the home language of preschoolers is spanish? transition the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 23 method to address the research question, we chose to use a mixed method design with both quantitative and qualitative features. the reason we chose this design had to do with capturing observations from parents and professionals with both numbers and words from their comments about children’s skills. our study incorporated correlations between parent and professional ratings of child development across 8 areas/domains. we designed the study to explore parent and professional assessment of preschoolers who are spanish speakers in rural head start programs who were in the process of transitioning to kindergarten settings. the current study was part of a bigger study that took place in the spring of 2022 with the first cohort of children, parents, and teachers (macy, reid, & macy, 2023), and then the second cohort of children and adults in the spring of 2023. the current study examined children who were multilingual from both cohorts (2022 and 2023). our study took place in a rural and midwestern area of the united states. there are about 27% (approximately 529,000) of the population in this state who are from rural communities (u.s. census, 2020). participants, procedures, instruments, and data analysis are discussed next. participants the participants in this study were comprised of nine head start teachers and nine parents of preschoolers who spoke spanish at home. teachers in this study work in rural head start settings. families had a preschool student at the time of the study (i.e., spring 2022 and spring 2023) that would be transitioning to kindergarten in the fall of the same year. teachers. a demographic form was completed by the teachers in this study. all participants identified as female and worked in rural head start programs. teachers averaged approximately 16.9 years working with young children and their families (range was 1 to 30 years). teacher experience with head start averaged 8.7 years (range was 0 to 24 years with head start). of the teachers included in this study, their level of education included 5 teachers holding a bachelor’s degree, 2 teachers holding an associate degree, and 2 teachers having some college or cda. the teachers majored in the following areas: elementary education, early childhood education, family studies, organizational communication, criminal justice and family studies, and graphic design. both teachers with degrees in elementary education had a minor or endorsement in early childhood education. of the nine teachers, seven indicated that most of their coursework or training was related to working with preschool. the remaining two teachers indicated that half of their coursework or training was related to working in preschool settings. selected demographic data for teacher participants are reported in table 1. family and children. a total of 9 families were identified from the past two year’s group of participants that spoke spanish at home that were enrolled in a rural head start program. all the parent participants identified as female (n = 9), and family participants were mothers and/or grandmothers of the preschoolers in the study. the reported family income for families ranged from below $10,000 to $50,000-$100,000 with over half of the families being in the below $10,000 to $10,000-$50,000 range or declining to answer. this study focused on preschool children in rural head start settings that speak spanish at home. children ranged in age from 55 to 68 months, and the average age was 62.7 months old. most of the children in this study did not have a history or diagnosis of a developmental delay (n = 77.8%). however, two of the children in this study had a history or diagnosis of a developmental delay or disability (n = 22.2%). this percentage of children (i.e., 22%) that fit the criteria to be included in this study is well over the requirement that at least 10% of placements for children who are eligible due to a disability in head start programs. the two children that were identified as having a delay or disability did receive special services. written materials for this study were available in both spanish and english. the home language of children was spanish, and there was 66.7% of the families who spoke solely spanish and there were 33.3% of the families who spoke both english and spanish at home. the materials (i.e., consent form and demographic form) were translated into spanish by the head start program. the assessment materials we used in this study with families was pubtransition the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 24 transition table 1 overall agreement (mean) between parents and professionals ratings for the 9 spanish speaking children factor year 1 n=7 y1 % year 2 n=2 y2 % ethnicity african american caucasian (non-hispanic) 7 100 2 100 latino or hispanic other age 20-30 30-40 3 42.9 1 50 40-50 2 28.6 1 50 over 50 2 28.6 2 29 1 14 1 50 4 57 1 50 1 14 high 2 29 2 100 very high 4 57 -lished into spanish by the publisher of the assessment. the ethnicity composition for the students in this study was 88.9% latino and 11.1% both caucasian and latino. table 2 shows the demographic data for the children and their families. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 25 table 2 children and their family demographics factor year 1 n=5 y1 % year 2 n=4 y2 % ethnicity (children) african american caucasian (non-hispanic) latino or hispanic 4 80 4 100 more than 1 1 20 gender 1 20 3 75 4 80 1 25 developmental status 3 60 4 100 2 40 receives special services yes 2 40 no 3 60 4 100 therapy family income 2 40 2 40 1 25 1 25 1 20 2 50 transition procedures recruitment. approval of this study was granted by the university institutional review board. the researchers contacted directors/principals of head start to invite them to participate in the study. the study purpose and procedures were explained, and permission was requested to recruit from their program classrooms. teachers that were interested in participating were contacted by the researchers and those that were eligible (i.e., have preschool-age children who were scheduled to enter kindergarten next year in their classes) were given a consent form to review and sign. researchers provided teachers with consent forms to be sent home to parents of eligible children. parents that agreed to participate, signed the letter of informed consent, and returned it to the researchers. teachers were recruited through the community action network for head start in a rural community in the midwestern part of the united states. parents were recruited from the head start teachers that sent letters home to families about the study. participation was voluntary for all participants (i.e., teachers and parents/grandparents). training. teachers participated in a 2-hour the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 26 training on the use of the aesp-3 ready-set and parental use of the aesp-3 family assessment of child skills (facs). training was focused on teachers; however parents/grandparents did not receive the 2-hour training. training consisted of presentation of assessment content, case study discussions, and role play. a $25 gift card was given to the head start program teachers that participated in the training. data collection. this study utilized an authentic and curriculum-based assessment called the assessment, evaluation, & programming system (aeps-3; bricker et al., 2022). teachers were provided with a hard copy and digital copy of all the materials of the aeps-3 ready set protocol for completing the assessment, and a parent packet that included the aeps-3 facs protocol and demographic form for families. teachers completed the aeps-3 ready set and collected the parent packet from families. all protocols and packets were picked up from the head start office by the researcher(s). teachers received a $20 gift card for each aeps-3 ready set protocol they completed. parents received a $15 gift card for each aeps-3 facs completed. assessment tools/instruments the aeps is an evidence-based measure (grisham et al., 2021; macy et al., 2015) and is currently in its third edition. aeps started in the 1970s and several studies have been done on the aeps that the reader can review summary at macy, chen, and macy (2019). the aeps measures child development via natural observations in familiar settings across eight areas including: adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, social, social communication, math (new in the third edition), and literacy (new in the third edition). the aeps uses graduated scoring where a three-point rating scale contains 2, 1, and 0 ratings. these scores translate into 2 representing a mastery of that skill, a 1 indicating an emerging skill, and a 0 means that the skill has not yet emerged. aeps can be used as an initial assessment, and/or can be an evaluation over time. the third edition of the aeps has two components that were examined in this study to include: aeps-3 ready set and the aeps-3 family assessment of child skills (facs) that are described next. aeps-3 ready set. one of the new components in the third edition includes the aeps3 ready set tool that was used in this study. the ready set focuses on assessing kindergarten readiness skill of preschoolers who have a developmental age of four to six years. this teacher-completed assessment tool is comprised of 40 items that have been extracted from the aeps-3 in the following areas: two items in fine motor (5%), three items in gross motor (8%), two items in adaptive (5%), eight items in social emotional (20%), three items in social communication (7%), six items in cognitive (15%), ten items in literacy (25%), and six items in math (15%). the areas of social emotional, cognitive, literacy and math have more items and make up 75% of the ready set tool because they address many of the skills that children will encounter in kindergarten. these items were selected and reviewed by a panel of experts who specialize in child development and early childhood assessments, based on the readiness skills children should possess when entering kindergarten. the aeps-3 ready set uses a graduated scoring system to show where children are at in mastering a skill (i.e., skill is mastered gets a 2, skill that is emerging gets a 1, and a skill that has not yet started gets a 0). an emerging skill (i.e., score of 1) can be further explained by using an “a” or “i” that stand for assistance or incomplete, respectively. at the end of the assessment the raw score is totaled and converted into a percentage by dividing the raw score by 40 to show a child’s progress in kindergarten readiness across the eight domains. aeps-3 facs. the other component added to the third edition of the aeps is the family assessment of child skills (facs) of ready set. if filled out by a family member, parent, or guardian of the child, the aeps-3 facs allows them to provide input for the assessment of their child’s skills. the aeps-3 facs includes a demographic form that obtains basic information (i.e., name and address, contact information, language is spoken at home) from the family. there is a page that explains the purpose of the aeps-3 facs and provides instructions for scoring. the aeps-3 facs items measure transition the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 27 a child’s skills, and there is a section for recording family concerns and priorities for instruction/intervention. families and professionals may use the aeps-3 facs to identify skills and needs of children, set goals, and monitor progress. the aeps-3 facs has 30 items that correspond to the items on the aeps3 ready set. the items on the aeps-3 facs are written in family friendly language as compared to the technical language on the aeps-3 ready set that is meant for teachers. for example, on the ready set one of the items in the social emotional domain is written “segments cvc words into individual sounds,” whereas the corresponding item on the aeps-3 facs is written “does your child break words into its individual sounds? for example, your child says ‘c-a-t’ when you ask what all the sounds are in cat.” in the aeps-3 facs, each area begins with a brief definition of the domain, followed by the items. some items contain an illustration to accompany the skill. a 3-point rating scale is used for each item (yes, sometimes, and not yet) that a family member scores based on their observations of the child. if they are not able to observe the skill that they are assessing, they can select “cannot observe.” the aeps-3 ready set assessment and aeps-3 facs can be used together or separately. for example, aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs can be used together to facilitate parent teacher conferences where each person completes their assessment of the child’s skills and then meets to discuss the child’s abilities and possible areas of need/supports. aeps-3 facs has an open-ended section after each area/domain that asks parents what they would like their child to learn. at the end of the aeps-3 facs there is a section after all domains have been completed labeled “intervention priorities” where the family member can list what skills they would like their child to learn overall. these are reported in the results section. demographic information forms. teacher and parent participants completed separate demographic forms. teachers provided information about gender and age, years of experience, educational attainment, coursework, and assessment skill level. families were asked to share information about their child’s gender, ethnicity/race, developmental status, special services received, as well as family income and marital status. all participants could skip any questions they were uncomfortable answering. data analysis the three instruments used in this study were the aeps-3 ready set, aeps-3 facs, and demographic information forms. two independent observations were completed (i.e. families and professionals) to assess a child’s skill level across eight areas/domains (i.e. adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, social emotional, social communication, reading, and math). inter-rater reliability between professionals and families was measured by examining the development of the nine children in this study with spanish as their home language. agreements across average raw score and developmental areas/domains were calculated using pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient. results parents of children who speak spanish and their head start teachers observed 9 children using two versions of the aeps-3: (a) ready set, and (b) facs. reported results are presented for the dyads showing their assessments. next, we will share correlations and overall agreement between parents of spanish speaking children and their teachers, and then by domains. (figure 1). transition figure 1 overall agreement (mean) between parents and professionals ratings for the 9 spanish the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 28 basic agreements between parents and professionals by domains here are data (figure 2) reported for children’s development by domains when both parents and professionals rated children’s skills. the biggest discrepancy (56.5% difference) seen between parents and teachers across all eight domains was in math. parents were rating their children significantly higher than teachers. this domain discrepancy was distantly followed by the social communication domain in which teachers were scoring children higher than parents (16.75% difference). next, children’s skills rated by both parents and professionals are reported for the following 8 domains: adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, social emotional, social communication, literacy, and math. adaptive. means for items from the adaptive areas of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs were 1.78 and 1.72 respectively (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0-2.00). there was a strong positive, statistically significant correlation between adaptive items on the aeps-3 ready set (teachers) and aeps-3 facs (parents), r = 0.81, p = 0.008. this suggests that as scores increased for one aeps-3 measure, they also increased for the other measure. see table 3. transition figure 2 mean scores of teachers and parents’ agreement on 8 child developmental variables m sd 1 2 1. aeps-3 ready set (teachers) 1.78 .36 --2. aeps-3 facs (parents) 1.72 .51 .81 --table 3 adaptive skills mean, standard deviation, and pearson correlation for aeps-3 ready set (teachers) and aeps-3 facs (parents) the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 29 cognitive. means for items from the cognitive areas of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs were 1.31 and 1.51 respectively (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0-2.00). there was a weak positive, statistically insignificant correlation between cognitive items on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs when scored by teachers and parents, r = 0.10, p = 0.794. this suggests that there is not enough evidence to conclude that scores on one aeps-3 measure increase as scores on the other measure increase. m sd 1 2 1.31 .30 --2. aeps-3 facs (parents) 1.51 .49 .10 --fine motor. means for items from the fine motor areas of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs were 1.83 and 1.94 respectively (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0-2.00). there was a weak negative, statistically insignificant correlation between fine motor items on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs when scored by teachers and parents, r = -0.25, p = 0.516. this suggests that there is not enough evidence to conclude that as scores increase for one aeps-3 measure, they decrease for the other measure. m sd 1 2 1.83 .25 --2. aeps-3 facs (parents) 1.94 .17 -.25 --gross motor. means for items from the gross motor areas of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs were both 1.89 (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0-2.00). there was a strong positive, statistically significant correlation between gross motor items on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs when scored by teachers and parents r = 0.81, p = 0.008. this suggests that as scores increased for one aeps-3 measure, they increased for the other measure. m sd 1 2 1.89 .24 --2. aeps-3 facs (parents) 1.89 .24 .81 --social emotional. means for items from the social emotional areas of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs were both 1.73 and 1.60 respectively (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0-2.00). there was a moderate positive, statistically insignificant correlation between social emotional items on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs when scored by teachers and parents r = 0.51, p = 0.159. this suggests that there is not enough evidence to conclude that scores on one aeps-3 measure increase as scores on the other measure increase. transition table 4 cognitive skills mean, standard deviation, and pearson correlation for aeps-3 ready set (teachers) and aeps-3 facs (parents) table 5 fine motor skills mean, standard deviation, and pearson correlation for aeps-3 ready set (teachers) and aeps-3 facs (parents) table 6 gross motor skills mean, standard deviation, and pearson correlation for aeps-3 ready set (teachers) and aeps-3 facs (parents) the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 30 m sd 1 2 1.73 .23 --2. aeps-3 facs (parents) 1.60 .46 .51 --social communication. means for items from the social communication areas of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs were both 1.89 and 1.56 respectively (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0-2.00). there was a weak positive, statistically insignificant correlation between social communication items on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs when scored by teachers and parents r = 0.28, p = 0.458. this suggests that there is not enough evidence to conclude that as scores increase for one aeps-3 measure, they also increase for the other measure. m sd 1 2 1.89 .24 --2. aeps-3 facs (parents) 1.56 .46 .28 --literacy. means for items from the literacy areas of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs were both 0.94 and 1.03 respectively (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0-2.00). there was a weak positive, statistically insignificant correlation between literacy items on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs when scored by teachers and parents r = 0.43, p = 0.244. this suggests that there is not enough evidence to suggest that scores on one aeps-3 measure increase as scores on the other measure increase. m sd 1 2 .94 .49 --2. aeps-3 facs (parents) 1.03 .56 .43 --math. means for items from the math areas of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs were both 0.81 and 1.01 respectively (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0-2.00). there was a moderate positive, statistically significant correlation between math items on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs when scored by teachers and parents r = 0.67, p = 0.048. this suggests that as scores increased for one aeps-3 measure, they also increased for the other measure. m sd 1 2 .81 .71 --2. aeps-3 facs (parents) 1.01 .64 .67 --transition table 7 social emotional skills mean, standard deviation, and pearson correlation for aeps-3 ready set (teachers) and aeps-3 facs (parents) table 8 social communication skills mean, standard deviation, and pearson correlation for aeps-3 ready set (teachers) and aeps-3 facs (parents) table 9 literacy skills mean, standard deviation, and pearson correlation for aeps-3 ready set (teachers) and aeps-3 facs (parents) table 10 math skills mean, standard deviation, and pearson correlation for aeps-3 ready set (teachers) and aeps-3 facs (parents) the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 31 parental responses to open-ended questions parental wishes for their child matter. transition assessments can help teachers and parents create meaning from the results that might include: identify child strengths, identify needs of the child, design learning goals for the child, and more. the aeps-3 facs incorporates the opportunity for parents to provide information in each domain about what skills they want their child to learn. the final page of the facs is called, intervention priorities. here is where parents can give more information about overall skills they would like their child to develop. the qualitative responses from these open-ended prompts and parental hopes for their children are described next. parental wishes for adaptive skills. the aeps3 facs defines this domain as, “adaptive skills are those that involve being able to care for yourself. these skills include eating, drinking, preparing and serving food, using the toilet independently, dressing, and undressing./ las habilidades adaptativas son aquellas que incluyen el poder cuidar de si mismo/a. estas habilidades incluyen comer, beber, preparer y server alimentos, usar el baño de manera independiente, vestirse y desvestirse” (bricker et al., 2022, p. 3). one of the nine parents in this study provided a written response in the open-ended section of the adaptive skills domain. they wished to see their child, “be less social, she’s quite the little butterfly and loves to talk. it often concerns me when she is out with me how easy it is to talk to strangers even though we have had that talk.” parental wishes for cognitive skills. the aeps3 facs defines this domain as, “cognitive skills are those that involve the mental processes and reasoning. these skills include imitating, recalling, categorizing, problem solving, and making observations and predictions. / las habilidades cognitivas son aquellas que comprenden los procesos mentales y el razonamiento. estas habilidades incluyen el limitar, recorder, clasificar, resolver problemas y hacer observaciones y predicciones” (bricker et al., 2022, p. 6). two of the nine parents in this study provided a written response in the open-ended section of the cognitive skills domain. one parent indicated they wished for their child, “to do more experiments to help widen and expand her ideas and mind.” another parent wrote that they wished their child would be able to “reconocer las letras del a, b, c y los numeros” (recognize the letters a, b, c and numbers). parental wishes for fine motor skills. the aeps-3 facs defines this domain as, “fine motor skills are those that involve the movement and use of the hands. these skills include grasping and releasing, using the index finger and thumb, using scissors and writing implements, drawing shapes, and printing letters. / las habilidades de motricidad fina son aquellas que implican el movimiento y uso de las manos. estas habilidades incluyen el agarrar y soltar, usar el dedo índice y el pulgar, usar las tijeras y herramientas de escritura, dibujar figuras y escribir letras” (bricker et al., 2022, p. 1). two of the nine parents in this study provided a written response in the open-ended section of the fine motor skills domain. one parent responded that they wanted their child to, “write or draw with both hands.” another parent wrote, “escribir los numeros y letras” (write the numbers and letter). parental wishes for gross motor skills. the aeps-3 facs defines this domain as, “gross motor skills involve moving and getting around in your surroundings. these skills include rolling, crawling, walking, running, jumping, skipping, and riding a bike. / las habilidades de la motricidad gruesa comprenden el poder moverse y desplazarse alrededor de todo aquello que nos rodeo. estas habilidades incluyen poder rodar/voltearse, gatear, caminar, corer, saltar, saltar en un solo pie y andar en bicicleta” (bricker et al., 2022, p. 2). two of the nine parents in this study provided a written response in the open-ended section of the gross motor skills domain. one parent wanted their child, “to learn to jump rope.” another parent wished to see their child, “omolar en bicicleta” (ride on bicycle). parental wishes for social emotional skills. the aeps-3 facs defines this domain as, “social skills are those that involve interacting and participating with others. these skills include showing affection, playing with others, choosing activities, sharing, managing conflict, identifying emotions, and knowing personal information. transition the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 32 / las habilidades sociales son aquellas que implican el poder interactuar y participar con otras personas. estas habilidades incluyen el demostrar afecto, jugar con otros, escoger actividades, compartir, resolver conflictos o problemas, identificar emociones y tener conocimiento de información personal (de sí mismo/a)” (bricker et al., 2022, p. 4). two of the nine parents in this study provided a written response in the open-ended section of the social emotional skills domain. one parent indicated her child knew her full name, but she would like her child to, “work on her address, phone number, and city.” the other parent wanted their child to learn their “direcion, numero de telefono (address, telephone number). parental wishes for social communication skills. the aeps-3 facs defines this domain as, “social communication skills are those that involve communicating with others. these skills include listening, speaking, and understanding conversational rules and the use of grammar. / las habilidades de la comunicación social son aquellas que implican el comunicarse con otros. estas habilidades incluyen escuchar, hablar y entender las reglas que se siguen en uan conversación y el uso de la gramática” (bricker et al., 2022, p. 5). one of the nine parents in this study provided a written response in the open-ended section of the social communication skills domain. the parent wished to see their child, “be more precise and exact.” parental wishes for literacy skills. the aeps3 facs defines this domain as, “literacy skills are those that involve prereading and reading skills. these skills include page and book orientation, matching sounds with letters, recognizing letters and words, and writing letters and words. / las habilidades de lectoescritura son aquellas que implican las habilidades prelectoras y lectoras. estas habilidades incluyen la orientación de la página y el libro, el asignar a cada letra el sonido que le corresponde y el reconocer y escribir letras y palabras” (bricker et al., 2022, p. 7). two of the nine parents in this study provided a written response in the open-ended section of the social emotional skills domain. one parent wrote that she would, “like her to continue to break down words & continue to practice reading.” another parent would like to see their child, “escribir y dibyar los letras y numeros” (write and draw letters and numbers). parental wishes for math skills. the aeps-3 facs defines this domain as, “math skills are those that address numbers and number manipulation. these skills include counting, comparing numbers of items, and recognizing and writing numbers. / las habilidades en matemáticas son aquellas que abordan los números y la manipulacion de los mismos. estas habilidades incluyen el contar, comparer el numeró de cosas o articulos y el reconocer y escribir los número” (bricker et al., 2022, p. 8). two of the nine parents in this study provided a written response in the open-ended section of the social emotional skills domain. one parent wished for their child to, “work on learning bigger numbers.” another parent wished for their child to learn to, “contor y reconocer los numeros” (count and recognize numbers). overall intervention priorities parents want for their child a total of three of the nine parents in this study completed the overall ‘intervention priorities’ section of the aeps-3 facs. this was an open-ended section with the direction stating: “please list the next skills you would like your child to learn.” parental comments from the three participating parents are displayed in table 11. conclusion special linguistic and cultural considerations are needed to effectively serve children and families (brown et al., 2023; crowe et al., 2021; li, 2019; steed et al., 2023). access, participation, and supports are principles that can be applied in the authentic assessment of children who are multilingual (dec/naeyc, 2009; xu & kuti, 2024; zyskind & macy, 2024). in addition to child and family support considerations, early childhood professionals benefit from supportive assessment practices that foster smooth transitions from preschool to kintransition “access, participation, and supports are principles that can be applied in the authentic assessment of children who are multilingual.” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 33 transition table 11 parent response 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 19 23 1. 2. 3. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 34 parents and professionals contribute to understanding child development (hardin et al., 2009; mcfarland & laird, 2018; xu, 2020). research on the aeps tools for transition (i.e., ready set and facs) are underway to learn more about parental and professional collaboration during assessment. in 2019, stevenson examined kindergarten teachers’ experiences related to authentic assessment and the use of the aeps for transition (stevenson, 2019). another study explored preschool teachers from montessori programs in florida and idaho and their collaborative assessment experiences with parents using aeps transition measures (macy et al., 2022). head start educators and parents in rural part of america were part of a study using aeps for transition to kindergarten (macy et al., 2023), and this current study is an extension of that initial exploration with children who are multilingual and enrolled in head start program. the small sample size of participants is a limitation of the study that needs to be considered when generalizing findings. future directions for this research could examine training for early childhood professionals to facilitate smooth transitions for inclusion. preschoolers from rural areas may have unique assessment needs that warrant future research (bipartisan policy center, 2023; grisham-brown & mccormick, 2013; hawkins-lear & grisham-brown, 2019; prusinski et al., 2023). use of online assessment tools during transitions from preschool to kindergarten could help better understand children and families’ needs (rahn et al., 2024). it would be helpful to study outcomes from collaborative authentic assessments for multilingual learners compared to their monolingual peers with the parental/professional assessment approach (bagnato & macy, forthcoming). aldous huxley wrote, “words form the thread on which we string our experiences.” this line from the olive tree punctuates the importance of words that can serve as a way to think about 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(2024). authentic assessment for children with language considerations: early identification and connection to services. perspe tives on early childhood psychology and education, 8(1), 111-143. https://doi.org/10.58948/2834 8257.1069 transition dialog, 23(2), copyright © 2020, issn: 1930-9325 an investigation into the curricula (type and quality) used by early childhood educators rachel e. schachter university of nebraska-lincoln shayne piasta the ohio state university laura justice the ohio state university most preschool-aged children spend time in head start and other center-based care. thus, early educators’ use of a quality curriculum is essential to maximizing children’s learning. we examined the curricula utilized by educators working in diverse settings with children ages 3 to 5, focusing on key features of quality curriculum identified from the literature. most educators (75%) reported using formal curricula. creative curriculum and highscope were the most common; 6% of educators reported no curriculum use. there was a lack of consensus regarding what constitutes curriculum with 16% of participants reporting the use of materials generally not considered curriculum (e.g., learning standards). although most educators were using a curriculum that included some key features, less than 15% were using curricula with evidence of effectiveness for supporting children’s learning. findings have important implications for supporting practice and future research. keywords: curriculum, early childhood, educators, preschool introduction curriculum is a critical component of classroom instruction and, in early childhood “provides a framework for planning an age-appropriate program” (dodge, p. 1178). as such curriculum is the foundation upon which educators and programs create environments, physical and interactional, that support the growth of individual children. from a theory of change perspective (schindler, mccoy, fisher, & shonkoff, 2019), the curriculum is a set of strategies employed by educators and programs that should result in children’s learning. the importance of curriculum in early research article 22 schachter et al. childhood is underscored by recommendations of professional organizations regarding what should constitute curricula (e.g., national association for the education of young children [naeyc], 2003; national center on quality teaching and learning [ncqtl], 2015) and extensive research efforts to understand how curricula contribute to children’s learning (e.g., preschool curriculum evaluation research consortium [pcer], 2008). given this role of curriculum, many consider it as an important lever for improving the quality of instruction in early childhood education programs (jenkins & duncan, 2017; weiland, mccormick, mattera, maier, & morris, 2018). with the surge in attendance in early childhood programs and increased u.s. public funding supporting early childhood education, attention to curriculum and its use in early childhood programs is rising (markowitz, bassok, & hamre, 2018). there are many state and federal policies requiring the use of curricula (e.g., u.s. department of health and human services [dhhs], 2010), and the majority of states include the use of curriculum as an indicator of quality in their quality rating and improvement systems (qris; quality compendium, 2019). thus, external policy frameworks are playing a larger role in the uptake and implementation of early childhood curriculum. one common theme that emerges from many early childhood stakeholders, including state and federal constituencies, is that curricula should be chosen by educators and programs to meet the needs of their specific context, including children and families, and also be grounded in early childhood research. there are a variety of curricula options available for use in early-education programs serving 3to 5-year-old children (ncqtl, 2015), yet little is actually known about what curricula are most widely used or the features of these curricula. this is important for understanding how curricula are supporting educators to implement high quality instruction. thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine what early childhood educators reported using as classroom curricula and the features of these curricula. what is curriculum in early childhood? identifying a common definition of curriculum across the field of early childhood is challenging. for early childhood programs and educators, policy documents from funding or supervisory agencies are one resource for understanding what constitutes a curriculum. for example, the national center on quality teaching and learning (ncqtl) from the office of head start defines a curriculum as a: …written plan that is based on sound child development principles, is consistent with program performance standards overall, and includes: goals for children’s development and learning; experiences through which children will achieve the goals; roles for staff and parents to help children achieve these goals; and materials needed to support the implementation of a curriculum. (p. 1, 2012) other federal and state organizations such as the what works clearing house (wwc; us department of education, institute of educational sciences) and state departments of education (sde; including in the state in which data for this study were collected) identify similar definitions for curricula. these include the idea that curricula are written and focused on facilitating children’s curricula use 23 learning in a variety of content domains such as language and literacy, math, science, and social emotional development. indeed, many qris requirements stipulate the use of written lesson plans that align with state learning standards across these domains (quality compendium, 2019). also, often included in the definition of curriculum is a delineation of how such content is to be targeted via a scope (or range) of what that content should be and a specific sequence (or order) for teaching the content (e.g., maker, 1986; whitehurst, 2009). however, these definitions are by necessity left relatively broad in order to allow educators to implement curricula that is appropriate for their own teaching style and setting. looking more generally at conceptualizations of early childhood curriculum, there is often an understanding that curriculum should be informed by theories about how children learn and develop (see williams, 1999 for a historical review). the early childhood field typically tends to favor child-centered approaches that build from child interests to develop learning experiences across the cognitive, language, social-emotional, and physical domains (jones, 2012; jones & nimmo, 1994; kostelnik, soderman, whiren, & rupiper, 2019; naeyc, 2009). accordingly, some have argued for the importance of emergent curricula, which develop based on the needs and the interests of specific children. this view is operationalized in different ways throughout the field and across curricula. in some cases this approach is integrated with research on learning, which underscores the importance of meeting children where they are and individualizing learning experiences to help children develop along a trajectory of skills (burchinal, peisner-feinberg, pianta, & howes, 2002; clements et al., 2011; duncan et al., 2007). one way to meet children where they are developmentally is to use age-appropriate assessments, screening tools, or work sampling to inform instructional planning; curricula might include these to support the selection of learning activities. there are also approaches such as montessori, project approach, or reggio emilia (hall et al., 2010; katz, chard, & kogan, 2014; montessori, 2012) that embed a holistic, child-centered orientation within their overall frameworks that subsequently inform curricula development. these theoretical approaches are often listed as a type of curricula but differ slightly in that educators actually generate the curriculum based on these approaches in contrast to more manualized curricula. finally, opportunities for learning through play are also often considered important in early childhood curricula (golinkoff, hirsh-pasek, & singer, 2006; nicolopoulou, 2010; wood, 2004); although some have suggested decreasing the focus on play in favor of engaging children in real-life activities (lillard & taggart, 2018). what are key features of quality curricula? although, to our knowledge, no existing framework identifies features of quality curricula used in early education settings, the available literature suggests a number of such key features. to identify these, we conducted an informal but comprehensive review of a variety of documents on early childhood curricula use including research studies, policy documents, and publications by early childhood organizations in order to identify features considered characteristic of quality curricula (see table 1). although not exhaustive, the review allowed us to identify key features with converging support through theory, best practice recommendations, and/or empirical research (noted in the table). importantly, documents from professional organizations (e.g., naeyc) and funding agencies (e.g., ncqtl) which were likely to be available and used by programs and educators to identify quality curricula were included. we identified these features as: including 24 schachter et al. learning goals, providing support for planning, specifying scope of the content, specifying sequence of the content, using assessment, and including mechanisms for culturally appropriate family involvement or outreach. table 1 provides a definition of each feature and references to documents supporting its use as part of curriculum. it should be noted that across the literature, there is much variability and lack of specificity in the description of these features. table 1 key features of quality curricula feature definition (coding criteria in italics) rationale includes learning objectives curriculum has learning objectives for students. categorized based on level of specificity of learning objectives from no learning objectives, broad, somewhat specified, specified. celements & sarama, 2007; fantuzzo 2011*; justice et al., 2010*; naeyc, 2003; ncqtl, 2012; skibbe et al., 2015 support for planning curriculum has lesson plans that were tied to learning objectives. curriculum must have had lesson plans to be coded in this category. coded as yes or no. bierman et al., 2008*; fantuzzo et al., 2011*; naeyc, 2003; ncqtl, 2012; skibbe et al., 2015 specified scope curriculum identifies the content that should be learned. categorized based on the level of specificity about the content from no scope, broad, somewhat specified, to specified. clements & sarama, 2008*; fantuzzo et al., 2011*; justice et al., 2010*; maker, 1986; ncqtl, 2012; whitehurst, 2009 specified sequence curriculum identifies the order in which content should be addressed. categorized based on the level of specificity about the sequence from no sequence, broad, somewhat specified, to specified. clements & sarama, 2008*; fantuzzo et al., 2011*; justice et al, 2010; maker, 1986; naeyc, 2003; whitehurst, 2009 includes assessment curriculum contains a corresponding assessment to help understand how children are meeting curricular goals. coded as yes or no. clements & sarama, 2008*; confrey & stohl, 2004; fantuzzo, 2011*; naeyc, 2003; ncqtl, 2012; weiland & yosikawa, 2013* includes training curriculum provides training. coded for whether there was professional development, supplementary materials, and/or additional materials. chambers et al., 2010; clements et al., 2011*; domitrovich et al., 2009*; markowitz et al., 2017; naeyc, 2003; ncqtl, 2012; fantuzzo et al., 2011*; lonigan et al., 2015*; yoon, et al., 2007; family involvement curriculum has ways to include home and school connections. fantuzzo et al., 2011*; ncqtl, 2003 note. * indicates studies with child-level outcomes additionally, another way to determine quality of curriculum is to identify how it is aligned with early childhood research (see table 2). there are two ways to think about research as it connects with curricula – curricula may be research based or research tested (duke & martin, 2011). a curricula use 25 curriculum that is research based is grounded in the extant literature, such that it is aligned with research findings. research tested, however, indicates that the curriculum itself has been studied for its impacts on children’s learning. research-tested curricula have been receiving more attention over the past ten years through seminal studies such as the pcer report (2008) and greater focus on rigorous outcome research through wwc. as a result, there is an accumulating evidence-base regarding the efficacy of specific curricula. notably, this body of work highlights the efficacy of content-specific curricula or what some researchers term “skill-focused” curriculum (e.g., jenkins et al., 2019; nguyen, 2017; weiland & yoshikawa, 2013) or “domain-specific” curriculum (weiland, 2016). these curricula target one or two specific content areas or learning domains, in contrast to curricula that are designed to cover all of the learning domains holistically. there is evidence that these types of curricula are effective at improving the targeted outcomes. for example, although jenkins et al. (2018) found an advantage for holistic curricula in improving the quality of classroom processes, only content-specific curricula led to positive effects on children’s school readiness outcomes. additionally, in a recent meta-analysis, nguyen (2017) found positive, small effects for skills-focused curricula and null effects for more holistically focused curricula on children’s academic skills. there is also evidence that integrating skillsfocused and child-centered approaches may support academic skills. in a different meta-analysis, chambers et al., (2016) found that approaches that incorporated skills-focused instruction with child-led activities had positive impacts on children’s language and literacy outcomes at the end of preschool and at kindergarten follow up. table 2 research related features of quality curricula research – based publisher states that the curriculum is supported by research. coded as yes or no. chambers et al., 2010; clements & sarama, 2007; clements & sarama, 2011*; clements & sarama, 2008*; confrey & stohl, 2004; cross-conn powers 2014; domitrovich et al., 2009*; fantuzzo et al, 2011*; justice et al., 2010*; naeyc, 2003; pence et al 2008* contentspecific curriculum focuses on developing one content area and skills associated with that content area. coded as yes or no. jenkins et al., 2018; lonigan et al., 2015*; weiland et al., 2013* wwc inclusion curriculum has been examined in studies meeting the criteria for inclusion in what works clearinghouse. coded as yes or no. wwc inclusion evidence of effectiveness curriculum has been found to have positive effects either by wwc or other research studies. coded as yes or no. see appendix a note. * indicates studies with child-level outcomes 26 schachter et al. what do we know about the curricula used by programs and educators? although the literature suggests various key features of quality curricula, we know much less about what curricula educators use and the extent to which these align with such features. it is important to note that curricula use may be somewhat determined by the requirements of funding agencies (e.g., head start or sdes) or through a state qris (connors & morris, 2014). the expectation is that programs who receive these types of funding or ratings must use curricula that include features outlined by these agencies. it is unclear, however, if program selections always align with these recommendations. furthermore, these requirements may not be exhaustive in listing features of quality curricula. there are a few studies that have examined curriculum use. clifford et al. (2005) found that creative curriculum (dodge et al., 2002) and highscope (epstein & hohmann, 2012) were the most frequently used curricula in a sample of 240 educators in state-funded prekindergarten programs across four states. they reported that only 4% of educators did not use a curriculum and that this was more common in half-day programs. more recently, in a survey of 80 educators in one state, cross and conn-powers (2014) found that only two educators reported using a curriculum that met wcc standards for evidence of effectiveness. however, the authors did not report on the features of the other curricula selected by educators thus leaving much to be learned about curricula use. additionally, jenkins and duncan (2017) summarized a nationally representative sample of directors’ descriptions of selected curricula, finding that 32% of statefunded prekindergarten programs and 55% of head start programs used creative curriculum, and 7% of prekindergarten and 17% of head start programs used highscope. importantly, they found that 22% of prekindergarten directors and 5% of head start directors reported that they did not use a curriculum at all. in general, much of what the field knows about early childhood curricula use comes from the descriptive information about programs reported in research articles. findings from these studies suggest that creative curriculum and highscope tend to be the most frequently used curricula (lonigan, purpura, wilson, walker, & clancy-manchetti, 2013; lonigan & shanahan, 2010) and align with the research already described. none of these studies, however, provided an in-depth analysis of curricula use or how the curricula that educators used align with key features of quality. purpose the purpose of the current study was to identify the curricula in use in a large number of early childhood classrooms across one state, representing a variety of early childhood settings including head start. we were particularly interested in the extent to which reported curricula aligned with the key features of quality curricula identified in the extant literature. to that end, we posed the following research questions: 1. what curricula are used by early educators in programs serving 3to 5-year-old children across one midwestern state? 2. to what extent do the curricula used by early educators across the one state demonstrate key features of quality? curricula use 27 we used multiple research methods to address our questions. first data were collected via survey and summarized with descriptive statistics (rq1) and then a content analyses of the identified curricula was conducted (rq2). method participants data for this study were collected as part of a larger project evaluating a state-sponsored professional development program. participation was open to all early childhood educators in the state who served preschool-aged children (i.e., 3to 5-years old) and volunteered to enroll in the free-of-cost professional development provided on an annual basis by the sde (see piasta et al., 2017 for a detailed description of recruitment and the professional development). a total of 546 educators participated in the larger project; of these, the 497 who completed a background questionnaire and answered items regarding curricula use were included in the present sample. early childhood education in the state is similar to that of other states in that programs are funded by a variety of mechanisms – public (including head start), private, and hybrid. in addition to stipulating licensing requirements for programs, the state also has an established qris system that includes ratings dependent upon the use of developmentally appropriate screening tools and assessments as well as the use of a curriculum that meet state criteria (sde, 2016). almost all participants were female (95.57%) with an average of 11.36 years of early childhood teaching experience (sd = 7.93). almost 40% reported that they were working in head startaffiliated classrooms; overall, most participants’ (74.04%) early childhood programs received some type of subsidized funding either through federal or state funding. educators’ highest degree obtained included a high school diploma (15.29%), an associate’s degree (22.13%), a bachelor’s degree (31.19%), and a graduate degree (23.94%; 7.44% unreported). educators were 80.08% white, 15.90% african american, 0.60% asian, 0.20% native hawaiian or pacific islander, and 0.80% multiracial (2.41% unreported), with 1.21% reporting that they were hispanic or latinx. they were fairly equally distributed across urban (26.16%), suburban (30.58%), and rural (33.40%) locations (9.86% unreported). procedures educators completed a background questionnaire that included a variety of questions, including demographic information. to understand curricula use, the questionnaire included the item, “please identify what types, if any, curricula you used in your classroom during the most recent school year and list by name.” we used all responses to this item to address our first research question. each individual curriculum reported by educators was cataloged and then descriptive statistics were used to provide information regarding overall participant curricula use. notably, educators were able to report the names of multiple curricula and 16.50% (n = 82) gave multiple responses. to address our second research question, we conducted a content analyses (hsieh & shannon, 28 schachter et al. 2005) to identify presence or absence of curriculum features identified in the extant literature. we began with list of all curricula that participants reported using (rq1). we then screened the list to determine if what was identified by participants constituted a curriculum. for the purposes of this study, we used the wwc definition of curriculum identified in their protocol for reviewing early childhood programs as, “a curriculum is a set of activities, materials, and/or guidance for working with children in classrooms that has a clearly identified name, includes a write-up/description, and can be replicated by others based on written guidance, staff training, or technical assistance.” educators’ responses that constituted general approaches/principles to child development, assessments, or educational materials other than a curriculum (e.g., state learning standards, “sensory-based approach”) were excluded from coding as these did not meet our definition of curricula. additionally, some educators provided only a publisher (e.g., “scholastic”), and we were therefore unable to determine the exact curriculum to code. others indicated that the curriculum was “educator-created” and although educatoror school-created curricula have the potential to meet our definition of curriculum, we did not have follow up access to these curricula and thus were unable to code them and they were excluded as well. it is not our intention to place differential value on these types of curricula, rather we are unable to include them here as there were no documents for us to analyze. this left a pool of 35 unique curricula that met our definition and were used by participants for which we attempted to obtain additional information and code for curriculum features. we collected curriculum materials and related information (e.g., information provided online by developers or publishers) for 32 of these curricula; we were unable to obtain sufficient materials to code three identified curricula (i.e., innovations, catechesis of good shepherd, preschoolfirst). we categorized these 32 curricula containing formal documentation as formal curricula and refer to them as such for the rest of the study. the content analyses was conducted based on a priori codes (miles & huberman, 1994) generated from the extant literature regarding quality curricula. these included general features of the curriculum (see next section and table 3) as well as features of quality curriculum (see next section and tables 1 and 2). a trained undergraduate research assistant used the collected curriculum materials and the a priori coding schema to code each curriculum. the first author double coded 25% of the curricula to establish interrater agreement. interrater agreement was determined by dividing the total number of agreements between coders by the total number of agreements plus disagreements between coders at the individual code level. agreement was high, ranging from 78% to 100% across the coding categories (m = 92%). general features. to give a general overview of the curricula being used by early childhood educators, we coded each with respect to a number of basic, descriptive categories. these were features often described in definitions of curricula, but were not commonly identified by theory, best practice recommendations, and/or empirical research as key features of quality curricula. this included whether the curriculum was available for purchase, whether the curriculum was intended for preschool-aged children (age-appropriate), and whether the curriculum was described as based in early childhood or educational theory. for the latter, we also coded the specific theory or theorist referenced. additionally, we coded the content areas covered in the curriculum, whether the curriculum provided lesson plans for educators to use, whether lessons plans were scripted (i.e., provided step-by-step instructions for what educators might say curricula use 29 or do), and whether the curriculum was emergent in that educators generated learning topics within the general framework of the curriculum. for example, to identify descriptive features of the project approach, the book engaging children’s minds: the project approach (katz, char, & kogan, 2014) was reviewed to identify that it is age-appropriate (p. 18), is theory based (pgs. 515), covers a variety of domains and is emerging (pgs. 3-4), but does not have pre-specified lesson plans or templates. as state mandates are an important lever for encouraging educators to use curricula in early childhood, we were also interested in whether the reported curricula met state curricula selection guidelines. thus, we coded whether each curriculum adhered to the first four of five guidelines for the state’s qris: “the curriculum a program utilizes must be written, research‐based, comprehensive, appropriate to the age group served, and show alignment to the program's identified assessment process” (sde, 2016, p. 3). we were unable to code whether curricula were aligned with “the program’s identified assessment process” as we did not have this information for each early childhood program in which participating educators worked. because of the absence of written lesson plans, the project approach was coded as not meeting state guidelines. key features of quality curricula. based on our review of the extant literature, we generated a list of codes related to the key features of quality curricula. these codes along with descriptions and rationales are listed in table 1. specifically, we were interested in whether curricula contained key features of quality curricula and to what extent they were present in the curricula. for some of these features we coded them as present (y) or absent (n) in the curricula (e.g., includes an assessment or lesson objectives). for other features (learning objectives, scope, and sequence), we coded for the level of specificity provided within the curriculum. this was to gauge how much information was provided to educators regarding implementing the curriculum. these were coded as none (n), broad (general list/information; b), somewhat specified (additional information, more detailed content; ss), or highly specified (very detailed list; hs) following the way that the sde provided varying levels of detail to educators regarding the early learning standards (2015). appendix a provides definitions and examples of the specificity coding. to continue with the project approach example, a “no” code was given for lesson objectives, scope, sequence, and assessment because projects are generated based on children’s interests and the lesson plans and learning goals are specified while developing the project (pgs. 21-52). it was coded as “broad” in specifying learning objectives as four major goals are listed (p. 12). we also coded what type of research evidence there was to support the efficacy of the curriculum. this included examining the curricular materials to see if these stated that the curriculum was research based. we also coded for whether the curriculum was evidence based (research tested) in two ways. first, we searched for studies of the curricula meeting the wwc (u.s. department of education, institute of educational sciences) criteria for credible and reliable evidence of effects on children’s outcomes. second, we indicated if any additional studies (i.e., not included in the wwc) provided evidence of effects. the latter were identified by conducting a search of eric and psycinfo as detailed in appendix b. combining these studies with those included in wwc, we were able to code for whether or not there was evidence that a curriculum improved outcomes for preschool-aged children. both the wwc and the additional studies were coded as of the end of may 2016 as this was when the educators were actually using the curricula. again, returning to the project approach, the authors reported that the curriculum is research based (pgs. 30 schachter et al. 5-15) aligning with research on children’s learning; however, there are no evidence of effects, either in wwc or in other studies. results what do early childhood educators report using as curricula? we used descriptive statistics to address our first question regarding educators’ curriculum use. table 3 summarizes educators’ reports of the curricula used in their classrooms and includes the number and percentage of educators who provided each response; note that the categories are not mutually exclusive as educators could provide multiple responses. educators most frequently reported using creative curriculum (53.12%). seven additional curricula were reported by at least five educators in the sample: highscope (9.05%), handwriting without tears/get set for school (2.62%), montessori (2.21%), let’s begin with the letter people (1.61%), the core knowledge preschool sequence (1.61%), everyday mathematics (1.61%), and mother goose time (1.01%). educators also reported using 27 other formal curricula, but each was used by four or fewer educators. twenty-nine educators reported using an “educatorcreated” curriculum (5.84%), and 29 educators reported not using any curriculum in their classrooms (5.84%). in addition, 80 educators provided several other responses when asked to report the curricula that they used (16.10%). some reported a publishing company but did not give enough information to identify a specific curriculum (houghton mifflin harcourt-saxon early learning, 3.02%; scholastic, 0.40%; pearson/scott foresman, 0.20%). thirty-four educators reported the state early learning standards as their curriculum (6.84%), and one educator reported that their curriculum was “state developed.” additionally, some educators reported an assessment system as their curriculum (aeps, 5.84%; ati galileo, 0.60%). a few educators reported the “head start outcomes framework” or “head start” as their curriculum (0.60% and 0.20%, respectively). one educator reported a set of educational materials as curriculum (mc prek curriculum; 0.20%), and one educator reported a pedagogical approach as curriculum (sensory-based approach; 0.20%). although it is possible that educators did not understand what constitutes a curriculum, this is an important finding which we will return to later. of the educators who responded with these “other” responses, 52 indicated these as their only curricula; thus, together with educators who reported “no curriculum,” we calculated that 81 educators did not indicate using any curriculum in their classrooms (16.30%). what are the features of curricula used by early childhood educators? in order to address our second research question regarding the features of the curricula utilized by educators we used the findings from the content analyses in two ways. first each curriculum was defined individually (table 3). second, findings were enumerated (dey, 2003) such that we could describe the overall features across curricula and by educator use. general features. table 3 includes general information for the formal curricula that were reported by educators and could be coded (n = 32 formal curricula). the vast majority were available for purchase (84.38%), and all but two were appropriate for preschool-aged children curricula use 31 table 3 general characteristics of formal curricula educator use curriculum descriptive characteristics educator response count percent (n = 497) available for purchase for ps theory -based theory content lesson plans lessons scripted emerging meets state criteria formal curriculum 384 77.26% the creative curriculum for preschool 264 53.12% y y n ll, m, w, s, ss, ca n n y y the highscope preschool curriculum 45 9.05% y y y r ll, m, s, ss, ssk, ca n n y y handwriting without tears/get set for school 13 2.62% y y n ll, w, m y y n n the montessori method 11 2.21% n y y m ll, w, m, gm, ca n n y y let's begin with the letter people 8 1.61% y y n ll, m, s, ss, bm y n n n coreknowledge preschool sequence 8 1.61% n y n ll, w, m, s, bm, gm, ca y n y y everyday mathematics 8 1.61% y n n m y n n n mother goose time preschool curriculum 5 1.01% y y y b, d, em, g, h, p, r ll, w, m, s, ss, se, gm, ca y n n y 32 schachter et al. educator use curriculum descriptive characteristics educator response count percent (n = 497) available for purchase for ps theory -based theory content lesson plans lessons scripted emerging meets state criteria the project approach 4 0.80% y y y re ll, w, m, bm, ss, ssk, s, gm, ca n n y n secondstep 4 0.80% y y n se y y n n conscious discipline 4 0.80% y y n bm n n y n read, play and learn! 4 0.80% y y n n n y n the dlm early childhood express 3 0.60% y y n ll, m, s, ss, se, gm, ca y y n y a beka book homeschool curriculum 3 0.60% y y n r, ll, m, ca y y n y opening the world of learning (owl) 3 0.60% y y n ll, m, s, ss, se, gm, ca y n n y read it again-prek! 3 0.60% n y n ll y y n n reggio emilia approach/experience 2 0.40% n y y re ll, w, m, bm, ssk, gm, ca n n y n pinnacle 2 0.40% y y y p, g, e r, ll, s, ssk, ca y y n y gee whiz education 2 0.40% y y y p, er, s, v ll, m, s, ss, se, bm, gm, ca y y n y curricula use 33 educator use curriculum descriptive characteristics educator response count percent (n = 497) available for purchase for ps theory -based theory content lesson plans lessons scripted emerging meets state criteria fountas & pinnell 2 0.40% y n y fp ll n n y n little treasures 2 0.40% y y n ll, w, m, s, ss, ca y y n y the emerging language and literacy curriculum 2 0.40% y y n ll, w, m, se, ca y y n y innovations: the comprehensive preschool curriculuma 1 0.20% highreach learning curriculum 1 0.20% y y n ll, m, s, ss, se, gm, ca y n y y explorations with young children: a curriculum guide from the bank street college of education 1 0.20% n y y f, w, j, d, p, er, i, sm ll, m, s, gm, ca n n y n wee learn 1 0.20% y y n r n n y n how to handle hardto-handle preschoolers 1 0.20% y y n y y n y the paths curriculum 1 0.20% y y n se y y n n 1-2-3 learn curriculum 1 0.20% y y y n ll, bm, ssk, gm, ca n n n n happily ever after for prekindergarten the 1 0.20% y y n ll y y n n 34 schachter et al. educator use curriculum descriptive characteristics educator response count percent (n = 497) available for purchase for ps theory -based theory content lesson plans lessons scripted emerging meets state criteria superkids reading program god loves me storybooks 1 0.20% y y n r y y y n catechesis of good shepherda 1 0.20% preschoolfirsta 1 0.20% s'cool moves inc 1 0.20% y y n y y n n anti-bias education 1 0.20% y y n se n n y n educator-created 29 5.84% no curriculum 29 5.84% other 80 16.10% state learning standards 34 6.84% assessment, evaluation, and programming system curriculum 29 5.84% houghton mifflin harcourt-saxon early learning 15 3.02% head start outcomes framework 3 0.60% ati galileo 3 0.60% scholastic 2 0.40% pearson/scott foresman 1 0.20% state developed 1 0.20% curricula use 35 educator use curriculum descriptive characteristics educator response count percent (n = 497) available for purchase for ps theory -based theory content lesson plans lessons scripted emerging meets state criteria head start 1 0.20% mc prek curriculum 1 0.20% sensory-based approach 1 0.20% note. ps = preschool, y = yes, n = no, ll = language and literacy, w = writing, m = math, s = science, bm = behavior management, gm = gross motor, ca = creative arts, ss = social studies, se = socioemotional development, ssk = social skills, r = religion, r = rogoff, m = montessorri, b = bronfenbrenner, d = dewey, em = emde, g = gardner, h = hotz, p = piaget, re = reggio emilia, er = erikson, s = smilanksy, v = vygotsky, fp = fountas and pinnell,, f = freud, w = heinz werner, j = harriet johnson, i = susan isaacs, and sm = lucy sprague mitchell. aunable to obtain sufficient materials to code for these curricula. 36 schachter et al. table 4 key features of quality curricula formal curriculum learning obj. lesson obj. scope sequence assess training family involve research based wwc inclusion evidence of effects the creative curriculum (preschool) ss n b n y pd, r y y y n the highscope preschool curriculum b n ss n y pd, r y y n ppe handwriting without tears/get set for school ss y hs hs y pd, r y y n ppe montessori method n n n n n pd y y n ppe let’s begin with letter people ss n ss ss n r n y y ppe coreknowledge preschool sequence hs y ss ss y r y y n n everyday mathematics ss y hs ss n pd y y y ppe mother goose time preschool curriculum b y b b y r y y n n the project approach b n n n n r n y n n secondstep b y hs hs y r n y n ppe conscious discipline ss n n n n pd, r y y n n read, play and learn! ss n b ss n r n y n n the dlm early childhood express b y hs hs y r n y y ppe a beka book homeschool curriculum ss y hs hs y pd y y n n opening the world of learning (owl) hs y b b n r y y n ppe curricula use 37 formal curriculum learning obj. lesson obj. scope sequence assess training family involve research based wwc inclusion evidence of effects read it again prek! ss y hs hs n pd n y n ppe reggio emilia approach/experience n n n n n y n n n pinnacle b n hs hs n pd n y n n gee whiz education hs n hs hs n r y y n n fountas & pinnell ss n ss ss y pd n y n n little treasures b y hs hs y pd, r y y n n the emerging language and literacy curriculum b y hs hs n n n y y n highreach learning curriculum ss y n n n r y y n n explorations with young children: a curriculum guide from the bank street college of education n n b n y n y n n n wee learn hs n b b n n y n n n how to handle hardto-handle preschoolers n n hs hs n pd, r n y n n the paths curriculum hs y hs hs n pd y y n ppe 1-2-3 learn curriculum b n b ss n pd, r n y n n happily ever after for prekindergarten the superkids reading program b n hs hs n pd, r n n n n god loves me storybooks n n hs hs n r y n n n 38 schachter et al. formal curriculum learning obj. lesson obj. scope sequence assess training family involve research based wwc inclusion evidence of effects s'cool moves inc. b y hs hs n pd, r n y n n anti-bias education hs n hs n n pd y y n n note. obj = objectives, wwc = what works clearinghouse, n = no/none, b = broad, ss = somewhat specified, hs = highly specified, y = yes, pd = professional development, r = other training resources, ppe = potentially positive effect(s) on at least one outcome curricula use 39 (93.75%). approximately one-third were described as based in theory (31.25%), with the following theories/theorists represented: bronfenbrenner, dewey, emde, erikson, fountas and pinnell, gardner, hotz, rogoff, montessori, piaget, reggio emilia, smilansky, freud, werner, johnson, isaacs, sprague mitchell, and vygotsky. the majority included language and literacy content (68.75%), with 59.38% including math content and 56.25% including creative arts content. in descending order, other content included: science (40.63%), gross motor development (34.38%), socioemotional development (31.25%), social studies (28.13%) and writing (25.00%), behavior management (21.88%), social skills (15.63%), and religion (12.50%). most curricula provided lesson plans (62.50%), and many of these were scripted lessons (43.75%); 43.75% of curricula were considered emerging. fourteen curricula met the state criteria for use in early childhood programs (43.75%). key quality features. additional features of these curricula, specifically the extent to which they exhibited key features of quality curricula, are presented in table 4, and the number and percentage of educators using curricula exhibiting these features are presented in table 5. curricula ranged in specification of learning objectives (15.63% of curricula provided no learning objectives, 34.38% provided broad learning objectives, 31.25% provided somewhat specified objectives, and 18.75% provided highly specified objectives), but most educators reported using curricula with somewhat specified learning objectives (58.61%). less than half of curricula (43.75%), used by only 10.29% of educators, provided lesson plans tied to learning objectives. many curricula provided a highly specified scope (50.00%) or sequence (45.16%); however, most educators used curricula with broad scopes (52.52%) and no sequence (86.35%). approximately one-third of curricula included integrated or aligned assessments (34.38%), with many educators using these curricula (70.38%). most curricula included options for educator professional development (54.84%), either alone or supported by other resources, to support implementation, but 9.68% of curricula did not provide any implementation support; the curricula with no implementation support were infrequently used by educators. most curricula also provided ways of fostering family involvement (59.38%), with a corresponding majority of educators using curricula exhibiting this feature (73.11%). research-related features. finally, with respect to research, all but five curricula were described as being supported by research (i.e., research based; 84.38%). fewer curricula, however, have been reviewed by the wwc (15.63%) or tested in other empirical studies (additional 21.88%). of those reviewed by the wwc, three (9.38%) showed potentially positive effects on at least one child outcome. all seven tested in other empirical studies showed potential positive effects, although not all of these studies were of high quality. although many educators (58.61%) used curricula that had been reviewed by the wwc, few (14.71%) used curricula with evidence of potentially positive effects on child outcomes. 40 schachter et al. table 5 key features of quality curricula by educator count percent (n = 476a) learning objectives broad 60 12.61% somewhat specified 279 58.61% highly specified 16 3.36% included lesson objectives 49 10.29% scope broad 250 52.52% somewhat specified 60 12.61% highly specified 42 8.82% sequence broad 7 1.47% somewhat specified 22 4.62% highly specified 36 7.56% included assessment 335 70.38% training professional development 17 3.57% resources 24 5.04% professional development and resources 321 67.44% family involvement 348 73.11% research based 363 76.26% reviewed by what works clearinghouse 279 58.61% evidence of effects 70 14.71% note. a denominator does not include those educators who reported only using an educator-created curriculum or the three formal curricula that we were unable to code (i.e., innovations, catechesis of good shepherd, preschoolfirst). discussion the purpose of the present study was to describe curricula use in a diverse sample of early childhood educators, including those working in head start settings, and identify how those curricula aligned with key features of quality curricula. we found that there are a variety of curricula available to and used by early childhood educators to support their classroom practice but few of these exhibited features of quality curricula. these findings suggest that the field continues to have difficulties defining what constitutes curricula in early childhood and highlight potential issues in terms of the quality of curricula that are currently being used by educators. this work has several implications for how we support educators in implementing curricula that provides high quality instruction. before discussing our major findings, we note that using this sample was an important extension of the current literature. in addition to confirming existing literature focused on early childhood programs serving children in either head start or state-funded prekindergarten programs, the sample includes participants from a larger variety of preschool programs than have been curricula use 41 investigated previously. in general, our findings align with other research demonstrating that creative curriculum is one of the most frequently used curricula in early childhood classrooms, with over half of participants reporting use of this curriculum, followed by the other most commonly reported curriculum, highscope (clifford et al., 2005; jenkins & duncan, 2017; lonigan et al., 2013). we also found similar rates as to the number of educators reporting no curriculum use at all, which represented about 6% of the sample. importantly, by including a diverse sample of educators, we were able to extend the literature by examining key features of a variety of curricula not typically described in by researchers. this is critical, as funding mechanisms (including head start) typically do not mandate use of specific curricula; thus, a better understanding of the myriad curricula choices available is important for informing educators’ choices. reaching a clearer conception of what constitutes curricula in early childhood it was challenging to identify curricula across educators’ reports in this study. indeed, we found that over 15% of educators incorrectly identified what constituted a curriculum; conflating curriculum with other types of instructional supports such as assessments and learning standards. although instructional supports such as curriculum, learning standards, and assessments should be used in an integrated and systematic way to inform practice in early childhood contexts (kostelnik et al. 2019; naeyc, 2009), these are three separate instructional supports. in part, this confusion may be due to the field not achieving consensus in defining or operationalizing what constitutes “curriculum,” as described previously. this can be observed in the many ways curricula are documented and made available for educators. although organizations such as head start provide definitions of curricula, these definitions are intentionally left broad so that programs can make curricular decisions that are appropriate for their contexts. however, this can be problematic. we found great variety not only in the curricula available to and used by educators, but also the characteristics of and types of materials included in the curricula – indeed, there was quite a range of what was represented in the formal curricula reported. in some cases, curricula were highly specified with daily, sometimes moment-to-moment, educator practices. in contrast, some curricula were actually theoretical orientations to curriculum development (e.g., project approach, montessori) that do not explicitly provide activities, scope, or sequence; rather, these guide educators’ generation of curricula based on individual children and the classroom context. these curricular approaches are often grouped into the category of curricula but do not embody the same features as more prescribed/manualized curricula. an additional complexity is in understanding features of schoolor educator-created curricula. one limitation to this study is that we were unable to code these types of curricula which also have the potential to meet many of the quality features. it is, however, important to note that a limited number of participants (n = 29, 5.84%) reported using this type of curricula. that is not to say that one type of curriculum is to be favored over the other, rather we hope to highlight that there are many complexities in understanding differing types of curricula – something that may be particularly challenging for programs and educators as they seek guidance in selecting curricula. indeed, this challenge may be seen in commonly accepted features of early childhood curricula. for example, many curricula described themselves as emergent, yet this varied in implementation (e.g., child-driven projects in the project approach versus child-selected 42 schachter et al. activities in highscope). additionally, even the idea of play and how it might be enacted is of debate in early childhood (lillard & taggart, 2018). thus, more consideration for how the field understands early childhood curriculum and what constitutes quality is merited. this is particularly important given the growing policy mandates around curriculum that often delineate what should be incorporated into curriculum. having a clearer conception across the field is critical if curriculum is to achieve its potential in supporting instruction that promotes children’s learning. commonly used curricula were not well-aligned with quality features when considering alignment with quality features of curricula, we found that many curricula fell short of meeting these criteria. critically, only ten of the curricula examined in this study had evidence of positive effects on child outcomes (with only three that had wwc evidence), and these curricula were used by less than 15% of educators. in other words, most educators were using curricula that did not have evidence of effects on children’s outcomes. it is important to note that there are challenges to measuring the impacts of curricula on children’s outcomes (burchinal, 2018; pcer, 2008), particularly for curricula that are theoretically driven, as proximal measures of change are hard to identify. furthermore, evidence of effects are not the only quality feature to consider in curriculum use. however, as the field of early childhood continues to strive towards improving early childhood teaching practices to support high quality instruction, understanding the evidence-base regarding curricula is essential. additionally, the lack of alignment between reported curricula and quality features suggests that the available and commonly used curricula may be under-supporting educators. in particular, we noted across the curricula that there was a range of specificity in scope and sequence of learning content, with less than 10% of educators using a curriculum with highly specified scopes and sequences. moreover, most educators were using curricula that did not provide lesson plans (89%) or highly specified lesson objectives (96%). thus, educators using these curricula needed to make the decisions about content and sequence and how to package those into a specific lesson plan. in some ways this format for curriculum development can be advantageous for expert educators who are able to appropriately develop and sequence activities to support children’s learning. they can create lessons and lesson objectives as they go, building on their knowledge of children’s development as well as their knowledge of the individual children in their classroom (shulman, 1987). this, however, is a difficult task (schachter, 2017) and requires a sophisticated knowledge of both child development and curriculum development which, given the range of backgrounds of early childhood educators (iom & nrc, 2012), not all educators may have. notably, more than half of participants used a curriculum that provided training – although the nature of this training and whether it attended to curriculum implementation fidelity is unknown as well as whether or not educators and programs utilized the training is unknown and merits further investigation. thus, both in-service and preservice training may need to provide more information and support to educators in using these types of curricula to design and implement instruction (markowitz et al., 2018). curricula use 43 researchers’ role in moving the field forward researchers have a critical role to play in supporting both the development of curricula and understanding the effectiveness of curricula. importantly, there is limited research on the extent to which many of the curricula used by educators in this study impact children’s learning (see tables 1 and 2). only five curricula that educators in this study reported using have been investigated in studies meeting wwc standards for rigorous causal research. researchers need to continue to focus on existing curricula, especially those in current use by educators, in order to provide better information to the field regarding the efficacy of what educators are currently using on a day-to-day basis. additionally, more research is necessary to understand the characteristics of quality curricula and how these support learning and instruction. research that examines both the how individual features are supportive of high-quality instruction and how these curricula are effective in specific contexts for specific children is critical (schindler et al., 2019). for example, what specifically about scope and sequence are important in implementing curricula? alternatively, how are family and school connections effectively fostered by curricula and does this differ across families/communities? understanding the elements of these curricula that contribute to children’s learning may be particularly illuminating in the design and implementation of new curricula as well as the refinement and improvement of popular curricula. this could be accomplished both through implementation science research (durlak, 2010; mendive, weiland, yoshikawa, & snow, 2015; wasik & hindman, 2014) and/or design research (clements, 2007; davis, palinscar, smith, arias, & kademian, 2017). additionally, given the challenges in measuring impacts of curriculum on child outcomes (burchinal, 2018; pcer, 2008), researchers need to continue to refine research tools and methods, as well as engage in more longitudinal research following children into the middle elementary grades in order to find evidence regarding the efficacy of a variety of curricula in supporting children’s long-term academic outcomes. finally, more evidence is needed to identify the merits of holistic versus skills focused curriculum. whereas the field has generally been oriented to holistic curricular approaches (jones, 2012; jones & nimmo, 1994; kostelnik et al., 2019; naeyc, 2009; williams, 1999), recently researchers have focused on the evidence linking skills-focused curricula to child outcomes. if researchers are going to continue in advocating for more skills-focused curricula use, then more research should also investigate the efficacy, usability, and feasibility of implementing multiple content-focused curricula in real-world contexts. currently, most educators, both in this study and in other research (clifford et al., 2005; jenkins & duncan, 2017; lonigan et al., 2013) used holistic curricula to target multiple domains simultaneously (e.g., creative curriculum and highscope). use of these curricula may be pragmatic in addressing multiple goals and, logistically speaking, it may be more manageable to implement one curriculum given the complex work of teaching and managing children, families, and contextual variables (cohen, raudenbush, & ball, 2003). emerging evidence does seem to suggest that two content-specific curricula can be used in conjunction to achieve child outcomes (e.g., lonigan et al., 2015; weiland & yoshikawa, 2013) and just over 15% of educators in this study reported using multiple curricula. how educators can successfully combine curricula in order to build an emergent curriculum that addresses all the domains deemed to be important for kindergarten readiness (duncan et al., 2007; magnuson, meyers, ruhm, waldfogel; 2004) is an important consideration as the field continues this line of research 44 schachter et al. (markowitz et al., 2018). furthermore, how educators can do this without losing other important instructional elements such as higher quality classroom interactions (jenkins et al., 2018) or opportunities for play (golinkoff et al., 2006; nicolopoulou, 2010; wood, 2004) is necessary. as a whole, researchers need to do a better job of bridging the research-to-practice gap. this need is clear in the number of educators using nonevidence-based curricula and the variable alignment with quality curricula features. research findings need to be better communicated to educators and practitioners as they seek to implement curriculum in their classrooms and programs. although most of the reported curricula were research-based, only 14% of educators were using a curriculum that had evidence of effects from either a wwc review or another study. one problem is that the means for investigating whether or not curricula are evidence-based may not be readily accessible for educators or programs. for example, one current concern is that practitioners are not aware of the wwc as a resource or how to use it to inform their programmatic decisionmaking (schneider, ies, december 2018). other evidence regarding efficacy is often reported in research studies published in academic or professional outlets which may be difficult to access without licensing rights to specific journals. thus, as researchers, we need to think more deeply about how to provide this type of information to early childhood educators and programs. limitations and conclusion there are some limitations of this study. first, as mentioned previously, we were unable to obtain or code educator/school created curricula. more research is needed to understand how these curricula align with key curricular features. furthermore, we have no data regarding the implementation of curricula, our data were limited to educator reports regarding the curricula that they use and thus cannot speak to implementation of the quality features. we recognize that there is much variability in curriculum implementation (e.g., fantuzzo et al., 2011; lonigan et al., 2015; pcer, 2008) and that this is just as, if not more, important than the curriculum itself for child outcomes. future research will need to examine the enactment of key-features of curricula as they are connected with child outcomes within individual program settings. overall, our findings illuminate the ongoing lack of consensus as to what constitutes quality curriculum in early childhood and indicate the need for more research and training to assist those working in early childhood programs. specifically, educators need more support in understanding what constitute features of quality curricula. researchers have an important role to play in moving the field forward both in studying the efficacy of existing curricula as well as how to implement features of quality curricula more generally. as a field, we need better mechanisms for describing curricula and identifying quality features. more work is needed if we are to bridge the researchto-practice gap and ensure that curricula are effectively supporting teachers in providing high quality learning opportunities that have positive impacts for young children. curricula use 45 acknowledgments the research reported here was supported by the institute of education science, u.s. department of education, through grants r305e100030 and r305b12008 to the ohio state university. this work would not have been possible without the contribution of ann o’connell and individuals from the early childhood quality network including dennis sykes, sharon sullivan, kathryn rider, and melissa ross, along with the ohio department of education’s office of early learning and school readiness. we also wish to thank the early childhood agencies, administrators, educators, pd facilitators and research staff members without whom this work would not have been possible. the opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the institute of education sciences, u.s. department of education, early childhood quality network, or ohio department of education. references *indicates a reviewed curriculum *abrams & company. 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(2007). pre-k little treasures. desoto, tx: macmillan/mcgraw-hill. shulman, l. (1987). knowledge and teaching: foundations of the new reform. harvard educational review, 57, 1– 22. doi:10.17763/haer.57.1.j463w79r56455411 u.s. department of education, institute of education sciences, national center for education evaluation and regional assistance, what works clearinghouse. u.s. department of health and human services (2010). the head start child development and early learning framework: promoting positive outcomes in early childhood programs serving children 3-5 years old. arlington, va: head start resource center. weiland, c. (2016). launching preschool 2.0: a road map to high-quality public programs at scale. behavior science & policy, 2, 37-46. weiland, c., mccormick, m., mattera, s., maier, m., & morris, p. (2018). preschool curricula and professional development features for getting to high-quality implementation at scale: a comparative review across five trials. aera open, 4, 1-16. doi: 10.1177/2332858418757735 weiland, c., & yoshikawa, h. (2013). impacts of a prekindergarten program on children's mathematics, language, literacy, executive function, and emotional skills. child development, 84, 2112-2130. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12099 whitehurst, g. (2009). don’t forget curriculum. brown center letters on education. washington, dc: brookings. williams, l. r. (1999). determining the early childhood curriculum: the evolution of goals and strategies through consonance and controversy. in c. seefeldt (ed.), the early childhood curriculum: current findings in theory and practice (1-26). new york, ny: teachers college press. *wilson, d.e., & heiniger-white, m.c. (2014). s'cool moves for learning: enhance learning through self-regulation activities. camas, wa: s’cool moves, inc. wood, e. (2004). developing a pedagogy of play. in a. anning, j. cullen, & m. fleer (eds.), early childhood education: society and culture (pp. 19–30). london: sage publications ltd. curricula use 49 appendix a: definitions and examples of specification categories for scope, sequence, and learning outcomes scope sequence learning outcomes definition scope refers to what should be taught or learned as part of the curriculum (maker, 1986). does the curriculum delineate the content to be covered and the level of detail provided about the content covers? sequence refers to the how the content (scope) should be organized throughout the curriculum, the order of that delivery (maker, 1986). if there is no scope, then there is no sequence as the two are tied together in the creation of curriculum. learning outcomes state what the children will learn with specific reference to children’s learning. the categories reflect the level of specificity provided in the state early learning standards. none only lists the addressed content areas (e.g., language and literacy, math) without providing more specified detail about the content to be taught. if there is no scope or if there is not information provided about the order in which to address the content of the curriculum. the curriculum lists no learning outcomes or objectives for children. broad provides a general list beyond that of the overarching content area (e.g., phonological awareness) but does move beyond this level of detail. provides a general order of content (e.g., address phonological awareness and letter knowledge at the same time). the curriculum broadly lists learning objectives outcomes for children but these do not move beyond basic content areas or general learning goals (e.g., “children will learn emergent writing skills” or “children will develop phonological awareness skills”). somewhatspecified provides additional information about content (e.g., teach rhyming and blending skills). provides additional information about sequence (e.g., teach rhyme before blending). provides more level of detail such as learning trajectories with milestones, or provides more detail about learning objectives beyond general skills (will be able to rhyme words, will be able to segment words). highlyspecified gives a very detailed list of all of the content to be covered (rhyme “at” family). gives very detailed listing of content sequencing (e.g., teach one-syllable rhymes before multi-syllable or “at” family before “og” family). lists individual learning goals that are very detailed and micro-level components of specific skills. this could include specific learning objectives on lesson plans (learn the “og family of words”) 50 schachter et al. appendix b: search protocol and procedures for additional studies demonstrating evidence of efficacy for child outcomes the purpose of this category was to capture other studies of curricula that demonstrated evidence of efficacy for changing children’s outcomes not included in wwc. these were identified through a search of eric & psychinfo with the name of the curriculum and the following terms connected with or: “group design,” “control group,” “treatment group,” “experiment*,” “intervention,” “pretests,” “posttests,” “experimental groups,” “matched groups,” “quasiexperiment*,” “efficacy,” “effectiveness,” “experiment*,” “randomized,” “control trial,” “random assignment,” “randomly assigned,” “regression discontinuity,” “single case,” “single subject.” only studies that were peer-reviewed and written in english were included. when then reviewed the abstract and only included to determine if the study was of the curriculum and not a study that included the curriculum (i.e., the study must be of the curriculum with or without another curriculum). furthermore, to be included studies had to examine preschool aged (3-5 years old) children's outcomes. anything that had already been included via wwc (u.s. department of education, institute for educational sciences) was excluded. studies using the curriculum as a control condition were also excluded. this resulted in seven studies meeting the inclusion criteria. these were coded as to whether or not (y/n) there was evidence of efficacy for children’s outcomes. nhsa dialog, 26(1), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 effects of an online emotion socialization intervention for parents of at-risk preschoolers enrolled in head start during a global pandemic briana j. williams john s. carlson michigan state university this study explored the engagement, effectiveness, and acceptability of an unstudied online version of an evidence-based emotion-focused intervention – tuning in to kids online (tikol) – within a sample of parents of at-risk preschoolers. risk was measured using the devereux early childhood assessment for preschoolers, second edition (lebuffe & naglieri, 2012). this pilot study within a small head start sample demonstrated that parents watched, on average, 97% of the ten modules across the program duration, and all reported using “quite a few” of the parenting skills taught. outcome data revealed significant improvements in employing an emotion coaching parenting style. distressing reactions and parent-reported child conduct problems both decreased. there were no significant reductions in emotion dismissing beliefs. high levels of treatment acceptability were reported. treatment engagement, effectiveness, and acceptability findings from this pilot tikol intervention study support the need to study this accessible, online version of a well-supported parenting program approach. keywords: parent training, preschoolers, social-emotional development introduction children can name and decode emotional processes as young as preschool and appropriately regulate and manage emotions (kaur & sharma, 2021). emotion regulation (er) skills help to facilitate positive interactions and support young children’s school readiness (raver, 2002). approximately 25% of preschool-aged children experience social-emotional difficulties putting them at risk for adverse developmental outcomes (brown et al., 2012). children displaying prosocial behaviors (e.g., sharing, empathy, turn-taking) experience affirmative acceptance from peers and are likely to have higher-quality relationships. however, children from low-income families experience more risk factors (e.g., familial stress, economic disadvantage) than their middleand upper-class peers, contributing to increased problem behaviors across their lifespan (ramanathan et al., 2017). research article 16 williams and carlson head start programs have long recognized the importance of building positive adult-child relationships to promote young children’s social-emotional development (morris et al., 2020). according to the united states department of health and human services ([usdhhs]; 2019), 45.7% of families enrolled in head start programs received parenting education services during the 2018-2019 program year. by focusing on parent education, head start programs ensure parents are well-prepared to support their children’s early learning and development (usdhhs, 2019), specifically addressing the importance of shared responsibility in a child’s development between head start programs and families (usdhhs, 2016). to that end, it is crucial for parents and educators to actively promote positive social-emotional development, as it impacts children’s preparedness for school and general well-being (raver, 2002). parental meta-emotion philosophy gottman and colleagues’ (1996) parental meta-emotion philosophy is the belief that parents are aware of their and their children’s emotions, recognizing opportunities to validate and connect children’s emotions with a label (gottman et al., 1996). emotion dismissing (ed) refers to a parent’s belief that a child's response to anger, fear, or sadness is viewed as harmful to the child and should be managed by the parent as quickly as possible so as not to cause further harm (gottman et al., 1996). dismissive parenting is not inherently problematic, as parents are often sensitive to their children’s feelings, but they ignore the emotion with the hope that it will go away quickly (gottman et al., 1997). emotion coaching (ec) is a parenting philosophy that emphasizes attention to their child’s emotions to help them better self-regulate (gottman et al., 1997). research has focused on ec's unique contributions to promoting young children's social-emotional development (dunsmore et al., 2013; herman et al., 2011; leijten et al., 2017; stewart & carlson, 2010). when children can fully experience their emotions with supportive reactions from parents, there are positive implications for better emotional competence, behavior, and social functioning (eisenberg et al., 1998; gus et al., 2015; havighurst & kehoe, 2017; katz et al., 2012; loop & roskam, 2016; morris et al., 2020). parental support that increases ec and decreases ed has been linked to improved children’s er and social-emotional difficulties (dunsmore et al., 2013; havighurst & harley, 2007). researchers demonstrated that children with oppositional behavior problems were more likely to report reduced conduct problems and improved er when mothers reported higher ec strategies in response to aggression (dunsmore et al., 2013). emotion coaching parent programs intervention studies have examined the impact of adding skills-based ec components to improve outcomes for parents and their children. one example is the incredible years (iy) parent training program (webster-stratton, 2006). iy provides weekly training sessions for parents to learn how to utilize and incorporate strategies to improve their and their children's communication skills, er, and self-control. as an early intervention, research for iy has focused on promoting social competence, reducing conduct behavior problems, and decreasing internalizing symptoms in young children (webster-stratton & bywater, 2019). iy employs an ec component to help parents model and scaffold regulating emotions with their children. the iy parent training program has parent intervention in emotion socialization 17 also been examined as a preventative program for children in underrepresented groups and those enrolled in head start programs (leijten et al., 2017). the iy program not only has strong evidence for its impact on children’s skill development but is also easy to implement as intended with high rates of parent acceptability (stewart & carlson, 2010). porzig and colleagues (2014) integrated ec into the cognitive-behavioral 1-2-3 magic parenting program. they found reductions in parents' dysfunctional parenting practices (e.g., viewing the child as being difficult) and child behavior problems than those receiving the base program after three months and a two-year follow-up (porzig-drummond et al., 2014). similarly, chronistuscano and colleagues (2016) examined parent-child interaction therapy with added ec (pciteco) to improve children’s emotion recognition and er. parents exposed to pcit-eco displayed more positive parenting practices, and changes in parental practices were associated with improvements in er for children with adhd. researchers also found high satisfaction regarding treatment acceptability but did not examine treatment engagement (chronis-tuscano et al., 2016). tuning in to kids (tik) tuning in to kids (tik; havighurst & harley, 2007) is an emotion-focused program developed to support parents’ emotional responsiveness to their children’s emotions. tik emphasizes gottman and colleagues’ (1996) five critical components of ec: (a) being aware of children’s emotions, (b) viewing children’s emotions as a time for bonding, (c) helping children label emotions, (d) validating children’s emotions, and (e) helping solve problems (havighurst & harley, 2007). during the intervention, parents engage with other parents and a certified facilitator using various activities (e.g., psychoeducation, handouts, home-based activities) to differentiate learning and accommodate different parenting styles. activities allow parents to share their experiences employing ec scaffolding between sessions and to practice using skills with each other (i.e., roleplaying) before using them with their children. several studies have been conducted with parents of preschool-aged children in australia (havighurst et al., 2013, 2019; wilson et al., 2012) and iran (aghaie meybodi et al., 2019; edrissi et al., 2019). participating parents reported increased ec beliefs and reduced child behavior problems (havighurst et al., 2019) and anxiety symptoms (edrissi et al., 2019). tik sessions have high fidelity with trained facilitators and high attendance and parental acceptability (duncombe et al., 2016; havighurst et al., 2010, 2013). one qualitative study examined parents’ perceptions of the program within a rural community in the united states (u.s.; hernandez et al., 2020). parents expressed the need for the program to incorporate ec skills within a family’s established values; however, no quantitative outcome data were reported. presently, no research has investigated tik's effectiveness, integrity, and acceptability within a low-income preschool population in the u.s. while the literature surrounding tik has produced promising results for group-based sessions, the impact of the online adaptation – tik online (tikol; havighurst & harley, 2020) – has not yet been investigated. tikol provides parallel content to tik, condensed into 10 video modules. the accessibility of the internet during the covid-19 pandemic, paired with accessibility challenges (e.g., time, transportation), emphasizes the need for self-guided, digital interventions to improve access to interventions for families (breitenstein et al., 2014). digital interventions are also more 18 williams and carlson cost-effective, creating a more feasible treatment option for low-income families (hollis et al., 2017). several meta-analyses of parenting interventions have demonstrated no significant differences in parent or child outcomes regardless of the intervention delivery format (de graaf et al., 2008; dupaul et al., 2018; lundahl et al., 2006). spencer and colleagues (2020) found online programs exhibited large effects in increasing parent encouragement (d = 1.13) and positive parenting behaviors (d = 1.00), and decreasing negative parent-child interactions (d = -0.97). additionally, online programs incur significantly lower costs for families and costs to train facilitators (ingels et al., 2022), situating online interventions as a means to reduce barriers for low-income and under-resourced communities (e.g., head start families). given this knowledge, there is an opportunity to investigate whether the self-guided tikol program is effective in improving parents’ ec beliefs, reducing child internalizing, and externalizing symptoms. current study this pilot study explored parent-rated engagement, effectiveness, and acceptability of tikol with parents of children enrolled in head start. the hypotheses were that tikol would yield increased ec beliefs in parents, decreased ed beliefs, and improvements in parents’ emotion socialization (es) practices. we also expected to see reductions in children's externalizing behaviors (i.e., conduct behavior problems) and internalizing symptoms (i.e., anxiety). given the at-risk nature of the young children and the accessibility of digital interventions during a global pandemic, treatment engagement and acceptability were expected to be high. method participants eleven of 15 eligible parents elected to enroll in the study. eight of the 11 families completed the intervention, and the remaining three discontinued participation due to unforeseen personal difficulties in completing the intervention (72% completion rate). of participating parents (seven biological mothers and one adoptive mother), the average parent age was 35.5 years (sd = 7.7), and all parents identified as female. the majority (n = 7) of participating parents were white/caucasian, and one parent was black/african american. all parents reported receiving postsecondary education, with most (n = 5) earning a postsecondary degree and three completing some college, reflecting a more highly educated group than the national head start parent population (usdhhs, 2019). five parents were working full-time, one reported working parttime, and two were not working, indicating a higher representation of parents with limited daily availability than the national head start population (20%; usdhhs, 2019). family incomes demonstrated varied diversity, with five parents (62.5%) reported low family income (less than $40,000), one (12.5%) reported middle income, and two (25%) reported income higher than $60,000. english was the primary language spoken at home for all participants. the average child age was just over four years (m = 53.8 months; sd = 4.1), and half of the children in the sample were female (n = 4). children were white/caucasian (n = 6), black/african american (n = 1), and multiracial (n = 1). all eight parents had children who demonstrated a significant need for socialparent intervention in emotion socialization 19 emotional skill development as measured by the devereux early childhood assessment for preschoolers, second edition (deca-p2; lebuffe & naglieri, 2012). measures engagement engagement data was collected via a brief survey to parallel attendance rate reports from prior tik studies for each module. parents were asked to reflect on the content from previous videos, indicating how many skills they practiced. parents rated responses on a 5-point likert scale from 0 (none) to 4 (a lot). after each module, parents estimated the percentage they believed they watched. they rated their engagement with tikol on a scale from 1 (not very much at all) to 5 (very much engaged). parent measures the 21-item parental emotional style questionnaire (pesq; havighurst et al., 2010) was adapted from the maternal emotional style questionnaire (lagacé-séguin & coplan, 2005), which assesses parental beliefs about their children's ability to cope with sadness, fear, and anger. parents rated items based on their beliefs on a 5-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). the questionnaire includes ec and ed subscales. the ec scale endorses items such as: "when my child is scared, i take some time to try and experience this feeling with him/her"; an example of an ed item is: "sadness is something that one has to get over." cronbach’s alphas for the pesq were reported for ec (11 items; α = .82 to .87) and ed (10 items; α = .78 to .84) over time, indicating good internal consistency (havighurst et al., 2013). the coping with children's negative emotions scale (ccnes; fabes et al., 1990) measures parents' es practices. ratings on a 7-point scale from 1 (very unlikely) to 7 (very likely) indicate how likely the parent is to respond to 12 scenarios within six subscales: distressed reactions (dr), punitive reactions (pr), expressive encouragement (ee), emotion-focused reactions (efr), problem-focused reactions (pfr), and minimization reactions (mr). for example, "if my child is panicky and cannot go to sleep after watching a scary tv show," presents responses representing each subscale. the efr and pfr scales were not included in the analysis because they do not emphasize initially tuning into their child's emotions. the removal of these scales is consistent with previous research in measuring es (havighurst et al., 2019; wilson et al., 2012). each subscale has been reported to have good reliability (α = .69 to .85), validity, and stability over four months (fabes et al., 2002). child measures the deca-p2 (lebuffe & naglieri, 2012) is a 38-item, strengths-based assessment measuring risk and protective factors in preschool-aged children. the total protective factors (tpf) scale 20 williams and carlson screened for study eligibility and inclusion. twenty-seven items comprise the tpf scale, divided into three subscales: initiative, self-regulation, and attachment. t-scores on the tpf scale indicate 60 or above as a strength, and below 40 indicates areas of need. an 11-item scale identifies areas of behavior concern (bc). a score above 60 indicates areas of need, and scores 59 and below are typical. psychometric properties of the tpf (α = .92) and the bc (α = .80) scales meet recommended standards for internal consistency (lebuffe & naglieri, 2012). the eyberg child behavior inventory (ecbi; eyberg & pincus, 1999) is a 36-item parent-report scale of conduct problem behaviors. items are rated on a 7-point scale from 1 (never) to 7 (always). summed scores create an intensity scale score, with 131 or above indicating significant behavior problems (eyberg & pincus, 1999). parents also indicated yes or no to identify if individual items are a problem. summed “yes” responses correspond to the problem scale. scores of 15 or higher indicate significant distress concerning their child's behavior. psychometric properties for both the intensity scale (α = .92 to .95) and problem scale (α = .86 to .94) show strong internal consistency (gross et al., 2007). the revised preschool anxiety scale (pasr; edwards et al., 2010) is a 28-item scale assessing parents’ perception of their child’s anxiety symptoms. the total pasr score was used in this study. parents rated their child on a 5-point likert scale from 0 (not at all true) to 4 (very often true). the maximum possible score of 112 indicates more severe symptoms of anxiety. psychometric properties for the total scale (α = .92) display good internal consistency (edwards et al., 2010). acceptability acceptability data (i.e., parents’ perceived usefulness and appropriateness of the intervention) was measured with the brief 8-item abbreviated acceptability rating profile (aarp; tarnowski & simonian, 1992). parents rated items on a 6-point likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). acceptability is considered moderate to high when total scores are 28 or higher (kazdin et al., 1981). the scale (α = .89 to .98) has been reported to have good internal consistency (tarnowski & simonian, 1992). procedures referred parents completed a screening questionnaire to determine eligibility for the study. parents were eligible to participate if tpf t-scores on the deca-p2 were at least one standard deviation below the mean (scores ≤ 40; lebuffe & naglieri, 2012). t-scores 40 or below indicate risk factors for children and their families on the deca-p2. exclusionary criteria included families where english was not the primary language spoken at home or parents who reported their child having intellectual disabilities or developmental disorders. researchers obtained informed consent from eligible families based on these criteria. participating families completed all surveys before the intervention and parent measures after completing the fifth module. all parent and child measures and the aarp were collected after completing tikol. weekly links were sent to parents who consented to complete the program, using anonymized identification numbers throughout the program. engagement data was collected through the same link throughout each week of the study. parent intervention in emotion socialization 21 tuning in to kids online (tikol) tikol (havighurst & harley, 2020) is an online parenting program developed to equip parents with ec strategies to support their parenting practices and learn to address their children’s emotions in the moment. tikol was adapted from the original emotion-focused tik program. tikol comprises ten video modules (see table 1) covering topics such as managing various emotions and situations (i.e., fears, sibling conflict). at the beginning of the modules, the developer discusses and defines ec, and subsequent modules provide role-played scenarios with examples of ec between a parent and child. each video module includes mini-lectures, testimonials from parents, and role-played scenarios with step-by-step instructions. guidelines for completing the intervention are flexible; however, we recommended that parents watch one video each week to complete the program in 10 weeks. each module provided downloadable fact sheets with additional resources. 22 williams and carlson analysis descriptive statistics were conducted for demographic variables, engagement, and acceptability data using spss 25. group-level parent outcomes were tested using one-way anovas, and child outcomes were examined using paired-samples t-tests. given this pilot study’s small sample size, reliability change index (rci) values were calculated individually for both parent and child outcomes and serve as a supplement to group analyses. the rci determines a meaningful clinical change in intervention research for values of 1.96 or higher (jacobson & truax, 1991). table 1 tuning in to kids online modules and levels of engagement module description m % watched (range) m time spent on module (in hours)b m engagement rating getting started introduction to tikol and its purpose 89% (15 – 100%) 1.3 4.5 raising emotionally intelligent children understanding emotional intelligence 96% (68 – 100%) 1.0 3.5 emotion coaching understanding how and when to coach a child 100%a 1.3 4.8 tuning in parents must acknowledge and reflect the child’s emotions 100%a 1.7 4.6 empathy empathy as the core of emotion coaching 97% (75 – 100%) 1.0 4.5 automatic reactions the importance of building in a pause 98% (87 – 100%) 2.0 4.8 fears a child’s fear comes from a lack of understanding 100%a 1.1 4.5 anger build in a pause and detect low vs. high-intensity anger 98% (85 – 100%) 1.0 4.5 sibling rivalry giving children the tools and confidence to resolve their problems 98% (48 – 100%) 1.3 4.0 final thoughts parents need to “recharge” and understand realistic times to emotion coach 98% (86 – 100%) 1.1 4.4 a all participants reported watching 100% of the module. b data were collected using qualtrics’ internal timer, which continued running when participants paused and returned to the module later. outliers above 5 hours were excluded from this analysis. parent intervention in emotion socialization 23 results engagement across all ten modules, parents reported watching on average 97% of the weekly videos (see table 1) and were “quite engaged,” with an average rating of 4.4 (sd = .2) on a 5-point scale. parents reported using “quite a few” skills and strategies with an average of 3.0 (sd = .5) on the 4-point scale. the average length of time to complete tikol was 11 weeks. according to qualtrics’ internal system, parents spent, on average, 1.3 hours watching each module. effectiveness parent outcomes. table 2 presents outcomes for parent-reported es changes. parent ec scores increased significantly, f(1.555,10.884) = 152.312, p < .001, indicating an improvement in parent ec scores. rci scores were calculated for each parent. rci values ranged from 2.43 to 4.38, indicating clinically meaningful improvements (i.e., rci scores greater than 1.96 indicate the difference is reliable and not likely due to the unreliability of the measure; jacobson & truax, 1991) for all parents. parent ed scores varied from preto post-test. contrary to expectations, there was a 4.1-point increase, instead of a decrease, from midto post-test, f (1.073,7.513) = 3.338, p = .106. rci scores ranged from 0.22 to 4.89, with only one parent meeting the rci threshold for clinically meaningful improvement. four of the eight parents demonstrated meaningful changes in ed scores opposite expectations. parent-reported parenting practices are displayed in table 2. parent-reported dr scores decreased significantly, f(1.354,9.481) = 12.566, p = .004, indicating a high level of improvement in parent dr scores. rci values ranged from 0.17 to 4.04, with three rci values meeting the threshold for clinically meaningful changes. parent-reported pr scores on the ccnes did not significantly decrease from preto post-test, f(1.289,9.024) = 3.474, p = .089. individual rci values ranged from 0 to 4.69, with only two parents meeting the rci threshold for making clinically significant changes. ee scores from the ccnes significantly increased from preto post-test, f(1.196, 8.371) = 4.979, p = .05. rci values ranged from 0 to 4.02, with two parents meeting the threshold for clinically meaningful change. parent-reported mr scores from the ccnes produced a marginal decrease, f(1.473,10.311) = 3.618, p = .074; however, these findings were not statistically significant. rci values across all parents ranged from 0.15 to 4.15, with only one parent meeting the rci threshold for clinically meaningful change parent intervention in emotion socialization 24 table 2 mean change differences for measures of parent emotion socialization outcomes measure/parent pre-test m (sd) mid-test m (sd) post-test m (sd) m change p rci ec parent 1 32 34 42 10 2.43 parent 2 53 52 64 11 2.68 parent 3 39 44 57 18 4.38 parent 4 49 53 64 15 3.65 parent 5 49 54 67 18 4.38 parent 6 39 47 56 17 4.14 parent 7 48 52 64 16 3.89 parent 8 39 43 54 15 3.65 mean 43.5 (7.2) 47.4 (6.8) 58.5 (8.1) +15 < .001 3.65 ed parent 1 24 16 25 1 0.22 parent 2 44 44 54 10 2.22† parent 3 45 28 23 -22 4.89 parent 4 33 34 43 10 2.22† parent 5 37 33 43 6 1.33 parent 6 32 32 41 9 2.00† parent 7 34 34 44 11 2.22† parent 8 36 38 44 8 1.78 mean 35.4 (7.3) 31.6 (8.4) 39.0 (11.0) +3.57 .015* 2.11 dr parent 1 2.83 3 2.75 -0.1 0.17 parent 2 2.67 2.25 1.58 -1.1 2.30 parent 3 2.92 1.91 1 -1.9 4.04 parent 4 2.17 1.58 1 -1.2 2.46 parent 5 1.75 1.75 1.5 -0.3 0.53 parent 6 3.58 2.75 2.92 -0.7 1.39 parent 7 2.67 2.42 1.92 -0.8 1.58 parent 8 3 3.17 3.17 0.2 0.42 mean 3.3 (.7) 3.1 (.4) 2.0 (.9) -1.3 .004 1.61 pr parent intervention in emotion socialization 25 parent 1 1.08 1.5 1.25 0.17 0.50 parent 2 1.5 1.58 1 -0.50 1.47 parent 3 2.67 1.42 1.08 -1.59 4.69 parent 4 1.75 1.33 1.25 -0.50 1.47 parent 5 1.25 1.25 1 -0.25 0.74 parent 6 2.17 1.67 1.42 -0.75 2.21 parent 7 1.75 1.5 1.75 0.00 0.00 parent 8 1.92 2 1.92 0.00 0.00 mean 1.8 (.5) 1.5 (.2) 1.3 (.3) -.5 .089 1.39 ee parent 1 7 6.73 7 0.00 0.00 parent 2 6.25 6.25 6.7 0.45 0.60 parent 3 3.83 5.08 6.83 3.00 4.02 parent 4 6 6.33 6.75 0.75 1.01 parent 5 6.5 6.42 6.75 0.25 0.34 parent 6 4.33 5.42 6 1.67 2.24 parent 7 6.27 6.08 6.75 0.48 0.64 parent 8 4.92 5.33 5 0.08 0.11 mean 5.7 (1.2) 6.0 (.6) 6.7 (.3) +1 .05 1.12 mr parent 1 1 1.08 1.5 0.50 0.92 parent 2 2.83 2 2.33 -0.50 0.92 parent 3 3.5 1.33 1.25 -2.25 4.15 parent 4 1.58 1.5 1.5 -0.08 0.15 parent 5 2 1.25 1.25 -0.75 1.38 parent 6 2 1.92 1.5 -0.50 0.92 parent 7 2.08 1.17 1.25 -0.83 1.53 parent 8 2.36 2.83 1.83 -0.53 0.98 mean 2.1 (.8) 1.5 (.4) 1.5 (.4) -0.6 .074 1.37 note. rci = reliable change index. reliable changes (> 1.96) are bolded. *statistically significant change between mid-test and post-test †reflects a reliable change in the opposite intended direction. parent intervention in emotion socialization 26 child outcomes. parent-reported bc from the deca-p2 are displayed in table 3. bc t-scores produced a statistically significant decrease, t(7) = 3.499, p = .01. rci values ranged from 1.11 to 4.90, with three parents meeting the threshold for clinically meaningful improvements following exposure to tikol. ecbi intensity and problem scale scores are also displayed in table 3. parent-reported intensity scale scores significantly decreased, t(7) = 2.991, p = .02. rci values range from 0.85 to 4.83, with seven parents meeting the threshold for clinically meaningful improvements. parent 1 reported clinically meaningful improvement in the opposite direction. problem scale scores decreased from preto post-test. a 5.1-point decrease indicated a statistically significant change, t(7) = 3.488, p = .01. rci values ranged from 0.88 to 5.26, with five parents meeting the threshold for clinically meaningful improvement. as highlighted in table 3, parent-reported anxiety symptoms did not produce statistically significant change, t(7) = .249, p = .810. rci values for individual parents range from 0.88 to 5.75, with three meeting the threshold for clinically meaningful change. two parents reported meaningful change in the opposite direction. table 3 mean change differences for measures of child behavior and anxiety outcomes measure/parent pre-test m (sd) post-test m (sd) m change p rci intensity scale parent 1 116 135 19 2.70† parent 2 96 79 -17 2.42 parent 3 139 106 -33 4.69 parent 4 147 113 -34 4.83 parent 5 98 65 -33 4.69 parent 6 106 85 -21 2.99 parent 7 113 107 -6 0.85 parent 8 142 111 -31 4.41 mean 116.4 (19.7) 98.6 (23.7) -17.8 .05 3.45 problem scale parent 1 0 2 2 0.88 parent 2 7 0 -7 3.07 parent 3 16 11 -5 2.19 parent 4 14 6 -8 3.51 parent 5 12 0 -12 5.26 parent 6 6 2 -4 1.75 parent 7 9 4 -5 2.19 parent 8 6 4 -2 0.88 mean 8.8 (5.1) 3.6 (3.6) -5.1 .01 2.47 behavior concerns parent 1 58 65 7.0 1.11 parent 2 69 38 -31.0 4.90 parent intervention in emotion socialization 27 parent 3 66 50 -16.0 2.53 parent 4 64 52 -12.0 1.90 parent 5 50 38 -12.0 1.90 parent 6 63 52 -11.0 1.74 parent 7 48 33 -15.0 2.37 parent 8 66 54 -12 1.90 mean 60.5 (7.8) 47.8 (10.6) -12.8 0.01 2.29 total anxiety parent 1 43 56 13 2.88† parent 2 35 9 -26 5.75 parent 3 23 11 -12 2.65 parent 4 37 41 4 0.88 parent 5 10 15 5 1.11 parent 6 32 19 -13 2.88 parent 7 15 20 5 1.11 parent 8 28 42 14 3.10 mean 27.9 (11.3) 26.6 (17.3) -1.3 .810 2.54 note. rci = reliable change index. reliable changes (> 1.96) are bolded. †reflects a reliable change in the opposite intended direction. acceptability aarp scores (see table 4) ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). average aarp scores across eight items were 4.8 to 5.9. the average aarp score for the question “overall, the treatment would help the child” was 5.6 (sd = .5). the average overall total was 43.8 (sd = 3.5), indicating high acceptability of the program. total aarp scores ranged from 38 to 48, indicating moderate to high acceptability ratings from all eight parents (kazdin et al., 1981). table 4 parent-reported acceptability of tikol treatment item m sd this is an acceptable treatment for the child’s behavior. 5.8 0.5 the treatment should be effective in changing the child’s behavior. 4.9 1.4 the child’s behavior is severe enough to justify the use of this treatment. 4.8 1.8 i would be willing to use this treatment with my child. 5.9 0.4 this treatment would not have bad side effects for the child. 5.6 0.5 i liked this treatment. 5.6 0.5 the treatment was a good way to handle the child’s problem. 5.6 0.5 overall, the treatment would help the child. 5.6 0.5 note. ratings on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree) discussion this pilot intervention study aimed to examine (1) parented-reported engagement, (2) the effectiveness of parenting beliefs and practices, (3) the impact of child internalizing and 28 williams and carlson externalizing outcomes, and (4) the acceptability of a self-guided emotion-focused parenting intervention. the results highlight the potential for tikol to positively impact parenting practices and outcomes for children. the findings of this study support existing data suggesting that online parenting programs can effectively improve parenting practices and outcomes for children (dupaul et al., 2018; ingels et al., 2022). within the current covid-19 pandemic, this is an essential finding for parents seeking support but who lack access to services. the online nature of the intervention can be helpful for childcare centers to integrate into their existing parent education programs. given the self-guided nature of the intervention, it was crucial to gauge the engagement of parents in completing the modules over time. the data suggests that parents find the material and delivery format highly engaging. this finding parallels past research on self-guided parenting programs (day & sanders, 2018); however, research indicates that minimal support may provide additional engagement and benefit from these interventions. these data are essential for a self-guided program with limited peer interaction or engagement with a trained facilitator. these programs can benefit early childhood centers seeking to provide information to parents without exhausting resources (e.g., teachers’ time; ingels et al., 2022). high reports of watching the weekly videos on average in this tikol study parallel tik literature (havighurst et al., 2019; wilson et al., 2014, 2016). most parenting program research examines the impact of group-based service delivery (barlow et al., 2016; barlow & parsons, 2003; olofsson et al., 2016; ruma et al., 1996; wymbs et al., 2016). however, recent research suggests that adapting parenting programs to an online, self-guided format can be just as effective and engaging for parents who do not have access to inperson resources (spencer et al., 2020). this is particularly important during the covid-19 pandemic, which limits parents’ access to in-person services (bhat, 2021). parents also found tikol to be highly acceptable. these data support further research on tikol as an alternative to tik in addressing parental es beliefs and child bc (havighurst et al., 2004). the increase in ec beliefs in this pilot study suggests tikol’s ability to provide psychoeducation on the importance of employing an ec framework for parenting. while modules three through five focus on specific domains of emotionally supporting children (see table 1), each subsequent module puts the skill into practice with specific situations parents may encounter with their children (i.e., problem-solving fear or sibling conflict). while the findings are consistent with expectations regarding ec beliefs (aghaie meybodi et al., 2019; havighurst et al., 2009, 2010; wilson et al., 2012, 2014), parents in the present study unexpectedly reported increased ed beliefs over time. these findings differ from previous tik research showing reduced parent-reported emotion dismissing beliefs (havighurst et al., 2013, 2015). these findings raise questions about the need for an additional module dedicated to ed beliefs and practices to see the same impacts found in the tik literature. alternatively, future tikol investigations may uncover the necessity of additional sessions to allow parents to better understand ed practices and the negative impact these practices can have on young children’s er development. one plausible explanation for the unexpected increase in ed beliefs is the lack of direct support for parents to ask questions or practice skills in a group or with a trained facilitator. results from group-based tik have successfully demonstrated reductions in parents’ ed beliefs (havighurst et al., 2009, 2010). however, the broader literature suggests that parents may view dismissing children’s emotions as protective in removing negative experiences from their child (gottman et parent intervention in emotion socialization 29 al., 1997; lunkenheimer et al., 2007). without the opportunity to speak directly with other parents and a trained facilitator through role-play, the importance of challenging ed practices may be lost in the online modules. this presents a potential opportunity to integrate weekly support for parents to discuss the material covered in each module (day & sanders, 2018). consistent with other tik literature, the current study measured changes in parental es with the same tool (ccnes; fabes et al., 1990; havighurst et al., 2004; havighurst et al., 2019). parents’ self-reported dr significantly decreased, indicating exposure to tikol may benefit parents who experience high-stress levels when addressing their children’s negative emotions. these findings also align with outcomes in pcit-eco interventions (eyberg et al., 2008) in improving parenting practices. havighurst and colleagues (2019) found significant changes in ee, mr, and pr between baseline measures and a 6-month follow-up using the ccnes; however, these differ from the outcomes of the current pilot study. these conflicting findings across individual and group analytic approaches support the need to further examine the effectiveness of tikol within a larger sample of parents. changes in parent-reported child behavior are analogous to reductions in child conduct problems reported in previous tik studies (aghaie meybodi et al., 2019; duncombe et al., 2016; havighurst et al., 2004). these findings suggest that tikol strategies can create positive shifts in how parents perceive their child’s behavioral challenges. findings were consistent with previous research demonstrating that children with high problem intensity demonstrated the most significant improvements following tik (havighurst et al., 2004). changes in anxiety symptoms were minimal for all parents. the average total score decreased slightly; however, only three parents reported perceived decreases in their child’s anxiety. prior studies on the impact of tik found that 69% of children demonstrated reduced anxiety symptoms at treatment completion (edrissi et al., 2019). a prior examination of changes in anxiety was conducted in a sample of children with clinical anxiety levels. these preliminary findings suggest that online parenting programs are uniquely positioned to impact child outcomes as well indirectly. children with conduct behavior problems and anxiety are at risk for adverse outcomes later in life (brown et al., 2012; comer et al., 2010; spencer et al., 2020). these indirect changes from parenting programs support the literature that changes in parental practices and beliefs directly benefit children’s developmental outcomes (chan et al., 2009). limitations and future directions while the results of this pilot study provide insights into the impact of tikol within a previously unstudied population, clear limitations must be considered in interpreting the results. first, participants in the small sample were self-selected for the study during a global pandemic, representing a highly motivated, homogenous group hoping to see improvements in their children’s behaviors. this small sample limited the ability to test for statistical changes that could be generalized to a larger population. additionally, these eight parents represented a more educated group than national head start families, with 100% of parents receiving some college education or more compared to 31% of head start parents pursuing some college or above (usdhhs, 2020). future investigations of tikol should attempt to replicate the findings in a larger sample to better account for statistical significance. 30 williams and carlson another limitation was the covid-19-related challenges limiting efforts to recruit a more heterogeneous sample. many parents indicated that participating in a 10-week program was not feasible at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. future research should seek a larger and more diverse sample, providing the opportunity to examine potential differences in child or parent characteristics, such as age, gender, race, and relationship to the child. second, the study employed a pre-post design and, as a result, did not control for other threats to the internal validity, such as time. it is also important to note the effect of testing, where completing multiple questionnaires about social-emotional competence and es practices can increase perceived sensitivity to the intended effects of the intervention. future studies would benefit from a more robust methodology, such as a waitlist control trial or a randomized control trial comparing tikol to a non-treatment group. a randomized control trial comparing tikol to tik would also provide vital information to investigate if the online program is as effective as its facilitated counterpart. third, outcomes from this pilot study were gathered from parents’ self-report. this source of data is susceptible to social desirability and expectancy bias. reports collected from more than one caregiver or a classroom/daycare teacher would be optimal to examine if child outcomes differ across settings. future research may consider direct observations of parents practicing skills. direct observations with blind coders can provide a more reliable measure of parents’ use of the skills (havighurst et al., 2010). additionally, it is crucial to recognize that the self-guided nature of the program may present challenges when considering passive viewing of each module. to this end, it may be beneficial to examine how providing supplemental clinical support from a certified facilitator can enhance parents’ experiences with the program. conclusion results of this study contribute to the growing literature on parenting programs highlighting es strategies as a pathway to improve parent-child bonds and children’s emotional competence. 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(2016). examining parents’ preferences for group and individual parent training for children with adhd symptoms. journal of clinical child & adolescent psychology, 45(5), 614–631. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2015.1004678 dialog, 22(2), copyright © 2019, issn: 1930-9325 teacher talk during children’s play in head start preschools: differences in quantity, differences in quality judy hicks paulick university of virginia teacher-child interactions in preschool classrooms have been studied extensively (e.g. mashburn, pianta, & hamre, et al., 2008), but the nuances of these interactions during particularly dynamic times of the preschool day are less well-examined. the current study focuses specifically on teacher-child interactions during free choice time (fct). teachers in the two higher-scoring classrooms (on the class instrument) in the study provided more exposure to talk, more sophisticated talk, longer interactions, more discussions, and fewer directives than teachers in the two lower-scoring classrooms. given the current lack of training in teacher preparation regarding how to talk with children and how to effectively facilitate fct, this study has implications for teacher preparation and professional development. this study also contributes to a research base indicating that well-facilitated playtime in preschools can support children's learning—in this case, language development— in developmentally appropriate ways. keywords: play, vocabulary development, teacher development, free choice time preschool can help prepare children from economically disadvantaged families for the academic, emotional, and social challenges of schooling (e.g. auger, farkas, & burchinal, et al., 2014; bania, kay, & aos, et al., 2014). the quality of children’s experiences matter, not simply the fact of attending preschool. children’s interactions with teachers matter especially (e.g. mashburn, pianta, & hamre, et al., 2008; weisberg, hirsh-pasek, & golinkoff, et al., 2015). however, there are few studies that look at what those interactions comprise of during times of the day that are particularly dynamic and complex, such as free choice time (fct), even though fct may constitute 20% or more of the preschool day. while the class instrument (pianta, la paro, & hamre, 2008) provides more general information about the quality of interactions with children, it does not focus in particular on those interactions during fct (paulick, 2019). the current study offers mixed-methods validity for the class, providing additional indications of classroom quality during fct that cannot be measured by an instrument that does not capture talk. in order research article teacher talk during children’s play 23 to train and support preschool teachers to engage in rich, meaningful interactions with children during this potentially important portion of the preschool day, the need to understand the current range of teacher language practice and its likely association with important child outcomes is vital. this is the focus of the study reported here. conceptual framework play in the preschool day what american preschool looks like—the physical space, the curriculum, the goals—varies widely (e.g. stipek, feiler, & daniels et al., 1995). even head start, the federally funded preschool program that serves close to a million preschoolers nationwide (us department of health and human services, 2015), has aspects that look different from site to site. one element of head start that is consistent, however, is a time in the day intended for fct, when children have the opportunity to choose activities and playmates without the teachers imposing a particular learning goal or agenda. given the necessary constraints of the head start day (e.g. meal time, nap time, and circle time), this is the portion of the day that is most likely to promote and include play. play is important for the cognitive, social, and emotional development of preschool-aged children (e.g. barnett, 1990; piaget, 1962; van hoorn, nourot, scales, & alward, 2014; vygotsky, 1978). it follows that a preschool curriculum rooted in play has the potential to be powerful for children. playful learning is a balanced, developmentally-appropriate approach to preschool (hirsh-pasek, golinkoff, berk, & singer, 2009). it is an approach that is rooted in play, consistent with the head start mission, and comprised of two components: a) playful content lessons; and b) child-directed playtime (fct) (see figure 1). playful content lessons are somewhat teacherdirected and goal oriented; fct is child-directed and not goal oriented. both playful content lessons and fct are part of the day in a playful learning classroom. fct is the component of playful learning that includes authentic play (isenberg & quisenberry, 1988; levy, 1978; lillemyr, 2009; piaget, 1962), since fct is choice-based, motivating, child-directed, and largely openended. figure 1. contextualizing child-directed playtime, adapted from pyle & daniels (2017) teacher talk and fct during fct, children choose from a wide array of purposefully provided indoor play activities (including materials for dramatic play, art, block-building, reading, etc.), and teachers are gentle guiders of that play (vygotsky, 1978). as an important part of that gentle guidance, teachers playful learning playful content lessons child-directed playtime figure 1. components of playful learning map on to the continuum of play in the preschool curriculum adult-directed play free playadult-guided play gently adult-guided play 24 paulick engage in discussions with individual children or small groups. those discussions, whether they are part of pretend play or they are based in reality, have the potential to develop children’s language (dickinson & tabors, 2002), so discussions are part of the backbone of well-facilitated fct. the language of play is relevant to children’s lives (dickinson & tabors, 2001; lightbown & spada, 1999), and is therefore more likely to be built upon and retained than teacher-directed talk. clark’s (2003) research supports the notion that using rare or novel words in a situation where the child and the adult share a joint locus of attention can develop children’s oral vocabulary. fct is an ideal forum for the joint locus of attention, since children are engaged in activities they have chosen. while some head start programs offer bilingual instruction, most programs provide english immersion. for young dual language learners, who make up nearly a third of head start students nationwide (us department of health and human services, 2015), fct provides unique opportunities for language development that include the following: being able to listen and observe language (tabors, 2008) while still engaging in robust play with peers, engaging in one-on-one conversations with adults who can provide some home language support (espinosa, 2010; author, 2013), and having the time and space to practice language in a low-stress environment (garcia & jensen, 2007). fct as part of the preschool day is a rare opportunity for teachers to engage in childinitiated, relevant, and developmentally appropriate conversations with individual children, the kinds of conversations that support language development. for example, for a four-year-old who is passionate about rabbits, fct is a time to build a hutch out of blocks, engage in dramatic play as a rabbit, draw and label rabbits, or a host of other child-directed activities. when a teacher engages the child in a discussion about that passion, the child is motivated to learn words like soft, busy, and sleepy, or even words like hutch, predator, and mammal, because those words are directly relevant to the child’s chosen play activity and passion. oral language development in preschool oral language development during preschool is related to language outcomes in elementary school (nichd eccrn, 2016; storch & whitehurst, 2002), and children from lower-income families tend to enter school with lower scores on language assessments (national center for educational statistics, 2009). furthermore, early language is associated with later reading outcomes (dickinson, mccabe, anastasopoulos, peisner-feinberg, & poe, 2003; vellutino, tunmer, jaccard, & chen, 2007), and preschool develops language. this is true for native english speakers and dual language learners alike. it follows that the quality of teacher-child interactions in preschools predicts children’s development in a variety of areas (nichd eccrn, 2016), and what teachers do to support concept development and language during preschool may be of great consequence (dickinson, golinkoff, & hirsh-pasek, 2010). language support in preschool, both for native speakers and for dual language learners, can happen in a variety of ways; language development ideally is present in various forms throughout a playful learning day. there is some evidence supporting structured, teacher-directed time for language development during the preschool day (saunders, foorman, & carlson, 2006). there is also evidence that playful content lessons can support vocabulary learning (han, moore, vukelich, & buell, 2010). heretofore, little research has explored the range (or effects) of language and vocabulary modeling during fct, in particular. the current study looks at the quantity and teacher talk during children’s play 25 quality of talk used in classrooms during fct. by examining two ends of a continuum of current teacher practice, the researchers can better inform teacher preparation and future teacher practice. examining talk more generally and during fct much of the work on teacher talk in preschool classrooms has focused on book reading, although a small body of studies has looked at other times of the day. in one of those studies, dickinson, barnes, hofer, and grifenhagen (2014) examined how teacher talk across three slightly different teacher-directed early childhood classroom experiences (book reading, small group instruction, and whole class content instruction) included academic language support. the children in that study were predominantly native english speakers. the researchers concluded that teachers in the lowest quartile of their study were not likely to be providing children with the kinds of language that would support the children’s language development. even the teachers in the higher end of the continuum in that study were speaking to children using the productive vocabulary of an average 7-year-old. in other words, teacher talk in preschool classrooms generally is an aspect of teaching that requires support (dickinson & tabors, 2001). two studies of teacher talk included fct in particular. gest, holland-coviello, welsh, et al. (2006) observed fct, mealtime, and book reading one time in each of twenty head start classrooms, capturing approximately ten minutes of teacher talk during fct in each classroom. they found that there were distinctive patterns of talk across the three contexts, such that fct was associated with the most pretend talk by teachers, mealtime was associated with more decontextualized talk, and book reading was associated with overall richness of talk. they did not, however, examine the length of interactions between teachers and children. dickinson, darrow, and tinubu (2008) conducted a small study of teacher language also during fct, focusing in particular on block-building and dramatic play. they studied two teachers in each of two head start classrooms, analyzing a total of 30-35 minutes of talk per teacher to determine (a) how often the teachers were using language development strategies, (b) if what the children were engaged in (blocks versus dramatic play) mattered, and (c) what the variability in language use was among teachers. they found that teachers’ language support was limited in general but more robust during block building than dramatic play, there was some variability across teachers, and there was the need for more research on times in the head start day like fct that are more child-directed. the current study builds on all of the studies above, providing additional evidence regarding variability of the amount, sophistication, and intent of teacher talk as a function of class scores. unlike previous studies, the current study included the analysis of much longer stretches of teacher talk, multiple observations of the same teachers, and included the spectrum of fct activities, examining the content of the interactions across fct. the researcher asked: in classrooms with fct that scored higher or lower on the class, how does the talk that children are being exposed to differ in terms of amount, sophistication, and type? method two types of analysis were conducted for this study. first, the researcher conducted a quantitative analysis of the amount and sophistication of the words that the teachers used when talking to or 26 paulick with children during fct. next, the researcher coded and conducted a qualitative examination of transcripts of the teacher talk to identify the type of talk teachers were using with children during fct. sample teachers and preschool children in four head start classrooms in one large county in california participated in this study. all of the lead teachers in the study were women who had bachelor’s degrees and who had been teaching preschool for at least five years. each of the four classrooms had seventeen children enrolled, and all of the children were english learners. there were no statistically significant differences across the four classrooms in terms of the children’s average language skills as measured by the oral language assessment inventory (gentile, 2003), gender balance, attendance, or behavioral issues (as reported by the teachers). the classroom set-ups and materials were also quite similar, and all of the classrooms were administered by the same central office. the administration personnel described their approach to preschool as playful learning, including both playful content lessons and fct. the four focal classrooms were the two highest and two lowest scoring classrooms on “instructional support” dimension of the district-administered class (pianta, laparo, & hamre, 2008) within a larger sample of 16 classrooms that had been chosen by a district administrator to represent a range of teaching quality. instructional support includes concept development, quality of feedback, and language modeling. those dimensions of teaching mapped closely onto the opportunities for language development of interest in this study. in each of the four—two highscoring and two low-scoring—focal classrooms, audio recordings of the teacher talk during six full blocks (averaging 35 minutes apiece) of fct were collected from september to december, with an average of ten days between visits. the teacher talk was transcribed, and a research assistant confirmed the accuracy of the transcriptions. table 1 minutes of fct observations for six visits per classroom classroom district class instructional support score m sd total minutes 501 2 29.6 1 178 902 2.3 34.3 4.9 242 601 6 40.3 7.9 192 901 7 32 8.6 206 analysis first, using the method from the dickinson (2014) study described above, a “words per minute” score was calculated in order to understand the range of the sheer amount of language to which children were being exposed. this involved counting each word spoken by each teacher to children during fct and dividing it by the number of minutes spent in fct. second, the quality of the teacher talk was measured. the overwhelming majority of research that has been conducted on word frequencies is focused on text-based language rather teacher talk during children’s play 27 than oral language (e.g. chall & dale, 1995; hiebert, 2005; zeno, ivens, & millard et al., 1995). this gap is filled by a study from 1982 by moe, hopkins, and rush, who catalogued the most commonly used words in children’s spontaneous oral language and the frequencies of those words. those researchers collected oral language data on 329 first grade children and found that a mere 309 words account for approximately 80% of the children’s spontaneous oral language. the mostused words were you, the, what, to, it, is, a, do, this, and and. the list also included nouns such as mother, baby, brother, sister, cat, grandma, and book; pronouns like i, we, and they; adjectives such as kind, favorite, and funny; and verbs like know, play, want, and try. as has been done in prior research (roessingh, 2008; storkel & hoover, 2010), moe and colleagues’ list was used to quantify “sophisticated” vocabulary. in each transcript, those 309 words were removed, as were proper nouns (overwhelmingly comprised of children’s & adults’ names), exclamations like “oh!” and “wow!”, and non-word utterances such as “mmm-hmm”. each word that remained—each token—was counted as a “rare word”. the rare words were divided by the total number of minutes for the observations for each teacher. the result was a “rare words per minute” score for each teacher. for both the words per minute and the rare words per minute scores, ancova analyses accounted for covariance within teachers and compared the lower-scoring and higher-scoring classrooms. for the qualitative portion of the analysis, each transcript was organized into utterances, with each utterance roughly corresponding to one sentence (see appendix for examples) and each sentence accounting for one line of teacher talk. in the online qualitative research platform dedoose (2014), each teacher’s transcript was divided into interactions. an interaction was defined as a teacher engaged with a child or a small group of children with a joint locus of attention. when the locus of attention shifted, a new interaction began. the researcher found no precedent in research for categorizing interactions by length, consequently, length was determined after examining the dataset, and is defined here. an interaction was brief when a teacher answered a quick question, gave a direction, or attempted unsuccessfully to engage a child. a “brief” interaction was defined as one to three lines of teacher talk. child talk may or may not have been interspersed in the teacher talk. medium-length interactions were longer than these brief interactions but were not extensive. interactions with four to eight lines of teacher talk were coded as “medium.” these interactions were often a teacher explaining or describing something to the child, although they were sometimes rich yet brief discussions. interactions coded as “sustained” were more than eight lines of teacher talk. if conversations lasted for more than twenty lines of teacher talk, the interactions were divided into multiple twenty-line interactions. this allowed for a more equitable interaction count across classrooms. every attempt was made to break conversations at natural breaking points, such as when the topic shifted in the conversation. the unit of analysis for the coding was the interaction. each interaction was also coded as a type: “direct,” “inform,” “question,” (gest et al., 2006) and/or “discuss.” each utterance was one line of the transcript. if the preponderance of the interaction was just one of those codes, the interaction was coded as just one type. often, the interactions included more than one type and were coded accordingly. appendix b defines and illustrates each of those interaction types. a research assistant was trained and coded 20% of the interactions (selected by a random number generator). reliability was calculated by comparing the research assistant’s codes for “type” with those of the researcher (cohen’s kappa > 0.85). the transcripts are reported, to the extent possible, exactly as spoken. there are no corrections in grammar, usage, or syntax. for example, the following interaction was coded as 28 paulick discuss, question, and sustained. the teacher sat down next to a 4 year-old native vietnamesespeaking boy who was counting money in the toy cash register. after a moment, the child spoke to her: child: when my daddy go somewhere, my daddy save money. teacher: oh, yeah? your daddy’s saving money. c: uh huh! t: of course. daddy’s working to save money. right? c: yeah. t: what is your dad? is he a mechanic? what is your dad working? you know? in the office? c: i dunno. t: oh. so can you ask daddy what is his work? and tell us about it? tell us about it tomorrow? c: (nods vigorously) yeah. t: can you ask daddy what is his work? c: uh huh. t: he might be one – see, he might be one of the community workers, donny. c: oh! while the teacher in this interaction was not eliciting a lot of language from the child, she was engaging in a meaningful conversation with him relevant to the task that the child chose and to the child’s life. she was providing a model of talk and some relatively sophisticated vocabulary. a total of 210 lead teacher interactions were coded in each of the four classrooms. two hundred ten was the number of interactions in the classroom with the fewest interactions (which was a teacher in a lower-scoring classroom). all teacher’s interactions were coded. then, the researcher systematically sampled the other teachers’ interactions. this allowed for the inclusion of interactions from a range of earlier and later observations. the total of 420 interactions in the two higher playful learning classrooms were across 283 minutes (an average of .67 interactions per minute); the 420 interactions in the lower playful learning classrooms were across 298 minutes (an average of .71 interactions per minute). this was not by design, but it meant that the “interactions per minute” calculation was nearly the same regardless of the class score of the classroom. the interactions themselves, however, proved to be different across types of classroom. teacher talk during children’s play 29 results both the quantitative and the qualitative aspects of teacher language were found to be different between the classrooms that scored higher and lower on the class. the quantitative differences were marginally statistically significant, which is promising given the small sample size. first, the researcher looked at the total words and rare words spoken in visits to the higher and lower-scoring classrooms. in the higher-scoring classrooms, the number of words spoken across the 12 observations was considerably higher than in the lower-scoring classrooms (see table 2). across approximately the same number of minutes, there were 54.1% more words total in the higher-scoring classrooms and 55% more rare words total in the higher-scoring classrooms. table 2 words spoken by teacher total minutes total words total rare words visits to lower-scoring classrooms (n=12) 420 21,391 4,826 visits to higher-scoring classrooms (n=12) 398 32,878 7,355 next, the researcher looked at the average words per minute and the average rare words per minute during visits to the lower and higher-scoring classrooms. the 12 visits to the classrooms with the lower class scores had an average words per minute (wpm) score of 50.93 (sd = 11.39); the 12 visits in the classrooms with the higher class scores had an average words per minute (wpm) score of 82.62 (sd = 19.01). a one-way ancova test revealed that the effect of class score was approaching significance f(1, 3) = 7.09, p < .08 when controlling for classroom differences within each of the two class conditions (see table 3). similarly, the 12 visits in the classrooms with the lower class scores had an average rare words per minute (rwpm) score of 11.49 (sd = 2.73); the 12 visits in the classrooms with the higher class scores had an average rare words per minute (rwpm) score of 18.48 (sd = 3.53). again, the effect of class score was approaching significance f(1, 3) = 6.89, p < .08 when controlling for classroom differences within each of the two class conditions. table 3 descriptive statistics for words spoken by teachers words per minute rare words per minute n m sd n m sd visits to lower-scoring classrooms (n=12) 12 50.93 11.39 6 11.49 2.73 visits to higher-scoring classrooms (n=12) 12 82.62 19.01 6 18.48 3.53 then, the length of interactions between teachers and students during fct was investigated(see table 4). in higher-scoring classrooms, there were more than twice as many sustained interactions as there were in the lower-scoring classrooms. conversely, teachers and children in lower-scoring classrooms engaged in more than twice as many brief interactions as they did in the higher-scoring classrooms. while the total time accounted for was nearly the same (just 5% —or 15 minutes—less in the higher-scoring classrooms), the fact that 212 of the interactions in the higher-scoring 30 paulick classrooms were sustained and just 101 of the interactions in the lower-scoring classrooms were sustained indicates that the teachers spent more of the total time talking in the higher playful learning classrooms. this is not surprising, given the finding that there were more words spoken in the higher-scoring classrooms. it is potentially problematic, however, if exposure to talk is related to outcomes for children’s language development. table 4 interaction length by classroom quality brief medium sustained lower-scoring classrooms 165 154 101 higher-scoring classrooms 80 128 212 finally, the researchers looked at the type of interaction (see figure 2). there were more than three times as many teacher-child interactions that included discussions in the higher-scoring classrooms than in the lower-scoring classrooms, and teacher talk in the lower-scoring classrooms included nearly twice as many directives. interactions with close-ended questions and those with information were approximately the same in the higher and lower-scoring classrooms. figure 2. numbers of interactions across classroom quality interactions were frequently coded as multiple types, and table 4 shows the co-occurrence of the different interaction types. while fewer than 10% of the interactions that included discussion also involved direction, 46% of the interactions that included discussions also included closeended questions. additionally, interactions with close-ended questions also included information about 24% of the time. 0 50 100 150 200 direct question inform discuss higher-scoring classrooms lower-scoring classrooms teacher talk during children’s play 31 table 5 co-occurrence of the codes for type of talk interaction direct question inform discuss direct 270 64 62 24 question -374 88 117 inform --253 45 discuss ---254 to summarize, the teacher language in the higher-scoring classrooms trended toward being more robust and sophisticated than in the lower-scoring classrooms. analyses demonstrated at the word level there was a trend toward more talk (as measured by words per fct minute and by total number of words) by the lead teachers in higher-scoring classrooms than by the lead teachers in lower-scoring classrooms. the talk was more sophisticated (as measured by rare words per fct minute) by the lead teachers in higher-scoring classrooms than by the lead teachers in lower-scoring classrooms. at the interaction level, while the number of interactions per minute was approximately the same in higher and lower-scoring classrooms, there were twice as many sustained interactions and half as many brief interactions in the higher-scoring classrooms. furthermore, there were more than three times as many interactions with discussions in the higher versus the lower-scoring classrooms, and just shy of half as many interactions with directives. numbers of interactions with close-ended questions and information were approximately equal across the two types of classrooms. although many interactions included both close-ended questions and discussion, interactions that included both directives and discussion were rare. discussion by drilling down on the teacher talk in classrooms that enact fct in ways that are generally of higher and lower quality, considerable and specific differences across teachers were found. in the highest-scoring classrooms in this study, the teachers were talking more, including more sophisticated words, than in the lower-scoring classrooms. likewise, in the highest scoring classrooms, considerably more of the interactions with children were sustained and could be classified as discussions. on the other hand, in the generally lower-scoring classrooms in the study, many more of the interactions were brief and directive. children in the higher-scoring classrooms on the class were getting more modeling of talk and more exposure to sophisticated vocabulary. children in the generally higher-scoring classrooms were also being engaged in more discussions and being directed less often than children in lower-scoring classrooms. notwithstanding that direction is valuable and necessary in a preschool setting, it is reasonable to infer from these data that a dominant focus on teacher direction during fct may detract from authentic play experiences and preempt time and space for discussion. there is reason to believe that individualized interactions, like those inherent in fct interactions that were sustained and included discussions, may support language development (gerde & powell, 2009) whereas brief, directive interactions may not. research has demonstrated that language models, exposure to vocabulary, and engagement in sustained verbal interactions and discussions are all key to developing children’s oral language 32 paulick (clark, 2003; tabors, 2008). while this study did not measure if or how the children in these classrooms benefited from the talk in their classrooms, it provides evidence that children in generally higher quality head start classrooms received exposure during fct to more challenging and variable talk than children in lower quality head start classrooms. implications given the potentially valuable benefits of fct, it is important both that what constitutes strong teacher practice is understood and that the current range of practice is examined. an understanding of what teachers are doing and a sense of what is ideal provides vital information to support the development of pre-service and in-service preschool teachers, preschool programs, curricula, and policy. while the current study was modest in scope, the results of this analysis of teacher talk point to the possibility that teachers are more substantively engaged with children during fct in the higher quality classrooms than in the lower quality classrooms. furthermore, this study examined additional indications of classroom quality—the quantity and quality of teacher talk during fct—providing additional detail regarding the more general constructs that the class instrument measures. of particular concern is research indicating that children from low-ses families are likely to have less robust vocabularies than their more advantaged peers (carlo, august, mclaughlin, et al., 2004; white, graves, & slater, 1990), and children who do not develop strong oral language skills during the preschool years fall behind their peers with regard to literacy development, even before entering kindergarten (biemiller, 2006; snow, burns, & griffin, 1998). given that research and the current findings, it is vital that children have exposure to strong models of oral language early and that they have opportunities to develop their own oral language. in other words, all head start teachers should have access to training in how to support oral language development across the preschool day, including learning how to engage children in discussions and how to model relevant, interesting vocabulary use for children. thus, this work has implications for preschool teacher preparation and professional development and for future research. facilitating fct—providing gentle, child-specific guidance—in a way that preserves play’s child-directed, child-initiated essence is no easy task; many teachers need support with the skill of child-centered conversation. in highlighting the differences in the amount and sophistication of teacher language during fct, this study furthers the conversation around what ideal teacher talk might sound like during fct. head start’s reporting of national class pre-k scores indicates that instructional support is an area for growth (us department of health and human services, 2017). the average score for instructional support is 2.83 out of 7, while emotional support is a 6 and classroom organization is a 5.73. the lower-scoring focal teachers in this study scored a 2 and a 2.3 on instructional support, and there is evidence that there is room for growth in their language and talk with children. future research should explore teachers’ experiences, training, and support regarding how to engage most effectively with children during fct. in both the lower-scoring and the higherscoring classrooms, there was substantial evidence that the teachers cared for their students and cared about their own work as professionals. professionals require training; both fct and language support appear to be areas where teachers are less prepared. teacher talk during children’s play 33 differences in teaching practice may be a result of many things—different training, beliefs, priorities, interpretations, knowledge and skills. the differences may be conscious or unconscious, and they may be trainable or not. there is some evidence that head start teachers can be trained to support children’s language and literacy development (wasik, bond, & hindman, 2006). a first step in this case may be to create spaces for teachers to share their practice with one another. this can happen during professional development sessions, peer observations, or venues for peer dialogue. while some teachers may require talk, language, and discourse training, other teachers are already talking to and with children in supportive and appropriate ways. in situations where there is a range of practice, targeted professional development and tapping the expertise of teachers who already engage in these practices are useful strategies. there are opportunities for teacher support in preservice training, as well. some of the focus of early childhood teacher preparation and teaching should be on developing children’s language—including vocabulary—across the preschool day. training in learning about children’s and children’s families’ lives and interests may also support teachers’ engagement in relevant, vocabulary-building discussions with children. limitations and future directions this study was limited in scale, so additional work to validate the findings is recommended. in addition, while recent work in education and linguistics has utilized the moe, hopkins, and rush (1982) study as the basis for analysis of language frequencies (roessingh, 2008; storkel & hoover, 2010), coding anything not on this list as “rare” is an imperfect proxy for sophistication. future research needs to begin updating this list and extending it to include the language of teachers. moreover, additional research during fct on teachers’ modeling of language features beyond vocabulary—things like discourse styles, syntax, and semantics—would supplement this work in important ways. additionally, this study did not measure child outcomes as a result of the range of teacher practice. left unanswered is whether these particular differences in teaching practice actually make a difference for children’s language outcomes. further research is necessary to determine how child outcomes can be measured, and serious thought needs to be put into what—and at what point—the researchers choose to measure those outcomes. despite the fact that it is difficult to measure what are often distal outcomes from fct compared to the outcomes from more contentdriven lessons, that work is vital both to maintaining and supporting developmentally appropriate approaches to preschool teaching and to developing children’s vocabulary. conclusion this study provides evidence that differences exist in the language to which children are being exposed and engaged and further evidence that what the class is measuring more generally is evident specifically in terms of teacher talk. given the vital import of early language development, it is incumbent upon the research community to continue to study teacher talk during fct and to ensure that teachers are trained to make the best use of that important portion of the preschool day. time for play in preschools has been reduced in recent decades to make space for more academic, objective-driven curricula (genishi & dyson, 2009; nicolopoulou, 2010; zigler & 34 paulick bishop-josef, 2004). but supporting children’s cognitive development and providing time for play are not mutually exclusive phenomena. rather, teachers ought to be trained to facilitate fct well, thereby supporting the development of children’s language, among other aspects of development, within a context that is engaging and developmentally appropriate (copple & bredekamp, 2009). the underlying supposition of the current study is that teachers can leverage fct to support children’s language development while simultaneously allowing children to engage in deep, rich, enjoyable play. additional research that unpacks well-facilitated fct may help counteract the current trend of replacing that time period of the day with more academic, teacher-directed content. the author would like to acknowledge the generous intellectual support of ira lit, claude goldenberg, amanda kibler, and natalia palacios. references auger, a., 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(2006). the cognitive child versus the whole child: lessons from 40 years of head start. in d. g. singer, r. m. golinkoff, & k. hirsh-pasek (eds.), play = learning: how play motivates and enhances children's cognitive and social-emotional growth. new york, ny: oxford university press. 38 paulick appendix a code explanation example q u an ti ty / d u ra ti o n brief 1-3 lines of teacher talk [see “direct” example] medium 4-8 lines of teacher talk [see “question” example] sustained 9 + lines of teacher talk [broken up at content shifts if exceeding 20 lines] [see “discuss” example] q u al it y /f o rm direct telling a child to do something teacher: go wash your hands. inform providing information; praising; explaining teacher: [demonstrating how to make a hand turkey with finger paints]: one, two three four five six seven eight nine ten. and i remove my hand. all right. now, for this one, i make a mix. yellow and purple. all right. this is my turkey. when you finish, ms. bahk will help you paint your whole hands. and you can do one right here and another one right here. question close-ended, generally not followed up teacher: what is it, fatima? child: circle. t: yes, circle. and how many circles do you need? do you need. . .? 3,4,5? how many circles do you need to make a snowman? discuss open-ended questions with responses that build on what the child has provided child [using play dough]: i make a cookie. teacher: that's a cookie. oh, look at that. and then after you do that, vicky, what will you do next? where do you put that? where do you put that? c: we lay it down. t: in the oven? c: yeah. t: and bake it? c: yeah. t: wow, look at that. how did you make it? c: with the cookie dough. t: you made a chocolate cookie, right? c: yeah. hs dialog, 27(1), 7-19 copyright ©2024, issn: 1930-9325 best blends forever: rethinking inclusive early childhood and special education teacher preparation at one university lori e. meyer kaitlin northey university of vermont the university of vermont’s (uvm) blended undergraduate early childhood education (ece) and early intervention/early childhood special education (ei/ecse) program originated as a model to dually prepare and license future educators to teach young children with and without disabilities from birth through age 6. however, strains on the university’s budget, intersecting with the covid-19 pandemic, led university administrators to recommend deactivating the program in 2020 and prompted program faculty to reconceptualize what the “blending” of the two fields of study could look like in the reality of contemporary contexts. the article begins by highlighting the evolving identity of uvm’s blended ece/ei/ecse program. next, using a social foundations perspective, we explore several key influences that have shaped our current collaborative approach to preparing early childhood educators for inclusive environments and how our ece and ei/ecse programs can be officially parted, yet still be blended, in its goals to prepare all future teachers of young children for inclusive settings. it concludes with recommendations for ece and ei/ecse faculty who may find themselves in need of reimagining their conceptions of blended teacher preparation for inclusive early childhood settings. keywords: blended teacher preparation, personnel preparation, early childhood education, early intervention/early childhood special education, collaboration, inclusion introduction there is a significant need for continued integration between early childhood education (ece) and early intervention/early childhood special education (ei/ecse) teacher preparation programs. this integration is driven by a growing shift towards inclusion and the need for educators with training to support all children and engage all families (la croix et al., 2023). to advance the field, understanding how faculty in higher education integrate coursework, field experiences, and preparation standards for inclusive early childhood education is crucial, especially given the challenges facing institutions today (mickelson et al., 2022). the meyer & northey 8 purpose of this article is to explore the collective journey of one university and ece and ei/ecse faculty as we were confronted with the task of reconceptualizing our blended undergraduate teacher preparation programs. in doing so, we critically examined how we had defined “blended” for ourselves and what it meant to be a “blended” program. we explore several key influences that shape our belief that we can remain a blended preparation program with inclusive values at our core, even if we appear as two distinct teacher education majors and programs. the article concludes with recommendations for ece and ei/ecse faculty who may also need to reimagine their conceptualization of blended teacher preparation for inclusive early childhood settings due to current realties within ihes. the evolving identify of uvm’s blended program historical background the origin of the university of vermont’s (uvm) blended undergraduate early childhood education (ece), early intervention (ei), early childhood special education (ecse) program began in the early 2000s. both ece and ei/ecse programs were situated within uvm’s college of education and social services (cess). it began with a promise to better integrate knowledge and skills across ece/ei/ecse fields to best train future teachers in their work to realize truly inclusive environments that supported the development of every child, and children with disabilities and their families, in particular. undergraduate students enrolled in the blended major were formally known as ei/ecse majors. they took coursework and had field experiences that prepared them to be licensed to teach ages birth through age 6 in general and special education settings. simultaneously, there was a stand-alone ece undergraduate major as well. students enrolled in the ece program took solely ece coursework and were licensed to teach birth through age 8 in general education settings. the blended ei/ecse program model could best be described as “discrete,” following blanton and pugach’s (2011) typology of program models. that is, pre service students enrolled in either the ece or ei/ecse degree program, and the programs mostly kept a curricular division between courses. ei/ecse degree students first took general ece courses and then took their ei/ecse coursework. however, overtime, a stronger sense of collaboration was fostered between faculty affiliated with both the ei/ecse and ece programs, united by a common goal to enhance the knowledge and skills of future teachers of young children for inclusive settings. this was especially crucial since ece majors were not required to take ei/ecse coursework as part of their program of study. one shining example of this collaborative spirit was thoughtfully revamping an introduction to early childhood education course that both ei/ecse and ece majors took in 2014. as part of the curricular redesign, the course received a service-learning course designation, a testament to our shared commitment to practical, hands-on, inclusive learning experiences. students had weekly practicum hours in an inclusive preschool setting, further reinforcing the importance of inclusive environments in early childhood education. within the course itself, ei/ecse content was seamlessly integrated, such as embedding the division for early childhood recommended practices (dec rps), readings focused on young children with disabilities and their families, and an assignment that focused on educating community members about the salience of inclusive settings for the development, and benefit, of young children with and without disabilities. best blends forever 9 additionally, professional preparation standards from dec and the national association for the education of young children (naeyc) were interwoven. what “blending” meant to us as mickelson and colleagues (2022) have stated, blended preparation is a nebulous term due to a lack of common terminology, definitions, or guidance to understand what a blended preparation model means. however, our ece and ei/ecse faculty, like others (miller & stayton, 1998), turned to our collective core value of inclusion and philosophical beliefs to guide our definition of what being a blended preparation program meant. from our vantage point, it had two defining characteristics. first, a blended preparation program had the power to embody and give our pre-service students an example of, and experiences with, what a truly collaborative, interdisciplinary program could do and be. with that in mind, being “blended” meant being a singular preparation program. our shared unwavering commitment to inclusion led us to the second defining characteristic: dual licensure/endorsement in ece and ei/ecse. this dual licensure would equip future professionals to meet the needs of young children with disabilities and their families across multiple natural environments. in the absence of empirical data supporting any blended or collaborative preparation model on inclusion efforts (mickelson et al., 2022), these two characteristics were primary in our conceptualization of a "gold star" blended program. considering these beliefs, the movement towards a merged program model between ece/ei/ecse began to take shape. transformative journey in the fall of 2017, a new unified major was proposed among ece and ei/ecse faculty, who were all members of the department of education (doe) within cess at that time. it would create one undergraduate degree option for students interested in working with young children and merge the ece and ei/ecse programs for the first time. that is, students’ program of study would include ece/ei/ecse coursework from birth through third grade and the faculty would become one program within the doe. given the scope of the proposed change, programmatic and curricular modifications were approached carefully albeit slowly. however, small changes began to take effect, such as the rollout of a collaboratively created course for ece and ei/ecse majors on inclusive curriculum and individualized teaching practices to meet the needs of diverse young learners in the spring of 2019. yet, at this time, the new major had not undergone formal review by the college or university curricular affairs committee. unforeseeable to faculty, as the unified major was routing through internal systems and processes, the world, including ihes, was experiencing significant challenges. coupled with the national trend of declining enrollment in teacher preparation programs (evans et al., 2021), particularly in early childhood fields (naeyc, 2020; 2021), challenges within ihes in preparing future early childhood meyer & northey 10 educators (allvin, 2021) were exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic and ihe budget cuts (mickelson et al., 2022). during this time, the university of vermont’s ei/ecse undergraduate program was flagged by the college dean and provost and received a recommendation in winter 2020 to be phased out. current state conversations began in spring 2021 among ece, ei/ecse, and special education faculty, who were all members of the doe. these discussions focused on how to address the recommendation and the requirement, initiated by the provost’s office, to significantly change the ei/ecse major, if it were to remain an option at uvm. ultimately, the teacher preparation faculty decided to reorganize the ei/ecse program and major by creating a unified undergraduate special education major that prepares students to teach and work with individuals with disabilities from birth through age 21 (described in more detail in kervick et al., in press). the underlying impetus for this decision was the pressing nationwide scarcity of special education teachers, particularly in rural regions, coupled with a decline in enrollment in teacher preparation programs, and elevated rates of teacher attrition attributable to stress and workload. it was initially difficult for some ece and ei/ecse faculty to contemplate separate teacher preparation programs that would not officially include formal “blending” between the ece and ei/ecse programs or faculty. that is, there would be no singular program made up of ece and ei/ecse faculty and there would be no pathway to a dual ece and ei/ecse endorsement for undergraduate majors. it seemed that our vision of a “gold star” blended preparation program was fading quickly. however, as we examined key influences shaping our programs, faculty collaborations, and curricular work, we also critically examined how we had previously defined "blending." we were buoyed to find that our aim to prepare high-quality early childhood educators for inclusion remained constant. we believe that the collective activities we engage in are potentially more potent to achieving inclusive education for children with disabilities than the two defining blended program characteristics we had previously identified. using a social foundations perspective, we review these critical influences and their intersections with a new, intriguing conceptualization of being a “blended” program and the activities that help to sustain it. viewing blended preparation from a social foundations perspective the social foundations perspective in education examines the complex interplay of sociocultural, historical, political, philosophical, economic, and technological factors that influence education systems and practices (ornstein et al., 2017). this perspective is essential for developing a comprehensive understanding of teacher preparation programs in higher education. mickelson and colleagues (2022) used such a perspective to closely examine the significant influences that have shaped blended early childhood teacher preparation programs over time. they challenged readers to define how blended early childhood teacher preparation programs are adapting to today's challenges. we respond by examining how social factors influence, strengthen, and maintain our program's focus on preparing inclusive educators. the socio-cultural influences under best blends forever 11 consideration, and presented next, exist at multiple strata, encompassing national professional organizations, departmental, and faculty members. while ece and ei/ecse at uvm are, in some ways, becoming more distinct, our programs retain a strong spirit of “blending,” committed to raising future teachers prepared to serve all young children within inclusive settings. socio-cultural influences national professional organization level. national advocacy and collaboration between the two leading professional homes for ece and ei/ecse, naeyc and the division for early childhood (dec) of the council for exceptional children, respectively, have in recent years fostered a socio-cultural context where shared norms and values, mainly linked to inclusion, are becoming more ubiquitous. of great significance is their joint position statement on inclusion that offered both a definition for early childhood inclusion and identified critical components of high-quality, inclusive early learning programs (dec/naeyc, 2009). the joint position statement on early childhood inclusion marked a new phase of intentional partnership most evident in activities across both organizations now. these activities include dec's explicit support and solidarity with naeyc and the principles of naeyc's developmentally appropriate practice guidance (dec, 2023) and a first-ever partnership with naeyc in support of their virtual public policy forum with the intent to emphasize advocacy, policy, and practices associated with realizing the goal of more high-quality inclusive early care and education experiences for young children with disabilities and developmental delays (dec, 2024). in recent years, naeyc has taken a proactive stance in advancing the goal of inclusion through its publications and products by intentionally including content that can help educators individualize their teaching for young children with disabilities and developmental delays and their families. this proactive approach is evident in special issues of young children (moses, 2021), the fourth edition of naeyc's seminal guide developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8 (naeyc, 2022), and the third edition of the intentional teacher (naeyc, forthcoming). collaborative efforts between naeyc and dec can encourage faculty members within blended ece and ei/ecse programs in ways that enhance their impact, strengthen their shared goals, leverage their collective expertise, and improve communication about topics, practices, and policies that impact their teacher preparation programs. by working together, especially on mutually valued topics such as inclusion, dec and naeyc create a context that leads the way for faculty in blended programs to advance shared priorities and drive innovation and progress in the field of preparing future inclusive early childhood educators. department level. the socio-cultural makeup of uvm’s department of education (doe) is characterized by its commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (deij) in its demographic composition and its academic and social practices. the overall atmosphere of the department promotes active engagement with deij topics among all educator preparation programs from birth through age 21 meyer & northey 12 because it contains all faculty members inclusive of general and special education as well as the fields of american sign language, higher education and student affairs administration, educational leadership and policy studies, and think college vermont (i.e., an innovative program for students with disabilities who seek a college experience and career path). not only is doe faculty commitment to deij reflected in the mixed backgrounds of its members (e.g., intersectional identities and diverse areas of expertise), but also its inclusive curricula, and policies that support equity and community engagement. the doe’s commitment and efforts to incorporate deij concepts and inclusion into coursework continues to be supported by the college’s diversity, equity, and inclusion action plan (cess, 2020) and its comprehensive inclusive excellence action plan (cess, 2022), which, together, serve as a roadmap for working towards priorities identified by students, faculty, staff, and administrators, for example, the uvm doe integrates “core” courses into the licensure programs of all teacher preparation candidates to ensure knowledge in critical areas related to deij. these courses span the topics of special education, race and racism, and education for cultural and linguistic diversity. doe faculty are in the process of discussing the addition of other core courses based on stakeholder feedback (e.g., graduates, local administrators, employers, etc.). much of the data that informs deij coursework innovation is derived from assessment results associated with the doe’s national accreditation process for its teacher licensure programs through the council for the accreditation of educator preparation (caep). another influence at the departmental level that assists in maintaining the focus of preparing early childhood teachers for inclusive environments are activities linked to caep accreditation. primarily, beginning in the 2023 academic year, a program assessment liaisons (pals) committee was established that consists of representatives from each licensure program (i.e., early childhood, early intervention/early childhood special education, k-21 special education, elementary, middle level, and secondary). committee members review and discuss data, chiefly centered on the four doe faculty-identified areas for improvement based on completer, mentor, employer, and alumnx surveys. one of those four areas is better preparing teacher candidates in supporting students with disabilities. as such, pals members work on these goals through curriculum mapping, assessment creation, and in relation to the interstate teacher assessment and support consortium (intasc) standards, vermont core learning standards, and professional standards. a forthcoming task for pals members is to develop learning progressions for initial licensure students that center intasc/vermont core learning standards and professional standards and that faculty can use to measure student progress in key areas across their degree programs and not exclusive to courses specific to only their major of study. potentially, it means that a teacher candidate’s growth in their knowledge and skills for partnering with families, for example, could be supported and assessed, using a shared and collaboratively developed rubric and progression, across multiple courses that could span both general and special education coursework. work such as this is made easier thanks to national efforts to align the newest versions of professional standards in ece and ei/ecse (see the early childhood personnel center at the university of connecticut center for excellence and developmental disabilities, 2020). best blends forever 13 faculty level. ece and ei/ecse faculty are committed, perhaps more than ever, to social equity, justice, and inclusion for young children with and without disabilities and their families. as such, much of the coursework and field experiences within the respective programs focus on inequalities present during the early childhood years, dismantling barriers that oppress young diverse children and their families, and preparing preservice teacher candidates to work in diverse and inclusive classrooms. the ece and ei/ecse programs have faculty within them who have degrees in both fields. naturally, faculty draw on their expertise and knowledge from both ece and ei/ecse when designing course content, assignments, and learning experiences. for several years, an ei/ecse faculty member taught the foundational introduction to early childhood education course. even though this course is now taught by a faculty member with a primary association with the ece program, numerous activities, including an assignment that fosters students’ growing advocacy skills and knowledge of the benefits of inclusive settings for children with and without disabilities, remain a prominent feature. another significant influence at the faculty level is the collaborative research between ece and ei/ecse faculty. this research integrates the current state of knowledge from both respective fields and works synergistically to understand problems and explore solutions within complex local, state, and national systems that influence inclusive early care and learning experiences for young children with disabilities or developmental delays and their families (meyer et al., 2024). as faculty conducted this study, we engaged undergraduate students from ece and ei/ecse as research assistants. we discussed and integrated the findings into relevant courses, and we presented them to state advocacy committees. this direct engagement with state advocacy committees led to our research informing state legislation, demonstrating the practical implications of our collaborative work and its influence on policy. by approaching research holistically and collaboratively, ece and ei/ecse faculty members’ research is not siloed. its influences extend into the courses of our teacher preparation programs, modeling that some of the most complicated challenges within our early care and education system(s), such as exclusion, suspension, and expulsion, cannot be answered by one field of expertise alone. as ece and ei/ecse faculty members, we share a common frustration with the policies within fragmented early childhood systems (e.g., sectorand age-based variations about early childhood teacher qualifications and compensation) and ihe metrics (e.g., using student enrollment, retention, and graduate data to promote competition among programs rather than cooperation and coordination) that may push teacher licensure programs in directions we find less than ideal. however, we firmly believe in the power of teacher agency. each of us, as early childhood faculty, can leverage our relationships and shared values to shape the socio-cultural contexts within our spheres of influence, maintaining or innovating spaces for impactful pre-service preparation for early childhood inclusion. with that in mind, we realized that chasing the blended program label, or specifically the physical features that we had associated with it (i.e., a merged program and dual state licensure), were characteristics outside of ourselves. these characteristics were out of our control, as well. what we sought was the spirit and shared purpose of being a blended program. we discovered that the spirit of a blended program meant doing things within the context of our programs that aligned meyer & northey 14 with our core values, like focusing on issues of diversity, equity, social justice, and inclusion, and things we had agency over. namely, our interactions with each other and our influences over curriculum. this control over our interactions and curriculum influence gives us confidence and a sense of being capable of moving the program toward our goal of inclusive and equitable early learning environments. at the same time, focusing on our spheres of influence, we realized that if our program needed a label, we would describe it as an inclusive, child & family-centered early childhood preparation program. through which all faculty interactions and curricular innovations would start with the fundamental question, “how can we ensure that all young children and their families, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, disability status, or primary language have access to early learning environments, developmental resources, and educational opportunities they need to thrive?” from that center, we back further out and ask, “what skills, knowledge, and dispositions do inclusive early childhood educators need to effectively meet the diverse needs of young children and their families, including children with disabilities, children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and children experiencing poverty?” using simon sinek’s concept of “the golden circle” (2009), we can communicate that our “why” (i.e., the reason that we do what we do) is to best support young, diverse children and their families to the best of our abilities and to train the next generation of early childhood educators to do the same. as inclusive, child and family-centered early childhood education programs, we feel inspired, we feel in control, and we feel our power to engage with one another and develop curricular innovations that will address the answers to the questions we posed above. that is, the “what” (knowledge, skills, and dispositions) and “how” (curriculum, field experiences) of our programs, which have a profound impact on the lives of children and families. in our definition of a “blended” program, the vision, coordination, collaboration, and intention can continue growing in important ways, positioning faculty as empowered change makers. we continue strengthening our programs to realize our vision of inclusive child and family-centered early childhood education programs. by remaining ‘best blends,’ we are creating more cohesive and inclusive experiences for pre-service students and, we hope, contributing to more inclusive early care and learning experiences and environments for children and families. as such, we extend a heartfelt invitation to our fellow ece and ei/ecse faculty members to join us on this journey. your perspectives and experiences are invaluable as we share the following recommendations for ece and ei/ecse faculty members who wish to strengthen their ihe environments for inclusive child and family-centered early childhood teacher preparation no matter what form of “blended” preparation currently exists. recommendations for inclusive child and famliy-centered early childhood teacher prepartion the recommendations below are inspired by the two characteristics guiding our reconceptualization of what it means to be a “blended” program: 1) faculty interactions and 2) curricular innovations. these are two areas in which faculty should have unwavering autonomy and full agency. likewise, we think these are two areas that are applicable to faculty within programs of any size and made up of any number of faculty members. while some of these best blends forever 15 recommendations draw inspiration from naeyc guidance (see professional standards and competencies for early childhood educators, 2019), they are also informed by our lived experiences, both as concrete actions and as envisioned possibilities for future growth in this area. as you thoughtfully consider the following recommendations, we encourage you to evaluate how they can be applied to enhance your work and personal growth. before you begin, take a moment to read and reflect without interruptions. approach this moment with an open mind and a willingness to be honest with yourself. it is an opportunity for personal insight and growth, and your reflection will be valuable in shaping inclusive early childhood teacher preparation within your sphere of influence. for additional questions to support your reflection on and about the following recommendations, please see table 1. faculty interactions • develop a commitment with colleagues to share relevant resources, publications, and products across ece and ei/ecse fields. for example, if dec develops a new webinar on inclusive practices, share the webinar abstract and registration link with ece colleagues who may not regularly get dec updates and announcements. • when hiring ece or ei/ecse faculty look for expertise across fields including, but not limited to research, teaching, personal experience, or mentoring that span both areas. • additionally, when interviewing potential new colleagues, ask questions that tap into the strengths and assets that they bring to the established ece and ei/ecse faculty team. ask questions that invite answers related to their approaches to collaborating with others and working with colleagues (e.g., teaching, research, service) across disciplines. • invite ece or ei/ecse colleagues and students to collaborate on research and publication opportunities, to strengthen relationships, expand perspectives, and support each other’s professional development and success. • take time to nurture relationships among ece and ei/ecse faculty. doing so can promote understanding of all early childhood academic program options, more robust cooperation table 1 recommendations for reflection if it is helpful to you as you read and reflect, please consider the following advice. 1. read each recommendation and take your time to understand each recommendation thoroughly. 2. reflect and consider how each recommendation applies to your current practices and experiences. 3. consider the following questions: a. how do you currently incorporate this recommendation into your work? b. what benefits have you observed, or can you anticipate from following this recommendation? c. are there any challenges or barriers you face in implementing this recommendation? how can you address them? d. what specific actions can you take to better align with this recommendation moving forward? e. name a colleague or potential collaborator you could work with to incorporate this recommendation. meyer & northey 16 and collaboration, alignment across programmatic content and sequencing, and more informed student advising, which, we believe, can contribute to overall program health and sustainability. curricular innovations • if participating in national accreditation processes, create opportunities to share assessment results across ece and ei/ecse programs to consider the results and possible implications or action steps that may be synergistically addressed. • consider developing learning progressions that can measure students’ progress towards shared values, learning outcomes, and professional standards that are aligned and can be measured across various courses, including those outside of students’ major coursework. • maintain or create courses that enroll students from ece and ei/ecse majors and embed learning opportunities that promote the beginning of collaborative relationships and learning across disciplines during preservice experiences. myers and northey 17 • create extracurricular activities for students that speak to their interests and topical issues that span both fields and build community among students by demonstrating the importance of collaboration for ece and ei/ecse professionals (e.g., a book club that is open to ece and ei/ecse students, brownbag lunch discussions for both majors, etc.). • focus effort on measuring and researching the preparation of ece alumnx and their perceived competence and confidence to teach diverse students, in particular, children with disabilities and developmental delays. conclusion using a social foundations perspective, we have explored socio-cultural influences that currently shape our “blended” teacher preparation programs in ece and ei/ecse. even though our blending looks different than it has in the past, we would argue that we still maintain the spirit of a “blended” teacher preparation program for ece and ei/ecse. in spite of, and perhaps due to, forces within our ihe that drove the current state of our programs becoming more formally separated, we actively fight against the notion that separate ece and ei/ecse teacher preparation programs must yield, or perpetuate, a system that separates young children within their educational experiences. as we look to the future of blended ece and ei/ecse, it is reasonable to think that faculty in other ihes might face similar constraints related to finances and enrollment (grose, 2024) that could shape their current collaborative models to early childhood teacher preparation. however, we encourage every teacher educator to remember their power, to consider what they are striving to accomplish, and to find their “why.” in doing so, we were able to tap into our core values of inclusion, children, and families, and center them, their future teachers, and find ways of interacting and transforming the curriculum within our programs to give everyone what they need. overall, no matter what challenges lie ahead for ihes and teacher education, we hope that our recommendations will strengthen teacher educators’ resolve to keep the goal of graduating inclusive educators for early learning settings at the forefront and remaining “best blends forever.” meyer & northey 18 references allvin, r. e. (2021). preparing a profession: perspectives of higher education leaders on the future of the early childhood education workforce. national association for the education of young children. https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/pdfs/our-work/higher ed/final_higher_ed_leadership_report.pdf blanton, l. p., & pugach, m. c. (2011). using a classification system to probe the meaning of dual licensure in general and special education. teacher education and special education, 34(3), 219234. https://doi.org/10.1177/0888406411404569 division for early childhood of the council for exceptional children. (2023, april 27). dec stands behind the principles of developmentally appropriate practice, and in solidarity naeyc. division for early childhood (dec). https://www.dec-sped.org/single-post/dec-stands-behind-the-principles-of-developmentally appropriate-practice-in-solidarity-with-naeyc division for early childhood of the council for exceptional children. 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(2024, march 6). how to fix the crisis of trust in higher education. the new york times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/opinion/college-enrollment.html kervick, c. t., meyer, l. e., swindlehurst, k., & shepherd, k. (in press). a rural university’s response to the polycrisis facing special education teacher preparation. rural special education quarterly. la croix, l., kidd, j. k., walter, h., stone, d., ferguson, d., fisher-maltese, c., … vesely, c. (2023). a dynamic process model for continued integration between ece and ei/ecse teacher preparation programs. journal of early childhood teacher education, 44(2), 216–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2023.2194246 meyer, l. e., northey, k., & wood, v. f. (2024). the pies study: promoting inclusion and exploring supports for children with specialized needs in early childhood education settings: recommendations to prevent suspension and expulsion. retrieved from https://www.uvm.edu/cdci/research/pies-study/ mickelson, a. m., correa, v. i., & stayton, v. d. (2022). blended preparation in early childhood and early intervention/early childhood special education: reflecting on the past, paving a path forward. teacher education and special education, 45(2), 101-122. https://doi.org/10.1177/08884064211037377 national association for the education of young children. (2020, june). from on campus to online: the impact of the pandemic on ece higher education programs. https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally shared/downloads/pdfs/resources/topics/covid_higher_ed_brief.pdf national association for the education of young children. (2021, september). struggles, successes, and silver linings: the impact of the pandemic on ece postsecondary programs. https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/pdfs/accreditation/higher-ed/brief_ _covid_higher_ed_survey_results_fall_2021.pdf ornstein, a. c., levine, d. u., gutek, g. l., & vocke, d. e. (2017). foundations of education (13th ed.). cengage learning. professional standards and competencies for early childhood educators. (2019, november). national association for the education of young children [naeyc]. retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/pdfs/resources/position statements/standards_and_competencies_ps.pdf http://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/pdfs/our-work/higherhttps://doi.org/10.1177/0888406411404569 http://www.dec-sped.org/single-post/dec-stands-behind-the-principles-of-developmentallyhttp://www.dec-sped.org/single-post/dec-partners-with-naeyc-for-the-naeyc-2024-virtual-public-policyhttp://www.nationalforum.com/electronic%20journal%20volumes/evans%2c%20j%20cay%20teacher http://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/opinion/college-enrollment.html http://www.uvm.edu/cdci/research/pies-study/ http://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globallyhttp://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/pdfs/accreditation/higher-ed/brief_http://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/pdfs/resources/positionbest blends forever 19 sinek, s. (2009, september). how great leaders inspire action [video]. ted conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?subtitle=en university of vermont. (2020). college of education & social services: diversity, equity, and inclusion action plan (2020-2023). https://www.uvm.edu/cess/diversity-equity-and-inclusion university of vermont. (2022). college of education and social services inclusive excellence action plan (2022 2027). https://www.uvm.edu/cess/diversity-equity-and-inclusion http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?subtitle=en http://www.uvm.edu/cess/diversity-equity-and-inclusion http://www.uvm.edu/cess/diversity-equity-and-inclusion the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 4 i am pleased to introduce you to this special issue of the dialog focused on supporting multilingual children and families in early childhood spaces; the first issue of the new dialog! across the us, one third of children under the age of five are multilingual. in certain states, such as california, texas, and new jersey, the proportion of students who speak multiple languages is closer to 50% of the population (nhi giang & park, 2023). besides english, there are between 350 to 430 other languages spoken in our country with spanish is the most dominant. indeed, other languages like chinese, tagalog, vietnamese, and arabic have millions of speakers across our nation (monsen & gregory, 2023). each of these languages brings unique nuances, cultures, value and purpose to families, children, and the educational context. early childhood educators and researchers must utilize respectful and equitable approaches to partner with multilingual communities in meaningful ways. this dialog special issue, supporting multilingual children and families in early childhood spaces, invited manuscripts that addressed the strengths and needs of multilingual children and families through research, policy, preparation, or other initiatives. the dialog is pleased to support an issue that highlights, celebrates, and encourages multilingual learning, especially in today’s political climate. this issue aims to highlight a handful of wonderful initiatives across the country to reach multilingual learners in the early years. indeed, i know you will find many practical and actionable steps for early childhood educators and other professionals who seek to support multilingual children and families in early childhood spaces. the idea for this special issue came about as i heard about different initiatives to support multilingual learners and their families, such as that which hamel and colleagues highlight in the first article, situating literacy-rich engagements for emergent bilinguals. in their manuscript, the authors provide an overview of camp sunshine, a summer literacy program for emergent bilingual children ages 4-8 that positions bilingualism as an asset. further practical application derived from their work is presented in their research to practice summary creating inclusive multilingual spaces: a literature-based framework for supporting young emergent bilinguals. next, in transition to kindergarten for preschoolers with multilingual abilities: do parents and professionals see eye to eye?, macy and colleagues report the results of their mixed method study which sought to understand parental and professional assessment collaboration during transition to kindergarten for preschoolers who are learning multiple languages. their work examined the congruency between teachers and families of children who speak spanish at home who are transitioning from rural head start preschool into kindergarten and results highlight both similar views and meaningful discrepancies between parents and professionals. the authors discuss implications for creating positive and supportive transitions for preschoolers using an authentic and collaborative assessment approach with prioritizing individualized strategies for children, their families, and professionals during the move to kindergarten. in their research to practice summary accompanying the research article, edokhamhen leads the team in providing research to practice connections by looking at several key challenges in assessing children during kindergarten transition, specific strategies for implementing authentic from the guest editor: introduction to the special issue bryndle l. bottoms, ph.d. university of south carollina the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 1 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i1.2022 contact: bryndle l. bottoms @ bbottoms@mailbox.sc.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 5 assessment with multilingual learners, and recommendations for program implementation. (see using parent and teacher authentic assessment results to guide preschool to kindergarten transition for multilingual learners). finally, sudduth and colleagues’ contribution, nurturing home languages to engage and empower multilingual families in early childhood education settings, aims to integrate the concepts of empowerment, funds of identity, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and translanguaging into practical strategies for educators to establish and nurture engaging partnerships with multilingual children and families. they assert that establishing partnerships with families through linguistically appropriate family engagement efforts allows children to maintain their home languages while learning a new language, helps educators teach each child effectively, and allows families to support their child’s education in the classroom, home, and community. to compliment their article, the research to practice summary led by flannery, embracing multicultural and multilingual families: transforming education, empowering communities, draws from the frameworks detailed in their primary article to explore practices for cultivating inclusive learning environments through reflexive practices, culturally responsive literature circles, authentic cultural celebrations, and family engagement initiatives. introduction “early childhood educators and researchers must utilize respectful and equitable approaches to partner with multilingual communities in meaningful ways.” the dialog vol28iss01 for separating 4.pdf the dialog vol28iss01 for separating 5.pdf authentic assessment practice guide hs dialog, 26(2), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 acknowledgement: we would like to thank the children, parents, head start teachers and administrators who participated in this study. we owe a gigantic thank you to research services council of university of nebraska who granted macy and reid a research diversity seed grant for this study. what are convergence and divergence in how parents and educators interpret child development when preschoolers transition to kindergarten? marisa macy1,2 mark reid1 robert macy1 1university of nebraska at kearney 2 community chair at buffett early childhood institute, university of nebraska, omaha this study investigated the interrater agreement between parents of young children and the early childhood professionals working with their family as they transition from preschool to kindergarten. the goal of this research was to identify clusters of greatest congruence and divergence. we examined clusters of agreement between 24 parent and educator dyads from rural head start programs in the midwest. differences in parental and professional assessment are represented, as well as areas where there are strong convergence. results draw attention to the items where parents and professionals have greatest difference in the assessment. this study has implications for co-production of services for children and their families with professionals. keywords: authentic assessment, rural preschool programs, head start, aeps-3 readyset, aeps-3 family assessment of child skill, kindergarten, parental and professional congruency, co-production introduction parental engagement may occur in their child’s instruction, curriculum, and/or assessment. covid-19 and the global pandemic may have impacted parental involvement in their child’s education (daro, gallagher, & cunningham, 2022). a family-centered approach has been the favored model for young children with risk, delay, or disability since the inception of the individuals with disabilities education act (idea), especially in the case of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers (bagnato, 2007; bruder, 2000; dec, 2014; dunst, 2002). research article head start to kindergarten 25 families of young children may need customized supports and services for optimal engagement (cohen & mosek, 2019; gilliam, 2009; grant & isakson, 2013). finding effective strategies and tools may lead to positive outcomes for young children (garcía-grau, martínez-rico, mcwilliam, & cañadas pérez, 2020; shore, shue, & lambert, 2010). when parents and professionals work together on behalf of a young child, there is potential to address common goals and objectives (jakobsen & andersen, 2013; ledger & slade, 2015; macy, argus-calvo, torres hernández, & hernández collazo, 2019; mickelson, mccorkle, & hoffman, 2022). professionals and families can co-produce services because the family is very familiar with the child, and the professional is skilled at delivering services (haumann, güntürkün, schons, & wieseke, 2015). the current study explored a strategy for parents and early childhood educators to co-produce assessment activities when preschoolers transition to kindergarten. specifically, we sought to learn more about families in rural settings who have a preschooler in head start. head start programs represent a diverse group of children from different racial, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. the national head start program started in 1965 under president lyndon johnson’s war on poverty initiative to ameliorate the impact of economics on children and their families to level the playing field by creating a comprehensive program for early childhood education, health, and social services. additionally, head start programs serve at least 10% of their children with diagnosed disabilities. authentic assessment allows professionals and parents a way to determine child development and learning in a natural way that uses observation and play to gather information about a child (bagnato, 2007; de sam lazaro, 2017; grisham-brown, hallam, & brookshire, 2006; hamre, 2014). one type of authentic assessment is: assessment, evaluation, & programming system (aeps; bricker et al., 2022a). aeps is an authentic measure that contains an assessment linked to an accompanying early childhood curriculum for children birth to age six. aeps measures child development via natural observations in familiar settings across multiple areas of development including the following 8 domains: adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, literacy, math, social, and social communication. aeps has a family report that allows parents to provide information about their children’s strengths and needs. aeps has a graduated scoring mechanism where a three-point rating scale contains 2, 1, and 0. mastery is represented by a score of 2, an emerging skill is represented by a score of 1, and a skill that has not yet emerged is represented by a score of 0. aeps is an initial assessment, or it can be an evaluation over time. the specific problem of interest is the relationship between observers when parents of preschoolers are getting ready to transition to kindergarten and the context of collaborating with the head start teacher to assess child development and learning is not well understood. the purpose of our study was to better understand the congruency between professionals and parents when assessing preschoolers. differences in evaluation of a child between their parent and the professional working with them and their family was examined. our primary research question was: what is the inter-rater agreement between professionals and parents? 26 macy, reid & macy method this mixed method study is comprised of both quantitative and qualitative methodology. to address the primary research question, we designed a study to explore parental and professional assessments of preschoolers enrolled in rural head start programs. participants, procedures, instruments, and data analysis are described next. participants participants in this study were: head start teachers from rural area(s) of the midwestern part of the united states, preschool children, and parents of preschoolers attending head start. a total of 16 head start teachers and 24 parents of preschoolers participated in the study. teachers worked in inclusive rural head start settings. family members had a child who was a preschooler at the time of the study (i.e., spring 2022), and would be going to kindergarten the following year in the fall. teachers. a demographic form was completed by all the teachers where all participants identified as female. teachers averaged approximately 17 years of experience working with young children and families (range was 1 to 40 years). teachers averaged approximately 7 years of experience with teaching in head start (range was new to 24 years with head start). for level of education, the majority of head start teachers held an associate and/or bachelor’s degree. the most common major was early childhood education. additionally, teachers majored in these areas: business administration, criminal justice, elementary education, family studies, graphic design, organizational communication, psychology, and sociology. the majority of head start teachers indicated that their coursework or training was related to working with preschool (75% of all teachers indicated most or half of the coursework was with preschool age, 19% indicated some, and 6% indicated none). selected demographic information for teacher participants are reported in table 1. table 1 rural head start educator demographics (n = 16) factors n % ethnicity african american asian/pacific islander caucasian (non-hispanic) latino or hispanic native american/aleut other 14 1 1 88 6 6 age 20-30 1 6 head start to kindergarten 27 30-40 40-50 over 50 did not answer 5 4 6 31 25 38 educational background high school some college/cda aa degree bachelor’s degree graduate degree and above 1 4 1 10 6 25 6 63 skill level with assessment very low low high very high 1 8 7 6 50 44 families and children. a total of 24 family members participated in this study with their child who was enrolled in a rural head start program in the midwestern part of the united states. most of the participants who completed the aeps-3 family assessment of child skills (facs) were mothers (n = 21/24, 87.5%), and some grandmothers (n = 3/24, 12.5%). most family participants reported a family income of less than $50k. the study focused on 24 preschool children who attended a rural head start program. the average child age was 62.5 months (range was 55 to 68 months of age). the majority of children did not have a history or diagnosis of developmental delay (n = 14; 58%) or receive special services (n = 19; 79%). however, there were seven children, of the 24 in the group, who did have a history or diagnosis of developmental delay/disability (n = 7; 29%), or receive special services (n = 5; 21%). this percentage of 29% of children in head start is far above the 10% federal policy requirement for inclusion. also, it is interesting that 2 of the parents who indicated their child had an identified delay/disability also reported their child did not receive special services for their diagnosis. this could be because they were newly identified with a delay/disability prior to transitioning to kindergarten. written materials for families were available in spanish and english. five children’s home language is spanish (21%). materials (i.e., consent form and demographic form) were translated into spanish by the head start program, as well as aeps-3 facs was published into spanish by the aeps publisher. the ethnicity composition was 50% non-hispanic caucasian, 46% latino or hispanic, and 4% not reported. table 2 shows the demographic data for teacher, child and family (on next page). 28 macy, reid & macy table 2 children and their family demographics (n= 24) factors n % ethnicity (children) african american asian/pacific islander caucasian (non-hispanic) latino or hispanic native american/aleut did not answer 12 11 1 50 46 4 gender female 10 42 male 14 58 developmental status no history or indication of developmental delay suspected developmental delay or disability identified delay or disability did not answer 14 7 3 58 29 13 receives special services yes no did not answer if yes, what type? speech therapy (n = 2 reported by parents) 5 19 21 79 family income below $10k $10-50k $50-100k did not answer 3 11 5 5 12.5 45.8 20.8 20.8 procedures recruitment the university institutional review board granted approval for the study. researcher(s) contacted directors/principals of head start to invite participation in the study. the study purpose and procedures were explained, and permission requested to recruit from program classrooms. interested teachers were contacted by researcher(s) and those who are eligible to participate in the study (i.e., have preschool-age children who were scheduled to enter kindergarten next year in head start to kindergarten 29 their classes) were given a consent form to review and sign. researchers provided teachers consent form to send home to parents of eligible children in their classroom. parents who agreed to participate in the study signed letter of informed consent and return to the researcher(s). teachers were recruited from the head start programs in rural communities in the midwestern part of the united states. teachers’ participation was voluntary. parents were recruited from the head start teachers who sent a letter home to families about the study. training. teachers received a 2-hour training session on use of the aeps-3 ready-set and parental use of the aeps-3 facs. participating teachers became familiar with observing children and using aeps-3 ready-set with presentation of assessment content, case study discussion, and assessment role play and hands-on practice. a $25 gift card for 24 participants to a nationwide retailer was provided the head start programs for teacher participation in the training. data collection. teachers were given a hard copy and an electronic copy of the aeps-3 ready set protocol to use for completing the assessment, and a hard and electronic copies of a parent packet that included the aeps-3 facs protocol and demographic form for families. teachers completed the aeps-3 ready set and collected the parent packet. all protocols and packets were picked up from the school by the researcher(s). teachers received a $20 gift card for each aeps3 ready set protocol they completed. parents received a $15 gift card for each aeps-3 facs completed. measure/instrument this study used an authentic and curriculum-based assessment called the assessment, evaluation, & programming system (aeps-3; bricker et al., 2022). aeps-3 measures child development via natural observations in familiar settings across 8 areas of development including: adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, literacy, math, social, and social communication. aeps-3 has a graduated scoring mechanism where a three-point rating scale contains 2, 1, and 0. mastery is represented by a score of 2, an emerging skill is represented by a score of 1, and a skill that has not yet emerged is represented by a score of 0. aeps-3 is an initial assessment, or it can be an evaluation over time. the third edition of the aeps has two new components that were examined in this study the: aeps-3 ready set and the aeps-3 family assessment of child skills (facs) that are described next. aeps-3 ready set. one of the new components of the third edition is the aeps-3 ready set which is a new tool that focuses on assessing the kindergarten readiness skills of children whose developmental age are between four to six years. aeps-3 ready set has 40 items that are extracted from the aeps-3: two are in fine motor area (5%), three are in gross motor area (8%), two are in adaptive area (5%), eight items are in social emotional area (20%), three items are in social communication area (7%), six items are in cognitive area (15%), ten items are in literacy area (25%), and six items are in math area (15%). social emotional, cognitive, literacy and math areas have more items that address many skills children will encounter in a kindergarten context. based 30 macy, reid & macy on the skills that children likely possess when entering kindergarten, these items were selected and reviewed by a panel of experts who specialized in child development and early childhood assessments. aeps-3 ready set uses a graduated scoring option to show where a child is at in mastering a skill (i.e., skill is mastered gets a 2, skill that is emerging gets a 1, and a skill that has not yet started gets a 0). emerging skills (i.e., score of 1) can be further explained using “a” for assistance, or “i” for incomplete. raw scores are totaled and are converted into a percentage to show a child’s progress in kindergarten related skills across different domains. aeps-3 family assessment of child skills (facs) of ready set. the other new component of the third edition of the aeps is the family assessment of child skills (facs). the purpose of aeps-3 facs is for parents/family members to provide input into the assessment of their children’s kindergarten related skills. aeps-3 facs contains a demographic form that asks basic family information (e.g., name and address, contact information language is spoken at home), a page that describes that purpose of aeps-3 facs and provides scoring instructions; items that measures child’s kindergarten readiness skills, and sections for recording family concerns and priorities for instruction/intervention. families and professionals may use aeps-3 facs to identify skills and needs of children, set goals, and monitor progress. aeps-3 facs has 30 items that corresponded to the items on the aeps-3 ready set, except two items in the social emotional area, one item in social-communication area, three items in literacy area, and two items in math area. aeps-3 facs items are written in family friendly language. for example, on the aeps-3 ready set, the first item on fine motor skill is written as “manipulates object with two hands, each performing different action”, whereas on the aeps-3 facs, this item is written as “does your child use two hands to move or manipulate objects using each hand separately or independently? for example, your child strings beads on a shoelace, buttons small buttons, or threads and zips a zipper.” in aeps-3 facs, each area begins with a definition of the domain, followed by the items. some items contain an illustration that accompanies the skill. a 3-point rating scale (yes, sometimes, and not yet) is used for parents to score the items based on their observations of their children. if parent(s) are not able to observe the skill being assessed, parents can select “cannot observe”. aeps-3 ready set assessment and aeps-3 facs can be used together or separately. for example, aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs could be used in tandem to facilitate parent teacher conferences. aeps-3 facs has open ended sections after each domain that asks parents what they would like for their children. it also has a section at the end of the aeps-3 facs after parents have completed each domain that asks them what they would like for intervention priorities. demographic information forms. teacher and parent participants completed separate demographic forms. teachers provided information about gender and age, experience, educational attainment, coursework, and assessment skill level. parents shared information about their child’s gender, ethnicity/race, developmental status, special services received, as well as family income and marital status in the family demographic form. data analysis head start to kindergarten 31 the aeps-3 ready set, aeps-3 facs, and demographic information were instruments used to better understand the research question. two independent observations (i.e., parents and professionals) were recorded of the child’s performance across 8 domains (i.e., adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, social emotional, social communication, reading and math). inter-rater reliability between professionals and parents was measured by examining the development of twenty-four children. agreement between raters across total raw score and developmental domains were calculated using a correlation coefficient. results parents/grandparents and teachers observed 24 children using two versions of the aeps-3. results are reported for the dyads showing their assessments of preschool children in the springtime before they transitioned to kindergarten. first, we report demographic information for participants. second, we share overall agreement between parents and teachers and then by domains. last, we report qualitative data collected from parents about what they would like for their children when they answered open-ended questions from the aeps-3 facs. overall basic agreement between parents and professionals two independent observations of the child’s overall development and academics (i.e., reading and math) were recorded. agreement across 8 developmental domains are shown in figure 1 with overall ratings of child development and learning. figure 1 teacher and parent congruence on eight child developmental domains mean scores basic agreement between parents and professionals by domains 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 94.79 94.56 88.16 99.16 90.63 90.63 90.66 83.04 91.63 88.54 68.08 81.33 54.58 55.79 40.83 48.7 p er ce n ta ge s teacher and parent ratings by domains domains 32 macy, reid & macy next we discuss children’s development by domains. the following domains are: adaptive, cognitive, fine motor, gross motor, social emotional, social communication, literacy and math. moderate to strong correlations indicate a degree of moderate to strong agreement between the raters. corresponding data tables of each basic agreement analysis are displayed in pages 11-16. basic agreement on adaptive skills. means for items from the adaptive areas of the aeps3 ready set and aeps-3 facs ranged from 1.36 to 1.92 (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 02.00). adaptive item 1 from the aeps-3 ready set had a statistically significant correlation with item 2 from the aeps-3 ready set. adaptive item 2 from the aeps-3 facs had a statistically significant correlation with both items from the adaptive aeps-3 ready set. teachers and parents had strong positive correlation when scoring the aeps-3 ready set for the teacher item 1 with parent item 2 and moderate positive correlation when scoring teacher item 2 with parent item 2. table 3 shows pearson correlations for adaptive domain. basic agreement on cognitive skills. the means for items from the cognitive areas of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs ranged from 1.08 to 1.83 (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0-2.00). there was moderate to strong positive correlation between the teachers and parents rating on most items. table 4 shows pearson correlations for cognitive domain. basic agreement on fine motor skills. means for items from the fine motor areas of the aeps3 ready set and aeps-3 facs ranged from 1.83 to 1.96 (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 02.00). fine motor item 1 did not have a statistically significant correlation between teacher and parent. fine motor item 2 did have a statistically significant moderate positive correlation between teacher and parent. table 5 shows pearson correlations for fine motor domain. basic agreement on gross motor skills. means for items from the gross motor areas of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs ranged from 1.43 to 2.00 (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0, 1, and 2s). this was the only domain where parents and professionals had perfect agreement on an item. the first item of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs for gross motor shows that all of the teachers and all of the parents completely agreed that their child had mastered the skill of jumping forward (criterion: child jumps forward with both feet together and off surface and lands on both feet without falling). gross motor item 2 from the aeps-3 ready set had a statistically significant moderate positive correlation with gross motor item 2 from the aeps-3 facs. item 3 had a statistically significant strong positive correlation between the teacher and parent. table 6 shows pearson correlations for gross motor domain. basic agreement on social emotional skills. means for items from the social emotional areas of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs ranged from 1.21 to 1.96 (based on the aeps3 rating scale of 0-2.00). social emotional items from the aeps-3 ready set had a statistically significant moderate to strong positive correlation with social emotional items from both the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs across most items. table 7 shows pearson correlations for social emotional domain. basic agreement on social communication skills. means for items from the social communication domain of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs ranged from 1.71 to 1.96 (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0-2.00). there were no statistically significant correlations head start to kindergarten 33 between the teacher and parent scoring of the items for social communication. table 8 shows pearson correlations for social communication domain. basic agreement on reading skills. the means for items from the literacy domain of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs ranged from .25 to 1.83 (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0-2.00). several literacy items from the aeps-3 ready set had a statistically significant moderate to strong positive correlation within the same measure as well as between the teacher and parent. table 9 shows pearson correlations for literacy domain. basic agreement on math skills. means for items from the math domain of the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs ranged from .13 to 1.54 (based on the aeps-3 rating scale of 0-2.00). most math items had a statistically significant moderate to strong positive correlation between the teacher and parent. table 10 shows pearson correlations for math domain. 34 macy, reid & macy table 3 adaptive means, standard deviations, and pearson correlations for the aeps3 ready set and aeps3 facs variables (items) m sd 1 2 3 4 aeps-3 ready set (teacher) adaptive 1. adaptive ready set 1 (n=24) 1.92 .282 -- 2. adaptive ready set 2 (n=24) 1.71 .464 .470* -- aeps-3 facs (parent) adaptive 3. adaptive facs 1 (n=24) 1.88 .338 .342 .312 -- 4. adaptive facs 2 (n=24) 1.36 .482 .853** .551** .401 -- note. * indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). **indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). table 4 cognitive means, standard deviations, and pearson correlations for the aeps3 ready set and aeps3 facs variables (items) m sd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 aeps-3 ready set (teacher) – cognitive (n =24 for #1-6) 1. cognitive ready set 1 1.50 .511 -- 2. cognitive ready set 2 1.46 .658 .582** -- 3. cognitive ready set 3 1.33 .637 .535** .449* -- 4. cognitive ready set 4 1.42 .504 .845** .711** .632** -- 5. cognitive ready set 5 1.08 .654 .391 .413* .348 .418* -- 6. cognitive ready set 6 1.42 .504 .676** .448* .768** .829** .550** -- aeps-3 facs (parent) – cognitive (n= 23 for #7; n= 24 for 8, 9, 10) 7. cognitive facs 1 1.83 .388 .439* .485* .594* .368 .061 .368 -- 8. cognitive facs 2 1.58 .654 .391 .665** .244 .418* .186 .286 .577** -- 9. cognitive facs 3 1.54 .588 .217 .566** .193 .379 .217 .232 .450* .612** -- 10. cognitive facs 4 1.63 .576 .517* .818* .474* .562** .202 .412* .691** .606** .497* -- note. * indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). **indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). head start to kindergarten 35 table 5 fine motor means, standard deviations, and pearson correlations for the aeps3 ready set and aeps3 facs variables (items) m sd 1 2 3 4 aeps-3 ready set (teacher) – fine motor 1. fine motor ready set item 1 (n=24) 1.83 .381 -- 2. fine motor ready set item 2 (n=24) 1.96 .204 -.093 -- aeps-3 facs (parent) – fine motor 3. fine motor facs item 1 (n=23) 1.91 .288 .265 -.066 -- 4. fine motor facs item 2 (n=23) 1.87 .344 .163 .550** .797** -- note. * indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). **indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) table 6 gross motor means, standard deviations, and pearson correlations for aeps3 ready set & aeps3 facs variables (items) m sd 1 2 3 4 5 6 aeps-3 ready set (teacher) – gross motor 1. gross motor ready set item 1 2.00 .000 -- 2. gross motor ready set item 2 1.67 .702 c -- 3. gross motor ready set item 3 1.63 .711 c . 087 -- aeps-3 facs (parent) – gross motor 4. gross motor facs item 1 2.00 .000 c c c -- 5. gross motor facs item 2 1.43 .788 c .766** .073 c -- 6. gross motor facs item 3 1.83 .576 c .288 .484* c .174 -- note. * indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). **indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). c = cannot compute because at least one of the variables is constant. 36 macy, reid & macy table 7 social emotional means, standard deviations, and pearson correlations for aeps3 ready set & aeps3 facs variables (items) m sd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 aeps-3 ready set (teacher) – social emotional 1. social emotional ready set 1 1.83 .381 -- 2. social emotional ready set 2 1.88 .338 .507* -- 3. social emotional ready set 3 1.88 .338 .507* 1.00** -- 4. social emotional ready set 4 1.92 .282 .674** .342 .342 -- 5. social emotional ready set 5 1.50 .511 .447* .378 .378 .302 -- 6. social emotional ready set 6 1.96 .204 -.093 -.079 -.079 -.063 .209 -- 7. social emotional ready set 7 1.79 .415 .596* .737**.737** .588** .513* -.107 -- 8. social emotional ready set 8 1.75 .532 .430* .061 . 061 .435* .480* .301 .542**-- aeps-3 facs (parent) – social emotional 9. social emotional facs 1 1.83 .381 .400 .845**.845**.270 .447*-.093 .596**.000 -- 10. social emotional facs 2 1.88 .338 .507* .619**.619**.342 .378 -.079 .427* .303 .507* -- 11. social emotional facs 3 1.21 .658 .145 .513* .513* .098 .194 .067 .325 .155 .492* .513* --- 12. social emotional facs 4 1.79 .509 .262 .853**.853**.176 .251 -.087 .609**-.040 .711**.601**.525**-- 13. social emotional facs 5 1.71 .550 .381 .497* .497* .397 .077 -.113 .484* .037 .381 .263 .175 .395 --- 14. social emotional facs 6 1.54 .588 .032 .356 .356 -.240 .217 .196 .126 -.104 .421* .356 .257 .057 .257 -- note. * indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). **indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). head start to kindergarten 37 table 8 social communication means, standard deviations, and pearson correlations for aeps3 ready set & aeps3 facs variables (items) m sd 1 2 3 4 5 aeps-3 ready set (teacher) – social communication 1. social communication ready set 1 1.96 .204 -- 2. social communication ready set 2 1.83 .381 .466* -- 3. social communication ready set 3 1.71 .464 .325 .451* -- aeps-3 facs (parent) – social communication 4. social communication facs 1 1.83 .381 -.093 .100 -.041 -- 5. social communication facs 2 1.71 .464 .325 .205 -.008 .451* -- note. * indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). **indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). 38 macy, reid & macy table 9 literacy means, standard deviations, and pearson correlations for aeps3 ready set & aeps3 facs variables (items) m sd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 aeps-3 ready set (teacher) literacy 1. literacy ready set 1 1.25 .737 -- 2. literacy ready set 2 .25 .532 .388 -- 3. literacy ready set 3 .33 .637 .278 .642** -- 4. literacy ready set 4 .50 .834 .636**.196 .000 -- 5. literacy ready set 5 1.21 .779 .511* .184 .292 .301 -- 6. literacy ready set 6 .71 .806 .494* .177 -.226 .808**.239 -- 7. literacy ready set 7 1.83 .381 .465* .215 .239 .274 .415* .401 -- 8. literacy ready set 8 1.33 .482 .735**.340 .189 .866**.270 .597**.316 -- 9. literacy ready set 9 1.71 .550 .509* -.037 .041 .237 .249 -.004 .173 .219 -- 10. literacy ready set 10 1.79 .509 .492* .201 .223 .256 .334 .057 .037 .296 .550**-- aeps-3 facs (parent) literacy 11. literacy facs 1 1.04 .806 .640** .279 .141 .549**.332 .421* .448*.634**.421*.552** -- 12. literacy facs 2 .63 .770 .249 .027 .177 .373 .354 .236 .223 .235 .449*.347 .306 -- 13. literacy facs 3 .63 .711 .436* -.086 -.192 .623**.383 .559**.402 .381 .486*.255 .408* .685** -- 14. literacy facs 4 .71 .806 .201 .076 .113 .162 .516**.265 .401 .149 .192 .375 .354 .517**.483* -- 15. literacy facs 5 1.65 .714 .492* .128 .077 .239 .769**.308 .593**.233 .178 .278 .479*.315 .429* .431* -- 16. literacy facs 6 1.50 .722 .327 .226 .189 .072 .348 .187 .632**.125 .164 .177 .336 .196 .296 .485*.595** 17. literacy facs 7 1.71 .624 .543** .229 .255 .292 .578** .342 .335 .338 .121 .074 .198 .215 .135 .256 .769**.338 note.* indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). **indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). head start to kindergarten 39 table 10 math means, standard deviations, and pearson correlations for aeps3 ready set & aeps3 facs variables (items) m sd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 aeps-3 ready set (teacher) math 1. math ready set 1 .88 .850 -- 2. math ready set 2 1.54 .658 .359 -- 3. math ready set 3 1.21 .833 .407* .658** -- 4. math ready set 4 1.00 .780 .524** .593** .870** -- 5. math ready set 5 .13 .448 .271 .203 .276 .373 -- 6. math ready set 6 .13 .448 .271 .203 .276 .373 1 -- aeps-3 facs (parent) math 7. math facs 1 1.14 .834 .150 .457* .515* .529* -.304 -.304 -- 8. math facs 2 1.35 .775 .205 .690** .535** .561** .183 .183 .663** -- 9. math facs 3 .96 .928 .162 .554** .773** .699** .245 .245 .679** .654** -- 10. math facs 4 .65 .647 .077 .546** .707** .609** .454* .454* .438* .614** .806** -- note. * indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). **indicates the correlation was significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). 40 macy, reid & macy parental responses to open-ended questions on the aeps-3 facs, parents provided information about what they would like for their children by domain and overall. the qualitative data collected from parents was obtained from open-ended questions from the aeps-3 facs. parental hopes for their children are described next. what parents want for their children – adaptive skills. a total of three parents provided written responses in the open-ended section of the adaptive domain. one parent said she would like her child to be able to tie shoes. another parent wrote: “to be less social, she's quite the little butterfly and loves to talk. it often concerns me when she is out with me how easy it is to talk to strangers even though we have had that talk.” a parent wrote that she would like her child to: look both ways, watch step, and better self-care personal hygiene. what parents want for their children – cognitive skills. a total of five parents provided written responses in the open-ended section of the cognitive domain. their comments were: (parent 1) i would like to do more experiments to help widen & expand her ideas & mind; (parent 2) continue to work on problem solving and categorizing; (parent 3) understanding perception/opinion; (parent 4) work on solving problems through frustration; (parent 5) reconocer las letras del a, b, c y los numeros (recognize letters of the alphabet and numbers). what parents want for their children – fine motor skills. a total of eight parents provided written responses in the open-ended section of the fine motor domain. here are parental responses: (parent 1) to write or draw with both hands; (parent 2) how to tie her shoes; (parent 3) i want my child to learn how to tie his shoes; (parent 4) pincer grasp. applying pressure to writing tool; (parent 5) escribir bien (write well); (parent 6) hand eye coordination; (parent 7) tie her shoes; (parent 8) escribir los numeros y letras (write numbers and letters). what parents want for their children – gross motor skills. a total of six parents provided written responses in the open-ended section of the gross motor domain. here are parental responses to open-ended question: (parent 1) to learn to jump rope; (parent 2) ride a bike without training wheels, jump rope, skipping; (parent 3) skipping. alternating feet when climbing stairs. pedaling bike. overhand throws; (parent 4) riding a bike, not being scared of it; (parent 5) omolar en bicicleta. (ride bike); (parent 6) skipping. what parents want for their children – social emotional skills. a total of eight parents provided written responses in the open-ended section of the social emotional domain. parental responses included: (parent 1) she knows her full name, but i would like to work on her address, phone number, and city; (parent 2) she needs to learn more personal information (address); (parent 3) i want my child to learn our home address; (parent 4) learn phone number and address. to better advocate for self when playing with others; (parent 5) aprender su direccion y numero de telefonon (learn directions and telephone number); (parent 6) phone # and address; (parent 7) work on listening in public; (parent 8) direcion, numero de telefono (directions and telephone number). what parents want for their children – social communication skills. a total of six parents provided written responses in the open-ended section of the communication domain. parents head start to kindergarten 41 responded with the following comments: (parent 1) to be more precise and exact; (parent 2) i want my child to describe where he lives; (parent 3) understanding conversational rules. turn taking in conversation. being more patient waiting for a response; (parent 4) to communicate with other kids; (parent 5) stranger and not a stranger difference; (parent 6) learn to communicate while angry. what parents want for their children – literacy skills. a total of seven parents provided written responses in the open-ended section of the literacy domain. parental responses were: (parent 1) i would like her to continue to break down words & continue to practice reading; (parent 2) continue to work on writing letters, matching sounds; (parent 3) i want my child to correctly spell his full name; (parent 4) recognizing and writing letters and words. matching sounds and letters; (parent 5) he is working on speech. j has issues talking; (parent 6) work on rhyming; (parent 7) escribir y dibujar los letras y numeros (write and draw letters and numbers). what parents want for their children math skills. a total of ten parents provided written responses in the open-ended section of the math domain. of the eight domains, this math domain had the most comments by parents which include the following: (parent 1) work on learning bigger numbers; (parent 2) needs to work on counting; (parent 3) work on counting skills sometimes she struggles with a certain number; (parent 4) i want my child to learn the "10s" so he can correctly count to 100; (parent 5) 1. writing and reading more numbers; 2. writing words; (parent 6) recognizing and writing numbers; (parent 7) los numeros.(parent 8) 11-20 needed work on. all number needed to be more written or to be able to know all of them when written down; (parent 9) continue to learn numbers; (parent 10) contor y reconocer los numeros (know and recognize numbers). overall intervention priorities parents want for their children a total of 17 parents provided written responses in the open-ended section for: intervention priorities. the directions were: “please list the next skills you would like your child to learn.” parental comments are displayed in table 11: table 11 parent response 1 learn math better 2 tie shoes 3 1. i would like my child to learn how to tie his shoes 2. i would like my child to learn how to dial 911 on a cell phone 3. i would like my child to learn my cell phone number 4. i would like my child to learn/memorize our home address 4 1. recognizing and writing letters 2. recognizing and writing numbers 3. pincer grasp 4. alternating steps/stepping 5 to learn how to write more, talking skills, how to learn sentences 6 1. lear un libre (read a book) 42 macy, reid & macy 2. esbribir (write) 3. pintar bonito (paint pretty) 4. tener muchos amigos (have lots of friends) 7 1. knowing left and right 2. phone #, address, full names 3. tying shoes, riding bike with training wheels 4. writing numbers and letters better 8 j needs help talking 9 1. tie shoes 2. recognize more letters 3. last name 10 1. more letters 2. counting higher 3. letter sounds 11 counting, language, and writing 12 1. write name 2. know more letters 3. count higher 4. identify numbers 13 count higher, know more letters, writing 14 talking about emotions, being more patient, listen to directions the first time, tying shoes 15 write all alphabet 16 escribir y reconocer los numeros (write and recognize numbers). escribir y reconocer las letras (write and recognize letters). aprenda a socializar mas con sus cmpaneritos y maestras (learn and social with friends and teachers). 17 1. to learn more spanish 2. to learn to write her last name 3. clearly enunciate with her vocabulary & not my words 4. to write out all letters and numbers 5. to put sounds together to be able to read 6. to learn bigger numbers 7. continue with science 8. make more art and mix colors 9. better colorings/more inside the lines 10. cut in straight lines 11. pick out her own clothes and get dressed by herself 12. clean and organize on her own by sorting 13. skipping discussion the current study explored child development and used perceptions from two raters familiar with a child to rate their performance on skills in the literacy, math, adaptive, cognitive, social, social communication, fine and gross motor domains. we examined the relationship between parent report and the child's tested performance rated by a professional. studies have explored evaluators of children and their development (macy et al., 2018; lambert et al., 2021), however, this exploratory study is the first to examine the reliability of the aeps-3 ready set with parents of children in head start settings and their teachers. two other studies on the aeps-3 ready set have head start to kindergarten 43 been conducted. one of the aeps-3 ready set studies was with montessori children, teachers, and parents in idaho and florida (macy et al., 2022). another aeps-3 ready set study was conducted with kindergarten teachers in kentucky (stevenson, 2019). reliability relates to accuracy of measurement. there are many types of reliability studies and our study focused on inter-rater reliability, or the degree to which a tool can be used to accurately assess a child’s development when two different raters observe the child’s skills. inter-rater reliability is important in describing psychometric properties of an assessment because when there is a high level of agreement between two independent observers it may indicate that assessment items are written and administered in a manner that independent observers can agree upon a child’s performance as having met a set of criteria or did not meet criteria. where is there convergence and divergence between parents and professionals? social connections for professionals are important indicators of wellness (gallagher & roberts, 2022; roberts, gallagher, daro, iruka, & sarver, 2019). children benefit when professionals and parents work in concert. parental engagement in the assessment process can support child development. in a study by crais, roy, and free (2006) parents and professionals both rated ideal and actual child-centered assessment practices high, however there was a gap between their views on implementation of assessment. in their study actual and ideal implementation of assessment practices varied between parents and professionals. families benefit when there is a clear understanding about services and roles to co-produce services for children. respect for family wishes, concerns, and priorities, as well as role clarity can lead to positive results. co-production in an early childhood educational context may include, but is not limited to: instruction, intervention, home visits (e.g., face-to-face and/or virtual), goal and curriculum development and/or implementation, and progress monitoring. assessment is one type of coproduction that could be used when parents and professionals work in partnership. the parents and professionals in the current study had several areas of convergence and some divergence that we used correlations to examine eight domains. correlation shows the relationship between 2 variables. correlation values greater than .40 is an indication of moderate relationship, and values greater than .60 are an indication of a strong relationship. p value indicates the statistical significance of the relationship. adaptive. there was a moderate to strong correlation between adaptive items on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs when scored by parents and teachers. all aeps-3 scores were positive for the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs. as scores increase for one aeps-3 measure, they also increase for the other measure. dining and safety were the two constructs that were measured in the adaptive area. these adaptive skills are areas that are important for children. if a child did not have formal preschool, the kindergarten program might benefit by measuring these two constructs (i.e., dining and safety) and could use these two aeps-3 measures that have strong correlation. 44 macy, reid & macy cognitive. parents and teachers observed cognitive items with a moderate to strong correlation on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs with several items that were statistically significant. all aeps-3 scores were positive for the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs. many items in the cognitive area were new in the aeps-3, especially in scientific discovery. future research studies could examine the qualitative scoring notes on the aeps-3 with special emphasis on the “a” and “i” scoring option that is associated with a score of “1” which is a new feature of the third edition. fine motor. there was a moderate to strong correlation between fine motor items on the aeps3 ready set and aeps-3 facs when scored by parents and teachers. aeps-3 facs item 2 is statistically significant with both aeps-3 ready set items. aeps-3 facs item 2 is also the only item of the four items in this area that has a picture of the task (i.e., child is hand holding a pencil using a three-finger grasp). this might be a helpful way to visually demonstrate the task. many skills in kindergarten require children using their eye hand coordination to accomplish tasks, however assessments in kindergarten tend to be more academic and less developmental. professionals and parents who are using both measures together to assess preschoolers include implications for impactful collaborations between home and preschool as children transition to kindergarten settings. gross motor. there was a moderate to strong correlation between gross motor items on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs. gross motor aeps-3 facs item 1 was about jumping with a picture of child jumping and strongly correlated with the aeps-3 ready set jump item. skipping and hanging from play equipment were also statistically significant. physical play is an important part of development which can sometimes get overlooked in kindergarten settings with less time to play in the kindergarten classroom compared with preschool. this study focused on preschool children, however a study done by stevenson (2019) with the aeps-3 ready set was with school districts in kentucky who used the measure for kindergarten classrooms. her findings add to this research showing how kindergarten teachers can use aeps-3 ready set to measure developmental skills in kindergarten. social emotional. there were moderate to strong correlations between items on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs. the social emotional area was the social area from the second edition. the aeps has a long history and since its inception has included the social area, however in the aeps-3 multiple items were changed or revised in the third edition of the aeps-3 with many remaining the same (macy, chen, & macy, 2019). many of the parental comments in the openended section of the aeps-3 facs corroborate results from the strong correlations. social communication. social communication was the one area in which there was not a statistically significant correlation between the aeps-3 ready set and the aeps-3 facs on the items. all items from the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs are based on expressive language functioning which are important skills in kindergarten to help children get their needs met and interact with others. teachers and parents were not in agreement on these items in their scoring. this could be because children may communicate differently across settings resulting in diverse opinions of development in this domain. parents may be better able to decode their children’s needs and communication shorthand and non-verbal communication where a teacher may not be as familiar. future research will need to examine why the two groups were different in how they scored this area, as well as compare the aeps-3 social communication and literacy areas. head start to kindergarten 45 literacy. there were moderate to strong correlations between literacy items on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs. this finding is important because a lot of educators and parents preparing children for kindergarten focus on the area of reading. both the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs can be used for transition by using the aeps-3 to gather information about academic skills/behaviors, as well as developmental. macy and macy (2016) used the newly developed experimental edition of the literacy domain from the aeps-3 in a study and found the measure to be helpful for assessing children in an inclusive preschool setting. math. there were moderate to strong positive correlations between math items on the aeps-3 ready set and aeps-3 facs. this math domain was also where parents had the most comments added in the open-ended section of the aeps-3 facs. macy et al (2015) is a study that used blind expert reviewers to give input in the aeps-3 items across all the developmental areas, as well as the two new academic areas of literacy and math. vast differences in opinion existed between reviewers who provided feedback on the items. what do parents want? in the open-ended section of the aeps-3 facs, parents shared their wishes for their child. most of the parents had comments about wanting their child to continue to develop in developmental areas (e.g., three-finger grasp to hold a writing utensil, tie shoes, etc.), as well as academics (e.g., learning letters and numbers, etc.). however, there were also areas of interactions with others that parents indicated as important for their child. this study sample was one of convenience with self-selection of head start programs and participants. additionally, the sample size of dyads reporting assessment information for 24 children is relatively small. limitations also included some missing items from parents on the aeps-3 facs. findings from this study with parents of children enrolled in head start and their teachers are promising. more 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(2018). chinese teachers’ perceptions of early childhood school readiness. school psychology international, 39(5), 454-469. https://doi:10.1177/0143034318790635. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 6 examining the influence of practicebased teacher education approaches on primary grades teacher candidates’ development of inclusive and equitybased mathematics teaching the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 2 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i2.1807 contact: drew polly drew.polly@charlotte.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics abstract this article proposes the construct of inclusive and equity-based mathematics teaching (iebmt), a synthesis of theory and research for effective mathematics teaching for all students. there is a critical need for educator preparation programs to intentionally design course activities and clinical practice experiences to provide teacher candidates (tcs) with ample, worthwhile experiences to develop the knowledge and skills required to be an effective teacher for all students. the study examines how practice-based teacher education (pbte) approaches in two elementary education mathematics pedagogy courses influenced tcs enactment of iebmt. the inductive analysis of teacher candidates’ projects and reflections indicated that they were adequately prepared to support learners who had knowledge of the counting sequence and were able to accurately count a set of 5 objects. however, teacher candidates reported and demonstrated in their project a desire and a need for further opportunities to develop classroom-based skills at observing or listening to primary grade learners and quickly making effective instructional decisions about future activities and questions based on what they notice. the article concludes with implications for both course activities and clinical practice experiences for teacher candidates to support their capacity to teach mathematics effectively. keywords early childhood education, elementary education, mathematics education, problem solving introduction framing inclusive, equity-based mathematics teaching (iebmt) there is compelling evidence that early childhood learners (pre-kindergarten through grade 2) vary in their mathematics achievement based on multiple factors, such as their previous opportunities to learn, access to effective teachers teachers and researchdrew polly, ph.d. university of north carolina at charlotte the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 7 -based learning experiences, as well as ethnic and racial backgrounds (domingo-martos et al., 2022; musu-gillette et al., 2017). this article includes inclusive and equity-based mathematics teaching (iebmt), a synthesis of empiricallyand theoretically-based constructs designed to support learning for all students (table 1). iebmt includes two primary pillars: 1) access to grade-level aligned, research-based experiences and 2) opportunities for the exploration of problems embedded in meaningful contexts. within each of those pillars, there are two aspects, for a total of four aspects. access to grade level-aligned, research-based practices aligned to grade-level content. all learners deserve access to grade-level aligned, research-based practices (musu-gillette, et al., 2017; unbound ed, 2021a). for those learners whose data suggests that they need learning experiences on concepts from previous grade levels, learning activities should serve as access points to grade level content, and be clearly evident to grade level concepts (unbound ed, 2021b). historically, studies have found that students whose data suggests that they lack foundational concepts often do not receive opportunities to engage in grade-level activities (liljedahl, 2020; unbound ed, 2021a). therefore, early childhood teachers and tcs must be equipped with the knowledge and skills related to knowing characteristics of grade-level aligned and developmentally appropriate activities. further, teachers and tcs need to know how to modify activities so that they align to grade-level concepts and provide access to all learners (bostic et al., 2021; cast, 2024; national association for the education of young children [naeyc], 2020). access to research-based practices. additionally, early childhood tcs must be given opportunities to learn what supports are research-based and how to use them in a way that supports learners’ development (naeyc, 2020; zhang & cutler, candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics table 1 aspects of inclusive, equity-based mathematics teaching pillar aspect description access to grade-level aligned, researchbased experiences alignment to grade level content learners should engage in activities aligned to current grade-level standards (gutiérrez, 2009; nctm, 2014; unbound ed, 2021a). concepts prior to grade-level standards should be connected to grade-level concepts (tomlinson, 2017; unbound ed, 2021b) access to research based experiences learners will engage in activities that are aligned to research-based teaching practices proven to increase student learning and achievement (cioè-peña, 2017; gutiérrez, 2012). opportunities for the exploration of problems embedded in meaningful contexts exploring problems when appropriate, learners will explore problems and select the strategies that they will use to solve problems (buchheister et al., 2019; nctm, 2014). gutiérrez (2009) describes this as power. meaningful mathematics contexts learners engage in activities that are contextualized in real-life situations that are meaningful to learners and build upon their cultural and academic assets (buchheister et al., 2019; chao et al., 2015; domingo-martos et al., 2022). the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 8 2024). part of the process of preparing tcs to enact iebmt with young learners in mathematics is ensuring that they are prepared to incorporate hands-on, concrete learning experiences with manipulatives to support children’s understanding of mathematics concepts (naeyc, 2020). piaget (1952) posited that young learners must first experience mathematics using concrete objects before learning mathematics with pictures and abstract symbols. early childhood teacher education programs need to ensure that tcs know how to use manipulatives, when to use them, and when to help students transition to pictures and abstract symbols (zhang & cutler, 2020). this includes ensuring that tcs are aware of various levels and progressions of learning mathematics concepts including the use of concrete manipulatives, pictorial representations, and the use of abstract symbols. opportunities for exploring problems embedded in meaningful contexts the second pillar of iebmt focuses on providing learners with opportunities to explore problems, when appropriate, that are embedded in meaningful contexts. student exploration of problems. syntheses of research indicate that students benefit by having meaningful experiences to explore mathematics concepts and develop a solid understanding of content before learning specific procedures (nctm, 2014; sinha & kapur, 2021). the process of providing learners with opportunities to explore and the autonomy to choose strategies does not mean that learners have free reign while the teacher sits back. rather, students use mathematics tools (e.g., manipulatives, paper/pencil for drawings or symbolic work) and explore problems while the teacher scaffolds and guides them with specific questions and feedback (buchheister et al., 2019; nctm, 2014). in her influential work on equity-based mathematics practices gutiérrez (2009, 2012) referred to this idea as giving students power, and recommended that teachers give learners opportunities to explore and the freedom to select which strategies they want to use to solve problems that are relevant to them. syntheses of research find benefit in allowing students to engage in productive struggle (failure) prior to discussions of specific strategies of solving problems (nctm, 2014; sinha & kapur, 2021). activities in meaningful contexts. additionally, these activities must be relevant to learners and embedded in meaningful contexts that learners can relate to (unbound ed, 2021a, 2021b). constructs, such as culturally responsive teaching, are grounded in evidence that students are more likely to persist and engage in challenging activities when they are grounded in relevant contexts related to their cultural assets and interests (paris & alim, 2017). similar to the other aspects of iebmt, teachers and tcs need opportunities to develop knowledge about their students’ cultural assets and interests of their students (domingo-martos et al., 2022). context of educator preparation programs there have been long-running recommendations to intentionally align the course work within educator preparation programs, teacher candidates’ (tcs) clinical practice experiences, and the actual work done daily by teachers (american association for colleges of teacher education [aacte], 2016; putman & polly, 2021; zeichner, 2021). historically, research has documented discrepancies between what tcs experience during education courses, specifically those focused on pedagogies, and their experiences with clinical practice in school settings (zeichner, 2021). additionally, recommendations in the past decade have explicitly asked for educator preparation programs to intentionally prioritize the design and implementation of clinical practice experiences that are intended to provide tcs with worthwhile, intensive but supported opportunities to plan instructional activities, teach them, and then reflect on their experiences (aacte, 2016; national association for professional development schools, 2022). this study frames early childhood education broadly to encompass education for learners from birth through grade 3 with a specific focus on learners in grades kindergarten through grade 3. in teacher education this involves clinical practice experiences occurring in multiple settings including early childhood education centers, community centers, as well as formal schools which often start in the united states in pre-kindergarten or kindergarten. when considering the preparation of early candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 9 childhood educators, scholars speak to the essential nature of intentionally aligning course activities with clinical practice experiences is critical (burns et al., 2016; zeichner, 2021; putman & polly, 2021). historically, university-based course instructors include researchand theory-based approaches to teaching that do not align to what tcs are observing in pk12 school settings (aacte, 2016). additionally, the clinical practice activities that tcs engage in in classrooms do not include the depth needed to adequately prepare them for full-time student teaching internships as well as having their own classroom (aacte, 2016). early childhood tcs who hope to work with primary grade learners need ample experiences working with and learning about children in clinical practice settings in classrooms (matengu et. al., 2020). these clinical practice activities should include both informal time in classrooms observing and interacting with children as well as more formal opportunities to co-lead or lead instructional activities and reflect on their experiences. table 2 phases of practice-based teacher education phase description learn learn research-based pedagogies by participating as learners in an example lesson, watching videos, and/or other experiences. prepare prepare to enact the research-based pedagogies with young learners. this may include selecting activities, writing lesson plans, and rehearsing/practicing teaching with peers (aka other tcs) and receiving feedback on their rehearsal. enact enact research-based pedagogies with students in a school setting. this experience may include the collection of artifacts from the enactment such as student work samples, audio recordings, video recordings, or observation notes from an observer. reflect reflect on the enactment based on tcs’ experiences, student data, or recordings of the enactment. practice-based teacher education practice-based teacher education (pbte) is a construct used to describe four phases to prepare tcs to learn about and enact research-based pedagogies (grossman et al., 2009). table 2 describes the four phases of pbte: learn, practice, enact, and reflect (mcdonald et al., 2013). mcdonald and colleagues wrote in their introductory article about the learning cycle (p. 382), this cycle intends to offer guided assistance to candidates to learn particular practices by introducing them to the practices as they come to life in meaningful units of instruction, preparing them to actually enact those practices, requiring them to enact the practices with real students in real classrooms, and then returning to their enactment through analysis. depending on the goals and purposes of the teacher educator, it is possible to start this learning cycle in any of its four quadrants. candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 10 “the learning cycle is rooted in theory that posits that learning is situated within meaningful learning experiences and refined through empirical studies on teacher candidates’ learning.” the learning cycle is rooted in theory that posits that learning is situated within meaningful learning experiences (see rogoff, 1997; wenger, 1998) and refined through empirical studies on teacher candidates’ learning (grossman, 2013; kazemi et al., 2009; windschitl et al., 2012). while the learning cycle has four distinct phases, based on tcs background, teacher educators may begin the cycle with any phase. in the learn phase tcs are introduced to specific research-based pedagogies through various means including, but not limited to, an instructional activity where the teacher education models the pedagogies as tcs take on the role of learners, conducting live observations of a teacher enacting this practice, watching a video of a teacher implementing the pedagogy with students, or analyzing written vignettes from teachers or researchers about classroom-based enactments of the pedagogies. the priority in this phase is that tcs gain a deeper understanding of what the practice looks like with learners in actual schools. typically, the prepare phase also occurs during a course meeting when tcs practice using the research-based pedagogies with peers in what is often called rehearsals. during this phase, the course instructor and peers give feedback to help refine the use of the pedagogy before tcs enact it with children in classrooms. the enact phase occurs in a classroom when tcs teach an instructional activity and use the research-based pedagogies with students. lastly, the reflect phase includes tcs analyzing student work, recordings, or thinking about their experiences during the enactment phase. research on pbte approaches have indicated that this process, especially the practice phase with rehearsal activities have positively influenced tcs’ perceptions of feeling prepared to enact research-based pedagogies (colonnese et al., 2022; shaughnessy & boerst, 2018; shaughnessy et al., 2019). additionally, the pbte phases contributed to tcs posing more questions about elementary school students’ mathematical thinking and ideas instead of just asking more basic questions about the answer that they received (polly, 2021). in light of the context of educator preparation programs and the need to support early childhood educator preparation programs in preparing tcs to be more inclusive of primary grades learners, pbte has a lot of potential that needs to continue to be explored as a possible approach to support tcs enactment of research-based pedagogies. to that end, this paper explores the following broad question: how do course activities in early childhood mathematics pedagogy courses influence tcs’ performance during practice and enactment activities? methods context this study examined data sources from two elementary education mathematics pedagogy courses focused on teaching primary grades learners (kindergarten through grade 2) taught by the author at a large university in the southeastern united states. course a is a traditional face-to-face course taken by undergraduate students who are earning their undergraduate degree in elementary education and their initial teaching license in grades kindergarten through grade 6. course a required tcs to attend face-to-face courses for 3 hours each week for a 16-week semester. the course also included clinical practice activities in which tcs enacted a number sense activity (aka a number talk) and three lessons focused on word problems. meanwhile, course b was an online course with both synchronous and asynchronous coursework taken by post-baccalaureate students during a 10-week summer session. each of the tcs in course b had a degree in a non-education related field and were earning their initial teaching license in grades kindergarten through grade 6. during this section tcs completed 8 asynchronous modules and participated in 3 synchronous sessions, two of which involved practice and rehearsal activities. enactment and reflection were not required in this course since the course occurred in the summer. candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 11 due to the differences in the course formats, the purpose of this study is to examine each course separately in light of the research question: how do practice-based teacher education (pbte) course activities in early childhood mathematics pedagogy courses influence tcs’ enactment of inclusive and equity-based mathematics teaching (iebmt)? both courses were included since pbte approaches have not been studied thoroughly in both face-toface and online, bichronous settings (polly, 2021; shaughnessy et al., 2021). description of course activities number sense activity course a. in course a tcs participated in number sense activities (aka number talks) as learners three times during the first two weeks of the semester. each of these activities focused on having tcs look at and talk about pictures of dots that were arranged differently based on the research-based activity of subitizing (clements, 1999; figure 1). the goal of the activity was to think about different ways to count the total number of dots. while there are various ways to arrange manipulatives inside of a ten frame the purpose of these arrangements was to promote conceptual subitizing (clements, 1999) so that tcs could clearly see two distinct groups with a constant total amount. in the activity all the pictures had a total of 10 dots with varying dots in each of the ten frames. in figure 1 when asked about what they notice, tcs may state ideas such as: • “i see 5 on the top and 5 on the bottom and i know that 5 plus 5 is 10.” • “i see that the bottom dots can be moved up to fill the empty boxes so that all 10 boxes on top are full to make a total of 10.” • “i went from left to right and counted by 2s. i landed on 10 which is the total.” during the discussion after the activity, tcs spent time talking about their experiences as learners and the benefits of the number sense activities. part of the discussion during the course focused on the specific questions that the instructor (the author) asked during the activity with a focus on how those questions elicited students’ thinking about the mathematical concepts embedded within the activity. during the fourth class meeting tcs came to class with a number sense activity prepared and questions planned. the tcs spent time practicing their number sense activity in small groups of 5 or 6 people. after each round of practice each tc who practiced received feedback from their peers. course b. since course b was an online course with asynchronous modules and a few synchronous sessions, tcs experienced two examples of a number sense activity during the first synchronous session and then watched a video example of a number sense activity during a subsequent online module. in the second synchronous session the tcs practiced their number sense activity with colleagues. similar to course a, after each round of practice each tc received peer feedback. problem solving lessons course a. in the undergraduate face-to-face course tcs spent two class periods in the learn phase where they analyzed and solved different types of word problems. during this time the instructor modeled how to teach a word problem using an inquiry-based approach that involved the teacher posing the word problem, asking a series of questions about the problem, and then allowing students to solve the problem. candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics figure 1 screen shot of image from number sense activity the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 12 during the course meetings the instructor (the author) provided examples of ways to support primary grades students. for example, consider the word problem: there are 4 dogs in the park. then 3 more dogs show up. these scaffolds that were shown to tcs included asking questions about the problem to guide students through the problem-solving process and providing them with a number path and hands-on counters to help students who need help keeping track of the numbers in the problems (figure 2). the instructor walked through the process with tcs in the following way: • instructor: i want us to think about this situation. there are 4 dogs in the park. then 3 more dogs show up. • instructor: how many dogs are in the park? • tcs: there are 4. • instructor: how can we use our counters to show that? • tcs cover the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the number path. • instructor: what is the action in our problem? • tc: 3 more dogs showed up. • instructor: use your counters to show the 3 dogs that showed up. • tcs put counters that are a different color on the numbers 5, 6, and 7. • instructor: the question we are going to answer is “how many dogs are now in the park? what is the answer? • tc: the answer is 7. • instructor: how do you know? • tc: i have 4 counters and 3 counters. that is a total of 7. tcs then spent time during a class meeting creating word problems to use in each of their three lessons. the template that was given to students required five word problems per lesson. tcs were required to create an opening word problem and then four follow up word problems. tcs were asked to create two of the four follow-up problems to be easier than the opening problem, meaning the numbers were smaller or there would be more guidance from the tc while teaching young learners. additionally, two of the follow-up problems were expected to be more challenging than the opening problem with larger numbers and possibly focusing on the use of pictures instead of handson manipulatives and less teacher guidance. after students created word problems, they had a class session where they practiced teaching one of their word problems using the process that was detailed above. similar to the number sense activities, peers provided feedback. course b. course b, the 10-week online bichronous course, was markedly different from course a regarding the learn phase of the problem-solving process. tcs examined different types of word problems in the first two asynchronous modules and received feedback about their word problems from the author via an assignment that they submitted. in the second module tcs wrote their five word problems for each lesson. these word problems were similar to course a with one opening problems and four follow-up problems, two that were easier and two that were harder compared to the opening problem. in the course’s second synchronous session, which occurred during week 4 of the course, tcs practiced teaching one candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics figure 2 picture of number path and counters the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 13 of their word problems using the same process described in course a. tcs attended zoom sessions in groups of four to six where each tc taught their peers as if they were young learners. after each rehearsal peers gave glows and wonderings. glows were positive things from the rehearsal and rehearsals included things that peers had questions about. most peers gave glows and there were few wonderings. the author, as the course instructor, also gave glows. all suggestions for their tasks or teaching were communicated privately by the author after the practice rehearsal teaching. participants, data sources, and data analysis this section describes the participants, data sources, and data analysis included in this study. participants in order to examine the research question with a focus on the early childhood grades this study includes data from tcs who completed course activities related to kindergarten. while the course included 22 tcs in course a and 28 students in course b, focusing only on tcs who had placements in kindergarten reduced the number of participants to seven tcs in course a and five tcs in course b. all tcs in course a completed clinical practice activities in urban schools where over 85% of the students within the school were experiencing poverty and over 60% of the students identified as black or latinx. while tcs in course b did not complete clinical practice activities during the summer course, each of them had completed clinical practice activities in previous semesters in either urban or rural schools where over 80% of the students within the school were experiencing poverty. the students in the schools where tcs in course b previously had completed clinical activities included diverse populations of students including those who identified as white, black, and latinx. data sources and data analysis in order to examine the research question multiple data sources were examined (see table 3). the data from each course was examined separately since the courses included different populations (undergraduates and post-baccalaureate teacher candidates) and activities. these data sources came from the two primary course activities that included practice (both courses) and enactment (only course a). candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics table 3 data sources used the study course a undergraduate face-toface course course b online post baccalaureate course number sense activity practice: tc’s written reflection practice: tc’s written reflection enactment: tc’s written reflection no enactment data problem solving lessons practice: planning map of word problems and questions tc’s written reflection practice: planning map of word problems and questions tc’s written reflection enactment: tc’s written reflection no enactment data the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 14 in order to examine the research question, data was analyzed using an inductive process using open coding (bingham, 2023; bogdan & biklen, 2006). bingham (2023) proposed a five-stage process which was used. first, data was organized with all the data sources inserted into google documents. second, data was sorted into categories based on the course. third, the author coded data. the codes were informed by the two pillars on inclusive, equity-based mathematics teaching (table 1). codes were assigned to excerpts of the data by the author. examples of codes include tc’s actions such as posing word problems, posing questions, supporting students and direct teaching. examples of codes related to student actions included solving word problems, using manipulatives, and choosing strategies. fourth, codes were organized by similar topics to generate themes. the themes were then checked by revisiting the original data excerpts in order to help establish trustworthiness. lastly, findings were explained. due to the limited context of the study, bingham’s suggestion of advancing theory was not included. as stated earlier, based on the limited context, this was an exploratory study to better understand the influence of pbte activities in early childhood teacher education programs, and the study was not designed to advance theory or make generalizations. findings this study was framed around the research question: how do practice-based teacher education (pbte) course activities in early childhood mathematics pedagogy courses influence tcs’ enactment of inclusive and equity-based mathematics teaching (iebmt)? the findings are organized by the two pillars of inclusive and equity-based mathematics teaching ([iebmt]; table 1): 1) access to grade-level aligned research-based experiences and 2) opportunities for exploring problems embedded in meaningful contexts. access to grade-level aligned research-based experiences teacher candidates (tcs) in both courses planned learning experiences that were aligned with the kindergarten grade-level standards. all candidates wrote word problems and number sense activities that provided scaffolds to support primary learners’ access to the word problems. specific themes related to this pillar of iebmt included progressions of questions in the number sense activity and the use of visuals and manipulatives. progression of questions in number sense activity. in terms of the number sense activity, all seven tcs in course a had planned for a series of questions that progressed from low-level to more higher-level. when the seven teacher candidates did not ask the questions that they had come prepared with; instead, they made up other questions on the spot that were basic and low-level questions. in course b all five tcs planned for and asked questions that progressed from low-level to higher-level questions. examples of the higher-level questions that were asked were similar to those asked during the examples provided by the instructor (the author) during the learn phase, such as: “how is this strategy of finding the total number similar to the strategy we saw earlier?” and “how do you know that your thinking is correct?” similar to what happened during the learn phase, tcs in both course a (face-to-face) and course b (online) mimicked what they saw the instructor (the author) do and implemented the progression from low-level to higher-level questions with a high degree of fidelity. one tc from course a who decided to make up her own questions wrote in her reflection, “i did not feel comfortable asking the harder questions since i was still unsure what a correct answer would look like and how i would respond to my classmates.” despite the activities that this tc went through she still chose not to ask higher-level questions due to her uncertainty about the correct answer and how to respond to answers. a tc from course b wrote, “even though the synchronous time before we practiced was brief, it helped to see an example on video and also be part of one that [the instructor] led. these activities definitely helped me feel prepared to practice my own activity.” only tcs in course a enacted this activity with primary grade learners. in their reflection, six of the seven tcs reported a positive experience from candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 15 teaching the activity to a small group of primary grade learners. one tc who had a positive experience wrote, “the questions that i had planned for worked very well and my students were able to do the activity and share their thinking.” the tc who did not report a positive experience was one of the tcs who abandoned her planned questions during the practice phase. she wrote in her reflection, “when i was teaching my students the activity was too easy, so i had to make up more problems and questions on the spot.” this reflection speaks to the idea that her planned activity did not align well to students’ strengths and needs. in summary, tcs in both courses were able to practice the number sense activity in ways that aligned with the instructor had intended. tcs in course a enacted the activity with students and had a positive experience, except for one individual who reported that her students were bored and she had to plan her activity on the spot since the original activity was too easy. use of manipulatives and visuals. all the tcs across both courses planned for and used manipulatives such as counters or cubes during each of the lessons. this was consistent and evident during each tcs practice activity. during the reflection of the practice tcs wrote questions though about when they should have their students use manipulatives compared to drawing a picture about the math problem. one tc wrote, “i always make them use counters or can i give them the option of counters or a picture?” another tc wrote, “i know my students will always want counters but some may not need them. how do i take them away and have them draw pictures?” all tcs were aligned with the desired pedagogies by using manipulatives such as counters or cubes along with number paths (figure 2). tcs reported confusion and uncertainty knowing when they should encourage students to transition from manipulatives to pictures in ways that are positive and non-threatening. following the practice this was discussed in a class session for course a, and through an email to tcs in course b. the instructor gave ideas about how they may encourage students to create a representation with manipulatives and then draw a picture of the concrete objects, or when ready begin their work by trying to first draw a picture to solve the problem. when the tcs in course a enacted their lesson, they reported that their students found the use of counters to be very helpful and some primary grade learners demonstrated misconceptions when they had to draw pictures instead of manipulatives. one tc wrote, “if my students have counters they get them all correct. if they have to draw a picture then 3 of my 5 students will need help just getting started.” this tc had firsthand evidence that the transition from manipulatives to pictures was hard and needed more support in the future. in summary, tcs demonstrated some degree of fidelity to the desired pedagogies by planning for and using manipulatives such as counters and cubes in their practice activity. tcs, though, reported a lot of uncertainty across both courses on how to help students transition from manipulatives to pictures. opportunities to explore problems embedded in meaningful contexts opportunities to explore problems. the analysis of data related to the problem-solving lessons indicated that all 12 tcs across both courses had planned to allow students to explore word problems with tcs scaffolding by providing manipulatives and questions to support students. this matched both the face-to-face course session for course a and the asynchronous modules in course b. the planning and preparation of their lessons included scaffolds for learners since it went systematically step by step using questions to guide students. however, four of the seven tcs during the practice phase of course a; two tcs taught directly how to solve a problem with direct teaching and did not ask any questions, and two tcs taught posed the word problem and provided no questions or guidance to support students. in all these four instances, the practice either provided too much scaffolding with direct teaching or not enough scaffolding by simply giving the word problem. in their reflection of the practice, one tc who practiced in a direct instruction method that did not match the desired pedagogies wrote, “as soon as i got into my practice i know i needed to teach every step of the problem since my students will need to be given all candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 16 the information like that when i teach it.” this tc had a predetermined notion of her students that they needed direct instruction instead of inquiry-based instruction and she decided to practice using that approach. during the enactment with primary grades’ learners, tcs from course a all used a step-bystep inquiry-based approach. the debrief of the practice activity provided tcs with more examples and clarification about what the lessons should look like, which led to a higher degree of fidelity during the enactment with students. in her reflection, one of the tcs who taught with direct instruction during practice but inquiry-based during enactment said, “i still was skeptical during my lesson with kids until i saw how my kindergarteners had their own ideas and strategies on how to solve the problem. they had enough of a foundation to be successful and share their ideas with me and their classmates.” in terms of course b, during a synchronous session, two of the five tcs practiced their word problem with classmates in a step-by-step approach that provided scaffolds and an inquiry-based approach where the teacher taught by asking a lot of questions. there were three tcs who directly taught each step and did not use an inquiry-based approach. these tcs who directly taught how to solve word problems included comments in their reflection about how their schools have completed clinical practice experiences in teaching mathematics this way with direct instruction about specific strategies instead of inquiry-based approaches. one tc who taught her practice lesson in a direct instruction manner wrote, “this is what my school does. they teach step by step while students listen and watch and then they will eventually get to practice.” data analysis indicated that the number sense routines included plans for and evidence during the practice activities of students having power and being able to determine which strategy they want to use to count the total number of dots. additionally, the number sense activities all included alignment to grade level content since subitizing and the questions posed aligned to the state mathematics standards. identity was not explicit since number sense activities are non-contextualized problems, but the scaffolds provided by the tcs were designed to empower primary grade learners that they are capable of being successful in mathematics. in regards to the idea of power, one tc from course a wrote in her reflection after the enactment, “it was transformative to hear my students’ ideas during the number talk. they had such creative, correct ways to find the answer.” one tc from course b wrote in her reflection after the practice, “it makes me nervous to ask questions about what my students are thinking because i do not know what they will say, but i know that it is good for them and i want to keep doing that even if it is a bit nerve wracking.” in terms of the problem-solving lessons, all of the tcs across both courses provided word problems that were embedded in real-life situations which were intended to be relevant to learners, which helps to develop their identity. as stated above, not all tcs demonstrated during the practice pedagogies that give students power since some tcs taught using direct instruction the exact steps about how to solve a word problem. additionally, when tcs (and teachers) teach using direct instruction where students are not actively doing mathematics for a time that has potential to negatively impact their identity since they may feel not capable of doing mathematics without the teacher first demonstrating each step. problems embedded in a meaningful context. additionally, each of the tcs were able to write word problems that included contexts that were meaningful to their students. in the lesson plans for the problem-solving lessons tcs provided a written rationale about how their word problems were embedded in a meaningful context. examples from teachers’ rationales included references to students’ cultural backgrounds or businesses near their school. one tc in course a wrote: “many of my students speak spanish at home so i decided to make word problems about spanish food.” a tc wrote in course b, “there is a park down the street from my school and so i wrote word problems about the park since students are always talking about the park.” in summary, there was evidence that tcs were able to write word problems in a meaningful context when they embedded the problems in students’ cultures or community assets such as parks or stores. in terms of allowing students to explore problems, candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 17 data only came from course a since course b tcs did not enact lessons in kindergarten classrooms. for tcs in course a, some tcs had preconceived notions that their primary grade learners needed direct instruction of specific strategies instead of opportunities to explore, so they practiced that. fortunately, for the tcs in course a, the debrief after the practice activity provided clarity which led to all tcs teaching word problems in an inquiry-based approach during the enact phase. discussion and implications the purpose of this inductive, exploratory qualitative study was to examine the broad research question, how do practice-based teacher education (pbte) course activities in early childhood mathematics pedagogy courses influence tcs’ enactment of inclusive and equity-based mathematics teaching (iebmt)? data from tcs reflections and instructor’s notes were used as primary data sources. in this section, i connect the findings to current research and provide possible implications for future work. this section focuses specifically on the potential of practice-based teacher education (pbte) and the consideration of inclusive, equity-based teaching in early childhood educator preparation programs. potential of practice-based teacher education (pbte) in this paper, the data analysis led to findings that the process of practice-based teacher education (pbte) and its four phases led to direct alignment between desired research-based pedagogies associated with iebmt. specifically, evidence of these practices were more clearly evident in tcs plans and their practice teaching during each course related to the number sense activities and number talks. tcs used activities that were aligned to state mathematics standards and a series of questions that progressed from lower-level to higher-level which matched what tcs had experienced when they were learning about these activities. in the case of number sense activities, the course activities and pbte processes of learn and practice led to tcs using the desired pedagogies across both course a (face-to-face) and course b (online). this finding supported previous studies (colonnese & polly, 2022; shaughnessy et al., 2021) in that there was documented evidence that the pbte framework was linked with evidence of tcs learning as noted on both tc reflections on clinical documents (colonnese & polly, 2022) as well as performance-based tasks that embody the daily work of teaching mathematics (shaughnessy et al., 2021). in this study, the pbte process was associated with tcs posing word problems that had embedded research-based scaffolds, such as number paths and manipulatives. additionally, tcs in both courses wrote word problems that were embedded in meaningful contexts relevant to their students. however, there was evidence of a lack of alignment for some tcs in each course between the desired approach to teach these problem-solving lessons using an inquiry-based approach focused on asking students questions, and a direct instruction approach that some tcs used during their practice teaching. this direct instruction approach to teaching how to solve word problems was evident in both course a and course b. this complexity about the lack of alignment between course concepts and the actual enacted pedagogies that tcs observe in clinical classrooms affirms the critical need to better align pedagogies in clinical placements and the research-based practices taught in teacher education courses (aacte, 2016; zeichner, 2021). however, the alignment between course activities and clinicals appeared to be influenced by the specific course. since course a included the enact phase with primary grade learners and course b did not, all tcs in course a received feedback and developed more clarity about how to teach using an inquiry-based approach and used that approach with students in classrooms. in the case of tcs in course b since it was a summer course without candidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics “tcs in both courses wrote word problems that were embedded in meaningful contexts relevant to their students” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 18 clinical practice experiences and an enact phase there is no evidence about how the tcs would teach word problems to students. this finding contributes to the literature since it provides empirical data that while pbte has potential as a process to support tcs adoption and use of research-based pedagogies, there is a need for the instructor to be attentive to tcs performance during practice and look for ways to support pedagogical shifts between the practice and enact phases. recent work has started to look at the influence of mediated field experiences (mfes) where the course instructor is in the clinical practice setting with tcs to provide ongoing support and coaching during enactment (colonnese & polly, 2022; gesel et al., 2023). future research is needed to examine which models of supporting both practice and enactment are best, especially in the cases of online teacher education courses and programs. additionally, the research base still needs studies that examine the influence of approaches like pbte on the enactment of research-based practices as well as student learning outcomes. in order for these types of approaches to be more widespread in educator preparation programs these topics need to be empirically investigated to associate these efforts to teacher candidate learning and, when possible, pk12 student learning. preparing tcs to enact (iebmt) in early childhood settings as stated earlier, inclusive, equity-based teaching practices were framed in two ways in this study 1) providing access and support to grade level content, and 2) integrating equity-based mathematics pedagogies that are relevant to primary grade learners. providing access to grade-level aligned, research-based experiences the data analysis indicated that tcs in both courses were able to successfully create number sense activities and word problem lessons that aligned to grade level content, and tcs were also able to think about how to provide access to manipulatives such as counters and cubes as a support to do the mathematics. as indicated in the findings, though, is that tcs asked questions and reported a lack of clarity on how to help students transition from manipulatives to pictures; more specifically, when students show that they may not need the supports of the manipulatives anymore they were uncertain on how to remove them in a non-threatening way. in some cases, tcs reported not knowing when they should think about and consider removing the manipulatives from students, instead strongly encouraging the use of pictures. this finding supports a seminal mathematics education study that found that teachers tended to focus on isolated aspects of mathematics teaching such as manipulative use, but in a superficial way where hands-on manipulatives were used but teachers did not demonstrate efforts to help learners make connections between the manipulatives and the actual mathematics concepts (cohen, 1990). additionally, there is a need for educator preparation programs to ensure that ample experiences are included to support tcs enactment of iebmt. future research studies need to examine ways that educator preparation programs can provide both course and clinical practice experiences related to providing support and scaffolds for learners. this includes the process of preparing tcs to recognize in the moment of teaching or afterwards while examining student work information or data that scaffolds may no longer be needed or need to be modified. additionally, research is needed about how to best support tcs use of transitions of scaffolds as they move from more intensive to less intensive supports. in the case of this study, tcs in course a planned and enacted three problem solving lessons to small groups of students where manipulatives were used in nearly each case. in the teacher education program that course a is part of, previous studies found that having tcs enact lessons and instructional activities to small groups of students makes these clinical practice activities easier to enact compared to requiring whole group teaching experiences (polly, 2021; colonnese & polly, 2022; putman & polly, 2022). part of the reason that small group activities appear to be a better context for tcs to enact inclusive, equity-based practices is that clinical educators who host tcs are more apt to give tcs control of a small group of students compared to a whole group of students. one equity-based,inclusion practice that was comcandidates’ development of inclusive and equity-based mathematics the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 19 -plex in this study was tcs decision to use manipulatives or encourage young learners to represent their word problem with pictures on paper. in some cases, in course a, tcs required manipulative use but reported that in some cases, in retrospect, they likely should have encouraged pictures instead of manipulative use. as scholars continue to think about inclusion and meeting students’ academic needs, one-size-fits all approaches do not work, and teacher education programs have a responsibility to develop tcs who are flexible and responsive to data when deciding how to best support young learners. opportunities for exploration while solving problems in meaningful contexts the second aspect of inclusive, equity-based teaching focuses on providing learners with opportunities for exploration while solving problems in meaningful contexts. the findings from this study provide evidence that tcs were able to successfully create (both courses) and enact (only course a) word problems in contexts that were embedded in relevant and meaningful contexts to primary grade learners. however, in their reflections, some tcs shared that although they planned to engage learners in activities that provided student exploration and inquiry-based approaches, they were afraid it would be too challenging, and instead opted to use direct instruction pedagogies in their practice activities, which did not align to what the tcs had learned and used in the pbte activities in the course. this dissonance between planning (intended practices) and how tcs taught (enacted practices) occurred only in course a because tcs enacted their lessons. meanwhile, in course b, this potential disconnect was not as clearly evident since enactment was not required with early childhood learners. this potential disconnect between pbte and other course-based activities dealt with providing early childhood learners with opportunities to explore problems and use their choice of strategies while solving problems. in order for iebmt to come to fruition in early childhood settings, tcs need course activities that encompass pbte approaches and also include scaffolded enactments with young learners. in the case of course a possible revisions could include video or audio recordings of enactments with a time for tc reflection, instructor feedback or additional rehearsals in between enactments. the ideas of mediated field experiences (colonnese & polly, 2022; gesel et al., 2023) may provide promise in the efforts of supporting tcs enactment of pedagogies aligned with iebmt. references bingham, a. j. 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https://doi.org/10.1037/11494-000 https://www.cis.org.au/publication/myths-that-undermine-maths-teaching/ https://www.cis.org.au/publication/myths-that-undermine-maths-teaching/ https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956x.2020.1864250 https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956x.2020.1864250 https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543211019105 https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543211019105 https://unbounded.org/resources/what-is-gleam/ https://unbounded.org/resources/what-is-gleam/ https://unbounded.org/resources/gleam-in-the-classroom/ https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956x.2020.1864241 https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956x.2020.1864241 the dialog vol28iss01 for separating.pdf the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 6 the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 1 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i1.1792 contact: bettie parsons barger bargerbp@winthrop.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). situatiing literacy-rich engagements abstract camp sunshine, a summer literacy program for emergent bilingual children ages 4-8, positions bilingualism as an asset. in camp sunshine, we strive to create inclusive multilingual spaces that honor children's cultural identities and lived experiences while supporting literacy development. the camp implements a three-pronged approach to literacy engagement: beginning with whole-group interactive read-alouds of carefully selected multicultural picturebooks, followed by small-group re-engagement with key concepts, and culminating in hands-on explorations through art or play-based activities. through camp sunshine, children freely use their full linguistic repertoires, navigating literacy as they engage in translanguaging. this descriptive article presents key insights including strategies to support literacy development like using culturally relevant literature as windows into children's experiences, incorporating sensory-rich experiences, and fostering collaborative relationships between educators. the framework which offers practical applications for educators seeking to create culturally responsive learning environments for emergent bilingual learners. keywords translanguaging, emergent bilinguals, picturebooks, culturally response literacy, asset-based perspective camp sunshine (all names are pseudonyms), a summer literacy camp for young emergent bilingual children, provides a space for children to freely engage in literacy-rich activities in a joyful and creative atmosphere. we, university researchers and faculty, intentionally designed the camp to position bilingualism as an asset for learning and growth, rather than a deficit. located on the campus of a university early childhood laboratory school in the southeast, the camp operates for eight, half-day sessions, offering campers situating literacyrich engagements for emergent bilinguals maria acevedo-aquino texas a&m university san antonio erin hamel bettie parsons barger winthrop university the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 7 time in large group gatherings and age-defined classes (kindergarten and first grade in one group, second and third grade in another group). throughout the day, campers, ages four to eight years old, engage in read alouds, art activities, music, dance, center activities, snack time and outdoor play. within these spaces, campers use whichever language or languages they feel most comfortable within a given context, sometimes engaging in translanguaging as they mix languages seamlessly (garcía et al., 2017). the dynamic environment at camp sunshine is busy, noisy, exuberant, and celebrates linguistic diversity. camp sunshine has been serving children and families since 2018. in this descriptive article, we describe the curriculum at large, followed by the specific three-pronged multiliteracy approach implemented in summer 2023. during that year, camp staff included four teachers (two fluent in spanish and english) and three researchers (university faculty, one bilingual in spanish and english). additionally, six bilingual high-school and middle school-aged peer mentors assisted the camp by engaging/playing with the campers and helping to set up and organize classroom spaces. while the summer camp welcomes children ages four through eight years old, this descriptive article will share examples of culturally and linguistically relevant practices with the k-1 group (four through six-year-olds). these practices offer possibilities for educators and caregivers to be used in or beyond classroom contexts that aim to engage and support emergent bilingual learners. camp curriculum since 2018, the curriculum of camp sunshine has focused on themes of identity that aim to reflect the lived experiences of the campers. recognizing that language and identity are inextricably intertwined, we designed curriculum around themes like who am i? and my family and my community. these themes provided opportunities for the children to explore their cultural identities and for us to learn about them, their families, and their cultural and linguistic practices and experiences. selecting children’s books anchoring the curricular themes are carefully selected children’s books. these books are the heart of the curriculum. throughout the years, we have selected books that were 1) published in both spanish and english versions (translated), 2) written in spanish and english in the same book (bilingual books), or 3) written in english with spanish words (translanguage books). botelho and marion (2023) recommend the term translanguage books as it draws from the theoretical framework of translanguaging. this variety was intentional to showcase the diverse ways in which people use language. reyes et al. (2022) discuss the importance of selecting literature that is relevant to the reader’s experiences and home culture to encourage their engagement. therefore, we wanted books to be relevant, culturally responsive, connected to the theme, an appropriate length for a read-aloud for our campers, and high-quality literature that uses rich language and noteworthy illustrations to present complex ideas with which children can grapple. additionally, we carefully selected books by authors and illustrators with experiences within the community they write about. see figure 1 for the invaluable resources we have used to find wonderful literature. see figure 1. over time, the camp curriculum has expanded to more fully explore the relationship between languages and identities. for example, in earlier years, books in english and/or spanish served as means to inquire about self and community. in 2023, the books selected took a deeper dive to look closely at the linguistic experiences of the characters. books like gibberish (vo, 2022) and drawn together (lê, 2018) portrayed struggles common in the lives of emergent bilingual children, like being misunderstood by peers and teachers or not being able to communicate and connect with a grandparent. while these challenges are real, they only offer a partial (or one) perspective of the complex experience of being bilingual, which is also shaped by joy and love. as such, we also selected stories that explore a comprehensive view of language, and a range of experiences relevant to many emergent bilinguals across contexts. for example, we read yo! yes? yes? (raschka, 1993) to think about the role of non-verbal communication, particularly when meeting someone for the first time. we shared luli and the language of tea (wang & yum, 2022) situatiing literacy-rich engagements the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 8 world of words: center for global literacies and literatures, out of the university of arizona, includes: wow currents (updated news regarding children’s and adolescent literature), wow reviews (current book reviews), wow stories (vignettes from pk-12 classrooms) and wow libros (reviews of spanish-language books). outstanding international books (oib) list, sponsored by the united states board of books for young people, includes approximately 40 international books that help children understand the world around them. the oib website showcases the book covers, links to annotated bibliographies, and links to teaching books entries for each book that suggests how to use books in classrooms. book awards like charlotte huck award, pura belpré award, coretta scott king award, asian/ pacific american award for children’s literature, american indian youth literature award, schneider family book award, john newbery medal, and the caldecott medal. about a group of young linguistically and culturally diverse children who rely on play and tea as means for communication, as languages. in addition, we read a song of frutas (engle & palacios, 2021) and little treasures: terms of endearments from around the world (ogborn, 2012), which focus on meaningful relationships in bilingual communities. see figure 2 for the complete list of anchor texts from each camp sunshine theme across the years. see appendix a for the complete list of anchor texts from each camp sunshine theme across the years. three-pronged approach in 2023, as we designed the curriculum, we were intentional about a three-pronged approach to engage with a specific picture book. first, we introduced the picture book with a whole group interactive read-aloud. then we moved into smaller groups in different classrooms, where we re-engaged the children with the book. finally, children explored the experiences in the picture books through artor play-based engagements. introductory read aloud when conducting the whole group read aloud, two teachers took the lead on each book. we scanned the images to display on a promethean board so that all children could see the illustrations. each teacher also had a copy of the book so they could read. depending on the book, teachers used a variety of strategies to engage the children in the read aloud: use varying voices, alter speed and volume based on what is happening in the story, pause for questions, connections, and other responses, and invite the readers to join in the reading (kiefer et al., 2023). at times, the teachers took turns reading by pages and other times they assumed the role of a character, like in yo! yes! (rachka, 2007). other times, the teachers asked questions, creating opportunities for the children to make connections between the books and their lives and to discuss the text with their peers. when sharing books like drawn together (lê, 2018) and gibberish (vo, 2022), they also paused on specific illustrations to give children the time to take in the details, prompt children’s thinking by asking targeted questions, and wondering why the illustrator might have selected this design. during the read aloud of little treasures: endearments from around the world (ongburn, 2012), a global book written in multiple languages, the teachers read aloud in all the languages, and asked questions in either spanish and english, or sometimes in both languages. for the teachers and researchers, these introductory read aloud sessions provided crucial context for informing our next steps. as we watched and listened, we asked ourselves: 1. do the children seem to be enjoying th book? 2. do they understand the story? 3. what role are multiple languages playing in their experiences with the text? 4. are they making personal connections? 5. what role are the illustrations playing in their experiences with the text? 6. what kinds of questions are the teachers asking that deepen their understanding and connections to the book? these guiding questions shaped our understanding of their initial interactions with the story. after figure 1: children’s literature resources situatiing literacy-rich engagements the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 9 we finished the read-aloud, the whole group split into two smaller groups (according to age), in different classrooms, where children enjoyed a snack before moving into the re-engagement. culturally relevant re-engagement in smaller groups, teachers revisited the picture book to re-engage the children with the story and concepts explored in the book. these re-engagements lasted approximately 10-15 minutes and were especially important because they made texts/concepts more accessible to children as we explored and built upon connections between the read aloud and the children’s wealth of knowledge, previous educational experiences, conceptual understanding, and language development (chang et al., 2016). for example, drawn together (lê, 2018) uses minimal text to tell the story of a boy who is dropped off for the day at his grandfather’s house. they do not share the same spoken language and the illustrations depict their differences and a slight tension as they try to eat together or watch tv. it is only when the boy brings out his art supplies that they begin to connect, as the grandfather is also an artist. with very different styles and materials, they parallel draw until their illustrations begin to interact and morph into something new. we knew that we needed to spend time unpacking the storyline. when we got back to the small group, one teacher revisited the art in the story, moving fluidly between spanish and english, while wondering aloud. she asked questions like: 1) how did they know who was drawing? 2) what if the boy and the grandfather couldn’t understand each other? and 3) i wonder how they decided what to draw? the teacher turned to a different page and said “look at all the colors. what do you see here?” as she slowly moved the book around the small group to give each child the opportunity to study the illustration. on another page, she asked the children how the grandfather and grandson looked like they were feeling? when they responded with “happy,” the teacher prompted them to think about why they were now happy. this re-engagement focused on the art, communication, and emotions, as we provided children with “multiple opportunities to hear and use language, emphasizing academic language use and discipline-specific terminology and discourse patterns,’’ (ortiz et al., 2023, p. 2) which made the picture book accessible to these young readers. these re-engagements also integrated additional strategies, beyond those mentioned in the introductory read aloud, that encouraged children’s engagement, attention, and motivation such as exploring artifacts, engaging with sensory materials, and responding through movement. exploration after children re-engaged with the picture books, they moved into the exploration phase of the literacy experience that were intentionally designed to extend experiences and understanding of the stories. chang, et. al (2016) noted that opportunities for collaboration benefits bilingual learners as they “use language to construct meaning, show content understanding, and develop language” (p.16). literature-based exploration builds critical knowledge and understanding, provides opportunities for inquiry that is relative and interesting, and meets the diverse needs of readers, including bilingual learners, as they engage in meaningful ways with texts (kiefer et al., 2023; chang et al., 2016; pappas et al., 2006). we designed a variety of engagements, artsbased or play-based, to further the children’s experiences with the picture book. for example, after reading yo! yes? (raschka, 2007), children worked together to brainstorm ideas, movements, and body postures that they could or have used to greet people for the first time. the teachers photographed the children’s actions for further discussion around the power of non-verbal communication. after reengaging with drawn together (lé, 2018), children partnered together to paint a picture without using words, like the characters did in the book. teachers then asked them follow up questions similar to those discussed in the relevant re-engagement. how did you decide what to draw? how did you communicate with each other? similarly, once the children discussed luli and the language of tea (yang, 2022), they played in pairs without using verbal languages to relate to the experience presented in the story. as part of the camp experience, it has been important for us to share the children’s experiences with their families. therefore, each year, the children’s artistic or multimodal responses to the anchor text are connected to a larger documentation situatiing literacy-rich engagements the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 10 piece centered around a theme. this piece is sent home with the child on the last day of camp. one year, children created a life-size cultural x-ray (short, 2009) that reflected the daily art-based engagements around prompts like “what do you like to play? what do you know a lot about? describe your favorite outfit. what is your dream? what questions do you have?” (see figure 2). in 2023, all explorations contributed to the creation of a portrait wall inspired by mariana and her familia (mancillas, 2022) capturing children’s responses to prompts such as “draw a self-portrait. create a picture of your family. how can you say hi to someone for the first time?” (see figure3). we believe that this three-pronged approach created rich opportunities for children to interact with texts and illustrations, deepening their understanding of and appreciation for literature. insights from the three-pronged approach in the k-1 classroom our summer camp focused on creating spaces for emergent bilinguals that serve as windows (sims bishop, 1990) into the children’ family experiences and funds of knowledge (gonzalez, et al., 2005), particularly those around their linguistic repertoires. these spaces also supported young emergent bilingual children in making sense of the complex picture books we explored during our time together. as educators of young children, we understand the importance and benefits of an interactive read aloud. last year we were quite comfortable with the introduction prong of the curriculum. however, we found ourselves digging deeper into the re-engagements and explorations with books, which is the focus of this section. the following strategies allowed teachers and researchers to collaborate and engage children in interpreting and understanding the experiences depicted in the literature. we share insights for creating spaces and opportunities that maximize the linguistic experiences and growth for emergent bilingual children. reaching all children teachers demonstrate proficiency in adapting instruction for emergent bilinguals when they ensure that the content is inclusive and comprehensive for all children (whitacre et al., 2021). at camp sunshine, teachers and researchers worked together to ensure children had access to the books by identifying conceptual ideas from the stories that the children could relate to or engage with particularly given the limited time available within the summer camp structure. much of the negotiation of these ideas developed after the whole camp introductory read aloud, as teachers carefully observed the young campers’ engagement. for example, during the read aloud of little treasures: endearments from around the world (ogburn, 2011), we noticed that the children had a hard time engaging with the story, possibly because the title is a concept book that offers no storyline. during situatiing literacy-rich engagements figure 2 emilio’s self-portrait figure 3 carmen’s portrait wall note. artifact created in summer 2022. note. artifacts created during her time at camp sunshine in 2023. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 11 our re-engagement with the book, we decided to pay closer attention to raschka’s illustrations and invited the children to mix watercolors to create self-portraits. excited by the process of comparing their skin tones and mixing paint, the children were also more interested in sharing the names their families called them: mi amor, peque, coranzoncito, hija, and name diminutives like carlitos (after carlos), or carmensita (after carmen). see figures 4 and 5. during the re-engagement of drawn together (lê & santat, 2018) and luli and the language of tea (wang & yum, 2022), we conducted a partial picture walk to co-retell the stories with the children. we focused on the emotions of the characters at the beginning and end of the story, the role of drawing and tea as individual but also collective experiences; as languages, and the characters’ ability to communicate without speech. for both stories we encouraged the children to “play a game” that consisted of inviting a peer to play without relying on verbal communication. we carefully framed the experience as a game because we wanted to stay away from the loaded implications of silence in an early childhood classroom. as the children played, they naturally communicated with gestures, eye contact, postures, facial expression, and sound effects like “um”, “um-huh” or “uh-uh” that allowed them to negotiate their rules and expectations of the play turns. we quickly realized that highlighting non-verbal communication and play as language reached all children because for a few minutes we placed the constant high expectations for expressive language on hold. this game encouraged children to rely on the multimodal nature of play to actively engage in communication and meaning making even with the absence of much oral language (wohlwend et al., 2022). key words as windows into children’s experiences camp sunshine was designed to support emergent bilinguals in english and spanish. one way teachers assisted children was by highlighting important vocabulary from the stories. these words served as windows into children’s linguistic and cultural experiences. sometimes the book published in english included words in spanish. for example, while reading paletero man (diaz, 2021), ms. rosie asked, “does anybody know what the word vecindad means?”. other times, the book published in english offered opportunities to highlight cognates, as in luli and the language of tea (wang, 2022) when the teacher explained, “hot water, they’re going to make tea, té”. similarly, while revisiting mariana and her familia (mencillas, 2022), published in english, the teacher asked in spanish: ¿quién tiene primos o primas? when 4-year old valentina responded “i got three primas, and that’s what they’re called, because in spanish primas”, her translingual response showed that she can distinguish and understand both languages and she is also deeply aware of her bilingual and bicultural identities, and the pragmatics of languages as she explains why her primas are called (or must situatiing literacy-rich engagements figure 4 children painting note. campers creating the tone that will best match their skin. figure 5 sheila’s self-portrait note. camper’s self-portrait using paint that had been mixed to match skin tone. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 12 be called) primas instead of cousins. during this same interaction we learned that her abuelita celia lives in mexico and as she stated, “i come from mexico”. however, in 2023, camp sunshine welcomed alice, a young emergent bilingual fluent in english and mandarin, the latter being a language unfamiliar to teachers, researchers, and the rest of the children. therefore, we highlighted words in english, spanish and mandarin. since only alice knew mandarin, we integrated questions about mandarin in broader conversations about other languages and countries to avoid unintentionally signaling her as a token for her home language or her chinese cultural background. for example, while discussing luli and the language of tea (wang, 2022), the teachers made several comments related to multilingualism and asked several questions about countries of origin. one of the comments informally prompted alice for confirmation, “i asked alice’s parents how they say hello in their language and they said n� h�o ��”, to which she quickly responded “right!”. in a similar interaction, the children had identified a bridge in the illustrations of drawn together (lê, 2018). at that moment, the teacher provided the spanish translation puente, and asked the group, “do we know how to call this (while signaling the bridge) in mandarin?” alice responded, qiáo �. we comfortably supported emergent bilinguals in english and spanish. however, when working with alice, we appreciated statements reassuring that “monolingual teachers are just as able as bilingual or multilingual teachers to enact a translanguaging pedagogy” (brown, 2021, p. 143). in the future, as we welcome emergent bilinguals in languages other than spanish, we will integrate additional strategies like translating the title of the book; learning key words of phrases that can facilitate transitions or daily routines; conducting the introductory read aloud in english, followed by the re-engagement in spanish; inviting family members to read or sing in their home language; creating labels in the various summer camp spaces to signal key materials and areas; and, using technology such as google translate or artificial intelligence like chatgpt (openai, 2022) to understand the children but also for them to create meaning. even though our camp is short, we can still be co-learners with the children and provide time and space for them to engage in translanguage spaces (brown, 2021). finally, while many of our interactions with children were initiated in english, except with a few children who showed preference for spanish, the camp itself started each morning with hola, ¿qué tal? (super simple español, 2018), a spanish children’s song that integrates body movements such as aplaudir, zapaterar, estirar, agachar, dar la vuelta y saludar. similarly, camp ended with adiós, adiós (super simple español, 2018). this shorter spanish song emphasized aplaudir and zapatear as part of its contagious lyrics. our hope with the strategies presented in this section was to create humanizing spaces that validate children’s bilingual and bicultural identities as they build incidentally upon their linguistic repertoires. sensory-based experiences sensoryrich play is known to support children’s brain development and memory (gascoyne, 2011). experiences with sensory materials can bring learning to life. the unstructured quality of sensory-rich play, where there’s no set right or wrong approach, offers an inclusive learning environment ripe for fostering problem-solving, exploration, and creativity. sometimes we integrated sensory-based experiences as means to create windows into children’s family stories. for example, while revisiting mariana and her familia (mancillas, 2022) we invited the children to use their hands to mimic movements made when flattening mexican tortillas. other times the sensory materials allowed us to plan multimodal experiences to create meaningful entry points to connect with the story. while listening to a song of frutas (engle, 2021), we noticed the younger campers’ excitement for sharing stories about grandparents living in mexico, el salvador and the u.s., as well as fruits that they enjoyed eating or sharing with family. following our observations, during the re-engagement with the story, we invited children to share about their favorite fruits and explored these words in spanish, english, and mandarin. aware of the importance of offering multiple means for engagement and expression (whitacre et al., 2021) we also incorporated play-doh to encourage children to create the situatiing literacy-rich engagements the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 13 fruits we explored to foster attention, conceptual understanding, and fine motor skills. similarly, while reengaging with luli and the language of tea (wang, 2022) children and teachers recreated the tea party scene from the book and built a structure with magnetic tiles using nonverbal communication to share similar experiences as the characters in the book. the different materials allowed children to reenter the story world with artifacts that were relevant to their previous experiences and supportive of their cognitive and physical development. educators and researchers as co-teachers establishing respectful and collaborative relationships among adults in a classroom is crucial for creating supportive learning environments for children. at camp sunshine, teachers and researchers collaborated as partners, appreciating and building upon each other’s expertise. following juuti et al., (2021)’s recommendation, we made an effort to ensure that everyone felt confident that their ideas and concerns would be listened to, and that feedback would be helpful. as expected, we started each day with a lesson plan. however, as each day unfolded, we observed, listened, and revised our lessons to support the children’s experiences with the texts. central to this revising process was the collaboration between teachers and researchers. sometimes, researchers observed aspects during the introductory readaloud (led by teachers) and shared their findings with the teachers; together they negotiated revisions for the re-engagement plans. for example, after observing the children during the read aloud of gibberish (vo, 2020), teachers and researchers noticed that one key experience from the book to highlight during the re-engagement could be the practice of building vocabulary through images (pictures) and repetition as depicted in the excerpt where dat and julie rely on drawings to help dat learn words in english. to mediate this learning experience ms. rivera recommended artifacts based on her vast knowledge of preschool classrooms, young children’s interests, and spanish/english cognates that could support emergent bilinguals. some of the items named in english, spanish, and mandarin included: a toy crocodile (cocodrilo), a rubber school bus, plastic cup of rice, a rose (rosa), among others. after this collective engagement, each child selected an item from the classroom to draw and label in different languages. see figures 6 and 7. once again, after careful observation of the children during the introductory read aloud of mariana and her familia (mancillas & meza, 2022), teachers and researchers decided to highlight the role of family pictures across places like home, school, or on a phone, as illustrated in the grandmother’s wall of family pictures. with this idea in mind, ms. rivera invited the children to explore the wall of pictures of children and their families who attended that classroom during the academic year. this reference helped children notice that children and families can belong to many spaces, while creating a space for them to become familiar with a space that was new to everyone excfigure 6 antonio’s butterfly figure 7 alice’s apple situatiing literacy-rich engagements the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 14 cept ms. rivera. this process of revising and rethinking together allowed us to engage in flexible thinking as we capitalized on one another’s perspectives and expertise. over the camp sunshine years, teachers and researchers have also exchanged general impressions regarding children’s responses to the overall structure of the summer camp. these observations have prompted significant discussions about scheduling and the intentions behind each routine. for example, in previous years, snack time (scheduled between the introductory read aloud and the re-engagement with the text) was utilized as a space where teachers and researchers continued conversations about the story. after noticing children actively changing the topic of conversation or remaining quiet to the prompts, the adults decided to rethink how we structured this time. in 2023, rather than asking reading comprehension questions during snack, the children ate, talked, and laughed in child-led interactions. the first day, we worried that the break would result in campers disconnecting from the story. instead, we found the opposite. this time provided children with the space and time to process what they had heard and seen in the introduction. in fact, we found that this transition provided a necessary disruption from the more intense focused thought required during the read aloud and the subsequent re-engagement with the story; a time to slow down and honor the flexible nature of summer camps. conclusion focusing on ways to create engaging literacy experiences for emergent bilingual children, that are anchored by high quality children’s literature, we believe the three-pronged approach described here is critical. when all three prongs of the approach are employed, bilingual children are provided multiple opportunities to connect with the text and engage in playful meaning making. additionally, finding ways to reach all children, highlighting words that helped us learn a little bit more about the children, incorporating sensory-based play experiences, and engaging in collaborative and respectful relationships between teachers and researchers, were also pivotal to the camp experience. we argue that these tenets are valuable for all learning environments for all children. our hope is that more children will benefit from the experiences we have so fortunately shared and the lessons we have learned at camp sunshine. references botelho, m. j. & marion, r. (2023). representing span ishes: language diversity in children’s literature. journal of latinos and education, 22(1), 371-386. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2020.1763353 brown, s. (2021). emergent bilinguals as text designers: rendering meaning through signs. english teaching, 20(2), 130-148. https://doi.org/10.1108/etpc-07 2020-0076 chang, s., lozano, m., neri, r., & herman, j. (2016). high-leverage principles of effective instruction for english learners. national center for research on evaluation, standards, and student testing. https://csaa.wested.org/wp-content/u loads/2019/11/highleverageprinciplesforeli struction_resource_0.pdf kiefer, b.z., tyson, c.a., barger, b.p., patrick, l., and reilly-sanders, e. (2023). charlotte huck’s chi dren’s literature: a brief guide (4th ed.). mcgraw hill. garcía, o., johnson, s. i., & seltzer, k. (2017). the translanguaging classroom: leveraging student b lingualism for learning. caslon. gascoyne, s. (2011). sensory play. practical pre-school books. gonzález, n., moll, l. c., & amanti, c. (eds.). (2005).\ funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in hous holds, communities, and classrooms. lawrence er baum associates publishers. juuti, a., lavonen, j., salonen, v., salmela-aro, k., schneider, b. & krajcik, j. (2021). teacher–researc er partnership for professional learning: co-desig ing project-based learning units to increase student e gagement in science classes. journal of science teacher education, 32(6), 625-641. https://doi.org/10 1080/1046560x.2021.1872207 situatiing literacy-rich engagements “this time provided children with the space and time to process what they had heard and seen.” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 15 ortiz, a. a., fránquiz, m., & lara, g. (2023). what ma tters in the education of emergent bilinguals? bili gual research journal, 46(1–2), 1–8. https://doi org/10.180/15235882.2023.2250232 pappas, c.c., kiefer, b.z., and livstik, l.l.s. (2006). an integrated language perspective in the element ry school. pearson. reyes, a., leckie, a., & stevenson, a. (2022). building on what we know: best practices for engaging eme gent bilinguals in learning. gatesol journal, 32(1), 51–59. https://doi.org/10.52242/gatesol.157 short, k. (2009). critically reading the word and the world: building intercultural understanding through literature. bookbird: a journal of interna tional children’s literature, 47(2), 1-10. sims bishop, r. (1990). mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors. perspectives: choosing and using books for the classroom, 6(3). retrieved from https:/ scenicregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/mi rors-windows-and-sliding-glass-doors.pdf whitacre, m., gonzalez, e. & shelby-king, e. (2021). reading strategies for struggling emergent bilinguals. journal of education & social policy, 8(4), 13-22. r trieved from https://jespnet.com/journals/vol_8 no_4_december_2021/3.pdf. wohlwend, k. (2023), serious play for serious times. the reading teacher, 76(4), 478-486. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.2157 situatiing literacy-rich engagements nhsa dialog, 24(1), copyright © 2021, issn: 1930-9325 predictors of head start teachers’ perceived quality of relationships with families alison hooper the university of alabama juana gaviria-loaiza university of delaware the relationship between home and school is an important component of children’s early educational experiences. however, little research has examined the homeschool relationship from the perspective of teachers. this study examines whether teacher characteristics predict how head start teachers rate the quality of their relationships with families using data from the head start family and child experiences survey (faces), 2014 cohort. results suggest that teacher characteristics, including job satisfaction, caregiving beliefs, and depressive symptoms, predict how they perceive their relationships with families. supporting teachers’ psychological wellbeing may be one effective strategy for promoting positive relationships between teachers and families. keywords: home-school relationships, early childhood education, head start introduction the relationship between school and home is an important factor in young children’s learning and development. parents’ engagement in their children’s education is linked to improved academic and social-emotional outcomes (christenson & sheridan, 2001; pomerantz, moorman, & litwack 2007). specifically, although as many as 60% of families utilize some form of non-parental early care and education (ece; laughlin, 2013), research has found that parents play a greater role in supporting children’s development than ece teachers and programs (nichd early child care research network, 2002). therefore, the potential for children’s learning is greatest when teachers and parents have strong relationships (epstein, 2001). there is significant research considering the role of family engagement in children’s learning in ece (daniel, wang, & berthelsen, 2016; galindo & sheldon, 2012; hill & taylor, 2004). research article 2 hooper & gaviria-loaiza however, little of this work has focused on the role of the teacher in supporting family engagement through the quality of his or her relationship with families (christenson & carlson, 2005). this is increasingly important given the growing cultural and linguistic diversity found in ece classrooms. families from diverse background often face barriers to involvement in their child’s education, including language barriers and cultural differences that may not be understood by the ece program (öztürk, 2013). head start specifically includes family engagement as a central component of its program model. in fact, head start has a legislative mandate to include families in program decisions and to offer families support and opportunities for involvement (parker et al., 1997). this mandate is reflected throughout the head start performance standards (us department of health and human services, 2016). most studies of teacher-family relationships in ece and k-12 have focused on the family’s perception of the relationship. however, it is also important to consider how teachers perceive their relationships with families. teachers’ characteristics, such as their psychological wellbeing, have been found to influence teachers’ receptiveness towards children and their job-related stress (jeon, kwon, walsh, burnham & choi, 2019). however, little is known about the ways in which teacher characteristics may influence how they perceive their relationships with families, and in turn how those perceptions influence the ways they interact with children and families. this study aims to address the first part of this question by using nationally representative data to examine the teacher characteristics that relate to how head start teachers in the united states perceive their relationships with families. literature review teacher-family relationships family engagement is an important aspect of quality in ece settings, and the relationship between teachers and families is one factor that can influence family engagement. when there are strong teacher-family relationships, it can affect children’s adjustment and families’ satisfaction with their ece program (weiss, caspe, & lopez, 2006). previous research has identified that characteristics like trust, open communication, and collaboration all contribute to positive teacherfamily relationships in ece (elicker, noppe, noppe, & fortner-wood, 1997; elicker, wen, kwon, & sprague, 2013; shanti, 2017). specifically, three important components of the teacher-family relationship have emerged through prior research and serve as a foundation for defining family-provider relationship quality: familyspecific knowledge, attitudes about families, and teacher practices with families (bromer et al., 2011; forry et al., 2012). family-specific knowledge. family-specific knowledge is defined as the knowledge teachers have about families generally—such as knowledge of factors that promote healthy family functioning and effective parenting practices—as well as knowledge about the specific families they are serving. this includes teachers’ knowledge about families’ employment, their economic predictors of head start teachers’ perceived quality 3 situations, and their traditions and beliefs, as well as an awareness of families’ needs and their strengths. when teachers and families engage in reciprocal information sharing, it encourages teachers to engage in more responsive care practices and to be more attentive to family needs (bromer et al., 2011). attitudes about families. forry et al. (2012) identified five attitudes that are important in building positive teacher-family relationships: respect, commitment and caring, empowerment, openness to change, and having a contextual perspective. respect includes valuing the child and families’ cultural and linguistic preferences and being non-judgmental. commitment and caring refers to the teacher’s encouragement and accessibility with families, as well as willingness to be flexible and sensitive to needs of families. empowerment refers to identifying family strengths and including families as equal partners. teachers who are open to change show willingness to alter their typical practices in response to families. finally, having a contextual perspective refers to appreciating that children’s development occurs in context and is situated in a family and community (forry et al., 2012). challenges can arise when teachers and families have cultural differences, especially related to child-rearing practices (bernhard, lefebvre, kilbride, chud, & lange, 1998; lang, tolbert, schoppe-sullivan, & bonomi, 2016). when parents perceive that teachers do not accept their culture or childrearing practices, this can act as a barrier to family engagement (grace & trudgett, 2012). overall, teachers tend to perceive their level of respect for families more highly than it is perceived by families (hadley & rouse, 2018). practices related to families. teacher practices that are hypothesized to facilitate teacherfamily relationships emerge from both relational skills and goal-oriented skills. teachers with strong relational skills engage in reciprocal communication that is responsive to families’ goals and culturally responsive (halgunseth, peterson, stark, & moodie, 2009). important goal-oriented skills include participating in advocacy and promoting families to advocate, connecting families to resources and information that is relevant to them, and engaging in joint decision-making (bromer et al., 2011; forry et al., 2012). research suggests that a higher frequency of teacherparent communication is correlated with higher classroom quality (ghazvini & readdick, 1994). teachers use a wide range of strategies to communicate with families, including the use of technology. however, they still report facing barriers to reaching families, such as family distractions and disengagement and lack of time on the part of both teachers and families (barnes, guin, allen, & jolly, 2016). benefits of teacher-family relationships research suggests that when teachers build strong relationships with families, these relationships can act as a buffer against risk factors like including poverty and family instability (nalls et al, 2010). this is especially important for children attending head start. most children enrolled in head start qualify for the program as a result of living in poverty, and many face multiple risk factors which can be detrimental to academic and social outcomes (crosnoe & cooper, 2010; duncan & magnuson, 2013). positive teacher-family relationships are related to better socialemotional outcomes in young children. some studies have identified that strong teacher-family 4 hooper & gaviria-loaiza relationships relate to positive academic outcomes (mendez, 2010; rimm-kaufman, voorhees, snell, & la paro, 2003), social outcomes (churchill, 2003; dunst & dempsey, 2007;), and health outcomes (palfrey et al., 2005). strong parent-teacher relationships are related to increased family involvement (knopf & swick, 2007; lang et al., 2016). when families feel comfortable with a teacher, they are more likely to share information and concerns, which can help teachers better individualize their instruction (baker & manfredi-petitt, 2004). another benefit of positive family-teacher relationships is that parents feel more empowered and competent in their childrearing abilities (dunst & dempsey, 2007; knopf & swick, 2007). when families have positive, close relationships with teachers, it can also influence their parenting practices and their home learning environment (dunst & dempsey, 2007; dunst & trivette, 2010). measuring the teacher-family relationships scholarship on family engagement has typically focused on the teacher or another service provider, such as a home visitor, rating the family’s level of involvement or their commitment. research focusing specifically on the teacher-family relationship has most often included collecting parents’ perspectives through surveys or interviews or doing direct classroom observations (galinsky, 1990; ghazvini & readdick, 1994; swartz & easterbrooks, 2014). less research has attempted to understand the phenomenology of the relationship from the relationship from the teacher’s perspective. until recently, there has not been a measure that comprehensively examined the quality of family and provider/teacher relationships in ece. the family and provider/teacher relationship quality (fptrq) suite of measures (kim et al., 2014) was developed to address this need. the fptrq measures the quality of the relationship from the perspective of ece directors, teachers, parents, and family services staff. it measures the constructs of knowledge, attitudes, practices, and environmental features. a series of questionnaires was developed to incorporate three widelyused perspectives on family engagement: family support or family-centered care, family engagement or involvement, and family-sensitive caregiving (forry et al., 2012). this new measure has the potential to capture the teacher-family relationship from multiple perspectives and comprehensively examine knowledge, practices, and attitudes using one reliable and valid questionnaire. teacher characteristics related to teacher-family relationships because how teachers perceive their relationships with families may be an important dimension of family-teacher relationship quality to understand, it is necessary to examine the ways in which teacher characteristics may relate to how they perceive these relationships. teacher depressive symptoms. compared to the general population, head start teachers seem to have higher prevalence rates of depressive symptoms (whitaker, becker, herman, & gooze, 2013; whitaker, dearth-wesley, & gooze, 2015). for example, whitaker et predictors of head start teachers’ perceived quality 5 al. (2015) found that in a sample of 1001 head start teachers, 25% of them reported depressive symptoms considered to be clinically significant by the ces-d measure. for the general population, an estimated 7% of american adults had at least one major depressive episode in 2016, with rates being higher among women (nimh, 2018). early childhood teachers’ depressive symptoms have been linked to distinct aspects of their job. different studies have found a negative link between early childhood teachers’ depressive symptoms and their teaching practices (e.g., jeon, buettner, & snyder, 2014; sandilos et al., 2015), as well as with their professional motivation and job-related stress (jeon et al. 2019). further, a study by hindman and bustamante (2018) found that head start teachers’ depressive symptoms seemed to fluctuate throughout the year and to be linked to children’s behavior problems and prosocial skills per teachers’ ratings. depression has often been included as a component of psychological wellbeing along with other factors such as stress and anxiety. recent research has considered the role teachers’ psychological wellbeing plays in their relationships with children (hamre & pianta, 2004), their self-efficacy beliefs (kim & kim, 2010), their commitment to the field (buettner, jeon, hur, & garcia, 2016), classroom quality (pianta et al., 2005), and student learning outcomes (mclean & connor, 2015). however, there is a limited body of literature examining early childhood teachers’ depressive symptoms and the quality of their relationship with families, and studies that examine these constructs have different findings. for instance, in a study that examined predictors associated with early childhood teachers’ psychological wellbeing, jeon et al. (2018) found that teachers’ depressive symptoms were negatively associated with teachers’ level of job competence and perceived working conditions, and were positively related to chaotic environments. however, authors did not find a significant association between teacher-perceived support from families and teachers’ depressive symptoms, whereas a previous study by curbow et al. (2000) found that teachers’ psychological wellbeing was indeed influenced by the social support from families. job satisfaction. head start teachers’ job satisfaction seems to be influenced by a variety of factors, primarily their relationships with coworkers and program leadership (cumming, 2017). teachers have reported higher satisfaction when they have autonomy and opportunities for decision-making at work (leana, appelbaum, & shevchuk, 2009). although research has not specifically considered the relationship between job satisfaction and the quality of teacher-family relationships, a study by baker et al. (2010) found that teachers with higher levels of job satisfaction had greater levels of participation in implementing a classroom intervention to promote school readiness. teacher beliefs. teachers’ beliefs about early childhood teaching are often classified as teacher-directed and didactic or as progressive and child-centered. these beliefs are shaped by many factors, including their early experiences and culture (schreiber, moss, & staab, 2007). teacher beliefs are associated with classroom quality (charlesworth et al., 1993; clarke-stewart et al., 2002). previous research has found that although head start teachers across levels of classroom quality tend to report high child-centered beliefs, they vary more in their didactic beliefs, with teachers in lower-quality classrooms having higher didactic beliefs (mccarty, abbottshim, & lambert, 2001). 6 hooper & gaviria-loaiza teacher education. teachers’ level of education and years of experience have both been found to be related to the quality of teacher-child relationships (kontos & wilcox-herzog, 2001). however, little research has examined the role teacher education and experience play in teachers’ perceptions of teacher-family relationships. knoche, sheridan, edwards, and osborn (2009) found that years of experience in ece was related to how successfully teachers implemented an intervention designed to support positive parenting. additionally, teachers with more experience had more parent involvement in their classroom (castro, bryant, peisnerfeinberg, & skinner, 2004). sumison (1999) conducted a case study of a beginning teacher and found that the teacher’s perspective of relationships with families shifted from one of selfpreservation to one of collaboration over the course of two years. these findings suggest that years of experience may relate to how teachers view their relationships with families. swartz and easterbrooks (2014) found that in infant and toddler classrooms, teachers with the most education and who were the most knowledgeable about child development viewed relationships with parents less positively than other teachers. this corresponds to older literature that found that teachers may avoid getting too close to parents because they want to maintain professional boundaries (powell & stremmel, 1987). theoretical framework the current study draws on the family provider relationship quality conceptual model (forry et al., 2012). children attending head start are influenced by both their family and home environment and that of their teacher and classroom. teachers play an important role in ensuring this interaction of family and classroom positively affects children’s development. for example, teachers can influence their relationships with families through their abilities to successfully coordinate opportunities for meaningful family engagement (hoover-dempsey & sandler, 1997). the family provider relationship quality conceptual model (forry et al., 2012) proposes that effective provider facilitation of family-provider relationships is influenced by a number of teacher and program characteristics. these include the personal and professional characteristics of the teacher, specifically their mental health, values, stressors, and resources. this conceptual model suggests that family-provider relationships are related to immediate outcomes, including higherquality teaching, more positive provider attitudes towards families and their work, and more family engagement and empowerment. positive family-provider relationships also contribute to longerterm impacts. these include child outcomes, such as increased academic and social-emotional skills; family outcomes, such as family well-being and positive parent-child relationships; and provider outcomes, including decreased job turnover (forry et al., 2012). the model also highlights that there are three distinct but related constructs that make up teachers’ relationships with families: attitudes towards families, knowledge about families and building relationships with families, and practices used with families (ajzen & fishbein, 2005). the existing literature on the teachers’ personal and professional characteristics that facilitate family-provider relationships is limited. although studies have linked teachers’ beliefs to their practices (mccarty et al., 2001; trivette, dunst, hamby, & meter, 2012), little is known about how teacher beliefs, practices, and personal characteristics such as years of experience, level of education, job satisfaction, and psychological wellbeing influence how they perceive their predictors of head start teachers’ perceived quality 7 relationships with families. the purpose of the present study was therefore to explore teacher characteristics that may influence the way teachers perceive the quality of their relationships with families. the study explores these research questions: 1) how do head start teachers perceive the quality of their relationships with families?, and 2) what teacher characteristics predict the perceived quality of head start teachers’ relationships with families? methods data for this study come from the head start family and child experiences survey, 2014 cohort (faces 2014; tarullo et al., 2017). head start faces is a nationally representative descriptive study of head start programs, teachers, children, and families funded by the office of planning, research and evaluation, an office of the administration for children and families in the u.s. department of health and human services. faces 2014 is the sixth cohort of the study, preceded by cohorts in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009. different from previous cohorts, the faces 2014 sample is representative of all head start children and families rather than only new entrants to head start. the current study utilized the data from the teacher survey within faces. sample faces 2014 used a multistage sampling approach, sampling programs, centers, classrooms, and children (tarullo et al., 2017). a total of 667 head start classrooms from 346 centers provided data for the faces 2014 dataset. the outcome measure of interest, how teachers perceived relationships with families, was collected for teachers as an addition to the survey in spring 2015, which 422 teachers completed. these additional survey questions were one piece of the family engagement plus study that accompanied the faces 2014 core data collection. a total of 229 teachers responded to fptrq questions. therefore, the analytic sample for this study is 229 teachers. almost half of the teachers (49%) had a bachelors’ degree. the majority of teachers were white (41%), followed by hispanic (29%) and black (25%). on average teachers were 49 years old and reported low depressive symptoms (m=3.5(sd=4.1)) and high levels of job satisfaction (m=4.4(sd=0.8)). characteristics of the teachers in the sample are presented in table 1. 8 hooper & gaviria-loaiza table 1 descriptive statistics for teacher characteristics and perceived relationship quality n % m (sd) min-max gender 229 male 10 4.4 female 219 95.6 education 230 associate’s degree or less 64 27.8 bachelor’s degree 112 48.7 graduate credits or graduate degree 54 23.4 race/ethnicity 227 non-hispanic white 94 41.4 non-hispanic black 57 25.1 hispanic 65 28.6 other 11 4.8 age 226 44.9 (11.4) 25-60 depressive symptoms 225 3.5 (4.1) 0-22 job satisfaction 230 4.4 (0.8) 1-5 years of teaching 230 14 (9) 0-30 beliefs 230 child-initiated 4.4 (0.5) 2.4-5 didactic 2.5 (0.7) 1-5 fptrq total score 203 73.2 (7.5) 50-89 family-specific knowledge 229 12.2 (3.0) 5-20 attitudes 203 30.0 (2.8) 18-36 practices 229 30.6 (3.9) 18-36 predictors of head start teachers’ perceived quality 9 measures family and provider/teacher relationship quality. the quality of the teachers’ perceived relationships with the families of the children in their classroom was measured by the family and provider/teacher relationship quality (fptrq) provider/teacher measure short form (kim et al., 2014). this tool was designed to be used by early childhood education providers and teachers in a broad range of ece settings, including head start. it has been field-tested with racially and ethnically diverse populations across socioeconomic status (kim et al., 2014). teachers respond to 23 items about their work with parents, specifically focused on their knowledge about families, practices with families, and attitudes towards families. these items are aggregated to obtain a total score, as well as construct scores in family-specific knowledge, practices, and attitudes. most items are scored on a four-point likert scale, with some additional items scored yes or no. an example item from the family-specific knowledge construct is “i know how parents discipline their child,” one item from the practices construct is “how often are you able to set goals with parents for their child?”, and an item from the attitudes construct is “sometimes it is hard for me to support the way parents raise their children.” construct and total scores are calculated by adding individual items after reverse-scoring negatively worded items as indicated in the scoring manual. the measure has high item response rates, and cronbach’s alphas for each construct were at the acceptable level (0.6) or higher in the field test of the short form of the measure (ramos et al., 2014). depressive symptoms. teachers’ depressive symptoms were measured using the short (12-item) version of the center for epidemiologic studies-depression scale (ces-d). teachers provided information on their mood by reporting the presence of certain feelings about life and themselves within the last week. some sample items include “i felt everything i did was an effort” and “i felt depressed”. responses consisted of a four-point scale ranging from “rarely or never” to “most of the time.” higher scores indicate higher levels of depressive symptoms. this measure has obtained high internal consistency across different studies, with cronbach’s alpha coefficients between .84 and .90 (radloff, 1977). particularly, in faces 2006 and 2009 coefficients ranged from 0.8 to 0.88. the analytic sample for this study had an internal consistency of .829. job satisfaction. teachers’ job satisfaction was measured by three items in the teacher survey: how much they enjoyed their present job, how much they felt they were making a difference in the lives of the children they are teaching, and whether they would choose teaching as a career again. they rated these items on a five-point scale. a sample item is “if i could start over, i would choose teaching again as my career.” teachers’ satisfaction score was calculated by taking a mean of these three items, with higher scores indicating higher levels of satisfaction. the internal consistency for this sample was .880. teacher beliefs. beliefs were measured using 15 items from the teachers beliefs scale (burts, hart, charlesworth, & kirk, 1990). teachers rated the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements about practices generally accepted to be developmentally appropriate for head start children using a five-point likert scale. the child-initiated subscale (five items) and didactic subscale (six items) scores were used in faces 2014. these subscales were identified based on a previous principal components factor analysis (west et al., 2010). an 10 hooper & gaviria-loaiza example of an item from the child-initiated subscale is “children in head start classrooms should learn through active explorations.” an example of an item from the didactic subscale is “head start teachers should use punishments or reprimands to encourage appropriate behavior.” higher scores indicate stronger agreement with the construct. in faces 2009, cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from 0.66 to 0.69 for the child-initiated subscale and from 0.70 to 0.78 for the didactic subscale indicating an acceptable internal consistency for this measure. for this sample, the internal consistency was 0.765 for the child-initiated subscale and from 0.756 for the didactic subscale. other teacher characteristics. four variables representing teacher demographic characteristics were also included in this analysis. teachers’ years of experience, age, highest level of education, and race and ethnicity were selected because previous findings have suggested differences in results due to these characteristics. for example, some studies have reported differences among teachers of different race/ethnic groups and years of experience in the perceptions of children’s behaviors and relationships (e.g., mashburn, hamre, downer & pianta, 2006) and that years of experience are related to self-efficacy (klassen & chiu, 2010) and relationships with children (whitaker et al., 2015). additionally, there is some evidence that teachers’ level of education relates to the quality of their instruction (early et al., 2006). teachers reported on their years of experience in the teaching field, which is a continuous variable. teacher age in years was included as a continuous variable. highest level of education was recoded into a categorical variable with the following categories: 1) associate’s degree or less, 2) bachelor’s degree, and 3) graduate credits or graduate degree. the race/ethnicity of the teacher was included as a categorical variable with the following categories: 1) white, non-hispanic, 2) black, nonhispanic, 3) hispanic or latino, and 4) other race. analysis descriptive statistics were used to examine the means and frequencies of the variables of interest for the analytic sample. multiple regression models were then run for four outcome variables: the fptrq total score, the attitudes construct score, the knowledge of families construct score, and the practices with families construct score. teacher depressive symptoms, job satisfaction, childcentered and didactic beliefs, years of experience, and highest level of education were included in the models as predictors. teacher race/ethnicity and age were included as control variables. analyses were conducted in stata (version 13), and all analyses included sampling weights to provide nationally representative estimates. the percentage of missing data on predictor variables ranged from 0% to 1.6%. missing data was handled using listwise deletion. results teachers had a mean score of 73.2 on the fptrq (sd = 7.5), 12.2 on the family-specific knowledge construct (sd = 3.0), 30.0 on the attitudes construct (sd = 2.8), and 30.6 on the practices construct (sd = 3.9). the fptrq authors have not defined thresholds for high and low scores on the measure. therefore, we converted these mean construct scores into percentages of predictors of head start teachers’ perceived quality 11 the points possible to assist with interpretation. the most frequently and least frequently endorsed items for each construct are also listed. however, even the least frequently endorsed items had means above 2, meaning that teachers report doing the practices or holding the beliefs asked about at least some of the time. the maximum possible score on the family-specific knowledge construct is a 20.0; therefore, teachers on average earned 61% of the possible points on this construct. of the five items, teachers most frequently agreed that they knew about families’ culture and values. they least often agreed that they knew how families disciplined their children. the maximum score possible for the attitudes construct is a 36.0. teachers earned an average of 83.3% of the possible points on this construct. of the nine items, teachers most often said that they teach and care for children because they enjoy it. they earned the lowest score for the item about supporting how parents raise their children. for the practices construct, the maximum possible score is 36.0 points, and teachers in the sample earned an average of 85.0% of points possible. they most often reported frequently talking to parents about children’s progress. teachers least often reported that they believed it was part of their job to respond to issues or questions outside of normal care hours. table 2 shows correlations between the constructs of the fptrq and with the teacher characteristics examined. the constructs of the fptrq are moderately correlated with one another (r = .286 to r = .530). the significance of correlations between the predictors and fptrq constructs varied; for example, provider depressive symptoms were negatively correlated with attitudes about families (r = -.246, p < .001) and with practices with families (r = -.128, p = .045) but were not significantly correlated with knowledge about families (r = -.080, p = .21). table 3 displays the results of the multiple regression models. models were significant for the total scores and the construct scales. these models along and their significant predictors are described below. 12 hooper & gaviria-loaiza table 2 pearson correlations between fptrq scores and teacher characteristics variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1. fptrq attitudes ̶ 2. fptrq knowledge .29*** ̶ 3. fptrq practices .53*** .42*** ̶ 4. fptrq total score .76*** .71*** .86*** ̶ 5. teacher age .12 -.01 .13* .15* ̶ 6. highest education .09 .00 .09 .07 -.06 ̶ 7. years of experience .11 .06 .12 .17* .73*** -.06 ̶ 8. job satisfaction .20** -.01 .15* .15* .10* .02 .12** ̶ 9. depressive symptoms -.25*** -.08 -.13* -.19** -.08 -.02 -.07 -.13** ̶ 10. didactic beliefs -.14* -.02 -.02 -.10 -.18*** -.02 -.22*** -.04 .20*** ̶ 11. child-initiated beliefs .25*** .20** .12 .24*** .05 .06 .15*** .21*** -.08* -.28*** ̶ *p < .05, ** p < .01, ***p < .001 predictors of head start teachers’ perceived quality 13 table 3 multiple regression results for fptrq total scores and construct scores fptrq total family-specific knowledge attitudes practices b(se) b b(se) b b(se) b b(se) b black 1.64(1.36) 0.09 -1.12(0.52)* -0.16 1.15(0.51)* 0.17 1.52(0.65)* 0.17 hispanic -1.08(1.29) -0.07 -0.58(0.52) -0.08 -0.16(0.49) -0.02 -0.62(0.64) -0.07 other 1.07(2.85) 0.03 -1.20(1.03) -0.08 0.42(1.07) 0.03 0.04(1.36) 0.00 age -0.01(0.06) -0.02 -0.05(0.02)* -0.18 0.01(0.02) 0.06 -0.00(0.03) 0.00 ba degree 1.3(1.21) 0.09 -0.16(0.48) -.0.3 0.75(0.46) 0.13 0.75(0.6) 0.1 graduate credits or degree 3.29(1.57)* 0.18 0.54(0.6) 0.07 0.63(0.59) 0.09 1.48(0.74)* 0.16 years of teaching 0.08(0.08) 0.1 0.07(0.03)* 0.21 -0.01(0.03) -0.05 0.03(0.04) 0.06 depression -0.16(0.15) -0.09 -0.04(0.05) -0.55 -0.15(0.06)* -0.2 -0.10(0.07) -1.1 satisfaction 1.06(0.6) 0.12 -0.17(0.24) -0.05 0.62(0.23)** 0.19 0.59(0.3)* 0.13 child-initiated 2.98(1.09)** 0.21 1.10(0.41)** 0.19 1.15(0.41) ** 0.21 0.94(0.52) 0.13 didactic 0.40(0.77) 0.04 0.72(0.3)* 0.18 0.07(0.29) 0.02 0.04(0.37) 0.00 observations 198 221 198 221 r-squared 0.151 0.123 0.182 0.138 f-stat 3.01 2.66 3.77 3.03 prob > f 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 *** p<0.001, **p<0.01, * p<0.05 14 hooper & gaviria-loaiza family provider/teacher relationship quality the regression model explained 15.1% of the variance of the teachers’ fptrq total scores (r2 = .151, f (11,186) = 3.01, p < 0.001). having some graduate school credits or a graduate degree compared to an associate’s degree was positively related with relationship quality (b = 3.29, p < 0.05). teachers who have had some experience with graduate education scored 3.29 points higher on the fptrq than teachers who only had completed an associate’s degree. likewise, having more child-centered beliefs positively predicted the fptrq total score (b = 2.98, p < 0.01). for each unit increase in the child-centered beliefs measure, teachers scored 2.98 points higher on the fptrq. family-specific knowledge the regression model explained 12.3% of variance of teachers’ family-specific knowledge (r2 = .123, f (11, 209) = 2.66, p < 0.01). compared to white teachers, black teachers scored 1.12 points lower in the family-specific knowledge construct (b = -1.12, p < .05). teachers’ age (b = -.05, p < 0.05) negatively predicted teachers’ family-specific knowledge. further, having more childcentered beliefs (b = 1.10, p < .01) and didactic beliefs (b = .72, p < .05), as well as years of teaching (b = -.07, p < .05) positively predicted teachers’ family-specific knowledge. attitudes the regression model explained 18.2% of variance for teachers’ attitudes about families (r2 = .182, f (11,186) = 3.77, p < 0.01). compared to white teachers, black teachers scored 1.15 points higher in the attitudes construct (b = 1.15, p < .05). teacher depressive symptoms were negatively related to teachers’ attitudes about families (b = -.15, p < 0.05). teachers’ job satisfaction (b = .62, p < 0.01) and child-centered beliefs (b = 0.07, p < 0.01) positively predicted their attitudes about families. practices the regression model explained 13.8% of variance of teachers’ practices (r2 = .138, f (11, 209) = 3.03, p < 0.001) that measures the quality and frequency of teachers’ engagement with families. having some graduate school credits or a graduate degree compared to an associate’s degree was positively related with the practices construct score (b = 1.48, p < 0.5). compared to white teachers, black teachers scored 1.52 points higher in the practice construct (b = 1.52, p < .05). teachers’ job satisfaction was positively related with their practices (b = .59, p < 0.01). discussion this study examined whether head start teacher characteristics predicted their perceptions of their relationships with families. overall, teachers reported close and positive relationships with the families of children in their classroom, especially in terms of their attitudes about families and their practices with families. these analyses are a first step in learning about the teacher predictors of head start teachers’ perceived quality 15 characteristics that predict positive relationships with families of young children. teachers play an important role in family engagement through their practices in communicating with and engaging families, their attitudes towards families, and their family-specific knowledge. one contribution of this research is considering each of these constructs separately, as well as the overall quality of teachers’ relationships with families. results of the regression analyses suggest that family-teacher relationships, at least from the perspective of the teacher, are multi-faceted. teachers’ level of education, years of experience, psychological wellbeing, job satisfaction, and beliefs about teaching all significantly related to the quality of teacher-family relationships from the perspective of the teacher. however, predictors varied for the different constructs of the teacher-family relationship. the difference between a having a bachelor’s degree and associate’s degree did not emerge as statistically significant. however, having graduate credits compared to an associate’s degree predicted both the fptrq total score and the attitudes construct. this differs from previous research, such as the study of infant and toddler teachers by swartz and easterbrooks (2014), which found a negative relationship between teacher level of education and attitudes toward families. years of experience predicted only higher family-specific knowledge, although this represented a very small effect size. teachers’ level of depressive symptoms negatively predicted only their attitudes about families and not their practices with families, which could have been expected, as depressive symptoms were negatively linked to teaching practices in other studies (jeon, buettner, & snyder, 2014; sandilos et al., 2015). their job satisfaction positively predicted both attitudes and practices. child-initiated beliefs predicted the fptrq total score, as well as family-specific knowledge and attitudes. unexpectedly, didactic beliefs were also associated with higher familyspecific knowledge. this highlights the complexity of teachers’ beliefs. this complexity can be masked when using one total score to measure beliefs, rather than considering didactic and childinitiated beliefs as separate constructs (mccarty et al., 2001). additionally, the variance explained through the models predicting construct scores was higher than for the model predicting the total score. this highlights the importance of considering constructs of the teacher-family relationship separately, as well as the total overall quality of the relationship. these findings align with the family provider relationship quality conceptual model (forry et al., 2012), which identifies that the three constructs of family-teacher relationships, although having some overlap, are unique dimensions of teachers’ practices (ajzen & fishbein, 2005). limitations a primary limitation of this study is that head start teachers’ relationships with families, as well as the other teacher characteristics examined, were measured solely through self-report. additionally, relationships were measured in aggregate, how the teacher perceives his or her relationships with all of the families in the classroom rather than with each family individually. this analysis considers only the teachers’ perceptions of the teacher-family relationship, which represents only one side of this important relationship. finally, this analysis does not include child16 hooper & gaviria-loaiza level data or measures of classroom quality. therefore, it is not known whether the teachers’ perceptions of the relationship relate to children’s academic and social-emotional outcomes or to the quality of teacher-child interactions. implications and future directions this research builds on the understanding of how teachers’ psychological wellbeing contributes to their work with children and families (hamre & pianta, 2004; mclean & connor, 2015). therefore, it is important to continue to find ways to support teacher wellbeing, especially in head start settings where teachers report higher levels of psychological distress and depressive symptoms (whitaker et al., 2015). teachers’ reported psychological wellbeing seems to be malleable (hindmin & bustamante, 2018) and may be related to children’s behavior. given additional support related to challenging behavior, teachers may increase in psychological wellbeing, which may in turn be related to improvements in perceptions of relationships with families. a next step in this research is to consider how teacher-family relationship quality relates to children’s social and academic outcomes. additionally, it is important to consider how families perceive their relationships with teachers, because it is possible that they may view the relationship quality differently. finally, future research should include consider additional aspects of the family provider relationship quality conceptual model (forry et al., 2012), such as classroom and program-level characteristics that relate to teacher-family 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(2015). workplace stress and the quality of teacher–children relationships in head start. early childhood research quarterly, 30, 57-69. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 88 practice makes progress in mathematics: a research to practice summary the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 2 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i2.1919 contact: drew polly drew.polly@charlotte.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). rtp practice makes progress abstract this research-to-practice article supplements the research article practice makes progress: leveraging practice-based teacher education in mathematics pedagogy courses for primary grade learners published in the journal the dialog. this article presents suggestions based on a research study that provided a research-based framework, inclusive and equity-based mathematics teaching (iebmt), and examined how future teachers (referred to as teacher candidates) effectively planned for and taught mathematics activities in kindergarten classrooms. this work is relevant to early childhood education professionals since research supports benefits in using inclusive and equity-based practices when teaching mathematics. keywords early childhood education, elementary education, mathematics education, practice-based teacher education, problem solving classrooms today include a more diverse group of students than ever before, which includes children from varied linguistic, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds (domingo-martos et al., 2002). it is critical that programs that prepare and support future and current early childhood educators adequately help individuals teach classrooms of young children that are increasingly diverse. additionally, the number of individuals in early childhood education programs who demonstrate learning differences continues to increase (schaeffer, 2023), requiring early childhood education professionals to have background knowledge and experiences supporting learners who have learning differences. further, in an era where student learning and achievement data continues to be a focal point, student achievement data continues to show discrepancies between students based on their cultural and linguistic backgrounds across all grade levels (domingo-martos et al., 2022; musu-gillette et al., 2017). drew polly university of north carolina at charlotte the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 89 early childhood educators need support and adequate resources to effectively teach all learners regardless of students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds. inclusive and equity-based mathematics teaching: what is it? the ideas included in inclusive and equity-based mathematics teaching (iebmt) come from research on teaching mathematics to learners from diverse backgrounds as well as children who demonstrate learning differences. iebmt has two main pillars or parts: 1) access to grade-level aligned, research-based experiences and 2) opportunities for the exploration of problems embedded in meaningful contexts. table 1 describes aspects of iebmt. what we know about educator preparation programs experts who conduct research and influence policy have made recommendations for course work for teacher candidates to align with the work that they do in schools for clinical experiences (putman & polly, 2021; zeichner, 2021). early childhood tcs who hope to work with primary grade learners need ample experiences working with and learning about children in clinical practice settings in classrooms (matengu et al., 2020; polly, 2021). practice-based teacher education practice-based teacher education (pbte) is a process used to describe four phases to prepare tcs to learn about and enact research-based pedagogies (grossman et al., 2009). table 2 describes the four phases of pbte: learn, practice, enact, and reflect (mcdonald et al., 2013). in a nutshell, tcs learn about a research-based pedagogy, plan to use that pedagogy and practice using it, then they go and use the pedagogy with children, and finally reflect on their experiences (colonnese & polly, 2022). rtp practice makes progress table 1 aspects of inclusive, equity-based mathematics teaching pillar aspect description access to grade-level aligned, research based experiences alignment to grade level content learners should engage in activities aligned to current grade-level standards (gutiérrez, 2009; nctm, 2014; unbound ed, 2021). connect concepts prior to grade-level standards to grade-level concepts (tomlinson, 2017) access to researchbased experiences learners will engage in activities that are aligned to research-based teaching practices proven to increase student learning and achievement (cioè-peña, 2017; gutiérrez, 2012). opportunities for the exploration of problems embedded in meaningful contexts exploring problems when appropriate, learners will explore problems and select the strategies that they will use to solve problems (buchheister et al., 2019; sinha & kapur, 2021). gutiérrez (2009) describes this as power. meaningful mathematics contexts learners engage in activities that are contextualized in real-life situations that are meaningful to learners and build upon their cultural and academic assets (buchheister et al., 2019; domingo-martos et al., 2022). the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 90 as a result of the need to prepare future educators to use aspects of iebmt practices with children, this study examined how two different courses used pbte to influence tcs use of iebmt practices. description of the research study the study included tcs from an in-person course offered during a spring semester (course a) and an online course offered in a summer semester (course b). all tcs were placed in a kindergarten setting (course a) or had spent time in kindergarten in the past year (course b). description of mathematics activities all tcs had to plan and teach a number sense activity (aka a number talk) and a 3-lesson unit about addition and subtraction word problems. number sense activity tcs in both the in-person and the online course experienced number sense activities as learners during class. here is an example. the author, who was the course instructor, displayed figure 1 and then asked tcs, “what do you notice in this picture?” tcs usually state ideas such as: • “i see dots in each row.” • “i see 5 on the top and 5 on the bottom and i know that 5 plus 5 is 10.” • “i see that the bottom dots can be moved up to fill the empty boxes so that all 10 boxes on top are full to make a total of 10.” • “i went from left to right and counted by 2s. i landed on 10 which is the total.” in the course meeting after the activity, tcs spent time talking about their experiences as learners and the benefit of these activities. part of the discussion focused on the specific questions that the instructor (the author) asked during the activity with a focus on how those questions elicited students’ thinking about the mathematical concepts rtp practice makes progress table 2 phases of practice-based teacher education phase description learn learn research-based pedagogies by participating as learners in an example lesson, watching videos, and/or other experiences. prepare prepare to enact the research-based pedagogies with young learners. this may include selecting activities, writing lesson plans, and rehearsing/practicing teaching with peers (aka other tcs) and receiving feedback on their rehearsal. enact enact research-based pedagogies with students in a school setting. this experience may include the collection of artifacts from the enactment such as student work samples, audio recordings, video recordings, or observation notes from an observer. reflect reflect on the enactment based on tcs’ experiences, student data, or recordings of the enactment. figure 1 screen shot of image from number sense activity the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 91 embedded within the activity. in a future class meeting in both courses tcs had planned their own number talk, practiced teaching it to classmates, and received feedback from their classmates and the course instructor. tcs then went and did the activity with a small group of children and reflected on their experience. problem solving lessons during both courses the instructor provided examples of ways to support primary grades students while solving word problems. for example, consider the word problem: there are 4 dogs in the park. then 3 more dogs show up. these scaffolds that were shown to tcs included asking questions about the problem to guide students through the problem-solving process and providing them with a number path and hands-on counters to help students who need help keeping track of the numbers in the problems (figure 2). the instructor walked through the process with tcs in the following way: • instructor: i want us to think about this situation. there are 4 dogs in the park. then 3 more dogs show up. • instructor: how many dogs are in the park? • tcs: there are 4. • instructor: how can we use our counters to show that? • tcs cover the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the number path. • instructor: what is the action in our problem? • tc: 3 more dogs showed up. • instructor: use your counters to show the 3 dogs that showed up. • tcs put counters that are a different color on the numbers 5, 6, and 7. • instructor: the question we are going to answer is “how many dogs are now in the park? what is the answer? • tc: the answer is 7. • instructor: how do you know? • tc: i have 4 counters and 3 counters. that is a total of 7. tcs then spent time during a class meeting creating word problems to use in each of their three lessons. the template that was given to students required five word problems per lesson. tcs were required to create an opening word problem and then four follow up word problems. tcs were asked to create two of the four follow-up problems to be easier than the opening problem, meaning the numbers were smaller or there would be more guidance from the tc while teaching young learners. additionally, two of the follow-up problems were expected to be more challenging than the opening problem with larger numbers and possibly focusing on the use of pictures instead of handson manipulatives and less teacher guidance. after students created word problems, they had a class session where they practiced teaching one of their word problems using the process that was detailed above. similar to the number sense activities, peers provided feedback. findings the findings focused on two areas: 1) tcs provided access to grade-level aligned research-based experiences and 2) tcs providing opportunities for young children to explore problems embedded in rtp practice makes progress figure 2 picture of number path and counters the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 92 meaningful contexts. in the first area, tcs effectively planned for and ask questions during the number talk that gradually increased in difficultyfrom asking students to share their strategy towards more high-level questions where tcs asked young children to explain why they chose specific strategies. examples of these questions are: “how is this strategy of finding the total number similar to the strategy we saw earlier?” and “how do you know that your thinking is correct?” tcs also effectively planned for and taught activities where learners used manipulatives and visuals. all tcs were aligned with the desired pedagogies by using manipulatives such as counters or cubes along with number paths (figure 2). while tcs demonstrated some degree of fidelity to the desired pedagogies by planning for and using manipulatives such as counters and cubes in their practice activity. tcs, though, reported a lot of uncertainty across both courses on how to help students transition from manipulatives to pictures. in the second area, tcs effectively wrote and taught word problems that were embedded in contexts that were meaningful and relevant to young learners. these problems were about topics that young learners could relate to, such as latin american food and cultural events for students whose family was from latin america. however, there were mixed findings on tcs during their teaching. tcs were supposed to pose word problems and guide young children’s mathematics work by asking questions; however, a few of the tcs directly taught children with step-by-step instructions that children just mimicked and copied. tips and suggestions based on this study this study found that the practice-based teacher education (pbte) activities such as learning, preparing, enacting, and reflecting helped support teacher candidates (tcs) enactment of inclusive and equity-based mathematics teaching (iebmt) with kindergarten learners. specifically, tcs were able to plan mathematics activities that were relevant to learners and appropriately aligned to their grade level and tcs. here are some takeaways: • practice does make progress. tcs did number talk activities and problem-solving activities as learners, planned their own activities, and then did practice teaching before using them with children. this practice helped tcs become more comfortable with the activities and how to teach them. • focusing on questioning. tcs demonstrated, in a lot of instances, their skills in asking questions about children’s math ideas as well as follow-up questions that included more how or why questions about children’s use of strategies (see colonnese et al., 2022). • guiding versus directing children. while the approach of practice-based teacher education helped tcs, some tcs reverted back to directing students’ process of solving word problems when they sensed that children were struggling instead of guiding them. a lot of practice and discussion may be needed with tcs related to supporting children’s problem solving when they are striving to figure out what to do with a word problem. rtp practice makes progress “practice does make progress. tcs did number talk activities and problemsolving activities as learners, planned their own activities, and then did practice teaching before using them with children.” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 93 references buchheister, k., jackson, c., & taylor, c. 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(2021). examining the development and implementation of an embedded, multi-semester internship: preliminary perceptions of teacher education candidates, clinical educators, and university faculty. peabody journal of education, 96(1), 99-111. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 0161956x.2020.1864250 rtp practice makes progress https://doi.org/10.5951/teacchilmath.25.4.0224 https://doi.org/10.5951/teacchilmath.25.4.0224 https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2017.1296032 https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2021.2020696 https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2021.2020696 https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2021.2020696 https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2022.2095043 https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2022.2095043 http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956x.2020.1864250 https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956x.2020.1864250 hs dialog, 26(2), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 an investigation of kindergarten readiness based on early learning inventory scores jennifer baucom rebecca shore richard lambert university of north carolina at charlotte the term “kindergarten readiness” lacks a formal definition. the need for a single, widely accepted definition for this term is necessary for teachers and educational leaders to prepare children and their families for the start of formal education. this study was conducted to understand the perceptions of preschool and kindergarten teachers concerning typically developing students on day 60 of kindergarten in the state of north carolina. focus groups were used to determine particular skills that a kindergartener should exhibit by that point in school in order to be successful during that year. both groups of teachers were knowledgeable about the developmental continuum kindergartners should follow in order to achieve needed skills according to the north carolina early learning inventory. a second finding was that kindergarten teachers scored students lower than preschool teachers on the anticipated ability of their students to achieve a skill. all teachers considered some skills were introduced in the inventory prematurely. participants within this study perceived school readiness as skills that students should exhibit on day 60 of kindergarten that would allow for them to have a successful kindergarten year. some skills that would be typical on day 60 of kindergarten are that students are: able to control their emotions and understand the emotions of others, understand how to behave in familiar environments when routines and procedures do not change, and are able to discriminate the sound that an alliteration and rhyme make but may not be able to explain the reason for the alliteration or rhyme. keywords: preschool, kindergarten, kindergarten readiness, north carolina early learning inventory, teaching strategies gold© introduction at this point in the history of early childhood education, the term ‘kindergarten readiness’ has eluded an accepted, formal definition of the meaning of the phrase. the notion of a child being “ready” for kindergarten means different things to different stakeholders, and the lack of agreement on a formal definition between parents, teachers, administrators, state and national leaders, and research article 2 baucom, shore & lambert researchers is particularly troublesome. the absence of such an important definition is particularly alarming considering the large amount of funding that has been allocated to prepare children for kindergarten from federal, state, and local entities in a variety of preschool programs throughout the united states over several decades. for example, the u. s. department of health and human services provided head start $10,748,095,000 in 2021 to ensure that qualifying children in poverty were “ready” for school (linehan, 2021). the state of north carolina, the setting of our study, provided a total of $29,280,000 in the fiscal year 2019-2020 to administer the statewide north carolina prekindergarten program (nc pre-k) that serves four-year-old students to help them to become ready to enter kindergarten (smart start, 2020). these programs allocate many millions of dollars aimed at preparing children for their first year of school without an established definition of precisely what kindergarten readiness actually looks like. in other words, many stakeholders are aiming at not only different targets, but moving targets. background of the problem while traditional education spans 13 years (k-12), a preschool teacher has a small window of opportunity to work with children before what is considered formal schooling begins: “identifying early school readiness characteristics is essential in preparing children physically and emotionally to meet the demands of early schooling successfully” (miller & kehl, 2019, p. 445). consequently, there is a need to define those skills that will lay a foundation upon which k-12 teachers can enhance learning beyond the preschool years, facilitating the education system’s ultimate goal of creating life-long learners. consequently, preschool educators need to know what skills in each child need attention when working with them before they enter kindergarten. kindergarten teachers must also be aware of those skills. knowing the key skills necessary for success in kindergarten could allow parents and preschool teachers to remediate students who are lacking in those specific skills, were those readiness skills clearly defined and agreed upon. if defined skills are taught promptly and properly in preschool, the assumption is that the child will likely have more success in kindergarten and potentially throughout their education journey. established research suggests that quality early childhood education can have lasting benefits for children. in 2005, a policy brief created by the national institute for early education research stated that, “high-quality preschool education can support early development in ways that yield long-term social and emotional benefits” (boyd et al., 2005, p. 1). this policy brief examined many studies that investigated early childhood program demonstration projects as far back as the 1960’s and 1970’s. a few of the projects studied were the high scope perry preschool project, syracuse university’s family development research program, and the houston parent child development center. additional research studies, have shown that high quality preschool programs can develop critical skills in children, who in turn experience growth that sustains them throughout their high school years (schweinhart, 2003). programs such as head start have continued to provide high-quality services for over 50 years to increase the readiness of children (and families) rising out of poverty kindergarten readiness 3 and becoming productive citizens of our society. more recently, early head start has seen even more substantial positive impacts on the children and families they serve. based on such studies, governmental agencies, nonprofits, and private foundations have increased opportunities so that children can begin kindergarten ready to learn. these varied preschool initiatives have been provided for decades in hopes that students entering kindergarten are ready to learn on the first day of school and have the opportunities to gain skills early-on that will increase the likelihood of successful schooling and long-lasting positive effects throughout their lives. yet according to hover in 2014, “one third of the nation’s children were unprepared for kindergarten” (p. 57). much money and effort has been invested in early childhood programs by federal and state governments without a widely accepted definition of kindergarten readiness. statement of the problem with the heightened accountability of preschool programs by state and federal lawmakers, owing largely to the every student succeeds act (2015), a formal definition of ‘kindergarten readiness’ is needed. this study sought to contribute to the literature concerning what it means to be ‘kindergarten ready’ in one state. the study involved interviewing experienced preschool and kindergarten teachers who worked with young children each day to understand their perceptions of the term “kindergarten ready”; more specifically, they were asked to define what a child’s skills and competencies need to be at day 60 of kindergarten to be successful in kindergarten and beyond. specifically, this study examined the perceptions of experienced kindergarten and preschool teachers in north carolina to determine the similarities and differences between these early educators’ perceptions of a developmental continuum called the north carolina early learning inventory (nceli) (ncdpib, n. d.). this instrument is widely used to measure kindergartners’ skills on day 60 of school, the date when the nceli is administered in north carolina kindergarten classrooms. it is considered a formative assessment by the north carolina department of public instruction’s office of early learning and measures students’ developmental levels in five areas. by investigating data gathered while administering the nceli, it was hoped that a better understanding of teacher perceptions of typical students’ performance on day 60 of kindergarten would be gained, establishing a more concrete definition of kindergarten readiness. the nceli assessment was designed to help teachers understand student weaknesses and strengths to then modify their instruction accordingly. as part of the assessment, kindergarten teachers take anecdotal notes during the first 60 days of kindergarten regarding their interactions with each student in order to score students’ achievements on the nceli components. these notes focus on particular milestones that the children exhibit each day. the notes also help to determine a student’s progress on the assessment continuum. from the data gathered through the notes, observers can determine whether a child has reached particular developmental milestones indicated on the instrument. the kindergarten teacher then assigns the students a score on a continuum according to what the teacher sees that the child has achieved. the early learning inventory is designed to assess five areas of development for the early childhood learner. those areas are: social-emotional, math, approaches to learning, language and literacy, and physical development. the continuum on which the teacher rates students in each of these areas 4 baucom, shore & lambert has a numerical range of 1-14. these developmental levels are all adopted from the teaching strategies gold© continuum. the teaching strategies gold© continuum is an instrument widely used across the country and throughout north carolina in preschool and kindergarten to gauge development. the gold© continuum is also a developmental instrument that was designed to describe a typical child’s major milestones each year from birth through third grade. the continuum contains milestones that are assigned according to students’ grade or age based on continuous specific developmental progressions. as with curricular content standards, in the case of preschool, those teachers can examine milestones and determine if a child is keeping pace with milestones that correlate to their age or grade level. kindergarten teachers then use observations and evidence to determine whether their students have mastered appropriate developmental skills. the difference between the nceli scores and the gold© continuum is that the former has fewer measures than the latter. the nceli measures only a part of a students’ development, whereas the gold©continuum takes a more holistic approach to assessing the child. examples of associated activities from the teaching strategies gold© continuum are “matching rhyming cards to pictures” and “counts 28 steps to the cafeteria” (lambert et al., 2010). (additional desired kindergarten objectives and other specific examples of activities can be found in the gold© continuum publication.) the following table lists the five developmental domains of learning that are part of the nceli and the gold© continuum in more detail (see table 1). table 1 domains and developmental milestones domain of learning developmental progress social emotional manages feelings responds to emotional cues interacts with peers solves social problems follows limits and expectations math counts quantifies connects numerals and quantities approaches to learning attends and engages language notices and discriminates rhyme notices and discriminates alliteration tells about another time or place follows directions physical uses fingers and hands purpose of the study kindergarten readiness 5 this study sought a better understanding of what kindergarten readiness means according to preschool and kindergarten teachers. the aim was that this study could help foster a more clear understanding of the phrase kindergarten readiness among preschool and kindergarten teachers, ultimately helping students to transition and become better equipped to be successful in school. responses of participants were collected and analyzed to determine their perceptions of the main skills a student needs to be successful on day 60 of their kindergarten year. research questions the study was guided by the following research questions: rq1: in what ways do kindergarten teachers perceive kindergarten readiness as measured on day 60 of a student’s kindergarten year? rq2: in what ways do preschool teachers perceive kindergarten readiness as measured on day 60 of a student’s kindergarten year? rq3: what are the similarities and differences between kindergarten and preschool teachers’ perceptions of kindergarten readiness on day 60 of students’ kindergarten year? kindergarten has traditionally been the time when a child’s home life meets the public school arena for the first time. parents and children are exposed to the demands and expectations of an environment that is traditionally more structured and begins to measure a child’s success, failure, or acceptance in k-12 schooling in well-defined ways. when kindergarten teachers do not agree on expectations for pre-kindergarten skills as they relate to a standardized inventory such as the nceli, instructional misalignment can affect future student progress. determining a widely accepted definition of kindergarten readiness can better ensure that resources are best used for the goal of preparing the greatest number of students to enter kindergarten. research design and methodology data collected in this study was part of a larger project headed by research faculty at a large southeastern university. the larger research project included the same research questions but added another layer which sought to determine scores across north carolina for kindergarten readiness skills based on nceli scores. this ongoing research gives a better understanding of what it means to be ready for kindergarten, particularly in north carolina, by gathering perceptions from experienced preschool and kindergarten teachers. assumptions there were several assumptions made regarding this study. first, it was assumed that the teachers interviewed had studied the standard course of study for preschool and kindergarten in north carolina before the research questions were asked. in other words, they would have already studied the topics relevant to the research questions before answering them. secondly, it was assumed that their perceptions of kindergarten readiness would be similar and relate directly to the kindergarten standard course of study for kindergarteners and the north carolina foundations for early 6 baucom, shore & lambert learning and development, which is a statewide developmental continuum for preschool students. finally, it was assumed that these professionals answered the questions presented honestly, based on their educational knowledge and personal experiences. literature review the scholarly literature regarding kindergarten readiness has evolved and expanded through time, however, it still shows a recurring theme reflecting the notion that there is no one specific accepted definition of kindergarten readiness. this situation exists even though the phrase is and has been used widely throughout the educational system in the united states for over 30 years. there is, however, agreement that the definition of kindergarten readiness is multifaceted, complex, and difficult to address (akhtar & bilal, 2018; altun, 2018). early studies sought a definition through the voices of kindergarten teachers. a large study conducted by the national educational goals panel (1993) surveyed kindergarten teachers nationally to reach a consensus for kindergarten readiness (heaviside, 1993). the group addressed three research areas: public school kindergarten teachers’ judgments and beliefs about kindergarten readiness; the characteristics of the teachers’ kindergarten classes and their practices in these classes; and teachers’ backgrounds. almost all teachers (96%) interviewed believed that children should be: physically healthy, rested and well nourished. a majority also believed that children should be able to communicate wants, needs, and thoughts verbally and that enthusiasm and curiosity are more important for kindergarten readiness than knowledge of the alphabet or counting ability (heaviside, 1993). the study concluded, “at present, there is no direct measure of kindergarten readiness, nor is there common agreement on the qualities of early learning and development that are critical for readiness or on the activities that foster readiness” (heaviside, 1993, p. 11). a more recent study involved interviewing both teachers and parents. “in the united states, the most important early kindergarten readiness qualities identified by both parents and teachers are: (1) being well rested and physically healthy, (2) effectively communicating needs, wants, and thoughts, and (3) having enthusiasm and curiosity for approaching new activities” (miller & kehl, 2019, p. 445). it is noteworthy that these skills were not necessarily academic ones and were tied to behaviors typically displayed when working with groups or individuals. another common qualification considered for kindergarten readiness over time has been simply the age of the child. in many states, children are considered school ready by chronological age. some researchers suggested that children can enter kindergarten with or without certain developmental skills. through a study conducted by lincove and painter in 2006, it was found that, “despite evidence that older students have an academic advantage in elementary school, our results suggest that redshirting by parent preference or school recommendation is not an effective strategy for improving high school achievement, graduation rates, or college enrollment” (lincove & painter, 2006, p. 173). parents and educators realized that every child who enters kindergarten at the age of five will not have the same skills. children develop at different rates and a child’s previous experiences and kindergarten readiness 7 background play a large part in their readiness for school. consequently, in addition to age, behavioral skills became prominent to deciding kindergarten readiness. parents and teachers agreed that students who are able to focus on their learning without inappropriate behaviors are able to flourish within a school setting. children who demonstrate appropriate behavioral skills were considered more ready for kindergarten and showed more engagement in the classroom. simply put, children who are on-task and focused on learning were seen as more apt to be successful than those not exhibiting positive classroom behaviors. this subject is important for children in poverty who have been shown to exhibit higher rates of behavioral challenges and lower cognitive and language skills when entering kindergarten. the research indicated that children in poverty needed more assistance reaching kindergarten readiness due to the underlying factors of their situation. hartman et al. (2017) completed a study to investigate whether behavior skills in children at age four had an effect on their kindergarten year. in particular, the researchers wanted to investigate children who were ethnically diverse, had a low socioeconomic status, and attended school in an urban setting. the researchers wanted to know to what extent these risk factors positively or negatively affected a child’s experience in kindergarten. the findings of the study determined that a child’s behavior when they were four years old did affect their readiness for kindergarten, as well as their success in their kindergarten year. in other words, if a child were able to control behavior in preschool, they were able to show positive rather than negative behavior in kindergarten. negative behaviors were directly related to lower outcomes and lower cognitive and language skills in their findings. children who had limited atypical behavior before beginning kindergarten were more prepared for it and had higher outcomes once there. it was also noted that behavior skills are important for kindergartners and affected teachers’ grading tendencies as well. some teachers were found to have a negative bias when grading students with behavioral issues. the researchers found that “classroom grades are more likely to be influenced by a child’s interactions and behavior with the teacher during the school year than are standardized test scores” (hartman et al., 2017, p. 266). children who were on task and focused during instruction had more positive learning interactions with their teacher. in turn, they were able to gain more skills and learning outcomes during the school day. the study also determined a child’s behavior problems had a greater impact on school performance than socioeconomic level. perceptions of preschool manigo and allsion (2017) conducted a study to determine parents’ perceptions of preschool. in particular, they wanted to understand parents’ reasons for letting (or not allowing) their child to attend a preschool program before kindergarten. they used experiences from parents in a large urban district in the southeast. they interviewed 12 parents, six of whom sent their child to preschool, and six who provided kindergarten readiness at home. the researchers wanted to understand parents’ thoughts relating to the importance of attending preschool and the value of their child doing so. an important outcome of the study was that 9 of the 12 parents believed preschool helped a child “develop positive emotions about school” (manigo & allsion, 2017, p. 20). parents of children 8 baucom, shore & lambert who attended preschool felt their children had a positive feeling about school, and their child’s communication skills and self-management of their emotions were strengthened by the preschool. parents felt that a child should learn certain skills before they enter kindergarten. they believed that if they were unable to teach their child these skills before they entered kindergarten, their child should attend a preschool program. since only 6 of the 9 actually had children in preschool, 3 of those who did not would clearly have participated in preschool for their child were it available. supplemental funding for public preschool has typically targeted low ses children. according to the u. s. department of education (usdoe, 2014), in 2013, there were 4,112,347 four-year olds eligible to attend publicly funded preschool programs. this eligibility is determined by income levels and location. regardless of eligibility, only 1,649,607 four-year olds attended a publicly funded preschool program that year (usdoe, 2014, p. 3). in other words, only 40% of children who were eligible actually attended. this would leave 60% of children who were eligible for preschool not attending. duncan and magnuson (2013) examined the effectiveness of preschool in 2013 by summarizing expenditures in early childhood education programs and comparing them to the outcomes of the children involved. they wanted to determine if the investments, in particular early childhood preschool programs were cost effective. their results showed minimal long-term benefit of some early childhood programs. they went on to determine that the beneficial effects of interventions to raise intelligence in young children faded over time (i.e., a “fadeout effect” (cohen, 2015)). however, the positive effects of some well-known early childhood programs, when separated from the others, had “lasting positive effects on such outcomes. these outcomes were greater educational attainment, higher earnings, and lower rates of crime” (duncan & magnuson, 2013, p. 110). the two most prominent programs within the study by duncan and magnuson (2013) were ones that had shown long-term growth among students who attended them. students in these two programs did not have a fade out effect concerning academic attainment or success in elementary school but had long term positive effects such as greater high school graduation rates, reduced teen pregnancy, and less criminal behavior. overall, “theories and evidence across the social sciences argue that early childhood may be a promising period for effective educational investments, particularly for disadvantaged children” (duncan & magnuson, 2013, p. 127). the study determined that effective and high-quality preschool services benefit disadvantaged children, and that continued spending should be made in the early childhood education. kindergarten readiness defining kindergarten readiness becomes more vital owing to recent changes made regarding higher academic standards for kindergarten students. historically, kindergarten has served as a place for children to engage in natural discovery. with recent increased emphasis on school performance and the nationwide school accountability movement since no child left behind, there has been greater importance placed on academic skills in kindergarten. one may have heard it stated, “kindergarten is the new 1st grade.” if the characteristics of kindergarten are now more kindergarten readiness 9 academic in emphasis, there is greater need to prepare preschool teachers and parents on how to help future kindergarteners become school ready (welch & white, 1999). kindergartners today are expected to learn and understand content that has been formerly taught in the first and even second grade. children now need to enter kindergarten equipped and able to address the increased academic demands of the kindergarten classroom. they are also expected to be socially, emotionally, and intellectually ready. communication levels and ability to get along with peers are also skills deemed to be important (miller & kehl, 2019). the north carolina board of education is responsible for overseeing the north carolina standard course of study and as such have provided a standard course of study to teachers at every grade level including kindergarten. according to the introduction found in the quick reference guide for the north carolina standard couse of study in kindergarten: north carolina’s standard course of study defines the appropriate content standards for each grade level and each high school course to provide a uniform set of learning standards for every public school in north carolina. these standards define what students should know and be able to do by the end of a grade and/or course (ncdpi, 2021, p. 5.) kindergarten teachers in the state are required to use the kindergarten standard course of study to provide instruction in their classrooms. these standards are used so all kindergarten teachers will have a common instructional focus in all kindergarten classrooms statewide. readiness inventories another theme within the literature was the need for a kindergarten readiness inventory that would measure the skills needed for kindergarten and would be administered by preschool or kindergarten teachers. saluja et al. (2000) surveyed every state to ascertain if (and how) they assessed kindergartners with readiness assessments. the study was conducted in hopes that teachers could be informed about curriculum needs and production, as well as maintain accountability for growth in their kindergarten classroom. the study found that age was the primary determinant of readiness for kindergarten across the united states. saluja et al. (2000) also reiterated that one reason for using age was that is was a simple, straight-forward measure. in addition, there was no formal accepted definition of kindergarten readiness. several states were investigating kindergarten readiness at the time of their study, and some kindergarten readiness assessments were being created locally. however, when readiness assessments are developed locally, they are typically not a product of systematic research. local guidelines and teacher opinions often prevail without using supporting research on the topic. however, “understanding the condition of children as they enter school can provide clues to help parents and teachers understand children’s performance later in their school career” and was assumed that “something was better than nothing” (saluja et al., 2000, p. 1). these researchers indicated that even in 2000, there had been an increase in accountability and student performance over time. in addition, they suggested that a definition of kindergarten readiness and entry assessments could assist with this increased level of accountability and that without a proper definition; there cannot be a valid entry assessment. 10 baucom, shore & lambert the north carolina early education task force first published north carolina foundations for early learning and development in 2013 to help the educator understand developmental guidelines and typical behaviors in order to help children prepare for kindergarten. this document gave information for all early childhood caregivers across the state regarding developmental levels of children that they serve. all early childhood educators within the state are still encouraged to use this continuum as a guide for teaching and learning (north carolina foundations for early learning and development, 2013). as mentioned previously, north carolina has developed a formative assessment (nceli) to help educators understand important kindergarten readiness skills and implementing its use in all public school kindergartens. the nceli is intended to be a beginning of kindergarten formative assessment to inform kindergarten teachers of where their children are on a developmental continuum on day 60 of school. this assists teachers in determining the strengths and weaknesses of the development of their children towards the beginning of the school year. the assessment is not local but tied to a research-based nationwide developmental continuum, formulated through the state’s office of early learning and first used in the 2020-2021 school year. teaching strategies gold© is a multifaceted form of assessment for children from birth through third grade. the teaching strategies gold© developmental assessment tool is used by all prek teachers in north carolina to determine the skills learned in the preschool setting and help ensure children are prepared to enter kindergarten. “taking a whole-child approach, gold© assesses children’s development and learning across four developmental domains (social emotional, physical, language, cognitive) and five content domains (literacy, mathematics, science and technology, social studies, and the arts)” (lambert, 2020, p. 5). teaching strategies gold© allows teachers to assess their students throughout the school year to determine strengths and needs. this instrument is now used widely across the united states with more than 15 million children (burts et al., 2016). methodology kindergarten readiness continues to be an important issue surrounding the academic and social success of children as they begin their school experiences. though it is a multidimensional concept, kindergarten readiness broadly means that a young child has developed the skills that will help them succeed during their first year of kindergarten (altun, 2018). children who exhibit this readiness typically go on to experience more academic and social achievements in school (bingham & whitebread, 2012). however, ambiguity naturally continues about what it means to be ready for kindergarten, warranting further exploration of this topic (akhter & bilal, 2018). the purpose of this study was to understand how preschool and kindergarten teachers understand kindergarten readiness. conversations from five focus group interviews in which preschool and kindergarten teachers discussed their experiences and perspectives about what constitutes kindergarten readiness provided the data for this study. the methodology used in this study and the focus groups are described in the sections that follow. kindergarten readiness 11 research design this research project utilized a basic, qualitative, interpretive design. qualitative inquiry is appropriate for this study because of its broad approach to understanding social phenomena and effectiveness in exploring individuals’ understandings of their experiences and how they develop these perceptions (marshall & rossman, 2006). creswell (2013) wrote that qualitative methodology allowed researchers to extensively explore a concept and develop detailed understandings of complex issues. merriman and tisdale (2016) added that a basic interpretive, qualitative design is effective for understanding how participants interact with the world around them and attribute meaning to their experiences. a qualitative design was selected for this study because it explored teachers’ understandings of the complex and often ambiguous phenomena of kindergarten readiness. this qualitative research utilized a focus group design. according to krueger and casey (2015), focus groups involve more than just getting a group of people together to talk. rather, they are used to better understand how people feel or think about an idea or issue. this design uses a series of planned discussions led by a skilled moderator and is intended to obtain perceptions about an area of interest in a non-threatening environment. according to established models, focus groups are generally composed of seven to 10 people, although they can be conducted with as few as four and as many as 12 (krueger & casey, 2015). there are advantages to using focus groups. this method assumes that an individual’s perspective does not develop in a vacuum. people often build their ideas by sharing them with others (marshall & rossman, 2006). as described by krueger and casey (2015), a focus group design presents a more natural environment for participants than does an individual interview. focus group participants influence one another as they share their thoughts through active dialogue. unlike a one-on-one interview with a researcher, exchanges between participants in focus groups imitate the everyday, lively dialogue in which people commonly engage (krueger & casey, 2015). marshall and rossman (2006) also noted that focus groups have high face validity because the method is readily understood. a multiple-category focus group design was used to gather data in this research study. as described by krueger and casey (2015), this design involves multiple focus groups with more than one category of participants. doing this allows the researcher to make comparisons from one group to another. in the current study, the researchers wanted to explore the perspectives of preschool teachers and kindergarten teachers who participated in the original focus groups. setting all focus groups were conducted using zoom virtual meeting technology. doing so enabled researchers to comply with safety protocols surrounding the covid-19 pandemic. it also enabled the involvement of a wide range of participants from a broad geographical area. the focus group sessions were held on mondays and wednesdays between 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm in the spring semester of 2022. the study considered only kindergarten readiness in the state of north carolina. 12 baucom, shore & lambert participants according to krueger and casey (2015), focus groups are characterized by homogeneity. participants are selected for them because they have characteristics in common that relate to the topic of interest. while randomization is important in research that seeks to infer, homogeneity of participants is valued more than randomization in focus group research. this homogeneity is important because the intent of focus group research is to understand how people within the groups perceive a situation. in this study, homogeneity was achieved by having only participants from north carolina whose work meant that they had extensive knowledge about early childhood education in that state. a series of five focus groups were held to gather data. each focus group consisted of up to 10 participants. as the study was part of a larger study, participants in the focus groups included more than preschool and kindergarten teachers. each focus group included a state regional consultant from the ncdpi’s office of early learning (oel), at least one preschool teacher, at least one kindergarten teacher, a school-based administrator, and a content area expert. however, the data analysis for this study used only the responses of preschool and kindergarten teachers. fifty-two participants were involved in the original study. of the 52 participants, seven were preschool teachers, and 12 were kindergarten teachers. therefore, this study was based on the responses of 19 participating preschool and kindergarten teachers. participants were selected in two ways. first, the office of early learning (oel) regional consultants drew upon their knowledge to nominate preschool teachers, kindergarten teachers, and school administrators that had exhibited successful experience with the nceli and with teaching strategies gold© at the school level. second, oel regional consultants were assigned to participate in at least one focus group by their supervisors. third, the center for educational measurement and evaluation (ceme) at the university of north carolina-charlotte, along with the oel, identified content area experts for each focus group. all potential participants were contacted via email by ceme and invited to participate. those who agreed to do so were asked to select one of the five focus groups in which to participate. no participant was involved in more than one focus group. no restrictions were placed on years of experience or other professional or personal factors. instrumentation the north carolina early learning inventory (nceli) was essential to gather data for this study. as previously discussed, nceli is an observation-based assessment used by classroom teachers to measure students’ academic and social skills on day 60 of kindergarten. during each focus group breakout session, participants were asked to analyze three objectives of the assessment. specifically, participants were asked to determine a score between 1 and 14 for each objective that best represented the skills that typically developing children would be able to demonstrate at the time the assessment is given. the nceli scores are such that ‘1’ is the lowest developmental rating and ‘14’ is the highest. a rating of ‘1’ corresponds to the age of birth to one-year old; ‘14’ corresponds to an average student at the end of third grade. examples of objectives that participants kindergarten readiness 13 used for those that were meeting expectations were, “do bear and chair rhyme?” and “when asked what comes after 16, says, ‘17’ without beginning at one” (lambert et al., 2010). in addition to numerically rating each of the nceli objectives, participants were asked to identify specific examples from their experiences that illustrated skills that typically developing children would exhibit on day 60 of kindergarten. for example, objective six on nceli examines the ability of children to follow directions of two or more steps that relate to familiar objectives or experiences. participants were asked to numerically rate this objective from 1 to 14. they were then asked to discuss examples of what this objective looks like in real kindergarten classrooms on the assessment day of school. therefore, the researchers had two categories of data for analysis: the focus group ratings of each nceli objective, and the comments from focus group participants about how the objectives happen in classrooms. results each panel generated findings about students’ expected performance on specific objectives of the nceli on day 60 of kindergarten. data analysis of the findings from each panel generated five themes: • kindergarten and preschool teachers exhibited strong agreement about students’ developmental continuum. • preschool teachers rated students slightly higher than kindergarten teachers. • a misalignment existed between developmentally appropriate instruction and assessment. • the importance of consistent procedures • the importance of preschool education theme 1: strong agreement about students’ developmental continuum the quality of experience and knowledge of the participants was evident within each focus group meeting. a significant theme was that kindergarten and preschool teachers consistently exhibited strong agreement about the developmental continuum that their students should follow to be successful during preschool and kindergarten. in all panels, both groups of teachers understood each other’s suggestions and comments. for example, kindergarten and preschool participants in panel 1 noted that students should be able to express and distinguish personal feelings from those feelings expressed in literature. susie, a kindergarten teacher said, “they are able to identify basic emotions in literature, and they can look at a picture and know someone is sad.” mia, a preschool teacher agreed, noting, “they can identify the emotions of someone in a story.” in addition, in panel 2, all participants agreed that students should be able to follow behavioral limits and expectations. in panel 3, all participants agreed that the objective requiring students to follow a logical sequence was demanding and that many students would not be fully proficient in this area. discussing students’ performance related to following logical sequence, grace (kindergarten teacher) said, “logical sequence is very hard for students. they have a lot of difficulty talking 14 baucom, shore & lambert about experiences in a logical sequence.” madison (preschool teacher) responded, “they don’t always get beginning, middle, and end. they like to tell their favorite parts. if i ask questions, i can get beginning, middle, and end.” this level of agreement among participants was seen in all panels. the researchers noted that kindergarten and preschool teachers exhibited similar levels of knowledge, experience, and perceptions about students’ developmental levels. theme 2: preschool teachers rated students higher than kindergarten teachers another key theme was that preschool teachers scored a typical student higher than did kindergarten teachers. of nine objectives from the nceli that were rated by preschool and kindergarten teachers, five were higher for preschool teachers. examples are: objective 1: “manages feelings.” preschool teachers rated students at levels 5-6; kindergarten teachers rated them at levels 4-6. objective 2: “responds to emotional cues.” preschool teachers rated students at levels 6-7, but kindergarten teachers scored students at 5-6. objective 3: “interacts with peers.” preschool teachers scored students at 6-8 while kindergarten teachers scored students at levels 4-6. objective 7: “follows directions.” preschool teachers scored students at levels 6-8; kindergarten teachers scored students at levels 6-7. objective 9: “uses fingers and hands to count.” preschool teachers scored students at levels 68 and kindergarten teachers scored students at level 7. preschool and kindergarten teachers scored students the same on the following objectives: “follows limits and expectations,” “solves social problems,” and “attends and engages.” the only objective for which kindergarten teachers rated students higher than preschool teachers was “tells about another place and time.” on that objective, kindergarten teachers scored students at levels 6-7 while the preschool teacher scored students at level 6. theme 3: misalignment between appropriate instruction and assessment kindergarten and preschool teachers agreed that some objectives were developmentally inappropriate for their students on day 60 of kindergarten. both groups of teachers suggested that these objectives were too advanced for the instruction that students would typically receive by that time. therefore, students would need additional support and time to perform adequately on these objectives as compared to others. the objectives that participants referenced as being excessively difficult for students were “manages feelings,” “responds to emotional cues,” “attends and engages,” “tells about another place and time,” and “quantifies.” commenting on how students continue to develop the skill of quantification throughout the year, ruby (a kindergarten teacher) said, “students are not at 100% (with this objective) on the 60th day. they are increasing their accuracy. throughout the year that’s what they’re doing.” another kindergarten teacher, jessie, noted, “hierarchical inclusion is very difficult on the 60th day of kindergarten readiness 15 kindergarten. we start that concept in february.” when discussing the difficulties that students experience with the objective “attends and engaging” on the 60th day of school, jude, a preschool teacher said, “i feel like there is a lot of executive functioning work going on. that’s a hard skill.” describing the objective “solves social problems,” jude also noted, “students are being introduced into a new environment of kindergarten. a level 7 (on the nceli) might be too high. they are experiencing problems they have never experienced before in a kindergarten setting.” theme 4: importance of consistent procedures throughout the study, kindergarten and preschool teachers described the importance of teachers using consistent classroom procedures. they noted that kindergarten children perform more effectively when consistent classroom routines are in place. sophia, a preschool teacher said, “they thrive off of routine, but they can follow unrelated directions. when their routines are off, they can still follow directions with a clarifying question.” for example, sophia, a preschool teacher added: yesterday we had a three-hour delay. they did not have breakfast. instead of going to the desks to eat breakfast, i needed them to come to the carpet to start class. students were off their routine and got confused. they got a funny face. i cued them and they followed directions. theme 5: importance of preschool education throughout the study, kindergarten and preschool teachers noted their perceptions based on experiences of the positive impact of preschool education. specifically, they noted that children with preschool experiences would score higher on many of the objectives of the nceli. while participants were asked to consider the ratings of kindergarten students regardless of whether they had preschool experiences, teachers still commented that preschool would improve students’ performance. for example, a preschool teacher commented, “levels of typical ranges may change because of experiences that children may have. for example, prek versus non-prek.” another preschool teacher added, “this skill would depend on whether the child had preschool.” when scoring the objective “follows directions,” grace, a kindergarten teacher said, “i’m leaning toward a ‘7,’ especially for kids with no preschool experience.” panel 1 the first panel considered the social and emotional domain of the nceli. participants were identifying behaviors within the areas of “manages feelings,” “responds to emotional cues,” and “interacts with peers.” these characteristics and skills fall under objectives 1 and 2 of the nceli. one finding of this study was that the kindergarten and preschool teachers perceived kindergarten students do not have full control of their emotions and cannot control them appropriately by day 60 of kindergarten. 16 baucom, shore & lambert participants also believed that kindergarten students understand that others have feelings but are unable to fully understand why their peers have particular emotions, as well as what causes them. they did feel that students at this point are typically able to show concern for each other. the panel also believed that kindergartners sometimes have difficulty forming groups of play, but typical students should be able to join groups of play. kindergarten teachers agreed that the children should be able to join into groups of play of two or three, but preschool teachers considered that they should be able to join in groups of play of four or five. panel 2 panel 2 also discussed several topics from the social and emotional domain, and one from the cognitive domain. the two objectives of the social and emotional domain were “follows limits and expectations” and “solves social problems.” the one in the cognitive domain was “attends and engages” (burts et al., 2016). all teachers said that students on the 60th day of school were able to understand that certain rules applied to the students’ school environment. for example, they all perceived that students knew that they needed to walk down the hallway quietly, and that this behavior was different from that of recess. teachers also remarked that students had difficulty following social rules and following directions that were new. teachers perceived that students need assistance and support when experiencing new settings at school. one teacher commented that those who have attended preschool before kindergarten had more advanced skills in this area. all teachers agreed that kindergarten students on day 60 should be able to meet the objective, “manage classroom rules, routines, and transitions with occasional reminders” (burts et al., 2016). another topic discussed in the second panel was “solves social problems.” all teachers agreed that students are able to negotiate and solve problems socially but at times need assistance from their teacher. as stated in the objective “manages feelings,” teachers said that students often needed assistance. in this area, the kindergarten teachers differed from preschool teachers. kindergarten teachers thought that students on day 60 are more advanced in these skills than did preschool teachers. both kindergarten and preschool teachers perceived that students are able to “suggest solutions to social problems” (burts et al., 2016). the last topic discussed in panel 2 was part of the cognitive domain. the objective under this particular domain was “attends and engages” (burts et al., 2016). both kindergarten and preschool teachers perceived this was a difficult task for kindergartners on the 60th day. they agreed that kindergartners would need more assistance with this in order to be successful. the preschool teacher in panel 2 had concerns that unless the instruction was relevant to the students, they would not be able to meet this objective. teachers in this panel agreed that students should be at a level of “sustains work on age-appropriate, interesting tasks; can ignore most distractions and interruptions” (burts et al., 2016). panel 3 kindergarten readiness 17 panel 3 examined three objectives. two were in the language domain, and one was in the physical domain. the objectives “follows directions” and “tells about another place and time” were in the language domain. the objective “uses fingers and hands” was under the physical domain (burts et al., 2016). the first topic discussed by panel 3 was “follows directions.” teachers noted that kindergarteners could follow directions throughout the school day with gentle reminders. preschool teachers made the comment that students had difficulty at this developmental stage and had difficulty following directions when routines or procedures changed. they said that students could be successful if routines and procedures stayed the same. the two groups of teachers disagreed on the continuum levels; kindergarten teachers scored the typical student lower on the continuum. kindergarten teachers perceived that students could “follow directions of two or more steps that relate to familiar objects and experiences.” preschool teachers perceived that students should “follow detailed, instructional, and multistep directions.” kindergarten teachers marked typically developing students lower on the continuum, but the preschool teachers scored the typical student higher (burts et al., 2016). the second topic under the language domain for panel 3 was, “tells about another place and time.” decided this was a difficult task for a student on day 60. the teachers agreed it was difficult for students to tell a story in logical sequence. they often remember just the highlights. all teachers agreed that kindergarten students on the 60th day should master the objective, “tells stories about other times and places that have a logical order and that include major details.” even though they perceived this objective should be mastered by then, they felt this was a very difficult objective to master at this developmental stage. the third topic within panel 3 fell was in the physical domain. the objective was “uses fingers and hands.” both sets of teachers agreed that students on the 60th day should be able to use their fingers and hands appropriately with scissors. they concluded that more practice in this area would improve students’ skill for this objective. in this panel, kindergarten teachers again scored students lower than did preschool teachers who participated. preschool teachers perceived that typical students could achieve the higher level on “uses small, precise finger and hand movements.” kindergarten teachers decided that their typical students would achieve a lower score on this objective (burts et al., 2016). again, kindergarten teachers were working with both students who had attended preschool and those who had not, which may have explained their scores being higher than the preschool teachers. panel 4 the panel 4 participant (a kindergarten teacher) discussed two objectives from the literacy domain. these objectives were “notices and discriminates rhyme” and “notices and discriminates alliteration.” the teacher thought that students are able to discriminate rhyme with pictures and through sound. she scored a typically developing student on the evaluation day as a student who could “decide whether two words rhyme” (burts et al., 2016). 18 baucom, shore & lambert the second objective for panel 4 was “notices and discriminates alliteration.” the teacher suggested that students can hear alliteration but not always know the letter that produced the alliteration. she perceived that a typical student would meet the objective, “match beginning sounds of some words” (burts et al., 2016). panel 5 panel 5 examined three goals in the math domain. those objectives were “counts,” “quantifies,” and “connects numerals and quantities” (burts et al., 2016). the group of teachers perceived that typical students by the evaluation day should be able to count to 10. they added that this is usually rote counting. they felt that students could master, “verbally count to 20; counts 10-20 objects accurately; know the last number; state how many in all; tell what number (1-10) comes next in order by counting” (burts et al., 2016). the second objective for panel 5 was “quantifies.” there was much discussion that this objective was difficult for students to master by day 60 of kindergarten because it is usually not taught by then. teachers recalled that it was not usually until later in the school year but might be taught throughout the year. teachers said students should accomplish the skill “makes sets of 6-10 objects and then describes the parts; identifies which part has more, less, or the same (equal); counts all or counts on to find out how many” (burts et al., 2016). it was interesting to know that the teachers were required to assess this objective often before students may not be able yet to understand the concept. the third objective was “connects numerals and quantities.” teachers in this panel expressed that typical students on day 60 of school should achieve two objectives: “identifies numerals to 10 by name and connects each to counted objects” and “identifies numerals to 20 by name and connects each to counted objects; represents how many by writing one-digit numerals and some two-digit numerals.” kindergarten and preschool teachers agreed on students having these abilities within the math domain. summary of findings the first finding of the study was that, in general, kindergarten and preschool teachers were very knowledgeable about their students and the developmental continuum that their students should follow to be successful through preschool and kindergarten. both groups understood the other’s suggestions and comments and having concrete instruments on which to base their findings helped clarify a state of kindergarten readiness for children. preschool teachers appeared to have a greater knowledge about what is expected in kindergarten and they had a strong purpose in helping a child become ready for kindergarten. the quality of their knowledge may be due to the teachers who were willing to participate (i.e., more motivated and astute teachers self-selected to be part of this study) and their years of experience in early childhood education. the quality of experience and knowledge of the participants were evident within each focus group meeting. a second important finding was that there were several objectives in which the kindergarten teachers scored a typical student lower than did a preschool teacher. there may be several reasons kindergarten readiness 19 for this: there is a possibility that both sets of teachers need more training in interrater reliability for scoring the instrument and another possibility could be the ‘summer slide’ which can contribute to a loss of learning from preschool to kindergarten. another major contributor to this difference could be that preschool students typically are more successful with objectives because they have been exposed to a school environment before entering kindergarten. across the focus groups, kindergarten teachers repeatedly asked, “are we talking about a child who has experienced a preschool experience, or a typical child?”. the panels let teachers rethink what their ideas and opinions about what is meant by a typically developing child versus one who had previous experience in school. in this scenario, preschool teachers would have higher expectations than the kindergarten teacher because she is introducing students to the objectives and their students are mastering these objectives. kindergarten teachers, on the other hand, will receive many children that have not had preschool experience and have not yet mastered the objectives. third, kindergarten and preschool teachers agreed that some objectives were inappropriate from a developmental view for their students. they suggested they were too difficult for kindergarteners. students seemed to need support in these objectives compared to others. the objectives with which they perceived that kindergarteners on day 60 seemed to have more difficulty were: “manages feelings,” “responds to emotional cues,” “attends and engages,” “tells about another place and time,” and “quantifies” (burts et al., 2016). both sets of teachers thought students might need more assistance and time with these in order to be successful on the 60th day. at the end of the study, there was significantly more agreement between the groups of teachers than anticipated on expectations concerning kindergarten readiness, and a clear understanding by the kindergarten teachers that assessment had to be approached differently for children who had not experienced preschool before attending kindergarten. a universal finding was that children who attended preschool were better ready for kindergarten than those who did not. conclusion the need for a widely accepted definition for “kindergarten readiness” has been needed for many years. this need has been heightened as the role of early childhood education has been elevated in importance and visibility within our social fabric of education in the united states of late. the transition into public education for young students can create a foundation that will help them become successful during their schooling and throughout their lives if a seamless transition can be established. a clear definition of kindergarten readiness should be one that is both deep and broad and considers the fits and starts of child development on a continuum as the key elements involved in a student’s transition to the kindergarten classroom are numerous and complex. the educational organizations involved in the transition process can surely work to refine the process of a student’s transition to public education whether it be from home or from preschool. however, this can be best accomplished by working together as a community to determine what makes a child successful in the kindergarten year. as evident within this study, there are behavioral and academic skills that are distinct and can be defined on day 60 of kindergarten that can contribute to determining a child’s success within the kindergarten school year. in this study, both kindergarten and preschool teachers came together to form a consensus on those skills. it would be important for educators to adhere to these specific 20 baucom, shore & lambert skills that were noted and focus on those skills in preschool and especially during the first 60 days of kindergarten so students are able to progress 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social-emotional domain 1a. manages feelings 2b. responds to emotional cues 2c. interacts with peers panel 2: social-emotional domain and cognitive domain 1b. follows limits and expectations 3b. solves social problems 11a. attends and engages (cognitive domain) panel 3: language domain + physical domain 8b. follows directions 9d. tells about another place and time 7a. uses fingers and hands panel 4: literacy 15a. notices rhyme and discriminates 15b. notices and discriminated alliteration panel 5: math 20a. counts 20b. quantifies 20c. connects numerals with quantities panel 6: modified angoff method to identify cut score for 14 progressions kindergarten readiness 23 appendix b: teaching strategies for gold© continuum example 1: literacy domain 15a: notices and discriminates rhyme preschool objectives are signified by the blue shading. kindergarten objectives are signified by the purple shading. red, orange, yellow, & green objectives are for ages outside this research example 2: math domain 20a: counts dialog, 23(1), copyright © 2020, issn: 1930-9325 implementing systematic informal assessment in early education settings audra i. classen the university of southern mississippi jean kang the university of north carolina at greensboro gregory a. cheatham the university of kansas the purpose of this study was to investigate early educators’ current practices, knowledge, beliefs and training needs for utilizing various informal assessment methods. early educators working head start centers and other child care from two southeastern states completed an online survey. the results indicated that participants primarily used one – two informal assessment practices; with anecdotal notes and event/frequency being the most popular. in addition, head start teachers used significantly fewer informal assessment methods compared to those in other child care settings. keywords: informal assessment methods; head start; early education both early childhood (ec) and early childhood special education (ecse) fields advocate for high quality early education (catalina & meyer, 2015; coppel & bredekamp, 2009; naeyc & naecs/sde, 2003) that includes informal and formal assessment. “assessment informs intervention” and is critical to providing quality instruction and services to young children with developmental delays (dec, 2014, p. 8). national organizations also recommend using multiple assessment methods and emphasize the importance of monitoring children's progress frequently to make database decisions (naeyc & naecs/sde, 2003). similarly, head start and other ecse programs urge authentic assessments using systematic observation in natural routines and activities (susman-stillman, bailey, & webb, 2014). for this study, systematic informal assessments (sias) is defined as precise observation methods with structured procedures for collecting data about an individual child during natural daily activities, such as snack, free play, centers, recess, and/or transitions. this study specifically focused on early educators’ use of anecdotal notes, event/frequency, partial interval, whole research to practice implementing systematic informal assessment 41 interval, momentary, duration, and latency sampling. these sias were chosen because they are flexible enough to provide a complete view of children’s skills, behaviors, interests, and preferences that can be used to design or revise interventions, make enhancements to a program, and supplement diagnostic evaluations (bognato, 2005; wortham & hardin, 2016). even though research evidences support importance of using sia to monitor child progress and program impact, sias are used infrequently and narrowly (neisworth & bognato, 2004). previous research reports several barriers to early educators’ use of sias. first, early educators have reported limited confidence in selecting sias (krasch & carter, 2009). similar to another study reporting that inconsistent use of sias may have been due to early educators’ limited knowledge of sias and limited administrative support for implementing sias (susman-stillman et al., 2014). other barriers to implementing sias was lack of time to implement and investigate evidence-based assessment (banerjee & luckner, 2013) and difficulties in implementing assessment in the daily routines (bognato, neisworth, & pretti-frontczak, 2010; susman-stillman et al., 2014). conversely, there are studies reporting that professional development (pd)on sias improved early educators understanding and was linked to positive child outcomes (early et al., 2007; waitoller & artiles, 2013). using this research along with other related research evidences, we have three suggestions for pd on sias. the first goal of pd should be to help early educators understand the benefits of using sia in their daily practice. second, improve the early educator’s ability to implement sias. finally, enhancing early educators’ self-efficacy related to sias (fixsen, naoom, blasé, friedman, & wallace, 2005). summary of research methods survey instrument and participants the survey contained seven demographic questions in the first section and twenty-three questions about early educators’ informal assessment practices and training needs in the other section. the total number of 151 ees responded to the survey. in state one, 88 early educators completed the survey. of these 88 participants 59% were caucasian, 37.5% were african american, 1.2% reported two or more races, 1% asian, .9% other races, and .4% native north americans. in state two, 63 early educators completed the survey. of these 63 participants 71.2% caucasians, 22.1% african american, 1.6% american indian, 2.8% asian, and 9.1% hispanic or latino. however, thirty-seven total participant surveys were excluded because the participants failed to answer a significant portion of the informal assessment section (i.e., they only answered two questions in this section). thus, final analysis included 114 participants. procedures after downloading survey responses, each researcher first reviewed, cleaned, and assigned a code for each participant from the state to protect confidentiality. then the two data sets from each state were merged. a descriptive analysis was conducted to gather frequency, percentages, means, and standard deviations. then independent samples t-tests were conducted to determine if participants’ education setting or years of experience influenced the informal assessment methods used, early educators rating of own knowledge and effectiveness, and training needs. 42 classen, kang & cheatham summary of results current use of informal assessment methods the four most frequently used sias were anecdotal notes (n=100, 87.7%), event/frequency (n=35, 30.7%), other methods (n=20, 17.5%), and partial-interval sampling (n=13, 11.4%). eight participants (7.0%) reported not using any sias. the sias used the least were duration (n=8, 7.0%), latency (n=8, 7.0%), momentary time (n =7, 6.1%), and whole interval (n=5, 4.3) sampling. ees reported that very few administrators required using momentary time (n=6, 5.2%), latency (n=4, 3.5%), whole interval (n=3, 2.6%), duration (n=3, 2.6%), and partial-interval (n=2, 1.7%) sampling. when specific sias were not required, early educators selected informal assessment methods based on iep goals, sias previous teachers used, ease of use in daily routines, comfort level of using the sia, and the possibility of para educators could use the sia. educators’ self-assessment of their informal assessment knowledge early educators rated their knowledge of anecdotal notes higher (4.39, sd=0.546) than other informal assessment methods. for example, the average self-rating of knowledge for latency was 2.02 (sd=1.01) while the average rating of event frequency was 2.69 (sd=1.29). the number of participants rating themselves as having a practicing to expert knowledge for anecdotal notes was 102 (97.1%) and for event frequency was 34 (32.4%). less than 17 participants (16.2%-8.6%) reported a practicing to expert knowledge in the remaining sias (i.e., partial, whole, momentary, duration, and latency sampling). ees working in the head start centers had the lowest selfassessment about sia knowledge with mean scores ranging between 1.67 (i.e., latency) to 1.89 (i.e., partial interval) out of 5. however, this rating was not significantly different statistically when compared to early educators working in the other child care settings. a statistically significant difference between educators from head start versus those in other child care settings was found in selfrating of the effectiveness of event/frequency, partial, whole, duration, and latency sampling. training needs identified by early educators early educators reported that the largest barrier to using informal assessment methods was limited training (n=64, 56.1%). specifically identifying ways, they learned about informal assessment methods, 61 participants (53.5%) reported through in-service training, followed by university course work (n=40; 35.1%), mentoring on the job (n=34; 29.8%) and finally many reported being self-taught (n=29; 25.4%). when asked what level of pd training participants would need in order to implement sias comfortably, 52 (45.6%) of the early educator participants reported they would need some to an extreme amount of pd training. implementing systematic informal assessment 43 discussion for implications for practice systematic informal assessments (sias) that are conducted regularly can aid the early educator in making instructional decisions. using ongoing assessment, to plan for intentional instruction and monitor children’s progress, is an essential quality indicator for programs serving all young children, including children with disabilities (dec, 2014; naeyc & naecs/sde, 2003). the results of this study suggest that ees’ limited informal assessment knowledge impacted their varied use of sias. reports few data collection methods being used in classrooms suggest that ees may not be adequately prepared to choose multiple data sources for planning and making decisions about instruction and the appropriate services needed (dec, 2014; wolraich, gurwitch, bruder, & knight, 2005). importantly, this study supports other research stating that “teachers’ buy-in” related to using a specific instructional approach influences their frequency and quality of use of the instructional practice learned during the pd (fixsen et al., 2005). similarly, pd that supports educators’ beliefs and builds their confidence will improve and sustain learning outcomes long term (wilkins, 2008). the current results indicate ees’ beliefs about the effectiveness of each informal assessment method impacted their current practice and use. for example, the top reported sias used were anecdotal notes and event frequency and ees rated anecdotal notes as the most effective and event frequency as somewhat effective. conversely, the least used sia of latency sampling was rated as somewhat ineffective. implications for practice several limitations existed in this study and results should be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size and the convenient, snowball sampling method used. furthermore, participants in the study may not be comparable to the national ec workforce. however, there are important implications for preservice and inservice sia training that can be gleaned from this study. first, pd should be provided to help educators better understand the benefits and links between assessment and effective curriculum and instruction planning, implementation, and program evaluation. based on participant responses indicating most of their sia training occurred during inservice pd, this study signifies a need for pre-service teacher education programs to analyze the content and the approaches used in their assessment courses. specifically, looking for opportunities to improve ees ability to implement sias. likewise, other research (banerjee & luckner, 2013; dec, 2014; naeyc & naecs/sde, 2003) suggests that teacher education programs should provide multiple practice opportunities and activities for teacher candidates to use formal and informal assessments in diverse settings, with diverse children, and for multiple purposes (e.g., planning instruction, progress monitoring, and writing meaningful iep goals). early educators also reported needing additional training for all sias except for anecdotal notes. the barriers to their sia knowledge was linked to having limited experience selecting appropriate sias, not being comfortable using sias, and not having preferences for sia. thus, we need to enhance ees’ self-efficacy related to sias. pd related to selecting sia methods and knowing each sias time commitment may improve ees overall use of these sia methods. in addition, participants in this study reported preferences for online modules and coaching support. these preferences align with other research reporting similar pd preferences (e.g., howes, james, 44 classen, kang & cheatham & ritchie, 2003; ramey & ramey, 2005; susman-stillman et al., 2014). using these findings and supporting pd research a recommended pd checklist was provided in the research article (table 1). implementation science (fixsen et al., 2005) provides a framework for integrating the previously mentioned pd assessment needs and delivery methods. specifically, the implementation stages can become a checklist for teacher education programs and pd providers wishing to improve their current programs (see table 1). the checklist for improving informal assessment practices may assist teacher education programs and pd providers in conducting better informal assessment training. systematic informal assessment resources early educators who relate to the participants in this study and want to learn more about sia methods should consider exploring the following resources. first, page seven of the functional behavioral assessment online iris module (the iris center, 2009) provides information on conducting the sias presented in this study. second, the following sources provide educators with a step by step procedural checklist and a sample data sheet. event frequency • event recording: description, procedures, and example. (2003). partial interval • using partial interval recording to track negative behavior. (2018, may 25). • partial interval recording: description, procedures, and example. (2003). momentary sampling • momentary time sampling and data collection. (2019, september 18). • momentary time sample: description, procedures, and example. (2003). whole interval sampling • whole interval recording: description, procedures, and example. (2003). duration sampling • behavior duration: description, procedures, and example. (2003). latency sampling • latency recording: description, procedures, and example. (2003). finally, a practitioner focused article written by classen and cheatham (2015) may provide some additional information for ees unfamiliar with sias. implementing systematic informal assessment 45 table 1. professional development (pd) checklist for improving informal assessment practices the teacher education program: evidence: 1. incorporates informal assessment methods in assessment courses. 2. provides readings, video examples, and opportunities to practice each informal assessment with peers. 3. assignments require students to conduct each informal assessment method for various purposes (e.g., academic and behavioral). 4. partners with local school districts to provide ongoing consultation and coaching. 5. implements a program evaluation that measures teachers’ effective use of informal assessment methods post-graduation. 6. recruit administrative feedback regarding informal assessment training needs of first year teachers. the pd provider: evidence: 1. incorporates pd on informal assessment methods during first two years of teaching. 2. provides mentor teachers to serve as model informal assessment implementers. 3. partners with the university and school district administration to provide targeted informal assessment consultation and coaching opportunities immediately following each pd session. 4. includes a pre-post observation evaluation for each pd session on informal assessment. 5. incorporates ongoing communication opportunities for school district administration to share informal assessment needs. 6. develops tertiary interventions for educators struggling to incorporate informal assessment practices in their daily routines, in collaboration with the school district administration. 46 classen, kang & cheatham references bagnato, s. j. 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(2015). assessment in early childhood education. merrill/prentice hall. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 72 choosing and disusing educational technology: examining parents’ decision making about math and literacy apps for their young children the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 2 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i2.1995 contact: nicola urquhart urqu1720@mylaurier.ca copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). how parents choose math and literacy apps abstract each year, more educational apps are designed for young children and some research suggests that well designed apps can have positive effects on children’s literacy and math skills. however, many commercially available apps are poorly designed. this highlights the importance of understanding how parents decide which educational apps they make available for their child and also why they may disuse them. sixty-five canadian parents (58 mothers) completed a survey of their child’s literacy and math knowledge and their own decisions about literacy and math apps. parents’ naturally self-generated features for app selection yielded similarities e.g., (ease of use, age appropriateness) and differences (e.g., advertisements, games) to rubrics typically generated by researchers. highly endorsed features were similar across app types. app quality and potential for independent use were key reasons for disuse. parental knowledge of foundational literacy and math concepts such as phonological awareness and cardinality was low, which could pose a challenge for their assessments of apps. keywords apps, parents, children, math, literacy, education, home learning environment educational apps are popular with parents of young children (broekman et al., 2018; ochoa & reich, 2020) and research regarding high-quality apps indicates use can improve children’s literacy (arnold et al., 2021; chuang & jamiat, 2023) and math skills (griffith et al., 2019; outhwaite et al., 2023). a high-quality app should have accurate and developmentally appropriate content, as well as scaffolding features, such as levelling and feedback provided for both correct and incorrect answers (cai et al., 2022, cayton-hodges et al., 2015; outhwaite et al., 2023). given that commercially available educational apps vary substantially in quality (dubé et al., 2019), research has attempted to understand how parents evaluate educational apps, including how parents evaluate app store descriptions nicola urquhart eileen wood joanne lee gloria mele avery bruin wilfrid laurier university the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 73 how parents choose math and literacy apps (montazami et al., 2022; pearson et al., 2023), as well as the apps themselves (urquhart et al., 2023; urquhart et al., 2024). one limitation in these research studies is that parents may evaluate apps one way in an experimental setting, especially when prescribed rubrics are used, and another way in their homes. indeed, it is currently unknown if parents naturally engage in any sort of systematic app evaluation at all. the present research examines parental app evaluation within the naturally occurring home learning environment (hle). given that math and literacy are both important for a child’s development (skwarchuk et al., 2014), the study also examines whether parents evaluate math and literacy apps differently. the hle includes how parents teach their child, attitudes about teaching (lehrl et al., 2021), and what tools they use (e.g., toys and educational apps). a rich and diverse hle has been shown to improve academic outcomes for both math and literacy (griffith & arnold, 2019; lehrl et al., 2021; rodriguez & tamis-lemonda, 2011; swkarchuk et al., 2014); however, in the traditional hle, there is greater emphasis on fostering literacy over numeracy skills (manolitsis et al., 2013; skwarchuk et al., 2014). it is currently unknown whether the emphasis on literacy over math extends to educational app selection. shared enjoyment between parent and child engaging in activities can be an important piece of the hle for both math (e.g., eason & ramani, 2018) and literacy (preece & levy, 2018). shared engagement is generally lower for digital activities than print activities (e.g., ewin et al., 2020; lee & wood, 2020), however, co-use between parent and child during technology-based activities seems to support learning outcomes (griffith & arnold, 2018). similar to toy selection, parents typically decide which educational apps (if any) to bring into their home, and also which to remove (miller et al., 2017; richards et al., 2020). parents’ attitudes and competencies about teaching literacy and math may influence their app selection and deletion/disuse decisions (keating et al., 2022). for example, parental math teaching confidence has been shown to affect math app evaluations (e.g., quality) and decisions (e.g., downloading apps) (urquhart et al., 2023). in general, parental confidence regarding teaching their child literacy and math is quite high, but these high perceptions may not always reflect actual knowledge or skill (sonnenshein et al., 2020). in addition, differences occur across domains with higher confidence in their ability to teach literacy over math (skwarchuk 2009). this difference might also influence educational app decisions, resulting in literacy apps being evaluated differently than math apps. since many children have high levels of screen time (mcarthur et al., 2022), it is crucial to understand how parents decide to both choose and disuse math and literacy apps for their children. the present study investigates parental adoption and deletion/disuse decisions regarding educational apps within the hle. the key research questions include: (rq1) how do parents naturally choose educational apps? (1a) are these similar to research generated criteria, (1b) do these criteria differ for literacy versus math apps? (rq2) why do parents decide to disuse educational apps, if they do and are there similarities for literacy and math apps? method study design this study employed a survey design including both multiple choice/likert-type scale questions and open-ended response questions. this design allowed for predetermined research questions to be tested (e.g., parents’ endorsement of specific app characteristics), as well as parents’ own ideas to be recorded. participants the sample size was determined by the number of anticipated predictors in a linear regression (three) and aiming for twenty participants per predictor. with a final sample size of 65 and criterion set at 0.05, power for a regression with three predictors was 0.72. there were three additional participants who completed only the consent form and did not continue with the study. sixty-five canadian parents (58 mothers, 6 fathers, 1 unspecified, mage = 36.55 years, sd = 4.32) of children twoto six-years-old participated. most participants were white (n = 42), followed by south asian (n = 7), southeast asian (n = 6), two each of middle eastern, latin american, black, the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 74 how parents choose math and literacy apps and one each of indigenous and west asian ethnicity. overall, participants were highly educated with 41 parents having completed an undergraduate degree, followed by completion of a graduate degree (n = 12), partial completion of an undergraduate degree (n = 4), partial completion of a graduate degree (n = 3), and completion of high school (n = 2). most participants spoke english as their first language (n = 47). of those with a different first language (n = 18), 61.11% reported themselves as “completely fluent” in english, 33.33% as “almost fluent”, and 5.56% as “somewhat fluent”. all parents indicated that they spoke english to their child at home (67.7% indicated always, 16.7% almost always, 12.3% sometimes, and 3.1% occasionally). participants had between one and three children (m = 1.32, sd = .50). those who had more than one child were asked to identify one child that they would use as a referent during the survey. the mean age of referent children was 4.11 years old (sd = 1.47). forty (61.5%) of the target children were male and 25 (38.5%) were female. recruitment primarily occurred through online sources (e.g., facebook parenting groups and instagram) as well as through bulletin boards in community centres, libraries, and grocery stores. when a potential participant expressed interest in the study, they emailed or messaged the researcher, who then scheduled a time to complete the study. to ensure that all participants were real people (not bots), participants were required to meet the researcher on zoom to complete the study. the research was reviewed and approved by a university research ethics board. all participants were treated in accordance with apa/cpa ethical guidelines. procedure the study was conducted using video conferencing software. during the call, parents were provided with a link to one online survey that assessed demographic information (including age, gender, ethnicity, and languages spoken in the home) and measures related to math, literacy and technology (see below). the researcher was available to troubleshoot technical difficulties and to clarify questions if needed. attitudes towards home learning a 10-item scale was created for this study to measure parents’ attitudes towards their child learning at home. the scale consisted of 5 items for math and 5 mirror items for literacy. parents rated items such as “it’s a parent’s job to start teaching their child [to read/ math] before they start school” from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). the scale had acceptable reliability, α = 0.76. math measures parents rated their child’s math abilities using a 10-item scale created for this study. these items represented early numeracy skills consistent with recommendations from the national association for the education of young children & national council of teachers of mathematics (2010), for example “match numbers and quantities”. parents indicated their child’s ability as 1 (my child cannot do that), 2 (my child can sometimes do that), 3 (my child can always do that), or 0 (i’m not sure if my child can do that). this scale had excellent internal reliability, α = 0.94. parent self-reported math behaviours were assessed with the 15-item home numeracy practices scale (skwarchuk et al., 2014) where parents rated the frequency with which they do various math activities with their child from 1 (never) to 4 (daily); for example, “i help my child weigh, measure, and compare quantities”. this scale had good internal reliability, α = 0.81. parental confidence teaching math to their young children was assessed with one item, “how confident are you in your ability to teach early math skills to your child?” rated from 1 (not at all confident) to 5 (extremely confident). literacy measures parental-report of child’s literacy abilities were assessed using a ten-item scale based on a literacy taxonomy (grant et al., 2012). the items represented early literacy skills including alphabetics and phonological awareness; for example, “identify letter sounds”. parents were rated their child’s ability as 1 (my child cannot do that), 2 (my child can sometimes do that), 3 (my child can always do that), or 0 (i’m not sure if my child can do that). this scale had excellent internal reliability, α = 0.91. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 75 how parents choose math and literacy apps self-reported literacy behaviours were assessed with the 12-item home literacy practices scale created for this study. parents rated the frequency with which they do various literacy activities with their child from 1 (never) to 4 (daily); for example, “reading aloud to your child and having them repeat back to you (e.g., echo reading).” this scale had good internal reliability, α = 0.87. parental confidence teaching literacy to do their young children was assessed with one item, “how confident are you in your ability to teach early reading skills to your child?” rated from 1 (not at all confident) to 5 (extremely confident). technology measures the following questions were asked for both math and literacy apps. parents were asked if they had ever downloaded an app for their child. those who said no were not presented with the subsequent questions about apps. those who said yes were presented with the following questions. participants were asked to indicate (yes/no) whether they had ever downloaded each of a math app and a literacy app (with questions allowing for a general educational app that contained math or literacy content). to assess the features that parents look for in apps, participants were asked to generate “what are the top two things that you would look for in a [literacy / math] app?” each question had two open-ended response possibilities. participants were then presented with a matrix of 16 researcher-generated features (see table 1) and were asked to indicate if they have used this feature for math apps, literacy apps, neither, and “i have not used this criterion before but i would now”. to assess the sources of information, parents use when selecting apps, they were asked to rate to what extent they use seven sources of information (e.g., recommendations from teachers; see figure 3 for the complete list) from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). they were also asked if they explore apps before giving it to their child, rated from 1 (always) to 5 (never). co-use of apps was defined as “i engage with the technology with my child” and was assessed by estimating the percentage of time that parents couse technology with their child, rated on a sliding scale from 0% to 100% of the time. to assess deletion/disuse of educational apps once they have been downloaded, participants were asked, “have you ever downloaded a [math / literacy] app that you later decided to not use with your child?” with answer options of yes and no. those who indicated yes were then presented with an open-ended text box to answer, “tell us what made you make the decision to not use the [math / literacy] app that you had downloaded?”. results all data was analyzed using spss version 27. missing responses within a set of questions were replaced by the mean if there were one or two missing items in a set of questions. results from the survey data (as described in the materials section) permitted examination of the two key research questions. rq1 was assessed through an analysis of parent-generated features (descriptive statistics, thematic analysis) and researcher-generated features (descriptive statistics and one-way anova to compare endorsement by subject). in addition, sources of information and co-use levels were assessed using descriptive statistics and t-tests to compare by subject (literacy versus math). finally, contributions of the home learning environment including parent confidence and ratings of their child’s math and literacy skills were examined using regression analyses (binary logistic regression and linear regression respectively), with attitudes about home learning compared across subject areas (i.e., t tests). rq2 was assessed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of qualitative data. rq1: how do parents choose literacy and math apps? the majority of participants indicated that they had downloaded an educational app before: 86% for literacy and 80% for math apps. parent-generated app features to determine criteria that parents naturally think about when selecting apps, parents were asked to generate two features that they look for when choosing an app for their child. open coding of all responses was conducted to extract themes the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 76 how parents choose math and literacy apps (boyatsis, 1998). two coders independently read through all responses before generating themes and theme labels in an iterative manner. then both coders collaboratively compared their themes and labels before reaching 100% agreement amongst themselves about classification of parent-generated responses. ten themes were identified: ease of use, ads, fun, specific content, recommendations, levels, age appropriate, sensory, cost, and design/ teaching style. responses within each theme tended to be similar (e.g., six parents simply wrote the word “free”, which was coded into the cost theme) with the exception of the ‘specific content’ theme. the variety of ‘specific content’ responses reflected features about individual apps including comments about the animations (e.g., “five little ducks”) and general approach (e.g., “phonics approach” and “helps to learn counting”). figures 1 and 2 show the percentage of parents who endorsed each of these features for literacy and math apps, respectively. in total, for both literacy and math respectively, specific content (55.81%; 52.50%), ease of use (32.56%; 27.5%) and fun (20.93%; 42.5%) were the three most frequently identified features by parents. however, the overall order of endorsement of features was not the same across domains. for example, ‘fun’ was identified as second most important for math and third most important for literacy, and vice versa for ‘ease of use’, order differences for some features was more varied. for example, sensory was the fourth out of ten most important for literacy and the eight out of ten most important for math. the least endorsed feature for literacy apps was cost (7%) whereas the least endorsed feature for math apps was ads (5%). the parent generated features were subsequently analyzed as a function of placement (i.e., feature listed first versus second; see figures 1 and 2). although cost was only listed by 5% and 7% of parents across literacy and math respectively, when it was mentioned, it was listed first in 100% of these instances for both the literacy and the math responses. when age appropriateness was mentioned, it appeared as the second feature listed for both literacy and math. other features showed differences in first and second endorsement by domain. for example, recommendations were endorsed first for literacy 86% of the time, and second for math also 86% of the time. researcher-generated app features after parents generated their own selection features, they were presented with 15 researcher-generated features and were asked to indicate which of the features they have used previously to select an app. the options included whether the feature was used for neither app domain, literacy only, math only, both domains, and not presently but i would use this in the future. parents could indicate more than one category, for example, neither and also i would use this in the future. see table 1 for a summary of the 15 features and the percentage of parents who endorsed each for literacy and math apps. figure 1 percentage summary of parent-generated literacy app features as a function of overall prevalence and number of times each feature appeared as the first or second item listed in the openended questions. figure 2 percentage summary of parent-generated math app features as a function of overall prevalence and number of times each feature appeared as the first or second item listed in the openended questions the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 77 how parents choose math and literacy apps table 1 percentage of parents endorsing researcher-generated reasons for literacy and app selection feature % of parents endorsing both literacy and math neither literacy only math only would use in future how easy the app is to use/ navigate. 82 0 8 0 8 the quality of the educational content in the app. 80 2 6 2 6 how fun or engaging the app is. 76 2 8 4 6 whether my child can use the app independently (without my help). 72 12 4 0 10 cost of the app. 70 14 2 2 4 the quality of the audio (e.g., music, talking, etc.). 66 6 0 6 12 if the app has difficulty levels. 56 18 4 6 14 the quality of the instructions in the app. 54 14 6 4 20 the type of feedback given for incorrect answers. 44 22 2 4 26 the type of feedback given for correct answers. 44 20 2 4 28 if the app automatically moves my child across levels. 40 14 10 2 24 familiar characters that my child already likes. 36 34 0 8 18 new characters that i think my child will like. 36 32 0 10 20 the quality of the visuals (e.g., colours, easy fonts, etc.). 32 22 4 20 12 whether the audio and visual features can be customized to accommodate sensory needs. 14 48 14 0 20 note: parents could use more than one category, for example, neither and also i would use this in the future thus percentages may exceed 100 percent. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 78 the most endorsed research-generated features were ease of use (82% for both and another 8% for literacy only), quality of the educational content (80% for both and an additional 6% for literacy only and 2% for math only), and fun (76% for both and an additional 8% for literacy only and 4% for math only). the three least endorsed features were customization (48% have not used), familiar characters (34% have not used), and new characters (32% have not used). the features that were most likely to be considered in the future were the type of feedback given for correct answers (28%), the type of feedback given for incorrect answers (26%), and if the app’s levels are automatic (24%). a one-way anova showed that there was a significant difference in the number of people endorsing each of the option types (neither, literacy only, math only, both, ‘future’) across the 15 features, f (4, 70) = 41.01, p = <0.001, with a strong effect size, η2 = 0.70. bonferroni post-hoc analysis revealed that the differences were primarily driven by the ‘both’ option. specifically, more people endorsed both than neither, t = 8.22, p = <.001; both than math only, t = 10.90, p = <0.001; both than literacy only, t = 11.05, p = <0.001; and both than future, t = 8.80, p = <0.001. sources of information parents’ ratings for the seven possible sources of information about both literacy and math apps approached ceiling for all but child’s request; see figure 3. visual inspection suggests that the means for literacy and numeracy apps were similar. to test whether differences between the types of apps occurred, two t-tests were conducted, one for the child’s request category and one for online ratings as these categories reflected the largest mean difference in use of a source of information between the literacy and math apps. no significant differences were found for either of these two exemplars, tliteracy (.59) = -1.22, p = 0.229 and tmath(0.65) = 1.09, p = 0.280, further indicating that none of these categories differed by domain. participants were also asked if they explore an app before giving it to their child (rated from 1 =always to 5 = never). self-reported pre-exploration was high for both literacy (m = 2.13, sd = 1.03) and math (m = 2.08, sd = 0.93), and did not significantly differ by subject, t (0.32) = -1.00, p = 0.324. co-use of apps overall, parents indicated that they engaged in co-use of apps approximately a third of the time for both literacy (35.61%, sd = 25.38%) and math apps (31.93%, sd = 26.07%). a comparison was made between parents who did and did not indicate that they disused an app after having downloaded it. to determine whether co-use differed among parents who had or had not disused an app a t-test was conducted for each app domain. no significant differences were found. for literacy apps, co-use in the app-disuse group was m = 37.4% (sd = 27.4%) of the time, whereas co-use in the continued use group was m = 33.9% (sd = 23.7%); t(41) = 0.45, p = 0.653, d = 0.14). for math apps co-use in the app-disuse group was m = 36.9% (sd = 29.2%) of the time, whereas co-use in the continued use group was m = 27.2% (sd = 22.4); t(40) = 1.23, p = 0.226, d = 0.38). apps as part of the home learning environment (hle) downloading apps two binary logistic regressions were used, one for math and one for literacy, to test if parents’ self reported behaviour (i.e., supporting hle), confihow parents choose math and literacy apps figure 3 sources of information that influence decisions to download apps the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 79 -dence teaching the subject, and their child’s subject abilities predicted whether they download each type of educational app. none of the variables predicted literacy app downloads (b = 0.47, p = 0.567 for hle, b = -0.80, p = 0.056 for literacy teaching confidence, and b = -0.39, p = 0.569), though literacy teaching confidence approached significance. similarly, none of the variables predicated math app downloads (b = 2.12, p = 0.070 for hle, b = -0.21, p = 0.714 for child’s math knowledge, and b = -0.67, p = 0.146 for math teaching confidence). parent-reported child’s math knowledge parents were asked to rate if their child could do ten early numeracy skills, targeting concepts such as one-to-one correspondence and cardinality. overall, the mean rating was relatively high (m = 2.30, sd= .75, max. score = 3). across the 10 concepts, 59.7% of parents indicated their child could always do these skills, 18.3% indicated their child could sometimes do the skills, and 14.08% indicated their child could never do the skills. the least common response was i’m not sure if my child could do that which was endorsed by 7.71% of parents. further examination of the unsure category indicates that 10 parents indicated uncertainty for one of the ten concepts, five parents for two of the concepts, one parent for three concepts, and two parents for each of four and ten concepts. this means two parents indicated that they were unsure if their child could do any of the items or knowledge sets. see table 4 for the breakdown of parent-reported child’s knowledge across specific knowledge sets. the most common knowledge set that parents did not know if their child could do was “know that the last number they count represents the total number in the set,” which represents cardinality (n = 14 parents indicated they were not sure if their child could do this). the next most common knowledge set that parents were not sure about was “recognize numbers on dice,” representing subitizing (n = 9), followed by “generate the correct number of items to match a number,” representing cardinality (n = 6). self-reported confidence teaching math to their child was reported as moderate (m = 3.88, sd = 1.10, with 5 representing “very confident”). measures of self-reported math app co-use, pre-exploration of math apps, and child’s sex significantly predicted parent-reported child’s math knowledge, f (3, 36) = 3.31, p = .032, with a large effect size f = .44. this effect was specifically driven by pre-exploration of math apps, t = 3.11, p = .004. co-use was not a significant predictor of child’s math knowledge, t = .64, p = .528 and neither was child’s sex, t = .01, p= .992. parent-reported child’s literacy knowledge parents were asked to rate if their child could do 12 early literacy skills, taken from the literacy taxonomy (grant et al., 2012). the overall rating parents gave their children across the 12 literacy skills was relatively high (m = 2.17, sd= .73, maximum score = 3). across the 12 features, on average, 50.78% of parents indicated their child could always do these skills, 23.33% said their child could sometimes do the skills, and 19.01% said their child could never do the skills. the least common response was i’m not sure if my child could do that which was endorsed by a mean of 6.93% of parents across the ten items. further examination of the unsure category indicates that five parents indicated uncertainty for two of the 12 concepts, four parents for one of the concepts, three parents for three concepts, two parents for five concepts, and one parent each for 6 and 11 concepts. see table 4 for a detailed breakdown of parents’ ratings of their children’s literacy knowledge. the most item that parents did not know if their child could do was “count or clap syllables,” representing phonological awareness (n = 12 parents indicated they were not sure if their child could do this). the next most common item that parents were not sure about was “tell if two words start with the same sound,” representing phonological awareness (n = 9), followed by “recognize rhyming words,” representing phonological awareness (n = 6). self-reported confidence teaching literacy to their child was reported as moderate (m = 4.02, sd = 1.10, with 5 representing “very confident”). digital related measures of self-reported literacy app co-use and pre-exploration of literacy apps almost significantly predicted parent-reported child’s literacy knowledge, r2 = 0.16, f (2, 35) = 3.19, p = 0.054. this effect was specifically driven by pre-exploration of literacy apps, t = 2.52, p how parents choose math and literacy apps the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 80 = 0.016. co-use was not a significant predictor of child’s literacy knowledge, t = 0.05, p = 0.964. attitudes about home learning overall, parents reported high levels of agreement with the ten item attitudes scale which assessed their attitudes towards teaching both literacy and math to their child at home (m = 4.21 out of 5, sd = 0.58). the level of endorsement of home learning differed between parents who had and had not downloaded educational apps before, see figure 4. specifically, independent samples t-tests showed that parents who had downloaded a math app before had more positive attitudes about home learning, t (10.87) = 2.30, p = 0.042. this was also true for parents who had downloaded a literacy app before, t (6.46) = 2.60, p = 0.038. how parents choose math and literacy apps figure 4 self-reported attitudes about home learning compared between people who had and had not downloaded an educational app for their child before note. responses on the attitudes scale could range from 1 to 5. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 81 ta bl e 2 n um be r o f p ar en ts w ho in di ca te d ‘c an no t’, ‘s om etim es ’, ‘a lw ay s’ , a nd ‘d on ’t kn ow ’ w he n ra tin g th ei r ch ild ’s nu m er ac y sk ill s, as a fu nc tio n of k no w le dg e se t q ue st io n te xt k no w le dg e se t c an no t so m etim es a lw ay s d on ’t k no w g en er at e th e co rr ec t n um be r o f i te m s t o m at ch a n um be r. c ar di na lit y 9 12 37 6 k no w th at th e la st n um be r t he y co un t r ep re se nt s t he to ta l n um be r i n th e se t. c ar di na lit y 6 16 28 14 n am e nu m be rs . id en tif yi ng n um be rs 8 8 46 2 id en tif y w hi ch se t h as a la rg er o r s m al le r a m ou nt in it . m ag ni tu de c om pa ris on 8 16 36 4 m at ch n um be rs a nd q ua nt iti es . m ag ni tu de c om pa ris on 9 14 36 5 c ou nt a se t o f i te m s b y as si gn in g on e nu m be r p er it em (e .g ., 1, 2 , 3. ..) o ne -to -o ne c or re sp on de nc e 2 8 50 4 c ou nt it em s i n an o rg an iz ed w ay w ith ou t s ki pp in g or d up lic at in g ite m s. o ne -to -o ne c or re sp on de nc e 9 22 30 3 k no w th e co un tin g se qu en ce fr om 1 -1 0 st ab le o rd er 4 3 55 2 r ec og ni ze n um be rs o n di ce . su bi tiz in g 14 6 35 9 pr in t n um be rs . w rit in g nu m er al s 21 12 29 2 the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 82 ta bl e 3 n um be r o f p ar en ts w ho in di ca te d ‘c an no t’, ‘s om et im es ’, ‘a lw ay s’ , a nd ‘d on ’t kn ow ’ w he n ra tin g th ei r c hi ld ’s lit er ac y sk ill s, as a fu nc tio n of k no w le dg e se t q ue st io n te xt k no w le dg e se t c an no t so m et im es a lw ay s d on ’t k no w n am e al ph ab et le tte rs . al ph ab et ic s 6 8 47 1 id en tif y le tte r s ou nd s. al ph ab et ic s 8 14 35 4 m at ch u pp er a nd lo w er -c as e le tte rs . al ph ab et ic s 15 11 32 5 pr in t l et te rs . al ph ab et ic s 21 9 31 2 po in t t o w or ds in p rin t. flu en cy 12 19 27 4 pr in t t he ir fir st n am e. m em or iz at io n 19 4 39 1 id en tif y w or ds / s ig ns (e .g ., st o p, m cd on al d’ s) . m em or iz at io n 8 18 36 1 r ec og ni ze / r ea d th ei r n am e. m em or iz at io n 10 7 43 3 c ou nt o r c la p sy lla bl es . ph on ol og ic al a w ar en es s 14 21 16 12 r ec og ni ze rh ym in g w or ds . ph on ol og ic al a w ar en es s 10 21 26 6 g en er at e rh ym in g w or ds . ph on ol og ic al a w ar en es s 16 19 23 5 te ll if tw o w or ds st ar t w ith th e sa m e so un d. ph on ol og ic al a w ar en es s 7 19 28 9 the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 83 rq2: deletion/disuse of apps of the parents that had downloaded each type of app before, 44.9% (literacy) and 42.9% (math) of parents reported having decided to no longer use the app with their child. qualitative analysis following the same open-coding procedure as was used for the parent-generated features and again 100% agreement was observed between the two raters. seven themes emerged: cost, ads, level of challenge, requiring assistance, lack of interest, other engaging sources, and productivity (see table 4 for themes, examples, and endorsement). prevalence of these themes were similar for both math and literacy apps, with some apparent differences (e.g., ‘other engaging sources’). table 4 summary of themes for disuse of math and literacy apps theme example response % of parents endorsing literacy math lack of interest “the children weren’t interested in it” 45.45 42.86 level of challenge “not challenging enough” either too easy or too hard 40.91 38.10 cost “a number of in app purchases required” 22.73 28.57 requires assistance “required my assistance to use” 18.18 19.05 ads “too many ads” 13.64 9.52 other engaging sources “found a better app that my child prefers” 9.09 23.81 productivity “no productivity in app” 9.09 4.76 note. the percentages reported in this table are out of the total who indicated they had disused a literacy and/or math app before (i.e., out of 22 and 21 participants). how parents choose math and literacy apps table 9 literacy skills mean, standard deviation, and pearson correlation for aeps-3 ready set (teachers) and aeps-3 facs (parents) the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 84 in general, the order of endorsement of each reason was the same across domains (e.g., ‘lack of interest’ was the most cited and ‘productivity’ was the least cited reason for both literacy and math). no reason was endorsed for more than half of the participants who had disused apps. summary of findings overall, with respect to the question “how do parents naturally choose educational apps?” (rq1), both similarities and differences were found in parent-generated app features compared to researcher-generated app features, but no differences were found between literacy and math apps. ease of use and fun were in the top three app features in both the parent and researcher generated lists. in contrast, parents’ self-generated features included specific content whereas educational quality served as a third feature from the researcher-generated features. rq2 examined why parents decide to disuse educational apps, if they do and whether there are similarities in disuse for literacy and math apps. consistent reasons were identified for disuse of math and literacy apps, which included some features generated and endorsed for rq1, such as the top reason of lack of interest (similar to engaging or fun in the features list). discussion the present study investigated how parents of young children choose educational literacy and math apps and criteria that might cause them to stop using an app in each of these domains. most parents had downloaded an educational app before engaging in this study, with slightly more (86%) having downloaded a literacy app than a math app (80%) consistent with previous research that reports an emphasis on literacy over math in early childhood (skwarchuk et al., 2014). parents with more positive attitudes about teaching their child at home were more likely to have downloaded an educational app, indicating that parents consider educational apps to be a tool within the home learning environment. features parents used to decide whether to download an app overlapped with features typically generated by researchers in the extant literature, however some differences were observed. pre-exploration of both literacy and math apps significantly predicted greater literacy and perceived math knowledge (respectively), supporting the idea that carefully selected apps can be part of a diverse and rich home learning environment. how parents choose apps both the parent-generated and the researcher-generated features for app selection included ease of use, fun, age appropriateness, levels, cost, and sensory stimulation. parents, however, also indicated concerns about ads and noted they looked for specific features, such as “songs” and “games”. in addition, a small number of parents highlighted features such as “teaching philosophy” (coded as the design / teaching style theme), however, this feature was vague and did not specify what aspect of teaching philosophy was important. features such as “teaching philosophy” may be consistent with what parents see in app store descriptions, however, these descriptions are not necessarily accurate or useful (pearson et al., 2023). given that parents only were asked to identify two features, and some indicated features not appearing on traditional research generated lists, it would be important to follow up on parent-generated criteria to gain a richer and more complete understanding of parental criteria. future focus group studies may allow for expansion of these unique criteria as well as other criteria beyond the two parents listed for the present study. generally, the desired features parents generated for literacy and math apps were similar, however, there were some notable differences in the order of endorsement. “fun” was generated by 42.5% of parents for math versus 20.93% for literacy apps. fun may be a more important consideration when looking at math apps as previous research indicates that many math apps rely on practice drills, similar to a worksheet (outhwaite et al., 2023) which does not fully utilize the engaging multimedia potential that apps could offer. in addition, sensory stimulation was generated by 18.5% of parents regarding literacy apps and only 7.5% for math apps. it is possible that literacy apps have more varied sensory features than math apps, for example reading how parents choose math and literacy apps the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 85 aloud, and making sounds to match text content. alternatively, parents may consider literacy more important than math (skwarchuk et al., 2014) and this may bias their evaluations of literacy versus math apps. further investigation of parents’ perceptions about the purpose and design of math and literacy apps may be an important future direction. of the researcher-generated features, the most endorsed feature was ease of use / navigation, followed by educational content, fun, and child can use it independently. this aligns with previous findings that parents endorse “educational” value but also value apps that allow their child to engage independently which may allow parents an opportunity to engage in other activities (urquhart et al., 2023). although independent use may be an important consideration, outcomes for the sources of information parents use support that educational opportunities rather than child entertainment are a priority. among the sources the only source of information that had an average slightly below the “agree” range was child’s request. if parents were simply looking to entertain their child, child’s request would likely be a higher priority. although parents endorse the educational potential of apps, parents may not be clear regarding instructionally important supports within apps. fourteen parents said they had not considered feedback but they would look for this feature in future. this suggests that parents may need direct exposure and explanation of these features as in the present study. it may be important to provide explicit information through websites, app descriptions or other sources to identify critical educational/instructional features. parents’ evaluations of educational value may also rest on their understanding of key foundational skills and their child’s abilities. for example, parents were unsure of fundamental skills, such as phonological awareness and cardinality the type of skills that should be targeted in a well-designed early literacy or math app (cayton-hodges et al., 2015). parents may require support in recognizing developmentally appropriate math and literacy content, a feature that may be needed in app evaluations and descriptions. the results of this study cannot identify if these parents did not know what the skills mentioned were or if they knew what the skills were but were unsure if their own child could do them. future research could investigate parent knowledge of foundational math and literacy skills to uncover what the specific gaps may be. less than half of participants indicated they stopped using an educational app, which could mean most are successful at choosing high quality apps in the first place, or it could mean they do not notice when an app they have downloaded is poor quality or is not achieving desired outcomes. parents acknowledged poor quality (e.g., “level of challenge”, “ads”) as important for considerations leading to disuse and that the app cannot be used independently (e.g., “requires my assistance”). it might be expected that parents who co-use educational apps with their children would be more likely to notice an app is of poor quality or failing to achieve its purpose. however, co-use levels did not differ between parents who had or had not disused an app. this nonsignificant outcome may, however, reflect the generally low co-use across the sample. more effort may be needed to inform parents of couse as an important informal instructional support (griffith et al., 2021). overall, findings suggest that parents are motivated to find educational apps for their children, they use various sources of information and consider multiple features when choosing apps. app decisions were relatively similar for math and literacy. however, gaps in parental knowledge about foundational math and literacy skills may influence their app decisions. this study adds to the literature about educational apps as a tool in the home learning 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a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 56 embracing multicultural and multilingual families: transforming education, empowering communities a research to practice summary the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 1 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i1.2027 contact: julie p, plannery jipaul7@uab.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). multicultural and multilingual engagement abstract recognizing and valuing the strengths of immigrant families and emergent multilinguals (ems) is crucial in today’s diverse classrooms. many of these students face systemic barriers, including limited access to high-quality education, culturally relevant pedagogy, and mentorship in stem fields. this article explores practices for cultivating inclusive learning environments through reflexive practices, culturally responsive literature circles, authentic cultural celebrations, and family engagement initiatives. by drawing on frameworks such as family empowerment and enablement, funds of identity, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and translanguaging, this article emphasizes the role of reflexive practices in preparing educators to support diverse learners. through these practices, educators can foster meaningful school-family partnerships, affirm students’ linguistic and cultural identities, and create equitable learning experiences that empower em students and their families. keywords emergent multilingual learners; early childhood education; head start programs; family engagement; partnerships in today’s diverse classrooms, recognizing the strengths that immigrant families and multilingual learners bring to the learning environment is crucial. many of these students have been affected by global crises, with millions displaced due to war, violence, and persecution (international rescue committee, 2024). in the u.s., approximately 10.3% of students are designated english learners (els) (national center for education statistics, 2020), yet the term “emergent multilinguals” (ems) more accurately reflects their linguistic diversity and cultural richness. unfortunately, general education and pre-service teachers often prioritize english acquisition over multilingualism and may lack the preparation needed to julie p. flannery the university of alabama at birmingham melissa sudduth the university of alabama the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 57 support diverse learners effectively. this can lead to lower expectations and reinforce stereotypical perceptions of students in urban schools (liou & rotherham-fuller, 2019). furthermore, neglecting an em student’s home language development in favor of english can result in lost cognitive and literacy advantages that come with developing proficiency in multiple languages (thomas & collier, 2002). to address these challenges, it is critical to prepare teachers to recognize and nurture the assets that students of color, emergent multilinguals, and recent immigrants bring to the classroom. teachers must adopt a mindset that values diversity, actively learning from and embracing the rich stories and cultural backgrounds of their students. this article draws on frameworks such as family empowerment and enablement, funds of identity, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and translanguaging, which advocate for valuing the cultural assets of immigrant families and creating inclusive, strengths-based learning environments that address educational inequities (dunst et al., 1988; esteban-guitart & moll, 2014; grant & ray, 2023; paris & alim, 2017). additionally, it highlights the role of translanguaging in affirming home languages, encouraging multilingual learners to use all of their language knowledge, also known as their linguistic repertoire, to enhance comprehension and honor the language practices of minoritized communities (otheguy, garcía, & reid, 2015; garcía et al., 2017). we present two professional development practices, and two implementation practices teachers may use to support their engagement with emergent multilingual families. professional development practices engage in reflexive practices early childhood educators work not only with the children in their classrooms and centers but also with the children’s caregivers and other family members. the interactions they have with children and families can positively or negatively impact their relationships. in order to build strong, beneficial relationships with others, one must first spend time in reflection and then engage in ongoing reflexive strategies. reflexive practices relate to ongoing, critical questioning and exploration of personal beliefs, values, assumptions, and expectations as well as the practices employed when working with children and families (braun & clarke, 2022; ryan & walsh, 2018 ). as it relates to creating, maintaining, and supporting relationships with em students and their families, reflexive practices help educators to think critically to acknowledge and challenge potentially negative attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, and stereotypes about people from different backgrounds. by asking oneself “why?” and “how?” questions, such as, “why do i believe that certain behaviors indicate that a family does or does not support their child’s learning?;”“why do i believe that a certain trait is a family’s strength or weakness?;” and “how do my culture and life experiences help me understand or misunderstand the children and families i work with?” educators can learn more about their own deep-seated beliefs and create opportunities to reconsider their understanding of the values, practices, and behaviors of the children and families in their early childhood education (ece) classrooms and programs. these questions also allow educators to reconsider their initial assumptions about families and see strengths in the family’s cultural and linguistic practices. educators may engage in reflexive practice by keeping a private, personal journal or by participating in reflexive coaching activities with other educators. while reflective and reflexive practices are not directly family engagement strategies, engaging in these practices is necessary if educators wish to establish and maintain authentic, respectful partnerships with children and families and create enablement activities that facilitate a family’s empowerment. the following practices create opportunities for educators to engage in reflective and reflexive practices that may lead to a greater understanding of and empathy toward em students and their families. literature circles with culturally responsive texts the u.s. teaching workforce, especially in early childhood, is predominantly composed of white, monolingual female educators, creating a mismatch with the growing diversity of student populations (u.s. bureau of labor statistics, 2022a). to address this disparity, literature circles were implemented as a collaborative learning strategy to enhance cultural awareness among pre-service teachers (pts) multicultural and multilingual engagement the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 58 (boudreau, 2021). this study took place in a pre-service teacher course at an urban research university using purposive sampling. to capture participants’ voices, emotions, and evolving perspectives, thick descriptions were gathered from written reflections, and pseudonyms were assigned to protect their identities (braun & clarke, 2013). participants (n=25) were undergraduate students in elementary or early childhood education in the university’s teacher preparation program. over 10 weeks, pts read a designated section of the culturally and linguistically responsive text, wrote a reflection, created a mixed media page, and participated in an in-class literature circle. in small groups of four to five pts, participants took on rotating roles, such as discussion facilitator, note taker, and timekeeper, and engaged in weekly discussions guided by reflective questions. these discussions encouraged pts to critically examine cultural perspectives, their own assumptions, and the challenging journeys many emergent multilingual students face. weekly discussions were led by guiding questions, such as, “what part of the reading made you think differently about something or someone?;” “as a future teacher, what steps will you take to ensure you build trusting relationships with families of all cultural backgrounds?” additionally, pts used mixed media journals to represent their comprehension, incorporating both visual elements and a variety of mediums to express their understanding of the weekly section of reading. one of the selected texts, my family divided: one girl’s journey of home, loss, and hope by diana guerrero, provided a powerful narrative of the experiences of undocumented immigrant families. the memoir details guerrero’s personal journey as the daughter of colombian immigrants who were detained and deported while she was at school. by engaging with such reflective literature, pts developed a deeper understanding of the hardships faced by millions of undocumented immigrant families and the emotional toll on children in these situations. figure 1 illustrates a mixed media journal entry and two excerpts from one pt candidate’s reflections. excerpt from pt candidate on the impact of guerrero’s story: “i really enjoyed learning more about guerrero’s family. i can’t imagine how she must have felt after her mom got arrested. she must be incredibly devastated and heartbroken. my mixed media journal entry (figure 1) represented the terror she must have experienced.” excerpt from the pt candidate on the impact of the book: “the story has profoundly impacted my understanding of what children in similar situations go through. i thought i was empathetic before, but now i have a clearer perspective on how quickly these children have to grow up. the book also highlights how difficult the citizenship process can be. it feels like the government makes it incredibly difficult for undocumented individuals to obtain citizenship without risking deportation, which only worsens the situation because many are too afraid to apply.” multicultural and multilingual engagement figure 1 pt candidate’s mixed media journal work sample “i thought i was empathetic before, but now i have a clearer perspective on how quickly these children have to grow up.” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 59 a thematic analysis identified two overarching themes from the reflections: (1) current and future inclusive classroom teaching practices, which included the subtheme of inclusive family engagement activities, and (2) challenges of immigrant families and students, with the subtheme of immigrant children’s advanced maturity level. overall, the literature circle discussions, individual reflections, and mixed media journal work samples helped bridge the gap between pts’ limited knowledge of immigrant families, the challenges these families face from their home countries to the u.s., and the steps pts plan to take to support em students in their future classrooms. additional culturally responsive young adult texts included: when stars are scattered by omar mohamed and victoria jamieson, refugee by alan gratz, and all the stars denied by guadalupe garcia mccall. implementation practices collaborate with families to plan authentic and respectful cultural celebrations celebrations of holidays and observances of other important dates and events are common in ece programs in the u.s. they may vary by classroom, involve centeror program-wide activities and observations, or they may play no role in the ece program. for programs that include holiday celebrations and observances, it is essential to authentically include and learn about all represented cultures equally (derman-sparks & edwards, 2019). inauthentic or misinformed cultural activities and celebrations may be well-intentioned but can create misunderstandings, depriving em students and their families of the opportunity to share their cultural identity with others. the planning of cultural activities and celebrations must include the families of that culture to avoid stereotypical displays and activities. by asking the families of em students to take the lead in planning and guiding educators and other families, learning goes beyond the typical “holidays and heroes” celebrations and activities (derman-sparks et al., 2015). when families have opportunities to share their culture and traditions with their children, educators, and other families, they experience empowerment. one way to honor the cultural and linguistic identities of all families is to recognize and celebrate the cultures represented in the classroom or program. engage families in this process by inviting them to share important dates, traditions, and ideas to create meaningful, authentic learning experiences. for example, families may want to introduce the lunar new year, a significant celebration observed in many asian countries, including china, vietnam, korea, malaysia, and singapore. the holiday marks the beginning of a new year in the traditional chinese calendar and is often celebrated with the color red, symbolizing joy and good fortune in chinese culture. other holidays and traditions to explore may include kwanzaa, a celebration of african heritage; holi, a vibrant festival of colors celebrated in india; or día de los muertos, a mexican holiday honoring deceased loved ones. asking the families of em students to share how they observe cultural celebrations and activities leads to a deeper understanding of a variety of cultures that move beyond popular stereotypes to create a culturally inclusive environment. however, it is important to respect the wishes of families who do not wish to share this information. in ece programs that do not include holiday activities or celebrations, educators may invite families to take part in classroom learning activities that include teaching children about different cultural practices and traditions through sharing songs, stories, games, or food. another option is to host a centeror program-wide family culture exhibition event, perhaps to coincide with international mother language day in february or the international day of families in may. by inviting all families to prepare a display of artifacts of their culture, families share their funds of identity with the other children, families, and educators. in addition to visual displays, families may work together to include cultural storytelling, games, and songs as part of the event. again, it is important to respect the wishes of families who do not wish to share this information about their family, but to invite them to enjoy the event with their children. whether these activities or celebrations occur in the classroom or in a center or program event, educators will have created enablement opportunities that facilitate family emmulticultural and multilingual engagement the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 60 powerment. families are empowered by using their funds of identity to share their culture with children, families, and educators who otherwise may never have such an experience. family engagement science, technology, engineering, and math (stem) nights in addition to centeror program-wide cultural exhibitions, educators can organize family engagement stem nights to strengthen collaboration between schools, families, and communities. research highlights significant barriers to stem education for underrepresented cultural and linguistic groups, including emergent multilinguals (ems). these barriers include disparities in educational quality, limited opportunities to apply stem skills, a lack of mentorship in stem careers, and the absence of culturally relevant pedagogy. family engagement initiatives, such as stem nights (figure 2), help address these challenges by fostering meaningful school-family partnerships. as illustrated in figure 3, translated instructions encourage all families to engage and participate in family engagement nights. research has shown that such collaborations lead to improved academic outcomes, including higher grades, better attendance, enhanced social skills, more positive school behavior, and increased graduation rates (henderson & mapp, 2002). conclusion this article offers valuable insight into how pre-service and in-service teachers can intentionally reflect on their own pedagogy and foster authentic partnerships with linguistically and culturally diverse families. additionally, it presents practical, studentand family-centered strategies for integrating families into the curriculum. these strategies empower educators to recognize and leverage the cultural and linguistic strengths of em students and their families, enriching the experiences of educators, children, and families throughout the program. references boudreau, e. (2021). literature circles: how educators can make this small group exercise work better in their classroom. harvard graduate school of educ tion. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/u able-knowledge/21/11/literature-circles braun, v. & clarke, v. (2022) thematic analysis: a pra tical guide. sage. derman-sparks, l. & edwards, j. (2019, november 6). anti-bias education and holidays: making though ful decisions. national association for the education of young children. https://www.naeyc.org/resour es/blog/anti-bias-and-holidays derman-sparks, l., leekeenan, d., & nimmo, j. (2015). leading anti-bias early childhood programs: a guide for change. teachers college press. multicultural and multilingual engagement figure 2 em children engaging in stemtacular family night figure 3 bilingual materials for stemtacular family night the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 61 dunst, c., trivette, c., & deal, a. (1988). enabling and empowering families: principles and guidelines for practice. brookline books. esteban-guitart, m., & moll, l.c. (2014). lived experience, funds of identity and education. culture & psychology, 20(1), 70-81. https://doi org/10.1177/1354067x13515940 garcía, o., ibarra-johnson, s. & seltzer, k. (2017). the translanguaging classroom: leveraging student bili gualism for student learning. caslon. grant, k.b. & ray, j.a. (2023). home, school, and co munity collaboration. sage. international rescue committee (2024). 110 million people displaced around the world: get the facts. https://www.rescue.org/article/110-million-people displaced-around-world-get-facts koralek, d., nemeth, k., & ramsey, k. (2019). families & educators together: building great relationships that support young children. national association for the education of young children (naeyc) books. national center for education statistics. u.s. depar ment of education. (september, 2020). race and ethnicity of public school teachers and their st dents. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2020/2020103/index asp national clearinghouse for english language acquis tion. (n.d.). chapter 1: who are newcomers? u.s. d partment of education, office of english language a quisition. https://ncela.ed.gov/sites/default files/2023-09/newcomertoolkit-ch1-09152023-508 pdf otheguy, r., garcía, o. & reid, w. (2015). clarifying translanguaging and deconstructing named langua es: a perspective from linguistics. applied lingui tics review, 6(3), 281-307. https://doi.org/10.1515 applirev-2015-0014 paris, d. & alim, h. (eds.) (2017). culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. teacher college press. ryan, a. & walsh, t. (2018). reflexivity and critical pe agogy. in a. rya & t. walsh (eds.), reflexivity and critical pedagogy (pp. 1-14). brill sense. thomas, w. p., & collier, v. p. (2002). a national study of school effectiveness for language minority students’ long-term academic achievement. center for r search on education, diversity & excellence. univer sity of california, berkeley. https://escholarship.org uc/item/65j213pt multicultural and multilingual engagement hs dialog, 26(2), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 capitalizing on early literacy standards in play teresa sumrall1 rebecca lee payne jordan2 1appalachian state university 2salem college children’s play is a primary vehicle for learning in early childhood classrooms. in order for teachers to effectively support learning, they must become attuned to how children are demonstrating progress towards important educational goals, such as those described in states’ early learning and development standards (elds). in the research study which this article is based on, we investigated preschool teachers’ ability to identify evidence of early literacy developmental milestones in children’s play, connect these milestones to elds, and plan reasonable learningrich extensions that built on children’s developmental readiness. we found that teachers were largely able to identify evidence of literacy development using vignettes and envision evidence-based pedagogical extensions that would support children’s learning. this was most evident in the areas of phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge and least evident in areas related to engagement and comprehension. implications and recommendations for teachers and professional development are provided. keywords: teacher knowledge, literacy, early childhood, standards introduction and summary of literature early learning development standards (elds) have been developed in each of the 50 united states and throughout the world to support teachers in knowing what to expect across domains for young children. these standards describe what children at various ages and stages (e.g., older toddler, young preschooler) should know and be able to do across domains (e.g., cognitive development, health and physical development, language development and communication). many resources and much time has been devoted to supporting early childhood educators in knowing these standards so that they can use them in their classrooms (scott-little et al., 2007). nevertheless, there is a dearth of knowledge around teachers’ use of these standards. in particular, the ways teachers use these standards in their instruction is an area of research interest. research to practice summary capitalizing on early literacy 113 we were particularly interested in exploring how sensitive preschool teachers were to early literacy developmental milestones in children’s play and how they were able to connect these milestones to elds and plan reasonable learning-rich extensions that built on children’s developmental readiness. we purposefully use the term “sensitive” to denote teachers’ ability to notice and respond to anecdotal evidence of development demonstrated in play. we consider children’s play to be a stimulus in the early childhood environment to which teachers have a varying ability to identify as evidence of development. we believe this sensitivity is a precursor to effective instruction when teachers plan instructional activities and extensions based on their observations. our interest in teachers’ sensitivity to these standards in play stems from the central role of play in early childhood education. play is highly regarded as a developmentally appropriate approach to early childhood education because it promotes active, meaningful, and joyful learning (ginsburg, k. r. & committee on communications and the committee on psychosocial aspects of child and family health, 2007; naeyc, 2020b; vanhoorn et al., 2015). we focused our investigation around early literacy given the critical nature of foundational literacy development in early childhood classrooms (adams, 1990). in the pre-kindergarten period, children must develop strong oral language skills; the necessary precursors to lead to proficient word reading, such as phonemic awareness and concepts of print; and the executive function necessary to coordinate the complex task of reading, such as self-regulation and motivation (duke & cartwright, 2021; gough & tunmer, 1986; scarborough, 2001). current study and key findings in the study upon which this research-to-practice summary is based (jordan & sumrall, 2023), we explored how well preschool teachers were able to identify developmental milestones in children’s play, connect those milestones to elds, and plan reasonable learning-rich extensions that built on children’s developmental readiness. data were collected from eight female preschool teachers working in a state-funded pre-k classroom within a state located in the southeastern united states. teachers were interviewed using the preschool literacy pedagogical content knowledge (plpck) interview protocol (authors, 2023). the interview protocol consists of a written description of two play scenarios, each containing multiple evidences of children engaging in early literacy in their play. the second scenario also included a child’s work sample (i.e., a drawing that included some writing). these scenarios can be seen in jordan and sumrall (2023). for use with this protocol, the authors organized the the language development and communication domain from the state’s elds into six subdomains, which are subtopics that fall within the domain. these subdomains included: (a) interest and motivation to read, (b) comprehension and use of information in books, (c) book knowledge, (d) phonological awareness, (e) alphabet knowledge, and (f) writing. each of these subdomains is an important aspect of the science of reading and necessary for proficient reading development (duke & cartwright, 2021; scarborough, 2001). within each of these subdomains are developmental indicators, which are the specific statements of expectations for children’s development and learning that are tied to particular age levels. although the states’ elds document includes developmental indicators for infants, younger toddlers, older toddlers, and younger preschoolers, we focused solely on 114 sumrall & jordan development indicators for older preschoolers since our participants taught children in this age group (48 months 60+ months). from this study, it is clear that teachers are able to identify anecdotal evidence of literacy development using vignettes depicting children at play and envision reasonable and evidencebased pedagogical extensions to advance their learning. teachers were most adept at identifying evidence of development in play in the subdomains of phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge and least adept in interest in and motivation to read and comprehension and use of information in books. largely, teachers were able to plan reasonable literacy-rich extensions that were not not only appropriate, relevant, and based on evidence-based teaching strategies, but extensions also directly expanded upon the play described in each of the scenarios. some teachers did describe general non-evidence-based responses to the depictions of children’s play, such as non-specific praise or broadly responding that they would ask the children open-ended questions about their play. when asked which subdomains their extensions would support, teachers were usually accurate and oftentimes recognized that their extension would support development across multiple early literacy subdomains. we were surprised, however, with how unfamiliar most teachers were with the developmental indicators and subdomains, even when presented with a condensed list of the subdomains and developmental indicators. when teachers were asked qualitatively about their familiarity with the elds document from which the developmental indicators and subdomains were taken, most indicated that they had heard of it, received some level of training on it, and had access to it somewhere within their classroom. nevertheless, teachers also unanimously self-reported that the elds document was not something they had been provided much time or insight into how to use in relation to the children in their classrooms. universally, they indicated that they would benefit from more professional development on what it means for them, their students and their teaching. implications and recommendations early childhood teachers one of the most important reasons for the development of elds is to increase program quality by enhancing the knowledge and skills of teachers (petersen et al., 2008). there is a great deal that can be learned regarding the content and use of elds. we recommend that teachers not only become highly knowledgeable of children’s development across domains and content areas, but more importantly, learn how to use this information to inform their instructional practices. since much learning occurs in play in early childhood classrooms, teachers must become adept at recognizing developmental milestones in children’s play and in turn, use this knowledge to plan and implement learning opportunities that are sensitive to children’s interests and developmental readiness. these teaching and learning opportunities may occur in naturalistic (unplanned) and intentional (planned) ways throughout the day. teachers need to understand and be prepared to support learning in both ways. for example, there are numerous naturalistic opportunities throughout the day where children’s progress towards standards can be seen and expanded upon such as free play, capitalizing on early literacy 115 group time and during conversions with peers and adults. teachers must recognize the opportunity for learning in the moment and be prepared to provide thoughtful, intentional learning extensions that are sensitive to children’s developmental readiness. teachers can also use their observations of children, including those of children at play, to plan curriculum that will continue to support children’s growth and development towards the standards. for example, teachers can plan learning activities or provide materials that specifically relate to children developing proficiency in goals outlined in their states’ standards (kluth & straut, 2001). in some cases, teachers may put out materials in a learning center and invite children to manipulate the materials. teachers may plan large or small group time activities targeted to teach specific skills outlined in elds (gronlund, 2006). in daily routines, teachers may build opportunities for children to practice specific skills outlined in elds documents. there is a time and place to use standards in both naturalistic and planned ways, and to best support children’s learning, educators must be prepared to capitalize on both. lastly, we would like to discuss implications for teachers that specifically relate to early literacy, since elds in this domain was the focus of this study. the teachers in this study demonstrated difficulty in accurately identifying developmental indicators and connecting those accurately to subdomains of literacy, even with a list of subdomains provided. we encourage teachers to become better informed on the components of literacy, by familiarizing themselves with their states’ elds, aligned documents such as the head start early learning outcomes framework (2015), seminal research reports (nelp, 2008; nrp, 2000), and prominent theories of literacy development (duke & cartwright, 2021; gough & tunmer, 1986; scarborough, 2001). professional development the effective implementation of a standards-based education in a developmentally appropriate manner requires educators to have a complex understanding of child development and early education. the process of using standards requires teachers to be able to identify where individual children are in relation to specific indicators articulated in the standards and identify what skills and abilities children need to make progress (scott-little et al., 2003). with this knowledge in mind, teachers must be able to provide enriching educational experiences that are appropriate for individual children’s developmental levels and interests that will foster growth towards the achievement of elds (gronlund & james, 2008). due to the high-complexity of effective implementation of standards, it is clear that additional support and professional development efforts are needed. significant effort has gone into the states’ development of elds documents and their alignment to national standards such as the head start early learning outcomes framework (2015), but more work is needed to support teachers’ knowledge, understanding and most importantly, their use of elds. although short-term efforts such as one-time trainings and conferences/workshops are the most common form of elds professional development, it is recommended that training be comprehensive, ongoing and include a focus on how standards can be used (naeyc & naccrra, 2011; petersen et al., 2008; scott-little et al., 2003). based on the results of this study, we would recommend that professional development opportunities go a step further and 116 sumrall & jordan help teachers learn to identify standards in more authentic contexts, such as using case studies/vignettes, children’s work samples and even video recordings of children at play. while introductory training is important, even necessary, professional development must grow in complexity and be relatable to the everyday work of teachers. if we expect teachers to develop the appropriate content knowledge of elds as well as the ability to use them (pedagogical content knowledge; shulman, 1986), they must be better supported through ongoing, in-depth professional development. specifically related to early literacy, we recommend that professional development explicitly break down the subdomains of language and literacy to enhance content knowledge and build a solid foundation for early literacy instruction. we found that the two subdomains in which participants were least able to identify evidence of development in play were interest in and motivation to read and comprehension and use of information in books. therefore, we strongly encourage professional development that emphasizes how young children engage with text, literary language, and with various genres of text for young children. the call for greater focus on children’s literature and engagement with text has been echoed by others (ripp, 2016; national council of teachers of english, 2018) and deserves our attention. conclusion play has long been revered as an essential part of early childhood. therefore, it is critical that early childhood teachers become skilled at identifying elds, including language and literacy standards, during play and effectively use this knowledge to plan and implement appropriate learning opportunities. given the importance of elds, teachers must continue to be supported through ongoing professional development that considers the full complexity of their use. professional development must be expanded to include more in-depth and ongoing opportunities for teachers to identify children’s progress towards standards in authentic contexts, such as children at play. likewise, we encourage teachers to embrace their own professional learning and deepen their knowledge of the subdomains of literacy through reading seminal research reports referenced above and continuing to engage in reading professional literature such as those in this journal. references adams, m. j. (1990). beginning to read: thinking and learning about print. cambridge, ma: mit press. duke, n.k., & cartwright, k.b. (2021). the science of reading progresses: communicating advances beyond the simple view of reading. reading research quarterly, 56(s1), s25– s44. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.411 ginsburg, k. r. & committee on communications and the committee on psychosocial aspects of child and family health. (2007). the importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds. pediatrics, 119(1), 182–191. gough, p.b., & tunmer, w.e. (1986). decoding, reading, and reading disability. remedial and special education, 7(1), 6-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419 32586 00700104 gronlund, g. (2006). make early learning standards come alive: connecting your practice and curriculum to state guidelines. st. paul, mn: redleaf press. gronlund, g. & james, j. (2008). early learning standards and staff development: best practices in the face of change. st. paul, mn: redleaf press. jordan, r.l.p. & sumrall, t. (2023). preschool teachers' sensitivity to early literacy milestones in play. hs dialog. kluth, p. & straut, d. (2001). standards for diverse learners. educational leadership, 59(1), 43–46. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.411 https://doi.org/10.1177/07419%2032586%2000700104 capitalizing on early literacy 117 national association for the education of young children (2020). developmentally appropriate practice position statement. retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globallyshared/downloads/pdfs/resources/position-statements/dap-statement_0.pdf national association for the education of young children & national association of child care resource and referral agencies. (2011). early childhood education professional development: training and technical assistance glossary. retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/glossarytrain ing_ta.pdf ncte children’s literature assembly. (2018). preparing teachers with knowledge of children’s and young adult literature. urbana, il: ncte. national early literacy panel. (2008). developing early literacy: report of the national early literacy panel. washington, dc: national institute for literacy. national reading panel. (2000). report of the national reading panel. teaching children to read: an evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (nih publication no. 00-4769). washington, d.c.: u.s. government printing office. office of head start. (2015). head start early learning outcomes framework. retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/elof-ohs-framework.pdf petersen, s., jones, l., mcginley, k. a. (2008). early learning guidelines for infants and toddlers: recommendations for states. washington, dc: zero to three. ripp, p. (2016). the spirit of children’s literature: how a teacher’s love of children’s books affects the whole classroom. literacy today, 33(6), 28–29. scarborough, h.s. (2001). connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities: evidence, theory, and practice. in s.b. neuman & d.k. dickinson (eds.), handbook of early literacy research (vol. 1, pp. 97– 110). new york, ny: guilford. scott-little, c., kagan, s. l., & frelow, v. (2003). standards for preschool children’s learning and development: who has standards, how were they developed and how are they used. tallahassee, fl: serve. scott-little, c., lesko, j., martella, j., millburn, p. (2007). early learning standards: results from a national survey to document trends in state-level policies and practices. early childhood research & practice, 9(1). retrieved from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v9n1/little.html shulman, l. (1986). those who understand: knowledge growth in teaching. educational researcher, 15(2), 4-14. http://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x015002004 vanhoorn, j., nourot, p.m., scales, b., & alward, k.r. (2015). play at the center of the curriculum. (6th ed.). london, england: pearson. https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/pdfs/resources/position-statements/dap-statement_0.pdf https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/pdfs/resources/position-statements/dap-statement_0.pdf https://emailsc-my.sharepoint.com/personal/bbottoms_mailbox_sc_edu/documents/hs%20dialog/26.2%20issue/ http://www.naeyc.org/glossarytrain%20ing_ta.pdf https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/elof-ohs-framework.pdf http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v9n1/little.html hs dialog, 26(3), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 a workshop model of strategies for early childhood educators who work with emergent bilinguals julia t. atiles1 maria josé a. dias1 jaime dice moore2 1east tennessee state university 2athens, georgia this series of workshops is based on a strengths-based perspective to emergent bilingual learning. it shows how a translanguaging approach can empower children, educators, and engage families by expanding learning opportunities, and making families a resource for educators. a blueprint of the professional development series is provided for teachers and administrators working with emergent bilinguals to consider. keywords: professional development, emergent bilinguals, head start, translanguaging introduction over the past two decades we have witnessed classrooms across the united states become more culturally and linguistically diverse (national center for education statistics, 2021; office of head start, 2021). the need for a workforce that is prepared to work effectively with “emergent bilingual” is evident. the term positions the child’s multilingualism as a strength within the context of language and literacy development. research shows that fluency in children’s languages is not necessary to be a successful educator; but supporting the language development of emergent bilinguals is (park, 2014). educators lack training on how to effectively work with emergent bilinguals (cummings, 2015; samson & collins, 2012; siller, 2018). professional development has shown effectiveness in changing educators’ knowledge, beliefs, and instruction, which impact children directly (cummings, 2015; tran, 2014; zaslow et al., 2010). in this manuscript we share a blueprint for a training series that includes emergent bilinguals’ learning and development, as well as strategies for effective teaching (baecher & jewkes, 2014; dwarka, 2018). research to practice summary 34 dias, atiles, & moore a study by author and colleagues (2022) adds to the current knowledge base on professional development that aims to increase the efficacy of early childhood educators who work with emergent bilinguals. their research highlights the importance of having a strength-based perspective. the series of professional development workshops was designed to further early childhood educators’ knowledge and to develop practical skills for working with emergent bilinguals and their families. the workshops demonstrate practices that benefit emergent bilinguals and parent-educator relationships, drawing from the translanguaging pedagogy framework (garcia & wei, 2014). a workshop series for translanguaging pedagogy drawing from research on professional development and from the translanguaging pedagogy, the authors developed a series of four workshops to prepare early childhood educators to work with emergent bilinguals. having time between workshops is recommended, so that educators have time to put strategies learned into practice and can share what worked and did not work during the next meeting. opportunities for implementation and practice of strategies have been identified as a feature of effective early childhood professional development (castro et al., 2017). workshop 1: diversity, self-awareness, and empathy the purpose of workshop 1 was twofold, developing and raising educators’ self-awareness regarding their personal and cultural identities, and developing empathy towards emergent bilinguals. in order to raise awareness, educators engaged in a discussion and reflection of a diversity iceberg image (butts, 2012), which compares diversity to the parts of an iceberg that are visible and not visible. much like one only sees what is above the water line but part is invisible because it is under the water, it is difficult to ascertain all of the diversity traits of a person by simply looking at them or guessing based upon observation. the concept of the importance of unseen traits was further discussed by asking educators to complete the “my multicultural self” (southern poverty law center, n.d.) activity in which they identified five facets of their multicultural selves that are important in defining who they are (e.g., daughter, dancer, church group member, brazilian). then they reflected on how these different facets shape the way they view the world. they discussed how miscommunications can occur when educators are not aware of their own or others’ identities and how identities are shaped and reshaped by our environment. what people know about themselves and others can change over time as circumstances change (people move, graduate, get married, change schools), and this can affect the value they attribute to the various facets of themselves. for this reason, translanguaging pedagogy is judgement-free and is free of assumptions about others, and instead creates communication that allows learning about and understanding one another. workshop participants had the opportunity to take the perspective of a child who is an emergent bilingual in their classroom by reading la vaca que decía oink [the cow that said oink] (most, 2011) in spanish. they were asked comprehension questions to see what they grasped, if anything, from the reading. most educators expressed empathically a lot of frustration as they did not understand the language and could only guess based on the illustrations. some expressed strategies for emergent bilinguals 35 disengagement and boredom due to the language barrier. next, they read marisol mcdonald doesn't match by monica brown (2018), a story that exemplifies translanguaging by including words such as “abuelita” [grandma] in spanish throughout the story and some cultural aspects as her enjoyment of “peanut butter and jelly burritos” and soccer. the occasional use of words in spanish added to the ability of the emergent bilingual to follow the story as they have a few words in addition to the illustrations from which to draw meaning. because the story is about a peruvian girl who likes to wear things that do not match, it highlights the importance of valuing individuality and uniqueness. the mixing of english and spanish throughout the story exemplifies marisol’s own heritage as the daughter of a father from the united states and a mother from latin america. the aim was for educators to experience the difference in that this second read aloud allowed for better understanding of the story and kept them engaged. this led to a discussion of the importance of selecting books that represent the students in their classroom. workshop participants were sent home with resources they could use as they were preparing their classrooms for the first day of school. they had access to a welcome letter available in english and spanish, and vocabulary terms commonly use to label classrooms in both english and spanish. the importance of a first impression and communicating that diversity is welcomed and valued in the classroom was discussed and encouraged. workshop 2: multicultural education and emergent bilinguals workshop 2 started with asking participants to share their thoughts and opinions about workshop 1 and engaging in the completion of a kwl (what i know, what i want to know, and what i learned) chart. thus, engaging in an important reactivation of previous knowledge and reflection that are essential elements of an effective professional development series (moon, 2013). the goal of this workshop was to discuss how schools and educators can value and enhance the education of emergent bilinguals through having a multicultural classroom that truly embraces diversity. the discussions focused on the need for a schoolor program-wide effort to integrate children’s home cultures into the classroom or school setting. there were discussions about how celebrating one holiday in the year such as “día de los muertos” does not mean educators are being culturally responsive. there were discussions about how multicultural education recognizes and values differences, and ensures all children have access to an equitable and discrimination-free education on a daily basis (banks, 1996). there were also discussions about possible steps toward becoming culturally responsive, including showing interest in the culture of one’s students, building bridges between school and home, and having books that represent various cultures. moreover, during workshop 2, there was a discussion about the importance of creating a safe environment where children can express themselves freely without judgements. a thorough discussion of the affective filter hypothesis in krashen’s theory of second language acquisition (krashen, 1982) engaged the participants in understanding how learners’ attitudes impact the success of second language acquisition. to demonstrate how lack of motivation, lack of self-confidence, and learning anxiety act as filters that impede and obstruct language learning, a large “carboard wall” was utilized by the presenters to show how the existence of negative emotions did not allow for effective communication. metaphorically the “carboard wall” blocked eye contact, sound, and hindered ability to understand and take action on what the person on the 36 dias, atiles, & moore other side of the “carboard wall” said. next, the presenters cut out holes on the “carboard wall” representing boredom, stress, anxiety, insufficient self-confidence, lack of motivation, etc. which made the “carboard wall” permeable, thus facilitating effective communication. this “cardboard wall” allowed for verbal and non-verbal positive feedback. this activity demonstrated that students’ attitudes and emotional variables can either help or obstruct the process of acquiring a new language. with the intent of strengthening children’s bilingual identities and socioemotional development, one of the four primary purposes of translanguaging (garcía et al., 2017), participants brainstormed practices that educators can engage in to appreciate the language and culture of children and their families. among the practices discussed was a home language survey, which allows educators and schools to properly identify the bilingual students. another way to engage students is having them share their bilingualism through telling their stories and experiences. additionally, there was discussion about how educators can promote and develop an ecology of multilingualism by including multilingual welcome signs, labeling the classroom in their students’ languages, and providing resources to parents in their languages (garcía et al., 2017). schools and educators that develop consciousness about both english language and home language facilitate development in the cognitive, social, and linguistic domains that benefit early bilingualism and therefore, school readiness goals (espinosa, 2015). workshop 3: emergent literacy and practices workshop 3 focused on literacy as a means to support children’ engagement with text to maximize comprehension and provide opportunities to use language in academic contexts; two of the four primary purposes of translanguaging (garcía et al., 2017). the first part of this workshop addressed morning meetings as a way to build community, emergent literacy including a print-rich multilingual environment, the benefits of bilingualism, book selection, and developing community listening centers. the training began with providing opportunities for the participants to learn about and understand the theory and reason for change; then participants were invited to observe modeling and practice in an environment where risk-taking was supported and opportunities to receive feedback and coaching from colleagues were provided, both evidence-based aspects of effective professional development (lieberman & miller, 1999). the second part of the workshop was devoted to demonstrating classroom practices that encourage comprehension and vocabulary development, borrowing from zimmermann and hutchins’ (2003) 7 keys to comprehension. the four strategies selected were those that can be easily implemented with preschool age children: building background knowledge, asking questions, making inferences, and building mental images. building background knowledge. children use their prior knowledge to enhance their understanding of what they are reading. their background knowledge helps connect what the children already know to what they read. to demonstrate the concept of background knowledge to the participants, the participants read the children’s story mango, abuela, and me by meg medina (2015). in the story, a spanish-speaking abuela and her english-only granddaughter cannot communicate. the granddaughter resorts to her prior knowledge of language development strategies for emergent bilinguals 37 experienced in her school and attaches english labels to everything in sight so the grandmother could learn the words. according to zimmerman and hutchins (2003), “background knowledge is all that you as a reader bring to a book: your personal history, all you’ve read or seen, your adventures, the experiences of your day-to-day life, your relationships, your passions” (p. 45). a discussion with the participants focused on how the story not only exemplifies the notion of background knowledge, but it adds to the translanguaging concept, which embraces language and cultural diversity. asking questions. the second strategy reviewed with the participants was asking questions. children generate questions before, during, and after reading. the questions help clarify meaning, make predictions, and focus their attention on what is significant. children should be encouraged to ask questions when they are being read to, as this means they are thinking and interacting with the words and images. bloom’s taxonomy was explained and utilized to generate questions about a children’s story. for example, for remembering, the most basic level of questioning, the teacher can ask what happened in a particular passage of the story. for evaluating, which requires more critical thinking, the teacher may ask, do you think the main character made good choices? why or why not? examples included the use of all levels of bloom’s taxonomy. making inferences. children use their prior knowledge and information from the reading to make predictions, pursue answers to questions, develop conclusions, and create interpretations that expand their understanding of the text. the process of making inferences allows the children to go beyond what is written on the text. the children’s book maria had a little llama by angela dominguez (2013) was used to walk participants through the process of making inferences based on their prior knowledge, context clues, and the reading. some real items, such as a benny hat, a flute, maracas, a globe (to show where peru is in relation to the us) were brought in for the participants to compare and contrast with the ones in the story. thus, modeling how to encourage children during a read aloud to draw inferences. building mental images. readers create a wide range of visual, auditory, and other sensory images as they read, and they become emotionally involved with what they read. visualizing is an important strategy that children can use to create mental images or movies in their minds to represent the ideas that are presented in the text. images help children/readers understand the content at a deeper level. asking the children to close their eyes, turn on the imaginary camera that plays a movie inside their head and listen attentively while the educator reads encourages visualization. a follow up activity where the children are asked to draw a scene from the reading further strengthens the development of this important skill. the following passage from the book dear primo: a letter to my cousin (tonatiuh, 2010) gave the participants an experience in drawing a mental image: dear primo carlitos, i live in a city. from my window i can see a bridge and cars zooming by. i can see skyscrapers, too. skyscrapers are buildings so tall they tickle the clouds. at night all the lights from the city look like the stars from the sky (tonatiuh, 2010, p. 4). the drawing exercise was followed by sharing and discussing the images, and a comparison with the actual images of the story. drawings from young children who had engaged in the same 38 dias, atiles, & moore exercise in the past, allowed for a discussion of prior knowledge. for example, a boy who had lived in san francisco drew a bridge that resembled the golden gate. this activity was later identified as one of the favorites by the workshop participants (further discussion is included in the results section). expanding activities. as a way to provide effective modeling in the four key areas of comprehension addressed in this workshop, the authors read the children’s book maria had a little llama (dominguez, 2013) both in english and spanish. the authors showed the cover of the book to set the stage and activate background knowledge. questions such as “do you know this animal?” and “is this animal common here in this area?” were asked. the introduction of maria as the main character of the story who lives in a country far from the us was followed by showing them a globe to show where peru is in relation to the us (integrating concepts of social studies). sticky notes with questions were placed on the pages of the book as a reminder of pausing to ask questions during the read aloud. the intention of the book selection and preparation of questions prior to the read aloud was emphasized as an important practice to help the children develop critical thinking. also, making inferences and having appropriate realia in the classroom are important elements of helping children build vocabulary and comprehension. after the authors had modeled the read aloud, they shared some possible activities to expand from maria had a little llama. the activities suggested were: (1) generating a vocabulary list both in english and spanish with words and pictures from the story and discussing it with the students; (2) creating a comparing and contrasting activity of the various hats illustrated in the story e.g. a “chullo” hat compared to a benny hat and other common hats the us students might wear or know; (3) different types of tracks, an activity to explore kinesthetic and motor skills by having the children walk across a banner paper with paint on their soles or making tracks of various plastic animal toys to compare and contrast their shapes; and (4) mapping, introducing the concepts of maps by using dora the explorer videos of maps and encouraging the children to draw their own map of a familiar space e.g. from their bedroom to their home kitchen, and from the classroom to the playground. after modeling the various techniques, the participants had the opportunity to practice book selection from a variety of books the authors brought to the session, including monolingual, multicultural, translanguaging, and bilingual books. participants worked in small groups by selecting a book with their students in mind therefore being intentional, formulating questions using bloom’s taxonomy, and generating a list of possible related activities to expand on concepts introduced through the books’ stories. afterwards, participants were given the opportunity to share their work with the whole group. this exercise helped put into practice several of the strategies previously discussed. not only did participants come up with important follow up activities for the books they chose but they also formulated questions to help children develop cognitive skills. workshop 4: school and family engagement workshop 4 was designed to provide resources for educators to build bridges between school and home and to improve communication with families of emergent bilinguals. participants engaged in several activities that they could replicate with students and families. this workshop demonstrated using the funds of knowledge framework (moll et al., 1992), stressing that all strategies for emergent bilinguals 39 individuals and families are competent and have knowledge and experiences, which can be a fundamental resource in the classroom. funds of knowledge. the participants were asked to complete a simple funds of knowledge form (gonzález et al., 2005) that asked them to comment on their home language(s), family values and traditions (e.g. holiday celebrations, religious beliefs), caregiving (e.g. use pacifier, co-sleeping), friends and family (e.g. sporting outings, visiting grandparents on sundays), family outings (e.g. shopping, library, beach), household chores (e.g. cooking, dusting, mowing g lawn), educational activities (e.g. visiting museums, visiting the zoo), favorite tv shows (e.g. dora the explorer, sesame street), family occupations (e.g. firefighter, construction, lawyer, educator), and scientific knowledge (e.g. recycling, exercising, healthy cooking). then they shared with a partner or small group to compare, contrast, and discover the diversity of expertise amongst them. the activity discussion encouraged them to survey the adults in the families of the children in their class to identify the expertise to which they had access. family generated alphabet. participants were given a preschool writing worksheet page to send home with instructions in both english and spanish. the sheet had across the top one line with the first letter of their name in capital and lower case, and a second writing line at the bottom of the page. it had plenty of blank space in between the two writing lines. participants were instructed to write their name on the line provided at the top. then draw a picture of something that started with the same letter e.g., bailey may draw a ball, luis may draw a limón (a lime). the language utilized can be english or the language spoken in the home. finally, participants were to write on the bottom writing line the item drawn, e.g., ball or limón. educators can collect these drawings and create an alphabet display with various vocabulary words for each letter. missing letters of the alphabet can be completed in the classroom by the educator or family volunteers with the students. because instructions were written in multiple languages, there is an implicit invitation to use either language as well as an acknowledgement of the equitable value of both languages in this activity. thus, parents may be more likely to be able to engage with their children in this activity and feel successful in their contribution. participants discussed how this multilingual display is an excellent way to integrate emergent literacy and translanguaging. take home pet journal. the class can have a mascot (stuffed animal) that goes home on weekends with different children accompanied by a journal and a letter of explanation to the caregiver (in english and spanish or other relevant languages) as to what is the purpose of the activity. for example: it is your child’s turn to take our class pet, (name of stuffed animal) home. (name of stuffed animal) is so excited about spending time with you and your family this weekend. (name of stuffed animal) loves meeting new people, trying different foods, and seeing new places. please write a small passage in the journal telling (in your child’s words) our class what the family did with (name of stuffed animal). feel free to include a photo or allow your child to draw a picture of their time with (name of stuffed animal). return (name of stuffed animal) and the journal to school on monday. we will read the journal aloud so that the whole class can hear what fun things they did together. thanks for your help! 40 dias, atiles, & moore this activity not only provides an opportunity for the children to share about their family, home, and culture but also provides for an activity that adults and children can do together. workshop participants valued this activity as a way of involving families that they had not considered. some generated variations of the same activity concept and professed that they put them into practice. family survey. participants were encouraged to use a simple family survey to find out the name(s) of the parents or caregivers and the languages spoken in the home. as an example, we suggested the family survey by celic (2009), which includes questions such as: what do you feel would be helpful for me to know about your child? what are your child’s interests? what concerns do you have about this school year? how would you like to be involved in your child's education this year? this last question is divided into two categories: helping at the school and helping from home. at the schools, adult volunteers can: volunteer to chaperon class trips, help with class celebrations, come to class to talk about their country, come to class to talk about their profession, etc. from home, adult volunteers can: prepare book order forms, read with their child, record themselves reading a book in english or their home language for the class to enjoy, or prepare materials that need to be cut out for class activities (e.g., cut 20 apples out of red, green, and yellow construction paper sent home with a sample that can be traced). discussion with the participants centered around the importance of having choices so that caregivers who cannot come to help during the school day can help from home at their convenience. training and website logistics. when implementing this workshop series author et al. (2022) developed a google site (https://sites.google.com/view/languagelearners/home) to share multiple resources with the workshop participants during the professional development. the content of the website included the workshop presentation slides as well as multiple resources that could be downloaded for use in their practice. some of the resources included suggested readings, a list of classroom vocabulary in english and spanish, welcoming letters to parents in english and spanish, a list of multicultural children’s books, home language survey in english and spanish, and activities to send home to engage with families. relevant content was uploaded following each workshop. conclusion this blueprint of professional development workshops can be followed by administrators wishing to train their staff on strategies to work with emergent bilinguals. alternatively, teachers may wish to implement some of the strategies on their own. the examples provided are for spanish speaking learners. thus, one may need to consider substituting the resources suggested by equivalent ones in the languages represented in their classrooms. references banks, j. a. 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(2012). preparing all teachers to meet the needs of english language learners: applying research to policy and practice for teacher effectiveness. center for american progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/preparing-all-teachers-to-meet-the-needs-of-english-languagelearners/ siller, p. (2018). pre-service teachers’ beliefs about teaching ells: implications for a teacher preparation program (publication no. 28182208) [doctoral dissertation, university of houston]. proquest dissertations publishing. southern poverty law center. (n.d.). my multicultural self. learning for justice. https://www.learningforjustice.org/classroom-resources/lessons/my-multicultural-self tonatiuh, d. (2010). dear primo: a letter to my cousin. harry n. abrams. tran, y. k. 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(2010). toward the identification of features of effective professional development for early childhood educators: literature review. u.s. department of education. https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/professional-development/literaturereview.pdf zimmermann, s. & hutchins, c. (2003). 7 keys to comprehension: how to help your kids read it and get it! harmony. https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/professional-development/literature-review.pdf https://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/professional-development/literature-review.pdf hs dialog, 26(3), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 views of multilingual families’ communication with east coast migrant head start programs tricia c. clarke robert niewiadomski ana de jesus lovell quiroz xueyi luo yimeng li yidan shao diane rodriguez, ph.d. fordham university, graduate school of education partnerships between schools and families directly impact children’s school experiences and learning outcomes. multilingual families experience unique barriers as they seek to partner with schools to educate their children. this research study focused on exploring families’ perceptions of access to multilingual early childhood programs and communication processes between multiple stakeholders of an early childhood program in their rural multilingual community. researchers collected data from 42 families with and without children enrolled in a head start program in north carolina. results revealed that most families believe they have access to the head start program and hold a positive perception of the communication processes in the head start program. however, barriers related to enrollment and cultural and linguistic issues were evident. this study impacts multilingual families’ access to early childhood programs and their children’s future academic, career, and life success. keywords: multilingual education, early childhood education, migrant families, head start multilingual programs introduction research has confirmed the importance of school-home connections and its impact on children’s academic performance (epstein et al., 2018; justice et al., 2020; surrain, 2021). in addition, the literature has shown that multilingual communities' beliefs and attitudes toward languages, identities, institutions, and values in their social world shape their perceptions of multilingualism (song, 2019). family unity, cultural heritage, home language, intergenerational legacy, and children's education are crucial for these communities (dos santos, 2019; justice et al., 2020; research article 16 clarke et al. sawyer et al., 2017; smith, 2020; song, 2019; surrain, 2021). however, various factors impede the participation of multilingual communities in early childhood education programs such as competing stakeholder expectations, stereotyping of multilingual families, limited access to social and economic resources, and political power (kostoulas & motsiou, 2020; song, 2019; surrain, 2021). furthermore, the research revealed that families expressed concerns about barriers to their children’s multilingual development given schools’ perception of their multilingualism (kostoulas & motsiou, 2020; sawyer et al., 2017; surrain, 2021). moreover, previous studies uncovered teachers’ beliefs that reducing communication barriers between multilingual families and early childhood education program providers could alleviate structural disparities and raise children's academic achievement in these communities (choi et al., 2021; mcwayne et al., 2013; rosenbaum et al., 2006; smith, 2020). nevertheless, a gap exists in the research regarding multilingual migrant families’ perceptions of their partnership with early childhood education providers and the way modes of communication and miscommunication between agencies and families affect families' attitudes and participation in their children’s education. the impetus for this study arose from concerns about a head start program in a rural southeast area of the united states that serves primarily migrant multilingual communities. program leaders sought to learn how multilingual families with children already attending the program perceived communication with program teachers, leaders, and staff. furthermore, they wished to know if potential multilingual families' perception of the head start program would affect their decision to enroll their children. therefore, the purpose of this research study was to explore perceptions of partnership and how (mis)communication in school-home relationships affect engagement between multilingual communities and early childhood education programs. the following research questions guided our study: (1) how do families perceive their access to multilingual early childhood programs? (2) how do families perceive the partnership and communication process between multiple stakeholders of early childhood programs in their rural multilingual community? the study’s theoretical framework builds on the efforts of researchers (durán, 2011; fernyhough, 2008), who adapted sociocultural theory (vygotsky, 1978) to investigate educators’ communication practices and social engagement processes with minority families. furthermore, this study utilizes critical sociocultural theory that emphasizes the importance of identity, power, and agency in shaping discourse, communication, and social relationships (enciso, 2004; freire, 2000; lewis et al., 2007). literature review the literature confirmed that multilingual families are enthusiastic about multilingual education for their children (dos santos, 2019; justice et al., 2020; kostoulas & motsiou, 2020; sawyer et al., 2017). families perceived multilingualism as essential to maintaining and developing language identity and literacy in the home language and preparing their children for future professional opportunities (dos santos, 2019; justice et al., 2020; kostoulas & motsiou, 2020; sawyer et al., 2017; smith, 2020; song, 2019; surrain, 2021). in addition, the literature showed that families views of multilingual families communication 17 envisioned schools as playing a pivotal role in fostering multilingual education through effective school-home communication; however, the research also showed that some barriers affected communication (larios & zetlin, 2018; sawyer et al., 2017; schneider & arnot, 2018) along with targeted interventions that could alleviate these barriers (guo, 2010; wong-villacres et al., 2019). language identity formation and literacy in the home language multilingualism is crucial for developing and preserving literacy in children's home languages and shielding them from negative perceptions of their native languages. this is especially important for multilingual families as they strive to provide their children with a strong foundation in their home languages (garcía, 2003; justice et al., 2020; kostoulas & motsiou, 2020; sawyer et al., 2017; smith, 2020; surrain, 2021). kostoulas and motsiou (2020) conducted exploratory qualitative research on the discourses of plurilingual children’s families regarding their family’s language behavior and beliefs. two themes emerged from the study and related to linguistic ideology and language transmission and management (ltm): (a) plurilingualism should be encouraged and (b) non-major languages (nml) should be a part of family language practices. it was evident that families lauded the benefits of preserving nmls at home for improving their children’s multicultural awareness and communication skills (garcía, 2003). similarly, smith’s (2020) ethnographic case study of three multilingual families illustrated families’ views of the importance of multilingualism in their children’s education. the study found that families saw multilingual education as a vehicle for fostering and sustaining their children’s respective language identities. justice et al. (2020) also found this pattern in their quantitative research study where over 500 families and almost 30 classrooms focused on a school-based literacy-focused program designed to foster home literacy. results demonstrated that families valued the “club de lectura” program, a school-based program created to develop literacy with a home-language literacy development component because their children made gains in spanish language learning and literacy. surrain’s (2021) research further explained why families value language identity formation and concluded that supporting students' home language development decreased the negative perceptions of their peers about students' spanish identity. without ongoing development of their home languages, children’s language identity formation can be thwarted, and their family home language connections disrupted. studies revealed that immigrant families harbored concerns about their children's home language identity formation and maintenance when they realized that exposure to english in contexts outside their home and community could lead their children to shift to a monolingual ideology (sawyer et al., 2017; surrain, 2021). moreover, surrain (2021) concluded that immigrant families differed in their views on supporting their children’s multilingual development. specifically, some families established family language behaviors, such as a spanish-only-at-home policy, to promote their children’s active home language use. other families employed strategies, including school-based support, to prevent children’s home language loss (surrain, 2021) and to counteract “english-only” policies. kostoulas and motsiou (2020) found that families were concerned that plurilingualism delayed their children's linguistic development and regarded this as the cause of their children’s linguistic and developmental deficits. 18 clarke et al. therefore, research studies on language identity formation and advancement highlighted families’ deeply held values about developing and maintaining their children’s home language. these values impact families’ perception of the kind of access they have to multilingual early childhood programs. access to future professional opportunities research studies uncovered that multilingual families, not only value language identity formation and literacy in the home language as a result of multilingual education, but they also value the future professional opportunities and career prospects that multilingualism affords (dos santos, 2019; smith, 2020). according to dos santos (2019), families enrolled their children in bilingual english language (belp) programs because they understood that contemporary society places a high value on english as the language of communication and career advancement. smith’s (2020) ethnographic case study also demonstrated that families emphasized multilingualism in their children’s education for this same reason. smith (2020) found that families saw multilingual education as a pathway to their children’s future career opportunities and, as a result, their economic prosperity. in short, families believed that learning english while maintaining students’ home language was tantamount to providing their children with options beyond working as migrant farmworkers. school-home communication: barriers and interventions school-home communication fosters multilingual education, particularly for multilingual families (guo, 2010; sawyer et al., 2017; schneider & arnot, 2018; wong-villacres et al., 2019). according to sawyer et al. (2017), immigrant families placed importance on positive parent-teacher relationships and believed they played an active role in the collaboration between families and the school. however, the literature highlighted barriers that hindered communication (larios & zetlin, 2018; sawyer et al., 2017; schneider & arnot, 2018) and presented vital interventions that could address these barriers (guo, 2010; wong-villacres et al., 2019). barriers to communication. the research showed that hindrances to school-home communication resulted from families’ perceptions of their role and inability to access education jargon. sawyer et al. (2017) found that when teachers invited families to collaborate, families reported that “they were not sure what their role would be in collaborating” (p. 14). they believed this because of their perception of teachers’ “authority” (p. 14). also, a study by larios and zetlin (2018) found that latinx families' engagement during an individualized education program (iep) meeting was affected by their inability to comprehend the jargon and technical language used by school personnel. in addition, schneider and arnot’s (2018) case study, which investigated the views of immigrant families and schoolteachers concerning parental knowledge of the school system and children’s learning where an “english only” policy was in place, found that the literature focused mostly on students, their families, or teachers. however, there was a failure to compare perspectives on views of multilingual families communication 19 barriers to communication within the same educational context. thus, mismatches between different stakeholders’ views (students, families, and teachers) obstruct parental engagement and mutual understanding between teachers and families. overall, schneider and arnot’s (2018) study illustrated gaps and discrepancies in parental knowledge, engagement, and perceptions of challenges from teachers’ and families’ perspectives. therefore, school-home communication systems need to be developed to emphasize sustainable conversations between school and home and to build an environment that fosters an iterative process of parental engagement (schneider & arnot, 2018). bilingual personnel interventions. findings from guo (2010) and wong-villacres et al. (2019) respectively show that school-initiated interventions for multilingual families cultivate communication between home and school. guo’s (2010) research highlighted the employment of bilingual assistants as an intervention that could bridge the gap in communication between schools and multilingual families. the study (guo, 2010) revealed that bilingual assistants employed at parent night events not only helped families understand the information conveyed by the school but also enabled families to understand the school system, including its jargon and goals. therefore, guo’s (2010) research illustrated that events such as parent night, while beneficial to families, can have a more significant impact if the school makes a deliberate effort to meet families' needs for clear communication. for example, the employment of bilingual assistants acting as liaisons between multilingual families and the school helped to bridge the communication gap between schools and multilingual families. this support helps families to understand and take action in the school, which enhances their children’s educational experiences and outcomes. similarly, wong-villacres et al.’s (2019) qualitative ethnographic research study on the factors that both help and hinder parent participation in a school-hosted parent night event demonstrated that bilingual liaisons act as a bridge of communication between the school and its multilingual families. the researchers found that bilingual liaisons interpreted information communicated by the school in the families’ language and helped them to follow through on the information they received from the school. also, bilingual liaisons expanded families’ understanding of the more significant role that education played in their children’s lives and gave families a sense of agency. moreover, bilingual liaisons helped families follow through on the information they received from the school mainly because they were able to convey the information using their cultural knowledge of the families’ communities and cultures. overall, bilingual liaisons fostered a sense of belonging in the school and the broader community by motivating families to volunteer where they could, which created an extension of parent engagement beyond the school. wong-villacres et al.’s (2019) findings showed that the effective use of bilingual liaisons as a bridge between families and the school could create a positive perception of access to multilingual early childhood programs and increase communication between and among administrators, families, teachers, and the surrounding community. both guo (2010) and wong-villacres et al. (2019) found that the absence of interventions for multilingual families such as bilingual liaisons (guo, 2010) or bilingual assistants (wong-villacres et al., 2019) available to support families’ communication between the school and multilingual families could create confusion and frustration. 20 clarke et al. the literature presented a profile of the pivotal roles multilingualism and effective school-home communication play in multilingual education. the research highlighted how the value of multilingual families’ language identity formation in their children’s home language impacts their perceptions of access to multilingual early childhood programs. the benefits of multilingualism were also introduced in preparation for future professional opportunities. additionally, the literature identified the barriers to school-home communication and provided interventions for bilingual programs and personnel to overcome the barriers. therefore, this study explored how (mis)communication in school-home relationships influences family engagement between multilingual communities and early childhood education programs with implications for educational practitioners and program stakeholders. methods after irb approval, head start program leaders from the association of mexicans in north carolina (amexcan) recruited participants from multilingual latinx migrant families working on farms in the southeast united states. for data collection, a survey with questions was utilized and focused on two categories of families: (1) those with children in the head start program and (2) those without children in the program. following the survey, families were invited to focus group interviews, which were made available online in english and in spanish. the first group of survey questions were focused on families with children in the program. responses were captured on a 5-point likert-type scale on levels of agreement: strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, and strongly disagree. an option to add general comments and to respond to one open-ended question were included at the end of the survey, for a total of 23 questions (appendix a). the second group of survey questions, for families without children in the head start program (prospective families), were also based on a 5-point likert-type scale on levels of agreement, from strongly agree to strongly disagree, including an option for general comments and responses to two open-ended questions, for a total of 19 questions (appendix b). a key feature of the online survey was its emphasis on the intersection of communication, language, motivation, and engagement. forty-two participants completed the surveys. seven of these participants had their children already enrolled in the head start program, while 37 participants were prospective families of the head start program. the researchers conducted a focus group interview based on the survey results to gain additional information about participants’ responses to the survey. the focus group interview consisted of eight open-ended questions (appendix c). head start program leaders recruited focus group participants from the pool of survey respondents. five participants agreed to participate in the focus group interview. four of these participants had children already enrolled in the program, and one did not. focus group interviews were conducted in spanish. the interviews focused on the benefits of the head start program, communication, access to the program, and the potential support the program could provide to multilingual children. moreover, focus group interviews examined participants’ experiences with (mis)communication between views of multilingual families communication 21 school-home connections. following focus group interviews, the researchers transcribed and translated the interviews into english and used descriptive statistics to analyze the survey data, including thematic analysis for analyzing the focus group interview data (auerbach & silverstein, 2003; guest et al., 2012). results to examine multilingual families’ perception of access to the head start program and their perceptions of partnership and communication process(es) between multilingual families and the head start program, program leaders recruited families to participate in the online survey and focus group interviews. seven families with children enrolled in the head start program, and 37 prospective families responded to the survey (see table 1 and table 2 for descriptive item analysis). four families with children enrolled in the head start program, and one parent without children enrolled agreed to participate in the focus group interview. results from the online surveys and focus group interviews revealed multilingual families' views about the head start program’s impact on their children’s academic, social-emotional and language development, socialization, and communication skills, as well as the degree to which they believed the program fosters schoolhome communication, provides resources to families, affords program access. results also highlighted respondents’ views about future program enrollment. table 1 survey administered to families with children in the program item number strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree % % % % % 1. the head start program meets the academic needs of my child. 71 29 0 0 0 2. the head start program meets the social-emotional needs of my child. 86 14 0 0 0 3. the location of the head start program is important to me. 86 14 0 0 0 4. the head start program communicates regularly with me about my child's academic progress. 71 14 14 0 0 5. i can access the head start program easily. 71 14 14 0 0 6. the head start program meets the language needs of my child. 71 14 14 0 0 7. i feel welcome and accepted by the head start program. 71 29 0 0 0 22 clarke et al. 8. the head start program supports my child's special needs. 57 43 0 0 0 9. the head start program respects and accepts my cultural values. 71 29 0 0 0 10. the head start program keeps the facilities in good condition. 71 29 0 0 0 11. the head start program contributes to my child's academic development. 71 29 0 0 0 12. the head start contributes to my child's social and emotional development. 71 29 0 0 0 13. in addition to my child's academic needs, the head start program supports other needs of my family. 71 14 14 0 0 14. the head start program makes my child feel welcome. 57 29 14 0 0 15. the head start program helps me to understand my child's social and emotional development. 57 43 0 0 0 16. the head start program supports multilingual families. 71 29 0 0 0 17. the staff at the head start program offers translation services to multilingual families. 71 29 0 0 0 18. the head start program staff encourages families to volunteer at the center. 57 14 14 0 0 19. the head start program staff is multilingual. 71 29 0 0 0 20. the head start program keeps me up to date with current and upcoming events. 86 14 0 0 0 21. the head start program encourages interactions among families. 57 14 14 0 0 views of multilingual families communication 23 table 2 survey administered to families without children in the program item number strongly agree agree neither agree nor disagree disagree strongly disagree % % % % % 1. the head start program will meet the academic needs of my child. 53 40 7 0 0 2. the head start program will meet the social-emotional needs of my child. 43 53 3 0 0 3. the location of the head start program is important to me. 47 47 3 0 3 4. the head start program will communicate regularly with me about my child's academic progress. 47 47 7 0 0 5. i will be able to access the head start program easily. 37 47 17 0 0 6. the head start program will meet the language needs of my child. 43 37 17 3 0 7. my immigration status prevents me from enrolling my child in the head start program. 17 10 23 27 23 8. i might not be able to send my child to the head start program because of my work schedule. 57 43 0 0 0 9. the head start program facilities will be adequately maintained and kept in good condition. 33 57 10 0 0 10. the head start program will teach my child important skills to be successful in school. 53 40 7 0 0 11. i will send my child to the head start program because teachers and staff, who speak my native language, will be available. 43 37 20 0 0 12. the head start program will encourage parental engagement. 33 60 7 0 0 13. in addition to the academic needs of my child, the head start 33 43 20 3 0 24 clarke et al. program will support other needs of my family. 14. the head start program will make my child feel welcome and accepted. 43 47 10 0 0 15. the head start program will help me to understand my child's social and emotional development. 57 33 7 0 0 16. the head start program has used a variety of methods to recruit children in my community, including flyers, town hall meetings, etc. 20 57 17 7 0 academic development the survey results indicated that the head start program has a positive impact on multilingual students’ academic development. more than 93% of prospective families believe that the head start program would support their children's educational needs. furthermore, 96% of families agreed or strongly agreed that the head start program would teach their children essential life skills. focus group results reiterated this feeling as current families mentioned that the program had improved their children’s academic skills. one parent stated that classes were small, “there are eight children in my son’s class.” families also cited a typical day’s activities in their children’s classroom, such as learning to write their names, playing with classmates, reading, and vocabulary acquisition, as factors in their children’s academic development. social and emotional skills in addition to supporting their children’s academic achievement, results revealed families’ belief that the head start program supports their children’s social and emotional development. specifically, 93% of prospective families and 100% of families in the program strongly agreed or agreed that the program supports their children’s social and emotional development. additionally, during the focus group interviews, 75% of the families with children in the program expressed their satisfaction with the attention their children were receiving, especially in cases where children did not have siblings. participants also cited the different activities their children engaged in during the day, such as play, expressing their feelings, and sharing with others, as elements that helped to develop their children’s social and emotional skills. in addition, one of the families shared that a teacher contacted her and created an intervention plan to support her child who was exhibiting behavior problems. another parent shared that her child can now express and control his emotions. one parent stated, “it is important for the development of the children. it is very good.” views of multilingual families communication 25 language development according to survey responses, 83% of the families strongly agreed with the statement, “the head start program supports my child’s language needs.” another 17% were neutral in their response. further, more than 80% of the families agreed or strongly agreed that the head start program makes their children feel welcome and accepted. focus group results showed that 75% of the families with children in the program believe that the program supports their children’s language needs. families stated that bilingual teachers were employed by the head start program because some teachers are native spanish speakers, while others learned spanish as a second language. one parent stated, “they use both languages: english and spanish. there are two teachers in the classroom; one who speaks spanish.” in addition, the families stated that, although the director doesn’t speak spanish, she always finds ways to communicate with families through a translator. because of the program's efforts in fostering language development, 100% of the families either strongly agreed or agreed that the staff makes them feel welcome. table 3 focus group interview themes theme quote the program supports children’s social and emotional development. “i have seen how the program has helped my child’s social and emotional development.” “the program is helping my child learn how to express himself. this is very beautiful for me.” communication between the school and families is appropriate. “the school sends newsletters to families and makes phone calls.” “teachers speak with families during arrival and dismissal times if necessary.” the program advances students’ academic skills. “every two months we complete a questionnaire. they tell us how the child is developing based on their age.” “it is important for the development of children. it is very good. i have seen a difference in my child, especially since my child is an only child. the program has helped him with his socialization skills.” families feel that their children’s home language is valued. “they use both languages: english and spanish.” “there are two teachers in the classroom; one who speaks spanish.” the program is accessible to families. “the center is close to me; just a few minutes [away].” “for families who do not live close by, the county provides transportation.” 26 clarke et al. social and communication skills results revealed that families are also satisfied with the head start program’s efforts in developing their children’s social skills. social skills are the behaviors children acquire based on environmental cues that dictate how they engage with others (takahashi et al., 2015). when children develop positive social skills, they enjoy positive relationships with others throughout their lives (aksoy & baran, 2010). in the focus group, one parent mentioned that the program helped her child improve her social skills. this was particularly important to the parent because the child had no siblings to play with at home. the parent stated, “i have seen a difference in my child, especially since my child is an only child.” another parent seemed very satisfied with how the program has helped her child improve his communication skills. communication skills are those that facilitate children’s ability to interact with others by conveying what they want to communicate in the ways in which they decide to communicate (allen, 2017). she stated, “i don’t work, but i was interested in the program because my child was having speech difficulties. the program helped him and now he can express himself more clearly. the program is also helping him express his emotions. he is able to say, ‘mami te amo.’” overall, the results indicated that 75% of the families with children in the program strongly agree that the head start program supports their children's socialization and communication skills. school-home communication families believe that the head start staff seems interested in communicating with them. schoolhome communication is the ability of families to interact in two-way communication with school personnel about their children’s educational development (laho, 2019). the results show that 75% of the families with children in the program strongly agree that the head start program keeps them informed about their children’s academic progress and school events. in addition, 47% of prospective families strongly agreed that they have easy access to the head start program. the remainder of the participants agreed, while two maintained a neutral stance. the survey results also indicated that 77% of the prospective families agreed or strongly agreed that they could communicate with the head start program. of prospective families, 60% agreed that the head start program would encourage family communication. focus group participants seemed satisfied with the methods the head start program uses to communicate with their families about their children’s progress. specifically, 65% of the families with children in the program held a positive view of communication between school and home. for example, they mentioned that teachers conduct outreach a few times during the year by organizing conferences with families to discuss their children’s academic progress. during the interview, one parent stated, “the staff is always available to answer questions. they always answer the phone when we try to talk to them.” another parent mentioned that the program, periodically, distributes a newsletter with updates. views of multilingual families communication 27 program-provided resources while the head start program provides different resources to families, focus group participants felt that the program should provide resources to households beyond academic, social, and emotional support. they expressed that they would like additional support to be provided by the program, such as a mental health worker or psychologist. they would like family training programs that would teach english or computer literacy. head start program access when asked about geographic accessibility to the program, focus group participants shared that the program was easily accessible. of this group, 80% of the prospective families and 86% of the families with children in the program found the location of the program to be convenient. additionally, four out of the five families in focus group interviews agreed that the program was geographically accessible. they mentioned that the program is not far from where they live, and that the town provides transportation to families who do not live there. some remarked that, even if transportation were not provided, they would make every effort to send their children to the program. another parent stated that even if the program was far from her house, she would enroll her child in the program because of its positive impact. the parent said, “the distance will not be important because of all the benefits [of the program]. i will drive, even if it is one hour away.” another parent added, “the center is close to me, just a few minutes [away].” the county provides transportation for families who do not live close by.” when considering immigrant access to the program, 90% of the participants from both categories (with/without children in the program) agreed or strongly agreed that their immigration status did not hinder their children’s participation in the program. overall, 43% of the families strongly agreed that the head start program would support the needs of their families. the rest of the respondents agreed with that statement. future enrollment and recruitment prospective families responding to the survey selected “strongly agree” (43%) about their plan to enroll their children in the head start program. 75% strongly agree that they would send their children to the program. however, only four of the families in the focus group knew about the program. they stated that information was disseminated by word-of-mouth and by comite de padres (the parent committee). however, one parent shared that she had no knowledge of the head start program, but, if she did, she would have enrolled her child in the program. most families strongly agreed or agreed that the head start program recruited families. for example, 20% strongly agreed, and 57% agreed that the program uses various resources to promote enrollment. during the interview, all the families, except for one, knew about the program. two families mentioned that they knew about the program through the parent association in town. they agreed that the program could improve its recruitment efforts by sending flyers to all the households and making announcements to the entire town, similar to the emergency alerts used during a natural disaster. 28 clarke et al. discussion this study explored families' perceptions of multilingual early childhood programs and the partnership and communication process between multiple stakeholders. results revealed that families felt a sense of partnership with the program and positively perceived communication between families and the head start program. furthermore, families believed that the head start program supported their children’s academic, social and emotional development, as well as their children’s language identity. also, they viewed the school and home partnerships as a vehicle for communication. one key finding was families’ belief that the head start program supported their children’s academic, social, and emotional development. this finding aligns with empirical data indicating that high-quality preschool programs benefit children’s academic, social and emotional development (duncan & magnuson, 2013; pungello et al., 2010; reynolds et al., 2011; weiland & yoshikawa, 2013). in addition, stanley et al. (2016) found that students who were more physically active in the earliest years of their lives experienced positive impacts on their physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. notably, in head start programs, multilingual learners achieved higher skills in various developmental domains than students who were not multilingual and participated in other early childhood programs. another main finding of the study revealed families’ beliefs that the head start program benefits their children’s social and emotional development. this finding also parallels stanley et al.’s (2016) research on the benefits of early childhood programs on children's social and emotional development. children who were more physically active in the earliest years of their lives experienced positive impacts on their physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development. in addition, enrolling in a pre-kindergarten program can enhance the cognitive development of young children. for example, stork and sanders (2008) found that a child's success impacts their attitude, which affects their cognition and social skills. in short, early exposure to literacy and mathematics provides young students with foundational knowledge. in addition, results demonstrated that families believed that the program enhances their children’s language acquisition and their language/identity needs. this finding is consistent with puma et al.’s (2010) observation that head start programs have particularly benefited multilingual learners. according to research findings, multilingual learners are often considered at risk academically, especially as they develop english proficiency (choi et al., 2021; whiteside et al., 2016). this finding supports previous research about the high value multilingual families place on their children’s language development. research from justice et al. (2020), sawyer et al. (2017), and smith (2020) that multilingual families valued programs that allowed their children to learn their native language and english concurrently; they see bilingual education as a way to maintain their children’s cultural identity and prepare them for a brighter future. families also view multilingualism as essential to preserving family unity, home language, and academic success (kostoulas & motsiou, 2020; sawyer et al., 2017; surrain, 2021). another significant finding from the results was that families held positive perceptions about their partnership with the head start program and saw this school-home partnership as a vehicle for communication. previous studies have shown that miscommunication could be one barrier that views of multilingual families communication 29 negatively impacts multilingual early childhood programs in their communication with families (sawyer et al., 2017; schneider & arnot, 2018). however, the results of this study revealed a high level of agreement that there was positive school-home communication between multilingual families and the head start program. researchers have identified long-term benefits to young children when families are engaged in their children’s education (guo, 2010; schneider & arnot, 2018). some of these benefits include improvement in academic achievement, lower dropout rates, increased parental involvement, maintaining young children’s self-identities, and fostering cultural awareness in young children (epstein et al., 2018; fehrer & tognozzi, 2018; gichuru et al., 2015; kossek & burke, 2014; libetti, 2019). jasis and marriott (2010) also discussed the effectiveness of community-focused interventions that emphasized building relationships and rapport with families. overall, this study found that families positively perceive the head start program. families who are not yet enrolled in the program want to have their children enrolled, while families who are already enrolled will continue to partner with the program. families enrolled in the head start program felt that the program supported their children’s academic, social, and emotional development, language acquisition and development, and that there is a strong school-home partnership. however, one of this study's limitations is that families who participated in the study were of two categories: families with children in the head start program and prospective families who may enroll their children in the program. focusing on two different family groupings led to split results. if families with children enrolled in the program or families without children in the program were invited to participate in two separate groups, program managers and leaders could strategically target programmatic efforts. the results of this study also highlighted barriers to enrollment in the head start program. although some families perceive that the head start program makes an effort to recruit families, more families expect the program to provide additional resources for future recruitment instead of conveying information by word-of-mouth. therefore, it will be important that future research investigates the head start program’s recruitment efforts, including how it communicates with families of children not yet enrolled, to strengthen access to resources and services supplied by the program to multilingual families. conclusion and future implications a significant contribution of the study is its insight into how multilingual spanishspeaking families in rural areas in the southeast united states perceive head start programs. the study identifies the main themes relevant to migrant multilingual communities. future research could provide additional information about the program’s stakeholders, including the perceptions of administrators and teachers on the impact and effectiveness of head start programs that serve multilingual families. in addition, future studies should examine the difference in perception between the program’s view of its (mis)communication with families and how families view the degree to which they communicate with the program. another future study might explore the program’s recruitment practices and enrollment efforts towards multilingual families in the 30 clarke et al. community to better inform multilingual families about enrollment in early childhood education programs. additionally, future research could investigate the role of the program’s location and its connection to enrollment and multilingual family engagement. future research could also probe connections between enrollment and engagement in the head start program with students’ success in kindergarten and first grade. moreover, future studies could contribute to reducing disparities in academic achievement among children from multilingual families by increasing access to education at a young age. references aksoy, p., & baran, g. 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(2019). the work of bilingual parent-education liaisons. proceedings of the acm on human-computer interaction, 3(cscw), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1145/3359288 https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12615 https://doi.org/10.1145/3359288 the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 21 fostering stem in early childhood programs: practices of preschool parents with stem backgrounds the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 2 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i2.1878 contact: grace keengwe grace.keengwe@und.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). parent careers and stem practices abstract this study explored the experiences of families with backgrounds in stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and the strategies they use to support their young children’s stem learning. using a qualitative research design, interviews were conducted with four parents recruited from childcare centers in a small urban town in a midwestern u.s. state. the findings revealed that family role models, preschool curricula, and a child’s intrinsic motivation and passion play key roles in fostering early interest in stem. parents emphasized the value of accessible, hands-on activities that can be easily integrated into busy family routines. they also recommended using “plug-and-play” resources, connecting children with stem professionals, and making learning experiences fun, engaging, and interactive. importantly, parents advocated for hands-on activities that go beyond simple repetition to promote deeper understanding and sustained interest in stem. keywords stem teaching practices, preschool children, parent involvement parent involvement is a key predictor of children’s academic success, particularly when it involves parents’ field-specific social capital. stem-related social capital, including parents’ stem education, plays a significant role in students’ decisions to pursue and persist in stem fields (tilbrook & schifrer, 2021). children of parents with stem degrees are more likely to pursue stem majors than those whose parents lack such degrees. the early childhood stem working group emphasizes that parent and family involvement is critical for fostering stem learning in early childhood education. they recommend that programs provide resources and opportunities to engage families in stem education, highlighting the key role parents play in shaping early stem experiences at home and advocating for high-quality stem education in schools. however, many parents lack the knowledge or confidence to support early stem education, so the group calls for robust support systems to build self-efficacy in stem for both children and adults. grace keengwe university of north dakota mailto:grace.keengwe@und.edu the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 22 parental expectations are strong predictors of stem achievements (wang & yang, 2019), and higher socioeconomic parents tend to use more effective stem-supporting strategies. motivational practices, such as encouragement and positive reinforcement, significantly influence long-term stem achievement (ing, 2014; rashmi, 2016). programs that help parents understand the value of stem education for their child’s academic success are more likely to foster engagement in stem activities at home (pepper, faulkner, & barlow, 2017). parents who value stem are more likely to engage in informal stem learning activities, which are crucial in developing curiosity and problem-solving skills. these activities like nature walks, museum visits, or home experiments encourage children to explore and ask questions, building critical thinking skills. positive parent involvement in stem interventions also boosts student engagement, especially for girls (heddy & sinatra, 2017). despite the benefits, meaningful partnerships with families in supporting stem learning are often lacking (steiner et al., 2019). parent involvement has been identified as a major predictor of students’ stem learning and career decisions (rivera & li, 2020). studies have shown that parental engagement not only motivates students but also fosters intrinsic motivation, improving achievement and self-concept in stem subjects (jungert, levine, & koestner, 2020; simpkins, price, & garcia, 2015). parents who actively engage in stem activities at home play a crucial role in enhancing their children’s stem interest and academic success. stem in the early years introducing stem concepts early helps foster curiosity, problem-solving skills, and creativity. research shows that engaging young children in stem activities, like building structures or conducting experiments, develops critical thinking and a deeper understanding of cause and effect, laying the foundation for future learning (kuo, 2024). stem education also promotes creativity, as it combines systematic inquiry with creative expression. early exposure enables children to think creatively about solving challenges, leading to an innovative mindset (bevan, 2017). activities like building machines or solving problems with available materials enhance both imaginative and analytical thinking. additionally, stem often involves group work, promoting communication, teamwork, and social skills. collaborative learning environments help children express ideas, negotiate, and share resources, which are crucial for both academic and social development (darling-hammond, 2020). stem activities also support language development, as children discuss hypotheses and describe experiments, strengthening both verbal and non-verbal communication skills (english, 2021). introducing stem early can help bridge gender and diversity gaps in these fields. studies show that exposing all children to stem activities counteracts biases and encourages both boys and girls to explore these areas (hill, witherspoon, & bartz, 2016). 2010). early stem exposure also impacts long-term academic success, with children more likely to pursue stem subjects and careers (national science foundation, 2019). stem education often involves solving real-world problems, making learning more meaningful. activities like recycling projects or nature exploration show children the practical applications of stem concepts, increasing their motivation and investment in learning (couse & chen, 2010). additionally, stem learning is adaptable to various learning styles, ensuring it benefits all types of learners (kim, et al.,2015). technology plays a vital role in early stem education. interactive tools like educational apps and robotics enhance learning and equip children with digital literacy skills (scott & marsh, 2018). early exposure to technology familiarizes children with tools they’ll use throughout their education and careers. ultimately, early stem education is essential for developing critical skills, fostering creativity, and preparing children for future academic and career success. it also helps address gender and diversity gaps and provides a foundation for a range of essential skills. as the world becomes more technology-driven, integrating stem into early childhood education is crucial. stem careers children of parents in stem occupations tend to perform better academically and persist longer in stem fields, particularly for female and minority parent careers and stem practices the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 23 students (plasman, gottfried, williams, ippolito, owens, 2020). for example, girls with stem-employed parents scored higher on math tests than those with non-stem-employed parents ((bowden, bartkowski, xu, lewis, 2017). key factors influencing stem career choices include having a parent in a stem occupation, high stem social capital, being male, older age, and prior academic achievement, with these factors being especially important for females and students without family stem connections (holmes, gore, smith, lloyd, 2017). role models, particularly female ones, significantly impact women’s stem career choices. adams, barber, & odean, (2018) found that mothers in stem were linked to a 48% increase in daughters’ careers in finance, compared to a 29% increase for fathers in stem. similarly, girls with stem-employed parents, especially mothers, tended to perform better in math (bowden, et al., 2017). however, qualified women interested in stem careers are often overlooked, as there’s insufficient focus on students with stem-background parents (anaya et al., 2021). parents’ involvement in science-related activities and encouragement plays a crucial role in fostering stem interest. parents in stem fields often use practices like role modeling, exposure to stem, and providing extracurricular opportunities (chakraverty, 2013). positive role modeling, in particular, is a strong predictor of students pursuing stem careers (heidi & johnson, 2007). when parents actively support science learning, students are more confident and motivated (aschbacher & tsai, 2013). students with stem-oriented aspirations often have parents in stem, and these students tend to exhibit higher self-confidence and academic motivation (sheldrake, 2018). similarly, positive parental relationships with mathematics enhance children’s math achievement and persistence (ing, 2014). this study explores the stem practices of parents with stem careers, aiming to provide strategies for non-stem parents to support their children’s stem learning. by highlighting the cultural resources and social capital of stem parents, the study offers valuable insights for all parents. the findings could inform new approaches to support stem learning and provide examples for early childhood educators and teachers to share with students, fostering greater interest in stem fields. conceptual framework the decision to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) is shaped by a variety of factors at multiple levels, which can be effectively understood through bronfenbrenner’s (1977) ecological systems theory. this theory highlights how an individual’s development and career decisions are influenced by interconnected systems, ranging from the immediate family and school environment to broader societal factors. in the microsystem, factors such as parental involvement, peer influence, and the quality of school experiences play a significant role in determining stem career interests. for instance, parental support, especially from those with a background in stem, can encourage children to pursue similar paths, while peer groups and school environments either foster or discourage interest in these fields, especially in the context of gender and social stereotypes (wang, 2013; ennes, jones, chestnutt, childers, 2023). schools that offer resources like advanced courses and extracurricular activities provide opportunities for students to engage with stem, further shaping their career aspirations. at a broader level, the mesosystem emphasizes the interactions between various aspects of the microsystem. the synergy between family support, peer influences, and school resources can create a strong foundation for a student’s interest in stem. for example, when parents and teachers work together to encourage stem activities, or when students have access to community-based programs and mentorships, the likelihood of pursuing stem careers increases (beasley & fischer, 2012; hill, witherspoon, & bartz, 2016). in contrast, the exosystem refers to external factors, such as the work environments of parents or the availability of community-based resources, that indirectly influence career decisions. parents’ careers in stem can expose children to these fields early on, while community resources like internships and local stem organizations play an important role in offering opportunities, especially in under-resourced areas (stout, 2011). parent careers and stem practices the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 24 the macrosystem and chronosystem encompass larger societal and temporal influences. societal values, cultural norms, and educational policies significantly shape career pathways, particularly by reinforcing gender stereotypes or providing access to stem opportunities through national policies (cheryan, ziegler, montoya, & jiang, 2017; national science foundation, 2020). shifting cultural attitudes and public initiatives aimed at increasing diversity in stem fields have begun to challenge traditional barriers and encourage more inclusive participation. additionally, the chronosystem reflects the influence of time and life stages on career choices, highlighting how personal development and societal changes can alter interests in stem fields over time. as new technologies and emerging fields evolve, they offer fresh opportunities that may inspire students to pursue careers in previously unconsidered areas (wang & degol, 2017). by examining all these layers of influence, we can better understand the complex factors that guide individuals toward stem career paths. method this study examined stem practices of preschool parents with stem backgrounds. it was guided with the following research questions: • what stem practices do parents with stem backgrounds engage with their children? • what kinds of experiences and family interactions have supported and encouraged parents with stem backgrounds to pursue science related fields? we employed a qualitative approach, which is particularly useful for examining processes and phenomena where the perspectives of multiple participants are central to understanding the issue or practice (trainor & graue, 2014). this approach is also well-suited to research questions that seek to explore a process or phenomenon occurring in a particular context, especially when variables are difficult to control or measure. sample & data collection participants for this study were recruited from a university children’s learning center (uclc) located in a small urban town in the midwest. after receiving approval from the author’s institution’s institutional review board (irb), an email outlining the purpose of the study was sent to the program director, who then forwarded it to the parents in the program. the email invited parents who were interested in participating to contact the researcher directly via the provided email address. four parents expressed interest and reached out to participate. prior to the interview, participants completed an informed consent form, where they were asked to indicate their voluntary agreement to participate in the study. their responses were recorded as either “yes” or “no” on the consent form, and this consent was also documented in the audio recording. the study intentionally recruited participants from this program, as it serves parents primarily from the university community, including both faculty and students, which likely increased the probability of finding parents with stem backgrounds. in purposive sampling, the researcher relies on participants’ knowledge to select the most suitable candidates for the study (campbell, greenwood, prior (2020). for this research, a stem background was defined as having a career, training, or education in a stem field. both mothers and fathers were encouraged to participate to ensure a diversity of perspectives from different stem backgrounds. once willing participants were identified, emails were sent to schedule interviews, asking them for their availability. parents were also sent the interview questions in advance for review. the six interview questions used in the study were adapted from chakraverty’s (2013) research on parental occupation and science inspiration. the questions were as follows: (1) what childhood experiences or family interactions do you believe were supportive and encouraging in your science pursuits? (2) what types of activities did you engage in that fostered your interest in science? (3) who were the key people in your life who helped cultivate your science interests? (4) what activities do you do with your children that support their stem learning? (5) what challenges have you faced in fostering stem learning? (6) what suggestions do you have for encouraging early science interest in children? a demographic section was also included in the interview, where parents were asked to provide parent careers and stem practices the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 25 information about their stem background, their current career, the number and ages of their children, and other relevant details. each parent was interviewed via zoom for approximately 40 to 60 minutes. the interviews were audio-recorded for later review and analysis. parent demographics the participating parents had diverse backgrounds in stem fields. one parent, tess, held a bachelor of arts degree in biology and had worked in various stem research roles over the years. at the time of this study, she was employed at a biorefinery lab, a position she had held since 2016. tess had one daughter who attended the university’s children’s learning center twice a week and also went to a private home daycare two days a week to help reduce childcare costs. tess was married and worked full-time from 8 am to 4:30 pm, monday through friday. the second parent, sandra, held a bachelor of science degree in occupational safety and environmental health. in addition, she was enrolled in graduate school, having completed a year and a half of coursework toward a master of science in homeland security and emergency management. sandra worked for the energy and environmental research center at the university. she had a 2-yearold child and two older children in college. sandra also worked full-time, with a schedule of 8 am to 5 pm on weekdays, and was on-call some weekends. parents 3 and 4 were a married couple. miranda, the wife, held a master’s in business administration and a bachelor’s degree in business administration. at the time of the study, she was a stay-at-home mom, having left her job after the birth of their second child. the family had moved frequently, so miranda had not sought new employment opportunities. before becoming a fulltime mom, miranda worked as an accountant for 5 years and as a financial analyst for 2 years. she and her husband, dan, had two sons: 2-year-old joe and 4-year-old henry. henry attended preschool, while joe was at home, waiting to turn three before starting preschool. dan, the husband, was a military engineer with a bachelor of science in civil engineering, a master’s in business administration, a master’s in engineering management, and a graduate certificate in autonomous assistance. data analysis a thematic approach was used to analyze the data, which is the process of identifying patterns or themes within qualitative data. the goal of thematic analysis is to identify patterns in the data that are important or interesting and use these themes to address the research questions (braun & clarke, 2006). braun and clarke’s six-phase framework was used to analyze the interview data. in the initial step, reading and re-reading the parent interview transcripts was done to become thoroughly familiar with the entire dataset. notes were jotted down and early impressions. for instance, one recurring theme was that parents emphasized the importance of encouragement from early childhood. next, the data was organized in a meaningful and systematic way by applying codes to the script in step 2. open coding was used and developed and themes modified as working through the data was done. the purpose was to reduce the data into manageable segments that addressed the specific research questions. for example, we noticed that having someone passionate about stem in their earlier schooling (e.g., elementary or middle school) or having someone working in a stem field emerged as a recurring idea in many interviews. after further review of each transcript, preliminary codes were developed. each interview was coded separately, with every relevant segment marked. the codes were then reviewed and refined as necessary. in step 3, patterns or themes within the coded data that captured something significant or interesting about the research questions were looked for. braun & clarke (2006) suggest that a theme is a pattern that holds significance. sometimes, especially with smaller datasets, coding and theme searching can overlap. in this study, several codes were related to the influence of role models—adults who inspired the participants. these codes were grouped together into an initial theme called “inspirations.” by the end of this step, the codes were organized into broader themes that seemed to address specific aspects of the research questions. once the initial themes were identified (role models, encouragement, expectations, hands on learning, problem solving approach, stem preparent careers and stem practices the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 26 -school curriculum, passion, curiosity), more review and refinement was done in step 4 making sure that the data connected to each theme truly supported it. also, consideration was made if there was overlap between themes and whether certain themes needed to be split or combined for clarity. this continued in step 5, of further refining the themes to identify their relatedness to the research questions and combined them into five themes; role models, encouragement/expectations, hands on learning/problem solving approach, stem preschool curriculum, passion/curiosity. this similar process was done for the research question on stem practices with their young children, challenges in stem fields, and advice to ece programs. finally in step 6, a compilation was made that guided the writing of the findings. findings family influencers to stem we examined parents upbringing experiences that influenced their interest to stem. in the interview question we asked parents to describe inspiring childhood experiences and family interactions they perceived were supportive and encouraging in their science pursuits, the kinds of activities they engaged in that fostered their science interest, and the people that were instrumental in their science interest journey. several major themes were identified. first at the ontogenic level, passion and curiosity were identified as major themes. second at the microsystem level three major themes were identified, a) role models passionate teachers, b) parent encouragement and high expectations, c) teaching methodhands on/problem solving approach. finally, at the macrosystem level, the themes of preschool curriculum and stem resources in the community were identified. microsystem levels the microsystem is the immediate context in which individuals experience their day-to-day lives. in terms of stem career choices, several direct influences can shape a person’s decision. curiosity/passion. parents agreed that curiosity played a significant role in fostering interest in stem career fields. this curiosity was often sparked by role models in their lives—parents and mentors—who, through engaging in stem activities, nurtured their interest and motivated them to explore more. preschool programs that integrate stem activities and provide role models who are passionate about stem can be instrumental in drawing children into these fields. tess shared her experience, saying, my parents fostered my interest, and i was very self-driven in my own way. i wanted to do things, and i wanted to do them better. it was easy for me to dive into topics like biology and life sciences because i enjoyed them and wanted to learn more. dan also reflected on his natural curiosity: i’m a curious person, and that drove me in a biological direction. i’m naturally inclined to ask why behind a lot of things. i’ve always had a tendency towards research. it wasn’t just about my parents’ guidance; this part of life just fascinated me.” sandra’s experience echoed this sentiment: “i remember doing activities in school, like density-related experiments—sink or float—and i continued taking science courses throughout high school. i prioritized science, and my experiences at the library really impacted my interest in science. parents reported being curious and self-driven from a young age. tristan shared, “i’m naturally curious. that led me to biology. if i didn’t know something, i would find it—either by looking through books or asking others.” sandra also emphasized the importance of curiosity and curriculum in nurturing parent careers and stem practices “parents agreed that curiosity played a significant role in fostering interest in stem career fields. this curiosity was often sparked by role models in their lives—parents and mentors—who, through engaging in stem activities, nurtured their interest and motivated them to explore more.” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 27 stem interest in young children. programs that focus on stem from an early age help students explore topics they may not have encountered otherwise, providing them with opportunities to engage with stem communities and develop a love for learning. teachers and parents can help identify children’s interests and guide them to activities and people that will nurture those interests. these parents also recognized the role of adults in children’s lives at this stage of development. tess shared how her extracurricular activities shaped her path, some of my extracurricular activities, like working with animals, put me in touch with biology. i did 4-h and ffa projects, showed cattle, and had a horse. i learned a lot about animals and agriculture. i got involved in both practical and academic ways, and when it was time to go to college, i knew i wanted to study biology, maybe even veterinary science. but the idea of 8 years of school was overwhelming, so i chose to pursue a four-year biology degree instead. parents also mentioned the advantages of living in science-rich communities, where exposure to various stem resources helped them experience science early on. for example, miranda shared, my husband was in the army, and i was fortunate to fall into the research field. i lived in bethesda, maryland, near the national institutes of health, and that opened doors for me. it really spoke to my natural inclinations toward science. beyond their own curiosity, parents also noted the influence of passionate teachers. dan explained, school played a key part in it. i had teachers who encouraged me to participate in things like science olympiad. i started in elementary school and continued through high school. these competitions allowed me to present and share my findings. my teacher supported me, and my parents backed me financially. they drove me to events, but they never helped with my projects. they were clear: you’ve got to figure it out on your own. this combination of curiosity, supportive role models, hands-on learning, and a nurturing environment all contributed to the development of these parents’ interest in stem and shaped their paths toward scientific careers. role models. parents identified family role models as one of the key influences on their interest in science. they noted that these role models didn’t have to be immediate family members but could also be extended family or someone who had a meaningful relationship with the family during their childhood. moreover, these role models didn’t necessarily have to have a stem career; rather, it was the stem-related activities they engaged in at home that helped raise awareness of stem fields. three out of the four parents interviewed had a family member involved in a stem field. for example, tess shared her experience, growing up, i was really into animal care. one of my aunties was a veterinary technician. this matched perfectly with my passion for life sciences. from a young age, i combined my love for animals with her career in veterinary technology. for dan, miranda’s husband, his interest in stem developed through working with his dad on home repairs. his childhood environment emphasized a hands-on approach to learning and problem-solving. dan explained, neither of my parents had a stem background. my mom works as a security administrator, and my dad is in sales. but growing up, working with my dad on home renovation projects— fixing things instead of just buying new ones when they broke—helped me learn a lot. for example, when a lawn mower broke, we’d take it apart and fix it. a lot of it was just hands-on work, like fixing my own car instead of taking it to a shop. it’s more of a trade skill, but when you think about carpentry or woodworking, you’re constantly thinking about how to make things stronger. that’s what led me toward engineering. and with technology, i enjoyed taking apart computers and making them better. it was all about using my hands and making things work, especially when we didn’t have a lot of money. that’s how i got into it. sandra highlighted the significant impact of role models, especially in the context of her stepchildren. despite coming into their lives later in high school, she was able to encourage them to explore stem careers. she shared: parent careers and stem practices the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 28 one of my stepchildren is in social work, and the other is in aviation. i came into his life when he was in middle school, and i encouraged more science activities, and we had a lot of conversations about science. he eventually switched his major to stem—he had been pursuing music education but changed to aviation instead. expectations & encouragement. parents also agreed that having someone who encouraged them to pursue science was incredibly valuable. having someone who recognized the importance of science and motivated them to start early with handson projects, experiments, and thinking beyond what was expected in the classroom made a significant impact. dan’s wife, miranda, whose parents both had stem careers, emphasized the importance of developing stem resilience in children. she believes that pushing students to go beyond the minimum requirements, consistently engaging them in stem activities, and focusing on specific stem disciplines fuels their desire to learn. both dan and miranda highlighted that this kind of commitment requires someone who truly believes in fostering an interest in stem and is dedicated to nurturing it in students. miranda shared her experience, saying, i had a bit of a different approach because both my parents were in stem careers. my dad is an electrical engineer, and he’s always fixing things—his passion is taking cars apart. so, math was always emphasized in our house. it was something that was really pushed. my mom, on the other hand, was always into science, particularly biology, and she would encourage us to conduct experiments. if there was something assigned in school that explained a concept on paper, she’d make us find the materials and recreate it practically from start to finish. hands-on and problem-solving approach. parents unanimously agreed that their approach to teaching stem was hands-on, with a focus on letting children learn through doing while maintaining high expectations. they shared that their own parents or role models had challenged them to figure things out independently. for example, dan reflected on learning science through a “nurture vs. nature” lens. he recognized that his upbringing was more aligned with nurture, as he had to figure things out on his own, whereas his wife’s upbringing was more rooted in nature, where her parents took a more active role in guiding her through tasks. this highlights how both teachers and parents can apply scientifically supported strategies to foster a love for stem in children. the experiences of both dan and miranda demonstrate that fostering a passion for stem is possible regardless of one’s background. by challenging children to think creatively, engaging them actively in their learning, and encouraging them to go beyond the basics, we help develop the resilience needed to overcome obstacles and self-doubt in stem. these parents believe in the importance of fostering problem-solving skills and encouraging children to persist until they solve problems— approaches that can be nurtured both through independent exploration and hands-on involvement. dan summed up his thoughts on his wife’s stem upbringing, saying, my wife’s upbringing was more about nature, and mine was more about nurture. with my parents, it was always ‘figure it out on your own.’ if you wanted something, you had to figure out how to get it. but it sounds like her parents were more involved, like ‘we’re going to do this together. macrosystem level the macrosystem involves the broader societal context, including cultural values, societal norms, and public policies. these larger forces shape the framework in which career decisions are made. preschool curriculum. parents agreed that the type of preschool they attended played a significant role in sparking their interest in stem. they highlighted how curriculums that integrated stem activities, combined with passionate teachers, helped foster a love for science and exploration. additionally, being in a community rich with stem resources provided opportunities for deeper immersion in stem learning. sandra, for example, shared that the montessori preschool she attended offered many stem-focused activities that helped parent careers and stem practices the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 29 nurture her interest. she continued, “in early education, i went to a montessori preschool, and my childcare program took us on library tours twice a week. they had interactive science-related activities at the library, which really sparked my interest in science.” rich stem communities. sandra also said, i also grew up in a town with multiple museums, including a state heritage center that now has a science museum for kids. they had some amazing exhibits, like the dinosaur displays, which really pushed me to think more deeply about stem. sandra’s experience highlights the importance of hands-on, immersive learning environments from an early age, where exposure to science and curiosity-driven activities can set the foundation for lifelong interest in stem. stem practices at home we describe the stem practices that parents reported engaging in to support their children’s stem learning. parents identified three broad stem activities when we asked what they were doing to support their children’s stem learning after analyzing the interviews; (1) intentional parent involvement, (2) purposeful selection of stem resources and, (3) providing stem related experiences such as spelling and writing related to stem. intentional stem parent involvement all four parents strongly emphasized their intentional involvement in stem-related activities at home. they focused on incorporating science concepts into everyday activities and actively helping their children recognize these concepts in real-world contexts. as scientists themselves, they believed in stimulating the scientific process in their children by asking questions and encouraging curiosity. tess shared how she integrates stem into her daily life, i’m a huge advocate for getting my daughter into the stem field. i try to incorporate it naturally. for example, when we go on walks, i point out things in the natural world—like leaves or animal tracks—and we connect what we read in books with what we see in the real world. my husband, who’s a plumber but has a technical degree in industrial maintenance, is great at explaining things too. our daughter is at the stage where she asks a lot of ‘why’ questions. we give her lots of information without overwhelming her, and we focus on showing her the real science behind it, even if she doesn’t fully understand yet. when we’re working on something, we encourage her to help and see the science in action. tess also talked about how she integrates stem while cooking, when i’m baking or cooking, she likes to help. i involve her in measuring ingredients, and we talk about what the ingredients do. i ask her to describe things—like the color or texture—so we’re fostering her natural curiosity. she’s a very inquisitive child, and i try not to shut that down. i give her a lot of information before she gets tired of it, but i can see she’s naturally inclined to science. we encourage her to keep asking questions and wondering why. parents also reported using everyday home activities, like cooking and nature walks, to teach scientific concepts. in the kitchen, children can learn about measurements, food changes, colors, and math. nature walks were mentioned as great opportunities to explore questions about the world around them, such as what it takes for a plant to grow. some parents also used activities like hunting to discuss anatomy and biology. these parents tried to have intentional conversations with their children, guiding them through the science behind their experiences. parents also noted the value of purchasing resources to support their children’s stem development. they discussed actively exposing their children to science-related content, even if it was beyond their current age level. for example, miranda shared, parent careers and stem practices “all four parents strongly emphasized their intentional involvement in stemrelated activities at home” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 30 for my toddler, we do a lot of science through baking and cooking. i also found an online activity box with monthly stem projects. we get a subscription box that includes activities like building a volcano. . it’s great because i don’t have to plan anything—it just arrives in the mail, and we can dive right into the activity. the one we get is from green kids craft, designed for 5-6-year-olds. we also do a lot of outdoor activities. i turn everything back to logic. my husband is a hunter, and we talk about the process, then tie it to anatomy. i’m very intentional about connecting science to real-life experiences. we also have plants in the house, so we talk about why they need water and nutrients to stay alive. he’s only three, but he understands that plants need water and sunlight, just like we do. parents also used construction and building activities to teach the science of how things are built and how structures get stronger. many mentioned using legos and other building toys to encourage problem-solving and observation skills. dan and miranda shared how they incorporate these activities into their routine, we do a lot of building with tracks and legos. most of our boys’ toys involve building something to get to a specific result. our younger one, who’s about 2, has a mini tool bench where he can drill and hammer. my older son, who’s 4, is getting into legos now. he’s learning how to hold pieces, how to count, and how to make things sturdier, like figuring out how to keep things from bending in the middle. science is a bit harder for them right now because matt, the younger one, tends to destroy things, but we do basic science experiments. we use food coloring to show how things change, simple experiments like that. for math, we have a lot of number puzzles and games. we also have balancing scales so they can figure out how to balance wooden blocks. we’ve got a ton of stem-related books, too. this intentional approach to stem at home reflects a shared belief among these parents in fostering curiosity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills through everyday activities, helping their children develop a strong foundation in science and other stem fields. purposeful selection of stem resources. all parents agreed that they were intentional about purchasing materials to support their children’s stem learning at home. these materials included a variety of books, such as encyclopedias, number books, books focused on concepts like more/less, as well as science curriculums, stem subscription boxes, stem-focused tv programming, ipad activities, and educational games. they also made it a point to request that gifts for their children be stem-related. tess explained, i buy books with a stem focus. i also ask people to buy gifts aligned with this goal—things like magnetic tiles, experimental tables, and supplies for running different experiments. as we do these experiments, i try to explain the science behind what’s happening. i’m also intentional about the programming i let her watch. i like to pick shows with high-quality content. right now, her favorite is helene wonders why. each episode covers a subject and explains it from different perspectives— why things happen the way they do. teaching science is a strong interest of mine, and i really enjoy it. i still love this stuff, so it’s easy for me to choose things that align with that. parents also acknowledged that their children were young but emphasized the importance of exposing them to stem activities early on. they believed that doing so would help them understand their children’s personalities and interests, especially if those interests aligned with stem. by tapping into these interests early, parents felt they could nurture and develop their children’s potential. some parents, like tess, used high expectations to encourage growth and help determine their child’s capabilities. miranda shared, he doesn’t sit still for books, but i still buy lots of encyclopedia-style science books. for ipad time, we choose science-based activities for him to engage with. we have a youtube playlist with science videos that he can choose from. we’re very intentional about this approach. parent careers and stem practices the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 31 both dan and miranda expressed strong support for investing in science-related activities and resources. miranda added, for math, we have a number of puzzles and games. we also have balancing scales so they can experiment with things like comparing the weight of wooden and plastic blocks to see which is heavier and how to balance them. we have a ton of books on these topics too. in addition to their focus on stem, parents emphasized the importance of giving equal attention to all areas of child development, including language and social-emotional growth. they felt that while preschool often placed strong emphasis on language and social skills, stem education should receive similar focus. miranda explained, i’m an accountant and financial analyst, so i work in math. from my perspective, learning finance is just as important as learning to read. with our kids, we have books focused on numbers as much as we have books on letters. we also put a lot of emphasis on concepts like counting, more/less, and colors, alongside letters. this approach reflects a holistic view of learning, where all subjects, including stem, are seen as equally important and worthy of attention and investment. challenges of being in stem fields parents agreed that obstacles such as gender inequalities, religious beliefs, and lack of preparation can hinder students’ interest in stem and should be addressed early on. by equipping students with the right tools to navigate these challenges, both teachers and parent training programs can help ensure students succeed in stem fields. sandra shared her experience of overcoming gender-related challenges in the stem field. she emphasized the importance of self-belief and hard work for women, noting that this mindset had helped her succeed. she explained, in my career, i had to pass many professional exams and certifications to gain the same respect as my male counterparts. in some situations, a man’s word would be accepted without question, but i had to back up my reasoning to have it taken seriously. these are the kinds of challenges i’ve had to navigate. sandra encourages girls to focus on what they can control and to push against stereotypes that undermine women in stem. to combat negative stereotypes, i always remind people to appreciate women in stem for their hard work, not for how special they are. it’s important to recognize that it’s their dedication and persistence that got them where they are. talk about the journey—how many years of schooling it took them to become professionals, like doctors. acknowledge the effort and determination it takes to succeed. sandra also spoke about the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated field. at conferences, there might be 200-300 people, but only about 30 women. not many people in my profession are at my level, and i’ve had to adjust to the gender identity challenges that come with it. dan highlighted the importance of early preparation for stem fields, especially to avoid struggles later on. he shared that his parents, who did not come from a stem background, did not emphasize the level of hard work needed for success in these fields. as a result, he was unprepared for the rigorous math courses he encountered in college. my parents didn’t have a stem background. they took basic math courses, but nothing that would prepare me for the level of math i needed in college. i failed my first-year calculus course and had to great instructor in calculus 3, i eventually got a b and began to improve. dan encourages parents and teachers to emphasize the importance of hard work in stem. i wasn’t prepared as a first-generation student for how much time i needed to devote to studying. i thought school came easily to me, but i quickly realized that my usual study habits weren’t enough. you need to stay on top of your work, or you’ll fall behind. stem requires consistent effort and endurance. he stresses that students should feel comfortable seeking help from experts when needed. one parent spoke about the conflict between science and family religious beliefs, particularly regarding evolution, parent careers and stem practices the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 32 my family is very religious, so science projects were difficult for me. i remember learning about evolution, and it was a big concern for me because what i was reading seemed to contradict my family’s beliefs. i had a lot of questions and had to find a way to work through that conflict. this situation raises the question of how religious beliefs impact students’ stem development, particularly across different racial, educational, and socioeconomic groups. understanding the extent to which religious beliefs influence stem learning and how to navigate such challenges could be crucial in fostering an inclusive and supportive stem environment for all students. in conclusion, addressing obstacles like gender biases, lack of preparation, and potential conflicts between science and religious beliefs early on can empower students to succeed in stem. providing students with the tools to navigate these challenges, along with support from both teachers and parents, is essential in helping them thrive in stem fields. parent suggestions for enhancing stem in preschool parents were asked to share their suggestions for fostering early science interest in children. many emphasized the importance of providing accessible, hands-on activities that can easily be incorporated into busy family schedules. one key recommendation was for preschool programs to offer pre-made activity packs that parents can take home. these packs would remove the need for parents to plan or gather materials, making it easier for them to engage with their children in stem activities. parents expressed appreciation for similar resources available at public libraries, where families can borrow activity kits, take them home, and complete the activities without additional effort. parents pointed out that many families may not have the time, money, or resources to seek out stem activities on their own, so these “plug-andplay” resources would be especially valuable. they suggested that preschool programs consider implementing similar activity kits or creating lending libraries to complement what public libraries are already offering. additionally, parents recommended that these resources be designed for different age groups to ensure they’re developmentally appropriate. another suggestion was for preschool programs to connect children with professionals in stem fields. parents emphasized the value of exposing children to role models early on and allowing them to shadow individuals in science-related careers. by doing so, children can make connections between what they are learning and real-world applications, which may help spark their interest in pursuing stem fields later on. in terms of teaching strategies, parents encouraged preschool programs to make science fun, engaging, and hands-on. they stressed the importance of creating “aha moments” for children that fuel their curiosity and wonder. dan shared a few examples of how he fosters his children’s interest in science through everyday experiences, showing them something that mesmerizes them and asking, ‘do you think this is cool?’ then following up with, ‘if you thought that was cool, wait until you see this!’ breaking down why things are the way they are is key. for example, my boys love watching construction vehicles at work. when we had our highway repaved, i used that as a teachable moment. i explained how certain materials like asphalt wouldn’t stick unless certain processes were followed. there’s a lot of math and science involved in road design, and i broke it down in ways they could understand, like how long a road will last based on its construction. dan also emphasized the importance of creating hands-on activities that go beyond simple repetition. we don’t just reread books; we recreate projects that allow them to explore concepts on their own, with purpose. for example, when i took henry for a walk, i asked him to find five acorns. we counted using his fingers, and when he found two, i asked him to drop two fingers and figure out how many were left. it’s a simple, rudimentary way of teaching math while integrating nature into the learning process. these examples highlight the significance of teaching stem concepts through practical, everyday activities that both engage and educate children, making learning feel more relevant and excitparent careers and stem practices the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 33 -ing. in summary, parents suggested that preschool programs provide accessible, hands-on learning resources, connect children with stem role models, and encourage curiosity-driven teaching methods. by incorporating these approaches, preschool programs can create a strong foundation for fostering early interest in science and stem fields. discussions & implications parents with stem resources and expertise play a significant role in shaping their children’s learning, both at home and in schools. macro-level stem initiatives such as those at the federal, state, and foundation levels are vital in building stem capacity for both teachers and students. these initiatives are crucial for all students, especially those who lack access to adequate resources and quality instruction. without proper support, students are at risk of falling behind. initiatives should aim to train parents on how to engage their children in stem activities, while also preparing teachers to develop their stem skills. additionally, classrooms and curricula must be redesigned to better support stem learning. parents involved in the study highlighted the importance of the resources they had access to whether from their own upbringing or through what they now provide for their children. each child’s macrosystem should be enriched with meaningful stem resources. however, many homes lack the resources needed to provide high-quality stem learning opportunities. quality education often requires significant financial investment, and studies show that when schools have sufficient funding for resources and effective teachers, student learning improves (darling-hammond, 2004). parents in the study emphasized the importance of allowing students time to engage with the scientific process—time to wonder, explore, problem-solve independently, and even have downtime to generate ideas. this suggests that curricula may need to be revised to allow for more open-ended inquiry and exploration in stem subjects. parents also need the time and flexibility to work with their children on stem activities at home. to support this, schools need to implement more student-centered practices, both in the classroom and at home. macrosystems must develop new models to measure school success that take stem learning into account. parents also shared how various people, programs, and resources influenced their experiences with stem. it wasn’t just about money; it was about the broader environment, including the teachers they had, the extracurricular activities they engaged in, and the competitions they participated in. this highlights the role of the exosystem, children may not directly interact with higher education programs that train teachers, but they do engage with teachers trained by these programs. when these various groups come together, they create a more diverse and supportive environment for stem education. colleges and universities can develop programs that connect teachers and parents with the resources and expertise they need. efforts should be made to ensure that parents who most need these programs are able to participate. resources go beyond just financial support, parents should be encouraged to seek out stem resources available within their communities, such as local libraries, stem workshops, and educational events. parents also shared their knowledge of different stem tools they use with their children. parents need access to research and resources that can help them better support their children’s stem learning (basham, israel, & maynard, 2010). partnerships with local universities and stem programs can enhance parents’ understanding of how to engage their children with stem activities. these partnerships should help parents identify where to find helpful resources, such as borrowing tools from libraries or learning about new materials online. building networks for parents to share stem experiences and lessons learned can be invaluable. these networks could also expand to include business leaders, stem professionals, and industry personnel who could serve as role models or provide additional resources for students’ learning. additionally, providing teachers, administrators, and school partners with platforms to share instructional ideas and best practices through social networks could help support diverse student needs. the mesosystem, the interaction between various systems that influence the student is critical in this process. for children to thrive in stem, parent careers and stem practices the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 34 all these systems must align and work together. parents’ stem teaching at home influences how students engage with stem at school, while teachers’ passion and training shape students’ attitudes toward stem. efforts should focus on developing or adopting accessible stem curricula that support all students, both at school and at home. programs could create stem materials for parents to use with their children. curricula should be designed in ways that allow students to engage with the material and demonstrate understanding, and tools should be provided to help parents facilitate this process (glass, d., meyer, a., & rose, d. h., 2013). both parents and teachers need access to modern instructional tools and professional development opportunities to stay current with the latest educational developments (edyburn, 2010). time, commitments, self-efficacy, and resources are the key factors influencing parental engagement in their child’s stem learning (lee & nie, 2015). among these, self-efficacy is particularly important, as it reflects a parent’s belief in their ability to positively influence their child’s education (hoover-dempsey, walker, sandler, et al., 2005). parents without a stem background may struggle to identify or create at-home activities, often assuming they require costly equipment. fostering stem involvement hinges on building confidence to explore projects, even when things don’t go as planned. while online resources are available, parents often face difficulty in knowing where to look or how to effectively use the information they find. finally, the microsystem which is the direct interactions between the student and their environment, peers, teachers, and family plays a vital role in shaping a student’s understanding of stem. the kind of beliefs, messages that parents share with their children are crucial socializing factors (mara & toni, 2020) within these environments. even though behavioral mechanisms which parents convey their stem related beliefs are unclear, there is need for studying the quality of parent child interaction in stem, especially in looking at different backgrounds of families. teachers and parents must collaborate to provide a meaningful and engaging learning environment. parent expectations are the most significant factor influencing children’s stem achievements in mathematics (wang & yang, 2019). teacher collaboration on lesson plans and shared goals can further enhance student learning and foster an educational community that supports stem growth. limitations the small number of participants should be considered when interpreting the results of this study. additionally, the researcher both conducted the interviews and performed the study evaluation, which introduces the potential for bias, particularly in the theme analysis. to address this, the 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https://api.semanticscholar.org/corpusid:239695115 hs dialog, 27(1), 20-37 copyright ©2024, issn: 1930-9325 descriptive article the development of program identity in blended early childhood personnel preparation shawna g. harbin megan l. purcell purdue university blended personnel preparation programs grant teacher candidates more than one teaching license, qualifying them to provide educational services to young children and their families in a variety of early childhood education (ece), early childhood special education (ecse), and early intervention (ei) settings. however, there is not yet a cohesive understanding of the qualities and characteristics blended programs share. in this paper, we describe one blended program from a four-year, undergraduate educator preparation program at a large, research institution in the midwestern united states. we address multiple key components of our program, including a brief historical overview, its curriculum and content, and several unique program features. we also discuss how our program aligns to both the ei/ecse standards and the ece standards and competencies. we include specific examples from our program to illustrate our blended approach to personnel preparation. keywords: blended programs, personnel preparation, early intervention, early childhood education, early childhood special education the development of program identity in blended early childhood personnel preparation early childhood educator preparation programs have evolved over several decades with an increased interest in blended programs, which qualify teacher candidates to provide high-quality educational services to young children in early childhood education (ece), early childhood special education (ecse), and early intervention (ei) settings (mickelson et al., 2023). broadly defined, blended early childhood preparation programs grant emerging education professionals more than one teaching license and include content and philosophy from ece, ecse, and ei, delivered with an interdisciplinary lens (miller & stayton, 2006). this shift towards developing and implementing blended programs has been shaped by changes to state and national policy, ongoing research, and influence from professional organizations (e.g., the division for early childhood [dec] of the council for exceptional children [cec] and the national association for the harbin & purcell 21 education of young children [naeyc]), ultimately aiming to better prepare educators to support an increasingly diverse early childhood context (dec, 2020). advancing efforts towards inclusion in early care service delivery, an overall increase in the heterogeneity of children and families served, and policy-driven increases in interdisciplinary collaboration continue to contribute to the growing diversity in early childhood programs and the need for education professionals to have a broad range of skills to support all children and families in their care (dec & naeyc, 2009; miller & stayton, 1999; power to the profession task force, 2020). for instance, with the individuals with disabilities education improvement act (idea) reauthorization in 2004, the definition of natural environments in early intervention service delivery was expanded to require that children with disabilities are educated alongside typically developing peers. to date, there is no established empirical evidence suggesting that blended, or any other program model, specifically contribute to the implementation of inclusive practices in early childhood environments (pugach et al., 2014). however, blended programs are believed to provide emerging early childhood educators with the varied knowledge and skills needed to serve all young children and their families (mickelson et al., 2022), thereby potentially supporting the promotion of positive child and family outcomes (dec, 2014). working towards a shared understanding despite overall enthusiasm for blended programs, there is not yet a cohesive understanding of the qualities and characteristics they share. the structure and content of blended teacher preparation programs vary across institutions, bringing with them varied curricula and implementation. while the field’s professional organizations have made significant advances in establishing personnel preparation standards valuing blended ece/ecse/ei content (cec & dec, 2020; naeyc, 2020), efforts to advance research centering blended programs’ composition and impact have been limited. without empirical evidence and continued attention to blended programs in the literature, the development of shared terminology, definitions, and guidance for these programs has been sluggish (mickelson et al., 2023). considering the ongoing evolution of blended programs in the absence of explicit direction and their potential for developing educators to support inclusive early childhood settings, the field needs to learn more about blended programs currently offered. descriptions of existing blended programs, including information about their curriculum, alignment with professional standards, level of interdisciplinary implementation, and opportunities for growth, may help continue to develop the identity and effective components of blended programs. purpose in this paper, we describe one innovative model of blended educator preparation for inclusive early childhood environments. we detail how our program aligns with the most recent professional standards in the fields of ece and ei/ecse (cec & dec, 2020; naeyc, 2020), including how our coursework, fieldwork experiences, and embedded learning opportunities (e.g., reflection), leverage the current personnel preparation standards. we first consider factors that contributed to contemporary blended programs, briefly describing the initial steps in their shared history and the development of program identity 22 providing a description of the field's professional standards. we also present a sample of current blended program offerings in the field. developments in blended program identity a brief history blended programs originated in the 1990s, when a limited number of programs (e.g., handicapped children’s early education program [hceep]) (mickelson et al., 2023) first demonstrated the effectiveness of incorporating both ei and ecse content. blended programs described in the literature at this time include models in which two independent licensure programs were unified for the purpose of broadening content (e.g., the university of florida; see mickelson et al., 2023) and those in which programs were newly developed (e.g., western kentucky university; see mickelson et al., 2023). additional characteristics unique to these various programs (e.g., faculty collaboration) were identified as programs were established and continued to develop. subsequent changes to idea (2004), input from professional organizations, and emerging research catalyzed the shift in favor of blended licensure programs (mickelson et al., 2023). for instance, in addition to reauthorizations of idea, both dec and naeyc published guiding documents that supported inclusion and emphasized needed components in teacher preparation, such as the position statement on inclusion (dec, 1993) and the dec position statement on personnel standards (dec, 1995) respectively. recognition for blending increased as the council for the accreditation of educator preparation (caep), then known as the national council for accreditation of teacher education (ncate), began accepting documentation for blended programs in 1997 (mickelson et al., 2023). during this time, researchers presented evidence in support of blended programs and increasingly framed the fields of ece and ei/ecse as more similar than different (miller & stayton, 1999). in the following decades, enthusiasm for blended programs continued to expand in certain domains more than others. notably, blended programs became available at more institutions of higher education (ihe), maintaining availability where previously established. additionally, dec was tasked with the development of the initial and advanced specialty sets of knowledge and skills, used to inform the existing cec standards (cec, 2012) (stayton et al., 2023). in lieu of a distinct set of standards for ei/ecse, the dec specialty sets and cec standards were used as the curricular foundation for ihes with ei/ecse programs. while research and policy specifically advancing blended programs waned and funding opportunities diminished for select programs (e.g., undergraduate offerings) (mickelson et al., 2023), the field’s leading professional organizations began developing strong ties that would later lead to the development of personnel preparation standards (cec & dec, 2020; stayton et al., 2024) in support of blended licensure programs. harbin & purcell 23 table 1 the two sets of professional standards ece standards (naeyc, 2020) standard 1: child development and learning in context standard 2: family-teacher partnerships and community connections standard 3: child observation, documentation, and assessment standard 4: developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate teaching practices standard 5: knowledge, application, and the integration of academic content in the early childhood curriculum standard 6: professionalism as an early childhood educator ei/ecse standards (cec/dec, 2020) standard 1: child development and early learning standard 2: partnering with families standard 3: collaboration and teaming standard 4: assessment practices standard 5: application of curriculum frameworks in the planning of meaningful learning experience standard 6: using responsive and reciprocal interactions, interventions, and instruction standard 7: professional and ethical practice standard 8: field and clinical experience the professional standards and blended programs since early in the development of blended programs, leaders of national and international professional organizations in the field have collaborated on unifying ece and ecse and preparing a cohesive early childhood workforce (stayton & miller, 1993). initial efforts included the position joint statement on personnel standards from dec (1995), naeyc, and the association of teacher educators (ate). they continued with alignments between the dec (1995) standards and the naeyc (1996) guidelines for personnel preparation. in tandem with additional organizations in the development of program identity 24 the field (e.g., cec and ncate, now caep), these groups have continued to make significant strides towards creating a foundation for educator preparation that values blended models. within the last two decades, a dec workgroup aligned the naeyc standards with the cec professional standards and the dec ei/ecse specialty set to support curriculum for personnel preparation and training, bolstering blended program development (mickelson et al., 2022). continued alignments were implemented, including support from the early childhood personnel center (ecpc), as well as national advocacy efforts between dec and naeyc (power to the profession task force, 2020) strengthening their partnership and the links between ece and ei/ecse. to date, the culmination of these efforts has resulted in two groundbreaking documents in early childhood personnel preparation. in their 2020 update, naeyc revised what is now called the professional standards and competencies for early childhood educators, or what is commonly referred to as the ece standards (naeyc, 2020) to guide the preparation of ece professionals. in the same year, a collaboration among dec, cec, and ecpc led to the creation of the initial practice-based professional preparation standards for early interventionists/early childhood special educators, or more commonly referred to as the ei/ecse standards (cec & dec, 2020). these two sets (ece and ei/ecse) of personnel preparation standards set the foundation for the continued development and evolution of blended programs. the six ece standards and the eight ei/ecse standards share topics addressing child development, family and professional collaboration, assessment, curriculum, instruction, and professionalism (see table 1 for a list of each set of standard titles). following their development, ecpc conducted a cross walk of both sets of standards (ecpc, 2020a) to assist programs (ihe and professional development) with identifying how the standards intersect and with integrating them into their curriculum. in the same year, ecpc conducted a think tank (ecpc, 2020b) to gather input from leaders in ece and ei/ecse about how best to support blended personnel preparation programs. specifically, participants addressed national accreditation and recognition for blended programs, needed supports for integrating the ece and ei/ecse standards in blended programs, and the role of organizations in influencing states. by accessing available guidance for ece and ei/ecse, it is easier now than at any point in history for programs to integrate philosophy and content from both fields and potentially prepare educators to effectively support children and families in a variety of early childhood contexts. furthermore, by pairing these two sets of standards, guiding organizations (e.g., dec) can more effectively support blended personnel preparation programs with planning and accreditation (stayton et al., 2024). blended program characteristics as previously stated, there is not yet a shared definition for blended programs in early childhood personnel preparation, nor is there direct evidence for their effectiveness in preparing educators to support their use of inclusive practices with young children. also, blended programs remain in the minority of available ec preparation offerings. in 2015, chen and mickelson found that just 12% of ece programs and 11% of ecse could be considered to fit the description of a blended program. they reported that identifying blended programs within ec is complicated by the significant degree of variance within programs, including the age range of children to be served with the license/certification, (e.g., kindergarten through third grade), and state-specific degree, curriculum, and licensure and certification requirements. harbin & purcell 25 with that in mind, programs offering licensure in both ece and ei/ecse settings, though limited in number, do exist and are described in the literature. these programs feature shared and unique components in structure, topic areas, and faculty representation. for instance, mickelson et al. (2023) described several key characteristics of blended programs, including their social-cultural context, their origin (if they were newly established or developed by modifying existing programs), their level of administrative support, if they featured integrated fieldwork experiences, and if the content was coordinated and delivered by an interdisciplinary faculty. in their study, miller and stayton (2006) identified similar characteristics among blended programs, with an emphasis on an interdisciplinary faculty team coordinating and implementing the program. indeed, they found this team to be a “core element of blended teacher preparation” (p. 61), responsible for planning, developing, and implementing content and curriculum, program planning management and evaluation, student advising and support, managing standards compliance, and coordinating students’ community involvement. developments in one program’s blended identity as described previously, blended ec programs vary significantly between institutions. in this section, we briefly describe the history of one blended program, provide an overview of its curriculum and content, and share its unique features. we also outline how this program incorporates both the ece (naeyc, 2020) and ecse/ei (cec & dec, 2020) professional standards. we illustrate how the program demonstrates a blending of these two sets of standards and consequently prepares a generation of educators who can effectively serve children with and without disabilities and their families. we close with a brief discussion of challenges met when implementing a blended personnel preparation program. program description the program we will use for our example and discussion is a four-year, undergraduate educator preparation program at a large, research institution in the midwestern united states. the sociocultural context of this institution’s educator preparation program is influenced by national initiatives and state policy (mickelson et al., 2023). the program is accredited through caep and completes both national recognition and state program review. while the state does not have a unified teaching license for blended ece and ei/ecse, graduates from this program are eligible for the state’s teaching licenses of early childhood education (preschool through grade 3) and special education: mild intervention (preschool through grade 3). the state does not hold licensing requirements for educators serving in early intervention settings. information collected from graduates through program, college-level, and teacher education program surveys over the past 11 years (at the time of the development of this manuscript) report an over 90% employment rate within three months following graduation or attendance in graduate school. those attending graduate school after graduation have attended law school, occupational therapy master’s and doctoral, applied behavior analysis, curriculum and instruction, and special education programs. the development of program identity 26 for those entering teaching positions, the high majority of program graduates work in preschool through 3rd grade in a public or private school, in an accredited early learning program, or in the university child development laboratory school. a small percentage (less than 20%) of those in public and private school settings for employment post-graduation are in preschool special education or kindergarten – 3rd grade special education classrooms. those program graduates that are not in special education environments note the value of the blended approach they received as they find themselves more able to support all learners. several local elementary schools regularly reach out to the program coordinator for suggestions for hiring graduates, noting they recognize the value in the early childhood approach for the younger grades such as kindergarten. faculty associated with this program are both tenure track (n=3) and non-tenure track (n=3); one of the non-tenure track faculty also holds an administrative position in the institution’s child development laboratory school. tenure track faculty (and the non-tenure track with an administrative line) only teach one course per year for the program while the other two non-tenure track faculty are responsible for up to six courses per year, including field supervision. additionally, one of the non-tenure track faculty serves as program administrator and liaison to educator preparation administration at the institution. finally, faculty also represent various professional foci such as child development and learning in literacy, math, and science, as well as ei/ecse and elementary education. brief program history the deep relationship between educator preparation and the child development laboratory school on the campus where this program is housed began in 1926 with the beginning of the university “nursery school” as a practice location for those completing coursework in child care (purdue university, n.d.; schlesinger-devlin & purcell, 2019). over the decades, the human development and family studies department built itself around the laboratory school, first being focused on home economics and ultimately moving to a broad focus on child and youth development. then, through a series of discussions and activities in the early 2000s, multiple changes occurred at the institution. by 2010, the college of health and human sciences (hhs) was formed, housing the department of human development and family studies, now named human development and family science (hdfs). this was also a name change from child development and family studies, demonstrating the enhanced focus on the lifespan and not only child/youth development. additionally, in 2011, the hdfs department gained a new building that expanded the child development laboratory school as well as research opportunities across the lifespan. consequently, the faculty associated with the existing early childhood education program and separate early intervention program embraced the opportunity to update and reformulate the curriculum into one that prepared educators to work with young children with and without disabilities and developmental delays and their families. the new blended ece and ei/ecse curriculum launched in the fall semester of 2012. curriculum and content the faculty associated with the initial blended program carefully studied and aligned the 2012 curriculum to the existing professional preparation standards from naeyc (2011) and cec harbin & purcell 27 (2012) as well as the ei/ecse specialty set. this curriculum was designed to prepare educators in teaching content areas such as methods-based courses in math, science, social studies, literacy, and music/movement. methods-based content courses all contain student learning outcomes that carry themes of care and education for children from infancy through grade 3, intervention and individualized instruction for children with or at-risk for disabilities and developmental delays, education for children who are multi-language learners, and family collaboration. through additional courses, topics such as care and education for infants and toddlers, assessment and specialized instruction and intervention for children with or at-risk for disabilities and developmental delays, and using guidance with children are addressed. all courses are delivered in-person, with an emphasis on student participation in lecture-based application activities and field experiences. uniquely, in this curriculum restructure, field experiences were paired with courses/sets of courses so that teacher candidates learned content in their class and immediately applied their newly acquired knowledge in the field. finally, the capstone student teaching experience was updated to be an entire semester in an inclusive environment for young children. over the next 12 years, while the structure remained much the same, the content of courses and the overall alignment to the fields of ece and ei/ecse have been updated. most importantly, these updates reflect changes in the field (such as trauma-informed care; purcell & ruprecht, 2022) as well as what the field expects early career educators to know and be able to do through alignment with the ece standards (naeyc, 2020) and ei/ecse standards (cec & dec, 2020). table 2 provides the curriculum map along with field experiences effective fall semester of 2024. the development of program identity 28 table 2 curriculum overview semester course content field experiences (fe) 1  general education none  human development / education foundations not ece or ei/ecse specific 2  general education none  human development / education foundations not ece or ei/ecse specific 3  general education none  human development / education foundations not ece or ei/ecse specific 4  human development / education foundations none  the inclusive classroom 20 hours in elementary special education  language development not a specific number of hours but engagement with children is expected  guidance in early childhood  professionalism and music and movement in early childhood 45 hours of shared fe in campus child development laboratory school 5  developmental foundations of infant and toddler curriculum 45 hours of fe in campus child development laboratory school  developmental assessment  literacy development in preschool and primary grades  ei/ecse: issues and professional practices 45+ hours of shared fe in public school ecse programs 6  approaches to early childhood education none  positive behavior supports 16 hours in elementary or preschool special education or inclusive early childhood classroom  mathematics in preschool and primary grades  science in preschool and primary grades  social studies in preschool and primary grades 45 hours of shared fe in inclusive kindergarten – 3rd grade 7  general education none 8  supervised teaching in inclusive programs for young children 16 full-time weeks in inclusive classrooms for children ages 6 weeks through 3rd grade note. adapted from purcell and schmitt (2023). harbin & purcell 29 unique features features of this program that promote a blended approach to preparing educators to work with children with and without disabilities and their families include being housed in the content area of human development, faculty collaboration, paired courses and fieldwork, and the integral relationship with the institution’s child development laboratory school. each of these will be discussed, and examples will be provided for the unique aspect of a blended approach to ece and ei/ecse educator preparation. content area one unique feature of this preparation program is that it is housed in the department of hdfs, college of health and human sciences (hhs). hence, it is retained in the content area of human development rather than the college of education. the institution uses a partnership model for educator preparation so many of the educator preparation programs are spread throughout the institution. with this location of the program, there is a stronger connection to the content of child development and working with families. teacher candidates enroll in courses with experts in these areas and have opportunities to participate in research and community engagement to expand their knowledge and application of theories and practices. additionally, being housed in the college of hhs, we are able to more seamlessly collaborate with other departments such as speech, language, and hearing sciences where, beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year, teacher candidates will take courses from experts in the study of language development. while the partnership model of educator preparation provides our program a unique situation of being housed with our content of child / human development and family studies, this can also present some challenges. being one of two educator preparation programs in hhs means that many other faculty and administrators within this college are naive to the nuances of educator preparation, such as the level of mentoring needed for field experiences, data collection and events associated with accreditation, and the alignment to professional preparation standards. as well, the program coordinator role is extraordinarily valuable to ensure collaboration and communication is maintained between hhs and the college of education. thus, the coordinator has administrative and collaboration responsibilities, which reduces their time for effectively teaching and mentoring the candidates. faculty collaboration interdisciplinary faculty teaming, with shared responsibilities around program planning, implementation, and evaluation, as well as student support and standards compliance, is considered an essential component of blended programs (miller & stayton, 2006). historically, our program has engaged in monthly program area meetings. during these meetings, topics such as successes, as well as concerns of the program, including individual course experiences, field work, teacher candidate needs, are discussed. additionally, our logic model (figure 1) along with program evaluation and continuous improvement assessment (e.g., key and common assessments [see table 3]) data are shared and analyzed. through this collaboration, faculty note areas for individual the development of program identity 30 course adjustments or overall program modifications along with continued alignment with the ece and ei/ecse standards and expectations of the field. figure 1 logic model for program evaluation inputs activities outputs short-term outcome intermediate outcome long-term outcome program curriculum ece standards ei/ecse standards content / methodsbased coursework early field experiences semesterlong student teaching continuous reflection on others’ and own professional practices key assessments common assessments improved reflection during clinical and field experiences improved mentoring focused on the skills and behaviors as noted in the standards data directly related to candidate skills and behaviors based on the standards improved candidate professional practices improved candidate reflection identification of gaps in curriculum highly effective eces and ei/ecses continuous program improvement in blended eceei/ecse preparation note. adapted from purcell and schmitt (2023). harbin & purcell 31 table 3 assessments for continuous improvement and program evaluation semester course key assessment common assessment 1 n/a n/a n/a 2 n/a n/a n/a 3 n/a n/a n/a 4 professionalism and music and movement in early childhood n/a foundations portfolio 5 developmental foundations of infant and toddler curriculum collaboration / intervention plan with families n/a ei/ecse: issues and professional practices child intervention project n/a 6 science in preschool and primary grades common lesson plan common lesson plan social studies in preschool and primary grades collaborative integrated unit plan n/a 7 no specific course licensure exams licensure exams 8 supervised teaching in inclusive programs for young children licensure exams standards based reflection cpast* edtpa+ licensure exams cpast* edtpa+ note. *cpast is the institution’s student teaching evaluation instrument for teacher candidates in birth-3rd grade settings; +edtpa is the institution’s chosen performance evaluation during student teaching across settings. the development of program identity 32 as previously noted, program faculty have both tenure track and non-tenure track lines as well as administrative responsibilities. as well, the program faculty have a range of backgrounds and research and engagement foci. due to the team of faculty approaching educator preparation from a more interdisciplinary approach, current research and broad needs of the field are embedded into the curriculum through content/methods-based coursework, field experiences, and in additional opportunities for teacher candidates (i.e., research and community engagement). finally, the program is designed in a cohort model with teacher candidates traveling through the curriculum together. with this model, the non-tenure track faculty experience multiple opportunities for instruction as well as field supervision and mentoring with each teacher candidate. this provides a natural system of support for each teacher candidate as they have peers and professors with whom they develop strong relationships for academic, professional, and personal supports. pairing courses and field work a unique aspect of the reformation that occurred with the 2012 curriculum that has been maintained is the pairing of courses/sets of courses with field work. with this, the teacher candidates learn about theory and practice in their methods-based courses and immediately apply in the paired field experience (see table 2). as well, they have multiple and varied experiences with different age ranges, abilities, and teaching practices as they are partnered with various early learning programs, public or private school settings, and practicing educators. teacher candidates report (purcell & schmitt, 2023): • experiences with various age groups and developmental abilities lead to a broader understanding of teaching and learning with all young children; • they more fully understand the expanse of their credentials / licensure and recognize the variety of possible career opportunities; • experiences with multiple cooperating educators and professional practices lead to more profound learning of their own craft; • direct connections to content through class assignments and reflection increases confidence in abilities; and, • observing and reflecting on the application of content – cooperating educator and own practices – improves professionalism. child development laboratory school finding high quality field placements is an identified need in our state (knight et al., 2023). however, our program has the benefit of a strong relationship with the institution's child development laboratory school. as noted previously, the hdfs department evolved around this child development laboratory school. consequently, since our program is housed in hdfs, the laboratory school is an integral part of the preparation experience of our teacher candidates. the laboratory school director is faculty in the program serving as a course instructor as well as overseeing field experiences that occur in the laboratory school. teacher candidates engage in two harbin & purcell 33 field experiences at the laboratory school and have the option to complete their capstone student teaching there as well (table 2). the philosophy of the laboratory school is one of inclusion: ...a variety of activities designed to engage and challenge the diverse developmental levels and interests reflected in each group of children. we strive to maintain an atmosphere of acceptance, allowing children to develop a strong sense of self-worth (purdue university, n.d.). in their field experiences, candidates experience innovative practices as well as intensive mentoring from the laboratory school professional staff whose job description includes professional preparation in addition to their classroom responsibilities. connection to standards as noted, our program is aligned to both the ei/ecse standards (cec & dec, 2020) and the ece standards and competencies (naeyc, 2020). as well, since the institution’s educator preparation program is accredited through caep and goes through routine state reviews, there is a dedicated focus on continuous improvement measures and data analysis to demonstrate teacher candidate competencies related to the ei/ecse and ece standards. standard alignment and data collection methods (e.g., key and common assessments) are integrated throughout the program. the program faculty use a logic model (figure 1) ensuring standard alignment and teacher candidate outcomes in relation to the standards are routinely measured. as well, a curriculum map is maintained noting the linkages of coursework and field experiences to standards. along with the curriculum map, major area course syllabi display the ei/ecse standards and indicators and the ece standards and competencies that are addressed in the course content, experiences, and assessments. since courses are paired with field experiences, standard alignment with field work is also reflected in course syllabi. to enhance the alignment with standards, to assess teacher candidate competencies in relation to the standards, and to be in compliance with caep and state expectations, the program incorporates a series of both key (direct demonstration of teacher candidate competencies aligned with ece and ei/ecese standards) and common (across the institution’s educator preparation program) assessments (table 3). one particularly innovative approach for linking teacher candidate outcomes with the ece and ei/ecse standards is through reflective practice and an assignment that is incorporated throughout the program (mcleod et al., 2024). through this assignment, we facilitate reflection for teacher candidates connecting growth in their content knowledge and professional practices and behaviors as indicated by the professional preparation standards (purcell & schmitt, 2023). the reflection prompts (table 4) were created based on the ece and ei/ecse standards. purcell and schmitt (2023) discuss that teacher candidates reflect on these same prompts throughout the program so they and the faculty may note growth and change in teacher candidate professional perspective and practice across the semesters that this assignment is completed. the development of program identity 34 table 4 standards-based reflection assignment writing prompts learners and learning (aligns to ece standards 1, 4 and ei/ecse standard 1) 1. learner development and individual learning differences: how did you provide meaningful and challenging learning experiences for all children based on theories and philosophies of early learning and development? 2. learning environments: how did you provide a safe, inclusive, culturally responsive learning environment so that all children were active and engaged learners? how were emotional well-being, positive social interactions, and self-determination developed and supported? content knowledge and professional foundations (aligns to ece standard 5 and ei/ecse standards 5, 6) 1. curricular content knowledge: how did you integrate knowledge of the content being taught as you planned for universally designed learning experiences that address the strengths and areas for growth for all children? instructional pedagogy (aligns to ece standards 3, 4 and ei/ecse standards 4, 6) 1. assessment: how did you use multiple methods of assessment and data-sources in making decisions about instruction and intervention? 2. instructional planning and strategies: how did you select, adapt, and use a repertoire of evidence-based instructional and developmentally appropriate strategies to advance learning of all children? professionalism and collaboration (aligns to ece standards 2, 6 and ei/ecse standards 2, 3, 7) 1. professional learning and ethical practice: how did you use knowledge of the field and professional ethical principles to inform your practice in instruction, intervention, and collaboration with families and other professionals? 2. collaboration: how did you collaborate with families, other educators, related service providers, and personnel from community agencies in culturally responsive ways to address the needs of children across a range of learning experiences? note. adapted from purcell and schmitt (2023). harbin & purcell 35 challenges and limitations much of this program operates very smoothly due to supportive administration at the department level. department administration funds resource needs and often advocates for faculty positions to continue to build the capacity for ensuring the early childhood courses are taught by full-time, both tenure and non-tenure track, faculty. however, there is a sense of constant scrutiny about the number of enrolled students from the college and university. enrollment numbers dropped considerably during the covid-19 global pandemic from 22 graduating in the 2020-2021 academic year down to 8 graduating in the 2022-2023 academic year. as of the creation of this manuscript, enrollment has increased but not back to pre-pandemic numbers. currently, cohorts are maintaining around 15 students each. this is a constant challenge with college and university administration who have a lack of understanding of the environmental impact of the pandemic on the early childhood and educations fields writ large. additional internal issues identified are associated with university offices, such as admissions, referring potential early childhood students to the college of education (coe) rather than to hdfs. additionally, recruiting efforts can get confusing. often, recruiters in hhs incorrectly assume the recruiters in coe have events managed. hence, the early childhood program may not be represented at vital recruiting events. the program coordinator, with the assistance of the hdfs undergraduate curriculum committee, is in regular contact with recruitment staff to ensure accurate advertising and representation of the program. finally, challenges identified at the state level that impact this blended program center around two main issues: (1) early childhood educator compensation and (2) lack of a philosophy of inclusion in early childhood (purcell et al., 2024). unless an early childhood classroom in a public school is a designated early childhood special education program and supported with idea funding, a lead educator in an early childhood classroom, both public/private schools and community-based programs, is likely not being compensated (salary and benefits) equivalent to degreed and licensed educators. this lack of compensation causes many of the program’s graduates to not accept early childhood positions. second, there is a state-wide lack of a philosophy of inclusion in early childhood education. hence, early childhood programs are often not appealing to these graduates who have been explicitly prepared to serve an inclusive setting. even with the challenges and struggles, this program continues to lead the state in the number of dually licensed early childhood educators as noted by the state department of education. as well, as noted above, program graduates are sought after as employees and are successful in their chosen employment and/or post baccalaureate work. conclusion blended early childhood preparation programs hold promise for preparing teacher candidates to effectively serve a diverse population of young children and their families in a variety of settings. by integrating curriculum from the broad field of ece with specialized information from ei/ecse, blended programs support the unification of both content areas, reflecting the knowledge presented in the ece (naeyc, 2020) and ei/ecse (cec & dec, 2020) personnel preparation standards. despite the lack of a common definition or shared terminology, blended programs continue to evolve with the support of professional organizations and research. we present the development of program identity 36 information about one ihe personnel preparation program to support our collective understanding of how contemporary blended programs function in their unique sociocultural context. we hope that by sharing this program’s history, content, unique features, and alignment with the professional standards, we can contribute to the literature addressing blended programs while catalyzing the ongoing development of high-quality early childhood personnel preparation. references chen, c. i., & mickelson, a. m. 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(1993). combining general and special early childhood special education standards in personnel preparation programs: experiences from two states. topics in early childhood special education, 13(3), 372–387. https://doi.org/10.1177/088840640602900107 http://powertotheprofession.org/unifying-framework/ https://hhs.purdue.edu/miller-child-lab-school/history/ https://hhs.purdue.edu/miller-child-lab-school/history/ https://doi.org/10/1177/027112114231165192 https://doi.org/10.33043/4xar7q4x dialog, 23(2), copyright © 2020, issn: 1930-9325 examination of children referred and identified with socioemotional and behavioral needs in head start rebecca j. bulotsky-shearer, christine f. delgado, jhonelle bailey, jenna n. futterer & rinatte l. gruen university of miami this study utilized a population-based approach to examine the prevalence of children identified with disabilities in a large, urban head start program serving diverse preschool children living in poverty (n = 7,301). in addition, the study examined demographic differences in patterns of screening and identification for disability with respect to socioemotional and behavioral needs. two administrative data systems were integrated for analysis: program enrollment and demographic records; and a mental health screening assessment database including all children enrolled within the head start program. findings suggested that sex (male) and ethnicity (hispanic) were associated with higher rates of identification for disability, including emotional/behavioral disability. in addition, of those children identified with an emotional/behavioral disability, the program-wide socialemotional screening tool showed greater rates of externalizing behavior problems compared to internalizing behavior problems. implications for policy, future research, and practice within early childhood programs such as head start are discussed. keywords: early identification; socioemotional; screening tools; head start introduction young children living in poverty disproportionately experience multiple stressors, such as food scarcity and community violence in their formative years (casey foundation, 2017; garbarino, 1995; kelch-oliver, 2011). relative to their more economically advantaged peers, children living in poverty—are disproportionately from ethnic and racial minority backgrounds— andare at increased risk for displaying socioemotional and behavioral problems prior to entering kindergarten (qi & kaiser, 2003; u.s. department of education, office of special education programs [osep], 2020). however, young children from low-income households often are underrepresented in large-scale studies of children identified and referred for early intervention or special education services (morgan et al., 2012; 2017). early childhood programs serving lowresearch article socioemotional special needs in head start 73 income children are strategic opportunities to screen and identify children in need of special education services (farnsworth, 2018; feil et al., 2005). comprehensive early screening procedures, when implemented in early childhood programs such as head start, can inform timely and appropriate identification for those children most in need of intervention (farnsworth, 2018). early interventions hold promise to support foundational learning and future school success (boyd, et al., 2010; pizur-barekow et al., 2010; shonkoff, 2011). early intervention efforts guided by federal law delineate procedures for screening and identifying young children at-risk for delays and disabilities. the individuals with disabilities education act (idea, 2004) mandates early identification of developmental delays in an effort to provide effective intervention. idea mandates that children from birth to five years must receive appropriate assessment and early intervention services. in accord with part b of idea, children ages three to five years who are screened and identified with a disability in any of the fourteen idea categories are entitled to receive an individualized education plan (iep) with appropriate intervention services in the least restrictive environment. the federal head start program, one of our nation’s most comprehensive intervention programs addressing the developmental needs of low-income children, is a critical mechanism for early identification of disabilities (fantuzzo et al., 2003). the head start program’s federal performance standards require that programs “complete or obtain a current developmental screening to identify concerns regarding a child’s developmental, behavioral, motor, language, social, cognitive, and emotional skills” and conduct on-going assessments throughout a child’s enrollment “with sufficient frequency to allow for individualization within the program year” (u.s. dhhs, 2016, 1302-33). in addition, the performance standards provide guidance for prevention and classroom-based intervention for children displaying socioemotional and behavioral needs, to prevent suspension and expulsion (u.s. dhhs, 2016). despite the federal program mandates, research studies identify gaps in meeting these requirements in practice (barton et al., 2012; redden et al., 2003). according to the head start performance standards, programs are required to reserve 10% of their enrollment for children with disabilities (u.s. dhhs, 2016). in an analysis of data from the national head start family and child experiences survey (faces), approximately 8% of preschool children enrolled in head start programs had a documented disability and an iep according to parent report and program records (barton et al., 2012). however, in a closer analysis of the language and cognitive assessment scores in the faces dataset, barton and colleagues found that an additional 14% of children met criteria for a developmental delay but had been overlooked and not identified (barton et al., 2012). identification of socioemotional and behavioral needs in head start in addition to developmental needs (such as cognitive or language delays as described above), between 20-30% of children living in low-income households may display significant and ongoing socioemotional and behavioral needs (barbarin, 2007; feil et al., 2005; graziano et al., 2015; qi & kaiser, 2003). however, socioemotional and behavioral needs may not be identified or addressed in early childhood programs or until children transition to elementary school (conroy 74 shearer et al. & brown, 2004; duchnowski et al., 1998; duncan et al., 1995; forness et al., 2000). without early intervention, socioemotional and behavioral needs can persist as children transition into formal schooling (bub et al., 2007; campbell et al., 2000; zahn-waxler et al., 2000) placing children at increased risk of longer term social or academic difficulties, compared to their well-adjusted peers (florian & mclaughlin, 2008). preschool socioemotional and behavioral difficulties place children at increased risk for poor school adjustment and are associated with special education placement, grade retention, poor attendance, peer rejection, and high school dropout. approximately 50% of students with emotional and behavioral disorders drop out of school and only 42% of those who remain graduate with a diploma (landrum et al., 2004; loeber, 1990; offord et al., 1998). in addition, a longitudinal follow-up study of children enrolled in head start found that if children were identified with socioemotional or behavioral problems during preschool, they showed higher rates of eventual identification for special needs services in elementary school, with 17% of children identified eligible for special education services by the end of third grade (redden et al., 2003). programmatic barriers to identification despite head start’s role in the early identification of and intervention for children’s socioemotional and behavioral needs, there have been challenges to programmatic efforts. researchers and practitioners document barriers and resulting delays in access to timely intervention. agency-level data indicating the prevalence of children exhibiting socioemotional and behavioral needs is often discrepant from national and local estimates (lópez et al., 2000). using large-scale screening tools, between 12-30% of low-income children may be identified as at risk for a socioemotional or behavioral concern (lópez et al., 2000). however, head start program information reports typically indicate that less than 1% of children are classified with an emotional or behavioral disorder (lópez et al., 2000) and children are much more likely to be classified with a developmental, or speech or language delay, than a behavioral concern (fantuzzo et al., 1999). interviews with teachers and staff suggest that barriers to equitable identification are due to children’s lack of access to community-based services, professional help, or other interventions to address children’s socioemotional and behavioral needs (lutz et al., 1999; padgett et al., 1994). in addition, teachers and parents are reluctant to identify or label young children with a behavioral disorder given the stigma associated with mental health (yoshikawa & zigler, 2000); however, children with socioemotional and behavioral difficulties, especially those displaying behaviors that disrupt classroom routines, are a top concern of head start teachers (hemmeter et al., 2006; reinke et al., 2014; yoder & williford, 2019). even when children’s socioemotional and behavioral needs are identified within head start programs, children displaying externalizing behavior such as disruptive or aggressive behaviors in the classroom are more likely to be identified and referred for services than children displaying shy or withdrawn behaviors (bulotsky-shearer et al., 2014; fantuzzo et al., 2003). examining programmatic patterns of early identification of children especially those displaying shy or socially withdrawn behavior is needed, as there are shortand long-term negative associations between socioemotional special needs in head start 75 socially withdrawn behavior and the development of positive peer relationships in preschool (coplan et al., 2001; fantuzzo et al., 2003; hughes & coplan, 2010; rydell et al., 2005) and academic skills such as reading and mathematics achievement in preschool and elementary school (bub et al., 2007; bulotsky-shearer & fantuzzo, 2011; miles & stipek, 2006). given the number of children enrolled in head start who may have socioemotional and behavioral needs, it is critical that researchers in partnership with head start programs take a closer look overall within the program at those children who are identified and referred for early intervention services. present study the primary purpose of the present study was to take a population-based look at the prevalence of children referred and identified for early intervention in a large, urban head start program serving a diverse population of preschool children living in poverty. the study also aimed to examine whether there were demographic differences in patterns of referral and identification and whether there were programmatic biases in the types of socioemotional and behavioral needs identified through the use of a program-wide social-emotional screening tool. we had three specific research questions: (a) what is the prevalence of types of disabilities within the head start program? (b) what are the demographic characteristics (e.g., age, sex, ethnicity, and english language learner [ell] status) associated with children classified with special needs? (c) does a programmatic teacher behavior rating screening measure differentiate between children classified by the head start program as having socioemotional or behavioral needs and those who are not classified? given prior research, we hypothesized that the majority of children would be classified with speech/language or developmental delays, with a minority of children classified with mental health or behavioral special needs. we expected that children exhibiting externalizing behavior would be overrepresented in the groups of children identified with socioemotional or behavioral needs. in addition, we expected that boys would be overrepresented in the special needs group based on prior research indicating that boys are more likely than girls to be identified with or as at risk for a disability (barton et al., 2012; guarino et al., 2010; hibel, et al., 2010; markowitz et al., 2006; matthews et al., 2010; morgan et al., 2012). additionally, boys tend to be referred and diagnosed with emotional disturbances, developmental delays, and language delays, at higher rates than girls in early childhood and elementary school (u.s. department of education, 2014). research findings on patterns of referral and identification of children from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds are mixed and vary by geographic region. early childhood research studies have found that the rate of referral for early intervention services is greater for african american and hispanic children, compared to white children (hosp & reschly, 2003) as well as the rates of expulsion in preschool (gilliam, 2005; gilliam et al., 2016). however, other research and metaanalytic reviews suggest that african american, hispanic, and asian children are underrepresented in special needs subgroups who are identified to receive early intervention services compared to white children (delgado & scott, 2006; hibel et al., 2010; markowitz et al., 2006; morgan et al., 2012; morgan et al., 2017; morgan et al., 2018). 76 shearer et al. method participants the sample included all children enrolled in a large, urban head start program in the southeastern united states. during this school year, the head start program served 7,301 children in 318 classrooms across 78 centers. approximately 51.9% of the sample was female and children’s ages in the fall ranged from 33 to 59 months (m = 47.7, sd = 7.12). children were predominantly african american and hispanic/latino (57.1% and 42.1%, respectively), with 0.8% identified as being of another ethnicity (including white/non-hispanic, asian, native islander, or other). during this school year, 98% of the children in the program were from households that met the federal income requirement for enrollment in head start (less than $22,050 for a family of four in 2009-10). two sets of analyses were conducted using this larger population of children, as well as a subsample, as described below. all children (n=7,301) were included in the first set of descriptive analyses. analytic subsample. children were included in the second set of analyses if their teachers completed the devereux early childhood assessment (deca; lebuffe & naglieri, 1999) during the program year. of the 6,089 children (m age = 47.9 months, sd = 6.9) included in this subsample, approximately 53% were female. children were predominantly non-hispanic african american and hispanic (55.4% and 43.8%, respectively), with .8% identified as being of another race (including white/non-hispanic, asian, other, or native islander). this subsample of children did not differ significantly from children in the overall sample with regard to age, sex, ethnicity, or home language. program demographic records indicated that teachers in the overall program were predominantly african american and white (49.7% and 35.8%, respectively), with 14.4% identified as being of another ethnicity (including asian, biracial and unspecified). approximately 50% of all the teachers (regardless of race) identified themselves as of hispanic/latino descent. there were approximately 44% of teachers with a bachelor’s degree, 22% with an associate’s degree, and 17% with a child development associate credential. nine percent of teachers were enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program. measures classroom socioemotional adjustment. the devereux early childhood assessment (deca; lebuffe & naglieri, 1999) is a 37-item norm-referenced rating scale of social-emotional adjustment, developed for use by parents and teachers of children two to six years of age. in the current study, lead teachers completed the deca for all enrolled children within the first 45 days of the school year. teachers completed the deca in their language of preference (english: n= 5,197 or spanish: n= 860). the deca uses a five-point likert scale (0 = never, 1 = rarely, 2 = occasionally, 3 = frequently, and 4 = very frequently), asking teachers to rate how often they had observed each child display a behavior over the previous four-week period. the measure comprises four subscales, including three protective factors subscales (initiative, self-control, and attachment) and one behavioral concerns subscale. socioemotional special needs in head start 77 the protective factors subscales assess adaptive, prosocial, and resilient behaviors children display in the classroom. the initiative subscale consists of 11 items assessing children’s ability to use independent thought and actions to meet their needs. examples of items on the initiative subscale include “does things for himself/herself,” “chooses tasks challenging for him/her,” “tries or asks new things or activities,” and “asks other children to play with him/her.” the self-control subscale comprising 8 items assesses children’s ability to experience a range of feelings and express those using words and actions. examples include, “shows patience,” “handles frustration well,” and “controls anger.” the attachment subscale of 8 items assesses the quality and strength of the relationship between the child and familiar adults. examples include, “shows affection for familiar adults,” “acts happy when parent returns,” and “seeks help from adults when necessary.” the behavioral concerns subscale includes 10 items assessing problem behaviors exhibited by preschool children. items include, “destroys or damages property,” “difficulty concentrating,” “easily upset,” and “temper tantrums.” generally, the behavioral concerns subscale taps externalizing or outward behavioral problems. the published technical manual reports high internal consistency reliabilities for teacher ratings on the initiative (.90), self-control (.90), attachment (.85), and behavioral concerns (.80; lebuffe & naglieri, 1999). test-retest reliability coefficients are reported as .80, .64, .55, and .68 for the initiative, self-control, attachment, and behavioral concerns scales, respectively. procedure. data from this study were obtained as part of a larger university-head start collaborative research project examining the school readiness of head start children enrolled in a large urban program, located in the southeastern united states. the purpose of the larger project was to integrate two large administrative databases programmatically collected by the head start program: (1) a child and family information database that included child demographic information (date of birth, gender, race, ethnicity, special needs status, primary and secondary home language, english language proficiency, center name, classroom assignment, etc.) and (2) a database containing scores from the teacher ratings on the deca (lebuffe & naglieri, 1999). both databases were collected and stored electronically by the program to meet the federal head start performance standards requirements. according to procedure for the head start program, parents or guardians report on child and family demographic information which was then entered into the database by head start administrative staff upon a child’s entry into the program. information was updated when a child’s enrollment information changes. for the deca, teachers were trained to complete the measure after observing each child’s behavior in their classroom over a period of four weeks. the deca was then used program-wide as a behavioral screener to meet the head start performance standards for mental health screening within the first 45 days of school (u.s. dhhs, 2016). information about children’s disability status was obtained through the child and family database, which included a disability module. the disability module indicated whether children were (a) “suspected” to have a disability and had been referred for evaluation based on either a teacher, parent, or disability specialist concern, or programmatic screening result; or (b) “identified” with a disability (had received a formal comprehensive educational evaluation by a professional, had been diagnosed with a documented delay or disability, and were found eligible to receive early 78 shearer et al. intervention services according to part b of idea (u.s. department of education, 2004). there were 904 children with a suspected (referred) or identified special need. within this group, some children had more than one special need (e.g., children could have a secondary and tertiary special need in addition to their primary special need). however, each child was only counted once in the analyses (either as having emotional/behavioral disability or as having one or more other special needs). approval for the project was obtained from the university institutional review board, the head start director, and the head start parent policy council. because there was no unique identifier across the databases, microsoft integrated services was used to link children’s records using a probabilistic matching algorithm, using children’s first name, last name, date of birth, gender, and race/ethnicity combinations. this linking strategy was based on a 95% confidence match. records that matched were separated into a master table for that particular assignment and then joined at the end of the process. once the databases were integrated, the data were de-identified to protect participant confidentiality. data analyses investigation of prevalence of special needs within the head start program. to obtain a descriptive picture and examine the prevalence of suspected and identified disabilities in the head start program, the percentage of children classified under each of these two categories (suspected and identified) were examined overall, as well as within each special need category. investigation of demographic characteristics of children suspected or identified with special needs. the next set of analyses examined whether there were differences in child demographic characteristics between children in the overall program and (a) those children suspected or identified with an emotional/behavioral special need and (b) those children suspected or identified with another special need. statistically significant deviations in the expected prevalence of each demographic variable (sex [female or male], race [black or non-black], ethnicity [hispanic or non-hispanic], primary home language [english or spanish], and english language proficiency [proficient or non-proficient]), were determined based on the two-tailed tests of the standard error of proportional differences (ferguson & takane, 1989) and corrected for multiple pairwise comparisons by the bonferroni method. one-way anova using least square means with tukey-kramer post hoc comparison was used to examine differences with respect to age in months. analysis of children suspected or identified to receive special needs services in the head start program. in this final set of analyses, multiple discriminant function analysis was used for group explication purposes as advised by mcdermott (1982) and fantuzzo et al. (2003). this analysis permitted examination of the nature of the emotional and behavioral problems of a criterion group of children classified within the special needs system and a group who had not been classified by the program. in other words, it permitted examination of the differential pattern of program identification of children in the special needs system, according to the different types of socioemotional adjustment as assessed by the four deca subscales. socioemotional special needs in head start 79 results prevalence of special needs in the head start program in the overall program (n = 7,301), a total of 12.4% (n = 904) of the children were classified with either a suspected or identified special need. table 1 displays the frequency distribution of children classified with a suspected or identified concern, by disability category. the majority of children classified with suspected or identified special need were classified with speech or language impairment. approximately 13.5% of children suspected or identified with a special need were classified with an emotional/behavioral disorder. table 1 prevalence of disability categories among head start children in the special needs system children in special needs system identified disability suspected disability special need category n = 571a n = 428a speech/language 437 (76.5%) 279 (65.2%) emotional/behavioral 32 (5.6%) 90 (21.0%) health/physical 33 (5.8%) 16 (3.7%) learning disability 16 (2.8%) 9 (2.1%) autism spectrum disorder 5 (0.9%) 3 (0.7%) intellectual disability 2 (0.4%) 0 (0%) other 46 (8.1%) 31 (7.2%) n = 7,301. note. n = 904, include all children in either identified and/or suspected disability categories. total number of children in the identified category, n = 525. total number of children in the suspected disability category, n=379. a there are some children who were identified with or suspected as having more than one disability, so the numbers presented are total number of disability classifications, not total number of children. 80 shearer et al. investigation of demographic characteristics of children with special needs and those with emotional/behavioral special needs. table 2 displays the frequency distribution of demographic variables for children in the program overall, as compared to children classified with a special need (suspected and/or identified), and children classified specifically with an emotional/behavioral special need (suspected and/or identified). statistically significant departures from overall sample expectancy were found in the percentage of girls and boys in both the identified disability group and the identified emotional/behavioral special needs group (with a significantly lower percentage of girls represented in these two groups when compared to sample expectancy based on the distribution in the overall program). in addition, both emotional/behavioral and other special needs groups were comprised of a greater number of hispanic children, children with home language of spanish, and those who were not english proficient, when compared to sample expectancy. no significant differences among groups by children’s age (in months) were found (anova findings). table 2 demographic characteristics of head start children with identified disability overall program identified disability suspected disability identified emotional/ behavioral disability suspected emotional/ behavioral disability n = 7,301 n = 525 n = 379 n = 32 n = 90 demographic variable mean age 47.68 48.24 47.04 46.63 46.27 female 3,787 (51.9%) 173 (33.0%)* 137 (36.1%) 9 (28.1%)* 27 (30.0%) male 3,514 (48.1%) 352 (67.0%)* 242 (63.9%) 23 (71.9%)* 63 (70.0%) black 4,165 (57.0%) 193 (36.8%) 199 (52.5%) 9 (28.1%) 47 (52.5%) hispanic 3,076 (42.1%) 327 (62.3%)* 177 (46.7%) 22 (68.8%)* 43 (47.8%) other race 60 (0.8%) 5 (1.0%) 3 (0.8%) 1 (3.1%) 0 (0%) primary home language is english 4,093 (56.1%) 216 (41.4%) 183 (48.3%) 15 (46.9%) 51 (56.7%) primary home language is spanish 2,567 (35.2%) 284 (54.1%)* 148 (39.1%) 16 (50.0%)* 36 (40.0%) non-proficiency in english 2,471 (33.9%) 278 (53.0%)* 161 (42.5%) 21 (65.5%)* 37 (41.1%) note. some children are suspected or identified with more than one disability. children with both suspected and identified disabilities were classified as "identified." *p<.05. socioemotional special needs in head start 81 analysis of children suspected or identified to receive special needs services for emotional/or behavioral problems in the head start program a multiple discriminant analysis was conducted for three groups: (a) the group of 6,026 children who had never been referred or identified with a special need by the head start program, (b) the group of 90 children who were suspected with an emotional/behavioral special need by the head start program, and (c) the group of 32 children who were identified with an emotional/behavioral special need by the head start program. the analysis yielded a successful solution where wilks’s ʌ = 0.97, multivariate f (8, 10788) = 17.93, and p < .0001. only one discriminant function was significant. when examining the pattern of loadings on the discriminant function, it was the externalizing problem scales (high behavioral concerns and low self-control scores) that separated the smaller groups of children with either suspected or identified emotional/behavioral special needs from the larger non-special needs group. table 3 presents t score means and standard deviations for the four deca subscales, as well as the univariate tests of group differences for the three groups. significantly higher t scores were found for the two groups comprised of children with suspected and identified emotional/behavioral special needs on the behavioral concerns subscale and significantly lower t scores were found on the self-control subscale for both groups, as compared to the group of children never referred or identified. the group means were comparable between the two groups of children who were either suspected (referred) or identified emotional/behavioral special need and significantly different from the non-special needs group. table 3 deca subscale t scores across non-special needs and mental health special needs children in the head start program children with no special need children with identified emotional/ behavioral special need children with suspected emotional/ behavioral special need n = 5,294 n = 25 n = 81 deca subscale m (sd) m (sd) m (sd) univariate fa behavioral concerns 47.33 (9.10) 54.56 (11.95) 56.95 (9.54) 51.95** initiative 51.16 (8.50) 45.20 (8.90) 46.88 (9.33) 16.05** self-control 54.92 (8.47) 47.36 (12.42) 47.37 (10.31) 40.88** attachment 48.56 (8.48) 46.04 (11.01) 45.77 (10.21) 5.32* note. n = 6,903, n=32, n = 90) *p<.001. ** p<.0001. note. wilks’ lambda = 0.97, multivariate f(8,10788) = 17.93, p < .0001. aunivariate df = 2 and 5397. 82 shearer et al. discussion the purpose of the present study was to take a population-based look at patterns of early identification and referral for children with special needs within a large, urban head start program serving a diverse population of preschool children. we found demographic variables such as gender and ethnicity differentially associated with higher rates of identification of developmental disabilities, as well as greater rates of identification of externalizing problems compared to internalizing (shy or socially withdrawn) behavior problems through the use of program-wide social-emotional screening tool. as expected, we found that in total 12.4% of preschool children in the head start program were identified with or suspected of having a disability (7.2% and 5.2% respectively). nationally, head start programs are provided guidelines for allocating services to 10% of children in the program with special needs (u.s. dhhs, 2016). findings from our local program approximate this number (when identified or suspected percentages are combined), however, the number of children identified with a documented disability (who had an iep) is lower (7.2%) than the 10%. this discrepancy could indicate an under-representation of children in the program with a disability, but also could reflect the nature of the referral process. in our database, children who were flagged with a concern or suspected delay, might have been in the process of completing more formal comprehensive evaluations before being formally labeled with a disability, and gaining access to services through an iep. consistent with prior research, the majority of the children identified with disabilities were classified with a speech or language impairment (5.99%), while emotional/behavioral disorders accounted for 0.4% of identified disabilities (within the population of head start children). this is consistent with national statistics, suggesting that for all children three to five, 5.74% of preschool aged children are classified with a disability, with 2.69% having a speech or language impairment and 0.03% having an emotional/behavioral disorder (u.s. department of education, 2019). in addition, head start studies have found that children who display challenging externalizing or internalizing behavior and who might be identified with an emotional/behavioral disorder often receive a speech/language impairment classification, rather than a classification of emotional/behavioral disorder (fantuzzo et al., 1999). patterns of early identification across subgroups of children in support of our hypothesis, boys were more likely than girls to be represented in the group of children identified or suspected of a disability, regardless of disability classification. our findings are consistent with previous national and local studies where boys are more likely to be referred and identified for early intervention services, for any disability. for example, in the national faces head start and ecls-k samples, 67% of boys versus 33% of girls in the were identified as eligible to receive early intervention services (barton et al., 2012; morgan et al., 2012). this disparity may be caused in part by gender differences in the incidence of language, developmental, and emotional/behavioral disabilities between boys and girls, leading boys to be referred for an evaluation at a higher rate (delgado & scott, 2006; u.s. department of education, 2014). however, more research is needed to further understand if girls are being overlooked in the early socioemotional special needs in head start 83 identification and referral process within early childhood programs. prior research suggests that girls with emotional/behavioral disorders typically exhibit behaviors that are overlooked within the classroom or recognized by school staff (oswald et al., 2003). using validated screening tools and implementing systematic screening, referral and evaluation procedures within early childhood programs may enable equitable identification for all children (farnsworth, 2018; feil et al., 2005; lopez et al., 2000). with respect to race and ethnicity, we found that hispanic children were more likely to be identified with a disability in comparison with non-hispanic children, regardless of the type of disability. this finding is consistent with some prior research which indicates that hispanic children are more likely to be classified with a disability and receive special education services, including for emotional disturbance, speech or language delays, and intellectual and learning disabilities (skiba et al., 2005). however, findings in early childhood studies are mixed. in a recent study within a national sample, hispanic children were 29% less likely than white children to be identified as having a learning disability (morgan et al., 2015) and in a local kindergarten sample, hispanic children were underrepresented in special education compared to other minority groups (zhang et al., 2014). further work is warranted to understand the early learning contexts in which hispanic children may be overor under-identified for intervention services. in contrast to prior research that suggests african american students are overrepresented in special education systems (kauffman et al., 2009; zhang et al., 2014), we did not find that african american children were overrepresented with suspected or identified disabilities in our sample compared to our sample demographic distribution. however, most of the children in our sample were from ethnic and racial minority backgrounds (51.7% african american and 42.1% hispanic). all children were from families living in poverty, by nature of their eligibility for the head start program (u.s. dhhs, 2020). ethnic and racial minority children are disproportionately more likely to live in poverty, and experience increased risks to their early learning and social-emotional development (skiba et al., 2008). in addition, research has found that african american boys are disproportionately more likely to be monitored and identified by teachers with emotional/behavior problems, subsequently at greater risk for suspension and expulsion from early childhood education programs, compared to their non-black counterparts (gilliam et al., 2016). future research should continue to examine patterns in early identification within other head start programs and again promote more equitable screening procedures, as well as professional development supports to teachers within their classroom (barbarin, 2007; bricker et al., 2004; hemmeter et al., 2016; lamb-parker et al., 2008; perry et al., 2010). moreover, children speaking spanish in the home (dual language learners; dlls) were found to be over-represented in the group of children identified with special needs compared to non-dll children. studies document increased risk for dll children to be over-referred to special education services because of speech and language impairments or delays (gildersleeve-neumann et al., 2008; sullivan, 2011). sullivan (2011) found that dll’s were 30% more likely to be identified with a speech or language impairment than monolingual children. there is a growing recognition in the early childhood field that dll children follow a more complex path in developing expressive and receptive language skills in two languages than monolingual children (castro et al., 2011; lópez & páez, 2021; peña & halle, 2011) and this may present as a delay in pronunciation, productive language or expressive vocabulary skills. in addition, a recent qualitative study 84 shearer et al. identified misconceptions by head start teachers about the language abilities of dll children that were confounded with dll status (ramírez et al., 2020). validated assessment tools are needed that can measure the language development of dll children and accurately identify speech or language impairment, particularly for children from low-income backgrounds (halle et al., 2014; peña & halle, 2011). in addition, more professional development and training of early childhood staff is needed, to further the field’s understanding about the development of young dll’s, their cultural strengths and differences and early learning experiences across the home and school contexts (castro, 2014). patterns of early identification of socioemotional and behavioral needs we found that a programmatic screening tool (the deca) differentiated between children referred or identified with an emotional/behavioral special need, but only for children displaying externalizing behavior. children who were referred or identified were rated higher on externalizing behavior problems by teachers on the deca behavior concerns subscale and lower on the selfcontrol subscale than children who were not referred or identified. this finding is consistent with prior research conducted in head start programs, where those children who are referred or identified for special needs services are more likely to be children displaying aggressive, oppositional or challenging behavior, or difficulties with self-regulation that disrupts classroom routines (fantuzzo et al., 2003). the deca subscale scores that measure attachment and initiative (comprised of items capturing internalizing behaviors, such as shyness, or social withdrawn behavior) was not elevated in the referred or identified special needs group. children rated by teachers with higher internalizing behavior were not represented in the special needs group. findings are consistent with early childhood studies indicating that teachers report more attention and concern for children displaying externalizing behavior in the classroom (arbeau & coplan, 2007; bulotsky-shearer et al., 2014; fantuzzo et al., 2003). limitations and future directions there are several limitations that must be acknowledged. first, the purpose of the study was to take a population-based look in a large head start program and examine differences among children within the special needs referral and identification pipeline. this program provided services to an ethnically and racially diverse population of children living in poverty—overall, a group at very high risk for displaying developmental or emotional/behavioral needs. therefore, we intentionally included all children within the program administrative records who were either referred (suspected) or identified during the program year. this group included children who either were referred (suspected) or identified with a disability. however, children who fell in the suspected category were in the eligibility determination process and it is possible that some of the children may ultimately have been deemed ineligible to receive early intervention services. another limitation of the study is that direct comparisons with national data are challenging because of differences in nomenclature and categorization of disability in head start compared to the federal idea. at the time of the study, the head start disability classifications did not align perfectly with idea categories, so it makes it difficult to compare directly local program socioemotional special needs in head start 85 prevalence to national prevalence. in general, however, national statistics based on idea categories are comparable with local program statistics. the predominant disability classification for preschool children ages 3-5 years is speech/language delay (46%), followed by developmental delay (37%), with very few (0.4%) identified with emotional behavioral disturbance (u.s. department of education, office of special education programs, 2012). finally, while it is important that head start and other early childhood programs utilize validated screening tools to identify those children in need of further comprehensive assessment or followup, the socioemotional tool used by the program (the deca) has limitations. the most significant limitation is that the behavior concerns subscale used to refer or identify children for socioemotional or behavioral needs, predominantly includes items that measure externalizing behavior (bulotsky-shearer et al., 2013). future studies should include a comprehensive screening tool that measures both internalizing and externalizing behavior so that both can be equitably identified. in summary, there is a critical need for early childhood programs serving children from diverse, and low-income families to use validated and comprehensive screening tools that equitably identify children’s socioemotional and behavioral needs. early identification is crucial so that early intervention and support can be provided within the classroom and home setting, to improve children’s adaptive behavior and positive engagement in formative learning experiences that set the stage for future school and life success. importantly, children who display internalizing behavior (shy or socially withdrawn) deserve special consideration and attention. more research is needed to develop better alignment within early childhood programs between 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(2014). minority representation in special education: 5-year trends. journal of child and family studies, 23(1), 118-127. hs dialog, 26(2), copyright © 2023, issn: 1930-9325 preschool teachers’ sensitivity to early literacy milestones in play rebecca lee payne jordan1 teressa sumrall2 1salem college 2appalachian state university play is a primary vehicle for learning in early childhood classrooms. therefore, teachers must be attuned to the way play supports children’s progress towards meeting developmental milestones, such as those described in early learning and developmental standards (elds). using a semi-structured interview protocol, eight early childhood educators were shown two vignettes of children at play and asked to identify evidences of literacy development and which elds those evidences indicated. teachers were also asked to develop an instructional extension. teachers were largely able to identify evidence of literacy development using vignettes and envision evidence-based pedagogical extensions to advance children’s learning, though this was most evident in the areas of phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge and least evident in areas related to engagement and comprehension. implications for teacher education and professional development are provided. keywords: teacher knowledge, literacy, early childhood, standards introduction teacher knowledge is consistently identified as a professional requirement for teachers (national association for the education of young children [naeyc], 2020a; national board for professional teaching standards, 2016; international literacy association & national council of teachers of english, 2017). while a great deal of work has been done in this area, more is needed. much of the research on teacher knowledge has addressed how well teachers can demonstrate their content knowledge on domain-specific assessments (bos et al., 2001; mccutchen et al., 2002; moats & foorman, 2003), few studies have addressed preschool teachers and students (crim et al., 2008; cunningham et al., 2015; piasta et al., 2020; schacter et al., 2016), even fewer have addressed the role teacher knowledge plays during play-based learning (bubikova-moan et al., 2019; hunter & walsh, 2014), and no studies known to the authors have considered the role of teacher knowledge in identifying student strengths and needs. we hope to contribute to closing these gaps with this research study. research article 72 jordan & sumrall in this study, we were interested in exploring how well preschool teachers were able to identify early literacy developmental milestones in children’s play, connect these milestones to early learning and development standards (elds), and plan reasonable learning-rich extensions that built on children’s developmental readiness. we explored these questions in a semi-structured interview format using vignettes of children at play. developing a better understanding of how sensitive teachers are to content-specific milestones evident in children’s play and how well they can individualize learning extensions to support students is important in understanding how well teachers utilize content knowledge instructionally in their classrooms (shulman, 1986; snow et al., 2005). we purposefully use the term “sensitive” to capture the range of teacher ability to notice and respond to students’ play. we consider this play to be a stimulus in the environment to which teachers have varying capacity to sense and respond. we believe this sensitivity is a precursor to effective instruction in early childhood environments given the centrality of play and the need for teachers to respond to anecdotal evidence of literacy development demonstrated in play. this renewed understanding has implications for teacher preparation programs and inservice professional development as we seek to support teachers in not only acquiring knowledge but in flexibly using knowledge to support students’ continuous growth and doing so in such a way that is sensitive to varying needs. next, we will describe the knowledge of the science of reading early childhood teachers need to deliver effective and appropriate instruction, the role of early learning and development standards (elds) in early education, why play-based learning is necessary, effective, and even crucial for our youngest learners, and explore a theoretical framework of teacher knowledge. the science of reading in early childhood education the science of reading is the accumulated body of research that demonstrates how individuals learn to read and best practices for reading instruction. several theories have emerged to capture the many concurrent skills that are necessary to read successfully, such as the simple view of reading (gough & tunmer, 1986), scarborough’s reading rope (2001) and, most recently, the active view of reading (duke & cartwright, 2021). what each of these theories has in common is an emphasis on the necessity of both strong oral language and word recognition skills to be a proficient reader. scarborough’s reading rope and the active view also draw attention to the necessity of other skills such as comprehension strategies, concepts of print, alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, motivation and engagement, and the reciprocal nature of reading and writing. early childhood teachers must be well versed in how language and literacy relate to one another and the many diverse skills young children must enact simultaneously to read proficiently. one resource to support early childhood professionals in understanding the skills necessary and appropriate for young children are states’ early learning and development standards (elds). elds are developed to capture developmentally appropriate literacy standards, based on the science of reading, that early childhood teachers should support young children in attaining. sensitivity to early literacy milestones 73 early learning and development standards elds are fundamental tools that identify developmental milestones for young children across developmental domains and content areas, including early literacy (naeyc & naecs/sde, 2002; petersen et al., 2008). in the united states, all fifty states have developed state-specific elds documents as have many nations across the world. these essential resources were designed in part to support early childhood educators knowledge of important age-specific goals for children’s development and learning so this knowledge could be used to identify instructional practices that best support individual student learning (naeyc & naecs/sde, 2002; scottlittle et al., 2003). teachers can see elds come alive in numerous ways in early childhood classrooms including planned curricular experiences and naturalistic (unplanned) moments during children’s spontaneous play (gronlund, 2006). while elds should play a central role in the assessment and curriculum process for planned curricular experiences (gronlund, 2006; sumrall & jordan, 2021), teachers may be less likely to notice or identify elds in children’s play. play-based learning and assessment play is essential to young children’s development because it has been repeatedly shown to contribute to children’s cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development and overall wellbeing (ginsburg, k. r. & committee on communications and the committee on psychosocial aspects of child and family health, 2007; naeyc, 2020b; vanhoorn et al., 2015). play has been highly regarded as a developmentally appropriate approach to early childhood education because it promotes active, meaningful, and joyful learning (naeyc, 2020b); therefore, it is critical that early childhood teachers maximize opportunities for play to promote important learning goals such as those identified in elds. early childhood teachers must become adept at identifying elds, including language and literacy standards, during play in order to appropriately assess children’s progress towards reaching elds and plan appropriate extensions for learning (gronlund, 2006; moyles, 1989; vanhoorn et al., 2015). in order for teachers to be skilled at identifying elds in play, they must be knowledgeable about children’s development. teacher knowledge of early literacy: a theoretical framework much of the research centered around teacher knowledge is rooted in the groundbreaking work of shulman (1986). he revolutionized the field by positing that knowledge was not one unified construct but instead composed of content knowledge (knowing what to teach), pedagogical content knowledge (knowing how to teach it), and curricular knowledge (knowing various instructional strategies and supports to teach it). moreover, he conceptualized this knowledge may take the form of propositional (knowing principles of instruction), case (knowing specific previous similar instructional instances), or strategic (knowing when to apply particular instructional techniques) knowledge. most studies of teachers’ early literacy knowledge have focused on teachers’ propositional content knowledge, specifically related to the linguistic aspects of literacy (cunningham et al., 2009; jordan & bratsch-hines, 2020; mccutchen et al., 2002; moats, 1994, 1999; moats & foorman, 2003; piasta et al., 2009) and most of that research has occurred in early elementary classrooms. as a whole this research indicates that teachers are not very 74 jordan & sumrall knowledgeable of the linguistic basis of language or how reading and writing develop. in fact, teachers tend to overestimate their own knowledge. while most studies of early literacy knowledge have occurred in early elementary settings, a few have examined preschool teachers’ knowledge, though again those studies examined teachers’ knowledge of the linguistic basis of literacy (e.g., phonological awareness), through the use of questionnaires. as with teachers of older children, these studies universally identified low levels of teacher knowledge (crim et al., 2008; cunningham et al., 2015; neuman & cunningham, 2009; schacter et al., 2016). we feel confident that the attention to early childhood educators’ literacy knowledge is warranted given the low levels of early childhood educator knowledge identified in previous studies (crim et al., 2008; schachter et al., 2016) and piasta et al.’s (2020) findings of significant, positive associations between teachers’ knowledge, their classroom practice, and children’s learning. that is, teacher knowledge matters and it is a problem. what still remains to be determined, and why this study and others like it are necessary, is how well teachers are able to utilize knowledge in practice to determine student needs and provide appropriate instruction, often referred to as strategic pedagogical content knowledge (shulman, 1986). strategic pedagogical content knowledge is the knowledge of how to teach and when to use which instructional techniques. to echo neuman et al. (2000), teachers need not only know what to teach but how to teach it in developmentally appropriate ways. studies heretofore that have attempted to examine teacher pedagogical content knowledge (e.g., cunningham et al., 2015) have done so through the use of questionnaires which mitigates the ability to assess strategic knowledge and makes it difficult to determine if the knowledge therein assessed would be utilized in real teaching scenarios. we believe that the use of vignettes as we have done in this study, provides unique insight into teachers’ knowledge and how that knowledge affects instruction. the vignette methodology employed in this study allows us to assess strategic pedagogical content knowledge and has previously been demonstrated to be a valid and reliable measurement technique (mccray & chun, 2012). the present study given the critical nature of early literacy development (snow et al., 1998), the power of play-based learning (naeyc, 2020b), and the powerful role of teacher knowledge (darling-hammond, 2000), it is essential that an investigation into how sensitive teachers are to literacy developmental milestones in children’s play occur. attention to the identification of literacy development during teaching scenarios could provide important insight into how teacher knowledge is used while teaching and have implications for teacher preparation programs and in-service professional development. the purpose of this study was to explore how well preschool teachers were able to identify developmental milestones in children’s play, connect those milestones to elds, and plan reasonable learning-rich extensions that built on children’s developmental readiness. this study addressed the following research questions: (a) how sensitive are teachers to literacy developmental milestones evidenced during children’s play?; (b) how accurate are teachers at linking evidence of development with elds?; and (c) how well can teachers plan reasonable and sensitivity to early literacy milestones 75 effective learning extensions based on witnessed play and identified development? in the following sections, we describe our context, participants, measures, and procedures. methods this study analyzed how well preschool teachers were able to detect evidence of literacy development in children’s play and plan appropriate evidence-based extensions. moreover, the teachers’ ability to associate those evidences to particular developmental indicators and to broad subdomains of literacy development were investigated. context data were collected from teachers working within a state located in the southeastern united states. the state has a comprehensive set of elds that address five domains of children’s learning and development, and includes a continuum of developmental indicators for children ages birth through kindergarten entry. the state has had a set of elds for over a decade at the time of data collection and numerous professional development opportunities related to using standards had been implemented across the state. this study focused on one specific domain of development, language development and communication, which includes elds related to foundational skills for reading and writing. we organized the language development and communication domain from the state’s elds into six subdomains, which are subtopics that fall within the domain. these subdomains included: 1) interest and motivation to read, 2) comprehension and use of information in books, 3) book knowledge, 4) phonological awareness, 5) alphabet knowledge, and 6) writing. each of these subdomains is an important aspect of the science of reading and necessary for proficient reading development (duke & cartwright, 2021; scarborough, 2001). within each of these subdomains are developmental indicators, which are the specific statements of expectations for children’s development and learning that are tied to particular age levels. although the states’ elds document includes developmental indicators for infants, younger toddlers, older toddlers, and younger preschoolers, we focused solely on development indicators for older preschoolers since our participants taught children in this age group (48 months 60+ months). there were a total of 32 developmental indicators for older preschoolers that fell within one of the six subdomains previously identified. participants eight preschool teachers were interviewed for this study. all teachers were female and were working as a preschool teacher in a state-funded pre-k classroom at the time of the interview. every participant had obtained a bachelor’s degree in birth-kindergarten and held a birthkindergarten teaching license. one teacher also had a degree in elementary education. on average, teachers had been working with young children for 11 years (sd = 6.39; range = 18 years). the mean age of participants was 40.9 years (sd = 11.92; range = 35 years). two 76 jordan & sumrall participants self-identified as black or african american and the remaining six participants selfidentified as white. measure the preschool literacy pedagogical content knowledge (pl-pck) interview protocol was designed to investigate preschool teachers’ ability to identify evidences of early literacy learning depicted in children’s play and relate those to broad areas of literacy development, termed “subdomains” (e.g., interest in and motivation to read, phonological awareness, writing), and specific early literacy milestones, also referred to as developmental indicators (e.g., “make some sound-to-letter matches, using letter name knowledge”) identified in the state’s elds. the interview protocol was developed by the authors who share expertise in early literacy and elds. the protocol consists of a written description of two play scenarios, each containing multiple evidences of children engaging in early literacy in their play. the second scenario also included a child’s work sample (i.e., a drawing that included some writing). content validity of the semistructured protocol was determined by three experts who all reviewed the protocol independently to examine the clarity of content and wording (e.g., wording and terminology are appropriate for targeted audience). experts also reviewed the vignettes and independently coded them with relevant subdomains and developmental indicators from the state’s elds. discrepancies were discussed and revisions to the protocol were made until experts reached 100% agreement. the use of interviews with preschool teachers consisting of vignettes depicting children at play has previously been demonstrated as a valid and reliable means to measure teacher knowledge that “illuminates the kinds of teacher thinking that really matter for student learning” (mccray & chen, 2012, p. 304). the authors ensured procedural fidelity by completing the first interview together and discussing any differences. for 25% of the remaining interviews, both authors transferred the interview protocol responses to separate analysis sheets and then calculated interrater reliability. 100% agreement was identified. analysis sheets were then combined and analysis continued by determining the percentage of times each play example was identified for each subdomain across participants. scenario one. scenario one can be found below, followed by an overview of early literacy examples in play as well as their associated developmental indicators and subdomains. while a recording of the name game as sung by shirley ellis (e.g. “katie, katie, bo-batie / banana-fana fo-fatie / fee-fy-mo-matie / katie!) is being played, nina, emily, and deshaun are in the music center. nina beats on the drum in rhythm as emily and deshaun march around the center to the beat of the name game song clapping rhythm sticks. suddenly, nina says, “hey, deshaun! d-d-deshaun sounds like d-d-dad!” deshaun laughs and responds, “i’m not a dad! once upon a time, i might be though!” emily says, as she holds up the “d” page of an abc book, “yeah, deshaun and dad start with –d.” meanwhile, anna and jacob are in the dramatic play center pretending to be a waiter and a customer at a restaurant. jacob hands anna a telephone book and asks her what she would like to eat. she flips through the phonebook page by page, places her hand on a line, and asks for sensitivity to early literacy milestones 77 spaghetti and meatballs. jacob laughs, and responds that he will bring her pasghetti and peatballs as he draws a picture of spaghetti on a notepad. anna laughs and says, “panks!” in scenario one, 11 examples of early literacy can be identified in children’s play. these examples can be associated with 18 specific developmental indicators (dis) across six subdomains related to early literacy. for example, in scenario one, participants may have identified “anna turning the pages in a phone book when ordering food” as an example of early literacy depicted in play. participants could have associated this play example with two developmental indicators: (a) hold a book upright while turning pages one by one from front to back and/or (b) demonstrate understanding of some basic print conventions. both of the play examples and corresponding developmental indicators were associated with the book knowledge subdomain. in order to provide further context, we have selected one play example from each of the six subdomains and identified a corresponding developmental indicator (see table 1). table 1 selected play examples from scenario one selected play examples from each subdomain associated developmental indicator subdomain jacob and anna use the telephone book as a menu use and share books and print in their play interest and motivation to read emily references abc book to confirm deshaun/dad start with the letter “d” use informational texts and other media to learn about the world, and infer from illustrations, ask questions and talk about the information comprehension and use of information in books anna points at a particular line in the phone book when ordering with prompting and support, run their finger under or over print as they pretend to read text book knowledge children say “pasghetti,” “peatballs” and “panks” enjoy rhymes and wordplay, and sometimes add their own variation phonological awareness emily says “deshaun” and “dad” start with the letter “d” show they know letter function to represent sounds in spoken words alphabet knowledge jacob draws a picture of spaghetti to record information represent thoughts and ideas in drawings and by writing letters or letter-like forms writing 78 jordan & sumrall scenario two. scenario two, which can be found in figure 1, included a description of children at play as well as a child’s work sample (i.e., a drawing that included some writing). in scenario two, 13 examples of early literacy could be identified in children’s play. these examples could be associated with 19 specific developmental indicators (dis) across five subdomains related to early literacy (scenario two did not include examples of phonological awareness). in table 2, we have selected one play example from five subdomains and identified a corresponding developmental indicator to provide additional context. figure 1. scenario two description and work sample table 2 selected play examples from scenario two selected play examples from each subdomain associated developmental indicator subdomain paisley shares her work with emily use and share books and print in their play interest and motivation to read inclusion of “the end” imitate the special language in storybooks and story dialogue with accuracy and detail comprehension and use of information in books points to letter-like forms to recognize print in different forms for a book knowledge sensitivity to early literacy milestones 79 “read” the writing variety of functions identification of “m” and says “it says mommy.” try to connect the sounds in a spoken word with letters in a written word (write “m” and say, “this is mommy.”) alphabet knowledge child’s name is written on her work use known letters and approximations of letters to write their own name and some familiar words writing procedure each interview was conducted by one of the co-authors in a quiet place away from distractions and was recorded and transcribed. the first interview was conducted by both pis to ensure reliability. before beginning each interview, the teachers were provided with the preschool literacy pedagogical content knowledge (pl-pck) interview for teachers packet. this packet included (a) a listing of the subdomains of literacy applicable to this study (e.g., interest in and motivation to read, phonological awareness, writing), (b) the literacy developmental indicators for older preschoolers from the state’s elds, and (c) two scenarios depicting young children engaging with literacy at play. teachers were asked to look through the packet and told: “in these two scenarios, children are engaging in free play in a preschool classroom. i want you to read through them and see if you can see any evidence of literacy development in their play. when i say literacy development, i’m defining it very broadly. so i mean things like (gesture to list on teacher’s packet): interest in and motivation to read, comprehension and use of information in books, book knowledge, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, writing. so the definition of “what is literacy” is very broad, ok? also in your teacher packet you will notice a list of early literacy developmental indicators (dis) for older preschoolers from the [state's elds]. please take a moment to look over these subdomains of literacy development and literacy developmental indicators on the first two pages of your teacher packet.” while each teacher read, the interviewer also read the pages in the packet to ensure adequate time for reading. the interviewers then reminded each teacher that, “this interview is not about right or wrong answers—it helps us understand how preschool teachers think about literacy development in children’s play.” for the first scenario, mutual understanding of the reference to the name game song was ensured by forewarning teachers and jointly listening to a brief clip. then, teachers were asked to read through the scenario independently and then a second time with the interviewer. finally, we asked each teacher, “where do you see any evidence of literacy development in this play?” 80 jordan & sumrall as each example of literacy development was identified, the interviewer marked it on the interview guide and followed up with “do you see a developmental indicator from the list in your packet demonstrated by your example?” and “if you had to describe this literacy development using these terms (point to list of subdomains of literacy development in the teacher packet), how would you describe it?” after each example was identified, teachers were told, “some people see only one example of literacy development, while some people see more. do you see any other evidence of literacy development in this play?” this questioning process continued until either all evidences of literacy development were identified, the teacher was no longer responding productively, or there was other evidence of frustration. lastly, teachers were asked, “if you wanted to extend the children’s literacy development, what might you ask them or suggest?” this interview protocol was then repeated for the second scenario. for the second scenario, teachers were reminded that they may see evidence of literacy development in either the description of the scenario and/or in the student’s work sample depicted in the scenario. data analysis the data from the scored interview protocols were transferred to an analysis sheet where each play example and associated developmental indicator (di) and literacy subdomain were placed on their own line. play examples associated with multiple dis were listed with each associated di to credit teachers for identifying that some play events simultaneously indicate attainment of multiple dis. for example, there are three examples of phonological awareness in scenario one, thus the researchers determined the percentage of participants who accurately identified all, two, one, or none of these play examples. finally, since participants were only asked to associate a di and subdomain if a play example was identified, the percentage of times a di or subdomain, respectively, was identified out of the total possible opportunities across participants for each subdomain was calculated. for example, a participant who identified all three examples of phonological awareness in scenario one would have a total opportunity to identify five developmental indicators and to match each of those five to the subdomain phonological awareness. this number for each participant was then summed across participants to determine the total opportunity. the percentage of times an accurate di or subdomain was identified was then calculated across participants. results the results of this study, which are summarized in table 3, are reported sequentially across each of the literacy subdomains identified from the state’s elds. within each subdomain, results from each scenario will be reported in turn. within each scenario, the identification of play examples will first be reported followed by the percentage of accurately identified dis and subdomains. it is important to remember in interpreting these results that the opportunity to identify a di and subdomain was only available in those instances when an example of play for that subdomain was identified. that is, teachers were not penalized for not associating a play example with a di or subdomain if they were not able to identify the play example. after reporting results across each subdomain, the potential extensions identified by teachers across subdomains will be discussed. sensitivity to early literacy milestones 81 table 3 summary of results by subdomain subdomain scenario number of examples in each scenario number of participants identifying examples (n = 8) percent accuracy in connecting identified play to developmental indicator (di) percent accuracy in connecting identified play to subdomain interest and motivation to read scenario 1 2 examples 0 examples = 1 1 example = 5 2 examples = 2 67% 33% scenario 2 1 example 0 examples = 5 1 example = 3 33% 100% comprehension and use of information in books scenario 1 2 examples 0 examples = 4 1 example = 2 2 examples = 2 67% 83% scenario 2 1 example 0 examples = 3 1 example = 5 60% 40% book knowledge scenario 1 2 examples 0 examples = 2 1 example = 3 2 examples = 3 92% 75% scenario 2 1 example 0 examples = 1 1 example = 6 2 examples = 1 25% 38% phonological awareness scenario 1 3 examples 0 examples = 0 1 example = 0 2 examples = 5 3 examples = 3 91% 100% scenario 2 0 examples n/a n/a n/a alphabet knowledge scenario 1 1 example 0 examples = 2 1 example = 6 90% 80% scenario 2 3 examples 0 examples = 0 1 example = 1 2 examples = 5 3 examples = 2 92% 100% writing scenario 1 1 example 0 examples = 1 1 example = 7 100% 75% scenario 2 6 examples 0 examples = 2 1 examples = 2 2 examples = 0 3 examples = 0 4 examples = 3 5 examples = 0 6 examples = 1 100% 100% 82 jordan & sumrall interest in and motivation to read scenario one. there were two examples of children demonstrating the subdomain interest and motivation to read in their play in scenario one. one example is when emily shows another child the “d” page of an alphabet book and the other is when children use a telephone book as a menu in their dramatic play. over half of participants (n = 5) identified at least one example, two participants identified both play examples, and only one participant identified no examples. both of these play examples were associated with the same developmental indicator (i.e., use and share books in their play). out of the nine opportunities for the developmental indicator or the subdomain to be identified, the developmental indicator was accurately identified 67% of the time and the subdomain was identified 33% of the time. scenario two. only one example of the subdomain interest and motivation to read was depicted in children’s play in scenario two. this was captured when a child shared her artwork that included words and illustrations with another child. few participants accurately identified this play example (n = 3). out of the three opportunities for the associated developmental indicator (i.e., use and share books in their play) or subdomain to be identified, the correct developmental indicator was identified 33% of the time and the subdomain was identified 100% of the time. comprehension and use of information in books scenario one. there were two literacy examples in scenario one that were indicative of the subdomain comprehension and use of information in books. these play examples were the use of the literary language “once upon a time” and the use of an alphabet book to confirm a phonemegrapheme match. half of the participants did not identify either play example, two identified both play examples, and the remaining two identified one of the play examples. each of the two play examples was related to one distinct developmental indicator (i.e., “imitate the special language in storybooks and story dialogue with accuracy and detail” and “use informational texts and other media to learn about the world, and infer from illustrations, ask questions and talk about the information”). out of six opportunities for a developmental indicator or subdomain to be identified, 67% of the time an accurate developmental indicator was identified and 83% of the time the accurate literacy subdomain was identified. scenario two. there was one literacy example in scenario two that was indicative of comprehension and use of information in books, e.g., the inclusion of “the end”. five out of eight participants were able to identify this example of literacy in play. out of the five opportunities for a developmental indicator or subdomain to be identified, 60% of the time an accurate developmental indicator was identified and 40% of the time the accurate literacy subdomain was identified. sensitivity to early literacy milestones 83 book knowledge scenario one. there were two examples of children demonstrating the subdomain book knowledge in their play in scenario one. out of the eight participants, three identified one example, three identified both examples, and two were unable to identify any examples. both of the examples associated with the book knowledge subdomain were each linked to two developmental indicators. for example, a child that pointed at a particular line in a phone book when ordering food during dramatic play demonstrated evidence of two developmental indicators: (a) “demonstrate understanding of some basic print conventions (the concept of what a letter is, the concept of words, directionality of print)” and (b) “with prompting and support, run their finger under or over print as they pretend to read text.” out of the twelve opportunities for a developmental indicator or subdomain to be identified, a developmental indicator was associated with the examples 92% of the time and the accurate subdomain was identified 75% of the time. scenario two. there were also two examples of children demonstrating the subdomain book knowledge in their play in scenario two. six out of eight participants accurately identified one of the two play examples, one participant identified both examples, and one participant identified no examples. each play example was associated with a distinct developmental indicator. for example, in scenario two when the child points to the letter-like forms and “reads” the writing, this evidence was associated with the developmental indicator that states, “recognize print in different forms for a variety of functions.” out of the eight opportunities for a developmental indicator or subdomain to be identified, a developmental indicator was only identified a quarter of the time and the literacy subdomain was identified 38% of the time. phonological awareness scenario one. there were three examples in scenario one that were indicative of phonological awareness. all eight participants identified at least two play examples. five participants identified two play examples while the remaining three participants identified all three examples. because one play example was linked to two dis (that is, comparing the names deshaun and dad and asking for pasghetti and peatballs were both associated with the di “play with the sounds of language, identify a variety of rhymes, and recognize the first sounds in some words”), there were twentythree opportunities for a di or subdomain to be listed. out of those twenty-three opportunities, the accurate di was identified 91% of the time and the accurate subdomain was identified 100% of the time. scenario two. there was no evidence of phonological awareness in scenario two. alphabet knowledge scenario one. there was one example in scenario one that represented alphabet knowledge (i.e., noticing that deshaun and dad both begin with the letter -d). six out of eight participants were able to identify this play example. because this one play example was linked to three dis (i.e., “show they know that letters function to represent sounds in spoken words”, “make some sound84 jordan & sumrall to-letter matches, using letter name knowledge”, and “associate sounds with the letters at the beginning of some words, such as awareness that two words begin with the same letter and the same sound”), out of ten opportunities for a di or subdomain to be listed, an accurate di was identified 90% of the time and the accurate subdomain was identified 80% of the time. in the instances when the incorrect subdomain was named, phonological awareness was universally the inaccurate subdomain selected. scenario two. there were three examples in scenario two that related to alphabet knowledge (i.e., writing their name, identifying the letter -m, and stating that the -m says “mom”). all eight participants were able to name at least one of these play examples. one participant was only able to name one example, two were able to identify all three examples, and five were able to identify two play examples. because two play examples were linked to more than one di, out of twentysix opportunities for a di or subdomain to be listed, a di was identified 92% of the time and the accurate subdomain was identified 100% of the time. writing scenario one. there was one example of children demonstrating the subdomain writing in their play in scenario one and nearly all participants (n = 7) correctly identified this example. the play example (i.e., jacob drawing a picture of spaghetti to record information) was associated with two developmental indicators (i.e., “represent thoughts and ideas in drawings and by writing letters or letter-like forms” and “independently engage in writing behaviors for various purposes”). out of the eight opportunities for a developmental indicator or subdomain to be identified, a developmental indicator was associated with the examples 100% of the time and the accurate literacy subdomain was identified 75% of the time. scenario two. six distinct evidences of writing could be identified by participants in scenario two (e.g., use of letter-like forms, name is written on artwork, use of multiple writing tools, etc.). out of the eight participants, three identified half of the examples, two identified one example, two identified no examples, and only one participant identified all six examples. out of the sixteen opportunities for the identification of a developmental indicator or subdomain, an accurate developmental indicator was identified 67% of the time and the accurate subdomain was identified 75% of the time. extensions given our small sample size, we have opted to share with you the transcribed responses of each participant in tables 4 and 5. from these responses, the breadth of possible extensions is visible as well as the variety across teachers. scenario one. teachers were consistently accurate when identifying subdomains, when a response was provided, and were largely cognizant that their extensions targeted multiple subdomains simultaneously. moreover, these extensions never relied on a textbook or program, but consistently evolved from the play described in the scenario itself. four participants relied on sensitivity to early literacy milestones 85 oral interactions, largely revolving around questioning the students to extend their literacy development, while two participants described changes they could make to centers/interest areas to support students’ continued growth. the final two participants described integrating physical activities (i.e., looking at a menu and taking dictation of what students are ordering) with oral discussion (i.e., identifying initial sounds to advance learning). it is important to note that while most of the responses are detailed, one participant does reference, “just ask[ing] them open-ended questions” without specifying any specific examples of what she might ask. table 4 participant extensions in response to scenario one participant transcribed response subdomain identification p1 uh, what’s your name? what letters it starts with. what sound is that? is that, uh—are there any other words that start with that sound that you can think of? alphabet knowledge p2 i guess i’d probably get me a notepad in that center ꞌcause kids will write in their notepads, and probably do a mini search around the classroom, what can we find that has a d like in deshone’s name. interest; alphabet; phonological awareness; writing p3 i would just ask them open-ended questions and just depending on what their answers are, or what my next questions might be. whatever they’re bringing me. ‘cause sometimes they’ll surprise you and know things. writing; phonological awareness p4 well, maybe you can extend and make a restaurant. we could make signs. we'd use that. we'll find pictures of spaghetti and write it down. have things labeled so that they could see the words and stress the correct words, the correct sound of the words. do it in a fun way. maybe create a menu based on that that has pictures and words. i have somethin' similar like that in my dramatic play area over there. writing; phonological awareness p5 i think i would go with the rhyming words, and then encourage them to—i think it’s always funny to do rhyming words with kids and let them know that it’s okay to do nonsensical words because they are astounded by that because they want to follow our rules. they think that’s not quite okay. i think i would do some—because i think kids just love rhyming. phonological awareness p6 i mean, just to mix it up with the d, i might give an example phonological 86 jordan & sumrall of my name or any of their other friends in the classroom. maybe the friends in that center they’re with, give an example there. if there are menus in the center, then we could look at a menu and we could look at words about certain types of food, how those words are started with what letter, what sounds they make, beginning sounds. jacob was talkin’ about drawin’ a picture of spaghetti. i could try to get them to elaborate a little bit more just asking questions. again, i could use the notepad to write down what they say about—i mean, if they had a story or just any way they elaborated, i could document it. awareness; alphabet knowledge; comprehension and use of information in books; book knowledge p7 i guess where they said, nina said, "deshawn, d-, d-, deshawn sounds like d-, d-, dad." you can ask what other words have a d-, dsound. or with emily, when she holds up the d page of a book, "yeah, deshawn and dad start with d," you could ask her what other words start with d." no response p8 i like to do this a lot, but i’ll play with the sounds to be silly, but it helps them understand the connection. like what about j-j-jump rope. they’ll be like, “yeah, that sounds the same.” then i’ll be like, “okay, what about j-j-joffee,” like a coffee. they’ll be like, “no, that’s not right. just to help them understand that sound, to help them start thinking about things that are family, that matches that sound. does that make sense? i can go talk about the spaghetti and meatball and a notepad. another extension of that i might do is once he draws the picture, then i write the word. write the words of what he’s ordering. that way he can associate the picture with the words, the text and that will help him develop the meaning of print. phonological awareness; alphabet knowledge; writing scenario two. as seen in table 5, the extensions provided by teachers for scenario two were by and large appropriate, relevant, and would support play-based literacy learning. a variety of extension activities targeted multiple subdomains, and all eight teachers correctly associated their extension with the writing subdomain. the majority of these extensions supported children in expanding their writing, often by using evidence-based strategies such as dictation, illustrating, and providing more detail. one teacher envisioned asking the child to sound out words relevant to the child’s work. sensitivity to early literacy milestones 87 table 5 participant extensions in response to scenario two participant transcribed response subdomain identification p1 "...and maybe we would write out her thoughts, and then she could put her, um, letters or letter-like forms above each word since she said, “this is—this says me and my mom went to the park and played on the swing.” so, i’m kind of scribing for her in her picture." writing p2 "i’d probably see if she wanted to make this into a little book, make it into, yeah, a little book, add my parts to it. well since this is the end of this story, what did you guys do before you went to the park and played at the swings, and probably develop her book that way, and have her write her sentences, and then again write them over in a note card. yeah." interest in and motivation to read; book knowledge; writing p3 "since she has done something like this i may ask her something else that she and mommy went to do, maybe ask her to sound out parts, that she knows that m starts with mommy. that she loves to draw pictures of her and her mommy, so i may ask for other things that they like to do. maybe create another illustration of them going to the grocery, whatever she said, whatever her answer was." writing; alphabet knowledge; interest in and motivation to read p4 "that we maybe take that further and maybe write a story about what they did at the park. maybe talk about what she likes to do other places. what's your favorite place—sorta just kinda give her scenarios and maybe have her dictate some things and draw about it while i write of course. maybe even motivate her to share it with other classmates. we can write a book. we can write a story and illustrate it." phonological awareness; alphabet knowledge; writing p5 "i would ask if there’s anything else that paisley would like to describe about what she and mom did. does she want to write about that? does she want to dictate that to me? does she want me to write the word mommy and see if she would like to write it if she wants to form those letters? then ask emily, what are you interested in doing here? do you want to—and even do you want to learn—do you know mom’s name? if writing; alphabet knowledge; phonological awareness; book knowledge; interest in and motivation to 88 jordan & sumrall you know momma’s name is debbie, have you ever written debbie? do you want to write debbie? do you want to make put this in a card for your momma and tell her how much you enjoy going to the park?" read p6 i mean, we talked about elboratin’ on her story but i mean, just encouragin’ more details, i guess, in her story, furthering that. if she’s able to write her name, she could potentially write her family’s names or anything else about the story. interest in and motivation to read; writing p7 i guess, since she is older, try to get her to maybe move her name somewhere different where she could space out the writing of her name maybe. writing p8 "i might encourage us to write other parts of the—you know, did the park have a name? maybe we should make—maybe we should add that to your drawing so we know where you were, a lot of different things, but i’m gonna stick with that one." alphabet knowledge; phonological awareness; writing discussion a major conclusion of this study is that teachers are able to identify evidence of literacy development using vignettes and envision pedagogical extensions to advance their learning. this methodological tool may be valuable in future studies that assess teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge. the current imbalance between early literacy studies that assess linguistic content knowledge (moats, 1994; piasta et al., 2009) and pedagogical content knowledge may be diminished by using similar methodology. the subdomains in which teachers were relatively more or less successful in identifying literacy milestones in play and subsequently connecting those to developmental indicators in the state’s elds were of primary interest to us. we will first discuss this rate of success subdomain by subdomain, then describe how generally successful teachers were in connecting those milestones to developmental indicators, and, finally, describe the extensions teachers envisioned to further student learning. we will then describe the implications of those findings for teacher education and end with the limitations and future directions for research. relative accuracy across subdomains the subdomains with which the teachers had the greatest rate of success were phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge, evidenced by all participants identifying at least one play example evidencing development in these subdomains. these findings were somewhat surprising sensitivity to early literacy milestones 89 given the widely noted lack of phonological and orthographic knowledge among teachers of early literacy (cunningham et al., 2015; moats, 1994; piasta et al., 2009; piasta et al., 2020). it is possible that teachers may be more easily able to note evidence of phonological awareness development in play than they can manipulate phonemes themselves. this area is one for future research in which teachers’ ability to identify phonological awareness development in play is measured at the same time as, and can be compared directly to, teachers’ own phonological awareness. the subdomains in which participants were least able to identify evidence of development in play were interest in and motivation to read and comprehension and use of information in books, evidenced by the majority of participants not identifying any milestones from these subdomains in at least one of the scenarios. we believe that these findings indicate a need for greater emphasis in teacher education on the ways in which young children engage with text, with literary language, and with various genres of text young children may explore. this reflects similar calls made by ripp (2016) and the national council of teachers of english (2018), among others, for enhanced teacher education focused on children’s literature. moreover, the difficulty in accurately identifying which subdomain of literacy various milestones evidenced, even with a list of subdomains provided, attests to the need for more explicit teacher education on the components of literacy, particularly using terms commonly found in research reports (nelp, 2008; nrp, 2000) and elds documents. connecting to developmental indicators and subdomains we did not expect teachers to have memorized the developmental indicators and subdomains and, therefore, gave them a condensed copy. nonetheless, we were surprised with how unfamiliar most teachers were with the developmental indicators and subdomains. on average, a matching developmental indicator and a matching subdomain were each identified less than three-quarters of the time, though there was significant variability on both features with a range of 33% 100% across subdomains. when teachers were asked qualitatively about their familiarity with the elds document from which the developmental indicators and subdomains were taken, most indicated that they had heard of it, received some level of training on it, and had access to it somewhere within their classroom. teachers also unanimously self-reported that the elds document was not something they had been provided much time or insight into how to use in relation to the children in their classrooms. they also all indicated that they would benefit from more professional development on what it means for them, their students and their teaching. planning extensions based on play identifying evidence of early literacy development in children’s play and connecting those to specific milestones, such as those described in elds, is an essential skill for teachers. more importantly, is what teachers do with this knowledge to further support children’s continued growth and learning. in other words, we were interested in teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge of how to teach. by and large, we found that teachers were able to plan reasonable literacy-rich extensions that were not not only appropriate, relevant, and based on evidence-based 90 jordan & sumrall teaching strategies, but extensions also directly expanded upon the play described in each of the scenarios. furthermore, teachers were fairly accurate when identifying subdomains that their extension supported, and oftentimes recognized that their extension would support development across multiple early literacy subdomains. this finding is particularly interesting given teachers’ difficulty in relating evidence of literacy play to developmental indicators and subdomains in each of the play scenarios. it is important to note that a few teachers made more general comments, such as non-specific praise and asking open-ended questions without identifying evidence-based practices. implications findings from this study have important implications for early childhood teacher education programs in institutions of higher education (ihes) as well as professional development (pd) for in-service teachers. ihes and pd should not only aim to increase teachers’ early literacy content knowledge, but also their pedagogical content knowledge. the authors suggest ihes and pd for in-service teachers incorporate opportunities for teachers not only to learn about their states’ elds but also to use it for a variety of authentic purposes (e.g., observation, documentation, identification of milestones in children’s play, curriculum development, etc.). such practice would deepen teachers’ understanding of the elds as having specific meaning for their own teaching with their particular students. furthermore, courses and pd that are geared toward early literacy development should break down the subdomains of language and literacy explicitly to enhance content knowledge. this content knowledge will build a solid foundation for early literacy instruction. an increased focus on early childhood education has led to the impetus of elds development around the world. although elds vary greatly in their organization and content, countries use them for many of the same purposes as here in the united states, including professional development for in-service and pre-service teachers and curriculum development (kagan et al., 2013). international audiences, and domestic alike, would benefit from a careful examination of their elds documents to ensure that all domains and content areas are represented and include not only important goals for development, but also a progression of milestones or developmental indicators that teachers can use to guide their instructional practices. additionally, programs that utilize other standards documents, such as the head start early learning outcomes framework (hselof), would benefit from aligning their elds to their states’ standards document. the alignment process can help those working in early care and education across systems to develop common expectations for children’s development and identify areas where additional alignment is needed. limitations and future directions this study has several limitations, not the least of which is our sample size. with only eight participants who were quite homogenous in terms of race, gender, education, and teaching placement, the generalizability of these findings must be limited to the population from which this sample was drawn. nevertheless, we believe this study is an important first step to understanding sensitivity to early literacy milestones 91 how well preschool teachers identify literacy milestones at play and can relate those to developmental standards. this study used an interview format using vignettes of children at play, which allowed researchers to develop a better understanding of teachers’ awareness of early literacy milestones in children’s play and learn about ways teachers would extend learning. while this methodological approach is innovative, future studies could consider using videos of children at play to better understand teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. additionally, the current study could be replicated with a larger and more heterogeneous sample to improve the generalizability of findings. conclusion as one of the first studies to use vignettes of children at play to examine pedagogical content knowledge, we believe this study sets an important methodological precedent for future studies examining teacher pedagogical knowledge. teachers’ ability to identify evidence of literacy 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(2016). when does preschool matter? future of children, 26(2), 21–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2016.01.008 the dialog vol28iss01 for separating.pdf the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 16 the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 1 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i1.2025 contact: erin hamel hamele@winthrop.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). creating inclusive multilingual spaces abstract this research to practice manuscript describes a summer literacy program designed to support emergent bilingual children ages 4 through 8 through a focus on culturally and linguistically diverse practices. children engaged in literature-based activities, including read-alouds, art, music, and play, within an inclusive environment that celebrated bilingualism as an asset. the program used high-quality picturebooks to implement a three-pronged approach: interactive read-alouds, culturally relevant small-group re-engagements, and hands-on explorations. findings underscore the importance of sensory-rich, play-based experiences, intentional collaboration among educators, and the strategic use of bilingual and translanguage picturebooks to foster meaningful connections and language development. keywords translanguaging, biliteracy, asset-based, picturebooks, strategies this study explored camp sunshine (pseudonym), a summer literacy program designed for emergent bilingual children ages 4-8. the camp celebrates linguistic diversity and positions bilingualism as an asset, emphasizing the value of children’s home languages. over the course of eight half-day sessions, children participated in a variety of literature-based activities, including read-alouds, art, music, dance, and center-based learning, as well as snack time and outdoor play. mixed-age groups were organized with kindergarteners and first graders together, and second and third graders in another cohort. within these spaces, campers use whichever language or languages with which they feel most comfortable within a given context, sometimes engaging in translanguaging as they navigate their linguistic repertoire (garcía et al., 2017). the program was staffed by bilingual teachers, researchers, and peer mentors, offering a rich, collaborative space for linguistic and cultural exploration creating inclusive multilingual spaces: a literature-based framework for supporting young emergent bilinguals a research to practice summary erin hamel bettie parsons barger winthrop university maria acevedo-aquino texas a&m university san antonio the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 17 in an inclusive and supportive environment. this article begins with a summary of the literature that serves as the foundation for our work. next, we describe our three-pronged approach, designed to create relevant experiences with picturebooks, that supports children in capitalizing on and utilizing biliteracy to make meaning. finally, we share insights for early childhood teachers who want to support children in utilizing their bi/multilingualism to make meaning of texts. summary of the literature the body of literature described below provides the theoretical foundation to our approach to supporting emergency bilingual children through culturally responsive literature-based experiences. specifically, we explore an asset-based perspective of bi/multilingualism (persons speaking two or more languages), instructional practices that support bi/multilingual language development, and intentional literature selection to support literacy growth for young bi/multilingual learners. bi/multilingualism as an asset our work is built upon the belief that we must recognize bi/multilingualism as an asset in educational settings. traditionally, bi/multilingualism has been viewed through a deficit lens, emphasizing challenges rather than advantages. however, recent studies advocate for a shift towards recognizing the strengths and benefits of bilingualism (soto-boykin et al.2021). this shift is crucial for ensuring that bilingual learners receive the support they need to thrive academically. furthermore, the role of families and educators in supporting bilingual learners is critical. research shows that when teachers and parents view bilingualism as a strength, it positively impacts children’s language development (zhang & jiang, 2024). teachers who engage with families and leverage their linguistic resources can foster a more inclusive and supportive learning environment. this approach not only benefits language acquisition but also supports the development of a positive academic identity among young bilingual learners. when young bi/multilingual learners are placed in classrooms that view their languages from an asset perspective, educators in those classrooms embrace translanguaging. garcia et al. (2017) describe the concept of translanguaging, the practice of naturally and meaningfully moving between languages. in translanguaging, children’s language development is strengthened through their flexible use of language as they seamlessly navigate multiple languages, showing command of linguistic features. noting that language is inextricably bound with identify (bucholtz, casillas, & lee, 2017; kim, 2003), we also draw from gonzález et al.’s (2005) research on funds of knowledge, which describes how connecting to childrens’ cultural identities (including language) and family experiences support academic learning and positive identity development. instructional practices research emphasizes the importance of providing ample opportunities for children to interact with language, develop academic language skills, and engage with content-specific vocabulary in multiple languages (chang et al., 2016; gascoyne, 2011; whitacre et al., 2021). some examples of instruction using best practices for emergent bilingual learners include collaborative learning and building upon children’s prior knowledge and lived experiences. additionally, when teachers consider how to enhance both language development and content knowledge, they ensure that children have opportunities to interact with language in both contexts (ortiz et al., 2023). we also drew from gascoyne’s (2011) research that sensory-based learning supports brain development and memory formation in young children, especially for emergent bilingual children developing their linguistic skills in multiple languages. therefore, planning for unstructured sensory experiences to create inclusive learning environments supports creativity and problem-solving. overall, research indicates that successful instruction for emergent bilinguals must intentionally create spaces that value and support multiple languages, while providing rich opportunities for language development in all languages. literature selection intentional literature selection is vital when working with emergent bilingual children. children need to have access to literature that connects to their lived experiences and home cultures (botelho creating inclusive multilingual spaces the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 18 & marion, 2023; reyes et al., 2022; sims bishop, 1990). when children are able to make connections to literature, to “see” themselves, they have deeper and richer experiences with the literature. as we considered what literature to use in camp sunshine, we drew from three different types of books: 1) translated books published in both languages as separate translations; 2) bilingual books that include both languages in the same text; and 3) translanguage books that naturally integrate words from another language into the text. drawing from these types of books honors children’s linguistic capabilities and provides access to texts through multiple languages. a three-pronged approach for literacy engagement daily, camp sunshine implemented a threepronged approach for literacy engagement. first, a picturebook was introduced in a whole group interactive read-aloud. then, a small group participated in re-engagement focused on content or story elements. finally, the third prong incorporated hands-on explorations of the text through art and/ or play-based activities. the first prong: read-aloud beginning with a whole-group interactive read aloud, teachers used strategies to engage bilingual learners with the text and develop comprehension. by projecting the book on a large tv screen, students viewed the illustrations as teachers used a range of read-aloud skills like varied voices, speeds, and volumes (kiefer et al., 2023). additionally, teachers used strategies like pausing for questions, encouraging children’s interactions with the text, through shared connections or responses, or getting in the role of a character to enhance the readaloud experience. the second prong: culturally relevant re-engagement after the whole group read-aloud, campers gathered into age-based small groups and took a break for snack and informal conversation. then teachers revisited key aspects of the story, or themes or concepts, that further developed campers engagement with and comprehension of the story. these reengagements incorporated both spanish and english, integrated movement, and used sensory materials to deepen children’s understanding. they also included questions about the illustrations and/or text, allowing for a more in-depth exploration of the picturebook. our focus during this time was to make the texts/concepts more accessible to the children by drawing upon their experiences and linguistic resources to support meaningful connections to the book. the third prong: exploration once children re-engaged with the picturebook, they moved into a space where they explored the story’s concepts through curated art or playbased activities. these literature-based explorations provided relative and interesting opportunities for inquiry, built on knowledge and understanding, and met diverse needs of bilingual readers as they meaningfully explored picturebooks (chang et al., 2016; kiefer et al., 2023; pappas et al., 2006). for example, children painted together, created collages using items found on a nature walk, or reenacted parts of the story. through hands-on exploration, children used multiple modes of expression to demonstrate their understanding through a variety of experiences. insights our summer camp focused on creating spaces for emergent bilinguals that reflected the children’ s linguistic identities and family experiences. we supported the young learners in making sense of complex picturebooks using the three-pronged approach and through our work, we learned important lessons. in the following sections, we share insights for creating spaces and opportunities that maximize supportive linguistic experiences for emergent bilingual children. embracing bilingualism a key component of camp sunshine was an inclusive environment that welcomed, respected, and utilized multiple languages in the classroom. labels and materials were in spanish and english. we selected books, songs, and activities that honored cultural and linguistic differences. children were encouraged to use their preferred language(s) creating inclusive multilingual spaces the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 19 & throughout the day in ways that felt authentic and natural to them. selecting picturebooks and strategies for meaning-making as we prepared for camp, we intentionally selected bilingual, translated, and translanguage picturebooks so that children interacted with multiple languages throughout their literacy experiences. these books often told culturally relevant stories to which children could make text-to-self or text-toworld connections. additionally, we selected books with outstanding illustrations that aided comprehension, lengths that were appropriate for the ages, and authors and/or illustrators who are members of the communities about which they write about. these considerations were important to us to ensure that children engaged with the picturebooks. in addition to carefully curated picturebooks, teachers utilized strategies to aid comprehension in multiple languages. some strategies included gesturing, questioning in both spanish and english, highlighting key vocabulary, incorporating music and movement, and providing wait time for students to process questions and form responses. by varying their approach to foster language development, teachers created meaningful and playful ways for children to flexibly interact with the language. sensory-based experiences our time in camp sunshine illuminated the importance of utilizing sensory-rich experiences in supporting emergent bilingual learners. we intentionally implemented art and play-based activities that enabled children to connect to stories in unique and meaningful ways. movement and dramatization activities often reinforced concepts. dramatic play and manipulatives helped children engage with concepts in concrete ways that support both language development and content understanding. teachers as collaborators the final finding from camp sunshine is the importance of collaboration between colleagues, which increases student learning (juuti et al., 2021). our approach built on respecting each other’s expertise and ensuring all voices were heard when providing feedback. while we started with planned lessons, we maintained flexibility through an iterative process where we frequently observed children’s responses, discussed observations together, and made collaborative revisions to better support children’s learning experiences. overall, we leveraged one another’s perspectives and expertise to plan and implement a supportive learning environment for the camp’s emergent bilingual learners. suggestions for practice as you are considering how best to implement some of these culturally responsive practices that support emergent bi/multilingual students in learning environments, we encourage you to start small, create meaningful experiences, and support language. start small what is manageable for you in this particular setting at this particular time? maybe it is finding one or two high-quality bilingual books or finding songs in the home languages of your students. maybe it’s implementing the three-pronged approach with one of your favorite picturebooks that you regularly read in your classroom. maybe it’s adding multiple languages to labels around your classroom. take that first step. create meaningful experiences what will be meaningful and valuable for your students? do they like to move their bodies? perhaps engage them in activities that allow them to move their bodies to create meaning of the text. do they like art? then create art experiences that support them in making sense of the story. do they enjoy hands-on activities? are they particularly interested in interacting with their peers? use their passions to guide your decision-making in which strategies to use to help them fall more deeply into and connect with picturebooks. additionally, study creating inclusive multilingual spaces “camp sunshine illuminated the importance of utilizing sensory-rich experiences in supporting emergent bilingual learners.” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 20 your daily schedule and capitalize on opportunities to provide for natural conversations in multiple languages. slow things down as much as possible. how might you incorporate providing more time for children to process and respond within a very demanding schedule? position bi/multilingualism as assets valuing children’s bilingualism is imperative to expanding their linguistic repertoires. what does this look like in your educational setting? might you learn key words in children’s home languages or partner with families to learn important phrases? how might technology tools like translation apps help you? what visuals might you create for common routines that might support bi/multilingual learners? most importantly, how might you create spaces where bi/multilingual children feel confident and safe to explore language and communicate freely? small steps in incorporating effective strategies make a big difference in supporting emergent bilingual children’s learning and development. start with what feels right and manageable. then, stepby-step, expand your multilingual and culturally responsive practices. creating inclusive multilingual spaces hs dialog, 27(1), 77-93 copyright ©2024, issn: 1930-9325 descriptive article reimagining preparation for early intervention providers sarah d. wiegand monique matute-chavarria anita hernández new mexico state university preparing highly qualified part c early intervention providers to serve eligible infants and toddlers and their families is crucial. currently, there is no licensure for early childhood special education in the state of new mexico, leaving many part c providers without the necessary preparation. project rise, reimagining intervention to support early childhood, a grant funded through the office of special education programs, will create a multicultural early intervention concentration within the existing early childhood education birth-four non-licensure program. the aim of this project is to reimagine the preparation of early intervention providers through the infusion of culturally sustaining practices, strengths-based practices, and yosso's community cultural wealth model. project rise will fund two cohorts of scholars within the final two years of their bachelor’s degrees to complete this concentration. this manuscript will describe project rise, including the relevant new mexico context; the development of project rise competencies, courses, and practicum experiences; the development of and collaboration with our affiliated faculty team and advisory board; scholar recruitment; and lessons learned thus far. keywords: part c, early intervention, community cultural wealth, funds of knowledge, personnel preparation introduction project rise, reimagining intervention to support early childhood, aims to transform the early intervention (ei) workforce in new mexico by preparing underrepresented scholars to serve the state’s culturally and linguistically diverse population. this five-year grant funds two cohorts of scholars for the final two years of their bachelor’s degree in applied studies (birth to four nonlicensure program). the grant is currently in year 1, which is a planning year. the first cohort began in august 2024, and the second cohort will begin in august 2026. project rise scholars will graduate with a concentration in multicultural early intervention within the existing early childhood birth to four non-licensure pathways at new mexico state university, including courses on ei, native american education, and multilingual/multicultural special education. this wiegand et al. 78 will help generate ei providers who can enter the workforce prepared for their role. the emphasis on multicultural education, culturally sustaining practices, and evidence-based practices will ensure that scholars are highly qualified ei providers and responsive to the needs of the infants, toddlers, and families they serve. project rise aims to reimagine early intervention preparation to train inclusive, culturally responsive, and equitable ei providers to improve child and family outcomes in part c. background part c early intervention part c of the individuals with disabilities education act (idea) serves infants and toddlers with identified delays and/or disabilities and their families. according to the us department of education, part c early intervention services promote child development by increasing the capacity of families/caregivers and help to increase positive outcomes for infants, toddlers, and their families (u.s. department of education, 2023). part c is markedly different from part b (special education services for students ages 3-21), as it is centered around the priorities of the family and takes place in the child's natural environments. this means services are provided in settings such as the family’s home, community settings such as a playground or community playgroup, and early care and learning settings. the goal is to increase the competence and confidence of families/caregivers so they can implement strategies within the everyday activities and routines of a child to promote their development (u.s. department of education, 2023). increasing the capacity of those interacting with the child daily within the natural environment is important in promoting inclusion. services in part c are driven by the individualized family service plan (ifsp). the ifsp is a document developed jointly by the ei providers and family focused on child outcomes based on the strengths, interests, and needs of the child and family. many different providers can work with children and their families/caregivers within part c. providers include developmental specialists (known widely in the field as special instructors), speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, nurses, social workers, and others. services will look different according to the child/family’s needs and priorities as written in the ifsp. however, it is mandated through idea that every child and family have a service coordinator on their team to assist families with accessing services, understanding their parental rights, and navigating the part c system (early childhood technical assistance center [ecta], 2024). service coordination can be a blended model or a dedicated model. in the blended model, service coordinators have an additional role as one of the providers listed above. in the dedicated model, service coordination is the provider's only role (ecta, 2024). ei providers must possess a specific set of knowledge and skills to promote positive outcomes for infants/toddlers and their families. necessary skills include a knowledge of child development, evidence-based practices appropriate for part c, familycentered practices, culturally sustaining practices, and collaborative practices (division for early childhood [dec], 2020b). project rise competencies are outlined in table 1. there is a documented shortage of ei personnel throughout the united states, as well as documented challenges with provider retention (ecta, 2024a). some of the factors fueling this reimagining preparation 79 problem include low compensation; lack of specialized training/personnel preparation; and low public knowledge of part c and of the ei profession (ecta, 2024b). currently, there is no early childhood special education license in the state of new mexico. given the significant need for (1) ei professionals in new mexico and across the country; and (2) a program that prepares highly qualified ei providers; we prepared, submitted, and received an office of special education programs (osep) personnel preparation grant. this grant, project rise, will fund two cohorts of undergraduate scholars in the final two years of their program and prepare them to be highly qualified part c ei providers. this manuscript will describe the development of a reimagined preparation program for developmental specialists and dedicated service coordinators within an existing early childhood education program in new mexico. new mexico context as we discuss personnel preparation at new mexico state university, it is important to note the unique demographics of new mexico and recent legislation as it relates to both preparing educators and serving children and families in ei programs. according to the 2023 us census, new mexico has the third highest poverty rate in the united states at 17.6%. just over half of individuals in new mexico identify as hispanic or latino (50.2%), 35.7% of individuals identify as white or non-hispanic, 11.2% of individuals identify as native american or alaskan native, 2.7 % identify as black, 2.0% identify as asian, and 0.2% identify as native hawaiian and other pacific islander, making new mexico a very diverse state with rich cultural heritages. additionally, 32.6% of households in new mexico speak a language other than english at home. the other languages spoken in new mexico households include spanish, diné, keres, tiwa, and tewa. in 2018, an impactful lawsuit occurred in new mexico. in the lawsuit yazzie/martinez v. state of new mexico, a judge ruled the state failed to provide multilingual learners and indigenous students a sufficient education (new mexico center on law and poverty, 2018). since this ruling, the state has passed legislation to provide the state with universal preschool, improved teacher pay, and include culturally responsive instruction and materials, among others. new mexico has also engaged in increased tribal consultation and professional development efforts to ensure instruction is culturally responsive (legislative finance committee, 2022). this ruling has significantly impacted new mexico teacher preparation programs and state standards, increasing the attention to culturally responsive assessment and instructional practices. part c in new mexico new mexico’s part c program is called the family infant toddler (fit) program. the lead agency for part c in new mexico is the early childhood education and care department. in 2022, the fit program was ranked first in the nation for identifying and providing services for the most infants under the age of one. however, this amount of service for children and families also presents great staffing needs. additionally, in a 2022 cost study, new mexico’s fit program reported a high turnover rate for both developmental specialists (18%) and service coordinators (29%). a 2022 tribal needs assessment conducted by new mexico’s early childhood education wiegand et al. 80 and care department (ececd) indicated tribes, pueblos, and nations in new mexico experience challenges recruiting and retaining ei providers who are highly qualified to meet their needs. as stated previously, there is no early childhood special education license in the state of new mexico. subsequently, to be a developmental specialist or service coordinator, one must hold a degree in one of 19 related fields, such as psychology, nutrition, social work, or early childhood education. even given these broad requirements, 9.7% of new mexico’s fit program developmental specialists were hired on a one-year waiver in 2022, as they did not have a degree in a qualifying related field. overall, there is a significant need to recruit and retain highly qualified and diverse developmental specialists and service coordinators in new mexico to meet the diverse needs of children and families in new mexico. new mexico state university new mexico state university (nmsu) is a hispanic-serving institution (hsi) and is both a landgrant and space-grant university. over half of our university students (57.6%) identify as hispanic. as of 2022, a third of students identified as first-generation college students. this institution prides itself on being both student-centered and promoting social mobility. many students work full-time, have families, and juggle many priorities as they attend university. the early childhood program at nmsu includes two different pathways: (1) the birth to four nonlicensure pathway, resulting in a bachelor’s degree in applied studies, and (2) the pre-k to 3rd grade licensure pathway, resulting in a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. students in the non-licensure pathway take many of the same courses as the students in the licensure pathway, but they do not have to student teach or meet new mexico requirements for licensure. graduates from this non-licensure pathway are eligible for jobs in head start and early head start settings, childcare settings, pre-k classrooms, home visiting programs, and ei agencies. in the last five years (fall 2017-spring 2023), the non-licensure pathway successfully graduated 177 students, and the licensure pathway successfully graduated 103 students, a total of 220 graduates. the early childhood education program at nmsu continues to grow and produce large numbers of early childhood educators. authors’ positionalities the first two authors are assistant professors at a hispanic serving institution (hsi) and a minority serving institution (msi) in the southwest on the borderlands. the third author is a professor at the same hsi and msi as the first two authors. the first author identifies as a white, monolingual, cis-gendered woman. she is a mother and a former ei provider (developmental specialist, service coordinator). the first author works in both the special education and early childhood programs within her institution. the second author identifies as a black mother scholar, afro-latina, and disabled. she is first-generation, first american-born, and identifies as cis-gendered. the second author is multilingual (i.e., spanish, english) with fluency in speaking, writing, and reading. furthermore, she has a background working in ei prior to joining the academy as an assistant professor. the third author identifies as latina, first generation, first american-born, and identifies reimagining preparation 81 as cisgendered. she is a spanish-english multilingual with fluency in speaking, writing, and reading. she also has experience working with multilingual teachers in dual language programs and was a former primary grade teacher working in a spanish-english maintenance bilingual program. we acknowledge that our identities and experiences influenced the ideas for the project and the need to reimagine ei preparation programs. project development once the initial call for the osep personnel preparation grant was released, we consulted with the bureau chief for the fit program, a professional development specialist for the state, and administrators from ei agencies in new mexico. we also gathered initial information from early childhood faculty at nmsu. these contributors provided invaluable information that helped to shape the idea for project rise. project rise competencies to meet the needs of students, ei agencies, and infants/toddlers and their families, we discussed the importance of reimagining early intervention. this means recruiting diverse students (e.g., race, ethnicity, dis/ability status, sexual orientation, and language) and preparing them to work with the diverse children and families in new mexico. as we wrote project rise, we wanted to go beyond the current standards of practice in ei (dec, 2020a) therefore, we embedded culturally sustaining practices (paris & alim, 2017) and the community cultural wealth model (yosso, 2005) within the curriculum with a focus on equity in ei. we will use these frameworks to prepare scholars to value the cultural assets of families, use asset-based approaches, affirm family beliefs, and empower families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. it is critical to use these models so scholars recognize and include the cultural wealth of families (yosso, 2005). yosso’s community cultural wealth model encompasses six forms of cultural wealth, such as aspirational, social, linguistic, resistance, navigational, and familial. by incorporating yosso’s (2005) model, scholars may be more inclusive and honor the cultural wealth of the families they serve. in addition, culturally sustaining practices foster the identities, languages, and traditions of the individuals they serve. this ensures that scholars recognize and value the cultural assets of the infants, toddlers, and families they serve. the project rise curriculum includes critical perspectives, supporting linguistic repertoires, centering equity, and using evidence-based practices. centering equity in project rise ensures that scholars will be prepared to provide highquality services to all infants, toddlers, and families regardless of their backgrounds, language, and socioeconomic status. we created project rise competencies that integrated the following sources: dec ei/ecse preparation standards (2020); dec recommended practices (2014); knowledge and skills for service coordinators ([kssc], 2020); and yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth model. there are five project rise competency areas: (a) knowledge of child development; (b) familycentered practices; (c) culturally sustaining practices; (d) evidence-based practices; and (e) collaboration and leadership (see table 1 for project rise competencies). wiegand et al. 82 table 1 project rise competencies knowledge of child development kcd 1project rise ei scholar understands child development theories and philosophies and their impact on assessment, intervention, and instructional decisions in early intervention (dec 1.1; kssc 1.1) kcd 2project rise ei scholar understands the normative sequence of development of infants and toddlers and acknowledges that aspects of development are socially constructed, as is disability, and are shaped by cultural, religious, familial, socio-economic, gender, and linguistic factors (dec 1.2; kssc 1.2) kcd 3project rise ei scholar can describe characteristics and etiologies across a variety of developmental delays and disabilities and the potential impact on infants/toddlers and the family (dec 1.4) kcd 4project rise ei scholar partners with families to support their understanding of child development and to deepen the candidate’s own understanding of child development from the perspective of the family (dec f2; kssc 1.3) kcd 5project rise ei scholar understands and describes child development using an assetbased perspective (yosso, 2005 family-centered practices fcp 1project rise scholar understands and explains part c services and a family’s procedural safeguards to ensure family understanding and to support families in advocating for themselves and their child (kssc 2.2) fcp 2project rise scholar develops trusting partnerships with families and exchanges knowledge and information to improve outcomes for the child and family (dec f1) fcp 3project rise scholar partners with families to understand their strengths, priorities, and concerns and centers all practices around the changing needs of the child and family (dec 2.3) fcp 4project rise scholar collaborates with families and caregivers to plan and engage in culturally and linguistically relevant assessment practices that identify a child and family’s strengths, priorities, and needs and lead to meaningful and functional ifsp outcomes and iep goals (dec 4.1, 4.4) fcp 5project rise scholar partners with families to explain the part c to b transition, understand family priorities related to the transition, and advocate for inclusive and equitable services for the child and family (kssc 5.3) reimagining preparation 83 table 1 continued culturally sustaining practices csp 1project rise scholar develops trusting relationships with a family to understand how their culture impacts their experiences with and perceptions of early intervention (dec 2.1) csp 2project rise scholar collaborates with interpreters to ensure understanding of a family’s cultural and linguistic background, engage in respectful and meaningful visits, and provide resources in the family’s home language csp 3project rise scholar conducts all aspects of intervention (assessment, instruction, and service coordination) in the family’s home language csp 4project rise scholar honors and embeds a family’s cultural wealth, including their knowledge, culture, experiences, and beliefs into assessment and instruction (yosso, 2005) csp 5project rise scholar helps to develop ifsps and initial ieps that reflect a family’s values, culture, ideas, priorities, and assets (feeney et al., 2024) evidence-based practices ebp 1project rise scholar partners with families and other professionals to select evidencebased assessments and instructional practices relevant to the family and child that can be conducted within a child’s natural environment (dec 5.1) ebp 2project rise scholar uses family and caregiver coaching to support families and other caregivers to implement evidence-based practices across everyday activities and routines (dec 6.1) ebp 3project rise scholar partners with families and caregivers across settings to collect and use relevant and functional data to make informed decisions in assessment and intervention (dec 4.4; dec ins3) ebp 4project rise scholar understands how technology can promote access and inclusion and collaborates with other services providers and the family to implement strategies appropriate to the family (dec e4, e5) ebp 5project rise scholar views research and practice using a critical lens and adopts evidence-based practices that are culturally and linguistically relevant wiegand et al. 84 table 1 continued collaboration and leadership cl1project rise scholar collaborates with families and caregivers to provide equitable and evidence-based strategies and uses family input to guide all aspects of intervention (e.g., instruction, planning, transition, due process meetings) (dec 3.3) cl2project rise scholar understands a variety of teaming models, and how to effectively collaborate and communicate with team members and professionals in the community such as early care and learning providers (dec 3.2; kssc 3.1) cl3project rise scholar uses self-reflection and seeks out professional development and mentorship opportunities to improve practices and services for infants/toddlers in ei and their families (dec 7.2; kssc 6.2) cl4project rise scholar promotes inclusive practices through collaboration with professionals such as early care and learning providers, administrators, and professionals involved in the part c to b transition (dec tr 1; dec 3.2) cl5-project rise scholar advocates for reimagined services through their own practice and through participation in local and national activities and participation in ei professional organizations (dec 7.1) program placement after identifying the need for an ei preparation concentration, we searched for a program where it could be placed. the birth to four non-licensure pathway includes three different practicum experiences; a course on advanced caregiving for infants and toddlers; a course on assessment of young children; a course on working with young children with disabilities; a course on family, language, and culture; a course on emergent literacy; as well as a course on research in child growth, development, and learning. when deciding on the best place to situate an early intervention concentration, we found many courses in which we could embed author created competencies within the existing courses in the non-licensure pathway. this led to the proposed creation of a multicultural early intervention concentration within the birth to four non-licensure pathway. project rise coursework the birth-four non-licensure pathway provides a promising foundation for a concentration focused on ei. to build the project rise program of study, we started with the required courses for the birth to four non-licensure pathway in the final four semesters of the program. these classes include: (1) research in child growth, development, and learning; (2) family, language, and culture; (3) assessment of young children birth to eight; (4) working with young children with special needs; (5) emergent literacy; and (6) advanced caregiving for infants and toddlers. all faculty members who teach one of these courses are included as affiliated faculty. next, we took reimagining preparation 85 the existing practicum and accompanying course and changed it to a practicum in early intervention, which is outlined in detail below. to fill in the gaps specific to ei and project rise, we then sought out existing courses outside of early childhood education and created courses. these courses include: (1) bilingual/multicultural special education, which exists within the special education program; (2) native american education, which exists within the multicultural education program; (3) birth-three early intervention methods, a course co-created by the first and second authors; and (4) project rise capstone, a course created by all three authors to provide scholars with the opportunity for more hours in the field as well as an opportunity to collaborate with their peers to carry out an ei related community-based project. to ensure all project rise competencies are addressed, project rise will also include a summer retreat following year 1. the summer retreat will include presentations by affiliated faculty members and national speakers to address concepts in depth. practicum and capstone experiences an integral component of project rise is the practicum placement within an ei agency, as it provides real world experiences and networking opportunities for project rise scholars. currently, there is no established practicum program with ei agencies at our institution. prior to submitting the grant proposal, the first author reached out to one ei agency in town who agreed to be a practicum site. conversations ensued surrounding the development of this practicum, which would take the place of the third practicum requirement for students in the birth-four non-licensure pathway. additionally, project rise faculty would teach the accompanying course for the practicum. this specific ei agency also connected us with the two other agencies in town. one of the two agencies responded and agreed to be a practicum site if the grant was funded. once funded, we began meeting with the agencies to discuss details of the practicum and capstone experiences. administrators at the ei agency shared their needs surrounding workforce, which included retaining service coordinators and having developmental specialists and service coordinators who enter the job prepared to use best practices with infants/toddlers and their families. to address these needs, we decided on the following: (1) practicum hours will be divided between time with a service coordinator and a developmental specialist; (2) additional hours in the field will be provided through a capstone course; and (3) students will choose to spend their capstone hours either with a developmental specialist or a service coordinator, depending on their perceived fit. in collaboration with the early childhood clinical director, we are in the process of creating a practicum handbook for students who are placed with an ei agency. this handbook will be an adaptation of the handbook used for early childhood practicum students who are placed in early care and learning settings. the handbook will include the project rise competencies, expectations for the supervising ei providers and for practicum students, guidelines for hours, how to make up practicum hours, and any relevant procedures related to the ei agencies and our institution. see figure 1 for the project rise course sequence. in this figure, the red highlights the existing courses in the school of teacher preparation, administration, and leadership that will be added wiegand et al. 86 to the multicultural early intervention concentration. the blue indicates the courses that will be created by project rise faculty. the yellow indicates courses that already exist withing the birthfour applied studies program. the green indicates the required courses in the birth-four applied studies program of study that have been modified to take place in an ei setting and covers related topics. figure 1 project rise course sequence fall 1 spring 1 summer fall 2 spring 2 bilingual/multicultural special education research in child growth, development, and learning emergent literacy ei birth-three practicum project rise capstone native american education family, language, and culture advanced caregiving for infants and toddlers integrated ei curriculum birth-three ei methods assessment of young children birth to eight project rise summer retreat working with young children with special needs affiliated faculty to ensure project rise scholars receive high-quality instruction to improve their knowledge on all project rise competencies and prepare scholars to be highly qualified ei providers, we recruited faculty from our institution with specific content knowledge outside of the expertise of the project rise personnel. we recruited faculty who: (1) teach required courses within the birthfour non-licensure program (2) faculty who would teach courses outside of the birth-four nonlicensure program that are required for project rise; and (3) faculty who will present content at the project rise summer retreat. in all, six faculty members agreed to be affiliated faculty on project rise. project rise affiliated faculty bring expertise in areas such as translanguaging, multiliteracies, trauma-informed care, bilingual education, assistive technology, and native american education. advisory council an advisory council is vital to any project, specifically one impacting students, the community, the university, and the state. we reached out to individuals with broad perspectives and roles, who reimagining preparation 87 all agreed to be part of project rise, if funded. the advisory council is comprised of seven members, including two early childhood instructors from the local community college (discussed in more detail below), the chief operating officer of a local ei agency, the bureau chief for the fit program, a parent of a child who received ei services, an academic success coordinator for the university, and a training specialist for an organization for native american education for parents of children with disabilities. since the project’s start, we have met with our advisory council once in a hybrid meeting. members of the council were reimbursed for their time and efforts. advisory council members provided feedback on project rise syllabi, scholar recruitment and support, and the practicum/capstone placements. we will continue to meet with our advisory council throughout the grant and expect to receive guidance and feedback on scholar retention and support, the project rise summer retreat, as well as evaluation of the first iteration of project rise to make improvements for cohort 2. student recruitment and support our first strategy to attract and retain scholars was to hire a project rise coordinator who identifies with an underrepresented background, such as being native american, latinx, black, asian, or pacific islander, or with intersecting marginalized identities, such as being a black disabled woman or someone from the lgbtq+ community. we intentionally recruited a coordinator from an underrepresented background or with an intersecting marginalized identity to ensure our personnel are representative of the scholar population. research indicates students benefit when they have a teacher from their background (brooks-easton, 2019). in addition, we sought a coordinator with experience building websites, recruiting, maintaining accurate records, and managing data. recruitment process project rise is committed to recruiting scholars from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds, including those who identify as racially and ethnically diverse, lbtqia+, and multilingual (e.g., spanish/english, diné/english, pueblo/english, keres/english), that live in the state of new mexico. the inclusion of scholars from these backgrounds, as well as individuals with disabilities, is essential to the vision of project rise. in addition, project rise personnel ensure that the program is accessible to all individuals, regardless of their disability, race, gender, socioeconomic status, or linguistic background. we engaged in several recruitment activities to advertise for the first cohort of scholars. recruitment activities included information sessions at local community organizations, community colleges, our own university orientation sessions for community college transfer students, and churches to reach individuals from diverse racial and linguistic backgrounds. the information sessions addressed the support and mentorship opportunities available to scholars to ensure their success throughout the program. in addition, we collaborated with university diversity programs (i.e., lgbtq+, black programs, chicanx, american indian) to disseminate recruitment flyers to recruit students from underrepresented programs. in addition, the qualifications for selection were the following: (a) cumulative gpa (i.e., minimum 3.0), (b) one wiegand et al. 88 letter of recommendation and two additional references, (c) project rise application, and (d) interview with project rise faculty. we reviewed all applications and interviewed each candidate. community college partnership one of our most successful recruitment strategies was partnering with a local community college, doña ana community college (dacc) to recruit scholars graduating with their associate’s degrees in early childhood. dacc early childhood faculty assisted in identifying and engaging students who want to pursue their bachelor's degree and a career in early intervention. dacc faculty invited us to join their courses to hand out recruitment flyers and discuss project rise, and reached out to former students who they believed would be interested in project rise. additionally, there is a meet and greet event hosted by nmsu where dacc students finishing their associate’s degree in early childhood come to campus to hear about early childhood programs from nmsu faculty. dacc early childhood faculty asked project rise to do a presentation at the meet and greet to answer student questions and generate interest in project rise. through targeted outreach and recruitment strategies, dacc played a critical role in ensuring that students from underrepresented backgrounds have access to the academic and professional development opportunities that project rise will provide. in addition to recruitment efforts, dacc faculty members are actively involved with project rise. two early childhood faculty from their institution are members of the project rise advisory council. this partnership enriches the experience for project rise scholars and strengthens the ties between the community college and the university community. interview process one key component of the interview process involved scenario-based questions developed by project rise personnel. the questions required the candidate to provide a background of their experiences and knowledge of best practices in early intervention and working with families of young children with disabilities. for example, scholars were asked to describe their teaching philosophy with children who speak a home language other than english and with infants/toddlers/children who have dis/abilities. this question allowed us to understand the scholar’s teaching philosophy and strategies they would apply in real-life situations when working with families from culturally and linguistically diverse (cld) backgrounds. in addition, this provided an opportunity to assess the scholar’s skills. for example, this provided insight into the scholar’s problem-solving abilities, communication skills, and understanding of the importance of building trust and fostering collaboration with cld families in their homes. furthermore, the interview process emphasized the critical role of equity, diversity, and inclusion in education. the applicants were asked to discuss their teaching philosophy, particularly regarding how they ensure an inclusive environment that supports young children with disabilities from cld backgrounds. the focus on equity, inclusion, and diversity ensures that scholars are not only familiar with best practices in early intervention/early childhood but also have a commitment to learning best practices to foster an inclusive and supportive environment for the young children and families they will serve. reimagining preparation 89 student support and mentorship we are dedicated to mentoring the scholars throughout the program to ensure their retention, academic success, and professional success. we have strategically recruited affiliated faculty and advisory board members from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds to represent the demographics of the scholars. our plan is to foster a sense of community among the scholars, beginning with community-building activities. one of the key activities will include creating a culture map, which will allow scholars to learn about their peers’ cultures, values, and goals. this activity promotes mutual respect and teamwork and builds teacher-student relationships. in addition, we will host fellowship events each semester to maintain a strong sense of community and support. we will collaborate with the diversity programs on campus (i.e., american indian programs, black programs, chicano programs, lgbtqia+ programs, and disability access services) to provide office/fellowship hours for our scholars. we will co-host activities such as culture chats within the diversity programs. culture chats consist of scholars presenting their cultural background (e.g., spoken language, traditional food, customs). we hope scholars will build a strong connection with faculty, staff, and students within these programs that greatly impact their experience at nmsu. scholars will also be provided with resources to seek accommodations from disability access services (if applicable) to ensure success in all courses. furthermore, we will provide scholars with a tutor to provide additional support in completing assignments. the tutor will be a senior in the early childhood department pursuing a degree in the birth-four non-licensure program. the scholars are also offered additional support through regular drop-in hours, both in-person and online via zoom. the sessions will allow scholars to ask questions related to assignments, request resources, and receive accountability from we and their peers. by fostering an inclusive and supportive environment, we aim to empower scholars to achieve their full potential and contribute to the communities they will serve. individualized scholar support project rise faculty developed a needs assessment to identify and address the various aspects of scholar’s well-being, work-life balance, and personalized support strategies. the needs assessments, conducted in july 2024, assisted us in understanding each scholar’s needs, allowing us to individualize resources and supports effectively. scholars were asked to complete a form indicating their strengths, how they learn, specific academic areas where they may need support, and how project rise faculty can support them throughout the program. we then met with each scholar individually to develop a support plan. by evaluating the scholar’s needs, financial status, academic needs, and emotional needs, we hope to create a supportive environment that will enhance each scholar’s overall experience in the program. in addition to tuition, we are committed to ensuring all project rise scholars receive the necessary resources to thrive, including but not limited to funding for books, housing, childcare, transportation, mental health supports, and wellness. the goal of the needs assessment is to gain a thorough understanding of each scholar’s needs to be successful in the program so that the support can be individualized each semester. this will be an ongoing process, and we plan to routinely monitor and address each scholar's financial wiegand et al. 90 needs, academic progress, and well-being to alleviate as many barriers as possible that may hinder their success in the program. lessons learned we have learned a great deal in the first year of the project. one of our goals is to recruit indigenous scholars to be part of project rise. however, as a cultural norm, scholars from indigenous communities are not always able to leave their communities. we were novice and did not learn this until recruitment had begun. indigenous scholars often remain in their communities due to cultural, familial, and social obligations to their community. moreover, moving to the university means leaving significant familial and community support networks and established jobs. this was a critical learning point for us to create future programs that are flexible, remote, and hybrid to meet the needs of indigenous communities. therefore, it is important in the future to create programs that support indigenous scholars’ learning while respecting their cultural ties to their communities. there is a critical need in new mexico to prepare scholars from the navajo nation and pueblo to serve their communities. we have learned the importance of recruiting scholars from indigenous backgrounds. furthermore, we have brainstormed the lessons learned and will revise the program for cohort two (e.g., hybrid courses, remote learning, practicum placements in different areas of the state) to meet this critical need in new mexico. budget adjustment initially, we budgeted for 24 scholars to take part in project rise across two cohorts. after the recruitment process, we selected four eligible scholars. ei as a program of study is a new pathway and not well known. we found ourselves educating students about the employment opportunities in ei agencies as well as educating their university advisors. the early childhood major is not solely becoming a preschool teacher or a special education preschool teacher. the opportunities of working in ei agencies were enlightening to many of the recruits. moreover, the responses on the needs assessment and the needed support facilitated our rethinking of the budget. through the recruitment and interview process, it was apparent that the financial needs of the students applying to the program were higher than we anticipated. there was a potential risk of students dropping out of the program due to financial need. we addressed this barrier to ensure success during the program and made the decision to reduce the total number of scholars. by decreasing the number of scholars, we can provide more financial support to each scholar. this will ensure scholars have the resources they need to focus on their academic and personal development without the added stress of financial insecurity. we believe this reduction will enhance each scholar's overall retention and success in the program. to further support each scholar, we have increased their stipends for essential needs such as food, daycare, transportation, and home security. the larger stipend will reduce financial barriers and hardships that can ultimately impact the success of the scholars in project rise. therefore, we have prioritized these critical needs to create a supportive community and classroom environment that allows the reimagining preparation 91 scholars to thrive academically, personally, and professionally. this proactive approach demonstrates our commitment to ensuring all scholars have the support to succeed in project rise. conceptual framework figure 2 depicts our project rise conceptual framework, which integrates supports and competencies described in this manuscript to promote positive and equitable outcomes for infants, toddlers and families. conclusion project rise has the opportunity to make a significant impact on the preparation and recruitment of ei providers, and the diversification of the ei workforce. by reimagining ei preparation, project rise will integrate multicultural education, culturally sustaining practices, and evidence-based practices into the curriculum for future ei providers. project rise also legitimizes a career in ei as a future employment option. this approach equips the scholars with high-quality training and provides the skills for them to be responsive in their practices. therefore, project rise scholars will be prepared to meet the culturally and linguistically diverse needs of the infants, toddlers, and families they serve in new mexico by fostering inclusive and culturally rich environments. preparing highly qualified ei providers from a reimagined program will help to promote inclusive practices for infants, toddlers, and their families in new mexico and beyond. wiegand et al. 92 figure 2 project rise conceptual framework project rise supports project rise competencies project rise faculty and affiliated faculty community partners and advisory council diversified early intervention workforce equity-minded interventions social justice inclusion improved child and family outcomes knowledge of child development familycentered practices culturally sustaining practices evidence based practices collaboration & leadership family funds of knowledge/ community cultural wealth project rise coursework and summer retreat ei practicum and capstone reimagining preparation 93 references brooks-easton, d. (2019). ethnic matching: academic success of students of color. rowman & littlefield. early childhood technical assistance center[ecta]. (2024a). part c of idea. https://ectacenter.org/partc/partc.asp early childhood technical assistance center [ecta]. (2024b). recruitment and retention of early intervention (ei) and early childhood special education (ecse) personnel: a synthesis of innovative practices. https://ectacenter.org/~pdfs/topics/personnel/recruitment-and-retention-of-ei-ecse-personnel-synthesis.pdf division for early childhood of the council for exceptional children. (2014). dec recommended practices. retrieved from: https://divisionearlychildhood.-egnyte.com/dl/tgv6guxhvo division for early childhood of the council for exceptional children [dec] (2020a). the ei/ecse standards. https://www.dec-sped.org/ei-ecse-standards division for early childhood of the council for exceptional children [dec]. (2020b). knowledge and skills for services coordinators (kssc). https://www.decsped.org/singlepost/2020/09/17/-knowledge-and-skills-forservice-coordinators-kssc feeney, d. m., lavin, c. e., matute-chavarria, m., park, h., & hsiao, y. j. (2024). engaging families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in virtual individualized education program meetings. journal of special education technology, 39(2), 277-286. https://doi.org/10.1177/01626434231184883 legislative finance committee (2022). education notes: martinez-yazzie funding sufficiency. https://www.nmlegis.gov/entity/lfc/documents/early_childhood_and_education/martinezyazzie%20education%20note.pdf new mexico center on law and poverty (2018). yazzie/martinez v. state of new mexico decision. http://nmpovertylaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/graphic-yazzie-martinez-decision.pdf new mexico early childhood education and care department (2022). tribal needs assessment. retrieved from https://www.nmececd.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023_fit_early-intervention-tribal-needsassessment_final-2023.pdf paris, d., & alim, h. s. (2017). culturally sustaining pedagogies: teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. teachers college press. united states census bureau (2023). new mexico. https://data.census.gov/profile/new_mexico?g=040xx00us35 u.s. department of education (2023). idea part c: early learning and early childhood. https://sites.ed.gov/idea/early-learning-early-childhood/ yosso, t. j. (2005). whose culture has capital? a critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth. race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91. https://doi.org/10.1080/1361332052000341006 https://ectacenter.org/partc/partc.asp https://ectacenter.org/~pdfs/topics/personnel/recruitment-and-retention-of-ei-ecse-personnel-synthesis.pdf https://divisionearlychildhood.-egnyte.com/dl/tgv6guxhvo https://www.dec-sped.org/ei-ecse-standards https://www.decsped.org/singlepost/2020/09/17/-knowledge-and-skills-for-service-coordinators-kssc https://www.decsped.org/singlepost/2020/09/17/-knowledge-and-skills-for-service-coordinators-kssc https://www.nmlegis.gov/entity/lfc/documents/early_childhood_and_education/martinez-yazzie%20education%20note.pdf https://www.nmlegis.gov/entity/lfc/documents/early_childhood_and_education/martinez-yazzie%20education%20note.pdf http://nmpovertylaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/graphic-yazzie-martinez-decision.pdf https://www.nmececd.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023_fit_early-intervention-tribal-needs-assessment_final-2023.pdf https://www.nmececd.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023_fit_early-intervention-tribal-needs-assessment_final-2023.pdf https://data.census.gov/profile/new_mexico?g=040xx00us35 https://sites.ed.gov/idea/early-learning-early-childhood/ hs dialog, 27(1), 58-76 copyright ©2024, issn: 1930-9325 descriptive article inclusive early childhood teacher education: a paradigm for envisioning and enacting leanne m. evans1 tatiana joseph1 maggie bartlett1 sara jozwik2 1university of wisconsin-milwaukee 2governors state university this article describes the processes and timeline of developing our inclusive early childhood teacher education program (iecte). in doing so, we describe collaborations that have a dynamic unfolding that took place over 10 years and united early childhood education (ece), early intervention/early childhood special education (ei/ecse), and bilingual/english as a second language (esl) programming. foundational to our collaborative work is the transformation that occurred within these individual areas of teacher education that eventually led us to the evolving paradigm of critical inclusivity in early childhood education. in our iecte work we detail our paradigm of critical inclusivity that includes three tenets: (1) a dialogic approach, (2) curriculum revision, and (3) pre-service teacher guidance. we conclude by offering implications for continuous growth through descriptions of transformative collaboration and advocacy in inclusive early childhood settings, such as intervention agencies, head start programs, childcare centers, community programs, and public schools. keywords: teacher education, inclusive education, critical inclusivity introduction over time, teacher education programs have responded to changes in the approaches to early childhood care and education by reviewing and reforming the ways pre-service teachers are prepared to center young children in their work. these shifts in educator preparation are a result of many sociocultural factors, including changes in demographics, political oscillation, economic turns, and movements in social consciousness. as such, the development of effective practices and policies for serving children from birth through age 8 has taken up a complex space in the evans et al. 59 landscape of early childhood education (ryan & graue, 2020). wide-ranging perspectives within the early childhood field intensify this complexity for teacher education programs that prepare educators for a variety of settings (e.g., early intervention agencies, head start programs, childcare centers, community programs, and public and private schools). according to ryan and graue, “the field has developed into a multilayered and fragmented array of program offerings, and its complicated evolution continues” (p. 2). significant to the evolution of early childhood teacher education is how the lives and circumstances of children, families, and communities are positioned in the design and implementation of teacher education programming. centering children and their systems of support requires pre-service experiences grounded in teaching for equity and social justice. in contrast, past practices have perpetuated notions of normalcy by downplaying social context while elevating the use of marginalizing and exclusive practices (grifenhagen & dickinson, 2023; kavanagh & danielson, 2020; philip et al., 2019). affirming children and families honors the legitimacy of their experiences and serves as the foundation for socially just practice. therefore, culture, language, and dis/ability must become the locus of practice, rather than remaining on the periphery. consequently, as early childhood care and education options expand (i.e., head start, community-based schooling), the need for well-prepared educators increases (friedman-krauss et al., 2019). in this article, we conceptualize well-prepared educators as teachers or service providers with knowledge of, experiences with, and commitments to multilingual, culturally responsive, disabilities studies, and gender identity frameworks. preparing educators and service providers to be teachers of all children requires a conceptualization of inclusive education that is grounded in the intersections that shape and are shaped by factors of child development and learning (baglieri et al., 2011, ferri & connor, 2014; thorius et al., 2019). as such, this article situates the preparation of early childhood education teachers and care providers within the context of the current dynamic and discursive time. in doing so, we describe the aspects and processes we experienced in developing our inclusive early childhood teacher education (iecte) program. the iecte program is an inclusive education course of study where pre-service teachers graduate with dual certification (i.e., early childhood education and early childhood special education) and the option to add english as a second language (esl) and/or bilingual education. our positionality our work in developing the iecte program is guided by a framework we think of as critical inclusivity. we envision critical inclusivity as enactments that elevate access to learning for all. these enactments create a sense of belonging within the broader community, affirming the intersectional identities of each child. a critical perspective of inclusivity in early childhood addresses communities that have been historically marginalized based on race and language (among other cultural identity markers). members of marginalized communities have been seen in educational systems as unable to access and achieve within conventional notions of curriculum, thus described as at risk (ferri & bacon, 2011, artiles & kozleski, 2007) or viewed as needing to be fixed (slee, 2011). within teacher education, our conception of critical inclusive early childhood teacher education 60 inclusivity seeks to counter the normative models that privilege some children and pathologize others based on race, class, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, language, dis/ability, learning circumstances, and life conditions (evans et al., 2024). hence, qualities of democracy, social justice, and access to learning are essential to inclusive pedagogy (thorius et al., 2019). specifically, we emphasize the circumstances of young learners who require school experiences that are responsive to intersections of their identities. our concept of critical inclusivity also suggests the notion of creating a space for resisting power by allowing multiple narratives to coexist while acknowledging and actively challenging power structures that reinforce exclusive schooling practices (annamma et al., 2018; naraian, 2021; patoulioti & nilholm, 2023; thorius et al., 2019). additionally, we expect that as pre-service teachers begin and move through a teacher education program, their knowledge and dispositions about teaching and the social contexts of teaching and learning are in constant flux. responding to this dynamic, we consider perspectives that emphasize stages of teacher development (benner, 1982; ingersoll & strong, 2011). teacher development frameworks suggest that experiences during preparation and novice phases can significantly impact educator effectiveness as practitioners move toward proficient and expert teaching (grifenhagen & dickinson, 2023). however, we view teacher education as a fluid and dynamic learning process, rather than as distinct periods in the journey of becoming a teacher. figure 1 illustrates our understanding of the continuous nature of teacher development. our conceptualization suggests that movement in teacher learning has critical pivot points that happen throughout an educators’ development at any stage. the shape of the figure suggests continuous learning within a life of practice. the lower righthand opening of the illustration proposes that all teacher learning (i.e., as a novice, mid-career, or advanced learner) begins with the orientation to and exploration of concepts, theory, and pedagogy. this is followed by movement through pivot points categorized as development and practice, application and reflection, and advocacy and mentorship, which cycle back to orientation and exploration. our representation of teacher development intentionally depicts movement from left to right and bottom to top to intercept and disrupt teacher development as linear. figure 1 the continuous nature of teacher development evans et al. 61 from a critical inclusivity lens, the continuous nature of teacher development is significant, because teachers must respond to ever-changing qualities of teaching within the nexus of learners’ own intersectional identities (e.g., across culture, language, dis/ability, and gender identity). we suggest that teaching for critical inclusivity hinges on a commitment to the nuances of each new interaction, concept, or relationship. for example, one teacher, in the learning of an unfamiliar instructional strategy, will orient and explore; develop and practice; and apply and reflect, until reaching a level of expertise where advocacy and mentoring occur. another teacher, discovering the same instructional strategy, will also have movement toward learning the approach, but may linger in places along the pathway of development because of their prior experience, level of familiarity with similar practices, or the circumstances of the learners they serve. our work is situated in the notion that teacher education, focused on the tenets of critical inclusivity, builds the propensity in pre-service teachers to engage in the continuous process of becoming inclusive educators who advocate for the circumstances of all children. we, the authors of this article, are grounded in our critical approach to this work. the four of us are university teacher educators and researchers who work in a multidisciplinary collaboration. below, we offer our individual positions as they are significant to building a collective that disrupts conventions of siloed, isolated mechanisms inherent in institutions of higher education. we have chosen to use a lowercase “w” in writing the racial descriptor “white” with intention when referencing racial identities for leanne, maggie, and sara. we acknowledge that whiteness plays into systemic oppression and is often invisible to those who benefit from it. we also recognize that capitalization of “white” (as preferred by the american psychological association; transue, 2019), subtly conveys the legitimacy of white supremist beliefs. therefore, in disruption of legitimizing racial hierarchies, we use a lowercase “w.” leanne leanne engages in this work as a white woman from a midwestern working-class background. she entered the education field as a teacher of young children believing that all children have inherent rights to equity and excellence in their schooling. as a practitioner focused on the intersections of language acquisition and emergent literacy, she works to disrupt established practices of discrimination and marginalization in early childhood education, particularly in multilingual environments. a critical scholar and teacher educator, she explores how teachers can become critically conscious teachers of all learners. leanne grounds her work in the belief that the sociocultural-historical and racial context of education is necessary to discourses that advance antiracism in pk—12, teacher education praxis, and research and the critical work that happens within partnerships across educational settings. tatiana tatiana identifies as a 1.5 generation, english language learner, latina immigrant who came to the u.s. as a child. as a young, undocumented child, her personal experiences with discrimination, linguicism, and racism became the steppingstones for a career in language education. tatiana entered her teaching career as a spanish teacher and an “after hours” english as a second language (esl) teacher for students who were denied the opportunity to strengthen their language learning in their regular school day. as a practitioner, tatiana approaches her inclusive early childhood teacher education 62 teaching and research in multilingual education with a lens of equity while fostering critical consciousness, which is envisioned as a structured approach to training teachers that emphasizes awareness of social injustices and the role of education in addressing them. her goal is to help create classrooms and community spaces that are inclusive and that uplift the voices of our children. maggie maggie approaches her work using an intersectional framework that draws from critical, reflexive, emancipatory, and equity-focused concepts. informed by an array of lived experiences, from teaching k-12 special education in the u.s. southwest to preparing educators as they work alongside children with dis/abilities and their families in sub-saharan africa, her engagement with teaching and scholarship is grounded in humanistic ways of sense-making and knowing. her work is also rooted in foregrounding, honoring, and learning from voices and experiences that have been historically marginalized and dismissed through the manipulation of power and privilege. acknowledging some of her identity markers such as white, queer, cisgender, and disabled alongside geographical, cultural, and linguistic influences from lived experiences in the u.s. midwest, u.s. southwest, and sub-sharan africa, form the basis of the way she interacts and makes sense of the world. holistically, her work is focused on creating educational spaces and practices for critical inclusive education, with attention to children with dis/abilities and their families, that honor authenticity, connection, and ability while interrogating and disrupting oppressive and harmful norms and practices. sara sara engages in this work as a white female with a polish american background. she entered the workforce as a special education teacher, trained in applying behaviorist principles. as a practitioner in the field of bilingual special education, sara developed a critical curiosity around discriminatory practices masquerading as inclusion. her teaching and research centers on using evidence-building practices to make literacy and biliteracy accessible for multilingual/multimodal learners labeled as disabled. in her work with undergraduate and graduate teacher scholars, she explores mindsets and dispositions related to collaboration and implementation of accessible design principles to disrupt practices that uphold the status quo. through strategic collaborations, our team melded its unique experiences and areas of expertise to inform the design of a rigorous program of coursework, clinical experiences, multi-tiered mentorship, and practice-based professional development that emphasizes effective strategies for early childhood educators. in the sections below, we describe the history and background that culminated in the inception of our university’s inclusive early childhood teacher education (iecte) program. the development of an inclusive early childhood teacher education program at the center of our work described here is the process of how we came together to establish our current iecte program. our collaboration has a dynamic unfolding that took place over 10 evans et al. 63 years and united early childhood education (ece), early intervention/early childhood special education (ei/ecse), and bilingual/english as a second language (esl) programming. foundational to our cooperative work was the evolving transformation that occurred within these individual areas of teacher education that eventually led us to the paradigm of critical inclusivity in early childhood education. to describe the development of our iecte program, we recognize the individual histories and unique courses of change that occurred within each of our teacher education arenas (i.e., ece, ei/ecse, and bilingual/esl teacher education) and the significant impact of these individual efforts on our current work. we summarized the pathways of each area to demonstrate the work that led to the coming together of the iecte program. the early childhood education (ece) program our awareness of the first shift toward reform within the early childhood education program went into effect in 2013 when faculty implemented significant changes to support pre-service teachers’ knowledge about working with multilingual learners. prior to the changes that occurred at that time, the ece program reflected a traditional preparation program centered within conventional monocultural, monolingual, and ableist standards. during this period, a group of three faculty members concluded that the pre-service teachers’ knowledge was “shallow and limited,” and they were “sorely unprepared” (mueller & file, 2015, p. 181) for young learners in their classrooms, specifically learners who represent a diversity of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. additionally, the ece faculty were concerned about the disproportionality, or unequal representation of student groups based on race, that existed in retaining students of color, citing mandated exams as a disadvantaging factor that contributed to attrition in the ece program. we see the 2013 re-envisioning of the ece program as a significant movement within our teacher education program that, over time, shifted dispositions, frames of knowledge, and increased responsiveness to children, families, and communities. the reform that took place was supported by a federal grant initiative focused on effective teacher development. the revised program, rolled out in 2013, had the primary focus on educating pre-service teachers to “engage with a variety of strengths, learning needs, personalities, cultural assets, language needs and developmental attributes evident in any group of young children with whom they would work” (mueller & file, 2015, p. 182). additionally, collaborations with tatiana, program director of the bilingual/esl/world languages teacher education program, resulted in add-on certifications in bilingual and esl education. integral to the program revision at this time, were the commitments by the ece faculty to infuse bilingual and esl pedagogies throughout the program’s sequence of professional coursework and field placement experiences. this approach disrupted conventional teacher education methods that isolate cultural and linguistic diversity as topics reserved for consideration in only one specific course or in one designated week of a particular course (kavanagh & danielson, 2020). the reconceptualization of the ece program during 2013—2023 was grounded in equityoriented pedagogies (i.e., specialized teaching methods that focus on fairness and equal inclusive early childhood teacher education 64 opportunities for all students, particularly those from marginalized groups; muhammad, 2020) and culturally and linguistically responsive practices (i.e., educational approaches that recognize and integrate students' cultural and language backgrounds into teaching; gay, 2018). yet, the shift had yet to fully conceptualize critical inclusivity in early childhood education. there were two forces of change, however, that significantly impacted the coming together of the iecte program. the first was an unpredictable external phenomenon that occurred during the era of remote learning and the sociocultural disproportionality (i.e., the unequal representation of different cultural or social groups within an educational context, often revealing systemic biases) revealed during the covid-19 pandemic. as was the case for many educators, we developed a vigilance regarding the circumstances of learning for young learners during that time. we critically reflected on our practices and how we could most effectively address the education of our youngest learners, specifically learners most impacted by the health and economic challenges. we asked, “do our teacher education practices reflect the reality of children in early childhood classrooms?” these external factors prompted us to engage in open and honest conversations that focused on our shared humanity and led to the meaningful changes we describe here. the second force of change was an internal change that occurred with the merging of two departments within our university’s school of education. after lengthy conversation and analysis of our university’s budget and resources, our school’s long-term equity goals, and the landscape of p—12 education, the faculty of the department of curriculum and instruction and the department of exceptional education decided to combine to create the department of teaching and learning to run 12 distinct teacher certification programs. this decision was based on the shared value of unifying administrative resources and human capacity (e.g., to support faculty and staff more effectively in program implementation). the faculty also held collaborative discussions to brainstorm ways that course content could be redesigned to minimize the separation between general and special education. this coming together of two departments led leanne (the ece program chair) and maggie (the ei/ecse program chair) toward conversations of uniting the ece and the ei/ecse programs to more accurately and effectively represent the learning circumstances of all children through the creation of a teacher education program that centers preparing all pre-service teachers to be educators for each child. for tatiana (bilingual/esl/world language teacher education program director), who is a constant and unwavering advocate for multilingualism, multimodality, and linguistic liberatory practices (i.e., the advocacy and practice of supporting multiple languages within educational settings to empower speakers of languages/dialects other than mainstream english), the coming together of the ece and ei/ecse programs served as an opportunity for the natural continuation of her work to champion for the education of young multilingual, immigrant, and refugee children. thus, our cross-programmatic dialogue spanned four state-designated licensure areas (i.e., ece, ei/ecse, bilingual and esl teacher education) and focused on the development of an inclusive early childhood teacher education program was in full force. evans et al. 65 the early intervention/early childhood special education (ei/ecse) program in 2011, when maggie came to the university, the early intervention/early childhood special education (ei/ecse) program was housed within the exceptional education department in the school of education alongside three other exceptional education programs. the ei/ecse program prepared pre-service teachers to offer education to children and families served through individualized family service plans (ifsps) and individualized education plans (ieps) and were preparing for imminent change based on the influences of pre-service teachers asking for new domains of expertise; the forces and inequities in education that became unveiled during the covid-19 pandemic; and the institutional responses to local, state, and national trends and policies. as such, the ei/ecse program was primed for the inception of a new inclusive model. pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and administrators affiliated with the ei/ecse program were expressing the unique rewards and demands of working with a rapidly changing, diverse population of learners and families. the ei/ecse program, like many others, was foundationally built on traditional cognitive and behaviorist approaches to teaching and learning (bartlett & mickelson, 2019). as influences from sociocultural theory, culturally situated and responsive practices, and the continued centering of the funds of knowledge and lived experiences of marginalized learners and families were seen to be diffused throughout the theories and practices shaping ei/ecse, the foundation of the ei/ecse program began to find its fault lines and make significant shifts in response. in addition to calls from the ei/ecse field and the previously mentioned forces of the covid19 pandemic and the merging of departments, state and national trends were impacting this stand-alone program. nationally, the number of teachers entering the ei/ecse field was descending, while the demand was ascending. simultaneously, our state department of public instruction enacted laws that changed licensure/grade band classifications. the ei/ecse license (ages birth to 8 years) was not directly impacted, however the expanded license area in the k— 12 special education to include students ages 4 to 21, served with individual education plans contributed to the synergy of creating an inclusive early childhood education program. bilingual/english as a second language (esl)/world language program the bilingual/english as a second language (esl)/world language teacher education program at our institution was redeveloped in 2013 after tatiana was hired. before 2013, the program reflected a theoretical lens with limited opportunities for application and collaboration with other teacher education programs in our school of education. the redevelopment-centered collaboration was based on the necessity to prepare all teachers to meet the needs of multilingual and english language learners (samson & collins, 2012). to achieve this goal in program redevelopment, tatiana collaborated with local school districts and various departmental programs to gain a better understanding of the pk—12 landscape concerning multilingual learners. tatiana’s collaborative conversations led to the wholesale redesign of coursework and field experiences to equip all pre-service teachers, regardless of their program, with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills in bilingual and esl education. as a result, the teaching and learning department adopted the methodology and praxis of teaching multilingual inclusive early childhood teacher education 66 learners as a core competency for pre-service teachers active in all 12 of the department’s teacher education programs. in the spirit of collaboration, leanne and tatiana consistently pondered the most effective ways to equip pre-service teachers with both the necessary professional expertise and heightened awareness to meaningfully engage with all learners, especially multilingual learners who are marginalized by educational structures and volatile mainstream politics (joseph & evans, 2018). through a process of critical reflection, leanne and tatiana designed a critical conscious teacher preparation framework made up of four key pillars. these four pillars include: (a) establishing critically conscious pedagogy, (b) disrupting historical regression, (c) revitalizing democratic values of public education, and (d) becoming advocates and action-oriented practitioners. the four pillars formed the foundation of the bilingual and esl teacher education programs. by infusing critical consciousness into our teacher preparation framework, the bilingual and esl teacher education program became better equipped to help pre-service teachers develop critical consciousness. this development enables them to understand, identify, and address the linguistic and cultural needs of all learners, particularly bilingual learners. the goal is that, with this knowledge, pre-service teachers from all 12 programs can proactively influence, advocate for, or transform classrooms, school districts, communities, and policies to provide high-quality, equitable opportunities that foster social emotional development, academic achievement, and language/(bi)literacy development for all students in p—12 programs (joseph & evans, 2018). the re-envisioning of these three programs shares a similar goal: they all seek to address and integrate diverse learning attributes, language assets, and systemic inequities. the transformative efforts in each program are united by a commitment to moving beyond traditional, siloed approaches to create more responsive and inclusive educational practices that better serve all students. these transformative efforts paved the way for the development of the current inclusive early childhood teacher education (iecte) program. the current context for the iecte program the inclusive early childhood teacher education (iecte) program is housed in the department of teaching and learning within a public research university in the midwest. the university’s school of education, committed to cultivating excellence in urban teaching, offers 12 teacher education programs at graduate and undergraduate levels. guided by our iecte principles (see table 1)and the paradigm of critical inclusivity, the iecte program unites early childhood education (ece) and early intervention/early childhood special education (ei/ecse) to cultivate critical competencies for inclusive early childhood educators (see table 2) and create a dual licensure opportunity for pre-services committed to developing the professional qualities of becoming a teacher for all children. evans et al. 67 table 1 iecte guiding principles inclusive early childhood teacher education 68 table 2 critical competencies for inclusive early childhood educators with the merging of the three programs (i.e., early childhood, early childhood education, and bilingual education), we conceptualized the iecte guiding principles (table 1) as essential components of an inclusive early childhood teacher education program based on our experience and exploration of the evolution of the concept of inclusivity, equity-oriented practices, and supportive teacher education programs. from there, we developed the tenets of critical competencies for inclusive early childhood educators (table 2), emphasizing each educator as evans et al. 69 a teacher of all children. we implemented these principles and critical competencies within the iecte program by first reviewing our broad course of study to holistically evaluate how we were integrating the tenets of early childhood, early childhood special education, and language education (i.e., esl and bilingual education). then, we more closely examined each course by reviewing syllabi and focusing specifically on course objectives, outcomes, and benchmark assessments. from this re-design work, we began to revise how the guiding principles and critical competencies were and could be implemented throughout the course and field experiences to most effectively represent critical inclusivity and the melding of our programs. for example, we reviewed required course text and other media within the courses, and we reflected on current assignments to develop revisions that would offer students the most effective means of engaging in the course work and demonstrating their developing competencies. the assignments and our observation checklists in the field provide us with formative assessments from which we continue to inform our teacher education instruction from a paradigm of envisioning and enacting critical inclusivity. critical inclusivity: a paradigm for envisioning and enacting the inclusive early childhood teacher education (iecte) paradigm of critical inclusivity includes three active tenets within developing and sustaining a program emphasizing the circumstances of young learners who require school experiences that are responsive to intersections of language, race, culture, religion, gender, and dis/ability. as described here, these tenets include (1) a dialogic approach, (2) curriculum revision, and (3) pre-service teacher guidance. dialogic approach the first active tenet regarding developing and sustaining our program is the importance of a dialogic approach. while each of our individual teacher education programs were merging and changing independently, the authors were engaged in dialogue with one another about the possibilities of creating a joint program that could transform four distinct state-approved licensure programs into one inclusive program. our brainstorming conversations were inspired by the comments and concerns brought forth by pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, and field notes that the authors collected during community engagement events and classroom visits. cultivating an inclusive early childhood teacher education program required developing a professional learning community founded on principles of humility, respect, and equity. each member of the community (across the four state-approved teacher licensure areas of ece, ei/ecse, bilingual, and esl education) proved an essential piece of the (re)design puzzle. our collaborative efforts to include multiple perspectives in (re)designing an inclusive early childhood teacher preparation program began with explicit attention to stating a shared commitment to critical reflectivity. specifically, we used four questions to guide our conversations and shared understanding of what it means to be an “inclusive educator”: 1. inclusion into what...and for whom? inclusive early childhood teacher education 70 2. what considerations are essential to the development of an inclusive early childhood teacher education program that centers access and equity? 3. how can the experiences, education, and perspectives of key program personnel be identified and leveraged to develop an effective program in inclusive early childhood care and education? 4. how do teachers and educators view themselves in relation to this work? our weekly online dialogue provided us with the space and time to think differently (mertens, 1999) about inclusion. additionally, our critical reflexivity motivated us to redefine our conventional understanding of inclusion and to develop a curriculum and pedagogy centered on authenticity, agency, and identity. as a core team, we understood that our learning community had to be expanded to include academic advisors and university administrative team to help navigate the process of creating iecte. the process of merging multiple state-approved teacher licensure programs was not an easy feat, particularly because it involved navigating systems unaccustomed to the disruption of a binary framework. beyond the pedagogical shifts addressed, we learned the importance of attending to the technical aspects of the program changes. initiating discussions about and implementing the changes within the institution's systems was a process that often took a year or more to accomplish. for two years, we met regularly with the university administrative team and academic advisors (i.e., personnel collaborators) to develop processes, structures, and coding systems that could recognize and sustain a new, inclusive teacher education program. these collaborative dialogues resulted in our identification of the need for the development of a new coding system and a new set of admission materials that would capture multiple areas of teacher licensure for pre-service teachers accepted into the iecte program. for example, we believed it was important to create an entirely new coding prefix to describe the iecte courses. we did not want to simply shift the special education courses (coded as exceduc to abbreviate exceptional education) to a code that reinforced a division of general education courses (i.e., currins to abbreviate curriculum and instruction). similarly, we resisted simply moving the general education ece courses to the special education course code used in the ei/ecse program. these discussion points resulted in a philosophical and pedagogical statement to justify our development of a new code (i.e., tch lrn to abbreviate teaching and learning). the change represented our shared stance on inclusivity and our commitment to dismantling the siloes of ece and ei/ecse while creating a program of study for inclusive early childhood teacher education (iecte). it was essential to our transformation that we included collaborations with our colleagues who worked within the administrative and advising systems in collaborative, problem-solving conversations so that we could work together to move toward an unconventional inclusive paradigm of educating young learners. table 3 outlines other technical aspects that emerged during our regularly scheduled collaborative meetings and illustrates the collective efforts that resulted from a shared commitment to dismantling institutional barriers. evans et al. 71 table 3 technical aspects of the iecte program changes each technical aspect required extensive conversations, emphasizing the possibility to think creatively to identify ways to uphold critical inclusivity as a core principle. collaboration across multiple programs, engagement with relevant academic advisors, and active participation from administrative team members was essential to making changes that fostered progress toward a shared idea of iecte program development. collectively, this work required time and space to nurture the commitment to using an open mind, critical reflexivity, and a willingness to engage deeply with diverse perspectives. curriculum revision the second active tenet of program development was curriculum revision. we conceptualized the iecte program as a space where each person and all voices are honored, and our revisioning of the curriculum paralleled that commitment. this revision process included collaboration with many people and voices. expertise around the intersections of inclusion in early intervention, inclusive early childhood teacher education 72 early childhood, special education, multilingualism, and culture was cultivated to (re)vision a curriculum focused on preparing pre-service teachers as they engage with young children and families. through a process of cultivating expertise around curriculum, a schedule was created to revise each course over three semesters. during the ongoing revision process, considerations were specifically given to the holistic and intersectional nature of teaching and learning. uniting the complementary standards and practices from ece, ei/ecse, and bilingual/esl education, syllabi revisions were initiated to create inclusive content. for example, the courses centered on early intervention and early childhood care and education were one of the first method and field course revisions that brought together perspectives from parents of young children with dis/abilities, practitioners, university program staff, and researchers. this group, with deep knowledge of early intervention, early care, early education, and language education came together to curate content and teaching/learning activities. as evidenced through student engagement, course evaluations, personal antidotes, cooperating teacher feedback, and advisory board review, these two courses have evolved to simultaneously offer knowledge, skills, experiences, and dispositions that support the youngest learners with dis/abilities and their families to cultivate experiences that foster humility, understanding, and advocacy. furthermore, collaboration and revision has provided space to critically examine our status quo and move beyond. as we continue the iterative collaborative process of curriculum review, revision, and re alignment, inclusionary frameworks are held central. creating and curating spaces, curricula, and practices that allow for multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression while fostering inclusion, have provided space to grapple with dilemmas of practice. pre-service teacher guidance the primary avenues of support for pre-service teachers within the iecte program are the two academic advisors and three program faculty. pre-service teachers are highly encouraged to meet with their academic advisors every semester. the advisors provide individualized guidance and resources to ensure students are informed and successfully progress through their individualized plan of study. in addition to academic planning, the advisors offer career guidance, resource connections (e.g., mental health, accessibility, tutoring, financial aid, housing,), and overall personal support. program faculty also connect regularly with pre-service teachers as progress is monitored throughout course work and field experiences. faculty and advisors meet bimonthly to communicate with each other about student circumstances and plans of action in need of further collaboration for resource attainment or problem solving. beyond the student guidance provided through advising and program faculty interactions, the iecte program has identified mentoring as a highly effective student support. in our program, mentoring happens through connecting upper-level (juniors, seniors, graduate students) preservice teachers to their first-year peers. one way this occurs in the iecte program is through an invitation to participate in a peer mentoring program. we invite both potential mentors and mentees to complete a brief survey on their interest in mentoring. through this approach, we evans et al. 73 match a mentor to a mentee. a faculty member initiates an email introduction of the students, and from there, the students decide the level to which they will interact. some students meet weekly for coffee or lunch. some pairs connect over videoconferencing, and still others decide to check-in as needed. each mentor/mentee pair is nuanced to their relationship established. we also have designed more deliberate mentorship efforts through grant initiatives. we currently are involved in two student support grants: the piece project and the chesss program. the piece project the preparing inclusive early childhood educators (piece) project1 strengthens the foundation of the iecte program by preparing teachers who can effectively educate all children, with a particular focus on intersectional identities related to language, culture, dis/ability, race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. the piece project emphasizes cultivating the knowledge and skills needed to provide high-quality instruction that improves educational outcomes for all children, including students deemed english learners according to the office of english language acquisition. the piece project focuses on creating environments where multilingual and multimodal learners, with and without disabilities, can thrive both academically and socially. additionally, the project identified financial constraints as a key obstacle for pre-service teachers, especially multilingual and students of color, which hinder the achievement of teacher licensure milestones. the piece project mitigates financial burdens by providing stipends that cover preservice teachers’ tuition and related educational expenses. beyond its financial incentives, the piece project provides pre-service teachers with access to three tiers of individualized mentorship and practice-based professional development that remains in place through their induction year of teaching. through its innovative design, the piece project will foster iecte program completion for 46 pre-service teachers who will be mentored through their first year of teaching in their use of inclusive pedagogies in inclusive early childhood education programs. the chesss program the iecte program addresses specific circumstances experienced by pre-service teachers through a grant-funded program titled, collaborating for higher education student support and success (chesss)2. the chesss program centers support for pre-service teachers with english language development, first-generation navigation, and associate degree transfer processes. chesss supplementally fulfills the need to advance inclusive early care providers and educators who have the skills and knowledge to support improved academic outcomes for all young children. the chesss grant provides funding for a student support liaison who works individually with students and cultivates networking and peer-support sessions centering shared experience, english language supports, and higher education processes. as the iecte program seeks to embody the principles of critical inclusivity, its foundational tenets pave the way for transformative practices and a collaborative approach to curriculum and student support. sustaining the iecte program requires ongoing reflection to ensure continuous growth. inclusive early childhood teacher education 74 implications for continuous growth as we continue to prepare pre-service teachers for a variety of settings (e.g., early intervention agencies, head start programs, childcare centers, community programs, and public and private schools), we reflected on some of the challenges that we experienced to identify areas for continuous growth within our teacher education program. above all, the work of inclusive education requires a critical look at existing systems that reinforce traditional perspectives and exclude diverse voices. challenging these perspectives is not easy, requires collegial support, and calls for substantial time and perseverance. for example, revising curriculum to reflect diverse perspectives (i.e., materials created by culturally, linguistically, and racially diverse authors/theorists) suspends conventional approaches focused on mainstream normative viewpoints. we intentionally seek publications, webinars, speaker series, and guest speakers who offer a perspective beyond the traditional teacher education perspective (i.e., the female, white, ableist, heteronormative). additionally, we understand the need for program faculty and instructors to develop and increase knowledge of inclusivity and effective practices that center identity intersections experienced by learners. we value the agency that each of us holds in making meaning and applying knowledge to our daily interactions. the continuous nature of teacher development, as illustrated in figure 1, provides us with a conceptualization of teacher educator learning and collective growth. we encourage each instructor and faculty member to engage in professional learning experiences of exploration, practice, application, and reflection. we utilize many of the university-offered programs and professional organization networks available to expand our understanding of inclusive education. through the piece project grant, we provided funds for instructors to engage in professional development, purchase resources, and engage in a series of speakers emphasizing the intersections of language, culture, and dis/ability. we seek avenues for compensating instructors for their professional learning endeavors. further, the work of inclusive education requires an openness of teacher educators and preservice teachers to explore and build identities as inclusive educators. within this dispositional aspect of teacher development there is a wide spectrum of embracing or rejecting the notion of being educated as a teacher for all children. this includes considering what it means to be a teacher within a community of diverse colleagues and asking the critical questions to identify who is being excluded and marginalized, whose knowledge is being elevated, and whose voice is missing and should be present. our continuous growth as a teacher education program (centering inclusivity) leverages what we learned about the power of collaboration in the context of a complex and shifting teacher education landscape. our transformative collaboration reaches across areas of expertise, both within higher education and with school and community partnerships. we understand there is power in identifying our individual and collective knowledge limits and recognizing the value of the intersections of expertise. to explore these intersections of expertise requires humility and vulnerability that leads to transformative collaboration. we understand transformative collaboration as a shared commitment to deliberate and conscious sensemaking that results in unapologetic liberatory practices. grounded by socially just principles, these practices establish evans et al. 75 access, equity, and belonging that honor and respond to the authenticity and agency of each individual in contemporary learning contexts. conclusion in conclusion, the development of the inclusive early childhood teacher education (iecte) program exemplifies a robust commitment to critical inclusivity (i.e., a dialogic approach, curriculum revision, and pre-service teacher guidance) that was nurtured through transformative collaboration across disciplines, with key personnel from the early childhood education (ece), early intervention/early childhood special education (ei/ecse), and bilingual/esl teacher education programs. this multifaceted endeavor required extensive dialogue and coordination among faculty, academic advisors, and administrative personnel from these five state-approved licensure areas. each collaborator continues to exude a willingness to think creatively while activating an advocacy disposition that impacts pre-service teachers access to financial and mental health resources as they complete their teacher education goals. in modeling our practices of advocacy, we work to eventuate pre-service teachers’ agency to leverage their communication and collaboration skills in advocating for resources and conditions of learning that will foster a sense of belonging for all children in their future classrooms. in our work, tensions along the way were negotiated by devoting time and space to (re)examine and (re)articulate our conceptions of critical inclusivity. through ongoing dialogue in spaces where each voice was valued, we preserved a shared commitment to maintaining open minds, practicing critical reflexivity, and fostering a culture of willingness and cooperation that permeated every aspect of iecte program development. we envision 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(2019). apa (american psychological association) style 7th edition. doi: org/10.1037/0000165-000 the dialog vol28iss01 for separating.pdf the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 45 nurturing home languages to engage and empower multilingual families in early childhood education settings the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 1 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i1.1784 contact: melissa sudduth msudduth@uab.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). nurturing home languages abstract a pressing matter for early childhood educators is the need for strategies to engage families of emergent bilingual/multilingual (eb/em) children in their classroom. research shows that eb/em children experience negative academic and social outcomes when their home languages are not supported in the classroom and positive outcomes when their home languages are supported. the family is the greatest source of home language support for eb/ em children and their educators. establishing partnerships with families through linguistically appropriate family engagement efforts allows children to maintain their home languages while learning a new language, helps educators teach each child effectively, and allows families to support their child’s education in the classroom, home, and community. this article aims to integrate the concepts of empowerment, funds of identity, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and translanguaging into practical strategies for educators to establish and nurture engaging partnerships with multilingual children and families. keywords emergent multilingual learners; early childhood education; head start programs; family engagement parents are a child’s first teachers. this familiar saying is frequently heard and repeated by educators, but how often is its deeper meaning truly considered? the parents, family members, and caregivers raising a child are not only the child’s first teachers, but also their lifelong teachers. long before the child enters our classroom, their families have introduced them to their home languages and instilled skills to prepare them for school and life. after children leave our classroom the teachings and influences of their families continue. melissa sudduth the university of alabama julie p. flannery the university of alabama at birmingham kelly hill the university of alabama at birmingham the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 46 as educators, we must recognize that all children come to our classroom with funds of identitythe rich interconnection of cultural practices, knowledge, and language that shape their sense of self. these funds of identity are deeply tied to their families, communities, and lived experiences, and serve as valuable assets for learning. our responsibility is to support and nurture these identities of cultural and linguistic strengths. in this article, the term emergent bilingual/emergent multilingual (eb/em) will be used to honor the home languages of children who speak a language(s) other than the dominant classroom language (garcia et al., 2008). by intentionally partnering with families, particularly historically underrepresented groups like marginalized families of emergent bilingual/emergent multilingual (eb/em) students, educators can create trusting and mutually beneficial relationships. these partnerships help educators to integrate the funds of identity that eb/em children bring to the classroom, fostering their confidence and enhancing their engagement in learning both inside and outside the classroom. this article outlines practical strategies for engaging families of multilingual learners, with a focus on latine families while also addressing families from diverse backgrounds. theory to practice the following frameworks guide this article: family empowerment and enablement, culturally sustaining pedagogy, funds of identity, and translanguaging. these theories inform this article by providing a foundation for implementing strengths-based classroom practices and family engagement strategies to honor cultural and linguistic diversity. family empowerment and enablement historically, many efforts targeted toward families have operated using a deficit-based approach (compton-lilly et al., 2019; dunst & trivette, 2009). even some current strength-based programs operate in neodeficit ideologies that continue to treat families and their languages as deficient (baquedano-lópez et al., 2013). in contrast, family empowerment and enablement focus on the family’s strengths, resources, and goals, as well as enhancing the family’s competencies. the concepts of enablement and empowerment come from the family systems assessment and intervention model, which was originally created for use in early intervention programs but can be applied to any program with the goal of recognizing and growing the strengths of families (dunst et al., 1988). enablement refers to help-givers “creating opportunities for all family members to display and acquire competencies that strengthen family functions” (dunst et al., 1988, p. x). empowerment is “a family’s ability to meet needs and achieve aspirations in a way that promotes a clear sense of intrafamily mastery and control over important aspects of family functioning” (dunst et al., 1988, p. x). the educator’s role is enablement, creating opportunities for families to display and develop competencies to strengthen the family and their connection to the early childhood education program (dunst & trivette 2009; dunst et al., 1994). viewed through the lens of empowerment, families are seen as competent, resourceful, and capable. educators serve as facilitators, creating authentic opportunities for families to utilize their existing strengths and resources while also supporting the development of new skills. enablement can include activities arranged by the educator that provide families opportunities to support their child’s learning and foster the home-to-school relationship. in addition to the examples shared in this article, these might include celebrating children’s culture through guest reading, family engagement workshops, cooking nights, and family game nights (koralek et al., 2019). culturally sustaining pedagogy culturally sustaining pedagogy (csp) requires a “critical, emancipatory vision of schooling that reframes the object of critique from our children to oppressive systems” (paris & alim, 2017, p. 3). csp is an approach that “sees the outcome of learning as additive rather than subtractive, as remaining whole rather than framed as broken, as critically enriching strengths rather than replacing deficits” (paris & alim, 2017, p.1). this pedagogy encourages teaching practices that foster linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism with the overall goal of educational transformation. funds of identity the term funds of identity, inspired by the funds of knowledge, refers to valuing the wealth of knowledge held by each child’s cultural heritage, native language, knowledge of their home country, personal life experiences, and well-being (estenurturing home languages the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 47 ban-guitart et al., 2014; gonzalez et al. 2005; moll et al., 1992). the typical educator-child relationship is often shaped by the child’s performance during specific, isolated classroom activities. however, it is critical for educators to take the child’s funds of identity and their world outside of the classroom into account (esteban-guitart et al., 2014; moll et al., 1992). artifacts for including the child’s heritage can include family photographs, cultural videos, drawings, maps, and objects that bridge the gap between in-school and out-of-school cultures. every child brings unique experiences, knowledge, and assets to a classroom and when recognized, these children have the potential to engage in culturally and linguistically inclusive learning environments (paris & alim, 2017). translanguaging in addition to being inclusive of each child’s funds of identity, it is critical to value and affirm their home languages. translanguaging is the practice of using one’s entire linguistic knowledge. when learners engage in translanguaging, they flexibly draw upon all the features of their linguistic repertoire (otheguy et al., 2015). the child’s home languages and the dominant language, which in u.s. schools is most often english, are used for communicating to gain and share information. among multilingual children, translanguaging is a common practice at home, school, and in their communities. when applied to the classroom, translanguaging supports multilingual children in using multiple languages to enhance their comprehension as they learn alongside their monolingual peers. by adopting and promoting translanguaging in the classroom, educators encourage multilingual children to draw on their entire linguistic repertoire, using all their languages to support their learning. this framework recognizes and celebrates the existing knowledge and language practices of minoritized communities (garcía et al., 2017). combined, these frameworks support the use of educational practices that acknowledge and make use of the family’s strengths, including home languages, cultural identities, family relationships, and home learning practices. family engagement the head start early childhood learning and knowledge center (eclkc) defines family engagement as: a collaborative and strengths-based process through which early childhood professionals, families, and children build positive and goal-oriented relationships. it is a shared responsibility of families and staff at all levels that requires mutual respect for the roles and strengths each has to offer. family engagement focuses on culturally and linguistically responsive relationship-building with key family members in a child’s life. (n.d., paragraph 1) family engagement influences, and is influenced by, social contexts such as race, culture, language, socioeconomic status, and levels of physical and cognitive ability. despite this, many engagement expectations and practices are based on the expectations of white, middle-class, monolingual english-speaking families (baquedano-lópez et al., 2013; mcwayne et al., 2013, 2021). without appropriate linguistic resources and support, multilingual families may have difficulty communicating with their child’s educators to discuss their child’s progress, their goals for their child, and their home learning practices making effective engagement difficult. if the assets and strengths of ebs/ems are ignored or minimized, early childhood education programs can perpetuate inequities and inequitable education (garcía, 2009). learning additional languages benefits children of all ages and can lead to academic, social, and cognitive advantages, yet, without supports, eb/em children can fall academically behind their monolingual english-only speaking peers (espinosa, 2018; bak et al., 2014; august & shanahan, 2010; garcía, 2009). many eb/em children enter early childhood programs using their home language. continued use and development of an eb/ em child’s home language(s) is crucial so that it is complemented by, not replaced by, the dominant language. replacing a child’s home language with english impedes their cognitive abilities, language and literacy skills, as well as social and family connections (wong-fillmore, 1991). families are vital in maintaining a child’s home language, yet monolingual bias often pressures bilingual parents to hide their bilingualism, underscoring the need for support in valuing home languages as assets (garnurturing home languages the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 48 cia & kleifgen, 2018). when family members are engaged in their child’s education, eb/em children experience positive academic and social-emotional outcomes (sheridan et al., 2010; sheridan et al., 2011). these include improved language, literacy, and math skills (mendez, 2010; sheridan et al., 2011), less disruptive classroom behavior (mendez, 2010), lower rates of retention in elementary, middle, and high school (miedel & reynolds, 1999), greater assessment gains, and higher graduation rates (barnard, 2004; henderson & mapp, 2003). family engagement practices of latine multilingual families to overcome challenges to family engagement, educators must make intentional efforts to learn about families, their funds of identity, and how they support their child’s learning at home and in the community. studies including latine families of children enrolled in head start showed that participants tended to view family engagement in terms of home and family-focused activities rather than school-based activities (mcwayne et al., 2013, 2021). latine family members often supported their child’s learning in ways not generally recognized in mainstream american educational systems. to support linguistically diverse children and their families, educators must become curious learners willing to transition to a home-to-school model of partnering with families (mcwayne et al., 2021; morita-mullaney, 2021). when educators leverage eb/em children’s language practices by teaching through a translanguaging lens and pedagogy, there is an opportunity to close the academic achievement gap experienced by eb/em children (garcía & li 2014; garcía 2009; song 2022). the following strategies are for educators aiming to create a culturally and linguistically inclusive classroom. strategies for incorporating translanguaging practices in the classroom as you interact with the children in your class, include phrases and 3-5 key vocabulary words in the eb/em child’s home language during circle time, storytime, group activities, routines, and informal interactions. teachers do not have to be fluent in another language to translanguage, rather, they are creating a space that does not limit their eb/em children to using only one language. translanguaging exposes monolingual children to the sounds of different languages and supports multilingual families by valuing their home language and affirming multilingual identities. incorporate the eb/em child’s funds of identity into curriculum. to thoughtfully integrate the backgrounds of culturally and linguistically diverse children into the curriculum, start by learning about their families. when engaging with multilingual families, consider involving a translator or another adult family member who can assist with translation. be sure to note the translator’s relationship with the child. learn about the child’s home country, cultural traditions, home language(s), interests, hobbies, skills, etc. use this information to inform the curriculum, to create opportunities for family members to engage in curriculum development, and to be included in classroom learning activities in meaningful ways. consider a hypothetical head start classroom with a newly enrolled child named roberto, whose family recently immigrated from mexico. the teacher, ms. lee, takes proactive steps to learn about his cultural background. ms. lee discovers that roberto’s family celebrates dia de los muertos (day of the dead). his tia (aunt) is bilingual in english and spanish, his mother speaks only spanish, and his father frequently travels between mexico and the united states. ms. lee also learns that roberto enjoys playing outside with his younger brother and has a passion for creating art. to integrate this knowledge into the curriculum, ms. lee plans a classroom activity about global traditions in november and intentionally includes dia de los muertos. roberto and his peers make colorful paper marigolds, a key symbol of the celebration, used to honor deceased loved ones. to foster an inclusive environment for roberto’s home language, ms. lee checks out the bilingual text, i remember abuelito: a day of the dead story from the library. she also sends a note inviting roberto’s mother and tía to be guest readers, providing an opportunity for family engagement and fostering a deeper cultural connection in the classroom. nurturing home languages the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 49 frontload keywords and cognates in the child’s home language with visual support. prior to starting a lesson, provide eb/em children with three to five keywords and cognates that carry the meaning of a story or content material. cognates are words shared between languages with similar spelling, pronunciation, and meaning. these words serve as a direct connection to the child’s home language and can be printed to provide visual language support. display keywords and cognates on an easel or chart paper. use this as an opportunity to provide a realistic image (visual support) of the keyword. when adding labels, it can be helpful to color code each additional language, being consistent with the colors used (spanish in pink, hindi in black, english in blue, etc.). teachers can use the colors to support eb/em children’s learning with instructions like “in spanish, elephant is elefante which are the letters in pink.” consider sending the key vocabulary words home with eb/em children and asking families to contribute by adding the home language translations. the example in figure 1 illustrates how multiple languages can be integrated into a lesson and into the classroom with meaning and purpose. integrating multiple home languages into your classroom. teachers may feel overwhelmed when multiple languages are represented in their classroom. however, with thoughtful planning and intentional support strategies, teachers can create inclusive learning experiences that support and represent all home languages. for example, in ms. lee’s head start classroom, she plans to teach a lesson on the lifecycle of a frog in april. she begins by showing pictures of the frog lifecycle and introduces the key vocabulary wordsegg, tadpole, froglet, and frog, in the languages represented in her classroom: english, spanish and hindi. ms. lee reads a story about frogs in english, pauses to ask questions in spanish, and uses google translate to share the hindi translation. she intentionally seats roberto, a spanish-speaking student, next to another spanish-speaking peer, knowing they can provide mutual linguistic support. during story time, ms. lee points to a picture and asks her hindi-speaking student, “how do you say this stage, ‘egg,’ in hindi?” the eb/em student may respond or may not know the word, creating an opportunity for learning and participation. meanwhile, roberto’s peer supports him by explaining in spanish, “first comes the eggs, then the tadpole.” this intentional integration of students’ home languages serves as a bridge to enhance their understanding and engagement, making the lesson more accessible and meaningful for all learners. learn and use basic greetings, phrases, and content concepts in the child’s home language. if an eb/em child enters a monolingual english-only speaking classroom, they will eventually realize their home language is neither valued nor affirmed. by including important conversational words and phrases in each child’s home language, children will feel welcomed in the classroom, that their home language is of great value, and that the educators support the continued use of the child’s home language. table 1 includes basic greetings and table 2 displays instructional phrases that educators can readily incorporate into classroom routines. this can be applied across a range of home languages. please note these can be adapted for languages that are represented in the classroom. although spanish is the predominant home language for ebs/ems in the united states, it is crucial for less-represented languages, such as hindi, to be celebrated and valued (u.s. department of education, 2020). nurturing home languages figure 1 multilingual vocabulary supportspeaking children the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 50 nurturing home languages table 1 common greetings and phrases greetings and common words english spanish hindi namaste svaagat my name is ___. mera naam hai ___. ¿ mucho gusto por favor gracias snaanaghar table 2 common instructional phrases common instructional phrases english spanish hindi ________. hai. the story. vamos a hacer un paseo fohain. ¿ the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 51 enablement activities to empower multilingual families and educators teachers can provide support to families and children through enablement activities. enablement refers to a help-giver’s actions that create opportunities for all families to empower themselves (dunst et al., 1988). in this context, the teacher or another program staff member is the help-giver who creates engaging opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse families to recognize diversity as a strength and asset, to share these strengths with others in the classroom and program, to facilitate family engagement, and to help families reach their goals. the following family engagement strategies provide opportunities to support continued bilingual practices and to engage multilingual families in their child’s education. bilingual and translanguaging read-alouds bilingual and translanguaging read-alouds are opportunities for linguistically diverse families to share their literacy practices, languages, and cultures with the children, teachers, and program staff. this may include inviting families to read a book from their home, a book from the classroom’s bilingual library, or by accessing digital books in various languages from the program’s curriculum and/or assessment software such as the my teaching strategies digital children’s library. bilingual read-alouds may be done by a single family member or in pairs with the family member reading the text in their home language and a bilingual family member or the teacher reading the same text in english. for example, at the end of their parent-teacher conference, ms. lee invites roberto’s mother and tia to read to the children during storytime. when the family arrives ms. lee asks roberto to pick un libro from a stack of bilingual books, he selects the very hungry caterpillar, la oruga muy hambrienta. roberto’s mother reads the spanish text on the page, then his tia reads the same text in english. during translanguaging read-alouds the family member reads the book aloud using their entire language repertoire, interchangeably using the language of the written text and the languages spoken by the reader (garcía, 2020). read-alouds using wordless picture books provides opportunities for translanguaging as the family member and the children interpret and read the story together using the visual cues in the pictures to tell the story (moody & matthews, 2022). engaging through family and child together (fact) time family and child together time (fact) is a recent adaptation of parent and child together (pact) time (brizius & foster, 1993; paul et al., 2020). fact time is a multigenerational family engagement strategy that draws on the principles of translanguaging and funds of identity by valuing the diverse and cultural resources multilingual families bring to the classroom. this strategy embraces all family members, including extended family members such as a child’s aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and other caregivers. teachers plan a hands-on learning activity and invite families to be a part of the in-class activity with their child and the child’s peers. the duration of fact time depends on the activity but usually lasts between 20 40 minutes. regular planning and communication with families is critical for fact time to be successful because it encourages active participation and collaboration. a sign-up sheet can help ensure that all families are invited and participate at different times, preventing overcrowding in a busy classroom. the use of a childcare communication and management app may also help to schedule and manage fact time participation. fact time follows four steps aligned with family engagement nurturing home languages “in this context, the teacher or another program staff member is the help-giver who creates engaging opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse families to recognize diversity as a strength and asset, to share these strengths with others in the classroom and program, to facilitate family engagement, and to help families reach their goals.” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 52 and literacy: pre-brief, observe, interact, and debrief (brizius & foster, 1993). pre-brief. the educator prepares the family members for the lesson or activity by briefly discussing the activity, providing materials and resources, and verifying that the family member has a clear understanding of what to expect during the activity. the family member is asked to join their child and encouraged to work with the child in their home language. observe. the educator models the mini-lesson or learning activity for the child’s family member. through modeling, the educator demonstrates how the family member can use new or existing skills to help their child complete the learning activity. interact. the family member interacts with their child as they complete the modeled activity together, preferably while using the family’s home language. debrief. the family member and educator debrief by discussing what the family member observed in the lesson, and the educator provides suggestions and resources for extending this learning at home. by encouraging families to use their home language during activities, fact time honors and leverages the rich linguistic repertoires and lived experiences of families as valuable tools for learning. this strategy also fosters a deeper connection between home and school. partnering with families in the assessment of children’s learning and development families possess a wealth of knowledge about how their child thinks, learns, and behaves at home and in the community. this information is vital to a holistic understanding of the child’s learning and development and to establishing home-to-school connections. often, linguistically diverse families of young children have limited experience with the assessment expectations and processes in the u.s. education system (antony-newman, 2019). inequities in the assessment process often fail to acknowledge or value these diverse identities, putting emergent bilinguals (ebs) at a significant disadvantage. standardized assessments and traditional evaluation methods are frequently biased toward english language speakers, overlooking the linguistic and cultural strengths that ebs bring to the classroom. inviting families to contribute to their child’s assessments is an enablement opportunity to support family empowerment using the child’s and family’s funds of identity. this allows teachers and families to recognize each other as co-experts who can build strong, reciprocal family-educator partnerships. asking families to share examples of their child demonstrating skills and developmental milestones at home and in the community demonstrates that the family plays an important role in supporting and interpreting their child’s academic and developmental progress. this collaborative effort requires providing families with information about learning standards, sources of data, and assessment processes in the family’s home language. sharing this information early in the year communicates to families that they are valued co-experts, which is essential to helping the educator learn about their child. teachers, or other staff members, such as a family service or curriculum specialist, may conduct home visits with interested families. these visits offer educators the opportunity to observe the child’s skills, behaviors, and use of their home language in a familiar, comfortable setting. home visits also validate and empower families by recognizing their home as an important learning space and affirming the importance of their cultural and linguistic practices. this approach helps families feel valued as key contributors to their child’s education. when nurturing home languages “by encouraging families to use their home language during activities, fact time honors and leverages the rich linguistic repertoires and lived experiences of families as valuable tools for learning.” the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 53 conducting home visits with multilingual families, it’s important to bring a translator or ask if the family has a bilingual family member. additionally, preparing key talking points in the family’s home language ensures effective communication and shows respect for their linguistic background. reciprocal communication through family dialogue journals when selecting a communication format for working with multilingual families, remember that families may not be able to attend a family engagement opportunity held during the day or evening. family dialogue journals (allen et al., 2015) enable family members to gain insight into what their children are learning and to integrate children’s home lives into the curriculum. this family engagement strategy provides families with a shared responsibility for student learning and an opportunity to integrate family funds of identity into the curriculum (allen et al., 2015). educators generate journal entries by asking questions such as, “what have we learned this week that has been the most interesting?”, “what could you teach your family?” or “what do you want to tell your family about what we learned in class?” (allen et al., 2015). to further tap into the child’s funds of identity, ask questions like, “what do you like to do as a family?” or “what is your family’s favorite thing to do on the weekend?” (e.g. figure 2). the family dialogue journal excerpt (see figure 2) depicts a teacher initiating dialogue through the journal. the child, family members, and educators have opportunities to contribute through drawing or writing. monolingual educators can contribute by receiving help from a translator or using a free translation application, such as google translate, or an artificial intelligence (ai) writing tool, such as translate nowai translator. although translation apps may not always be entirely accurate, when no human resources are available, educators can inform families that they are using these translation apps. this way, if errors or misunderstandings arise, family members can assist the teacher in clarifying the information. this two-way language support can empower families by fostering collaboration, encouraging the use of the family’s home language, and improving communication. additionally, it helps build a sense of trust as the teacher demonstrates a commitment to ensuring clear and effective communication. nurturing home languages figure 2 family dialogue journal excerpts from teacher the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 54 conclusion the classroom and family engagement strategies presented here create opportunities for educators to build meaningful partnerships with children and their families, particularly marginalized populations such as linguistically diverse children and families. by incorporating these strategies as foundational components of the classroom environment, educators communicate to families that they are valuable contributors to their children’s education and recognize the family’s home language as an asset to their child’s learning and development. using and building upon these strategies during the preschool years establishes early partnerships between empowered families and educators that will benefit the children, the 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(1991). when learning a second la guage means losing the first. early childhood re search quarterly, 6(3), 323-346. https://doi org/10.1016/s0885-2006(05)80059-6 nurturing home languages the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 97 research-to-practice summary what do we know? reflecting on changes in knowledge of mathematical development in pre and in-service early childhood teachers the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 2 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i2.2071 contact: linda platas lplatas@sfsu.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). rtp changes in knowledge of mathematical development abstract this study examines whether students in early childhood teacher education programs gained more knowledge of early math development in 2017-2018 when compared to 2008. i compare data from each period on preand in-service teachers’ knowledge of mathematical development as measured by the knowledge of mathematical development survey (kmds). i found that the kmds mean scores of students in each of the education groups (beginning versus seniors versus math course) differed within each collection year. in a statistical comparison between the two collection periods, there was no significant difference between the mean scores from 2008 and 2017-2018 for the beginning group. however, there was a significant difference between 2008 and 2017-2018 in mean scores in the seniors and math course groups. overall, all mean kmds scores were lower in 2017-2018 when compared to 2008. keywords early mathematics, early childhood education, preservice, in-service, teachers h ow much the world has changed over the last few decades. the phenomenal progress in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) is unprecedented. we now live in a world where there are gene-editing cures for inherited diseases (yang et al., 2024), computing power that continually increases in speed and capacity (markoff, 2016, 2023), and solar panels that are integrated into building materials (vijayan et al., 2023). mathematics has been at the core of all of these advancements. the use of mathematics is also an essential part of everyday life outside of these professions. financial knowledge is differentially distributed in the united states resulting in socioeconomic disparities. those individuals with more knowledge are more likely to apply for and acquire loans with lower interest rates, linda m. platas san francisco state university the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 98 manage credit card debt efficiently, obtain financially effective insurance, and save for retirement (lusardi & mitchell, 2023). the foundation of these skills is numeracy (lee & nam, 2023). mathematical development and skills, similar to many other learning domains, builds upon prior knowledge. research in early mathematical development supports the idea that even infants possess rudimentary mathematical abilities (visibelli et al., 2024). this knowledge continues to build through the years prior to formal schooling. however, this knowledge is also highly dependent on environmental influences (gashaj et al., 2023; silver & libertus, 2022). in 2007, duncan and colleagues published a meta-analysis of influences of preschool-level skills on academic success at 3rd and 5th grade. this and other prior and concurrent studies (baroody, 2004, foster, 2010; grimm et al., 2010; hooper et al., 2010; pagani et al., 2010) illustrated the considerable influence of early math knowledge on later academic skills. in the last decade more research has been conducted to determine the influences of early mathematical skills (duncan & magnuson, 2011; geary et al., 2013; jordan et al., 2009; kwok et al., 2021). these studies and more continue to support the theory that early and sustained high quality support for mathematical development is a vital part of curriculum. relatedly, in 2007 new legislation was passed requiring, by 2013, at least 50% of head start teachers to possess a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education (improving head start for school readiness act). the implication was that this education would better ensure that teachers were prepared to support children’s intellectual and physical development, including their “understanding of early math” (section 19, p. 121). in 2023, the percentage of the u.s. population enrolled in state-funded preschools reached an all-time high of 35% of four-year-olds and seven percent of three-year-olds (friedman-krauss et al., 2024). if we broaden the lens to include all non-parental care, almost 70% of families with young children utilize some external early education and care resource, including head start (national academies of sciences, engineering and medicine, 2018, p. 57). these statistics, combined with the knowledge that mathematical development is greatly dependent on environmental influences, highlight the need for these early education and care settings to provide supports for mathematical development. in fact, studies have shown that early childhood programs that provide a rich mathematics curriculum can result in increases in math, language and literacy skills in young children (gormley et al., 2018; joo et al., 2020; mattera et al., 2021; sarama et al., 2012; wang et al., 2016). black and latino students may benefit from these programs even more than their peers (national academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine, 2023). however, many early childhood programs do not provide a rich environment (p. 67). many state early learning standards have undergone revisions in the decade under review (gable & fozi, 2023; p. 1844), seeking to improve children’s early education experiences. however, supporting mathematical development in centers and preschool classrooms requires that teachers are prepared to provide that support. research evidence prior to and post 2008 indicate that teachers may not be provided with the education and experiences that result in the ability to extend support in their classrooms (bachman et al., 2018 cerezci, 2021; ginsburg et al., 1999; klibanoff et al., 2006; sarama et al., 2004). relatedly, instructors in teacher education programs may not be prepared themselves to provide this essential instruction (copeman pettig, et al., 2018; ginsburg et al., 2006; wright et al., 2021). given this research on the importance of early mathematical development, the influences of its supports in the environment, the preparedness of early childhood teachers to provide that support, and the ability of college and university professors in teacher preparation programs to provide related pedagogical instruction, it is of interest to know whether preand in-service early childhood teachers were better prepared to support children in their classrooms in 2017-2018 when compared to 2008. specifically, do these teachers have more knowledge of mathematical development than those from the previous decade? purpose of the study drawing from a dataset gathered in 2008 (platas, 2008) and data gathered in 2017-2018, i sought rtp changes in knowledge of mathematical development the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 99 to ascertain whether preand in-service teachers’ levels of knowledge of mathematical development in young children had changed over the decade. given that many teacher preparation programs were drastically altered during covid in 20202021 (vanlone et al., 2022; especially with a lack of in-person instruction and student internships), the timing of the research provides a window in which teacher preparation programs were conducted as business-as-usual. summary of research methods the participants were recruited through a stratified purposeful sampling method in 2008 (n= 346) and 2017-2018 (n = 338) from community colleges and universities in three states in the western and eastern united states. three categories of preand in-service students in early childhood education teacher preparation programs were created from the pool of participants: beginning (first and second-year students enrolled in child development entry courses at community colleges and four-year universities), seniors (seniors with no math course), and math course (graduate master’s and undergraduate upper division students who had completed a 3-semester unit math development course). students who did not fit one of these categories were excluded from the analyses. participants completed a short demographics survey and the knowledge of mathematical development survey (kmds; platas, 2008; 2014), a 20-item survey on young children’s mathematical development. the kmds was developed in 2007; instrument validation and reliability were supported through several pilots and a validation study (platas, 2014). it has since been used in several studies (cox, 2011, kim, 2013; lange, nayfield, et al., 2022). the demographics survey included questions on ethnicity, age, education and teaching experience. findings an analysis of variance (anova) test showed that there were statistically significant differences in 2008 between all kmds mean scores of the three categories (beginning, seniors, and math course) of preand in-service teachers (11.18, 12.81, and 15.30, respectively). in 2017-2018 there were statistically significant differences only between the mean scores of the beginning group (10.58) and seniors group (11.63) when compared to the math course group mean (13.54). this meant that there was no statistically significant difference in 20172018 between the beginning and seniors groups. when comparing 2008 and 2017-2018, there was no statistically significant difference between the beginning group means (11.18 and 10.58, respectively). there was a significant difference between the seniors group means (12.81 and 11.63, respectively; p = 02). there was a larger significant difference between the math course group means from each of the years (15.30 and 13.54, respectively; p <0.001). note that in all comparisons from 2008 and 2017-2018, mean scores from 2008 were significantly higher. because the math course groups were drawn from undergraduate, graduate, and mixed undergraduate/graduate courses whereas the beginning and senior groups were drawn from only undergraduate programs, it was important to ascertain whether there was a difference that resulted from enrollment in graduate-level programs (e.g., perhaps the graduate programs were more exclusive in enrollment than the undergraduate programs, resulting in selection bias). however, in a comparison of mean kmds scores across all eight math courses, there were only significant differences between math course a (graduate course) and courses g and h (undergraduate courses). the remaining 25 comparisons between math courses (undergraduate, graduate, and mixed) showed no differences. in conclusion, results showed that education level did not significantly affect the mean scores across these math courses. a univariate analysis showed that two or more years of classroom experiences significantly increased mean kmds scores for only those participants in the math course groups (an increase of 1.02/20 possible points). kmds scores of the beginning and senior participant groups did not significant increase with two or more years of classroom experience. implications for practice in 2008, it was quite difficult to find math rtp changes in knowledge of mathematical development the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 100 courses in preschool teacher preparation programs. however, the courses i was able to survey were of quite good quality, with all instructors having published research on early math development and teaching. on the contrary, in 2017-2018, it was much easier to find courses to survey. however, of the instructors in 2017-2018, only one had published on math development (the only overlapping math instructor from 2008). given the increasing importance of math development in early childhood research and new standards, it could be expected that early childhood teacher preparation program students in the decade following 2008 would graduate better equipped to support mathematical development in centers and classrooms. but the analyses did not support that hypothesis. we know that teachers and teacher educators want what is best for young children. so where is the breakdown? in copeman pettig and colleagues’ (2018) study across eight states, teacher educators reported being ill-prepared themselves to teach math in their curriculum. yet, according to the research, feel compelled to teach it anyway. it appears that the desire is there, but the knowledge is not. there are resources that could make inroads in remedying this mismatch in desire and knowledge. head start itself has rich resources at least going back to 2010. high five mathematize (national head start family literacy center for the office of head start, 2010) was an early extensive training guide for teachers and those who support them (instructors, mentors, directors). the head start performance standards are being updated, but the interactive head start early learning outcomes framework: age birth to five (office of head start, 2015) still contains valuable resources on mathematical development and how to support it. a multi-university network, the development and research in early mathematics education (dreme; n.d.) has free resources specifically for teacher educators. modules include information on supporting counting, spatial relations, operations, patterns and algebra, and measurement and data in early childhood classrooms. the modules contain short and practical research background readings, descriptions of development, activities for the classroom, and ideas for assessment. the national association for the education of young children (naeyc; n.d.) publishes both teacherand educator-friendly articles and books on early math. many of their publications provide information on mathematical understanding and practical applications for center and preschool classrooms (turrou et al., 2021). states also have been legislating support for their early learning math standards (education commission of the states, n.d.). these include professional development, coaching resources, teacher preparation program standards, and more. finally, as we know, public policies can promote or challenge efforts in the classroom. policies that come to mind that promote more effective and sustainable math development in the preschool classroom and beyond are better instilling coherence, alignment, and coordination in teacher education programs, school districts, and state standards. early childhood and elementary teacher education programs can coordinate their instruction so that teachers graduate understanding the full scope of development from birth through elementary and how to support such practices in the classroom (lange, robertson, et al., 2022). school districts and their early childhood partners, whether within or outside the district, can share knowledge about children’s progress and teaching pedagogy (stein & coburn, 2023). head start has examples of this (cook & coley, 2019). states can examine their early childhood standards and elementary standards (usually based on the common core state standards; 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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.07.008 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487120905514 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487120905514 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202402630 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.07.008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.07.008 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487120905514 https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487120905514 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202402630 adventures & intervention in early education spaces bryndle l. bottoms, ph.d., editor university of south carolina when i began managing this journal as a brand-new graduate assistant, i had no experience in academia. now, sometime later, the impact of this journal on my personal and professional life is profound. as a previous early educator, i began my doctorate to impact early educators across the state and have built a research platform to ensure children and families have access to high quality childcare, family home care, or preschools. furthermore, ensuring that educators have access to resources to support their practice. in my dissertation, i was able to demonstrate an effective interrater reliability process for the teacher evaluation efforts of early childhood educators across the state of north carolina. this evaluation process provided support for around 700 educators by ensuring their evaluators were providing fair and reliable birth-to-kindergarten license regulations. professionally, our journal produces incredibly rigorous research from across the united states that is only possible because of the hundreds of readers, reviewers, authors, practitioners, and experts in the field who consistently contribute. personally, i’ve been able to correspond with all of you and support the research, which has given me a passion for early childhood research and childcare policy. the theme for the first issue of 2023 came to the forefront of my mind while learning to navigate a new city, after moving away from my hometown for the second time. in this move, i reflected that each of us have faced unique challenges since the year 2020 began. now imagine that challenge through the lens of our youngest humans. for infants born from 2020-2022, they have been protected, sheltered, and loved through the pandemic and are now at the pinnacle of new adventures in their early education experiences. our older children, had traditional educational experiences and then had those fractured, causing rifts in typical development and education trajectories. there are fears and excitement abounding as each of these groups of children enter new spaces and new centers, ready to expand their minds. each of the articles in this issue show us ways to navigate these adventures of early education through a deep personal reflection by childcare directors and through two interventions to support children with behavior needs. the issue opens with a qualitative work titled, the state of childcare: exploring childcare center directors’ perceptions on the past, present, and future from dr. tracey hoffman at miami university in oxford, ohio. the research aims to understand the current perceptions of the childcare landscape based on a sample of childcare directors in southwest ohio. these directors bring up concerns such as lack of professionalism towards childcare workers, staff shortages, and dwindling funds. the licensing structure for the state was also brought up as a concern. the research leaves the reader encouraged that while childcare has experienced much change in the past ten years, there is hope for the future. the corresponding research to practice summary, also by dr. hoffman, investigates the implications for childcare practice. the next research article is a quantitative work titled, effects of an online emotion socialization intervention for parents of at-risk preschoolers enrolled in head start during a global pandemic, by briana j. williams and dr. john s. carlson of michigan state university in east lansing, mi. this research centers around the family structure, encouraging parents to be involved in an emotional coaching activity. in particular, it addresses the shared responsibility between families and educational environment. in the small sample of families (n=8), a total of four different measures were used to understand parent engagement, parent and student outcomes, and appropriateness of intervention. the researchers found that the intervention was appropriate and that online emotional coaching tools should be more widely implemented and researched. the final research article speaks to the important practice of inclusion in our early childhood spaces. this work highlights examples of successful use of applied behavioral analysis (aba) through the use of a behavior consultant. the researchers, dr. megan kunze of university of oregon and dr. bernice de la cruz of texas a&m universitysan antonio, conducted a longitudinal study that aimed to describe the process of working with a behavior consultant and highlight positive benefits for children in inclusive spaces. the research indicates that through appropriate training, teachers can support more diverse children, and support families better. the research to practice summary provides several tables of examples in practice of top recommendations made during behavior consultations. in conclusion, experts in the field of early childhood must remember the wonderful adventures that we get to embark on each day in our roles. whether we are physically in a classroom, supporting students every day, or in a research or professor role, we each have a unique space to take up in early childhood. it is important to reflect on those challenging times in our field, but propel ourselves forward, and be optimistic about the future ahead of us. our youngest learners deserve to be seen, heard, and valued. let’s guide them on an adventure to support their success through the rest of their educational careers. the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 94 empowering families for stem success: how parental involvement shapes early childhood education the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 2025, volume 28, issue 2 https://doi.org/10.55370/thedialog.v28i2.2070 contact: grace keengwe grace.keengwe@und.edu copyright © 2025 by the authors. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0/). rtp empowering families for stem abstract as stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education becomes a cornerstone of modern curricula, early childhood educators play a critical role in laying its foundation. however, the classroom is only part of the equation. research shows that families particularly parents with stem-related knowledge, experiences, and values can profoundly influence children’s early interest and success in stem fields. this article highlights recent findings on stem-specific parental social capital, summarizes key insights, and offers practical strategies for educators to engage families in meaningful stem experiences. keywords stem, teaching practices, preschool children, parent involvement s tem-specific parental social capital stem-specific parental social capital refers to the knowledge, resources, and cultural attitudes related to stem that parents bring into their children’s lives. this includes formal education in stem, careers in related fields, or even informal interests and hobbies involving problem-solving, technology, or scientific thinking. these resources help shape children’s learning environments, mindsets, and aspirations—often in subtle but powerful ways. key research insights for early childhood education parental stem background matters children whose parents have backgrounds in stem are more likely to develop confidence in these subjects. they may engage in exploratory play, ask more questions, and receive positive reinforcement when tackling grace keengwe university of north dakota mailto:grace.keengwe@und.edu the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 95 stem-related tasks. for early educators, this highlights the importance of understanding the stem capital families already possess and finding ways to extend it within the learning environment. early exposure is critical stem habits of mind— such as inquiry, observation, and logical reasoning—develop early. children who experience stem-rich environments at home are more prepared to engage in classroom stem activities. integrating stem into daily routines from a young age helps solidify foundational skills and fosters lifelong curiosity. barriers to stem engagement are real many families face barriers to participating in stem activities, including limited time, lack of confidence, or unfamiliarity with stem concepts. culturally and linguistically diverse families may also encounter challenges in accessing resources or feeling welcome in school-based programs. family-based stem programs make a difference programs that invite families to participate in stem activities together such as science nights, take-home kits, or hands-on workshops significantly boost parental confidence and children’s engagement. these shared experiences reinforce learning, normalize stem conversations at home, and help parents see themselves as capable stem supporters. suggestions for early childhood educators parents with stem resources and expertise play a vital role in shaping their children’s learning. at a macro level, federal, state, and philanthropic initiatives can strengthen stem capacity among educators, students, and families particularly those in underserved communities. these efforts should include parent training on engaging children in stem and professional development for teachers. classrooms and curricula must also evolve to support more open-ended, inquiry-driven stem learning. as research shows, well-resourced schools lead to better student outcomes (darling-hammond, 2004). parents interviewed in recent studies emphasized the importance of giving children time to explore, wonder, and problem-solve independently, suggesting a need to revise curricula to allow for student-centered, exploratory learning. likewise, parents need flexible time to engage in stem activities at home. schools can support this by promoting practices that align both home and classroom stem experiences. stem engagement is influenced by a child’s broader environment, including the people, programs, and extracurricular opportunities they encounter. this exosystem plays a significant role, as children benefit indirectly from well-prepared teachers, community partnerships, and university-led initiatives. higher education institutions can bridge the gap by connecting teachers and families with tools, mentorship, and learning opportunities—ensuring equitable access for all families. parents also reported using various stem tools and resources with their children, underscoring the need for access to practical, user-friendly information. local universities, libraries, and community stem events can serve as rich sources of support. encouraging the formation of parent networks and involving stem professionals as mentors and role models can further enhance learning. teacher collaboration is equally important. platforms that allow educators, administrators, and community partners to share lesson plans and best practices help ensure all students’ stem needs are met. developing accessible, home-friendly stem curricula allows children to demonstrate understanding through hands-on engagement, with tools that parents can confidently use (glass et al., 2013). parents without formal stem backgrounds may hesitate to explore activities at home, assuming they require expensive materials. however, stem engagement can thrive when confidence is nurtured, even when experiments don’t go as planned. while online resources exist, families often need help locating and using them effectively. the microsystem direct interactions between children and their environments also shapes stem learning. the expectations and messages parents share significantly influence children’s stem trajectories (mara & toni, 2020). in mathematics, parent expectations are among the strongest predictors of achievement (wang & yang, 2019). aligning efforts across all systems home, school, and community ensures children receive consistent, encouraging stem messages. rtp empowering families for stem the dialog: a journal for inclusive early childhood professionals 96 policy and program considerations • to scale and sustain these efforts, early childhood education systems should: • integrate family engagement into stem curriculum frameworks. • provide training for educators on culturally responsive practices. • fund initiatives that support home-school connections in stem. • develop metrics that assess the role of stem in student learning across home and school contexts conclusion stem success starts early—and it starts at home. when families are invited to be active partners in their children’s stem education, the benefits ripple outward: children gain confidence, families feel empowered, and educators build stronger learning communities. by recognizing and supporting the vital role families play, early childhood educators can ensure that every child has the opportunity to grow into a curious, capable stem learner. resources for further exploration • mcclure, e. r., guernsey, l., clements, d. h., bales, s. n., nichols, j., kendall-taylor, n., & levine, m. h. (2017). “stem starts early: grounding science, technology, engineering, and math education in early childhood.” the joan ganz cooney center at sesame workshop. pdf. • parents can influence children’s choice and success in stem major (2021, december 7) https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/937058 • plasman, j., gottfried, m., williams, d.  et al.  (2021). parents’ occupations and students’ success in stem fields: a systematic review and narrative synthesis. adolescent res rev 6, 33–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-02000136-z • tilbrook, c., & schifer, m. (2021). field-specific cultural capital and persistence in college majors. social science research, 103. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102654 • darling-hammond, l. (2004). inequality and the right to learn: access to qualified teachers in california’s public schools. teachers college record, 106(10), 1936-1966. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1467-9620.2004.00422.x. • glass, d., meyer, a., & rose, d. h. (2013). universal design for learning and the arts. harvard educational review, 83(1), 98-119. https://doi. org/10.17763/haer.83.1.33102p26478p54pw • mara, c., & toni, c. (2020). parental influences on young children’s early stem engagement. social psychology of education, 23, 701-719. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-020-09555-1 rtp empowering families for stem https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/937058 https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/937058 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-020-00136-z https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-020-00136-z https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102654 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102654 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9620.2004.00422.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9620.2004.00422.x https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.83.1.33102p26478p54pw https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.83.1.33102p26478p54pw https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-020-09555-1